Two weeks had passed since Pidge's visit. Two weeks since they all discovered the incriminating evidence against Shiro. Two interminable weeks during which Shiro hadn't talked to any of them, closing himself off in his own studies, no matter how persistent they were. Lance had knocked on his door every day on his way to and from class, but no answer ever came. He texted Shiro at least twice a day, always hoping for a response but never getting any. Keith and Hunk had been as unlucky as he, so when he asked them for a team meetup on a Friday night, Keith reluctantly came by his room.
"Guys, I think we all know why I brought you here." Lance started.
"Because you were lonely and needed someone to spend a Friday night with?" Keith replied, his arms crossed and dark bags under his eyes. Midterms were mostly over, but the lack of sleep was making Keith even grumpier and if Shiro's health wasn't concerning Lance, he wouldn't have approached Keith with a ten foot pole.
"I told you, if you're going to be an asshole then don't show up! Yet here you are, so please be nice. If not for respect for me, at least do it for Shiro. He's like the only friend you have anyway; I thought you'd want to help him even more than us." Hunk looked pleadingly at him, but Lance didn't want to take his words back. He didn't like Keith but he couldn't bear to see Shiro lose himself in guilt again. Keith grunted and bit back his reply, so Lance continued.
"Shiro needs our help and I don't know about you guys, but I haven't been able to get through to him since Pidge left."
"Yeah, me neither man. I baked like three batches of cookies just for him and he ate none of them." Hunk added. "What about you Keith? He must have talked to you at least once. I mean, I know he's a senior and busy with midterms, but still; he's not the type to ignore his friends for two whole weeks."
"I texted him a couple of times and tried to get him to answer the door, but I only saw him once when I was doing laundry. He looked like shit."
"Thanks for your very descriptive information, Keith. Do you want to contribute any ideas of how we might be able to help Shiro not look like shit?"
"I don't know, man. I thought you might have ideas since you're the genius you decided to gather our sleep deprived and overworked brains here. I just got back from a midterm, so don't expect me to make any masterful contributions." Keith leaned back against the wall. He and Hunk were sitting on Hunk's bed, facing Lance who was pacing the space between the two beds.
"I tried everything I could think of, except for breaking into his room. You're not suggesting we break into his room, are you? I know we need to help Shiro but is it really worth risking being yelled at? What am I talking about; we might even get into trouble! We could get kicked out!" Hunk's tone rose as he looked expectantly at Lance who looked like he would shut Hunk down for a second but then split into his special shit eating grin.
"Actually, that's a pretty good idea Hunk." Hunk shook his head, trying to dissuade Lance. "I've tried everything in my arsenal as well and if we can't get Shiro to see us by playing by his rules, then we're going to have to make up our own." As Keith raised an eyebrow, Lance continued in defense "I'm tired too, so my metaphors may not hold up. Let me be!" To emphasize his point, Lance let himself drop dramatically on his bed.
"You're not serious about this, are you? How are we even going to break in…. oh wait, I forgot you were a criminal in another life." Keith said.
"I wasn't, I just know a few useful skills which you should totally learn."
"How is picking locks going to help me in any way?"
"Well, breaking in Shiro's room for once…"
"You're joking, right? There's no way in hell we're doing that!" Hunk interrupted.
"It was your idea Hunk, own up to your genius." Lance said.
"But it was a joke; I didn't think you would take me seriously. We can't break into someone's room."
"Can you think of any other way to get through to Shiro? We could always stand guard at his door and wait for him to come out, but I already tried that one evening and I fell asleep right there in the hallway. Plus, we still got some midterms and papers due, it's not like we can waste hours waiting for nothing. No, I think breaking into his room is the last option we got; it's the only option." Lance was now staring at the ceiling, looking at the barely visible stars looking down on him. Hang in there, Shiro. We're coming for you.
For a while no one spoke. Lance felt his accumulated fatigue from the last couple of days start to overwhelm him and his eyes began to close. He shook his head and rushed his body up, overshooting it a bit and almost falling face first on the floor.
"So do we agree? When can you guys make it? I got some time tomorrow or maybe next Thursday…" Lance yawned "I can check my schedule or something." He looked at Hunk who was now waving a hand in front of Keith's face. Mullet boy had his eyes closed, his arms crossed and his face set in its permanent scowl.
"I think he's asleep." Hunk stated.
"Oh no, not for long he isn't." Lance shot up and went to shake Keith. "Wake up mullet! You can't sleep here!"
"I wasn't sleeping, just resting my eyes. Though I did plan on going to bed soon so if you don't mind let's hurry this up and we can all catch up on some sleep."
"That's what I was trying to do, which you would know if you were listening and not sleeping."
"Goddammit Lance, I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now. The least amount of time I spend around you, the better; so let's get this done." Lance was about to shout a very well deserved remark at Keith when Hunk shook his head gently, trying to calm Lance down and escape the growing tension in the room.
"Fine ass wipe. So, as I was asking earlier when you were pretending to sleep, when are you guys free? I got time tomorrow or Thursday; I can maybe make some time another day but I'd have to check my schedule."
"Thursday works for me. I got my last midterm that day so we can do it that night." Keith said, Lance knowing fully well which midterm he was talking about since it was the one in the only class they had in common.
"Hunk?"
"I got a thing with Shay on Thursday, but I can try to move it."
"Move it." Lance said at the same time Keith asked "Who's Shay?" Hunk turned a bright red and Lance groaned.
"She's this girl I met at the Halloween party. She's really cute and funny and smart and I really like her."
"Yet you still haven't told her that. You'd think that considering how much you talk about her you guys would be dating, but no, you're just friends for now. Just tell her how you feel man!" Lance said.
"I can't just ask her out, I barely know her. Besides, she could have a boyfriend. Or girlfriend. And I'm not sure if I like her that much yet anyway." Hunk defended himself. Lance was about to utter a response when Keith stood up and headed for the door.
"Well, it seems like we've got a plan but what's your genius plan once we're in?" Keith asked.
"I ….. Actually don't know. What do you tell someone who's being framed for the murder of his girlfriend?"
"As much as I think this deserves our thinking over, I am way too tired to think about it now. Comforting him seems a no brainer though." Hunk said.
"I guess. Maybe we can also find out who would want to frame him. You know, figure out a few suspects we can go after." Lance added enthusiastically.
"Sure. I would remind you one more time that you are not a detective but it seems pointless and I am falling asleep right now. Good night, I'll see if I can come on Thursday." Keith opened the door and left while Lance shouted "You better show your ugly mullet!"
Hunk chuckled and Lance let himself fall on his bed.
"Good night, Hunk. I think I'm going to crash as well."
Lance changed into his pajamas and slipped into bed. Once settled on his back, he looked at the stars shinning above his head like he did every night, spending a few minutes thinking about the people he loved. This was a trick he used when bad thoughts roamed his mind, and it usually worked, but not tonight. Now he was full of worry for Shiro and for his other friends as well. After all, there was a murderer in the school and just because there hadn't been a dead body in over two weeks it didn't mean they were safe either. As his thoughts when in a downward spiral, he imagined finding Hunk or Pidge dead, or maybe encountering the killer himself.
He mentally slapped himself and realized that while there was a danger around, nobody else was dead for now and that all he could do was protect his friends to the best of his abilities, and damn if he wasn't going to try to do that. Lance fell asleep dreaming about all of them coming out of this alive and unscathed, not even noticing Keith in the background among the other people he cared about.
They met one more time on a Tuesday lunch as Keith ran into Hunk and Lance at the pizzeria they were eating. He joined them reluctantly, but Hunk coaxed him by buying him a drink. They were one of the only people present since it was already 2pm, and so they could sit at a large table and Lance was glad to not have to sit next to Keith. They didn't talk for a while, Hunk trying to make conversation by himself and Lance and Keith having an undeclared and very annoying silent contest.
"If you guys are going to be like this, I'm going to leave. I bet I can find other people to eat with."
"Fine, Keith can eat with us. We need to talk anyway, I still haven't figured out a way to cheer up Shiro, or even suspects to point fingers at." Lance admitted. The truth was that he spent most of the last few days sleeping as much as physically possible and studying for his last midterm on Thursday, his pride forbidding him from getting a lower mark than Keith.
"Same. It's not like I haven't tried, I'm not the greatest at cheering and I have no fucking clue as to who would want to frame Shiro."Keith added.
"Aren't you his best friend though? If anyone has any ideas about potential suspects, I thought it would be you." Hunk said.
"Well, sorry to disappoint but I don't know jack shit." They ate in silence for a little longer.
"Maybe it's Matt, you know, Pidge's brother. She did tell us he had a bone to pick with Shiro, but not the reason why." Lance said.
"I don't think Pidge would be exactly thrilled with you accusing her brother. Besides, he looks nothing like Shiro, even if he died his hair or had a wig he wouldn't pass for Shiro on camera." Hunk replied.
"Okay, then how about a pissed off ex-boyfriend? Allura must have dated other dudes before Shiro, maybe one of them got pissed she was so in love with Shiro and decided on a little revenge." Lance supplied next.
"Wouldn't it make more sense for them to let Allura live in this scenario? If you like a girl so much you'd get rid of her current boyfriend, killing the girl seems counterproductive." Keith pointed out. "Are all your theories made of horse shit?"
"If you're so much smarter than me, then share your own opinions. I'm just putting ideas out there, it's not like I thought them over."
"I haven't thought about it enough to find a decent idea, because unlike you I don't accuse people indiscriminately nor find my ideas in terrible mystery fictions that make conspiracies look legit."
"Guys, can you please stop fighting? We don't need to have a list of suspects by Thursday. We have enough on our plate, no need for you to continue your dick waving contest." Hunk sighed.
Lance and Keith both groaned simultaneously and went back to eating their pizza. Half an hour later they left, promising they would reconvene in Lance and Hunk's room on Thursday before going by force into Shiro's room. Lance was slightly frustrated that Pidge couldn't be there and he had to deal with Keith, but the raven haired boy at least seemed interested in doing this.