Wings of Home II: Wings of Change

Not Understanding

The current state of the world honestly confused him more than the previous state of the world, particularly when Keith pondered Ryo's actions since they arrived home.

"Why do you have to be so annoying?"

The fact Ryo didn't say anything of the sort felt as strange as his twin brother not locking him out of their bedroom after he took a shower once the water was turned back on the day after the Galra attack. Instead, he felt a towel tossed at the top of his head. "If you don't dry off, you're going to become ill."

Keith didn't respond – he didn't know how he should respond to the changes, let alone the items in their room which fell off the wall while the building shook from the Galra attack. After a few minutes, he felt Ryo's hands touch the top of his head through the towel, ruffling his hair up. "Seriously..."

"I got it. I'm annoying."

Ryo continued for a few minutes before letting out a sigh. "I should never have said that."

"I think our mom's an alien from outer space, remember?"

His twin brother's hands stopped moving, not saying anything, then... "I remember. I also remember that was back when aliens were considered fictional."

"It's not as if you believe me."

"No. I can't say I do. I don't get why you'd think mom was an alien."

"I'm going to bed. I've got school in the morning." Keith flopped onto the bed, letting the towel hang over his head, blocking out all of the light and some of the sound.

"Wait? They're not giving you a break after all of that?"

"Why would you care? It's not as if you actually have to go to school."

"I still..." Ryo let out a sigh. Instead of climbing into his own bed, he lay down on Keith's bed so his back was against Keith's.

Keith's eyes widened, his cheeks flushing up slightly at the unexpected action. He sat up straight, before backing out of the bed, falling onto the ground, the towel still on his head. "What... what are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Ryo let out a groan. Keith heard the bed shift while his twin sat up in the bed. "I don't want to be alone tonight. Okay?"

"You..." Keith pointed his finger at Ryo, his confusion growing.

"Are you really going to tell me you're okay with being alone tonight after what happened?"

Keith's eyes blinked. He pushed himself up from the floor, leaning against the wall while one hand gripped his other arm, his eyes avoiding making eye contact with his twin. In truth, he didn't want to be alone, not after learning the guardian angel in his sleep was in fact real. Mentally, he struggled with how he felt regarding her appearance, particularly when..."

"Something the matter?"

"It's not as if you would believe me."

"Akira..."

"It's Keith!" Keith stood up, his hands clenched, his cheeks flushing. "This has nothing to do with Allura!"

Except, it had everything to do with Allura. Keith hurried up the ladder of the bunk bed, plopping down. A shiver ran down his spine. He heard Ryo stand up on the bottom bunk, gripping the edge of the top bunk, his voice speaking softly. "Wait? You mean the angel girl from the visions of yours?" Keith's entire body stiffened. "I know you didn't think I was paying attention, but..." Ryo paused. "We can talk about this later if you want. Are you sure..."

"Just leave me alone!" He heard a sigh, but the way Ryo acted in the morning...

A hand on his shoulder drew Keith out of his train of thought, his eyes focusing on Shiro's face, meaning he was now focused on what his older brother was saying rather than his confusion regarding his twin's actions. "I'll see you two later, okay?"

Shiro turned, walking away to whatever class he was teaching, or whatever task the garrison had him working on. Keith honestly never knew what Shiro did, having to instead focus on his classes – classes he found himself struggling with.

"Kogane?"

The sound of James Griffin's voice made Keith's head dart up, his throat swallowing back his frustration at having to run into that person that early in the school day. More importantly, he'd lost track of the number of fights he'd gotten into with the other cadet, egged on by his classmate saying just the right things to make him explode. "He's worse than Lance, but I met him before I met Shiro."

Keith swallowed, his entire body tensing while James tapped a folder against his shoulder, his lips pushing together while his eyes narrowed, looking right at Keith, or right through him. "You know this guy?"

Keith's eyes blinked, realizing James wasn't looking through him, but at Elena who stood next to him. His eyes blinked, drifting up towards the ceiling in an attempt to avoid making eye contact with James, wondering why the other teen was there, almost as if he were waiting for him. In fact, he'd been so focused on his actual thoughts he'd not seen James approach. "Um..."

Elena's tone of voice – Keith couldn't read what she was saying. "We live in the same apartment building."

"Same..." The tone of voice James used was different, making Keith look down at the boy, his mind not understanding why James' eyes now widened, his mouth hanging open slightly. "Wait. You aren't living with Shiro, are you?" Keith's eyes blinked, listening and hearing James suck in air into his lungs. "You are, aren't you?"

"What do you want?" Elena folded her arms across his chest.

"I'm supposed to be showing you, the new girl around the garrison, at least where the cadets are allowed to go."

"I think Keith can show me, thank you."

Keith felt Elena grab onto one of his arms, tugging him away. His eyes widened in surprise, unsure of the touch – he wasn't used to his fellow classmates touching him unless they were – well, in a fight. He wasn't expecting someone else to grab his other arm. He felt his breath pull in, a strange buzzing starting up in his ears, the realization James grabbed onto his arm sinking in.

"Wait."

"Let go." Keith's voice strained, panic starting to set in, not wanting to get into a fight.

"If you want your bodyguard to tag along, fine. I'm still in charge of giving you the tour." James let go of his arm, almost as if understanding holding on much longer wasn't a good idea.

Too many people were staring now, making him suck in a deep breath, his eyes closing. Elena simply said, "I'd rather Keith stay with me since I don't trust you."

"Fair enough." James didn't push the issue, but Keith found himself glad Elena didn't let go of the sleeve right away. Finally, something caught her attention which in turn made her step away she could examine it. James leaned over, whispering so only Keith could hear him. "Look. This conversation regarding you living with Shiro – it's not over, got it?"