AN: The Classical Music/College AU nobody asked for. Enjoy!

MOVEMENT ONE: Rivals

No. 1 - Lance

Lance didn't want to admit it, but he was good. He was so precise, so accurate; it was almost surgical. He was playing Liszt, creator of some of the most intricate and insane piano pieces of all time. And here was Keith Kogane, playing him nearly perfectly.

His skills were incredible, really they were.

But…

Lance was nodding off. How could watching someone do something so difficult be so boring? Kogane was just so…

Lance looked for the right word.

Passionless, Lance thought. That was it. Keith Kogane was passionless. Yes, he could destroy any piece of music you handed to him, but why should you care? He didn't seem to. It almost made Lance angry. People would "ooh" and "ah" over him, but what was he doing that a robot couldn't? Where was the humanity?

The piece finished and the practice hall erupted into loud applause. Keith nodded to the audience with a tight-lipped smile and quickly shuffled off. A girl with bright red hair took his place at the piano.

Hunk and Lance filed out of the practice hall with the other music majors. Today was the start-of-the-year assessment for pianists. Garrison University's music department divided students by instrument and had them play a piece of their choosing one right after the other in alphabetical order. These start-of-the-year assessments were meant to give professors a chance to evaluate what each student should work on for the ensuing year. It gave students an incentive to practice over summer break too because all the music majors came to see each other's assessments. It gave everyone a chance to see who they were interested in collaborating with in the future.

"I can't believe he did that," said a flutist to her friend in the same year.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone's hands move like that" the friend responded.

Lance rolled his eyes. People couldn't help but fawn over Keith's assessment. Every. Single. Year. It drove Lance nuts. Yes, he was good, but he was so dull. All he cared about was hitting the right notes.

"I swear if I have to hear about how good that guy's form is one more time…" Lance started.

"Dude, you gotta admit, that was pretty crazy. I mean, he did Liszt. And he kinda crushed it" Hunk, a fourth-year cellist and Lance's best friend, said.

"God, not you too, Hunk. Could the entire department stop kissing his butt for like, a minute?" Lance asked.

"Dude-"

"Yeah, okay! He basically doesn't make any mistakes technically, but you can't tell me you don't feel bored out of your mind watching him" Lance continued.

"Lance-"

"He's like a machine! He plays the notes and that's it. There's no heart, no soul. I'm telling you, man, Keith Kogane is a total robot"

"DUDE!" Hunk yelled, surprising Lance.

"What, Hunk?" Lance asked.

"Behind you" Hunk whispered, his brow sweaty.

Lance turned around slowly. To his horror, Keith Kogane was standing right behind him with a menacing glare on his face. Lance felt his stomach sink.

"Oh, Keith, hey-" Lance started, attempting to apologize. He was interrupted by Keith shoving his shoulder into Lance's. Lance put a hand on his shoulder, shocked by the hyper-masculine move. Keith made his way to the exit of the music building but turned around first before coming to the doors.

"Big words coming from someone who couldn't play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star without missing notes. Sure, you can put on a show, but that's all an act to hide that you're actually talentless" Keith said, venom on his tongue. He left too quickly for Lance to defend himself and Lance felt his chest tighten in anger.

"Whoa, dude, that was mega harsh. You okay?" Hunk asked, putting a hand on Lance's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lance said, his chest still tight.

As Lance walked back with Hunk to their apartment, he was increasingly realizing that he was not, in fact, fine. Keith's precisely-worded insult had hit exactly what he was most self-conscious about. Most of Lance's acquaintances would consider him confident, arrogant even, but he was horribly self-conscious underneath his social mask. Nothing made him more self-conscious than his ability to play the violin. Violin was his life, he dedicated years to it, let his fingers bleed and callous for it. Playing was what made him happiest and he loved making people happy with his music.

He knew he was a sloppy player. He knew he missed notes. He knew he made rookie mistakes. He practiced every day for hours, but he could never make his work neat, not like Keith could with the piano.

Keith, his mind hissed.

To be called "talentless" by Keith Kogane was devastating. It was like all his worst fears about himself were confirmed.

Then, on top of all that, he felt guilty. He never meant for Keith to hear his "total robot" line. He shouldn't have said anything like that anyway. Talking shit about people behind their back wasn't cool and he knew it. It wasn't like Keith had ever done anything to him to really deserve it. Lance groaned.

"You sure you're okay?" Hunk asked as they came up to their apartment building.

"Yeah…that situation just sucked," Lance said, not having enough energy to pretend nothing was wrong. Hunk took out his keys and opened the door.

"Well, maybe you should talk to him," Hunk said as they headed up the stairs.

"Yeah, right. I don't plan on ever talking to that dude again

To make Lance feel better, Hunk made him some of his favorite Snickerdoodle cookies.

"You're the best, Hunk," Lance said as he devoured two cookies at once.

"Heh, I know," Hunk said, taking a bite of his own cookie and a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

"ah mah gah, Hun'! Wha' do you e'en pu' in 'ese?" Lance asked with a full mouth.

"Secret," Hunk said with a smirk, "Hey, so you're meeting with Shiro tomorrow for advising, right?"

Lance swallowed loudly.

"Yeah, he's gonna give me my Senior Concert assignment," Lance said.

"Ah man, I don't have my advising session until next week," Hunk lamented.

"Yeah, if I had to wait any longer, I think I'd go insane"

"You excited to find out what pieces you're assigned?" Hunk asked.

"Ha! Excited doesn't even begin to cover it! I'm gonna practice like crazy and blow all the professors away"

"I know you will, Buddy" Hunk said, offering a fist bump which Lance gladly accepted.

"Alright, well I'm gonna get some practice in. Thanks for the cookies!" Lance said, sitting up from the counter stool and brushing the crumbs from his shirt.

Practice was Lance's favorite part of the day. He made sure to practice at least two hours every day, and at least four if he didn't have a violin class that day. When Lance practiced, he never had to worry about what other's thought of his playing. He just practiced what he wanted to and held himself to his own standards. It was time for him to relax and enjoy the craft that he loved.

The first half of practice Lance would do something classic like Bach, Vivaldi, or Beethoven. Then, for the second half, he would practice some pop or rock song he'd been listening to recently. He loved taking a song and molding it to the violin. He loved finding sheet music and adjusting it to his tastes. He loved transforming a song with his own bare hands. A part of him ached to do some of his covers at his Senior Concert. He felt with certainty that they were his best work, but he knew Shiro would never go for it.

Lance went into his room, cased violin in hand, and shut the door. He placed his music stand in front of his one window and put the violin case on his bed. He took a song book from his shelf and leafed through the pages. He found a dog-eared page and placed the book on the music stand.

The top of the page read "Violin Concerto No. 1 – Max Bruch". This was a piece Lance had been working on for years. Hard, but gorgeous and it required a certain amount of exuberance from the solo violinist that fit him well. He barely needed the sheet music anymore.

He turned to the violin case on his bed and opened it. He pulled out his Violin, which was in nearly pristine condition, except for a batch of scribbled blue lines on the back. Lance had made the mistake of leaving it out for five seconds while he babysat his youngest siblings, and baby Carlos, with a blue marker in tow, decided to scribble on the back of Lance's very expensive instrument. He had good humor about it, however, and decided to call the instrument "Blue" from then on.

Lance tuned Blue, then grabbed his bow. He put his chin on the chinrest, closed his eyes, and began to play.

The next afternoon, Lance headed to the music building with a buzzing nervousness building in him. He couldn't believe his luck in having Takashi Shirogane, the Takashi Shirogane, as his senior advisor. Takashi Shirogane, or "Shiro" as he insisted on being called, was the music department's most popular professor. He was notorious in the music world for being one of its most lamentable tragedies. Shiro was, at one point, the most promising violinist of the generation. A bunch of snooty, old people used to say he was possessed by the divine, but really he was just hopelessly devoted to his instrument. Still, Shiro had it all: form, accuracy, passion, everything.

Then, the accident happened. Shiro was driving back home from a concert one night when a drunk driver crashed into him. To say that the crash was nasty would be an understatement. The crash took Shiro's right arm and his dream of being first chair in the New York Philharmonic.

Despite all that, Shiro didn't give up. With the help of donors and fans, he raised enough for the best prosthetics and immediately began practicing again. He was never able to play the way he used to, but he was still a damn good violinist. He practiced constantly and decided to teach at Garrison U. The students adored him and he adored them back. He pushed his students to be better musicians and truly believed in them, even when they didn't believe in themselves. He was a total legend and Lance worshiped the ground he walked on.

When Lance found out Shiro would be his senior advisor, he nearly exploded with excitement. He knew he'd become a better violinist under Shiro.

Lance was nearly skipping as he entered the music building. He climbed the stairs to the advisor offices and nearly tripped over himself in his exuberance.

When Lance found Keith Kogane leaning against the wall next to Shiro's office, he felt as if he had been doused in cold water. The two caught each other's eyes and stared at each other like two alley cats deciding if they should rip each other's fur off or not.

Lance exhaled, then decided to try and apologize. He was in the wrong after all. That didn't make it any easier, however.

"Hey, dude, look I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. That was messed," Lance said.

Keith stared at him blankly for a few beats, then took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms.

"Hmph," he muttered, "Yeah, it was"

The hallway went silent. Lance thought he'd get a little more than that out of him.

"Um, is that all you have to say?" Lance asked, wanting his own apology

"Sure is"

Lance was ready to tear his own hair out. He clamped his fists.

"God, what are you even doing here right now?!" Lance asked.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I have advising with Shiro," Keith said sharply.

"What? When?" Lance asked. Keith rolled his eyes, his mood exacerbated.

"1:30"

"I have advising with Shiro at one 1:30!" Lance said, panic forming in his chest.

"You must have got the time wrong"

"No, I didn't. My appointment is at 1:30 PM on Thursday, today. I've been looking forward to this for weeks. I know what time it is"

"Must have got the wrong advisor then," Keith said, his voice starting to raise slightly.

Their argument was then interrupted by the sound of a doorknob turning. Both boys stopped and watched it open. Shiro had just exited his office and sported a bright smile as he laid eyes on the two students.

"Oh, great! You're both here. Come on in!" Shiro said as he waved them into his office. Lance and Keith stared after him and then looked at each other, both too confused to keep the animosity that was building between them previously. They quickly shuffled after Shiro.

Shiro made his way to his desk and asked Keith to shut the door, which the pianist quickly did.

"Please, sit," Shiro said motioning to two chairs in front of his desk as he sat down himself. Lance and Keith obliged him in silence. Lance felt sick to his stomach.

What the hell is happening? Lance asked himself. Advising sessions were supposed to be one-on-one discussions between advisor and student where they would figure out how to make the student's senior concert as strong as possible. Why in the world should Lance have to share his session with Keith?

"I have to confess guys, I've been looking forward to your advising session all week," Shiro said with a smile, "How are you both doing? Excited to be seniors?"

"Uh, yeah," Lance said, too confused to form proper questions about Shiro's odd statement.

"Our advising session? I thought advising sessions were supposed to be private," Keith said, anger rising in his throat.

"Usually, yes, they would be, but you two are a special case!"

"What do you mean?" Lance asked.

"Well, it's unorthodox, but the other professors and I agreed that you two will be performing your senior concert together as a duet," Shiro said, again with a smile.

"WHAT?!" both students exclaimed in unison.

"You want me to duet with this technical mess, Shiro?! What are you thinking?!" Keith asked, his lid fully blown now, as he stood up. Lance, his cheeks hot from embarrassment, shot up out of his chair as well.

"Mess?! Well, that's better than playing like a freaking Dementor!"

"I don't even know what that's supposed to mean!"

"What?! Have you never read Harry Potter?!"

"So, what if I haven't?!"

"Dude, I'm almost sorry for you. For your information, a Dementor is a big scary soul-sucking demon that literally takes happiness away, which is exactly what your playing does to anyone when they hear you!"

"Oh, yeah?! Well, at least I don't-"

"That's enough!" said a firm, demanding voice. Both boys stopped arguing and slowly turned to face Shiro, who had a scarier face than either had ever seen on him. They promptly took their seats.

"You know, I'm surprised at you two. I thought you'd be excited. You're both good musicians, and the only two we've assigned as a duet. I had the impression you'd be honored to work with each other. What I didn't expect was for you to act like children," Shiro said, and Lance's stomach dropped. Had he really just disappointed Shiro, his freaking hero?

"Sorry, Shiro. I just…I don't understand," Lance said as he tried to calm down.

"Then let me help you understand. As I said before, both of you are good musicians, but neither of you are great. Both of you lack important skills. Fortunately for you, your partner has those skills. If I could combine you into one person, you'd be the perfect musician," Shiro sighed, "so, we're hoping this assignment will give you a chance to learn from each other"

"That…actually kinda makes sense," Lance concluded. Keith did have skills Lance lacked, and Lance knew it. He was at least happy that Shiro acknowledged him as good of a musician as Keith.

"Glad you think so, Lance," Shiro said, "Keith?"

Keith was crossing his arms and pouting, looking more like a toddler than ever.

"Keith, do I have to remind you that talent agents attend senior concerts?" Shiro asked. Keith bristled like a cat.

"No"

"Then, do you think you're ready to show them your best work? Right now?" Shiro asked. Keith squirmed in his seat.

"No"

"Alright, then. What do you say? Willing to give this a shot?" Shiro asked, finally.

The room was thick with silence for several seconds. Lance felt himself get nervous. He wasn't sure, but Lance thought he actually wanted Keith to agree to the situation. His insides twisted.

Keith sighed.

"Yeah, I'll give it a shot," Keith said and Lance suppressed a smile.

"Great to hear, Keith," Shiro said, smiling. Keith looked away and "Hmph"'d again.

"Shiro?" Lance asked.

"Hm?"

"What, uh, pieces are we performing?" Lance asked, while quickly throwing on a grin. His head had been pounding with the question all morning.

"Great question, Lance. We thought it would be a good learning experience for you if you choose your own set"

"Whoa, really?! Dude, that's awesome!" Lance said, already mulling over song possibilities in his head.

"I thought you'd like that. Now, logistics. I expect you to practice together at least 15 hours a week in the Fall and Winter quarters, and 25 hours a week during the spring quarter with detailed rehearsal logs. Feel free to schedule an appointment with me anytime if you want to talk about anything. Do you both have the syllabus for the course?" Shiro asked and both boys nodded as they shuffled through their bags for the document.

After Shiro thoroughly explained what was expected of them over the next year, the two boys exited the office and walked down to the music building lobby together.

"So, uh, should we should we exchange phone numbers or something?" Lance asked, still feeling a tension between them.

"Sure, whatever," Keith said and then looked through his smartphone. He got to the Contacts app and handed the phone to Lance. Lance took the phone and put in his information. To try and lighten the mood, he added a winky face emoji next to his contact name.

"There you go, dude!" Lance said with a smile as he returned the phone, trying to be friendly.

"Thanks," Keith said. He looked at his phone, saw the winky-face, and rolled his eyes. He looked back at Lance and Lance gave him a real wink.

"Excited to work with ya, partner!" Lance said.

"Really?" Keith said, the word dripping with skepticism.

"Yeah! What do you say we start fresh and be friends?" Lance asked, stretching out his hands for Keith to shake. Keith considered the hand for a moment.

"Look, I'll do this senior concert with you, or whatever, but that does not make us buddies," Keith said.

Then, he walked away, leaving a stunned Lance with his hand still outstretched.

AN: Alright, that's Chapter 1 for you! I should probably get back to the three unfinished fics I have, but I had to do something Klance. I'm neck deep in it now.

I have plans for this to be a pretty long multi-chap fic. Fun things to expect: bickering, blushing, mutual pining, misunderstandings, angst, fluff, insecurity, music recs, and lots of your fav boys being dumb.

Like what you've read so far? Want to know what happens next? Comment or review! I have a bad habit of dropping projects if I don't think the fandom is interested, so please let me know if this is up your alley! Thanks for reading!