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Chapter Text

Takashi Shirogane often had friends come visit him.

It was usually the same group of people; the siblings – either together or separately, the lanky young Latino, the tall Pacific islander and the beautiful young woman with white hair. The group would often come for dinners and stay till late evening until Shirogane tiredly waved them off from the door. Sometimes, they would visit in smaller groups; the young woman would sometimes pick Shirogane up in the morning and drive him to work, the younger sibling and the boisterous Latino and the polite Samoan sometimes came along as a trio, making everyone on the street aware of their presence as they did, and sometimes the elder sibling would come alone and spend a few hours in Shirogane’s house.

Rebecca had seen them all many times in the few years Takashi Shirogane had been Isaac and hers neighbour, had even spoken to most of them, in passing, on several occasions. Rebecca was usually not one for spying on her neighbours, nor did she consider herself to be overly curious or prying, but she did pay attention to the comings and goings surrounding her young neighbour.

Takashi Shirogane was a very nice young man, always very helpful and kind and Rebecca had instantly taken a liking to him. But he was very young to be living in a place like this and she couldn’t help feeling concerned for him. His parents and family were very far away, so she had taken upon herself to stand in as a granny if need be. It was only fair seeing as Takashi stepped up and helped when Rebecca and Isaac needed the help of a young man. Therefore, Rebecca was anxious to see him happy and settled; he seemed like a somewhat troubled individual who deserved steadiness and happiness.

He had bought the house, she would reason, so now he needed someone to help him make it a home.

For a while, Rebecca has held out hope that the striking young woman, whose name she had learned was Allura, might be that person. But despite the two being obviously close, it quickly became apparent, even from a distance, that their relationship would never move further than that of friendship. It didn’t seem like there was any potential life partner for young Takashi in any of the other friends either, so Rebecca just kept an eye out for new faces.

Takashi Shirogane didn’t seem to have any irregular visitors, however. There were no late-night visitors, no one-time acquaintances and almost no night trips for Takashi. He never brought anyone new home and he never stayed out. He was organised and lived an almost monotonous life which could easily be predicted and followed a straight-forward pattern.

This pattern ended with a young man on a motorcycle.

The motorcycle was red and though it didn’t make any excessive noise, it stood out on the quiet street. Rebecca and Isaac had been sitting on the porch, reading the Saturday morning newspaper and drinking coffee when he rolled in. The young man had run a gloved hand through his hair after removing his helmet and cast a slightly nervous look at the house. After parking the bike beside Takashi’s responsible Toyota Prius, he had stalked up the path to the door, casting a furtive glance at the two neighbours and given them a sharp nod. Rebecca has watched curiously as he steeled himself before knocking sharply on Takashi’s door. The door has opened after a moment and after a tick the young man was let in. Rebecca and Isaac had looked at the big red bike and then at each other.

“Maybe he’s a cousin or something.” Isaac has shrugged, followed by a reprimand from Rebecca (“He didn’t look anything like Takashi, honestly Isaac”).

By next morning, the bike was gone and Takashi smiled his usual pleasant smile and gave a little wave, completely unaffected.

 The next time he came by, a week or so later, Rebecca was trimming the roses in the front garden (the weather was lovely, after all) when the motorbike rolled in and the young man climbed off. He seemed marginally less uncomfortable, this time, and even offered Rebecca a small smile along with a nod. He brought a small bag in with his time but was still gone by next morning.

Rebecca didn’t like to pry, she really didn’t.

So she didn’t ask Takashi who his new friend was and how he knew him. It didn’t stop her from wondering and in truth, the curiosity was killing her. Her and Rose - a friend who lived across the street and who also adored Takashi - had discussed it at length but were left at a loss as to the answer. The young man, who they still didn’t know the name of, stopped by often, if irregularly, for visits of varying length.

Takashi had always been a private person, Rebecca realised, but still somewhat more so concerning his new friend than about his other relations. He was still friendly and helpful, however, and had come by to help with various things since the young man’s first appearance.

(‘Red’, as Isaac and Rebecca had taken to calling him, due to his habit of wearing red, with his red bike and red leather jacket)

‘Red’ started joining Takashi’s friends at the dinners they held, but he seemed to stay and little while after the others had left, standing beside Takashi as he waved them off, bike engine coming to life at least half an hour after the other cars had left.

Within a few months, he had become a regular at Takashi’s and yet, he seemed to stand out from the rest of the friend group. A main factor was that, while he joined the others, he would mostly visit alone and more frequently than any one of the others. Rebecca had begun to have her suspicions, but she didn’t voice them to Rose or even Isaac; she wasn’t a gossip, not really, and she was sure that Takashi would introduce them to Red if there was any real reason to.

Red seemed to have become a regular fixture in Takashi’s life and Rebecca would often see them coming home in the Prius, arms loaded with groceries and conversation light. She had yet to be introduced to Takashi’s friend and Red himself made no moves to formally introduce himself, yet Rebecca liked him; he was always good to greet them kindly, if somewhat awkwardly, when they were out. And then there was the way Takashi seemed to be smiling more after he had started coming by. Rebecca had noticed that this wasn’t simply when Red was physically present but also when Takashi came by to say hi to her and Isaac or to help.

His smiles had become more frequent and a touch more open.

In the late summer, Red started spending the night at Takashi’s once in a while and Rebecca would sometimes see the two of them lay on deckchairs on the garden deck, enjoying the sun.

Other times, Red would help Takashi with the garden. Despite being quite a bit smaller than Takashi, Red looked equally strong and fit and often he would be the one carrying out the more strenuous tasks, probably in consideration to Takashi’s disablement.

It was also during the summer, while they were traipsing the garden without their shirts on, that Rebecca noticed that Red also carried dog tags around his neck. Takashi had told them about his time in the military as a fighter pilot, after he had moved in. It was there he had lost his arm and gotten the scar across his nose, the crash effectively ending his military career.

Rebecca surmised that the two had probably gotten to know each other in service and that Red must have found Takashi years later and come to rekindle their friendship. She told Isaac and Rose of her theory and it quelled their curiosity about the young man.

            Summer had quickly given way to autumn and after handing out candy to children trick or treating, Rebecca had begun planning for Thanksgiving. Hers and Isaacs children, Miriam and Sara, were coming home for the holidays and Miriam and her husband Jacob had a five-year old, so there was plenty of preparations in making the house safe for an energetic child. There were also various aunts and uncles who were coming this year and the house would be full.

Takashi’s parents had moved back to Japan, Rebecca knew, so he was always home for the holidays. Isaac has bumped into him in the supermarket in the days before, and had learned that, like last year, he would be having a few friends over.

The year before, said friends had been Allura and her eccentric uncle, who were also foreigners, as well as a military friend called Ulaz. All of them were without any cultural tradition to celebrate the holiday and without any immediate family and it had therefore suited them very well to create their own Thanksgiving traditions. Or so Takashi said. Despite him not having been born in the states, he was a citizen and had lived in the country long enough to have celebrated many Thanksgivings with Americans and therefore had a fairly good grasp of the usual traditions.

Rebecca had still made a point of helping him out with the traditional dinner, which he had been quite grateful for, and this year she had made him and his friends a pumpkin pie.

On the day, Rebecca was not surprised to see Red arrive early and help Takashi set up. Rebecca had dropped off he pie to a very thankful Takashi earlier. She gave Red a smile but didn’t have time for much else, as her family showed up soon after.

The evening and the dinner were hectic but terrific and Rebecca hadn’t had any time to think about the celebrations going on next door. So she was quite surprised when it was none other than Takashi and Red who had rung the bell shortly after dinner.

Rose and several other neighbours would usually call in to say hello, if she herself didn’t make it to them first, and really, she should have expected it; Takashi was always very good at coming by.

“Hi there Mrs. Kaplan, sorry for interrupting we just wanted to say happy Thanksgiving!” Takashi said brightly and beside him Red smiled, cheeks red. Allura and her uncle peered over their shoulders and chimed in with a few hellos. Red shuffled beside Takashi and nudged him slightly and Rebecca noticed he was holding a dish.

“Oh! Right – so to say thanks for the wonderful pumpkin pie and for the past year, we wanted to bring you something, so Keith here made you a classic Texan pecan pie!” Red – Keith – smiled shyly and extended the pie to her. “Happy Thanksgiving.” The young man said, his voice raspy as she had ever heard it. Rebecca smiled brightly at them all.

“Takashi, dear, I’ve told you to call me Rebecca! And thank you very much both of you – all of you! I hope you enjoyed the pumpkin pie,” they all nodded vigorously “and very happy thanksgiving to you all as well!” she pulled Takashi in for a hug and after a moment of consideration, gave Keith a quick one as well. He smiled embarrassedly and stuck out his hand afterwards “I suppose this might be a good time to formally say hello as well.” Rebecca just laughed and Takashi’s smile broadened. She noticed they were all bundled up in scarves, hats and gloves and despite standing in the door, their breath misted in the air.

“Listen, won’t you come in? We can pull up a few chairs – we were just having coffee and tea. And” she peeked under the cover “this pie looks absolutely divine,” Takashi got a faraway look in his eyes and nodded solemnly, “so why don’t you come in and help us dig into this?”

Both Takashi and Keith looked ready to kindly decline with some excuse of not wanting to intrude, when Allura popped in “I understand that it is very rude to refuse an invitation in Japanese culture, and in my culture, we too, do not like to decline such kind offers. What is the American stance on the matter?” Rebecca knew she had won then and she quickly ushered them all inside.

Takashi looked somewhat abashed and Keith moved like he was afraid to damage anything while Allura and her uncle (“The names Coran and it is the utmost pleasure to make your acquaintance!”) strode in with confidence. They were from somewhere in Europe, as far as she had gathered.

The family quickly adjusted and welcomed the newcomers warmly, Isaac standing to give Takashi a firm handshake with his other hand on Takashi’s shoulder. He greeted Keith with a kind face and gave Allura a handshake and kiss on the cheek. Soon they were seated with Rebecca’s family, coffee, tea or hot chocolate in hand. The pie was divine. Keith blushed when she told him so. Takashi squeezed his knee under the table and Keith gave him a smile.

Allura and Coran were great entertainment, especially for the kids, while Takashi and Keith were more reserved but still kind and friendly.

After an hour and a half, the four of them gathered themselves and made their way out the door with many hugs and well-wishes to take with them.

Rebecca and Isaac followed them to the door and gave Takashi a few special greetings to bring along.

“It was so nice to finally meet you, Keith.” She told him after dragging him in for another hug. “You too Mrs. Kaplan – Happy Thanksgiving” During the evening Keith’s smile had gone from shy to more open and he left them with a warm smile.

Takashi gave a single wave as they moved through the front yard and bumped shoulders with Keith’s when he caught up with him. Rebecca and Isaac smiled at them, then at each other and went back inside to re-join their family.

Chapter Text

Natsuki often worried about Takashi.

Of course, these days there was less to worry about than previously, but him being at war on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and him living alone at the other side of the Pacific Ocean was almost equally bad. Maybe not quite equally bad.

Her baby was safe and lived a boring, mundane life without missiles flying past his ears, which was a big improvement. She would just have preferred if he had been living his boring, mundane life a little bit closer to her.

She had, at first, tried, albeit half-heartedly, to convince him to move back with them. As expected, he had gently told her no. She had known the outcome but that didn’t make it less disappointing. Daisuke hadn’t been understanding and she had to explain to him that their son’s home wasn’t the place he was native to but the place where he had spent most of his life. Takashi had only been nine when they moved to America, after all. They had adapted well and had made sure that Takashi would as well, making sure that he got dual citizenship and that he already spoke English by the time they arrived.

Natsuki and Daisuke had decided to go home, however, when her mother had fallen ill. Daisuke was also at a good age to retire from the position he had held at an American company and by then Takashi had been back and in rehabilitation for a few years.

There had been no truly good reason to stay (she knew that she shouldn’t smother Takashi – but he was her baby and he had almost died so she felt entitled to a bit of smothering. Couldn’t be a coincidence that smothering was just mothering with an added s) so they had left.

It was hard at first and she had driven Takashi and Daisuke, as well as her own mother, half mad within a few weeks (“Okaa-san you don’t have to call me all the time. I am able to wake myself up for work and yes I remember to eat regularly”).  She couldn’t help it; she had let him fly from the nest once before and he had almost gotten himself killed. She couldn’t risk losing him again.

But Takashi survived, even without her there to help and protect him.

A few years passed and he got by quite well; he had a good job at the university, had recovered well and was now fully functioning again, had many good friends and had bought a nice house in a nice, peaceful area.

Natsuki could rightly brag about her son to everyone she met and she could appreciate that he had done well for himself, in many ways, despite the hardships he had faced at such a young age.

She and Daisuke had met several of his friends while they still lived in America. The ones Takashi spent time with now were all people he had met after his honourable discharge from the Air Force. The only friend from before whom he still kept in touch with was Matt. It was through Matt’s little sister Katie (“Pidge”) that Takashi had met the others. They were mostly a bit younger than him but all very nice and very energetic.

Allura was the one who had helped him get the job at the university and Natsuki had a longstanding agreement with the young woman that she would check up on Takashi when she herself was no longer there to do it (Though Takashi’s neighbour, Mrs Kaplan had also been kind to promise to keep an eye out for him).

Matthew Holt was the only friend that Natsuki and Daisuke had met before Takashi had joined the army whom Takashi still kept in touch with, but there was another friend from before the discharge.

Takashi had only called him ‘Kogane’ the first many times he had been mentioned.

As Takashi reported back to his parents about his experiences in flight school and in the Air Force, on webcam, they had also been told of the young airman who had quickly risen in rank (“They say that I’m a natural and a talented pilot but Kogane is something else entirely”).

But Kogane had soon turned from an admired rival to the friend ‘Keith’.

Natsuki heard a lot about Keith in those years.

She would sometimes lament Takashi for spending all their call time talking about Keith and Daisuke would jokingly say that if he had wanted to know so much about what Keith was getting up to, he would have scheduled a call with him instead.  

The next time they skyped, Takashi had pulled a nervous looking young man out in front of the webcam as soon as they had connected.

Despite having been regaled with every tid-bit of information about Keith Kogane and his daily life for years, the man himself still surprised Natsuki.

For one thing, he was younger than she had imagined. Takashi had told them that Keith was a few years younger than him, having enlisted to get a free ride to college. He was shorter than Takashi by quite a bit and also much slenderer and baby-fat still clung to his cheeks.

Another thing that had surprised her was his awkwardness and humbleness. For all of his supposed talent and genius, Keith seemed awfully insecure and self-aware. He clearly knew that he was good but he didn’t seem high on self-importance, despite being called a once-in-a-life-time pilot.  

What really caught her notice, however, was the way he looked at her son. Despite his apparent awkwardness and skittishness, he looked at Takashi with absolute reverence like he was the moon or a beautiful sunset.

Every time Keith joined them, Natsuki couldn’t help but notice the looks he gave her son; the respect with which he viewed Takashi and the apparent adoration in his eyes.

At first, she didn’t quite know what to make of it. It had worried her, briefly, when she caught the similar looks her son gave his friend, before she remembered that that sort of thing was now more widely accepted, especially in California where Takashi had lived much of his life. It also caused her to recall that Takashi had never really brought girls home and she had never found incriminating magazines under his bed or anywhere else.

Whatever it was that was happening between the two, Natsuki hoped they would be able to keep it under wraps for the time being; where they were now was not exactly known for being accepting of such things.

Takashi never did mention anything of the like and she never mentioned anything about it to Daisuke. She didn’t worry that he would be angry but she saw no reason to bring it up before Takashi himself felt ready to talk to them about it. Privately, she mused that it only made it easier that the boy Takashi just might bring home was also at least part-Japanese.

They didn’t hear from Keith again after Takashi’s plane was shot down.

In fact, they didn’t hear much at all.

The official sources couldn’t (wouldn’t) give them much information, but through Takashi’s friend Matt, they were told that the military had reason to believe that Takashi had crashed in enemy-land and might very well have survived the crash. He also told them that only 32 hours after Takashi’s crash, Second Lieutenant Keith Kogane had gone AWOL, jumped into the fastest, smallest plane he could get and flown himself into enemy-territory.

Almost seven weeks passed without any word on Takashi or Keith, when Natsuki was woken in the middle of the night by a phone call informing her that one Keith Kogane had emerged from behind enemy-lines with her son in tow.

Takashi had lost an arm and was flown directly to the nearest field hospital and then back to the United States, where his parents met him. Keith was put in cuffs and taken to a military detention centre and then reoriented and shipped back to the front lines.

Natsuki tried to get a hold of him in the following months but was firmly told by Air Force personnel that Kogane had been demoted and had been penalised for his behaviour by adding a few years of service to the time he owed.

A few months later she received a letter from Keith where he reassured her that he was doing okay and that he didn’t mind the extra trips seeing as he still got a free degree out of the deal. It was much better than a dishonourable discharge.

He informed her that he would be stationed very deep in enemy-territory, seeing as he had been able to infiltrate a rebel group before, and that he wouldn’t be able to write to her or Takashi (‘Shiro’, as he called him) for an unknown amount of time.

Lastly, he asked that she would apologise to Takashi in his behalf. ‘For not getting him out earlier’ Keith had written but really, she thought he was apologising for not being there for when Takashi picked himself up again.

She showed Daisuke the letter and he took it, telling her not to tell Takashi about it. Days later, she saw her husband hand her son the letter, before getting up and ruffling his hair on his way out of the hospital room.

Takashi read the letter again and again and again. Or perhaps just once and then just sat there and stared at it. Daisuke came back and together they went in to their son.

He wanted to do something, of course. He was furious and frustrated and scared. Natsuki wanted to coddle him, she agreed with him after all, but Daisuke gave her a look, telling her that he would handle it. He sat down on the bed and put both of his hands on Takashi’s shoulders.

“Takashi, I know this is hard and unreasonable. You may even think that it’s unfair but I need to relax. You have to think about Keith now. The boy was willing to risk everything to go save you but now that he knows that you are safe he knows that the best thing he can do is complete his contract with the military.”

Tears flowed down Takashi’s cheeks. Daisuke smiled and held their sons face in his hands.

“You don’t need to worry about him. You just concentrate on getting better. He will be back as soon as possible. And trust me, he will be back for you Takashi.”

Takashi had begun sobbing then, barely avoiding pulling at the newly-healed wound on his face. Daisuke had pulled him into his arms and Natsuki had joined them on the bed, wrapping her arms around both of them.

Despite losing an arm, Takashi got back on his feet fairly quickly and was fast to get in shape, physically. His mind was still plagued by the experiences he had had while in captivity and the trauma was something he had to deal with for years after. Luckily, he found some good friends to help him deal with it.

Within a few years, he had gotten a job at a prestigious university as a lecturer, thanks to his friend Allura, and had settled into a good and healthy routine.

Keith still wasn’t back. Natsuki knew that he would send Takashi letters once in a while, but they would often arrive much delayed, as would Takashi’s replies. For whatever reason the ever-elusive Keith had decided against using modern technology and Natsuki knew that it made it all the harder for her son.

Takashi still didn’t bring up partners of any sorts and Allura didn’t report of any secret girlfriends. Her son had passed thirty without ever bringing someone home and were it not for their older daughter, Hitomi, and her two children, Natsuki would have been very disappointed. Instead, she was only sad on her son’s behalf.

He had always been a serious child and she hoped that he would be blessed with the happiness she thought he deserved.

The answer to her prayers came, it would seem, on the first day in years that Takashi missed a routinely scheduled call with his parents. Takashi had always been one for routines and it was highly unusual for him to miss an appointment. Unheard of, actually.

Natsuki had been about to call the American emergency-services and sending them to Takashi’s house when Daisuke grabbed the phone out of her hand and told her to relax at wait a day or so.

For the next 20 hours she was restless, constantly imagining worst-case scenarios of him lying in a pool of his own blood, being a victim of a hit-and-run or falling down the stairs and breaking his neck.

When Takashi called the next day, she was ready to take the next flight over the Pacific Ocean to berate him for making her worry so. But something in his voice stopped her. He sounded… happy and perhaps a bit dazed.

“Keith, he - uh Keith was just here.”

Ah.

In the following months, Natsuki (and secretly Daisuke, though he wouldn’t admit it) closely followed current events and whether Keith came to visit Takashi, perhaps even stayed the night or maybe even two.

Takashi sent them pictures of he and Keith in different settings and circumstances; one of Keith staring in wonder at ancient swords in a museum, another of the two of them covered in filth and with slight sunburns after a day of gardening, a third of a Thanksgiving dinner with Allura, her uncle Coran, Keith as well as the top of Takashi’s face, as he took the selfie.

When they arrived at Takashi’s house in time for Christmas, Natsuki was mostly surprised not to see Keith in the house. Takashi had picked them up in his Toyota, which he told them Keith had snickered at for being a very responsible and very Takashi car.

As they entered the house, Natsuki noted the things that had changed in the years since she was last there.

There were more shoes on the rack, though only two pairs in a different size, a different jacket on the coat-hanger. There was a new picture hanging on the wall and the couch had been moved so that it was closer to the window now.

A plethora of tiny little things had been changed or moved since the year previous and she wasn’t sure what conclusions she could draw from it.

Right until Keith himself walked in the door.

The poor boy barely had time to shuck off his shoes before he was tackled by Natsuki.

(“Oh right, Okaa-san, Otou-san, Keith lives here now and will be spending Christmas with us. I hope that’s okay.”

“I’m sorry if I’m intruding Mr and Mrs Shirogane – I, uh, I should probably just go, I can just crash with Pidge for a few. I, uh understand if you want some time just the family - ”

“Just stop, boy, before my wife ties you to a chair.”

“Okaa-san! Let him go!”)

Chapter Text

Lance had always admired Shiro.

He had met him, when Matt brought him along to visit the Holts, on a day where Lance had tagged along with Hunk, who had come to work on something with Pidge. A Geiger-gizmo-thingy. He hadn’t really paid attention and as he recalls, it quickly blew up.

Matt was back from training for the weekend and he had quickly joined Hunk and Pidge in their tinkering.

That had left him and Shiro as the only ones without a great interest in machine-tinkering.

At first glance Shiro seemed a bit intimidating; he was obnoxiously tall and twice as broad as Lance, but he wore a friendly smile and spoke in a calm and subdued tone.

Lance had asked him a million questions about the Air Force and Shiro answered every single one of them good-naturedly.

Shiro was a pilot – a good one too, if Matt was to be trusted – and he was getting deployed soon. He was a few years older than Lance, who was just finishing High School at the time and seemed infinitely wiser and cooler.

Shiro offered (insisted) to help Mrs Holt with dinner and Lance ended up tagging along. They were put on chopping duty and Lance and Mrs Holt had to admire the neat precision Shiro had.

“I have this buddy in the force – you should see him with a knife! It’s insane.” Shiro had laughed.

He explained that while he was no great cook by any means, he had always liked to help his mother in the kitchen and to that, Lance could relate.

Like him, Shiro was also an immigrant and like him, he had spent most of his life in America while still keeping in touch with his roots. Lance had a feeling that Japan wasn’t much like Cuba, but the sentiment was the same.

It turned out that Shiro really wasn’t much of a cook, so Mrs Holt left the seasoning to Lance, which, well, good choice.

Dinner had been filled with talk of the Geiger-gizmo and to that Lance could only smile and nod, but Matt had also let them into his and Shiro’s adventures from training in the Air Force. The more he heard the more excited he got and he almost fancied enlisting after High school (or maybe college, or whatever).

Unlike Shiro, Matt wasn’t a pilot but instead a flight technician or something (Lance wasn’t quite sure, but he worked with the mechanical and technical parts of the planes and did some testing of the fighter jets which, still, pretty cool) but he did have some interesting stories to tell of flight school and the different pilots.

“And, Dad, you know that trick with the velocity that we theorised but hasn’t been approved for testing? Shiro just went and did it – you should have seen Iverson’s face!”

“Matt -”

“Shh Shiro it was amazing and you are an amazing pilot and Iverson is just pissed that he didn’t have one of his guys test it first.”

“So it’s safe to say you are one of the best pilots we have, Shiro?” Lance had asked cheekily and Shiro had blushed and rubbed at the back of his neck embarrassedly. Matt had just grinned.

“Definitely! Though you might have competition.”

Mr Holt had looked up in surprise at that “Oh? Someone who could challenge Shiro here? Intriguing.”

“Yeah Kogane! Figures it would be the other Japanese guy” Matt laughed, “but where Shiro is all about style and technique, Kogane is a speed demon –  and sneaky, like a ninja.” He smirked at Shiro

“You would have thought the two of you would be bitter rivals – the kid is beating all of Shiro’s records, after all, and they probably would be if they weren’t so busy gushing about each other’s flying skills and generally jerking each other off-”

“Matthew Holt! Language!”

“Sorry Mom!”

Mrs Holt glared at her son who grinned sheepishly. Beside him, Shiro was smiling softly down at his plate.

“It’s true. Kei- uh Kogane really is quite amazing,” he looked up at the table and gave them a starry-eyed smile “He’s just such a natural – a born pilot – I mean, no matter what situation you throw him into, he just tackles perfectly and faster than anyone would have dared and so elegantly-”

“Ugh don’t even start!” Matt interrupted him with a loud groan, “We’ll be here all night if we let you start listing every incredible thing about him and frankly, I have heard it enough times already.”

Matt may have stopped Shiro’s gushing, but he kept the soft look on his face for the rest of the meal. Lance didn’t really know what to make of that.

He also didn’t really know what to make of how distracted Shiro was by whomever he kept texting that evening after dinner, while he and Matt played video games with Lance, Hunk and Pidge. At one point, he even dropped his controller and lost the game just to answer a text. Matt had rolled his eyes and mouthed ‘Ninja’.

Whoever this ninja was, he annoyed Lance quite a bit, since his constant texting kept Shiro distracted so he didn’t speak to Lance the rest of the evening. He had hoped to ask Shiro more questions about the Air Force and so on.

Still, despite his distractedness in the later evening, Shiro had still left a very good impression on Lance, who would go on to gush about him for weeks to come, until Hunk and Pidge were decidedly tired of him. Pidge would still update them on Shiro from her brothers calls, so Lance heard about Shiro’s first tour and the different successful missions he had completed.

By the time, Lance had completed his bachelor in marine biology, he had abandoned the idea of becoming a pilot. Pidge told them that Shiro had signed on for a permanent posting at the base for the next several years.

It wasn’t many months later, when Pidge came to their weekly hang-out with puffed, red eyes and told them of Shiro’s crash and possible capture.

Lance hadn’t known him well, by any means, but he had looked up to the guy and it was a terrible fate, no matter what, to become a prisoner of war.

He didn’t hear about the ninja-guy-Kogane again, until Pidge told them that he had defected and gone into enemy-territory. She had been hopeful. Lance personally thought it sounded like a pretty show-off-y kind of thing to do. Idiot would probably die out there on his own.  

He didn’t though, instead he came back with Shiro in tow. And then he disappeared. Yeah, yeah, he was sent off to some punishment and re-examination due to ‘disciplinary-issues’ (understatement of the year) and then directly back to the frontline base.

Point was, he wasn’t there for Shiro, which Lance didn’t really mind, apart from the fact that Shiro seemed quite disappointed by it. Perhaps hurt even. At the time, Lance didn’t know him well enough to gauge what he was thinking and by the time they had all gotten closer and become a real friend group, Shiro didn’t really bring Ninja-Kogane up.

Years passed and they he never showed up, so Lance just figured that Shiro and Ninja-Kogane had drifted apart or something. It didn’t really matter much to him, if he were honest.

Before they knew it, he, Hunk and Pidge had all finished studying and their trio had turned into a, uh, he wasn’t sure what a group of six was called… hexa-something?

Anyhow, there had been the addition of Matt and Shiro, which was cool and worked even though they were both a bit older, and through them, they had met Allura, whom Lance adored. Allura gorgeous and highly intelligent and her uncle Coran, who was, admittedly, quite weird, made it sound like she was some sort of European royalty. Allura always shushed him and asked them not to pay it any notice, so they didn’t.

She was older even than Shiro and Matt and had therefore not taken Lance’s advances very serious at first which, okay, fine, was fair enough but he still hoped that she would come to see that there was more to him. Hopefully that would happen. Eventually.

In the beginning, they had all been very focused on helping Shiro re-adjust and that meant that they were still very close and spent a lot of time together, even though Shiro was settled and doing well.

Shiro’s house quickly became the meeting place, mainly because it was situated well and was a nice place, but also because they all liked to come and make sure he was doing well and didn’t get too lonely. Lance never did understand why he had decided to buy such a big place to live in by himself.

Wasn’t much of a bachelor pad either, with all the – very nice – middle aged and elderly people. But Shiro liked it and the rest of them liked coming there.

They had settled into a nice and comfortable routine, the six of them, when it was – rather rudely- interrupted by none other than Ninja-Kogane.

He had a fucking mullet. And the “cool” ninja-name ‘Keith’.

Lance hadn’t liked the idea of the guy much when he was just that – a disembodied idea – and he liked him even less now that he was there.

For one thing, he was extremely awkward and apparently didn’t understand social cues.

And as if the mullet (Honestly, Jesus Christ) wasn’t bad enough, he also dressed like something out of an action-flick from the 80’s.

Did the guy actually think it was cool to wear a red leather jacket that matched his red motorcycle and red helmet and red-and-white boots.

It was a small mercy that the fingerless gloves (again, really?), he constantly wore, weren’t red.

He must really have liked red.

Then there was the stupid dagger he always carried around. Like it was normal.

Lance would have been able to get over the horrendous style choices and even the mullet, if it weren’t for his attitude. This guy ‘Keith’ was just so rude and it seemed like Lance couldn’t say anything without the guy blowing up.

But the worst part was that he seemed to be the only one who realised what a dick Keith was. Not even Hunk, Lance’s best friend, main man and partner in crime, seemed to mind him and even told Lance just to relax and give him a chance.

Traitor.

But regardless of Lance not liking it, Keith-with-the-mullet quickly integrated himself in the group.

Matt had already known him and they got along well, Pidge was just a smaller, smarter and scarier version of her brother so she also took to Keith quickly.

When they had dinners, Keith would help Hunk out in the kitchen (turned out he was that friend with the knife skills, because of course he was) and during their cooking sessions, they had also become friendly.

After a few months, it seemed that it was only Lance himself and Allura who weren’t enthusiastic about Keith. For Allura this was mostly connected to the fact that, after knowing Keith for several weeks, it came out that the reason he had been able to join a rebel group in the Middle East, despite not being a local, was that he was, actually, sort of a local.

The stupid dagger he carried around was apparently a memento from his long-lost estranged mother, who may or may not have been some sort of spy sent to America.

Keith didn’t divulge in many details, only clarifying that he had had no idea, since his father had died long ago.

Allura apparently had serious issue with people from that area (something about her father and why she and Coran were in America in the first place) and therefore had serious issues with Keith. Eventually, though, she realised that she was being harsh, seeing as Keith was very much American.

Lance still didn’t like him. It wasn’t a racial or ethnical thing, it wasn’t because Keith was buffer and slightly taller than him or because he was stupidly good at everything (other than conversations or acting normal). Keith just rubbed him the wrong way, okay?

He had everything Lance had wanted; he met the requirements to become a pilot and was a talented one at that, seemingly had no real responsibility and he always, always had Shiro’s attention.

And then he kept making those stupid fucking moon-eyes at Shiro, hanging on to his every word and move – if he was so obsessed about Shiro, then why didn’t he come back sooner? He was gone for years.

Enlisted people got breaks back home in between deployments. He could have come any time. But he didn’t. So he really shouldn’t come now, pretending to be someone who cared.

But Shiro seemed somewhat happier now and Hunk told him to lay-off, so Lance was at a bit of a loss for what to do.

He resolved to wait for now and just observe Keith and then jump in if he suddenly did something that crossed the line. He would be vigilant.

One of the (many) annoying things that Keith would to, was staying behind at Shiro’s when the rest of them left for the night. Couldn’t he understand that Shiro was tired and just wanted to sleep (He was an old man, after all) but was just too polite to say so??

Then he started to demand to drive Shiro’s car for him and, again, Shiro was just too nice to say no. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he would sometimes park his stupid motorcycle in front of Shiro’s car, so that it wouldn’t be able to get out of the driveway.

He would also speak for Shiro sometimes, which Lance thought was incredibly rude, but no one else seemed to notice which, frankly, baffled him.

Suddenly, Keith was moving into Shiro’s house (probably didn’t even pay his share of the rent) and then it just went downhill. He started wearing some of Shiro’s clothes and rearranged the furniture in all the different rooms. Even the garden changed.

He kept clinging to Shiro, never giving him a moments peace – even going so far as to intrude on Shiro’s time with his parents over Christmas. Lance hadn’t even been there, but he couldn’t understand how Keith could do such a thing – Christmas was time for families, not for weird hobo-friends.

To Lance, it was pretty clear that Keith was just using Shiro and taking advantage of the fact that he was still traumatised from being a prisoner of war. Maybe the sick fuck even held the fact that he was the one who rescued Shiro over Shiro’s head!

After all, as far as anyone knew, he hadn’t had a place to live before he moved in with Shiro – did he even have a job? Did anyone know??

Everything about Keith was so damn mysterious and in Lance’s eyes, that meant that he was keeping secretes.

After a year of putting up with Keith and his stupid mullet, Lance decided to confront him. Okay, perhaps it was more the other way around, but he did egg Keith on into confronting him. All according to plan.

One night, when he, Hunk and Pidge were visiting, Lance drove Keith up the wall and after dinner, Keith grabbed a hold of him and dragged him down to end of the garden.

“Okay, that’s enough. What is your problem, man?” Keith whirled around and stared him straight in the eye. He looked kind of feral and the scar on his face didn’t help. But Lance wouldn’t let it faze him.

“What makes you think I have a problem, huh?” he countered. Keith just threw his hands up in the air. “You clearly seem to have a problem with me and I just want to know what it fucking is!”

Lance scoffed at him “you want to know what my problem is? I’ll tell you,” he brought out his most intimidating glare, the one he had learned from his mother and perfected by observing Allura.

“My problem with you is the way that you leech off of poor Shiro, emotionally and monetarily, how you demand all of his attention and take up so much space in his life after you left him when he needed his friends the most! Where were you? Where were you all those years when he had to find his feet again, find a new arm, a new career and make a new life for himself? You were off somewhere playing hero and chasing glory! You can’t just barge into his life like this now when you weren’t there for him!”

Lance hadn’t even shouted, but he felt like panting. Keith had gone completely slack, all fight gone.

They just stared at each other for a minute, though Lance got the distinct sense that Keith was barely looking at him.

“Is that… Is that how Shiro feels?” Keith’s voice was impossibly small.

Lance cleared his throat, “Well maybe not consciously, but I am sure he thinks it in the back of his mind. The others too.” Keith lowered his gaze and slunk over to one of the deck chairs and all but collapsed onto it. Elbows on his knees and head in his hands, he looked devastated. After a minute or so of silence, Lance gave up and moved to sit beside him.

It felt like ages before Keith said anything. His voice was raw when he spoke again.

“I didn’t want to go back.” He looked up at lance through his fingers, “I wanted to be there for him, to help him rehabilitate.”

A shaky breath, “But I was in deep shit with the Force and if I didn’t serve out my time, I would have to pay for all the tuition fees with money I didn’t have and then have no education to show for it. I know it sounds like a thin excuse, but I thought I would do more good for Shiro by serving my time and then be able to come back to him without all the extra baggage… And besides,” Keith looked up and gave Lance a shaky smile, “I knew he had people back here who loved him and who would be able to care much better for him than I ever could.”

His smile held a sad edge, “As to why I didn’t come visit… well, I wanted to finish my degree as quickly as possible so I stayed and then I signed on for a year extra as compensation for the time Shiro didn’t complete. That way he could get his full pension.”

Lance’s eyes widened significantly, “The truth is also that I knew that if I came here and saw him,” Keith gestured around the garden and back at the house, “I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave again. So, I understand if it seems like I didn’t care and as if I’m only here to take advantage of Shiro but I promise you, that could not be further from the truth.”

Keith’s eye shone with background light in the dark garden and Lance was at a slight loss for words. Which didn’t happen often.

After a few moments, he just gave Keith a slight nod. The other man visibly relaxed, letting out a breath in relief. He still looked pained, though.

Not a moment later, Hunk opened the glass door to let Lance know that he and Pidge were tired and they were leaving, so if he wanted to avoid having to beg Shiro and Keith for a lift, he better hurry.

Lance thought a lot about his conversation with Keith in the next few days.

So, he wasn’t a complete moron (even though the mullet said otherwise) and he did care about Shiro, who also seemed to care about him. Lance decided to (reluctantly) accept Keith as a part of their friend-group and to try to keep an open mind where Keith was concerned.

It turned out that the two of them could actually get along pretty well, though there was an underlying spirit of rivalry in everything they did.

The (now) seven-man group fell in to a comfortable rhythm with Shiro’s (and Keith’s) house as meeting point. Things were good and Lance thought he had understood the group dynamics rather well. He was, however, the only one who was surprised when, in front of them all, Shiro leaned in and gave Keith a quick kiss.

“Lance, you didn’t know?”

“No!!!”

“How could you not have known man?”

“Yeah, you never wondered why they lived together?”

“Or why they don’t have separate bedrooms?”

“THEY DON’T HAVE WHAT??”

Chapter Text

Allura met Takashi ‘Shiro’ Shirogane at her uncle Coran’s small clinic and after recognising real potential in him immediately, she had done her best to get him a job at the university, where she herself worked.

From the beginning, it had been clear to Allura that it was something of an edge to her co-worker, a harsh past that he carried with him. She was curious, sure; about the scar, the arm and the vacant stares. Allura also came with a past, so she understood not to pry.

They were similar in many ways and friendship had come easily.

Through Shiro, Allura had gained a whole new friend group that somehow ended up becoming like family to her, here in a country so far from her own.

With Shiro’s too-large-for-one house as their base, the six of them began spending far more time together than she ever would have expected. She had never expected to regain any kind of familial relationship after what happened to her parents, so settling into one with these random people was, in many ways, unexpected. But it was easy.

Only after having known him for several years, did Shiro begin to tell her about his time as a pilot in the air-force, as a soldier, a prisoner of war and as a boy.

She had heard snippets, of course, comments here and there but overall, Shiro was a very private person, good at keeping his cards close, revealing precious little.

One name that kept popping up, mostly accidentally, was ‘Kogane’. Shiro usually became wistful at the mention of this person and made sure to steer the conversation away from the subject. Matt seemed to know this Kogane well and while he seemingly didn’t have the same reservations about speaking of him as Shiro did, Matt was a good friend an tactful enough to avoid talk of him. Allura gathered that it was a bit of a sore subject.

One time, after a fun night at Shiro’s, which had turned a little sombre as the night progressed and Shiro had left to get some air, Matt had pulled out his phone and shown Allura some of his own pictures from their days in the military. Younger, happier versions of Shiro and Matt stared back at her from the small screen. Most of the pictures were candid, in-the moment pictures taken around barracks and the like. One, however, was different. Matt wasn’t in it, probably acting as photographer, and the picture was clearly posed and planned.

In front of a small combat plane, somewhere in the dessert, stood two young men. A young, dark-haired Shiro sported a confident smile, lounging against the plane with all the self-assuredness of a teenager, one arm wrapped around another, young-man. The other pilot looked younger than Shiro, shorter and slenderer with rounded cheeks, the last vestiges of baby-fat. He had his lightly muscled arms crossed, whether in defensiveness or to appear more confident, she could not gauge. His hair was black and slightly too long and there was something vaguely familiar about the curve of his cheekbones and the slant of his eyes nagging at the back of Allura’s mind.

He might have been considered pretty. Not exactly the type she would expect to be throwing themselves into the frontlines of war.

The next picture had been taken moments after, it seemed. Both young men had relaxed their poses and were no longer looking to the camera, instead looking at one another, cheeks dusted red and smiles blooming on their faces. They were leaning slightly into each other.

Matt took his phone back after that, giving her a meaningful look. A lot of things suddenly made more sense but the revelation raised new questions, simultaneously.  

Allura decided not to broach the subject to Shiro.

By the time Kogane shows up, Allura had long accepted that she may never meet him.

But suddenly, one day, he was just there on Shiro’s doorstep. Or so Shiro had said.

Allura met him three days after he and Shiro had reunited.

Matt, sadly, had been away at the time, and so, he only got his own reunion with Kogane a week or so later.

Kogane’s name was actually Keith and he had changed a lot since the pictures Allura had seen, had been taken.

He was taller, for one, now reaching much closer to Shiro’s height than he had all those years back. He was also wider, with lean muscle covering his body. His face was sharper, now void of any remnants of baby-fat and a large, vicious-looking scar had been slashed into the side of his face, running from his jaw to the middle of his right cheek. He was still pretty, with long, black hair and large eyes in the strangest colour, framed by long lashes, but the prettiness was now upstaged by a more rugged handsomeness.

Keith was also awkward, unused to small-talk and friendly interactions. It showed and Lance, especially, had a hard time accepting him into the group.

Allura liked him, though, not only because Shiro did or because he made Shiro happier than she had ever seen him, but also because Keith was kind and sweet under the awkward exterior.

Allura has just settled into the new routine where Shiro is relaxed and happy and the group, her new family, finally seems to come together all the way, with the arrival of Keith, when the foundations are ripped away from under her.

She knows its irrational, immature and even ignorant but suddenly she can’t look at Keith and see anything else than the people who murdered her family in front of her.

His father’s genes had hidden it well, before she knew, but now the slant of his eyes, the sharpness of his cheekbones, the curve of his jaw screams at her, glares into her eyes, blinding her and she feels foolish for never noticing before.

No one else had eyes that colour.

Matt, Pidge and even Coran chastise her for her anger, reminding her that Keith is not his ethnicity, did not grow up amongst the people who destroyed her home, is not responsible for the horrors she has witnessed.

She knows this.

She knows it all, is well aware that her fury is misplaced and unfair, but in the end, it doesn’t matter.

Keith solemnly accepts it, and that heart-breaking fact makes it worse, only makes her angrier; at him, at herself, at her inability to separate his purple eyes from the purple eyes that took everything from her, so many years ago.

Weeks pass and the anger remains, rivalled now by shame and she hasn’t seen Keith and doesn’t intend to change that.

Avoiding Keith means avoiding Shiro and Shiro’s friends, means avoiding her family.

Keith had initially offered to be the one to go; he was the last one to arrive, after all, and didn’t really belong as Allura had demonstrated, he argued. She hated him for it and she hated the others for not letting him leave. More than that, she hated herself for wanting him gone and for her heart to break at the thought of it actually happening.

It’s Shiro who comes to her, after weeks filled with anger and shame, with a soft smile and eyes that serve as a warning.

Shiro is kind and understanding, gentle to a fault and level-headed to an almost frustrating degree, but he makes it perfectly clear that while he wants both her and Keith in his life, Keith comes first, not just because he is Keith but also because Allura really has no right to be this angry.

Somehow, hearing it from Shiro is the wake-up call she finally needed.  

Of all people, she would expect Shiro to share her feeling of betrayal, of revulsion, of anger. When she cries out ‘how can you stand to be near him, after all they’ve done to you?’ he only smiles and shakes his head.

And she understands.

Allura has been clinging to the anger that even Coran had long let go off, while Shiro held on to the love.

For there was great love there, between Shiro and Keith, she had long known that. And for a while now, there had been a sweet, familial love between herself, Keith and all the others, a love that she had abandoned in favour of hatred.

That afternoon, after lectures were over, Allura gets into Shiro’s sensible little Toyota Prius and goes with him to the terribly boring, idyllic little street where he has made his home.

Keith is waiting by the open front door.

Allura waits a beat too long, staring at Keith through the car window, before getting out and following Shiro up the drive.

Keith looks nervous.

It’s not a good look on her usually brash friend. Never has been.  

She tells him so and his shoulders drop a little, small smile tentatively peeking out. Shiro gives her an approving smile before moving to the door, stopping to give Keith a quick kiss on the way in. Keith awkwardly asks her in for tea, he just bought a new batch of the one they like, and she graciously accepts, willing the tears that spring to her eyes not to fall.

She’s missed this.

Chapter Text

Meeting Keith Kogane for the first time had been wild.

Matt had been monitoring Shiro’s flight from the ground, when another jet had cut in, manoeuvring the airspace with deathly precision at a break-neck speed.

Shiro had been quiet and then lost his shit, gushing over the other pilot’s technique and what-not. Matt almost considered muting their com and probably would have if it wouldn’t have cost him punishment and possible probation.

Shiro was buzzing with excitement that wasn’t just due to having aced his flight pattern and insisted that he and Matt would hang around the hangar for the other pilot to land.

Matt was also a little excited and he was definitely interested in seeing which of the officers had treated them to such a show, but as good as the guy was, Shiro was still better or just as good. He was nothing if not an avid gossiper, however, and would not miss out on this chance of getting ahead of the curve.

Matt would just have wished that Shiro would calm down a bit. He was usually very collected and this was getting embarrassing.

After meeting the other pilot, however, Matt had sworn to find new friends and was ready to dig himself into the ground from sheer second-hand embarrassment.

The plane had smoothly pulled into the hangar and come to a measured stop a few lots from them. Flight-technicians were already running over to check on the plane and the pilot when Matt and Shiro made their way over.

The pilot that disembarked was smaller than Matt had expected, pushing regulations to their limit, in terms of weight class and height for pilots. The hips were too narrow and shoulders too wide to be a woman, though, but it was unlikely that it would be one of the newly arrived recruits. 

The guy pulls off his helmet and beside him, Matt hears Shiro gasp and he knows, right then and there, that this will not end well.

He’s young, even younger than them, with inky black hair, sweaty from the flight, sticking to his lightly tanned skin and deep set eyes that Matt already somehow knows he will be hearing Shiro wax bad poetry about.

He spots them, and his pretty face scrunches up into a questioning frown, almost as if he already expects trouble. Shiro musters up the courage to go talk to him and Matt sadly follows.

The interaction that follows is painful for everyone involved but especially for Matt.

Within seconds, he’s standing there with two blushing idiots showering each other with compliments and stumbling over their words.

It’s awkward and painful and a little too cute and only gets worse when Shiro later realises that he forgot to ask for the guy’s name and then looks seconds away from crying.

This is not what Matt signed up for when he joined the Air Force.

For a while, the only interaction the three of them have is Shiro and Matt walking in on the other pilot (Kogane, they overhear him being called once) doing things that Matt, unfortunately, notices get Shiro all hot and bothered.

You’d think that seeing buff guys with their guns out, messing around in the Arizona sun wouldn’t faze you after so long in the force, but apparently seeing lithe and slender Kogane throw down guys much bigger than himself (Shiro’s size) in a few, measured moves, is enough to do it.

Matt is also impressed but he just wishes that Shiro would compose himself a little better.

They don’t talk about it. Shiro only talks about him and Matt figures that if he hasn’t already realised what’s going on, Shiro simply doesn’t have the emotional intelligence to comprehend his own feelings and Matt really doesn’t want to be the one to break it to him.

If Shiro wants to run around in circles and never acknowledge his own feelings or do anything about them, then that’s up to him.

As Matt had long suspected, however, the development comes not from Shiro but from Kogane, who frankly seems far more headstrong and daring than Shiro.

His excuse is that he supposedly heard Shiro speak Japanese and was wondering if he might teach him some. Matt says ‘excuse’ only because Kogane seems far more interested in Shiro himself than anything Shiro teaches him.

 Kogane, who it turns out is called something as terribly mundane as Keith (Despite its dullness, Matt still catches Shiro whisper it from time to time, dreamy look on his face), does apply himself 100% to Shiro’s lessons, though, which makes sense, seeing as he is at least part Japanese, on his father’s side.  

One day, Matt finds that the little group of friends has gone from just himself and Shiro, to himself, Shiro and Keith.

For all their blushing and fawning over each other, Shiro and Keith rarely make Matt feel like he is intruding on some private moment.

It's easy, between the three of them, they all evened out each other’s edges.

Suddenly Matt had two guinea pigs to work with as well as two mother-hens making sure that he got enough sleep, though Keith was less gentle about it than Shiro. Shiro, whom Matt had long urged to stand up for himself, now had the unstoppable force that was Keith challenging him to do what he wanted and live for himself and no one else.

And Keith, wonderfully, awkward Keith who always looked ready to bolt or pick a fight, always expecting people to leave and never trusting them not to, well even Keith had to face the facts and accept that there were at least two people who gave a shit about him and who didn’t mind that he was a little weird. Whether he would ever realise or fully accept that Shiro not only didn’t mind, but actually really liked it, well, Matt really was at a loss on that one.

The Arizona dessert had been great, oddly, for their training years, made better by the fact that Keith had grown up there, in one of the reservations, and therefore knew the desserts moods and how to find all sorts of awesome creatures.

Arizona was also close enough to home that Matt could go home for visits fairly regularly. Where they were going now was about as far away as you could get and the desert was completely different.

They’ve prepared for this for years. Its finally getting serious and sometimes, Matt is afraid. He often thinks about how happy he is that he is here, so far from home, with two of his best friends. He doesn’t think he could do it without them and every time they leave, taking off in the jets he monitors, he fears that they won’t make it back. Luckily, Shiro and Keith are the best pilots in the Air Force, maybe ever, and they are both too resourceful and stubborn to die.

So when Shiro’s plane is seemingly shot down, Matt doesn’t know what to think.

Actually, the first thing he thinks about is Keith and how he’s going to tell him that his best friend, with a lot of extra emotion tacked on, is gone. In the end, Matt doesn’t even get to tell him. Instead, he hears it like everyone else on the base; through the intercom system. ‘Man Down’ is not unusual but somehow Keith knows, cause he’s there within a minute.

The look on Matts face must tell him all he needs to know, because he says nothing as the colour drains from his face and he leaves without a word.

Matt doesn’t know how to handle his own feelings, let alone Keith’s, doesn’t know how to talk about this, not to anyone but especially not to someone whom Shiro meant so much to. He doesn’t go find him, doesn’t try to reach out.

But when Keith hijacks the plane, Matt finds him and without a word, he helps Keith get it ready, knowing that he wouldn’t have been able to get it properly started on his own. It won’t be a problem at the other end; there won’t be a return flight.

They both know that, neither says anything and Keith gets into the plane and takes off.

Maybe Matt should have tried to make him stay, in some ways he would have wanted to; he didn’t want to lose both his friends. But he knows that Keith would never have stopped and really, there is no Keith without Shiro.

Shiro is presumed dead, Keith is AWOL and if he ever comes back or is found, he will be facing Military Court and enormous consequences.

For the first time in his military career, Matt is truly alone, in a desert far from home and all his friends as good as dead.

He is almost ready to go home, only another week to go, when Keith Kogane emerges from the battle worn wasteland with Shiro in tow.

Keith has a nasty, jagged cut marring his pretty face and somehow, his entire demeanour has changed. Shiro is down one arm, has a nasty scar across the bridge of his nose and is running a fever too high for him to stay conscious.

Shiro is immediately taken to the field hospital and Keith is put in cuffs and Matt hears later that they take directly to the nearest military detention centre.  

Shiro wakes up and Matts tour is over by then, so he’s able to help his friend back on his feet after the traumatic ordeals he went through.  

He doesn’t see Keith again for a long time. He hears about the ruling, about how Keith got lucky and was able to cut a deal where he doesn’t get sent to prison or get dishonourably discharged and still gets to finish his degree. It’ll cost him a few more years, many of which will be spent on active duty.

A week after, he gets a letter. Matt doesn’t receive many letters these days, so it feels important. It’s from Keith, because of course it is.

It’s short and frank and Keith doesn’t really explain what happened, where he was and where he’s going. He just says that he’ll be gone, deep into enemy territory, and that through him, they are now working with a local rebel group.

He also mentions that he will be adding time onto his already long contract to make up for the time Shiro owed. Keith asks him not to tell Shiro and while Matt is angry at Keith for being so damn selfless, he also understands that he will not be able to sway Keith and that Shiro knowing will only cause more hurt.

Cause Shiro is hurt.

The physical wounds aside, his mental state is fucked from more than a month’s captivity and to add to that, he’s also heartbroken. And Matt, who understands that there are things that Keith has to do, is filled with anger towards his stupid friend, who has no regard for himself and who doesn’t understand how much his absence hurts those he loves and that love him in return.

They don’t really talk much about him in the years that follow.

Shiro gets back up on his feet, a little worse for wear but no less capable, gets a good job, new friends and a stable life.

It’s easy enough to ignore the missing person when most people in the room have never met or heard of them. Hunk and Lance are young and energetic and didn’t know Shiro, not really, before they were deployed. Allura has her own dark past and scars on her soul but she’s only known them after the war. Pidge never met Keith but she’s heard enough about him from Matt and Shiro, enough to know not to ask but not enough to know why not.

Sometimes Matt only remembers because Lance said something dumb and he’s already turning, expecting to catch purple eyes and share a look, but then finding no one there.

Mostly it’s the space beside Shiro that always looks a little empty, a bit like Shiro’s eyes do, when he thinks no one is watching.

Some days they can talk about him, about their adventures and the good times the three of them shared. Sometimes even when others are there. Often, it makes Shiro draw back into himself and if he wasn’t so heartbroken on his friend’s behalf, Matt would think it silly, idiotic even, to be so tragically in love with someone so long gone, and whom you couldn’t even face up to when they were there.

Allura asks, once, about Keith, and Matt knows that she has already sensed what’s up, since she does it after Shiro left. Matt is Shiro’s friend and he doesn’t want to hurt him, doesn’t want to reopen old wounds that never scarred properly, so he respects that Shiro won’t and can’t talk about Keith to others.

But Matt was – is – also Keith’s friend and he misses him, misses the good times before it all went to hell and he hates that Keith is forgotten, off fighting for his life in some desert far from home.

He shows her pictures. Keith had taken a lot of them. He had an aversion to cameras. Matt used to joke that it was because he still had hopes of going off grid or was afraid of the government coming to get him. Now that there is so little evidence of his existence left, it’s not so funny.

He keeps pictures from their tour on his phone and he smiles when he shows them to Allura. He and Shiro look so young, so happy and fresh.

Then he deliberately shows her the stupid dramatic picture he took of Keith and Shiro, the one where they are both trying a little too hard to look cool. Shiro’s arm is casually slung over Keith’s shoulders and he’s wearing a cocky grin. Keith is small and slim next to him, arms folded, stance solid and gaze daring and unafraid.

The next picture is his favourite, simply because they both look exactly like the idiots they are, only moments after trying their hardest to look like tough soldiers.

Allura’s eyes widen and she glances up at him. Matt knows that his face has settled into a slightly sad, slightly bitter smile but he doesn’t try to change it, just nods, confirming her suspicions. Allura doesn’t need to know all the details, doesn’t need to know that she’s looking at something great that never quite happened. She’s a smart lady, she’ll understand what he’s leaving unsaid.

When Shiro texts him saying that Keith is back, Matt…. doesn’t know how to feel.

In some ways, a happiness settles in him. Keith was their dear friend who willingly sacrificed everything, even potentially his life, to save Shiro and then spent years paying for it. To hear that his years of service are finally over is monumental.

Yet, Matt finds that he still holds an anger within himself, towards Keith and what he’s done, not only to himself or for leaving Matt alone after losing Shiro but especially for never coming back in all the years, never visiting, never being here, for Matt or for Shiro, even though they needed him. Worse is that Matt is sure that Keith needed them too.

The guy always had issues with feeling worthy and wanted and isolating himself had always been one of his worst traits.

When the day comes and he’s meeting Keith, Matt isn’t sure if he’s going to kiss or punch his old friend.

In the end, he does neither, finding himself a little out of depth when finally confronted by the man himself.

Keith had aged – they all had – and the brutal wound that had torn up his face back then, when he had brought Shiro back, was now an old scar that gave his, still, pretty face an edge. He looks nervous to see Matt, body riddled with tension, but not quite as much and not as aggressively as back when he was barely 18, almost too short to be a pilot and had a giant chip on his shoulder. Keith is a grown man now, had the self-assuredness to show for it and a calmness to his stance that the boy Matt knew never could have achieved.

When Matt stares at him a moment too long, his face still twitches nervously and his eyes beg forgiveness and they’re still a little too large for his slim face, still a little too intense for polite company.

Most of Matt’s anger dissipates at that and the eager, slightly-giddy, slightly-nervous look on Shiro’s face, a look he see’s mirrored on Keith’s face.

Some things never change.

It takes a little while, but soon enough they fall back into the easy rhythms of their past friendship that still comes naturally even after all these years and all the ordeals they have faced.

It takes a little longer for Keith to fit into the dynamics of their new friend-group, however. Matt would have expected nothing else. Keith was always awkward with the social grace of a caged tiger so it wasn’t the smoothest transition. Still pretty good for Keith, though.

Pidge is the first of them to actively include Keith, ignoring his awkward attempts at small talk, dragging him into a discussion on motors instead and Matt loves her for it. His little sister is not the most sociable person either and though she never knew the full story – no one really did – she knew that Keith was important and since he already had the stamp of approval from her brother and Shiro, he had to be alright. They hit it off well enough, for reasons not entirely known to Matt but he wasn’t complaining.

Keith had always had a weird obsession with knives and had a weird knife that he had brought with him to the base and later to the other side of the world.

Matt was kind, so he didn’t make all of the psycho-kid jokes that were so, so obvious and honestly, Keith had never truly thanked him for that or appreciated the lengths Matt had gone to avoid going for the low-hanging fruit.

At any rate, all those years of knife-obsession had seemingly paid off as Keith looked like chef when he was set to chop vegetables, meats or anything really. He and Shiro had found out back in Arizona, when all three of them had been gotten kitchen duty and Keith had even given them pointers, enough of them to make even Shiro seem a little less useless in the kitchen.

(Shiro, of course, had gushed about Keith’s knife skills and Matt was, again, embarrassed to find out that his dearly beloved friend apparently had some fucked kinks)

Hunk had noticed this fact immediately and had put Keith’s hidden talent to good use whenever they all gathered at Shiro’s and made dinner. Making food was a great way to bond and that’s exactly what Keith and Hunk had done.

It was an odd friendship; Hunk and Keith could not be more different at first glance, but somehow it worked. Shiro would say that the two of them were both gentle souls and therefore clicked but Matt privately thought it was because Hunk was secretly slightly scared of Keith, causing him to be rather quiet in the beginning, which Keith appreciated and later, when Hunk found out that Keith was an alright dude, they became actual friends.

Lance had decided that he didn’t like Keith before he even met him, for more or less noble reasons, and their meeting had not sparked anything but rivalry. They were, at their core, extremely different people, who coped with their insecurities in ways that clashed spectacularly. Matt could recognise that, to some extent, they both wanted what the other wanted and therefore couldn’t express admiration for one another and instead expressed disdain for each other.

In truth, it was mainly Lance – Matt knew that the kid had had a short-lived dream of following in Shiro’s (his hero) footsteps and becoming a pilot, which had not panned out – who had hard time not being jealous of Keith, for his talent in areas that Lance wasn’t, for having an air of cool mystery (honestly, it killed Matt to know that people found Keith cool and mysterious. Keith!) and for being close to Shiro. While Matt doubted that Lance wanted Shiro’s attention in the same ways that Keith did, Lance definitely wanted some of the closeness that Shiro and Keith shared. Though, really, Keith not being there hadn’t meant that Shiro had formed that kind of bond with Lance, so why it was now Keith’s fault, Matt didn’t quite know.

Keith hadn’t helped the situation, however, by being the awkward turtle he was and lashing out when he felt cornered and uncertain, which happened often in social settings.

Matt had a feeling that the two would never be the best of friends, but Shiro was distressed about it so Keith, at least, made an attempt.

It really didn’t help the situation that Keith and Allura had hit it off early on.

If Matt hadn’t been forced to observe how Keith looked at Shiro like he hung the moon for many years, he might have shared in Lance’s fear that Keith and Allura were getting a little too close.

It didn’t help that Keith was just a tiny bit taller than both of them and a lot buffer and not quite as pretty now that he had that scar. For a while there, Allura had also had a tendency to blush around him, tough that had quickly stopped when Shiro and Keith had had moment so strong that Matt had almost been left gagging. Allura had looked a little put off as well, though not upset. Matt didn’t blame her; Keith was an attractive man. But he was also Keith, who slept with a knife under his pillow and actually thought he looked cool in the red leather jacket and lost all poise when in Shiro’s vicinity.

If Matt had started growing his hair out after that, though, well then no one would think to suggest that Allura’s interest in Keith and his slightly too-long hair had anything to do with it. Cause that would be absurd. Obviously.

Keith and Allura were on the same wave-length, though, that was clear to see and they soon began going to yoga classes together and drank herbal teas or whatever. Matt honestly wasn’t sure. He hadn’t been invited.

Allura’s sudden disgust with Keith had been all the more surprising because of their apparent closeness. At first, Lance had thought he had finally found an ally for the anti-Keith agenda, but even he had realised that Allura was being irrational.

Shiro had been devastated; Allura had been a good friend to him since he got back and he didn’t want to lose her but at the end of the day, if she insisted on it being Keith or her, no one could doubt where Shiro’s loyalties lay.

Matt drank a lot of tea with Allura in those weeks of upset.

He didn’t even do it to capitalise on the absence of Keith, despite joking about it, he just knew that though most of the group had known Allura longer than Keith, they didn’t understand her and ultimately thought she was in the wrong, so Allura desperately needed someone to talk to.

He let her vent; her anger, her fears, her shame. Matt is a mouthy guy but ultimately, Allura doesn’t need him to state his opinion, she already knows what he thinks.

It’s because of his talks with Allura that he encourages Shiro to reach out, on his own, just one more time. Matt doesn’t know what he said, but it worked, so he has an idea.

Soon enough, Keith and Allura tentatively rediscover their friendship and before long, they are closer than ever.

By now, Keith has moved completely in to Shiro’s house. It’s an underwhelming move, mainly consisting of Keith taking off on his bike, leaving for Arizona and coming back a few days later with a single duffel bags worth of property and then transitioning from a semi-permanent couch-surfer to Shiro’s … well that part is yet to be disclosed.

As far as Matt can see, only one of the bedrooms is in use and Keith has been borrowing Shiro’s clothes for quite some time now.

Knowing them – and he does – they probably haven’t even really talked about it, just let their relationship evolve, both too scared of shattering the budding romance many years in the making by admitting the depth of their feelings.

Which is why Matt isn’t really offended that its only about three months after Keith officially moves in that they sit him down over a cup of tea brewed on herbs from the garden and nervously informing him that they are in a relationship and no, this doesn’t change anything and he is still their best friend but they understand if he is a bit shocked or even angry.

Matt briefly considers pretending to be surprised. Then he thinks back on all the years of ridiculous pining he had to witness and decides that they deserve to know just how dumb they both are.

They both laugh embarrassedly, blushes high on their tan cheeks, but apart from a few times where Shiro looks properly embarrassed by some of Matts stories (that makes Keith laugh and look at Shiro with a surprised/fond expression) where he had been particularly idiotic, they allow him to lay it onto them.

When it’s gone on long enough, Matt lets the exasperated act fade and gives them both a sincere smile,

“I am really happy for you guys, though.”

His eyes even crinkle.

“You completely deserve all happiness in the world and I’ve known for many years now that you’d only find that with each other.”

He’s showing entirely too many emotions, made clear by Shiro and Keith’s suddenly shiny eyes. His own throat feels too tight as well.

“But I honestly don’t know how I’ll go about being best man for both grooms. This is a lot of pressure!”

“Matt – “

“If anyone could do it, it would be you, Matt. Unless you doubt your own abilities?”

“Sneaky, Kogane. I like it.”

(In the end, he basically does act as best man for them both. They get married in a low-key ceremony that Coran officiates – Matt lauds himself for that brilliant idea and Pidge heralds him as a genius, though Shiro’s mom looks a little confused – and since neither of them have much family other than the one they had found, there isn’t much problem with arrangements.

A few people from the force do make an appearance and a little group from the reservation Keith grew up in have made their way from Arizona to share some Diné wisdom that had Keith tearing up slightly.

It does end up being a slightly more international affair than predicted, however, when a frankly terrifying group of tall people arrive and promptly start smothering Keith with affection.  

Side note: Keith’s mother is terrifying and hot. Matt has no regrets.

Being best man for both grooms isn’t as difficult as one would imagine, considering that neither Shiro and especially not Keith, would appreciate a true bachelor party.

They all go drag-racing, instead, which is right up both grooms’ alley but Matt throws in the twist of it including actual drag. Again, no regrets. And also; Keith takes after his mother.)