Hey, KH and KnK fans! KH people who were around in 2015 may remember me as Cloudhead. Yes, I'm back on the KH writing scene, finally! So, this is an idea I've had in my head for a while. I love both KH and Beyond the Boundary, and I hope I can introduce at least a few people to KnK/BtB, which seriously needs more fics. Please, go watch it, it's amazing and short. :) Remember, kudos and comments are always appreciated. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix. Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary) belongs to Nagomu Torii and Kyoto Animation. I do not stand to profit from this work in any way.

0=0=0=0=0=0

I Never Say Goodbye

The most intimidating part of the day for Xion was always standing in the literal shadow of Saix, receiving her mission for the day. She supposed it was likely that way for Roxas as well, though she obviously couldn't know for sure. Maybe Roxas couldn't be intimidated, what with not having a heart, but that led into questions about herself she didn't feel like dealing with right now. No, she had to pay attention for now.

Saix looked between her and her blond friend, and then down at a clipboard. "I'm assigning you two together again today. Normally, I would not do such a thing, especially after your string of missions together… it's inefficient. But your chemistry is… useful, in this case, as this mission won't involve heart collection."

Xion tilted her head. "What will it involve, then?"

"Investigation. There's a new world, and we think the imposter may reside there."

Xion took a deep breath. The Organization imposter was becoming a problem, and it seemed that Xemnas had the whole Organization out head over heels to murder him. Maybe if they stopped him here, they'd get some respect for once. That'd be nice. Yeah, this would be just fine.

"What do we know about the world already?" Roxas asked.

Saix looked over his notes. "Little. We do know that there appear to be some sort of monsters besides Heartless roaming about. Ignore them, and if they attack, dispose of them quickly and quietly. They are useless to us. We're calling this place the Spirit World, as it appears to be a common theme with the locals."

Roxas nodded. "And the rest is for us to figure out?"

"Yes. I expect you two to return with a full report. The imposter's head on a pike will also do, but somehow, I doubt you'll find him so easily." Saix handed the two of them pocket journals and pens to take their notes in. "This is your first investigation mission together without further supervision. Do not disappoint me."

Roxas and Xion took the paper and bowed their heads. "Yes, sir," they said in unison.

Saix held out his hand and opened up the Dark Corridor, allowing the two children to pass through. As they approached, however, Saix stopped them for a second. "One more thing. Avoid interaction with the residents as much as possible. If they're not the imposter, they aren't worth your time."

"Yes, sir," Xion said. She wondered why she needed that spelt out for her after all this time. Perhaps Saix truly trusted her that little. Wouldn't be the first time.

With that, Saix finally let them go through, onto the new world.

0=0=0=0=0=0

The two emerged into what appeared to be a long hallway, with rows of lockers flanking them from the left side. The lights were off, but the hall was perfectly lit by the bright natural light of the sun streaming in from the windows on the right. The hall was empty, but clearly not abandoned—it was clean, and that low hum of electricity you only notice if you listen for it was ringing through the area. This was a place people passed through, often. That much was clear.

Roxas looked to either end of the hallway. "Where is this?"

Xion scratched her chin, thinking. "Some kind of school…? It kinda looks like one of those. I passed by one in Twilight Town, and it looked a lot like this from what I could see through the window."

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. Is it in session?"

"Probably. I feel like it's being used right now." Xion looked out the window, seeing that the sun was low in the sky. "It's late, though… and quiet. But someone's definitely still here."

Roxas pointed to a door ahead of them. "Maybe we can see? The imposter might be here."

Xion thought for a second, then nodded, crouching down. Roxas did the same, and the two of them crept towards the door, keeping their hoods up. As they approached, they heard voices… but not from the door. They were from around the corner of the hallway to their left. Xion whipped her head around and saw a blond teenager, taller than Roxas, in a school uniform, complete with a tie and a tacky plaid vest. He was looking back around the corner at something.

A girl's voice called out. "Why are you running from me?!"

The boy called back, with his fist in the air. "I'm not running, this is a tactical retreat! You've already proven after multiple fights that I can't beat you!"

The girl yelled something back, and a loud thud sounded right after. The boy ran, catching sight of Roxas and Xion but pushing them aside like bowling pins. "Excuse me, sorry! Please distract her…!"

Roxas and Xion got up, rubbing their heads, only to be smashed into by the girl. Said girl was overwhelmingly pink—short pink hair, pink cardigan, red glasses. Her shirt and skirt broke that theme, both colored in blue. She was holding what looked like a blood red sword—A Keyblade? Xion thought.

She didn't have much time to mull on that, though, as the girl was soon grabbing Roxas by the coat and looked ready to stab him straight through the chest.

Roxas frantically waved his hands to try and hold the girl back. "I'm not him, I'm not him!"

The girl stopped and looked him up and down, then quickly realized her confusion and let him go, blushing intensely and bowing. "I'm sorry, so, so, sorry! You really looked like Akihito!"

Xion blinked. "That boy who just ran by? I mean… not really?"

The girl bowed deeper in her shame. "It was the hair that got me!"

Roxas scratched his neck. "Uh, it's all right… Aren't you losing him, though?"

The girl blinked, then looked behind her at the other hall. "…Hey! This was a ruse! How unpleasant…!"

"Why are you chasing him anyway?"

She seemed all too able to answer that. "He's a youmu, and I need to get him."

Xion tilted her head. "A youmu? Do you mean… like a monster?"

The girl nodded quickly. "Yes, monsters that roam around and cause trouble. He may not look like it, but—hey, you're distracting me!"

Xion cringed and pointed in the direction of the hall. "Then, uh, you really should get going…!"

"Wait. If you're distracting me, then you might know where he is." The girl looked behind her, then leaned in. "Take me to him…!"

Xion blinked, then whispered to Roxas. "What do we do…?"

"I don't think she'll get off our backs until we help her," he said. "Let's get it over with and just keep on with the mission afterwards. Besides, maybe we'll learn something about this world, if that guy really is one of those monsters."

"Right." Xion put on a smile. "Sure, uh, this way…!"

The three of them ran downstairs, and when they couldn't see Akihito, they ran outside. And there he was, already halfway down the street and running like hell. He looked behind him, eye's widening when he saw Roxas and Xion. "What are you doing?! I told you to distract Mirai, not come after me!"

"Sorry!" Xion called back.

Akihito shook his head and kept running. The girl—apparently Mirai—bolted after him, waving for her two new companions to follow. The three of them ran down the sidewalk, catching up with Akihito within ten meters. Akihito grabbed a trash bin and pushed it in their way, causing Mirai to run straight into it and trip over it, faceplanting on the sidewalk.

Xion leaned down quickly. "Are you okay?"

Mirai pushed herself up, rubbing her face. "How unpleasant…!"

Roxas saw Akihito getting away, and outstretched his hand towards him. "Deep freeze!"

At the command, a bolt of ice shot out, landing just short of Akihito's feet. Akihito jumped, running into a wall. "Yikes—ow!"

Mirai scrambled to standing position and ran over, with Roxas and Xion in tow. The three cornered him by the wall, surrounding him at all sides.

Akihito sighed, closing his eyes in resignation. "All right, all right. You caught me again."

Mirai pulled the sword back to strike. "That's right…!"

"Are you three hungry?"

Mirai blinked, then bit her lip. "…Maybe…"

Roxas and Xion looked to each other, then back at Akihito. "Well, we actually kinda have to go," Xion said. "Maybe another time."

Akihito nodded. "Fair enough. What are your names, though…? I haven't seen you two before."

Mirai looked curious about that, too, so Xion just decided to answer honestly. "I'm Xion."

"Roxas," her friend said, nodding.

Akihitio smiled softly. "Interesting names. Can't say they're ones I've ever heard… but I like them. If you haven't picked up, I'm Akihito Kanbara, and this is…"

"Mirai Kuriyama!" Mirai nodded quickly to emphasize."

Roxas nodded. "Uh, thanks… well, uh, see you around, Akihito, Mirai!"

They all exchanged nods, and Roxas and Xion walked off. Xion quickly wrote everything that had just transpired down in her notebook. It was easily enough for a day's report, at least in her eyes. The two people they had met seemed odd, but they had gotten a tour of the surrounding area through the chase, and they had gotten the info that the monsters were called youmu and could look human. And Mirai's sword was of note, too—so much info, so many questions.

Roxas looked to her. "Do you think that guy is really a monster? Or a 'youmu' or whatever? He looked pretty normal."

Xion looked back, shrugging. "I guess we'll have to find out another time. We did say to maybe see him another time."

Roxas scratched his neck. "Saix did say not to talk to the locals if we can help it."

"Hey, we're learning information about this world, right?" Xion smiled. "That's our job here right now. I'm sure that gathering info is an acceptable reason."

"I guess."

"Now, come on. Axel is probably waiting for us, it's late. Let's go home."

0=0=0=0=0=0

After hearing the story, Axel laughed. "So Saix tells you not to get involved with the locals, and the first thing you do is help some clumsy pinkette chase a poor teenage boy down the street?"

Xion laughed, too. "It was kind of an accident…!"

"Ah, I know, I know." Axel took a bite out of his ice cream bar. "That's why you've got to be careful, all right? As soon as you see someone, you need to duck out and hide. Be sneakier next time."

Roxas leaned in. "What do we do if we, uh, said we could eat sometime…?"

Axel mulled on that for a minute, taking another bite. "…Don't follow up. You're not there to make friends. Besides, no one remembers that kind of thing, anyway."

Xion looked down. "I was hoping we could get more information out of them…"

"Usually, different people get sent if there needs to be followup info." Axel looked out to the sunset. "Seriously, don't worry about it."

The two just nodded, biting into their ice cream bars in unison.