Work Text:
The holidays weren’t a huge thing for Peko. They never really were. She had the day off from training when she was growing up, and still technically did, but that was all. It was quiet, if a bit lonely. She didn’t really mind it, not after the first couple of years. Gifts were a rarity anyway, birthdays included.
That, in fact, was the very reason she was surprised that a small box showed up outside her dorm room on December 14th.
Nobody was on either side of the hallway when she looked. No doors were closing to tell her that the person had just left it. She doubted many of her classmates were up at that hour. Yet, unmistakably, her name was marked on the box in typed font. That alone piqued her suspicion of such a thing. Still, she closed the door softly behind her, picking up the box and bringing it with her to the dojo.
She used the dojo so that she would not miss class, but still be the only one there. It was always better when it was empty, so she didn’t have to dodge around other people. Weak sunlight filtered in, doing little to warm the place. The floor was cold when she sat, the box a little way away from her.
There was nothing really unusual about it, other than the lack of handwriting. Nothing tipped her off as it being potentially dangerous. She couldn’t imagine it being anything horrible, especially since Hope’s Peak had phenomenal security. It couldn’t hurt to open, could it?
No, she decided after a couple minutes of deliberation. She would open it, and then she would go back to practicing like she should be. No note was attached apart from her name, so she carefully lifted the lid and unwrapped the tissue paper inside. What she found was a pair of knit gloves, soft and gray. They were the kind that had tops that folded back to expose her fingers.
Strange. She needed new gloves since her old pair ripped back in early November. Not only that, but she was sure she mentioned to someone that she liked this kind of glove. She never did like having her hands fully covered, and having her fingers exposed helped her maintain a better grip on her sword. As much as she tried, she couldn’t remember who she’d mentioned it to. The box did not in any way indicate who it was from.
It appeared that she had a mystery to solve.
X-X-X
The next day brought another mystery gift. This time, it was a small box of chocolates. She seldom allowed herself to have sugars like that, but those chocolates were always the ones she went to. She was also sure that her classmates were all aware of it; most of them had asked before.
“It’s strange, isn’t it?” she asked Chiaki during their lunch hour. Chiaki was a good person to go to for advice, being one of her more mature classmates and the class representative to boot. Also, Mahiru was having lunch in the Reserve Course building at the moment, so she couldn’t go to her. “I don’t know who’s sending them.”
“It’s not too strange. You just have a secret admirer, that’s all.” She considered her words for another second, glancing up from her Game Girl. “Actually, it’s kind of sweet in a way. Like a one-way Secret Santa.”
She supposed that she had a point. But still, she couldn’t fathom being the subject of someone’s affection. “Should I do something in return, then?”
Chiaki hummed. “I’m not the best with dating sims...but if you ask me, you should wait to see how it plays out. Don’t act on something like this unless you know who it is. That’s a good plan...I think.”
That also made sense. Peko was sure these were isolated incidents, anyway. No need for her to act if it wasn’t going to continue. “Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it.”
“No problem.” Chiaki paused her game and looked past Peko, smiling at Hajime, the one Reserve Course student everyone in Peko’s class knew. That was her cue to leave, sparing a wave for Hajime. The topic remained in her mind for the rest of the lunch hour, pestering her.
Maybe, secretly, she wanted to find out who her admirer was.
X-X-X
The pattern continued on, much to her surprise. She was certain that those two incidents were all, but by the seventh day of them, she decided that she had to know who was giving them to her. Not that she didn’t appreciate it; the cat plush she received that day was amazingly cute and soft. It was just that she hadn’t in her life gotten so many gifts in a short time like that. Or at all, really.
The only question remaining was how she could find out who her admirer was if they left no clues.
At that point, she couldn’t even be sure that whoever it was was in her class. For all she knew, it could be one of her underclassmen or upperclassmen. Though, for some reason, she doubted it. None of them knew her well enough to be attracted to her, nor did they know her well enough to give her such thoughtful and on-point gifts.
That could be something she could use to weed out who it couldn’t be. She was certain Teruteru and Kazuichi knew little more about her other than that she was intimidating, for example. Ryota and Imposter never really spoke to her, either. Nagito and Nekomaru could care less about her. Gundham and Hajime knew her well enough, she supposed. And Fuyuhiko…
Well. It was safe to assume that these weren’t from him. She wasn’t even sure they’d had more than a couple conversations on school grounds.
Anyway. Each gift seemed to narrow down who could’ve given them to her, at least by her analysis. If she could remember when she’d mentioned each one, she could find the common denominator.
And so far, she had it narrowed down to everyone in her class except for Teruteru.
...This would be harder than she expected.
X-X-X
Holiday break came quicker than she imagined. She only brought her gloves back to the Kuzuryu household, though. A lot of her gifts would not go unnoticed by Fuyuhiko’s parents, and she would rather go without the added scrutiny.
By the time she got there, the gifting had gone on for three more days- the gifts being a new red lipstick that she’d always wanted to try, a silvery scarf, and the soundtrack to one of her favorite movies. It might be that taking a step back from the gifts would clear her mind and help her figure out the ongoing mystery of who was sending them.
Her mentor could tell that she was distracted during her training. She missed strikes that she normally would never, was just a fraction slower than she usually was. The extra time he added onto practice made her muscles burn beyond the usual amount, no longer feeling good. She supposed it was a fitting punishment for her head not being in the game. If that ever happened while she was protecting Fuyuhiko, she would never be able to forgive herself.
When she returned to her room, she was sufficiently exhausted, more than she could remember being in a long time. So exhausted, in fact, that she did not notice a small parcel next to her pillow. Hair ribbons, she discovered, different colors than just her plain white. Simple, but thoughtful. She’d wanted to try different colors for a while.
But this also meant that she was wrong, right? Only two people ever bothered coming into her room, and they were the same two people who knew she lived with the Kuzuryus. And only one of them went to Hope’s Peak.
But she couldn’t ask him about it now. It was late, and he was likely already sleeping. He would spend Christmas with his family tomorrow. She would spend hers in her room, wondering why he did what he did.
X-X-X
“Peko? Can I come in?”
She sat up in bed, immediately alert and aware of the fact that she was in pajamas and that the sun wasn’t even up. In all of her memory, she couldn’t remember him waking before she did. “Come in.”
He slipped inside, closing the door quietly behind him. “Nobody else is up yet. I thought this would be a good time for us to talk.”
“You were the one giving me gifts.” It wasn’t a question. There was no doubt in her mind about it. After a second, he nodded. “Why?”
“Because-” He cut himself off, swearing under his breath. “I told myself that this would be the year I told you. I thought, maybe if you stopped seeing me as someone you needed to protect in school, it might work. I dunno.”
It wasn’t really like him to be so cryptic about something like this. “Is it like Chiaki said? You’re my secret admirer, and that’s why you gave me the gifts?” It made little sense to her. She’d known him her entire life. He had so many opportunities to say this, but he pushed her away instead. She thought that was because he was annoyed with her, because he didn’t want her in his life. Was she wrong?
Against her will, her heart rate sped up. Was this...was this real?
“...I knew you’d be able to figure it out. I just remembered little things you mentioned, the things you like. After not really talking much for the last year or so, I thought it’d be a good way to show that I care. About you.”
She was certain her face reddened a bit, despite her trying to control it. No matter how hard she tried the last ten or so years, she couldn’t deny that she’d grown up having feelings for him. They always got in the way of her training, though. She was forced to banish them to the back of her mind. “Fuyuhiko, I-”
He smiled, just a little. The sight made her stop cold. “Fuyuhiko. Not ‘Young Master.’ That’s a great Christmas gift.” That must’ve reminded him of something, because his posture straightened a little. “I have one more present for you, if you want it.” He reached into the pocket of his pajamas and took out- a leaf? No, not that.
Mistletoe.
She took it from him, studying it. She knew what this meant, she knew that his parents would hate this. But she wanted it. She’d wanted this for as long as she could remember. To have it right there in her sights was too much of a temptation. “We would need to keep it from your parents,” she said finally. “But... I’m willing to try.” She held the mistletoe above them, only brave enough to kiss his cheek. That was enough for now.
He was positively glowing at the gesture. “That’s all I ask.” He returned the kiss, and she realized just how warm it could make her, warmer than the gloves and scarf and chocolates and all of the gifts he gave her before.
She was counting that feeling as her thirteenth gift.