Everyone was excited to root for Adrien at his International Tournament, held in Paris. The old class had gotten together to root for him.
It didn't shock them as much as it use to, to see him with Kagami Tsurugi. They had been dating for over four years now and while many girls felt they were a better fit, Adrien's affection for her never swayed. He cheered for her every match.
When it was Adrien's turn to face off against the mysterious USA combatant, he knew he was going to have problems. He had watched the fencer gain momentum quickly in his previous matches. Every time he thought he had the upper hand, he quickly learned he was being toyed with. Adrien had lost his match. It was all up to Kagami.
Adrien cheered from his team's bench as his girlfriend took center stage. It was her turn to face the USA team. Their female fighter was quick and aggressive, but also light on her feet. While Kagami lasted longer then he did, she ultimately fell to their team as well.
Gotham's team from the USA was declared the tournament's winners.
"I demand to see the face of my opponent!" Kagami shouted, as the team tried to leave.
"I want to see my opponent's face as well." Adrien declared, "I'd like to fence again another time."
The two mysterious opponents looked at each other before shrugging. They seemed to have no problem with it.
The tiny female lifted her helmet and many of the Parisians there, were shocked to see Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Her hair had grown out and was pulled back into a fishtail braid.
"Marinette?" Kagami and Adrien cried.
"Hey." she smiled.
"How?" asked Adrien, still a little confused.
The Marinette he remembered was clumsy and while she seemed to be a quick learner at tryouts, she was now on a whole other level.
The other combatant took off his helmet and looked at them unamused.
"I have a great teacher. My boyfriend taught me." Marinette explained, hugging Damian's arm, "We do a lot of physical sports together. I do gymnastics with his brother and we so martial art and fencing was Damian's way of easing me into swords."
Damian tilts Marinette's face to his and presses a soft kiss on her lips.
"You did well, Habibiti." he spoke, "Congratulations."
Marinette smiled before turning away to sneeze.
"We better get you out of your uniform and into warmer clothes." Damian suggested, as he picked up their helmets, "You know you get sick easily in the winter."
Marinette nodded as she followed his lead to the locker rooms.
After a quick change, Marinette ran up to Kagami and Adrien, with Damian in tow. Damian glared at the pre-existing class as they whispered about his Angel. They quickly scattered away from the duo.
"You both are welcomed to come to my parents." Marinette smiled, with Damian's arm wrapped around her, "We were gonna get some hot chocolate."
"I would love to speak tactics with you." Kagami stated.
"Same!" shouted Adrien, "How did you do that three step combo?"
The class watched as Marinette cuddled into her boyfriend's arm as they opened the door to the cold. He quickly took his scarf and placed it over her. They couldn't believe that she was really over Adrien, but it was really visible on her face that she wouldn't want anyone else by her side besides Damian Wayne. He also seemed protective and cared for just as much. Marinette had changed without them and she would continue to do so.
Sabine smiled as the two couples entered the bakery.
"Damian a package has arrived for you. I placed it upstairs." she stated.
"A package?" Marinette questioned.
"It's an early Christmas gift for you, Angel. I'd rather you open it now since we'll have to take it through customs." he stated, leading the way upstairs.
Marinette stared at the long brown box before looking back to her boyfriend. With a nod, she opened the box. Inside she found a katana with a purple Ito silk cord. As she pulled the sword out of the hilt, she noticed the purple color on the blade with apple blossoms etched into the blade.
"It's electroplated, has a full tang, and made out of 1060 carbon steel." Damian stated.
"It's beautiful!" she cried as she placed it back in the box and kissed her boyfriend, "I love it, My Demon."
Adrien glanced over to Kagami who seemed to smile at her friend's happiness.
"Can we see some of your sword skills?" Adrien asked, curiously.
Marinette turned to Damian eagerly. He could tell she wanted to test it out as soon as possible and Agreste had given her that window.
"You can test it better at home, but you can go through the motions as I taught you." Damian suggested.
Marinette kissed his cheek before shouting, "I'm gonna go change!"
Marinette quickly tied her hair into a high ponytail, put on a pink sports bra and a pair of black, high slit, harem pants.
"You can come up!" she shouted, opening the door.
Adrien quickly covered his eyes as he realized Marinette was still in her bra.
"Mari, your shirt!" he shouted, keeping his eyes off of her.
"It's a sports bra, Mr. Model and perfectly fine for working out." Marinette explained, rolling her eyes.
Kagami tapped his shoulder and nodded at him, as she led him to his seat. Adrien turned his gaze back onto his friend as she pulled the sword out of the sheath. They watched as Marinette seemed to dance around her old room with her new blade.
During her presentation, Damian stood up and grabbed her wrist, correcting her, without disrupting the motions. They watched as the couple moved fluidly, as one.
"You have improved." Damian smiled, "We can run drills once we are back home."
"How do you meet between school and I'm assuming you're still doing commissions, Marinette." Adrien questioned.
"Well, commissions take a priority for Mari so sometimes we take a break or if she needs to de-stress, we'll run drills for an hour or so." the youngest Wayne commented.
"But where?" Adrien asked, "Is there like a dojo in Gotham you can go to?"
"Oh, we use the one in the manor." Mari smiled.
"Father has a spot set aside for me." Damian stated.
"Oh and Mari will just go over?" Adrien asked, but he could tell by their confused faces, that wasn't the case.
"Adrien, I live with Damian and his family at the Wayne Manor." Marinette commented.
"You do?" Kagami asked.
"For like, three years now. They're my host family." Marinette answered.
"You think it would be obvious with all the speculations about you being my sister." the young Wayne replied.
"Yeah, well, you certainly shut that down fast when you kissed me in front of all the reporters." Mari sneered.
"They should have listened to me." he stated.
"You could have warned me!" Mari explained, "You kissed me out of nowhere and I was very close to slapping you. We weren't even dating yet!" pointing the blade at him.
Adrien and Kagami watched with interest as they had never seen their friend wield so much anger.
"What did we say about pointing blades at others with hostility?" Damian questioned, frowning at her, unflinching.
Mari glared at him before lowering her sword, "Never wield a blade when enraged." she sighed.
Damian kissed her head.
"May we see you wield a blade, Damian, assuming your skills are far greater." Kagami questioned.
Damian smirked and Mari ran to her seat.
They watched as Damian extracted the blade from it's sheath and maneuvered it gracefully and quickly. Adrien took a peek at Mari who seemed captivated by her boyfriend's ability to wield the blade. He smiled and turned to see Damian point the blade at him.
Marinette began to clap as Adrien sigh in relief as the blade was sheathed.
"I've had years of training with blades. I never miss my mark." the young Wayne growled.
Adrien nodded at the underlying threat, as Mari placed the blade under her bed.
"I would like us to get together and fence while you are here for the holidays." Kagami expressed.
"I'd like that." Marinette agreed, as Damian nodded in agreement.
"I have a dojo as well." the Tsurugi heir explained, "Will you require a certain diet?"
"Vegetarian." they both spoke.
"Are you alright with sushi?" she questioned.
"Yes." they agreed once more.
Kagami nodded as she made a note for her to tell her mother.
"I'll tell Father so I can get the day cleared to practice, as well." Adrien spoke, as he began to text Natalie about his future plans.
"A sword date sounds fun." Marinette smiled in excitement.