"So what's the plan?" Ishaan whispered. They were crouched behind a stack of crates at the mouth of the alley, close enough to smell the wet stone.
"You did judo at nationals. I've survived your skirmishes," Aaron whispered back. "Six on two in a narrow alley isn't great odds."
"That's a no-plan."
"I'm working on it."
Further in, one of the thugs grabbed the older girl by the wrist and yanked her forward.
"Let go, you swine!" she snapped.
"Ooh. A feisty one." He sounded delighted. A second later, he yelped. The younger girl had bitten his arm.
"Bro," Ishaan hissed. "Think faster."
Aaron's eyes went down the alley. Four men near the girls. Two more near the far end, guarding the exit. A pile of scrap metal near them, and a bottle in his bag.
"I'll go to the far end," he said. "Make some noise. Pull two of them away."
"Why the far end?"
"Explain later. When there are fewer of them, strike."
"Aaron, that's not a plan, that's a suicide note—"
But Aaron was already gone.
At the other end of the alley, the older girl was shaking, but she still stood in front of her sister. The leader smiled at her, calm and unhurried, like a man who had done this before. "Nobody's coming, sweetheart. Makes things simpler."
Something clattered to the ground behind him.
A metal water bottle rolled across the stones and stopped against his boot. The leader spun around. A boy stood frozen at the end of the alley, eyes wide, bag halfway off his shoulder.
"S-sorry!" the boy squeaked. "Wrong turn! Tourist! I'm a tourist!"
He fumbled a phone out of his pocket, jabbed at it with a shaking hand, and bolted.
"Damn it," the leader muttered. "He's calling someone. Rahu, Kemal. Get that idiot before he reaches the street."
Two men ran after Aaron. The leader turned back to the rest. "One of you, check the front. The other two, help me move these girls."
Ishaan counted. Four became three. Then the scout wandered toward the crates, bored and complacent, and Ishaan stood up behind him, hooked an arm around his shoulders, and put him to sleep with a clean hold. He lowered him to the ground like a sack of rice.
He tried not to grin. He mostly failed.
"Aaron, I love how your mind works," he muttered. "Just wish you'd warn me before you act like a victim."
Then he stepped out of the shadow and cleared his throat.
"Don't you think three against two girls is a little unfair?"
The three men whipped around. Knives came out. The nearest one smirked.
"Move along, kid, before someone gets hurt."
"Funny," Ishaan said. "I was going to say the same thing."
The man lunged.
Ishaan caught his wrist, turned in, and dropped under the swing. The man's feet left the ground. For a second, he was flying, and then he hit the stones flat on his back, the knife skittering away. One breath. Finished.
The second came from behind. Ishaan heard his shoes scrape and was already pivoting. He swept the man's legs out and put his palm to his chin as he fell. The man didn't get back up.
One left.
The last thug had the younger girl pulled against his chest, a blade resting just under her chin. His hand was steady. His eyes weren't.
"Stay back," he said.
"No!" the older girl screamed. "Please! Not my sister!"
Ishaan stopped
"Oh my, so it seems even you know what the smart move is, don't you?" the thug started to move behind his back around.
"No, you two stay here, or else she dies" Ishaan's expression, initially sour, turned into a sense of fascination.
"What so funny b…" Before he could finish, a hand hit him on the neck with precision and knocked him cold.
"Well, it was a bit anticlimactic," Ishaan commented as Aaron stood behind the fallen thug.
Aaron rushed towards the girls and extended his hands. "I know we just met, but we don't have time…"
The girls looked stunned, and Ishaan, just in awe, said, "Whoaaa, such a bold move, brother, damnnnn"
"It's not that damit" Aaron flustered as he realised what he just did. "Those guys were wanted. I remember seeing their poster outside the alleyway. I took the two near the end and tossed the wanted flier on their heads. The guards must have seen it by now, and well, I have no interest in being in trouble on the first day"
Ishaan just sighed as he reached out for the younger girl's hand. "Well, you guys seem to be fine; now it's your call: come along or go with the police with all the hassle and interrogation"
The girls looked at each other, and with a bit of hesitation, they held their hands out.
"Well, let's go; I have a route out", Aaron rushed, his grip firm but not overwhelming.
"You are tourists… You don't know the alleyway," the elder girl shouted.
"Ohh, trust me, girls, if it's him, he just needs two minutes and a lot of observation, and he can tell things even locals would be astounded by", Ishaan said, flashing his shiny grin as he followed behind his brother.