"How can he move so fast? He's not human!!!" the mother thought, clutching her wound.
"The neck, I must sever the neck!" Izumi thought as he took a moment to catch his breath.
"I'll kill you!" Izumi shouted at the top of his lungs and charged forward, attacking once more.
The mother's limbs were usually effective, but in this particular fight with Izumi, they had become a weakness. Izumi skillfully exploited his agility, maneuvering past her limbs and putting her in a precarious position—a clear target that was easy to eliminate. This forced the mother to move her entire body to escape, buying time to return her limbs to their starting position and form a solid defense. However, luck was not on her side; the delayed translation of commands from her brain caused the spinal cord to intervene, leading to reflexive movements. The imminent danger resulted in her losing balance, and she fell to the ground, leaving Izumi to sever one of her limbs that had not returned to its original position in time.
Near her neck, Izumi raised his sword high, ready to strike down the monster that had taken his mother's life, tearing her from her body.
The mother instinctively raised her right hand, like any human clinging to life, revealing the burn scar that Izumi had inflicted on her when he was young.
"Son?" the mother said.
Izumi froze in place, his consciousness slipping away as memories of his mother flooded his mind—her care for him, her love, her fear for his safety. His focus shattered, and he lowered his guard, allowing the parasite to regain its balance and surprise him with an attack. Izumi was slow to react, and the blow left a deep gash just above his forehead, knocking him to the ground as blood trickled down his face.
The parasite had successfully deceived Izumi, redirecting his anger through the trick it had learned from their last encounter: the scar on the right hand made Izumi vulnerable and easy to target.
"Damn it," Izumi muttered, wiping the blood from his face.
The mother stood, regaining her balance by leaning on one of her weapons that she had driven into the ground, taking slow, heavy steps toward Izumi. "I will kill you, but in our next fight," she said before leaving the area.
Izumi showed no reaction, not ready to resume the battle, and the same went for the mother, who had been wounded in the shoulder. Neither wanted to risk further injury, leading them to halt their conflict.
A few minutes after the mother's departure, Uda and his parasite climbed up the cliff using their weapons, which eased Izumi's burden a bit as he saw Uda crawling on his knees toward him.
"Uda, are you okay?" Izumi asked, sitting on the ground.
"Where is that monster? Did you finish her off? It's impossible that she's your mother!" Uda said, his face covered in bruises and his words coming out in gasps.
"How did you survive? I thought you were dead when I saw you," Izumi said as he stood from the ground.
Uda's parasite intervened, saying, "I discovered the pattern of her attacks, targeting one area of the body—the heart. I gave her what she wanted; I formed a protective layer over the heart from the stab, and it worked largely as planned."
He didn't rush; Uda's parasite understood that its abilities were not enough to defeat the mother. Defense was not going to help during the fight; it was all about buying time until Izumi arrived to form a team. As the battle dragged on longer than expected, the parasite felt its host was not supporting it sufficiently due to his anxiety and fear, which affected his movements. Any uncoordinated motion from Uda could end their lives, prompting the parasite to concoct a strategy of a fake death.
Izumi tore a piece of fabric from his shirt and pressed it against his wound to stop the bleeding. He moved to the edge of the cliff, his thoughts focused on the upcoming battle that he hoped would be soon. Supporting each other, Izumi and Uda made their way toward the hospital for treatment.
It was time to leave. Izumi returned to the hotel to pack his things and check out of the place where he had stayed for the past few days. "Thank you for the hospitality," he said to Maki and her mother at the hotel door before walking away.
"I'll accompany you to the hospital," Maki said, walking alongside him.
They walked in silence for a few moments until Maki decided to speak. "Did you accomplish what you needed to do?"
Izumi didn't fully understand what Maki meant, but he smiled and replied, "Yes."
It was clear that his one-word answer didn't convince Maki, judging by the expression on her face. However, that didn't stop her from stepping in front of him, taking two steps forward to say, "Come back for a visit sometime."
"No, I don't think I will," Izumi replied.
"I mean, for a little while, maybe after some time has passed," Maki said, hopeful to see Izumi again.
"Alright," Izumi said with a slight smile.
Upon reaching the hospital, Izumi went to check on his father, who had received the green light to leave the hospital as long as he followed the doctors' recommendations. Before leaving the city, Izumi took his father for a walk after he had spent the previous days lying down. At the beach, Takashi looked out at the sunset on the horizon...
"I hope you understand, my son, when I said... how should I put this..." the father struggled to express something he wanted to say to his son.
"I want you to believe me, even to the end, no, even at this moment, your mother loved you. I love you both," the father turned to Izumi, who was a few steps behind him. (It was a slip of the tongue when the father said "to the end," then corrected himself to "even at this moment.")
"I know," Izumi replied.
"Father, I want to ask you something about the dream you had," Izumi added, and the father returned to his previous position, watching the sunset, apprehensive about the question Izumi was about to ask.
"In the nightmare you had, did Mom suffer?" Izumi asked, wanting to know how his mother had been killed by that monster.
"No, it happened quickly," the father said, closing his eyes.
In the basement of an abandoned house, Tamia sat with a young man who was not human, having given up her social life and the status she once held. However, she retained many traits of her character. She wouldn't kill for the sake of killing, only when necessary. Tamia's intelligence led her to bring a young man of her kind into her life, drawn to his personality and seeing in him a means to achieve her goals. She didn't withdraw from the scene entirely but took a step back to regroup and launch anew.
A dim light illuminated part of the basement, which was filled with decaying furniture, making movement difficult. Sitting in a wooden chair, wearing an old dress and a jacket to protect herself and her growing child from the cold, her features reflected exhaustion. Placing her hands on her belly, Tamia said, "If I remember correctly, your host is physically around the age of twenty, right?"