Haunted
Naraku wiped the sweat from his face and neck with his towel. He was only able run half of his normal amount of laps and even those depleted a majority of his energy. He regretted running before lifting because now he wanted nothing to do with lifting. Naraku waited for the other runners to pass him before crossing the track to head towards the weights.
'I don't want to, but I need to.' he told himself. He was convinced that if he was able to return to his carefully calculated regiment, he would feel strong again. His body still looked great, but it felt several times heavier than it was...and so weak. On his way to the bench press station, he grabbed a couple of weights, sliding them onto the lifting bar. Naraku quickly sat on the bench. He was winded already. 'Maybe it's a virus.' If he was sick, then he probably shouldn't exhaust himself even more, but deep down inside, he knew it was something else. When his mind began to wander back to the fire, he positioned himself under the bar and gripped it with both hands.
"I...can't." he whispered as he watched his arms and hands tremble. Closing his eyes, he began to coach himself to grip the bar harder, to push up and hold the damn bar! Why was this such an issue? It was almost like he was scared of something. When he opened his eyes, he prepared to lift, but his body refused. "Damn it."
"Figured I would find you here," a woman stated with slight annoyance. Sango appeared behind him and peered down at him with her hands on her hips. "Need a spotter?"
Naraku felt his entire body recoil. "No."
"Are you still planning to stream with Jade later?"
"Yes." Naraku inhaled deeply, preparing himself for Sango to begin lecturing him on his mistreatment of Jade and his general existence.
"I really didn't want to agree to it, but I did it for Jade because for some reason, she likes you. I don't get it."
"Neither do I."
"So what's your plan? To make her hate it?"
"Have I made her hate something she loves?" Naraku asked Sango, placing his hand on his stomach as he slowly sat up to soothe the nausea.
"No,"
"Have I forced her to stop doing something she loves?"
"Well, no,"
"There are plenty of things I've done to her - pick one - but don't lecture me about something I haven't done."
"Fair enough." Sango huffed. "Just don't torment her. She's trying to help you."
"I'm aware."
"You're not very combative today. Are you sick?"
"I'm tired." Naraku answered, closing his eyes and rubbing them. "I will be on my best behavior later." he remarked as he stood up.
"Wait! Weren't you going to lift?"
"I was. You have demotivated me for the day." Naraku said as he began walking away.
The warm water of the shower was actually welcoming. Despite barely working out, his body was tense and sore, so the water was helping relieve some of it. Naraku kneaded the knots he felt in his legs, his thoughts lingering on his dead thesis project. Bruce received a counteroffer from his sponsors the day after the fire, but Naraku didn't care to hear it. He refused to settle for anything less than he originally agreed to.
After he dried his hair, he pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a dark gray turtleneck sweater. The temperatures were chilly, but not freezing, so a coat was still unnecessary. He scooped his guinea pig from his cage and placed him on the floor alongside his cardboard litter box. Naraku sat down on his couch and propped his feet up on his table, typing up different response emails to the counteroffer Bruce forwarded to him. His first email draft summed up to, "Go fuck yourself." His second draft was similar.
'What can I do? What can I say? Should I tell them what I've discovered?' Naraku immediately spawned an idea. 'No, I should taunt them with what I've discovered. It seems like they have no idea what to do with it, and neither do I, but I'm willing to bet all I'm worth that I know more than they do.'
He typed up a generic Naraku-esque response to Bruce first. He informed his professor that the counteroffer was an insult at best and that they had two options; restore the original agreement or go to Hell and inform Naraku why they kicked him off the project before they leave. He knew Bruce would clean it up in his response to them. Then, Naraku found the email he used to communicate with them a month prior. They never responded to the email; they just sent him what he asked for. He wondered what they would do this time.
'I will just tell them I did it, not how.' Naraku began typing. 'And if they still refuse, I'll blow this entire project sky high along with the solutions.'
'I managed to dissolve the gem and replicate it. Are you still willing to play ball or should I share my findings with Bruce and publish an article about them instead?'
Naraku sent it and smiled.
000000
"How was work, Jade?" Sango asked with a smile as she looked up from her notebook which sat in her lap.
"I never thought I would miss the smell of pizza or the sound of customers complaining that our prices are too high." Jade retorted as she shuffled into the kitchen, running her fingers through her freshly washed and dried hair. Working in the pizza shop again also made her shower feel a thousand times better than normal. "I'm going to start the tea and salsa." Jade announced.
It took a few minutes, but she finally got into the swing of it. It had been a while since she made her variation of Mama's tea, but she had done it many times in the past, more than she could count or remember, so her hands knew better than she did. She crushed the dried pepper flakes into the finest powder she could before carefully opening two tea bags, making sure not to rip them. She poured the ground tea into the bowl with the ground peppers and lightly shook the bowl to mix the contents together. Next, she poured the mixed tea and peppers back into the little tea bags, wrapping them back up and making sure they wouldn't break open.
'Alright, so this will only take a few minutes to boil and it's best when it's warm, so I need to start on the salsa.' Jade told herself, placing the tea bags in the bowl and pushing it back from the edge.
"Need help? I finished my reading for the night." Sango stretched her arms above her head as she walked into the kitchen. She pulled her gray sweatshirt back down and sighed.
"Sure, if you don't mind helping me chop some of these veggies,"
"I'm on it."
The kitchen was filled with the music of chopping, scraping, and running water. When the salsa was finished, Jade placed lids over both bowls and placed them in the fridge; blue bowl for mild and red for spicy. Then she pulled out a bottle of margarita mix and tequila, wiggling it with a wide smile on her face. Sango nodded and pulled open the cabinets for glasses. Jade poured after Sango dropped ice cubes in the glasses and they toasted each other before drinking. Sango cringed slightly, but Jade was immune to the alcohol's strength.
"We need mariachi music to complete the stereotype," Jade announced, pulling her phone out to search for mariachi tunes.
"Mmm!" Sango snickered and took another drink only to cover her mouth to keep herself from spitting when the kitchen was filled with the sound of upbeat strings of guitars, a guitarrón and smooth Spanish lyrics.
"El cartel es de respeto y jamáis a perdonadooooo! Ese compa ya esta muertooooooo," Jade sang, swaying in place to the beat of the bass line. "Nomas no le han avisadoooooo!"
"It's so happy!" Sango said.
"It's about murder!" Jade laughed. Sango tilted her head, her eyes wide with shock.
"Really?"
"Yeah, a lot of mariachi music is pretty dark, but it sounds innocent and lighthearted," Jade explained, still bouncing to the music. "I grew up with it because of Auntie and Mama...that explains a lot now that I think about it,"
"Hahaha, well, I can't say my upbringing was normal, either. Somehow my younger brother turned out to be the normal one."
"Well, they say the oldest gets the harsher punishments," Jade pointed out, draining the last of the margarita from her glass. "Happened to me and look how I turned out,"
"Ha!"
The two roommates enjoyed a second round of margaritas and began to cook the tamales and boil the tea. Sango's face was flushed and she was giggling more and smiling, leaning against the counter, but Jade was still relatively sober. Her alcohol resistance had always been on the stronger side and it almost seemed even stronger lately. Her eyes rested on the fridge; she could go for a third drink. She placed her glass down instead. Jade poured the nearly-boiling tea into a small pitcher for easy serving. Sango opened the oven to check on the tamales Kagome made that morning.
"Wow, that margarita stuff is stroooooong," Sango sang, taking the hot pan from Jade and placing it in the sink to let it soak with the other dirty dishes. "Are you feeling it?"
"Hm? A little. I'm kind of used to it."
"Right, right, Mexican,"
"Ahaha, I meant that because I drink regularly, but that too." Jade laughed heartily. Sango snorted and shook her head, leaning against the counter again to wait out the final minutes of the tamales' cooking time. She tilted her head, her brown hair falling to the side.
"You look pretty tonight, Jade." Sango said as she pointed at her friend.
"You're tipsy." Jade replied quickly, stroking her hair absentmindedly.
"No, no, really. You're wearing the fitted jeans and yellow shirt I helped you pick out and they look really good on you. Look at your arms - they're starting to look muscular!"
"Huh," Jade held her arms outward with her palms facing up and then slowly turned them until her palms were facing down. She had noticed the weight loss because her old clothes stopped fitting, but she hadn't realized her muscles were detailed. They definitely did look more toned now that Sango pointed it out. Jade flipped her palms upward again and stared at her right hand. The cuts on her fingers from the crushed test tube had nearly healed up and the major cut on her palm was itchy and the scab was already flaking off. She wasn't sure how to feel about her body's faster healing process.
"Your hair parted to the side is really cute, too."
"Uh...thanks," Jade almost blurted out that Naraku had suggested it, but that wouldn't have helped her overall argument of not having a thing for him. The images of the sketched woman in Naraku's book flashed in her mind again. She hadn't thought about them for nearly a week. Then she remembered Naraku screaming and whimpering in his sleep - Kikyou. "Hey, Sango, do you know what a keek-yo is? I think I'm saying it right,"
"Kikyou?" Sango shrugged. "Well, it's usually a girl's name in Japanese. It means bellflower. Why?"
"I overheard it during one of Ginta's anime rants and I completely forgot to ask him. I trust your knowledge a little more, though." Jade hated lying, but she didn't want to make it out to be more than it was. It was a confirmation, though. The flower the sketched woman held was bell-shaped. She must be Kikyou. Who was Kikyou? Jade had no idea and had no intentions of pursuing an answer while Naraku was coming to terms with his thesis drama.
'Plus, Sango might accuse me of being jealous of Naraku's ex or some shit and if she lets that slip when he's here, I should just go ahead and kill myself for him.' Jade's stomach roiled at the thought of Naraku finding out that she knew about the young woman from his book. He adamantly denied having any emotional attachment to his guinea pig; Jade couldn't begin to imagine his reaction to a girl from his past.
Just as Sango turned the oven off and placed the tray of cooked tamales, rice, and beans on the stove, the apartment door opened and Kagome's bubbly voice was chattering with a deeper voice.
"Look who I found," Kagome sang, pointing at Naraku, who closed the door behind himself.
"You didn't find me; we happened to arrive at the same time." he corrected, removing his shoes and stepping into the living room area. He adjusted the sleeves on his dark gray turtleneck sweater while his eyes slowly scanned the room. He specifically stared at Jade's stream equipment until he tensed up and looked down. Kirara was purring as she rubbed against his legs.
'He really doesn't like anything touching him,' Jade noted.
"Oh, are you allergic?" Kagome asked him, pointing at Kirara.
"Please say yes," Sango muttered bitterly under her breath. Jade snorted, but decided not to engage her on that comment.
"No, I knew it was here. I didn't think it would be so...affectionate. Cats generally aren't."
"She," Sango almost spat the word out. "Is a very affectionate cat."
"Make it stop." Naraku ordered, mimicking Sango's tone on the word, "It."
"Am I going to have to lock up the knives?" Jade asked half-jokingly. The other half of her was considering locking herself away in her bathroom instead.
"I don't need a weapon to take him out," Sango retorted confidently.
"Ooooh, catty." Naraku cooed back as he crossed his arms. "I was thinking the same about you."
"Oh! Look! Common ground! You both fantasize about killing each other in the same way!"
"Jade, nothing you say is going to change my mind." Sango stated sternly, her eyes never leaving Naraku's. Jade inhaled deeply. Where Sango was serious, Naraku had a smirk tugging on his lips. Sango wasn't one to accept being mocked and Naraku's entire existence relied on him mocking others and being condescending. It was a battle of titans at this point and Jade was an ant in comparison.
"I'm flattered that you think so much about me, Sango. Though, to be honest, I kind of forget you exist until I see you."
"Hey, Naraku, you said you would try harder," Jade warned, pointing at him. He glanced at her and then back to Sango. He flashed a smile and bowed his head.
"Fine." he relented.
"What did you bribe him with?" Sango asked Jade incredulously.
"Money." Jade and Naraku answered simultaneously. Even their tones matched. Sango looked at one and then the other and then shook her head.
"I just hope this is a dream." she griped.
"Do you dream about me often?" Naraku asked quickly and teasingly. Jade couldn't stop her giggles and Naraku seemed to be amused by them. She didn't care what anyone said; Naraku was fantastic when it came to annoying someone.
"I need more alcohol." Sango turned to the fridge to grab the bottle of margarita.
"Want some?" Jade asked Naraku, only to mentally kick herself. How could she forget the hotel so easily?
"No. I'm here for your tea." he responded to Jade's relief, now looking back at Jade's stream setup. "What do you have planned?"
"It's a FPS game called The Forest. We crash land on an island full of cannibal mutants and we have to survive,"
"Can we kill them?"
"Bruh, you can eat them."
"Excellent." Naraku flashed her a grin, choosing the chair at the end of the table against the wall. He sat down and exhaled heavily, his grin and pride disappearing entirely. He still seemed worn down. Normally, every movement and breath of Naraku's was controlled, but since Colorado, he seemed stretched thin, as if every movement and interaction drained his life force.
"We made Mexican food and we don't care if you like it or not." Sango announced, placing tamales on individual plates.
"I could use the calories since I worked out earlier." Naraku answered, leaning forward as Jade slid behind him to sit in the chair beside him. She leaned closer to him.
"Are you okay? You just disappeared the other day after the fire." she whispered. Naraku glanced at her and then crossed his arms.
"I wasn't feeling well. I'm better."
"Okay." Jade wasn't convinced, but there was no reason to push it.
Dinner was not as tense as Jade expected. Naraku was actually quiet, seemingly studying the tastes of the tamale and Jade's chili pepper tea. Sango was telling stories about her vet job, mostly cute stories, and Kagome would ask her questions. Kagome also informed Jade that Naraku had known for a while that she was her other roommate. That was the only time Naraku spoke and he did so only to tell Jade that she should have let him grade a few of Kagome's lab reports, otherwise, he never would have suspected it. Jade shrugged...and Naraku elbowed her playfully. She saw Sango's suspicious stare and refrained from rolling her eyes.
"I figured you wanted to learn the controls before we went live," Jade said to Naraku as she carried the monitors to the dining table after she helped clean up. She placed one in the spot where Naraku sat for dinner and the other at the end of the table. It was easier for her to fix lighting with a plain white wall behind them as opposed to an open room.
"That would be optimal." Naraku agreed, placing his cup of tea in his dinner spot. "Do I have to be on camera?"
'Fucker. He's drank four cups and he won't even say he likes it.' Jade lamented silently. She didn't take pride in many things, but her variation of Mama's tea recipe was sacred to their family and to patrons who dared to try it.
"No, but I think it's the best way to go."
"Why? Aren't people more interested in the game?"
"Both. They like seeing our expressions."
"I don't make many of those."
"No, but you're attractive with a deep voice and you're Japanese, so my weeaboo base will probably throw money just to hear you say something in Japanese, even if you're insulting them. Trust me." Jade insisted as she pressed her palms together in a semi-begging stance. Naraku tilted his head.
"You've been styling your hair the way I showed you." Naraku pointed out, changing the subject and catching Jade off guard.
"Uh, yeah," Jade answered uncertainly. She spotted Sango quickly turning around from the kitchen sink and internally cringed. None of this was helping Jade's case and she suspected Naraku was well aware of what he was doing.
"Are you doing it because you like it or to appease me?"
"I know what you're doing." Jade shot back, turning on the two laptops. One was hers and the other was one of The Pack's spare gaming laptops.
"I know you do, but does she?" he continued in a low voice. Jade's hesitation to answer was all the confirmation he needed. Naraku raised his voice. "Did you also dress nicely for me?"
"Yeah, Jade, you don't dress like that often," Sango called out as she walked towards the bigger couch. Kagome agreed that Jade's outfit was cute. Either Kagome hadn't picked up the hints or she was intentionally keeping away from the sub-conversation they were having. Jade's mouth opened, but nothing came out. Her face burned when she heard Naraku's deep chuckles. She quickly walked down the hallway to her room, closing her door to block out Naraku's laughter.
"Oh, Jade, don't," Kagome called out soothingly, but Jade was already committed. She quickly pulled her shirt and jeans off her body, replacing them with a plain gray T-shirt that was now three sizes too big and her favorite pair of loose, frayed, faded jeans. Lastly, she ruffled her hair wildly until she found the middle part and brushed the strands into place. She caught a glimpse of herself in her mirror on the other side of her room. She hadn't realized her hands were balled into fists.
'What a dumb thing to get mad about.' she scolded herself. For a moment, she entertained the idea of putting on her original outfit and fixing her hair back to the side, but ultimately, it sounded annoying.
"Oh," Naraku choked out with slight shock when Jade walked back into the room. "You really were angry."
"Aw, I wish you had kept your hair. It was cute." Kagome said worriedly. Jade shrugged, returning to her original mission of launching the game to teach Naraku how to play.
"Jade, I'm sorry." Sango added cautiously.
"I'm over it. I like being comfortable for streams anyway."
After handing Naraku his wireless keyboard and mouse, Jade sat next to him and launched the game using a save file she created a few months earlier. She rescued his character from the ruins of the plane and helped him open the scattered suitcases for cloth, medications, and other needed items. As she expected, he began fitting pieces of the puzzles together. He used his sticks, ropes, and rocks to create an axe, a bow, some arrows, and Jade showed him how to upgrade them.
'Either I'm right and he's going to be a comedic gold mine or I'm wrong and he's a serial killer...probably both.' Jade told herself. On the upside, Sango and Kagome did laugh at things Naraku did. Jade was able to cast her screen to the TV to let them watch the game from her perspective. The hardest Sango laughed was when Naraku was being beaten by seven different cannibals and Jade had to swing in and save him. If Sango could find it in herself to laugh at his antics, then Jade was sure her viewers would, too.
"Here," Jade said, offering a headset to Naraku. "I'll do the introduction and what not. You just...be you."
"What else could I be?" he asked.
"Nice." Sango interjected.
"Why is she allowed to antagonize me, but you scold me if I do it?" Naraku asked Jade, pointing from Sango to himself.
"You still do it anyway." Jade responded in a small voice.
"But you don't scold her."
"Sango, stop hurting his feelings." Jade snapped playfully, activating the five minute countdown on her page and choosing a song to play for her viewers. Sango snickered, but Naraku glared at Jade. She shrugged at him. He was going to have to deal with it.
Within seconds, the chatroom came to life with howls and excitement. The countdown ended. Jade introduced herself, Naraku, stated the game they were going to play, and dove right into the game. The plane crashed. Their characters woke up. Jade grabbed the plane's emergency ax first, then grabbed food, medication, and the passenger list of the flight. Naraku did the same, but grabbed his ax last.
"Our welcoming committee has arrived," Naraku announced, though Jade already heard the cannibals' gasping cackles and shrieks.
"Let's greet 'em," Jade said in a gruff voice, leaping out of the plane to start looting the scattered suitcases while chopping away at any of the cannibals who came near. Most of the time, the early-game cannibals would just watch and then run off to gather their friends for a full-on attack, but Naraku had already chopped one cannibal down.
"I need this for reasons," he chopped the cannibal's head off and added it to his inventory. A second cannibal, a woman, shrieked at him and swung her arms, but he backed up while chuckling. "I think she's upset, Jade."
"You murdered her boyfriend."
"He hit on me first."
"Alright, I know a decent place to build our first cabin. Let's go."
She had chosen the edge of a cliff overlooking a lake. That gave them a source of water and fish. Jade's character grunted as he chopped away at a tree. There was a loud explosion and then the frame rate of the game dropped for a moment, briefly turning her view into pixels. Jade continued clicking to finish chopping the tree. A second explosion echoed and dropped the frame rate again.
"What's going on over there? Pearl Harbor?" Jade asked as her character lifted two logs onto his shoulder.
"I found a box of dynamite in a village, you racist."
"Says the guy nuking the island locals," Jade replied.
"To be fair, they wish to eat me." Naraku said, tossing another stick of dynamite to finish off the last group of cannibals.
"Come help me finish the cabin."
When Naraku showed up, Jade brought up the chatroom on her laptop screen, keeping the game active on her monitor. The chatroom was relatively active and many viewers were extremely interested in WeedWolf's friend.
"Do you mind answering some of our viewers questions?" Jade asked him. "You don't have to."
"Of course. I love talking about myself." he replied, smirking when he heard Sango make a comment. Jade cringed when the sound of another explosion went off in her headset. Her person was on the ground, waiting to be revived by his dynamite-happy partner.
"Revive me."
"No."
"You dick." Jade said with a grin. "First question: are you single?"
"I'm unavailable." Naraku said, picking up the logs his dynamite explosion created. Jade placed a delay on the chatroom so she could read other questions.
"What do you do for a living?"
"I currently teach a chemistry lab."
"I help." Jade said to the camera as she gave it a thumbs up. That made the chatroom explode even more.
"You distract." Naraku revived her character at the last second. When her character stood up, she saw the newly-built gazebo sitting on the edge of the cliff. Jade shook her head. The gazebo, while definitely a building option, was pointless for the overall gameplay, but something told her Naraku had a purpose for it.
"My favorite color is blue, my turn-ons are people telling me to go fuck myself, my turn-offs are friendship and sympathy, I like chicken, and I'm an asshole. Next question."
"Is it okay if this one viewer calls you Big Daddy?" Jade snorted.
"No."
"Too bad! Someone named Big Daddy just subscribed and donated! Ahahaha!" she laughed heartily.
"I don't want their money." Naraku complained flatly.
"Oooh! Lizard!" Jade switched to her spear as she ran towards the lumbering creature. "Gimmie your goo!"
Jade built a meat rack and set up several turtle shells to catch freshwater for them to drink. She also built a cabinet to store medicines and small snacks found from missing passengers' luggage. Naraku, on the other hand, figured out how to make his own explosives and he also found out the explosives could be attached to severed cannibal heads. He also set up several traps to catch cannibals to add to his, "collection."
"Ow." Naraku grumbled. "This cannibal is wearing a peacock tail of arms, legs, and heads with lit candles on them. Can I make a costume like that?"
"No, but if you burn their bodies for bones, you can wear their bones as armor."
"Oh, so my collection will come in handy. Good."
"That cannibal you're fighting is one of the leaders. If you kill him, you get to claim his sweet club." Jade followed Naraku's name on her screen and stumbled upon the scene of him fighting the cannibal leader with a spear. He would jab the leader a few times and back up to dodge a swing of the club. Jade shot flaming arrows at any other cannibals that tried to intervene.
"I like the hands attached to the skull. Very artistic." Naraku quipped after picking up the club of his defeated foe. Jade snickered and collected her arrows from the bodies of the lesser cannibals.
They both returned to their home and Jade began laughing when she saw the various animal heads nailed to the outside of their cabin. The gazebo had lamps made from human skulls and candles lined up within and around it. The inside of the cabin had various animal skins, skull lamps and skull lanterns, and several child-like drawings stuck to the wall.
"You should be a professional interior decorator." Jade chirped.
"Is there a child we're supposed to be looking for? I found these around the island." Naraku asked, poking the drawings with a stick.
"Yeah. He's our son."
"He clearly has come in contact with the cannibals and watched them torture the other passengers." Naraku pointed to the specific drawing showing that scene. "I'm sure he's fine."
"Probably." Jade agreed, saving the game in case the internet lagged or dropped.
"Oh, I built a teleportation device." he announced as he left the cabin. Jade was sure her expression was ridiculous, but she followed him without question. He walked to the side of the cabin and looked up. Jade did the same.
"That's a bench." Jade pointed out plainly when she saw the wooden bench on the roof of the cabin.
"Watch," Naraku insisted. He tapped the key to prompt his character to sit on the bench. His character sat in midair and then teleported to the bench on the roof. He looked over at Jade. "What?"
"..." Jade had covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking as she continued her silent laughter. When she looked up and into the camera, her eyes glistened with tears. "I left you alone...for ten minutes...and you built a bench on the roof!" she tried to breathe, but the laughter was too strong. Sango and Kagome were laughing with her and the chatroom erupted with comments like, "He's my hero," and, "This is the highlight right here," and, "Wow, what inspired that and why does it work?"
"I don't know why you're laughing; it's actually useful. We can build more cabins on top of this one and make a castle, essentially." he explained, his tone sounding offended.
"I'm not saying it's stupid...okay, it's fucking stupid, but it's brilliant. How did you figure this out?" Jade wiped the tears away and made her character sit on the bench. Suddenly, she was on the roof.
"I built a bench for the gazebo and I realized that I didn't have to be right next to the bench to prompt my character to sit on it. If I was a distance away from it, my character would teleport. So, I set the schematic for the bench on the roof and then I built it from the ground because the game allowed me to."
"Of course you would figure that out." she sighed. She glanced at the chatroom and spotted a few comments of, "Aw, he's so proud of it," and, "I want to hug him. He's an adorable, murderous genius."
'This might be one of those times where I'm too right.' Jade thought with slight terror. She wanted her viewers to like him because they were more likely to donate; she didn't want them to start obsessing over him. It wasn't a prominent issue in the community, but it was an issue nonetheless and every gaming community suffered from it to some degree. The Pack had a few instances of crazed fans assaulting packmates and Jade received insane rape/proclamations-of-love messages every so often. She was sure Naraku could handle himself, but she also had no idea if he could handle massive amounts of sexual innuendoes being aimed at him, either.
"So, I have two questions," Naraku stated as he began using sticks and cannibal limbs to build an effigy.
"Yeah?"
"First question; we can build a house-boat complete with a paddle, so why don't we do that and leave the island?"
"Our son is missing, remember? We can't leave without him."
"It sucks to be him, then."
"Beautiful."
"No son of mine would allow himself to be captured alive." Naraku continued with a grin. "He would perform seppuku like a good little Japanese boy."
"Hahahahaha!" Jade shook her head and lit his effigy on fire before he could finish it. In response, he stabbed her with his spear.
"Second question; why do they not have dicks?"
"The answer to that also pertains to the storyline of us finding our son."
"I no longer care. I can make another." Naraku said flippantly. Jade shook her head and looked at the chatroom again.
"A few of them are offering to bear your children," Jade said slowly. It was more than a few.
"Unnecessary. I will clone myself because no one is worthy enough for this body."
"If I didn't know any better, I would think you're serious." Jade snorted.
"I am."
"Last question and then we're going spelunking," Jade scrolled and found one she liked. "Do you have any pets?"
"I have a hostage that happens to be furry." Naraku answered carefully, acting as if the subject was taboo. "Does that count?"
"He has a guinea pig, guys. His name is Hanger Dan."
"Call him anything but that."
"Popchop?"
"Alright, that one might actually be worse," Naraku admitted, ignoring Sango's declaration that she would call his guinea pig, "Popchop," and following Jade's character around with his torch, trying to light her on fire.
"Ahaha, thought so." Jade glanced at the chat, allowing Naraku to ignite her character. "Everyone who said his furry hostage was his dick should be ashamed of themselves! Ashamed! Terrible dick jokes are not allowed here!"
"I must say, I agree. Dick jokes are such low-hanging fruit." Naraku said.
"Thank-" Jade's smile disappeared as she pointed at her guest heatedly. "You can get the fuck out of my apartment right now. That was awful." she shook her head when she heard Sango and Kagome giggling about it. Naraku looked absolutely proud of himself. When he cleared his throat, Jade prepared herself.
"My dick doesn't quite fit that description, anyway. I manscape." Naraku announced as his eyes met Jade's. "Right, Jade?"
Jade's smile felt like it was ripping her face in half. "My memory is a little hazy. It must not have been very impressive."
"The red color on your cheeks says otherwise."
"You have the biggest di- ego," the look on her face must have been priceless, because Naraku erupted into a fit of laughter that seemed to mock Jade's entire life's story. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, waiting for the moment to pass. Sango and Kagome had burst into laughter also. Sango was nearly crying and Kagome was trying not to snort. Jade exhaled slowly and opened her eyes. The chatroom had gone wild. She saw the phrase, "Freudian slip," blinking hundreds of times.
"What were you saying, dear?" Naraku asked her sweetly after reeling himself back in.
"Nothing." Jade answered dryly, shaking her head and looking down at her lap.
'I can't fucking believe I did that.' she lamented. She heard a familiar pinging noise and looked at the screen. Someone donated ten dollars. Another ping - thirty dollars. Another with twenty. They kept going on and on and with every ping, Jade's embarrassment slowly dissolved away.
000000
Sango stood in the kitchen, steadily drinking her cup of water. Her throat was raw from all the laughing she had done that night. Overall, she had a good time watching Jade's stream, but part of her couldn't help but to feel dirty about encouraging anything about Naraku. She only agreed to allow him in their apartment because Jade asked and she rarely asked for any favors.
'His tone was different with her.' Sango remembered making that mental note. Naraku was still a provocative asshole, and arrogant, and controlling, but his tone with Jade was far more...relaxed? Softer? She couldn't quite explain it other than it was different. What surprised her the most was the fact that he laughed with Jade. Laughed!
Exhaling loudly, Sango placed her cup in the sink before turning the kitchen light off. She stood at the end of the bigger couch where Naraku had stretched out and fallen asleep. Had his chest not risen from his breathing, she would have thought he had died. His keys were lightly clutched in his right hand, which rested on his chest.
"Hm," Sango opened her mouth to wake him, but she thought twice and closed her mouth.
'Jade handled him all night, so she can handle him now.' Sango headed down the hallway to Jade's room. It was cracked open, so Sango pushed it open a little farther and stuck her head in.
"Hey, he's out cold on the couch," Sango said in a low voice. Jade reared up from behind her desk, frowning.
"He said he was leaving."
"It looks like he was going to and then fell asleep."
"Oh, okay. I'll go wake him up."
"Um, just leave him. It's really late." Sango insisted quickly, having a sudden change of heart.
"Are you sure?" Jade stood up slowly. "You said-"
"I know, I know." Sango interrupted, waving her hand. "But it's late. He's probably too tired to be driving anywhere. It safest to let him sleep."
"Thanks, Sango."
"You're welcome. I know I won't hear that from him."
"Nnnnope."
"Ugh, what do you see in him?" Sango asked flippantly.
"Someone who's hurt." Jade answered seriously. They stared at one another silently until Sango finally broke eye contact first as she nodded.
"I guess that's fair. Good night, Jade."
"Night, Sango."
'Someone who's hurt, huh?' Sango recited in her head as she settled under her blankets. She remembered what Rosa had said to her about Jade's affinity for those who were cast out; it was something she had done from a young age and although Jade denied it, Sango wondered if her parents abandoning her in the hospital right after her birth really affected her. It made sense. According to Rosa, they left her with nothing, not even a name, and from the pictures Sango saw, Jade looked nothing like her grandmother, aunt, or cousins. 'Even though she wasn't mistreated, she isn't blind. I'm sure it affected her somewhat.' Then her thoughts shifted back to how Jade interacted with Naraku earlier that night. They were almost like kids.
000000
'I don't hear anything.' Naraku realized. 'Where...I never went home!' He opened his eyes, blinking several times. The room was dark, but he knew where he was now; Jade's apartment. The last thing he remembered was rubbing his eyes and then nothing. He knew he was tired, but that was a legitimate loss of consciousness and he didn't like it. He squeezed his hands, feeling his keys in his right. 'A blanket is on me.' Naraku let out a quiet exhale. 'I should leave.' He slowly sat up, feeling for his phone, but he stopped when he saw something glowing. It was faint, so he blinked and rubbed his eyes, but he was actually seeing it. 'What is it?' He moved closer and clamped his hand over his mouth to stop the gasp.
It was Jade!
'How?' Naraku leaned closer, thinking that her phone was causing it or that she was, for some fucking reason, wearing glow-in-the-dark clothing, but the faint glow was pink and it was emitting from the center of her hand, branching out to her fingers. His mind immediately connected it to his little experiment. When he mixed the purple and pink solutions, the mixture glowed faintly pink in the dark. 'It's her veins! It's in her bloodstream!' Naraku reached out to wake her, but he stopped, letting his hand hover over her. What was he going to say? Do? He pulled his hand away and pulled out his phone, searching for the lamp at the end of the couch. He turned it on and walked back to her. He waited another moment, staring at her right hand. He couldn't see the glow and the cuts from breaking the test tube three days prior were nearly healed!
"Jade," Naraku placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Hm?" she turned on her back and stared up at him groggily. "What?"
"You should go to bed. I'm going home." he told her. She nodded and inhaled as she sat up. He followed her to her room, watching her crawl into her bed. Naraku looked around quickly. Her room was plain outside of her desk with her gaming rig and her bed. She had a few items of clothing thrown over her chair, but everything else seemed neat.
"You don't have to if you don't want to. I know you're tired." Jade said, stifling a yawn.
"I'm fine. Go to back to sleep." he replied. Jade nodded again and said goodnight. Naraku waited for her eyes to close before flipping the switch and closing her door behind him.
'Has she not noticed it?' he wondered. He could see Jade being so fed up with her ailments and medical bills that she would keep something like that secret, but it was barely noticeable, even in complete darkness. The slightest bit of light would make it difficult to see. It was also possible that she had no idea.
Naraku drove home as quickly as he could. He tossed his keys into the decorative bowl near his door and marched straight to his office. He kept the lights off so he could observe the glow of the mixed solution. It was a stronger glow than what Jade emitted, but it was the same eerie pink hue. He switched the desk lamp on and began writing another entry in his notebook. Whatever happened in Jade's body, Naraku was positive he recreated it in the tube.
'If it healed her injuries and dissolved, then it's in her bloodstream for now. Whenever they mix with blood, they crystalize it and then liquify, creating more solution, so why isn't it doing the same in her bloodstream?' Naraku sat back in his chair and huffed. Technically, they had crystallized over her wounds, but why stop there? 'Perhaps it's a ratio difference. My experiment has dealt with small, controlled amounts of blood. The human body is constantly replacing dying cells, so the tiny drop I gave her might not be able to keep up with her body.'
"I wonder," he whispered softly, staring at the three tubes. He turned on the lamp and began searching his desk drawers until he found his pocket knife. He unsheathed the blade and pulled the left sleeve of his sweater up. He jerked the blade across the top of his arm quickly, opening and closing his fist until he saw the blood welling up from the shallow cut. Naraku used a small pipette and sucked up a drop of the glowing mixture. Gently, he squeezed only half of the drop onto the cut. Next, he pulled his phone out and hit record on his camera.
'This fucking burns!' Naraku kept his mouth closed and tried not to shatter his teeth against each other, but it felt like he lit his arm on fire! As he predicted, the blood the mixture came in contact with was sizzling and darkening. 'No wonder Jade was screaming and crying; her entire body probably felt like this.' He remembered feeling how hot her skin was when he held her. He was amazed she possibly sat through an hour of the sensation before going on the ten-minute rampage. Naraku looked back down at the cut and leaned forward. The edges of his blood were already solidifying.
When the burning sensation stopped, Naraku assumed the crystals were done forming. He stopped recording and picked up his magnifying glass to see if they formed sharp crystals like they had in the past. They were not only sharp, but they linked together like a zipper, which was how Jade described hers.
"And, finally," Naraku turned the lamp off. "It glows." The cut was a thin stripe of pink. It had a stronger fluorescence than Jade's, but Naraku assumed that was because his was on the surface.
After covering his new experiment with gauze, Naraku decided that being awake at five in the morning on Sunday was not how he wished to start the day. He changed into his pajamas, dropping his clothes on the floor before sliding into bed under his sheet and blanket. His room was cooler than Jade's apartment and her apartment was filled with the scent sharp scent of peppers and the gentle scent of tea.
'Her tea was delicious.' he closed his eyes, ignoring the part of himself that wished he had never left her couch.
"Naraku," her voice was soft and so was her hand when she swept some of his hair aside. "I knew you were sick. You stubborn idiot."
"I'm fine, Kikyou." Naraku replied tiredly.
"You're clearly running a fever, but sure, you're completely fine." Kikyou said with sweetened sarcasm. "Idiot."
"You almost sound concerned for me." Naraku said smugly. He heard her make a sound of disgust before gasping and holding his arm.
"What did you do to your arm?" she asked accusingly. Naraku opened his eyes and sat up, looking around his dark room urgently. His body trembled.
He was alone.
