Cui stared at the man, he was in such a wondrous amount of agony, and was covered in fresh blood. It was the perfect scene in her mind, a perfect amount of pain and agony, but not enough to kill the captive. Her only anger came from the fact that he hadn’t screamed at all during the interrogations, and it now seemed that he was closer to passing out than ever. Had it been her own choice, she would have a defibrillator on hand just in case he did eventually die due to blood loss. She had studied about stuff like that, the ways in which Humans could and would die if subjected to certain irreparable damages and debilitating diseases.<br/><br/>She hanged back and watched the boss as he walked up to the interrogated man, he knew how to get real answers and proof from a person like none other. From what the interrogated man had said, he seemed dogged in his belief that he wasn’t lying to them, and given his current state of damage, it was unlikely that he would indeed be lying…but it was always fun to continually test people such as himself. To see if their loyalties were that dogged and cemented into their heads that they would seek to deceive their captors given every chance they got…while managing to spout utter bull about their ‘Empress’ who by some of their words was allegedly perfect in every way. It was people like that; that Cui hated people with virtually unlimited power and sway over things. Even if the Emperors of old, the ‘despotic monarchies’ held more power over their lands, and with an iron first, this was still just as bad.<br/><br/>When the man finally passed out, Cui gave a sigh of slight annoyance; an information source was damned near useless when it was unconscious. Just when he was about to spill his guts about the council’s secrets as well, secrets that would prove useful not only to the gang itself, but also to her father. As a minor politician, secrets of some degrees could get higher members kicked out under acts of incompetence, or, at least that is how she imagined it going…She wasn’t the most versed in politics. She watched as the boss pulled out the man’s phone from the pocket, apparently he was going to inform Miss Yamahata of her family member’s…misfortune. She had listened to some of that woman’s songs, and knew her. The former were, unpleasant at best, and the latter could prove annoying. Her infatuation with appearance was vain in the highest order of things. She listened to her colleague as he asked whether or not he could cut the passed out man more before the ‘girl’ as he called her, got the man back. It was certainly a pleasant though to cut the man up even more, but alas, cutting up an unconscious person was like cleaving into a corpse.<br/><br/>-----------------------------------------------------------<br/><br/>Zhiao lay in bed, in his apartment, half asleep, half awake. He had been pondering the day that his former gang were involved in a shootout, resulting in all of them dying by the bullets of the police. He had been lucky, getting only wounded where others had died. He didn’t see it as luck, just more as tragic fate. Doomed to forever remember their ill fates and last moments. It was a horrible thought, but he couldn’t forget it, not in the least. Such thoughts made him angered, but also filled him with anguish. It was late, or so it seemed from the light, or rather the lack of, outside his window. It wasn’t early, that much was sure.<br/><br/>Sitting up, he ran a hand through his hair and yawned. The evening before, he had gotten himself rather drunk, and passed out in his apartment. It was somewhat lucky that he had found his way back, especially given how bad some of the gangs were in this city were. Getting out of bed, he noted that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, but at least his lower half was clothed with a pair of jeans. He walked into his apartment’s kitchen, it was not an especially large place, but it was large enough to live in, people lived in far worse conditions than this. On the table, several bottles of empty alcohol were scattered across its wooden surface, providing slightly more information at to what he had done that evening before this. Grabbing a small set of keys from the very same table, he moved over to the home’s living room, where a safe hung upon the wall. He inserted the key into the locking mechanism and opened the safe’s door. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the safe’s contents were safe. The actual contents were weaponry, while they were not illegal to have by any standard; he still preferred to keep them out of sight and away from prying eyes.<br/><br/>Going back into the kitchen, Zhiao immediately went towards the coffee pot; it was still full and fairly warm for some odd reason. Perhaps he had awoken in the night and didn’t have any recollection of the events. Grabbing a mug from the cupboard above him, he poured some of the dark liquid into the mug and drank from it.<br/><br/>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/><br/>Yenay was in a fitful sleep. She was currently inside the main Scarlet note hideout, in the small hidey hole she had turned into her own home. Even gathered a few blankets and an old mattress to put in there. It wasn’t grand living, but it was good enough. Her dreams were of the constant bullying she would experience while in high school, namely the day her last few friends eventually turned on her and joined those students that would mock and berate her for no real reason aside for her apparent, oddities in behaviour. She remembered every last word; they cut like knives into her, flaying her without ever physically going near her. The laughing was worse, the horrific laughing, tormenting laughing that echoed from every place she walked, forever following her. She remembered the punches and slaps across the face she would receive from the more violent children, how they caused bruises and cuts across her skin. But there was something worse, she remembered a great height above an endless grey pit…she remembers not an accidental fall, but a purposeful jump, flinging herself downwards into the depths…<br/><br/>She awoke with tears in her eyes gasping for air and her hands were bunched into fists. She felt a dull ache in her shoulder, a reminder of that same dream, always nagging at her, never letting her forget despite how much she would want to. ‘Several broken bones, lacerations, and numerous bruises’ she recalled one of the hospital staff saying regarding her, incident. It was always horrible, but she had to live with it. Getting up from her makeshift bed, she crawled out from her small ‘home’ and back into one of the rooms of the Scarlet note’s hideout. She couldn’t see Yutaka, or the ‘boss’ as people called him. The sole man within a mile radius that she actually trusted. Pondering this for a moment, she couldn’t remember why he wasn’t around. But she would do the usual anyway. Walking to the ‘kitchen’ area of the hideout, she passed a few other members of the Scarlet note; they gave her indifferent looks, having heard of her, antics. Walking into the kitchen area, she saw a few more members, but they were far too busy drinking to notice her this time, proceeding over to the cupboard, she clambered onto a chair that had been left nearby, for she was far too short to actually reach the cupboards normally. Once opened, she got a packet of instant ramen and closed the cupboard, after she climbed down from her perch. It was something that she had done before; Yutaka liked instant ramen noodles, so she would make them for him.<br/><br/>Walking over to another cabinet, this one was closer to the floor so she could actually reach it; she gathered a bowl and placed it on the work surface above her. The kettle was already boiled, so the rest of the task was easy. Opening the packet of noodles, she placed them into the bowl before adding the boiling water. She carried the bowl, before the heat from the water could travel to the outside of the bowl, to the table where the boss sat, and where she placed such foodstuffs for him. Only cutlery was missing, and so she even got his preferred cutlery. It was a fairly dull life sometimes, but she liked it. There was always someone nearby and no one seemed too bothered about her. It was perfect. Grabbing a can of soft drink that she had purchased a while ago, she took a seat and waited for the boss.