Chapter Text
When Lance got into the college he'd dream of since he was a teen, he thought his life would be easier for him. Even though there was that bittersweet feeling of not being able to go to Altea College—his childish college dream—he could finally not focus on beating his rival.
The first time he got into senior high, he'd plan to follow his usual set up. Act good, study better, then relax.
A set up that got him multiple A's in a row, got him medals, and even got him a girlfriend.
But it changed when there was a new student. And the plan's base shifted because of said student. From genuine need of making others and himself proud, it became a venomous envy.
The student's name was stupid to Lance too. Who names their child 'Keith Kogane'?
Anyways, he can't let the past ruin his present now.
But it seems like fate doesn't agree, since when he checked the enrollment list, his heart twisted with dread. And many questions raced through his head, but his most asked was, Why was he here?!
He was in his bedroom when he saw the list, casually scrolling through his instagram. The Cuban considered ignoring the new information and plan on how he was going to avoid the blackhaired at all times. So he went to the school’s page, and almost dropped his phone in his face.
Apparently, fate wasn't done yet with its torture, since it decided to shoot another arrow, making Keith be his classmate for almost every semester. Lance was admittedly, ready to drop dead at that exact moment. But he couldn't just die without telling his friends.
So with his heartbeats in his ears and his whole view of college shattered, his thumb hovered above the group chat's call button.
He considers dragging them into this mess, but at the same time he wants to rant. With no one else to talk to, he taps the green circle. Minutes later, Pidge responded with a face that looks like it has been dragged all the way to the seven pits of hell. Their voice weren't any different either.
"It's one in the morning, Lance. What do you want?" Their voice cracked over the speaker, and Lance felt bad for seeing them in such a state like this. He can't exactly end the call and say sorry, that'll make them pissed further.
So he started talking. "Keith's in three of my classes. And those three classes are Math, Social Science, and Humanity! So not only does my required classes now feel defiled, but I have to see Keith not once, not twice, but thrice! First day of my college life, and it feels horrible."
Pidge had a blend of skepticism and lassitude upon their face. "Why do you hate Keith so much? From what I'm basing, he doesn't look so bad. He's just intelligent and physically well. Are you jealous of him?" Despite the obvious weariness, they were just as nosy as their brother.
Lance wore a mask of mortification, dramatizing his feelings. "No! He just acts so mysterious, and I hate it! He acts like he's so untouchable, it wants me to ram my head against a cement wall. He thinks he's the shit, rejecting even the prettiest girls just to continue with that persona. I don't get what part of him you can call alright to be friends with him. You and Hunk both! He's just— ugh!" Lance groans, using that as a replacement for his words of frustration.
Pidge was silent on the other end of the screen, which Lance took as a reason to continue to manslaughter them with more excuses to hate Keith other than the fact he was jealous. “Keith keeps looking at me like I’m someone he pities. He doesn’t even look at other people the same. Not only that, but did you hear that he even turned down Axca? How much of an attention seeker can he be?! He is so frustratingly annoying, and plus, I heard he gave someone a black eye! Why would you be friends with someone as aggressive as that?”
Lance dragged his hand over his face when he sighed. “He’s also stuck in the past. I mean, who still has a mullet for a haircut? I bet he still listens to My Chemical Romance. Have you seen what he wears?”
“Yes, I do, Lance. I’m his friend?” Pidge finally responded. “It’s way too late for me to be up, and I know I will get an earful from my mom tomorrow. Bother your girlfriend.” Their voice was the last thing he heard before the call ended. And Lance almost scoffed.
Why would he bother his girlfriend? He would never get rid of her beauty sleep. He yawns, putting aside his phone on his desk and decides to embrace sleep tonight. After all, he would have to live with the fact he was going to be stuck with his rival. Turning off his lamp that Allura gave him on his birthday, he fell fast asleep.
The force of the shot shook him slightly, but seeing the result of it made him proud. It was hard to see under his heavy eyelids, but he could make out his friends fighting Sendak. They were fighting for the Castle. And they were winning.
The gun that rested on his chest dissolved away as his bayard turned off, leaving him defenseless. He was about to let his eyes rest, but then someone was at his side.
“Lance, are you okay?” The voice asked, unfamiliar yet it warmed his heart.
He forced his eyes open as he turned to the voice. He couldn’t make out what they looked like, but they had black hair and it was long. Lance smiled at the person.
“We did it,” Lance managed. “We are a good team.”
The person smiled, and it was as beautiful as a sunset.
He wanted nothing more than to see it a thousand times.
The alarm he’d set scared him, making him wake up with his heartbeat acting like they ran a mile. Clutching at his chest, he wondered who the hell was in his dream. He wanted to scream, cry, shout… scream. But all he wanted the most was questions, and he can’t have that if he just sits in his bedroom. Checking his alarm clock, it read 5:30 a.m. He exhales through a whistle as his mind shifts through the present.
He’s going to walk to the Garrison for the first time, and it will be because he enrolled there and not because he was sneaking around. He is in Garrison College. With Keith. Not only would he need to start Math I first thing in the morning, but he needs to start Math I with Keith!
What a great start for his morning.
He kicked off his blanket, stepping onto the creaking wooden floorboards as he stood up from his bed. He didn’t bother to fix his bed because he would sleep on it later anyways. Going to the bathroom, he removed the face mask he wore last night and threw it into the trash can. Washing his face with water, he lightly sprayed some to his hair as well.
He dried his head with his towel and brushed his teeth.
After going out of the bathroom, he went straight downstairs to the kitchen. Going there, he saw his twin sister, Veronica. He was surprised to see her there, since he was usually the first one to wake. In a few steps, he opened the refrigerator to get the milk carton. After that, he took the cheerios, slid it on the kitchen counter, which got Veronica’s attention. However, he spoke first.
“Unusual seeing you here,” he commented, getting a bowl and spoon.
She smiled, putting down her phone. “Morning, Lance.” When Lance sat next to her, she continued talking. “I woke up randomly.”
His spoon was half-way through his mouth, but his mouth worked faster. “And you decided to go on your phone instead of eating?” He glanced at the sink, and there were no new dishes. “Are you sure you’re Veronica?”
She laughs. “I wasn’t hungry, Lance. Now hurry up, because you might be late for today. I don’t want to explain to the headmaster why you—”
“Okay, okay.” He rolls his eyes, getting more and more spoonfuls of his cereal before finishing with a gulp of water. Veronica shot him a disgusted look for his habit. Lance didn’t care, immediately walking back upstairs to change his clothes.
Going to college was not different from going to high school, but damn, was it weird. His mom and his dad were back in Cuba while he and Veronica were living together outside Houston. Garrison College wasn’t that far. In fact, he could just take a bus instead. But because Veronica was up early, she wanted to drive him there instead.
Lance wasn’t joking when he says there is a wilder driver than him, and it’s his sister. But she never shows that side to anyone except him, and he looks crazy when he tells his friends! Guess he has to bite his complaints, since now he has no idea where he even is.
Looking at the map near the entrance didn’t help, because it looked like a windows 98 pipe screensaver. He was nearing a headache when someone spoke beside him. “Where are you headed?”
Lance didn’t want to act weirded out, especially since he did need help, but it just felt weird to him. He tried to act nice, though. He turned to the voice, and was surprised. It wasn’t some weird old man that somehow got into the campus. The person looked older, had black hair and a lock of white hair. “Shirogane” was his name, he remembered the name, prepared if Lance was going to meet him again. “Uh.. Room 51. Do you know where it is?”
Shirogane looked at the map before pointing at a purple dot in the wall. “There. Room 51. Seems like we’ll go there at the same time.” He smiled.
“Oh, really?” Lance wished he had bit his tongue for what he was going to say next. “I didn’t know you were a student. You look old.” He cringed as he expected the other’s expression to turn offended.
Never in his life was he relieved to see his expectations be wrong. Shirogane laughed, only composing himself after a while. Lance nervously chuckled, slightly syncing with Shirogane’s for a while
“No, no. I’m not a student. I’m a teacher.”
Lance froze, he accidentally kept calling him like a student mentally. He stood up straighter and mock-saluted. "Sorry, sir, for acting so shifty, sir!" The brunette wanted nothing more than to crumble into pieces as he accidentally slipped out a second honorific.
"Don't call me sir. Please, call me Mr. Takashi." The teacher shook his head and had his hand out for Lance to shake on. Lance was about to shake on it when he realized the large scar across the older's forearm. The Cuban felt uneasy to shake his hand, but did so anyway.
"I am Lance McClain, Mr. Takashi." He replied with a smile. His hand dropped to his side after the greeting, slowly raising to his waist.
"Well, Lance McClain.." Takashi crosses his arms. "We better hurry or else we'll be late."
Lance widened his eyes and opened his mouth to speak when Shiro started laughing again.
"I'm joking. Take your time. I'm just waiting for someone." The mixed hair smiled before waving Lance off. The brunet nodded before walking to the direction the classroom he saw was in.
Thank God I didn't stumble across Keith yet. Hopefully he won't come in today.
His prayers were cut shortly after he heard someone call his name. Unlike last time, he actually recognized the fellow and greeted him with a fist bump. "Hey, Hunk! Nice seeing you here, too."
Hunk looked exhausted from running, and it made Lance wonder how many minutes was his best friend looking for him until Hunk answered his unasked question. "Dude, I've been looking for you for like– 10 minutes! Where were you?"
"Sorry. The basic floormap plan looked like a maze. It took a teacher for me to understand." Lance laughed, though his ego cracked slightly on how he needed help for something as finding directions.
"Aghh, it's fine. Let's go." Hunk rested his hand on Lance's shoulder as they walked by several classrooms to get to Room 51. The chatter and conversations happening around them swirled through the air as noise, and Lance wanted nothing more than to join in, but he didn't want to seem annoying, so he progressed through the hall.
Reconnecting with Hunk in person was so much better than ranting about Keith to Pidge last night. Hunk told him about what had happened over the summer. He apparently went to Las Vegas with his family, and met his childhood friend, Shay. (Lance wiggled his eyebrows at that.)
Reaching the classroom, Lance felt his eyebrows shot up at how different college is than high school. The college was said to be larger in rooms, and he thought they were lying but no. Lance's mouth fell slightly agape at the sight, and his best friend beside him let out a soft yet lengthening 'whoa'. The two friends looked at each other, silently agreeing that they should sit in the middle row.
Walking to their desired seats, it's a relief that people nowadays don't have to stare at the new people, instead focusing on their devices. Yes, they were still getting some stares, but it was just barely a glance and nothing more. He felt his heart sink back in relief that a certain boy with a mullet was not early to glare at him.
As Lance sat down, the Cuban tried his best to not retort on the fact that his rival was burning holes through his head. Keeping his mouth shut was hard to do, especially since Keith was his number one topic. Luckily, his phone was with him. Hunk seemed like he didn't want to talk further about his summer, instead talking to another person beside him.
Scrolling on TikTok, he saw a video that Hunk would like to recreate. When he turned to get Hunk's attention, he almost fell back in his chair. Seeing Hunk interact with someone who had a stone cold expression made Lance do a double take. He didn't want to be rude, but damn was that person scary-looking. Lance was about to talk, but didn't want an expected glare from the stranger, so Lance sent the video to Hunk quietly instead.
After several swipes, the room's door opened and it was rather harsh. Lance looked up from his phone, and his face shifted into a scowl. He felt his gut pooling with heat and his heartbeat travelling to his ears. His whole entire focus shifts to the boy with the mullet. Keith was wearing a tight grey shirt with his jacket wrapped loosely around his waist, plus fingerless gloves.
God, I hate him so much.
The dark indigo eyes stared back at him as the other man's lips started to form a soft smile. Every single feature seemed to soften whenever Keith looked at Lance, and the Cuban was getting annoyed. Stop pitying me. He glared at the blackhaired, and felt a surge of pride when the other actually stopped and scowled back. Atta boy.
He didn't fight the urge to smirk, in fact, he embraced it. Their silent exchange lasted long before someone elbowed him in the arm. Lance cursed as he rubbed the sore spot, forcibly changing his attention to the girl beside him. He widened his eyes in surprise. "Romelle? You got into the Garrison?"
The blonde smiled, still wearing her pink eye contacts. "Yes. Did you not see what I texted you?"
"No, sorry. I was just.. really busy over the summer." By being busy, he means video gaming and going to the gym every once in a while.
"Can't say that I'm any different. How have you been? How're you and Allura?" Romelle rested her chin on the pad of her palms.
Lance felt a smile snake up to his mouth, happy that he could talk about his girlfriend. "I'm doing great. Me and Allura got closer over the summer, we went to a park one night and watched a movie. It was pretty great."
"That's nice! I'm pretty happy to be her wingwoman in your relationship. She really deserves you, and you deserve her." She sighs. "A match made in heaven. So cute."
Lance was about to compliment Allura more, but then in the corner of his eye, he saw Mr. Takashi. Takashi walked to the front of the classroom and set down a large book that caused a loud thud, making everyone turn to him. The older man smiled before announcing. "Hello, everyone. I will be your Science Professor. For this morning, we will be taking attendance." He cleared his throat before reciting names in alphabetical order.
"Ezor Carmen?"
"Hi!"
"Axca Drazil?"
"Here."
"Tsuyoshi Garrett?"
"Here!"
"James Griffin?"
"Here."
After a few minutes, they were done with the name call, and at that point they were getting a briefing about what they were going to learn and some pointers. Nothing different from high school. During some louder moments when Shiro kept getting questions from other students, Hunk and Lance kept poking fun at each other. He kept getting glances from Shiro, and was expecting a call-out, but there was none.
More introductions with new teachers, then they were having a break. Lance thought that getting some food into his stomach can ease his mind about hearing 'Keith Kogane' during the other teachers' introduction. It was confusing how Keith appeared in almost all of his classes despite him saying he wanted to become an artist back in highschool. Why the sudden change?
Maybe he just wanted to be better at me, so that's why he changed his major.
He scowled at the realization, feeling that even the pizza in his hand became sour. He wasn't one to show his discomfort, he usually would just suck it up and try to gamble with his choices until he reached his favorable numbers. But this situation can't be renewed. And it's because someone tipped the scale.
"Man, fuck this shit." He cursed, leaning on his chair as he let go of his food. "Keith's in 90% of my classes, and it's hell hearing his name called repeatedly." He grumbled.
"You said that last night," Pidge noted, pointing at him with their fork. "And if I didn't know any better, you said that to Hunk too. Geez, just add Allura and you already took down the whole friend group."
"Shut up, Pidge." He groaned as he dragged his hand over his eyes. "I'm already drained from just hearing his name.. Someone give me ibuprofen.." He lied, feeling his body more energetic due to the end of college and therefore more time with Allura!
Hunk walked by, having a peculiar boy behind him. "Hey, guys. Is it fine if I bring Keith—" As quick as Hunk said his name, Lance shot up, his hand dropping to his side.
"WHAT?! NO, I JUST—" Lance's words forced to a stop as Pidge hit him in the side of his arm.
"Sure, Hunk! You can bring him here." That little minx grinned like the Cheshire cat, and Lance was more than willing to stretch their face further than that. But right now he can't have anything for himself now.
"Are you sure? I mean like, Lance—"
"It's fine! Totally!"
Lance rubbed the sore spot, silently cursing at Pidge with all the names he can list off from his tongue. But nothing felt worse than being seated in front of your rival. Lance could practically feel the pity radiating off of Keith's eyes, probably something about that one time in History. Keith feels so sorry for him, it hurts in Lance's chest so much.
Stop staring at me, you freak.
He felt like he was being studied. Not admired. Studied. Lance wanted people to look at him, not look into him. It felt violating and so foreign, it was humiliating. The Cuban could feel every drip of venom in Keith's silence, his criticisms, and nit picking.
Lance scowls at him, feeling the envy bubble up to his chest, then eventually to his face. Heat explores his face as he holds his gaze to the other man, his dark blue irises rivalling an equal amount of fire to Keith's violet ones.
Though the constant conversations happening around them, their silence contrasted. The sore spot fell numb, his heartbeats being felt in his head. Keith seemed annoyed at first, so why was Keith looking so soft? Where were the sharp features Lance was familiar with whenever Keith was talking to someone else?
Who took the whole meaning of Keith and replaced him with this clone?
“...Keith.” Lance started, breaking the ice between the two of them. “It’s.. It’s been a while.” He internally screamed at the fact that he stuttered. In front of Keith. He won’t let himself live that down, and if Keith would tell Pidge, they won’t either.
“Yeah.” Keith replied sharply, contrasting how his facial features were.
“..You have a roommate?” Lance asked, slowly leaning forward to face him. “Or are you still in that loner phase?”
The raven-haired scowled, and Lance could feel himself smirk at the fact he can get under Keith’s skin so easily. “I do, contrary to popular belief.”
Lance felt his smugness drop to a surprise. He really was not expecting for Keith to give him an answer, much less the actual truth. While on the college portal, he knew that Keith had a roommate—James Griffin. He knew little of James besides the fact he shares Natural Sciences with him, but from what he’s heard, James was insanely good in everything. But he couldn’t debunk it, this was his first time meeting him in person, only hearing stories about him from Hunk, who used to be his classmate before he transferred.
“Oh yeah? Who?” The Cuban asked, despite knowing the answer. He always had this weird habit of needing other people to confirm something he already knew, but this time, he acted like he did not know at all. So that’s why he pretended again. “If it’s someone like Romelle, I will personally—”
“James Griffin.” The other gritted out. Lance could see in the way Keith held his fork so tightly, he did not want to have a conversation about his roommate. Was Lance a conspiracy theorist? No, but he was a nosy bastard, a trait he got from his sister. “I’m guessing you have Hunk as your dormmate?”
Dormmate? What, are we in 2019?
“Nah. Don’t have a roommate.” Lance replied lazily, though he couldn’t help but grimace slightly at the fact he doesn’t have a roommate. Feeling his own faltered mouth, he quickly fixed it with a smirk. “They couldn’t handle all of this.” He gestured to his body.
Keith let out a soft chuckle. “Are you joking?”
Irritation couldn’t explain the heated feeling Lance held in his heart. “Are you trying to imply something, Kogain?” He intentionally mispronounced Keith’s last name.
“It’s Ko-ga-ne.” The other grumbled, but not replying to the other question. The raven-haired had a sort of disappointment present on his face for some reason, suddenly interested in his porkchop with rice.
Lance was curious—why didn’t he fire back? From experience, Keith always defended himself. He could recall a time back in Senior Prom, Lance had offhandedly called his hair weird (it was a slick back), Keith did not hesitate to lunge at him. Lance involuntarily shuddered at the memory, all the spilled drinks added with threats.. The Cuban wondered how he survived that night. “Whatever.”
The two sat in silence while the people around them had loud, bustling conversations. Lance didn’t like not talking, but what could he exactly say to Keith? ‘Why do you still have that mullet?’ is a good conversation starter, but then what? Keith would most likely answer vaguely, and Lance doesn’t want to seem too desperate to know more about him.
“I’m late. I have to catch Shiro’s class.” Keith said casually, forgetting to pack up his meal and just moving to the other side of the room. Lance was about to say something, but couldn’t help but clean after Keith. He hated seeing food out in the open, and nothing was an exception. Finding a spare bag and container, he packed it and decided to give it to Pidge, labelling it as Keith’s forgotten food.
“Make sure to give that to Keith later," Lance said before forcefully shoving the sandwich he ordered down his throat.
Lance was exhausted after everything. Believe it or not, but Lance figured out that participating in subjects was actually tiring. He sympathized with the smart people back in high school after finding that out. But that meant he could complain to Allura. However, Lance knew he had to wait at least an hour, so he spent that one hour walking in the park.
He had a lot going on his mind, and especially with the interaction with Keith earlier.. it certainly did not help. So after sighing an air of unlabelled heaviness, he decided to sit down and watch everything. The trees were lightly shifting as a gentle breeze passed through, sending light goosebumps across his arms. He should have known to wear a jacket.
The sunlight filtered through the spaces of the trees, casting a warm glow over the few strangers and animals passing under. The constant creaking of the ‘Welcome to Olkari Forest’ sign added to the white noise every step, every conversation created in Lance’s mind. He does need to research, since he had a question that he wasn’t able to voice out. But right now, he needs to let something sunny his mind before the storm.
Speaking of ‘sunny’, he recalls an unread message from Allura.
Sliding his hand into his pocket, he took out his phone and turned it on. Pressing on the app that took him to Allura’s contact, his thumb taps on her icon as it takes him into a new page. Usually, he’d see a list of messages sent by her—each in different bubbles. But never in his life had his stomach sink at the sight of a single message. One message.
The world drowned in the background as his heart beats grew louder. Lance scrolled up, reaching for the start of the message. Above the message Lance hated to see, was his: *Call you later, baby!!* He cringed, knowing that yesterday, he would have never expected a confrontation. Still, he read the message he dreaded.
Allura:
Lance, I think it’d be best if we take a break in this relationship. I know it has been the first day of college for you, but right now, it has been difficult for me. I lost my mother, and because of that, my father has started drinking despite his age. Now he lost his life to a car accident. I know it must be unfair for you, because I know you have struggles too. But this affected me deeply, and I don’t want you worrying about me because I know you have more important stuff to attend to. I have been losing my motivation recently, and I want to get back on my feet. Even though I want you to be here, standing with me, I want to do this on my own. I’m happy with the memories we built together as a couple, so please don’t take this badly.
A single tear dropped onto the screen.
It was pathetic to see Lance trying to swallow the tears back to his eyes when it was evident that there were rocks in his throat. Lance felt the hood of his jacket and lifted it to cover his face.
Pathetic. It’s just a girl, and yet you’re crying over her? What did you expect, that she would stay?
They will leave.
They will always leave.
They will never remember you.
*