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bananajoe; Preciesely!
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-Hayd
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From; Ladybug
To; Chat Noir
Dear Chat Noir, or…my dearest Kitty, or…or…I never know how to start these things.
To whom it may concern doesn't sound right either …I'm not sure how exactly I'm supposed to start.
I'll just say I miss you and go from there.
Chat, I miss you. I really, really do. I'm not sure if you'll ever read these, but Aspik told me it'd make me feel better, writing a message to you a day. He says he used to do it with his mother. I'm sure you've watched the news, at very least, so you'll know who Aspik is. If you don't, he's the new snake hero, my partner. Oh, and in case you're curious, yes, he's different from Viperion. Aspik is sweet and thoughtful…sometimes he sounds like you. Once or twice I've even thought he was you.
He won't replace you, though. He's like a folded book page. It's temporarily there while the bookmark is missing, but quickly smoothed back when the bookmark is found and put back in its place.
Chat Noir, I'm going to be frank with you. Lately I've been stressed. I want to tell you why in person, so I will when you come back. I swear, Kitty, when you return, I'll hug you and never let you go.
Please, please come back. I need you.
–
Ladybug sent the message, the first of – probably – many, sitting down heavily onto her sunchair, closing her eyes tightly. She had spoken more to Aspik after their patrol the day before and had figured out that Tikki was right; he would not feel betrayed if she sent messages and had actually explained that he had done the same with his mother.
She still doubted Chat Noir would feel grateful to receive messages of her complaining, but, alas, she still did it.
"Tikki, spots off." She said quietly, standing up and making her way off her balcony and down below to her room.
Within the – technically – six walls of her room, Marinette had moved several of Master Fu's pieces of furniture from his old apartment – which he apparently had never sold – including a miniature, traditional Chinese kitchen. She used the kitchen to make the magical formulas for the Kwamis and practice creating their preference of food.
Her parents hadn't understood how she was able to afford a kitchen, much less why she wanted one when there was full-sized kitchen directly below. Despite their confusion, they had helped her move the furniture up to her room, albeit hesitantly.
Marinette was fairly lucky her parents were so cool with the whole thing, or else she would have had to do the mixing in the actual kitchen and risk having her parents accidentally stumble across her experiments and asking what she was doing.
And Marinette was sick of lying.
Marinette was thankful for Master Fu's planning; the previous Guardian had saved her a vial of Tears of Joy, something Marinette surely would have been unable to get her hands on due to how upset she had been lately. A few other items which would have been much too expensive for her had made their way into a suitcase Master Fu had left in his old house, labeled To Ladybug. A flash drive of the Grimoire had been left in the Miraculous Box's empty Ladybug Earring slot, a cheat sheet to the coded puzzle within the magical book's pages included in a word document in the flash drive. In the barren Black Cat Ring selection, a small key to Master Fu's locker sat. (The locker contained a letter to Marinette, a few ways to contact Marianne, and a piece of paper telling her all of the Kwamis' favorite foods and the magical elixirs, and half of a map of the world, pointing to several places were lost Kwamis were.) In the areas where the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous were supposed to be, the second half of the map to the Kwamis sat, this also divided in two, so that a quarter of the map sat in both holds. A few other extra responsibilities found themselves on a list in the Snake Ouroboros Bracelet's box.
Marinette knew this would cause her a lot of work to fulfill them all, to even be able to complete half of all the things she needed to do.
She was already exhausted, ready to fall over at any minute from the sheer stress it put her through, trying to organize everything and create all the needed potions.
So much so, she had resisted from the almost weekly Girls' meeting, and had canceled her get-together with Kagami, to her deepest regret.
The responsibilities of being Ladybug, of being a Guardian had hit her full force, had surrounded and pressed down on her, and now, alas, no time was left for her personal life. She barely found enough time to do her own chores about the house.
Homework was a hinderance, gaining the strength to wake up each morning even more so, her preference to the night hindering her.
School took up more than half her day, and Akumas, though only occurring once every one or two weeks, were tiring. Patrol, on the other hand, was wonderful, and the highlight of Marinette's day, where she was able to see her boyfriend. Barely any time had passed since Master Fu's death, but, already, she was aware of her absolute joy whenever she was with Aspik, and her absolute bitterness when it came to Chat Noir.
She was aware of her pain, and she accepted it. She didn't want to, but she had to understand that she probably needed help. Help that even her dozen Kwamis were unable to give.
Marinette sighed into the portable sink, shaking her head lightly. She had much to do, and she wouldn't do it by just sitting still, and-
"Marinette!" Her mother's voice called from the living room, voice echoing up the stairs. "You have company!"
Marinette straightened in surprise, glancing over to the floor. Who could possibly be visiting her? Maybe Kagami visiting while she had some extra time? Luka hoping to take her ice-skating? (Chat Noir? Maybe?)
Marinette grabbed the sink handles, using some of the precious bits of water in her storage tank to clean off her face, wipe off any sweat and tears and try to cool off her red face. She grabbed the nearby towel, drying off her face quickly. "Coming, Mom!"
She took a deep breath before launching herself over to the trap door, waving her arm urgently at the Kwamis, warning them to get out of the line of the sight of her trap door entrance. They obeyed, all backing off and circling into nearby surfaces. They even went away from the windows as well.
Marinette forced a cheerful smile onto her face, straightening her shoulders carefully as she peered down into the living room, where her mother was waiting. Sabine greeted her with a wave, smiling. "They're down in the bakery, sweetie."
"Who is it?" Marinette inquired, following her maternal parent out of the room.
"Your friends. Alya, Alix, Rose, Juleka, and Mylene. There was also that nice girl you've been hanging out with lately, what was her name?"
"Lila?" Marinette questioned, gut clenching. If the girls had brought along that liar even while knowing Marinette really did not want that girl around at all, they were asking for trouble.
"Oh!" Sabine gasped, whirling on Marinette with a horrified look. "Heavens, no. After everything you've told us about her I'd never let her in this bakery, much less think of her as nice. No, no, this one has that short, dark hair, and that fenc- oh! Kagami! Was that it? Yes, her name is Kagami." Sabine nodded, continuing on her way.
"Usually she doesn't come with them." Marinette mumbled in confusion, looking down at her feet as she padded along.
She was going to have to keep her friends out of her room; if they accidentally stumbled across the Kwamis, there'd be trouble. And, even more likely, if Alya, Alix, or Kagami saw their Miraculous they'd surely figure out her identity. They'd certainly wonder about the kitchen and have more questions than her parents did, not to mention would be pushier.
She could hang out with them in the living room, for ten minutes at most, then she had to come back to her room and continue her training from the Kwamis and her Guardian 'homework' and everything. Not long with them. But enough to quench any worries they might have.
Her mother re-entered the bakery, taking over the cash register from her father.
The six girls all looked up with varying expressions when Marinette entered, different degrees of excitement upon them. Juleka and Kagami both, to the average person, looked blank, but those who truly know them could tell they were eager.
"Marinette!" Alya greeted, jumping the bluenette giddily, wrapping an arm around her best friend's shoulders. "Wow, you look terrible!" She ribbed, thrusting a finger into her chest.
"Thanks, Alya." Marinette snorted, dodging around her friends' limbs. "What are you all doing here?"
"We haven't seen you or talked to you in days!" Rose said, catching Marinette in her arms and clinging on.
"Or weeks." Kagami said with a small smile.
"I saw most of you just yesterday!" Marinette protested, wiggling out of Rose's grip.
"Com'n, Pigtails, that was school." Alix said, popping a bubble of gum with a loud smack. "It doesn't count."
Kagami wrinkled her nose at Alix, looking disgusted. "Didn't I see you pick that off of the ground?"
"Maybe." Alix said, and continued chewing.
"Would you girls mind going upstairs?" Sabine asked, glancing over at them. "We're expecting a rush of costumers at any minute now, and too, and while we're pleased to see you…"
"Right." Marinette nodded up in confirmation, waving them all upstairs. "Com'n, girls. However, you can't stay long; I'm in the middle of a project."
"Right." Mylene agreed, who knew the importance of art projects and that Marinette usually needed quiet – with the exception of some quiet music - while she was doing them. "I need to head out in ten minutes, anyway. I promised Ivan we could go see a romantic movie today."
"Aw, how cute!" Rose crooned, and Kagami and Juleka exchanged a look of disinterest. "Which movie?"
"I'm not sure; he said it was a surprise!" Mylene chirped, twiddling with her braids of fake hair. "We'll see! But, while I'm waiting on that… what project are you working on, Marinette?"
"Oh, uh…" Marinette opened the door to her living room and waved them in. "Nothing! Just a bunch of little stuff, you know?"
"Ah. Just make sure you can get them all done." Kagami reminded her, sitting down elegantly on the couch. "If you focus on many, it can be hard to complete any."
"Oh, haha, yeah." Marinette agreed, about to follow them, when Orikko dove through the floorboards, hovering in front of Marinette urgently, eyes blown open wide. "Oh! Uh, you guys go on! I think Uncle J – uhh, I mean, Mr. Stone, I mean JAGGED STONE's calling me!" She slammed the door, then turned to the chicken Kwami, glaring. "Orikko! Someone could have seen you!"
"I know, I'm sorry Marinette, but it was an emergency!" Orikko insisited, staring up. "Mullo wanted to ride Kaalki by shrinking, but Longg said it was too dangerous, but Mullo wanted to, anyway, so Longg said we should ask you!"
"Tell Mullo to please listen to Longg. But I have friends over, so I can't pull a Guardian and stop them, okay?"
"Okay!" Orikko said, shooting back upstairs. Marinette went to open the door, when the rooster returned, bouncing about. "Wait! I forgot; Roaar wanted to ask if he could play with your ball of yarn!"
"Yes, just tell him not to untangle it too much." Marinette sighed, shaking her head. "Anything else?"
"Barkk wants a granola bar."
"I'll get that for her." Marinette groaned in disbelief, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Barkk wants two granola bars."
"Sure, fine."
"…Barkk wants six granola bars."
"Ugh! Okay! I'll bring her the whole box!" Marinette hissed, managing to keep her voice low. "Anything else?!"
"Um…" Orikko hummed thoughtfully, cocking her head. "Nope! That was it."
"It better have been." Marinette threatened, glaring at the chicken, waiting for her to leave the line of the sight of the door. She opened it up, smiling at the girls. "Sorry about that!"
"You sounded frustrated, Marinette, is everything okay?" Alya asked, tilting her head in worry, biting her lip.
"No, no, I'm fine." Marinette smiled. "It was a bot, not Clara Nightingale."
"Clara Nightingale? I thought you said Jagged Stone?" Rose blinked in confusion, tilting her head.
"Oh! Uh-huh… I mean…musical…people, am I right?" Marinette shrugged. "I don't really remember what I said…uh, hahahaha!" Curse her confusion and stupidity!
"Marinette gets confused, remember?" Juleka mumbled to her best friend, nudging her.
"Oh, right! Teehee, sorry!" Rose giggled stupidly, shaking her blonde locks. "My bad, Marinette! I meant no insult!"
"No insult taken." Marinette said, letting a smile appear on her lips. She was wasting time where she could be learning from the Kwamis! "Anyway, did you six mean to show up together, or was it all accidental?"
"Us five meant to appear together." Alix said, gesturing towards the main five girls. "Kagami showed up a few minutes before we did, though."
"It was completely coincidental." Kagami responded with a small sigh. "I had a break in my schedule." She pulled several papers out of her nearby book bag, and immediately began writing on them. "Alas, it was not to last."
"Nerd." Alix snorted, shaking her pink head.
"Well, Marinette, can we see those projects you mentioned earlier?" Alya asked eagerly, leaning forward.
"Oh, uh-" She didn't have any projects. If they found out that she didn't have them… "Trust me, I've hardly started them. You don't want to see them."
"Yes, we do!" Alya insisted, bouncing forward.
"We love seeing your designs progress!" Rose agreed, nudging Kagami, who briefly glanced up.
"Yeah." Kagami agreed with a shrug before returning to her papers.
"Com'n, M!" Alix prompted, blowing another bubble from her gum.
"No." Marinette said, waving her hands desperately. "It's nothing much to see, really!"
"Marinette." Alya said, smirking as she leaned forward, nose inches away from Marinette's. Marinette knew that look and braced herself to charge up to her room. "We want to see them, but you say we don't want to. There's only one way to settle this…"
"No." Marinette repeated firmly, crossing her arms. "We're not doing this again."
"But it's fun!" Alya pleaded, and the rest of the girls echoed her.
"This means you all are going to try and break in anyway, doesn't it?" Marinette groaned, because she knew that is what would happen.
'Room Raids', a common past time among the girls, dished out whenever it seemed like one of the group was keeping a secret from the others. All five girls would fight against the other, all desperately trying to get to the location of the secret first.
While Marinette typically enjoyed them, they often were time-consuming, and she really didn't want all of her secrets to be revealed.
"Yep!" Rose smiled sweetly, arising from her seat. "Com'n, Kagami! You'll enjoy it!"
Kagami glanced up before resuming with her paper, shaking her head. "I am afraid that is too distracting. I'll never get anything done if I allow myself to get carried away, and I'm not even sure what it is you are about to do."
Marinette stood and walked towards the nearby staircase, hoping that acting like she wasn't panicking would gain her a little bit of extra time. Unfortunately, she only made it halfway up the stairs to her room before Alya realized she was trying to escape and let loose a war cry. "Get her!"
Marinette's pace quickened, and she threw open her trapdoor the moment she reached it, kicking off Juleka's hand as the tall girl managed to snag her ankle. She climbed up into her room and was immediately greeted with the sight of her Kwamis panicking and buzzing out across the room or diving into different surface objects. They were not prepared for people suddenly barging in. She'd have to make sure they would be, just in case.
She slammed it shut, not even caring if anyone's fingers or other appendages were in the way, only wanting to make sure none of them saw any of the Kwamis or any of the other things. She sat down firmly on the door, locking it in the only way she knew how. The girls below pushed on it with all of their strength, trying to unseat Marinette.
Unfortunately for the bluenette, after one quite hard shove, they managed to do so, sending her tumbling backward as the trap door succeeded in flying open.
"No!" Marinette yelled, tackling it down again and casting her full weight across it. Tears began to trek into her eyes, the girl hurt and angry.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Trixx sitting atop the sink, looking confused as he gazed sadly down at the trap door, no doubt wondering how his holder could be so cruel. He didn't understand that this was a game, and that the girls didn't know Marinette wasn't enjoying it.
"Girls!" Kagami called from below, urgently. "I don't think Marinette wants to play! I think you're upsetting her."
Almost immediately the thumping below stopped, the girls calming down as they realized that Kagami might be right.
"Marinette? Girl? Are you okay?" Alya yelled up after several seconds of dreary silence.
"No!" Marinette called back, angry as her heart beat against her chest. She hadn't been prepared for the sudden force that had flung her backwards, bruising in spine. It still hurt and was burning into her back.
Silence once more.
"Oh, Marinette, we're sorry…" Mylene whimpered, sounding horrified. "We thought…. We thought maybe…we thought you were enjoying it, like usual! We're sorry that we… we didn't mean to…. To…"
"It's okay." Marinette said, inhaling sharply. "I'm okay. It's okay."
"You sure, Marinette?" Rose whimpered, uncertain.
"I'm sorry for…" Juleka muttered, voice drifting off.
"I'm fine." Marinette assured, pushing herself up onto her knees. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…have freaked out, I'm…I'm sorry."
"No, Marinette, we're the ones who are sorry." Alix sighed, and Marinette could practically hear how painful it was for the pink-haired girl to say, to admit she was wrong. "We shouldn't have…well, we didn't know; we're sorry."
"It's okay…" Marinette whimpered, not wanting to open up the trapdoor beneath her legs. She just wanted them to leave.
"Girls, we should go." Alya said, quietly. "Marinette we're sorry; but we're also here for you, okay?"
"Okay." Marinette whispered, and Alya sighed below.
"We'll….we'll be leaving now. Bye, Marinette."
Marinette nodded slowly. "Bye…"
The five pairs of footsteps left the living room, echoing away down the staircase on the outside of everything, the girls all leaving and feeling guilty.
"Marinette, I'll be going, too." Kagami called up. "Just call and let me know if you need anything at all, okay?"
"You got it, Kagami." Marinette agreed, rubbing at her face desperately.
"…okay, Marinette. Stay safe."
"You too…"
And with that, Kagami left as well, leaving Marinette to wonder how she long she'd survive pushing away her friends before she had none left. That thought hurt more then anything else.