Bare Bone Refinement

"Tazuna…” Kira gasped breathlessly.

“It seems like you've woken up as well.” Wu Qing spoke, unfazed by Tazuna's sudden presence.

“Kira.” Tazuna snarled, his words sounding calm yet ruthless. “Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah…” Kira answered, as he touched his bruised cheek. “Ow..”

“Ning Yuan. Heal him.” Wu Qing ordered, her eyes never leaving Tazuna's.

The young man nodded silently and cautiously walked up to Tazuna. His snarl grew louder, but because the boy didn't pose a threat to him, Riku, or Kira, Tazuna gave Ning Yuan permission with a simple nod. Ning Yuan took a steady yet shaky breath, before he kneeled and gently placed his hand on Kira's cheek.

“Are you seriously trying to fight Elder Sister Qing?” Wei Zhan asked carelessly, as he placed his hands on his hips. “If your friends would've listened to her in the first place, they wouldn't be sitting on their asses right now!”

“Wei Zhan!” Wu Qing demanded, ordering the young man to stay quiet.

Tazuna said nothing, as he gripped the sword until his knuckles turned a ghostly white. Wu Qing boldly stood her ground against the disguised Arctic Wolf. But instead of voicing her unfiltered opinion, she spoke with more calmness.

“Don't remove the needle from his neck. The idiot will start throwing another tantrum otherwise. Pull it out after his injuries have healed. Once that happens, what you do from there on out won't be my concern any longer.”

“We can't stay with you...?" Kira asked, his voice meek and tearful.

Ning Yuan chose not to get involved, despite knowing no one was directly at fault.

"Why did you save us?” Tazuna questioned.

“I saved you because it's my duty as a doctor. And as much as I have helped you and your companions, none of you cannot continue to stay here.”

She spoke so clearly and with such conviction, as she explained what was at stake for Tazuna and his friends. She was clearly telling them to get lost as quickly as possible and to not stay and continue to be a burden to them.

Much as Kira wanted to plead with Wu Qing to let them stay with her, he swallowed the pain that had accumulated in his throat. He'd been taught from Riku and Tazuna that Humans were untrustworthy and could exploit them at any given moment. They only lived to fulfill their own benefits. If Kira had been the one to do the rescue, he would’ve had them stay for as long as they wanted. But he was the one who was injured. Not only himself, but Riku and Tazuna too. And while Kira wanted to blame the Humans for the situation they found themselves in, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“I only did what was required of me. I may be a woman to you, but I'm an honest medic, a doctor, and an apothecary. Nor have I ever killed anyone who was under my care.” Wu Qing continued, as her voice remained stern.

The garden fell silent for a few moments.

“Return to your rooms and stay there. I'll have your breakfast delivered soon.” Wu Qing spoke unfazed.

As she left the garden with Wei Zhan and Ning Yuan, Tazuna lowered the unsheathed sword. He turned to Kira, who had stayed silent. He walked over and kneeled down in front of him. Tazuna reached his hand out towards Kira's freshly healed cheek. The child flinched out of instinct.

“Let me see.” Tazuna commanded, his tone now soft and gentle.

Kira felt Tazuna's cold snout pressed against his reddish brown fur. The two Wolves gave each other a few affectionate nuzzles.

“I'm sorry.” Kira apologized weakly, as he tried to keep his whimpering to a minimum.

“We'll talk later. Let's get Riku inside.”

“Ok.”

Tazuna scooped Riku in his arms and with Kira clinging onto his long, wide sleeves of his robes, the trio retreated back to the Heavenly Clinic to properly get some rest.

A body fell to the floor, warm blood discoloring the cold concrete. A pair of finely shaped fingers trailed a thin line over the dead scientist's face, fresh blood coating the person's fingertips. The gunman stealthily walked down the scorched remains of the ominously quiet Black Lotus Research Center. He casually and leisurely stepped over the numerous dead bodies that lay scattered on the floor. The gunman then turned around slowly, his intimidating aura filled the quietness of the room. And in front of him was another person who remained in the kowtow position in front of him.

The man wore a white Kabuki mask. A twisted excitement could be seen in his eyes. Despite his face being hidden, a slightly sadistic smile was clearly on his lips. The aristocratic wore a black suit with golden pinstripes, a yellow tie, and a golden peony pendant pinned to his suit jacket. He removed one of his black, leather gloves, revealing a slender, feminine hand with long, slender fingers and manicured nails. He carefully carrassed the scientist's face, who trembled in uncontrollable terror. The man tilted his head slightly, the mask suddenly revealed a blood colored eye. This eye menacingly peered through one of the eye holes of the Kabuki mask.

Why must you always be in a trigger happy mood? thought another man, his face also concealed by a Noh mask.

“Please!” pleaded the trembling scientist “Please for God's sake, have mercy on us! Our precious research center got destroyed!”

“Hmm~ you're asking God to have mercy on you? I have given you ample resources and funding to complete this simple project. Only to find all of that hard work has gone to waste. And you honestly expect me to show you mercy?” taunted the male gunman, his voice filled with sickening humor.

“Please! I beg of you, Your Lordship!”

“Awww~ and now your lips are trembling. And you're sweating! Do I really strike that much fear into you?" asked the man, who's voice seemed to be getting more excited. "We've treated your colleagues with nothing but the utmost respect. It's not my fault they didn't show the same sentiment and destroyed the fully funded research center~ hehehe.”

“I-It’s all that woman’s fault! D-Dr. Harrison! She was the one who let them go!”

“You seem so stressed. That's not good. Perhaps you should contact this ‘Dr. Harrison.’ Yes~?”

The scientist felt all of the blood drain from his face, as he became a sickly shade of ghostly white. He immediately realized the aristocrat had lost all sense of reasoning. His lips opened to speak again, only to taste the bitter metal and metallic iron. The scientist found himself to be a hostage. His eyes frantically peered at the gun that was lodged in his mouth. His words were frantic and unintelligible, he broke down in tears, begging and relentlessly pleading for his life to be spared.

“Hmm~ if I said being an artist is a hobby of mine, would you be interested in seeing one of my new masterpieces?” the man asked with a humorous laugh in his voice.

"Lord Xuanwu." spoke his accomplice. “We're only here to gather information.”

A gunshot sounded off, blood splattering onto the floor, creating a new “artwork” that was hinted at a few seconds ago.

“Oh dear~ my finger slipped!” Lord Xuanwu gasped, his voice sounding quite surprised. “But I'm so pleased with my beautiful painting!”

“You managed to get rid of our only lead.” the first man sighed, completely fed up with Xuanwu's antics.

“He wasn't giving us what we wanted.”

The second man who accompanied Lord Jingshi Xuanwu walked past the dead scientist and swept his hand over the holographic keyboard. The room lit up as a large holographic computer appeared before them. With a few swift clicks on the keyboard, the computer displayed sensitive files and reports. Jingshi Xuanwu noticed and walked up to his accomplice, as he peered at the reports.

“As practical as always, Xue Xue. All work and no play~”

“The scientist said something about a woman. She must've had some significant role at the research center.” Lord Xue Song explained, as he ignored the other's words.

“Lord Masahiro personally hired her, did he not? Ahh~ to disobey His Lordship’s demands like that… How brave of her.”

“Then she must know where he is.”

“If she doesn't? His Lordship will become very angry~ Can you imagine all the punishments she’ll go through?”

“We won't need her brain.”

Lord Song inserted a USB stick into the hard drive of the computer. With the press of the button, he downloaded the reports and encrypted data. Taking the stick and putting it into the pocket of his red, military jacket, Lord Xue Song continued to make use of his advanced knowledge of the computer system. He bypassed strict security nodes and cracked security codes. Eventually, a map appeared onscreen. A red blip could be seen; it was faint but still clearly visible.

“Our target has been acquired! Hehehe~ well done my little Xue Xue.” congratulated Lord Xuanwu, his smile being weirdly tantalized and satisfied.

“The deal His Lordship struck with that woman has nothing to do with us. Our job is done. We'll be leaving now.”

“What a shame. I was really hoping we'd get to play around some more~”

Xue Song sighed under his breath and removed the Noh mask he'd been wearing the entire time. His face was youthful and baby-faced. Magenta colored eyes dimly illuminated in the darkened room. They showed no sign of emotions. Pink curls neatly framed his face, adding to his feminine appearance.

“Your gorgeous face is so bland~ Why must you make such a horrible face when we were given direct orders from Lord Masahiro?” Lord Xuanwu asked with a romantic tone in his voice.

“...”

“Ah~ I heard the Young Master is a handsome man. Isn't that some ravishing piece of new information?”

“We can worry about that later.”

“Oh~ how I wish to be in the presence of the Young Master. Ah~ my heart cannot contain this much excitement!”

Lord Xue Song walked through the hallway. He had made his exit so discreet that Lord Jingshi Xuanwu hadn't noticed he left him behind, at first. The taller of the two men repositioned his Kabuki mask on his face and walked towards the door, only to stop suddenly. Taking out a crystal clear vial, the aristocrat leaned down and collected a decent amount of fresh blood. He raised the vial above his head to inspect the contents, before noticing specks of black.

“What an interesting color~”