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It was the morning after the fundraiser and Marinette was among one of the first awake. Marinette and Kagami were still cuddled together on the couch. Chloe was curled up in bed and Aurore was spread starfish on the floor. Sabrina was the only other one awake. They made eye-contact and Sabrina waved before returning to her phone.
Marinette’s leg was asleep and she wanted to brush her teeth and get something to eat but she also had a very warm and adorable fencer using her as a pillow. So suffice to say Marinette wasn’t moving. She did free one of her arms to brush the hair away from Kagami’s face.
“Hm?” Kagami’s face scrunched up as she awoke. She looked up at Marinette and gave her a sleepy smile.
“Good morning,” Marinette whispered so not to wake Aurore or Chloe.
“Mornin,” Kagami yawned, “Sorry for falling asleep on you.”
“Don’t be.” Marinette said. Kagami’s face went pink and Marinette suddenly became aware of just how intimate a position they were in. Kagami nestled on Marinette’s chest with their legs woven together and arms wrapped around one another.
“Marinette?” Kagami asked, “Are you doing anything today?”
“Not anything I couldn’t put off till tomorrow.” Marinette was hoping Kagami couldn’t feel how fast her heart was beating. “Why?”
“I was thinking that, if you wanted to, we could--”
“Sweet jeebs,” Aurore stretched awake, “Who let me fall asleep on the floor? My back is killing me.”
“Hey! Some of us were still trying to sleep!” Chloe snapped. “Whatever, everyone up. Let’s get some breakfast up in here.”
With a sigh Marinette and Kagami untangled themselves and ordered breakfast. Housekeeping came by to clean up their junk food mess from the night before while the girls ate breakfast. Marinette herself nibbled on some strawberries while most of the others slathered croissants and toasted baguettes in jams. Honestly, if they weren’t fresh from her parent’s bakery she couldn’t eat them. Having bakers for parents had spoiled her for store bought pastries.
“Kagami, you got a little jam right there.” Marinette pointed out a spot at the corner of her mouth.
Kagami wiped the opposite side. “Did I get it?”
“No. I got it,” Marinette grabbed a napkin and wiped the jam away, “There, all better.”
“Thanks.” Kagami smiled softly.
“Oh, what was it you were asking me earlier?” Marinette asked.
“Right,” Kagami shifted in her seat, “I was wondering that if you weren’t doing anything today if maybe you wanted to hang out. I know we spent all last night together but my mother let me have the entire weekend off so I was hoping we could go out. Just the two of us.”
“I’d like that. I’ll have to stop by my house to change and drop off my dress but after that I’m all yours.” No way was Marinette going to parade around the city with a case of slept in hairspray head. Not if she was going to be spending the entire time with Kagami.
“I need to stop at my house too. How about we meet at the park near your house around noon?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
After breakfast wrapped up the girls changed out of their pajamas and collected their outfits from the night before. Marinette raced back to her house so she had time to get a shower and pick a cute outfit. Trying to run while carrying a garment bag holding a huge ballgown wasn’t easy but she made it work.
She barely said hello to her parents before she was upstairs. She tossed the dress across her chaise and hopped in the shower to get rid of the post-party grime. When she was done she went immediately to her closet and rifled through what she had. She wanted to look cute but also casual. It was a shame it was too cold for sundresses now.
Wait! She had a sweater dress that would be perfect for a chilly autumn day on the town. She grabbed the comfy red dress and slid it on. To make sure she was warm throughout Marinette also put on some fleece lined black leggings and black boots. There. Casual and cute.
She grabbed her purse and went to go meet Kagami.
Why was she so nervous all of the sudden hanging out with Kagami? They were friends. They put aside their feelings for Adrien to get to this point. There was virtually nothing to worry about. If that were true though then why was her heart beating so fast when she thought of being alone with her? It felt like when Marinette got sat next to her on her first day at Lycee Carnot. Except it wasn’t out of awkward jealousy. It felt like a lot more was on the line.
Stop it, Marinette! She chided herself. You need to get out of your head. You are just hanging out with Kagami. You’ve done this a plenty of times before now.
“Marinette, over here!” Kagami waved from the fountain.
Marinette was stopped in her tracks when she saw Kagami waving. She looked so pretty! She had on a white turtleneck and dusty rose peacoat, blue jeans, and tan ankle booties.
Marinette didn’t even know Kagami owned anything pink. She was sure that she wasn’t a big pastel kinda girl. Regardless, it looked great on her.
“Hey,” Marinette found her tongue as she approached Kagami which was hard since upon closer inspection she could see Kagami had also done her make-up before coming out. Just some tinted lipgloss and mascara but now Marinette was kicking herself for only putting on eyeliner. She could have gotten away with some color on her lips at least!
“You look good,” Kagami said.
“Thanks. You look perfect.” Again Marinette wanted to bury her face in the neckhole of her sweater. What kind of a response was that?
“Thank you,” Kagami fidgeted with the buttons on her coat. “So, um, what did you want to do?”
“Whatever you want to do.”
“How about we take a walk and see if anything else comes to mind while we do.” Kagami suggested.
“Good. Yeah. Let’s do that.”
The girls left the park and started to walk around the city not talking about anything in particular. Mainly they reminisced funny moments from the party and sleepover last night. Kagami didn’t know it since she was the first to fall asleep but Marinette had kept the others from writing on her face afterwards. It was traditional sleepover antics but Marinette fought back the girls’ permanent marker attack.
“My hero,” Kagami laughed.
“All in a day’s work, madame.” Marinette gave a mock bow.
“Watch out!” Kagami pulled Marinette out of the way as a couple of kids on scooters rocketed past them. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Marinette had been so caught up in her little bow she hadn’t noticed the scooterers. Kagami had pulled Marinette toward her to keep her from getting run over and had yet to let go. The proximity sent a ripple up of warmth up her spine. “Guess you were my hero this time.”
“We all have our moments.” Kagami let her go. Her gaze lost again to the ground. “That being said you should probably stick close. Don’t want you accidentally getting run over by a rogue biker next.”
“I think that would be for the best.” Marinette wasn’t going to miss an excuse to stay even closer to her.
They continued on their walk. Their hands kept bumping together as they walked before Marinette had enough and grabbed Kagami’s. When Kagami looked at her Marinette gave a tiny shrug. “I thought that if someone was going to try running me over you could pull me to safety easier this way.”
“Good idea.” Kagami relaxed a touch as she wove their fingers together.
A thought from last night dug its way back from Marinette’s memory and poked at her brain as if to say, ‘Hey! Remember me? Remember how beautiful you thought Kagami looked last night?’
Can you not do this right now? Marinette shot back at the voice in her head.
‘Afraid not!’ If voices in Marinette’s head had facial expressions she’d be a hundred percent sure it was smirking right now. ‘Remember how you thought her lips looked good enough to kiss? They still look pretty kissable now too, huh?’
Please stop. I’m just trying to have a nice day out with my friend.
‘You are really going to try and say she’s just a friend? You’re holding her hand. You can’t stop looking at her. You woke up this morning cuddled with her. This is not typical friend behaviour!’
Not necessarily…
‘You can’t procrastinate on this, Dupain-Cheng! You like Kagami! Admit it!’
Of course I like Kagami. She’s talented, passionate, smart, brave…
She’s also really cute and kind. She has a great sense of humor and always makes time for her friends even if it may be hard to do. When she was thinking she made little humming noises and had a habit of fidgeting and tapping her foot when she was anxious. She also always seemed to smell like green tea and fabric softener. It made Marinette want to curl up in her warm arms and take a nap.
Oh...oh no.
‘Finally figure it out? You big bi-disaster.’
We are not putting a definitive label on this right now but disaster-bi will suffice for this freak out. Do not panic, Marinette! You have a crush on Kagami. A realization that was thrown into the blinding light of day with warm morning snuggles. Keep calm. Do not let your freak out show on your face or else Kagami might start asking questions. Smile and continue walking.
They stayed out all day walking around the city and talking. They stopped for lunch at a little cafe and stopped in the used bookshop next door to see if they had any interesting titles. “You find anything?” Marinette found Kagami sitting on the floor in a little nook of the bookshop. A stainglassed window sent hazy sunbeams of yellow, orange and green around the cozy corner.
Kagami snapped her book shut when she saw Marinette sending dust dancing through the air. “Achoo!” Kagami sneezed.
“Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” Marinette sat down next to her. “What were you reading?”
“I think I know where Nanette’s moms got the name for their cafe.” Kagami handed her the small purple book. The gold lettering on the front read: Winking Violets by Nanette Sabot.
“And who they named Nanette after.” Marinette opened it. “What’s it about?”
“I had to look it up on my phone since it doesn’t have a description in the book. But apparently it is about these two women that grew up together as friends. One had to be taken far away to a warmer town during the winters because of her weak constitution but always promised her friend that she would return in time for the violets to bloom. So throughout the years the girls became closer and closer and their field of violets grew with them. Until--do you mind if I spoil it?”
“I don’t mind.” Marinette assured her. “I have a feeling I’m gonna end up sad.”
“Oh yeah,” Kagami sighed, “The day before the weak girl was supposed to return home after the winter a harsh frost covered their field of violets killing all the blooms in one day. The next morning the other girl received a letter telling her that her friend had died. Overcome with grief the girl wandered the now barren field until she found one small violet still clinging to life amongst the frost. She dug it up and carried it home where she kept it warm and watered. When it was strong enough the girl took the bloom and brought it to her friend’s grave where she planted it. That way her friend would never miss the violets blooming again.”
“That is so sad!”
“But still very sweet. It’s the kind of love you dream of having with someone.”
“I guess so,” It might have been the light playing tricks on her eyes but she could have sworn Kagami was blushing.
“So,” Marinette handed her the book back, “Are you gonna buy it?”
“I think I’ll regret it if I don’t.” Kagami looked back at Marinette. Her big brown eyes sparkling in the light. “Amongst other things.”
“Meaning?”
“I am not an indecisive person.”
“I know.”
“Which is why the fact that I’m hesitating right now is very unlike me.”
“I thought you just said you were gonna get the book.”
“Oh Marinette,” Kagami cupped Marinette’s face in her hands, “You silly scatterbrain. I’m not talking about buying the book.”
Her hands were so warm and her face was so close. What was happening? Scatterbrained was right. Marinette couldn’t keep two thoughts together right now.
“Oh?” Marinette finally murmured. Truly a stimulating and literate response.
Kagami giggled which sent another wave of butterflies loose in Marinette’s stomach. “I know this might seem sudden and I might be making a huge fool of myself but I need to say this. I really like you. Not just as a friend. Is that okay?”
“Mhm!” Marinette nodded. “Very okay?”
“You’re sure? I know you tend to overthink things--”
“All I’ve thought about doing since yesterday is kissing you.” Marinette confessed in a rush of words.
Kagami stared back at her wide eyed. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have just blurted that out like I did. It’s just that you’re really pretty today, you’re really pretty everyday, but today even more so. You looked gorgeous last night too. I like being around you and find myself looking for more and more excuses to be next to you. You’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met and I would gladly do most anything to make you smile cause I love seeing you happy. Now I’m scared that the second I stop talking you’re gonna freak out and walk away and I--”
Kagami silenced her with a quick kiss.
“I really wanted to kiss you too.” Kagami said.
Marinette could only smile before she went in for another kiss. This one longer and sweeter than the first. She could taste the faint sweetness of the creampuff they had ordered at the cafe on her lips.
“I guess this means neither of us have to worry about competing over Adrien anymore.” Marinette chuckled. Her forehead resting against Kagami’s.
“I’d say so.” Kagami laughed too.
“Ahem,” the bookshop owner peeked their head around the corner, “You girls find what you were looking for?”
“Yes,” Kagami and Marinette stood up, hands holding tightly to one another, “I think we have.”