Under the Veil of Night

The three of them took cabs to a nearby mall. Since they wanted to keep it a secret that they skipped school, which actually quite impossible, they didn't use the car that Misae or Alice had. The journey didn't even take 10 minutes as there was indeed a mall not far from their school.

"I have never gone to this mall before," Misae commented as she looked around. It didn't really matter where they went, though. All she wanted was to spend one last day with her friends before she went out of the city.

Alice smiled wryly. "Neither do I. Let's just walk around and stop when we see something interesting."

"How about if we buy something for each other as memento?" Kanae suggested. Since they wouldn't see each other directly for a long time, something to remember about them would be pretty good.

"Good idea!"

"What do you think will be the best for us to give to each other?" Misae asked excitedly. This would be pretty fun.

"What about dolls?" Alice asked with sparkling eyes. It was pretty obvious that she was rather excited at the mention of dolls.

Misae and Kanae looked towards each other. They were already adults, was it appropriate for them to play with dolls? Well, if it was for decoration, there would be nothing wrong.

"Ah…" Alice noticed their reaction and blushed madly. That was embarrassing. She forgot that not all of them loved doll. "Forget that I say that."

"No, wait, it's actually a pretty good idea," Misae took out her phone. At the edge of the phone was a small doll in the shape of a little girl holding a flower. It was pretty cute as the size of the doll was only about the small palm of a person. "Like this one."

Kanae stared at the doll that Misae showed. She had the feeling that she had seen it somewhere before. "Where do you get it?"

"Don't you remember? This is the doll that you pick for me in the doll picking something game. I still don't know the name," Misae answered with a grin. This was a doll that she treasured so much because Kanae gave it to her in the past.

"Ah!" Kanae finally remembered that incident. At that time, they were skipping school with the former Student Council members to watch Tommy's competition. Because Tommy lost, they headed to a nearby mall and played in the game court. She tried that game and managed to get a small doll, which she gave to Misae.

Misae giggled. "Do you finally remember?"

"Yes, it has been a long time ago, though. I can't remember all the detail of the past," Kanae gave her excuse.

"Let's just pick doll for each other, then," Alice suggested. This way, they could choose dolls for the others.

"Sure, but Kanae have to give me a different doll again."

"Okay," Kanae laughed.

The three of them made their way to the game court. They paid for a card and headed towards the doll picking game. There were two machines, so two people could have a go at the same time.

"I'll do it first!" Misae immediately swiped the card and started the game. Her eyes were focusing on the doll inside the machine carefully as her hand tried to grab the dolls. The hook moved slightly to the side and going down, but it failed to grab anything.

On the other machine, Alice was also trying her best to pick the doll. Her hand nervously tried to pick them only to fail.

Five minutes later.

"I get one!" Alice exclaimed excitedly. She finally managed to drag a doll towards the place. She picked up the doll and showed it to the others proudly. The doll that she picked up was a girl holding her hat with her straight hair flow out freely. The size was pretty small, but it was very beautiful.

Kanae giggled. "Do you purposely pick a doll that look like you?"

"Ah, is it that obvious?" Alice blushed.

The other two nodded their head. One look was enough to know that the doll and Alice looked similar to each other. Of course, with the exception that Alice never wore hat that big and dress like the one in the doll. Overall, it was pretty similar to each other.

Alice blushed again. She pointed to the machine. "Kanae, you can have a go first."

"Alright," Kanae's eyes watched the machine carefully as she pushed the control to let the hook grabbed the doll. Lifting it up, she used the controller and moved it right to the place. She released the hook from the doll, and it fell to the place where it would get out from the machine.

 Alice watched from the back with blank face. Seeing Kanae did it with ease made her wondered if her struggle for the past few minutes was worth mentioning. It didn't even take a minute for Kanae to pick one.

"If it's you who try, the owner is going to lose a lot of money for sure," Misae shook her head jokingly.

Kanae smiled. She picked up the two dolls and showed it to the other. The doll she picked was a panda and a koala. "What do you think?"

She even picked two at once! Alice and Misae felt that they should give applause for Kanae to be able to pick two dolls at once.

"They're cute. I'll take the koala," Alice picked it and hugged the doll tightly.

Misae nodded her head and took the panda. "Now, you have to teach us how to use this machine. I can't seem to get them at all."

"Sure," Kanae laughed.

"Ah, I fail again."

"The doll slips!"

"Ah wait, I need to refill my cards."

In the end, it took a long time for the two of them to finish picking the dolls. Alice took another doll that was similar with her while Misae picked two fishes with different color. They exchanged the doll and kept them away in the bag.

"I can't imagine seeing you as fish, Misae," Alice giggled.

"I pick fish because fish can't live anywhere outside water," Misae answered. "However, the fish is currently learning, so when I return, I'll show you a different fish that can live outside and inside water."

Kanae looked towards Alice. "Is there any fish like that?"

"I'm not sure."

"Not literally you two!"

The two of them laughed while Misae puffed her cheek in annoyance. They walked out of the game center. On the way, they saw a nearby restaurant.

"It's not the time to eat yet, but how about ice cream for each?" Misae suggested. "It'll be my treat."

"I want vanilla."

"I want chocolate."

"Let's get in."

Ordering the ice creams, they ate it as they walked around the mall, talking about numerous things. They couldn't even remember what they talked about with each other when the time was up.. All they could remember was a fun trip in the mall with their best friends.