#not sure on redheads name yet okie

[teddybearsims]

missssss will steal your girl (+ a bonus isa who wanted to jump in)

[gojo-mochi]

Dear Softy 💐 I come to humbly (&on my knees) ask for any sort of continuation to the 5 times nanami was sorry piece. I'm not a rereader, but I've read yours so many times I lost count, and nothing else hits the same. :(

HAHA Thank you for continuing to enjoy that fic <3 I still think it's one of my best works, so I'm glad someone likes it that much.

This part wont have reader in it! It set in before reader and Nanami had sex. But from Nanami POV now. So you get to see a little bit more from his mindset and what he’s like out of work hehe.

Part of this fic 5 Times with Nanami...

Satoru changed the group name to “The Skibidi Squad”

Suguru: … do I even want to ask

Ieiri: I’m too tired to even change it back, whatever

Yu: I saw some people in last night’s game say that in chat! 

Ieiri: Yu stop playing those games with Gojo and Geto, it's bad for your brain and mental health tbh

Yu: :c 

Suguru: Hey! Don’t lump me in with Satoru like that, we would have won that game if we didn’t have a monkey for a jungler…

Satoru: Alright, now that I gathered everyone here… (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Ieiri: You didn’t gather anyone.. This is a group chat

Satoru: ANYWAY! I have serious news that need addressing right NOWW 

┬─┬ノ(ಠ_ಠノ)

Suguru: I’ll bite, what is it

Satoru: I know you already bite ( •̀ω•́ )σ

Ieiri Kicked Satoru out of “The Skibidi Squad” 

Suguru Added Satoru back to “The Skibidi Squad”

Ieiri: Of course you would

Suguru: If I didn’t I would had to deal with him whining about it for hours

Satoru: First off, Rude. Secondly, NANAMIN HAVE A GIRLFRIEND AND HE DIDN’T TELL US ( ≧Д≦)

Yu: :0

Ieiri: We know

Suguru: ^^ Technically not his girlfriend yet I think, but she’s pretty cute

Satoru: You guys all knew and didn’t tell me??!?! Traitors! 凸(｀0´)凸

Shoko: I knew because Nanami asked me advice on what kinda cologne girls would prefer

Suguru: I saw him ordering more than usual at the bakery and it was easy to put 2 and 2 together ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yu: I didn’t know :c

Satoru: Haibara, it’s you and me against the world (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

Nanami: …

Satoru: Well, well, well… the traitor finally shows up

Nanami left “The Skibidi Squad”

Satoru: WAITIIITSKDJF

Satoru: WHA- HE BLCOKED ME SOMEONE ADD HIM BACK

Ieiri: Yu don’t add him back

Yu: Oki! C:

Satoru: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nanami sighs to himself and pinches the bridge of his nose. Silencing his phone and pocketing it as he walks on forward. He was already close to his destination and didn’t need to look at the map anymore or be spammed by Gojo’s annoying pestering. A quick turn into a shady alleyway, and Nanami was soon greeted by the neon lights welcoming sign of a bar called “The Devil’s Chainsaw”, an odd name with an even odder bartender. 

Shoko liked coming to this bar though, and this is where he agreed to meet with her tonight, so he had no complaints as long as the alcohol was good. As Nanami stepped inside the bar, he was instantly met with the smell of cigarettes. Shoko peered over to him; she was sitting at the end of the bar, dressed in slacks and a dark sweater. She waved him over with a hand as she finished her conversation with the bartender. 

The redheaded bartender looked over to Nanami as he took the seat next to Shoko; her strikingly odd eyes were a stark contrast to her soft, dulcet voice. 

“What can I get for you, sir?”

"Just a whisky sour would be fine.”

The bartender nods and leaves the two to converse among themselves. Shoko lightly taps Nanami’s knee with her hand and smiles at him. 

“So, Lovebird, how’s the seducing going?”

Nanami’s eyebrow twitches at that, and he turns to look at Shoko with a withering stare. Which she paid no mind to, just taking a long drag of her cigarette, waiting for his answer. 

The bartender comes back with two drinks for them, a whiskey sour and a black russian. Nanami takes his drink and gulps down half of it, his heart feeling unusually tight tonight. 

“Don’t call me that, and I’m not sure how the... seducing is going.”

His tongue rolls over the word “seducing” like it was a foreign language to him. Shoko hums in response, swirling her drink softly as she leans back in her chair. The light jazz music fills in the silence between them, a comfortable silence that these two were used to. No annoying laugh or taunts from a certain white-haired man to dampen the mood. 

After a while, Shoko spoke up one more, with a question that had been on her mind for a while now. 

“So, tell me, what was it about her that made you fall in love with her?” 

Nanami jumped a little in his seat, feeling his ears burn at the question. He calls the bartender down for another drink and slams down the rest of his drink before even thinking about an answer. 

Once his new drink comes in, he takes a hard swig and sighs deeply. Looking down at his drink instead of Shoko so as not to feel embarrassed while remembering the story of why he fell in love with you.  

Flashback cutscene woooosh

It was back during a very important work event—a collaboration with a different company right before Christmas. Everyone was praying on this event going well to secure the deal with this company and go back home with a smile and a big fat holiday bonus. And Nanami was appointed to lead this event—to greet all the higher-ups, plan the itinerary, and basically do all the work. 

Everything was riding on Nanami’s shoulders, all the pressure from not only his bosses but his fellow coworkers as well. Even just a tiny slip-up will make everyone turn to him with disdain in their eyes. At least, that was what Nanami felt like at the time; he needed to make this event work and make everyone happy, at the cost of his own sanity. 

And with little to no sleep, countless nights planning the event down to each second, and a fake happy-go-lucky attitude he put on, the work event went amazingly. Everyone was happy, toasting and drinking the night away. Nanami managed to sneak away during all the merriment, stumbling his way to a nearby park and slouching down on a bench. All the tension in his body still wounding up his insides as he takes off his glasses and throws an arm over his eyes.

Ignoring everything around him, just wanting a moment of peace for himself for once. To throw away his mask for this brief moment where no one’s watching. The bench underneath him was hard on his back, but Nanami ignored it, focusing on the surroundings around him instead, the wind brushing past the trees, the rustling sounds of leaves, and the smell of frost in the air.

Just being in a suit did little to combat the chill, but Nanami couldn’t be bothered to go back inside right now; he was gonna risk being sick over having to do small talk again. He huddled his jacket as close as he could to his body and pretended he wasn’t shivering a little from the cold. Laying his head sideways on the wooden bench with his knees bunched up to his chest. Squeezing his eyes shut, trying to to will himself into a slumber. 

Sleep overtook him like a haunting lullaby; the weight in his shoulders still ache, the wind never slowed down, but soon the chills and the murmurs of the air around him felt almost comforting in a way. 

Nanami didn’t know how much time had passed by the time he woke up, but he knew something was off, though. His head was resting on something much softer than a wooden board; he felt warm and cozy, and even his shoulder’s pain had lessened somehow. 

He groaned and shifted his head around to see what was happening around him. He was still in the same park he fell asleep in; he shifted around again when he heard a noise coming from right above his head. He blinks away his grogginess, trying to see what was in front of him. 

“Nanami-san?”

A voice calls out to him in a soft tone, so pure and sweet to his ears that he almost wants to close his eyes and fall asleep again while listening to it. 

“Nanami-san, are you alright?” 

Nanami grunts in response, knowing that he shouldn’t be falling asleep again, especially in front of a stranger, no matter how angelic he finds their voice. His eyes adjusted back to normal finally, and he found himself looking up at not a stranger, but his coworker. 

“L/N-san?”

He rasps out, finding his throat and lips to be dry, he reaches to rub at his throat. You also reach out, placing the back of your hand on his forehead, trying to feel for a fever. Nanami leans in to your palm, almost feeling disappointed when you pull away; you don’t notice anything, though. 

“You don’t seem like you have a fever… Are you feeling alright? You were gone for a bit, and I got worried. The others told me not to worry, but I came to check anyway.” 

Nanami didn’t respond, causing you to worry even more; he was just staring at you with a quizzical look in his eyes. You reach out to him again, calling his name in a soft tone, which makes Nanami's eyes shoot wide open. With his senses flooding back into him all at once, Nanami realizes a few things. 

One, that he actually did fall asleep in a random park with no fear for his safety on a cold winter night. Two, not only did he decide to sleep in a random park, he also did it during a large celebratory party for his company, without saying a word about leaving to anyone at the party. And lastly, he was resting his head on the very soft lap of his coworker in the middle of the night. 

As much as he wanted to jump up and run away and forget about this embarrassing moment. Nanami calmly sat up, looked down, and realized that you had given him your jacket, returned said jacket to you, and got up from the bench. 

Facing away from you, so you don’t see the blush covering his face, Nanami thanks you for coming to check on him. 

“Thank you, L/N-san, for the jacket and everything.” 

You got up from the bench as well, putting your jacket back on and going to stand next to Nanami. 

“Of course! I still seriously can’t believe no one else wanted to come find you. Honestly…” You huff and shake your heads, remembering how everyone brushed your concerns off back at the party. 

“Still, are you sure you’re alright, Nanami-san? This wasn’t like the usual you, you know?” You pause and shuffle on your feet for a bit before saying the next part. 

“Ah, sorry if that was too personal of me to say. This event was a really huge deal for us, and I want to say thank you.” You turn to face him with a bright smile and a soft blush on your face. 

“Thank you for working so hard for us, Nanami-san. I-..we really appreciate it, and I hope you know that.” 

Feeling a tinge awkward for saying that, you immediately turned back around and started heading back to the hotel first, waving back to Nanami, telling him not to stay in the cold for too long. 

Nanami stood there in that spot for a while after you left, his brain etching every single word that came out of your lips, how your hair looked, the colors of your lips, the scent of your perfume. It was like Cupid came and stuck him in his heart at that very moment. Nanami never heard praise for doing a good job before; it wasn’t like he needed it; at least he thought he didn’t. The results should be enough for Nanami and everyone to be happy. But seeing your bright smile and your kind words being directed at him, that changed something in Nanami that night. 

Flashback end :) 

“Helloooo? Earth to Nanami?”

Shoko’s voice shakes Nanami out of his head. She raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. 

“Are you gonna tell me the reason why you like this chick now or what?”

Nanami smiles to himself, swirling around his drink in his hand and simply said. 

“She has a cute smile, that’s all.”

[justmanic03]

Amethyst - Chapter Four

A/N: Okaaayyyy I have finally decided on the name of this Pokemon AU! It's going to be called Pokemon Amethyst! I actually already knew it would be called that because of the jewels in Champion Flossi's tiara but apparently 'Sapphire' is already a thing ;//

The doors to the Arrowell Gym were revolving. Despite the quaint little village it was situated in, the interior was relatively modern. There were several trainers hanging out in there, chatting about various things. I couldn't help but overhear a group of teenage girls gushing over Champion Kossi. "He was so hot, literally, the hottest man in Taldourse!" A red-haired girl in a yellow tank top expressed. The brunette standing beside her nodded her head in agreement. "I cried for a solid week after he died." She retorted. "I wonder what happened to his Champion's Crown?" The pink haired girl queried. The others looked at her with sadness. "His wife probably kept it. Wherever she is now." The redhead theorised. The brunette nodded her head before her eyes suddenly widened. "You don't think that Team Moon could've swiped it, do you?!" The other girls gasped, and so did I.

The pink haired girl's eyes then fell on me, and upon seeing my reaction, she spoke, "Hey! Don't listen in on people's conversations!"

"Sorry." I said. "But I couldn't help but overhear you mentioned Team Moon... what do you know about them?"

"Not that much, to be honest," the redhead replied. "All I know is that they're bad news." The others nodded in agreement.

"Okay..." I nodded. "Do you know anything about Champion Kossi's death? Was he ill?"

The girls all looked at each other, before the brunette turned to me. "Nobody knows. Everyone has all kinds of different theories. But it's literally just speculation. Nobody knows for sure. The Elite Four have always been rather tight-lipped about that subject."

Hmm... strange.

I excused myself to challenge the gym, and the teenagers bid me a small goodbye, before I entered into the stadium. Upon entering, I was approached by a blue-haired man with a flower in his hair. He was cheerful, and had a spring in his step. "Hi, young challenger! Are you here to face Blade?"

"Yeah, I am." I smiled. "Name's Y/N."

"Okie-dokie, it's time for a pop quiz!" He excitedly clapped his hands together. "Follow me!"

He began running, and eventually we came to a very narrow corridor, yet he didn't stop. The corridor was lined with weeping vines and I had to push them out the way with my hands as I rushed after the jolly fellow. He eventually stopped at a door and ushered me in.

"Your challenger has arrived!" The blue-haired man bowed before a young man with lime-green hair styled to mimic blades of grass and a matching athletic suit nodded, walking towards me. He was extremely tall and muscular.

"Hey, I'm Blade! I'm the gym leader."

I introduced myself, and he took my hand in his large one, proceeding to give me one of the firmest handshakes I'd ever had. I thought he was going to pull my arm off.

"It's good to meet you, Y/N. Of course, I've heard nothing but good things about you! Now, do you understand the premise of the gym challenge?"

"I got the basics, I suppose." I shrugged.

"Okay well, the gym badges aren't just given on the premise of how strong your Pokemon are. We gotta test your brain, too!" He hopped up on the stage. "Stuart! Grab him/her a seat!"

"Roger that!" The blue-haired flower man grabbed a spinny chair and wheeled it into the middle of the room, directly facing the stage. There was a huge electronic screen complete with fluorescent lights attached to the wall.

Sheesh, what kind of budget is this? I wondered to myself.

I sat down, and the chair swivelled slightly, as the lights dimmed and the show board began to dazzle, and quiz-show music began to play. I felt as though I was on one of those TV Game Shows. Blade stepped up and grabbed a microphone.

"Good afternoon, everybody! And by everybody, I mean the two people who are in this room!" This earned a chuckle from both me and Stuart, who was now standing on the sidelines waiting for Blade's next instruction.

Blade cleared his throat. "The rules of the challenge are simple: I will ask you a bunch of super fun questions, and you will give me some equally fun answers! If you get enough questions right, you'll be able to battle me. Are we clear?"

I nodded.

"Okay, drumroll please!"

Stuart proceeded to bang his hands vigorously against a nearby desk, and Blade's voice boomed through his microphone.

"FIRST QUESTION!!! What is the name of the Greatest Champion in Taldoursian History?! Is it A - Kossi; is it B - Clyde or is it C - ME?!"

"A!" I yelled out in answer.

"And you are totally correct! Although I was kinda hoping you'd say C," Blade pulled a hilariously fake pouty face which elicited a giggle from Stuart.

"Alright! Next question! What is the name of the mysterious Cult that has baffled the region for centuries in terms of its antics? Is it A - Team Rocket, B - Team Moon, or C; Team Skull?"

"Team Moon!" This was an easy question, although I knew Taldourse had an equally difficult relationship with Team Rocket.

"Correct!" Blade announced, clapping his hands. Stuart grinned and also clapped his hands along with Blade. "Alright! Eyes on the prize! The prize, of course, being a spectacular battle with moi! Final question, and you're in!"

"Got it!" I called. Blade and Stuart's infectious, warm energy had rubbed off on me somehow, and I was now getting into the spirit of Pokemon battles.

"And finally! What is the name of the rich celebrity in Galar with the stupid haircut!"

"Wait, what?" I did a double take at the absurdity of the question.

"Yeah, I didn't write the questions," Blade admitted before sending Stuart a glare. Stuart only winked in response.

"You're talking about Sordward!" I exclaimed, remembering him from live television. When Flossi and Kossi visited Galar years back, they had shaken hands with a bunch of important people, including Sordward, and nobody could forget the look on their faces when they were confronted with his haircut. Their reaction was so priceless it went viral all over Taldourse and became a beloved meme. I looked to my left and Stuart was stood there cringing with his head in his hands. "Jeez, I have nightmares about that guy and his hair every single night!"

"Correct! Correct!" Blade cheered. "Mic drop!" He proceeded to drop the Mic on the floor, causing it to buzz in protest. Stuart and Blade began cheering and clapping for me.

"Congratulations, challenger!" Blade sang before jumping off the stage to shake my hand in yet another extremely harsh handshake. "It's time for the moment you've been waiting for! Stuart, please vacate the battlefield, I don't want to mess up your wonderful hair!"

Stuart immediately nodded before disappearing through the door. Blade walked to one end of the pitch, and I walked down to the other. We both pulled out our Pokeballs.

"Ready?"

"I was born ready!"

"Here we go!"

You are challenged by Gym Leader Blade!

[imagine-knowing-a-name]

Roommates

Summary: When your housemate Yelena’s sister pays a visit, your life gets a lot more interesting

Word Count: 3814

Warnings: None? Let me know if I should add any :)

A/N: This was a one-shot, but I had to split it into two parts because it got pretty long, so if the ending seems abrupt, that’s why. I also just realised I titled it roommates and they’re technically not roommates, but anyway...

Part 2

—————————————————

Coming down from your room, you were greeted by a familiar sight with your roommate on the sofa, no doubt ‘resting her eyes’.

“Yelena! What’s up?” you yelled, startling her from her nap on the sofa.

“I was sleeping Y/N” she grumbled.

You snorted, “It’s 1pm. And I know for a fact you were still in bed not two hours ago”. Your comment earned you a middle finger from the blonde.

“I’m trying to enter a coma”

“Sounds fun”

She glared and shut her eyes again, arms folded across her chest. In turn, you adopted a softer tone, knowing her well enough to know this wasn’t just about being woken up. “What’s wrong?”

She huffed, eyes still shut, then eventually mumbled, “my sister’s coming over”

“You don’t like her?” you asked hesitantly, unsure what had caused this mood.

“What? No. I do. She’s great” Yelena frowned, sitting up straight.

“So what’s the issue?”

“You’ll see when she gets here”

“Very ominous there ‘Lena, can’t you just tell me?” you pouted, but she ignored your expression, instead shaking her head firmly with sealed lips.

Living with Yelena for as long as you had, you knew if she didn’t want to talk about it, further questioning would get you nowhere. Reluctantly, you dropped the topic and moved on.

“How have I never met your family before?” you asked. The two of you had met in your first year at university, and moved in together for the second year. Other people lived with you of course, but it was the summer holidays, which meant it was just the two of you until third year began. Yet you’d never met her sister; you didn’t even know her name.

“She lives a busy life. And she’s usually in New York”

“So you live in York... and your sister lives in New York”

Yelena snorted at your remark, “she’s such a copycat”

“Older sister, right?”

“Yeah, five years older”

“And you moved here two years ago, while she’s lived there... how long?”

“I don’t know, like... 6 years?”

Now it was your turn to smirk, “doesn’t that make you the copy cat?”

“If only you’d gone home too,” she scowled, “this would be a lot easier” 

“So this is about me meeting your sister?”

After a pause, she nodded, “her meeting anyone”

It made you very curious about her mysterious sister. Maybe she had really poor social skills, or bad anxiety?  “I can leave if that’s better” you offered, but her eyes widened,

“definitely not”

“Ha I knew it” you goaded, “proof that you didn’t really want me to go home”

“She wants to meet you. That’s the only reason” Yelena added quickly, her smile however giving away the joke.

“Sure, sure, so when’s she coming? what’s even her name?”

“Natasha. And she’ll probably arrive as soon as this conversation is done"

“That’s an odd time” you joked with a lopsided grin, “so. Natasha”

“Yes”

“Okie, so how does this conversation end?”

“Sit down. Stop talking. Wait for her to walk in”

“She has a key?”

Your friend shook her head, “doesn’t need one”

You were very curious now, deciding to do as Yelena had instructed. And sure enough, within seconds, a curt knock sounded at the front door.

“I guess I’ll go get it” Yelena sighed, “wonder who it could be”

Following your friend into the hallway, you loitered at the end as she opened the door. Your mouth dropped at the guest. “Yelena, you’re no fun” the redhead complained, pulling your housemate into a hug.

“Uhhh... hi” you greeted when her eyes fell to you. “I’m Y/N”, you held out your hand awkwardly, hoping she’d take it. She did, shaking it firmly with a smile on her face,

“I know. I’m Natasha”

“Uhhh. Um, yeah. I know that too” you muttered

“Every time” Yelena scowled, rolling her eyes as she brushed past the two of you to get into the living room. You broke off the handshake and hurried after her, setting yourself down on the opposite sofa. Natasha followed, taking a seat next to her sister. No-one spoke for a minute, the awkward atmosphere making you fidget as you waited for Yelena to make a move. She never did.

“Yelena what is it?” Natasha demanded softly, you shifted your attention between the sisters.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, sure. What is it?”

Yelena flicked her eyes to you, then back to Natasha. Eventually sighing and tilting her head back. “Every time I try to make friends on my own. Then you come over and they always get weird.”

“I don’t know what I can do about that Yel. Should I not have come?” Natasha frowned.

You reflected the movement exaggeratedly, “did you just call me weird?” you quipped. Amusement flit through Yelena’s eyes briefly, before she crushed it.

“Yes. Because that’s how you’re acting right now”

“In my defence” you began, holding your hands up, “learning that your favourite housemate’s secret sister is actually famous for saving the world is quite a shock”

“You didn’t talk about me?” Natasha pouted, humour in her eyes.

“Oh please, obviously you were listening to our conversation earlier Tasha, don’t play dumb” the blonde scolded.

Natasha snickered, then turned to you. “So Y/N, since my sister is being rude and not starting a conversation”, she emphasised her point with an elbow into Yelena’s side. “What subject do you study?”

Although you opened your mouth to reply, you were beaten to it by Yelena, “don’t fall for it Y/N, she’s researched every detail of our housemates’ lives”

You tilted your head at Natasha questioningly and she shrugged, not denying the statement. “I have to make sure my sister is safe”

“I’m a trained assassin, I can take care of myself” Yelena sulked and you snapped your head to look at her,

“Sorry, sorry, what?!”

Neither party spoke, Yelena simply looking down with an emotion similar to guilt. You took a breath, if her sister was the Black Widow it made sense, but it was still a very unexpected twist after almost two years of friendship.  “I guess I was really asking the wrong questions when we played, ‘never have I ever’, huh?” you attempted, smile widening when Yelena snorted.

“Ask me the right ones and I might finally get as drunk as you”

“Hey!”

Your friend seemed to relax a bit, mentally and physically closing herself off a lot less.  “Not much of a drinker?” Natasha probed. Somehow you’d almost forgotten about the Avenger in the room.

“I’m not a lightweight. Yelena’s just on a different level.”

Natasha snorted, “yeah, she’s had practise. I remember so many times when she’d sneak into our dad’s vodka cabinet. And she was only six”

“Six?”

Natasha nodded with a smirk, “oh, all the drunk ramblings, so many stories...”

“Natasha if you dare” Yelena threated

“Nooo, tell me, tell me, please?” you countered, forcing Natasha to make a decision between you both.

“Look Lena, I love you. But I want to embarrass you more”

You whooped and Yelena got up to smack your arm. “No.” she jokingly scolded.

“Why don’t we go for a walk first. I want to see the sights of Old York” Natasha stated

“Or just York, as regular people say”

“Whatever”

There were a lot more comments you were prepared to make, but you left them. Instead, you waited in the living room as Yelena took Natasha to her room, where she’d be staying for a bit apparently. Then, while Natasha was finding a way to camouflage, she came back down to talk to you.

“You know, you’re being a lot less weird that I thought”

 “I’m... not sure that’s a compliment, but thanks?” you replied, tilting your head to at the woman.

“It is a compliment. I don’t like when people start acting weird because I know her”

“I can assure you that this changes nothing in our friendship” you said in the most over the top serious voice you could manage.

“Good”

“...But I will be teasing you about it” you added quickly and with a smile.

It broke her serious façade too, “I would expect nothing less”

“Glad I have your permission Black Widow Jr.”

She hit you again, “I’m not junior, I graduated the Black Widow programme too”

You nodded slowly, eyes wide as you considered the new fact, “yeah... I nearly forgot to come back to that. Trained assassin, huh?”

“It wasn’t my choice”

“It doesn’t seem like it would be, but it does explain where the cooking skills come from. If you’ve trained to use a knife and all.”

“No” she refuted, “that’s all me. You should see Tasha, she’s awful”

“Ooh, can you give me dirt on an Avenger? Since she’s selling you out already”

“You know the fair trade for me is to sell you out?”

With a hum, you shrugged, “three way sell out deal then”

“Deal”

“You guys are cute, honestly, but let’s get going already” Natasha called out, somehow at the door before either of you saw.

“How-?” you began, but Yelena waved your question away

“Good training”

“Yeah. I see where you get it from” you teased, trying to wind her up.

And it worked, Yelena paused in putting on her shoes to glare at you. “We were literally trained together. I don’t get it from her.”

“Sure you don’t”

“God you’re so stupid”

Natasha sighed loudly, “get a room you two or hurry up. It’s a nice day and you’re wasting it flirting” she chided, causing a choked gasp from you.

“Flirting? With Yelena? Grim.”

“Hey, that’s my little sister, don’t put her down like that” Natasha defended, though teasingly... you assumed.

“I’m aroace Nat. So is she” your friend elaborated, rolling her eyes.

“Ooh.” Natasha coughed, deflecting from her mistake, “that clears some stuff up”

“And to think I called Y/N stupid”

“I just thought you would have told me” Natasha said, with an exaggerated pout, though not for long as she followed you both outside.

“Aren’t you meant to be a world class spy, top of SHIELD, and an Avenger?” Yelena hit back, “I thought you would have known!”

“Well I don’t exactly use my skillset on my equally matched sibling”

“No, but you can use it on her untrained friend who you’ve been monitoring anyway and draw conclusions”

You finally piped up, “you guys are talking like I’m not even here. I guess I’ll just merge with the floor, don’t mind me, go on” you said sarcastically. Unfortunately, the siblings knew each other well enough to switch it around, talking about your own life and not reacting at all when you spoke. It was kind of creepy. “Ok, ok, I’ve re-emerged from the floor. Stop it now”

“Oh, wow, Y/N, fancy bumping into you” Yelena deadpanned

“haha very funny”

“You two do get on very well though. I’m glad you found each other. And that my little sis can actually make friends” Natasha added sincerely, having to catch Yelena’s wrist to avoid a hit to the stomach after the last comment.

“So how many security checks did you do to realise that I can check my roommates’ histories perfectly well by myself?”

“Can’t be too careful Yelena” the Avenger defended, before turning to you, “you came out clean, don’t worry Y/N. Well done on winning that karate competition though”

You took in another deep breath, “...the one when I was 6?”

“Well, yeah, have you won another one?”

“I barely even remember that! How?”

Natasha shrugged, “I’m a good spy”

Relenting, you turned to Yelena instead, making your voice high pitched to mock hers, “‘Oh don’t be weird’ you said, ‘my friends are always weird’, and yet you were running security checks on us the whole time?”

“Yes, but you didn’t notice, so it wasn’t weird to you”

“That’s not how it works but whatever. You guys have some mad lives.”

“Wish I didn’t” Yelena huffed quietly, whether she meant for you to hear or not you weren’t sure, but you stayed quiet after that, happy to watch your best friend animatedly show her sister around her university town. You occasionally butted in to add details, or join the conversation, but never bringing up her past.

It was only when you got back to your house, and Yelena left you and Natasha to go to the toilet, that you realised that you actually had to make conversation. “Soo... uh, what’s it like being an Avenger? Wait- you probably get asked that a lot, right? It’s probably annoying-”

While you tried to think of an alternative question, Natasha interrupted with a smile on her face. “It’s ok, I enjoy it. I don’t get to talk to people other than the team all that often anyway.”

“But I bet they always ask that question, right?”

Her grin spread and she gave a small nod, “yeah, they do”

“Knew it”

“Being an Avenger is fun though, the team are my family almost as much as Yelena is.” She cleared her throat, “I’ll take a stab in the dark and assume she didn’t tell you about our past?”

You shook your head, “I literally know nothing about her except for how she’s been the past two years”

“I’ll let her tell you when she’s ready but- It wasn’t great so just... don’t push her for it, alright?” you gave a quick nod, you didn’t plan on it anyway, “but my Avengers work makes me feel a bit better about it, use my skills to help people rather than...” she trailed off, so you took the reins,

“I know a bit about- I mean probably not a whole lot- but your history. You did, um, in 2014, when you released the SHIELD files?” you stuttered, but she got the gist,

“Oh that. I’d forgotten. You read those?”

“Not like, the whole thing” you admitted, “but it was a pretty massive story, sections of it were all over social media. Of your past and stuff”

“And what’s your opinion?” she asked earnestly,

“Well, you didn’t have a choice, right? Plus if you hadn’t done it all and been killed, then the world would be down an Avenger and maybe the world wouldn’t be saved.”

“Nah”, Yelena’s voice made you spin around, seeing her smirking as she entered the room, “Natasha is not one of the big ones”

The Avenger rolled her eyes and gave you a look, “such a supportive sister I have, right?”. You snickered and Yelena turned to you with a glare,

“No. No, don’t side with her. I’m your friend, which means you back me.”

While she was talking, you felt your phone buzz in your back pocket, while Yelena’s also pinged. You pulled it out to see a string of messages from the house group chat.

“Uhh, are you telling them?” you asked, glancing up at Yelena and then back down to the phone where more messages were streaming through.

“If I don’t they’ll probably come knocking on our door to find out for themselves soon enough.”

“They’re our housemates, they don’t need to knock they have a key” you chuckled, then realised, “Izzie only lives an hour away”

“Oh she’s definitely on her way already”

“Anyone want to clue me in?” Natasha asked, though you suspected she already knew. Yelena passed her sister the phone, revealing doorbell camera footage of Natasha on your doorstep. Followed by your housemates’ texts demanding to know why an Avenger was on their doorstep. Them immediately freaking out because an Avenger was on their doorstep.

“Ah” was all the redhead said. 

Yelena grimaced, “I do love our housemates but... they can be a bit eager”

You laughed, “remember when Izzie and Theo saw Andrew Scott on the street?”

Yelena paled, turning to her sister, “they chased after him, it was insane. And I know they’re bigger fans of you than they are of him”

“Do you want me to leave?” Natasha asked

Yelena nodded a yes, but you frowned, “you two have barely caught up though”

“It’s for Natasha’s safety”

“Yelena, what if you two go. I’ll stay behind to field whoever comes”

Natasha laughed at your statement, “you’re making this sound like a suicide mission”,

That laugh faltered when you and Yelena both turned to her, replying “it is” in all seriousness.  “You do not want to be around the two of them when they enter fan mode, trust me” you reassured.

“Well, it’s your holiday, right?” she asked. You and Yelena nodded. “Fine. If it’s so imperative that I leave, then you two come with me”

“Really?” you asked, sharing a questioning look with Yelena

“I have a jet and free time so why not?”

“Y/N?” “Yelena?” The two of you kept eye contact, a smirk on both of your faces as you wordlessly asked if the other was up for it. When it seemed you were, she nodded,” “Let’s go, we have to pack some bags”

“Bring a couple of days worth at least” Natasha called as you and her sister ran off up the stairs.

As soon as you were out of Natasha’s sight, you held up a fist and your best friend quickly returned the fist bump.  “Nice plan Belova”

“What can I say? I know my sister, now I’ve gotten us a holiday.”

“She seems nice, so my point still stands as to why we couldn’t have just asked”

“Y/N” she whined, “what have I told you about the drama of it all. Asking doesn’t have the same coolness as making my sister, an Avenger, afraid of our housemates.”

The two of you were now sat in the doorway of your respective rooms, keeping up the conversation as you threw clothes into the suitcases. “Alright, I will admit is was fun, even if we did make Theo and Izzie sound a bit crazy”

“Meh” Yelena shrugged, “she’s vetted both of them so she knows they’re not that bad. Plus we were telling the truth about that Andrew Scott incident”

“You make a fair point”

“I always do”

Once packed, you both ran downstairs and re-greeted the Avenger. Another 10 minutes later and you were staring dumbstruck at the quinjet casually parked at the end of some alley in the middle of the city, squashed tightly into the open courtyard. “Are there really no better places to land that?” you asked

“There are, she’s just a show-off” Yelena grumbled, hopping up to it, “not very secure though, anyone could steal it”

“It was built as a combined effort between SHIELD and Tony Stark” Natasha scoffed, “It’s harder to steal than it looks. Plus it’s tracked, so if anyone did manage, Stark can find them and offer them a job.”

“It doesn’t look easy to steal...” you muttered, though from the look Yelena sent you it was clear she disagreed.

“If I didn’t want to leave instantly because a crowd is forming, then I would take the time to prove I could steal it” Yelena boasted and Natasha cocked a brow, smirking slightly at you. Yet she said nothing, only guiding you both onto the jet and taking off.

“So, New York?” Yelena asked eagerly five minutes into the flight.

“Nope.” Natasha grinned back, emphasising the ‘p’, “St Petersburg”

Your friend’s cocky smirk fell instantly, becoming a look of pure dread, “no.”

“yes”

“but I packed for New York”

“tough luck. You should have predicted this part when you made your little plan” Natasha smiled sweetly, with her head tilted as she looked at the blonde, “it really would have been better to ask, isn’t that right Y/N?”. She turned to grin at you, dragging you into the mess. 

“When I made the plan, you weren’t supposed to know about the plan” Yelena muttered weakly.

“If you’d just asked, I’d have just taken you straight to New York”

When Yelena looked at you, you gave an over the top shrug, not even needing to utter an ‘I told you so’ to prove your point. But you did it anyway.  “I told you so” Yelena stuck her tongue out at you and Natasha laughed, relieving any tension on the plane.

“So why are we going to Russia?” you asked.

“It’s where our parents live” Yelena muttered softly

“and you’ve been avoiding them” Natasha teased, “you know they found Tony’s phone number just to text him, to tell me, to tell you, that they wanted you to visit.”

“That’s persistent” you commented, and Natasha hummed in agreement.

Yelena interjected with her own complaint, “it’s only been 2 years, we went 21 years without seeing each other at all”. You looked between the two of them, unsure whether to broach the topic. Natasha pursed her lips, and you took it as an opportunity to speak.

“Yelena”

“yeah?”

“Do you recall how old you told me you were?”

“Oh” she realised, “well in fairness I told you I was 21 two years ago. That’s still possible”

“Sure so you stole alcohol from your dad’s alcohol cabinet aged six. You you haven’t seen them since the day you were born?”

“Possibly”

You pulled out your phone, glad to see Natasha’s age was available online, and knowing Yelena was five years younger... “29? Really?”

“I know, I know, I look young for my age” she joked and you laughed, but then she continued in a much more serious tone. “I’m sorry I lied” she sighed, “it’s just, a lot easier”

You shrugged, “doesn’t change a thing, you’re still the same person I know. And you’ve been through a lot so I see why you did it.”

“I know you know Tasha’s history, so you can hazard a guess at mine. But I just want you to know properly before we meet me parents”

“Ok” you reassured, smiling as she sat beside you, hoping to calm her obvious nerves.

“So there was this mission in Ohio. Melina, Alexei and Natasha posed as my family for three years. I was 3 when it started, 6 by the end, so it was all the family I ever knew.” She exhaled and you renewed your supportive smile. “Then it ended. Natasha and I were dragged back to the Red Room, put through training and psychological conditioning to... you know”

You nodded again, the smile was gone but you remained supportive. When your eyes flit to Natasha, you saw her frowning, guilt written on her expressions. “Natasha got out somehow around 2004″. Her sister was wincing now. “And after that they started on the mind-control, make sure no-one else would ever get out, until we brought down the Red Room 2 years ago.”

You said nothing as she finished, simply pulling her into a much needed hug. She may have a family again now, but you were going to be there forever.

Part 2

[a-purple-lizard]

Raiden/water goddess reader? Where he meets her while flying over the sea? And he’s just 😳 while she just chilling on a giant seashell and combing her hair like Aphrodite.

Ocean storms

Raiden x water goddess reader

Okie dokie partner!

The sky was ripped in half, a bolt of light zooming through it. Blue streaks jolted in every direction, casting a beautiful reflection onto the ocean below. Raiden took slight joy out of the wind rushing past him, a small childish part of him taking pride my the fact that his brothers wind couldn’t even touch him. It was unlike the thunder god to take part in self pleasures such as a morning flight, but fujin had convinced him to take a break, just for a few hours.

Though the thunder god had put up a fight against such mortal needs, fujin eventually did sway him. So here he was, tearing across the sky above the ocean where no mortal would be alarmed.

Suddenly, a strange sight made Raiden halt. A mini island, about the size of a small earthrealm house, was on his left. It held only a single tree that casted shade apon the entire landmass. In the center was some sort of throne made from ocean shells and artifacts, apon it sat a woman.

She was dressed in the finest of silks, jewels and metal bands adorned her body. A crown wrapped around her head, a black pearl as its centerpiece. Her skin glowed in the light of day, the wind tossing around her shiny hair. White, glowing eyes were neutral. She was indeed beautiful.

Three other women were around the crowned beauty, no, not women, mermaids. Raiden had met a few of the creatures in his lifetime, but never so many in one place.

Glowing eyes met his own, the goddess was looking at him. Raiden carefully began to descend, keeping an eye on the mermaids as he did. The goddess seemed amused by his paranoia, softly running a comb through her hair. She smiled as he landed softly in front of her throne.

“Lord Raiden, what do I owe the pleasure to?” She mused, his name rolling off of her tongue was like a cool ocean breeze on his skin. She handed her brush over to a dark skinned mermaid with blazing yellow eyes. The mermaid giggled, leaning over to wisper to a blond maiden beside her. “My handmaidens seem enraptured in you, I must say.”

He eyed the creatures, each unnaturally beautiful, glowing eyes and skin, flowing locks that covered their bare breast. He had seen many men fall to their charm, only to be devoured. “You know of me?”

The woman laughed, picking up her legs to curl under her. “I was there when the elder gods tasked you to protect my realm.” She casually folded her hair back, revealing the large gills on her throat. “I go by many names, but s/o is the one I wish to be called by you.”

The man fought to keep his composure, eyes tearing away from her lips, he spoke, “who are you, s/o?”

A voice sounded from beside her, “she is s/o, goddess of earthrealms sea.” The blond, pink eyed handmaiden explained.

The dark skinned maiden quickly added on, “Giver of life, queen of sirens and protector of earthrealm.”

The goddess laughed, face covered in embarrassed modesty. Raiden blushed at the beautiful sound.

S/o smiled, gaze turning to Raiden, “yes, even though I do not squander with mortals, or take part in Shang Tsungs little game, I am indeed a protector of earthrealm.” She stared off into the sea for a mere second before smiling, “think of me as a ‘behinde the line’ defense. When shao kahn invaded our realm, the oceans swallowed his army’s, the swamps claimed his solders, and the rivers assaulted his troops.”

“Yet, I’ve never met you until now.” Raiden commented, an eye on a particularly hungry looking redhead maiden.

“Many do not think of the rising tide until it is at their feet.” She explained simply, tracing his gaze to the redhead. “Are my handmaidens causing concern? I would hate for this first meeting to be one that projects intimidation on my part. Ladies, take a swim.”

The mermaids all ‘awwed’ before reluctantly slipping into the blue abyss surrounding them. Now alone with s/o, he felt rattled uncomfortable, he wasn’t too sure why. “So tell me, thunder god, did you really believe you and your charming brother were the only gods in earthrealm.”

Red crept up into his face, a flustered voice managed to stutter out, “well yes bu-“

“Such arrogance, young one. But, I suppose it is to be expected from one who walks amongst mortals.” She mused softly, standing up from her throne and approaching him.

“You do not care for mortals?” Raiden spoke neutrality as the goddess circled him like a shark, analyzing every detail. Her hand trailed along his shoulders as she did, making him shiver at the touch.

“Since the beginning of time, mortals have harmed me. At first, they simply used me, as all living things do, to survive. But as they evolved, so did my sickness. They hunted my precious children, some to extinction.” She growled, her face bitter. “They fought their meaningless wars on my oceans. So I punished them.” S/o said coldly.

“I created children that no mere man could defeat, the kraken, my handmaidens and so many others.” S/o explained, finishing her examination of him. “For centuries it worked, but time had other plans. As the years went by, humans evolved further, so did their trash. To this day, they poison me. They pollute the life I gave them with the filth they create.”

S/o eased herself onto the throne, peeling down her sleeves to reveal black veins.

“You... are dying?” His heart flared up in alarm at the thought of a goddess dying. Gods could die when in mortal form, but if death were a risk, they could easily revert back to their natural form. But s/o was the water, the water wich was poisoned. Fujin nor Raiden ever needed to worry about such things as poison, after all, how could one poison the wind and thunder?

“Yes, you’re precious mortals are a slow, but effective poison.” She said coldly, sinking further into her throne, glaring up at the god.

Raidens mouth pressed into a solid line of displeasure. “You are earthrealms life force, s/o. I swear on my life I will return you to full strength.” He descended into a bow on one knee.

The goddess smiled weakly at the notion. “Such a promise thunder god, I won’t hold you to it.” Raiden froze, cautiously looking up only to find sadness in her eyes, “though, I offer my service as a reward. Should you succeed in your task, rest assured, you will have the strength of earths life force at your disposal.”

Her hand reached down, an offering to the god. He gently took it, standing up to stare into her immortal eyes. “Now, Raiden, enough politics, let us get to know each other better.”

____

Meanwhile, at the sky temple:

[Lui kang] uhhh, fujin, are you alright?

[Fujin] Panicked screaming He was supposed to be home TEN hours ago!

[Lui Kang] Maybe he decided to stop and socialize?

[Fujin] Raiden doesn’t socialize! He says three words, then flys off to go “consult the elder gods!”

[Lui Kang] Should I... call somebody?

[Fujin] CALL EVERYONE! THE SPECIAL FORCES, OUTWORLD, THE CHAMPIONS! I WILL PUT UP MISSING POSTERS!

[lostcoves]

ft. taishiro toyomitsu (fatgum) x gn!reader

genre: angst with a bittersweet ending 

wc & warnings: 1.7k | hospitals, blood, bus crash, alcohol, drunk!(y/n)

premise: your first day in university of tokyo hospital’s emergency room is surely a day to remember.

note: my contribution to @instantnuma​’s love hospital collab! i had a blast writing this piece as someone who comes from generations of medical personnel! hope you all enjoy!

university of tokyo hospital, home to some of the most renowned minds in the medical profession.

and somehow you ended up here as an intern in their emergency department.

why the emergency room of all places? couldn’t they have assigned you to pediatrics?! you loved kids! kids were cute! why did it have to be the emergency room?

you panicked easily, ironic for someone who just graduated medical school to pursue a career in medicine. at least, you weren’t a surgeon. you knew your limits.

you hovered by the nurse’s station, unsure what to do. you were supposed to meet your attending, dr. toyomitsu. yet, they were nowhere to be seen.

damnit, did my attending really flake on my first day? you thought to yourself, shuffling a bit by the nurse station.

BAM! the doors of the emergency room swung open, revealing a large blond handsome man performing cpr on the person attached to the stretcher. the paramedics wheeled the wounded in and the handsome man began shouting orders.

“kirishima, i need fifteen milligrams of morphine, stat! get me some wrap for this sucking chest wound, too!” the man commanded the room with an iron fist.

you couldn’t help but watch in all, as the handsome man treated the patient’s wound. a spiky redhead- you assumed to be kirishima- appeared behind you with morphine and wrap, securing the patient’s wound while nurses hooked the patient up to the machines.

“page the OR, amajiki. this man is gonna need major surgery,” the handsome man directed an indigo haired man. the other man- amajiki- got on the phone and informed the operating room of the patient.

you could only stand in awe, as the patient was whisked away into surgery. you slowly clapped at the heroism of the man before you, “sir, that was—”

“all in a day’s work,” he answered with a lopsided grin.

“your clothes, though..” you pointed out the man’s blood soaked shirt and pants. he shrugged it off and commented, “i’ll be changing into my scrubs anyway.”

“scrubs? you’re a doctor?” well, duh he was a doctor. why else would the medical personnel listen to him?

“yup! i’m doctor taishiro toyomitsu! but everyone calls me dr. fats!” he exclaimed, extending a hand to you.

your eyes widened at his name, “you- you’re my boss! i’m doctor (l/n), (y/n) (l/n). i just graduated form medical school.”

“ah! my new intern, great!” he was such a positive ball of energy. you just realized that he towered over you, now that he was off the stretcher. what a big fellow! he then added to you, “lemme introduce you to my residents. they’ll be here to help you out, as well.”

dr. toyomitsu gestured to the redhead and indigo haired duo from earlier, “this is doctor eijiro kirishima, second year resident, and doctor tamaki amajiki, fourth year resident.”

the redhead- kirishima- waved excitedly at you, “it’s good to meet you, dr. (l/n)! welcome to the team!”

the indigo haired man- amajiki- hung his head low, “uh huh.. good to have you on- on the team.”

“now that introductions are out of the way!” dr. toyomitsu grabbed a white coat off the coat rack, “let’s get to work, folks.”

─────────────────

you collapsed in the on call room, exhausted and sweaty from the past eleven hours of your first shift. suture after suture, panicky parent after panicky parent.. god, why did you make emergency medicine your second choice after pediatrics?

“hey,” dr. toyomitsu took a seat next to you in the on call room, “sucks that your first day was a twelve hour shift, huh?”

“i haven’t been this exhausted since last year’s finals,” you grumbled.

dr. toyomitsu laughed, “you’re funny.”

“i am?” you questioned.

“you are,” he paused, “what made you decide to choose emergency medicine as your speciality?”

“they ran out of openings for internships with pediatrics,” you replied honestly.

“okay so what made emergency medicine your second choice?” dr. toyomitsu reframed the question.

you pondered on it– you didn’t think you had a really good answer– so you decided to speak from the heart.

“emergency medicine is crucial for saving lives and i wanna save as many lives as possible,” you answered. dr. toyomistu sensed your sincerity and gave you a smile, “and i’m sure you will achieve just that but be aware.. sometimes you can’t save everyone.”

you opened your mouth to respond when dr. toyomistu’s pager went off. he checked the device and leapt to his feet, “bus crash. all hands on deck! you wanna save as many lives as possible? now it’s time for you to prove it.”

you sat up and ran after dr. toyomitsu into the emergency room, horrified by the scene before you. so many injured, some strapped to stretchers and others dragging themselves inside. 

“doctor! we got a red!” a paramedic hollered to you. you rushed over to the stretcher and yelled, “what do we got?!”

“female, age seven! possible internal bleeding and multiple fractures!” the second paramedic exclaimed. you stared down at the little girl and froze. she was so small, caked in blood and her dress in ruins. god, no. she was too young, too young and innocent.

“doctor, we need to act fast!” the first paramedic shouted.

“yes!” tears stained the little girl’s dress, “get me an iv and a cocktail of vitamin k, plasma, blood, and platelets! stat!”

a trio of nurses ran over with the supplies and hooked the girl up to an iv, administering the cocktail into her body. you checked her vitals and sighed in relief, she was stable.

“we gotta find her parents, what’s her name?” you asked the paramedics.

“only form of id was on her backpack,” the second paramedic handed you the girl’s belongings. the name ‘yuki’ was sewn on with purple thread. you frowned, “get the cops and child protective services. we need to find her family.”

“i’ll do that,” one of nurses spoke up.

“thank you,” you turned your attention back to the unconscious girl. you gently stroked her fine black hair, “we’re gonna find your family, kiddo. i promise.”

─────────────────

all the living injured were treated after three hours. your heart hardened from the sight of doctors having to inform family members that their loved ones didn’t make it. but your mind kept wandering to little yuki. you had to find her family.

“any word on your kid’s missing family?” dr. toyomitsu took you aside, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder. you shook your head and answered, “i’m scared that they were on the bus with her and.. and..” you sniffled, you couldn’t finish your sentence.

“come here,” you and dr. toyomitsu embraced, tears flowing freely from your (e/c) eyes. you wanted yuki to return home safe, that was all you wanted for her. you and dr. toyomitsu ended the hug, you staring up at the attending with sad eyes, “thank you.”

“of course,” he answered before checking his watch, “looks like we’re off the clock. wanna grab a drink?”

“sure, i could use one after day,” you sighed. the two of you went your separate ways to change clothes before meeting outside the hospital’s entrance. dr. toyomitsu looked good in a fresh change of clothes.

“i wanna praise you for surviving your first day on the job,” dr. toyomitsu mused aloud when you both arrived at the bar, “most interns don’t make it to hour ten, much less the whole shift. plus, the way you handled the bus crash cases, i applaud you.”

“well, don’t,” you grumbled, “i froze up when it came to yuki.”

“but she didn’t die,” he countered.

“she almost did,” you fired back with a glare.

dr. toyomitsu’s expression softened, “okay. maybe you did freeze up but what’s important is that you didn’t freeze up for too long.”

“i guess..” you waved down the bartender and ordered a rum and cola. 

“you’ll have a better day tomorrow. i can already sense it,” the handsome doctor commented to you. you laughed bitterly and exhaled, “one can only hope so,” before downing your rum and cola.

“i wish- i wish i could be like you,” you hiccuped, three rum and colas in. dr. toyomitsu, on the other hand, was five drinks in and holding it well. he raised an eyebrow at you and asked, “what do you mean?”

“you.. you’re so confident and cool!” you giggled, “like a superhero! and you’re hot, sooooo hot!”

dr. toyomitsu blushed at your words but he chalked it up to you being drunk, “thank you, dr. (l/n). that makes a lot to me.”

“of course!” you playfully nudged him, “but we’re off- off the clock! call me (y/n)! okie dokie? i’m (y/n)!”

“okay, (y/n). only if you call me taishiro.”

“okayyyyy, taishirooooo!”

time seemed to fly, as you drunkenly interacted with your boss. you weren’t sure if it was the alcohol or the atmosphere but you felt your inhibitions slip away. taishiro had to cut you off after drink number five, not wanting you to get sick from the alcohol. 

“lemme get you a cab,” taishiro took you outside the bar and called you a cab.

“i don’t wanna leave you!” you whined. 

“you’ll see me tomorrow,” he chuckled.

loopy, you grabbed onto taishiro for stability and slammed your lips sloppily against his. taishiro tensed up from the kiss and pulled away.

“i’m sorry,” you hiccuped, tears in your eyes, “i’m drunk.”

“that you are,” he agreed.

“i’m so scared for yuki.

“i know. i am, too.”

a long pause.

“i wanna kiss you again.”

another pause.

“i wanna kiss you, too.”

so the two of you kissed, logic and reason out the window. taishiro’s lips tasted like candy, oh how you loved the taste. you pulled away from the kiss for air and smiled.

“see you tomorrow.”

“see yah, (y/n).”

maybe you two could kiss again when neither of you were drunk.

[scythe-swinging]

Deidara's a matchmaker!? Pt8/9

It didn’t take them too long to get back to the restaurant with Sasori leading them, at least it seemed to take a lot less time than getting there took. Despite this, by the time they got back, Tobi and Deidara were nowhere to be found. They were only gone, what, about an hour? Did they really ditch them that easily!?

About twenty minutes after Sasori had left Deidara looked at Tobi with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “We should leave.” He wasn’t getting anywhere with Tobi’s love life right now anyways so he figured it was time to switch focus again.

“But Senpai- They aren’t back yet!” Tobi protested.

“Exactly! When they get back we’ll be gone and they’ll still be hungry! Meaning they’ll probably eat together, yeah!”

“We could all eat together-“

“They need to eat together alone, Tobi.”

“Why?”

“Because-“ Deidara sighed. “Because it’s a part of the secret mission, yeah?”

“Ohhhh- okies senpai! Let’s hurry up before they get back!!”

“I can’t believe they would just fucking ditch us like that for no reason! We weren’t even fucking gone that long and they just decided they would leave without us!? Seriously!?”

“There was no reason for them to wait for us.”

“Huh- oh yeah, you have that fucking ‘no waiting’ thing- but still- it’s not a bad fucking thing for a friend to wait for a friend – not that Tobi’s my fucking friend but Dei-“ He paused, it finally clicking. “Oh Jashin damn it. I’m going to kill that fucking blonde asshole-“

“They likely finished eating before they left.”

“Wha- of course they did but why the hell does that even matter??”

“We still need to eat and we are already here.”

“Huh-“ Was Sasori asking him out on a- but no- he was just making use of the situation, right? No point in not eating when they were already here, right?

“There’s no reason to kill Deidara on an empty stomach. We might as well eat before you try to kill him.”

“Yeah- I guess you’re right. I never did get to eat my fucking ribs.”

“Then it’s settled.” Sasori stated, perhaps unnecessarily so as he was the one that followed Hidan to a table.

Sasori was aware that Deidara had probably done this on purpose. He wasn’t certain if Deidara knew of his crush or if Deidara knew that Hidan liked him – if he even did but the more Hidan reacted angrily to the blonde’s meddling the more likely it seemed – but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from taking advantage of it.

This was more of a date than their earlier notdate and both of them were acutely aware of that but neither were willing to state the fact out loud.

Hidan was terrified that if he classified it as a date Sasori would know and that he wouldn’t return the feelings. It didn’t help that he wasn’t very observant and that Sasori wasn’t close to many other people. To him, that made it harder to compare the way he acted with others rather than proving that the redhead liked him just due to the fact that he sometimes went as far as to seek him out when he wanted to spend time with him.

For Sasori it was the opposite. He was extremely observant and was suspecting that Hidan felt the same way if not something similar. He simply wasn’t the kind of person that spoke about his feelings very easily – and with how openly ‘not gay’ Hidan was he didn’t want to risk scaring the other off with his feelings. So, despite how much he hated the notion, he was going to bide his time and wait.

“You know,” Hidan said shortly after their food had arrived. “This is actually a lot better than it would have been with those two idiots.”

Sasori nodded. “Despite being with you it’s a lot more peaceful.”

“Yea- hey! I can fucking be peaceful!”

Sasori rose an eyebrow, giving the other a doubtful look.

“I said I could be peaceful- not that I fucking was-“

“And you certainly are not.”

“Yeah, but you fucking love that about me~”

“Strange as it is.”

“I mean- wait- what?”

“We are friends, despite how unpeaceful you are even when I want silence. It’s strange but it’s the truth.” Sasori explained, not discrediting or even commenting on the loving it thing. It was irrational but he loved all of Hidan, he just couldn’t say that yet.

“Yeah-“ Hidan smiled. “Yeah, we’re friends even if we want different things sometimes. It’s a fucking refresher being friend’s with you actually, even with the differences. You’re a lot funnier to hang out with than Dei is, that’s for sure.”

“That’s because he’s a brat.”

“Yeah? And what does that make me?” Hidan leaned forward some, placing his elbows on the table to get closer to the other. He was really interested in what the other would say for more reasons than one.

“…You’re Hidan.”

“What? But that’s just my name-“

“There’s no one word that can accurately describe you, Hidan. You’re name is the closest I can get to an accurate moniker.” The next closest would be crush or hopefully boyfriend in the future but Sasori couldn’t just say either of those.

“Moniker?”

“Name.”

“Why not just fucking say name-?” Hidan asked, confused as to why anyone would want to make things more difficult by having multiple different ways to say something. As he asked he repositioned his elbows, having rested his face in on of his hands and causing them to slip. When he did so he accidently landed his elbow on the little plate to the side he had almost forgotten about – the corn that came with his meal that he refused to eat.

He somehow managed to hit the plate just in the right place to fling the corn directly at his face. “What the fuck-!?” He yelled, quickly getting up and letting the corn drop to the floor. “Fucking bullshit ass vegetable- I’m not fucking eating you!”

“The corn didn’t do anything. You hit the plate.” Sasori pointed out as he stood up.

“Yeah but still- stupid fucking vegetable-“

“Lean down for a moment.”

“What?” Hidan blinked, confused at the sudden change of topic. Did Sasori want to kis-

“There’s corn in your hair.” The puppeteer explained, making an impatient gesture with his hand.

Hidan leaned down, bending his head in Sasori’s direction without thinking. He had corn in his hair and he needed it out. It made sense. That is, until he felt the other’s hands in his hair.

It felt nice, having Sasori’s hands in his hair like that, like it was right. But, well, let’s just say there’s a reason he kept his hair slicked back like that – harder to touch – and if Sasori didn’t sto-

Oh.

Too late for that.

Hidan quickly pulled back, face flushed a deep red at the sound that had come out of his mouth. He hadn’t meant to- it just felt so nice and it was Sasori and- fuck- Sasori-

The redhead was standing there, hands still in mid-air where Hidan’s head had been a moment before. The corn was already out of Hidan’s hair but it was so soft – and Hidan seemed so content – that Sasori had kept playing with it. But then he had just- Hidan had moaned, in the middle of the restaurant, because of him and he couldn’t think straight – not just because he was gay either – he could barely move.

Sasori was certain his face was as red as his hair if not redder and he couldn’t figure out what to say. What did you say when you accidentally made your ‘friend’ moan, when he seemed just as surprised and embarrassed as you were-

“Fuck- uh- I gotta go-“ Hidan managed to get out before he rushed out of the restaurant, in a mirror of the way he had left last time except for different reasons and they had actually gotten to eat this time.

Hidan’s movement was enough to get Sasori moving and he followed, quicker than he was last time thanks to the lack of annoying blondes. By the time he exited the building Hidan was just to the left of the doorway, standing leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

Sasori regarded him quietly, still uncertain of what he should say. He now knew just how sensitive the other’s hair was. Oh, now that he thought about it that did make sense- “Is that why you always have it slicked back like that?”

Hidan nodded, not surprised that Sasori had followed him after what happened earlier. “Yeah-“ He opened his eyes, forcing himself to look at the smaller male despite how embarrassed he still was. “Sorry-“

“I’m the one that should apologize.”

“You didn’t do anything-“

“I was playing with your hair- it’s soft.”

Hidan chuckled, looking up at a strand of his hair that had fallen in his face after Sasori had tussled it. “Yeah, the gel has some conditioning shit in it or something-“

“Or something?”

“I don’t fucking know what it is-“

“I doubt that.”

“Okay- maybe I do- so fucking what? I like to do my hair and make it feel soft. It’s nice.”

Sasori nodded, pleased that Hidan had admitted as much. He really didn’t need the other to since he already knew it but it was still nice. “We should get back to the base. Didn’t you have a blonde to kill?”

“Yeah-“ Hidan started to head back, muttering ‘or thank’ under his breath. Despite his anger at the blonde he had to admit that he enjoyed the time he got to spend with Sasori – even with the embarrassing parts – and he was thankful for it, as long as Dei actually stopped his meddling this time-

First

<-Previous Next & Last->

[their-destinys-writer]

Caged - Chapter 9

Rated: Teen

Chapter: 9/?

Word Count: 9,380

Ao3 / FFnet / Wattpad

Caged Chapter 9 - Just a Friend

Marinette kicked the air as hard as she could. If she could get the cable to budge just a little higher on one of her sides, she could get out.

But alas, she was not successful.

“Marinette!” Chat Noir managed to call, before he had to leap away from the green beam coming from Damage Control. In the process, he grabbed his baton from the ground, extending it once again to block the new incoming attacks.

“This is all your fault, foolish cat,” the akuma accused.

“My fault?” Chat responded, incredulous. “Newsflash, Miss Control, you invited me to your show, withholding information. Isn’t that what they call fabricating a story?”

“You know very well what you did,” she insisted, stepping closer to the cat-themed hero. This forced him to take steps back towards the exit of the room. Chat glanced at the pig-tailed girl hanging from the metal beam of the ceiling with a pained expression.

“I’ll come back for you, Princess!” he called out to her.

“Wait, what?!” Marinette kicked nothingness a few times.

“Ladybug will come soon!” And with those last words, Chat Noir blocked a few more beams from the akumatized reporter and ran out, Damage Control on his heels.

“Chat Noir, come back here!” But it was no use. He was gone. He moved the fight to where she wouldn’t get accidently hurt. She knew that was the reason he did it. Yet it still didn’t change the fact that she was left alone, a cable tied around her arms and stomach, unable to escape to transform.

Well this is just great, she inwardly groaned. She was about to call out her tiny magical partner for help, when quiet steps coming from where Chat had just left resounded. The girl narrowed her eyes towards the sound, until at last, her mother scurried inside the room.

“Maman!” Marinette called, her legs kicking the air again. Sabine looked around until she found her daughter hanging of a metal beam.

“Sweetie!” she exclaimed, already looking for the other end of the cable.

“Where’s Alya?” Marinette’s gaze kept shifting around the room, looking for her redheaded friend. Sabine stopped in front of a large black box and grimaced, slowly turning to her off-spring.

“Well…”

“Mrs. Cheng, where did you go?!” a strange modulated voice came from a nearby hallway.

Marinette gasped.

With her hands outstretched and a heavily pixelated face came Alya, tripping on every cable scattered around the floor.

“Alya, I told you to wait for me,” Sabine scolded the teen as she reached out to her and led them to the large equipment box.

“Marinette’s in trouble, I can’t just wait around,” Alya flailed her arms around, hitting her hand on the large box in the process. She hissed and started rubbing it. Sabine rolled her eyes before focusing her attention on the box’s handle, to which the cable was attached to. After a hard look, she grabbed Alya’s hands and placed them around the rubber rope.

“Alya, I’m gonna need you to hold that very tight,” she instructed. The redhead hummed and nodded in agreement, as Sabine started undoing the knot. Once free, the weight fell on Alya’s hands, making her stumble, to the point that Sabine had to grab her by the waist and Marinette yelped, now several feet lower.

Please don’t drop me, please don’t drop me, please don’t drop me, Marinette prayed, already having enough of falling-on-her-butt the last few days. Prayers that were answered as Alya and Sabine slowly descended her from the ceiling.

“What’s going on?” the designer asked, as the other two started undoing the cable around her arms.

“She’s attacked half the reporters in the building,” responded Alya in that strange, altered voice. “She’s hitting anyone she think’s responsible for the mess you’re in.”

“I don’t get it. Why did she hit you?” Marinette frowned.

“Why do you think?” the redhead crossed her arms.

Marinette blinked. Of course: Alya was a large reason this whole mess happened. First, she gave Marinette the name of The Girl Who Saved Chat Noir. Then, she filmed the second rescue. And finally, she was the one to set up the interview with Nadja. Wait… Is this all her fault?

She shook her head. Like Alya had said before: if she had known Marinette and Chat Noir were friends, she would have been more careful, and even cover for her. The designer was sure Alya would never do anything to hurt her. At least, not intentionally. It was just a streak of bad coincidences.

Besides, Alya was already doing everything in her power to correct it.

“You girls need to hide,” Sabine said, starting to usher them into a hallway. “It’s dangerous out here.”

“What about you?” Marinette turned to her mother, just as the woman led them into a dressing room.

“I can’t sit and do nothing,” she responded. “I may be upset with Nadja, but I still care for her.”

Marinette’s eyes softened. It was exactly what she would have done, Ladybug or not. With one last glimpse, Sabine closed the door, leaving the two teens on their own. Marinette kept staring at it, until she heard an irritated growl behind her.

“This sucks,” Alya was saying as her best friend turned to look at her. She was holding her phone as close as possible to her face, but didn’t seem to have much success in deciphering the pixelated images. “I couldn’t record the fight even if I wanted to.”

The fight.

Chat Noir.

He was fighting alone.

Damn it! She may not be trapped up a ceiling anymore, but was now in a small dressing room with Alya. Who would notice if she suddenly transformed into Ladybug, even with all the pixels. Marinette looked around the room, while the reporter continued to grumble about her situation. At last, the designer’s eyes landed on a small closet.

Perfect to shove her friend into.

“I hear something!” Marinette suddenly gasped.

“What?! What is it?” Alya took a bracing stance.

“We need to get in the closet!” Alya asked what was wrong, again, but Marinette started pushing the redhead into the nearby closet. Once she got her friend in it, despite her protests, she closed it and slid a nearby hair brush between the handles.

“Sorry,” Marinette whispered, wincing. Walking away from the rattling doors due to Alya’s punches, the designer opened her pouch.

“Don’t worry, Marinette,” Tikki zipped out of the pink purse. “She’ll be safe now.”

“I know,” the girl sighed. Almost immediately, a determined look invaded her face. “Tikki, transform me!”

A moment later, she was Ladybug. Immediately, she used her yo-yo to beat one of the corners of an air vent loose. She jumped and grabbed the loose piece of metal to pull it down. At last, out of the way, she jumped and pulled herself up into the air duct. After a few turns here and there, she crawled out of another vent, landing her close to where she had been hanging some time ago.

She followed noises coming from a nearby studio, planning what would be the perfect unexpected entrance. Outside the room, she took a deep breath, and burst through the door. Before she could even utter a word, though, Chat Noir crashed with her, with a loud ‘oof’.

Ladybug groaned under the weight of her partner. So much for being the one to make the surprise entrance.

“Sorry,” Chat Noir said through clenched teeth. “Didn’t mean to drop by like this.”

Ladybug groaned. Why did he always have such bad timing with his puns?

“Less punning, more getting up,” she demanded with a strained voice. Quickly, her partner helped her up.

“Don’t worry, My Lady,” he lifted a hand. “I have managed to keep the akuma at bay.”

As if to contradict him, a green beam shot between them, the two barely dodging it, by leaping backwards.

“Welcome to the studio, Ladybug,” greeted Damage Control with a menacing tone. “Rumor has it, Hawkmoth wants your miraculous. Care to comment?”

“In fact I do,” Ladybug responded with a smirk. “I would like him to know he’s not getting it.”

“How tragic.” The akuma shot another beam that the girl easily defected with her spinning yo-yo. A few more were thrown at both superheroes, which they managed to block all and accidentally made one bounce off a silver object in the studio.

“Chat, go high!” Ladybug yelled. With an ‘okie dokie’ and a two-finger salute, Chat Noir extended his baton to the ceiling and landed on the black, metal beams. This was enough to distract the villain. The spotted heroine swiftly swung her weapon to Damage Control’s hand, trying to grip what she was sure was the akumatized object.

Unfortunately, Damage Control noticed in time, and managed to tighten her grip on the microphone with both hands. The two pulled, while Chat landed back on the ground, slowly approaching the scene. The villain gasped when she saw him get closer.

Without warning, she stepped forward to grab another part of the string, making Ladybug stumble backwards at the loss of leverage. With the new momentum, the akuma pulled with enough force that sent the heroine flying directly to Chat Noir. Their bodies crashed against the wall behind them, leaving them in a mess of limbs, much like earlier.

When Ladybug lifted her head, Damage Control had already untangled her hands.

“Give me your miraculous, and I promise you won’t end up in the evening news,” she warned. Ladybug scowled.

“I don’t know about you, My Lady, but I’m not willing to give up my freedom of speech,” Chat quipped. Ladybug groaned. He really has the worst timings for his jokes. She was about to retort, when a short figure stood between them and Damage Control.

“Nadja, stop this,” Sabine pleaded with a firm tone. “This isn’t you. Don’t do this.”

“I have to!” the villain retorted. “I have to protect Marinette. And our friendship.”

Although Ladybug couldn’t see her face, she could tell her mother had been taken aback. She had no idea how this happened, but now she was sure that her civilian self’s growing bad reputation was a large part of the reason she got akumatized.

The thought was enough to push the heroine to her feet and call on her Lucky Charm. From a swirl of ladybugs appeared a flat, circular object.

“What is this?”

“It’s a light reflector,” Chat Noir responded almost immediately, joining his partner. “We use those at work all the time.”

“You have a job?” Ladybug asked without thinking. It wasn’t common for Chat to reveal somewhat personal information to Ladybug.

“Of course,” he shrugged. He then leaned towards her, arms crossed. “How do think I can afford my good looks?” He wiggled his eyebrows. Ladybug almost chocked at the gesture, but pushed him away with a finger on his nose, nonetheless.

“N-not the time, chaton,” she stuttered. She wasn’t sure why, but her heart started beating erratically. Maybe I’m just embarrassed, she reasoned. Yeah, that’s it. It makes sense that he has a job. I mean, he did say he’s famous outside the mask. Yeah, that was a dumb question. That’s why I’m embarrassed.

But something about that explanation didn’t feel right. A feeling she was starting to find annoying. It felt like she was lying to herself. But that couldn’t be it. It made no sense. It also made no sense why her cheeks were starting to feel warm.

“So what’s the plan?” Chat asked after rubbing his nose. Ladybug used the distraction to shake her head and focus on the job at hand. Her eyes scanned the studio, noticing the other two light reflectors in a well-lit stage. One of which had reflected Damage Control’s beam earlier.

Simple.

“Chat!” she called on her partner. “I’m gonna need you to lead the akuma over there.” She pointed at the stage. Chat Noir nodded before making his way to the villain. In the meantime, Ladybug ran, moving around the light reflectors. When everything was in place, she gave a loud whistle.

On cue, Chat Noir leaped backwards, landing beside Ladybug.

“For a reporter, you’re very bad at keeping your sources,” Chat Noir mocked. “Can’t even get your target audience.”

Biting into the bait, Damage Control shot a beam to the heroes. The two instantly dodged to opposing sides. Ladybug, on her part, rolled to the spotted light reflector, just in time for the beam that had been bouncing from reflector to reflector to reach hers. The green beam shot directly to the villain’s microphone, destroying it.

As per usual, Ladybug caught the black butterfly in her yo-yo and purified it, followed by restoring everyone’s faces to their normal state.

“Bien joué!” Ladybug and Chat Noir fist bumped. The spotted heroine opened her mouth to bid her partner goodbye, but…

“Ladybug!” someone called out from behind them. Ladybug turned to be met by the same paparazzi from earlier: the one behind the costume rack. “Ladybug, are you and Chat Noir in a relationship?”

It felt like every single drop of blood she had rushed to her face.

“Are we what?!”

“We’ve received information that Chat Noir is in love with you. Care to comment?”

Ladybug stood wide-eyed. In love?! That’s not what I said! This paparazzi in particular was already starting to piss her off. What was worse, he seemed to have less of a filter now that she was Ladybug. Her expression turned into a deep scowl.

“An akuma just attacked the studio you work in, and that’s what you get out of it?!” she almost yelled. She could feel her patience abandon her completely, tired of this awful week that seemed to have no end. “Whatever is up between me and Chat, or Marinette and Chat, or Marinette and Adrien, is none of any of you people’s business.” At this point, she started poking the man’s chest. “Stop getting in people’s business. And don’t ever dare ask that again. Got it?!”

The man stared at the heroine in disbelief. But Ladybug didn’t care. The more crap happened to her, the less she cared for keeping her cool. She turned on her heels to walk away, but froze when she noticed Chat Noir petrified, gawking at her. It was then that it occurred to her that she wasn’t supposed to know about his crush on her. He didn’t know he had already confessed by accident a while ago. To him, the paparazzi had just confessed for him.

And she was the one who made it happen. Even if it hadn’t been intentional.

Ugh, I can’t believe I dragged myself into this. That’s like if Chat were Adrien and he was the one who said his own name in Nadja’s interview.

…

Heh, yeah right. Like Adrien would be careless enough to do that.

She cleared her throat.

“Chat Noir?” she called cautiously, taking a few steps towards him. He didn’t move, but she could have sworn she saw the exact moment saliva went down his throat. “Chat?” she tried again.

Chat made a loud, clearing noise from his throat. “Yeah,” he squeaked, forcing him to clear his throat again. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorta… I don’t know.”

Ladybug bit her lip. She couldn’t even imagine the embarrassment her partner was feeling at that moment.

“That’s not how I wanted you to find out,” he suddenly blurted out. Ladybug took a large breath. With a quick glance at the paparazzi, she grabbed the cat-themed hero by the wrist and dragged him away from the unwelcomed onlooker. Once they were out of earshot, she turned to look at him straight in the eyes.

“Chat—”

Beep beep.

A hand automatically went for one of her earrings. Heck of a timing, she internally grumbled.

“It’s okay, Ladybug,” Chat Noir interrupted her thoughts. “We don’t have to talk about it. You have to go.”

She hesitated. Although she wasn’t sure what she could say to him, it felt wrong not saying anything, or doing anything.

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured her, like he could read her mind. “There’ll be time.”

Ladybug sighed. “Could you care for the victim?”

“Of course,” he nodded. Ladybug gave him an appreciative smile. It amazed her how, even though one of his biggest secrets had been outed, he didn’t treat her any differently. He was just as considerate as always. Overwhelmed with gratefulness, Ladybug grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a fierce hug.

For a moment, Chat was frozen. Very slowly, he returned the gesture. Ladybug couldn’t help but frown. It felt…different. Different from what she was used to. Lately, he returned her hugs without hesitation. She even dared to kiss him on the cheek, and he never seemed uncomfortable.

Of course, that had been as Marinette…

Oh.

The second it hit her, she pulled away, her cheeks quickly becoming red with embarrassment. A bodily reaction that was starting to get on her nerves.

“I-I’ll see ya,” she squeaked, accompanied by a shaky wave.

And she ran.

Ladybug reached the air duct from where she came from and quickly made her way back to the dressing room. Just as she was lowering herself, her transformation gave away, making her land as Marinette. Tikki, on her part, landed on her chosen’s shoulder. Marinette silently gestured the kwami to be quiet, as she opened her purse. Without uttering a word, the little being hid inside.

A quick scan of the room confirmed that Alya was still locked in the closet, much to her relief.

“Somebody there?” came her muffled voice from behind the doors, no longer altered. Marinette held back a snort as she gave her friend freedom. The first thing Alya did was pounce on the pig-tailed girl.

“I’m so glad you’re safe!” she cried. “I thought something happened to you!”

“I’m fine,” Marinette comforted. “It was a false alarm.”

Alya pulled away, but kept her hold on the designer’s shoulders.

“You need to stop scaring me during akuma attacks,” she pleaded. Marinette could only give her a sad smile and a promise that she would try. A promise that could barely be kept due to the circumstances. But Alya didn’t know that.

After making sure the Miraculous Cure worked properly, the two walked out of the dressing room, headed to where Chat Noir was comforting Nadja. That was, if glaring at the reporter could be called comforting. What is up with him lately? She wondered, remembering how he almost lost his cool with Charline.

It was then that she noticed her mother was also there, with a similar expression. Now her, she could understand. Their friendship had just taken a hard hit.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she got closer.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Sabine scolded Nadja.

“Maman…” Marinette warned he mother, reminding her that the reporter was as much a victim as they were.

“I’m sorry Marinette, and I’m sorry Sabine,” Nadja spoke with a choked voice, but keeping her eyes on the two. “I should’ve never taken advantage of our friendship for ratings. It was not only wrong, but selfish of me. I should’ve thought about the consequences. I should’ve done my job ethically, and I promise I will never do it again.”

“You realize this is not easy to forgive,” Sabine said, coldly. “I know you got akumatized for your guilt, but I just don’t think that’s enough.”

“I understand,” Nadja softly nodded. “You were right earlier. I sold my soul, and for what? I betrayed you, I betrayed your daughter…” she sighed. “If you let me, I will do everything in my power to fix this. I could give her the interview she deserves.”

“I don’t know” the short woman hesitated. “She’s… She’s the light of my life.”

“I know. I would feel the same if it were Manon. Which is way I can’t let Marinette’s name continue to be dragged through the mud,” the reporter’s tone became firmer. “I would treat her the way I should’ve the first time. I would interview as the hero that she is, and not as the love interest of a superhero. I promise.”

Sabine hesitated. Marinette waited anxiously. Despite going through a lot due to that interview, she didn’t want their friendship to end because of a stupid mistake.

“Alright,” the woman concluded. “But I want to be there this time.”

“Of course,” Nadja assured. There was a moment of silence between the two. The reporter sighed and started to turn away, but was stopped by a sudden embrace from her short friend.

“Don’t ever again give me a reason to want to kick your butt,” Sabine whispered. The reporter couldn’t help but smile. As they pulled away, Nadja glanced at Marinette, who gave her an enthusiastic nod with a soft smile. Making a comment about Manon being in her office alone for too long, and a quick wave, Nadja left the room.

“Well, that was something,” Marinette commented, turning her attention to her partner. But her smile faded when she realized how tense he was. “Hey, Chat, are you okay?”

“Ladybug hugged me,” Chat blurted out suddenly. Marinette frowned. His hands were fiddling with each other, and… Is it just me, or is he shaking? She blinked. Yeap, definitely shaking.

“Oookay,” she drawled, unsure of what emotion she should have. “That’s…nice.”

It was weird.

The silence was not as comfortable as it usually was. It felt like something was being left unsaid, but she couldn’t pin point what it was. What was more, despite her answer, he still seemed shaken, for some reason. It’s like he had just admitted a terrible deed he committed. Why would he think that was a bad thing? Shouldn’t he be happy? Ladybug freaking hugged him.

Wait, she stopped her thoughts. Isn’t that giving him false hope? What am I doing?!

“Adrien held me by the waist yesterday!” The words came out like vomit. She said the first thing that came to mind that could squash that hope. Yet… He has no clue I’m Ladybug.

Even so, it seemed to do the trick.

“Oh,” he whispered, his body finally becoming still. “Uh… boy getting a little handsy?”

He cringed. Yet, it made her laugh at how awkward the sentence came out. So much so, it released some of the tension between them.

“Don’t worry, chaton. He was only trying to stop me from beating up Chloé into a bloody pulp.”

“Heh, yeah,” he released a laugh, but quickly tensed back up. “Wait, why would I be worried?”

Well, that didn’t last.

“Um, well, some guy groping me without my permission?” That was the reason. Right?

Chat gasped and his eyes widened, a clawed hand flying to his mouth.

“I-I’m sorry,” he sputtered, the little bit of his showing skin turning a deep shade of scarlet. “I didn’t think about that. I-I—”

“Hey, i-it’s fine,” she sputtered back. Ugh, what is up with us? Since when are we this awkward?

It was those questions which finally managed to calm her down. Why were they being awkward? This was ridiculous. He’s my friend, I can act like a normal person with him.

“He didn’t actually grope me,” she spoke with more resolve. “He just held me by the waist, no biggie. I-I don’t even know why I brought that up anymore.”

“R-right,” Chat stuttered. Wait, what? “I-I should get going.”

“Y-yeah, I guess,” she responded, still processing the fact the her terribly flirty partner was stuttering. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the thought, and raised a fist, ready to be bumped. “See ya later?”

Chat Noir stared at her hand, some of the redness finally fading from his face. Slowly, a soft smile spread over his lips. Cheerfully closing his eyes, he bumped her fist.

“I’ll see ya, Mari.” Marinette gasped. It had been a while since Chat had used that other nickname. And for some reason, it felt different now. She searched his eyes for a moment, since they were now staring at her with the most tender look she had ever seen. She wasn’t exactly sure about what she was trying to find, but it felt important.

Before she managed to get any answers, though, he pulled away. With a two-finger salute, the leather-clad hero bid her goodbye and left the scene. Marinette felt in a trance as she watched him go. It still felt like something very important was left unsaid, but couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Alya, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Sabine asked with a teasing tone from Marinette’s left.

“I don’t know, Mrs. Cheng. What are you thinking?” Came Alya’s voice from her right.

“I’m thinking Marinette’s room is getting a makeover.”

Marinette’s face contorted, right before she whirled around. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Neither responded immediately, too busy snickering under their breaths. Alya was the first to settle.

“Yeah, she’ll probably be needing new posters,” another snort escaped the redhead’s lips, while Sabine covered her own mouth.

“What do you mean—” but the designer cut her words short, catching on to what they were trying to say. They’re not serious, are they? She thought, incredulous. They couldn’t possibly be implying that…

“You two have no idea what you’re talking about,” she crossed her arms and huffed, scrunching her nose. Her mother and her best friend exchanged looks, holding their giggles. Sabine shook her head, prompting Alya to take a deep breath to control herself.

“Come on,” Sabine said. “We need to get Alya home. It’s pretty late.”

Marinette huffed one more time, but followed her mother nonetheless, her best friend on her side. She knew they were just teasing. It didn’t change the fact that the suggestion was preposterous. Her and Chat Noir? As if.

He was just a friend. Nothing more.

After running through the rooftops for half an hour, in an attempt to clear his head, Chat Noir quietly slipped into his room in the Agreste mansion and released his transformation. Plagg instantly started complaining about keeping the transformation for so long, and in a patrol night to boot, but Adrien barely listened. He was leaning against his large windows, deep in thought.

His heart was still racing, and it had little to do with the extra thirty minutes running around Paris. Despite his attempts, it did little to stop him from thinking about the events of the day.

Ladybug knew. She knew about his feelings for her. Yet, for some reason, it was stressing. He thought he would be happy if she ever found out, but instead, he wished she had never known. And he had no idea why he was feeling that way.

Why did it feel like he had betrayed Marinette somehow? It didn’t make any sense.

It was not like he couldn’t have several close friends at the same time. In fact, he’d never even felt that way when it came to Nino. So why was it different with Marinette? Granted, she knew him differently than his bespectacled friend, but even so…

But why wasn’t it the other way around? Shouldn’t he feel guilty for sharing much more with Marinette than Ladybug? Well, to be fair, it was easier to spend time with his classmate who lived right next to their school than the superheroine who only showed up during akuma attacks and patrols. Patrols for which they took turns, to not overexert themselves.

“Ugh, just tell me what’s eating ya,” Plagg suddenly snapped. Adrien blinked as he looked at the little being cradling a piece of his precious camembert.

“What?” he mumbled, confused.

“You’ve been sulking on that window frame since we got here. It’s annoying,” the kwami whined. Adrien was about to deny it, but ultimately decided it was pointless lying to his obligatory roommate. Who knows: he had his moments of helpful advice.

“I’m… confused,” he released, finally. Plagg nodded, signaling he was listening. So, the boy continued. “I feel…guilty…for some reason. Like I betrayed Marinette for hugging Ladybug and letting her know about my feelings. But that’s ridiculous, isn’t it?”

Plagg blinked. His frown disappeared, and was replaced with a knowing smirk that showed his tiny fangs.

“Ooohhh,” he drawled, like all his questions had just been answered. Which only bewildered Adrien even more.

“Whatta you mean ‘ooohhhh’? What is that supposed to mean?” But the only response he got was a loud cackle from the black being. Adrien crossed his arms. “And here I thought you may actually be of some help. What was I thinking?”

For a whole minute, the laughing didn’t stop. The blond already had half his mind made up on pulling on the kwami’s tail, when Plagg flew up to his nose.

“I saw this coming from day one, and you just blatantly denied it. Who’s talking nonsense now?” he managed to get out between snickers.

“What are you talking about?” Adrien demanded. Plagg popped the chunk of cheese into his mouth, quickly swallowing.

“She’s just a friend,” Plagg imitated air quotes as best as he could, given the little nubs he had for hands. “I knew you’d end up falling for her one day.”

Adrien could have sworn he felt a short-circuit occur in his brain. He had to have heard wrong.

“Plagg, I’ve had feelings for Ladybug since the beginning, you know that.” The stubborn part of his brain took charge.

“Ugh, you really are dense,” the kwami slapped a paw to his forehead. “I’m not talking about Ladybug.”

Nope, he definitely heard right.

“You’re crazy,” Adrien waved a hand dismissively and started towards his desk.

“Ha! You wish,” Plagg followed his charge. “You’ve been talking about her none-stop since you found out she likes you. You even cancelled on Nino a few times just to go hang out with her.”

Adrien stopped on his tracks. He turned on his heels to face the little god, but couldn’t find the right words to say. His mouth opened and closed a few times.

“Yeeesss?” Plagg teased, his smirk still in place.

“I don’t like her that way!” the blond blurted out. “And I have not cancelled on Nino for her. I just… happened to have plans already.”

“With Marinette.”

“Well—!” Adrien tried to retort, but his mind went blank. Plagg obviously didn’t know what he was talking about. Marinette was his friend. There was a perfectly good explanation for cancelling on Nino. And he finally found it: “Superheroes don’t have a fixed schedule!”

He blurted it out with victory, thinking it was enough proof that Plagg was dead wrong.

“I can go out with Nino whenever I want, but I can’t see Marinette whenever, you know? A-and it’s not like Marinette is in her home all the time, a-and I only see her right before patrol—”

“Hours before patrol,” Plagg corrected. Adrien stared. Looking at the kwami, he realized none of his words seemed to be convincing him. Which was annoying.

“You know what?” the blond pointed a finger at Plagg, who responded with a bored what, before Adrien continued. “I’m gonna make plans with Nino for Saturday. Right now.”

Without waiting for a response, he sunk down to his desk chair and started checking his phone, only to see three missed calls and seven text messages, all from Nino. Adrien cringed. Maybe he had abandoned his friend a little. Now the guilt was starting to manifest inside him. Without missing a beat, the blond called his bespectacled friend. It only took two rings for it to be answered.

“Dude! Where have you been?!” Adrien distanced the phone away from his ear. Nino could be very loud sometimes.

“Hey Nino,” he responded, already used to his friend’s exaggerated antics.

“Have you watched iTV today?” Adrien cringed again. He already had a pretty good idea what the DJ was about to gush about. He didn’t watch it, he freaking lived it!

“No, why, whassup?”

“Marichat is what’s up!” Nino responded. Adrien frowned.

“Mariwhat?”

“Marinette and Chat Noir’s shipname!”

“ShipWHAT?!” Adrien chocked.

“It’s been all over the Internet!” Nino exclaimed, oblivious to his friend’s distress. “Except the Ladyblog. Alya hasn’t opened the forums since yesterday. But everywhere else, people are posting gifs and photos of the two. You’ve got mad competition, dude.”

“Why does everybody keep saying that?” Adrien grumbled under his breath. It took Nino asking ‘what’ for the blond to realize he said it out loud. He shook his head. “Nino, he’s not my competition. There’s no competition. Marinette and I are just friends.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” the DJ retorted.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Adrien demanded for the second time that night. From the other side of the line, his best friend snorted.

“Dude, you could not be more obvious!” he barked. “First you got all awkward with her, then you rescued her from the reporters, then you were crazy red when you pulled her from Chloé, I mean, I’ve never seen you seek her out so much.”

“We’ve just… gotten closer,” the model feebly responded.

“Hmm, sure,” Nino drawled. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Adrien spoke again.

“Are you free on Saturday?”

Just like that, Adrien planned his entire weekend, as means to prove to Plagg he didn’t care he saw Marinette or not. But also, to make up for leaving his friend in the dust for a while. Perhaps he could see the designer another time. Maybe at lunch next day.

Yeah. That could work.

Running through a horde of reporters to get to school was already becoming a routine for Marinette. It wasn’t much of a change, since she always ran to school anyway, but now it was like an obstacle course. What was more, the number seemed to have doubled after the previous night’s new discovery.

Everyone wanted to know her feelings on Chat’s love for Ladybug. Couldn’t get more ridiculous than that.

At least Marinette was starting to get a handle on how to get past them. This morning she managed to stumble through the large doors without throwing herself in the school. Even so, she was still late for class. Thankfully, Miss Bustier was understanding of her situation, and her classmates were polite enough to not whisper behind her back, unlike most other students in the school.

At midday, the bell rang, signaling it was time for lunch. Marinette saved her tablet in her bag, and placed it on her desk, waiting for Alya to finish talking to Nino.

“Hey.” She looked up, and her bluebells locked on those familiar spring green eyes of Adrien. “How you doing?”

She gulped. “H-hey, Adrien. I’m alright. Uh… you?”

The boy shrugged, hand tightly holding to his bag. “The press hasn’t seemed that interested in me, for some reason.”

“Oh. That’s—” but her words were cut off by the sound of falling books and papers behind the golden boy. A very flustered Nathaniel shuffled down to the ground, trying to pick everything up as quickly as possible. On instinct, Marinette left her chair to help him out.

“Here you go,” Marinette offered the last book with a warm smile. An action that made the boy’s cheeks become as red as his hair.

“Thank you,” he whispered, so low, Marinette nearly missed it. A tentative hand reached out, but then hesitated. He visibly gulped before he spoke. “Uh, I wanted to tell you something, Marinette.”

Marinette’s head tilted to the side. The boy gulped again.

“I-I just w-wanted to tell you that you don’t have to worry about me,” he got out through stutters. But the words only accentuated the girl’s confusion, so he continued. “I-I don’t have a crush on you anymore.”

THUNK

The book Marinette had been holding was now back on the floor, and her hands clapped to her mouth. Panic started rising in her. She needed to correct the situation!

“I-I-I’m so sorry!” she sputtered. “I didn’t think about how I would be putting you on the spot, talking about you when you were akumatized, and about your crush, and that I never actually told you what happened, and how—”

“It’s okay,” the artist spoke softly, picking up his book and standing straight. “I just wanted to let you know.”

“O-okay,” Marinette lamely responded, as she got up to his level. She started biting her lip for a moment, trying to decide whether to keep talking or not, to which her brain so kindly responded with a yes. “So you moved on?”

Nathaniel shrugged, tightening his grip on the books over his chest.

“T-that’s good.” God, this is so awkward! “Who?” Shut up, Marinette!

But the boy didn’t respond, simply pulling more into himself, his cheeks turning scarlet once again. Without another word, he rushed past her, out of the classroom. Marinette stared after him, slightly worried. Her concerns were cut short, though, by a chuckle coming from her side.

“Are you sure he’s over you?” Adrien was now resting against her desk. Marinette opened her mouth to respond, but was once again cut off.

“He’s over her,” a steely voice responded for her. The two turned to see Lila standing where Nathaniel had been just moments ago. “I’ve seen him draw Ladybug nonstop. Says he would’ve been a goner without her, whatever that means.”

A low groan ushered through Marinette’s lips. Well, at least that’s just a celebrity crush, she comforted herself. It was less complicated that way.

“Do you have plans for lunch, Marinette?” the Italian bluntly asked. The designer blinked at the exchange student. Since when were they friends?

“Actually,” Adrien took a step forward, “I was hoping to ask the same thing.”

Wait, what?

“We could all go together, if you want,” Lila responded with the sweetest voice she could muster, slowly blinking.

“I don’t know how I feel about that. Our last outing was pretty disastrous,” the blond retorted.

“I’m sure Ladybug won’t be there to ruin it this time.”

Never mind, Nathaniel, this is awkward.

“Hey, that’s a little unfair. She apologized for that.”

Wait, how does he know that?

“It doesn’t change the fact that she humiliated me.”

“Please, stop,” this time, Marinette spoke out loud.

“She made a mistake. She may be a superhero, but she’s still human.”

“A very mean human.”

“Guys,” Marinette pleaded, stepping between them with raised arms. The two looked at the designer between them for a moment, before glaring at each other.

“She’s having lunch with me,” Adrien declared with finality, grabbing one of the designer’s wrist.

“No, she’s coming with me,” Lila grabbed her other wrist and pulled, making Marinette stumble.

“Try again,” The hand that had been on his bag strap grabbed Marinette’s bicep and pulled, making her stumble again.

“Gladly,” Lila’s arms snaked around Marinette’s other arm and pulled, making it painful this time.

“Guys!”

“Stop hogging my friend!” Alya stepped up to the struggling trio, fists clenched on her sides and closely followed by Nino. “You’re gonna break her arms.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Marinette breathed as the other two slowly let go of her.

“What’s going on?” Nino adjusted his headphones around his neck, to listen to the conversation better. “Why’s everyone fighting over Marinette?”

“Good question,” Marinette groaned, miserably. She had never had people fight over her. She could understand Lila: she was lonely ever since the Volpina fiasco. But since when had Adrien been so adamant about hanging out with her? Not that it was bad, but it was weird as heck.

“I just don’t see why I can’t hang out with her for just one day,” Lila sneered, crossing her arms. “You guys have had her the entire school year.”

“Well, we don’t think she needs new friends,” Alya retorted, to which Marinette cringed. Never mind. You’re no help, Alya.

“I don’t think you’re the one who gets to decide that. Right, Marinette?”

The pig-tailed girl froze. She could feel the blood draining from her face as Alya, Adrien, Nino and Lila pointed their gazes at her. Despite being in all kinds of crazy scenarios these past few weeks, Marinette hadn’t felt more on the spot than she did now. So much so, that all she could do was laugh nervously.

“You’re not serious, are you?!” Alya snapped.

“Dude, that’s a terrible idea!” Nino followed instantly.

“Marinette, you can’t,” Adrien added.

All the while Lila gave a triumphant smirk. Which prompted a resounding “NO!” from the other three.

Marinette squeaked. In a surge of panic, she grabbed her bag and rapidly started backing out of the classroom.

“W-we don’t really have to decide anything today, do we?” she sputtered, still taking steps backwards to the room’s exit. “Maybe we could just calmly think about it, and maybe next time deci—OOF!”

“Marinette!” the four called in unison the second a tall figured crashed with the small girl on the hallway, spreading a mess of books and limbs on the floor. Marinette sat up and rubbed her shoulder, while the figure next to her was shaking his head. The other four quickly started fuming over her wellbeing, lifting her from the ground.

“It’s fine guys,” she brushed them away, turning her attention to the stranger. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s fine,” the blond boy assured her, rising to his feet. Marinette rushed to lightly hold him by the arm as he dusted off his clothes. With one last headshake, he straightened up, locking green eyes with her. He blinked.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he said in a soft, monotone voice. Marinette was taken aback for a moment, and let go of him.

“Do I know you?” she couldn’t help but ask. It seemed to have snapped the boy out of whatever daze he had gotten into, because he curtly shook his head and started to pick up his books. Marinette promptly helped him, but something kept nagging on the back of her mind. Something about this boy…

“Here you go.” She handed the last of his books. The boy nodded, but remained still for a moment, staring at her. They stood there, until he silently cleared his throat, finally looking away.

“Good day, Princess,” he whispered, and walked away from her.

Marinette could have sworn her heart stopped. Princess. He called me Princess. There’s only one guy who calls me…

A gasp escaped her lips. She turned on her heels and stared at the fading figure of the boy. Of… Chat Noir?

“What was that all about?” Nino uttered, barely managing to ground Marinette.

“A weirdo, if you ask me,” Lila provided.

“Nobody asked you,” Alya retorted through clenched teeth.

The three teens started squabbling, all the while not noticing Marinette’s dazed look and Adrien’s deep scowl.

Adrien had kept his word about not seeing Marinette on Saturday. Instead, he left a note on her balcony saying he’d been busy. Which he had been. He actually had a great time with Nino. A good reminder of why he had considered visiting him as Chat Noir, too, at the beginning.

Even so, he had to admit that he missed Marinette. He wished he could hang out with both at the same time, without having to choose. But that was only possible if she knew he was Adrien, and that was just not going to happen. So instead, he waited until Tuesday, as usual.

Chat stared from far away. He wasn’t sure why he was still standing there, looking from a distance. Something felt… different. He could come up with ideas, but he refused to believe that was it. Yet there was one thought that kept circling his brain as he looked at her: there was something mesmerizing about her standing on the balcony, staring off into the sunset. Something that gave him peace.

Chat Noir took a deep breath, making sure a brown paper bag he brought was well attached to his belt, and jumped across, landing on the railing. Marinette’s gaze snapped up to him, surprised, but pleased, from the looks of it.

“Hey,” he whispered. Marinette gave him on of the softest smile he had ever seen come from her.

“Hey,” she responded.

“Were you expecting me?” he couldn’t help but ask, to which she simply shrugged.

“Think I haven’t noticed your schedule of Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays?” she spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. A wide grin spread over his lips, as his cat ears perked up.

“So you noticed?” He hopped down to the ground to stand next to her. “Anything else you noticed?” He playfully elbowed her arm, wiggling his eyebrows. Marinette rolled her eyes and shook her head, but a smile painted her lips.

“I am not feeding your ego,” she declared, but the amusement was clear in her voice. Chat smirked.

“Poor Princess, doesn’t know she has already fed it without knowing it,” he feigned pity, dramatically placing the back of his hand on his forehead.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Marinette squinted. Oh, this is gonna be fun.

“Well,” he started, bringing his hand down to his chin, “rumor has it you think I’m… oh, how was it?” He smirked. “Handsome in an obvious kind of way?”

Marinette’s face contorted, an eye twitching. It was hard to tell with the setting sun, but he was almost certain her cheeks had become pink.

“Where do you keep getting your information?!”

He laughed. Never would he have thought teasing Marinette could be this fun. A thought that now warmed his heart.

“I told you,” he chuckled. “I have my sources.”

Marinette groaned under her breath. “Well, I also said that you’re goofy and ridiculous, so don’t get your hopes too high.”

“Irrelevant,” he perked up. “You think my good looks are obvious.”

Without even thinking it, he started flexing, to which Marinette responded with a groan, and her head landing with a thunk on the railing. Oh yeah, this is fun.

“How are we friends,” Marinette grumbled, her head still hiding between her arms.

“You know your life is better with me in it,” he responded, without missing a beat. Marinette turned her head to look at him, a mix of irritation and fondness in her bluebells.

“More like complicated,” she sighed. A sliver of fear started creeping up from the pit of Chat’s stomach. That wasn’t bad, right?

“I hope that’s a good complicated,” he cleared his throat. He felt he had enough confidence with Marinette already to know she didn’t mean it that way, but a part of him couldn’t help but worry a little about the possibility of her starting to dislike him. Especially after everything that’s happened.

She raised her brows, almost as if she were reading everything he was thinking. Once again, a soft smile curled her lips as she playfully elbowed his arm, much like he did earlier.

“Surprisingly, yeah,” she whispered. Chat gave her one of his trademark toothy grins in response.

“So,” she continued, “can I ask about the bag, or should I wait for you to bring it up?” Marinette jerked her head towards the paper bag snugged under Chat’s belt. He gulped, but gave her an overenthusiastic smile. He cleared his throat, for what seemed like the hundredth time that night.

“Well, I was gonna wait a few days for it, but I couldn’t help myself,” he spoke as he removed the bag from his belt. This is really stupid, he thought as he hesitated for a moment, a claw tapping the bottom of the bag underneath. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but I kinda wanted to commemorate our friendship, so…” He trailed off as he offered the bag to Marinette, a blush starting to creep up his ears.

Marinette’s brows furrowed while she carefully grabbed the bag. Slowly, she opened it, peering inside. Chat held his breath. This is really, really stupid.

With much less care, Marinette shoved her hand inside the bag, taking out a plastic spray bottle. One commonly used to water plants.

“Watering cans are old fashioned,” Chat blurted out as he stared at Marinette’s bewildered look. “I figured you would like something a bit more modern. And less painful,” he added with a grimace. But the girl kept staring, so he continued. “Exactly four weeks ago, you threw a watering can at me, and I got to know a side of you I didn’t know existed. It was painful, but it was worth it. I know it hasn’t been a full month yet, but I really wanted to give it to you.”

Marinette kept staring, stunned. A reaction that was starting to make him nervous.

“I-I know things have been… messy for a good portion of our friendship,” he started rambling, “but I’m glad it was with you. I mean, I would’ve preferred no mess, but there is a mess, and I’m justgladI’mgoingthroughthismesswithyou.”

Chat Noir (nor Adrien for that matter) was not one to usually mess up his words, but this was one exception he had never realized he was capable of. This was probably one of, if not the dumbest thing he’d ever done. And was then deeply questioning why he had been so sure of it earlier.

A snort distracted him out of his thoughts. The blue-haired girl started laughing before him, in the most carefree way he had ever heard.

“You weren’t lying when you said you don’t have many friends, were you?” her laughs became more subdued, and a hint of sadness sprinkled over it.

“This is really stupid,” he finally voiced his thoughts, cat-ears drooping. “I should’ve gotten you something better, like jewelry or a videogame, or maybe—”

“Chat,” Marinette placed a hand on his forearm, giving him that shinning beam of hers. “Thank you. I love it.”

“Really?” Marinette nodded.

“It’s the most thoughtful gift you could’ve come up with,” she placed the bag aside to the patio chair on her balcony, and tightened her grip on the spray bottle. “And to be completely honest, I’m glad I hit you with my watering can, too.”

The toothy grin was back with a vengeance. Strangely, that was probably one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to him. Marinette hesitated for a moment, but before Chat could ask what was wrong, the girl slowly snaked her arms under his, embracing him in a warm hug. This was something he was already starting to get used to. By instinct, he reciprocated, placing his cheek on her head.

Huh. Never noticed her shampoo smells like flowers. It was a scent that reminded him of springtime, when the flowers were blooming, giving color to what had been colorless for winter. A time that gave him a sense of new beginnings, of growth. It also reminded him of the tiny little bugs that would flutter in that time. Like ladybugs.

“Chat.”

“Hmm?”

Marinette pulled away. Chat Noir tried not to feel too disappointed with the lack of flowery smell going up his nostrils. Wait—

“Uhh,” Marinette shifted from foot to foot. The blond did his best to get his head out of the tiny garden residing on the girl’s head, trying to encourage her to say whatever she wanted to say. Marinette took a deep breath. “I’m curious about something, but I don’t wanna make you say something you shouldn’t. In fact, you don’t have to answer, e-even though it’s not that revealing, but I-I don’t know how you would feel about it, if it’s too personal, or not, or—”

“Marinette,” Chat stopped her. He lightly squeezed her biceps, accompanied by a soft smile. “Just ask.”

The girl exhaled and nodded. “Okay…” Slowly, she lifted her gaze. For some reason, Chat’s heart accelerated. Was something exciting about to happen? And why could he feel a combination of excitement and anxiousness crawling its way through his body? “Chat,” Marinette started, making his heart speed up even more, “have we met, outside of your mask?”

If it weren’t for the fact that Chat Noir could still feel himself blink, he could have sworn he had a heart attack right there and then. Why was she asking that? Did she know? Oh no, she knows. Wait. No. That couldn’t be it. He’d never given himself away. Or was she asking because she wanted to know his identity? But why would she want to know his identity? Now? She’d always been so respectful about it.

“Y-you don’t have to—”

“Why are you asking me that?” Chat Noir cut in. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized his hands were back at his sides, and a tension had begun to grow on his shoulders. At the same time, Marinette was holding the spray bottle tightly against her chest.

“I’m just curious,” she quietly responded. “Like I said: you don’t have to answer. Much less if it reveals too much about your identity. I know it’s important to keep it secret, especially now that we’re in a media disaster. I’m just… curious.”

The boy couldn’t help but feel conflicted. A part of him wanted to say yes, that they met a long time ago. That the first day they met, she probably hated his guts. That she more than knew him, she was in love with him.

But the other part of him could hear Plagg and Ladybug scolding him for revealing his identity to a civilian, who was already starting to become a constant target for akumas. The part that knew it was too dangerous for her to know the truth. That the best he could do for her was say that no, they did not know each other.

But he couldn’t find it in his heart to blatantly lie to her, so he responded with one word: “Maybe.”

Marinette’s eyes widened, as she inhaled a deep breath. Her grip on the spray bottle slightly shifted. Her lips parted.

“Oh,” she squeaked. “That’s, uh… that’s interesting… Cool. I guess.”

“Wait,” Chat frowned, “you think you know who I am?”

“No!” Marinette squeaked once again. Then cringed. “Maybe? I don’t know, I-I could be wrong.”

The girl turned away to look at the setting sun, which was almost completely gone. This was probably the latest Chat had ever stayed over. Meaning he should also go on patrol very soon. But this had just gotten interesting.

“So, the Princess believes she has found her knight,” he teased, a smirk curling his lips. “And who may this lucky guy be?”

“I don’t know, Chat,” she spoke with a firmer tone now. “I have some suspicions, but I’m not going to act on them. I just… couldn’t stop thinking about it, for some reason.”

Chat Noir found it hard to gulp. Ugh, what is up with me?! Why do I keep feeling like I’m about to throw up my heart? He took a deep breath to try and distract himself. With little success.

“Do you want to know?” he asked, slowly. Marinette scoffed.

“Whether I want to or not is not what matters,” she sighed. “I guess I just never thought you could be so close, yet so far.”

They became silent. It had never occurred to Chat how blindsided Marinette was in their friendship. He knew so much more of her than she did of him. And even when he tried to correct that, something always got in the way, whether it was Chloé, Hawkmoth or, most recently, Lila.

“But it’s fine.” The boy’s cat-ears perked up as his friend continued. “Maybe someday.”

Marinette was looking at him again, smiling like the shinning sun. A star that warmed him, especially his cheeks.

“Maybe someday,” he echoed her. “Who knows. I’ll probably be who you least expect.”

“I doubt it,” Marinette snorted. Chat snickered, but said no more.

He stayed a few minutes more, enough for the designer to inform him of coming interviews that week. All in the hopes that, this time, they would not be taken by surprise. By the time Char Noir leaped off the railing of her balcony, the sun had completely set. But he didn’t mind. It was worth it, just to spend more time with one of his best friends.

Friend. Nothing more.