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Discipline problem, anger management issues, problem child are all synonyms in a system not at all built to handle children from anything other than a well behaved kid no issues from a nuclear family. Keith, tried his best to be a well behaved kid and it was not his fault that the circumstances around him simply were not conducive for him being what the faculty wanted him to be.
Keith had wanted to sit by himself, to be left alone, to not lift his head too much and be seen. But he could not help it, he could not help but fight. There’s too much bite in his blood, something boiling under the surface, something that tells him that he needs to fight. To stand back straight and not be stepped on anymore. So there Keith sits straight backed albeit more than a little bit nervous, he’s short so he looks closer to twelve than the fourteen his father has assured him that he is.
In all honesty Keith had no idea why he had been called into the Guidance Counselor’s office on this occasion. He had been in here twice in the past week and a half for brawling with another boy in his class. A burly young blond white kid who had been angry about Keith’s far superior simulator scores. Something about how someone with that attitude should not be allowed anywhere near a ship. There had been other uglier things said that had more to do Keith’s his being asian, clearly the real root of the problem, before Keith had knocked two of his molars with a more than solid right hook.
His father had said his mother would have been proud, whatever that meant. It’s not like they had stayed around long enough for him to see what they what they would have actually said about him. Keith fumed miserably in the chair, wondering for the 85th time if this about that again because they could question him about him and try to force him to say it all they wanted to, he still was not sorry about punching that kid and he never would be. Fuck that. He would rather die than give that brat the satisfaction and validation of an apology when he was the one who had done wrong.
“I’m guessing you’re wondering why we’ve called you here.” The Guidance Counselor’s voice is so even it almost sounds like a forced calm. Keith braced himself for whatever came next. He was definitely going to be having his suspension for next week extended another couple of days. Hell, if it had not been a standardized test taking day he probably would have been out on that day too. So he gripped the bottom of his chair and waited on breathe that was far more baited that the boy would probably ever willingly admit. He was for sure being expelled, there was no getting around that now. He would have to tell his dad about being kicked out of another school.
“Keith, I’m so sorry.” The We have to ask you to leave school grounds is what Keith had steeled himself for. What he had been truly ready for, so what comes out of the greying old man’s mouth not only surprises him but effectively knocks the wind out of the boy. “We’ve gotten a call from your father’s job. It pains me deeply to have to tell you, but your father has passed.”
The words are robotic, clearly written by someone else or a practiced script ready for whatever poor soul has to suffer them next. Keith feels the chair starting to crack a little bit under his under his grip. How could he so suddenly be so alone in the world.
How could the one person in the world how had ever taken the time to understand and care for him despite his quirks and issues suddenly be gone like that? How could he be alone now? How could he just leave Keith alone like that? How dare he die on him? Was it unfair to think of his death that way?
It took all of his effort to release the chair, Keith stood up, balling his fists at the side of his body. He needs to leave. He needs to leave. He hears, but does not truly process that a family friend, has been called and will pick him up in the evening. He is allowed to stay in the counselor's office for the rest of the day or if he would like to go to a relative or friend’s house. Not that he has either of those anymore besides Shiro, and Shiro would not be there to pick him up for another couple of hours at least. So when the school day ends he trudges back home in the April texas heat.
There was only one month of school left, so as he trudged home Keith contemplated the skipping the rest of it. He was going to suspended for most of it anyway, there was no real reason for him to go back was there? He marched, and he marched, past the places in town he had such clear memories of. Past the dinner where he and his dad got milkshakes every saturday as a treat even though it made both of them pretty sick. Past the barn that held Miss Miller the kind old lady they helped around the house even though after she was too old to take care of herself. Finally, he passed the park he could first remember seeing star wars in when he was five and being completely shaken by the revelation that Darth Vader was Luke’s father and how his dad had beamed at him.
The house was just beyond there, he could have easily just walked over and cried in his room like a normal teenager would in this situation, but instead the boy ran. Keith tore off as fast as he feet could carry him and rushed into the park. He could not be there, whether Shiro was going to show up in a few hours or not he simply could not let his body step into that house now that it was dead and empty.
Light years away someone else feels a pang of pain in their heart. Like something they care about is gone, like the color from their world has drained. The Pilot does not know what brought the feeling on. A sixth sense is what they would guess years from then when they learned what had happened that day. But while they remained completely ignorant in of the events that plagued their child and the death of their only living spouse the Pilot tried to keep their ears focused on the latest Marmora business. It was too important not to tune out but they just could not focus on it today, something, something was incredibly wrong and while they did not know what it was, they could feel like something in their life was being torn apart just beyond their reach.