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Marinette had made a promise. Not only to herself, but to a friend.
Even if she much would have rather sent Monarch a flower bouquet, her Ladybug duties were obnoxiously insistent.
She wasn't sure texting while swinging around the city was exactly something safe to do, but in her frantic mind, sending the text was only below getting to the akuma in importance.
I'm so so sorry, something came up and I’m gonna be late.
She could only hope it was enough. Kagami would understand, she always did, but after the whole thing with Lila, Marinette had vowed to care twice as much as she already did about her friend. Reassurance, explanations, honesty. So far, she had learned that even above constant reminders of how she wouldn't ditch Kagami for mistakes or her usual awkwardness, what the girl valued the most was honesty.
Just like it had put a strain on her relationship with Luka back then, being Ladybug was starting to get her to a similar point with Kagami.
She didn't want to lose her as a friend, not at all, but not being able to entirely give her what she valued the most was starting to hurt.
If that was the effect it had on her, Marinette definitely did not want to know how Kagami would feel when she found out.
An apology text definitely did not feel enough. Knowing her usual record, being late to a movie would most likely mean only getting to see the end credits. The fact that Kagami had been even allowed to go to the movies with her was most likely Tikki’s Luck intervening given how hard it was for Mrs. Tsurugi to let her go anywhere, and she wasn’t even going to be able to be there.
Folding her bugphone into the usual yoyo, Marinette -Ladybug- groaned. She had to make it up to her friend, that was more than clear, but how? She knew that the only thing that could truly be the best, most heartfelt attempt at showing how much their friendship meant to her was telling Kagami, and that was the one and only thing she couldn't do.
She had grown to understand the responsibility she had, especially after losing the rest of the Box, but it was on times like this she would give so much to be able to ditch her earrings, call Alya or someone else as a replacement, and live her life the best she could.
However, ditching everything stopped being an option quite some time before, and she didn't even have the possibility of calling Alya in now, not when Monarch already knew who she was.
Monarch really, really had to be defeated soon.
When she arrived to the scene a few buildings later, the frustration that had begun boiling inside of her the moment she realized that being on time for once would be useless turned into bubbling anger.
Out of all akumas, it was Mr. Pigeon. With the Mouse Miraculous.
It wasn't even going to be a hard akuma, just a really, really long and tedious one.
As much as she tried to not let her emotions get the best of her, she couldn't refrain the slight hint of bitterness when she explained the situation to Chat Noir.
"Can we get this done soon? I have something really, really important to do that I was supposed to be doing right now but Pigeon appeared and well-"
A swarm of pigeons interrupted her, creating a feathery wall between her and Chat.
~(X)~
About an hour later, she wanted to put every pigeon in Paris inside a cage and send them overseas so she would never see one again.
If she was lucky enough, she would only have to ask Kagami what the first half of the movie was about if she ran fast enough. Or if she swung fast enough-
Marinette immediately discarded the thought. It was far too risky.
Despite the logic she was working on, a small voice in the back of her brain, where all her bad ideas came from, spoke.
Kagami would understand it. She's reliable enough to keep the secret.
No. Simply no. Alya knowing was a risk already, and two people meant double the risk.
Kagami didn't get akumatized as often though.
As ugly as it sounded while Marinette thought it, Kagami didn't have many friends she trusted enough to share something that important with as far as Marinette knew.
And, in a way, she owed her.
Marinette shook the thought off.
Maybe she would tell her, maybe one day when it was less dangerous and she wouldn't put Kagami at so much risk.
On the other hand, maybe there would be fewer chances for Kagami to be akumatized if she knew the reason behind Marinette's, well, Marinette's everything. Her disappearances, her lateness, all the times she had to give vague answers and very obvious lies.
"Just no," Marinette said to herself out loud while she walked the half block she had left to the theater. She would simply apologize, buy a popcorn bucket to share with her friend, and hope for the best.
Right as she walked inside, she saw a figure idly standing against the wall near the entrance to the theater area.
As she got closer, Marinette recognized the figure.
"Kagami?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"
"You told me to wait for you at the start of the hallway so we could go in together."
"But I told you I was running late! Did you wait here for an hour?"
"As I said, you asked me to wait for you."
Marinette's brain crashed at those words. She knew how literally Kagami could take things, and yet she hadn't even thought about reminding her to go in if she wasn't on time-
She felt terrible. Not only had she been late, but she had left Kagami waiting-
"I understand if you didn't want to come, just... let me know beforehand. I won't be angry."
Marinette truly did not know how to even start apologizing.
"I'm so, so sorry Kagami, I was late and- I promise I wanted to come! I just- Something came up and I really couldn't avoid it but I shouldn't have left you waiting and-"
"I understand, if you have other plans just let me know, I know there are priorities."
"That's not- Look, I didn't have any other plans! I specifically cleared out my entire schedule for today, I made sure to not start any projects yesterday or today so I wouldn't get caught up on them, I really meant to arrive on time! I even got here three minutes earlier than we planned to!"
"Marinette, it's okay, I understand. It's nice to simply be outside, but please let me know in advance you'll be late so I can bring something to distract myself with."
"Kagami, you don't understand, I really didn't mean to! I was on time and everything! You were my priority for today! Something... came up and I really needed to go."
“If you don’t mind me asking, what is it? That way I can calculate enough time for you to arrive next time, and know what I should bring.”
Marinette was on the verge of tears.
"That's not- I- Look, I didn't mean for this to happen! Sure, I usually lose track of time, but I've been working on arriving on time!"
"Marinette, don't worry. I know time can be hard, just give me an estimation of future delay times. I'm not angry, as I said before."
She sighed deeply. While it was probably for the best, the bitter taste of something wrong remained in her. Had she really been so late, so often, enough for Kagami to already take the delay times into account?
"In a normal day, say five to ten minutes."
"You took an hour today, so I am assuming it didn't fall under "normal day.""
"I mean-"
"Five to ten minutes under normal circumstances, and up to an hour should it not be a normal day. If you don't mind me asking, what would make one? Weather, day of the week..?"
An akuma.
"It's... complicated."
"Marinette, I understand a lot of things, but I really need to know so I can plan in advance. I can tell there is something you're not telling me, and while I respect that, I need at least a clue for the plan to work. I just... like spending time with you, and it can be difficult with Mother, so allow me to try this. Please?"
That was it. Was she supposed to tell her? Probably not. Did she have an alternative? Probably, but Marinette was far too worried about not being able to help her friend to even think of it.
"Follow me," Marinette told her.
The walk to the nearest entrance to the sewers was less than five minutes, but making sure nobody saw them getting in took a little more. Still, Kagami had more than enough time for whatever Marinette was going to tell her before she was picked up.
Once they were fairly deep in the maze, concerning Kagami a little knowing her friend's either excellent or horrifying sense of direction, Marinette finally stopped dragging her.
She took a couple of deep breaths, visibly nervous.
"Kagami, I- I don't know how to tell you this but- Okay, no more rambling. I'm- I'm Ladybug."
Kagami stared at her with eyes wide open for a few seconds.
That tracked.
"Please don't tell anyone. Please. Can I trust you?"
And suddenly, four words made their way out of her mouth.
"Will you date me?"
"What?"
"Will you date me?"
"Yes! I mean, what? Why?" Marinette was now blushing furiously.
"First of all, I believe I might have had a crush on you for quite a while now. Second, if you need the ultimate type of trust, this is the best way to ensure it."
"I mean, I don't say no to the dating part, but what's wrong with trusting a friend?"
"A partner is the ultimate, well, partner. The one you put trust in, the one you confide. It is a key part to relationships."
"That... would explain some things. Where did you read that? I could certainly use some advice if we're- well, if we're going to be together, I wouldn't want to screw this up and-"
"Would you like to know the context to the story, or do you only want to get to the lesson?"
Marinette was confused.
"The story?"
"Yes, from my manga! There are fifteen volumes before the lesson and about thirty two after, but the truth arc only takes three volumes. Would you like to borrow my physical copies or should I send you the link to the e-version?"