Broken Wish
Spider Web

Accepting Ryo felt strange.

"A nice Ryo though is better than a mean Ryo, isn't it?"

In Keith's mind that was a truth, but also something that made him not want to go back to the other world. Eventually, the war would end, and they would find themselves back on Earth, which meant he would have to deal with the real Ryo, the real Ryo who had been mean to him his entire life. Shinji – he honestly drew a blank slate on Ryo's older brother. He was like Shiro, but he was naturally kind to everyone but didn't have to deal with him every day like Shiro did. Plus, there was also the fact Shinji was likely nice to him to be nice to Shiro, the two were that close.

It felt strange though, having family suddenly give a shit about how he felt, and what was wrong with him. It hurt as well that it took him doing something drastic, although completely unintentional, to get their attention. It hurt thinking that someone out there might actually think that cutting themselves was a good way to deal with the pain, or that an attempt on their life would somehow bring them the attention they craved. No, not attention, but affection and a caring hand. So, as much as this Ryo in this reality was nice, the reality of this world still hurt big time.

There was also the fact he felt weird. At first, he hadn't felt strange, but as the bus continued its way to the Garrison out in the dessert, Keith couldn't help but feel weird. It was kind of like a dizzy feeling, but not really. The closest thing he'd ever come to such a feeling was possibly one of his sugar rushes he'd had as a child, but mentally he felt quite uninhibited. Most of all, he didn't feel like himself. If dysphoria was the act of not feeling something, he was now feeling even more out of place than before.

It made him honestly feel mentally sick, but he brushed it aside rather quickly.

They arrived at the Garrison, and he found himself entering the Garrison while the adults who came into work early looked at him. His eyes widened, remembering how the adults always stared, typically giving him looks of disgust even when he was with Shiro. The black paladin had always told him not to mind them, that their opinions meant nothing, and yet having spent time with the other paladins, the opinion did, in fact, mean a lot to him, as he needed to feel accepted by someone other than just Shiro.

It was yet another thing that made him feel mentally ill, but so did thinking of the words mentally ill, with the fact he didn't want anyone to think him insane.

Getting off the bus, he found himself met with the arid air, but the coolness of a desert morning. He took a deep breath, remembering how he preferred the night time hours when living out in the shack, but brushed the thought away quickly, letting it be replaced by the fact this type of weather made him feel good but put him in a good mood despite the fact he felt completely weird.

A quick tug on his sleeve from Ryo led to him following after his cousin, his eyes darting around to see everything and take everything in. The clouds up in the sky were of different shapes, and he wondered what Hunk would see in said shapes. He didn't realize that Ryo was continuing to pull him along by his sleeve, let alone the fact that if Ryo wasn't doing this that he would have just stood outside looking up at the sky all day. Nature was one of those places where he could find a peaceful bliss where he could just be himself.

Eventually, they were inside, so his eyes had to find something else to look at. They passed by the teacher's office, and he noticed one of the teacher's startle upon seeing him. He simply smiled and waved at the man who waved back despite the look on his face.

"Akira?"

"What?"

"Focus."

"Uh-huh." Keith's eyes continued to dart around. "What was it Shiro said about focus?"

It was only a few minutes later that he saw the spider web above the vending machine, and he tugged away from Ryo. He headed over to the vending machine. "You've already eaten."

"Spider web."

"What?"

Keith didn't respond to Ryo and instead looked around for something so he could get closer to the spider web. The only things he saw were a couple of trashcans, and without hesitation he started to tug them over, only to frown upon remembering the pain in his wrists. Letting out a sigh, he began to push the trash cans over using his body. He didn't notice the exasperated look on Ryo's face.

"Akira, what are you doing?"

"Spider web."

"You already said that. That doesn't explain what you're doing."

"I want to see the spider web." Both trashcans were now right by the vending machine, and Keith started to hop up on the top of the one nearest the vending machine, only to let out a hiss at the pain in his wrists. They still stung from the stunt he pulled, but the anxiety regarding the incident had now fled his mind.

"What?"

"You heard me." With a little effort and without using his hands, he began to stand up on the trashcan. For a few second's he wobbled precariously.

"Akira, are you trying to hurt yourself?" Ryo's voice strained.

"No." He managed to balance himself and stand all the way up. He then leaned against the vending machine, his arms perched on top of the machine so his chin could rest on them while he stared at the spider web, watching the spider and all of the bugs caught in the web. He didn't notice Ryo standing there, his arms crossed and his mouth twisted up in frustration. Ryo though did not make a move to make him stop, though the worry was quiet evident. He also didn't see a familiar pair approach.

"Um, Keith?" Hunk piped up, finally drawing Keith's attention away from the spider web. "What are you doing?"

"Hunk!" The red paladin knew he was excited to see his fellow paladins. Both Hunk and Lance were standing next to Ryo. All three had looks of shock on their face. A smile spread across his face, and then he catapulted himself at the yellow paladin. He didn't care that his wrists stung either. "Good morning!"

Hunk reflectively caught him in the hug, his dark eyes widening in shock while Lance looked like his mind just exploded. "Keith. Buddy, are you feeling okay?"

The yellow paladin set him down gently, and Keith then lunged himself at Lance, trying to hug the blue paladin this time. "Of course, I feel okay. Why do you ask?"

Lance held out his hand, stopping Keith from hugging him. "Seriously. Stop."

"Why?"

"Dude, you're seriously trying to hug me right now."

"But I love you guys!" Keith watched the color drain from both Hunk and Lance's faces as they looked at each other and swallowed. Ryo, who was standing nearby simply face palmed, covering his eyes, but then let out a groan. "What?"

"Dude, that… you don't tell guys that you love them!" Lance had a look which said Keith needed to seriously back off, yet that didn't faze the red paladin one bit. He simply titled his head, completely confused.

"Why? I love you guys like I love Shiro. What's wrong with that?" Keith continued to smile.

"Creepy…" Hunk leaned over to whisper into Lance's ear.

"What's wrong with loving you guys like brothers? And Pidge like a sister?"

A sigh of relief escaped Lance's mouth. "So you don't love-love us?"

"No. I love-love Allura." The words came out of his mouth without realizing, yet it didn't actually trigger that he said him.

Ryo's eyes widened in horror. "Wait! That alien chick you mentioned earlier?"

Hunk and Lance's eyes had widened in horror as well when Keith mentioned Allura, however, the horror seemed to increase when they turned to look at Ryo. Something clicked in Keith's mind that something was wrong, but that perhaps…. "Hey, did I say something wrong?"

"No Keith. You've done nothing wrong." Lance folded his arms, his voice hissing. Suddenly, he grabbed the front of Ryo's clothing despite the fact the other teen carried a sword. "What did you do to Keith?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Yeah right! You got him to blab about Allura!" Hunk piped up.

Keith sighed, looking around, completely bored out of his mind with the "adult arguing" which was going on right then. He saw the spider web again, and started to set the trashcan he managed to knock over so he could climb back up.

"No!" Ryo's voice made him flinch, and he turned to see that his cousin's actions had made Lance flinch as well. "You're not climbing back up to look at the spider web. You're just going to end up hurting yourself!"

"This is Keith we're talking about. He does crazy stuff all the time."

"Yeah, but normally he doesn't act like this." Hunk piped up.

"Act like what?" Keith's head titled.

"Dude!" Lance's hands motioned in frustration. "Don't you get the fact you're not acting like yourself."

Keith's eyes blinked. "Why do you say that?"

"You're acting like you're four!"

"Eight. Eight or ten." Ryo piped up.

"Excuse me?" Lance turned back towards Ryo.

"None of your business." Ryo grabbed Keith.

Keith sighed, before turning to look elsewhere. He quickly became distracted though when something flew by. "Ah. Bozu-chan!"