Under The Veil of Night

Shiro Clinic

Kreeet!

"Excuse me, is there any doctor around?"

Shiro glanced over to the door and saw a man walked over with a young girl following after him. He quickly headed over to the person with inquiry. "Is there anything I can help, Mr.?"

"I’m Rod Malady, this my daughter, Lyna Malady," the man replied.

Malady?

Shiro’s movement paused for a split second as he recalled his teammate’s surname. It was exactly the same as the man before him: Tommy Malady. Silently, he toggled the listening device that connected Fiore Group communication device on.

"What is wrong with this little angel?" Shiro tried to push the matter into the back of his mind as he looked over to the young girl before him. She didn’t have any resemblance to Tommy at all, but the man did have some similarities.

"She and her brother, Lucas, got into a fight not along ago," Rod scratched his head in embarrassment. "I think she accidentally hits her head, but she refuses to go to hospital, so I can only think of bringing her here."

Shiro raised his eyebrows in confusion. What kind of parent would bring their children into the black street without thinking of the danger in this area? He tried not to think too much as he checked the little lady.

"Your daughter is really small."

"Ah, people say that a lot, but she’s really my daughter. I just remarried when I’m already slightly older, so my children are still small," Rod replied.

"I see. Do you feel anything uncomfortable, Lyna?"

"I’m okay," the little girl replied cheerfully. It didn’t look like she was enduring any pain as she smiled until her white teeth showed.

Shiro took out a thermometer. "Let’s check your temperature, ok?"

"Yes!"

"She seems to be very cooperative."

Rod nodded his head. "I already coaxed her that it’ll just be a regular checkup to make sure that she wants to come. Also, doctor, have you been in this street for a long time?"

"A few years," Shiro didn’t tell the man the detail.

"Then, do you remember the case of sudden death of many women in the Black Street?"

Case of sudden death?

He didn’t know there was something like that. It was extremely common for people to die every single day in the Black Street that he has gotten numb to the news. What he remembered when one was talking about sudden death was regarding the incident involving Tommy’s mother a few months ago.

"Are you talking about how some women got drugs and died?"

"Ah, yes, that one," Rod took out a picture from his pocket. He showed it to Shiro. "Have you seen this woman?"

The woman on the picture was a perfectly healthy woman, holding a small baby. Even though it was an old picture, Shiro could see the similarities that the baby had with Tommy right now. It seemed that he got it correct.

This man was Tommy’s father.

It meant that the woman should be Tommy’s mother. To be honest, she was completely different from what he imagined. She looked normal and totally unlike the one he saw from Tommy. In fact, she looked glowing in this picture as she was filled with happiness.

"Yes, I see her."

"Is she..."

"She has died a long time ago," Shiro replied to the man flatly. He noticed that he man looked a little down. "Is she your sister?"

"No, she was my wife. My first wife to be exact," Rod admitted. "I just thought of visiting him and my son again after not meeting them for a long time."

Recalling how Tommy reacted when Shiro mentioned about his father, Shiro didn’t think that it would be a great idea for that brat to meet with this man. He was truly an irresponsible man who left his wife and a young kid alone to fend for themselves.

"Pardon me for saying this, but I don’t think that you should try meeting with them anymore. You already leave them for your own good, and you have a happy life. It’ll be better if you just leave them on their own device since you can’t return back to them."

Tin! Tin! Tin!

The thermometer rang and Shiro checked it. "It looks normal. I don’t think your daughter is sick."

"Ah, that’s good."

Lyna looked at her father and pointed to his face. "Daddy should get checked too."

"Eh, Daddy is fine."

"But Mommy and Daddy fight against one another yesterday!" Lyna puffed her cheek in displeasure.

Shiro chuckled. "I don’t think there’s any harm to check you too. Here’s the thermometer."

"Alright, alright, I understand."

"I presume that your condition is not that good with your second wife?" Shiro tried to inquire further.

Rod nodded his head. "I marry her for money and she marries me because she doesn’t want to get controlled by her family. We don’t really have any feeling for each other, but we usually get along well in front of the children."

"Lyna."

"Yes, Doctor?"

"There’s a box of toys over there, you can play with them."

Lyna’s eyes lit up when he heard the word toys. Without waiting for her father permission, she ran over to the side and crouched in front of the box. Her hands happily grabbed the dolls that Shiro kept there to entertain children who came to his clinic.

"Thanks," Rod scratched the back of his head.

"She seems like a pure girl who didn’t know much about the world, so I don’t think you’ll want her to hear more of your problems with your wife."

"Yeah. She’s a bit slow at times because of a problem during my wife’s pregnancy," Rod replied. "I come here because I want to try checking on my first son."

"Pardon, you have a son?"

"Yeah. I meet him once after I remarry, but he doesn’t want to talk to me. He just stares at me while I’m playing with his little half-brother before he left. His gaze kind of bothering me, but I can’t meet with him at that time because I already promise my wife that I won’t visit them anymore," Rod answered.

Shiro nodded. He didn’t think that it was weird for Tommy to have that kind of reaction. Who would be happy to see their father living happily with another brother of his?

"I have to say I’m not surprised with his reaction. Why did you only come now?"

"My wife divorces me yesterday, so I just think that I should check up on him before I leave the city," Rod replied.

"Is that so? Do you really come here to check your daughter or you’re actually searching for your son?"

"Both."

Shiro sighed. "I think it’ll be better if you wait for a while."

"Excuse me?"

Bam!

In that moment, the door suddenly opened.