Thanks to pjomlb23 for betaing!
Alya hummed to herself as she walked, looking at the newest footage some helpful Parisians had sent her of the latest akuma fight.
Ladybug almost getting hit by the latest akuma, Chat Noir knocking her out of the way just in time, Ladybug casting her Lucky Charm, and the two of them using their superb teamwork to take out the villain - nothing unusual.
Yet everything had changed.
Because that wasn't just Ladybug - superhero of Paris, her idol, and part-time teammate. It was also Marinette, rising fashion designer, lovestruck teen, and her full-time best friend.
The revelation of Ladybug's identity and the true source of Marinette's troubles hadn't been as much of a surprise as she was expecting. She'd been involved with Ladybug right from the get-go, filming their very first akuma fight against Stoneheart. Over the course of Hawkmoth's reign of terror she'd gotten to know Ladybug as more than a superhero to film from afar, but as a good friend, one who was kind, caring, and clever.
As for Marinette… well, she'd been involved in many of her crazy schemes. Heck, she helped Marinette come up with Operation Secret Garden! Her taking those same schemes to akuma fights wasn't that much of a stretch.
Her leadership skills as Ladybug weren't a shocker either. With how calm and collected she'd been during the Darkblade fight, organizing the rest of the class to try to keep them safe, she'd demonstrated those in spades.
Once Marinette confessed, it all came together.
What could she do but give her friend - her friend twice-over in fact - a hug?
After that they'd talked for awhile, Marinette finally getting everything off her chest, for real this time, as well as telling her about some Guardian-related things she hadn't known about before.
Her theory about there even BEING Guardians was totally correct! Point one for Alya!
She winced. ...And take away a score for hastily posting her theories on the Ladyblog, where anyone - including Hawkmoth - could read them.
At least now she could tell Ladybug about her theories directly, and who knew - maybe even help her unmask mister Butterfly Butt! She'd already uncovered one Miraculous wielder after all. (Though she doubted Hawkmoth was quite as obviously… well, HAWKMOTH in his civilian life, as Carapace was obviously Nino).
*bump*
"OW!"
"OOOPH!"
Alya collided with someone, getting knocked to the ground. She shook her head, dazed.
When she looked up, a sheathed fencing foil pointed at her face.
Kagami's eyes widened as she registered Alya's face, and that she was not a threat. Immediately she put away her foil. "I am sorry, Alya," she said, turning away from her briskly.
Alya frowned. Kagami could be pretty standoffish, but she'd been opening up more as she spent time around other kids - especially Adrien.
But now, she seemed as cold and detached as her initial Ice Queen reputation had suggested.
Something was definitely wrong.
"Kagami!"
She stopped, turning her head slightly. "What is it?"
Alya walked over to her. "I just wanted to talk. We've seen each other on-and-off and I'd like to get to know you better."
Kagami turned away, facing forward, pointedly not looking at her. "I am not looking for any more friends."
She said that last word harshly, venomously.
"Everyone needs friends," Alya told her gently.
Kagami shook her head. "Not me. Mother was right. It only leads to disappointment - and even more when you try to become lovers".
Oh.
Marinette was not the only girl suffering from a broken heart it seemed.
"Did something happen with Adrien?" Alya guessed. She hadn't heard anything about Kagami and Adrien dating, but then again, she hadn't known that Luka and Marinette were together either until Luka showed up at Marinette's house during that call.
Were all her friends dating on the down-low?
Kagami sat down on a nearby bench, staring down at her feet. "I knew he had reservations. He's pulled away from me before, saying he wasn't ready yet."
She clenched her skirt, her fingers tightening. "If he didn't want to spend time with me - if he'd rather be somewhere else - he could have just told me so. Should have told me, instead of just feeding me LIES!"
Alya blinked, taken aback by Kagami's sudden outburst. "Lies? About?"
That explained Kagami's akumatization the other day at least. Multiple akumas on the same day weren't exactly unknown, but two of them being her peers was more unusual - usually it was just Mr. Pigeon and some other random Parisian.
She knew full well why Luka was akumatized of course, but hadn't had the time or mental capacity to dive into Kagami's akumatization, though she'd had people send info about it to the Ladyblog. She'd been a little too busy trying to puzzle out why Marinette hadn't told her about the breakup with Luka, and then reassembling her entire worldview after that earth-shattering conversation where Marinette confessed her secret.
"Mother doesn't like me associating with other teens for too long. She doesn't think it's productive. But I'd sneak around, rearrange schedules, lie so that Adrien and I could spend more time together than normally allowed, could do things besides simply fencing. We'd meet up early so we could hang out in the art room, have our drivers 'happen' to sync up cars for a kiss, even sneak out for ice cream! But he ditched me. Constantly. Making up excuses. Not even trying to look at me as he left!" Her voice cracked.
Alya tilted her head. "That doesn't make sense," she said slowly, puzzling out Kagami's words. "Adrien loves spending time with people."
Kagami turned away. "Not with me it seems. He dropped some bracelet while we were on the Couffaine's houseboat. I picked it up, intending to return it to him later… after a small test."
Her voice dropped to nearly a whisper. "Next time I saw him, I asked whether he'd found what he was looking for. He said yes."
Kagami's teeth ground. "A moment later he realized it wasn't on him, and he claimed he must've lost it again. If I hadn't been holding the object in his hand, I would have believed him - he's that good a liar."
That- that didn't fit with the Adrien she knew. But she didn't think Kagami was lying either.
"Do you have any idea why he'd lie?"
Kagami shook her head. "I thought about him cheating, I know he has a crush on another girl, but-"
"WHAT?!"
Marinette had told her about the ride back from the museum, how Adrien had talked about the "girl he loved". They'd both assumed that was Kagami.
But Adrien hadn't actually said the girl's name.
Was there someone else in Adrien's life?
Kagami raised an eyebrow. "Is it really such a surprise? Granted I thought it was Marinette for awhile, what with the way he looks at her-"
Oh, Alya knew. She'd seen the doe eyes Adrien sent at Marinette anytime she did… well, anything really, and that boy needed only the slightest prompting to start waxing lyrical about how amazing Marinette was.
"-but it quickly became apparent that Adrien had never asked Marinette out, and he had asked out this other girl, so it couldn't be her," Kagami concluded.
Alya furrowed her brow. "A girl that even Marinette doesn't know about?" she wondered out loud. "How is that even possible? Heck, even Nino doesn't know her!"
Adrien didn't exactly get a lot of opportunities to talk to other kids - his father made sure of that. And he didn't seem the type to fall for someone just based on their looks and two minutes of conversation, at least not long-term.
"I don't think he was actually cheating," Kagami said. "He may be a liar, but I couldn't see him doing that. I still get this sense of sincerity from him, even after that. He sees others as people, and is too empathetic for me to believe he'd do that. I got the sense that he didn't want to lie, even if he was good at it."
Alya nodded. "Yeah, I can't see Adrien doing that. Not that I could see him lying either, but… something just seems off."
She'd considered that she'd might have totally misjudged what type of person Adrien was in the past, when 'Adrien' sent back a nasty video reply on the anniversary of his mother's death.
The evidence was right there in front of her, after all.
But she'd been wrong that day. Adrien had been the kind of person he'd been shown to be over the past few months, was kind, sincere, and loved his friends.
So if she assumed that Adrien had good intentions, that he wasn't being awful to Kagami, that he had a good reason for always needing to ditch and make up excuses-
WAIT.
She gripped Kagami's shoulders. "When exactly did he need to ditch? Like, what times?" she said urgently.
Kagami narrowed her eyes, giving Alya a searching look. "It changed from day to day, it was never consistent."
"Then how about that last day you two were together? When exactly did he leave?"
Kagami hummed for a moment. "I'm not sure of the exact clock time, but… well, you saw him arrive late to that Kitty Section concert. Just a few minutes after we left the boat, we were talking, but he seemed distracted. He kept on looking behind me. I actually checked myself, but I didn't see anything there. That's when he made up the lie about the bracelet and raced off."
Adrien arrived late to the Kitty Section concert… the same one Marinette was late to.
Adrien had to beat a hasty retreat from Kagami a few minutes after he'd left the Couffaine's houseboat… which was about the time Truth showed up.
Ladybug had turned out to be Alya's best friend. What were the chances that Chat Noir was also someone she knew?
"Are you going to tell me what you figured out?" Kagami asked her flatly.
Alya blinked, snapping out of her thoughts. "Figured out? Figured what out?"
"Don't lie." Kagami said harshly. "I've endured enough of that already."
Alya winced. "Ok, yes, I figured something out. At least I think I did. I haven't confirmed it, and I'm not sure I'm going to. If I'm right, then Adrien had to lie and ditch and make up those excuses, and couldn't tell anyone safely. That's why I'm not sure about digging further. Me knowing would be dangerous too."
Kagami's eyes widened in alarm. "Is he in danger?"
Alya mulled that over. "...Sort of? Yes." Noticing Kagami putting her hand on the hilt of her blade, she hastily added, "but it's not a danger you can save him from!"
"Do not underestimate me," Kagami said, her voice low and dangerous.
Considering that Kagami tried to assault Desperada with a mic stand as soon as she was in range, she might have a point.
"He's ok for now," Alya tried to assure her. "He has some solid backup."
"And that doesn't include me?" Kagami asked.
Well, actually, it does sometimes, Alya wanted to say. But that would be too much of a giveaway.
Was this what Marinette felt like all those times she had to conceal her Ladybug knowledge? It sucked.
Kagami pulled away. "I can't do this. I already had one person keeping secrets from me. I don't need another."
As Kagami walked away, Alya reached out a hand… and retracted it.
She was right. Kagami had been hurt enough by secrets and lies. As much as Alya would love to be totally honest with Kagami, to bring her into the loop… she just couldn't. It was too dangerous and not her call anyway.
But Kagami needed someone. She was more alone than anyone else she knew, especially since her relationship with Adrien ended.
Hm…
Maybe Kagami couldn't spend that much time with others as Kagami...
But Ryuuko was a different story.
And if Marinette could bring back Rena Rouge even after having her identity exposed… why not? At least getting her occasionally.
Alya turned to head towards the bakery.
Hopefully soon, the dragon would rejoin the cat and ladybug in protecting Paris, getting to spend time with her friends once again.
This time, at least getting to know why there were secrets between them, even if those secrets had to remain.
(A/N)I wanted to throw Kagami a bone here. She may not get to know Adrien's or Marinette's identity, but Marinette could still call on her more often, now that the Miraculous she gives out are only vulnerable for the seconds it takes to summon them from her yo-yo and hand them over to their wielder. And it means that Adrien and Marinette can spend time with Kagami without worrying about hurting her by constantly needing to run off with terrible excuses! (And getting to spend time with her... well, at ALL, in Adrien's case).
She just needs friends and not to be hurt anymore.