Miraculous Ships

Blue Hair and Freckles

Alya grinned as she hit send on the group text to Adrien, Marinette, and Nino. She told them to meet her in the library at lunch because the forecast said it was going to rain. Within a few minutes, she had three responses back saying that they would all be there.

She had a few hours to plan exactly how she would get Adrien to admit his feelings for Marinette, or Ladybug, Alya had a feeling that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person. She hadn't told anyone, but she was almost convinced she knew the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Lunch rolled around and Alya walked into the library filled with confidence, list of both truth questions and dares in hand and ready to go. Everyone else was already in the library waiting for her at one of the tables in the middle of the library.

"We should go to the back of the library." Alya knew that being subtle wasn't going to get her anywhere, so she took the most direct approach possible.

Adrien stood up and walked to the lone table at the back of the library. Nino followed him, but Marinette stayed behind to question Alya. "What are you trying to do?"

"I just thought that we should move to the back so we don't bother anyone else in the library. Nothing else. What would I be trying to do?"

Marinette looked at her suspiciously but walked to the table at the back. Alya tapped her fingers together like some kind of super villain and sat down next to Nino. She looked at her list and looked straight at Adrien. "Adrien, truth or dare?"

"Aren't you supposed to spin a bottle or something?"

"Do I look like I have a random bottle on my person? No. Answer."

"Truth, I guess."

"Describe your crush without using their name."

"She has the most amazing blue hair, and she's strong and brave, she looks amazing in red, and she has THE cutest freckles I have ever seen," Adrien said as he started to drift off into fantasy land.

Marinette, on the other hand, was bright red. Adrien was talking about Ladybug? She fitted every single description that Adrien had mentioned, and Alya had told her about Adrien being a Ladybug stan.

"Dude, you have a crush on Ladybug?"

"Uh..."

"Moving on! Adrien, your turn to ask someone."

"Marinette, truth or dare?"

"Dare?" Marinette barely squeaked out the word. She was still red and not thinking straight from Adrien describing his crush.

"I dare you to compliment Chloe."

Alya dropped her head into her hand. Of all the things Adrien could have said, he had to dare Marinette to, he had to be nice about it. Nothing that would cause drama. He was too nice for that.

Marinette pulled a slight face but left the library anyway. Five minutes later, she returned, grimacing even more. "I hated that."

The game continued on and on until Alya decided to get Adrien to ask his crush out. He had been getting braver and braver for the recent rounds, only asking for dares.

"Adrien."

"Dare."

"Find your crush and ask them out. Film it, too. We need to the proof."

Adrien walked out of the library. Nino turned to her. "How is he going to find Ladybug?"

Marinette shot up out of her seat. "I'll be right back. I just have to call my parents."

"What's up with her?"

"Not too much. Give them a minute."

[C]|||

Adrien walked out of the library and headed for the courtyard. He knew exactly who he was looking for, but she might not even be around. He didn't have a way to contact her, either, so it was really based on luck if he actually finished his dare.

Luckily, he spotted her, wearing her usual red outfit. Adrien jogged over to her. "Kagami! Can I ask you something?"

Kagami dropped her water bottle back onto the ground and walked over. She was sweating slightly from fencing for nearly an hour straight, but she still managed to look composed and regal. "Yes?"

"Do you want to go out on a date sometime?"

Kagami spun around. Hadn't they already been on a date, or did he not count the ice skating because Marinette and Luka were there?

But this is what she wanted, or what her mother kept telling her she wanted, to date Adrien Agreste. Get closer to him and inherit his father's company? The thought of using Adrien for her mother's gain made her feel sick to her stomach, but she knew the consequences of disobeying or even disappointing her mother would be much worse.

"Okay. I have fencing training all afternoon, and tomorrow, but we could meet up somewhere on Saturday." Kagami made sure her voice was even and plain. No emotion.

"Great! We could go to the cinema! I saw they had a movie there called..." Adrien felt his cool slipping, and quickly. He knew the movie's name, he was going to try and get his father to let him see it, but now he couldn't even remember if it was about zombies, robots or both.

"I saw the movie times. It's the one about the aliens. I'll have my driver drop me off five minutes before the movie starts. Be punctual." Kagami put her helmet back on and walked away, ending their conversation. She picked up her foil and got into position, stretching and lunging, ready for her next match.

Adrien was about to walk back into the library when he remembered the second part of the dare. He was supposed to come back with some kind of video proof. "Kagami!"

Kagami turned around and stood up straight, slightly annoyed that her practice was getting interrupted, again. "What do you want this time?"

Adrien grabbed his phone and turned the camera on quickly. "Which movie screening are we going to? There are two that day."

"The one in the morning."

"Thanks." Adrien turned the camera off, texted the video to the group chat with Nino, Alya, and Marinette and let Kagami go back to her training. He had finished the dare, and he had a date with Kagami.

When he got back to the library, Marinette was nowhere to be seen. Alya and Nino were still sitting in the same seats as when he had left, but now they were both huddled over Nino's phone. Adrien guessed they were watching his video from the dare, but he was wrong.

"My parents needed me to come home to help with the bakery. I'm sorry I ruined your afternoon." Marinette sounded like she had been crying. Whatever was happening at the bakery must have been serious, and Adrien hoped that everyone was still alive. He was terrible at consoling people, and Marinette crying about a dead family member would be incredibly had to help, even for him.

"It's fine, and we're probably finished with the game. Adrien just showed up, and we'll have to go to class again soon. I hope everything works out. Bye, Mari!"

"Bye!"

Alya ended the call. Nino stood up and helped her up and they both walked over to Adrien.

It was silent for a few seconds until Nino decided to say, "I thought you would be asking Ladybug out?!"

"She doesn't like me back, why would I keep bothering?" Adrien shrugged, as if getting over his crush, his massive crush, was just a normal thing that happened every other day.

[C]|||

Adrien fidgeted with his sleeve as he waited for Kagami. The movie was going to start in seven minutes, which meant Kagami would arrive in exactly two minutes. She was always perfectly on time, exactly to the second. No one knew how she did it, but Kagami would never a second late to anything.

One hundred and twenty seconds later, Kagami's car rolled to a stop in front of Adrien. A driver hopped out and opened the door for Kagami before getting back in the car and driving off.

Adrien offered Kagami his hand and began to lead her into the movie. He pushed the two tickets through the ticket booth's window and pushed the door open for Kagami. They both sat down near the middle and the lights dimmed. The movie was starting.

About halfway through the movie, there was a commotion up the back. A few older teenagers were starting to shout and cause a ruckus for the other people in the cinema. Kagami turned around, angry. "What do they think they're doing?"

"Kagami, wait, we should just get someone in charge to kick them out."

"They're not going to help us. And I can move quicker than them. Hold my bag." Kagami dropped her bag onto Adrien's lap and stormed up the back to confront the teenagers.

"Oh look, someone's annoyed," the leader of the group said, causing all of his friends to laugh.

Kagami glowered at him. "I think you should stop before something goes terribly, terribly wrong."

"What are you going to do? Call your mummy?"

"Not quite." As soon as she said that, Kagami grabbed the leader by the arm and flipped him over her head and onto the seat behind her.

A few people gasped, whether they were shocked at what she did or they had recognised her.

"Anyone else? I don't mind repeating that." When no one spoke, Kagami returned to her seat.

Adrien sat back down too and the continued to watch the movie. They had missed a bit of the action when Kagami was throwing people over seats, but the movie was predictable enough to guess what had happened.

Kagami leant on Adrien and continued to watch the movie in silence. Awkwardly, Adrien draped his arm over her shoulder. They looked like a normal couple, not the children of two of the most famous people in Paris.

"This is nice," Adrien said. "We should do this another time."

"The first date isn't even over and you want to start planning the second one?" Kagami shook her head.

"Why not? This is going to happen more than once, right?"

Kagami grabbed a piece of the popcorn they had purchased from the snack carrier during the trailers. "Of course."

"When does the next date fit your schedule?"

"I'm sure I could have some adjustments made."

"How about tomorrow?"

"That works perfectly."