Chapter 36 – The New Orphanage

Tea entered the orphanage grounds, thinking about whether or not to talk to Jade about Seto's absence, and frowned at the sight of no children playing outside. "They're usually outside when I come over unless it's raining," she thought as she looked up at the clear, blue sky. "I wonder what's up… Did something happen with the local gangs or something? Jade always takes them inside when she hears gunfire…" Strolling across the area, she opened the door up and closed it behind her, her eyes widening in shock at the sight before her.

All of the kids were huddled around the long table used for meals, their eyes wide and mouths hanging open in surprise and awe. Some were pointing at whatever was on the table, but she couldn't make it out. Both Jade and Seto were standing and watching as the kids looked at whatever it was they were being shown, smiles on both of their faces. She noticed, too, how Lilith was clinging onto Seto's hand for dear life.

"What are you all doing?" she asked, watching in amusement as all eleven heads looked over at her in unison. Seto's smile widened slightly as Jade waved at her.

"There you are!" she exclaimed. "Come over here; have we got a sight for you!"

Tea nodded and walked over the table, blinking in surprise at what she saw. They were all pictures of rooms being built, some already completed, along with pictures of furniture and other necessities. "What is all this?" she asked, looking up and down the table at all the pictures.

"These are pictures of the new orphanage Seto is building," Jade explained. "We're happy to say that it's almost done."

"Really?!" she exclaimed, looking up in surprise at Seto, who nodded his head.

"Really," he repeated. "This is some of the furniture that will be in it, but we haven't gotten everything yet. I just figured we could let these kids see some of what's to come."

She had to admit that there was definitely good reason for these kids to be as shocked as they were. It looked like he was building them a resort hotel rather than an orphanage. She saw a picture of a small, outdoor pool being built, along with pictures of a finished kitchen and dining room. "These kids are going to be living in better conditions than I currently live in!" she thought.

"There aren't going to be many decorative things since these kids here wouldn't really notice or understand much of it," Seto continued to explain. "Most of the rooms are simple, but I made sure there was more than enough room for them. It's two stories; the first story has a study room, the kitchen, the dining room, and a game room, while the second story has three bathrooms and four bedrooms. It's an easy layout and shouldn't be hard to get used to. Then we have the pool and playground area out back."

"Wow…is this what you were checking on that one day?" Tea asked, considering the time the two had walked in the rain together.

"Exactly. I was making sure it wasn't being built too big; we don't need to build a mansion for these kids. I just wanted something a bit better than this. Plus, it's in a decent area as you saw, so we won't have to worry about…" Choosing his wording carefully, he finished with, "…danger outside."

Tea nodded her head in understanding and smiled over at Lilith, who had been eyeing her this entire time. Lilith chuckled and looked back down at the table, most likely hoping to stop Tea from looking at her. "She seems to be a bit more outgoing, even just by standing there," Tea noted. "Although she's holding onto Seto's hand as if he's going to up and vanish any second now."

"So we're going to be living in this soon?" Harem asked, his short black hair ruffled up slightly.

"Hopefully," Seto answered. "We're almost done building the place, and then all we have to do is buy you guys some furniture."

"What kind of furniture are you going to buy, Big Brother?" Luke asked, his gaze shooting up in Seto's direction.

"I'm not sure yet. Comfortable stuff, I can assure you. Wouldn't want you sleeping on boards, now would we?"

"That doesn't sound very comfy," Caterina complained, making the group chuckle.

"No, we're going to make sure you kids are taken care of, I promise," Seto replied, receiving smiles from all the kids before they returned to their amazement at the pictures. Tea walked around the table and stood next to Seto, who had since backed away in order to allow some of the kids better viewing of the pictures.

"Is this where you've been all day?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "Sorry I didn't give you a call, but I didn't realize I'd be skipping school today until this morning when one of the construction crews asked for me to come in and make sure things were going the way I wanted it to."

"No, it's okay. I was just…worried."

He pursed his lips together before letting out a sigh. "You were worried I didn't get any sleep," he whispered.

"Something like that…"

"I got a few more hours than normal, so maybe I'm starting to get better. It's odd…when I think…" Shaking his head, he said, "I'll tell you later. Let's just not talk about that right now."

"What's the matter?" Jade asked, noticing Seto's sudden expression. He quickly shook his head and smiled over at her.

"She was just worried as to why I skipped school today," he answered. "She thought it was because I was sick."

Jade nodded her head slowly as if accepting the answer without believing it before walking around the table. "Well, I'm going to make them an early dinner since tonight is their planned 'gaming' night."

"What is that?" Seto asked, a smirk appearing on his face.

"All the boys decided that they wanted to have a gaming night, and the girls wanted to join in. They said they want to stay up as long as possible and play video games non-stop. Multiplayer games, like Halo, and I said that as long as they behaved, I was fine with it."

"So they're planning their own events now?" Tea questioned, glancing down at the kids in respect.

"I guess so. Lilith here even wants to join them."

Both Tea and Seto smiled down at her as a blush appeared on her pale complexion. "Caterina invited me to join her team," she explained, her voice barely above a whisper. "She said she would teach me how to play and would help me out."

"Well that's good to hear," Seto stated. "I'm glad to see you're making friends now. Are you a bit happier here?"

Lilith nodded her head and smiled widely. "Yeah, they all seem really nice."

"Yo Lilith!" Lacy shouted, her blonde hair pulled back into a bun now. "Come see this pool! It looks so awesome!" Glancing up at Seto as if to ask for permission, Lilith waited until he nodded his head before letting go of his hand and running over to the table.

"She seems to have taken a liking to you," Jade noted, smirking over at the CEO.

"Apparently…"

"You thinking of adopting her once you're out of high school?" she asked, eyeing the two mischievously. "Or are you going to have kids of your own?"

"We already dealt with Mokuba's jokes," Seto complained, smirking back at Jade. "We don't need any from you. But in all seriousness, I was actually thinking of maybe adopting her later on."

"I'm glad to hear it." Laughing, she grabbed Seto's cheek and said, "My little boy is growing up! Awww, how cute!"

Tea burst out laughing as Seto wrenched his cheek away and nursed it with his hand. "I am not your little boy," he scolded.

"Don't forget that you used to be, though!" she exclaimed, grinning widely at him. "Tea, you may have won his heart, but I still have pictures of him when he was just a little kid! He's still my little brother!"

"Oh really?" she asked slyly. "Is there anyway I could see these lovely pictures?"

"Why is it that everyone makes fun of me for this?!" he exclaimed.

"We aren't making fun of you," Jade argued. "We just know how cute you are…or in my case how you used to be!"

"Alright, enough. Let's change this subject now before Mokuba decides to randomly call and add onto the conversation."

Tea chuckled and nodded her head. "Oh, I heard you talked to Joey last night," she stated, watching as Seto's eyes blinked in surprise.

"He told you guys then?" Seto asked.

"Yeah. He said the conversation went well and that he was worried his attempt at trying to be nice to you made you sick."

Seto chuckled and said, "Yes, he would think something like that, now wouldn't he?"

"And who are we talking about now?" Jade asked, confusion in her expression.

"That kid that body slammed me," Seto answered.

"He seems to really respect you now, though," Tea quickly commented as Jade's eyes turned into a menacing glare, one that could go at odds with Seto's signature look.

"Yeah. We talked for nearly an hour. He wanted to apologize for his actions, and I said I would accept it as long as he respected the fact that you were with me. I don't really care how he feels about me; I just don't want him to get worked up at you over this whole thing. I didn't want you losing friends because of your choice to be with me."

"Joey mentioned how you said you wouldn't ever let anything happen to me…"

"I just wanted him to know that I wouldn't hurt his friend at all," Seto stated. "I can understand trust issues, especially ones dealing with friends and family. I could understand where he was coming from, I guess. I just wanted to assure him that I would respect you and treat you well. I think he believed I would be the cold-hearted person I am at work towards you."

"I'm glad to see that things worked out, though."

"Me too. I don't like being attacked because of trust issues, even if I can comprehend them."

"Tristan and Yugi also support this, so I guess the whole group is okay with it."

"I figured Yugi would be fine with it. He seemed to sense that the cold exterior I have wasn't my true self. I have to admit that I was worried about Tristan's reaction as well."

"I was honestly surprised at how calm he was about it," Tea agreed. "He seemed to be like Yugi; he must have known you couldn't always be cruel."

"Hey Big Brother, when are we going to move here?" Brethor suddenly asked, grabbing all three adults' attentions.

"Hopefully soon," Seto stated. "In a couple of weeks, everything should be set up for you all."

"Awww!" they all exclaimed. "But a couple of weeks is basically forever!" Harem moaned.

Tea chuckled at their childish remark and saw Seto smile. "Trust me, it will be worth the wait," he assured them.

"So much for not being a parent to these kids," Tea remarked, seeing Seto turn to face her. "You act just like one."

"Maybe…" he replied. "I only want what's best for them—"

"—just like a parent would." He smirked over at her, and Tea saw the glint of light she had seen in the pool that day once again shine through in his eyes.

"It's hard to imagine myself being a parent though. I have nobody to go off of."

Tea grasped his hand in hers and smiled. "It's okay. You act better than most parents do to these kids. It doesn't matter whether you have a role model to go off of or not. You see how much you mean to these kids…"

As if on cue, Lilith came running back over and smiled up at the two. "Thank you for building this place for us," she stated. "It looks really cool."

Seto smiled a genuine smile at her, lighting his face up and bringing back the look of him being his own age, eighteen. He nodded his head and said, "It's no problem. I just want you kids to be safe."

She nodded and grabbed onto his other hand once more, whispering a small 'thank you', before Jade walked forward.

"Alright, tell Seto over here he needs to clean the table up so that we can eat soon!" she exclaimed. All the kids quickly bolted up and ran over to Seto, pictures of the orphanage in their hands. He blinked in surprise and took them away before they all ran back to the television, setting up for their night of video gaming. "That works too, I guess," she answered.

"Just their way of saying thanks," Tea commented, noticing the small blush that began to appear on Seto's face.