Scales and Arpeggios (Levi X Reader)

2. Impossible Assignment

Levi POV

"Good morning, class. Could you all please take your seats? Today we'll assign your final projects so you can get working on them right away!" A collective groan rose from the students in the class as they sat in their seats, ready for the first lecture of the morning. Nobody liked exams and projects, not even rich kids in private schools. Believe it or not, it wasn't all free time and luxury in places like this. They worked us hard here at my grandfather's academy for the musically talented. Of course, those with exceptional talent like myself didn't have to work quite as hard as the others who weren't quite as blessed. I frowned and crossed my arms, just waiting to be told what the assignment would be, no doubt I would pass easily. Music came naturally to me and on top of that, I was extremely good at what I did.

"Alright, not all of you play the same instruments, so not every assignment will be the same! After all, we cant grade you on your flute or cello work if you play the piano or the xylophone. It just simply wouldn't work out." The teacher said with a chipper laugh. She was too much of a morning person for my liking. Too peppy, too happy and too... Overbearing. "Okay, let's see here, the first student is Levi Ackerman." 

I got up from my seat and walked over to her desk where she picked up a small stack of papers and handed them to me, blank sheet music papers. "Naturally, your assignment will revolve around your instrument, the violin. You're to compose and perform an original piece for the violin. However, your piece is required to have a piano accompaniment with it. You may choose your pianist partner. They can be anyone inside the school as long as they are a student. Their year doesn't matter. Pick who you like, but make sure you give them enough time to learn the piece and practice it before the performance takes place at the end of the semester." She explained to me and my frown deepened. I had to work with a partner? But why? I'd gotten to where I was all by myself with me and my violin, why did my project require a piano accompaniment? This was so not fair. But rules were rules I suppose... My grip on the papers tightened in annoyance as I nodded and walked back to my seat.

~~~~

During my hour of free time after lunch, I made my way to my grandfather's office in the director's building. If I was going to find a pianist to be my partner, then I would need a list of the top students in the school who played the piano. The only to get that was from the administration, and it was easiest to just go directly to my grandfather. I knocked on the door to his office when I reached it and stood, impatiently tapping my foot. "Come in." I heard from the other side of the door after a long moment and I opened it, stepping inside to close it behind me. "Ah, my grandson, what brings you here in the middle of the day?" He asked, putting his cellphone down on the large mahogany desk he sat behind.

"You should know why I'm here, grandfather. I need a list of the top students in the school who play the piano." I said plainly, straight to the point. "Pianists, huh? I can do that for you. But there aren't many. Why do you need this list? Are you finally going to work with someone? How unusual." His tone was slightly teasing and I narrowed my eyes at him in an annoyed glare. "It's for an assignment that I know you had a hand in creating so just give me the list." I retorted and my grandfather sighed, turning his chair to face the computer on the end of his desk, typing something on the keyboard. He clicked his mouse a few times and I waited in silence for him to pull up the list I'd requested. "Here it is. I'll print this out with their dorm information." He did just as he said and within minutes his assistant entered the room with the freshly printed papers, handing them to me.

"Thank you. I'll be going now." I took the papers from his assistant and turned to leave the room, my hand on the doorknob when my grandfather asked me to wait. "Levi, just yesterday we accepted a new transfer student. She isn't on that list, but she does play the piano. Her dorm is 405 in the Mozart building. She was a very interesting applicant. I don't know if she would live up to your standards, but it may be worth it to drop by and see if she will play something for you to judge her skill level yourself."

I didn't respond, just stood there for a second before leaving the room and making my way back to my own dorm. Transfer student, huh? And she plays the piano? Interesting. Perhaps the old man had a point. This list he gave me was short and, frankly, none of these names were people I wanted to work with. Well, even so, I had to test them all out to see if any of them would be able to keep up with me and live up to the standards I set for anyone who would have a chance to play music with me. This as going to be a hard project for sure. I was no good at working with people...

Name POV

"Ooooh, this is bad... Really bad. I can't compose my own music..." I fretted aloud, pacing back and forth in my bedroom, assignment description sheet in my hands. I was talented at playing the piano, not composing music for it! How come my first and final project at this school had to be for something I had no idea how to do, or rather, how to do well... Damn it. I huffed and plopped down on my bed, laying back on the soft comforter and throwing my hands up above my head, letting the paper go flying out of my hand to land atop the pillows. "This is it, I get accepted here and I'm going to fail my final project for the semester. I'm done for. Sorry, dad. Guess I'll be coming home during break."

My wallowing in negativity was interrupted by a rapid knocking on my dorm room door. Who could that possibly be? I hadn't really talked to anyone here yet to make friends... I let out a heavy sigh and pushed myself up into a seated position, waiting a moment to see if whoever it was would go away. It was silent for a long moment but then the knocking came again and I pouted slightly, getting up and dragging my feet on the way to the door to open it. "Oh, I'm so glad you opened up! I was afraid you weren't back yet. Could I come in?" I raised an eyebrow at the odd girl and nodded, letting her past me into my room. "Um, sorry, but, who are you?"

"Silly me, haha I'm Hanji Zoe, you can just call me Hanji. I'm your next-door neighbor. So, you're the new transfer student, huh? That's so cool! We've never had a transfer in the middle of the year before. What's your name?" The strange girl asked, grabbing both of my hands in hers as she looked at me expectantly with a large smiled on her face. "(First Name) (Last Name). It's nice to meet you Hanji. So, why did you suddenly want to come over?"

"Well you see, Shorty kinda kicked me out of his room and I wanted to meet the new student! We're in the same year and I figured you didn't have any friends yet so I'll be your first friend!" This girl was really strange and way too excitable. But she did seem nice and she wanted to be my friend so... Why not. "I can make some tea and snacks for us," I said and she nodded quickly, letting go of my hands so I could go into the kitchen and start making the two of us some tea and some kind of snack. "So who's this 'Shorty' you mentioned that kicked you out of his room? Just how short is he?" I inquired as I leaned against the bar, looking over at Hanji who sat down at the low table while we waited for the tea kettle to heat up.

She rested her arms on the table and smiled brightly. "Levi Ackerman, you know who he is, don't you?" I shook my head with a raised eyebrow but then gave her a look of utter shock when the last name clicked in my mind. "You mean this Levi guy is related to the director of the school?" "Yep! He's the director's grandson and the best violinist in the entire school. He lives on the floor below us actually, room 305. I think it's right below yours actually. You best not make too much noise at night, Shorty might come up here and yell at you!" She practically fell over cackling at the last thing she said and I bit my lip. Well, that wasn't exactly something I wanted to hear. I lived right above the director's grandson? That surely wasn't going to end well...