Work Text:
There are two she’s drawn to, and the way Kagami began to fall for each of them is similar.
A boy reached out, holding her fencing saber as he walked towards her with an awkward smile.
A girl ran up to her, stumbling over her feet as she carefully asked if they could still get orange juice together.
Yet at the same time, it’s also different.
With him, it hit her the moment she got in her car and stared at the saber he’d graciously returned.
With her, it was slower. In time, her feelings finally caught up, with every meet-up, with every sentence they exchange over juice.
There are two she’s drawn to, and Kagami finds she can’t pull away.
Months pass, with her unsure of what to make of these feelings.
Months pass, as she hesitates for the first time in her life. From the day she tries to approach Adrien to confess, to the day she finds she has a crush on Marinette—the future is unpredictable. She doesn’t know what to do.
And so, months pass.
Until Kagami finally realizes there’s something missing.
There’s a piece to the puzzle she never even fathomed existed.
She watched as he detransformed in the very alleyway she’d decided to seek refuge in, from one of Paris’ heroes to an entirely different boy.
She looked on as she mumbled an excuse before stumbling away, only to have a familiar superheroine appear in her place moments later.
She embodies creation; he wields the power of destruction. They are said to be two halves of a whole, yin and yang, completing each other in a way no one else can.
She’s Ladybug.
He’s Chat Noir.
They are the two she’s drawn to, yet they themselves are driven apart.
There’s only one secret that keeps them away. Kagami stares at the stars from where she stands on Marinette’s balcony, mulling over her recent revelations. In all honesty, she’s shocked she didn’t put it together earlier. Looking back, Marinette and Adrien have always been painfully obvious; after all, they constantly disappear during akuma attacks with lame excuses, and they’re never seen in the same place as Ladybug or Chat Noir.
“You can’t see the stars from here,” Marinette complains. “There are too many city lights.”
“Well,” Adrien says, “we are in Paris.”
“Exactly.”
“We could have gone out of Paris for this,” Kagami says pointedly, “like I suggested. But both of you insisted we stay.”
The two of them look at her sheepishly.
Kagami wonders how long she’ll have to keep this secret for them; she wonders how long it’ll take for them to find out.
“Well, I—”
“I just um, thought—”
“It doesn’t really matter,” Kagami says, cutting them off. “There are other places in Paris we can observe the stars.”
“How about we try at the mansion?” Adrien asks. “The rooftop there is a lot higher than here. Maybe that’ll help.”
“We can try that,” Marinette says. “Would your bodyguard be willing to drive us there?”
“I can ask him.”
“Great!”
As they leave Marinette’s balcony, head down towards the bakery, and get in the car to drive to the Agreste mansion, Kagami ponders over why she’s here in the first place. She doesn’t really know why Adrien and Marinette asked her to join them as they work on their astronomy project, but she definitely doesn’t mind.
(The true reason could possibly be out of pity, because they worry about her not having enough friends. But Kagami likes to believe that perhaps they really do enjoy her company.)
Maybe they do. Since the time she had tried attempting a relationship with Adrien, Kagami has learned a lot of things. She’s gotten closer to both Adrien and Marinette as friends, and, as they get out of the car and head inside the mansion—with the three of them chatting idly about all sorts of topics—Kagami is inclined to believe they really do enjoy spending time with her.
The true question is whether they see her as just a friend, or something more.
They pass Nathalie, who watches curiously, but doesn’t comment as the three of them head up towards the rooftop.
“I haven’t been here in a long time, just to let you know,” Adrien says, “and I—”
He breaks off as Marinette opens the door to the rooftop and sees a telescope sitting in the corner. They all gasp in surprise.
“I didn’t know you had a telescope,” Kagami comments as Marinette instantly rushes over to inspect it.
“I. . . . didn’t know, either,” Adrien says sheepishly.
“Rich kid,” Marinette scoffs.
“Hey!”
“It’s true, is it not?”
“I, well, uh—”
“Just come help me set up, both of you,” Marinette says, shaking her head in good-humor.
It’s hard to believe they don’t know. Marinette and Adrien talk to each other just like Ladybug and Chat Noir do. The only reason Kagami even knows they haven’t told each other yet is because of the way their kwamis always look pointedly towards her and roll their eyes, as if saying, “can you believe these two?”
They even work well together, too. Admittedly too well.
Kagami can only imagine how much closer they’d be once their masks finally fall.
It doesn’t take long for the three of them to finish setting up the telescope, and figuring out how to use it. Soon enough, they’ve finished.
“Wow,” Marinette says, looking through the telescope, “this is so much better than just trying to stare at the sky.”
“Can you see anything?” Adrien inquires.
“Yeah!” she looks up. “This’ll help a lot with our project. If we decide to do this, then. . . .”
Marinette continues talking, and as she and Adrien discuss the logistics of her project, Kagami takes the time to peer into the telescope, all the while several thoughts run through her head.
Stars are littered throughout the sky. Even with the light pollution, they’re still more visible than she’s ever seen them in Paris.
“Isn’t it lovely?” Marinette asks, breaking away from her conversation with Adrien.
It truly is.
The stars shine, and they’re beautiful in a way she’ll never understand.
Maybe Kagami’s selfish for not letting them know.
Why doesn’t she bother to tell them? Wouldn’t things be so much better if they knew about each other’s identities? Wouldn’t it help them both grow stronger?
Perhaps just like stars, perhaps just like how she’ll never truly see one close, touch it, taste it, or feel it. . . . maybe it’ll be the same with Marinette and Adrien. Perhaps it’s really never meant to be. Maybe the two of them will always be together, and Kagami will never really have a chance.
But then she feels Marinette intertwine their fingers together, with Adrien coming up on her other side, gazing at her with a soft smile as she looks up at him.
Maybe it is selfish of her to stall telling them. Maybe it’s wrong of her to continue to let them be unaware of how close their superhero partner really is.
Yet, it isn’t her secret to tell.
It’s what Kagami continues to tell herself as the three of them spend time taking turns with the telescope. It’s what she lets run through her head over and over again, as they laugh and talk and spend time with each other, reveling in each other’s company.
They smile, bright and wide, and, seeing their faces, Kagami smiles, too.
The reveal will change many things between Marinette and Adrien, Kagami knows. Yet as they continue to spend time with each other, she knows with all her heart that they’ll still be the two people she loves most.
Perhaps just like stars, perhaps just like how she’ll never truly see one close, touch it, taste it, or feel it. . . . maybe it’ll be the same with Marinette and Adrien.
However, the night sky has taught her to dream. It has taught her to wish upon a shooting star with hopes that it will come true.
Kagami has never really been one to dream, but when it comes to the two she loves most. . . .
She’s definitely willing to believe.