/ Hello you guys.! I'm back with my longest one-shot yet. I always tend to write around a thousand words, give or take a hundred, but this went on until 1700 words. I do hope you enjoy this, even though it's a very rare pairing. /

PIANO AND VIOLIN SONATA

"Pay attention, Kirkland!" the music teacher snapped, tapping her recorder on Arthur's head. The student kept silent; he was afraid that he'd embarrass himself more than he already had.

"You're already trailing behind as it is," the teacher complained. The whole class snickered and Arthur sank in his seat. "You cannot afford to dilly-dally, not when you're this close to failing." Turning to the rest of the class, she announced, "Everybody get back to your music sheets. We are on the seventh measure, starting with a do..."

Arthur buried his face in his hands. He was paying attention. He knew the hand positions by heart, and he can sight-read better than most of his classmates. It was just that he could never get the blowing right. Every time he blew on the mouthpiece, either a weak or strangled shrill note would come out. At first he though his mouthpiece was broken, but after using one of the recorders in the music room during his extra lessons with the music teacher, he ruled out the thought.

After a few minutes, the music teacher dismissed the students. She gestured for Arthur to talk with her first though. He begrudgingly walked to her desk where she sat with a frown on her face.

"What seems to be the matter, Arthur?" she asked, concerned.

Arthur felt his face heat up in embarrassment. "Madam, I..."

"You've been stuck on blowing since the second week of classes," she stated. "If you don't get past it by the end of the week, I'm going to have to fail you."

Arthur' eyes went wide. "But ma'am, I..."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I know you're vying for the top of the year, but I can't give you a C for your progress, let alone an A."

Arthur looked down. Of course. What kind of A student couldn't produce a proper note?

Her expression turned sincere. "I want to help you, Arthur." She sighed. "I won't be here this afternoon as I'll be training the orchestra, but I can give you permission to use the music room. Use the time you have after class to practice, okay?"

Arthur pocketed the slip he received from the music teacher and went out of the room. He sighed. There was no way he could be better after just an afternoon of practice. He couldn't do it in two weeks; he surely couldn't do it in two hours.

~.;*;.~

Arthur sighed. He couldn't do it. He had been trying to produce a single do note for the past half hour with no such luck.

"I never wanted to learn how to play the recorder anyway," he muttered angrily to himself. He stood up, leaving the instrument that was the cause of all his embarrassment and failures on the seat.

He walked over to the instrument he had always wanted to play, fingering the wood and the strings. He never wanted to play a recorder; he wanted to play a violin.

Picking up the bow beside the string instrument, he begun humming the piece that made him want to play the violin: Diana Boncheva's Beethoven Virus.

Arthur wanted to play the violin so much that he tried teaching himself the hand positions for all key signatures, searching the internet on the techniques with the bow. He licked his lips in excitement and positioned the instrument and the bow the way he had seen violinists do. Taking a deep breath and a few moments to remember the keys, he started to play.

At first his pace was slow even though it was supposed to be in allegro, but as his hands got used to the feeling of the violin and bow in his hands, his pace grew quicker until he was playing at the right tempo.

Arthur closed his eyes as he drowned himself in the melody of the song. If only playing the recorder came to him as easily as playing the violin did...

~.;*;.~

Roderich listened as his footsteps echoed throughout the empty corridors of the school building. It was the first time he'd been in school; he had been away at a piano recital in Austria. As it was past dismissal time, the school was quite empty, so no one was around to give him a tour.

The first thing he wanted to visit in the unfamiliar place was the music room. He was alone in a foreign environment and he was nervous, but he knew some music would help him calm down. Perhaps he could play Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata Rondo Allegro on the grand piano?

He had gone first to the faculty room to ask for permission to use the music room and, of course, the key. They had given him permission easily enough, but apparently, somebody had already taken the key.

He had left with a slight bow, but even though his demeanor was calm, he was panicking internally. What if the person he would find in the music room was someone snobbish? What if they didn't like other people with them in the music room? Or worse, what he was already occupying the grand piano?

Roderich shivered at the thought. He didn't want to share the rights to the piano to anyone else. The instrument wasn't his, but if there was another pianist in school that liked to go to the music room after school like he did, then he'd have less time playing on it.

He was obviously relieved when he heard instead the sound of a violin as he neared the music room.

Roderich recognized what was playing and he stopped. A violin rendition of one of his favorite piano sonatas. Not only that, the hand playing the piece was surely skilled. The tempo was exactly right, every note confident and full of intensity.

Giddy with excitement, he opened the door hastily before stopping again. This time, he was stopped by what he was seeing: a blonde angel with dainty fingers moving along the strings of the violin, hair swaying with every strike of the bow. Normally, he would've noticed the grand piano behind the violinist first, but Roderich found that he couldn't quite keep his eyes off the player.

Soon, the music ended and the violinist opened his bright emerald eyes. Roderich felt his breath hitch. The student in front of him was... Was...

He couldn't explain it in words. He couldn't explain what he was feeling in words either.

He hastily made his way to the grand piano and sat himself down, still quite graceful despite his impatience to play. Soon, the third part of Beethoven's Sonata No. 8 in C minor Op.13 was playing.

~.;*;.~

Arthur blinked. A boy suddenly came in the music room, and as soon as he had finished playing, the newcomer hastened to the grand piano and started playing the original piano sonata.

He wasn't complaining. The music was really good, no, brilliant. Emotion poured out of each note. He just stared dumbfounded at the boy, who had his forehead scrunched up in concentration.

Soon enough, the last notes of the sonata were played and the boy turned to face Arthur. He straightened his uniform and looked into Arthur's eyes, holding out a hand.

"Roderich Edelstein," he said. Arthur only stared at him.

"My name. It's Roderich Edelstein," he repeated.

Arthur snapped out of his reverie. "Oh, uh," he started dumbly. "Arthur Kirkland." He shook Roderich's hand. His stomach was in knots and he could feel the heat radiating off his face.

"You play the violin well," Roderich commented, perhaps trying to make a conversation.

"Oh, thank you," Arthur said softly, trying to hide behind his hair and the violin. "You... You play the piano very well too."

Roderich laughed. "Of course. I started playing at a very young age. I go to piano recitals everywhere. I just came back from one in Vienna."

"O-oh," Arthur muttered dumbly.

"Surely you've been going to violin recitals too? With the talent you have, it wouldn't be hard to find places for you to perform," Roderich stated matter-of-factly.

Arthur shook his head. "No. I... It's actually my first time holding an actual violin."

Roderich stood up suddenly, knocking the stool back. "That's a lie," he said, his eyes wide.

Arthur trembled at Roderich's scrutinizing gaze. "No, I'm not lying. I tried learning by memorizing the hand positions for all key signatures and watching others play, but this is the first time I played with a real violin."

"I don't believe it," Roderich said, his eyes still wide. "You... You're a genius then."

"What? No!" Arthur shook his head adamantly. "I couldn't even blow on a recorder properly."

Roderich smiled. "Who cares about playing a recorder? Blowing on anything is disgusting." He made a face. "I'd rather stick to playing the piano."

At this, Arthur laughed. "If you're going to study here, then you'd have to learn. Or you'll fail. Like I am now."

"My grades in music will not determine my skill," Roderich huffed. "I am unrivaled in my genius."

Arthur laughed merrily. He couldn't believe how easy it was to laugh around the pianist. He was feeling more confident every second, and with that grew his desire to know the other musician better.

~.;*;.~

Arthur was laughing! He had made Arthur laugh on their first hour together!

Roderich was feeling quite accomplished. He wasn't well known for his humour; in fact, some would say he had none at all. He was mostly seen as a stuck-up "arisocrat" that wallows in praise. Having someone laugh at his expense was something new to him, but it felt great. His fingers itched to play again.

"Say," he began, and Arthur immediately tried to stiffle his giggles. "Do you think we could have a joint performance? Me on the piano and you on the violin. We'll play Beethoven's Pathetique Rondo Allegro."

Arthur smiled at him, and Roderich could feel his face heating up. "Okay."

Soon, the music room was filled once again with the same melody that had resonated through it twice, and now, thrice. Two people playing different instruments, but hearts beating in perfect synchronization, both smiling in contentment.

/**

* I have no idea how to play the violin. I can play the piano, but I have no experience whatsoever with a violin. I have "experience" with a recorder; I had Arthur's blowing problem. :P

* I also have no idea how the violin and piano versions of the piece would sound together, but I absolutely loved them individually, so I thought maybe it'd sound good together too.

* I was wondering if I should add some sort of epilogue as closer, but I decided against it. Whatever happens to these two outside the music room will be on whatever the reader wants to happen. Kind of an open ending, yeah? Please review.! :)

*/