On the Upswing
Jade carefully placed the lids over both boxes containing the newly-extracted phosphorus samples. She had injected PMA stain into each tube, capped them, and then placed them in boxes with lids to block out the light.
'If I followed Naraku's instructions correctly, they should turn blue.' Jade sighed. She lifted one box and grunted as she moved it to the safest corner of the room. She did the same with the second box and huffed, rubbing the left side of her chest and both arms. It had been over two weeks since the violent incident, but her muscles were healing great, despite the, "strange anomalies," that seemed to be aiding her injured muscles. Jade felt that, "strange anomalies," was a bit redundant, but her doctor said that it was appropriate because not only did they not know why tiny crystals were seemingly stitching the torn muscles together or how they formed in the first place, but they also seemed to be speeding up the healing process itself. The smaller tears were almost completely healed within two weeks instead of a month, and the larger tear along her left shoulder and pectoral muscle would probably be healed within the month instead of the original prediction of two to three months.
'No one has answers, not even the specialists.' Jade frowned. She knew she should be happy with her quick recovery, but she couldn't help but to feel that the crystals were a sign of something ominous. The lab door opened and pulled Jade from her thoughts.
"Oh, good! You're here." Bruce chirped, leaving the lab door open as he walked towards her. Jade noticed Bruce had been leaving the door open whenever he was with her anywhere lately. She understood why he did it, but she couldn't help but to feel distrusted.
"Yep." she finally said, sighing with a smile.
"What have you been up to?" he asked, pointing at the used beakers and pipette.
"I put PMA stain into the extractions. Now I'm waiting."
"Goddamn him. I told him not to involve you in this again." Bruce stated seriously, shaking his head.
"No, no, I wanted to! This was where I left off. I want to say I participated in at least one extraction all the way through." Jade insisted quickly, waving her hands. Bruce looked back at her and exhaled dramatically, but he nodded his head.
"Understandable." Bruce agreed. He held up a thick white binder filled with at least a thousand pages from what Jade could estimate. "Do you know where he is, by any chance?"
"He said he was going to go taunt the crazy people who are on campus today."
"The religious nuts who scream, "slut," and, "fag," at students?"
"Yep."
"Why doesn't that shock me?"
"Because he's Naraku."
"Indeed. Well, do you mind delivering this to him? It's important." Bruce asked, holding the binder out to her. Suddenly, he blinked and quickly pulled the binder against his chest. "I mean, can you? Are you able to-"
"I can walk." Jade interrupted teasingly. She held her hands out and Bruce gave her the binder gently.
"I have to be careful with you or else your aunt is going to hide under my bed and slit my throat for being a liar." Bruce told her with a laugh, but Jade heard the honesty in his tone.
"She's harmless. She just barks a lot." Jade told him as she walked past him to find her provocative mentor.
"Yeah, well, I'm not taking any chances." Bruce retorted as he followed her out, closing the door behind him.
She giggled at that response as she strode down the hallway. It felt so good to finally be able to walk at a normal pace. The only health issue still bothering her was her heart. Its progress was slower than the rest of her body and she hoped that it would eventually feel normal again. Jade spotted two women dressed professionally in light tan and gray suits, chatting among themselves. The woman in gray locked gazes with Jade, and the other woman in tan joined in. Jade nodded to them while biting her lips together nervously. Their paces quickened and both women quickly looked away. Jade turned to exit the east side of the building.
'Is there anyone in the building who hasn't heard what happened?' Jade wondered irritably. She took a deep breath and exhaled, repeating to herself that there was nothing she could do about it.
"Oh, sorry," Jade said when she almost ran into a girl. She saw the neon blues, pinks, greens, and oranges on her clothes and in her hair and realized it was Sara the Rainbow Girl.
"It's alright." Sara replied softly. "Hey, um, I do have a question,"
"I can try to answer it." Jade responded. Sara giggled back and looked down, opening her mouth to speak, but then she stopped and a worried look splashed across her face.
"I-I don't think I did well on that last lab. Do you know if I did or not?" Sara blurted out quickly.
"Uuuuh," Jade stalled, looking up as she wracked her brain. The last lab was when Naraku and one of the enraged students from the dudes' table decided to start Fight Club in the middle of class and when Naraku made everyone bring their reports to his desk. She had to leave because of the curfew. She met Naraku the next day in the library cafe to grade the labs and they finished up the following day. She remembered grading Kagome's lab because she always pulled it from the stack when Naraku wasn't paying attention. She graded two of the dudes' papers from her fan table. She graded the three nursing majors' papers. "I don't think I graded yours, so I don't know. Naraku might."
"I can ask him, then. Do you know where he is?"
"I'm on my way to him right now, but you don't want to talk to him about it." Jade insisted with a laugh. "He'll tell you in specific detail how awful you did, even if you did fine."
"It's okay! It might be funny." Sara insisted with a wide smile. Jade's eyebrows almost flew to the moon.
"Ooooookay, follow me then," Jade sang back uncertainly. Sara nodded and kept pace with Jade as they stepped onto the main brick sidewalk that ran through the middle of campus from the East to the West side. Jade already saw the large gathering of students of various heights, weights, and skin tones. They all seemed to be agitated, too. She heard loud screams of, "Fuck you!" echoing off the surrounding buildings.
"Is this normal?" Sara asked, holding the straps of her backpack and pointing at the crowd.
"It happens once a semester. Crazy religious people shout insults at students, students who are better at insults and arguments shout back, religious people get upset and try to sue the university for harassment, the university posts their angry letters in our school newspaper, and we all laugh about it."
"Oh." Sara said. "Why does the university allow them on campus?"
"I don't know. Some sick sense of humor, I guess." Jade replied. A gentle breeze swept through, bouncing off different buildings and with it, a familiar, heavy scent.
'That...was a very strong gust of weed.' Jade sniffed again just to be entirely sure and she was.
"Ugh, what's that god-awful smell?" Sara complained, now holding her sleeved arm under her nostrils. Jade turned her head slowly to look at her.
'You've lived a sheltered life, haven't you?' Jade guessed.
"That is weed." Jade answered aloud, quickly walking towards the crowd. The closer she approached, the better she could see the crowd. It wasn't a random gathering; it was a purposeful circle surrounding the religious visitors.
"You're all sinners! And God hates you for it!" the main minister screamed while coughing. His wife was also coughing while shouting, "Sluts," at two girls making out in front of her.
"This is really weird." Sara murmured uncertainly.
"I fucking knew it," Jade said with a smile. Off to the side, dressed in a silky, dark red shirt, black pants and shoes, with matching red devil horns on his head, red trident in his hand, and his black sunglasses, was Naraku. The best part for Jade was the sign he had next him, stuck into the ground with wire.
'Convert to Satanism - Get a free cigarette' it read. It even had a pentagram painted in red and with drips to appear as blood.
"Busy volunteering?" Jade asked as she approached Naraku.
"I am." Naraku replied with a wide grin. With a slow wave of his hand, he showcased himself, his sign, and the crowd of smokers, who were now blowing and exhaling a mix of tobacco and pot smoke at the extremist minister and his wife. Jade had to pause and take in the sight of him. He was so proud that he almost looked innocent. Almost. "Are you converting?" Naraku asked, holding out a pack of cigarettes.
"Are you already high? Since when do you openly do this shit?" Jade asked back.
"I've no idea what you're talking about."
"Naraku,"
"No, seriously, I've no idea." he insisted, still smiling. "These are cigarettes." Jade slipped one out with her thumb and index finger and smelled it. Sure enough, it was tobacco.
"Then, why do I smell,"
"Because I don't openly do that shit." Naraku retorted slyly. "I have my ways." Jade stared back for a minute, fighting away her smile, but the laughter was building too much pressure in her sore chest, so she had to let it out.
"So what kind of volunteer work is this?" Jade asked, wiping away a few tears and pointing at the crowd of students who were successfully smoking out the angry campus visitors.
"I am protesting religious bullies."
"By bullying them?" Jade giggled.
"Believe it or not, the students circled around them and started blowing smoke at them without me suggesting it."
"I don't believe you." Jade replied, sticking the cigarette back in the box and turning to see if Sara was still behind her. She was, though she was standing a bit farther away to avoid the smoke. "She wants to know if she did okay on the reports we just graded."
Naraku looked over at Sara, who waved at him with a smile. Naraku arched an eyebrow and looked down at Jade, who seemed to be sharing his surprise.
"I don't know her name." Naraku finally said.
"It's-"
"It's Sara!" the girl announced, interrupting Jade and nearly jumping towards Naraku, who took a small step back.
"If I tell you that you passed, will you go away?" Naraku asked with annoyance.
"Hahahaha, you're so funny!" Sara said loudly. Naraku quickly looked at Jade, who looked back at him and giggled awkwardly.
"You know, I think I see someone I know over there." Jade stated quickly while pointing behind Naraku. "Be right back,"
"N-No, don't leave," Naraku immediately stopped talking. He turned back to Sara, who was still smiling and waiting for him to say something. "Cigarette?"
"Those cause cancer, silly."
"So you want the whole pack? Go for it." Naraku continued, holding it out to her. To his surprise, she actually took it and gasped.
"Really? This couldn't have been cheap." Sara said with wide, uncertain eyes.
"I would pay any amount for you to go away."
"Hahaha, anything?"
"Any amount." Naraku repeated sternly.
"How aboooooout," Sara paused, tapping her chin as she looked up thoughtfully. "You give me an amount that adds up to your phone number?"
"Fine. You can have my phone number." Naraku relented, pulling his pen from his pocket. "Your hand,"
"Okay!" she agreed, holding her hand out with her palm facing up. He began writing down the phone number of Jade's other work place, The Pizza Bar.
"There. You received a B on the last report." Naraku said, placing his pen back into his pocket. "Now get lost."
"Thank you!" Sara called to him as she ran away. As she ran, she let her arms dangle behind her as she ran head first. Naraku's face twisted with pure confusion as he tilted his head. He lightened his expression when he heard Jade's muffled giggling as she walked back towards him.
"Bruh," Jade began, taking a quick drink of soda. "That was really hard to watch."
"Why did you bring her to me?" Naraku snapped in a hushed voice. "She was hitting on me!"
"Yes the fuck she was." Jade agreed confidently as she took another drink. Naraku blinked and tapped her bottle of soda heatedly.
"I thought you said you were going to talk to someone you recognized."
"Yeah. The soda machine." she retorted. "That was so hot and heavy that my mouth was dry."
"I...will," Naraku inhaled deeply and then exhaled loudly, leaning away from her and crossing his arms.
"For real, though, I had no idea she was going to do that. I would have messaged you, but I was already on my way here." Jade explained, holding up the binder she had tucked under her right arm.
"From Bruce?" Naraku asked.
"Yep."
"Finally." he sighed with relief. He was actually shocked at the amount of information Bruce was able to get a hold of about the lake. Naraku then looked back at Jade. "Did you finish staining?"
"Yes. They are in the boxes now."
"Explain the process to me."
"I injected this shit into that shit and put them inside boxes."
"No. Chemically, what is happening?"
"Uh, well, the PMA stain,"
"Stop. What does PMA stand for?"
"You know I can't say it, so get off of it." Jade replied bitterly as she looked away.
"Sound it out slowly. Imagine how I felt when I was learning English." Naraku ordered.
"Phosphormoly...shit. There isn't an R. Phospho...moly,"
"It's just phosphorous and molybdenum shortened and combined." Naraku explained. He snorted when she repeated him, using a mocking, goofy tone.
"Dude, even the Slavic languages spit on this word,"
"One more time,"
"Phospho...molybdic acid. Phosphomolybdic acid. There. I said it."
"You said it very good." Naraku told her in a fake proud tone. He patted her shoulder and cleared his throat. "So, what is it doing?"
"The PMA," Jade began forcefully in protest to saying the entire name of the stain. "Is being reduced to molybdenum blue."
"How so? Speak chemistry to me."
"I...I know the intensity of the blue color relies on the amount of double-bonds in the product. I don't know why."
"That will suffice for now. Has Bruce not discussed PMA or other stains in his class yet?"
"I don't know. I'm still behind."
"Alright. I will meet you in the lab after your class, then." Naraku said. Jade nodded and walked away briskly. She wasn't in a hurry; it just felt nice to move fast again.
000000
"Don't forget! Wednesday is our nude model session! So try to get here and set up a little early if you're a bit slower!" the professor called out, raising his voice above the sounds of scraping chairs and clanking utensils.
"I think he's talking to you, Jade." Sango said in a low voice. Jade pouted at her.
"Thanks. I never would've guessed."
"Oh Jade, come on,"
"I know, I know. It's just that if anyone is aware of it, it's me. Sooooo yeah." Jade responded dryly.
"But you're getting better and that's all that matters." Sango insisted, waiting for Jade to finish packing her bag.
"Not really."
"What do you mean?"
"People in the science building look at me weird."
"Weird how?"
"I don't know. Earlier, I was carrying a binder to Naraku,"
"Hmph." Sango huffed with disgust as she crossed her arms.
"I know, I know! Anyway, I was walking down the hallway and these two ladies, either professors or administration, were talking to each other and then one saw me and then the other saw me and when I got closer they looked away and walked off a little faster." Jade explained.
"Oh,"
"And Bruce! Whenever he finds me, he leaves the door of whatever room we're in open. He's never done that before."
"Well, I can't say I blame him if what he said is true." Sango said, hearing Jade sigh with defeat. "I don't blame you either! It's just a complicated situation. I don't think he means anything by it. He's probably still shaken up."
"Yeah, you're right." Jade agreed solemnly. She remembered that dripping noises still gave her chills. Although she didn't freeze up with terror anymore, she was still shaken up, too.
"Do you want to grab lunch?" Sango asked as she descended the stairs quickly. She slowed down when she remembered Jade wasn't able to keep up.
"I can't. I'm meeting Naraku to finish up this extraction stuff." Jade replied.
"The same shit you were doing when this all happened?" Sango asked heatedly. "Did he force you into it?"
"He didn't force me. This is the portion I missed out on." Jade answered with a huff. "And for the record, Naraku has been very, uh, understanding."
"What? He only makes you cry once a day instead of five?"
"Noooo. He doesn't mess with me at all. He gets mouthy and so do I, but he doesn't push it." Jade had to rest for a moment on a step before continuing her descent. "He has been buying my lunches this week. He apologized to me for my shoulder last week."
"Really?" Sango asked, her eyes wide with disbelief. Jade nodded. "Was he sincere?"
"Yeah. I haven't known him as long as some other people, and they all have said that he is never remorseful, but last week, he seemed upset. He would never say it if he didn't mean it."
"That's good. Seriously. I'm glad that he drew the line somewhere and that he feels something. He owes you more apologies, but that's a start." Sango responded.
"Oh, I'll never receive an apology for any of those things. I'm still shocked about this one, but I'm taking it with no complaints." Jade panted as she stopped moving again.
"Maybe we should take the elevator next time," Sango stated in a small voice.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm not quite ready for stairs, I guess."
Sango held one of the science building doors open for Jade and walked beside her as the turned towards the laboratory. Jade was waiting for Sango's usual, "I don't like this; let me go with you," speech, but Sango was busy replying to a text on her phone. She then exhaled heavily and dropped her arms to her side.
"It's going to be rough day at work. We have an emergency surgery beginning right when I get there." Sango stated evenly.
"Uh oh. What happened?"
"Someone's dog swallowed a rock and it's too big to pass or throw up, so once he's stabilized, we're going in."
"Do they actually let you do some of the cutting?"
"Not with serious matters like this. I'm usually there to clean and set up the equipment, monitor vitals, maybe hold something open for them while they cut," Sango listed off as she held up a finger for each duty.
"Do you guys ever get guinea pigs?" Jade asked, suddenly thinking of Naraku's pig and realizing she hadn't seen him for a while.
"Occasionally. Why? Do you want one?"
"No."
"Good answer. You want at least two. Guinea pigs need a friend." Sango said with a wide smile, holding two fingers up.
"Really?" Jade asked, stopping at the lab door.
"Yes. Well, I'll probably be a little late tonight."
"Okay." Jade replied. Both women flinched when the door swung open quickly. They stepped aside as Naraku, no longer wearing his devil horns or wielding his trident, pulled a cart behind him into the hallway. Jade recognized the two boxes sitting on the top shelf and his shoulder bag sitting on the bottom shelf.
"Good afternoon, Jade, Feminazi," Naraku said gently, as if he truly meant to be courteous.
"Jade, I'm going to throttle him," Sango warned, pointing at the tall man threateningly. Naraku playfully bit at her finger and Sango's lightning fast reflexes pulled her hand away from him. She wanted to swing at him, but Jade rested her hand on her angered friend's shoulder.
"Hey Naraku, Sango said that guinea pigs need another guinea pig to be happy." Jade said quickly.
"Is she an expert?" Naraku asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Sango.
"I probably know more than you." Sango shot back, resting her hands on her hips.
"Oh?"
"I'm a training vet technician."
"Riveting." Naraku responded without emotion. "I'm not getting another guinea pig, Jade."
"You shoooooould!" Jade insisted with a smile. Now he was staring at her soullessly.
"I was already aware that guinea pigs should have at least one other living with them. Obtaining another requires me to care."
"And he's an animal abuser, too. Charming." Sango griped.
"Too? What else am I?" Naraku asked curiously. "Please, go on. I love hearing about myself." Sango glared at him, but she turned to Jade and sighed.
"You give this man too much credit." Sango said.
"He takes good care of his guinea pig. I've met it a few times. He's just squeezing whatever reactions he can get out of you." Jade replied calmly. She felt Naraku's arm snake around her shoulders and pull her against his body powerfully.
"No, she's right, Jade. You are far too kind to me." Naraku said with a smirk. He could almost see the rage boiling just beneath Sango's skin.
"Um," Jade began slowly. "What are you doing?"
Naraku raised his other arm and cupped her entire face with his hand. "Touching you without your permission."
"Sango, just ignore him." Jade instructed softly, pulling on Naraku's hand with both of hers. His hand didn't budge. She was positive that even if she was one-hundred percent healed, she still wouldn't have the strength to move it.
"I'm...speechless." Sango admitted, rubbing her forehead, signaling an oncoming headache.
"Aw, that's no fun." Naraku cooed with disappointment. "Come on, say something threatening,"
"Hey, I thought you promised you wouldn't annoy me," Jade said, trying in vain to peel his hand from her face once more and hoping that would amuse him enough to back off.
"I'm not. I'm annoying her."
"Which is annoying me. Stop it." Jade bit. His hand lifted from her face and he let her go, walking back to the cart and gripping the handles.
"We have work to do." Naraku reminded her. Jade nodded and looked back at Sango, who was glaring at Naraku with her arms crossed.
"Don't worry. He's just," Jade began.
"You know, you keep telling me that, but then I find out later that I should be." Sango interrupted calmly. "I'm not very happy with you, either." Sango spun on her heel and briskly walked away. Jade had opened her mouth to reply, but she had nothing to say. Her gaze lowered to the floor.
"Why is she upset with you? You didn't do anything." Naraku pointed out carefully, unsure of what had just transpired in front of him.
"I think that's why; I did nothing." Jade murmured, allowing Naraku to take the lead.
Naraku led Jade to another room that was at the end of the building and facing out towards the small parking lot. He unlocked the door with one of the many keys he held on his keyring and reached inside the room and flicked on the lights. Jade followed behind the cart and turned to close the door.
"Leave it open." Naraku ordered, standing in front of a large, white and gray machine.
'This fucker right here,' Jade wanted to say, but she swallowed the urge to speak and removed her backpack from her shoulders instead.
"This obnoxiously slow machine is a spectrophotometer." Naraku stated, lightly patting the top of the machine. Jade approached it and Naraku stepped aside. It looked like a large printer with no slots to insert and receive paper and it had a little screen in the middle and various buttons below it.
"Cool." Jade replied. Naraku pointed to the little black bottle hanging by a thin, flexible tube.
"That little straw sucks up the amount of whatever sample, the machine then shines light on the liquid and then deposits it in the disposal box behind it."
"Okay."
"So, just with that information alone, what exactly does it do for us?"
"It allows us to set a standard to compare the amount of reflected wavelengths given by each single sample. Then it gives us the individual values of each sample and we can then insert those values into whatever program to make graphs so we can look like we know what we're doing." Jade explained with a shrug at the end of her final sentence.
"Good. That is the scientific way; make it appear that you know what you're doing."
"Yeah, but you actually know what you're doing."
"Of course I do." Naraku responded, flashing her an attractive grin. "I'm a genius."
'Yeah, I know.' Jade lamented silently. She still couldn't shake off what Sango said to her. 'What does she want me to do? Kick him in the nuts? How would that help anyone?'
"Do you want to write down the values first or operate the spectro first? I figured we would switch off halfway." he asked.
"I'll operate it first. I need to learn how to do it."
"I already set the standard."
"Dude, really? Tell me next time!" Jade whined.
"You were spaced out. That's on you." Naraku retorted stiffly. He pulled up a chair to the machine and then found another for himself.
"Do I need distilled water to clean out the straw between each sample?" Jade asked.
"Oh, yes." Naraku walked over to the single sink and turned the third knob for the distilled water, filling up one of the beakers sitting on the shelf. Jade took it and thanked him. "You're welcome." he said, sitting back down and grabbing his notebook and pen.
'He replied?' Jade was shocked, but she withheld making any facial expressions.
"It will sip twice and process, which is why it takes a while."
"I'll take anything over the extractions."
"Indeed." Naraku chuckled, crossing one leg over the other, doodling at the top of his page while waiting for Jade to repeat the numbers.
The sipping and waiting process between samples was so slow that Jade was almost ready to eat her words about the extractions being agonizing. She would glance over at Naraku every now and then, trying to read him, but he looked content, concentrated; the way he usually looked when his mind was wrapped around science. He didn't speak, even to tease her. He would simply make, "Hm," noises, as if spotting something interesting.
'He must be from a different planet or something. They're just numbers, but he's looking at them like they're some kind of modern art pieces. It would also explain him...all of him.' Jade thought humorously. She uncapped the next sample and waited for the machine to finish rinsing. Jade felt her phone vibrate and reached in her pocket while the machine sipped the sample she was holding.
'Are you okay? He hasn't done anything, right?' Sango's text read. Jade rolled her eyes, but she immediately scolded herself. Sango was worried, had every right to be, and was just making sure she was fine. Jade read off the number from the screen, glanced at Naraku to make sure he was writing it down, and then ordered the machine to rinse again.
'I'm fine. He has been quiet the whole time. He likes silence with his science.' Jade texted back.
"Is she making sure you're still alive?" Naraku asked slyly, keeping his eyes glued to his notebook.
"Yeah."
"She seems to really care for you. Is she a lesbian?"
"No. She's just super loyal and protective, especially after the whole coma thing."
"Ah, I see." Naraku said. "You're feeling better, I assume? Physically?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm still having trouble, but everything seems to be coming along." Jade huffed. "Somehow."
"Somehow?" he repeated curiously, scribbling down the next value she read off.
"There are weird things showing up on my scans and x-rays around the tears in my muscles."
"Inflammation? Infection? Tissue healing incorrectly?" Naraku listed off.
"No," Jade's voice was barely over a whisper. "They're running multiple tests on me because there are crystals mending the tears together."
"Crystals?" Now he was staring at her. He kept his expression calm, but he was twisting and shouting on the inside. Why were crystals forming around her wounds?
"They thought it could be a sign of cancer, a sign of poisoning, stroke, but all of those cases form elongated, branching crystals. Mine are pointed, like spear tips, and they're coming together like a zipper."
"I see."
"It's weird because muscle tears take weeks, months to heal. Mine are only taking a few weeks to a month." Jade's eyes met Naraku's. "Have you ever heard of anything like that?"
"Me?" Naraku pointed at his chest. He was caught off guard by the, "faster healing," statement.
"Yeah. You're smart."
"I know of the cancer, poison, and stroke cases, and even psychosis,"
"Psychosis? You mean like mine?" she asked quickly, leaning forward. Naraku noted the look of hope on her face. She was desperate for an answer to her crystal mystery, but he couldn't tell her.
"Yes, but the crystals form in the nervous system if it's psychosis. With poison, they form in the kidneys. The stroke crystals are deposited in the blood vessels. Cancer can vary." he explained, watching the hopeful expression morph into a saddened one.
"So, it could be cancer?"
"I don't think it is."
"I mean, they're healing me, but I don't have a good feeling about them." Jade explained, scratching her head nervously.
"Are there any plans to examine them via biopsy?" Naraku quizzed.
"No."
"Why not?" Naraku blinked. He would have cut her open the second he learned about them.
"They're afraid to." Jade answered in a small voice. "I'm afraid, too." Naraku refrained from rolling his eyes.
"They could possibly use the simpler rotator cuff procedure. They could make two small incisions and use small tools to go inside instead of cutting you all the way open. It's an outpatient procedure and seeing as it would be a biopsy, your recovery time would only take a week or two."
"Yeah, they could." Jade said with a smile. "Naraku, what's it like knowing so much?"
"My knowledge means nothing when people don't listen me. It's annoying most of the time."
"I listen to you."
'I know.' Naraku remained silent. His gaze rested on his notebook.
000000
"Shit." Jade hissed quietly, leaning back in her chair. She had started practicing matches with other high-leveled KI players and her recent matches looked like she lost a year of experience within two weeks. Inhaling through her nose deeply, she hit a button to search for another opponent around her skill level based off her rank. The game found an opponent for her and she dove into it. Her mad-scientist werewolf was trying his damnedest, but Jade's arms were becoming weighted with fatigue, slowing down her button inputs. With a final, grievous howl, Sabrewulf collapsed and the match ended. "Shit." Jade repeated, backing out to the main screen.
'I'm getting bodied. I won't even make it through Regional pools, let alone World Cup pools.' Jade lamented, moving her arcade stick from her lap to her desk.
"I should just give up, I guess." she whispered, turning her console and computer off. Her phone's blue notification light was blinking, so she checked it. It seemed some of her fans saw she was online and were asking if she was going to stream. She replied, "No," to each of them and crawled onto her bed. Jade's eyelids weighed a ton, so they closed without a fight.
A loud scratching noise echoed into her room. Jade's eyes snapped open stared and stared at the door, realizing her room had become darker due to the sunset. She heard Kirara's frustrated mews and exhaled with relief. The cat must have sensed Jade's fatigue, which was Kirara's cue to find Jade and mess with her while she tried to rest. When the scratching became frantic, Jade groaned.
"Go away, Kirara." Jade called out. The cat went silent. Then, a black paw attached to a tan leg snaked under the open area at the bottom of Jade's door. Needle-sharp laws gripped the carpet, pulling threads apart as the cat pulled her paw back to herself. Her other paw shot under the door and wiggled sideways, almost as if waving at Jade, who was muffling her giggles into her pillow.
"I'm still not letting you in." Jade insisted. Kirara yowled pathetically for a few more minutes before laying against the door in defeat. Jade sighed and closed her eyes again, only for them to open again when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket.
"Oh," Jade choked after reading the first line. She sat up quickly, as if it would help her comprehend the message better.
'Hey Jade, here within a day or two, a bunch of money is going to drop into your bank account. Me and the boys, and a few others from GA and Rekt Box, held donation streams when you were in the hospital. We feared the worse and planned on giving the money to your family, but we've all agreed to give it to you for bills and medical stuff since you can't deliver or stream. Also, the other day, I posted a video admitting to asking you to throw the competition for me and apologizing for it. My leadership of The Pack is pending, so you might have a few branch leaders contacting you soon. I still want to apologize to your face, though, whenever you're feeling up to it.' Koga's message read. Jade typed up several different responses, only to delete them because she felt they weren't conveying the amount joy and relief she was feeling.
'Dude, thanks so much. Please tell the others I said thanks, too. I will make a response video and hopefully I can sway the branch leaders to keep you. Water under the bridge.' Jade replied, smiling wide.
'I can pay bills! I'll have to tell Mama and Auntie when the money hits my account.' Jade thought, now bouncing in place. It was the happiest she had felt since before her coma. Her body felt light as a cloud, though she knew better than to try her luck by jumping around. Instead, she stood and opened her door, scooping up the rejected Kirara and holding the cat in front of her.
"I can pay bills! Maybe I can buy you a new toy!" Jade announced excitedly. Kirara's reply was a tail twitch and a scowl. Apparently, she was angry with Jade for not responding to her earlier. Jade placed her down, but Kirara remained by Jade's side. Scurrying into the kitchen, Jade opened the fridge and leaned in, grabbing a bottle of beer. She popped the cap against the counter and took two huge gulps. Jade heard two car doors slam shut and froze.
'Shit. Kagome and Sango.' Jade rolled her eyes, placing the bottle opening to her lips and draining the liquid steadily. She trashed the bottle and marched back to her room hurriedly, unsure if she wanted to speak to them or not. Although she was more leery of Sango, Jade didn't have much faith in Kagome, either, because she would most likely tell Sango what was said. The door opened and Kagome and Sango's voices echoed through the apartment.
"We don't know that, Sango. Just...oh! Hey Jade!" Kagome waved to Jade, who leaned out of her doorway to wave to them. Sango looked down and scooped up Kirara instead, baby-talking to the cat loudly. Jade lowered her hand and huffed.
'Really? We're doing this because I don't want to fight Naraku?' Jade thought bitterly, walking back to her bed.
"Sango! Just go!" Kagome hissed. Jade looked up and saw Sango being pushed towards her door.
"Kagome, I,"
"We can't live like this! I won't allow it!" Kagome interrupted her strongly. Sango exhaled loudly, but looked over at Jade, who was waiting for anything to happen.
"Jade, can we talk?" Sango asked abruptly after Kagome jabbed her in the side with her elbow.
'Why? You still won't understand.' Jade wanted to say, but she nodded silently instead. Sango stepped inside, but leaned back against the open door.
"Look, I was frustrated earlier and you were right; I was letting him get under my skin." Sango stated.
"Okay." Jade shrugged, keeping her gaze aimed at the floor.
"I realize now that you did make him stop when you saw that I wasn't going to."
"I didn't make him; he promised me he wouldn't do that stuff if it upsets me." Jade corrected. "He chose to stop."
"I'm sorry, but I have a hard time believing that."
"Well, he defended her against the class last week and he didn't make one rude comment to her." Kagome added. "Don't forget that he watched Jade do what she did, too, and even after she smashed his car, he didn't kill her."
"I know." Sango murmured irritably.
"If it wasn't for Naraku, she would have jumped."
"I get it! But it doesn't explain Jade's permissiveness before all of that." Sango argued. Kagome sighed, her gaze following Sango's over to Jade, signaling her agreement with Sango's statement.
"Naraku is insanely smart. I like learning from him. He's also funny and completely in denial about how desperate for attention he is." Jade stated with a shrug. "Yeah, he irritates me and there have been times that I didn't want to work with him, but I did it anyway and I'll continue to."
"Why?" Sango pressed.
"I signed a contract; he gives me money and I work with him."
"Contract or not, he still hurts you." Kagome insisted.
"He hasn't been violent with me, even when I was attacking him."
"But he still treats you badly!" Sango insisted heatedly. Jade quickly stood from her bed, her hands balled into fists.
"I've done things to him, too! I've tempted him over and over and I enjoyed it!" Jade snapped. "The lab assistant job, the TA job, and assisting Naraku are my main sources of income now! I can't deliver! I can't stand for long periods of time! I can't even sit up or play games for streams! I need something!"
"Making money isn't more important than your safety or your mental well-being, Jade! Have you ever stopped to think that maybe dealing with Naraku is what made you flip in the first place?" Sango pointed out heatedly.
"My lab job and working with Naraku are half of my credit hours this semester. I don't think Naraku made crystals grow on my muscle tears, Sango. I'm convinced there is something else going on."
"You know what? Fine. Do what you want with him." Sango bit, shaking her head. "Maybe that coma did mess with your head. He's probably loving it."
Jade saw red, but she held herself still and squeezed her eyes shut. Her nails dug into her palms! Her teeth felt like they were about to shatter against one another! Her body shivered! It all felt familiar. Far too familiar...
'Stop, stop, stop, stop...inhale,' Jade coached herself, breathing in through her nose. She held the breath until her skin no longer felt hot. Exhaling through her mouth, Jade opened her eyes. She almost fell over as her energy left her, but she locked her knees and remained standing. Sango reached out to her and stepped forward.
"Are you-"
"Get out." Jade ordered coldly.
"Jade, you're," Kagome began, but Jade held her hand up to stop her.
"Get. Out." Jade repeated calmly, but sternly. Slowly, Sango and Kagome turned and walked away. Jade shut her door and locked it. She felt an itch under her nose, so she scratched it, gasping when she saw the dark blood smeared on her finger.
000000
'Her wounds have crystals stitching them together; what is going on?' Naraku stared at the tubes of pink and purple liquid; one in each hand. Nothing made sense. The solution made with his blood sent Jade into a blind, bloody rage and eventually, a coma. She spit up a purple crystal, which then turned pink when mixed with her blood. Now she had crystals healing her? 'I can't get rid of them. Not now. They're the keys to my success. I know it.'
"I can't use her again." Naraku whispered. Jade was his assistant; he needed her to be healthy and alert. That was a mistake he didn't intend to make again despite it giving him more clues to work with. He carried the tubes and his notebook into his living room and placed them on the table. Clicking his tongue, Naraku approached his guinea pig's cage. The gray rodent leapt into his hands excitedly and crawled up to snuggle against his neck. "I know, I haven't given you much attention lately." Naraku said in a low voice, stroking the guinea pig's back. He sat down on his couch and placed the pig on the opposite cushion.
First, Naraku pulled the cork from the purple solution and held it close to the pig's face. As Naraku expected, the guinea pig began grinding its teeth and squealing aggressively. Naraku plugged the tube and grabbed the pink one, waiting a moment for the guinea pig to calm itself. He did the same with the pink liquid. This time, the guinea pig began purring while slowly waving his butt side to side. Naraku slowly pulled the tube closer to himself. The guinea pig followed, still purring and waving his butt. Suddenly, the guinea pig began squeaking loudly, his little gray ears twitching from his own high-pitched squeaks. Then, he began turning in a circular motion, a trick Naraku had taught him months ago.
'He thinks it's food or a female. Either way, it's odd.' Naraku corked the tube back up and quickly walked to his kitchen to grab a leaf of romaine lettuce to satisfy his little pig's belly. The pig accepted the lettuce happily; the otherwise quiet living room was filled with tiny munching noises. Naraku joined in with scribbling noises as he wrote what had transpired into his notebook. His eye caught the phrase, "I strangled her," from his entry about the dream he had after ingesting the pink solution and shivered.
After finishing his notes and after the guinea pig finished his snack, Naraku stretched out on his couch and turned his TV on. The guinea pig snuggled down directly on Naraku's sternum; a gray, furry loaf squeaking quietly, as if telling his owner a story. Naraku searched the guide on his TV to find a show to watch. He was debating canceling his cable since the only shows that interested him were Forensic Files and QVC, the latter of which he actively tore apart and made fun of for his amusement. He would even go on their website to leave long, offensive comments about their products.
"Why are you still talking?" Naraku asked the pig harshly, but his voice was soft so he wouldn't scare him. He continued his quiet squeaks and Naraku scratched the pig's left ear gently. The guinea pig stretched out and yawned before lowering his head and nearly closing his eyes.
'Perhaps I should obtain a friend for you. I won't have much time to hold you.' Naraku thought, hearing Jade's voice in his head begging him to do it.
Following the guinea pig's lead, Naraku dozed off after landing on the QVC channel. Though, Naraku didn't fall completely under. He could still hear the TV and what the people were saying. He could still feel the warmth of the little guinea pig's body. The sounds, smells, and touches soon began to mix. His stomach was now on the couch. The couch was now flat, stiff, but soft due to a mat beneath him. The warmth from the guinea pig's body now rested in the middle of his back and was growing warmer, to the point that Naraku's body tensed up. Voices from the TV morphed into different feminine voices.
"Your hair is so beautiful." a woman cooed.
"Your hair is pretty, too." a young girl replied.
'Kagura?' Naraku hadn't heard her voice in years, but it was unmistakable.
"No, mine is stringy, dry; yours is wavy and soft."
"So is Naraku's hair. His is wavier and longer than mine."
"Your brother needs a haircut." his mother responded, her tone tougher. "I should just chop it off now while he's asleep."
'You bitch.' Naraku thought bitterly. He wasn't fully asleep. He could hear her just fine. The warm spot in the middle of his back now burned so intensely, it felt like a thousand sharpened, searing knives were repeatedly stabbing him. He ignored the pain as best as he could, slowly pushing himself to his knees, but that's all his body would allow. It begged him to stop moving and when he didn't, his limbs stiffened and locked up.
"Naraku? What are you doing?" his mother asked harshly.
A smaller sharp pain pinched the middle of his chest and Naraku gasped.
"Ah!" Naraku's eyes snapped open. His soft couch was beneath his back again. Looking down, his eyes met the guinea pig's. The gray pig bit his shirt and pulled on it, grinding his teeth. "Right. Tiny bladder." Naraku remarked, slowly standing as he held the pig's bottom. With a single hand, he lowered the ball of fur into his cage. Naraku reached up with both hands to grasp his hair. His fingers raked through the stands, making sure they were as long as he preferred them. Then, he reached behind himself and pressed against the spot on his back. A pout carved into his face.
'I haven't dreamed about that for years.' he lamented, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand. He pulled his phone out from his pocket and saw he received a message from Jade.
'Do you want to hang out this Sunday?' her message read. Reading it over several times to make sure he read it correctly, Naraku debated her request in his head. He sold most of his weed to the rebellious mob earlier that morning, so they couldn't do that. Did she want to watch him convert and plug the extraction values into a program to see if his unusual lake had a nutrient trend? Did she want him to explain her homework or grade the lab reports with him? What could she possibly want to do with him?
'I have nothing better to do than waste my time with you.' Naraku replied. Jade wasn't a dangerous, spontaneous person. Whatever she had in mind couldn't be too terrible.
'You really know how to cheer me up.' Was Jade's reply to him. She even attached an emoji showing just how unamused she was by his answer. So, Naraku took a picture of himself smiling cheekily and sent it to her. Jade's final response was a simple, "Dick." It made Naraku chuckle. Then, she sent another message.
'See you Sunday, then.'
'Oh, you will see me much sooner than that. A lot more of me.' Naraku snickered.
000000
'This fucking pencil, I swear,' Jade shook her head with frustration. She bought the specific pencils listed for the art class and was promised that they were the best and extremely resilient. Instead, she found that one pencil was extremely resilient against not breaking easily. Grumbling curses under her breath, she twisted the pencil in her little blue pencil sharpener.
"Hey, Jade." Sango said, waving to her as she sat beside her at the center table.
"Hey." Jade replied, checking her other pencils. They were all sharp. It was just that one pencil that always broke.
"So, do you think you're ready for this?" Sango asked with a small smile.
"Nope. I suck at drawing." Jade answered evenly. She didn't want to be angry with Sango. Jade actually agreed with her, even though she was still going to work with Naraku anyway, but once Sango threw the coma comment at her, Jade lost her patience and her temper so badly that it still burned her a day later and she imagined it would burn the next day and the day after that.
'I didn't go crazy, though.' Jade reminded herself, hoping it would soothe the pangs of guilt in her chest. It didn't work.
"You're definitely not the worst." Sango said, opening her sketchbook.
'Nope. I'm just brain damaged.' Jade thought bitterly. Then, she immediately felt bad again. Jade settled with crossing her arms on the table surface and hiding her face as her response.
Only a couple of minutes passed before the professor began speaking and the class quieted down immediately. He eventually stopped and Jade assumed he pointed at her questioningly because Sango softly told him, "She's okay; she's just mad." He continued on with his explanation where the model would pose one way for thirty minutes and another way for thirty minutes.
"And remember, I'm not grading the quality; I'm grading the effort and amount of detail put into the drawings. Don't stay in one place on your drawings if you're stuck, either. Move on and circle back. I will also offer some extra credit around the midterm, so don't stress out." the professor explained quickly. "Alright, I will bring the model in."
'I guess I can do the extra credit.' Jade exhaled heavily when she heard the door open and then close. A hand slapped her upper right arm and gripped it powerfully, causing Jade's entire body to cringe alarmingly.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Jade whined at Sango, whose fingers were still cutting off the circulation in Jade's arm. Her wide, brown eyes were facing straight ahead. Jade turned and immediately squeezed her eyes shut when she saw him.
"What is he doing here?" Sango asked her in a harsh whisper. Jade shrugged dramatically. Her voice didn't exist at the moment.
"This young man is Naraku and he was once in your position," the professor said. Jade opened one eye and Naraku's gaze caught hers. He winked and Jade shook her head while muttering, "You motherfucker." She couldn't hold back the wide smile on her face, though.
"Quick question; if I opt out, how much will this hurt my grade?" Sango asked loudly, holding her hand in the air.
"Uh, well, the highest grade you can get would be a C and that's if you score near perfects on the rest of your assignments." the professor answered carefully.
"Decisions, decisions," Sango grumbled sarcastically.
"I don't think she likes me." Naraku stated innocently, shrugging the robe off his shoulders and letting it pool around his waist.
"Nah, she's fine." the professor insisted. "Alright, choose whatever pose you want. I gave them the body-positivity and respect speech the other day. Good luck, everyone!"
"Jade, I don't care what you say, I'm going to murder him!" Sango said strongly. Jade looked back at her incredulously.
"I'm not stopping you." Jade replied with a giggle. Her amusement about the situation seemed to bother Sango further as she shook her head, grumbling in Japanese under her breath.
"Ladies, there's enough of me to go around." Naraku teased. The robe dropped to the floor entirely and Jade barely dodged Sango's hand, which was reaching for Jade's shirt or neck. She was unsure at that point.
'Ooooh, oh my God, I'm going to lose it!' Jade almost whimpered as the pressure in her chest built up. Her eyes opened and then immediately shut. 'He isn't circumcised; that's a first!' Jade shook her head and felt a few tears streaming down her face. Her entire body shook as she tried to keep her laughter quiet and her head felt like it was going to burst. Hearing other students' quiet comments, whether they liked what they saw or not, wasn't helping her control herself, either. She was already going to do poorly and if the professor heard a peep that sounded like a joke or sexual advance had been made, he would dock a chunk of points from the overall assignment.
"I'm so pissed right now. I never wanted to see him naked." Sango grumbled, her pencil already moving erratically to not only permanently burn his nude body into her mind, but into her sketchbook and portfolio, too. Begrudgingly so.
'I remember someone saying they thought he had a cute ass once upon a time,' Jade wanted to say, but she opted with silence. Picking up her pencil, Jade looked up and made direct eye contact with Naraku, who had chosen a very conceited Roman god pose; his left arm held outward and his hand balled into a fist, his right arm down by his side, his right knee pointed outward and his left leg locked in place to keep his balance.
"I'm giving you a micropenis!" Jade hissed at him teasingly when she saw her professor was on the other side of the room. He smiled briefly and then resumed his calm, arrogant, "I win," expression.
