CW: Violence, blood, trauma themes, and threatening behavior.
Kuro turned around but it was too late. A pull.
Thud. Kuro hit the wet pavement hard, the air punching from his lungs. The man crawled over him like a wounded bear—efficient, rabid—as Hikari scrambled backward, a whimper trapped in her throat.
Kuro drove a boot into the man's jaw. Bone crunched. But the enforcer roared, surging forward, pinning Kuro beneath his weight. A fist slammed into Kuro's temple. Blood sprayed. Another punch—Kuro's head snapped sideways, crimson rivulets joining the rainwater.
The enforcer's hand locked around Kuro's throat, squeezing. Kuro gagged, clawing at the man's wrists, but the grip only tightened.
Hikari pressed the business card between her palms until the edges bit into her skin. Her stomach cramped violently, doubling her over.
The scene was a reminder. ########### hands on her neck—the bruise—the dark room—She couldn't breathe.
She walked backwards into the wall.
The enforcer fumbled for the discarded phone, thumbed it on, one arm choking him.
The boss's voice shrieked into the alley: "You — You got him? F-FINALLY! Finish that snoozing dragon! Don't let that scaleless lizard crawl back into his hole!"
His hand let go of Kuro's throat for a single moment, he took a few shaky breaths.
Metal glinted—a pipe, slick with Kuro's blood from their first fight.
The enforcer raised it.
Crack.
The blow caught Kuro across the skull. Blood gushed from his nose, his mouth.
Hikari cried out, collapsing to her knees as phantom pain ripped through her abdomen.
〖He's dying. Like —〗
Kuro's eyes fluttered open. Met hers. Bleeding, broken, he jerked his head toward the alley's mouth.
Go. Run. Now.
◇ ◇ ◇