Chapter 22: Meeting Reiko Tamura Again
His right arm, which had been missing due to Migi's Transfer, had now grown back halfway. Suddenly, Migi stared at Xia Shang with wide eyes.
"Do you have any water or anything to replenish sugar? To repair Shinichi Izumi's heart, I extracted a large amount of nutrients from his blood."
"There's a Convenience Store not far from Baiao Mountain. They should have white sugar and mineral water." Under the moonlight, Shinichi Izumi's cheekbones were sunken, making him look exactly like a homeless person who hadn't eaten for a week. Xia Shang got up, brushed the dirt off his pants, and then looked around the Jungle.
"What if a wild beast comes? Can you handle it?"
Migi, transformed into a blade, was Xia Shang's response.
"OK, wait a moment."
Xia Shang turned and left, thinking to himself, "Is it guarding against me? As expected of a Parasyte without emotion. I vaguely remember in the source material, after Migi and Shinichi Izumi fused, Migi would gradually acquire human emotion. It seems this process is quite slow."
About an hour passed.
Xia Shang walked up to Shinichi Izumi carrying a bag of supplies. He took out a bottle of mineral water, twisted off the cap, and placed it on the ground. Then, he took out a bag of white sugar. He poured the white sugar into the water bottle, then shook it vigorously until all the white sugar dissolved before placing it back on the ground.
"The rest is up to you."
"Okay." Migi, extending from Shinichi Izumi's right arm, was like a straw, extending its tentacles into the mineral water bottle. As the tentacles continuously sucked, the sugar water in the mineral water bottle was quickly drained, and Migi's abdomen bulged accordingly.
Immediately after, Migi extended its tentacles into Shinichi Izumi's mouth to replenish his water and sugar.
Meanwhile, Xia Shang tore open a sushi bento box and began to enjoy his dinner for the night. But as soon as he put a piece of sushi into his mouth, its dry texture immediately made him frown. He chewed hard several times before swallowing it.
"The seaweed isn't crispy at all, failure! The quality of the rice grains inside isn't good either, failure! Most importantly, this dried meat floss is too dry, it's a failure among failures." However, although Xia Shang complained about the quality of the bento, he still ate it all conscientiously in the end.
"I wonder when this guy will wake up."
Xia Shang lay on the grass, smelling the unique scent of the soil, and looked up at the moon in the sky.
...
The next day at noon, Xia Shang woke up groggily. The sunlight shining on him felt particularly comfortable.
"Migi, good afternoon."
Xia Shang greeted Migi, but Migi did not appear.
Just as he was washing his face, he vaguely heard a considerable commotion behind him.
The first thing Shinichi Izumi did upon waking up was look for his glasses. Fortunately, Xia Shang had picked up his glasses yesterday and placed them by his hand, allowing him to find them immediately.
Shinichi Izumi, with a gaunt and bloodless face, subconsciously put on his glasses, only to find his line of sight becoming even more blurry. It wasn't until he took off his glasses that he could see everything clearly again.
"Have some water." Xia Shang tossed the mineral water in his hand to Shinichi Izumi.
After receiving the mineral water, Shinichi Izumi eagerly drank it all in one gulp. As he replenished water, the memories from yesterday surfaced one by one in his mind. He subconsciously lowered his head to look at his chest. His white shirt was stained red with blood, and there was a large wound in his heart area.
"My heart... I remember a Parasyte pierced my heart. Why am I still alive?" Shinichi Izumi stood rooted to the spot, muttering to himself.
"You should ask Migi on your hand about that."
Xia Shang took out the rice balls he bought last night for breakfast and casually handed one to Shinichi Izumi.
Shinichi Izumi raised his right arm, but there was no reaction. "Migi, Migi." No matter how he called out, Migi still did not appear, which even made Shinichi Izumi feel a little unaccustomed. "Mr. Xia, where is Migi?"
"It consumed a lot of energy to help you repair your heart. It's probably resting now."
"Right! How are my parents? And the Parasyte from yesterday?" Shinichi Izumi immediately thought of his mother, whose arm was severed by the Parasyte, and his father.
He came up to Xia Shang and asked nervously.
"Your mother is currently at Tokyo Third Affiliated Hospital. Thanks to timely treatment, she is out of danger, and her arm has been reattached. However, there are some after-effects, and it may not fully recover to its original state." Compared to the original story, Shinichi Izumi was clearly fortunate at this moment. He let out a heavy sigh of relief; as long as his parents were alive, that was enough.
"What about that Parasyte?"
Shinichi Izumi continued to press for information.
Xia Shang pointed to the Cliff. "I suspect there was a problem with the body that Parasyte was parasitizing, which is why it wanted to parasitize your mother. It didn't succeed yesterday, so it jumped directly off the Cliff. If its luck was bad, it might have fallen to its death."
"No, it definitely didn't die."
Shinichi Izumi said, pressing his healed wound.
"It almost killed my mother. To prevent more people from being harmed, I swear I will find it among the crowd and kill it!"
"If you get any news about it, let me know immediately. Judging by its attack speed, its strength is not inferior to Parasyte A." Xia Shang and Shinichi Izumi walked to the foot of Baiao Mountain. Xia Shang reached out and hailed a Taxi.
The Taxi first took Shinichi Izumi to the Hospital, then drove Xia Shang to the Coffee Shop.
At the Coffee Shop, Xia Shang met Reiko Tamura.
"I heard you resigned from your teacher job?"
"Yes, they found out I was pregnant from somewhere and asked me about the child's father. I didn't want to tell them, so I had no choice but to resign." Reiko Tamura picked up her coffee and took an elegant sip.
"Speaking of which, what is the purpose of you asking to see me today? I've already given you all the information I have about Parasytes."
To fuse the "Transfer" innate ability, one must kill a Parasyte that is currently transferring its main body. Xia Shang couldn't find a Parasyte himself, so he contacted Reiko Tamura. As a high-level executive of the Parasite Organization, she must know the locations of many Parasytes.
"I need a Parasyte for an experiment right now."
Xia Shang directly stated his purpose.
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Reiko Tamura's mouth. She put down her coffee and said, "Why should I help you? After all, even now I can't confirm whether you are a Parasyte or a human. However, no matter what your true identity is, it seems I have no reason to help you."
"Ms. Tamura, are you really trusted by them in the Organization? If so, Parasyte A wouldn't have broken into the School alone and gone on a killing spree." Xia Shang remained calm. He had been prepared for rejection from the start. "Presumably, some of your ideas have already caused resentment among many Parasytes. How can you ensure they won't harm your child?"
(End of Chapter)