It's a climax! Probably... Well, the story is definitely half done for sure. I'm taking this further into the future than I ever have, but in here... Well... Drama... Stuff... Just read and you'll know. I don't want to spoil it!=^-^=

Ch. 17 - Lover's Chat


Marinette let out a yawn as she sat in a corner of the bakery kitchen. Aaron was answering more questions with the inspector, and while she was told she didn't have to stay, she wanted to. Yes, she knew she probably looked terrible, and had bags under her eyes, but still. Who could sleep after having your home broken into and a parent nearly killed? She'd been woken up hours earlier along with her mother at the loud ruckus coming from downstairs. Aaron was helping her father stand and Sabine was looking over the area of the safe. She had just enough time to chastise her husband over forgetting the alarm before the police arrived. While it was good that the criminals weren't able to get away with all of the money in the safe, she agreed with her mother in the fact that Tom's close call was too close.

Both her parents were now at the hospital where Tom was getting his arm looked at for a possible fracture. Aaron, having been a part of the incident, opted to stay behind and finish with the police so that the older couple could get medical treatment in peace. There was another reason she didn't want to go back to sleep, however, and it had more to do with Aaron than her father. That idiot could have been killed too! Did he forget he had a miraculous!? Even if it would have been a little suspicious for Chat to arrive to this sort of crime, it was ten times safer to come suited up.

It had occurred to her that maybe he didn't have his miraculous on him, but she confirmed three separate times that he was indeed wearing the ring. Even now he was wearing it. She noticed him glance at her while the inspector wrote something down in his note book. After flashing her a tired smile he looked back as the officer pointed around the room. A few minutes later and Aaron was finally free and joined her out of the way. "Well, that's about as specific as I can get. It all happened pretty fast." He chuckled lightly trying to keep the tension down.

"I suppose." She quickly replied but gave no indication she was going to say more.

Aaron flinched at her clipped tone. Did he make her mad somehow? Was it because she woke up early? She usually loved to sleep pretty late when she could help it. "So… Are you hungry?"

"I'm fine." She quickly responded while still looking around the kitchen as police investigated. She was doing what she could to resist blowing up at him over his stupid risk. There were a few onlookers now with the daylight, and she was sure several of the bakery's regulars were among them, but she didn't want to make any statements without the police so she ignored them. "If you're hungry, go eat. I'll stay."

Aaron furrowed his brow at her. She had been a little tense since the police first showed up, but why? He understood she was worried about her father though… This didn't really seem like that? "O… Okay. Just call me down if they need anything else from me."

"Sure." She waved him away without looking at him.

He let out a small sigh and left like she said. She might have just needed some time. It was a rather traumatic thing to nearly lose a parent after all. After he closed the door to the bakery he turned to the stair case. On the first step he was met with an odd pinch in his side and stopped before he climbed it. "Huh?" After inspecting himself a bit he found a tear in his shirt and upon lifting the fabric a strange abrasion. "When did I..?" It wasn't very big, and was slightly elongated like he'd scrapped against something blunt but hard. What little blood that had come from it was already dry and scabbing. "Whelp… I guess maybe I hit the counter harder than I thought?" Either way, he would have to put a band aid or something on it.


"You're not going to be doing any baking for the next two weeks and that's final." Sabine decreed to her pouting husband in a sling. Marinette was beginning to get the front in order since the police cleared it, but they were still in the back. "They're still investigating?"

"Yes. Though they said they'd be done in about 30 minutes or so. The whole area was a mess and they don't want to miss any possible evidence. I heard the inspector mention this crime might be related to another robbery."

"Really?" Her mother asked back in surprise. A serial robbery case in their neighborhood?

"Looking at how this is all going, I guess we won't be able to open today." Tom lamented with a sigh.

"You're not stepping foot in the bakery for at least a week, and I told you already that you won't be baking. You're going upstairs right now to rest. No using your arm for anything." She ordered and her husband nodded with a sigh of resignation.

"Excuse me." The inspector interrupted as he entered the lobby with an officer behind him. "I'm happy to see that you're injuries appear minor, Mr. Dupain."

"Yes, just a slight fracture. I don't even need a cast."

"So long as you don't aggravate it, dear." His wife added pointedly.

He chuckled with a sheepish expression. "Uh, yes… Anyway, Inspector, is there anything I can do to help now?"

"Nothing big, Mr. Dupain, since that young man Mr. Bassett did a thorough walkthrough with us, but my officer did just find something of interest. Tell me, were you injured in any other way aside from your fracture?"

Tom looked over his arm curiously. "I don't believe so?"

"The doctors didn't mention anything else." Sabine agreed. "Why do you ask?"

"A discharged bullet was found in a wall in your kitchen with blood traces on it. We wanted to rule out it belonging to the victim." He gestured for the officer to take the evidence in now that he got his confirmation. "Thank you very much for your cooperation, and I will make sure my men clean up any mess they have made." He gave the family a sympathetic smile. "I know you're dealing with a big enough mess as it is."

Sabine nodded. "Yes, thank you for that." If they did clean up after themselves that would be a big help. Any crime show she saw, however, only ever showed police making a mess and leaving things as is when they were done. Sometimes they even made the mess much worse! "Now then, where did Aaron go?"

"He got hungry and went upstairs a little while ago." Marinette informed sounding a little cold considering the topic.

"Is something the matter, dear?" Sabine reached her arm around her daughter's shoulders.

"Just…. Just a little shaken up, maman. I'll be fine." She would be, anyway. Aaron, on the other hand, might have to watch himself.


After a few more hours, the area around the bakery was finally settled down. The officers had actually picked up everything they brought, and only left the mess they came to. They gave permission to clean up the kitchen and to give notice if anything odd was found. The only police presence left was a single car cruising the neighborhood and occasionally stopping to ask questions of nearby residents regarding the break in. Alya ran as fast as she could to the door and knocked hard enough it was a wonder it didn't break. "Chill, Als! Don't break it down!" Nino reached for her fist to prevent her from continuing her near assault of the door.

"Nino, I'm not going to chill about any of this until-" The door opened to show Sabine with a pleased smile on her face.

"Oh, come by to see Marinette?"

"We heard about the break in, Mrs. Cheng, and Marinette hasn't been replying to my texts." The journalist informed with some urgency.

"Oh, well… It has been a rather tense morning. Come in, and I'm sure Marinette can tell you she's fine in person."

The young couple followed her inside and saw Marinette sitting on the couch folding clothes with her father laying on the longer couch watching TV. "Mari?"

The ravenette turned to see her friend. "Alya? What are you doing here?"

"You'd know if you'd look at your phone." She quipped back with a cheeky expression.

Marinette smacked her forehead. "I left that in my room! I'm sorry, Alya, it didn't even cross my mind to look at it."

Her friend let out an understanding sigh. "Well, not like you didn't have other things to think about." She looked around. "Where's Aaron?" He was the only one not there.

"He's cleaning the bakery downstairs." Tom informed as he changed the channel. He was a bit frustrated since he wanted to help pick up.

"Yes, there was quite a mess." Sabine sighed and brought her husband some coffee.

"Hey, Als, I'm gonna go give my bro a hand then." Nino pat his girlfriend on the shoulder and pointed to the door.

"Sure, but don't hurt yourself, babe." She teased and he rolled his eyes with a matching smile. Alya then took a seat beside her friend and started grabbing clothes to help fold. "So, what happened? I only heard on the news it was some kind of robbery."

The designer rummaged through the clothes to find a matching sock. "According to my dad, and Aaron, they snuck up and forced my dad to help them with the safe. Of course Aaron wasn't there when it started."

"He jumped in after I screwed up." Tom cut in with a depreciating laugh. "He basically saved my life."

"So… Hold up, Aaron interrupted two armed robbers? Is he okay?" Alya asked looking rather surprised. She knew he was strong, sure, but against a gun? Was he nuts?

"Yeah, he's fine. Said he got a bruise from hitting a table, but refused treatment for something so minor."

"Mari?" Alya called to her suddenly silent friend.

"Yup… Said he was fine…" She then reached for another shirt and began shaking the wrinkles out.

Alya reached for a shirt as well. "Girl… Are you fine?" She sounded… tense.

"Yes, Alya." She quickly replied as she stared to fold the shirt.

"Mari." The journalist insisted with a warning tone.

"Alya, I'm fine, I swear, just…"

"A little freaked out? It's okay, Mari. I don't think I could be half as calm as you if my house was broken into."

"It's not just that, though…" She sighed and tried not to think about Aaron jumping into a life or death situation. She got that enough when he was Chat Noir.

"Oh, Marinette, I think this one's got a hole in it." Marinette turned to the black shirt her friend was holding. It was a black shirt so it was hard to tell right away, but there was a small tear on the side near the bottom.

"That's odd." The designer noted as she took it in her hands. "This shirt doesn't look old enough to… Hold on." She bolted up. "This was the shirt Aaron was wearing earlier." He was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt for bed. Marinette dashed over to the door before Alya could even respond to what she just heard.


"So," Nino began with a grunt as he helped Adrien lift a shelf. "You basically saved Mr. Dupain's life. That should instantly get you a blessing as her possible future husband."

"Nino, seriously?"

"Come on, dude, you know I'm right, and I'd rather talk about that then what could have happened to you if you'd screwed it up."

Adrien tried not to think about it himself. Then again, it was something he dealt with all the time as Chat Noir. "Yeah, but it didn't and while I may have saved Mr. Tom, that doesn't mean anything. Besides, I'm more worried about Marinette's choice when it comes to that." He then let out a sigh as he pushed the bread rack to the side.

"That sigh had some heavy feels, dude. What's actually wrong?"

"Umm…" Adrien trailed off for a minute as he thought about what to say. "It's Marinette but… I'm not really sure what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"I think she's… Upset with me? Or something. I really don't know. Ever since this morning she's been tense, and not really talking to me. I think the last thing she did before getting like this was hug me after seeing her father. It was like two seconds later that she just…"

"Got cold? She did seem a little tense inside." Though he credited that to the situation that morning. "So what could you have done that she would be upset with you? I mean you saved her dad."

Adrien shrugged and leaned against a counter. "That's just it, I don't know. I'm worried it might have been something from last night, but I still can't think of anything. I'd ask her but…"

"I get you, dude, it's hard." He hated having to ask Alya if he did something wrong cause that usually made her more angry.

"Yeah, and just a few days ago we had that whole issue with Felix. I don't want to go back to her being upset over something I did, you know?" If it went like this, he worried the relationship wouldn't last. He didn't want that to happen!

"I don-" Nino's response was cut off by the door slamming open. Both men turned to see Marinette glaring them down with a black shirt in her hands.

"M-marinette?" Aaron sputtered out at her sudden and angry appearance.

"You were standing right here when you saved my father?" She practically demanded.

"Uh… I uh."

"When the gun went off, Aaron!"

He lifted his hands and looked at where she was pointing. "Y-yeah, around there. Why?" He dared ask before having the shirt thrown at his face.

"Damn it, Aaron!"

As he pulled off the shirt he felt hands around his waist. It was only his years of modeling that kept him from jumping in surprise when he felt his shirt be pulled up. "M-mari?!" He removed the visual obstruction and looked to his girlfriend currently trying to remove his shirt. "What are you- Ouch!" She tore off his fresh band-aid and he finally pulled away from her. "What the hell, Marinette?" He lifted the shirt where his small abrasion sat now back in the open air.

"You're so stupid!" She shouted at him and shook the band-aid like it was damning evidence.

"Marinette, what's wrong? Aaron obviously has no idea." Nino tried to cut in.

She lifted a hand to cut him off before pointing to Aaron. "Take a look, Aaron. On the back splash of the sink."

He furrowed his brow, but didn't plan to argue with Marinette looking so intense. He glanced back and saw the cracked tile with a small indention. "What? It was cracked this morning, right?"

She nodded. "It was. Do you know by what?"

"Uh…"

"A bullet, Aaron. The bullet the robber fired that you said ricocheted off a counter. You didn't even notice where it went, did you?"

Aaron glanced back at his girlfriend. "Um… I didn't really see why since it didn't hit your dad-"

"Shut up!" She shouted angrily but he could see tears forming in her eyes. "The officers pulled it out of the wall, and they found blood on it, Aaron! Who's blood do you think it was!?"

The taller ravenette took a moment to think as he looked at the position of the scene. The shot went off right when he jumped in. He'd thrown a pan at the one with a gun and got him to miss Tom and drop the gun, and the bullet bounced off the counter at least once… Oh…. Aaron visibly paled as it hit him. "It must've… grazed me...?" He didn't mean for it to come out as a question, but the whole idea that he was an inch or two from taking a bullet to the gut was hard to process.

"At least you understand that…" The designer muttered before shaking her head and turning around. Adrien was half in a daze in his own thoughts and didn't try to stop her.


When Aaron finished with the kitchen and he and Nino went back upstairs, the atmosphere in the living room was pretty tense. No doubt Alya, who had followed Marinette down, informed the Dupain-Chengs on the discovery. "Are you alright, Aaron?" Sabine quickly asked in worry.

"Yeah… I mean, I don't have any more injuries though I'd like to get another band-aid. Marinette stole mine."

Tom found his attempt at humor worrying, especially considering what could have happened. "Aaron, are you sure? You didn't mention the cut on your side before."

"I actually didn't notice until I went upstairs after talking to the police to be honest. It's nothing big anyway."

"It could have been, dude. That's why he's worried." Nino emphasized. Adrien had been a little spaced out for most of the time after Marinette left.

"Honestly, Nino, I get that. I really do, but I'm not going to dwell on it. I'm fine, Tom's fine, and there's no point in thinking about what ifs." He'd already stewed on it enough, and considering how many times being Chat Noir had risked his life, it was just par for the course. In this case it was just a little more risky.

Nino looked at Alya with a shrug though he was still obviously worried. "Okay, dude…"

Sabine grabbed him in a hug. "I'm very grateful for what you did, Aaron." She then let him go and handed him a new band-aid. "That being said, it was very reckless, especially knowing you very nearly got shot."

"Though you could technically say he was shot." Nino pointed out and received a shove from his girlfriend.

"Anyway, we're going to get going. You all probably want to relax after such a crazy morning, and we're good knowing everyone is fine, for the most part." She ended looking at Tom.

"Are you sure you both don't want to stay for lunch?"

"Thanks for the offer, Mrs. Cheng, but I got to finish getting my playlist together for my shift tonight."

"Yes, Mr. Waits until the last minute, here aside, I also have some work to finish. Maybe tomorrow. I'll text Marinette later." Alya then stepped up to Aaron. "Also, you should know Marinette is really irritated with you."

"About not mentioning the cut, right?"

Alya shrugged and began walking out with Nino. "I'd assume so, but she wouldn't say a word no matter what I did. I really don't get it this time, I mean you saved her dad after all. I can't imagine her wanting you to have left things alone instead." She then sighed and walked out with Nino right behind. "Later, dude."


Chat Noir sat perched at the top of the Eiffel tower staring up at the night sky. It was chilly out, but not too bad through his miraculous suit. He and Ladybug were supposed to have their regular patrol an hour ago, but she never showed, and when he tried calling her it went straight to voice mail indicating she wasn't suited up. "I'm beginning to think she's mad at me too, somehow…" He lamented.

Marinette hadn't even spoken a word to him since she revealed how he'd been injured. Both lunch and dinner had tense atmospheres and he could sense the sympathy from her parents though they never tried to intervene. It was like they could sense her mood was directed at something they couldn't change. "Though I would have liked at least a little support." Chat stood up and checked the time on his baton before jumping down to the office deck. "Might as well go home…"

Right as he vaulted over to the nearest building after the tower he noticed a shadow above the horizon. It was gone before he landed but as he watched the general area he saw it pop up again. "Ladybug?" Certainly it could only be his partner swinging up around the Paris roofs at this hour. Without missing a step he fell in behind her. "Good evening, milady!" Though he made sure not to shout too loud as to bother people around. She didn't stop or even act like she'd heard him. Instead of shouting again he opted to try and get ahead of her. Easier said than done though as every time he almost took the lead, she'd make an abrupt turn and leave him reeling. "She has to know I'm following her by now." Four times is too many to be a coincidence. "Ladybug!" He called as they crossed a deserted city park.

She started to move faster, and that was starting to get on Chat's nerves. "Damn it…" He muttered and began to step up his game to catch her. She was usually the faster of the two since she could swing greater distances than he could vault, but if he could just get her on a path with more roofs then he could make up the distance with a bit more effort. After 15 more minutes he was about to have his chance. He was only a few steps behind Ladybug, and she was about to throw her yo-yo to cross the street. He'd just have to start his vault first. As soon as she grabbed for her yo-yo, he pulled out his staff and leapt right over her head to cut her off. He smirked as he finally got her to make eye contact with him.

Any feeling of victory was quickly dashed, however, as he realized that his vault was going to be cut short by a truck driving through where he was going to set his staff down next. "Shit-" He moved to try and change his course, but felt himself jerked back to the roof he'd jumped from.

"Damn it, Chat Noir! Are you trying to get yourself killed now?"

The cat hero sat up from his spot laid out on the roof beside her. "No, but I will admit to getting carried away chasing you." He muttered and pulled her yo-yo string off. "Thanks, for the save, milady."

"You wouldn't need saving if you had taken a moment to think, and not chased me through the city." She snapped right back.

"So you did know I was following you? Why didn't you stop?"

"I was patrolling, Chat. It's not chit chat time." She had her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed at him. Yep, she was definitely angry.

"Yeah, and unlike you, I arrived on time to our usual spot." He countered feeling defensive of her tone. "What's wrong, Ladybug? I don't get why you're so angry with me? This isn't the first time I've miscalculated a vault."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "By a long shot." She grumbled back.

"Seriously!? You're going to be all pissy about it now?!" Of all times!? He was already dealing with Marinette's cold shoulder and he didn't need it from anyone else!

"Excuse me for caring about you, stupid cat! I have every right to be angry when you're being reckless!"

"Reckless!?" He repeated in irritation. "Reckless because you're ignoring me!? If you'd just stopped when I called that wouldn't have happened!"

"Like this is the only time you've done a stupid stunt like this!? Don't you dare blame you're recklessness on me!"

"Oh, now you're going to be pissy about how I am in akuma fights, is that right!? Even though I'm right and things always work out! Why can't you just accept that!?" That's not what he wanted to say! It was coming out wrong!

"I will never accept you just throwing your life away just to win the day!"

"I'm not throwing it away! I know you have everything under control in the end! I entrust my life to you! There's a big difference!" He snapped back. "And the miraculous magic can heal me as long as I survive so what's it matter!? You don't plan to leave me out to dry, right?" God, he sounded ridiculous!

"You know I wouldn't-"

"Then what the hell are you so angry about!?" He interrupted while yelling at the top of his lungs.

"I'm mad that you put your life behind the life of who you save!" She yelled back at the top of her lungs.

"Isn't that the point of being a hero!? It's more important-" He was cut off with a sting on his cheek and a smacking sound that echoed around the uneven city rooftops. The slap was so sudden he'd lost the words he was going to say next.

Ladybug took a breath and pointed her right index finger right at him. "Don't you dare say your life is less important than anyone else's, you hear me!?" Her tone wasn't as loud but it was sharp. "It's bad enough I have to see you risk your life in akuma fights, I understand that! We both risk our lives. It's when you take stupid risks when you don't have to that bothers me! You could have been killed this morning when you could have had your miraculous to protect you!"

Chat's eyes were bewildered at her accusation. "We're… You're…" He struggled for the words before what she'd said really hit him. "Wait... How could you?" It didn't make sense for Ladybug to know about the incident this morning, and only Marinette and- "M-Mari?" He called as it really hit him. Marinette was Ladybug? It would make perfect sense, right? Marinette was one of the people who knew he'd nearly been shot, she was already angry with him, and he was kicking himself for not seeing the physical similarities. "Marinette?" She never broke her glare but through his analysis of her face he noticed tears starting in her eyes.

"You just… You…" She started and cut off again.

"I what? Don't understand?" He asked more calmly now. "It's hard to when we don't seem to be arguing about the same thing, milady." He reverted to her nickname considering they were still suited up. "If you're mad at me, I'd prefer you just explain it clearly." He then took a step towards her carefully. She was extremely upset, but it was shifting away from angry now, and he didn't want her regressing back to bolting across the city. "Now… Please calm down, and tell me?" She stepped back but he snatched her wrist before she could get far. "Please?"

"It's not going to change anything." She countered while looking away.

"It'll do more than being angry and running away." He countered and pulled her close before gesturing her to sit down. "Now, to start, I'm going to ask you again, you are Mari, right?"

Ladybug flinched from her spot next to him on the roof but didn't try to deny it. "And you're… Aaron…" She muttered back. She'd wanted them to have a reveal anyway ever since she'd figured him out, though this was not what she had in mind.

"Yeah, and I imagine you've known about me much longer than I have you, but I'm just going to put that on the back burner for the moment." He gave her a small smirk hoping it would make things less tense. "If I'm getting this straight, you're mad at me for risking my life to save your dad? If that's the case, too bad, cause I'd do it again. I will not apologize for saving him." He declared with a stern yet calm tone.

"It's… It's not really that." She finally answered after a silent moment. "I'm grateful you saved my dad, and I would never be able to choose your life over his or vice versa." She shook her head.

"Then what is it? Because that's what it sounds like to me."

"I'm angry, Chat, because you jumped in against armed robbers without your miraculous." She stated as clearly and calmly as she could. "That bullet could have killed you, but if you'd been wearing your suit then… You would have been completely fine." Miraculous suits were bullet proof after all, unless it was magic gunfire from an akuma. "Why didn't you transform? I know it would have been suspicious for you to just pop up but you wouldn't have been risking your life as much."

Chat scratched at his cheek sheepishly. "Um, to be honest, I only woke up to use the bathroom and went down when I heard a noise. I didn't really want to deal with Plagg's crankiness but when I got down stairs and saw what was going on I didn't think I had time to get him before… Well, you know."

Ladybug looked at him with a hard expression despite the tears still hovering at the corners of her eyes. "You didn't want to deal with your kwami? That's it? Don't you realize that if that bullet had hit you, then you would have probably ended up dead along with my father?" It wasn't some action movie where a normal guy could fight two armed robbers with a bullet in his gut.

"I suppose that could have happened, but it didn't." Chat admitted with a pointed expression of his own.

"This time." Ladybug snapped back. "Only an idiot jumps into a fight without first making sure they've done all they can to protect themselves. You think firefighters would last long running into burning buildings with just an ax and a bucket of water?"

"No, but this is different, okay? This situation was not something I had a whole lot of time to think about. All I saw was your dad being held at gun point on the floor. I would've never forgiven myself if I'd done nothing or missed it going back for Plagg."

"And I would've never forgiven you for dying because you didn't use the miraculous to protect yourself." She countered with a light shove of his shoulder.

"Okay, but as I said before, that didn't happen."

"Chat-"

"And, yes, I know I won't always be so lucky, so can we just agree we're both right and end this?"

She let out a sigh and leaned on his shoulder. "Only if you promise to never go anywhere without your kwami ever again, not even to the bathroom."

Chat raised a brow at her and wrapped his right arm around her shoulders. "I suppose I can agree to that so long as you're the one to tell him he has to. He's such a baby for his 20 hours of sleep."

"I bet you let him get away with too much. I don't have that problem with Tikki."

"Oh, I've met Tikki, and she's an angel in comparison."

"Well… They are supposed to be complimentary to each other." Ladybug reasoned and reached up to wipe her eyes. "But I'll talk to him as long as you promise."

Chat smirked at her and squeezed her shoulder. "I purr-omise, milady."

"Urg… With a cat pun?"

"That only means I'm serious." He defended dramatically. A short silence fell between them as the tension of minutes ago ebbed away. They'd both gotten to say their peace.

"Chat…"

"Hmm?" He responded just looking out at the city with his lady in his arms.

"I'm sorry I'm not good at communicating my feelings…"

"It's really nothing-"

"No, Chat, it is. It's something you're going to need to understand if you want us to work." He looked back down to her as she sat up. "I'm always quick to speak out if it's how I feel about someone else's issue like this time one of my classmates wanted a nice school picture for once or when someone is being excluded, but… When it comes to my own feelings I just can't be clear… They get all tied up in my throat and I end up only saying half of what I mean. Sometimes I can't speak at all… And it causes problems like on Friday or today."

"Ah, so what you're saying is that the multitalented Ladybug has a flaw?" He asked with a dramatic hand over his mouth. He chuckled a bit at her near glare. "But in all honesty, it's really okay. Like a promising young and very beautiful designer once told me, everyone has things they're bad at or need to practice."

"Beautiful, huh?" She mused at recalling the conversation.

"Yup, the most beautiful, but it's really okay, you know? I don't care if you never get any better at it as long as you can promise me one thing?"

She looked up at him. "What?"

"Don't push me away or ignore me when you can't get it out. If you're mad at me, I'd rather you slap me than ignore me, and if you're sad cry on my shoulder. Isn't that what couples are supposed to do?" He then removed his hand and set his two index fingers together. "Hey, did you know the Japanese character for person is two lines supporting each other? A person needs support."

"Did Kagami teach you that?" She wondered at the odd yet appropriate adage.

"Nope, anime did."

"Dork." She teased back with an eye roll.

"Well, if you want us to work, you'll just have to accept that." He joked though he had no worries on her response. She already accepted so many of his flaws after all, so he'd do the same for her.


And, as promised, the reveal occurred. I really had to address Marinette's biggest failing. (Yes, even bigger than her catastrophising) She can't communicate her own feelings when they pertain to someone else. She can agree with others and speak her mind, but she doesn't like to be negative to others and she ends up bottling things up. In the case of romantic feelings its so much worse...=^-^=

As always, thank you for reading. Any ideas what's coming next? I have plans.=^-^=