Chapter 51

Bearing (進路, Shinro) is the 51st chapter of the Parasyte manga series, written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki.

Overview
''At the City Hall, Mayor Hirokawa, Gotou, and multiple other Parasites discuss the recent disappearances of Reiko, among others. Back in school Shinichi thinks back on all the tragedies that befell him. After class Hirama approaches him, and asks for his help against the parasites, something Satomi is against.''

Summary
Inside East Fukuyama City Hall, Hirokawa asks his secretary to delay a meeting and only contact him in case of emergency, then leaves for a parasite meeting. Gotou, along with multiple other parasites, discuss the disappearance of Tamura, Kusano, and two other parasites. They express dismay about the newly-created Anti-Parasite Task Force collecting more samples, and Gotou considers that Shinichi was unlikely to be able to kill the three missing parasites. He then suggests they move the colony, mentioning something capable of destroying them may be in the works. In turn, Hirokawa tells him it wouldn't be easy to move, and finds it hard to believe that Reiko would have turned on them.

In school, Shinichi finds himself utterly baffled at the classwork and borrows Akemi's notes. Later in gym, he blasts through his final one-hundred-meter run at high speed and simultaneously thinks back to the death and battles he's faced throughout his schoolyear. The other boys praise him in the locker room for the new record he placed. They then ask why he always changes in the corner and hides his body, and jokingly grab his shirt, revealing the massive scar he received from the parasite that had killed his mother. The air becomes awkward and they let him go. Kamijou lightly slaps the head of the teen who pulled away his shirt.

Satomi approaches and bonks Shinichi's head after school ends. The two of them walk off, musing on how much he had missed and how much had happened to them. As they chat, they realize Hirama is waiting in their path. As they walk past, Hirama states that they're missing something, something that Shinichi might be able to help with. Satomi asks why it always has to be Shinichi, and laments that the road they took was supposed to be a normal education, but ended up covered in blood.