Plus qu'un ami

"Hayate, I need your help!" Luka pleaded with his friend over the phone as soon as he got back on The Liberty.

"Not at midnight you don't." Hayate mercilessly hung up on him.

Calling him back, Luka explained quickly:

"I think Kagami confessed to me."

"Wait, really?" Hayate was now interested.

"Well, I'm not sure…," Luka trailed off.

"Call me back when you're sure," Hayate hung up again.

"She said it in a way where I'm not sure whether she meant it only as friends or something more so I need you to help me find out which it is," Luka hastily explained when he called back.

"…"

"You still there?" Luka anxiously waited until he heard Hayate's exasperated sigh.

"And how am I supposed to do that from England?" he questioned.

"You can come over to Paris and-,"

"Listen, Luka," Hayate cut him off. "Even if I was willing to tell you what I see about the both of you, you shouldn't let that determine what you'll do."

"What do you mean?" Luka was even more confused than when he initially called.

"Let me ask you this," Hayate challenged. "Have you ever had the plot of a good story spoiled but still when through the trouble of reading it because you wanted to get the full experience?

Luka was silent as he contemplated his roommate's words. Hayate went on,

"Even if something is prescribed by fate, that's something that is beyond your pay grade. Your responsibility is to carry on the plot of your own life."

"I see what you're saying but…," Luka trailed off.

"Here's another question. Do you blindly follow the music in your head?" Hayate pressed. "Or is it just there to clarify what you are already thinking and feeling?"

"…"

"This is my advice for you before I truly hang up and turn off my phone. Ask yourself what you're feeling. Why you're feeling that way. What you're going to do about those feelings. And how is it going to affect others."

After pondering these words Luka spoke up,

"You're right. Thank for your advice, Hayate. I really appreciate it."

The lack of response on the other end indicated that Hayate had already hung up.

The next day, Luka was still mulling over Hayate's words. He was pretty sure of his feelings for Kagami, even without the deafening music that confirmed it over and over again. He just wasn't sure about how she felt about him

"That's what I like about you!" Her words from the night before echoed in his head. At the very least, she didn't dislike him.

How would she feel if he were to plainly tell her how he feels? Would it ruin their friendship?

He sighed as he rolled over on his bed. Spotting the manga that Erin had lent him, he picked it up and resumed reading. Honestly it had taken him a while to get used to how to read the panels, but he got the hang of it eventually.

He personally wouldn't have gravitated toward the romance fantasy genre, but Erin and Kagami seemed to enjoy this particular title, and even Hayate mentioned that he had read a few volumes. Also, the mention of a siren that enchanted one of the main characters with his song had piqued Luka's interest.

"I didn't know you read Jungle Dreams as well."

The sudden voice behind him visibly startled Luka.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Kagami chuckled as she entered his and Juleka's bedroom. She had arrived early for the movie marathon that they were having for their friend group that day.

"I just started," Luka admitted. "Erin convinced me to read it because of the siren."

Kagami shook her head, "she trapped you." Seeing Luka's confused expression, she explained, "the siren is in the latest volume that just came out."

"Ah. I see."

Luka shifted on his bed to sitting crossed-legged and patted the spot beside him as an invitation for Kagami to join him. Before she sat down, she froze.

"You heathen, why are you wearing your shoes on your bed?"

Before she could even get a proper response from him, she wrestled his shoes off his feet.

"It's fine," he said, "My mom doesn't care about things like that."

Rolling her eyes at this Kagami chose to inspect his collection of guitar picks on the wall rather than press further.

"You know, if you're ever interested, I can teach you how to play," he offered, fully expecting her to turn him down.

"You would? I'd like that." Her response surprised Luka. "In exchange I can teach you fencing."

"Deal," Luka accepted her offer. "You know, I always had the feeling that you wouldn't be interested."

"To be honest, a few months ago I wouldn't be," Kagami admitted. "But overtime I became curious because you always play it. It's like an extension of you. I found that part of you weird, I still do actually, but it grew on me."

"Really? But I thought you said that you didn't like it," Luka reminded her.

"Oh," Kagami looked down as she recalled her words from Chapter 3. "When I said that, I meant that I didn't like to have my emotions brought to the surface like that," she explained. "It makes it harder to ignore them."

"That's not good, Kagami," Luka sat up a bit straighter. "I know it's bad to let yourself be completely ruled by your emotions, it's important to understand them in order to process through them properly."

"Hmm," Kagami contemplated. "I'm not sure if I can change myself to-,"

"Who said anything about changing yourself?" Luka interrupted her. "Don't even think about changing yourself because of something I said."

"Or what? You'll kill me?" Kagami playfully tossed a pick at him, echoing her rash words from the night before to hide her embarrassment from what he said.

"Yes," Luka laughed, tossing the pick back at her. "I'll annoy you to death, Ojou-sama."

Adrien's thoughts had been racing for the past few days. They had escalated from the night before when he and Marinette had hung out with Luka and Kagami who had returned to Paris on break. He couldn't put the thought that there might be more between Luka and Kagami out of his mind, especially since Plagg's lecture. In reality, if this was the case, he would be extremely happy for them. It was the fact that people who you would never think of being together, suddenly realise that there could be more… it almost scared him.

"Hey Adrien!" a cheery voice greeted him as he approached the deck of The Liberty.

Adrien turned to see Alya running to catch up to him.

"Hey, Alya," Adrien greeted her.

"Oh no, what's wrong?" Alya noticed his somewhat glum greeting.

"It's nothing," Adrien quickly forced himself to speak with cheery tone, plastering his fake smile on his face.

"Hmm," Alya didn't buy it. "It's not good to bottle everything up inside all the time. It can become a problem later on, if it already isn't," she warned.

Letting out a sigh, Adrien decided to drop the act.

"It's just that I have had a question on my mind lately," he admitted. "I—wait no, my friend was wondering how he could tell if someone who's always been a friend to him is actually more than a friend?"

Alya stared at him for a few seconds.

This is a great opportunity, she thought excitedly to herself, starting to feel the beginnings of a Cheshire grin forming on her face. Taking a deep breath, she managed to resist the teenage urge to rashly put in a good word for Marinette and decided to choose her words carefully.

"Well, I think that if 'your friend' notices that he finds himself wanting to spend more time with this particular person, misses them when they're gone, and finds that they can be truly themselves and fully accepted by this person, then perhaps that's a sign that they're something more," she answered.

"Hmm, I see," Adrien pondered as they headed below deck The Liberty.

"Also, they have fun together, are comfortable around each other, and can be silly and goofy with each other…," Alya continued.

As if on cue, Luka and Kagami burst out of the bedroom, having an all-out pick-throwing war. They were laughing hysterically, chasing each other like children pitching the picks at each other. They only stopped when, they noticed that they had an audience.

"Like that," Alya smirked to Adrien.

Adrien, in turn, had no doubt about the relationship between Kagami and Luka at this point, even if it wasn't official as yet.

On the other hand, the two subjects were frozen in embarrassment over being caught being so silly as university-aged students. Eventually regaining their composure, Luka stood up from his crouching position, while Kagami straightened her clothes and cleared her throat.

"She/he started it," they accused each other in unison.