Kouga had needed to stop work early today, as it began to rain, once again. It had been about halfway through his shift when the downpour started. Usually, they could work through a drizzle, which they had been, but then the skies just dumped on them and they had to stop for the day. He had been eager to get home and shed his soaked clothes, take a nice, hot shower and then sit in front of a space heater. But when he entered the apartment, he had a distinct feeling he wouldn't be able to do that.

Once he was inside and kicking off his shoes, he noticed two other pairs that he didn't recognize. On top of that, there were two other people in the apartment with Kagome that he could smell. The scent that was sticking out the most to him, however, he was positive was coming from Kagome. A fruity electrical fire was an... interesting combination to say the least.

He had two options, here: he could put his shoes back on and leave, pretending he was never here, or he could walk into the living area and see what was going on. As he contemplated these two options, his choice seemed to be made for him when he heard a voice speak up. "Well, looks like we'll get to meet your roommate after all!" The voice was female, and it sounded very smug. Kagome's scent flared at her words. He let out a sigh. Looks like he had no other choice. Sorry Kagome...

Kouga walked out of the entryway then and into the lion's den. Several things happened at once the moment he entered the room. Kagome's scent flared once more, her cheeks turning a lovely shade of red that he'd never seen on her before. Her female friend sitting across from her had a look of shock on her face, then she turned to give Kagome a look, one that Kouga didn't quite catch before her face was hidden from his view. The man sitting between the two females simply smiled, a hint of a chuckle escaping him. Kouga raised an eyebrow at their strange behavior.

"Kagome. You didn't tell us you were living with a man." the male spoke, turning to face Kagome once more. The miko couldn't be any more embarrassed than she was right now.

"Yeah Kagome. Why didn't you tell us?" the female asked. He could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Can we please drop this?" the miko whined, burying her face in her hands.

"Fine... for now." The female turned to look at him then with a huge smile on her face. "Why don't you introduce us to your roommate?"

Kouga's eyes shifted to look over at Kagome, who was avoiding his gaze. The electrical fire was gone from her scent, leaving only fruitiness. Now that the scent was so strong, he could pick out that it was specifically strawberries.

She let out a sigh then, running a hand through her hair. "Sango, Miroku, this is Kouga. Kouga, this is Sango and Miroku. They are the people I was staying with beforehand." she said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." the couple said, almost simultaneously.

"Yeah, a pleasure." Kouga replied with a bit of a chuckle. "If you wouldn't mind, I'm going to go change and then I'll be back out to chat, if you would like." he said. He didn't miss the groan Kagome let out. Oops...

"Yes, I'd love that." Sango said, clasping her hands together, a too wide smile on her face.

Gods.. what had he gotten himself into? He shakes his head a bit as he makes his way to his room, stopping by the bathroom to grab his towel on the way. He then disappeared into his room, leaving Kagome to the lions. He felt kinda bad, but what could he do? He'd be out to save her in a couple moments.

Kagome was immediately bombarded with questions by Sango. They went by so fast that Kagome barely had any time to process the girl's words. "S-Sango please.. Slow down." Kagome said, trying to quell the slayer's curiosity.

"Sorry." she said with a bit of a blush on her cheeks. She hadn't meant to bombard the miko with anything and everything that had crossed her mind. She waited patiently until Kagome gave her the okay to speak. "So, are you dating him?" she asked.

"Sango!" Kagome cried. She couldn't believe her! Well… that was a lie. Kagome knew this was coming. She absolutely, 100% knew that this would be how her friends would react to her living with a man. "No. I met him the day we signed the lease." she hissed out, keeping her voice hushed. She knew that youkai had heightened senses, and she was certain it would be even more so for the wolf.

"Well, this is quite an odd way to go about things. But I guess if you're more comfortable going out of order with your relationship then be my guest." Miroku said with a shrug.

Kagome's face turned beet red. "Gods.. Miroku please!" she begged. She didn't want to be teased. Not now, not ever.

"I'm just saying, it's quite odd. Normally you date first, then se-" Sango slapped her hand over Miroku's mouth then, a look of annoyance on her face. Kagome let out a sigh of relief, her cheeks starting to cool down.

"Okay, even I have to stop you there, Miroku. That's taking it a bit too far." Sango said. Miroku just gave a shrug. Sango rolled her eyes and waited a couple seconds before removing her hand from his mouth. "Now, in all seriousness I'm a bit surprised. I never would've thought you would decide to move in with a man." she said, confusion plain on her face. Kagome let out a sigh, picking up her chopsticks and grabbing another piece of gyoza and popping it into her mouth. As she chewed, she set her chopsticks back down and contemplated her wording. By the time she had finished chewing and swallowed, she had some semblance of what she wanted to say put together.

"Well.. honestly he was the best option I had. I was a bit nervous about him being a wolf youkai, as they can be quite… boisterous from what I've heard, but he's been really calm and quiet whenever I study. He's really nice and I trust him." she said simply, giving a bit of a shrug near the end.

"Trust him as in wanting to get in his pants trust or-" That earned Miroku a slap from Sango. Miroku hissed in pain, rubbing the stinging mark on his cheeks as Sango huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What about my pants?" Oh, Gods how Kagome wished she would be struck down by a lightning bolt right now. The miko had never been so mortified in her entire life. Placing her elbows on the table, Kagome buried her face in her hands.

Kouga let out a chuckle. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't heard almost everything the party had said while he was in his room getting changed. Granted it was a bit muffled, but he had been able to make it out. Well, except for that one point in time Kagome had whispered, but he was pretty sure he knew what she said. He took his seat on the other end of the table, across from Miroku and in between the two women. Kagome had yet to remove her face from her hands. She didn't want to see the look Kouga had on his face.

Sango's cheeks were a light shade of pink as she looked up at Kouga. "I'm sorry about him. Miroku just gets like this sometimes." she said, laughing nervously. Kouga waved off her concern.

"It's no big deal. Trust me, my packmates can make worse jokes than that." he replied with a laugh of his own.

"How much did you hear?" Kagome asked, her voice muffled slightly by her hands. Kouga turned to look at her and considered this for a moment. He could say he heard everything, but he figured that would just embarrass her more.

"Only the last little bit. Well, that and when you yelled 'Sango', but other than that nothing." he answered with a shrug.

Kagome let out a sigh of relief at that, and Kouga could smell the fruitiness fading from her scent. Seems like he said the right thing. She slowly removed her hands from her face and her cheeks were now only stained with a light pink. She moved to pick up her chopsticks then but froze mid-movement. She looked over at Kouga then, and he could practically see the gears turning in her head. "I'm going to go get you a plate." she said. And with that, she was up and heading towards the kitchen.

Sango let out a sigh next to him and he turned to look at her, quirking an eyebrow. She noticed his look, and returned his questioning gaze with a small frown, then mouthed "She needs to relax." Kouga couldn't agree more with her. Kagome seemed to be constantly doing something. She never allowed time for herself to just.. rest. Maybe he could find a way to fix that….

The miko quickly returned with a plate, a pair of chopsticks, and a cup for Kouga, setting the items down in front of him. She went to reach for the tea, but Sango was quicker, all but snatching it off the table. "Sango, let me handle it. You're the guest here." Kagome said with a frown.

"It's fine Kagome, you've done enough already. Sit down and relax for a bit." The two all but had a glare off, one that Kouga found quite interesting to watch. He could see why these two were friends, they were two peas in a pod. Kagome eventually gave in, letting out a sigh and sitting down at her spot at the table. Sango beamed at her best friend then, grateful that her stubbornness won out over Kagome's. She then moved to pour Kouga his tea, and once she had done that, she set the teapot back in its place on the table. Kouga thanked them, then picked up his chopsticks and tore off several pieces of gyoza, setting them on his plate and popping one into his mouth. It never ceased to amaze him how great of a cook Kagome was. They all began to enjoy their food then, the tension dying down from earlier. Once it had completely dissipated and everyone was relaxed, Sango decided it was time to (interrogate) talk to Kouga.

"So Kouga, why don't you tell us a little bit about you?" she asked.

"Well, I'm a wolf youkai, as I'm sure you can tell, and I'm part of the Yoro clan." he said, taking a sip of his tea.

"What made you want to be away from your pack?" Miroku asked. All eyes were on him then, and it made Kouga a bit nervous. His eyes shifted over to look at Kagome, and her curious gaze near about broke him. He knew she had been dying to know the moment he said he was a wolf.

He let out a bit of a sigh then. "I had to not only live with them 24/7, but also work with them. They were starting to get on my nerves, especially my betas-"

"You're the alpha?" Kagome asked, clearly shocked. Shit…

"Yeah."

"Well, how do they manage without you? Don't you kind of… have to be there?" she asked. The miko was burning with curiosity now.

"They're all adults, they can handle themselves." he replied gruffly. "They know that if they don't behave I'll go over there and kick their asses into the next century." he added with a shrug. This caused the others to laugh. Kouga soon chuckled along with them, and from there, the visit was pleasant. The group chatted animatedly amongst themselves and got to know each other better.

Soon, though, it came time for Sango and Miroku to leave. The slayer was a bit disappointed that she didn't get a chance to peak in Kagome's room, but that would come another day. The two hugged briefly before Kagome waved them off, and once they were out of her sight, she closed the door with a sigh. "I love them, but jeeze…" she mumbled under her breath, placing her palm over her forehead. She made her way back into the living area, greeted by a chuckling Kouga.

"They sure are lively." he said. Kagome gave a half-hearted laugh at that. She set to work then, collecting the dishes and piling them up. Or well, she started to. Once Kouga caught on to what she was doing, he stopped her. "I've got it Kagome, you sit and rest for a while."

"It's my night to do dishes, though. You're cooking, I can do it."

"Our deal is that whoever didn't cook does the dishes. I didn't cook this, so I'll do the dishes." he argued. Kagome glared at him. She hated being patronized like this. She was a grown woman, she could do things! She didn't need to be taken care of.

"Look. Let me take care of it."

"No."

"And why not?"

"Because, ever since I met you you've done nothing but work. Now I know you need to study, but you need to take breaks whenever you can, Kagome, or you're going to run yourself ragged!" he snapped. Kagome's eyes widened at that. He had never raised his voice around her before, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't scared by it. The scent of rotting flesh mixed with the sharp acidity of lemon filled his nose and he instantly panicked. He had scared her… he didn't mean to do that…

"Kagome I… I'm sorry." he whispered, a low whine in the back of his throat. He lowered himself into a more submissive pose, being sure to keep his head lower than hers and not look her in the eyes. It was odd for him to be submissive, but his inner beast was screaming at him to do so, as it was the only way his woman would forgive him. Kagome's fear started to lessen as she grew a bit confused. The confusion didn't last long, however, as Kouga continued to whine and apologize. It clicked, then, that he was apologizing the best way he knew how: by being submissive. She quickly grew flustered by this, especially now that she knew he was the alpha of his pack. An alpha being submissive? She'd never heard of such a thing!

"Oh.. n-no it's fine Kouga. You're concerned and honestly I… I appreciate it. I'll go sit and relax, promise." she said, giving him a weak smile. He began to right himself then, sitting up and, tentatively, looking her in the eyes. He quickly grew relieved as the scent of her fear vanished and was, instead, being replaced by just a slight hint of strawberries. He could work with that.

"It's not just me that's concerned, you know? Your friends are worried about you too." he said with a slight frown, now gathering up the dishes. Kagome sat back in her spot, a frown on her face. She knew how worried everyone was about her, but there wasn't much she could do. She had to work hard to get to where she was, and in order to stay in Osaka, she had to continue to push herself.

As Kouga was getting ready to get up, dishes in hand, he could smell something else coming into her scent. It was similar to freshly dug up dirt.. but it was wet, like there had been a heavy rainfall.. and a hint of moss? He subtly sniffed a bit more and confirmed that, yes, he was smelling damp soil and moss. Was she sad now? He frowned at the thought. He looked over at Kagome then, concern filling him to his core. "Hey… would you like to get take-out tonight?" he asked.

She turned to look at him, confused. "Take-out?"

"Yeah.. you know.. give both of us a break." he suggested, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

She thought it over then. Would it really kill them, or their budget? In all honesty, Kagome couldn't remember the last time she had take-out. Maybe this was the best option to go.. Something quick and easy… "You know what, sure." she said with a smile.

Kouga beamed at her then. "Alright. Let me take care of these dishes and I'll order some." She giggled at that and gave him verbal confirmation, and then he was in the kitchen. Her scent was beginning to turn back to normal, and he felt his chest swell with pride. He could do this… He could take care of her.