Author's Note: I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I hope that this chapter makes up for it. The beginnings of Rina's relation to Kaiba revealed! It's important to remember that this is A MEMORY, not what is occurring in "present time" in the story, for all you newcomers. Warnings for this chapter: Mild violence
I sat in my room at the orphanage, alone as always. I listened carefully to the birds' cheerful chirping just outside my window, watched the flutters of color pass back and forth on each bird's journey to the feeder in the back yard. All of my fellow orphans were out playing on the playground, but I'd opted to stay inside, and simply watch the beauty of the outside world from afar. It was not too terribly often I was given free time; Miss Phyllis, the new owner of the facility, seemed to take great pleasure in assigning the most mundane maintenance tasks to me. But on a whim, she'd given me about two hours of freedom… perhaps it was a birthday present! Today, I had turned eleven, though I greatly doubted this was her gift to me; no one ever remembered my birthday.
I heard a car pull into the building's driveway, which surprised me, for it was not often we had visitors. Only a few children had friends from the outside world come to see them, and I certainly was not one of them, so there was no reason for the sound of a car to interest me, actually. Today though, the sound had disrupted my bird watching. I did not know the significance of this interruption until much later. I turned on my tiny stool, jumping onto my mattress on the floor. Curious eyes peeked around the edge of the doorframe, watching as a police officer and two boys walked up the sidewalk to the orphanage's door. I immediately felt sympathy for the two newcomers, and I pondered what could've possibly happened to their parents, and if it could possibly be worse than what happened to my family.
There was a brief conversation between Miss Phyllis and the officer, before the officer tipped his hat, and retreated out the main entrance. Miss Phyllis turned to the two boys. One looked about my age, with brunette hair, one considerably younger, with much longer black hair. I could tell she was explaining something to them, but when the raven-haired boy began asking questions, she lost her patience quite quickly. She turned away, and spotted me peeking out from my room. "Ah, yes, of course. Rina, come here please! I want you to show these two around the orphanage!" I cautiously stepped out of the safety of my room, slowly shuffling toward the newcomers.
Miss Phyllis had already left us alone, awkwardly glancing at one another in the facility's tiny lobby. The brunette had pain in his eyes, unmasked and burning with indignation. The younger one seemed not to understand the pain of who I presumed was his older brother. I decided that was a good place to start a conversation. "Are you two brothers, then?" I questioned, taking both of them off guard. The black-haired boy backed up, hiding behind the brunette, who was the one to answer me in the end.
"Yes, we are. My name is Seto, and this is my brother Mokuba," he answered, petting his brother's head quite lovingly. I could tell he cared a great deal for his younger sibling, just from the manner of the touch. I smiled at him in return, and extended a hand politely. For some reason, I felt as though I could be friendly toward this pair, and not be scorned.
"My name's Rina, Rina Odaria. I've been here a while, so if you have any questions, just ask, 'kay?" Seto nodded, and took my hand. With a light tug, I managed to get the two siblings to follow me back towards the kitchen, where I did a majority of my work. I expected to see Miss Phyllis preparing everyone's lunch, but instead, ran into the chef, a man known as Joku. I didn't quite understand his purpose – he was the chef, and yet Phyllis did all of the cooking herself. Perhaps they were related, and he'd been given the job out of pity. It was certainly interesting how at scarcely eleven, I could make this assumption.
"Rina, how long have you been here?" Seto asked, clearly some attempt for small talk as I led them though the rooms. I stopped walking briefly, and turned to face the brothers.
"I've been here since I was six, almost seven. So, five years…" My own response caused my heart to sink lower than it had in a good year or so. No one had come for me, no one really loved me, and no one would ever adopt the 'creepy child in the corner'. I'd been called that more than once; I could assure anyone of that. It took a deep breath and several speechless moments which followed to clear the thoughts from my mind. I was surprised when Mokuba, who looked only five or six, walked over to me and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. "T-thank you," I stammered, gently hugging the child in return. He beamed up at me, and we continued our tour.
Not a half hour later, Miss Phyllis had fetched everyone for lunch. By now, I felt secure around the brothers, and they kept close to me all throughout lunch. Some of the other children were giving Seto strange looks; some were trying to intimidate Mokuba into giving them his leftover food, already. But because I was seated between them, nothing momentous ever really happened – no one wanted to come near me. The other kids had once called me "scary", and it worked as a double-edged sword: I was lonely, but I was safe.
There wasn't much conversation between the three of us for the rest of the day; I'd been sent to the kitchen to sweep and wash dishes, while Seto and Mokuba were turned loose with the other orphans to play outside. Once I had finished my chores, there were scarcely ten minutes until dinner. The process we'd experiencing during lunch repeated itself. I sat between the brothers, and so no one said anything to any of us. Miss Phyllis rang the dinner clean-up bell, and I was off to work in the kitchen again. To my surprise, the kid Seto had followed me in to help, and told his brother to go play with the other kids in the toy room. He was taller than I was, so he helped me put away dishes in the cupboards I couldn't reach; I appreciated his help very much.
"What do you think of this place?" I asked, not looking up from scraping noodles off of a plate. Seto finished drying the dish he was working on, placed it on one of the drying racks, and turned to me. The hurt present earlier in the day was back, more so than before even. I was young, but I knew pain, and I was concerned for him.
"It's alright, I suppose. None of the others seem to like us though," he replied, trying to act more cheery than he felt, I was sure. I frowned, and turned toward the brunette with a small sigh.
"It's because of me," I began, leaning against the counter. "They're all scared of me, and they saw you two with me, so now they're probably scared of you." Seto seemed to ponder this for a moment, he too leaning up against the counter. I awaited his reply with a sour taste in my mouth, and a knot tight in my stomach.
"No, I don't think that." I faltered a bit, unable to say anything or do anything. He gave me a tiny smile, and extended a hand toward me, which I took; his palm was warm and wet with dishwater, and somehow more comforting than the hands of my own caretaker, Miss Phyllis. "I'd rather be friends with you. You're not like the rest of them. You're not… stupid," he commented, allowing for a short pause before we both giggled at his statement. I returned his smile, running by own soapy hand along his. A loud thump interrupted our exchange of sentiments, however, so we pulled apart and hastily returned to our work. Joku came stumbling into the kitchen, giving Seto a curious glance.
"New boy, hmm?" he inquired, leaning down to gently elbow Seto into the ribs. Seto blushed in embarrassment, nodding his head quickly. I tried, but couldn't hold back all of my laughter. Joku winked at me, tipped his old cap, and stumbled back through the door which he'd come through. We exchanged amused glances, and returned to our jobs. Seto and I laughed and talked until we'd finished our task of washing the dishes. He then suggested we go to try and find Mokuba with the other kids, and I reluctantly agreed to the quest.
As soon as we entered the toy room, I knew something was wrong. Gorochi, one of the oldest boys in the orphanage stood near the corner, his two friends Wan and Haku close at his sides. I couldn't see past their fat figures, but I could only assume Mokuba lay trembling beneath them in the corner. I knew Gorochi to be a bully, and his two friends weren't far behind. It looked as though Seto was confused, so I decided to enlighten him in the most blatant way possible. "Gorochi, get away from Mokuba." I was surprised at the steeliness in my voice, as were most of the others surrounding us. Gorochi didn't turn to face me, but I had instantly enraged Seto, who quite violently flung his entire body at the bully.
Though Gorochi was considerably larger than Seto, both by weight and height, I found myself amazed as Seto brought the elder to his knees with a well-placed tackle and punch. Unfortunately, it seemed as though he'd forgotten about Wan and Haku, now both towering over Seto, who sat contently on the bully's chest. "Don't you ever hurt my brother. Ever!" he barked; everyone watched as a smug grin came over Gorochi's face. He pointed at Wan, who raised a fist over the exposed brunette child. I knew I was much smaller than Wan, let alone Haku (who probably stood a good eight inches taller than me) but I charged into battle with all the bravery of a Norseman. The force of a good tackle brought Wan down, and I quickly stepped in Haku's way of Seto right after that.
I took a decent blow to my chest, but summoned up enough energy for retaliation, swiftly elbowing him in the groin. Haku grunted in pain, collapsing onto his knees. It was at that exact moment Joku came stumbling into the scene again. "What's goin' on here?" he yelped, stomping his feet angrily on the floor. I looked at him with the most innocent expression I could muster, and proceeded to explain the situation:
"We were just playing a game of tag, Joku-chan. Things just got a little crazy," I explained, gesturing to those fallen around me. Gorochi's expression was furious, but I knew he wouldn't dare say anything otherwise. "I'm very sorry. I'll clean up the mess, I promise. Please don't tell Miss Phyllis," I pleaded, giving him the best puppy dog eyes I could muster. Though cuteness was arguably not my forte, Joku nodded and agreed that he wouldn't tell if everything was put back in place before I went to bed. As expected, everyone vacated the room after Joku, save for myself, Seto, Mokuba, and Gorochi. The dethroned bully got up and walked over to me, shoving me against a wall. I laughed in response, before he said anything. "Oh, please. Don't mess with me, or you'll just have to admit to being beaten up by a girl," I taunted, looking him straight in the eyes.
He exited the room quite readily, leaving Seto, Mokuba, and I in stiches of laughter. My little bluff had worked; I was a better actor than I was a fighter, apparently. There wasn't much said between us as we cleaned the toy room together, but the silence which lingered was charged with our sense of victory. Just as we'd finished, Joku came in, beaming at the room's tidiness. "Miss Phyllis wasn't feeling very well, so she went to sleep a little early," he explained. "You've done a fine job here, boys and girl. Umm, I'm not usually in charge of this sort of thing, but since Phyllis isn't awake to assign you rooms, why don't you two boys stay in Rina's room tonight? You three seem to be getting along, after all."
We walked to my room holding hands, all three of us. It'd been one day, and yet, we had a certain togetherness which seemed impossible to disrupt. As Mokuba and Seto climbed onto the second mattress in my room, I clicked the light off. Peace and hush fell over the orphanage. I walked over to where they were lying, and whispered to them. "Good night." Mokuba's reply came in the form of a tiny snore. I restrained a chuckle, and began to walk away, when something touched my leg. I looked down to see Seto holding me in place; I remember staring into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity, now two serene, beautiful ocean blue orbs.
I couldn't explain the warmth radiating throughout my body to you. That simple touch, that one look, was enough to cause it. And just like that, I felt secure. Something I hadn't been in five years. "Good night, Rina," he said. "Sweet dreams." As he released me and I climbed into bed, I couldn't help lying awake for the next hour, simply thinking of how inexplicably happy I was. And as fatigue finally began to take hold of my body, I smiled, and uttered a midnight prayer before my slumber.
"Never leave me."
...was that a mistake?