My Father's Secret

Chapter 21

It was Sunday evening and Kimiko still hadn't ben able to talk to Tsurugi about the project. She figured she would have better luck if she went looking for him at the hospital because thats he place he would most likely be at as far as she knew.

Walking down the familiar hallways, Kimiko made her way past her own room to where Tsurugi's brother was. The name plate at the room beside her's was labeled 'Tsurugi Yuuichi' and she was confident that it must be his room. Despite that, she was afraid to knock.

She had no idea what kind of person lay behind the door. Maybe he was cold like Tsurugi or maybe just scary. But it wasn't like she had much of a choice. So, Kimiko took a deep breathe in and knocked the door.

"Come in!" shouted a voice from inside. Kimiko followed and slowly opened the door. Inside revealed a teenage boy with the same navy blue hair as Tsurugi. He was sitting upright on his bed with a soccer magazine in his hand. He had a kind smile that reassured Kimiko that maybe it was a good decision to ask Tsurugi's brother.

A soccer fan? That is strange. The elder brother seems to love soccer but the younger brother is trying to destroy it.

Kimiko decided to push that confusion away for the moment and focus on finding Tsurugi first.

"Excuse me, sorry for intruding. I'm Ichinose Kimiko, one of Tsurugi's classmates. I'm doing a project with Tsurugi but I can't get hold of him. Do you happen to know where he is?" Kimiko asked, trying her best to be as polite as possible.

"Kyousuke's classmate? I don't know where he is at the moment, but may I ask how you found out about me?"

"Actually, my room is next door. I have to be admitted at the hospital weekly"

"I see. If Kyousuke comes by, I'll make sure to tell him to find you"

"Thank you so much"

"No problem, and feel free to come talk to me about Kyousuke, I know he can be a pain sometimes" he said with a laugh. Kimiko giggled. She definitely agreed with that.

"I'll be leaving now, thank you Yuuichi-san" she bowed and headed to the door. But before Kimiko could reach for the door, it opened and she stood face to face with Tsurugi Kyousuke.

"Tsurugi"

"Ichinose?"

"Kyousuke! Your classmate came looking for you"

"I'll be back, niisan" and he turned to Kimiko.

"Follow me" Tsurugi lead the way to the waiting area in the hospital before turning to speak with Kimiko.

"What do you want?"

"I was looking for you and I thought that maybe you would be visiting your brother, so I came to see"

"Why are you looking for me?"

"The science project of course. We need to talk about-"

"I'm not doing it"

"What? Why?"

"I'm not doing it"

"But I can't finish the project alone and-"

"I said I'm not going to do it"

"I don't understand. What is your problem? Do you have a grudge against me or something?" Kimiko was getting angry and frustrated now.

"Look, this has nothing to do with you but its something you wouldn't understand. Just know that I'm not comfortable doing this project" Tsurugi turned the other way and began to walk off.

"Wait!" Kimiko called. "This is about your brother isn't it. He has paralysis doesn't he" her words stopped Tsurugi in his tracks. She was spot on.

"Its ok if you want to talk about it with me. I understand you. My father is ill, so i know what it's like to have someone you care about in a hospital. My father's been diagnosed with Alzheimers for a few hears now and he cant even remember me"

At this point, Tsurugi turned to face Kimiko in surprise.

"I'm sorry to hear that" he said genuinely. This was the side of Tsurugi she had never seen before. Maybe Fuyuka-san was right after all.

"Anyways, if you don't feel comfortable doing this project, I completely understand you. I can finish it myself. I'm sorry I pushed you into doing it" Kimiko bowed and turned to walk away but she felt a tight grip on her arm that stopped her from going any further.

"Wait. I'll do it with you"

"What?"

"I'll do the project with you"

At last, Kimiko has gotten Tsurugi to do the project with her!!! Will this project make them get to know one another better? Find out in the next chapterssss.