Chapter One – The Adoption
Despite being CEO and having large responsibilities and projects to head, twenty-six year-old Seto Kaiba scheduled to take the day off. What he was about to do would indeed take a whole day to go over.
At 10 AM sharp, he stepped into his limousine and opened the window separating him from the driver in order to tell him his destination. Mokuba had asked, nay begged to come along today, but Kaiba refused. This was something he had to do on his own.
"Geoffrey, take me to Kasai Orphanage," he said. The driver nodded, and began their trip to their destination. Kaiba did not have any work with him at that time, so he occupied himself with simply looking out the window.
He was heading to that orphanage for many reasons. One being that it was the one he had lived at, before "defeating" Gozaburo Kaiba into adopting him and Mokuba. Even though those years were… better left forgotten, it was what eventually made him as successful as he was today. And his success was what he was worried about.
Being the smart man he was, Seto Kaiba realized that one day, he wouldn't be able to control Kaiba Corporation anymore. He would be too… old. He decided to plan ahead.
He was going to Kasai Orphanage to adopt a child to be his successor or heir; one that would be able to learn how to run a company and eventually take over once he would retire.
He did however promise himself that he would never resort to the methods his father had used on him to 'shape' him. Kaiba admitted to himself that he had done many things in his life that were wrong, but this meant a lot to him.
When he felt the car stop and its ignition turn off, Kaiba opened the door and stepped out. "This place hasn't changed much," he thought grimly. The foliage had obviously grown more, and the exterior had since been repainted, but nevertheless, it was still very much the same.
He remembered it being bigger, though.
He stepped past the gates and stood at the door, ringing its bell. Shortly a stout woman appeared at the door with a smile on her face. When she saw who she was facing, her smiled faltered just a little. Yet, she still kept up the warm smile that he remembered.
"Seto! My, it's been a long time! Please, please. Come inside," she said, moving aside to usher him in. He nodded in response, and stepped inside. Even the inside hadn't changed all that much, he noticed.
She led him to her office, where he took a seat in front of the desk. She took the seat in front of him, still smiling.
"I trust you aren't here to walk down memory lane, Kaiba?" she said. Kaiba chuckled. He remembered she was always for getting right down to business.
"Correct Mrs. Kasai. I've come here to adopt a child," he explained, though it was obvious. She nodded, pursing her lips.
"You never seemed to be a parenting person, Kaiba. Then again, you did take care of Mokuba the whole time, so I trust your decisi – "
There was a knock at the door which interrupted her sentence. She and Kaiba turned to look at the visitor. Kaiba figured she was a worker at the orphanage; she bowed twice in front of the two of them before speaking.
"Mrs. Kasai, your assistance is needed for a few moments, please," she said. Kasai nodded and stood up from her seat, going towards the door.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba. I will be with you momentarily, if you wouldn't mind waiting here," she said before leaving after the girl.
He took this opportunity to observe the children in the playground; see what he was getting himself into. He had hopes of leaving there today with a child that wasn't whiney or anything like that.
A lot of the kids running around the playground were pretty much just as he expected – to oriented with games. There was a small group of children playing tag or one of its many spin-offs; a few were playing on the jungle gym, the swings, and sandbox. Two were playing cards on the picnic bench. And judging by their actions, they were playing Duel Monsters.
One child took his attention for a minute. He only noticed her because she had fallen down while running. Her shoelace had been undone. She had fell face first into the dirt, scraping her hands, shins and face. He remembered that experience very well, since he had to run to the aid of Mokuba frequently during their time here.
He would have moved on if it wasn't for what she did next. The girl sat up on the ground, and began wiping the dirt from her injuries. She didn't cry once. She stood up, wiped herself off, and went over to one of the workers, who handed her a bandage. When the worker offered to put it on for her, she turned them down. She sat down on a bench, and did it herself. She finally saw that her shoelace was undone, fixed it, then ran out to the kids she was playing with again.
His first impression of this girl was that she was independent; if she fell down, she would pick herself up again, solve the problem and keep going strong.
He liked her, from the choices he had anyways. He continued his watch of her, not noticing Mrs. Kasai coming back into the room. She stood beside him, and looked out.
"Ah, I see you've spotted Shiori Teguchi. She's a wonderful child; so strong and polite. The workers adore her, you know," she explained. Kaiba nodded.
"How'd she end up here?"
"Shiori? Her parents died when she was three, and she was left here by her relatives before they moved out of the country. She's been here for four years now. Personally, I don't like those relatives of hers. We dealt with the custody papers, and when they took her in, they weren't exactly the high class people they were when they dropped her off here. And they haven't even tried to contact us once since then," she said sourly. Mrs. Kasai was normally a very docile woman, so seeing her like this surprised Kaiba.
Shiori's story intrigued him; it was just like the life he had before Gozaburo took him 'under his wing'.
His mind was made up.
"I'd like to adopt her – Shiori Teguchi," he stated. Mrs. Kasai beamed.
"She's finally going to get the life she deserves. Hopefully not only one life will be changed with this adoption!" she chuckled to herself. She went back to her desk and picked up the telephone, pressing a button.
"Could someone please bring Shiori to my office, please?" she said into the receiver. The workers in the playground all put their radio's to their ears, and one took Shiori by the hand, smiling. She knew what was about to happen.
Promptly, the worker and Shiori arrived into the office.
She stood, at the highest, to barely half way up his chest. Her nine-year-old, youthful features included soft golden brown hair, reaching to just an inch or two beyond her slim shoulders. Her most distinctive features were, aptly put, distinctive. An infectious and childish grin, that he had yet to experience, and large, cheerful azure eyes.
Shiori's head stretched high up in order to look Kaiba in the face, but smiled at him anyways. He didn't think he looked that scary, did he?
"Shiori, I'd like you to meet Mr. Kaiba. He's interested in adopting you," Mrs. Kasai explained. Shiori looked at her, then turned her head back to Kaiba and held out her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kaiba," she said. Kaiba took her hand and she shook it firmly. Her hand was so small compared to his.
Two hours or so later, Shiori left the orphanage smiling with a new name – Shiori Kaiba – and a new father.
Her daddy, Seto Kaiba.
So that's it! The first actual chapter of my "career"! Expect more out of me soon. Maybe Labour Day? I'm not sure. School starts up after that, and I made a oath to myself and a friend of mine that I will try this year to get good grades. That, and I might loose possession of my beloved derrier if I don't. So, review kindly! Writers live off of reviews, especially the new ones.
Feed the starving writer/artist, please! Thankies!
-hugs and kisses- xLHx
ps - To be honest, I have no clue how the modern day adoption proceedings work. The only way I know is the now inaccurate way portrayed in "Annie", where inspiration for this stort came from. Please, if you do know how it works, and can summise it for me so that it works in the story without being too awkward, tell me! I like to be as accurate as I can with matters such as this!
A pre-thankies is in order...