Chapter Text
Ryo's statement honestly felt – strange, yet she couldn't put much more thought into regarding what he said as his older brother – the one everyone presumed died in the Kerberous mission was still heading over. She watched Ryo lean up against the wall, noting he was looking right at the purple alien, which felt a bit strange. He shook his head, closing his eyes. "She looked more human. Never mind. I must be mistaken."
"Well, you are stressed out."
"Yeah. It would mean there's an alien species out there with shapeshifting abilities."
"You're definitely..."
"Ryo?" Shiro now stood there. Rachel looked over the guy, taking in how hulking he was. There was now a scar over his nose, but what was once dark hair had somehow turned white. An even more noticeable feature was the missing arm replaced with a mechanical arm. Given the scars and the look on Ryo's face, she realized it was rather hard for him to stay mad at his older brother; instead, the scars made the interaction even more awkward.
"Takashi."
She watched Shiro glance over at Keith then back. "Look..."
"You didn't think I wouldn't find out eventually?"
"You were supposed to find out before I left."
"Why not sooner."
"Keith wasn't ready, but if something happened to me," Shiro glanced away. "Look, I just wanted him to have somebody even if I didn't think he was ready. Even now..."
"You've still not told him."
"Things have been..." Shiro took a deep breath. "Things have been crazy And – I didn't know how to tell him. Not when..."
"Are there aliens who can shapeshift?"
She watched Shiro started, his eyes looking back at the Alien who almost looked human, then turned back towards Ryo. "Why do you ask?"
"I'd have thought..." Ryo took a deep breath. "Nothing. I mean, I couldn't possibly have remembered something like that. I was too young."
"To remember what?" Shiro was obviously confused. "Keith? You guys were like three or four when he disappeared."
"Mom disappeared before that."
Rachel watched Shiro's hand's clench at Ryo's statement, his eyes darting to the ground. "What do you remember about her?"
"Pale skin, dark hair, pointed ears."
"Weird. You make her sound like she's part Altean."
"What exactly is that supposed to mean."
"Honestly, I don't know." Shiro took a deep breath. "Honestly, I'm rather tired. I just wanted to apologize for not telling Keith sooner, for not telling him yet. He's still – you might say he's had a bit of an identity crisis? Maybe I had the identity crisis. Don't know."
"Yeah, well, I didn't exactly put the right foot forward when you disappeared like you wanted. He kind of thought I was using him to replace you. Kind of got punched in the process."
Rachel watched Ryo's older brother cover his eyes and let out a sigh of frustration. "Yeah, that's Keith, but he has improved. Immensely."
"I wish my brother had." It was then Shiro looked at her, as if realizing she was there. "Your brother..."
"Lance." She watch the man's facial features contort slightly. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was the reason your hair turned white."
"That – that's not very nice."
Ryo gave his brother a pitying look. "Yeah, but from the look on your face, you don't like dealing with him."
"Rather not talk about that. Rather not talk about that..." Shiro's head turned, making them realize Keith was now approaching them.
He got only a few feet away when Ryo took a deep breath and started talking. "I need to apologize."
"Wait. You need to apologize?"
"For making you think I was trying to use you to replace Takashi."
"Um – okay." Keith glanced away nervously. "I'm the one who should be apologizing for punching you. For making you think I was talking Shiro away. I'm not, but..." He turned and looked Ryo in the eye, his facial features becoming quite serious, quite determined. "He's my brother. I know we're not blood related..." Rachel wanted to swallow, knowing this wasn't true. "... but he's my brother despite that. That doesn't mean I'm taking him away, okay, but I do need him."
Ryo gave Shiro an exasperated look. "You need to tell him."
"It's really not a good time."
"Why not."
"Because..." Shiro looked over at the purple alien, then looked at Keith. Specifically, he looked at a scar on Keith's face before looking away, almost as if he'd given that scar to him.
"Ryo's your twin brother," Rachel blurted out. She watched Keith's eyes widen, then he looked at Shiro, his head tilting before looking back at the purple alien
"Um..."
"Ryo, why is Lance's sister..." Shiro of course didn't like how she handled the situation.
"She's my girlfriend." Which apparently now was true – that, or he really wanted to annoy his brothers right now.
Keith rubbed the back of his neck, looking at Lance who was definitely glaring at them. "Well, this is awkward. "Please tell me he doesn't know."
IT was definitely an awkward reunion.