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Season timeline? What season timeline?
Thanks to yellow 14, Shiranai Atsune, The Dimensional Reader, Rose Tiger, DragoonSensei, The Keeper of Worlds, Evander1435, MiraculousBraniac and acosta perez jose ramiro for your reviews :)
This. Is. Not. Fair.
"Good job, Marinette," Luka says. His hand is warm on her shoulder under her side braid, soft and encouraging as she strums chord after chord on his guitar, and she must totally suck at it but Luka's looking at her like she's the most talented guitarist in the world and this is not fair!
"Adrien? Kagami?" Alya gasps from over on the soft blue couch. Marinette beams when she catches sight of her friend and her boyfriend, Adrien with their fencing bags slung over his shoulders and Kagami with a white cardigan rolled to her elbows, a red button-down shirt, and sleek black slacks. Marinette's never seen Kagami without a skirt before, and the way the slacks cling to her legs is gorgeous, why doesn't Kagami wear them more often –
Marinette freezes. Shit. This can't be happening. No, no, she's already got Adrien slash Chat Noir as her boyfriend and she's losing her mind over Luka, this can't happen, it can't happen –
In all honesty, it's not like the feelings are new. But considering the clusterfuck that her life has turned into, is it any wonder that Marinette's been trying desperately to ignore them?
"Hi, Adrien!" Lila beams and waves and makes to jump up and greet him, but one look from Kagami keeps her rooted right where she is. "What are you doing here?"
"We're officially at fencing practice right now," Adrien says with a mischievous little grin. "But oh no, Kagami, isn't this the wrong address?"
"Oh dear, I think you're right!" Kagami says and then she and Adrien dissolve into fits of laughter, and Marinette focuses very pointedly on anything but how cute Kagami is when she laughs like that.
"It's a good thing Adrien's found someone he can get out of the house with at last," Luka says, and his voice sends shivers down Marinette's spine, and why is she like this?
"Your hair is…beautiful in that style, Marinette," Kagami says. Marinette's insides are flooded with warmth like she's been dunked in a hot bath without a chance to steel herself.
"I – uh – you thank! Thank you!" Marinette babbles. She takes a deep breath. No. She's not doing this again. "Yours is beautiful too! It's nice and shiny and really silky – not that I'd know unless I touched it – which I won't, that would be just creepy –"
Kagami tilts her head, while Alya, Mylène, and Alix smirk in the background. Marinette resists the extremely strong urge to flip them off and give them that petty victory.
"I don't see how if you asked for permission," Kagami says.
"It's not – I don't –" Marinette groans. "Just ignore me. I'm a mess."
"Do I intimidate you?" Kagami says. "I apologise if I do. I know I can come across as…standoffish. And I don't always know what's appropriate, so please tell me if I cross a line."
"No, no!" Marinette waves her hands so frantically that she nearly yeets Luka's guitar halfway across the boat. "Me intimidate? Don't you – I mean – you don't!" With another groan, she covers her face with her hands.
"Are you okay, Marinette?" Luka says, and that's the tipping point, because there's no way Marinette can handle his smooth voice in conjunction with Kagami being adorably…Kagami.
"Bathroom!" Marinette blurts out, shoving the guitar at Luka and nearly tripping and breaking her neck in her haste to get away from the situation. Once she's barricaded herself inside, she drops her face into her hands with a groan, wincing when her healing arm twinges.
"You okay, kiddo?" A warm little presence nuzzles against Marinette's hand. Marinette groans and uncovers her face.
"I'm a mess, Plagg," she sighs. "I like three people at once! How is that possible? How is that fair to Adrien? I mean, I know that liking people doesn't make me a cheater, and it's normal…"
"Uh, hello?" Plagg says. "Polyamory? Honestly, am I the voice of reason around here?"
"That's about the one certainty in my life right now," Marinette mutters. Plagg smirks.
"Kid, listen," he says. "It's perfectly normal to like more than one person. It's perfectly normal to be with more than one person. I remember one of Tikki's bugs ended up in a relationship with four people."
"Four?" Marinette splutters.
"Yep," Plagg says. "And his partners were dating others as well. You're not a mess."
"It's just…" Marinette sighs and rubs at her eyes. "Part of me wants to be with Luka and Kagami too. But part of me thinks that means I'm unhappy with Adrien, even though I really am happy!"
"How secure in your relationship with my kitten are you?" Plagg says.
"Super secure!" Marinette says. "I don't feel like adding another person or two would be to fix any problems, if that's what you mean."
"Then there's your answer," Plagg says. "Hold on, lemme channel my inner Tikki." He clears his throat and adopts a high-pitched voice that leaves Marinette giggling. "Only you know what you truly want, Marinette! I can give you all the advice in the world, but I can't know what's really in your heart."
Before Marinette can reply, her phone pings, and her eyes widen at the notification from Adrien that reads everyone akuma at the couffaine houseboat calls herself desperada. Oh, no! Who's been akumatised? Has Luka finally succumbed to Hawkmoth's influence like Juleka and Anarka had? Or have one of them been akumatised for a second time?
"Plagg, claws out!" she cries desperately, as though slapping on the mask will solve her crisis.
"Where are you running to, wannabe?" Desperada grins at Luka and Adrien, blocking their way off the houseboat. Adrien gulps and takes an instinctive step back towards Luka, who grabs his arms as though trying to protect him. Something hot explodes in Adrien's gut at the touch.
"Stop this, Vivica, you're giving rock 'n' roll a bad name!" Jagged Stone cries. "Just 'cause I tried to get Nanarchy and the blueberry kid to play with me –"
Desperada immediately shoots a cloud of yellow gas at him with the trombone-gun in her hand, and he vanishes in a puff of smoke. With her jet-black hair in a low ponytail, a face that's chalk-white with black skull makeup and music notes across her cheek, a black and gold rock 'n' roll pantsuit, and a star-shaped guitar case slung across her back, Desperada bears a striking resemblance to someone who might be seen on Day of the Dead, and Adrien can't help but fleetingly wonder if she has Mexican heritage.
"Nice instrument," quips a blessedly familiar voice. Rena Rouge twirls her flute around her fingers from where she's perched on top of the houseboat's cockpit. "Bet I can play better than you."
"Don't make bets with akumas, Rena!" Lady Noire lands next to Rena Rouge. "I thought we taught you better than that."
"Two against one?" Desperada smirks. She tosses her trombone-gun, causing it to vanish in golden smoke, and instead summons an axe-like guitar. "Unlike your duet, I prefer to solo!"
"Come on!" Luka grabs Adrien by the wrist and tugs him away from the fight. Adrien barely manages to resist, because he needs to transform but he can't just ditch Luka, especially not since Kagami got dusted trying to protect them, and his heart is racing, and what the hell even is his life –
"We'll be safe here." Luka pulls Adrien behind a massive chunk of stone, where they can safely watch the fight between Lady Noire, Rena Rouge, and Desperada. The problem is that if they get hit, they don't get brainwashed or frozen or otherwise potentially useful for a convoluted Lucky Charm plan; they totally vanish, no do-overs. And considering Desperada's speed and ferocity, she's one pissed akuma.
Adrien's so lost in his thoughts that he doesn't even notice Luka's absence until the sound of Luka's guitar reaches his ears. Luka's out in the open, strumming on his guitar to distract Desperada, and shit, he's an easy target, Desperada's going to get him and Adrien can't just stand by and let that happen –
"Tikki, spots on!" As Misterbug, he dives out of cover and manages to tackle Luka out of the way just in time.
"Thanks," Luka pants. In the background, Ladybug's busy wrapping her yo-yo around the bridge to make it cave in on itself and buy them some time against Desperada. "Where's Adrien?"
"Safe," Misterbug says. Heat floods his cheeks when he realises that he's still got his arms wrapped around Luka's waist, and he clears his throat and jumps to his feet, helping Luka up. "Don't worry about him."
"About time!" Rena Rouge says to Misterbug, then she turns to shout at Lady Noire, "That won't keep Desperada down for long!"
But Marinette's always got a plan, whether she's Ladybug or Lady Noire. This plan happens to involve hiding out in the sewers, which Misterbug is less than enthusiastic about, although if it gets Luka out of Desperada's sights then he'll suck it up and deal with it.
"You shouldn't put yourself in harm's way like that, Luka!" Lady Noire scolds once they've finally skidded to a halt. Then her face softens and she adds, "But…thank you. I appreciate it."
"I think we need a bit of luck," Misterbug says. He tosses his yo-yo into the air and calls, "Lucky Charm!" and a ladybug-patterned saddle falls into his hands. "I think I would've preferred a lucky horseshoe."
Lady Noire rolls her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, hold your goddamn horses," Rena Rouge says into her flute. Misterbug shoots Lady Noire a sideways smirk at that. "Just keep her busy, okay? Lady Noire's plotting."
"Was that Carapace and Honeybee?" Lady Noire says when Rena Rouge hangs up.
"Yep. They're wondering where the hell we are."
"Well, if they can distract Desperada for long enough, we can come up with a plan," Lady Noire says. "Luka, you find a place to hide."
Thanks to their teammates keeping Desperada busy, Misterbug, Lady Noire, and Rena Rouge are easily able to sneak out of the sewer without her catching sight of them. But Lady Noire's stomach plummets at the sight of Desperada gleefully catching Carapace and Honeybee in a puff of golden smoke.
"They bought us the time we needed, milady," Misterbug says when Lady Noire just stares out at Desperada silently for a moment. "We'll take down Desperada and save them."
"I know…" Lady Noire sighs. "I just…feel responsible, is all. Everyone looks up to me as the team leader, yet I sent them to get dusted for us. What kind of a leader am I?"
"The best one." Misterbug grabs her by the shoulders and looks her straight in the eye, and the urge to lean in and kiss him is so overwhelming that Lady Noire stumbles forward ever so slightly. "You didn't send them off to be sacrificed. They just got caught doing their job. And you're the only one who can fix everything, kitten, so don't feel guilty when we take the fall for you. We know you'll always save us."
"That's the kind of pressure that'll make me lose it one of these days," Lady Noire says with a weak laugh.
"I might not know just how hard it is to be a super Ladybug, since you're still the one calling the shots, but I've always got your back," Misterbug says with a wink. "You and me against the world."
Lady Noire nods and squares her shoulders and smiles. Her bugaboy always knows just what to say! "Thank you, lovebug," she says.
"What he said, minus all the gooey stuff," Rena Rouge says. "Got a plan?"
Misterbug and Lady Noire exchange looks, then grin and nod. "Always," they chorus.
"Great job out there today!" Marinette says when Misterbug deposits her next to the Couffaine houseboat after their battle, where Rena Rouge had distracted Desperada while Lady Noire had Cataclysmed the guitar case containing the akuma. Not that she needed him to bring her back, but when she'd detransformed and almost immediately run into him, well, who is she to refuse a ride from her superhero boyfriend?
"You were watching?" Misterbug preens. Marinette rolls her eyes and slaps him on the arm.
"Don't be an idiot, lovebug."
"Well, so long as the akumas don't get you, my princess is always more than welcome to watch her knight defend her honour," Misterbug says with a smug little grin. This time, Marinette tries to push him into the Seine, but he's protected by layers of magical spandex and creative power and so he doesn't budge an inch. "You'll have to try harder than that, kitten."
"Oh, shut up," Marinette mutters, then stands on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss goodbye before he has to disappear and detransform. With a low purr left over from being Chat Noir, Misterbug slides his hands to her waist and pulls her closer, deepening the kiss, and his earrings beep a warning and then –
"Oh my god!" someone shrieks. Marinette yelps and jumps away from Misterbug, but it's too late to convince a wide-eyed Alya, who's obviously returning from detransforming, that they'd been doing anything but kissing. "You – Marinette – oh my god!"
"What?" Rose comes rushing out from below deck, followed by Juleka and Lila and then everyone else. Marinette turns to enlist Misterbug's help, to get him to make up an excuse since he must be used to doing so to protect his identity, but he looks like a deer caught in the headlights of her friends and…yeah, he's not gonna be any help.
"Marinette – and Misterbug! Chat Noir!" Alya squeals. She fumbles in her pocket. "I gotta –"
"No!" Marinette bounds forward and grabs Alya's wrist to prevent her from grabbing her phone. "I'll explain! Just – don't put it on the Ladyblog! Please!"
"The Ladyblog? Why the hell would I do that?" Alya wrenches her hand free of Marinette's grip. "Someone's gotta tell Adrien that his girlfriend's been cheating on him! Really, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I thought I knew my bestie better."
"How could you do that to poor Adrien?" Lila cries, clutching at her heart.
"Oh, Adrien knows," Misterbug says. "And he's super okay with it."
"What?" Alya's eyes bulge.
"Have you seen Adrien?" Kagami says.
"No," Misterbug says. "But Desperada didn't get him, so he'll probably be back soon. I didn't hide him very far." His earrings beep again, so he offers a quick salute and bounds off.
"So," Alix says. "Got something you wanna share, Marinette?"
Marinette gulps. But there's no getting out of this, not after getting caught in front of so many witnesses, so she squares her shoulders and follows her friends down into the houseboat, where she's pushed down onto the couch and surrounded by the interrogation squad.
"Hi! Hi!" Adrien comes skidding down the stairs, then pauses and frowns at the sight before him. "Um…what's going on?"
"Marinette has some explaining to do, doesn't she?" Lila says, tilting her head at Marinette.
"Or we could respect her relationship with Adrien and let them sort it out themselves?" Kagami says. Marinette shoots her a grateful look.
"Well, we've already seen it," Mylène points out.
"Seen what?" Adrien says. Marinette sighs.
"Fine, fine," she says. "I mean, it's not that I don't trust any of you, but we kind of did want to keep it as lowkey as possible so that Hawkmoth couldn't be a dick about it."
"So, it's true?" Rose bounces on the spot. "You're really dating Chat Noir – uh, Misterbug? As well as Adrien?"
"Oh, is that what this is about?" Adrien says. He winks at Marinette and grins when her eye twitches with the effort of not scowling back at him in front of everyone. "Of course I know about it, guys. We're in a polyamorous love fest."
"I'm gonna pass out," Alya murmurs.
"And Lady Noire's okay with that?" Lila says, looking vaguely constipated.
"Well, yeah," Marinette says. "Misterbug told me that she said something about not letting Hawkmoth rule over their daily lives and win that way. To be fair, this one was my fault – I could've kissed him literally anywhere else, but I forgot that we were in public…"
"So…" Alya says with a mischievous grin. "Is he a good kisser?"
"Alya!" Marinette whines, while Adrien flushes a deep red in the background. Ha. Payback's a bitch, Adrien Agreste.
"What?" Alya says. "My bestie's been dating a superhero in secret as well as her own boyfriend and you think I'm not gonna squeeze her for details?"
"Am I the only one who doesn't understand the point of forcing your friends to reveal personal information like this?" Kagami says.
"I'm with Kagami," Luka says.
"Thank you," Marinette says. "You're my favourite people right now."
"Fine, fine, we'll drop it," Alya says.
"Thank god," Alix says. "This romance shit makes me sick."
Later that night, Marinette snuggles against Adrien on her chaise, sketching a rough plan for some Kitty Section-themed jackets. The band's not that big yet, but they've certainly got the talent, and Marinette wants to get in for them before anyone else has the chance, especially because they're her friends.
"I can't believe we got busted today," Adrien grumbles.
"To be fair, making out in broad daylight will probably do that," Marinette says. "I just can't believe we got busted in front of Luka and Kagami."
"I know what you mean," Adrien grumbles. Then they both freeze.
"Why does it matter that we got caught in front of Luka and Kagami?" they say together. "Um – you go first – no, I'll go first – gah!"
They lapse into an awkward silence, both trying to gauge each other and figure out when the other will speak. Just before Marinette can open her mouth, Adrien gets in first.
"I, uh…" He scratches the back of his head. "You know I really like you, right, Marinette?"
"Y-Yeah," Marinette says, trying not to dissolve into a puddle of goo because damn her, she's a romantic at heart. "But…you like another person as well, don't you? You mentioned it on our date."
"Right, yeah. I remember."
"I've, uh…got the same problem. I've got a major crush on Luka. And, um…Kagami. And it's getting to me, because I'm pretty sure I'm polyamorous and Tikki says that it's perfectly normal and it doesn't mean I like you any less, but I've been freaking out because what if you don't approve, especially of Luka and Kagami, and I don't want to break up with you or make you choose or anything, but I also don't want you to think I'll go and cheat and –"
"Marinette!" Adrien wraps his arms around her from behind and squeezes. "Oh my god. I can't believe you like Luka and Kagami."
"Is that a problem? I mean, I chose you first, so I'll always –"
"Mari." Adrien presses a kiss to the back of her head, and Marinette shivers and melts against him. "No. It's not a problem. It's just hilarious because, well…Luka was the other person I liked when I brought it up on our date. And I think I've been falling for Kagami too, for a while now."
Blink. Blink. That's all Marinette can do before she doubles over in peals of laughter, her sketchbook slipping from between her fingers onto the floor and her pencil rolling away.
"Are you serious?" she chokes. "We both – we both like other people too – and they're the same people – oh my gosh –"
"We really are soulmates, princess," Adrien says, mirroring what he'd said to Ladybug all those months ago as he gently undoes her braid to let her hair fan loosely over his chest. "So, uh, when did you realise?"
"Oh. Luka was easy – I got so flustered around him when we first met, and it just went from there." Marinette wipes her eyes as her laughter dies off into hiccups. "And I realised recently that I've kind of got a massive crush on Kagami too."
"So, what d'you wanna do about it?" Adrien says. "Talk to them and see where they stand?"
"Oh my god, no, I have to talk to them?" Marinette groans and covers her face with her hands. "And I was a total disaster around them today! They were just both so cute and I got so flustered and I ran off and – how does anyone even like me when I'm such a mess?"
"Because you're an adorable mess," Adrien says, twirling her hair around his fingers. "Why do you think I call you my angel? You're so gorgeous and way out of my reach but you can also destroy anyone who crosses you, just like an angel. And I kind of like having nicknames between our civilian selves that don't relate to our alter-egos."
Marinette's cheeks flood with hot blood. Is that really how Adrien sees her? Out of his reach? No way. He's so far out of her league!
"Also, if you think I'm a functional bi, you've got another thing coming," Adrien adds.
"We'll both be disaster bis together," Marinette giggles, then twists to press a quick kiss to his lips. "So, what now? Do we both pull Luka and Kagami aside and talk to them?"
"Well, you've got more of a chance with them than me," Adrien says. "We could probably get away with the polyamory thing with you, but me? Adrien Agreste? My father would blow a gasket. And I can't date them as Chat because someone'll eventually put two and two together when I'm never around at the same time as Adrien."
"Okay, so that's a no for the time being," Marinette says.
"What? No! Just because I can't yet –"
"We both like the same people, my sunshine." Marinette laces her fingers with his and lifts his hand to kiss his gleaming silver ring. "It's not like I like someone else that you're not into and it's not fair for me to go ahead when you'll have to sit back and watch us be happy together. That'd hurt you, and I'd never want to hurt you, Adrien."
"I think…" Adrien sighs. "I do want to date Luka and Kagami as well. And I'm willing to come out as bi and polyam, especially if it helps anyone who looks up to me. Just…not yet. I need a bit of time."
"Take all the time in the world, lovebug," Marinette says softly. After a few moments of silence, Adrien groans.
"As much as I'd love to stay, princess, this dashing knight had better get going before his absence is realised," he says.
"Can't you stay?" Marinette whines. "Wouldn't you rather be here than at home?"
"Of course, darling kitten," Adrien says. Marinette slaps him on the arm for the darling comment. "But if I don't get home, Father will get angry. And then I can't come in the future. A small sacrifice for now."
"Ugh, fine." Marinette pushes herself up with a groan, then turns to pull Adrien to his feet. He grins and bends down to peck her on the lips.
"Until next time, kitten," he says. Then, before she can react, he's transformed into Misterbug and is slithering out onto the balcony, and the room feels just that little bit emptier like it always does when he leaves.