InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity Redux: Vivication ❯ Fortuitous Meetings ( Chapter 62 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Saori stomped into Sesshoumaru’s office without bothering to stop and knock, causing her grandfather to cock an eyebrow as she literally threw herself into a chair with a darkened scowl on her face, a mulish set to her full lips.  She’d taken a taxi straight from the airport, had done nothing, really, but fume pretty much the entire time, from the moment Fai had dropped her off at the airport earlier in the afternoon until now.

“Is this your way of saying that you’re dissatisfied with your mate?” he asked, his normally dry tone, entirely unruffled by her unceremonious entrance.

She snorted.  “Oh, no, I’m very satisfied with him.  I’m just . . . just mad at him; that’s all.”

Her response was enough to make Sesshoumaru narrow his eyes on her.  “All right . . .”

Suddenly, her shoulders slumped, her chin lowered, as the bravado that had carried her through most of the day faltered and failed her.  “He . . . He sent me here,” she admitted quietly.  “He thinks that Evgeni-san is a threat to me . . .”

Sesshoumaru didn’t look at all surprised by her quiet statement.  “He’s probably right,” he allowed.  “Did he want you to stay here?”

“He didn’t say, but . . . but it’s safer here, right?  I mean, tou-chan . . . He doesn’t employ any security detail.  Fai said that Evgeni-san doesn’t know who my family is, but it’s not that hard to find out, either . . .”

He nodded slowly.  “And that’s why you came here instead of home.”

She sighed.  “I know he wouldn’t have asked me to come here if he weren’t worried,” she allowed, “but . . . but shouldn’t I be there with him?  He’s my mate . . .”

“And at the risk of upsetting you further, granddaughter-of-mine, your mate made a prudent decision, sending you here.”

She made a face.  “But . . . But who’s going to watch out for him?”

Pushing himself out of his chair, Sesshoumaru strode over, retrieved two bottles of water out of the wetbar and handed her one.  “Your mate is quite capable of looking out for himself, though I suppose it wouldn’t be a problem if I were to call, get an update on things as they stand.”

“I know he’s capable,” Saori remarked, giving the cap a hard yank to break the seal.  “Yerik-kun is out on a job, and he’s there alone . . . His servants aren’t trained to fight . . . If Evgeni-san showed up . . . and even if he did, Fai . . .”

“Fai, what?” Sesshoumaru prompted when she trailed off.

“Fai cares about him.  For years, he’s been . . . closer than anyone—maybe even closer than Yerik-kun.  After all, he was just a child . . .”

Sesshoumaru considered that for a long moment, stepping over to the window, staring outside as he contemplated Saori’s words.  “You don’t believe that he can fight Evgeni?”

She sighed, rubbed her forehead.  “It’s not that I think he can’t,” she said.  “I’m . . . I’m afraid of what it’ll do to him if he has to . . .”

“Don’t discount Faine’s strength, Saori.”

“I’m not . . . It’s just that, when I think about it, if it were me?  I could do it.  If I had to fight to protect him, I could do it.  But I know that I . . . I wouldn’t want to.”

The office door opened, and Kagura slipped inside.  “Saori!  I thought I sensed you . . . What are you doing here?”

Sesshoumaru turned, met his mate’s gaze.  “She’ll be staying with us for a bit—until Faine deals with Evgeni.  Why don’t you take Saori upstairs?  Call Aiko, too.”

Kagura nodded as Saori stood up.  He watched as they headed out of the office before turning back toward his desk once more.

It only took a moment to dial Faine’s number, and he settled back in his chair as he waited.  The Asian tai-youkai answered after the second ring.  “Sesshoumaru,” he said when the video feed connected.

“Faine, Saori just arrived.  We thought it best if she stays here with us, given that I have full security in place, and her father does not.  Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Fai sighed.  Even over the video connection, he looked a little haggard.  “It’s not that I wanted to send her home,” he began, the defensiveness in his tone evident.  “I just thought—”

“I agree with your reasons,” Sesshoumaru interrupted.  “Her parents will, too.  I want to know just what you’re planning and if I can help.”

Fai grunted.  “Since when does the Inu no Taisho interfere?”

“He isn’t.  Ojii-chan wants to know,” Sesshoumaru replied.

Fai blinked, smiled a little wanly.  “Of course . . .”

“Will you confront Evgeni?  Or will you simply issue a hunt order for him?”

This time, Fai shook his head.  “I think . . . I need to confront him.  I need to ask him what he was trying to do.  I . . . I don’t think he’ll give me any answers, but I have to try . . .”

Sesshoumaru nodded slowly.  “Saori is concerned about your feelings toward him,” he said.  “Will this be an issue for you?”

“An issue?  When he’s done nothing but lie and try to manipulate me from the very beginning?  When he—”

“And yet, you held him in the highest regard for a very long time, Faine.  So, humor me when I ask you: can you do this?  Is it within you to do this without letting it break you?”

“There is no question,” Fai replied darkly, leveling a no-nonsense glower at the camera.  “I will not live in fear that he will show up one day, that he’ll attack Saori, just to hurt me—to kill me.”

Sesshoumaru digested that for a long minute.  Hadn’t he heard nearly the same thing before?  The same flashing gaze, the same righteous indignation . . . only back then, it was too late, and . . . “Faine.”

“Yeah?”

“The reports on your mother’s death—the fire.  They were all verified, weren’t they?”

“Yeah, um . . . Of course, they were.  They were all filed when the official investigation concluded.  Why?”

He drummed his claws on the desk, wondering if he really ought to tell Fai, if it would make a difference at all—or if it would simply add fuel to an already capricious situation . . . In the end, though . . . “Understand that the last time I spoke with Alexei, he was . . . He was degenerating fast.  It could simply have been the ramblings of a man who was barely hanging on, but . . . But he was quite insistent that the fire was deliberate—that Evgeni or one of his people might have tampered with the system . . .”

Fai shook his head, his confusion a near-palpable thing.  “But . . . Wh . . .? He . . . He thought . . .?”

“As I said, it could be entirely unfounded.  It’s not the first time that a house has suffered faulty workmanship, and it’s highly plausible that what they found was accurate—a horrible and tragic accident.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?” Fai growled, fangs flashing as his lips curled up in a marked grimace.

“I don’t know, Faine.  I can only tell you what he said.  It’s possible that he didn’t want to burden you with that.  After all, by then, the damage was already done.”

“But I wouldn’t have trusted Evgeni at all if he’d said that to me!” Fai snarled.  “Damn it, I—”

“And your reaction right now?  That’s likely why he kept it from you.  I don’t tell you this to upset you more.”

“Yeah?  Then why the hell did you tell me?”

Sesshoumaru sat back, waited a few moments for Fai to calm down enough to hear him.  “Should you go find Evgeni—should you demand answers from him . . . If he were to claim responsibility for that fire, I would rather that you knew of the possibility now than to be blindsided by it later.”

Fai stood up, stomped away from the desk.  He returned a minute later with a very full glass of vodka.  “Understood,” he said.  He sounded slightly more under control, though not by much.  “Father . . . He had no proof, did he?”

“No, there never was.  Now, I will ask you, not as the Inu no Taisho, but as Saori’s ojii-chan: before you go looking for him, you will call me—and you will get your rage under control.”

Fai looked like he wanted to yell, to growl.  In the end, though, he nodded.  “I will.”


Saori woke up with a heavy sigh and a thick dose of disorientation.  It took her a minute to figure out, just where she was and why.  When she did, she made a face and flopped over onto her side to bury her face into the pillow, only to find herself, staring at her brother, who was calmly stretched out beside her, sitting up, looking over some emails on his tablet.

“Hey, Chan-chan.  Long time, no see,” he quipped.

She snorted, not even attempting to play along with his dry sense of humor.  “Why are you in my bed?” she demanded flatly.

Rinji chuckled.  “Ojii-san called otou-san and said that you were here.  Fai-sama thinks you’re in danger?”

She sat up and shrugged, leaning against Rinji’s arm.  For some reason, she just needed a physical reminder of the stability she was far from feeling, and before Fai, Rinji had always been one of the ones to give her that.  “But he’s alone, nii-chan . . . and I hate that he’s alone.”

Rinji frowned.  “Is Yerik-kun out on a hunt?”

She nodded.  “An assignment, yes . . .”

“What about Kostya?”

She shook her head.  “He wasn’t there when I left, and I don’t think he was expected, either.  I’d ask jii-chan, but I don’t want Fai to think that I believe he can’t handle himself . . . I know he can . . .”

Rinji nodded slowly.  “But he’s believed that Evgeni’s been his friend all this time,” he concluded.  “You know . . . Maybe you’re underestimating him.  I know you don’t mean to, but he’s mentally tougher than you’re giving him credit for.  He’s tai-youkai for a reason.  Kami only knows he’s been challenged often enough that if he wasn’t good enough, he’d have been defeated a long time ago.”

She snorted.  “You think I’m just worried for nothing.”

Slipping his arm around her shoulders, he didn’t disagree with her right away.  “I think that it’s natural to be worried about your mate, sure.  I also think that you need to believe in him.  I may not know him as well as you do, but I got a good enough feel for him to know that he isn’t the kind to overreact without a decent reason.  Besides, it probably took some doing to swallow his pride and to send you here.  Most men would convince themselves that they could and should defend their mates, no matter what.  Hell, look at most of the men in our family.  I don’t know, if it came down to it, that any of them would have sent you here.  It’d be like admitting that you’re not able to watch out for—to take care of—your precious ones.”

“I . . . I know,” she muttered, hating to admit that her brother had a very valid point.  “I’ve just been trying to figure out why Evgeni-san has gone to such trouble.  I . . . I can’t fathom how much of a monster someone has to be to do what he’s done . . .” Heaving a sigh, she shrugged, almost as though it was all she could do.  “To go to the lengths of pretending to be Fai’s friend?  To do all that, just to . . . to hurt him . . .?”

Rinji sighed, leveling a thoughtful scowl at her that lingered for several minutes.  “Do you want me to go back?  To help watch out for him?”

She bit her lip.  On the one hand, yes, she did.  On the other . . .?  “I . . . I don’t know if he’d be all right with that,” she admitted.

He considered that, then he slowly nodded, reaching over, retrieving her cell phone off the nightstand.  “In case you were wondering, he texted you a few . . . hundred . . . times while you were sleeping.”

She gasped, snatching the phone away from him.  “Why didn’t you wake me up?  Or tell me that first?” she growled.

He rolled his eyes.  “Because I texted him and told him you were sleeping, and he said to let you sleep.”

She wasn’t pleased with that answer, either.

He missed her.

That was the gist of the texts—all of them—and something about it brought tears to her eyes.  Rinji sighed beside her, pulling her against his side and gently kissing the top of her head.  “You’ll be back together before you know it,” he told her, rubbing her arm in the same way that he had since she was a small child.  “Then, you’ll have the rest of your lives together . . . Don’t cry, okay?”

She sniffled and nodded, biting back the tears that threatened to spill over.  “I know,” she said, unable to keep the slight sharpness out of her voice.  “I hate this . . .”

“I know,” he told her, giving her a little reassuring squeeze.  “I know . . .”


Settling back in the desk chair as he sipped a glass of vodka and frowned at the open window, Fai heaved a sigh and tried not to think about the idea that his new mate of less than two weeks was out of the country—out of his sight.

He’d called Vladimir Gostoyev at the bank, had questioned him in depth as to what he knew in regards to the tai-youkai account.  Though Fai hadn’t had much experience in interacting with him, he also had met him a few times, and Vladimir had been at Evgeni’s Kupala celebration.  He’d been in the office the night when Evgeni had dared to question Fai . . . According to him, he’d handed over all the account information to Evgeni, who had said at the time that he was coming over, that he’d be happy to drop it off, which, of course, he only partially did.

Two sealed envelopes, the man had said.  He’d given them both to Evgeni, and that was the end of it—he’d said.  He’d also been a little reluctant to answer Fai’s questions, too—at least, that was how Fai felt about it.  There was a chance he could be just a little paranoid, but he didn’t think so . . .

Besides calling Vladimir to check into the whole situation with the tai-youkai account, he’d also meant to speak to them about adding Saori onto his personal account, but, given the way Vladimir had acted, he hadn’t felt comfortable in bringing that up.  As much as he didn’t like it, his instincts screamed at him to hold off on it—to try to keep things on the downlow until after the situation with Evgeni was resolved.

All in all, the entire situation really stunk, and that just figured.  After talking to the banker, he’d called the few people who had been at the wedding, asking them to keep things quiet, at least, until after he figured out what to do.  If he didn’t feel so strongly that there really might well be a threat made against Saori . . .

‘Well, everyone but Ian MacDonnough . . .’

Fai snorted.  Okay, so he’d called everyone but MacDonnough, and to be honest, there wasn’t a thing on earth that could get him to call that particular person, ever.

“Said you needed the funds, that you’d entirely mismanaged your jurisdiction for years now—did you know about that, Sesshoumaru?  If you wish to start interfering, perhaps you ought to start here . . . Does it matter if I did?  It’s not my jurisdiction.  If you’re gullible enough to believe everyone at face-value, then you truly don’t deserve to be in charge here, now do you?”

Just the memory of those words, of his haughty arrogance, was enough to make him want to rip something to shreds.

Two more days before Evgeni would be back from the shopping trip.

Dragging a hand over his face, he stifled a frustrated growl.  Everything Evgeni had told MacDonnough . . .? And if he’d told him that much, the just how much had he spilled to others?  Was it worse to feel like a complete and utter dupe or that he’d been blinded to it for so long when the truth of it was staring him in the face . . . Every time Evgeni had challenged him, had suggested that maybe he wasn’t making good choices . . .?  And Fai had just brushed it all off as pessimistic concern . . .

He grimaced.  Damn, he was stupid, wasn’t he?

‘Come on, Faine.  Do you really want to do this?  Do you know how destructive it is?  Okay, so maybe you should have, could have, might have, may not have . . . In the end, you realize, don’t you?  You can tear yourself down, or you can rise above.  Guess which one I think you should do . . . Guess which one Saori would want you to do . . .’

“Saori . . .”

A crisp knock on the office door drew his attention, and Fai sat up.  “Come in.”
Vasili stepped into the room with a deep inclination of his head.  “Your Grace, there is a Taine Izanagi here to see you.”

Fai shook his head.  “Who?”

Vasili grimaced rather apologetically.  “Forgive me, Your Grace.  He gave his name and said that he would only speak with you.”

Fai frowned thoughtfully.  “Okay, then.  Please show him in.”

Vasili nodded and backed out of the office.

Taine Izanagi . . .? The name didn’t ring a bell.

The butler returned a few minutes later with a very tall and lanky youkai in tow—a dog-youkai.

“Your Grace, this is Master Taine Izanagi.  Master Taine, this is His Grace, Faine Demyanov.  Do you require anything?”

“No, Vasili.  That’s all for now,” Fai replied, dismissing the butler as he slowly rose to his feet.  “Izanagi . . . I can’t say I’m familiar with that name,” he admitted slowly.  “Is there something I can do for you?”

The strange dog smiled around a lollipop that was stowed in his cheek, but it seemed almost predatory—a quirking of the corners of his lips that didn’t quite touch his eyes.  Bright red hair—fiery, flame red hair—that hung to about his mid-back in lengthy and almost crazy layers from his long bangs that fell over his bright brown eyes . . . Aristocratic features that were softly rounded at the edges, giving him an overall far more youthful face . . . Something about the way he looked, though . . . “It’s not really something you can do for me, exactly,” he said, his tone touched by an accent.  It wasn’t quite Australian in deviation, but it was close . . . “It’s something I think I can do for you.”

“Oh?” Fai replied, arching his eyebrows as he stepped around the desk, only to lean back against it, crossing his arms over his chest.  “And what would that be?”

Taine chuckled.  “I’m looking for a job,” he said.  “I’m a hunter.”