Orphanage

"Morning guys, a client's going to show up in an hour."

"Crap, we shouldn't have stayed up so late."

"It was worth binging that new show."

"Oh, what'd you guys watch?"

Chifuyu and Iris stayed up most of the night watching every single episode of a recent series that is still airing. They're a week into their 2-and-a-half month break, they intend to make the most out of it.

"Hey guys." Kagura jumps around Chifuyu and Iris, "We should prank, Shinatsu."

"Huh? Do you have a death wish?"

"Don't worry, it's perfectly tame."

"Is this a 4-man job?" Diego asks.

"Sure is. We're all going to send a $1,000 request message to Shinatsu. To make her think it's a gift, we'll say 'Get yourself something nice.' But let's all word it differently so we don't draw too much suspicion."

"Holy crap, you might be a genius."

"This is gonna be good."

"Should we keep the money to make it funnier?"

"Haha! Iris is feeling evil right now."

"Mwuheheheh."

"Let's do it."

As Shinatsu gets out of the bathroom after taking a shower, she looks at her phone to see 4 notifications from her fellow Odd Jobs members. Thinking it's something urgent, she quickly unlocks it with her facial recognition and sees what the messages are.

"'Get yourself something nice'? Are they serious?"

She thinks it has to be a joke at first, but decides to just along with it and accept their generous donations.

"They did not need to do this."

Second later she hears them dying of laughter in the living room and checks her phone again. The realization kicks in that she just got scammed of $4,000.

Shinatsu comes charging at them, "WHAT KINDA JOKE IS THIS? GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"Hahahaha! Run!"

"Pff."

"Hahahahahaha!"

Chifuyu was caught and got strangled. They returned her money after watching their half-vampire friend suffer for a bit.

***

15 minutes earlier than expected, Odd Jobs's next client arrives. It's a woman in her late 40s who is dressed as a caretaker. The request is to help out at the orphanage she works at.

"Help out at an orphanage?"

"Yes, I'm the housemother of 7 kids who've all lost their families to vampires. I've been taking care of them for half a year, and I believe having a young Hunter help look after them could act as a huge inspiration. Not to become Hunters themselves, but to set them on whatever path they'll pursue in the future."

"This is kind of heavy, isn't it?" Diego whispers.

"It's perfectly understandable if none of you want to take this job on, I know you're already plenty busy. But if just one of you could take this on, I'd be forever grateful. You'd only have to come once every week or two. I also act as a therapist for the children, so I truly believe this will help them."

There's a brief moment of silence. Running odd jobs means being approached with all kinds of requests, but this is one they never would've expected.

"I'll do it."

"Shinatsu. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, and I think it'd be best if I do this alone. You guys don't have to worry about me, this might be something I need."

"Oh my… Thank you so much."

"I can start today if that's fine with you."

"Why of course, let me get your payment."

"Consider me a volunteer. You don't need to pay me."

"What a kind soul you have."

"Good luck, Shinatsu."

"G-Good luck."

"You rock, Shinatsu."

"Good luck."

"Good luck, Shinatsu."

"Thanks, I'm off."

Thus, they promptly left for the orphanage. The drive took close to an hour, the caretaker offered to pick her up and bring her back each trip. Once they enter the building, Shinatsu can immediately feel the gloomy air. The children are all spread out doing their own thing, playing with toys, drawing, or working on homeschool problems.

"Gather around everyone, I'd like to introduce you to someone who's going to start helping out."

The kids quietly gather and sit in front of them.

"My name is Shinatsu Boreas, I'm a Hunter. I'll be here often starting today, so I hope I'll get to know you all." She didn't know how to introduce herself to a group of kids, so she just said what came to mind. This is a first experience for Shinatsu, so she has no idea how it'll go. She just hopes it'll go okay.

"Okay guys, let's to Ms. Shinatsu our names too. You go first girls."

"My name is Zoey."

"…Alexia."

"Now the boys."

"I'm Brook."

"My name is Omar."

"My name is Takami."

"I'm Ryousuke."

"…"

"Mr. Too Cool to Answer with the flashy hair is Koushiro. He, Omar, and Alexia turn 9 years old this year. Takami, Ryousuke, and Zoey are 8 years old, and Brook is the youngest at 6." All 7 of these kids have been jumping from orphanages for over a year. Lena the caretaker founded this facility specifically to home children who lost their families to vampires. To her surprise, 5 of the kids start bombarding Shinatsu with questions.

"Woah!"

"Oh my!"

"You're not a slime monster, are you miss?"

"How much anime are you watching??"

"Are you actually a Hunter, you don't look that much older than us."

This remark ticks off Shinatsu, but she tries to not let it show on her face. She didn't expect to be dissed by a kid. "I sure am, I'm super strong I'll have you know."

The one who didn't tell his name gets up and walks back to what he was doing.

"Hey, Koushiro!"

"It's fine, Ms. Lena. I'll try my best to get them to open up to me."

"Thank you, Shinatsu."

For the next 6 hours, she helped around the orphanage as she came to do. This was her first time working with kids, and she did a decent job. The two girls look to be the first slowly warming up to her, Shinatsu has been giving off the vibe of an older sister.

"Is that a superhero you're coloring?"

"Yeah."

"I started liking heroes when I was your age, and I still do to this day."

"Really?"

"You're kind of like a hero, aren't you?"

"Heh… Not yet, I'm far from one."

"Then, I'll be rooting for you."

"Thank you, Zoey."

"You're no hero.

"Hm?"

"Go away Koushiro, don't be mean."

"Shut up! You Hunters are supposed to kill the vampires, if you did my mom and dad wouldn't be dead!"

"Koushiro!" The housemother shouts out.

Shinatsu walks over to the boy and gets on one knee so they can look at each other on equal ground.

"You're right. Hunters aren't heroes. We can't save everybody. But we can save is hope."

"Hope?"

"Hope that one day the world will be rid of vampires. Until then, we all have to keep fighting our own battles, no matter how hard it is."

"…Miss, did vampires get your mom and dad?"

"I did lose my mom, but not to vampires."

"And your dad?"

"That's something I can never say I really had."

The kid starts shedding tears, thinking about his parents and feeling bad about being mean to someone he knew nothing about.

"Life is full of twists of turns. You never know what it'll throw your way. The best thing you can ever have is friends who support you. With them, you can get through anything." Shinatsu talks from experience.

"You talk like an old grandma."

"Wha…"

Kids do not know the meaning of holding back. Feeling like he can connect with this stranger, without saying another word Koushiro leans on Shinatsu. Their circumstances couldn't have been any different, yet it's still the same in some ways. Being the cruelty of this world that a small minority are forced to deal with. In this way, they are the same. One lost the only blood family that meant anything to them due to corruption, and the others due to vampires. Shinatsu has a chance to help children who are struggling like she was when she was their age. She's grateful she got the opportunity to take it.

"Hey, don't hog Shinatsu all to yourself."

"Yeah."

"No fair."

She hadn't realized it, but the boys had also started warming up to her. Shinatsu was able to find a place she could call home, now she can already help others.