Growing Pains (A Voltron Legendary Defender Fan Fiction)

Chapter 16

"Oh, come on..." Keith looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. He only had two more weeks to go, and he was still dealing with these stupid changes.

He brought a clawed hand and ran it through his black, and now purple hair. He groaned, this change wasn't even that bad, it was just annoying. How was he supposed to explain a new purple streak running through his hair, when he obviously didn't have it yesterday. Would they believe him if he told them he had dyed it?

He sighed and finished getting dressed. All things considered... he looked back at his reflection in the mirror. He actually kind of liked the purple. For a moment, he tucked his hair behind his ears, took off his gloves, and smiled, putting his fangs on display. If he lived during a different time, when the Galra weren't evil warlords, he might have actually accepted some of these changes. He didn't mind the enhanced strength and senses, and honestly, the pointy ears weren't too bad once you got used to them.

The claws were pretty annoying. He had lost count of how many pairs of jeans he had ripped trying to put them on. Everyone else thought he did it on purpose to fit his "emo aesthetic" but the truth was that he just wasn't used to maneuvering with them.

The fangs were probably his least favorite addition. Thanks to them, he was no longer able to talk to his friends. Not to mention, all of the times that he had bitten through his tongue! Just last weak he had had to keep himself from cursing in the middle of a meeting with the Olkarions when he accidentally bit himself. He didn't know why people admired vampires so much. Their lives must be a living hell. If he was a vampire, he would walk directly into the sunlight, just to put him out of his misery.

The fangs were also very strange to eat with. They were great at tearing food like meat but weren't very good at chewing. Besides, he tried to avoid meat these days. He got strange... urges whenever he ate it. He felt... more powerful. And almost... animalistic in a way. So, he tried to avoid it when he could. No matter how much he craved it.

Keith put his hair back over his ears. How was he going to cover this up? If they saw the purple streak, they would figure out something was going on for sure. Unless... he glanced over at his jacket. He slipped it on and pulled the hood up over his head.

He let out a long sigh. It wasn't perfect, but he would just have to work with what he had until they could make a stop at the space mall, and he could hopefully buy some black hair dye. But until then, this would have to do.

"Hey, Keith!" Pidge went in for her usual morning hug but stopped when she noticed the hood over his head. "Oh..." they all turned to him in surprise as he took his usual seat.

Lance couldn't help himself from getting upset. He stood up and went over to him. "What next? First, you won't speak to us, then you cover your hands, and now this?!" Keith flinched from the loud voice, right next to his sensitive ears.

"Do you really think that we are that shallow that we would judge you for whatever's going on?!" he continued. "We're your friends! We love you! We won't judge you." He just hung his head. After a few more moments of silence, he got up and went back to his room.

Lance sat down in defeat. "I shouldn't have said those things..."

"Do not blame yourself." Allura set a hand on his shoulder. "What you said was true. The only issue is that Keith doesn't believe us."

"I guess our plan isn't working." Hunk said sadly.

Shiro looked down, "It's possible... that we may need to take more drastic measures..."

(A/N - Hey guys, thanks for reading. When I say Vol, you say...)