𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝙾𝚞𝚝𝚜 | 𝚃𝚘𝚔𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒 𝚃𝚘𝚞𝚊

3

Ace rushed to her flat and quickly ran inside. She shut the door, locking it twice. Her mind kept recalling Toua's eyes. Those beautiful eyes were distorted with rage. Ace was never the one to be scared especially not of her old friend and lover, but lately his possessiveness worried her. Tokuchi never made his feelings clear. He never told her how he felt and what he thought, then why was he so obsessed with her being around? She didn't know.

"I will not go back to him." Ace said stubbornly. "I will never return to a person who thinks of me as something given." She said to herself as she slowly sat on her bed and pulled off her t-shirt. She rubbed her belly eyeing it. She lost weight, but Ace didn't see it as a good thing. Her belly rumbled making her feel sick. She hasn't eaten for two days. Her phone rung making a shiver run down her spine. She looked at the screen and sighed in relief.

"Yes?"

"Ace-chan, are the drafts ready?" a soft female voice called from the other end of the phone. Ace smacked her forehead.

"Ah, Chika-san, sorry. I need another couple of days...can I come by on Tuesday? I will have everything ready."

A deep sigh escaped from Chika's lips. "Okay, but I will pay you a visit myself. Tuesday, 5pm, it's the deadline. Your last deadline."

Ace ran her fingers through her long hair. "Understood." The woman hung up leaving the girl in silence of her own room. She looked around. "No other way I guess." Ace stood up and picked up her laptop. A pair of old thick rimmed glasses found themselves on her nose. She switched on the monitor and clicked her fingers. "Time to work."

***

Toua lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. The cigarette was pressed between his lips and arms rested behind his head. His mind was occupied. It seemed as if Toua was unsure of what to think of: the coming up game or Ace; somehow the two managed to appear in his mind together. Toua put out his cigarette and turned to a side, resting his head on his hand. His eyes scanned the mirror opposite the bed, giving him a perfect view on himself.

"Why did she leave?" the question was rhetorical but to a guy like him it was a pain. Toua was one of those rare people who could notice anything and everything, but how could he not notice the change in her? When did it all begin? Was it too late now? Not a chance. He would not allow it. A knock at the door brought the blonde back to reality. He slowly walked to the door and opened it. He raised his eyebrow eyeing the man who quickly pushed past him, followed by another two people.

"Tokuchi," the man called grinning widely as if he had something planned for the blonde. "Resting?"

The blonde shrugged and sat opposite the team owner. "Owner, what do you want?" he asked as he lit a cigarette and let out a cloud of smoke. The owner smirked like a madman. Toua already knew what he wanted, but decided to wait for the owner's explanation. The man rubbed his greedy hands together taking his sweet time before replying.

"I would like to offer you a deal." He stated.

"Oh, another one of your stupid ideas." Toua's voice was passionless. The owner felt a vein pulsate at his temple, but he ignored the blonde's comment. The man crossed his arms on his chest and smirked staring at Toua intently.

"Let's re-new our contract for the upcoming game." The owner said. Tokuchi raised his eyebrow. "Instead of our usual 5,000,000 yen for every out you pitch and 50,000,000 yen for every point you give up, lets double the bet."

An old man beside him pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Owner! That's a crazy idea!" he yelled, but the owner refused to listen. His attention was attached to the blonde in front of him.