Miraculous Games

Chapter Twenty-Three

The battle they needed to win now, though, was beating the sickness they both had caught.

Shivering, Marinette bunched Nathanael's jacket in her fists. Fox lifted a hand and brushed her bangs away from her face. It was so odd to see her with short hair, but he had slowly gotten used to it the more they spent time together. It almost fit her better. If anything, it would be a token that she could keep after the games. He wondered if she would grow it back out or keep it the way it was.

Moving his fingers from her hair to feeling her forehead, he bit his lip with worry. She was still running a fever. There had to be some way that he could help her body break it...

Before he could move, Marinette moaned. Her heavy eyelids lifted and she dully stared at Nathanael. He gave her a small smile and brushed her cheek.

"Hey there, Ladybug. Nice to see that you're awake."

She scrunched up her nose and sniffled. Almost instantly afterward, she broke into a coughing fit. Nathanael placed a hand on her back, letting her catch her breath before he helped her up into a sitting position.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm already sick so it doesn't matter."

Marinette gave him an apologetic smile before slumping back against the rock wall. "Has Chat turned up yet?"

"No, not yet."

She bit her lip and played with the ends of her chopped hair. "He should have been here by now... This will be the third night he's missed. Do you think he's okay?"

Nathanael shrugged coldly. Why did she care so much about that stupid cat? Sure, he was helpful and all, but it wasn't like he could win the games for them. Besides, even if Marinette had kissed the ugly kitty, that didn't mean he couldn't make them win the games.

"I bet he's fine. Probably just taking a stupid cat nap."

Marinette shot him a glare. "I doubt it's that." She rubbed the back of her neck as she said, "I hope he hasn't gotten himself into trouble... Do you think he's been captured?"

He shrugged again. "Not like it would matter."

"What is wrong with you?" she snapped. "He's helped us this whole time and you're treating him like one of our enemies."

"Well, it's not like we know who he is. For all we know, he could be. Maybe he's like Raven, ready to stab us in the back as soon as we turn around."

Marinette gaped at him in shock, then her expression hardened. "Chat would never do that."

Fox scoffed and folded his arms. "It's not like we can prove anything until it happens."

Ladybug scowled. "I think you don't like him because of our relationship, is that it?"

Nathanael's ears went pink. He frowned at the floor, his eyebrows furrowed.

"No."

"Yes," Marinette argued. "You don't like him because I'm close to him, am I right?"

He was silent, and that was enough of an answer to satisfy her question. Marinette sassily blew her bangs out of her eyes. "It really isn't that big of a deal. He's just a friend."

"Then why did you kiss him?"

Marinette froze. Had he just played that card? Yeah, he did, and Nathanael wasn't going to take it back.

"How... how did you know that?" Ladybug asked quietly.

"Because I saw it. I was there, but it wasn't like you were going to notice me. You were too busy running your fingers through his perfectly cut hair." He turned his angry glare on her. "I thought we were in this together."