Under The Veil of Night

Tommy snapped back to reality as he watched the last dust on his hand flown by the wind. The pot was already empty, so there was no need for him to stay in this place anymore.

"Thank you for the reminder," Tommy waved to the one who reminded him. It was someone whom he didn’t know, but he was thankful that he got the reminder.

Standing up from his place, Tommy stretched his body. There were many painful experiences he had in the past. Each of them was something that he would never want to remember. However, he couldn’t change his past, not that he wanted to.

His mother might have made his life miserable, but it was her who allowed him to meet with Kanae. If not because of her driving him out of the house that day, he would never meet with Kanae and experienced a lot of things.

It was funny to think of that day again as he was thinking of Kanae as a busybody. There was no way a normal person who had lived in Black Street for a long time would help someone just because they were in the way. Considering that Kanae had just started to live in Black Street back then, he could guess that it was rare for her to see him someone dying.

’At that time, we haven’t met with Shiro, so it’s hard to treat our wounds.’

A pained smile appeared on his lips as he recalled that time. Because of the insane number of missions that Kanae did every day, it was hard for the girl to not have any wounds. If it was not her arms, her legs would full of bandages, making it rather unsightly.

Because he didn’t know that Kanae was a girl, he never paid much attention to their wounds. However, when he knew about that, they already met with the others, so the one who protected her increased in number. Soon after, she no longer needed any sort of protection.

As he walked on the street, Tommy sighed to himself. Now that he lost his mother, he wondered, what he should do.

...

Nolen School C, infirmary

"Tommy, I know that you lost your home, but do you have to stay in the school infirmary all day?" Shiro looked towards the boy who slept on the bed. His brows were creased as he felt rather annoyed.

Tommy grinned sheepishly. "I terminate the contract for the place, so I don’t have anywhere else to stay. This infirmary is the best place because I can sleep all day long without anyone bothering me."

Shiro narrowed his eyes. "No one will bother you, is it?"

"Wait, you demonic doctor! Argh... are you sure, you’re a teacher?" Tommy cursed out loud as Shiro already kicked him out of the bed again. This doctor’s strength has increased quite a bit since the last time.

Shiro crossed his arm. "I’m a teacher and as a teacher, I warn you to not break the rules so much. Infirmary is the place for the sick and not for a lazy student like you to laze around all day."

Tommy stood up as he rubbed his back. It was quite painful to be thrown to the floor so many times. Thankfully, his body was quite strong, or he wouldn’t be able to stand the violent treatment of this annoying doctor.

"What do you have in the plan now, Tommy? You don’t want to spend your time to train on the street all the time, right?" Shiro sat down and put his bag on the side.

"I don’t know," Tommy answered honestly. He wanted to pursue his dream to become an athlete, but he no longer felt like doing it. Even though his body was stronger than ordinary people, it was not by much. Right now, his mind was a mess about what he should do anymore.

"How about you becomes a good student for the time being? You skip class so many times that I already lost count," Shiro suggested. "Isn’t it already the time for you to leave the Black Street? You don’t have anyone who tied you down anymore."

Without his mother, Tommy didn’t really have anyone he had to take care anymore. His father already lived with his new wife and children. He didn’t have any sibling and those who cared for him were all people who have their own life and strong in theirselves.

"I don’t want to leave Fiore Group," Tommy answered with hesitation.

Shiro chuckled. "You’re the first one to meet with Rei, so it’s obvious that you will have hesitation in leaving. But don’t you think that it’s already the time for you to end your life in the Black Street?"

Tommy shrugged. He did want to leave the Black Street and pursue ordinary life where he could be anyone he wanted. However, at the same time, he knew that his heart and roots belonged in the Black Street. It was hard for him to leave the lifestyle that he had all these times.

Shiro thought about it again. "What about if you stay low from all the activities in the Black Street and slowly adjusted yourself to live an ordinary life?"

"That’s not a bad idea," Tommy acknowledged.

"If you want to, you can even try to meet your father. You know where he lives, right?"

Tommy’s body tensed up at the mention of his father. His eyes turned cold. "I don’t have any father."

Shiro sighed and nodded. "Fine, if that’s what you say. But you can’t stay in my clinic forever too. I don’t have any intention to raise a boy as big as you."

"I guess I’ll search for another cheap place to stay."

At that moment, Tommy’s phone rang. The boy lazily picked up his phone only to hear the sound of his annoying upperclassman.

"Tom, I hear that you encounter some misfortune," Neo’s annoying voice could be heard from the other side of the line.

"Why are you calling me now, Neo? You’re too quick at gathering the information. Don’t you have anything better to do?"

Neo chuckled. It was his job to oversee the people his Boss has his eyes on and Tommy was included in them. "Your situation changes a lot in the Black Street since you don’t have anyone to tie you back anymore. Do you want a little change in lifestyle?"

"Speak to the point, please. I can’t understand your circular words."

"Brat, I’m doing you a favor right now!"

"I can’t see anything."

Neo cursed internally. He swore that if it was not because of Kevin’s order, he wouldn’t want to talk with this annoying boy anymore. Over the past time, this troublemaker seemed to develop the skill to annoy people the most.

"There’s a job offer for you, but it’s not include Fiore Group."

Tommy frowned. He glanced towards Shiro in front of him. If this mission didn’t include the Fiore Group, was this meant that this was the chance for him to leave the group? He didn’t want to, though.

Shiro stood up and flicked Tommy’s forehead. "Listen to what he says first, you brat."

’You demonic doctor!’ Tommy mouthed out his curse as he didn’t want Neo to know that he was talking with someone else. Since he still used the communication device of Fiore Group, the other member could hear the content of the conversation as well.

"Tom?" Neo asked.

"I’m still over here. What kind of job that requires me to get out of the group?"

"No, no, no, you mistook my words. I don’t mean that you have to get out, but this is a personal mission and not a group mission," Neo corrected his words. This brat sure has some problems in hearing other people words.

"What is it?"

"Do you remember Alice?"

Tommy’s eyes shook a bit when he heard this name. He had been trying to forget about her before the incident with his mother. Along with the recent shook he got, he hadn’t had the time to think about Alice anymore. Why this man had to mention about her again?

"Do you think I’ll forget my classmates that easily?"

"There’s a job offer to be her bodyguard. We want to select a free yet powerful person, which is suitable for you. Do you want to do it?"

Alice’s bodyguard....

Tommy thought about it inside his mind very hard. It would be a lie if he said that he didn’t want to meet with her anymore, but he didn’t have the heart to meet with her again. After all, knowing that she belonged to someone else made him aware that he had to keep his distance with her.

"Are you sure you don’t ask the wrong person for this job?"

"Nope," Neo answered. "If it’s you, you will surely do a good job in protecting her, right?"

Are you toying with my feeling?

Tommy was annoyed at the fact that Neo said that he would do the job very well because of that. However, he did want to stay by her side and protected her from everything. If he couldn’t be the one in her life, at least, a bodyguard should be more than enough.

Shiro looked at Tommy. "What’s your answer, brat?"

Tommy closed his eyes and replied. "I accept."

Even if it meant that he had to suppress his feeling further, he wanted to stay close with her. Truly, human’s feeling was unreasonable.