There was a party going on in Hope's Peak Orphanage. Or, at least, that's what it sounded like, with the speakers on the T.V. blaring some kind of American rock music, and little eleven-year-old Leon Kuwata singing (more like, yelling) at the top of his lungs along with it.
"Will you shut up, you stupid oaf? I'm trying to read!" A little voice said from one corner of the room. The voice belonged to eleven-year-old Aoi Asahina, who had a book about swimming techniques clutched between her hands. "That music rots brain cells, anyway! Maybe that explains why you don't have any!"
"Shut up," was all that Leon said in reply, and he stuck his tongue out like the mature pre-teen he was. Asahina returned the gesture, frowning and looking back down at her book.
Both Leon and Asahina had become orphans at a very young age, and despite their constant bickering, the two were almost like siblings. Leon had even gone so far as to teach Asahina some English, as his mother had been American, and when they weren't bickering, they were often hanging out together.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, tiny six-year-old Chihiro Fujisaki was busy typing away at the computer screen in front of her, gently kicking her legs and humming a quiet tune as she did. Despite her age, Chihiro was a highly intelligent little girl, having quite the advanced knowledge of computers and whatnot. Her parents had died about a year ago, and her aunt and uncle dumped her at the orphanage, not wanting to take the burden of having a child. Even through all this, Chihiro somehow managed to be a happy, upbeat child.
Except, of course, when someone happened to play a trick on her.
Suddenly, a bucket of ice cold water was dumped on the tiny girl's head. Squealing, she instinctively pushed the computer away from her so it wouldn't get wet, as she knew that Daiya couldn't afford to buy her a new one. The culprit responsible for the cruel prank giggled as they ran away, and Chihiro knew exactly who it was. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she began to wail loudly.
"A-A-Aniki! Celestia p-pulled a p-p-prank on me!"
Celestia Ludenberg was the resident devil of the Orphanage, and her favorite pastime seemed to be making the other children miserable. She was one of the older children, twelve years old, and she usually chose the younger ones, like Chihiro and Naegi to pick on since they couldn't fight back.
"HEY! NOBODY HURTS MY BABY SISTER!" From around the corner, thirteen-year-old Mondo Oowada burst into the kitchen, his bandaged nose wrinkled and his fists clenched. Mondo had unofficially adopted Chihiro as his baby sister as soon as she'd come to the Orphanage, and he protected her viciously. The idea of anybody making her cry made him angrier beyond belief. "You get back here, Celes! I'm gonna make ya' pay!"
"How ungentlemanly of you, Mondo! I thought you said men do not hit ladies?" Celestia giggled from the hallway, peeking her head out into the kitchen. She held out a red, Victorian-looking fan and placed it in front of her face, smirking a bit.
"I never said I was gonna hit ya', I jus' said I was gonna make ya' pay! Now, c'mere!" With that, Mondo took off after Celestia, who squealed in surprise and sprang away, running off down the hallway and right into Sakura Oogami, who'd been carrying books into the Orphanage's small "library", which was basically just a collection of books that Daiya had acquired over the years. They both fell to the ground with an "oof", and the intimidating girl looked down on them. Although she was only sixteen, she was the oldest of them all, and the biggest; she was more muscular than even Daiya, and stronger than him too. Gulping, both Mondo and Celestia moved back a bit.
"S-Sorry, Sakura, w-we were jus'—"
"I heard," Sakura cut Mondo off. "Mondo was getting revenge for his little sister, whom Celestia dumped a bucket of water on, am I correct?" Celestia shuffled her feet, knowing that she'd been caught. "Celestia. You know better than that. Go give Chihiro an apology, and start a warm bath for her."
"B-but Sakura—!"
"Now." Sakura gave her a cold, yet careful glare, and Celestia sighed in defeat, getting to her feet and trudging off to the kitchen. Mondo simply sat there in pure shock as Sakura stepped over him, then cringed as he heard the next voice.
"Well? Are you just going to sit there like a wet rag or are you going to get out of my way?" It was none other than Byakuya Togami, his nose upturned, looking down at Mondo through his glasses in a much more condescending way than Sakura had. Although Togami was just barely nine years old, he acted like he was the leader of this place, what with all of the prestige his name carried. Although his parents had died, Togami was set to take over the Togami business which was being looked after by business associates once he reached eighteen, and he got weekly grants of money which he constantly shoved in the other children's faces whenever he possibly could. From behind him, his shy, stuttering fiancee Touko Fukawa peeked out, shaking and shivering nervously.
"Y-you tell him, M-Master Byakuya...!"
Togami and Fukawa had been paired together since they were practically infants by their parents, who had put them together for their "business potential". Although Fukawa had no interest in business, as she was a writer, she did have an interest for Togami. At first, Togami had outright rejected the girl, but for now, he dealt with her as a deal to his late parents, often using her loyalty to his advantage.
Mondo sneered up at Togami, before lashing out to kick him in the leg. It worked, and Togami hissed, clutching his leg. "Say please, otouto~!" Togami's face turned a bright red, and he snapped;
"I told you not to call me that, plankton!"
"Otouto~"
"Why you!"
"Why don'tcha make me stop, otouto~?"
"Alright, that's it!" Togami pounced onto the bigger boy, and Mondo laughed as they went tumbling down the hallway into the kitchen where Celestia and Chihiro still were. Hearing the commotion, Leon and Asahina ran in excitedly.
"Ooh, ooh, dogpile!" Asahina called, jumping on top of the two wrestling boys. Leon was quick to join her, and Celestia rolled her eyes.
"What a bunch of overgrown—" She started to say, before a wooden spoon hit her in the side of the head, and she frowned, rolling up her sleeves. "Okay, now you're in for it!"
Chihiro, deciding to be smart, hit the road and ran out of there, carrying her laptop to safety with her. Eleven-year-old Hifumi Yamada, and twelve-year old Sayaka Maizono, who'd been talking about Puella Magi Madoka Magica in the library, had come out once they'd heard the commotion, finding the pile of children wrestling on the floor. Looking at each other and giggling, Sayaka was quick to pull out her phone, recording the event for future blackmail, mostly against Celestia, since the two always seemed to be at odds with each other.
The kitchen was soon a mess of howling, squealing, and screaming children, and they were so preoccupied that they didn't notice the sound of the front door loudly opening and closing.
"Hey, hey, hey! What's all tha' racket about, knock it off, ya' dorks!" At the sound of the adult voice, the children immediately stopped mid-play, looking over to the door. Daiya Oowada stood there, a very unpleasant look on his face, holding the shivering, bandaged Kiyotaka Ishimaru in his arm. "Would any of ya' like ta' tell me why there's water all over tha' damn floor? An' why're ya' all in a screamin' pile on tha' floor?"
"We were just playing," Asahina said, her voice a bit muffled as she was currently pinned under Leon and Celestia. "Didja bring me back doughnuts, big bro? Huh, huh, didja?" She said excitedly, and at the mention of sweets, all of the children jumped up excitedly.
"Yeah, yeah! What'd ya get us fer dinner, Aniki?"
"I hope it's ramen, I love ramen!"
"We have ramen all the time, doofus!"
"I for one would like some escargot, or perhaps some salmon roe."
"Ah, shut up Celes, nobody likes that stuff but you!"
"Shut up, ya' dorks," Daiya said again, and almost immediately, the children quieted. "I haven't bought dinner yet, I got a lil' sidetracked. This here's Kiyotaka Ishimaru, and we're gonna be takin' care of him from here on out, got it?" Gently, he set the boy down, and almost immediately, he gripped onto Daiya's legs, shaking. "Hey, 's okay, lil' guy. They don't bite. 'Cept maybe Celes." Kiyotaka yelped, and Daiya gave a laugh. It was a beautiful, hearty laugh, and for some reason, it made Kiyotaka feel very safe. "I was kiddin', kiddo." Ruffling the boy's hair, he gently detached him from his legs, and pushed Kiyotaka towards the other children.
"Now, you guys be nice to Kiyo-chan, a'ight? I'm gonna go get dinner for you bottomless brats. An' if ya' step one foot outta line..." He pointed menacingly at the children, letting his sentence hang in the air. They all gulped simultaneously; many of the children's greatest fear was getting a talking-to by Daiya. "I'll be back. Don' burn tha' house down, a'ight?" Obediently, the children nodded, and as quickly as he came, Daiya was gone.
For a moment, Kiyotaka stood there like a frightened puppy about to wet his pants, looking at the other children with wide red eyes. And then, there was an arm around his shoulders, and Mondo had pulled him in and ruffled his hair.
"Yeah! Kiyo-chan, I'm namin' you my new official Kyoudai!"
"K-Kyoudai?" Kiyotaka blushed a little, biting his lip. Brother? No one had ever called him Kyoudai. Or Kiyo-chan, for that matter. And even though it was childish, he enjoyed it. Taking a deep breath, Kiyotaka straightened, and started to cry.
"I-I'LL BE THE BEST BROTHER YOU'VE EVER HAD, KYOUDAI!"
Strangely enough, the loss of his first family had given him a new one. A new family that he liked very, very much.