Chapter 26
"So, are you going to talk to him, or what?"
Lissette turned to see Yoshimori, once again shoving his nose into other people's business.
"There's nothing to talk about." She replied "If he wants to be a jackass about my plans, then fine. Doesn't mean I have to put up with his shit."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it."
"…Who the hell…"
"I managed to get what happened out of him at school yesterday."
"…Whatever. Accidents happen. It's not that big of a deal."
"Then why don't you want to talk to him?"
"Because he was still being an asshole."
"Somehow I doubt your silent treatment is doing anything about that."
"So? Why exactly do you care so much about whether or not we're talking?"
"Don't you?" The questions annoyed her as much as it had caught her off guard. Of course, she cared. She just had other priorities right now other than Gen's attitude, and that stupid kiss. Was she a bit confused as to how she felt about him lately? Yes, but one could only handle a certain amount of crisis' at a time, and her sister took priority right now.
"Can we just focus on work for now? I'll deal with him later."
Lissette almost rejoiced when she sensed an ayakashi enter the area. Finally, something to shut the nose-menace up for a little while.
"Speaking of work…"
"I know, I sensed it too." Yoshimori relented. A black shadow darted past them along the ground. They started after it, with Gen and Tokine following close behind. Within a matter of minutes, the thing had been dealt with.
Lissette chanced a glance over at Gen, only to catch him looking back. She quickly looked away again.
'Priorities!' She scolded herself, debating going back to patrol before she got another lecture.
"What's this?" The white dog exclaimed.
"It just appeared." The black one chimed in. Lissette felt another presence as they spoke, this one stronger than the ones they'd been dealing with since the attack.
"What?" Yoshimori inquired.
"There's another one, and it can avoid detection!" The white one explained. The dogs started off, with the group of teens right behind them. Gen and Lissette took to the trees on either side of the path, silently understanding that they should fan out and surround the area where the thing had appeared. Soon, they had three sides of the area covered, as the two Kekkaishi hadn't gotten the memo and stuck together.
"There it is!" Yoshimori stated. The clouds parted, revealing the full moon and shining light on the robe covered ayakashi wearing a headdress of some sort, hiding every in of it's appearance in fabric and shadow.
"I see it takes you quite some time to defeat such a low level ayakashi. Interesting."
"Say what?" Yoshimori asked.
"I see, that first one was just a decoy." Tokine stated. Lissette glowered at the ayakashi from her tree, waiting to see if she could figure out what it was trying to accomplish. Gen, thankfully, seemed to be doing the same, as did Tokine.
"Ketsu!"
She groaned inwardly as Yoshimori tried to catch it in a kekkai. She could train with the guy all she wanted, but he still wasn't the brightest crayon in the box.
"Fascinating," The ayakashi responded, seeming to teleport out of the killer box "So this is the kekkai technique."
"He used a mirage."
'And there's our cue to step in before they get killed.' Lissette leaned forward, intent on leaving the tree.
"I wouldn't try that."
She quickly turned around to find another ayakashi, this one wearing a skin. It was the same skin Kaguro had worn before, but the voice was clearly different this time. The strong presence of the other ayakashi must have overcome the scent the suits gave off, as no one seemed to have noticed this one's presence.
"You're Kaguro's other kid, right?" Before she could even reply, Lissette found herself completely bound in webbing so tight she could barely close her eyes, let alone open her fists to release a blade.
"Relax kid, you and your friends will be fine for now. I'll have to bring you with us though. Try not to squirm too much and I'll even make sure you get to see your sis."
She felt herself being lifted, followed by the feeling of a shoulder digging into her stomach as her attacker started moving.
'Okay, don't panic.' She thought, 'I can work with this. If I stop struggling to much, I can probably manage to move my hand, and cut myself free…but we'll probably be halfway there by the time that happens…shit.'
She kept trying to think of something, anything that might help her escape, as well as resist the urge to open her eyes or mouth. The webbing was sticky, and she was not keen on the idea of getting it in her eye, or choking to death on it. She attempted to kick her through the webbing at her feet, resulting in barely a squirm.
"Hey, watch it kid. You really don't want to drop you from here."
Lissette paused for a moment, finally noticing the temperature drop, and the feeling of wind against the webbing around her legs. They were in the air. They were in the damn air. She wouldn't be able to get out of this until they landed, if she even managed to move her damn hand. She went limp, defeated. There wouldn't be any getting out of this, not in time.
'Wait a damn minute. Isn't this a good thing? I mean, I had no idea how I was going to get there to grab Azza anyways, and it doesn't seem like they grabbed any of the others. This could be the one chance I have at getting her back.'
She relaxed slightly upon this thought, still not too happy with how she would be getting there, but resigned to the fact that it would still get her inside of the organization. As a prisoner, sure, but it's not like any of her ideas were likely to be any more effective. No matter how much this was outright killing any shred of dignity she had at the moment, it would all be worth it if it worked out the way she hoped.
New year, new chapter, as promised! I hate to say this so soon, but updates might slow down a little bit after this for a while, as I'm starting my Spring semester soon. However, I do still intend to keep working at it, and since the story is picking up steam again, maybe it will come out easier. In any case, I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and Happy New Year!