Kagome was having the time of her life. Once the fact people knew she wasn't an 'elite' stopped mattering, mostly because none of the Akasaki brothers allowed anyone to talk down to her so they actually got to know her, it was like actually belonged among them; at least to a certain point. When they did talk to her about her job, it wasn't with any kind of degradation, but more out of curiosity. The vast majority knew the Tanaka family that owned it, and took a lot pleasure in stories of Inuyasha getting a crash course on waiting tables. He was something of an acquired taste, and not many could stand to be around him long enough to acquire it; Kagome included. He was loud, annoying, and could be pretty damn mean for no reason, and everyone that knew him thought he was getting exactly what he deserved by having to work to pay his father back for the damage he caused to a business.

She didn't know the whole story, only that he was in a lot of legal trouble, but one of the people present did, and they let her in on the secret. Kikyou had been caught stealing from the place, and she told him they threatened to call the police on her if she didn't put back whatever it was she stuffed in her bag. Somehow or other, she convinced him to make them pay for embarrassing her in front of other people when they called her out, and he thought the best way to do it was for him and a couple of his friends to break in and destroy thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, as well as damage the property itself. Toga paid tens of thousands of dollars of restitution to the owners in lieu of Inuyasha being sent to jail for it. That she knew, but she didn't know he did it because of Kikyou.

She knew the bitch was bad news.

The story behind Inuyasha's forced employment also explained the reason Toga was so cold toward Kikyou when she came into the restaurant. He wasn't outright mean, that wasn't him, but he certainly wasn't what Kagome would call welcoming or even very accommodating. Tolerant would be about as far as she would take it, but even that was a stretch. Though, it certainly explained the 'married over my dead body' and disinheritance comments she had heard once or twice when she was close to the office and Inuyasha and Toga were going at it over the woman.

It was while she was at the bar, alone, for a refill she was finally confronted by the birthday boy. He still hadn't opened the present she gave him, just held it under his arm as he talk to and shared drinks with the other guests. When he joined her at the bar, he set it down, and leaned on one elbow, holding his wrist with the other hand.

Nodding when he was asked if he wanted another shot, he kept his eyes on Kagome, who finally gave him her attention when the bartender dropped off her drink. Even though he knew the answer, he still asked for clarification sake. "So, how do you know my brothers so well?"

The amount of alcohol she'd had loosened her lips, and she answered the question with more information than she was asked for. "I don't really know them all well. I work at Kamano. Jakotsu comes in twice a week, and I always wait on him, so I know him better than I know the others, but I've met them all a couple of times each." Her eyes widened and her lips parted. "Oh, and before I forget; Sesshoumaru said to tell you he said hello."

Bankotsu snorted and rolled his eyes. "Well, that jackass was supposed to be here, so the next time you see him, tell him I said to stuff his hello."

Nose wrinkling, Kagome slowly shook her head. "Um... yeah, I'm not gonna do that, no. He's my boss, and I need my job, so..." trailing off, she thought it best to change the subject before she made an agreement that would probably get her killed. She and Sesshoumaru got on alright, but he still didn't tolerate anyone being disrespectful. Turning her attention to the unopened present on the bar behind Bankotsu's elbow, she pointed at it. "Aren't you going to open it?"

Also glancing at the unexpected present, Bankotsu hummed in his throat before shifting his position and picking it up. As he tore the perfectly folded paper, he flicked his eyes to Kagome's, an amused smile on his face. "I can't actually remember the last time someone got me an actual present for my birthday. Since I came of age, normally, it's just throwing down on a bartab."

Upon hearing that, Kagome was even more nervous about his reaction to what she picked out for him. When he got past the wrapping, she bit her lip hard as he examined the shadow boxed dagger, and the longer the silence stretched, the more her stomach began to revolt against the alcohol.

It wasn't distaste that kept Bankotsu silent; it was shock. Not only was the onna the only one to present him with an actual present for his birthday, but it was something he actually liked. The dagger was a replica of a very old, very famous weapon, but that wasn't what shocked him stupid for a moment. It was the fact it was the centerpiece of one of his favorite fables about a mercenary from the Feudal Era.

Holding the display case in his hands as if it was made of glass, he flicked his eyes to a, clearly, worried Kagome. Once he saw she mistook his silence for something else, he smiled at her. "This... is magnificent. Do you know the story behind it?"

Kagome could have fallen to the floor she was so relieved he liked it. Feeling emboldened when she realized that, she shook her head, leaning heavier on the bar because her knees were seriously shaking. "I don't, no. When I bought it, I was told it belonged to a human in the Warring Era, but the legends and fables my family's shrine teach are more about demons and hanyou than they are of humans."

It was pretty instantly he knew which shrine she was talking about, but he still asked to make sure. "Sunset?" At Kagome's nod, he looked at the wooden case in his hands. "This is a massively scaled down model of a sword called Banryu. I'll give you a guess as to what the mercenary's name was it belonged to." When he saw Kagome shrug, he smirked. "Bankotsu."

Without warning, Kagome snorted at that. "I can see why you like the story so much."

Chuckling in his throat, Bankotsu set the case between them on the bar and mirrored her position. "Legend says this guy was one of the most merciless humans to ever live. He killed more out of pleasure than he did for payment, though he certainly wasn't hurting for money like so many other humans in that time. His halberd, Banryu, gained immeasurable power from the people he killed with it, which is ultimately what caused his demise. It housed the souls of nine hundred and ninety-nine humans, but one thousand demons. This should be up your alley. Why would that matter?"

He was right, she knew that answer. "Because humans weren't meant to control the power of a demon."

Grinning at her, he nodded as he tapped his finger on the glass. "You see, he didn't listen to the warning he was given when he took up mastership of the Banryu, to make sure there is never more demonic influence over the blade than human, because they were meant to balance the power within the sward. Had he been a demon, he would have been told the opposite. When he killed his one thousandth demon before he killed his one thousandth human, he couldn't control the power surge that came with that demon's soul. The sword, according to legend, was blood thirsty on its own, and his body was literally ripped apart by his steel's desire to reach it's ultimate power by, basically, stealing Bankotsu's soul for itself."

Chuckling again, he made a face as he finished the fable. "In an ironic twist of fate, because let's be honest all good stories have one, once Bankotsu died, no one else, human, demon, or hanyou, had the ability to wield the massive sword. Over the years he had the blade, Bankotsu had grown in strength because the sword itself was twice this human's size, and grew heavier with each soul it housed. So, now, we have the strongest, most lethal weapon ever conceived, that's too fucking heavy for anyone to pick up. It laid on the ground where it killed its master until it rusted away to nothing without ever showing the world what it was capable of."

Though it was one of amusement, a frown pulled at the corners of Kagome's lips as she tittered. "I never thought I would actually feel bad for a sword."

Chuckling along with her, he lacked his fingers together and smiled at her. "The lesson this fable teaches is one of common sense."

Smirking at him, Kagome snarked. "Are you going to tell me I feel bad for the wrong character in the story?"

Returning her expression, he ran the tip of his tongue along the back of his teeth. "The fact you feel anything for an inanimate object speaks for itself." Laughing outright and neatly dodging the hand aimed for his arm, he shook his head. "Honestly, you're not supposed to feel bad for either one. They're both murderous bastards and they both did as they wanted while disregarding common sense. In Bankotsu's case, he didn't listen to someone wiser than he was, and paid for that with his life. In Banryu's case, it killed its master and was never able to show the world it's true potential. It's supposed to teach you to think before you act, which should be common sense... even for a halberd."

Finishing her drink, Kagome licked the remnants from her lips before returning her eyes to Bankotsu's. "Most of the common sense fables I know revolve around an inu-hanyou and a brown wolf demon prince."

Knowing a couple of them himself, Bankotsu snorted and rolled his eyes. "While I'm sure you know more than I do, the ones I do know teach more than just common sense." Holding up two fingers to the bartender, he cocked his head to the side. "For my own curiosity, how did you merit an invitation to the ball tonight?"

Though she scoffed at the way that was phrased, she did look around like she was looking to see if anyone was listening to them, before then taking a half step closer to Bankotsu, and lowering her voice. "Jakotsu wants me to help keep his virtue intact." Tilting her head to the side in an over exaggerated way, she giggled. "Basically stop him from doing that."

Shifting his eyes to where she clearly wanted him to look, and as covertly as he could, he snorted hard when he saw his older brother getting pretty handsy with a bar rat. Picking up one of the two shot glasses that were delivered, he held it out to Kagome, picking up his own when she took it. "Preserving virtue is certainly not one of Jakotsu's strong suits."

Tapping her glass to his, Kagome knocked back the sake, swallowing hard because it had never been one of her favorites, making a face showing how little she actually liked it. Scraping her tongue across her teeth to remove the flavor, she grunted. "Even still, a promise is a promise." Though she was polite in excusing herself, she didn't make it two steps from the bar before she felt an arm wrap around her waist. Glancing down at it, she looked over her shoulder, finding herself caught in smoldering blue eyes.

With his eyes locked on Kagome's Bankotsu shifted, sliding his chest across her body, moving to stand in front of her and blocking her escape. Setting both his hands on her hips, he slowly pushed her back, tightening his hold on her waist to hoist her up and onto a bar stool. He did let her go, but trapped her in place by placing his hands to either side of her on the bar and, bending slightly at his waist, never broke their eye contact. "I think it's about time Jakotsu learned how to face the consequences of his bad decisions while you... "

Watching a dark blush spread along her nose and cheeks, Bankotsu chuckled a deep, deliberate sound as he leaned closer to her. His lips grazing her flesh at the back of her jaw, causing her breath to audibly catch in her throat, and he spoke low in her ear. "Stay right here with me."

He was so close, she could smell the sake of his last shot on his breath as it caressed her skin. She had nowhere to go, and it was a position she wasn't used to being in. She had never been 'that girl'. She never had a man look at her like Bankotsu was looking at her in that moment. Sure, she had boyfriends in the past, but even they didn't look at her with such heat. His gaze was so hot, it actually felt like her blood was on fire, and she found her mouth sticky and throat dry. Her voice was little more than a silent croke when she was finally able to push it out. "Kami."

When Bankotsu pulled back, and she found herself once again drowning in his eyes, she almost felt like a teenager around her first crush. She giggled like it too. "Okay, but only if I don't have to drink any more sake."