Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chuuya didn't know what the hell was going on. With all the letters highlighted repeatedly, in capital letters to emphasize his genuine confusion.

First, what his mind processed as the first event, was happening on a desolate land, with large chunks of earth sticking out along the edges and the smell of dust permeating his senses. He had been sent on a mission with Dazai (yes, he must have seen the warning signs at the moment they informed him that his next mission would be as the Double Black duo, therefore, with the idiot Dazai. God sends signs, but he makes a fool of himself)

The specific details of the mission are hazy among the confusion and lack of attention paid to the papers, but he vaguely remembers the mention of "unknown territory" and "dangerous threat", dangerous enough for the Double Black to have had to prepare.

From that moment on, his memory fragments into confusion until the moment he finds himself now. Dazai and he began to walk across the territory in an attempt to reconnoiter, Chuuya observed as Dazai's hazel eyes moved from side to side, examining every piece of space that entered his range of vision and extracting information even from the mounds of weeds. Chuuya, despite not considering anything visible as a possible threat, maintained a rigid posture, as if expecting to be stabbed in the back.

It had been about 15 minutes after they arrived on the scene until a thunderous thud, as if a large enough object crashed into the earth and shook the ground, stood out in the quiet of the night. Chuuya narrowed his eyes before he felt the now crimson gaze bore into the back of his neck. He sharpened his eyes to catch a dark blue hue flickering with the same rhythm of a heartbeat at the edge of the territory, which had remained neutral in its pursuit.

Upon facing the possible threat, he maintained a safe distance behind Dazai, who had started walking almost instantly after the tremor, alert for any possible attack.

What they found there could be described with three simple words: large, rocky, and brilliant.

A fucking comet.

If this was the threat for which he had been deprived of an extra day of rest, Chuuya thought himself incapable of stifling a frustrated scream. However, he did so when he noticed the blank stare of the man beside him, his irises dilated as, with slow steps like one who is hypnotized, he approached the fragmented celestial body. Chuuya grabbed him by the coat and dragged him backwards with abruptness and incoherent claims to his ears, the words that came from his lips are confusing, so he does not try to remember them.

Just seconds after avoiding Dazai from touching the comet, it began to glow, blues and turquoises in increasingly rapid pulses like the countdown of a bomb, until when Dazai had shouted "Run!" it was already too late. The light that came from the rock was so blinding that it clouded his vision, leaving only the feeling of being dragged by a whirlpool among clouds of dust, churning his stomach in the process. The next thing he knew when he opened his eyes, was that he and Dazai were surrounded by strangers dressed in some kind of armor.

"Who are you and how did you get into the Lions castle?" 

The voice of the only visible woman came out harsh and defensive, but what caught his attention was the language: English, what he lacked.

He moved his fingers, ready to use his ability to leave the unknown place they had ended up without reason, but the tingling that ran through him was different, strange and unknown to one who had used his ability almost since the moment he was born.

The gravity was still there, in smaller particles surrounding the strange bodies that stood a considerable distance from him. But he felt forced, as if he were there because they had forced him to stay in that place and keep everyone on the ground, even his connection with Arahabaki felt distant, if that word could describe the feeling that the god seemed more attached to Chuuya's consciousness and body than simply existing there, in a distant hole.

This alerted all the necessary and extra alarms in Chuuya's mind, whatever was causing his ability to feel strange was enough of a sign that they should leave. Now.

He turned his gaze to Dazai to decipher if he had noticed the dangerous situation they were in, but all he noticed was how his eyes moved quickly between the silhouettes of the people who surrounded them, trying to extract information from the unique characteristics that his eyes perceived, however, in a moment the frenetic movement froze, Chuuya followed the trajectory to which his eyes were directed and, what he saw, almost made him let out a scream, of anger, frustration and amazement.

In front of them, a large transparent window of unknown material reflected the damned galaxy: purple and blue spots, thousands of pale dots and a damned planet the size of Jupiter protruding to the side, not the only one, but the largest.

His face contorted in disbelief with his eyes shining with uncertainty, for the great shit, how the hell had they ended up in space?

This clarified the strange behavior of his ability and Arahabaki, but it didn't remove the fact that they were in danger, it only worsened it. Escaping on their own terms was no longer a viable option, what were they going to do wandering through the immensity of space if they didn't even know how many light-years they were from Earth?

He turned his gaze to Dazai, realizing that he didn't seem as alarmed as he should be in this dangerous situation. Dazai smiled, that stretched smile he had been perfecting to convey a rugged happiness, and that only confirmed to Chuuya that they were not going to get out of there easily and quickly as he would have liked.

"Dear strangers, we assure you that we are just as shocked as you are, we have no idea how we ended up in this place." His words came out with a clear Japanese accent, as if he hadn't spoken English for a significant amount of time, but Chuuya knew that the brunette could fake his accent as well as his smile.

"I should have guessed it, their features don't resemble those of a galra... they look more... human...” The stammered babbling caught Chuuya's attention, the boy with short, unkempt and much lighter brown hair had been the one who had mumbled. Chuuya managed to identify him by the armor, which only differentiated him from the others by its green color.

"You can't just show up out of nowhere, with a blue light and say you don't know what you're doing here!" A dark-skinned boy with the same armor but now of blue color had shouted hysterically, making strange hand gestures.

"For God's sake, for a moment I thought it was Zarkon."

Who the hell was Zarkon?

"We cannot trust what they're saying is true" The same girl, with very distinctive hair if you ask Chuuya, spoke again, with her... unusually long ears moving backward defensively.

Chuuya, seeing how Dazai made no attempt to further explain their unfortunate situation, decided that he could not ask more of a bandaged idiot who probably has no blood circulation in his brain.

"We don't know anything." He repeated the action of marking his Japanese accent a bit, although he doubted that some people here knew he was Japanese. "We were quietly taking a walk when a strange light dragged us to this place, completely unknown."

Chuuya hid the fact that it was a comet in particular that had caused their misfortune, but he could not trust revealing potentially important information to strangers.

The redhead noticed by the corner of his eye as someone who seemed like a man and not just a teenager was looking at him intently, being the bearer of the black-armored suit. If he looked closely, he could notice certain Asian features in his face, so Chuuya hoped that at least someone with whom he could have a coherent conversation would be present.

"If you don't mind me asking, do you come from the earth?" The dark-haired man with a white lock of hair that contrasted with his face was the one who asked the question with more doubt and caution than Chuuya considered appropriate, besides, he expected something more concrete such as nationality or country, not simply if they came from the earth. But, by Dazai's sly smile, the man had said something coherent.

"Your ambiguous question makes me think that there are people here who are not." The man shrugged his shoulders, as if it were normal the assumption of non-human life in whatever place they were. "But, answering your question, yes, we are."

By the reaction of astonishment and surprise that adorned the faces of all present, Chuuya was starting to believe that being human, or simply being part of the Earth was not common, in fact, he was starting to believe that the girl with silver hair and the older man, both with marks below their eyes and pointed ears, were extraterrestrials or different enough not to be considered of the Earth.

"But that only generates more doubts, they won't be galra, but how simple humans could appear in the Lions Castle as if nothing?"

Chuuya had a headache and was tired of the mission. Although the entire situation was obviously worrying, the strange terms were starting to overwhelm him. He was going to let the idiot Dazai handle everything.

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Shiro truly believed that it was going to be a peaceful day.

Although all the work as Voltron paladins was overwhelming and dangerous most of the time, he believed that, after they destroyed a galactic base last Friday (or what he thought was Friday) and wiped out the fighter ships they had sent to destroy them, they were going to get some rest until the next conflict. However, as all the paladins, except Keith, who was on a different mission with the blade, were gathered in the command room analyzing the likelihood of galra cruisers nearby, a bright light caught everyone's attention. A few meters away from the podium where Allura controlled the Lions Castle, a cut of blue tones began to form, blurring the edges little by little until it became more of a big ball of light that left them unable to see for several seconds, when the cloud of darkness disappeared from their eyes, two totally unknown people appeared where the opening was before.

Faced with the possibility that they were sent from Zarkon and the shock of the moment, he moved into a guard position, his bayard at his right side and making the other paladins alert as well. However, by the time he was able to get a good look at the two men rising before him, Princess Allura was already demanding an answer in the most unkind way possible. Shiro noticed the bewilderment painted on the faces of both men and, his suspicions grew as he heard the voice of the taller, brown-haired man, he was English, yes, but he had a rather thick accent that gave away that this was not his native tongue and, the more Shiro got to analyze them, the fact that they might be Earthlings like them seemed not to be such a far-fetched idea. After all, they didn't share any galra traits.

The brown man's features were probably the easiest to notice, his eyes were more wrinkled than one would expect to find in space, with a normal hair color, with a normal eye color, with a normal skin color and not an unreal fantasy color, plus he was dressed more for casual work than armor for war. The smaller man held features not so much crossed out as Japanese, the nationality Shiro had come to the conclusion from listening to their accents and physical features, but once he examined the wrinkled marks under their eyes and the way they stretched more to the sides, he could tell, that at the very least, they came from a part of Asia. Sure, if they were from planet earth.

With that in mind, Shiro took the risk to ask a question, ambiguous and that left many things uncovered, but that was the basis for asking more concrete questions.

"If it's not too much trouble for me to ask, do you come from earth?" He was not very surprised to see how the taller man's eyebrows curved upward.

"Your ambiguous question makes me think there are people here who are not." Shiro shrugged his shoulders, supposing that the fact that only five humans traveled in space as intergalactic defenders made them something unique. "But, answering your question, yes, we are."

The final answer made Shiro's surprise shine on his face, he had considered it, but the fact that they had confirmed it made it something more, something real, now there were officially two humans more in the Lions Castle.

Although the fact that these people were not aliens or Galra calmed most of the paladins, Princess Allura seemed still cautious with them, keeping her ears pulled back.

"Your answer only generates more doubts, you are not Galra, but how simple humans could appear in the Lions Castle as if nothing?"

"We don't know what the term “galra” means, but I assure you, miss, it is not a characteristic of ours." The red-haired boy let out a tired sigh while crossing his arms and putting them in front of his chest. As if he would disconnect from the conversation. "In addition, we have already said that we have no idea how we managed to get here."

"Princess" Shiro brought the princess and the men's attention back to him "I think it would be a good idea to keep these men with us, since we all saw how the rift was formed, besides, they don't seem to be aware of where they are and the current situation." Allura narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in a straight line, processing his words and looking for a way to refuse, however, after a few seconds, she decided there was no concrete reason and nodded slowly.

"It's fine, I suppose we can help them, Voltron must answer every call."

Shiro smiled at the affirmative words of Allura.

"Now, since everything is resolved, I think it would be appropriate to introduce ourselves-"

"And explain many things, what the hell is a galra and what the hell is Voltron?" A tired smile began to form on Shiro's lips, in a certain way, the red-haired boy reminded him of Keith in some aspects, obstinate and always in search of answers.

"Since they are from the earth, it is obvious that they do not have that kind of information, I think it would be better to introduce ourselves and then discuss that." At the interrogative look of the red-haired boy with his eyebrows raised and the sarcastic smile of the brunette, he let his shoulders relax for a moment. "I am Shiro, Paladin of the Black Lion and leader of Voltron."

The dark-haired one saw how the raised eyebrow did not go down, but remained erect above his eyes, probably because of the use of new terms.

"Do we have royalty too?” the brown-haired man remarked playfully as he turned his hazel gaze to Allura.

"I am Allura, princess Altean of the planet Althea." The blue eyes of the red-haired boy narrowed at the affirmation that Allura was not from the earth, supposing that perhaps they had to explain that.

"Does that mean you are some kind of extraterrestrial?"

The white-haired girl's eyes twisted at the etiquette the chestnut had used, but she responded reluctantly.

"I suppose you could call me that, terrestrial."

The man only smiled, so big that it left room for doubt whether it was with sarcasm or amusement.

Shiro slid his gaze between the paladins, giving them the invitation to present themselves to their new companions for an indefinite time. The first, as always, was Hunk, happy to have more people from the earth to talk to, Lance followed him, using unnecessary and long titles that only generated a low laugh from the brunette and a tired sigh from the red-haired boy, Pidge was the last of the paladins, without extending himself too much with the words and, to finish, Coran presented himself with his usual joy and kindness, providing a friendly ending to the presentation. Now, only the new tenants remained to be known.

The first of the two to introduce himself was the one with brown hair and a long torso, he indicated that his name was Osamu Dazai, but he asked to be called by his last name. On the other hand, the shorter man with orange hair introduced himself as Chuuya Nakahara, and asked to be called only by Chuuya.

The names that both had given, along with their surnames, only confirmed to Shiro and the other paladins of the Lion Castle that, without a doubt, they were Japanese. Although neither Allura nor Coran recognized the nationality, it was clear.

After that, came a very tedious part, in which both Allura, Coran and Shiro were in charge of giving basic information about Voltron, The Galra Empire, Zarkon and clarify any other doubt that was forming along the explanation. Shiro won't deny that seeing Chuuya's confused face due to the excessive amount of information was funny, seeing him grimacing and rolling his eyes when something got too technical reminded him of Keith, in a very particular way.

Physically, they didn't look alike, Keith had dark hair and eyes painted a purple that could be mistaken for black, unlike Chuuya, who had hair painted like a sunset and blue eyes, plus small freckles around his cheeks that he hadn't noticed until the fifth time he saw him. But Shiro was too sentimental because Keith wasn't with them now. The problem with the red-armored paladin was that he was currently spending more time serving as a Marmora Blade soldier than being a Voltron paladin. And while helping the galra group was an important part of freeing the universe from Zarkon's oppressive regime, Shiro felt that Keith's actions were motivated more by his personal feelings than by responsibility per se.

"So, this “lions castle” has its own training, rest and recreation rooms?"

Allura nodded.

"Each paladin has their own personal room, and since they're going to be staying with us, we're going to assign one to each of them." Allura paused, glancing up and down at the silhouettes of Dazai and Chuuya. "Although, if you prefer, I think there's one big enough for two."

Chuuya's face contracted into a grimace that only reflected annoyance and disbelief, as if the proposal he just heard was a complete blasphemy to his ancestors. However, his face was not enough for Dazai to refuse.

"How kind of you, princess! I'm sure Chibi would love to share a room with me."

Shiro heard a chuckle escape Lance's lips and watched as Pidge tried to stifle one.

"I'd rather be left to my own devices in freakin' space than stay with you, you freakin' hideous mummy!"

Dazai simply waved his hand in a sign to ignore him.

"Chibi makes me look bad, it seems I haven't taught him how to behave. As an owner, I feel slighted." The chestnut made a pitiful movement as he turned around dramatically, the pet-like insinuation only made Chuuya's anger grow more.

Shiro couldn't help but let out a low chuckle that got lost in the bickering, even though Dazai and Chuuya were strangers who had suffered the consequences of an unrealistic and unfortunate situation, at least they had proven so far that they weren't bad people.

Perhaps, they wouldn't be a bad addition to the team, considering that, paladins and himself, they lacked a more relaxed touch.

The peaceful day Shiro had hoped for would be a long time coming, but he hoped it would be soon.

Chapter Text

The room Allura had led them to reminded him, in a way, of the capsule hotels popularly known in Japan. The interior was white, with two beds facing each other, attached to the two corners, there was a considerable space between the two beds, at least five meters. Between the two corners was a large table of the same color as the walls, this had three large drawers and a space without a lid at the end of all the drawers. The space was simple and rather more like the inside of a psychiatric hospital room than anything else, but it was better than nothing.

Once he was able to set foot inside the room, he nearly collapsed on top of the mattress closest to him. Exhaustion was taking its toll on him faster than Chuuya wanted to accept, but the amount of information Allura had provided them mixed with the whirlwind that was the situation he found himself in could only be a major headache.

"There are no microphones or cameras of any kind." Dazai's voice broke the echo of his thoughts, forced his body to peel off the mattress to straighten up and pay attention to the man in front of him, even if he didn't want to.

"No information about our abilities unless we find ourselves in a situation that requires us to use them. Nothing about the meteorite either, we have no idea if we can trust these guys.

Chuuya let out a snort at Dazai's tone, it wasn't threatening, but it had that odd tinge of warning that the redhead found ridiculous. As if Chuuya wasn't smart enough to know what things he didn't have to say.

"Have you thought of a way to get back?" Dazai closed his eyes as he denied.

"We have no idea of the exact location we're in, but I highly doubt we're standing still in space, we're most likely maintaining constant movement. Besides, I doubt you know how to operate one of these ships"

"Unfortunately for you, piloting spaceships is not a skill I possess"

Dazai threw his brown coat on the mattress of the other bed, sitting on the edge and letting his back fall until it hit the mattress.

"Aliens, of all possible things did it have to be aliens?" His words came out in a mocking tone, the situation still felt too unreal for his brain.

Dazai threw his right arm over his face, covering his eyes and tousling his hair more. Chuuya knew that habit, in a way, it reminded him of the blank-eyed teenager who visited his apartment late at night so his thoughts wouldn't eat him alive.

"Are we going to get involved with that giant robot?"

"Add 'Defeat an oppressive alien and save the universe' to our to-do list? Sounds very supportive"

Chuuya snorted, moved the orange locks of her bangs to the side.

"If this Zarkon is as fearsome as Shiro and the princess told us, the possibility of it reaching earth is not low. Yokohama could be in danger"

Chuuya doubted that Mori was aware of Voltron and Zarkon, but the convenience of the situation made the possibility that he knew something not far-fetched. They were being sent on a mission, they were abducted by a comet and suddenly they're in space with a bunch of people who are fighting an empire and its ruler, even Elise's imagination had its limits.

Dazai pulled his arm away after a few minutes, confirming that he had stopped thinking.

"We're stuck here until this war is over or until chibi manages to learn how to pilot a ship and I can figure out how to read the coordinates to get back. Our options are pretty limited" Dazai ran his hand through his hair, shuffling the brown nest that was strewn across the mattress. "Time to make friends, chibi"

It had probably been more than two hours since Allura showed them the room, enough time to put their thoughts in order, process the information, close their eyes for ten minutes and breathe. 

"How is it?" It was a slow, low murmur, but the echo in the room made it easily reach Chuuya's ears.

He knew what he meant.

"Fidgety. It almost got out of hand in the living room."

The mackerel's response was a hum that was hard to classify as quiet, but enough to calm him down. 

The conversation with Dazai ended when they both agreed to subtly help with the whole war thing while they found a way to return to their planet. It had to be in a way that the others would not notice suspiciously that they could help in a more direct way. Likewise, Chuuya did not want to use his ability in space when he had no idea how it might react and Arahabaki, specifically, had already stopped clinging to Chuuya's consciousness, now all the red-haired man could perceive were the facts of a strange vibration running through his hippocampus and frontal cortex.

In the time he was lying on the bed, he debated whether to take off some clothes to walk around the ship, the temperature was not high, but it was not specifically low to be carrying several layers of clothes, in the end, Chuuya decided to take off the coat, fold it and place it in one of the drawers of the white table that was in the middle of the room. Chuuya ended up folding Dazai's beige trench coat as well while Dazai was tossing and turning on the bed mattress.

"Stop messing around, don't unmake the bed if you're not going to make it in the end, you damn mackerel"

Dazai pouted, standing still in the middle of the bed with his body sprawled all over it. Chuuya was starting to sprout a vein at the childish way the idiot was acting, as if the alarming situation had already been taken care of.

He made his way with slow steps to the door, knowing that the mackerel was following his steps with his eyes, but Dazai only stood up once the door to the room opened. He slid easily down his long limbs to his side, staying a step ahead of him as they began to walk to wherever the room remained.

On the way to the room, Shiro had given them a little general tour of how to get to the control room, passing through the hall, even showing them to their rooms so they could call them if they needed anything, though the man made it clear that they were mostly going to find them anywhere but in the rooms.

Chuuya could get an idea of the kind of routine they followed.

The corridors of Lion Castle, the way Allura had insisted the ship was called, were curved and wide, there were too many places to sneak through. The color of the walls was a pearl white, almost the same as the room. Comparing it to the corridors of a hospital was a fleeting thought in Chuuya's mind.

Dazai hummed as they walked, as if he remembered the exact path to get to the room, knowing him, he did. Chuuya had noticed, Dazai's eyes kept moving, his pupils curving in the same way he did in the mob when scanning for information. He guessed something like this was bound to happen, even if Dazai had left the mafia more than four years ago and would now play detective, he had habits so ingrained in his soul that they just came naturally to him, the red-haired man was sure that Dazai himself didn't know the shape his pupils took.

The drive took less than 10 minutes, an uncomfortable 10 minutes in which all his brain could think about was how much he wanted the whole situation to be nothing more than a bad dream, although, well, Chuuya couldn't dream. Dazai tapped one of the white walls as he slowed down, it was the Morse code they used on missions. The tapping was accompanied by humming, but Chuuya managed to recognize what it said:

'They're out front, arguing'

They hadn't had a chance to look to see if there were microphones or cameras down the corridors, though most likely yes, a ship with alien technology had to have an internal surveillance system at the very least, so the choice not to speak was befitting of a brainiac like Dazai.

Chuuya heard the echo of voices through the door, they were a mixture of shouts and slurred words, he gave Dazai a wary glance before stepping forward and pushing open the door.

"But Keith isn't here!"

"Who is Keith?" His voice caught the attention of everyone present, the paladins and the... alteans (Chuuya still wasn't used to that) turned in his direction, it was obvious that their ability to detect others wasn't as good as it should be, they probably wouldn't have noticed his presence if Chuuya hadn't spoken.

"Chuuya, Dazai. "Shiro was the first to greet, lowering his shoulders to hide his arms behind his back. "Are you comfortable in the room?"

Whether it was politeness or a desire to avoid the subject, Dazai answered for both of them.

"The room is quite nice, thank you for that" Dazai commented casually as his eyes roamed lazily around the room and everyone present.

Lance, who Chuuya sensed was the one who had shouted when they entered, sat back in his seat, crossing his arms as he turned his gaze to the opposite side of the room.

"Who is Keith?" the question came up again, Dazai wasn't going to waste the opportunity to get more information on anything that might further his situation.

Lance sank deeper into his seat, Shiro's robotic arm squeezed his flesh-and-blood hand, Hunk smiled nervously, Pidge narrowed her eyes, Coran coughed uncomfortably and Allura hardened her expression. They had both realized what the mere mention of the name had caused. Chuuya was intrigued now.

"Keith is our... comrade, a member of the team"

"And where is he now?" He asked.

"On an obviously more important mission"

Dazai's eyebrows rose, in that typical mocking way Chuuya was unfortunately accustomed to.

Lance had spat those words out, he hadn't said them in the way one would speak of a comrade, there was clearly resentment and some more emotion tucked in there.

"Keith is part of a rebel organization, but he's still part of the Voltron team" Shiro's words seemed to be directed at the whole team, as if he was trying to reaffirm the position Keith held in their entire history.

Chuuya noticed Allura's lips tighten, her blue eyes with violet pupils were suffused with pain, anger and resentment, Chuuya was too good at recognizing feelings that had marked his life more than once.

The mafia's buddy system wasn't the best, but the clear distrust within the Voltron team was troubling, everyone looked tense, shoulders tight and a sour taste in their throat, what had started as a quest for information had turned into an uncomfortable and tense moment.

Chuuya rolled his eyes at Dazai, who returned his gaze with a smile. It was obvious he was enjoying the drama.

Chapter Text

Keith didn't want to question Kolivan's choice in selecting his teammate for the mission, but he found it... interesting that it would have been Lotor as a result.

Lotor was already part of The Blade when Keith joined them, however, Ulaz told him that the prince was still new, a month in the organization was not yet considered necessary. On Blade missions, especially quick intelligence gathering and ship sabotage, it was necessary for newcomers to be in pairs. If one of them failed to complete the mission, it was necessary for the other to do so at any cost, for the sake of the universe, the mission came first.

Keith enjoyed sparring with Lotor, the prince had a very different style to what he was used to facing, Lotor was agile, he glided through space with a fluidity honed over the years, as if it were nothing more than a dance space and his sword an extension of his body. However, the moment he was assigned the mission and Lotor as his presumed companion, he thought his finely honed ears had failed.

Keith recognized Lotor as a skilled warrior, though perhaps that was not the best way to describe him. The son of Zarkon, half-breed prince, like all galra had chosen to despise their prince, reducing his abilities and blaming his non-galra side on the ‘inconsistencies’ of his actions, Keith knew, in the time he had spent with Lotor, how much he disliked being despised for his other side. For that reason, Keith never spoke or used those terms. Lotor might be Zarkon's son, but he, as an individual, had shed all the galran beliefs that had molded his life and was rebelling against his progenitor's empire.

Brave, too much for anyone, not enough for Lotor.

But here he was, in the middle of an intelligence-gathering mission with Lotor. They were infiltrating one of General Trugg's cruisers, which had been sent to a distant planet to recruit manpower for the empire. Their mission was to reach one of the central commands and scan the cruiser's information bases.

Kolivan had insisted that, on Trugg's cruise, they were not going to find extremely relevant information, but that it was going to be necessary for the overthrow of Zarkon.

He rolled forward and ran to the half-open door, managing to slip through before it finished closing. They had decided their positions easily: Lotor was going to take charge of lowering the base's internal defenses while Keith was going to infiltrate and steal the information.

Lotor was the one who decided that Keith would sneak through the ship, assuring that the dark-haired one was more agile and faster, besides, since he was smaller than Lotor, he could pass unnoticed more easily.

‘Turn left, central command should be up ahead’

But Lotor was the one who was more familiar with the layout of Galra cruisers, so Keith had insisted that he at least guide him through the corridors to avoid wasting time. He followed the orders of the broken voice echoing in his ear. They were using the sentry change schedule to avoid encountering as many obstacles as possible, and it was working quite well, so much so that his instincts were screaming at him about how suspicious the whole thing was.

A few more strides and he found himself face to face with a burgundy door made of refined metal that opened once his right palm was scanned. Upon entering, he noticed the control panel in front of him, a lightweight structure built on the floor of the ship. Without wasting any time, Keith ran, inserting the device, which looked too much like a USB stick, into the small compartment. The mission was almost over.

"Data is loading."

An affirmative sound vibrated in his right ear.

It only took a few seconds, but the unusual silence in the ship made Keith uneasy. Missions had to be as inconspicuous as possible, but never before, in Keith's many missions, had he encountered such a calm general's cruiser. Moreover, now that he could take two seconds to breathe, the strange tugging in his chest had become more noticeable and persistent. The first time Keith felt that strange tugging at the top of his chest was during training with Lotor. For a moment, he felt the air escape from his lungs and return with a rush. It was so unexpected that he almost mistook it for the result of a blow. And, with the excitement of the mission, he had almost forgotten about it completely.

‘The sentries will be back in 5 doboshes’

Lotor's robotic voice broke the spell he had fallen under. Keith yanked the memory from where it was connected, confirmed that the data was complete, and ran through the door.

The meeting point was a few doboshes away. Keith had to focus; he had been too distracted these past few days.

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Chuuya was sitting alone in the large white room, Dazai had insisted on staying together, but he was the first to disappear to go exploring. The thing is, Chuuya could now clear his memory more in the solitude of the room and the quiet of his thoughts, that is, until the sound of the door opening broke his bubble.

"Oh, Chuuya" When the man approached, he recognized him as Shiro, one of the few people Chuuya considered thoughtful.

Shiro walked slowly over to where the red-haired man was and sat down on the couch in front of him, it would have been very uncomfortable if the darker haired one had sat next to him.

"Hmm... Since you arrived I haven't been able to ask you, how old are you and Dazai?"

Chuuya opened his eyes, not expecting such a... simple question.

"Actually we're both 22 years old" It wasn't hard to notice the small sigh that escaped from Shiro's lips. "Why the question?"

“It's nothing in particular.” And yet, there was a hint of relief in his voice that he had rarely heard before. “Just...”

“All the ‘paladins’ look very young.” Shiro was startled by the interruption. Now that the subject had been brought up, Chuuya couldn't help but notice that all the paladins seemed to be well below the age of majority.

“Unfortunately, fate spares no one. Pidge is the youngest of them all, at only 15 years old.”

Well, that confirmed it. Chuuya was that age when he joined the mafia, and he knew very well that he was too young to suffer everything he was going through at the time. Stealing, killing, taking care of children his own age—Chuuya had suffered through that and more when he was still a minor. But saving the universe? At least he was over twenty before he was locked up in a ship because of a damn comet.

“Fate can be a bitch sometimes.”

The slight chuckle that escaped Shiro's lips lightened the mood. The silence lasted long enough for Chuuya's thoughts to return to a certain poorly wrapped mackerel that was lurking somewhere in the castle.

Until the door opened again.

Following the sound, Chuuya found one of the paladins, the tall, skinny, dark-haired man wearing blue armor when Chuuya and Dazai first appeared.

“Oh, you're here.”

“It's okay, I was leaving anyway.” More than 20 minutes had passed, and it was time to find that idiot Dazai so he would stop wandering around this unfamiliar place. Chuuya wanted to try out the training room Allura had mentioned when they arrived, but he needed to know that the brown-haired man was still alive before he went looking for it.

“Are you sure? You don't have to leave if you don't want to, Chuuya. I'm sure Lance won't mind.”

The dark-haired man shifted uncomfortably when his name came out of Shiro's mouth, without any hint of the authority Chuuya was used to, the kind that ties chains around your neck to force you to obey. Shiro's voice had no hidden tone or command.

And yet Lance seemed as cornered as if he were between a rock and a hard place.

“It's not necessary, Shiro. Anyway, I have to go find Dazai.”

The look of relief that lit up the dark-haired man's eyes made something inside Chuuya twist.

“Oh, okay, I didn't realize he wasn't with you.”

Chuuya was beginning to be disturbed by the strange ease with which Shiro showed kindness. All his senses are trained to notice changes in tone of voice, the unspoken words that slip off the tongue, and the double meanings of glances, yet the only thing Chuuya had noticed in Shiro from the first moment he saw him was a strange mixture of pity and cordiality.

If Dazai were here, he would have been pestering him to leave.

Chuuya left the room, passing by a tense Lance. The brunette had reactions that Chuuya was more familiar with: discomfort, caution, resentment, and a touch of strangeness. He could deal with that better than with kindness.

──────────────────────────────────

The return trip was just as quiet and uncomfortable as the outward journey. Talking to Lotor was easy, but no less strange than trying to strike up a conversation with a stranger standing on the other side of a bus stop. They exchanged only a few sentences to verify the success of the mission, and then they had fallen into a silence too fragile to risk breaking.

Lotor hadn't made any comments about their strange moment in the clouds, and Keith was grateful for that, because even he didn't know why he had been so out of sorts these last few days.

The minutes passed inside the ship. It would take less than an hour to reach headquarters. After Keith had sent the message to Kolivan, all they had to do was wait.

So the strange blue glow on his tablet was out of the ordinary. Keith set the autopilot as he turned on the screen to check the message, hoping it was a member of the Blade like Kolivan reporting a change in the mission or Regris asking about his arrival after receiving the success message. However, the flashing name of Shiro was not at all what he expected.

The paladins were strictly forbidden from contacting him when he was on a mission, as they never knew when he might be in the middle of a confrontation or delicate situation that required his full concentration. Keith could only imagine the most horrible scenarios in which Shiro would dare to contact him.

He opened the message with terror breathing down his neck, but it was nothing more than a simple:

‘Hope you come back soon, there's something we want to show you’

Shiro must have been crazy to take such a risk.

“Do they miss you that much?”

Lotor's murmur made him slam the message window shut.

“I didn't mean to scare you, but it's strange that you leave the autopilot on for so long” The relaxed smile on his face was visible thanks to his dark mask being lowered.

Keith shifted in his seat, deactivating the autopilot and regaining control of the ship. Lotor didn't press the issue, reactivating the suit's mask as a soft hum escaped his closed lips.

It was only a few more long minutes until they reached the base.

“How did you know it was them?”

The sound of doubt made Keith regret asking, but Lotor deactivated his mask again, directing his powerful blue irises toward Keith.

“If it had been Kolivan, I doubt it would have been good news, and you wouldn't have been watching the message like a puppy lost by a dobosh.”

Keith listened to Lotor's calm words as he piloted, seeing the two characteristic black holes of the barracks in the distance. He entered the exact coordinates after passing the recognition test and left control of the ship as it followed the path past the asteroid.

"Besides, no one else writes to you"

Ignoring Lotor's last muttering, he parked the ship, stretching his lazy limbs before leaving the cockpit, with the other one hot on his heels. The barracks towered imposingly above him. If all went well, this was his last mission of the week.

Chapter Text

“Don't you think it's all... a little too suspicious?”

Pidge raised an eyebrow as he looked up from the dark blue datapad resting in his hands.

“Suspects? You mean the new ones?”

Lance nodded as he concentrated on organizing his thoughts. From the beginning, something felt wrong about them. Lance had seen wormholes, a literally living planet, and magic, but what about an interdimensional rift opening up in the control room out of nowhere and two human men coming out of it? There were limits, seriously.

“It's all so absurdly weird and strange. And we've seen some very absurd and strange things.”

Pidge hummed, as if thinking about his words, and then frowned.

“It's suspicious.” Lance had never been so grateful that someone agreed with him.

“Thank God! I was going crazy thinking about it. Everyone else seems so comfortable with their presence that I just thought I was overreacting.”

“Is that why you're telling me this and not Hunk?”

Lance grimaced. No one could blame him for being closer to Hunk; they had known each other since galaxy garrison, and talking to Hunk was always so easy. Except in this specific situation.

"Hunk is thrilled, please, he hasn't rushed to ask what their favorite foods are just because he hasn't had the chance yet, you'll see! When he does, we're going to be eating a very strangely pleasant attempt at ramen.

“Assuming they like ramen? That's a bit xenophobic of you, Lance.”

The brown-haired man snorted.

“I understand your point, Lance, and I also understand why the others are excited. I can't deny that having more human company is... comforting. You know, it makes it easier to go home.”

Ah, of course Lance missed home. How he missed fulfilling his duties at the barracks, exchanging messages with his sister, and receiving good morning pictures from his mom. Having two faces without any morphological alterations similar to those of an alien was comforting, but the strange feeling of unease that accompanied him was not.

Maybe Lance was overthinking it.

“Okay... but I'm going to keep an eye on them. They're still suspects.”

“Just don't get too paranoid.”

Lance said goodbye to Pidge with an amused snort. After sharing his discomfort with the newcomers, the pressure on his chest felt lighter. Pidge was probably the right person to listen to his suspicions.

Lance cared deeply for Hunk, but the boy was too happy with Chuuya and Dazai's presence—if he remembered their names correctly—Lance could sense it from miles away, and going to talk to him about his suspicions would leave him in a bad position. Shiro wasn't an option either; he himself had offered them accommodation in the castle and, again, seemed comfortable with the presence of the two foreigners. Lance didn't even consider Keith as an option.

And Allura and Coran were two different cases.

Allura seemed partially comfortable with his presence —and, please, Lance wasn't going to complain about that to her. With Coran, it was... strange. It wasn't that Lance didn't feel comfortable with the Altean; he could even consider Coran a cool grandpa who was easy to talk to because you knew he wasn't going to judge you. The problem was that he didn't know what kind of advice he might get from Coran, besides one that, honestly, he didn't really want to follow.

So that left Pidge as the right person to listen to Lance's speculations —and he's grateful he was right, because he couldn't stand Pidge's teasing.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Quiznak!” Embarrassed, Lance jumped back, his heart stuck in his throat. He had been so focused on his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the man's presence. Something too unacceptable for a great paladin like him. 

Lance almost turned pale when his brain made the connection between the man smiling at him and the people he had been complaining about to Pidge. Unfortunately for him, it was the tall, skinny guy —Dazai— who had caught him off guard. Lance wasn't going to describe the situation as having “scared” him. 

The man stared at him, that curved smile on his lips making his skin crawl.

“You're... Dazai, right?”

Dazai nodded, his eyes narrowed and his hands resting on his hips, giving him that carefree air that only set off alarm bells in Lance, yet he tried to hide his discomfort.

“The blue paladin, Lance, right?” There was something so strange about the way the older spoke, possibly his japanese accent.

“What... What are you doing here? Are you lost?”

Dazai shook his head.

“I was exploring the place. The structure of the ship is quite unique, and I was curious.”

“Yes, it is quite unique...”

Lance felt uncomfortable not knowing what else to say. He wasn't good at talking to someone who made him feel uncomfortable and whom he had been talking badly about behind their back.

“So, when I saw you, you seemed quite absorbed in your thoughts. What had you so distracted?”

His body tensed. Lance felt a drop of sweat run down his neck.

“Nothing important! I had gone to talk to Pidge about... uhm... some strategies against the galra!”

Dazai narrowed his eyes, and Lance could only pray that his explanation would be convincing. He didn't want to prolong the conversation any further. To his surprise, Dazai broke into a big smile after only five seconds of thinking, taking a step closer to Lance.

“The Galra are that alien species you're fighting, if I remember Shiro's explanation correctly.”

Lance nodded, a little calmer.

“Yes! They're big, purple, hairy, and very unfriendly. You know, with all that stuff about conquering planets and universal domination.”

Dazai nodded, with one hand on his chin.

“It's really very interesting. Alien life had always been a possibility, but honestly, I didn't think it was possible. I guess I was wrong.”

“It's a little hard to digest, but you get used to it over time.” Lance tried to sound relaxed. Dazai seemed completely oblivious to his slight discomfort.

The silence stretched on for so long that Lance thought the conversation was over and was ready to leave, but Dazai's voice calling out again made him almost curse again.

“I suppose it must be uncomfortable.”

Lance blinked, twisting his lips slightly.

“Excuse me?”

Dazai shook his head, hiding his hazel eyes behind his eyelids.

“Having strangers in the Castle.”

Lance felt the blood drain from his face.

“What... What makes you say that?”

Dazai raised an eyebrow, as if his question were irrational.

“I'm sorry if I offended you. I just think that, for me, it would be uncomfortable to welcome two strangers who appeared out of nowhere and treat them with complete cordiality. I wouldn't blame you, really.”

Lance now felt bad. Had he not hidden his discomfort well? Was Dazai attacking him because he had realized that Lance was suspicious of him? Had Lance made Dazai feel uncomfortable? Lance bit his right cheek. He couldn't forget that Dazai and Chuuya must feel completely lost. They had appeared out of nowhere, in an unknown place, where an intergalactic war was taking place that could define the fate of the universe. And, God, they were adults, but even so, it wasn't simple or easy information to assimilate. Lance had his own breakdown when he found out everything. Perhaps he had been wrong to impose his prejudices on them when he wasn't empathizing with the difficulty of their situation.

“No!” Dazai opened his eyes at his shout, but Lance put his embarrassment aside for later; he had to fix his mistake. “I mean, it's strange and, to be honest, even uncomfortable, but you and your friend aren't to blame for what happened. Either way, you're under our protection now, and it's our duty to help you.”

Dazai blinked once, twice, three times, before a long smile stretched across his lips. That calmed the rapid pounding in Lance's chest.

“Those are words worthy of a defender of the universe. Thank you, Lance. I speak for Chuuya as well, we appreciate your hospitality.”

Lance nodded, a small smile forming on his lips. Maybe he really was being paranoid.

────────────────────────────────

“Where have you been?”

Dazai smiled as he plopped down next to Chuuya.

“I was exploring the castle. It has a unique and rather interesting structure.”

“And?”

“Andddd... dispelling doubts.”

Chuuya raised an eyebrow, thoroughly suspicious of the hidden meaning behind Dazai's words.

“What did you do now?”

Dazai rolled onto his back on the mattress, his hair looking like a bird's nest.

“The blue paladin, let's just say he wasn't sure about our presence, I just confirmed that we're not a threat.”

“You threatened the boy.”

Dazai laughed. 

“I didn't threaten anyone, Chibi.” 

Chuuya raised his other eyebrow as he rolled up the sleeves of his gray shirt.

“I don't believe you.”

Dazai shrugged.

“I'm an excellent persuader.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Chuuya turned over on the mattress, and Dazai realized that he wasn't wearing those ugly shoes and was just wearing socks, unlike Dazai, who had thrown himself onto the bed with his shoes on, although, well, his feet were hanging off the end.

“Was Chibi lost without me?”

Chuuya narrowed his eyes, as if analyzing how feasible it would be to punch Dazai right now.

“Unfortunately for you, I was perfectly fine.” Dazai smiled. “I just ran into Shiro, the one in black armor.”

“And what did you talk about?”

This time, it was Chuuya's turn to shrug.

“He asked me how old we are. Apparently, the paladins are very young.”

Dazai smiled again, but with malice shining on his lips. “I'm sure he thought Chibi was fifteen because he's so small!”

“Don't. start.”

Dazai stretched out his arms until he grabbed Chuuya's waist and pulled him closer, letting his head rest on the redhead's bent legs. Chuuya just let out an annoyed snort, but he didn't try to push Dazai away.

“What's wrong with you now?”

Dazai shook his head, but didn't say anything.

“You're so damn weird, really.”

The silence lasted a few minutes as Chuuya ran his fingers through the brown-haired man's unruly hair, trying to fix the knots that had formed from constant movement. Finally, Dazai was the first to break the silence.

“Didn't Chibi want to go see the training platform?”

Chuuya didn't stop his movements.

“Wouldn't that be suspicious?”

Dazai raised his head, connecting his hazel eyes with Chuuya's cerulean ones.

“We can always say we were curious or that Chuuya is passionate about martial arts.”

“Someday they'll get tired of that curiosity thing.”

“We're in space with a castle ship, they can put up with the curiosity excuse for a while.”

Chuuya pushed Dazai, letting him fall onto the mattress with a thud. “Let me put my shoes on, you sticky bastard.”

Their footsteps echoed off the walls of the white hallway. Chuuya walked behind Dazai, letting him lead the way. Perhaps he was relying a little too much on the bandaged mackerel's ability to find his way around a place he had only vaguely explored.

The longer he walked along the walls, the more Chuuya felt that they resembled the white, empty corridors of a hospital. Somehow, he felt that the walls rose beyond the ceiling.

After all, adding some decoration or color wouldn't hurt anyone, but for now, he would keep his opinions on interior design to himself. He doubted that the aliens were aware of such things or would even find them interesting.

“Are you sure you know where the platform is, mackerel?”

In response, he only got a wave of the hands. Chuuya sighed, putting his hands in his pockets.

The walk resumed in silence, leaving Chuuya alone with his thoughts.

Ever since the idea that they were in space took shape in the redhead's mind, one thought kept nagging at the corners of his brain: how his ability, and by extension Arahabaki, would perform in this new environment. Dazai's ability was unaffected, and, to be honest, it was completely useless on the battlefield in their current situation. In other words, the possibility that these aliens had some ability to nullify it was almost zero, nil to be frank. The population on Earth that possessed an ability was less than 2%, and that number was not going to extend across the vast universe to different races.

What would it be like to use his ability in hand-to-hand combat in space? Chuuya was curious to try it, but he couldn't risk it. Maybe Tainted would adapt well to the new environment; after all, gravity is still gravity, but Arahabaki was a completely different story. Who knows what would happen if he decided to activate corruption. In an ideal world, it would work the same as it did on Earth, but in a world against him, it would tear him apart, perhaps not only him and his body, but everything around him.

A sharp whistle made Chuuya look up from the ground.

“We're here, Chuu.”

Chuuya looked at Dazai with a raised eyebrow as he walked over to his side, standing in front of a sliding door not unlike the others they had passed.

“Are you sure this is the place?”

Dazai nodded, with his usual carefree air.

“Chibi should trust his owner more, you've become a distrustful little dog.”

Chuuya growled, nudging Dazai, who just raised his hands in surrender.

Chuuya stepped forward and the door slid open. Once inside, Chuuya felt almost disappointed to see that they had just entered a completely white room, again.

“It looks exactly like the living room, only without furniture.”

Dazai made a sound of understanding as he began to survey the place.

“It's more spacious.” He said after a few seconds of walking around.

Chuuya sighed, moving away from the door.

“Hey, Chuu, look.” Chuuya followed Dazai's movement with his eyes, noticing small holes in the corners of the walls. “They must be some kind of microphones, maybe something that activates with voice.”

“Alien technology, cool.”

Dazai shrugged.

“What else could we expect from this castle? I guess we'll have to ask someone to explain how the system works.”

“Later, we'd better go back.”

Chuuya began to shuffle toward the door, until a strange sound stopped him. The sound of someone jumping to attack.

Before Dazai could even turn around, Chuuya was already standing in front of him, protecting him with his body. Almost instantly, a figure lunged at them, missing the punch by several inches.

The figure was dressed in a tight-fitting black suit, along with a strange mask with purple accents that covered their face and probably distorted the sound of their voice. They had a slim build, with combat experience evident in the way they took up a guard stance again and tried to land another blow.

Chuuya pushed Dazai back, connecting with his 'Don't overstep' gaze in the process. Chuuya could only let out an internal snort. Of course, he couldn't forget it, ordinary men. Chuuya could be an ordinary man with a little knowledge of martial arts.

He concentrated on dodging the attacks, pretending that he was struggling to keep up, only at first, to keep the lie believable for a while. They were someone with training, at least enough to knock down and knock out an opponent. He could tell from the way he fought, but if Chuuya could fight without restraint, it would be nothing more than an entertaining fight.

The mysterious guy's strength was hand-to-hand combat, but unfortunately for him, so was Chuuya's. Chuuya noticed an opening on his left side. It wouldn't be enough to cause real damage, but it would buy them some time. He landed a blow, controlling his strength so as not to overdo it. An ordinary man wouldn't have Chuuya's brute strength, that was for sure.

The punch managed to destabilize the masked man, enough for Chuuya to kick him back a few steps. This increased the distance between the attacker and them. Dazai had moved closer to the door, so it would be easier for them to run out and 'call for help.'

“We should tell the paladins about this.” The murmur was meant only for Dazai and himself, but somehow the masked man managed to hear it.

“Who are you, and what are you doing in the Castle of Lions?” As expected, the voice sounded distorted.

Dazai raised an eyebrow. “We could ask you the same question.”

“You jumped out to attack us.” Chuuya agreed with Dazai.

“I did it because I thought you were enemies.” The masked man paused. “But you don't look like galra. Tell me, who are you?”

“We are—”

The sound of the door opening cut off Dazai's words. Suddenly, the paladins alongside the Alteans entered through the door, with Shiro leading the group. They didn't seem at all disturbed by the stranger's presence.

“Keith, you're here!”

Oh. Dazai and Chuuya shared a knowing glance. So it was the infamous Keith.

The mask disappeared, revealing the face of a teenager with black hair and dark eyes. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead, probably from the exertion of the previous fight. He had a twisted expression on his face, as if torn between the joy of seeing his friends and a sense of alertness toward the strangers that were Dazai and Chuuya.

“I'm glad to see you all, but who are they?” he asked after a few seconds, nodding his head toward where Dazai and Chuuya were standing.

Shiro blinked, as if he had just noticed Dazai and Chuuya's presence. Chuuya noticed Lance look away when his cerulean eyes accidentally fell on him

“Oh, that's what I wanted to tell you about. Meet Dazai and Chuuya. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, they're staying at the castle with us.”

Keith blinked, examining them with his gaze. Chuuya noticed the way his brow furrowed for a moment when his gaze fell on Dazai.

“Nice to meet you... and sorry, for attacking you.”

Chuuya shook his head.

“Don't worry, if we had been enemies, it would have been a mistake not to intercept us.”

Keith nodded slowly. “You're skilled.”

Chuuya smiled as he crossed his arms. “I can say the same about you, brat. Good fight.”

Keith gave him another quick look before Shiro called him back.

“How did the mission with the Blade go? I heard everything went well.”

“Everything's fine. There were no major setbacks.”

Chuuya watched the exchange. Keith and Shiro seemed close, the older one seemed to shine with Keith in front of him, but once his eyes shifted from the two of them to the other paladins, he couldn't say the same. Pidge, Hunk, and the altean man, Coran, looked fine, Lance, well, he kept to himself, Allura... Chuuya frowned, Allura looked strange.

“Weird, isn't it?” Dazai muttered at his side, it was obvious that he had noticed.

Something had happened, and the brat Keith seemed to be the source of the problem. Chuuya managed to hold back another snort; he felt he had already let out too many that day.