5) The Life of an orphan (3)

I decided to make a quick change from this point onwards.

Government -> Federation (I'm making this change because they are basically the same here.)

Anyways, here's the BS of a chapter I wrote.

Word Count: ~1500

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<Third POV>

"Haaa... Haaa... Haaa..."

Laying on the grass resting, Rei was panting after finishing his morning routine. His routine consist of a few sets of push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and a couple of laps around the orphanage. Not much, but it was more than enough for a kid his age to build muscle and endurance.

"Haaa... Haaa..." After a few more minutes, Rei's breathing started to level.

"Phoo, Alright, let's start heading back now. The others should start waking up, also don't want to worry the caretakers." Rei said while finishing the last of his stretches.

Yup, Rei didn't sneak out to exercise, he made sure to tell the caretakers about his want to work out. This was for two good reasons. One, it would actually be difficult to sneak out when the walls are paper thin and the floors are squeaky loud. Two, and more so the main reason, it was insurance in case something happened to him.

For example, passing out due to exhaustion.

Anyways, Rei walked along the path while taking in the scenery. Along the path, one can see there was a lot of foliage and trees around the area. Interestingly enough, the path was similar to a divider. On one side, it was mainly trees. On the other, it was an open grass field with some trees for shade.

The contrast between the two sides gave a relaxing sensation. It probably didn't for others, but for Rei, it very much was. This was due to how Rei lived in his previous life. In Rei's previous life, he lived in a busy city. It was always loud, the air quality sucked, and it was honestly more dangerous compared to where he is now. So with how quiet and peaceful it was now, it really gave Rei a sense of calm. Especially with the events that are going to happen in the near future.

A few more minutes, arriving near the orphanage's gate, Rei noticed a figure leaning against the wall, waiting for his return. Getting closer, the figure was soon revealed to be Lucas smoking,

"It seems that you really are taking it out seriously. I figured you would take this chance to cause some more trouble like you usually do." Said Lucas as Rei opened the gate.

"I did ask to start working out, so I am. Pretty simple I'd like to believe." Rei answered back, tilting his head as if saying, 'isn't that obvious?'

"Heh, at least you're keeping your word." Snorted Lucas.

Seeing how Lucas didn't say anything else, Rei made his way inside for breakfast.

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<Lucas POV>

A/N: I figured adding other people's POV would add a little more "spice" to the story, so yeah. Here's hoping it fits.

Watching the brat walk inside, I couldn't help but be impressed that he actually kept up his routine for the last two months. For most, they wouldn't even keep up a routine for a week at his age, so that would be quite an accomplishment. Though, that isn't what's the most interesting thing the brat has done. There has been quite a lot since he arrived here.

*Flashback Starts*

About two months ago, on the day that we received news about a new brat coming to the orphanage. I didn't think much of him since they would usually always cry about where and/or what happened to their parents.

When he arrived though, I could notice he was slightly different from the others that just came here. Looking at him, I noticed that he had dead eyes, as if he wanted nothing to do with living. Seeing that, I just chalked it up with his watching his parents die or watching them leave him. (Though, this was mostly due to his memories not assimilating yet.)

After a few days, the kid asked if he can start working, mainly work that involved doing some sort of physical labor. Hearing that, the other members of the staff tried to make him take care of the babies, but after hearing that, the kid refused. He then said that he wanted to work somewhere outside helping the other children carry stuff around.

Now, this is where the interesting events start happening. At first, he was refused, but oddly enough, was didn't seem downhearted. It looked like he was pondering something. After a few more seconds, I was proven right when he went and picked up a 15 lb, or ~6.8kg, crate and said, "Why not? I can carry this easily."

Seeing that, I couldn't help but laugh. This was by no means a laugh of disapproval, but amusement. Like why wouldn't I? Seeing a four-year-old being able to carry 15 lbs without breaking a sweat and adding to the fact that the little brat wants to be put to work, why wouldn't this be amusing? Finished laughing, I decided to give the kid a chance since he wants to work so badly. Though, I made sure to tell him to rest up since it hasn't been long since he arrived.

After another few days passed, the kid walked inside the dining hall, but this time with slightly different kind of eyes. This time, his eyes felt like they held fire as if he had a goal to accomplish.

Noticing the change, I looked into his file to find out why and how he ended up here and while looking through it, I was quite shocked at what it had, but it now made sense why he have that kind of look.

___

Application Number: XXX XXXXX

Parents: Unknown/Dead

Full Name: Rei (No last name due to parents not providing one.)

Date of Birth: January 1st, U.C 0064

When Residence: XXX, Side 2 Hatte

Now Residence: XXX, Side 2 Hatte (Orphanage location)

A/N: The XXX for residence is the replacement for the street addresses and the like. Just figured this would be easier and hopefully less confusing.

Reason for Admission: Upon investigation, the home where the child, Rei, stayed seems to be ransacked and robbed. His parents on the scene appeared to be killed during the robbery, leaving the parents to be almost unrecognizable. Going through the home, we discovered Zeon civilian clothing inside. From that, Rei's parents are to be identified as Zeon immigrants, though this does not mean that Rei is part of Zeon. After the incident happened, Rei was later found by the locals wandering around alone.

___

Reading the reason why he was admitted, I can come up with an idea of why the kid is trying to start working. The brat is probably thinking of getting stronger so that the event doesn't happen again, or thinking of killing his parent's killers. Either way, this would be interesting to watch him try and get stronger.

After about a month while the kid was working, I have gotten a good amount of complaints of the kid starting altercations and escalation problems. Hearing that, I decided to shadow their group to check out what's really the issue.

Getting near their stalls, I started to hear a commotion happening. Seeing that the kid was involved, I was about to step in to fix the 'screw up' he did.

Just right before intervening, I noticed that there were a few squashed vegetables and some messed up parts in their stall. Seeing that he was basically doing what was right, I just let the issue play out, resulting in Rei driving off the troublemakers with a mixture of insults and taunts.

With the issue averted, I decided to stick around the see if he'll cause any more entertaining situations. Though, this didn't stop me from telling him off on not starting trouble, or at least cause no trouble to the orphanage.

After another month of complaints to the kid, scolding, and the kid working out, I noticed that he started writing inside a notebook, though I can probably assume it has stuff about the robbery or his workout routine. Either way, I couldn't care less about it.

I also noticed that he was asking around about where the older children were going. I can't really blame the kid, the higher-ups don't seem to be putting much effort into hiding their exhaustion. The only upside is that they want to do it willingly.

This now brings us to today.

*Flashback Ends*

<Third POV>

Finishing up his smoke, Lucas started to walk back inside but suddenly stops.

'Huh, now that will be an interesting proposal to give the brat. Sadly, the brat is a little too young to start going, but maybe in a couple more years.' Lucas thought to himself before resuming his walking back inside.

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A/N: I know I said this would be the last chapter of Rei being in the orphanage, but I don't think that'll happen if I want the story to make somewhat sense.

Anyways tho, I wanted to dedicate this chapter to the two-month time skip, but in Lucas' view, though honestly, it feels like I just made a cr*ppy summary of it. I'll prolly fix the chapter later on in the future, or when I feel like it.

Well, that's that then, this all I got for today, SIGNING OFF.