9. Samui = Cold

The once blue sky had now turned dark and the temperature had dropped significantly. Megumi shivered after the cold wind made contact with her exposed arms. 

She instantly regretted not bringing a sweater with her. She rubbed her arms with her hands in an attempt at warming herself up but it didn't change how cold she felt. 

Seeing her shivering so much, Kanae reached into his bag and handed her an extra sweater he had. 

"Here, take this." He said nonchalantly. Megumi looked at Kanae's extended arms and the sweater that was in his possession and looked up at him, her eyes widening. 

"...Um, I appreciate it but you should use the sweater for yourself." 

"It's fine, I'm not all that cold. My body is on the warmer side so I don't get cold easily." He said. 

She was about to refuse him when a gust of wind came out of nowhere making her even colder. She had no choice but to accept the sweater. She put it on and immediately caught a whiff of his sent. It was a mild one but one that was warm and the tiniest bit sweet. 

She instantly felt secure and at ease. She couldn't understand why she was feeling this way. This sensation was foreign to her. How could the mere scent of someone make her, a wolf feel safe? 

Megumi's thoughts were interrupted by Kanae's comment. 

"I'm kind of surprised. I always thought wolves never got cold. Well, maybe it differs for everyone?" He mumbled to himself. 

Megumi's demeanour turned a little cold and distant after hearing Kanae's words. 

It was true that most people with wolf genes inherited the wolves ability to stay warm and never get cold, but she was different. 

Although she had superior genes and had 20% more wolf in her than the rest of her family, this was her only weakness. She had a severe sensitivity to the cold. 

This was something only her family knew about, not even Rin was aware of this weakness. Her mother thought it would be best not to let anyone be aware of any weakness the Ahane family had, and that included her phobia with the cold. This was a promise they had made as a family, and Megumi upheld that promise her whole life. 

She never intended on telling anyone about it, but weirdly enough, she felt comfortable with sharing such a personal secret of hers with Kanae. Actually, she really wanted to. 

She turned to look at him, staring at his face. He had soft and angelic features making him look like a fragile porcelain doll. He was delicate but somehow strong too. 

His aura was warm and welcoming but also held a bit of distance and loneliness. She kind of felt like she was looking at her younger self when staring at him. 

Noticing her gaze, Kanae looked at her, "What?" he asked. 

"No, its nothing...you were right."

"About what?" 

"What you said earlier. Wolves normally don't feel cold...I'm a special case...you could say." She said, feeling a little shy. 

"Oh...I thought that might be the case." He said. 

The two then walked in silence. Megumi was arriving closer to her house when she turned to ask him, "Where exactly do you live, if you don't mind me asking." 

Kanae was caught off guard by her sudden question but answered her honestly. 

"I only live a couple blocks away from here." He said. 

"Really? My house is right ahead. I didn't know we lived so close to each other." 

"Yeah, I moved here recently after being transferred here. I'm living with a host family." 

"I see." Megumi had arrived at her house. She turned to look at him. 

"Well, this is me. Um...I'll see you tomorrow." She said. 

Kanae stared at her for a couple seconds before saying,"See you tomorrow." He then walked off without looking back. 

Megumi stared at his retreating figure for a second longer before she heard the door to her house open. 

"Megumi!" She was greeted by her older brother. 

"Taiga-nii." She said softly. 

"Why are you back so late? Mom was worried." 

"Sorry." She said while walking past him. "I was working on an assignment after school. I must've forgotten to tell her. 

"Dude what is wrong with you? A simple text would've sufficed." He said scolding her. 

Megumi was too exhausted to argue with him. She took off her shoes and put them away while taking her bag and hanging it by the door. 

"I'm going to shower and go to bed." She told him but before she could make it pass the entryway, she was pulled back by her brother aggressively. 

"Hey! What the h-" 

"What's that smell?" he asked her brusquely cutting her off. 

"What?" She could tell her brother was angry. This surprised her. He almost never got angry with her. 

What was his problem she thought. "Also where did you get this sweater. I don't remember ever seeing you wearing it." He asked again. 

Megumi could feel her heart beating out of her chest. She started to panic but quickly composed herself, putting on a poker face. 

"A friend let me borrow it okay, its not a big deal, get off my case." She said shrugging him off. But his grip on her arm got tighter. 

"No, that smell. It doesn't smell like Rin and I know you don't have any other friends so who is it?" 

"What? Rude! I have other friends!" She said feeling offended, despite his words being the truth. 

" I swear to God Megumi, don't lie to me. Who gave this to you because the smell coming out of you is the scent of a prey, and a deer no less." 

Megumi cursed inwardly. She forgot how good her brother's sense of smell was. It almost rivalled her own. 

Megumi didn't bother trying to hide it, she couldn't lie to her brother anyway. "So what if it is? Where's the problem in that?" 

Her words seemed to anger her brother even more. "Where's the problem in that?! Megumi are you serious?" 

"Do you not realize how dangerous this is?" 

Megumi looked at him confused. Taira couldn't help sighing seeing how genuinely lost his sister was. "Having a deer's scent on you is a form of marking Megumi. It's a form of submission for wolves!" 

This revelation shocked Megumi almost beyond repair.