In the garden, the two girls walked side by side. Alice held a complicated expression on her face. Even the beautiful petals that fell from the trees around her couldn"t make her mood any better.
Kanae had never shown the trace of her legendary skill in fighting during their time together. Although it should be kind of expected since Kanae has higher skill in the sports, the thought never crossed Alice"s head. All that she knew was Kanae knew some skill because she was part of the four big families in the past.
Now that she knew that Kanae and Rei are the same person, she truly didn"t know how she should feel. During the gathering before, it was Rei who protected her, even when the other party knew that she had to take place as Kevin"s fiancée. Knowing how Kanae felt, she knew that it shouldn"t be easy.
"You"re really quiet," Kanae commented. Her eyes were fixated on the trees around them. It was already fall season, so the trees had started to abandon their leaves, allowing them to fall with a beautiful movement.
Alice raised her head. She noticed the serene expression on Kanae"s face as she sighed deeply.
"I truly didn"t know how painful it must be for you."
"It"s painful for you too, isn"t it?" Kanae chuckled. "You have to put on the front that you like someone when in fact, you"re not."
Alice had to admit, it was not easy facing Celine in the past. That girl always aimed for Kevin at every chance she got. If not because she had someone monitored the girl, she wouldn"t be able to catch every single attempt that girl did.
"If you had wanted to kill me, it"ll be very easy," Alice sighed.
Kanae raised her palm, capturing a petal that fell before her. Her eyes reminisced about the past, at the time when she found out that Alice was Kevin"s fiancée. It was not wrong to say that the thought did cross her head.
"I"ll be lying if I say that I never think that. However, I can"t possibly let you die, you"re my best friend and I don"t want to lose you."
Even though her head was clouded because of the matter, she knew that she treated Alice as someone close to her. For her, the other party was very important, so she didn"t want to lose her. Even if it meant that she had to suffer from heartbreak, she wouldn"t let the other party die.
Alice"s eyes flickered for a moment. "Maybe, I did deserve it."
"No, not at all, you"re an important person, Alice," Kanae smiled. "Without you, I doubt that Tommy will ever be like the current him."
"Ah," Alice blushed.
Kanae turned her head towards Alice. "Don"t judge yourself so little, you are worth so much more than you take credit for. Don"t let others push you down, be proud, Alice."
Alice knew how timid she has always been in the past. It was all because she was afraid of her own position. As someone who couldn"t fight, yet pushed to have the position as the next successor, the pressure was simply too big. However, she had to put on a front, to make herself look stronger than what she actually was.
But now things have changed. She knew that she has her limitation, but she has her own strength too. There was no need to feel inferior because of what she couldn"t do, but she should be proud of what she could do.
Smiling brightly, Alice nodded her head. "Yes."
"I learn a lot of things from meeting with you," Kanae sighed. "Meeting with you make me realize how I treasure those around me even though our meeting is nothing but a coincidence."
As the one who had to undergo numerous practices in the past, Kanae has known that most of the friends.h.i.+p she had would be nothing but mere scratches the surface. It was hard to find those whom she could care about wholeheartedly. At first, she thought that she would only care to those from the Fiore Group aside from her family.
However, she cared more about Alice and Misae, her two best friends she had in school. And then, there were many others that she knew that she didn"t want to lose no matter what.
"People grow and learn things from everyday experience," Alice chuckled. "There"s always something new you can learn just by waking up and doing your daily activities."
"Yeah, you"re correct."
As they were talking together, Tommy walked closer to the two of them. Originally, he didn"t want to disturb them because he knew that they were best friends. It would be impolite of him to just barge into their conversation.
"You should go, your husband is waiting for you," Kanae smirked.
Alice blushed. She glared at Kanae. "I"m not married yet!"
"You will be, won"t you?" Kanae laughed.
"It"ll depend on my father. He doesn"t seem to acknowledge Tommy yet," Alice"s expression showed pain.
Kanae didn"t think that it would be weird. After all, Tommy came from unknown lineage in Black Street. It was unknown what the boy had experienced in the past to lead him until this point.
She beckoned for Tommy to come closer. "Your body seems to be more balanced. Have you been training seriously?"
Tommy smiled. "You can say that, Captain. I have a lot of practices now. This time, I believe that I can last longer when fighting you."
"Don"t bother trying, I might not show any mercy to you."
"You"re mean, Captain," Tommy put a wronged face, just like a kid who lost his candy.
Kanae laughed. "Don"t call me captain again. You should focus more on your own life now, Tom. I wish you happiness."
Tommy"s face turned proper as he nodded his head. "I can say the same to you, Captain. Thank you for everything that you give me all these times. I"ll never forget them all."
There was no way he could forget his time with Kanae. Those were only two to three years, but they were the most important times in his life. Everything that happened during his time as part of Fiore Group was extremely important. It changed his life forever.
It was supposed to be a dark and murky world where only violence existed. However, it was precisely the place where he met with people who changed his life forever. He would never forget his little captain. The best captain the world who could never be replaced.
She was so amazing that he would sing praise for her from the West to East. In his eyes, in the world under the veil of night, she was unrestrained and dominated that world from the shadow.
The two of them didn"t say anything else. They merely stared at one another for a few seconds before Tommy broke the gaze. His gaze moved to Alice as it turned tender and loving.
"Let"s go."
"Yeah."
Kanae smiled when she looked at Tommy. He was already like her younger brother, even though he was actually older than her by a few weeks. She turned her body back to the residence. There were still a lot of things that she had to do there.
Alice was walking with Tommy as she recalled their conversation. She knew that Tommy had known Kanae"s ident.i.ty from a long time ago. After all, they were captain and subordinate.
"You have a good captain."
"Yup," Tommy agreed immediately. "She"s the best friend I ever had."
Alice leaned on Tommy"s shoulder. "You"re right. She"s the best friend I ever have too."
Without Kanae"s sudden interference in her life, she would have never reached this far. Many things happened, both good and bad, and the meeting with Kanae allowed her to learn so much more.
Most importantly, it was through Kanae that she met the most important person in her life.
Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the warmth that Tommy gave to her through his shoulder and hand. It is so precious.