Fuck You, Pay Me!

8. On the Run

The purple-haired doesn't wait this time, just shuffles around the table and pulls Katsuki up from the floor with his good arm.

The other is limp and bruised at his side. One of those fucks got him good. 

He's bleeding from somewhere at the top of his head but it's much too hard to tell exactly where with all of that blood matting his hair down. Not to mention the ugly gash beneath his eye.

"Fucking hell, Hitoshi---"

"I'm okay, Katsuki, okay? Just stay close to me and we're gonna be just fine. You have my keys, baby? Yeah?"

Katsuki tries to steel himself, offering a shaky nod. Hitoshi holds out his hand and Katsuki scrambles to dig through the pockets of the coat still wrapped around his shaking frame. The keys jingle as he slaps them into the older man's palm and Hitoshi takes his free hand to lace his and Katsuki's fingers together.

"Stay behind me. Don't take your eyes off me for even a second. No matter what you hear---no matter what's happening around you---you keep your eyes on me, you hear me?"

Another nod. Katsuki's hand tightens around Hitoshi's.

The tattooed man steadies himself with a deep breath before he begins to navigate them through the apartment. He pauses in one of the bedrooms, very briefly digging through one of the several drawers before finding and throwing a black sweatshirt at Katsuki's head. The blonde doesn't need to to told to put it on---or to do it quickly. He follows suit with the pair of sweats thrown his way soon after. The clothes nearly swallow him but they're dry, warm, and won't get in the way while they're running.

"I don't have any shoes you could fit right now. Can you run without them, Kats?"

"Y-Yeah, I think so."

"Good, good boy. We're gonna go out the back way---through the fire escape. They don't know that I'm here yet so they're coming through the front but some of these dumb bastards are pretty cunning so I'm not taking any chances." He doesn't stop moving as he talks, digging further into the drawer. When he comes back up again, there's a knife in his hand. He takes Katsuki by the wrist and uncurls his fingers, forcing the knife in his palm. Katsuki looks confused---scared even.

"Any of those fuckers gets close enough to grab, fucking stab them. To kill. They don't need mercy and you can't afford it, you understand?"

Katsuki's trembling hand tightens around the knife.

"I understand."

"Stay close."

And he takes his hand again, quickly staggering out to the fire escape and making quick work of the steps. Katsuki is careful not to miss any; he can't afford to be a burden right now by slipping and breaking an ankle or leg. He's grateful that the rain had stopped or it would be much more difficult to navigate.

And his change of wardrobe would have ultimately been for not.

They're within eyeshot of where Hitoshi's car is parked haphazardly on the curb but Hitoshi still has them duck behind a dumpster, peering out and looking both ways to make sure the coast is clear.

The jarring noise of a bullet ricocheting off of the metal trashcan next to them nearly gives Katsuki a heart attack.

Hitoshi curses under his breath and pulls Katsuki in front of him as another comes down. It would seem that those thugs have made it into the apartment and figured out where they were.

"Don't make this difficult, Kid." Someone says to him in a bored tone but the moment Katsuki raises his head to look he's pushed back down again.

"You've got a lot fuckin' nerve, Kai. If you think the old man's gonna let you slide with the shit you and your fuckhead posse tried to pull tonight then you're outta goddamn head!" Hitoshi counters and Katsuki registers that Hitoshi still has a gun when he begins to fire back.