Marinette Dupain-Cheng has never felt more nervous and excited in her life. She and her best friend, Alya Césaire, are about to dorm together during their final year at their boarding school. Little did Marinette realize that what she expected as a...
Chat Noir wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. It had been a week since his breakup with Ladybug and getting over her had proved impossible so far. They had just defeated another akuma, Ladybug was consoling the girl who was akumatized. A child, no older than six. Hawkmoth was getting more and more ruthless when it came to his victims, and Chat Noir would be lying if he said it didn't worry him.
He watched, slightly miserable, as Ladybug gently brushed the girl's hair out of her eyes, a tender expression on her face. Ladybug picked up the girl and took out her yo-yo. "I'll take her home," she told him. "You go ahead."
Chat Noir nodded numbly as he watched her speed away, disappearing from sight. Sighing, he brought out his baton and vaulted home.
***
"Kid, it's been a week, get over it!" Plagg popped another slice of camembert into his mouth as he "recharged". Adrien's supply of cheese was getting low and he dreaded having to order more. There was nothing more mortifying than having the delivery person give you a weird look for ordering 500 wheels of cheese. But then again, the more he got at once, the higher the discount. Adrien's family may be rich, but that didn't stop him from enjoying a good sale.
"I can't just get over it!" Adrien snapped as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I see her at least once a week and every single time I'm reminded of why I love her. She's brave, beautiful, caring—"
"Don't you get sappy on me," Plagg said as he reached for another slice. "I can't enjoy my cheese when you're being sappy."
"My point is," Adrien said, feeling more hopeless than ever, "is that I can't just 'get over her.' I loved her and I still do."
"Listen kid," Plagg said, still chomping noisily. "I feel for you. I really do. But you can't keep doing this! Your feelings are getting in the way of your work and Paris needs two functioning superheroes, not one and a half."
Adrien winced. He knew that Plagg cared for him, truly he did. But it was just a little hard to believe it when the kwami thinks words like that serve as any sort of consolation.
"You know what?" Adrien said, stopping his pacing. "I'm going to talk to Marinette." It had been nearly a week since their...encounter in Marinette's bedroom, and as ashamed as Adrien still was, he was too desperate.
"Go ahead," Plagg said, letting out a truly impressive burp. "I, on the other hand, am going to treat myself to just a couple of more slices."
Adrien rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Last thing he needed was Alya or Nino passing by his room and seeing Plagg feasting on possibly the most disgusting cheese in the universe.
"Were you talking to someone in there?" Alya asked from the couches. She had her hair pulled in a messy bun, her glasses askew as if she had been working for hours. She probably had, judging from the mess of books and papers around her.
"Nope," Adrien said, the lie passing his lips smoothly. "Just watching something."
Alya looked at him for a second too long and Adrien tensed. Had she seen through his lie? Thankfully, she merely shrugged and went back to work, and Adrien could let out a sigh of relief. He padded over to Marinette's room, the sound of an opening window catching him off guard.
Before he could investigate further, a flash of blinding red light could be seen from the cracks of the doors. A very familiar sort of flash. Adrien's heart dropped, and then picked up, pounding harder than it ever had before. With a shaking hand, he opened the door just slightly, allowing only a tiny crack to see through.
Marinette was inside, closing the window as something red and black flew around her. A kwami. There was no mistaking it.
Adrien's eyes widened in disbelief and he was dizzy with shock. He took several stumbling steps backwards before dashing to his room, ignoring Alya's calls of what had happened. Adrien slammed the door behind him, startling Plagg as he tried to catch his breath.
