"Wow, I can't believe you beat me again," the tall boy said to his younger, smaller brother.

"Thanks," the younger, smaller brother responded. "But I know you're just letting me win."

"I am not. You're just that good."

"Do you really think so?"

"I know so."

The tall boy collected his cards and began to neatly organize his deck. He had a thing about organization, especially in the messy, unorganized cafeteria. Once he made sure all of the cards were facing the right way and weren't upside down, he shuffled them in a particular manner as he watched his brother anxiously look up at the clock while he did the same.

"So, we're gonna play again, Seto?"

"Sure, Mokuba."

"I guess it's a good way to kill time," Mokuba said. "How much longer do you think til he gets here?"

"I don't know," Seto responded. "Mrs. Yamashita said he should have been here by noon, but it's already 1."

"It's almost 2, Seto."

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you think he...changed his mind...?"

"Oh, Moki..."

"Because of-"

"Don't say it, Moki. Don't say it."

"But-"

"He didn't. You're perfect."

Seto put his cards down on the table and grabbed little Moki's little hand. He saw his brother bite his bottom lip and close his eyes, which is what he always did when he wanted to cry but didn't want the other kids to see him. The other kids often bothered him...

It may not have seemed like a big deal to someone else, but Seto understood Mokuba's thought process. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time a husband and wife had come to the orphanage in hopes of adopting a child. And, sadly, it wouldn't have been the first time a mother and father had almost adopted Seto but had changed their mind when they realized Mokuba came in the package, too. Although Seto tried to hide the unkind truth from little Moki, his brother wasn't stupid. He knew why those adults - their potential future parents - had opted out and gone with other children instead.

Mokuba opened his eyes and saw some of the bigger kids, who were sitting a few tables away from him and Seto, mockingly pretend to cry as their friends laughed and pointed at him. They were imitating the way he had cried at the playground once when he had fallen off the swing a few years ago.

Mokuba let go of Seto and picked up his cards again, discretely flipping the bullies off as he did so.

"Idiots," he whispered under his breath, soft enough so Seto wouldn't hear. Seto had heard him though, and had seen Mokuba give them the finger too, but he pretended not to so his little brother wouldn't feel embarrassed.

Mokuba looked around the orphanage cafeteria and saw the faces of smiling and depressed children around his and his brother's age. Some were having lunch, some were playing cards. He wanted to be part of the smiling crowd who was playing cards, not the depressed-looking ones who were miserably eating lunch. Finally, he settled for something somewhat in the middle. Mokuba's eyes attempted to display the indifferent stare of someone who wasn't going to let a longing for affection determine his state of being, which was a horrible thing for a child to feel the need to feel. But either way, deep down inside, he wanted Gozaboro to show up any second now.

"You okay, Moki?" Seto asked him.

Mokuba forced a smile on his face. "Yeah. I know I'm just being silly. I'm sorry, Seto. I'm all better now."

"Good," Seto said. "Look, I'm sure Gozaboro is just running late."

"See, big brother, the thing is... I'm not sure if I'm more afraid of him changing his mind and not coming anymore, or of him actually coming after all?"

"I know he wasn't our first choice for a father, Mokuba. But we were his first choice for children."

"Do you think he's only interested in us because of our inheritance?"

"Gozaboro is a very wealthy man, Moki. Money is definitely something he isn't lacking."

"Then, could it be possible that someone wants to adopt us because they actually like us?"

"Of course, Moki! Who wouldn't want to adopt you?"

A smile appeared on Mokuba's face that he wasn't going to try to hide. It was difficult being so young and having to grow up so quickly because of circumstance. Both of the brothers had had to toughen up and put their feelings on hold to survive the hard ways of the orphan world, and poor Mokuba had been less successful at this than Seto. However, unbeknownst to Mokuba, Seto had overheard Gozaboro reveal admiration for his promising mind and express a lack of interest for his brother's. But, of course, he wasn't going to let Mokuba find this out. He wasn't going to deny his brother the bliss of the potential promise.

"Who wouldn't want to adopt you, Mokuba?" Seto repeated.

"Can you imagine, big brother? Seto Kaiba and Mokuba Kaiba!"

"I like the sound of that."

"Come on, let's duel again," Mokuba said. He started to shuffle his cards once again when one of them slid off the deck and fell under the table.

Mokuba bent down to pick it up when he noticed a young girl about his brother's age who was walking past them kneeling down and beating him to it.

"I believe you dropped this," she said, handing him the card.

"Thank you," Mokuba said.

"What kind of a game is this?" she asked, looking a little confused at the card.

"It's called Duel Monsters," Mokuba said. "You wanna play?"

"I haven't seen you around here before," Seto interrupted. "Are you new?"

The girl looked at the eldest brother and he looked back at her. She was dressed in all purple and had many beautiful features, though they seemed to be hiding a lifetime of sufferings that had been lived in just the span of a couple of days. This was something Seto could relate to.

"Me and my siblings arrived here yesterday night," the girl explained. "At around 1 in the morning, I think. You were probably asleep."

"Oh, we were totally asleep by then," Mokuba said. "That's probably why we didn't see you."

Despite the mention of time, Mokuba didn't look up at the clock. He realized Gozaboro would simply get there when he got there and no sooner. He really seemed to be running rather late though...

"So..." Seto said, looking nervously at the girl, "you lost your parents recently, didn't you?"

He looked at her uncertainly, not sure if the question was inappropriate or would make her uncomfortable, but she looked calm enough - sad, yes, but calm nonetheless - and this was an orphanage after all... So, why else would she be there with them if it wasn't for that? If anything, he actually felt stupid for asking such an obvious question. He should have asked "How did you lose your parents" but wait, that was the wrong question too. Most people probably wouldn't want to answer that, especially if it had just happened.

"Well," the girl said, clearing her throat, "my uncle was actually taking care of us because... Well, and he..."

"Yeah, I understand. I'm sorry." Seto realized he had made her uncomfortable and tried to change the subject immediately, even though he wasn't sure how to interpret her answer since he hadn't even let her finish. He gave her a comforting look instead.

"We're trying to see if maybe our aunt can get custody," the girl continued to explain, deciding that Seto had not actually meant to make her feel bad. "If it doesn't work out legally, I guess we'll be staying here for a while."

"It isn't so bad," Mokuba said. "You'll get used to it. But sorry about your loss.,."

"Why wouldn't your aunt be able to get custody?" Seto asked.

"She's not technically our real aunt. Like, she isn't mom and dad's sister or anything."

"I see. She's your uncle's wife or something?"

"You said you had siblings, right?" Mokuba interrupted.

"Yeah," said the girl. "A sister and a brother."

"Where are they?"

"Resting," the girl responded.

"You mean, sleeping?"

"No, resting. We've had some very tough last couple of days..."

"Why don't you sit down?" Seto asked. "This isn't the kind of thing to talk about standing up and, look at me, where are my manners? Hadn't even offered you a seat and-"

"Thanks. Don't worry, you're very kind." She took the seat next to Seto and the three of them sat in awkward silence for a few seconds. The girl starred at the ceiling and the table, then caught sight of the cards once again when Mokuba resumed the shuffling.

"You've never played Duel Monsters before?" Seto asked her.

"I haven't," she said. "How do you play?"

"It's easy!" Mokuba said. "You see, there are three types of cards. Monster Cards, Magic Cards, and Trap Cards. The game is basically a battle between your Monster Cards and your opponent's Monster Cards, but they can be strengthened by the Magic Cards."

"How do you win?" the girl asked. "And what are the Trap Cards for?"

"You and your opponent each start with 4,000 Life Points," Mokuba continued as Seto stared at the girl almost dumbfoundedly, "and you lose points every time the monsters battle and your's is the weaker one. The Trap Cards are to turn the tables on your opponent when he think he's winning."

"Sounds interesting," she said. She was trying to be interested, but Seto knew her uncle's death was still on her mind. He knew because that's what he had done when their parents had passed away. The girl was just trying to be strong, probably for her brother and sister, the same way he had always tried to be strong for Mokuba. Oh, Mokuba... Seto was happy that at least talking about Duel Monsters with the girl was making Mokuba forget about Gozaboro's delay. Where was he?

"This is a Monster Card," Mokuba said, showing the girl a card called The Magician of Faith.

"She's pretty," said the girl.

"She's an Effect Monster, but I'll get into that later. This is a Magic Card," he said as he showed her Polymerization, "and this one right here is a Trap Card." He showed her Seven Tools of the Bandit.

"I really like this one," said the girl, pointing at the Trap Card. "Tools interest me, but I really don't like bandits."

"Who does?" Mokuba said, smiling. "By the way, I'm Mokuba. This is my brother, Seto."

"Sorry for the late introductions," Seto said and held out his hand to her.

"That's quite alright," the girl said and shook Seto's hand. "Nice to meet you, Seto."

Seto tried to hide his blush.

"What's your name?" Mokuba asked.

"My name is-"

"Seto? Mokuba?" came the voice of one of the orphanage directors.

"Seto, they're calling us! They're calling us" said Mokuba. "That probably means he's here!"

"Who's here?" the girl said.

"We're getting adopted today!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"Oh..." said the girl.

"Give us a moment," Seto told her. "We'll be right back."

"Okay."

Seto grabbed Mokuba's hand and they headed to the front of the cafeteria where the orphanage director, a middle-aged woman named Patty Yamashita, was standing.

"There you are," Mrs. Yamashita said. "I would have walked over to you rather than yell out your names but I couldn't find you.

"Is Mr. Kaiba here?" Mokuba asked.

"Oh sweetheart, not yet," she said. "But why don't you go pick out today's movie from the Movie Room? Mr. Toc will go with you and he'll let you pick whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?"

"Whatever you want."

"Awesome!"

"Who's Mr. Toc," Seto asked.

"Faloun Toc is one of the new volunteers here," Mrs. Yamashita explained. "He just arrived this morning. Go on, Mokuba. You know where the Movie Room is. Mr. Toc will be waiting for you there."

Mokuba had been wanting to pick the movie ever since the first day they had started to let the kids pick out the films. He ran passed every single table, out of the cafeteria, and into the hallway, turning to the right where the Movie Room was located.

"Oh, careful tough! Mr. Toc is in a wheelchair!" But Mokuba was too far away to hear her.

"Okay, Mrs. Yamashita," said Seto, "Mokuba's gone. Now cut the crap. Tell me whatever it is I need to know that you didn't want my little brother to hear."

"Oh, Seto..." the woman sighed with woe, her eyes watery. "I- I don't know how to tell you this, hun..."

"What? What happened?"

"My poor little boy..."

"Where's Gozaboro Kaiba?!"

"Mr. Kaiba had a car accident on the way over here..."

Seto's jaw dropped.

"Gozaboro had...he had an accident...?"

Mrs. Yamashita nodded with a hand over her lips.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Seto, dear, he died!"

Seto was speechless.

"What?"

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so so sorry... But you had to know..."

"He... he died...?"

"Your little brother can't know-"

"And why did I have to know? Why couldn't you just lie to me and tell me he changed his mind and wasn't coming?!" Tears were rolling down Seto's face and his fists were ready to punch a wall and beak it.

"Seto, I-"

"I should have known this was too good to be true!"

"Sweetie, look-"

"I am going to go look for my brother!"

"Please don't tell little Mokuba-"

"Of course I won't tell him! I'm not an imbecile like you!"

"Seto!"

"I'm not going to tell a depressed little orphan holding onto to an inch of hope that what might have been his ONLY chance at a better future DIED on his way over here!"

Mrs. Yamashita covered her mouth with her hands as silent tears rolled down her eyes too. She was sorry for Seto and Mokuba, but she did what she thought was right. She saw Seto storm out of the cafeteria and did what she thought was right then by not trying to stop him or chase after him. She had known him long enough to know that he was best left alone before she should attempt to comfort him.

"Excuse, Mrs. Yamashita?"

Mrs. Yamashita looked up at the girl in purple standing in front of her.

"Oh, yes... Hi, Violet..." she said, wiping her tears. "It is Violet, right?"

The girl nodded. "Pardon the question ma'am, but if I may ask, what happened to Seto and his little brother? I was waiting for them to return to the table when-"

"Oh, honey," Mrs. Yamashita said as she put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't get involved with issues that don't concern you. You and your brother and baby sister have gone through quite an ordeal these last couple of weeks. Way worse than anything Seto and Mokuba ever have experienced. So just go play with your cards and set your mind free, child. Set your mind free..."

"But-"

"And don't bother Seto. He needs to be alone right now."

Violet wasn't going to correct her and tell her that they were actually Seto's cards and not her's, or that she knew it wasn't polite, though still helpful depending the situation, to try to comfort someone who was crying.

"Can I go back to my dormitory?" she asked instead. "I want to see how my brother is doing."

"Catherine, the nurse, told me that Klaus was all better. But sure, darling, go ahead."

Violet didn't know if she should grab Seto and Mokuba's cards now that she was going back to her room, or if she should leave them there on the table in case they returned from wherever it was that they went before she got back with Klaus and their baby sister Sunny, who was in the nursery. She decided to leave them, as she was sure none of the kids would steal them. But right then, the cafeteria doors opened and Seto and Mokuba walked in with an older man in a wheelchair.

Seto's eyes were passionately red, he looked like he had been crying and was holding back the rest of the tears. Mokuba looked happy as he waved a movie above his head and was clearly unaware of whatever was troubling his brother. And the man, Mr. Faloun Toc, the new volunteer, looked happy too as he stared at Violet's eyes and she stared back at him. His name tag might have said, HI I'M MR. TOC, and his right foot might have been in a cast that completely shielded his uniquely tattooed ankle, but Violet knew Count Olaf, her beloved Uncle Monty's murderer, when she saw him.

Count Olaf, or Faloun Toc as I am now forced to call him, smiled menacingly at Violet from across the large room. Without warning, an aura of unprecedented peril filled the cafeteria like the ghost of some natural disaster and sent goosebumps all over Violet's body. She understood at once that her and her siblings, Seto and Mokuba, and none of the children at the orphanage were safe anymore.

Mr. Toc caressed Mokuba's long black hair without breaking eye contact with Violet and winked at her with a wink that could have meant anything as perverse as was possible. He tenderly grabbed Seto's arm the way an inappropriate grandfather or uncle would and Violet was quick to understand the message without Mr. Toc having the need to do what he did anyways. He raised a finger to his lips and mouthed a sinister "shhh" to Violet as he continued to caress Mokuba's hair, rather threateningly and even more disturbingly this time.

Violet gulped in vulnerable fear and looked around the cafeteria at the innocent orphans, unaware of the danger surrounding them.

"Shhh," Mr. Toc said again. And tightened the grip on Seto's arm.