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Defenders of Tomorrow

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“For millennia, the Galra Empire had plagued the universe by destroying other civilizations and enslaving various races. The only known threat strong enough to put an end to the empire's power and plans was the legendary "Defender of the Universe" Voltron, a 100-meter-tall robot warrior composed of five lion mechas whose pilots were known as the Paladins.”

The video for the day’s lesson dragged on and on, repeating the same words, the same scenarios, the same people. Akira grew up hearing people regale the legend of Voltron. How the brave paladins eventually sacrificed themselves for the greater good. How Voltron itself gave its own quintessence to keep Earth and its people alive. What Akira didn't understand was the fact that Voltron and its paladins were still worshipped as gods among men, while a war was currently still raging on.

Haruhiko and his father have been gone for two years now. He had stopped receiving letters from them both three months after they were deployed; he hadn’t heard from them since. Worst of all, no one would give him a straight answer.

“ It’s war, people go missing all the time, they can’t keep track of every single individual .”

“ It was most likely the effect of someone making an error .”

“ We just don’t know, kid .”

And time wouldn’t wait for Akira to grieve properly or try and find his family; the world was quickly evolving every day. Technology was advancing rapidly, and with updated ways of space exploration, more and more aliens started emigrating to Earth. Or, Miscere, as some of the aliens have taken to calling it.

With all of the newcomers and new technologies, came about a drastic change in how each country governed itself. Most economies expanded greatly, and new cities popped up every day as 21st century boom towns. The rich thrived while the poor stayed poor; middle class families were taxed even more to help with the added population of countries. And to avoid conflict with the aliens, a lot of government spending would start going towards housing them. Funding for schools, churches, and even orphanages drastically decreased.

Akira spent his last few days in the orphanage that he resided in watching the younger children get new families in droves. It was Christmas at the time, and once the New Year hit, the orphanage would be shut down; any child that was left was to be put out on the streets, forced to fend for themselves.

Unsurprisingly, Akira found himself being one of those children.

Thankfully, any and all survival knowledge that Haruhiko and his dad taught him had stuck. He ended up being one of the “lucky” ones; and by that, he meant that he had survived. And while primary education remained free, the teaching methods and lessons changed immensely from a mere decade ago. The main focus in classrooms now was learning about Voltron and its legacy.

Akira often wondered about the war, and about the brave soldiers who went out to fight the last vestiges of the Galra empire who still craved power. Those soldiers were hardly mentioned.

“... many brave soldiers we’ve lost. Men and women of all species sacrificed their lives for this noble cause… to this war. When we think of freedom, we think of them. When we think of family, we think of them. And when we think of our children’s future… we think of them.” The narrator’s voice rang with passion and pride through the speakers. “On this day we will no longer run or hide, we will no longer suffer and hurt, we will no longer have to search for another way. Because today we are at peace… we are united… and we are free.” The video cut to black, and the silence in the classroom was disturbingly loud.

Free, yet forgotten. Akira’s definition of free didn’t quite align with most others’. He was alone, forgotten, homeless. And he believed that you’re only ever truly free when you are loved.

No, Akira didn’t see freedom at all. It was as if the universe itself were contained in a box. Left alone, forgotten, and otherwise untouchable. The destruction came from inside; war, hate, torture and malice. And sacrifice. Earth- no, Miscere preached unity in its diversity. However, with the current people in charge, it was bringing nothing but pain.

Akira often wakes up in the middle of the night to screams of emotional agony as children get ripped away from their mothers. Seeing people getting shot down in the street was no longer something out of the ordinary. People, humans and aliens alike, were miserable.

While walking home, Akira pondered that sometimes, he didn’t know what was worse: sitting through lectures that he abhorred or having to come back to his shit-hole of a residence every day. He found a home in The Wasure after the orphanage kicked him out; it held in its clutches a run-down apartment complex, inhabited by only a few people. Compared to majority of the surrounding cities, Akira found himself in the dark a lot, living in The Wasure. There were no flashing neon lights or bustling roads. Just quiet brick buildings, rusted fire escapes and a single abandoned playground.

Akira has his routines per day. It’s a lonely cycle, and a repetitive one. He takes the same path to and from school, ignores the same people, and puts his keys in the same place. For a couple of hours, he works meticulously on the bike that he had snuck in. And once he’s done, he just goes to his spot on the floor where a bed should probably be.

And that’s where he is now. Sitting on a ratty blanket, dog tags clenched in his fist. Haruhiko’s and his dad’s. When Akira first got the idea that they were missing, he would hold the tags close to his heart, and feel just slightly better.

Now, he only feels angry and alone.

Akira tightened his grip on the tags, the cool metal pressing painfully into the palm of his hand. However, it made him determined. He would meet with them again someday. He had to, for they were his only family. The only people he held most dear to him.

Lips pressed into a thin line, he glared down at the names on the tags.

“I will find you.”

---

“LEANDRO!” he screamed, hand outstretched from inside the vent, grasping desperately for his lover. Leandro only kept shooting, eyes trained on the aliens surrounding them.

“GO, KIRA!” he yelled back, “I can only hold them off for so long, so you have to go !” Akira paused, the little girl in his arms now a supremely heavy weight against his instinct. Leandro must be running out of ammo by now, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself much longer- “GET OUT OF HERE!” Leandro finally turned his head to lock eyes with Akira; his eyes were pleading, desperate, but Akira also saw the fear pulsing within his irises.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Akira finally started shuffling back further into the vent. Just before he lost sight of Leandro, he watched as his boyfriend surrendered, guns falling to the ground uselessly, and tried to ingrain that signature bright smile into his memory. Leandro says one thing right before he’s tackled to the ground.

“ You’ll find me. ”