(See the end of the chapter for notes .)

Chapter Text

It should’ve been a simple trip, there and back in 15 minutes.

At least, that's what Maki had said.

The boys soft tennis team (and Mitsue, who said she was only there to prevent them from doing something stupid and getting the cops called, because she didn’t want police swarming around her apartment in the morning) had decided to meet at the park next to Maki’s apartment to hang out. It was a cool Saturday evening. A few stars peaked out between the clouds that hung over the heads of the tennis team.

“There and back in 15 minutes” Maki had said.

“I just wanna grab some blankets for us to sit on.” Maki had said.

“Once these clouds clear you’ll be able to see this star formation I’ve been wanting to show you guys for ages!” Maki had said.

“I’ll be back in a minute!”

So the team had waited a minute, chatting a bit, scrolling through their phones.

They’d waited 15 minutes, talking a bit, sitting down on some of the park swings.

30 minutes, and now the conversation had grown a bit tense.

45 minutes.

An hour had passed and Maki still hadn’t come back.

“God, he’s taking forever.” Tsubasa complained, stretching his arms out.

Taiyou glanced nervously at the apartment building looming over them.

“Should we go check on him?” Rintarou asked anxiously.

Touma pulled out his phone, tapping the contacts icon. “I’ll call him.”

The rest of the group crowded around Touma as he pulled up Maki’s contact.

“Put it on speaker!” Nao said.

Touma nodded, clicking the picture of loudspeaker on the screen.

Everyone held their breath as the line rang.

Once.

Twice.

Touma knew by now that Maki’s phone went to voicemail after 5 rings.

The line rang out a 3rd time.

Then a fourth.

Ring-

And the call connected.

Touma breathed a sigh of relief before shouting into the receiver.

“Maki! What’s happening! Why are you taking so long?!”

An uncharacteristically shaky voice stuttered through the phone’s tiny speakers.

“T-Touma! I-“

But Maki was cut off as his voice died in his throat. There was a shuffling noise, a small gasp of… pain? A male voice drawled over the line.

“And who might this be? It's quite rude, calling at such a late hour...”

An expression of dread flashed across Touma’s face before morphing into one of unbridled contempt.

“Get. Away. From. Maki.” Touma uttered between clenched teeth, keeping his head down.

A laugh echoed out.

“Oh? Well if it isn’t my sons precious tennis partner, Touma.”

The team looked at each other, expressions frozen in states of horror, shock, and disgust.

“Well then Touma, I think you know what I want. Bring it to me within the next few minutes and maybe Maki will get off easy. Not too easy of course, there have to be some punishments for disobeying his father.”

His voice was sickening, dripping like tar.

“Well Touma? Clock is ticking~”

With an electronic beep, the line went dead.

Touma raised his head to meet the concerned eyes of his teammates.

“Maki’s in trouble. I’ve got to go.”

His voice shook with anger, as did his hands.

“Touma, what’s happening?”

Shingo asked with concern and confusion.

Touma shook his head, grabbing his bag and pulling out his wallet. He rifled through it, counting out bills.

“1,000. Another 1,000.” He muttered under his breath.

“Touma, is Maki ok?”

He turned to the rest of the team with a darkened expression.

“Look I don’t have time to explain. Right now I need to get to Maki with as much money as I can.”

“Money? Touma, what are you doing? Who was that?”

“You dumbass, he just called himself Maki’s father!”

“But I thought Maki didn’t have a father…”

“Touma, please explain!”

Touma hissed under his breath, shoving his wallet into his pocket and turning back to his teammates.

“I told you, I don’t have time! Right now, Maki is in danger and I have to go help him, so if you could all-“

“Touma!”

Itsuki called, cutting Touma off. He held up a few assorted bills over his head.

“I don’t know what’s happening, but if Makimaki is in danger, we want to help.”

The other club members looked at each other, then turned to Touma and nodded.

“So. What do we do?”

Touma made a strangled sort of noise, halfway between a screech and a groan.

“Give me all the money you have. I’ll pay you back tomorrow, I promise. I’ve got to get up to Maki’s apartment as fast as I can.”

“We’re coming too!” Tsubasa protested. “You can’t just abandon us that easy, Maki is as much our friend as yours.”

“Fine!” Touma said. “But we’re wasting time!”

Everyone pulled out their money, passing over their bills to Touma. Mitsue reluctantly handed over a few notes as well.

Touma shoved the currency haphazardly into his jeans pocket and began sprinting towards the apartment.

The uneven slap of sneakers against concrete followed him, punctuating ragged breaths.

“Let’s go save Maki!”