My Lab Assistant

Jade walked into her apartment and closed the door behind her. She saw Kagome sitting on the couch, a tan cat curled up in her lap. Jade recognized it as Sango's cat, Kirara. She must have finally brought the cat to the apartment from her parents' house.

"Hi, Jade! You're home ear-what happened to your face?" Kagome asked as her expression changed from content to shock. Jade shrugged.

"Uh, laboratory initiation. It isn't a big deal. Do you have any nail polish remover?"

"I do. Um, will that help with," Kagome's voice trailed off as she pointed at Jade's face.

"Mhm. Nail polish works. So does bleach water." Jade said as Kagome pulled the cat from her lap and stood up.

"I'll bring some rags, too."

"Cool beans." Jade chirped, kneeling down and giving the tan cat two pats on the head. She stood up and walked down the hallway and into her bedroom. She examined Naraku's little drawings in the mirror and smiled. Red dick on the right cheek, blue tear under the corner of her right eye, stick-Naraku on the left side of her neck with a smiling sun, and finally, on her left cheek, a rather detailed drawing of a gray web with a black spider in the middle of it. Next to the spider was a little fly with an arrow pointing to it that had "You" written over it. When Jade turned her head more, she saw the arrow pointing to the spider with "Me" written over it.

'Or so he thinks,' Jade thought with a smirk. She walked out of her room and met Kagome in the kitchen. They both dabbed their rags with nail polish remover and began scrubbing her face.

"Soooooo….they're a little late on the lab initiation, aren't they?" Kagome asked skeptically, wanting to scrub Jade's skin harder to see if the ink would disappear faster. Her gray rag was starting to change to a pinkish color as she worked to dissolve the red dick drawing.

"Kind of. Do I smell cake?"

"Yeah. I baked a cake." Kagome answered, smiling when she realized the red dick was mostly gone. She was going to have to remember to use nail polish remover for when she got permanent marker stains on her skin. She began working on the tear as Jade tried rubbing the spider and fly away. It was hard to do when she couldn't see. She immediately pulled her phone out and turned on the reverse camera so she could see where she was scrubbing.

"I have to drive out of town to grab some samples. It'll be a few more hours before I get home." Jade stated.

"Well, they didn't help you with that by doing this."

"This trip was a last-minute decision."

"I see. Oh, I almost forgot! Sango and I want to see a movie Saturday evening. She said you don't work Saturday evenings. Want to go?"

"Uh, what movie?" Jade inquired, hoping it wasn't going to be some lame romance movie. If so, she would need a couple of shots beforehand.

"I don't know. It's Sango's choice this time." Kagome answered, finally wiping away the remains of the blue tear.

"I'm done driving at five, but I have an obligation at nine." Jade told Kagome, who began wiping away at the stick person on her neck. Kagome turned her head and took a few deep breaths. The nail polish emitted a strong fume and it was starting to make her head hurt. Jade seemed unbothered by it.

"Do you work with Koga, by any chance?" Kagome asked curiously.

"Oh yeah. He's my manager. We, uh, we go back quite a few years."

"Really? I had no idea you two knew each other."

"I didn't know you knew him either."

"Are you part of that gaming community that he runs?" Kagome questioned with a knowing grin. She figured that was Jade's "obligation" for her weekend nights. Kagome recognized the tapping noises she heard from Jade's room as game controller buttons. Her little brother played video games often when she still lived with him.

"I'm the one who helped him start it." Jade stated, moving her head in the direction Kagome motioned for. She placed her phone in her pocket after finishing what she could. Jade figured Kagome had a better view.

"I see. Well, I think our movie will start and end before nine," Kagome said with an exhale. She finished erasing the ends of the web that Jade had missed. Those were easier to dissolve than the rest of the drawings.

"How am I looking? Clear?" Jade inquired.

"Uh, mostly. You can still see some blotches." Kagome responded, pointing at the few areas she couldn't completely erase.

"Nothing a little make-up can't cover. Thank you for helping. I guess I owe you a bottle of remover."

"Hm? Oh, it's no big deal."

"Did I tell you that I'm going to be the assistant for one of the Chemistry lab classes?" asked quickly.

"Noooooo," Kagome sang.

"Have you signed up for classes yet? Maybe you can sign up for the lab that," Jade cut off immediately when she remembered Naraku would be teaching that lab. She didn't want Kagome to be stuck with him as an instructor!

"Only two of my classes are set in stone. I'm meeting with my advisor Monday to finish scheduling. I'll see if I can sign up for your lab. Which section are you?"

"Uh….don't." Jade said, her voice quivering slightly. Kagome looked shocked and lowered her hand.

"But, why?" Kagome felt a coldness rush through her body. Did Jade not like her? Why wouldn't she want her to sign up for her lab?

"N-No, it's isn't what you think! The instructor! He's, uh," Jade paused when countless insults filled her brain. It wasn't that they weren't true; she just couldn't decide which word was best to label him.

"Is he tough? I don't mind if he's tough."

"No, he's really,"

"Wait….was he the one who did this to you?" Kagome asked quickly, pointing at the remaining spots of faded marker.

"Yeah." Jade exhaled, a smile pulling on her lips. She didn't know why she wanted to smile, but it felt right. Maybe it was because she knew better than to turn her back to him, but she did it anyway.

"Huh? What a jerk! Why did you let him?"

"I thought it was funny. I mean, if you sign up for his section, I think you'll definitely learn from him. He's just really….I don't know. Asshole." Jade finally said, raising her hands.

"I might not be able to take that section anyway, but, you'll be in there, too, right?"

"Yeah, I'm the TA. I'll help you with the experiments and questions. I might be helping with the grading, too."

"Then I'll just ask you questions. I won't go to him." Kagome insisted as she finished wiping off Jade's neck.

"I guess that could work." Jade said with a smile. Kagome's brown eyes seemed to glitter with hope and she stepped back.

"I can handle it. So, what section is it?"

"I don't remember the numbers, but it's the Wednesday lab."

"Alright then. Anyway, I think that's as good as it will get." Kagome chirped, motioning at Jade's face. She tossed her rag in the sink and capped the bottle of nail polish remover.

"Yeah, I'm going to rinse my face off and then I'll use some make-up. No big deal. Thanks again, Kagome." Jade replied, walking back to the bathroom.

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Naraku sat in the passenger seat of Jade's car. He began tracing the dark gray interior with his finger, glancing over at her as she plugged her MP3 into the auxiliary jack of her car. Jade tried to ignore him, knowing he was purposely alerting her that he was inspecting and judging her car. She heard him sniffing and finally looked over at him, her expression clearly saying, "What the fuck" for her. Naraku looked back at her blankly.

"I was expecting it to smell like pizza in here." He admitted, breaking the awkward silence gently.

"I clean my car. I also drive with all my windows down when I deliver to prevent the smell."

"Ah. Clever girl." Naraku remarked, pulling his sunglasses out from his shirt pocket and placing them over his eyes. Jade pulled her sunglasses from her sun visor and mirrored Naraku's gesture. Jade finally found a song and turned the key in the ignition.

"Let's not make a career out of this, hm?" Jade suggested.

"I do not wish to be there any longer than I have to be." Naraku insisted calmly. Jade sighed quietly. They finally agreed on something. She backed out of the parking spot and drove out of the lot, realizing that her music wasn't playing. She turned up the volume a bit and heard the song, turning onto the street and leaning back into her seat.

"Cypress Hill? Only two kinds of people listen to Cypress Hill," Naraku commented arrogantly.

"Which kind do you think I am?" Jade asked.

"You are beyond the normal levels of calmness for the average human being. I'm going to say you're a stoner."

"Okay. What's my other option?" Jade giggled.

"A false stoner."

"Ah, which could I be?" Jade sang jokingly.

"You're not going to confirm or deny?"

"Nnnnnope."

"You're absolutely dull." Naraku complained, crossing his arms. Jade decided not to reply to that. The duller she was, the less he was interested in pestering her. She felt the pang of hunger ring throughout her stomach and rolled her eyes quietly. It had been at least five hours since she had eaten. Maybe six? She didn't know. She didn't care. She needed food now.

"I'm hungry. Grabbing food." Jade stated abruptly, changing lanes and speeding off towards the chain of restaurants downtown.

"This can't wait?" Naraku asked with a disgusted sigh.

"No. I'll drift your side of the car into a building if I don't get some food now."

"So, if you're hungry, you're murderous? I will remember that."

"Hah! It won't matter if you're dead, bitch!" Jade laughed loudly, speeding more before taking a wild turn. Naraku almost did a double-take, his hand gripping the door tightly. Did Jade just turn psychotic?

'Maybe I should keep her fed,' he contemplated silently. For that brief moment, he could believe Jade was a serial killer.

Jade swung into a parking spot and turned her car off, almost leaping out of her car. Naraku followed her with less gusto, staying a few steps behind her. He slid his hands into his pockets and watched as a couple of young men walked out of the building. They spotted Jade and their smiles grew large and excited as they stopped walking, watching Jade enter the building they had exited. When she was out of earshot, they both high-fived one another and began chattering excitedly about her.

'If only she hadn't wiped away my artwork,' Naraku thought vainly, casting a repulsed look towards the two horny men. He entered the building and found Jade standing in line, typing away on her phone. He stood beside her and placed his hands back in his pockets. Jade sensed him and looked up at him, a small smile on her face.

"Do you want anything? My treat." She offered. Naraku blinked, stalling for a moment. Just a few minutes ago, she was threatening to kill him and now she wanted to feed him?

"No. I don't eat fast food." Naraku replied, looking away.

"Okay." Jade sighed, looking back at her phone.

"You have a couple of suitors outside," Naraku announced, spotting the two men staring at Jade from the windows. Jade looked over and when she made eye contact with them, their smiles widened as they excitedly jumped up and down, waving to her eagerly.

'Oh, I forgot. He doesn't know.' Jade realized, giggles erupting from her mouth. She waved back at the two men, who almost collapsed from anticipation. She moved up in line, glancing at Naraku, catching him as he leaned back to look at her from behind. Then, he leaned forward and looked down her body.

'Loose long-sleeved green shirt, loose jeans, messy brown hair pulled into a ponytail and sunglasses….what are they seeing that I cannot?' Naraku asked himself, shamelessly checking her out in front of several people.

"What're you doing?" Jade asked skeptically, trying not to draw attention to him or herself.

"Looking." Naraku answered.

'He thinks they were checking me out?' Jade wondered, deciding to let it go. She was next in line, anyway. She ordered a cheeseburger and fries and stood off to the side to wait for her food. Jade turned her head slightly so she could see Naraku in her peripheral vision without him realizing it. His arms were crossed and he was pouting slightly, glancing out the window where the two men stood minutes prior, but were no longer there.

"I don't understand." He finally said, looking down at Jade.

"Understand what?" Jade probed, curious as to why this seemed to perturb him. He shook his head.

"Forget it."

"Right." Jade responded with a nod, a wide smile on her face. She heard her number called and took her food, thanking the worker and walking out, Naraku walking right behind her.

"AHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a voice howled loudly, echoing in the parking lot. Jade stopped walking immediately and Naraku, who was busy looking for who it came from, ran into her. Jade caught herself as Naraku cursed under his breath as he fell to his hands and knees. He quickly jumped to his feet, brushing the dirt off his nice pants.

"AHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a different voice followed. Jade turned and saw the two guys standing beside their car, waving to her once more.

"Hi, guys!" Jade called back, waving again.

"Yeeeeeuuhhh!" the first guy answered as he and his friend dancing around one another, howling a few more times. Jade giggled and walked to her car, sitting down inside it and unwrapping her burger. Naraku sat inside and closed the door, leaning towards her and looking at her intensely, as if studying her.

"Do you know them?" Naraku questioned sternly. Jade took a huge bite of her burger, shaking her head.

"Nope," she answered honestly, swallowing her food.

"Then why were they howling at you? You're nothing to howl at." Naraku stated, his tone revealing his frustration. Jade covered her mouth, her eyebrows raising so fast they almost flew off her forehead.

"I mean, I agree, but day-um! Why so serious?" Jade finally laughed. She watched as Naraku's expression lightened instantly.

"I'm not serious; I'm curious." He corrected her.

"You're a little too curious. So what? A couple of guys think I'm cute. Big deal. Not the first time this has happened." Jade responded, deciding not to fill him in on the missing details. He didn't need, or deserve, to know.

"Cute? They were acting like you were Aphrodite in human form. Naked." Naraku replied with a grimace, turning and facing forward in the car.

"Oh no, how terrible." Jade said with fake concern, finishing her cheeseburger and digging into her fries.

"I never took you as the type to appreciate that kind of attention."

"Why do you care? Are you jealous?"

"Of you? Absolutely not."

"No, jealous that they hit on me and you can't."

"I already explained to you that I don't understand their reactions because you're not that attractive."

"Right, right, uh-huh."

"Fine. Don't believe me."

"I don't." Jade lied. She did believe him, but watching him squirm was good entertainment while she ate. She scarfed down a few more fries, snickering as Naraku crossed his arms and looked out the window.

'Irritating woman.' Naraku thought. He knew this adventure with her would be a 50/50 shot. They were in her car and they were in public; both places where Naraku had no control over the environment. The things he could get away with in the lab were things the police would beat him to death for in public.

"You mad, bro?" Jade asked teasingly. She saw his jaw clench, as if holding back a stream of curse words and insults. He turned his head to look at her, his eyes hidden by his sunglasses. A smirk appeared on his face, a soft breath escaped his lungs, and Jade knew the cogs and wheels of his twisted mind were turning.

'Come on, asshole.' Jade hoped he would say or do something.

"Are you done?" Naraku asked her indifferently.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go." Jade agreed, surprised that he backed down.

Jade drove calmly now that she was fed, deciding to take the less-crowded route to the research lab to retrieve the samples. The day was nice and no longer humid, so she drove with the windows down. Naraku became preoccupied with his phone, occasionally scrolling or tapping the screen. Jade would glance at him every so often, wondering if he had fallen asleep or became interested with the scenery out the window, but he was engrossed with whatever was on his phone's screen.

'Why can't he be this way more often?' Jade asked herself, taking one last look at him before raising an arm to stretch it. Once she felt the pop, she did the same with her other arm. Naraku placed his phone face-down on his thigh. He leaned forward slightly, pointing at Jade's MP3 player.

"May I?" he asked her. She glanced at her device and then at him, shrugging slightly.

"Sure. Go for it." Jade responded, shocked that he would ask permission. He usually just took what he wanted. Naraku plucked the MP3 from the empty slot of space under the radio, taking it into his hands gently. He unlocked it and started scrolling through her song list.

"You can learn a lot from a person's taste in music." Naraku announced.

"Enlighten me about myself." Jade replied.

"I cannot. I just factory-reset it." Naraku chirped, placing it back into the slot under the radio.

"It's backed-up on my computer. I forgive you."

"If it wasn't, would you still forgive me?"

"Yeah."

"Hm," Naraku picked his phone up and began reading the article again. It was a basic medicinal chemistry article, so it wasn't hard to understand. It did keep him from staring at the clock and making this ride with Jade longer than it needed to be.

"What are you reading?" Jade chirped.

"Are you really interested or," Naraku began slowly.

"You deleted my music and we still have about an hour to go. I'm bored." She interrupted.

"That's unfortunate." Naraku answered, returning to his phone and saying nothing more. Jade huffed, resting her left arm out the window and her right hand clutching the steering wheel.

'I don't know why I keep trying with him. It's pointless.' She thought with annoyance.

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"Confident fellow," Jade murmured under her breath, looking over at Naraku, who had fallen asleep. His arms were crossed and his head was turned her way. She snorted quietly. It wasn't like she would ever do anything to him anyway. He knew that as well as she did, so of course he felt comfortable enough to sleep in her presence. The light turned green and she accelerated, taking a left turn and spotting the main building of the research lab.

"We're here. Fantastic." Naraku stated evenly, straightening his posture and pretending he hadn't fallen asleep.

"They're a company. Why do they want you to process their samples for them?" Jade asked, waiting for a line of cars to pass so she could turn into the lot.

"At the moment, their spectrophotometer and their ICP are broken, but they still have clients who pay them to collect samples from private and public properties to test for nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, or heavy metals such as lead, aluminum, and so on. They take the samples and we, along with another nearby university, process and test for them. In return, we receive a portion of the payment for our services." Naraku explained, reaching forward with both arms to stretch.

"Ah, okay. So, why not send us the entire sample? Why just a portion?"

"We only need a small amount, but they will run their own tests when their machines are fixed. We are here to offer results to the paying clients as soon as possible. The company will pick up the follow-up work and they will offer suggestions as to how to utilize or clean up the area, if necessary."

"Cool." Jade chirped.

"Not really. I receive the hardest requests because between us and the other university, I'm the most experienced student."

"Poor Naraku." Jade responded with a fake pout, parking her car and looking at him, her pout full and insulting. Naraku smirked and shook his head.

"You will get a taste of it soon enough." Naraku told her warningly.

"But until then," Jade made her pout so obnoxious that her bottom lip had completely covered her upper lip. Naraku let that image of her burn into his head so he could use it as revenge fuel for later. He opened the door and stepped out of her car. Jade did the same, snickering quietly to herself. It was the small things in life that mattered. She watched as Naraku fixed the cuffs and collar of his shirt. He fluffed his long black hair and straightened the sunglasses on his face, turning back to Jade and motioning for her to speed up. Jade slid her hands into her pockets and sped up her pace until she was walking beside him. He was one of the tallest people she knew, so standing next to him made her feel so small and insignificant.

"I'll do the talking. You're just my chauffeur." Naraku told her.

"Sure." Jade agreed. She was going to let him take care of business anyway since he was the graduate student. Naraku reached the glass doors first, opening it and motioning for Jade to go first.

"Slut." He said while flashing one of his more charming smiles.

"Just because those two guys wanted me and not you," Jade replied sarcastically as she walked into the building. She waited for Naraku to take the lead once more, both approaching the front desk where a young woman sat. She perked up when she saw them approaching, smiling widely. Jade figured the lady didn't see visitors in this place too often.

"Are you Bruce's associates?" the woman asked, straightening up in her chair. Naraku placed his hands on the counter, leaning forward.

"I am. This is just my driver." Naraku explained, pointing at Jade. "They didn't happen to leave the samples down here with you, did they?"

"You," Jade had bite her lips shut and turn her head and fight away the urge to laugh. This man was incredible!

"No, they didn't. I don't think they're allowed to. I'll let them know you're here." The woman said, running her fingers through her dark hair as she quickly grabbed the phone on her desk. Jade and Naraku glanced at one another, Jade shrugging and Naraku shaking his head slightly.

'The salt is so real right now.' Jade thought as she looked away from Naraku.

"They will be down in a few minutes. You can take a seat if you want." The woman said, gesturing towards the chairs and tables. Naraku nodded to her and she winked back, but he ignored it entirely, following Jade over to the chairs. He spotted Jade heading towards the chair on the end, so he quickly swooped in and sat in it before she did.

"Really?" she asked him, her entire posture slumping to reveal how done she was with his antics.

"It is only a chair." Naraku reminded her, patting the chair next to him. Jade sat in the next chair over to spite him.

"It won't be just a chair when I suplex your candy-ass into it," Jade countered, making Naraku chuckle in response. He enjoyed the rollercoaster ride of her responses. They started off neutral and gradually made their way to threatening, but he could tell from her tone that she meant none of it. It was a quick, trained response, as if she had practiced for this moment.

"My dear, I don't think you could suplex me. I'm too tall and I may not look it, but I am quite dense."

"You are dense."

"Heh, alright, I walked myself into that one," Naraku admitted.

"I could totally suplex you."

"I don't believe you."

"Stand up and I'll make a believer out of you. I'll whip you until you call me God." Jade shot. Naraku's eyes widened as he held back a laugh.

"Perhaps you should whip me again. I am due for another session." Naraku retorted, now looking at her. Jade rolled her eyes while cursing under her breath, a nervous smile appearing on her face.

"I forgot that you liked that kind of stuff. Well, I doubt you'll like being suplexed into a chair, so let's go," Jade insisted, leaning forward.

"Mm, no. The moment you try to lift me will be the moment our clients walk out to greet us and that would look bad on us and our lab."

"I'm just the driver. It'll only look bad on you." Jade reminded him, closely examining her nails. Naraku snorted quietly while closing his eyes and crossing one leg over the other. He rested his chin against his hand, tapping a patient rhythm on his knee with his other hand. Jade watched him for a minute, shaking her head and smiling when his reddish-brown eyes snapped open and caught her staring.

"What?" Naraku asked her.

"Nothing, nothing."

"Quit fantasizing about me. We're in the middle of doing business." Naraku scolded her teasingly, raising his voice so the reception woman heard him. Jade shushed him, but she gave up once the damage was done.

"He's lying." Jade said to the woman, who giggled quietly. Jade's expression went deadly serious as she looked back at Naraku, who was grinning from ear to ear. Jade crossed her arms and looked away from him, seemingly muttering under her breath.

'Is she actually embarrassed or is she fed up?' Naraku wondered, closing his eyes again and exhaling. This was the most he and Jade had spoken to one another in one sitting. It had been a while since he had someone speak to him who was not legitimately threatening him or teasing him to an annoying degree. It had been a while since he had someone who could handle being teased. The fact that she tolerated him gave him a tingling feeling throughout his body and he hated it. Naraku's thoughts were put to a stop when he heard footsteps and voices approaching. He turned and saw the short man heading towards them, his two associates beside him, a man and a woman, each carrying an item. The man with buzzed brown hair had a box, presumably the remaining samples Naraku had to extract, and the woman with soft red hair held a bag of glass pipettes.

"Naraku, I am so, so sorry that you had to drive all this way," the short man began, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

"I didn't drive; she did." Naraku responded. He saw Jade stand up to meet them, so he followed her lead, albeit, slowly and reluctantly. They all shook each other's hands and smiled their fake smiles, as if they all knew no one wanted to be there at the moment.

"So, here are the samples. Because we caused the delay, I'll add another week to your deadline. I hope that's enough?" the short man asked, pushing his glasses up once more. Naraku glanced at Jade, motioning for her to take the box of samples. She shot him a cold look, but she took the box and thanked them.

"That is plenty of time. Jade, we are leaving. We have work to do." Naraku stated, wanting to prevent any further conversations that would keep him in this building even longer.

"Yes, my lord." Jade responded so sarcastically that it almost made Naraku's ears bleed. How dare she do this in front of their clients?

"Oh, is she Bruce's new lab assistant?" the man inquired curiously.

"No, she's mine. Come along, Jade." Naraku urged. He had turned and walked to the door, but he could feel the woman's imaginary daggers piercing his back. He opened the door and held it open, Jade storming past him quickly.

"Sorry again!" the man called out.

"Not yet." Naraku murmured under his breath, waving back to him.

"I am not your lab assistant!" Jade spat at him when they reached her car.

"You will be. Did you think Bruce hired you to be some random assistant? When my thesis samples arrive, you will be assisting me." Naraku explained conceitedly as he closed the door after sitting down.

"I'll help you, but I don't work for you." Jade corrected him bitterly, placing the box of samples on the floor behind Naraku's seat.

"Yet." Naraku countered, placing his sunglasses back over his eyes. Jade turned her keys in the ignition, flinching when a sharp pain rang out from her wrist. She let go and quickly grabbed her wrist with other left hand, massaging the stinging wrist gently.

"Ow." She grumbled, feeling her good mood of the day slipping away. Naraku looked at her and frowned.

"How did you hurt your wrist?" he asked accusingly.

"I didn't. It's just sore. It happens." Jade insisted.

"Has this been recent? Here," Naraku held his hand out and Jade looked at him with shock. Did he honestly believe she would just let him touch her again? Especially when her wrist hurt?

"What?" Jade was half-tempted to slap his hand away, but she mentally scolded herself for even thinking to do something like that.

'He deserves to be slapped, but I can't do it.' Jade told herself.

"I can….I have medical training." Naraku explained after a few moments of silence. He was now looking off to the side, but he kept his hand held to her. Jade stared at his hand for what felt like a year, but she finally relented and placed her wrist in his hand. He turned his head and looked down at her wrist. He squeezed it on the sides.

"Does that hurt?" he asked her.

"No." Jade answered. Naraku then pressed his thumb down where her wrist connected to the palm, his index pressed against the opposite side. He squeezed those and Jade winced.

"Numbness?" Naraku quizzed, still keeping the pressure. Jade almost said, "No," but within a second, she felt a tingling feeling rise in her thumb.

"Y-Yeah," Jade said.

"The carpal ligament runs left-to-right across your wrist. Right below it is the median nerve. Pressure on the nerve causes pain and is usually followed by numbness."

"But you're squeezing it."

"But you had pain before I squeezed it. It's probably a mild case of carpal tunnel."

"Thanks, doc. Anything else?" Jade asked sarcastically, pulling her hand from his.

"No. Except you being my lab assistant." Naraku replied teasingly.

"Whatever, dude. Whatever makes you happy," Jade said with an exhausted exhale, driving out of the parking lot.

'Your anger makes me happy enough. But you will be my assistant, whether you want to be or not, and that will make me very happy.' Naraku thought to himself. The tingling feeling he had about her disappeared from his body, which also made him happy.

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The next day, Naraku returned to the lab, sitting at the table where his salad waited and hungrily stuffing his face as Bruce made small talk with Jade. She nodded, but her focus remained on her experiment. She gave short answers and remained calm, but Naraku knew better than to believe she was calm. He saw something form in her eyes from the previous day, almost like the shade of green they held darkened to black. He took a few more bites of his salad, holding back a grimace when one of the dried peppers his bit into released a strange taste into his mouth. He knew he should not have trusted the peppers from the salad bar. They stopped serving the peppers for a while when a student from the previous semester dropped ghost peppers in the mix. This was not spicy, however. He ignored it, drowning out the taste with another bite. Again, he bit into another pepper and frowned. Naraku swallowed and placed another portion in his mouth, chewing slowly. His teeth ground another pepper and Naraku decided that he was done eating this salad.

"What the," he whispered, lightly pressing his fingers to his lips. They were tingling? For a moment, he feared it happened; the ghost pepper prick had struck again! The tingling began to spread from his lips throughout his mouth. The next thing he knew was his mouth was filled with liquid. Naraku quickly stood up and walked to the sink, spitting the liquid into the drain.

"Naraku?" Bruce called out, watching as his tall student leaned over the sink and spit into it again and again.

"I can't stop," Naraku said quickly, his mouth filling with saliva once again as he spit it out.

'It produces as quickly as I spit it out!' he thought with annoyance, spitting another mouthful out again.

"Rinse your mouth out with water,"

"I would….if it wasn't already….full," Naraku explained slowly, spitting between his words. He did, however, fill a beaker with water to at least attempt to rinse his mouth out.

"I never thought I'd see the day you became a drooling mess. Well, carry on." Bruce chuckled. Naraku humored the thought of spitting on him, but he decided against it. Naraku spat one more time before quickly filling his mouth with water, swishing it around and spitting it out. His mouth was still tingling, but it did subside a bit. The water seemed to help, but it also added more moisture to Naraku's mouth, causing him to spit more out.

"This is ridiculous." Naraku commented, hearing Bruce snicker behind him.

"Jade, do you have any idea what's going on?" Bruce asked her, seeing that she was still more concerned with her experiment than with Naraku's misfortune.

"I try not to worry myself with Naraku's fluids." Jade responded uncaringly, stirring a mixture in a glass. Naraku took another drink of water, spitting out into the sink.

"I'm suspicious of you, Jade." Naraku called out.

"Okay." Jade replied with that infuriatingly calm tone again.

"Szechuan peppers, hm? A delicacy I don't think a university's salad bar can get a hold of." Naraku explained, the numbness in his lips starting to fade.

"Oh please, Naraku. You know every time the salad bar brings peppers to its menu, some asshole dumps hot peppers in there as a joke." Bruce interjected quickly.

"These aren't hot; they make your lips go numb and cause you to drool….excessively," Naraku said, spitting into the sink once more.

"After everything you've already done, why would Jade just now," Bruce's sentence trailed off.

"I saw something in her yesterday. A monster that had awakened,"

"You're delusional." Bruce insisted. Naraku turned and looked at Jade, who was still stirring her mixture, her eyes still glued to it.

"Nothing to say, Jade?" Naraku asked.

"Not to you." She said back, a small bitterness iced in her tone.

'Perhaps it wasn't her. She does seem offended.' Naraku thought, turning back to the sink to rinse his mouth out a few times. As much as he hated to admit it, Bruce was right. The salad bar peppers almost always had a prankster just waiting to dump peppers into it. But, the Szechuan pepper was an odd choice. It wasn't even truly a pepper.

"What happened between you two yesterday?" Bruce inquired, noticing a tad more animosity coming from Jade than he ever thought he'd see.

"Well, I," Naraku began, but stopped when Jade stood up quickly, her stool creating a loud, screeching noise across the floor.

"Nothing happened. I'm going to lunch." Jade announced, walking to the door and ripping it open and slamming it shut behind her. Bruce's eyebrows had raised entirely as he slowly turned his head to Naraku, who shrugged.

"I only called her my lab assistant." Naraku said.

"But she's not your lab assistant. She's mine. I hired her and I pay her." Bruce reminded him, crossing his arms tightly as he looked up at Naraku.

"A jest." Naraku stated, refraining from rolling his eyes when another glob of spit formed in his mouth. He leaned over the sink and spit into the drain, running the water for a second and turning it off.

"She doesn't seem to think so. Knowing you, you're omitting some details. She is not obligated to help you, understand? If she does, it's because she wants to."

"She will want to."

"Things are going to change around here, Naraku. Have your fun while you can." Bruce warned him as he walked to the door.

"Your new grad student, I assume?" Naraku asked with a grin.

"Oh, that too. Maybe I'll have Jade work under them instead." Bruce sighed, leaving the room peacefully. Naraku stared at the floor, running that last statement through his head over and over again. He would give Jade to the new grad student and not his current grad student? Naraku's teeth gritted as he let out an annoyed sigh, leaning over the sink and spitting into it.

'I've been asking for a lab assistant since before he considered a second grad student.' Naraku thought with annoyance. Not only that, Jade was the first competent lab assistant to walk into the lab since he had been working in the lab himself. Because the only stipulation for the lab assistant job was to have taken Chemistry 1 and 2, many lazy students who barely passed and wanted an easy job to pay for their weekend drinking habits walked in all the time. Bruce, being as permissive as he was, hired them anyway. The past three assistants Naraku had scared away were lazy, inadequate, and moronic.

'She will become my lab assistant.' Naraku told himself. The new grad student was to arrive and begin their work right before classes began. That gave Naraku just about three months to convince Jade to work for him. It also meant he needed to tone down his cruelty towards her, especially for now while she was irritated with him. He leaned back against the counter, his fingers slowly tapping against the drawers.

'Or, I can torment her so badly that she'll agree to be my lab assistant to make it all stop….yes, I like that better.' Naraku decided, a devilish smirk gracing his face. He couldn't wait any longer. His eyes shifted to the other door of the lab, which was a small storage room where their strongest chemicals resided. He walked over to the door and opened it, flipping on the light. He knelt down, eyes scanning over the labels of each bottle. Nitrites, chlorates, iodates….not what he was looking for. Methanol, ethanol, acetone, benzene….still not it. He turned around to a different shelf. Sulfuric, phosphoric, hydrochloric...he reached out and grabbed the hydrochloric acid and placed it on the counter. Next, he grabbed bottles of other chemicals, ones that might react with the chosen acid and make a worse mess than he wanted. Naraku stored the other chemicals into cabinets in the main room. He wouldn't want to alert Jade of his intentions right when she walked back into the room.

"Hm, I don't think this will kill her," he said to himself quietly, holding the bottle of HCl acid in his hands again as he read the rest of the label. Naraku looked down at the floor.

'Concrete? Perfect.' He chuckled, placing the bottle on the counter by the door in the storage room, leaving the door open and the light on. He strode across the lab to the sink, grabbing latex gloves and pulling them over his hands, flexing them and forcing out the air bubbles. He looked over at the door when it was opened, Jade walking in with a take-out container. Naraku inhaled. Time to play.

"Jade, it seems I have made a foolish mistake and spilled some chemicals on the floor in the storage room. I figured it would be good practice for you to learn how to dilute and clean these types of messes." Naraku announced while pointing towards the storage room.

"You mean make me your mess slave?" Jade corrected cynically.

"I will be helping," Naraku insisted, showing her his gloved hands. Jade exhaled slowly, loudly, but she nodded.

"Alright." Jade agreed, walking to the sink and grabbing a pair of smaller latex gloves. She pulled them on and pushed out the air bubbles by rubbing her hands together. Next, she grabbed her goggles from the table where her experiment sat in its solution, bubbling quietly to signal a reaction still taking place. Naraku motioned for her to take the lead and she did while rolling her eyes. Jade walked into the room and looked down. No liquid, no fumes, and clean counters if not counting dust.

"What mess?" she asked.

"This one." Naraku said, pushing the bottle of HCl acid off the counter and onto the floor. He saw her jump at the sound and spin around. He caught a glimpse of her shocked and angry expression before he closed the door and locked it. Immediately, she began pounding on the door.

"Naraku! Open the door!" Jade shouted, slamming her fist into the metal door several times before stopping to hear his reply.

"There is no better way to learn than from an actual emergency. You should start working before the fumes do." Naraku replied coolly, leaning back against the door. He heard her cough a few times and sighed. The acid had reacted quickly on the concrete, as he knew it would.

"Fucker!" Jade hissed under her breath, covering her nose and mouth with her sleeve. The acid had a foul, sour smell to it and it burned the inside of her nostrils and mouth. Her eyes watered and stung, even with the goggles on.

"How do you weaken an acid?" Naraku asked loudly.

"Shut up!" Jade coughed, now realizing that her sleeve was no longer working. She needed to think fast! She spotted a few bottles of bases, but she knew the best answer was water. Jade turned to the sink behind her and opened the cabinets below it, hoping that a cleaning bucket or a beaker of some kind had been forgotten and left inside. She saw a bucket and snatched it, dropping it in the sink and turning the knobs until the water was on full-blast.

"The best answer," Naraku murmured with a frown. As impressed as he was, he also didn't like that she was intelligent, either. He didn't want her to be a moron, but she was far too smart for her own good. He was going to have to step up his game.

"Naraku," Jade called out, now having fallen into a coughing fit. Her vision was blurry and she could feel her throat and nostrils burning intensely. Jade slid to the floor, her coughing more violent and painful.

'I think my lungs are on the floor!' she thought worriedly to herself as she stuffed her shirt over her face, but she knew she didn't have the energy to lift the bucket of water. Her eyes screwed shut.

"Damn." Naraku sighed, the fumes lightly gracing over his face now. He no longer heard her coughing and opened the door while holding his sleeve over his face. He took a deep breath and held it as he stepped over the pool of acid. Naraku grabbed the bucket of water and gently poured it into the acid, pushing the reaction towards the drain in the middle of the storage floor. He placed the bucket back into the sink, allowing it to fill with water again. Naraku looked down at Jade, who was out cold on the floor.

'Fool. She must have been breathing it in instead of holding her breath in intervals.' He thought. Naraku knelt down and grabbed her shoulders, weaving his arms under hers and dragging her out of the storage room and into the laboratory. Naraku glanced at the small couch on the opposite end of the lab, but this was enough mercy for one day. He placed her on the floor, turning her on her side so any fluid that built up would spill out of her mouth instead of choking her. He stood up and walked back into the storage room, grabbing the bucket of water and splashing the rest of the acid into the drain. Naraku decided to give the floor one last rinse, crossing his arms and waiting right outside the door for the bucket to fill. He looked up when he heard Jade cough back to consciousness. Jade moaned, slowly pushing herself to her knees. She was still coughing, but it was weaker now. Naraku walked back into the room, poured the last bucket of water on the floor, and then turned off the light. He slowly prowled around Jade; like a predator watching its prey die. He half-expected her to attempt to trip him.

"So, why was the acid reacting?" Naraku asked, kneeling down beside her. He tried to see her face, but her long brown hair had created a curtain, hiding her face from him.

"Because it's limestone. HCl reacts with limestone." Jade answered, wiping her mouth and suppressing a cough.

"What, exactly, is inside limestone that reacts with HCl acid?"

"I don't know," she breathed.

"Yes you do."

"Fine! Calcite!" Jade shouted. Naraku exhaled with relief, a smile spreading across his face.

'Finally. Sweet, sweet anger.' He thought contently.

"It reacts with calcite, forming carbon dioxide, which makes it hard to breathe." Jade's tone suddenly returned to its usual calmness. Naraku's smile immediately flipped into a frown. She slowly stood up, her legs still shaky. Naraku mirrored her, watching her closely, and even preparing himself for her to turn and attack him. Jade covered her mouth with her gloved hand, another stream of weak coughs surfacing. She sluggishly pulled her gloves off and tossed them into the trash. Jade approached her abandoned lunch and exhaled. Naraku stood in place, still watching her tentatively.

"Do you need me for anything else, Naraku?" Jade asked, her face and voice showing her exhaustion. Naraku blinked. It took him a moment to realize she had addressed him. He finally met her gaze and shook his head.

"No." Naraku finally answered.

"Alright. I'll see you Monday, then." Jade replied, grabbing her lunch and walking to the door. Naraku glanced at her unfinished experiment and glanced back at Jade.

"You're not going to finish your experiment?" Naraku asked her quickly.

"I'll just start it over later. I'm tired." Jade's sentence was almost cut off by the door closing behind her. She wanted to walk faster, but her body was still in shock, it seemed.

'I'll take a nap and go to work later.' She told herself, staring down at her food. It didn't even smell good anymore. Jade saw a drop of water splatter across the container and stopped walking immediately. She reached up and wiped under her eyes, feeling the moisture spread across the back of her hand. Jade felt her eyes welling up with more tears.

"Leaving?" Bruce asked, having turned from the department hallway and into the main hallway.

"Y-Yeah, I'm tired."

"Jade? What's wrong?"

"I'm tired." Jade insisted, walking past him, her legs having found a new energy and motivation to move faster.