Dear Denki (Kirikami)

love & investigations

Kaminari POV

I keep my new Pikachu plushie in my lap for the entirety of my morning classes. It's hard to take notes since my secret admirer decorated my desk with so many things. Aizawa scoffs at the display when he first enters the 2-A classroom, but he doesn't ask me to clean my desk off or anything. Even Aizawa's a softie during the Valentine's Day season. Yesterday morning when I scanned his desk for a spare sleeping bag, I found a few love notes and sweets from Present Mic. But I'm taking that with me to the grave.

I can hardly concentrate throughout my lessons, no matter how much I try. My mind is occupied elsewhere. Letters are one thing, but all this? This secret admirer likes me even more than I initially thought. It's a bit scary, if I'm being truthful, only because I'm still nowhere near closer to figuring out his identity.

This is getting out of hand. As much as I want to respect this guy's wishes about wanting to keep himself hidden, I'm losing my mind over this. I have to know.

But how?

Luckily, zoning out in class and plotting schemes go hand in hand. People give me a hard time for being dumb, but that's usually because I say the first thing that comes to mind without thinking things through first. But if I actually take the time to reflect on my ideas, sometimes I formulate plans that are so well crafted that I even surprise myself. And today is no different.

Honestly, I'm a tad embarrassed it's taken me this long to realize such a simple solution. But better late than never I suppose.

Glancing to the corner of the room nearest the door, my eyes drift upward, right to where the wall and the ceiling connect. And just as I suspected, given my desk's near the center of the room, it's pointing right at me.

The security camera.

My leg bounces the rest of the morning until it's time to break for lunch. As soon as we're dismissed, I shove all my gifts from my secret admirer into my bag, aside from the Pikachu and the roses, and bolt out of the classroom. I'm so pumped on adrenaline that I don't even say goodbye to Kiri as he calls after me. I'll just explain everything to him once I have the answer I need.

Racing through the halls, I bump into a few students on my way to Principal Nezu's office. When I reach his door, I halt on my heels so I don't accidentally pass it. The door's closed, so I politely knock three times and wait for someone to answer.

Principal Nezu is standing on a step stool when the door opens, no doubt so he can actually reach the doorknob.

"Oh, Kaminari," he cheers. "How lovely to see you. Please, come in."

"Thank you."

I follow Nezu inside and take a seat on the chair in front of his desk, resting the Pikachu and the roses at my feet. It takes Nezu some time to climb onto his desk chair, but I don't mind. When he's finally settled, he beams at me.

"So Kaminari," he says, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

I tilt my head down. "Yeah," I reply, "I was wondering if I can look at some security footage from the camera in the 2-A classroom."

"Oh? Was something of yours stolen?"

I shake my head. "No, nothing like that. It's uh, well, it's kind of embarrassing."

Nezu's smile grows wider. "I assure you that nothing you say will leave this room."

My body relaxes upon hearing his comment. My desperation to solve the mystery of my secret admirer may seem silly to some, but it's important to me. That's really all that should matter. Plus, the worst Nezu can say is no. Life will go on either way.

So, after taking a deep breath, I lay out the details for Nezu. Part of me is still slightly embarrassed as I dive into the discussion of my love life with my principal, but he keeps a friendly expression on his face as I talk that it lessens the cringe factor.

"How lovely," he says. "A secret admirer. You should consider yourself lucky, Kaminari. For someone to put such an effort into sending you letters and gifts, you must be very special to him."

Blood rushes to my cheeks as I give a small smile. "Yeah, that's why I'm trying to figure out who he is. Even if nothing comes from it, I at least want to be able to thank him."

Nezu nods and opens the laptop that's resting on his desk. "I can pull up the security footage right from my computer. Gotta love technology, huh?"

My eyes widen, a knot forming in my chest. It's really that easy? Oh God, this is really happening. Once Nezu pulls up the footage, I'll know who my secret admirer is. I'm equally excited as I am scared.

With a pit in my stomach, I rise from the chair and swing around Nezu's desk, eyeing his computer screen. My arm shakes as I prop my hand on his desk for support. I swallow hard, refusing to blink.

Soon the computer screen displays the 2-A classroom. There's me, sitting at my desk, squeezing my Pikachu plushie. Kiri's smiling fondly at me as I admire my presents, which warms my heart.

"Oh, how adorable," Nezu says, pointing at the assortment of sweets and roses on my desk. "Now, do you have an estimate as to when this mystery person snuck into the classroom?"

"Beats me," I say.

"No worries," he says. "We'll just have to figure it out manually."

He adjusts the time of the camera footage several times, hoping to narrow down the window as much as possible. 4 AM is too early, but 6:30 is too late. I thought it'd take much longer for Nezu to locate my secret admirer this way, but I forgot Nezu is smarter than even the most intelligent of humans, so it takes less than a minute.

"Bingo," he says. "Found him."

He says the words, and I know he's right because I'm watching the footage unravel. There he is, a large bag in his hand, the Pikachu tucked under his armpit. He's very meticulous as he decorates my desk with everything. And even so, that signature scowl of his never once leaves his face.

This can't be right. It doesn't make any sense. But cameras don't lie. And this security camera is of such high quality that there's no mistaking his identity.

The pit in my stomach intensifies as realization settles in.

"It's..." I whisper, "Bakugou?"