orphan | komahina

1

my eyes were glued to the page but even still i couldn't concentrate on the words printed onto it. i let out a frustrated sigh as i looked up at the kids playing in front of me, chasing each other around the room and playing with various toys which were mostly broken in some way. it's not like this place could really afford to get new ones.

i gave up on reading and placed my bookmark back inside the novel before setting it down next to me. i was unbelievably bored. and not to mention irritated. these kids were beyond annoying and since harukawa wasn't there at the moment, i was the one who was stuck with them.

"komaeda! komaeda!" i looked down to see a small child tugging on my trouser leg.

"yes?"

"come play!" he yelled with a slight twinkle in his eye.

"um...maybe later." i responded while attempting to give a friendly smile.

"you said that ages ago!" he pouted his lip before folding his arms and sulking away, leaving me in some sort of peace. i leaned back a little into the sofa that was far from comfortable, but it was better than sitting on the floor. i looked over at the clock and realised how slow time was going. i felt like i'd been there for hours but in reality it hadn't even been that long. i hope maki's done with her training soon...she's the only person in this god damn prison that i can talk to.

in that moment i noticed one of the caregivers walking over to me. am i in trouble? did one of the kids snitch on me for something?

"good afternoon nagito." she greeted me. i returned the greeting and waited in silence for her next statement.

"maki should be finished with her training soon. in the meantime i trust you're keeping an eye on them?" i nodded and looked over at the children. they were all so young. just like i was at one point. when i still had that sweet childhood innocence. before it was robbed from me. i hope they don't have to grow up too fast like i did.

"by the way, there's going to be a boy joining us for a few weeks." a new person? we hadn't had one of those in a while.

"really? another orphan?"

"oh no, not an orphan. just someone getting some work experience. i'm pretty sure he's around your age. perhaps you two will get along nicely." someone looking for work experience, huh...we'd never had someone do something as important as that here. what an odd place to choose.

"anyway, i'll leave you to it. bye nagito."  i gave her a small smile as she walked away.

"bye kyoko." she readjusted her gloves as she stepped away, entering a corridor and completely vanishing from my sight. kyoko was one of my favourite caregivers. there were a handful of them that were nice. some of them shouldn't have been allowed to work at an orphanage.

i waited for what felt like eternity for maki to come back. i even got dragged into a kid's game of hide and seek in that time. it was dreadful. so of course when i saw maki enter the room, i immediately abandoned the kid and approached the person i'd been waiting for.

"hey maki, i'm glad you're-"

"get out of my face. at least let me shower first." she didn't say another word before walking away, presumably to have a shower like she said. i wasn't offended by her comment. she was always in a pretty foul mood when she came back from training. but after a little while, she calms down, and she's nice to be around.

i only waited about forty minutes, which was nothing compared to how long i waited before. i could already tell the difference from the moment she stepped in the room. she actually smiled at me as she entered this time. she took a seat next to me and looked over at the kids.

"how have they been today?" she asked with a tranquil tone.

"same as usual. loud, whiny, constantly bickering." she let out a small chuckle at my answer.

"i bet you're glad you missed out on it." i looked over and saw that she had a melancholy look on her face.

"not really. i don't enjoy the training. i'd actually rather be here, with the kids...even if i do hate them."

"if you don't like the training that much then why don't you quit?" she let out a frustrated sigh and turned to me with a serious expression on her countenance.

"i can't quit. they want me to be an assassin, and not just any assassin, an ultimate. it's a big deal. besides...it's not easy to quit." her eyes were filled to the brim with sorrow. it hurt to see my friend like this.

"you're right. being an ultimate is a big deal. it's absolutely amazing that they chose you to be a symbol of hope, just like all the other ultimates out there. so it's not just a big deal, it's the biggest deal there ever was! getting to work on the side of hope, getting to crush any despair with-" i felt her hand smack me harshly against the back of my head.

"shut up. i told you i don't like it when you do that." i rubbed my own hand against the spot where she hit me.

"sorry...but you get my point."

"i guess...let's just move on from the subject. it would be bad if the kids overheard." i nodded in agreement, conjuring up another topic to discuss, when out of the corner of my eye i saw someone unfamiliar enter the room. they were standing next to caregiver kaede who was smiling widely and pointing at things in the room.

"who is that?" maki inquired. the boy seemed around average height with brown, spiky hair and green eyes. i didn't recognise him at all. then i remembered something kyoko told me.

"kyoko informed me that there'd be a boy coming here for a little while for work experience. that must be him."

"work experience?" maki was just as confused as i was when i first heard the news.

kaede and the boy stood around for a little while longer before leaving the room.

"it's strange of him to choose to do something like that here."

"perhaps he wants to be a caregiver." i suggested.

"then that boy is out of his mind." i let out a small chuckle. maki really hated kids so it pissed her off to have to watch them a lot of the time. since me and her were the oldest, we had to at least keep an eye on them. of course there were a few other kids in the orphanage who were the same age as us, but we'd never really spoken to them and they weren't willing to commit to watching the kids. it had always been just me and maki.

just me and maki, huh? is that how it's always going to be?