Chapter 192: Corruption’s Effect…

“I know because… because I’ve done it before.”

Akira turned to look at her directly, his eyes widening slightly. It was rare for anything to genuinely shock him anymore, but this did. “You’ve corrupted someone before?”

Ayaka’s expression tightened and her crimson eyes dropped to the sheets. “I didn’t mean to. Not at first.” Her voice was quiet, almost like she was ashamed of her past actions. “It was before I could control myself.”

“What happened?” he asked, genuinely curious.

She took a breath. “I was younger… desperate. I needed essence to survive, and there was this man who… who was kind to me. He helped me when I had nowhere to go. I thought I was just forming a normal bond. A feeding arrangement. But I was too strong, and he was too weak, and the bond…” She trailed off. “It corrupted him. Completely.”

“What happened to him?”

Ayaka’s expression darkened, genuine pain crossing her features. “I kept him for two years. Used him for information, for protection, and for… well, my pleasure.” She looked away. “When I finally realized what I’d done, what I’d turned him into, I tried to break the bond.”

“And?”

“When I finally released it, he…” She swallowed hard. “He never recovered. Not fully. Even after the connection broke, he was diminished. Less than he was before I touched him… like a shadow of who he used to be.”

Her hands clenched in the sheets. “And that’s what you’ll do to Sakura if you keep her corrupted.”

Akira didn’t say anything.

“She’ll be yours… completely, permanently and utterly devoted,” Ayaka continued in a hollow voice. “But she won’t be herself anymore. She’ll be a shell that looks like Sakura but isn’t really her. Just a puppet that loves you because it has no choice.”

Akira was silent, absorbing this.

“And if I heal her instead?”

Ayaka sighed. “She’ll hate you. For letting it happen in the first place. For claiming her afterward. For every moment she spent corrupted. The anger will be real and justified.”

“But she’ll be herself again. Eventually.”

“The corruption will leave scars. It always does. Psychological damage that takes years to heal. But she’ll have her will back. Her personality and her self.”

Akira looked at her directly. “What would you do? If you were me?”

Ayaka looked at him for a long moment. “I don’t know. That’s why I’m warning you now. Because you have to live with whichever choice you make. I lived with mine for years. Still do. Every time I think about him, I feel sick.”

She reached out and touched his face gently. “So please… don’t make a decision you can’t carry, Akira.”

The room fell quiet except for the faint hum of the building’s ventilation system. Outside, the city was still dark, the earliest hints of dawn not yet visible.

“Can we stay here?” Ayaka asked quietly. “Just for a few hours?”

Akira checked the time on his phone: 11:45 PM. Three missed calls from Mia glowed on his screen.

He dimmed the phone and set it aside. “Yeah. We can stay.”

“Good.” Ayaka was already drifting toward sleep, the essence recovery and emotional exhaustion finally catching up with her. “I don’t think I want to face Mia tonight. She’ll definitely know something happened the moment she sees me.”

“She’ll know anyway.”

“Let tomorrow-Ayaka deal with that.” Her eyes closed. “Tonight-Ayaka just wants to sleep.”

Akira pulled the tacky red sheets over them both. The room was warm, the pink lights had dimmed automatically, leaving just enough glow to see by.

He should sleep too. The Domain Battle was in less than two days, so he needed rest. But his mind wouldn’t stop churning.

Sakura was corrupted now and fully bonded to Valerius. Everything according to plan. So why did he feel this hollow sensation in his chest?

“Stop thinking so loud,” Ayaka mumbled sleepily. “I can feel your essence churning from here.”

“Sorry.”

“Whatever you’re worrying about, it can wait until morning.” She pressed closer against his side. “Sleep, Akira. You need it.”

She was right. It could wait.

He closed his eyes, forcing his thoughts to still.

Sleep came eventually, though not easily.

—

Akira woke to pale dawn light filtering through the room’s single window. The pink lights had automatically turned off at some point during the night.

Ayaka was still asleep beside him, and her crimson aura was calm and stable now. She was fully recovered.

He dressed up quietly and checked his phone.

Three missed calls from Mia (10:45 PM, 11:00 PM, 11:15 PM)

Texts:

(10:45 PM) “Where are you? You’re not home.”(11:00 PM) “Okay, you’re probably asleep. Text me when you wake up.”(11:15 PM) “I’m worried. Please be okay.”

Guilt twisted in his chest.

He texted back: “Sorry. Fell asleep early at a friend’s place. Wasn’t feeling well. I’m fine now. Heading back soon.”

Ayaka stirred. “What time is it?”

“5:30. We should go.”

She sat up slowly, stretching. “Back to reality.”

“Yuppp… back to reality.”

They gathered their things, which was actually nothing. The room looked even tackier in daylight: the red satin, the mirrors, the obviously stained carpet they’d been too tired to notice last night.

Ayaka laughed softly. “This is definitely not how I imagined my first time in a love hotel.”

“Was it that bad?”

“No. Just… different.” She kissed his cheek. “But I’d do it again.”

They exited separately… Ayaka first, then Akira five minutes later. Standard love hotel protocol. Discretion maintained.

The streets were quiet, early morning commuters just starting to appear.

“I’ll head back to Rosewood first,” Ayaka said. “Tell everyone I went for an early run.”

“And I’ll come back in twenty minutes. From a different direction.”

“Good plan.” She paused. “Thank you. For last night. For coming for us.”

“Always.”

She walked away.

Akira stood there for a moment, watching her go. Then headed in the opposite direction, taking the long way back to Rosewood.

—

Rosewood Residence…

Akira paused at the entrance to the building. It had been a while since he’d actually stopped to talk to Mei-san in the morning. So he made his way to her door and knocked.

Mei-san opened it a moment later.

“Well. Good morning,” she said, looking surprised but not displeased to see him.

She was in her sleep robe, her hair was down, and she had a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. Even first thing in the morning, she looked put-together in that effortless way she had.

“You weren’t home last night,” she observed.

Akira blinked. “How’d you know?”

“I check on everyone before bed. Your room was… empty.” She didn’t sound angry, just aware. “Where were you?”

Akira decided on partial honesty. “Helping a teacher. She needed me.”

Mei-san raised an eyebrow. “She?”

“Satomi-sensei. From school.”

Mei-san studied his face for a long moment. “You look exhausted.”

“It was a long night.”

“And Mia was worried. She called me at midnight asking if I’d seen you.”

Akira winced. “I texted her back. Just now.”

“That’s not the point.” Mei-san stepped aside, gesturing him in. “Come in. Sit.”

He followed her into her kitchen. She poured him a cup of coffee and set it in front of him, then sat down across the table.

“Akira-kun, I’m not going to lecture you,” she said calmly. “You’re legally an adult. You can spend nights wherever you want.”

She paused. “But you live with other people. People who care about you. When you disappear without warning, they worry… I worry.”

Akira wrapped his hands around the warm mug. “I know, Mei-san, and I’m sorry.”

“Well, it’s not just me you have to apologize to,” Mei-san said gently. “There’s Mia, Rina, and Aoi.”

Akira nodded.

Mei-san was quiet for a moment, then spoke again. “Also… I’m not blind.”

He looked up.

“I know something’s happening. With you, with the girls, with everything.” She met his eyes. “You promised you’d tell me. After this week.”

“I will. Tomorrow, after I handle something.”

“Handle what?”

“Something important. And dangerous.”

Mei-san reached across the table and took his hand. “Are you in trouble?”

“Depends on how tomorrow goes.”

She squeezed his hand. “I don’t know what’s happening. And maybe I don’t want to know. But I care about you. You know that, right?”

“I know.”

“Then be careful. Whatever this is.”

She stood, moving toward the stove to start making breakfast properly. “And go take a shower. You smell like… perfume. And it’s not yours.”

Akira realized he still smelled like Ayaka. “Yeah. I’ll do that.”

“Use my bathroom,” Mei-san said without turning around.

Akira stood and headed down the hall to her bathroom.

—

The water was hot, almost too hot, but it felt good against his tired muscles. Steam filled the room quickly. He stood under the spray, washing off the warehouse grime, the exhaustion, the smell of Ayaka’s perfume.

The door opened quietly.

He didn’t hear it over the sound of the water.

“Akira-kun?”

He turned, seeing a figure through the steam.

Mei-san stepped into the bathroom, her robe falling to the floor. “Mei-san?”

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