A/N: Hello! This is my first multi-chaptered knk fanfic! I'm actually really excited about it, and I have a lot of ideas in store, so I hope that you guys enjoy it! This is sorta just an imagined sequel to the anime, because I need a sequel ha. Thanks for taking your time to check it out!

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Chapter 1

Restless

Rain patters softly against the pavement, staining the shoulders of her pink cardigan and leaving her hair dripping in a wet curtain around her. Her breath trembles in her mouth as she pushes up the bridge of her red framed glasses and reaches for the doorknob of her apartment. Her body aches; it's been a while since she's exerted herself so much. A relief flavored sigh escapes her lips as she pushes the door open and steps inside, the warmth rushing around her to give relief from the cold left behind by the rain.

"I'm home!" she calls, kicking clumsily out of her shoes, nearly slipping in her wet stockings on the tiled floor.

Inami Sakura pokes her head out of the bedroom door. "You're wet, Mirai."

"Yes," she replies, shivering as she peels her drenched sweater from her shoulders and hangs it up by the door. "It's raining outside. But look what I just got!" She pulls a rough looking stone embedded with jade crystals from her pocket and holds it up proudly. "Next month's rent!"

Sakura blinks at her and then retreats back into the bedroom. "That's good. There are leftovers in the fridge, by the way."

That's good, because Mirai is starving. She places the youmu stone on the counter and wobbles a bit as she bends over to check the fridge. A smile splits across her face when she sees that there are indeed leftovers, and they've already been put on a plastic wrapped plate so all she has to do is pop it in the microwave. Sakura may not say much, but she's a wonderful friend with a penchant for tenderness, and the prepared plate speaks wonders.

"Thanks!" Mirai shouts as she pulls it out and shuts the fridge. Her fingers are a little shaky from the anemia, but she's able to press the right buttons on the microwave without too much trouble. While it's warming up, she changes out of her damp clothes and slips into something dry and comfortable.

"Say, Sakura? How did you manage rent while I was away?" She hasn't really thought about it before, but now that she's on the subject of rent it makes her curious. Mirai had been away from this physical world for several months - nearly half a year! - and she'd only just returned about a week ago. After all the catching up they did, Mirai knows that Sakura works for the Shindous but that's not nearly enough to make rent and buy groceries. Well, her family is wealthy. . . "Did your parents send the money?"

Sakura emerges from the bedroom again in her pajamas this time, her violet eyes suddenly very sober. "No."

The microwave fills the brief silence in the room as Mirai tries to contemplate other options. She twists the ring on her pinky finger absentmindedly and leans against the counter for support, looking lost in thought. Sakura blinks at her again and then sighs.

"I guess he didn't tell you then," she murmurs.

Mirai perks up immediately and the timer on the microwave goes off. "Who didn't tell me what?"

"Kanbara," Sakura says, tugging on the end of her hair, appraising Mirai blatantly, as the bespectacled girl's reactions to Kanbara Akihito's name are very interesting. "Kanbara helped me pay the rent."

Mirai's heart turns over funny in her chest at even the mention of his name before swelling impossibly. The room is quiet enough that she can hear how fast it is pounding in her chest as the blood rushes in her ears and she presses a hand over her thrumming heart. Her amber eyes drop to the floor. "He did?"

The Inami girl sighs as if Mirai is hopeless, a smile hiding in her voice. "That can't surprise you, can it? He helped me out a lot. When you were gone."

Those words ring in Mirai's head. When you were gone. Her shoulders shake a bit, heart clenching. Though she's back now - back for good (she feels it in the depths of her bones that the next time she leaves this place it will be in death) - it hurts to hear about how her absence affected those she cared about. "You guys have nothing in common," Mirai says with a slight smile.

"We have you in common."

She glances back up at her roommate. "Sakura. . ."

"You should eat your food before it gets cold," Sakura says in dismissal. "I'm going to bed."

Mirai sighs after the bedroom door shuts and extracts her plate from the microwave. It's hot so she has to let it sit for a moment and her stomach growls as she places it on the table and takes a seat. Through her hunger, her thoughts linger on the conversation and then her heart is turning funny in her chest again because Akihito's face is imprinted there against the backs of her eyelids, with that smile and those ridiculous cowlicks.

She doesn't remember much from the past two months, really, just glimpses of Akihito in a sunny place with the sound of his laughter in the air. A dream, somewhere deep inside him, where she had been existing since he took Beyond the Boundary back into himself. He had the dreams too, small things, he told her. The sun reflecting off her glasses, how her hand curved into his, how the blanket they sat on was warm and her shoulder pressed against his as they laid there. She wished she could remember more, because for two months, those hadn't just been dreams to her.

She spoons the food in front of her and blows on it, making the steam waver. Akihito has been so careful with her since she came back. Barely touching her, and when he does, his fingers tread as if she is made of the most fragile porcelain. Like he's. . .scared. And if he's scared now, she feels her stomach twist sickeningly at the thought of what it was like when she wasn't here. She tries to imagine herself as if their positions had been reversed and the thought of losing him is so repugnant that her eyes prickle.

"I won't lose him, or Sakura, ever again," she murmurs to herself before taking her first bite. She would protect them, so that she would never have to feel a pain like that. Losing Yui had been hard enough.

She's nearly through with her dinner when her phone vibrates from where its plugged into the kitchen wall. There's a not entirely unwelcome pressure in her chest as she opens the text message.

Hey.

"K-Kanbara," she whispers, staring at the single word, trying to make sense of everything he didn't say. Her fingers tremble over the keyboard - she has to reply! Or he'll jump to wrong conclusions! - as she tries to figure out what words are stuck in her mind but the phone vibrates in her hand again and he's sent another message.

Please tell me you're still here.

She glances at the clock which tells her its nearly ten at night, and then she knows what to say. Bad dreams? she types.

His response comes almost immediately. I'd have to fall asleep to have bad dreams.

What's wrong? She frowns.

Nothing.

"Honestly," she grumbles to herself. You're a terrible liar.

Sorry. He sends. Could you distract me, Kuriyama?

Mirai holds her phone tightly in her hands, wishing that instead of distracting him, she could comfort him. Even though he lives within a mile of her doorstep, he seems impossibly far away right now. Sakura says that you helped pay the rent on my apartment while I was gone.

Yeah. We couldn't let it go. His words are so much more melancholy than usual and she hates that. When the sun sets, the darkness seems to crawl into his head and settle there and she knows she can drive it away, but the silence of his lonely apartment is louder than her soundless text messages.

Thank you. She types it with all the gratitude in her heart, tears at the corners of her eyes.

You're welcome. I bet you look real cute with your glasses right now.

She rolls her eyes, but admittedly, she's holding back a laugh. He's such a nerd, she thinks amusedly, and his come-ons are about as blunt as a balloon but she loves him that way. I'm not wearing my glasses. It's a lie, of course. She hasn't taken them off yet.

Don't tease me, Kuriyama, that's not nice.

This time, she does laugh. I broke them while I was youmu hunting tonight.

It's a one word reply this time. Kuriyama.

Senpai.

The phone promptly rings in her hand and she's completely deadpan when she answers it. "They were all twisted out of shape. I could not salvage them," she speaks into the receiver.

When he replies, she suddenly feels at ease, completely at peace with the world, and the warmth that brushes her seems so palpable and real. "If you won't stop this ceaseless torture I may have to hijack the neighbor kid's bike and rush to your doorstep. You wouldn't want me to become a criminal, would you?"

"I'm more worried about the poor kid's bike," she replies smartly.

He takes on an injured tone. "How cruel. And here I thought you loved me."

Suddenly, there is a nervous jitter in her stomach, even though she has never been more sure of anything in her entire life. "I do." Her voice is sober and warm and she closes her eyes and pretends that he is inches away.

She can hear his abrupt intake of breath. "You can't just say things like that over a phone line," he says slowly, sounding pained.

"You already knew, Senpai."

"That doesn't change anything," he insists. He takes a deep breath and exhales. "Tell me again. Tell me you're really here." Why does he sound so terrified, so lonely? She wants to take his hand and press it to the fast paced beating of her heart and prove it to him.

"I'm here," she says softly, and she can smile while she says it because it's true.

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Mitsuki knows that she should be in bed, but she feels restless, like her stomach is heavy and twisting, and she finds a lonely sort of comfort in pacing the halls of the Nase manor though it is after midnight. The floor is cold under her bare feet. She should probably be wearing socks - even if it is kind of warm for the usual winter weather, but her direction is aimless and she doesn't care to make her way back to her room just yet.

A sliver of light at the end of the corridor catches her eye. She raises an eyebrow. "What is Aniki still doing up?" she murmurs to her youmu familiar, Yakiimo, who sits perched on her shoulder. She pads forward, feeling a crease form between her eyebrows, and presses her ear to the door.

There's the quiet murmuring of a song playing beyond the door, but other than that, there is silence. She is only just beginning to wonder what could possibly have him up so late when the knob under her hand is being twisted and the door opens to reveal her brother standing there. His mouth pops open in surprise.

"Mitsuki? What are you doing up?"

She hates the blush on her face and she backs up into the shadows so he can't see how suddenly flustered she is at being caught. "I could ask the same thing about you."

He scratches at the back of his neck and he looks completely nonchalant - even a little pleased that she's here - but that can't mask the tired bags under his emerald eyes. Ever since Izumi disappeared, Mitsuki has had to watch Hiroomi shoulder the responsibilities of being the head of their clan. He doesn't sleep as much as he should, and she's noticed how his appetite has decreased. Hiroomi makes her uncomfortable; he's a pervert and she spends a lot of time grieving over the fact that out of everyone in the world, she got him as her brother.

Still, that doesn't stop her from worrying about him. She would rather die than admit it, but she always worries about him.

"Clan duties took up a little bit more time this afternoon than I anticipated," he explains to her after a moment of silence, reaching a finger toward Yakiimo, who sniffs it and turns away. Hiroomi forces a smile as he turns his eyes to Mitsuki's. "I'm just finishing up homework, is all. Though, I must say I'm touched that my little sister was worried enough to check on me in the middle of the night."

She scowls and draws further away. "Don't twist things around. I was up walking and happened to see your light on."

"So you pressed your body to my bedroom door for what other reason then?" He's smirking at her now, but he still looks so tired and she wishes he would stop with this masquerade and talk to her like a normal person for once. She knows that this is his defense, that he's trying to protect her, but she doesn't need to be protected. She needs to help, but he just doesn't see that.

"You're disgusting."

"I am merely playing the role of a loving big brother. You look very cute when you get teased."

She scoffs at him and starts marching off down the hall. "I'm going to bed."

"Wait," he calls, sounding serious suddenly. It's because of the change in his voice that she pauses.

"What?" she snaps without turning her shoulders.

"Why aren't you asleep yet, Mitsuki?" he asks in a voice that seems reminiscent of her childhood with him. There's the brother who doesn't make her uncomfortable. There's the brother she relies on.

The tension in her shoulders eases a little. "Just restless," she murmurs.

"Is there anything you want to talk to me about?"

This time, she peeks over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of his face, and it matches the softness of his voice, the way she knew it would. When she sees him like this, she misses the days that they didn't have to worry about where Izumi disappeared to, what it meant , how the Society was breathing down their necks and observing them as if they were under a microscope. She wants to be five years old again, with a brother who spends more time smiling and a sister who doesn't shut the world out.

"No," she mutters. "'Night."

"Sweet dreams," he says, and if he didn't sound so sincere, she would have been irritated by the phrase.

He doesn't stop her again and when she's tucked into bed with Yakiimo curled up on the pillow next to her, she whispers to her little friend, "I have a bad feeling." She thinks that's why she feels so restless lately.

The youmu cuddles in closer to her and she strokes his back. "We'll have to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, Yakiimo." Her hand runs down his tail and she spends the rest of the night staring at the ceiling with a weight in her stomach.