selfish. [ jack/naib ]

chapter 4.

Naib stumbled out of the hallway and collapsed onto the floor, clutching his arm. Emily rushed over, Tracy and William behind her. The three had already been patched up, as their wounds were not severe except the fog blade injuries, which they were allowed to rest for an extra day.

"Naib! I'm so sorry, I- I thought you made it out..." Tracy stuttered, feeling bad that she didn't stay behind to help Naib. To her surprise, Naib shook his head.

"It's fine. You did a great job decoding and did your best. Don't sweat it." Comforted by his words, Tracy gave Naib a smile as she headed back to her room to rest. William stayed behind to help Emily patch Naib up. His wounds were quite deep due to his scars from his time on the battlefield, and Naib yowled when Emily cleaned up the slash on his back.

"William, go fetch a glass of water for Naib. I'll finish up and bring him back to his room." Emily instructed as William headed to the kitchen area. Emily cut the bandage and finished wrapping Naib's wounded arm, helping him up.

"What happened? Did Jack lose control again?" Emily asked, holding Naib up as they walked back to the rooms. Naib shook his head.

"Just threw me onto the rocket chair, my wounds opened up as he did that. I'll be fine." Naib thanked the doctor as she helped him onto his bed. He took a sip of water from the glass that William had left him.

"Call me if you need anything. You are excused from the next few matches until you are fully healed." Emily reminded him, exiting the room. Naib sighed, he was hoping he could play a few more matches.

Stupid... Should've been more careful... If I tried harder, Emily and William would have gotten out unscathed. Naib shook his head, angry at himself as he laid in bed, slowly drifting off.

---

I won't let anyone get hurt by you again. Those words were filled with determination, Jack thought, as he cleaned the blood off his blades carefully. He admired the mercenary for his determination, that's what made him so interesting to the fearful hunter. Jack took off his mask and hat, combing through his hair. He enjoyed his matches with the mercenary, even if he was annoying to deal with as he was able to slip away with heavy injuries. Jack remembered how the mercenary couldn't save anyone and got terror shocked half the time he tried, failing body blocks, missing calibrations.

After such a long time, he really has changed...

Jack volunteered for another match the next day, hoping he'd see the mercenary again. He took a seat and observed the survivors who he was up against.

Gardener, Seer, Coordinator, and Magician... The mercenary wasn't there. Jack felt his heart sink a little, worried he'd hurt Naib badly as the match started.

The match went by pretty quick. He had eliminated the coordinator, dodging her flare gun and striking her down with his fog blade. 2 ciphers left and he caught the seer, who had used up his owl to protect the magician and placed him on a chair, humming as he got sent back to the manor.

His tinnitus signaled a survivor was near, and he saw the gardener dismantling a chair. Feeling her heartbeat speed up, she started to run to the nearest pallet. Jack chased after her, his body blending in with the mist and swiftly catching up to the gardener. Swinging his hand as the girl pulled the pallet down, his fog blades hit her and she yelped, speeding away. Jack followed the footsteps left behind and caught her easily. Lifting her up in his arms and carrying her to the nearest chair. He heard her giggle as he approached the chair, which was dismantled. Jack placed her down and got to fixing the chair.

"My apologies for hitting you, Emma. If you were wondering, your father is doing well." Jack hummed and the girl gave him a smile.

"That's good to know. If you were wondering, Naib is pretty injured but he will be back after some more rest." Emma giggled, tracing 'J<3N' on the sandy floor. Jack turned around, seeing the little message Emma left as he picked her up and placed her on the chair carefully, turning red.

"Tsk... I know you feel something for the doctor too." Jack muttered, adjusting his mask as Emma gave him a grin. The magician approached them and soon the chasing began again.

---

2 survivors escaped.

Jack plopped down on his bed. That Emma... He was glad the gardener told him about Naib, but his heart ached to hear that he had indeed hurt the mercenary badly. He looked forward to seeing the mercenary again, but he didn't want to harm him.

If only...