٭Love Notes٭

Chapter 2: Ugly Duckling

Thankfully, it was a Sunday. The one day a week we don't have to do school. Sad, ain't it?

Anyways, no one really had any plans, so we all chilled in the dorms. I was in the common room, watching Bakugo berate everyone because of Mario Kart, when Mina came and sat down next to me. "Hey Kiri!" she said, turning to me with a sweet smile. I smiled back and greeted her, and we talked about training and laughing at the victims of Bakugo.

"Oh! I meant to ask, what's up with the note on your bed?" she turned to me with a curious face, and I went red slightly. "Ah, did I leave my door open again?" I asked shyly, to which she nodded. I sighed, smiling softly. "Every day, someone, who I assume is in our class, leaves love notes on my desk, bed, and in my locker. I can't figure out who it is, and it's really annoying me. I don't even get a hint at who they are, they always sign off with Zumi." 

Mina bursted out laughing after I was done, and I chuckled in confusion. "What?" I asked. "Kiri, why would you get love notes?" She questioned, which made me stop laughing. "What do you mean?" "Look, you're one of my best friends, Ki, but you're not exactly the type of guy who'd get love notes. You're not the best looking, you know." What. What does she mean by that. "People have types, right? And it's not just about looks either, Mina." "If you had a secret admirer, I doubt they would know your personality."

I was heartbroken. How could she talk about me like this? I know I'm definitely not her type, but I'm still her friend. She was supposed to hype me up about this kind of stuff, not think I'm lying. I kept a fake smile on my face as we continued to talk about other things, before she was called over by one of the girls. After a bit, I got up and speed-walked to my room, slamming the door shut and sitting against it. I started to cry quietly, letting it all out secretly. 

Normally, I don't cry much. But she made me the butt of the joke, and I hated it. That destroyed my confidence so badly, I don't know how I held up with it through the rest of our conversation. I finally got up off the floor, wiped away the remaining tears in my eyes, and sat down on my bed. I opened the letter, smiling to see another paragraph about me. (i aint writing allat again)

My heart swelled with love as I kept reading the note over and over again, as I always did. But this time, I started to contradict the writer. Was Mina right? Are they just messing with my head for fun? What kind of sick joke is that? The letters were supposed to always make me feel better after a bad day, but they just couldn't seem to do it this time. Tears flooded back into my eyes as everything Mina said to me came back into my head, and I cried again. I put the note into the locked box I kept them, and cried into my pillow even more.

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I woke up the next day, realizing I had cried myself to sleep. Great. Mondays.

I tiredly got up and checked the time, it was 7:30. I had enough time to shower and refresh myself from the terrible night of sleep and crying I had. Even after my shower, I could tell that people would notice I'm off. That's fine, let them know I feel like shit. I pulled on my uniform, put the smallest bit of concealer on to hide the actual shitshow of my eyebags, and headed down to the common room for breakfast. 

I didn't greet everyone like I usually did, and they didn't seem to notice me either way. Way to add insult to injury. I made myself some toast and ate that while I scrolled through my phone, washed up my dishes, and headed back to my dorm. Someone stopped me though.

"Kirishima-kun, are you okay? You don't seem like your usual self today.." It was Midoriya, and I smiled softly at his concern. "I'm alright, Midoriya. I didn't get much sleep last night, so I don't have a lot of energy today," I replied, and he nodded. I kept walking to my dorm and grabbed my bag, packing it with the things I needed. I'm so glad we don't have training today, I was not gonna be able to survive it at all. 

I walked by myself to class, sitting down at my desk and pulling out a notebook to study some things. I didn't really need to study, it was to get my mind off thinking about what happened yesterday. Soon, other people piled into the homeroom, and my usual friends came over to my desk, talking about other stuff. I did my best to look interested in the conversation, nodding my head every few sentences while I looked through my notes. 

I somehow managed to tune in when Mina piped in. "Oh! You wanna know something funny? Apparently, Kirishima's getting love notes!" Fuck. Of course she brought that up. The entire group laughed, including me, and I looked up to them. "Can you believe it?" The others shook their heads as Denki looked to me. "Bro, who would give you love notes?" He said, and my heart broke a bit at his mocking tone. He was my best friend, why are they talking about me like this? Bakugo then chimed in. "You're fucking lying. No one would give you love notes, you're too ugly." I smiled through the pain. "Come on, guys. I'm not that bad, right?" They all laughed at my question. "Bakugo's right. You're not really that attractive, Kiri," Sero said, and I could feel my heart breaking even more. 

Thankfully, Iida told us all to go to our seats, and they all moved to their seats. I was stuck there, listening to the morning announcements, barely able to focus because of all their hurtful comments. 

They were right, I was ugly.