It's Alive!!: New Problems Arise

Kazumi, Netsuka, Sumato, and Viera quietly stepped out of the dorm room. The hallway is alive with chatter, dozens of girls in uniform walking about. Kazumi subtly activates his Shinen, cloaking himself and Sumato in illusionary disguises. Sumato flashes him a silent thumbs-up, careful not to draw attention.

Netsuka leans in and whispers, “Our room’s at the far end. We have to pass a lot of people to reach the exit. Stay cool.”

Sumato tilts his head and whispers, “Should I just use my light and flash out?”

Netsuka shakes her head firmly. “Too risky. If you misfire, it could blow our cover or worse.”

Instead, they all lightly channel Shinen into their legs, granting themselves mild speed augmentation. Their pace picks up to a steady jog, fast enough to be efficient but casual enough to avoid suspicion.

As they move through the corridors, students cheerfully wave at Viera and Netsuka, unaware of the disguised intruders beside them. Just when it seems like they’ll make it, Kazumi’s shoulder brushes against the hallway wall. A vase wobbles dangerously on a nearby shelf.

Everyone freezes.

Kazumi lunges, catching it just before it topples. He places it back gently, exhaling in relief. The group regains its pace, rounding the final corner.

Unseen behind them, a faint orange spark slithers from the vase. It zips up the wall like lightning, tracing a circuit.

Near the exit, Sumato suddenly halts, his gaze locked on something glowing faintly in the shadows: a cracked, round pill, red and pulsating with light.

“Hey,” he calls in a whisper, gesturing for the others.

Kazumi approaches. “What is that?”

Before they can guess, Netsuka’s eyes widen in shock. “Back up. Now.”

Everyone jumps back instinctively.

Sumato, still crouched, asks, “What’s the issue? Is it… a bomb?”

Netsuka shakes her head, her voice tight. “Worse. That’s a Shivos pill.”

Sumato frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Before she can respond, the wall beside him ripples. A slimy projectile launches out, narrowly missing his face and sizzling on the floor behind him.

He jumps back, drawing his weapon on instinct.

From the shifting wall, a grotesque creature emerges, part slug, part raccoon, with slick grayish-brown skin. Its body swims through the concrete as if it were water, trailing acidic residue.

Netsuka whispers grimly, “Parasitic type...”

Viera’s expression darkens. “They leech off objects or people and feed off their energy to evolve.”

Netsuka glances around, connecting the dots. “Wait… this dorm holds thousands of students...”

Her voice trails off as the creature’s body dissolves into the wall again, this time fully merging with the building itself.

The group stands still, stunned.

“It’s using the dorm… as its host,” she finishes.

Sumato grits his teeth, shifting his gaze toward the nearby exit, so close, yet now irrelevant.

“We’re not leaving,” he mutters, turning away from the door. “We can’t let that thing get to the other students.”

He glances at the window, where the moon hangs, half full.

“The waxing of the moon… Which one is the right one?”

He doesn’t say it aloud, but the thought lingers heavy in his mind.