Under the Veil of Night

The streets were usually dark, but Kanae didn't really mind it. Her house was not far away, and she could easily reach it by walking for several minutes from the store.

She stopped in front of a big mansion. From the outside, the mansion seemed extremely huge and colorful. It was clear that the people who lived in this place were powerful and had a lot of money.

Kanae looked towards the building for several seconds before making her way to the back. At the back, the gate blocked the way to enter the mansion, but she took out a key and used it to open the door. She entered and then locked the door back.

Behind the big mansion, there was a small hut. The condition of the hut from the outside was a normal, kind of rundown hut that one usually used for a storage room. If one were to see it from the inside, he or she would know that the place was used as a living space, which was actually totally unsuitable.

Kanae walked to the hut and opened the door using another key. After she went in, she locked it from the inside.

"Home sweet home," she murmured.

The room was a mess since Kanae was too lazy to clean it up. People would not believe that this was the room of a girl if she didn't tell anyone. Putting her backpack on the rack, she picked up the clothes for the night and took a bath.

"It's cold!" In her mind, she complained that those people must have turned off their heater. Taking a bath at the middle of the night was truly a challenge for one's body.

Finishing her bath, Kanae washed the uniform carefully and hang it in the bathroom. After she finished, the clock showed that it was already 2 AM. Kanae prepared the books for tomorrow lesson and took out her homework book. The teacher gave her homework she needed to finish.

The homework was easy, and it didn't take Kanae long before she completed it. Shoving the book inside her backpack, Kanae put the bag on her table. She picked up her alarm and set it for 6 AM. Glancing at the clock, she found out that it was already 3 AM.

Rolling onto the bed, she quickly fell asleep.

…

Nolen School C

"Kanae, the lesson has not started yet and you're already sleeping?" Misae complained when she saw that Kanae already put her forehead on top of her hand, using it as a pillow.

"I barely slept last night."

Misae frowned. "Is your work really that hard?"

"Not hard," Kanae yawned as she straightened her posture. "It just takes longer than I thought."

"Can't you search for a different part-time job? You still have to sleep."

"I can sleep in the classroom just fine."

"… You're going to make the teacher hate you very much."

"No way! They're not going to hate the student who places first in every exam," Kanae grinned.

Misae rolled her eyes. She secretly wondered why the Heaven had to give someone like Kanae the ability to learn very quickly. On the other hand, she knew that this was the best scenario because Kanae still could catch up with the lesson even when the other party was extremely busy.

If someone like her had the ability to learn very quickly, she would just become very lazy. There was no doubt that she would not work hard at all. Although she wanted that, she knew that it was only a dream.

"Have you finished your homework, Kanae?"

"I have," Kanae put her book on the table. She grinned. "If I fall asleep, you know where to find the book."

Hearing what her best friend said, Misae had the urge to throw the book at her friend's head. It was the same as saying that she wanted to sleep right here, right now.

"You're really the sleeping princess."

"I'll wake up soon for the physical education (PE) lesson today," Kanae answered leisurely.

Misae nodded her head. "Did you bring your sports uniform?"

"Of course I did."

"I thought for a second that you forgot about that."

Kanae didn't answer anymore, and Misae noticed that the other party had fallen asleep. Not wanting to bother her, she quietly let her friend sleep thorough the morning lesson. Only when it was the time for the PE lesson did she wake the other party up.

"Come on, it's time for PE."

Kanae opened her eyes. She silently stretched lightly for a bit of warm up because she had just woken up from her nap. After that, she took out her uniform.

When they arrived in the restroom, the girls were giggling with each other. As usual, they were taking their sweet time to change their clothes. Although the number of girls was not as much as the boys, there were still quite a lot of them here.

"Today is a mini basketball game," one of the girls remarked. "I want to team up with a different team today."

"Do you want to be in my team, Kanae?"

"Wait, that's not fair! I wanted to ask her first."

"You're cheating!"

Even before Kanae could give her answer, the girls had already started fighting amongst themselves about whose team Kanae would be in. As usual, the girls would argue, and the people outside could hear their voices really clearly. However, no one thought that it was strange.

Misae looked towards Kanae bitterly. This would be the only time when she felt jealous of Kanae's abilities. Kanae was not only excellent in her studies, but she was also excellent in sports. It seemed that there were indeed people who were exceptionally talented like her.

Kanae shrugged. "I'm going to team up with Misae."

The girls turned their heads to look towards Misae. Because this was only a mini game, they only used half the court, so they only needed three people. If one of the spots was already taken by Misae, the girls didn't want to join.

"You shouldn't have said that," Misae glared towards Kanae.

"At worst, we're only playing with two people," Kanae answered with a grin on her face. "Do you think I'll join their group without you?"

"Well, you're really talented in sports," Misae argued.

There was nothing wrong with what Misae said. Usually, the students tried to pair up with the strongest in the class, but Kanae had purposely picked Misae.

"This is just a game, not a competition against other classes," Kanae reminded.

"Right," Misae nodded her head.

Kanae swept her glance around. She noticed one girl standing in the corner without anyone. She barely noticed the other girls because she usually slept, but this girl seemed different.

She was around the same height as Kanae, and her long straight hair reached her waist. Her pale white skin made her look similar to a doll, very beautiful to behold. She seemed to be kind of timid as the other girls barely paid any attention to the girl.

"Do you want to play with her?" Kanae pointed to the girl.

Misae was stunned. She recalled that the princess-like girl usually played with the others, but she decided to agree. "No problem.. Let's just ask."