InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity Redux: Vivication ❯ Resolution ( Chapter 71 )

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

“So, there I was, in front of what had to be fifty thousand people, getting ready to do, ‘There She Blows’, and Deet lets this fart.  It wasn’t just any fart, either—God, no!  It was one of those that could have been heard on Mars, like a sonic-fucking-boom, and he’s right in front of his mic, right?  And, of course, we’re in Japan, and you know how polite you guys are . . . and I’m dying because I’m trying not to laugh, and the more I try not to laugh, the funnier it gets . . .” Trailing off, wiping his eyes as he grinned unrepentantly, Evan slowly shook his head.  “I thought I was going to kick it on the spot . . .”

“Wow,” Saori said, shaking her head as she tried not to laugh, too.  “That’s . . .”

“That’s the best tour story you have?” Rinji growled, shaking his head and looking entirely disappointed.

Evan chuckled.  “It’s the only general-audience-story I got, yes.”

“You’ve disappointed me,” Rinji added.

“On stage?” Konstantin asked, frowning in confusion as he tried to follow the English conversation.

Saori laughed.  “He’s a rock star—maybe the biggest rock star on the planet,” she explained in Russian for the bear’s benefit.  “Zel Roka.”

Konstantin’s eyes flashed open wide—wide enough that Saori had to wonder if they weren’t going to pop right out of his head.  “Zel Roka?  You . . .?  You’re . . . Zel Roka?”

“Who’s Zel Roka?” Taras asked with a marked frown.  “Well, him, I got that, but . . .”

Evan leaned toward Saori.  “Never heard of me, has he?” he asked, nodding once at Taras.

“Apparently not,” she said.  “Sorry.”

He laughed.  “It’s all good!  Why don’t you all come with me?  Take in the show in style . . . You can be my private guests.”

Saori giggled.  “I don’t know if Fai would have time, but you should take them,” she replied, waving her hand toward Yerik, Konstantin, and Taras.

“Are you kidding?  That show’s been sold out for . . . Well, maybe within hours of the tickets going on sale,” Yerik blurted.
“Sure . . . I’ll even put you up in the hotel and all that shit,” Evan remarked.  “What about you, Rin?  You in for it?”

“Once was enough,” Rinji replied.  “I haven’t recovered from the last time, thanks.”

“Kami . . . He’s going to ruin his father’s relationship with the Russian people, single-handedly,” Sesshoumaru predicted, setting back in the chair under the wide portico behind the Demyanov castle.

Evan grinned, his gaze turning onto his aunt and great-aunt.  “What about you ladies?  You can be my hunnies for the night.”

Aiko rolled her eyes.  “Hmm . . . What do you think, kaa-chan?  Might be fun . . .”

Kagura smiled rather tolerantly.  “Does it mean you’ll behave yourself for once?”

Evan didn’t reply, but his cheeky grin widened by degrees.  “Now, come on, you guys . . . There’s plenty of room on the jet, and I swear you’ll have a great time.  You, too, Saori.”

Saori bit her lip.  On the one hand, she’d love to go.  Evan’s shows were always so much fun.  She just wasn’t sure that Fai would be willing to drop everything, even just for one night . . . “I’ll talk to Fai, but no promises,” she said.

Evan chuckled.  “Nice . . . But we’ve got to get going in an hour, so you’d all better get moving.”


The castle was quiet—too quiet.

Fai hated it, actually, and yet again, he berated himself for insisting that Saori go with her family to the concert in Moscow.  Sure, it was only for a couple of nights, and he did have work to catch up on.  Even so . . .

“Are you sure I should go?  I mean, I won’t, if you would rather that I stay here with you . . .”

Fai smiled as Saori paused while packing a small bag for her impromptu trip.  “It’s fine,” he assured her.  “I need to start looking into finding Taras’ brother, not to mention some stuff I got behind on while you were in Japan . . . Guess I didn’t get a whole lot done.”

She smiled at him, leaned up to kiss his cheek before resuming her packing.  “I got behind on the plans for the new orphanage, too,” she admitted.  “Maybe I should stay here—get caught up . . .”

“And how often do you get to see certain family members—even that one?  Are you sure he’s related to you?  He’s a little . . .”

“Outrageous?” she supplied when he trailed off.

“I was going to say, ‘assholish’, actually . . .”

She giggled.  “He’s not that bad!  He’s just a little hyper, is all . . .”

“Interesting way to put it,” Fai grumbled, remembering the acute embarrassment of the earlier conversation about his penis.  “Anyway, it’s just a couple days, so have fun.”

She bit her lip, shook her head, but smiled at him.  “If you’re sure . . .”

He rolled his eyes and chuckled.  “Just come home safely.”

“I will, Fai,” she assured him.

Which left him here, alone.  All of them, even Konstantin and Taras, had gone along.  Somehow, it didn’t surprise him that Yerik was borderline crazy-excited about it.  He’d been a fan of Zel Roka’s music for years.  In fact, Fai seemed to remember Yerik being keenly interested in his English lessons for the sole purpose of understanding those lyrics, and didn’t that just figure, given that pretty much all of his songs were about sex and general debauchery . . .

‘You know, Fai, I think that it’d be good to plan a trip, don’t you?’

‘A trip?’

‘Yes, a trip.  After all, it’s not like you got your honeymoon, now did you?  Maybe things have settled down enough that you could think about it now.  Saori would love it, don’t you think?’

‘Maybe, but there’s still a lot to do, not the least of which is to figure out how to go about, implementing the changes that need to be made.  After that . . .’

Dropping into his desk chair, Fai sighed.  He’d done a lot of thinking, both while Saori was in Japan, as well as since the kidnapping, most of it, last night as he laid awake in bed, listening to the sound of Saori’s breathing, savoring the feel of her, so very near . . .

He couldn’t do it alone, and he shouldn’t be expected to, should he?  He’d realized it before.  None of the other tai-youkai did everything on their own.  Every last one of them had people they trusted to help them with the mundane things that really didn’t need to have his attention.  In the beginning, that’s why there were regents put in place, but somehow, his father, although a fine and worthy tai-youkai, had made the mistake of taking a step away from them, and maybe that was one of his greatest mistakes.

It used to be that the regents handled the regular dealings in their regencies—fifteen in all but only ten of those were currently occupied—from local disputes to gathering information on larger problems that ultimately would be brought to the tai-youkai’s attention, and the end result was that it would free up a lot of Fai’s time and bring a peace to the region that hadn’t been there in a long, long time—at least, that was the hope.

The problem was, he wasn’t sure how to go about bridging the gap that had been created so long ago.  He could call for a summit, but somehow, that didn’t seem like the right thing, given that it might well raise the suspicions of the regents, and that wouldn’t be conducive to mending fences.  The trouble was, he wasn’t at all sure, just what he ought to do instead.

‘So, ask Saori.  Maybe she has an idea.  She’s good at bringing people together, after all.’

Considering that, Fai nodded to himself.  It was a sound idea, really.  Saori . . . She was damn good at that kind of thing . . .

Pushing that line of thought aside, Fai reached for the slim-file where he’d compiled everything that Taras was able to tell him about his brother.  The child—Dmitri ‘Dash’ Stepanovich—was three years old: a quartz-youkai like Taras, both of whom had taken after their mother.  Their father was a pitch-bat-youkai originally from China.  According to Taras, their mother’s brother, a quartz-youkai named Duncan Craig, had kidnapped Dash while Taras was out on a job.

Apparently, he disapproved of Taras’ father’s business and was even more unhappy when Taras had opted to fulfill his father’s obligations when he’d gotten himself caught up in the midst of a job gone wrong.  He’d ended up dead in the process, and their mother had died less than two months later.  At the time, Taras was twenty-two and had just graduated from the university, and Duncan had showed up to help Taras—and to try to convince him to stay on course, to go into business finance, which was what he’d gotten his degree in.

But along with a younger brother, his father had also left a good-sized debt behind, so the long and short of it was that the brothers had no money, either.  Taras needed funds in order to raise his brother, and the best way to make more money fast was to step into his father’s business, much to his uncle’s dismay.

It felt like there was something missing to the story, though.  Why take the child when he could easily have offered to help Taras, instead?  That would have seemed like the most logical thing to do, but if there was more to it, then Taras didn’t appear to know what it could be.  Fai figured that the only one who really could answer that would be the uncle himself, but the odds of getting to those answers were very likely nonexistent.

Letting out a deep breath, Fai reached for the landline phone and hit the button to dial Jude Covington’s office.  He didn’t know if Jude would help him out or not, but it didn’t hurt to ask, he figured . . .

“Jude Covington’s office.  How may I help you?”

“Good afternoon.  This is Fai Demyanov.  I would like to speak to Jude at his earliest convenience.”

“He just got back from lunch.  Let me see if he’s available, Mr. Demyanov,” the secretary said.

Fai rubbed his forehead as the soft sounds of instrumental music came over the line.

It bothered him, damn it.

The memories of those first days after his mother had died, after his father had walked out of their lives were still raw, vivid.  At the time, he hadn’t realized it.  Back then, Yerik had cried a lot.  He was too young to understand that the mother that he wanted so desperately couldn’t come to him, couldn’t make things better in her magical mother way.  Most nights were spent, sleeping fitfully between Yerik’s crying with the child on his chest—the only place where he’d calm down even slightly.

Looking back now, Fai knew that he’d needed Yerik as much as Yerik had needed him—maybe more.  Though he hadn’t intended any such thing, Yerik had inadvertently given Fai focus, reason, a stability in the often-frightening surge of a rapidly changing world.  That had been taken away from Taras, and that . . . Well, it wasn’t all right . . .

“Fai, hello.  Jude here.  Is there something I can do for you?”

Fai sat up a little straighter.  “Jude, I have a report of a man who is said to be hiding in the mountains in New Zealand with his nephew: a child he kidnapped from his brother’s care shortly after their parents died.  I wondered if you had the means of tracking them down.”

“I assume you have more information than that?  I can look into it, but I’m afraid I’m fairly strapped at the moment, as far as having the manpower to spare.  I assume the brother wants the boy back.”

“He does,” Fai agreed.

Jude grunted.  “I can see what I can do, but like I said, it may take some time.  Two of my best hunters have retired, and I’m not sure I have anyone who is familiar enough with the area to conduct an efficient search.  As soon as I can spare someone, though, I’ll be happy to send them out to look.  Can you send me the information you’ve got?”

“Already done,” Fai told him.  “I emailed it on the secure server a couple hours ago.”

Jude let out a deep breath.  It wasn’t a sigh, exactly, but probably as close to one as the man ever made.  “Is the brother familiar with the area?  Maybe it’d be faster to send him in?  As long as he’s not causing mischief, I’ll leave him alone and provide him with the means to bring his brother home, of course.”

“He’s not.  His mother was from New Zealand, but they weren’t raised there.”

He could hear the clicks as Jude recovered the email, and he spent a minute, looking over the assembled reports before he spoke again.  “Messy stuff, family squabbles.  All right, I will tell you what: if you have someone you can send, I won’t hinder them.  Otherwise, I’ll send someone when I can, however, I’d prefer that Craig is allowed to go free.  I’ll let him know that he has no right to the child, of course, but, given the situation, I’d prefer that the man isn’t killed—unless there’s no other way.”

“That’s fair,” Fai agreed.  Even so, he wasn’t sure he had anyone he could send in, either, which was frustrating, given that the brothers had already been separated for longer than they ever should have been.

“Keep me apprised,” Jude concluded.  “I’ll let you know when I’m able to send someone in if I don’t hear from you first.”

The phone call ended, and Fai let out a deep breath as he dropped the receiver into the cradle with a clatter.  All in all, he supposed that it was the best he could have hoped for.  He’d just have to be patient . . . or find another way . . .


“We went out to eat at a place that’s supposed to have authentic Japanese food—it doesn’t,” Saori quipped, stifling a yawn, but unwilling to give in to the urge to curl up in bed yet.  “We also go to go to the sound check, and that was fun . . . I wish you’d have come with us.”

Fai smiled.  “I’m glad you’re all having a good time.  I have to admit, though.  The idea of seeing your grandfather at one of Zel Roka’s concerts?  It’s kind of short-circuiting my brain a little bit . . .”

Saori giggled.  “Well, you know, I heard this story about Toga-oji-chan going to one of his shows in Tokyo.  Apparently, he was blushing the entire time, considering a lot of the women there decided to bare the goods, so to speak . . .”

“Dear God.”

Her giggling escalated.  “Are you getting your work done?  Did you call Jude-sama?”

That question drew a sigh from him.  “I did,” he told her.  “He said he doesn’t have anyone available yet to send out but that he would as soon as he did, unless I can find someone who’s familiar with that area that can go in and search.”

Saori sighed, too, all traces of laughter dying away.  “No one in my family is familiar with New Zealand, unfortunately . . . I wish someone was.”

“Me, too.”

She was quiet for a long moment.  She felt bad for Taras, but hopefully it would only be a matter of time before he was reunited with his brother.  She’d seen a picture of him—Taras had one on his phone.  The little boy had to look pretty much like Taras did when he was little, she supposed.  The same bluish-white hair like white quartz, the same strange eyes—eyes that held the same iridescent quality of rainbow quartz . . .  She’d seen for herself during their brief time together.  Taras’ eyes seemed to shift in color, depending on the lighting.  There was no doubt whatsoever that those two were siblings . . .

Fai’s soft sigh interrupted her musings, though, and she blinked, focusing her gaze on the phone in her hand.  “So, one of the things I was thinking is that I—well, we—should do something to get to know the regents—maybe to reassure them all that I would value their help,” he said.  “I thought about calling a summit, but I’m afraid that might send the wrong message . . .”

She thought that over.  It made sense.  Given how skittish some of the regents were, with good reason, calling an official meeting was probably not going to be as effective if Fai wanted them to feel as though their positions were being assured.  Doing it in that way might well put some of them on the defensive before they ever arrived . . .

“Well, what about an informal brunch?  They could bring their families, make a day of it . . . You can talk to them without making them feel as though they need to defend themselves, if that’s what you mean,” she suggested.

Fai blinked, frowned slightly as he considered her suggestion.  “I hadn’t thought of that,” he admitted.  “That’s . . . a good idea . . .”

“Do you want me to make the arrangements?” she offered.  “And, for the record?  I think it’s a great idea!”

He chuckled.  “Can you do that and see to the new orphanage?”

“Are you kidding?  A casual brunch is nothing!  Besides, I’ll bet that the regents would be very interested in seeing the plans for the orphanage, too . . . Speaking of, Evan offered to donate a bunch of instruments for a music room.  I thought that’d be a great idea.”

“Uh, it is,” Fai allowed.  “Tell him thanks.”

“I will.”

A knock on the hotel room door drew her attention, and Saori shuffled over to answer it.  Rinji smiled at her but rolled his eyes when she pointed the cell phone’s camera at him.  “Say hello to Fai,” she said.

“Hello, Fai-sama,” he replied.  “Mind if I take Saori out for a drink?”

“As long as you keep Kostya away from her.  He likes drinking a little too much,” Fai remarked.

“Okay,” Saori said with a soft giggle.  “I’ll call you back later.  I miss you.”

Fai smiled.  “I miss you, too,” he told her.  “Behave yourself.”

With a sigh, she ended the video chat before turning to face her brother.  “Who all’s going?” she asked.

Rinji shrugged.  “Just us.  Thought that’d be all right.  Besides, Yerik’s hanging out with Evan—let’s hope he doesn’t get him into any trouble since that’s what Evan’s good at.  Kaa-san’s talking to tou-san, and . . . and I have no idea where ojii-san and obaa-san are.”

Saori arched an eyebrow as she slipped her shoes on.  “What about Kostya-kun and Taras-san?”

Rinji shook his head.  “I heard Kostya mention something about a strip club, so it’s a safe bet that that’s where they went.”

She shook her head, grabbed her purse.  “I’m surprised that Evan didn’t go there with them.”

“He probably tried, but his manager’s pretty decent at keeping him in line.”

Saori laughed and followed Rinji out of her room.


Fai let out a deep breath, let his head fall back as he slowly rolled it from side to side, alleviating some of the stiffness that had set in from the last couple hours he’d spent, looking over paperwork that wasn’t important but still needed his signature.

All in all, however, he had to admit, he’d gotten quite a bit done today, which was good.  All that was left, really, was to wait for Saori’s phone call.

It felt different, didn’t it?  Vastly different than when she’d gone back to Tokyo.  The anxiety was gone, and he missed her, sure, but the underlying sense of desperation wasn’t there, either.  No, it was more relaxed, knowing that she was off, enjoying herself, that she’d be home in a couple days.

It was a nice feeling.

Opening his eyes, he glanced at the clock.  Nearly midnight . . .

A curt tap on the door drew his attention, and Fai sat up straight as Vasili opened the door and stepped inside.  “Pardon, Your Grace, but Taine Izanagi is here to see you.”

Pushing himself out of his chair to grab a bottle of water out of the small refrigerator in the wetbar, Fai nodded.  “Show him in.”

The butler nodded and backed out of the room.  A minute later, Taine strode in, his hunt bag slung casually over his shoulder.  “Target’s been silenced,” he said, foregoing a more formal greeting.  “For the record, he wasn’t a water-youkai.  He was a steelhead-bass.”

“Is that right?” Fai countered, holding up a water bottle.  Taine shook his head, and Fai stepped away from the wetbar but waved a hand toward it, inviting Taine to help himself to something else if he liked.  “Interesting . . .”

“Not especially.  Bastard had a mean right hook, though,” he muttered, shifting his jaw from side to side as he scowled at nothing in particular and dropped the bag onto the desk.  “I only used a bit of the funds.”

“Nice work,” Fai remarked, flopping down in his chair once more, watching as Taine strode over to slosh vodka into a glass.  “I, uh, don’t have anything else at the moment, though I’m sure I will soon enough.”

Taine turned, leaned against the wetbar as he casually swirled the contents of the glass in a lazy circle.  “That’s fine.  I have to go back to New Zealand for a bit.”

Fai’s eyebrows shot up.  “New Zealand,” he repeated.

Taine shrugged.  “Not long, though.  Just have to pick up something from home—well, from, uh, my mother . . . Shouldn’t take more than a couple days.”

Fai shook his head.  “No, it’s not that . . . That’s where you’re from, though . . . I mean, how familiar are you with the mountains and such?”

Taine laughed.  “I used to spend weeks—months—in the mountains,” he admitted.  “I guess you could say I’m pretty familiar, sure.”

Fai nodded slowly.  “Is that right . . .?  Then, you might be able to help me with a special assignment?”

Taine’s amusement died slowly as he gazed at Fai, casually lifting a slender hand to drag through his ungodly red hair.  “What kind of assignment?”

Fai considered it for a moment before pushing the slim-file with the details of the abduction across the desk.  “This.”

Taine stared at him a few seconds more before pushing himself away from the wetbar to retrieve the file.

It didn’t take him long to read through it, to scan over the images that Fai had added of Dash Stepanovich and Duncan Craig.  Dark eyebrows, drawing together in a marked frown of concentration, he snapped it closed.  “So, you’re telling me you want me to go there, track down this child, and bring him back.”

“Yes.”

Nodding slowly, Taine downed the vodka and set the glass heavily upon the desk.  “I can try.  I mean, I’m sure I can do it, but it may take a while.  The area is pretty expansive, and chances are, they’re hidden well.  Is this something you want me to do, regardless of how long it could take?”

“Yes.”

Cocking his head to the side, he raised his eyebrows, let them fall back into place once more, and he nodded again.  “All right.”

Only then did Fai smile, just a little.  “Thanks.”