Marinette went up through the bakery to her room, giving her mother a half-hearted wave as she passed through. She closed the trap door behind her and made to put everything - and everyone - in her purse away for a bit when she noticed her phone about to vibrate off of her desk. She ran over, grabbed it, and saw there was a stream of text message notifications from Alya.

I could use this distraction right now, Marinette thought, and opened the messaging app.

[Alya] girl what is going on up there?

[Alya] TWO new superheroes

[Alya] and me without my camera. i have to rely on secondhand footage for the ladyblog

[Alya] u should go out there and help me figure out who the new heroes are

[Alya] they're both snakes? wtf is up with that? i thought all the heroes were different animals

[Alya] are u ignoring me? jk text back when you get a sec. you're probably out with luka or something

On second thought… this is *not* the distraction I need. Might as well go to the band practice so I can see how those outfits look. She packed Ivan's, Juleka's, and Rose's outfits into a bag, grabbed some chalk and a measuring tape, and set off for the houseboat.

Adrien flopped down on his bed after Ladybug left.

"What do you think about that, Plagg?" he asked. He leaned up on one elbow and looked around sadly, remembering that his kwami and friend was still at the Guardian's. I need someone to talk to… someone to sort out my feelings, or just someone to get all of what's in me out. His phone buzzed and he picked it up.

[Rose] You coming to practice? Or does your dad have you doing stuff again?

Oh shoot! I missed the last band meeting… I really should go this time. He looked at his bare right hand, then thought Looks like I'm walking. He stuffed his phone in his pocket, looked back at the flip phone on his desk, and put that in his other pocket. He raced down the stairs and was stopped by his bodyguard. "Band practice," Adrien explained. His bodyguard nodded and led Adrien to the limousine. They drove away in silence.

Chou was pacing the floor of the Tsurugi living room. "You are letting your heart rule you too much! I warned you that Vengeance would eventually overtake you," he spat.

"You are only saying that because you have Justice ruling your head," Mrs. Tsurugi retorted.

Chou fingered his pendant. "We must be cautious… you almost fell to the heroes today, and if that happens, then your mission to avenge your ancestors will not have the outcome you desire. We have been patient long enough… we can not afford to waste this opportunity!"

"What are you saying, Chou?! Burning down Fu Wang's wake was a move that came totally from your head? No, that was from your heart. You are as passionate about this as I am, and you have waited three times as long as I have for this moment. Our window is closing! We must act! And now that you have revealed yourself, our window is closing even faster! I have been closer to getting the Miracle Box than you have… I even succeeded in recovering a Miraculous! What have you done other than terrorize some old men and burn down a building?"

"The Miraculous you recovered has been damaged beyond my ability to repair it. It's useless," Chou seethed. "You want action? Fine, I will give you some action. But you must follow my lead here! Because you have overplayed your hand, we cannot move about as freely as we are used to doing. The Guardian must be suspicious that we are looking for him. I am nearly at the end of the list I made at the wake and have two people left to investigate. Thankfully, you took care of the Agreste household already. We must select our targets and move quickly, lest the Guardian slip through our fingers. We were able to track the Guardian to Paris through the affinity of the Miraculous, and use the affinity to track a Miraculous to the Agreste mansion… we must not fail this time!"

Adrien's bodyguard dropped him off at the boat and indicated that he would be back in two hours. Adrien shot him a thumbs-up and boarded the boat. Kitty Section were already set up and running through their first song.

"Hey, Adrien!" Rose called out. "Come join us! We're glad you came!"

"Sorry, guys… it's been a really busy week. Sounds like we have a new song! What's it called?"

"It doesn't have a name yet… Luka is writing the lyrics this time. We just call it New Song."

"Can't argue with that!" Adrien took his place behind the keyboard and the band launched into the new song. Adrien listened for a verse before trying to play along.

Right before the song ended, Marinette walked up. The band stopped playing and Rose squealed into the microphone "Marinette! You brought our outfits! Let's take five, guys!" She ran up to Marinette and said, "I can't wait to see what you made for us! I know it's going to be great! Come on guys, let's go below decks and try these on!"

"I already did," said Luka.

"Me too!" added Adrien. Luka looked at him suspiciously.

Marinette, Ivan, Rose, and Juleka all went below decks. Luka strummed his guitar and Adrien stood awkwardly at the keyboard. After a few minutes, Adrien asked Luka, "Can you run through that new song with me, please? I want to make sure I get it right."

"Yeah… no problem," Luka replied, not meeting his eyes. He started playing chords. "Here's how the verse goes."

"This is pretty catchy, Luka. I like it!"

"Cool. Say, Adrien… how's your summer break been? You been staying busy?"

"The usual," Adrien hedged. "My father generally keeps my schedule full."

Luka grinned. "So I've heard! What did he have you doing today?"

"Oh, thankfully today I had the day off. It was a good thing, too. My, um, cat got sick and I had to take him to the, um, cat doctor," Adrien trailed off lamely.

Luka's mind flashed back to his conversation with Marinette in front of the bakery. "Your cat, huh? I hope he's OK now."

"Thanks… me too."

Adrien missed the narrowed look that Luka gave him.

Adrien's bodyguard took him home after rehearsal was over. Rose, Juleka, and Ivan had spent most of the rest of the time below decks with Marinette, so Adrien worked on the new song with Luka. That was kind of awkward… did I do anything? Luka's not the most talkative person, but he's usually more outwardly friendly. Aaahhh.. I've still got a lot I need to get out… *and* it's been a while since I've seen Kagami… maybe I can kill two birds with one stone. He pulled out his phone.

[Adrien] Hey, sorry, been a busy couple of days. Want to get together later?

[Kagami] No worries - been busy for me too. Mom's been practicing her fencing with me relentlessly over the past few days, so I haven't had much time to get away. Tonight is more practice, so just come on over now. 34 rue Goscinny-Uderzo. See you in a bit

Wow, Adrien thought. She would give Nathalie a run for her money. Guess I'll head on over…

[Adrien] See you soon!

Adrien won the argument with his father and Nathalie about walking unaccompanied to the Tsurugi house. He walked up to number 34 and knocked on the door. The manservant of the house answered and bade him entry. Shortly after he entered, Kagami descended the stairs. "Hey! Come on up, we'll have more privacy. Mom has had a houseguest over here for the past couple of weeks." She led Adrien up to her room.

Kagami's bedroom was very minimally furnished. The first thing Adrien noticed was the fencing dummy in the corner of the room. Next to that was an assortment of medals and trophies in a display case. A simple bed with a red comforter and pillow and a desk with a wooden chair completed the furnishings. There was a small stuffed animal - the one Adrien won from the carnival the other night, he recognized - on the desk. The walls were painted a soft gray and mostly bare, except for a small calendar hanging near the desk.

She sat down on her bed, and Adrien pulled out the chair to face her and sat in it. "So! Nice room," he said lamely.

"I know you're probably used to a lot more than this, what with your room and Chloe's room at the hotel," Kagami started.

"Oh! I am, but you don't have to apologize, Kagami. It's very nice," Adrien countered politely.

"I'm not apologizing, Adrien. This is my room, and I love it. I just thought you might want an example that it's possible to live successfully without lavish furnishings. Now, tell me what you've been up to since our night at the carnival." She folded her arms and waited expectantly.

"Well… let's see… I went out on Friday night and did some clothes shopping. Saturday morning I went over to Marinette's and showed them to her before I tried on some clothes she made for the band. I went to a wake on Saturday afternoon at the Chinese community center, then earlier today I, um, hung out with a friend in the morning, and then had band practice before coming over here. Band practice was weird," he concluded.

"Huh… Mom's houseguest was at that wake, I think. Anyway, band practice was weird in what way? I thought that was all your friends from school?"

"They are! Well, the guitarist, Luka, isn't. He's Juleka's older brother. Kind of quiet, but still really thoughtful and nice. Today, though, he just seemed off for some reason. Marinette showed up at the rehearsal just after I did, and she and the rest of the band went to try on their clothes. It was just Luka and me up above, and he was… different all of a sudden. Frosty."

"You don't say… what happened right before everyone went below decks?"

"Hmm… well, we were playing a new song, and Marinette showed up and offered to have everyone try on the outfits that she made for them. Both Luka and I had already been fit for our outfits, so we stayed behind and practiced the new song some more, but it was… just really awkward. Maybe he and Marinette are going through a rough spot or something."

"Wait, back up. He and Marinette…?"

"Yeah, I think they've dating for a couple of weeks now."

"Has this been the first time she's been at band practice with you since they've been dating?"

"I think so, yeah."

Kagami pinched the bridge of her nose. "OK, so this is what I was talking about when I mentioned that you were socially oblivious. Let me point out a few things for you and see what conclusion you draw. First: Only you and he had been fit for the outfits at that point, right? Actually, let me back up: you two are both boys, right?"

Adrien made an annoyed face. "Yes," he replied.

"OK, good, just checking," Kagami grinned. "And you and he were the only ones who had been fit, right?"

"Two for two," Adrien sighed.

"Great. Now, if Luka and Marinette are dating, and they have a special relationship, where he might get certain… let's say privileges because of that relationship, then he might feel jealous because someone else got those privileges. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I guess… but Marinette doesn't give me any special privileges, and I'm not looking for those from her! She's just a friend!"

Kagami hummed, then said slowly, "Adrien… does Marinette think she's just a friend?"

"I don't think why she wouldn't!" Adrien said matter-of-factly.

"Adrien… OK, I want you to go through a couple of things with me. Before we left for England, she ran up to you and gave you something that she said she could only get from you. What was that?"

"A prescription, oddly enough."

"A prescription? OK, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for that. How about at the movie premiere? What did she give you there?"

"A cookie that she had made for me."

"We're getting warmer. Has there been anything else she's given you?"

"Well, let's see… she's gotten me some assignments, And I think she wrote me a poem, but I can't prove it…"

"She wrote you a poem?!"

"Well, like I said, I can't prove it…"

"I must be missing something here… Adrien, please, for the love of humanity, tell me how on earth this girl managed to break your heart so bad that one day before fencing class. Because from everything I have seen and from what you have told me, that girl has a crush on you so hard it's almost unhealthy."

"What? Marinette break my heart?" He shook his head emphatically. "No, she's got to be the sweetest, most caring person I've met. I think she'd rather die than hurt anyone else's feelings deliberately. It wasn't her."

"OK, so if I'm following you correctly, when you changed your target, it wasn't from Marinette? Wait, no, you told me that already. OK, that makes sense… but if she's so high on you, why didn't you do anything about it?"

"Umm… well… I might have had my eye on somebody else…" Adrien shifted uncomfortably in his seat and stared at the floor.

Kagami moved to sit on the edge of her bed. "Who on earth were you that infatuated with that you didn't notice Marinette of all people? I went against everything I ever believed in and waited to make a move on you in the first place out of respect for her! And it wasn't even her?!"

Adrien looked up shyly. "...Ladybug?" he whispered.

"Oh my gosh," Kagami moaned, flopping backwards on her bed. "When you told me that your romantic life was 'complicated', I would never have guessed that you had your eyes on a superhero. You are a lost cause, do you know that? Let me ask you this: are you still into Ladybug?"

"Yes?" Adrien said hesitantly. He looked away and cringed as a muffled scream came from Kagami's bed.

She put her pillow back in place and sat up. "OK." She took a deep breath. "OK."

"I should go," Adrien said.

"You're not going anywhere," Kagami spat. "Look, I told you that you shouldn't be ashamed for wanting something for yourself. You want Ladybug? Fine. Go get Ladybug. I'll even help you as much as I can because I'm your friend and that's what friends do. But so help me, Adrien, if she breaks your heart again and you keep going after her, I'm not sure which one of you two I'll beat up first."

Marinette brought the bag containing the band's outfits back to the house. Thankfully I didn't have to do much. Ivan is the hardest since he's got the most movement, and imperfections won't stand out too much since he'll be behind a drum kit most of the show, but I still want everyone to look their best. She dropped the bag on her chaise and stretched. Doing work really is the best therapy. I'm so glad that I'm able to stay busy and keep my mind focused on other things when I need to.

Tikki flew out of her purse. "Sounds like you were able to relax a bit, Marinette! Just what the doctor ordered!"

"You have no idea, Tikki. I'm still concerned about Luka, though… we didn't get a chance to say much during practice since I was tied up with the other band members. I'm still reeling a bit over what Adrien said to me after the Serket battle, too. And I need to check on Plagg, and I need to talk to Chat about that new person that showed up to rescue Serket, and there's this envelope that's burning a hole in my pocket that I need to find a home for, and I never went back to Gabriel Agreste after he surrendered Nooroo and the Butterfly Miraculous! Ughh… this is a disaster! I'm never going to get all of this done!" Marinette paced back and forth, chewing on her fingernails.

"Slow down, Marinette! Let's take this one thing at a time!"

"How on Earth did Master Fu handle all of the Guardian duties by himself, Tikki! He must have been exhausted… and he still lived such a long life! I can't imagine the burden that he had."

"He didn't do it by himself, Marinette."

"But he told me that he wandered pretty much the entire planet after the Temple was destroyed. Someone couldn't have wandered with him all that time, could they have?"

"Well, for one thing, he had the kwamis with him, and we were able to keep him company and act as a sounding board. Once he settled down, though, he had a companion. Guardians are supposed to have a companion to ease their burden."

"A companion? But who was… ohhh," Marinette said, the realization sinking in. "It was Marianne, wasn't it?"

"You're correct! He wasn't able to spend time with her too much once he went into hiding, but she was aware of everything that Master Fu did and helped him get out of problems."

"Do you think she'll be my companion too, Tikki?"

Tikki hummed. How do I break this to her? "It's highly unlikely, for a couple of reasons. One, she's very old, and older men need different companions than teenage girls do. Second, the magic that protected Master Fu when he was Guardian also protected his companion. You would need to seek a new companion soon even if she were willing to fill that role for you." Tikki hesitated. "Third… I've been using the word companion, but… with a Guardian and everything that being Guardian entails... the word mate is more appropriate. Like… soulmate." Tikki cringed, waiting for Marinette's response. I hope I just didn't make things worse!

Marinette turned to Tikki and started waving her arms. "Tikki, are you telling me that I have to choose a MATE?! I can't even drive yet and I have to get married?! Why didn't Fu tell me that?! Why didn't YOU tell me that?! Holy crap, I think I just blew it with Luka, too..."

Time to get out the fire extinguisher. "Marinette, calm down! Barring a catastrophe, you're going to be the Guardian for a long, long time! And Marianne wasn't Master Fu's companion for his entire life! You just said yourself that he was alone for a while. You'll have us in the meantime. So don't worry about that just yet. We - and by we I mean all the kwamis - are here to serve you. Let us do that. OK?"

Marinette lowered her arms, closed her eyes, and took several deep breaths. "You're right, Tikki. I panicked. I've got more important things to do right now than to panic."

"That's good. So, Marinette, how can we help?"

Sass floated out of Marinette's purse. "I've been in your boy's head, Marinette. You might not have wanted to see his body, but… would you like me to tell you what's in his mind?"

Tikki rounded on him. "Sass, now is not the time for this! We talked about this earlier! Marinette is..."

Marinette held up her hand. "Actually, Tikki, I think now is the perfect time to talk to Sass."

Sass floated over to Marinette, a sly smile on his face. "What would you like to know?"