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"So," Master Fu says after their afternoon lesson. "I trust the kwami swap has been enlightening?"
"It really has," Misterbug says. "Now I get the stress that milady's always dealing with."
"And I get that bugaboy here really doesn't have it that easy," Lady Noire says. "I never really appreciated all the times he took hits for me until I had to do it for him. Not that I approve of it!" she adds, wagging her finger at Misterbug, who just grins back at her.
"I must admit, it was a good idea to temporarily switch your Miraculouses," Master Fu says. "Even though it was out of necessity, it allowed you to better understand each other's powers, in case you need to switch again in the future. And this understanding will even help you in your usual roles."
"That's a fair point," Misterbug says. "So, uh, milady…should we switch back now? How's your arm?"
Lady Noire flexes her left arm with only a faint grimace. "Good enough. The clown costume's not bad but…I do miss Tikki and my Lucky Charm."
"And I miss seeing you in spots," Misterbug grins. When Lady Noire gives him a flat look, he adds, "And I guess I miss Plagg too."
"Just shut your eyes, lovebug," Lady Noire says. Misterbug obeys, and then he and Lady Noire detransform together and start fumbling to take off their Miraculouses.
"Let me!" A little warm thing brushes against Adrien's cheek and then the remaining silver stud slips out of his ear. He holds out the other earring for Tikki to take. "Goodbye, A – Misterbug!"
"Bye, Tikki," Adrien says. "It was really cool to be with you for the past few weeks."
Tikki giggles. A moment later, the sound of Marinette laughing and cooing reaches Adrien's ears but before he can lose himself in that sound, something small is dropped into his palm and then a soft, purring thing nuzzles against his cheek.
"Plagg!" Adrien slips his ring on and then hugs Plagg against him. "It's good to have you back."
"You're more important to me than her cheese pastries," Plagg says, which is pretty much a declaration of eternal love from the sourpuss kwami.
"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette says. Adrien gives Plagg one last hug.
"Plagg, claws out!" he says. When he opens his eyes after transforming, he's greeted by the sight of a softly smiling Ladybug, with her Lady Noire outfit adapted to her Ladybug look; her cropped qipao top is still black but with red lining now, her suit and gloves are red with black spots, her belt is gone but her yo-yo is strung around her waist in its place, and her dark hair is back in its signature pigtails with long red ribbons. The only thing that remains the same is her knee-high black boots, minus the green trim of Lady Noire and with red soles instead of green.
"Kitty?" Ladybug waves a hand in front of his face. "Anyone home?"
"Y-Yeah," Chat Noir blurts out. "Um! Miraculous! You're miraculous!"
Ladybug just snorts and reaches out to ruffle his hair.
"I have some news for you two," Master Fu says. "I've finally concluded that to repair the Peacock, the dormant sentimonster that is leeching off its energy must be destroyed. Therefore, I must return to Tibet and find the sentimonster, then use the Peacock to retrieve the amok."
"But the Peacock's damaged!" Ladybug says in alarm. "Won't it hurt you?"
"After one use? Not irreparably," Master Fu says. "The alternative would be to take the Ladybug and purify the amok, but since the sentimonster is…well, a Miraculous devourer, that would not be a wise idea. I will use the Horse Miraculous to travel to Tibet, then to open a portal when I return so that Ladybug can use her cure to fix the damage caused by the sentimonster."
"What exactly is it?" Chat Noir says. Master Fu clears his throat and looks away.
"A story for another day. I just felt that I should give you ample warning. I plan to leave tomorrow."
"Well…good luck, Master," Ladybug says and bends down to hug their elderly mentor. "If anyone can fix their devastating mistake of decades ago, it's you."
Chat Noir snorts behind his hand.
"Thank you, Ladybug," Master Fu says with twitching lips. "I appreciate your faith in me."
"You're distracted."
"Huh? No!" Chat Noir nearly trips off the rooftop. Ryuuko gives him a thoroughly unimpressed look, sharply angled by the night lights of Paris around and below them.
"You've been spaced out all patrol," she says. "Which means you're thinking about something else. I have eyes, you know."
"I'm fine," Chat Noir says, but if he can't even convince himself then there's no way in hell that he'll be able to convince Ryuuko, especially with her sharp-eyed observance. "Really. I've just…got a problem I'm trying to deal with."
"Then go and deal with it," Ryuuko says. "We've been patrolling for an hour and nothing's happened. And if there's an akuma attack, everyone will know about it."
"But –"
"Just go! I can't stand to see you sulking like this."
"Fine, okay," Chat Noir grumbles. "What are you, my therapist?"
Ryuuko just raises an eyebrow. Chat Noir snorts, then bounds away before she can scold him again, because it seems like giving her the safety of a mask brings out the spark in her majorly.
What a mess. Ever since the Desperada thing, all he's been able to think about is Luka. And thank god for Marinette's patience and her own crush on Luka, because otherwise she'd probably have kicked him to the kerb ages ago.
Then again, if he doesn't get this sorted right now, she just might. Not because of the crush, but because the longer he leaves it, the more it's going to fester.
Luka's out on the deck of the houseboat when Chat Noir gets there and perches on the concrete wall next to the boat. The sweet notes from Luka's guitar drift through the night air and surround Chat Noir like the warmest blanket on the coldest winter night and for a moment, he's tempted to leave, to not rock the boat and find another way to sort it out, but then Luka looks up as if he psychically knows that Chat Noir's there.
"Hey, Chat," Luka says with a soft smile that punches Chat Noir right in the gut. "There's no akuma, is there?"
"Uh, n-no," Chat Noir croaks. His tongue darts out to moisten his dry lips but it's no use. Not when Luka's looking at him like…that. "I, uh…actually just wanted to talk."
"Hm." Luka sets his guitar down and then crosses the plank from the boat to the concrete bank. Chat Noir jumps down to meet him, and they end up sitting on the edge of the river, dangling their legs over the pitch-black water speckled with orange lights. A tsunami. That's what Luka is. Even now, he's not setting Chat Noir's insides on fire like Marinette does, but all he has to do is smile and Chat Noir's just…drowning, helpless to resist against the quiet force.
"Are you okay?" Luka says. "I didn't think that superheroes made a habit of visiting random civilians."
"Oh, that's what got me into this mess in the first place," Chat Noir says, scratching the back of his neck. "You'd think I'd have learned. But I just can't stay away from pretty people." His eyes widen. "Shit –"
"Does Marinette know you're here?" Luka says with a small frown. "I know she's dating you as well as Adrien."
"She doesn't know about this specific visit," Chat Noir says. "It was kind of spur-of-the-moment. But she knows I've been meaning to come and talk to you. She knows about, uh…you know. This. And I'm not actually dating Adrien. Marinette's just dating both of us."
"Huh." The suspicion fades from Luka's face. "I'm polyamorous too, you know."
Chat Noir blinks. "J-Just like that? You just – Christ, and it took us ages to wrap our heads around it."
Luka laughs. It's quiet, gentle, like a warm hug, and Chat Noir would quite happily lean into it and never let go if he could.
"But, um." Chat Noir looks down at the rippling river, trying to figure out exactly how to put his tumultuous thoughts into understandable words. "I, uh…can I talk? Without any interruptions? It was hard enough confessing to Marinette and Ladybug, and Marinette was my first partner and they're girls. I don't know how my father would react if he knew."
"Of course," Luka says. "You have my undivided attention."
"Okay. Thanks. Um…" Chat Noir starts fiddling with the black ring on his finger, rocking ever so slightly on the spot. "So…yeah, I like you. And someone else too. But the problem is, you're not like Marinette and Ladybug. They know me as Chat Noir. You've only spoken to Chat Noir a few times. So, that's one problem, because I don't know how you or this other person feel there. And if you did like my civilian self, well, I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. Not just the father thing but, you know…mixing my identities. Attracting way more attention than when I'm like this. I don't want to have to lie to three people with two identities, but you're really cute and the way you play music and just…and Marinette likes you and this other person as well, but she won't do anything about those crushes while I don't, because she's all noble and, "I don't want to hurt you being happy with them when you can't" and honestly, I don't deserve her and I don't know why she even likes me in the first place, and…ugh, I'm such a mess."
Luka thankfully says nothing as Chat Noir groans and covers his face and tries to process the verbal flood that had just gushed out of his mouth.
"For the record, I do happen to like you," Luka finally says. "Both in and out of the mask…Adrien."
Chat Noir freezes. His mouth works, opening and closing, trying to find the words that just won't come, while Luka just sits there with a small smile.
"H-How?" Chat Noir finally says hoarsely.
"Your heart song," Luka says. "It's the same as Adrien's. Just…louder, less restrained, you know? I haven't been able to get it out of my head."
"Whoa…you're amazing…"
"And I saw you jump out of our hiding place as Misterbug when I was distracting Desperada," Luka adds with a little smirk. "It just confirmed my suspicions. If you'd really taken Adrien somewhere safe, you wouldn't have emerged from the exact same place he was originally hiding."
"Great," Chat Noir groans. "Ladybug's going to kill me."
"I can keep a secret," Luka says. "But yes, that does mean that I like you, Chat Noir. I like seeing you like this. You're not…more yourself or any less Adrien, but you're freer, if that makes sense? And it's amazing."
Heat floods to Chat Noir's face, and he lets out a little, embarrassing mewl and looks back down at the Seine. How the heck is he supposed to deal with this? His other crush likes him back, knows him, and honestly, taking a dip in the river below is looking more and more like an appealing option right now, even though he's not exactly sure why he wants to escape when this is going…perfectly.
"Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable," Luka says when Chat Noir still says nothing. Chat Noir shakes his head.
"Don't. Don't apologise for that," he murmurs. "I just…wasn't prepared for it to go well. I think I'm still in the "anticipate rejection" mindset."
"Maybe you should go home, then," Luka says. "Work past that mindset. There's no rush." He slides his hand over, ever so cautiously, and rests it on a black-gloved hand, and Chat Noir's brain spontaneously combusts and melts out of his ears at the contact. It's just like when Marinette and Kagami touch him but also nothing like those touches, and how is it possible to love multiple people like this, similar but different?
"That's probably a good idea," he finally manages to say. "I think my head's going to explode."
Luka digs his nails into Chat Noir's hand, then takes his hand away entirely and gracefully climbs to his feet. Chat Noir can't help but flush when Luka holds out a hand to help him up, like he's a damsel or something, but where other boys less secure in their masculinity might have felt degraded, it just makes him feel so loved and cared for.
"Goodnight, Chat Noir." Luka leans in and brushes a kiss against Chat Noir's cheek, then whispers, "Goodnight, Adrien," and backs away with a soft smile, and Chat Noir's about two seconds from throwing himself headfirst into the river because how is he supposed to handle this?
"Uh – guh –"
"And for the record?" Luka says. "I happen to like Marinette too. She's an extraordinary girl. I'd be honoured to date both of you if you decide that's what you want." With that, he heads back for the houseboat, leaving a black cat disaster behind to try and recover at least a few brain cells before leaving to sort through everything that had just happened.
[11:01 pm] direct messages
Chat Noir: milady?
[11:23 pm] direct messages
Chat Noir: nvm
Ladybug: huhyesimhere
Ladybug: sorry, fell asleep
Chat Noir: oh
Chat Noir: don't worry about it then
Chat Noir: go to sleep princess
Ladybug: nononoooo
Ladybug: I'm awake now
Ladybug: how was patrol?
Chat Noir: uh well
Chat Noir: pretty distracted
Chat Noir: ryu told me to basically fuck off and deal with myself
Ladybug: oh no :(
Ladybug: what's wrong?
Chat Noir: i may
Chat Noir: have
Chat Noir: confessed to luka
Ladybug: !
Ladybug: HOW DID IT GO
Chat Noir: um
Chat Noir: good news or bad news?
Ladybug: shit
Ladybug: did he reject you?
Ladybug: bad news first
Chat Noir: he knows my identity
Ladybug: hOW
Ladybug: YOU CAN'T TELL
Chat Noir: I DIDN'T
Chat Noir: he heard my heart song
Chat Noir: said it was the same as my civilian one
Ladybug: shit
Ladybug: he probably knows who I am too then
Chat Noir: you're not mad?
Ladybug: I want to be
Ladybug: but it's not your fault
Ladybug: you didn't let it slip or give some really obvious hint
Ladybug: and I mean
Ladybug: you figured me out from a hurt arm, so
Ladybug: what's the good news?
Chat Noir: he uh
Chat Noir: likes me
Chat Noir: and wants to date me
Ladybug: !
Ladybug: THAT'S GREAT
Chat Noir: and you
Chat Noir: he's polyam too
Chat Noir: "i happen to like marinette too. she's an extraordinary girl"
Chat Noir: his exact words when i said you liked him
Chat Noir: …
Chat Noir: milady?
Chat Noir: ladybug?
Chat Noir: marinette?
Ladybug: ASDFLSKDFJ
Chat Noir: ah
Chat Noir: well we're not together yet or anything
Chat Noir: he said to sort my head out first
Chat Noir: and i wanted to talk to you anyway
Ladybug: thanks
Ladybug: tikki's laughing at me :(
Chat Noir: least she's not like plagg
Chat Noir: he just loudly shrieks about camembert whenev i try to talk to him about "mushy stuff"
Ladybug: -_-
Chat Noir: you know what this means though
Ladybug: what?
Chat Noir: you have to talk to kagami :)
Chat Noir: ladybug? you there?
Ladybug: Hi, Chat Noir! It's Tikki!
Chat Noir: oh hey tikki
Chat Noir: i didn't kill her did i?
Ladybug: No! She's just screaming into her pillow right now.
Chat Noir: ah
Chat Noir: i'll leave you to it
Chat Noir: night tikki
Chat Noir: night bugaboo 3
"i happen to like marinette too. she's an extraordinary girl"
"you have to talk to kagami :)"
Those are the words that have been replaying in Marinette's mind since her conversation with Chat Noir last night, to the point where Alya's given up on trying to get through to her and has instead been taking proper notes for later sharing like the amazing friend she is. Although those notes will come with a price, so Marinette's not entirely sure just how angelic Alya truly is.
She has to do this. If Chat could confess to his crush for both himself and her, she can confess to her third crush. It's not that hard. No way is she letting Chat Noir best her.
But it's Kagami. Luka's so chill but Kagami…how is Marinette supposed to know if Kagami likes her or not? Or even wants to date her? What if Kagami's interested in Adrien but not Marinette? Of course Marinette wouldn't stand in the way of Adrien and Kagami dating but even considering the rejection…
"You should talk to her after fencing practice today," Tikki says at lunchtime, when Marinette's fled for the bathroom to have two minutes of peace from the sensory overload that's clashing with her frying brain.
"Are you crazy?" Marinette hisses. "Talk to her? No!"
"If Chat Noir could talk to Luka, you can talk to Kagami," Tikki says.
"But –!"
"No buts, Marinette!" Tikki hovers in front of Marinette's face with crossed arms and a scowl. "You have to talk to her, or you'll be stuck in this awkward limbo forever! Remember when you were crushing on Adrien? Do you really want that to happen again?"
"But…what if she says no?" Marinette sags over the bathroom sink. "She could utterly reject me! That's why I didn't ask Adrien out!"
"That's just a part of life," Tikki says. "Everyone gets rejected at some point. But you can't sit back and let that fear control you! What if Kagami does like you but you don't take that chance?"
"I…I know…"
Still, that anxiety gnaws away at her gut all day, until school's over and fencing practice for Adrien is about to start and okay, Marinette can just go along and watch him, no big deal. She'll be there and if the right moment pops up to talk to Kagami? So be it.
The fact that she might purposely dodge that right moment is something that Marinette deliberately ignores.
"Hey, Marinette!"
"Wah!" Marinette squawks and nearly falls off her seat. Adrien's standing in front of her with a bright smile, his fencing helmet clutched under his arm, and he's accompanied by Kagami, who's grimacing as she tries to fix her short hair after a sweaty session of fencing. Yeah. Sweaty. Dear lord, how had Marinette ever thought she was straight before Clara Nightingale came along?
"I thought you came to watch us fence," Adrien teases. "But you were off in another world entirely."
"Adrien," Kagami chides. "Don't make fun of Marinette."
"Um! Yeah! Just thought in deep – uh, deep in thought!" Marinette babbles. Adrien gives her a knowing little smirk.
"Marinette, how about you talk to Kagami for a bit?" Adrien says. "I need to freshen up before I get changed."
No. No. That devil. Marinette is most definitely going to strangle her damn boyfriend for daring to do this to her.
"So…" Kagami says rather awkwardly. "How has everything been?"
"Um! Great!" Marinette says quickly. Kagami gives her an awkward smile that's all teeth.
"That's fantastic."
They sit in awkward silence for a few moments, until Kagami shakes her head and turns to Marinette.
"Enough with the small talk," she says. "Adrien told me that you've got something important to talk to me about."
Marinette's insides freeze over. Okay, Adrien's definitely getting it when Marinette gets her hands on him, and then she's damn well going to throw him off the Eiffel Tower next time he's transformed!
"Did I…do something wrong?" Kagami says when Marinette is silent for a tad too long. "I apologise if I did. I'd just like to know so that I can fix –"
"No! No, you didn't do anything wrong!" Marinette says. "I'm just thinking of the best way to murder Adrien for plotting this, is all."
"Plotting what?"
"Getting me to talk to you."
Kagami tilts her head with a frown. "I don't understand. We're friends, aren't we? Why would Adrien have to plot to get you to have a conversation with me?"
"Ugh. Okay, so I'm gonna be a total disaster about this…" Marinette looks down at her clasped hands, where she's idly digging her nails into her fingers, and she takes a deep breath. "I, um…remember that conversation we had on the boat? About liking two people at the same time?"
"Chat Noir and Luka, right?" Kagami says. "And then you made your choice in both Adrien and Chat Noir. I'm happy for you, Marinette."
"Yeah, that's the thing," Marinette says. "Adrien likes Luka. And so do I. And Luka likes us both."
"And you're stressed over the possibility of having three relationships?" Kagami says. "But what does that have to do with me?"
"I'm not stressing over two – uh, three relationships." Marinette swallows, although this does nothing to alleviate the dryness of her throat, and then she forces out, "I'm stressing over…four."
"Four? Adrien, Chat Noir, Luka, and…oh."
"Yeah," Marinette says with a hysterical little laugh. "It's not like I intended it, but…you know."
"You like me romantically. And Adrien, Chat Noir, and Luka."
"…Yeah."
"Hm." A small smile crosses Kagami's lips. "Thank you for telling me. Even if Adrien did tell me before our fencing practice when he told me of his feelings for me."
"He what?" Marinette shrieks. "You knew – and you just – you made me –"
"Confess for yourself? Yes. I wanted you to have the courage to tell me. And I have to admit…I like you and Adrien too, Marinette."
"Oh. Oh." Something jittery explodes deep in Marinette's core. "Oh my god. Do you! You do! Wow. Sorry, I'm just a mess."
"Don't apologise," Kagami says. "But I'm not sure this is the right time."
This time, the shivers that wrack Marinette's body are of an entirely different nature. "O-Oh. I, um – it's okay – I wasn't even expecting you to like me back –"
"You misunderstand me." Kagami reaches over to take one of Marinette's hands with her white-gloved one, and it takes every bit of Marinette's willpower to not jerk away as warmth pools in her hand and shoots down to her belly. "I do want a relationship with you, Marinette. Very much. And with Adrien. But I want to be sure that you, Adrien, and Chat Noir are properly secure in your relationship before you pursue more."
"What do you mean? We've all agreed that it's okay."
"Have you discussed boundaries? What you'll do if one of you does end up having a moment of jealousy? Whether you'll be okay with pursuing relationships with more people than just me and Luka, and whether Ladybug and Chat Noir will be okay with the change in relationship dynamic?"
"Oh…I didn't even think about that…"
Kagami smiles again. "What you have with Adrien and Chat Noir really is special. I'd love to have something like that, and I'm sure Luka would too, but you have to be certain that what's already there is secure and you're all completely on the same page. Otherwise, none of the relationships will work."
"Wow. Thanks, Kagami. That makes sense." Cautiously, Marinette squeezes Kagami's hand, and she can't hold back the giggle that escapes when Kagami squeezes it back. "How are you so wise?"
Kagami shrugs. "I guess I had to grow up fast. I've always been mature for my age. That's one reason why I've never really had any friends. It's…hard to relate to other children when you find it easier to talk to adults instead."
"Well, now you've got me and Adrien and all our friends," Marinette declares. Kagami smiles and ducks her head, her cheeks flushing pink. "And I'll talk to Adrien and Chat tomorrow and tell them what you said."
"Good. Because Adrien and I found an amazing little Japanese restaurant the other week, and I can't wait to take you there."
And that's the story of why Marinette is a deceased mess when Adrien finally returns and finds her slumped against Kagami with a face as red as a tomato, while Kagami smiles and pats her on the hand.
"She'll be fine," Kagami says. "She just needs a few moments."
Marinette just groans loudly in response to that.