The Shadow's Secret│TMNT

02 || Netflix and Pizza Night

My saviour had disappeared into the shadows from whence he came.

I had gone after him of course. But the dark alley I followed him down led only to a dead end. As did most of my research. The few leads I got only remained stable and reliable for a short time before tapering off into nothing. I filled notebooks of notes, newspaper articles, photos, possible evidence, ideas, theories, stories, and anything I could find, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.

Those eyes had pierced through the shadows and into my mind forever. And since that memory was my only solid evidence, I had researched eyes for hours, trying to learn everything I could about them. I scrolled through countless pictures of all sorts until I made the unusual discovery that my saviour's eyes appeared to resemble those of a reptile. More specifically, a turtle.

••• 影の秘密 •••

"That delivery guy was so hot I almost tipped him my number instead of cash." Olivia set the boxes of fresh pizza on the coffee table in the living area.

I snorted. "He looked like Daniel Radcliffe, didn't he?"

She nodded and took a bite of her vegetarian pizza.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "Liv, you have the worst taste in men ever."

She picked up an Xbox controller and raised her eyebrows. "At least I'm not insanely picky."

"I'm not!" I protested.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. But let's remember that I've been on more dates than you." Olivia scrolled through the new movie selections on Netflix and I rolled my eyes. All the guys I'd ever known were either jerks, sociopaths or more antisocial than I am; which is a difficult feat. I couldn't talk to a single guy at my school that didn't make me want to gag, so of course, I'd never been on a date before. But Olivia hadn't been on a legit date either.

"You've been on one," I said drily. "And it was with a guy you met at the drive thru window at Wendy's two years ago. You literally hid a piece of paper you wrote your number on in a roll of five-dollar bills you paid with. So he doesn't count."

"Okay, first of all, he was super cute and really nice. And second, I probably could've gotten us free Frostys. And third, it totally did count because I had to sit there and act like I was interested in his never ending food facts for like, three hours. So it's still one more date than you," she countered.

Their date was—surprise—at Wendy's. And I got to hear all about how he spent the whole time talking about how the food there was made and the nutritional facts and benefits in all the meals compared to McDonald's.

I sighed and went back to copying an article from the news into my evidence notebook. It mentioned a witness who saw someone stop a Footclan robbery at the docks. A crane operator working a late shift had apparently been taking a snack break when he saw a bunch of people dressed in black running around the shipping containers; looking for something. After only a few minutes of searching, the Foot soldiers were attacked by a huge, built man with a slight hunchback, a bald head and dark skin, as the witness described him. In no time, this vigilante had managed to tie a bunch of them up and leave them for the police. Something about the description and story tickled my mind, telling me it was important.

Olivia paused her movie search to watch me. "What did you find now?" She asked.

Olivia was completely accustomed to my research. For the past three years, she'd helped me gather info, determine the legitimacy of theories and stories and even put up with my bad moods after I'd stayed up too late researching, or bring me caffeine to keep me awake during late night info-gatherings.

"A crane operator witnessed a vigilante stop a Footclan robbery at the dock Wednesday night," I said, sketching a copy of the grainy black and white photo the witness had taken of the vigilante standing in the shadow of a shipping crate.

She groaned. "Another Foot robbery? What could they possibly be stealing all the time? Does anyone even know?" She shook her head and continued to search for something to watch with our pizza. "The NYPD has literally been doing nothing to stop these guys! Even with the help of that guy, what's his name again?"

"Eric Sacks."

"Yeah! Even after he partnered up with the police to 'fight back against the Footclan' there've been just as many incidents; probably more! I mean, isn't he supposed to be rich? What's the point if he just attaches his name to the police department and sits on his ass? Jerk," she huffed in irritation. I couldn't help but grin. Olivia had very strong opinions sometimes, especially when the Footclan was mentioned.

I finished copying the article and began to expand on one of my theories. Olivia shot me a concerned look.

"You should take a break, Raiy. Eat something. You've been writing in that notebook for like ten hours."

I snorted. "It's only been two, chill. I just need to finish this...aaaaaand..." I quickly scrawled down a bunch of sentences. "...I'm done!" I closed the notebook and snatched a triangle of five cheese pizza hungrily, then watched as Liv scrolled through the romantic comedy category. When she stopped to read the description of Life as We Know It, I immediately shook my head.

"No."

"But Josh Duhamel is in it!" She protested.

"Well, we can watch Transformers. But not a romantic one, they're too boring."

She tossed me the controller. "Alright, you look then. But whatever you choose has to have a hot lead character."

I grinned as I scrolled through the selection of action movies. No problem.

"White House Down!"

"Approval granted. Channing Tatum is in it."

I pressed play and jumped onto the couch beside her, pulling a blanket off the backrest and curling up under it.

Olivia fell asleep after an hour and a half, then proceeded to snore, despite me waking her up multiple times. I eventually gave up and endured the annoyance bubbling in the back of my head for the remaining forty-five minutes of the movie. Then—half asleep—I piled the remaining pizza into the fridge for breakfast tomorrow and tossed my evidence notebook into my room before reclaiming my still-warm spot on the couch and falling asleep.

AN: Please don't be a silent reader and let me know what you guys think so far!!