Alya bubbled all the way back to their apartment, speculating wildly about what she called "the new superheroes."
"Aren't you excited, Marinette? This is legendary! We have our very own Spiderman and Catwoman in Paris!" She nearly jumped up and down as Marinette fiddled with her key in the lock.
What could she say? Of course she wasn't excited. She was downright terrified. How Mme. Renault looked when she had found her, how she had felt when Kitty Noire had lifted her, kept playing again and again in her mind, like a broken movie reel. "I'm not so sure, Alya. I don't think I trust them. How are you so confident?"
They entered their bedroom and Alya made a beeline for the bathroom. "How are you so unconfident?" she parried. "I just know they're here to do good. I can just tell. I know they tried to save Mme. Renault — I don't believe in any speculation about the contrary. I think she must have died on them and they were afraid of the cops finding them there, with a dead woman, so they left. I would have done it too. But they'll be back! I know they will."
Marinette's chest tightened, her face struggling between smiling and crying, as she listened on the other side of the door. Alya sounded so sure, she believed so much in just the little bit she had seen. How could she have so much conviction? It touched Marinette, it made her want to buckle down and start bawling again. It was all too much.
The toilet flushed and the water ran, and Marinette sniffed and tried to make herself presentable. How would she explain herself if Alya found her like this, a watery mess?
She hid in the closet under pretense of getting out of her dress to buy herself more time.
"So," Alya began, her tone full of implication. "I saw you and Adrien. You'd better spill!"
Marinette pulled on her pajamas, trying to come up with a satisfactory response, but failing. In all honesty, she couldn't talk about Adrien. Meeting him at the party felt like a lifetime ago, when she was just Marinette, before she had incidentally caused an innocent woman to die. What was there to say on that topic now, now that it had become irrelevant?
"Oh, I don't know, Alya. He was nice, he had pretty eyes. But there's nothing there."
Alya's voice sounded dejected. "I was so sure you two had really hit it off!"
Marinette's stomach felt eaten up with guilt. Alya was right, of course they had! But if Marinette admitted that, she would have no excuse for her current state of shame and sorrow. "We did," she breathed out, letting her words lace with the way she was feeling. "But I'm not sure if it's smart to pursue this. I already told you that I don't have time to date; even now I'm thinking about how I'm going to get all my homework done since I have one night fewer. We tried, Alya, but I'm not sure I can handle romance right now, even if I may have liked it."
Alya didn't say anything for a long time, and when Marinette was done changing and came out, she found her roommate just sitting pensively on the side of her bed.
"I'm sorry for pressuring you. You did tell me that, and it was selfish of me to get our hopes up when I know how busy you are."
"It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. You were just looking out for me," and Marinette hugged her friend before they both got into bed.
Even though the lights were off, Marinette couldn't fall asleep for a long, long time.
She awoke on Sunday morning, groggy and poorly-rested. Her mind immediately jumped to the professor, and how she and Plagg had decided to ask him for help, but her thoughts were crushed by the remembrance that it was still the weekend. She would have to wait till tomorrow to get the answers she needed.
Marinette got up and did the textbook reading for History of Modern Fashion, her eyes glazing over and making her reread passages again and again. She didn't have the heart to cook anything for breakfast, so she shoved a few of Plagg's Cheese-Itz in her mouth and kept reading.
She attempted to focus, but images of yesterday's battle kept intruding on her concentration. She couldn't stop seeing Mme. Renault's cold, lifeless face. Her ruined body. Marinette put the book down and held her knees up to her chin, trying not to cry. She told herself to remember the nice things Coccinello had told her, because she knew that they had helped her at the time. About how it was an unfortunate coincidence, about how she was so compassionate, about how she was the perfect person to be a hero as a result. She tried to even her breathing as well, knew that if she let herself spiral out of control, she'd have a panic attack. And the only thing she was more afraid of than failing at being a hero, was having her roommates find out about it.
Marinette toyed with her ring to calm herself, and as she did so, an idea previously unthought of occurred to her. What if she took the ring off? What if she gave up on being Kitty Noire? Coccinello was strong, and unshaken by the things that frightened her. He could do it on his own; he didn't need her.
She spun it around her finger, the spiraling movement causing it to slowly travel closer and closer to her nail, until — pop! — it slipped off and landed on the waxy pages of her textbook.
Now it looked just as it had when Marinette first beheld it — ancient and delicate, as if blown out of glass.
Marinette's shoulders fell in relief, as if a weight was removed from them. It was so simple. Now she could go back to being a regular college student. She put the ring in her pocket and made a mental note to give it back to Professor Fu on Monday.
Marinette got ready for work while Alya was in the kitchen, making lunch. Since she had the room to herself, she could finally look for Plagg, as she hadn't seen him all morning. She had really felt the loss of his company, but she didn't let herself linger on that.
"Plagg?" she hissed, looking first under her bed, then in all her drawers. He wouldn't hide from her deliberately, would he?
Marinette was annoyed. What if there was another emergency and she was needed? Then she remembered that she had removed the ring; emergencies were no longer her concern. She forced herself to breathe out and just continue getting ready for work. If Plagg wanted to hide, he could. It was no skin off her nose if she left for work without him.
She clocked in at Sloppy Joe's and headed into the locker room to fix her hat, and was shocked to find someone already in there, doing the same.
"Oh! Sorry!" Marinette blundered, closing the door as fast as she could.
"That's okay, you can come in," the girl told her with a smile. She had long, straight hair, the straightest Marinette had ever seen, and it was a very appealing shade of brown.
When she had finished with her hat, she stepped away from the mirror and put her hand out to Marinette. "I'm new here, it's my first day today. The name's Lila."
"Marinette. Nice to meet you. Am I going to be training you today?"
Lila shrugged. "Maybe! I'm really not sure of anything!" And then she laughed, and it was a lovely, contagious laugh, and Marinette couldn't help but laugh as well. Her day had started out awful, but with any luck, it would turn around.
Marinette showed Lila the ropes of how to work at Sloppy Joe's. She taught her the basics on how to fry the French fries, cook the burgers, and make the sloppy joes, of course. She trained her on the cash register and helped her take a few orders. Aurore and Michel helped out, too, and before the day was over, Lila was a natural.
She was also incredibly sweet. Whenever she didn't know something, she always apologized for bothering them, especially during the rushes, but once she learned, she caught on, and she wasn't afraid to ask follow-up questions.
"You're a doll, Marinette! I'm sure I would have completely failed on my first day without your guidance," she said, grinning brightly.
Marinette couldn't help but feel proud of herself. She was a model employee!
When the work day was over, Lila and Marinette left the restaurant together, chatting and learning about each other. Lila was a local, but not a student at UFD like herself. She went to a smaller school more south of Paris, and recently moved out of her parents' place and got a job to pay her own rent. "I'm really excited to have my own space!" she gushed.
"I wish I had my own space," Marinette said with a rueful grin.
"Why, annoying roommates?"
She hesitated. "Not exactly. But it's nice to have a place of refuge all your own, you know?"
Lila nodded. "Well, maybe you can come over sometime. You guys have work parties, right? I can totally host!"
Marinette balked. Work parties? Her coworkers? The concept was laughable. "I'm not exactly sure. We've never had a work party before," she admitted, not wanting to deter Lila.
But Lila grinned even wider and threw her hands up in the air. "Never?! Okay, I've officially made it my mission to throw the most awesome work party in the history of Sloppy Joe's! You'd better be there, Marinette," and she winked before doing an excited little dance.
When Marinette got to her complex, she waved goodbye to Lila. "Work was really fun today, which it usually isn't," Marinette told her. "Thanks for being a great worker."
But Lila shook her head. "It was all you! Thanks for a great first day of work! I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!"
Marinette watched her run off with a smile on her face. Astounding how one person can make your whole day.
When she opened her bedroom door, Marinette immediately began another search for Plagg, but to no avail. It made her nervous. If she was going to give the ring back to her professor, how would she explain the missing kwami?
She sat at her desk and examined the little cat bed she had sewn him, playing with it in her hands. She really did miss him. If only there was a way to have Plagg without having to be Kitty Noire.
Marinette fished the ring out of her pocket, admiring how the lamplight brought out all of its intricacies. Part of her felt compelled to put it back on, just for now, until tomorrow when she'd give it back. Another part of her fought against the pull, afraid that she might have a harder time taking it off again. But the part that compelled her won out; consumed by an almost supernatural desire to wear the ring once more.
She slipped it back on her finger, and was almost surprised that the same thing happened again; the ring changed, it glowed bright green — an almost blinding light — and then, once everything had settled, Plagg appeared once more; simply floating in the air above her desk.
"Marinette! That was very careless of you!" he scolded her, flying into her face aggressively.
She leaned away, breaking eye contact. "I didn't know you'd go back into the ring when I took it off," she tried to ease his anger, but nothing she could have said would have been less effective.
"Wait. You… You mean to say you took the ring off?!" he shouted, spinning in a circle. "As in, it didn't accidentally come off? As I had assumed?" Plagg stared at her, daring her to defy him. Marinette's heart sank. She was in real trouble now.
"Um, yeah, I took the ring off, but please don't be upset!" she begged. "I don't think I can do this, Plagg! Coccinello is way more equipped to handle this than I am," she put her chin on her knees and looked at the floor. "He's better off without me."
Plagg's anger fused out. His small shoulders fell and he flew down to sit on the edge of Marinette's desk. "Coccinello can't do this without you, Marinette, no matter what you may think. If you quit now because one person died, then more people will certainly keep dying! The two of you are a team!"
Marinette's brow furrowed and she heaved a sigh. Coccinello had said as much, and when she forced herself to think about it, he would indeed be disappointed to find out all of the pressure was now on him. "Well… What about giving the miracle stone to someone else? Someone less stressed, someone who can handle this kind of pressure." Her mind jumped to Alya. Alya was obsessed with the heroes! She would be the perfect person!
But Plagg cut in. "Professor Fu chose you for a reason, Marinette. He knows that you're capable of this kind of stress, even if you don't believe it. But who else could achieve the things you've achieved?"
She tried to come up with more excuses, but none came. Plagg was right — she could handle this. She just had to be a little braver and a little more forgiving of herself. Of course, that was easier said than done. Could she actually do it? Could she let herself continue to be Kitty Noire, knowing that because of her, an innocent life was taken?
"Ugh!" She gripped her head to make it stop spinning. "This is so overwhelming!"
Plagg immediately flew onto her shoulder and put a paw on her hand. "Marinette, listen to me. I know you doubt yourself, but I want you to know that I have complete faith in you. And that means a lot, because I've been paired with hundreds of wielders across all time periods. Now, please, promise me you won't take the ring off again?" He floated to look her in the eye, and Marinette's heart broke to see how his eyes shone with sadness, to see his long whiskers droop.
She put her hand out and he went into it, sitting in her palm as she debated with herself. What he had said truly did mean a lot to Marinette; and she knew he wasn't just saying it to make her feel better. He was an expert.
"I'm sorry for upsetting you, Plagg. You're a great kwami. And for the moment, I promise not to take the ring off. But if I keep failing, again and again, and people continue to die because of me, I can't justify keeping it on. I'll have to return it to the professor." It hurt Marinette to think about — to imagine being the cause of so much death. But she knew she had to be the bigger person, to own up when she simply just couldn't do something.
"I can respect that," Plagg answered from her palm, "but I can assure you that it won't happen."
Marinette almost let herself hope so.
In the early evening, while Marinette was reading the assigned article for Chinese Mythology, her phone rang.
It was her mother.
Marinette's limbs froze. What could she be calling about this time? Maybe she had seen the news, had seen the monster, seen Mme. Renault pronounced dead, seen the heroes… maybe she would be in a panic. Marinette's eyes were starting to pool from just that simple reminder of her failure, the truth that her mother might find Kitty Noire to be as dangerous as Marinette feared she was.
She pressed on the green button despite her fears.
"Hi, Maman," she breathed into the receiver.
"Oh, sweetheart, have you seen the news, are you safe?" Her mother's frenzied voice came through the other line, just as she'd been afraid of.
Marinette nodded. "Yes, I'm okay."
Her mother steamrolled on. "I think you should come home, take the rest of the semester off, it's too dangerous in Paris, with all these monsters and supervillains, you could be kidnapped and attacked just like that poor woman, I couldn't bear it!" Her voice began to break at the end of her sentence, and Marinette couldn't say anything, could only hang her head in her hands.
She couldn't leave Paris. She'd just promised Plagg she'd try again. But what if her mother was right, what if she was a supervillain? Hadn't he said something earlier, about heroes going bad?
Her father broke into her spiraling thoughts. "Your mother is just worried, Marinette. You should stay, I know you have a lot of commitments. But seriously consider quitting your job. We don't want you out and about late at night."
Marinette shook her head. "I can't, it's the only way I can pay my rent, Papa."
"We'll send you a portion of the earnings from the bakery!"
"No, no, no," she rushed to assure them. She knew they couldn't afford that. "I promise I'm safe, I…" but could she promise that? After what she'd done?
Plagg caught her eye from his place on her desk. He gave her a short nod, but it was his expression that convinced her. He looked so confident, as though there was no reality in which Marinette's safety — and the rest of Paris' safety — could ever be in question. Because she was Kitty Noire, and he believed in her.
Marinette took a deep breath. "I promise you both, there's nothing to worry about. Those were superheroes you saw on the news, not villains. If there's another monster that appears, they'll stop it, and they'll save anyone who might be in danger."
It came out with conviction, and Marinette dropped her shoulders with pride. She needed to do this.
"Okay, dear. You seem to know more about it than we do," her father replied, his tone a little questioning.
Marinette's heart started to pound. He wasn't insinuating anything, was he? Did he suspect, did he recognize the cat-suited girl he'd seen on TV?
But her mother's words gave her an excuse to ignore her father's. "If you're sure you're safe, that's all that matters to me."
"I am, really and truly."
That was all it took to relieve their stresses, and they parted with smiles and promises to talk again soon. Marinette took a deep breath once she was off the phone.
The main task now was to ensure she could deliver on her assurances.
Marinette's leg jiggled nervously all through Chinese Mythology. She couldn't pay attention. All she could think about was how she absolutely needed to get Professor Fu alone in his office hours so she could ask him about her cataclysm.
Sunflower Boy raised his hand about thirteen times during class, but Marinette couldn't roll her eyes anymore. Instead she listened intently to what he had to say, and she caught herself sitting up higher in her seat to get a better look at him.
What was she doing? It was futile. She and Adrien were in entirely different worlds. She was a superhero, and he was not. There was no way they would ever work out together.
But it didn't stop her heart from gently thrumming whenever he spoke.
Marinette ran out of class as soon as it was over, as if getting to History of Modern Fashion any faster meant she could talk to Fu sooner. At least she made an effort to pay attention in this class, since it was for her major, after all. But no important and revolutionary designers could compete with the secrets of the miracle stones for her attention.
When that class finally ended as well, Marinette nearly sprinted back to the humanities building. When she got to Fu's office, his door was wide open, and he was sitting at his desk leafing through a book, completely at ease. "Come in, Marinette," he said, without looking up.
"How did you know it was me?" she squeaked, crossing the threshold and taking his office in. There were many bookshelves, with modern paperbacks squished beside ancient tomes. Classical Chinese decorations adorned all of the bare wall space, which was not much, and Fu's desk had a small battery-powered waterfall, which babbled relaxingly as he read.
"I saw the news on Saturday. And I also saw you in class this morning. You looked about ready to pop a blood vessel."
Marinette's face fell. "Ah, I was sort of hoping you hadn't," she said, ignoring his joke.
Fu tucked a ribbon into his book and closed it, standing from his desk and crossing the small room to close the door. "Of course I saw it. It's my job to see it."
Marinette fidgeted, opening her clutch to let Plagg out — even though he could phase — now that the door was closed. "The thing is, I cataclysmed the robot, but I didn't realize there was a person inside, and I think my cataclysm may have inadvertently killed them. Plagg and I were wondering, did I do something wrong? Would there have been a way for me to cataclysm the monster without harming the person inside?"
The professor's brow furrowed. "Hm. That sounds awful. I'm not sure if you did anything wrong, exactly. After all, your cataclysm didn't go haywire. But it sounds like it had some unintended effects." He moved to a bookshelf and scanned the titles.
"Marinette is afraid of this potentially happening again. Do you know any way she could cataclysm the machine only, and spare the human inside, if such a thing were to arise in the future?" Plagg and Marinette exchanged a glance.
Fu pulled a heavy volume off a high shelf, and brought it over to his desk. He opened it and began leafing rapidly through the pages, stopping at a page with a watercolor illustration of a Chinese warrior, presumably wearing the black cat miracle stone. His suit design was very different from Marinette's, but certain similarities remained.
It appeared the text was in some sort of code. Strange symbols decorated the page, symbols unlike any Marinette had seen before. "Can you read those?" she asked in astonishment, as she watched the professor scan the page, indeed seeming to be reading.
"Of course. I have to. It's a requirement to being a guardian." He continued looking at the page, flipping onto the next one, which had another illustration, this time of the warrior's hand glowing brightly. "Unfortunately, I can't find anything in here about cataclysm on a person. I'm not sure anyone's ever done it before."
Marinette's heart sank. What then? If even Fu didn't know how to solve the problem, what hope did she have?
He suddenly closed the book in irritation, heading back to the bookshelf and searching for another volume. "Perhaps there will be something in here…"
He procured an equally ancient tome and put it down onto the first one. As he flipped through the pages, Marinette looked over his shoulder, admiring the artwork. A few of the warriors wore ladybug-inspired armor, others wore even more colors that may have been representative of different animals; but Marinette didn't have enough time to examine them as Fu flew through the pages.
He finally stopped flipping and began skimming again, and Marinette and Plagg waited patiently for him to finish. She wished she could help in some way.
"The only thing I can find in here about a cataclysm gone awry is in the case of a cursed miracle stone, but your stone is not cursed, so it is not applicable." Fu heaved a sigh and closed this book as well. "I'm not sure what to tell you, Marinette; this might just be something you and Plagg have to figure out together, while you're using his powers. Perhaps a different approach, one never used before by a wielder of this miracle stone, is the solution you're looking for."
Marinette's heart sank. A different approach? What did that even mean? It meant that there was nothing anyone could do; that she was just a pathetic excuse for a hero. She looked at Plagg, his ears and whiskers drooping in disappointment. It helped her make her decision. "In that case, Professor, I think it's best I give you this back. I'm afraid you entrusted the wrong person when you gave me this ring."
But Professor Fu just smiled, turning to return both books to the cluttered shelf. "Ah, but that would solve nothing at all, my dear. Instead of focusing on all of the reasons you believe you're the wrong person, focus on all of the reasons you know you're the right one. Anyone can wield a miracle stone. Only those that are truly brave, that truly want to do good, are the right ones, as you say."
Marinette was unconvinced. "But — I clearly don't want to do good. I'm not brave like Coccinello. I'm here, trying to give you the stone back. If anything, that makes me a coward."
Professor Fu shook his head, walking back to the door. He stopped with his hand on the handle, turned to face her and said, "Do you want to know how I know, Marinette?"
Her eyebrows knitted into a worried line, and she simply nodded, trying not to be shaken by how calm he was.
"I know," he told her, "because you asked me for help. A coward would have slipped the ring under my door and ran away. The brave ones are always the ones to look for another solution, and try again, no matter how badly they may have failed before." With that, he opened the door to his office, gave her a knowing grin, and sauntered back to his desk. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask me regarding your paper?"
Realizing that there were a few students waiting in the hallway, and thus that their conversation was no longer private, Marinette just shook her head. "No, Professor. I think… I think I'll try a new approach. Thank you." She looked about discreetly, but Plagg was nowhere in sight; he must have phased into her bag while she was focusing on Fu's words.
He smiled again and nodded once. "Of course. Feel free to come back any time you have questions."
And with that, she departed, her mind reeling. She stared at the floor as she walked down the hallway, and so didn't see just who was waiting there.
"Hi, Marinette."
She jumped about ten feet into the air, her heart racing. Had this person heard anything that had gone on in Fu's office? Was her secret out?
Oh. It was just Sunflower Boy, waving to her. He was leaning against the wall, looking very at home.
"Hi, Adrien," she breathed out, trying not to seem as startled as she was.
"Getting feedback on your paper?" he asked. "I'm just asking because this is the first time I've seen you in office hours."
Marinette's hand flew behind her head in nervousness. Ah yes, what happened to those cover stories she said she was going to come up with for situations like this? "Um, yep, I am. I guess I was wondering about the rubric, how my paper was graded, in particular, nothing other than that," she tittered. Admittedly, some of her nerves were totally unrelated to her secret identity. It was honestly very unfair that Adrien could look so good just leaning casually against a wall, arms crossed gently over his broad chest.
He nodded like she was making complete sense. "Ah! I find the rubrics for papers like these are usually the same across all history and mythology classes."
Marinette was relieved that the conversation had moved away from her activities. "Oh. I wouldn't know, this is the first class I've taken in this subject. Well, I suppose my History of Modern Fashion class is history, but we don't write papers; it's more about the evolution of how fashions have changed as the industry has grown, and it's basically a memorize-and-regurgitate class, where you just need to know the names of designers and important dates for the midterm…" and Marinette was rambling again. Why couldn't she just stop talking? This was way too much information.
She took a deep breath, wanting to facepalm. Adrien probably thought she was a Grade A idiot at this point.
But he just laughed. "That sounds pretty fun! You're a fashion major, right? I figured you were, since you make your own clothes and all that," he leaned forward and raised his eyebrows, like he was referencing a private joke they shared.
Marinette squirmed, twiddling her thumbs. "You didn't forget about that, huh?"
"Hmm, no," he chuckled.
"Well, uh, what's your major, then?" she asked, desperately trying to deflect. They were talking about nothing, why was she getting all worked up?
Adrien got off the wall to move forward as the line progressed. "I'm a double major, actually," he admitted, a bit sheepish.
Adrien, being sheepish? All of Marinette's nervousness jumped out the window in her intrigue. "Double major? Oh, wow," she breathed. "In what?"
"Physics and Mythological Studies," he told her, with a little glow that was very comely. His excitement to talk about his interests was warring with his humility, and Marinette couldn't stop the little smile that involuntarily spread over her features. Sure, Sunflower Boy was a huge nerd. But all of a sudden, being a nerd seemed kind of cool.
"Interesting combination. Very diverse." She nodded in approval, and he ducked his head and blushed a little. It was a lovely sight to behold, and Marinette blushed, too.
"Thank you," he replied quietly, still looking away. Marinette took advantage of his averted gaze to really take in his features. He had a fine jawline, long eyelashes, and a tiny dimple buried there in his cheek when he smiled. Marinette thought he should be a model.
He suddenly looked back at her, and his green gaze just about burned a hole right in Marinette's. She couldn't look away fast enough.
"God, is that the time?" she babbled. "I really need to get going, but it was great catching up with you, Adrien!"
He cocked his head in confusion at her behavior but nodded politely. "Sure, see you around!" and he waved as she left, nearly running.
"Ughhh," she groaned. "Plagg, tell me that didn't just happen." What was wrong with her? She was talking to her crush! Why did she sabotage the whole thing?
And then her train of thought crashed as she caught up to it. Sunflower Boy, her crush? But it was true. And as she realized it, she also realized that she was the only person in the world who would develop a crush on someone who managed to simultaneously be both a complete dork and totally out of her league.
Plagg poked out of her clutch as she waited for the elevator. "Um, it didn't just happen?" he offered with a grimace.
After a long day at the Parisian Design House, running around doing whatever Ronaldo had asked of her, Marinette unlocked the door to her apartment with every intention to flop onto the couch and stay that way.
"You doing alright?" Alya asked from the table.
Marinette threw her hands up in the air in answer. Today was a mess. She was pretty sure she had a hole in the bottom of her shoes from so much running around, she had made a complete buffoon of herself in front of Adrien, and worst of all, she still had no idea what a "different approach" to being Kitty Noire could be.
Alya's expression fell. "Well, if you want to talk about anything, you know where I'll be," and she put her dish in the dishwasher before heading into their room, leaving Marinette alone.
Marinette covered her face with her hands. Plagg phased out of her bag and landed on the arm of the sofa. "Alya is such a good friend to you, Marinette. She's always looking out for you," he remarked with a smile, gazing at the closed door behind which she had disappeared.
Marinette just shrugged. "I suppose."
Plagg's eyes grew in surprise. "What do you mean? You don't think so?"
She rolled over onto her side, propping her head up with her arm. "Oh, I don't know. She and I haven't really had all that many meaningful experiences together. Sure, we had some bad roommates, but that hardly counts. When it was over, what was left? I'm not sure we've bonded over all that much."
Plagg looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you being serious right now?"
Marinette made a face at him in return. "What? Of course I am! Like… what do she and I have in common?" She lowered her voice. "She's into journalism, I'm into fashion. She's bubbly and social, and I keep to myself more. She's in love and I can't even string two sentences together in front of the guy I like," she closed her eyes in painful remembrance.
Plagg didn't say anything for a long time. "Wow, for someone so smart, you sure are being close-minded."
Her eyes sprung open. "What does that mean?" she asked indignantly.
Plagg floated in the air in front of her eyes. "It means that you're judging her on all the wrong things. You don't have to study the same things to be friends, and you definitely don't both have to be in relationships to be friends. And as for having nothing in common, think again — you both care deeply about the well-beings of others; in particular, about each other." He sighed at Marinette's unchanged expression.
"Really? What have I done for Alya? What has she done for me?"
Plagg pulled on his whiskers in frustration. "I've only been your kwami for about three days, Marinette, so I don't know the whole story. But it was very thoughtful of her to throw that party for you, and help you get ready for it."
Marinette thought about that. He did have a point. But there was more to it than that! "She just did it because she wants to shake my life up, add a little drama." Right?
Plagg flew a little higher in excitement. "Exactly! She knows you're lonely, Marinette, even if you don't broadcast it. Alya wanted to shake your life up because she wants to see you happy. By doing things that you might think are silly — like dolling you up for parties — she's showing you she cares about you. She just shows it in a different way than you would. If she didn't care, she wouldn't do it."
The very backs of Marinette's eyes itched, and she knew if she didn't do something now, she was going to start crying. Was Plagg right? Was he really so perceptive of Alya's true intentions, after just a few days? And worse, had Marinette been misjudging her friend this entire time? Belittling Alya's feelings just because she was quick to declare Marinette as her best friend?
She stood up abruptly, marched over to the bedroom door, knocked, and called, "Hey, I'm going to go for a walk, okay? So don't be worried about me if I'm gone for a while."
She didn't wait for Alya's response before fleeing out into the night.