Chapter 348 - I SEE EVERYTHING

At the Yamazaki home, Akira was in the secondary suite opposite her bedroom. 

Under Maria's instructions, the room was changed completely after Hanae's things were removed. The new design turned the space into a scholar's room as opposed to the princess bedroom. Therefore, she could work comfortably on her things.​​

The crystal piano was naturally the highlight of the room. However, Maria had also set up a beautiful black desk on one end of the space for Akira. In addition, the room was redecorated with musical motifs as well as some calligraphy scrolls and traditional paintings. 

While Seiji and Hina were facing off at the Stillwater Medical Research Institute, Akira was scribbling on a notebook with a swift hand. 

One would ȧssume that she was writing words. However, she was scribbling musical notes in a manuscript book while nodding her head to a beat in her mind. 

Under normal circumstances, she would use her ŀȧptop when writing music. However, when she was fired up and was writing an original piece freely, she would always use real paper to minimise the effect of external effects.

Her hands kept moving from one page to another without a pause like she was possessed. Anyone who knew Akira would understand that she was under the spell of the Muses. 

As her fingers got tired and she slowed down, her phone buzzed. She picked it with her left hand and kept scribbling. 

"You can't keep putting off the grand opening forever." The calm voice of a man flowed out. 

This man was Benji or Benjiro, the third musketeer working for Akira. He was a maître d' in the past, but he had become the general manager of the Elements chain of restaurants. 'General manager' was just a title. In reality, he was like the CEO of the chain. 

Managing Elements was not a simple task. 

While Akira was the extraordinaire chef behind the brand, she could not be present at all the branches at the same time. She was not a reliable person at all. It would be a lucky night if she showed up to cook personally on any night at any of her restaurants. 

Her passion was conceiving new recipes through experimentation. The developed recipes would become a part of the Elements menu after a few rounds of tests. 

Every time Akira developed a new recipe, she would make the instructions available to the chefs working under her. Once they mastered it to satisfaction, a new menu would be rolled out. 

It was Benji's responsibility to ensure that the quality of food and service in all the Elements restaurants was high and consistent. He would hire the staff and tasters personally. Moreover, he was responsible for marketing Elements. 

The only thing that Akira was insistent on was cooking the food on every grand opening night. 

This practice was, in her words, to challenge both the chefs and the diners. If the food quality went down, the diners should notice after having one perfect meal made by her. In that case, they could complain about the decline. 

Any complaints would lead to the restaurant becoming a flop. Knowing this, the chefs would not allow the quality of the served meals to deteriorate. They would always strive to maintain and even improve the superiority of the food. 

Of course, Akira did not think too much about the restaurants on normal days unless she developed fresh inspiration and created a new recipe. Benji was the one who was always there to monitor the enterprise and ensure that there were no mistakes. 

"Let's do it on Friday," Akira responded directly. 

She was in a good mood because of the inspiration that hit her as soon as she woke up. Musical inspiration always made her more optimistic. 

"Really?" Benji was surprised by the unexpected positive answer. 

"We can push it another week if you are not ready." She replied flatly. 

"Friday is fine. Let's talk on Thursday." 

Akira smiled a little at the end of the interruption, and she kept scribbling on her notebook, albeit at a slower pace. 

"A focused woman is truly beautiful." A teasing voice spoke out. 

Akira was startled. She dropped her pencil due to the shock. She could not believe that someone had approached and entered the room without her notice. 

However, the voice registered in her mind after a moment. 

She looked at the window and found a smug Kaito with a playful smile on his face. He truly met the standards for a feared ȧssassin. She did not detect anything, even the sound of his steps on the balcony. 

It was almost as if he materialised in the room. 

"What are you doing here?" Akira asked as she picked up the pencil. 

"If I didn't come, wouldn't you run away with a wild man?" Kaito responded as he walked towards her. 

Akira was confused. Every time she met Kaito, he claimed that she had some dealings with strange men. And this time, she really had no idea who the accused wild man was. 

"I only see one wild man." Her tone was flat and unaffected, despite her thoughts. 

Kaito's lips stretched into an enthralling but dangerous smile. He went around the desk and stood next to Akira. She pushed her chair back to escape him. 

"The wild man who saw you dancing yesterday like a careless little phoenix." He responded with cold eyes. 

Akira realised that he was talking about Cherry Blossom when he visited on the previous day and her little jiggy performance in the living room. 

"You saw that?" She felt embarrassed. 

Unlike her family members, the household staff and the two guests, Kaito would probably find out everything about her true identity in the future. 

It was almost inevitable. 

The man was an ȧssassin, so he had to have a lot of intelligence resources. Even though her identity was hidden quite well, she was not immune to those who had powerful channels for discovering concealed information. 

When she thought of the silly dance, she felt like she had lost face. Even if Kaito discovered her great power and influence later on, how could he take her seriously after seeing her behaving like that?

"You saw that?" She asked apprehensively. 

"Assume that I see everything, my little red panda," Kaito said. "I will not allow you to escape from me." 

The words had ėrȯtɨċism suffused with a threat. 

It made Akira uncomfortable. It felt as if she could not sit still. She wanted to chide him, but there was also a sort of a flattered embarrassment in her heart. 

She could not understand her feelings. 

"Did you come to warn me to stay away from strange men again?" She asked with a roll of her clear eyes. 

While she was feeling that irrational discomfort, she had her pride. She could not allow him to know how much he affected her.