Chapter 29: A Fool Who Acts Smart
In the following days, it was as if everything had returned to normal.
Furthermore, due to the impact of the previous Parasyte A incident, during this period, Xia Shang was successfully elected Vice President of the Kendo Club with an 80% approval rating.
From then on, he was always followed by a group of juniors.
It wasn't until the appearance of a transfer student named Hideo Shimada that Xia Shang's previously peaceful life was disrupted.
"Xia Shang, the high schooler known as the Sword Saint. Reiko Tamura mentioned you before. I'm very interested in you. Let's be friends." Hideo Shimada stood in front of Xia Shang, extending his right hand for a handshake.
However, Xia Shang merely glanced at him and didn't respond.
Just as the two were about to pass each other, Hideo Shimada continued, "Before this, I had a few words with Shinichi Izumi. Actually, my philosophy is the same as Reiko Tamura's. I won't attack anyone in this school. Or rather, I haven't attacked humans at all recently. We are exploring a path to coexist with humans in this human society."
"This is the only way out for all parasitic organisms, and even you are no exception."
His words made Xia Shang stop.
"Reiko Tamura must have been surprised to learn I wasn't dead. She must have thought I'd die at the hands of the Parasytes in the Foothold Zone. Unfortunately, her plan didn't succeed." Xia Shang turned around and looked at Hideo Shimada with a calm gaze.
"Also, those words of yours might barely fool Shinichi Izumi, but to my ears, they're just nonsense. As for whether you attack people in this school, I just want to say, it's none of my... damn business."
Hideo Shimada didn't expect the other party to be completely unaffected by his implied threat. Was he just being stubborn? Or did he genuinely not care?
As Reiko Tamura said, this guy was indeed quite difficult to deal with.
However, wasn't that exactly what made it more interesting?
"I think our companions in the Foothold Zone are also very interested in the guy who killed Tanaka."
Hideo Shimada suddenly spoke.
"Excuse me, are you threatening me?" Xia Shang walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Guess if I'll make a move in front of everyone? You should know that at such close range, even Reiko Tamura couldn't dodge my attack."
Hideo Shimada didn't answer, merely took a step back, then turned and left.
"A fool who acts smart," Xia Shang murmured softly, watching his retreating back.
"Where did that guy come from? He seems to be at odds with the Club President." Kouichi Kumagai, a member of the Kendo Club standing nearby, looked at Hideo Shimada with great displeasure. "He even had that condescending expression towards the Club President. I don't know what that guy is being arrogant about."
"He seems to be Hideo Shimada, the transfer student from Senior Two Class Three. He ran the 100-meter race in 10.08 seconds during PE class earlier," Imura, standing beside him, said with a solemn expression.
Kumagai's face was full of disbelief. "What? 10.08 seconds? No way, that time is good enough for national-level races."
Then, he secretly glanced at Xia Shang and muttered softly, "What kind of monsters are these transfer students these days? The Club President is already so strong, and there's an even more terrifying existence."
...
The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day.
Shinichi Izumi called out to Xia Shang, "Let's walk together later, I have something I want to talk to you about."
"About Hideo Shimada?" Xia Shang didn't even pick up his schoolbag, just casually tidied the textbooks on his desk.
"That's right. Did he talk to you too?" Shinichi Izumi walked side-by-side with Xia Shang in the corridor and happened to meet Satomi Murano, Yuko Tachikawa, and Miho. These three were very close and inseparable all day. "Are you talking about Ah Xiu?" Miho asked curiously.
"Ah Xiu?"
Xia Shang frowned. What kind of weird nickname was that? Also, these three weren't secretly giving him a nickname behind his back, were they?
"Hideo Shimada, so we call him Ah Xiu."
Shinichi Izumi's face turned ugly when he heard this name, because such a name was usually only used for people one was close to.
It seemed Miho had a good impression of Hideo Shimada.
But the other party was a parasitic organism after all; it was too dangerous for humans to interact with him.
However, he couldn't directly warn Miho, as it could easily cause Satomi Murano to misunderstand.
"That's right, I knew him before he transferred. He was apparently expelled from his previous school for fighting and getting a minor pregnant, but I heard he has a good family background and spent a lot of money to transfer to our school in the end." Shinichi Izumi had doubts, but Xia Shang didn't. He just spoke utter nonsense with a straight face.
Anyway, when it came to public opinion, the more sensational, the better. You see, not many people actually cared about the truth of public opinion; they only cared if the topic was exciting enough.
As expected, as soon as Xia Shang finished speaking.
The three girls covered their mouths in surprise.
Yuko Tachikawa subconsciously said, "No way, he doesn't look like that kind of person."
"I just heard about it. Please don't spread it around casually, or people will misunderstand that I'm spreading rumors," Xia Shang said with a bright, cheerful smile.
Miho, however, fell into thought. She said with a serious expression, "What Mr. Xia said might be true. Think about it, the semester is almost over, and he just transferred in. It is a bit strange."
"Alright, alright, these are just guesses. Shinichi and I have something to talk about, so we'll be going now."
Walking outside the school, Shinichi Izumi curiously asked Xia Shang if what he had just said was true.
"Fake. I just made it up." Xia Shang didn't expect Shinichi Izumi to be suspicious of his words.
Was it because he made it up too well? "Damn it, I should have known," Shinichi Izumi said, holding his forehead.
"But isn't it bad to just make things up like that? What if people believe it? Hideo Shimada would be very troubled."
Shinichi Izumi was a little worried.
Xia Shang was truly defeated by Shinichi Izumi's naivety. He said to Shinichi Izumi helplessly, "You don't actually believe those things he told you, do you? Using a little common sense is enough to know that he was sent by Reiko Tamura to monitor us and is on the opposite side."
"I agree with Mr. Xia."
At this moment, Migi emerged from Shinichi Izumi's hand. It stared with its large eyeball and said, "His words are not credible. He said he is currently living by eating human food, but there is no evidence yet to prove that a parasitic organism that parasitizes a human brain can obtain nutrients by eating human food. After all, their entire head has changed."
"But there's also no evidence yet that Parasytes cannot survive by eating human food." Ultimately, Shinichi Izumi still held a glimmer of hope regarding the possibility of parasitic organisms coexisting with humans.
(End of Chapter)