Chapter Text
Summertime in Tokyo’s castle town was always lively at night, where certain districts and taverns lit up with joyous howls and the warmth of flickering lanterns.
Or so Goro had heard. She’d only seen the districts light up like one massive bonfire from her bedroom window, the night air muggy and humid even without the sun. She hated how the heat pricked her neck, how the wind picked up odd scents, but loved how alive the buzz of tipsy storytellers and hecklers the town was so late in the night. She wanted to explore alone, meld into the shadows of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas, and simply exist in the same space.
After months of studying the guards’ schedules and plotting everything, Goro managed it. She crept out of the castle without being caught and found herself wandering the town with her plain brown cloak pulled over her face. Goro let her hair down beforehand and cleaned her face for extra security. With her freckles and dark circles exposed like a mask over her public image, the irony was not lost on her.
Tokyo’s side streets were dark and muted, the thrum of life and jolly a distant murmur. If she calculated right, there were a few more alleyways and streets to pass through before hitting the main street. From there, it’d be a straight shot to the most lively district—Kabukichō.
Goro’s fingertips drummed along her sides, her chest practically heaving with nerves. The occasional breeze was pleasant and cool on her skin, but with it came a constant waft of sweat and smoke, heady and acrid. At least it masked her scent, far too bright and noticeable without her mating collar—an immediate sign of royalty—to cover her scent glands.
It felt odd not having that shield. Despite the discomfort it brought, Goro’s throat felt bare without that second layer. Her citrus and lemongrass scent overwhelmed her senses, and she could only hope it wasn’t as noticeable to passersby.
A few more streets passed, and Goro found herself on the main road, eagerly lapping up the new sights. There were mainly storefronts where she walked, almost all closed for the night and townspeople fast asleep, if their unlit windows were anything to go by. Then the smell of booze, mute and earthy, added into the equation, making Goro only a little dizzy. She was more familiar with the spiced, floral notes of aged wines than anything else, her palate perhaps too refined for the town’s usual tastes.
It wasn’t long before she began to walk past townspeople, overhearing only blurbs of conversations as they walked away from the action. Anxiety thrummed in Goro’s veins, no doubt coming out in her scent, souring the sweet notes and—
“Well, what’s a pretty thing like you doing in that big cloak?” A man slurred somewhere in front of Goro.
She ducked her head further, mumbling, “Oh, nothing at all! I have someone to meet, so if I may just—“
A hand touched her shoulder. Goro yelped, looking up and finding a man in front of her, flushed and stinking of booze. He donned Tokyo’s guard uniform of grays and crimson—a man expected to uphold justice and keep people safe.
And here Goro was, slowly being walked back into an alleyway.
“You’re meetin’ a friend, huh? Wha’s his name? He treatin’ you right, little Omega?”
Goro flushed, rage and shame twirling into a tornado in her stomach. “I would say that is none of your business, Officer. Now, if I may—" she tried to walk past him, but the hand on her shoulder pushed her back and gripped tightly.
“Not so sure you get to talk t’me like that, young lady,” he growled. Hops and smoke masked most of his scent, but anger took hold, giving off the cloying musk only an Alpha could have. It was worse than any smell she’d experienced today, like an exceptionally floral perfume sprayed directly in her face, overpowering and unpleasant.
Goro considered her options. Either she revealed her identity and ruined her plans of ever sneaking out again, or she let this man potentially harm her. Heart racing, Goro opened her mouth to speak when the guard’s other hand inched closer to her neck.
“Well, what’s happening down here, Officer?” A gruff voice called behind the man. Goro practically melted with relief before stiffening again, paralyzed when the new person came closer. A large, bushy beard and hat meant another male guard.
Maybe Goro was in more danger.
The guard scoffed, looking over at the new silhouette. “Doin’ my rounds. Wha’s it look like?”
“Looks like you’re scarin’ a pretty lady!” The man said, and Goro blinked. Something about the man’s voice was odd, like someone comedically lowering their voice to sound like an older man for a stage play.
Upon further inspection, the person’s beard looked incredibly fake. It was practically hanging off their face. Goro earned a playful, knowing wink.
“I was just givin’ her directions. Go back to your station,” the unfortunately-real guard muttered.
What a shock it was to realize that not only were her father’s guards sleazy drunkards, but they were complete and utter idiots.
It took another second before the guard faltered, watching the fake guard closer than before. He narrowed his eyes and growled, “Wait a damn minute…”
Fake-beard shrugged. “Took you long enough.”
The fake guard broke the real guard’s grasp from Goro before slamming him into the wall. Goro didn’t get the chance to breathe with relief before being whisked out of the alleyway and down another side street. They whorled past two more alley corners before the distant guard distantly howled for backup.
As soon as possible, the stranger tossed away their beard and hat. A dark, frizzy braid waved like a horse’s tail behind the stranger. Goro couldn’t help but laugh, exhilarated by their speed and how the wind felt on her cheeks and tousled her bangs back.
By the time they slowed to a stop, Goro’s face hurt from how hard she was smiling, even with the sting in her side from so much running.
“Thank you,” Goro panted, turning to face her savior. “I needed that.”
Her savior raised an eyebrow and smirked. The stranger was beautiful and lean, her hair wiry and wavy, with flyaways sticking out along her temples. Silver eyes and thick eyelashes batted at Goro as she teased, “Saving you from a creep or running away from the law?”
Goro laughed again, her free hand wiping a stray tear from her eye. “Both, I suppose.”
“Well, then, the pleasure’s all mine, madam.” Goro’s savior released her wrist to give a deep and dramatic bow. When she looked up, her smile was crooked, and her silver eyes glinted with playful danger like a twirled dagger. “The name’s Akira.”
A welcoming waft of oak and lavender drifted from Akira, and Goro felt her shoulders relax. That familiar, smoky bite of an Alpha floated in the air, but it was the first time Goro found herself enticed by the sharp scent. She couldn’t help the rumble of a purr from her chest, which she cleared away quickly.
As for introductions, Goro was too on the nose, and Masayoshi was out of the question for multiple reasons, but no one knew her mother’s maiden name. The idea of only Akira wrapping her teeth around that name, speaking it aloud, and bringing the name to life twisted Goro’s insides pleasurably.
“You may call me Akechi,” Goro offered, sheepishly giddy to offer the last name she wished she could have kept.
Akira outstretched a hand, and Goro barely thought about it when she held out her hand, curled downward, ready for the knuckles to be kissed. It took a second longer for Goro to realize Akira had her hand outstretched for a handshake. There was no chance to be embarrassed for her mistake when Akira took her curled fingers and pulled the hand to her lips without question.
That half-lidded stare never faltered. Hot breath fanned over the ridges of Goro’s knuckles.
“What a treat to be acquainted, Akechi.” A shiver trailed down Goro’s spine when Akira echoed her name with a purr, syrupy sweet. “A beautiful name. It suits you.”
Akira’s stare lingered low along Goro’s face. Her gaze was liquid mercury—rare and cool on Goro’s skin amidst her warm touch. Akira’s calloused hand was searing beneath her own, and all Goro could think about was the soft heat of fingers and teeth on delicate flesh, hot breath across planes of exposed skin. Goro’s heartbeat trailed low when those eyes flickered down to eye the line of her bare throat.
“Thank you. I like to think so as well,” Goro said softly, entranced by the sultry sight Akira made.
To Goro’s disappointment, the moment eventually broke. Akira met her gaze once more, her mouth curled in a friendly smile and her eyes warm. Akira gently dropped Goro’s hand as she asked, “So you must be new here. I’d remember a dime like you if you were a regular around here. Are you visiting? First time?”
“Something like that.” Goro reached with her still-warm hand to toy with her hood’s hem, only to realize it’d long fallen from her head. Shit. Saving face, she rubbed two fingers along the cloak’s clasp across her collarbone. Perhaps Akira didn’t recognize her, considering her treatment. It was a breath of fresh air to receive such an informality.
Akira cocked an eyebrow, smirking. “I’ll assume that means you’ve never walked through this district before?”
Goro only shook her head, cheeks warming.
That same warm hand reached out to curl beneath Goro’s own, urging her forward gently. “May I be the one to guide such a lovely lady this fine night, then?”
It felt as if fluttering insects were wreaking havoc within the swell of Goro’s ribcage. Her heart skipped with joy, and she stepped forward to follow, only for reason to rear its head.
“I would love to, but I’m afraid I’ve been gone for too long. You see, I…” Goro bit her lip. Half-truths were the best lies. That’s what her mother had always taught her. “I’m not allowed to wander at night. My father is a cruel, controlling man. I need to return before he knows I was sneaking out.”
Grinning impishly, Akira teased with sharp teeth, “A little thief in the making? Truly a woman after my own heart.”
Goro flushed so hard she thought she might faint from heatstroke. Faint citrus notes swelled into the overbearing sweetness of tangerines, enough to swarm the mouth with saliva. It took a second to realize the source was herself. She wasn’t aware she could produce such a pheromone. Even in heat, she’d never experienced such a shift in scent.
Akira’s eyes flashed, nostrils subtly flaring. She leaned in only to raise Goro’s knuckles, trailing her lips across each protruding knuckle. “Will I see you here again another night? I’d kill to buy you a drink or two.”
Lips pursed, Goro fought back a giddy smile. “So long as I’m not caught on my way back, I’d love to. No killing necessary, though. I’d rather not have iron bars between us when we next meet.”
“I suppose it’s a date then, my dear Akechi.”
Goro took great pride in her level-headed and quick thinking. However, still practically intoxicated by the presence of one mysterious, flirtatious Akira seemed to tank her stealth skills substantially.
It was a miracle she returned without raising suspicions. There was one close call, just as she’d let her guard down past the manicured hedges along the castle’s perimeter. Once safe in her bedchambers, chest heaving and eyes closed, Goro silently cursed the heat of Akira’s rough hand and that silvery gaze.
Never before had Goro been so enamored and affected by the presence of another—and certainly not within the presence of an Alpha. Call it her stubborn nature or her mother’s heartbroken words, but she refused to be swayed, even in the face of natural dynamics. She refused to back down and allow the Alphas that visited the royal court, vying for even a fraction of her attention, the satisfaction of much more than a coy look and a turn of her cheek.
However, Akira was different. Rather than a bark of orders or a puffed-out chest, Akira was a pinning stare and the pleasing threat of sharp canines. She was subtle in her air of power, which made Goro want to writhe under that hold and be domineered in a way she’d never fantasized before. Akira was the very definition of what Goro’s forebrain yearned for in the deepest trenches of her heats.
Goro had never found herself in the presence of a female Alpha before. After all, it was unspoken of within the royal courts in this part of the country. Everyone knew it was possible, but for Alphas like King Shido, it was a threat to their vice-like reign. And, apparently, a threat to Goro’s common sense and self-control.