A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 13

Three years earlier

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There was a time when Jubilee heard more clearly; when every flutter of the heart or insight of the mind was clearly discerned as the voice of God. Back then, every hunch that she felt was not just a feeling, but intuition; and every image that appeared in her mind's eye was not just a fanciful daydream, but a reality that was yet unseen by natural eyes.

There was never a time that she saw or heard more clearly than when she was surrounded by children.

Wakahisa Children's Home was, essentially, a modern and politically correct way of saying orphanage. Jubilee had never thought that she would be one for children, having babysat a few times as a teenager and found the experience unpleasant. But Wakahisa had been the only volunteer organization willing to take her on and lodge her, without too much preamble, paperwork, or uncomfortable questions. Which, if she was honest, struck her as slightly irresponsible for an institution that dealt with children, but who was she to complain? It was either this or being a homeless stranger in a strange land. And, though it may not have looked so good on Wakahisa's part, it was extraordinarily convenient for her that they had been looking for a full-time volunteer for months and were starting to get desperate, right when she had come along.

Perhaps it was because Wakahisa was a small, unmemorable and unnoticeable sort of place, sequestered on the outer edges of Tokyo and virtually incomparable to the several other mega-charities headquartered in the city. Luckily, they continued to receive funds from overseas ministries and benefactors, to whom the orphanage was as distant in mind as it was in physical locality. Thanks to the amount of people around the world who found satisfaction in meeting their monthly kindness quota via a remote financial donation, Wakahisa managed to stay standing. Getting enough workers to meet the needs of the increasing number of children, however, was another matter.

For Wakahisa was the place where children that nobody wanted went—the slums of the orphanage community. The problem kids, the disabled, the mentally challenged, and the like were all dumped there. From there, they rarely left; being always passed over by prospective adoptive parents from foreign countries, whose dreams of having an adorable Asian baby were threatened by the less than perfect. Most recently there had been an increase of children being dumped onto Wakahisa whose parents had been incarcerated criminals at some point in life. That kind of history certainly didn't look good on paper. So all the blood, sweat and tears that went into caring for the children at Wakahisa went without reprieve or report; for Wakahisa had no public relations or marketing team like some charities did. There was no glory in volunteering at a place like Wakahisa.

It was the perfect place for Jubilee to hide.

"I'm not good with kids," she muttered under her breath to the angel on her first day. They were standing together in the small dining hall, awaiting the arrival of the children who would be awakening shortly. A couple other volunteers milled about, preparing food and straightening tables and chairs. Christine, the other American volunteer there who had debriefed her on everything, flashed her a quick and encouraging smile from across the room. Jubilee smiled back half-heartedly.

Is that so? said the angel, as if something about that were funny. We shall see about that.

Before Jubilee could ask what he meant, the doors burst open and children streamed into the hall. Jubilee's senses were suddenly assaulted by a series of bright colors and sensations that, while not altogether unpleasant, almost knocked her off her feet with their energy.

"What in the—" she began to murmur, when she felt the angel step up close behind her and lay a hand over her head. Her senses stabilized for a moment, and the otherworldly colors, sounds and smells became bearable. She gazed steadily at the children coming into the room to line up and get their food.