After the end of Dark Cupid, Marinette finds herself anxious about having kissed Chat Noir. ("It was just to save him, nothing else, I swear!")

.o.O.o.

"Ugh! Tikki, I can't believe I failed... AGAIN!" Marinette exclaimed, flopping face-down onto her bed.

"It's okay, Marinette," came the kwami's high-pitched voice as she flew onto Marinette's shoulder. "Next time you write a card, you'll remember to sign it, I'm sure!"

The pigtailed teen sat up and leaned against the wall. Looking toward her favorite photo of Adrien, she asked, "How can you be, though? This is the second time that I've given Adrien something and he has no idea that it's from me! I'm such a failure," she sighed into her hands.

Tikki patted her shoulder soothingly. "You're a lot of things, Marinette, but a failure isn't one of them! You are creative, compassionate, and strong. You'll get up and try again no matter how many times you fall. Besides, if Adrien never likes you back, it's not the end of the world."

"Tikki! How can you say that? So I kiss Chat Noir once and suddenly Adrien's not the one for me?! It was one measly kiss, it didn't mean anything!"

"Uh, Marinette?" Tikki tried interrupting the outburst.

"Besides, it was just to save him, nothing else, I swear! I did it because I had to, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to defeat Dark Cupid!"

"Marinette?"

"Sure, maybe if Adrien wasn't around... No way, who am I kidding? The world wouldn't be the same without Adrien in it, I don't even want to think about it! A world without Adrien would be-"

"Marinette!" Tikki shouted, flying up to her chosen's face. Marinette blinked in response. In an unsure voice, Tikki continued, "You do know that I never said anything about Chat Noir, right?"

The effect of her words was almost immediate, painting Marinette's face a bright red. She spluttered incoherently before throwing herself on her bed again and screaming into a pillow.

Tikki watched her chosen with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

"Oh, Marinette..."

.o.O.o.

"Hey, girl! Did you check the Ladyblog today?" Alya greeted her best friend, impressed that she wasn't late for once. Marinette slid in beside her, a cup of hot cocoa and a croissant in hand. She simply shook her head in response as she began sipping her drink. "It's a Valentine's Day exclusive! Someone submitted a photo of Ladybug kissing Chat Noir!"

Marinette's eyes flew open and she began to choke on her cocoa. Concerned, Alya began rubbing her back, hoping to calm her coughs. "Sorry girl, I didn't think that you would get so excited over it. You're not usually so invested."

"I'm not excited or invested, just ready for all this kissing stuff to be over with," she muttered.

"Uh, what did you say, girl?"

Quickly sitting up, she looked at get best friend nervously. "I-I said that I'm not excited because, uh, this kissing stuff shouldn't be all over the internet! Yeah!" Marinette nodded, to sell her lie and also to reassure herself.

"Hmmm, why do you say that?"

"Because the kiss probably didn't mean anything. Actually, it didn't mean anything, she was just saving him."

Alya's reporter sense tingled. "What do you mean she was saving him?"

Marinette froze. She forgot that no one else would know what Ladybug was trying to do. All they saw was Ladybug chasing Chat Noir halfway across Paris begging for a kiss! "Uhhh, educated guess?"

Her friend scoffed. "No way, girl. A kiss like that means something. I wonder if they're dating?"

"NO!" After seeing the surprised look on Alya's face, Marinette backtracked. "I mean, they haven't said anything, so we shouldn't assume, right? I think that if they want to keep it under wraps," she inwardly cringed, "we should, too!"

Alya considered her argument. "Maybe you're right. If I was in the spotlight there would be some things I would want hidden." She pulled out her phone and sighed. After a moment of pained contemplation, she tapped a couple buttons. "Alright, it's deleted. You really owe me one girl, I just a gave up a big scoop!"

"Alright, whatever you say!" Phew, crises averted! Chat Noir would never let me live that down. Marinette thought as she glanced down to the empty seat in front of her. Good thing Adrien wasn't here, he probably would've thought I was crazy for choking like that!.o.O.o.

"Quiet down, class! Today we will be studying the anatomy of the human mouth. Pull out your textbooks and turn to page 87."

Marinette flipped to the proper page, which was scattered with text and pictures. One was a diagram, the other a collage of smiles.

That one looks a little like Chat Noir. Except his lips were a lot softer than those... Wait, what? Marinette shook the thought out of her head. Where did that come from?

"Marinette!" Ms. Mendeleiev's sharp voice cut through her inner conflict. "Care to join us in class today?"

She vaguely heard Chloe snicker at the question. "Yes, ma'am," she sighed.

"Good. Now, we'll start from the outside in, beginning with the lips."

"Great," Marinette muttered.

"Ms. Dupain-Cheng, if you insist on interrupting my class, I will have no choice but to send you to the principal's office! Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." This kiss is really getting to me.

.o.O.o.

Ladybug stood on top of Notre Dame, overlooking the Seine. The sun had just begun to set, casting a warm glow that reflected on the water. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sound of the city was quiet in the distance, creating the perfect atmosphere for reflection.

I don't know why I'm making such a big deal out of this kissing nonsense! She huffed. We do crazy stuff in order to defeat villains all the time, why should this be any different?"Good evening, M'Lady!"

"Waah!" She jumped at the sound of Chat Noir's voice.

"Heh, not often that I can pull a sneak a-cat on you, LB! What has you so tightly wound?" he asked, mirth bouncing in his voice.

"Who? M-me?" Chat Noir made a show of looking around, sarcastically reminding her that no one else was on the roof. "R-right. Um, nothing! Just lost in thought!" She giggled nervously.

"You sure?" She nodded. "Alright, whatever you say. I won't tell anyone that you can't get this cat off your mind," he teased with a wink.

Ladybug's eyes popped wide open. "W-who says I'm thinking about you? I-I'm not! Why should I? It's not like we kissed or anything!"

Chat Noir looked at her, completely befuddled. "Uh, no we haven't? U-unless you wanted to, that is..."

"What?!" She jumped again.

Raising his hands in surrender, Chat Noir decided that tonight was not the right night for a confession of love. "Just teasing, M'Lady. You're the one who brought it up, after all!"

Her face turned red with indignation. "You alleycat! Why would I bring up kissing you? Forget it, I'm going home." Ladybug pulled out her yoyo and whirred away.

Choosing to ignore the sting of her words, Chat Noir chuckled to himself as she watched her soar away. "She really is something else, isn't she?"

.o.O.o.

Next time: The class decides to do something special for Mylene to apologize for the outcome of the movie. Poor Mylene doesn't know how to react to the attention she receives after the end of The Horrificator.