Chapter 37

Dining Room (食堂, Shokudō) is the 37th chapter of the Parasyte manga series, written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki.

Overview
''Kuramori enlists a young investigator named Abe to follow Reiko. After a change of plans, Abe starts following a man, which leads him to the basement of a building where he's killed. The parasites involved have a meeting about this witness. Too scared to look for himself, Kuramori askes Shinichi for his help. Once they've entered the building, another parasite arrives whom Shinichi is quick to confront.''

Summary
Abe starts off by letting Kuramori know their target, Reiko, has entered the Atlas coffee shop. He follows her with a delay, Kuramori warning him that Reiko is incredibly perceptive. He then has a flashback to the last time he tailed Reiko, when he'd decided to try to get image proof of her being a monster. However, she notices him following and tells him off contemptuously, calling him so incompetent that even a woman with a baby can tell he's following her, and warning him off from getting involved. His internal narration reveals that Abe only thinks she might be cheating, unaware that she's a monster.

Another man meets up with her, widely expressive. She asks how Goto is, which he brushes off, and then comments on his over-exaggerated expressions. He states that it makes it easier for him to catch food.

Abe is unable to hear their conversations, and they proceed to leave before he moves any closer. The two split up and he follows the man on Kuramori's prompting, seeing him enter an arcade and fail rather spectacularly at playing Whack-a-Gator. Another woman comes up to play as well, beating his score 98 to 1, and the two of them leave together which makes Kuramori frantic.

While they're walking, the woman tells the man that he should try being more serious with his good looks, which he declines. He states his car is in a parking garage, and Abe tails them both downstairs. His signal begins breaking up as he goes further underground, and he overhears a crack. He enters and screams in shock, likely seeing the remains of dead bodies as he'd smelled something earlier. He then backs into the man who is holding the corpse of the woman in his hands. Kuramori hears his scream and the wireless transponder fizzling out.

He drives towards the building, but is uncertain what he should do. He then goes to Shinichi to ask for Migi's help detecting any parasites in the area. Once they've determined that any parasites are gone from the building, they head downstairs and Migi tells Kuramori that Abe is likely dead already, since it's been two hours since last contact. The entrance is locked, but Migi easily lockpicks it.

Kusano and Reiko enter a parasite meeting, where Mayor Hirokawa, the man from the building, and a third unnamed parasite are waiting. They discuss the person who had followed Miki and the wireless he had on him. Hirokawa asks if anyone has ideas, and Reiko tells them that the witness had probably followed her before switching off to Miki at their meeting. Kusano again warns her against putting them at risk for her research. Miki defends her, giving her credit for the parasite colony's start as well as himself and Goto. Kusano then tells him that he's over-expressing.

Hirokawa breaks in to say that the dining room is now off limits and to contact the parasites, who are on the move. Miki has cleaned it up, but says they should double check tomorrow if the police don't get there first. Kusano suggests to kill the other listener on the wireless, and Reiko says they shouldn't make waves which angers him.

The dining room appears completely empty, but Shinichi can barely detect the scent of blood, flashing back to the massacre in his school. Migi warns him of a parasite approaching by car, moving too fast to avoid. Kuramori states he'd like to take a picture of it which Shinichi berates him for. Migi then states that the parasite brought lunch.

The parasite notices that they cleaned up and tries to reassure his prey, a woman, by saying that a friend of his is around. However, he notices that said friend is hiding. He tells the woman to stand in front of him, and Kuramori goes to take a picture when Shinichi runs in and demands the parasite stop. He tries to warn her off, throwing a rock to skim her cheek and frighten her away. However, the parasite kills her as she runs.

Shinichi yells at the parasite in anger, and the parasite prepares for battle.