Told You So
The Moxie Fox
Part 2 of 3 for my song fic series - artist spotlight HRVY
Kagami stormed into the apartment, the door slamming loudly behind her.
"Where were you Adrien? We agreed to meet at my mother's office at nine sharp for her presentation to the board."
Her eyes were daggers and he flinched under her intense gaze. Even though he'd been practicing his excuse all morning after defeating the akuma, it now felt weak and flimsy under her violent stare boring into him.
"I, um...promised Nathalie last week that I would help her with some documentation at the office today and it just completely escaped my mind until this morning," he said weakly.
"Seriously? That's the best excuse you can come up with?"
" What? Gami, it's not an excuse, I was really-"
"Save your breath, Adrien. You randomly sneak out late at night for extended periods of time, you're always conveniently absent during akuma attacks, you often smile while talking to yourself, you reek of soft cheeses. A less astute or less confident girl would likely assume you were having an affair, but it's obvious that you're Chat Noir. It's been apparent to me for quite some time now."
Adrien stared, baffled, mouth slightly agape, resembling a fish more closely than a former supermodel.
He started to splutter out an attempt at words before she held up a hand to silence him and continued.
"The worst part about it isn't even the lying and sneaking around. It's the fact you felt that was your only option. That trusting me wasn't even a consideration for you."
Finally finding his voice again, he barked out "Of course I considered it Kagami! Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how much easier my life would be if you knew? How much easier things between us would be? I've tried to tell you a hundred times! It's just not an ordinary secret. Telling you means putting your life at risk, and I could never forgive myself for that! Especially with the intensity of this new butterfly holder. She's a hundred times worse than Monarch ever was."
"Are you the only reason Ladybug chose me to be Ryuko?" she asked quietly.
"Wait, what? You're...Ryuko?" he whispered, eyes blowing wide. Not hearing him, she continued.
"I thought for sure it was because of my mettle, my desire for justice and strong sense of honor, but of course it would be just another hand-fed accomplishment. Just like this relationship. Another ruse in the long string of disappointments that make up the manufactured life of one Kagami Tsurugi."
Suddenly, a black blur whizzed in between them. "Cancel his subscription lady because he does NOT need your issues! And quit trying to make him feel bad, he does a fine job of that all on his own!" Plagg helpfully interjected.
"Thank you for confirming my suspicions little one." She averted her eyes from Plagg back to Adrien.
"This isn't working for me Adrien. We've fallen right back in to the same patterns from when we first dated in our youth. I was hoping you would have the dignity to end things with me this time when the relationship turned stale, but I can see that once again I am the only one who can take charge of our destinies."
"I've told you from the beginning that I wasn't the right fit for you, Gami, that I'm not who you need in your life. I'm not that strong. I wanted you to prove me wrong."
"You don't need me to prove that for you Adrien. You need to prove that to yourself. The whole of Paris knows how strong you are yet you still refuse to see it within yourself." She peered closely at him for a moment. "You're stuck. Still that same lost little boy being manipulated by his father, only this time it's not your father pulling the strings. It's your guilt over who he was. Your shame of not knowing about your mother. Your regret over not revealing yourself to Ladybug and conquering your fear of rejection for your connection to him. Pick whatever one suits you today. You're a hostage whose developed Stockholm Syndrome for your punishing thoughts."
He let out a bitter chuckle. "I've never enjoyed being the type of person to preen or gloat, and I hate to say that I told you so, but I told you so. I'm just not worth the effort. I'm damaged goods."
Kagami sighed, the type of heavy sigh that holds far too much weight for someone so young and beautiful. " Listen, I'm not looking for a fight. We have fought too much to the point where we both forgot what we're even fighting for. We can't keep going like this any more. You can't stop the clock from ticking onwards, but you can choose to stop being frozen in time. You are fully in charge of your destiny now Ade. It's time for you to reach out and grab it with both hands. No more excuses."
With that, she grabbed the handle of her red steel suitcase and left, not even bothering to look back as the last wheel crossed over the threshold. The door shut heavily behind her, ringing with a solid finality.
Adrien stared at the door for a long time, soaking in everything Kagami said.
"I hate that it didn't work out this time like she thought it would. I don't know what I'm going to do Plagg. I've been so used to being with her, having her incorporated into my daily routine. Meshed into every moment for the past two years. I was getting kind of used to calling her mine and now she's gone for good."
Adrien finally tore his eyes away from the door and looked his little friend head on.
"She was my addiction." He opened his hands and stared down at his palms, before flexing his right hand and rubbing the silver band of his inactive Miraculous. "That's why I'm gonna miss her."
Plagg contemplated this for a moment before replying. "Yeah, but addictions aren't good for ya, kid."
Adrien nodded, sinking on to the couch and tucking his legs up into his chest.
"I told you so. We were better off alone," he whispered to himself.
Fin.
AN: And thus completes part two of my little three part songfic act! Turns out I actually get a lot of ideas from songs and I think I may start a full on series challenge for myself where I choose an artist and write a few fics from their songs based on different character perspectives! Hope you enjoyed this, and please, as always, if you like, follow me for more stories! I would love a review to let me know your thoughts and to keep me encouraged to write! Ciao for now!