The breakfast that Sunday morning was the longest Kimiko had. Ichinose explained what happened to Kimiko and Tenma rapidly asked questions with excitement. After all, Gouenji Shuuya was a player in Japan's national team and Tenma wouldn't let this chance slip away.
His face when he discovered that Kimiko was potentially Gouenji's sister was priceless.
When things finally came to a conclusion, Tenma had invited Kimiko and Ichinose to play soccer. However, Ichinose had warned that Kimiko was ill and should refrain from intense sports. He himself happily accepted the offer and Kimiko followed them to the riverbank just to observe.
The night before, Ichinose had informed her that he had gotten a phone call from Julie. She had instructed on behalf of Kimiko's doctor that she do regular health checkups at the hospital at least once a week. That was even less of an excuse to be playing soccer.
***
That afternoon, Yuuka-neesan came to pick Kimiko up from Aki's apartment. She brought her over to the Gouenji household and showed her around.
"What about Niisan?" Kimiko asked expecting to see the soccer player she had always admired.
"Niisan is very busy right now. He has soccer related work and won't be coming home for a long time. At least that's what I was told" Yuuka explained.
"Can you tell me about it?"
"I don't know very much of it either but I'll tell you what I know"
"Soccer as we know it is changing. There is someone trying to control soccer for equality. They call themselves Fifth Sector and they decide the winner of each match before it even starts. Oniichan is working to stop them but I'm not quite sure how. He told me it was dangerous and he didn't want me involved. This makes it almost impossible to see him and it is extremely hard to contact him. However, he does ask for help from time to time but I rarely ever see him now. Fifth Sector also trains people known as "Seeds". They are elite players trained under the Fifth's supervision and they are known to be fearful and destructive"
"This sound horrible. Does that mean we are not allowed to play real soccer anymore? Like the kind of soccer Raimon used to play?"
"Yeah. But you have to promise me that whatever I have told you in this room stays in this room. This is top secret information not even Ichinose, Aki, or Kidou know about. Right now, it's just you and me."
"Ok. I won't tell. I do feel sorry for Tenma though. He has so much enthusiasm towards soccer, yet he has no idea what he is about to go through if he still wants to play"
"I feel sorry for all of those children who love soccer and want to play it freely"
***
Yuuka and Kimiko spent some sister quality time together that afternoon. Even though Yuuka was unsure how she and Kimiko were related exactly, she treated the girl like a sister. They went shopping for school supplies at the stationary shops in Inazuma town and bought Kimiko more clothes.
For Kimiko, it was more than she could ask for. She went from having no one to having a sister, a friend and people that cared for her.
Yuuka took Kimi home afterwards and they sat down for a talk with Ichinose and Aki. According to Ichinose, Tenma was still at the riverbank.
"I have something to request of you two" Yuuka declared.
"I need your help to look after Kimi-chan because I'm not old enough to be her legal guardian. My father is not capable of looking after her in his current state and oniichan cannot be contacted now"
"The only way to ensure that Kimi-chan has a legal guardian is for you to adopt her. I request that you two get married as soon as possible and adopt Kimi-chan. She will have to use your last name which will hopeful cause less commotion if she were to enter Raimon. Please. I know that this is sudden and very selfish of me, but please consider for Kimiko's sake"
The room was silent for a moment as Ichinose and Aki looked at one another as if they could read one another's mind.
"We'll do it"
Wait what!? Ichinose and Aki are getting married already? And Kimiko is getting adopted by them.
I apologize if any of you were expecting to see Gouenji in this chapter but if that happened, it would be the end of this story.
I promise they will meet later in the story, just not now.
Hope you enjoyed!