Room 1013

Shiro & Keith

Lance opened the door to Shiro handing him a folder of schoolwork. He flashed a smile, "How's Keith?"

"Thanks," Lance took the folder and motioned for him to come inside. He closed the door and tossed the homework onto the coffee table. "Keith feels like shit." Lance rubbed his eyes and yawned, "He's been throwing up all night."

Shiro sighed and stuck his hands in his brown leather jacket pockets. "What's the-"

"Shiro!" Keith sprinted out of the bedroom and jumped onto him in a hug. "You're here!"

Shiro grunted at the hit and laughed, "Well hello there." He leaned back to see Keith's face, "What are you doing out of bed?"

Keith scoffed and let go of his waist to cross his arms. He stuck his nose up, "I don't need to be in bed. I'm just fine. See?" He outstretched his arms and spun around. "I'm good."

When Keith brought his hand up to cover his mouth, Lance stepped forward. "Keith, it's fine."

Keith shook his head, keeping his hand up. "Mm-mm"

Lance glanced at Shiro as he walked forward, "Give me a second." He knelt down to pick Keith up and brought him back to their bathroom. He immediately vomited when Lance set him down.

Keith held his forehead, "Sorry."

Lance patted his shoulder, "Don't push yourself." He walked back to the living room to greet Shiro, "Sorry about that." He put his hands on his hips and let out a slight chuckle, "He never respects his limits."

Shiro smiled, "It wouldn't be Keith if he did."

"That's true," Lance laughed with him.

Shiro's eyes dropped to the floor as he crossed his arms. "Has he been like this the whole week?"

Lance shrugged, "More or less." He scratched his hair in exhaustion. "I've called his doctor and he's helped, but Keith's still been sick." Lance locked eyes with him, "Did you know Keith when he was young?"

Shiro shook his head, "I met Keith on my first day of seventh grade. I had transferred to America and didn't know much English."

"Really?" Lance tilted his head in question. "Where'd you come from?"

"Japan." Shiro looked down to smile. "When Keith was in school, he always tried to make friends. Since he didn't have any hair at the time, kids were mean. They'd take his hat and throw it on the ground or cut his wigs with their scissors. Most of the time, he would sit alone.

"When I transferred in, kids would stare at me like I was a magical unicorn. I hated the way they acted around me-especially since I didn't understand them." Shiro scanned the house with a slight smile, "I sat next to Keith one day at lunch. He had always sat on this one windowsill and stared outside. When I sat down, he gave me the strangest look. It was like he was surprised and disgusted at the same time."

Lance laughed and shook his head, "That sounds familiar."

Shiro nodded, "After staring at each other for a solid minute, Keith said something I didn't understand. That's when he groaned, raised his hand, and said Kore wa 'apple' desu."

Lance chuckled in disbelief, "Keith can speak Japanese?"

"No," Shiro laughed, "No, he cannot."

"Then how...?"

Shiro shrugged and raised an eyebrow at him. "Take a wild guess."

Lance took a deep breath, "That caring little shit." His smile slowly dropped as he lowered his eyes, "Shiro, can I ask you something?"

He gave him a concerned look, "Yeah, okay."

Lance's lips shook in hesitation. He questioned whether or not he should ask. Did he even want to know the answer? "Did you guys..." Lance locked eyes with him, "Did you guys like each other?"

He expected Shiro to laugh and shake it off with a joke, but he didn't. Instead, Shiro's eyes widened a little. He looked to the side and hung his head. "Do you really want to know?"

Lance's jaw tightened, "Tell me."

Shiro swallowed hard and nodded, "Yeah, we did. Although, it didn't go well." His eyes seemed to sink back in sorrowful thought. "Keith and I were together for two months in our sophomore year." He shook his head, "But we were the worst couple. All we did was fight." Shiro locked eyes with Lance and spoke slowly, "The only reason we were together was because Keith wanted to experience a relationship before he died. There's nothing you have to worry about."

Lance kept a straight face and nodded, "I know. Thank you for telling me."

"Lance! Shiro!" Keith's voice was muffled by the walls.

Lance turned back to face the bedroom door, "Yeah?!"

Keith emerged from the room with a cheeky smile. His eyes switched between them, "You guys wanna shave my head?"

Lance crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. Why am I even surprised? He huffed and looked at Shiro, who shrugged. Lance threw his arms up in defeat, "Why not?"