Chapter 7 – Importance
Tea walked into the orphanage building and smiled as the kids looked up from what they were doing and waved at her, all of them smiling widely at her presence. She waved back and saw that they were all either sitting in chairs or on the sofa, each of them reading a book fit for their age. Looking around, she saw no sign of Jade and glanced back at the kids. "Do you guys know where Jade is?" she asked, feeling slightly bad about disrupting their reading session.
"She's in the kitchen," Harem stated, pointing at the nearby wooden door.
"Thanks," she replied before going into the adjacent room. Walking in, she saw that the kitchen was actually a very nice size and extremely well done. The flooring was a teal carpet while the walls were a beige wood. One wall was dedicated to a teal counter top with dark, wooden cabinets beneath, an oven, and a refrigerator. Along the other wall was a small bookshelf full of cookbooks and several tables with a microwave, blender, and other things laid about. She saw Jade, who was cutting up some vegetables on a wooden cutting board, look up and smile over at her.
"Welcome back!" she exclaimed, placing the knife down on the table.
"'Welcome back?'" Tea repeated. "This is only my first day!"
"I know, but after most people come to see the children for the first time, they leave. I already told you before that people don't like this kind of a job. It's too depressing for most hearts." Sighing, Jade closed her eyes and shook her head. "Most people don't want to think that these children are all alone in the world. They'd rather forget that fact and live thinking that everyone has a happy family to go home to. But I'm glad Seto recommended you for the job. You seem like you can handle this sort of thing." Tea chuckled inwardly at the irony of Seto recommending her after scolding her earlier that day for having thin skin. "What?" she asked, glaring slightly over at her. "Did I say something funny?"
"No, no!" Tea stated, waving her hands slightly in front of her chest. "I wasn't laughing at you. It's just…Kaiba and I got into an argument this morning, so the idea that he recommended me for this job is just kind of awkward."
"You two got into an argument? Well, you are Yugi's friend. I guess that doesn't help much."
"We didn't get into an argument because of my friendship with Yugi," Tea explained. "He wanted to make sure that I knew that, just because I saw him being kind to those kids out there, he wasn't going to suddenly treat me as if we've always been friends."
"His defense mechanism," Jade observed as she went back to her cutting. "After he left the orphanage, he never liked having friends. I can honestly say I'm surprised he and I are still as close as ever. But he doesn't trust people the way he did as a child. Nobody does, but he kind of took it to the extreme. Of course, I can't blame him, but again, that's not my place to say. Just know that he doesn't mean to hurt you; he just has problems with trusting others."
"That's what he said. He actually comforted me afterwards because I was upset over the altercation and said that he just wanted to keep me away."
"That's Seto for you. He always had problems with his emotions. I think that's why he likes technology; he doesn't have to think with his heart about it. That doesn't make him heartless. Far from it. Just look at these kids here. He would do anything for these kids. Sometimes I think he just thinks of them as his family, a family he never had besides Mokuba." Shaking her head, she said, "I'm sorry, but I think we need to end this conversation. I don't like talking about Seto like this, with him being absent from the conversation. Please understand."
"Oh, it's alright. So…what are the kids doing right now?" She began walking over to see what Jade was cutting up. It was a mixture of carrots and celery. She was placing them in a big bowl, obviously making a sort of salad.
"They're reading, or at least learning how to. Most of the kids here know how to read, but there are a few young ones who are just learning. Some of the older kids volunteered to help them learn. We make sure that they understand that education is important, especially since we don't want them going to school with no knowledge whatsoever. So I always have them read for at least an hour a day. They enjoy it, surprisingly enough. You would think that kids, especially the boys, would hate to read, but it's actually the contrary. They can't wait for reading time."
"I take it that the girl who Kaiba bought the book for likes to read?"
"That's all she does, basically. Of course, she isn't talking to the others yet. I'm beginning to worry about her. Usually the child at least begins to interact with the others after a week or so passes, but it's been nearly two and a half weeks, and she hasn't once said a word to the others."
"What was her name? Lilith?"
"Yeah." Setting the knife down, Jade looked over at Tea and smiled. "I'm going to have them stop reading and let them watch television until dinner is ready. They've been reading for at least an hour and a half."
"Okay. But…um…" Jade blinked and waited for Tea to finish. "…What are you going to do about Lilith? I mean, are you just going to let her go and not talk to anybody."
"Of course not. What I'll probably do is have Seto talk to her. He always talks to the kids if they're having a problem, and they always enjoy listening to him. Until then, I'll just let her do her own thing."
"Don't you want to try and talk to her?"
"Why? You have to understand, Tea, that I'm a worker here. I mean, sure I connect with these kids, and sure they see me as a parent, but…it's different. They think of Seto as a friend, not as a parent. And being an orphan…friends and parents are two completely different things. I take care of them and comfort them to the best of my abilities, but I can only do so much. Besides, I can't relate to them like Seto can. After all, I had parents all my life. He didn't, and he can understand what they're thinking a lot better than I can."
"Oh, I see."
"Why don't you go out and talk to Lilith? Maybe being a newcomer, she'll open up to you a little bit. Or if you're interested in Seto, you can always ask the kids what they think about him. Maybe it'll help you get a better understanding on why Seto comes here so often. As for me, I have to finish this up. Feeding all these kids can be a challenge sometimes! But I enjoy cooking them new things and watching the ones who like it versus the ones who don't."
Tea nodded her head and smiled before leaving the kitchen. Walking over to the large group, she waved at them all and said, "Jade says you all can stop reading now. If you want, you can watch television until dinner is ready."
"Alright!" Caterina shouted as the kids quickly stood up and went to put their books on the bookshelf. That is, all except Lilith, who sat in a leather chair in the back corner. Tea watched the other kids sit all around the television, the twins and the brothers taking the couch while the rest sat on the floor. Marcus leaned forward to turn the television on, and all of them began watching what looked like a cartoon show. Deciding that they were now occupied, she walked over to where Lilith was sitting and leaned against the wall near the chair.
"Hey, why don't you join the others?" she asked, her voice calm and soft so the others couldn't hear her. "I'm sure they want you to hang out with them."
Lilith shook her head and closed her book, and Tea immediately recognized it as the one Kaiba had bought her. "I just want to read," Lilith complained, holding her book close to her and looking up meekly at Tea. "I don't like watching cartoons."
Realizing that the girl probably wasn't going to open up to the other kids, she decided to try out another strategy. "If Lilith opens up to Kaiba and me, maybe she'll start socializing with the other kids," Tea thought, leaning down so that her arms were on the arm rest and her head rested on her arms. "Do you like the book Kaiba bought you?"
"Kaiba? Oh, you mean Seto. He doesn't like it when we call him Kaiba."
"Oh, I'm sorry. But do you like the book?"
"Uh-huh," the girl answered, the signs of a small smile beginning to appear on her face.
"What do you like about it?"
"It's a very complex storyline, but I think it's a really good story. I also like the characters since they're always arguing with one another. It's pretty funny."
"Is it supposed to be a humorous book?"
"It's got a little bit of both humor and seriousness in it, which is pretty cool."
"I'm glad you like it. Did you ask for it for your birthday?"
"Yes. Seto knows all of our birthdays and makes sure to get us something. When he realized mine was close, he promised to get me something. I…It kind of surprised me that he got me the book I've been looking everywhere for. I couldn't find it at all."
"Well, I'm sure he's happy that you like it." Lilith nodded her head, and Tea smiled as the little girl's smile widened. "You all seem to really like Seto."
"He comes to visit us at least once a week," Lilith explained. "Other than people looking to adopt, which the kids say is really rare these days, he's our only visitor. The other kids were telling me all about him. They say he makes games for us to play and installs them into the television so we can play them at any time. He also buys us stuff for school if we really need it. Harem even said that, for the last day of school, Seto had them set off fireworks at the end of the day."
Tea blinked in surprise at the girl. "Se…Uh, Kaiba…he seems so important to these kids. I wonder…if I stay here…will I become important like he is to these kids? I think I'm beginning to understand why he works here…Just to support these kids when they need somebody else…" "What grade are you in?" Tea asked.
"I'm in third grade now," Lilith answered.
"Do you like school?" Lilith nodded her head and went to say something when they both heard a bell begin to ring.
"Dinner's ready, kids!" Jade exclaimed as she set a large pot onto the long table which had twelve places set up. "Marcus, turn the television off! Let's show Miss Tea how well Miss Jade can cook!"
All the kids stood up and walked over to the table, leaving two seats for Tea and Jade to sit side by side. Tea took Lilith's hand as she stood up, set the book onto the chair, and walked over to sit next to Tea. She noticed Jade smile slightly at the two before beginning to dish out spaghetti. "Oh, I couldn't stay for dinner!" Tea protested.
"Please! All our workers, a.k.a you and me, stay for dinner! It's part of the job! If you help me wash dishes later on, you can eat to your heart's content!"
All the kids giggled at this, and Tea reluctantly sat down at the table. "Maybe I'm becoming important to these kids too," she thought as she saw them all smile widely at her when she took her seat. "Visitor, worker…it doesn't matter who it is. These kids just need somebody to lean on. Somebody to be important to them…"
Sighing, she closed her eyes and thought, "I'm beginning to think this will become more than a community service project. No wonder Kaiba was worried about me and wanted to protect these kids. As he's important to these kids…these kids are important to him. Will…Will these kids become important to me?" Smelling the spaghetti that was suddenly placed on her plate, she smiled and pushed all thoughts aside, deciding to enjoy the evening with the kids and Jade as though it was her family, wondering if the kids thought of her as such the entire time.