I’ll do you one better–Keith says that in line in response to something Shiro says, which is “We’re your family.” And when he says we, yes–he means all the paladins. Caonically, this is how Keith feels about Team Voltron. They’re all his found family. But Keith’s response to that isn’t, “Yes, you all are.” Instead, he specifically focuses on Shiro, and how much Shiro means to him. So yes, he thinks of all of Voltron as his family. But there’s undeniably this special place in his heart for Shiro that just can’t be replaced.
And even though Keith also cares about his actual parents–mentioning that it was his mother’s rejection that caused him to push others away, and even thinking fondly enough of his father to hallucinate reuniting with him in the BOM. But the fact of the matter is, not even the dream of being with his parents again was enough to convince him to give up the trial. He only did that for the sake of Shiro’s safety, because “Nothing was worth Shiro’s pain.”
What’s more, Keith himself has said that Shiro is the only one who’s never abandoned him, who’s always been there for him. Not his parents, not Lance or Allura or the other paladins, it’s just Shiro that he has this intimate bond with. And that’s why it breaks my heart when people said they hoped after Shiro disappeared Lance would fill that void for Keith. Or when they edit sheith scenes to be other ships or downplay the importance of Shiro in Keith’s life. Because Keith himself has said Shiro was the only who he believed wholeheartedly cared for him and would never turn his back on him–“Shiro is the one person who never gave up on me, I won’t give up on him.”
At the end of the day, even with all the progress Keith has made with opening up to the other paladins–he still feels like Shiro is literally all he fucking has, and people still want to take even that away from him. Even though it’s his worst fear
ifesbob 