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It had been years since they started hunting for the shards and fighting Naraku, Kagome was finishing high school now, Miroku and Sango were preparing to marry knowing that the fight was almost over, Shippou was training to up his rank between the foxes, and Inuyasha was still tied to Kikyou who was still out there.
Kagome was too tired of all that drama, she and the hanyou had talked enough through the years, and they came to an understanding that their relationship was better to stay as friends. Sango still has some trouble accepting this, and she’d insist that Kagome should do something about it, she buffed, getting even more annoyed, what could she do if the guy was tied to his past?
She let out a deep sigh tapping the pencil she was holding at her head, she was trying to study, but she kept getting distracted with useless thoughts. She had a very important math test coming and she really needed some peace, she tried Kaede’s hut but the old miko was always receiving people who needed herbs and healing, which would result in constant chatting around the hut, and she couldn't concentrate.
She tried to stay with Miroku and Sango in the meadow by the rice fields but they were discussing plans for their future and she didn’t want to disturb them, then she sought the peace of the forest by the well, but Inuyasha and Shippou were following her and bickering all the time.
Kagome was sitting by the sacred tree, the thick foliage providing a cool shade and alleviating the summer heat, she had arranged her books and notes by her side, and was lost looking at her calculus exercise, nothing made sense, she could be conjuring a demon as far as she knows with all those symbols, her head was starting to hurt, and her friends weren’t helping.
“Inuyasha you’re too stupid to catch me!!” Shippou yelled relising the spinning top over Inuyasha’s head.
The hanyou growled menacingly and ran in circles after the little fox.
“ENOUGH!” the young miko yelled to both, Inuyasha froze like a statue holding a squirming Shippou by his tail, “Why don’t you two let me study in peace? I can’t go home because mom is refurbishing the kitchen you, Inuyasha, destroyed and now you two won’t let me study here too?” she admonished both.
“I’m sorry Kagome it is just that he wouldn’t…”
“I’m tired of your excuses! You two don’t have any respect for me! I need a new place to read away from everyone here!” the girl bellowed standing up and collecting her stuff.
At that moment, she felt two shards coming at high speed in her direction, this could mean only one thing, Kouga was coming, hurriedly she checked her appearance and tidied her skirt which was full of little pieces of the grass she was seated on.
The wolf arrived at the clearing a few moments later, a big grin on his handsome face while he gazed at her from the farthest side of the clearing.
“Hey Kagome, what’s up?” he called her walking to stop by her side.
Those cerulean eyes entranced Kagome, they were always so intent on her own, what right did he have to be so handsome? “oh, hi Kouga, how are you?” She said with a little voice fixing her hair, all the previous anger suddenly left her.
“Kagome I want to…” The wolf started saying but suddenly he was shoved away by an angry Inuyasha.
“Get out of her side fleabag!! What are you doing here!!” The hanyou yelled baring his teeth.
“Ouch! muttface get out of me! Why are you like this?” Kouga growled shoving Inuyasha back.
Kagome sighed deeply, they were always like this, she was almost 18 now, and she was getting too tired of this teenage bickering, why couldn't they behave like adults? Putting her bag on her back she walked away from the idiots fighting.
Inuyasha didn’t notice she was leaving still too engrossed in fighting, but Kouga stopped immediately, frowning at her back, he tripped the hanyou over with a low quick and ran to the human girl.
He could scent salty tears coming from her and stopped in front of her, holding her hands to his “Is everything okay Kagome?” He asked worriedly looking her up and subtly scenting for any injury.
She smiled meekly at him drying the tears with her sleeves “I just really need to study or I will fail, and I’m tired of all this noise, there’s no place here for me to do it so I’m kinda overwhelmed…”
“Why don’t you come stay with me?” he smirked at her.
“What do you mean?” She was taken aback by his bluntness.
“Come stay with my pack for a while, I can provide a quiet place for you, what else do you need? We have a few low tables, do you need, paper, paint and brushes? I can procure anything else you need, I don’t know how you humans study but I can help!” Eagerly he offered.
“Kouga you don’t need to do this, I can deal with this by myself.” She looked around where’s Inuyasha when she needed him to escape this?
“I’ll make a place only for you, everything you need, I’m serious, let me help you Kagome.” He said pulling a stray curl of her hair.
“You would make a place for me to study?” She gazed back at him, big watery eyes devouring his every soul pleading for what exactly she still didn’t know he had this magnetic field that kept pulling her to look at him.
He held her face with a warm clawed hand, locking their eyes, his blue somehow burning into her soul “I would build a kingdom for you Kagome, you just need to let me.”
She blushed furiously backed away from his heat and went back to the topic “Do you have a quiet corner with a lot of sunlight and a table? It would really help”
“Of course I have, do you want to go now? I can carry you…” Kouga was saying when he was again interrupted by Inuyasha
“Kagome where do you think you are going with this mangy wolf?” He shouted pulling her to his side.
She stared at him, she was so tired of this bravado, she knew he was taking care of her, his way was just childish, they had been allies with Kouga for years now, and he knew the wolf youkai would never do anything bad to her, in fact, he saved her life putting his own on the line of danger so many times. She put a hand on his shoulder to call his attention “Inuyasha, we don’t have any clue to where Naraku and the remaining shards of the jewel are, and I really need to study for this test, I’m going with him.”
His ears turned back and sank into his hair, “Are you sure Kagome? What if he never let you leave his caves? Wolves are savage bastards everyone knows that!”
Kagome held her backpack firmly and walked back to Kouga’s side, she glanced at her friend and stated, “I’m going back in four days, try to not kill Shippou in the meantime,” she touched his forearm and asked, “Can we go now?”
Kouga glanced at the hanyou and back to her, his clawed hand gently touched hers his eyes full of something she couldn’t identify “Of course, gimme your yellow sack I’ll carry you if it's okay, this way we can get there by tonight.”
She nodded passing him her loaded backpack, she was grateful that she didn’t have time to unpack earlier since she was ready to go right away.
He carried her bride-style, his claws pricking her thighs evoking a heat she shouldn’t be feeling at his hold, she hid her blushed face at his breastplate, and he started running to his territory.
The sun was only a thin line on the horizon when they arrived at the cave entrance, Kouga ran at the maximum speed he could without making her sick but she was still wobbly after hours in the same position, he helped her to stand gingerly knowing that she needed a few moments to compose herself before entering.
The wolf led her through a short tunnel that opened suddenly at a big open space, the ceiling several meters high with stalactites coming out from it, the place was well-lit by countless formations of a crystal she had never seen before, it cast a blueish light around them and when she looked at the ones from the distant ceiling she felt like they were stars peppering the night sky.
“Its… Beautiful…” She musted to say, mouth open staring at the principal cave.
Kouga didn’t say anything, only smirking at her while pulling her to sit on one of the furs arranged around a big fire in the center of the cave, he let out a short yowl, and in moments Ginta and Hakakku were scampering to meet him, they tried to greet Kagome but the alpha didn’t let them “Get one of the caves with a big air opening by the east side, and arrange a low writing table, with all the accessories, a few cushions, water, dried fruits, and nuts for a snack.” He paused the orders and turned to her “Do you need anything else?”
“Is the place big enough for me to sleep too?” she asked contemplatively.
“You want to sleep there?” The wolf’s eyes widened, and his face paled.
She wasn’t understanding the problem “Well, yes…? Should I be sleeping anywhere else?”
Ginta tried to say “But sister…”
Kouga’s jaw tensed and he let out a sigh “Let her have her way guys, but in that case, you’ll need proper bedding. the night might be too cold for you, can I provide you with some furs?”
Kagome puts a hand on Koga's thigh “Oh you would do that?”
Again he gingerly caressed the hand that was touching him, “It’d be my honor” he answered locking those burning cerulean eyes on her grey ones.
She blushed furiously and took her hand back, fidgeting as she murmured her thanks.
He looked disappointed at the loss of her touch but composed himself quickly “I can bring you bear or rabbit fur, what would you prefer?”
Kagome left an eyebrow, what a strange question… But there was definitely a right answer there, he was always attentive to her needs, but the wolf youkai had never asked her so much before, for the very little she knew about furs, rabbits were little and bears were big, if she wanted something to sleep the big fur would be better right?
After this moment of consideration, she noticed that the place was unnaturally quiet, the wolves surrounding her were silent, and the conversation had died in the whole room, she cringed and uttered her answer “Huum... Bear?”
Kouga beamed at her, and she could hear relieved sighs all around, suddenly the conversation resurfaced in the room, and he took her hands in his and motioned to the part of the fire where some game was cooking “Great! Now let's eat, you’re probably hungry after the trip, may I bring something for you?”
Her stomach was starting to complain at the delicious smell of barbecue and she could even see some vegetables with the meat too, she grinned at him and nodded enthusiastically.
He chuckled at her and got up, quickly coming back with a plate full of different meat cuts, a grilled fish, radish, pumpkin, sweet potato, greens, and mushrooms, it was enough food to feed 4 of her, she gaped at the excess of food and looked at him her eyes wide.
Confidently Kouga put the plate in front of her and sat beside her, his tail was eagerly wagging behind him, he puffed his chest while explaining the cut meats to her.
Kagome giggled at him, she fetched a pair of chopsticks from her bag and dug in, being watched by her companion all the time.
Ginta and Hakakku came back sometime later, when she was playing with the food thinking about how to refuse the remaining on her plate without being rude, she took the distraction happily and putting her plate beside her pack she asked “So how’re things going here? I hope the birds aren’t a problem anymore?”
“Oh, no sister! Chief Kouga now has goraishi! He is the strongest wolf in this land, no weak bird can hurt us anymore, actually, we are getting bigger as a pack now, other smaller packs are coming to us asking for protection.” Hakkaku rattled on, eagerly praising Kouga to her intended.
Kagome was used to Ginta and Hakakku's antics by now, they meant well but could be a little overboard with the compliments to her and especially to Kouga, at this point she knew the best reaction was to kindly agree and let them talk it all.
Kouga watched Kagome's drowsy eyes stubbornly trying to stay open, he touched her shoulder to catch her attention “Wanna see the room? I can get you there and then I’ll fetch the furs for you”
She smiled sheepishly and nodded, bidding her farewells to the couple of wolves and standing up, following Kouga through a series of corridors lit by the same bright blue crystals, she tried touching one and they were warm too, fascinated she paused to look at one more closely.
“They were here long before we started using these caves, the old think that they were made by some ancient daiyoukai, you can still feel his youki in them, maybe they are the ancient youkai, we don’t know, but they are practical right?” He explained to her, touching the same crystal as her.
Her breath hitched with the subtle contact of their fingers, she inched a little closer to him, feeling his heat, she cleaned her throat and said “You were right, it can get chilly here at night!”
Kouga pulled her to him hugging her tightly “Kagome… Please… Listen…” He tried to say his voice rough.
She backed away from him and walked a little ahead “So the room is around here?”
He let out a sigh and pointed to the next entrance “To the end of that corridor, it is my family aisle.”
Confused she stopped walking and turned to him, her face still bright red “Your…?”
He led her inside motioning to the last room “It is better for protection, also it is the only place where you can get lots of sunlight because of these openings here” He showed her a big window carved into the rock, she had a beautiful view of the valley bellow and the starry sky.
“Oh, but I don’t deserve…” She tried to refuse the place, it was obviously special, why would he lend a place like this?
Kouga’s eyes hardened while he held her by her shoulders “Kagome, all of this aisle is for you, I carved it myself in the stone, procured everything you can see in these rooms, everything I did is for you.”
Kagome’s breath hitched, Kouga’s advances in the last year were milder in comparison with when she met him, she thought that he had given up those ideas of mating her and he was just a shameless flirt like Miroku, maybe she was interpreting this wrong… “Why make something new?”
“Because you are human and humans have different needs from youkais, I observed the village you always stop and your friends from some time, and procured everything a human would need to be comfortable.” He answered gaze locked into her eyes.
Ooooh now she got it! It was because he wanted to make her and the gang comfortable if they needed to stay here someday, of course! She smiled brightly at him “Thank you for thinking about us!! I think Miroku and Sango will love to know that you were so thoughtful of our needs like I am!!”
Kouga let go of her with a deep sigh he motioned for her to sit at the table and turned to get out “I’m going to fetch the furs”
She nodded absently investigating the short traditional writing table, he had procured so many brushes and such a fine paper, this must have been expensive! Where did he find these?
The wolf returned quickly with a fluffy futon, a beautiful black fur comforter, and an embroidered purple pillow, it looked like one from a hime’s bedroom. He was tidying it up on a corner by the wall opposite the window when she felt a residual youki from the black fur, Kagome stood and touched it lightly with her fingers “I know this youki….”
“It is from a bear youkai we fought a few months ago, that one with a shard in his head? I killed it for you…” Kouga explained finishing sorting the bedding.
“Oh... I remember it, I didn’t know you would use his fur for something so pretty though…”
“It is my duty to provide the best for my family, to protect and to make them comfortable, this is a great fur” He pointed out.
Kagome blushed and averted her eyes looking through the window, he would make someone very happy someday she thought.
Kouga scratched his head he could scent that she was suddenly sad, why? He looked at the furs, weren’t they enough? Does she need something else? Should he procure a white fox fur maybe? It was hard to find white fox youkai and they usually were pretty strong, but he could start looking for it…
“Humm, I think It is best if I sleep now, I’m tired and I have a lot to study tomorrow…” Kagome mumbled digging in her backpack for her pajamas.
Kouga stood up immediately and hustled to the door, he paused at the shoji door bidding her goodnight.
Kagome changed into her pajamas and lay down on the futon, the furs were comfy and warm, they had a scent she knew well, like summer wind and a masculine musk, Kouga’s scent… She breathed deeply into the furs, feeling safe with his scent cocooning her, when she was drifting to sleep, she could feel his presence, his youki, at the door, she could tell he was sitting there, protecting her, with this last thought she drifted to sleep.
Kouga for his part spent all night by her door, thinking what else she should be doing so she could understand, it was clear that his way of courting wasn’t working, how humans mated anyway? He never asked, he thought that providing for her and showing that he was a strong leader would be enough, what else did Kagome need? He thought about this all night…
Kagome woke up early in the morning, she hadn’t slept so well in years! She changed her clothes for something more comfortable and when she was putting her clothes away she heard a knock on the door, “Enter, please.” She called.
“Good morning, you woke a little late so I'm bringing you breakfast” Kouga boomed as he entered the room with a tray of fruits, sweet potato, miso soup, and a grilled fish, she noted that they didn’t serve rice, it was probably hard to get in such a distant place. He put the tray on the small table and sat by her side, offering the food to her.
She ate in comfortable silence, here and there stealing glances at the wolf who was inspecting the brushes, paper, and ink Ginta and Hakkaku had arranged.
“Are these to your liking?” he queried holding a small brush.
“Oh I think they are beautiful but I'm more used to writing with one of these” she clarified showing her pencils and colorful pens.
Kouga took one of the plastic pens, a blue one almost mirroring his eyes, it was her favorite for highlighting important information, so it was well used. He cooked his head to the side sniffing the object and staring at it with horror, apparently, her pen smelled wrong.
“Why does the ink smell like that? It won't get dry inside of this thing?”
“I can’t smell a thing, it is probably the chemicals they put to not dry so easily.”
Kouga hummed, still looking at the pen mistrustingly, so the things he prepared for her were useless… Maybe she wasn’t asking for more, maybe he was just bad at courting, should he talk to her friend Miroku? Maybe he knows what she needs.
“Can I keep you company while you study?”
“Can you be silent?”
“Of course I can, I’m a hunter, I can make you feel like I’m not here at all!” He claimed, puffing his chest, his tail swooshing excitedly.
Kagome giggled “Then, by all means, stay, I like good company”
She had said that two hours ago, he was right, she could barely feel his presence, but it was enough to make her mad, being here by her side she wanted to talk to him, to hear his deep voice talking about anything, to feel his heat close to her, but she needed to focus, to understand those insane calculations, why she needed this again?
Hadn’t she decided to be a Miko? Didn’t the past feel more like home than the future? But what would she do here after they got rid of Naraku? It was not like she had a family to build like Sango, she wanted one though, she wanted kids a house, and a community to take care of, but the villagers at Kaede village were skittish at best and some were even aggressive to her, being a human colluding with youkai was a sin in their books…
Kouga saw that Kagome was distracted, looking through the window, her papers forgotten, it was time for a pause, he cleaned his throat calling her attention “What about a pause? There is a meadow in the back of the mountain, maybe some clear air and sun can help you clean your head?”
“Oh, this would be perfect! How do you always know what I need?” She wondered.
His hand ached to touch her face but he refused to acknowledge it, instead fixing his eyes on hers “Like I said, as a hunter I’m very observant, especially with what is important to me.”
Kagome blushed a bright red and stood up “So, where we are going again?”
“Do you trust me?” He asked extending his hand for her.
“Always” She breathed holding his hand.
Kouga pulled her body flush to his, he held her bride-style and jumped out of the window to the valley under it.
Kagome yelped and hugged his neck tightly.
Kouga laughed at her and jumped from bolder to bolder until he stopped at a flower field under an enormous sakura tree, he gingerly put her on a trunk under the tree's shadow.
“Why didn’t you warn me!!!” Kagome yelled at him, standing up and hitting him with her fists.
“Sorry sorry! But it was so funny! Also, it was faster from there!” he yelped at her assault.
“Next time you warn me!!!”
“Yes, yes! Next time I’ll definitely do it…” He sneered.
Kagome grumpily side-eyed the wolf youkai, until she noticed her surroundings, she was in a flower field, multicolored flowers of every type around her, their sweet scent enveloping both, she looked around smiling brightly, it was the cutest place she ever saw, she turned to Kouga to see him watching her intently.
“Everything okay?” She asked confused at his suddenly saddened face.
Kouga got down on one knee in front of her, she got very still, that couldn’t be happening she thought, he wouldn’t even know about this gesture…
“Kagome… What are we doing?” His voice was dense with concern.
“What do you mean?” she laughed nervously.
Kouga let out a deep sigh “I’ve been courting you for years now, you allowed me to touch you as much as a mate would, let me feed you, accepted the furs I fought for you, but didn’t let me sleep with you on them, I built you a den with my bare claws, but didn’t want to look at everything and let you mark on it. I know I don’t know much about humans but I’m doing my best here, what do you need? I want to make you happy, not just for these days but forever, I want you as my mate, my equal, leader of my people, companion, family, and mother of my cubs, for as long as I live I want you at my side, please tell me what else I need to do, I’ll do anything you need.”
Kagome started sniffing at the beginning of his speech, at the end the tears were falling at free will, she took his hands in hers and answered “You don’t need to do anything else, you really want me? You love me?”
“I loved you from the first time I saw you, my love only grew in those years knowing you better, you are strong and beautiful, and your soul is so pure that you can give love to everyone in your life, even youkais, I never met anyone like you, youkai or human, my soul calls for yours, my youki will make you age like me and with my strength, I’ll protect you, be with me, be my mate Kagome, I vow to make you happy every day.”
Now she was ugly crying, not how she expected to react to a marriage proposal, she hugged him by his neck tightly and kissed her wolf with everything she had.
Parting from her he asked without air “Is that a yes?”
“Of course it is dummy, I’ll marry you!!” she beamed at him.
“Marry?” What is this?”
She buffed at him “It is the human equivalent of mating, I’ll be your mate Kouga, I’ll be yours, but first we need to talk about how humans work, you clearly need some lessons” she admonished him lightly tapping on nis nose.
And they talked all day long, Kagome explaining everything he needed to know, From now on she would teach her future husband how to make her perfectly happy without any misunderstandings.