Under The Veil of Night

Kanae woke up after hours of sleeping. Her eyes were looking straight at the ceiling far above her. Recalling the fight from before, she abruptly sat down and saw Jason leaning on the stack of mattresses not far from her.

He smiled when he noticed that she had woken up. "You finally wake up, little princess."

"How long has it been since the time I sleep?"

"I don’t know. There’s no way to know the time in this place," Jason shrugged. "You should treat the rest of your arm. We can only clean it with alcohol and stopped the bleeding."

Kanae looked towards her arm, where a cut was shown in red color. It was no longer bleeding, but it still looked rather scary. Kanae took the nearby medication and treated her own arm calmly. Her movement showed that she was already familiar with it.

"Kanae, are you alright with the battle from before?"

The sound of her real name caused Kanae’s movement to stop momentarily. She looked back towards Jason. "I’m fine, Oro. It’s already a given that someone from the Black Street can’t keep their hands clean."

"I do want to make your hands clean," Jason sighed.

Kanae smiled. "I don’t think it’s possible. Sooner or later, we’re going to take higher tier mission, which will make it harder for us to return safely. At that time, I too, won’t be able to escape this fate."

Jason looked towards the calm on Kanae’s eyes. He knew that she had come in terms with her fate right now. In the past, he already offered to her that he would pay her money if she worked for him, but she refused. She wanted to earn them by herself and not given by others.

"Besides, this is not the first time I kill someone," Kanae smiled bitterly, her eyes were tinged with scorn.

Jason was stunned when he heard Kanae’s words. "What did you...?"

"I have killed someone when I was younger," Kanae rephrased her words. "Do you really think I can get this far without having killed anyone before?"

Jason looked at the young lady before her. Somehow, the sight of her acceptance made him felt weird. It was as if she was already starting to grow even without the need of his help. "I see. I never see you kill someone until today since I first met you, but I guess, I didn’t know you too well."

"Well, it’s not like it’s reported," Kanae replied and leaned back her head. Her eyes reflected a hint of sadness and frustration.

Jason didn’t know what Kanae had experienced before they met with one another. But he knew. She had already awakened her talent even far before they met with each other. Whatever she had experienced before must be the one that allowed her to awaken her talent.

"You have numerous other easier options. Why should you pick the hardest?"

Kanae blinked. "You have a lot of reasons to not participate in this fight, why did you come and bet with your own life?"

"Your mouth is truly annoying, little lady."

"Thank you for your compliment."

Jason leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "You’re right, everyone has their own reason and things they’re willing to bet with their life. It’s not my place to pry on your business, I’m sorry."

"Don’t apologize, you did nothing wrong," Kanae smiled. "When I start, I don’t really have any other choice."

The failure to take back her inheritance left her with nothing but the mansion. There was barely enough money for their foods, so she had to search for a way to earn money. The only thing that crossed her mind back then was the Black Street because it was hard for an underage to get a job. It was not the best option, but she decided to try.

As the daughter of rich family, she already has some foundations in fight. Her days on the street started as a lonely journey. As time passed by, she earned friends whom she could fully trust.

"I always feel afraid that I’ll lose my life because I can’t afford to. My sister is waiting for me in home, looking forward for our meeting and has breakfast together. I have to stay alive. It’s that feeling that always drives me fight with my all and makes my way home.

However, I always try to keep my hand clean by not killing anyone. Now, I fully realize how naïve I was. Once I step into the Underworld, I’m no longer the innocent person anymore. I have to deal with them all by myself," Kanae smiled as she looked towards her hand.

Wanting to keep them clean was simply impossible. She had inevitably stained them with blood little by little from the various jobs she took. Nothing could clean them up as they would only pile up more and more as she knew for herself that she could not leave Black Street that early. There were still many things she had to do here.

"I have to accept the fact that I might die and to not die, there are times when I have to kill my enemies," the girl chuckled. "In fact, I already want to kill my uncle several times because of what he did. I never realize that I’ll be this hesitant before."

Jason looked towards the girl in front of him. Although right now she has only come in terms with her action, he knew that it was already enough to make a lot of differences in her fight. She would no longer have any hesitation to kill her enemies. Her biggest flaw, which was her kindness, would disappear without any trace.

When he saw her figure, he recalled the time when he was still a kid. His father always told him to be ruthless to his enemies and not allow them to have any chance. Feeling would only make him become weak.

It was not completely wrong because he had seen for himself how those who were swayed by feeling were destroyed because of them. However, his life became dull as everything was nothing but a contest of power against each other.

People were getting close to him because of his power.

People were approaching him because of his position.

Women were offering themselves in exchange of money.

Relationship with only trade in mind was something that he faced every single day. It was nauseating that he no longer has any feeling every day. His days were extremely dull. Even the praise from his father no longer entered his ears. There were like words of the passing wind, entering his ear on one side and out in the other side.

He had become nothing but robot that only knew how to use people for his benefit and never actually tried to understand them. Having everything in control, he never thought that it was necessary to know them. He could no longer differentiate between things and living beings.

It was right at this moment that he met with this young girl. A girl filled with energy and determination. Doing reckless mission just for a low sum of money, he learned how powerful the word called ’love’ was. For her sister, she didn’t mind bracing through a lot of storms.

Something the old him could never understand.

He first followed after her because she piqued her interest. She was nothing like what he knew. However, he soon learned much more from the time he spent in Black Street along with the weird friends around him.

’You change my life, Rei. I’ll forever protect you and everything you have,’ Jason smiled as he looked towards the girl in front of him. Even if he didn’t have the strength above her anymore, he would do anything he could to protect her. She was the very first person who taught him about feeling and bring color back to his dull life.

For him, she was the light that showed the color that he never knew existed in his dull life where only the perfect existed.

"You don’t have to follow me forever, Oro," Kanae’s voice woke him up from his thoughts. "There will come the time when you should follow your own path."

Jason frowned. "I don’t want to leave you alone, Rei."

"Fiore Group won’t last forever. It’s only a group created for us to gather together. Someday, its name will disappear in the annals of history without anyone remembers about it."

"I will never forget about it, Rei," Jason solemnly said. Even if there would come the time when others forgot about this name, he would etch it deeply inside his brain. Nothing shall make him forget about this small group. A group that only consisted of four people from completely different backgrounds.

Every second he spent here and alt the adventure he took with the others were very precious.

He would never forget them.

Kanae chuckled. "There’s no need to be so serious. You should rest, I’ll take over the role of the guards for the next several hours."

"Alright," Jason moved another mattress and lied on top of it. His eyes were staring at the ceiling in front of him. He had told his family about his trip, disguising it as a business trip. He never disclosed the detail to them.

’If I die, will there be anyone who cry for me?’

His father only wanted a perfect successor. His cousin already longed for his death for a long time. His mother had already died a long time ago, leaving him alone in this world.

Those who truly cared for him right now were only three people whom he met coincidentally on the street. If it was for them, he would not hesitate to throw everything. Really, fate worked in a weird way.

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