Senpai

AN – No, I didn't die.

Jade blinked multiple times, trying not to look at Naraku, but she couldn't help it. He was leaned so close to her face and it stirred uneasiness inside her. He was examining the cut on her cheek, making sure it didn't have shards of glass stuck inside. He had one gloved hand cupped around the cut on her face while the other held a pair of tweezers. She knew he was helping, but it was still uncomfortable. His "kindness" came with a price and she was trying to figure out what she "owed" him.

"Found another. Hold still." Naraku ordered, noticing the trembling in Jade's shoulders.

"Alright." Jade replied, closing her eyes when she felt his hand grip her face a little tighter than previously. She heard the tiny clink when the tweezers clamped around the shard. Naraku steadily pulled the glass from her wound and placed it down on the paper towel with the two other pieces he found.

"That was the last one."

"Will I need stitches?"

"No. This will heal fine on its own. I doubt it will even scar." Naraku replied, placing the tweezers on the towel next to the pieces of glass. He grabbed a tube from the first aid kit and unscrewed the cap, squeezing the thick, clear cream onto his gloved finger. Naraku placed his finger on the cut and began smearing the cream gently.

"Ow." Jade complained, opening one eye.

"You're fine." Naraku countered, placing the tube of cream down, reaching into the kit and pinching a gauze pad between his index finger and thumb.

"It still hurts." Jade pointed out. Naraku shook his head as he opened the package and pressed the gauze against her cheek.

"Hold it." He insisted calmly. Jade pressed two fingers against the gauze as Naraku pulled small pieces of tape apart.

"Is there really a reason you have me sitting between your legs?"

"Better angle. And to make you uncomfortable. Is it working?" Naraku asked her with a grin, leaning forward to begin taping the gauze to her face.

"Nope."

"Liar. There, it is done." Naraku said with an exhale as he stood up.

"Wait, wait,"

"What, what?"

"No kiss to make it feel better?" Jade asked while pouting, her bottom lip quivering slightly. Naraku quickly flicked Jade in the nose, causing her to flinch and moan as she cupped her hands around her nose. He threw the glass shards he pulled from her wound away, grabbing the tweezers and walking towards the sink.

"I assume you informed Bruce about the situation?" Naraku questioned, raising his voice over the sound of the running water as he scrubbed the tweezers.

"Yeah. I hate that I did, though."

"Why?"

"I hate being a snitch."

"He has to be informed of every lab injury. You weren't snitching."

"Totally snitching. I doubt you report every injury you get."

"I will not argue any further with you." Naraku turned the water off, peeling his gloves from his hands and turning around to the trashcan that he left back at the table. He rolled the gloves into a ball and launched them in the air, watching as they landed directly into the middle of the opening.

"Two points!" Jade exclaimed.

"Stop encouraging me." Naraku bit.

"Here we go," Jade groaned, tilting her head back to look at the ceiling, as if praying to a higher power. Naraku snickered as he pulled a handful of pens from the cup on the edge of the table, singly hurling them at Jade and hitting whatever part of her body he could.

"Are you mad yet? Why won't you get mad? Get mad. I like you when you're mad." Naraku said, tossing a pen every time he said, "mad." Part of him hoped he could condition her to get angry in this brief moment, but Jade dodged, grabbed a few pens and tossed them back to him. She didn't even try to hit him. She just gave him more ammunition. Within seconds, they were tossing pens back and forth to one another, trying to see who would drop them first.

"Ow! Fucker!" Jade hissed, catching one at an awkward angle with her injured wrist. Naraku snorted, so Jade tossed the pen up high. Naraku leapt straight up and caught it between two fingers, his black hair falling wildly as he landed. He looked at Jade without even bothering to fix his hair. She was just staring at him, her mouth left open.

"Impressed?" he asked, wiggling the pen between his fingers.

"A little. Nice catch." Jade admitted with a grin. Naraku rolled his eyes while flipping his hair back into place.

"I liked it better when you were leaving me clever little notes that invoked my wrath."

"Uh, fuck you, too, I guess? I don't know." Jade shrugged as she pulled her phone from her pocket to check the time. She figured she would let Sango know she was almost done fooling around in the lab. The door of the lab opened and Sesshomaru walked in with the shorter Bruce behind him, a familiar folder in hand with the usual, "I'm not amused," expression he wore on his face.

"Jade, I have your labs graded and critiqued. You're very ready to be the lab TA. My notes are mostly tiny little nitpicks. Unfortunately, I dropped the folder and the labs are out of order." Bruce stated as he handed the folder back to her.

"It's whatever. I'll just reorganize them." Jade replied, taking the folder from him and walking to the center table.

"The table is mine for the day. I plan on starting a little experiment." Sesshomaru announced, motioning for Jade to move. Jade felt a smile slowly creep onto her face as she looked over at Bruce, who crossed his arms.

"Jade, stay right where you are. Use all of the table if you want. As for you two clowns; sit right here, right next to each other. Grab pens and a notebook or some paper." Bruce ordered, tapping the two stools Jade and Naraku were using minutes before. Naraku and Sesshomaru glanced at one another with frowns, but they both walked towards their respective desks across the lab from each other, snatched their notebooks and pens, and walked towards the stools. Naraku sat down on one stool, but Sesshomaru hooked the other with his foot, moving it away from Naraku.

"You wound me, Sesshomaru." Naraku said, his lips curved upwards. Sesshomaru said nothing as he sat down, keeping his attention on Bruce.

"You know, the last time I had to give a lecture about how dangerous throwing glass objects is, it was while I was teaching a bunch of first-graders." Bruce began while twisting the cap of the marker he held.

"Bruce," Naraku began, but stopping when his professor held a finger up to stop him.

"I'm going to give a lecture. You two will take notes and then I will give an oral quiz going over what I've lectured about."

"Why?" Naraku and Sesshomaru asked simultaneously, the annoyance and skepticism bubbling in their voices and expressions.

"Because I said so. Jade, you just keep doing whatever." Bruce said, waving his hand to the young woman who was organizing her graded lab papers on the table behind Naraku and Sesshomaru. She glanced up just long enough to nod before returning to her papers.

"I will not waste my time taking notes over concepts I already know about." Sesshomaru stated bitterly. Bruce smirked at him and inhaled through his nose deeply.

"Then I will not review your thesis proposal until the night before you present it to the committee. I will also inform the other members of the committee to do the same. That's for starters." Bruce responded while crossing his arms. He saw the resistance of Sesshomaru's spirit diminish immediately while Naraku chuckled deeply, his arms also crossed.

"He isn't bluffing." Naraku said with a knowing smirk.

"Alright, boys. Notebooks open. Pens uncapped. Oh, and, I believe you both owe Jade an apology and you both owe her some gratitude."

"Gratitude?" Sesshomaru asked doubtfully, a single eyebrow arched.

"Yes, gratitude. Jade has so kindly decided not to sue any of us or the university. So, go on," Bruce urged, motioning with both hands for both grad students to turn around and face Jade. Sesshomaru half-turned his head first.

"Thank you." He said, his tone almost choking the words out. Jade snickered, but she didn't care if he meant it or not. She knew Bruce was going to drag him more than she could at the moment. Her eyes shifted to Naraku, who looked like he was still thinking about what to say. After a moment, he turned his body and locked gazes with her.

"Thank you so incredibly much, Jade. You are a beautiful, merciful angel. I do hope you can forgive me for not throwing a beaker at your face and for picking the shards out of your wound. Next time, I will throw one and it will be the four liter beaker and you can pick the shards out yourself." Naraku recited passionately and never losing his usual smirk. Jade frowned and opened her mouth to say something, but Naraku had already turned his back to her, seemingly uninterested in her reply to him.

"Alright, shut up. We'll save the apology portion of this lecture for the end. So, without further ado," Bruce uncapped a dry-erase marker and began writing on the board behind him. "List off the essential elements for a human body,"

"Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen are the four main elements. They make up about ninety-five to ninety-six percent of the human body." Naraku began.

"Good, good. What about the rest?" Bruce insisted.

"Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur, Sodium, Chlorine, Magnesium are the major elements. They create about three and a half percent of the human body." Sesshomaru added on.

"Boron, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Fluorine, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum," Naraku continued, counting them off in his head.

"Selenium, Silicon, Tin, and Vanadium." Sesshomaru ended, tapping the end of his pen on his notebook.

"There's one more," Bruce stated, tapping the board with his finger after writing down the symbols of the elements his students listed. Naraku and Sesshomaru glanced at one another again. They both counted the elements on the board and then stared at the huge poster of the Periodic Table beside the board to process which one they left out.

"Arsenic." Jade announced with a sigh, continuing with her paper organization. Naraku and Sesshomaru both turned back and looked at her.

"In comes Jade to save the day again. What do we say, boys?" Bruce asked expectantly, scribbling the, "As," symbol on the board.

"I would have eventually guessed it." Sesshomaru remarked. Jade looked at him and smirked.

"Sure, Sesshomaru." Jade responded as both eyebrows rose. The white-haired man's eyes narrowed slightly, but he turned back towards the board instead of engaging her further.

"Well, I, for one, welcome our new laboratory overlord. Thank you, Jade. You've done so much for all of us. You beautiful angel of mercy." Naraku recited, mirroring his passion from his earlier show of gratitude towards her. Jade's hands now rested on her hips, her head tilted slightly as her eyebrows furrowed. She was still smiling, though. She couldn't decide whether to laugh or be offended or to flip the table on both him and Sesshomaru.

"I don't think I like his tone," Jade said aloud, pointing at Naraku briefly.

"Fair enough. Naraku, that's one point off your quiz." Bruce stated.

"Oh no. Whatever shall I do?" Naraku replied dryly as he turned back towards his professor.

"The man the highest score belongs to is the man who receives his thesis samples first." Bruce chirped, his bright smile shining through his bristled beard.

"You already sent for my samples." Sesshomaru pointed out.

"I sent for Naraku's samples two months ago and they've taken several laps around the country and ended up in China for a while. Until you physically have your hands on the box, they're mine to do with as I please. I will physically fuck those boxes if that means upholding my rules." The professor explained smugly, quickly tapping the end of the marker into the palm of his hand, the pace mirroring the angered pulse of blood through his veins.

"Understood." Sesshomaru said, crossing his arms.

"So, you've listed the essential elements to the human body. Can you tell me what's not essential to the human body?" Bruce questioned, tapping the board once more.

"The remaining elements we did not list." Naraku stated, a loud breath escaping his lungs as he skillfully spun and weaved his pen through his long fingers.

"Glass to the fucking face!" The sentence burst from Bruce's mouth loudly as he scribbled the word, "Glass," on the board, underlining it rabidly. Jade held her hand over her mouth as she held back a loud snort. Both Naraku and Sesshomaru had rolled their eyes, groaned, and looked up at the ceiling, hoping it would collapse and crush them all.

"Jade, was this your idea?" Naraku asked aloud.

"No, actually," Jade replied, placing her hand on her left cheek, which was covered with the gauze pad. The cut still stung.

"So, who can tell me, vaguely, what glass is made of?" Bruce interjected. He saw Naraku's hand slowly rise into the air. Bruce nodded at him and prepared himself for a smart-ass remark.

"What if I told you that I had nothing to do with Jade being struck in the face with a beaker? The genius to my left might have an idea of who is to blame, though."

"Something tells me Jade wasn't his intended victim. It wouldn't surprise me if you purposely dodged to let her get hit." Bruce answered quickly. Jade looked up and frowned as she gripped her shirt.

"Right, right. Just like I made her stand in the perfect place at the perfect time. How about we go back to the man who was throwing the beakers in the first place? You know, that lab safety issue?"

"Bruce, Naraku didn't," Jade began.

"You set one of my previous assistants on fire and you expect me to only lecture Sesshomaru on lab safety?" Bruce continued, ignoring Jade's interjection.

"Why not lecture me back when that happened? Also, I did not set them on fire. I told them to be careful with the ethanol."

"And you decided to randomly pick up a smoking habit in the lab? Shut up. You still had something to do with this and I have to opportunistically punish you." Bruce snapped calmly, running his free hand through his short graying hair.

"Come on, now! Punish him for that, but not for this!" Jade spat loudly as she pointed at her face. Naraku turned back to her and Jade locked gazes with him for a moment. He seemed angry with her comment. Bruce was staring at her with bewilderment.

"If I apologize to Jade, will you end this charade?" Sesshomaru finally asked, tapping his notebook. He was the only one who seemed uninterested in the outburst.

"Sesshomaru, your apology already sounds heartfelt, genuine, and not at all forced. Now, what is glass?" Bruce cleared his throat and gestured at the word, "Glass," on the board. Jade's mouth dropped open.

'Did he just ignore me?' Jade thought as she gritted her teeth. Naraku was an asshole, yes, but he actually didn't do anything….this time.

"Glass is street code for heroin or meth." Naraku quipped.

"Should I take another point off your quiz?" Bruce sighed.

"You're going to give him his samples first no matter what I do."

"You don't know that."

"Oh, but I do." Naraku replied as he stood up, closing his notebook and placing his pen in his pocket.

"Running away?" Sesshomaru asked with a small smirk. It was barely visible, but Naraku could almost feel it. He inhaled through his nose before quickly lifting his foot and kicking the top of the stool Sesshomaru sat on, toppling the white-haired man to the floor pathetically.

"Naraku, are you," Bruce started, but stopped when Naraku pointed at him.

"You should probably stay out of my reach." Naraku warned him, his voice eerily calm. Naraku waited for Sesshomaru to sit up and glare at him before smirking and chuckling deeply. He grabbed his notebook and turned around, striding out of the lab. Jade followed behind him quickly.

"Naraku, I," Jade flinched when Naraku whipped around towards her, his hand thrusting out. Her eyes closed, but after a moment of awkward silence, she slowly opened them, staring at the palm of his hand. His fingers coiled down as he lowered his hand.

"I wasn't going to hit you." Naraku said quickly.

"Natural response. But I didn't mean for that to happen back there. I didn't think Bruce would drag you into it."

"Well, now you know," Naraku patted her head a couple of times before turning around to head towards his car. He frowned when Jade caught up to him and looked at him.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Jade asked him worriedly, pointing at herself. She saw his eyebrow rise before he looked down at her.

"No, well, not about this."

"What are you mad about?"

"I'm angry that Sesshomaru, in one try, convinced you to snitch on him to Bruce. I've been working on you for weeks and all I receive is a note saying you miss me. I'm incredibly offended." Naraku stated with frustration. He opened the double-doors leading to the parking lot, Jade trailing behind him with her mouth open in a frozen reply.

"What the fu-you said it wasn't snitching earlier," Jade argued skeptically. Naraku walked to his car and opened the driver door, tossing his notebook into the passenger seat before leaning forward on the hood.

"I lied. You were snitching."

"And I didn't miss you."

"I know a lie when I hear one."

"Hear this," Jade retorted while flipping him off. Naraku chuckled while shaking his head.

"Now you're too easy. This isn't even fun." He responded with a quiet sigh.

"What?"

"You're too easy to irritate now. What happened to the Jade who stared vacantly at my attempts to annoy her?"

"Go home. Nobody wants you here." Jade sighed as she crossed her arms, leaning her back against the brick wall of the building. Naraku shrugged as he dramatically slid into his car, closing his door and turning his car on.

'She isn't leaving?' he wondered, looking around for her car. No green car in sight. He rolled his window down and leaned his head out.

"Did you not drive here?" he asked Jade curiously.

"Go away." Jade replied loudly, her arms still crossed.

"I assume you're waiting, then?"

"Please, go get fucked."

"If you insist," Naraku turned his car off and opened his door, standing up out of his car smoothly and closing the door by knocking into it with his hip. Next, he strutted forward, popping his hips side to side before sitting on the hood of his car, keeping his legs spread wide as he leaned back, his palms pressing against the warm metal. Jade smiled and shook her head the entire time.

"You're so weird." Jade said while smiling, her face showing a twist of confusion, embarrassment, and amusement.

"You want me." Naraku teased, tossing his head back. His long black hair seemed to move like water and Jade wished he would drown in it.

'If I move fast, I can stomp him right in the balls.' Jade thought comically, but her body didn't budge. Plus, she knew better than to think Naraku wasn't on guard or quick to react, either.

"Join me." Naraku offered, patting the spot beside him on his hood.

"I'm good." Jade waved her hand at him. Naraku tilted his head to the side before closing his legs and straightening his posture.

"I believe I might be in the mood for more pizza tonight."

"Yeaaaaah, I've been meaning to ask you about that. What do you do with the pizza?" Jade asked, a single eyebrow raised with suspicion.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't eat junk food, so I highly doubt you eat the pizza. Do you masturbate with it?"

"It is none of your business. I pay for it, so it's mine to do with as I please."

"Oh my God, you do masturbate with it, don't you?" Jade responded, her eyes widening slightly as she began to believe her own statement.

"No."

"It's part of some sick ritual where you punish yourself for wanting it."

"And they say I'm fucked in the head," Naraku remarked as he tapped the side of his head with his finger. Jade shrugged while giggling. If he wasn't going to tell her, then she was going to make things up.

"So, I've been thinking," Jade began as she kicked a small pebble with the tip of her shoe.

"Uh oh,"

"And I think I do want to be your lab assistant. However, I would like to discuss it before agreeing to it. Maybe write and sign a contract?" Jade suggested. She saw Naraku's eyes narrow slightly as he stood up, crossing his arms.

"Why do you want to be my assistant now?"

"Dude, you fucking win! Give it up already!" Jade whined, pulling on her hair dramatically. Naraku sauntered forward, placing a hand on the brick wall beside Jade and leaning into the building.

"Did you honestly think that giving into my demands would stop me?"

"Maybe," Jade winced. His deep, melodic chuckle sent Jade into a mental frenzy, but she remained calm on the outside.

"If anything, it makes me want more." Naraku admitted.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Jade breathed as Sango's car pulled up to the curb. Naraku turned and stared at the driver, recognizing her as the woman he saw Jade sparring with at the gym.

'Actually, I see that woman at the gym a lot.' Naraku realized as he slipped his sunglasses back on his face, watching as Jade opened the passenger door.

"Hey, Jade. I already went to the-what happened to your face?" Sango asked quickly.

"Uh, science?" Jade answered uncertainly, having forgotten about the gauze pad on her cheek entirely.

"Was it an accident? Did he do it?" Sango's tone was now serious and harsh. Jade smiled and waved her hand dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah, it was an accident. He didn't do it."

"I thought you said you weren't going to do science today,"

"I didn't. Someone else did. New grad student. He science-d all over my face."

"Oh. Well, is it bad?"

"Nah, it's just a cut." Jade insisted, watching as Sango's eyes shifted to something behind her. An awkward smile twisted onto her lips and Jade immediately frowned.

"Um, do you know him?" Sango giggled, pointing behind Jade. The brown-haired woman slowly turned her head, peering out over her shoulder. Naraku was now sitting in his car with the window down, music blaring as he dramatically danced and sang the lyrics while occasionally pointing at Jade.

"Nope. Can't say that I do." Jade responded evenly, feeling a smile jerking its way onto her lips. She hadn't wanted to punch herself for a long time, but this moment was invoking a strong reflex burn.

"He's definitely channeling his inner-Jade right now." Sango stated while shaking her head.

"What?" Jade snapped quickly.

"Well, you dance and sing like that, too," Sango pointed out with a shrug.

"Bullshit. I'm better at it than he is."

"Are you sure you don't know him?"

"Yep."

"I know him a little bit." Sango admitted, wondering if Jade was embarrassed of the man. She couldn't imagine why, though, seeing as Jade did equally embarrassing things.

"You do?" Jade questioned doubtfully.

"Mhm. I've never talked to him, but I see him at the gym. He's, uh, he's," Sango paused, glancing up at the interior of her car as she tried to think of the word.

"Obnoxious?" Jade suggested, watching as Naraku held his fingers over his lips in a V-shape, flicking his tongue between them teasingly.

"No. Fit. He's very fit. He has a nice butt, too." She chirped playfully.

"You know, I don't really care about his butt. Or his anything. I don't know him, remember?" Jade grumbled as she sat facing forward, her arms crossed tightly.

"Haha, alright, Jade." Sango chuckled as she backed out of her parking spot, waving to the black-haired man who returned the wave with his wide, wicked grin.

000000

"Plaaaaaaaaaaaay my music, damn it!" Jade shouted at her car, pressing every button on her MP3 player and checking the auxiliary cord that connected it to her car. After a few minutes, she accepted defeat and placed her device down to drive back to the shop for her next delivery.

'I hope the next people tip.' Jade thought as she sped off down the road. She pulled her cord from the car and began skimming through the radio stations, grimacing at every song or angry preacher she landed on. Jade finally turned her speaker volume down all the way and decided that silence was better than having her ears assaulted. She turned onto a one-way street and began tapping her a beat on her steering wheel when a song surface in her head.

"Let it burn! Wanna let it burn, wanna let it burn, wanna, wanna let it burrrrrrn!" Jade sang ferociously when she realized the car in front of her was going nowhere near the speed limit. She realized the light had turned red and they would have made it had the car been going faster. As she came to a stop, she pretended her steering wheel was someone's neck as she rocked back and forth with her knuckles turning white. The slow car turned and Jade went straight to make her way back.

After being hit by every red light possible, Jade was sure that the universe was out to get her, but she kept telling herself to remain calm and that this next run would go smoothly. Or, maybe there wasn't another run at the moment and she could hear more stories about how Ginta failed at something that week. She turned onto the main road where the shop was located and inhaled sharply.

"What the," Jade whispered under her breath when she spotted the flashing lights surrounding the restaurant. She pulled into the empty lot beside the restaurant parking lot, noticing the smoke rising from the building. Jade closed her eyes and placed her forehead against her steering wheel.

"This didn't happen. They did not let this happen. I swear, if this happened," Jade murmured under her breath. She inhaled through her nose, holding the air in her lungs when she heard knocking on her window. Jade looked up and saw Koga, who waved to her tentatively. Jade opened her door while removing her seatbelt, standing up out of her car and sighing heavily.

"Are you alright?" Koga asked, putting a hand on Jade's shoulder.

"I'm just trying process this." Jade responded, massaging her temples.

"There was a fire."

"I figured that part out. How bad?"

"Uh, the fire itself didn't seem too bad, but the damage on the ovens," Koga trailed off when he saw Jade's expression harden.

"How long will we be out?" Jade asked while crossing her arms tightly.

"It's hard to say. At least a week." Koga swallowed hard, watching as Jade began slowly nodding her head. Then, a terrible grin pierced her face.

"That's great. That's wonderful."

"Jade, I asked Ginta and Hakkaku to plan out streams to help this hurt less,"

"That won't do it for me. I want a personal stream." Jade replied sharply, turning towards her friend.

"I'm trying to help all four of-"

"What about the other coworkers who don't have another means? What even happened? Did one of you forget something in the oven? Leave something hanging over it?"

"Why are you blaming us?"

"I'm not! I'm just asking questions! I have bills due next week! Business has been slow because it's summer! I was doing all I could to make ends meet nicely!"

"Oh really? I have bills due, too! And maybe this wasn't our fault!" Koga shouted back at her. He regretted it when he saw her start nodding once more.

"I was waiting for you to say something like that. Here is my retort before I get back into my car; I have been incredibly patient with you and you have been fucking me. I understand why you have been fucking me, but it's still fucking me."

"Jade,"

"I get fucked a lot and it's because I let it happen; both here and with my new job. I hoped that my friends here wouldn't take advantage of it." Jade explained, pulling cash from her pocket and handing it to Koga, who frowned.

"What's this?"

"That was my only delivery of the evening. No tip. Call me when the store's back up." Jade sat back into her car and turned it on, roaring the engine to drown out Koga's words. She had no idea if he was cursing her or pleading with her and at that point, she didn't care.

Upon her arrival home, Jade kicked her car door shut, cursing loudly when she realized she made a small dent in the door. She stumbled when her foot caught the curb. She tripped heading upstairs to her apartment. When she finally opened the door after the key slipped past the hole several times, she was met with a worried Kagome and Sango, both who jumped up from the couch.

"We just heard there was a fire! Are you alright?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I was on a run when it happened." Jade exhaled as she closed the door behind her. Her eyes locked with the hallway where her room waited for her.

"You almost sound disappointed." Sango pointed out.

"I do kind of wish I died in the fire. I'm going to change clothes." Jade waved a dismissive hand towards her roommates, both whom glanced at one another silently.

Jade closed her door behind herself and immediately began shedding her work clothes. She tossed them in the basket on the other side of her room before grabbing the pair of jeans that hung on the back of her chair. She stepped inside them, pulling them to her waist. They were so loose on her she didn't even need to bother with the button or zipper. Once she pulled a plain purple T-shirt on, she sat on her bed and continued massaging her head.

'I don't think a personal stream will quite cut it for me, either. Maybe two?' Jade's hand felt around her pocket for her phone, gritting her teeth and hissing out another curse when she realized she left it in her car. Jade swiped her laptop from her desk and opened it, signing onto Facebook and posting about a personal stream in less than an hour. The post immediately began receiving likes and comments, which meant it might be a productive stream after all.

"Jade?" Sango called out, knocking on her door lightly.

"You can come in," Jade replied as she looked up. The door opened and Sango leaned in with a small wave.

"Hey, are you alright?" Sango asked as she slid into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Yeah, I wasn't there,"

"No, no, I meant with bills. Money. If you need help, we can help. Kagome and I just talked about it a little bit and,"

"No, it's cool. I can hit the mark." Jade insisted. Sango's eyebrow arched as she crossed her arms.

"If we need to pick up a little bit, we can. I don't want you getting a third job at the strip club because of this."

"Pfft, I wouldn't work at the strip club,"

"I don't want you whoring yourself out, either. Or going back to drug dealing." Sango argued.

"I'm noooooooot! And I dealt drugs once! Once!" Jade whined, collapsing backwards onto her bed as she held her index finger up.

"I mean it, Jade!" Sango hissed playfully, opening the door and deciding to leave her friend alone to think about her offer.

"Fiiiiiiiine!" Jade relented. When she heard her door close, she moved her laptop onto the bed beside her and rolled onto her side. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.

'If I become Naraku's lab assistant, he pays me, too.' She thought. Then, there was the issue of Naraku himself having control over her.

"Whatever. I can handle him." Jade grumbled, her hand searching her pockets for her phone once more.

"Fucking….damn it!" she hissed when she remembered, again, that she left it in her car.

000000

Fingers tapped an impatient beat on a steering wheel. Lips pouted and were bit thoughtfully. A frantic tune was partially hummed and partially growled. Green eyes leered out at a building.

'Just get this over with.' Jade thought, her hand grabbing the door handle and pulling on it. Jade stepped out of her car and closed the door, locking her car as she began walking towards the building's main door. She glanced at the bottom apartment of the building and saw lights were on, so she knew he was home. Jade walked into the building and up to the door like she had a few times before. Except this time, she had no pizza to deliver.

"Alright. Do your worst." Jade whispered, knocking on the door loudly before pressing her hand against the peephole. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of footsteps as the approached the door from the other side.

"Hello, Jade." Naraku's deep voice called. Jade smiled, her lips stretched thin and sealed together as she slowly shook her head.

"How did you know?" she asked. Two loud clicks echoed through the building before the door was pulled open, Naraku's smirk appearing in the doorway. He held his arm against the frame, leaning his head against his arm.

"You reek of desperation….and burnt pizza." Naraku commented wryly.

"Ah, you watched the news."

"I do that."

"Well….can I come in?" Jade questioned with a shrug. Naraku's smirk turned into a smile as he stepped back and opened the door wider, motioning with his hand for her to enter. Jade realized she was walking into the portal to Hell, but she stepped forward, fearless and with slight annoyance.

'I can handle it.' She reminded herself.

"Tea?" he asked as he closed the door. Jade stepped out of her shoes and turned back to him with a nod. Naraku strode away and turned a corner into his kitchen. Jade looked around and realized she was heavily disappointed. She was almost expecting mutilated corpses of innocent animals hanging from his walls, but instead, his walls were a clean off-white with a few pieces of artwork hanging from them. His furniture was black. Everything looked well-dusted and smelled clean. A green cage with white bars caught her eye, though. It didn't belong with the matching black furniture and tables.

"You're kidding me," Jade whispered when she realized a plump gray guinea pig lurked beneath the plastic green igloo inside. Her hand covered her mouth to prevent a loud cackle and she turned to watch Naraku walk from the kitchen, holding a tray of tea and snacks in his hands.

"What?" he asked her. Jade's free hand pointed to the guinea pig and Naraku's expression fell into a slight pout.

'I knew I should have moved the little bastard into the other room.' Naraku thought with irritation.

"I thought you said you fed it to the snakes," Jade murmured through her hand. Naraku had walked to the coffee table in front of his couch, placing the tray down and plucking a carrot from the bowl that sat on the tray.

"I did. This is a different guinea pig." Naraku lied, his tone lazy and unconvincing.

"Mhm, sure. I knew you were weird, but damn,"

"Weird," Naraku repeated, walking to the guinea pig's cage. The gray critter shot out of its igloo and stood up against the cage bars, squeaking when it realized it was snack time.

"Oh, oh," Jade chirped, pointing at the carrot in Naraku's hand. He looked at her vacantly.

"What?" he asked.

"Can I," Jade's smile was wide as she pointed at the carrot. Naraku glanced down at the carrot in his hand before slowly handing it to her. Jade snorted as she stuck the carrot between the bars and began laughing when the guinea pig ripped the carrot from her fingers, swung around, and dove back into its igloo. Naraku had sat on his couch, pouring the tea into the two teacups he brought out. Jade joined him and crossed her legs beneath her body.

"Alright, so I was thinking,"

"I wrote a contract." Naraku interrupted, taking a small sip of tea to test the temperature.

"Oh," Jade said, looking down when she realized how dangerous that was. She was going to have to read the damned thing at least three times to make sure he wasn't screwing her over.

"Here, have fun." Naraku chirped, grabbing the printed contract from the end table behind him and handing it to her.

"Wow, Christian Grey."

"Do not slander me by comparing me to that weak piece of trash. I am worse than him." Naraku retorted arrogantly, flipping his hair behind his shoulder.

"Yes, Senpai." Jade responded with a sigh, pulling back when she saw Naraku choke on the tea he had just swallowed. He held a finger up with one hand, the other hand covering his mouth as he suffered through a coughing fit.

"Don't...Don't call me….that!" he spat between coughs.

"But Senpai, I love you and everything you do to meeeeeeee!" Jade replied as obnoxiously as she could, pulling a pen from her pocket.

"Read." Naraku ordered while still coughing.

Naraku's coughs had finally subsided. He was munching on a carrot, watching Jade's expressions as she read through the papers. Her expressions ranged from, "This doesn't sound so bad," to, "Fuck this motherfucker, I'm not doing any of this." Naraku knew some of those demands would never happen in a million years, which is why he placed them in there; a false sense of security made her more likely to agree to the things he really wanted more.

"Alright, no. I will not call you, "master." Forget it." Jade shot as she scribbled, "No" above the statement.

"Can you indulge me and say it sarcastically?" Naraku pushed.

"But Senpai,"

"Understood." Naraku cut her off bitterly as he glanced at his black TV screen. Jade snickered as she looked back down and continued reading. The room went mostly silent with the exception of a few squeaks from the furry hostage across the room and Naraku slowly munching on another carrot.

"Let me just get to the point….money," Jade finally said after what seemed like years of silence. Naraku leaned forward to grab his cup of tea.

"Yes, money. The thing that makes your world turn."

"How much?" Jade decided to ignore that last comment he made. It was true, though.

"It's difficult to say, truthfully. But, if you help me, I can return the favor." Naraku replied softly, finishing off his tea. Jade blinked slowly and withheld her expressions.

"No strings attached?"

"No strings attached."

"Actually, I'm going to record this on my phone,"

"There is no need. Until you help me with this particular problem, neither of us will see a cent."

"I'll bite. What problem?" Jade huffed.

"Bruce has my samples on a shipping loop. If you tell him that you have agreed to be my assistant, then he might feel inclined to finally give them to me, or I should say us. Once we have them, the project funds will drop, and we will have our money."

"How soon and what percent?" Jade asked quickly.

"The samples can be here within a day. The funds are sent electronically, so you can assume two to three days at the most." Naraku explained as he leaned forward to pour the remaining tea from the pot into the two cups.

"Percent," Jade repeated slowly, a smile creeping across her face. Naraku handed her a refreshed cup of tea, his smile mirroring hers.

"You seem to have one in mind. I'm a haggling man. Try me." He insisted.

"Twenty-five."

"Fifteen."

"Twenty-five or you will not see your samples from me."

"Fifteen or you will not receive your precious money. I assume bills are due soon, yes?"

"I have other ways and no shame. You are just my first stop. Twenty-five." Jade replied smugly.

"Twenty and I'll give you two days a week where you will not hear a word from me." Naraku countered as he held up two slender fingers.

"That doesn't mean anything if I'm physically around you."

"Fine. Twenty percent and two days a week where we don't see each other or communicate. Unless it's an emergency."

"Twenty-five." Jade shot rapidly. Naraku blinked and his eyebrows rose slightly.

"If I give you twenty-five percent, I will offer nothing else with it."

"Twenty-five." She insisted calmly. She wanted nothing else.

"Are you really going to surrender two days a week for five percent?" Naraku asked her skeptically.

"Are you really going to give me two days a week?" Jade asked back with twice the amount of skepticism.

"Fair enough. You win, my dear. Twenty-five percent."

"Oh, I didn't win shit. Don't play." Jade giggled, holding her cup of tea out to Naraku. He tapped his cup against hers and they downed the liquid together.

"Have you altered what you wanted?" Naraku asked, motioning to the contract in her lap. Jade scribbled, "25%," before signing the final page.

"I got what I came for. I'll talk to Bruce in the morning." Jade stated, looking at Naraku, who was staring back at her. His head was tilted, almost like he was studying her. His expression finally said, "not bad," and he shrugged as he nodded his head.

'Now you are mine.' Naraku grinned at her before silently offering her another carrot.

000000

"So, now I work with two grad students-fuuuuuuuuck you, buddy!" Jade snarled when her opponent broke her combo and stole away all of the potential damage she could have dealt. Her fingers pushed her stick back, her werewolf blocking the jabs of her opponent's blade.

"Anyway, these two grad students, who I will refer to as Yin and Yang for reasons, goddamn it! This guy has broken every fucking combo! Fuck me! Fuck Yin and Yang! Fuck fires!" Jade shouted, reacting too late and suffering through a combo. When she saw an opening, she hit a button and broke her opponent's combo in retaliation.

"I'm going to bait him! I'm going to do it! Fuck this guy!" Jade tapped the buttons to begin a combo, but she left out an input on purpose. Her werewolf stalled and stopped swinging his claws. When her opponent exited his hit animation, she threw out a counter-breaker and he struck her at the same moment.

"Ooooooh yeah! Eat it!" Jade laughed through clenched teeth as she glanced over at the open chat window where her viewers begged her to continue her story.

"Yin and Yang, right! Uh, for reasons, and because these two guys, they're...they're two halves of the same asshole. So yeah, one throws a glass beaker at my face and the other, oh boy, the other," Jade's head shook as she began giggling at her own thoughts. Her wolf dealt the final blow and the match ended, showing the statistics of all the combos, damage percents, breakers, and anything else she needed to know to improve upon.

"I just sold my soul to him." Jade stated calmly as she stared at her chatroom, repeating that statement in her head over and over again. She saw people's responses of, "Close game," "Sold your soul to who?" and "Git rekt, Weedwolf's soul."

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! What did I do?" Jade screeched as she face-planted onto her desk. Her pathetic whimpers soon morphed into wild cackling as she sat up and stared into her camera, rocking back and forth.

"I'm so dumb! I'm so dumb, I'm so dumb, I'm so dumb!" Jade whined, her laughter taking over once more. She didn't know why she was laughing. She didn't even know why she was complaining now. Did the magnitude of the situation not hit her until now? Did she actually believe her own lie when she kept telling herself she could handle it?

"Hahaha! Hahahaha, ooooooh my face! My fucking face hurts!" Her hands were now softly rubbing her face, which was slightly moist from her tears. Jade leaned forward, her green eyes scanning the chatroom once more. She saw one person's reply and nodded immediately.

"You're right. I'm not Weedwolf anymore. I'm Insanity Wolf. But, I really needed the money, guys! Ahahaha, my main workplace caught on fire earlier!" Jade doubled over as another laughing fit took her.

"Ahaha, and now I have a senpai! Oh, kill me, please. Whoever I play on this next match, just wreck me." Jade begged as she tapped the button to search for a new online match. She cracked her neck and giggled a few more times, reminding herself to enjoy her last bits of laughter.

'I might not laugh again for long, long time.' She realized, still smiling broadly.