The following days felt like everything had finally settled into a normal rhythm.
Thanks to the whole Parasyte A incident, Ivan managed to get elected vice president of the kendo club with an eighty percent vote.
Now a pack of underclassmen trailed after him everywhere like loyal little dogs.
That calm only got shattered when a transfer student named Shimada Hideo showed up.
"Ivan Greevs, the high schooler they call the Sword Saint. Reiko Tamura mentioned you before. I'm very interested in you. Let's be friends."
Shimada Hideo stood right in front of him and stuck out his right hand for a shake.
Ivan barely glanced at him and kept walking.
Just as they were about to pass each other, Shimada spoke again. "Before coming here, I had a little chat with Shinichi Izumi. My philosophy is the same as Reiko Tamura's. I won't touch anyone in this school. Actually, I haven't attacked any humans lately. We're trying to figure out a way for parasites to coexist with humans in this society."
"It's the only path forward for all of us parasites. Even you."
Ivan stopped in his tracks.
"Reiko Tamura must've been pretty surprised when she found out I didn't die," he said, turning around with a flat stare. "She probably figured those parasites in the residential area would finish me off. Too bad her little plan fell flat."
"And those pretty words might work on Shinichi, but to me they're pure bullshit. As for whether you attack people in this school or not… I honestly don't give a flying fuck."
Shimada hadn't expected the guy to brush off his threat so completely. Was he just acting tough, or did he really not care?
Just like Reiko Tamura had warned him, this Ivan Greevs was a real pain in the ass to deal with.
Still, that only made things more interesting, didn't it?
"I bet the parasites from the residential area are also very interested in whoever killed Tanaka."
Shimada Hideo dropped the line out of nowhere.
"Are you threatening me?" Ivan stepped right up to him and planted a hand on his shoulder. "Go on, guess. Do you think I'd hesitate to make a move right here in front of everyone? At this distance, even Reiko Tamura wouldn't be fast enough to dodge me."
Shimada didn't answer. He just took one step back, turned around, and walked off.
"Smug little idiot," Ivan muttered under his breath as he watched the guy's back disappear down the hall.
"Where the hell did that asshole come from?" Kumagai Hiroshi from the kendo club growled, clearly pissed. "He looked down his nose at the vice-president like he's hot shit. I don't know what the fuck he's so arrogant about."
"He's Shimada Hideo, just transferred into Class 2-3," Iwamura said beside him, face serious. "During PE today he ran the hundred meters in 10.08 seconds."
Kumagai's jaw dropped. "Ten-point-zero-eight? No fucking way. That time could get him into national competitions."
He sneaked a quick glance at Ivan and whispered, "What the hell is up with transfer students these days? The vice-president is already a monster, and now there's someone even scarier."
...
The final bell rang.
Shinichi caught up to Ivan. "Walk with me. I need to talk to you about something."
"About Shimada Hideo?" Ivan didn't even bother grabbing his bag, just straightened the books on his desk.
"Yeah. Did he talk to you too?" Shinichi asked as they walked side by side down the corridor.
They ran into Murano Satomi, Tachikawa Yuko, and Miho. The three girls were always glued together.
"You guys talking about Hideo-san?" Miho asked curiously.
"Hideo-san?"
Ivan frowned. Thinking about it, that guy's name sounded like 'hideous', right? Hideo-s-an.. now I can't unsee it.. ehm..
"Shimada Hideo, weren't you guys talking about him?" Miho asked.
Shinichi's face turned ugly the second he heard Miho refer to Shimada Hideo as Hideo-san. In Japanese culture, you generally call a person by their family name and then add kun/chan or san as appropriate.
But using that person's first name is considered somewhat casual and friendly. It is usually reserved for people you are close to. All that didn't apply to Ivan because he didn't have a Japanese name, and he had told everybody that they should just call him Ivan.
Looks like Miho had a serious crush on Shimada Hideo.
But the guy was a parasite. Getting close to him was way too dangerous for any human.
Still, Shinichi couldn't just straight-up warn her. That would probably make Satomi suspicious.
"Yeah, I knew him before he transferred here," Ivan said with a straight face, lying through his teeth. "He got expelled from his last school for fighting and knocking up some underage girl. Apparently his family has money though, so they paid a fat bribe to get him into ours."
Shinichi had his doubts, but Ivan didn't give a shit. The more scandalous the rumor, the better. Most people didn't care if it was true. They just wanted something juicy to talk about.
Sure enough, the second Ivan finished speaking, all three girls gasped and clapped their hands over their mouths.
"No way," Tachikawa Yuko blurted. "He doesn't look like that kind of guy at all."
"I'm just repeating what I heard. Don't go spreading it around, okay? I don't want anyone thinking I'm starting rumors," Ivan said, flashing them his brightest, most innocent smile.
Miho, however, went quiet and looked deep in thought. "Ivan might be right, you guys. Think about it. The semester's almost over and he only just transferred in. That is kind of weird."
"Alright, alright, it's all just speculation," Ivan cut in. "Shinichi and I have something to discuss, so we'll catch you later."
Once they were outside the school gates, Shinichi turned to him. "Was any of that actually true?"
"Nope. I made the whole thing up," Ivan answered casually.
Shinichi slapped a hand to his forehead. "Goddammit. I should've known."
Ivan just grinned wider. "What? I thought I sold it pretty well."
"Still, making up shit like that… isn't it kind of fucked up? What if people actually believe it? Shimada's gonna be pissed."
Shinichi looked genuinely worried.
Ivan was completely defeated by how naive the kid still was. He let out a tired sigh.
"You really bought any of that crap he fed you, didn't you? Use your brain for two seconds. He's obviously working for Reiko Tamura. He's here to keep tabs on us. He's on the opposite side."
"I agree with Ivan," Migi said, popping out of Shinichi's hand with its big eyeball staring hard. "Nothing he said can be trusted. He claims he's surviving on human food now, but there's zero proof that a parasite living inside a human brain can get nutrients from normal food. Their entire skull has been rewritten."
"But there's also no proof that they can't survive on human food," Shinichi shot back. Deep down, he still clung to that tiny sliver of hope that parasites and humans could actually coexist.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69