Author's Note: Sorry it's been forever since I updated this story, but I've been busy with work and band a lot this week. So to make up for it, I wrote a couple of chapters for you all. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4 – The Big Brother

Tea could only stare in absolute shock at the event that was unfolding before her. Seto Kaiba, the infamous CEO of KaibaCorp…rival to her best friend…coldest man on the face of the entire planet…was actually being welcomed by the children at the orphanage. The kids were gathering around him as if he was a celebrity…well, technically he was, but they acted as though they knew him. All the children had smiles on their faces, big smiles, and were telling him stories about their adventures all at once, causing a rather big scene. But the best part was Seto's reaction to the entire thing. He was smiling as well, though it was just a small one, and kneeled down to get a better view of the kids. He had since changed out of his school uniform and into his Battle City attire.

"What…is he doing here?" she asked aloud. Jade chuckled and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He's the other student that works here," Jade stated, smirking widely at her. "I've never seen a reaction like this before. This is actually pretty humorous, if I do say so myself."

"But…what's he doing here?" she repeated, looking in awe at Jade before returning her attention to Kaiba.

"He works here!" she exclaimed, obviously trying to suppress the urge to laugh. "He comes once a week to visit the kids here. They all really like him; they look at him more as an older brother than a worker."

"Really…." It was all she could say. The whole ordeal seemed beyond real. "Why does he visit here?"

"Because this is where he went," she answered, her voice suddenly dropping in both pitch and volume. Tea glanced over to see a downcast expression appear on Jade's face for several seconds before a smile returned to her face. "He knows that these kids don't get to see very many people and tries to visit them from time to time. He won't admit it, but you can tell he enjoys it."

Tea nodded her head in understanding and began to walk toward the group when she felt Jade reach out and grab her wrist. "Don't interrupt them," she warned. "This is Seto's time to see them. I don't want that time to be disturbed. These kids look forward to it as much as Seto does. Please…just let them all talk to him for awhile." Nodding once more, she felt Jade release her grasp and decided to merely stand and watch.

"So, Big Bro, what have you been doing lately?" the boy who called himself Harem asked. "Have you been working at the company like always?"

Seto chuckled and nodded his head. "Yeah, I've been pretty busy there," he answered.

"Even his voice seems to have changed…" Tea noted. "He sounds so calm, so relaxed…his voice isn't cold or demeaning in any way. It sounds the same way it does when he speaks to Mokuba. If these kids think of him as an older brother, does he go so far as to think of them as his little siblings?"

"Are you making any new inventions?" Harem's brother, Steven, asked.

"Not this week. Mostly just dealing with other CEO's."

"Wow!" Brethor exclaimed. "Were any of them as powerful as you?"

At this, Seto smirked slightly and shook his head. "I'm not sure," he answered. "I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?"

"I'll bet they aren't even close to you!" Lacy stated. Seto chuckled again and merely shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm happy he comes to visit them," Jade commented. Tea looked over to see that she had crossed her arms over her chest and was smiling at the group. "He acts so differently around them, and I think that's good for him. He talks to them the way they should be talked to; he doesn't speak to them like they're business executives or enemies of his. He just…acts like himself towards them."

"How long has he worked here?" Tea questioned.

"About three years now. Once Gozaburo got out of the picture…" At this, she frowned and shook her head. "No, I don't want to talk about it. You can ask him yourself about this. He doesn't like it when people talk about his past, and I respect that from him. I've known him since he went to this orphanage, so I hold him in high regards."

"You've known him for how long?" Tea asked, her eyes wide. Did the surprises never end today?

"Maybe…five years, now?" Placing her finger on her chin, Jade stared intently at Seto and nodded her head. "Yeah, five years. Doesn't seem like that long, though."

"Wow…" The fact that Seto had any friends, let alone friends from five years ago, was just the icing on the cake for today's events.

"Yeah. I'm one of the few that have stuck with him through and through. He had a lot of friends here at the orphanage, but most of them were adopted shortly after he left. I stuck around since my father lived and worked here, which was why it was so easy for me to take over."

Tea went to ask something when he heard Seto begin to speak again to the kids. Marcus had been telling him a story about Luke and him making up a new game, so Seto hadn't spoken during her conversation with Jade. "Where is Lilith?" he asked, his eyes scanning over the group.

Both Tea and Jade blinked at this question. She watched as Lilith, who had been in the background the entire time yet again, slowly walked forward. Tea could see her head was bowed, just as it was when she had confronted Tea, and she wondered what the deal was. "Does Seto know she's new and introducing himself to her or something?" she thought, watching intently. "He wouldn't put a child in front of the others to humiliate her like he does with people his age, if not older. He may be cruel, but not that cruel."

She saw him pull something out of his trenchcoat, and it looked like a present. It was a rectangular box, covered with purple fabric. "Happy birthday," he stated, smiling down at her. It was the first time she had ever seen Seto give a genuine smile to somebody other than his little brother. Lilith slowly reached out and grabbed it, and the sound of the tearing paper ensued, followed by the children all gasping and asking to see it. "Do you like it?"

Lilith quickly looked up and ran up to Seto, wrapping her arms around him, and began to sob into his shirt. Seto slowly wrapped his arms around her and began to rub her back slowly to calm her down. Tea wanted to suddenly run up to the girl and calm her down as well but chose to stand and let Seto do the work. "He must have gotten it for her…" Jade thought aloud, grabbing Tea's attention.

"What? What did he get her that made her cry?"

"It wasn't the present that made her cry," she explained. "You see, Lilith told us when she arrived here that she always read at home, and though we have a small library here, there's nothing really worthwhile to read, especially since she reads book beyond her age level. So Seto asked when her birthday was, and when she said it was in two weeks, Seto agreed to buy her one book. He must have bought the book she asked for."

"So then why is she crying?" Tea asked.

"Think about it. The girl just lost both her parents. Remembering that she used to read all the time must have made her remember her parents. It's a common reaction to things that the children dealt a lot with prior to their parents' deaths. It brings back memories, memories of things long gone. The girl is just reacting the way every child would when the thought of their parents' being dead returns to their mind."

"It's still sad…" Tea remarked, watching as Seto let go her and held her out at arms' length.

"Are you going to read the book?" he asked, a smile still on his face. The girl quickly nodded her head, wiped her tears away, and ran through the crowd of kids towards Jade. Holding the book up, she smiled at the two before running inside. Tea smiled at the girl and looked back over at the group, expecting to see Seto talking to the other children. What she got was an absolutely death glare from said CEO.

"Uh oh," Jade whispered. "You, uh, know him?"

"Yeah," Tea answered. "I'm Yugi's friend."

Jade's head shot over at her, her eyes wide as saucers. "And you didn't mention this why?" she asked in a tone of utter amazement.

"At least I'm not the only one being surprised today," Tea thought. "I didn't see any reason to. You never told me who the other student was until just now. How was I supposed to know that it would be Kaiba?"

Jade flinched slightly at this, making Tea suddenly worried. "Sorry, it's just that you never--"

"No, it's nothing," Jade interrupted, waving her hand as if to dismiss the comment. "You're correct. Anyways, Seto is probably not going to be happy about this, but we need the help. Hey Seto!" she called over, although there was no point as Seto was staring right at them. "Can you come over here for a second?" Tea noticed how she had exaggerated using 'Seto' rather than 'Kaiba' and watched as he slowly stood up, smiled down at the kids one last time, and walked over to the two, his eyes never even glancing at her.

"What is it, Jade?" he asked, his tone normal and icy.

"She says she's going to start working for us," Jade answered. "I was wandering if that was okay with you?"

"Okay with him?" Tea thought, refraining from giving Jade an incredulous look. "Isn't she the one in charge of this place? Why is she asking Se-I mean Kaiba permission to hire me? If I would have known that I would have to deal with him, I would have never even thought about being hired."

She saw Seto slowly turn to face her, his eyes scanning her up and down, before shrugging his shoulders and smirking at Jade. "She'll do fine," he replied, making Tea's heart stop. "I know her, though not very well. She's good."

"Alrighty then," Jade replied. "Looks like two will start working with each other. Hope to see you tomorrow, Tea." Holding her hand out, Jade smiled as Tea slowly shook it and walked back inside, leaving Tea alone outside with the kids, who had since gone back to their games, discussing Seto's visit with them. All she could do was simply leave, trying to comprehend what exactly happened and what she had gotten herself into.