Chapter Text
Blood, sweat, and tears.
That was what it took to make it in this cold, cruel world. The game was life and life was the game; nothing came close to replacing that. With each new step the players proceeded toward the end goal, fighting tooth and nail for the chance to win this game. The final game of the season.
As the blue and purple uniforms crossed the field, players fell and others rose to the occasion. One such riser was none other than Lance McClain. His tall, built figure raced faster than anyone else as he approached the enemy team, the black mullet clearly in view from the distance he was at.
With a single, determined yell he launched himself forward toward the evil Keith Kogane, his biggest rival and the star of the enemy team. Both boys were skilled beyond their years, playing to the best of their ability in an all out battle. As the tall, handsome player launched himself full force at Kogane, he felt this was his shining moment. If he stopped this ball and passed it to another teammate, they would surely win this game.
“Goal!” The crowd on the right side of the field yelled this without any sense of empathy. Lance finally felt himself coming to when he heard his name called from before him. Opening his eyes slowly, he blinked back the tears that threatened to make their way into the bright glare of the field lights.
“Lance! Dude, are you okay?” This came from the large, Samoan teen jogging toward him. Lance felt himself recall the past events with agonizingly slow recollection.
He’d launched himself toward Keith to get the ball away, he was sure he was going to make it. The only problem: he never made it. Instead, he had slipped upon hitting the ground a good foot short of where the ball was. With the slick turf of the Galra Academy field beneath him, he had slid into an almost complete splits position and fallen flat on his back when his other leg came to join his first. So the answer was obvious.
“No, I am not okay! He got away again, Hunk! I almost had him!” Lance exclaimed dramatically, grabbing his buddies hand when it was offered to help him up. There were small black dots from the turf all over his jersey, but he couldn’t see them and he didn’t care. Galra Academy was another point up, putting them in the lead 5-0. It was humiliating! They did this every year to Voltron High and there seemed to be no stopping them.
“It’s cool, Lance. You’ll get him.” Hunk promised as he brushed his gloved hand off on his shorts. Despite having just been bested for the fifth time in the game, the top goalie of Voltron High didn’t seem phased in the slightest by the superior soccer skills of the opposing team.
“You know what, Hunk? You’re right! I’ll get him this time! There are still-“ Lance began his self motivational speech but was quickly interrupted by his name being called from the sidelines.
“McClain! Earth to McClain! Time’s up! Get over here!” The coach, a rather attractive man in what must have been his early twenties, called from the sidelines. He had solid black hair and thin eyes that accented his high cheekbones. He was a strict man, but lead with such experience it didn’t bother Lance. He was an alumni of Voltron High and currently attended the Garrison University just down the road. The coaching gig was a part time thing, but he worked it well.
“Right! Sorry, coach!” Lance called, jogging toward his coach who nodded with approval. He was still a kind man at heart, and yelling at someone wasn’t something he usually did. But with Lance, one had to be harder.
“Alright, Llwellyn, you’re back in. Make us proud.” Shiro instructed the smaller player as he raced passed Lance and back onto the field. It had only been a matter of time. Lance was back-up, he knew that. But this was what he got for being on both varsity and junior varsity. He was a starter on the JV team and was allowed to sit on the sidelines when varsity played. If they were in a taught spot, he was allowed to play.
Knowing Llewellyn’s habit of getting himself injured halfway through the game, Lance got to play more often than Shiro liked to admit.
“Now go sit down.” This was spoken a good minute after Llewellyn had retaken the field and play had already resumed. Lance nodded and took a seat on the bench next to the other players in similar positions to him. The only difference: they were actually varsity players that got rotated into the game periodically. The only reason they didn’t get played when Llewellyn got out was because Shiro didn’t want to waste their energy. They were more important players.
Cursing under his breath, he watched his team throw yet another game against Galra Academy away as the stupid mullet man made goal after goal.
---
Keith and Lance had been rivals for as long as Lance could remember. Ten years ago, it was, when they first met on the playing field. At age six, Lance had been on a club team after insisting with his parents that he was good enough to play soccer on a real field. They had played it all the time at home, but for the first time he felt worthy enough to play in a club. So they had allowed it.
His team was filled with kids just like him and a few who were only playing because their parents thought it would improve their confidence. That had been where he met Hunk. Even at six the Samoan kid was large than the rest of them and put on interim goalie whenever the coach would teach the kids how to play. Lance found it stupid that they needed to be taught, he already knew how to play. But, as per the rules of the club, every kid was taught how to play the game. In most games, coaches played as goalies, so a lot of the time Hunk was placed as a left or right back to intimidate other teams.
The first game was when Lance had met Keith. They were both strikers and so faced off before the game started. Keith didn’t look very sure of himself and Lance felt himself brimming with confidence.
“You are so going down!” He had said this before the game started and Keith had looked up, a wary look on his face as he rubbed his right arm as if it itched. Looking back down at the ground he shrugged. Lance scoffed at his indifference. This wasn’t going to be any fun if his opponent didn’t care.
“You’re not going to win! Get it? I’m going to stop you!” Lance had insulted him, or attempted to, before the game started. Keith continued to show indifference toward Lance’s threats and had, in the end, won the game. He had ended up making more goals than Lance had ever dreamed he could make. After high fiving the entire team, Lance approached Keith to shake hands, like he had seen his dad do.
“Good game, but you are definitely not winning the next one.” He had informed Keith of this most of the game, but this time he was definitely not going to let Keith get away with being indifferent.
“Ah, uh, okay.” Keith had muttered, looking Lance in the eyes rather quickly before looking away and loosely shaking his hand. Lance had fumed for days over this and only stopped when his dad promised him that they would practice together outside of club activities.
Naturally, it was another year before Lance and Keith met again. This time Lance was a forward and not a striker, but Keith remained where he had been the previous year. He seemed less indifferent, but still not as involved. When Lance shouted threats and taunts at him, Keith didn’t even turn his head to look. This had infuriated Lance even more.
Once again, they lost.
This happened every single year until his club kicked him out because of the age limit. When he finally entered middle school, soccer was merely an intramural after school activity. Their coach was nice enough to allow the boys to compete against other schools clubs to give them something to look forward to. It was at this point that Hunk began to play as the true goalie and earned praise from many coaches for his skills.
Once again, Keith and Lance faced off.
It was at this point that Lance began to notice Keith’s indifference toward everyone, not just himself. The game appeared to be just a habit that he couldn’t break and he only participated to relieve himself of some kind of stress.
Lance continued to fume over this.
“Hey! Look at me when I’m insulting you!” Lance would yell over and over again after Keith would continue to look away or just not seem interested. He was no longer the shy, nervous seven year-old boy but the indifferent, uncaring preteen. Lance couldn’t get over this.
“One day, Hunk! One day I will take him down!” Lance would rant for hours to Hunk about Keith and his stupid mullet. Being the great best friend that he was, Hunk would listen and agree and encourage. It became common for Hunk to ask analytical, life questions about Keith to Lance. What was his home like? Why did he seem to not care when he had been participating for so long? Why did he play at all? Every time, Lance’s response was the same:
“I don’t care! I’m just going to take him down!”
When they reached high school soccer became an official school sport. Lance was placed immediately on the JV team as a freshman. Despite his obvious skill, he was forced to play as a second to the other players on the team. Luckily, so was Keith when he reached Galra Academy. They still played each other in games, but Keith still ignored Lance.
And that was where their story ended. Lance continued to compete with Keith who continued to ignore him. Keith had made his school’s varsity team by his sophomore year while Lance continued to top JV and only barely play some in varsity games. It was enough, though, but it still angered him.
Sitting on the sidelines, watching that stupid mullet score goal after goal, it was infuriating. The most he could do was encourage Hunk to block every goal he made. Sadly, that wasn’t what happened.
In the last game of the season, Voltron High lost to Galra Academy for the billionth time since the schools had competed.
For what felt like the billionth time, the teams high fived and Lance trotted off to face Keith one-on-one.
“Hey, good game. But you’re going down next time.” Lance threatened again, this time Keith shook his hand weakly and nodded, humming a small note of acknowledgement. With that, he was gone, and Lance was left fuming on the field as the teams walked in opposite directions.
“Lance, come on. The bus will leave without you if you stay here.” It was Hunk, a hand on Lance’s shoulder, trying to get his attention. With a defeated sigh, Lance nodded.
“Fine, but he’s definitely going to get it next year.” As usual, Hunk nodded in encouragement as they turned toward the bus lot and joined the rest of their team in pitiful defeat.
---
“Hunk, I can feel it!” Lance exclaimed dramatically, twirling in place and throwing his hands in the air. The late summer sun beat down on the pair as they approached the front entrance to Voltron High.
“Feel what? If it’s the heat, then I can too.” Hunk responded with a clearly annoyed air to his voice. Despite his background, Hunk was not keen on the sun. His large stature and dark skin soaked in sun like a plant that had never seen it before. Lance laughed and slapped his friend on the back. Despite his skin also being tanner than most, his thinner figure allowed for his body to properly balance the heat he gave off when exerting himself on the walk to school.
“No! We’re going to win against Galra Academy this year, I can tell!” Lance shouted, a few underclassmen giving him funny looks. As a junior, he felt more confidence than ever. He could only imagine how much confidence he would have in himself as a senior!
“Right.” Hunk responded, his clear indifference on the subject hidden from Lance due to the other boys extreme enthusiasm. “Well, the first game is in a couple of weeks, but it’s not against Galra, so you’re going to have to wait.” Hunk pointing this out put a slight damper on Lance’s mood, but he knew he was going to do it. Practices had begun a few weeks into the end of summer so they could prepare for the quick start.
Both Lance and Hunk had been placed on Varsity this year, so it was safe to assume Lance was good enough to take down Keith Kogane once and for all. The confidence he felt in himself was at an all time high and there was no bringing it down.
And then first period rolled around.
Lance wasn’t bad at math, he was actually better than most thought he was. He passed, most of the time with a B, sometimes with an A. So really, math first period wasn’t a problem at all. Only, there was one difference from the previous years:
Keith Kogane sat right in front of him.
Lance stared, open mouthed, as the tall, slender teen walked into the room. His head was down, and his eyes didn’t scan or search faces, but Lance would recognize that mullet anywhere. As he slid into the seat right in front of Lance, the Cuban boy felt ready to strangle him. His neck was so close, if he only just leaned forward….
“Alright, class. Let’s get started.” The teacher had suddenly appeared at the front of the room and Lance was forced to focus his attention on something other than the thick head of hair sitting before him. The shoulders were familiar enough as well, considering Lance only ever saw Keith from behind. This thought only served to further infuriate him.
He barely made it through class without blowing his top. When the bell finally rang, Lance rushed to put his things away and pushed through the crowd of students – all who shouted nasty words his direction – just to get to Keith. Once he was within reaching distance he grabbed the other boy’s arm and turned him around.
Staring him dead in the face were the most beautiful eyes Lance had ever seen.
Frozen in place, eyes fixated on the very appearance of a grown up Keith Kogane, Lance forgot what he had been doing in the first place. It wasn’t until he saw Keith’s mouth move that sound and time finally began to come streaming back.
“What’s the big idea? I’m trying to get to class.” Keith yanked his arm from Lance’s grasp, but didn’t turn around to head toward the class he was talking about. Instead he stood and waited for Lance to speak.
Which took a little while longer.
“You-I-you’re Keith Kogane.” Lance stuttered out, clearly looking the fool in front of his biggest rival. No duh, he was Keith Kogane. Everyone who knew anyone knew who he was. He was the biggest soccer star at Galra Academy. Wait a second, at Galra Academy!
“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at GA! I’m supposed to take you down this year!” Lance exclaimed, his dramatic side finding itself in this conversation. Keith’s gaze turned from one of anger to one of confusion.
“Uh, I transferred schools. What do you mean you’re supposed to be taking me down?” Keith asked, his beautiful eyes creasing at the corners to emphasize his confusion. Lance stuttered on, his breath being taken away by this beauty.
“I-wha-you’re my biggest rival! We’ve been going at it since we were six!” Lance exclaimed, realizing suddenly that the hallways were thinning out. Who cared if he was late on the first day, he was going to get some answers from this guy.
“Biggest rival? I haven’t seen you before in my life.” Keith continued to look confused and at the last words, Lance froze. Hadn’t seen him before? What did he mean? They had been duking it out since they were six and in silly kids’ clubs. Keith had been his biggest rival for years and suddenly, he forgot who Lance was?!
When Lance finally came to himself to retort back at Keith, he was completely alone and the late bell was going off. Cursing under his breath he took off at a full run to apologize to his second period teacher. What a great start to the new school year.
---
“I’m telling you, Hunk, it was definitely him!” Lance exclaimed as they pushed their way through the lunch line. The large crowd of students was making it hard to rant dramatically to his best friend, but only Lance McClain could get away with large hand movements in the middle of a hangry crowd..
“I never said I didn’t believe you, I just said it was hard to believe that he would transfer schools.” Hunk responded as the line moved forward a small bit. Lance flung his arms out in a big, dramatic show of exasperation.
“I know, right? We were supposed to be enemies until the bitter end! I had dreams of fighting him in the big leagues!” Lance responded and Hunk shook his head, his face remaining calm as he responded.
“No, I mean, he had a good life at Galra. He was on varsity as a sophomore and was probably promised a spot for the next two years, he had top grades, and I even heard he had several girls lined up for him.” Hunk responded and Lance made a face. It was the ‘Hunk what the heck’ face that Hunk knew oh so well. “I did some research.” He retorted and when Lance didn’t stop looking at him like that, he waved a hand. “Stop looking at me like that. He was popular, he was good, he was smart, and he had everything. So why would he transfer schools?”
Lance was fuming over the same question when he heard a small voice come from somewhere behind him. Someone ahead of them in the line was trying to get their attention, but they were having a hard time doing it through the large throng of bodies far larger than their own. Reaching a hand forward, Hunk grabbed onto their shoulder and tugged them closer.
“Thank you.” Came the slightly cocky sounding response, despite the simple and humble phrase they had spoken. The small person brushed off their clothes as if they had just been rolling in the dirt and then turned to look up at the two of them, pushing their glasses further up their nose. “Pidge Holt. I know a bit about Keith Kogane, if you need answers that badly.” The kid stuck out a hand professionally after finishing their introduction.
“Heya, Pidge. I’m Hunk Garett. It’s nice to meet you.” Hunk responded, shaking the hand of the small person before him. When this had finished, Pidge turned toward Lance, who took their hand hesitantly.
“Uh, Lance McClain. Are you a guy or a girl?” Lance asked and Pidge stuck up their nose indignantly.
“Does it really matter?” They asked and Lance considered this seriously as the line moved further up.
“I guess it doesn’t.” Lance responded as their hands dropped and Pidge gave him a satisfied nod. “Now, what do you know about Keith?” This drew Lance’s attention more than anything about the small person calling themselves Pidge.
“I don’t know, Lance. This seems a little silly. Can’t we just ask him?” Hunk inquired as Lance waited for Pidge to give him something good. “Not that I don’t trust Pidge, it’s just a bit childish.” Hunk added on, trying to cover for possibly insulting Pidge.
“Please, Keith owes me for a lot of things, I’ll just take this out of his balance.” Pidge responded before Lance could say anything. Both Lance and Hunk took on confused looks and Pidge laughed.
“Keith and I have been friends for ages. Our older brothers have been best friends since middle school, so we’ve known each other for a really long time.” Pidge added with a wave of their hand to show how this didn’t bother them in the slightest.
“See, Hunk! Pidge doesn’t have a problem with it, I don’t have a problem with it!” Lance gestured toward Pidge with both his hands to accent his point. Hunk simply rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. With this, and the line moving up just a tad bit more, Pidge began.
“Keith has been in foster care since he was eight. Shiro, his older brother, is his half brother on his mom’s side. She remarried and had Keith when Shiro was five. When Keith was two, his dad died in a car accident and when he turned eight, their mom died of cancer. Shiro got out of foster care when he was eighteen and hasn’t looked back. But, since Keith is still under age, he’s still in foster care. Shiro turned twenty-one a week ago and adopted Keith as a birthday present for himself. Shiro lives in Voltron High boundaries, so Keith had to transfer.” Pidge finished with a flourish. The expression on Hunk’s face was one of shock and slight sadness, but Lance was unreadable.
“Wait, that meant his mom was dying the second year we went against his soccer club team when we were seven.” Hunk pointed out and Pidge nodded. That explained why he seemed to have already distanced himself from the game. That meant their third game was when Keith was officially separated from all family he had. Hunk looked down at the ground and felt his heart sink. He had never been as infuriated by Keith’s indifference as Lance had, but he suddenly felt bad for ever thinking it annoying.
“So? That doesn’t mean he has the right to be so obtuse.” Lance stated, his face turned away from both people standing in line with him. Hunk’s brow knit slightly and Pidge took up a defensive stance.
“It sure does! Keith’s had a rough eight years and he’s finally allowed to be at piece for the rest of his life.” Pidge retorted and Lance visibly huffed. Pidge rolled up a sleeve as if ready to fight Lance, but Hunk held them back.
“Don’t. He’ll get it eventually.” Hunk muttered as Pidge looked up at him incredulously. This made Pidge huff, but they dropped it and made it through the line without any more issues. Lance ranted more and more about Keith being a jerk as they ate, Pidge having joined them for whatever reason.
For the first time in his life, Hunk didn’t pretend to listen to Lance’s rants, but instead listened to Pidge’s. Their conversation was actually a conversation and about smart people things Lance would never get. After a good five minutes, Lance finally realized he was being ignored.
“I guess everything changes this year.” Lance muttered under his breath, feeling like he had been stabbed in the back by his own best friend. He ate the rest of his lunch in complete silence and, for the first time in his life, felt left out.
---
“At least soccer is still our thing!” Lance exclaimed as he raced Hunk toward the locker rooms to change for practice. It was the first official practice of the school year and he was looking forward to spending some time with his friend.
“Lance, slow down! I can’t run that fast!” Hunk called from behind. Considering he was a goalie who never moved and Lance was a forward whose only job was to move, it was almost impossible for Hunk to keep up with the speedy Cuban.
As he raced down the concrete stairs to the locker room, Lance breathed in the scent of sweat and hard work. When his teammates spotted him, they shouted greetings and slapped him on the back. He felt at home in the locker room, even if the place was definitely nothing like home. He just felt welcome.
“Alright boys, who’s ready to take on Galra this year?” Lance called and the entire team shouted in agreement at him. He may have not been the team captain, but Lance felt so in charge when he riled up the entire team at once. Right as the screams were dying down, Hunk finally made his way into the locker room where he joined Lance at his locker. They had been locker buddies since lockers had been a thing, so it was only natural it be that way again this year.
“Coach is in the house!” Someone shouted from the front of the room and the entire team began chanting ‘coach’ at the top of their lungs. Lance joined in and ducked his head around the corner of the lockers to see coach Shiro come into the locker room, waving his hands at the boys to get them to stop. When they finally stopped shouting he called out to them.
“How’s everyone today?” This was met with a huge roar that he had to, once again, wait for before he could speak again. This time he waved them into a huddle and they all gathered in a cramped semi circle between the wall hiding the showers and the lockers for the sports teams.
“Alright boys, this is going to be a great year. We’ve got some great players on the team this time around and some fresh blood joining us that I know is sure to help us out.” Shiro said, waving his hand behind the lockers that blocked someone from view.
Lance felt his heart drop. He had wondered why the name Shiro had sounded familiar in Pidge’s story, but a part of him hoped whoever it was coach was introducing was not who he thought it was.
Alas, he was dead wrong.
“Team, meet my baby brother. Keith, say hi to your new team.”
And Lance felt his world end.