I
Afternoon had already descended on Hollow Victoria when Roxas Slater left the academy. He knew what that meant and had for years: it meant the skies were dim and painted with streaks of gray clouds. It meant the streets were slick with rain and the air was heavy with humidity. He took all of it in stride as he pushed open the doors, preparing to step out of the building.
"Hey, Roxas, wait!" a voice shouted from behind him, and Roxas turned to see his brother Sora and a few of his other friends rushing up to the door. "Are you really that eager to go out in this weather?"
"Of course not," Roxas laughed. "I am just used to it by now."
He started to turn back to the door, but Sora stopped him. "Hold on just a minute. I must wait for Kairi," he informed his brother. "And you should be waiting for Naminé."
"No way," Roxas answered. "She is probably already meeting with that Riku guy."
Sora grinned. "Whatever you say."
He leaned against the door and watched the hallway behind them. Kairi approached the entrance of the building a few minutes later, her skirts swishing around her feet as she walked, with her sister Naminé at her side and two other people trailing behind them. The others were familiar to Roxas and Sora; they usually walked part of the way home with the four of them.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Kairi greeted them with a smile. She took up a spot at the front of the group next to Sora. "Ready to go?"
A chorus of murmurs of agreement rose from the group, and Kairi led them out into the Hollow Victoria afternoon. The stone steps in front of the academy looked shiny with the constant streams of rain, and Roxas kept his eyes on the ground as he walked toward them.
The steps were not located immediately in front of the academy's doors—they stood a short walk away, in fact, and before Roxas got there, he discovered that he had trailed behind the group more than he had intended. He had made it only halfway to the stairs, watching his feet, and they had already begun to descend them, to cross into the academy's courtyard. Roxas gripped the strap of his backpack in his fist and broke into a run in order to catch up.
"Roxas, what—?" a voice asked from the group ahead, and he looked up.
He reached the top step, and he felt his foot catch a spot of rainwater and go right out from under him. He grabbed for the railing next to him, but to no avail. He completely missed, his hand grasping at nothing, and for a few glorious seconds, he was suspended in the air, looking down at the ground but in no way touching it.
And, abruptly, gravity decided to pull him back to earth, and he fell.
A/N: So, hey, ScreamingSatellite here! Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger... I think. This is the first time I've tried to do an AU fic like this, and I decided to set it in one of the past few centuries, so... The dialogue ended up sounding a little formal and the setting involves lots of little random historic things. Oh and... I don't own Kingdom Hearts in any way, just saying.
Review if you wanna tell me what you think or if you'd like to read more; I'd appreciate it very much! :3