Mastering Chemistry

by BillytheBee

Obtaining a higher education in Chemistry is a grueling process. It becomes nearly impossible when the Master's student of a research lab is chaotic and masochistic. Naraku is used to new lab assistants running away, but the new one shrugs most of his torments away. His harassing ways turn darker once he dives deeper into his research and he's dragging the new assistant with him.

40. Sympathy Pains For the Devil

Sympathy Pains For the Devil

A/N - Not my best work. As it turns out, juggling multiple characters' arcs and plots is hard.

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She forced air from her nose as one corner of her mouth lifted. "If you would call my body's current regrettable state, "living," then yes, I live."

Countless questions filled Naraku's head. He didn't know where to start. She seemed to notice his inner turmoil and raised a hand to signal him to remain calm.

"I know. First, tell me your family name." She waited for him to respond and he did with an expression that definitely asked what the importance of that was. "Please. Humor me."

"Saitou. It is my mother's family name, not my father's."

"What was his?"

"I have no idea. I never met him."

"He died?"

"No, he abandoned us, or so I heard. It is very possible my mother ran him off or hid from him. Who knows?"

Midoriko's face was fighting to retain its calm expression. He knew when he saw her eyes widen at the abandonment part that she realized she walked into something she was unprepared for. "I see." she finally said, breaking eye contact to stare at her lap.

"Why did you want to know? You realize how long ago your time was, yes? The names of those you knew likely died out or moved on."

"I suppose I really hoped that my actions saved someone I knew and cared about. Foolish, I know. Many of them had already succumbed to the Shikon no Tama's affliction by the time I was able to intervene."

"The person who you claimed I resemble - was he one of them?"

A thin-lipped smile appeared on her face. "Yes. He was. "Resemble" might not be an accurate enough word for it. Aside from your hair color, your face is his. It is uncanny."

That was the expression and answer of a person withholding information and Naraku was not in the mood for it. Then again, he intended to do the same thing. He let out a long sigh. "Why were you looking for me? How do you even know about me?"

"I learned your name from the woman with green eyes a little while back. At that point, I knew something had been upsetting the Shikon no Tama and I found her while she was in the void. It did not want me to interact with her, which I found peculiar, so I did, but we could not understand each other. She said your name and I took a chance that you would understand and have tried to find you since."

'She said my name?' He lowered his head to hide his smile. He planned to rib her for that later.

"Imagine my surprise when I learned that you were the Shikon no Tama's source of irritation, not her."

"Hah, am I now? Well, the feeling is mutual."

"Communication with it is not impossible, but it is difficult, so I cannot convince it to explain. Do you know why it dislikes you?"

"I imagine creating my own Shikon no Tama outside of its control might have something to do with it." he answered with a shrug.

Midoriko gave her first unrestrained expression - pure shock. "Why?" was all she could muster.

"It was not my intention." he admitted shortly. She paused, likely waiting for more details, but Naraku was not convinced she was an ally. Something felt off, though he could not quite place his finger on why.

"So, you know nothing of your ancestry whatsoever? No stories or myths were passed down to you?"

"No. Why does that matter?" he pressed.

"How is it that not only do you look like him, but also make the same mistakes? Without knowing anything about him?"

"What was his name?"

"Why does that matter if it has been so long?" she asked sarcastically.

"So, you were very good friends then?"

"I know you are irritated with me for not spilling my entire life to you. Our relationship had nothing to do with what happened. We could have been friends, acquaintances, enemies - it would have ended the same way because of what he did."

"You said he did what I did. What became of him?"

"I do not know. I assume he perished along with all the others during the first merge."

"Does that mean what I think it means?"

"It calls all of the afflicted creatures to itself. It is rebuilding its body with their flesh and bones. It has done this many times since then. It is quite amazing…and terrifying."

"Fuck." Naraku shook his head as the concept sank into his mind. "If he did what I did, how is that possible? My variation operates outside the original Shikon no Tama's control, which allows me to do the same."

"That I do not know. I would have to assume-"

"His was absorbed back into the progenitor, which left him as nothing but a puppet waiting for its master to move it." Naraku's voice came from the dark corner of the room. The Other Naraku prowled into the dim candlelight, gleaming red eyes fixated on Midoriko. "Hello, Priestess Midoriko. It has been a long while since I last heard your voice."

"I take it that you are the malevolent spirit of his Shikon no Tama."

"In the flesh - metaphorically. So, my lady, what brings you to myyyyyyyyy friend here?" The Other Naraku asked teasingly, though there was an underlying menacing tone to it as well, as if he was holding back a growl. He raised a finger to poke Naraku's face, but Naraku backhanded it away, earning a condescending chuckle from his clone. "Other than the fact that he looks like your long-lost lover,"

"This does not concern you, spirit. You can leave."

"It concerns me more than you know. If you plan to destroy the original me, you need the upgrade - me. I have the knowledge and power to do so. As entertaining as it is to watch you flail around in the darkness trying to figure out our motives and weaknesses, I do need you to make progress eventually."

"Your prison has made you desperate." Naraku said. "How did you find us?"

"I suppose you would know a lot about desperation." The Other Naraku retorted, ignoring the question.

"What prison?" Midoriko asked, her tone strict. She was staring at Naraku.

"Jade dropped it in a container filled with her blood. Her blood creates the pink variation upon contact and neither Shikon no Tama appear to enjoy it." he explained plainly.

"Then what do we need you for?" she asked, now staring at the Other Naraku.

Its expression turned serious. "There must always be another." it stated plainly, as if the answer was obvious. "If one exists, so must the other."

"Speak plainly." Midoriko snipped.

"There are no words for what we are in your languages. We are not from here."

"Do your best - what do you mean by one and the other?"

The Other Naraku's head tilted slightly. Naraku knew his own mannerisms when he saw them. Something had occurred to it.

"Are you speaking of the light and dark variations?" Naraku asked carefully.

The Other's red eyes met his. "You are no fool. Why are you entertaining this?"

That made Naraku frown. Was it referring to the question or the situation? If anything, it had his full attention at that point.

"I see it has inherited your antagonistic nature." Midoriko pointed out. "What is this other woman's importance?"

The Other kept his unblinking gaze locked with Naraku's. "Are you jealous, Midoriko? Another woman with the man you loved likely led to this handsome boy here. How certain are you that you were his one and only?" it asked tauntingly. It refused to look away from Naraku. Midoriko opened her mouth to retort, barely hiding her anger, but it continued. "Does it burn? Imagining some random woman's lips on his? She was probably no great beauty like you, but you lost out to the closest pussy to him at that moment. Meanwhile, you withered away in your temple trying to save his people…waiting for him."

'It is not doing this just to be obnoxious. It figured something out and doesn't want to say it.' Naraku glanced at Midoriko and her face was red. 'No, it would just leave if that was the case. It wants me to know it knows something.' He nodded slightly at the Other while Midoriko's attention was occupied.

The Other Naraku's eyebrow arched slightly and one corner of his mouth turned up. Finally, he broke eye contact with Naraku and turned his burning gaze onto the priestess. "Are you really still this angry over him? Have you found his memories in the void? What would they show, I wonder? Which position did he favor?"

Before Naraku could say anything, the Other Naraku seized up entirely. He turned his head and saw Midoriko's hand was outstretched and clenched into a fist. She floated to her feet, bringing the Other into the air. Naraku kept his expression restrained, but his body flexed and seemed to tell him to be on guard. Midoriko possessing the same abilities as him meant not only did she ingest a large amount of the Shikon no Tama, her body and mind resonated with it.

'This is what it wanted me to know.' Naraku deduced. It purposely invoked her wrath to manipulate her into revealing her power and, possibly, her intentions.

"You…vile…BEAST!" Midoriko's rage was palpable. With her other hand, she opened the temple doors and outside, an endless storm awaited.

The Other Naraku grinned and even let out a laugh. "You truly thought he was loyal to you!"

She didn't respond. She thrust her fist forward and sent him flying into the storm and, presumably, out of her mind entirely. His laughter faded away with the thunder and rain. When she turned back to Naraku, her glare did not soften.

"Give me one good reason why I should not do the same to you!" she demanded.

"I am not going to beg for you to listen to me or trust me. You sought me out, so make your decision." If she did the same to him, he decided to let it happen. He didn't want to reveal his powers to her and the Shikon no Tama on the off chance they didn't know.

It took a minute for her to debate herself. When she made her decision, she walked back to where she sat before and lowered herself onto her knees.

"Do you love her? The woman with green eyes?" she asked, staring at her sleeves while she smoothed wrinkles from them.

"No. I care about her, though."

"He cared about me, too, and now I am trapped with a monster in a crystalized cocoon at the bottom of a lake. He caused this. His intentions did not matter."

"Hm, is he truly my ancestor? Questions for later, I suppose." he replied nonchalantly. Then, he glared at her. "I am not him."

"I hope not for her sake."

'Fuck you.' he wanted say, but he kept his mouth shut.

He looked up when he heard a voice screaming his name in the distance. It was Jade and she sounded terrified. Naraku stood, preparing to wake himself up, but Midoriko reached out and grabbed his arm.

"She is not in danger! I still need to speak with you and I might not find you again!"

"Find a way! I told you that I am not him!" he snapped impatiently.

Midoriko gasped and recoiled, eyes wide. It was the last image he saw before his senses reset themselves to function in the real world. His body took in a harsh, deep breath and the sudden jolt of adrenaline brought him back to reality without the fogginess of sleep impairing him. Jade was standing at the side of the bed, both hands clutched to his arm that the priestess had clung to moments before. She was panting and she was stuttering so badly that he didn't quite understand what she said other than, "outside."

"I didn't hear everything you said." he replied, now standing. He took note of her moving closer to him, almost hiding behind him, which was very abnormal for her.

"There's a group of guys standing outside in the parking lot! They were staring up at me!" she insisted hurriedly. If not for her demeanor, he would have asked if she was sure. Instead, he nodded and walked over to the window with Jade still clutching his arm. Even her nails were digging into him. She was serious. Naraku stared down and looked around, but didn't see any conspicuous men staring back or at all.

"I don't see them."

"No! They were fucking there! Right there under the light in the parking lot!" Jade moved forward, pointing with one hand. When she looked and saw no one, she shook her head. "N-No! No, no, no! There were four of them! One had his back turned, but his fucking head was almost turned completely around! I'm not making this up!"

"I didn't say you were," he reassured her. "So, you don't see them now, right?"

"Not now, no."

"You were supposed to be asleep - why were you staring out the window?"

"Because I couldn't fucking sleep!"

"Fair."

"You believe me, though?"

"I do."

She stared at him silently for a moment, eyes watering, but she blinked them away and looked down. "Sorry." She released his arm. He raised that arm and patted her on the back, but he refrained from saying anything more. What could he say that would not make her feel worse? He could confirm they were a hallucination and she would question her mental stability or he could point out that it was possible it was real and she would question her safety.

'Not that either of those will stop her from doing what she wants,' he thought bitterly. She was scared now, but it would wear off soon and she would act like it never happened.

Naraku reveled in being right most of the time. It was a form of pleasure to him. The current moment of him being right was not one of those times. Just as he predicted, Jade steeled herself and spoke nothing more of what she saw. After they both cleaned up, she stated she was ready to return to the apartment. He didn't argue.

The apartment had no roommates waiting. Though she didn't voice it, Naraku could tell Jade was relieved by it. He was, too. While Jade was in the bathroom, he paid a visit to the guinea pigs. Dab was standing on his toes, stretching as far as he could to earn a pet from Naraku. Ume was uninterested in Naraku's affection and this time was no different. She remained flattened on her cushion. The only time she paid him any mind was when he possessed food. He was a dispensary and nothing more. Surprisingly, once Dab received his attention, he trotted over to Ume and settled next to her on the cushion. Neither of them reacted.

"Have you two decided to stop bickering or is this a rare moment?" he asked aloud. To test their bond, he crinkled a bag of treats and they both flew to the side of the cage, shaking and rattling the bars with their teeth. They both received a treat and instead of running in opposite directions or stealing each other's, they remained beside each other as they ate without issue. Naraku was genuinely shocked. For the past two months he had lived there, he watched and listened to the two pigs whine and squeal at each other for every perceived slight or infraction. Their fights never got violent - just the occasional nip at the butt or simply using their body to annoy and push the other out of the spot they wanted. They enjoyed pestering their cagemate almost as much as they loved food. The truce was as surprising as it was funny. He wondered what came over them. "Huh. Well, good for you."

000000

---

Jade sat on the couch and crossed her legs with her laptop cradled in the middle. She had contacted one of the social media managers for The Pack and asked her to help her draft an explanation for what happened to her the previous night. Her social media had been exploding endlessly and it was only getting worse. She even gave her phone to Naraku to keep herself from going insane.

The most annoying ones were the content creators who operated, "drama channels," and profited off others' misery. Whenever anything happened to anyone with any kind of online popularity, they would post videos with a kernel of truth and everything else was speculation or downright lies. Some of them would reach out to the popular person in question and ask them for an interview or a chance to tell their side, as if they really cared about being fair. She deleted their emails and messages as soon as she saw them.

'I want to give an answer that says nothing and shuts questions down.' Jade typed.

'You can tell them something like you're going to be okay and would appreciate privacy in this stressful time.' the media manager, Void Juice, replied quickly. She had been thinking about this already, it seemed.

'Should I say anything about the seizure?'

'In all seriousness, you don't owe them a damn thing. Just because you're well-known online and something happened to you in public, that doesn't mean they're entitled to knowing everything about you.'

'So, should my statement be something along the lines of, "Thank you for your concern. I'll be fine. Privacy is appreciated."'

'Alright, so here's me being honest with you - your statement should be, "Thank you for your concern. I'm taking some time off and I appreciate everyone respecting my privacy at this time." And then you should step back and take some time off from work and group streaming.'

Jade even whispered a defiant, "No," under her breath at that suggestion. She understood, but it was not an option. 'But I can't do that. I have to pay bills.'

'You're one of the founders - you're entitled to money made by The Pack even when you aren't featured or aren't one of the editors, right?'

'Not much. Not enough.'

'Have you considered trying different kinds of content? Like reacting to a movie or something that doesn't require as much energy or stress? You already have an audience, so I imagine it will do well enough. Fuck, if you do it soon, you might skim even more profits because everyone is so wrapped up in what happened to you that they're going to want to study your next video or just see how you're doing.'

'It has crossed my mind, but I haven't made serious plans.' She cracked her neck and knuckles when the aches in them started to become uncomfortable. She did like the idea of seizing the moment and making more money due to nosy people wanting to know everything about her.

'You should make some, then.'

'I can still edit videos. Just send some my way.'

'Sure. Actually, can we voice chat? I have an idea. I think you'll love it.'

She confirmed the invite and plugged in her earbuds, keeping her statement draft on her screen to continue working on it.

"I'm just trying to make sure I don't say anything to set off the drama channels more. The annoying assholes have been in my inboxes since last night." Jade said, stifling a yawn.

"Just send it to me and I'll make sure none of the stupid drama channels get anything worth a video's effort." Void replied with a laugh. She cleared her throat and the sound of her fingers tapping a keyboard echoed in the background.

"You know they will just make shit up, get those stupid-ass body language people involved, and the pseudo-therapists, like I don't already know I'm fucked up and make weird gestures,"

"Oh god. Imagine what they'll say about the guy who choked you out. A couple of the smaller channels already uploaded some stuff and, uh, they are claiming that he's the one who put out a hit on you." Void explained, ending it with a giggle. "It's not funny! I swear! I'm just- it's ridiculous!"

Jade rubbed her face and groaned harshly. "Why would he put a hit out on me when he was right fucking there? Why would he beat their asses if he hired them to- that makes no sense!"

"Have you, uh, been paying much attention to the social media stuff in the recent months? Drama videos? Or have you just been cranking out videos and ignoring it?"

She frowned. "Ignoring it. It's stupid to give any of those things attention."

"I agree that not responding to them is a good idea, but I don't agree that completely ignoring them is a good idea."

"Why?"

"Look, I love you, I love working for you, you guys are so much better than my previous employer, but policing your stuff in particular, Weed, is fucking scary sometimes." Void replied with a steely seriousness in her voice.

"Yeah, I know. I used to deal with it personally until I had access to you and the other managers." Jade pointed. She knew how disgusting and scary people could be.

"It's so much gross stuff, dude. I don't think you realize the magnitude. You've become way more popular than you were a couple of years ago."

"Okaaaaay. Is there something alarming? Something worse than the normal racist, sexist shit that I get?"

"So, you know there's a chunk of the fandom that's obsessed with your life, right? Like, everyone in The Pack has these subsets, but yours is different."

"Yeah. Stalkers."

"Right. You, being a woman, have dudes who do that. They know what university you go to, they take pictures of you in public when you clearly have no idea, but holy shit, when you did that live stream with that one dude back in October, they were furrrrrious."

"Because they thought we were dating?"

"Yeah, and when you said he had the biggest dick, oh naw," Void let out an awkward chuckle. "They were convinced he had you under some spell and that they needed to save you."

Jade was massaging her temples again. "Great. One slip of the tongue,"

"These dudes were going after your boy. I assume he doesn't have social media. I didn't see all of their communications. They might actually try to kill him now after last night. I'm assuming it's the same dude. Different hair color."

That made her burst into genuine laughter. "I'd like to see them try, actually." All she could see in her mind was handfuls of random, rabid men running towards her and Naraku casually flicking his hand and sending them flying one by one. Realistically, he would prefer physically beating them down, but the previous image was funnier.

"Weed, I'm serious."

"So am I. He isn't the one to fuck around with. Did you see him in the videos with the random dudes?"

"Yeah. I'm just saying these dudes are unhinged and I wouldn't ignore them. They probably have twelve guns each."

"I can't read every single comment, message, and email."

"Okay, so how about we log the bad ones and kind of debrief you on them and you decide if we act or not. All I can do is ban them."

"That would help. I'll talk to Koga about throwing in extra money for doing that because it will take a lot of time, I'm sure."

"Hell yeah. Thanks."

"Sooooo…what was your idea?"

"Oh, fuck, right! I forgot!" Void laughed heartily and sighed. "So, speaking of that guy from the October stream,"

"Ho boy." Jade inhaled and prepared herself. Naraku was difficult enough to convince the first time.

"I assume you've been really busy with science stuff and not dying, so I also assume you haven't kept up with video views and all that shit?"

"Correct. I shifted a lot of those responsibilities off to the other three once my health issues started and they delegated to their people. I have vague overall knowledge."

"They didn't tell you that stream was one of the top five most productive streams and the resulting video is one of the top three viewed videos for The Pack's history, did they?"

That made her freeze for a moment. She knew it earned money, but she directed her share to go to Naraku's account to repay him for his car, so she never knew the exact numbers and, honestly, she had been so busy and sick that she didn't care to look at the time. Opening her browser, she began logging into her accounts. "Not that I don't believe you, but I'm going to take a look."

"No offense taken. Here, I'll email you the graphs they made - monthly and yearly. They break it down pretty well. I'm just shocked they didn't tell you. "

"I'm not. Koga is threatened by Naraku, so anything dealing with him, he's going to pretend it didn't happen,"

"Physically, mentally, sexually?"

"Yes."

"Ah, that checks out."

"Well, fuck." Jade practically saw dollar signs at that point. It was almost unheard of for a one-off guest stream and video to make that much money in comparison to the normal players who were well-known and loved. The only time she saw it happen was when the guest was already a well-known player from another channel, but some random person with no following? She hadn't personally seen that scenario work out so well.

"My god," Jade murmured, now staring at the graphs comparing that video to the others they made that year. "Is he really that alluring to people?"

"You were in your bag when you brought him on. Your money-brain knew what it was doing. He's hot, smart, funny, and his stoicism and aversion to everyone's advances in the chat just made it better because some people have the idea that they're the one that can change his mind. Then, you have the other people who read too much into things and saw him rejecting everyone's sexual offers, but was actively playing into yours only. Which, obviously, he's your friend, so he's going to be comfortable with you doing it, but these people are convinced that he's this one-woman man and is entirely devoted to you, and that shit is romantic. And sexy."

"Rrrrrright." She knew Void Juice was just spit-balling, but she had no idea just how accurate the last part was. The only differences were the sexual and romantic implications. Naraku wasn't a one-woman man - he was a one-person person. He wasn't devoted to Jade - he was distrusting of everyone but Jade.

"Back to my idea,"

"Yeah, I think I know where you're going with this."

"No, I don't think you do."

"Stream another game with him?"

"Stream both of you reading and reacting to the fanfiction and fanart that came from that stream."

That actually took her aback. "Excuse you - what?"

"Weed, what the fuck? Has no one told you?"

"No! They've pretty much left me alone! I asked them to because I was so off my game!"

"Alright," Void began with a heavy sigh. "I'm going to send you more links. They will take you to things. I'm sure you know what these things are."

"Yeah, I've seen shit of me with the others before, so this isn't new. I just didn't expect it to happen with this."

"The second you said he had the biggest dick, you struck gold, and I'm sad no one told you."

"Yeah, well, probably for the best, honestly."

"Maybe now's the time. I have to go. Send me that draft. Literally do not do more than two sentences. Give no details. Stream that shit with that dude. Make money. Get some rest."

"Got it. Talk to you later."

'Alright, I have to fucking do this and go look at those links.' she told herself with a grin once the email with the, "Links to Gold," as it was titled, arrived in her inbox.

As she was advised, she wrote two very generic sentences addressing her audience while giving no details away whatsoever. She sent it to Void Juice and eagerly opened the email with the other links. She couldn't click the fanfic links fast enough. She avoided the fanart. If she was going to hook Naraku into doing a reaction video, she wanted her reactions to be authentic, too. She also limited what she read of the fanfiction for the same reason, but she still found a few excerpts which sent her into fits of laughter that she muffled into her arm. Movement caught her eyes and she watched Naraku walk down the hall.

'Oh God, no! Pleeeeease! Naraku, don't come out here!' Jade wanted to cry out, but if she opened her mouth, only wailing laughs would come out.

"Look at who has decided to get along," Naraku announced once he entered the living room. Cradled in his arms next to each other were the king and queen of bickering and they were not bickering.

"Oh, wow," she choked out, fanning her face which had grown hot from a lack of oxygen.

"Mhm." he agreed, sitting on the end of the couch and allowing the pigs to climb up his chest to find new places to relax. "Crying or laughing?"

"Laughing!" she said, wiping tears away. He nodded and remained quiet. She looked back at her laptop to continue reading an excerpt. She finished reading a paragraph where Naraku was the most seductive, rough-but-in-a-sexy-way man imaginable and then looked over at the current Naraku - a grown man in a hoodie and sweatpants, relaxing on a couch with two potato-shaped creatures resting on his chest - the embodiment of a sex god.

Another round of giggles began to bubble within her and her hand flew to her mouth in a poor attempt to conceal them. It didn't work. His eyes opened and his gaze met hers…and the giggles turned painful.

"What?" he asked carefully, seemingly keeping his voice down so he wouldn't scare the guinea pigs.

"No!" was the only thing she could squeal out before falling into a laughing fit. The volume scared the pigs and Naraku reached up to cradle them securely. Once they settled down, he used two fingers to lift her laptop, but before he could pull it to himself, Jade latched onto it like her life depended on it. "No, no, no! You'll ruin it!"

"I was being gentle."

"No, not that!"

"Work it out of your system and be ready to explain this to me when you are finished." He said in a tone that almost sounded bored. His eyes closed and he tilted his head back. Dab and Ume flattened out on his chest even more. Jade took the opportunity to catch the cute moment on her phone. Once the giggles began to disappear, he motioned for her to begin explaining.

"Okay, so, uh," Jade rubbed her face with both hands. "How do I say this without sounding insane?"

"You have already lost that battle." His eyes remained closed.

"I have an idea for a stream,"

"Mhm."

"With you,"

His face twitched, almost like he was about to tell her every reason not to, but he simply sighed and said. "Alright."

"It's…not a game. Or movie. Or debate."

"What? Are we going to just stare longingly into one another's eyes?" he asked sarcastically.

"Noooo," Jade cupped her hands over her mouth. "We're going to read about it."

"Explain."

"You remember our last stream, right?"

"I do."

"Well, viewers decided to write…fanfic stories of us. And drew pictures. I don't think any of it is PG-13."

That made his eyes snap open. "Why?"

"I don't know! Fandoms are weird, dude."

"So, if I'm understanding correctly, you want to stream us reading about us having sex."

"That's putting it very mildly, but yeah."

"Mm,"

"It will make a lot of money, I'm sure, and I'll split it with you."

"A portion of it will go to The Pack, no?"

"Koga will absolutely withhold permission because he hates you, so it will be on my personal channel."

"I suppose I can think about it."

That was not good enough. "Think about this - our stream and video were ranked top tier, made more money than almost every other video and stream in our library, and that's why Koga didn't tell me about it."

A slight smirk pulled on his lips. "Are you encouraging me to do this to upset your insecure friend?"

"Uh, yeah, basically, in the name of making money,"

"Fine. I will do it under one condition,"

"Yeah?"

"I will not do it until after you sleep for more than seven hours."

"I can't control how long I sleep."

"Find a way."

"Okay." She couldn't hide her disappointment, but it wasn't a no and it was a reasonable request. She signed out of her accounts and began working on editing a small video Ginta had made. Anything to keep the uneasy thoughts and feelings at bay.

Naraku returned the guinea pigs to their cage and began working on something in his sketchbook. He seemed content, which was a relief, especially after the previous night. Jade tried not to dwell on it, but she felt awful about it. From what she saw on the various videos, he was very reluctant to place her in a chokehold. He even squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away. It didn't take long to affect her, but still, he promised not to hurt her and then was placed in a position where he felt like he had to. All because she was too weak to handle her own emotions.

"Hey," she said. His eyebrows rose, alerting her he was listening. "Thank you for…last night."

"For choking you out?" he asked with a grin, but she could tell he was masking his true feelings.

"Well, it helped, so yeah. But, I saw in the videos how you came running right to me to help. I don't…think I've ever had that happen. I mean, people have come to help, but you came barreling through that crowd. I know you fed at least ten people your shoulders."

"They were in my way." he stated plainly.

"Naraku," she said with slight annoyance. "I'm thanking you for your help."

"My help would not have been necessary if not for me fucking up to begin with."

"So, if it wasn't caused by you, you wouldn't have helped?"

"I didn't say that."

"Bro, you are super ridiculous, you know that?"

"As are you."

"Fair. You're still not understanding, I don't think."

"I do. I just have a different perspective."

"Ah. Well, still, thanks."

He looked at her and nodded, apparently still unable to just say the words.

As the day drew to a close, Sango and Kagome still had not returned home. It took a little while for Jade to notice Kirara was also not there, which had never happened before unless it was a vet visit. It hurt her to know that was how her friend thought of her, but she didn't blame her.

Jade decided to give sleeping another try. She felt exhausted enough for it to work. Two hours passed while she just stared at the ceiling. She was tired and sleepy, but every time she was on the brink of dozing off, her heart would seemingly skip a few beats and cause her body to twitch and wake her up. It was almost like her body itself was telling her that if she fell asleep, her heart would stop.

Staring at the ceiling, Jade inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Her hands were clasped together on her abdomen, thumbs tapping each other. She had already thrown the blanket from herself, having become too warm beneath it, and she plugged in her desk fan to create some background noise as the silence was too overwhelming. It was as if every sense had been enhanced to an oversensitive degree and now every sound, touch, smell, taste, and sight was an annoyance. She closed her eyes and pushed the thoughts away.

Her heart pounded against her chest alarmingly, forcing her to take a sharp inhale and shoot straight up into a sitting position. Panting, Jade's eyes were all over the room, looking for something out of the ordinary, something dangerous, but nothing was registering in that manner. It was her room and it was exactly the way she had left it before she presumably fell asleep. Her hand searched for her cell phone and while it turned on, the screen was glitched and she could not use it.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she whispered to herself. "Fuck with me, fuck with my mind, fuck with my money," Her rant flared her anger and it fueled her courage. She stepped out of bed and walked out of her room. Just as before, when she shook Naraku and called his name, he remained asleep.

"Please," she said aloud, her body feeling like it weighed a ton. "Stop doing this. Just kill me and be done with it."

Almost as if it was an answer, a light slowly crept in through the sliding glass door. Jade slowly approached it. The closer she got, the more pink it became. Sliding open the door, she was met with a comforting warmth. Despite the situation, it made her feel safe. Even her body felt light as a feather. It was as if every good feeling she ever experienced was filling her mind and body.

'It's a trap.' she told herself. The light began to fade, just as she suspected it would. It was just something else to use against her to drive her to her limit. Give her some semblance of false hope or good feelings and then take it away.

Her eyes opened and she was staring at her bedroom ceiling once again. Without sitting up, she reached for her phone and turned it on. The screen worked fine and it was kind enough to let her know that she had slept for twenty-three minutes that time.

"What's wrong with me?" she whispered.

000000

---

In Jade's own words, she was, "buggin'." Though Naraku had not quite heard the term used that way, he had to admit that it was fairly accurate. She had over-caffeinated herself to combat the fatigue she was experiencing. Any loud sound made her jump and turn to look, and not in a frightened manner, but in acknowledgement. She barely sat or stood still. Instead, she was quickly walking around looking for this, cleaning that, and cooking food while dancing in place. He said nothing when at one point, her body gave up, and her legs buckled beneath her. She played it off and continued on her way. She was uncharacteristically chipper, to a slightly unsettling degree, and whenever Naraku tried to encourage her to sit, she would sit and then immediately jump up, claim she forgot something, and then find another task to occupy herself with. She was not herself and it was alarming to him.

Something in her head was still tethered to reality, though. When Sango returned to the apartment with her boyfriend and cat, Jade literally skipped to her room as they entered, shut the door, and played some music. Naraku remained on the couch with his sketchbook.

"Oh? Seems like she missed someone." Miroku remarked when Kirara, once let out of her carrier, bolted to Naraku and leapt onto his lap.

"No, she's just mad at us for putting her in there, so she's sitting with him to make us mad." Sango replied evenly, refraining from even looking in Naraku's direction. She told Miroku she would be back and disappeared into her room, closing the door.

Miroku grimaced, lightly clapping his hands as he slowly made his way to the other end of the couch and sat down. He glanced at Naraku and nodded. "I see you're doing well." He turned his head a little more, revealing a fresh bruise on his cheek. "He decked me good."

"Indeed." Naraku replied, finally petting Kirara. She began purring happily.

"So, uh, just a heads up, Sango isn't in the greatest of moods," Miroku said in a low voice.

Naraku rolled his eyes. "When is she in a great mood?"

"I hear you, but she usually isn't like this. She really doesn't-"

"Like me or trust me - I'm aware."

"To be fair, last night was insane."

"Yes, and I made sure to remind Jade of that, which may make their reconciliation go a little smoother."

"I, uh, tried to talk her down about you. I think I got somewhere with her. She might be willing to-"

"I don't care what she thinks about me. I simply don't want her to punish Jade because of me."

"That's fair." Miroku straightened his posture as Sango walked into the living room. Her arms were crossed tightly, more as if she was hugging herself.

"Can we talk? Alone?" she asked, looking at Naraku. He almost immediately agreed, but stopped himself. What would be gained from their conversation? She hated him, he hated her, but they were both friends with Jade - what else? As he was about to decline, she added, "Please?"

Closing his eyes, he cursed himself as his decision swayed back to the other side. "Fine."

"Let's go out here," Sango walked over to the glass door and slid it open. Naraku placed Kirara on the couch and joined Sango on the balcony, closing the door behind him. Sango's arms remained wrapped around herself and she turned back to him. "How is she?"

"Not well." he answered candidly. "Two days of no sleep and today she is physically wearing herself down."

"I think it's more like three days - she didn't sleep much the night before, either. She told me."

"Right. I forgot."

"We can't let her keep going like this!" she said harshly. It almost sounded accusatory, as if he was not doing enough.

"We?" Naraku could not stop the grin. "We?" A chuckle rumbled in his chest and he shook his head with disbelief. Where had she and her concern been all day yesterday?

"Yes, we - what's so funny?"

"I'm a monster, remember? Why are you asking for a monster's help?"

"Are you really going to not help her because of me?"

"I will help her whenever I can. That does not require me to help you."

"If you're trying to change my mind about you being a monster, you're not doing a great job."

"Oh, I'm not. I'm a monster, to be sure. However, I'm Jade's monster, not yours."

Sango smirked and nodded. "Yeah, that's close to what I told him last night. You're not her friend - you're her demented pet. You think you're making improvements on yourself, so does she, but really, you're just creepy, and pathetic. Had you not lost everything, you wouldn't be as nice to her as you are now. Your relationship with her is unhealthy at best."

He was not expecting her to hit multiple sore spots of his at once. His smugness definitely disappeared and he did not try to keep it to mask how he truly felt at the moment. As much as he wanted to throw her over the rail, he also wanted to throw himself head first. He would have if it meant he would actually die. "Fine." he finally sighed. "Fine."

"What?"

"I agreed to speak with you because I thought there was a chance, albeit microscopic in size, that we could set aside our grievances with one another for her sake. I was willing to, at least."

"You started mocking me!"

"I did. I could tell from your tone alone that this conversation was over before it began and, I will not lie, I'm not feeling particularly magnanimous where you are concerned. I'm still curious as to why you are even trying to ask me for help if you think that I'm her creepy, demented pet monster with whom she has an unhealthy relationship. Can you at least answer that?"

"Honestly, your unhealthy, creepy relationship makes it to where she listens to you more than she does anyone else."

"First, you are wrong. Second, you have a very low opinion of her. Third, your plan was to have me manipulate her. If I'm so wrong for doing that to her, why are you willing to ask me to do it to her again?"

"Look," Sango finally unwrapped her arms from her torso and placed her palms together in front of her. "I'm sorry. I really am."

That made him flinch. "For?"

"I think these things about you, I believe them, but maybe, just maybe - I'm wrong."

"I'm confused."

She waved her hand at him and exhaled. "Miroku told me some things last night that he has done, and when I asked him why he did them, he told me he either didn't know any better or felt he had no other option. He said once I showed him other ways and gave him other options, it was easier for him to stop being that…bad, broken person. He said that maybe Jade is doing that for you. Is she?"

As much as he wanted to let out a stream of curse words, he held back. Instead, he whispered, "Yes." It was embarrassing - pathetic - but true. He had been alone most of his life. Even Kikyou was unable or unwilling to support him at times. He had to be his own friend, advocate, teacher, and parent or else the world would have devoured him and no one would have cared.

"Alright. I'll take your word for it. If you're being honest, then I'm going to have to try harder to remind myself that you're still learning new things and unlearning bad things. As much as I…dislike you, I can honestly say that as a roommate, you're pleasant. You're clean, you keep things clean, you cook like a five-star chef, and you're quiet. You're also a good workout partner. I haven't really had an issue living with you. I thought you would be a nightmare. I've noticed that my issues with you, mostly, are where Jade is concerned and my handling of my emotions is unhealthy. I promise to do better. Really."

"Alright." He was surprised he was even able to speak after what she just said. He was genuinely shocked.

"Yeah." She nodded and then looked away, giggles spilling from her mouth. Her body appeared to be less tense. "You know, if you guys had been sleeping together, that would've made this easier to understand."

"How so?"

"I don't know. You guys really do act like a couple in the strangest of ways. I know you're not. It's hard to put my finger on it. I see you guys being together, living together in a house, and…that's it. She's not interested in people like that. All the conversations she, Kagome, and I all had about dating, sex, children - I always thought she was just joking with her answers, but I think she's serious. She just wants to make money and spend that money on things she likes and to make money, she hones her crafts. She doesn't care about being a girlfriend, wife, or mother, and that's fine. It makes so much sense with her. Then, I see you, completely uninterested in being a boyfriend, husband, or father. You honed your skills and climbed your way out of homelessness, and you spend money on things you want and - you see what I mean?"

"I think I do. She and I are…a good team."

"I believe that. I've seen it. I don't get it, but you don't see harmonization like that very often. Even Miroku and I don't work that well on projects together. We can get it done and it's great, but we have to plan, we argue about whose approach is better, and we put a lot of effort into not annoying each other. You and Jade joke around and end up rebuilding an entire computer together and then go out and work on her car just because you felt like it. No planning required. I know people speak about soulmates and- are you blushing?"

The question was abrupt and if he had not been blushing before, he was then. The heat in his face was definitely concentrated in his cheeks. He turned his head and grumbled, "No."

"Yes you are! Look at you!" she laughed, leaning to the side to get a better view. At least she didn't sound like she was mocking him. She just sounded happy. "Why are you blushing? Are you embarrassed about something?"

"I'm not blushing." he lied. "I'm…not used to people complimenting or saying nice things about me outside of my appearance."

"Oh. Well, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, but I made my point. You two are weird, but you both wear it well."

"Hm."

"Don't pout! You're ridiculous!" She laughed again. Clearing her throat, she held her hand out. "I know we can't start over, but can we move forward?"

Naraku stared at her hand for a moment. He didn't entirely trust that she would not throw him under the bus the first chance she had, but he was also truly tired of it all. Nodding, his hand met hers and they shook.

They walked back inside and Miroku was scrolling on his phone quietly, glancing up when he heard the door open. Sango sat beside him and he placed his arm around her. Naraku, wanting no part of that, sat on the smaller couch. Kirara must have been waiting for him. She scurried out from under the table and back into his lap.

"A real pussy magnet, that one," Miroku remarked.

"Do better." Naraku said back, waving his hand over Kirara's head. She swatted harmlessly at it.

Sango snorted loudly. "You should see the women in belly dance class when he's there. It's unreal."

"Is it kind of like that episode of South Park where all the boys start grunting at each other over the single girl like animals, but reversed?"

"Actually, yeah, that's a pretty accurate depiction."

They spent the next few hours watching various videos. Naraku wanted to check on Jade, but he didn't want to possibly wake her if she had finally fallen asleep. He had not heard her moving around, but the music also made it difficult to hear her. Eventually, Sango and Miroku decided to go hang out at a bar and eat. They invited Naraku, but he declined.

Jade emerged from her room once they left, confirming Naraku's suspicions that she was actively avoiding Sango or, at least, a confrontation with her. She slowly walked up to him, reaching down in his lap to pet Kirara. She mewed happily.

"I'm going to head out." she said.

"What? Where?"

"There's some food trucks that have set up downtown next to the lake,"

"Near the pier where you were attacked?"

"Near it. I was going to go grab something to eat and hang out at a club."

"Why?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

"You know exactly why."

"What am I supposed to do? Live in fear for the rest of my likely-short life? I don't know when I'm going to die, but I have a feeling this thing is going to get me sooner rather than later! So I should just not have fun?"

"I didn't say that," he replied calmly. She seemed to realize he was not trying to oppose her. Her expression lightened and her shoulders dropped.

"Will you go with me?" she asked.

"Sure. Let me change clothes."

After finding a place to park a couple of blocks away, Jade made her way through the crowd of people who were standing at various food trucks, standing in groups to smoke, or enjoying a waterside stroll on a nice evening. Jade glanced back to make sure Naraku was still following her. To say he was hyper-vigilant was an understatement. Every muscle in his body was awake and tense, ready to react. He kept Jade in his field of vision at all times. Any person who looked unwell or unstable was enough to make him consider tossing them down the next block before they had a chance to do anything to truly deserve it.

His senses perked up even more when he heard Jade gasp and then smile before trotting over to a colorful truck that stood away from the buildings and near the water. As he approached and dodged people, he saw the cooks in the truck were serving Hispanic food and speaking Spanish, to which Jade was replying enthusiastically. They appeared to be equally as excited to speak to her. She pointed to different ingredients and nodded when they asked something in return. Naraku had picked up on some Spanish with Jade, just as she was learning Japanese from him, Sango, and Kagome, but he still could not follow the conversation as well as he would have liked. His crossed arms screamed to be free so they could react, but he flexed and took a deep breath to rebuild his mental fortitude.

The man she was speaking to glanced at Naraku multiple times and after the fourth time, Jade turned to look at him before bursting into laughter and replying once more in Spanish, waving her hand dismissively. She turned back to Naraku and pointed at the food they were preparing for her.

"Burrito?" she asked him. He shook his head and turned away, but remained close as he listened to her conversation with the men in the truck. Once her food was ready, she thanked them and bid them a good night before approaching Naraku while wearing a sombrero she also bought from them. "So, uh, are we fuckin'?"

"What?" he asked with confusion, staring down at her.

"Because having you stand behind me like a jealous, jaded boyfriend when I talk to someone makes me feel like we should be." She took a bite of her burrito.

"It might have something to do with the fact that not even forty-eight hours ago, you were attacked by strange men just down the road from here after being possessed, so forgive me if I'm a little uptight or untrusting of the situation at hand!" he replied, becoming increasingly more agitated by the end of his sentence.

"Dude, chill."

It was the most Jade-esque expression he had seen from her in days and his level of anger went from, "I'm irritated," to, "I must destroy something or else I will implode," instantaneously. Gritting his teeth, he reached out and grabbed her burrito. Before she could even speak a word, he turned and hurled it as hard as he could. Watching it arc over the crowd and land in the water felt mildly satisfying. It took the edge off his anger, at least.

"Dude, what the fuck! I just fucking paid for that!" Jade snapped, pointing in the general direction of her discarded burrito.

"If you tell me to calm down one more time, you are next!"

"Why did you even come if you were going to be like this?"

Rage swelled within him, almost boiling him from the inside, but he was able to stop himself before he said or did anything regrettable and dropped his gaze to the ground. It was not like he had any right to truly be angry with her.

Her hand reached up and patted his head lightly. "You're really tense. Are you okay?" she asked him with genuine concern. He didn't answer. All he could hear in his head was Sango calling him Jade's demented pet. He could not even bring himself to look directly at her. "Hey," she called out.

"Hm?" His gaze remained aimed at the ground.

"I'm going to go get another burrito. Don't throw this one, please."

"I promise." he bit out. She walked back to the truck and seemingly explained to them what happened and the men in the truck began creating another burrito for her.

"Ayyyy," Jade sang as she walked back over with her new burrito. "They were nice enough not to charge me for this one." She took a bite and with her mouth full, she added. "Dick."

'Don't throw her, don't throw her, don't throw her, do NOT throw her,' Naraku chanted to himself silently. She jokingly tapped his arm with her fist and laughed. 'Do not fucking throw her, Naraku.'

She devoured the burrito impressively fast. Naraku motioned for her to lead the way once she finished, so she did. To his displeasure, she chose a particularly active and loud club. A man was showing off and loudly laughing as they approached the door. Jade dodged the man fluidly and politely, but Naraku purposely didn't move and knocked shoulders with him. He heard him start cursing and threaten to hit him.

'Please, swing at me.' However, it didn't happen. The man just continued having fun with his friends. When Jade walked up to the bartender, a bit of hope sprouted in his chest. She had claimed for weeks now that alcohol helped her sleep. The hope burned away when she ordered a large can of an energy drink instead.

She snapped open the can and began chugging it while gracefully weaving herself through the crowd. Somehow, she avoided hitting people with her sombrero. A man cried out excitedly and held his hand up to her and she tapped his palm with hers without hesitation. It was clear he was just having a good time and Jade nonchalantly indulging him was simultaneously calming and alarming to Naraku. Jade being her normal self was good, but it was also discomforting because she was far more accepting of dangerous situations when she felt better. He knew that all too well.

'Just let her go.' he told himself when he saw her join a group of people watching others perform dance moves. She seemed content and he didn't want to stop that. He also could not deny the growing disgust he had with himself for worrying so much about her. Sango calling his friendship with Jade unhealthy was still buzzing around in the back of his mind and it was definitely…affecting him at that moment.

After moving into the much-quieter lounge room, Naraku claimed an empty billiard table and began randomly sinking the balls into whatever pockets he could. A group of people at another table asked if he was interested in playing with them, but he declined. If the circumstances had been different, he would have no issue destroying them in a game. Alas, his social battery was beyond empty.

'What am I going to do about all of this?' He asked himself, leaning down to aim. 'What will it take? If it requires my death, so be it, but where do I begin? If I die without making sure this is finished, Jade will be by herself. She will have support, yes, but no one has the experience, knowledge, or power that I have right now.' The stick struck the ball with a bit more force than he intended and the smashing sound echoed as the ball flew into the pocket. He circled the table to reposition himself and aim for the next ball and pocket. Reminding his muscles to relax so he would not knock the ball through the wall, Naraku struck his next target softly and still made it to the pocket. Inhaling deeply, Naraku rolled his shoulders to help release the tension from his body once more. It refused to stay away.

'I can ask my orb, I suppose.' Naraku grinned and held back a laugh. What were the odds that Jade, Sango, or Kagome would tell him where it was so he could ask it questions? He could try to find it in the void, but that was a literal shot in the dark, and Naraku was certain he didn't have time to try. Then, he froze for a moment. The Other just so happened to find Midoriko and himself? No. It was no coincidence. It had to know how to locate him, which meant there was a way to find it specifically.

A set of giggles pulled him from his thoughts and he turned, expecting to see Jade teasing him, but instead, he was met with three random women he had never met before. They were sitting far enough away from him to allow him to work, but he was certain they chose that spot for a better view of him.

"Sorry! We just saw, uh, how good you were and wanted to watch!" one of them blurted while raising her hand. Her fiery-red hair glimmered in the dim light. Her other two friends buried their heads into each of her shoulders as they tried to fight away their laughter.

"Of course." Naraku replied, retrieving balls from the pockets and resetting them on the table.

"We'll be quiet! Promise!" the blonde one said with a smile.

"Deal." he said, realizing he actually didn't have the energy to run them off. He silently promised to handle them if they start taking pictures and videos, though. They had their phones in their hands, but the cameras were aimed down and they seemed to be interested in whatever was on their screens at the moment.

It felt like hours had crawled by, but it had only been forty-five minutes when his sleepless friend came looking for him. He saw her, but waited for her to speak first.

"Ayyy," Jade sang as she trotted up to him. Her sombrero remained very loyal to her head. Naraku stood at attention, staring down at his friend expectedly. "You thirsty? Hungry? Yeah?"

"No." he answered simply. His gaze shifted when he saw the red-haired woman leave her seat and lean over conspicuously with her eyes fixated on Jade. Jade rolled her eyes, but said nothing about it.

"You sure?"

"Yes. Go have your fun. Don't worry about me." he insisted calmly.

"Well, I wanted to have fun with you."

"I don't like crowds, people,"

"Ah, yeah, sorry. We can go-"

"I want you to do what you want."

"He could do better." one of the women said in a low voice. They stopped their giggling and whispering immediately. It had gone temporarily silent as the song ended and the next one was beginning, so her voice definitely ended up being more audible than she intended. They stared at Naraku and Jade with wide eyes, waiting for a reaction.

"Really?" Naraku murmured, reaching up to adjust the sombrero, using the motion to cover him telekinetically knocking them backwards in their chairs. They all groaned and cursed as they pushed themselves off the floor and untangled themselves from the chairs. Quietly, they stared at one another to see who caused the accident. "Karma is swift tonight." he announced, lowering his hand to Jade's shoulder. The three women turned to look at him. "Perhaps you should leave."

To his delight, they left while talking to one another, asking who fell first. Right before they left the room, the red-haired one turned back to them and called out, "Sorry, by the way!"

Naraku scowled. "Don't forgive them."

Jade waved back and nodded to let them know she had no hard feelings. His hand flew up to hers and pushed it down to her side.

"Don't wave at them!" he said sternly.

Giggling, Jade patted his chest lightly with her other hand. "I'm conflicted. I don't want you hurting people, but I would be lying if I said you hurting people for hurting my feelings isn't funny."

"I didn't hurt them." he argued mildly, looking away.

"Yeah, yeah, semantics. You know what I meant."

"They should never have opened their mouths. They deserved it."

"Are we going to go through the entire Narcissist's Prayer, Naraku?"

"Them deserving it is the end of the prayer, no?" he asked back with a smirk.

"Amen." Jade chirped with submission, hands on her hips.

"Yes, yes, hail me." Naraku retorted with a forced exhale, acting as if he was annoyed. "Go have your fun."

"I want to have fun with you."

"What kind of fun do you think you will have with me?" he asked while nimbly twirling the stick in a circle with a single hand.

"The illegal kind."

"Oh?" A small laugh escaped him. He could not help but to feel a bit flattered.

"Yeah! You're not scared to do things!"

"Things?" he pushed, still spinning the stick.

"Let's go get some weed, find some abandoned building to explore, trespass,"

"Trespass?" Naraku asked with another laugh. Was she serious?

"What? That shit is illegal!"

"No, you misunderstand. I'm not laughing at your suggestions; I'm laughing at you."

She pouted. "Why?"

Naraku closed the gap between them and leaned down. "I just think it's cute that you think those are the illegal activities I aim for,"

"Too vanilla?"

"They were tertiary in comparison to my main goals. Stepping stones, if it please you,"

"What all did you do?"

"Tales for another day, Jade." he stated, placing the stick on the table. "Come. Let us go find illegal things to partake in."

"Hell yeah."

"However," Naraku held a finger up. "We will be doing it the right way."

"The right way?"

"My way." He held his hand out. "Keys."

The sun had just set. After driving to a convenience store to steal a twelve-pack of beer and rags, Naraku prepared to drive from the city. He knew the area he wanted to take her to and informed her of the general area and she encouraged him to go wherever and do whatever. So, he did. Once he found the general area, he parked her car off the side of the road in the darkness of trees. He grabbed the beer and rags and used his head to motion for her to follow. She plucked her sombrero from her head and left it in her car.

"We have a bit of a distance to walk. Typically, you don't want to park too close to your area of illegal activity. The police can block it off and there goes your reliable means of escape."

"Yeah. A lot of what I did was close to home with plenty of wilderness to hide in. Car wasn't necessary. I also wasn't old enough to drive for a chunk of those times."

They walked for over ten minutes. Jade straggled, her breathing labored, but she didn't complain or ask him to slow down. He did it anyway. Once they reached an open field well away from the road, Naraku used his telekinesis to find sticks, branches, and dried grass to create five effigies with grass bases and a couple with grass and leaves for hair. A low whistle came from behind him.

"You're really good at that now." she said, opening one of the bottles of soda she bought from the store while he apprehended their entertainment supplies.

"Thank you." He actively strained his body as he refrained from adding any sarcasm.

"Mhm." She slurped loudly. "I'm salty as fuck that I didn't get those powers. I'm not even joking."

He started chuckling before she finished her statements. "I know you are."

"I will die mad about it. Now, I think I know what we're doing here."

"Molotov cocktails - have you ever made one?" he asked. She shook her head. "The idea is simple - breakable container, flammable liquid, a wick, and fire. However, there are choices you can make that can turn this from a simple Molotov that will cause some minor damage to something that can stall a tank. You can even utilize napalm if you are feeling particularly rebellious."

"I'm not."

"Good. I didn't bring ingredients for that. These will be weak ones. Alcohol is easily accessible, but I recommend being creative if you have certain intentions." Naraku began to stuff the neck of a bottle with a cloth after pouring out some of the liquid. "I prefer cloth as my wick. If you use paper or anything similar, the flame will go out before the bottle reaches the target. Unless you plan on throwing something at a closer distance, then it doesn't matter much."

"I don't intend on making them a close-range weapon."

"I don't recommend it. So, assess the target, decide where to throw it," Naraku turned and hurled the bottle at the farthest target. Fire exploded and lit some portions of the grass and sticks, but the flames died off quickly.

"Neat. My turn." Jade began preparing one and held it up for him to inspect before lighting it and tossing it with just enough force to shatter the bottle at the closest effigy. He could not tell if she did that due to her uncertainty or if her physical exhaustion was a factor. Regardless, it seemed to entertain her. The moonlight brightened her features when she turned towards him. She was smiling widely. She immediately began preparing another. "So, does it matter if you arc the shot or use a straight path?"

"It depends on the target. A single target or a few, I would aim for where they are standing. If it was a crowd, I would use an arc because reaching or almost reaching terminal velocity is more of a guarantee to shatter as opposed to throwing it straight and risking it bouncing off and losing the energy to break. A building or vehicle? I would put it through a window."

"I know who I'm choosing as a riot buddy." she murmured humorously, aiming for the effigy farthest to the left.

"As if you would join a riot," Naraku said mockingly. "You are the least violent person I know."

"From what I've seen, that's a low bar for me to trip over. Also, that's why I would choose you. You can create enough violence for both of us."

"Indeed." Aiming for the farthest one again, Naraku performed an arced toss. The bottle landed on the top of the effigy. The shatter was powerful enough for a few flames to land on another effigy.

"Ooh, good one." Jade opened her bag of candy and offered it to him silently. Between her happy expression, posture, and offering of candy, she reminded him of a child. Naraku accepted and took a few pieces. "So, what's your plan?"

"My plan? For what?"

She shrugged, loud crunching sounds coming from her closed mouth. After swallowing, she clarified. "Life plan, I guess."

"I don't know. I have not thought much about it." he admitted, crunching down on a piece of candy to slow down the conversation. His decision had been made, so there was no reason to think or plan.

"What? That doesn't sound like you." Jade tossed another bottle at the bottom of the far right effigy.

"My attention is aimed more at the Shikon no Tama-"

"I don't want to talk about that." she interrupted swiftly.

"We cannot ignore it. We cannot hope to live our lives if it-"

"Look, if it wants me, it will have me. There's- what can I do?"

"Stop ignoring it." he replied dryly, now looking at her.

"Okay. It fucking exists. Does that change anything? Am I saved?" she asked dramatically.

"Being facetious is not going to help."

"I know! Fuck us, right?" she said with a nervous giggle. He answered with a nod. "So, what should we do?"

"This is entirely up to you, but we could try speaking to my Shikon no Tama. I guarantee it has useful information."

"As if that dickhead would give us anything helpful." she bit back. "No offense. Sorry."

"None taken. I found it in the void a while back. It wishes to be free of the original and the original is not going to let that happen. My Shikon no Tama might be swayed to help or at least give us information if that meant keeping you on its side. It even said it believes you are more useful to it alive instead of dead." Naraku decided he would tell her about Midoriko when she was a bit more stable. He didn't want to overload her with too much information.

"It said that to me, too. That's probably the nicest thing it's ever said about me. When I imprisoned yours, the original basically inherited your orb's extensions. I assume that control would be weakened if yours was freed."

"My orb wishes to replace the original entirely."

"It sucked all your ambition from you and now it wants to conquer the world."

"That tracks," he agreed. She may have been more right than she realized.

Both of them went silent, but not uncomfortably so. It actually felt like a weight had been lifted. At least, that was what Naraku felt. Jade seemed to be a bit more at ease. She even threw two Molotov Cocktails simultaneously and clapped with satisfaction at the destruction.

'Maybe she just needed this kind of release and will finally sleep tonight.' he thought with a sigh.

Minutes into their silence, a siren echoed across the field. Turning his head towards the road, Naraku saw the red and blue lights from two different police cars and four individual flashlights making their way towards them. They were yelling aggressively, ordering them to get on the ground. The distance between them was large and the field was wide, allowing all sorts of possibilities.

"Oh fuck, oh shit," Jade gasped, still having enough manners to place the bottle she held on the ground.

"Run, but not to the car." Naraku ordered in a low voice.

Jade hesitated and Naraku could tell she was about to have another one of her infamous, "Just take it," moments, but he was not going to allow it.

"Trust me. Go. Try to climb into a tree. I will whistle to find you." he insisted.

"Don't move!" one officer shouted viciously. They were still a hilariously long distance away.

Jade moved. She ran into the woods and Naraku turned to run a different way. He hoped they would come for him, but he expected them to split up. Naraku saw a sturdy low branch and grabbed onto it, pulling himself up. He found a comfy perch farther up and planted himself on it, pressing his back against the trunk.

"Yeah, he went this way!" an officer announced confidently. Between his voice, the responses on his radio, and his heavy steps, a deaf person would have heard him coming.

Reaching out with his hand, Naraku shook a few branches that led in the direction the officer thought he was going.

"Got him!" The officer bolted in the exact direction Naraku desired. Once the officer was out of sight and Naraku could no longer hear him, he moved. A crunching sound made him freeze and glance down.

A second officer was slowly prowling in the same general direction, passing beneath the tree Naraku was sitting in. His light and radio were off and his steps were purposeful and careful. He also had his gun ready to fire, which Naraku found to be a touch dramatic considering he had not shown any signs of violence towards them…yet. He waited an extra minute for him to pass before descending from the tree to find his partner in crime. He took a moment to figure out which general direction she ran to from his current spot and began to walk quickly. He stepped over sticks and leaves to lessen the noise of his approach. If two of the officers came for him, he assumed the other two were following her.

After a few minutes of wandering, Naraku heard rustling noises ahead of him. He froze and focused his hearing. When he heard male voices, he knew he found the other two police officers. He pressed himself against a tree when a flashlight was aimed in his general direction. They decided they heard nothing and turned away.

'One little game cannot hurt.' He reached out and rustled some branches in the distance. Immediately, the flashlights and guns aimed that way and they quickly marched towards the suspicious tree limbs. He followed them closely, slinking behind trees to keep himself out of sight. Again and again, he made more sounds until they reunited with the two officers who followed Naraku.

"Goddamn it!" the loud officer who chased Naraku spat. "How did they get away?"

"Yeah, how'd they outrun you, our fastest guy?" one of the others remarked and they all laughed.

"We should spread out, try again. Maybe one of us can patrol the road. There aren't many houses here. They likely drove, so their vehicle is probably their destination. I imagine it's parked in the area somewhere. We can intercept them."

"That sounds good. So- aahh!" The second officer who followed him jumped when the leaves of a nearby bush touched his skin.

"Those are some dangerous bushes."

"Fuck you! Could be poison oak or some shit! I'm allergic!"

"Wah." the loud officer said. Naraku closed his fist and loudly broke a thick branch. All the officers whipped around to face that direction.

"Just a branch." one of them pointed out. Naraku hit that one in the head with a twig. He cursed and ducked out of the way in case more fell. Before any of the other three had a chance to speak, Naraku threw a bunch of sticks and foliage at them simultaneously.

"The fuck?" The loud officer drew his weapon and aimed it in a random direction.

'What are you going to shoot? A spirit?' Naraku smirked and decided that was enough playtime. Honestly, it was not nearly enough to fully satisfy him, but he was able to blow some steam off, at least. For the climax, Naraku raised both arms and was able to cause all the trees, bushes, and weeds to violently shake. The officers all swore to various degrees, invoked their god's graces, and ran off.

'Too easy.' He sighed with disappointment. 'It is a shame I didn't have these abilities when I was a child.'

Once the area was rid of police and filled with silence, Naraku turned and began walking back to the general area where he assumed Jade resided. He hoped she remained in a safe place. He cupped his hands around his mouth and let out the loudest, longest wolf-whistle he could. Surely she would recognize it. To his pleasure, a quieter wolf-whistle answered him. Another whistle helped him locate Jade. She had climbed a tree to an impressive height. Naraku told her she could let go and he would levitate her down, but she insisted she could climb down on her own. Still, when she was within reach, Naraku helped her down despite her protests.

"I saw their lights kind of going crazy over there." Jade said to him with a labored laugh.

"I may have had some fun with them."

"I'm sorry I didn't see it." Despite standing still, Jade folded over with her hands on her knees. Her heavy, labored breathing made it seem like she had been running for miles.

"We should slowly make our way back to the car," he suggested. All Jade could do was whisper a word of agreement. It took her nearly a minute to catch her breath and begin walking.

"So, how often…did you run from cops?" Jade asked him.

"Too many to remember,"

"Was it a daily thing?"

"Mm, weekly."

"I've run from…cops before…but not…like this! They had…their guns out, dude!"

"Yes, but it would have taken a sickening amount of bullets to kill me. Jade, let me carry you."

"I'm…fine!" Her labored breaths indicated otherwise. "H-How do you know you can survive bullets? You…seem to be…really familiar with your insane…limits!"

"You are out of breath." He silently cursed her insatiable curiosity. She didn't need to know, especially right now.

"Yeah, but I'm still going! And you're…avoiding my question!"

"I will not speak to you, then. Concentrate on walking."

"Noooo, tell me!"

He didn't respond. He just continued walking. She pestered him twice more before ultimately giving up the conversation. He was no fool, though. She would not forget it so easily. Naraku kept a distance ahead of Jade, testing the terrain to make sure it was safe for her sluggish movements. For some reason, the thought of giving her some of his blood to ingest shoved its way to the forefront of his mind. He pushed it away, disgusted with himself. The disgust doubled when he thought back to a time where no one else mattered. He missed it. He missed being…him. Navigating others' feelings while keeping his desires in check was incredibly exhausting. Most people learned to do it from a young age, but he didn't have that privilege.

"Did you hear that?" Jade asked him, abruptly breaking the silence and pulling him from the forbidden thoughts.

Pausing, Naraku focused his hearing. Other than the sounds of insects and wind rustling leaves, he didn't hear anything. "Hear what?"

"Y-You don't?" She was turning in place and looking around frantically. Jade gasped loudly and lunged for him, hands latching onto his shirt and pulling. "Naraku, are you fucking with me? Are you?"

"What are you- I'm not doing anything."

Now she was pressing into him. "We need to go!"

"Listen to me," Naraku placed his hands on her shoulders, peeling her from his body. "Whatever it is you see or hear, it is not real." He strained to keep his voice calm.

In the filtered moonlight, he saw her eyes widen as she went completely still and silent. Thinking back to the other night, Naraku gently shook her shoulders and to his surprise, and relief, she blinked and looked at him, tilting her head.

"Wh-What's-" Her eyes darted around. "We're still here."

"We are."

She went silent, her chest still heaving. Her hands were wringing one another. She turned around as if she heard something, taking another step closer to him. Finally, she spoke. "Is the carrying me offer still…a thing?"

"Yes." He knelt down and told her to climb on. She did without protest.

Whatever was going on in her head, he could tell it was still affecting her. A handful of times her arms tightened around his neck and one time he actually reached up to tap her arm to signal her to release him. How she was still able to muster that much strength was beyond him.

"N-No! Don't!" Jade shouted, dropping off his back and landing on her back. She grunted while pushing herself up on her feet. "Don't…hurt him! Just take me!"

"What are you-" She bolted before he could finish his question. "Damn it!" He sprinted after her, catching up to her quickly. Her body turned and she barely avoided a thorny bush. Jade's labored breathing was mixed with cries. She jumped to the side, as if dodging something despite nothing dangerous being there.

'I don't want to scare her even more!' he scolded himself when he debated grabbing her physically or telekinetically. He called out to her, but it was like he no longer existed.

Suddenly, she stopped and folded over, letting out a breathless whimper. Her hands clutched her chest desperately and her breaths became even faster and shallower. Naraku was already upon her by the time she collapsed and caught her from behind, holding her against him. Slowly, he lowered himself and her to the ground, sitting up and nestling her on her back between his legs to keep her from hurting herself. He was almost certain she was having a panic attack.

"Jade," he spoke softly. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she continued to hyperventilate. He could feel her body trembling. It believed as much as she did that she was about to die. Her nails clawed his legs and he could feel her trying to move herself, so he took her hands into his and held them up slightly. Quickly, he tried to think of something soothing or reassuring. "I will not allow anything to harm you."

At first, nothing changed in her demeanor, but after a few seconds, her hands squeezed his and that appeared to be enough to bring her back to reality. Her eyes snapped open and she took in a deep, painful-sounding breath.

"There we are," he said. Jade's breathing was still labored and shaky, but she was taking full, deep breaths now. It took a few minutes for her to return to a more stable state. He released her hands and placed his on her shoulders when she tried to sit up. "Just relax."

"I'm…so sorry." she whispered.

"You have not-"

"I should've listened to you!" she cried, closing her eyes as tears came from them. "I'm so stupid! And weak! And worthless!"

"No,"

"Yes I am!"

"Agree to disagree." he replied, pressing back down on her shoulders when she tried to raise up. "Don't move."

"What do I do?"

"Right now? Control your breathing and lower your heart rate - we can go from there."

"Every time I fall asleep, my heart does this-" Her hand pressed to her chest. "-and it feels like I'm dying, so my body wakes me up."

"Do you know what it is?"

"No."

"Panic attack."

"Really?"

"Mhm. I assume you have not experienced it before?"

"No. I've had anxiety before, but not…like this." she admitted, letting out another exhale, which led to her breathing returning to a normal rate. "Have you ever had one?"

"I have."

"But you didn't have anyone to help you, did you?"

"No."

"I'm sorry."

"You didn't do it."

"Yeah, but still," She sat up and Naraku didn't hold her down this time. "What do I do? How can I sleep when this keeps happening?"

"I would recommend sedatives, or something similar, since anti-anxiety medications are a bit harder to come by so easily. You should look into those soon."

"Anything OTC?"

"Hm, you can try Benadryl, Nyquil, melatonin,"

"I have Benadryl at the apartment. I can try that. Nyquil tastes like ass."

"Let's go then."

The walk back to her car was much slower this time. Naraku carried her on his back again, but not only did he not want to trigger her, he, too, was exhausted. It would not be long before his body regenerated, but he still wanted to sleep. When they reached her car, they sat still inside it for a few minutes with the AC on before driving off.

As they entered the apartment, she turned to him. "Will you…watch me sleep? Or, like, sleep with me? If I start screaming, will you wake me up?"

He stared at her. "If you…really want me to,"

"I do! Please! I'm so tired! And scared! Please?"

"Alright." he agreed. The relief in her expression told him that she genuinely trusted him to do this.

While Naraku cleaned up and changed into shorts and a T-shirt, Jade sat on her bed waiting for him after taking the medication. When he walked into the room, just as he was about to kneel onto the floor, Jade reached out to him.

"It's big enough for both of us, unless you think you'll get too warm or you think I'll cuddle you or some shit,"

"I…Jade, are you sure?"

She nodded and he decided to end the discussion there. Truthfully, sleeping on a bed sounded fantastic. Naraku insisted on sleeping against the wall and window to prevent her from feeling trapped. He even placed a pillow between them instead of using it for his head. He used his powers to turn off the lights so she didn't have to move after making herself comfortable.

"I'm sorry for the past few days." Jade said softly.

"You don't need to apologize. Truly."

"I do. It wasn't fair to you. I'm sure you're annoyed with me. I've been so clingy. I'm annoyed with myself."

"It…concerns me, but mostly because it is not behavior you typically exhibit. You usually remain calm and controlled."

"Yeah." She sighed forcefully. "I've had to be. Well, not had, but expected, I guess. Growing up, Lucy and Lily really looked up to me and relied on me. I wanted to make sure I never led them astray, so whenever anything serious happened, I forced away my emotions so they wouldn't be scared or angry. After a while, it just became, "Jade's like that." So, I felt like I had to be like that if people said I am. Recently, or around you guys, I guess, I don't feel like I have to as much. I've never been that scared, so that was new, and then I couldn't keep my composure, which isn't new, but it scared me more that I couldn't control it, which made me even more scared and then…the next thing I knew, I was on the ground with you. That was embarrassing."

"How so?"

"I'm not used to it - people being this worried. I'm the responsible one, I'm the one who handles shit, I'm the one people can depend on," Her hands were pulled up to her chest, wringing one another. "I'm not used to being helped or…being held. I'm not really physically affectionate, and I know that isn't what you were doing - my brain just thinks any kind of contact like that is affection and we don't do that stuff."

"Oh." Naraku had noticed her preferences for keeping her contact with others strictly platonic, but he didn't know she had an aversion to softer, comforting touches. It sounded very familiar. "I can relate."

"I know!" she replied, bursting into giggles. "I know you don't like it, which makes it even harder for me to accept. You did something you don't like because I couldn't keep my shit together. I keep putting you in these uncomfortable positions."

"It's easier for me to touch others than to receive."

"Oooh, okay. Me too. I see someone struggling and I pat them on the back, hug them, or whatever, but I cringe when someone does it to me. Both of my exes said I was a terrible girlfriend because I didn't show them much affection."

"They are idiots. Hopefully, you have raised your standards."

"No standards left. Pretty much removed myself from the market." She stifled a yawn and exhaled. "I hope this works."

His eye spotted the Lycanroc plushie on her desk. He raised his hand and caught it, placing it on her stomach. She giggled while hugging it to herself.

"Thanks." she said, voice barely above a whisper. Naraku refrained from speaking or moving for a few minutes, waiting for her to completely fall asleep. When he heard her soft breaths, he turned to look at her and saw that her body had gone limp and her chest rose and fell slowly and steadily. He felt the tension in his body loosen.

Jade had finally fallen asleep.