Natsumi sat on her chair, with her back to Shuuya.
'Shinichi Izumi was related to a case of one the parasites which suddenly vanished seventeen years ago.'
Shuuya had told her that he was feeling unwell and they could discuss it later.
'Rei-chan…' she muttered, 'Why do you think Fujisaki-kun reacted that way?'
'I wonder.' Rei replied carefreely.
'Don't be like that, Rei-chan. Fujisaki-kun is one of my kind. I understand him better than any other human on this planet. He was put off by something I had said, and I'm pretty sure it was something in the news piece I'd told him about. What do you think was that?'
'Well, Natsumi, you've figured that much. Figure the rest out yourself too.'
'Rei-chan!' Natsumi said admonishingly, 'We're not playing around here. You know that Izumi-sensei's secret is…'
'I know!' Rei cut her off sharply, 'Stop harping about his secret like it's some big deal. I'm more concerned about you than your useless "Izumi-sensei".'
'I'm as fine as I can be. What on earth are you worried about?'
'Your feelings. About that Fujisaki.'
'My…what? Do you even know what you're saying, Rei-chan?'
'Well, just like you know Fujisaki better than anyone, I know you better than anyone. And I can't help but notice that you're enjoying yourself especially better when you're around him.'
Natsumi began to giggle.
'Rei-chan… 'She said, 'Fujisaki-kun is nothing more than a company. And obviously, it's been a difficult task getting along others. Isn't it natural that I'm enjoying myself right now?'
'Well, that's how girls fall in love.'
Natsumi giggled again, louder.
'And what exactly do you know about girls falling in love, Rei-chan? I'm your only friend. Did I forget to mention? You're one of my kind too. You're just me.'
Rei gave out a small sigh.
'Fine, Natsumi, I won't bother you with this topic again. Just promise that you aren't going to end up with some sloppy feelings for that Fujisaki.'
'I promise I won't.' Natsumi replied honestly, 'Now, let's think of a way to get the idiot back on research work.'
'Right, Natsumi...' Rei said, 'Now make sure you shake off the attention of that guy over there who's looking at you because you're giggling in the middle of class, surely to him, for no reason at all.'
Shuuya was fidgeting. What would Natsumi be thinking of him? Would she again figure out the truth of his past just by a vague guess?
Good heavens, he wanted to die. Why was all of this happening anyway?
His parents had told him something he couldn't manage to handle. Right.
Get a grip, you goddamned idiot. Get a grip, get a grip, just get the hell of a grip of yourself!
This was the last period. He decided to make it up to her. After all, she was just a girl with same ambitions.
Wasn't that right? She never meant to disturb him or come in his way. She was just like him: she wanted to know the secret. And if Shuuya was not going to let her do it because she was unworthy of it, he didn't have any right to investigate either, he was no smarter than her.
He had to definitely make it up to her. The bell was ringing.
I'm doing this.
The class got moving. He was looking at Natsumi, waiting for her to turn around.
When she did, Shuuya found himself tensing. It was a moment. He had to call her.
She was looking.
Say her name.
She was turning her gaze away.
What are you doing? Call her. Apologize.
The moment was gone.
Shuuya cursed himself. What was he scared of?
I'm afraid she knows about me. About my adoption. I'm afraid she'll hit me in the weak spot when she next talks to me. I'm afraid of not being able to face the remarks.
Shuuya wasn't able to sleep that night. He'd turn on the bed, and look at his laptop, which lay on the drawer top beside his bed, the metal shining slightly in the pale moonlight entering from the window. He was tempted to search about the news clipping she'd found on internet. Yes, despite everything he'd thought. Whether Natsumi was aware or not about his parasite mother. What mist have been there about Izumi-sensei? God, things he'd do just to find out.
But then, he was afraid Tamura Reiko's name might pop up somewhere along.
Unable to bear it anymore, Shuuya sat up on his bed, glancing at the laptop, deciding whether he should do it or not.
Please, he thought, what am I even thinking? There were hundreds of those creatures. Why should Izumi-sensei be involved with the sole parasyte I'm allergic to? It has to be another creature.
With that, he pulled the notebook on his lap, and switched it on, adjusting the dongle which was already attached to it.
'Shinichi Izumi' he typed into the box once the search engine opened.
On the topmost of all the results he got, the heading flashed,
"The youngest person involved in the case of parasites: Shinichi Izumi"
Curious, he opened the article. It had been written seven years ago.
" About ten years ago, the epidemic of people seeing humans mutating into cannibalistic creatures had begun. Many were taken into the custody, mistaken to be one of those parasites. Among the suspects, the youngest person involved, Shinichi Izumi, now a professor, was about seventeen years old at that time. According to government, he was declared to be a normal, sane human then and that time, but was also asked by the police officials to help them out with their parasite hunting as he was the only one who seemingly possesed the skill of differentiating between humans and parasites besides with one other person, namely Uragami, who was a hard-core criminal with a good amount of charges of murders, rapes and robberies against him.
'He really didn't have anything to do with parasites either. I think it was his inborn intelligence that helped us out to this extent.' a policeman was quoted saying. Shinichi Izumi had been found on two occasions regarding parasites previously. Despite this, there was no link between him and any of the parasites that were killed or caught by the police.
On the first case, he had discovered the dead body of a girl who used to go to the same high-school as him. According to medical reports, the girl, namely Kana, had been killed by one of the parasites. On the second occasion, he was found standing by the police in front of woman whose body had been taken over by a parasite. The woman, who was officially called Ryoko Tamiya, had been affiliated to Izumi's high-school too as a maths teacher."
Shuuya stopped reading, pondering at the name, thinking how close it sounded to Reiko Tamura. It was like the name was Tamura Reiko itself.
So close, Shuuya breathed in relief, So close to her name. Her name.
He scrolled down and continued reading.
" Tamiya had reportedly resigned from the high-school of Izumi when she had been confronted by the colleagues and principal regarding her pre-marital pregnancy.
'Tamiya had been an aloof entity since the beginning.' one of her colleagues has reported, 'She was strangely repelled from everyone. She was also fiercely independent despite being a single woman who lived alone. She wasn't concerned heavily about her pregnancy either. When we asked her about the father of baby, afraid she might begin to pose as an immoral teacher, she simply resigned. I even remember what she'd said: "This is not what I signed up for. This is ridiculously complicated. I'm leaving." She didn't apply for resignation either. She'd walked out of the school that very moment.' "
Shuuya's breathing got heavier. That name, that situation...surely she wasn't...
What am I thinking?, Shuuya shook his head, That's Tamiya Ryoko, not Tamura Reiko. Tamiya must have gotten herself an abortion.
He wanted to stop reading. But he wanted to know more. He continued.
"When Tamiya was confronted by the police, she'd stopped using the name Ryoko Tamiya and had begun to go by the alias of Reiko Tamura. According to a private spy who'd supposedly been the first to notice her eccentric behaviour to be parasite-like said she was interested in Shinichi Izumi for some reason. He had also claimed Tamura to kill his family. Unfortunately, he died by falling over fence of a high hill on the same day Tamura was confronted.
By that time, Tamura's child was months old, and was in her arms when she was cornered by the police. Coincidentally, Izumi was somehow in that scenario. On being told by the police to give up, she refused, and started walking towards Izumi. Concerned she might hurt the teenager, police had shot at her, succeeding in killing her before she could do anything harmful. However, surprisingly, she handed the baby over to Izumi as she fell down, the baby safe and unhurt. The baby had been examined by the specialists and was declared a normal human child, hence eligible for adoption.
Izumi had been seen crying at the scene when Tamura was killed.
'I think it was more because of seeing such a horrible scene. He was smart, but he was only a boy after all. That's nothing to fuss over.' the in-charge of investigation had said."
Shuuya shut his laptop.
This wasn't what I signed up for. This is getting ridiculously complicated. ,he thought, I'm done with this. Screw Natsumi, screw Izumi-sensei. I'm leaving.
Author's note: Dear readers, I'm glad you're liking this story. I have not received many opinions on this, but most of them suggest you're you're wary of short chapters. I'm sorry, but this is my current capacity. Please bear along, I'm trying hard, this is my most favourite piece of work. Other than that, if there is anything that you'd like to change or you don't like, please mention. I would love to have suggestions from you. Polite critiques are welcome.
I hope you enjoy this to the end. Thank you for all the support until now. As I already said, this is my most favourite piece of work, and I don't intend on giving up on it any time. Have a nice time.