Coming now to you Riposte or, I spent a while learning about fencing just to understand bits and pieces of the episode.

When Master Fu told them about new abilities for their superhero personas, the last thing Marinette expected to do was to take on a sport. Fencing of all choices. Which led her to be in the tryouts for a position in the same team Adrien was in because of course, he would suggest her to try, taking the time of patrol to practice on rooftops and reviewing the rules.

"Think of it this way," Adrien smiled at her when she scored another point from him "it'd be useful if you get to fight with a sword one day."

"That was Joan of Arc" Marinette frowned, putting on her helmet again "I am very good with other resources,"

Even if they were a little away from other people, it was best not to be too obvious of what she meant.

"So am I but the options are endless," he lunged again, Marinette evading his attack that time "I would love to try archery for example."

"I thought you'd go for the flying disk,"

Oh, not only had they started training together, but they also had been learning about previous holders, from decades to centuries ago. Marinette was amazed that the Ladybug miraculous had been present in so many civilizations at different points in time, while Adrien was impressed with how so many myths were actually depictions of the Black cat in real historical events.

It did feel like a long extracurricular about Miraculous, but they were getting the hang of it; Master Fu had told them it was important to know about the past in order to not repeat the same mistakes in the future, and it'd help them maybe unlock those secret powers of the miraculous. Marinette was glad of her flexibility and reflexes which proved to be helpful in fencing but learning all the rules about parring and points was definitely the heaviest part.

"Ugh these rules are so complicated" she groaned as Adrien explained again how she got the point even if he touched first "how could you tell if everything is going so fast?"

"We don't always know for sure, that's why you can also abstain," Adrien shrugged "ready for more?"

"Now you're just being a show-off" Marinette hid her smile behind the helmet, getting ready for another round when a person wearing red appeared on the courtyard.

"Hey, you! Are you Mr D'Argencourt, the fencing master? I want to join your team,"

Marinette had to watch amazed at the confidence of that person, the conversation heated up between them and the teacher.

"Knave?" she whispered close to Adrien.

"Yeah, Mr D'Argencourt sure loves to use those terms with us, lots of chivalry and knighthood" Adrien shrugged.

"Adrien!" Mr D'Argencourt suddenly called for him "please give our visitor a lesson in chivalry,"

Adrien smiled at Marinette and went to face the red fencer. To say she was worried was a small understatement, but she was also curious to see how a fencing match worked. She observed them on the platform, amazed at how the red one showed such confidence and fluency in their moves, no wonder they had arrived almost demanding for that position.

"En garde! Prêts? Allez!"

The match was amazing in her eyes, but it just solidified how complicated the rules were! She could have sworn Adrien touched first but there was no point for any of them. The next one the red fencer had definitively scored but again no point was given!

"I request we do it the old fashion way, without the machine," the red fencer said, both now unplugging from it. Wait, wouldn't that make it more difficult to tell who won? Marinette could hardly keep up with them with the machine, now it was going to be impossible to tell!

She was so right when the fight got intense enough they were now fighting on the stairs! Marinette was amazed by it, but confident in Adrien since she had seen him fight in worse situations, but that fence? They were so cool! Marinette found it really hard to keep their eyes focused on any of them, following both to the library where they were still at it.

"Let's finish this off!" they lunged one more time, the movements so fast Marinette was floored, but soon enough both sabres were touching the other.

"Who got the first hit? Who?"

Marinette had to snap her attention to them. Oh no, she had no idea who got it! Had it been Adrien? But the fencer had come close to his chest too! Oh, what was that word, she felt nervous as they both waited on her answer.

"I…uh…abstention?"

Had she said something wrong? Marinette bit her lip as the red fencer sighed and shook hands with Adrien, leaving the library with their head high, but Marinette could tell they were not happy with her answer.

"Oh…no did I mess up? I tried to see but it was going so fast and maybe they did touch first- "

"The referee has the last word," the coach said and went back to the other students, leaving both in the library.

Adrien didn't let that sit by. He believed they had touched first, and Marinette had used the withdrawal of her judge as good resort, but he could tell the fencer would think of it as a failure. He was quite familiar with that after all.

"I'll go offer them a decisive match," he rushed out of the library and towards the street where the fencer was close to getting inside a bright red car.

"Hey! Wait! Your sabre!" Adrien caught up just as they tossed their equipment in the backseat of the car, taking off the helmet to reveal someone with short hair the same color as Marinette's, but with almost golden eyes and freckles.

"Let's…do a decisive match?" he asked, his attention flickering to the ring on their hand, a symbol he could have sworn he'd seen before.

"What's the point, if it's not clear who won and there's no such thing as a second chance in my family. Goodbye," the fencer got in the car who drove away as soon as the door slammed closed.

Adrien didn't want to leave it that way, he saw his bodyguard was waiting for his practice to end so it was a good thing he could go after that fencer.

"Fencing is…way more competitive than I thought" Marinette sighed, only for her eyes to widen when she saw an Akuma flying after the red car "oh no, Tikki, time to step in!"

Marinette ran to the nearest subway station, where she knew there were blind spots in the security system to transform safely. If her suspicions were correct, Hawkmoth would most likely target that fencer, who would probably target either Adrien or Marinette.

"Bold of him to assume Adrien wouldn't get in danger from one" she grumbled "Tikki, spots on!"

Several blocks ahead, Adrien was trying to find more about this fencer, surprised to see it was no other than the daughter of the Tsurugi clan, one of the most prestigious ones in fencing. Oh boy, he had faced off against someone of that elite? Now he was more than impressed.

At least until he heard the slash of a sword, his car splitting in half right after, sending him flying out to the street.

Right, he grumbled as he stood up from the pavement, Hawkmoth would use her frustration to turn her into an akuma. Talk about welcoming party to France.

"I'm taking you up on your offer of a decisive match!" the akuma said, getting in position.

"Wow no, I can't fight you like this, you're not yourself!" Adrien tried to reason. Or more like a stall, because it was never possible to reason with akumas for some reason. A part of him wondered if his father would allow this to happen, and when he saw the purple silhouette show up on the akuma's face, he was surprised Hawkmoth stopped her.

Ok, so he had to go "hide", transform and fight her. But the akuma stopped him from moving, at least until he saw the familiar red silhouette of Ladybug showing up right on time.

Adrien could only watch as the akuma went after Ladybug, her attacks too dangerous to allow a single approach. He knew her yo-yo could be an excellent shield but for this, he had a feeling they'd need to fight with something of the same line.

"Ladybug! Don't let her close in on you! Fight back!" he threw the sabre he had been holding onto at her, knowing she could hold onto it while he went to transform.

"Thanks!" she caught it and got instance, but it was still more difficult than their practice, with the akuma going full force at her until she tripped after evading an attack.

Adrien saw the akuma jump to attack her, and he would totally take her scolding later, but at that moment he didn't think much but to jump towards them and pull Ladybug out of the blast, both rolling away to the other side of the street.

Ladybug looked up at Adrien, about to yell at him for doing something so reckless when she saw him pulling away first to clutch at his ankle.

"Are you ok? Is it a sprain? Twist? Broken?"

"Ladybug," he winced but tried to keep it subtle "it's fine, nothing broken I think."

"I've got to get you out of here, she is targeting you first,"

"Sounds like a plan," he stood up carefully, leaning his weight on his good foot, only to feel her arm wrapped around his waist as she threw her yo-yo to the furthest building. He looked down at her, his heart thumping on how she held him tight as they flew towards the rooftops, his face turning beet red when she carried him, like a recently married couple, through the rooftops.

Maybe it wasn't the best place or time to think about it but she was so strong carrying him like nothing and had she changed her perfume? It smelled really strong and sweet it was divine.

"Ok," she hid behind a chimney, placing him on the ground "do I need to say how reckless that was?"

"You were about to be cut in half!"

"You were not transformed" she frowned "and there's no way you can transform now with your foot like that."

"B-but you need help!"

"Yes, I need you by my side" Ladybug said "but alive and well is better than injured or dead."

He opened his mouth, about to reply something where the chimney behind them broke down, the akuma showing up behind them.

"Allow me to explain the rules to you, you're not allowed to call it quits at any time! Adrien is mine! I will defeat you! Both of you! I am the best fencer!"

"I mean; we are not saying you aren't" Ladybug mumbled.

"Nobody's denying that" Adrien said a little louder "my friend Marinette made a bad call earlier, it was her first day."

"He's right" Ladybug turned to the akuma "referee errors can happen in fencing! No need to get so bent out of shape about it."

"I'm sure Marinette wasn't trying to humiliate you- "

"Of course not!" she squinted at him "she probably got too nervous about giving a result."

"It's too late!" the akuma cut them off "the damage has been done and this time, I shall be the referee."

Ladybug got in position to defend, giving Adrien a look that meant he had to get out of the way. It was hard with his ankle, definitely sprained at this point, but the further he could get the better chance for him to transform and help her out.

"Don't you think about it" he heard her say as soon as he got behind another chimney "she's after you, how will you explain getting off a roof so fast?"

"Oh, right, then…"

"Let's 'hide' you somewhere else" she air quoted the word hide "since knowing you, you will go cat ears on me the moment I leave you out of my sight.

"You know me too well Buginette," he smiled, the same warmth reaching his face when she wrapped her arm around his waist again.

"Any idea where are we headed?" he tried to look away from her face. He was so close he could count the freckles that peaked out of her mask!

"Just one for now" she guided them all the way to the Louvre, making sure to alert the civilians to evacuate the building as she carried him inside, reaching the furthest level that was the Egyptian exhibition.

"Oh no, do not trap me in the sarcophagus, you know I'm claustrophobic," he winced at the idea of being inside that box.

"Don't be silly, I wouldn't do that to you"

"So…can I transform then?"

Ladybug frowned but he was going to do it the moment she left either way, might as well have her know from the beginning. She just sighed and held him tight as Plagg poked his head out of Adrien's hair where he had been hiding the entire time.

"Claws out!" he smiled as the magic enveloped him. The pain on his ankle was still there but he could rely a little more on it than untransformed, so it was a win.

"Ah, this is much better," he turned to Ladybug "do we have a plan LB?"

"Well, you can be the surprise factor" she crossed her arms, still looking at his injured ankle "you sure you can move?"

"I'm at a good 75%" he smiled at her "I swear."

"Chat's honor?"

"Why yes," he twirled his baton "now let's get that akuma, shall we?"

It was of course easier with Chat there, even if she was worried about his ankle and Riposte was a very powerful akuma, having them on the defensive side a lot. This was a very dangerous fight, both knew that, knowing that if any of them was touched by an attack it'd risk losing a limb for real and at least she didn't want to find out if the Miraculous Cure would solve that or not.

They managed to trap her on the Egyptian exhibit but it was still too strong for them, and her lucky charm transforming into a radiator made things even more complicated.

"The akuma has to be in her sword" she said to Chat.

"Then why don't we get to the point?"

"Really Chat?" she lifted the radiator "I think that was a little too on edge."

"Yeouch," Chat smirked, both ready to fight Riposte again, but it was until she saw how the blade would sometimes get stuck in between the radiator bars that she got an idea.

"I need your belt Chat Noir!"

"Again? Ok then!" Chat put his baton away "get ready!"

They lunged at Riposte at the same time, the strategy flawless as they worked like one to trap the sword in the radiator and break it, Ladybug purifying it right away, the cure also swirling around Chat, who tested his ankle and noticed it wasn't sprained anymore.

"Don't get confident by that" she said while holding out her first for him to bump.

"Right right," he looked at his beeping ring "can you take care of her?"

"Of course silly cat" she flicked his bell "make sure to tell Adrien to come out of hiding too."

Chat smiled and ran out to hide behind a statue as Ladybug went towards the fencer, helping her up and explaining what had happened. Adrien waited until she and Ladybug were out of the exhibit area to retrieve the sabre and get out as well, hoping to catch up with her soon, glad to find her just waiting out of the museum for her ride.

"Ah, excuse me?" he called for her.

"Listen, I…"

"I'm sorry," they said at the unison, Adrien surprised to hear her apologize.

"Perhaps you'll agree to take this back now?" he offered her sabre back, the fencer shaking her head at him.

"I don't deserve it when I can't show my skill clearly, you keep it."

"I personally think the point was yours," he tried again.

"That's not what your friend saw," the fencer replied.

"Marinette can get flustered easily. She's kind and means well, she'd never cheat and today was her first ever experience with fencing, I'm sure she meant no harm in her abstention but she probably didn't want to hurt any feelings either."

Ok the last was a lie since she had practiced a little as Ladybug, but it was her first as part of a fencing school, so Adrien wasn't really lying.

To his surprise, the fencer just smiled at him.

"You like her a lot, huh?"

"W-what?" Adrien felt his face heating up again. Had he said something to show it? Had he been obvious in something? "I ah y-yeah of course I do, she's one of my closest friends, haha… and I bet you'll like her too once you get to know her, she would gladly be friends with you too because that's how Marinette is and- "he offered the sabre again "please, take it."

Adrien didn't see the way the fencer smiled at him as she took the sabre back, but he did catch her smile as she said she'd be happy to get to know Marinette.

"My name's Adrien," he offered his hand to her, remembering he hadn't really introduced himself "what's yours?"

The fencer shook his hand and smiled "Kagami, and I'll take you on that decisive match."

Adrien smiled "I can't wait for it Kagami."

She nodded at him and walked to her car, the red vehicle leaving him alone on the Louvre's courtyard.

"Boy you have it bad" Plagg snickered "horribly bad."

"Shut up," Adrien rolled his eyes, turning around to see Marinette walking towards him "h-hey! I thought you would be back at school."

"I didn't have enough time to transform back there," she said "so, did things work out?"

"Yeah! Kagami, oh, that's her name, agreed to a decisive match, and she would like to meet you too."

He was surprised to see Marinette's face being a worried one than a delighted one.

"Is that… bad?"

"Bad? No, no! It's not bad it's just" she looked down, "I thought she would be, you know, mad at me? For calling it wrong at your match and what if she dislikes me for that and she seems to be really good at fencing and what if I ruined something for her and- "

"Hey, hey," Adrien held her by the shoulders, knowing very well of her anxiety spirals by now "breathe with me Marinette, in and out" he rubbed her arms to reassure her of his presence, "she said she would be happy to get to know you, and from what we learned today she seemed pretty straight forward."

"But,"

"I did tell her it was your first time experiencing fencing too" he smiled at her "and Kagami understood that, so I can assure you, from the bottom of my heart, she wouldn't hate you or resent you for this."

"You sure?"

"Cat's honor" he smiled as his car arrived "want me to drop you back home?"

"Are you offering because you want to sneak out passion fruit macaroons or just because of chivalry?"

"A little of both?" he avoided Marinette's jab at his ribs "just for that I'll have it for free."

"Oh, such a disgrace" she rolled her eyes but walked with him to the car.

"Now that you got into fencing," he said as he opened the door for her "will you finally agree to cosplay as Lucina with me as Robin?"

"I will think about it" she smiled at him "only if you work on the props."

"Sounds like a good deal to me."

Marinette giggled, Adrien smiling next to her as the car drove back to the bakery.

It had been a good day after all.

The friendship train is about to depart the station whoo-whoo!

Also, I'm doing the one with Luka next because fair is fair and I need the two of them to plot this ship to sail.