Chapter 7 - Arc 1: Parasites Have More Than He Thought They Would
Now, when I was a kid, my mom used to teach me not to listen to random strangers.
So, I took her advice and pulled out the chair, sitting down on the comfy wooden chair.
The unknown lady stared at me, her eyes blinking as she carefully scanned them over my whole body. It made me slightly anxious, so I thought of something to keep control my anxiety.
"What now?"
Wait a minute, that wasn't me.
Mrs. Lady-in-White sat, laying her hands on her land. She appeared as though she was waiting for me, waiting for me to speak or do something, like an audience to a performer.
"Nice harp."
She rotated her head just a bit to the harp. "Is that what you humans call it? We call it a Carosphone."
"By 'we', you mean your species?"
She nodded, glad to see I knew what she was saying. "I take it you're a Host?"
"Yeah. I'm guessing you're a Parasite."
"Exactly. My Host as allowed me 30 minutes to be able to converse with you. This meeting won't take more than 20, provided there aren't any… distractions."
I leaned forward. "Then talk."
"E to, may I ask what had transpired during the time I was sleeping?"
"I'll take it from here. Host, you concentrate on this Parasite."
Lady-in-White picked up her harp, or Carosphone, and started to pluck the strings. The melody produced was soft and soothing, making me feel the urge to rest my head in the table and close my eyes.
"Do you like it?", she asked. Her voice matched with the tune of the song. "The notes, the… melody. There are no lyrics nor voices, but it calls to you, asks you to rest from the exhaustion and tiredness you feel."
My eyes were half-lidded and I was ready to drift off into the dream world when a large melee/gunfight erupted in my head.
Explosions rocketed and yelling, shouting and what appeared to sound as stomping instantly forced my brain away from the grasp of sleepiness.
BAM! BOOM! AAAAHHHHH!
In three words, that pretty much summed up the chaos occurring within my brain.
"Oi, what's happening inside there?"
"Ah, Host. I'm glad you didn't fall asleep! It would have been very troublesome if you did. Seriously, did you my forget us three aren't the only Parasites?"
"I very much didn't, thank you. But what's happening there? You got into some kind of disagreement?"
The Lady-in-White tilted her head. She seemed confused. I motioned for her to wait. "At least keep the commotion down, I was trying to sleep."
"Exactly." Ava came online. "That was what we were trying to prevent. For all we know, she was trying to lure you into sleeping so she could stab you with a spoon or something."
"A spoon's blunt."
"In the right hands, anything is sharp and deadly."
She was right. I might have almost fallen into a trap right there. Why did I even trust her so suddenly I'm the first place?
"Still, why didn't one of you just appear and shake my head or something?"
The innocent question preceded the long silence that followed it.
"...Apologies. Kraue's idea."
"Wait, you're blaming this on me?"
Fully awake and aware of my surroundings, I once again prepared to talk with this Parasite, this time more wary of her. "Sorry, the song's nice and all but I thought conversations happen when both parties are awake?"
"I'm sorry.", she profusely said, "I wanted to test if the information was true."
"What information?" Clearly, this Parasite knew more than me. "Are you an assassin?"
"Oh, definitely not. I'm a messenger. I had planned to meet you when you were alone but I never had the chance and had to resort to… my methods."
"Just methods?", I asked, partially scoffing.
"It's true. My power pales in comparison to others."
"I have the feeling you're just putting yourself down to seem weaker."
"She is. She is stronger than a Parasite who is just a supporter."
Psi suddenly appeared next to the table. His eyes glared at the Parasite across me, who was immensely surprised by his appearance. "Is that not right, Somiel?"
Somiel, huh? How does Psi know her? More importantly, why didn't he tell me? A little bit more of information would have helped.
I looked at the two of them, switching my gaze as I studied their reactions. Psi was angry, maybe even raging given the hostility radiating of him, all of them directed to the other Parasite, Somiel. His feelings were more radical than before, up at the satellite tower. If I were to take a guess, it would be due to a grudge that resulted in his unrestrained anger.
Somiel, on the other hand, seemed saddened by Psi's sudden appearance. Judging from the attitudes both gave, it only furthered my belief that there was some kind of unfavourable and unwanted history between them.
Of course, inferring all of this from their eyes proved that I was better at reading people than I thought.
Well, Hachiman, you've extended this to aliens as well. Next thing you know, you'll call the police telling them a puppy's planning a nuclear attack.
"Psi.", Somiel said, "When she mentioned about your Host, I didn't think you were one of them."
"She?", I asked, interrupting Psi who was in the edge of retorting back. "Who's 'she'?"
"I don't know. Only that my Host was presumably working for her. May I ask if we could proceed onto the important topic?"
"Important?", Psi sneered, "Is that not indirectly saying that our meeting is trivial?"
"Psi. Back off."
My words seemed to shake Psi and he glanced at me, obviously irritated. "Sure."
He disappeared and the familiar blue light spiralled up my hand once again. I wasn't focusing on that but I'm Somiel's face, which showed signs of remorse and wistfulness. I tapped my fingers to grab her attention and it worked, all previous facial signs gone and I was back to looking at a Parasite who radiated poshness and slight authority just from sitting there.
Yukinoshita, you now have another competitor. I'll give her a few bonus points if she doesn't sigh.
She sighed. "I came here to pass you a message. As I stated before, I had no chance to talk to you due to complications, so I had to resort to taking over my Host in order to be able to. Hence, the numerous people sleeping presently."
Haruno shifted, mumbling a few words before settling down into a more comfortable position.
"The message is simple, which is why I wondered why my Host labelled it as a high-priority task."
"Say it."
"Thank you."
I was taken aback. "Uhh… sure?"
"No, that's the message."
My mind reeled from the sheer insanity of all this. "So you went through all this trouble for that? Just to give me a 'thank you'?"
Somiel didn't appear embarrassed. "I have the trouble of comprehending that absurd order as well."
"Did you ever think of asking why?"
"I tried. In my Host's line of work, 'why' doesn't exist."
I leaned back, trying to figure out who could have gone through all of the trouble just for this. My first thought went to Haruno. Her sleep may just be an act to draw suspicion off her and target someone else, but if that was the case, I needed to ask another question.
Why 'thank you'?
For almost of my life, I hadn't received that, except for Komachi. Everyone else had simply ignored me or didn't find that what I did deserved their thanks. Only when reaching high school and meeting the one-member service club at that time did I start receiving those words from other people than my relative, albeit rarely.
And what was Haruno thanking me for? Knowing her and her personality, it could just be a joke for taking care of Yukinoshita or something.
Then what was the whole point of this whole scenario? Could she be wanting me to see something else?
"Eh? What's that sound?"
"You hear something?"
Somiel must have had the power to read minds, because her eyes now displayed curiosity. "Hear what?"
"Sorry, just talking to someone else."
"Walking, no climbing, wait, now it's scuttling! At a very high speed!" Kraue talked as though he was giving a commentary. "They're getting louder, louder…"
Soon, I could hear what he was talking about. The faint sounds of something moving came and started to slowly grow. I wasn't the only one to hear it as well.
"We need to run.", Somiel stated, "Move while we can."
"We can't leave everyone behind!"
"I'll stay.", I told Somiel, "I'm not running."
She glared at me. "You can't. If you do, you'll only be putting these people in harm's way."
"Isn't it time out for you? Time's passed beyond your slowed time."
"I'll make an exception for this time only."
"Playing the hero again, are you not?"
I didn't have a chance to ask him what he meant because the next thing I knew, I was flying in mid-air.
I crashed into one of the walls, pain racking throughout my body from my left shoulder. I almost cried out, but bit my lip hard as I could, drawing out blood.
Ava delivered a report. "Warning. Multiple bone fractures in the left arm. Internal bleeding and rupture of the inferior vena cava also present."
I could feel myself getting dizzy despite all the pain. My eyes were half-lidded and threatened to close completely. Sadly, whatever or whoever threw me in the first place wanted to do it again.
So, ladie and gentlemen, that's how I found myself flying again the second time.
I saw the sign of a store approaching me at a very rapid speed and all I did was close my eyes and wait for the inevitable impact. Judging from Ava's words right now, a miracle would be me surviving this hit. I doubted I could take another one.
Maybe I could rest for a second…
Those same words from two days ago filled my resounded in my head and time seemed to slow down. Thinking about those words, it almost made me grin when I thought of it one my gravestone.
Here lies Hikigaya Hachiman, who always wanted to rest for a second. Now, he finally got it.
My eyes opened, all traces of tiredness and pain gone from them. I scanned my surroundings, taking in all of the details.
"Host! Are you still alive?"
"Yeah. What happened?"
"You transformed our eyes into mine. Now you're seeing everything in slo-mo."
"That's… actually cool."
"When is it isn't? By the way, before you crashland into that sign, why don't you try transforming?"
I agreed. I imagined my hands turning into his and felt the familiar ripple of waves beneath my skin. This time, however, it wasn't as noticeable as before. Almost as if the waves had lessened.
I did the same for my feet. Although it was harder since I didn't really see them as much as I did for the hands. Feeling the transformation completing, I flipped my body in mid-air, lifting my feet up to come into contact with the wall instead of my head.
"If you look at your right wrist, Host, you will notice an almost imperceptible, but still detectable string."
I heeded his advice and sure enough, there was a thin piece of string wrapped around my wrist. "What do you want to do?"
"I'm sure you've figured out the importance of that string."
With that, I moved my right hand and grabbed the rope, twirling it around my fingers three times. I could already feel the tug of the other party as they started to pull me again.
"Let's give them the same invitation."
I swung the rope before the other party did, feeling the role move in the direction I swung it to. At the same time, I used my feet to tightly dig into the sign, utilizing it as an anchor so I wouldn't be dragged along.
I dropped on the ground, pain, though there was considerably less of it it, shooting up. I panted and heaved, my muscles stretched from performing that impossible feat.
"Hikigaya!" Somiel's voice called out to me. She was lying on the floor, her Carosphone lying bent and broken next to her. Some of the strings were cut and were utterly useless and its once shiny and golden appearance was now gone thanks to a few scrapes and scratches. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" After shouting those words, I immediately followed with coughing up blood out from my throat, watching it spatter in the marble floor.
"Stay still, Ava needs to locate the wounded areas."
"I would, if our attacker would give us the time."
I was looking at the big chunk of rubble and water, where the mysterious attacker crashed into a fountain, knocking the heavy stones onto his body. A human would be incapacitated or dead but in the other hand, I doubted a human had the strength to fling another one into the air.
That left only one explanation. Judging from the scuttling sounds heard earlier and the thin string wrapped around my wrist that stood the strength of lifting me, I had a good idea on what kind of Parasite this was.
A low groan was heard from the ruble, followed by a scream as eight long and sharp legs capable of piercing protruded from the rubble, digging into the ground as the human they were attached to lifted himself up.
He muttered something under his breath, then drew in deep breath and shouted. "You! Kid!"
"Damn, this guy tho. Damn pro."
"Kraue, why are you speaking like that? It is unsightly."
"You don't have to be so mean! I was just emphasising the fact he called the Host a baby goat."
"Kraue. It's the other one?"
"You mean the 'I'm kidding' one?"
"You've got some nerve.", he growled, "tossing me around like that."
I was so preoccupied I didn't notice Somiel limp next to me. "Are you and him friends?"
"I didn't even know he existed."
He moved forward, using his legs to carefully maneuver over the fallen rubble and people. "No wonder that bounty is high. You'll make a good stepping stone."
"Bounty for what?", I called out.
Like all normal humans, he charged at me instead.
I grabbed Somiel and pulled us back, his legs barely missing us as he ran past, his legs piercing through the floor and leaving behind deep and circular holes when they left.
Since we were standing in front of a wall, I fully expected him to crash into it due to his massive inertia. Instead, he climbed the wall and kept on doing so.
One of the most iconic things about the mall was that the ceilings were completely made up of glass. This was to allow light to stream through the ceiling during the day, reducing the need for more man-made light. During the night, lights built around the whole mall lit up and combined with the darkness of the sky, provided the shoppers and mall-goers a more aesthetic experience.
As he scuttled up, he jumped towards the ceiling and, using his legs to wrap around the metal beams, hung himself upside down.
"What are you?", he asked, "Entity? Mech? You're definitely Mythological."
I was completely confounded by his words and I turned to Somiel for answers. "He's talking about your class. Don't give him it. That's one of the most crucial knowledge needed when facing against a Host, what class of Parasite lives inside them."
"Information. That Host either contains an Alien or a Mythological-class Parasite."
"How do you know?"
"Explanation. Mech-class usually don't bleed blood and his Parasites power, affecting the Host's body, works the same way as Kraue's."
"Any idea on what he is?"
"No. But a while ago, I sensed you thinking about what it could be."
For all I knew, I could be wrong and throw us way off course of what it could be. Still, an arachnid would be the most likely answer as to what the Parasite was.
And in that class of arachnids, I'd wager it was a spider we were fighting.
"Your head will sell.", the man hissed, his voices sounding less human, "The prize is mine."
His legs let go of the metal beams and he fell. Somiel and I dove right and left respectively as the human/arachnid hybrid landed right where we were. "Stop running!"
I still didn't get why people yelled those lines where the escapee's life is at stake. Does it actually work or something?
Somiel grabbed her Carosphone and furiously plucked the strings, the tempo of her music fast and shifting from one note to the next. Like a tidal wave, drowsiness flooded my brain and tried to shut down all of my systems.
The next moment, I grabbed a shard of glass lying on the ground next to me and stabbed it into my hand. The pain quickly woke me up and I felt more alive than I ever had been.
The bad news was was that it hurt. A lot.
A small yell slipped through my lips as I desperately tried to keep my mouth shut. Out of everything that I was ever hit by, this shard of glass hurt the most, pushing aside the fact that I was hit by a car since I lost consciousness during that time.
"Pain, huh? No one likes it but it's one of the top most effective things to keep you alert and moving. Speaking of moving, duck!"
I heeded my advice, dropping to the ground as a leg whizzed by just above my head, cutting part of my shifted off.
My ahoge shifted and bent, reflecting my inner feelings.
You'll pay for that.
I dashed forward, taking advantage of the drowsy spider who clumsily stumbled around, his legs moving everywhere as he tried to hit one of us. Somiel kept on playing her instrument, dodging each and every one of the attacks aimed at her.
I was able to get underneath the human, one of his blind spots. His head turned left and right as he desperately searched for his other prey, never noticing I was right below him.
"Psi? Ava? Kraue?"
"My advice? Propel yourself up."
"Advice. Best spot to land an attack."
"Errr… beat him up?"
"Thanks."
I recalled the feeling jumping from building to building, roof to roof as I quickly covered the distance between the satellite tower and Sobu. Using them as reference, I bent down and using the lizard muscles in my feet, jumped straight up.
My fist was landed right on his chin and I heard a 'crack!' from wherever it came from. Dazed and stunned, the spider legs stopped moving and the guy fell down on the marble tiles.
"That was…", Kraue started, only to start struggling in finding the right word.
Anticlimactic much? Was only one punch needed?
I landed, sweat running down my brow
and tired from the extensive exercise I had to do today. Sure hope I never have to exercise again.
Using my remaining strength, I walked over to Somiel, who, given her lower stamina, was already gasping and breathing heavily for oxygen. As I got closer, Psi made a 'tch' sound in my head, to which I responded with a commanding stop.
Seriously, how bad is the history between these two?
I was just about to reach her when her bluish-eyes widened. "Behind you!"
Just like every character in every movie, book, tv-show, wherever it came from and whatever the situation, I followed exactly the cliched steps when someone utters those words. Human instinct and gut feeling would tell us do exactly what they said, yet when I was younger, I'd always find what they do illogical and wished that for once, someone would dodge without needing to flip 180 degrees or, even better, prevent the whole situation from happening by keeping their eyes on their surroundings and not taking them off the enemy they just knocked down.
What a hypocrite I was, doing what you set me told others to do.
Cool guys don't look at explosions, but so do dead ones.
Something wrapped around my neck and contracted tightly, causing me to instinctively try to put my fingers in between the foreign object and my neck so that I could breathe. I coughed and gasped as it pulled tighter and only by feeling it did I realise that wrapped around my neck was a coil of spider silk.
At the other end, the human was pulling the silk, wrapping it around his four fingers to ensure that it wouldn't escape his grasp easily. It was an added measure as I saw that the silk did not come from his pockets not a bag but from his hands.
In fact, the skin of his hands was opened as silk was produced from inside his body.
I immediately thought of that alien criminal in Men in Black 3, almost retching from how disgusting it looked.
His eyes, or more precisely, his one good eye since the other one was heavily injured glared at me in hatred. "We go up.", he growled inhumanly.
His legs then extended and dug into the sides of the walls, using them as leverage to pull himself up. Me, being the unlucky person on the other end of the the silk, was pulled up as well.
"Where's he taking us? Doesn't he know he could risk the public seeing his form?"
"He's not taking us out of the building."
"Help! Air! Throat! Tight!"
We reached the top of the mall, the cold air of the night blasting my face. Like a spider, the guy started shooting webs around, creating one, massive spider web being built for me and me alone. At times like these, I might have been thankful or irritated but situations like these called for a new set of emotions.
He pulled the silk towards me and grabbed me in his hands. My throats was still trying to breathe so I couldn't speak as he brought his face close to mine. I could smell the wine and a hint of sake in his breath, which made me want to recoil.
"Remember", he hissed, "that you could never beat me, rookie."
I managed to get a few words out. "How's… your… face?"
In response, he let me go, releasing the silk around my neck and I started to inhale the sweet air I so desperately lacked in the last few minutes. I swear I'll never take you for granted again!
"Host?", Ava asked, "Is this right side up?"
It took me a few moments for me to realise I was dangling upside down.
I began twirling around, courtesy of the other human/Parasite hybrid who was wrapping me up. I struggled against the silk, but despite how flexible and weak it looked, I could not create a single cut or tear in it.
I read somewhere that despite how weak spider silk seemed like, the minuscule effort needed to detach a spider web from the walls, it was much stronger than it actually looked like. For this particular silk, it was comparable to steel that was flexible and bendable.
My mind drifted towards the Bark spider, whose silk was about 10 times stronger than the ones in spider webs. Is this what every creature caught in a spider web had to fight against?
I tried to move my hands to break the rope, feeling the silk move further up my body as it covered me. It already dawned on me earlier that I was being wrapped in a cocoon and I now knew how it felt to be a trapped creature in a web, slowly being wrapped up into their inevitable death.
"After this is done, I'll go for your little friend down there. After that, enjoy your freedom while it lasts before dying a painful and excruciating death."
"Hey, you guys have anything I should know off? Preferably before I get wrapped?"
"I agree. Ava? Kraue? I am highly useless in these scenarios."
"Host. I have one. Just let me take control of your body for now."
"Go ahead."
I kept on struggling, desperate not to experience the terror of being a cocoon. While I didn't have claustrophobia, the experience of being trapped in total darkness and being unable to move might make it my number one fear.
Suddenly, I felt my hands and feet transform back into mind, as well as the presence of two objects in my hands.
Wait, these weren't unfamiliar. They feel like…
"Squeeze the trigger!"
I did as instructed and two deafening blasts from two different guns fired in opposite directions, hitting the adjacent walls that the spider web was attached to.
Explosions of blue on both sides destroyed the anchors of the silk, the walls, resulting in pieces of it coming loose and fallen.
This, in turn, caused the web slack and come loose. With a screech, the human lost his balance and fell, taking me with him.
I fell, wondering how many times I've soared through the air within the last 24 hours. "Instructions! Point your hand towards the walls!", Ava instructed.
"Any of them?"
"Yes! Do it fast!"
I saw the ground approaching and without hesitation, pointed my hand towards the railings on the top floor. Immediately, wires shot out from my hand and wrapped around the railing. A whirring sound was heard before I heard a 'click' and I stopped, my feet a few centimetres of the ground.
Unfortunately, the third sound I heard was a 'crack' from my wrist where the wire shot out from.
"Error. Apologies."
"Ouch, that must have hurt."
The wire was released from my wrist and I dropped into the floor, leaving the wire to dangle by itself in the air. Under normal circumstances, I would have been keeling over the pain but it seemed so trivial as compared to the one in my other hand.
Speaking of injuries, they now consisted of a broken wrist, a punctured vein, a pierced hand and a whole bunch of scratches, scrapes and cuts during my first fight as Host.
"I never want to fight again.", I muttered I myself. As usual, 3 other people had the luxury of listening to my whispered words.
"Sorry, but this is just the first out of countless subsequent ones."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"I think so?"
"Questioning yourself only deteriorates your credibility."
Cradling my broken wrist in the palm of my other hand, I limped over to the fallen spider, who appeared to me be able to react fast enough to the sudden change of circumstances.
He laid down coughing, all traces of his spider legs and silk home except for the ones left behind on the ground and a few holes in the back of jos shirt. He was lying on us back so I couldn't tell how many there were, but I'd bet it'd total to eight.
Somiel stood over the fallen human, curiously staring at the attacker. She was in better shape than me but that didn't mean she was exempt from scratches and cuts made on her. "He's down, won't be going anywhere."
I noticed her Carosphone wasn't anywhere. "Where's your-"
"-Carosphone? Gone. I made it disappear for a short while. That means everyone is going to start waking up soon as there's no more music to keep them sleeping."
"Next issue. What about him?"
I didn't need to do anything, motion or move myself, for her to understand who I was talking about.
"My Host asked me to let her assume control. She wants to take him."
The guy groaned and I walked over to him. I was sure he was incapacitated enough to be unable to launch a surprise attack against me. Just for good measure, I transformed my eyes.
I kneeled next to him. "You said there was a bounty on my head. Who was it from?"
The guy turned his head and it struck me how human be looked right now. Every feature on his body was gone, leaving behind only a man with bruises and injuries all over his body, albeit to a lesser extent. "I…there was…ranking…"
"What ranking?"
"...Yuk...a...ro…"
Without any indication, an object flew by me and struck the man, causing him to yell and scream. I looked back in the direction the object came from and quickly transformed, jumping towards a vantage point where I could see the area.
"Where's the shooter? I can't see him!"
"Report. That man is convulsing, no, now he's still!"
"What!?"
"Report. Exactly like I said. That Parasite, Somiel, she's tending to him but it doesn't seem to have any effect."
"She can't help.", Psi solemnly grimaced, "Her abilities don't allow that power."
I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, no one running around with a rifle or a gun. "I don't think the shooter will come back for us."
"Why?"
"Logic. Why shoot that guy first if I was unaware of them? It's most likely they were aiming to hit him."
"I jumped back towards Somiel, who solemnly lifted her head up. Just from reading her eyes, I understood what had happened. The inevitable.
I looked at the body, lying still and motionless, face unmoving and I felt fear pierce my heart.
I felt sick to my stomach.
I wanted to vomit.
Someone was dead.
"Host. We need to leave."
"I agree. We need to formulate our next plan of action."
However, I wasn't listening. Something had caught my eye and I walked forward, kneeling next to Somiel. I reached my hand out and picked up the object which had struck the man's neck.
Somiel curiously stared at the object in my hands. "What is it?", she asked, sounding worried.
I stared at it, wanting to disbelieve what I saw. That iconic splash of red in the back, the sharp front designed to pierce through the surfaces of object.
There was no doubt.
A dart.
That stormy evening.
I opened the door to my home. "Tadaima.", I called out.
"Okaeri!", my cute imouto called back.
I walked forward, seeing my sister on the couch, dressed in casual clothing with a book in front of her face.
"Studying?", I asked her, "You don't have any upcoming exams."
"Nope, this is Komachi's fashion book!" She held it up in front of my face.
"Oh, ok."
I wondered how whenever Komachi referred to herself in third-person, it was cute. She must be the only person on this planet capable of committing such an endearing act.
I walked over to the kitchen and started to prepare dinner for me and Komachi. As usual, I predicted our parents would come home late.
"Host, are you ok?"
"Just a little shaken up, that's all."
"What about your sister over there?"
"Please refer to her as angel."
My sisc-, I meant caring, tendencies still showed up from time to time.
After eating, I headed up to my room, setting my bag down on the floor and taking out my books, preparing to do my homework. Yuigahama sent me a text over an hour ago. It went something like:
"Hikki, why didn't you come to school today! Me and Yukinon were worried! Anyways, Hiratsuka-sensei…"
Typical. It was just like her to send something like that.
I tried writing down my essay on the evolution of something during this random time. Keyword: tried. The end result was full of grammar, vocabulary and spelling mistakes. My writing was also much messier than my normal handwriting.
"Preoccupied?"
"Turns out, I still am."
After that event, the people started waking up and I realised Somiel's effects were wearing off. After she assured me she would be fine and remove the body, I sped back to Saize, pretending to wake up along with Haruno and Isshiki, who were shocked by the damage in the restaurant but didn't suspect I had a part to play in it.
I replayed the scene of me holding the dart, twisting it 360 degrees as I looked for a clue. Who was it from? Any adulation with any corporation or person, no matter how well-known they were?
And the body. Sure, I had seen deaths on screen in movies, but to see one in real life meant that person wasn't an actor, just a victim.
Psi tried to console me. "It wasn't your fault."
"I know. It's the fact that someone signed the death sentence for him."
"...When you accepted the bond, I knew there was little chance that you would think about killing. You had knowledge that there would be fights, that there would be other Hosts, but trust me when I say that many Hosts's, including yourself, had death crossing their mind. No one ever expects to deal a fatal blow on someone else."
"What was he talking about, the bounty and ranking?"
I delved into my mind and saw Psi floating around, the only one awake. He floated over to me and out of nowhere, a list appeared before us.
There were names of other Parasites and information about them, their level, categories, classes. Beside each name was a picture, some containing pictures of people and others with nothing in them. There were also numbers next to each picture, ascending in numerical value downwards. Number 1 was at the top of the page, followed by number two and so on.
"This", Psi gestured, "are the rankings of each Parasite, their Host, level, information on each one. The list displays each Parasites last known information, show everything here may not be completely reliable since every Parasite can also access the list."
He started scrolling down, using his mind since he had no hands, and I saw the names flashing by, not giving me any time to read. "I'm here.", he said, stopping in number 267.
I read his information. Level: Unknown. Class: Unknown. Everything about him was unknown, save for his Host picture, which displayed a picture of me in the mall, a fountain in the background. "How-?"
"When a Host sees another Host, the list is automatically updated with their picture, but the two conditions, seeing the Host in real life and realizing that they actually are a Host, must be met in order for it to take place."
I knew where he was going. "You think it was Somiel?"
"I have no doubt."
Silence passed between us, before I thanked him and went back outside.
I got up, turning the light off and leaving my books on my table. Still dressed in my school uniform and not bothering to take a bath, I laid down on my comfortable bed and stared up at the ceiling.
Two days ago, I had almost been robbed and woke up in my own house, where I heard their voices for the first time.
Yesterday, I woke up and went to school, listening to Yuigahama and Yukinoshita acting differently, as well as having an assassin outside the club door.
Today, I climbed a satellite tower and rushed towards my school, only to find the assassin dead and a girl who clearly knew more than me. Coming to meet her at Saize led to an encounter Haruno and Isski, which then led to one with Somiel and fight which took someone's life.
I needed answers. Tomorrow, I'd find that girl.
Darkness overcame me.
Concord's note: My first ever fight scene. I tried to create it in my mind so that I could put it into words and I have to say I'm proud of my work.
Thanks for your reviews guys. Also, please leave your harsh criticism and reviews if you want to. Of course I can't speak for every single writer out there, but I think a bad review hurts them a lot. Still, reviews help guide them along and see the readers opinion on their story. Took me a long time to realise this.
Anyways, yes, stuff may be moving a bit fast for you guys but I think you'll further understand what's happening as this story progresses.
Signing off.
