Chapter 8: The Value of Aya! The Sound of the Wall Breaking in the Middle of the Night!
The air instantly turned silent.
Alyna and Aya were visibly panicking.
Judging by Akira's expression, it didn't look like he was joking at all.
"After all... we're classmates..."
Alyna said with difficulty, sounding quite uncomfortable.
"That's exactly why I came to rescue you."
"But that's already the greatest kindness you could expect. We're not family, we share no blood ties. I have absolutely no obligation to take care of you."
"If you want to follow me, first you need to prove your value."
Akira spoke directly and bluntly, without any sugarcoating.
Saving them was simply a momentary moral decision, something that didn't belong to any bigger obligation or sense of eternal responsibility.
At most, he wouldn't stand there watching humans being eaten alive by zombies.
But that's as far as it went.
He wasn't a saint, much less someone willing to carry two slippery oil bottles on his shoulders.
Even if... those two oil bottles did indeed have absolutely wonderful appearances.
Hinata stayed silent, standing firmly behind Akira, clearly showing her position.
The two girls were left speechless.
Akira not only saved their lives but also provided them with shelter and food — which by itself was already an immense kindness.
They were in no position to demand anything more.
"Value..."
"By the way, I'm a black belt in Taekwondo! I can help kill zombies!"
Alyna raised her hand, trying to show enthusiasm.
"Taekwondo?"
"Hm... Hinata, show her."
Akira ordered casually.
"Yes, Master!"
Hinata threw a punch at the wardrobe.
BANG!
Suddenly, a deep, clear, and terrifying dent appeared on the metal door of the wardrobe!
This left both girls utterly stunned. Hinata looked so delicate and sweet, but beneath that flower-like appearance existed such terrifying strength.
Alyna immediately lowered her head, completely deflated.
With that kind of power… not even a black belt, not even any martial art would be enough. Honestly, not even if she had a steel knuckle would she be able to do something like that!
"I have a double major in clinical medicine and pharmaceutical analysis, and I can handle practically any common trauma."
"Besides that, I know exactly where the medical supply storages are located in the University of Tokyo. And it's a lot! I believe this should be very useful to you, right?"
At this moment, Aya finally spoke up.
Akira slightly furrowed his brows.
Interesting.
Among the most valuable resources in the middle of an apocalypse, medicine is definitely at the top of the list.
Especially antibiotics — they can literally save lives, and the amount available is always limited and extremely precious.
"Perfect. Tomorrow, you're coming with me to get those medicines."
"If everything is just as you said, then yes… I can consider taking you with me."
"As for Alyna..."
"I will give you a portion of the food that you are absolutely dying to eat. The choice is entirely yours: stay here or go out there to survive."
Akira spoke in a direct and impassive manner.
For Akira, in fact, she was someone quite interesting.
But for Alyna, that sentence sounded exactly like a cruel and merciless death sentence.
Her parents had been unreachable since the beginning of the crisis, and the chances that they were still alive now were extremely low.
Faced with those terrifying and monstrous zombies, there was absolutely no way she could survive alone by herself.
And, as the laws of society completely collapse, the humans themselves will eventually become far scarier and more terrifying than the zombies themselves.
Fully aware of her wonderful appearance and stunning beauty, if she were to fall into the hands of other survivors with questionable character, her fate would become extremely miserable and utterly dark.
After all... not everyone possesses principles, a conscience, or morality like Takayama Akira.
Until very recently, she had truly believed that she had been saved and was completely safe.
However, she had never expected to find herself facing another desperate situation like this one.
Amidst these mental ups and downs, the fear growing within Alyna's heart became stronger and increasingly suffocating.
It was exactly at this precise moment that she clearly remembered what Hinata had told her earlier.
"I... I would like to follow you!"
"Sir... Master Akira!"
Alyna's cheeks instantly became flushed and hot, and she said these words with tremendous difficulty, nearly stumbling over them.
"???"
Akira's face was suddenly covered by a huge question mark.
Turning his head slowly, he looked directly at Hinata.
Hinata just stuck out her tongue, pretending to be innocent, with an expression clearly saying: "This has absolutely nothing to do with me..."
"Let's talk about this later."
Akira didn't give a clear or immediate answer, he simply shifted the subject naturally.
---
Night was already approaching.
Nozomi Aya and Nakaoka Alyna were staying in the room next door.
The zombies that had been inside the entire building had already been eliminated, and the gate on the first floor was properly locked with heavy reinforced iron chains. Therefore, for now, safety was reasonably guaranteed.
"Master... are you really going to abandon Big Sister Alyna?"
Hinata asked while gently massaging Akira's legs, with a sweet, soft, and slightly worried voice.
"Why is that? Just because you've known each other for a single day, have you already become best friends?"
Akira responded, finding that situation somewhat amusing.
"That's not exactly it... but Big Sister Alyna is so beautiful... it would be a real pity to see her turning into a zombie."
Hinata stuck out her tongue with a mischievous yet innocent little gesture.
Deep down, she was still very kind, even in this cruel world.
In fact, Akira didn't mind having a few more followers, as long as they were useful and competent.
However, at this moment, he had only one single available spot.
Tomorrow, when he went out to retrieve the medicine, Nozomi Aya would have absolute priority.
As for Alyna...
She would only be able to wait until Akira reached level three.
While Akira was seriously pondering all this, Hinata got even closer to him, lightly tightened his belt... carefully unbuttoned his pants and, in an extremely natural way, silently knelt down.
"Sssss..."
Akira's body trembled at once, his expression changed, immediately feeling his length harden rapidly under the delicate touch of Hinata's hands.
Soon after, he felt the warmth of her lips enveloping him completely, in addition to the caress of her tongue, sliding in a provocative and pleasurable way... and he simply could not contain a muffled moan of pure pleasure.
"..."
---
Room next door.
Alyna was lying on the bed, completely stunned, staring fixedly at the ceiling.
She had managed to gather all of her courage to shout out that extremely embarrassing name, but... Takayama Akira's response was extremely ambiguous and vague.
This inevitably made her feel restless, full of anxiety, worried about gains and losses, not knowing exactly what to think.
Meanwhile, Aya was sitting in the corner, fully focused on carefully planning the entire course of action for the following day.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At that exact moment, the wall of the room trembled violently, emitting loud and repeated noises.
"Could it be... the zombies are attacking again?!"
Aya stood up in a hurry, nervous, looking directly at the door.
"Uh... it shouldn't be..."
Alyna responded, stammering a little, looking towards the wall with a visibly strange and embarrassed face.
"The noise... came from the room next door..."
Only then did she realize, completely awkward, that the sound of banging against the wall the previous night had not been made by zombies...
When Aya finally realized this, her face instantly turned red like a tomato, completely flushed.
The violent noise coming from the walls made both of them tremble constantly.
"Aya... what are we going to do... if Master Akira makes... hmm... let's say... excessive demands... after we sign that contract?"
Alyna asked with a worried voice, looking somewhat doubtful and suspicious.
Aya did not respond immediately.
Instead, she quickly opened a video on her tablet and placed it directly in front of Alyna for her to watch.
It was a recording made earlier by her drone.
In the video, Akira appeared holding an enormous baseball bat, moving agilely among dozens of zombies, fighting completely alone, with absolutely devastating strength!
Every single swing he delivered smashed the zombies' heads with absurd ease, spreading blood and brains in every possible direction.
He truly looked like a War God walking sovereignly in the middle of a sea of corpses and absolute destruction!
"With this level of strength... if he really had bad intentions... do you seriously think he would even bother doing any kind of psychological game with us?"
Aya replied, returning the question with a serious look.
Alyna remained silent for several seconds, completely speechless.
In fact, when faced with that kind of ridiculous power that Akira showed... they absolutely had no chance of resisting.
"We... we haven't known Akira for very long... but honestly... he makes me feel that he's different from other men."
"His eyes... are very clear, sincere... he doesn't have that filthy or malicious gaze."
"I'm willing to trust him."
"And even if... hmm... something really does happen…"
Aya took a deep breath, crossed her arms, and with slightly blushing cheeks, she finished:
"At the very least... Akira is handsome enough... and I'm not that bad either."
She shrugged, trying to seem carefree, although her tone clearly revealed a certain level of embarrassment.
Alyna gently bit her lips, her face flushing even more, imagining things... and thinking about a thousand different possibilities regarding exactly what was happening in the room next door.
The sound of violent banging on the wall — mixed with creaking noises — continued, with absolutely no intention of stopping anytime soon.
It looked like... tonight would be yet another completely sleepless night...
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