I've given up on justifying these.
Seto was not having a very good day. It wasn't in his top five worst days by any means, but any day he was still at the orphanage was a bad day.
In the day's defence, he had managed to sneak into town. It wasn't hard, but he couldn't do it too frequently or the matron would notice.
He realised on his first expedition how little there was to do in town, particularly with no money. That's when he turned to people watching. After all, learning to read people would be important to avoid getting betrayed again.
He had been watching the same familiar faces for half an hour when he spotted someone new. It was a young boy, and while he didn't seem to have any parents nearby, he kept glancing around nervously.
It wasn't long before he bumped into someone, not paying attention to where he was going. Seto was about to look away when he saw the boy's hand slip into the man's pocket.
He smirked. Maybe this boy was worth keeping an eye on.
Having made up his mind, he waited until the man was out of earshot, then walked over to the boy. "That was nicely done," he said.
The boy jolted. "I'm sorry! I don't have any parents and I was really hungry. Please don't turn me in!"
Seto smiled. "Well, that makes two of us. Don't worry, I just want to talk to you."
The boy hesitated, then asked, "Are you part of a gang?"
This time Seto actually laughed. "Of course not! I have better things in mind. Anyway, you seem bright enough. Why aren't you at an orphanage?"
This got the boy to look annoyed, which was at least better than the nervous look he'd had before. "I've seen what those places are like. The older boys pick on everyone else, and the adults don't care. I wouldn't last a week before running away."
Seto was beginning to form an idea, and he decided to act on an impulse while he had the chance. "Why don't you come with me? I'm good at keeping people away," he said with an odd mixture of bitterness and pride.
The boy gasped. "You'd really be willing to do that for me?"
Seto shrugged. "I don't see why not," he said. "You seem pretty bright. Of course, I do have one condition.
"It will be suspicious if I start protecting you and I don't even know your name. I'm Seto, by the way."
The boy smiled for the first time that day. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Mokuba."
As Seto led Mokuba to the orphanage for the first time, he decided that maybe today wasn't so bad after all.