Koshiro 3.5

- 16 years ago -

"Go ahead, Ren. They will be your new mommy and daddy from now on!" a middle-aged woman handed my tiny hand to my new parents.

"Hello, Ren. This is your house now!" a blonde woman smiled and walked me into their gorgeous beige-toned house.

The garden was filled with flowers and vegetables, but not fruit trees. We stepped inside and that was the first time I met my foster dad. He looked way younger clean-shaved and without his thick old-man glasses.

His greying hair was spiked up eccentrically. My friendly and cheerful foster mom put her hand around his waist and pushed him towards me.

"H-hi. My name is Phil. I will be your new father," he stuttered.

My mom hit the back of his head, "can't you be more casual? She's only four!"

"U-uh… Do you like toys? You wanna meet our family dog?"

I nodded shyly.

"It's okay, you can trust them," the orphanage caretaker comforted.

I heard wet plopping noises down the main hall and a chunky baby corgi came running. Its wet fur had covered its eyes and ran straight into me clumsily. We both fell on the wooden floor. My new white sundress soaked up the mud water from his paws and fur.

"Oh, Lord! I'm so sorry. Are you okay? He had been running in the backyard and it rained earlier this morning. We just got him a week ago. We thought it would be nice for Ren to share the house with another newcomer. We haven't had the time to train him," my new mom apologized and helped me up.

The energetic dog kept jumping up to reach the hem of my dress. I picked him up and he licked me all over my face like a lollipop.

"Oh, dear me. Your new dress! We'll get you a new one, I promise, " she faced her husband and scolded. "I told you we should've gotten an older and more obedient dog– "

"Hahaha! It tickles!" I moved my face away as he kept chasing it.

"I think they'll get along just fine. I'll leave you guys to it. Call me if you have any more questions or anything to report. Good day," the worker left the house and drove away in her company car.

I remembered the imagery vividly like it was just yesterday. My mom set up a camera on the living room mantlepiece and took a picture of my welcoming ceremony. My dad ended up cleaning up the mess. Kirby jumped into my bathtub. I remembered everything.

- 5 years ago -

It was my 15th birthday. My mom forced me to wear the jade hair pin on my hair. Just like every year, she would tie half of my hair up and put the pin on top like a centerpiece or a tiny light green crown.

But I remembered feeling embarrassed wearing it in front of my friends. It was the first time I had ever thrown a party with more than three people. I wanted them to like me so badly.

"Why do I have to wear that stupid pin every year? It doesn't even look good," I harrumphed and folded my arms.

My mom continued to brush my hair in front of the mirror on my dresser, "it's not just a stupid pin. It's a part of you. We named you after the lotus flower on it, though your dad thinks it looks more like a peach. Everything looks like a peach to him."

"Hahaha," I giggled. "But I think I'm old enough to live without it. I barely know anything about it."

A sad smile appeared on the jolly woman's face; it was a rare occurrence, "you know, the first day we saw you in that orphanage, you were holding onto it tightly. You wouldn't let anyone touch it, or even take a peek.

I think you scared some of the other kids too. The workers there told me that your late mother had passed away during childbirth and it was the only thing she had passed on to you.

We couldn't get much information about your old family. And to be honest, I wasn't even sure if you wanted to. You never asked or mentioned anything about them, so we assumed that you weren't interested or maybe it was too painful to try. I understand–"

"It's not that I never bothered. I do want to know what happened to them. But I thought it would hurt you guys to search about them. What kind of ungrateful daughter would I be? You are my real mom!" I turned around and hugged her.

That was the first time I saw her cry out of grief and perhaps some guilt. She had always made herself laugh till tears were rolling down her face. But the subject of my deceased parents had always made her sad. From then on, I had never questioned her about the pin anymore. I wore it once a year and hid it in a box of my childhood toys.

That was it. It was in the attic. I finally remembered. I'm sorry mom.

- 6 months ago -

It had been half a year since our first meeting. You were that short-tempered and free-willed young debater that beat me on my first competition. How dare you? But I was secretly happy I lost to you. Apparently, you weren't the horrible person people said you were. You weren't the spoiled rich kid I was scared you might be. You were just a kid lost in the world of adults. A kid just like me.