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“Ladybug, definitely”, said Zoé, as her eyes followed the two superheroes into the sky. “Of these two, anyway. I want Ladybug to kiss me.”
Kagami nodded. “I would like to kiss Chat Noir…”
She paused for a second, while Zoé looked at her expectantly. This next part took some getting used to. Finally, she closed her eyes, and continued.
“…or Ladybug. Both, actually. I would like to grab Ladybug and Chat Noir and make out with both of them.”
“Woo, yeah, girl!”, said Zoé, her usual excitement in high gear.
“You’re right, it does feel good to get that out”, said Kagami, feeling deep relief. “But it does not come to easy.”
“That’s okay. You’re so brave, Kagami! It’s no problem if it takes a while. After all, it’s a really big thing to admit to yourself that you like girls.”
Kagami smiled weakly. Without Zoé, she would probably still be bottling her feelings deep down. But hearing that Zoé had a crush on Marinette, that girls having crushes on Marinette was allowed… that had certainly unlocked things.
She had no real clue when she and Zoé had become friends. They had met several times on the house boat, and at some point, Zoé had simply decided they were friends now. Kagami was more than grateful for that. She was always happy when the time to see her came around, whether it was in a group or just the two of them on their own, like today.
“Not that I could get Ladybug to kiss me, of course”, said Zoé, as she looked in the sky. “Or any other pretty girl.”
Kagami harrumphed. “That seems unlikely. You are beautiful and you are good company. Your odds of romantic success are well above average, and there are a lot of pretty girls all around us.”
Zoé looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, yes, not right now”, admitted Kagami. She looked at the Ferris Wheel gondola they were in, high above the roof tops of Paris. It was not moving, and hadn’t been for the past fifteen minutes, because it was trapped in magical quartz crystals that had grown from the ground. From what little they could see, it seemed to affect a large part of the city, perhaps even all of it.
“But you see my point, I think. Your only mistake was falling in love with one side of Adrinette, as Alya calls them. That is understandable, but it was always going to be hopeless. Believe me, I know. Yet you have excellent chances if you go on the attack. Find a girl, flirt with her, see what happens.”
Zoé sighed, as she stood up and paced around the cabin. “I don’t know, It’s not that easy that easy. And even if I find a girl, how do I flirt with her? I’ve never tried…” She paused, and looked up at the ceiling.
“Hey, I think I can get this door open, help me out?”
Kagami rushed to her side and started pulling on the sliding door. Little by little, it moved, until it finally gave way.
“Flirting does not come natural to me either”, said Kagami, as she finally pushed the doors open. “Neither did fencing. It is simply a matter of practice. If you’re interested, we can try it now.”
“Now? With you?”, asked Zoé, blushing slightly.
“There is no time like the present. Granted, I would have liked to do some more research on this topic first. Maybe I can find something online…”
Kagami took a tentative step out onto the quartz crystal. It was roughly horizontal, and it seemed to hold just fine. She took another step. Still solid, no creaking. Before her stretched a mountain of quartz crystals. They were near the top, and it seemed like it should be possible to climb down with a bit of effort. Relieved, she turned around to Zoé, and offered her her hand. Zoé gratefully took it.
“Your eyes are lovely.”, said Zoé suddenly. “That deep brown, I could get lost in that for days.”
For a moment, Kagami was shocked, until she remembered what they had been discussing. “Oh… thank you”, she replied weakly.
“You’re right, this is fun!”, said Zoé excitedly, as she hurried past Kagami out onto the crystal maze. “Your turn!”
“My turn?”
“Of course! We’re practicing together, right? Unless you think you don’t need it.”
Kagami’s heart stopped for a second. Yes, it made a lot of sense. They were both girls who wanted to learn how to flirt with other girls. But that meant she had to say something next. Could she glance at her phone really quickly? Well, she didn’t want to disappoint Zoé. It was always nice to see her smile so excitedly.
“Your hair is… very shiny.”
“Shiny?”
“Actually, maybe this was a mistake.”, said Kagami as she climbed further down. “I need to prepare some more. This compliment did not work when I used it on Marinette either…”
Zoé giggled happily. “You used that as your move on Marinette?”
“Well, yes, I did say I am not a natural at flirting”, Kagami said. “Besides, I was not trying to woo Marinette, I was just trying to become her friend at the time.”
Wooing Marinette, now there was a thought. Dreams about the designer had been a huge part of Kagami’s discovery that she wasn’t entirely straight. In some ways, it made it easier to accept. Who wouldn’t be in love with Marinette? But with Marinette and Adrien in their own world, she knew she never stood a chance.
“No, of course”, said Zoé, as she helped Kagami down onto another crystal ledge. “It’s not a bad instinct, it’s just a bit too generic, you know? Okay, yes, I do wash my hair. Thank you for noticing.”
She flashed her incredibly pretty smile again, and waited for Kagami to make the next move. Clearly instinct was treacherous, so this time, Kagami did decide to open her phone after all.
“Maybe I can find a compliment about the color gradient here”, she said matter-of-factly. “It is pleasing to look at… Oh, this is useless. It’s perfectly obvious that you are very attractive, why is it so hard to find the right words for this? I should probably pay for the pro version of this flirting app. Even if this is just for practice, someone as pretty as you deserves better than this and is there something wrong with your cheeks?”
“What? No! Everything is all right!”, said Zoé quickly, despite her cheeks being visibly reddish. Weird.
“But I think you’re doing well, actually”, she said with renewed vigor. “I mean, you’re saying I’m too pretty for words, that’s not bad at all!”
“Words are the point, though, are they not?”
“Well, you were onto something with the hair. Can you think of something more specific besides shiny?”
Kagami thought for a moment.
“Well, the color does stand out. It looks nice. It reminds me of the sunset out there.”
She pointed at the sky, which was starting to turn red, increased by the sparkling of the crystals everywhere. Somewhere around the Eiffel Tower, she could see the akumatized villain, dropping new crystals from the sky. It seemed far away, but she knew this did not mean they were safe.
“This next part is difficult”, she said as she looked at the way ahead of them. There was a small gap, maybe half a meter, but it still required a careful jump. Kagami took a deep breath, and leaped. She landed with no problems.
“The color makes it clear that it is your hair”, she continued towards Zoé. Yes, the earlier comparison was apt. Zoé looked stunning in the golden reddish light of the evening sun. She should get her to model for a drawing again. It was fun to color in her hair, and get the gradient just right.
“It is not your sister’s hair, nor your mothers. You know who you are, and who you want to be, and your hair reflects that. Now jump, I’ll catch you.”
Zoé jumped after Kagami, and landed in her open arms. They quickly separated again, but the smell of Zoé’s perfume still lingered in Kagami’s nose. It was very pleasant.
“Thank you”, said Zoé “It took me a while to get there. Back in New York, I was always trying to be someone I’m not. Perfect, normal, quiet, high class… straight. That didn’t really work out for me.”
“I am sorry”, said Kagami, as she grabbed Zoé’s hand for support along the next stretch. “I know what that is like. My mother has chosen my hobbies, my ex-boyfriend, my everything. And I was good at these things. It took me a while to realize that I was more than just these things, though. I am missing so much. I didn’t even know I was attracted to girls. You are an inspiration to me, actually. Maybe I should dye my hair as well.”
Zoé squeezed her hand in support.
“Don’t put yourself down so much! You are an amazing person, Kagami, and you have more friends than you know. I am super happy you are a friend of mine. And it’s awesome to find another girl who is into girls. Especially if she’s as pretty as you are.”
“You think I’m pretty?”
“Of course, silly! You are so graceful, and so powerful. I bet there are a lot of girls and guys out there who want you to push them into a wall and kiss them silly. Oh, and you also have very shiny hair.”
Kagami snorted, as she stepped from the final crystal onto the street, just after Zoé. Finally. Kagami was not scared of heights, but having solid ground under her feet instead of crystals was still much more pleasant. Most of the street was still free, but many houses were covered in crystals, and smaller crystals were found on lamp posts and trees around them.
“I think you will become a great actress”, she said to Zoé. “The way you manage to say these things so easily, you almost make me believe them. You are great at playing your role.”
Zoé looked at her oddly.
“Yes, a role, definitely… duck!”
The two jumped out of the way as a quartz crystal crumbled down, and fell right behind them. Was this a piece that they had stood on? No, it was a new one!
Kagami heard a whirring sound, and suddenly she saw the akumatized villain, coming at them at high speed. A line of crystal fragments grew from the ground towards where they were standing.
Without thinking, she grabbed Zoé’s hand once more, and dragged her off across the street. She zigged and zagged, but the line of growing crystals followed them. However, it seemed a bit sluggish—it couldn’t take tight corners!
She pulled Zoé into an alley, and did the maths in her head. If she hid just behind the entrance, that meant the line would likely miss them. But they didn’t have much room. She pushed Zoé right into the designated space, directly up against the brick wall, and positioned herself in front of her, her hands either side of the girl, to shield her from the danger. If she scooted really close, it should just about work.
She felt the wind pressure from the crystals just shooting out of the ground on her back, coming closer, closer…
But her maths had been correct. It just missed them. And out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ladybug and Chat Noir, pursuing the villain. The fight left them again, to terrorize some other part of the city. Kagami exhaled. That had almost been too close.
She turned back to Zoé, who was still between her arms, pinned against the wall. The girl was sweating and blushing. No wonder, with all the excitement.
“Are you alright?”, asked Kagami. “You have a thing there…”
She grabbed Zoé’s chin and turned it around to get a better look, then slowly dragged her thumb over the patch of skin. Zoé winced a bit, and looked at her with big eyes, like she was waiting for something.
“It was just dirt”, said Kagami, relieved. “I would hate if you got injured.”
“Uh-huh”, said Zoé weakly. She moved her head closer, and suddenly Kagami found it hard to think about villains at all. Something about Zoé, with her mouth slightly open, looking deep into her eyes, coming closer…
“You have really pretty lip gloss”, Kagami said softly. Zoé closed her eyes, and…
Suddenly Kagami remembered that the danger had passed, and she removed herself from the wall.
“I am glad you are okay”, she said. “Now, let us resume flirting.”
“Resume…?”, asked Zoé, her eyebrow raised, sounding like she was a bit out breath. Poor girl, that close call must have really raised her blood pressure! But within two seconds, she was her usual self again.
“Right, yes, let’s get back to that.”
Zoé looked at her like she was a walking riddle, but Kagami didn’t care. She was just happy they were both unharmed.
“I think you have chosen a cap that complements your hair color well”, said Kagami, glad that she had found something to say. “It fits with your eyes, and provides a pleasing contrast with the magenta hair.”
“Thank you”, said Zoé. “That’s really nice of you!”
“It’s insufficient”, said Kagami, shaking her head. “It sounds weird.”
“No… I mean maybe a little? But it’s not weird at all if someone knows you. And knowing you is a real pleasure! You’re way better at this than you think!”
“You flatter me too much”, said Kagami. “I am still single.”
“But you had a boyfriend, right? And sure, that didn’t work out, but that doesn’t mean it will fail the next time! I mean, think about it. How did you get a boyfriend in the first place if you think you’re so bad at flirting? You must have done something right there.”
Kagami shrugged, as she and Zoé were walking back to the plaza with the Ferris Wheel.
“We met a few times, went out for ice skating, and I told him he’s my boyfriend now. He did not refuse.”
“I don’t think anyone would refuse if you told them that.”
“Oh, I doubt that. If I said, ‘Zoé, you are my girlfriend now. We will meet at Café Goscinny tomorrow at five for hanging out and kissing’, you would call me crazy.”
Zoé looked at her. “You’re speaking hypothetically, right? Not for real, because—watch out, quartz zombies!”
Kagami turned around, and saw them: Grotesque figures that looked vaguely humanoid, but they were made entirely out of crystal. And they were not static, but shambling towards them. There were horrifying screeching sounds as crystal rubbed on crystal with every slow, laborious step.
The girls quickly ducked into the side of the crystal mountain. Kagami looked around for options. Were these figures hostile?
At that moment, Rose entered the place. She was in her jogging outfit, and wearing big headphones that were decorated with unicorn stickers. Kagami screamed out, “stop”, but it was too late.
One of the zombies extended its crystal arm, which suddenly grew long, and touched Rose. Within seconds, crystal started sprouting on her arms and legs. She turned and started shambling towards them, moaning “silicon dioxide!” along with the rest.
“That’s terrible!”, whispered Zoé, as they crept more behind the crystal mountain they had just escaped from. Kagami weighed her options, and made a decision. There was a long thing crystal just overhead, and a bit of force made it snap off.
“I won’t let that happen to you”, Kagami growled. She held her crystal up like a sword and ran towards the zombies. One tried to get her, but she ducked and hit its legs. The creature stumbled. Two others went down even more quickly. Suddenly, she noticed one coming from behind. She turned around, but it was too late. Its crystalline claw extended towards her-
And suddenly it stopped. It slowly turned around, and with a terrifying creaking sound, it rubbed the crystal that was its head. Kagami heard a tock, and saw a piece of crystal fly her way—no, into the zombie! It seemed that Zoé had grabbed a bunch of crystal fragments, and was throwing them at the group of zombies.
This was just the opening that Kagami needed. She thrust her quartz sword forward, and the figure in front of her fell. Then she twirled, and made quick work of three others.
Between that and the rocks thrown by Zoé, the zombies had no chance. They quickly turned around and shuffled away, moaning a low “ruuuuude!” towards them.
“Yeah that’s right, leave before we turn you into sand!”, shouted Zoé. Then she immediately rushed towards Kagami, and engulfed her in a big hug. For a second, Kagami was surprised, but then she hugged right back.
“That was scary”, said Zoé. “But you were so cool! You were so brave, and fearless!”
“You too”, said Kagami. “I could not have done this without you.”
“And the way you moved, and twirled, and how you moved your body, that was so hot!”
“Hot?”, asked Kagami, and ended the hug. Zoé blushed.
“You know, I mean, as in flirting, right? Let’s flirt some more!”
Kagami nodded, “I really admire that… hm… Hang on, let me google some more compliments.”
She got out her phone, but the signal was gone. Did quartz cause signal interference? Or were the cell powers simply destroyed? Either way, no luck.
“Just say something that comes to your mind”, said Zoé. “We can workshop the details later.”
Kagami looked Zoé up and down, her excited smile, her cute outfit…
“Are we at a point where it is acceptable to compliment your breasts?”
“My… breasts? Uh…” Zoé blushed, and instinctively crossed her arms over her chest. Kagami could not begin backtracking fast enough.
“Oh, I see, I overstepped. Maybe we should end…”
“No, no, it’s okay, it’s practice after all! What, uhm… what do you like about my… breasts?”, asked Zoé. After a second, she uncrossed her arms, and purposefully turned towards Kagami. Kagami took a brief look… and was completely lost.
“Well, you have them, and they’re… I’d like to…” Kagami started getting quieter and quieter as she spoke. “Actually, maybe that is a step too far, I don’t feel ready to… they are there. And that is nice.” Oh god, where was a quartz crystal falling from the sky when you needed one?
“No, uhm, that is… and yours are definitely…”, began Zoé, then paused. She looked down at Kagami’s body, and then quickly back up again, her head fully red. “Yeah, they’re there as well. Uhh…”
Kagami reached out her hand. “Let’s agree to not speak of this again?”
Zoé took her hand and shook it. “Yeah. For now anyway. I mean, it’s not a bad topic, and I definitely do admire yours… I mean, them, in general, like, on people… Urgh… yeah, let’s skip that area for now.”
After a second, with a smirk, she added, “You do have a cute butt, though.”
Kagami paused.
Then both of them burst into laughter.
“I have to ask, are you sure you have no experience flirting?”, asked Kagami. “Maybe something like that back in New York? You are doing exceptionally well and I am enjoying it a lot.”
Zoé looked at her, surprised.
“No, not really. I just… eat it up, until my feelings happen to get out, one way or another. The one with Marinette went well. The one back in New York… yeah, not so much. This is the first time that I am actively trying to woo a pretty girl.”
She grinned. Kagami noted that it almost sounded like Zoé meant it for real, not just for practice, but decided to ignore that. Better to stay in the moment.
“I must thank you for that. You could be wooing any pretty girl our age in Paris. That you spend your time practicing with someone who looks like me is very much appreciated.”
Zoé violently shook her head.
“You make it sound like I’m doing you a huge favor! Kagami, believe in yourself! You are the most beautiful girl I know in all of Paris!”
“Now that is definitely acting. I know you had a crush on Marinette, who is objectively much prettier than I am. And you yourself are also far more beautiful.”
“Don’t say that! Yes, Marinette looks nice, but you have a certain… strength. Sharpness. You are like a fencing foil, beautiful, precision, elegance. That really gets me… I mean, that is really attractive.”
After a pause, she added, “and your hair is really incredibly shiny.”
They both burst into giggles again. Laughing along with Zoé was definitely on the list of Kagami’s favorite things to do.
“Oh, good that I found you two!”, said a voice suddenly. Kagami turned around and saw Ladybug standing in front of them, smiling.
“I have a plan, and I need your help. Stay right here. Kagami, you hold the skateboard. Zoé, take the potted plant. Wait for the signal.”
She handed them the two items, threw her yo-yo into the sky, and immediately left.
“There she goes”, said Zoé. “Second-most beautiful woman I’ve talked to today.”
She looked back at Kagami and winked. Suddenly it hit Kagami.
“Your smile”, she said. Zoé looked at her, confused.
“The way you smile when you are happy, and the force with which you are happy. You lift everyone up around you. Whenever I talk to you, I think, I hope I’ll see her smile. It makes me happy. That is the thing I should have complimented all the way from the start.”
Zoé looked at her, and wow, that stone throwing must have really exerted her. Her face was red all over.
“Thanks”, she muttered weakly. “You make me smile a lot.”
“Now!”, shouted Chat Noir all of a sudden. Kagami turned and could just barely see him. At that distance, he looked less like an inspiring hero and more like a trash bag on a stick. But she knew what she had to do. Or, at least, she had an idea.
She placed the skateboard right in front of his trajectory. Chat Noir landed perfectly, right as Zoé threw the flower pot into the air. The black-clad superhero extended his baton, and balanced the plant precariously on the end.
“Excellent work, ladies”, he said with a wink, and left, skating down the street. Over him, Ladybug and the akumatized villain rushed ahead.
For a moment, Zoé and Kagami tried to follow them, but they were out of sight within seconds. Suddenly, a big explosion filled the air.
“I think they have it in hand”, said Zoé, as she looked towards the commotion. She was worried, but there was nothing they could do. Kagami nodded.
“I am looking forward to seeing what the plan was later on the Ladyblog.”
“Right. What do you say, more flirting? Or do you think we’ve had enough for today?”
“Probably the latter, if that is alright with you. I had fun, but it was very draining, and I would like to review some more training material before we do another round.”
“Yeah, that’s okay”, said Zoé, still smiling widely. “But I think with all that flirting, we have earned a reward!”
Kagami looked at her, confused. “What sort of reward?”
“A kiss! That’s the point of flirting, isn’t it? Successful flirting leads to kisses!”
“A… well… I mean… do you really think this was successful enough?”, asked Kagami. She was feeling like someone had just asked her to perform the piano with no preparation… but also excited. At least as excited as Zoé with her big beautiful smile.
“Absolutely! If we kiss, then it has been a success by definition!”, Zoé said. Then she paused and looked at her. “I mean, you don’t have to…”
“No, no, I am just surprised. I was not mentally prepared to kiss a beautiful woman today”, said Kagami. “But I cannot fault your logic.”
Zoé beamed happily, and stepped closer. Kagami looked into those big, beautiful eyes, and that big, beautiful smile, and let herself fall in. She tilted her head a bit, took a step forward, closed her eyes and… kissed her.
For a second, she just let herself enjoy the feeling. Warm, soft, nice. Zoé certainly showed no signs of pulling away.
But then something changed. There was a familiar buzz in the air. Kagami opened her eyes. All around them was a wave of magical red ladybugs. The girls broke apart, watching the spectacle of the ladybugs removing the crystals. Kagami found that she and Zoé were holding hands. When had that happened? She was sad that the kiss was over, but she was still smiling at the wonder of the magical cure, the disappearing crystals… and at Zoé’s. She was so amazed by the sight, Kagami wished she could hold this state forever.
“They did it!”, Zoé shouted. “Awesome!”
“We all did it”, said Kagami. “Today was a success.”
She found that Zoé was looking at her again, smiling. “Oh yes, definitely!”, she said, with a bit of a smirk. “And I’m glad I spent the day with you.”
Kagami felt herself blush a little. For a second, she paused. But really, there was no question what to do. She held Zoé’s chin again, turned her head towards her, and leaned in to kiss her a second time.
Zoé responded enthusiastically, and wrapped her arms around Kagami. Kagami hugged back with all her force, enjoying the feeling of her friend’s body and lips. No, friend didn’t really sound right…
As they came up for air, Kagami said, “Zoé Lee, you are now my girlfriend. The next time we hang out will be an official date. I assume this is okay with you.”
Zoé grinned. She leaned in, and pressed another short kiss to Kagami’s lips.
“Oh no, Kagami, you are now my girlfriend. And you don’t get a say in that matter!”
Kagami smiled, and hooked her arm in her girlfriend’s. Her girlfriend!
“I accept”, she said, as they started walking down the road.
“Now, I suggest we find a place to drink some orange juice to celebrate. …alternatively, you did say some very interesting things about pressing you into a wall and kissing you senseless.”