"Rumor has it we have a new teacher for our History class."
Lance knew what Keith would do when he brought up the rumor of the History class in the same manner he knew exactly where to find Keith. Their latest hangout for getting away from the adults who tried reigning them in was the roof of a hanger which was currently unused. When he arrived, he dropped Keith's bag unceremoniously next to him before heading to his own spot where he too would enjoy watching the clouds go by but not before lighting up a cigarette he definitely shouldn't have.
After a slight amount of time, Hunk sent a text with rather confusing information regarding their new history teacher. "So, Hunk's going to be heading over here soon I think."
"That was rather quick."
"According to Hunk, the teacher is one of those. You know, the old softy ones who like being on their students' good sides."
"Could we please not talk about the new teacher?"
"Yeah, yeah. Sure. We don't have to talk about the new teacher." Lance turned his phone off and slid it into his pocket before enjoying another swig of the cigarette. While it didn't do anything to calm Keith's nerves, it did calm his and he found himself better able to deal with his friend. He heard footsteps on the roof of someone approaching and waved the hand with the cigarette in the air. "Not only do I hope you've brought snacks Hunk, but I hope you didn't eat all of them."
"Hello."
Lance sat up straight, nearly dropping the cigarette. He quickly tossed it onto the ground and stared at the young man standing there, in the uniform the adults wore. He definitely did have what looked like Asian features but spoke in an accent one would expect from someone in Asia. Worse, he leaned right over Keith, a smile on his face while Keith looked up at the adult who'd dared to interfere yet again in his life. There was no way this was going to go well.
"Fuck you."
Particularly with Keith's first words to the man being expletives. Lance let out a sigh as Keith started sitting up and the man backed up to let him do so. The man continued smiling. "Well, that's no way to respond to someone you don't know."
"But I do know who you are." Keith stood up and dusted himself off while Lance moved to his side, glaring at the intruder but also knowing this would mean they would have to now find a different spot. "You're the new History teacher."
"I'm also the new mentor for your group Keith."
"Say what?" Keith looked at the man vehemently, which was never good and Lance stepped closer. Male teachers were honestly the worst, but because the team was all-male they were always assigned a male teacher – although some said this was because of Lance's penchant to flirt with anyone of the opposite sex.
"While I do like the idea of everyone have a free study for our class period – I mean, it wasn't quite fair for you to take a free study period yourselves was it, I would much rather you be in class."
"Why you…" Which of course resulted in Keith suddenly lunging at the man, his breath flaring dangerously while Lance quickly grabbed him from behind knowing exactly what kind of trouble Keith would be in lest. Lance glared at the man, also irritated in the fact he'd purposefully planned the early release and self-study because of their behavior and showed such disapproval.
"Keith, don't. Don't get into a fight with a teacher, of all people. Not when he first got here." Lance felt a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach with this one and refused to look the man in the eye, instead stood there trying to cool his friend's temper.
"Oh. You want to fight me?" The man seemed amused.
"Yes! Yes, I do!"
"Actually, you know what. That isn't a bad idea." The man saying this almost made Lance let go of Keith, but his head glanced up at the man in disbelief as he pulled out his phone. Dread filled the pit of his stomach, the worry that this would be one of those teachers who took things to the extreme where Keith was involved, such as physically beating him down only to thankfully be kicked out. He fiddled a bit and then said, "There. Scheduled."
"Scheduled?" Keith glared at the man, still furious at how the adult tried butting in, and far quicker than the others. In Lance's mind, this man was a monster, the exact opposite of what Hunk said.
"Yes. Check your device. You do have it on you, right?"
Lance relaxed a bit as Keith fumbled, his hand reaching in his pocket. He didn't let go though, not even when Keith looked at his assigned itinerary. "Wait? A sparring match?"
"From the looks of it, it might do you some good to get some of that pent up energy out, right?"
Lance's jaw dropped, looking at the man. "Wait…"
"Oh, and it's Sven Holgersson by the way, though the three of you – I see Hunk isn't here yet, have permission to call me Sven." The man smiled. "And yes, I was actually looking forward to seeing you three in class today and what kind of pranks you would come up with to try and drive me away." Keith glared at him, continuing to fume, his fists clenched. The man waved at them. "Anyways. See you two later. Let Hunk know I hope to see all three of you in my class tomorrow."
"What the hell is his problem?" Keith snapped, just as Hunk came up on the roof, looking at their new teacher in surprise. He watched the man leave.
"Okay. What just happened?" Hunk carried an arm loaf of snacks. "And I didn't let the new teacher know where we are," their friend said after Sven left. "Promise."
"I know you didn't." Lance let go of Keith. "And honestly, I don't know what's up. One moment you think that guys going to lay into you and then he acts like those nice teachers."
"He wants something," Keith jerked his shoulders, then folded his arms across his chest. "They always do. I'm not…" There came a pause. "Let's just drive him away before it gets that far, okay?"
"Yeah." Lance watched his friend carefully. "Question is, are you going to that sparring match?"
"That…" Keith let out a sigh. "Honestly, I don't know what the best response is to that."
"What sparring match?"
"Genius over here let our new mentor know he wouldn't mind laying in a few well-placed punches."
"Ah Keith, did you have to?"
"Well, at least the teacher made it so Keith can punch the living daylights out of him without getting put into solitary."
"Yeah, but the garrison is really getting…" Hunk's comment made Keith glared at him. "Uh, never mind. Let's have some snacks."
"Good idea, Hunk my man. I hope you brought Keith and my favorites. Also, I need a new cigarette." He plopped down onto the ground across from where Hunk dumped the snacks while Keith sat down and reluctantly took one of the packaged snacks. Lance saw the look on his face, reading his friend carefully. "You know, he's not going to be like that."
"You don't know that. It's just better to chase them off before things get to that point."
"What point?" Hunk asked, curious regarding what Keith meant.
"Don't worry about it," Lance leaned back onto the palms of his hands. "It's just Keith not trusting any of the teacher's kind of stuff."
"Ah. I get that."