Infection | Jack x Naib [COMPLETED]

Neglect

The next morning, Naib was writing on his diary. The memories from the last match replayed in his head like a broken record. "If only I was stronger," he muttered to himself. "I could've saved them..."

Naib looked up from his writing and saw the bright, red rose Jack had given him. He had put the beautiful plant in a vase of water. It would be a waste for such an alluring flower to wilt.

The fragrant flower was all he could smell as he finished writing the last few sentences. When he finished, he kept his diary in his drawer and head out for breakfast.

He exit his room as Vera did. Vera shot him a glare and head to the main hall. Naib sighed as he followed behind her, keeping a fair distance.

They arrived at the main hall where the others were already gathered and were eating away. Today's meal was a bowl of fried rice. Although simple, it smelled delicious. "Morning Naib," William greeted, patting the empty seat beside him.

"Good morning," said Naib, taking the seat.

Naib took a scoop of the rice as Martha spoke up. "Does anyone want to volunteer playing the next game?" she asked.

"I'll go," Servais said, raising his hand. Kurt was sitting beside him as he smiled brightly. "Then I'll go too," he said.

Emma grinned with excitement. "I want to play too," she said.

Naib looked at how enthusiastic they were. They used to be horrified of playing, but ever since the hunters showed their friendly side once in a while, they realised that it really was just a game.

"Um..," Naib said. "Can I join?"

The room was silent as he spoke. Vera scoffed at him. "You have some nerve playing again after what happened before," she said.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he said. "I'll do better this time, I promise."

"That's what you said the last time," said Vera, venom in your words.

"I..."

William pat Naib's shoulder. "Hey, just leave it, you can play another round," he whispered, not wanting Naib to start a scene.

Naib frowned slightly as he looked at William, then at the others. They all had reluctant faces as they stared at him. 'I see,' he thought. 'So that's what they think of me.'

"Sorry," Naib said. "I won't play the next round." He took a bite of his food, staring at his plate as he avoided eye contact.

"Hmph," Vera smiled proudly.

"O-Okay," Martha said, trying to rid the awkward atmosphere. "Anyone else?"

The was only silence in the room as no one responded. "If nobody wants to, then I'll play," Martha said.

The others didn't argue with that and continued eating their food. Naib had finished his food first. He got up and left without another word.

William watched his back worriedly as he walked away. "Hey... don't you think you were a little rough on him, Vera?" he said.

"Maybe," she said. "He deserves it. He caused us to lose multiple times because he couldn't rescue properly. It's already enough that he decodes slow."

"At least he tried," William said. "Not cool, Vera."

"William's right," said Emily. "Even if you're right about him being weak, he doesn't deserve to be bullied like that."

Vera gasped as she was offended by her comment. "Bullied? I'm not bullying him," she said.

"It... kind of looked like you were," Tracy said softly.

"I wasn't!" said Vera.

"It's true that he's bad at decoding and rescuing," said Helena. "But you shouldn't treat him like that, he's human too."

Vera felt a pang of guilt hit her. "I was just telling him what he did wrong. Is it that bad?" she said.

"Your tone didn't sound like you were 'telling' him at all," Emily said seriously.

"But if Naib wanted to be on your team, would you let him?" said Vera.

The others hesitated for a while. Every time Naib played, they could never decode fast enough, and always lost a teammate early in the game.

"See? None of you want him on your team too," Vera said.

"But still," said Martha. "You shouldn't be so hard on him."

Vera sighed exaggeratedly as she massaged her forehead. "Fine, if it bothers you all so much, I'll go apologise to him after breakfast," she said.

William smiled in approval. "Great!" he said.

Meanwhile, Naib was in his room, sitting on the ground against his door as he hid his face in his knees. "Why am I so weak," he mumbled hopelessly.

Then, he felt a pulse coming from his door. He looked up and saw a dim glow behind him. "What?" he said as he stood, observing his glowing door.

There was a red spiral-like symbol, pulsing on his door, welcoming him to touch it. Naib stared at the mark in surprise. 'Wha... what is that?' he thought as he slowly raised his hand to touch it.

He was unsure as he held his hand back. But after a while, he gave in to his curiosity and reached for it again. Little by little, his hand got closer to the mark.

******

A/N:
Thank you for reading~
Comment what you think of the story so far, I love reading them ^^
Criticism is fine too, just don't be like Vera in this story ;w;

And don't forget to follow the squad~
👇👇👇

Survivors
Gardener - luminescentie
Coordinator - MarthaBehamfil
Mercenary - Artist-Fantasy
Mechanic - TZYzOeY
Lucky Guy - starsglory
Doctor - DoctorDyer / __poppyseed__
Prophet/Fortune Teller - EchoJustice
Forward - _AwkwardLoser_

Hunters
Geisha - Lollipop11213345
The Ripper - Achinubis
Wu Chang (Black) - Chocofunduk