Competitions and Corruptions

"You did a good job, dude." Jade patted Ginta on the shoulder strongly. He grinned and placed his hands on his hips.

"Thanks, Jade." he exhaled. They both looked around the room slowly, gazing upon the four long tables with fourteen monitors sitting back to back and seven Xbox Ones set up on each set of monitors. It had all been set up by Ginta, with help from Koga and Hakkaku. Jade cleaned up the financial part, but Ginta had planned the room's set-up on his own. Different players walked around or stood with their teams, some carrying backpacks, others holding their controllers and arcade sticks in their hands. Jade looked over at the larger set of monitors at the front of the room and pointed at them.

"That's where Top Eight will be, right?" she asked.

"Yup. We'll live-stream Top Eight on our community channel and we'll also project the match on this wall over here so people can see." Ginta said, pointing to the wall behind them.

"How many showed up today?"

"About fifty. That isn't much, but look at who showed up," Ginta's finger slowly pointed from one end of the room to the other. "We have at least twenty serious tournament players here."

"Yeah, I see Wicked over there," Jade answered with a heavy sigh. She had faced WickedXWind online many times, and once at a previous tournament, and he won almost every match against her. Those losses didn't bother her nearly as much as his personality, though.

"Ew. Alright, I'm going to go find Koga. If I don't see you before it starts, good luck!" Ginta said as he walked away. Jade thanked him and bent down to grab her worn blue backpack. She slung it over her shoulder and decided to find something to do until the pool rounds began.

"Jade! Jaaaaade!" a feminine voice called. Jade frowned. A chick's voice was an unusual sound to hear at these tournaments, especially one calling her name. Jade stopped and turned around, feeling her mouth drop open when she saw Sango and Kagome jogging up to her. They were both wearing white capris and zipped-up white jackets.

"Hey," Jade said back. "What are you guys doing here? What's with the matching wardrobe?"

"Well, when you told us you had a tournament, we figured we would come support you." Kagome stated proudly.

"Ready, Kagome?" Sango called out. Both women grabbed the zippers of their jackets. "Three, two, one!" Both unzipped their jackets and ripped them open, revealing tie-dye shirts of swirling green, purple, and gray. The white print on the fronts of their shirts spelled, "Go, WeedWolf!"

"Hahahahaha!" Jade laughed heartily, her hand pressed against her chest.

"Hold on, hold on!" Kagome urged as she and Sango removed their jackets, spinning around to let her read the backs. Jade giggled when she read, "Win everything!"

"I'll do my best. Thanks. I appreciate it." Jade said with a wide smile.

"Heeeeeey, Kagome!" Koga called, running up to her and almost pushing Jade aside. Jade took a step over to give herself more space, grumbling an insult under her breath. Koga flipped her off without even looking at her and Jade debated grabbing his finger, but she decided to let the moment go.

"Hi, Koga. You're in the tournament, too?" Kagome asked, her face screaming, "Go away!" But Jade knew she didn't have the ability to be completely rude to Koga...yet.

"Yeah! Did you come here to support me?" he asked, his blue eyes almost shining.

"Um, no. I came here to support Jade." Kagome answered, pulling the bottom of her shirt out to show Koga what it said.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a loud chorus erupted. Jade looked over and saw Ginta, Hakkaku, and several members of other teams all huddled to the side, pointing and laughing at the plate of denial served to Koga. Koga turned to them, his tan face showing a deep red blush.

"You guys can shut the fuck up!" Koga bellowed heatedly, his hands balled into tight fists.

"Hey, hey, I'll cheer for you, too! It's alright!" Kagome interjected, but she was barely able to hold back her laughter, so she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Come on, the pools are about to start. Let's all get ready now." Jade said loudly, waving her hands slowly. A few more comments were spat, but the crowd dispersed and Koga stomped away to save his pride.

"That," Kagome paused and sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead. "Did not go the way I hoped."

"To be honest, he was quick to assume," Sango said, sneakily pointing in the direction Koga stormed off in.

"I know, but I didn't want to embarrass him like that in front of everyone. People are mean."

"Nah, that's normal around here. Don't feel bad." Jade assured Kagome.

"I don't think that makes me feel any better."

"Koga has roasted his fair share of friends,"

"His ego is too big to deflate that easily." Sango said, her voice filled with slight irritation.

"Damn. You'd fit right in here." Jade told her in a low voice. Sango's hands rested on her hips proudly.

"I was raised by my dad and his friends alongside my brother. I can be hyper-masculine if I want to be." Sango responded strongly, her lips stretched into a sly smirk.

"Okay, okay, I'm not arguing," Jade relented, waving her hands submissively.

"So, what's going on? How does this all work?" Kagome asked curiously as she slowly looked around the room.

"Well, have you ever paid attention to sports brackets?"

"Yeah," Sango answered. Kagome's expression morphed from curious to worried.

"No." she said in a small voice. Jade shook her hands again.

"Don't be ashamed. I'm sure Sango will explain it while I'm playing."

"Hey, I think they're showing who you're facing on the projector," Sango interjected quickly, pointing towards the wall behind them. Jade whipped around and searched for her nickname.

'Please don't be Wicked, please don't be Wicked, please don't be Wicked,' Jade worried. She finally found her nickname and sighed with relief when she didn't see WickedXWind sharing her bracket. Instead, she was facing someone named, "ShiftyDrifter."

"Thank Nara...Satan. I think I can at least make it through the first set of pools." Jade said aloud, hoping Sango and Kagome didn't hear her slip. She had been in the habit of equating Naraku to Satan in her mind ironically and now it was slipping into her speech unironically.

"What? Is there someone here you can't beat?" Kagome asked, looking around.

"Uh, there's about ten that I definitely can't beat. " Jade retorted with a snort.

"Really?" Sango quizzed, her tone revealing her skepticism. Jade nodded.

"Yep. I mean, I've been to tournaments before, but some of these guys? They're professional. I've played against a few of them online and got rocked. Hopefully, they knock each other out." Jade explained, turning back to the projector and checking the countdown.

"Well, I think you can beat them all." Sango said.

"I don't."

"Not with that attitude."

"Yeah, Jade! You play a lot; have some faith in yourself!" Kagome chimed in, holding up her fist. Jade leaned back and blinked.

"Are you threatening me?" Jade asked jokingly, staring at Kagome's raised fist.

"No, but would that work better?"

"Nope."

Jade shook her opponent's hand before sitting down at her assigned monitor. She plugged her arcade stick into the console, helping ShiftyDrifter do the same. They found their way to the fight screen after setting the matches for best two of three. Once Jade placed her headset on, her nerves melted away.

'This is my game. Mine, mine, mine.' she chanted in her head. She chose Sabrewulf and wondered if she wanted to slap his mad scientist costume on. She decided not to and went with his Doberman color scheme. Jade noticed her opponent chose Glacius, the alien who could manipulate ice and keep her wolf at bay. If Shifty was any good with him, she was in trouble.

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The high-pitched buzzing of the tattoo gun filled Naraku's ears and the stinging sensation on his back made his skin tingle. He exhaled slowly, a small smile pulling on his lips. He felt so relaxed that he even closed his eyes. When the buzzing stopped, he opened his eyes.

"Yes?" Naraku asked expectantly.

"It seems to be taking the ink better this time around," the tattoo artist, Joel, said. He wiped away the blood and cleared his throat.

"That doesn't mean it will retain the ink." Naraku said back.

"No. That's how it is with scars sometimes, dude. But it doesn't look bad."

"I want it to look perfect."

"I get that, but it's just not gonna happen."

"Hm," Naraku huffed, closing his eyes when the gun began buzzing again. He didn't wish to talk about it anymore.

'It cannot be changed, so let it go.' Naraku scolded himself when he felt the familiar uprising of discontent in his chest. His body was beautiful, but it could not be perfect because of the scar. It drove him crazier than he cared to admit, even to himself.

Naraku paid for his session and left Joel a tip. It looked even better this time around, but he and Joel knew it was only a matter of time before it would need a touch-up again. Until then, Naraku would be mildly content with his body. He decided to drive to the lab and weigh out his thesis samples.

Naraku dropped his keys on his desk, placing his box of samples beside them gently. He opened the box and counted the amount of bags again for the umpteenth time to quiet that anxious voice inside his head telling him to make sure he had everything. The fingers on his right hand pressed against his pocket, feeling the small bulge from the gem inside his pocket.

"Hm?" Naraku saw a blue sticky note sitting on his desk's surface and peeled it off.

'I won't be in Saturday or Sunday and I'll be ready to discuss the first three articles on Monday. - Jade'

Naraku crumpled the note with his hand and dropped it in the trash can beside his desk. He didn't mind Jade taking the weekend off, but her note did remind him that he had yet to receive her cell phone number. He hadn't exactly asked for it and he knew better than to assume she would willingly give it to him on her own accord. Naraku's sight shifted back to his samples. Her number was a problem for another day.

Once he had a stool set up in front of the analytical balance, Naraku turned to his laptop and activated his playlist. He usually preferred silence, but even he couldn't stand the silence of the empty laboratory. It almost hurt his ears. Naraku opened his first sample bag, placing a little plastic boat on the balance, closing the door and zeroing out the boat's weight. He dipped a small, thin metal spoon into his sediment sample, and opened the balance's door again. With a slight flick, he dropped bits of grain into the boat, stopping when it measured to a tenth of a gram perfectly. He recorded the information on the Excel spreadsheet he had prepared on his laptop and gently poured the weighed sample into a centrifuge tube. Naraku wiped off the spoon and boat and did it all again with the second sample, and the third, and fourth, and so on. It was tedious work and it seemed to greatly irritate everyone but Naraku.

Two hundred samples weighed out in less than two hours. It wasn't his best record, but it didn't matter. Or maybe it did? He crossed his arms and exhaled slowly.

'Should I weigh out the samples for my next process ahead of time or no?' he wondered. Either way, he had to wait until Wednesday before he could officially begin. Wednesday was chemical delivery day and they were currently missing several chemicals he needed to dissolve and extract the materials he was going to study from his samples. The door rattled before opening and Naraku looked over, feeling the elated rise of excitement in his chest.

"Hello, Sesshomaru," Naraku called out. The white-haired man began rummaging through his desk, glancing up briefly before returning to his search.

"I would prefer you to pretend that I don't exist." Sesshomaru answered coolly.

"Come now, Sessh, don't be rude,"

"Don't call me that." Sesshomaru threatened, his calm voice gaining a hard edge to it. Naraku smirked, holding himself up on the table with his hands.

"Oh, that's right. Only your mother can call you that." Naraku pressed a hand to his chest and lightened his expression. Sesshomaru slammed his desk drawer shut and straightened his posture. He was angry, but his face didn't show it...yet.

"Do you want me to kill you? All you have to do is ask. There's no need to bring my mother into this."

"Me being inside your mother is what started thi-" Naraku ducked when Sesshomaru hurled the cup of pens and pencils from his desk at him. The cup and utensils scattered all over the floor and counter behind Naraku, who popped back up like a demented Whack-A-Mole machine.

"Shut. Up." Sesshomaru bit out when he saw Naraku's mouth open. Naraku shot him a sympathetic look instead. Sesshomaru marched over to Naraku, who placed his hands on his hips and even stuck his chin out slightly, as if to say, "Take your best shot." Sesshomaru debated it. Heavily.

"I'm still taller than you." Naraku said in a low voice. Sesshomaru answered that with a vicious headbutt, throwing his body into it. Naraku fell back holding his nose, but he kept his footing. Sesshomaru rubbed his forehead as he stepped back.

"You're not tall enough to avoid that." Sesshomaru retorted. While pinching his nose, Naraku grinned, his teeth colored red from his cut lip.

"Sassy. I wondered when we would return to where we left off." Naraku exhaled, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his gray shirt.

"Return? We never left that point." Sesshomaru said, turning around and walking back over to his desk. He reopened the drawer and began searching again. When he found a flashdrive, he slipped it into his pocket and closed the drawer. As he opened the door, he turned back to Naraku. "If you ever mention my mother in my presence again, I'll make sure no one can identify your body."

"Don't threaten me with a good time, Sessh." Naraku called back, chuckling when the door slammed shut. He wiped his nose again and decided to call it a day. He didn't want to possibly contaminate his samples.

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"Alright, alright, alright! We have our Top Eight, which is displayed on the projector!" Ginta said into the microphone. "Those of you who made it to Top Eight, we start in thirty minutes with or without you. You've all been to tournaments, so you know how that works."

"Gayyyyyyyyyyyyy!" someone squealed, causing the room to start laughing and echoing the call. Ginta tried not to laugh and smiled instead.

"I'm glad you're all comfortable enough to come out of the closet with each other." Ginta said into the microphone, eliciting another, louder wave of laughs and calls of, "Gay," from the players.

"Everyone in here is twelve years old." Sango commented sarcastically. Jade snickered in agreement. She looked around, spun, then looked back at Sango.

"Where's Kagome?" Jade asked her.

"She went to grab food for us. We didn't know there would be a break."

"Me either."

"If we could all just calm down for a moment, there is another announcement for me to make. It's about the prize money for the Top Three," Ginta stated. That was enough for the crowd to go deathly silent. "Since this is an event hosted by The Pack, and since the prize money was raised by The Pack, no Pack members can receive the prize money if they place first, second, or third. If they happen to place in one of those spots, the money awarded to that spot will trickle down to the next person who isn't a member."

"Oh? That sucks for you, doesn't it?" Sango asked Jade, elbowing her gently.

"I already knew. I'm in charge of our finances."

"Our? You guys have enough money to need an accountant?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that. We donate a lot of it to charities or to events like this. If someone wants to be a Pack member and they pass whatever tests and if they need equipment, we send that equipment to them."

"That's really neat, actually." Sango's expression lightened from skeptic to impressed. "I assumed you guys just spent it on weed."

"Haha, nah. That's our own money we fork out for that."

"What's in this tournament for you if it isn't money?" Sango continued. Jade blinked, holding back any expressions. Sango's interrogations nearly reminded Jade of Naraku's poking and prodding.

"The Top Eight are guaranteed a spot in pools for any of the Regionals."

"You're going to throw it now, aren't you?"

"What?" Jade felt her heart drop into her stomach. Of course she was going to throw it. There was no reason for her not to at this point, but she couldn't say it out loud, especially with other Pack members walking around. Sango gasped dramatically, completely taken aback by her own prediction being true.

"Jade!" Sango hissed, almost as if it was a curse. "You are? Come on! Own this tournament for your team!"

"There's no reason to." Jade said back in a lower voice, trying not to draw attention to their conversation.

"Bragging rights? Showing them that a woman is just as good as them? I can think of plenty of reasons!"

"I'm in Top Eight. They know I'm good enough. I got what I wanted anyway, so, yeah,"

"Oh, I get it now. It's part of your strategy. You don't want everyone to know how capable you are."

"Don't tell everyone!" Jade insisted, holding her finger in front of her mouth to hush her friend.

"I won't, I won't! I don't agree with it, but I get it." Sango said reassuringly. Jade shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"I want to get to the World Cup, but I can't really just claw my way to it. I have to choose my battles."

"I can't believe you're the only woman in this tournament. Are you the only woman who plays?"

"It's a small tournament. There are more chicks at the bigger tournaments and online."

"I'm half-tempted to learn how to play so I can win these stupid things since you don't want to." Sango huffed as she crossed her arms. Jade giggled and held her arcade stick up with both hands.

"I can teach you."

"Good. I want to play as the hot chick with the big boobs who turns into that fiery-tiger thing."

"That's Orchid. She's pretty good, actually."

"Jade, don't throw this next match," Sango whined after a moment of silence. Jade exhaled slowly, looking up at the ceiling exasperatingly.

"I'm not placing lower than Koga. Give me some credit." Jade grumbled.

"Hahaha, you're damn right you're not! Show him a real alpha!"

"Who's an alpha?" a voice chirped, causing Sango to jump and Jade to grimace. She turned around and twisted her grimace into a smile. It was WickedXWind. He towered over both women, an eyebrow arched.

"Hey, Wicked. Congrats!" Jade said with a wave.

"I thought we were on a first-name basis?" he asked.

"Eh." Jade shrugged. She never agreed when he last declared that they should be.

"So, what's this talk about an alpha? You wouldn't be talking mad shit about Koga, now would you?" Wicked asked with a grin. Jade could almost hear Sango swoon behind her. WickedXWind didn't look like the stereotypical gamer nerd. He was tall with a smooth, tan face clean of any blemishes, straight white teeth, and blue eyes that seemed to light up the room. Even Jade couldn't deny how attractive he was, but just like with Naraku, Wicked would open his mouth and immediately shut-down any base thoughts she would have about him.

"Talking mad shit about Koga is my day job. And my night job." Jade retorted evenly.

"Heh, then I'll be sure to send him your way to Losers."

"Please do."

"Still rockin' Sabrewulf, too? You've perfected him. You need to move on to a different character." Wicked suggested, but his tone sounded more like an order. Jade looked away for a brief second, contemplating her life choices that brought her to this moment.

"How do you know if I haven't been using someone else?" Jade asked cleverly, examining her fingernails.

'I already have a second character, bruh.' Jade wanted to scream, but she swallowed the words.

"I watch your streams, Jade. You always use 'Wulf."

"Ah, fair enough. Maybe I'll pick up Fuglore." Jade replied with a deep, goofy accent.

"Fulgore." Wicked corrected her.

"Fuglore." Jade insisted. Wicked laughed and ran a hand through his short brown hair.

"Call him what you want. He beats and eats high wolves for breakfast." he stated haughtily. Jade gasped dramatically.

"He's going to beat me off and eat me out? That's awesome."

"Fiiiiiiiiine. Don't have a serious conversation with me."

"As you wish." Jade said, saluting him quickly. Wicked shook his head, but he told Jade good luck and walked away peacefully.

"Um, so, who is he?" Sango asked slowly. Jade could tell by her tone alone what she was implying.

"Just a guy who's better at KI than I am."

"He seemed really focused on you and what you do."

"He likes to think he gives good advice, but he comes off as arrogant. He's part of Gamers Anonymous, which is a rival community, so they study our stuff and invite us to play against them and vice-versa. That's why he knows about me." Jade explained.

"Oh. So, the different teams are just rivals, not necessarily enemies?"

"Right. Obviously, some individuals on one team hate individuals on another, but there hasn't been an actual boycott or mudslinging from one team to another. It's looked down upon. At least in the fighting game communities. I can't say about the others."

"I see. I had no idea this was all so complex. It's almost exactly like a sport." Sango said with a smile. Her competitive nature made this seem even more alluring. A week ago, she couldn't care less about video games and now, she actually wanted to take Jade up on learning how to play.

"Jade! Did you win?" Kagome called out. She walked up, holding a styrofoam tray with cups sitting in it. Hanging off her wrists were plastic bags holding the different orders of grub that Sango had requested.

"Yeah." Jade said, flinching when Kagome gasped and jogged in place.

"Whoa, let's take this first," Sango insisted, taking the tray of cups from Kagome.

"So you made it to the Top Eight? Sweet! High five!" Kagome held her hand up and Jade gently tapped her palm against Kagome's.

"I'm in Losers, though." Jade informed her, reaching for one of the plastic bags.

"Yeah, she's going to throw the tournament now." Sango said begrudgingly, ignoring Jade's groan of protest and shushing.

"What? Why? No, you need to win!" Kagome ordered.

"Nah." Jade replied blandly, motioning with her hand to lower their voices.

"Don't waste your breath, Kagome. I already tried."

"Well, I'm sure she has a good reason," Kagome chirped, looking at Jade with a smile. Jade nodded reassuringly.

The break was over, food was eaten, and the matches were now being held up on stage. They were projected onto the wall so the audience could watch and streamed live for those who could not make it or simply wanted to watch from home. It was now easier for the audience to hear the game's sounds and music, both of which Sango seemed impressed by. The crowd had grown a bit as the day droned on. Curious people who were shopping or simply hanging out at the mall would stop in to watch or ask questions about the tournament or The Pack.

'How did Koga make it this far?' Jade wondered with annoyance. She had promised herself, and Sango, that she would throw the tournament once she passed Koga, but he must have hacked the Matrix, because he had blasted through Winners and every person he defeated, Jade also had to defeat to stay in the tournament, and they weren't in Top Eight for nothing. She almost lost her last set and she was actually trying that time. Now Koga was fighting WickedXWind and was even giving him a hard time!

"I didn't know Koga was this good," Kagome said aloud.

"He usually isn't. He's not bad, but something must have clicked with him today." Jade replied, her eyes never leaving the game.

"He's probably revenge-killing everyone who laughed at him earlier." Sango said with a snort.

"Fuuuuuuuuck me! He won that?" Jade exclaimed, her voice barely audible over the crowd erupting into a mix of howls and boos.

"There's just one match left, right?" Sango asked.

"Yeah." Jade sighed, crossing her arms. Wicked and Koga had each won two matches and since it was Top Eight, the sets were now to win three out of five. Koga had the winner's momentum, though. Both players had jumped into their final match without a small break or without consulting a, "coach," they had chosen before the match. Wicked was already down half a health bar, Koga's brown werewolf assaulting his black metal cyborg viciously.

"Break it!" Jade hissed, celebrating silently when the cyborg's plasma blades intercepted Koga's combo. Koga tried to break Wicked's combo, but missed the timing and was locked out, allowing Wicked to even out the health bars.

"You want Koga to lose?" Kagome asked Jade, tapping her on the arm.

"I usually play better than him. It's the natural order." Jade explained calmly.

"Ooookay," Kagome replied, glancing at Sango, who shrugged and shook her head. Jade ignored them. Sango and Kagome believed in supporting friends and teammates, and to a point, Jade agreed. They just didn't know Koga like she did.

"Hell yeah!" Jade shouted when Wicked countered Koga and finished his last bit of health. Koga cursed and shook his head, but he shook Wicked's hand and wished him luck anyway. Koga then turned and saw Jade, waving at her tauntingly. Jade handed her backpack to Sango, tucking her arcade stick under her arm before approaching the stage.

"Good luck, Jade!" Kagome called out.

"Give him Hell!" Sango added. Both women looked around when the crowd began erupting in howls. Some were serious, but others were sarcastic and drawn out.

"Thaaaaaaat's right! Who's the Alpha?" Koga laughed, flexing his arms in various positions.

"You suck!" a deep-voiced player shouted.

"So does your mom!" Koga yelled back, ignoring any further taunts from the crowd. He turned to Jade, who had already plugged in her arcade stick.

"I want a button check." Jade said plainly, pointing to her monitor.

"Sure." Koga agreed, stepping closer to Jade. "Hey, is there a chance you could, I don't know, let me win so I can have a salty runback with Wicked?"

"Give me a raise."

"I can't."

"Well, sucks to suck."

"Come on, Jade. Could you at least make it look close?"

"Mmm," Jade decided not to answer, taking her seat in front of her monitor. Koga sighed heavily and sat in front of his monitor, returning the game back to the character selection screen. They both chose Sabrewulf, Koga sticking with the default blue fur and Jade choosing her favorite Doberman fur. Koga chose the stage and theme music and when the game began, his werewolf lurched forward.

"Hey, asshole! I asked for a button check!" Jade said loudly, breaking his combo and blocking his next attempt. When the crowd heard her outburst, they began booing loudly and shouting various insults.

"I know! I was checking my buttons first! You can check yours now!" Koga replied, his tone reflecting his usual argumentative nature. Jade sat back in her chair and exhaled, tapping each button to make sure it did what she wanted when she wanted. She also made sure not to strike Koga's werewolf out of respect.

"Ready." Jade announced, holding her thumb up after pulling the headset over her ears. Koga nodded and reset the match. When Jade heard the announcer yell, "Fight!" she made her werewolf charge forward and dive under Koga's werewolf, crossing him up and starting a combo, only to dive back to the other side and finish it. She slammed Koga's werewolf into the wall, causing him to bounce back and open him up helplessly for a second combo.

'Come on, asshole! Hit me!' Jade's fingers hovered over the buttons. Koga's werewolf swung; one, two, three! On the third, Jade activated her shadow counter and charged back at him. When she heard the break attempt being counted off, she threw in a counter and Koga fell for it. Jade used one shadow meter to deplete his first life bar and made her werewolf crouch over Koga's unconscious werewolf's body. She grinned when she heard the crowd sing, "OOOOOOOOOH!"

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Naraku inhaled deeply and slowly, trying to refrain from pushing the towel-wrapped ice pack too harshly on his lips and nose. The pain didn't bother him, but the bruising did. He held his phone up and turned on the front-facing camera, examining his nose and lips closely. His nose looked fine, but his lips were swollen.

"Worth it." he chuckled, placing his phone on the couch beside him. He puckered his lips slightly, pressing them into the ice pack once more, and his gaze locked with the purple gem sitting on the page of an opened Mineralogy textbook. There were countless minerals on the planet. It had to be one of them.

'Or, perhaps it is something else. A newly discovered mineral, tougher than diamond, more refractive than dolomite, and more vivid than fluorite,' It sounded ridiculous in his head, but what else could it possibly be? It was resistant to gravity, weight, friction, fire, water, and even the strongest acids in the Chemistry department did absolutely nothing to it.

'Where did it come from? Around my sample site, I assume.' Naraku placed the ice pack down and picked up his phone. He found his list of email contacts and found the main account of the people who sent his samples. Naraku typed an email asking about where exactly sample, "two-hundred one," was found in his study area. He had plenty of maps and pictures of his area, but until he knew more from these people, he only had two-hundred samples as far as he was concerned.

"Hm," Naraku decided he was hungry for pizza. He hadn't seen Jade for a few days, so it was time to pick on her again. He found the number and hit the call button.

"Pizza Bar, how can I help you?" a young girl asked with a sigh. She sounded annoyed.

"This will be for delivery and I want Jade to deliver it." Naraku said.

"Jade's off tonight."

"Really?" Naraku didn't mean to sound so surprised, but since when did Jade take a day off from making money entirely?

"Yeah. I think it was a sick day or something?"

"Oh." Naraku frowned, cancelling the call abruptly.

'Is she sick? She didn't mention that in the note.' Naraku now wanted her phone number more than ever. She wasn't allowed to go days without hearing from him anymore. He pressed his hand to his stomach when he felt an unsettling discomfort, as if his stomach was boiling, and suddenly, his entire body felt warm.

"Did she get me sick, too?" he asked in a hushed, angered voice. He knew that wasn't it. Why would he suddenly feel symptoms after learning she was possibly sick? Was she actually sick?

'Why does it matter? I don't care.' Naraku stood up and closed the textbooks on his table, pocketing the gem. Naraku gathered his books and carried them back to his office, sliding them back into place on his bookshelf. He opened his drawer to drop the gem into the box he specifically made for it.

Naraku bit into an apple, slowly chewing. He didn't acknowledge what he was doing until he felt the juice dribbling down his chin. He blinked before reaching up with his left hand to wipe the juice away. Naraku looked over where he heard the rattling and squeaking of the seemingly-famished guinea pig.

"You're hungry. Right." Naraku stood from the couch and walked into the kitchen, cutting a chunk from the apple. He fed the guinea pig and sat back down on his couch, exhaling loudly. He switched the apple to his left hand, reaching into his pocket with his right hand to grab his phone.

Instead, he grabbed the gem.

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Jade sat back in her chair, listening as the beats of the music synchronised with her werewolf's winning combo. She forced herself not to smile. As much as she wanted to beat Koga, he was her teammate and her leader, so she owed him some semblance of respect despite the beatdown she dropped on him.

"Man, did you really have to go that hard?" Koga asked when he approached Jade.

"You just flew through most of Winners and you wanted me to go easy on you?" Jade asked back skeptically. Koga thought for a moment before grinning and nodding.

"True, true! Take the title, then!"

"We'll see." Jade said back, waving to Kagome and Sango, who were both screaming and showing off their shirts to the players around them.

"Alriiiiiiight! We have your Top Three! In Grand Finals, guaranteed at least second place, if not first, is DiddleDis!" Ginta announced, turning away from the microphone to laugh, "Dude, please change your name. Anyway, battling for the second spot in Grand Finals will be WickedXWind and our very own WeedWolf!"

"I LOVE YOU, WEED!" a player screamed breathlessly, being echoed by several other players.

"I love weed, too." Jade retorted, waving in the general direction of her admirer. The room erupted in laughter and obnoxious howling, the playful boos of Wicked's teammates being drowned out entirely.

"Ready to lose?" Wicked asked Jade after leaning close to her ear. She instinctively rubbed her ear with her shoulder.

"Sure." Jade said, walking back to her seat.

Their first two matches went quickly and entirely in Wicked's favor, much to Jade's annoyance. His cyborg, Fulgore, had too many answers to Sabrewulf's entire moveset. The werewolf is diving at him? Teleport behind him and punish him. The werewolf is far away? Shoot laser beams and plasma blades to force him to block and keep him from getting too close. Is he jumping from above? Uppercut him. He's blocking? Hit him with an overhead.

'He's such bullshit.' Jade thought bitterly. Instead of immediately starting the next match, she decided to go back to character select to disrupt the enormous momentum Wicked built up. Her eyes locked on her second, secret character.

'Wicked would lose his shit if I showed him my Spinal,' Jade smiled, even chuckled at the image of Wicked's mouth dropping open if Jade selected the maniacal shield-and-sword-wielding skeleton. The crowd would scream, too, and they probably wouldn't stop until they passed out. Instead, Jade jumped to Sabrewulf, choosing the black fur this time. Wicked chose Fulgore's stage and Fulgore's theme, leaning over from his monitor to grin at Jade.

"Jaaaaaaaade! Kick his ass! I know you hear me!" Sango bellowed, almost leaping up onto the stage with Kagome hanging onto her. Jade glanced at her and shook her head. Did she not understand? WickedXWind was better than WeedWolf. On paper and in real life.

"Fight!" the announcer shouted for the third and final time. Jade blocked the first few hits and came back swinging, catching the cyborg during his back-dash animation. It must have been a mistake, but Jade punished him all the same. Sabrewulf swept a clawed hand and knocked the cyborg to the ground. When he stood up, Sabrewulf grabbed his leg with his fangs, swinging him overhead and slamming him on the ground back into the corner. He stood up and activated a counter and Jade silently cursed when she hit it, allowing him to answer back with a strong combo. Jade tried to break it, but guessed wrong, like she had every time before, and he took her first health bar.

'He doesn't have a huge lead. Be patient.' Jade waited for the announcer to growl, "Ready," and the match continued into the second round. Jade blocked the onslaught of Wicked's next combo. When Jade saw her special attack meters were both full, she launched a counter, knowing he would fall for it. She answered his previous counter with her own and brought the match back to equal footing. She and Wicked traded blows. They seemed evenly matched this time around. Jade was putting her energy into predicting his mistakes rather than his moves altogether and it was working.

'He's actually going to hype-beam me.' she realized. He had activated his Instinct mode, giving him full power. Jade's health was low enough that it would finish her with one final, epic blow. But even then, it was a risky, cocky move. Jade also had her Instinct and her meters were full. She just had to touch him once and she could take the match! Jade started dashing back and forth, hoping he would take the bait.

And he did! The match froze and zoomed up on the cyborg as his chest plates flexed open to fire the charged laser. Jade tapped the input for her projective-invincible move so furiously, she thought the buttons would shatter. The match froze again and zoomed in on Sabrewulf. Surrounded by his shadow energy, he eluded the large and loud laser cannon, jumping and slamming into the cyborg. Jade activated her Instinct to end her combo safely and spent her second meter to open him for an Ultra Combo.

"Yes!" Jade hissed quietly, leaning back in her seat with her eyes closed as she listened to the pounding beats of Fulgore's song synced with her Sabrewulf's rabid strikes. The crowd was screaming, waving their hands, high-fiving one another, pointing at her and Wicked.

Wicked had backed out to the character select screen this time. Jade giggled, but kept any smart-ass comments to herself. She watched as he pointed at one of his red-shirted teammates. They ran up on stage and knelt beside him, pointing his mistakes out to him. Jade turned and pointed at Koga, who vaulted up and jogged to her side.

"That was cool, but it was close," Koga breathed, barely able to contain his excitement.

"Yeah, I know. What I don't know is what to do. I got lucky." Jade said back.

"Shadow Jumping Slash is your answer to most of his bullshit. His lasers, his plasma shots, his hype beam...all projectiles and it goes right through them."

"But if I do that, he'll just teleport behind me and punish me."

"You always play different when you play him. Why?" Koga asked, glancing at the clock on the screen to make sure he still had time.

"I don't?" Jade answered back questioningly.

"Yeah you do! When you play me, Bulletz, Diddle, anyone else, you bait us into doing dumb shit so you can punish us." Koga sighed heavily. "Look at what you did with the beam. You baited him. Don't assault him; annoy him."

"Alright, the clock's almost out."

"Fuck 'em up!" Koga cheered, sprinting off the stage and leaping back into the crowd. Jade chose her black Sabrewulf once more and waited for Wicked's teammate to run off stage before continuing to the stage select. She hit random again and waited for the game to load.

"Annoy him, annoy him, annoy him," Jade whispered under her breath, her fingers tapping her buttons quickly and lightly. The match started and Jade made Sabrewulf dash back and forth, over and over. Then, she dashed back twice, Fulgore's blade charge missing and allowing her to land a short combo. Once she had the health lead, Jade pulled back, her werewolf squatting and waiting patiently. Wicked could only shoot lasers, which did almost no damage when she blocked and would not help him win before the match timed out. Since he hadn't been able to land any hits, he could not build his energy. His cyborg was semi-helpless.

"Really?" she heard Wicked cry out with annoyance. Jade's smile widened. When Wicked teleported, she backed away again. When he shot lasers, she blocked. Both characters remained stationary for a moment before Fulgore raised his arm, his blade shooting upward to flip her off. Jade tapped her taunt button in return, Sabrewulf howling to the sky powerfully. Wicked taunted her again and she taunted right back. He teleported in front of her and Jade dove low, hitting the cyborg and landing another short combo. She taunted again. Wicked hit his taunt button, too, and Jade launched Sabrewulf forward, slaughtering the cyborg mid-taunt and going for big damage. Wicked tried to break, but he missed the timing due to being thrown off by Jade's sudden attack.

"I learned that one from Koga!" Jade stated. Wicked charged at her after he resurrected from losing his first health bar. This time, she jumped and dove behind him. Usually, he would have uppercut her, but he was blind with salt now.

"Come on, Jade!" Wicked shouted. The crowd responded with mixed comments; some players found it hilarious and smart and others found it to be cheap and dishonest. Jade knew her tactics were disrespectful, but they were not illegal. Killer Instinct was as much of a mind game as it was a fighting game. WickedXWind had been in her head for far too long and now she was prying her way into his. Jade backed him into the right corner and swept at his feet. Wicked blocked low. Jade swiped again and again, repeating the strikes in a purposely slow, mocking manner, forcing him to either block or risk a counter.

'Counter it. You know you want to.' Jade grit her teeth, feeling her giggles bubbling in her chest. She stopped swiping and Wicked threw out a frustrated counter, opening him for another round of punishments.

"Goddamn it!" Wicked groaned, missing another break opportunity as Jade's combo added a stronger chain. He was almost dead! Jade began jumping and swiping, acting like she wanted to finish the match quickly. Wicked predicted an additional jump, launching an uppercut, but the jump never happened. Sabrewulf waited patiently for Fulgore to land helplessly. His feet hit the ground and the claws struck his metal. Wicked tried one last time to break, but he guessed wrong, and the match ended in Jade's favor.

'I think I've proven my point,' Jade told herself, catching a glimpse of Wicked's reddened face as the raucous howling drowned out his team's chants. Jade chose the default blue fur color and waited patiently for Wicked to calm down and continue. He was actually worried he would lose to WeedWolf, a player he normally dominated.

Jade made the fifth and final match of their set convincing, but she purposely threw a counter knowing he wouldn't fall for it. When Wicked won the match, he jumped up and screamed, his teammates running up to congratulate him for making it to Grand Finals. Jade quietly unplugged her arcade stick and wrapped the cord around its body.

"Hey," Wicked called out. Jade turned to him. "Good games. You really fucked with me there for a bit."

"I had to have my fun." Jade replied, holding her hand out to him. Wicked blinked, his blue eyes widening.

"Did you,"

"Good luck against Diddle. He's no joke." Jade interrupted, holding her hand higher. Wicked grabbed it gently and remained quiet through their handshake. Jade walked towards the edge of the stage and lept down, feeling the countless hands of her fans and teammates patting her arms, shoulders, back, and head.

"That was awesome! You almost brought it back!" Kagome shrieked.

"She did bring it back. She just didn't want to show off anymore." Sango corrected. Jade shushed her.

"Wait, what?" Koga asked, pushing himself between Hakkaku and another player.

"What?" Jade repeated, side-glancing at Sango, hoping she got the message.

"No, what did she just say? You didn't want to show off anymore?" Koga pressed on. He was pointing at Sango, but his intense gaze was upon Jade.

"It was a joke." Sango insisted quickly. Jade nodded, jerking her thumb in Sango's direction.

"It ain't funny." Koga stated angrily as he crossed his arms. He was still watching Jade, who was staring back, completely unaffected.

"Who made you the joke judge? I'll make whatever jokes I want about Jade." Sango argued, now stepping between the two and cutting off their eye contact. Koga frowned before pointing at her once more.

"I've known Jade way longer than you. She's under me when we are at these tournaments, so her reputation is my reputation."

"Well, last I checked," Sango began, snatching Koga's hand with hers and bending his finger back with her thumb. Koga gasped, twisting his body with the direction Sango was bending his hand. "Jade not only beat you, but she completely shut you out. It wasn't even close. I would say her reputation is just fine."

"Hey, let's all calm down," Kagome urged. Sango looked at her before sighing and relinquishing Koga's hand reluctantly.

"I am completely calm. I'm just not going to let him talk about Jade like that nor am I going to let him point at me and tell me what to do. I'm not one of his lackeys." Sango responded evenly. Koga massaged his hand gently, glancing at Jade.

"If I find out you threw this competition, you're in deep shit, Jade." Koga warned before marching off. Kagome and Sango looked at Jade, who was slipping her arcade stick into her backpack.

"Jade, what's he going to do?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"Probably cry in the bathroom, watch the video and game footage, jack-off about how cool he is...the usual." Jade responded.

"Want me to show him a real alpha?" Sango asked, slamming her fist into her palm.

"Nah."

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Stifling a yawn with one hand, Jade tapped a key with her other to wake her computer. It was pushing past midnight and she had just returned home from assisting her teammates with cleaning the arcade room they rented for the tournament. As usual, Koga was nowhere to be found when there was cleaning to be done, but he hadn't answered his phone, either. Ginta, Hakkaku, and a few of the other Pack members she barely knew, were strangely quiet, too. They usually bitched about Koga not helping, but when she brought it up, they just nodded and resigned to accepting it.

"Hey, do you want to celebrate tomorrow?" Sango asked, knocking lightly on Jade's opened door. Jade sat up straight in her chair to look over her monitor at her friend.

"Celebrate what?"

"Um, your placement in the tournament? Third place is a big deal, isn't it?"

"Not really. I mean, I'm down with having an excuse to drink," Jade replied with a tired smile.

"Oh, I had another question," Sango stated in a quieter voice. "Did your financial aid drop yet?"

"I don't think so. I was about to check my accounts anyway. Give me a few seconds." Jade said, typing away on her keyboard. She logged onto her bank and student account, examining them side by side in separate windows. Her bank account was the same as a few days ago, but there was an alert on her student account. She clicked on the exclamation mark and leaned forward to read the smaller font.

"I don't mean to pry, but Kagome and I were getting worried since classes start in two weeks and we'll need to buy books."

"You're not prying." Jade yawned loudly. "It says here that my aid should drop into my account by Friday."

"Yeah, I just checked my account and it didn't say anything. Neither did Kagome's." Sango insisted.

"Well, that's not necessarily bad. Usually it's bad if there's a red 'X' hovering over your student status. If there's nothing, it means it hasn't been processed."

"That's true. Maybe it'll process Monday."

"Yep. Plus, you guys have some aid offered from Japan, right? It usually takes longer for international funds to process." Jade logged out of her student account and her bank account. She typed in The Pack's bank information and hit log-on. The page refreshed and alerted her in red font that stated the password didn't match.

"So, you want to celebrate tomorrow? Is that what I'm interpreting?" Sango asked. Jade frowned. She had typed the password slowly the second time, but the website told her it was wrong again.

"Uh, sure, I guess."

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I was going to make sure that the transactions for the players who won money today went through, but," Jade cut off, her brain putting two and two together. Her fellow Pack members were quiet because they were scared of tipping her off! Koga wasn't around or answering texts because he didn't want a confrontation with her!

"What is it? Did someone give the wrong amount?"

"That fucking prick kicked me off the account!" Jade shouted, standing up from her desk as her tired body revived itself with pure rage. Her face almost felt like it was on fire now.

"Koga did?" Sango's mouth dropped open. She turned away for a moment before looking back at Jade, both of her fists raised. "I knew I should have broken every bone in his hand when I had the chance!"

"Broken bones are going to be the least of his fucking problems when I'm done with him." Jade bit, dialing his number as she stormed past Sango. Kagome had heard the outbursts and was walking down the hall to check on them, but she pressed her back against the wall to let Jade pass instead.

"What's going on?" Kagome asked. Jade slid open the glass door to their patio, slamming it shut behind her. Koga's voicemail greeted her modestly and it only made the fire in her belly wilder. She re-dialed and gripped the rail with her left hand. Again, Koga's voicemail answered instead.

"We agreed that we would never kick each other off the community account. Also, you had no problem asking me to throw the tournament when I faced you, so how would me throwing it if I wanted to be any different? If you want The Pack to win a tournament, maybe you should spend less time jockin' all over my roommate and spend more time getting good! I'm a better player than you and I always will be!" Jade ended the call and almost threw her phone to exert some of the angry energy, but she gripped it powerfully after reminding herself that she needed it. Jade unlocked her phone again. That wasn't enough. She found Ginta's number and called, forcing her jaw to open so she wouldn't chip her teeth.

"Hey, what's up?" Ginta chirped.

"Did you know?" Jade asked, her tone quick and sharp as a knife.

"Um, know what?"

"Don't," Jade began, inhaling through her nose deeply. "Don't fuck with me. Did you know what Koga was going to do?"

"I, look, Jade, I didn't think he was serious,"

"And you didn't think to tell me he said he would?"

"No! Because I didn't think he would!"

"He did."

"I guessed that when I heard your tone." Ginta exhaled loudly. "He said he suspected that you threw the tournament, which is against Pack rules and against official tournament rules, so he's investigating it."

"No, throwing the tournament to allow another player to win so they can split the money with you is illegal." Jade responded slowly, her fingers rubbing her forehead steadily.

"I don't disagree with you,"

"But you don't agree."

"The Pack has rules and you allegedly violated one of our big ones."

"I assume Koga forgot to mention the part where he asked me to throw my sets with him so he could go get his ass kicked by Wicked again?"

"You assume correctly. He did not mention that." Ginta said. Jade closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

"Who else is investigating?" she continued.

"Just Koga right now."

"No, another one of our rules is that if we suspect a member of shady shit, the investigation needs to be done by the other branch leaders who were not present."

"What do you want me to do? To say?" Ginta snapped. Jade frowned, her mouth hanging open. She couldn't think of another moment in her life where she wanted to spit acid into someone's face so badly.

"I thought we were friends,"

"We are! But I'm Koga's friend, too, and I'm a Pack member, and I'm one of the branch leaders! I can't favor one side or the other!"

"But you're not even trying to rally any kind of fairness on my behalf, Ginta!"

"Jade,"

"If the tables were turned, I would contacting the other leaders to look into it for you right now!"

"I know, I know! I'm just waiting for shit to cool down first! You know how wishy-washy Koga can be! He might realize how dumb and hypocritical this is and drop it!"

"No, not after the message I just left him," Jade said.

"Well, then, it'll still be easier to handle when you guys have cooled down. Right now, we need to celebrate hosting a successful tournament and,"

"Fuck you, dude." Jade interrupted before cancelling the call. She shook her head and cursed, sitting down in one of the plastic chairs and closing her eyes.

After Jade calmed down, she walked back inside where Kagome and Sango sat on the couch, waiting for her to explain, but Jade shook her head before either roommate could ask.

"I'm tired." Jade told them, walking down the hallway and back to her room. Her phone vibrated in her hand and she glanced at it, recognizing the email. It was an official work email titled, "New Schedules."

"Oh my God. oh my God, I'm going to kill him, I'm actually going to fucking kill him," Jade was so tired and so beyond angry that her tone was calm. It didn't know how to be any more infuriated, so it defaulted to her normal tone. Koga had changed the work schedules and stripped Jade of most of her shifts, leaving her only two a week. Koga had cited new availability schedules and, "some people afraid work would interfere with studying for classes," as his reasons for changing it so suddenly. Jade turned off her phone, her computer, and her lights, crawling under her covers and deciding to glare at her ceiling quietly instead of throwing a tantrum.

'I bet Naraku can suggest some solutions,' Jade thought, a smile finally appearing on her face and a quiet laugh squeezing from her throat.