One Change - A KH "What If?" (DISCONTINUED/MOVED)

358(1)

Day 13

Roxas stared at his reflection, fingering his hair. It had somehow gotten a bit more messy as he slept the previous night, and he had little to no way to tame it. Well, he could always ask the Moogle down in the Grey Area if it had any combs or anything. Though, he doubted it.

Nonetheless, he had work today. Like every other day. Well, not every other day, but everyday in general. Roxas released a sigh and strengthened up his form, standing up straight. It felt weird to do, since he didn't do it a lot. Especially with how he stood holding his keyblade. He apparently hadn't learned any techniques since using his sword on Destiny Islands.

With a soft groan, Roxas left his bathroom, and then his room and walked down the hallway.

The sooner the mission was over, the better. He didn't want to affiliate with the Organization for long. Just get stronger, and get out of here. Finding his friends and getting back to himself was more important than some "Kingdom Hearts" stuff.

As he listened to the soft thud sound of his shoes on the floor, Roxas's mind started to slowly wander. Just that morning, not too long from now, he had noticed a door just down the hall from his. Sure, it had always been there, but he had always overlooked it. It seemed to compel him, which was weird. And any other time he went to check the door to see if it was storage, it had been locked. But, when he went to check earlier that morning, it had been unlocked. He hadn't opened it, because he would end up being late to a mission. And then Larxene would never let him hear the end of it. But he was starting to wish that he had. His curiosity made him itch, and he scratched at his head.

Roxas quickened his pace and hurried through the twisty castle. He didn't want to be late. He may not want to be here in the first place, but he wouldn't get strong by loafing about in his room either.

When he finally reached the Grey Area, he saw a hooded figure a bit shorter than him standing next to Larxene.

He hesitantly crossed the room, but his eyes never left the figure. They had a slightly muscular build, standing without any sense of attitude or emotion in their stance. Strange.

"You're late." Larxene said curtly, narrowing her eyes down at him. Her glare seemed to shoot straight through him, making him almost take a step back. She rolled her eyes. "Don't be late next time." Roxas simply nodded. Larxene hummed at his nod, but then nodded herself. "Good. You will be going to Twilight Town today."

Well, at least it was a world that Roxas knew. "Okay.. and who are they?" Roxas gestured to the person next to her, jabbing a thumb at them.

Larxene turned to the person, rolling her eyes. She seemed annoyed at them, crossing her arms. "You can take off your hood now."

The person's hands moved to their hood, and pulled it off, revealing a boy with shoulder length silver hair, and clear green eyes.

Roxas almost fell back from the shock. He almost fell back a step, but somehow managed to stand his ground. Why did he look so familiar? Something about him felt so familiar in a nostalgic way.

"This is Ikrux. He'll be accompanying you on missions from now on."

Roxas was a bit too shocked to answer, and simply nodded. His tongue felt dry, which made his entire mouth feel off. He swallowed hard a few times, which felt weird with his tongue feeling dry, and managed to refocus again.

Larxene just nodded to signal her leave, and then was swallowed up by a Corridor of Darkness. Once she had left, Roxas felt the tension rise, and looked at Ikrux. Something about the nobody didn't settle with him. Almost like.. he knew him somehow. It started to tick him off, so he should probably start the mission now.

"So. Ikrux. Should we be going now?"

Ikrux looked up at him with a blank stare, and nodded. So, he hadn't been out much. That explained why Roxas hadn't seen him before. He quickly made note of it and waved his hand. A Corridor of Darkness floated into view. Ikrux stared at it, and despite being emotionless, looked almost confused.

Roxas stepped into it, hoping that Ikrux followed, and found himself in the sandlot.

And it looked empty.

Roxas jumped a little when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Ikrux stared at him blankly.

"What do you want?" Roxas asked.

Ikrux blinked at him.

Roxas bit his lip to stop himself from snapping. "Right, forgot you can't talk."

Ikrux threw his hand down, and to Roxas's surprise, a sword appeared. It almost looked like a keyblade.

"You want to train?" He guessed.

Ikrux nodded vigorously.

Roxas smiled a little, summon his keyblade.

Ikrux held his sword up near his head in a way that sparked interest in Roxas.

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Roxas held his keyblade triumphantly up to the sky.

The spar had gone well, Ikrux had learned a lot about fighting.

As he put the keyblade down, however, Ikrux approached him, and put it back up. As Roxas was about to ask, Ikrux put his sword next to the keyblade, making an X.

Suddenly, Roxas understood. "Oh, because of how I held up my keyblade?"

Ikrux nodded.

"Maybe we can do that at the start of every mission as just a fun thing?"

Ikrux shrugged, and nodded.

"So, we should go back now, right?"

Again, the other nodded.

Roxas silently opened another corridor, and let Ikrux walk through first.

Something about him ticked off Roxas. Not necessarily in a bad way though.

But, he would be going on missions with Ikrux for a while, so he'd have to put up with it.

Maybe his days here wouldn't be so bad.