To be entirely honest, you can't even recall why you hated him so much in high school.

I mean, sure, you guys were always competing to be the best, and Keith beat you in almost every way possible, except maybe in chemistry and philosophy, but he never really did anything personal to you, did he? He was never mean to you, or anyone in fact. You're not even sure he was aware of the competition you had set between you two.

Even though he never talked to anybody, it was common knowledge at school that Keith was all alone in his life. Without knowing how, people just knew he had no parents, no family, no friends. He spent all his time studying, like there was nothing else for him to do, and it was even more infuriating for you, because no matter how much you wanted to beat him, you just couldn't work so hard. You had to see your friends, you had to see your family, you had to ventilate your mind in order not to lose it. And by doing so you were losing time. While you were having fun, he was studying, and he was getting better than you, and you couldn't stand the thought.

But here you are now, three years after you finished high school, three years after you get into Garrison, only because Keith ran off, and suddenly, he doesn't match your memory of him. He is still infuriating, sure, by the way he is always so serious and better than you. And it drives you crazy that he doesn't remember you when you were unable to get him out of your mind all that time. But... you can't get rid of the feeling than maybe, just maybe, you missed something in high school. When you see him warming up so fast to Pidge and Hunk, when he seems to care so much about Shiro, you can't help but wonder. What if you had tried to talk to him then? What if you had put aside your competitive spirit for just a minute and tried to actually know him? Could you two have been friends instead of you loosing you mind about your grades being just one percent under his, and him not even noticing? Instead of pitying him because he was lonely, could you have spent your three years of high school helping him to open up? Then maybe he wouldn't have given up on Garisson and you could have gone there together. Who knows what could have happened?

It is weird how you feel like you're meeting him for the first time all over again. You can't help the memories of old anger, old frustration, but at the same time you just can't match what you remember about him with what you can see now. You wonder if you're not loosing your mind. Because you still want to be better than him, but you don't really want to compete with him anymore. You still want to mock his stupid hair but feel like it would be mean and without meaning. You still want to hate him, but you just can't help the warm feeling in your guts when you watch him care so much (even if he would deny it until his death) about Shiro, and Pidge and Hunk, about Allura and your mission as Paladins. You want to despite him, but you can't help liking him.

You don't know if it is him who has changed during these last three years, or if it is you, or if it is just the context that won't allow you to be an ass with him anymore, but you can tell that Keith is no longer your rival. He is a boy you want to be friend with. He is someone you thought you knew, and you're willing to learn how to know him again.

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My first attempt at a Voltron fic, I hope you liked it =) Thank you so much for reading. Do no hesitate to tell me if you see any mistake, English is not my first language.

Kiss !