A Pinch of Potpourri ~ Oneshot collection

Deja Vu

This was all Alya and Nino's fault. "Let's hang out at Marinette's," they said. "She has a super fun new game," they said. Adrien was excited about the idea, not only because he'd get to hang out with his friends but because he quite enjoyed seeing Tom and Sabine. They were lovely people and it didn't hurt that they liked to feed him. But somewhere down the line, Alya and Nino managed to bail on them and so he was stuck with just Marinette. Not that that was a problem of course. Marinette's company was nice. It's just that if Alya and Nino were there like they were supposed to be. He wouldn't be caught in the current situation that he was in.

Approximately 27 seconds ago, he had noticed something moving out of the corner of his eye. It was Marinette's turn in the game so he figured it would be okay to turn his attention away for a bit. That was when he noticed something red poking out of her hair, a string of some sort. Whatever it was, it seemed to have a mind of its own as it swayed back and forth, taunting him, as if he were some simple cat that would be distracted by such a thing.

It was unfortunate though, that he was very much a simple cat.

Too curious about what it could be, he raised his hand and reached out towards it shakily. Somewhere in the background, he heard Marinette clicking her tongue in annoyance and the 'game over' tune playing. But he was so immersed in his current quest that he didn't pay it any mind. It wasn't until Marinette had turned towards him to tell him that it was his turn that he realized how close he had gotten to her. Within the span of 2 seconds, he saw her face go ablaze and her pupils constrict in surprise.

Given her usual flightiness, Marinette yelped and sprang back. He hastily moved forward to catch her, but her leg shot forward and kicked his chair, throwing him off balance.

And so he found himself in the predicament that he was currently in, with Marinette staring up at him like a deer caught in headlights.

Several explanations ran through his mind. He wanted to let her know that he wasn't trying anything funny. Marinette was a nice girl, she'd understand that it was all just an accident. But as he peered down at her, a sense of deja vu washed over him as if this was something that had happened many times before. He then recalled that this had happened the last time they played games together, with the Gamer wreaking havoc in the city. How coincidental that both times they got together to play video games, he ended up on top of her.

Even in the confines of his mind, that sounded wrong.

But aside from that one incident, there was something else that was nagging at him. Did Marinette always have such pretty eyes? They were blue like the sky—like bluebell flowers basking in the sun. His eyes roamed around, spotting each freckle that laid upon her cheeks and he wondered where else he saw freckles like that. Before he could ruminate any further, the sound of her bedroom hatch opening made his blood run cold.

There stood Marinette's father in all of his giant glory, with a look of worry plastered on his face. Being the kind man he was, he rushed up to see if anything was wrong after hearing them crash to the floor. Adrien was sure that the man wasn't expecting such a sight though.

Unlike before, words spilled out of his mouth, trying to explain to Tom exactly why he was on top of his daughter. But before he could even finish his first sentence, Tom cut him off with a stern "Son."

Adrien could feel the beads of sweat rolling down his face. This was it. It was the end of his life. Superhero or not, he was sure that Tom could tear him to pieces for daring to be in such a compromising position with Marinette. But as he continued to stare fear-stricken at the baker, he noticed that the man was relatively calm.

A slight hum passed Tom's lips before he began talking.

"Now, I know Marinette's a pretty girl and as a healthy young man, you have certain urges." If Tom wasn't going to physically kill him, it sounded like whatever else that was going to come out of his mouth was. "I just want to remind you kids to use protection."

Yep. He was right. He was dead. Tom had killed him. He was so utterly embarrassed by Tom's assumption that he barely even registered Marinette's high-pitched shriek at her father. How was he going to face her at school after this?