“Seriously?”
“What?”
“A full-length skirt? I expected less; something that would reveal your legs more than that.” Said Bankotsu bluntly with a look of thought.
.....
“Ow!”
“Pervert!”
“I’m just saying! I didn’t say I wanted to look under your skirt!”
“Even words can tell enough.”
“You guys! Please don’t fight. Can’t we just have a good time? Besides, Yozu-chan, I personally invited you so that we could have fun and get to know each other more. Not divorce Big Brother.”
“Are you trying to-“
“I’m joking!” Jakotsu laughed. “Let’s go!”
“This is going to be a long night.” You mutter to yourself before catching up to the group.
“Hey, Azura, you comin’ or what?” Renkotsu, with a smirk, yelled over as he stopped by the gate.
“Alright! I’m coming!”
~*~
~RUKA’S POINT OF VIEW
“Nishizawa-sama?”
“Ah, Ruka! I heard that you helped made the sauce; it was lovely! Can I help you?” said Hyura cheerfully as she wiped her mouth after dessert. You hadn’t realized that you and Yozora had had dinner before Hyura had dessert.
“Welll, have you seen Yozora?”
“She left with the Shichinintai for a little time together. Jakotsu-kun requested for it personally – he really seemed to like her as a friend. Why?”
“She asked me to leave immediately after we had dinner together.”
“Aww...you must have felt confused and rejected. Well, she should be back soon. Don’t worry.”
~*~
~YOZORA’S POINT OF VIEW
You pulled a bewilderedly annoyed expression as you looked around the bar. There were a few other women, mostly around your age or older, and a LOT of men. The centre of attention when you arrived was a drinking contest.
“I’m gonna go try that out!” Bankotsu exclaimed immediately as soon as he saw the guy lose and knock himself out.
“Good luck, Big Brother!” Jakotsu cheered as he stopped by the bar to get a drink himself. The only person who didn’t go with him was Suikotsu.
“Aren’t you going?” you asked.
“Hm?” Suikotsu turned to you (he’s in doctor form, by the way). “Oh, no! I wish to go with you. I’d like to get to know you more, since we’d...”
“Since we’d what?”
“No, no, it was nothing.” You rose an eyebrow suspiciously.
“Let’s go.” He smiled and lead you to the bar, where the rest had already left to watch their ‘Big Brother’ in the drinking competition.
“One whole bottle of sake, please!” said Suikotsu in a cheerful tone. You sighed.
“And you, sweetheart?” the bartender asked, with a grin. You rolled your eyes before saying straight, “Just a one-shot.”
“Coming up!”
“He’s practically drunk himself...” you mutter to yourself. Your moment of thought was interrupted by a disturbing giggle from a close table. You then noticed something, or maybe remembered; didn’t Jakotsu say Tsurigino would be there too?
You turned around, only to see that last person you want alive on this stinking Earth: no other than Tsurigino, in an incredibly cliché-ic scene: he sat on a bench with two girls on each side of him, the Jack himself speaking no more than two cheesy lines to each for no more than two minutes. This world is completely messed up.
For once, you just wanted to leave him alone. Like what Jakotsu had said, everyone should just have a good time.
You looked around and absorbed the surrounding. You couldn’t help but smile as an impression when you see Bankotsu’s drinking opponent trying to keep it whilst Bankotsu was nowhere near drunk. Apparently, they were both on their 34th cup, as said by a passerby. Did that mercenary have some kind of public record? I ask you.
Your one-shot came then. And later after a little talk...
“Hey! You wanna go and see how Big Brother is doing?”
“Um, no, thanks. You go ahead.”
“Suit yourself.” Said Suikotsu with a shrug before squeezing through the crowd in the centre where the centre of attention was. So far what you did was chat with Suikotsu, tried avoiding the bartender due to his disturbing sexual harassments and right now, you were about to drink the one shot. You simply took a deep breath, looked down at the tiny pint in your fingers and tilted it over your mouth, putting it down as soon as the last drop was gone.
It wasn’t actually that bad; just grape, slightly alcoholic but safe enough not to effect with a hint of tanginess.
You didn’t know much about Suikotsu; all that you knew was that he was a philanthropist doctor (pretty obvious), he was 26 and he appears to have a close empathic relationship with the human priestess Kikyo.
(NOTE: This story is set around some time before Inuyasha stole the Shikon Jewel. Therefore Kikyo is still just a normal priestess, not a living dead priestess with a reincarnation)
“Everyone! Bankotsu’s got new competition!” Someone yelled, catching everyone’s attention, including Tsurigino’s girls, causing him to get jealous.
You shifted your weight on the stool and looked over the crowd, only to see another man, fresh from the outside, about to oppose Bankotsu in a new round. You could have sworn Bankotsu has already had over 50 drinks. And still wasn’t that lad drunk!
“Hmm...is that Jack your boyfriend, sweetheart?”
You quickly turned your head to the bartender, who was smirking. You rolled your eyes.
“Just a friend. Apparently a miracle to meet him.”
The bartender scoffed, but you had no mood to start. You were already bored, sitting down alone, surrounded by strangers.
“Well, he’s a banger, that’s all I can say in a stereotypical manner.”
You smiled at the thought, and the thought only absorbed you and lead to other thoughts.
“Hah! Epic fail!”
You snapped out of them at the sound of Bankotsu’s voice. You looked around confused and noticed Bankotsu had won again. The people cheered and gave space for him to come to the bar. He breathed as he stopped next to you, his bottle of remaining sake in his hand.
“What’s up, honey?” he asked, in a tone that made him sound wasted. You blinked suspiciously and giggled. He blinked in confusion response.
“I’m impressed, to think that a young mercenary can barely get drunk in two competitions.”
“Four, actually. Does that surprise you?”
“Slightly.” You shrugged. “It’s still just an impression. Funny thing to know. Simple.”
“Oh, really?” asked Bankotsu in an alluring tone, leaning on the wood as he leaned his face closer to yours. You twitched your eye with a smile, and simply pushed him away.
“Whatever is on your mind, knowing a girl for only two days will not please you.” You said boredly, laying your elbow on the wooden bar yourself. You hear Bankotsu chuckle and put a hand on your shoulder.
“You’re really hard to get, aren’t you?”
A scoff was your only reply to that question.
You seriously don’t know what Hyura told him about you, but at least she might have not gone too far.
“How many have you drank so far?” he asked curiously.
“Just one.”
“God, let loose just this once, will you!? Sake!”
The bartender immediately came with a ready bottle of sake and a small cup. Bankotsu quickly snatched it and offered it to you. You stared at him blankly, not actually taking him seriously.
“Please. Do it for me.” He said, pouring a cup for you.
You took the sake, smiled slightly at Bankotsu before drinking it. It gave a slight burning taste as the sweet texture travels through your throat.
“Well?”
You finally swallowed the liquid, licking your lips before giving Bankotsu a glare.
“You better tell me this has no side effects.”
Bankotsu blinked, before going to check the label of the bottle. He shook his head.
“Nope – doesn’t look like it. Why?”
You shifted your shoulders, looking around to make sure no one was watching or listening. Some alcoholic drinks give you a very bad side effect. You tried some types a few times in the past, and that’s how you raised awareness so as not to have them.
“Some-“
“Drinks give her wind.”
You gritted your teeth, and looked up to see a bored Tsurigino, leaning on his bench, not exactly drunk but quite wasted. He no longer had the four girls with him. You began to glare at the secretary for telling it out loud, but Bankotsu seemed cooperative.
“By wind, do you mean difficulty in breathing?” asked Bankotsu cheerfully, as if wind was a child’s game. Tsurigino nodded.
“You just get more and more interesting.” He said, turning to you with a smirk. “Listen, I-“
You look up to see what cut Bankotsu off, only to see a tall brunette dragging the mercenary away to who-knows-where. You rolled your eyes as if you could give a care in the world, but inside, you felt a slight rage of jealousy. For what, though?
He wasn’t your lover, or anything...to you, more probably just acquaintances, or friend. So why were you feeling jealous of another girl taking him away? You didn’t actually have feelings for him. Those kind of feelings, to be clear.
You mentally shook your head and dropped the subject. Renkotsu took Bankotsu’s place in the competition. He was just as good as Bankotsu was, only that he had gotten drunk after a while. One by one, the people in the room just got drunk and collapsed to the floor.
There was no sign of Bankotsu or the brunette when Mukotsu lost. You scowled at the thought of what those two might be up to.
“Yo, Rara-chan...”
You widened your eyes and looked down at the floor, only to see a drunken Jakotsu.
“You can’t be serious...” you muttered to yourself.