Welcome to Traverse Town University. Tucked away in the glowing, historic backdrop of, you guessed it, Traverse Town, the university is home to thousands of young men and women seeking to broaden their educational horizons. Students come from all over, yearning for a truly unique, individual journey.
In the case of young Sora, he wanted more than anything to just experience the world. So he'd picked a college far away from the sheltered island he'd called home for his entire adolescent life. The beach had left an imprint on him, on his sun-loving tan skin and his loose, fun-loving personality. He was a typical freshman, enamored by the parties, the activities, the freedom… while trying to find a good balance between life and academics.
His roommate, Tidus, clearly had his priorities straight.
"Are you really skipping class again?" Sora asked in the direction of his roommate's bed. He ran a hand through the mess of gravity-defying mousy brown spikes on the top of his head. Really, having such strange hair worked in his favor. After all, people were too busy looking at the shape than wondering if the boy had showered that morning. It didn't matter that he'd been given one of the few rooms in the building with a private bathroom- sometimes the bed was just warmer than the shower.
There was no answer from Tidus' bed. Sora rolled his eyes as he made his way to the minifridge. He adjusted the tank top he wore and hiked up his shorts as he pulled out a can of Mountain Dew and cracked it open. "I know you and Yuna had a long night, but your professors have to have an attendance policy. C'mon. I'll give you one of my Zebra Cakes," he taunted playfully, picking up a package and crinkling the wrapper.
No response.
"Oh, come on," Sora sighed, walking over to the bed. "This is just sad." He grabbed the blanket and pulled it back, only to reveal…
No Tidus.
"Huh." Sora looked down at the empty bed and brought the can of liquid diabetes to his lips. Maybe he needed to pay better attention. He remembered hearing the door open.. but that was Tidus coming back, right? Maybe the Twinkies he'd eaten before bed had a hallucinogenic effect?
In a hopeful ritual, Sora sat down at his desk and woke his laptop up from its sleep. Every day, before even bothering to get ready, he checked his campus email to make sure that no classes were cancelled. He really didn't like having to hike without benefit.
"Yes, an email," he muttered excitedly to himself. Without even bothering to check the subject line, he opened it.
Dear Student,
Due to unforeseen circumstances, you will be issued a new roommate. We apologize for any inconvenience, and all attempts to match you with a suitable individual in accordance to your roommate preferences will be made.
Thank you for your cooperation,
Traverse Town University Housing
Sora sat back in his chair, eyebrow raised.
"Hi! Uh, my name's Sora. I got this email this morning about my roommate? Something about being reassigned? I think there was a mistake made. Uh, yeah, it's from an email. But- uh, my roommate's name is Tidus. Yeah. Mmmhm. Wait, how can that be right? All of his stuff's still here! That- how is that not your problem? A boy is missing! Hello? Hello?"
Sighing dramatically, Sora fell back on his bed, his phone falling onto the pillow beside him. "This is so weird," he groaned. He jumped up as a brief knock was followed by the opening of his dorm room door.
Sora didn't know if it was a good thing or not that his twin brother had followed him to college. It wasn't as smothering as one would expect, really. His twin, Roxas, had been invited to attend a prestigious private school in Twilight Town, and had done so for the entirety of high school. Everyone who met them noticed that, save for their bright blue eyes and love of unhealthily colored soda, the boys were polar opposites. Roxas' hair was short and blonde. His skin was pale, and Sora's goofy, ever-present smile was never seen on Roxas' face. Sora daydreamed, where Roxas kept both feet on the ground.
"I got your text. Now, what's exactly going on?" Roxas asked, stepping into the room. Behind him was the dorm's Resident Advisor, an eclectic-looking man named Axel. The guy was easily 6'4, skinny as sin, and had long red hair that doubled as an emergency beacon. It was unclear whether the marks under his eerily green eyes were permanent. His ears were loaded with piercings which totally pissed off the bookstore's metal detectors. Sora didn't have much of an opinion of him yet, but he seemed like a cool guy.
"Dude, he was here yesterday, and now he's not. I don't get it."
Roxas looked at Sora, brow raised. "Sora, I know you have a sense of object permanence. He probably went home for the weekend or something."
"It's Wednesday! And look at the email I got!" Roxas leaned in to take a look
Axel stepped forward. "Alright, alright, kiddos. Let me work my RA ninja magic." He pulled out his phone, and after a few minutes of tapping on the touch screen, he clicked the ball of his tongue stud against his teeth.
"Welp. Looks like your email's legit, dude. I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's still early in the semester, and I really don't think the guy is really gonna miss his.." Axel picked up a dirty t-shirt. "Did he use the laundry room? Does he know it's there? Was I not clear in my facility tour?"
Sora leaned back in his chair. "This is so weird. Why would he just leave like that?"
Axel shrugged. "I've seen it all, man. Sometimes college just isn't what people think it's gonna be, you know? They can't handle the parties, the harder classes, the alchemy department's really obnoxious midnight chanting over glowing cauldrons in the quad…"
Roxas rolled his eyes. "Really. Don't those guys have anything better to do?"
The conversation was halted by the opening of the door. It was strange, but.. Sora could have sworn he'd felt his heart stop for just a second.
The figure in the doorway moved like slowly flowing water. He was tall, though he only reached Axel's nose. Straight silver hair passed his shoulders and hit the middle of his back, choppy bangs partially occluded bright- wait, were his eyes turquoise? His skin was pale, his lips as white as the rest of him.
"Who're you?" Roxas asked, hostility in his voice as he sized up the stranger in the room.
"Some welcoming committee," he grumbled, voice low and smooth despite the overcoat of sarcasm. "This is my dorm."
"What're you talking about?" Sora finally spoke. "I have a roommate."
The silver-haired intruder tossed his bookbag onto Tidus' old bed and sat down. "Nothing gets past you, huh, beachball?"
Axel shifted from foot to foot and grabbed Roxas' hand. "C'mon, buddy. Let's go counsel the swingers in 5A and 17A on proper condom use and STD screening," he muttered through clenched teeth, practically dragging Roxas out of the dorm room.
Sora watched as the bed-stealer pulled off his leather jacket, revealing a t-shirt with some strange symbol- probably a reference to some obscure band- layered over a long sleeved shirt with holes cut out for his thumbs. He had his feet, sneakers and all, right on top of the blankets. Sora was no clean freak, but that even made him wince.
"I think you have the wrong room, uh..?"
"Riku," the man said casually, pulling a Kindle out of his bag. "And I have a letter from Housing telling me that this is, in fact, my room."
Sora rubbed his eye. "But I already have a roommate. Well. Kind of."
Riku looked up from his Kindle. "How do you 'kind of' have a roommate?" he asked, and Sora chose to ignore the mocking in that smooth voice.
"I got an email saying he moved out."
Riku gave him a blank stare. "And you're still freaking out why?"
Sora gave a look of pure disbelief. He pointed at the Blitzball-themed bedspread, now soiled by Riku's dirty runners. "Um, why would he leave without his stuff? And without telling anyone? He won't even answer my texts! And the guy in the Housing Department seemed really short-tempered."
Riku sighed and stood, Kindle in hand. "Probably because you're really fucking annoying. No wonder the last person who had to live with you ran in the night," he grumbled, trudging to the bathroom and locking the door behind him.
Sora paused for a moment.
"Are you reading on the toilet?"
"Stop talking."
Author's Note: Hello, everyone! This is a really fun change in pace for me. I've always had a lot of fun with school AUs when it comes to Kingdom Hearts, and I'm really excited to have finally gained inspiration to write one of my own. Please leave a review if you enjoyed, and there's definitely more to come. And, as always, no copyright infringement of any kind is intended!