Thief | Lukadrien

Part 8 - Kagami's Plan

(Adrien's POV)

At the end of our date, Luka offered to walk me home. As much as I wanted to spend more time with him, I said no, since I needed to get back home as soon as possible.

"Are you coming to band practice tomorrow?" he asked.

I scratched the side of my face guiltily. "I can't. If I miss another Saturday practice, my father will notice for sure."

"Oh. That's too bad."

"Yeah. Sorry."

"Well, I guess I'll see you at school on Monday."

I smiled and waved goodbye. He stayed behind to clean up the area, so while he was distracted, I transformed into Chat Noir and raced home.

After getting safely back in my room, I didn't think I'd be able to fall asleep. Hanging out with him on the rooftops had been exhilarating, and I couldn't stop thinking about him.

"So, did you two lovebirds have a good time last night?" Plagg asked as he lounged on the coffee table.

My eyes widened. "Were you here the whole time?"

"Yep. Your dumb a** forgot to bring me. Not that I'm complaining, I'm guessing by the smitten look on your face there was a lot of kissing."

I blushed. "Not that much. We only—"

"Yuck! Spare me the details. I'm going to bed."

I chuckled and crawled under my own covers. After a few minutes, my exhaustion outweighed my excitement, and I entered a dreamless slumber.

...

"Hey, Kagami!" I called, running after her once Saturday fencing practice was done. "Wait up!"

"Hello, Adrien," she said with a smile. "Did you confess to you-know-who yet?"

"Better than that." I lowered my voice to a whisper as I walked up beside her. "We went on a date yesterday night."

"Did you stay out late?"

"Yes, how'd you know?"

"You were less than adequate during practice today. Sleep is important to perform well at sports."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, I actually have a favour to ask."

"Oh? What?"

"Do you think you can... um.. okay, this is going to sound weird, but canyoulieaboutgoingonadatewithmesoicanactuallygooutwithLukawithoutmyfathergettingsuspisious?"

She blinked. "I'm sorry, what now?"

I took a deep breath and tried again. "Can you lie about going on a date with me so I can actually go out with Luka without my father getting suspicious?"

"Okay."

"I know you hate lying, but I promise—wait, you will?"

"Sure. What exactly will I have to do?"

"Nothing! You just show up at my house, we go to the ice rink, then once we get there you can go do your own thing. I'm sure my father would be happy if I told him I'm trying to form a connection with Tomoe Tsurugi's daughter."

"Won't questions arise when I leave in the middle of our 'date?'"

"Hmm. I didn't even think of that."

"See, this is why you shouldn't have stayed out so late," she said, smacking me on the back of the head. "Your sleep deprivation is causing these lapses in judgment. You need a better plan."

"Okay, what if you didn't leave? You could just hang out inside the building?"

"That sounds boring."

"Maybe bring a friend?"

"I don't have any friends."

I frowned at her deadpan expression. "Aren't you friends with Marinette?"

"I'd like to be, but she give off the impression that she doesn't appreciate my company."

"Really? Mari likes everyone! Except for Chloé. And Lila. And... okay, I take that back. There's actually quite a few people she doesn't like. But point is, she's probably just acting shy around you since you guys aren't that close. She'll warm up to you eventually."

"You think so?"

"Of course! So you'll invite her, then?"

She nodded. "We just need a date and time."

...
Later that night
...

"Wake up, Adrien."

I opened my eyes to see my father standing above my bed.

"Father? What are you doing here?" I rubbed my eyes. It wasn't often that he came into my room.

"I've heard rumours that you've been running around with some... boy. Is this true?"

"What? No, I—"

"Do not lie to me, Adrien."

I started shaking as I tried to figure a way out of this.

"Luka's just a friend!"

"Oh, and is it a common courtesy to make out with a friend on a stranger's roof?"

Panic started to rise. Father wasn't supposed to know about that. He wasn't supposed to know about me and Luka at all! I couldn't come out to him; what if he disowned me? If he kicked me out, where would I go? Even if he let me stay, he'd probably still hate me and neglect me even more than he has my entire life.

"WHERE IS MY CAMEMBERT?!" Plagg cried frantically, zipping around the room. "There isn't any left! It's all gone!"

That can't be right; a whole box arrived yesterday, I thought, grateful that my anxiety attack was interrupted. What was even stranger than that, however, was that Father didn't react to the kwami's shouts. It was like he didn't even hear him.

"Wait a second..." I realized. I turned to the window, where a figure of a boy standing on a small cloud could be seen floating across the sky.

"Oh, no, not again!" I gasped, jumping out of bed. "Plagg, claws out!"