Walking into Bankotsu's house behind him and Kagome, Kouga barely bit back the whistle of appreciation at the sight. From the clean lines to the dark wood accents, it was, even to him, a beautiful home. There was a short hall created by the second floor balcony before the entire house opened up to the open great room and kitchen, separated by an island with a black and grey marbled counter large enough to fit eight. To the other side of the great room, there was another arched opening, that as Bankotsu was giving a pointed tour, indicated that's where the downstairs bathroom and two guest rooms where.

The bottom of the staircase was located on the kitchen side, and was something of a woodwork master piece where it curved to a balcony that overlooked and surrounded the entire first floor. Going left would lead to a catwalk that went along the front of the house. Again, on the pointing tour, Kouga learned what Kagome did when she woke up there. There wasn't a standalone bathroom on the second floor, only the one in Bankotsu's bedroom, which was over the downstairs bedrooms. The only other door on the second floor you had to pass to get to his room, which was his home office.

Every lighting fixture in the place hung from the vaulted ceilings, except the line of recessed lights over the counter in the kitchen where the appliances and sink were, and that's because that's where the second floor walkway was. The kitchen itself was done in the same dark tones as the rest of the wooden accents, stainless steel appliances, and the back counter was the same as the island. The island was massive, and looked to Kouga like a solid piece of stone. Between the refrigerator and the back wall was teared counter that looked much like a bar's back display counter with about as much selection as one as well, under which held two glass faced mini fridges; one filled with chilled wine and the other an actual mini fridge with juices and sodas.

The most striking thing about the place, however, was the completely open back wall, which was nothing but windows on top, and sliding glass doors on the bottom. Those doors led to a fully customized, multi level deck with an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, hot tub, and a swimming pool. It was clearly designed with entertainment in mind, and even Kouga, though loathed to do it, had to admit, it was pretty damn spectacular.

However, that didn't mean he wasn't gonna fuck with the man. Crossing his arms, Kouga gave the inside another glance and looked at the back of Bankotsu's head as he was opening the blinds on the back wall. "Nice place."

Unsure at the moment if he was being sincere or a cynical asshole, Bankotsu decided to err on the caution and nodded his head in thanks as he pushed open the sliding doors. "It is now. You should have seen it when I bought it. This place was a fucking dump."

The words were out of Kouga's mouth before he really put a lot of thought into them. "By whose standards, Richie Rich?"

Not even the rather hard jab to Kouga's ribs by Kagome's elbow was enough to placate Bankotsu. He knew the man was on an emotional roller coaster at the moment, but that didn't mean he was going to put up with Kouga's bullshit, especially in his own damn house. Turning to look at him, Bankotsu crossed his arms, licked his lips, and clicked his tongue. "Have I personally offended you, or is it just my interest in her that make you oh so charming?"

When Kouga went to make some snarky comment back, Kagome stomped on his foot. Glaring up at him with he yelped, she shook her head. "You promised."

Looking down at Kagome, Kouga considered his options for a moment. No, he actually hadn't, but knowing she would hurt herself trying to hurt him if he did overstep in some way, he sighed and looked back at Bankotsu. "No."

Sniffing at him, Bankotsu leveled him with a flat look. "Then, how about, instead of taking unnecessary shots at me, you make yourself a drink, have a seat, and shut the hell up about my bank account?"

This time, Kouga would not be stopped. "I do have one with your brother, though."

Bankotsu just shrugged as he went back to what he had been doing. "That would be two of us. Perhaps," looking over his shoulder, "it'll help to hear I broke several of Kyokotsu's bones over what he did yesterday."

Blinking at the latter part of the statement, Kouga hummed. "It kinda does, actually."

Looking at the guy with crinkled eyes and a sarcastic expression, Bankotsu's voice went flat. "Super." Latching the sliding doors into their holding cabinet, Bankotsu turned and looked back Kouga and Kagome, crossing his arms. "Make yourselves at home. I'll be in my office if you need anything."

Kagome, who other than jabbing Kouga in the ribs stayed out of things, looked at Bankotsu as walked past her and headed for the stairs. "You're not staying down here?"

Setting his hand on the railing, he looked at her with a small smile as he shook his head. "I'll be back. I just have some work to do I've been ignoring for two weeks."

Kouga, who had went over to the bar and just grabbed a bottle of something without looking, again spoke without thinking it through. "Must be nice."

Very slowly, both Kagome and Bankotsu turned to look at Kouga, who looked the other way with a pinched expression. He didn't say anything else, Kagome shook her head with parted lips, and Bankotsu scoffed out a 'not worth it', as he continued his way up the stairs.

Pausing before he reached his office, Bankotsu clicked the back of his tongue. Deciding to attempt this 'being the bigger person' thing Jakotsu had been trying to bash into his skull for the last decade, Bankotsu looked back to the first floor, watching as Kagome leaned on the island, her chin on her fists. But, shifting his eyes to Kouga, he tilted his head from one side to the other before calling down to Kouga. "I you have my condolences, Kouga."

Flicking his eyes to look up at the man through his lashes, Kouga took a deep breath through his nose, letting it out slowly. Not as all to the shock of Kagome, but certainly to her displeasure, he didn't kept the snark in his eyes out of his voice. "I don't want your pity."

Genuinely shocked at the statement, Bankotsu jolted. "Pity?" Curling his tongue, he folded his arms on the railing, cocking his head to the side. "You think I pity you? Because you lost someone close to you?" Shaking his head as he changed his position to hold the railing, he let out a sardonic chuckle. "Look, if you want to fight, fine; I have no problem kicking your ass, but before I do, let me ask you something... are your parents alive?" When Kouga remained silent, he glanced at Kagome, who gave a sharp, shallow nod, and Bankotsu snorted. "My condolences were sincere. Accept them or not, I don't care, but there is a marginal difference between sympathy and pity, you little creaton. Learn it before you open your mouth and spit your bullshit to someone you don't know a damn thing about."

When Kouga went to open his mouth again, be was cut off by a quiet, but forceful, 'don't you dare'. Instead, he looked at Kagome, who had dropped her head from her fists to resting her forehead on the counter, her fingers laced behind her head. By the time he looked back to the balcony, Bankotsu was gone, and he grunted with a shake of his head.

Kagome, sniffling slightly, slowly picked her head up, turning it slightly and looking at Kouga with drawn features. "You said you were going to give him a chance."

Looking at her as he cracked open the bottle in his hands, Kouga shrugged. "That's exactly what I'm doing. If he'll back down from me, he'll back down from anyone."

Jaw dropping, Kagome made a strangled kind of noise. "That... isn't the topic to push him on, Kouga, and this certainly isn't the time to do it. He's trying to be nice, but all you've done since we left the hospital is poke at every button you can find. I know you're upset, but what the fuck?"

Going straight to getting fucked up, Kouga just took a pull from the bottle, grunting at the burn as it made its way down his throat and into his belly. Wincing it away, he set the bottle back on the counter and looked at Kagome, lowering his voice. "Kagome, when have you ever known me not to push buttons?" Lifting a brow, he grinned at her. "When I stop being inappropriate, then you can call me out for not giving him a chance or whatever. But, for now..." Slowly, he slid the bottle toward her, raising his brow.

There was no way on God's green Earth she was drinking anything straight after the way she felt after taking all those shots of straight liquor less than a week ago. She was positive her liver would kill her for it, so instead, she got herself a glass, grabbed the bottle of cranberry juice, and made a pretty easy drink to start with. She also set a rocks glass in front of Kouga, giving him a look that said he better use it.

Nothing if not indulgent to her, even though he rolled his eyes, Kouga did use it.

Migrating outside to the deck, they were just going to stay at the table just outside and to the left of the door, but when Kouga saw the fire pit, that was where he headed instead. It was only about 3:30 in the afternoon, and it certainly wasn't cold outside, but he has always found something extremely comforting about sitting around a fire. He always had, even as a kid, and it didn't take him but a couple of minutes to have one going.

The firepit wasn't at ground level, but there was only about five inches before you stepped down into the grass, and that tier was more like being at the beach than on a deck. The pit itself was clearly sunken down on the ground, and built up from there. Unlike the treated wood you walked on over rest of the, this part was covered in soft sand. The chairs were just low sitting beach chairs, making them the perfect height to be able to dig your feet into the sand.

Which is exactly what Kouga did, because why not, as he took in the rest of the backyard. There were houses to both sides, but he didn't know whether or not he had neighbors, and you couldn't actually see into the next yard, or really even see the houses themselves due an eight foot solid privacy fence that surrounded the whole yard, that was also mostly hidden by some masterful fucking landscaping.

If he had to guess, he would say yard was about twice as long as it was wide, and was almost all grass and damn near perfectly flat. The least extravagant thing about, actually, the entire property, house included, Kouga had seen since he walked in the front door was the pool that was situated to the left. It was a basic rectangle, and didn't look any deeper that about six feet at the deepest. It was long, yeah, but if someone was going to sink the kind of money this guy did into the yard, he certainly skimped on that feature.

"He hasn't gotten to it yet."

Kouga, blinking slightly, looked at Kagome, who had a small smile her lips, but her eyes were alight with humor. "What?"

Kagome giggled slightly and nodded to the pool. "That, he hasn't gotten to it yet." When Kouga cocked a brow at her, she leaned back in her seat. "I saw you face when you were looking at the pool. When I was here yesterday morning and he was showing me around, I asked about it. He said it was functional as is, and he was more concerned about getting the inside and deck done. He bought the place last year, but only moved in a couple of months ago. He said when he does redo the pool, all he's doing is having the far end deepened so he can put in a diving board and the have whole thing relined because there are cracks."

Lip curling, Kouga cocked his head. "So, you gave me shit for talking to him like I did, but you just... up and asked why his pool was shit compared to everything else?"

Scratching her temple, Kagome cleared her throat. "Well, no; not exactly. It was more like... Oh, my God, you have a pool. And he was like... oh my God, it's a fucking eyesore, but I don't live in a pool, so the house was more important." Then she shrugged. "From what he told me, I guess the people who lived here before him destroyed the place between when Bankotsu viewed it and when he was given the keys. Took something like ten months before he could actually move in."

Lips pursed and pressed together, Kouga snorted softly. "That's fucked up." He might not have like the fact the guy was interested in what amounted to his little sister, but still, that was fucked up.

"Wasn't all bad."

Both Kagome and Kouga jumped at the abrupt appearance of the voice above their heads, and it was Kouga that found his tongue first as he craned his neck to look up at Bankotsu. "Wear a fucking bell or something, Jesus."

Bankotsu just grinned as he chuckled in the back of his throat. "No." Then, he looked at Kouga. "Told you it was a dump. Now, I'm not saying it was awesome walking into what I did when I dropped by later in the day when I got the keys, because it certainly wasn't, but it turned out alright. As a matter of fact, the assholes did just an amazing job at the demolition, it allowed me to change around the floorplan to what it is now. It was a single story at the time, but since they were nice enough to bring down the ceiling and damage the roof joists, I was able to add the second floor."

Kouga shook his head. "I would have taken them to court, personally."

Bankotsu popped a shoulder. "No legal ground to do so. Technically speaking, anyway. They were the legal owners of the house at the time they did it, and you're allowed to do whatever you want to your own home. Since I intended to do updates anyway, my offer on the place had no inspection clause. I only looked at it once before I put in an offer, so the next time I saw it six weeks later, it was destroyed. In a situation like that, you have two choices; either let it piss you completely off, or use it to your advantage. Since I had to replace the roof anyway, I turned it into a four bedroom two bathroom from the two bedroom one bathroom it was. Perspective and all that."

Kagome was the one to ask the next question. "Why would they do that when they decided to sell their house?"

Again, Bankotsu shrugged. "I wondered the same thing until I found out what the fuck was going on after the fact. They didn't. The house was built like twenty-five years ago, or something like it, and at the time, it was the only house here. As more houses were built, the property taxes went up, and they stopped paying them. Eventually, they owed more in taxes than the house was worth in this area. They made a deal with the bank, which is who I bought the place from, to wipe out the tax debt if they surrendered the house. Since they owned the building itself at the time, they were allowed to say until it was bought. I said on my way out I wanted it, and between the time I left and the bank accepted my offer, they had a little bit of a hissy fit. I mean, they owned the place, so they could have said no to the bank and moved the house to somewhere else, but... eh. In the end, it just wasn't worth it since I couldn't prove any damage was done after I signed the paperwork. I certainly wouldn't have taken ownership of it if I knew the circumstances at the time. I would have just given them the keys."

Kouga just shook his head, the amount of vodka he had showing itself. "Well, you could have certainly afforded it."

Though his expression leveled, Bankotsu humphed. "Many more than several times over." Clearing his throat, he propped his chin on his knuckles. "Anyway, I just got off the phone with Yura. Apparently, my presence was requested at Shikon for a couple of hours tonight, though she refused to tell me why."

Kouga and Kagome looked at each other for a moment after the statement before Kagome looked back up at Bankotsu. "Did you want us to leave?"

To both their shock, the corners of Bankotsu's lips turned down and he shook his head. "You two are welcome to stay; I don't care. Besides, the amount of alcohol missing from that brand new bottle of vodka sitting on my kitchen counter says neither one of you are driving anywhere. No, I was simply going ask if you two wanted to go with me."

There was nearly a look of horror on Kagome's face as the few memories she was able to regain from the last time she was there flashed through her mind. Shaking her head, she grunted. "I don't know about that."

Kouga was quick to agree. "Yeah, and I thought the whole reason we were here was to avoid going to a bar."

Though Bankotsu nodded, he also clarified. "Avoiding a rundown shack that happens to serve alcohol while not paying a damn bit of attention to how much someone is drinking, yes that was the point. Alcohol poisoning is a thing, and it sucks... trust me. In this case, it's two hours, tops, and unless..." grinning at Kagome, "...you're super hot wearing a super short skirt," winking at her before she could look away, he finished the sentence looking at Kouga. "The chances of getting served at the Shikon to that point in two hours are less than nothing. Now, that's not to say Doshi won't get you fucked up, because he certainly will, but he also won't send you to the hospital while he's at it."

Clearing the blush in her voice from his comment about her looks and the dress she wore when she was there, Kagome rubbed her arm. "You said it was because of bar fights."

Bankotsu looked at her, her favorite smirk pulling at his lips. "That shit doesn't happen there. The bouncers will beat the shit out of you before you can throw that first punch. That said, I'll make arrangements for you to hang out in the lounge upstairs if you don't want to be around the crowd downstairs. Or, like I said, you are perfectly welcome to stay here. It really doesn't matter."

Biting into her bottom lip, Kagome grunted before she looked at Kouga, who was looking back at her with a raised brow. She considered the offer for a time, knowing it would mean having to call Sango and hope she would make the trip to the shrine to pick up her dress and boots and then have to make the nearly hour drive across the city to bring them to her. She needed to call her anyway to get her phone back, and honestly, thinking about it that way, it sounded like one hell of a hassle. After another moment though, she shrugged. "It's up to you."

At the phrase, Kouga actually felt his eye twitch. It wasn't the offer, as surprising as it was, it was the place. He knew what the Shikon was, and he wasn't really in the mood to go to a club. Then again, an invite to that place wasn't exactly something you turned down.

Something then occurred to her, and Kagome's lip curled. "Neither one of us have anything to wear."

Humming in his throat, Bankotsu glanced at Kouga for a moment, actually sizing him up. "Jeans are fine." Then he looked back at Kagome. "As for you..." he smirked at her again. "You'll be with me, so it doesn't fucking matter." Chuckling at her she averted her eyes, he shook his head. "The formal dress code is only enforced three days a week, and Wednesday isn't one of them. It's a weekend thing when it's busy or if there's a private party or something to that effect. It's a completely different atmosphere earlier in the week. But mostly..." waiting for her to look back at him, "...no one will say shit because you'll be arriving with me." Then, he clicked his tongue. "Tell you what; the club doesn't even open for another two and a half hours, so think about it and let me know."

Both Kouga and Kagome nodded, but neither one, at that moment, knew what their decision would end up leading to.