Title: Short Stories on the Life of Mirai Kuriyama
Series: Kyoukai no Kanata
Author: Kirisaki Kyouko
Disclaimer: I am no way associated with the creator of Kyoukai no Kanata. This works is purely fan made

Notes: I really enjoyed this series and wished there was more on the life of Kuriyama-san. I hope you all do enjoy. These will be a series of short stories written about Kuriyama-san rather than an actual coherent story.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Story the First: The Tale of the Bonsai Fanatic

"Here is your change, please come again!" the clerk said cheerfully handing me a small puddle of coins. I carefully picked up the shakan bonsai from the counter. A light breeze blew by as I exited the shop rustling the fragile branches of my newest friend. Instinctively I pushed my glasses up and headed towards the school. No one would be around the grounds at this time, so it was the perfect time to put it in the club room.

The campus was clear of students as I approached the front gates. After quickly glancing to see if anyone was watching, I jumped straight over the fence. Suddenly a small rock appeared in front of me. Without being able to turn, I fell face first onto the ground. The last thing I remember was checking to make sure my bonsai was safe before slowly blacking out next to the fence.

"…-san… …ama-san….!" Came a faint voice from a distance. "…iama-san! Kuriyama-san! Are you okay?" Someone was shaking me, but all I could feel was my nose grating against the ground. Except it wasn't the ground anymore. Slowly, I opened my eyes to a view full of pink. I blinked and carefully rolled over. Moments later the ground disappeared from beneath me, and I fell to the floor.

"Kyah!" I yelped as I hit the ground. I grabbed the nearest chair and pulled myself upright, rubbing my still-stinging butt. "Owwww…."

Suddenly it hit me, and I glanced down at my empty hands. "S-shakan! W-where is my shakan?!" I cried out, frantically searching the room with my eyes for my beloved bonsai. Relief washed over me as I spotted it sitting in the windowsill along with my other four bonsai trees. One of them was still recovering from its unfortunate accident and was wearing a cast, but the others were happily soaking up the remaining rays of sunlight.

"Kuriyama-san, are you all right?" Senpai turned around from the table he was working at and gave me a worried look. "I found you face down by the front gate, so I brought you here." He got up and approached me holding something out in his hand. I realized then that I wasn't wearing my glasses.

"Senpai, what are you giving me?" I asked hesitantly. I had known senpai long enough to know that he was a glasses fanatic, so it troubled me that he was holding something out in his hand that I couldn't see.

"A spare pair of glasses, of course," he replied without a second thought. "Your glasses snapped clean in half when you fell apparently, so I'm going to have to get them fixed for you." His face burst out in a wide grin when I slide the new frames onto my face. Surprisingly they were the right prescription so I could see quite well with them.

"Senpai, you're being unpleasant," I said coldly, responding to the goofy look on his face. I took off the glasses and handed them back to him. "Here, you can have these back. I don't need them." He refused to take the frames, so I set them onto the table and walked out the door. Seconds later I was on the ground again, hitting something invisible in my path.

"W-wuaaah!" I shouted. Quickly I mustered the energy to congeal my blood into the shape of a sword. I don't think I would ever get used to the feeling of blood leaving my body in such large quantities, but it was a part of my bloodline, so I came to think little of it. I wildly swung my sword around in front of me desperately trying to hit whatever creature might being trying to get me. Senpai's laugh from behind me finally made me stop.

"Ahaha, K-Kuriyama-san! What are you doing?" He could barely breathe between his sentences. Finally he calmed down enough and held out another pair of glasses. "I know you don't need them, but a glasses wearing beauty must have her glasses."

I reluctantly took the frame from his outstretched hand and put them on. Once again the world came into focus. I whipped my head around, searching high and low for the monster that attacked me as I was trying to leave but saw nothing in sight.

"Where did the youmu go, senpai?" I asked. All I got for an answer was senpai looking through his collection of glasses and holding them up to see what I might look like wearing them. "Ahh! Fuyukai desu!" I muttered and walked out of the club room. Once the door closed behind me I carefully called back the blood I had previously drawn from my body back and wrapped the bandage over the small hole in my skin.

It was past 22:00 when I finally arrived at my flat. Earlier this year senpai had come with me to face the youmu that had taken up residence in my room, preventing me from coming home, but since then no other youmu had come. Senpai said something about having a defensive barrier put around the apartment complex so that youmu would be repelled from the area, but I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. I flipped the light switch as I entered my room and was greeted by a mess.

Cleaning was never something I particularly enjoyed, but eventually it had to get done, so I would always end up doing it before company came over in the old days before the rest of my family was driven away and killed. An eerie silence fell over the flat as I settled down in my favorite corner of the room. I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my face between them. The glasses I borrowed from senpai slowly slid down my nose until they were clinging to my ears by the tips of the temples. The rattling of the trees was heard as the wind blew past reminding me of when I first started my bonsai collecting.

"Mirai-chan, what's wrong? Why are you crying again today?" my father asked? His calm collected face showed much concern as he held me close and comforted me.

"The other spirit warrior children at school kept poking fun of me and calling me names. They kept saying that I had cursed blood and that I was just as much a youmu as the real ones… waaaah!" I couldn't keep my tears back. Each and every one of the children I spoke to had something similar to say to me. It was not my fault that I was born into one of the rare clans with the ability to manipulate blood. It was just simply what happened.

"Now now Mirai-chan, you know that's not true. You are just as much of a spirit warrior as they are, and every bit as talented." He ruffled my hair a little bit before standing up and holding his hand out to me. "You know, I went through the same sort of thing while I was growing up. People did not want to try to understand someone like me, but in turn, I just had to find another way to cope with their nagging and insults. Let me show you where I have found solace."

I took my father's hand and he led me to the back of our home. In the very back in the darkest corner of the house we arrived at a dead end. I looked up at my father with a confused look, but he simply smiled and held out his other hand allowing blood to form into the shape of a small rod. He guided the rod along the length of the wall until it caught on something. He pushed the rod in further and walked to the side, taking the wall with it!

My eyes opened wide with awe as a soft light came flooding out of the now-opened door. The fresh smell of a garden met my nostrils as my father led me into the middle of the room. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the symphony of smells that I would later learn to identify each and every one of them.

"Daddy, what are all of these things? They look like little trees!" I exclaimed happily. I ran around the room looking at each of the bonsai trees in turn.

"These are called bonsai trees, Mirai-chan. After a day of teasing and abuse from my friends and colleagues, I would always come home to the comfort of my bonsai," he said with a soft smile. The young me looked up at my father in awe, wondering just what kind of amazing person he must be to be able to do all of this. "These trees are all very delicate and must be treated with care. But to collect and take care of them remind me that even though I may be considered a monster to other members of the spirit society, I am still one with nature, and they cannot take that away from me."

He strolled over to one a particularly interesting looking bonsai tree that was sitting on a gold plated pedestal in the middle of the room. Carefully he stroked the top of the tree with his finger before picking up and lowering it to my eye level.

"See this one, Mirai-chan?" I nodded quickly, completely engrossed in the little trees. "This one is called a shakan bonsai. It's my favorite of my entire collection."

"What do you like about it, daddy?" I asked. At that time I thought all of the bonsai were the same. Pretty ornamental trees that my dad liked to collect to calm him after a long day's work.

"See how the tree seems to grow sideways?" I nodded again. "No matter how far the bonsai grows, it's still able to maintain its balance. It's just like the way that you and I are part of the so-called 'cursed blood clan.' We might be different and look different to other people, but even we are able to find balance within ourselves." He chuckled and old man's chuckle and patted me on the head. "Maybe you'll find solace in these interesting little trees too someday."

My father returned the shakan bonsai back to the pedestal that he took it from, turning it so that the light would reflect off the top of the branches just right and returned to me.

I hugged my father's leg as tightly as I could, being all that I could reach at the time. "Daddy! Thank you so much! I feel better now. I love you!"

My father gave me such a sad smile after I said that, and only years later would I realize why. "I love you too, Mirai-chan. Always and forever," he replied.

Bzzzzzzzzt!

I woke up from my slumber as my phone vibrated on the floor. My groggy eyes could barely open as I looked to see what time it was. The display on the phone was blurry, so I felt around for the pair of glasses I know I was wearing the night before. I found them resting between my legs and put them on. The display read 07:08.

I inched my way up the wall and stretched, yawning loudly. My stomach was growling by the time I got into the shower. I had not done any spirit warrior work during these past few days, so I was running out of money. I conjured up an image of my coin purse in my mind, trying to count the number of cups of ramen I could buy with what I had left, but numbers seemed to elude me.

"Sigh… Fuyukai desu…" I muttered. My words echoed around me for a moment before disappearing into the walls.