Kagami's face fell. "Oh," she said. "It's okay Adrien, I understand."
She squeezed his hand and kissed him on the cheek. "I hope you find what you're looking for with Marinette."
With that, she stood up and walked towards the locker rooms. Adrien knew he'd probably lost her as a friend too, at least for a little while. But he knew in the end she understood that he needed to do this.
He stood up and was going to make his way across the courtyard, but he should have seen this coming. Even if Kagami had said that she completely understood, Adrien knew that he had hurt her more than she'd ever say. Shortly after Kagami left, she had been akumatized by Hawkmoth.
She became Heart Breaker. Her anger grew with every happy couple she saw, and she turned everyone in her way into stone. She wouldn't stop until she was face to face with Marinette…the girl who'd stolen the heart of the boy she loved. Luka had thrown himself in front of Marinette, blocking her blow and he was turned to stone in front of her. Marinette cried out and turned to run to the nearest restroom, locker room, something. She had to transform, and fast.
But Heart Breaker was faster. She leapt in front of Marinette before she could react, and she shoved Marinette down to the ground. But she didn't turn her to stone. Instead Heart Breaker just stood over her.
"You've taken everything from me, Marinette. And so now I'm going to take everything from you. First, I took your precious Luka. Now I'm going to take everything else. Your parents, your friends, your precious Adrien… you'll have nothing left in this world that loves you."
Marinette looked up at Heart Breaker with terrified eyes. Suddenly, out of nowhere Chat appeared behind her. He extended his baton and used it to swat Heart Breaker away before scooping Marinette up. He pressed the button on his baton again, shrinking it and immediately extending it and themselves upwards, vaulting them to safety. They eventually landed on a rooftop somewhere a few blocks away from the school. It had lot's of furniture that Marinette could hide under until the akuma was taken care of.
"Are you alright, Princess?" he asked, spinning her around to check for injuries. Marinette looked at him dumbfounded. This was the first time she'd seen him in almost two months as Marinette. She wondered if he was still too upset to talk to her outside of this conversation.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she finally stammered. Chat smiled at her.
"You should be safe here, Princess. Find somewhere to hide and I'll come back to get you when it is safe."
Marinette nodded as Chat leapt away. Her heart was thumping uncontrollably. She really had to get a grip on her emotions. Anyway…
"Tikki, spots on!"
Marinette shot her yoyo in the direction of the chaos and flew across Paris, keeping an eye out for Heart Breaker and Chat Noir. Eventually she found the two of them in a stand off a few blocks away from the school, and she landed next to Chat Noir, spinning her yoyo to deflect any shots Heart Breaker tried to throw at her.
"Purrfect timing, m'lady," Chat teased, blocking one of Heart Breaker's shots with his baton. "I've already used up my cataclysm to get myself out from under a car… this akuma is strong, and she turns people into stone. I have no idea how to stop her. Any ideas on where her akuma might be?"
Ladybug stared at the akuma and thought for a moment. Nothing really stuck out except for… the crest on her uniform. The school was where she'd met Adrien, so surely it had some emotional value to her. It must be where the akuma was hiding.
"It has to be in her crest!" Ladybug called out. She used her lucky charm and came up with a mirror. She knew exactly what to do with this.
"Chat Noir, stop spinning your baton!"
He turned and looked at her, baffled. "Are you crazy?!"
"Just trust me!"
Chat sighed and lowered his baton. Seeing her chance, Heart Breaker took a shot and Ladybug jumped in front of Chat Noir with her mirror. She reflected the shot back to Heart Breaker. She turned to stone, allowing them to rip the badge off of her uniform and smash it, releasing the akuma.
Ladybug released the cleansed akuma and her miraculous cleansing light.
"Awesome job, m'lady." Chat Noir's miraculous beeped, and he looked down at his ring. "I'd love to stick around, but I have to go find a friend and make sure she's safe. Plus," he added with a wink. "Wouldn't want to send you swooning with the revelation of my secret identity, mon amour."
Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Catch you around, kitty!"
Her face fell when he was out of sight. Crap, he's going to get me, she thought. She hoped that him having to detransform and allow his kwami to regain some strength before going to find Marinette would buy her enough time to help Kagami. She ran over to her, and she was laying on the ground. Kagami sat up with a groan and Ladybug knelt down next to her.
"Are you alright?" Ladybug asked, resting a hand on Kagami's shoulder. Kagami just stared at her with wide eyes before giving a blank nod. Ladybug was interrupted by her earrings.
"Oh, gosh, that's my cue!" Ladybug said, standing up and swinging her yoyo. "Bug out!" she gave Kagami a quick salute before tossing her yoyo towards the direction of where Chat left her. Kagami simply stared after her, lost and confused, and in awe of the polka-dotted hero.
Ladybug swung herself halfway across Paris and detransformed just in time for Chat Noir to arrive. He always was one to take his precious time when doing things, so she really shouldn't have been as worried as she was. She laughed to herself.
"Everything is alright now, Mari. Would you like me to take you home?"
"Actually…" she started thoughtfully. "I really need to get back to school. I want to make sure Luka is okay."
She remembered how he had thrown himself in front of her to protect her from the akuma. She hoped he hadn't gotten too hurt. Chat smirked in an effort to hide the pain in his eyes. He knew he'd have to face this topic sooner or later. "So, are you and Luka official then?"
Marinette blushed. "I… I don't know. I don't know…"
All of a sudden Marinette burst into tears. Unsure of what caused it, Chat Noir just pulled Marinette into a tight hug and held her until she had stopped crying.
"Princess?" He asked. "What's wrong?"
Marinette looked up at him with scared eyes. "I'm so confused, Chat Noir… I really like Luka. He's really sweet, and he cares a lot about me but… I just can't get over Adrien."
Chat Noir's heart leapt. She… she still liked him? After all the things she'd seen him do over the past few weeks, her heart… still belonged to him. Marinette sniffled in his arms and his attention was brought back to her.
"And seeing him with Kagami broke me in a new way that I didn't think I could be broken. But it hurt a lot. And I feel so terrible about still liking Adrien, because Luka cares for me so much and I don't want to hurt him. I just want this all to be over!"
Marinette's body shook with sobs all over again. Chat Noir rubbed her back and whispered soft words of comfort to her.
"You know, Princess… you need to do what makes you happy."
"Oh wait, it gets even worse…" Marinette began, her voice hiccupping between her sobs. "Because… there's you, too. But Adrien loves Kagami. And you love Ladybug. And I don't have a chance with either of you! But I can't let go of you, no matter how hard I try."
Chat Noir mentally kicked himself. He remembered her saying she thought she had minimal feelings for Chat Noir, but he didn't think that they had developed so much. He hated watching Marinette cry because she thought she wasn't good enough for him or his alter ego. She was more than good enough for either of them, and she didn't deserve to feel this way.
"Marinette listen to me," Chat Noir said softly. "I think you're absolutely lovely. And I'm going to tell you what I would do if I were you…"
Marinette looked up at him again, eyes wet with tears and cheeks flushed.
"Tomorrow, find Adrien. Tell him how you feel. Exactly how you feel. Either he reciprocates your feelings and things start anew, or he confirms that he'd rather stay friends, and you won't feel guilty about liking Luka anymore."
"I always stumble around him…"
Chat Noir grabbed Marinette's shoulders and looked at her with an intensity she'd never seen before.
"Marinette, you are responsible for your own happiness. If you want to be happy, you have to take charge. Tell Adrien Agreste how you feel, and all of this can be over."
Marinette nodded. "Okay." Chat loosened his grip on Marinette's shoulders, and she looked away from him.
She opened her mouth, but then paused, deep in thought. Then she opened her mouth again. "Why did you stop coming to visit me, Chat Noir?"
Chat Noir frowned. "I'm really sorry about that, Princess. I just had a lot going on at home. I didn't want to accidentally set you as the butt of my frustrations," he lied. How was he supposed to tell her that he was jealous of her and Luka when he saw them spending so much time together without giving away his secret identity? He hated having to lie to Marinette, but there was nothing else he could do right now.
Marinette pulled him into a hug. "I missed you, Chat Noir."
He hugged back even tighter. "I missed you too, Princess."
"Even if you don't love me the same way you love Ladybug, I'm still grateful to have you as my friend."
Chat gave her a soft smile. "I never said that I didn't love you the same way I love Ladybug, though, did I?"
With that, he gave his signature salute. "I'm out, princess. and vaulted himself across Paris. Marinette thought she was going to faint. Had… had Chat Noir really just said what she thought he said?
