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Giorno leaned against the brick wall to catch his breath. He checked his pocket, making sure the money was still there, and let out a sigh of relief. He had run into a side street - a small alley between buildings, which was unfortunately a dead-end.
Getting caught like this was a rare occurrence but it wasn’t the first time it happened. He was pretty sure he hadn’t outrun them yet, but was far enough ahead so that he could have a minute to figure out where to go next. Just in case, he turned to peek around the side of the building. He could see the cops down the street talking to some tourists.
“Hey dude can you give me a hand?”
Giorno jumped at the realisation that he wasn’t alone. He turned back around and saw someone sitting on the ground further down the alley. It was a guy a little older than him, but still a teenager. He had blood running from his nose to his chin, and a purple bruise around his right eye. At first, Giorno thought he might be a gang member, but he was young and dressed too casually. Giorno stood there and stared at him without responding.
“Hello? I’m not gonna mug you. I just need you to pull me up alright?”
Giorno took a second to assess the situation. It was unlikely he was a cop, and in the worst case scenario he had the upper hand with Gold Experience. He cautiously walked over and offered his hand. The boy reached up and took it, pulling himself up and almost pulling Giorno to the ground in the process. Giorno toppled forward slightly, finding his feet and balancing himself again. The boy, who was now standing in front of Giorno, let go of his hand and laughed.
“Sorry I’m a little heavy I guess.”
Giorno once again didn’t respond or laugh with him. He looked the boy up and down, who was currently fixing his clothes and readjusting his hat. He was taller by a few centimetres, and Giorno had to look up at him to look him in the eyes. He had dark brown eyes and dark curly hair, which was mostly covered by an ugly purple beanie. As Giorno had thought, he didn’t seem like either a cop or a gangster, probably just some street kid.
“You don’t talk much?” The boy said, wiping the blood from his face. “Thanks for the help anyway.”
Giorno nodded, and turned to walk back to his original spot near the edge of the alley. He poked his head out again, and noticed that the police were closer now.
“Who are you hiding from? The cops are on your ass?”
Giorno whipped around to find the boy was standing right behind him. He was going to be a liability if he didn’t get rid of him before the police showed up.
“You don’t have somewhere to be?” Giorno asked in a polite tone, but the implication that he wanted him to fuck off was definitely there.
“No, not really.” The boy responded, leaning over Giorno to see what he was looking at. “Aah, they are. What did you do?” He asked, grinning.
Giorno stared at him blankly and ducked under his arm to get away. He ignored the question and began considering his options. He could use Gold Experience to get up the side of the building, but both were tall, and the building on the left was an apartment block, which means he’d most likely be seen by one of the residents. Not to mention his new problem, who was not giving up on the questions.
“You steal from someone? You should probably avoid getting caught, you know?” The boy teased.
“Of course I know that.” Giorno muttered in response.
“Then why do you have these two idiots after you?” He gestured to the main street using his thumb, but Giorno wasn’t facing him anyway.
“Surprisingly it wasn’t on purpose. I don’t normally get-”
“They’re getting closer, man. They’ll figure out you’re here and this street’s pretty much a dead end. You want a hand getting away?”
Giorno turned to face the boy behind him. Studying his face, the question seemed genuine, but he was still a stranger and Giorno didn’t trust him. He considered the question in silence, as the boy patiently waited for a response.
“I’m fine, thank you.” Giorno finally stated, bluntly.
The boy sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself I guess.” He moved to lean his back against the wall, pulling a cigarette and light from his back pocket. “But you’ve got about 60 seconds before they check this street.”
Giorno continued to stare at the boy, slightly annoyed by the arrogance. He wasn’t going to get caught. He’s never been caught. He turned to look at the fence blocking him from proceeding down the alleyway. The top was decorated by metal spears to prevent intruders, and it was too tall to climb anyway. There was a tangle of flowers and ivy growing about 2 metres high from the ground up the fence. Once again, if he even tried to summon Gold Experience he wasn’t sure if he could trust the boy behind him to keep it to himself.
“I know you don’t want my help, but if you change your mind in the next 30 seconds..” the boy gestured to the lower left side of the fence, “The dude who lives there’s got a little door behind that bush over there. It’s for his cat but I reckon you could fit, you’re small enough. Once you get through there’s a path next to his house that takes you back onto the street, near the station.”
Without saying anything, Giorno walked over to check behind the plants. Sure enough, pushing on the fence in front of him moved a little cat flap forwards, big enough for Giorno to crawl through. He glanced back at the boy, who grinned at him, shot him a wave, and then gestured for Giorno to go. Giorno nodded back, before quickly climbing past the plants in front of him through the gap.
“Hey there!”
Mista turned to face the cop that had finally made his way to their street.
“We’re looking for a kid. About this high. Black hair, blue eyes. Pickpocket.”
“Hmmm.. I don’t know.” Mista shrugged and took a drag from his cigarette. “Haven’t seen anyone down here all morning.”
“My partner says he saw someone run down here earlier. It’d be really helpful for us if you could-”
“Don’t bother with this dumbass.” A hand appeared on the cop’s shoulder, followed by a second policeman making his way around the corner. He stood directly in front of Mista, towering over him. Mista looked up to look him in the eyes, grinning.
“Hello officer.”
The officer in question picked the cigarette from Mista’s mouth, dropping it to the floor and putting it out with his shoe.
“I don’t have time to play games with you Mista. I heard you talking to someone, where’d he go?”
“Already told your friend I haven’t seen anyone. Do you see anyone?” Mista gestured to the empty street, still smirking. “Don’t you have more important things to be doing, Abbacchio. Or did they finally demote you to- OUGH.”
Mista winced as Abbacchio punched him in the stomach and rolled his eyes.
“Learn to keep your mouth shut.” Abbacchio said, still glaring down at Mista. He glanced at his partner. “Let’s go, we're wasting time. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon Mista.”
Mista laughed as the cops walked off. “Aw did I hurt your feelings” he called out. Abbacchio didn’t turn back but gave him the finger. “Love you too!” Mista yelled, still laughing.
Mista watched until the pair were around the corner before slumping down onto the ground and pulling a new cigarette from his pocket.