A Desperate Truce
After receiving their drinks, Sango, Kagome, and Jade made their way through the coffee and tea lounge area, searching for a place to relax. A group of bean bag chairs were empty, so they claimed three of them and pulled them to a more secluded area of the room. Jade tested the temperature of her tea before taking a deeper drink, eyeing her two friends cautiously. They both immediately checked their phones when their notification tones went off. Strangely, so did several other people's phones around them. One by one, eyes widened, gasps filled the silence, hands cupped over mouths, and murmurs began. It summoned Jade's anxiety.
"Jade, check your school email." Sango ordered.
"I'm not enrolled this semester."
"You're still a student."
Jade checked her email and saw an email addressed to all students and it was from the president of the university. Her blood ran cold. Something told her it wasn't going to be good news and that it had something to do with her situation.
Her intuition was right. As of that moment, campus was being shut down and students were being told to go home and finish classes online. They were also being told to report to the campus health department if they were suffering from sudden bouts of uncharacteristic rage, losing consciousness, and unexplainable bleeding from the nose or mouth.
"Oh, so they believe me now." she said in a low voice.
"FBI?" Sango asked.
"Oh yeah, probably. Hell, the CIA probably has a hard-on for this, too, with all the insane shit they've done."
"I never took you as a conspiracy theorist." Kagome said with a nervous laugh. Jade shook her head.
"Uh, I'm speaking on things they've straight-up admitted to doing and that's just what they've admitted, not what all they've actually done. They've destroyed countries and experimented on their own people - confirmed, not theory. Learning about this is probably exciting to them."
"Damn. Well, that's awful. I'll have to read up on that stuff then."
Sango huffed and placed her phone down on the table. "I'm not upset about not physically going to classes, but I'm upset as to why we can't. It just gets worse."
"Alright, Sango, educate us on the Shikon no Tama. Take your time since we no longer have to go to class." Kagome urged.
Sango kept her gaze at her drink in her lap. "Before I do that, I wanted to apologize to you, Jade. I said some really awful things to you and there's no excuse. You're right about your decisions having no effect on me directly, so even though I disagree with them, I should still be here for you. Also, while I appreciate you trying to keep me out of this mess, I'm afraid I have to involve myself now."
"Thank you and I get it." Jade replied.
Closing her eyes, Sango shook her head. She seemed reluctant.
"If you don't want to, or if this is going to get you in trouble, then you don't have to tell us."
"No. You're my friend and I'm going to help you however I can." she insisted. "And, as much as I despise Naraku, I don't wish the curse of the Shikon no Tama on him."
Jade nodded. She suspected Kagome had something to do with Sango's apology, but she had no proof, so she dismissed the suspicion as quickly as she acknowledged it. Sango wasn't easy to convince, so she must have felt bad enough about it.
"Alright, so, where do I start?" Sango asked herself, rubbing her arm absentmindedly. "The Shikon no Tama is a monstrous thing. It manifests as a jewel or crystals, things that can easily persuade a human to pick it up, and from then on, its influence leaks into the person."
Jade leaned forward. "It can do that even without blood?"
"Yes, or so the stories say. I assume using blood speeds the process up. I can only guess that giving it your very essence is even worse than just being physically exposed to it."
"Thanks, Naraku." Jade grumbled, taking a drink of tea.
"He could not have fucked this up more if he tried. It's almost like he was destined to do it." Sango replied, but for once, there was no bitterness in her tone. "The jewel is a master manipulator, and it's old, experienced, so maybe this was its plan. Who knows?"
"What does it want? Where did it even come from?"
"I don't know. All I know is the Shikon no Tama is not of this world. I would assume it doesn't follow the same rules as we do if it's from somewhere else. The lengths my people went to in order to contain it were drastic and cruel. I question if those measures even actually contained it. I think it was greatly amused and decided it enjoyed watching the misery it caused." She began to fidget in place, picking at her sleeves.
"I guess I'm a little confused. You said the jewel looked like the one I have, but according to my dream, and just from the fact that Naraku received a piece, it's enormous."
"I don't know for sure. All I can think is the main part is in the lake and then pieces of it wash up or something. My ancestors tried to keep it contained. They grew desperate when they realized it was still operating. That's when they...began offering sacrifices to it. I'm guessing it grew in size overtime, but I don't know that for sure. "
"Human sacrifices?" Kagome inquired.
"Yes. Some were voluntary and some were not. They were looking for specific kinds of people."
Jade could see the miko standing at the edge of the cliff overlooking the lake in her dream. "What about a miko? Anything about one of those?"
"Yes, there was one - Priestess Midoriko. She was the final sacrifice and it was her blood that allegedly turned the jewel dormant. That is the last recording of its activity from my village."
"Oh, wow! That almost lines up with the legend of her sacrificing her life to stop a yokai and the Shikon no Tama was the result of that battle!" Kagome pointed out.
"It's difficult to know what exactly happened. I want to believe the records in my village, but they might not be accurate, either. I do know the human sacrifice bit is true, unfortunately."
The memory of being dragged down into the depths of the lake made Jade shudder. Was the woman in her dream Midoriko? Had that truly been her fate? Then, another thought made Jade feel nauseous. Would that have to be her fate, too? To stop all of this, even if temporarily, would she have to sacrifice herself?
"Jade, are you alright?" Kagome asked, having noticed Jade's drop in constitution.
"No." she admitted without hesitation. She even placed her drink on the table to prevent herself from dropping it.
"What's wrong?" Sango continued.
"I just...don't know what to do. I'm stuck." she answered, closing her eyes. "Everything I've done was to survive and now I might not be able to do that."
Sango's tone hardened. "What do you mean? I don't like how this sounds."
"What if I have to sacrifice myself to stop it?"
"No, absolutely not! We've come a long way from five-hundred years ago! We have access to way more weapons and chemicals than they did! My ancestors didn't know any better! They did what they thought was necessary, but they also didn't have bombs, either!"
"Sango, please don't say, "bombs," really loud right now!" Kagome said in a low, harsh voice.
"I'm not going to calm down until Jade gets that notion out of her head!"
"Okay, fine." Jade relented. Even though her eyes were closed, she could almost feel the stares of other patrons on them. Sango feared nothing once she was fired up. It almost reminded her of Aunt Rosa.
"Besides, Jade, who said this was your problem to solve?"
"No one, but I have the stupid thing in my closet and it's trapped in my blood! I don't want to toss it into a body of water because that didn't seem to work out too well for your ancestors!"
"Give it to the authorities anonymously."
"How?"
"Mail it. Wipe your fingerprints off the container."
"You don't understand!" she griped, opening her eyes and leaning forward. "This thing hates me! It wants me gone! I could be on the opposite side of the planet and it would track me down and find a way to kill me. I don't even think killing me is enough. It wants me to just stop existing."
For some reason, that statement hit her differently. She remembered it offering to give her Naraku's memories of Kikyou. It didn't necessarily want her dead; it wanted her consciousness to disappear. She kept calling her interaction with the miko a dream, but maybe it was a remnant of her consciousness Jade had stumbled upon instead.
'I wonder if I can find her again somehow.'
"Look, I'm going to be honest with you," Sango stated, pointing at Jade. "You've been spiraling for a long time. It was slow at first and you've rebounded, but now you're dropping like a dead fly. I can't say nothing about it any longer."
Jade frowned because Sango was right and she couldn't even bring herself to sarcastically thank her friend in an attempt to deflect it.
"I have to stand with Sango on this. It's so uncomfortable seeing you like this and it shows even when you think it doesn't." Kagome said, pulling out her phone. "The last few videos you've posted with the guys have a lot of comments on there about how quiet you were that night or that it was like you weren't even there. You haven't posted personal or solo content in months."
That was also true. Jade had received many personal messages from fans and fellow players alike asking if she was fine. She wasn't, but she didn't want to talk about it with anyone who didn't already know the situation. It was too much. Everything was too much.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Sango asked sharply. Her tone wasn't mean; it was urgent.
"There's nothing to say." Jade said.
"There's plenty to say, I think. Why are you so secretive about things? Why did you keep all of this from us? Do you not trust us?"
"I want normalcy. Not telling you guys meant you had no idea, which meant I could come home to no questions, no suspicions, no explanations - I want to be left alone while I handle it."
"You are- this is an American thing, I think. Americans are so self-isolating and stubborn."
Jade couldn't help but to cringe. "Uh, I'm pretty sure Japan was famous for its isolation, but go off, I guess."
"I'm not saying Japan doesn't have it's issues, but have I kept this kind of shit from you?"
"Sango-" Kagome began, but Jade held her hand up to stop her immediately. She couldn't let this one go.
"From her tone alone just now, I feel like you have hidden some shit from me because you don't want to talk about it because it's overwhelming, and complicated, and painful - whatever combination of those things - and that it isn't that you don't trust me; you just don't want to dig it up again after you've buried it a hundred times!"
Sango looked away immediately and something inside Jade, desperate to change something, desperate to be free, latched onto it.
"Naraku does that exact same thing when I call him out on some bullshit with his feelings!"
The expression on Sango's face was venomous. "Don't compare me to him!"
"Why not? You both have so much in common!"
"I'm nothing like him!"
"Isn't it fucking annoying when I bring him up for no fucking reason? That's how it feels when you do it to me!"
"Why are you being like this?"
"I saw an opportunity and took it. You're judging me for not telling you about my personal shit, for not reaching out for help, when you do it! How many fights have you been in with your boyfriend lately?"
"A few arguments; why?"
Jade felt her eye literally twitch at that answer. "Because I've noticed a spike in your moodiness every now and then, so I figured you had a disagreement with him or some shit, but how many times have I let it go without question? I don't know, because you haven't told me how many of our arguments stem from you being in a bad mood from not getting enough dick!"
"Why do you two have to shout about bombs and dick in public places?" Kagome hissed irritably at her friends. She reared up and waved to a group of patrons at a table nearby who, apparently, had taken great interest in the argument. "Sorry! We're just working some things out!"
"Maybe I want to talk about some bomb-ass dick, Kagome." Jade retorted dryly, taking a drink from her tea. The temperature of the beverage had dropped more than she liked, but she didn't feel like asking to heat it. The group of friends heard her comment and began snorting and giggling. Sango had closed her eyes, but she couldn't hold back her snort. Kagome just looked mortified and hid her face. Jade took the opportunity to calm herself and continue drinking her tea until it was gone.
Sango spoke first after a few minutes of silence. "You're right. I'd be lying if I said I would handle things differently in your position. Truthfully, I think that's why I'm so frustrated; I would do exactly what you're doing. I see what I believe are mistakes and when I make a mistake, I make sure I don't ever do it again. I never live it down. So, I see you making mistakes and I don't want to watch you hurt anymore, so I just...lose my temper in hopes you'll listen to me."
"I get it." Jade said.
"No, really, if Miroku had done what Naraku did, I would still try to help him. I would beat him mercilessly, but I would be helping him, too. Miroku used to be really...sketchy."
"Naraku isn't my boyfriend." she pointed out while grimacing.
"I know and I'm talking about before I started dating him, too. He came from a rough background. He was a criminal; he stole, he assaulted people, he was a womanizer, and he didn't see anything wrong with what he was doing because it was how he survived."
That information bulldozed Jade. Of all people, she never suspected Sango would even tolerate someone like that in her presence, let alone date and love them. Jade had only met Miroku briefly a few times and he always seemed upbeat and personable; good qualities for a conman, but a full-blown criminal? It wouldn't have been her first guess.
'That explains some of the vitriol she's had when Naraku is brought up.' she thought. Naraku was an absolute asshole, so it wasn't that Sango was wrong; she just made it very personal at times about a man she really had nothing to do with. It was too much, but now it made sense.
"We've all had problematic men find us and love us." Kagome said aloud. "It's nothing like the watered-down fairy tales we've been told since childhood and they're simultaneously worse and better than the original versions of the fairy tales."
"Naraku doesn't- ugh, whatever. I get what you mean."
"He feels something for you." Sango stated confidently. "He will eventually be released and I'm sure he'll find you. It'll take time for him to readjust, find his footing, and once the fog clears, maybe we'll see what he really feels."
"Yeah, about that," Jade rubbed her eyes and kept her hands up to protect her eyes from being gouged out. "When he's released, I'm probably going to live with him or take him to my family until he's back on his feet."
"Yeah, we figured." Sango said with a sigh. She could hear Kagome humming in agreement. It wasn't the reaction she was expecting and it made her feel some semblance of relief.
"So, when our lease is up in a couple of months, that'll be it for me."
"Wait, what?" Kagome gasped.
"Yeah, what do you mean?" Sango demanded.
Jade peeked through her fingers. "Well, I can't live in three different locations. He's lost his apartment, car, phone,"
"I thought you said you saved some stuff." Kagome said.
"Yeah, I didn't pack his one-ton Charger into my closet. I saved what I thought was sentimental to him. The cops probably took the rest for evidence."
"They won't give it back?" Sango asked.
"Not while things are under investigation and even after that, probably not. Things will be repossessed and what not."
"So, you're going to get a whole different apartment with him on your own?" Kagome continued.
"Or take him back to my family. I'm not sure what would be best, honestly. Going home would be cheaper, but between Lucy and Lily's constant bickering and my Aunt Rosa's legendary temper, Naraku might snap and I can't wholly blame him at that point. I imagine he's going to be…squishy."
"He can stay with us if you want." Sango said with an exasperated sigh.
Both Jade and Kagome stared at her as if she had grown a second head.
"Uh, are you sure? You really don't like him and I can't say he's a fan of yours, either." Jade reminded her, wondering if her friend had suffered sudden brain damage and memory loss.
"Obviously, there will be rules, and Kagome has to consent to it, too, but I don't mind him staying with us temporarily."
"I don't mind." Kagome said with a shrug.
"He has to agree to it, too, and I really don't know how he'll react."
"Honestly, I don't like the idea of you living alone with him while he's readjusting. If he gets overwhelmed or angry, you're the only person he will have and I don't trust him to not take it out on you. If he's with all of us, we might be able to hold him accountable." Sango explained bluntly.
"That's true." she agreed. She hadn't given it much thought, but Sango brought up a good point about living alone with him. It wasn't an idea she was sold on, either, so maybe it was better to have people around after all. She then remembered something random. "Oh, can I ask you guys for a favor?"
"Sure." Kagome said as Sango nodded.
"Would it be possible to help me learn Japanese?"
Both of their faces lit up as they smiled and nodded.
000000
'Alright, the offer is out there.' Jade thought after sending an email that she wrote and deleted a hundred times. It was about Naraku living with her, Sango, and Kagome whenever he was released and she sent it to Naraku's attorney since she couldn't directly communicate with him. 'He would probably sooner shave his head than agree to it.'
She decided not to dwell on it. She had done all she could do. Next, she decided to confront the, "Shikon no Tama," and see if it was willing to talk or not. Realistically, she knew it wouldn't tell her anything it didn't want her to know, but maybe she could get it to confirm something.
Closing her eyes, Jade gripped the container so tightly she thought it would crack. When the world around her seemed to go dark, she opened her eyes and was staring at the restrained and suspended Not-Naraku. His eyes rolled dramatically upon seeing her.
"Are you the Shikon no Tama?" she asked.
"Ah, Shikon no Tama," the other Naraku repeated, a hint of a smirk appearing on his lips. "I have not heard that title in a while."
"So, it's just a name. What are you? Where did you come from?"
His red eyes studied her, almost glowing, and before he answered, she could see the defiance showing in his demeanor. "I suspect you only care because you're trying to find a way to destroy me."
Jade pushed forward, undeterred by its choice to be a pain in the ass. "Are you causing the outbreak on campus or whatever?"
"Hm? Outbreak?" He tilted his head, looking genuinely confused now. "Are you talking about my extensions?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"My connection to them was disrupted the moment your blood came into contact with me."
"So, it isn't you? I don't believe you."
"While I am still conscious, I cannot reach out much farther than this prison. That is why you can interact with me like this, but only when you're holding me. Whatever is happening is not me."
Jade racked her brain for any possibilities. Naraku kept the jewel contained, but once this other entity took over, who knew what all it infected? However, if its connection was no longer there to promote its survival, how else could it spread? The only answer she could think of was that something else of similar influence was now in control. The parasite was infected with a parasite.
"How is Naraku doing, I wonder? Have you spoken with him lately?" His voice was filled with false concern.
"No, but he is an extension, isn't he?"
"Is he?"
"I'm asking you," she insisted, silently coaching herself to keep a straight face. It was no different than speaking to the normal Naraku at this point.
"I am aware of that, but I am also aware of how little you know. You cannot even begin to fathom what I am. Do you think with me in control of his body for weeks that I would not have some sort of contingency plan?"
That answer made no sense to her according to what it just told her. "How is he doing any of this? He's not even in the city!"
The other Naraku stared back at her, studying her once more. His gaze would leave her for a few moments, but it would find its way back to her. He seemed to be debating if he wanted to say something or not.
'I don't know why I keep trying to reason with this thing. I'm only frustrating myself now.'
"There are brief moments where I almost want to make you laugh and just now, I almost wanted to console you. I imagine that is due to Naraku's affections for you. I am made from him, so it makes sense I not only inherited his intelligence and willpower, but his dreaded, warped emotions, too. It is a strange position I find myself in - simultaneously wishing you to be gone from existence and wanting you to remain here to speak to me."
Jade said nothing, but made note of what he said about being made from Naraku. It had been said before, but she was interpreting it differently now. It was almost implying that it was not the same as the crystal in the lake. The other Naraku insisting the campus ordeal was not his doing also seemed to imply that.
"Why are you so quiet?" he asked with suspicion.
"I'm just listening to you and thinking about what you've said."
"I see." The other Naraku snorted, as if something amusing happened. "That actually made me feel warm. I despise it."
'I almost feel bad for it. It's just trying to do its thing and Naraku's fucked up emotions are something it didn't bargain for.' she thought, rubbing her mouth to hide her smirk. As much as she felt bad, she also couldn't help but to revel in the fact that it was suffering some kind of misery after all it had brought upon its victims, especially her. It spent so much time and effort trying to suppress Naraku's consciousness. Now, it was permanently connected to him, unable to override him to snuff out the emotions.
"I suppose being honest with you cannot hurt. I am already at your mercy. Anything is better than this."
'Ah, he's probably bullshitting.'
"Naraku is my back-up in case something were to happen to my physical form, which you hold in your hands. There is enough of me in him to recreate myself in time. You are correct - he cannot be the one causing the outbreak because I am still stuck here, which severs my influence on him. The only other being with the ability to control my extensions in my absence is the one I originally came from - the one in the lake."
"It can reach this far?"
"It can reach all over the planet, possibly farther."
"If it can do that, why send you?" Jade asked, hoping it would just share something useful.
"I have become something different, something more, and I imagine my progenitor is not fond of the fact that its control over its own essence can be recreated into a separate being just like it that it cannot control. I am competition." The other Naraku smirked as he spoke. "Truth be told, Naraku did the exact same thing to me with your blood. I can almost sympathize with my progenitor - almost."
"If I'm understanding correctly," Jade began, excited that it actually confirmed her theory. "You want to get rid of me because you can't control me. So, does your progenitor want to do the same to you?"
Now he was grinning. "I imagine so. If I were to guess, it is searching for me right now."
"Hm, I wonder what would happen if I handed you over?"
The grin disappeared and if looks could kill, she would be dead. He arched an eyebrow. "Careful now. If you do that, I will be reborn in Naraku and then he will be the next target. I imagine my progenitor would also eliminate you since you are the one who severed his control in the first place. You are not compatible, but you are not stupid, either."
"But, Naraku had already-"
"We already had the ability to replicate and expand ourselves through organic material. When your blood mixed with Naraku's, I was born, and once I found out your blood was dangerous, I pulled some strings and tricked Naraku into destroying your crystals. You still live, unfortunately."
"You're such a miserable thing. I can't even be mad at you." Jade admitted. Its threats were starting to feel less painful and more annoying now.
"So be it." the other Naraku said, sounding proud, as if he accomplished something. His expression turned serious. "Hm, a thought just occurred to me,"
"Oh boy," she said sarcastically.
"My hatred of you does not outweigh your usefulness."
