Shiro's Family - Part 4
Adam
"Adam, Adam," I got up from the counter to open the door.
"Yes?"
"It's Shiro, the Kerberos it…" My eyes widened, Keith tousled on the couch, I hurried into the hall to not disturb him.
"What about it?" I asked, the officer ran off, I followed him, what was it? They had a successful landing as far as I understood earlier that day. Keith and I watched the feeds together. I was starting to move on, trying to date others, it wasn't easy. I always thought I would spend my whole life with Shiro. Keith told me that Shiro planned on fixing everything when he got back. Keith didn't know Shiro like I did, Shiro was too ambitious, if he was planning on dying at forty he was going to make every breath on in this world worth it.
"I have bad news," Iverson said, I was sat down in a conference room, there were four others in the room, but my focus was on Iverson. "We lost all contact with the team on Kerberos, we spent the last few hours searching for answers, but have come up completely empty handed. We are concluding the mission as a failure and claiming the crew as deceased."
Someone cried across from me. I would recognize those glasses and that hair anywhere, it was the daughter of Commander Holt. I closed my own eyes. Shiro, gone? I told you Keith, he wouldn't be back to fix everything. He would keep dreaming until his dreams got too big.
Colleen, Sam's wife was trying to comfort her. We knew each other well, after the first mission Shiro and Sam went on we talked a lot, and called out our partners for the idiocy and also how much we loved them. I wanted to reach out to her right now. Her husband and her son, both, dead.
I wasn't even with Shiro anymore, why was I here? Iverson must not have realized that we broke our engagement, or maybe he did, and thought I should hear it from him and not from the TV or rumors.
"Commander Iverson right, was he happy?" I turned my attention to the other two at the table. Shiro's parents? I had never met them, Shiro said they liked to travel and if they ever touched down near here he would introduce me to them, but they never made it out here.
Iverson looked at me, his head solemn and then back to the Shirogane's, "He was very happy."
She turned into her husband and I watched her cry silently for a while. Is this what Shiro wanted? Did he want to risk everything so that he could die a hero in space and not spending his life weak but around those who loved him?
I stood suddenly filled with rage, he was only twenty four, he still had so many years to give us, so many years of happiness. I grabbed my dog tags and ripped them off and stormed out of the room.
"Keith, Keith," I shook him to wake, I had to tell him, I already told Iverson Keith and I wouldn't be reporting tomorrow.
"Adam?" he grumbled rolling over.
"Keith come on, I have to tell you something," I was trying to stay cool. Being irrational was never a good look on me.
"What time is it?" he asked.
"Doesn't matter, you aren't going to class tomorrow, come on, let's go to your house," I said, Keith's eyes shot open when I said that.
"Why would we go to my house?" he asked, and then saw my eyes, Keith threw himself into me. I let the rage go, I may have broken up with Shiro before he left, but the three of us were still a family, a broken little family, but a family.
Keith put on his jacket, I still remember going with Shiro into town on Keith's birthday to find him that. I wasn't sure about the crop, but Shiro said it was perfect. Sure enough Keith loved it. My heart, it ached.
Keith and I stepped into the hallway, we had been silent since he asked why we were going to his house.
"Adam?" that voice, it was Mrs. Shirogane, I wanted to keep walking, I didn't want to turn back, but I had no choice. I had to remind myself that I wasn't Shiro, I didn't run from my problems.
Keith and and I turned around to face, Keith's breath caught, it was easy to tell who they were.
"Mr and Mrs. Shirogane, it's unfortunate that we had to meet under these circumstances, but it is an honor to finally meet you," I said shaking both their hands, they both had red eyes.
"You threw this," Mr. Shirogane said holding up my tags, irrational indeed. Two of those tags belonged to my family.
"Iverson said you were my son's family for the past several years," Mrs. Shirogane said bending down to take Keith's hands. "Ever since he found out about his illness he cut us out, he didn't want us to watch him suffer."
Of course he didn't.
"We just wanted to have a chance to meet you, to meet the people his light was able to shine on," Mr. Shirogane said, Shiro's light could still be shining on us, he could still be here.
They gave us hugs before parting ways and Keith and I made it out to his house. Keith found a flat rock slab and carved Shiro's name, birthday, and today into and set it down next to his father's grave.
I was hurting, I was hurting so much that I made the most ridiculous decisions. I let the bitterness and pain get to me.
"Keith the base in Europe asked me to come teach for a few months, that was where my mother died, I would like to go out there," I said, Keith was still the epimaty of sadness. I loved Keith, but I needed some time to myself. I would always see him as a son, as family, but right now he reminded me of Shiro, Shiro and his selfishness.
"Take it, you need it," Keith said shortly.
"If I am not here and you get into trouble there is nothing I can do for you, the Garrison doesn't put up with discipline cases," I said, I could already feel myself distancing myself from Keith. I grasped the tags around my neck. The family I had searched for for so long was falling apart.
"I understand," Keith said, he hugged me and we stayed like that until morning.
I was leaving for Europe in two days, when I got a call about Keith, no Keith not right now. I was starting to get my life together.
"So Takashi Shirogane dies and you last out you juvenile brat?" that was Admiral Sanda, what did Keith do to get her attention, jeez Keith you couldn't just lay low and get through the ranks, you were made to be a pilot.
" Keith Kogane you are not made for the Garrison and the fact that we let Shiro keep you here this long is ridiculous, without Shiro you cannot be controlled and Adam is leaving for the European base, it doesn't make sense," she shouted.
Maybe she was right. Maybe I should take a page out of Shiro's book and be a little selfish. Keith walked out of the office next to Iverson, he made eye contact with me. His face stayed stone cold, he realized I wasn't going to step in.
We reminded one another the thing that brought us together. I held my tags, I am sorry, sorry to my little broken family, but I needed to find a new life for myself.
