20: Kung Food/ Guitar Villain

It was the day that we've been waiting for. My cast will finally get cut off.

Adrien was at my doorstep at the agreed time. And without wasting time, he helped me get down towards his car.

I greeted Giles and thanked him for taking me to the hospital.

Like usual, he didn't say anything, but he gave me a smile and nodded in acknowledgment.

"How are you feeling?" Adrien says in the silence of the car. "You know that if you need anything, you just need to let me know."

"Yes, I know," I say fondly as I brush some hair out of his face. "How about going somewhere to eat after? Or even catch a movie?"

He smiles at me, "That sounds like fun."

His phone rings. I looked at the screen to see that it was Alya. We shared a curious look before he answered.

He purposely let me hear his conversation as he leaned his head so that it was close to our ears.

"Allo, Alya?"

"Allo, Adrien," Alya replies cheerfully. "I was wondering if you could do me a big favor for Marinette."

"Favor? Um, what kind?" Adrien looked at me, I simply shrugged.

"Marinette's uncle just came from China and she doesn't speak Chinese," Alya starts and I already had a hint where this was going. "So I was hoping that you could be their interpreter. I know you have been taking Chinese."

"Oh, um, can I call you back? I'll let you know in a few minutes," Adrien says before hanging up. We were silent for a while before I decided to break it.

"I think you should go," I told him. "There's nothing much that you could do there. It's going to be just lots of waiting. While you can do something more interesting.

"Marinette gushed to me that her uncle is a famous chef in China. And he's competing in the Mayor's cook competition thingy. Tell me about it when you get back to the apartment?" I offered. "And maybe bring a plate?" I added cheekily.

Adrien laughed and kissed my cheek.

It was only Giles in the car. He was pretty busy paying attention on the road. Plus, we have shared plenty of small kisses on the cheek before in front of him. And Giles hasn't said anything about it.

I'm pretty sure he knows and is keeping quiet.

I could sense the happiness in him, the type of happiness when you are happy for someone else. And I've noticed that he is definitely a lot calmer and happier when he sees Adrien.

"Alright, but just because you told me," He says, a grin on his face.

I smiled as I leaned my head on his shoulder as we made our way to the hospital.

Taking the cast off was a fast process, like I knew it was.

When it was all done, the doctor told me to be careful and still take it easy.

I called a taxi and let it take me back to the apartment.

I was going to surprise Adrien.

But first, a shower. My leg needs it.

When I finished untangling my hair, I heard the door clicking. Cautiously, I grabbed the nearest thing at my reach, a math book and held it tightly.

When I got out of my room, I sighed in relief to see that it was just Kathy and Chandler.

"Hey, kiddo," Chandler greets. "Good to see you out of the cast."

I put my book on the kitchen counter and smiled wryly, "Glad to finally walk normally. Do you guys want coffee? I can make a pot right now."

"Not right now," Kathy interjects just as Chandler was going to say something. Knowing him, he would have loved a cup of coffee. "We are here to tell you that now that you have your cast off, I will be going back to my apartment."

I nodded, "Yeah. Thank you for helping me out. I'm really grateful, Kathy."

"No problem, really," She assured me with a soft smile.

And so the three of us helped move Kathy's things out the bedroom and after, I invited them for something more refreshing: lemonade and sandwiches.

"One thing I'm going to miss is the homemade food and drinks you make," Kathy smiles as she takes a sip of her drink.

"You definitely need to expand on your cooking," Chandler comments. "Living on five different meals is not exactly fun."

Kathy only rolls her eyes, but then sighs. "Yeah, it is getting a little repetitive."

We finished our lunch and they left.

Leaving me all alone.

And so for the first time in months, I went to the roof.

I was dreading that my plants had died, but to my surprise, they were all healthy. And I could only think of one person capable of keeping it this way.

And what better way to show my gratitude by making dinner and dessert and eating up here like old times.

Adrien texted me that he is going to run a little late in meeting me.

And sent me the smiling cat emoji, our secret code to indicate that he was coming as Cat Noir. Usually he does that when his dad doesn't let him come over, which during this time, is always a denied request.

And I replied that it was fine, that I would be waiting for him on the roof and to come with an empty stomach.

He replied that he can't wait to have dinner with me.

The sun was barely setting, and the lights I had placed months ago turned on.

I smiled, glad that I was able to be in my favorite spot once again.

And like old times, I had my speaker and played some classical music as I waited for my boyfriend to come.

And he came just in time too as I finished setting up the table for two.

"Good evening, little lady," Cat winks at me as he grabs my hand and kisses it. "How's the leg?" He asks softly.

"Much better," I smiled wryly as I hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Come on, I'm starved."

We sat on the table, where our dinner plates were covered under cloches.

"Today's dinner comes from Eastern cuisine, Japanese to be precise," I started as I put my hand over the cloche. Cat copied me and in sync, we both took them off and my nose was hit with the savory scent of the pork cutlet.

"You made katsudon!" He grins. "It looks and-" He took a deep sniff, "-smells so good!"

"It's my third attempt at making it so I hope it's good," I admitted.

I've made Mexican, American, Italian and some French cuisine for Adrien. But this would be the first time we would eat homemade Japanese food.

We grabbed our chopsticks and dug in. And I was glad that I was able to finally get it right.

Cat told me what happened today with the Akuma. And once again, Chloé ruins the day. That girl really needs to get a slap to reality, the world doesn't revolve around her.

But I was glad that Marinette's uncle was able to get his honor back and it was sweet that he renamed his soup after her.

"That was good," Cat says as he wipes his mouth with the napkin.

"I hope you made space for dessert," I smiled as I opened the box that I had left to the side. "Strawberry daifuku."

Now, this took me around a dozen times to make it perfect. And it was all worth the trial and error when Cat smiled and moaned in delight.

We enjoyed the daifuku I had in the box and when my classical music ended, a jazz song started to play.

I immediately recognized it as 'It's Been a Long, Long Time'.

Cat didn't waste time to bring me out of the seat and pulled me towards the empty floor space of the roof. He placed his hands on my hips and I gently placed my arms around his shoulders.

It was the Kitty Kallen version and I was singing along with it, knowing the song by heart.

He twirled me around so that my back was against his chest, my arms crossed, but holding his hands.

I smiled as I sang, feeling so happy as we swayed with the music.

As the song was ending, he finished it with a couple of twirls so that he dipped me back, my hair brushing the floor.

I grabbed tightly and pushed my head forward enough so that I could give him an Eskimo kiss. But Cat had more plans as he kissed me fully on the lips, bringing me back up and pressing me even closer.

We parted away for air as he led me to the table, my cheeks feeling warm with the honey glow.

"I love you," He whispers as he leans his forehead against mine.

"I love you, too," I whispered back and I knew that it was time. "I have something to-" But I was interrupted when he placed a finger against my lips.

"I know what you want to tell me, but really, I don't need to know. Nothing you say will change my opinion, my feelings, for you," He says softly as he grabs my hands, his thumbs rubbing soothingly against my knuckles. "But if you really want to tell me, wait for a couple of days. I know you've been thinking about whatever you think you need to tell me, but trust me. I do not demand anything from you. Especially when it makes you upset."

Tears were forming in my eyes, but I blinked them away and I smiled fondly at him.

"Okay," I nodded as I wrapped my arms around him, my head leaning against his shoulder.

He wraps his arms around me and slowly, we were once again swaying with the music.

I don't think my opinion is going to change, but I'm grateful for what he said.

Guitar Villain

I've been really busy.

Now that my cast is off, I've been able to move around places without having to ask for rides. Not that I'm ungrateful, but I do like doing things on my own.

And with that, I could finally visit Jagged Stone's studio and work on his new album.

I've been helping him from the comfort of my home, sending him plenty of messages and video chats, but it's a whole other thing to record in person.

And after many crocodile tears and puppy pouts, Jagged convinced me to sing a duet with him.

It was a cover of 'Stop Draggin' My Heart Around' and 'Crazy Train'.

And that was when I told him that I was Sea Queen. And let me tell you, I was quite surprised that he knew me.

Well, I kind of introduced him to her when I told him the name. He researched right after I left his room last month.

"You're the animator of those cool UTube videos! And you sing those cover songs too!" He grinned as he showed me his tablet and showed my page. "You are so awesome! I've been wanting to collaborate with you, but Penny hasn't been able to reach you."

I scratch my cheek, "Yeah… sorry. I have a bad habit of not answering my DMs to people. As many wonderful fans I have, there are some mean people out there who have double intentions."

Penny looked at me with understanding, "Yeah. That's the bad part of being a celebrity."

And so we wrapped it all up in a couple of days.

I promised that I was going to animate a video for those songs. And I had to keep in mind that he was going to use it in his concerts. Afterall, I'm not going to perform with him anytime soon.

Naturally, I've kept the whole thing under the radar, even going as far as using my old wigs and different clothes so that no one would recognize me as I walked from his studio to my apartment.

And now I was able to take a little break before I would have to start to work.

"Are you sure you need to push yourself so much?" Adrien asks as he sees me almost falling asleep during lunch. He invited me to a small cafe nearby since he just got off from some photo sessions.

I waved him off, "It's only temporary. Plus, I think you'll like it."

"Oh? A surprise for me?"

I nodded with a tired smile, but I took a sip of my espresso and immediately felt more awake.

He grabbed my hand from under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze, "Just take care of yourself, okay?"

"I've been eating and drinking water just fine," I assured him.

His phone rang just as he was about to say something.

He took it out and saw Chloé's face.

He sighed, but answered it. Even from our short distance apart from the table, I could hear Chloé's voice yelling, "Adrikins!"

I know I never have to worry about Chloé trying to get Adrien, Adrien only sees her as a childhood friend and nothing else.

I didn't pay much attention as the call was short.

Adrien looked a little sheepish, "Chloé wants me to visit her right now. She says she has a surprise for me that can't wait."

I gave him a wry smile, "It's okay. Plus we are finished." I motioned to the empty plates. "And I'll walk back home. I want to stretch my legs."

And before he left, he gave me a quick peck on the cheek before leaving.

I smiled fondly before leaving as well.

Animation is not an easy or short process.

So I always make sure that I don't get distracted as I close the curtains and door to my room.

Depending on what I'm working on and my mood, I have a playlist ready to make time go faster and provide background noise.

And at this particular moment, I'm playing a lot of Vocaloid and Nightcore songs.

I'm in the zone, absently singing the lyrics under my breath as I carefully work frame by frame.

Things were calm.

Things were great.

Until I heard the loudest electric guitar that made me jerk my knee against my desk really hard.

It's been a while since I've done that.

As the music got louder, I could feel that something wasn't right. It had an angry, yet passionate aura. I saved my work and then looked at the news.

It was a new Akuma victim and he had a dragon.

Instantly, I worried about Cat. He had to fight that huge flying creature with Ladybug.

I went to the Ladyblog and yep, Alya had videos of the dragon and the new villain called Guitar Villain.

And… It was Jagged Stone.

I tried to think what could have gotten him angry, but I couldn't think of anything. Today he was going to show his new album to his producer… oh, maybe that's why. But how could his producer not like it?

It is a good album and I might be biased, but it's the first album that has a duet with Sea Queen. Fans will definitely like it.

But now there's nothing that I can do to help, even though I wish I could talk to Jagged and ask him what's wrong and we could fix it without causing more damage to the city.

There are things that are out of my control.

And things that are best left to the two heroes that can make a difference in these situations.

Please be careful, Felino.

It was nighttime when Guitar Villain was defeated.

Cat sent me a text that he was coming over, which I made sure to leave my room's window open.

I didn't have to wait for long before he got in my room and quickly transformed back into Adrien.

"I'm so weak," Plagg said as I held my hands up so that he could land on them. His ears were pulled back as he laid on his back, "I need… Camembert."

I smiled fondly, "Good thing I have a stash saved just for you in the kitchen."

Immediately he brightened as he flew out of my hands, but before he flew out of my room, he kissed my cheek.

"You really need to stop spoiling him," Adrien smiles as he hugged me. I let him hold me as long as he needed as he buried his head on my shoulder.

"Tough day?" I asked softly as I rubbed his back.

"Just long," He sighs before leaning back and rests his forehead against mine. "You're okay?"

"Yes," I answered as I looked into his eyes. "…Do you want to talk about it?"

He simply gave me a peck on the lips, "Hmm, do you want to know?"

"I mean, you fought a dragon," I say cheekily. "Of course I would like to know just how strong and brave my boyfriend was today."

We laughed as we sat down on my bed and he told me what happened.

So Jagged was mad against this XY musician that could hardly be called a musician.

His name is familiar, but he is barely someone I would recognize. His music has no passion which immediately put him on my 'fake-artist' list.

He has no originality. Adrien told me that he doesn't like performing live and he depends on his computer algorithms. Yeah, I'm not going to like this XY anytime soon if he keeps doing this with his 'music'.

And I know this would breach the security of Jagged's new album, but I know Adrien will not tell anyone.

"Since you once again saved Paris, I think you deserve a little reward," I told him as I grabbed my wireless headphones and showed it to him. "Just promise you are not going to tell anyone."

He looked at me with wide eyes, "Are you sure you want to show me this?"

I nodded with a soft smile, "It's just a small preview on what I'm working on."

He grabbed my headphones and I went to my tablet and started to play a small clip of Crazy Train, the first thirty two seconds of animation.

It was Sea Queen in a rocker outfit. It consists of a black crop top leather jacket over a white tank top, jean shorts that were over teal fishnets and black leather ankle high boots and black fingerless gloves. Her red hair was up in a high ponytail, tied with a grey metallic cuff. She was wearing red lipstick and had black eyeshadow.

She was playing the electric guitar in sync with the music and in the background it had the silhouettes of Sea Queen playing the other instruments.

When the time was up I paused it. I didn't even notice that he stood up to get a closer look.

"This is what I have been working on," I told him wryly, "Like it?"

"Like it? I love it!" He yells as he takes the headphones off and hugs me. "Oh man, I can't wait to see the whole thing."

I nodded, "Once I get the okay, you will be the first to get the album."

"Album?" He asks with wide eyes.

I giggled, "Sea Queen worked with Jagged Stone for a few songs for his upcoming album."

I giggled more at Adrien's starstruck expression.

He's such a fanboy. It's cute and endearing.

"You're getting me an early release of his album?" He smiles hopefully as he grabs my hand.

I nodded, "And I'll make sure Jagged signs it."

He hugs me fiercely as he then pushes me on top of my bed and kisses me deeply.

There was only a couple of seconds of surprise before I completely melted into the kiss and wrapped my hands around his shoulders.

When we seperated for air, I didn't realize the very intimate position that we were in.

His knee was in between my legs, touching my inner thighs. Our chests were brushing together as we exhaled. And I didn't realize that my leg hooked over his hip.

We just stood in that position for almost a minute as we realized what happened.

But I didn't feel ashamed, a little flustered as I felt my cheeks heat up, but no ounce of shame.

Dear lord, I hope my parents aren't watching us right now.

"I think we got a little carried away," I whispered as I looked at him as I slowly unhook my leg from his hip. But Adrien pulled us up so that I was sitting on his lap.

We stared again and I was curious at what he was thinking as he brushed my hair away with one hand and the other resting at my waist.

"Yeah, but we're okay, right?" He whispers back.

Why are we whispering, anyways?

I nodded, but smiled softly as I laid my forehead against his, "We're okay."

He smiles back and kisses me tenderly and this time we made sure we didn't get too heated.

We pulled apart just in time as Plagg barged in with a content smile on his face.

"That was a good Camembert," He burps behind his paw. "Thank you, Jolene."

"Anytime," I said fondly as I gently scratched the bottom of his chin. He purred as he leaned more to my touch.

"Plagg, claws out," Adrien commands, making it my cue to close my eyes.

When I opened them, I saw Cat. He grabbed my hand, "I wish to stay longer, but- you know."

I nodded, "I know."

I leaned forward and kissed him.

"Good night, felino. I love you."

He kisses me back, "I love you too."

And with that he jumps out of the window and disappears into the night.

Later that night, I woke up, feeling very hot and something moist between my legs. But it felt good?

All that I remember is that I dreamed of Adrien…

It must have been a good dream if I feel very content even after waking up in the middle of the night.

Omake 9

Bob Roth has to painfully admit that Sea Queen was the new upcoming artist.

At first he wasn't convinced, afterall Sea Queen is just a UTuber. She's been on that platform for years, and no producer has offered a contract with her.

But then it hit him as he tried to contact her.

Sea Queen doesn't care about producers.

He's called the few contacts he has with American producers and they all answered the same thing. Sea Queen does not answer to what could have been a life changing career.

He did his research and was impressed just how successful and (begrudgingly) talented she really is. If she really wanted to be part of the music industry, she would be at the top of the world. The richest even.

And it pains him even more that she is making money off of him, even though she isn't working for him.

He should have read the contract more carefully before signing off.

Good thing that he isn't sharing money with the Marinette girl who made the cover album.

That was until a lawyer came to him.

"Mr. Roth," She started after introducing herself as Ms. Jureau, "I heard from my client that you haven't given the proper compensation to Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the artist behind the latest best-selling Jagged Stone album cover."

Now he knew there was a reason that he didn't like the Sea Queen.

AN: Thank you for those that still continue to read even though I do take a while to update.

Million thanks to starrat, Shadowing and VG00 for reviewing. And to WolfiePaws, Hatake Keiko, and Mariajose2509 for following and/or favorited this story. You guys are amazing.

I hope this chapter was deserved the wait. And sorry if I have more mistakes than usual. I've rushed to update this as soon as I could. I hope you liked it.

PS: There is a reason why this is T-Rated fic. It'll have some spice but no smut.