Under the Veil of Night

When Kanae reached home, she noticed that her sister was awake. The little girl was experimenting on a new recipe in the kitchen.

"Sis, where did you go?"

"I just went for a walk. Don't you have work today?"

"Nah," Laura shrugged. "I already finished most of it yesterday, so I want to spend today cooking a bit. There's a new recipe that I want to try."

"Oh? Then I want to borrow the kitchen too. I haven't been using it at all lately."

"Don't!"

"Why not?"

"You're just going to destroy the kitchen, Sis!"

Kanae recalled the mess she had created in the kitchen last time. She sighed to herself. "How about if I just make a fried egg? That's a simple dish, right?"

"Are you hungry?" Laura looked at Kanae doubtfully. "If you want, I can cook you something."

"I just want to try a bit."

"… Fine."

Kanae cheered and opened the refrigerator to take out an egg. She proceeded to prepare the pan and put it on the stove before turning the fire on. Afterwards, she poured a bit of oil.

"You seem to be doing well so far."

"Uh huh."

Kanae waited until the oil turned hot by washing the egg. Before she could crack the egg on to the pan, Laura's voice interrupted her.

"Lower the fire. You're just going to cook an egg. It doesn't really require that much heat to cook."

"Alright."

Lowering the fire, Kanae cracked the egg open. At the very least, her sister had taught her how to crack an egg. Though, she still doubted that she would be able to do as well in cooking it.

Splash!

Even though there was not that much oil, it was still hot. Adding the water that dripped from her hand as she poured out the egg from its shell, the oil splattered out of the pan, hitting her hand.

'That hurt.'

"Sis! Don't crack the egg with your hand still wet! You!" Laura felt exhausted when she saw that her sister didn't pay attention to her hand. Dripping water in hot oil will cause the oil to splatter out. It was not much because it was only around two tablespoons of oil, but if it was a lot, even the floor wouldn't be spared.

"I forgot."

"What forgot? Th…"

Ring! Ring!

Laura hurriedly walked out to pick up the call. When she returned, she saw that her sister was only trying to turn over the egg just now. Her face turned ashen. It was already five minutes!

"Sis, you don't need to wait that long to turn it over! See, it has turned black!"

"It's brown!"

"It's the same! TURN IT OVER NOW!"

After scolding her sister for some time, the fried egg was finished. However, Laura felt like crying when she saw the partially black egg on the table. It was an insult to fried eggs to call what her sister cooked a fried egg. Even children might be able to do better.

Kanae scratched the back of her head. "At least, it's finished."

"Sis, you can���t eat this…."

"It's just partially burnt. Don't worry about it."

Laura's face darkened. She had underestimated her sister's poor cooking skill. Even cooking something as simple as a fried egg was impossible for her. She sighed to herself and passed her sister a cloth.

"Clean up the mess. I don't want to see any stains."

"Alright," Kanae took it and started wiping. She grinned. "You have become more patient with me, Laura. You usually scold me until I'm not allowed to stay in the kitchen anymore."

"That's because I thought you could do better," Laura shrugged. "But you're still as bad as in the past, Sis. If only we can return back to the past, I'll surely remind myself that I'm not going to allow you to step into the kitchen no matter what happens anymore."

"How rude, I can improve."

"I can't believe you after seeing this burnt egg."

"It's just partially burnt!"

"It's the same!"

….

Laura woke up early the next day and headed to the company. On the other hand, Kanae visited Shiro's clinic. She had promised him that they would 'play' on the street today.

"I haven't finished working yet, Kanae," Shiro frowned.

Kanae grinned. "But I have finished reviewing today's reports, so I came."

"Fine," Shiro took out a sports bag and looked at Kanae. "Where do you want to go now?"

"Just wherever is fine."

"Got it."

The two of them headed to Black Street and walked until they reached one of the taller abandoned buildings. From that position, they could see faraway.

"I already prepared several paint bullets," Shiro handed over some of them to Kanae. "What do you want to be the target this time?"

"How about that bird over there?"

"Bird?"

Looking in the direction that Kanae pointed at, Shiro could see a bird flying at a slightly lower elevation. Shiro raised his gun with one of his eyes near the scope and the other one closed. His finger touched the trigger softly as he fixed his aim. 

Bang!

The bird was shocked by the sudden interruption and fell down right away.

"You should have put on the silencer," Kanae handed the silencer to Shiro, who attached it to his gun, which was a long sniper rifle.

Shiro shrugged. "I just forgot."

"Let's continue. I'll search for further targets for you."

"Wait, let me set up the gun first. It's uncomfortable to hold it up like this."

"But you can do it, right?"

"Yeah, yeah."

For the next few hours, the two of them shot various targets using the paint bullets. At high speed, even paint bullets could be dangerous, so they didn't aim at humans. At most, just birds.

"I'm still astonished by the distance you can cover, Shiro," Kanae used binoculars to look at the building several kilometers away that Shiro just shot. It was too far away to see with the naked eye.

"I have trained myself for years, so I don't think it's that strange," Shiro replied plainly. "In any case, you're not bad either."

"Nah, compared to you, it's nothing much," Kanae giggled and sat down on the ground. "Are you just going to stay in your clinic? Don't you want to work in a hospital or anything?"

Shiro shook his head and looked through the scope of his gun. "It's not going to happen. When they read my resume, they'll find out about my past. They won't accept someone with an ambiguous background into their company."

"You can just hide the fact that you're working in Black Street."

"Don't want to," Shiro pulled the trigger and the bullet was shot once more. "It's more fun staying here too. Living a life completely under the light is not fun at all. This is my secret enjoyment."

"I pity whoever is going to be your wife."

"Don't worry, I can always stay with my gun."

"You gun freak."

"Thank you for your compliment."

In the end, the two of them stayed in Black Street until it was late into the night.