CHAPTER 1
"Come on down here all of you!" Tomoko Sensei yelled, her anger spilling out.
Her face was red as a beet fruit. Folding her arms together she asked a simple question.
"Who broke my China." she gritted her teeth trying to enclose her anger.
On a normal day, Amari Tomoko Sensei was a very nice lady who loved taking care of children. But whenever she got angry, everyone would not rest until she was calm.
Tomoko Sensei had specifically warned everyone to stay away from the new set of China she purchased 2 days ago.
Nothing had happened to China for two days. She went to the grocery store in the morning today to purchase some ingredients and items for the orphanage. She got home and sorted all the ingredients into the fridge.
Tomoko Sensei thought about what to make for dinner. Hiroto, Noa and Himari were called down from their rooms. She explained to them that she was thinking of making something special.
The menu for dinner was Gyoza. Himari was told to get the ingredients for the fridge. Hiroto and Noa got the aprons from the rack and gave the other two to Himari and Tomoko Sensei.
They all wore their aprons and prepared to begin cooking. Everything was perfect till Tomoko Sensei screamed.
"Oh My God, my China, what happened".
Hiroto, Noa and Himari left what they were doing to see what had happened.
"How did that happen?" Noa looked like a confused puppy scratching his hair.
Tomoko Sensei was mad furious.
"Come on down here all of you" she yelled.
All the children left their rooms immediately and ran down the stairs as carefully as they could. Tomoko Sensei hated it when they ran on the stairs. She told them to line up in a straight horizontal line. They lined up according to their ages. Yamato began crying.
"I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to make you cry with my shouting." Tomoko Sensei gave him a hug.
Yamato was the youngest among the orphans with his sister as his only real family. Their parents died in a car accident and none of their relatives were ready to bear the responsibilities of taking care of two kids who were not even 8.
"Who broke my China" Tomoko Sensei said as calmly as she could sound.
Yamato who was the culprit started crying more, he was afraid to tell the truth, so his sister Airi went to him and comforted him. Tomoko Sensei was getting mad at the fact that no one was owning up to the fault for breaking her China.
"I'm sorry Tomoko Sensei, I crashed your plates while I was running after Yamato." Hana lied.
Hana who turned 15 three months ago was the culprit, Tomoko Sensei couldn't believe. She knew Hana acted childish, but she knew she was still too mature to break her China without even clearing the broken ceramics and informing her about it.
"Don't lie, Hana, it was Yamato wasn't it, she said as calmly as she could.
"I am sorry, but he told me he did it a few minutes before you gathered us all here. Please don't punish him" Hana pleaded.
"I am not punishing anyone. The China broke and wasn't cleared. I was annoyed and angry at the fact that the little ones like Yamato, Airi, Mio, Mei and Genkei could hurt themselves while paying. I know it is not your fault but you should have informed me immediately Yamato confessed to you. It is the right and mature thing to do".
"Yamato told me before you assembled s here, so I did not have the opportunity to clean it. I am sorry and I promise to be more responsible and do better next time".
Tomoko Sensei was no longer angry. She told Yamato that if something breaks or spoils, he should inform either her or the older kids so he doesn't get hurt. Tomoko Sensei sent everyone back to their respective rooms and went back to the kitchen to make dinner.
"Hana, would you mind joining us in the kitchen," Himari asked.
Hana who always looked up to Himari as a big sister gladly accepted the request.
Hana placed the plates and forks on each person's seat. The Gyoza was placed in the centre of the table, with a jug of orange juice and milk. Cups were placed beside each person's plate and they had the option of either taking milk or orange juice. With everyone seated for dinner, Noa and Himari served the boys and girls respectively.
"Don't forget to say 'itadakimasu' and thank God for providing food on the table for us today and every day" Tomoko Sensei reminded everyone.
The Gyoza was delicious. The little ones asked for a second, even Julie who usually eats less asked for seconds. Everyone got seconds and drank their juices and milk. They all ate to their fill.
After dinner, they had 2 hrs of screen time on the TV. Every weekend, Tomoko Sensei allowed kids from ages 12 and downwards 2 hours of screen time in the morning, afternoon and night.
On weekdays or school days, they were given their gadgets and were to return them before curfew if not they would be seized for a week. Tomoko Sensei did not like indulging children too much, she felt they needed to grow up responsible just like how she grew up.
The mature ones from 13 and above, all the teenagers were allowed their gadgets all the time but if they were caught using them past curfew they would be seized till the next day. Hana and Kevin were on dish duty. She would wash and rinse the dishes while Kevin would dry the dishes with a towel.
"Tomoko Sensei" He yelled.
Tomoko Sensei was startled and hurried to the kitchen only to see Hana on the floor.
"Oh My God, HIMARI, call 911" she yelled.
Himari dialed the number and in 5min the ambulance arrived. Hana was carried onto the stretcher. An oxygen mask was placed over her nose and mouth. Tomoko Sensei, Himari and Hiroto followed the ambulance to the hospital. Noa stayed to look after the younger kids.
"She must have been triggered again…but why, why her…poor girl has suffered." Tomoko Sensei worriedly said.
"But how?" Hiroto asked.
"She took her medicines this evening before everything happened about" Himari said.
"I hope she will be alright," Tomoko Sensei said.
Hana had a rare condition. When she was little, she and her parents drowned in their car. They struggled to get out, Hana's dad was able to unbuckle his seatbelt he broke the window and carried Hana out of the water. He went back to get his wife but when she was out of the water, she wasn't breathing.
Hana had to experience all that. In the process of bringing Hana out of the water, she broke her arm. She was taken to the hospital and a few months later her hand was healed. But a permanent trauma was scarred in her heart. Her dad died 2 years after her mother's death.
He couldn't bear the thought of not living with his beloved wife so he killed himself and left his 9-year-old daughter all alone with only her brother. Hana's trauma was triggered any time she remembered the incident making her feel an imaginary pain in her already healed hand.
She was taken to the orphanage after her only other guardian died. Hana suffered a lot. She resented her father for leaving her alone but also missed him and wanted him to come back. She was torn with different emotions.
In the hospital, the doctor prescribed 1 dosage of I for 3hrs. Tomoko Sensei was so worried. I hr after the drip., Hana woke up to see familiar faces.
"She's awake," Hiroto said.
Finally, she was awake. They all were so worried. Hana burst into tears at the thought that she made her family worried about her. They all hugged her gently. Himari brought out the soup she had gone back to make for Hana.
Hiroto Hana's elder brother took the soup from Himari and started feeding it to Hana. Hiroto wasn't Hana's biological brother. He was adopted when he was 3 years old, that was 3 years before the birth of Hana. On the day of the car accident, Hiroto was with their grandma assisting her with things.
The day he found out about his mom's death, he was very sad and heartbroken. He had only his sister and dad, but their dad decided to also leave them. Their grandma also left leaving Hiroto the burden of taking care of his little sister.
Hiroto did not see it as a burden but as a responsibility which he was proud of. He cherished his little sister and was willing to do anything for her.
"Aww, come on Hiroto, I can feed myself" Hana pouted.
"No, no, you can't stress yourself, now who is my little baby. Say ah" Hiroto forced.
Hana knew she couldn't beat her brother in whatever he was persistent of, so she just ate it, to make him feel happy. After the drip, the ambulance dropped all of them back at the orphanage. Hiroto escorted Hana to her bedroom and told her to sleep as it was already 10:00pm.