Under the Veil of Night

"You get a day off?" Laura was surprised when she found her sister asking her to go home together.

Kanae nodded. "I have a day off today. Let's go home together."

"Then you should accompany me to the market first, Sis. I want to restock the refrigerator. You've been eating too much that there's nearly no food left."

"Ah…." Kanae scratched her head in embarrassment. Since she didn't have to pay too much attention to their budget now, she spent more money on food. Besides, it was one of the joys of life to eat good food every day.

"Come on, Sis. You'll protect me as usual, right?"

"Of course, there's no need to ask."

Laura beamed with a smile as she walked out of the classroom. The two of them spent the entire afternoon in the market as Laura picked out a lot of groceries. After that, she went to some other stores to look around.

Kanae sighed internally. She should know better than anyone that her sister would take a long time just to pick a single item. In addition, since Laura had the perfect item carrier, she didn't mind buying more items.

As for the item carrier, of course it referred to Kanae.

"Laura, how long do you want to stay here?" Kanae rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Laura laughed. "I want to see the cakes here too. It'll be my birthday in a month, and I want to pick my own cake."

It was then Kanae recalled that it has been some time since the last time she celebrated their birthdays together. Last year, Laura didn't return because she was overseas. Two years ago, Laura couldn't return either because she used up all her savings on a failed business attempt. Three years ago, they celebrated Laura's birthday, but Kanae's birthday was the day they lost their parents.

"Let's just pick strawberry. It's your favorite, right?"

"But you don't like strawberry cake, Sis," Laura rolled her eyes.

"I will still eat it. It's what you want that's most important," Kanae smiled lightly. She would want to pat Laura's head if only her hands were not preoccupied carrying the items Laura bought.

Laura nodded her head curtly. "Okay, I'll search for one that has both chocolate and strawberry."

Kanae smiled wryly. "You don't have to do that."

"I want to."

"I don't think you'll find it here."

"If I can't find it, I'll ask them to make one," Laura answered cheekily. Over the past few weeks, her company has been growing. It was still rather small as it would still take some time for it to occupy the market. However, her branding has started to become known in some circles.

For the time being, she focused more on making candies. As a sweets lover, Laura was vastly knowledgeable about them. Adding her hobby of cooking and experimenting with new recipes, there were a lot of varieties that she could try.

"Alright, I understand little girl."

"I'm not little anymore!"

The two of them spent the day together, and Kanae slipped out again when it was time for her practice. This time, she came while trying to erase her presence. She wanted to surprise her teacher with her new advancement. This should give Master Rudy a nice surprise.

Running covertly under the darkness, Kanae was unhindered. No one seemed to realize her presence as she neared Master Rudy's place. Her eyes saw the young man not far from her.

TAP!

In but a moment, she arrived behind him and tapped his shoulder. Her movement caused the young man to tense immediately and quickly spring away from where he was standing. He turned his body to face Kanae. Surprise filled his entire face when he saw the black-clothed girl behind him.

"Rei?"

"Can't you recognize me after not seeing me for one day?" Kanae asked teasingly.

"But how…?" the young man could see Kanae standing before him, but he couldn't sense her presence at all. It seemed as if she was not there at all. This feeling terrified him as he knew that facing people like Kanae, he would stand no chance if he lost sight of her.

"You still have your usual cloth covering your mouth, so I'm not sure."

"I always wear this," Kanae retorted. She still didn't show them her real face as she didn't want to make things difficult for her real life identity. Besides, there were still many things that she didn't know about these two.

"You're right," the young man smiled. Seeing his warm expression cause Kanae to feel rather surprised. She never knew that he had a rather handsome face. Since they basically moved about in the darkness, she barely paid any attention, but today she felt that she could see him more clearly.

"Where's Master Rudy?"

"I think he's behind you."

Kanae turned around and saw Master Rudy look her up and down with a satisfied smile. "Little girl, from now on, you have to keep hiding your presence like that and battle me until you can sense my presence."

Hearing that, Kanae's face turned black. Are you serious? If Master Rudy didn't hold back, she wouldn't be able to fight back well. She sighed internally.

There goes her peaceful day after attempting to surprise her master.

Making her resolve, she charged towards Master Rudy with her sword in her hand.

…

Time passed swiftly and soon the term ended. This year's end term arrived rather quickly because the snow came down quite hard. As a result, it caused many places to hasten their work in preparation for the holidays. As for school, their vacation will start earlier this year.

"The snows are very beautiful this year," Misae peered out the window. This city rarely saw a lot of snow, so she liked to see it piling up like that. If this continued, they would be able to make a snowman.

Alice smiled. "I want to play outside more too."

Kanae didn't answer. Her eyes were looking towards the snow outside the classroom. They have just finished their last exams and were currently waiting for the teacher to finish collecting the sheets.

If she had to be honest, she didn't like the snow to be too heavy. She preferred it to be light like what this city usually experienced.

"Do you like heavy snow?" Alice asked.

Misae shook her head. "Not really."

"Why? You can play a lot in heavy snow," Alice tilted her head.

Misae didn't reply as she gazed out. On the other hand, Kanae also shrugged. "I'm not really a snow person, I think."

"I see," Alice could see that the two of them didn't seem to have good opinion regarding heavy snow. She herself loved it because it meant that she could play in it.

"Do you have any plans tomorrow, Kanae?" Misae changed the topic as she rubbed her hands to warm them.

"Not really," Kanae's face soured as she recalled her practice. Master Rudy really didn't go easy on her and lately, her body has been aching because of the strain the practice put her under. Thankfully, she had started to grasp the method of sensing even deeply hidden people, so she started to keep up with him.

"Shall we play at Misae's house again?" Alice asked expectantly.

Kanae shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?"

"Tomorrow is Mike's birthday."

"Ah…" Alice formed a knowing smile. She giggled slightly as she knew that Misae would want to spend the day with Mike. "Then see you on Monday."

"See you later, Alice."

Kanae saw Misae walked over to Mike with a reddened face. Her lips curled up into a smile.. She hoped the two of them would have fun together the next day.