Under the Veil of Night

Nolen School C

It has been several days since the party and Laura made a great progress in her company. Finally, the school started again and the students lazily come to the class again after the weeks of vacation they got because of the reparation.

The teacher didn't try to push them too much, but they still gave a lot of task for them to make up for the missing days, which was given right after they entered the class as it was written in the board. Some students tried to complain, but they have to give in because they knew that it was necessary.

"I'll miss the additional holiday," Laura giggled. Looking at the task that the teacher gave them, she really wished for another holiday.

"I agree," Alice nodded as she smiled bitterly.

Laura sighed. "The teachers really didn't know the word 'mercy.' I doubt the students are going to sleep like this."

"We can divide the work and copy others," Alice suggested. This was, they could finish the work faster as the inhuman number would only lead them to their early grave.

"That's a great idea."

"I thought you're going to disagree," Alice giggled.

Laura shook her head. "No way, I didn't really come here because I want to study since I have already learned most of them. I just come here because I want to stay with my sister."

Alice nodded in understanding. She knew that Laura had gone abroad for quite some time, so she knew that Laura didn't really need the education in this city. After all, the academic level here was still lower compared with overseas.

As for Alice herself, she didn't really have any obligation to study in school since her future was more or less had been arranged. As the princes of a hidden clan, she would surely succeed her clan and worked there. Still, she preferred to come to the school if all her father did was nagging her about the etiquette and so on. It has only been a few weeks, but she felt rather exhausted.

"Kanae seems like she needs more holiday," Alice changed the conversation and pointed to the sleeping Kanae.

"She's busy recently," Laura replied. She was not sure about what her sister did, but Kanae always got home late at night. There were even a lot of documents on her sister's room, which Kanae said as important document. She didn't try to find out more as she knew that her sister had her own secret and task.

"I see."

Seeing that Alice struggled to keep the conversation alive, Laura decided to lend a helping hand. "How's your holiday?"

"It's good. My father wants me to study some things that it becomes busy for me," Alice explained.

"Sounds hard," Laura didn't know how it was to live in the underworld, but she could guess that it shouldn't be easy. They were all people who lived with their lives on the line at almost all time, so she could guess that it must be harsh training.

If Alice knew what Laura thought, she would certainly be surprised as Alice's training didn't include any violence.

"Yeah, it is," Alice giggled. She glanced at the students who walked in. "Oh right, have you seen Tommy recently?"

"Tommy? I'm not really sure about him," Laura answered slowly. She was not too close with the others, so she didn't meet with them aside in the class. In addition, she was too busy with her company lately.

"I guess he rarely appears again," Alice put a smile on her face. Ever since she knew that this boy was part of the Fiore Group, she did a complete research about him. She found out that most of their activities were done by Tom's action, which meant Tommy.

It would mean that the reason Tommy felt sleepy in the class was no other than his mission. Even lately, the Fiore Group only moved with Tommy. The others were nowhere within sight.

"He's quite lazy when it comes to school."

"I can see that."

As the two talked, Misae walked into the class. Seeing her friends again, a smile blossomed on her beautiful face.

"Misae!" Laura greeted loudly. "It has been a long time since the last time we meet each other."

"Where have you been? It's nearly two months."

"I'm going with my father," Misae explained. She peeked towards the sleeping Kanae. It was nice seeing them again.

"You miss a lot of things," Laura remarked as she dragged Misae to the latter's seat.

"Can you fill me in about what had happened recently?"

"Well, the school is getting attacked right at the beginning of the semester. It's quite chaotic here, which make the school closed down for a few weeks. Many students are rather happy, though. It's more vacation for us," Alice explained with a smile on her face.

"There's no need to worry about another attack soon because the clans are busy on their own. In addition, there's some talk in the news regarding the clans making deals with the police officers. Also…." Laura started to tell the news she recently got.

"Wait, Laura. I think that Misae didn't need to hear all of them," Alice cut off Laura's explanation. She smiled bitterly. "Even if the school ends up closing again because of the clans, we're not going to get affected too much as it just mean holiday for us."

Laura nodded her head. "You're right. I forgot for a moment."

"Jeez, you're the only student in this class who will try to gather news like that."

Laura didn't deny that as she laughed along with her friends. It was not like she liked to gather information, but it was necessary if she wanted to run business in this city. It was important to make sure that there won't be any attack because it would affect her profit. As the result, she ended up gathering too much.

"It seems that you have changed a bit since the last time I see you, Laura," Misae smiled.

Alice tried to hold her laughter as she nodded. "She's still the same as ever, it's just her vocabulary increase to business term too."

"Hey, it's not that much!"

"I can still notice it~."

The two of them teased Laura a bit before they finally calmed down. Misae thought about something as she hesitated for a bit before asking. "Is there any news about Mike or his clan?"

Alice nodded slowly. "The Ryukalin Clan holds a gathering at the beginning of this year. They experience an attack, but most people are fine."

"What about Mike?"

"He's fine. It's just, he doesn't come to the school anymore since he's quite busy in the Ryukalin Clan," Alice explained. She met with Mike several time. To be honest, she didn't see him looked like someone who has broken heart. Compared with Misae, Mike was able to cover up his feeling rather well.

"I see, I'm glad that he's fine," Misae smiled.

"Today is the first day the school starts again, make sure that you won't get left behind."

"I'll do my best."

As the bell rang, Laura took out her pencil and poked her sister from the back.

"Owie! Laura, what's that for?" Kanae pretended to be hurt and whimpered like a puppy.

The two other girls tried their best to hold their laugh while Laura grinned. "I just think that you need to stay awake for a few minutes because this is the first day of school after a long time, Sis."

"I'm sleepy!"

"Come on, Sis. Or do you want me to poke you again?"

"Do you want to kill me by poking?"

Laura laughed. "Pencil is not going to kill you sis. Besides, it's the blunt side of the pencil."

"I know," Kanae sighed. She turned her head to look at Misae and grinned. "It's nice to see you looking well again, Misae."

"Ah yeah, I'm sorry for worrying you before," Misae smiled apologetically.

"It's not a problem at all," Kanae returned to her position on top of the desk again. "I'm sleepy, so I'll sleep again."

Misae smiled warmly. She noticed that Laura was about to attempt another poke, so she restrained her laugh. It has been some time since the last time she saw her friends. Bantering and joking with them all seemed really fun.

She missed this all so much.

While Misae was enjoying the thought, another round of clashes between Laura and Kanae had started as the girl complained about the pencil once again.