Every night I would venture out of my apartment to chase down clues about where the Yakuza were hiding. Every night for three weeks I came up with nothing. Absolutely nothing. So I started to take it more seriously.

"That'll be fifty-nine eighty-six." The bored lady at the register was holding out her hand. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. It was organized so I could pull out the proper bills.

"Fifty-nine?" I ask, filling through the bills.

"Yes." I pull out the bills and then go for the change. Two quarters, two dimes, three nickels and a penny. I gently place the money on the counter.

"Is that correct?" She sighs and sifts through it.

"It's fine. Here's your bag. Have a nice day." I grab the bag from her and walk away. She was a huge delight. It doesn't matter now though. Now I have the things I need to question these assholes.

That night I sat at home and made my outfit. I know that that sounds really lame, but it wasn't. I guess. The outfit was completely black.

It consisted of a black tank-top, black cargo pants, black combat boots, and black gloves. It was really comfortable. And it was perfect for intimidation. The last thing I had to do was put on my mask. It was a motorcycle helmet with a voice modulator on the inside.

After I was suited up, I headed out. I had a motorcycle my dad used to own in a garage no too far away, so I took that out. It hadn't rained since that night with, Loralee. So the dark streets were easy to maneuver.

The first person to meet me was one of the people that were on my list of known helper of the Yakuza. A man I had previously encountered. Bob White.

The night was loud with the sound of traffic and I could hear him walking down the sidewalk as clear as day. All I had to do was pull up next to him and shove him into the alleyway.

I came to a stop next to the plush man and his three goons.

"Excuse me sir." My modified voice called. The voice was rough and electronic sounding. And it got their attentions just fine. The four of them turned to me and I kicked one of them into the alley. The other two came at me and met the same fate.

"Who do you think you-AHH!" I grabbed him by his thick throat and dragged him into the shadows. He was one, heavy man. He slipped and fell backwards onto one of his unconscious goons. "Wait until the police get here!" He was one ballsy man, I had to give him that.

"Who do you work for?" The electronical voice asked him.

"A firm called-" I grabbed him and yanked him up, slamming his jelly back onto the brick walls.

"Who do you work for besides your firm?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I punched him square in the jaw. He whimpered. "Alright! Alright!" He broke easy.

"Who?" I punched the wall next to his head. Little did he know, I had a recording device in my pocket.

"The Yakuza! The Yakuza!" He began to cry.

"What do you do?!" I raised my voice.

"Please, they'll kill me." He pleaded.

"I'll do worse." I punched him in the side. He let out a howl and cried.

"OKAY! Alright! I cover up their transactions! When they get in trouble I one of the ones who get them out! Please don't hurt me." I let him sink to the ground. One of?

"I'll be back." I ran from the alley and hopped onto my motorcycle. As I pulled away from the scene, I could hear the dial of a phone.

"9-1-1 what's your emergency sir?" Bob White started rambling on about a motorcycle riding lunatic who mugged him. Good luck finding me. I changed the license plate on my bike before I left.

I zoomed through the city, as the sound of sirens showed up in the alley way. No one would be able to ping any of this on Alex Treaty. Not unless I got caught on the bike.

The siren sounded behind me. SHIT! I could hear the low cars speed up on my bike. Their sirens screamed as they caught up with me. Two police cars, passed me. They apparently weren't after me. I raced to the garage, locked up the bike and costume, and headed home.

The night's activities were beginning to wear on me. I felt like I could sleep forever! So as I got home I plopped down on the couch. I was kind of sore from holding up that big man. I kicked off my sneakers and threw my glasses onto the coffee table.

The air in the apartment was a little thick from the lack of circulation, so I opened up a window. It smelled good out tonight. Like victory. Like justice.

A little bird, a sparrow, I think. The chirps it made were beautiful as it hoped all over the window sill. I was so content right them, leaning on the frame with the breeze coming in and the bird chirping, that I didn't hear them come in. The only thing I did manage to hear was the squeak of my stairs.

I angled my head away from the bird and towards the noise. I couldn't smell anything else. No abnormal perfumes or sweat. It was just that one noise. Just that one abnormality. It was unsettling.

As I stood away from the window, something thudded into the wall next to my head. I felt it. It sliced my finger open. A ninja star. A fucking ninja star.

Another one flew out the window, and another hit the ground in front of me. I was under attack! I dove behind the couch as four of five dug themselves into the soft cushions. Thankfully I still had my phone on me, or I would have really been fucked.

I flipped open the front and dialed the number that would be of most use. Matt's. Three rings went off when he answered.

"Hello?" He sounded groggy. It was about twelve thirty.

"I need help. I'm being attacked." I scooched around the sofa and got kicked in the face. "UGH!"

"Who is this? What's going on?" He sounded wide awake now. I could just make out his heartbeat through the receiver. I jumped up and got another kick square in the gut. I dropped back to the ground.

"Alex." I quickly gave him my address and ducked before a sword took my head off.

"I'm on my way. Try to hold on." He hung up. The sound of the phone was mixed with my scream as one of those stars imbedded themselves in my thigh. I couldn't hear them. I couldn't track their position. There were no heartbeats!

Matt wouldn't be here in time. He wouldn't. He couldn't. But I didn't the best I could. These assholes jumped me in my home. There were at least four of them, and I couldn't track them. I was doomed.

I felt a swing come just in time for a fist to attach itself to the sofa back next to me. Another second warning before a kicked tried to connect itself with my head. I wasn't lucky the third time. Another fist connected with my ear and the ringing that followed was deafening.

Now I couldn't hear out of my left ear. Things weren't looking great. The sword tried to chop my hand off when I swung at one of them. I could track the sword, I could track the stars. If they just kept to those weapons for most of it, I might live long enough for Matt to get here.

I was kicked, punched, stabbed at, swung at, and had several things thrown at me for about ten minutes when I heard His heartbeat on one of the roofs. I could hear his footsteps and his quick breath as he raced to my aid. I only had to hold out a little bit longer.

One of them had a knife again. Good. Good. I could handle the knives. They swung at me. I dodged. They tried to stab. I deflected. This was good! Not so good, was when I was dodging another swipe of the knife, one of them kicked my knees in. I fell to the ground and the knife wielder took their advantage.

The knife came down at me with lightning speed. The only reason I survived was because of something one of the other ninjas did. They kicked me. The force moved me out of the way of the knife. I heard the dull thud as it was embedded in the wood floor.

I jumped up and backed up. He should be here about now. If I could just avoid them. Just then, a window broke and something flew through the sky. I heard it thud against one of the invaders. Matt was here! He flew into the room and kicked another one onto the floor.

"Get out of here!" He yelled at me as one of the ninjas fell to the ground in front of me. I could hear him connect all of his hits. I don't understand how he could do that. They made no sound!

I backed up into my bedroom and closed the door. All I could do at this point was sit and listen. Listen to the fight I couldn't handle out there. I was trained for this stuff. I was trained to be able to fight! Yet, here I was being saved by some guy I barely knew who was whooping my attacker's asses.

The fight was severely one sided. And it favored Matt. One by one, the ninjas fell and didn't get back up. After about five minutes, there was only two sounds. Matt's quick heartbeat, and my own fast beat one.

The door to my room slid open.

"Matt?" I was curled on my bed. I felt like a frightened child, crying to their older brother for protection. Because that's what Matt was to me. My big brother who helped me when I was in trouble.

"Yeah." He was breathing heavily. He plopped down on the bed next to me.

"I'm sorry." I could smell the musky sweat that was beading on his forehead as he sat up.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." That wasn't true. There was a very big reason to be sorry.

"You asked me to stay out of trouble." I scooted closer to him. "The reason they were here tonight, was because I got information they didn't want me to have." I heard him sigh, and it broke my heart. For some weird reason, I thought very highly of his opinion.

"What did you do Alex?" He sounded worried more than angry. Worried about what I might have done.

"I went out tonight and, interrogated someone that I knew was helping the Yakuza with their stuff." I took in a big breath. "I got the information that I needed." The recorder with the recording of Bob White's confession was with my bike and costume.

"Damn it Alex!" He stood up and paced the room for a minute. He was obviously thinking about something. After a minute, he stopped in front of me.

"Was it good information? Do you have any proof?" He sounded, hopeful?

"I recorded the whole thing."

"We can't use that. It'll have your voice on it. They could trace it back to you." he went to pacing.

"It doesn't have my voice on it. I wore a voice modulator inside a motorcycle helmet." I picked at my bare toes.

"Good idea. Maybe we could use that." He stopped pacing. "Can I see the recording?" Uh, no.

"It's hidden." Sorry Matt, but I can't let you stop me again. "Thank you for coming to help me. Another few minutes, and I would've been dead." He sat down on the bed next to me.

"Please try to stay safe. These people will do anything to make sure they are kept secret. I don't want to see you get hurt anymore." He kissed the top of my head. "Please."

"I'll try. I really will Matt. I'm gonna try to be more careful." I nudged him lightly. "Maybe I'll just come live by you, then if I get attacked again, it's not fifteen minutes before help arrives." He nudged me back.

"It was only ten minutes!"