Marinette's POV

3:52 pm

Adrien transformed into Chat Noir and leaped out of the alley onto the roof of one of the buildings forming the gap the between them. I followed shortly after. I can't believe that Adrien is Chat Noir; they're just so...opposite! I'm gonna have to ask him about that later. Now that I think about it, I'm not surprised I didn't figure it out. Although they look somewhat alike, their personalities are complete parallels to each other.

"Lucky charm!" I said, holding my hand up to the sky. I got a rope. Hmm, well I think the akuma possessed Lila's bracelet, but how would I get up to the sky where she is with a rope? I spotted Chat Noir and jumped over to him who was currently dodging Islandia's attacks.

"Chat Noir, how can I get up to where the villain is with a simple rope?" I asked him.

"Maybe you could throw the rope up to her island and pull yourself up?" he offered. I nodded. That sounded like a decent plan. I threw the rope up to Islandia's platform, but she smacked it away with her surfboard.

"Feeling lost, Ladybug?" Islandia cackled.

Chat Noir attempted to knock over the island with his metal pole- wait, that's it! Chat Noir's pole! I ran over to my partner.

"Chat Noir, could you please lift me up?" I asked, helping him dodge the surfboard beams.

"Of course, bugaboo!" he said and extended his pole. I grabbed on and the pole kept extending until I was at the height of Islandia. I grabbed my rope and flung it around her, dragging her down to the ground.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir shouted and touched the bracelet with his gloved hand. After all the "No more evil doing for you, little akuma!" shit purple shadows appeared on Islandia and transformed her back into Lila Rossi.

"Hey, Lila," I said. I helped her up and looked at her facial expression to check she was feeling okay.

"Hey... are you okay?" I asked. She looked ashamed. She noticed I was looking at her despite perhaps being in deep thought. "Oh, yeah, just...thinking," she responded.

"I'll try to come over tonight, but I've got plans with Kagami," I said. "Stay safe, Foxy," I said, winking. "Bug out!"

I jumped down the same alley and transformed back into Marinette. I opened my bag to take out a cookie for Tikki.

"Remember Marinette, you still have to go to Kagami's house," Tikki reminded me.

"You're right, Tikki!" I said. Luckily, the address Kagami texted me is pretty close, so I don't have to go all the way back to the bakery to get my bike or walk a long way. I walked out of the alleyway and typed the address into my phone.

My mind wandered over to Adrien again. I realized that now that he knows I'm Ladybug, he might now be in love with Marinette. Chat Noir is awesome, but the reveal of his identity didn't change anything for my relationship with Adrien. He's just my partner and friend. It's hard to believe that a few weeks prior I would've fallen at Chat Noir's feet, but now I guess I've moved on. Which is good, I think.

It's a good thing that the person I'm now romantically interested in doesn't make me, well... y'know. I guess it's hard for me to admit the fact that my relationship was Adrien previously was unhealthy. I feel ashamed for all the things I did. I feel ashamed that Adrien had a friend like me, who stalked him, stole his things... I wish there was a way for me to apologize without ruining our friendship. 

The phone notified me that I was at Kagami's address and looked up. In front of me was a big mansion with Kagami's self-driving car outside. The house was not as big, but more modern with a theme of black with red accents.  While Adrien's house reminded me of his father: strict, reserved, tall, and discreet, Kagami's house resembled her mom: hot-blooded, sharp, and (like Gabriel Agreste) strict.

I rang the doorbell and moments later Kagami opened the door. "Come in," she said sadly. She didn't seem very happy that I was here. She took me to her living room, with a black TV decorated with red lights on the edges and a red couch.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. "Kagami, is this a good time for me to be here?" I asked.

"I'm sorry if I made it seem that I didn't want you here. It's not you, it's Luka," she replied. "I loved him, but he loves another. I feel guilty, Marinette. Luka is not in love with me at all, and yet... I can't get over him." Tears started to form in her eyes, which usually had about as much emotion as chicken broth.

I went over to her side of the couch and hugged her. "Kagami, you can't just choose who you're in love with. You can't control your feelings, but you can control with you do with them. Why don't we watch the movie you wanted to watch to get things off your mind?" She sniffled and you could see the visible efforts of Kagami to try to squash the tears back down into her eyes.

She uses her right hand to wipe the tears off the face, leaving a slightly red but otherwise standard looking face underneath. "Yes, let's," she replied.

Kagami, instead of taking a remote in her hands, said "Riku, play "Knives Out." The TV screen went from plain black to playing a movie. I wish I had a TV like that.

"So, can you give me spoilers?" I asked Kagami. She turned to me. "You must wait for the movie to reveal everything to you. Otherwise, we might as well turn off the TV and I will tell you  the movie by words."

-time skip to 8:43 because I've realized that as a writer, it's probably better to have my characters talk to each other instead of watching my favorite movies lol-

"Kagami?" I asked. She looked up from the peppermint teas she made for us. "Yes, Marinette?"

"How would you..." My face slowly turned from its usual look to bright pink. "Ask someone out?" She smiled.

"It really depends on the person. Adrien doesn't like people to be very fancy with him, so you could go for something-" she started.

"No, no, no, I'm not asking out Adrien," I said shyly. She faced turned from a slight smile to an angry frown.

"You're asking out-" she proceeded to ask, but I stopped her.

"No, I'm not asking out Luka!" I said, my face turning more pink by the microsecond. Kagami's expression softened.

"I'm sorry for assuming, Marinette. Who are you asking out?" Kagami asked politely.

"It's, umm, Lila," I said quietly, whispering her name. I'm surprised that Kagami heard me, but apparently she has good hearing.

"Well, Marinette, first you should ask yourself if you're sure. You're indecisive, and you don't want to lead anyone on," Kagami warned.

"I'm sure," I said. "I think? I don't know!"

Kagami chuckled slightly. "If you're not sure, I suggest you spend some time with her. If you enjoyed it in a 'romantic' way, then yes. If not, no."

"Alright, I guess I'll try that," I said hesitatingly. I have no idea what Kagami means by 'romantic way', but I'll do it anyway because that's my only option. I would ask Alya or Adrien, but they don't know Lila very well. Well, at least the real one. And Luka's terrible at being romantic. Juleka told me he once tried to ask a girl out in a Mc Donalds bathroom a few years ago, and she said she was pretty sure the girl was aromantic...and the worst part? He was wearing crocs.

"Try it," she agreed. "It's no rush, it isn't the end of the world of you ask out a month later. If she likes you back, chances are she'll be around. Also, when you decide to ask her out, remember doesn't really care whether it's a fancy date or a casual one, as long as the girl she likes is there. As people go, Lila's relatively easy to please. And if you're wondering, yes, she's queer, although that's pretty obvious." Kagami paused.

"I don't know your sexuality, what is it?" she asked. I thought for a moment.

"Questioning, I think I might be pansexual, but who fucking knows," I replied honestly. My phone started to ring so I grabbed it. It was my dad.

"Hey dad, what's up?" I asked.

"Marinette, when are you coming home? It's almost nine," My dad replied. I looked at the time, my dad was right!

"I'll be going now!" I said to my dad and Kagami. I realized I forgot to have dinner, but I can always just pick something up in the bakery when I get home. I took my backpack from where I put it and ran out the door.

I pulled my phone out and dialed Lila's number. She picked up right away.

"Hey, Marinette, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm just walking home, I was wondering if you wanted to come to my house tomorrow..." I said bashfully.

"Sure, that sounds fun! The ice skating rink is closing on Wednesday, want to go there?" she offered.

"Yeah- I mean, sure!" I said. "I gotta go, I'm at my house now." I looked up to see the bakery just across the street.

I stepped into the bakery and took in the aroma of fresh baked goods. On the top of the shelves there was mom's assortment of rainbow macaroons, dad's fruit pies, and cupcakes. On the bottom shelf there was cheese danishes, cookies, and bagels.

"Hey, Marinette!" dad said. I looked in the back and saw him decorating gingerbread men.

"Hey, dad, I'm gonna go upstairs to rest a little," I said. I don't know why, but I felt really tired all of a sudden. It is nine and I did bike a lot today; maybe that's why. I walked upstairs and climbed up the ladder into my bed.

***

I woke up early for once this morning. I looked at my clock... wait, it's four in the morning. I looked outside and it was dark. Well, it's better to wake up early than late. I sat up in bed and stretched. Hey, I'm kind of in the mood to go out as Ladybug today. I looked around for Tikki and found her lying on my pillow, but not in her usual sleeping position.

"Tikki?" I said quietly, making sure she was awake. She opened both her eyes. "Want to go for a walk?"

"Sure, Marinette," Tikki mumbled, still waking up. I took out the emergency macaroon I had on my bedside table and fed it to Tikki. "Tikki, spots on!"

I opened the trapdoor on the roof of my room and climbed onto my balcony. I flung myself onto a roof and started to jump from building to building.

Adrien's POV

4:10 am

"How's this, Plagg?" I asked, having my kwami help me practice a new song on my piano.

"I think it's decent, but if we're judging off of your father's standards..." Plagg trailed off. I sighed. Three more hours of practicing then. It's only a school day.

"You need a break, how about you go out?" Plagg suggested.

"Eh, what's the point without-" I started to say sadly.

"Marinette? She's right outside!" Plagg notified. I turned to my window quickly to see Ladybug jumping by.

"In that case, Plagg, claws out!" I opened my window and jumped out landing next to Ladybug.

"Hey, bugaboo!" I said. She smiled.

"Adrien, you startled me!" she giggled. "Anyways, what are you doing out?" I asked.

"Well, I woke up early. Like, really early," she admitted. She paused, looking at me.

"Can I ask you a blunt question?" she asked, her eyes looking serious while keeping their sharp and energetic shine.

"Depends, just ask me first, then I'll tell you whether I feel comfortable answering," I answered. I'm kind of nervous that she had to start with that.

"I feel Chat Noir and Adrien are two completely different people. Why do you act like the opposite of Adrien when you're Chat Noir?" she asked.

"Adrien is not person; Adrien is someone who is his father's perfect son. Chat Noir is his own person, but Adrien isn't," I said slowly. It sounded...how do I put this? Sad? It's true, though. "Now it's my turn, why did you like me as Marinette before?" I asked.

She thought for a moment. "I think I only liked the idea of Adrien, but Adrien. What I mean is, I didn't love you for who you were, but your looks and status and just the idea of dating someone famous..." She said guiltily.

"It's okay, Ladybug," I said. "To be honest, the only reason I was in love with you was because... my only friend ever was Chloe, and that was only because of her status. You were my first true friend." I started to cry a little.

"It's okay, we have each other now. Let's go back to our houses; I'll see you at school," Ladybug said comfortingly. She took her yoyo out and was about to go back when I grabbed her hand.

"Chat Noir?" she asked.

"Thank you," I said.