My Friend of Misery (A Kekkaishi sequal)

What did you think of the first part?

Awesome! I loved it!	50.0%	[ 13 ]
It was pretty good.	7.7%	[ 2 ]
It was good for a first try, but needs work	11.5%	[ 3 ]
It was okay, needs some tweaking though	3.8%	[ 1 ]
It sucked	11.5%	[ 3 ]
I didn't read the first part XD	15.4%	[ 4 ]
Total Votes:			[ 26 ]

[liz 163]

Hey guys, I told you there'd be a sequal to Gen the so called "heartless" transfer student, and here it is. As you can see from BOTH stories, I suck with tittles, so this one doesn't have one yet. I' ll put one up as soon as I can come up with one. Same rules as part one, no posting until the end of the story. Enjoy smile

Edit: Alright! I finally figured out what to name this! *does a little victory dance*

Edit #2: Hey guys, Gen, the so called "heartless" transfer student(a Kekkaishi Fanfic) got a title change and it's edited version is now being posted on deviantART. Here's the link to my account if you want to read them: [Link]

Edit #3: Xander belongs to Irene1792, and I have permission to use him in this fanfic.

Current Status: Finished
For those of you who havent read the first part, here is the link: Gen, the so called "heartless" transfer student(a Kekkaishi Fanfic)

[liz 163]

Six Months Ago...

It had been a few months since Lissette had left the Shadow Organization. She'd been selling some of her art to get by, and things could have been going worse.
She was in a town, miles away from the Shadow Organization and was renting a small apartment in its outskirts. It was pretty dangerous in that part of town. if you couldn't defend yourself. This is where most runaways ended up too.
She'd come pretty close to finding out about her mother a few times, but still hadn't even managed to find out her first name yet.
Lissette was walking back to her apartment, when she thought she heard something in a nearby ally. She walked towards it, and poked her head around a corner.
There were three men who looked like they were in their thirties, buff, and freaking ugly, and a girl who looked about her age, with short blond hair, and piercing sapphire blue eyes.
The girl was on her knees with her head down, with two of the three men on either side of her, each holding an arm. The third (and ugliest) one punched her in the gut, and she seemed to be holding back a scream.
"You're a freak Saph! You hear me? A freak! No normal person can summon demons, and it wouldn't be a good idea to have someone with that much power around. You know, we're doing you a favor. You could let us be the ones to kill you, or you can just wait for the angry mob to come after you." He laughed. "Then again, why bother giving you a choice? May as well get it over with. It's not like you could get away from us anyways. Not without this anyways."
He held up a gold chain with some sort of blue gem dangling from it. The girl-or as they had called her, "Saph"- started struggling to get out of the other two men's grasp.
"Give it back you b*****d! Or you'll see just how much power I can use!" she threatened. He laughed at her and kicked her.
"I don't think you're in any position to be making threats like that. Besides, you can't summon your little demons to help you without this." he replied, waving the gem in her face. He put it in his pocket and pulled out a large knife.
"Now let's make this quick. I can't wait to see what every one's reaction will be when they hear that you're dead." He aimed the knife at her. That was when Lissette jumped in.
She ran up behind him and punched him in the back of the head, knocking him out cold. The necklace fell out of his pocket, and one of the other two let go of the girl and came at her. Lissette dodged him easily and kicked him in the face, sending him flying into a wall.
The girl kicked the third one in the...well, you can guess, and he let go of her. He tried to catch her again as she goes for the necklace, but Lissette stopped him and he ended up like his friends, passed out on the asphalt.

Erika couldn't believe what she'd just seen. A brow-haired, green-eyed girl, had just beaten the crap out of those guys, and saved her life.
"Hey, you okay?" the girl asked. Erika stared at her a moment, then nodded.
"Can you still stand up?"
Erika nodded again, then tried to stand. She kept her balance, but her head and everything else seemed to be pounding from the pain. She looked over at the girl who had just saved her. She had walked over to where Erika's necklace had fallen, and picked it up. She walked back over to Erika and held it out to her.
"I'm guessing this is yours?" she asked.
Erika nodded once again, taking it and putting it back around her neck where it belonged.
"Thanks" she said. She looked back over at the passed out thugs from her home town that had just tried to kill her.
"Mind teaching me how to do that? Because I doubt that they're going to stay unconscious."
"You know, if you can't defend yourself, then you definitely shouldn't be here. especially on your own."
Erika smirked.
"Like I've really got another option." She looked at the part of her wrists where those assholes had been digging their nails in an attempt to keep her from resisting too much. They were bleeding very badly. The other girl noticed it too.
"Come on. You'd better get your wrists bandaged up, before you bleed to death. Then you'd better get home." she said turning around and walking away. Erika followed.
"I'm Erika by the way." she said.
"I'm Lissette."
Erika kept following. She had no intentions of ever going back home. She wasn't crazy, she knew that going back now would be suicide.

Lissette could tell that there was something strange about Erika. There was a strange energy coming off of her and her necklace. She probably had special abilities. The guy with the knife had mentioned something about Erika being able to control demons, so she was probably a demon tamer. Like Atora.
Lissette cringed at the thought of there being a second Atora. She looked back at Erika. She didn't seem anywhere near a perky, thank God.
"I'm not going back home." Erika said.
"Why not?" Lissette asked. If she had a home to go to, she would have gone there a long time ago.
"They'd kill me."
"I can see why they'd be upset that you left, but..."
Erika snickered. "You're kidding right? They're probably ecstatic that I'm gone. Everyone back home was afraid of me. I was just some freak of nature to them."
"Welcome to my world." Lissette mumbled, hoping she wouldn't hear.
"What?"
"Nothing" Lissette looked at Erika's wrists again, they were still bleeding pretty badly.
"We'd better hurry up, before you bleed to death."
Erika nodded and didn't say anything else. Lissette was starting to like this girl. If only she could learn how to defend herself...

Back at Lissette's Apartment...

Lissette had made her sit down while she bandaged up her wrists. While she was doing that, Erika started with the questions.
"What did you mean when you said 'welcome to my world' earlier?" she asked. Lissette sighed.
"You really want to know?" Erika nodded.
"Fine, on one condition."
"What?"
"You have to tell your story first."
Erika asked like she'd just told her to go jump off of a cliff. Maybe she won't have the same reaction as everyone else? she thought.
"Ever since I was born, I've been able to possess certain...creatures, and occasionally people that had special powers. It was easier to control them than the creatures, but I still can't control them very well. In fact, I could only use my powers on accident whenever I got pissed off. That is, until I got this." she said, holding up the necklace.
"I don't know how, but it actually helps me control them. Heck, without this, I wouldn't even be able to use my powers! Otherwise those bastards who just tried to kill me would have been grateful that you came along.
When I told my parents about it though, it just made them panic even more. People wouldn't have been as afraid if it weren't for the fact that whatever I control has to have demon...no what was it called again? Oh yeah, ayakashi blood in them. I don't know why, but it doesn't work on normal people." she finished. Erika waited for her to react, but the only thing she had any reaction to was the part about the ayakashi blood. She looked a little nervous about that, but just sat there, re-bandaging Erika's wrists for the third time.
She was bleeding a lot. In fact, the first two attempts were soaked with blood, and she was starting to feel a little bit light headed. Then suddenly, everything went black.

Why won't she stop bleeding? Lissette thought as she tried again to re-bandage Erika's wrists and listen to her story.
Suddenly, Erika's eyes flashed a strange blue light, and she passed out. That, was when the baby dragon flew into the room. Normally, Lissette would have killed it on the spot, but the dragons eyes were glowing the same strange blue Erika's had been when she'd passed out. Lissette looked over at Erika's unconscious form. Is she really doing this? she thought. She noticed that Erika's necklace was glowing as well.
The dragon went over to Erika and nudged her, then licked the blood off of her wrists. The bleeding slowed. Lissette quickly went over and bandaged Erika's wrists before she lost any more blood. A few seconds later, her eyes opened back up and she sat up.
"I passed out, didn't I?" she asked. Lissette nodded.
The dragon nudged Erika again, and she patted its head. Erika's eyes and necklace had both stopped glowing. The dragon’s eyes had stopped glowing as well, and were a pale violet color. A huge contrast to its scales, which ranged several different shades of blue.
"Thanks Fafnir, I owe you one." Fafnir hirred happily as she patted his head again.
Well, at least I know she wasn't kidding about controlling ayakashi. Probably not a good idea to tell her that I'm part ayakashi, not yet. Lissette thought. Fafnir turned his attention to her. he half walked, half flew over to her, stuck his nose in her face, and sniffed. After a few seconds, he got out of her face, stuck his scaly blue head under her hand, and looked up at her expectantly. Lissette sent Erika a questioning look.
"He wants you to pat his head." she explained.
Lissette looked back at Fafnir. She patted his head and hirred happily. Erika giggled.
"He likes you." she said.
"Where'd he come from?" Lissette asked, hoping he hadn't been kidnapped. Dragonesses were very aggressive when you messed with their children.
"I found him a while ago. At first I thought he was just a big lizard. But when I got a closer look, I saw the wings on his back. One of them was all bent up and looked broken, so I snuck him home. I'm still glad that my parents weren't home that day, otherwise I would've been run out a lot sooner. Anyways, I bandaged up his wing and kept him hidden until he could fly again. He didn't stay gone for very long. In fact, he came back the next day, with this." Erika said, holding up the necklace.
"He's hardly ever left my side since...well, except during the day anyways. Other than that, he's always around." Fafnir walked back over to Erika and she patted his head affectionately. She looked back at Lissette.
"Okay, you know my story now. It's your turn." she said.
Lissette sighed. She'd been hoping that she could have avoided talking about that. Great, I have to lie to her already. she thought.
Lissette hesitated for a minute, trying to cut out or edit anything that would tell Erika she was half ayakashi.
When she had it all sorted out in her head, she told her. Erika seemed to hang onto her every word. When Lissette finished, Erika just sat there with a look of both shock, and pity on her face. Lissette got out her sketchbook, not wanting to see the pity anymore. She started a sketch of Fafnir. She hadn't ever drawn a dragon before, and she didn't plan on missing her chance now.

I thought that I had it bad...I've never had a sister, but it can't really get worse that finding the dead body of one. Erika thought. She's still hiding something though...oh well. It's not really my business. She can tell me when she thinks she's ready to.
She looked at Fafnir. He was trying to see what Lissette was doing.
Lissette glanced at him, then turned the sketchbook so he could see what it was. There, on the page, was a smaller, black and white version of Fafnir.
Fafnir looked at the sketch and hirred approvingly. He tried to pose for another sketch. Erika laughed. Lissette just rolled her eyes.
"I have to finish this one first." she told him, picking up a light blue pencil and going back to working on the sketch. Fafnir looked disappointed for a moment, then peeked over her shoulder at the drawing as she worked. Lissette didn't say anything.
Erika sat there snickering at Fafnir for a moment. A minute or two of silence after, curiosity took over and she joined Fafnir in watching Lissette draw. She didn't seem to notice.
Lissette had almost finished his scales, using just about any shade of blue you could think of. The drawing looked like it could jump off of the page at any second!
She finished the scales, and picked up a pale violet color a started working on Fafnir's eyes.
"Are you two down breathing down my neck yet?" she asked, finally noticing them hovering over her shoulder.
"Sorry" Erika said backing away a little bit. Fafnir kept staring at the now finished sketch of him. Lissette closed the sketchbook. Fafnir snatched it away before it closed all of the way and the page landed on a different picture.
Erika walked over to Fafnir and made him give her the sketchbook. The picture was of a spiky haired little with dark eyes who looked about ten years old.
"Who's this?" Erika asked, handing Lissette her sketchbook back. Lissette's face darkened.
"Nobody, I drew that one a long time ago." she said, taking the sketchbook and closing it shut. Erika dropped the subject. After what she'd seen in the ally, she really didn't want to piss her off.
"Do you think those morons are going to come after you again?" Lissette asked, as she put the sketchbook away.
"Probably" Erika mumbled.
"You might want to stick around here then. Until you can at least defend yourself without the necklace that is."
Erika looked at her expression to see if she was kidding. She was dead serious.
"OK then." Erika answered. And just like that, Erika had made her first (seemingly) human friend.

Three Months Later...

Erika was a fast learner, Lissette was finding that out pretty fast. She was learning so quickly in fact, she'd nearly kicked Lissette's butt the past few times they'd been training. She would have too yesterday, if Fafnir hadn't decided to join in and make her laugh enough that she lost her focus.
There was still the issue with the necklace though. Lissette couldn't even get her to take the damned thing off, let alone use her powers without it.
Also lately, Erika seemed to be hiding something. It was like she was hiding something.
But then again, Lissette couldn't really blame her. She still hadn't told her about being half ayakashi yet.
Erika seemed to be getting suspicious though, like someone had told her...
No Lissette thought. There's no way that any of them could have found me. They've probably all forgotten about me by now. She felt a little relieved by the thought for a moment, then she remembered her promise to Gen that she'd come back. I wonder if he's forgotten me too...

Erika checked to see if Lissette had left yet. She always went to the inner parts of the city to sell some of her art during the day.
No sign of her here. Erika left the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind her.
She no more than left the building, which the weird guy with white hair and a constantly blank expression that’d been following her whenever she left, started following her. Erika ignored him and kept walking. He followed. She'd put her training to use a few times, but this guy just could not take a hint. And that wasn't even the pathetic part! The pathetic part, was that he kept trying to convince her that Lissette was a half ayakashi!
Yeah, right. She'd believe that when she saw it for herself. She looked behind her. He was still following her in that strange silence of his.
"You can try to convince me about Lissette all you want, I'm not going to believe it until I see it for myself." she told him, not bothering to turn around and say it to his face. He stayed silent. Wow, he actually isn't going to argue this time. she thought. He was actually so quiet, she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore. She turned to find that he was gone. She had the feeling that that wouldn't be the last that she'd see of him though.

Two Months Later...

Lissette had been acting strangely over the last month. She'd been training with Erika more often, and didn't go as easy on her anymore. And Erika knew why.
The place had been crawling with ayakashi ever since Erika's last encounter with that stalker. (who, Erika figured, was also and ayakashi) She hadn't seen him since then, but she had the feeling that he had something to do with this.
Erika had managed to keep the ayakashi out of the building so far, but she had the feeling that Lissette had been helping with that somehow.
She was starting to get harder and harder to beat during training. Every time that Erika would come close to beating her, she'd end up falling on her a**. She still had a lot of training to go through.

[liz 163]

Lissette had been going out after dark, killing as many ayakashi as she could in her human form. She'd been getting closer and closer to tracking down the b*****d who kept sending them too. Whoever they were, she was definitely going to put an end to this.
The hard part though, was keeping all of it a secret from Erika. She seemed to be getting more suspicious by the minute. Erika could easily beat any ordinary human to a pulp now, but that hadn't really been the issue...until the ayakashi started sowing up, the biggest issue had been keeping Fafnir hidden during the day. The dragon practically lived in a closet all day!
It was pretty funny that he kept posing whenever Lissette got out her sketchbook though.
He almost reminded her of Raizou...she was starting to miss that annoying fur ball. Except the tackling, that, she didn't miss at all.
She took her phone out of her pocket, and turned it on for the first time in the past month. She'd kept it turned off, because she kept getting messages. From Gen.
She wasn't really all that surprised that there was another one. She played it back. There was a moment of silence for a few seconds, then he said something.
"Dammit Lissette, pick up!"
She couldn't really tell if he was worried, or just pissed off because she didn't answer, or call back for that matter. He never picked up when he was pissed off anyways, so there wasn't really much chance that he'd answer either.
Fafnir was now hovering over her shoulder, probably wondering why Lissette's phone was cussing at her. She put the phone back in her pocket. Maybe it was time for her to go back...
Fafnir stuck his head under her hand and looked up at her pleadingly. She patted his head and he hirred happily. Lissette looked over at Erika, who'd fallen asleep over an hour ago.
She couldn't just leave them, not with all of the ayakashi around the area.
Lissette headed for the door. Fafnir looked at her questioningly with his head cocked to one side. Lissette motioned for him to stay quiet.
"Watch Erika until I get back." she whispered. He hirred quietly to show that he understood, and went over to Erika, laying down next to her and pretending to be asleep.
Lissette snuck out the door of the apartment, and out of the building.
She no more than shut the door, that a bird-like ayakashi swooped down and tried to attack her. Sword blades shot out of her hands and slashed at it, turning it to ribbons. It had been like this for the past week, you couldn't even leave a building after dark without being attacked anymore.
At this rate, Lissette wouldn't be going back anytime soon.

Erika had actually woken up a few minutes ago, but had pretended to still be asleep. She'd thought Lissette had been leaving at night, and now she'd caught her re-handed.
Erika crept out of the apartment after her. (Fafnir wasn't just pretending to be asleep anymore) She managed to "convince" the giant, cat-like ayakashi that met her outside that it didn't want to kill her. It stalked away and she continued to look for Lissette.
She found several dumpsters full of dead ayakashi as she walked, all of them sliced to ribbons, or covered in slash marks.
Erika tried not to puke from the smell of death that hung in the air. Had Lissette actually done this? Had she really been able to kill all of these ayakashi? On her own?
No, even she couldn't handle this many ayakashi on her own...could she? she thought. Erika thought back to the ayakashi that had been following her.
Was he telling the truth? Is that really what she's been hiding from me this whole time? she thought.
No, she trusts me enough to tell me that...doesn't she?
Erika kept darting around everywhere, searching for Lissette. She was so focused on finding Lissette, she didn't notice the ayakashi slinking up behind her.
That is, she didn't notice it until she heard the slash of swords behind her as Lissette cut it to pieces in one hit. Erika turned around, surprised at what she saw. It was an ayakashi girl that almost looked human, with jet black hair, blood red eyes, and sword blades sprouting from her hands.
Other than that, the ayakashi looked just like...
"Lissette?"
The ayakashi turned towards her, a glare on her face. It really WAS her. The ayakashi who'd been stalking her, had been right.

Lissette had lost control. She didn't remember how i had happened, or how many humans she'd nearly killed along with the ayakashi, but it didn't matter. It had only been a matter of time before this would have happened anyways.
She heard her name being called. For a second, she'd thought that the Shadow Organization had found her. Then she saw that it was Erika. Her expression changed from a glare, to a look of confusion. Hadn't she been asleep when she left?
Erika was still staring at the sword blades in disbelief. Lissette quickly put them away and changed back into her human form. Erika stood there for a moment, staring at her. Then she slapped her int the face. Lissette could still feel the sting from contact later.
Erika was looking at her with a look of pure hatred and distrust now. Her eyes started to glow blue, as did her necklace. The tow major signs that she was now possessing something.
Before Lissette could even try to explain, Fafnir had come out of nowhere, and slammed into her and pinned her to the ground. She managed to shove him off, only to be sent flying into a nearby building, his claws slashing her arm in the process. She shoved him at Erika, distracting them both long enough for her to get away.

Lies, everything she told me, all of it, lies. Erika though as she sent Fafnir after Lissette. She was afraid of me the whole time...afraid that I'd try to possess her. Well, I'll give her something to be afraid. I'll give her a reason to have told all of those lies.
Erika let go of her control of Fafnir and he got off of her, giving her a confused look. She looked around for Lissette. She wasn't there anymore.
Damn! She got away.
Fafnir was now staring at the claws he'd scratched Lissette with. They were covered in blood. He looked up at Erika with a look on his face that said 'What-did-I-just-do?'. She patted his head. They'd been betrayed once again.

Lissette ran all the way back to her apartment. She needed to treat the wounds on her arm, and soon. She was already starting to feel light-headed from blood loss. The entire way there, she couldn't get the look on Erika's face out of her mind.
I should have told her earlier. Maybe she wouldn't hate my now if I had. she thought as she shut the door to her apartment behind her and started searching for the bandages.
No, she would have had Fafnir attack me a long time before now if she'd known.
Lissette found the bandages and took off her now halfway blood soaked gray hoodie, trying to see how deep the wounds were.
The claw marks were pretty deep, but not deep enough that she couldn't handle them on her own. She quickly wrapped up her arm, then looked at blood covered hoodie lying on the floor. She picked it up, and threw it in the trash. Then, she started packing up the few belongings that she owned.
She needed to keep Erika from picking up her trail. As soon as she lost her, she'd go back to the Shadow Organization.
There wouldn't be any need for her here anymore.

One Week Later...

Erika had caught up with Lissette every time so far, but somehow, she'd get away every damn time.
That damned coward! When will she stop running? She's just making things worse for herself and she knows it! she thought. This time, it seemed like she'd get away for good.
Erika had gotten a little help from the white-haired ayakashi who'd tried to warn her about Lissette (and who's name turned out to be Byaku).
"She wouldn't be as likely to get away for very long, if she thought that she'd finally lost you." he told her. She shook her head.
"If I let her go now, Fafnir might not be able to track her down again." she said, clutching the blood covered hoodie that they'd been using to track her. Byaku didn't argue.
Erika kept thinking it over for a while after. Hunting Lissette down like they had been doing, didn't seem to be working. Maybe making it seem like they'd lost track of her, would work better than acting like she was a wild animal that needed to "be put to sleep".
She looked at the hoodie. As long as they had that, it couldn't be very hard to get back on her trail.

Two Weeks Later...

Lissette was almost positive that she'd finally lost them. She'd found out who's been sending all o those ayakashi, that had lead to Erika's finding out. She'd found out even more about the group that they worked for, including the fact that her father (who is Kaguro for those of you who haven't read the first part of the story, or just haven't figured that out) was part of that group, which just gave her another reason to get rid of them.
Lissette hoped that her suspicions of them losing her were true, but she wasn't going back to the Shadow Organization until she was absolutely positive. She'd recently heard of a place called Karasumori Academy. Maybe she could try to blend in there until she was sure that she'd lost them. It was worth a shot, and she was running out of options.
She could either let Erika kill her, therefore breaking her promise to Gen, or she could give going to school a try. School it was.

One Week Later...

Lissette had everything planned out. She'd already rented and apartment, (people really liked her drawings, and she drew pretty often) and she'd start going to Karasumori Academy the next day.
She was learning her way around, trying to find the quickest way out of there in case Erika and Fafnir showed up again.
The only thing that she hadn't expected, was being spotted by Hiba. What the hell is he doing here? she thought as she quickly ducked out of sight. He didn't come after her. She went back to her apartment after that. She didn't want to risk running into any other Shadow Organization members.
Then, on the way to school the next day, she nearly ran into Gen.
No way, he's here too? Wait a second, didn't the chief's younger brother go to Karasumori Academy too? Crap, one more person to try and avoid. she thought. So much for not running into the Shadow Organization.

[liz 163]

Present Day...

Lissette looked around. Corpses with familiar faces surrounded her, twisted looks of hatred and fear, covered in blood. Yoshimori, Tokine, Azza, Gen, all of them, dead.
What did this? she thought as she looked around. All of them seemed to be looking at her.
She looked down at her hands. They were covered in blood. Their blood. She stared at them in horror.
What did I just do? she thought, noticing that Karasumori was unusually silent. No response. Even that annoying old piece of dirt seemed to be dead.
"It's your fault." Came a familiar female voice from behind her.
Lissette spun around to see Erika glaring at her, eyes and necklace still glowing from her latest possession.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Lissette asked her.
"You killed them. All of them." Erika said, ignoring the question.
Lissette's rage took over, and she rushed at Erika, blades ready to slice her to pieces.
Lissette awoke, bolting upright and held back a scream. She looked around the apartment. Her gaze stopped on her sister, who was still asleep on the other side of the room. She let out a sigh, and lay back down.
Hey, are you alright? That was some nightmare. Karasumori asked, having seen the nightmare as well, but not having been able to take part in it.
I'm fine, go back to sleep. Lissette responded.
Newsflash Lizzie, dirt doesn't sleep.
It's not supposed to have telepathy either, but that doesn't stop you.
Karasumori laughed. Alright, I get it. I'll shut up now. After that, all was silent.
Except for the voice in the back of her mind, (besides Karasumori) nagging her, saying that if she wasn't careful, that nightmare could become reality. Lissette laid there for the rest of the night, hoping it was wrong.

The Next Day...

Azza woke up the next morning to see her sister, sitting in the corner, meditating. Knowing Lizzie, that meant that she hadn't slept very much, if at all.
"Lizzie, how long have you been doing that?" Azza asked, getting up to get ready for school.
"I don't know, an hour at least." Lissette answered, standing up. She was already wearing her uniform and was just waiting on Azza. Azza gave her a questioning look.
"How long have you been up?"
"A while, You overslept Azza, you'd better hurry up."
"What? Crap, why didn't you wake me up?"
"I tried to, but you just turned over and slapped me in the face...by the way, you talk in your sleep."
Azza's face turned red at that.
"Lizzie?"
"What?"
"None of that - and I mean none of it - leaves the room. Ever."
"Fine with me."
Azza went into the other room and got ready as was humanly possible for her to do, and caught up to her sister just as she was about to walk out the door.
Azza was loving school so far. She'd even made friends with Ayano, the school's Cupid. She'd been wondering who had helped get Lizzie to finally admit that she liked Gen.
...Well, she hadn't actually admitted it, but kissing him was pretty close...right? It was kind of hard to believe that Lizzie didn't like school too.
But then again, Lizzie was always saying things that she didn't mean.

Hey, there's a new student in the school. Karasumori said to Lissette, noticing that she wasn't really paying attention in class anyways.
So?
SO, it's the same girl from your nightmare! How did she get out of your head and into the school?
WHAT?! Lissette replied as the bell rang, meaning that she could go and investigate.
Who is she? Do you know her from somewhere?
You can read my thoughts, figure it out.
Hey, there are parts of your mind that are off limits, even to me. Your mental barriers are stronger in some places than others.
Well then go probe through her head then, just keep quiet, she might be able to hear you.
Fine, but you'd better explain this later if I can't find anything! Karasumori shut up after that.
Lissette started searching for Erika, trying to find her, before Erika found her first.

Erika was roaming the halls, avoiding the brown haired boy with the black notebook that kept asking her questions. She couldn't afford to have any information about her arrival reaching Lissette.
She was so busy avoiding notebook-boy, she didn't even notice the half-asleep boy with shaggy black hair until she walked right into him.
"Sorry" she mumbled and kept walking. She noticed Lissette a few feet away.
Damn! Erika thought as she ducked out of her sight. If she spots me know, she's sure to get away again.
There was no way, no way at all, that Erika was going to let that happen again. Not this time.

Yoshimori watched as the strange girl with curly blonde hair and blue eyes walked past him and out of sight of...Lissette? Why the hell was she hiding from her? Yoshimori kept walking, hoping that there wasn't another sister to worry about. They definitely didn't need anyone else pissing Lissette off.

Lissette scanned the hallway. No Erika, just Yoshimori staring down the hallway like an idiot. She couldn't see Erika anywhere, but the whole area reeked of dragon. Fafnir to be exact.
Erika had to be around here somewhere, and Lissette was going to find her, before someone got hurt.

Gen liked Lissette, there wasn't really any use in him denying it anymore. She still confused the hell out of him though. She'd been trying to avoid him ever since the incident at the Kokubouro.
Thankfully, no one brought it up again afterwards, but Lissette hadn't said a word to him since. She wouldn't even make eye contact anymore.
Gen still felt...weird, thinking about the kiss. Well, weird was about the best word he could come up with that described it. There was probably another word for it, but he couldn't think of it.
Some new girl walked past him in the hall, pulling him out of his thoughts as he avoided getting run into. The scent of dragon overcame everything else.
What the hell... What was a dragon doing in the school, and how was it out during the day?
Lissette walked past a few seconds later, looking determined to catch up to the new girl. Why did Gen have the feeling that those two were the only ones who had any idea what was going on?

Azza searched the halls for the new girl in her class. She'd wanted to welcome her earlier, but she'd left the room before she'd had the chance.
There she was, she was headed outside. Azza rushed to catch up, passing her sister on the way.
"Hey" she said when she caught up to the girl. "You're Erika right?"
The new girl turned around, seeming a bit startled by Azza.
"Yeah..." she said, the startled expression not leaving her face for a minute. Azza smiled.
"Hi, I'm Azza." she said, somehow startling Erika even more than before.
"You wouldn't happen to be Lissette's sister, would you?" Erika asked.
"Yes, do you know her?" Azza replied.
"You could say that..." Erika was looking over Azza's shoulder at Lissette now, and she did not look happy to see her.
"I've got to go now, bye." Erika said, as she started to walk away.
"Okay...I guess I'll see you in class them." Azza called after her.
That was weird...she seems to hate Lizzie. How would Erika even know her, let alone hat her already? She thought as she headed over to the only person (besides Lissette or Erika) that could have the information that she was looking for.
"Hi Hiromu" Azza said, flashing the boy a smile. Getting information from him was almost too easy.
"Hey Azza" He replied, already looking more than a little flustered. "What do you want to know this time?"
"What do you mean?" Azza asked, giving him her innocent I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about act. He gave her his nice-try-but-I'm not-falling-for-that-again look.
Damn, he finally caught on. Azza thought.
"Fine, do you have any information on Erika Saph?" she asked, not really seeing the point of making him nervous if he knew she was doing it.
"The new girl? I've been trying to find something all day, but she keeps avoiding me, and no one else will tell me anything either." he said, sounding disappointed. "I'll tell you as soon as I can find anything though."
"Okay" Azza pouted and walked away.
Oh well, she did just get here today, I should have guessed that Hiromu wouldn't have anything yet she thought, shrugging it off as she headed back to class. The bell was going to ring soon, and Azza hated it when she was late.

Isn't she supposed to be dead?Erika thought as she walked away from a very confused Azza.
Well, there's another lie from Lissette...unless she figured out how to bring back the dead, which isn't very likely.
She slipped into her classroom and into her seat as the bell rang. She'd have to wait and take care of the issue later.

Lissette couldn't focus at all for the rest of the day, even with the meditation she'd done that morning. She had to force herself to focus when they went to Karasumori that night, just to keep from getting herself killed.
It didn't help much. When she wasn't worrying about Erika showing up, she was busy trying to keep from blushing when she made eye contact with Gen.
Thinking about the incidents at the Kokubouro still made her feel...weird. That was about the only word she could think of to describe it.
"Earth to Lizzie! Are you okay?" Azza asked, waving a hand in front of her face and giving her a concerned looked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Lissette answered.
"Are you sure? You've been zoning out a lot today..."
"I'm sure" Lissette walked away after that, ending the conversation.
She wandered around, looking for any ayakashi. She caught a flash of blue out of the corner of her eye as Fafnir stepped out of the trees that surrounded the school, his eyes glowing bright blue.
Sword blades shot from Lissette's hands as he flew straight at her, claws ready to slash her to pieces. She dodged him by seconds, just barely keeping from getting more claw marks on her arm. He flew right into the school, leaving a dragon shaped dent in the side.
Well, Yoshimori and Tokine aren't going to be happy about that. she thought.
"What the hell?!" Yoshimori said as he finally noticed the bright blue dragon that had seemed to some out of nowhere and started attacking Lissette, with Tokine and Gen right behind him.
Fafnir flew at her again. Lissette dodged the attack and slashed at him from behind, leaving a huge mark down his back. He turned around and knocked her into a tree with his tail, then flew away just as Azza showed up.
"Dammit, he got away again." she mumbled, picking herself up off of the ground. Everyone started crowding her with questions, which she ignored and walked away.
Azza took the hint and held Yoshimori and Tokine back, Tokine also taking the hint and helping her to keep Yoshimori from making Lissette's mood even worse.
But they were too busy with Yoshimori to notice that Gen was still following her. He didn't speak up until they were out of earshot of the others.
"Are you okay?" he asked, referring to her collision with the tree.
"Yeah, I'm fine.” she answered, still not able to look him in the eye without turning red. This was the first time she'd spoken to him since the "incident" at the Kokubouro.
She still didn't know whether she wanted to strangle him for confusing her even more, or repeat the kiss. Had he done it just to keep her from glaring at him anymore? Or -and the chances of this were not very likely- did he really like her?
She glanced over at Gen, unintentionally looking him straight in the eye. She quickly looked away and walked off, hoping that he hadn't seen how red her face was.

Azza knew something was wrong. Lizzie had been acting weird ever since she'd gotten back out of that damned blood painting. (which Azza had taken out of its frame and taken with her, just in case) But today, had just crossed the line. Next time she got the chance, Azza was going to ask her about it.

Gen could tell that Lissette was hiding something. There was no way that a dragon would attack her for no reason, let alone just disappear without finishing the job. Someone really wanted to kill Lissette, the question was who? And why? With Kaguro gone and Azza being the only living family member(and non-crazy, perky, but not crazy...yet) that she had left, there didn't seem to be very many other options.
He remembered the girl from the hallway that had nearly run him over, and had smelled like dragon. He could almost guarantee that she had something to do with this.

Dammit Erika thought as she called Fafnir back from attacking Lissette. She must have known that I wouldn't risk letting her kill Fafnir. She glanced everywhere within her range of sight, a few miles away from Karasumori. Where the hell is he? she thought, worried that the injury on his back was worse than it had seemed. She saw something bright blue headed for her and rushed over to it, just as Fafnir collapsed to the ground.
Erika looked at the slash mark on his back that he'd gotten from Lissette's blade. It had hardly even hit the surface of the skin underneath his hard-as-rock scales. He was curled up in a ball, like a sleeping kitten.
He must be exhausted from being possessed for so long. she thought as she put the sleeping dragon on her back and headed for their new apartment.

"What the hell Azza?" Yoshimori said when Azza kept both he and Tokine from following Lissette. Azza looked him straight in the eye, for once acting dead serious.
"I wouldn't bug her right now if I were you." she said.
Translation: 'Don't mess with her right now, unless you want another broken nose. Only from her this time.'
It was pretty hard to believe that Azza and Lissette were sisters, unless you knew that they came from a painting.
Yoshimori still didn't understand the whole blood painting thing, let alone that a girl who was supposed to be dead was holding him back.
That, and unlike Lissette, Azza had only ever hit him once, (which seriously had broken his nose) then had never seemed to lose her temper at anything but ayakashi again.
He remembered the girl who'd seemed to be hiding from Lissette, and hoped that she really wasn't another sister. Two of them was already enough to drive people insane, the world did not need a third one.

[liz 163]

Later That Night...

Lissette didn't even bother trying to sleep that night. If there was one thing that she knew at this point, it was that right now, sleep, wasn't going to happen. Not with Erika around. No, she couldn't afford to let her guard down, even a little bit.
Lissette sat out on the wrought-iron balcony attached to the glass door window of the apartment she shared with her sister, staying wide awake and alert while her sister mumbled something about their mother in her sleep.
Mom...Azza mumbled about her in her sleep a lot. She always had. How was it that Lissette could barely even remember what she looked like, but Azza could remember enough of her to mumble about her in her sleep.
You'll find out when you're ready. Karasumori said, yet again reading her thoughts.
Where have you been? Lissette replied. Karasumori hadn't spoken up since she'd told it to shut up that morning.
Figuring out what's going on. That Erika girl is really mad at you for not telling her something. But she somehow figured out I was in her head and kicked me out before I could figure anything else out.
Lissette was silent. This wasn't Karasumori's problem, and annoying piece of talking dirt or not, she didn't want it getting involved. She could handle this on her own. This was her issue, she wasn't going to let anyone else help her, and risk her nightmare coming true.

The Next Day

When Azza woke up the next morning, Lissette was sitting next to her a fading hand print and annoyed look on her face.
"Let me guess, I slapped you in the face when you tried to wake me up?" Azza asked. Lissette nodded.
"You were mumbling again too...about mom." she added.
Azza didn't respond. She still clearly remembered the day that their mother had been killed. That was what she'd dreamt about for the past week. She couldn't say that to Lizzie though, she would be really mad that she hadn't said something before.
She got up and got ready in the other room, like normal, then met her sister by the door.
"SO, what's been going on with you lately?" Azza asked after a few minutes of silently walking to school. Lissette stayed quiet, but gave her sister a 'what-are-you-talking-about?' look.
"Don't give me that look Lizzie, you've been acting weird ever since I got back! Specifically, ever since Gen kissed you." Azza remarked, raising an eyebrow when her sister blushed over that last part.
"Oh, I see what's going on." She said with a bit of a smirk.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Lissette replied, not looking her sister in the eye.
"You like Gen!" Lissette's face quickly reddened as she put a hand over her sister's mouth.
"Shut up! Someone's going to hear you!" She said in a harsh whisper. Azza giggled as Lissette took her hand away.
"It's true then! You do like him!" Azza said in an excited whisper "That's why you didn't kill him for kissing you."
Lissette's face turned and even darker shade of red at that and she looked at the sidewalk in embarrassment.
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about Lizzie." Azza remarked, seeing the look on her sister's face. Lissette rolled her eyes at her.
"Coming from the girl that flirts to get information, that doesn't really help."
"Hey! It's better than beating the answers out of people!"
"You have your ways, I have mine." Lissette mumbled, just loud enough to be heard. Azza smirked. Why did her sister have to be so...violent?

Erika had attempted to possess nearly every person in the school, but it hadn't worked on anybody. The only people it had seemed to have any effect on at all, were Tokine Yukimura, a sophomore in high school, and Yoshimori Sumimura, who was in Lissette's class. She hadn't been able to keep control of them for very long though. So far, plan B was not going so well.
There were only two people that she hadn't tried possessing yet, (besides Lissette) were Gen Shishio, and Azza.
Erika had been about to try it on Gen after she'd dropped Fafnir off at their apartment, but someone had stopped her. By throwing some sort of poisonous dagger at her, which had scrapped her arm when she'd tried to dodge it.
She'd turned around to find a man with white hair and green eyes behind her. She'd also tried possessing him. It had worked, so he was probably a half ayakashi.
One thing she knew for sure though, if plan B didn't work, she was going to use this to her advantage.

Gen sat staring out the window in class, wondering if Lissette was as bored out of her mind as he was. He wasn't really startled by his sudden thought of her. That had been happening a lot lately.
She wasn't annoying, like other girls were. Although when her stubbornness nearly killed her, it was extremely frustrating...mainly because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stay mad at her for anything. It had always been that way. Only know he knew why.
But admitting to himself that he liked Lissette wouldn't change anything, unless he could somehow admit it to her. Which, so far, didn't really seem possible.
Thinking about all of this was starting to give him a headache. Even when he tried to stop thinking about it, the pain in his head just go worse, like someone was trying to crush his skull.
What the... This was his last thought before everything went black.

Yes! It worked! Erika thought as she headed outside to see plan B at work. She kept her head down, trying to keep people from seeing her glowing eyes as she stepped outside, while Gen headed straight for Lissette. She climbed up into a nearby tree, seeing Lissette close by and wanting to make sure that nothing went wrong this time.
This was the day she'd been waiting for. The day that she'd give Lissette something to be afraid of.

Lissette was walking around outside, thinking about what Azza had said that morning.
I'm not embarrassed She thought, I just don't know how to tell him
Well, you'd better figure it out fast, because he's coming over here. Karasumori said.
Lissette turned around to find Gen standing a few feet away. Right away, she noticed that something was wrong. Mainly because his eyes were glowing blue. That, and he swiped at her with his claws.
She quickly dodged the hit and got out of his reach.
Why the hell is Erika having him attack during the day? She thought.
Because she knows that you're the only one who would know that she had caused this. Karasumori replied. Lissette took a quick glance around, glad that no one else seemed to be around.(Except for Yoshimori, who was asleep on the school roof)
Her eyes landed on Erika who was sitting on a tree branch, eyes glowing as she possessed Gen. Lissette gritted her teeth in anger as she made him try to hit her again.
Lizzie, you're going to have to shock him out of it!
And how the hell do you suggest that I do that? Lissette replied to Karasumori as she dodged another hit.
...Do I really have to say it? Lissette's face reddened as she realized what Karasumori meant.
I can't just punch him?
No, he'd be expecting that. It's the only way to break Erika's hold on him. Unless you'd rather have her force one of you to kill each other...
Alright, I get it...this had better work.
He swiped at her again, just as she finished her thought. She grabbed a hold of the arm he'd swung at her, and used it to pull herself closer to him.
She hesitated. It might be better for everyone if she let Erika kill her now. Who knew what Erika had in mind if this didn't work?
She remembered how the others had reacted when she'd been injured at the Kokubouro, the looks on their faces.
She pressed her lips to Gen's. She didn't ever want a repeat of that.

Gen regained consciousness, startled to find Lissette kissing him. This day kept getting more confusing by the second. Why did he have the feeling that that wasn't going to change anytime soon?

Yoshimori yawned after awakening from his nap on the roof. He looked over at the spot where Gen usually was.
Huh, wonder where he is. He thought as he looked around. His eyes stopped when he saw the strange blond girl from the day before sitting in a tree. He looked a little closer.
What the hell?! Why are her eyes glowing?!
His eyes followed her (creepily) glowing gaze to what she was looking at.
What he saw was shocking enough to nearly make him fall off of the building.
Gen and Lissette were kissing, in broad daylight, where anyone who looked out a window could see them.
So much for Lissette not being his girlfriend. He thought. Then again, after what he'd seen before and after the fight with Kaguro at the Kokubouro, it wasn't that surprising.
The surprising thing, was the surprised look on Gen's face. Also, the look of pure hatred on the blond girl's face as she glared at Lissette.
Looks like Lissette has some competition...and from the looks of it, the other girl doesn't stand a chance. Yoshimori sighed. This, was not going to end well for the blond girl.

Gen stood there as Lissette pulled away, staring at her in shock.
"What..." He couldn't even finish his sentence. All he could do was stand there, feeling like an idiot.
He saw something move out of the corner of his eye, and looked to see the blond girl (who smelled almost exactly like the dragon that had attacked Lissette last night) drop down from a tree, glare at Lissette for a second, then run for the school
He looked back to Lissette.
"What's going on?" He asked, making his voice sound a lot calmer than he actually was. She sighed.
"It's a long story."
"I've got time."
She started explaining about what all had happened during the last half of the year that she'd been gone, starting where Erika had nearly been killed by uglies one, two, and three. Both of them avoided eye contact the entire time, not wanting to add to the awkwardness that the incident a moment ago had created.
When Lissette finally finished, school was nearly over.
"Why didn't you say something before?" Gen asked.
"I didn't know what tricks Erika would use, I didn't want to drag everyone else into this too. That, and at the time, there was plenty of other things going on at the time." She answered.
She was actually looking him in the eye now, making her point.
Gen didn't say anything. Not because he couldn't think of an argument, but because he knew he'd be wasting his breath. Why did she have to be so stubborn about things that were likely to get her killed?
She started back to class.
"Might as well stay out here, class will be over soon." He told her "Come on"
He motioned for her to follow him. She seemed to hesitate for a minute, then followed.

Yoshimori watched as Gen led Lissette to where he was at, pretending to be asleep when they got to the ladder leading up to the roof.
Gen went to his usual spot, while Lissette sat on the edge of the building.
"Better tell him too, before he starts bugging all of us." Gen told her.
"I know, and I will, as soon as he stops pretending to be asleep." Lissette replied.
Damn Yoshimori thought, sitting up. She'd seen through the act.
"Tell me what?" He asked, having the feeling that this had something to do with what he'd seen earlier.
Lissette told Yoshimori about Erika's real reasons for being at the school, including the scene that he'd seen just moments ago. She finished just as the final bell of the say rang and students started pouring out of the building.
"Does Azza know yet?" Yoshimori asked her, as she started down the ladder.
"Not yet." She answered "I'll tell her on the way home."
She hasn't even told her own sister yet? He thought as he followed both of them down the ladder. You'd think that she'd be the first person that she'd tell.
He'd no more than finished the thought, that he caught her glaring at him like she wanted nothing more than to turn him into a human shish kabob right now. Either she'd learned how to read minds, or she just plain hated his guts...most likely all of the above.
She turned around and walked over to Azza, who was waiting for her by the gate, like usual. Yoshimori smirked as Gen followed them. He'd just seen Lissette's 'go jump off of a cliff into a vat of boiling lava' look. He could see why Gen was afraid to say that he liked her.

[liz 163]

Azza was completely silent on the way home as Lissette explained the situation for the third time that day. Occasionally she'd nod, but her expression darkened each second until Lissette had finished. There was a moment where none of them made any noise other than their feet hitting the sidewalk.
"We won't let her do it." Azza said. Lissette didn't say anything.
That's why I didn't tell you guys. I didn't want everyone else to get hurt because of my mistake. She thought.
Lizzie, it would have been even worse if you hadn't told them. This way they can be on better guard for Erika's next attack. Karasumori told her, obviously trying to make her feel better.
"No" Lissette said, suddenly stopping and staring at the ground. "I don't want anyone else getting involved." She glanced up. Azza looked a bit surprised, but frustrated at the same time, while Gen seemed to be staring off into space.
"But Lizzie..." Azza started, but Lissette cut her off.
"No buts Azza. I got myself into this mess, I can get myself out of it." Lissette told her, meaning to put an end to the conversation, and walking away. Hopefully, Erika wouldn't involve the others again.

Azza just stood there for a moment, stunned. She went to stop Lissette, to tell her that she'd help, whether she wanted it or not, but she didn't. Gen had beaten her to it.
He grabbed Lissette by the hand, just as she walked past him, causing her to stop and look back at him.
"Don't be stupid. Remember what almost happened the last time you tried to handle something like this yourself? You were nearly killed." He told her.
Azza was just as startled by his words as Lissette was. True, Gen never really said much, (that she'd heard) but this was the first time that she'd ever heard anyone, ever, call her sister stupid.
Azza clenched her fists at her side as she remembered what had happened at the Kokubouro. No one wanted a repeat of that. Gen had been the one to carry Lizzie out of the Kokubouro, but even without that, and what he'd just said, it was obvious that he had feelings for her. Of course he wanted to help.
As for Azza, she knew what it was like to be dead. She didn't want her sister to go through that yet. She wouldn't let her.

Gen didn't think about what he was saying until the words were already out of his mouth. He didn't even bother to try to apologize though. He would have been laying it he'd said he didn't mean it.
This was one of those times where if Lissette didn't stop being so stubborn, it would get her killed. He was not letting that happen.
Lissette looked at him, surprise written all over her face. She turned around and pulled her hand away.
"Fine, but Erika's my problem. I'll handle her myself." And with that, she walked off before anyone could say anything else about it.
"Wait up Lizzie!" Azza called as she ran to catch up with her sister.
Gen waited until they were both out of sight to start walking back to his apartment again, unable to handle either one of the two things that were likely to occur. There would either be an awkward silence, or they'd start arguing, either way, it would severely grate on his nerves, which were already thinning a lot.
When he actually got back, he heard bits and pieces of Lissette and Azza's argument over the Erika issue next door. Hopefully Azza stood a better chance of talking Lissette out of this than he had.

"For the last time Azza, I'm not changing my mind, end of discussion." Lissette told her as she worked on a more recent drawing of Azza. She'd been meaning to work on it for a while, since the other one had been made before she'd died, but she hadn't found any time to work on it.
"Lizzie, you're nuts if you think you can take her on yourself! You're half ayakashi, she'd make you kill yourself before you could get close enough to attack!"
"No, she can't even get in my head unless I let my guard down. Which, I can guarantee you that I won't." Lissette countered, acting calm for a girl on some one's death list. It wasn't as if she hadn't been on one of those before. Everyone in her family had been at some point.
Yeah, and all of them got crossed off as a success at some point except for you Lizzie, does that tell you anything? Karasumori told her.
I already knew that, so thanks for pointing out the obvious. Lissette replied, still not stopping her work on her drawing.
Azza stood there, silently fuming at her sister for a moment for making it so she couldn't come up with a good comeback, the spun around and walked outside, practically slamming the door behind her.
Lissette sighed, dropping her pencil and putting her head in her hands. Why did Azza have to be so melodramatic?

Azza walked away from the apartment building, fist clenched at her sides, silently fuming for the first time in quite a while.
Dammit Lizzie, why don't you ever let anyone help you? I can take care of myself if I get hurt, you know that! So why? She thought.
She knew Lizzie just didn't want her to worry, but ever since she'd gotten back, it felt like she'd been shutting her out. Azza was the older one, she should have been the one protecting Lizzie! Not the other way around.
Lizzie didn't deserve the extra trouble that kept coming at her either, seeing as she'd been pretty much on her own for about four or five years now, if you didn't include her time at the Shadow Organization, and had already been through hell and back a few times in her fourteen years.
How is it that since I got out of that painting, it's been her trying to protect me? Before Kaguro stepped in, it had been the other way around. Is Lizzie really tough enough that she doesn't need me anymore? Azza thought, now a little more depressed than mad.
She quickly chased the thought away. Lizzie had just knew how to deal with this better than she did and didn't want Azza or anyone else to get hurt because of that.
Poor Lizzie, I probably just made things harder on her too...I should go apologize for blowing up at her like that. And with that, Azza turned around, and headed back to the apartment.

Two Days Later...

Lissette was getting ready to go to Karasumori, while Azza was in the other room, doing the same, when something that sounded like a certain dragon hirring at the door reached her.
What the hell... She though, walking over to the door, ready for a fight.
She was surprised, when she was practically tackled to the ground and hirred at happily by Fafnir.
Huh, Erika must not be controlling him right now. Wonder what she has in store for next time.
Fafnir hirred again as he put his head under her hand, wanting some attention. She patted him on the head and sat on the floor next to him.
"Good to see you again too. Even though you did try to kill me again last night...sorry for using my swords on you."
Fafnir hirred, nudging her hand as if to tell her to forget about it. She smirked, knowing that Azza would have gotten a kick out of this if she'd been in the room.
"Lizzie, who are you talking to?" Azza asked, emerging from the other room.
Speak of the devil... Lissette thought, turning towards her sister.
Fafnir sat back on his hind legs, head cocked to the side as her hirred questioningly at Azza. Azza stood still for a moment, shock obvious from her expression.
"Lizzie..."
"It's fine, unpossessed Fafnir isn't deadly...well, unless he gets excited and tackles you anyway...kind of like Riazo" Lissette explained. Azza giggle and walked over to them.
Fafnir cautiously walked over to her, allowing her to pat him on the head. He hirred happily at the attention. Azza giggled again.
"How could something this adorable be so deadly?" She asked. Lissette shrugged.
"Looks can be deceiving Azza. He may look harmless, but he could kill you if he wanted to." Lissette warned.
"Or if he was forced to." Azza added, a look of disgust on her face. Lissette shook her head.
"Azza, we need to get going, otherwise we won't hear the end of it form Yoshimori." She told her, then turned to Fafnir.
"And you need to go back to Erika, before she comes looking for you."
Fafnir hirred worriedly and zipped out of the apartment.
"Alright, let's get going." Lissette said, walking out of the apartment.
"Hey! Wait up Lizzie!" Azza said, as she closed and locked the door behind her, then ran to catch up to her sister.

Three Days Later...

Hiba, had no freaking idea what was going on. He knew he was at Karasumori, since he could hear the voices of its protectors, but he couldn't see anything, or control his movement. He hadn't been able to since he'd attacked the blond girl and her dragon a few days ago.
How were they controlling him? Was the girl the one controlling him and the dragon? Or was the dragon controlling him and the girl?
Whatever was going on, Karasumori's protectors were sure to have their hands full.

[liz 163]

Erika stuck to the wooded part of the school grounds, while the white haired guy that had attacked her a few nights ago was positioned on the roof, still possessed and waiting to attack. Fafnir, of course, was with Erika, asleep in a tree.
She watched as Lissette chased an ayakashi that looked like a hybrid of a lion and a coyote around the corner, slash at with her swords, then look in Erika's direction.
Now! Erika commanded, causing the white haired man to jump off of the roof, and onto the ground. Plan C was now in motion.

Lissette had smelled Erika, Fafnir, and Hiba as soon as the ayakashi she'd been fighting was dead. But when she'd turned around to face Erika, a currently possessed Hiba stood in front of her, blocking her path.
Dammit! Even when he's not in control of his actions, he's a pain in the a**! She thought, watching carefully for him to make the first move.
Apparently Erika wanted her to make it, because Hiba didn't move.
Don't start the attack, she's waiting for you to move so she'll know how to attack. Karasumori warned.
I know. That's one of the first things I taught her, watch your enemies movement, then look for an opening. Lissette replied, looking for an opening on Erika's side.
She ran straight at Hiba, nearly slicing his arm off. He threw some of his poison daggers at her, one of witch just barely scraped her arm. She winced a bit as it sliced through her skin.
Man, I almost forgot how much those things hurt. She thought, feeling slightly light-headed from the daggers poison.
He kept sending more and more daggers flying at her, most of which she was able to block with err blades. It didn't even come close to stop the constant onslaught, but it kept the majority of them from hitting her at least.
"Lizzie!"
Oh crap. Please Azza, stay out of this! Lissette thought, hearing err sister's voice.
If Erika or Hiba heard her, they didn't acknowledge it. But why would they? Azza wasn't Erika's target. Her target was starting to weaken from all of the poison that was starting to enter her bloodstream, due to all of the scratches she'd gotten, plus the fact that a dagger had been lodged in Lissette's right shoulder for a short while.
Got to...keep dodging. She thought, as she blocked another dagger that had gotten a bit too close to her head.
Just as Lissette felt she'd collapse, the constant onslaught stopped. She looked up. Even with her currently blurry vision, she could see that Azza had picked some of Hiba's discarded daggers, and was now throwing them back at him, hitting her target dead on with each throw.
Azza...what are you thinking? Lissette thought, now feeling weak enough that she could barely even finish her thought. She finally fell to the ground, no longer strong enough to stay standing.

Azza kept throwing Hiba's daggers back at him, knocking new ones out of his...well, they looking like plant vines...before he could throw them.
"Leave my sister alone!: SHe yelled, more in Erika's direction, since Hiba probably couldn't hear her. Azza kept fighting the urge to run to her fallen sister, and drag her away. If she stopped now, then they'd both be in trouble.
Please hand on for a little longer Lizzie! I'll be finished soon! Azza thought, hitting Hiba smack dab in the left arm, just half way between his elbow and his shoulder. He collapsed like a sack of flour that had just been dropped.
Once she was sure that he was out cold, Azza ran straight over to her sister.
"...Lizzie?" Azza said, poking her sister in the arm. Lissette groaned a bit in response, her eyes opening slowly. Azza let out a relieved breath that she hadn't known she was holding. Lizzie was alive. Hurt very badly, and probably unable to stand at the moment, but alive.
She looked over to where Erika and Fafnir had been a little while ago. They were gone.

Dammit! Erika thought, watching as Hiba fell. As soon as he hit the ground, so did she. The main difference: she was conscious, and running like her life depended on it, and Fafnir was following her.
So much for that plan...I didn't count on her sister saving her.
One thing was for sure, Erika wouldn't be making that mistake a second time.

Yoshimori and Tokine were heading towards to source of the commotion. Instead, they ended up running right into Erika and Fafnir.
Dammit! Erika thought. They've seen us!
"Alright Fafnir, go get 'em!" She said, taking over the young dragon's mind with little resistance. Fafnir never resisted against her control.
Fafnir flew at the kekkaishi, dive bombing them, while Erika ran for the exit. The last thing that she heard, was the sound of the two kekkaishi trying to capture the dragon, and trying to dodge his dive bombs.

Lissette's eyes fluttered open long after daybreak, having passed out a minute or so after Gen had picked her up. The first thig she was able to register, was that she felt like she'd been hit by a two ton truck. Every last inch of her was burning with pain, enough that it hurt to even blink.
"How are you feeling?" Azza asked, sitting a few feet away.
"Like I've been run over by a car." Lissette replied, wincing.
"You should go back to sleep Lizzie. You'll heal faster if you rest."
"Did anyone else get hurt?" Lissette asked, ignoring her.
"Only you and Hiba, but he's already healed. His injuries were more from the actual dagger wounds, not the poison. Now go to sleep."
"Alright" She said as she finally did as she was told, falling back into the oblivion of sleep almost instantly.

Azza stayed home from school that day, in case her sister needed her. Gen was going to bring any assignments that they had for the day, so that they wouldn't get too far behind in class.
Pretty much all Lizzie did was sleep, although she would wake up occasionally and Azza would try to get her to eat or drink something. It was about all that she could do, besides monitoring her temperature, like Masamori had told her to do after they'd all explained what happened. Hiba had gone missing after his wounds had been treated, before anyone could get his side of things. Erika had probably gotten control of him again before anyone had had the chance.
I swear, if she ever hurts Lizzie again, I'll make sure to give that little b***h a taste of her own medicine. Azza thought, clenching her fists at her sides. No one, could ever hurt her sister and get away with it.

Erika wasn't going to be in school for the next few days for two reasons. One, she didn't want to face the kekkaishi, or Lissette's little boyfriend for a while. Two, she wouldn't have been able to focus anyways, since she was preoccupied trying to figure out her next plan. After all, the third time's a charm, and boy was that right. Hiba was currently sharing a closet with Fafnir, as both of them were necessary for her plan. SHe needed them to keep the kekkaishi, and Azza busy for this to work.
As for what she had in store for Lissette and Gen, it was sure to be the main event for what was likely to be worse than anything the Kokubouro could have put them through.

Later...

"Hey Gen" Azza greeted, perky demeanor completely gone. Not hard to believe, seeing that her sister was unconscious.
"How is she doing?" Gen asked, handing her the day’s assignments.
"Better, she's slept most of the day, and her temperature had been normal for the most part." Was the reply. "Come on it. Could you keep and eye on her while I get started with this?"
"Sure" He answered, taking a seat against the wall closest to Lissette. (So he could keep a better eye on her)
He moved closer to make sure her temperature was as normal as Azza had said. She was a little warm, but not to noticeably so. She'd be on her feet again in about two weeks or so.
She groaned a bit in her sleep, as if she could feel his hand on her forehead. He pulled away, not wanting to wake her up.
As much as he wanted to see that familiar determination and defiance in those emerald eyes again, she needed her rest. Besides, with how hard Azza probably tried to get her sister to rest, he didn't want to know what would happen if he woke Lissette up now.

Twelve Days Later...

Lissette had recovered fairly easily, like Gen had predicted. It wasn't even two weeks before she was fully healed, and was ready to put up a fight again.
Azza didn't like the idea of her sister going back to Karasumori so soon, but it wasn't like she could stop her. When Lissette was determined to do something, no matter how risky it was to her, there was no stopping her. It was one of few things Azza had in common with her sister.
So far that night, it was quiet. There was the occasional small fry that Gen and Yoshimori would argue over, Tokine would call them both idiots, and Lizzie would facepalm in the background, but that was pretty much their normal routine.
Whatever Erika was planning, it had to be big for her to wait this long. Azza couldn't have been the only one to realize this either.
Even with their normal routine back, there was unseen tension in the atmosphere, like they were all waiting for something to happen. There was no question that Erika was likely to act soon. The question was, when?

[liz 163]

Erika waited in the shadows on the roof of the middle school building, waiting for the sound of the kekkaishi coming near Fafnir. He plan, was simple if you knew what you were dealing with. This particular plan, was kind of like a three-ring circus.
In one ring, Fafnir would keep the kekkaishi busy, and destroy the ghost mutts, which Erika knew would reform by tomorrow night. In ring two, Hiba would be keeping Azza out of the third ring. She didn’t expect him to defeat her or anything, just distract her long enough for the event in the third ring to take place. As for Gen and Lissette in the third ring…well, they would be each other’s destruction.
The sounds Erika had been waiting for fell into place. She stood up, not bothering to hide anymore. It was about time that she and Lissette finished what they’d started.

Lissette’s head was killing her. When Erika stood on the roof of the middle school building, she understood why. She fell to her knees, the whole world spinning around her as she fought Erika for control over her mind.
She heard Yoshimori and Tokine, fighting something off in the background. She also heard the clashing of metal against stone, no doubt Hiba going after someone. She heard someone say her name, felt a hand on her arm, then darkness.
She couldn’t see, couldn’t control her actions. She couldn’t even hear Karasumori yelling at her to keep fighting anymore. (The latter of which being both a blessing and a curse) All she had left was her hearing, and her thoughts. When she came to terms with this, there3 was only one thought going through her head.
We’re screwed.

All hell had broken loose once again. Azza was defending herself against Hiba, (who apparently hadn’t learned from the first time) Yoshimori and Tokine were attempting to capture Fafnir in a kekkai, and Lissette had just been taken over by Erika. Gen could tell the last part because when he went to help her, Lissette had slashed at his chest with her blade. She hadn’t hit where she was aiming, but the gash in his chest wasn’t likely to heal very fast.
Lissette stood up, eyes glowing blue, and took up and offensive stance. If she didn’t break free of control, then they were all as good as dead.

Lissette wished that her hearing was suppressed along with her other senses. She wished she couldn’t hear the clashing of blades against claws, or the others voices telling her to fight Erika for control. What did they think she was doing, sitting back and watching the show?
Her fight wasn’t just external. Somehow, Erika had broken through her mental barriers, and had turned her mind into a battlefield as well. It may have been Lissette’s mind, but she soon realized that she was still on the losing end.

Erika was trying to make Gen and Lissette kill each other, she’d made that pretty obvious. Lissette landed a hit on his side with her blade. The smell of blood now filled the air as he blocked her next attqack with his claws.
“Dammit Lissette, snap out of it!” He yelled out in frustration, knowing he’d have to switch to offense eventually unless she could somehow break free. Gen glanced at the others, who were busy with Fafnir and Hiba. He was on his own.
He turned his focus back to Lissette. He had to do something – anything – to help her break Erika’s hold.
Maybe shocking her out of it would work. He thought. After all, it had worked on him when he’d attacked Lissette during school. But how the hell was he going to do that?
“Hey Gen!” Azza yelled at him as she dodged another dagger. “Kiss her!”
“Is this really a good time to be playing Cupid Azza?” Tokine asked as she dodged another dive bomb from Fafnir.
“No, but it might shock Lizzie enough that Erika will lose her hold!”
Gen got hit again, on the arm this time. Sometimes he wondered if the red-head could read his ming. Frankly, the idea didn’t seem impossible.
“I don’t think that can happen while she’s trying to kill me.” He answered, blocking another hit.
“I’M going to try and kill you if you don’t at least try dammit!”
Azza was cursing, and making death threats. He had to try.

Erika stayed on top of the school, watching everything that was going on. Out of all three fights, the one where Gen was trying to keep from hurting Lissette was the most interesting. Whatever the turn out of that fight, Lissette would die, by Gen’s hand or her own. Regardless, it would be a victory for Erika, and Lisette’s inevitable downfall.

Gen was wearing down. Lissette had almost always beat him durning training, so it at least made sense that she’d be able to do it now too. But they weren’t training. This was real, and she could kill him if he didn’t do something, and soon.
She swung one of her blades at his neck in an attempt to slice his head clean off. He caught her arm just before she could make contact. He then pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers.
This had better work.

Lissette still couldn’t see, but she could feel someone’s arms around her, and someone’s lips on hers.
What the hell is going on? She thought, shoving Erika’s control over her sight out of the way, so she could se.
It was Gen, and her was…kissing her. Under normal circumstances, she would have likely pulled away and run off, but she was to happy that she hadn’t killed him to do anything but kiss him back.

Erika couldn’t believer that Lissette had broken free. She was fighting to regain control, forcing Lissette to virtually crumble to the ground. Lissetter put a hand over her heart.
No! Erika thought. She was to late.
A sword blade shot out of Lissette’s hand, slicing straight through her chest. Erika was practically hurtled out of her head as Lissette collapsed to the ground.
“Ketsu!” A female voice yelled from below as a green kekkai hit her in the head, knocking her unconscious and giving control back to Hiba and Fafnir. It didn’t matter to her anymore anyways. The traitor was as good as dead.

Lissette blacked out for a moment. When she woke up, Azza was crying over her and screaming at her not to die.
“Lizzie, wake up!” She yelled Lissette winced.
“Never thought you’d be telling me that.” Lissette replied. Azza gasped.
“Gen! She’s awake!” She yelled behind her.
Gen was next it them almost immediately. He looked at the wound in her chest, but didn’t ask how bad it was. She’d run herself all the way through. Odds were not in her favor.
Azza backed away a bit, trying to give her sister some space. Gen just sat there, looking at her pitifully, a look she never thought she’d see on his face. If it hadn’t hurt so much to move, she would have slapped him.
“Hey,” She said “Quit moping, I’m not dead.”
She no more than finished talking, that he pulled her into his arms. Lissette felt her face hear up a bit, but ignored it. This was no time to be embarrassed.
She looked him straight in the eye. He was doing his best to keep the stony, unfeeling expression that he always had, but she’d seen almost always seen through.
She ignored the pain as she reached up and touched his face. She tried to give him a reassuring smile when he met her gaze. His expression softened, if only a little. She could feel herself slipping back into unconsciousness again, but she did her best to stay awake for as long as she could.

Gen didn’t know what to do. He hated her bing in pain, wanted to make it go away, but how could he do that? Her smile only make him feel worse for having her try and make him feel better when she’d been the one to get hurt. He almost wished that she’d let Erika take over now, at least then he wouldn’t be losing her.
He saw that she was slipping again and held her a little closer, knowing she probably couldn’t hold on for much longer.

Azza stood by silently, watching her sister slipping away. She looked over at Yoshimori and Tokine. Yoshimori was making sure that Erika wouldstay unconscious for a while, and Tokine was busy keeping Fafnir occupied.
She looked over at Hiba, who was unconscious yet again, and slumped up against the lower part of a tree trunk. She looked back at Gen and Lizzie. Lizzie was almost gone now. Azza fought the urge to start crying again. Her sister was dying right in front of her, just like their mom had. Ever since their mother had been killed, she had dreams about that night every time she’d fallen asleep since. Azza was so upset, she wanted to go shove Gen away and not let anyone near her sister again.
Then she remembered something. The painting that she and Lizzie had come from! She could use it to get Lizzie back if she didn’t make it! Azza headed for the nearest exit, passing Yoshimori and Erika, and earning a confused look from both Yoshimori and Tokine on her way out. She ignored them and kept running. She had to get to that painting.

Lissette was only hanging on by a thread now, but she refused to go under. She couldn’t, wouldn’t let herself die like this, not in front of Gen. He probably already blamed himself as it was.
She fought against her desire to let unconsciousness take her, until she saw something that made her think she was becoming delusional. She could almost swear that Gen was…
“Gen? Are you…crying?” She asked.
“No” He lied, turning his head so she couldn’t see his tears.
Liar Karasumori chimed in.
Well thank you Captain Obvious. Lissette replied.
Sorry I’m late…although sorry isn’t going to do much to help you at this point.
Karasumori even sounded depressed.
It’s okay, I’ll be fine.
Lizzie, let’s get something straight here. You’re a worse liar than your boyfriend.
Yeah, I know.
She glanced back at Gen. She could still see his tears, even though he was trying to hide them.
“Hey, knock it off with the waterworks will you? Don’t you dare start going soft on me buddy.” She told him. She could just about guarantee that she saw him crack a smile.
Lissette felt her heart skip a couple of beats, not sure if it was because she was dying, or because of Gen’s smile. She could feel his arms tighten around her and gritted her teeth to keep from showing her pain.
She was slipping again, and could barely even keep her eyes open anymore. She didn’t have much time left.

Gen’s smile disappeared as soon as Lissette started slipping again.
Please, Lissette, don’t die. Don’t ever die. He thought, knowing that her surviving wasn’t likely.
He hated seeing her like this, but he couldn’t look away either as her eyes started closing.
“Lissette…” It was all he could manage without choking on his own words.
Before he had any time to even try and say anything else, Lissette’s arms were around his neck as she pulled him into her embrace. Every though but one deserted him as he returned it.
Don’t let go.

Once Yoshimori had made sure that Erika would stay unconscious for a while, he helped Tokine occupy Fafnir. Lissette had been right, when he wasn’t being controlled, the little dragon was virtually harmless.
After keeping him distracted for a while, Fafnir suddenly stopped playing and cocked his head to the side, looking over at Gen and Lissette. Yoshimori had forgotten about Lissette’s injury, and she was nearly dead already.
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye as Fafnir went over to them and nudged at Lissette with a concerned sounding hirr.
“Hey, did I miss much?” Azza asked as she finally returned from wherever she’d gone. Yoshimori noticed the folded up piece of paper in her hand and looked at her questioningly.
“I’ll tell you later.” She told him. He shook his head as she looked over at Gen, Lissette, and Fafnir. Would it kill Azza to explain what she was up to for once?

Azza had run the entire way to and from the apartment and searched the place from top to bottom, trying to find the painting. If Lizzie didn’t make it, she’d be ready. She would not let Lizzie die, not today.

Lissette didn’t let go of Gen until her eyes finally closed and she fell limp. She wasn’t gone yet, but she might as well have been. Her breathing was shallow enough that it could stop at any second. Fafnir nudged at her again as Gen laid her back down letting out another concerned-sounding hirr. When she didn’t move, he started licking at the blood on her wounds. Gen stood up and walked away, heading into the trees. There was nothing else he could do, but call the chief.

Azza walked over and knelt next to him, resting a hand on his back.
“Don’t worry Fafnir, she’ll make it. One way or another, she’ll make it.” She reassured. Fafnir hired in agreement.
Movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to look over at Lissette. Her wound was healing. Lizzie had always been a fast healer, but for an injury this serious…
She looked down at Fafnir.
“Did you do that?” She asked. Fafnir hired and nodded. Azza grinned and threw her arms around the little dragon.
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Fafnir hired happily at the praise, his chest puffing up a bit with dragon pride. Azza giggled a little as she release him.
“Thank you”
Fafnir hirred again and nuzzled her face, which she took as, ‘You’re welcome.’

Tokine, was seriously confused. She was also pretty sure that Azza had finally lost it, seeing as she was talking to a dragon, and smiling when her sister would most likely die.
"Azza....are you okay?" Tokine asked, standing next to her. Azza nodded, still smiling, then noticed Tokine's worried look.
"Fafnir healed Lizzie." SHe explained, motioning to the slowly closing wound in Lissette's chest.
Tokine glanced at it, then looked over at Fafnir. She'd had no idea that such a young dragon could have that much power already, let alone one who lived with a human. She reached out and patted him on the head, which he responded to by hirring happily.
She smiled a bit. The little guy was kind of cute when he wasn't trying to kill you.

Tokine was seriously confused. She was pretty sure that Azza had finally lost it, seeing as she was talking to a dragon, and smiling when her sister was likely die at any second.
“Azza…are you alright?” Tokine said, standing next to her. Azza nodded, still smiling, then noticed Tokine’s worried expression.
“Fafnir healed Lizzie.” She explained, motioning to the very-slowly closing would in Lissette’s chest. Tokine glanced at it, then looked over at Fafnir. She’d had no idea that such a young dragon could have that much power already, let alone one who lived with a human.
She reached out and patted him on the head, which he responded to by hirring happily. She smiled at him. The little guy was kind of cute when he wasn’t trying to kill you.

Atora reached Karasumori long before Masamori did. The only words she’d needed to hear before she left were ‘Lissette is dying’. Once she heard that, she grabbed Raizo and Majiro and went straight to the school.
When she got there, she saw Yoshimori keeping an eye on and unconscious blonde girl, Lissette lying on the ground, also unconscious and covered in her own blood, and Azza and Tokine playing with a young blue dragon. Gen was nowhere in sight.
She walked over to Lissette, relieved to see that her injury wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d been told.
“Hey Atora!” Azza said, grinning as she ran over to the trainer, the dragon right behind her.
“Hey Azza, mind explaining what’s going on?”
“Sure, but can we take care of Lizzie first? I really don’t think it’s a good idea to just leave her laying there.”
“Alright then, Raizou! Come here” Atora said, motioning to the bear-like ayakashi, who was currently playing with the dragon. He came over to them, with the dragon riding on his back.
“We need to get Lizzie out of here.” Atora told him, patting him on the head.
“And Erika too.” Azza added, motioning to the unconscious blonde girl.
Atora raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing as she picked up Lissette and carefully set her on Raizou’s back. Azza and Yoshimori came over a minute later with Erika and put her closer to the dragon, who had curled up and fallen asleep. Atora had to admit, the sleeping dragon was adorable, probably not very old either. She helped Azza up onto Raizou’s back, then hopped up herself.
“Where’s Gen Gen?” Raizou asked, noticing that one of his friends was missing. Atora scanned the area.
“Hey, where is Gen?” Azza shrugged.
“He walked off after Lizzie passed out.” She answered.
“I’ll go find him.” Yoshimori volunteered, then headed into the trees where Gen had disappeared to.
Satisfied, Atora had Raizou head back to the Shadow Organization.

“Hey Gen, where are you?” Yoshimori yelled, for about the third time. Gen didn’t bother to answer. He wanted to be alone, and knew Yoshimori wouldn’t leave him be if he was found.
“Dammit Gen, quit being an a** and go to Lissette! Whether she lives or not, don’t you think she’d want you to be with her?”
With that, Yoshimori turned around, and left Gen with his thoughts. As much as Gen hated to admit it, the annoying kekkaishi was right. Even if he was wrong about Lissette wanting him there, if she didn’t make it, then he had something he needed to tell here. If those emerald eyes were shut forever after tonight, then he wanted to see them, just one last time.

[liz 163]

Later, at the Shadow Organization…

Xander was now officially regretting having joined the Shadow Organization. In the past couple of months that he’d been there, he’d been attacked bye ayakashi and coworkers alike, hung upside down from a tree more times than he coulc count, and tackled/struck by Raizou’s lightening enough that he was lucky to be alive. Now they wanted him to keep an eye on some unconscious girl, who would do who knows what when she woke up, and her pet dragon. This was probably the job that was LEAST likely to get him killed…for now.
He examined the necklace that the weird, perky, red-haired girl had insisted he keep away from the blonde girl for now. What could be so important about it that they wanted it away from her? He shrugged and put it in his pocket, then went back to watching the blonde girl. Maybe she’d have some answers for him when she woke up.

When Erika woke up, the first thing she noticed was that she had a pounding headache. Then she got the creepy feeling that she was being watched. She sat up and saw Fafnir asleep in the corner and some weird guy with brown hair and eyes, and a scar on his face that reached from his forehead, down past his nose.
Just then, Fafnir woke up, zipped over to Scar-face, pulled something out of his pocket, then went over and dropped it in Erika’s lap. Scar-face muttered a few curses at him under his breath as Erika picked up her necklace and put it back on. She patted Fafnir on the head.
“Nice job Fafnir.” She said. He hired happily at the praise, whole Scar-face seemed to be waiting for her to do something.
“…And you’re looking at me like I’m going to kill you because…” Erika asked him. He seemed to calm down a bit, and then answered her.
“I wasn’t sure how you’d react to me having that.” He motioned to the necklace.
“Depends, why did you have it?”
“I have orders to keep it away from you. Honestly, I have no idea why.”
Erika went quiet for a moment, which seemed to worry Scar-face a bit. She had the feeling she knew where she was. She also knew that some of the people here would want their inevitably fallen comrade avenged.
Erika was glad it was finally all over…so why was guilt knawing at her? Why should she fell guilty over a traitor? …Lissette was a traitor, right? She’d lied to her because she was afraid of her…right?
For the first time since this whole mess started, Erika rethought Lissette’s possible motivation for lying. Could she have thought that…Erika would be the one who was afraid if she’d told the truth? Erika felt like a complete idiot.
Lissette had saved her life, and been her only human friend, and this was how she’d repaid her? By being suspicious of her and trying to kill her? She felt sick to her stomach.
Fafnir hirred at her and nudged her arm with concern. The little dragon crawled into her lap and she wrapped her arms around his neck, still feeling disgusted with herself.
What have I done?

Lissette was going to make it. Apparently, the dragon had some sort of healing abilities that he’d used on her. Gen was relieved. He still had time to say what needed said.
She was still unconscious, and still vulnerable, so someone was constantly watching her. Normally it was Gen, Azza, or Atora. Erika and her dragon were being held in another building. The chief had one of the Shadow Organization’s newer recruits keeping an eye on them. So far since she’d awakened, Erika hadn’t caused any trouble, even after the dragon snatched her necklace back from the guy watching her. Of course, no one let her out of their sight long enough for her to make trouble.
Lissette remained in the same condition from day to day. Stable, but not awake.
“She’s stubborn Gen; she’ll be awake before we know it.” Azza told him, entering the room and sitting on the other side of her sister. Gen said nothing. He hadn’t spoken since they’d arrived, and didn’t plan to until she woke up.
He brushed a piece of hair out of Lissette’s face, silently wishing she would open her eyes again soon.

Xander didn’t know why this Erika girl needed watching. Half of the time, she was playing with Fafnir, the other half, she was asking Atora about someone named Lissette. Occasionally though, the chief would want to talk with her for a short time, but out of that stuff, she didn’t really do much.
Today though, when the chief decided to speak with her again, he had Xander come in with her.
What is going on? He thought, taking a seat next to Erika. The chief sat across from them, and there was an almost tense silence for a few seconds.
“Have you made a decision yet?” The chief asked, aiming the question at Erika. She nodded. The chief looked at her expectantly. She took a deep breath, as if preparing herself for something.
“I’ll join.”
The chief smiled and laid an envelope on the table, sliding it towards her. Xander could see the Shadow Organization’s symbol on it.
“Then welcome to the Night Troops.”
Erika took the envelope and set it in her lap as the chief turned to Xander.
“There won’t really be any need for you to guard her anymore Xander, although I’m sure she’d appreciate it if you showed her around.” He told him.
“Of course.” Xander replied, nodding. He glance over at Erika to see her reaction. If she had any feeling about any of this, she was excellent at hiding them.
“Good, that will be all you two.”
Erika stood to leave, with Fafnir and Xander right behind her. Xander didn’t mind the idea of showing her around. It would give him a chance to get her to tell him what was going on. Also…he kind of liked being around her. She wasn’t freaked out about things other girls would have been terrified of. She didn’t trust people very easily either, which he could relate to. The only person he really knew he could trust was his little sister, Numiko, even though she pushed her limits sometimes by following him on some of his missions when he’d specifically told her not to. Speaking of Numiko, she’d be getting out of school soon, so he needed to go pick her up.
“Hey” Xander said, as they walked away. “Would you mind if I showed you around later? I have something I need to go do.”
“Sure, I need to go check on something anyways.” Erika answered.
“Alright, I’ll see you then.”
“Yep”
With that, they went their separate ways.

Erika kept walking until she reached the room where the were keeping Lissette until she healed. She was relieved when the chief had told her that she was going to live. Erika felt that checking up on her occasionally, and apologizing when she woke up, would be the least that she could do. I wasn’t much, but it would be a start.
She stood outside the door, bracing herself for the hostility that was certain to come. She took a deep breath. Fafnir nudged her hand and hirred encouragingly. She let the breath out, and knocked.

Gen didn’t hear the knock until she slid the door open. He expected to see Azza, Atora, anyone but the person who stood in the doorway. Fafnir bounded into the room and planted himself right next to Lissette, while Erika walked in as well, keeping a bit more distance.
He looked away. He’d heard about the chief’s offer to her, and how much she’d seemed to be changing. He didn’t buy it, but would trust the chief’s decision for now.
“How is she?” Erika asked, breaking she silence.
“She should be awaked by tomorrow, the day after at the latest.” Gen answered, not looking at her. Fafnir nudged Lissette’s hand, probably wondering if it would wake her up. When he realized it wasn’t working, he walked over to Erika, and lay next to her so his head was in her lap, and he seemed to be pouting. Erika patted him on the head.
After that, Gen did his best to pretend that they weren’t there and went back to watching Lissette. As long as she didn’t try anything, Gen would leave Erika alone.

[liz 163]

The Next Day…

An excited squeal (courtesy of Azza) awoke Gen the next morning. Erika and Fafnir had left late in the evening yesterday, and he’d fallen asleep where he was at not long after.
“Gen! She’s awake!” Azza yelled, still excited.
“Ease the grip a little Azza, or I won’t be fore very long.” Lissette told her, trying to breathe through her sister’s hug. Azza finally let go.
“Sorry. How are you feeling?”
“Alive for starters. Chest hurts a bit, but other than that, I’m fine.”
“Good”
Suddenly, there was a loud crack as Azza slapped her sister across the face. Gen was a bit surprised at her sudden change in attitude. Lissette didn’t seem surprised though.
“Don’t even think of pulling something like that again! Do you have any idea how scarred we all were?!”
Lissette looked up at her sister and a knowing look passed between them.
“Yes”
Azza sat next to her sister, seeming to calm down a bit. There was an awkward silence for a moment.
“Sorry for slapping you.” Azza told her.
“It’s alright, it doesn’t really even hurt that much now.”
Azza glanced over at Gen, seeming to remember that he was in the room and smiled knowingly.
“Well, I’ll go get you something to eat. After being unconscious for that long, you’ve got to be hungry Lizzie.” With that, she left the room before anyone else there could object, and Gen and Lissette were left alone. There was another moment of silence.
“You sure you’re feeling alright?” Gen asked.
“I’m okay.” She answered, “Can’t wait to get outside again though. Every time I turn around lately, I’m being knocked unconscious and locked away inside again.”
Gen didn’t reply. Lissette frowned.
“Are YOU okay?” She asked.
“Promise you won’t do this again.” He said. There was no way that he could handle it if she tried to sacrifice herself like this again.
“Gen...”
“Promise Lissette!”
She stared at him for a moment, then nodded.
“I promise.” She answered standing up and walking over to him. She sat down next to him, laying her head on his shoulder.
“I love you.”
He wrapped his arms around her, ignoring his initial shock.
“I love you too.”

I really had no room lecturing her like that. All I did was make myself sound like a hypocrite. Azza thought, remembering how she’d sacrificed herself when Kaguro had come after them as kids. It was no wonder Lizzie had tried to do the same with Erika. As long as she didn’t do it again, Azza couldn’t really find any reason to stay mad at her when she’d been a bad influence on the matter.
She was on her way to the kitchen as she thought about this, when she ran into Erika. She didn’t know how to feel about the girl’s recent change. Part of her wanted to slaughter the girl where she stood for what she’d done to Lizzie. The other part knew that Erika had been though a lot, and that Lizzie wouldn’t want her to be hard on her. So, Azza kept walking.
“She’s awake.” She told her as she passed. If Erika truly had changed, then she should at least know that Lizzie was okay.

Lissette had never been so glad to wake up in her life. Even if Azza had slapped her, and Gen had had her make a virtually impossible promise, it was good to see them both, and know that they were okay. Heck, even Atora’s death hug when she’d found out that she was alright was welcomed. (Along with being tackled by Raizou…the hug more than the tackle)
There was only one person, and an annoying piece of telepathic dirt that she hadn’t heard from yet. Erika, she hadn’t expected to hear from, but silence from Karasumori was not very common, and typically not a good thing. Either she was just out of range, it was mad at her, or it was just, gone. Most likely one of the first two.
Lissette was her old spot by the river, looking through her sketchbook. She slipped to the drawing of Fafnir she’d made 0on the day she and Erika met.
“He really liked being drawn by you.” Came a voice from beside her.
“Yeah, he’s grown a bit since then too.” Lissette replied, patting Fafnir on the head as he came up to her. Erika took a seat next to her, while Fafnir laid his head in Erika’s lap.
“It’s amazing that I can still fit him in the closet.” Erika joked. Fafnir hirred indignantly. Erika laughed, and Lissette even snickered a bit.
“She’s kidding Fafnir, you’re not that big yet.”
Fafnir hirred, and nudged at Lissette’s arm. They were silent for a while, until Erika finally broke the silence.
“Lissette, about before…”
“Don’t Erika. It was my own fault for not telling you the truth in the first place. I shouldn’t have lied to you.”
“And I shouldn’t have reacted the way that I did. It’s just as much my fault as yours.”
They both went back to silence.
“Hey, would you mind if I draw you? I’ve got a few drawings of Fafnir, but I haven’t gotten any of you yet.” Lissette asked.
“Um…sure, why not?” Erika answered. Lissette smiled as she pulled out a pencil, flipped to a clean sheet in her sketchbook, and started drawing Erika. After all that they’d been through, it felt good to be able to call Erika her friend again.

One Week Later…

Erika was truly happy, probably for the first time since she met Fafnir. She didn’t feel like a reject, or a freak anymore. She especially liked when she could spend time with Xander. She didn’t know why, but she felt…weird around him, but not in a bad way. She didn’t know how to explain it, except she really liked it when she was with him. His sister was a bit of a girly-girl, but she was nice enough. Fafnir liked playing with her, and seemed to like Xander too. Then again, Fafnir liked anyone that didn’t attack him or Erika.
In short, things were better than they’d ever been for Erika. She was able to act normal without suspicsion at school, and was still able to be around people that made her feel like she fit in. Her life, was officially better than she had ever hoped.

Lissette was glad to be back in school. She and Erika were friends again, and Erika still went to Karasumori Academy. When Lissette had walked into the school holding hands with Gen, the other boys had stopped flirting with her, and Ayano no longer tried to get her to admit she liked him. (Neither did Azza, though she still teased her a bit)
Lissette didn’t feel any reason to hide it anymore. She’d denied it for too long as it was.
She thought about all of this as she walked outside and headed to the rooftops to meet up with Gen. (Yoshimori still went up there too, he just slept majority of the time)
Well, someone’s been in a better mood lately. Karasumori commented. Lissette had been out of range at the Shadow Organization, so that was one thing that hadn’t changed.
Things are just starting to lighten up is all. She replied.
Well, whatever’s going on, I’m liking the new attitude.
Lissette had now reached to top of the ladder leading to the roof, where Yoshimori was already asleep, and Gen was there waiting for her.
“Hey” He said, seeing her.
“Hey” She replied, smiling as she sat down next to him. She slid his hand into his.
If things were just starting to lighten up, then Lissette couldn’t wait to see how bright the future would be.

End

[liz 163]

Okay guys, from this point on, you can post comments, or consturctive criticism. Heck, at this point, I'll even allow bumps.

[liz 163]

bump