Marinette blinked, tilting her head a bit. The streets around them were loud and bustling with bodies and vehicles despite the sun being right at the horizon. Gotham would slow down soon, people being wary of the darkness in the crime-ridden city,but for now it was busy as usual. Marinette and Jon stood outside the stadium that would be hosting the World Fencing Finals, but a familiar face had stopped them right before they entered.
"I didn't know you liked fencing," Marinette mused out loud, making Damian tsk and look away. The boy got along with Marinette alright, but that didn't immediately cancel out his natural standoffish nature.
"Of course you didn't, I never told you," he retorted smoothly, the youngest Wayne moving forward to reluctantly open the door for his two friends.
"You hardly talk about yourself at all, actually," Marinette continued, humming to herself. "Are you keeping secrets?"
Damian scoffed again, even as Jon snickered behind them. "Everyone has secrets. Even a naive child like you should know that."
Jon couldn't quite wipe the smile off his face. He had long since gotten used to the strange way the two communicated over the past month since they first met. Marinette always seemed to know when one of Damian's jabs were or weren't meant as serious insults, just as Damian was somehow able to always pick up the exact second that Marinette's caring nature switched from being rooted in kindness to coming from a place of fear.
Yet Jon was the only one of the trio of friends who could hear their heartbeats change pace when they spotted one another, or when their hands accidentally brushed. Neither Damian nor Marinette seemed to realize their own feelings yet, but Jon would be there when they did.
He just hoped their relationship didn't develop too quickly. Both his best friend and his new sister were dangerously fragile, just in different ways. He didn't want them accidentally breaking each other.
"Come to think of it," Jon heard Damian say, pulling the young kryptonian from his thoughts. "You do not talk about yourself quite as much as it seems like you do. You've certainly never mentioned liking swordplay."
"Ah," Marinette gave Damian a lopsided smile, rubbing the back of her neck. "I like watching it sometimes, but I'm mainly here to see my friend. She's one of the competitors today, she and I managed to convince her mom to let her sleepover at our place for two nights."
"But only if she wins," Jon added sourly. He and his dad had both heard that condition of the deal
that Kagami's mother had made loud and clear. "I'm sorry Mari, but your friend's mom sounds way too strict and demanding. If she wins this competition, she can spend two days hanging out with you, but if she even gets as low as second place they have to go back to Japan for remedial training immediately?" Jon shook his head. It wasn't right.
Damian raised both eyebrows at that, but seemed more intrigued than surprised. "I've seen stricter," he commented casually, only succeeding in making Jon glare at him for the veiled reference to his own dark childhood. "But you are right, Kent. That is concerning treatment. Who is this friend of yours, Marinette? Perhaps I have heard of them if they are good enough to qualify for the World Finals."
By then, the trio had already handed in their tickets and reached the stands. Jon and Marinette glared at Damian when they realized all of their seats were in the front row, right next to each other even, knowing without a doubt that the rich boy was somehow behind it. The two Kents had had much worse seats when they had first purchased their tickets online.
Marinette waited until they all sat down before answering. "I wouldn't be surprised if you know her. Her name's Kagami Tsurugi—"
"World class fencer from a long family line of Japanese fencers," Damian interrupted, nodding knowingly as one of his hands raised to gently grip his chin. "Before Fencing was introduced to Japan, they were famous for their practice of kendo and katana technique. Especially considering their typically untraditional way of insisting that the females in their family take up combat. That, of course, traces all the way back to the ancient female samurai, or Onna-Bugeisha, Tomoe Gozen, one of the ancestors of the Tsurugi family before they split from the Gozen family."
Marinette and Jon just blinked at the young heir, before Jon's mouth slowly started to curve up in a mischievous smile. Damian's eyes narrowed in warning.
"Kent—"
"You're a fan," Jon ignored the warning, gleefully grinning ear to ear. "You did your research on her and her family, that's some hardcore biggest-fan behavior right there. Do you want us to see if she can give you an autographkfgdjgdgj—" Jon was cut off as Damian lunged over Marinette, the only person separating the two boys, and muffled Jon's mouth with one hand as his other tried to slam Jon's head on the chair's arm. Of course super strength was no joke, and Jon's head didn't move even an inch as he laughed through Damian's hands.
Marinette was somehow able to separate them, and Damian sat back in his chair with a huff and straightened his button-down shirt imperiously.
"I am not a 'fan'," he denied primly, but not even Marinette missed the slight pink to his cheeks even through his denial. "I simply acknowledge her skill. As a practitioner of swordplay myself, it is only me being proactive to research her family history. If she is so inclined, I intend to invite her to the manor sometime before she leaves for a casual spar."
"Oh, she'll love that," Marinette agreed, nodding even as the first duel started. "Kagami is always looking for new sparring partners who can keep up with her, but so far only our other friend Adrien and her mom are capable enough. But..." her voice had dropped to a whisper out of respect for the current combatants, but both boys noticed her pause and the way she worried her lip.
"What?" Jon whispered back, worried. Marinette's nose wrinkled.
"But I don't know if it's a good idea to introduce Kagami to Damian. They might end up taking
over the world."
Jon slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a snort. Damian just smirked.
"Now you must introduce us. Perhaps I can finally meet someone who can conspire with me to get rid of my brothers."
With that, the three quieted and actually watched the fights. Jon didn't really understand the rules or what was happening, but he liked watching the footwork and the different styles that each competitor used when they dueled. Then, about the third or fourth match, a fencer in a bright red uniform walked out.
"That's her!" Marinette squealed, leaning forward in her seat. She and Damian had occasionally whispered to one another about what they thought were good or bad calls on points, and critiquing different competitor's techniques. It was a bit of an eye opener to Jon, who realized that he didn't know much about what Marinette's life was like back in Paris despite living with the girl for almost five months. In fact, he didn't know much about her beyond what she actively showed at home.
Maybe Damian had a point earlier. Marinette had a weird way of making it feel like she spoke about herself a lot but in reality didn't share much about herself at all. Most of what Jon knew about her came from experience. He knew her tells for whenever she started getting nervous, excited, worried, or was close to an attack. He knew how to tell when she was feeling overwhelmed or started retreating into herself because she didn't want to intrude. But this?
Jon watched as Marinette stood up and cheered for Kagami when the red-clad fencer scored swift points.
He didn't know the things that she liked to do besides designing. She mentioned listening to Jagged Stone, maybe that was her favorite kind of music.
Whatever. Jon wouldn't let himself dwell on how Marinette didn't open up as much as he would like—it was his job as the older brother for once to put some effort in too. Besides, with everything else Marinette had been through over the months it made sense for her to be a little closed off.
Jon moved his eyes back to the floor. Kagami lunged forward right then, ruthless as she slashed and didn't allow her opponent a moment to do anything but scramble to deflect. But the red- uniformed woman was too fast, almost violent in her strikes, and she landed three hits on her opponent within one second.
Yeah. Now that he knew what was going on, he knew how to gently, slowly, learn more about his sister. Sorry Kon, but Jon had his eyes on the Best Brother prize.
Kagami won, without her opponent winning a single point against her.
"You know, Kagami's fighting reminds me of someone," Jon spoke up, ignoring the venomous glare Damian sent him. His sister looked over curiously as the fighters swapped out and Kagami was led to the back, where a locker room of sorts was set up for the competitors.
"Really? Who? I've only ever seen Kagami fight like that. Maybe her mom, but that's different."
Jon smiled, knowing he'd get some shit for this stunt later when he went on patrol with Damien but decidedly not caring.
"Robin. The newest one anyway, you can find videos online from different sightings of him around Gotham. He uses a sword."
Marinette raised an eyebrow, obviously knowing that he partnered with Robin a lot as Superboy but not knowing that Damien was also intimately aware of that fact.
"Huh, that's weird. Ryuuko, one of the Paris heroes, also uses a sword. But it's a Miraculous weapon, so it's a bit different than a normal sword."
Jon winced. That backfired, he and his dad weren't quite ready for the rest of the JL to know about the Paris situation. So much for the plan to bring it up later, when Marinette was better settled into life in America.
"Paris has heroes?" Damian asked, eyes sharp. All it took was one glance from the green-eyed boy for Jon to know that this would definitely be brought up to Batman. Great.
At least the next match started, distracting both of the fencing fans from continuing the conversation. For the moment.
—*—*—*—*—*
Marinette was the loudest voice in the stadium, standing on her chair without shame as she cheered for her friend, Kagami's lips twitching in the slightest hint of a smile before she bowed her head to accept her medal.
Marinette was not surprised at all to see her friend win first place in the whole competition. Damian was pleased, and suitably impressed. Jon was just happy that this meant Kagami's mother couldn't keep Marinette from spending time with her friend.
Hopping down from the chair, Marinette turned to her friend and brother with a large smile. "Come on! Kagami and her mom are going to meet us in front of the building once everything is done, but I don't want to fight the crowds."
Jon cringed, nodding and standing up immediately. Marinette didn't do well in crowds nowadays, though it could certainly be worse. Inside buildings like the school wasn't so bad, it was mainly outdoors. Jon and his parents never missed how Marinette would constantly hold Lois's hand or stick religiously to the woman's side whenever they walked outside around tall buildings or through thick crowds. None of them mentioned it.
Damien picked up on it, having observed Marinette's behavior firsthand during the only time he had went outside with her somewhere other than school. They had merely gone to buy Damian a new tie that Marinette approved of, but the girl had scarcely gone further than a foot away from him the whole time they were outside in the city. Only the stern glances from Jon had kept him from commenting on it.
Moments later, the two had found themselves waiting outside the stadium at almost ten at night, though none of them seemed particularly uncomfortable. Marinette seemed downright at home, besides her occasional glances up at the building next to them and her refusal to leave Damian's side. They waited a good half hour in the slight chill of the night air before Kagami Tsurugi, completely changed out of her uniform, walked up beside her mother Tomoe Tsurugi.
The older woman was, to Jon's slight shock (Damian's research was VERY thorough), blind. She tilted her head when she and her daughter stopped in front of the trio.
"Miss Marinette?" She asked in flawless English. "How have you been?"
Marinette smiled, the expression oddly soft compared to her usual beaming grin. "As well as I can be, Madame Tsurugi. With me are my adoptive brother, Jon Kent, and one of my new friends, Damian Wayne. If it is alright with you, we would like to go to Damian's house for the night. My guardians and his father already approved."
Jon and Damian blinked, never having heard Marinette speak so properly before. It truly said a lot about the kind of woman Tomoe Tsurugi was. The woman gave an icy smile, pleased but distant. She raised one delicate eyebrow.
"I am getting old, but not dumb Miss Dupain-Cheng. I know very well who the Waynes are, and referring to his home as a mere house is a gross understatement that you couldn't hope to fool me with in a hundred years," the woman remarked with subtle humor. Marinette chuckled.
"It was worth a shot," she defended herself with a shrug. Tomoe shook her head in amusement before settling both hands on her cane and straightening her posture.
"If you vouch for your... friend..." Tomoe said with deliberate slowness. Marinette was quick to nod.
"I do. Damian is trustworthy, and I won't leave Kagami alone, Madame Tsurugi."
Tomoe's mouth flattened, and she was silent for a moment. "You know that you are one of the few people I trust with my daughter, Marinette. I will trust your judgement this time as well. However, Kagami must still call me in the morning and when she does reach your new home as well. And you remember her vacation training schedule?"
Both boys looked at each other, wondering why Kagami did not even try to speak up even though they had their own suspicions. The Japanese teen found that to be the moment she was done being silent however, and sighed.
"Mother," Kagami spoke, back straight and tone level and proper. "I am perfectly capable of sticking to my training on my own. I do not need Mari-hime to remind me."
Tomoe pursed her lips, but nodded nonetheless. "Alright. Mister Wayne? I trust your father is alright with Kagami bringing her fencing equipment?"
Damian nodded, despite knowing that Tomoe would not see it. For some reason he got the feeling that she was fully aware of the gesture regardless of her lack of sight.
"Of course. I am actually a fencer as well, though not competitively. I was hopeful that Kagami would humor me with a spar, our manor has a rather nice gym that would provide a more than sufficient space for such an activity."
At that, Tomoe seemed rather pleased. "That is, of course, up to Kagami since she has not seen Marinette in quite some time and likely has plans for her time already. But I encourage any opportunity that my daughter finds to hone her skills."
"The competitors today were skilled, but lack knowledge of real battle," Kagami added, locking gazes with Damian. "My mother trains me as if I were actually fighting, so I seldom find fencers able to match my reactions. If you believe yourself capable, I would be honored to cross swords with you."
"Oh no," Marinette stage-whispered to Jon even as her eyes stayed on Damian and Kagami. "This is where the world domination starts."
Even Tomoe couldn't resist a small grin at that, and it wasn't much longer before the trio were picked up by Damian's butler, who introduced himself as Alfred Pennyworth. Inside the limousine, Kagami visibly relaxed. Her back was still straight, though not overly so, and her face was no longer stringently stoic. Once they pulled away from the stadium, she wasted no time pulling Marinette into a tight hug.
"I am sorry I could not be there for you, Mari-hime."
Marinette laughed, returning the hug enthusiastically. "Don't be silly! You were at the funeral, and you video chat with me at least twice a week. That's plenty."
Kagami shook her head, tightening her hold. "My mother would have been more than happy to take you in. Sometimes I believe she likes you more than me," Kagami finally pulled away, turning to level a hard stare at Jon. "But that obviously did not happen, so you and your parents better take good care of Mari-hime, or nobody will find your bodies."
"Kagami!" Marinette immediately reprimanded, aghast. "The Kents are wonderful! And what did I say about the death threats?"
Kagami rolled her eyes. "My cousin's family still makes traditional katanas. I have plenty of available arms to carry out my promises."
"Kagamiiiiiii."
"If they treat you well, then they have nothing to worry about."
Marinette groaned in despair, dramatically flopping over until she was draped over the side of Kagami like a limp towel. "I'm gonna get you a spray bottle, and every time you threaten somebody with violence I'm going to spritz you."
Kagami's eyes narrowed in playful challenge. "You will have to catch me first."
Damian was smirking, enjoying this interaction a bit too much. "I believe the two of us will get along just fine, Tsurugi. Do you have a favorite katana craftsman, by any chance?"
—*—*—*—*—*
"They're so tiny!" The man did not seem to realize the danger he was in with that statement. He was apparently one of Damian's older brothers, Jason Todd. Both Kagami and Marinette, the "tiny" people in question, glared daggers at the man. "Okay, you," he said to Kagami, "You're at least intimidating. Don't unsheathe that sword please. Bruce already told us that you won the World Finals, and I would rather not die today." He held his hands up in surrender. Kagami just smirked smugly, and crossed her arms.
Marinette narrowed her eyes. "And me?"
Jason blinked. "What about you? You're tiny and adorable, even when you're glaring at me!" He boldly came forward to rustle her hair. "Like a little pixie."
Kagami covered her smile with a hand, eyes dancing with amusement. Bruce, who had been the first to welcome them all in and introduce himself to Kagami, was pinching his nose next to Alfred in the background. Damian's other brothers were also gathered. Apparently they all had wanted to meet his new friend and Jon's new sister.
"Be careful, I'm not the one you should be worried about. At least without my sword I am not as
dangerous," Kagami warned. Everyone blinked at her, and her expression quickly turned confused. Her eyes darted to Marinette, who was too busy glaring at Jason with puffed-out cheeks to notice. "Mari-hime... you didn't tell anyone?"
Marinette finally looked over, shrugging. "I mentioned it to Jon, Clark, and Lois."
"What are you talking about, Miss Tsurugi?" Bruce asked, curious after the warning from the fencer. Kagami looked up, and slowly a devious smile spread over her face. It was small, but sent shivers over Jason's spine.
"Jason and Marinette should spar. Mari-hime is quite the combatant when she desires to be."
Jason crossed his arms, raising his brow and looking Marinette up and down. "I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm about double her size—"
"Hey Jon, why don't you call Lois?" Marinette interrupted, turning to look at her brother with a small smirk. "We've got her a huge story— burly biker is too scared to spar a girl half his size."
Cackles arose, the other two of Damian's brothers leaning on each other as they guffawed. Bruce and Alfred even stifled chuckles of their own, and Damian's smirk was infuriatingly prominent. Jon was much like the other two Wayne boys, nearly bowled over in laughter. Jason, after a brief moment of shock and offense, straightened up and grinned. He shrugged off his leather jacket with a small huff of laughter of his own.
"Alright, that was pretty good. You want a spar that badly, you got one. But you're gonna have to really impress me if you want me to take back what I said about you being adorable and nonthreatening."
"I'm putting fifty dollars on Marinette," Kagami bet loudly, raising her hand. "Who wants to bet against me?"
Jason and Marinette both shook their heads in amusement, the big man leading Marinette to the family fitness room (the public one anyway, outside of the Batcave) as everyone besides Bruce and Alfred energetically placed their bets on who would win the spar.
Dick and Tim were betting on Jason, for obvious reasons. Damian withheld from betting, but it was clear he was hoping Marinette would somehow win. Jon just stayed quiet, refusing to share any opinion on the matter. But once Jason and Marinette started heading to the sparring mat that was already laid out, he stopped her.
"You sure about this?" He asked, pulling her away so that nobody else could eavesdrop. "I know I laughed and everything, but you don't have to spar. Jason won't hold back if you tell him not to, but he's not a pushover in any respect."
Marinette frowned. She had gotten a little caught up in the moment, but at the same time... she wanted this. "You guys are great," she replied to her brother, voice equally soft. "But you and Clark don't focus on combat technique. I haven't had a real fight, at least not one where I don't have powers to fall back on, in a long time. I need this."
Jon sighed, but nodded. He squeezed her shoulder for a moment, before smiling at the shorter girl. "Then show everyone what you can do. And I suggest telling Jason not to hold back, or you won't be able to show off as much as you want."
Marinette bounced on her heels happily, leaning up to kiss Jon on the cheek. "I'm winning Kagami some money today!" She yelled with a fist-bump before jogging over to join a very amused Jason.
"Was your bro giving you some tips?" He asked, stretching out his arms as Marinette giggled. "Kind of! Jon suggested that I ask you to not hold back!"
Jason froze, gaze sliding over to the young kryptonian, who only smiled back enigmatically. He might not have spent much time around the youngest Super, but he hung out with Kon often enough and he knew that Jon was fully aware of what he was capable of as Red Hood. He wouldn't suggest that Jason not hold back unless he was actually confident in Marinette's skill.
The rest of his family seemed to pick up on that as well, also frozen in shock. Jason was one of the most ruthless fighters of all of them, fearless and brutal.
"Kent better know what he's doing," Damian hissed under his breath, to which his father and brothers could only nod to silently.
"So the pixie wants me to not hold back? Alright," Jason agreed to after a moment of stunned silence. Immediately most of his jovial manner drained away, replaced with focus as he spread his legs and sunk into a stance that came naturally to him at that point. If Jon and Marinette both wanted him to treat her like a real threat (without forgetting that this was just a spar, anyway) then he would. Maybe the girl had super strength or invulnerability like the other Supers. That would explain why Clark was so quick to take her in.
"Oh I hope we don't regret this later," Bruce groaned before stepping into the center mat and raising one hand. "Alright. Winner is whoever can pin or otherwise subdue the other first. Please, don't break any bones or skin. I do not need an angry Lois Lane on my doorstep tomorrow morning. You can use the whole room as long as you don't risk hitting or involving any of us innocent bystanders. Ready?" Bruce backed up off the mat. "Start!" He wasted no time backing away to a wall.
There was no moment of stillness. There was no waiting with baited breath or looking for an opening. As soon as Bruce called Start, Jason jumped over the distance separating him and Marinette, bringing his knee up to try and end this in one strike like he would have in the field.
Only Marinette wasn't there to take the hit. Just as quickly as Jason had lunged, she had jumped. Instead of Jason kicking her in the stomach, the small Asian girl had leapt up, and landed on the upraised knee balanced on only one nimble foot.
Suddenly, they were face to face. They grinned at each other, and then they were nothing but movement again.