Notes: This is the Fic I Never Intended To Write. See, I once said that I would only ever write 100 canon-compliant KH fic. Then I decided to write this. It's a little bit high school AU, a lot the-next-life fic, and the plot has elements of sci-fi/fantasy for good measure. The first chapter is a little on the short side, but the rest will be more substantial, I swear.

Disclaimer: Is this even necessary? The only Kingdom Hearts things I own are three games and the KHII soundtrack. If I owned the franchise, there would be a lot more Roxas, I'm telling you.

I

"So you are leaving, then." His voice was soft, slightly strained. It was not a question.

"I have to." He thought he should have been sad, because endings were supposed to make people sad and he knew that. But he wasn't a person, was he? And that was why he had to go. This wasn't all there was - the emptiness, the not-feeling, the longing for something that was always just out of reach - it couldn't be.

"No, you don't!" His friend (partner, counterpart, other self, everything) sounded furious suddenly, as though either of them were capable of such a thing. Long hands slammed against his shoulders, pressing him back into the wall as dry lips crushed against his and fever-bright green eyes stared him down. It would have been brutal had it not been so desperate, a demand and plea at once, and he wasn't supposed to be able to want like this, everything he was told him so, but he did and so he reached out and

Roxas started awake with a rough gasp as a hand lightly touched his arm.

"Are you all right?" the young woman next to him asked gently, leaning closer with a concerned frown. "You were whimpering in your sleep."

He ran a hand down his face, willing the vibrant dream images away even while a deeper part of him protested loudly and tried to cling to them. "Sorry," he muttered. "I'm fine."

"It's all right." She smiled kindly. "Everyone has bad dreams."

"Heh." He forced a smile, to cover up his internal scowl. He hated falling asleep on the train. "Yeah."

Then the next station was announced and the weak smile disappeared as he sighed heavily, hefting his backpack and getting up. He'd slept through his stop again. That made the third time that month. If he didn't start keeping himself awake, he'd start getting detention, and he really couldn't afford that with only a few months left until he graduated.

Roxas really hated falling asleep on the train.

"Well, take care of yourself," his train neighbour said with another gentle smile. He noticed absently, through his irritation, that she was one of those people who, while plain and ordinary-looking normally, became suddenly beautiful when they smiled. The ones who had more to them than their appearance initially suggested. The sort of people who, just maybe, had something missing inside them, too.

"Yeah, thanks, I will." He nodded at her as he got off the train, pushing his way through the crowd towards the stairs, her random act of kindness fading to background noise as the train pulled away and Roxas focused on getting to school. He'd gone three stations too far, which meant he was out of his train pass's area, which meant he was going to have to pay for the hassle of getting to school late. And there really could only be so many days he came to class tardy before his teacher started questioning his 'the train was late' excuse, so he might also be paying for the pleasure of his first ever detention. In January of his senior year. Great.

Annoyingly, an inner voice that sounded suspiciously like his cousin Sora took that moment to cheerfully inform him that he wouldn't have had those sorts of problems if he'd just chosen to go to the local high school after moving across town, like everyone had wanted him to.

Roxas scowled at the stairs. Shut up, Sora.

As he trudged up to go pay and get to the other side of the station as quickly as possible, he did a rough mental calculation. Three stations too far meant about fifteen minutes on the train to get back if he caught an express. But it was getting a little later in the morning, so he'd probably have to wait. A local train would take forever because he'd have to get off at least one station early and wait for another train, so that was pretty much pointless and stupid. That meant he was facing at least twenty minutes to get to the right station, and then a five-minute walk to school. If he was lucky, he'd get there about a half-hour late, which was... really bad. He was so screwed in calculus.

Was it really only Tuesday? He needed another weekend already.

He got to the top of the stairs and turned the corner sharply, trying to hurry a little. Maybe, if he was really lucky, he'd get to the platform just in time to catch the right train. That happened sometimes, right? Right.

Apparently getting to school even remotely on time was not to be, though, because he immediately ran right into someone who also was either in a hurry or liked to take corners close.

"Sorry, man," he muttered, looking up apologetically even though he wanted to keep moving. Whatever he'd been meaning to say next, though, died in his throat as his gaze landed on the guy's face. Green eyes and tattoos on his cheekbones and red hair and, oh, the green eyes... He was staring blankly, his breath catching in his throat and his thoughts grinding to a halt. A strange mix of emotions assaulted him - relief and joy and triumph and a sudden calm that rushed to fill the part of his chest that always felt empty and hollow when he had too much time alone to think.

The guy, tall, wiry and wearing a long black trench coat, initially looked pretty pissed off, only for the anger to morph into a complicated, intense expression, made up of equal parts surprise, joy and something Roxas couldn't identify. A long hand reached out and wrapped around his wrist, tight enough to bruise, and eyes that should not have been nearly so familiar held his gaze firmly. His skin was very warm.

They stared at each other for a long moment, Roxas finding himself unable to break the silence, some irrational part of him afraid that, if he did, everything (what everything?) would be ruined. Then reality started to crash down on his head and he could feel his cheeks heating up at the realisation that he was staring blankly at someone the sensible part of him insisted he'd never seen before.

He opened his mouth to apologise again, more sincerely, and then get the hell to his train with some shred of dignity left intact, but he was having trouble bringing himself to pull his wrist away, and his mouth snapped shut. The contact felt familiar, like home, even though he knew, knew, it couldn't be.

When he finally found his voice a beat later, to his dismay he didn't say any of the normal, rational things he was supposed to. Normal, rational things that would have forced his morning back into a shape he recognised and could deal with. No, that would have made his life simple, easy, standard (disappointing...). Instead, he said something completely wrong that was guaranteed to make him even later than he already was and get him in a whole heap of other trouble.

"Do-do I know you?"

Judging from the way the guy's eyes lit up, Roxas felt like the answer might have been yes.