Word Count: 2,986
Five o'clock, and just like clockwork, Momo woke up to lip slurs and tonguing practice, just the same as it had been since she was a young child. She couldn't remember waking up any other way, and by this point, there was no other way she'd rather greet the day than with the sound of her soulmate warming up on the trumpet.
Momo sat up in bed and stretched, listening as the lip slurs turned to scales, changing clothes as the majors turned to minors. There was a period of silence as she fetched her flute and set it up in her practice room, but that was also normal. He always waited for her.
She raised the flute up to her lips, feeling almost a little regretful to be disrupting the serene early morning atmosphere with her playing, but it was fleeting as she played a B-flat.
Yikes, that was sharp. She tugged gently on her mouthpiece.
B-flat. Still a little sharp. Mouthpiece adjusted again. Perfect. She played her scales, one after another, and when she began her arpeggios, her soulmate joined her to finish off their warm ups together.
Momo smiled and shuffled her music around on the stand when they were done. A competition was rapidly approaching, and the school she attended had both a reputation for winning it and the soulmate she was too shy to interact with.
Momo paused and stared out a window. She was lucky, she knew, to have a soulmate in band with her. Her best friend Kyouka, drum major-in-training, used to have trouble practicing during lunch because her soulmate would be constantly listening to electro-pop on full blast. It stopped when Kyouka retaliated by playing nothing but the Pink Panther theme as badly as she could on loop every lunch period for a solid week, but that's beside the point. The incident left Momo wondering how people could focus in band with other music being played directly into their brains at times.
Ah, well, all the more reason to be grateful.
Momo was brought back to earth with the sound of one of their competition pieces ringing in her ears, and she scrambled to get her flute in place to join him. He had begun at the point she hated the most, the part with all the runs and ties, and deep down inside, she appreciated it. Practicing something you could already do just fine was pointless in all aspects but memorization and ego boosting. Plus, the nasty bits were fun to play once mastered.
F, G, C, G, B, F, E, G— the notes flew by her with little difficulty— F, D, F, D, F, D, F, G (tie & two & three &), G, A (tie & two & three &), A, B (tie & two & three (breath)), B, A (tie & two), A, G (tie & one & two)—
The trumpet abruptly cut off half a beat before she finished her G, and Momo petered out when he didn't jump back in. Squinting at her music, she thought, did I do something wrong again?
F, D, F, D, F, D, F, G (two, three), G, A (two, three), A, B (two, three), B, A (& two), G, A (two, three), A, G (& one &), silence again.
She squinted at her music and laid her flute upon her lap. With a sigh of resignation, she pulled out a pencil and circled the final G for the millionth time. An unfortunate speck of dirt whilst making copies led all the second flutes into reading it as a dotted quarter note for the better part of the first six weeks. By the time the conductor had caught it, the mistake was already solidly ingrained into that half ot the section. Strangely enough, no one had caught how the beats wouldn't add up. (Even more strangely, Momo still struggled to remember the change despite the constant, circled reminders.)
Momo and her soulmate began the phrase again, slowly this time to guarantee its correctness. They continued through the rest of the piece without touching those measures again, lest she make the mistake and allow it to be reinforced in her mind.
Sometimes it bothered her just how good he could be at music. Even if he had the opportunity to see and learn her music, trumpets were B-flat instruments. Flutes were tuned to C. If he read her part as written, it would be in a different key. That either meant he was able to transpose on the spot, or he had perfect pitch. (Neither would surprise her, honestly. He had been playing trumpet since they were seven.)
Momo sighed as the sun began to peek over the horizon.
Then, as if purposely trying to ruin the moment, her phone buzzed, and pushing her thoughts aside, Momo opened up the text.
[Uravity] yooo deku's talking to tokidoki-kun in case you're wondering why he isn't playing
"What?" Momo said aloud, then realized Ochako was right. There was no trumpet in her head at the moment.
I hadn't noticed actually adidfuhafls
[Uravity] are you going to tell him today or nah?
The message made Momo step back and think about the question for a moment. Would she tell him today?
The question had been weighing in her mind for longer than she cared to admit. Since the day she had figured it out, she knew she should have told him. After all, it wasn't fair to him for her to know when he, in all likelihoods, was entirely oblivious.
Well, he probably knew they were in band together. That much was obvious, but not much more.
She had known from the quality of his tone, the way he interpreted the solo in her favorite competition piece, but she? She was nothing special. She had only taken up the flute after five years of piano, the most generic instrument in the world, when she turned ten. To Todoroki, she was probably nothing but just another flute in the band.
…We'll see where things go for today
[Uravity] :CC
[Uravity] you've been saying that for a whie now
[Uravity] are you sure you don't want kyouka and i to execute Operation Major Accent?
Momo internally groaned, physically cringing at the dumb name her friends had gifted her backup plan with, which they had also gifted to her. (She wanted nothing to do with a plan so awkward.)
No, I /don't/ need kyo locking us in a practice room on "drum major's orders"
idk why he'd even believe that, tbh
[Uravity] Worth a shot :D
Dude, she's not even an official drum major yet
[Uravity] worth :D
[Uravity] a :D
[Uravity] shot :DD
Not today.
Ochako had already begun typing again, but Momo shut off her phone and picked up her flute once more. She had a half an hour of practice time left, and she was going to use it with or without Todoroki's accompaniment.
(The trumpet player joined the flute a few minutes later, and Momo couldn't help but to smile.)
"That's all for today. Good work, guys! You made good progress, but remember…"
"There's always room for improvement," the band teasingly chorused, and drum major Togata smiled. Some memes died hard. He nodded to Kyouka standing next to him, and she gathered herself the best she could.
"BAND DIS-MISSED," she barked.
"THANK YOU, SIR!"
Momo hummed her part to herself as she dismantled her flute, lost in thought. She had a lot of accents to work on later, and she wasn't up to speed all the time. Wryly, she noted she would not be able to confess to Todoroki during lunch today, much to her relief.
As such, her gaze wandered over to Ochako with her tuba. She'll be in for a disappointment later, she thought as she shut her flute case.
Someone behind her suddenly tapped on her shoulder, and Momo yelped in surprise, nearly dropping her case as she pivoted around to face them.
Her heart skipped a beat when she found herself staring into a set of heterochromatic eyes, one a stormy grey, the other an electric blue. Her mind, already racing like mad, blurred into a blank. "Uhhh…"
Momo mentally kicked herself. Ah, yes, this is going well. Splendidly, even. The perfect chance to tell Doki-doki-kun of you guys' predestined relationship has fallen right onto your lap and all you've got is 'uh'.
"Hey, uh," Todoroki said, and Momo was suddenly very embarrassed of her internal nickname Doki-doki-kun for him, however fitting it might be.
It's probably nothing, she thought, maybe I forgot a pencil on the floor or something or…
"Your flute is always flat when we practice in the morning."
"What?" she blurted without missing a beat. "No, it's not. I've been playing long enough to know if it's not in tune—"
Wait. How did he…?
"If you're planning on practicing during lunch today, do so quietly in the practice rooms," Togata called to the stragglers. "There's an impromptu council meeting today. Sorry for the inconvenience. Blame Kyouka."
Momo shot a furtive glance at her best friend, who pretended not to notice (but sent her friend a subtle, knowing smirk). Looking back at Todoroki, she fumbled with her words. "Do you want to— I mean, should we, uh…"
"Go into a practice room?" Todoroki supplied, staring intently at her.
Momo squeaked in reply, embarrassed at her embarrassment. However, he didn't seem to notice how red her face was turning; instead, he simply nodded and plodded away into a room, looking expectantly at her from the doorway.
Momo scrambled to follow him in, careful to close the door behind them completely so as to completely seal off their conversation from the outside world. And then, an awkward silence as she and Todoroki stared at each other, less than three feet apart with only their instrument cases between them.
Well, not really silence. She could still hear the faint buzzing of a tuba, a french horn, and a flute practicing together next door, and she hoped that, if Ochako wasn't already distracted with her, Iida, and Midoriya's practicing, Iida would at least stop her if she tried to eavesdrop.
Momo's phone buzzed, and she took the opportunity to look away from Todoroki and check her messages.
[𝓴𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓴𝓪𝓷𝓾𝓽] c"
"I hate you so much," Momo muttered under her breath, not realizing that every sound, no matter how subtle, could be heard perfectly by anyone when in a practice room as she typed that very response to Kyouka.
"Well, now, that sounds like a problem," Todoroki said very evenly, and Momo nearly dropped her phone. "Might I ask why?"
"Oh, n-no, I-I-I was talking to myself," Momo stammered, which only made him raise an eyebrow. "You're right, it would be a pretty big problem to hate someone like your s-s-s…" Nope, she can't do it. Can't say it. And she mentally berates herself for it until the word is provided for her.
"Like your soulmate?" said Todoroki softly, and, staring at the ground, Momo blushed and nodded. So he does know…
"Yeah," he continued. "That makes sense."
There was a distinctive pause in which all Momo could hear was her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
"You know," she said at last, just as softly as he, and her gaze wandered up to meet his. Were his eyes just the barest hint wider than normal, or was that merely his eyelashes giving her the false impression? Was that surprise in his eyes, or was his look all gentle curiosity, as if he thought she already knew this.
"You didn't?" he asked, and Momo's delicate, little fantasy bubble of just the two of them popped.
"I thought you didn't," she replied. "Know, that is."
Todoroki blinked at her. "But you're the only flute that owns their instrument," he pointed out.
Momo opened her mouth to reply, but promptly closed it when she realized he was right. Her gaze switched off between the boy in front of her, the ground, and her flute case several times as she struggled to formulate words. And then, at last, she let out a long breath. "Can we start over?"
"Start over?"
"Yeah," she said, brushing a wisp of bangs out of her eyes as they settled on him. "I feel as if I've dug myself into an overly complex tunnel system and need to have a do-over for the last six months of knowing you."
"Okay," said Todoroki easily, blinking at her. "You start."
"Well, uh," Momo began as she scrambled to set her flute on one of the crappy practice room chairs. "Hi. My name is Momo Yaoyorozu. We're… soulmates," she said, trailing off until the last word was nothing more but a whisper on her lips. (You can do this, she thought.) "Nice to meet you."
Todoroki broke their gaze, looking off to the side as he spoke. "Hi. My name is Shoto Todoroki." His eyes wandered over to her flute case, and he shifted slightly on his heels. "Your flute is always a little flat."
Momo wanted to laugh. She'd never really known Todoroki before, but she expected something quite different based off his instrument of choice. Was this kind of bluntness to be expected from now on? I'd quite like that, actually, she thought, trying not to smile. At least we'll never get caught in cheesy romantic subplots based on frivolous misunderstandings. "We can test that," she said, sliding onto a chair and flipping open her case clasps. As she reassembled her flute, Shoto awkwardly dragged a chair closer to her and sat down in it.
She tested a C and found it sharp; tried it again, just a little bit flat. The third time, as it should be, was the charm, and she looked at him with a challenge in her eye as she lowered her flute.
"Play an A," he told her, his bemused look unwavering, and pulled out his phone.
Momo raised an eyebrow at him but obeyed anyway. He held his phone, now a tuner, up to her face as she sustained the note.
"437 Hertz," he said despite the green flashing up on screen. "You're three cents shy of a perfect concert A."
Momo dropped the note, resting her flute on her lap, and stared at his phone. He was absolutely right. "But that's negligible!"
"I suppose," he agreed, pocketing his phone once more, "but it's still technically flat."
Looks like there's some trumpet in him after all, Momo dryly thought. "How did you even know the exact degree of flatness?"
"I didn't," Todoroki admitted. "I got that from the tuner. But I can still tell."
Momo crossed her legs and looked away. That's… pretty amazing.
Just then, her phone decided to buzz.
I swear to god, if this is Kyouka…
[Uravity] YAOMOMO OH MY GOD ADSFOASD
[Uravity] YOU D ID IT IM,,
[Uravity] RGHTI NEXT DOR
There was a pause. Well, at least her wish was granted and it wasn't Kyouka.
[Uravity] Hello, Yaoyorozu. This is Iida. I apologize for Uraraka's over excitement.
[Uravity] I hope you can forgive us for eavesdropping.
Momo smiled.
Don't worry about it
c:
"Hey," Todoroki said, breaking their silence. "The bell's going to ring soon."
Momo checked the time. He was right. She should start expecting this. "Thank you," she said as she traded her phone for her flute.
She could sense Todoroki shifting uneasily out of her sight as she put her instrument away, but he didn't actually say anything, so she kept the room from awkward silence by humming her part.
A few seconds passed, and then she heard it: he joined her softly as he stood up.
Momo slung her backpack over her shoulder and smiled at Todoroki as a goodbye.
"Hey," he said just as her hand reached the door handle.
"…Yes?" Momo asked as she slowly turned to face him.
"Are you free on Saturday morning?"
They were less than three feet apart again, with just their instruments between them. Offhandedly, Momo wondered if she should get used to this.
"It depends," she slowly replied. Her hand fell from the handle to her side, and the two of them now faced each other fully. "Usually I practice in the mornings."
"Wouldn't it be better to do that together?" He was leaning down to her eye level now; their faces were most definitely less than three feet apart now.
Momo's heart rate quickened. "Don't we already?" she asked, lifting herself up on her tiptoes to meet him.
"It's better in person," Todoroki replied, and they were close enough that Momo could feel his breath caressing her face.
She hummed in agreement, and the practice room light flicked off.
.
.
.
.
She closed her eyes and leaned in. The only sound that made it to her ears aside from her heartbeat at that point was his breathing, quiet and rough.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Her nose tingled.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
They were close, so close, when the bell decided to ring, busting out both their eardrums. Which was good, because the surprised yelp Momo made as she stumbled backwards was really embarrassing.
The light came on again, and the two teenagers stared at each other with bewilderment for all of a minute.
Momo checked the time and grimaced. "I have to go now. I have chem next."
Todoroki blinked at her. "Oh. Right," he said dazedly as Momo opened the door. "…See you Saturday?"
Momo paused just long enough to smile at him again. "See you Saturday."
Author's Note: ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ did somebody say… school band au? No? Well too bad you're all getting an entire school band soulmate au series that'll probably be told through oneshots until I get myself together and write the slow burn multi-chapter. Of which tdmm will be the literal background couple nobody questions because they're just a given.
My friend and I decided to go with the american high school system for this au bc I guess they're all first gen now (nice) so like in our timeline of events, tdmm gets together in their sophomore year, but the actual main series doesn't start until the beginning of everyone's junior year. hence this oneshot. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Fun fact, the first thing my sister did when she came home for spring break was check to see if our piano was still in tune and she was like "ehhh it's a little flat" then pulled out a tuner and, well, it was in an acceptable range but it wasn't perfect so that's how I know this is realistic.
i should probably... stop making long a/ns... anyway thanks for reading... i'd love it if you left a review, if that's your thing, but at the end of the day... see ya, space cowboys...