My Father's Secret

Chapter 5

The other side of the wooden door revealed a young women in her early twenties with short brown hair and big brown eyes.

"Hello, welcome to Kogarashi manor."

"I'm Kino Aki" the woman said, sticking her hand out which Kimiko gladly took. Once she realized it was the same person Ichinose had been talking about, she proceeded with the plan.

"I was looking to see if I could rent a room here to stay. You see, I'm here to look for my parents."

"Oh dear, why are you not with your parents?"

"It's a long story I don't want to talk about now."

"I'm so sorry, but who will be paying for your rents." Kimiko remained silent.

"I will" Ichinose now revealed himself from behind one of the bushes holding the bouquet of carnations in his hand.

"Ichinose!" Aki squealed speechless and in shock. "What in the world are you doing here. I thought you had an important game to attend in America."

"Well I decided you were more important to me than the game. I'm sure my teammates will do fine with out me" this was Kimiko's cue to step out of the way to allow a free pathway between the two lovebirds.

Ichinose walked up to Aki closing the distance between them.

"I've missed you so much ever since I left Japan. I think about you every night before I go to sleep and you are the first thought when I wake up. You are more important to me than anything and I want to be there for you. Be there by your side and hold your hand because I never want to let you slip away. For 10 years, you were the only girl who owned my heart and I wish that it could remain that way forever. Kino Aki, will you be my first and my last." He asked kneeling down on his knees holding the flowers out towards the love of his life.

Tears rolled down her rosy cheeks, her hands clasped over her mouth.

"Yes! Of course!" Aki said and lowered herself down to hug Ichinose. She had been dreaming of this day since she first had a crush on him and that was 10 years ago. They held their embrace for a while but not too long to make it awkward for Kimiko.

When the two finally pulled apart, Ichinose helped Aki up and she took the bouquet of carnations. She invited both of them inside the manor where they sat in the common area to talk.

Ichinose decided it was better to discuss the matter over lunch as it was getting late, so Aki took them to one of her favorite restaurants.

"Oh I just realized I didn't exchange any money from the airport"

"It's fine, I can pay for this meal"

"Certainly not, this is our first official date and I'm not letting you pay"

"Oh alright then there's a bank nearby here, I'll take you." Aki turned to Kimiko and continued. "Do you mind going in to reserve a table for us first? This place fills up very quickly."

"Not at all"

Kimiko walked into the restaurant and requested a table for three and one of the staff kindly escorted her to one. She took a quick glance at the menu but decided to wait for Ichinose and Aki to come back before she ordered anything, so she simply ordered one glass of ice water.

As she sat at the table, she noticed that occasionally, a few people would walk over to the person at the table beside her and ask for an autograph or a photo. This made Kimiko quite curious and she wondered wether this person was some celebrity in Japan. She wanted to see for herself as there was a blurry glass panel separating the two tables.

She got up from the table and walked over to the table to the right trying to act natural. There were two people at the table, a man and a woman. She didn't recognize the women but something about the man (she couldn't see his face as he was sitting with his back to her) sitting across her made her feel like she had seen him before somewhere. She pretended to walk to the bathroom and back again to get a better look of that man.

As she moved closer to where they were sitting, she got more and more curious. Just as she approached the table, her phone rang. Ichinose. It was the only number on her phone anyway. The two at the table did not look up at her until she started speaking.

"Ichinose-san, where are you now?"

"I'm almost at the restaurant, the cue at the bank was very long. Have you gotten a table?"

"Yes"

As soon as she put her phone back into her bag, she looked over at the table where the two people were sitting again. However, this time, she found them looking back at her. As soon as she saw the man's face, she recognized him immediately. The goggles. It was the ex-captain of Teikoku and the current commander, Kidou Yuuto.

"Kidou Yuuto! I wasn't expecting to meet you here. I'm a big fan!"

"It's nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"Gouenji Kimiko" those two words left both Kidou and the girl across from him frozen.

"Gou-Gouenji!?" The girl stuttered in shock. "How are you related to Gouenji Shuuya?" She asked.

Just when Kimiko was about to say she didn't know, a familiar voice called out her name.

"Kimi-chan!" It was Ichinose and Aki walking over to her. This caused even more confusion to the genius play maker.

"Ichinose? Aki?" Kidou was definetly not expecting to meet up with his old high school friends here.

"Kidou?" Ichinose was surprised, though he didn't recognize the girl sitting across from him.

"Yuuka-chan! You've grown so much since I've last seen you." Aki immediately recognized the girl sitting across from Kidou to be Gouenji Shuuya's sister. Though the years have passed, her smile never changed. It was always as lively as ever.

"What in the world is going on here? We need to talk" Kidou announced.

***

Ichinose and Aki are finally together!

What happens after they meet Kidou and Yuuka at the restaurant?Looks like they need to clear things up. Yuuka starts to suspect that there is something wrong with Kimiko. They share a last name after all. What happens when Yuuka finds out who she really is?

But what are Kidou and Yuuka doing together at a restaurant? They couldn't be discussing soccer tactics are they...