Alright! Between constantly trying to avoid thinking about Cat Noir while dealing with Adrien still trying to talk to her, Marinette's head is spinning and she isn't sure what to do. And to top it off, yet another secret admirer present shows up!
Meanwhile, the boys are plotting...
Song(s) Included, With/Without Modifications:
Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat - Charles Perry
After getting home from the party, Marinette had to dodge questioning from her parents about coming back with Adrien. She instantly ran up to her room to take a shower with the spa set.
Again, she allowed the scents of vanilla bean and roses to relax her.
"This is ridiculous," Marinette moaned to herself. "I can't help but want to steer clear of Adrien, but now I'm imagining Cat Noir all the time, and it's getting to me!"
Once she got out of the shower and dried herself off, she decided, "Maybe some sleep will help."
In the car, Adrien and Félix were talking about the party and what had happened. Adrien had a lovesick, dreamy expression on his face and his hand was resting on his cheek. He heaved a satisfied sigh.
"You looked so happy, dancing with Marinette back there." Félix commented.
"You too," Adrien responded. "The boys weren't messing around tonight."
"They weren't." Félix agreed.
Adrien gave a smile and said, "I'm glad we have such great friends. They really care about us."
Adrien's phone began ringing. He lifted the device out of his pocket and saw that Nino was calling.
"Hey, Nino." Adrien said as he answered the call, putting it on speaker.
"Hey, buddy. You certainly had a great time tonight, I could tell," He said, a tease in his voice. "You and Marinette were like Cinderella and Prince Charming at the ball - the perfect couple."
Adrien, red-faced, laughed before saying, "Come on, Nino, you're being a little dramatic."
"No, I'm not. Everything went according to plan and then some! AND you got to give her a ride home in the car, dude," Nino responded. "Did you get to kiss her?"
"Nino, it wasn't just Adrien and Marinette in here, remember?" Félix stated, a bit annoyed. "What am I, chopped liver?"
"Sorry, Félix," Nino apologized. "I almost always forget that the goal is to help you and Kagami become an item, too."
"Try to be better at remembering that." Félix requested in a sarcastic tone, face-palming.
"And I didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She just gets anxious around me for whatever reason." Adrien confessed.
"Don't worry about it too much. The boys and I will keep coming up with plans to get you and Félix with your lady loves." Nino assured.
"Thanks, Nino," Adrien chuckled. "I know we can count on you."
"See you soon!" Nino said before hanging up.
"So, shall we tackle the list?" Félix commented with a sly, cunning expression.
"Let's," Adrien said in agreement, mirroring his cousin's face, as he pulled up something on his phone. "Hm... Looks like someone needs another reminder."
The cousins looked at each other with wicked smiles.
The next morning, Marinette slept late, her mind plagued with images a mystery silhouette and a cat-themed rogue.
"What is happening to me?" She moaned as she refused to come out from under the covers.
But the sunlight kept bugging her from above. Pulling her blanket off, she looked to the side and saw the flowers, which were beginning to wilt, and the teddy bear.
"Why can't I imagine your face?" Marinette asked the teddy bear, as if she were talking to her anonymous suitor through the plush toy. She pulled her blanket back over her head to see if she could get back to sleep.
No such luck. Marinette decided she needed to get out. She went the park that was closest to the Eiffel Tower, which was her "secret garden of inspiration" to sketch. She kept looking around at her home city and taking in every detail, a smile on her face. Remembering the fashion design contest, Marinette turned back to her book and saw some of the unfinished design pieces she had drawn up.
"Hm... Ooh, I'll finish this one." Marinette said as she started working on one of the pieces she'd forgotten about.
For some reason, her one-off conversation with Adrien about clothes for stuffed animals rang out in her head. She sighed before thinking, 'He might be on to something, but...'
Getting an idea, she got back to sketching.
"Hi, Marinette." Someone spoke up, and Marinette looked up and saw Kagami, bokken in hand, walking towards her.
"Hey, Kagami," Marinette greeted. "Out here training?"
"Yes. Mother insisted on it," She said as she sat down next to her friend. "What about you?"
"Trying to finish a few designs in my book for that design contest. Had a few ideas pop up just being here," Marinette stated. "One of the reasons I come here so often."
"Have you had any luck?" Kagami asked.
"Yes, I managed to finish a dress design inspired by red fox habitats, mostly grassy areas and woods," Marinette responded as she showed Kagami her sketches. "The fabrics I had in mind are recycled organic cotton, deadstock, hemp, maybe even apple leather. I also sketched out a plush stuffed fox to go with the dress, including a set of outfits for the toy. I'm thinking Alya would be a good model for this dress."
"Good thinking." Kagami praised.
Nearby, Adrien and Félix were hiding out behind another building.
"Think the lesson will stick this time?" Félix questioned his cousin.
"I hope so. If not, then-" Adrien began, only to pause when he saw Marinette sitting on the stairs near the tower. "Marinette..."
Félix saw where Adrien was looking, and he grew a similar smile to his cousin. He muttered, "Kagami's there, too."
"Marinette's beautiful no matter where she is," Adrien sighed. "The sun just makes her look even more radiant. And-"
His phone began ringing, and he saw Nino was calling. Adrien shook his head in amusement before pulling his phone out.
"Hi, Nino." Adrien spoke.
"Hey, Adrien. You available? Alya had to babysit the twins at the last minute, so we had to postpone our date. Wanna come over for some video games?" Nino offered.
"I'd love to! Félix and I are in the park near the Eiffel Tower. Let us just try talking to Marinette and Kagami first, then-" Adrien began.
"Wait a second, the girls are there?" Nino questioned, sounding serious.
"Er, yes, but it's sheer coincidence-" Adrien confirmed.
"Sit tight! I'm getting the guys and we'll meet you there!" Nino said before hanging up.
Adrien looked at his cousin with an amused, patient smile before saying, "So much for hanging out with Nino."
"Why do I have a feeling things are going to get very weird very fast?" Félix questioned, all but face-palming.
"Still can't get Argos out of your mind?" Marinette asked as she shut her sketchbook and put it in her lap.
Kagami gave a nod, and Marinette said, "Yeah, I didn't sleep too well last night, thinking about Cat Noir. It's like ever since he flirted with me at the bakery, these feelings have been on a loop."
"Exactly," Kagami agreed. "It's the same with Argos. Those pink eyes of his and his fighting skills keep invading my brain and I can't stop it from happening no matter what I focus on."
"Bingo! I can't, either! I don't know what's happening..." Marinette murmured.
Within fifteen minutes, all of Adrien and Félix's guy group had rendezvoused with them in the park, a fair enough distance away from the girls to avoid garnering suspicion.
"So, Marc and Nathaniel came up with a plan while on the way here," Nino began as the boys huddled up. "Go ahead, dudes."
Nathaniel handed the boys booklets with drawn images, each with one of their names on it. Adrien and Félix opened them and saw the comic book panels and scenes that depicted the plan.
"This..." Félix began as he looked over the images.
"We decided you two needed a visual," Marc started. "Here's how Operation: Double Date is going to start. First, you'll be walking towards the tower, just acting like you're minding your own business. And there they are - the girls that were made for you are sitting there nearby."
Each panel depicted one step or detail in the plan. The first one showed the girls sitting at the stairs near the tower, talking to each other. The second panel had Adrien and Félix casually walking nearby, with the following panel showing the boys noticing the girls. The next panel on the page showed Adrien waving at Marinette, with the next scene depicting Marinette waving back at him, meanwhile Kagami and Félix were making eye contact with smiles.
"With Nino coaching Félix, you two will approach the girls in a casual manner - emphasis on casual here, don't come on too strong - and start up a conversation." Nathaniel added.
"Hold it, why am I coaching Félix?" Nino asked, interrupting. "And shouldn't Adrien get a coach, too?"
"When it comes to social skills, Adrien's just better at it." Félix admitted.
"That's an understatement," Adrien chuckled. "So, what else?"
"Once the girls get comfortable, you each sit next to your respective crush and keep the conversation going for a little bit," Marc instructed as he took out another paper. "Again, Félix will be coached by Nino through a bluetooth earpiece. I've written some lines down just in case."
"Thanks." Nino said as he took the paper from Marc.
The boys turned the pages in their books and saw the following scene of the four of them at a café, eating a light meal and talking to each other with smiles. A few panels down, the two couples were sitting in front of an ice cream cart that was manned by a portly gentleman with a smile and an ice cream scooper in hand. Each pair had an ice cream sundae between them. A following panel showed Adrien taking a scoop of their treat and putting the spoon in Marinette's mouth.
"Once the timing is right, you ask them out to lunch, and once you finish eating, you look at the app that Max developed to find André the ice cream man. Then you bring the girls there and order a legendary lover's ice cream cone - one cone per pair - and enjoy yourselves," Nathaniel added. "Then you two will live happily-ever-after with your girls!"
"Until death do you part!" Marc responded.
The following panels included each pair sharing kisses while living out their love stories, at different stages of their lives. It started with the couples sitting next to each other in classes through the rest of their high school years, maintaining long-distance relationships through university, wedding ceremonies, kids and a peaceful domestic life, everything.
"Wow, you guys really thought this through." Adrien commented, both impressed and a bit disturbed, looking over the book again.
"Are you sure this will work?" Félix asked, a bit skeptical.
"Of course it'll work - it happens in every fairy tale, Hallmark romantic comedy, and shoujo manga. So, why wouldn't it work in real life?" Marc said, waving off the boys' concerns.
"And since Alya and the rest of the girls aren't here to mess with this, it should go off without a hitch," Nathaniel assured. "So, Operation: Double Date is a go!"
"Wait, now?" Max asked.
"The saying goes, "strike while the iron is hot." And since we don't know how long Marinette and Kagami will be here, we should take advantage of the situation, dudes." Nino spoke.
The entire group, barring the Clone Cousins, gave agreeing nods.
"I just don't understand why Cat Noir's invading my thoughts." Marinette spoke.
"Your first encounter with him was out of nowhere. I think that's the "Unexpected" in the S.U.C.C.E.S.S acronym Chip and Dan Heath wrote about in their book, Made to Stick," Kagami reasoned. "That's probably why I can't keep Argos out of my thoughts, either. I wasn't expecting him to spar with my mother and then wink at me."
"That sounds about right," Marinette sighed. "It's like we can't win with suitors. We each have a secret admirer who isn't dropping hints about their identity, a classmate who keeps raising alarm bells, and a rule-breaking, super-powered baddie who doesn't hesitate to flirt. And it's the last of those three who are occupying most of my mind right now."
The two girls sighed, sounding defeated.
Meanwhile, Adrien and Félix were walking nearby, acting casual and natural. Adrien turned and saw the girls sitting on the steps, and gestured to Félix to follow his lead.
"Marinette! Kagami!" Adrien called while waving at Marinette.
The girls looked at them in surprise, both trying to keep their discomfort hidden. While her warning signals were on high alert, Marinette gave a tentative wave at Adrien while muttering with a stiff face, "Speak of the devil..."
Kagami shook her head in annoyance. The boys started jogging over to them before running up the stairs to approach.
"Hello, Félix." Kagami said, meeting his eyes with her usual stone-cold expression. Félix was trying to smile, but as usual, it looked awkward.
"It's crazy to see you two here," Adrien spoke, but it was more directed at Marinette. His face was pink. "Then again, it is such a nice day out."
"It is," Marinette responded as she opened her sketchbook and looked down at her drawings. "I like coming here - so much inspiration around."
"It's a nice place to train, too." Kagami added, averting her eyes from Félix.
"So, what are you working on?" Adrien asked as he tried to get a look at Marinette's sketches. "Oh, that dress looks amazing! Is that one of your ideas for the fashion contest?"
"Y-Yes, it is," Marinette said, before taking a breath. "I also thought about what you said about making clothing for stuffed animals, so I did along with a plush fox."
"Really?! Can I see?!" Adrien asked as he sat down next to Marinette. Marinette, anxious, moved the book closer to his line of sight.
In the bluetooth earpiece in Félix's ear, Nino said, "Okay, so far, so good. Félix, ask Kagami if she's drawn anything as of late."
Félix cleared his throat before asking, "Kagami, have you drawn anything lately? Any watercolors?"
"In fact, yes." Kagami spoke, reluctantly taking out her own book and flipping to her most recent watercolor - the subject matter was the whole girl group.
"That's incredible," Félix commented, sitting down next to Kagami to look over the image. "It's beautiful! It's almost photo-like!"
Kagami looked at Félix with a questioning expression before giving a light smile and saying, "Thank you..."
"You're nailing it, dude!" Nino said over the earpiece. "It's almost time for lunch, so now's the time for you and Adrien to ask the girls out!"
Félix looked at Adrien, cuing him.
"So, Marinette... Maybe the four of us can go for lunch today?" Adrien questioned.
Félix gave a stiff nod in agreement and said, "That sounds like a great idea. There's a crêperie nearby that I think we can enjoy."
"I, er..." Marinette stammered - her warning bells were ringing in her head, still - before meeting Adrien's eyes. Yet again, her brain put Cat Noir's face in front of his.
Marinette squeezed her eyes shut before turning her face away.
'Why is it that every time I want to see the face of my secret admirer, all I get is a silhouette?!' Marinette asked herself.
The rest of the boys, who were hiding a nearby shrub, were watching with eager expressions.
"Come on, tell him yes, Marinette!" Nino prayed aloud, keeping his voice above a whisper.
"Is something wrong?" Adrien asked, sounding worried, his face matching his concern.
"I, well... I'm..." Marinette began, still imagining Cat Noir in Adrien's place. 'What the hell is going on?! I can't stop thinking about Cat Noir!'
"Marinette, you can tell me anything." Adrien assured, putting a hand on Marinette's shoulder and giving her a calming smile.
She looked up to meet his eyes, only for her anxiety and mental alarms to shoot through the roof, as if someone hit the ejection seat button.
"I think-" Kagami began, only for her phone to start ringing. Picking it up, she saw her mom was calling. She sighed before saying, "I apologize, but mother is calling. I better get back to training."
She declined the call before gathering her stuff, grabbing her bokken, and standing up.
"See you later, Marinette." Kagami stated before walking away.
"I-In that case, maybe I should get home, too." Marinette said as she put her sketchbook away and stood up to leave, thinking, 'I'd better get out of here.'
"Hold on, Marinette," Adrien said, grabbing her hand. "I would still like to get a crepe with you."
"Good call, trying to salvage the plan." Marc muttered.
"A... I..." Marinette stammered, still thinking about a black cat suit, a bell, and kitty ears.
She felt her phone begin to ring. Marinette picked her device out of her back pocket and saw Jagged Stone on her caller ID.
"Oh, Jagged Stone!" Marinette said, sounding relieved as she answered the call, and stepped away from Adrien, who'd let go of her hand. But he had a visible look of dismay on his face.
"Really?! I'll get started right away!" Marinette said with a smile before hanging up. "Sorry, Jagged Stone needs me. I gotta get home. I'll see you at school?"
"Sure." Adrien said, sounding disappointed. The boys, still hiding in the shrub, gave varying looks of frustration.
Once Marinette had skipped away, the boys came out of hiding and approached the Clone Cousins, looking a bit defeated.
"Well, that didn't work." Adrien sighed, sad.
"The fault lies 0% with you two, and 100% in circumstances outside of our control." Max spoke to Adrien and Félix.
"But we were so sure that the only thing that could ruin the plan was for any of their gal pals to interrupt." Nathaniel admitted.
"I completely spaced out about the villainess in this story: Kagami's mom." Marc sighed, sounding upset with himself.
"And Marinette's designing being on speed dial - though that wouldn't fall under the term "antagonist" here, would it?" Adrien added.
"Indeed not. But Marc, Nathaniel, you 100% should've factored those possibilities in." Max agreed while pushing up his glasses, giving Marc and Nathaniel the side-eye.
Marinette kept jogging to get to her scooter.
"That was close," Marinette muttered. "I just don't understand why my stomach ties itself in knots when I'm around him. It's like... Something's not right about him, but I can't figure out why."
Marinette looked up at one of the TV screens near the parking area designated for scooters and bikes. She saw that video footage of Cat Noir and Argos was playing. Like before, Marinette couldn't stop staring at Cat Noir. Yet again, a smitten smile began to grow on her face. Her face went pink as she continued watching.
But once more, Marinette realized what she was doing. She pinched her cheek to snap herself out of it, and she took a deep breath before turning around and walking away.
"What is wrong with me?" Marinette muttered as she made her way to the scooter.
When she got home, she dashed upstairs to her room. She began playing some of Jagged Stone's music. She was sketching on her tablet, had multiple design materials in black, purple, and gold on her desk. She'd also taken out images of previous works she'd done for Jagged, including the cover for his album Rock Giant.
Within a few hours, she'd had a few prototypes of the requested items - sunglasses, jacket pins, more album covers - made up and they were fanned out on her table.
"Perfect! I hope he likes them!" Marinette spoke as she stretched. Her stomach rumbled a bit and she giggled in embarrassment. "Oops, looks like I forgot to eat."
She went downstairs to the home kitchen to see if there was anything in the fridge. On the dining table, she saw a small, wrapped gift box with the usual white card and pink calligraphy on it.
Marinette smiled and approached the table. She picked up the box and unwrapped it, revealing a necklace - it was a small, rose gold chain with a cultivated pink freshwater in a raindrop pendant, also in rose gold. She gasped in awe as she saw the piece shine in the sunlight that was coming in through the living room window.
"This is amazing..." Marinette muttered. She quickly put it on and ran upstairs. She snatched up her phone and texted Kagami, telling her to call her back once she had a moment.
In the meantime, she video-called Alya.
"Girl, ANOTHER secret admirer present?!" Alya said, looking over her bestie in glee as she examined the necklace.
"Yeah! It's absolutely beautiful!" Marinette spoke as she held the dangling pearl in the palm of her hand, looking at it in delight.
The phone on Marinette's end began ringing, and she saw Kagami was on the other line.
"Kagami's calling. I'll patch her in." Marinette said as she merged her call with Kagami to let all three of them talk.
"Marinette, Alya." Kagami greeted.
"Hi, Kagami! Did you get a present box that had some sort of necklace in it, by any chance?" Marinette asked.
"Actually, yes," Kagami said, surprised Marinette knew. "Take a look."
She held up a necklace similar to Marinette's. Hers was a thin, white gold chain with a checkered cut garnet in a white gold curved frame pendant setting.
"That's amazing! It suits you perfectly!" Marinette commented. "And you got a secret admirer card with it?"
"Correct," Kagami said. "I assume you did, too?"
"Right." Marinette said as she let the pearl rest above her breast area.
"Stunning," Kagami complimented. "That pendant suits you quite well."
"Again, similar secret admirer gifts to you at the exact same time," Alya commented, her face contorting in confusion. "This is getting a BIT suspicious, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it is weird," Marinette spoke. "Not creepy weird, but still weird."
"I'd have to agree," Kagami stated. "Alya, maybe you're right about our secret admirers cooperating."
"The only people I can think of that would do this are the Clone Cousins." Alya commented.
Marinette and Kagami groaned, with the latter face-palming and the former hanging her head.
"There's no way." Marinette said.
"But doesn't it make a little bit of sense?" Alya argued. "It WOULD explain the stuffed animals in your lockers, the bath sets, and these jewelry pieces."
"That's true," Marinette admitted. "But I seriously doubt it. To start with, how would they get the flowers onto the balcony, or in Kagami's room?"
"Yes, how they'd be able to do that without causing a commotion is an enigma." Kagami agreed.
"Fair enough," Alya spoke. "But changing the subject - have you gotten any ideas for that fashion design contest, Marinette?"
Marinette smiled and said, "Glad you asked, Alya. I need you to model one of my ideas for me."
She pulled up her sketchbook and flipped to the page that had the dress and stuffed fox.
"Girl, that is FIRE!" Alya squealed, delighted.
"So, you wanna model for it?" Marinette asked.
"You know it!" Alya said, clapping in delight.
The trio laughed in delight, and Marinette opened up a tab to stock up on her planet-sound fabrics, such as organic recycled cotton, hemp/bamboo fabrics to make the dress and accessories for the stuffed animals.
Later that afternoon, Marinette made her way to the Grand Paris Hotel to deliver her prototypes to Jagged, luckily avoiding Chloé and getting to the elevator without a hitch. As she rode up the elevator car, Marinette smiled in satisfaction. She began humming to herself while fiddling with her pendant.
"Such a pretty pendant." She giggled as she blushed at the thoughtfulness of the present. Once the elevator opened at Jagged's floor, Marinette found herself face-to-face with Chloé.
At the sight of her, Chloé scowled and said, "What do you think you're doing here?!"
Chloé yanked Marinette out, got in her face, and said, "Baker girls have no right to come into my hotel home! Bad enough you and that stupid half of a sister of mine are breathing the same air as I am!"
"You're the one poisoning it, Zoé and I just make it better," Marinette said in a flat tone. "Shouldn't you show a little more respect to people who help keep your dad in business? After all, if not for my parents' goods, I doubt most people would even eat here."
Chloé snarled, but her eye caught Marinette's pendant.
"And what the hell is THIS?!" Chloé spat, pointing at the pendant. "How'd you afford to get something like this?! Did your parents sell that stupid bakery of theirs to buy it for you?!"
Chloé made to snatch it off Marinette, but the pigtailed girl ducked, grabbed Chloé's wrist, turned her around while twisting the blonde's arm around her back, and pushed her up against the wall.
"You remember that teddy bear in my locker?" Marinette asked. "Same gift-giver sent it to me. And as for why I'm here, Jagged Stone asked for me, so that by itself grants me permission to come. You'd better stop being such a shrew and start treating everyone that comes in and out of this hotel with the same hospitality that your butler does! Honestly, you need to start acting like Zoé!"
"Act like Zoé?! No way! DADDY!" Chloé screamed.
"Don't bother with that," Marinette said in a warning voice, twisting the arm a bit harder. "I can always tell Jagged that he shouldn't be living in a hotel where the owner's daughter is bullying one of his, and I quote, "favorite rock-n-roll designers." Now, if you'll excuse me."
Marinette let go of Chloé and started walking down the hall to Jagged's room, ignoring Chloé's screaming.
Zoé, who'd heard the commotion, had her phone out and finished recording.
"Thanks for that, Zoé. Just in case she tries something." Marinette said as the two girls shared a high-five.
After dropping the prototypes off with Jagged (who'd given her an emphatic, exaggerated seal of approval), Marinette made her way down the elevator to get out of the hotel, lest Chloé hassle her again.
Marinette left the hotel and mounted her scooter to get home. As she kept moving, she saw one of the stop lights turn red, and she stopped the scooter. Waiting for it to turn green so she could keep going, Marinette kept her eyes on the road. But out of her peripheral vision, she saw a ball bounce into the crosswalk, and a kid run out after it.
Marinette heard honking and saw a truck coming towards the child.
"Hey, get out of the street!" Marinette shouted in warning.
The kid looked at the truck barreling towards him, and he was paralyzed in fear.
"NO!" Marinette hollered.
A familiar, silver baton extended to the kid.
"Grab on! Hurry!" Someone shouted. Marinette looked to the other side of the crosswalk and saw Cat Noir was standing there, his baton in hand and looking at the child in urgency.
The kid grabbed onto the baton for dear life, and Cat Noir lifted him up and off the ground, far above the height of the truck, in the nick of time. Cat Noir moved the baton vertically and the child slid down the baton like a firehouse pole.
Cat Noir caught the child in his free arm, retracted his baton, and put it away.
"Hey kid, you okay?" Cat Noir asked as he set the boy down.
"I-I-I am," He said as he began blubbering with tears. "That was scary!"
"I'm sure it was," Cat Noir said in a gentle tone kneeling down and putting a hand on his shoulder. The kid looked up at him, and the cat was giving him a stern look. "But this is why you should never dart out into traffic like that! You should've waited for the light to change to green before crossing!"
"I-I just wanted to retrieve my ball..." The boy cried.
"I know, but I think your parents would much rather have you home safe and sound instead," Cat Noir responded, a calm but firm tone. "I need you to swear to me that you'll never do that again."
He gave a smile to the boy and asked, "Purr-omise?"
The boy snorted in laughter before repeating, "Purr-omise."
"Good." Cat Noir said with a nod.
"Oh, my baby!" A woman shouted as she ran over to them, and scooped up her son into her arms. "Thank you so much, Cat Noir!"
"It's no problem. Just keep an eye on him and make sure he's safe at all times." Cat Noir reassured. The woman gave him a nod in thanks. She and her child walked away, with the little boy waving goodbye and smiling at him.
'Wow... He knew he had a paternal side to him?' Marinette thought, watching the entire scene with a dreamy smile on her face.
She couldn't resist heaving a sigh. Cat Noir turned around, and he caught sight of Marinette. He gave her a surprised expression, only for his face to melt into his usual, charming look.
"Green light." He said, thumb-jerking to the traffic light. Marinette blinked, saw where he was pointing, and spazzed a little before hitting the gas on her scooter and zooming off.
When she got home, she began playing Ultimate Mecha Strike to help her relax. Her fingers were smashing the buttons on her controller, going as fast as if her hands were lightning bolts.
But every mecha she came up against, her mind painted it black with green accents and she was torn between letting herself lose, or smashing her opponent to pieces - every time, she forced herself to do the latter.
After a few rounds, she paused the game and slumped down onto the sofa with a groan. She muttered aloud, "What's the matter with me? I can't stop thinking about that stupid cat..."
Needing a distraction, she pulled up Clara Nightingale's website to see some of her latest works, only for her eyes to bulge out. There was a new music video, and Clara's frequent costar, Ross Finch, was dressed in a suit similar to Cat Noir - mask, ears, and all.
He was dancing to jazz music, swinging on a pole and singing, "Everybody wants to be a cat! Because a cat's the only cat who knows where it's at!"
Ross got off the pole and started dancing to the rhythm of the song, and he sang, "Everybody's pickin' up on that feline beat, 'cause everything else is obsolete."
The camera angle panned over to a small jazz band, and the trumpeter was blowing on it.
"A square with the horn makes you wish you weren't born, ev'rytime he plays," Ross sang before making a square frame with his fingers, which were covered in black gloves with claws on them. "But with a square in the act, you can set music back to the caveman days."
He began scatting and dancing while the jazz musicians were playing the music.
"Oh my lord, they made a music video for him?!" Marinette groaned as she swiped away from the video and sighed.
She gave her pendant a gentle rub with her thumb, and she murmured, "Third present from my mystery suitor, no clues about who they are... This is beginning to mess with my head."
She turned the game off and went upstairs to her room, deciding to get more work done on one of the pieces for her design contest entry.
Sorry about how slow I was with coming out with the chapter, and I apologize for it being shorter than the last two. Hope you enjoyed it, either way.
Coming up, Marinette is stuck in an uncomfortable situation.