Asami Nakaoka

Asami Nakaoka is the police officer in charge of the survivors at the mall. She seems an incompetent leader initially, but after she acquires the Smith and Wesson M.37, she gains confidence and earns the respect of the survivors.

About
Asami is a young patrol woman in Tokonosu Higashi Police Station's traffic department, and she is in charge of guarding the mall and protecting the group of survivors sheltering there until her superior returns with help. She speaks in a third-person speech pattern, such as replacing "I" in her sentence with her name, though this is because police in Japan refer to themselves in third-person. The proper way to do this is to say "this officer", but Asami has not yet mastered this. She is very loyal to her superior, Officer Matsushima, and she will do anything she can to maintain order in the mall until Matsushima returns. She usually appears optimistic when around the survivors in the mall, but in more private settings, she constantly doubts her abilities as a police officer. During the group's stay at the mall, she developes a deep affection for Kohta, which turns into mutual feelings of love between them by the time the group leaves the mall.

Appearance
Asami is a small woman with short, light brown hair and blue eyes. The front of her hair is pushed to the right side of her face, partially obscuring her right eye. She wears the standard female police uniform of the Tokonosu Higasi Police station which consists of a white shirt, a black tie, a blue jacket, and a blue skirt. She also wears a green band around her left arm with two white stripes on it and gold earings in the shape of stars.

History
Little is known about Asami's history except that she had a boyfriend before the outbreak who broke up with her because she didn't do well at the police academy.

Personality
Asami usually appears outwardly optimistic when around the people in the mall who she is in charge of. However, when she is away from them she is often seen crying and seriously doubting her ability to be a police officer. She tries to assert her authority as an officer to the people in the mall, but they have no respect for her and don't take her seriously. After receiving the Smith and Wesson, she is able to gain the confidence to use her power as a police officer to keep order in the mall. Throughout the group's stay at the mall, Asami constantly says that Officer Matsushima will return with help, which is why she is able to stay optimistic, but when she sees that Matsushima has become one of "them" she loses all hope and breaks down, no longer caring about protecting the survivors in the mall.

Summary
Easily scared and intimidated by others, Asami's authority quickly waned amongst the survivors until Kohta and Takashi intervened by handing her a standardized police firearm and building up her confidence. She developed a liking for Kohta after he helped her subdue a civilian who was about to sexually assault Shizuka. Asami later accompanies Takashi to help obtain blood plasma for a sick survivor, and is forced to mercy kill Tamaru when he is bitten by "them". Asami firmly believed that her superior officer, Matsushima, who had left for the police station for help, would come back until she is shocked and horrified to see a zombified Matsushima walking towards the mall, utterly shattering her self-optimism. After running to the mall's roof while she was greatly upset, Asami was kindly praised by the same old couple that she helped in helping the old woman in having the blood transfusion, allowing her to rekindle her spirit. Asami is encouraged by Kohta into coming with him and his friends, which she gladly accepts.

Shortly after breaking out of the mall with the group she attempts to save a frightened student trapped in the parking lot. Despite distracting the zombies long enough for the student to escape Asami herself gets trapped whilst without any means of defending herself. As a nod to upholding her duty as a police officer she sacrifices herself by further drawing the attention of the zombies so the group can escape. Asami shouts out one final request for Kohta to not let her get turned into a zombie as they slowly converge on her. She is last seen tearfully confessing her love to Kohta while saluting as he aims his gun sight on her from a distance. It is revealed in the following chapter that Kohta killed her, leading to him almost experiencing a mental breakdown.