Fyodor watched a range of emotions play across Chuuya's face. Confusion, a flash of rebellious anger, and then hope. Chuuya's blue eyes widened with it, like some part of him truly believed that there was a better future for him. Chuuya had the look of a person who was very rarely happy, and had probably been taught not to want or feel things for himself. This had happened to Nikolai, too, before he joined the decay of angels. His previous organization had treated Nikolai like nothing more than a living weapon. There were many things that Fyodor hated about Fukuchi, very many indeed, but at least he treated his subordinates like actual people. Dazai, it appeared, didn't even have the decency to do that.
Fyodor smiled to himself as Nikolai tried engaging Chuuya in casual conversation, asking things like what his favorite color was, and what kind of music he listened to. It was kinda funny, to be honest. It was like they were two friends who'd lived a normal life. Even if Nikolai was the only one talking. Fyodor watched Chuuya, and tried to prevent his anger from growing. Dazai must have treated him horribly for him to be like this. Fyodor had seen this kind of behavior before, when he first met Nikolai. Chuuya didn't think of himself as a person yet. He'd been used as a living weapon for too long to see himself as anything other than a walking ability. Fyodor hated that. Nobody should have to go through something like what Chuuya did.
Fyodor understood most of what had happened to Chuuya in the prison, but the one thing he couldn't figure out was the poison. Clearly, Dazai had poisoned Chuuya with the intent to kill him. But why? Chuuya was, as Dazai would have seen it, his greatest weapon. So why would someone like Dazai want to get rid of Chuuya? He'd spent seven years twisting Chuuya into the perfect weapon, after all. It made no sense for Dazai to just try to kill him like that. Fyodor had questions, but now he also had Chuuya. Fyodor could seek those answers when he knew that Chuuya was starting to be okay.
Teruko would know what to do right now. She'd had to manage multiple difficult personalities in the hunting dogs, and she'd always managed to go through life while both taking care of herself, and everyone else on her team. A cold feeling of worry crawled through Fyodor. Teruko. He hadn't called her since the incident at the airport. Most of her team had almost died, and Fukuchi, one of her oldest friends, had been revealed to be the villain behind everything. Also, if Fyodor was right about this, and he usually was, Teruko had been the one to kill Fukuchi. She...might need her big brother to talk to. Fyodor didn't want to leave Chuuya and Nikolai right now, but he knew he had to call Teruko.
"Nikolai, I'm super sorry about this, but can you look after the two of you for a few minutes?" Fyodor asked. "I just realized that I forgot to call my sister." A look of confusion crossed Chuuya's face. To most of the world, Fyodor was the demon. He was a figurehead, not a real person with real feelings, and a real life. The fact that he might have a sister, no, the fact that 'evil incarnate' would decide to call his sister, was probably something that would make no sense to Charli. If nothing else, maybe it would do something to dispel Chuuya's notions of Fyodor's supposed evil. The next few days would be hard, because Fyodor and Nikolai would have to remove the various brainwashings that Chuuya had endured. But the look of surprise on his face seemed to be a start.
Nikolai grinned, and shot Fyodor a thumbs up. Even though he was a full on vampire now, Nikolai never changed. That was something Fyodor would be eternally grateful for. Nikolai was the one constant in Fyodor's life, and Fyodor didn't know what he'd do if Nikolai changed dramatically because of his transformation. Fyodor trusted Nikolai, and he'd only be gone for about five minutes. Fyodor sighed. He didn't want to leave Nikolai or Chuuya alone, but this was something he had to do. Fyodor dialed Teruko, and took a step outside.
At first, there was nothing but silence on the other end of the line, and Fyodor wondered if he'd called the wrong number. "Teruko?" He asked. "Did you know?" She asked, her voice sounding alarmingly calm. Teruko was downright frightening when she was angry, and when Teruko sounded calm, that's when Fyodor knew exactly how angry she truly was. And right now, her fury was palpable.
Fyodor could tell exactly what she meant. Fukuchi had been in charge of the hunting dogs, but also the decay of angels. Fyodor, who was on his team, would have had to have known. But there was a good reason he didn't tell Teruko about it. "He would have potentially killed Nikolai if I told you." More silence. "Ah." Teruko said pleasantly. "I see." She said. "Well, if that's the case, then I suppose it's fine not to tell me that my oldest human friend is responsible for almost destroying the world. It's not like all my friends almost died, or I had to kill Fukuchi, or anything like that."
Oh, she was livid. She had every right to be, of course. Not telling Teruko was something Fyodor would regret for the rest of their eternal lives. But Fyodor wouldn't have done anything that would have risked losing Nikolai. Surely, Teruko had to know that by now. But, she also had friends, and important people in her life. All three of her remaining teammates had almost died. Teruko might never forgive Fyodor for that.
"How do you sleep at night?" Teruko asked, her voice trembling with rage. Fyodor braced himself. The volcano was about to erupt. He was suddenly extremely glad that he was having this conversation over the phone, not in person, because he might have been in for a fight. "How do you live with yourself, knowing that your silence almost cost me the most important people in my life?" It almost sounded like Teruko was crying. "How do you justify forcing me to kill Fukuchi?"
Fyodor sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. He thought she'd be mad, but he didn't know she'd be this mad. "Your friends. The hunting dogs. Are they okay?" Fyodor asked hesitantly. "Yes." Teruko said, slightly calming down. "No thanks to you." Fyodor would never hear the end of this one. "It was cutting it really close, though." Teruko said, and Fyodor could hear the fear in her voice. That was when Fyodor knew just how serious this was. Teruko was never afraid, but she'd been scared to death that she'd lose her friends.
"Jouno's still in the hospital." Teruko said, with a small quiver in her voice. "The doctors are telling me he's going to wake up, but I don't know. It's been three days, and he hasn't moved yet." Fyodor didn't know what to say here. What could he say? Teruko was right. All of this could have been avoided if he'd told her about Fukuchi. But if Fyodor had done that, he would have lost Nikolai. Fukuchi was angry, unpredictable, and violent, which was a dangerous combination. Frequently, he'd stab his teammates when they messed up at something. Fyodor knew that if he ruined Fukuchi's whole operation, Fukuchi would take away the one thing Fyodor loved the most in the world. Nikolai. Fyodor had known what might happen to Teruko and her friends, but he'd kept quiet because he had to keep Nikolai. But now he'd come very close to burning another important bridge in his life.
"Jouno will wake up." Fyodor said. "How do you know?" Teruko asked angrily. "Because I'm a very smart person and I know things." Fyodor said. He could practically hear Teruko's eye roll. "Fukuchi killed Jouno's parents in their home when Jouno was a kid." Fyodor said. He figured that if everything about Fukuchi was coming out, perhaps it was time to let it happen. "Jouno came out of hiding to check on his parents when he thought Fukuchi was gone, and Fukuchi thought it was another enemy. An adult one. So he slashed Jouno across the eyes."
Teruko sank back against the wall behind her, and slowly slid to the floor. "I knew Fukuchi did that sometimes." She said. "The thing with the eyes, I mean. He'd reason that his enemies couldn't fight him as well if they didn't have their sight." Like what happened to Tachihara. Fyodor could hear anger in Teruko's voice again, but this time, it was anger with herself. "I knew he randomly took in this kid he found in the prison, and that Jouno's eyes are all scarred up. How the hell did I not put two and two together?"
Fyodor shook his head quickly. "I didn't say that because I wanted you to feel bad. Nobody knew who Fukuchi really was." Besides Fyodor and the rest of the decay of angels, but he'd do well to remain quiet on that issue. "Fukuchi was a monster, there's no denying that, but even he had some semblance of a conscience. He felt bad he'd almost killed this kid, so he decided to sort of adopt Jouno, and train him as part of the hunting dogs as a result." Fyodor said. "Fukuchi wouldn't have killed him. Jouno will wake up. There aren't many things in this life that I can promise you, especially not when it comes to humans, but your friend is going to be okay."
"Thank you, Fyodor." Teruko said. "I'll forgive you this once. But don't do it again." The anger hadn't entirely left her voice, but Teruko seemed mildly calmer. Fyodor...had really dodged a bullet this time. Fyodor put his phone away, and headed back for the living room. Somehow, he'd managed to get out of that one without Teruko wanting to kill him. That was progress. Now, it was time to see if he could achieve the same result with Chuuya.
