"Raiya?" Olivia called as I opened the door to our apartment.

I swore under my breath. She must've left earlier than I thought. I groaned inwardly. I'm gonna get a hell of a lecture.

"Yeah?" I tensed, ready for World War Three.

"Where have you been!?" She demanded, storming out of the kitchen.

I placed the now cold food in her hands. "Uncle Tom took me out to dinner. I brought you back something to eat, but I thought you were going to be back later."

She frowned. "I assume that you walked back instead of accepting a ride?"

I grinned. "Yup."

I followed her when she walked into the kitchen with the packaged dinner, probably to warm it up in the microwave.

"Did you get jumped again?" She asked, a hint of humour in her voice. I sighed inwardly with relief, crisis averted.

"Nope, I've become very street smart." The mouthwatering smell of Alfredo sauce began to fill the room.

"I'm so excited to eat all this." Liv smiled as she removed the steaming plate of pasta from the microwave. "So you flew in that scary wind today?" She asked, grabbing a fork from the utensil drawer.

"Yes! I love flying in wind like that!"

"Well you're still alive so that means you didn't crash, which is good. Did you look for a job?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. I sent applications to the zoo and Starbucks. Oh yeah, Uncle Tom got a new car."

Liv snorted. "Is it a Ferrari?"

"No, it's this insanely expensive BMW! And he drove it to The Smith!"

"Are we surprised?" She said drily.

"Well I kinda was," I mumbled. The silence seemed to call out to me, saying it's the perfect moment to tell her. To lie. I couldn't recall the last time I'd lied to my sister. I used to lie a lot after mom died, then Olivia had smacked some sense into me and I couldn't remember speaking a false word to my sister in the last four years. Man, was that ever going to change.

"I think I'm dropping the whole research thing," I said. Olivia's fork clattered onto her plate and I looked over to see her choking on pasta.

"You what?" She asked.

"I quit. No more researching. I'm done." I dropped my hands into my hoodie pocket.

"Are you serious? Now you decide to quit?" She demanded. "What the hell!?"

I shrugged. "I haven't found anything in three years so there's probably nothing to find."

She huffed. "Well jeez, took you long enough to figure it out."

I crossed my arms and frowned. "I'm having a shower and going to bed." I harrumphed and left the kitchen.

Something clawed at my chest. This ache that grew and grew and grew and filled me with this horrible feeling. For once, that stupid voice in the back of my head was silent, as if it were guilty of dragging me into this mess.

But it's not a mess, my heart warred, this is what you wanted. And I was excited. In fact, I was ecstatic to see him again. I just couldn't shake the feeling that the second I spoke that tiny little lie to Olivia, that I sparked the beginning of a wild fire of lies that would grow, and grow, and burn, burn, burn.

••• 影の秘密 •••

"So what so you want to do today?" Olivia asked, flipping pancakes at the stove. My stomach growled as the smell reached my nose.

I shrugged. "It's your day off, what do you feel like doing?" Fresh pancake batter sizzled on the hot, butter coated pan.

"I think we should order Mikado's because we haven't had it in forever. And we should have a Halo tournament and maybe another movie marathon."

I nodded in approval. "I like your thinking, it's been too long since my last Dragon Eye."

She grinned and handed me a plate of warm pancakes. I spread butter on them before pouring maple syrup over it all and devouring it. Our conversation lapsed while we ate, and picked up again after we finished cleaning up.

"So what are we watching first?" I asked excitedly, sauntering over to the TV. Liv scrunched her face up as she thought.

"I'm kinda feeling Transformers."

"Good choice." I dug through the movie bins until I found all four of them.

Optimus Prime's voice and the prologue of the first film soon filled the room. Just as I settled down onto the couch, my phone buzzed. Who the hell is texting me? I never get texts.

Olivia noticed me taking my phone from my pocket and she snorted. "The rare occurrence of a text, I see. Who is it?"

I almost dropped my phone when I read the new message from a number I didn't recognize. I quickly erased the text and turned my phone off.

"Just a telemarketer," I squeaked. Liv raised her eyebrows in slight disbelief but thankfully didn't pursue the matter further. The message was burned into my skull.

4th ave & E 12 street. 1 am. Alone.

••• 影の秘密 •••

An alarm on my phone went off, making it vibrate on the coffee table. My eyes snapped open and I hastily turned it off, glancing fearfully over at Olivia. Her snoring was undeterred, which I took as a good sign. I crept silently into my room, stuffing a backpack with a pen and my notebooks, then snuck toward the door, and pulled my jacket and shoes on. My hand, however, refused to turn the doorknob. I bit my lip.

I shouldn't be doing this. I shook my head sharply. Stop. Just do it, you'll never have another chance like this. I sucked in a deep breath and slipped out the door quietly, pulling my hood up to hide my red hair from familiar eyes that could possibly tell Olivia about me sneaking out.

I was careful on my way to the rendezvous, probably the most cautious I'd ever been. I kept the same average walking pace, allowed myself to be jostled by other people, and didn't speak a single word to anyone. Completely incognito. I felt pride bloom in my chest for a moment, before it was overtaken by guilt. I shut my eyes, drowning out everything and washing it all away.

My phone buzzed against my hand in my pocket, telling me I'd arrived at my destination. I turned down the nearest alley, swiftly climbing a fire escape to the roofs. My phone read 1:03 am. I made some good time.

"Hello?" I called tentatively. I didn't realize how on edge I was until I almost jumped out of my skin when he spoke from behind me.

"You came."

AN: I know, I used the address from the movie I'm sorry I'm kinda uncreative.

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