Inside the taxi, Shinichi sent a message every five minutes. Only when he saw his mother reply did he relax even a little.
"Driver, please go faster. It's urgent."
The driver, a laid-back guy in his late twenties with messy hair, a half-eaten bag of chips in the cupholder, and black-framed glasses, just glanced at the rearview mirror with a small smirk.
He was listening to low music, driving like he had all the time in the world.
"Sorry, too many traffic lights on this road. This is already the fastest I can go... without making things interesting."
"My family's life is at risk and you—" Shinichi's temper flared. Just as he was about to argue, Ivan grabbed his shoulder.
"Get us there in under an hour, I'll give you fifty thousand yen. For every ten minutes you shave off, I add another ten thousand."
The driver narrowed his eyes, turned off the radio, and glanced back. He popped another chip in his mouth, chewing slowly.
"You serious?"
Ivan pulled out his wallet and flipped it open. Thick stacks of cash.
"I pay in cash."
The driver let out a low chuckle. His whole demeanor shifted — relaxed, but suddenly sharp.
"…Heh. You said something about family, right? I'll get you there in no time!"
The driver tossed his black-framed glasses aside and straightened up.
"Hold tight. Back in the day, they called me the God of Akina."
He slammed the accelerator.
The sudden force shoved Ivan and Shinichi back into their seats.
In an instant, the blue-and-white taxi turned into a streak of lightning, weaving through traffic like a madman. Cars blurred past the windows as the scenery outside shot backward.
"That level of performance, did he really got motivated because of 'family'? Is that driver also a special kind of human?" Migi, now a tiny eyeball, clung near Shinichi's ear, sounding genuinely confused.
"No. He's just doing it for the money," Shinichi snapped, still rattled by the speed.
The guy was good, no question. Pulling this kind of driving in Tokyo traffic took skill. The title "God of Akina" wasn't just talk.
Buzz.. "Emergency notice. A taxi ahead is exceeding the speed limit by a large margin. Units are requested to intercept. License plate…"
"We've got traffic police on us."
Shinichi glanced back. At some point, three police motorcycles had appeared behind them, lights flashing red and blue.
"Life's simple... You make choices, and you don't look back. Heh~ we're heading into the mountain roads." The driver leaned forward like a professional racer, even lighting a cigarette while driving. "Think they can keep up?"
"Oh, right. If that bothers you, I can put it out."
"No problem. Smoke if you want."
Ivan glanced back as more and more motorcycles piled up behind them. He couldn't help thinking… is the cash I gave this guy even enough to cover the fine?
The driver seemed to read his mind. He squinted, reached down, and yanked out a bundle of wires.
"When the time comes, I'll just cut these and say the brakes failed. Won't cost much."
Ivan almost laughed. Putain… he's something else.
About twenty minutes later, the driver eased off the gas. With a clean drift, he parked the car smoothly, completely calm, then checked his watch.
"Twenty-three minutes total."
"Here's your fare."
Ivan got out of the car. Normally he didn't get carsick, but this time his stomach was doing flips.
Shinichi looked even worse, barely able to stand.
"You still good?" Ivan asked.
Shinichi stood there for a few minutes, catching his breath before nodding. "Let's go."
Behind them, the driver had already been surrounded by four police motorcycles. He stood there bowing repeatedly, all traces of that racing aura gone, chips bag still in hand.
"Sumimasen, sumimasen… the car malfunctioned. I swear it wasn't intentional."
Ivan glanced back and snorted. "Guy deserves a national award. Taxi god of Japan."
Just then, Migi, on Shinichi's right hand, suddenly reacted.
"Shinichi, I detect brainwaves from one of our kind nearby. About four hundred meters away. There's killing intent. It's about to attack."
"What?! There really is one here?"
Shinichi didn't even have time to thank Ivan. He took off running in the direction Migi pointed, pushing himself as hard as he could.
He kept repeating it in his head.
I have to stop it.
"Shinichi, it's noticed you. It's speeding up too," Migi warned.
Ivan followed behind, but without parasite enhancement, he couldn't match Shinichi's speed.
...
Facing the sea, Shinichi's parents stood near the edge of a cliff, watching the blood-red sunset. They had no idea someone was closing in on them.
"The sky looks amazing," Nobuko Izumi said softly.
Her husband nodded. "Yeah. Worth taking a taxi all the way out here."
"I still don't get what Shinichi was up to, suddenly asking for our location."
"Maybe he's planning to show up and surprise us," Nobuko said with a smile.
Her husband chuckled. "Looks like while you miss him, he's thinking about you too."
Suddenly, a violent gust cut through the air.
"Mom, move!"
Shinichi's shout rang out.
Nobuko turned instinctively toward the sound. A tentacle was already right in front of her face.
At the last second, Shinichi's father yanked her back.
The blade meant for her neck struck her left arm instead.
Slash.
Her arm was cut clean off. Blood sprayed out in a violent burst.
The parasite, missing its kill, lashed out again, driving a tentacle straight toward her throat.
There was no time to react.
In that instant, Shinichi threw himself forward, landing in front of them.
He spread his arms, shielding his mother.
The blade pierced straight through his heart.
He looked at her, eyes gentle.
"…Good. I made it ...in time."
"Shinichi!"
Ivan arrived a second too late and saw everything.
The parasite took one look at Ivan's transformed arm and immediately dropped any idea of fighting. The body it was using couldn't handle another round.
Without hesitation, it jumped straight off the cliff.
Ivan rushed to the edge and looked down, but the bastard was already gone.
"Decisive. Smart too. Not your average idiot."
He turned back.
Shinichi had collapsed onto his mother, his body going limp, his life slipping away.
"Get him to a hospital, now!"
Nobuko didn't care about her own injury. Gritting through the pain, she pulled out her phone, tears dripping onto the screen as her fingers kept hitting the wrong numbers.
Her eyes were red, voice shaking as she kept repeating, "Shinichi, hang on… please, just hold on a little longer…"
___
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69