They're never in the same room. Going in for her daily glimpse of Adrien on break yielded mixed results. his usual table met an empty spot, limo unseen, and finally she found Nino; jaw slack, eyes on the nearest corner.

Marinette, back to the wall, took wide sidesteps up to him. Whispering, "where's Adrien?"

He jumped. "Dude!"

"Sorry."

"Anyway..." Nino jabbed his thumb at said corner. "Craziest thing, he was asking about—" and he fumbled his words. "Anyway, anyway! My dude straight up darted." Lifting a sandwich, he shrugged. "Not abandoning this, so he's on his own."

"Thanks!" Waving goodbye, she cautiously rounded the corner, catching the tail end of him going through to the back of the school. Somehow it reminded her of pet stories. How they can differentiate footsteps, because there's no way he could hear her coming. And although it feels like a pinpoint precision of his departure, there's no way he's abandoning all the usual spots to avoid her. Right? Right?

Marinette caught the tail end of an aggressive, "you!" when she neared.

Proceeding with caution, and poking an eye around the corner, there were two older students and Adrien. The latter pressed against the wall by the shoulder, and how dare they.

She saw red— because Tikki urged her to get a teacher.

But they were spewing anger, something about Adrien being a model, and something about a girl and a crush, and when a fist rose into the air, Marinette acted.

She switched on the sprinkler valve with a flick of the wrist mid run. Water flung at the two. They cursed, distracted. Meanwhile, with Adrien's eyes still clenched shut, she dashed between to grab his arm. He flinched.

"Move!" she urged, going ahead, pulling him along.

Although the droplets flying into their eyes made it hard to focus on the path ahead.

"Hey!"

Oops, haha, so they noticed he left.

As soon as they slipped by a corner, she yanked him into a closet. Around their pants the footsteps outside passed them by.

Marinette cupped her forehead, recounting what of her life flashed before her eyes. "Oooh boy I'm crazy."

Meanwhile, dripping-like-a-fricken-model Adrien, stared in awe. "You're amazing."

Dripping... wet. "OhgodI'msorry!" Marinette grabbed at the paper towels behind him, passing them over before she realized her mistake. The smell filled her nose, and her head hit his shoulder, content to breathe in the lingering yarrows.

"So, is there some secret to that swift rescue? Did you attend hero school as a kid?"

Marinette lazily smirked, leaning back enough to airily question, "you wanna know my secret?" And Déjà vu, Adrien discovered, can hit like a freight train. "I'm Chat Noir."

His eyes widened a second before falling flat. "How did I almost believe you?"

Marinette tilted her head up, lingering against his chest as her eyes whispered promises. Promises of yesterday, new promises, promises that put his imagination to shame. His pulse thrummed in anticipation. And when she took a second too long, he took the initiative.

Only to be interrupted by the bell.

"Oh darn," she huffed, breath hitting his lips. Falling toward the door, she caught herself on the knob. Turning it and shaking her head, they found the halls to be empty. "We're late."

He scratched the back of his head. "Wh-what's a second longer then?"

She chuckled into her hand, grabbing his wrist. "Commere you."

Adrien visibly deflated. And along the way couldn't help but notice the heat in her gaze, the lingering touches, and she might be driving him mad. It's when they actually got to the classroom door that she paused. Taking his hand in hers, she press her lips to his knuckles.

"Purrhaps another time, my lord."

Oh that's it.

Adrien swiped at her, and Marinette ducked with far more accuracy than he gave her credit for, into the classroom.

He dropped his head back in defeat, growling through clenched teeth.