Wings of Home (Voltron: Legendary Defender/One Day at a Time 2017 Crossover)

Emptiness

Keeping busy did nothing to stop Shiro from feeling empty.

His hand hovered with his black dry erase marker near the whiteboard in his classroom for what felt like forever. "Lieutenant Shirogane?"

Shiro turned towards the student who just came into the classroom. "Yes?"

"I didn't see..."

Hearing the student ask why Adam wasn't in his homeroom class when they walked by let Shiro's mind muddled, but his facial features fell as he attempted clearing his throat. A few of his female students walked into the classroom giggling among themselves while the student continued watching Shiro carefully. "Um, well..."

Shiro glanced back at the board where he'd still not written anything. "Isn't he in your unit?"

An influx of emotions made Shiro's throat catch in his throat as more students started filing into the room. His eyes drifted towards the ground. "Well, see..." He spoke in a low voice. "I didn't come back with my unit's flight. I took a commercial one."

"Oh." The student headed towards their desk as if the question answered their question. A pinging sound from the intercom went off and Iverson's voice echoed through the room. The television turned on and showed some of the senior cadets preparing to put the flags up.

"All cadets should be in their classrooms. Please stand while the color guard presents the colors." Shiro watched all his students stand at attention in their orange uniforms, but today he felt as if he were simply going through the motions. Any thoughts of finding solace in the everyday routine quickly fled, but he found himself taking a deep breath as he held back his emotions. After dismissing the color guard, Iverson said, "You may now be seated." The commander cleared his throat. "I'll start off today's announcements with some sad news."

Shiro's eyes closed as Iverson informed the cadets about the loss of Adam and the rest of his unit before asking for a moment of silence. Next, he informed the students they could seek counseling if they needed, but also mentioned they were still looking for answers regarding what happened. "Lieutenant..."

Shiro held up a finger indicating the questions could wait until Iverson was finished making the other announcements. Then the questions came, but he couldn't help but feel tired. His attempt at avoiding how he felt backfired, yet something told him getting the cadets into an actual routine like he wanted wouldn't be possible. After a few minutes, a knock came at the classroom door which in turn made a silence fall over the room. "Come in."

His eyes blinked slightly at seeing Matt Holt standing in the doorway with the garrison psychiatrist. Mentally he wondered if Veronica was pulling him from the class because she didn't agree with how he was choosing to handle his grief. "Cadet Holt. Professor."

Veronica looked him in the eye. "Cadet Holt came to my office and informed me Cadet Kagone was not in his classroom when he went to collect the attendance folder. If you'll come with me, I'll place Cadet Holt in charge of your class."

Shiro reached for his attendance folder and handed the item to Matt before following after Veronica. The door clicked behind him. "He isn't – Keith isn't with that cadet he got into a fight with yesterday?"

Veronica froze before turning to look at him. "Lance? Why would Keith be hanging out with my brother?"

His eyes closed. "So, my neighbor is your aunt?"

"Tia Penelope? Yes. She's our aunt, She's your neighbor?"

"She came over yesterday to apologize for what happened but made Lance come and apologize to Keith this morning. He rode in with us this morning."