Roots
Infirmary

"Wakey, wakey."

A female voice echoed through Keith's head but that voice was definitely not the voice he looked forward to hearing in his dreams. He felt the bed he was on, for he was on a bed, shift under the person's weight as they placed their hands on either side, only to lift up slightly while they took the tip of their braid and tickled his nose. Keith's nose wrinkled up, one hand swatting her hair away. Grumbling, he said her name. "Tamara…"

"Well, at least you're able to remember I exist. If you weren't feeling too great, we could have just gone to the infirmary to make out."

"Mm… what?" Keith's eyes remained open, feeling Tamara's fingers start walking down from the center of his chest to his stomach as she leaned forward, her breath on his face. When she nearly reached the belt of his uniform, his hand shot out, his eyes opening. "I told you. Not in the mood."

"Well, I can certainly quickly get you into the mood." Tamara leaned in closer, her lips inches from his own. "You know that I'm really good at getting you into the mood."

Keith swallowed, still holding onto her hand, wondering if he should just let her have her way with him, thus rendering it over and done with when he heard someone clear their voice. Turning his head, one of the first things he took in was the fact he was in the infirmary, his hands bandaged up, the knuckles stinging. The second was their new teacher and mentor glaring at them as Tamara pulled back from him, twisting so that she might glare at him.

Sven tilted his head in the direction of what Keith assumed was the entrance of the infirmary. "Leave."

The bed shifted as Tamara got up, letting out a sound of irritation as she did so. Keith glared at the man, noticing he carried a tray of food, the kind normally given to those stuck in the infirmary. "That was none of your business."

"Really?"

"Just…" Keith closed his eyes, remembering how Sven showed up while he was pummeling the punching bag, interfering in a matter which in Keith's mind wasn't any of the man's business. Flopping back down, his hands at his side. "Fuck off!"

Sven stepped forward, making Keith's entire body tense up, his teeth gritting together while his mind wondered what the man actually wanted from him, as practically every adult wanted something. Sven walked over, setting the tray of food down on the table next to the hospital bed. "Lance said something about you probably not eating anything during lunch."

Keith tensed up, wondering if Lance said anything regarding Atkinson. His eyes closed, remembering Lance wouldn't do such a thing, yet he still couldn't help but wonder what this man wanted. Sucking in his breath. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Want?" Sven reached out, grabbing one of Keith's wrists, tugging his hand up so they could both see his bandaged hand ."This…"

Keith flinched, pulling his hand away, cradling it to his chest. "Fucking touch me again and I'll kill you!"

"Wow." Sven pulled back, but not without hinting at the fact Keith's words did in fact hurt him as he looked at Keith which only made the cadet even more furious.

"Skrew you!" Keith shifted slightly so he could sit up straighter, angry at yet another adult butting into his life as if they knew what he needed. "Screw you and all the adults! I wish you'd all just go and die already!"

"Well, you certainly have quite the mouth on you, don't you?" Sven glared at him, a look which screamed bloody murder yet the man didn't do anything.

The corner of Keith's mouth twisted. "And what are you going to do about that?"

"Nothing. Curse me out all you want. I honestly don't care." Sven stated, crossing his arms and glaring at Keith as Keith's eyes widened and his mouth fell. "Oh, don't take that as me not caring, because I do care. I cared enough to haul your ass in here when you were self-harming."

"I was not self-harming!" Keith snapped, his fists clenching despite the pain he felt in both hands. "I don't fucking cut! I'm not that stupid."

"There's more than one way a person can self-harm, but I'm surprised none of the adults have brought this up with you."

"All I'm doing is trying to control my temper so I don't get in trouble. What does it matter if I'm not harming anybody else?" Keith held up his middle finger, glaring at Shiro, not hesitating at all. "Well, guess what? I'm fucking fed up with adults and their rules."

"Because there doesn't seem to be a consistency to them?" Sven let one eyebrow go up. "Well then, I'm going to tell you I really don't care what kind of shit you three get up to."

Keith swallowed, unsure of how to react to the apathy Sven showed. Normally the teachers went out of their way to get on his good side, or they went out of their way to try and make their team miserable. He glanced away, letting out a deep breath, swallowing, his hands clenching despite the pain."

"Oh, this doesn't mean I don't have rules," Sven stated. "The first rule I have for you three is not to drag others into your shit because that's not fair to everybody else."

Keith glared, noticing how Sven used rather strong language, but one of Sven's eyebrows rose up.

"Yes, I'm using strong language because you seem so fond of it. Second rule, don't pull crap where you or your teammates get hurt." Sven pointed at Keith's hands. "That means no more pummeling your fists to a pulp." Keith of course opened his mouth to protest. "If you really want to learn to control that temper of yours as you said…" Which of course made Keith realized he'd managed to walk into that one. "… then I'll teach you how to properly do it, starting with that sparring session I've postponed."

"Screw…"

"Oh, I didn't say that you wouldn't be getting hurt. That's a risk with any physical activity, but the idea is that you won't blindly be hurting yourself anymore."

"Screw you," Keith muttered under his breath, yet he knew the teacher heard.

"Three. Don't do your shit in front of me because I don't want to have to act like an authority figure, but because it's my job to do so I'll be forced to act."

"Say what?"

"Tell your friend Lance that if I catch him smoking I will be taking his cigs away, so don't get caught," Sven continued glaring, but then he suddenly smirked as if he found the situation funny for some reason. "That said, there's nothing in those rules which say you can't pull pranks on me during your class period so long as the shit you pull doesn't affect the rest of your classmates or get someone hurt."

"What?" Keith stared at the man, his facial features softening.

"You heard me. I honestly didn't mind you guys not showing in class today, but it would have been a lot more fun if you'd pulled a prank and lived up to this whole trouble image Iverson presented of you guys." Sven's facial features faltered. "That said, I need to ask regarding that girlfriend of yours."

"Fiance," Keith snapped, glaring at the man. "And Tamara is none of your business."

"Aren't you a bit young to have a fiancé?"

"I saved up for the ring, it's expected of us and we're seniors, so marrying once we get out of high school…"

"Okay. Okay." Sven held up his hand, then lowered it. "Are you by chance sexually active?"

"That is fucking not any of your business." Keith threw the pillow at him, frustrated he would even ask the question. "Get out."

"Fine. Be sure to eat something. Oh, and on top of making sure our sparring match is rescheduled, you've been excused from your classes for the rest of the day and tomorrow's classes. Your first time back in class is with me the day after tomorrow."