Kid clocked out his timecard, signaling the end of his shift. The first shift they'd told him would be shorter than the subsequent shifts. It was mostly just a paid orientation, getting him used to the shop, where things are kept, the procedures, safety measures, so on and so forth. If Kid was being honest he was glad they were breaking him in slowly, his feet were killing him.

Now that he really thought about it, there'd never been a point in life where he just stood in one spot for a few hours straight. He was always able to move around or switch positions. As painful as his feet and legs currently were he still had to walk home, rest up, have dinner, and do it all again tomorrow.

He left the auto shop and headed towards home after he was a few blocks away from the shop he reached into his pockets, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. He placed one between his lips and flicked the lighter, he was about to light the cigarette when something else caught his eye.

A group of boys were surrounding a girl, she was coughing, holding her chest and her shoulders heaved with each breath. 'What the fuck? Those Jackals better not ha—,' he thought to himself then stopped mid thought when he saw they were tossing something between themselves. He placed the cigarette back in the package. Then put the package and lighter back in his pocket.

He observed for a moment while seemingly messing with his old iphone 8 to give the appearance that he wasn't paying attention to them. After about a minute he knew the toss pattern by heart and approached nonchalantly to the area where the group was gathered.

He could hear her wheezing as she tried to plead with them to stop playing keep away with her inhaler. The boys laughed until Kid's hand came out and caught the blue inhaler before it could go to the intended recipient. He quickly shoved his hand that still held the medical device into his pocket.

"The hell Eustass?"

"That's my line. What the hell are you assholes doing? This isn't a fuckin' game," he growled out in a menacingly low tone while side eyeing the other boys. Something between the way he was looking at them and the edge in his voice caused the others to falter in his presence. They backed away from the girl and Kid went to her, holding out his hand to her that was safeguarding her medicine.

"C'mon man, it's funny. Listen to her. She sounds like a boiling kettle," one of them pressed. Kid rounded on the boy, his fist catching the boy's jaw and knocking a few teeth loose. He heard the sound of the inhaler releasing two doses.

Kid observed as the now injured boy sputtered and spat blood out onto the ground. Kid chuckled a little as he commented, "Now that's a funny sight. A would-be murderer getting his teeth knocked out."

"What? It was just a bit of fun," another guy objected.

Kid's head snapped around to meet the boy's gaze. He got directly in front of his face while he raged, "fun? You think it's fun to struggle to breathe? You ever have someone hold your head under water? Did you find that fun? You fucking psychopath!"

The boy held both hands up in front of himself, showing his palms to Kid as he sputtered, "O-okay, okay. We went too far."

"There's the understatement of the millennium," the redhead scoffed as he plunked himself down next to the girl.

She wasn't making eye contact with any of them, not even Kid. He on the other hand looked directly at the boy he'd punched and stated, "you all better get the fuck outta here before you end up like your buddy."

He heard the others scrambling around them but he didn't move away from the girl or pay attention to what the guys were doing while they left. His sole focus was on making sure the girl's breathing resolved. Eventually her breathing evened out and Kid visibly relaxed a little.

"Sorry for troubling you," she murmured. He was now taking in her appearance. She was cute, kinda pretty, but not beautiful. She had a slightly more peach tone to her complexion than he did. Her golden blonde hair came down past her jaw line but didn't reach her shoulders and had a very slight wave to it. Her eyes were a light grey almost like steel. She wore a pink spaghetti strap sundress and white sandals.

Kid shook his head from side to side as he informed her, "You didn't. I could've chosen to walk away if I wanted to."

"But you didn't because you're nice," she offered.

"I'm an asshole. There's just some things I won't ignore," Kid corrected her.

He looked to her and asked, "Where you headin' anyway?"

"Uhh west 15th and Main," she answered. Kid's eyes grew wide, that was on the other side of town. While her breathing had evened out, he knew enough to know that a silent wheeze could emerge if the constricting in her airways hadn't fully resolved.

He gave a deep sigh before shifting so he was crouched in front of her, "hop on."

"What?!"

"This heat, the way you were breathing before—I'm not gonna let you walk that far alone—hell even with someone with you I wouldn't be okay with that thought," he admitted.

She sucked her lower lip into her mouth and bit it in contemplation. Kid noticed this and suggested, "how about this then? My place is a short walk away from here. Let's head there and get you some coffee. I've heard that can help clear up any lingering irritation. That sound okay?"

She smirked a little as she pointed out, "Thought you said you're an asshole?"

"I am," he confirmed as he glanced back at her.

"But sometimes I can put the asshole aside if a situation calls for it. I'm not the type of asshole that would take advantage of someone though. If that's what you're afraid of," he offered.

"Your parents won't mind? I mean I'm a stranger."

She stopped when she noticed a flash of sadness cross his face while he answered, "I actually live with my older brother. He'd off to work by the time we get there."

"Oh, I see," she answered.

Kid gently pressed her, "daylight's wastin' Pipsqueak, you comin' with or no?"

The girl bit her lip as she walked over to Kid and wordlessly climbed onto his back. Kid locked his arms under her legs to keep her on his back as he resumed his journey back to his apartment. He was now a little irritated that he didn't feel right smoking at this moment, even though he was desperately craving one, but he'd be a colossal asshole if he lit one up and made her sick again.