The stars are in your eyes. As a pilot-in-training for space exploration, the phrase should've had more meaning for Shiro. It was a phrase he saw often, on posters in classrooms, blasted through the dormitories in a multitude of popular songs and – the most common – confessed lovingly to a classmate, for better or for worse. And yet, he thought nothing of it. It had been overplayed to meaningless, he thought. At least, that was was he had thought until he met Keith.
He had never understood love at first at sight either, until the moment he had passed the new boy in the halls, and their shoulders bumped. They both turned around, their eyes met, and then it was like Shiro was struck with a bolt of lightning. His heart was pounding, his knees were going weak, and a rapid-fire blush was rising to his face. And then, the new student's – maybe in adoration, or some form of pity – lips curved up in a small smile, and he was gone.
And no matter what Shiro did, he couldn't get the new student's eyes out of his mind. Some sort of otherworldly purple, they positively sparkled, like someone had placed the stars in them, one by one.
Shiro had to find out more.
The first person he turned to was Matt.
"The new kid? The one with the mullet?" Matt asked.
"Well, I wouldn't call it a mullet per say-"
"Got it. Mullet kid." Matt flipped through a small manila folder he had, and soon produced a couple of sheets of stapled paper. "Here. Keith Kogane."
And there, easily the biggest thing on the page, was a picture of the new student, Keith. Shiro felt his breath hitch when he saw those eyes staring at him. But then another thought entered his mind. "Why would you have this on you?"
"What can I say? He looks like he has potential, and since nobody knows him yet, I had to get the information somehow."
Shiro sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You hacked the Garrison mainframe again, didn't you?"
Matt snorted. "Are you kidding me? I had Katie do it. She needed the practice anyway."
"Sometimes I wonder why your parents haven't started monitoring all your conversations by now."
"We're not beginners, Shiro. We don't leave any traces."
Shiro decided to leave it be, after all, the dozens of times they had already had this talk didn't have an effect either. "Well, I'd better be going. After all, isn't your next class in five minutes?"
Matt glanced at the hallway clock and shrugged. "Eh, I could always skip it. Today's just review anyway."
"Go to class, you scoundrel." Shiro gave Matt's head a light smack.
"Didn't know you cared so much." Matt smirked.
"You are part on my team. My success as a pilot sort of rests on you being a decent student."
"Dang." Matt feigned sadness. "I always knew the great Takashi Shirogane had an ulterior motive, but I didn't know it would be so cold-hearted."
Shiro scoffed, "Just go to class," and started walking away.
"Whatever, have fun with your boy toy, Shiro!" Matt called out to him.
At that, Shiro whirled around. "What?"
"Oh, don't deny it, I saw your come-hither-and-be-mine eyes when you looked at his picture." Matt fluttered his eyelashes teasingly.
"I didn't do that!"
"You're right. It was more of a look of hopeless love and adoration. But that wouldn't get you so riled up."
After giving Matt another soft swat in the head and returning the papers (All he had really needed was a name), Shiro had left, combing the halls for Keith. But it was futile, as Shiro didn't see him for the rest of the day. Or the next day. Or the next day either. In fact, it wasn't until three days later that Shiro saw Keith again. It was a long three days.
The next time Shiro saw Keith, he was in the training room. It was late, which was why Shiro was there. He had been counting on it being empty, so he could be allowed some peace and quiet. But when he had entered the room, he had heard the tell-tale grunts and thumps of someone working out. And there was Keith, punching at a boxing bag. Shiro couldn't say he minded the change of plans.
He stood there silently for a moment, watching, before walking over. "Keith, right?"
Keith nodded and threw another punch. A red flush was present on his face, probably due to the exertion.
"You know, you'd get a lot more force for throw if you just angled your hand like this," Shiro stated, before reaching his hand out and asking gently, "Let me?"
Keith's hand stilled, and Shiro took that as a yes. Carefully, he grasped his hand and moved it, changing the form a bit. "There. Try again?"
Keith lobbed another hit without hesitation and the boxing bag swung back in response.
Keith looked at his hand, flexing his fingers. "It worked."
"Well, I wouldn't lie to you, would I?"
Keith turned around a gave a him a once over. "No, you don't look the type."
Shiro thought it was time to introduce himself. "I'm Takashi Shirogane, but most people call me Shiro."
Keith nodded in acknowledgement. "I'm Keith, but you, uh, already knew that."
"Yeah." Silence hung thick for a moment. "So, do you come here to train often?"
"Every night," Keith answered. Shiro knew letting his training slack a bit so he could study for an upcoming test was a bad idea.
"Do you do this type of training every time?" Shiro asked.
Keith shook his head. "No, I try to brush up on a lot of stuff, but it can be hard sometimes...I don't really have anyone to practice with."
"Me neither," Shiro stated dully, not realizing what his words implicated.
Keith quirked an eyebrow, and his lips tugged up into a half-smile. "Really...?"
And from there their relationship progressed. First they only talked occasionally to set up sparring sessions. Then they started to take small breaks between matches, and took the time to get to know each other. Then they started to stop each other in the halls, not to set up training sessions, but just to ask each other how they were doing, did they do well on Iverson's latest sim, etc...
"Keith, you broke the record on Iverson's latest sim? That's fantastic!" Shiro exclaimed.
"Really? Sure you aren't jealous? After all, it was your record that I broke." Keith smirked.
"Oh, don't worry. I still have the dozens of others to comfort me," Shiro said, dramatically placing a hand over his heart.
"For now," Keith amended.
Shiro chuckled, but only said next, "You know, this calls for a celebration!"
"A celebration?" Keith raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
"Well, not in the traditional sense," Shiro clarified.
"Then what do you mean?"
Shiro smiled. "Did you hear about the meteor shower tonight?"
"I didn't know we were allowed on the roof," Keith remarked, climbing though the small door that led out to the roof of the Garrison.
Shiro shrugged. "The teachers let us up here sometimes, when they want us to see a big astronomical event." He walked over to the edge and sat, down, patting the spot next to him. "Coming?"
Keith smiled and walked over next to him.
They just sat there for a while, staring at the night sky, and pointing out whenever a meteor would shoot across the sky.
Shiro's hand brushed across Keith's, but was surprised when Keith, instead of ignoring it or retracting, instead grasped his.
"Shiro…" he murmured, turning towards him.
Shiro swallowed dryly. "Yes?"
Keith's hand brushed up against his jaw. "Can I kiss you?"
"You didn't even need to ask."
When their lips met, it was like a spark. It started out small, before exploding, a dance of color and flame beneath his eyes. Keith's hand felt right against his jaw, and Keith's lips felt right against his. Everything felt right.
"You know, Shiro," Keith said, after they had parted. "From the moment I first saw you, I had just thought that – well – I think that you have the stars in your eyes."
Shiro smiled and pressed back in again.
"Unfair," he murmured against his lips. "I was gonna say that."
Author's Note: I have no idea what the heck any of this is, but I do know it ended up being longer than I really wanted it to be and still probably should have been even longer anyway. Since I already wrote this, it would be a waste not to publish, even though I'm cringing in my head. Written for Sheith Positivity Week, Day 2: Sun/Stars (I think you guys can see which one I chose...) It's still ongoing at the point of publication, so if any of you want to participate, just head over to their tumblr (named the same thing).
