Hunted

"There he is. Get the fuck out of my way, twerp." Ramesh roughly shoved Rick aside and started down the street. After spending the afternoon trying to find his brother Jyotis, having to pay off some bartender, buying a new lighter to calm the guy, and then listening to Rick bitch about being ambushed, he was in an extremely bad mood. All three of them had set off to find that fiesty redhead, and finally after two coffees and a terrible headache, he spotted the kid.

The two others followed him as he jogged between parked cars and stepped out to block the path. If anything could have cheered him up, those big brown eyes widening in surprise and then narrowing in suspicion would have done the trick. There was nothing cuter than a kitten trying to act tough. Just wondered how long it would take the little guy to start hissing and spitting. "Sorry kid, but after you and your friend humiliated me the other day, I gotta beat you up to keep up appearances. You understand, don't you?"

"Understand what? Oh, 'I'm sorry', but I wasn't paying attention to what you were saying. I was trying to figure out whether I was looking at your ugly face or your ugly ass." The redhead took a step to the side as he watched Rick and Jyotis step out and block the path behind him. The fear in his eyes made him look even more like a child. "Get the fuck away from me, you psychotic warthog! You couldn't beat me up if you tried. What are you going to hit me with? Those pig intestines you call arms? Haha! Fat chance, dingus!"

Ramesh had to glare in his companion's direction to get Rick to wipe that stupid smile off his face. That guy was getting on his nerves worse than the actual target. "You've got quite the mouth on you. I'll enjoy stringing it around my neck when I'm done rearranging your face."

"Good. That'd be so cool, I could hang you from beyond the grave. But... Where exactly is your neck?"

Okay, it just wasn't cute anymore. Ramesh balled his hand into a fist and swung it at the brat, nailing him right in the face. He smirked as he watched the kid yelp and stumble to keep his footing, but said smirk vanished when he realised what was happening. The little guy's stumbling turned into an unpredictable zig-zag and he zipped between the other two, dodging when Rick grabbed at him. Rick caught his sleeve but after an panicked kick to the groin, Rick was down on his knees, and their target was speeding down the street toward the arcade.

Ramesh sneered down at a drop of blood on his fist, and then started walking after the boy. "Get up, you useless shit. We're going to go get him."

~~~~

That fucker! It hurt damn bad, but that was probably his own fault. He hadn't been expecting the guy to aim for his face, and now he knew he was going to have a bad black eye real soon. He'd figure out later what kind of exaggerated war stories to tell his friends about when they asked how he got it. At the moment he had to be somewhere nice and crowded. Though, he knew from the first time that crowds weren't enough to stop that giant from harrassing people, so hiding was probably a good choice too.

Nele slipped through the rows of gaming machines, trying to stay low as he made his way toward the back. Maybe there'd be a fire exit or broom closet where he could hide and call Leandor. On his way there, he stopped as he spotted someone he was sure he knew. Hard to tell from behind, but judging by the group of adolescents surrounding, it had to be Kiyoshi. What was he doing there without the others? Especially with the brute on the loose. With a frown, Nele walked up to the machine Kiyoshi was at, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hope you're not too busy. I've got bad news."

The sound of his voice put a smile to that face, but the Japanese kept his eyes on the screen. "Bad news? How bad?" He paused for a bit, then added in a hesitant voice, "what about?"

"The barbarian that attacked you is back." He glanced at the screen briefly and then back toward the way he came. No sign of the guy yet, but didn't know how long that would last. "He'll probably be here any minute and the pain in my eye is telling me the fucking pig ain't here to chat."

Kiyoshi turned to face him and let out a shivery breath upon seeing his face. Shit, guess it didn't look too good... he leant over to mumble something to the guy next to him - probably no more than thirteen - and then started moving away. Nele quickly followed him, and a few meters later, he was looking up at Luo. "Ouch," the spiky-haired guy started upon seeing his face, quirking a sympathetic brow, "what's going on?"

He wanted to tell the guy to mind his own goddamn business; didn't even hurt because he was tough, but he knew that wouldn't get them anywhere. "We've got company. The brute is after me so he's gonna be here soon. We've gotta get out of here." Nele glanced back again. Still no sign. Good. "And don't think he could have given me this shiner normally. I was fucking distracted! Caught me off guard..."

With a smile, Luo put a hand on his shoulder. "Happens to the best of us." He said mildly, before pulling his fighting gloves out of his pocket with the other hand. "Let's wait for him outside, shall we?"

"Are you blind and deaf or just stupid? You won't win a fight against them now." He scowled at the gloves and shook his head. Hated it when people got patronizing, but he hated it even more when someone thought they could do something that he couldn't. "We've got to leave, not stand around and invite them over. Might as well just put a bullseye on your ass and tell them to lube up! There's a fire exit over there, so let's get going already!"

Nele felt Kiyoshi's arm wrap around him, the Japanese quite obviously rather uneasy about the whole thing at this point. His dark eyes darted back and forth between the other two, as if staring would make them make up their minds faster. Luo seemed more confused now, however, and sighed before answering. "What's wrong with now? And what do you mean, them?"

"What do you think I mean? 'Them' means more than one person, dumbass. He's got his boney-assed sidekick with him and some other big guy I didn't see before. One happy fucking family." He gazed back and cringed. Could see the bastard's head over the crowd of teens. "Well any longer and you'll be able to see for yourself, and maybe have a shiner to match mine. He's coming. We've gotta get going before he sees us."

After hesitating for about another second, Luo finally caved, pushing at the other two youngsters in the direction of the fire exit. The taller Korean gazed back at the three men making their way towards them, and recognition settled into his face as well.

Nele glanced back as he moved, only to see the scrawny guy mutter something and the big guy's face begin to turn red. That was not the red of someone blushing, it was rage. Moments later, the guy had shoved his other companion out of his way and started running, barreling his way through the crowd. Really bad. Nele's eyes widened and he grabbed Kiyoshi's hand, pulling the guy along as he broke into a run. "Holy shit, what the fuck is his problem?! Fucking psychopath!"

It wasn't hard to get Kiyoshi motivated for running away. They made their way as fast as they could, with Luo following right behind them. As they stopped momentarily to get out the door, the tall Korean grimaced - or maybe that was a weird smirk - and said, "I'll explain later."

Great, he would like to have someone to blame for all that. With a confused glance over Luo, Nele started running again, being careful not to pull too hard on Kiyoshi. Could hear the pounding footsteps of their pursuer behind them and another quick glance back and Nele saw the other two behind the guy. But the bastards stopped not far out the door and the biggest of the brutes was wearing a bitterly vicious smile. "Go ahead and run, little boys!" His shouts were louder than needed, but successfully got the point across that he was furious. "I already know where you live! Don't forget to lock your windows tonight!"

~~~~~

This is a collab, written together with Chlover. You can find her author profile here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=26260