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I - Purple
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It’s a well known fact among Class A that Jirou doesn't like things being bought for her. She always pays for her own food when they go out to eat, she’ll put a skirt back on the rack when she can't afford the few extra yen. She’s never rude or stuck up about it, she just doesn’t like it. And that’s perfectly fine.
So why is there a small purple gift box outside of her dorm room? She leans down to get it, checking both ends of the hall for someone, or an open door. Her door is pushed closed with her heel as she inspects the box for a sender.
There is...a decent chance that this is something she should definitely not open. Especially after the ‘not suspicious-suspicious package incident’ earlier this month.
She sets the box down on her desk and stares at it. It stares back.
The little box is no larger than her fist, wrapped in shiny purple paper, and tied with a neat, intricate bow. While it’s small, that doesn't mean that there couldn’t be something harmful in there.
But… The box was at her door. Which means that the sender is most likely someone in the dorms, or at least with clearance to them.
Well, she decides she’ll never know if she doesn't open it.
The bow pulls into a long ribbon easily and she unfolds the wrapping paper carefully. She carefully slices the tape with an X-acto knife Tōru forgot. Whatever the gift is is carefully wrapped in purple tissue paper. It crinkles and shifts in the otherwise silent room. Fingers with chipped black polish pull back the last layer of paper to reveal-
A key-chain.
And its receipt.
Kyoka stares in disbelief. The shiny black and yellow keychain sits in her hand, chilled metal against slightly sweaty palms.
It's a Deep Dope keychain. One she hasn’t seen before. She unrolls the receipt and reads over the thin piece of paper. The price and information has all been blacked out, but the item name is still visible.
This is a limited edition keychain.
This can’t have been cheap.
She pins the keychain by the ring to her cork board, and reclines in her swivel chair. The Wrappings of the box have been discarded under her desk.
Kyoka doesn’t really like when people buy her things.
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II- Indigo
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Kyoka trudges up the final flight of stairs, still drying off her hair from the shower. Her body feels like lead as she rolls her neck and stretches her arms. Her posture akin to something of the living-dead, she sluggishly stalks towards her door, when she kicks something.
She looks down to see a dark blue- no- indigo box at her feet. She places the box on the desk and flops into bed. She’ll get it- yawn- in the morning…
The box is still on her desk when the first beam of sunlight slips through her curtains. She feels around for her phone so she can shut off the alarm, eventually giving up and getting out of bed. She glances at the box with fuzzy eyes as she turns the lights on. It’s in her peripheral vision as she showers and changes for the day.
Katsuki is making breakfast and she wants to make sure it's still hot when she gets it.
The indigo box pesters the back of her mind as she runs down the stairs for breakfast.
“Morning Tsu! Morning Shoji!” she waves to the pair sitting on the couch.
“Ribbit.”
“Good morning Jirou.”
Kyoka slides into the stools they’ve set up at the counter.
“Good Morning Katsuki! What’s for breakfast?” she asks.
Katsuki’s response is too mumbled for any other person to hear, but Kyoka’s quirk lets her avoid that problem.
“I’s ‘merican breakf’st.. St’p crowd’n me Kyoka...” is the murmured response. Katsuki must be sleepwalking because he has never ever called Kyoka by her name.
“Can I have the first plate?” A bubbly voice yells. Kyoka nearly falls off the stool when Ochaco pops up next to her. She’s jogging in place. She looks like she’s been up for a while.
“Wh- Ochaco why are you running?” Kyoka asks, letting her head rest on her hand. Katsuki hasn’t paid her any mind yet and seems to be finishing up whatever he’s making.
“Gotta stay pumped! I’m working out with Kirishima all week!” she huffs, momentarily stopping to stretch her arms.
“No cheeks,” Katsuki says, splitting breakfast onto ten plates. “No, you cannot have the first plate. Get your sweat away from my kitchen.”
Ochaco laughs as he waves a spatula in her face threateningly.
“Oi! You think this is funny?” Both of them are darting and ricocheting around the common room evading the other students who are finally starting to trickle downstairs.
“Yea?! How funny is it gonna be when I blow you up?! Hah, cheeks?!” His yelling fades into the distance.
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The last 10 to make it downstairs don’t get any of Katsuki’s cooking. Sucks for them. At the table she shares with Sero, Denki and Tsu, she puts down her utensils to ask a question.
“I’ve been getting little gift boxes at my door the past couple days. Do any of you know who’s leaving them?”
“No, I don't think so… Ribbit.” Tsu answers.
“I’m on the opposite side so I wouldn’t have seen anything, sorry Kyoka.” His answer is muffled by the food in his mouth.
God, when are any of her classmates going to learn manners?
“Denki?” She asks. The blond seems to be having some sort of staring contest with his plate.
“Huh? Were you talking to me?” He looks up.
“Do you know who’s leaving gifts outside my room?” Kyoka asks again, twirling her earphone jack.
“Oh...Yea-! I mean- Wait, what?”
Kyoka facepalms.
“Nevermind.”
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III- Deep Blue
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At the end of the day, Kyoka says bye to Tōru and heads to the end of their shared hall. Once again, in front of her door sits a gift box. This one is deep blue, and slightly larger than the last package. Which reminds her, the indigo box is still sitting unopened on her desk.
She pushes the door open with her foot as she inspects the box for a sender once again.
She shrugs off her blazer and quickly changes into a baggy shirt and shorts, ties her hair up, and plugs in her phone.
The packages are still on her desk.
The rectangular indigo box is topped with a shiny purple bow, a tag hanging off of the side of it.
‘To : Kyoka’ it reads.
She flips over the tag.
Nothing.
She lifts the top off of the box and unfolds the wrapping paper. Inside is a shiny new necklace set, and the accompanying receipt.
The set consists of three necklaces, a small thin chain, a smaller, more choker-like necklace, and a longer one, with a purple pendant.
She hangs the jewelry on her jewelry stand, and moves onto the dark blue box.
She pulls the tag off of the box and inspects it. Attached is a handwritten note,
‘Dear Kyoka, I noticed that you wanted this. I hope you don't mind. -A Friend’
Not a very descriptive note, but whatever. Kyoka shrugs and pulls on the dark blue ribbon. The box is wrapped neatly and precisely with shiny blue paper, and the inside gift is wrapped in blue tissue paper with the receipt laid on top.
The paper crinkles and crunches as she pulls out the contents of the box. It's a black pleated skirt with white trim. The same skirt she couldn’t pay for when the class went to the mall last week.
Kyoka groans, as she pushes her chair away from the desk.
Everyone was there! This doesn't help narrow down the search at all!
Her phone pings with a text on the nightstand.
Tōru: [Mina just texted me that the class is gonna watch a movie downstairs. Are you gonna join?]
This...This could work! She could wear the gifts in hopes of eliciting a reaction from the sender!
Quickly, she typed a response to the text.
You: [Yea give me 5 mins]
--
Movie nights are always a scramble, someones bound to be injured by a wayward elbow or an out of place foot, but still, Kyoka loves them.
As she steps out of the elevator, phone in one hand, blanket in the other, she reminds herself to stay alert for any reactions as she enters.
Downstairs it seems to be chaos already. Tsu is squished between Sato and Shouji. Mina is hanging upside down on the back of the couch, and Iida is yelling about… Ethical popcorn consumption…
Okay then….
“Ah Jirou!” Hagakure says, “We saved you a seat!”
Kyoka walks over to the yellow bean bag next to Tōru’s pink one.
The elevator dings as Sero, Eijiro and Denki step out. They seem to be absorbed in their own conversation until they get to the couches. Denki’s face goes blank for a moment before making a panicked noise.
“Ah! Kyo-Kyoka! Lovely- uh- Lovely skirt you got there! Yea! Ha…” He waves his hands around frantically the way Midoriya does when he’s trying to avoid a conversation.
“Um.. Okay. Thanks?”
Denki’s reaction sets off a lot of warning bells in Kyoka’s mind. When she asked him at breakfast this morning, he avoided the question and stumbled through the answer. But now, he’s seeing her in the skirt and getting completely worked up about it?
Before Kyoka can respond to him, the lights turn off. The movie they picked is supposedly a thriller, which means Mina is going to be in her room all night. Again.
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IV- Silver
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“Thank you so so so much Kyoka!” Mina exclaims while hanging off of Kyoka’s right arm. “You know how much I hate scary movies! I don't know why they keep picking them!” she squeals.
“Mhm.. Yup..” Kyoka half-heartedly responds while stroking Mina’s curls, as they approach her door she notices it. A silver box.
“UGh not again!” she groans. Mina perks up from her incoherent whining.
“Huh?” The pink girl spots the silver box and immediately detaches from Kyoka’s arm. She scrambles over to the box, nearly tripping trying to get it.
“Kyo! What’s this? There’s no sender! Ooh, does someone have a secret admirer?” Mina teases, waving the box around.
“Uh, I guess?” Kyoka shrugs, “I’ve gotten three already.”
“Fun! Tell me more!” Mina exclaims as she drags Kyoka into her own dorm room.
They both sit at the desk with the four boxes and their contents laid in front of them. The smallest box is the first, containing the receipt and keychain, then the necklace, the skirt, and finally the un-opened silver box.
“Okay...Detective Ashido on the case.” Mina says as she spins around in the swivel chair. She has a ridiculous pair of pink sunglasses on.
Kyoka stares blankly, mouth agape.
“W- Where did you get those?” she asks exasperatedly. Mina rolls the chair so close that she can feel the breath coming from the pink girl.
“Shh,” she says smushing her index finger onto Kyoka’s lips. “Let detective Ashido do the work.”
“Here,” Mina says, handing Kyoka the silver box. “Open this.”
“Okay…” she pulls away the tape on the wrapping paper, the box isn't much larger than the first one she received, just slightly larger than her fist. The box unwrapped is just simple cardboard. However, there is a note taped to the top.
‘I hope you don’t mind the different types. I’m not well versed in this stuff myself, sorry -A Friend Admirer’
Pulling the note off gently, she unfolds the tabs of the box. Inside are multiple rows of different brands of lipstick, ranging from drugstore to luxury.
“Oh. My. God Kyo!” Mina yells, shaking Kyoka’s shoulders back and forth. “This is crazy! Think of how expensive this was!”
“I’m well- well aware- you can stop shaking me now.”
“Sorry.” Mina pulls her hands off and sits back down.
“Ok so putting aside the insane amount of money that has been spent on me in the last four days, we still have yet to even come near a conclusion of who it is!” she lets her head slump into her arms.
“Y’know... “ Mina starts, “Denki seemed awfully… What’s the word? Nervous? Flustered? One of the two.” she waves dismissively and stands “Well, goodnight Kyo, I’ve got to catch up on some show with Sero.”
Unexpected departure, but not out of character for Mina
Jirou sits in the silence of her room for a few minutes, pondering the possibility of Denki being the secret admirer.
Ew. He isn’t a bad guy, it's just hard to see him like that…
Without much thinking, Kyoka leaves her room and heads towards the opposite side of the third floor. She isn’t technically supposed to be on the opposite side of the dorms after dark, and Iida would probably severely reprimand her if she were caught, so she’ll just have to be quiet about it.
As she approaches Denki’s door, her earphone jacks pick up small noises. Ojiro & Iida’s snoring, and talking.
“No, I don't think I can. Yea. No, I get it, she needs to get the last gift. Yea, yea ok. G’Night.” Then the phone hangs up.
It’s really all the confirmation she needs.
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V- Envelope
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The next morning she stumbles through her routine. She plans to talk to Denki before school today. Taking a breath of determination she opens her door and steps-
On an envelope.
A confession letter?
She walks to the elevator while carefully peeling open the shiny heart sticker.
‘Dear Kyoka Jirou,
You are the most important person to me. My first friend, the first person to reach out to me. You’re always there when I need you. Thank you for that. About a month ago I realized something, I think it was when you laughed at my joke. I didn’t even realize I had said something funny at first, but you thought it was hilarious. Thinking about that moment still makes me smile.
Since then the feeling has been more persistent, like a warm safe feeling and one that feels like a boulder in my stomach at the same time. I admire everything about you. The way you style your hair, the way you dress, the way you care for others, the way you care for me.
I wanted to tell you how I feel, but as usual, I was too much of a coward to do so. Remember when I invited you to my father’s estate? I planned to tell you then, in my father’s rose garden, not the estate. But gave up at the last minute and invited the entire class!
I tried to find things that you like, the Deep Dope keychain, the necklaces, the skirt, the lipstick. I'm positive you told me what your favorite brand was, but I forgot so I bought all of them. I know you don’t like people buying things for you, so I hope you’ll forgive me. I think I’ve taken enough time to confess by now. Kyoka Jirou, I love you.
-Momo Yaoyorozu’
The elevator doors ping as Kyoka looks up in disbelief. Standing in front of her is her best friend. No, best friend doesn't feel right anymore.
Momo catches sight of the letter in her hand.
“Here’s the receipt for black lipstick.” Momo says, extending her hand. Kyoka could care less about the receipt now, she takes Momo’s hand in hers.
“Thank you, Yaomomo. I really liked the gifts.”