Those few seconds he spent distracted from the road were enough for him to find himself crashing through the metal barrier. His inattention to the dangerous curve ahead led to a fatal accident, with the car wrecked amidst the rocks and the waterfall cascading over it.
Oki was thrown through the windshield, her body covered in blood on the hood of the car.
"My organs are in chaos..." she said as her face split open, revealing the parasite with four limbs. "I see what happened to the man."
"So this is the purpose of the seatbelt," Oki said as she struggled back into the car. "I have no choice but to transfer to this man's body. His injuries aren't severe; whether male or female, controlling a body of a different gender shouldn't be too different."
The parasite's limbs moved continuously as Oki continued, "Decapitation, merging, regeneration—this will only take a moment," while the man attempted to regain consciousness, his facial features changing.
The man awoke to see his surroundings: a distorted face with many eyes and stretched limbs. He was horrified by the sight, his eyes wide open. Before he could utter a word, Oki decapitated him and transferred into his body. The body began to swell, and the head continued to expand—it was the process of transfer.
"Damn it! I'm late! Why didn't you wake me up!!!" Izumi exclaimed as he rushed down the stairs.
"Isn't it customary for your kind to wear something on your feet?" Migi replied.
Izumi opened the front door and then noticed he was barefoot, prompting him to turn back. "You overslept because your body needs more rest. Sleep is beneficial," Migi remarked as Izumi put on his shoes.
"Yeah, yeah," Izumi said, his tone completely contrasting its literal meaning, conveying an unspoken wish for Migi to be quiet.
"Your good health means my good health," Migi continued.
"You didn't say that before, when you abandoned me and embarrassed me in front of everyone," Izumi retorted, recalling Migi's absence on game day.
As he walked toward the university, he remembered Tamiya's words from their last discussion: "Even though it's a small part, you are no longer pure."
"I wonder what she meant by that!" Izumi said, addressing Migi.
"My body is connected to your brain through nerves and bodily fluids (blood); that might be the reason," Migi explained.
Izumi suddenly stopped walking and raised his right hand to eye level. Migi appeared on his palm and said, "What! Did I say something strange? Yes, connected to your brain, which means your body might undergo changes too."
"Tamiya realized that and discovered something unhuman in you," Migi added.
"Unhuman!!! Aside from my right side, I'm human, right?" Izumi said, visibly annoyed.
"I'm not sure. It wouldn't be surprising if you changed psychologically. I'm tired, so I'm going to sleep," Migi said, disappearing.
"Wait, you sly one, you just woke up!" Izumi said angrily after Migi left. He clenched his fist and muttered, "I'm no longer pure."
Is that why Tamiya didn't kill Izumi, despite saying it wouldn't be much effort? Could he someday shift from the side of good to the other, especially since Migi was linked to his brain?
"No, I'm an ordinary human, just like my mom and the others," Izumi reassured himself, recalling everything that had been said to him regarding this matter.
"Something has changed in you," his mother said.
"You've changed recently," said Morano.
Izumi shook his head side to side in denial. "That's not true! I have no desire to kill people or eat them."
He continued walking, his mind elsewhere, until he tripped over a backpack and fell to the ground.
"Come on, get up," he heard a distant voice.
"Stop!" Izumi shouted as he saw three guys beating up one of his classmates.
The assailants paused, and one of them said, "Who the hell are you? Or do you want some too..."
"He's my classmate," Izumi replied.
"So what!" said a feminine voice. A beautiful girl joined them, accompanied by one of the guys. She had gray hair and wide eyes, wearing red headphones to block out or reduce external noise.
"I don't know what's going on, but haven't you gone overboard with the beating?" Izumi said, his voice trembling, revealing his weakness.
One of the guys noticed Izumi's vulnerability from his body language and stepped closer to him slowly.
A right hook sent Izumi's glasses flying.
"Do you want to take on what's left of the beating for him, four-eyed?"
"Do you want another one?" the guy added, laughing loudly.
"Stop! I'm starting to feel sorry for him; we just want to talk to your classmate."
Izumi picked up his glasses from the ground and remembered a time when Migi was doing what he loved at the computer, saying, "One of the most ambiguous elements in human psychology is sacrifice. What I mean is doing something for someone else, even if it costs your life, and that's a kind of foolishness. Who told you that the same person will do for you what you did for them? I can't understand that."
Izumi spoke loudly, "The human psyche, humans are different from parasites."
"I said stop!" he shouted at the young men, and they finally turned to look at him.
"If you want to fight, you should do it fairly and justly," Izumi added.
"Are you serious?" asked a blond guy with a scar under his mouth, wearing a beanie and loose clothing. He stepped closer to Izumi and stood in front of him.
"Y-yes," Izumi stammered, biting his teeth, fear evident on his face.
"I might regret this now," Izumi thought to himself.
A left punch followed by a right one, then a series of kicks to Izumi's stomach after he fell to the ground without any reaction. All of this was to prove he was an ordinary person like the others, making sacrifices for others, denying what Tamia had said about him: "He is no longer pure," and affirming Migi's words about humans.
"Don't you think that's enough?" the girl said, feeling sorry for Izumi.
"Not yet; I hate those who pretend to be strong, like him," said the blond guy, then he put all his weight on Izumi's right hand.
"Damn, Migi..." Izumi said, fearing Migi's appearance.
He braced for another hit, but the girl's intervention, when she shouted, "I said enough!" stopped him.
"It's pathetic to hit a defenseless person like this," the girl said, then she stepped forward and leaned down to Izumi. "Why did you intervene when you're too weak to fight?"
Without saying a word, Izumi remained silent as the girl stared into his eyes, waiting for a response...
Suddenly, the girl let out a scream and took two steps back from Izumi.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice tinged with fear.
"Come on, let's go, Kana," said the blond guy.
The girl ran away without looking back, and Izumi got up, helping his classmate to rise from the ground as well.
"Are you okay?" Izumi asked.
"Are you stupid or something?" his classmate replied, commenting on Izumi's actions to save him.
"I admit what I did was foolish on my part, but that's what distinguishes us humans from other creatures," Izumi said.