Steel
Luna Silvereyes
A/N: I got to thinking. I know this isn't true whatsoever, but, what if when Kaiba and Mokuba still lived in the orphanage and there was someone there whom everyone in the place feared, even the teachers? What if that someone turned out to be someone else altogether? It's hard to explain, but read on and you'll see what I mean.
It was past noon. Not quite sunset yet past midday. Though the precise time cannot be given. Alongside an ominous, two-story building, a small playground stood. A lone boy sat on a swing, staring at the ground sadly. It was their first day here. He was afraid of this place. He was afraid of the other children. But of all of them, he was afraid of one person in particular.
//ooo//
Seto stood near his younger brother, his hand firmly around the boy's shoulder as though to protect him. While their paperwork was straightened out, several curious inhabitants approached warily. One young boy tapped Seto on the shoulder. " So you the new kids, eh?" he said. Seto only nodded, choosing to remain silent. Mokuba just stared with wide eyes. The kid half-smiled in a sort of smug way, considering himself superior already. " S'fine with me. Just so you learn the ropes quickly enough. You won't survive here if you don't."
" What do you mean?" Mokuba had asked.
" You just gotta learn who to stay away from." The kid said seriously. He couldn't have been too much older than Seto. " Take me. Stay outta my way, you're cool."
Mokuba looked around at the others. He looked out toward the small playground.
" Hey," he said, pointing. " Who's that?"
The kid looked. Mokuba was pointing to a small tree at the far edges of the playground where a tall girl stood, hands jammed in her pockets. Her extremely long messy black hair was tied into two thick braids and her bangs hung far over her eyes, nearly obscuring them. Her gaze fixed on them for a moment and then quickly turned to the sky. She leaned against the tree, glaring at nothing. Her body expressions told all; 'Stay the heck away from me and we won't have trouble'.
Mokuba gulped.
" Oh," the kid said. " That's Angel. Ironic, huh? She looks more like a demon. Anyway, it's best you steer clear of her. She's been here the longest out of all of us and for some reason, she takes this fact out on the younger ones. Last month, some knucklehead teenager came in here and started picking on some of us. For one reason or another, she screamed and tackled him. She put him in the hospital and wound up in solitary confinement for a day." He said with a leer at Mokuba. Mokuba cringed behind Seto, who scowled.
" Shut up." Seto snapped.
" Solitary confinement?" Mokuba asked.
" Well, it's really just where they lock you in a specific room for a while and you aren't allowed out until they say so. Their form of punishment." The kid said with a shrug.
By then, the director of the place came over and led them away to deposit their things somewhere. By the time Mokuba looked back at where Angel had been, she was gone.
//ooo//
Mokuba shivered when he thought of Angel. She looked so sinister. He hated to think of what would happen if he ran into her.
He'd spoken to a girl about her earlier that day, before coming to the swings. It had been on the climbing dome.
//ooo//
Mokuba sat there alone, watching the others play. The swings were taken and he really wanted to go over there. But Seto had disappeared for the moment and Mokuba was afraid to go near the other children.
He about toppled over when a girl about ten with short chocolate-colored hair approached and leaned against the yellow climbing dome. " Hey." She said nonchalantly. " You're Mokuba, aren't you?"
" Y-Yeah." He stuttered. The girl nodded. " I'm Pen."
" P-Pen?"
" Short for Penelope. Don't ever call me that."
" R-Right."
" So, Danny was telling you about Angel, right? He may be a dork, but he takes it upon himself to warn the newbies about her. After what he saw her do to that kid, anyway."
" You m-mean that t-teenager?" Mokuba stammered.
" Quit stuttering, you're making me nervous. But yeah. Actually, it was rather weird. That weirdo came in and started to tease him and some other kid over there, by the fence. He musta climbed over or something. Anyway, he started to get mad at Danny for some reason. Then, all of a sudden we hear a yell and the kid's been pinned flat. Angel's then beatin' him up. Gave him a bloody nose, broke a rib and an arm and stuff."
Mokuba shuddered. Pen seemed pretty calm about this.
" S-So, what happened?" he asked, too curious to back down, yet too scared to ask at the same time.
Pen shrugged. " Kid got sent to the doctor, Angel gets locked away for a few days or so. It's a legend around here. No one here is really sure why she acts like this. I've heard Mr. Hiragawa, the director say how she used to be sweet, just like her name. An-Ang-Angelic." She said, struggling on the word.
Suddenly, Pen squeaked and ducked into the climbing dome. Mokuba tilted his head sideways and then looked to his right. He froze in horror.
" I…I…." He stuttered. It was Angel.
He could barely see her eyes, but she was staring intently at him, as though studying him from the inside out. He felt goose bumps rise on his arms as he sat there, shaking like a leaf. Then, without a word and a lash of her braids, she whirled suddenly and stalked off, her arms folded. She passed Seto as he ran toward his brother.
" Moki, are you okay?" Seto panted, exhausted from hurrying so fast. He'd heard Danny's tale of Angel, too.
" I-I'm fine, Seto." Mokuba said shakily. He watched fearfully as Angel inadvertently scattered a group of kids playing soccer and sat down beneath a tree on the other side.
//ooo//
Mokuba shivered at the memory. Angel was really scary and he didn't want to be anywhere near her.
Now, it was getting late in the afternoon. He'd been sitting on that swing since close to ten. He wasn't sure how late it was, now.
He closed his eyes.
He heard soft footsteps approach and someone sit down on the swing beside him. " Hey, Seto. How'd you find me?" he asked.
No answer.
" Seto?" Mokuba asked, looking up. His eyes widened and he felt the breath hitch in his throat.
" A-Ang-gel." He stuttered.
Angel sat hunched in the swing with her wrists overlapping each other on her knees, staring ahead blankly. She gently pushed herself back and forth with her toes, one braid hanging limply over her shoulder. She glanced at him.
" Yo." She said. Mokuba gasped and jumped out of the swing, tripping over his own foot as he did and crashing down into the sand. He heard her get up and slowly come over.
" Please, d-d-don't hurt me." He stammered. But his fear was replaced by confusion when he felt himself being gently lifted off the ground by his arms and set on his feet. He turned and watched as she sat back down on the swing, returning to the position from before, rocking herself back and forth with her toes.
Watching him.
Mokuba wanted to run. Wanted to get away from her. Wanted to escape before he ended up like that teenager in the hospital. But for some reason, his legs wouldn't obey him. He just stared.
" Hey." She said quietly. " How'd you know my name, anyhow?"
Mokuba froze. " Uh." He said. " Uh, I h-heard Danny say it." He blurted out. Angel flipped her hair from her face and gave him a look. " Ah." Was all she said. Then, to his surprise, she chuckled. " I should have known. Little blabbermouth." She said. He could have sworn he saw her smile. She looked up at him. " Hey, sit back down. I won't bite ya." She said. Mokuba gulped and did as she said, returning to his swing and sitting down rather stiffly. He cast an occasional glance at her.
" You…you aren't going to…." He said.
" I'm not going to what?" she said.
He hesitated. "…Beat me up?" he said in a small voice. He looked at her and saw she was smiling, for sure. She'd procured a ribbon from somewhere and tied her bangs back. He saw that her eyes were a shade of steel gray.
" What makes you think I'm gonna beat you up?" she asked. He looked away. " Everyone's been saying that you're mad. That you hate us."
Angel sighed. " It's Mokuba, right? Thought so. Look, kid, I don't beat up anyone unless it's a matter of protection. That so-called legend Pen was telling you about was real. But this was the way it really happened. I often sit in the trees over there to think by myself because no one but me can get up there. I saw some kid scale the fence. He was drunk or something. From the high school. He approached these two kids down below. He started to bother them, snatching their toys and pushing them."
She paused. " I hate to see things like this. I jumped down and punched the kid. I got so mad, I sorta lost control. Next thing I knew, I'd about killed him and they were dragging me off to the room. Not a day goes by that I don't regret what I did." She looked away.
" But everyone says—"
" Look, kid, forget what they all say." Angel snapped, causing Mokuba to flinch. Her tone and expression softened. " I'm sorry. I've got a hair-trigger temper. I try to keep it in line. So, how are you and your brother holding up?"
" Okay, I guess. It's scary here, though."
Angel nodded. " I can understand. I was scared half to death my first day."
That reminded him. " How long have you been here, anyway? They say you've been here the longest."
Angel counted on her fingers. " It'll be eleven years this January." She said finally. Mokuba's jaw dropped. " Eleven years?"
" I was four when they dropped me off. My dad killed my mom and then shot him himself during a drunken fight. I had no one else, so they put me here."
" Is that why you're so angry?" Mokuba asked carefully.
" No." she whispered. " That's not it. See, when I first saw the two of you, you and your brother, I was reminded of something."
Mokuba blinked. " What's that?"
She smiled sadly. " A few years after I came here, I'd already grown wise and tougher. But they brought in a little girl named Alice. She was so tiny and so frail. They said she was very sick. The kids abandoned her straightaway and I knew that the more ruthless ones would move in soon to tear her apart. I took her in, so to speak. By then, I'd earned a reputation for serving a volleyball so hard during a game, I broke a kid's nose, and so everyone was afraid to come near me. But Alice was trusting. She was so sweet. We became like sisters. We were inseparable. We'd talk for hours here, where we are now, or over by the tree or inside the building. I'd braid her hair and we'd discuss our futures. Gradually, my reputation fell and the kids who knew me grew to forget what I'd done. I loved Alice."
Angel paused and seemed to grow melancholy. " Then, it was adoption day again. Alice and I lined up with the others to see if we'd get lucky. The couple passed everyone and looked at me once. They passed me too. But then, they saw Alice. They fell in love with her on the spot and immediately chose her. I was appalled that they'd chosen only her and not me, too. I'd even made an effort to look nice. And it didn't work. Alice refused to go, at first, saying she wouldn't leave without her big sister. When the couple heard that, they almost relented, but then the director told them that 'big sister' was a friendly reference to a close friend she had here. He never once pointed me out and I was too numb with shock to say anything. They took her, then. I dimly remember trying to go after the car and I saw her in the back, tears spilling down her face as she spotted me. I knew she was calling for me and I tried to go to help her. But they held me back and I watched as the car turned around the corner and out of sight.
" Later, I learned through eavesdropping that Alice had died in the hospital, that her heart had suddenly given out. Mr. Hiragawa believed that it was all the stress she went through during the adoption. After that, I reverted back. I became the terror of the orphanage all over again."
Mokuba just stared at her, unbelieving. " That's horrible." He said. He looked down at the ground. " If anything ever happened to Seto, I don't know what I'd do."
" You love your brother, don't you?" Angel said. Mokuba nodded. " He's all I have, now."
Angel nodded.
Both looked up as the door opened on the other side and Seto appeared. He spotted Angel and yelled. " Hey! Stay away from my brother!"
Angel immediately got up and darted away, submitting to the demand. At this, Seto stopped running five feet away and stared, confused. Did she just back down? What about all the rumors he'd heard about her? She stood several feet off, watching them patiently.
Seto turned to Mokuba. " Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"
Mokuba shook his head. " No. I'm fine." He said. " We were just talking."
" Talking?" Seto exclaimed, bewildered. Mokuba nodded again. " Yeah. Angel's actually really nice."
Seto blinked and turned to Angel.
But she was gone.
//ooo//
Over the next month, the two brothers often talked with Angel. Seto gradually began to trust her just a little. Angel constantly kept an eye on the two of them. Usually, Seto was pretty formidable on his own against the playground bullies. But sometimes, even he was overwhelmed and Angel chose these times to step in. The attackers often left with bloody noses and whatnot. Seto learned of Alice through Mokuba and like his brother, felt a quiet bond with Angel. He knew he'd be devastated if anything happened to Mokuba.
But one day, a month and a half after they arrived, the two brothers arrived at the usual meeting place only to find that Angel wasn't there. In her place on the swings was a note. Seto picked it up and read it aloud:
By the time you read this, I'll be home.
-Angel
Seto looked at his brother. " Could this mean she's dead?" he asked himself, praying that wasn't the answer.
But it turns out that Angel had literally vanished from the orphanage. Mr. Hiragawa was downright astonished by her disappearance. All of her things remained, yet the owner was gone, dropped off the face of the earth.
Seto grudgingly moved on, accepting her loss. But Mokuba couldn't discard her memory so easily. He sat on the swings night after night, hoping and praying that she'd show up and talk to him again as usual.
But Angel never came.
The kids talked about her often. They all wondered if maybe she'd thrown herself in front of a car. The story of Alice had since leaked out somehow and now everyone knew why she'd gone from gentle to horrible. They were all suspicious of Mokuba for how much she had talked to him. But he never understood why.
All he understood was that Angel was gone.
So, a full three months after Angel vanished, Mokuba once again sat out on the swings, gazing at the ground forlornly, and recalling Angel and their long talks. A gentle breeze brushed by him and he sighed.
I'm home.
Mokuba gasped and bolted upright. He could have sworn he'd just heard Angel's voice. He whirled around and around, searching desperately for her.
" Angel?" he called. But there was no sign of his friend.
But as he looked up at the moon rising into the ebony-blue sky, a thought occurred to him.
And he smiled.