Archive of Our Own ^beta

Shiro was the Galaxy Garrison’s golden boy— their star fighter pilot. He broke records, won awards, and created a name for himself and the organization responsible for his schooling.

The people in Shiro’s life would slap him on the back at times and comment on how well off he must be.

Shiro wished he could agree.

He was the golden boy but most annoyingly, Shiro was the Garrison’s poster boy. They put him through interviews, pushed him to participate in commercials, and had him perform speeches to welcome new cadets on Orientation.

At times, Shiro could suffer through it. He could slip on a smile and pose for his audience as the man the Garrison wanted the public to see. There were other times, however, where Shiro couldn’t so much as force a smile on his face.

Today was one of those days.

Shiro was in Iverson’s office, his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose as he willed away the throbbing ache in his skull.

Iverson was at his desk, chatting away about the interview they would clearly need to redo because of Shiro’s unsavory behavior.

“You were snippy, Shirogane,” Iverson spat as he paced back and forth. The clicking of his heels against the tiled floor felt like thunder to Shiro’s throbbing head. “We’ll need to send an official apology.”

“She overstepped her boundaries,” Shiro wanted to argue and it wasn’t a lie. She had needled him about his private life— his family and all that. “What does my family have to do with the Garrison’s mission funding?”

“Sorry, Sir,” Shiro responded instead. “I’ll write one up as soon as I get back to my bunk.” He lowered his hand from his face. “I’ll set up a time to reschedule the interview too.”

Iverson huffed and plopped in the chair behind his desk. “See that you do.” He eyed Shiro then and waved at the door. “You're dismissed, Shirogane.”

Shiro stood from his chair, saluted Iverson, and forced out a pained “Thank you, Sir.” before exiting from the office and making his way down the Garrison halls.

“Afternoon, Sir,” Cadets and other officers greeted as he passed and Shiro forced a smile and salute to each of them despite how much he wanted to just keep moving and dive into the comfort of his sheets.

As a kid, Shiro watched the Garrison’s commercials like any bright-eyed youth who dreamed of flying to a world far away. The people in the commercials always said and did the coolest things. They were his inspiration— his role models. So when he got the chance, he packed his bags and took the long trip out of Japan to the desert the school of his dreams waited for him in. He worked hard and, in time, got what he wanted. He just didn’t expect all this extra stuff with it.

When he finally made it to the officer quarters, Shiro threw open his door and barged in only to trip on something sprawled along his floor.

A screech left Shiro’s lips and he collapsed face first onto the carpeted floor of his room.

Someone moaned beneath him and Shiro picked up his head to find Matt crushed under his shins.

“Matt?”

“And me,” another voice called and Shiro looked up towards his bed, spotting Keith sitting in the center with a box of pizza in his lap.

“What are you two up to?” Shiro questioned and he forced himself up and off of Matt. “And why were you one my floor, Matt?”

The cadet, in answer, held up his tablet pen. “Dropped it,” he revealed. “You have the worst timing, man.” Matt rubbed at his neck. “Getting stepped on was the last thing I had on my list today.”

Shiro raised a brow. “What was at the top?” he questioned and his gaze slowly eased to Keith as the younger cadet re-arranged Matt’s computer on the bed.

“We thought we’d do a movie night,” Matt moaned and he stood to walk over to the bed and flop over Shiro’s thin covers. “Keith’s idea. Blame him.”

“It was both of our ideas,” Keith corrected and he looked down at Shiro who was still sitting on the floor. “We know you’ve been stressing lately. Thought you could use a break.”

Warmth spread throughout Shiro’s chest.

He stood and plopped down between his two best friends on his bed. “Thanks, guys,” he said and he stole the box of pizza from Keith. He popped it open, mouth watering at the pepperoni and olive covered pizza hidden beneath the paper lid.

“Now—” Matt logged into his Amazon account. “What should we watch? The classics? Something new?”

“Is the new Marvel movie available yet?”

“Gotta be more specific, Kogane,” Matt hummed. “There’s a new one every other month.”

“Hmm...what about Big Hero 6?” Shiro suggested.

Keith raised a brow. “Shiro, you cry every time,” he reminded.

“Do not!”

Matt and Keith both held up their phones. At first, Shiro didn’t notice anything but then he recognized his own face in the background of their phones. He was curled up in a different blanket and in a different room for each picture, but the wet look in his eyes and the computer in his lap were the same.

A blush colored Shiro’s cheeks and he hid his face in the palms of his hands. “Why do you have those,” he mumbled pitifully.

“For this exact reason,” Matt chuckled and both he and Keith shoved their phones away.

“I hate you,” Shiro huffed into his hands but his words lacked any venom. “Both of you.”

Matt blew a kiss at Shiro and Keith wrapped an arm around the senior officer’s shoulders, drawing him into a small, comforting hug.

Shiro looked up from his hands, a smile pulling at his lips as their eyes met and his smile only grew as the opening lines to Big Hero 6 played from the speakers of Matt’s computer.

“We didn’t bring tissues,” Matt warned and he grabbed a slice of pizza from the box still balanced in Shiro’s lap.

“That’s okay,” Shiro reassured. “I think I know two idiots willing to lend me a shoulder.”