#not very happy with marinette but WHATEVA

[carpetbug]

having a wee bit of a style crisis so enjoy some little feline blue doodles while I try to get my shit together <3

[lanthimo]

I wrote this, like, in 20 minutes for this comic by @chataclysmes (because it’s so cute and amazing!) English isn’t my first language and this fic is a huge mess but whateva

Word Count: 1787

Kagami was mindlessly scrolling through her phone as she waited for Adrien to join her for lunch. They were spending most of their lunch times together since Kagami was transferred to their school and even Nino joined to them sometimes. Kagami liked the other boy more than she expected to, considering how different they were. However, Nino Lahiffe was a really nice guy and Kagami could understand why Adrien was so enamoured with the young DJ. It was clear how much Adrien loved Nino, considering the dark-skinned boy was almost all Adrien loved to talk about. Also, they, Nino and Kagami, had one common interest: Chat Noir. Nino was totally gay for the black clad hero and even his girlfriend, Alya, was encouraging her boyfriend’s crush. Nino would show her silly Chat Noir memes during lunch time and Adrien would sigh really loud, fully focusing on his lunch and completely avoiding them.  

“Hello!” Kagami looked up from her phone and saw Nino’s girlfriend, Alya Césaire, standing in front of her table with a way too innocent looking smile on her face. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was standing behind her with a frustrated expression. Kagami was surprised by how nice Marinette was. Kagami noticed her huge crush on the blond boy right away after meeting her. She was confused at first, because like many other people, she assumed they were dating and after seeing how depressed Adrien had been lately, she thought Marinette broke her friend’s heart. She was also expecting another Chloé incident where she had to pull off her ‘Ice Queen’ act to scare off the blonde girl after spending so much time with Adrien and automatically making Chloé jealous. The difference was, of course, Marinette’s feelings were genuine. She really loved Adrien and it was so obvious that Adrien’s blindness even annoyed Kagami at some point. On the other hand, Chloé's clinginess was due to her fear of losing her best and most important friend. She couldn’t understand that Adrien having other friends didn’t mean he didn’t care about her anymore. Chloé was a very possessive person clearly and Adrien defended her by saying that her mother leaving her at a very young age made her that way. She respected Adrien’s opinion and his friendship with Chloé but she was still not a big fan of the blond girl.  

“Hello?” She answered, not coldly but more like discreetly. Alya pushed her glasses up her nose and Marinette made a weak sound of frustration. Now, Kagami was curious.  

“I have been checking my blog and I noticed that, lately, you have been really active on my blog.” Alya said with a bright smile on her pretty face. 

“Yes, you are doing a great job with that blog.” She appreciated Alya’s boldness, her courage and hardwork.  

“Thanks!” Alya looked at Marinette and grinned as the thin girl avoided her gaze, her bright blue eyes running around the cafeteria. Kagami raised an eyebrow at their strange behaviours. “I was wondering... Since you seem like a huge fan of Chat Noir...”

“He is cute.” She claimed with a small smile on her face. She wasn’t one to hide her attraction or affection. It was something that made most people admire her.  

“Yeah, especially in that leather suit.” Alya winked at her playfully as both girls giggled. Marinette groaned again and hid her face behind her delicate hands, cheeks reddening slightly. “So, have you thought about the boy behind the mask?”

“What?” Kagami was surprised by Alya’s question.  

“You know,” Alya bit her lower lip and leaned forward as she was sharing a huge secret, “his secret identity.”

“Oh.” Because Kagami thought about it once. But it wasn’t like she was curious about who was behind the mask. It was more like, wondering who was brave enough to put their lives in danger in order to protect complete strangers every day. Also, who was crazy enough to pull reckless stunts like that.  “I don’t know.”

“Because I have a theory.” Alya added quickly, her excitement was clear on her face. She pulled one of the chairs and sat down next to Kagami while Marinette was still standing behind her shyly. “Do you want to hear it?” Kagami shrugged.

“Sure.”

“Alya, why?” Marinette whined weakly. Alya waved her off with a hand gesture and pulled her phone out from her pocket. Kagami eyed her phone curiously as Alya opened the gallery.

“Look at this photo.” She handed her phone to Kagami. Dark haired girl held the phone in her hand and looked at the screen curiously.  

“It’s a photo of Adrien?” She said with a puzzled expression. Alya smirked at her, reaching forward to swipe the photo.  

“And now?” It was still a photo of Adrien. The same photo actually. Except Alya drew cat ears, black suit, a bell and belt tail on him with the help of a paint app on her phone. It was obvious that she put so much work into this ‘masterpiece’. Kagami looked at the screen for a minute, processing slowly. She raised her head to look at Alya when she spotted her friend who she was waiting for in the first place.

Adrien entered the cafeteria alongside with Nino and, surprisingly, Chloé. Blonde girl was rolling her eyes at something Nino said and mumbled something that clearly didn’t annoy Nino that much. He laughed instead. Adrien had a happy look on his face. He loved it when all his friends got along well. He hated the drama.  

Kagami looked at him. Truly looked at him. It felt like she was seeing him for the first time. She tried to imagine him in a skin-tight leather suit with cat ears and a tail. She could shrug off the physical similarities between them. So, what? They both had blond hair and green eyes. Maybe green eyes were rare but that didn’t mean Adrien was Chat Noir.  

No, what truly opened her eyes was that specific moment. Kagami was used to Adrien’s puns. They were terrible but they were a part of him and she truly loved her friend. She wouldn’t try to change him for being a dork. But seeing him clearly making one of his terrible puns with a very Chat-like grins on his face, making Nino laugh as Chloé facepalmed was... it was like a slap in the face.  

She was floored by the new suspicion that was growing inside of her.

And it was all Alya’s fault.  

“So,” Alya said with wide eyes and sly grin. “What do you think?”

“Kagami, please.” Marinette pleaded softly. “Please tell Alya she is making no sense. There is no way Adrien is Chat Noir. It’s impossible.” She sounded like she was talking to herself but both Alya and Kagami were so focused on each other that they missed it. “She is obsessed with this idea.”

“Because it makes perfect sense!” Alya defended herself. “Adrien is an athlete. He is already fast. And he is a fencer. His skill sets match Chat’s perfectly. Also, he is never around during an akuma attack.”

“Because he is a very busy person.” Marinette complained. “His father always freaks out when he’s around during an akuma attack. Also, didn’t Chat and Ladybug saved him once?”

Kagami turned her sharp eyes to her blond friend again. Adrien was walking toward their table as Chloé clearly complained about something before leaving their side to join Sabrina. She considered the possibility of Adrien being Chat Noir. She also considered her own interest in black clad hero. As Alya mentioned when she first came to her, she was watching a lot of Chat Noir videos on Ladyblog lately. After Chat Noir saving her from a Prospero themed akuma last month, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. There was something fascinating about Chat Noir. Maybe it was his fighting style. Too dangerous, too different and reckless for Kagami ‘always calm and in control’ Tsurugi. Maybe it was his stupid smile and his light-hearted attitude. Maybe it was his courage. Maybe it was the way he secured her against his chest as he covered her from akuma’s attack with his own body and looked at her with those wide cat eyes as he asked if she was alright.  

Well, even if it was just a suspicion, as a friend of his, it was her responsibility to protect his secret identity. No matter how cool Alya was, Kagami couldn’t trust her with this kind of information. Maybe Adrien wasn’t even the unlucky hero of Paris. Maybe they were all being silly. But she couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t risk Adrien’s life. She couldn’t risk Chat Noir’s safety.  

She turned to Alya with her best poker face and shrugged, trying to look apologetic.

“Sorry, Alya. I agree with Marinette. I can’t see it.” Marinette smiled at Kagami warmly, almost like she was thanking her for the support. Kagami didn’t understand why Marinette was so defensive about this. Maybe she didn’t like the idea of the boy she loved running around the city in a leather suit, risking his own life almost every day. She was clearly a very sensitive and caring person. She was probably worried about the young model.  

Alya pouted at her phone as Marinette grabbed her arm and pulled her on her feet. She waved at Kagami sweetly before thanking her.

“Thanks, Kagami. Sorry for your taking your time.” Kagami shrugged again.

“No problem. I wasn’t doing anything important.” She looked after them for a second. They were clearly discussing something that ended with Marinette facepalming and Alya waving her arms around. This brought a small smile to Kagami’s face. Both girls were so different from Kagami herself. Yet, they considered her a friend and accepted her right away when Adrien introduced her to his friends. She never felt a need to have so many friends before. She liked to be alone. But she was happy to be their friend.  

“Hey!” Kagami looked up and meet Adrien’s bright green eyes and smiling face.

“Hi.” She greeted back absent-mindedly.  

“What were you guys talking about?” He asked, sitting down next to her. She eyed him for a moment. Could it be? Could her friend be Chat Noir? Alya was right about Adrien never being around during an akuma attack. But Marinette was also right about Gabriel being a control freak. Alya was right about Adrien having the right skill sets to be Chat Noir, too. But what did this mean for them? For their friendship. Or Kagami’s own feelings. “Kagami?” Adrien was looking at him with worry in his wide eyes. She shook her head slightly and shrugged. These thoughts could wait until she was alone.  

“Nothing. It was nothing.”