Under the Veil of Night

"Doctor Shiro, you've already returned?" Tommy asked sleepily. He was alarmed when he heard the faint rustling sounds.

Shiro put his gun away. "Yeah, there's nothing I really needed to do."

"How's the Red Gang?"

"They're trashed completely. Even without my help, there's no one who can stop her," Shiro answered calmly. What he saw back then also made him believe in the legend of the street. At the time this nickname was born, they must have felt the same way as he did right then.

It was a sense of disbelief, yet it occurred right before his eyes. A fear of the strong, yet a sense of excitement rushed down his spine. It was rather complicated, and what he saw made him unable to believe that someone as powerful as that existed. However, he knew it really happened.

"Without your help? Doctor Shiro, please don't joke with me," Tommy's face was rather funny as he looked at Shiro with an unbelieving gaze. "Even when facing the Zone Clan, Rei still got hurt. As one of the biggest gangs in the biggest clan's territory, the Red Gang is stronger, right?"

"Yes."

"But you say that Rei did it with ease?"

"Yes," Shiro answered. He himself felt like he was dreaming. Unfortunately for him, it truly happened right in front of his eyes, and it was done by someone he knew very well. Even if he was several hundred meters away, he still saw everything clearly through the scope on his sniping rifle.

"Just how much stronger did she become? It has only been like four to five months since she first started training with Master Rudy, right?" Tommy asked again.

Normally, it became harder to improve as a person got stronger. Yet, the opposite happened with Kanae as she seemed to show an even more monstrous rate of growth with time. Before long, she would surely leave them all very far behind without any chance of catching up.

"She's talented," Shiro answered shortly. "Rest. You need it. As for training, we'll ask Jason to arrange another session in the future. He's currently busy, so you can't expect much."

Tommy didn't answer. He was feeling rather shaken by the growth that Kanae showed. Even if he already knew that Kanae was far stronger, it was still a huge blow to him. After all, among the three of them, he met Kanae the earliest, so he knew very well how Kanae's strength was back then.

As for training, he could only brutishly fight nonstop and didn't rely on the others too much.

"Tom, what's your dream?"

Shiro's question stopped his train of thoughts. Tommy was startled, but he answered soon after. "I want to be an athlete."

"Then you should just focus on your training in school. Eventually, you'll have to leave Black Street," Shiro said as he disassembled his gun carefully. As a gun lover, his gun was like his long-lost love.

Tommy was stunned. He never thought about this before as he always thought that his life would always stay like this. Now that Shiro mentioned it, he knew that their paths would diverge. Kanae did say that this group was only temporary, but she never said until when.

After all, none of them had the intention to tie themselves to Black Street forever. Each of them had their own path that they wanted to tread in the light, away from the darkness and cruelty that occurred in this place.

"I guess you're right."

"Now sleep or I'll give you sleeping pills."

"…" do you have to threaten me?

Feeling indignant, Tommy closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

…

The Ryukalin Clan

"The Red Gang was eliminated by Fiore Group?" Kevin frowned when he heard that. At the moment, he was in his study reviewing the materials about his clan. 

Neo nodded. "The news is all over the street. The place is so completely wrecked that no one dares to step inside and the smell of blood permeates the entire place."

"Is it like the incident in August last year?" Mike asked.

"That incident was far worse," Neo shook his head. "Based on the living witness, it was caused by only one person who was wearing dark clothes. He was rather small, but his power is something different."

Kevin's mind drifted to the encounter he had with a certain small person not long ago. That person wore dark clothes with a cloth covering his mouth. The only remarkable points that he remembered was how agile he was and the thin sword in his hand.

"He used a thin and short sword, right?" Kevin asked.

Neo nodded. "He said that the person wielded a weird small sword. My guess is, it's Rei."

"Do you know their reason?"

"Tommy is wounded badly," Mike remarked. "Misae told me about it after she found out from trying to get him to attend the Student Council meeting."

Kevin pondered. The last time he heard about Fiore Group waging a fierce battle, it was because Tommy was captured. Now, this incident was related to Tommy again. It seemed that this group's movements were not only based on money and interests, but also friendship.

This piqued his interest in Fiore Group.

However, they were not his current priority. "Neo, arrange a work trip to the Tamari Clan's territory. I want to meet with their clan head."

"Yes, Boss."

…

Laura's Apartment

"Sis, do you know what Tommy is sick with? It has already been a week," Laura complained as she packed her items. They had just gotten news that the renovation of the mansion has finished. This piece of news made them jubilant, and they couldn't wait to go there.

Kanae smiled wryly. If Tommy could still move after being nearly beaten to death like that, that would be a miracle in itself. "He got involved in a fight, and he got hurt. Don't worry, he's currently recuperating."

"What is that idiot thinking getting involved in a fight right now? We have a lot to prepare for the end-of-year party," Laura complained.

"It's not like he intended to get into a fight," Kanae rustled Laura's hair. "Now, have you finished packing up?"

Laura nodded. "Only the small radio that you put near the table lamp is left. I can hear our voices from it when I go near it. Did you purposely place it there, Sis?"

Ah… She had forgotten about that lamp. Since Kanae didn't want to let the government to listen to their real conversations, she concealed them with the recordings of their gossip from months to years ago. It would play as long as electricity was supplied to the living room, which was the reason Laura could hear faint voices.

Thankfully, she set it at a lower volume, so they wouldn't hear them if they were further away since the sound waves would become weaker with distance*.

She already planned to sell the lamp, but it seemed that she had forgotten about it completely. Well, she hoped the government liked her present. They could painstakingly listen to the gossip for hours, and she couldn't care in the slightest.

"I'll take it. You should load our belongings in the cab first. I'll head down soon."

"Okay, Sis."

Kanae approached the recorder and turned it off. She peered up into the lamp again as she saw the device was still there. Silently, she moved away from the living room and closed the door to the house.. Goodbye~.