Ozaki's motorcycle roared as he raced down the street. The RPM needle was buried into the red, but he didn't relent his pressure on the gas. He jammed his boot down on the pedal and wished he could drive faster to escape the images burned into his thoughts.
The sight of Nagumo impaled on the spike kept playing in his mind. The sight of the metal spike out of his friend's chest or the sight of blood spreading out from the wound.
It wasn't suppose to happen that way.
Nagumo wasn't the one who was going to die. When Akemi said that everything was about to change, he didn't think it would be that. Anything but that.
He tightened his grip and ground his foot into the pedal. The engine was already screaming in agony and the useless gesture did nothing to rip the thoughts from his head.
Ozaki's jaw hurt from where he clamped it shut. If he opened his mouth, he would taste Nagumo's blood on his lips, but he couldn't find the willpower to wipe it away.
The only thing Ozaki could do was run.
Another image bubbled up through his horror. It was Akemi, the gang leader, telling him that he would be cured. It was a startling change from the horror of Nagumo's death, but it wasn't any less intense.
She said he would be cured, but couldn't tell him how.
He tried to focus on his memory, but it crumbled as Nagumo's death flashed across his mind again. He tried to hold on to the surreal event instead of standing at the railing, but the brutality and suddenness of Nagumo's death knocked away all thoughts.
Ozaki's body shuddered as heat exploded from his stomach and throat. It burned down his spine, but the sensation didn't stop at his intestines. With a rush, it clawed out into the rest of his body.
Deep underneath his skin, he could feel his bones twisting and stretching. Muted crack noises echoed in his ears. They were disturbingly similar to the sound Nagumo's face when the bat struck him.
The burning sensation focused on his elbow. Despite his speed, Ozaki looked down at his elbow just as the heat became a knife-hot slash of agony.
The bone of his forearm suddenly stretched back into a ridged spike. The skin at his elbow burst open, splattering blood that was instantly yanked back from his speeding bike.
“Wh-What the…!?”
The heat gathered along his other arm. Ozaki turned just as more spikes tore out of his body. They spread out in all directions.
Even as he started to scream out, he felt more points of heat gathering in his bones. Seconds later, the bones twisted and shot out. He felt it coming from his ribs, back, and chest.
The wind around him whistled from the tips of the spikes. He careened his head around, trying to see all the spikes sticking out of his body.
He felt the bike slipping out from underneath him. He grabbed the handlebars tightly, but the bike was already lost. He tilted to the side and his knee slammed into the asphalt.
Instead of feeling his leg being shattered, the road ripped away his pants but didn't score his flesh. He saw a flash of hardened green carapace, but then he lost completely control of his bike.
He looked up in time to see that he was sliding toward a white car. The headlights were blinding and its brakes were screeching.
Ozaki knew enough that he was dead. His bike was almost going two hundred kilometers per hour. With only biking leathers to protect him, he knew there was only one thing left.
At the last moment, he closed his eyes and waited for the end.