So in almost every fandom I join I end up starting a collection of one-shots. So that's what this is about to turn into. This is totally, completely unrelated to the first chapter. Any chapters in here will be unrelated one shots. One shots are so fun! This one's super short, but I assure you that due to the hyper-accelerated rate at which I've been sucked into this sinful fandom, there will assuredly be more.

Anyway, enjoy.

...


A Thousand Times Before


As he walked away from Marinette, Adrien clutched his copy of the latest Jagged Stone album to his chest, fighting the urge to cackle with delight. He still couldn't believe he personally knew the artist who had designed the cover! When he'd heard about it secondhand he had sprinted all the way back home for his copy and all the way back. Even when he was a decaying old man this was still going to be his most treasured possession, he just knew it. Sure, he'd met famous people before, had plenty of things autographed, even had autographed items gifted to him… but there was something special to be said for receiving an autograph from a friend. Now whenever he looked at the framed album cover (because how could he not frame it, honestly) he wouldn't just see the art or the autograph. He would see Marinette, his talented friend.

Across the courtyard Nino was talking to Kim and Max as he waited for Adrien to return from his mission. Adrien waved and put a skip in his step as the warning bell rang, indicating class would begin soon.

He was eternally grateful that she'd taken the time to sign his album. He himself simply abhorred giving autographs. But then again, that was because he had to give them all the time and after awhile it grew debilitatingly tiresome and repetitive. Although, he may have to revisit that stance now that he'd finally experienced the feeling of receiving a desperately desired autograph. How could he deprive a fan of that? Even more thankful that she'd helped him see from the other side of the pen, he swiveled around to wave at her one more time.

Marinette was still standing frozen in the same spot, and flushed when he turned around before waving meekly back at him. He couldn't help but smile. To be honest, her reaction had caught him a little off guard. She'd been surprised when she first realized he wanted her signature, and not Jagged Stone's, which was understandable. But then… she had accepted the pen with dignity and signed in one swift flurry of motion while keeping total eye contact with him, never once even looking down at the paper. Kind of odd. It reminded him of…

Huh.

From the edge of the courtyard Nino was frantically urging him to hurry, lest he be late, and let out a frustrated huff when Adrien slowed to a halt still ten meters away. A very weird thought had occurred to him, settling in his brain like wet concrete and trickling all the way down to his toes. Marinette had signed her signature in the exact same manner he always signed his. Quickly and easily, absent-mindedly and second-naturedly. Like she'd done it a thousand times before.

That didn't make sense. Marinette wasn't… Why would she have experience signing autographs?

The way she'd flashed the pen across the paper, the one smooth swoop followed by the quick succession of short, sharp jabs… It tickled a memory at the back of his brain. It reminded him of something.

"I'll see you in class, bro," Nino called out as Adrien continued to stand stock still, hand on his chin in deep concentration. "I'll just tell them you turned into a zombie, then, right? Okay. Okay… bye…"

Adrien didn't even hear Nino, or see him leave. After another moment he was totally alone in the empty courtyard, trying desperately to put his finger on the fleeting rush of familiarity he felt whenever he thought about that sequence. The swoop and the short jabs, the confident smile that replaced her uncertain one as she wrote… Why was it familiar?

Ugh. It wasn't! He was being stupid. It was just a simple autograph.

Shaking it off, he opened his bag and tucked the album gently inside, making a second mental note to have it framed later tonight before the corners got nicked. But as soon as he pushed it in, there was an equal and opposite force shoving it right back out into the air. "Woah, woah, woah, what is this?" Plagg hissed.

Adrien glanced around before pushing back against his kwami. "Plagg, stop it, I have to go to class."

But the little black kwami was eerily strong for his size, and ripped the album from Adrien's grasp, then flew upward to hold it in front of his face. "You gonna explain this or not, lover boy? I thought I said you guys weren't allowed to know each other's secret identities!"

"What? Secret iden...oh." Shock whipped through Adrien's chest as his eyes finally focused on the album cover. For all his excitement over getting it signed, he'd failed to actually look at the signature. Right there on the front cover, there it was. But it wasn't Marinette's name. It was something much more familiarㅡmuch more achingly, tantalizingly familiarㅡthe simple inked image he'd seen her sign a thousand times before.

A ladybug.


...

I literally just finished watching this show for the first time yesterday. I couldn't stop thinking about this during that scene. Like think about it, it would be SO EASY to mess up! How does Adrien not accidentally write Adrien Agreste when Chat fans ask for his signature... I do not understand... Someone help this child...