Katsu really felt like he was being cornered here, being given no choice in what his own fate was to be. All three people here were trying to tell him where to go and what to do, he hated that! It was exactly why he left the White Lotus before and why he'd been actively avoiding them all these years, he wasn't someone's damn pawn to use. If he wanted to live life as a thief then he would, and if he wanted to play his role as Avatar then maybe he would too, someday. But for now that wasn't him, he wanted to avoid that aspect of himself completely and just carry on with life; the trio before him wouldn't allow him any such luxury, it seemed. Good intentions or not they were just making his life worse right now, why couldn't they just realize that and leave him be? Why did Hiresh suddenly have to be a good guy, or Siku act like she care? And Asha... Why was she trying to help? They had no reason to help him, none at all, unless they were all doing it just because he was the fricken Avatar.

Hearing the confession come from Siku made him a little surprised, and though he knew it was incredibly rude he almost laughed at her. Wow, so the rich girl, the famous Water Bender, she had almost no friends? Huh, funny how that worked out. Here he was, a lowly thief, and yet he could count everyone in his gang as a friend. Then there were people in other groups he worked with, folks he randomly met in the city, he figured he had loads of friends. Yet somehow the girl who had it all had none, how interesting. "I never said I can do it all alone, but I have what I need to get around. I'm not new to this kind of thing Siku, I know how to handle it," the Avatar explained, frowning at the Water Bender, "The fact is... I don't [i]need[/i] any of your help, I've got this covered. All the three of you are doing right now is complicating things, that's it. Hell... I lost all of my autonomy when I ran into you!"

Katsu knew he was fighting with fire, but when that hand smacked his cheek and nearly caused him to topple over he was taken quite by surprise. Stumbling a bit his eyes widened in shock, looking back at Siku as he covered his cheek defensively. And here she was, asking why he had run away again. Should he even tell her? About how some of the White Lotus borderline abused him? How he was forced to train for hours on end, spend the entire day exhausted only to repeat that, day in and day out? Sure, there were luxuries with it all, but when you were so out of it all the time it was hard to appreciate anything. The life of a thief wasn't exactly all cushy, but at least here he was happy. Here he could do what he wanted, live how he wanted, and ultimately that's the only thing he desired in life. She couldn't possibly understand, no way did she live a life like he had, none of them did. Even on her worst days it would have seemed like a vacation to Katsu. 

"You say all that like you think you know me... Like you think you know what I ran away from," Katsu replied, frowning as he looked away. The wind had definitely been taken out of his sails, but he still wasn't ready to just back down. A small part of him kept hoping that if he maintained this stance then these three would get fed up and leave, letting him get back to his life as he wanted. "Maybe if you actually knew a single thing about me you wouldn't be so quick to judge, Siku. But then why learn when it's easier to make assumptions about the lowly thief?" Cowardly, shirking duty, he sure did all of that, or had he? He still had duty, now it was just to his gang and the people he ran with. He had stood and fought those who tried to stop him today, even hanging back to make sure Siku got out alright. He wasn't a coward, he just had changed what it was he fought for, that was all. Watching the display between Siku and Asha for a moment Katsu scoffed, giving himself one last shake before letting out a sigh.

"Fine... I guess you're all coming with me then, whatever. I could use a hand carrying some stuff I suppose." And then what? Off to Air Temple Island? He really loathed to have to run away like this, but after having calmed down a little he could see it really was his only option. Unless he could be absolutely certain his hiding spots were safe, which he couldn't be, he was best off leaving Republic City, even if only for a little. Shooting Siku one last annoyed glance he began walking down the tunnels again, moving much slower than before as he practically dragged his feet. "Come on... It's a few blocks until we surface again, so better get moving."