Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I’m going to marry Keith."

The five-year-old Lance says this as he sits down across his best friend, Hunk. It was lunchtime, and Hunk and Lance were the very first two outside with their matching Power Rangers lunch bags on a bright blue table. About a month ago they happen to cross one another at the supermarket with their moms, and Lance insisted to his Mamí that he and Hunk just had to get matching lunch bags; how else would people know they were best friends? Although Lance was the one to present their case with all the charm and flail of an overly excited boy, Hunk helped with giving their mothers the biggest, cutest pleading eyes the adorable child could bestow.

In a rare moment of indulgence (and after a lot of begging) both Mrs. McClain and Mrs. Garrett agreed to buy the lunch carriers. Now nobody can question their best friend status, although Lance’s bag already lost its shine with being dropped all the time. Hunk was a little more careful when placing his stuff in his cubby.

“The new boy?” Hunk asks a little distracted with the moon pie he finds in his bag. He grins, and takes it out to show Lance but instead is met with the dopiest lovesick expression on his friend's face. Hunk gives him a weird look but then proceeds to unwrap his treat regardless of whatever Lance was pulling off now.

Keith Kogane was the new kid’s full name, and while he held a permanent frown on his face and scowled at Lance all the time, Lance knew he was the one from the moment he laid eyes on him. Last Monday, Mr. Coran, their teacher had introduced Keith first thing that morning, gently coaxing him from his spot to come and stand in front of the class. Everyone looked in the direction Mr. Coran was smiling, but Lance could still not see the boy’s face. He sat rather far in the back with Hunk and two other students, and this kid wasn’t tall enough for Lance to see the heads of his fellow classmates.

The dark-haired boy with his red jacket and dark jeans dug his hands into his pockets and looked down at his shoes like they were the most interesting thing in the world. Lance is curious like the rest of the children, and they all once seem to lean in to try and get a good look at him. He even stood up from his seat a little.

“Children,” Mr. Coran said, voice firm and a hand on the kid’s shoulder shoulder. “This is Keith. He’s your new classmate and hopefully your new friend! Say hello to Keith, everyone!”

“Hi Keith!”

“Keith,” Mr. Coran says gently, which Lance is noticing he’s done a lot already. He frowns and cross his arms. Why does Mr. Quiznak speak to Keith so nicely? Keith's only been here five minutes and he's already the teacher's pet!

“Keith, what do you say?” the teacher says. Keith seemed to freeze at the question, and he looks up at Mr. Coran. Lance makes a face when Keith’s ridiculously fluffy hair covers the side of his face and he annoyed that he can’t see what’s happening. Whatever face Keith gives Mr. Coran however, it only makes the teacher give him an encouraging nod.

As if bracing for a fight, Keith finally looks up. Lance’s frown drops. Lips parted and blue eyes wide open, Lance sees the second prettiest face he’s ever seen in his entire life. (The first is his Mamí’s).

Dark violet eyes, pale skin, and dainty nose, Keith was something out of the fairy tales Lance’s Mamí reads to him every night. Keith could easily be Snow White, with his dark hair, light skin and pink lips. Sure he wasn’t smiling or singing songs that can draw in woodland animals, but Lance always thought those smiles were too fake and annoying anyways. He was sure that when Keith smiled, it made flowers bloom. In that second, Lance was determined to be the Prince in this story. Somehow Keith’s eyes land on Lance, and those violet eyes blink at the expression they find. Keith then looked almost…confused. His lips pouted a little and his eyes narrowed, but Lance smiled even wider. Keith was perfect. Keith looks away however, his cheeks gaining a little color, and his face build up its previously guarded one.

“Hi." The new boy manages to mumble, and Mr. Coran goes on about something else but Lance is too distracted to care. 

Lance sighs dreamily at the memory, nodding his head. “I love him,” he says with a wide grin, eyes bright.

Hunk’s eyes widened and he paused mid moon pie. “Whoa,” he says, blinking. A pause. Then tilting his head in confusion. “Even though he said blue was a dumb color and you got all mad and said that his picture was dumb and then he got mad and then you both got time out?” He pauses again. “That was just on the first day.”

Their first interaction could have not gone more wrong. Or the second, when Lance ‘accidently’ spilled milk on Keith’s macaroni craftwork (“It looked bad anyways! Why are you so mad?”). Or the third, when Lance bet that he could beat Keith on jumping the farthest from the swing. That one landed them both in the nurse’s office with some scrapes. So maybe Lance has been trying to get Keith’s attention for the past week and it wasn't really working out for him. Minor setbacks though. It was clearly just going to take more time for Keith to accept Lance as his Prince, that’s all. Mamí did say that Snow White married her Prince too soon.

Lance scoffs and waves his hand, the entire process looking absolutely out of place on the body of the kindergartener. “It doesn’t matter, Hunk, we’re meant to be. He’s pretty and he’s smart and he’s fast. He counted all the way to 20, Hunk, 20! And did you see the way he ran when we played duck, duck, and goose yesterday? I couldn’t get him! And I tried, Hunk,” Lance stares hard at his friend, his lips pursing and voice seriously earnest. “I really, really tried.”

Lance throws half his body on the table, causing Hunk to shriek and pull his food away. Undeterred, Lance leans close to his friends face, his face with a determined look. “And I’m going to keep trying, Hunk. Even if it kills me.”

Clearly, Lance’s parents didn’t catch him sneaking behind the couch last night after they sent him to bed and it was the their turn for some T.V. Last night’s episode of Teresa had them all on their toes, and maybe Lance picked up some bad lines.

Hunk’s eyes are even wider than the first time. He glances down at his half eaten moon pie contemplating the revelation his official best friend shared with him. This was serious, he realizes. Like, ‘I’m about to pee in my pants’ serious. Hunk has seen Lance crushing before, but Lance never said he would try to catch someone so hard that it would kill him.

“But I don’t want you to die!” Hunk cries, dropping his treat and hands in the air, catching the attention of some of the other kids. 

"Hunk! Hunk, buddy! No one is gonna die!” Lance shouts, reaching his arms over and placing them on his friend's’ shoulders. “Hunk, no one is gonna die. I was just saying that so that you can see how serious I am!”

Hunk calms, but a sniff escapes him. “Really?"

“I promise,” Lance swears solemnly. “After all, I have to marry Keith, and you’re gonna be my best man!”

A smile finally escapes Hunk. “I can bake the cake,” he offers, growing excited at the idea.

“And make it the biggest cake ever!” Lance agrees, smile wide once more exposing all his baby teeth. None of them started losing them yet, but it was only a matter of time now. 

“Okay, Lance,” Hunk says, fully good now. “So you really like Keith, huh?”

Lance nods. “More than Chocóflan.”

“Wow, more than...? Okay, you have to be friends with him first, but that might be a little hard since you messed up so many times already,” Hunks says, pushing Lance back until he’s sitting normally. Lance is about to protest, but Hunk interrupts him. “But can we talk about that after we eat? I’m still hungry.”

Chapter Text

“I’m going to punch Lance.”

“Whose Lance?”

Keith yelps, dropping his chalk piece causing it to beak in two. He hurriedly picks it up, and he squeaks once more when Takashi is suddenly standing next to him and now staring inquisitively at the drawing on the stand-alone chalkboard.

Takashi is nearly foot taller than Keith, which made Keith irritated on more than one occasion. Especially when he pushes the cookie jar in places where Keith couldn’t reach and couldn’t spoil his dinner, the butthead. Still, despite his shortcomings as a goody-two shoe, Takashi has been the only person Keith has truly felt comfortable around. Sure his new parents have been nothing but accommodating and nice, but he’s still rather hesitant at their attempts to, well, bond with him.

When they first picked him up from the agency, it had just been Mr. & Mrs. Shirogane. They were a handsome couple, both with gentle brown eyes (hers were darker), dark hair, and tanned skin. They were nearly picture perfect, the set of parents most children talked about having one day.

However, their gentle smiles and open affection was just too overwhelming for the orphan. Keith couldn’t help it when the push Mrs. Shirogane’s away when she tried to hug him. The falter in their smiles made him get a bad feeling in his tummy, like he did something wrong. For a moment he thought they weren’t going to buy him anymore, but instead Mrs. Shirogane asked Keith if she could hold his hand instead and take him home.

Home. If he ever had one, he doesn’t remember it. He wasn’t even sure he would like it, but he nodded slowly anyways while staring the bottom of her skirt. Only when her soft hand reached for his smaller one, did he dare look up. Her smile was there again, but Keith could see that there was something sad about it.

The car ride to his new house was quiet at first. Maybe they saw that Keith was staring vigilantly outside the car window from his new car seat, seeing his new surroundings with a wariness that had them both concerned. Mr. Shirogane broke the silence by telling Keith that he had a big brother waiting for him at home. Lacking any response from the boy, the man continued.

“Takashi is really excited to meet you,” he says, smiling through the rear view mirror. “He’s always wanted a little brother. He even helped put your new room together, and made sure you had all his favorite old toys. Although we did go out and pick some new ones,” he quickly reassured, although Keith wasn’t sure why.

“We were told your favorite color was red,” he continues, slowing down their family van into a stop at the red light. “So we thought you would like your room the same color.”

Keith still doesn’t say anything.

“Takashi will going to third grade after this summer,” Mrs. Shirogane says, the car moving once more. “ You’re both going to be in the same school. Maybe he can walk with you to class on the first day. I’m sure he’d love to take his new brother.”

When Keith failed to produce a reply once more, the car grew silent again. Mr. & Mrs. Shirogane shared a look.

When they arrived to a blue house with white windows and dark blue panes, with am impeccably green front lawn and flowers decorating the porch, Keith was hit with a wave of anxiety. He began to squirm a little.

“Keith, are you okay?”

“We’ll get you down in a second, kid.”

“Papá! Mamã!”

Keith turned in the direction of the voice, finding that he had missed a boy looking expectantly from the porch. He jumps over the few steps, and runs towards the van. He was obviously older than Keith if his height was any indication, with the same coloring of his parents except that this Takashi had grey eyes instead of brown. He was wearing a dark sweater and khaki pants, which means someone obviously dressed him up. Keith wondered what for.

“We’re here!” his new dad announced, and got out of the car. Picking up Takashi into a big hug, Keith felt unsettled again.

“Nicolas, why don’t you take Takashi inside?” Mrs. Shirogane called out, a knowing smile fixed at her husband.

“But I wanna meet Keith!” Takashi protested, already trying to get to the van. His father holds his back patiently. “And you will, son. He just needs a little space right now, okay? C’mon, help me take his things inside. Mamã will come in with Keith.”

Takashi is clearly unhappy but he doesn’t fight his father anymore. Keith watches them walk up the brick path to the house, and then they’re gone.

“Keith, sweetie.”

H’s eyes reach to meet the dark eyes of the matriarch, still finding them too kind and too much of other things he’s not used to.

“We want you to be happy here, with us. We’re all very happy to bring you home.” Her next words are softer. “We’re not going to force you to like us, or any of this. If you’re not happy, please tell us. We’ll try and fix it, Keith.”

She’s clearly earnest, and is searching his eyes for something he cannot yet give. When he doesn’t respond, she just nods. “Ready to get out of the car?”

When they entered the house, it seemed like his father had spoken to him for Takashi was a little slow in approaching Keith this time. Keith looked up at Takashi, his gaze unwavering.

“Me and Papá already took you stuff to your room,” he says, looking expectedly at Keith. “Do you want me to show you?”

Takashi was obviously holding back from just grabbing Keith’s wrist and pulling him along. There was a tug at Keith’s lips. He was used to being around other kids back in the agency, even if he’s still to shy with the boy before him. He nods, still quiet. Takashi gives him the widest grin he’s ever seen.

“Follow me!” Takashi exclaims and he’s off, Keith padding right after him. Takashi continued to talk and show him his room (which was indeed painted red), and continued to show Keith the toys, the house, and the backyard.

Keith quickly latched to Takashi, which seemed to please Takashi to no end.

“I’ve always wanted a little brother,” he tells Keith one night. For the past few nights, Takashi would come to his room with a nightlight guiding his way. Keith would be waiting for him already bathed and ready for bed, and Takashi would read him stories from the books in Keith’s bookshelf. He wouldn’t leave until Keith had fallen asleep, but Mrs. Shirogane has already found both the boys cuddled together on more than one morning.

“Why didn’t your mommy and daddy buy you one before?” Keith asks, blankets wrapped around him while Takashi sat next to him with a picture book between them.

Takashi looked at him weird. “You don’t buy babies.”

“They bought me.”

“But they don’t sell babies. Usually mommies have to carry babies in their stomachs.” Takashi says with conviction.

Keith shrugs. “Then why couldn’t your mommy hold a baby?”

“I don’t know,” Takashi says quietly, looking down at the book. “My daddy said that the doctor said something was wrong. After a long time, they decided to buy you instead.”

Keith is quiet, unsure in how to take the words. He feels a warm hand curl around his, and he looks at Takashi with puzzlement.

“I’m glad we got you instead. Babies stink.”

For the first time in recent memory, Keith laughs. His brother soon follows suit.

A month later, Takashi stares at the drawing on the chalkboard. A toad with blue eyes and brown hair drawn carelessly on it’s head, the name LANCE written under it. It’s sitting on a lily pad, and on the side a figure drawn in red, which Takashi guesses is Keith. Keith in this picture looks angry, and is holding a butterfly net and a knife.

Before he could get a comment in, Keith throws himself in front of the chalkboard. He can’t cover all of it, but he tries to stretch his body to hide most of it.

“It’s nothing!” Keith yells suspiciously. Takashi raises an eyebrow. “It’s just something we read at school today!”

“The princess and the frog?” Takashi says dubiously. He can’t think of any story with a toad in it, much less one named Lance.

The title leaves Keith drawing a blank, and then he says unsure. “Yes?”

Takashi rolls his eyes. “I don’t think the frog prince even had a name. And why are you in the picture? If you’re trying to be the princess, she wasn’t trying to kill the frog, you know.” Takashi crosses his arms. “She kissed him.”

Keith blanches. “I would never kiss Lance!”

“Why is the frog called Lance?”

“Because he’s is one!” Keith declares, back away from the board. “He’s always trying to compete with me on everything, and he never stops calling me mullet head.”

“Keith, is Lance bullying you?”

Keith catches the hard tone in Takashi’s voice, freezing at the question. He unused to seeing the scowl on his new brother’s face, and is much more surprised at the reason for it. No one has ever looked after him aside from the social workers, and Keith is shocked that Takashi would jump so soon to do so. Nonetheless, the thought of Takashi telling Lance to stay away from Keith doesn’t really set well with the younger boy. Neither does the image of Lance’s blue eyes downcast and ashamed.

“No!” Keith says quickly. He turns around to them erase the picture, the blue toad and red princess nothing more than smudges on the board. “Lance is just like that, but he doesn’t hurt my feelings or anything.” Looking back at Takashi who still seemed unsure, Keith nods. “I promise. ”

Takashi pursed his lips. “Then why haven’t you made any friends?”

Now there’s a question Keith can’t answer. He shrugs. “I don’t really like anyone.”

“You don’t like Lance either,” Takashi annoyingly points out. “And you’ve only mentioned him.”

“Lance is different.”

Takashi just continues staring at him with uncertainly, but then they hear (Takashi’s) Mom calling them from down stairs.

“Pequeninos! It’s time for dinner!”

Keith was getting the hang of the random strange words, especially now that Takashi was telling him what they meant. They also spoke another language but Keith only ever heard them speak it when Takashi’s grandparents called from Brazil, and even then he slipped back to Portuguese more often than not. Keith hasn’t and wouldn’t ever say so, but it’s those moments then when he remembers that he’s not really Takashi’s brother.

He’s not sure if Takashi read his thoughts in that moment, but he’s got Keith’s hand in his and is carefully pulling him out the door. “Come on, Keith. Mamã is waiting for us.”

Keith holds onto his hand tighter.

Keith is at school again, and it’s lunchtime. Sitting on a bench farthest away from the others, Keith eats his sandwich in relative peace. Legs dangling off the bench a little, Keith suddenly notices Lance standing up. He isn’t sure about the thumbs up Hunk gives him, but Lance is then heading in Keith’s immediate direction. Sitting up straighter and sporting a scowl designed only for Lance, Keith is on alert for whatever Lance was going to say now.

If only Keith had paid more attention, he would have noticed Lance was not carrying his usual bravado even if his steps never faltered. He would have noticed the pink in the tips of Lance’s ears, the fact that he hid his hands behind his back now, and Hunk in the distance with fingers crossed.

The moment he was within earshot, Keith attacks first. “What do you want?”

That reception causes the other boy to stutter. “W-What?” His blue eyes blinking rapidly, Keith ignores the feeling in his tummy at the sight of them. It was a different tummy feeling, not like the one when he see’s Takashi’s mom sad. He couldn’t tell if it was better.

“I said,” Keith repeats impatiently. “What do you want, Lance?”

Something about Lance was definitely off today because instead of spluttering and start calling Keith names with all his high-minded anger, Lance looked a little tentative. The dark haired boy isn’t used to that look on Lance, but he doesn’t comment.

There a few tense seconds when neither says anything. Lance seems to be looking at anything but Keith. Keith is about to snap again, but then Lance stands straighter as if he found his courage and pulls his hands from behind him.

Keith doesn’t flinch but his eyes do flash, his fists clenching in anticipation. Instead of the swing Keith was waiting for however, Lance produces a clear, plastic container. Inside, Keith sees a slice of some kind of cake, but it wasn’t just cake. The top part looked wet, and much lighter than the bottom half.

“Do you want some?” Lance asks, voice firm but a little high. “Mamí says I can’t eat it all myself. “