Parasyte -the maxim-
Symbiosis
Chapter 6: Blood

There were screams in the hallways.

Kayoko was frozen in fear, knowing that something happened involving one of two people. Shinichi Izumi or Hideo Shimada. One of them had lost control of their killer instincts, and had struck.

There was bound to be blood spilt.

She shook in her seat. She was the only one in class 3 who knew what was happening. She was the only one who was part of the raging war that went on outside, the war that no one else in her class even knew existed. She was the only one who should have been involved.

Stealthily opening her phone as the class, she dialed the number on Hideo's prepaid phone, the one he rarely used. The call failed almost immediately, much to Kayoko's horror. Snapping her phone shut, she looked around the room, desperately hoping that Hideo would magically turn up.

He wasn't anywhere to be found.

Standing on shaky legs upon this realization, she ignored the questioning calls of her name from both Satomi and her teacher as she moved towards the doors. "I have to find him," she muttered to herself, clenching her hands into fists.

Before anyone could stop her, Kayoko ran off. She flung the classroom door open, running down the halls. She knew that if she just followed the screams, they would lead her somewhere. Maybe to the one who was causing all of this.

She just hoped that it wasn't Hideo.

She didn't want him to turn into something he would hate later.

Hideo tried to scream for his body to stop. He tried to yell for it to not do what it was doing. He didn't want to feel the blood on his blades, and he didn't want to hear the gurgling of the dying humans around him. He didn't want to realize that he'd killed another human in his own madness. He didn't want to feel that painful jolt as he sensed the end of a life. He didn't want any of this.

He needed to get to class 3. That was all he wanted.

These humans were just getting in his way. He wanted to just brush past them, since they couldn't hurt him, even if they tried, but for some reason, his body wouldn't allow that. His body wanted to kill them. His body wanted to see them drop to the floor and writhe in pain as he ripped them apart. So, that's what his body did.

He hated it.

He felt less human than he ever had.

Inside, he was screaming for someone to stop him. He felt self-hatred. He felt useless. He felt like a murderer. He didn't like any of these feelings, and wanted them to go away. He wanted to return to questioning what it meant to be a good person. He wanted to go back to pondering his own humanity, the way he had before the blood started flowing.

He wanted Kayoko.

Don't hurt them… just get Kayoko and run, he pleaded with his body. She'll never forgive me for this. I just want to live.

His body paid him no mind. It continued to slaughter anything that got in its way. Inside his own mind, Hideo flinched, seeing the blood splatter all over the walls and the floors, seeing the bodies that were scattered around the hallways.

I… I'm sorry. I didn't want this.

Shinichi looked around the evacuated students. He didn't see Murano or Kayoko anywhere within the crowd. Worry built up in his heart as he continued to search, hoping to catch even one glimpse of the girls. But they never showed up in his vision.

"None of the class 3 students evacuated… Something must've happened."

As soon as he heard those words, Shinichi knew.

He dashed back into the school through an open window, rushing through the hallways as Migi pointed him in the right direction.

Screams caught his attention. He looked out the hallway windows to see some of the class 3 students he recognized running out the door. Many of them were crying, and some had blood on them. He gaped, seeing the expressions on their faces.

Shimada… went after class 3…

As the students continued to run, Shinichi stared, waiting for the two familiar girls to emerge from the school. Neither of them did.

"Neither of them are here," he muttered, worry in his voice.

Migi looked up at him. "He's still on the third floor." He didn't tell Shinichi anything else. There may not have been anyone else left alive.

Maybe it was better that Migi stayed quiet.

Kayoko found herself running back towards her classroom. She had searched the entire school, but he always seemed to be ahead of her. The screams led her to her class, on the third floor.

Upon reaching her class, she suddenly wished that she hadn't. She could feel bile in the back of her throat as she clasped her hands over her mouth. Her classroom and the hallway before it had been dyed a deep crimson, bodies leaking blood all over the school. They all belonged to people she'd joked around with for the past few weeks. They were people she knew.

Ueno… Yuki… Ishida… Rei… Ogami… Fuji…

She listed off their names in her head as she carefully stepped through the blood, the liquid sticking to the soles of her school slippers. She said a quiet prayer as she passed the people she knew. They were all good people. Young and stupid, yes, but they were good. They didn't deserve to die like this.

"Hide… what happened to you?" she whispered, dread filling her senses.

The dead had looks of fear and panic frozen on their faces. The last thing they'd seen had scared them into sobbing, probably begging for their lives or screaming in terror.

She took a deep breath, steeling her heart. She had to be prepared for whatever it was that she found, even if what she found was no longer the Hide she knew. As she continued walking, a small voice called out.

"Kayoko?"

Freezing in place, she turned.

In a small hallway, one that was cornered off from the rest of the hall, sat Satomi and Shinichi. She was curled away in his arms, tears flowing freely down her face as she clung to him desperately. He was trying his best to comfort her, but he simply couldn't bring himself to bring her closer, not when he knew that what had killed her friends was the same thing that resided in his right hand.

When he saw Kayoko, his gaze hardened. "Did you know?" he demanded.

She managed the weakest smile that she'd ever shown anyone. Her insides hurt and her eyes burned. She choked as she shook her head. "I didn't know what happened to him. He was fine before school… I don't know… I don't…" She trailed off, muttering nonsense under her breath.

If Hide was there, he'd tell her "breathe" in that calm, quiet voice of his and put his hand on her back. He'd stay with her until she calmed down, until her tears went away.

He'd know what she needed.

"Kayoko…"

She could hear Satomi's voice, broken and scared, but she didn't want to reply. Satomi had been crying because of what Hide did. Shinichi hated her because of what Hide did. Everything they'd worked so hard to keep secret had gone to waste.

"Yuko," she finally managed. "Hide went to see Yuko this morning. She left him a note, saying that she wanted to talk to him about something." She choked on her tears again, biting her lip. "I knew I should've kept him in class. He said he'd be fine. He promised he'd come back." She sobbed. "I shouldn't have let him come today. I told him something… something bad was going to happen."

She felt two arms wrap around her, and she looked up to see Satomi, who had pulled away from Shinichi. "This isn't your fault," she said firmly. "Nothing could have prevented this. You can't control everything."

Nearly laughing at hearing her own words thrown back at her, Kayoko shook her head. "You're right." She pulled away from her friend's embrace. "But I can try," she finished, a sad smile forming on her lips. She looked to Shinichi. "Get Satomi out of here. And promise me that you'll let me try to handle this," she requested, offering him the only smile that she could.

Shinichi hesitated, but nodded. "Don't die," was all he said in return.

She didn't reply to him, just smiled softly. She turned away, crossing her arms over her stomach. Her insides still churned as she slowly made her way towards the stairs. Her breaths were long and shaky, her eyes trained only on what was ahead of her.

She didn't want to die, but she didn't want anyone else to, either.

Stopping Hideo was all that mattered.

"Where's Kenzaki?!" demanded one of the teachers. "You said she ran off, right?! Did you find her?!"

Shinichi paused, feeling Murano freeze under his hand. She shook her head, her body beginning to shake. "She's alive," she muttered. "But I don't know for how long. She's… she's still in there." Her voice was weak, sad, like she had already come to terms with the idea that Kayoko was dead.

He frowned, feeling guilt in his heart.

Kayoko was going to die. Shimada was going to murder her without even thinking. He swore that he'd never harm Kayoko, but if Migi was right and Shimada was somehow becoming unhinged, then there was really no way to stop him.

He'd been so cold to her the last few times they spoke.

And now, he'd never get to see her again.

Biting his lip, Shinichi cursed himself. He cursed the way that he'd pushed her away over something that now seemed insignificant compared to the idea of her as a human being. She was his oldest friend, someone he'd cared about deeply. He knew that she hadn't changed in the time she'd been gone, or even the time that he hadn't been looking. She was still the kind, trusting, naïve girl that she'd always been.

He was the one who had changed. And as he changed, he'd changed their relationship. All because he couldn't accept that Kayoko placed her trust in someone he didn't like, someone he'd deemed a danger to everyone around him.

Of course, he was right in the end, and that would be the death of her.

But Shinichi couldn't help but feel regret, remorse, and guilt in his gut. If he'd done more, stayed closer to her, this could have been prevented. If he hadn't pushed her away, he could have pulled her out of the school along with Murano.

If he hadn't pushed her away, she would still be alive.

The police officers were swarming towards him, even as he cut them down. He could feel himself bleeding from where they shot him, but he managed to protect his heart. He still had a chance to live, as long as he could reform himself, become human again.

I want to live.

Kayoko wasn't in class 3. She wasn't there when he'd gone there, when he'd massacred his classmates, the people who'd been so kind and open to him when he'd transferred in. He hadn't wanted to. He just wanted to find her, but his body had tried to defend itself when the students tried to attack him.

He couldn't help it.

I have to live.

He couldn't die here.

Hideo pushed forwards, past the officers as he cut them down, hearing their bodies drop and feeling their blood splatter across his skin. He let his body do as it wanted. It wasn't just about killing anymore. It was about survival, and Hideo needed to survive. He had to find Kayoko.

He had to know something.

The stairs were tall. There were a lot of them. He panted as he climbed the stairs, holding onto the railing so he wouldn't fall. He knew that he'd lost a lot of blood, probably more than most humans could risk losing. He knew that dying of his gunshot wounds was a possibility that he had to come to terms with.

He just didn't want to accept dying as part of the ending. His death wasn't something that he could just accept. Not when he hadn't found her yet.

Pushing open the door, he stepped out into the sunlight that beamed down on him, warming his body as he limped forwards, blood leaking from his wounds. It was much brighter outside than it was inside. He could feel his entire body relaxing, knowing that it was still daytime. He looked back down the stairs, knowing that there was enough bloodshed to shock a thousand people.

It wasn't his fault.

He didn't mean to do it.

It just… happened.

And now, everything was crumbling down around him.

I need to live.

He was just beginning to feel. He was learning what it meant to be human, and not just believing the definition he'd created solely off of the observations he made as an immature being. Even though he was superior, he was not always right.

He'd thought humans were weak and cowardly by nature and, to some extent, he was right. But they'd also proven that they were resilient in the face of danger. They stood up to anything that threatened their survival as a species, they tried to discover weaknesses and fight back, and they tried to figure out what was best so that they could live, and not just survive.

They taught each other how to enjoy the lives they were given, even if it meant being unhappy in some other way.

The way Kayoko taught him.

I cannot die like this.

He steeled himself, preparing to defend himself against whatever would come for him next. He had to strike back, even as disjointed as he was. He couldn't let his weakness get the best of him.

He reached up, trying to rub away the dead cells with the sleeve of his uniform, forcing the new, living cells to take their places. He needed to regenerate as quickly as he could, or else he wouldn't be able to stop.

He needed to be Hideo Shimada and he needed to be the inhuman creature he was feared as.

Footsteps echoed up the stairs, these ones lighter and faster than those of the officers. Preparing himself to strike, Hideo raised his blade, forcing it as best he could with his weakened body.

A figure appeared at the door.

"Hide!"

He struck without thinking.

Stop! his mind shrieked as it recognized that voice.

There was a sickening thump when his blade barely kept itself from slicing the person in two.

Hideo backed away, pulling his blade from the figure. He shook in horror at what he had done.

Blood spread across a navy blue uniform jacket. Small, fragile hands pressed against the wound as weak legs buckled, failing after only a few moments.

"Hide…"

"I… I didn't mean to…"

He didn't mean to strike the only person who ever made any sense to him.

"Kayoko…"