Family

Stranger

"Tenma-san," Tetsuya called, "Do you have a mobile phone?"

"E-eh? Yes, why do you ask?"

Tetsuya reached for his bag and took Akashi's calling card-- one Akashi always made him keep in case he gets lost. "Can you send nii-san a message?"

"What for?" Tenma asked, looking at the contact number on the calling card.

"Tell him that I'll be going home now," Tetsuya said.

"Alone?!" Tenma asked, quite astonished that a kid like him was brave enough to walk home at a time like this.

Tetsuya asked as he shouldered his bag. "Nii-san might be busy," he said.

"Where are your parents? Why won't they pick you up?"

Tetsuya bit his lip and looked down. "They're... away," he said, "Their work is far away,"

Tenma frowned then looked down at Akashi's calling card. "I see," he said then took his phone and sent a message to Akashi. He then stood up and took Tetsuya's bag from him. "Let me walk you home,"

Tetsuya looked at him then reached for his bag and tugged it. "No, thank you," he said, "Nii-san said I shouldn't go with strangers,"

"Again with the strangers," Tenma muttered, "Don't worry, I'll just accompany you to your street and then I'll be on my way. If something would happen to you on your way home, I might feel guilty once I let you go off alone,"

Tetsuya didn't answer.

Tenma smiled and held out a hand. "Come on, I'll take you home,"

***

Akashi was panting hard when he arrived at the school. It was already dusk and most of the staff had already gone home, but Akashi was still hopeful to see the cyan-haired child waiting for him.

He was in the middle of an urgent business meeting when he received a text from an unknown number and had literally jumped up from his seat-- he forgot that he will be the one picking up Tetsuya from school today-- and got to the school as fast as he can, regardless of how many traffic violations he committed.

"Akashi...-san?" The principal called him, surprised to see the redhead at their school in this hour.

"Have... have you seen Tetsuya?" Akashi asked in between pants as he tried to steady his breathing.

The principal had her eyes widened when Akashi asked her that question. "I thought you already picked him up? He was waiting for you by the playground when Ogiwara-san left him. I went to check on him earlier but he was already gone and I thought you already arrived to pick him up,"

Akashi's heart stopped. Tetsuya was gone-- and the only contact he had to know where he is was the number he used to text him and tell him he was going home.

"S-shall I call the police?" the principal asked, sensing Akashi's panicked state.

Akashi didn't answer and flipped his phone open, cursing in his mind and dialed the number.

"The number you have dialed is either unattended or out of coverage area. Please try your call later," the automated voice said and Akashi cursed loudly, redialling the number to receive the same automated voice mail.

"Can I take a look at your CCTV footage?" Akashi asked as he put his phone back inside his pocket, finding it hopeless to call the unknown number.

"S-sure," the principal said led Akashi back to her office where she had a copy of the CCTV footage.