Under the Veil of Night

"That was quite spectacular," Tommy heaved a sigh of relief. He felt glad that Kanae won against those three. Their movements and power were beyond everyone they had ever met. If he was the one there instead of Kanae, he would surely get hit by the bullets several times.

Jason nodded his head in agreement. Now that Kanae already defeated the four small lords in Souhon Clan's territory, they were basically already the leader of this area. The relationship they had with the Souhon Clan also provided them with enough power to mobilize the people here. This meant that they had complete control over this area even if they were not from the clan.

"Can we get out of the car now?" Tommy asked hesitantly. If those three tried to fight them, there was no doubt that they would lose since their fighting prowess was not comparable with Kanae. He didn't want to get wounded just because he got out of the car.

"Don't worry so much."

Jason got out of the car calmly. The two masters had already stood up and approached Kanae. Their movements were a bit stiff as they sustained some injuries from Kanae's attacks.

At this time, Kanae had lowered her weapon too. She nodded towards them. "It was truly a good fight."

"Captain is truly powerful. Your reputation is not for naught," the fat man smiled. Now that he already accepted Kanae as his leader, he was a bit more unrestrained.

"Thank you," Kanae answered politely. She looked towards Joshua. "I believe there should be no more questions regarding my abilities. Regarding our cooperation, I'll leave everything in Oro's hands. Are there any other concerns?"

Joshua shook his head. "There's none. You're truly powerful, Captain Rei. You have convinced me even more today."

Previously, Kanae only defeated his ordinary subordinates. Although they were quite powerful, as fighters their fighting abilities were mediocre at most. Compared with these three people, they were not worth mentioning even if there were a few dozen of them.

Kanae waved her hand. "If one trains, one will surely reach higher level. I'll be going now, let's chat in the future."

"It will be our pleasure, Captain."

Jason came forward and smiled towards the other four. "I hope I'm enough to entertain these four masters."

"Don't worry, you're more than enough for this role," Joshua laughed. "As Rei's right hand, your position is already high enough. Besides, I believe you won't be taking much of our own power."

"You're really smart, Josh," Jason laughed. "I won't be taking much, but I will require reports and a share of profit. In exchange, our group will be more active in this area and support you four."

The thin man smiled. "I'm a freelance fighter, but I have quite a number of followers. We don't profit from fighting, but I can give you reports about the happenings in my area without any problem."

"I'm the leader of a group. This group is not as famous as yours and I don't have territory, but I can give you a report of our missions," the bulky man shrugged.

"I head a gang that rivals the Lighting Gang, but I don't earn as much as Joshua," the fat man answered.

Jason nodded his head. He had guessed from their fighting abilities that all of them came from different backgrounds. However, the reports were already enough as they no longer required that much money after getting the position in the Souhon Clan.

"That's not a problem. Now, let's discuss the details…."

Kanae looked at Tommy who had come out of the car. The boy's eyes were filled with reverence and elation. He was glad that Kanae was fine after fighting those experts and showed them her amazing fighting abilities.

"Rei, you're really amazing. I really wish I can catch up to you," when he said this, Tommy's eyes revealed a trace of longing. "I have been following you the longest, but I'm the slowest in improving and now you're leaving me behind."

"You'll get stronger, Tom."

"You always say that, but I feel like I'm drifting away from you," Tommy sighed.

Kanae thought to herself. "If you want to reach my level quickly, you have much more to work on. In this field, talent just determines how fast you can learn."

"Are you telling me that I'm lacking in talent?"

"You're pretty good yourself."

Tommy huffed. "I'll just go back to train again after this. I don't want to be left behind you by too much."

"Don't overdo it, I'm heading back first," Kanae smiled.

"What about your wound? You were grazed by a bullet, right?"

"It barely hurts. I'll just ask for a bit of help from Shin. Also, you don't have to be so anxious, Tom. Your advancement is already fast enough. As long as you continue to train, you're going to catch up to my level soon."

Tommy watched as Kanae's back disappeared into the darkness. He wore a wry smile. When they first met, Kanae's fighting ability was not any better than his. After several fights though, her ability increased so rapidly to the point that he could no longer stay on par with her.

His fist clenched. He didn't want to get left behind. He had to get even stronger.

…

Days passed, and it was soon the time for the students to face the end term exams. Kanae barely paid any attention to the results of Jason's negotiations as she was quite busy teaching three lazy bums. Those three could barely pass even if they studied with all of their efforts.

"Your score is dropping quite a lot lately, Alice," Kanae looked at Alice's past test scores. "Is there anything wrong?"

Alice shook her head lightly. "I think I'm just a bit too busy. I don't neglect my studying too much, though."

"Is it because you're too busy accompanying someone in their training?" Misae smiled teasingly.

Hearing that, Alice's face turned red like a tomato. It was embarrassing as she did spend some of her time watching someone's training. Although it was only for an hour or so each day, she didn't do much during that time.

Kanae's lips twitched a bit. Has spring come early this year? Please don't tell me that these two were too busy with matters of the heart that they neglected their studies.

If that was truly the case, she wouldn't be able to help them in studying too much. They would have to settle their own problems first.

"You three have finished your exams?" Tommy walked out of the classroom while yawning. Even during this time, he still spent his time roaming on the street because he felt that his strength was lacking. As a result, he was lacking sleep terribly.

"The bell rang long ago. How's your test?" Misae asked.

"I don't know the answers for more than half of the questions. I just hope my average score is more than the passing grade. I don't want to repeat a grade."

Alice raised her head slightly. "I'm sure you'll pass."

"Thank you."

Misae giggled when she saw the two of them interacting. Come to think about it, she wanted to see Mike too. Both of them were extremely poor in their studies. Checking up on him a bit should be fine.

Kanae rolled her eyes when she saw the two girls. Because she was busy with the things happening on the streets, she forgot a bit about her friends. They no longer spent that much time together. At least, they still talked a lot inside the classroom whenever they got bored with the lessons.

"Today is the last day of the exams. Do you have any plans after this, Kanae?" Alice turned her head towards Kanae.

Hearing that question, Kanae shook her head lightly. "Not really. The Student Council has to prepare for the trip, but we're more or less ready."

Misae's and Alice's eyes lit up when they heard the word 'trip.' At the end of the second semester, they would have a trip along with the other seniors. This was one of the most anticipated events each year, especially for those who had a boyfriend or girlfriend in a different grade. Three days and two nights together was surely very tempting for them.

But of course, they were not allowed to visit each other at night. They had to be satisfied with doing the days' activities together.

"Where are we going this year?" Misae asked expectantly.

"It's still a secret," Kanae laughed.

"Come on, tell your friend about it. I want to know!"

While Misae whined like a kid, Alice looked out of the window. She saw a young girl in a middle school uniform standing near the gate. From faraway, her appearance was unclear, but it was clear that she was pretty. The guys from the school were around her, seemingly bothering the girl.

"There's a Junior High School kid getting bullied," Alice frowned. She hated bullies the most after what she had experienced.

"What?" Kanae moved from her seat and peered outside from the window. Her expression changed drastically, and she immediately turned to dash towards the gate. From the sound of the surprised students outside in the hallway, they could guess that Kanae was running madly at high speed.

"Is she insane? She's going to fall from the stairs if she runs that fast," Misae was stunned.

Tommy peeked at the window. His eyes caught the beautiful girl near the gate. "She's going to be fine."

"Why is she running like it's the end of the world?" Alice still felt confused.

Misae glanced in the direction of the girl. Realization appeared on her face. She pointed towards the Junior High School girl. "It's Kanae's sister."

"Wait, Kanae has a sister?"

"Yes, they're one year apart," Misae nodded her head nonchalantly while Alice was stunned. She felt wronged. She had known Kanae for nearly one year, and this information was hidden from her.

Tommy smiled wryly. He knew that Alice was feeling wronged from the way this girl pouted. "She didn't intentionally hide it from you, but her sister has been living far away all this time."

Alice barely heard Tommy's voice as she still felt rather down.. Thankfully, she was brought to her senses again after a while.