Rise of Voltron Pt. II

Lance, Hunk and Pidge stood by the tree at the entrance of the university. Every so often, Hunk glanced at his wristwatch, checking the time. His nervousness was getting the better of him. While he was excited to meet Takashi Shirogane, just the thought of him having to perform at the Battle of Bands was unnerving.

Hunk had always struggled with stage fright, so much to the point of him vomiting either before he makes it on the stage or while he's on the stage for a group presentation. He's usually saved by Lance or Pidge (or both), who suck up all the attention or try to divert attention from him.

"Keep calm Hunk." Lance said, nudging the thicker male in his sides, offering a comforting smile as he did so. "It's going to be just fine."

"Hmm." Pidge hummed in agreement. That seemed to calm down Hunk, but in that moment, a red Honda Civic Si pulled up, the window of the passenger side rolling down to reveal the driver on the right-hand side.

"I have arrived." Keith said, leaning over so that they could see him properly. "Get in."

Lance and Hunk's jaws dropped; Pidge only gaped in shock. While his apartment looked rather normal, neither of the three could have ever believed that Keith drove something like this.

"Aww man!" Lance said in awe as he slipped in. "Whose car is this!?" He didn't mean it as a question, but Keith took it as such.

"Mine. My mother bought it for me last year."

"Oh man, all I ever wanted for my birthday was the stove that Chef dos Santos uses." Hunk murmured. He slipped in beside Lance and prompted Pidge to sit beside Keith.

Keith's eyebrows furrowed at Hunk's statement but didn't comment. He deemed it odd that someone would want a stove for their birthday. With everyone safely in and Pidge's seatbelt in place, Keith drove off.

…

…

The entire ride was filled with lively chatter, more of it done by Lance and Hunk who asked Keith a myriad of questions. Pidge only put in her bits here and there or kills them with a snarky comment or two. Keith drove to the centre of the city—Plaht, and within ten minutes, they were at their destination. It was a two-storey building nestled in between a bookstore and a café.

Keith parked his car right at the entrance, and the group exited.

"What is this place?" Lance asked. "Was this always here?"

In fact, not many people would realize that this building was here, being overshadowed by the high-rise buildings of the bookstore and café. With a shrug, Keith walked towards it, and pushed the front door open.

The lobby was normal —on both sides of the lobby was a bookshelf, loaded with what Lance could see were musical books. Some were about general stuff like scores and sheet music, while others were specific, targeting instruments, equipment, and composers. As they walked past the bookshelves they came up on a counter that ran across the room, similarly to those in a tech repair shop.

"This way." Keith said and pushed the small half-door that was affixed to the counter. The trio followed the raven-haired boy to the door on the left side of the wall, and entering through it, their jaws dropped.

In comparison to the outside, this looked a lot better.

In the middle of the room there was a rather large, square wooden work table, a sofa and three beanbag chairs were closer to the left wall. To the wall furthest away, there was a kitchen —complete with a small fridge, cupboards, stove, microwave, and waterfall island with three seating.

"Dude…" Lance said in awe. He then felt a tug on his sleeve, snapping him out of his thoughts. Hunk gently pulled him into the direction Keith had gone, where it showed a hidden staircase.

"What is this place?" Hunk asked. "It's pretty…well-taken care of."

Keith chuckled. "It was my parents place until my mother got her big break." He answered. "But now, just Shiro and I use it. It's like our hangout spot. We call it, The Castle."

That only raised their intrigue on Keith's background, but of course, neither of them were in a place to ask anything. They weren't close friends with Keith and chances are, after this, they doubt that they'd ever see him again often.

Up they went, and the next room was actually a recording studio. Shiro sat in one of the chairs in front of the equipment, fiddling with his phone. Before he could even greet them, Lance and Hunk flew to the man so quickly, even Keith didn't see when they had moved.

"Oh my God! Shiro!" Lance practically shrieked. "You are my hero!"

"Yeah man! Tell me your secrets!" Hunk followed.

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Uh, thanks?" He said to Lance before addressing Hunk, "Uh, I think they're my secrets for a reason."

"No, no, no. I meant, secrets to passing Iverson's course of death!"

Shiro laughed at their antics. For as long as he was at the University of Music —West Coast, he heard Iverson's courses being referred to as the "Courses of Death". The man taught various courses in the Music Production major, and they were truly gruelling courses, especially for final year students in which they had to work with an orchestra. He had gone through it, and it was one of the worst courses he'd ever taken.

"Well, you just gotta do what you have to. Study smart, practice and don't let him get to you." Shiro replied.

Lance and Hunk exchanged glances.

"Anyway, let's not dwell on Iverson nor his courses. We have other things to worry about right now." Keith said, pushing himself off the wall. He sat next to Shiro and urged the others.

"So, uh," Shiro started, trying to diffuse the awkward silence. "I was informed by Keith of the arrangements you guys made." Shiro cleared his throat. "Since we're going to be doing this together, I'd like if we could get to know each other better."

"Huh?" Lance asked, stopping Shiro in his tracks. "Isn't this going to be a one-off thing? Why do we need to —?"

Keith threw a book to stop Lance in his tracks. Thanks to his quick reflexes, he managed to dodge it. Pidge, on the other hand, was busy ogling the equipment in the room, didn't see it coming and it caught her on her upper arm. "Seriously? What do you know about me? About Shiro?"

"Uh, well, you're the ace songwriter and Shiro —"

"Other than that."

Lance realized what Keith meant. "Oh." He then made a gesture with his hands indicating to Keith to "carry on".

Keith nodded and looked to Shiro who, with a wide grin on his face, said, "Well, let's start our team bonding exercise."

Pidge gave Keith a look and the male in red could only reply, "It's the first I'm hearing this."

…

…

It was late in the night when the quintet had finally finished.

Keith drove Pidge home while Lance and Hunk went with Shiro. It wasn't planned, Keith had the intention to carry them all like he did earlier today, but the two males were chatting so much with Shiro, that the latter decided to drive them home while Keith drove Pidge. Shiro's excuse? He didn't want Keith to be lonely and that he could talk with the keyboardist on possible arrangements while heading home.

Of course, Pidge was no idiot, but she did see the logic behind Shiro's reason. So, quickly, she slipped in the passenger seat in Keith's car, he followed. For the first five minutes of the drive, neither Pidge nor Keith said a word to each other, and it wasn't until Lance messaged her that the silence in the car was permanently broken.

"Ugh! Why am I friends with him again?" Pidge grunted out as she typed speedily. "He's so irritating sometimes!" But even though she said so, Keith heard a chuckle escaping her lips. Throughout the day, he's seen how close the three of them are, and it made him wish he had that as well. The only other person he was really close to was Shiro and the man was a brother to him.

"That's why you're friends." Keith said. "It doesn't matter whether or not he's irritating, he's your friend, right?"

Pidge smiled. "Yes, that's right." Her face then took on a mischievous look, "So, I'm sure Lance and Hunk are wondering, but are you rich?"

Keith burst out laughing. He then simmered down in chuckles before he replied, "I'm not. My mother is."

Pidge noticed that he didn't say parents but mother instead. She didn't want to inquire about his father, because it wasn't her place and there must've been a reason for him to omit his father.

"But by default, it's your money too."

Keith still laughed. "Believe what you may."

Soon, Keith turned on the road which led to the university. Pidge turned her face to the window and asked, "What are you going to do after the Battle of the Bands?"

Keith shrugged. "I still have school." He said matter-of-factly. "But after I finish though, Shiro and I will make a band and all that jazz."

Pidge's eyes widened. "You want to be a rockstar?"

"I want to be the best Lead Guitarist." Keith huffed with pride.

"So, if, hypothetically, we win the Battle of the Bands, what's gonna happen?"

Keith suddenly slammed on the brake, jerking them forwards. While there was a part of him that hoped that their little hurriedly-put-together band would win the grand prize, all he wanted was for Shiro to get the thrill of playing in an actual band in front of an audience. Keith knew that he was the one holding Shiro back, even though the older male said he was in no rush.

This was the only way he could repay Shiro for all that he has done for him. But now that Pidge brought it up, Keith had no idea what he's gonna do. The winners would get to record a song in a local recording studio, but they weren't a real band so how would that go?

"I'll…I'll talk to Shiro about that." He finally uttered out.

As though sensing his anxiousness, Pidge said, "It's fine. We can go over that tomorrow. See what Lance and Hunk think about it too."

Keith relented.

And for the remainder of the journey, the two only spoke about the song Keith was supposed to write for them.

…

…

Pidge found it hard to sleep.

It had been an hour or so since Keith dropped her at her dorm, but their conversation was still ringing in her head. While she hadn't expected this strange turn of events when they decided to ask Keith to write a song for them, that revelation was just a shocker.

Keith and Shiro wanted to make a band.

It was in the middle of her first year that Pidge met Lance and Hunk who were best friends from childhood. The two males enrolled in the university because they loved music and wanted to make a band someday. Lance loved the guitar and played the bass and rhythm, but he also had a lovely voice that she didn't mind listening to.

Hunk on the other hand, while he didn't sing, he was a monster on the drums. Plus, he loved to work with musical equipment and oftentimes, she stumbled upon them recording and mixing music in one of the school's student recording studios.

It was for a group project that she ended up working with them as the lecturer had randomly picked the groups. From then on, she realized that these two were rather good at what they did and were lovable to the point of irritation sometimes.

But it wasn't until second year that they had asked her if she would be a part of their band if they made one. Of course, she wouldn't 一couldn't decline that offer. She was a keyboardist, she knew how to play the instrument like a piano, and she was smart enough to program all sorts of sound effects onto the keys. Plus, she knew how to DJ from her brother, Matt. She'd always wanted the whole world to hear her, and Pidge thought that being in a band with Lance and Hunk wouldn't be so bad.

However, the issue that they had faced was the lack of a lead guitarist and vocalist. While Lance admitted that if push comes to shove, he could play the bass and do vocals, the Cuban didn't want that. He preferred to play the bass and woo the crowd (or rather, the females) with his skills. So, really, their band only had a drummer, a keyboardist, and a bassist.

So, when Keith told her of his and Shiro's plans, she felt as though they could be the missing pieces to their puzzle. And funny enough, if Lance and Hunk knew, maybe…

She shook her head to rid the thought. Lance and Keith were at it numerous times today, like ice and fire, and if it wasn't for Shiro, they'd rip each other to shreds.

Just then, her phone rang. It was Lance.

"Think of the devil and he shall appear indeed." Pidge chuckled. She answered the call in her usual manner.

"Pidge, guess what?"

"You managed to get a girlfriend?" She joked.

Lance laughed. "Pfft! I wish!" His laughing then ceased and he said, "When Hunk and I were with Shiro, Hunk asked a what if question."

"And what?"

"Well, Shiro told us that he and Keith wanted to make a band so —"

"Oh my God!" Pidge shrieked, cutting him off. "Keith told me the same thing when I asked him about what we should do if we win."

"You did? What did he say?!"

"He froze up but said he'll talk to Shiro because apparently he didn't think along that line."

"Oh. Sounds just like him."

Pidge could hear Lance rolling his eyes. She asked, "Yeah, so what did you want to talk about?"

Lance paused. "Tomorrow when we're all together."

Pidge nodded and it seemed as though Lance could see her. The phone hung up and Pidge finally went to bed.

…

…

"Allura, aren't you going home?" a blonde-haired young woman asked as she walked to the door. She stopped and looked at Allura. "It's late, you know?"

"I know, I know, Romelle." Allura sighed and rubbed her temples. She sat in her office and stared blankly at her computer screen in frustration. She's been headhunting talents but so far, none has caught her eye. She's been to livehouses and café's all-around town, but alas, she still turns up empty handed every time.

"Still looking for that one gem, right?" Romelle asked, her purple eyes showed her worry.

"Yeah." Allura sighed and placed her head in her palms. "And I don't want to disrupt a band's dynamics, so it isn't like I could just take a vocalist from here, a drummer from over there and so on."

Romelle leaned on the doorjamb and shook her head. "Maybe you could try a different town." She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Like, Plaht. I hear their cafés have open mics on the regular and there's an upcoming Battle of the Bands at UMWC. You could check that out and do some scouting there."

"UMWC?"

"University of Music, West Coast." Romelle replied. "It's an annual thing, I hear."

Allura's face brightened. "How come I didn't hear of this!?" She speedily typed away at her keyboard, searching for the university's website. When it came up, she immediately clicked on the link and read through the information. "This is…" Allura was breathless. "…this is gold! Maybe I'll definitely find my gems here!"

With a chuckle, Romelle left the office but first, she looked at Allura one last time, "I wish you all the luck you can get."

"Thanks."

Later that night when Allura reached home, she saw Alfor cooking in the kitchen. With a smile on her face, she took off her coat and headed to her father. Hugging from behind, she said, "How was your day, Father?"

A manly yelp escaped his lips, and he never noticed his daughter sneaking up on him. "Allura! Don't scare me like that!" Alfor almost shrieked. "I have a knife!"

Allura laughed. "Fine, fine."

"So how was your day?" He asked, refocusing to the task at hand.

Allura grinned. "Father, I have to go to Plaht."

"Hmm, sure. You're not a child anymore, but I have to ask, what for?"

Allura looked down. "Romelle told me about an annual event held at the University of Music called Battle of the Bands."

Alfor didn't need her to go any further. Everything added up, but he wasn't going to dissuade her. He would allow her to choose her own path, and maybe going to Plaht will either let her find what she wanted or open her eyes up to new horizons.

"So, you're going to scout."

"Yes."

"When are you leaving?"

"About next week."

"And how long are you staying?"

Allura shrugged. "I have no idea. Romelle told me their cafés have regular open mics too."

Alfor ruffled his daughter's white hair and pulled her in for another hug. This was one that she had always received when she was a child, when she was scared or anxious or nervous. This was the hug that comforted her, that let her know that her father was there for her always.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"I may need to bring along Coran for company."

"That's fine. You know he'll follow you to the ends of the Earth."

"Thank you, Father."

"You know I'd do anything for my not-so little girl."

Thank you all for reading! A review would be appreciated.