Summary: Kagome can't help but feel out of place following the events of her past. While she's kind and friendly, she's an outcast among most of the other cadets at the Galaxy Garrison. It seemed unfortunate when she's swept up in a new battle among the stars, but to the surprise of the others, she's far from unprepared. The stars have always called out to her, after all.
Pairing: Undecided
Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.
Prologue
It was quiet in the library. Pidge peered around the bookshelf, being sure to not make a sound, brown eyes eventually landing on the turned back of a girl with long, raven hair left free to fall down her back. She didn't move, even as Pidge stepped out from behind the shelf and walked the short distance to her. Just before they reached her, she turned the page in her book and glanced back with a curious grin highlighting her features.
"I thought that was you, Pidge," Kagome remarked with a stilted laugh. Pidge's shoulders slumped, and Kagome laughed a bit harder as they sank down into the empty seat beside her. "Why are you so gloomy?"
"I really thought I had you that time," Pidge sighed, resting their chin on their palm with a pout on their face. They glanced at the girl from the corner of their eye. "How do you do it?"
Kagome blinked owlishly. A look of confusion washed over her face as she met Pidge's stare. "What are you talking about?"
"You know!" Pidge huffed, keeping their voice down so as to not get them in trouble. A coy smile shifted onto her face, blue eyes sparkling mischievously. "How do you know who's behind you?" Pidge asked, intrigue present in their voice. "No matter how quiet they are, you still know… How can you do that?"
Kagome stifled a laugh and shrugged. "I'm not sure," she responded. Pidge got the feeling she wasn't being truthful. "I've always been able to tell," she added. "I guess I'm a little bit of a freak, huh?"
Pidge snorted at her comment. "Only a little bit?" they responded dryly. "Have you met you?" They couldn't even count the times she'd gone off on tangents about the strangest of things- from the supernatural to how she could see and feel things others couldn't. Pidge sighed and shook their head. "At least we're both freaks," they said then with a dry laugh. "That's how we get along so well."
Kagome was one of the first people they'd met after enrolling in the Galaxy Garrison, and she'd been super easy to talk to. No matter the topic, she'd listen with earnest interest- either wanting to know more or having her own information to add readily at hand.
They noticed her silence, and Pidge sat back in their seat to observe the distant look that'd invaded her unique eyes. They wanted to ask what was wrong, but the words couldn't form on their tongue. She looked like she was a million miles away in her head right now. A few seconds later, her trance was broken, and she closed her eyes with a soft sigh. Her expression still looked so uneasy.
"What's wrong?" Pidge asked once they'd found their voice. Kagome was quiet for a few more seconds before she shook her head in an attempt to brush off their worry. It didn't really work.
"Nothing," she said, only to pause when she met Pidge's stare. She sighed and ran a hand through her raven hair. "I suppose… there's just an odd aura I can feel," she stated after a brief pause. Pidge looked at her curiously. "It's so far away, but I can feel it getting closer," she sighed. "I don't know what it is, but…"
Why is it coming closer? What need could it possibly have here?
"Are you sure it's not just your mind playing tricks on you?" Pidge asked upon spotting the complicated sheen guarding her eyes. "It wouldn't be the first time in that case."
Kagome's frown deepened as she looked away. "Maybe…" she whispered softly. It didn't happen often, but sometimes she picked up on auras so far away that felt like they were far closer than they actually were. It happened most often in the days after she trained her senses. "Maybe I'm just getting worked up about it for nothing."
Her despondent tone made Pidge frown. After a few seconds, they stood up and pulled her chair back for her, much to her confusion. She looked up at them with wide eyes. "Instead of getting so out of shape about it, why don't you come up the roof with me?" Pidge offered. They recalled their purpose of searching her out. "I wanted to see if you wanted to scan for some radio chatter," they added, revealing the reason for searching out as they had done.
Kagome rose to her feet with a nod of her head. "Sure!" she responded. Pidge's grin grew wider as they motioned her along excitedly.
"Let's go!"
One of the best things about her was the way her presence was so comforting. No matter their prior feelings, when Pidge was with her, they always felt a bit better. She was the only one who could really do that.
Kagome had a lot of unique things about her- that much was clear.
Like many other nights before, the pair had found themselves seated beside each other under the night sky. Among other things, Kagome was adept at sneaking around and getting them out without getting caught. After one too many close calls, Pidge figured it was just better to let her lead.
"There, got it!" Pidge exclaimed once they'd finally gotten everything set up. They set their bag behind them and out of the way before turning to Kagome, offering her the spare set of headphones. Their own pair rested on their shoulders, faint noises already coming through. Pidge paused when they spotted her gaze trained on the stars above them, neat brows furrowed in intense concentration. They wanted to ask, but the thought of breaking her concentration didn't feel right. After a second, they set the second set of headphones down between them and fixed their own over their ears.
The frequencies were going crazy tonight. Over and over, a common word was repeated.
Voltron.
Pidge had their notebook on their lap, pen in hand as they listened to the radio chatter. From the corner of their eye, they could still spot Kagome merely observing the sky, almost as if she was waiting for something to rip through the atmosphere itself.
There was no warning when the headphones on their head was tugged back and a voice came from right beside their ear.
"So do you guys come up here to rock out or something? Or are we interrupting some kind of weird date?"
"Argh-!" Pidge turned to the source of the voice, heart calming down when they realized it was only Lance and Hunk. "Um, no, not really," they said after a brief pause. "We're just up here looking at stars," they said, jutting a thumb in Kagome's direction at their side. When Pidge looked at her, a wave of surprise filled them. She didn't even seem phased by their presence, her gaze still trained on the stars above.
"Uh-huh," Lance responded with folded arms. A neat brow resting over blue eyes arched. "Where'd you get all this stuff?" he asked. "It sure doesn't look like Garrison tech."
"It's not," Pidge responded. "I built it." Hunk peered around Lance and at Pidge and their equipment.
"You built all this?" Hunk asked as he reached for some of it. Almost instantly, his hand is swatted away by Pidge.
"Knock it off!" they huffed and turned back to their equipment. "With this thing, I'm able to scan all the way to the edge of our solar system," they said with pride in their voice.
"Edge of our solar system, you say?" Lance repeated, eyeing Pidge. "So you mean all the way to Kerberos, right?"
His question made Pidge look away, a mild glare on their face, but they didn't say anything in response. Lance sat down behind Pidge, curiosity in his eyes.
"Come on," he said, "you go ballistic every time any of the instructors bring it up. What's your deal with it?" he asked.
Pidge was quiet in response, only reacting when Hunk attempted to reach for the equipment a second time. "Second warning, Hunk!" they snapped at him.
Hunk let his hand fall a second time with a sigh. "Aw, man…"
"Pidge, look," Lance said, getting their attention again. "We're a team, and we need to try and bond like one. We can't have secrets if we wanna make this work."
"..." Pidge sighed, "fine." They glanced at Kagome, curiosity shining in their eyes. It grew when they realized that she still hadn't changed positions any. She kept her attention fixated on the sky above them all, ignoring the conversation going on around her. If one didn't know her better, they'd assume she wasn't even aware of their presence, but Pidge liked to think they knew her better. "The world as you know it is going to change," Pidge explained. "The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake-" From the corner of their eye, they spotted Hunk, once again, reaching his hand out to touch the equipment set up Abruptly, they turned back at him with a glare. "For the last time, Hunk!" Pidge snapped at him "Don't touch my equipment!"
With a defeated sigh, Hunk finally relented. He moved back before sitting down beside Lance.
"So, I've been scanning the system and picking up radio chatter," Pidge finished. They folded their arms across their chest.
"Woah, what?" Hunk exclaimed. "Aliens?!"
"Okay, so you're completely insane- got it," Lance stated, his calm tone a sharp contrast to the anxiousness within Hunk's voice. "Geeze, no wonder you hang out with her," he continued, nodding towards Kagome. "You both are totally crazy."
Pidge huffed, sparing a quick glance at Kagome. She hadn't reacted, but, deep down, Pidge knew she'd clocked what he said. "I'm being serious!" they snapped at Lance. "They keep repeating this one word- Voltron- and tonight it's going crazier than I've ever heard it!"
Lance arched a brow. "How crazy?"
All three of them were startled when the raven-haired girl abruptly rose to her feet. She stumbled back a step or two, and Pidge frowned. The expression on her face was a new one, but it was easy to tell it wasn't a sign of good omens. Blue eyes, while still transfixed on the sky, had gone wide.
"Kagome." Pidge reached to grip the sleeve of her coat, tugging to try and get her attention. It didn't work. "What's wrong?"
Pidge paused, waiting a few seconds to see if she might respond. When she did, they were about to try again only to be cut off by the P.A. system going off.
"Attention cadets." Iverson's voice came from the intercoms. "This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: All students are to remain in the barracks until further notice."
The P.A. system cut off following the end of the alert.
"What's that about…?" Pidge asked out loud. They glanced back at Kagome, the timing of the past few events far too convenient to be a coincidence.
"That." Kagome finally said something, breaking the silence she'd been encased in since they came up to the roof. She pointed up at the sky, and the three with her followed her arm up. It was then that they finally became aware of the fiery object streaking through the sky, falling down towards the Earth.
A stunned silence swept over the group before Hunk eventually was the first to break it.
"W-What is that thing?" Hunk asked. "Is it a meteor… just a very big… massive meteor…?" he rambled. Kagome shook her head as Pidge grabbed a set of binoculars.
"It's not a meteor," Kagome stated, voice surprisingly calm despite the others with her.
"How can you possibly tell that from here?" Lance asked. Before she could say anything in response, Pidge spoke up first.
"She's right!" Pidge exclaimed, and Lance glanced at them. "It's a ship!"
Lance reached for the binoculars and held them up to his eyes to get a better look at the rapidly falling fireball. As soon as he'd located it through the tool, his mouth fell open. "Holy cow!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe what I'm seeing! That's not one of ours, either!"
Pidge shook their head. "It's not! It's gotta be one of theirs!"
"So, wait just a second," Hunk interjected, holding a hand up. "There's really aliens out there?!"
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, the person within the ship is human," Kagome supplied, setting a hand on her hip. The three looked at her. The sudden wave of attention made her take a step back, glancing down. "I can feel their aura from here…" she muttered.
"Human?" Pidge repeated.
"Wait, you can actually feel stuff like that?" Lance questioned. Whenever she made comments like that before, she'd never defend herself when it faltered to being ridiculed by the other cadets- not just the other cadets, either, but the instructors, too... "How come you never defend yourself?"
Kagome sighed and walked around him, going to the ledge of the roof they were on. "Why should I bother explaining myself if I'm not taken seriously in the first place?" she retorted. "How does that help anyone?"
She'd been feeling this for so long, but she knew telling anyone wouldn't result in anything actually happening other than her being disregarded. The ship finally landed, crashing into the Earth's surface with a fury that shook the ground for miles in all directions. Kagome glanced down, brows furrowing as she saw the Garrison Officials heading towards the crash site in land rovers.
"We've got to see that ship!" Pidge exclaimed. Kagome glanced back at them before she nodded.
"I'll meet you down, then," Kagome stated as the last of the rovers vanished over a hill. Before anyone could ask, she leaped from the roof. Her gesture led to three different horrified voices. When she landed safely, catching herself with no harm done to her body, she stood back up at her full height. She felt three sets of eyes watching her, and she turned, glancing up with a gleaming smile.
"You're insane!" Lance exclaimed, only to hear her laugh in response. Looking down at her, even over the distance and darkened sky, her eyes could be seen.
"Hurry up or I leave without you!" Kagome called back in a warning. Before she turned away, however, he could've sworn a trace of pink was visible in her sapphire pools.
"Wait up!" Pidge called out to her, finishing up packing up their spread-out equipment back into their bag and slinging it across their shoulders. "Be right down!" Pidge shouted as they ran for the path they'd taken to get up there in the first place.
Being the last two on the roof, Lance pushed himself away from the ledge, reaching out and taking Hunk by his arm. "Hunk, come on, we're going too!"
"Oh, this has got to be the worst team-building exercise I've ever seen!" Hunk whined.
They eventually stumbled upon the crash site, taking refuge behind an outcropping of boulders to hide their huddled frames.
Using the binoculars to get a better vantage of the site below, Lance sighed. "We'll never be able to get past all those guards," he said. Hunk set his hands on one of the rocks and lifted himself up just enough to peer down at the site. A second later, he fell back with a sigh of his own.
"Aw, man," he said, trying his hardest to sound disparaged by the guards stationed all over, but Kagome could pick up on his relief. "I guess there's nothing we can do, huh?" he continued. "Might as well just head back and-!"
"Wait," Pidge cut him off, attention down at their laptop. "They have a camera set up in there. I was able to hack into it and hijack the feed," they stated, pointing at the screen. The others huddled around Pidge to get a view of the screen. "Look!"
A man strapped down to a table fought against his binds. The Garrison technicians around him didn't seem to be phased as he fought as hard as he could to get free. Kagome frowned at the scene.
"What are you doing?" His arms struggled under the belts holding him in place. "Let me go already!"
"We need you to calm down first, Shiro," Iverson stated, coming up to his side. "We can't let you go. We need to quarantine you while we run a few tests on you."
"We don't have time for that!" Shiro argued back. "You have to listen to me." He pleaded, voice desperate. "Aliens are coming- they've destroyed worlds!"
"No way!" Lance gawked. "That's Shiro, he was the Kerberos Mission's pilot! The guy is basically a legend!"
"Guess he didn't die in space like they said, after all," Hunk muttered.
"If he's here, then where's the rest of his crew?" Pidge asked
Kagome was silent beside the others, her frown deepening.
Why wouldn't they listen to him…?
Her hand came up, deft fingers burrowing in her shirt.
"You know, you shouldn't let what they say get to your head."
She picked her head up, gaze lifting from the floor to land on the man standing in front of her. He smiled at her.
"You've got a unique gift," he continued. "I'm Takashi, but I go by Shiro," he introduced himself. "Kagome, right?" She nodded, and he smiled. "It's good to meet you."
Kagome stared at his offered hand for a few seconds before she finally relented and placed her smaller hand within his own.
"Why did you enroll in the Garrison?" he asked.
"I'm…" Kagome paused, blue eyes falling to fixate on the ground again. "I'm not sure," she responded. "I…-" Her hand burrowed in her shirt, fingers finding the round jewel she kept hidden beneath her top. "It felt right, at least."
Shiro smiled, moving his hand to rest it on the top of her head gently. "Don't let them change your mind, then," he responded. "I get the feeling you're something special."
"What makes you say that?" Kagome asked, looking up as Shiro's smile widened.
"I'm not sure," he said. "You've just got that look in your eyes. You seem wiser than most of the older folks here." He himself was included in that list.
She was silent in response, and he let his hand fall from her head.
"If it ever gets to be too much, you can always come talk to me," he assured her. "I'll always make time for you. You're not as alone as it may seem, okay?"
The memory was abrupt, and she hated the sting that built up in her eyes.
She'd made it a routine to talk to him every other day, and, true to his word, he made room to listen to her. He didn't seem phased when she would talk about anything too strange, either. She could tell he was entertaining her, but that never stopped her.
"Do you know how long you've been gone, Shiro?"
Her gaze drifted back to the screen the four of them were sharing.
"I don't know…!" Shiro responded. "Months? Years? Look, we don't have time for this!" He argued. "Aliens are coming here. They're searching for some weapon. They're probably already on their way! We have to find it first! We need to find Voltron before they do!"
"He just mentioned Voltron!" Pidge exclaimed.
"Sir, take a look at this." A technician came up on his other side, motioning to one of Shiro's arms. "It appears that his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic."
"Put him under until we can get an understanding of what that thing can do," Iverson ordered.
"No!" Shiro argued, fighting at his binds even harder than before. The result was the same as before. He couldn't get free. "Stop! There's no time! You have to let me go! Let me go!"
Kagome tore her gaze away from the screen, unable to take it anymore. She wasn't the only one, either. The rest had also looked away.
"They didn't even bother to ask him about the rest of his crew!" Pidge exclaimed in barely repressed anger.
"What are they even doing?" Lance responded with energy that matched Pidge. "That guy's a legend, and they're not even gonna listen to him?"
"We have to get him out of there," Kagome stated. Eyes went to her, and Lance nodded.
"I'm with you!" he responded.
"Ah, you guys, wait..-" Hunk interjected, holding his hands up. "I hate to be the voice of reason here, always, but weren't we just watching the camera footage because there's no way to get past all those guards?" he asked.
Kagome glanced at him. "Well, not with that attitude there's not," she retorted.
"Right!" Lance said, standing up. "We weren't properly motivated back then, but now we are. We've just got to think about it a bit," he mused, tapping his chin. "Could we try tunneling our way in?"
"What about getting some hazmat suits?" Pidge asked. "Dress up in 'em and sneak in like we're med techs."
"Or or…" Hunk cut in again. "We dress up like cooks, sneak into the commissary," he suggested. "Some little late-night snacking."
"Those ideas won't work," Kagome said, folding her arms across her chest. "What we need is a distraction."
"What kind of distraction?" Pidge asked. Kagome lifted her head to look into the distance, and she nodded.
"Like this one," she stated. The rest were confused at first. Confusion soon swapped to alarm when a series of explosions went off in the distance. The three of them let out screams as Kagome stood calm.
"What was that?!" Lance exclaimed.
"Was that the aliens?" Hunk whimpered, covering his head with his hands. "Are they already here… oh man t- they got here so fast."
"Not aliens, Hunk," Pidge stated, peering into their binoculars. "Those explosions were a distraction for that guy!" Pidge pointed to a figure in the distance, and the two boys peered over the rock ledge. As they did, Kagome had already climbed up onto them. "The Garrison's heading towards the blast. He's sneaking in from the other side!"
Lance took the binoculars and peered through them. "No way…!" He exclaimed. "Oh, no shot! He's not gonna beat us in there! That guy's always trying to one-up me!"
"Who is it?" Hunk asked.
"It's Keith!"
"Who?" Pidge asked, confused by the name.
Kagome sighed and looked at the three. "I'm going ahead," she stated. The three looked at her, but she'd already jumped down before they could say anything in response. Her actions pulled Lance to move.
"Let's go!"
"Wait," Hunk called as he ran after the other boy. "You said Keith? Are you sure it's him?"
"Of course!" he fired back. "I'd recognize that mullet anywhere!"
Pidge ran after them. "Who's Keith?!" They shouted, exasperated.
…
Kagome made her way inside the quarantined crash site. By the time she'd made it, those still there had all been knocked out. She wasn't phased as she stepped over the unconscious bodies to make her way to the area where Shiro was subdued in.
She paused upon spotting the other figure there, only to move a second later. She came up to Shiro's other side. She placed her hand on the side of his face, but he didn't stir when she pushed a burst of her energy into him. Her frown deepened.
"The anesthesia they used won't wear off for a while," she remarked. Forcing him to wake up might not have a good effect on him, either. "If we wanna get him out, then looks like we're stuck carrying him."
"I'll get him," Keith said.
Kagome shook her head. "He'll be too heavy for one person to move."
Lance, Pidge, and Hunk filed into the room with him. As soon as he was there, Lance came up to her side, slightly pushing her back some. She lifted a glare to the back of his head.
"Nope!" he argued, "no you…- No, not a chance!" he exclaimed. "No, you don't. I'm shaving Shiro." He attempted to lift Shiro onto his shoulder, but he didn't get far. Keith mirrored her expression, glaring at him.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Don't act like you don't know," Lance huffed. "The name's Lance."
Silence followed, Keith gazing at him without a hint of recognition.
"... we were in the same class at the Garrison?" Lance added. Keith blinked at the information.
"Really?" he asked. "Are you an engineer?"
"No, I'm a pilot," he responded. "We were like rivals," he stated. "You know, Lance and Keith, neck-and-neck…"
"Oh," Keith responded as realization hit him. "I remember you now. You were a cargo pilot."
"Not anymore," Lance scoffed. "I'm fighter-class now thanks to you, wash-out."
"Well, congratulations," Keith remarked.
"We should get going unless you wanna deal with a lot more people coming in," Kagome stated as a reminder that their time was limited.
"Right," Keith responded, about to grab Shiro, only for Lance to glare at him.
"Back off I got him," he stated.
Kagome watched for a few seconds more before she sighed, going to intervene. Wordlessly, she grabbed Shiro and hefted him up on her shoulder. Silence befell the room as the petite girl seamlessly picked up the man almost twice her size.
Keith was the first to break it.
"You said he'd be too heavy for one person," he stated. Kagome cut blue eyes back to him with an arched brow.
"To be fair, that was more for your sake," she responded. "For me, it's easy." She turned on her heel and made her way from the building. As she did, the rest had no choice other than to follow her. Once outside, she came to a halt. In the distance, the returning rovers could be seen.
"Oh man, they're already on their way back," Hunk said. "They don't look happy, either…" He turned to Keith. "Do you mind if we catch a ride with you?"
A minute later, they all were situated on Keith's hovercraft. Albeit, it was far from a conformable fit.
"Is this thing even big enough for all of us?" Pidge asked.
"No," Keith muttered as he took off. As he did, the Garrison made it back at the very last second, and they started to follow after them.
"Why am I stuck holding onto this guy?" Pidge asked, but they held onto Shiro either way.
"Hey, we all were able to fit," Hunk chimed.
"Can't it go any faster?" Lance asked. "At this rate, they're gonna catch up."
"We could always throw out some nonessential weight," Keith muttered.
"Right!" Lance exclaimed, looking around for anything that could be tossed. A second later, he paused, looking at Keith. "Okay, so that was an insult," he stated. "I get it."
"Big man, lean left!" Keith called back to Hunk. He complied quickly, and the hovercraft turned. As it did, two of the Garrison rovers chasing them crashed into each other.
"Oh, man!" Hunk exclaimed as he glanced over his shoulder. "Mr. Harris just took out Professor Montgomery!" A few seconds passed, and he shook his head. "Oh, never mind, he's fine!"
"To the right!" Keith said, and Hunk complied a second time. The craft jumped from one cliff to the next. As it did, another rover crashed.
In the distance, the ledge of the cliff could be seen.
"Guys?" Hunk sat up a bit more to get a better look. "I-Is that a cliff up ahead?"
"Sure looks like it," Kagome answered. Lance looked at her with wide eyes.
"Oooh no!" Lance exclaimed. "No, no, no-!"
"Yup," Keith responded with a smirk. He increased the speed, while the others started to scream their complaints. Kagome merely tightened her grip in the back of Keith's jacket.
The craft jumped from the cliff, plummeting to the ground below.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Lance shouted. "You're gonna kill all of us!"
"Just shut up and trust me!" Keith fired back.
With skill, he safely avoided crashing to the ground below. Once down, he continued further off into the desert. The Garrison had stopped chasing after them, unable to continue any further down the cliffside.
Auroua-chan: This got a lot longer than I anticipated. Gonna end this one here for now.
Kagome and Pidge have been friends for quite some time before the story begins. Does Kagome know that Pidge is actually a girl? Yes. Does Pidge know that she knows? Nope.
The pairing isn't decided yet. Currently I'm between Keith or Shiro, but I'm not decided on anything just yet.
Anyway, that's it for now! Thank you for reading and I hope you all enjoyed! Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.
Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!
Bye for now~