Under the Veil of Night

It didn't take long for Shiro to finish tending to Kanae's wound. He sighed when he saw the numerous scars on Kanae's back.

"I don't understand how you can receive so many wounds on your back."

"I guess, I'm just not careful enough," Kanae smiled wryly. She grabbed her shirt and put it on before turning her body to face Shiro. "Thank you."

"No problem. Don't be so reckless, Kanae. If anything happens to you, I doubt we can all have a good night's sleep."

"I'll try to be more careful."

Shiro sighed lightly. The wounds on Kanae's back mostly came from her protecting other people. As a fighter himself, he knew that it was almost close to impossible for Kanae to show her back unguarded to other people. Especially with the skill that Kanae possessed now, she would not show her back to other people easily. The only possibility was that she tried to protect others and took the damage in their stead.

Packing up his tools, he looked at the blood-soaked cloth that Kanae used. "You lost some blood, so you might feel rather sleepy. You shouldn't practice with Master Rudy for the time being."

"I understand."

"Just have some rest. I believe you will have to face a bigger obstacle not long from now."

Kanae understood Shiro's warning perfectly. As he said previously, there was a member of the government at the party. They must have known that the secret regarding Sakura got out. When they interrogated Sakura later, her name would surely appear.

Closing her eyes slightly, Kanae smiled. "I'll be careful."

"If you need help or anything, just call us."

"I can't do that," Kanae frowned. Even if she mustered all her resources from the underworld and Jason's men from the Wells Family, they would still be unable to match the government. This was her personal problem. She didn't want to drag her friends into a black hole without any ways to return.

Shiro arched his eyebrows. "You don't have any other choice. If they feel that you're suspicious, you might disappear and no one will ever know what happened to you."

"I know. That's why I don't want to involve all of you. You're all my friends, and I don't wish to drag you down," Kanae replied solemnly.

Sighing deeply, Shiro looked deep into Kanae's eyes. He knew for sure that this girl has a secret she has never divulged to anyone else.

"Are you going to go against the government?"

"Do you think I qualify?"

"No, not at all," knowing that Kanae was avoiding the question, Shiro turned around. "I'll be going now."

Kanae nodded. "Thank you for your help. You should try to avoid the cameras too, so no one will know that you have been here."

"Now that you mention that, with the location of your wound, I doubt anyone will believe it if you say that you treated it by yourself," Shiro frowned. Even a single loophole could spell death in front of the government. No one wanted to antagonize them for this reason. Their unfathomable strength was simply too mysterious.

"I can only say that, right?" Kanae shrugged.

Shiro recalled Laura and her earlier expression. Considering Laura's personality, it was close to impossible for her to treat Kanae's wound. Without Laura backing her story, Kanae wouldn't be able to use the excuse of the latter treating her wounds.

"From another perspective, it's not that hard for me to treat myself. It's just the result would not be as good and take a much longer time," Kanae smiled wryly.

Shiro shook his head. "Lie on the bed and rest. Be careful."

"I will."

He walked out of the room and saw Laura that was still standing in the living room. The little girl looked worried and scared as her eyes immediately met his, having stared at Kanae's room the entire time.

"Um… Doctor Shiro, how's my sister?"

"There's no need to worry. She's fine," Shiro answered with a professional smile. "Make sure that she gets a lot of rest. Aside from that, she'll be alright."

"Thank you very much."

Shiro waved his hand and walked out of the small apartment. This time, he was careful not to get captured by the cameras. He didn't want to invite trouble from the Nali Family as it was already hard enough for him to keep low-profile.

When Shiro had left, Laura tiptoed to Kanae's room. She peeked inside and saw her sister lying sideways on the bed. Seeing that Kanae was still awake, she quietly walked inside.

"Sis, how are you?"

"Laura, are you crying again?" Kanae asked in surprise.

Laura was startled. She quickly raised her hand to wipe her tears. Internally, she scolded herself for crying again.

"I'm not crying."

Kanae smiled helplessly. "Come over here."

Laura responded to Kanae's gesture and slowly walked to where Kanae patted the bed. Her eyes locked on Kanae's face as guilt filled her entire body. She couldn't bear the thought of making her sister face danger again.

Kanae raised her hand and patted Laura's head. "Stop blaming yourself. Even a thousand 'what ifs' can't reverse what happened. You should rest too. Today was quite tiring and you still have school tomorrow."

Laura also knew that even if she lamented about what had happened a thousand times over, she wouldn't be able to change the past. It had happened and no matter how unwilling she was, she couldn't change it.

Her eyes turned larger when she finally processed what her sister told her. "Sis, I'm not going to school when you're still like this!"

"You have to," Kanae answered simply. "There's nothing you can do when you're at home. You better go to school and tell the others about my absence."

"But…"

"No buts, you have to go to school."

Seeing Kanae's insistence, Laura could only nod her head reluctantly. She didn't want to leave her sister, especially since it was her fault that Kanae was in this condition. However, Kanae's instruction didn't leave her with any other choice.

In truth, Kanae had to make sure that Laura went to school because she didn't know when the government would send people to fetch her. Although they would do it under the pretense of kindly asking her about the incident, it was actually a threat. When the time came, it would be better for Laura to not be at home or she was going to be extremely worried.

"If the others ask about visiting, just tell them that I'll be alright and that there's no need for that," Kanae added.

Laura frowned. "Are you sure you're alright, Sis?"

"I'm fine. You worry too much, Laura," Kanae smiled brightly.

Hearing that, Laura could only drop her head glumly. She bit her lower lip as she thought about her sister's condition.

"I'm sorry, Sis."

"Like I said, it's not your fault, Laura. Even if time repeated itself, I'll still make the same decision," Kanae added again, unwilling to give up her stance.

"Sis, you're still as stubborn as ever."