It was the second time they had been left to die, or rather, the second time the Matron had left him in hopes that they would actually disappear. Tom couldn't really say he was surprised by the Matrons utter disregard for their safety (ignoring that the other children at the orphanage were simply baggage) but surely she knew better than to abandon them in the middle of London with no way to get back to that dreary building they called home.
It was late, and they had expected the Matron to come back to pick them up from the park she had left them in when she had gone to do some other business where having children around became too cumbersome: Tom understood that there were times when that was necessary, but he also knew that the chances of the Matron actually being sprawled somewhere in a drunken state were a lot higher.
It didn't help, seeing as he was the oldest in this group, that they were all looking to him to lead them back. The metallic taste in his mouth did nothing more than remind him that he had been punched by the scum on the street that had tried to take some of what little he had from the orphanage.
The filthy man had paid back in kind, his screams had filled that empty alley. Tom hadn't thought anyone would have noticed that. He had wandered quite a distance away from the rest of the orphanage children, and they tended to keep as far away from him as they possibly could. Tom had been a few streets down from here not too long ago, and could easily navigate back by himself.
It was now nearing the time the orphanage usually served dinner, and a group of children this large should have been noticed. Tom could hear some of the others loudly whining about being hungry, and the Matron having not returned yet.
Tom wondered if this was the first time it had happened to all of them, but it certainly wasn't for him. Perhaps that was because he was the 'demon' child to her, but singling out a single child would make the Matron look bad. He would have felt sorry for the brats caught up in this, if they weren't such whining brats.
If any of them had actually bothered to pay attention, they would realise that they weren't too far away: it seemed the Matron had taken them around a near circle, and had probably returned to the orphanage already.
Tom really didn't want to deal with these children coming up to him whenever they felt like in the future just because he led them back to the orphanage this time. It would be more than a little annoying, and Tom knew that this lot were impressionable and were likely to cling to their hope of him liking them for a long time.
But he didn't want to stay in this area after dark. That was never a good idea with a group of children because, chances were, they wouldn't all make it back to the orphanage safely, and Tom would be blamed.
So, Tom sighed, knowing that he didn't have much of a choice. And called the brats towards him, silencing their whining for a moment as he told them that they would be returning to the orphanage.
Written for Ultimate Battle: Riddle Era
Written for Pokemon Journey: It was the second time they had been left to die; metallic