Haven't you figured it out?

Lianne turned to me with a mixture of excitement and confusion on her face. "Then what is it, Uncle Ally?"

"It's a puppy, little Lianne." Fredrick said, walking up behind me.

'No, it's not! It's a wolf! A fucking wolf cub!' I wanted to shout, but I held back and didn't say anything.

Lianne was already tugging on my shirt. "Let's keep it! Let's keep it!"

I sighed in defeat. I knew that Lianne's happiness was more important than my concerns about the wolf cub.

Fredrick put his hand on my shoulder and whispered into my ear. "I know how much you are trying to protect her. Akemi loves animals and wouldn't miss the chance to bring home a pet. She probably saved this little cub from starving."

He chuckled softly and placed his arm around my shoulders.

My lips drew into a thin line, knowing he was right.

I glanced over my shoulder to check on Lianne. Her expression was filled with joy.

"Thank you, Uncle Ally," she whispered, hugging me tightly.

We walked into the old, dusty mansion, the cub following closely behind us.

The inside of the building was covered in dust and cobwebs, making the air heavy and dusty. But despite its current state, the mansion still had a certain charm to it.

I couldn't help but feel nostalgic. I remembered playing hide-and-seek with Mia back then. This place looked like somewhere we could play all day long.

My mind wandered off again as I walked through the dimly lit hallway, and I collided with something soft.

"F— damn!"

I rubbed my head in irritation at the unexpected collision.

"Could you get your hands off me? It's rude to grope me, you know," a lady's voice said.

"Sorry, sorry!" I apologized hastily, backing away from the person I'd bumped into.

There she was. The lady who I assumed to be none other than…

Akemi.

She stood in front of me, wearing nothing more than a towel wrapped loosely around her body, serving as a makeshift dress.

Her skin glistened under the light of the moon.

Her black hair was wet, dripping water onto her shoulders.

I gulped down hard, unable to find words to speak.

"Akemi!" Fredrick exclaimed, running towards her and wrapping her in a hug. "You're alive!"

His arms tightened around her, squeezing her tight. He seemed really happy to see her.

'I wonder why.'

I rolled my eyes at the sight.

Akemi smiled warmly at Fredrick. "Obviously, I'm not some pretty rich girl you thought I was when we were kids, you jerk!"

"I never called you pretty," Fredrick countered with a smirk.

Bam!

Her playful punch made Fredrick switch to an overdramatic mode when he winced and rubbed his arm.

'Right, continue with the act dumbass!'

As I stared at them, Akemi was the first to notice this, and she quickly averted her gaze and ran a hand across her forehead.

"I could hear your voice from a mile away; I'm quite amazed the aliens haven't found you guys yet," she laughed nervously.

She took a deep breath and let out another nervous laugh.

"Ha ha ha." I muttered with a poker face.

Lianne was clinging tightly to my leg, her small hands wrapped around it, but her attention was slowly drifting to the cub who sat beside her.

Akemi cleared her throat awkwardly. "So, um, are you two going to introduce yourselves or something?"

"Allen," I pointed at myself, "and Lianne," I added.

I pulled Lianne forward so she could be introduced to Akemi properly.

"Hello, Lianne, nice to meet you. I am Akemi Sato."

'Were we meant to introduce ourselves along with our last name?'

Lianne gave Akemi a bright smile. "Pwetty blue eyes," she muttered, staring intently at her.

Akemi giggled. "Nice to meet you too. Now come here so you can say hello to the rest of my crew."

As if on cue, several animals jumped out of hiding places in the room and surrounded us.

'What the hell?!'

A young deer with a white spot on its forehead bounded towards us.

A wild cat and a rabbit came next, then a big, fluffy dog with large, round ears.

Then a huge bear appeared from nowhere and started licking Lianne's hands.

It was like one of those animal parties you see in movies.

"Whoa!" I yelped when the bear licked Lianne's cheek.

"Hey, don't lick her! She's not food!" I shouted, shoving the beast away from Lianne.

It growled angrily before looking over at Akemi, who just shrugged helplessly.

"I guess he wants to lick everyone. We should probably get him a treat," she chuckled.

This was not funny at all.

"Um, bud..." Fredrick looked at me, worried.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think you're being a bit, um, 'overprotective'?"

He sounded concerned about how I was handling things.

Well, that wasn't exactly true.

I mean, this place was full of wild animals after all.

But what was wrong with wanting to protect someone you cared about? Someone who was the key to understanding the skill I possessed.

Wasn't that normal?

Fredrick sighed and shook his head. "Just do whatever you want, okay? But don't go overboard with it."

He turned to go back outside to get the van inside Akemi's garage.

"I'll get the necessary things we need for today," he said, then walked off without saying anything else.

"Is she your daughter? You seem close enough," Akemi asked curiously while petting the bear behind his neck.

The bear closed its eyes and nodded happily as she scratched between his ears.

"No, no. It's just, well, we've been through a lot together," I explained awkwardly. "I'm actually her un—"

"Uncle Ally, Lia wants to pet puppy! Uncle Ally, puppy wants to play with Lia!"

We both glanced down when Lianne spoke.

The cub had stayed in between Akemi's legs until now.

"Uncle?"

I strained to hear what she was muttering quietly to herself.

Was it strange to have a relative traveling with a child?

"Puppy!!!" Lia squealed, tearing my protective arms around her away and running over to the wolf cub.

I watched in confusion as the cub approached her, wagging its tail happily.

"His name is Ruff!" Akemi informed us, "He belongs to me. He likes people but isn't very good around other dogs. But he gets along really well with kids!"

The little wolf pounced on Lianne, and they rolled around on the floor.

I couldn't help but chuckle softly, watching them.

"Okay, okay! That's enough!" Akemi laughed, pushing the two apart. "Now come along. Everyone is waiting to greet you."

Everyone?

"Umm, excuse me, did you just say everyone? No, I'm not asking the right question," I interrupted, still unable to believe what I was hearing. "Are you talking about more animals or humans?"

Akemi raised a brow. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

"Figured what out?" I asked confused, trying to keep up.

She gave me a mischievous grin that had me raising an eyebrow in response.