Attack Of Parasites

After its response, the right hand crushed the creature's heart it had been holding, causing its organs to stop moving. Blood splattered across Izumi's face...

"There's no doubt your numbers have increased..." Izumi said, feeling frustrated as he approached the creature's corpse, recalling the image of the insects when the glass jar first shattered.

"The essence was just the head; it controls the rest of the body through the nervous system," the right hand explained, stretching one finger with the Dobby eye closer to the creature's body.

"But since the essence itself transformed into giant wings, its focus became scattered, creating a vulnerability in its defenses... something I was able to exploit," the right hand added, clarifying the situation.

"I know of another being of your kind in the same situation..." Izumi tried to inform the right hand about Dekim.

"I think it was a cat..." the right hand said, its Dobby eye very close to the corpse, attempting to identify the condition the creature had been in before its brain was taken over.

It seemed the right hand was not focused on what Izumi had said about the condition of the being resembling it, as it was preoccupied with analyzing the corpse of the creature it had defeated. Perhaps it already knew about Dekim and simply didn't want to delve into the details.

But Izumi grew anxious about how his right hand would react when it encountered Dekim's left hand!!!

"I believe the reason partly lies in its maturation environment; it neglected its studies and failed to develop itself, which is why I won," the right hand added, analyzing the condition of its fallen counterpart.

"You have no shred of compassion! You brutally killed one of your own kind... Will you fight Dekim's left hand in the future?!" Izumi thought aloud, staring fearfully at his right hand.

Izumi headed to a nearby public restroom to clean the bloodstains off his face and hand.

"Izumi, it's cold," the right hand complained about the chilly water.

"Don't you feel the need to go to the police anymore?" the right hand asked, noticing that Izumi was taking the usual route to the university.

"Yes..." Izumi replied, lost in thought.

"Without you, I would be an easy prey for those parasitic creatures," he added, pulling his right hand out of his coat pocket.

"Wise decision," the right hand acknowledged.

"I want to call you something," Izumi said, trying to show gratitude to the strange creature that had saved his life.

"I don't have one; I'm neither human nor a pet," the right hand replied.

"But I shouldn't just keep calling you 'you' or 'hey there.' You need a name that suits you," Izumi insisted as he made his way toward the university.

"Call me Migi," the right hand said after taking a moment to think.

"What? Migi?!" Izumi exclaimed, surprised by the choice of name—"Migi" meaning "right."

"Yes, I matured by consuming your right hand, which is why my name is Migi," the right hand said.

"Sometimes you can be quite simple-minded," Izumi remarked.

"I'm not interested in the names you call each other," Migi replied.

"One of my kind is nearby," Migi added.

"Ah, again? Where? We can't fight here in front of a crowd," Izumi said, stopping in his tracks, worried about what might happen.

"He's on the bus," Migi said as they neared the university entrance.

"It's Dekim," Izumi said, spotting his friend getting off the bus.

"And who is that?" Migi asked curiously.

"He's my friend. Don't do anything stupid; he has one of your kind in his left hand," Izumi warned, waving his left hand to catch Dekim's attention.

"Wait! Your friend? You never mentioned him to me!!!" Migi said, anger evident in its tone.

"Hold on, I never had the chance to tell you," Izumi replied, trying to calm Migi down and apologize indirectly.

The worry was evident on Izumi's face. A crowd of students surrounded them; this was neither the time nor the place he wanted for Migi, his right hand, and Dekim, with his left hand, to meet. Any wrong move from either of them—or rather, from the right hand or the left hand—before all these witnesses would undoubtedly come with a steep cost.

Izumi was unsure how Migi would react upon seeing a member of its kind who had also failed to control a brain. On the other hand, he was also anxious about how Dekim's left hand would respond; this was their first meeting, and there was no guarantee it would go smoothly.

What both Izumi and Dekim hoped for was that their initial encounter would pass peacefully, without any signs of aggression for various reasons. They were friends and didn't want to lose each other, but did the decision rest in their hands?

What made Izumi somewhat optimistic was the fact that this creature had failed to take control of the brain. In other words, the meeting would be different from the previous one, which ended in the other party's death. Plus, he recalled the incident at the train tracks, where he had witnessed Dekim's left hand saving a life of someone trying to commit suicide.

"Izumi!" Dekim spotted his friend and called out, waving his right hand.

This was a crucial moment; Dekim was walking toward Izumi, about 30 meters away, while Izumi stood still, trying not to get too close due to the large number of students surrounding Dekim.

"My left hand alerted me to the presence of someone of my kind. I knew it was you. Hello, how are you?" Dekim said, extending his right hand for a handshake.

Dekim seemed relaxed, which was understandable!

Izumi didn't extend his hand to shake Dekim's; instead, he placed his left hand on Dekim's shoulder and guided him away from the crowd.

"Uh, what's wrong?" Dekim asked, surprised by Izumi's behavior.

Inside the university grounds, Izumi hurried away, looking for a quiet place, with Dekim following him. "This room is unavailable," Izumi said as they entered a classroom, away from prying eyes.

"Alright," Izumi said, raising his right hand to eye level, the palm facing Dekim.

"Ugh, the same thing," Dekim replied upon seeing Izumi's right hand, raising his own left hand to eye level, palm facing Izumi.

In a scene where Izumi's right hand met Dekim's left hand for the first time, both possessing the same features—a Dobby-like eye in the center of the palm and a mouth just below it.

"He's a copy of me, another failure," Migi said.

"Hello, my name is Migi. What's yours?" Migi added.

"I have no name. Who gave you the name Migi?" the left hand replied.

"No one; I chose that name myself," Migi said confidently.

"Since you matured by consuming your host's left hand, I'll call you Hidari," Migi added.

"Huh, Hidari!!! That seems like a fitting name," the left hand said.

"Dekim, from now on, you can call me Hidari," the left hand said, turning its gaze toward Dekim.

"Alright, that sounds simple and great!" Dekim replied, pleased with the name Migi had chosen for the left hand.