Under the Veil of Night

It didn't take long before Laura finished her morning routine and left for school. When Kanae was no longer able to hear Laura's steps, she returned to the bed and lay down. Laura had changed the sheet to replace the previous one stained with blood.

'I'm tired.'

Kanae glanced at the clock as she wondered how long would it take for Sakura to mention her name. She believed it wouldn't be long. As she thought about it, she drifted back to sleep.

Laura quickly reached the classroom. She spotted Misae in her seat with the others around her.

"Laura, you're almost late," Misae waved her hand excitedly.

"Not really," Laura forced a smile out.

"What is it? You seem to be troubled."

"My sister is sick, so I'm a bit worried about her," Laura changed the story about Kanae as she didn't want to tell them what had happened the night before. There was no way she could tell them that she negotiated a deal in the middle of the night until dawn. In the meantime, she also diverted the conversation to ask Misae about staying at her place.

"Why do you want to stay at my place? Don't you have to take care of your sister?" Misae was stunned.

"My sister is worried about me getting infected, so I can only find another place to stay at," Laura smiled wryly. In her heart, she was lamenting how she was truly a bad girl right now. She has just lied nonchalantly to her friends.

"I don't mind at all," Misae smiled.

"Thank you!"

On the side, Tommy was listening to the conversation with mouth agape. The Laura that he saw right now was 180 degrees different from the one he saw before. If the impression he had of Laura was how fragile she was, today, he saw her as someone extremely cunning.

He didn't know why Laura wanted to stay at Misae's house, but he guessed that it must be related to Kanae. Internally, he shook his head as he tried not to think too much and put his head on the table. It was time for him to sleep.

However, unbeknownst to them, there were other people who overheard their conversation.

…

Laura's Apartment

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Yes? Who is it?" Kanae woke up and slowly walked to the door. When she opened it, she was stunned to see Kevin and the others standing in front of her. Why did he come here?

Kevin looked Kanae up and down. "You seem fine."

"Well, I'm not that badly hurt," Kanae shrugged. "Do you think I'm sick or something?"

Kevin's eyebrows shot up. "I heard from Laura that you're sick, and you asked her to stay somewhere else because you don't want her to get infected."

Kanae stopped in her tracks. She silently thought about her instruction to Laura. It was indeed true that their issue was not something they could utter out in public, but was there any need to lie so blatantly? She sighed silently as she moved to the living room.

"I just don't want to have her worry about me all day. It's better if she spends time outside without having to take care of me."

The three of them watched as Kanae sat down on the couch carefully. From that simple motion, they could guess that Kanae must be wounded and not sick. It seemed that something must have happened at the party last night.

Party…

At this point, Kevin could guess that Kanae must have gotten wounded from the incident last night. He had seen the news about the destruction of the venue, so he knew that it must have been hard for everyone to evacuate safely.

His hand clenched into a fist. As it was a party intended for members of the four big families, he couldn't attend. He also had a meeting last night, making him quite busy. If only he knew that Kanae would get wounded, he would have ditched his work and attended the party.

But it was an 'if.'

"You should rest."

"I was resting right before you came."

Neo's mouth twitched a bit. Did she say that because she thought that they were disturbing her? It was not like he wanted to come here either. If not because of Kevin, he wouldn't even be here.

Kevin didn't seem to mind Kanae's way of speaking. He stepped forward and put his hand on Kanae's forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever."

It took Kanae a few seconds to process what had happened. Her cheeks slightly blushed in embarrassment and anger. Why did he have to get so close to her? For some reason, she felt more nervous around him when he showed care to her than when they were at work.

This made her felt rather weird. She never felt this way when Shiro dressed her wounds. Was it because she only saw him as a doctor while Kevin as….

At this point, she quickly stopped her train of thoughts. "I'm already fine. There's no need for you to be here."

"I'm checking up on my employee," Kevin answered nonchalantly.

"Like I said, I'm already better!"

"You still have to rest."

"I'll rest when you three leave."

Seeing the stubborn Kanae, Kevin didn't try to press the matter further. "I brought you some food. Do you want it?"

Kanae's stomach growled in protest. As Laura had been busy the entire night, the girl could only cook a bit before she left for school. Kanae had been sleeping, so she hadn't eaten lunch yet. Her face flushed in embarrassment. Internally, she complained to her stomach. Couldn't it pick a better time to speak?

Kevin chuckled lightly. "Do you want me to accompany you while you eat?"

"There's no need," Kanae shook her head. "Thank you."

Kevin nodded with a warm smile on his face. He glanced towards the others. "Let's leave."

Mike and Neo nodded silently. In their hearts, they wondered what Kevin actually wanted to do. He came here but left after a few minutes of talking with the girl. Did he just want to deliver the food?

Once they were far away from the entrance, Kevin spoke out, "Search what happened at the party last night."

Neo was startled. "Yes, Boss."

As they walked away, Kevin's eyes glinted with ruthlessness. It was faint, but he could sense the smell of blood on Kanae. Although the girl tried to hide it, he knew, it was definitely very painful. For Kanae to skip school, there was no way it would be so simple.

Inside the apartment, Kanae inched to the bag of food that Kevin brought to her. Her lips curled up slightly as she opened it. Seeing the rice, roasted chicken, some vegetables, and banana inside, her stomach growled harder.

Without waiting any longer, Kanae started eating.. At the very least, she had to fill her belly before those people came and asked her questions.