Chapter 53: Reckless and Self-Destructive

Kenji glanced at Asami, frowning slightly. "Young Master, this helicopter was secured by Rear Admiral Ichinose himself after exhausting every possible connection. But it's just a civilian chopper. The cargo bay is loaded with supplies it can't take any extra passengers."

"Asami, you heard him. It's not that I don't want to take you."

Akai forcefully pried her hands off his wrist. Instead of sorrow or reluctance, a faint smile played on his lips. "Take care of yourself. If fate allows, we'll meet again."

"No! Akai, please ask him again! I'm really light I weigh less than 100 pounds, you know that! I'm your girlfriend! You promised you'd take care of me forever when you confessed to me! Please, ask him again! Your father is a Rear Admiral he'll surely listen to you..."

Asami's panicked cries grew desperate. Terrified of being abandoned, she clung tightly to Akai's arm, pleading frantically.

Slap!

The sharp sound of a slap echoed across the helipad.

Asami clutched her cheek, crashing to the ground in disbelief. She stared up at her boyfriend, now wearing a twisted, cruel expression. The man before her suddenly felt like a stranger.

Akai, the Keio University student who had always been outstanding, tall, handsome, and charming, had been the most popular type among girls.

Except for his ordinary family background, there seemed to be no flaws. At least, that's what Asami had always thought. She hadn't hesitated long before accepting his pursuit.

Just moments ago, she had been elated to learn that Akai's father was a Rear Admiral. She had imagined the two of them escaping to safety and living peacefully under his father's protection.

But the man standing before her now though still Akai in name no longer resembled the kind, gentle boyfriend she remembered.

"Girlfriend? Take care of you forever?"

Akai sneered, his gaze dripping with contempt. "Let me jog your memory. What exactly were you doing on the first night we hid on the 28th floor?"

He snorted, not giving her a chance to respond. "Don't bother answering. I'll tell you. That afternoon, you heard Doi say a helicopter would come for him. That night, you snuck into his room. You think I didn't know what happened in there?"

The humiliation made Akai feel as though he had swallowed a fly.

No, it wasn't betrayal.

Asami wasn't his wife. He had never intended to marry her. If anything, he'd just been helping another man care for his future wife in advance.

Akai told himself that.

He was handsome, attended the prestigious Keio University, and had a bright future ahead. His father, already a Rear Admiral in his prime, promised a fast track into the upper echelons of society.

His future wife would undoubtedly be someone of equal social standing elegant, beautiful, and from a family that would bolster his career.

At the end of the day, Asami had only ever been a plaything a bit of color to liven up the monotony of university life. If she had been obedient and sensible, perhaps he would have given her a place in his heart later.

But she dared.

How dare she?

Akai didn't even spare her another glance. He turned and walked away.

"No! Akai! Please, I beg you don't leave me! I did it all for you for us to escape together! I lost my mind that night because I was terrified by those man-eating monsters I thought we were all going to die! If I had known about the helicopter, I would never have done it. Please, forgive me! Take me with you!"

Asami scrambled across the ground, clutching at Akai's leg as she sobbed uncontrollably, her hysteria echoing across the helipad. Her cries were so heartbreaking that even the other survivors began to look away, unable to bear it. A sense of despair spread among them all.

But Akai remained unmoved, his expression twisting further in disgust. Without hesitation, he raised his other foot and viciously kicked her in the face, sending her sprawling into the crowd.

The survivors instinctively scattered. Asami spat out a tooth and blood gushed from her nose as she struggled to get up, her body trembling.

Akai merely sneered, his eyes void of any sympathy. "Asami, you might fool others, but lying to yourself is just pathetic. You know exactly whether you were bitten or not."

"No, I wasn't! I swear, I wasn't!"

Asami collapsed on the ground, wailing as she repeated her denial over and over, unable to hear anything else.

Akai watched his former girlfriend descend into madness, his disdain deepening. He had no interest in even looking at her again.

After taking a few steps away, he suddenly seemed to remember something.

"Oh, right. Wasn't someone looking for this?"

Akai pulled a card from his pocket, holding it between his fingers as sunlight gleamed off its polished surface.

Haruno's heart clenched it was the elevator card. She remembered asking Asami about it earlier, and Asami had claimed she lost it. But it had been in Akai's possession all along.

What happened next made her heart nearly stop.

Akai smiled smugly, flicked the card into the air, and watched as it spun and arced out over the edge of the helipad, disappearing from sight.

In that instant, the survivors' hearts plummeted into the abyss.

A deeper, suffocating despair once again blanketed the helipad.

Kenji watched the scene unfold, frowning slightly, but said nothing as he tightened his grip on his submachine gun.

"Perfect."

Akai clapped his hands as if he'd just done something trivial. He scanned the crowd.

"Where's Sosuke Kitahara? Sosuke Kitahara, where are you?"

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