23. Dangerous Questions

# Nine Lives in Neon Lights

## Chapter 23: Dangerous Questions

The tension in the small café felt suffocating as Hiroshi's question hung in the air between them. Akira could feel her carefully constructed world teetering on the edge of collapse, one wrong word away from shattering completely.

"Not entirely human?" she repeated, forcing a laugh that sounded hollow even to her own ears. "Hiroshi, you've been reading too many manga. I think the stress of senior year is getting to both of us."

But even as she deflected, she could see the doubt lingering in Hiroshi's eyes, the way he was cataloging every inconsistency in her behavior over the past few days. Her best friend was too intelligent, too observant to be fooled for much longer.

"Academic pressure can manifest in strange ways," Takeshi said smoothly, supporting her deflection while his dark eyes remained fixed on her face with an intensity that made her pulse quicken. "Sleep deprivation, anxiety, sudden bursts of focus—it's more common than you might think."

"Right," Hiroshi said slowly, but his voice carried the tone of someone who was humoring them rather than believing. "Academic pressure."

Akira's phone buzzed again, another message from the Council of Shadows: "Clever deflection. But avoidance is temporary. The human will learn the truth eventually. The question is whether he survives the revelation."

The implied threat made her blood run cold. She looked around the café with new eyes, noting how several patrons seemed to be paying far too much attention to their conversation. A woman near the window kept glancing over while pretending to read her book. A man at the counter had his phone out, but his camera seemed to be pointed in their direction rather than at his coffee.

"We should go," she said suddenly, her enhanced senses picking up the growing tension in the air. "I have to get home before my mother starts worrying."

"Good idea," Takeshi agreed, already standing. "I'll walk you to the station."

"Both of us will," Hiroshi corrected, his tone making it clear this wasn't a suggestion.

As they left the café, Akira caught sight of Shiori still maintaining her protective distance, her pale figure weaving through the crowd like a ghost. But there were others too—students she recognized from school, and some she didn't, all watching with expressions that ranged from curiosity to something far more dangerous.

"Mori-san," Akira said quietly as they walked, Hiroshi a few steps ahead checking train schedules on his phone. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Takeshi replied, moving closer so their conversation wouldn't carry.

"What are you?" The question came out more bluntly than she'd intended, but his reaction told her everything she needed to know. His step faltered almost imperceptibly, and his energy signature spiked with surprise before settling back into careful control.

"I'm a student at Sakura Academy," he said carefully. "Student Council President. I think you know that already."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it." Akira glanced around, making sure Hiroshi was still out of earshot. "Your energy signature... it's not human. And the way you talk about 'natural defenses' and 'forces I can't understand'—you're part of whatever world Ryouta introduced me to, aren't you?"

Takeshi was quiet for a long moment, his expression unreadable. When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. "What has Kuroda told you about the supernatural community in Tokyo?"

"Not enough," Akira admitted. "He explained that there are vampires, and other beings, but he was called away before he could tell me much else. And now everyone's staring at me like..." She trailed off, struggling to find the right words.

"Like you're either the most dangerous thing they've ever seen, or the most valuable," Takeshi finished grimly. "Because to many of them, you are."

"Why?" The frustration in her voice was clear. "I'm just a high school student who happened to get attacked by an Oni. I didn't ask for any of this."

"You're not just anything," Takeshi said, his voice carrying a note of something that sounded almost like reverence. "Your energy signature... it's unlike anything most of us have ever encountered. Ancient, powerful, and completely untrained. You're broadcasting your awakening like a beacon across the entire supernatural community."

Ahead of them, Hiroshi had stopped and was looking back impatiently. "Are you two coming? The next train is in five minutes."

"Coming," Akira called back, then turned to Takeshi again. "You still haven't answered my question. What are you?"

Takeshi's dark eyes met hers, and for a moment she saw something wild flash across his features—something that spoke of moonlit hunts and pack loyalty and fierce protective instincts.

"Werewolf," he said quietly. "Alpha bloodline. My family has been protecting this territory for three generations."

The admission sent a thrill through her that she tried to suppress. Another supernatural being, another piece of the hidden world she was being drawn into. But unlike Ryouta's cold vampire control, there was something warm and alive about Takeshi's power that called to her newly awakened instincts.

"And the staring?" she pressed. "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

"Fear," Takeshi said bluntly. "Because they don't know what you're capable of or what you want. Respect, because your power signature suggests an ancient bloodline that commands it. Hate, because change threatens the established order, and you represent a massive change to the balance of power in Tokyo."

"And hunger?" Akira asked, remembering the predatory looks she'd been receiving.

Takeshi's expression darkened. "Because power calls to power. There are those who would want to... bind you to them. Use your abilities for their own purposes. And there are others who feed on supernatural energy itself."

The implications made her stomach churn. "Feed on it?"

"Energy vampires. Not the same as blood vampires like Kuroda, but just as dangerous in their own way. A newly awakened being with your level of raw power would be..." He paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. "It would be like a feast to them."

They had reached the train station now, where Hiroshi was waiting with barely contained impatience. But Akira had one more crucial question.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked. "What do you get out of protecting someone you barely know?"

Takeshi was quiet for so long she thought he wouldn't answer. When he finally spoke, his voice carried layers of meaning she couldn't quite parse.

"Because you don't smell like prey," he said simply. "You smell like pack. Like something worth protecting."

The words sent heat rushing through her, a recognition of something primal and electric that she wasn't ready to examine too closely. The way he looked at her—protective but also possessive, respectful but also hungry—made her feel seen in a way that was both thrilling and terrifying.

"There you are," Hiroshi said as they approached. "I was starting to think you'd ditched me for your new friend."

The jealousy in his voice was unmistakable, and Akira caught the way Takeshi's jaw tightened in response. Her best friend's familiar warmth and concern, his desperate need to understand and protect her, was colliding head-on with Takeshi's supernatural certainty and commanding presence.

"Never," she said softly, squeezing Hiroshi's arm. "You're my best friend. That doesn't change."

But even as she said the words, she could see the doubt in his eyes. Because they both knew that everything was changing, whether she acknowledged it or not.

As they waited for the train, her phone buzzed with one final message of the day:

"Interesting choice of allies, little fox. The werewolf will protect your body, but what about your secrets? How long before the human friend becomes a liability? We could help with that problem. Permanently. —Council of Shadows"

Looking at Hiroshi's concerned face, then at Takeshi's protective stance, Akira realized that the web closing around her wasn't just threatening her own safety—it was putting everyone she cared about in danger. And she still had no idea who she could trust to help her navigate the deadly game she'd been thrust into.

The train arrived with a rush of wind and sound, but as they boarded, Akira couldn't shake the feeling that she was traveling toward a confrontation she wasn't ready for, with stakes higher than she'd ever imagined.