Marinette headed for the back door, to walk down the stairs until her phone rang. A picture of her best friend popped on the screen of the smart phone. It was Alya.
"Hey" Mari answered, sitting for a minute on the sofa. She closed a button of her beige coat and fixed her scarf as she held her phone with the other hand.
Multitasking at its finest.
She definetely wanted to look her best today.
"Girl I have great news!" Alya said almost out of breath. She was always energetic, but this time, it was more than usual. " I've been accepted on Pittsburgh university!!" Marinette's smile grew, feeling exited with her friend.
"W-what!!!? Isn't it really soon for them to be accepting people?" Marinete stood up, and looked at the clock on her living room. It had passed almost 40 minutes since she went to shower. If he kept his word, Chat should be waiting for her in the street alley behind her house. She began to hurry up and walk down the stairs.
"I know right?! They know I'm still on 11th grade yet they mentioned they've been reading my blog for a while now and that I have a lot of potential to become a reporter or writter. I'M SO EXITED!" You could feel Alya smiling as she spoke, in the background Mari heard Nino laugh. They were probably in a date, or so Mari suspected. Yet she knew she shouldn't mention it since Alya was still denying that she liked him.
Marinette smiled as well "I'm so happy for you Aly, we should definitely celebrate this!!"
Alya chuckled "We definitely will girl. But hey, I'm not done yet." She cleared her throat. "Marinette Cheng, would you be my plus two?"
Laughing and confused, Marinette walked to the alley, she could see Chat sitting on a corner as he used his phone. It didn't have a case or even a sticker, unlike her phone. But that was good, that way she wasn't going to recognize the mobile.
"Isn't it plus one?" Mari said, trying to keep a straight face in case Chat looked her way..
"I invited Nino too so nope, it's plus two." As Alya said that, Nino said something on the background but he was too far away. "It's for the Winter Ball hosted by the Mayo-"
Marinette's mind was somewhere else as Alya spoke right now. Chat had noticed her presence as she got closer, he stood up and kept looking at her, making her mind get all messy. "I'm sorry Alya, I really need to hang up now. I'll call you later. I'm so sorry I... I.." and before she could make something up, Alya figured out what was happening.
"Sure girl" Alya made a Hmmm noise on the phone. "You've been quite secretive lately, I hope you update me on your boy crisis"
The blue haired girl couldn't help but blush. "Sure..." her voice was trembling.
"Dial me if you need me" Alya mentioned before saying goodbye.
"Thanks, you're the best." Mari hanged up just as she got near him.
The two teens looked at eachother as they met again. This time neither of them were braking the ice.
Chat couldn't help but blush. He was struck by her presence. He looked at her from head to toes. Marinette was wearing her hair up in a pony tail, leaving her bangs fall on her forehead. A beige coat embraced her, with light pink stockings underneith and a white dress that was barely visible because of the coat. She wore beige boots and her usual light pink scarf that matched with her stockings. He even noticed she applied a bit of make up. It made him fluster. It kinda felt like a date, if you ignored the feeling of fear because of Plagg's dissaperance. It did feel like a date.
They both stared at eachother like there was nothing more amazing in the whole universe. Memories of what had happened in Marinette's bathroom struck them both. Thankfully, Chat took the unfortunate event of his mask falling off as a sign. He decided not to get too close to her. Marinette was surely blind not to notice he was Adrien but he still had to be careful.
Braking the ice, he spoke. "Well, where should we start looking?"
Marinette shook her head to get out all of the impure thoughts that crossed her mind and took out the sticky note Tikki, left from her pocket. "It only says Look for the star" so I have no idea." Marinette looked up to the sky. It was getting kinda late so stars were finally visible. "I don't think it has anything to do with the sky... well I hope not." She sighed.
Adrien thought for a while, resting his head against the alley's wall. He closed his eyes to focus more and to avoid looking at her more than he already did all this time. Marinette looked forward to the street, some people passed by but none of them noticed their presence. A Christmas caravan was nearby with some jolly music. The caravan was throwing candy and toys for the little kids on the street. Marinette had forgotten that Christmas was around the corner. In two weeks to be more precise. Unexpectedly, Chat jumped.
"I GOT IT" he said outloud, making Marinette jump along with him.
"A-Are you certain?!" She asked with her hands on her chest, feeling a bit of relieve. She hoped Chat was right because the weight of Tikki's absence was huge.
"Paw-sitive, I'm a genius after all" his smile grew from ear to ear and with all the excitement of the moment, he grabbed her hand to walk towards the destination.
"W-wait where are we going kitty?" She said, blushing from the sudden gesture as she walked along with him trying to keep up.
They walked down the sidewalk as the cars on the street passed beside them, following the caravan in the same direction they were going. "Shush purrincess. Let me be your guide." He looked back and winked. After doing so, he felt incredibly flustered, but he kept walking. He had forgotten he was not entirely Chat in the moment. Not having the costume on made him nervous when he was with her.
She smiled when she heard him. Now, this was the Chat she knew. Before all the drama and problems.
In a quick pace, they kept walking, not letting go of each other's hands for even a minute. As they went on, more people were walking too. Seemed like there was an activity in the town park. Chat pushed gently some people to the side to keep walking on. "Excuse me..." he said from person to person as he walked by, holding Marinette as strong as he could so she wouldn't she be left behind.
"I'M SORRY!" Marinette said to each person Chat pushed to get through. As she looked at the people passing by, she noticed everyone was wearing either ugly Christmas sweaters or they were dressed up in Christmas costumes. Chat actually looked normal with his black theater mask on. His clothes were certainly peculiar to her, but somehow that's who Marinette always thought Chat would be. Some kind of punk bad boy.
The town park was decorated with multicolored lights and full of little shops and jolly people. It was hard to move around the place once they got there. From time to time their hands slipped and they would struggle to hold them back again. Chat decided to let his shyness fade away and he intertwined his fingers with hers, holding her delicate hands more easily. As she felt his fingers between hers, her heart skipped a beat. She realized this was almost like a date. Their eyes met for a second, but they concentrated on the main mission.
"Why are we here Chat?" She was getting confused.
He couldn't help but smirk. "Cheese Christmas festival? Oh trust me, Plagg definitely would want to attend to this. I think he tried to convince me to go once but I ignored him."
"And what does that have to do with a star?" Mari raised an eyebrow, looking how Chat now shrugged. "So you're not entirely sure they're here?"
"I am!... I think." he said full of doubt, making a poker face on Marinette's face.
Before she could say anything else, Chat's phone rang. He looked at the screen without taking it out completely from his pocket. It was his Dad. Why would he call on a moment like this? He decided to ignore it and locked the screen. The phone rang once again, making him worried.
"Maybe you should pick it up." She said calmly as she noticed the trouble on Chat's eyes. "Don't worry, I'll stay right there." She pointed to an unoccupied bench that was next to a bush full of colorful lights.
"Are you sure?" He said as he squeezed her hand. "It's not necessary. I don't want to make you wait ..."
She stopped holding his hand and raised it up to his cheek, getting a bit closer to him. Close to his ear, she managed to say faintly.
"I'll wait for you, always."
He couldn't help but hold her closer. His arms surrounded her body and pulled her against him softly. She gasped but it didn't take long for her to embrace him too.
"We don't ever have to wait My Lady." He whispered in her ear and then bit it a bit.
She hid her face in his shoulder to hide the redness on her face. People passed by and some even commented and giggled at the couple, but Marinette and Chat were on a bubble of their own. Sadly, the phone began to ring once again.
Chat's eyes hardened and he let go of Marinette softly.
"I'll... be right back." He avoided her eyes and took off.
Marinette couldn't help but worry.
Who could be the person calling him?
His dad?
His mom? (sike lol)
An undesirable thought crossed her mind.
His girlfriend?
Shaking her head Marinette snapped back into reality. This was a mission... or something like that. She had to find Tikki no matter what. She was sure Tikki had her reasons to disappear.
Sitting on the bench, Marinette fixed her skirt as she waited patiently for Chat. Around her, people passed happily with their family and loved ones. It was heart warming, December always was. Without noticing, an old man sat beside her on the bench. She curiously looked beside her to see him. He looked asian and had a funny red hawaiian shirt. Giving him a warm smile, she looked forward again, but then she realized... she had met him before.
He was Master fu.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adrien closed the public bathroom door. Luckily it was empty so he took off his mask. It didn't make sense to wear it without her being around anyways. He hid the mask in a pocket inside his punk jacket and took out his phone.
He already had 5 missed calls. Both from his dad and the secretary.
He began to dial his father.
It rang...
It rang...
Beep.
"Adrien" he heard his father answer with a cold tone yet he knew he was pissed. "Shall you explain why you never assisted to the shooting and disappeared from home? You are supposed to go home as soon as you exit the school"
"Dad I-" Gabriel Agreste cut him off before he could say anything.
"Or were you perhaps with that ridiculous friend of yours? Should I remind you of your place? You are MY son. An Agreste shouldn't be seen with t-" Now Adrien decided he couldn't let his father say more.
After all this time, his father didn't trust him. Even worse, he locked him up so many years. Adrien knew his father was trying to keep him safe, yet his way of showing love was toxic.
"Enough Dad. I am tired of this. I'll be home soon. Then we can talk calmly, face to face."
His father laughed sarcastically, almost mocking him. It made Adrien's blood boil.
"I am taking you out of that school. I should have never let you there in the first place." The rage in his father's voice was more visible now. Adrien knew he meant those words.
"Then don't expect me to come home at all." Adrien closed his fist as tightly as he could, trying to control his anger but he was already too deep in.
He continued "You can go to hell with your dreams and job and everything! I am not your fucking employee. All you do is keep me locked in to keep your conscience clean, it was your fault mom wanted to escape and died." A tear escaped his green eyes and he instantly wiped it away. "Could you at least act like a father sometimes and not when it's beneficial to you or your work?"
His father stayed quiet. They both were.
"Adrien.. I-" Adrien hanged up. He couldn't keep up anymore.
Extending his arms and placing his hands on the handwash, he leaned forward. Adrien's head was bent down and his eyes closed. In his whole life, he had never felt a rage like this before, his whole body screaming for a way to take out all of the anger. Taking a few breaths he tried to calm down. He ignored the sound of the public bathroom door open. The music from outside entered the room as well for a few seconds as the person entered as well. Adrien opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror, still ignoring whoever had entered. With trembling hands, he pulled out his mask from his jacket's pocket and before he put it on he heard a male voice.
"Adrien?" The voice was strangely familiar.
He turned around and saw Nino. He wasn't dressed in the casual clothes he always used to wear. He was wearing a white button shirt and dark skinny jeans with holes. His shoes were actually shoes and not vans or converse. And for the first time, he wasn't wearing a snapback. Adrien was surely surprised, but he then realized, Nino must be even more surprised, judging from his facial expression.
"Yo..." Nino managed to say after an awkward silence. "I almost didn't recognize you, bro."
Adrien laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. "Y-yeah. I was in a photo shooting and they had to put this on me. Crazy right? " His voice cracked a bit from the pressure but he tried to act cool. "Same goes for you dude. You look way different than you normally do."
"Yeah. I'm on a date, well If you can call it that. Alya says it isn't but she acts like it is." He sighed. "I don't even know man."
It sounds like her. Alya was definitely someone hard to understand. Although, Marinette was even worse.
"Yeah... man I would love to stay and chat but I have to go home. Dad Is pissed and all of that, you know the drill." He smiled warmly, patting Nino's shoulder.
"Oh, right. Curfew." Nino smiled as well. " Well, I'll prob talk to you later on the PS4. You better log in today!"
Before Adrien walked away he laughed a bit and replied. "No way lover boy, you're on a date. Focus on that. Not on getting home. If you know what I mean." The blonde boy winked, making Nino flush.
"Says the one who can barely talk to Marinette without stuttering." The tan boy laughed mockingly, making Adrien laugh too.
"Touche" Adrien replied one last time and exited the Bathroom. His heart raced hard against his chest. He was glad Nino was clueless and that he never asked too many questions.
Walking back, Adrien waited to be pretty far away from the bathrooms to put his mask on. He felt safer now that he was wearing it but he knew that Alya and Nino would be around the place and that was dangerous. Nino had already seen his clothes, he would surely recognize him if he saw him again.
Once he got near to the bench Marinette was sitting on, he couldn't help but notice an old man beside her. He noticed how Marinette's face was paying full attention to what the man said. Adrien looked at the man once again as he got closer, but he wasn't sure if he knew him. Yet he did seem familiar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marinette noticed two little kwamis in the old man's bag. They looked from there without going out completely because of the people who passed by on the plaza.
"Tikki!" Marinette's worries partly vanished, she pressed her hand on her chest as she looked at Tikki. "Why are you here? Master Fu, what's going on?"
"It's alright Mari, just listen to the Master" Tikki smiled sweetly at Marinnete. She noticed that Plagg, on the other hand, looked at her annoyed.
"Alright." Marinette focused her gaze to Master fu. He had once cured Tikki when she was sick, Mari always suspected he was more than a veterinarian but now she realized that he played a bigger part in all of this.
"Marinette Chang is it?" His voice was calm and soft. It soothed her a bit. Marinette nodded to that. "Seems like I made a wonderful choice for the Miraculous keeper."
Mari felt curious about the comment. Before she could ask, someone said exactly what she was thinking.
"Choose? you choose us?" Chat Noir said as he appeared. Maybe he had been standing there for a while, but she was so worried that maybe she didn't notice.
Fu nodded. "Ah, I see you have revealed yourselves already." He looked at us both. Chat moved to in front of us as they spoke.
"Partly. I mean, it wasn't intentional." Marinette said nervously.
Laughing a bit, Master Fu stood up. He balanced with difficulty and tried to lean on his stick. "It never is."
Mari and Chat exchanged confused looks.
"I apologize if I'm being rude, but we're kind of lost here..." Mari said on behalf of Chat too, who probably felt the same.
"No no no, It's alright. I guess melancholy suddenly hit me. You two remind me of some old friends of mine." His gaze looked forward to the stage that was further ahead. People were reuniting and listening to the host who started welcoming and talking about the celebration. Luckily we weren't that close to the stage, so talking wasn't that hard to with all the music.
Mari noticed Chat's face get serious.
"You mean about the old miraculous users?" Chat finally managed to say.
Master Fu looked at him with a bit of surprise. "Well, yes. I Imagine Plagg must have talked to you about it."
Chat looked down at the Master's bag and glazed at Plagg who looked back at him too. Marinette didn't know Plagg that well but she somehow knew that he was way too quiet right now.
"Only a bit honestly." Chat said.
Master Fu stayed quiet for a bit. He seemed like he was trying to control the pain of his memories.
" I should explain myself better." He took a weak deep breath in. "Now that a year has passed, I am completely aware of how qualified you two are as a team. Your kwamis surely agree with that. Although, I should have expected this."
Still lost, Mari spoke. "Expected what?"
"The feelings." Master Fu replied. The words made both Chat and Mari blush.
Tikki flew to the pocket of Master's Fu hawaiian shirt.
"This is what we have talked to you about," Tikki said with her sweet high pitch voice. "The miraculous user's Ladybug and Chat Noir of past generations have always had a bizarre connection. A connection which only they can understand. Perhaps that's because the powers are supposed to be one completely, but no being should be the holder of that, so in order to work, two partners must act like one whole being. "
Chat gulped and thought a bit before speaking. "Yet I still don't see what's the big deal of revealing the identities to one another. I mean..I suppose that could be better."
Fu laughed as he heard Chat. "So impatient. seems like you learned a lot from Plagg."
Plagg flew up to where Tikki was and hid in the pocket. "I'm not impatient." he pouted. The comment made Tikki giggle, Plagg immediately glared at her.
"Felix... My friend. He was the Chat before you. Many years ago. Before you two were even born. Before Hawk Moth was even a threat." As Fu spoke, Marinette and Chat both paid deep attention to him. "Felix and Bridgette, once they revealed each other's identities, it only caused chaos. They actually knew each other in real life, and none of them was the person who they were expecting. The mixed feelings consumed them both, and in the end that affected their partnership. The enemy at that time took notice of this and decided to strike, Felix died in battle because of the personal conflict between the two of them. Guilty about the event, Bridgette tried to be the holder for both miraculous but madness consumed her. She wasn't strong enough." he sighed. "No one is strong enough for both miraculous."
"And not only them." Tikki began to sound melancholic. "Every user in the past centuries perished once they fall in love with one another. It's a curse. Chat Noir and Ladybug are not supposed to be together. And especially not now that Hawk Moth is here as a threat."
"This is the last of the miraculous's power. There won't be a new generation of Chat's and Ladybug's ever again. All magic has an end.That's why we can't risk it." Plagg suddenly said.
Chat replied quickly and full of hope. "But as you said. All magic has an end. Courses must have an end too. "
"Perhaps," Master Fu said. "I understand how unfair this must be for both of you." He glanced empathetically at both Marinette and Chat. "And even if I wanted to meddle, I can't. I know better than trying to interfere in the connection you both have, but I can at least advise you."
Marinette looked to the ground thoughtful of master Fu's words. She had always known that revealing their identities was a risk, but she never stopped and wondered why.
Why had Tikki always advise her against telling Chat the truth. Why Plagg seemed so worried. It all made sense, and whoever had been Ladybug before her had suffered deeply because of her own mistake. Not only her but Tikki, Plagg and master Fu suffered as well. Probably many more people did.
Chat notice how Marinette tilted her head down, making her deep blue eyes focus on the cement floor. Chat understood what he was being told, yet he had mixed feelings about it. "But we are not them." He said, capturing everyone's attention. "My lady is the strongest and bravest and sadly.." He chuckled " The most professional companion... Way too professional, unlike me." Marinette chuckled as she heard him, knowing it was true. "I'm sure that she can avoid a fate as your fellow friend. And it saddens me, truly. But I know my lady too well, even if she..." he gulped. "Never loves me for who I truly am, it would be alright. We could make it work, right princess?"
She couldn't take her eyes off him. He smiled at her, never letting the negative thoughts consume him. She admired him, she liked him even if she did not truly know him, she could even dare to say she could love him.
Shaking off her naive thoughts, she nodded.
"Are you both aware of the weight of your words?" Tikki looked at them seriously. And both Chat and Marinette nodded in synchrony.
"Tiki..." Marinette's voice was soft and sweet. Tikki flew closer to her. "I understand your pain. I do. And yours as well Plagg." Plag flew closer as well, but warier and with his pout on his face. "Yet give us one more chance to prove you we can make this partnership work. Chat and iI will make it work no matter what."She grabbed both kwamis gently and raised them to the height of her face. "So please come back to us... Both of you." She caressed them both with her thumb, making Tikki's eyes water and Plagg's pout disappear.
Chat got close to Marinette to look at the two kwamis as well. He lowered to her level as she was sitting. Plagg quickly flew towards Chat with his pride a bit more down. "Alright... Fine you punk, I'll trust you. If you hurt yourself I'll kill you." Plagg's little arms crossed again making Chat laugh.
"So inspiring." Chat chuckled. "I won't let you down buddy." Plagg's eyes watered a bit but he flew and hid on one of Chat's punk jacket's pocket, cuddling like he always did.
Master Fu laughed, capturing their attention. "You both certainly are special kinds aren't you? I'm glad we could get to an agreement, I was worried when Plagg showed up at my home. What caused this though?"
Marinette and Chat both exchanged looks, getting flushed. "Just... A misunderstanding." Mari mentioned quickly before Chat opened his mouth. "But... We will figure it out... right?"
Chat nodded. "Right."
Master Fu stood up, using his wooden stick for help. He laughed amused as he understood the situation. As soon as he did, Tikki spoke: "You're leaving already master?"
"Ah, yes. I have some matters to attend at the shop, but any of you is free to pass any time you please." he put his hand on his aching back, frowning from the little pain in his lower back.
"By matters, he means sleeping." An unknown little voice rang but either Mari or Chat saw anyone near.
A small turtle kwami popped from Fu's hawaiian shirt. "Tikki." He smiled at her, she quickly smiled back at him adorably. "Plagg.."
Plagg looked from Chat's pocket and waved his little hand. "No time no see Wayzz!" Plagg's big and cute eyes were visible.
"It's being a long time indeed, I'm afraid I stayed asleep too much time. I almost feel like my master." That made Fu chuckle.
"Ah, your time will come, Wayzz. Soon I'll find you a good owner." Chat raised his eyebrows at those words.
"Wait.. you mean... there will be another hero besides's us?" Marinette asked curiously. "Do you already have someone in mind?"
Master Fu moved slowly to the cement road where more people were. "Perhaps there will be." He laughed. "It is not important now. But when it is, I'll let you both know immediately."
Mari nodded. Whatever he had to do, or planned to do, it was for the best. And like that, Master Fu parted.
Chat shyly sat beside's Marinette, his hand touching the back of his neck anxiously. Plagg rolled his eyes as he noticed Adrien's nervous reaction and popped out of his pocket. "I can't believe you're still nervous as a girl even after all of your confident talk." This made Chat flush.
"Not cool dude." He bit his lip as he looked at his kwami and looked at his side to see both Marinette and Tikki looking at them with amusement.
Tikki interrupted Plagg before he could say anything more. "Come here you dumbo. Let's go to that weird star again."
"Wait you're going again?" Marinette asked quickly before Tikki could leave. "That reminds me... What star was that?"
"WHAT?" Plag said almost insulted, and Tikki immediately shushed him in case someone passing by could hear them. Thankfully almost no one was around since the main activity had started at the stage. A famous indie group was playing their music, and the crowd sang in the rhythm of the song from afar. "You mean that you guys got here without even knowing what the star was?"
"Exactly" Chat chuckled almost proudly. "You are seriously the easiest person to figure out Plagg. Cheese festival? Come on. You've been talking about this for months."
"I feel so insulted. I've been talking about the cheese star for months as well! It's the biggest Cheese sculpture ever made!!" Plagg and Chat continued fighting as Tikki and Marinette laughed.
"And you wanted to come here as well?" Mari asked Tikki, but the little red kwami shook her head.
"No way. It was Plagg's idea to be a bit more mysterious and meet up next to the star with master Fu. But I already knew it wouldn't work so we ended up looking for you both after we called Master." Marinette couldn't help but laugh at Plagg's dumb plan. "Come on Plagg. Let's go and look at the cheese ball." Tikki quickly flew and grabbed Plagg by his little tail, pulling him along with her.
"It's a STAAAAAAR." both Chat and Mari heard Plagg say as they disappeared into the distance.
And just like that, the goofy vibes were gone and everything became slowly more awkward. The same way it always was between them. Mostly because their mutual craving of just making out already.
"So..." Chat said as he looked at Marinette who began to seem as nervous as him.
"so..." She repeated, smiling.
A few minutes passed, as Marinette tapped the wooden bench with her fingers and Chat crossed his arms and moved his legs.
"Look, Marinette." Chat broke off the silence. Still having his arms crossed but his eyes looked forward this time, unable to look at Marinette in the eyes because his hormones would suddenly kick in and screw everything up. " I need to apologize to you. Properly apologize to you... I was a dick. I shouldn't have disappeared on you, ever. I just..." he gulped remembering her words.
What if I feel that same feeling for two people at once?
Those words made him dizzy. It made him scared like a child. Yet he couldn't let it terrify him now. Whoever Marinette loved wouldn't change his own feelings, there was no going back for him now.
He loved her.
"I let the fear of you not... Loving me make me scared. Marinette... It's okay if you don't feel the same but I..." He gulped and brought up courage for him to look her way. She looked at him completely, fully Into his words. Her eyes shinned, and Chat wasn't sure if it was because of the lights that surrounded them in the part or something else. he uncrossed his arms and carefully moved his hand towards hers, laying it on top. Her skin was soft, way too soft. It made him crave more than her hand, it made him want to pull her closer and kiss her completely. It made him want to feel her completely. Of showing what he meant in actions rather than words. "I.. I lov-"
A female voice interrupted them. "Marinette?"
As soon as the both of them looked forward, Chat immediately pulled his hood up, covering his blond hair. He quickly noticed another figure along with the girl.
It was Alya and Nino.
Chat quickly separated his hand from hers, and Marinette stood up nervously, trying to control the blush from her face. She couldn't let Alya too close. If anyone could notice he was Chat Noir, it would be her.
"h-hey?!" Marinette walked towards her friend "H-hey how are you?" Alya chuckled as she noticed something weird going on, yet she continued the small talk.
As the girls spoke, Nino raised an eyebrow and looked at Adrien who sat on the bench, quickly noticing he still wore the odd punk clothes. In Nino's eyes, Adrien looked weird, he would've never recognized him before if he had been wearing that weird mask and had his hoodie on at the bathroom.
Making sure Alya or Marinette wouldn't notice, Adrien pointed to his own phone. Thinking for a bit, Nino understood. They sometimes did that in class, whenever they needed to talk about someone who was around but they couldn't because they would surely hear them. So Nino took out his Iphone and checked the messages.
ADRIEN (9:24PM): DON'T EVEN MENTION MY NAME BRO
ADRIEN(9:24PM): I know how weird this must seem but P L E A S E...
ADRIEN(9:24PM): Don't let them know that this is me.
Puzzled, Nino looked ahead at Adrien who glanced at him and moved his foot nervously. Before he could type back, Alya said something...
"Right Nino?" Alya looked at him, waiting for his response on whatever she was telling Marinette.
Confused, he looked at the tanned girl who had her hair on a beautiful messy braid. "Uh..?" he wasn't sure what she was asking him but he nodded.
"And then the host had to pause the concert because someone had eaten half of the cheese star" She laughed, making Marinette laugh along with her nervously, also trying to keep up with the conversation but she gazed back at Chat every 5 seconds.
NINO(9:25PM): BRO! Don't tell me that....
NINO(9:25PM): Are you really fooling Marinette???? What are you thinking??? We spoke about this bro, Marinette will accept YOU.
ADRIEN(9:26PM): Dude I promise you I will explain to you later. But please just take Alya away. And don't even think of telling Marinette anything, please. It's really complicated I am not doing this out of pleasure.
NINO(9:26PM): Then why are you? Bro I don't know what kind of mess are you into but please just clean it up.
NINO(9:26PM): Wait...... Are you.. THE MYSTERIOUS MAN? Dude that's fucked up
ADRIEN(9:27): ddude.............. please.
Alya looked behind Marinette, to gaze at the man who sat on the bench, fully concentrated on his phone. "Mari...." She said in a low tone. "Is that who I think it is?" She sounded worried. "What kind of guy is he?"
Marinette gulped. She was aware of how fishy Chat seemed with all that punk clothing and chains and combat boots and even that mask and hoodie. Marinette tried to think up the words on her head but she did not know what to say.
"C-come on Alya, we should get going home..." Nino spoke, strangely nervously. "I kinda have a curfew."
Alya looked at Nino confused, her right hand now in her hip. "Didn't you say you didn't have a curfew today?"
He laughed nervously, and so Marinette quickly had an idea. "You know what, I should be going too. Dad wants me to help him out at the store and I can't stay here too long."
Alya now looked at Marinette with a soft expression. "Ah yes, I getcha girl." It was amazing how understanding she was being tonight. "But... Be careful okay? I'm not sure I like mister Falling in reverse over there." she pointed out at Chat. as he looked up from his phone, he quickly noticed Alya's finger and smiled widely at them, showing his teeth with his cat smile. Before Alya could keep analyzing the boy, Nino grabbed Alya's hand, making her flush. "w-wha.." She looked at him confused.
"Let's go Aly..." he said warmly at her and she nodded, being completely quiet about it.
Marinette had never seen such a soft side on her best friend's attitude, but she was glad that it showed now. Normally, Alya would've asked Marinette to present her to Chat and would've continuously kept asking questions.
Nino felt flushed as he grabbed Alya's hand tightly, but he pulled her away, leaving Marinette and his best friend Adrien behind to whatever mess he had gotten into.