"Hello children," the visitor, known as the infamous Gozaburo Kaiba, scoffed. He wasn't happy to be here, but it would be great for his image. Right now, everyone thought of him as a robot, an object with no feelings. It may be mostly true, but his company's sales were suffering because of it. He was desperate to get people to like him.
"Everyone say hello to Mr. Kaiba. He may be a very busy man, but he made time to come and visit you," Ms. Chase said with a fake smile. She knew exactly why he was here and just wanted him gone as soon as possible.
"Hello, Mr. Kaiba," a few children replied. These were the children who were always extra polite to visitors in hopes they would be adopted. The rest of the children had either given up on being adopted or were asleep on the floor.
"Okay, kids, who wants to get their picture taken with me? Think of what a great opportunity this is. I'm a very famous man," Gozaburo told them with his usual air of arrogance, trying his best to smile. I just want a few pictures to go in the paper, and then I can get out of here.
"Not so fast, Mr. Kaiba, I challenge you to a duel," Seto said with determination. He had to win to get out of the orphanage; it was his only shot.
"You have to be kidding," Gozaburo responded. Who does this kid think he is? He's so young I'm surprised he even knows what a duel is.
"Yeah, thanks, but on thanks. I don't have time to waste dueling a twerp who probably doesn't know the first things about duels," he said, letting the last part slip. That little slip wouldn't be good for his image once the media got a hold of how he talked to an orphan.
"Mr. Kaiba! You can't talked that way to children," Ms. Chase yelled. She was appalled that he would say something like that out loud. It was obvious he was thinking it, but he had no business coming to an orphanage only to degrade the children.
"What I meant was maybe another time," he said. He'd always been known as a sly man, covering his tracks so it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass.
"You have to duel me and…" Seto began only to stop when he realized that the businessman was paying no attention to him, but instead, he was busy getting photos with some of the children. All of the poor kids were scared to death of him, but they tried to cover it as the camera snapped over and over again.
One boy was perfectly fine until the camera flashed, scaring him to half to death. He ran out of the room, determined to never have his picture taken again. Everyone stopped and stared at him until Ms. Chase went out after him. After a few looks at each other, the cameramen continued taking photos.
I have to get his attention, Seto thought. He waited for a moment, trying to decide what to say to make the CEO stay.
Gozaburo Kaiba finished getting his pictures taken and was about to leave when Seto blocked the door.
"You don't understand, you have to battle me. If I win, you adopt me and my brother, and if you win, I'll never bother you again," Seto said, sure he would accept.
"Well it is a very nice offer," Gozaburo replied, acting as though his answer required some thought, "but I'll have to pass."
"Then I'll tell the media what you said earlier," Seto countered, trying to sound threatening, which is very hard for someone at the age of five to accomplish.
"Go ahead. They won't believe you," he said, laughing as he pushed the small boy aside.
Seto stood in shock as he watched his last hope of escape get in the car. How are we going to leave this place now?
A couple of weeks later, Seto was watching the one TV owned by the orphanage. It was small and very old and its sides were chipped from the many objects that the children accidentally threw at it. The images blurred together every so often, but it worked, and that was all that mattered.
The news was on right now, and the weather anchor had just finished speaking. A male anchor took over. He was talking about a local school, but stopped for a moment. The young male listened to an invisible earpiece and began to talk again.
"This just in, Noah Kaiba, the son of Gozaburo Kaiba, was just in a terrible accident. They don't think he'll make it and…." the anchor's words were cut off when the TV suddenly turned black. Seto looked behind him and saw Ms. Chase standing there, holding the remote.
"It's past your bedtime, Seto. You know better, and I'm shocked that you would think that you wouldn't be caught" she told him, grabbing his hand and leading him towards his small cot. After he was tucked in and covered by only two thin blankets, she walked out, shutting the door behind her. He sighed as he watched the bright light from the hallway fade until it was no more than a thin line underneath the door. The sooner he left this place the better, but for now he had reason to be somewhat happy.
"Finally Gozaburo Kaiba has gotten what he deserved," he murmured to himself. His eyelids felt heavy, and he tried to stay awake by going over everything that had happened that day. He never looked forward to going to sleep. His dreams were always plagued by nightmares that caused him to wake up in a cold sweat.
When his eyelids grew too heavy, he closed them in defeat. Maybe for once, I won't have any nightmares. He doubted this would come true, because he wished for it every night. For once, though, his wish did come true, and he slept peacefully.