The office clock changed from "9:59 p.m." to "10:00 p.m." and Nora left her office, locking it. She looked rather tired, for she had never had to stay at work so late. The phone in her jacket pocket rang, and Nora looked at the screen. It turned out that it was not a call, but a message from a friend, who kept trying to help Nora find a decent husband. Opening the contents of the message, the girl read the following:

"Nora, hi! I know that an hour ago I said I was going to bed, but I just saw in the window chasing some man, so be careful! Although men are more likely to walk away from you than run into a hug. XD"

Nora smiled and said goodbye to the guard and left the building. The girl, lazily stretching, walked towards her house, but not five hundred meters away she heard a rustling in one of the nooks and someone's strangled groan. A white hat was visible from behind the boxes, and the girl immediately realized what it was all about. She dropped her phone, as if by accident, Nora slowly bent down to get it, noticing out of the corner of her eye a strangely dressed man running in a mask with three stripes all over his face.

"I can see your hat," Nora whispered, picking up the phone.

The hat was immediately removed, and a strange man stopped beside Nora. "Woman, you haven't seen a tall man in white here, have you? He was still wearing a hat," the man growled, out of breath.

"I did, you should have turned there. He ran in the opposite direction, through the dark streets," the girl replied without panic, showing that she was not interested in the chase.

"Damn you, Cypher!" threw out the man and ran in the opposite direction, leaving Nora behind.

After seeing the strange guy off, the girl strode forward without breaking her gaze, simultaneously bumping her forehead against the chest of the man she had saved. Nora staggered back with a gasp, but the man held her up, grabbing her by the waist with one hand and pulling her against him.

"Thank you. Let me guess, Nora."

"Please..." Nora was shocked that the man knew her name, and he also looked strange, because normal people didn't walk around town wearing masks like that.

The girl looked around at the tall man and noticed the arm holding onto his bleeding side. The man noticed her gaze on his side, too, and let go of the woman's waist and took Nora by the chin, lifting her face so that she could look at the blue lights of the mask.

"It's okay, it happens every day." She heard a chuckle from behind the mask.

"My friend is going to freak when I tell her," Nora thought, and she shook her head and took the wounded man by the arm, pulling him along with her. "Nothing normal, you urgently need to treat the wound. You've been shot, right?" The girl was indignant and hurriedly led the man behind her.

"Shot. I get shot at every day, but if you are so insistent that the scary stranger also knows where you live, I don't mind." The man in the hat sniggered.

"You're cute even in a mask, so I think you can be trusted. Besides, I saved your ass and you're hurt," answered Nora confidently.

The man was surprised by this confidence of the girl, but he did not try to intimidate her anymore, and they just kept silent the whole way. When they reached the apartment, Nora threw her bag somewhere in the corner and took the stranger into the living room, sitting him on the sofa, and went to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

The man looked around the cozy but modest room and noted his the girl's love for blue and lilies. Taking off his mask along with his hat, the man lay down gently on the couch, hissing and squinting with pain in his side. "Oh, if she brings hydrogen peroxide, I'll jump out the window and turn myself in to Omen," the man decided to himself and opened his eyes to see Nora with a bottle of peroxide in her hand.

"Great, is the window open?" he hesitated.

Nora did not move, but stood looking at the man without the mask. He looked at her in surprise, raising an eyebrow and smiling. That didn't wake the girl and she continued to stare at his scars on his pretty face. Nora stroked the guy's hair, moving over to his tanned handsome face, peering into his blue eyes.

"You must be tired, Nora, maybe you should lie down," the man replied.

"By... what? By you? I don't know if it would do you any good..." answered Nora, still staring.

"Well, no, I have other things to do, so I can't stay with my savior for long. Oh yes, I never introduced myself, call me Amir, but to others I'm Cypher, don't tell my real name to other people or I'll be in trouble."

"You trust me even what no one else knows?" That got Nora really listening.

"I can walk around the city in plain clothes and without a mask, hiding from my enemies, and you saw my face, so why not, but if you, dear Nora, blab about me..." Cypher took the girl by the waist and pulled her to him. "I will find out and I will have to kill you."

"So you're a murderer?" Nora raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I am, but that's not why the little radiant was after me," grinned Amir, and let the girl go.

"I won't tell anyone, not because I'm afraid of you, but because I can keep a secret." Nora proudly raised her head and began to examine the wound.

"I took the bullet out on the street, so just bandage it up, please."

"What! With your dirty hands?" The girl was indignant.

"It's alright, I dressed it without your disgusting hydrogen," snorted Amir, "Just bandage my wound, please.

"Okay," whispered Nora and unbuttoned the man's cloak and exposed his torso, freezing again and looking at the prominent cubes of the abs.

"Nora, dear, I don't have time to stay here so you can fully appreciate my physique." Cypher took the girl by the hand holding the bandages.

"I'm sorry! It's just that my friend-" Nora slapped her forehead with her other hand.

"What? With the same body?" Cypher grinned.

"No, forget it..." The girl hurriedly bandaged the wound and stepped away from the couch, feeling uncomfortable.

"Thank you, that's exactly what I wanted." He adjusted his shirt and buttoned his cloak, got up from the cozy sofa and began to put on the mask, and with it a hat.

"Shall we meet again, Amir?" she asked, cursing herself in her thoughts.

"I'll try to visit you if you want, but I don't want you to be seen as an accomplice to my sins." He smiled at her and fastened his mask.

"Of course I want to, and I'm not afraid, I can handle any difficulties and will always be ready to help you..." Nora murmured, watching the man leaving the apartment and realizing that it was not the last time she would meet the nice stranger.

"See you then, dear Nora!" Cypher said goodbye and disappeared behind the door of the apartment.