Time and Fallen leaves

Kirameki

"Is it just me or that newbie was kinda familiar?"

It was the 1st day of the week and the people inside the student council office were experiencing the monday boredom — especially Jake who cut the silence with a random question.

"Who? Lima silang bago" asked Chrys who's surprisingly intrigued by Jake's question.

"The quiet one, yung laging nakatulala"

"Dalawa doon ang laging nakatulala" as expected of Milo, natandaan agad nito ang mukha ng mga newbie.

"It can't be Keen, quiet is never in his vocabulary" natatawang pagsali ni Saki sakanilang usapan.

"Tanda ko na! The Erin one!" The mere mention of Erin made Milo focus. Hinihintay nito ang kasunod na sasabihin ni Jake. "It was last year when I went for fishing by the pond near here. Akala ko ako lang ang andoon but there's someone already there, it was a woman around my age, nakatulala rin siya just like how she stare at nothing last time na andito sila"

All eyes were on him, waiting for his next story.

"Of course I ignored her and started fishing. Bigla niyang sinabi saakin, you won't catch any fish here" saglit na natigil si Jake sa pagsalita dahil napatawa ng malakas si Saki. Kuhang-kuha kasi ni Jake ang walang emosyong boses at mukha ni Erin.

"Yet I ignored her because duh, the pond is almost as big as the ocean, imposibleng walang isda rito. The last thing she said before she left was 'you'll only catch trash there' at umalis na siya. Turns out she was right, I googled the pond and it's not the best spot for fishing dahil madalas itong tapunan ng mga basura, it's too dirty that no fish resides there"

So that's where Erin collect her thoughts. An abandoned pond where no one visits dahil tapunan nalang ito ng basura.

Just like the orphanage, a place where unwanted children were abandoned and left like garbage.

"Come to think of it, she does seem familiar to me too." This time, ay si Chrys naman ang nagsalita. "She was with a girl that time, nag-agawan kami ng pabango because it was a limited edition. Then this Erin girl calmly said 'really? You'll argue with a woman over a perfume that doesn't even match your persona? This one suits you more' then she handed me a perfume that I...surprisingly liked"

"Is that what you're wearing now?" Tanong ni Jake habang inaamoy ang uniform ni Chrys. Tumango naman si Chrys as approval.

"It does smell good"

"I know right, mas lalong maraming nahumaling sakin" Chrys said with a smug look in his face.

The woman she's with must be Keeana, saad ni Milo sa isip nito. They must be the one who adopted Erin. Milo breath a sigh of relief. Simula nang ampunin si Milo, never in his life had he forgotten about Erin. Everyday, he wonders if she's still in the orphanage, or if she was adopted. If it's the former, Milo wished she was well and that she hasn't forgotten about him. If it was the latter, Milo wished that her adopted parents would shower her with love and that she still hasn't forgotten about him.

"How about you, Milo? Maniniwala na talaga ako sa himala kapag nagkakilala rin kayo" tanong ni Jake sakanya and Milo wanted to tell them that he knew Erin since they were children. But doing so would only reveal his past life, and so he just shake his head.

"I just met her nung orientation" The others were quite satisfied with his answer. Imposible nga naman na nagkaroon silang lahat ng past interaction with one woman.