As Akira walked from the kitchen area, she found a handsome man waiting for her in the corridor. His lips were stretched in his usual wicked smile, but there was a trace of madness and a hint of obsession in his dark eyes.

That look made Akira pause in her steps, giving him an opening to approach her.

The possessiveness in his eyes as he walked towards her scared something in her, but she did not turn away from him or attempt to walk away before he reached her. Instead, she stopped completely and faced him.

She looked directly into his strange eyes without backing down.

The hint of obsession seemed to intensify as he backed her into the hallway wall and trapped her with his arms around her. The kabe-don caused Akira to be enveloped by the scent of cherry blossoms and mint.

The man leaned closer to Akira's face until only a short distance was left between their faces and lips. Still, Akira maintained eye contact with him and refused to show any indication of fear.

Only her racing heartbeat betrayed the fact that she was not as calm as she appeared.

"You should be a little more self-aware, my little red panda." Kaito finally breathed out and spoke with a tight voice.

Akira did not say anything. However, her large eyes held a bit of curiosity because she could not figure out why Kaito kept calling her a red panda.

Kaito smiled more wickedly and leaned even closer to her.

"If you keep being so cute and defenceless, I might just devour you." His voice was full of seductive promise.

Akira did not move. "You won't hurt me."

The statement was said with irrevocable certainty.

Kaito looked at her with surprise. He wondered if she was naïve enough to believe her words. He was a good man, and she should have sensed it by now. But her clear eyes showed that she believed what she was saying.

The contradiction was strange.

However, the reason did not matter.

Seeing her like this, focussing all her attention on him, his earlier frustration and obsession was alleviated a little.

He closed his eyes and forced the traces of maniac possessiveness away from his eyes. When he opened his eyes, they were a little clearer.

"Don't let me catch holding hands with another man again." He said unreasonably.

Akira frowned. She did not remember holding hands with anyone.

The confusion made Kaito both angry and helpless. He decided to change his tactics.

"Stay away from strange men." He had to be forward and clear.

Akira was silent and looked at Kaito with keen focus.

"You are the only strange man I know." She said mercilessly.

Kaito laughed.

"Fine, you can hold my hand." The sly fox tapped the little red panda's nose.

"I don't want to hold your hand." She twitched her button nose and scrunched her eyebrows at the touch.

Kaito felt like laughing in anger, but he could not summon his wrath while she was looking at him with her large doe eyes. In any case, there was still time. This was just the beginning.

He backed away from her, now that the demon in his heart was appeased. He had followed her from the restaurant after she returned because he had seen the familiar and cordial look in that chef's eyes when he was looking at Akira.

When he saw that overly friendly man reach for her hands and hold them, his sight became clouded with red.

He would have to teach her about the dangers of wild men. However, for now, she needed to protect herself from wickedness closer to home.

"You should be a little more careful when dealing with shameless people in the future." He approached the topic of the crazy cousin directly.

He, his uncle and grandpa could not intervene in the matter because of the sensitive and personal nature of the occurrence. Therefore, he could only warn Akira in retrospect.

"I know." She said dully.

"Do you really know?" Kaito was a little frustrated by the casual response. "Your cousin is only the tip of the iceberg. You will face more similar problems."

Akira listened to his words, but she did not take them too seriously. Seeing the carefree attitude, he flicked her forehead.

"You probably think that this is a fun holiday, but I am telling you, people in Mountain Ridge are crueller and more mercenary than you can imagine. Your presence means that someone might not get a piece of the Yamazaki pie. You will be targeted. And don't think you have gotten rid of your cousin. She does not seem like someone who goes down easily." Kaito continued.

Akira was dissatisfied at being flicked, but she finally understood what Kaito meant.

She was not interested in the Yamazaki wealth, but that did not mean that people would not target her for its sake.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked as she rubbed her forehead.

"I don't want you to be taken out by irrelevant people or to lose your spirit."

"Why?"

"It is so much more fun playing with a lively panda."

Akira frowned and scrunched her forehead again.

"Don't frown too much. You will get wrinkles." Kaito flicked her forehead again.

Akira was angered and kicked him in the shin.

"I am more likely to get a giant scar on my forehead with you flicking me with your rough fingers, you stupid fox." She huffed.

The sharp pain from the swift kick made Kaito lift his injured leg and groan.

Akira smiled a little to herself before turning around with a snort and walking away without a care.