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There’s only one thing that’s clear to Shiro in this moment: he’s high as fuck.
It’s literally the night before the semester starts, so what better way to kick off the year than to get high and act a fool? At least, that’s what Lance had said, and Shiro was stressed enough to agree. He’d spent the entire day pouring over the syllabi for his five classes, all upper level science and math courses. He's going to die this semester, he’s sure of it.
So yes, when Lance walked in with a bag full of weed brownies—courtesy of Hunk, bless his soul—Shiro didn’t hesitate to chow down. Most of the frat house follows suit, breaking out some liquor as well. Shiro stares at the bottle of vodka in front of him, holding an empty shot glass. Getting high was one thing, but did he really wanna get cross faded the night before classes start?
“Do you think if we show up to theoretical physics high as hell, it’ll actually make sense?” Matt asks him, hanging upside down on the couch.
That’s right, this semester he shares a 9 am theoretical physics class with Matt. That syllabus was absolute hell to get through. He sighs, a world-weary sound, and unscrews the vodka.
“Guess we’re gonna find out bro.”
Matt watches him, a cross between intrigued and distressed, as Shiro takes a shot straight from the bottle. Shiro looks over at his friend, waving the bottle in askance. Matt screws his mouth, like he’s trying to think too hard, before giving in. He doesn’t move at all, just tilts his head back and opens his mouth. Shiro laughs and tips the bottle, pouring what he thinks is a shot in Matt’s mouth.
Matt swallows and coughs through the burn. Then he rolls off the couch and hurries to stand on the table, dragging Shiro with him. He swipes the bottle from his hand, holding it high to get the room’s attention.
“My bros! Let’s toast to another semester of tears, straight A’s and superlative research,” Matt’s declaration is met with their standard frat cheer. “But before that, let’s get FUCKED UP!”
That declaration is met with a roar as the near full bottle is passed around for everyone to take a shot. By the time it gets back to Shiro, there’s only about a fourth left. The room goes quiet in anticipation. Then Matt nudges his ribs.
“Come on, Mr. President. Chug, chug, chug,” Matt begins the chant, and soon the room is ringing with it.
With a smile, Shiro silently resigns himself to death, and tips back the bottle. The vodka burns something ugly down his throat, but he finishes the bottle, barely resisting throwing it on the ground in victory. Glass is a bitch to clean up.
Someone puts on music, hopefully it’s Lance, and their impromptu house party begins.
Shiro steps down from the table and stumbles. The edibles must really be kicking in now.
“Matt wait. Before we get super fucked up and die, help me with something.”
Matt puts down a cup filled with something and trudges over to the kitchen with him. Shiro pulls out a few cooking pots, cans of tomato sauce, and noodles.
“God Shiro, you’re so smart," Matt moans, slumping on the counter with a smile. "This is gonna taste so bomb when we’re dying.”
Shiro smiles and starts filling the pots with water.
“Yeah, I know.
ΣΑΨ
Keith walks aimlessly through the courtyard, basking in the solitude. It’s well after 10pm and the campus is empty. Even if it wasn’t the night before classes start, Keith knows it would still be empty. If there isn’t a party going on then no one really wanders around after 9, really. Well, no one except Keith.
Night was the only time Keith was able to hit the gym, after all. And if he takes his time returning to his dorm after, who can blame him? The air is chilled, in that pleasant summer night kind of way. The campus at this time of night is silent and still and Keith likes to walk around and calm his mind before bed.
He rounds a corner, onto the path that leads to his dorm, and freezes. In the distance, he sees another person, and the sight is enough to startle him momentarily. He sighs and continues walking. Maybe Keith isn't the only one that likes late nights after all.
As he gets closer, it becomes obvious that the other person belongs to one of the many fraternities on campus. Great, so a frat boy shares his passion for the night air? Or maybe there’s some party happening that he doesn’t know about. Keith has nothing against fraternities, really; it just wasn’t really his scene is all. But then he gets even closer and notices the logo on the guy’s shirt. And he notices the guy under the shirt as well.
Those symbols belong to Sigma Alpha Psi, one of the rare academic based fraternities. That fraternity was home to some really fucking smart people. And there’s something vaguely familiar about the guy in front of him. It’s not until some light catches on the frat boy’s metal prosthetic that Keith figures it out.
Takashi Shirogane.
Keith’s never seen him in person, only heard of him through the campus grapevine. Shirogane is the president of Sigma Alpha Psi, which tells Keith more than enough about his academic prowess. But if that fraternity is known for working hard, they’re known for partying even harder. Shirogane is the resident beer pong and keg stand champ, as well as being posed to graduate next year as summa cum laude. Wild.
The thing that catches Keith most off guard? Definitely how hot he is. Sure, he’s heard rumors about Shirogane’s looks, his body, his everything, but rumors really can't do a face like that justice.
Keith slows his approach, delaying their inevitable crossing on the narrow path. Should he talk to him? Introduce himself? See if he can get his number? Keith straightens his spine and closes the distance. But before he can really approach or get a single greeting out, Shirogane stumbles on something and falls to his knees.
“Hey, you okay?” Keith hurries forward when the man doesn’t automatically get up.
Then, things get… weird.
Keith hears muffled whimpering from the hunched figure and panics. Shit, is he hurt? Should he call for help? But then he kneels down to help him up and freezes.
Was that spaghetti on the floor?
Shirogane chooses that moment to look up at him. His eyes are bloodshot and trickling tears. His breath smells like pure vodka as he cries, a pathetic high-pitched whine, scooping the spaghetti into his pockets. His pockets. The entire scene is like a trainwreck; Keith can’t make himself look away.
“Um…”
Keith looks around, but there’s no one he can ask for help. Shirogane just keeps scooping spaghetti into his pockets. Keith can tell the dude is just wasted as hell. The redness of his eyes is definitely from weed, and he reeks of alcohol. Keith snorts. And right before the semester begins, huh? Hardcore. He can’t help but respect that kind of grind.
“Come on, up we go,” Keith mumbles, grabbing one of his arms and hauling it over his shoulder.
Fraternity row is only the next street over. It would weigh too heavy on his conscience if Keith just left Shirogane all alone. It had nothing to do with wanting to get a taste of what his arms felt like, not at all. Slowly, but surely, they begin their trek.
ΣΑΨ
A rude awakening comes in the form of a cold bucket of water dumped on his head. Shiro bolts straight out of bed, sputtering, and instantly regrets the movement. He feels like shit.
“Up and at ‘em sunshine! Physics lecture starts in 30 minutes,” Lance announces, way too cheery for this early.
“I hope you woke up Matt the same way,” Shiro groans, getting back up slowly this time.
“Oh, you know it. I think he’s asleep in the shower, go kick him out. You reek.”
With that final insult, Lance leaves his room, probably to go wreak havoc on the rest of the house. Shiro sighs, sniffing his shirt. Yeah, okay, he totally smells. He strips down to his boxers, not thinking too hard about the tomato stains on everything, and heads over to the bathroom. Just like Lance said, he can hear water running in the shower. Shiro throws the door open and jumps in the shower.
“Wake up Matt! If I gotta suffer today, so do you!”
“Shiro what the fuck!”
Shiro feels a little less crusty when he finally walks into theoretical physics. A cold shower and some advil works wonders. Matt lags behind him, caught up in some conversation down the hall. Shiro may be feeling better, but he’s definitely not in the mood to socialize. Not until he downs his Venti coffee and makes it through lecture.
Even with ten minutes left until class time, the room is pretty full. Him and Matt will have to show up earlier in the future if they wanna score seats together. As it stands, it looks like they’ll have to sit by someone new today. Shiro scans the first couple rows for an empty seat; he’s never been a back of the room type of guy. Someone in the first row catches his eye and Shiro’s breath stops.
It has to be the most gorgeous guy he’s ever seen. And lo and behold, there’s an empty seat right there! Today’s his lucky day.
Shiro adjusts his snapback and puts on a winning smile. He’s so happy he brushed his teeth twice this morning, for good measure. Minty fresh. He walks up to the seat, all easy confidence, and announces his presence by placing his coffee down. Bright blue, nearly violet eyes shoot up to him, and his heart skips a beat.
“Hey, is this seat taken?”
Gorgeous guy shakes his head, soft black hair falling into his wide eyes. Shiro has to fight the urge to sweep them back. Instead, he smiles and sits down, getting himself situated before introducing himself.
“Hey, I’m Shiro by the way,” he says quietly, holding out his hand.
The guy gives him a weird, lingering look before taking his hand with a firm grip.
“I’m Keith.” He drops his hand and pauses, still looking at him strangely. “Uh, you don’t still have spaghetti in your pockets, right?”
Shiro blinks, smile faltering.
“Spaghetti in my… what?”
Keith doesn’t answer him, just snorts and quirks his lips slightly. And damn if that isn’t attractive. But Shiro’s mind is too busy having a meltdown, because spaghetti… spaghetti in his pockets… the red tomato stains on his clothes…
It’s all coming together in a rather embarrassing way. And Keith, he’s never met Keith. At least, he doesn’t remember meeting Keith. But if he just asked a question like that, it can only mean…
“Holy shit this is embarrassing.”
He sinks into his seat, wishing he could just disappear. But Keith just laughs next to him, a warm raspy sound, and Shiro flushes. Matt chooses that moment to enter the room, obviously looking around for Shiro. Their eyes meet and Matt takes in his look of distress, then looks at the guy sitting next to him. Shiro sees recognition light up in Matt’s eyes and his friend smiles something wicked. With a lazy salute, Matt leaves him to his fate, taking another seat in a middle row.
“Oh, I remember him too. He tried to give me spaghetti for the road,” Keith comments casually, smirking.
“Look, I swear I’m a normal person. Like, you saw me at a very low moment, and I honestly don’t even remember most of last night,” Shiro half-pleads, but Keith just keeps looking onward in amusement.
The arrival of Dr. Coran ends their one sided conversation, and Shiro is forced to endure the most awkward hour-long lecture of his life.
ΣΑΨ
Keith walks into his dorm after a long day of classes. He might be regretting taking a credit overload, but how else was he supposed to graduate early? Besides, if he binged on classes now while he still had prereqs left, then it would totally pay off in the long run. But still, four back-to-back lectures took its toll on him today. Only having three classes tomorrow was gonna feel like heaven.
He contemplates the merits of taking a quick cat nap before starting on his homework. Yeah, first day and he already had assignments. This semester was gonna be a tough one. But, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad…
“Hey man, how’d classes go?” Hunk greets when he walks through the door.
“Pretty good. Gonna be real swamped though,” Keith answers with a tired shrug.
Hunk laughs, setting his stuff down on his own bed. Hunk was his roommate last semester, and they’d gotten along so well that Keith insisted they room until they graduate. Hunk had been more than happy about the arrangement. They were good at keeping spaces neat, giving each other room to breathe, and helping with difficult classwork. Although Keith was on the Aerospace track and Hunk was Mechanical, they were both engineering majors with enough overlap to get by.
They make a good team.
“So, make any friends on your first day?” Hunk teases.
Keith laughs, scrolling through the new contact info in his phone. Shiro “Spaghetti Boy” lights up his screen.
“Yeah, something like that,” he hums.
Hunk gasps, overdramatic and fake, crowding into his space to see his phone. Keith tucks it against his chest with a squawk he’ll later refuse making. Sure, this semester is gonna be hard, but it might be a little easier with Shiro the golden boy by his side.