A/N: It's amazing I've gotten 50+ reviews and 100+ favourites. It really is and I love you all for it. But I've come to detest writing this so much that I don't think it's right. So, for now, this will be the last update in a while. Maybe I'll rewrite the whole story. Maybe I'll just delete it. But either way, I'd like to thank you all for coming so far with me, and I'm sorry that I'm such a let down. Thank you.

Akihito sat up groggily, his head a mass of reverberating drum beats and he raised a sluggish hand to massage his temples.

"Nngh…" As his vision cleared, he saw that once again, he was in a vast expanse of white except there was a very large couch and an even larger television screen floating in mid-air. It flickered on.

"Ah," his face appeared onscreen. "How are you feeling? Not well, I hope." He snickered.

"Where am I? And why are you doing this?" Akihito wasn't angry anymore. He was just tired. Tired and sad.

"Oh no, sit back, relax and enjoy the show. It's my turn now. See, I even made everything comfortable so you could have VIP seats to the imminent destruction of everything you love." The fake smiled, sickly sweet.

Akihito's eyes widened in horror. "No. No don't you dare. You're not-"

"Oh, but I am." The screen faded to black but his voice still stayed. "This is like a game. A…first person shooter, if you will. Except, of course, I'll be doing the shooting. But don't worry; you'll get to choose who I shoot."

No…!

All at once, chains seemed to materialise out of thin air and Akihito found himself cuffed to the couch. His arms were restrained and two other chains criss-crossed over his chest. The more he struggled, the tighter they got.

"Aw, come on. Don't spoil the fun. Just watch~" The youmu sang, his voice echoing in his head or around him – he couldn't tell. All he could do was watch as the invader piloted his body like it was nothing. Like he was detached. Like he didn't matter.

Is this how he felt? For the last 17 years? Akihito shook his head. No, don't be ridiculous. He's a monster. How does he have feelings?

The youmu flung the blanket off of his body and stretched. He raised an arm, clenching and unclenching his hand. He laughed quietly. Standing up, his legs were a little wobbly and he almost crashed into the naphtha lamp but he quickly regained balance.

"This is great." He whispered and Akihito could feel the ecstasy coursing through his veins, clouding his mind and heightening his senses. He padded quietly to the window. His reflection confirmed Akihito's fears. He was completely taken over. The only difference was their eyes. Akihito's was a brown but his supposed forest green eyes had melted into a darker, moss-coloured green. It made him sick.

The fake flung open the window and breathed in the night air, as stifled as it was. "This is sweet, isn't it Kanbara Akihito? The world at your feet, armies at my command…" He let out a sharp laugh. "How very, very sweet."

He leapt out into the night air, revelling in the way his body could twist and move and dance and he hit the ground running. He lifted his arms and trilled an inhuman, high-pitched sound and Akihito tried to cup his ears, wincing in pain, but the chains only rattled in response.

"Come to me! Come! I have finally risen and I command you to obey me!" The youmu's voice was a roar, an overlay of laughter and cracking. As Akihito looked up again, the ground was shaking, ever so slightly. Then the tremors came and then, finally, the world seemed to have splintered. The roads were fractured and black slime seemed to ooze from the cracks before taking form as youmu. More and more joined him, trailing after him as his minions.

And still he danced through all of this, jumping and weaving through rocks and upturned earth. Undaunted and fearless, he trilled again. "You see, Kanbara Akihito, I am so much stronger than you ever were. Imagine what could happen." He snarled, a smile gracing his lips.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The only sound that filled the room was the incessant ticking of the kitchen clock. They were sitting at the dinner table, the bright fluorescent light casting shadows here and there. Hiroomi fidgeted. There was naught he could do to help Akkey; he wasn't a healer but still, he needed to feel as though he was doing something. To ease Akihito's pain. To make him wake up again.

A dull ache pulsated in his chest and he rubbed at it unconsciously. Whether it was his injury or his heart, he had no idea.

"Does it hurt?" Ayaka asked softly.

"No. Just itches sometimes."

Silence fell once more.

He darted a look to the clock. 11:48. He should be heading home soon.

When Mitsuki gets back. We'll go when Mitsuki gets back.

He couldn't sit still. Something was just so terribly, terribly wrong. He didn't want to be here, sitting in a dingy kitchen when he could be next to him, making sure he was alright. Breathing

"…When did Akihito come?" Ayaka suddenly piped up. Her voice was strange. Hiroomi blinked a few times before refocusing into reality.

"Huh? Um…7 years ago…why?" He furrowed his brow before realisation dawned on him. He snapped around to Ayaka. She looked as struck as he was. "Did anyone read the information that the Society took?"

Ayaka shook her head. A tense excitement laced her voice. "No, no one did. What if…"

"Yeah…"

Once again a silence fell, charged with anticipation. "Do you think," Hiroomi said slowly, as if just by saying it aloud it would come true. "That Akihito could be the Beyond the Boundary?"

Ayaka's eyes widened a little before she returned to her previous composure. "Well…I…" she trailed off.

Hiroomi narrowed his eyes. "What?"

Ayaka closed her eyes and looked heavenwards, uttering a soft sigh. "I'm talking too much today." She said, rubbing her temples. "Must be the Calm."

"Why? What is it?"

She paused briefly, narrowing her forest green eyes at the raven. "Are you trustworthy?"

Hiroomi frowned, impatient. "You already told me about Izumi nee-san; why can't you tell me about this?"

"This is different. In comparison, that was trivial, although it is connected. This is far more important in the grand scheme of things. So tell me; are you trustworthy?" she demanded, her gaze boring holes into his head.

"Yes," he said, exasperated but intrigued. "Yes, I am trustworthy."

Ayaka closed her eyes, burying her face in her hands. She looked almost human and so, so old. Minutes ticked away. She took a deep breath and looked at him seriously and said softly, "I'm only telling you this because I think you deserve to know. I…your sister, 7 years ago…" She wrung her hands. "She was distraught. Your parents certainly weren't happy but they didn't blame her. She was so desperate to redeem herself she threw herself in researching for some…some way to make it better."

Hiroomi remembered that time. He was little though, so he didn't quite understand why his sister was so distant but she would spend days at a time in the library, refusing food and drink. He thought she was going to die and he used to give her mud pies. She would only thank him and then pat him on the head, before sending him away.

"And then Kanbara-kun came along." The youmu flicked her eyes up to the male. "She was elated and I was glad she was, after your parents...well." She looked at him uncertainly before clearing her throat. "I didn't know why at the time but now I understand. Well," she said, wrinkling her forehead. "I think I understand anyway."

Hiroomi clicked his tongue, annoyed. "The point, please?"

Ayaka paused then said, resigned, "It is as you say. Kanbara Akihito is the Beyond the Boundary. But that's only one part of it. Your sister is planning something way bigger. You see, there's a way to trap youmu in a person and control it via the human. Highly dangerous, completely forbidden. See, the method needed a human sacrifice, so to speak. It involves trapping a youmu into a human and in turn establishing the captor's hold on the human's mind. The youmu devours that person's consciousness. They're reduced to…well…nothing. That's why no one uses the method and whoever invented was banned and exiled, ultimately sentenced to death."

"You mean, Izumi nee-san wants to do that?!"

"Well," she said wryly. "Yes."

"But why Akihito? Why didn't she capture the Hollow Spirit instead?" Panic bubbled up Hiroomi's throat and he felt sick to the core. He coughed, trying to swallow the bile that was threatening to rise up.

Ayaka looked at him sharply. "You know as well as I do. The Beyond the Boundary is far more powerful than the Hollow."

"I know," he croaked out. "I know." And he stood up, walked over to the sink and retched. Ayaka's eyes widened and she stood up, stroking his back and murmuring softly. Her eyes were sad. She ran a towel under hot water, wringing it out and waited till he had finished before offering it to him.

"Here."

Wiping his now pale face, Hiroomi sighed. "Is there more?"

She looked at him pitifully. "Yes."

"Well," he said, steeling himself. "Let's hear it."

"…If she somehow manages to catch the Beyond the Boundary, it would be unthinkable. We…we also have a social hierarchy if you will and the Beyond the Boundary stands very close to the top. It's almost akin to the President of America being assassinated except we don't have the intellect and strength like the humans do to recover. The youmu would run amok. Do you understand?"

He nodded and she laid a hand on his head, briefly ruffling it. Almost motherly, before she tucked her hand back into her kimono. She looked pained as she said, "And…this happened to Kanbara-kun before. He…his mother…well, I say mother but…" Ayaka couldn't find the words.

"Yayoi-san?" Hiroomi's eyes were steely although his face was still ash white.

"Yes. I don't know how she found the Beyond the Boundary, but she did. And she forced it into a boy who just happened to be there. And you know what the Society did?" She let out a harsh bark of laughter. "They promoted her." Anger blazed in her green eyes. "The only happiness in all this is that the boy was an orphan."

An orphan… Hiroomi felt crushed. He thought he was ready but he wasn't. He wasn't ready at all. He breathed a deep breath. That just means I have to support him all the more. "Does Akkey know?"

"No, thankfully." The youmu looked at him sharply. "And I intend to keep it that way."

Hiroomi nodded. "Of course. So how do we stop her?"

"Stop her?"

"Well of course. We can't have her wreaking havoc now, can we?"

"Hiroomi, we are only doing this if you're absolutely sure. She is your sister and I understand if you can't." She sat him down. "This isn't your fight unless you make it to be. I have to stress. You don't have to do this."

Hiroomi smiled at her. "But I will. If not for Mitsuki and Akkey, for me. That's my choice. So how do we stop her?"

Ayaka paused then nodded and turned to the door. "Ai! Ai, could you get the red book in my room please?" Ai's reply was distant and she came bounding into the kitchen, book in hand soon after. She smiled at Hiroomi.

"Anything I could get you? Tea, maybe?" Ai asked him.

"Could I get some coffee please? Strong, if you can." He offered a weak smile in return.

"Sure." And off she went again, bounding to the front of the house.

Ayaka opened to a bookmarked page in the book. The page was littered with various inscriptions by at least a dozen different hands, none of which made sense to Hiroomi. She gestured at one line. "Here, it says that the method your sister's using needs a host, a youmu and the ritual. The only way for the method to work is if the host consented to having the youmu was trapped in their mind. That is, the human's mind and heart needed to be open to the violation of the youmu for it to even possibly work."

Hiroomi furrowed his eyebrows. "Is the ritual hard?"

"Not for someone like Izumi. It would take about half a day to be prepared and less than half an hour to execute it. I have no doubt she's already got the preparations done."

"…And the host?"

She sighed. "Mirai Kuriyama. She's out there already."

"But she needs her consent right?"

"Izumi has her frozen barrier." Ayaka said softly.

Hiroomi exhaled quietly. "So she just needs the youmu…"

"Kanbara-kun is still here so-"

A crash came from the front of the house and various screams echoed throughout the wooden house. Alarmed, they exchanged a look before both of them ran towards the café.

"Ai?!"

"Mitsuki?!"

The two girls were on the floor, both grimacing in pain, coffee spilt and a package had been thrown away haphazardly. For the most part though, they were fine.

Hiroomi reached a hand out to both and turned to his sister. "What's wrong?"

Is the floor….?

Mitsuki wiped a bit of coffee that had gotten onto her face. "Outside…there's this…thing. It'd be best if you saw for yourself."

As they filtered outside, the Calm was already well underway, turning the sky a deep dark blue. And above them, blazing like the Aurora was a giant of a bubble, strewn and dashed with blacks and greens and with a mighty crack, the earth started to shake under them. Ayaka looked a little stunned, but Ai was shivering violently. A deafening roar filled the air.

"What…What's happening?" Hiroomi tried to shout above the din, but it was no use. Ayaka stumbled to his side, almost losing her footing.

"It's the Boundary! Izumi must have started already!" She shouted desperately in his ear.

Wincing slightly, Hiroomi turned around and staggered into the house. Running as fast as he dared, he threw open the door to Akihito's room. The lamp had gone out and the glass had cracked a little. He squinted into the darkness. The window clacked as the ground moved and Hiroomi's eyes widened.

Gone. No, no, no. He can't be gone. Akkey couldn't be gone. If he's gone then…

Heart beating erratically, he raced back towards the others who had made their way into the café, each of whom were clutching a beam.

"He's gone!" He shouted. Ai and Mitsuki were oblivious but Ayaka's eyes widened and she paled, obviously reading his lips well enough to understand. "Where would they go?" The house was creaking and shuddering and Hiroomi looked up and dodged, just in time, before the roof splintered and fell. Mitsuki was shouting something but he couldn't hear, much less answer.

Ayaka shook her head and gestured outside and he nodded. Grabbing Mitsuki's hand while Ayaka took Ai's, they stumbled outside again. She changed into her youmu form and bent down so everyone could get on. Ai had changed into her cat form and was mewling quietly. Mitsuki cradled her in her arms, eyes wide.

Ayaka's voice reverberated in all their heads. "She's not as strong as I am. Look after her for me." The things unsaid hung in the air. The youmu soared, putting as much distance between the land and herself as possible and she glided through the air.

"Can someone tell me what's going on now?" Mitsuki asked quietly. Hiroomi laid a hand on her head and smiled weakly.

"We're going to help Akkey."