"Do you remember how I told you about my mom being so happy about the twin's grades that she got way too high-spirited and granted them a wish? And that, and I quote: 'they could wish for whatever they want, no matter what it is'?" As Alya spoke a weird mix of distress and excitement flared in her eyes, causing her best friend to raise a curious but not any less amused eyebrow.

"Yeah, I remember. Part of the reason she was so overwhelmed was the fact that your grades were pretty bad because of all the time you spent on the Ladyblog, wasn't it?" Marinette grinned whimsically at her counterpart.

"That's not the point, Marinette!" Alya pouted and folded her arms in front of her chest, refusing to tell her the rest of the story. Yet she couldn't keep her act up for too long since she longed to break the news to her best friend more than anything. "Anyway, listen to me instead of teasing me!" She lightly hit Marinette's shoulder and giggled.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to offend you. What did you want to tell me?" Marinette backtracked, the smirk not yet banned from her face.

Feeling quite noble Alya continued with a satisfied nod. "Well, since this fateful day my parents and I lived in a constant fear of what could possibly come up to us. What can I say, they finally decided what they wish for."

That was kind of a turn of events for Marinette as she had witnessed the two girls having debates about this going on for hours. "Wow, I thought those little monsters would never come to an understanding. So what do they want?" Curiously she looked at Alya who kept silent, clearly punishing her for her previous banter. "Come on, tell me already! What is it? The table tennis table? Or, my personal favorite, the trampoline?" Marinette begged to know and willing to finally proclaim Alya gave her a resigned look.

"Neither. Somehow they came up with another, completely new and different idea." She sighed. "They want a cat."

Adrien's head literally popped out of nowhere. "So it's true!" Surprised Marinette blinked at her crush who suddenly stood beside her. "Your family is bringing an unbelievably cute kitten to your house at this very moment!"

Befuddled Alya looked at him in confusion. "Not exactly. My siblings are too young and my parents and I too busy to care for a little kitten with a lot of needs. They're adopting a cat that's already grown a little."

"Still adorable" Adrien's eyes began to glisten with joy as he dreamily looked into the distance.

After getting over his cuteness, which took her nearly twenty seconds, Marinette pointed at him. "How does he know?"

Alya shrugged. "Nino I guess."

In indignant disbelief Marinette looked at her. "Wait, you told Nino before you told me?"

Alya rolled her eyes at her best friend when she answered. "Sure, duh. You were gone throughout all of lunch, remember?"

Beginning to blush Marinette sheepishly lowered her head and remembered the akuma attack she fought down with Chat Noir earlier "Uhm… You're right. Sorry?"

With a smirk Alya waved it off. "Don't sweat it, girl. Hey, you guys wanna hang out next week to get to know our newest family member? I think she needs some time to acclimatize before she meets so many people at once but it should be fine in a few days, as long as you're cautious."

Loving the idea Marinette began to smile brightly. "You betcha! A-Adrien, d-do you wa-" as she turned to face him she had to laugh at the view she gained. Obviously overjoyed Adrien was nodding aggressively, face slightly red.

"Who could say no to a kitten?" Nino asked as he joined the scene and patted his best friend's back. "Calm down man or you may pass out because of anticipation."

"Kitty!" was all Adrien managed to blurt out through his compressed lips causing his friends to bubble over with laughter. The bell rang and they headed to class, the other three still amused while Adrien blushed embarrassed.

After school Nino and Alya had to leave right away for whatever reason they didn't want to reveal so Marinette ended up waiting for his drive home next to Adrien. Paralyzed she rapidly thought about any topic to talk about to distract herself from just staring at him. But Adrien beat her at starting a conversation, still smiling dreamily at a point in the distance that wasn't really there. "I bet Alya rushed home to see her cat."

"You're really that excited over a random cat of a classmate?" Marinette asked him astonished and he looked down timidly.

"Yeah… Well, as you know I was homeschooled and never had many friends besides Chloé. I wanted a pet since forever and cats have always been my favorite but obviously my father didn't approve. It's kind of a childhood dream coming true, even if it's happening to someone else... You know what I mean?" He laughed nervously but Marinette's genuine smile banished all of his bashfulness.

"Yes, I… I think I understand." For a moment they just stood there and smiled at each other before Marinette continued to speak. "I have to say that I really admire you - no! I- I mean that I admire you for being happy for Ella and Etta. I mean, like, instead of getting jealous and being cruel or something. You're awesome. Uhm, I mean, that's awesome!" He couldn't help but blush over such an unexpected compliment, especially because it was about his character and not his looks for once. He was so touched that he barely noticed her stuttering.

"Thanks, Marinette. You know," he beamed at her "I'm super glad we're friends."

Now it was Marinette's turn to blush and before she managed to respond a shining car drove around the corner and Adrien waved his goodbye at her. "See you tomorrow!"

She still looked down the road after the car was long gone.