Stuck In A Bakery (With You), Chapter 55
After supper that evening, Marinette and Adrien collected the dishes and headed for the kitchen.
"So... what do you have in mind for tonight?" Tom asked them.
They looked at each other. "Well... if you don't mind, we might go for a walk tonight," suggested Marinette. "And see if we can meet up with someone."
"Your friend Kagami?" Sabine ventured.
"Exactly," said Adrien. "If her mother will let her out for a little while, now that the stay-at-home restrictions have been lessened a bit, I have a feeling that she could use a little friendly company."
"Is friendly the kind of company she's going to have in mind?" asked Sabine. "I don't want to put a damper on this, but... do you two know what you're going to tell her yet?"
"We do," gulped Marinette. "Adrien and I have talked about that quite a bit. She is my friend, and I intend to keep her that way. And just like she didn't put up hard boundaries around Adrien when they were together..."
"...Kagami and I have some unresolved feelings to work out, too," suggested Adrien. "So if you hear about her and I going out together and doing things, I am not two-timing your daughter in the least." He smiled at Marinette warmly and added, "She knows that she has nothing to worry about."
"That's very considerate of both of you. And more than a little bit awkward," Tom mused. "Kagami is aware that the two of you have become intertwined, as you have?"
"She is. I talk to her pretty frequently," said Adrien. "And she's aware that Marinette and I are growing closer by the day, and that we're kissing and snuggling now. And it's my job-"
"Our job," interrupted Marinette.
"Our job," Adrien continued, "to ease that for her as much as we can."
"I do wish all three of you well in figuring this out," Sabine added. "I don't know Kagami very well, but she's seemed nice enough when I have, and when a love triangle breaks down, it's never any fun being the odd person out."
Upstairs, Marinette watched as Adrien texted Kagami.
[Adrien] Hey there. Are you around?
[Kagami] I am! Hello, sweetheart.
[Adrien] I have a silly question for you. Are you busy tonight?
[Kagami] ...Is anyone in Paris, lately?
[Adrien] I mean, does your mother have anything that she wants you to do around the house... or could you go for a walk tonight with us?
[Kagami] Let me check!
Adrien turned to Marinette. "She's checking with her mother," he explained, "to see if she can get out tonight."
"My fingers are crossed," Marinette smiled.
[Kagami] Okay! She didn't look altogether happy about it... but as long as it's not for too long and it's close by, she'll let me out for a bit.
[Kagami] I think that she could use some alone time as much as I could; we've been penned up together all this time...
[Kagami] Where did you have in mind?
[Adrien] If we need to stay near your house...
[Kagami] How about near the lycée Fénelon Sainte-Marie? That's a short walk from here, and there are plenty of places near there that the three of us could wander.
[Adrien] What time would you like to meet up?
[Kagami] Maybe in about half an hour? That'll give me time to freshen up first. How are you two getting here?
[Adrien] Oh... we have our ways. ;) I'll ping you when we're in the neighborhood!
[Kagami] I cannot wait. :) :)
Adrien turned to Marinette once more. "It's a date," he declared. "In about half an hour."
"Great! I'll tell Mama that we're going, then," grinned Marinette.
"Are you going to ask them for a ride up in that direction, or are we riding bikes, or..." asked Adrien.
"Are you kidding?" she laughed. "After what we learned last night? I think that we have a better method of transportation, don't you?"
"I had a feeling that you'd say that," Adrien smiled.
"Bye, Mom!" waved Marinette, as she and Adrien headed out the back door. "We're masked, we won't be out too late, and no police this time. We promise."
"There had better not be," chuckled Sabine. "Have fun, and be careful!"
"We will," echoed Adrien.
They walked a short distance before passing an alleyway. Adrien felt a soft hand on his shirt collar, pulling him aside gently.
"Is this one of your usual transformation spots?" he wondered.
"Any port in a storm," Marinette shrugged. "I probably transform in my own room more than anywhere else, but it's easier for one to disappear that way than two."
She wrapped her arms around him and cooed, "This may not be the most romantic spot in Paris... but it will be the first time we've done this together, face-to-face."
"You're ready?" asked Adrien.
"I'm ready. Spots on!"
"Claws out!"
A bright light illuminated the alley for a moment.
Still in Ladybug's arms, Chat Noir beamed, "I could get used to this."
A nervous young woman sat on a bench on the north side of the lycée Fénelon Sainte-Marie campus.
"Hello!" called a familiar voice, making Kagami's head whip around... and all at once, she was in motion, thoughts of I will stay calm and I will not make a scene of this exiting her head rapidly.
The smiles on Marinette and Adrien's faces were obvious as she got closer. Kagami rushed into Adrien's arms, hugging him tightly... then paused, looking at Marinette, as did Adrien.
"If you don't kiss him, I will," Marinette smiled. "Go on, already."
Encouraged, Kagami dropped her mask and kissed Adrien, pouring as much emotion as she dared in front of Marinette into it... and felt some relief that despite a similar restraint on his part, Adrien was indeed kissing her back.
For her part, Marinette remained calm at their shared affection, and breathed a sigh of relief that Lieutenant Roger hadn't detected unauthorized public uncovered-mouth kissing and teleported to the scene.
They held the embrace for a moment... then Kagami disengaged and wrapped Marinette up in a hug, as well. "It is so good to see the two of you," Kagami breathed, replacing her mask.
"It's been far too long," Marinette agreed. "It doesn't feel right, after all this time, just stealing an hour or so like this! I hope that things will improve enough that these restrictions can loosen up soon."
"Well, let's not waste it!" Adrien suggested. "Let's all walk and talk for a while."
The trio went for a stroll around the school campus, all in a very good mood... and yet, there was still some understandable tension in the air.
"This isn't the school you go to, is it, Kagami?" asked Marinette.
"No... this is a Catholic sixth-form school," Kagami confirmed. "My school's up the road that way, perhaps a ten-minute walk. This one was closer, and to be frank, it's prettier than mine."
"You two are here. How could anything be prettier than that?" said Adrien, doing his best to drop a suave line into the conversation.
"Flatterer," said Marinette, rolling her eyes a bit.
"Compliment accepted," parried Kagami, "though Marinette's the looker of the two of us. Especially now... you're positively glowing tonight, Marinette."
"I, um... thank you," Marinette replied, a little awkwardly. "Though you're wrong about me being the prettier one!"
"We'll agree to disagree on that, as usual. Though I can't blame you for looking radiant... Adrien, you look just as smitten as she does," Kagami smiled. "As I fully expected to see tonight."
"Kagami, I..." stammered Adrien, visibly uncomfortable. "I want to make it clear that... um..."
"...That everything we talked about over Skype the other night is still true," Marinette continued. "We didn't come out here tonight just to drop a 'We're a couple now, so keep your hands off' bomb on you, Kagami. Not at all."
"But are you a couple now?" argued Kagami. "I want you both to be honest with me."
Marinette and Adrien looked at each other, sharing a pained expression.
"...Y-yes, we are," Adrien confirmed. "I won't lie to you about that, Kagami. Marinette and I had a breakthrough."
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" mumbled Kagami, keeping her cool but sounding a bit less sure of herself.
"Kagami," Marinette insisted, "when you and Adrien were together, I won't lie to you, either... it was hard on me sometimes. I saw your first kiss, and I felt like a piece of my soul fell out of me that day. But you were never possessive... you never said 'Adrien, don't spend time with Marinette any more, don't be close to her, don't ever kiss her.' Not that you would've expected that he'd kiss me then... I mean... And I will never say that about you, I promise."
"Marinette..." began Kagami.
"I mean it!" gasped Marinette, feeling her emotions carrying her along more than she'd hoped they would. "I am not... I am not going to be your rival over Adrien, or be jealous over feelings that I know you two still have. He can make his own choices whom he wants to spend time with, and when, and how... I watched you kiss him just now and my pulse rate was almost normal! I swear it was."
"Really?" asked Kagami, watching her carefully. "Because if it wasn't..."
"Yes. Really," Marinette declared. "We are not going to wrap this up between the three of us in just one night. I'm not - none of us are going to let that happen!"
"Marinette," Kagami repeated.
"You did nothing wrong," wailed Marinette. "Adrien and I getting these weeks alone together was just... dumb luck, you know? And it is real but what you had was real, too, and I didn't know how I was going to react when we all got together... and, Adrien, I do not want to make you feel more awkward than this already is, like I'm doing right now-"
"MARINETTE!" Kagami declared, emphatically. "I need to say something, okay?"
Silently, she nodded.
"I feel like we're going in circles, all of a sudden," Kagami explained. "The night that the three of us talked this out... I thought that I made myself clear. I do love Adrien, and I will not apologize for that... but I saw this coming a long time ago. You know that I did."
"I know, but..." stammered Marinette. "It's more complicated than you know..."
"What I know is that you two had been drawn together before either of you even met me. It's the simple truth," stated Kagami. "And I can see why; both of you are amazing people, and I am proud to call both of you my close friends. I don't make very many of those. You two were made for each other, and you couldn't seem to figure that out for the longest time."
"That much is true," Adrien interjected. "But... Kagami, there is something else that we need to explain to you. Something very important."
She looked a bit confused. "Such as?" she ventured.
Adrien looked intently at Marinette... who nodded.
"We need to get out of sight," he noted, looking around. "Behind that building?"
"I think that'll work," Marinette agreed. "C'mon."
"What... is going on here?" wondered Kagami. "Look around us! There's nobody else in sight right here."
"This needs complete privacy. You'll understand why in a minute," explained Marinette as they walked.
"If you say so..." a puzzled Kagami replied.
Once in a more secure location, Kagami watched Marinette and Adrien as they stood side-by-side in front of her.
"If you are trying to confuse me, it is working," Kagami declared. "Should I be worried about whatever this is?"
"No, you shouldn't," said Marinette, with a touch of authority returning to her voice. "But before we explain ourselves... you must promise us that what you're about to hear stays strictly between the three of us. No exceptions. Ever."
"I... give my word on that," a rattled Kagami offered. "What is going on?"
"Kagami... you're not wrong. Marinette and I have been far more entwined in each other's lives than we knew for a very long time," Adrien began. "She had fallen for me... and I was falling for her, and neither of us knew how to express that, and that's a big reason why the three of us are so complicated now!"
"But... there was something else that we didn't know about each other. Something huge," he continued. "And that sense you had about Marinette and I being 'meant for each other'... there was a discovery last night that made that very clear."
Kagami's eyes were huge. "You... you're not telling me that you're secretly long-lost siblings or cousins or something, are you? Because I do not think that I could handle that," she murmured.
"What? No!" gasped Marinette. "Not at all! Nothing like that!"
"It might be easier for me just to show you," Adrien intervened. "May I?"
"Please," replied Kagami, helplessly.
Adrien closed his eyes. There's no going back from this, he thought.
"Plagg... claws out!"
Kagami stared at the revealed Chat Noir for a long moment, gathering her thoughts... then broke out in a wide grin.
"I knew it!" she burst out, getting a look of shock from Chat and Marinette. "I didn't want to say it out loud... but I was so sure!"
"Kagami... you knew that I was Chat Noir?" Chat gasped. "How?"
"The day on the train, when we were headed to that royal wedding," Kagami grinned. "You were right there by my side, but then when danger threatened Paris, you disappeared and Chat Noir just happened to be close by. I had a hunch then... and you do look rather similar in both forms. Though I do like your hair better as yourself; it's so unruly this way," she laughed, reaching out to touch it.
"I, um... guess that makes sense," mumbled Chat.
"And... Adrien, I know you. You are kind, you are protective, you are brave, you have a sense of humor that you don't let out often, but that I've seen," continued Kagami. "The closer we became, and the more that I watched Chat Noir and learned more about him... everything matched up for me."
"You never said anything to me about it, though," Chat wondered. "Why not?"
"If you wanted me to know, you would have told me, would you not? Just as you have now," Kagami explained. "And I am very touched that you've trusted me with this. This is no small matter... and it goes a long way towards reminding me of how much I do matter to you, Adrien."
"So, when Ladybug called on you to become Ryuko..." asked Marinette, carefully. "Both times... you didn't tell Ladybug that you thought that you knew, either?"
"No, I didn't. I knew from the news and the Ladyblog that she and Chat were very serious about their identities. I did not want to spill Chat's to Ladybug by accident, if she hadn't wished to know it... and, besides, I might have been wrong."
She realized something, and became visibly excited. "So that is what you found out?" she bubbled. "Marinette, you had told me that you and Chat Noir were close friends, that he came to visit you sometimes... and then it turned out that he and Adrien were the same boy? No wonder that you two felt such a connection!"
"...Something like that," Chat smiled. "You didn't agree to become Ryuko just because of me, did you?"
"No... though suspecting that I knew one of my partners well was a nice feeling," she smiled back. "I felt tremendously honored that Ladybug trusted me to guard a Miraculous, even temporarily," said Kagami. "There was no way that I could decline that... and it felt very good to have that kind of power, to help and protect people... though I understand why Ladybug asked for it back."
Marinette held herself steady. "You didn't know one of your partners well, Kagami," she stated, flatly. "You knew them both."
Kagami stared back, uncomprehending at first...
...but when the light bulb came on over her head and her jaw dropped, Marinette nodded. "Adrien isn't the only one greatly impressed by you, Kagami," she said, "...or who knows that you're worthy of trust."
"M-Marinette?" stammered Kagami.
"Tikki... spots on!"
Kagami looked up at Chat Noir and Ladybug from her position on the ground, where she had stumbled and fallen out of shock.
"Are you all right?" asked Ladybug, gently, holding out her hand.
"Th-that... I did not see coming," answered Kagami, in a weak voice.