FOUR LETTERS, ONE RESPONSE, TWO CONFESSIONS AND ONE CONSPIRACY.
Pairing: Secret admirer x Reader, Bakugou Katsuki x Reader
Summary: A letter suddenly appeared on your table, claiming to be from your secret admirer, someone who is close to you yet so far away, you pull along your best friend Bakugou into figuring out the mystery man's identity, somehow discovering the underlying feelings for Bakugou himself.
cw: Bestfriend!Bakugou, slight bullying from Bakugou, reader is a hopeless romantic, Bakugou rationalising every letter, Todoroki loses his mind in the end but I make him unhinged in every fic I wrote, anyways enjoy please, this took months to write
09:35 am, Jan 04; The first letter.
There is an envelope on your desk, dusty pink, tucked under your keyboard mat, with an intention to be found, pretty little thing looking odd against the beige files littered on your desk.
You walk over skeptically, pulling it out, eyes scanning over your name, printed onto the cover, before gently tearing it open, unfolding the letter and reading it.
It's printed because you would've figured out my handwriting.
You scrunched your nose, slightly peeved by the prospective thinking, weird.
It's a confession letter, well at least that's what it was supposed to be before I thought of trying something different.
You whip your head around, trying to look for anything, anyone in your office, eyes lingering on the closed door as you waited for someone to jump in and scream 'it's a prank!'.
I am not a stranger, we've know each other for a long time, I have had these feelings for a while now, but I didn't know how to say it.
You deserve more than a simple confession, so this is my attempt to do try and give you that.
You read through the entire letter few times, hoping to find anything, any clue, still skeptical of it's intention, even if it clearly said it was a confession letter.
This is the first letter, expect more to come, maybe I'll ask you on a date or maybe you'll figure it out before I get a chance to.
"I got a sort of love letter." You mumbled, hand tucked in your pocket, fiddling with the folded edge of the said letter, "It was on my desk this morning."
"Did you check the cameras?" Bakugou queried, brow quirked as he leaned back against his chair, eyeing you with interest, "There are two of them in the hallway."
"I didn't." You pouted, pulling out the letter and passing it to him, running a hand through your hairs as you watched him read, "I kinda like the mystery."
"This mystery could very well be Mina trying to spice up your life." Bakugou snorted, reading through the letter, folding it back up and handing it to you, "I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up outside your house."
"Can you like, let me daydream for a bit?" You huffed, snatching the letter, caressing the edge, smoothening non existent creases, "I already over thought about this when I first found it."
He nodded his head in mock understanding, "So, now you've decided to delude yourself."
"Katsuki!" You whined, not wanting him to rationalize your yet to bloom love story.
"Just saying someone walked into your office and left you a letter." He started, eyes narrowing at you as his tone shifted to the one he used in mission briefings, "Whoever that was, didn't have the courage to confess to your face, not only is that cowardly but also creepy."
"Or a hopeless romantic, who is going to give me the fairytale love story." You chimed, resting your chin on your hands, batting your lashes at him, cheeky grin spreading on your lips at his deadpanned expression.
"I am going to check the cameras."
"I know you are, don't spoil it for me though."
"Did you check the cameras?" You eyed Bakugou, watching as he landed another hit on the punching bag, the metal chains clinking loudly in otherwise silent gym.
You force yourself to look at the equipments around the room, forcing your eyes away from his thick, sweaty, hefty─
"Yeah, I did." He turned around, sweat making his shirt stick to his skin, face glossy, "It was Mina."
His voice startled you, leaving you wide eyed, breath held in as you started at him, eyes locked with his, heart beating fast, you blamed it on the fact that your daydream of a lovestory tethered on the edge of breaking.
"Breath dumbass." He huffed, walking over as he pinched your cheek, huffing a laugh at your face scrunching up,"I am joking."
"You fucking asshole!!" You pushed him weakly, turning around to leave before he grabbed your wrist pulling you closer enough you felt his breath fanning on your cheek.
"It was someone, not telling you the name." He whispered, taking a step back, letting go of your wrist, "Live your fairytale, but if this secret admirer makes one mistake, I am cracking a skull open."
Your heart is pounding in your chest, light headed as you watched him go back to his workout, skin tingling as you repeated his words in your head.
"Did you check properly?" You shuffled the reports in your hand, watching as Bakugou sighed, gathering bunch of screws, "Was it even someone from our agency?"
"What are you talking about?" He grabbed his gauntlet, placing it on his tool table, before assessing the damage.
"Mr. Mystery, my lover," You groaned, placing your forehead against the table he was working on, "I didn't receive another letter yet, he said there would be more to come."
Bakugou gave you a nasty side-eye, mean and judgemental, "First of all, don't put your face on this table, it's dirty and inflammable," He tossed a packet of wipes at you, "And second of all, it's barely been 24 hours since the first letter."
"What you need, is to relax."
05:45 pm, Jan 06; The second letter.
The second letter you find, is tucked away in your locker, placed on neatly folded towels, light yellow this time.
For a moment you wonder if it really is Mina, men aren't allowed in the women's locker room, but considering Mr. Letter guy is your friend, he might have access to the changing rooms as well.
I asked someone to place it in your locker.
The clarification as the introductory line makes you snicker, a giddy feeling blooming in your belly as you mentally noted involvement of another person in this little scheme.
I wanted to leave another letter but your office was too risky, I didn't want to be caught lingering idly.
A part of me hoped you anticipated the letter, looked forward to getting another one, I have few of them scattered in my office, randomly scribbled with things I want to say.
If you were sitting, you'd be on the edge of the seat, biting your lips to avoid grinning like a maniac, especially around semi nude, glistening with sweat ladies.
For now, I'd say you should really work on your defense, half the squad almost kicked your ass.
Your eyes widened, quickly running out of the locker room you looked at the heroes some in locker rooms, others on their way back home.
You spot Bakugou leaning against one of the walls, swiping through he phone as he waited for you to change.
"He was here." You huffed, slightly breathless, looking around as you tried to recall who was present during sparring, "I got another note, he said my defense is shit."
"Creepy but go on." He took the letter, eyes scanning the words before he turned around to look at people in the gym, "There is another person involved."
"That's what I noticed too." You look back at the women's locker room, watching as Mina and Jirou walk out, waving at your way before leaving.
"So, what are your thoughts?"
"I think it might be someone in the squad, I'll interrogate the girls later."
"I meant about your defense being roasted."
"Oh well, he is a hero if he knows about this, and he cares about me, Sukiii~" You throw yourself at him, wobbling slightly as he caught you last minute, "I have knight looking out for me."
"Great, I tell you, your defense is shit and you whine, some no name weirdo says the same thing and he is a knight."
"You don't tell me, you roast the fuck out of it."
"Have you seen yourself, you look like you're about to trip over nothing everytime."
The office is silent, sound of pen scribbling Bakugou's ears as he looked up from the magazine, amused as he watched you attempted to stick another sticky note on your whiteboard. "What are you working on Genius?"
"Assessing the situation," You stepped backwards, almost tripping over your chair, hands clasping together as you turned around to face him, "Points I have collected so far in relation to Mr. Mystery."
He nodded his head, wating for you to elaborate, magazine abandoned on the glass table, considering he found something way more interesting.
"So, he is in our friends group," You start, circling a random sticky note with a red marker, "or at least a friend of a friend, it would be impossible to access my office or the gym without that." You fold your arms, analyzing further, waiting for Bakugou's input.
Bakugou gives you an unimpressed look, almost bored, "That's it?"
"I have more," You pulled the second letter you had gotten and handed it to him, "He must be a pro-hero or in some sort of armed force, he knew about combat skills."
"So, you deduced that from 2 letters?" Bakugou queried.
Something in your gut screamed that this man in front of you is about to roast you to crisps, despite the feeling you nodded your head.
"First of all, I can't believe that I let you lead missions," He sassed, folding the letter and handing it back to you, "Second of all, when did the letters say anything about the gender of the sender."
Realisation dawned upon you, lips parting open as you stared at him, "Oh my god! There is a possibility it is Mina."
Any hopes of you having functioning braincells flew out of the window as Bakugou watched you have a rather emotional breakthrough.
"Are you done?" He hummed, too used to your unhinged behaviour, "I didn't say anything about Mina, all I said was you can't be certain of anything at the moment."
"This is like the only time I am accepting the rationality." You huffed, plopping down beside him, shoving your face onto his side, almost headbutting his armpit, "Wait, you checked the cameras, you know who it is!"
"I do, Genius." He grinned, proud that your brain managed to connect actual dots. "And I am not telling you."
"Can I ask you a question?" You batted your lashes at Bakugou, perched on his kitchen counter as you watched him make dinner for the both of you, "wait that defeats the purpose of the question, can I ask two questions, wait I just did─"
"Quit it!" He groaned, abandoning the spoon he came to stand between your legs, hands placed on either side of your thighs, "You can only ask not-dumb questions?"
"But everything is dumb to you." You grinned cheekily, leaning back to trace shapes on the counter, undeterred by his glare, before straightening up, "sorry, sorry, I'll ask away." You sighed, smile fading away slowly, "Do you think I have unreasonably high expectations from letter guy?"
07:52 pm, Jan 10; The third letter.
It's later in the evening, sun setting behind the horizon, you wander aimlessly through the hallway, wanting to grab a cup of coffee before going back to your paperwork.
The third letter, was by the coffee machine, in the pantry, a cup of coffee already prepared, piping hot, waited for you on the counter, nearly snapping your neck as you looked around to catch a glimpse of someone, anyone.
Everytime I start, I feel a little stuck, not because I don't have anything to say, on the contrary I have too much to say.
Despite knowing each other for a long time, I feel like through these letters, you don't know me at all, perhaps for a little warm up, I should give you a hint.
There is a small restaurant in Hokkaido, 7th district, ran by an old lady, Arima, ask her for the house special dish, it's my favourite.
Go there this Saturday, I know you have the weekend off.
"We are going out this Saturday." You announced, walking over to the attached bathroom in Bakugou's office to wash your hands.
"I could be busy, you know." He sassed, placing your bento box on the table, grabbing a bottle of water and filling a glass for you.
"Could be, but you aren't, so we are going to Hokkaido."
"Hokkaido?" He questioned, passing you the apron, something he started keeping around when he learnt you were a messy eater, "What's in Hokkaido?"
"A restaurant, someone recommended it, so thought we should try it."
"Since when did your picky ass take recommendations?" He queried, eyeing as you settled beside him, immediately inhaling your home cooked meal.
"Since particularly romantic men started giving recommendations."
"Please don't tell me the letter guy is inviting you to eat." He groaned, taking bite out of his own bento, placing a bottle of water beside you, "You can go if you want, I don't have intentions of being kidnapped."
"You are like the least kidnap─able guy I know."
"I knew you'd sacrifice me one day."
"Do you think we are lost?" You eye the unfamiliar road ahead of you, craning your neck to read the signs, hoping to find the right directions, "You should have let me drive─"
"And risk ending up in a ditch." Bakugou swivelled the car onto a different lane, driving purely under the guidance of his memory, "I know my way through the city, so sit back and relax."
"I didn't even tell you the name of the restaurant," You groaned, switching on your phone and scanning the routes on maps, "It's pointing arrow in the other direction."
The car slows down, coming to stop at the red light, unfamiliar city bustling around you, he turns to you, "I know the way around here, put that phone down and chill." Reaching forward he grabbed your phone, plucking it out of your hands and tossing it on the back seats, albeit gently, "It's 20 minutes max from here."
"A second more and I am drivin─"
"We'll be there in lesser."
You reach the restaurant within given time, infact 3 minutes early, not giving him a moment to rub his victory in your face, you stepped out of the car, eyeing the restaurant, "Do you think we'll get a discount because of you?"
Bakugou hummed, locking the car as he followed you inside, "Why me? You are a Pro-hero too." He nudged your shoulder, taking in the interior of the place, eyes scanning the menu, "What do you plan on getting?"
"Cause you have a pretty face and I'll get the house special." You ring the bell at the counter, waiting to give your order, snickering when you spot the scowl on his face from the side of your eye.
"Their house special is spicy Mapo tofu," Bakugou tapped his fingers against the plastic stand, before eyeing you mischievously, "think you can handle that?"
"I'll be fine." You turn to greet the lady at the counter, who smiled at you sweetly, eyes crinkling along the corners, faint recognition passing through her features before she schooled them to neutrality.
"What would you two like, sweety?" She hummed, eyes focusing on you, veiny hands smoothening the tablecloth over the counter. "Two spicy mapo tofu please─"
"One spicy and one regular," Bakugou cut you off, already aware of the tantrum you'd throw later, "Please," He slid his card forward, ignoring your raged glare.
You didn't bother arguing with him at the counter, opting to follow him to the table instead, "You know I hate when you act like a mAN." You leaned forward, whispering across the table, "I can take decisions on my own."
"It's for me." Bakugou slid a glass of water towards you, pouring himself a glass, "Don't feel like eating spicy tonight." It took every ounce of control to not burst out laughing at your shocked expression, the physical manifestation of cringe on your face.
01:46 pm, Jan 11; The fourth letter.
Hopefully the Mapo tofu wasn't too spicy for you,
I feel like with that specific hint I have dropped in the last letter, you should be able to figure out who I am.
Your grin faltered, hint─you were so focused on deciphering who this person was, that you hadn't really acknowledged the fact that it is someone you already knew, this wouldn't have been difficult if you thought about it.
Not that you needed one (or maybe you did, you can't put two and two together, no offense),
This is the last letter, I think I have beaten around the bush enough, it's time I finally do the task I initially set out to do so.
I want you to finally meet me, I'll come to your office tonight, bring take out and finally confess, hopefully you'll be ready by then.
It felt odd, usually at the end of each letter, you felt giddy, mind racking through possibilities of who it could be, excited to work through the mysteries of letter guy.
But, today felt off, deep down you know why you felt this way, the anticipations of who it could be tangling with the expectations of who you wanted it to be were nauseating.
You didn't wanted to be disappointed when you found out it wasn't who you were expecting, worse you didn't want to lead someone on because you couldn't be with them.
You had to do something before it could get worse.
10:03 pm, Jan 11; The Response.
You've procrastinated enough, an entire day of mulling over how you'd essentially be writing a rejection letter, better half was spend on thinking if you should handwrite it or print it.
I hope you are doing well, these past few days have been amazing, I really enjoyed your letters and your confession, but unfortunately I cannot accept it.
You bite your nail, pen hovering over the paper, the urge to scratch out sentences strong as you thought about your phrasing.
Looking over, you didn't have much time before Bakugou left for the day, you had to meet him before he did, you suppose ripping the bandage right off is the best option.
I have feelings for someone else, he is my best friend, Bakugou Katsuki, I am sure you know him too.
You cheeks warmed up at the mere thought of Bakugou, a different anticipation pooling in your belly as you went over last few days.
These past few days, we spend alot of time together, mostly because I was forcing him to play along these letters, which in hindsight is wrong but alas I feel like I would have figured out my feelings inevitably.
I hope you find someone who puts as much efforts as you do.
You slide the note under the container of Mapo tofu, nudging everything to the centre of the table to ensure nothing accidentally flew away with the wind, before turning around and leaving the office balcony.
Bakugou enters your office just as you started packing for the night, "Thought you were going to meet letter guy?" He queried, fiddling with trinkets scattered on your table, voice awfully small.
"There is a change of plans I suppose." You walked up to him, bag tugged under your arm, "Do you want to get dinner together? I don't feel like going home yet."
Despite his skepticism, he nodded his head, letting you lead the way out of the office, eyes never really leaving your frame as you walked away from the unlocked office.
12:06 am, Jan 12; The confessions.
"What are you thinking about?" Bakugou asked, voice surprisingly soft, shoulder bumping into yours.
"Nothing." You mumbled, fiddling with the wrapper of your burger, taking another bite, "Just living in the moment, I suppose."
"You suppose," He hummed, eyes drifting from you to the vast sea, his own hands nursing a beer, fries forgotten on the picnic blanket, "did something happen?" He questioned, "back at the agency?"
You shook your head, the thought of letter guy eating mapo tofu alone lingered at the back of your mind, hopefully he'll find someone better.
"I didn't want to meet him." You sighed, watching as Bakugou nodded his head, waiting for you to continue, "I was curious initially but eventually I started hoping it would be someone specific."
Without elaborating further, you reached for the fries, fingers slick with ketchup and grease, you couldn't care any lesser though.
"So, you like-like someone?" His stated evenly, watching you nod with a mouth full of fries, reaching to wipe a smear of sauce off your chin, "Who is it?" It's delivered playfully but you can sense the emotions laced in his words.
"You know him." You teased, reaching for his beer, chuckling when he immediately handed it to you, "here are some clues, he's tall, blonde and handsome and won't let me eat anything spicy."
It's an easy guess, you watch him through the periphery of your vision, despite the confident confession, anticipation whirled in your belly.
"Sounds awfully familiar." He breathed out in utter relief, hand coming to cradle the back of your neck, maneuvering you to look at him, "can't believe you beat me to confessing." He peeked the corner of your mouth, "and for the record, I don't want to hear you complain about you asshole burning after eati─"
"You are supposed to say I love you after you confession, idiot." You huffed, throwing your head back to laugh at him, slightly embarassed mostly giddy.
By the time you finish eating, it's already late in the night, streets had slowed down, barely anyone at the beach apart from you two.
You pull Bakugou's jacket closer, waiting for him to find a parking spot and join you, his scent surrounding you, warmth seeping into your bones despite the chilly night.
He jogs up to you, hand instinctively reaching for yours, pulling you closer, "Here, realised I didn't give you this." He hummed, handing you 6000 yen.
"You don't have to, I knew you were joking." You huddle closer, cozying up by his side, "Is it weird that despite rejecting Mr. Secret Admirer, I am curious regarding who it was?"
"Not really, unless you plan on changing your mind once you find out."
"Nope, I am certain in my decision."
06:55 pm, Jan 21; Last but not the least: The conspiracy.
You understand Todoroki's insanity when it came to connecting the dots, your office desk cleared of it's content, your poor monitor tossed on to the couch as you placed your evidence on the glass table, more than necessary red strings connecting everything to everything.
"And the letters were always placed whenever Katsuki had desk work." You scribbled another point onto a sticky note, watching as Todoroki nodded his head, hunched over the desk as he psychoanalyzed key word: psycho the situation. "And conveniently whenever I was busy."
"I know we are thinking the same exact thing." He placed a finger against his forehead, "Even though we didn't expect this from him, it is not out of character for him."
"I know right! He knew the way to that restaurant in Hokkaido without me mentioning the address," You hopped around the table, giddy as ever, hugging him tightly, "Or the recipe to Yakitori."
"Your hysteria is understandable," He shook his head, sympathetically patting your back, years spend with Bakugou flashing before his eyes, "I would go crazy too if he did something like this for me."
You stopped for a minute, looking up at him in confusion, "I didn't know you had feelings for him to—"
"What are you two idiots doing?" Bakugou entered the office, suspiciously glancing at the mess on your table, before looking back at you both.
You glance up at Todoroki, nodding your head in understanding as you turn back to Bakugou."We figured it out."
A cheeky grin spreading on his lips, watching you proudly, "What did you figure out, Genius?"
"YOU ARE MY SECRET ADMIRER!"
"Shouto, the fuck?!" You jump back, looking at him in bewilderment and concern, before meeting Bakugou's confused gaze.
"Alright Icyhot, did you hit your head today?" Bakugou walked over, arm wrapping around your waist, pressing a quick kiss against your hairline, before going back to glaring at him.
"You can't hide forever." Todoroki glared back, pitifully glancing your way before snatching random papers of the desk and storming out.
"Was he your investigation partner?"
"Yeah, I don't think we were really thinking the same thing."
"Of course, you weren't."
11:47 pm, Jan 24; The psychosis.
Todoroki sat through hours of footage, analysing activity around your office and floor for the past month, catching various folders multiple times.
He noticed some pieces were missing.
Considering only Bakugou had the access to agencies records and only he could view and manipulate the stored footage, his suspicions were right.
Meaning Bakugou had personally deleted footage of specific hours from the agencies records, not only that but he had cleared the back up data as well.
He had made sure that whoever this guy was, never truly reached you and laid out a plan that perfectly aligned with the guy, so you'd believe it was him all along.
He'll disclose the truth one day!
Dividers by: @/olenvasynyt 💖✨
