"Potassium Nitrate and Aluminum Nitrate."
I mumbled to myself chemical reactions as I rested my head on my lab table. I was up until 5 am last night studying for the midterm lab exam. My eyes kept closing as I struggled to keep them open. I pried my eyelids open to see the other Chemical Engineering students walk into the classroom. All of them were energetic as they wore their white lab coats and gloves. I yawned as I looked out the window. Why am I the only tired bitch?
"Since when did they accept high schoolers into the chemical engineering 201 course?"
I set my face on my lab table as the classroom laughed. I was used to this treatment. I was an anomaly after all. Ever since I was little I was able to memorize ridiculously long equations. I would spend my time reading books in the library as my father came home drunk.
I graduated high school in only three years and tested into the advanced Chemical Engineering course at Columbia University. All my answers were correct. From that time I was named a prodigy. My interest lies not in how chemical reactions form but what they look like at the end.
The changing of properties, the beautiful colors, and failures. Chemistry was my life as it described the failures and successes.
"Did you stay up again Astrid? How many times have I told you that it's bad for you?"
I turned my head to see my only friend Cory. He was a junior at Columbia University. He was quite the cheerful individual and treated everyone like his friend. I sighed as I answered groggily.
"Thank you for the concern Cory but I need to go over the periodic table once more before class starts."
Cory chuckled as he turned to talk to his girlfriend Hilda in the lab table next to ours. She was another person that I would consider a friend. I was actually the one that brought them together. I'm still proud of that action. They did have an original chemistry with each other after all.
Okay that joke wasn't in the right place. Please forget that.
"Helium, Barium, Oxygen, Californium, Iron, Nickel, Nitrogen.."
I closed my eyes as the rest of the elements appeared in my mind. God above I shouldn't have studied for the test the week before. I was too busy catching up on the new anime Dr. Stone.
"Everyone stand by your lab tables as I asses your ability to create an oxidation-reduction reaction that would create a precipitate. You will then write a lab report on how you could use this reaction to prevent a certain environmental issue that comes to mind. Astrid Jennings get up!"
I quickly sat up in my lab seat as the class giggled. The professor of this course was Ali ElMayse. A renowned chemical engineer who teaches several classes during his free time at Columbia. He was used to my lax attitude. But he also knows about my mental prowess as I've heard him brag about it to other professors. He adjusted his glasses as he sighed.
Cory looked over at me and smiled as I groggily took out the materials. I scratched my head. Wait a second. How could we form a precipitate from a Redox reaction? Did I hear something wrong? I looked around to see the students calmly start creating reactions. I looked to see Cory begin bringing out crystallized carbon, hydrogen and oxygen as I put on my goggles.
Focus Astrid. There must be a trick in this question. Professor Ali walked around and criticized several groups. He was known to be a strict but passionate teacher who gives out a lot of extra credit opportunities. Not that I needed them anyways.
Suddenly a scream filled the room. All of us students turned to see two elements start to flicker and change color. Professor Ali ran over and shouted.
"Everyone back away! You two walk away from the lab table quickly and wash your hands. Now!"
The two students went to the sink as Professor Ali stabilized the reaction. I chuckled. Amateurs.
I closed my eyes for a second and opened them. Suddenly the smell of sulfur rose in the air. I turned to see a student put nitrate into a cup of ammonium as he laughed with his lab partner. I cried out as I reached over.
"Don't mix them together!"
Too late. The guy looked at me like I was crazy as the reaction occurred. The two elements fizzed as they mixed. I ducked under my lab table as a large BOOM filled the room. I turned only to see a flash of red fill my vision.
Suddenly I felt my whole body be pierced with needles as the fire licked me. I screamed as my skin started to burn and be eaten by the flames. My lungs burned as smoke filled them. The whole chemistry lab was an inferno. Tears fell down my cheeks as the fire ate at me. My throat grew hoarse as my screaming mingled in with that of my classmates.
God above please don't let me die! Please I have to live! I have to give my
mom the house that she has always dreamed of! No matter what please let me live! Please don't let me die! The world then turned black.
"Boss are you sure that she's the one?"
"I'm a hundred percent sure! She's the daughter of the Don who had agreed to my deal. She will be the one to wed my son. Honestly I feel pity for her. To be sold by her own father for some money and girls. How pathetic."
Who the fuck were these men who were talking? Ugh! My head hurts like a bitch. The smell of tobacco filled my nose. How could there be people smoking in a hospital? I opened my eyes only to see a scene straight out of a movie.
My eyes wandered around the room. I was in a Japanese style place with tatami mats. An old man with a badass expression sat cross legged on the floor in front of me with several henchmen in black suits next to him. I scratched the top of my head as I looked at them.
What the fuck was happening? I looked down to see that I was wearing a long silk green silk dress. I reached up. My red hair was tied up with a hairpin. Shock and anxiety filled me. Wasn't I just in the lab a couple of seconds ago? Why am I in some Japanese home?
"You have finally woken up girl. How surprising. You're much stronger than I had expected. You truly are the daughter of Don Arazzo."
Don Arazzo? Did I stumble on the set of some new Hollywood movie? Will I get to see Chris Hemsworth? I looked around. Suddenly a cool item touched my forehead. My eyes slid up to see the barrel of a silver pistol.
"How dare a bitch like you not answer and respect our Oyabun?"
Oya-what? What the hell is happening? Why am I about to be shot? I calmed down. The best course of action is to try to reason with these men. They seemed dangerous.
I raised my hands and said.
"Look dude, I'm sorry but I have a chemistry midterm to finish. If it's money that you want I can give you my credit card and you can take all the money on it."
The men stared at me blankly as they started laughing. Excuse me but what was funny about this situation? The old man sobered up and looked at me with a genuine smile.
"What a smart girl. Instead of being afraid she calmed down and tried to negotiate with me. She is truly fit to marry my son. Reo, go bring sake and Haruto so that he could meet his wife. If he disagrees tell him that I will cut off his pinky finger."
The man next to him nodded as he ran out of the room sliding the door behind him.
Mmmmmmarry his son? What the hell is going on with these people? I chuckled nervously. I need to act strong with these people. Any fear shown will only cause me trouble. First off I need to get this gun off of my forehead.
I started to remember my self defense classes. I had grown up in the worst neighborhood in the Bronx. Knowing how to fight and protect yourself was a need. Some fucker pointing a gun at me is not the scariest thing that I have seen. Quickly I brought my hand up and slapped the gun away from the man's hand. The man's eyes widened from behind his black shades. I then brought my hand down quickly on his jugular nerve. The man's eyes rolled back as he fell to the the ground. I looked behind me to see a door. I quickly stood up and ran to the door.
Bang! I froze in place as something warm ran down my ear. I touched the top of my ear and looked at my hand. There was blood. In the door in front of me there was a small hole caused by a bullet. I slowly turned to see a handsome shirtless man hold a gun pointed at me. He smiled as he looked at me. His black hair swept to the side as his almond-shaped azure eyes fixated themselves on my brown ones. A large green and red dragon decorated his chest and encircled his shoulders.
"Oh wow Oyabun. This time you've brought me quite an interesting woman. Having her as a fiancé doesn't seem so bad. I guess that this was something worth waking me up for."
I looked at him in shock. Fiancé? Was he referring to me? I chuckled. I must be in a madhouse. Or this is some sort of YouTube channel joke. As I looked at the man's tattoo once more something filled my mind. I then whispered.
"Fuck me."
The men all looked at me as I slid down the door and sat on the floor. I held my head in my hands as a Realization hit me. Yakuza. The Japanese organized crime system similar to the Mafia. They had gained prominence during the prohibition era in the United States. These men were part of the Yakuza. Not only that, the attire I wore, that they wore. It looked like that of the 1920's. I then screamed.
"MOTHERFUCKER! GOD THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANTED WHEN I SAID THAT I WANTED TO LIVE!"
So what happened was that I must have died in the explosion of the chemistry lab and was somehow transported to the past. I raised my head to see the shocked faces on the men who faced me. I then stood up and ripped the dress which I wore on the bottom so that it wouldn't restrict my walking. I kicked off the high heels and took off the hair pin. My long red hair then fell on my back. I walked over and picked up the gun from the guy who I've knocked out.
I am Astrid Jennings. A bitch who had survived living in the streets of the Bronx. If these bitches wanted to force me into something like hell would I let them. I pointed the gun at the old man and said.
"I don't know who the fuck all of you are, but I know this. If any of you want to force me to marry that bitch ass slut over then you should count your lucky stars."
I clicked the safety and stared at the man who was the old geezer's son. I then smirked. Let's see who's going to go to hell tonight.
...
Thank you for reading my luvs❤️Stay safe😷😍