Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“ Don’t let the silence scare you. Silence can be beautiful. Let the longer days and longer nights melt plastic candy waterfalls. Paper sky peels off the walls.” - Pauline, Darling Violetta

---

By the time she sends the video out and her friends leave, Marinette is downstairs in the kitchen waiting for dinner, humming Kitty Section’s new song as she walks over to the table.

“You’ve sure been in a good mood for the past two weeks,” Sabine comments, as she places all of the tableware down, “I’m guessing things have been working out well with your friends?”

“Oh, yeah!” she exclaims, “Everyone loved their costumes and the video came out great! And I’m headed over there tomorrow again to hear them work on a new song!” She hums a little bit again, “Maybe I’ll design an album cover too while I’m at it…”

“I’m sure your friends would love that,” Sabine says, kissing her forehead, “You know, we’ve noticed that you haven’t been as stressed out lately.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for a couple of weeks, you’ve been dragging yourself around trying to get so much done and looking pretty upset about it,” she comments, “I even noticed you redecorated your room a bit too, after that show with Jagged.”

It suddenly clicks in her mind just what her mom is getting at.

Following the incident with Troublemaker, Marinette started removing posters of Adrien off her walls as possible. He thankfully took the sight of them in good faith, but it still left her feeling anxious and weird for the amount of them.

When the members of Kitty Section planned to come over to Marinette’s house to see the video sent off, Marinette wasted no time in hiding what was left of her Adrien collection. Juleka and Rose knew about it, but she didn’t want to share that with Luka and Ivan, even if they knew of it by now. She stored what was left of the photos in a box that she kept under her bed, locked up in a similar way to her diary. The schedule was thoroughly shredded, and she changed her screensaver to a selfie with the band members in their costumes.

But besides that, she had been so busy for the past two weeks, planning out the costumes, recording and editing the video, hanging out with the band, and being distracted by Luka, something entirely slipped her mind.

She hadn’t thought of Adrien at all.

Not while they were at school. Not when Lila, Kagami and Chloe made clear attempts of trying to get his attention. Not even when Nino and Alya attempted to make plans to hang out with him, and he even seemed to entertain the notion of being able to follow through with those plans.

All Marinette could think about during that time was finishing her costumes, having them fitted and having the band perform their song. Not to mention filming and editing the video in time for the deadline.

Smaller things too occupied her headspace. Jokes made by Rose that summoned some chuckles from Ivan and Juleka. Juleka and Luka “fighting” over who was better at Guitar Hero. Ivan taking extra time to model and pose with his new costume, just to show it off to Mylene.

Little glances and touches shared between her and Luka. She flushes at the thought.

She wouldn’t say that her crush on Adrien was completely gone. Daydreams of finally confessing her feelings and going on a date with him still had a place in her heart. And there were times where their hands accidentally brushed against each other where she blushed and stammered in response.

But following the Chameleon incident, Marinette felt herself drifting. The advice Adrien gave her she followed through and didn’t think about at the time, but now she was starting to have doubts. After offering to sit with her in the back, only for it to fall through, he didn’t really reach out to her again considering the matter. As far as he knew, it was a one time thing.

There was one saving grace. After her last confrontation with Lila, it seemed that Juleka, Rose and Ivan all caught wind of what happened, and actually apologized for what happened. To make up for what she went through that day, they invited her to listen in on Kitty Section’s jam session down at the houseboat. Of course, Luka was there and able to tell there was something on her mind, so everyone was able to vent and get all of their feelings across to one another.

After their group chat, everyone else picked up their instruments as she sat there and did some free sketching for new designs. She tried to think of concepts for album artwork, based off the songs they were playing. Most of them involved cutsey, cartoon cats, but she was eventually able to settle on one that she liked. She hid it away in the back of her notebook though,only to reveal it at an optimal time.

Following dinner, she goes back up to her room, noting her mom’s comments on it being cleaner. At first, she just planned to put everything Adrien related back up once Kitty Section left. Even the original file for her Adrien screensaver was still saved on her computer. But the more she thought about it, the more right it felt for her room to be Adrien free. Granted, he was still present in some class photos and some of her fashion references, but he easily faded away into the background.

Perhaps she’d leave it alone for just a day. Just to see how she felt.

--

She’s on cloud nine walking home from the TV Station. The performance Kitty Section put on was absolutely wonderful, and they were getting all sorts of good press and attention online. Bob Roth kept pushing and pushing for them to sign a contract, but they all agreed to have their parents and a lawyer look it over before signing with the label. Not to mention, Rose and Juleka both really liked Marinette’s suggestion for a potential album cover.

A blush appears on her cheeks as she recalls what happened prior to the performance.

“ Because you’re an extraordinary girl, Marinette. Clear as a music note, sincere as a melody, you’re the song I’ve heard in my head ever since we’ve met.”

The glow from the stage lights and his soft smile as he spoke were still clear images permeating the front of her mind. The fact that he hadn’t said it once but twice left her astonished. And the way he didn’t force an answer out of her left her relieved.

Because she remembered the last time she got a love confession, and all the drama that stemmed from it. How she survived the Glaciator and Frozer encounters was a mystery to her, considering Chat prioritized his feelings over their mission. He never even properly apologized to her, now that she thinks about it.

But she won’t dwell on that, at least not for today. For now, she takes out her diary and records the day’s events, even drawing lots of smiley faces and hearts next to her description of Luka’s confession. In fact, she gets so distracted by the doodles, she pauses mid-sentence every so often and forgets to finish writing.

The only thing she’s worries about is the fact that she didn’t give him an answer. It happened just before he performed, and after leaving the TV studio, he didn’t say anything about it. He still walked her home, and asked if they could hang out the next day, to which she said yes. But were they just hanging out or was it a date?

She lets out a little sigh. It’s going to be okay , she assures herself. All she has to do is talk with him about it. If the past few weeks taught her anything, it was that she could bring up almost anything important with Luka and not have to worry about it. He’d give her a straightforward, honest answer and wouldn’t leave her hanging. He wouldn’t put words in her mouth and let her speak honestly in return.

For now, all she needs to do is sort out her own feelings and decide what she wants to do going forward.

Chapter Text

Marinette is still in a good mood from the confession the next day as she approaches school. She still hasn’t entirely sorted her feelings on the matter, but she’s looking forward to meeting with Luka again to work more on Kitty Section material. Whether it be another music video or showing him the designs she drew up, little smiles escape her and make themselves comfortable on her face.

“Someone must have had a good dream last night,” Alya teases, throwing an arm over her shoulder, “You want to spill the deets?”

“It wasn’t exactly a dream, per se…”

“Oooh, interesting. Did this not-a-dream thing have anything to do with a certain blonde?”

She follows Alya’s gaze to Adrien, who is sitting in the seat in front of them, talking to Nino and paying them no mind. Marinette is glad he is oblivious to the world, because then she can go into detail with Alya about what’s on her mind.

“Um, no, actually. It’s Luka.”

“That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while,” she frowns, clucking her tongue, “I thought you guys hadn’t talked since the ice rink?”

“I’ve literally been hanging out with him and the rest of Kitty Section for two weeks. Didn’t you see me sketch their outfits before class and try to hide it?”

“Hm, now that you mention it, I guess I recall something like that,” she teases, “Well? What happened?”

She bites her lip, hesitating. And she feels guilty for that. This is Alya after all, someone she trusted the secrets of her love life with for a while now. But a part of her wants to keep Luka’s confession a secret, something just to herself. All of her interactions with Adrien always end up with an audience or someone else finding out about what happened. And other than Tikki, no one has ever managed to be a fly on the wall in regards to her interactions with Luka.

“It’s just been… really nice hanging out with him,” she says. She’s not lying. She’s just withholding part of the story. Besides, with all the other people in the classroom, especially Lila, she doesn’t want rumors going around. When they’re at her house or somewhere where it’s just the two of them, she can tell . “Listen, we can talk more about it later. But not here, okay? Just know that I’ve been having a good time with him and Kitty Section.”

“But-”

The bell rings and Ms. Bustier asks for everyone’s attention. “Before we begin, class, I want to remind everyone that our end of the year school trip to the Tour Montparnasse is coming up soon. Please don’t forget to prepare appropriately.”

--

Lunch doesn’t come soon enough. And as much as Marinette knows that Alya wants her to spill the beans, she’s going to have to wait a bit longer. Kitty Section already made plans for lunch to eat at the bakery days ago, and with the recent developments, Marinette wasn’t inclined in the slightest to cancel.

“ Mariiiii, where r u?”

“Eating w Kitty Section today for lunch. You can come if you want.”

“Ugghhhh i wish u would have told me earlier! I’ll just eat here w Nino like always. Let’s chat after school when u come over to watch the twins.”

“...? I don’t remember agreeing 2 do that?”

“Come on, u gotta help me out! Me and Nino planned to see a movie today and we can’t take the twins and Chris. Come onnnnn Mariiiii!”

Staring at the message, she sighs. She feels like a terrible friend, but she really doesn’t want to have to babysit for the twins again . Having to watch Manon was already a headache and a half, but two energetic little girls that only listened to their sister? Not to mention Chris, who Marinette didn’t even know at that point?

Thankfully, a gentle tug from Juleka and Rose distracts her from answering the text, and they follow Ivan all the way to the bakery. Luka is already out front waiting for them, waving them over. The slightest bit of red dusts her cheeks as she meekly waves back, and ushers everybody inside. There are a few guests that had the right idea to get there as early as possible, picking up their orders and leaving.

Thankfully, Marinette thought ahead even further than that.

“It’s nice to see you all again,” Sabine greets, bringing over their bag containing their order, “Please feel free to eat in the kitchen upstairs. Marinette, that special treat you made should be in the fridge. I made sure to hide it from your father. You know how he gets about your desserts.”

“Heh, thanks, Mom,” she says, giving her a quick hug, “I’ll make sure to clean up when we’re done.”

Getting out of the way of everyone in the shop, Marinette settles with Kitty Section at the dining room table, unwrapping all of their food. She couldn’t help but smile to herself. In all of her years attending College Francois Dupont, she never thought she’d host anyone over to her house for lunch. Alya had been her first friend, and they always chose to sit in the cafeteria when having lunch together. And yet, here she is, sitting with friends in her kitchen so naturally, like things had always been this way.

A couple of jabs are made at Bob Ross’ expense, especially now that everyone is aware of the conditions of his contract for signing with the label. However, there is still an awkward tension at considering what to do now, since it doesn’t seem like they’re going to be able to negotiate for better terms.

“The good news is that not everyone is working for him and they still have successful careers,” Rose points out, keeping the brightest smile plastered on her face, “Look at Jagged Stone. He just provided some music for the new Ladybug movie that’s coming out.”

“That’s the song you wouldn’t stop playing all day yesterday,” Juleka comments, playfully jabbing her brother with her elbow, “I bet Mom is still singing it.”

“Of course. It’s already a classic,” Luka says, pulling out his phone. Leaning over to Marinette, he hands her the screen, “They just dropped the trailer and the only thing people are talking about is the song.”

Absorbing the trailer, Marinette finds herself unnerved by the fact that Ladybug “supposedly” is afraid of cats. Apparently, no real research was done making this movie, at least based on the trailer alone. Still, Rose seems excited by it, practically dancing in her seat, so Marinette tries to keep her opinion to herself. Maybe it was just bad choices made by the marketing team, and the actual movie didn’t have such a silly line?

Sabine has a bit of a bad habit of moving about quietly to the point that she startles people. Thus, when she suddenly appears behind Marinette, she’s only slightly caught off-guard. Everyone else, on the other hand, is in complete shock as to how she made it into the kitchen without anyone else realizing.

“Oh, is that the trailer for the Ladybug movie?” she asks, patting Marinette’s head, “You know, your father and I got asked to cater for the movie premiere coming up next weekend.”

“Really?” Rose squeals, “You’re so lucky! I heard that there’s going to be a lot of celebrities at the event!”

“Yes, we’re really excited. It’s going to be such a big event. We hope we catch enough people’s attention. That’d bring in some great business for the bakery.”

“That’s great, mom,” Marinette says, putting the screen down, “Say, did you need help with anything? I know I’m a bit clumsy, but I can help set up our area and stuff.”

“That would be great. Your father and I can handle the cart and handing out the macarons. Although I don’t know if I want you watching the table alone, just because I don’t know what sort of people are going to be there.”

Marinette barely catches the glimpse between Juleka and Luka, before he turns to her mom. “Hey, Mrs. Cheng, me and Juleka wouldn’t mind helping out, if you need it. Marinette has done so much for us, we’d like to return the favor.”

“Me too!” Rose exclaims.

“Don’t forget me,” Ivan says.

Beaming, Sabine sighs, and says, “You’re all too sweet. I have no problems with the arrangement if you’re okay with it as well, Marinette.”

She really hopes that her blush isn’t too apparent. Hiding her face, she laughs, “You guys, you don’t have to do any of that for me.”

“That’s not true,” Luka insists, “We’d do anything for our fifth member of Kitty Section. That includes serving cookies at parties.”

“You guys,” Marinette sighs, not able to help the smile that spreads across her face, “Thank you.”

--

The Saturday of the screening comes, and everyone shows up early to the bakery to receive their uniforms. Juleka matches Marinette in their maid costumes, while Rose, Ivan and Luka have taken up the butler outfits. After spending some time squealing over how they looked, Tom and Sabine gather everyone around and go over the plan for the day. Before they leave, everyone insists on taking a picture.

“You guys looks so cute,” Sabine sighs, holding up the camera, “Smile for me.”

It takes an extra five minutes, because Tom also wants to pose in the photo. After allowing her husband to get carried away for a moment, Sabine gets everyone out of the house and the venue.

It’s still fairly early when they arrive. Therefore, getting the table and setting up takes no more than half an hour, and by that point, all of the guests of honor have started to arrive. Some start to get curious about the macarons, and approach the table. Ivan is thankfully handling the heavy trays, while Rose and Juleka man the carts for the first shift. Luka and Marinette stay with her parents and help them set up the next arrangement.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Dupain-Cheng .”

Without really meaning to, Marinette shoots a painful look toward Luka, before turning to come face to face with Chloe. She had come up in conversation once or twice, and Luka was certainly familiar with her behavior thanks to Juleka, but it was another thing for Chloe to appear in the flesh. Sabrina is nowhere in sight, which makes things a bit less dangerous for the time being. The blonde practically smirks at her, promising to make her day bad without saying a single word.

“Chloe.”

“I never thought I would actually see you where an outfit that’s appropriate for your station,” she says, tossing her hair back.

“I don’t think that someone who isn’t dressed up for an event like this gets to give commentary about what’s ‘appropriate’ for me,” Marinette scoffs. Chloe clearly isn’t amused by Marinette not taking the bait, so she glances over Luka, smirking as she comes up with something else to harrass the two about.

“Who’s your boyfriend?”

“Considering that we aren’t friends and I know you’re trying to embarrass me, I’m not tempted to tell you anything,” Marinette says firmly, “How about you buzz off ?”

“ Fine ,” Chloe huffs, “I have better things to do, like put that Tsurugi girl in her place. Who does she think she is?” she rants to herself, walking away from the two of them. Somehow, Marinette got the feeling that this wasn’t really the ending of whatever Chloe had in mind, but with Luka around, she felt a bit more at ease.

Sighing, she turns to Luka, “I don’t know how I managed to do that.”

“I kind of get it,” he says, “There’s a lot I wanted to say to her right in that moment, but I knew it wouldn’t do anyone any good. I have to admit though, I hoped that her being a superhero would actually do something to curb her attitude. It seems like she hasn’t changed much from what you and Jules originally told me about her.”

She sighs again. That’s something she’s starting to regret. At first, she thought that Chloe being Queen Bee would get her to think about doing good as a civilian as well as a superhero. But after Hero’s Day, she wasn’t too sure about that. Chloe still treated Sabrina poorly, making her do her homework, made nasty comments towards the other girls in their grade, and took every opportunity to flaunt her skills to the rest of the class, even with the flimsiest of pretenses. Clearly, that wasn’t good hero material, even if she had superior physical skills and did well in a fight.

Fighters could be trained. But a hero had to have a good heart. And once again, Marinette was starting to doubt that Chloe had that.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite designer!”

All of Marinette’s worries concerning Chloe disappear as Jagged rushes over, Penny trailing behind. Luka’s face practically lights up, though Marinette can tell he’s trying to contain himself from the sight of his favorite singer, practically feeling his bouncy energy.

“Hey Jagged. Congrats on the single going number one.”

“Oh, you,” he says, ruffling her hair, “How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you since we filmed at your house. Word was that you confronted Bob Ross a few weeks ago about something. I hope he didn’t threaten you or anything.”

She and Luka exchange a look. As serious as Bob’s words were, they were just a joke now. He wasn’t going to go after them at this point, considering the footage that aired on TV. Still, she didn’t expect word about the incident to get out, especially since they didn’t want any more trouble.

“Let’s just say things did get out of hand, back there,” Marinette says slowly, “But after he realized he was being filmed for TV, he allowed Kitty Section to play on the program and then offered them a record deal.”

“Oh, please tell me you didn’t sign,” Jagged practically begs.

“Nah, we passed,” Luka says, just the smallest tinge of excitement in his voice. “Our lawyers said the terms were completely unfair in our favor.”

“Good. I don’t want talented kids such as yourselves getting mixed up in a bad contract. Hey, you ,” Jagged says, calling over a man Marinette doesn’t recognize, “You’re one of the guys behind this film, right? Have you met Marinette or…” he turns back to them, “Luka, right?”

Luka is a bit too stunned for words, so Marinette answers for him, “Yes.”

“They’re great,” Jagged continues, slinging an arm over his shoulder, “Artistic visionaries, I tell you.”

Marinette can’t help but smile at the development. She meant to introduce Luka to Jagged if she had the chance, but it seemed as if Jagged already took a shine to him. After the director storms away from the conversation, Jagged returns to them, looking a bit confused

“What a weird one that Thomas guy was. Anyway, there was something I wanted to talk about with you two-”

There’s a yelp not too far from them. Thomas was on the floor, yelping and seething in rage. Before she knew it, a purple butterfly overtook the man, and she found herself pulling Luka and Jagged away from the general vicinity.

“Good thinking, Marinette,” Luka says, as she pulls the three of them into a meeting room just near the lobby.

“I need to make sure my parents are okay.”

“But you have your phone,” Luka points out, “Besides, it’s dangerous if you go back out there.”

But she had to. She really didn’t want to have to do this…

“I think I dropped it,” she insists, “I’ll be okay. Please text everyone else and make sure they know what’s happening. I’m going to go alert Ladybug.”

Before either he or Jagged can further object, she makes a break for it and finds an area to transform.

--

When she meets back up with Jagged and Luka, she’s quick to find Luka’s grasping her shoulders.

“Marinette, are you okay?” he asks, “You never came back after looking for Ladybug.”

“I’m fine,” she says pretty quickly, “She moved me to a different room and told me to stay there until Animaestro was dealt with. I promise he didn’t go after me.”

Which technically wasn’t a lie. Animaestro didn’t go after Marinette . But even as she tries to convince herself of this, she still feels the guilt of lying to Luka swelling up in the back of her throat.

“That’s good,” he sighs, his grip loosening a bit. Still, his gaze lingers on her for a bit longer. “Marinette, please promise me you’ll be more careful from now on. I know you were only trying to help, but we were both worried something happened to you. I know we can’t control when the akumas attack, but at least promise me that if we get separated, you text someone that you’re okay?”

She feels her eyes flutter a bit, almost as much as when he confessed. Hiding her secret identity has always been an issue, but it’s never been quite like this before. No one, from what she could remember, has kept such a close eye on her in these scenarios. Alya was generally off doing her own thing, her parents were almost always at home when the attacks happened, and nobody else seemed to pay her that much mind.

This is going to be a problem in the future. But for right now, she doesn’t have an answer for this. And so, she decides assuring Luka is more important.

“I’ll be more careful next time,” she says, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry. I hope you and Jagged aren’t hurt.”

“We’re fine,” he says, smiling, “Actually, we’ve been talking about something that I think you’re going to like.”

Chapter Text

Only a few weeks remain in the school year, and Marinette couldn't be more excited. Kitty Section entered negotiations and was likely to sign a contract with Jagged’s new record label, she landed more free time to spend with her friends and creative projects thanks to her responsibilities as a class rep dwindling, and the band had talked about fun summer plans together.

Unfortunately, she’s still in school, which means having to deal with Lila’s exuberant stories (“Did you hear? They offered me a VIP ticket for the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie. Unfortunately, I was too busy saving puppies with Prince Ali’s cousin to come.”) and Alya’s unamused attitude.

“I can’t believe you blew me off again to hang out with Kitty Section,” she grumbles as Marinette settles in the seat next to her, “And then you went with them to the movie without even inviting me. You know, me and Nino couldn’t go on our date because we got stuck with the twins and Chris.”

She can’t help the little glare she gives Alya. Of course she doesn’t mind helping out a friend. Alya came over to help her with babysitting Manon one time, and Alya never held it against her.

But something about Alya changed after she started dating Nino. And while she loves the two of them together, she’s not sure how she feels about Alya’s attitude as of late. Other than helping her out with Adrien with the other girls, Alya really only spent time with her if Nino came along or they were a part of a group. More often than not, Alya already made plans in advance to go on a date with him or bring a bunch of their couples friends into the mix. And Marinette didn’t mind that from time to time, but it did get a bit lonely.

Clearing her throat, she lets out a sigh, and looks Alya directly in the eye, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t see the movie. Everyone in Kitty Section wanted to help me with catering and my parents agreed to let them come. And I don’t have a problem with babysitting for you, but you really should have asked me in advance before making plans,” she frowns, “It’s not fair to anyone else that you would do something like that.”

“Please, as if I haven’t babysat for you.”

“One time, Alya. You babysat for me when Stormy Weather attacked, and that was for like thirty minutes. And that was all at your suggestion.”

Alya can only continue to glare daggers at her. She knows that she doesn't have any other points to make, but Marinette knows all too well that she isn't going to fold. 

“Fine. Then for your sake, I hope we don’t end up in a group together for this trip,” she huffs, storming off to talk with Nino and Lila. Nino doesn’t look the slightest bit perturbed by Alya’s expression, or the higher tone it takes upon greeting them, faking her joy to see both of them. Lila, on the other hand, casts an all knowing smirk in Marinette’s direction, and chats excitedly with Alya.

Rolling her eyes, Marinette focuses her attention back to the three members of Kitty Section. Juleka seems to have caught on to what happened, and gestures for her to make her way over to their table in the back. Similar to her brother, Juleka has started to learn how to read Marinette without her having to say a single word.

Still, it’s pretty nice when she offers to hear her out.

“I’m alright,” she sighs, “I just think things have changed between us.”

“Oh, Marinette, everything will work out fine!” Rose says cheerfully, patting her shoulder, “Once all of the ‘honeymoon, lovey-dovey’ phase passes, Alya will come around.”

As reassuring as that is to hear, Marinette can’t help but feel that it’s not going to be that easy. And why does she have to wait for so long for Alya to come to her senses about babysitting, anyway? That doesn’t change the way it affects her or how she feels about the entire situation.

As if to interrupt her trail of thought, Juleka asks, “Are you looking forward to the field trip? I know you put a lot of work into arranging it with the other class reps.”

“Oh, yeah,” Marinette laughs, “It took some convincing on my part to get Principal Damocles to agree, but I think everyone is going to enjoy Tour Montparnasse. I heard that lunch is supposed to be extra tasty.”

“No fair, Marinette,” Rose gapes, “Teasing us like that! Tell us what it is!”

“You’ll see,” she says with a wink. Before she can be pressed for more details, Ms. Bustier enters the room and ushers everyone into their seats. Rather than dealing with Alya, who is now sitting in the front with Lila, Nino and Adrien, Marinette takes a seat next to Ivan, who seems unbothered by the whole ordeal.

“Alright, everyone, I’ve come up with your group arrangements. We are going to have 3 groups of 5, and we are going to take turns touring different parts of the Montparnasse. Please listen carefully as I call your name.”

Marinette bites her lip in anticipation. She’s hoping for the smallest stroke of luck that she won’t end up stuck with Lila in her group, in one of Bustier’s famous attempts to get people to get along. She put in plenty of time and stress arranging the trip, she didn’t need anymore.

“Kim, Alix, Max, Nathaniel and Mylene, you five will be Group A.”

Her fingers curl inward. This is it. The moment of reckoning.

“Alya, Nino, Chloe, Sabrina and Lila, you will all be in Group B.”

She covers her mouth, feeling her jaw drop.

“So that means, Marinette, Rose, Ivan, Juleka and Adrien, you will all be in Group C.”

She doesn’t hide how her eyes practically light up, as she exchanges looks with Ivan and the girls. Not only does she not end up being in the mix of Chloe, Alya and Lila, but she gets to hang out with the members of Kitty Section for a whole day during school, not to mention the plans they have afterwards to get ice cream.

It isn’t until Adrien is standing right in front of the four of them that she realizes that he is also a part of their group.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Adrien asks awkwardly, “You know? Just the members of Kitty Section.”

“Yeah, it has,” Rose says cheerfully, “You were pretty good at the concert.”

“It’s too bad your dad doesn’t approve your tastes in music,” Juleka says solemnly, “I mean, I think our sound is pretty cool…”

“I don’t think that’s quite it,” he admits with a sigh, “Even if he did approve the sound, my schedule is always packed. Although, maybe next school year, I’ll take on less extracurriculars and focus on the stuff that I really like.”

“Sounds promising,” Marinette says, surprised by how effortless it comes to her. She’s not stammering. She’s not being overwhelmed by thoughts of him. In fact, when was the last time she felt overly excited by Adrien’s presence? It couldn’t have been too long ago, but it feels like a distant memory at this point.

In fact, as the conversation continues onto the bus, Marinette is continually surprised by just how easy it is to talk to Adrien with the rest of Kitty Section around, and when she’s not remembering her feelings for him.

If only it could always be like this .

On the bus, when Ms. Bustier isn’t looking, Marinette pulls out her phone and texts Luka. She knows for a fact that he’s in a free period at this time, and she excitedly tells him about the “Kitty Section” trip.

L: Have fun on your trip. Hopefully you can all tell me about it when you get back?

M: Yeah, of course. We’re still meeting up later right?

L: Yeah. I got some good news too, I can’t wait to share it. Have a good day ;)

M: <3 You too!

She stares at the screen a bit longer than she means to. Mostly, she’s just admiring his messages, and the fact that she put little hearts next to his name. Following the Animaestro incident, she couldn’t help but feel it was appropriate to add, since she considered him such a sweetheart. Of course, she hesitated at first because what if someone saw and got the impression that the two of them were dating.

Not that the idea of that bothers her. Though she has to admit that it felt like everything was happening a bit too quickly. But she also hadn’t properly responded to Luka’s confession and she wasn’t sure the best way to bring it up, or even everything that she wanted to say. Pink dusts her cheeks every time she brainstorms what it is she wants to say to him.

Closing her phone, she scoots closer to the window and watches the city go by until they arrive at the Montparnasse.

--

So many possibilities fly through her mind. She could have gotten lost and knocked herself on the head. She was on her way to a costume party. They were attacked by somebody trying to sabotage them. Someone gave them a drug. But none of them feel familiar to her as she wrecks her brain, while also trying to navigate her way around the building.

They only have a few moments alone in the room before the supervillian can find them. Trying to get their bearings together, she sits with Adrien against the wall, as the two stare down at their phones.

“What about us?” he finally asks, “Do you think we know each other’s identities?”

She looks at her lock screen, hoping it’ll give her a hint. It appears to be a band wearing kitty helmets and armor made of paper mache. The initials KS are printed right above them. When she sees the photo of her home screen though, all of the same people are there, now without costume, with her right in the middle. Looking through her photo album, there appears to be more pictures of them, this time without their costumes. Some of them have just her and the girls, just her and the boys, and then quite a few of her with a blue haired boy.

Studying him for a moment, she pulls her contacts back up. Luka Couffaine . His name is surrounded by blue hearts. A crush maybe? Or her boyfriend? She blushes at the thought, and as if right now cue, a message pops up on her screen. Hey are you ok? I heard the akuma is attacking the area you’re in right now. Please stay safe this time.

“This time?” she murmurs to herself. What could she have done for him to say something like that? She quickly sends him another message. I’m okay. I think. I’m hiding with a classmate.

“What’s wrong?” Adrien asks, breaking her from her thoughts.

“Oh, um, nothing. Just got a text is all,” she laughs nervously, “From my boyfriend, I think.”

His face falls a bit. “Oh. A boyfriend?”

“Yeah. Is something wrong?”

He glimpses down at his screen for a moment. “It’s nothing. But you never answered my question. Do you think we knew each other’s identities?”

“I don’t think so,” she muses, “I think we’re just classmates,” she says, locking her screen, “I didn’t see much of you on in my photos.”

“Oh,” he says again, “Yeah. Me neither.”

Something about his reaction gives her the impression that he’s hiding something from her. Still, it’s not her place to press him, and she needs him in order for the two of them to escape and finish off the supervillian.

--

Finally, their fight against Oblivio is over. The two people making them up return to normal (she quickly realizes that they are “Alya” and “Nino” according to her contacts), and it’s time to cast her Miraculous healing.

“Wait,” Chat interrupts, “There’s something I want to say before we undo all of this.” He runs up to her, taking her free hand into his, his eyes bleeding into hers as though begging her to agree with him before he can even say a word, “Ladybug, I have feelings for you. I know we might not be much to each other outside the costume, but you’re the girl of my dreams. And I know we won’t remember this, but I wanted to say it to you now while I still can. And I hope that when we regain our memories, I’ll have the courage to tell you again, no matter what.”

Her eyes widen for a bit. Oh, she hopes Luka doesn’t know she’s Ladybug, or that’s going to make this situation more awkward. She puts the thought aside for now, and focuses on answering to Chat.

“Thank you, Chat, for being honest with me. But I can’t return your feelings. You know there’s someone else, someone waiting for me.”

“I know,” he sighs, “But I couldn’t let that stop me. I need you to know. And with that out of the way,” he lets her go, giving her a bow, “If you would?”

--

“Man, what a day,” Marinette sighs, taking a sip of her drink at the cafe, “And I can’t really remember it.”

“Yeah, it’s too bad,” Rose says, patting Marinette’s arm, “You worked really hard on that trip, just for another Al- er, another akuma to attack.”

Averting her gaze, Marinette takes a long sip of her drink as she recalls the aftermath of Oblivio. Alya and Nino admitted to the entire classmate that they were embarrassed at being caught “playing Super Penguino,” to which everyone else laughed off. Despite her apology for that , Alya still wasn’t willing to speak with Marinette, and promptly made her way to the back of the bus to talk to Lila instead, telling her that she “just needed the right person to enjoy the game with.”

But then, Alya changed the subject. “You should check out the Ladyblog tonight. I’ve got something on there that everyone’s going to talk about tonight.”

Even thinking about it now, it left a twisted feeling in Marinette’s stomach. What exactly did Alya plan to reveal on the blog that night? She couldn’t have gotten that much footage from the fight, considering she was merged with Nino. A sinking realization hits her hard and it takes all of her energy to not emote even the slightest bit.

The rest of the evening goes well, besides that. Ivan leaves the restaurant first, with Rose and Juleka walking slightly ahead of Luka and Marinette back to the boathouse.

“Are you okay?” he asks, breaking her from her trance, “You seemed kinda lost back there.”

“It’s been a long day,” she admits, looking down at the ground, “Some field trip that turned out to be.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” she sighs, “I hope your day was okay.”

“It was alright,” he shrugs, “We did an evacuation and lock down just in case, but no one at my school got affected. Really, I’m just glad you were safe.”

She’s glad she’s not looking at him, because she doesn’t recall that. She’d have to check her phone later to see if left any clues from losing her memories, but for now she nods and goes along with it. She feels a bit hypocritical for lying to him like this - if only things could be a bit less complicated and secretive. But for now, she has to bare with it.

Other than that, things are so easy with Luka. and she smiles at that realization. Her heart skips a beat when he looks at her and speaks sincerely. But she’s never so overwhelmed that she can’t talk to him, or even just enjoy the sounds around them. More and more, she found herself counting down the school hours to see him again and watch him perform, or even to just sit on the deck of the boat and look out over the river.

Finally, they arrive at the boathouse, Rose and Juleka already inside. Marinette gets ready to depart, but there’s one thing she needs to ask before she leaves. She’s a bit nervous about doing it, but she’s done it before and she knows she can do it again.

“Hey, Luka, would it be alright if we hang out at the Trocadéro tomorrow? It’s my favorite place to sketch, and I had some ideas I wanted to share with you.”

Without hesitation, he answers, “Yeah, I’d like that.”