Bath salts

Everyone stood there speechless. What Hiromichi said was like this attack since the perpetrator looked and moved like a zombie. He also had incredible strength as his body's limiter was broken. Limiters prevent our body from using our full strength. While it sounds counterintuitive, the limiter protects the body as using too much strength will cause self-injuries to accumulate.

"Hm, that sounds plausible." Katsunori broke the silence. He had heard about bath salts before and how it drove people mad, but he didn't know that they would possess hysterical strength that could threaten the lives of police officers. The news article probably exaggerated about needing 15 officers to take down one man as they probably just counted all the officers on the field.

Still, it probably would take 3 or more men to safely arrest the drug user. If the lives of the officers were at risk, they'd have no choice but to shoot. Bath salts can also reduce one's pain sensitivity so the batons might not have been effective. Katsunori calmed down and was a bit embarrassed for being rash.

"You all did the best you can. It's a shame we lost three wonderful men… Katsunori said soberly.

"Sergeant, I'll be waiting for you in my office after you clear the scene."

"Yes, Chief inspector."

…

"We'll wait for the ambulance to arrive and then help clear the bodies. Meanwhile, we need to clean up this place first before we ID him. Officer Arata and Hiromichi, I'll leave you two in charge of that." Commanded Mitsunobu.

Hiromichi's eyes opened wide as he is assigned to his first tough case. It wasn't difficult but it was sensitive as three officers have died. The whole police force of Tokyo will crack down on this case. Hiromichi couldn't afford to be negligent. Arata on the other hand, didn't bat an eye.

"Two of you, find out from the support team, start with the dispatcher. I want a full report."

"Yes sir." The two said in unison.

"I'll go order a tox screen at the hospital." With that the sergeant went to his desk.

"I look forward to working with you Arata-san." Hiromichi said with reverence.

Arata didn't reply. He was glaring over a distance. Hiromichi looked at where he was looking and saw Aina standing next to the wall where he left her.

"Is something wrong?" Asked Hiromichi.

Arata ignored him. He noticed that Aina was the only one who didn't pull out her revolver earlier and her skin wasn't even shiny from sweat. She seemed completely unbothered by the incident.

"Ahh, Arata-san…" He said awkwardly. Even he knew that this was the wrong time to be flirting. He thought that Arata was making a move after showing off his shooting skills.

Aina was also staring back at Arata as he was the only person standing still amidst the flurry of activity. She conveyed no emotion in her eyes. It gave the impression that she was purely observing him. She then blinked and walked out of the room.

"Let's go." Arata finally responded.

"Ahh, yes."

Hiromichi followed behind Arata with his head down. He was also surprised that he could talk to Aina without her running away. He put his all into the "conversation" with Aina as he knew another opportunity wouldn't come like this again. But now after seeing how she looked at Arata, he saw clearly that he couldn't compete with someone who was simply born better looking than he was. Bitterness rose in his chest.

'It's not that I'm jealous, it's about professionalism!' he thought.

***

Hikaru followed Chiho as she stomped angrily to the horizon. Chiho had raced him down the stairs in case the person at the door had a clue to Aimi's disappearance but it turned out to be Hikaru's father. She could tell with her instincts that he was unlikely to be involved.

He was the opposite of his son. The vibe he gave off was a kind of innocence that's been cultivated since childhood. In honesty, he seemed like a weeb who suddenly became a father. Now that she thought of it, she was baffled on how Hikaru got his good looks from him.

'Maybe he got it from his mum?' She guessed.

"Are you satisfied yet?" Hikaru asked from behind.

"Not in the slightest. Meet me again tomorrow afterschool."

…

A vein popped on her temple as he didn't reply.

"You said you'd at least go with me twice!"

"No problem." He said coolly with a hand gesture.

Grrrr!

Hikaru stood in his tracks as she walked off. He had no use for Chiho anymore. He took out his phone and sent a message to the wave controller. His message contained Chiho's house address and some details about her family.

Soon afterwards, a white truck stopped next to him and a person held up the back flap. He stepped in and took a seat next to some parasites and a few dead bodies.

The list of targets was always being added to. They were compiled by information extracted from memories of hosts.

They couldn't just kill anyone they wanted. If they attacked people at random, their kin would notice that their family member didn't come home. They had to take out the whole family in one fell swoop. Similarly, they couldn't attack all the students at school and leave the family members behind.

After the host's family were dead, that made it much easier for the parasite to move around.

Every family was unique. Some details had to be considered before the raid. A few were replaced by parasites if needed. This would be easier if they had more numbers. They started at the bottom of an uphill operation.

The occupants jolted as the truck came to a stop. They all exited the truck and circled the target's house, covering the entry and exit points. There was only a few of them to assault the house once they set up a perimeter.

Hikaru figured that Daichi had high expectations for him. What did that imply about Hikaru's abilities? He was going to ask Daichi what he knew about his biology.

Hikaru signaled to a girl to come with him to the front doorstep and the rest hid. He knocked on the door and waited.

A woman with weary eyes and dark circles opened the door.

"Yes? What do you want? I'm busy right now." Chizuko said in rapid succession.

"I'm here to talk about your daughter, Aimi."