"Fine. How do you explain these photographs?" Nadja Chamack challenged. Up on the screen appeared an image of Chat Noir and Ladybug. It was close up- it depicted Ladybug with her eyes closed kissing Chat who was looking at her in surprise. His lips were black for some reason.
"What? When did that happen?" exclaimed Chat, while Ladybug gasped.
"I was saving you, not kissing you!" she shot back.
Another picture was shown on the screen, this one of the pair embracing while standing on Chat's baton. A third of Ladybug scratching Chat's chin. A fourth of Chat holding onto Ladybug as they soared through the air, being pulled by her yo-yo. Picture after picture after picture. Ladybug denied it all, claiming that they had all been pulled out of context.
Adrien sat in his desk chair and looked at his computer screens. After the events of that night, he had to investigate. He pulled up footage of Nadja's show and skipped to the part where she showed the pictures.
He had no memory of the first picture. His first kiss? How could he just not remember his first kiss? Especially if it had been with Ladybug? It was im-paw-sible to wrap his mind around it. Pausing the video, he turned to Plagg.
"When." It came out as more of a statement than a question.
"Camembert."
"Fine." Adrien went to his personal mini-fridge and grabbed a wheel. Holding out a slice, he inquired again.
"When did that happen?"
"Do you remember when Killigan got akumatized into Dark Cupid?" Plagg asked.
"You mean Kim?"
"That's the b-"
"No cursing!" Adrien cut in as he gave Plagg the slice of cheese. Plagg ate it in a single gulp.
"You didn't know if I was going to say boy or not, but fine," The kwami sighed. Why had he even bothered to learn curse words if he couldn't use them? "Kim. So in the second photo you see you two hugging. Well, you were about to confess to her when Dark Cupid shot you. You hated her."
"I could never-"
"Yes you could. Magic can do terrible things. I could feel the anger, the hate pulsing through your veins. While your heart had not changed, your brain had rejected your love for her. Believe me, yes you could. Anyway, she kissed you to fix it." Plagg was rewarded with a slice of cheese.
"Like the prince kisses the princess to wake her up and save her from a curse?" Adrien asked, citing the lesson he had had that day. Literature class really wasn't as bad as everyone said it was.
"Exactly. You two dorks are made for each other." Plagg muttered.
Adrien fell back onto his bed, deep in thought. Plagg took this opportunity to wolf down the rest of the wheel and hoped Adrien had forgotten about it. It would not be the first time, and he hoped it wouldn't be the last. Plagg didn't even understand why Adrien was so upset about it- it wasn't like Ladybug was camembert. Then, maybe he'd understand a little more.
Adrien was quiet for a while. Missing his own first kiss by not even remembering it- well, that was no fun. On the contrary, it was quite upsetting. Suddenly he sat up.
"I wish I could remember it. My first kiss… and I forgot it. That's like, a huge milestone. It's one you're supposed to remember forever. I can't even remember it months later. Is there any way for me to get it back?"
"I doubt it." Plagg responded.
Sighing again, Adrien fell back onto his bed. Yet another sleepless night was yet to follow.
Meanwhile, Marinette was not asleep either. She had been able to forget the kiss for a while, but now it had been shoved in her face. In everyone's faces. Gosh, if she had been with Alya when that picture was shown, she would have died. Alya had even come up with a shp name- LadyNoir- and many other media sources had adopted it. Still, now everyone knew they had kissed. Yes, it had been to save him. Yes, it had been an akuma-related, saving-the-day kiss. Yet it was still her first kiss, and nothing could change that.
She didn't regret it being Chat for some reason. She felt a sort of betrayal in herself for not wanting it to be Adrien, but Chat was her friend. She couldn't find it in herself to regret anything related to him.
Sighing, she walked out onto her balcony and looked at the full moon, up in the starry sky. Yet another sleepless night was yet to follow.
In Paris, two teenagers spent the night thinking of each other. In Paris, two teenagers spent hours mulling the same moment over and over and over again. In Paris, two teenagers forgot to do their homework. In Paris the next morning, two very sleepy teenagers scrambled to complete it before class- and only got it done due to helping each other.
