Contradiction || Marichat AU

Chapter 15: Ringing Laughter

12-25-21, 8:55 am

Eunice stood up to open the window and get a bit of air in. Sabrina and she caught up to the happy kids opening their very own gifts, their laughs of delight being brought by the winter breeze.

"Thank you Marinette!" exclaimed all of them simultaneously.

Digging into the nearly empty bag, one of them spoke up. "Huh...who's this one for? Can I have it?" asked a little girl, Julianne, with beady eyes.

Marinette only laughed. "That's not an extra Lianne, that's for Eunice." Julianne ruefully handed the well-wrapped gift to the confused Eunice.

"You...really shouldn't have." Eunice held it in disbelief. "This isn't your own money isn't it?"

"It is, actually. Don't worry about it," said Marinette. "I won a spelling bee competition just a month ago, won a check, and bought these in advance."

"Ah! I remember. You used to practice with Axel and Louise in the other room, right? You were so nervous." She giggled. "But...thank you, really. I'll check it out later," said Eunice, putting the gift aside.

"No worries. If not a Christmas gift, then a thank you gift," said the blunette.

Her head craned. "Thank you? For what?"

"Your mom made me an assistant! I was over the moon," said Marinette, eyes sparkling like the lights hanging across the room.

"Hey, congrats! I didn't know that was possible for second dan." Eunice clapped her hands. "Mom kinda had trouble with constant lessons and homeschooling me at the same time. All I could do was get her favorite caramel macchiato. You deserve it though, you'd been working so hard with extra lessons. I'm glad she chose you to help.

"Anyway I'll have to clean this mess up," said Eunice with dread, looking at the pieces of wrapping paper scattered on the floor.

"I'll help," said Axel, the eldest among the orphans, gleefully.

"Someone's in a good mood. Like your camera's new neck strap, hm?" Marinette raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe," hummed Axel, running to the other room to get a broom.

Marinette looked back to Chat Noir. He'd been silent for some time. "I see you guys have met Chat Noir..."

"I've been here for only some minutes, and I'm almost as close to them as you are," said Chat Noir proudly.

"I shouldn't have brought you up"—she crossed her arms—"and you say Ladybug's haughty."

Charles immediately questioned, "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Perhaps soon," said Chat Noir simply.

Marinette laughed. "What? This pathetic boy?"

"But Chat is really cool! He saves Paris all the time, and has a lot of fans," said Louise with great enthusiasm.

The other kids began raving on and on about the adventures Chat Noir had told them about the past hour. Their laughs rang beautifully to the ear, as they all explained what he had said in great detail. Although Marinette hadn't really hoped for the hero's appearance, the enthusiastic chatter of the orphans was exactly what she had come for.

It was Louise in particular who loved stories no matter the genre, thus, her gifts of fairytale storybooks. "Then he helped Ladybug escape, and he somehow knew the villain's akuma was in his boutonniere!"

"I'm sure it's Ladybug who mostly does the work, Louise. You shouldn't be fooled by everything Chat Noir says," Marinette told her in a calm yet irritated voice, earning a perplexed glance from the boy in black.