Chapter 40: Trying to Change Targets Part 2
Upon entering the bathroom, Marinette was bathed in the soft glow of the overhead light, finding it a temporary sanctuary of calm amidst the turbulence of emotions she was experiencing. Despite that, she ignored it and continued walking over to the closest stall, closing the door behind her before sitting on top of the closed toilet with a melancholy sigh. Now away from prying eyes, Tikki flew out of her holder's purse while Marinette's shoulders slumped as she stared down at her clasped hands, her usually vibrant blue eyes clouded with uncertainty.
The kind of uncertainty that can only come from matters of the heart.
"Why are you so sad?" Tikki asked as she hovered beside Marinette, her voice soft and full of concern matching the expression on her tiny face. Marinette sighed deeply, her breath forming a small, fleeting cloud in the air.
"I like Luka. He's really nice," she admitted, her tone tinged with a blend of hope and resignation before her face fell the more she thought about earlier. "But do you think he's just like Adrien? Just a friend?" the designer asked her kwami, prompting Tikki's antennae to twitch thoughtfully as she fluttered closer.
But before Tikki could respond, there was a soft knock on the bathroom door, the sound gentle but carrying a weight of concern behind it.
"Marinette? Are you okay?" Adrien's voice drifted from the other side of the door, his tone full of warmth and genuine worry that it was enough to get Marinette to straighten up from her hunched posture.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" she called back with slightly widening eyes as she glanced toward the door, forcing a note of cheerfulness into her voice that didn't quite reach her eyes.
At the sight of Marinette's behaviour, Tikki's expression grew more puzzled. "You know, you don't have to hide how you feel," she said gently.
"I know. I just..." Marinette began, the words getting stuck in her throat before finding the courage to continue. "I don't want him worrying about me when he should be focusing on Kagami. Adrien deserves to be happy, even if it's without me." the pigtailed girl replied, once again letting herself slump over herself.
And just as Tikki came to cuddle against her holder's cheek, something that sounded a lot like a conversation continued outside the bathroom, the murmurs of another voice mixing with Adrien's. Immediately, Marinette assumed Adrien was talking with Kagami, thinking she had run off after him when he came after her. And when Marinette thought she couldn't become more upset, she heard Adrien's defensive and bewildered-sounding voice say...
"Me? Going after Marinette? No! She's just a friend."
Upon hearing the familiar heart-wrenching phrase, Marinette could feel her heart racing and a pang of sharp disappointment flooding through her. Her emotions swirled within her like a storm as she tried to focus on her surroundings, hoping to make sense of the confusion inside her. The longer she let her thoughts run amok within her mind, the more the bathroom seemed to close in on her, the walls holding the echoes of her internal struggle.
She knew that her feelings were complex and messy, and she wasn't sure how to navigate them even as she heard Adrien's footsteps retreating from the bathroom door. However, Adrien's departure only made the pang of longing and sadness grow within Marinette as she sat inside the stall, followed by her being enveloped in the realization that love was not as simple as she had hoped.
The weight of her feelings for Luka. The ghost of her feelings for Adrien. It all made the turmoil of her own heart grow, thus making her wish for clarity seem just out of reach as her thoughts continued going into a spiral, making her question her previous choices.
That is until...
"Marinette? Are you in here?" The sound of Kagami's voice, curious yet tinged with concern, pierced through her spiralling thoughts and made Marinette's heart sink as she hastily wiped her tears to compose herself.
"Um, yeah. I'm here." she called out, her voice a little muffled by her hands but still clear enough to hear. "But... what are you doing here, Kagami? Shouldn't you and Adrien be enjoying your date?"
"We were. That is until he saw you running off to the bathroom and ran after you." Kagami replied, a soft rustling sound following her voice as she came through the bathroom door.
Marinette's eyes widened in horror from within the stall, causing her to throw her hands to her face in mortification while Tikki patted her head comfortingly. "Oh, my god! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to get in your guy's way!"
"It's fine. I know you didn't mean to." Kagami assured Marinette, her voice calm and reassuring as she stepped closer to the stall Marinette was inside. "But the fault is not entirely your own. I don't think I helped matters either." the fencer reflected as she came to lean against the wall beside the stall door, unknowingly making Marinette lower her hands from her face.
"What do you mean? You've done nothing wrong." Marinette protested as she looked at the door ahead of her, not understanding Kagami's guilt on the matter.
"Well, you left after I pointed out your hesitation earlier. That right there tells me that I did something wrong. And that's the last thing I wanted to do today. I'm truly sorry for that." Kagami explained, taking responsibility for her part in the awkwardness she unintentionally caused. However, her words drew a sigh from Marinette as she raised a finger to stroke Tikki's head, taking a deep breath to calm herself for her next words.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Kagami. If anything, you did the right thing in telling me that. I needed to hear another's perspective." Marinette paused, her voice trembling slightly as she tried to keep her composure. "Even then, I totally ruined yours and Adrien's date when he asked me to come and help him because he was nervous to be alone with you." the red-tipped-haired girl realised, once again closing in on herself the more she thought about it.
"I figured as much. You don't normally invite someone else on a date if you're not nervous. At least that's what I've been led to believe." Kagami mused as she sat by the stall door, her voice softening as she recalled her numerous hours of reading manga on the subject.
"Yeah, he invited me to be a somewhat wingwoman for him." Marinette chuckled bitterly, looking at her feet with a frown before finally standing from the toilet she was sitting on. "He wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong today, and me being my awkward self, I invited Luka with me to ease the sight of..." she trailed off, stepping over to the stall door.
"The sight of what?" Kagami asked, her curiosity piqued.
"The sight of seeing my crush pursuing someone else." Marinette finally admitted as she pressed her back against the door, her faltering voice paving the way for Kagami's understanding silence to follow.
"Oh... I see. So, you're... in love with Adrien?" Kagami questioned the girl inside the locked stall.
"Yep. And I get the suspicion you're in love with him too." Marinette sighed, the weight of her confession palpable as she slid against the door, her posture more open now that she was sitting on the stall floor.
"Indeed." Kagami agreed, her voice sounding more relaxed from beyond the door separating her and Marinette. "I have to admit, you're very perceptive. I didn't think you'd guess that so soon."
"I tend to do that a lot. Especially when it comes to matters of the heart." Marinette said ruefully, wishing not for the first time that her little habit didn't work so well.
"I could tell. Your confession actually explained a lot." Kagami replied, followed by her face assuming a more serious yet thoughtful appearance if there had been any witnesses. "But why would you torture yourself by helping him pursue me?" the Japanese girl questioned Marinette, her voice firm in her desire to know the truth.
"He's my friend first and foremost, so I wasn't about to leave him high and dry. Plus, I thought pursuing a relationship with Luka while helping Adrien would help me move on from him." Marinette sighed, her voice grew softer the longer she went. "But now I'm wondering if it'll end the same way with him as it did for Adrien."
"I'm sure it won't. I've seen the way he looks at you in the glimpses I caught of you two. He looks at you the way I wish Adrien did at me." Kagami reassured her companion, only for her gaze to fall to the floor in front of her feet. "If only I could say that he is truly invested in pursuing me." the fender sighed, bringing her legs into her chest and wrapping her arms around them.
"What do you mean?" Marinette asked, unsure of what Kagami had meant with her comment.
"Adrien didn't even look my way until recently. And after talking to him after my akumatization, I assumed he had feelings for you." Kagami replied thoughtful, unknowingly making Marinette's eyes widen in surprise at the news.
"Me?! You really thought so?" Marinette wondered aloud, thinking she might have misheard her at first.
Kagami nodded from her side of the door. "With the way he talked about you, yes. But I now see that we're both in the same boat."
"Looks like it. And here I thought that no one else would get it." Marinette said, her face softening with a grateful smile before looking back at the door against her back. "However, seeing as we had more in common than I thought, maybe we need to properly introduce ourselves." the pigtailed girl declared as she stood up from the ground, Tikki hiding within her purse again as her expression became determined while opening the stall door.
"Hello, I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Marinette introduced as she extended her hand to Kagami, drawing a smile from the fencer before she stood up and took the offered hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Marinette. I'm Kagami Tsurugi." Kagami replied warmly as they shook hands firmly, their mutual respect evident.
From that point on, the two of them continued their little talk, getting to know each other now that they had gotten past their initial awkwardness revolving around their first meeting. Granted, they were still tense because they were interested in the same boy. But being the relatively level-headed girls they were, they managed to move past it for the most part and kept on getting to know each other. The more they talked, the more they saw that while they had drastically different lives, they still had a bit in common in terms of combat skills and other aspects too. However, the turn of discussion to combat soon led to the explanation of how their paths first crossed.
"You know, I've been meaning to ask you something." Kagami said while she and Marinette sat on the bathroom floor next to the sinks, her tone curious as she decided to finally ask the question nagging in the back of her mind for a while now.
"Go ahead." Marinette replied, all too happy to answer Kagami's questions now that they had broken the ice between them.
"How did you end up interested in fencing to begin with? And also, how does one so cheerful as you, become somewhat brutal at times and also so casual about death matches?" Kagami questioned her companion, her blatant curiosity enough to get a soft laugh out of Marinette.
"Ah, well it's an interesting story." Marinette began, having expected Kagami to have asked this a while ago but was satisfied when she did. "Let's just say that recent developments in my life required me to learn how to defend myself and my instructor suggested a more... traditional training route for when not training with them."
Kagami raised an eyebrow, intrigued but also concerned by the response. "Normally, I wouldn't be so judgemental, but what kind of self-defence training requires such behaviour and needs you to progress to sabre combat? I've never even heard of such a practice, and my mother is one of the harshest instructors I have ever had."
"Ok, a little to unpack there, but we'll get to that later." Marinette remarked with a nervous chuckle, not expecting Kagami to admit that personal and yet troubling detail to her. "To answer your question, I was the one to think of fencing since I already knew a few people who... 'participate' in the sport." the red-tipped-haired girl continued, taking great care to not hint at certain details of her personal life. Yes, it was nice that Kagami trusted her with such personal matters of her own after only a few minutes of talking, but Marinette didn't have the same luxury and needed to keep that in mind.
" 'Participate'?" Kagami repeated, intrigued by the notion Marinette presented.
"The only person who practices fencing in a proper environment out of the three I know is Adrien. The others I have either seen them use such moves, or they've done fencing outside of typical competitive environments." Marinette explained with a wry smile as she thought about her partner and brother's skills in the practice, making sure not to give away her or Jim's double lives by accident. "Yes, it's a bit of an interesting mix, but seeing as I wanted to learn the proper way, trying out for D'Argencourt's team was the best option." the designer revealed, earning a thoughtful look from Kagami as she took in the information.
"And of course, the possibility of practicing with your crush didn't hurt too, I assume?" Kagami teased, a small smirk appearing across her lips much to Marinette's chagrin.
"Hey, no judging. I suspect you'd do the same in my shoes." Marinette defensively fired back, her cheeks flushed red in slight embarrassment at how easily Kagami pegged her secondary motives.
"Not as clumsily as you, but... perhaps." Kagami admitted with a nod, knowing that she was a little guilty for doing the same now that she and Adrien were regular practice partners. Regardless of how things ended after that day, however, Marinette's gaze grew earnest as she prepared for what she was about to say next.
"By the way, since we're talking about that day, I wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened." Marinette began, her left hand coming to rest on her right bicep as she spoke
"What do you mean?" Kagami questioned, her curiosity further piqued by the out-of-the-blue apology.
"I heard about your akumatization and figured that my verdict on the match between you and Adrien upset you. And even if a tiny part of it was me trying to get on the team instead of you, that was never my intent. I'm truly sorry for my part in it." Marinette humbly apologised, her voice sincere and making Kagami's eyes soften at the effort.
"It's alright. If anything, I applaud you for being so true to the rules, especially when I broke so many of them during the match." Kagami assured, smiling wryly as she looked down at her feet in quiet reflection. "And I have to admit, I was impressed with your knowledge despite it being your first time with real fencing. It's admirable." the Japanese girl commended, redirecting her gaze back over at Marinette with a slight acknowledging nod and making her cheeks warm with the compliment.
"Thank you. I was so excited to try out for the team that I couldn't stop myself from preparing for it and going over every fencing playbook and form I could get my hands on." Marinette bashfully admitted, rubbing the back of her neck as she spoke. "Though, I have a long way to go before being as good as you or Adrien." she remarked, her arms coming to wrap around her legs while she rested her chin on top of her knees with a pout.
"Not from what I heard. The other fencers said you 'wiped the floor with him' during your tryout." Kagami countered, using the unfamiliar term to her while what appeared to be a genuine smile appeared across her features amid her comfort. "Your skills clearly surpass his. But I am interested in seeing if we are evenly matched." the fencer admitted, earning a self-deprecating shake of her head from Marinette.
"I highly doubt it. I've only recently started learning. But the sport has admittedly been growing on me more than I thought it would." Marinette replied, her gaze distantly looking at the ground while Kagami nodded thoughtfully.
"Clearly if you tried out for D'Argencourt's team." Kagami observed with sympathetic eyes, making Marinette let out a small chuckle.
"Yeah. But if I'm being honest, I don't think that's the team I want to be on. I'm pretty sure I would spend most of my time ogling at Adrien instead of practising." Marinette admitted, letting her legs relax and drop back to the floor while leaning back against the bathroom wall.
"Why do you say that?" Kagami asked, a curious eyebrow raised at her new tentative friend.
" 'Cause that's what I usually do when thinking of Adrien as my crush." Marinette replied, rolling her eyes in self-deprecation as she tilted her head to look at the ceiling above them.
"Ah, I see. A fair assumption then." Kagami chuckled, now seeing her point.
"However," the Japanese girl began, her tone shifting to something more serious. "If not the D'Argencourt team, what team are you looking to be on?"
"Well, I have been looking into joining my future high school's team. Figured it would be a good place to continue the practice." Marinette admitted, looking away from the ceiling and back at Kagami with a smile.
Kagami's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "In that case, I would like to see how good you are for myself. If you're so interested in joining a team next year, perhaps we could spar together. It would provide you with an extra outlet to practice your skills, especially when I've been taught by my mother, a world champion of the sport."
"That would be amazing! I'd be honored if we did spar together!" Marinette exclaimed, her eyes brightened with excitement... until a thought suddenly came to mind. "But I have to ask... why would you offer that when pursuing Adrien too? If I get better at fencing, then I might make him stray away from you."
"Oh, I'm not worried about that. I imagine you would move on to be with Luka after what I saw today. You two would be a good match together." Kagami replied, quickly dismissing Marinette's concerns.
However, her words were enough to cause Marinette to think back on her recent encounter with Luka, thinking about how they talked, how they worked together... what they could become. And as the reflective glaze in her eyes seemed to quiet down, Marinette knew what her answer was.
"Maybe we could. Maybe we could be a good couple and be happy. But while I care about him more than my other friends, my feelings for Adrien are much stronger than they are for Luka. As much as I would love to pursue a relationship with him, I can't do that to Luka without having my heart fully into it. That's not the type of person I am." Marinette explained.
Maybe she shouldn't have invited Luka. What if he thought she was interested in him? What if he actually felt hurt that she told him to come only to not be fully spending time with him? What if-
"Understandable. I can respect a girl who is honrable in her pursuit of love." Kagami interrupted her train of thought, her expression unchanged, "And admittedly, I am a little relieved that you are still set on pursuing Adrien."
"You are? Why?" Marinette's question, surprisingly, got the other girl to smile a bit.
"I've found that the best things in life are worth fighting for. Make no mistake, while I want to be friends with you, I want to earn Adrien's heart." the casual way in which she talked of it surprised Marinette, "But if there is anyone I'd prefer to lose to, it'd be you."
"While it's flattering you consider me a worthy opponent, you do realise that Adrien isn't a prize to be won, right? He's allowed to choose who he wants to be with on his own." Marinette retorted, her voice firmer than she intended.
"I know. But how can he choose if we don't make sure we show him the best of ourselves? And in some cases, friendly competition can bring it out." Kagami answered lightly.
"Okay, fair enough." Marinette replied, nodding thoughtfully as she processed Kagmi's outlook.
She had to admit, Kagami was very different from what she expected. But then again, she did end up befriending Lila despite her initial misgivings, so it's not like she was the best judge of character when her feelings for Adrien were involved.
"So how about this, seeing as neither of us will be giving up on our pursuit of Adrien, and also seem to be keen on becoming friends... how about a little promise?" the blue-eyed girl offered.
"What sort of promise?" Kagami asked, and for once, her face showed visible surprise.
"One that allows us to continue our pursuits of Adrien, but still being friends towards each other. And to make sure things are fair, Adrien will be the one to choose who he wants to be with and the other has to live with it." Marinette elaborated, earning a contemplative look from Kagami as she mulled it over in her head for a few moments.
"It sounds like a fair compromise. But why do I get the feeling that you're hiding an ace up your sleeve with this suggestion?" Kagami wondered, voicing her concerns about the idea while seeing Marinette's eyes sparkle with a hint of mischief.
"Really? If anything, I thought it'd be giving you the advantage." Marinette admitted, curious as to why Kagami was accusing her of such things.
"What advantage? You've known him far longer than me, you are in the same class as him and spent time with him outside of it as well from what I saw online that one time." Kagami pointed out, using her fingers to count the numerous advantages Marinette had compared to her. "I truly can't compete with that." the fencer suddenly realised, her gaze turning to look straight at the wall across from her and her companion as she took in her own observation.
At the sound of Kagami's reasoning, Marinette shook her head with a small guff of amusement. "Kagami, that may be true but I can't even speak in comprehensible sentences around him, let alone tell him how I feel. You, on the other hand, should have no problem in doing so."
"Not to mention I don't have the advantage of training with him every day. From personal experience, I know that's a great way to get to know each other." Marinette added, earning a thoughtful stare from Kagami after she looked back at her.
"How so? I've trained with others before, but I never got to know them through training like you seem to have. I mean, I can tell when someone is truly trying to beat me or if they're distracted, but not much else." Kagami replied, soon receiving a reflective gaze from Marinette as she smiled at her companion.
"Well, it mostly has to do with how they defend themselves or attack. An opponent is laid bare on a battlefield, so if you focus on how they move, and how they respond to your moves, you can tell a lot about them. How they think, how they see the world." Marinette explained, her hands moving around to emphasize her point while making Kagami's eyes widen with understanding.
"Even the most guarded of opponents have no choice but to show their cards if they want to win." Kagami realised, to which Marinette nodded in confirmation of her conclusion. "That's a wise insight. Where did you learn that, if you don't mind me asking?"
"From a good friend of mine. He and I might have had a rough start, but we've quickly become quite close." Marinette said with a smile, her thoughts trailing off to her last training session with Draal before refocusing on the conversation at hand. "But see what I mean? You have an opportunity to bond with Adrien that I'll never get." the pigtailed girl reiterated, in which Kagami's eyes softened with a new layer of appreciation.
"It appears I do." Kagami agreed with a smile, her hand coming to grasp her chin as she realised Marinette was right. "Alright, I agree to this compromise." the Japanese girl declared, making Marinette smile widely as her eyes brightened with relief.
"On one condition, however." Kagami suddenly added, holding her pointer finger up in emphasis.
"Name it." Marinette said, now curious as to what Kagami had in mind.
"We seal our new friendship with a hangout of our own. There's this new juice cafe I've been meaning to try out, and I would like to do so with my newest friend." Kagami said, her face lighting up with what seemed to be a genuine smile for once.
Marinette's eyes sparkled with excitement, greatly pleased with the idea. "Sounds like a great idea. How does tomorrow sound?"
"It's a date." Kagami announced, pleased by Marinette's answer before quickly glancing at the time. "Though it looks like we've spent quite a bit of time in here." the fencer observed after seeing a significant amount of time had passed, prompting Marinette to look at the time too and see she was right.
"Oh, shoot! The boys must be so bored waiting for us! We got to go." Marinette frantically rambled as she stood up and helped Kagami to her feet. "Thanks for the talk, Kagami. It was really good finally getting to know you." the red-tipped-haired girl said as the both of them started making their way to the exit, happy to have finally connected with Kagami after all this time.
"It was nice getting to know you, too. I for one am looking forward to being your friend and somewhat rival in love." Kagami replied warmly, reaching for the door and pushing it open. "As well as teaching you how to impress your future fencing team next year." the fencer cheekily added as she stepped aside, letting Marinette exit the bathroom first.
"Same here, Kagami. Same here." Marinette happily replied before linking her arm with Kagami's, the two of them heading back to the rink and aiming to rejoin the two boys waiting for them.
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(A while earlier)
The hallway hummed with the sound of the gentle buzz of the building's central cooling system, which faded into the background as Adrien stood before the girls' bathroom door. But as his heart pounded in his chest, the boy lifted his hand and gently knocked on the door.
"Marinette? Are you okay?" Adrien asked as he lowered his hand, his voice tinged with concern as he awaited a response.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Marinette called out from inside the girl's bathroom, sounding a bit too cheerful for Adrien's liking.
Immediately, he could tell something was off in her tone and it set off enough alarm bells in Adrien's mind to lean closer against the door. But before he could even think of pushing through the door, the small blur of black that was Plagg emerged from his overshirt and hovered beside him.
"Okay, what are you doing kid?!" Plagg demanded, his voice cutting through Adrien's worry as he had an unimpressed glare plastered on his tiny face.
"What are you talking about, Plagg?" Adrien shot back after turning his attention back to Plagg, confused by his kwami's question.
"You're all over the place right now! First, you're in love with Ladybug, then you try to move on from her by going after Kagami. And now you ditch Kagami to go after Marinette! What's your endgame here?" Plagg incredulously interrogated his holder, genuinely curious as to what Adrien was thinking with his current plan.
"Me? Going after Marinette?" Adrien repeated, his brow furrowing at the thought as he mulled over the idea until... "No! She's just a friend." the model protested, shaking his head in seemingly obvious denial while Plagg raised an unamused eyebrow at him.
"Could have fooled me, kid. 'Cause right now, you're acting like a concerned boyfriend." Plagg deadpanned, to which Adrien vigorously shook his head 'no' while his mind raced on.
"No... No, that's not right. I can't be acting like that." Adrien continued to deny.
"And why not?" Plagg pressed, crossing his tiny arms with a frustrated pout.
"Because..." Adrien began, only for them to suddenly hear footsteps approaching, breaking the boy out of their conversation and back to the world around them. "We'll finish this later. Hide Plagg." The green-eyed boy ordered his kwami, panic coursing through him while Plagg rolled his eyes before compiling, zipping back into the safety of Adrien's pocket. Thankfully, it proved to be good timing when the footsteps were soon right on top of them.
"Oh, there you are, Adrien." the familiar voice of Kagami said as the footsteps grew closer, prompting Adrien to turn around and see her walking up to him, her demeanor poised and confident like always.
"Kagami! Uh, what are you doing here?" Adrien stumbled over his words, trying to shake off the awkwardness of the moment of needing to make sure she didn't see his kwami.
"I wanted to help, so I followed you." Kagami replied, her tone matter-of-fact as if it were the most natural thing in the world while she flashed him a bright smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Oh! Well, that's very nice of you Kagami, but I think I can handle this. Marinette is my friend after all." Adrien hesitantly assured her, his instincts kicking in before Kagami's expression shifted with a flicker of scepticism passing over her features.
"No offence, Adrien, but how do you expect to do that from behind a door?" Kagami deadpanned, cocking an unconvinced eyebrow at Adrien while crossing her arms as well. At the question, Adrien raised his main pointer finger as he prepared to defend himself... only to fully ponder her words and realise she was right, quickly abandoning his attempt entirely.
"I think a girls' touch is best needed here. So go back to the rink and wait while I talk with Marinette." the fencer stated as she circled Adrien, now facing his back before gently pushing the apprehensive boy away from the door and back towards the rink.
"I don't know, maybe I should-" "Go, Adrien. I've got this." Kagami insisted with an air of finality, giving him another shove before leaving Adrien standing there as she slipped into the bathroom. Alone once more, Adrien turned to Plagg, who had reemerged from his overshirt and was smirking at the boy he called his holder.
"Now I see why you decided to pursue Kagami. She's just about as bossy as Ladybug." Plagg cheekily remarked, making Adrien's cheeks redden as he crossed his arms across his chest defensively.
"No, she's not. She's... just a little goal-fixated." Adrien defended. "And you know Ladybug's not bossy. She's just trying to make sure Paris is safe " he added, redirecting his gaze down to the floor next to his left shoe out of habit.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, kid. But if I were you, I'd listen to Ms Red and Serious and head back to the rink." Plagg retorted, unimpressed with Adrien's argument but not looking to find out what would happen if his boy didn't listen to Kagami.
"Yeah, probably a good idea." Adrien sighed, taking Plagg's advice and turning away from the door.
But as he started to make his way back to the rink, Adrien could feel some lingering doubt about following Kagami's order. Don't get him wrong, he had every confidence that the girls would get along famously after properly introducing themselves and with a little bit of help on his part. However, the way Marinette left the rink and Kagami's insistence on being alone with her had Adrien feeling a little more anxious than he thought he would be.
"Look, kid, whether or not you have feelings for Marinette, I think you really do need to change targets like Kagami suggested." Plagg spoke up, poking his head out of Adrien's overshirt now that they were alone again and leaving his holder shocked by the straightforward cheese-reference-free advice his kwami was giving him.
"But Plagg, I can't just give up on Ladybug. Master Fu even said that the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous are meant to be together. They're yin and yang." Adrien protested, stopping in his tracks to speak with his kwami
"Yeah, the 'Miraculous' are meant to be together. But that doesn't necessarily extend to their holders." Plagg argued, using Adrien's own words against him to make his point.
The reminder of that little annoying fact had Adiren rolling his eyes in exasperation. "Yes, I know that not every holder of the Ladybug and Black Cat didn't end up together. That's been made abundantly clear with Red Scarab and Sphinx."
"I wasn't referring to just them, Adrien." Plagg solemnly replied, the unintentional reminder of his last Troll charge leaving him slightly aching while Adrien stared at him perplexed.
"What do you mean?" Adrien asked.
But before Plagg could respond...
"There you are Adrien." a warm voice called out to Adrien, causing Plagg to duck back into his hiding place just as Adrien looked up and saw Luka coming towards him.
"Oh, um... hey, Luka." Adrien nervously greeted Luka, the unexpected sight of the guitarist making him nervous as to how much Luka saw before noticing him. "You, uh... didn't see anything strange, did you?" the blonde-haired boy asked, hoping to whatever higher power there was that Luka didn't see or hear him talking to his kwami
Luka looked at him perplexed, "No, but you're certainly fitting the criteria right now."
While the critique was certainly not what he wanted Luka's impression of him to be, Adrien felt a wave of relief washing over him due to the response.
"Sorry, I tend to be a little skittish." Adrien bashfully explained. "But, what are you doing here? I thought you'd still be waiting at the rink." the green-eyed boy asked, hoping to take suspicions off of him in redirecting the subject.
"Well, after Kagami followed after you, I thought I'd come and make sure everything was okay." Luka replied before he looked past Adrien's body, trying to find the girls. "But where are the girls? I thought they'd be coming back with you." the cyan-tipped-haired boy asked when his search came up empty, now a little worried about the reason why Adrien was coming back alone.
"Uh, Marinette didn't seem to want to come out of the bathroom, so Kagami decided to talk with her." Adrien explained, immediately causing Luka's expression to shift from happy to worried.
"The girls are alone... together?" Luka questioned his companion, a hint of concern creeping into his voice.
"Yeah... why?" Adrien confirmed, sensing something amiss when witnessing Luka's nervousness. If the calmest guy he knew was nervous, it served a good reason for Adrien to be nervous now himself.
"I don't mean to stir trouble, but Marinette left the rink after Kagami had whispered something in her ear before going off with you." Luka elaborated.
Upon receiving the news, Adrien's eyes widened and his stomach dropped amid his shock, not believing what he just heard. "Wait, really? Oh, man, I knew I shouldn't have left them alone! I have to go and stop them before things get worse." Adrien panicked as he turned around abruptly, determination flooding his veins as he began to head back to the girls' bathroom.
"Slow your roll there, Prince Charming. Maybe you should let them work things out on their own." Luka urged as he placed a hand on Adrien's arm, stopping him in his tracks before he could leave. "After all, girls are a much more complicated subject to us boys than we could possibly imagine. This could easily have been a misunderstanding that they've resolved and are now getting along like a house on fire."
"How can you be so sure?" Adrien asked, clearly still agitated as he turned his attention back to Luka.
"Call it a hunch. Marinette is the type to easily forgive others." Luka shrugged, his eyes thoughtful as he started smiling wistfully "She's just amazing like that."
"Yeah, she is." Adrien agreed, his thoughts drifting to Marinette's unwavering kindness. "Though that doesn't seem to extend to my friend Chloé. But then again, I can understand why with what I've seen." the model mused aloud, recalling such times when Marinette decided whether or not others deserved her kindness.
"Same here. I heard what's happening between them, and I can say for certainty that that's not a feud I want to be in the middle of." Luka replied, grimacing at the thought while Adrien finally sat next to him again.
"Probably for the best. It can get a little heated between them at the best of times." Adrien said with a rueful smile, once again agreeing with Luka's conclusion. "But Marinette's kindness and resolve to help others is admirable. It's what makes her so amazing!" the green-eyed boy gushed, Luka nodding in agreement.
"It sure does. One can't help but aspire to be on the same level as her." Luka replied, his tone carrying a rather healthy dose of admiration before he shook himself out of it to focus on the here and now. "But we should probably leave them to settle things on their own. So let's head back to the rink and wait for them." the guitarist suggested.
Adrien let the idea sink in and nodded, "Yeah... yeah we should head back. They deserve to have some privacy."
From there, the two boys walked back to the rink's seating area in silence, letting it settle amongst them as they neared the rink. It was mostly due to not knowing how to break said silence, seeing as this was the first time they were left alone... ever! Needless to say, it was rather awkward for the boys until they finally found a good spot to sit, waiting for someone to take the first step.
Thankfully, Luka had been the one to break the ice, asking Adrien about how and where he got so good at playing the keyboard from the last time they saw each other. It then spiralled into a rather in-depth conversation about their shared musical hobbies and inspirations, which had fully lightened the mood between the previously awkward boys. However, the carefreeness of their talk halted abruptly when Luka said...
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask... why did you ask Marinette to help you today?"
Upon being asked the question, Adrien's cheerfulness faded as he sighed in resignation and lifted his hand from the bench, running it through his hair. "Well... she offered to help me when I said I was nervous to be alone with Kagami today. And I immediately jumped at the offer."
"And it looks like things didn't go the way you thought they would, huh?" Luka asked, a small amused guff escaping past his lips.
"Yeah, it looks like it." Adrien conceded.
"You know, I think the problem is you assumed that things wouldn't be awkward between them." Luka observed, quickly earning a confused stare from Adrien.
"What do you mean? Things haven't been awkward at all." Adrien protested, not at all understanding the meaning behind Luka's words before the guitarist sighed and turned his body to face him.
"Adrien, think about this from another point of view. Here you are, pursuing one girl and inviting another girl who sort of caused her to be enthralled by our city's resident emotion-preying captor. Yet, they haven't even met each other properly to attempt working past that day. And to top it all off, without even thinking how it would look to Kagami or how Marinette would feel about being the third wheel even if she suggested it, you tried to push them into a situation that would only benefit you."
"I might not have had a chance to properly talk with Kagami, but the melody I'm getting from her tells me that she's the type of person to appreciate honesty from others. And while Marinette won't say otherwise, she's too self-sacrificing to say 'no' when a friend needs help or a wingwoman. Even when she unintentionally had a hand in that friend's love interest's akumatization." Luka chided Adrien, his gaze steady when holding Adrien accountable for his less-than-stellar actions while the model seemed to be taken aback by the accusation.
"I didn't lie to Kagami, per se. I really did need Marinette's help today. I just wanted this outing to go without a hitch, and I thought that having her be my wingperson would help me be more confident around Kagami." Adrien explained, his arms flailing all over the place as he tried to defend himself and his choices before letting them drop sheepishly at his sides. "And admittedly... I wanted them to finally meet each other properly. They're both such amazing girls. In the separate times I've spent with them, I saw how much in common they have and just knew that they'd get along."
"While I'm sure you had the best of intentions, you don't seem to be the greatest at responding to certain social cues and need to think about how others will react to things." Luka finished, glancing over at the now guilty-looking Adrien.
"Oh..." Adrien uttered when realizing Luka was right. "Oh, I'm such an idiot. Of course, it'd be weird for them to be with each other when they haven't had a chance to talk about it yet." the green-eyed boy vented with a frown, holding his head in his hands as the weight of Luka's words sunk in.
"Hey now, you're still new to being a teenager, so it's going to take you some time to get used to the complexities that are human interactions." Luka reassured Adrien, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Believe it or not, everyone in our age group has these problems, some more so than others, though. Admittedly, even I don't have much luck in that department." the guitarist admitted with a bashful glance to the floor, prompting Adrien to look back at him in confusion.
"What do you mean? You're probably one of the most level-headed people my age that I've met." Adrien said, not understanding why Luka was saying such things when he exhibited the opposite daily.
"Well, contrary to your belief, I have trouble making new friends. I tend to make connections to people more easily with my music, but not everyone gets that, you know?" Luka explained, unexpectedly being open with Adrien. "We both got lucky to end up with the group of friends we got. They're the most understanding and accepting people I've ever met." the cyan-tipped-haired boy fondly remarked, earning an agreeing smile from Adrien.
"Yeah... we did." Adrien replied, softly nodding in agreement all the while he quickly mulled over a sudden idea he had. "Hey, uh... can you..." Adrien began hesitantly, the words getting stuck in his throat when glancing at Luka.
"Can I do what?" Luka asked, tilting his head curiously.
"Can you keep a secret? At least for now? It's nothing bad, I just... I'm just not ready for others to know this yet." Adrien bashfully elaborated.
"Look, you don't need to explain your reasons, Adrien. You're entitled to keep things to yourself." Luka assured the blonde, waving off Adrien's nervousness with a gentle smile forming across his features. "But what's this secret of yours?" he asked, now intrigued to find out Adrien's need for secrecy.
"The reason why I invited Kagami out today and subsequently needed Marinette's help... is because I'm trying to move on from someone else." Adrien revealed, despite not being used to talking about such topics he was thinking about with others outside of the usual circle of those already in the know.
"Oh, I see." Luka replied with slightly widened eyes, nodding slowly as he took in the information. "So, you're in love with someone?"
"Yeah. I am." Adrien confirmed with a love-sick smile, which matched the following melancholy sigh before he looked back over at Luka again. "And before you ask, I'd rather not say who, if you don't mind. But for future reference, let's call her 'Lacey'." the model pressed, hoping to retain some secrecy. While he was sure Luka wouldn't judge, he knew that he'd never be able to explain how he met Ladybug and how he spent enough time to form a crush on her without either revealing his identity or sounding delusional.
"Again, you don't need to tell me anything unless you want to. However, I appreciate the placeholder name." Luka reassured him, liking the forethought Adrien had to make his explanation easier for the both of them. "Though just to settle some curiosity, this girl you're in love with, this 'Lacey'... it's not Kagami or Marinette?" the guitarist asked, hoping to settle that itch in the back of his mind after hearing the provided alias.
"No, Marinette's just a great friend. I'm... not in love with her." Adrien quickly replied, not understanding why nearly everyone was making such assumptions but taking it in stride before continuing. "And I asked Kagami out to see if maybe... I might be able to move on from the girl my heart is set on."
"And did it work?" Luka pressed, watching as Adrien hunched over and supported himself with his forearms atop his thighs.
"No... I don't think it did." Adrien admitted with a sigh, the frustration evident in his voice.
"You can't seem to move on, huh?" Luka supplied, prompting a pleasantly surprised Adrien to nod in confirmation. He didn't think Luka would have hit the nail on the head so quickly, but he was grateful nonetheless as he saw Luka give him a somewhat pained smile. "Now that sounds painfully familiar." the cyan-tipped-haired boy ruefully mused aloud, crossing his arms as he leaned back against his seat.
"What do you mean?" Adrien asked, cocking a curious eyebrow Luka's way as he sat up again.
"I too, have my heart set on a girl who's in love with someone else." Luka admitted, his voice softening as a faraway look appeared in his eyes. "A girl, who is the most extraordinary person I've met. As clear as a musical note and as sincere as a melody. She's the music that's been playing inside my head since the first day we met. A girl that I now can't imagine my life without." the guitarist proclaimed, leaving Adrien in awe of how sincere he was being.
"Wow...! She sounds like a wonderful girl to have you proclaiming your love for her like that. What's her name?" Adrien asked, now unable to quell his curiosity about the girl after hearing such sweet words. "I know I probably shouldn't pry, but I can't help being curious about this girl you're in love with after hearing that declaration you just gave." he quickly explained, realizing how demanding he sounded just then due to his piqued curiosity and hoping to amend it.
"It's all good, Adrien. Besides, I've got nothing to hide and I trust you with the information." Luka once again assured Adrien, sitting up from his chair and looking right at his companion. "The girl I'm in love with... is Marinette." he finally declared, immediately causing Adrien's eyes to widen in disbelief.
"Wait... Marinette? Marinette Dupain-Cheng? The very same Marinette that's here with us in this very ice rink? That Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Adrien rapidly questioned Luka, unknowingly leaning closer into Luka's personal space with each passing inquiry to confirm his theory.
"I only know of one Marinette, and she's currently in the girl's bathroom with Kagami, so yes." Luka confirmed, gently pushing Adrien back into his seat so that his personal space wasn't being invaded anymore. But it did nothing to curb Adrien's ever-growing excitement.
"Dude! That's amazing! I'm so happy for you!" Adrien exclaimed, his voice full of genuine enthusiasm as he started imagining Luka and Marinette being together in a relationship.
"Thanks, Adrien. That means a lot coming from you." Luka replied with a smile, his tone warm as he appreciated the kind words.
"No problem. And geez, I should have known that you two were dating. It's so obvious with what I saw earlier." Adrien ranted in self-deprecation, not believing he missed something so plain as day. But then again, he was a little busy with his own stuff, so he shouldn't beat himself too much about it.
"Hold on now, I didn't say we were dating, I only said that I'm in love with her, remember?" Luka quickly corrected, a faint blush creeping onto his cheeks as he bashfully rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh... right." Adrien uttered, quickly realizing the blunder he made and now feeling more guilty about it. However, he pushed down the guilt and focused on getting to the bottom of this. "So, Marinette's..."
"Yeah, she's in love with someone else other than me. At least that's what I assume. She doesn't seem to share my affections." Luka replied, his expression growing somber the more he thought about it. "Though I wish she did." the cyan-tipped-haired boy sighed, copying Adrien's earlier defeated posture and hunching over himself while supporting himself with his forearms atop his thighs.
"Sorry about the misunderstanding. I didn't mean to bring that up." Adrien apologised, guilt weighing on him for bringing up such a sensitive subject for Luka.
"It's okay." Luka shrugged, having had enough time to work through the ache such knowledge left him and letting it slide like water off a duck's back.
"Do you know who she's in love with?" Adrien pressed gently, hoping there was something he could do to help Luka with his romance troubles.
"If she's indeed in love with someone else, I have a hunch, yes. But even then, it's not my truth to tell. I respect Marinette's emotional privacy too much to intervene or reveal such a thing." Luka said, receiving an understanding nod from Adrien.
"Right, of course. Totally get it. Plus I'm sure Marinette would kill us if you did." Adrien replied, knowing that would be the best decision since he had seen just how mad Marinette could get at times and not looking to incur said wrath anytime soon.
"Probably." Luka agreed with a chuckle, Adrien joining in as well before he composed himself again. "But enough about my troubles, tell me about this 'Lacey' you're in love with. Maybe I can help." the cyan-tipped-haired boy offered.
"Well, where should I start?" Adrien asked.
"How about at the beginning? How did you two meet?" Luka inquired, hoping that learning more about Adrien's love interest would give him some insight on how to help the model.
Adrien smiled as he leaned back in his seat, placing his hands on the back of his head to cushion it against the hard plastic. "We met on the first day of the school year. We were heading to the same place and quite literally bumped into each other and ended up on the ground in a tangled mess."
"After being paired for a... tricky project, I was mesmerized by her ingenuity and her intelligence that I've been in love with her ever since. From there, she quickly became my best friend and one of the greatest girls I know. She's brave, and talented, doesn't care for letting injustices happen to innocent people, and is as beautiful as the day is long." Adrien fondly elaborated, his smile growing the longer he talked about Ladybug. "And as we started running in the same circles since then, I've interacted with her a lot and my feelings only grew." the green-eyed boy finished, his hands dropping to his lap as he let his head fall backwards while glancing over at Luka again.
"That's very sweet, Adrien. I can tell you love this girl." Luka said, greatly moved by Adrien's story. However, he quickly became confused about one thing... "But if that's the case, why are you trying to move on from her? What happened?"
Adrien sighed, hunching his body in on itself while his arms supported him as they rested atop his thighs, "I told her how I felt, and she rejected me."
"Oh... I see." Luka replied, now feeling a little guilty for bringing it up. "Did she say why?" the cyan-tipped-haired boy asked, earning a melancholy nod from his blonde-haired companion.
"Yeah, 'Lacey' told me that she's not interested in me and has her heart set on someone else. But despite my gentlemanly habits of doing the right thing and trying my best to let her go, I just can't." Adrien vented, making the void his unrequited feelings left in his chest grow when he remembered he wasn't the boy Ladybug was in love with. "I don't intend to make Kagami a rebound, that's the last thing I want. But after today, I'm starting to think that maybe I should tell her I'm not looking for anything more than friendship and keep pursuing 'Lacey' until she returns my affections." the boy admitted, his eyes shifting to look at the floor while Luka gawked at him in shock.
"Adrien, when did she tell you she was in love with someone else?" Luka questioned, shaking off his surprise and adopting a more serious stare at the boy.
"Just after Glaciator attacked." Adrien replied, not looking up from the floor as he spoke.
"Has she needed to tell you as much more than once?" Luka inquired again, his digging deeper finally making Adrien look back at him.
"Yyyyes." Adrien nervously drawled out, now unsure of how well the rest of this conversation was going to go from there.
"So when was the last time she told you?" Luka pressed, earning an unsure stare from Adrien.
"A couple of days ago. But I don't see how that-" "And how many times has she told you 'no' counting then?" the guitarist interrupted Adrien, not letting him break his train of thought so that he could continue finding out more.
"... Twice, now." Adrien hesitantly replied, his shoulders slumping a little when Luka started staring him down a little too much like his father did when he was mad.
Luka closed his eyes and pressed his palms together, placing them on his nose as he harshly exhaled through his nostrils. "Okay, I think I'm going to need to be a little judgy here. Adrien, have you ever considered you might seem a little... entitled?"
Upon hearing the question, Adrien did a double take and gawked at him. "What? I'm not entitled. Why would you say that?"
"Well, after what I just heard, I'm getting those vibes." Luka stated, letting his hands drop back to his sides and turning to face him. "Let me ask you this... who was your friend before coming to public school?" the cyan-tipped-haired boy asked, hoping to get to the bottom of this.
"Chloé. We've been friends since we were kids." Adrien answered.
"And now that you have new friends, do you think that she was possibly a bad influence?" Luka inquired, a challenging eyebrow Adrien's way.
"Well... I wouldn't say that." Adrien hesitantly said, his hand coming to rub the back of his neck.
"Adrien, while I don't mean to be judgmental of someone I have yet to meet, I've heard some rather nasty things about her over the years. I can say for certainty that she was a bad influence on you." Luka declared, leaving Adrien with a feeling of dread welling up within him at the thought.
"Why do you say that? She wasn't so bad when we were kids." Adrien argued, not understanding the reason for bringing Chloé or her behaviour into their conversation.
Luka crossed his arms over his chest, giving Adrien a critical look. "Look, alongside being raised in such a wealthy manner and becoming isolated from most of the world, having your only same-age peer being someone as entitled as Chloé Bourgeois sounds to be, well, I think it didn't help you either."
"While you are much more down to earth than other kids raised in rich families, you don't seem to realize that you can have been influenced subtly by your environment. So much so, in fact, that you yourself don't even see these influences until they're pointed out." Luka stated, bringing his observations to light while Adrien took them in. "Yes, you have great respect of 'Lacey' and know that she's in love with someone else. However, you're still not just holding out hope in being with her, you're actively pursuing her even if she's not interested. So from an outside point of view, you're expecting 'Lacey' to fall for you regardless of rejecting you already." the guitarist concluded, earning a heated glare from Adrien at the accusation.
"Okay, no offense Luka, but how is that any different to your approach to your feelings for Marinette? You said it yourself that she's in love with someone else too. I mean, how do you not want to win her heart from them and be her only love?" Adrien inquired, causing Luka's expression to harden a bit as he stopped tapping his fingers again.
"I never said I didn't. It hurts every time I think of her being with someone else." Luka admitted, sending an unpleased frown Adrien's way before continuing. "But the difference between me and you is that I don't know if Marinette's in love with someone else, only suspect it and who she's interested in. And even then, she hasn't said she isn't interested in me and doesn't even know yet that I have a crush on her. If she does end up knowing and rejecting me, I would back off immediately and let her go."
Luka sighed as he placed a hand on his forehead, soothing a rather unusually strong headache that was coming. "You on the other hand, 'Lacey' has already told you multiple times that she's not interested in you, asked you to stop, and has her heart set on someone else. But instead of respecting that, you keep pushing your desire to be with 'Lacey' onto her, which will hurt you both in the end if you guys have such a deep friendship like you said."
"And while one would have to fight to keep from losing the person they love, if one truly loves someone in any way, they need to let them go if the other doesn't want to be with them. There is a difference between being respectful of someone's decisions and taking them in stride, compared to just ignoring their wishes and continuing with the hurtful actions that have been done already." Luka concluded, leaving Adrien speechless by his companions' analysis of his actions.
"But that's not at all what..." Adrien tried to defend himself, only to come up short as the blunt yet surprisingly and painfully accurate accusations Luka made fully sunk in. "But I... And there's... Plus I..."
But as he continued to flounder around for one redeeming thing that would defend himself and his actions, Adrien soon found he was unable to and saw that Luka was right.
"Oh, crap..." the model exhaled in absolute dread, unconsciously doing a thousand-yard stare at the wall across their side of the ice rink.
"Yeah." Luka said with a wince, not happy that he was the one to burst Adrien's bubble but also glad that he knew the truth now.
"Ugh, how could I be so inconsiderate and selfish! I'm such a scumbag!" Adrien groaned, throwing his head into his hands and bunching in on himself in shame of his actions. When seeing how Adrien was reacting to the revelation, Luka sighed and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"No, you're not. You're just an awkward 14-year-old who's been tossed into the deep end of the complexities of being a regular teenager." Luka assured the blonde, hoping to make him see the news wasn't as bad as he thought it was. "I'm not at all saying what you've done is good, but it's not necessarily your fault. Yes, it's something you need to work on, but that will happen over time the more you interact with others."
Luka gave him a lopsided smile, feeling empathetic on Adrien's part that the model felt so conflicted about his love life at his age. "But I'm not here to be the one that has all the answers, Adrien. How you figure out your feelings is entirely up to you."
"On the other hand, if you ever need any more advice, I'm always ready to lend an ear." Luka offered, drawing a slightly amused smile from Adrien at the prospect as he let his hands drop from his face.
"I might have to take you up on that offer, Luka. Something tells me that I'll need your advice again, soon." Adrien acknowledged as he sat up and extended a hand to Luka, grateful for his support.
"My door is always open." Luka replied as he grabbed Adrien's hand, the boys shaking hands just as the girls appeared in the hallway leading towards the rink, chatting animatedly as they approached. "Looks like the girls are having a good time." the guitarist noted, relief washing over him as he smiled at the girls.
Adrien turns and watches as Marinette and Kagami share a laugh, visibly sagging in relief at the sight. "Looks like it. Thank goodness my blunder didn't make things worse."
"If anything, I think it helped. They look to be as thick as thieves now." Luka remarked, placing a comforting hand on Adrien's shoulder as he sat up.
"At least two good things came out of today." Adrien mused, still smiling as he glanced back over at Luka.
" 'Two'?" Luka questioned his newly made friend, not understanding his math on that one.
"Yeah. Marinette and Kagami became friends, and we are becoming closer, too. I don't think that would ever have happened without today." Adrien replied, a grin breaking across his face and triggering Luka to do the same when he realized he was right.
"I'm sure it would have happened eventually, but it's nice that it happened when it did. Now I can say that we're officially friends." Luka agreed, his tone warm as gently jabbed Adrien in the ribs with his elbow.
"Music to my ears, Luka." Adrien said with a smile, followed by him raising his arms above his head and stretching his stiff muscles. "And I don't know about you, but maybe we should all pack it up and head home? I think I've had enough skating for one day." the model suggested, his arms falling back to his side before he started taking off his skating gloves.
"I think you might be right. There's been enough revelations and changes in one's tune to last a while." Luka decided as he stood up from his seat, joining Adrien as he did the same before he walked over to the girls.
However, Adrien had decided to hang back in the seating area for a little longer while Luka began talking with the girls.
"Plagg..." Adrien whispered, prompting the black kwami to ever so slightly poke his head out from Adrien's overshirt pocket.
"What's up, kid?" Plagg asked, looking up at his holder with an unusually concern-filled stare.
"What should I do? Should I do the easy thing and keep pursuing Ladybug, or actually attempt to move on and pursue Kagami?" Adrien asked his kwami, hoping he would have the answers he needed to solve this rather messy conundrum he got himself into.
Plagg sighed in resignation, deciding to forego his usual route of advising Adrien in these matters and try to be... sympathetic, "Well, Luka had some pretty good points, kid. You have been a little entitled when it comes to Ladybug."
"But that's mostly due to your upbringing, so you can't be too hard on yourself with that. Even if your constant pining has annoyed me to no end." Plagg added, all while unable to help himself in not making at least one jab at his holder and his fixation on his love life.
"Gee, thanks Plagg. Real solid advice." Adrien sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes at Plagg's once again unhelpful antics.
"I'm not finished." Plagg retorted, trying to get Adrien to bear with him for a little longer. He was more used to talking about cheese than emotions, after all, so was a little out of his element on the matter.
"Just because you have been acting like a child, which you still are, it doesn't mean you can't grow out of that. However, you hanging onto your feelings for Ladybug when she's already expressed her disinterest in you is not the way to go about it." the black cat kwami stated, expressing his own thoughts on Luka's anaylse and finding himself greatly agreeing with the cyan-tipped-haired boy.
Plagg then sighed, mentally preparing for what he was about to say next since he knew Adrien probably wouldn't take it very well. "Before we were interrupted earlier, I was about to tell you that the truth is, kid... the relationships between the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous holders have usually ended in love or with deep bonds, more often than not the former. But the downside is that it also ended in tragedy." he revealed, predictably causing Adrien's eyes to widen when he heard the new and rather concerning tidbit.
"But what about the whole 'yin and yang' bit? Was that a lie or...?" Adrien inquired, bringing up what Master Fu had told him and Ladybug previously and not understanding why Plagg seemed to be insinuating otherwise.
"Not necessarily. Yes, the holders are reflections of the other and were most often soulmates, but that didn't mean they should have been together." Plagg explained, followed by a dissatisfied groan.
"Ugh, I can't believe I'm going to say something so mushy and sweet like this, but a soulmate isn't just a romantic partner. They can be your best friends or family members you're particularly close to. And in some cases, they can be your bitterest rivals and enemies." the normally cheese-obsessed kwami regaled, placing his nub-like hands on his temples and soothingly rubbing them to prevent himself from getting a headache from his gushy monologue. "However they appear in one's life, one can never really know. But with the Ladybug and Black Cat, it is always defined by grief and strife, one way or another."
Plagg lowered his little limbs and stared his holder down with a sympathetic frown. "And it looks like it might be the case with you and Ladybug."
"I see..." Adrien disappointedly began, his shoulders visibly sagging at the rather disappointing discovery. At the sight of his holder upset, Plagg leaned his cheek into Adrien's chest, rubbing it against him soothingly to offer some sort of cheering up.
"Look, I'm not trying to tell you what to do. You've had enough people already doing that in your life. But it's up to you if you want to do the healthy thing in letting your feelings for Ladybug go and move on to someone who might truly return your affections." Plagg advised his holder, only wanting the best for him after a life of being cut off from the rest of the world and subsequently causing this mess to begin with.
Say what you want about Plagg, but he at least tried to do right by his holders. Especially the ones he was greatly fond of.
"And if I do... would I be happy?" Adrien asked, discreetly petting Plagg's head with his finger in appreciation for his comfort while still looking for that guiding hand to help him out.
Plagg stopped his cheek rubbing and looked up at Adrien with a sympathetic stare. "I don't know the future, kid. There's only one way to find out and it all comes down to what you decide."
Immediately, the notion hit Adrien like a wave, his kwami's words washing over his brain and drawing out anything else unrelated to them. He then starts thinking about the advice he received over the past few days while Luka and the girls talked amongst themselves, taking in Kagami, Luka and Plagg's respective views on his situation. Both Kagami and Luka had offered surprisingly solid advice despite not knowing the whole truth, while Plagg had gone out of his usual habits to add his own two cents in agreement.
The fact of Plagg doing that was rather convincing on its own. But the more he thought about all of the received advice together, it all screamed the same thing... to move on.
And as Luka, Kagami and Marinette's conversation drew nearer to its end, Adrien found himself concluding...
"I don't know how I feel about Kagami yet, but I want to find out and see if we could have a chance." Adrien declared, deciding to do the healthy thing and move on.
Adrien knew he and Ladybug would always be friends, but he needed to let go of his romantic dreams for them to remain as such. While Adrien didn't know what that would mean for him later on, he would rather have the spotted heroine in his life as his best friend than her not being in his life at all.
"Sounds like a good start, Adrien." Plagg replied, pride welling up within him at his holder listening to the advice he had been given and the mature decision that followed. "Let's just hope it turns out to be the right choice in the end." the cheese goblin added, knowing full well that even if Adrien had decided to do the mature thing, it didn't mean that it could spiral into all sorts of chaos if not careful.
"I'm hoping so too, Plagg. I'm hoping so, too." Adrien replied, followed by Plagg hiding in his shirt again just as the others reached him.
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After the boys reunited with the girls, the quartet returned their borrowed equipment and retrieved their things before heading to the exit, looking forward to relaxing at their homes. Upon the groups's exit from the rink, they were greeted by the sun hanging low in the sky and casting a warm, golden glow over them and the surprisingly empty street outside the ice rink. Nevertheless, Adrien soon found himself walking Kagami to her family's sleek red limo, his golden hair catching the last rays of the day as he was saying goodbye to Kagami.
"I had a good time today. All things considered." Kagami said, her soft but steady voice matching the thoughtful expression on her face while her limo's tinted windows gleamed in the sunlight, making the teens feel like they were in a snapshot from a movie.
"I did too." Adrien replied with a warm smile, opening the door for Kagami like the gentleman he was. "Though, I'm sorry we ended up not having much time to get to know each other." the green-eyed boy expressed, his eyes carrying his regret while Kagami placed her bag inside her limo.
"It's alright. Though I do hope we'll get a chance to do so, at a later date." Kagami responded, her gaze drifting momentarily towards Marinette and Luka, who was a little ways off.
Don't get her wrong, she enjoyed getting to know Marinette, but she had previously hoped to have been alone with Adrien that day so that she could become closer to him... without any distractions for either of them. Seconds later, Adrien noticed where her sights were set, but nodded in agreement despite the sheepishness creeping up on him.
"That would be great. How does next Wednesday sound? We can get coffee after fencing practice." Adrien offered, pulling Kagami's gaze away from Marinette and Luka and back to him.
Kagami's eyes softened with joy, followed by her giving Adrien a gentle smile before saying, "I can't wait. It's a date."
With that, she leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek before stepping into her car, which hummed to life as it prepared to leave. Meanwhile, Marinette; who had been standing off to the side, had just turned her attention away from Luka just in time to see Kagami's little display of affection to Adrien. Her heart quickly became heavy as she watched the interaction, the fact of their little promise reminding Marinette that it was the somewhat fair play of Kagami and making her feel worse.
"You wanna take the subway together, Marinette?" Luka's lightly toned voice broke through the designer's conflicting emotional storm, yet not doing anything to stop the wistful gaze Marinette was sending Adrien and Kagami's way. After not receiving a response, Luka followed Marinette's stare and was just in time to see Adrien enthusiastically waving Kagami's car 'goodbye'.
Yes, Luka had the suspicion that Adrien was the boy Marinette was in love with, from the moment after meeting him during the music festival a little while ago. His suspicions were further confirmed after being invited to what was originally supposed to be Marinette wingwomaning Adrien on a date with another girl. But in that moment, of seeing Marinette wistfully staring at Adrien, Luka knew his suspicions were right and that he needed to let her try to sway his affections towards herself.
"You should probably go over and talk to him. Thanks for inviting me out today." Luka said as he turned to face her with a supportive smile, a knowing glint in his eyes while Adrien entered his limo. Upon hearing Luka's words, Marinette then snapped out of her staring and quickly turned to look back at him, smiling at his suggestion.
"Thanks for coming with me, Luka." Marinette said, gratitude evident in her voice before she suddenly hugged Luka in an unexpected rush of joy. Following that, she turned away from her sort-of date and ran toward Adrien as his car pulled away from the curb and began heading back to the mansion.
"Adrien! ADRIEN!" the pigtailed girl called out, her voice going as loud as it could while she waved her arms above her head to further catch the boy's attention from within the car.
As she did, she was unaware of the melancholy-smiling Luka taking one last glance at her before finally leaving the rink, wishing her luck in her endevor.
Meanwhile, Adrien, along with 'Gorilla', heard Marinette's urgent-sounding call after getting a block away from the rink. Immediately, the stern but observan'Gorrila' stopped the limo, pulling up to the curb again so that Adrien could open the limo door, just in time for a breathless Marinette to catch up.
"Marinette? Was there something you wanted to tell me?" Adrien asked with a curious glance as he stepped out of the limo, letting Marinette catch her breath to say what she wanted to say.
When hearing the mix of curiosity and concern in Adrien's tone, Marinette's mind raced and her heart pounded in her chest as she envisioned the perfect confession:
'I love you, Adrien! Even if you love Kagami. I just had to tell you.' the red-tipped-haired girl exclaimed after rising to her full height, her rapidly spoken confession clear as day before awaiting Adrien's answer.
'Kagami? I don't love her. You're the one I love. How could I have been so blind?' Adrien wondered aloud in a lovesick tone, gently clasping Marinette's hands in his with a wide smile as he replied.
'You love me?!' Marinette repeated, her eyes quickly lighting up in joy as she was unable to stop herself from jumping up and down with joy.
'Then we can get married, have a beautiful house, a dog, a cat, a hamster, and we'll name it–' "Marinette!" Adrien's voice cut through her vividly envisioned daydream, snapping her back to reality.
"Wha...?" Marinette blinked, disoriented when she realised she hadn't actually confessed her love for Adrien like she imagined she did.
"Are you OK, Marinette?" Adrien asked, his concern genuine while his green eyes searched hers as he awaited her actual response.
Marinette took a deep breath, her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she stood her full height now that she had her breath again. "I just wanted to say that... we should go and skate at the ice rink more often."
"Yeah! That's exactly what I wanted to say!" Marinette tensely confirmed, causing Adrien's face to light up with a friendly smile.
"You mean... just you and me?" Adrien asked, a hopeful note in his voice as he admittedly liked the sound of the idea.
"You and me?" Marinette stumbled over her words, surprised that Adrien had come to that prospect on his own. However, the very thought didn't sound as appealing to her as it did with Adrien, only because she couldn't speak to him like a normal person yet.
"Oh, no! Of course not! Cause we should take the whole gang there. Luka, Kagami, Alya, Nino! Everyone!" the designer quickly replied, once again letting her nerves get the better of her and prohibiting her from actually spending one-on-one time with her crush.
"You're right. That would be awesome! I'll try to free up some time to do that." Adrien agreed enthusiastically, patting Marinette's shoulder with a wide smile before heading back to his awaiting limo. "See you at school." He farewelled while giving her a friendly nod, climbing back into his limo and shutting the door behind him afterwards.
With his charge back inside the car, 'Gorrila' restarted the engine and began driving away once again, leaving Marinette standing frozen on the spot for a moment. Once the car was completely out of sight, the weight of her missed opportunity settled heavily on Marinette's shoulders, her heart sinking the more she thought about it.
"Tikki, please don't tell me I did it again!" Marinette sighed self-deprecatingly, her frustration and disappointment clear in her voice.
From within her holder's purse, Tikki's reassuring voice responded, "Don't worry. You'll get there one day, Marinette."
With the reassurance from her kwami, Marinette took a deep breath and let her resolve solidify despite the disappointment. From there, she began to make her way back home, looking forward to thinking of a way to win Adrien's heart fair and square before her new friend Kagami could.
'Let the games begin.' Marinette thought ruefully to herself, now interested in seeing just how far this little promise between her and her new fencing buddy could go.
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