Additional Powers and On the Other Hand, a Weakness

"My dad must have been present at the time of Mom's murder. I'm sorry, Dad, I couldn't tell you at first, but I'll have to someday. For now, I need to keep my father safe and take revenge for my mother," Izumi thought aloud.

He turned towards the door after hearing distant footsteps approaching his room—footsteps climbing the stairs, echoing in the corridor, becoming clearer with each passing moment.

"Your meal is ready downstairs," the girl called from behind the door.

What surprised Izumi was his suddenly acute hearing, comparable to that of an owl. He had never had this before; he must have gained some of Megi's abilities when the cells were distributed throughout his body.

"I can sense people easily, as if the place has no walls. My hearing has improved significantly!" Izumi thought aloud.

The room wasn't luxurious; it had a large balcony door, a bed, and a table. Light from the utility pole illuminated the entire space. Izumi lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Hours passed, and he couldn't sleep, his head about to burst from the flood of thoughts and scenarios he was creating for the end of the story.

"Izumi," Megi said.

It was Megi's first appearance after more than 24 hours of absence, the first appearance since the merging that had brought Izumi back to life.

"I thought about keeping this a secret, but I decided to tell you. It's important. Your feelings for your family are incredibly strong, and that's a trait of humans. In comparison, your feelings for me are not quite..." Megi paused for a moment.

"No, rather, I know you see me as a heavy burden you had to coexist with. In the past, we were allies, but we could also be enemies belonging to different species," Megi continued.

"What do you mean by that?" Izumi asked calmly, showing no reaction.

"The day I healed your damaged body, some changes occurred during the process that didn't exist before," Megi explained.

"You changed!!?" Izumi echoed, still trying to grasp the meaning.

Megi leaned closer to Izumi's face and said, "I now have a weakness, a weakness that the rest of my kind doesn't have. I can only sleep for four hours a day." He illustrated this by slowly closing his eyes.

Unfazed, Izumi replied, "Is that all? You've done that before, more than four hours."

"It's different. Before the procedure, even if I slept, the slightest thing would wake me up—like if your breathing changed, if your heartbeat increased, or even if one of my kind appeared 300 meters away," Megi said, forming a large eye to convey a constant alertness.

"One of your kind...!" This was the point Izumi desperately needed right now.

"That's correct. Now, when I sleep, I lose all those abilities I just described to you. So if an enemy shows up during these four hours, we're done for," Megi said, forming a small knife with one end indicating vulnerability.

Izumi felt a wave of panic at the updates regarding Megi's abilities. How would he manage Megi's sleeping hours?

"I had to separate from your arm longer than allowed to repair your heart; my organs were affected as a result," Megi explained.

Izumi sat up against the wall and said, "Why did you wait so long to tell me something so important?"

"I preferred to step back and give you space. After one of my kind killed your mother, you must feel a strong hatred towards me and see me as an enemy. It's dangerous to reveal a weakness to an enemy, which is why I didn't tell you until now. Since our lives are intertwined, continuing to keep this secret would be even more perilous," Megi said, his gaze sad as he moved away from Izumi.

After a long silence, Izumi spoke, "I no longer consider you an enemy, Megi. How could I view you that way when you saved my life?"

Megi glanced at Izumi from the corner of his eye and said, "That's not entirely accurate. Your life also sustains mine."

The next morning, Izumi left his room to have breakfast in the hotel restaurant. He found the girl in her school uniform eating her meal before heading to school.

"Good morning," Izumi said, then took a plate to fill it.

"Good morning! Your face looks different today; you seemed pale yesterday," the girl remarked, noticing Izumi's improved condition.

"I guess you had a good night's sleep," she added with a smile.

Izumi responded to her compliment with a smile of his own and then said, "I apologize; I didn't ask for your name last night."

"Mikiko, you can call me Maki," the girl replied.

After finishing his meal, Izumi headed to visit his father, having bought the daily newspapers that his father usually read on his tablet.

"It's still early, Izumi. You must not have gotten enough rest," his father said, surprised by Izumi's early morning visit.

"I'm fine," Izumi said, then handed his father the newspapers he had brought.

"It seems you haven't read a physical newspaper in a while," Izumi added.

"Yes, I lost my mobile phone and tablet, and I have no idea where they are," his father said as he began to browse through the newspaper.

"I'll stay here longer to see how things go," Izumi said.

In the hospital, there wasn't much for Izumi to do, so he chose to sit and wait at the entrance, watching the cars pass by and the few pedestrians in the area.

"I need to use my eyes to keep watch while Megi sleeps. Four hours—I think I can manage that. I'll make Megi sleep during the day; the chances of an enemy attack will be lower. From which direction will they come, I wonder? My combat abilities don't match those of the parasite without Megi, but I have no choice; if an enemy suddenly appears, I'm not cowardly enough to run from my mother's killer," Izumi thought aloud.

"Hello," a girl's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Izumi hadn't noticed the girl approaching, which startled him slightly. "Hello, Maki."

"Were you sitting here the whole time?" Maki asked as she sat down to Izumi's right.

"Are you that worried about your dad?" she added.

"Maybe. I have nothing else to do, anyway," Izumi replied, looking down at the ground.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Maki asked boldly.

Izumi let out a sound of surprise at the question, and at that moment, Megi appeared on his palm. Izumi noticed it and realized something had triggered Megi's appearance. He placed his right hand over his ear to hear Megi better.

Megi whispered in Izumi's ear, "We have company; they're about 300 meters away, heading toward the beach."

Izumi's expression changed upon hearing that there was company nearby. He stood up hurriedly and said angrily, "They've come!"

Maki was taken aback by Izumi's strange reaction. Without giving her a chance to ask, he demanded, "Maki, which way leads to the beach?"

Maki, surprised by Izumi's question, replied in confusion, "What?!"

She turned right, leaving Izumi behind to guide him, then said, "You can take the path that goes to..."

Before Maki could finish her sentence, Izumi took off in that direction at an unusual speed.