She tears her gaze away from his first, walking quickly in the opposite direction. She tenses, hearing that familiar patter of her ex-partner's feet, racing after her. He reaches out, taking her hand gently…
She snatches it away, continuing to leave. "Wait, please!" he calls after her. She hesitates a moment, turning back to look into his green eyes, full of sadness and hope and lo-
No. She's not even going to think that word.
"Say whatever you have to say fast."
"I didn't know you'd be here, but I'm glad you are. I've missed you so much, it's been killing me that I can't talk to you this past year. I know we agreed to separate but I want a fresh start. Can we please make a fresh start, here? New school, new everything… Please?" he gives her those perfect kitten eyes, and she looks down at his hand. At the place where there used to be a ring… used to be a finger, too.
"The last time we saw each other ended in bloodshed and mutilation. I killed…" she trails off, looking at him, remembering the bloodbath of their final battle.
He nods. "You killed my father. I know. But, Marinette, my Lady, I've tried to forget you, for a year I've tried, and it hasn't worked even a little. Give me another shot. Give us another shot. Purr-etty please?"
She stares at him in horror. "Did you just make a pun after talking about how I murdered your father? What is wrong with you?"
"I…" he looks at the ground, before meeting her eyes, with that intense stare… the look he gave her under the umbrella that day, and he reaches out his hand. "I think we've been punished long enough. I love you. I… I believe that you love me. Maybe you don't, and that's wishful thinking, but all I want is my partner back. Don't you want that?"
A part of her really does. A part of her wants to grab that outstretched hand and never let go, claim him as her kitten once more, her knight, her love. That part of her is by no means small, for the record.
She crosses her arms, looking him in the eye. "Your partner barely existed. You made up an ideal that was never me, and I didn't realize that until I discovered I'd done the same to you… Until I saw the detransformation and saw the difference, between how you treated Marinette and… her."
He cringes back, and lets his hand drop. She can almost see the cat-ears and tail drooping, although that's impossible now. "I can't fix this…?"
"I don't know if you can or not. But we're in college now, anyway." She steps back. "We've outgrown superheroes. I need to get to class."
"Princess-"
"Don't, Adrien. We got into the same school, but that doesn't mean we're going to be near each other. Please don't seek me out."
His face falls, and he bows slightly. "Yes, my Lady."
She leaves as quickly as she can, breaking into a run as soon as she turns the corner. She needs to calm down, and get rid of the tears stinging her eyes…
…
She walks into Chemistry class with her head held high.
"Miss Dupain-Cheng?" the teacher asks. "You're a bit late. Got lost? It's a pretty big campus… you can go sit with Mr. Agreste, he needs a lab partner."
Their eyes meet, and Marinette gets the feeling- whether of dread or elation- that she's going to be seeing a lot more of her ex-partner… er, lab partner… than planned.