InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity Redux: Vivication ❯ Haste ( Chapter 50 )

Fai sat back in his office chair, frowning at the documentation that he’d been given, both by Sesshoumaru and then, by Rinji.  Seiji stood near the windows, watching the women who had gathered outside for tea.  Sesshoumaru sat across the desk in one of the two chairs while Rinji occupied the other.

Sesshoumaru slowly shook his head.  “According to the banker I spoke to, all of the information was changed over for this account when I called and requested it done after your father’s request.  He has not yet called back to tell me what he’s found in his investigation—why they would not have questioned when the account went untouched for over sixteen years.  He’s also trying to find out what went wrong—why you were given no notification of this account at all.  That’s the funding that I set up at the onset for every jurisdiction.  It’s funded through an account that I set up long ago, fed by the office of the inu no taisho, not by me personally.  That is the account from which you should be paying for the official services.  I’ve looked over Rinji’s numbers, and I believe them to be accurate.  I’ll call to authorize the transfer back to your personal account since one that large is, by necessity, one that only I can order . . . My apologies, Faine.  It shouldn’t have escaped my attention for so long.”

“Uh, no,” Fai interrupted, his scowl darkening as he flipped through the pages of expenses that Rinji had so painstakingly compiled over the last couple days.  “It’s fine; really . . . In a couple years—”

“It’s not fine,” Sesshoumaru interrupted.  “This is also not open to debate.  Your services run well into the hundreds of millions of rubles each year, and you’ve done well to fund everything for over sixteen of those years.  This is not negotiable.  It was never your responsibility to pay out of pocket.  None of the other tai-youkai do that, and you will not, either.”

Letting out a deep breath, Fai dropped the paperwork on the desk.  He still didn’t like it, but arguing with the likes of Sesshoumaru Inutaisho?  Not a wise thing to do . . .

“My father never mentioned this account, not in the journal that he left me . . .” Fai admitted.  “All these years . . .”

Sesshoumaru nodded slowly, and for a moment, Fai had to wonder just what he was thinking.  A strange sense of foreboding in his expression, the Inu no Taisho seemed to be considering . . . something . . .

“Saori asked me to look into it,” Rinji said.  “She wanted to know if there were funds available to make some improvements at the orphanage for the children who are too old to go into placement.  There, is, if you were wondering.”

Fai shook his head, thinking about that ramshackle place in such a desolate area . . . “It’d be cheaper to build a new one,” he ventured.  “Everything would have to be gutted there, and even then, they’re trapped in the midst of nowhere . . .”

“That’s something you could do, if you wished,” Sesshoumaru said.  “But tell me . . . What’s this I hear about my granddaughter and . . . you . . .?”

Fai blinked.  “Oh, uh . . .”

Seiji chuckled.  “They’re getting married as soon as they get their paperwork back,” he remarked.  “I already gave my consent.”

Sesshoumaru nodded.  “I see.  Then all is as it should be.”

Fai let out a deep breath.  “Yes,” he replied.

The tap on the office door drew his attention, and he glanced up as Vasili stepped inside.  “Apologies for the intrusion, Your Grace, but Master Konstantin is here.”

“Uh, show him in,” Fai said, rising to his feet as Konstantin fairly swaggered into the room, looking inordinately proud of . . . Well, of something . . . “Kostya?”

The burly bear stopped short, his eyes widening as he slowly looked around.  Chances were good that he didn’t recognize Saori’s father, but he paled to an almost sickly white when his eyes lit upon the Inu no Taisho.  “My lord!” he blurted, yanking his hat off his head as he dropped almost comically fast into a low bow.

Sesshoumaru stared at Konstantin for a long moment as Fai shook his head.  “Kostya, this is Sesshoumaru Inutaisho.  My lord, this is Konstantin Korinovich, one of my regents.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Sesshoumaru replied.  He didn’t look entirely amused, but he didn’t look offended, either . . .

Konstantin reluctantly straightened up, gripping his hat in both hands, scrunching it in his meaty fists.  “I do not mean to intrude,” he said in very choppy English.  “I bring you, um . . . prisoner!  He knows of some of the rumors, Your Grace.”

Sesshoumaru arched a brow at the mention of a prison, and Fai stifled a sigh.  “Kostya—”

The bear straightened his back, smacked a balled-up fist hard against his chest.  “I . . . How you say?  Rough him up for you!  I make him squeal like pig on spit!”

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Fai interrupted quickly as Rinji blinked and shook his head.  “I’d just . . . Just like to talk to him . . .”

“I squeeze his head like melon between my hands!  I bend his bones till bones groan and—”

“Kostya!” Fai hollered, holding up a hand to stop his rather overzealous regent.  Konstantin blinked quickly, his fist dropping instantly to squeeze the crap out of his hat once more.  “Where is he?”

“He is in car!” Konstantin replied.  Then he turned to eye Rinji, who shifted his gaze from side to side, his eyebrows lifting in silent question.  “I watch video of sumo-wrestling,” he said, directing his commentary at Fai’s future brother-in-law.  “I cannot be satisfied with outcome of manliest contest!  They have no rule for—what you say?  Pantsing!”

Rinji smashed his lips into a tight, thin line, but he had to clear his throat before he could speak as Sesshoumaru arched a very articulated eyebrow—as Seiji narrowed his gaze on his only son.  “Pantsing, Rin?” Seiji echoed.

“We were drunk,” Rinji replied before turning his attention back to Konstantin once more.  “It would have been funny as hell,” he maintained.  “I mean, they do disqualify you if you lose your mawashi, so . . .”

Konstantin looked rather confused.  “Hell is not funny, I think . . .”

“Tell me, this . . . man you’ve brought in.  What kind of questioning do you require?” Sesshoumaru asked, effectively changing the subject before Konstantin—and Rinji—got carried away.

Fai rubbed his forehead.  “There have been a lot of rumors spread lately,” he explained.  “Kostya nearly challenged me over them, so he’s dedicated himself to finding the source and . . . popping their heads like melons, apparently . . .”

“I do this for you!” Konstantin hollered.  Before Fai could stop him, he pivoted on his heel and stalked out of the office, likely to retrieve the man from his car—Fai hoped.

Fai sighed.  “He’s rather . . . excitable,” he remarked.  “Usually, he shows up with a jug of homemade vodka—”

“—Vodka distilled in the bowels of hell,” Rinji grumbled.

Fai nodded.  “It’s evil stuff . . .”

Yerik frowned as he stepped into the office, pointing back at the doorway as he slowly shook his head.  “Was that my imagination, or did I just . . . hear . . . Kostya?”

“Yep,” Fai said.  “I—”

“Tell His Grace who told you rumors, you pig!” Konstantin bellowed, shoving the man into the office.

The rather slight frog-youkai looked like he was about to faint, and Fai smothered a sigh.  “Kostya . . . I can take it from here.  Could you go tell Vasili to bring a tray of food?”

“That bear reminds me of someone . . .” Sesshoumaru mused, more to himself than to anyone in particular as Konstantin grunted and lumbered out of the office once again.

Seiji grunted.  “If that were the case, the poor bastard would be dead already,” he remarked, nodding his head at the frog-youkai, who blanched about five shades of white in as many seconds.

“True enough,” Sesshoumaru allowed.  Rising slowly from his chair, towering ridiculously over the very small youkai, the Inu no Taisho narrowed his eyes the slightest bit, which pretty well leeched any remaining color from his already sallow skin.

“Damn,” Yerik breathed with a wince.

“Yeah, you’re right.  That’s scary as hell,” Rinji muttered.

Fai crossed his arms over his chest.

“Tell me what you know about the rumors,” Sesshoumaru demanded quietly.  “Everything, or . . .”

The frog squeaked as the Inu no Taisho held up his hand, as his claws glowed a very noxious green.  “It was . . . It was a ferret-youkai!  A woman!” he blurted.  “She . . . She said that she heard that His Grace was going to dismiss all regents—that he was going to kill them!”  Tears filled the poor youkai’s eyes as he dropped to his knees, as he choked back a sob.  “Please . . .!  I only passed on what I heard because . . . Because Master Maxim is a good, fair man!”

“And you’re positive about this woman—this ferret-youkai?” Sesshoumaru demanded coldly—flatly—deceptively calmly.

The frog-youkai nodded fast.  “Absolutely, my lord!

Sesshoumaru stared at him for a long moment.  Then he nodded.  “Thank you,” he said at last, pulling a small wad of cash from his trouser pocket and dropping it before the frog.  “For your trouble.  Now, get out of here—and forget that we had this conversation.”

That was all he waited for.  Scooping up the money as he stumbled to his feet, he took off out of the office like the devil himself were fast upon his heels.

“Hey!” Konstantin hollered in the distance—from the sound of it, near the front doors.

“Damn it,” Yerik growled, taking off at a dead run after the frog.  “Kostya!  No!  We’re letting him go!”

“What?  But I—”

“He told us what he knows!” Yerik’s voice was coming closer.  “Uh . . . What the hell is that?”

They both strode into the office, and Fai could only sigh, this time, a little louder, when he spotted it: the earthenware jug.  To his surprise, though, the bear ignored him entirely, striding over instead to stand before . . . Seiji?  “You . . . You are father of Saori, yes-no?”

Seiji didn’t look entirely sure, just what to say, but he nodded slowly.  “I am . . .”

Konstantin nodded and pivoted on his heel to face Rinji.  “And you . . . You are beloved brother of Saori, yes-no?”

Rinji nodded just as slowly as his father did.

Konstantin puffed up his chest as he strode over to stand beside Fai.  “We must have manly match!  Family of Saori versus brothers of Mother Russia!”

That’s . . . kind of what Fai figured was coming, but no . . . It was worse.  Konstantin thumped the thick jug onto the desk—everything shook—and yanked a few long strips of thick white cloth from his pockets—just what Yerik had questioned, he supposed.  “Proper sumo attire!” he bellowed.  “Mawashi!”

“Oh . . . my God . . .” Yerik breathed, letting his face drop into his open hand.

Rinji slowly rose from his seat, looking entirely irritated, if the scowl on his face meant anything at all.  Without a word, though, he leaned in, snatched two of the cloths from Konstantin, handing one to Seiji without a word.  “Back garden.  Ten minutes,” he said as he strode out of the office.

Scowling at the strip that Konstantin handed Fai, he heaved a sigh and shook his head, positive now that everything that could possibly go wrong was going wrong.  Even so, he said nothing as Konstantin propelled him toward the door with a hand on his shoulder.

Yerik shook his head as Seiji stomped past them, his expression an odd mix of irritation, vexation, and sheer determination.  “I . . . I don’t think I want to see this,” he murmured, looking entirely horrified.  Somehow, he really couldn’t quite see this whole thing leading to anything good—or befitting of the Inu no Taisho’s visit . . .

Only after the others had slipped out of the office did Sesshoumaru reply.  “And what . . . is that?” he asked, arching an eyebrow at the jug that still sat on Fai’s desk.

Yerik sighed.  “Well, Kostya calls it vodka, but I’d say that’s taking a few liberties . . .”

“The concoction that Faine mentioned?”

“Yeah, that’s the one . . .”

“I don’t know.  It might be . . . interesting . . .”

Yerik could only stare as the Inu no Taisho grabbed the jug and glided out of the room, too.

“Now, you’re sure that you really want to get married next week without a big ceremony or anything?” Kagura asked again as the ladies sat around the large stone table on the patio.  It was a gorgeous day and not too muggy, which was nice, given that it had been fairly sticky the last few days.  It was probably a welcome change for Kagura and Aiko both since Tokyo tended to be like unto a sauna at this time of year back home . . .

“I am,” Saori replied with an impish little smile.  “I really don’t want a big, elaborate wedding where I’m too stressed out, worrying about all the small things instead of being able to focus on the idea that I’m marrying my . . . my mate . . .”

Kagura smiled, reaching over to pat her hand.  “If that’s what you want, Saori, then at least let us make it as special for you as we can . . . Which reminds me: I brought your Mokomoko-sama along.  I thought you might want it . . .”

“Oh,” she breathed, a slow smile spreading over her face.  “I . . . I forgot it, didn’t I?”

“Well, you did have other things on your mind,” Kagura allowed thoughtfully.  “Can we at least send out word?  I know that it’s short notice, but maybe some can make it.”

“Okay,” Saori said, casually sipping her tea.  “But please, tell them not to worry if they can’t.  I love them all, but . . . but the most important people to me are already here in Russia, so . . .”

“That’s fine, Saori.  It’s your day, after all, so it should be how you want it.  But tell me, does Russia have any interesting traditions we should look into?”

She giggled.  “Well, there are a few rather weird ones, like kidnapping the bride and stuff . . . Nothing that would really matter in the long run.  Besides, I don’t really want a big wedding if I can’t have a traditional Shinto ceremony . . .” She shrugged.  “We just want to be married . . . I think we’ve both had enough excitement for a while . . .”

Kagura smiled.  “All right.  Now . . . Tell me more about your mate, Saori.  I did meet him, of course, and I talked to him, but at the time, I dare say he wasn’t really sure that you were his mate, exactly . . .”

Biting her lip as she considered her grandmother’s question, she sat back, crossed her arms over her chest.  “Well, he’s . . .”  She frowned.  “Sometimes, he can be a little difficult to read, I guess.  He’s got a very good sense of humor, though, when he shows it . . .”

“Oh?  Sounds like otou-san,” Aiko remarked with a laugh.  “Maybe not as bad as him, but . . .”

“Your father isn’t so bad,” Kagura added.  “It’s simply hard to let one’s façade down when you’re in a position where so many count on you.”

Aiko stared at her mother for a long moment, arching an eyebrow in question.  “Otou-san takes himself too seriously, if you ask me,” she said.

Saori sighed, shook her head.  “I don’t think it’s like that, exactly . . . I mean, not entirely, anyway . . . I think . . . I think he’s gotten used to being serious, strong . . . He gave up college to raise his brother when his parents died, and . . . and I don’t think he’s really had that much time, just to have fun.  I know he’s said he didn’t take vacations or go anywhere . . . The only times that he really took time off was when Yerik-kun asked him to, but I—”

The doors slid open, and Kagura choked, quickly setting down her tea as she reached for a napkin.  “Oh . . . Oh, my . . .”

Saori blinked, turned her head to see just what her grandmother was staring at, only to do a double take as Fai strode outside with Konstantin, but that wasn’t why her grandmother was struggling not to laugh, no . . .

“Why are you wearing fundoshi?” Saori blurted, face reddening almost instantly as she gawped at her mate—and his regent.

Fai snorted.  “It’s not fundoshi,” he told her in an almost haughty tone.  “It’s . . . It’s . . .”

“Mawashi,” Konstantin supplied.

Fai nodded once, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly.  “Thank you.  It’s mawashi—official sumo wrestling attire.”

Snapping her mouth closed, Saori shook her head.  “And just what are you—?”

“All right.  Challenge accepted,” Rinji stated as he and Seiji stepped outside, followed in close order by Yerik and . . . Sesshoumaru . . . who, she realized with an inward groan, was carrying the damndable earthenware jug . . .

“Oh . . . no . . .” she groaned quietly, burying her face in her hands since her brother and father were also wearing mawashi . . . “Kaa-chan . . .”

Aiko giggled.  “You look very nice, Seiji,” she remarked.  “Very . . . impressive, Fai-sama . . .”

“Thank you . . . I think . . .” Fai gritted out.

“Otou-san . . .” Aiko began.

Sesshoumaru set the jug on the table.  “I think I shall sit this one out,” he remarked.

“Oh, I think I need to be dead damned drunk,” Yerik muttered, snatching the jug and yanking the cork before tipping it to his lips and downing a very healthy swallow.

“Me, too,” Fai muttered, taking the jug from Yerik and following his example.

“Korinovich vodka will put hair on chest!” Konstantin exclaimed, taking his turn before handing the jug to Rinji.

Saori might have been more impressed with the idea that her brother didn’t choke at all on the reeking liquor if she didn’t wish the floor would open and swallow her before this went any farther.  And then, Seiji, not to be outdone by the younger men, took the jug and swallowed.  Sheer determination kept him from grimacing and choking, she supposed, but he didn’t look all that impressed, either and she knew from experience that the less something showed on Seiji’s face, the worse it really was.

“We need official!  True official!” Konstantin went on.  Slowly, he turned to stare at Sesshoumaru, who arched one eyebrow when he intercepted the look.  “My lord, do you know rules of proper sumo wrestling?”

“I can officiate,” Yerik remarked.

Konstantin shook his head.  “You are brother of brothers of Mother Russia,” he insisted.  “My lord . . . He is friend to all youkai!  Best official!”

“That’s . . . kind of a stretch,” Seiji muttered.

Rinji nodded slowly.

Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes and headed off the patio, into the garden.  “Come,” he called.

“I don’t know how I let you talk me into this kind of stuff,” Fai grumbled as he followed Konstantin over to the steps with Rinji and Seiji in tow.

“It is good, Your Grace!  What better way to welcome new family than by showing them who is man amongst men?”

The expression on Fai’s face might have been far more amusing if Saori were in a position to find anything amusing, at all.  As it was, she could only heave another sigh and hope—pray—that this whole thing didn’t end badly . . .

“I feel like something in the universe has gone very, very wrong,” Kagura remarked, sounding entirely too entertained for Saori’s liking.

“My mate’s still got it,” Aiko said proudly.  “Look at his tushie!  He has cheek dimples!”

Kagura chuckled.  “You know, Rinji’s tushie looks entirely like Sesshoumaru’s . . .”

Yerik sighed.  “I so didn’t want to hear that,” he growled, stomping away from the table in a huff.

Kagura’s lips twitched as she watched the young hunter’s hasty retreat.  “Was it something I said?”

Saori groaned.  “Tell me when it’s over,” she groaned, burying her face in her hands.

Aiko giggled.  “Don’t be so embarrassed, Saori!  Your mate’s got nothing—and I do mean nothing—to be ashamed of . . . Damn . . .”

“Okaa-chan!” she protested.

“Hmm . . . Looks like he was hiding quite a good deal underneath his clothes,” Kagura agreed.

“Obaa-chan!”

Kagura laughed as she stood up, cupping her hands around her mouth.  “Rinji!  Seiji-san!  Don’t you dare lose!”

Seiji, who was standing, waiting to face off against the bear-youkai, grunted, and even from the distance, they could see the ruddiness filter into his cheeks—and the rest of him, actually . . .

Kagura lifted the earthenware jug, cautiously sniffed it before making a face.  “This smells terrible,” she remarked.

“That’s why Fai didn’t come with me to pick kaa-chan and tou-chan from the airport,” she mumbled.

Staring at the jug for another moment, Kagura gave a little shrug and tipped it to her lips.  “Oh, that’s terrible,” she said, coughing delicately as she handed the jug to Aiko.  “I’ve had some terrible drinks before, but that is just awful . . .”

“Is it really that bad?” Aiko asked seconds before she, too, tipped the jug.  She came up, coughing and sputtering, grimacing terribly.  “How did they drink so much of it?” she complained.

“You know, the women are drinking that crap you call vodka,” Yerik pointed out to the men.  “I’m pretty sure none of them need hair on their chests.”

Konstantin looked duly befuddled.  Sesshoumaru turned his head, met his mate’s gaze, his eyes a little brighter than usual.

“Oh, look . . . I think Yerik-san managed to amuse your ojii-chan, Saori . . .”

Saori slowly shook her head since she wasn’t nearly as convinced as her grandmother on that score.

Seiji considered that, then shrugged.  “Well, your mother’s a pretty fun drunk,” he remarked.

Rinji grunted.  “You should probably keep that to yourself, tou-san,” he replied dryly.

Saori reached to intercept the jug, but Fai was faster, vaulting on the patio to whip it neatly out of her grasp.  “Oh, no . . . I’ve already seen how you are when you’re drunk off decent vodka,” he muttered, stalking off the porch with the jug in hand.  Halfway down the steps, he, too, tipped the bottle once more.

Seiji chuckled.  “You know, you’re the result of a bottle of really cheap sake, Rin, so-o-o-o . . .”

Rinji sighed.

“How are you when you’re vodka-drunk?” Kagura asked, raising an eyebrow at her granddaughter.

“She kisses everyone she can lock lips on,” Fai called back, handing the jug to Rinji, who quickly downed more of it, probably to forget what his father had just said to him.

“Is that right?” Aiko questioned, shifting her eyes to stare at her daughter as her smile widened.

Saori sighed, grimacing as her father and Konstantin slapped their hands down and started to battle.  “I—Hmm . . . He was a very nice man—He was very nice to me!” she insisted, trying to fight back a furious blush.  It didn’t work.

Sesshoumaru called the match when Seiji managed to upend Konstantin, sending the big man, crashing down on his bottom.

“You should taste that stuff,” Seiji told his father-in-law.  “Two thousand yen says you can’t drink it with a straight face.”

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes on Seiji, but held out his hand for the jug.  Saori blinked, shaking her head as he tipped the jug for a long, long moment.  Four or five swallows that she could see—maybe more . . . Then he lowered it, his expression unchanged, and handed it off to Rinji.  “That tastes . . .”

“Like a whole lot of ass, crammed into that jug?” Rinji supplied helpfully.

Sesshoumaru considered that, then nodded very slowly.  “It sounds accurate.”

Shaking her head as Fai and Rinji stepped forward for the next match, Saori let out a deep breath.  Her entire family had apparently lost their minds, she thought.  It was almost as bad as when her uncles got together, and about the only thing worse would have been if the three of them—Toga, Ryomaru, and Kichiro—were here, too . . . Either that, or the men in general simply needed to be kept far away from each other.

“Manly battles, indeed,” she muttered.

Kagura and Aiko laughed.