Under the Veil of Night

A few hours before

"Have you finished your practice?" Alice was surprised that Tommy ended practice early. Usually, Tommy would stay here for a longer time.

Tommy nodded his head. "Yeah, I need to go home."

In truth, he was just worried about his mother. This morning, he couldn't find any trace of her in the house. From his mother's usual activity, he knew that she rarely left the house aside from going to a pub or bar from noon to night.

It was useless to worry so much in the morning because it was possible for the woman to stay over at her lover's house, so he decided to check on her again when he gets home. For that reason, he chose to end practice earlier.

He wanted to stay with Alice longer, but his worry got the better of him.

"I see. Take care of yourself," Alice smiled.

"You too," Tommy smiled back. "Be careful on your way home. It's rather dangerous."

"Okay."

After bidding his farewell, Tommy made his way to his house. Along the way, he saw many other people look at him with hungry eyes. He knew, they thought of him as easy prey.

'As Tommy, I look rather weak.'

As he made his way to his house, he saw his mother in the embrace of a man. He didn't know who that man was as his mother always stayed with a different man every day. At this time, his worry already ceased as he knew that his mother had just stayed at someone else's place.

Not wanting to disturb her, Tommy leaned on a different building and waited patiently. This was the usual routine and the very reason he didn't want to stay at home. His mother always spent the day in the bedroom and every time, he would see a different man walking out of the room. Most of them looked rich, which was probably the reason his mother tried to get close to them.

After a few minutes, they separated from each other. His mother cried and held onto the man's clothes, but he shook his head. He raised his hand and gestured behind him. His mouth was saying something as Tommy's mother's face became extremely pale.

She yelled hysterically and clutched the man's clothes. Tears poured out from her eyes. This time, the man shoved her away. The force behind his push was quite large as the poor woman fell to the ground.

Seeing a completely different development from usual caused Tommy to be surprised. He couldn't hear them from this distance as he wasn't interested in hearing his mother beg other people. It was distasteful.

This time, Tommy chose to walk closer.

A group of men came forward and picked his mother up. Their movements were extremely forceful. The woman wailed so loudly that it caused many passersby to turn their heads. However, not a single one of them dared to move to help the poor woman.

In Black Street, they shouldn't intervene in other people's business if they didn't want to die.

"What are you doing?" Tommy stepped in and pushed the men away. He shielded his mother while staring at them with raging eyes.

The man frowned. "Don't interfere, young man. She stole a pricey bag of drugs from us, so we're going to take her away."

Tommy's face paled when he heard what his mother did. Since a long time ago, he knew that his mother didn't have a decent job and always searched for rich men. However, this was the first time he heard that his mother stole drugs.

"Do you have proof?" He asked through gritted teeth.

The man laughed. "Do you even need proof? Move aside, a wastrel like her is not worth your time."

Tommy stayed still and didn't move. Even if she was someone like this, he never saw her as someone unworthy. No matter what, she was his mother. He couldn't possibly leave her alone.

"Don't bother with my mother!"

"Your mother? I see. No wonder that you're this bad. A waste like you is truly befitting to be the son of this disgrace," the man laughed.

Hearing them curse his mother, Tommy's eyes narrowed. He admitted that she was not perfect and often hurt him. However, he couldn't leave her alone.

"Men, beat them up. Show them what happens when they steal from the Red Gang."

Red Gang? Tommy recognized this name as one of the biggest and most notorious gangs in the Ryukalin Clan's territory. They had some friction with the clan, but it never got too bad, which was the reason they still stood proudly here.

He knew they were powerful, but so what? He too was quite powerful.

The moment they attacked him, Tommy didn't stay still. He didn't bring his sword with him, so he was fighting barehanded. Besides, there was simply no way he could take them out in his usual fashion. They would surely recognize his fighting as that of Tom from Fiore Group.

He lunged forward and threw a barrage of punches and kicks. His movement seemed uneven, and it caused the men to fall into confusion. Still, their attacks landed on his body too at times, which gave him some problem.

"You're quite a problematic young man," the man took out a knife. "Let's end this here quickly."

He thrust the knife towards Tommy. For Tommy, this degree of attack didn't faze him in the slightest as he captured the man's hand and twisted it around. The knife that was directed to him now headed to the man's chest and pierced it deeply.

"Young Master!"

"You! You'll pay for this!"

As the men scurried away, Tommy sighed. The gang would surely create trouble for him in the future. If the people they sent were only at those guys' level, he wouldn't have any problems, but if they were stronger, he might have just courted death.

Tommy turned around and looked towards his mother. "Mother, are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

Tommy's mother looked towards Tommy with reddened eyes. She slapped away the hand that Tommy used to touch her.

"Don't touch me with your filthy hand!"

Hearing the yell, he jerked his hand back. His mother looked distraught with her dirty clothes and messy hair. However, that was not the most important point as he realized that his mother was still glaring at him with hatred.

In her eyes, all she could see was her husband. The man who left her alone with Tommy.

"Why did you come here? You should have never come! I never acknowledged you as my son!" the woman yelled hysterically.

"Mother…."

 "Don't call me 'mother!' I hate you!"

With that, the woman threw a stone towards Tommy. This time, he didn't bother catching it. His eyes looked towards his mother with a sad gaze. He missed the past when his mother still looked at him tenderly and cared for him. Unfortunately, it would never happen again.

From the day his father left them, he had to suffer from beatings every single day. Even he was not sure how he managed to hold on and not go crazy under his mother's harsh beatings.

"I'll go away."

"Just go!" she threw more stones at Tommy as she cried loudly.

Seeing that she was crying hysterically, Tommy walked away. His steps were heavy, but he knew that he didn't have any other choice. He couldn't change the past. He moved back to the dark alleyway and leaned back on the wall. His eyes were staring at the wall across from him as his thoughts darted to his mother.

Even after all this time, he couldn't bring himself to hate his mother. She might have treated him very badly, but he couldn't change the fact that she was his mother. The same mother who used to care for him with affection.

DRAP! DRAP! DRAP!

"That b*tch's brat is here!"

Tommy looked sideways and saw an army of men. His lips curled up. Was this his punishment for not taking care of his mother better? He didn't know anymore. He couldn't help her and could only bear the brunt of her mistake.

Tommy clenched his fists. Right now, he had to fight if he wanted to stay alive because these people were out to kill him.