The Izumi home was calm and pleasant as the morning sun rose over the horizon. The sun's rays shined through the porch window of the lone son's bedroom, who suddenly bolted up from his sleep, sweat dripping down his face. Groaning softly, Shinichi Izumi ran a hand across his face.

Awoken from yet another Mr. A nightmare. It was the third one since the attack on his school the previous week. Well, not necessarily on his school, rather on Shinichi himself. He was the one the man had been after anyways. However, Shinichi doubted Mr. A would have had an issue going after his classmates if the need presented itself.

That had all happened the previous week, and the school had shut down for a few days to handle the situation, which they believed had been a simple intruder. How wrong they were.

Shinichi lifted his left hand, holding it above his face as he fell back on the bed. He could vividly remember, almost feel, what it had felt like when he'd stabbed Mr. A with that broken metal chair leg. The force he had used to shove that sharp end through the parasite's chest. His hand clenched into a fist, and Shinichi let it fall against his slightly damp forehead.

He wondered if Mr. A had actually escaped the school or if he'd eventually bled out from his wounds. They hadn't actually seen him die before them, but then again, Mr. A hadn't come back for him or Migi. And Migi never appeared worried about it in the passing days. Maybe Ryoko Tamiya had finished him off. There had been that explosion in one of the science labs not long after Mr. A had retreated from their battle. Perhaps, it had been that. Migi never appeared worried about it in the passing days.

Ryoko didn't seem like the type to leave around loose ends. She quit her teaching role and disappeared after their little chat near the gym. Shinichi didn't know whether he should be more worried or relieved about it. Again, it was another situation Migi wasn't conflicted about at all. At least, if he was, he never made it known to Shinichi.

Speaking of Migi…

"Migi," Shinichi called out quietly, grabbing his glasses from the nightstand. Shoving them onto his face, he looked over at his desk when he received no response from the parasite. Migi was usually up and about long before Shinichi ever was.

Shinichi blinked as he saw that Migi wasn't at his computer. The desktop screen was still off as he'd left it the night before, the dark glass reflecting Shinichi's form right back at him. He raised his right hand that the parasite had taken over, and there was no golden hazel eye looking back at him or a mouth ready to speak to him. His hand seemed as normal as ever, which Shinichi shouldn't have found strange, but he did. On the rare chance that Shinichi woke before Migi, the parasite would at least respond when called.

"Migi?" Shinichi called out again, sounding more like a question now. He turned his arm left and right, looking for any signs of Migi, but again, he received no response. Shinichi grimaced in annoyance. Was Migi ignoring him? Shinichi didn't think he'd done anything recently to warrant that from Migi, nor did it seem like Migi would do it in the first place. Could parasites be petty?

Shinichi snapped Migi's name louder, even shaking his arm rapidly in hopes of gaining his attention. That was when he heard a slight groan. It didn't come from him or his hand. It was a bit farther away, and Shinichi leaned to the side, spotting a pale foot peeking out from the end of his bed on the floor. Slowly, Shinichi crept towards the other end of his bed, shifting his covers to the side. Then, the foot moved, and brown eyes widened as a nude male came into view. Laying on his bedroom floor, the male was sat up slightly, rubbing his eyes.

Shinichi screamed—a manly scream, he'll insist to his dying day—and tripped out of bed. He backed away from his bed, his back bumping sharply against his desk Seconds later, rushed footsteps were heard coming towards his room from the hall.

"Shinichi?" It was his mother. Perfect… "What's the matter?"

Shinichi was too busy having the most intense staring contest he'd ever had in his life that he didn't respond right away. Only when the doorknob started to turn did Shinichi snap out of it and, without thinking, rushed over to the door and slammed his weight against the door to keep it closed. He heard his mother's surprised squeak, and Shinichi winced as he could practically picture the look on her face.

"I'm fine," Shinichi called through the door breathlessly. "Just a…um, a bad dream. Yeah, that's all. I'm okay, mom, sorry!"

Before his mother spoke, there was a brief silence, sounding as startled as Shinichi thought she would have. "A-Alright then. Um…breakfast is almost ready."

"Okay, I'll be done soon." If he wasn't dead by then.

Shinichi waited until his mother's footsteps faded downstairs before locking the door and spinning back around to face the room. The guy strangely hadn't moved a muscle. He simply stared up at Shinichi with blank eyes that were slightly shielded by black bangs.

"Who—who the hell are you, and how did you get in here?" Shinichi demanded lowly, not wanting to attract one of his parents back up there. His eyes flicked over to his desk where he kept his newly replaced pocketknife, having bought it because Migi had broken his last one. Slowly, Shinichi inched towards his desk, not taking his eyes off the man.

How the hell did he even get in here? Shinichi tended to leave his window or the porch door open at night, particularly on hotter nights, but not only was he on the second story, but Migi would have alerted him to someone breaking in. Human or parasite.

"Who are you?" Shinichi gritted out again when the man gave him no answer. Those hazel eyes followed Shinichi's every move with vague interest, making Shinichi even tenser than before. Then the guy actually spoke.

"Calm down, Shinichi," the man said, causing Shinichi to freeze where he was. "You are not in any danger."

Shinichi's eyes widened as his brain processed and recognized the familiar voice. He blinked, once, twice. The eyes were familiar, too, now that he focused on them, and Shinichi's jaw went slack.

"M—Migi?!"

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"So… you're just…have a body now?"

Shinichi had just returned from downstairs. After sitting through breakfast with the anxiety of a man on trial, his parents eventually left for the day. His dad went work for a last-minute call-in, and his mom was off to do her Saturday errands.

Sitting down on the bed beside Migi, Shinichi held out the water bottle he'd taken from the kitchen fridge to the black haired. He'd gotten over most of his initial shock; he just felt unnerved now. Migi took the bottle from him but didn't open it. He was wearing one of Shinichi's hoodies and a clean pair of his boxers.

He was a similar build to Shinichi, slightly taller by an inch or two and a bit on the scrawnier side, looking to be around 17, maybe 18 or 19. His hair was black, long and wavy, reaching his shoulders, framing his face, bangs hanging over his forehead like curtains. Shinichi had never pictured what he thought Migi would have looked like were he human. It had never mattered as that's not how the parasites work anyways. They didn't gain a body of their own; they took over already preexisting bodies.

"It would seem so," Migi said. His voice was still the same as it had always been.

"Okay, but how? I thought you couldn't go on to take over someone's brain once you like developed."

"I didn't take over anyone's brain. If I could, I would have just taken yours." Shinichi flinched slightly. "I don't know, Shinichi. I'm just as much in the dark as you are."

"So, this would mean I'm normal again?" Shinichi couldn't keep the hope from appearing in his voice. But, as he probably suspected, that hope quickly drained from his body as Migi began shaking his head.

"I can still sense my own parasitic cells in your arm, so some of my beings have been left behind. They are weaker than before, hardly noticeable, but they're there nonetheless."

The brown-haired teen groaned loudly, falling back onto the bed in defeat. Honestly, what had he'd expected? Nothing went his way nowadays. Shinichi didn't know why he allowed himself to get his hopes up. Everything seemed to be going continuously downhill with each passing day.

It was like whatever higher being above was bored and decided: "Hey! There's an innocent teenager who has never hurt anything in his life and has probably done nothing to deserve anything horrible to happen to him. This should be fun!"

He was terrified of small bugs before Migi, and the other parasites showed up; no way did he deserve this!

Shinichi was brought out of his thoughts by Migi gently taking hold of his right arm and pulling the boy back into a sitting position. Shinichi stared, confused, as Migi held up his hand close to his face. It took a moment before Shinichi noticed what Migi was even looking at. Circling his wrist was a thin line of red. Snatching his hand back to take a closer look at it himself, Shinichi watched as the blood-red color faded before his eyes into a pale pink. It was barely noticeable against his skin.

"Fascinating," Migi voiced beside him, retaking his hand, clapping their hands together. And in an instant, the line turned back to that blood-red color. Shinichi rolled his eyes in exasperation, taking in Migi's form again. Of course, Migi would find it interesting instead of fucking weird.

His eyebrows furrowed as he spotted red. Reaching his free hand forward, he brushed Migi's hair away from his neck and found a similar thin red line circling the entirety of Migi's neck. His eyes followed the line as it didn't stop in a perfect circle around like it did on Shinichi's wrist. It continued down in one strand, disappearing beneath the neckline of the hoodie Migi wore.

"Hey, take this off real quick," Shinichi told the black haired, tugging slightly on the sleeve. Hazel eyes blinked at him for a second before pulling down the zipper. Now that they were no longer touching again, the lines faded to pale pink, but Shinichi could still make it out when he looked closely.

The line continued down past Migi's collarbone and down his chest on his left side, stopping right over his heart. Shinichi poked a finger into Migi's stomach, feeling it flex a bit before relaxing, and both their lines turned red.

He glanced at Migi's face. "Any clue—"

"No."

"Ah."

Shinichi would just have to let it slide for now. Let Migi do his research on it—if there was anything he could even search up—Migi would come up with some explanation for all this. Shinichi hoped. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to hide the line for his parents. His mother would have a heart attack seeing what looked like a tattoo on her underaged son.

"Shinichi."

"Hm?"

"I want you to picture your hand as a blade for me. Like the ones I have produced before," Migi said, getting to his feet, swaying a little before stilling. He guessed Migi wasn't used to having human legs and walking just yet.

Migi's fingers shifted into small shiny blades as a demonstration, Shinichi assumed. Shinichi looked at him uncertainly as Migi turned his fingers back to normal again and took Shinichi's right hand.

"Why?"

"Just do it," Migi commanded.

Shinichi sighed and closed his eyes. It was pointless to try and argue with Migi and even more pointless to disobey him. When Migi was still…his hand, he wasn't a real threat to him. It would jeopardize his own survival if anything happened to Shinichi, too, so Migi fatally harming him was out of the question. Sure, he had threatened to take out Shinichi's eyes and other senses, saying that he wouldn't need them to live. Still, Shinichi didn't know how serious he was when he did that.

Now, Migi had his own body, not relying on Shinichi for survival. There was no telling what Migi could do, and Shinichi was no match for Migi if it came down to a fight.

So, he did as he was told. The image came quickly to him; the sharp blades were a shiny, metallic gray when they weren't soaked in blood. Shinichi shuddered involuntarily, remembering the very first parasite they'd encountered. The dog Migi had killed without hesitation, pulling its small heart from its body and crushing it into nothing.

Shinichi was startled by a sudden hiss of pain, and he opened his eyes. It had worked, his right arm and hand effectively replaced with a shiny blade. It was a bit bigger than the blades he'd seen Migi produce in the past. The skin from his wrist to his elbow was exposed muscle. Migi wasn't standing in front of Shinichi anymore, having taken a few steps back, clutching one of his hands tightly. Blood dripped from between his fingers. Migi let out another his, his face a mix of pain and curiosity.

"Ah, shit, sorry, Migi."

Migi's eyes flicked over to Shinichi. "It hurts," he deadpanned, sounding almost accusing. Shinichi held back a laugh at the look.

He apologized again. "It was an accident, I swear." He got up and awkwardly started to offer his help before realizing his dominant hand was still a blade.

"Um…"

"Just picture it as normal," Migi said.

"Right, yeah." His hand turned back just as easily as it had appeared, thankfully. He took Migi's bleeding hand, pulling his fingers apart to reveal the long gash. Seeing the still curious look on Migi's face, Shinichi asked, "Have you never experienced pain before?"

Shinichi had figured the pain was a shared experience between them; Migi had been part of his body. Migi shook his head.

"Not directly. It was more like…I could tell when you were hurt, like a trigger on my consciousness. But I never felt it."

Shinichi hummed. He picked up a discarded t-shirt from the floor and pressed it tightly into Migi's hand to slow the bleeding. Migi grunted but otherwise did nothing in protest.

"Come on, we need to get this cleaned up." Shinichi lead Migi from his room and into the bathroom, having Migi sit down on the closed toilet seat while Shinichi rooted through the cabinets for the first aid kit.

Once found, Shinichi knelt in front of Migi, starting to clean the would with alcohol. It was silent for a bit, but Shinichi had to break it. He had to ask.

"What are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" Migi asked.

"I mean, you have a body now," Shinichi tried to explain. "It's not like you need me to survive anymore, you know."

"We aren't aware of the functional capabilities of this situation, Shinichi. This could be a temporary thing, for all we know. No, I will be staying by your side."

"You look shocked," Migi commented after another moment of silence, taking in Shinichi's expression, one that Shinichi hadn't realized had fallen onto his face.

"A bit," Shinichi admitted, wrapping Migi's hand in bandages. "I just always thought you'd take any opportunity to leave if you could survive it."

It reminded Shinichi of when they encountered their second parasite, that one successful in taking over a human brain. The parasite had even taken the risk of chopping off his own arm and offering for Migi to join him in that host. Migi had said something similar about the possibility of it not working too great. It was really only the unknown outcome that stopped him rather than Shinichi himself.

"Again, t would be too risky to attempt," Migi said. "It would be risky for you as well. You may have the ability to produce a blade on your own to defend yourself. Still, your mere human capabilities would not be enough to keep you alive in a fight."

Shinichi's bottom lip poked out slightly. "Hey, I helped take out Mr. A," he protested, feeling insulted. He wasn't that useless, was he?

"We won that fight due to Mr. A's cockiness and him underestimating you because you are human."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, opting to let the argument drop. Migi was right, after all, anyways. But did he have to be so blunt about it?

Deep down, though, Shinichi was relieved that he wouldn't be abandoned to fend for himself. Not now, anyway. Shinichi excused himself to find some painkillers as they weren't stored in the bathroom like usual. His dad must be having some rough nights, finding the pill bottle at the bedside in his parent's bedroom. He paused in his room for a second to grab the forgotten water bottle from earlier.

He entered the bathroom and held out the pill bottle and water to Migi. But Migi shook his head. "I'm fine. But it seems like we are in some luck, information-wise."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow in question. What information could Migi have gotten in the two minutes he'd been gone?

"I can't sense you unless you're very close to me. I'm not positive on the exact distance, so I would like to test it." He looked at Shinichi expectantly.

"Can you even walk properly yet?" Shinichi asked.

"I would prefer to stay here while you walk the required distance," Migi said. "I can sit on the front steps so I may get a proper analysis."

"Alright, I guess." Shinichi pulled Migi up to stand, and they returned to Shinichi's room so Migi could grab a pair of bottoms. Wearing Shinichi's sweatpants, they start downstairs. They were almost to the door when Migi's stomach grumbled loudly.

The fact that Migi would need to eat in order to sustain his new body hadn't crossed Shinichi's mind until just then. Would Migi need to start feeding on humans like the others of his kind? With being his right hand, Migi had been able to survive just on Shinichi's systems, nutrition, and the like from what Shinichi ate. He looked back at Migi, who stood behind him. Eating humans is what the parasites had been doing since the beginning, some sort of desire, goal to devour humanity. Shinichi's eyes narrowed. Could he prevent Migi from going down that path, somehow?

Shinichi held up his hands, palms up, to stop Migi from speaking as the other male opened his mouth. "I know what you're thinking," he said nervously. "But are we entirely sure that you have to…do that? Humans as like your food."

Migi shifted his head to the side, an odd canine gesture, as Shinichi tried to explain his thinking. Shinichi was finding it rather tricky with Migi staring at him without expression. He should be used to it at this point, but it was different now that there was a whole human face staring back at him instead of just a hazel eye and mouth.

"You wouldn't have to watch, Shinichi," Migi said, almost as if he were talking to a small child.

"That's not really the issue here, Migi."

"It's about time you get over your adversity for my kinds' diet. Humans consume other species all the time. Humans only have an issue with it when they are being targeted, that they are no longer the top of the food chain."

Shinichi shook his head frantically, placing himself directly between Migi and the front door. Migi could take him out very easily, that was painfully obvious, but Shinichi couldn't just let him out. It would lay on his consciousness forever, letting Migi straight up eat someone, standing nearby and doing nothing…Shinichi couldn't allow it. He wouldn't. There had to be another way.

Parasites had to rely on the host body's natural functions to live, still similar to how Migi worked. So, that would mean they could survive off what humans did, right? Unless taking over the brain fucked with the other bodily functions as well…

"Can we try something first?" Shinichi pleaded, placing his hands on Migi's shoulders. He explained his idea. Migi paused for a few seconds, seemingly thinking it over.

"It wouldn't hurt to test the theory."

"G—Great," Shinichi managed to get out, shoulders sagging a bit in relief. "Okay."

A minute later, Migi was sitting at the dining table while Shinichi went into the kitchen searching for food. Shinichi wasn't the best at cooking, nowhere near his mother's skills, but he could manage something edible for Migi. He went into the fridge for the egg carton, setting up for a simple meal of eggs and bacon.

They would need to come up with some story about Migi's sudden appearance, too, he realized. He sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. This was so much in so little time, and he was having a hard time trying to keep up. He could feel Migi's eyes burning holes into him while cooking until Shinichi placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him.

He handed Migi a fork and sat down in the chair across from the black haired, watching Migi intently as he took a bite. He chewed and swallowed very mechanically before meeting Shinichi's gaze and then gave a slight nod towards him, to Shinichi's relief.

"This may work." That was all Migi said before going in for another fork full.

"Thank you," Shinichi said, sitting back in the chair. He was glad Migi had gone along with his proposal. He'd honestly expected Migi to just ignore him like he usually did when they disagreed and go off to do whatever he had intended. Maybe with a few monotone yet still effective threats. Perhaps it had been the way he presented it. Migi was a curious thing and would take any opportunity to test things out. Shinichi filed that fact away for later use.

"Why are you thanking me?" Migi questioned. "It was a reasonable theory, though rooted in irrational fears and morals."

"My morals are very rational, thank you very much."

Migi looked at him, and Shinichi instantly regretted his words. They sent Migi off into one of his many lectures about humans and mankind, which Shinichi had heard many times before.