Heels Over Head

Chapter Two - "Victory"

  "Plagg, remind me when I became such an idiot?" Adrien paces back and forth in front of his bedroom window.

"Nearly eighteen years ago when you took your first breath," Plagg answers with his mouth full, spitting cheese crumbs in the process, "You could always—I don't know—apologize!"

Deep down, the boy knows that's the best answer, but can't bring himself to admit it, "I could do that. Or I could move out of the country and change my name."

"Okay," Plagg says in a no-nonsense tone, flying over to him, "What makes this any different from Ladybug besting you?

"Ladybug is a superhero," Adrien waves him off.

"But so are you. And underneath her suit, Ladybug is just a regular girl."

"But she's—y'know—Ladybug!" He tries to reason with himself, but he relents, heading towards the couch and slumping down onto it with a long sigh, "You're probably right. I think I was just being a jerk."

Plagg doesn't look surprised by this conclusion.

"I'm gonna apologize to Marinette," Adrien reluctantly decides.

"Wow, good idea! Where'd you come up with that?" The kwami retorts, "But you should probably do more than just that."

"Fine. I'll also ask her to train me."

"I was just gonna say you should bring her flowers or something, but hey, that's a good idea too," Plagg laughs.

~ ~ ~

As soon as Adrien wakes up the next morning, every one of his back muscles is tight with pain. Being flipped over someone's shoulder and slammed onto the ground is fine enough when you're in a super suit, but the recovery is not nearly as fun any other time.

He gets out of bed, slightly dreading the task he's set ahead of himself for the day. Maybe he'll just leave talking to Marinette till the end of their classes, that way he won't have to feel embarrassed the whole morning.

  Adrien muses to himself about how to approach the subject while he gets ready. How do you tell someone who probably thinks you're an idiot that you want their help?

'I'm really sorry for being a jerk, would you like to beat me up sometime?' No, she kind of already did that.

'So you know how you kicked my butt? Can you show me how to kick yours?' Nope. That's just creepy.

'I'd like to apologize for calling you weak. I don't think that at all. Will you teach me how to do what you did?' Getting warmer, but it still sounds awkward.

Why can't he figure out what to say? It's not like he's nervous, right?

Adrien looks down at his shaky hands. Okay, maybe just a little nervous.

~ ~ ~

"Adrien!" Marinette is waving her hand at the boy walking towards the stairs of the school, "Adrien Agreste!"

No avoiding her now: she's used his last name. Adrien turns toward where she is at the edge of the building and waves back before turning around to run into the school.

It's not that he doesn't absolutely love Marinette as his friend, he could just do without the sideways glances from his fellow students while he talks to her.

"Wait!" He hears Marinette call after him, "I got your text." That stops him in his tracks until she catches up to him.

What text?

"Oh, you did?" He has no clue what text he's supposedly sent.

"Yeah, what was it you wanted to talk about?" She doesn't even seem out of breath from running after him.

"Oh, umm," Now is probably not the right time, "Can we talk after school?"

"But you said it was urgent."

Based off of Adrien's confused face, Marinette can tell he doesn't know what she's talking about, so she sighs and grabs her phone from her bag. She shows him a text message from his number that says,

Hey, do you have a second to talk tomorrow morning before school? It's super urgent! 😸

He doesn't even use cat emojis? Who would—? It suddenly dawns on him: Plagg! That cheesy little kwami stole his phone!

"Right!" Well he can't tell her the truth, "Sorry, I was half asleep when I wrote that. I just wanted to ask you a question was all."

"Oh?" She puts her phone away.

"Yeah," He sucks up as much pride as he possibly can, "That flip you did on me yesterday was... really cool."

Marinette cringes at the mention of the subject, "And also super uncalled for. I'm really sorry about that."

"No, no, it's okay, I'm the one who should be apologizing for the way I acted: I really am sorry. But I actually wanted to ask—genuinely this time—if you could teach me some moves."

The girl lets out a small sigh, "I'm sorry, Adrien, I already explained. I can't do it."

He's about to leave it be, but he feels a tiny hand from his jacket slap him in the chest. Taking no for an answer is apparently not an option, "Please! I'll even pay you to do it."

Marinette starts walking towards her class, "It's not about the money. I'm just not a good enough teacher."

Adrien easily keeps up, gently grabbing her hand between both of his, "I'm sure you're an amazing teacher!" He puts on his best puppy dog eyes, "I just need your help, Marinette. Please say yes."

It's her turn to stop dead in her tracks, a steady blush creeping onto her cheeks. How could she possibly say no to that face?

"Fine," She relishes in the feeling of his contact for a moment more before pulling away, "5 pm tonight, my house. Don't be late." Marinette quickly turns on her heel and marches on to her destination.

Sure, maybe he doesn't actually need self defense lessons, but as Marinette walks away, Adrien can't help but feel an oddly placed sense of victory.