Jade already knows far too much and Shinjirou assumes that Jade also knows some things that he isn't even aware Jade knows about. And this is the secret he cannot spill. Absolutely not. If Jade's really unlucky, he'll learn the truth one day anyway.

Slowly breathing in and out, pills still clutched in one white-knuckled fist, Shinjirou sits back. The cracked skin of his lips he's been chewing on tastes salty and metallic. He should find another way to let his energy out when he's nervous, he thinks. One that isn't so telling. "On me. They have an effect on me and people like me."

He shrugs. "I'm not smart enough to explain this." Which isn't actually a lie. As long as the drugs work, he doesn't care, side-effects be damned. So what if he's almost always cold? There's ways to at least make his body believe it's hot.

"You're not going to take them away?"