#I doodle a couple of faces and throw my sketchbook across the room because all I do sucks so much

[a-solitary-marshmallow]

Do No Harm Take No Shit Chapter 5 - Home(room) Coming

They discussed how best to break the news to everyone, while feeding each other ice cream. (call Adrien a sap, he didn’t care, this was the best day of his fucking life) It seemed a bit obtrusive to walk into class and announce, ‘Hello Marinette is my girlfriend now, any questions?’

On the other hand, Lila would probably take advantage of any ambiguity. Not to mention Adrien’s fans – they would throw a tantrum when he and Marinette went public.

In the end, the simple approach was taken. Adrien took a selfie of them sharing their couples’ cone, one in which Marinette’s face was scrunched up adorably as he dabbed strawberry ice cream on the tip of her nose. Her hair was out and tumbling in the breeze, slapping Adrien on the cheek while he laughed and held the camera up blindly. It was his favourite shot – he was almost loathe to share it with the world. A quick caption. Magical ice cream with my magical girlfriend – best day of my life. Adrien posted it on Monday morning while the Gorilla drove them to school.

“Aaaaand… done.” He leaned his head against Marinette’s shoulder and watched the comments start to filter in.

“That was fast.” Marinette said.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a few stalkers on here.”

“You don’t say.” She teased.

Paris flashed by, and then they had arrived. They walked into the school hand in hand – Marinette’s hand was an honour Adrien held with pride. In the hallway Mylène glanced at them, glanced away casually, and then her gaze snapped back, accompanied by unashamed jaw-dropping. She elbowed Ivan, who looked around and blinked at the two, before grinning excitedly. They started to whisper between themselves. Adrien stifled a laugh.

“So,” He murmured as they walked, “How many people know about your huge crush on me, exactly?”

Marinette groaned. “No.”

“Because if Alya and Nino were shipping us…”

“Please, there are too many names to remember. You are the one person who didn’t know.”

“Was everyone on team Marinette-Adrien?”

“Adrienette.”

“What?”

Marinette looked away, face blushing a lovely shade of red. “Nothing.”

Adrien hummed and swung their joined hands. After a moment, Marinette gathered her courage and spoke again.

“Most people were on the team. Except for Chloe, of course.”

“Chloe’s always the exception.” Adrien noted.

They stepped inside the class, and Rose began to squeal. Adrien jumped at the pitch of it – all eyes were on them suddenly. He smiled nervously at the wide-mouthed stares.

“Uh, hi?”

“Congratulations!” Rose squealed. She rushed down from her chair to hug Marinette and Adrien in turn, swiftly followed by a grinning Alya who slung an arm around her best friend’s shoulder.

“Mari! Why didn’t you say something earlier? Congrats you two!”

The class was loud with cheers and excited voices. Kim laughed from his seat, “Adrien, bro! We thought you were gonna be oblivious forever.”

“Well, what can I say?” Adrien shrugged, fingers still tangled with Marinette’s. “I saw the light.”

“Oh, this is wonderful!” Rose cried. She glanced back to the very stiff figure sitting at her desk, “Lila, I told you they would figure it out!”

“Yes, you did.” Lila’s voice dripped with saccharine contempt. Adrien could feel her glare drilling into him from across the classroom. He suppressed the animalistic urge to bristle and hiss, instead sending a sweet smile towards the teeth-gritting girl. ‘Look out. You have no idea who you’re messing with.’

“So, when did this happen?” Alya urged. Marinette shrugged.

“This weekend. We went out, and talked, and… well.” She slightly lifted their joined hands, and the girls cooed. Marinette’s cheeks were flushed with happiness – even Lila’s presence didn’t seem to impact her. Adrien wished she could be this happy all the time. Damn it if he wasn’t going to try and make it so. “I’m expecting some rabid fangirl lashback though.”

Alya crinkled her nose. “Ew. Don’t worry Mari, we’ve got your back.”

“I know. Thank you.”                

“Soooo,” Alya leaned in towards the new couple, “I was wondering, would you guys object to a slight seat change today? I really want to sit next to my boyfriend, and – gosh – that leaves you two together in the front row!”

“Real smooth, Alya.” Alix elbowed her with a snort. Marinette laughed.

“I’d like that. Adrien?”

“Definitely.” He said fervently.

“Oh, and do you guys want to have lunch at my house?” Marinette offered Nino and Alya. Nino sighed happily.

“Ah, Dupain-Cheng pastries. It’s been too long.”

“So that’s a yes.” Alya clarified.

 The classes went quickly, with Marinette by Adrien’s side. When she was waiting for the other students to finish up with their note taking, she would doodle in the corners of her sketchbook. Adrien picked up her pen to draw a little love heart on her cast. She returned the favour on the back of his hand. At lunch time he, Marinette, Alya and Nino met outside the classroom to walk to Marinette’s house. They were about to start off when a voice called out.

“Oh! Would you mind if I joined you?” Lila’s sickeningly sweet cry made Adrien stiffen. Marinette bit her lip, hard, as Alya and Nino turned to see the brunette hurrying over. Alya tipped her head with a confused smile.

“Of course, girl, but I thought you were busy? You said you were having lunch with… a special someone?” Alya pointed surreptitiously to her earrings. Lila sighed, an impressive show of disappointment.

“Oh, I was so looking forward to having lunch together, but she had to cancel! Her partner got into trouble and she had to go and bail him out again. Honestly, cats can be so troublesome can’t they?”

Oh. Cats, earrings. Was Lila really talking about Ladybug? Having lunch with Ladybug? Not only was that an incredibly stupid thing to brag about, given the whole being-targeted-by-a-supervillain thing, but Lila had picked the wrong people to boast to. Adrien was almost ready to give her a cataclysm to the face.

But he wasn’t suited up right now, and Alya had already invited Lila along with a smile and a reassurance that she was sure it wasn’t personal, Lila’s bestie was a very busy person after all. A quick glance at Marinette’s uninjured arm revealed the way her fists were clenched. Adrien threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand. I know. It’s bullshit.

“Are you guys coming?” Nino called from up ahead. The others had already started off. Adrien pasted on his model smile.

“Yep! We’ll catch up to you in a sec.”

“Adrien.” Marinette whispered. He turned to her, allowed his smile to drop into a scowl that mirrored hers. “I don’t want Lila in my house.”

He shuddered. “Ugh, I know, I’ve already had that experience. She’s creepy.”

“No, you don’t understand.” She whispered desperately. “Lila hates me. What if she gets her hands on something important? What if she finds the miracle box? Or lies to my parents? Or spills paint on my ball gown commission? She knows I’m being commissioned by Clara Nightingale, she asked Alya about it the other day. I’ve been working on it for weeks, if she ruins it I’ll have to start again and buy all the fabrics with my own money and the bakery will go broke and Maman and Papa will have to sell and I’ll never get a job in fashion and I’ll live on the streets and get stabbed in a mugging and-”

Adrien squeezed her hand, and Marinette trailed off.

“It’ll be fine.” He promised. “We won’t go to your house.”

Marinette looked up at him with such desperation, that Adrien felt his heart break. Had he really made her feel like this? That no one was here for her? Adrien lifted her hand to kiss it before turning to call after the three students on the footpath ahead of them.

“Guys, hold up! Marinette forgot about a huge order her parents have at the bakery, if we go there we’ll just be in the way. There’s a cool café down the road we can go to instead.”

Lila’s eyes widened like a kicked puppy’s. “I-I don’t have any money with me, I gave it all to Prince’s Ali’s charity for disabled orphans.” She put on a pained smile. “It’s okay, though. I don’t need to get anything – my diabetes won’t be a huge problem if I skip a meal or two. It’s enough to just spend time with my favourite people.”

Alya ‘awww’ed and slung an arm around Lila’s shoulder. “Mari, are you sure we can’t just stop by your place? Your folks have plenty of food they don’t sell, right?”

Marinette squeaked. Adrien spoke over her smoothly. “Don’t worry, Lila! I’ll pay for your lunch. It’s the least I can do, after how good you are to those disabled orphans.”

He could feel Lila’s glare, and it was hilarious. She said sweetly, “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly take your money!”

“I’m literally rich. Besides, wouldn’t it be the same if you took Marinette’s food?” He smiled at the fuming girl. “Please, let me treat you. I’d do the same for any friend.”

He was really laying it on thick now, he could tell from Marinette’s stifled giggle. At Lila’s side, however, Alya hadn’t picked up on the passive aggressive note. She was beaming as she linked arms with Nino and Lila. “Great! Let’s go, before lunch time runs out.”

Marinette and Adrien followed behind. As they walked Marinette leaned in to murmur, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Adrien whispered back. “Your knight in shining leather is always here to help.”

She snorted and bumped him. Adrien grinned.

“It’s a tail as old as time. Fur as long as I can remember, it’s always been the princess and her alley cat against the world.” Marinette groaned, but the sparkle in her eye betrayed her. “What’s wrong, Milady? Are you feline okay? You didn’t catch a cold or something, did you?”

“What secrets are you two whispering about?” Nino joked. Adrien sent him an innocent smile.

“I have no idea what you mean. I’m just complimenting my beautiful girlfriend.” He leaned in to Marinette to add, “Let me know if all the whiskering is bugging you.”

Marinette laughed out loud. “Please, Adrien. Please get some new material.”

“Why would I, when I have the purrfect puns already?” He lowered his voice again. “Seriously though, if I am annoying you or if Lila’s making you feel uncomfortable, just let me know.”

“I will, kitty.” Marinette smiled. Adrien was thrilled that he could make her smile like that. He would tell awful puns every day for the rest of his life if it would make Marinette smile.

They walked together, with a liar, to go get lunch.

  ­­­Two months later

“Are you sure about this?” Adrien asked for what seemed like the umpteenth time as Marinette shoved her bag into her locker. She still held her newly-uncasted arm carefully against her body, out of habit. “I can do it instead, it doesn’t have to be you.”

“Yes it does.” Marinette closed her locker firmly. “I have to do this. You just make sure to get it all, okay? You have an important part.”

“Of course, Milady.” Adrien wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her hair. Marinette hummed happily and buried her face in his jacket. And everything was wonderful for a short, blissful moment.

There was a faint zipping sound, and then Plagg stuck his head through the wall of the deserted locker room and barked, “She’s alone in the courtyard. Now’s the time, Pigtails.”

Adrien wished this moment would never end. Alas, he could not hold the love of his life forever. Marinette proved that when she lifted her head.

“Okay.” She pulled in a deep breath and smiled up at Adrien.

“You’ve got this.” He told her. She nodded.

“Yeah. Okay. Tikki, spots on.”

  When it was over Adrien rushed to meet Marinette in the garden behind the school, tucked away between trees and bundles of flowers. She had beaten him there and had already detransformed, Tikki sitting on a nearby branch and munching on a cookie. When Adrien arrived she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and lifted her arms.

“Hey, hey.” Adrien ran into her embrace and hugged her tightly. She was shaking. “It’s okay. You did it. You were amazing Marinette, and now it’s all over.”

“I know.” Marinette mumbled again him. “I just can’t believe…”

“I know.” He held her firmly and Marinette returned the gesture, clutching at his back. “You’re done. You can relax now.”

Marinette made a muffled sound. Adrien stroked her hair.

“Do you wanna go home?”

She nodded, not lifting her face from his chest.

“Do you wanna be alone?”

She shook her head.

“Do you wanna cuddle and watch cartoons?”

Marinette nodded again.

“Do you wanna watch the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie and laugh at all the stuff that they got wrong?”

Another nod. Adrien kissed the top of her head.

“Then that can be arranged. And we’ll deal with tomorrow when it comes.”

“When it comes.” Marinette mumbled.

  Adrien walked to the front of the class the next morning just before school was due to start. Most of the students were already in their seats – including Marinette, who Adrien had insisted was due for a break. She had already done the heavy lifting of the plan, now Adrien could see it through. Besides, she didn’t need Lila targeting her even more for this. Speaking of Lila, Adrien could feel the girl’s suspicious glare drilling into his back as he spoke to Ms. Bustier.

“Excuse me miss, is it alright if I show the class something before the lesson starts? It’s urgent.”

She frowned from her desk. “Can it wait? We have a lot of important information to cover this lesson.”

“Ms. Bustier, this is very important information. I think everyone should see it as soon as possible – including you and the other teachers.”

She shook her head. “Mister Agreste, I really don’t see what could be so important that you must interrupt my lesson. Why don’t you go and sit down, and talk to the principal at lunch?”

“Because it concerns my classmates and-”

“All the more reason for it to be dealt with discreetly – we don’t need a spectacle.”

“You didn’t give Marinette that luxury.” Chloe called mildly from the front seat. Adrien turned to stare at her in disbelief. “You called her out in front of everyone during that whole cheating scandal. Why not give Adrien the same luxury? Or do I need to bring my daddy into this?” She pulled out her phone threateningly and Miss Bustier whitened.

“That will not be necessary, Chloe. I’m sure a… a few minutes is fine.”

“It won’t take long.” Adrien assured, sending Chloe a grateful look. She smiled smugly. Adrien quickly plugged in his USB and opened the document, taking a breath to raise his voice to the whole class.

“Thank you all for your time. At first I wasn’t sure if I should share this – but after doing a bit of research, I’ve found some worrying things that I think everyone here should know about.” Adrien could feel Lila’s glare searing through his forehead. He resisted the urge to smirk at her, instead schooling his expression into hesitance and worry. He had a part to play – the innocent bystander. After all, a malicious witness wasn’t very trustworthy. “I sent a copy to Mr. Damocles and the Ladyblog – Alya, you probably haven’t seen it yet – but I think it’s important that you all watch it before anyone else.”

Marinette met his eye, and nodded. Adrien smiled at her and pressed play.

[worddevdealswithml]

Side-Effects Include:Empathy

He looked back at Marinette.  It was strange to think that the only reason he knew was because she’d been forced to take on a villain solo.  She’d risked her life, and yet, this was the effect of the fight that couldn’t be undone.

He realized he was staring, though she didn’t seem to be looking at him right now, and, blushing slightly, he turned to face front again.

Chapter 12:

The atmosphere in the class was quiet, the next day, and Adrien couldn’t blame them.  Sure, they’d had a day to process things, but it was a lot to process.  More to the point, despite the attention leveled on her, Lila had… Well, they said she’d gone missing.  Where, how, nobody seemed to really know.  A couple people had suggested that what she’d said about her parents being diplomats was true, and she’d caught a plane out early.  Her mother had, at least; a surprise vacation to Italy.  Suspicious.  Or, then again, maybe Hawkmoth shown up to save his most reliable weapon.  There were a few ideas… Some of the ideas were grim, but Adrien had to believe that those at least weren’t true.  Just rumors.

Rumors that, more to the point, there was no use dwelling on.

After all, Lila couldn’t work with Hawkmoth without risking her anonymity, even if she was still in the country.  At this point, she was reduced to simple human malice, and that at least had to be better than Volpina.

Adrien drummed his fingers on his desk, waiting for his train of thought to find a good place to stop, so he could finally leave the mess behind.

She was gone, or good as.

And her last gift had been…

He looked back at Marinette.  It was strange to think that the only reason he knew was because she’d been forced to take on a villain solo.  She’d risked her life, and yet, this was the effect of the fight that couldn’t be undone.

He realized he was staring, though she didn’t seem to be looking at him right now, and, blushing slightly, he turned to face front again.

He sat in front of Ladybug in class.  He fought supervillains with Marinette.  Until yesterday, both statements would have been surreal, even absurd.  Today…  They still were, honestly.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t imagine Marinette and Ladybug being the same person; even if he hadn’t felt it, seen it, he’d have said he could see the similarities.  For that matter, he had said it.  ‘Our everyday Ladybug,’ he’d called her.  In retrospect, that must have been truly surreal for her.

But… Marinette, his classmate, the girl who passed the time between classes by idly doodling beautiful designs in her sketchbook, swinging across Paris?  Throwing him across rooftops for a laugh?  The idea alone left him a bit lightheaded.

And, on the other hand, Ladybug, the unbreakable, unstoppable superhero, secretly being Marinette, one of the most human people he knew?  Had he come up with the idea, he’d have condemned it as wishful thinking.

And if, at some point, he’d combined the ideas with the thought that maybe she didn’t have a crush on Chat Noir, but she did on Adrien, then…  He’d have thrown the whole idea out as too good to be true.

Except, it was true.

So… Now what?

Of course, there was nothing stopping him from asking Marinette out.  Of course, he could do that, but then…

Weeks, months, years later, the two of them would surely reveal their identities to each other, at least when Hawkmoth was defeated.  And then what would he say?  ‘I’ve known who you are for years, without telling you.’  Yeah.  Right.

What would she think?

Well… What would he think?  Suppose Ladybug asked him out tonight, as Chat Noir, and he didn’t know what he knew.  If, in the distant future, it turned out that she’d asked him out after finding out he was secretly Adrien, would that be… A betrayal?

The problem was, though, that the two situations were different.  He could see Marinette being Ladybug, now that he knew it, but, if he told Nino, for example, that he was Chat Noir, it would sound like a joke. Chat Noir and Adrien were practically different people!

Not… Not actually different, obviously, it wasn’t like Chat Noir took him over, like some kind of alternate personality; it was still him, but the point was that when he was being Chat Noir, he didn’t have to be Adrien, so he wasn’t.

He’d found out that Ladybug was Marinette, and it had left him elated, but what about Marinette finding out that Adrien Agreste was secretly Chat Noir?  If their positions had been reversed, would Adrien gain anything, in her eyes, from being Chat Noir?  Would… Would being Chat Noir ruin how she felt about Adrien?

But then… She trusted him, implicitly.  Despite everything he was technically capable of, despite the fact that he could see directly into her heart… In a strange way, that was just as good as what he felt from Marinette.

So maybe it wouldn’t ruin it, but she at least deserved some warning, or else-

“You selling tickets?”

He blinked, and looked over at Nino, who shrugged, packing his supplies away (another class Adrien had almost entirely missed).

“I dunno, man, that emotional roller coaster you’re on looks pretty exciting.”

“I—” he started, before almost coughing a laugh, “Yeah…”

“Personally, my favorite part was the bit where you were just sort of smiling into the distance for a while; what was that about?”

“Ahh…” the sound trailed on, and Adrien gave him a sort of… unnerved ‘please don’t ask me about that’ look.

Nino shrugged.  “Well, if you want to talk about it, dude, just let me know.”

“Thanks.  Yeah, I uh… I’ll keep it in mind,” he said, even though there was no possible way he could tell Nino.

A few seconds passed.

“So,” said Adrien, mentally pulling himself together, “after everything that happened yesterday, I never even thought to ask about the necklaces you and Alya got.”

Nino let out a breath.  “Yeah… Yesterday was crazy, dude.  I mean, you know that, obviously.”  He shook his head, and reached up to his neck.  “Check it out.”

Adrien blinked.  “Huh.”

“Yeah, Alya thought it’d be funny if we switched them.”

“So I guess she’s wearing the turtle one?”

“Yup.”

“Wait, but isn’t the turtle Miraculous a bracelet?  Didn’t you say matching necklaces?”

“I mean, yeah, but a matched necklace and bracelet doesn’t work quite as well.”

“Yeah… I suppose it doesn’t.”  Internally, Adrien felt there was something he’d just missed, but…  He shrugged it off, wondering what they’d do for him and Ladybug.  Would they stick with the original, or change them to be the same?  After all, both the ring and the earrings were iconic.  Surely all of Paris had to know exactly what Hawkmoth wanted.

--

Marinette hadn’t been at her best, per se; she’d said something about Chat Noir visiting, which Alya had pounced on, of course, and by the end of it, she was about half convinced that of her and Chat Noir, one of them at least liked the other, if not both.

Marinette had denied it (more or less accurately, since he didn’t know she was Ladybug) but having her poke at it helped Marinette, and probably Alya too, for that matter, forget about yesterday, so on average, she was pretty sure it came out to a net gain.

Yesterday.

It felt like it was so long ago.

Personally, Marinette would have felt much more comfortable if it was long ago.

But, for now, it was yesterday, and it felt like there was a light fog over everything.

A fog that, in a strange twist meant that she didn’t even notice Adrien sitting on one of the benches between the lockers.

“Hey Marinette!” he said, cheerily, as she approached.

“Ah!  Hi!  Adrien!” she said, grasping frantically for her composure.  Grabbing hold of the one thing she could find, she managed to respond more adequately.  “You, seem to be in a pretty good mood.”

Adrien smiled, and Marinette suddenly understood what ‘beaming’ was; the room seemed brighter for it.

“Of course I am, I just saw you!”

Marinette let out a strangled noise, face rapidly approaching the shade of a strawberry.  “Oh,” she squeaked, at least an octave higher than her normal voice.  “Th- thank you!”

He laughed, lightly, and Marinette wasn’t sure if the room really was getting brighter, or if her consciousness was just fading.

“Aw, come on Marinette,” he said, standing up, pulling his bag around, “you shouldn’t thank me.”

“O-  Oh?”

“No!” he lightly pressed a hand onto her shoulder.  “Telling the truth isn’t anything special.  It’s just something we’re all supposed to do.”

“Aahh~” she managed, as he slipped past her, and out the door.

The encounter couldn’t have taken more than half a minute.

Marinette thankfully managed to land on the bench, and tried to breathe.

She really hoped nobody was about to come in.

--

It was almost unfair.

All of it, was almost unfair.

The first unfair thing, was that she could laugh off just about anything Chat Noir said, but had been utterly annihilated by just a few words from Adrien.  He could have been doing it this way the whole time!

The second unfair thing was to her; in truth, it probably classified as taking advantage of her…  Well, except for the fact that she was definitely dying of happiness, rather than anything negative.

The third unfair thing was how obscenely adorable she was when she was flustered.  Maybe he was getting her flustered, but there was no denying that her reaction, the sound she’d made as he’d walked past her, the raw, untempered emotional deluge he’d felt when he’d touched her shoulder, the shade of red her face had been…

He’d need to lie down when he got home.

He’d need to lie down, and breathe.

Frankly, she’d probably need to as well, but she’d be handling that part for herself.

Actually…

He could probably arrange to be at her house, as Adrien, in time to help her with that part.

Oh god.

Cuddling with Marinette.

He didn’t know what exactly that would do to him, but he was pretty sure he wanted to find out.

He might die, but he’d die happy.

But he couldn’t do that, yet.

Because the fourth unfair thing was that he had to wait.

Specifically, he had to wait one more night.

Because he needed to tell Marinette what he knew, before he could do anything in good conscience, events of a few minutes ago notwithstanding.

This might be the longest night of his life.

[freedom-shamrock]

Subtle Valse Musette - Chapter 2

Also on AO3 Chp 1   Chp 2   Chp 3   Chp 4   Chp 5   Chp 6 Marichat May day 11 prompt, Are you doodling Chat Noir???  

Marinette carefully balanced the two cups of residence hall cafeteria coffee in one hand while she caught the door with the other.  "I'm back," she called, expecting Alya to still be lounging up in her bed. They'd stayed up pretty late catching up.

"I'm going to start calling you the coffee fairy," Alya said, spinning the hammock chair to face the door.

Marinette startled, but managed to not drop either drink.  "It's dining hall coffee, so maybe hold back on the praise until you've tried… hey, what are you doing?"  She recognized the sketch pad in her best friend's lap, and her happiness vanished. "Alya, you promised not to snoop."

"This one was sitting out on top of everything else on your desk," Alya pointed out.  "I didn't think that qualified as snooping." She arched her eyebrows. "At least not until I looked at the pictures."

Marinette groaned and stomped over to her desk chair.  She definitely hadn't had enough sleep for this. "It was closed.  That counts."

Her best friend sighed heavily.  "Look, Mari, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have picked it up.  But I… it's been so weird not seeing you every day. We're both so busy that we sometimes don't even talk for a week.  And I know we promised to get together on weekends when we can, but it just doesn't happen that often."

Marinette looked up.  Surprised to see Alya looking anxious.  The girl who could live-blog from the shoulder of an akuma intent on sacrificing her was worried.

"I was afraid you'd replaced me with other friends," she admitted.

"You aren't replaceable," Marinette insisted.  Although she was still annoyed, she understood where Alya was coming from.  She felt so removed from the other woman's life, with them at different universities in other parts of the city.

Alya shrugged.  "I hear what you're saying, but…"

"But what?"

Alya flipped open the book and held it out for Marinette to see.  The page was filled with drawings of Chat Noir. "Your sketchbook says something else."

Marinette rolled her eyes and forced out a laugh.  "Chat Noir has hardly replaced you. He's a famous person."

"Yes," Alya drawled.  "And you've never been friends with famous people."  She fake coughed a few times, barely covering the names Adrien Agreste and Jagged Stone.

Marinette snorted.  "I work for Jagged sometimes, Alya.  We don't call each other up for hair, makeup, or dating advice."  She pointed at her friend. "And Adrien's your friend, too." She waved at the spiral book in her friend's lap, hoping to dismiss the topic.  "Chat Noir's on TV and in the news so often, and I've been thinking about creating a line around him for a final project. You know how that works.  I need to draw the inspiration behind the designs a bit first, picking up the details that will incorporate well into whatever I'm designing."

Alya nodded.  "That doesn't usually involve movie dates, video gaming, and portraits of said inspirations hanging out in your dormitory room."  Alya flipped the page to show off the damning evidence of Chat Noir dozing on her bed, nibbling cookies in her hammock swing, and reading a book while sprawled across her floor.

Marinette blinked a couple of times.  There were so few directions she could go with this.  Over the top, seemed best. "Yes Alya, you caught me," she said drily.  "I'm dating Chat Noir."

"Nice try, but you're not throwing me off your trail that easily," Alya said with a smirk.

"He's my new best friend," Marinette added.  He'd actually been a best friend with her alter ego forever, but she didn't count that since Alya didn't know she was Ladybug.  " He doesn't snoop through my stuff."

Alya laughed out loud at that.  "Sure. The cat-boy isn't at all curious about anything ."  She snorted.  "Did you forget, I've seen him in action?"

"You clearly don't know him as well as you thought."  She reached out and snatched the sketchbook out of Alya's hand.  "He's a perfect gentlecat."

Alya grinned.

"Damn it," Marinette muttered.  She should not have dropped a cat pun right there.

"Spill girl," Alya said, wriggling enough to jiggle the hammock chair.  "I need all the dirty deets."

"Fine," Marinette huffed.  "He comes over. We hang out.  I feed him, because seriously, have you seen how thin he's gotten?"

Alya nodded.  "And?"

Marinette shook her head.  "And nothing. There's nothing dirty here."

"No cuddles?  No confirmation that Chat Noir can purr?" Alya asked suggestively.

"I can neither confirm, nor deny cuddles or purring."  Ugh this was such a mess.

Alya cackled.

"This is all off record, Alya," Marinette said firmly.  "You're not supposed to know, because if anyone finds out we're friends, it will put me in danger, and he'll stop visiting me.  He's lonely. The guy behind the mask, he doesn't have the freedom you and I have. Other than Ladybug and Rena Rouge, he doesn't have a lot of people he considers friends."

Alya slipped out of her seat to wrap her arms around Marinette.  "I would never share your secrets without your permission, Mari. I won't put a target on your back."  She sighed. "I just felt like you were hiding something. And I worried about you." When she stepped back, her eyes looked extra wet.

"I appreciate your concern," Marinette said.  "I really do."

Alya shrugged sheepishly.  "But you don't appreciate interrogation."

Marinette nodded.

"So if I ask nicely, as a friend, will you tell me what's going on between you two?"

"There's nothing going on," Marinette insisted.

"Yet," Alya tacked on.

Marinette rolled her eyes.  "Yet," she agreed.

30 minute speed write.

I'm all healed up, and trying to plot out my catch up plans, so ideally, I'll have another chapter for this story posted today, for prompt #14.

[heddofon-akuta]

This Evening

Characters: Takane, Haruka Ships: HaruTaka Genre: Hurt/comfort, romance, fluff Rating: K Word count: 4000+

Tomorrow story about a girl who, finally, tells the truth. 

Today, I was tired.

I was so tired, and I wasn’t even sure why. I mean, yeah, I stayed up late—but this kind of tired was way worse than normal (which was saying something, at least for me.) I wanted to cry at the simple idea of opening my eyes; I’d long since decided I wasn’t getting out of bed today. However I was soon rudely provoked otherwise by a voice that had entirely different plans in mind.

“Good morning, Takane. ♡” That soft, however cheerful sound echoed in our otherwise silent room. I didn’t need to look to know whom it belonged to. If the sun was up and about, so was he. “Or should I say, afternoon!”

My boyfri—  I, I mean, my, lov—wait. My, romantiii—…?  Ugh. My… 

Haruka.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead,” he said in a sing-song voice. Normally, I’d have just ignored him, but he pulled the window’s drapes open, and the sun rays poured brightly across our formally darkened room. Loudly, I hissed—then shielding my face with my blanket. 

“Leave. Now.”

He emitted a small disappointed sound as I felt him sit on the edge of my bed. “Don’t be like that,” he said softly, making my feelings of resentment seem almost trivial. “You should really get up—at least for a while, okay?”

“No,” I said adamantly, “I’m tired.”

“You’ve been asleep for fourteen hours.” He pulled the covers off my face, looking at me with a worried sort of expression that was hard to say no to...

But, being myself, I found a way.

Again hiding my face, I growled. Appearing on the wide-screen TV mounted across the room, a drastic change in my voice was heard. “Ahhh, you’re so needy!” Floating upside-down, I lazily kicked my feet (or rather, lack there-of) back and forth. I wasn’t keen on any measure of consciousness right now, but at least I wasn’t on the verge of physical exhaustion like this. “Are you happy now?”

“You know what I meant, Takane,” he replied, sounding concerned. “It’s not good for your body to stay in bed for so long. Inactivity breeds inactivity, you know?” (Pul-lease. I was inactive for two straight years. I’ve all but perfected the art of being dormant; at this point, I’m basically a pro.) “You should get up, and get some exercise.” (No.) “We should go somewhere, or do something fun!” (No, no, no.)

“Yeah, and we can do that with me in your phone!” I brushed off his suggestion. “And besides, don’t you think I’m just so much cuter like this?” I tried to bait him—using my hands to frame my face as I bat my eyelashes in his direction. Vague attempts at flirting were a lot easier behind a screen, I had to say.

“Hmm…” He looked back and forth between my real body and the screen a couple times, eventual to conclude, “Nope. Because Takane’s always adorable.”

Y’know...?

It didn’t matter if I was real or virtual—when he said stupid things like that, he never failed to make me flustered. “Y-You—!” I puffed out my cheeks and pouted at him in annoyance, and he seemed to preemptively know I was about to fuss at him, because he cut me off.

“In fact, you’re so adorable,” a somehow innocent sort of smirk (an expression only he could manage,) flickered across his visage, and he leaned down to hover over me slightly, “I think I could just kiss you.”

“…W-Wha—?!” 

Even though it’d been a few months now, since we’d gotten into a… relaaation—this… this, relay—ugh. 

It had been a few months since we’d gotten, eh-hem… together, (—was it possible for a human-turned-anime-esque virtual entity to throw up in its mouth a little bit? Because I’m pretty sure I just did—) but I’d had yet to find the courage to so much as kiss Haruka’s cheek thus far. My virtual head started spinning just thinking about it. 

While he certainly gotten close (what with his face being not an inch from mine,) I stopped him before he could do anything. My eyes snapped wide open, and with my heart racing a mile a minute now, I clasped my hands over his mouth and pushed him away. 

Did he really just embarrass me into waking up?

“A-Alright, alright! I get it!” I glared.

With his mouth still covered and his voice muffled, he was cheerful to ask, “So you’ll get out of bed?”

I nodded in defeat, to which he seemed delighted. I soon realized that any sort of movement provoked a headache from my irrational sleep deprivation, but I could only groan and sit upright. He was sure to give me a good-morning/afternoon hug—which I specifically didn’t return. I wanted him to know just how inconvenient he was being. 

But, of course, he didn’t seem to get the message as he went on without concern, “I’ll make you breakfast.”

“Not hungry.”

“You should eat anyway.” (What are you, my babysitter?) “And you should change out of your pajamas. I’ll even help you brush your hair before we leave,” he told me, putting his hand atop my head before running his fingers through my waist-length mess of tangles. I felt my face heat up, but as I was still too out-of-it to complain; I could only stare in annoyance as he soon disappeared out the doorway.

After he was gone, I put my fingers to my lips, reflecting on what’d just happened—both his gracious attitude... and my bitter one. Despite technically being together, ours hardly seemed to qualify as a real relationship. There were still so many... things, we’d yet to do, and, perhaps more-so—so many things I’d yet to say. 

I groaned, pushing all related thoughts to the back of my mind before flopping back down on the bed. Despite everything, I somehow only felt more tired than before.

Regardless of my constant whining for an alternative, he eventually convinced me to go for a walk. He’d said he’d had a nice place in mind—that place being fairly peaceful and quite with all things considered, as it was somehow isolated from the rest of the city. Naturally, to that—I didn’t argue. 

However when we got there, I could only look upon this place with a vacant visage, as if surprised. I got a strange kind of feeling upon gazing at the sky projected above the green landscape; it felt like it wasn’t the first time in my life, that I’d stood in this exact spot. I mean, I guess... it probably wasn’t? 

After all, it was that little hill next to the high school we used to attend.

As Haruka made his way to the hill’s peak without me, my confusion shifted something resembling distress... or desire—but I could only cant my head to the side, trying to understand the situation. It was as if there was something important to be remembered here, but I just wasn’t quite sure what that was.

“Aren’t you coming?” Haruka asked, looking back at me.

“Ah,” I responded softly, “Yeah.”

Regardless of was escaping my mind, the area was otherwise tranquil as promised. It’d be a good place to kick back and listen to the radio for a while, but... glancing over to Haruka from the corner of my eye, I couldn’t quite bring myself to physically put my headphones on. 

Regardless, still resentful, I didn’t engage him in conversation, but he didn’t seem to notice or mind. As per usual wherever he went, he brought it sketchbook, so he was occupied.

Shifting my gaze, I glanced down to the paper. He seemed to take notice, as he hid the picture against his chest, wearing a distinctly guilty expression. Quite fittingly, in fact, as I’d seen enough to know what he was doodling.

“What have I told you about that,” I narrowed my eyes, to which he, naturally, grew downcast and discouraged.

“But… I love drawing you.”

I felt a sudden fluster, having never quite realized the fact for some reason. I growled at him, visibly angered—then crossing my arms with a huff. I turned away, so he couldn’t see my face. “Well, I don’t care! Draw something else!”

“Hmm…” he pondered for a moment, not letting my mood get to him too extensively. From the corner of my eye, I saw him look around, eventually setting his sights. It wasn’t long before I heard the sound of his pencil tracing across the page—but just to be safe, I waited a few minutes before looking back to him (...but I swore to God—if I looked over and saw the back of my head on that page, I’d smack him right in the fac—)

Oh? “What’s that?” I asked bluntly. It was a strange sort of picture that I couldn’t quite make out yet. (Oh, gosh—don’t tell me it was an abstract picture of the back of my head?) However he didn’t seem discouraged by my untrained eye, as he only smiled and held his sketchpad out at arms length—comparing his picture to the original subject. 

“It’s the sunset, see?”

“…Oh. Oh, yeah, I kinda see now,” I replied.

Suddenly, I realized how late the day had gotten. I must’ve slept a really long time… and yet—

I was still so tired.  Why did I have to be this way? 

The thought only proved to make me more upset, so naturally—throwing some of that pessimism Haruka’s way—I asked, “Isn’t it kinda impossible to draw something like a sunset with just one color?”

“Eh? You think so?” he tilted his head a bit. “Well, I say it’s only as impossible as you make it seem,” he stated in contradiction, pointing his finger in the air.

I shrugged, because, well—what did I know, right? Guess that’s why he was the one with the sketchpad here. Though I was pretty sure it had more to do with my sour attitude (which, naturally, didn’t stop there.) I only continued to discourage him, or maybe I was just testing how far his optimism went. “It just seems boring to me.”

Even though I’d all but insulted him just now, he hardly seemed phased; he just laughed my comment off. “Then I’ll make sure to bring colored pencils next time, so you like it more—okay?” To which I narrowed my eyes—feeling oddly annoyed as he suggested going out of his way to please me. Regardless, he went on to explain, “I just wanted to draw the sunset today, too. Since I couldn’t draw what I really wanted, I picked the next best thing,” —he could’ve sufficed in saying, but naturally—that wasn’t enough for him. He laughed quietly to himself, as if he preemptively knew how I’d react to his next statement. He smiled, timidly holding his sketchpad against his chest.

 “It’s close, but even the sunset couldn’t be as beautiful as Takane.”

“Eh?!” I shouted... to which he laughed once more, and I instantly smacked his sketchpad out of his hands. I hissed in his direction, fixating a harsher kind of glare. “Stop laughing, idiot!” 

He didn’t. “But, I mean it!” he said.

Bitterly, I tried my hardest to hurt his feelings. “W-Well—! I hate the sun!”

Reading me like a book, he was forward in explaining myself to me with a smile. “When you say you don’t like something, I know it means you love it.”

I was caught off-guard and was without words for a moment. “I… I do not,” I finally said... perhaps only furthering his point. “Whatever! You’re just an idiot!”

“And when you act mean like that, I know you don’t mean it either.”

“Wh-What?!” I stuttered, offended, as if I had no idea what he was talking about—to which he only smiled as if he’d proven me right. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I think this is what the “Haruka” equivalent of smugness looked like. I grit my teeth, growling at him. Even though he was just being honest, it made me bothered. I leered at him and stood abruptly. “Whatever,” I muttered in frustration. Turning back in the direction of the base, I’d decided I’d had enough “physical activity” for today. “I’m too exhausted for this.”

While I didn’t want him to try to stop me, in the back of my mind… I was silently hoping he’d follow. And as if on cue, he seemed to have known that—as I heard him pick his things up before soon trotting at my side.

Without permission, he reached for my hand to hold. Though I was kinda relieved by it, I jerked my arm away regardless. I could’t let him think he was off the hook. But, again, he didn’t seem bothered by my behavior at all—as I was surprised to feel him reach for my palm once more. I gave him an apparent questioning look, as if I was saying, “What are you doing, don’t you know I’m mad at you?”

But acting as if nothing was abnormal at all, he only smiled sweetly in reply—a smile that still resentfully made my heart race to this day. In fact, it made me feel… kinda light-headed. Regardless, I only made myself feel worse, as I tore my hand from his once more.

And again, he reached for it.

...Why? Hadn’t I been nothing but a rotten brat to them like I have today? I mean, hadn’t I done everything in my power to push him away all afternoon. With a glare plastered to my visage, I didn’t give myself the chance to think before shouting my first reaction in his face. “Can’t you take a hint for once?! God, I just can’t stand you some days!”

I expected my words to injure him, but he just stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes in a way that looked somewhat pensive, or maybe just blissful. Acting like my rage had no validation, he gave me that angelic smile once more.

“I know, Takane.” I recalled our prior conversation; as if on cue, he put his hand to my cheek. “I love you, too.”

Hearing him say that, feeling the gentle touch of his hand—it sent chills down my spine, and a drowning wave of emotions over my head.

How can you excuse my behavior so easily? It makes me so mad; if you acted this way to me, I’d punch you in the face and never speak to you again. Your attitude makes me furious, outraged, disgusted with anger.  You’re such an idiot.

I just wanted to start screaming at him like I often did—shouting my frustrations for him to hear. But, just like always, that didn’t feel right.

Instead, tearing my hand away again— I said something even worse.

“Then why didn’t you know I was in love with you two years ago?”

And to that—suddenly, terrifyingly, that look of understanding had all but disappeared from Haruka’s face, replaced with his utmost confusion. “Wh… what—?” he stuttered—to which I looked off to the side, and once more toward the peak of that hill, though he no longer stood at the top. I took a step back from Haruka.

“You’re such an idiot...”

And... at the same time, you make me so happy, I feel as though I’m about to cry. What did I do to ever deserve to be so happy, with you?

Unable to slap any kind of filter over my mouth at this point, I didn’t have the willpower to control anything I said.

“Maybe if you weren’t so stupid, I wouldn’t have been so stupid!” He flinched a bit as I smacked the sketchbook out of his hands once more. “Maybe we wouldn’t have died if you had just realized it sooner—!”

“T-Takan—”

“—because you know I basically died because of it, right?!”

His eyes widened with fear; mine was a statement to which he took a visible step back. Hearing myself after a momentary lag—tears now burned on the corners of my permanently unpleasant eyes. 

Truly, however, my death was the farthest thing from my mind right now.

Even now, I was just looking for yet another way to pin the blame on him. He’d done nothing to deserve such harsh words—not this evening, yesterday evening, and even tomorrow’s too. Ever single day, he was doing everything in his power to make me happy. He did that just by being himself…

And there would never, ever be an evening where I deserved any of it.

I knew the reason, that ours hardly felt like a real relationship... and it had nothing to do what we had or hadn’t done. Believe it or not, It was because what I hadn’t said either. Of course, without the truth, our relationship hardly was one...

But, moreso, even with the truth, it hardly was one.

“You know… you died because of it, right?”

For what was maybe the first time in my life—it was nearly impossible to lie. 

“I was… pretending to listen to my headphones—“ I said though the tears, and it sounded so stupid when I said it aloud, “because, I… I wanted you to notice me, to ask for my attention.”

When a person immerses themselves in their own world and someone around them starts doing something else, they can’t help but feel lonely, right? Yeah—talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

“Y-You… you had a stroke, and I could’a done something about it. B-But, I just…!” I should’ve stopped. It felt like I was going to start hyperventilating, and I needed to catch my breath—but I didn’t let myself. “I just ignored you the entire time—!”

Confessing it aloud made my chest throb, but I’d never quite know what a hurting heart felt like—at least, like he did. In response to all this, he hadn’t said a word; the moment was otherwise silent besides my audible sobs.

“Haruka. You died…” I paused, finally forcing myself to mutter through my tears, “because of me. You died, you literally died, because—”

Because I wanted your attention, because I ignored you, because I just couldn’t tell the truth.

“—because I loved you.”

Both mentally and physically, I felt disgusted. Cowardly, I couldn’t at all look his way, and I was somehow surprised to feel Haruka reach over after a moment—gently placing his hand on my shoulder. Suddenly, I felt my adrenaline start to rush once more, because for some reason, in this god-awful situation—he was the one who was consoling me.

I jerked away from him. I turned around as if to run off, but he stopped me in my tracks—grabbing my wrist firmly. “Stop it!” I demanded, and while he wasn’t anything close to aggressive, he just didn’t let me overpower him this time—and he pulled me into a secure embrace. Naturally, I did everything in my power to try to break away from him, pushing and shoving him while I hissed through gritted teeth. “Get away from me!”

God, just get it over with. Just hate me alread—

“—Takane!” he finally said, his voice cracking and sounding alarmingly distressed—so much so that I was caught off guard and I ceased in my struggling. It just enough so he could pull away and look at my face. His eyes were glowing red, undoubtably so he was strong enough to deal with the currently difficult me—but what was more alarming were the few tears that were streaming down his face.

For the first time in my life, Haruka was...  crying in front of me.

And just when I though I couldn’t get any more surprised, he leaned forward as if he had no control over his actions. I froze instantly, my eyes wide and staring without focus. With a moment of realization setting in, I was instant to calm down—because just as gentle and innocent as he was a person—Haruka kissed me.

My heart raced a mile a mine. Eventually, my eyes narrowed to a close to match his, and forgetting everything that happened up until now—I kissed him, too.

He pulled away, just enough to speak—and what he said seemingly made no sense at all, but for some reason, I think I believed him.

“Takane… it wasn’t your fault.”

I’d imagine he’d opened his eyes to look at me, but upon being unable to do the same, I finally realized why I felt so tired today—and that was because, I didn’t feel much of anything at all. My body included.

After a moment, I heard him say my name quizzically, the tone of his voice suddenly growing more distressed. Just as I was about to fall to the ground, Haruka caught me before I could.

For the first time since getting my physical form back, I was having an attack... At what might have been the literal worst time possible.

He knelt, propping my body against his chest. He said my name a couple times, shaking me a bit, and the only reason I knew was because I’d instantly transferred myself to my phone. I peeked up at him from my own pocket; he seemed to take notice, giving a weak smile as he reached for me. I attempted to hide, though I didn’t have anywhere to go. I whined a bit as I held my sleeves up to cover my pouting face.

“I’m sorry.” Looking down at my unconscious self, he (almost guilty) added, “I... I shouldn’t have done that.”

With anyone else, I’d be aggressively vocal in agreement. Even with him, in most cases, I’d be in agreement. But, truly, his physical actions weren’t what caused this to happen, but rather his words.

My arms fell to my sides, I didn’t bother to flaunt my virtual persona. The tone of my voice reflected that of physical body’s. “Even if you don’t blame me, it was still my fault.”

Again, the look on his face fell to concern. He was silent for a moment, though it looked as though he had something he wanted to say. He stopped looking at the phone, only to look down at the “me” he held in his arms. He reached up, brushing the hair from my eyes.

“No, Takane, it wasn’t” he finally said. “I, I was going to die,” his words passed with slow and hesitant intonation, perhaps more serious than I’d ever heard him, “no matter what.”

My eyes widened, the pixels around my mouth shifted to a gaping expression. Confused, I could only mutter my response. “W...What?” To which Haruka gazed off to the side, as if he couldn’t bare to look at my real nor artificial face. He grit his teeth, seeming hesitant but sure to continue.

“And what’s worse, I... I knew it. I had known it for years—long before I even met you.”

I stared blankly. For a program of seemingly artificial intelligence, I don’t think I could quite comprehend the meaning of what I’d heard. Overwhelmed, it was my first reaction to blurt all the questions coming to my mind. “W-Why? Why? Since when? How? Ah, ah—“ With digital tears forming in the corner of my virtual eyes too, I could only ask in fluster, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to, Takane—but I couldn’t,” he was instant to explain, gritting his teeth with a pained expression. “I could only tell Shintaro-kun, because something about the idea of telling you just... made my heart stop even faster.” He grit his teeth with a pained expression, as if remembering something. After a moment, I knew why. 

“Maybe it’s for the same reason I didn’t… I didn’t realize how you felt. Because I knew... I was going to die, and I couldn’t be with you.”

A confession to which I choked on my words, unsure if I felt more or less guilty than before. My breath hitched, as I was unsure of what to say. Thankfully, Haruka did.

“Takane...” he exhaled my name, “if there’s one thing I’ve never wanted, it’s for you to blame yourself. Because we died together, I have the chance at a real life, with you.”

It took me a moment to understand his meaning, but the moment I did, I felt my cheeks heat up. My real cheeks. I felt my consciousness somewhat regainable. Slowly, I opened my eyes, still damp from tears, and looked up at him. He returned my gaze with red irises, which made sense as he soon stood, holding me in his arms like a bride.

His final statement left me with yet another new sensation throbbing in my chest. Without a second thought, I reached up, grabbing Haruka by the collar, pulling him into another kiss. After a moment of mutual surprise, I felt his hold around me grow my firm, as he cradled me tightly in his arms. He kissed me back.

Feeling bold for what might’ve been the first time in my life, it was all but impossible to restrain myself. But, also, for the first time in my life... I didn’t feel like I had to.

“You’re not the reason I died, Takane. You’re the reason I’m really alive for the first time in my life.”