Under The Veil of Night

Kanae was standing silently in the Student Council room. Although the job of Student Council was to maintain the peace of the school, there was no way they would let a girl do that. Most of the time, the girl would only help with the wounded one after the fight is over.

"Kanae," she called suddenly.

"Yes?" Kanae was startled to hear her name being called.

"You’re really too kind," Misae said in a low voice as she closed her eyes and leaned back to her chair. She wanted to be strong like Kanae, but she could not be like Kanae completely. She would be strong in her own way.

’I’m not kind. You have only seen this side of me,’ Kanae thought to herself, but she didn’t voice it out. There was no way she could voice them out in this place when her friend was still recovering from the shock.

Alice peered towards Misae’s face. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Misae nodded her head. She was only sorting out her feeling. After she had finished, she opened her eyes and smiled.

"Thank you."

Kanae nodded her head, unaware of the change in her best friend’s mind. "You’re welcome."

Seeing that Misae had calmed down, she peered outside the room once again. She wanted to get out once the fight was over, so she paid close attention to what happened outside the room.

"Misae, is this the first time you see a real fight?" Alice asked with concern.

"No, this is not really the first time," Misae scratched her head. "As you know, my father is a policeman and sometimes he get involved in fights. I never see them up close, but I hear most of them."

"Then, why are you feeling this afraid?"

"I don’t want to lose you two," Misae answered frankly.

Alice was stunned when she heard Misae’s answer. She thought that Misae was afraid of the fight more, but it seemed that Misae was more afraid of losing them. The two of them couldn’t fight that well, which was also the main reason they had to try avoiding battle as much as they could.

"Can you bear with the image outside?" Kanae asked.

Misae thought to herself before shaking her head. Even when she was only watching on television, she usually felt bad. She couldn’t stand the thought of seeing them. It was embarrassing as she was living in the city where crimes were common, yet she couldn’t stand the view of a bloody fight.

Alice patted Misae’s shoulder. "There’s no need to force yourself. You will get used to them slowly with seeing spars."

"Feeling afraid is normal, it’s not feeling afraid that would be abnormal," Kanae added."

"But, you’re not afraid," Misae said, "And many others too, they seem fine seeing such scene in front of them."

"I do afraid," Kanae answered.

Misae stared in disbelief. Even when saying those words, Kanae’s face was still calm and composed, like she was not talking about herself. However, it was clear from her eyes that she was saying the truth and not lying.

"But, I can’t let myself get overwhelmed by my fear. So, I stand up and brace myself with the condition I face while at the same time accepting that this is the condition that I have to face," Kanae answered. "I’m not good at words, but it’s true."

Seeing such an honest answer, Misae couldn’t bring herself to retort. She finally found a way for her to be stronger. She had to face her fear even if it was only a little bit.

"Thank you."

Hearing the fighting outside started to cease, Kanae looked outside again. She knew that most of the fight was over and the guards were pushing those people to the back. The situation was much safer for her to get out.

Kanae handed Misae the key to the room. "When you feel you can face them, open the door and go outside. I will go first."

"I’ll stay here," Alice suddenly said.

"Alright, take care of Misae," Kanae nodded her head in agreement.

Unknowingly, the fight had ended and the shouting had decreased. Misae could hear the sound of police sirens and people calling for help. By sitting here, she had missed everything that happened outside the room. Other people joined the fight, but she was just hiding here.

She wanted to get stronger, but she didn’t dare to come outside. Her eyes looked towards the calm Alice on her side.

"You can go out first, right?"

"There’s no need for me to participate," Alice smiled wryly. "I’m not a Student Council member like Kanae. Even if I’m hiding here until the fight is over, there is no one who dares to criticize me."

The two of them were only ordinary students. If they stayed hiding, no one would say anything. They already knew that these girls didn’t have much fighting power. Even if they came out to help, there was nothing much they could do.

"I see," Misae mumbled.

"You don’t have to force yourself," Alice fidgeted. "You can just be yourself and take one step at a time. It’s slow, but surely you will be able to be stronger if you keep the step steady."

Those who were feeling worried for her were not limited to her father. There were Kanae and Alice who stayed beside her and accompany her all these times. Although they didn’t say it outright, she knew that the two of them were protecting her with all their might.

She really felt pampered with the people around her caring for her. A smile made its way to her face as she nodded her head ever so strongly. She would not waste their belief to her.

"Thank you. I’ll be stronger."

"We’re here for you if you ever need help," Alice smiled.

Misae nodded her head, feeling much better.

While the two of them were talking, Kanae walked outside the room and headed towards the fighting area. The fighting had ceased, and the police came to deal with the situation. The situation was indeed really bad, and many places were broken because of the fight. The cost to repair all of them would not be small.

She was about to help when a police inspector come to her and asked, "Kanae right? Do you know where Misae is?"

Kanae looked up. This man was Misae’s father, Kano Dara. When he came here yesterday, she already knew that he had a high rank. Now that he came closer she noticed that he was the police inspector, in short a high ranking officer. Usually, he would be busy with a task or anything, but it didn’t mean he didn’t know anything about his daughter.

"Misae is in the Student Council room. She will come out later, Sir."

When he heard that answer, Kano felt relieved. "Thank you, Kanae."

"I didn’t do anything, Sir."

"Be careful with broken glasses. You wouldn’t want to hurt your finger," Kano reminded before walking away to finish his work.

Kanae started to clean up the yard. The mess these people caused has started to go out of control.

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