Archive of Our Own

Marinette's heart beat in a rapid echo of the knocks on the door, and then beat even faster when she saw Kagami.

It wasn't that Kagami was dressed up in any particular way, or otherwise had put any special effort into her appearance beyond everyday care. She wore the same white jacket over the same black shirt and red tie, the same plaid skirt and the same black tights, and she had the same puffy bob she always did. No makeup, no perfume. But the fact she was using the legitimate entrance to the apartment, and was herself rather than Ryuuko, made the visit feel so very different.

That aside… part of the heartbeat increase was also that Kagami still had a glowing outline of a feather on her chest. Hovering in the impossible in-between where it seemed to exist through her, as big a mystery now as it was then. And Marinette nearly blabbered about it when she finally dared to open her mouth, but she managed to stay her tongue.

"He-hello," she said instead.

"Hello," said Kagami, and smiled only briefly. "May I come in?"

"Yes. Come in." Marinette stepped sideways and almost knocked over the hat stand in the process, but she managed to catch hold of it. Kagami followed her inside.

"Mum and Dad are packing up in the bakery right now, mhf, but dinner's ready," said Marinette, as she untangled herself from the furniture. She brushed herself off and took another careful look at Kagami, who didn't seem especially… bothered. "Um."

"Yes?"

"Well… you were grounded." Kagami’s smile fell a little. "And, and I don’t want to upset you by asking about bad stuff in front of my parents, so I just wanted to know… how did it go? How are you?"

Kagami shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it at all. I want to talk about nice things today.”

"But are you okay?"

"Do I look like I'm not?" said Kagami, looking rather more like she was frustrated.

Marinette swallowed. "No. No, you look great. I'm sorry."

"And…" Kagami trailed off, her expression softening along with her voice. "I'm ready to take Longg back now."

"Oh! That, that's great. Like now now or can it wait until after dinner?"

The eyebrow that shot up was an answer all on its own. "You want Longg to fly around the table while we eat and reveal my identity?"

"No, no, I just meant… I'll fetch him for you when you're headed home, then."

"Yes. Thank you. Has he behaved nicely? How did my replacement perform?"

Marinette was about to ask something stupid like, 'You don’t know?' but — then she let her brain catch up to her ears. And her memory to her brain. Her personal experience with Tomoe Tsurugi was limited, but she had talked enough to Kagami to guess that a grounding in the Tsurugi household would be far more involved than a simple command to not go outside. "Um… well," she started, with no idea where she was going from there. "Yeah. Hydra did a great job. Longg really liked being with her."

"… More than being with me?"

"Um." Somehow, some way she didn’t know, Marinette had put her foot in it. "I — can’t say? I, I don’t think so, he… he hasn't compared you?" Kagami’s frown was enough of a motivator to add, "S-sorry."

"You know, you are horrible at choosing your words," said Kagami and sighed. "At least you're pretty."

"Th-t-t-thanks?" said Marinette, bewildered. "Um, you too?"

Kagami narrowed her eyes. "As I was just saying…"

Before their conversation could get any further, though, the door clicked open. Reflexively Marinette grabbed Kagami's shoulders and pulled her away, back into the room; there was no resistance. It only took a moment for Mum and Dad to notice them, standing in something that probably looked like a half embrace, and there was no time to split apart from Kagami before both of their faces burst open with joy.

"Welcome!" they almost-chorused. "Welcome, welcome," continued Dad all on his own, stepping closer; "You must be Kagami."

"I am," said Kagami, and stepped away to reach out her hand. "Thank you for allowing me to visit, Mr Dupain. Ms Cheng."

Dad paused at the hand, obviously a little befuddled, but he did reach out his own hand and shook Kagami’s with appreciable caution. "You're… very welcome, Kagami."

"Yes," said Mum, who opted for a bow instead. "Marinette has told us so much about you."

Kagami hurried to let go of Dad and answered the bow with one of her own. It was only when she got up again that she asked, "She has?"

"Oh, yes. All the time."

"Mum!" whined Marinette.

"Only good things, only good things," said Sabine, sing-song. "She likes you a lot, I think."

Kagami, whose level of fazedness seemed to be almost negative, nodded. "I know she does."

"Ugh," said Marinette, putting a hand on her face and squeezing at her temples.

However, Kagami grabbed that hand and tugged it down a little. She smiled when her eyes met Marinette’s. "Don't be embarrassed," she said. "Your parents are very nice. I like them."

… Right. The sheer difference from Mum and Dad, to Tomoe Tsurugi.

"That's very sweet of you, dear," said Sabine cheerfully. "So, are you hungry? We have a steak ready in the oven. Just say the word."

"Yes. Thank you, Ms Cheng."

"Oh, call me Sabine. There's no need to stand on ceremony in this household."

"Unless you’re Marinette," said Dad with a brief guffaw, nudging Marinette in the shoulder with a fist.

"Dad!"

"Anyway, thank goodness that you're hungry, Kagami. Both of us are starving," Dad continued. "I'll go get the food out — darling, would you get the carafes out of the fridge?"

Marinette jolted. "Oh. Um, sure —"

"He means me," said Sabine and chuckled. "You are going to sit down with your own little darling and keep her company."

"… Oh."

Kagami was still smiling, but a smile that looked on the verge of laughter. "Darling," she said, and looped her arm under Marinette's.

Marinette sighed, started leading her towards the kitchen island. "You're a real menace, you know that?"

"Yes."

"Here, you can sit closest to the window." As chivalrously as she could manage, she pulled out the chair for Kagami. "I'll sit next to you."

"Good," said Kagami, and didn't look at Marinette — she gazed across the table at Mum and Dad instead.

Marinette slipped into her own seat, a little disappointed. She didn’t like attention when it wasn't on her terms, but she did like it when it was.

"It's very light in here," said Kagami, still looking at Mum and Dad.

"Should I turn the lights down?"

"No, I mean… the atmosphere. It's cosy." Looking at Marinette again, she added, "I mean that as a good thing."

Marinette frowned. "I know that!" she said hotly.

"Yet you thought 'light' was a bad word," said Kagami. And when Marinette opened her mouth to protest, Kagami held up a finger. "I am teasing you. You don't need to be upset. I'm just in a good mood right now."

"That's good to hear, Kagami," said Dad — he walked up with the steak tray in his hands, placed it carefully on the table. "In my experience, a good mood means a good appetite. I hope you're ready for an amazing meal."

"Thank you, Mr Dupain."

"Tom. That's all I am, Kagami," he said, patting the top of his belly. "You don't need to stand to attention for your future in-laws."

"Don't say things like that, Tom," said Sabine, coming up behind him with two mugs — regular water, and lemon water. "They'll decide their future for themselves in time. You’re not obligated to be anything either to us or to Marinette, Kagami." Her smile went a little lopsided. "That said, from what Marinette has told us about you, we would love to have you as part of the family."

At this point, Marinette wasn’t even looking. She had buried her face in her palms, though she was certain the redness of her face was shining through regardless. Her cheeks were boiling. "Mum… Dad… shut up, please…"

"We're just saying what's true, honey," said Dad. "Are we bothering you, Kagami?"

"No," said Kagami, for whatever reason. Her hand landed softly on Marinette's shoulder, but Marinette still jumped. "I don't know what will happen between us. Even so, I'm grateful to know that you want me here."

"See, Marinette?" said Mum. "We're just making your girlfriend feel welcome. Besides, it's always useful to ask yourself what you want from the future."

What she wanted from the future? At this point, what she wanted was to sink into the floor and never emerge again. She'd invited Kagami here for Kagami's sake, not to have them speculate wildly and very invasively about not-their-business. "Ugh," she said.

"Having said that, there is one thing we have to establish before we eat," Mum continued, as she and Dad sat down on their side of the table. "Marinette, does Kagami know?"

"Know what?" sighed Marinette, still staring at her hand. She had an inkling, so she might as well get it over with straight away. "That I love her very much?"

Kagami snorted. "While I'm flattered, I think she meant to ask if I know you're the guardian."

"That's what I meant, yes," said Sabine, chuckling again. "Oh, Marinette…"

Marinette squeezed her temples, hard. "I want to die…"

"You're not dying until you've eaten your dinner," said Dad. "Kagami, I'm serving you first. How many slices would you like?"

"Two is fine," said Kagami, ignoring Marinette's plight, except for how her arm was on Marinette's shoulder still. "Thank you very much, Mr Dupain."

"Take whatever sides you want as well," Tom said while cutting. "We have plenty. Spares on the stove, too. Also, call me Tom."

"Thank you."

"When did Marinette tell you she was a guardian?" asked Mum.

Kagami took her hand back, but slowly, speaking as she did so. "It was the first thing she told me. Given the situation, it was prudent for her to tell me."

"What situation?"

The compulsion Marinette felt to speak was probably not from guardian magic, but it was sometimes hard even for her to tell. She sat up straight and said, "She, um, she, I was handing out a Miraculous to someone, and she happened to see me."

"Yes. It was an accident. Then again, Marinette isn't very secretive about her duty."

Not very secretive. That was a lie and a half, and maybe twice that on top. Marinette looked aside at Kagami, at her almost casual expression. At the orange feather that shone over where her heart would be. It seemed to have a warmer glow now, a little like a fire. "Y-yes… all my friends know, after all…"

"Really?" said Dad, lifting the steak slices onto Kagami's plate. "I thought you asked us not to tell anyone?"

Technically, she had asked them that. Mostly out of panic. "I just meant… don't tell Nadja. I don't want to be a news item. Like… dozens of people know I'm the Guardian, so it's fine, just don't make it mainstream, okay?"

"Also, it's good for Marinette's friends to know that she has office hours with superheroes," said Kagami. Unprompted, but incredibly welcome. "They would worry for her otherwise."

Mum smiled wanly at that. "Yes, we know all about that… it helps to know. Even if it's scary sometimes. What if someone blows her up by accident?"

"I'm, er, immune," said Marinette.

"You say that. But you don't know for sure, do you?"

"I —"

"I trust her. She will be safe, and do her best to keep everyone else safe, too," said Kagami. Her hand reached across and took Marinette's, squeezing it a little.

Tom nodded. "So when did you two get together?"

"Dad!"

"Almost two months ago," said Kagami. "Seven weeks."

"You see, our girl only mentioned she had a sweetheart last week."

Kagami turned to look at her. "Even though she's been telling you so many good things about me?"

"She can be very talkative when she wants to be," said Mum.

Marinette shrank, let her gaze fall to her lap. "I just didn't want to force anything on you," she muttered. "They'd just ask so much about you." They had, in fact, asked so much about her since last weekend. Who she was, what she was like, what her hobbies were, what she looked like, who her parents were, what got her and Marinette together, if she liked baking. In a way, it was a good thing that Kagami hadn't been able to come for dinner last week, because if the first Mum and Dad had heard of Kagami were 'Hey, this is my girlfriend, can she come for dinner?' all of those questions would have gone to Kagami.

"You mean, I am more secret than your guardianship," said Kagami. She sounded teasing, but — was there something else underneath?

"I, um. Yes, you are. But it's not because of that." Marinette tried to smile. It sort of worked, at least halfway. "I do really… really like you."

"You're getting better at choosing your words." Kagami squeezed Marinette’s hand again, then let go. "You'll get there one day."

"… Yeah. Sorry."

"Now let's eat, okay?" said Dad. While they'd talked, he had finished slicing up and divvying out the rest of the steak; now he pointed at Kagami with the fork. "You first, Kagami. Take whatever you want. All you can eat, don't be shy."

"Yes, don’t be shy," echoed Mum. "This house is yours, and especially the dinner."

"… Thank you," said Kagami. The hesitation was brief, but noticeable. Then she reached out for the bowl of potatoes and spooned two onto her own plate.

The feather was so bright. Below her smile, above her hands, even though it was still just an outline. As Kagami continued adding sides to her plate, the feather maybe glowed even more strongly, or maybe that was just a hallucination. Maybe Kagami just looked happier and that smile felt like it made the lights around her shine more.

Why was the feather still there? Even after a week and change, even though all the symptoms of last week's magic spill had passed in a single day? Was it because the peacock was still upstairs? Did Kagami get injured too, somehow? No… none of the tin ever touched her, it couldn't be. There was nothing in the guardians' collective memory that suggested anyone could be injured by mere proximity.

Then again, there was nothing else in that memory that could suggest any alternatives, either…

Marinette had dreamt about it in the time since. The feather, flying out of Kagami's body, leaving Kagami as an empty husk. Why did only Kagami have it? No one else did, at least no one Marinette had seen. Mum and Dad certainly didn't. But with Kagami it was almost — almost — the first thing she noticed.

Kagami… did she know she had it? No, no, she couldn’t, she would have realised what was going on last week. She couldn’t see the feather, so the feather had to be a guardian-only thing. So… would she want to know about it? Did it hurt her in any way? Was there a way to take it out? Could she —

"Marinette?" said Kagami. "Your turn."

"… Oh. Um, sorry."

"You were zoning out. Are you okay?"

Marinette almost shook her head — then she caught herself, and nodded instead. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired. Guardian stuff."

"Do you need a rest?" asked Mum, in her worrying voice. "Maybe you want to lie down a bit?"

"No, I — it was just a spell," said Marinette. "I'm fine, really. And I wanna be here with Kagami."

"Thank you," said Kagami. "But if you make yourself sick just to spend time with me, I won't be happy. What you want shouldn't stop you from doing the smart thing."

Marinette nodded again, then reached for the potatoes. "I'm fine. It's just thinking," she murmured, while levering just one tuber onto her plate. She wasn’t as hungry as Kagami seemed to be. "I'm not sick and I'm not that tired."

"If you end up feeling faint, though," said Mum, "just tell us. Okay?"

"Mhm."

What she wanted. Well, she wanted to eat dinner with Kagami. And there was no reason she couldn't do that. There was no need to even ask herself about it. She was perfectly capable of sitting here, with her girlfriend and her parents, and have a normal dinner. Well, supper, but still. And Kagami's feather didn't matter, and it also didn't matter that she found it embarrassing to think about the future with Kagami. It would work itself out, hopefully.

Mum and Dad kept asking questions of Kagami. Lighter questions, mostly. Questions that lulled Marinette into a false sense of security, before they inevitably fired a broadside at her that made her cringe her forehead into the tabletop. Kagami smiled about it, though, which was a bright spot in the middle of everything.

And then the meal was over, and Kagami said she would have offered to help with the dishes, but also that she had promised to be home by eleven; Mum and Dad assured her it was fine, and she needn't worry, and to spend the last bit of time with Marinette instead.

The look in Kagami's eyes was clear. She wanted to see Longg again. So Marinette told her to wait a moment, and climbed up the stairs to her room, and shut the trapdoor once she was through. She stepped over to the workbench and reached her hand out —

"Guardian," said the unmistakable voice of Hawk Moth. She froze with her hand outstretched. "I hope you've had a pleasant dinner."

"… You," was all she managed. A glance up at her skylight showed that the glass wasn't broken; he must have levered it open in some other way.

"Indeed," he said. His feet were heavy as he walked up to just within her peripheral vision. "I have come for the Miraculous."

She finally caught up to her own senses and snapped her fingers. The windows tinted blue as always as the spell stopped time everywhere outside the room. "I told you she would take a long time to repair," she told him. "The injury was really deep."

"You told me a week. It has been nine days."

Maybe she did tell him that. Maybe she had asked him to return today, even — she couldn't remember. But she hated that he was here, now, when she was supposed to be focused on Kagami. She hated that he was taking Duusu away. Because the Miraculous had been repaired for five days by now, and she had specifically worked extra hard to give Duusu as much time as possible without being in his presence. Not to do anything with her, because that wasn't allowed. Just to let her rest and recuperate after spending a century in a broken jewel.

But she couldn't refuse. He was Duusu's holder until he gave her away, and she was bound to her guardian duties. She turned to face him, arms folded. "She's fully restored. But you know my hours are past, Mr Agreste."

"Your duty doesn't end at nine in the evening," he replied, like he didn't care.

"I will do anything if there's an emergency and a kwami needs me. But you could have come earlier —"

"Give me the Miraculous."

She sighed, resigning herself to the inevitable. "As you wish," she said, and turned back to the workbench. Duusu's brooch and Longg's necklace lay together in the box in the middle of the table, the brooch half covering the necklace's gem. She reached out quickly to get Duusu off of Longg, but as her fingers closed around the brooch she noticed it. The thing she must have been too distracted, too frustrated to notice before.

"… You're not alone," she said, turning around and clutching the brooch to her chest. It was briefly just a sensation, but then she saw the outline behind him, felt the heavy presence of Nooroo's magic. "You brought someone with you."

"Of course I did," he sneered. But the sneer couldn't quite mask his surprise. He must not have expected her to be able to see through his invisibility magic. "She will be Duusu's new holder."

"She," she echoed, peering at the figure. Whoever it was medium height, standing upright with limbs straight as poles. This woman was medium height and had limbs straighter than trunks, but it was impossible to tell anything else about her. A thought struck Marinette for a moment, that this might be Nathalie — but that sounded impossible, given how Adrien described her last Thursday. "So… you weren't going to use it yourself."

"Wearing multiple Miraculous is a bad idea," he told her. The invisible woman shifted slightly. "You should know this, guardian."

"I do. But two doesn't hurt you."

He scoffed, then waved his companion forward. "Never mind all that. Give her the Miraculous." Marinette stepped towards the two of them, held up the brooch in an open palm. "Akuma. I recall you."

And —

It was her. It couldn't be her, but it was. The woman whose hands reached into Marinette's hand and took Duusu's brooch, the woman who would stand by Hawk Moth's side to attack the city with sentimonsters, was Tomoe Tsurugi. Marinette had barely seen her before, only in passing, but the image was burnt into her brain: a woman who looked more severe than a plague, with dark spectacles over her eyes that reflected absolutely everything. A cane she held like a sword. An impression that was only made stronger by just how strict Marinette knew her to be, from talking to Adrien and Kagami.

And there she stood, next to Hawk Moth, with a brooch pinned lopsidedly to her chest, speaking the words: "Duusu, spread my feathers!"

Her transformation… left her in a flowing purple furisode with a feather-fronded skirt, a multitude of half-closed eye spots dotting the whole garment. She held a fan — Duusu's weapon — in one hand, and the other hand lay closed against her thigh. Her skin turned a pale pink. A large blue comb appeared in her hair, as though holding it in place.

And she looked horrible. Not aesthetically, but in her mark on the world. Kagami's mother: a villain who would use her Miraculous to destroy Paris, right alongside Hawk Moth. Marinette couldn't look away. She could hardly even breathe, the more that realisation sank over her.

"You look magnificent, Tosakatsu," said Hawk Moth, grinning darkly. "Now nothing can stop us from getting the Miraculous!"

"Indeed," said Tosakatsu. She stroked her hands over her eyes in apparent reverence; the glasses were no longer there, replaced by eyes that were a reflective monochrome black. Once she was satisfied, she turned to Marinette with the slow inevitability of a grim carousel. "Nothing can stop us, except the guardian."

"Y-you can't affect me," said Marinette, suddenly very aware that there were two adults in the room with her, one of whom was an experienced Miraculous user. She was supposed to be able to shut down their magic if they attacked her, but she had never tried to do it before, and she didn't want to try for the first time against those odds. "The, the magic protects me, and every Miraculous in my care."

"Indeed," repeated Tosakatsu.

"We will take them from their holders instead." Hawk Moth spoke in an almost-sigh. "As you know, the guardian is not allowed to interfere."

"And yet… she interferes with my daughter," said Tosakatsu.

Marinette felt like the floor suddenly vanished from under her feet. "… What?"

"My daughter has just finished having dinner with you downstairs. You are courting her, are you not?"

"I… yes, but…"

"I have no particular opinion of you, or your family. Perhaps you are good enough for her. Time will tell."

"Why… are you saying all this?" said Marinette, barely able to speak above a whisper. "Why do you…"

Tosakatsu stomped her foot into the floor. "Because she is my daughter! You will be evaluated on your suitability before I approve any real union between you."

"I —"

"You have yet to offend me," she continued. "Just know that I will be observing you."

Marinette gulped. "Um… Mrs Tsurugi… how did you know Kagami came for dinner?"

"She told me."

… Right. Of course. It made sense to tell your mother that you were going out for dinner. Or that you had a girlfriend. Even though… Kagami didn't feel like… she would say something like that last thing… to her mother by choice…

"If she is not home by eleven, I will reconsider my position," Tosakatsu continued.

"… Okay. Understood." If nothing else, it was understood that Kagami getting home late would be bad for Kagami. Not that anything that was happening right now could possibly be good for Kagami.

"Tosakatsu," said Hawk Moth, stamping Nooroo's cane into the floor for attention. "Let's test your powers. Create a sentimonster and learn how to use the magic of the Miraculous!"

She gave him a withering frown. "I have already made one," she told him. "You are well aware of this."

"I am. But now you have access to its full, unbounded capacity."

"Indeed." Flipping Duusu's fan open, Tosakatsu pulled a feather from its folds and breathed on it; it turned a glistening black in her palm. She regarded it as though she could see it.

"Excellent," said Hawk Moth.

"You can’t amokise anything inside this room," protested Marinette. "It's protected."

"That's why I brought this," said Hawk Moth, lifting out a photograph from inside his jacket. He held it up proudly, like he specifically wanted Marinette to see — it was a woman she didn't recognise, with prim glasses and black hair, a streak of white at the fringes of her bangs. She seemed sickly, lying down in bed, her eyes closed as though in sleep.

Marinette frowned at the photo, then at him. A sickly woman — whom he had photographed in a normal, non-hospital bed — she could only imagine two options. Either this was a random screencap of a film or TV show, or it was Nathalie.

"Who…"

"You may be wondering why I chose to become Hawk Moth," he said. He sounded sharp and reserved at once. "I am not a villain."

She didn't reply that it wasn't up to him to define that.

"My wife is dead. I picked up this brooch to retrieve the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, so I could use the Wish to get her back."

"The dead are always dead," said Marinette. "That doesn't excuse —"

"Some dead matter more than others," he snapped.

"To make that Wish, you would have to kill somebody else!"

"That's of no concern to me! The Miraculous killed her, so I am using them to get her back!"

Marinette had already opened her mouth to shout back at him, but then the second part of what he said sank in. "The Miraculous… but the Miraculous weren't active before you became Hawk Moth. How did they…" And then the implication finally collided with her brain and she turned to look at the brooch on Tosakatsu's chest. "Your wife… used Duusu's Miraculous while it was that broken? But that's… she couldn't have…"

"Yes. She did," he said, through gritted teeth. "And it broke her body."

"But — she should have brought it to the guardian! She could have gotten it fixed! Nothing would have happ—"

"It did happen to her!" he thundered. "The old guardian, whoever it was, hid away! Nooroo never even had their name, let alone where to find them!"

"Besides, she was not the only one to use a broken Miraculous," said Tosakatsu.

Marinette blinked. It suddenly dawned on her that just a minute ago, Tosakatsu said she had also created a sentimonster. But that was impossible — she would have been dead too. "You didn't," she protested, and sounded so very feeble. "You can't have used Duusu's Miraculous."

"I did. And I created Kagami. Her creation is what finally shattered the magic."

"Her — what?"

It wasn't that she didn't hear. She caught every word, every inflection, every implication. Even the things that she only heard filtered through five thousand years of memories. Creating a human with Duusu's magic was ludicrous — possible, but ludicrous — Duusu's magic was about control. That was why practically every holder would make simple, monstrous, often robotic creatures. They were easily steered, easily controlled, because they only possessed negative emotions and those emotions could just be turned outward. The magic required to build a whole, thinking, emotionally complex human was massive in comparison.

And the magic required to bind that human to someone else's will…

"She is a sentimonster," said Tosakatsu.

"I heard you," said Marinette. "But you created — you — the magic of a Miraculous can't shatter itself. It must already have been broken. The magic discharge to create Kagami, it would have been catastrophic. You should have been gravely injured. For the brooch to look like it did…"

"It took my eyes. That was when it shattered. When I took it off, there was a crack on the front that wasn't there before. I felt it with my fingers."

"She was also not the only one," said Hawk Moth.

The image of the broken Miraculous flashed before Marinette's eyes. Three cracks on the front. A magic that had cut deeper and deeper. She had thought the Miraculous must have been broken for a hundred years, but there were three cracks. People using the brooch even after it was obviously unusable — using it to create something so complex as a human, a human that could be controlled, a human who wouldn't be just one fixed size but instead grow and mature over a matter of years and even decades — that would have done far more damage than just letting the crack fester.

And everything she saw when Hawk Moth brought Duusu in, suddenly made sense.

"Adrien too," she said. "Your wife made Adrien."

"Yes. And his cousin is also a sentimonster."

She spoke with the fury of all the perished guardians when she told him, "You are horrible. You used a magic item you knew was harmful. You harmed Duusu. Fifteen years to break a Miraculous this badly. You are a villain."

"Watch your tone, girl."

"No one was forcing you to use the Miraculous! And you want to kill someone for the mistakes you made?"

"You know nothing!" he shouted, pointing Nooroo's cane at her. It trembled with the force he gripped with. "Plus, you are not allowed to interfere! The only reason we told you about this is because you can't tell anyone, and you can't do anything about it! Your judgement doesn't matter!"

She was about to yell back at him — about his duty to Nooroo and Duusu, to his wife, to his son — but Tosakatsu cut her off. "Would you also condemn Nathalie Sancoeur?"

"… What?"

"She used the Miraculous without knowing how broken it was." Tosakatsu spoke like she was reading from a book. "Even just transforming with it struck her unconscious. Despite Gabriel's insistence that she should never touch that Miraculous, she tried to wear it in an effort to help him. Now she is bedridden, at Death's door. Would you condemn her to perish, even though she didn't know?"

Marinette took a step back, uncurled her fists. "I…"

"Would you condemn me to blindness, even though I didn't know the Miraculous was broken at all? Would you condemn me, even though in doing so I created the girl you love?"

"I — I would — what are you —"

"Do you mind that Kagami is a sentimonster, not a human? Is she lesser in your eyes because of this?"

"N-no, I don't," said Marinette. The conversation had gotten away from her, and she didn't have the authority needed to wrest back control. Not about this topic. "She could be anything and, and it wouldn't matter."

"Good," said Tosakatsu. "You are not downright unsuitable for my daughter. Gabriel, hold ready the photograph — we are leaving."

"As you wish," he said, bowing very slightly. "And to you, guardian — thank you for your assistance. Your expertise has been invaluable, much though your personality offends me. Until next time." With a horrible grin, he took Tosakatsu's hand and guided her up on the bed, then across to the escape window.

As Hawk Moth rose to push the window open, Tosakatsu turned and said, "Marinette. Ask yourself what you want from the future. If you provide us with assistance, I may look even more favourably on your union with my daughter. If you work against us, however…"

Marinette didn't reply. She only raised her hand, thoughtlessly, because it was the guardians' spirit doing it, and it was the guardians' spirit that snapped her fingers. Time started flowing again, and the two holders jumped up and disappeared into the night, leaving Tosakatsu's threat incomplete. Only moments later, the window clapped shut.

Her mind raced. It had been racing since Hawk Moth turned up in her room, if not before, and it was exhausted from running at full speed for so long but it pushed onwards nonetheless. Kagami was created by Duusu's magic. Tomoe Tsurugi was the holder of Duusu's Miraculous. Duusu hadn't been destroyed for a century, she had broken less than twenty years ago. Two people had died, soon three. And all of it was tied up around Adrien and Kagami.

Adrien. She hadn't found it in her to love him, because Gabriel Agreste existed, because she knew Gabriel's secrets and would have had to keep them to herself. She hated secrets and she hated lying; she could never have lived with herself even keeping only the secrets she knew then. Now she knew even more secrets, and she felt like she might break just from thinking about them.

And now… Tomoe Tsurugi was Duusu's holder, and Marinette knew her secrets. And Kagami…

Slowly, she moved over to the workbench. Longg's necklace lay forlorn inside it, the bauble glinting harsh in the lamplight overhead. She reached out to grab the necklace, but then changed her mind.

What she wanted… she knew the right thing to do. She had to break up with Kagami. To let her know that something was wrong and it wasn't her fault, but they could no longer be together. Maybe she could even lie and say it was because a guardian shouldn't date a holder — which was true, but it hadn't been true enough to matter before.

Everything Tomoe said earlier was meaningless. Subtle threats and empty guilt. It didn't change what was the right thing to do. But what she wanted…

The trapdoor behind her creaked open, and her heart contracted violently when she heard Kagami say, "Marinette?"

"… Hey," she managed. She didn't turn around. Kept her eye on the necklace in the box. "Sorry."

"Is something wrong?" said Kagami, and her feet sounded throughout the room. They were light but roared like drums in Marinette's head. "Did something happen?"

"No," spoke the guardian's spirit, through her lips. "Nothing happened. I just lapsed into thought for a moment."

"That's good," said Kagami. "I was getting worried."

"Kagami…"

Kagami came up beside her. "Yes?"

Marinette swallowed. It was just a simple series of words. 'We have to break up,' 'It's not you, it's because I'm the guardian,' 'I really care about you, we can still be friends.' And then a far more complicated series of words she could never say, no matter how much she wanted to. But her lips refused to budge even an inch. "Kagami, I…"

"Don't talk like that," said Kagami. Her hand grabbed around Marinette's arm, almost forcefully. "You're making it sound like you're breaking up with me."

Even in her dazed state, Marinette could hear the worry in those words. They sounded like a plea. "Don't say that," she tried, because she was the one who needed to say it.

"Something is wrong," Kagami insisted, still pleading. "Tell me. What's wrong?"

— an impossible question to answer, when everything was wrong at once. "It's… guardian things," said Marinette, glancing aside at Kagami. The feather was there — of course it was. The empty outline lit in burning colours, waiting for a reply.

"More stress?" said Kagami.

"Yeah. I — I guess," murmured Marinette. Finally, she reached down for the necklace, picking it out of the box. "Longg's waiting for you."

Kagami sighed, took the necklace and put it in her chest pocket. "Marinette, you really need to learn how to talk. You were acting like —"

"Kagami," said Marinette. She reached out and grabbed Kagami by the wrists, forced herself to stare straight into her eyes. They were so dazzlingly golden. "I have something very important to tell you."

"… You do?" said Kagami, only hesitating for a moment. "Then tell me!"

"I can't…" started Marinette. But her throat caught even on just those two words, and she couldn't get any further. "We… you… I…"

"Marinette…"

So lost. So lonely. So pretty. Marinette knew what the right thing was. And she also realised, right here and now, she could never bring herself to do the right thing.

"I… can't tell you how much I appreciated you coming here today," she murmured.

"That's what you wanted to say?" asked Kagami, eyes wide, pulling her wrists free.

No. "Yes. And also… when you go home tonight… I think there might be an attack by Hawk Moth." No bubbles. Good. "I want you to go straight home and not involve yourself."

Any trace of annoyance Kagami might have had a moment earlier, now seemed completely evaporated. "Why?"

Because Tomoe possessed Duusu's magic and could kill Duusu's creations with a snap of her fingers. Because Kagami had a glowing feather on her front and maybe Tosakatsu could also see it. Because Kagami didn't deserve this. Because everything was so confusing and it would be comfortable to know that if nothing else, she would be safe for one more day.

"Because your mother might suspect you if Ryuuko disappeared for the time you were grounded, but showed up again the moment you were released."

Foreign words on her tongue yet again. But this time she almost welcomed them. They tasted bitter, but less bitter than all the words she knew she ought to say.

"… Okay," said Kagami. "I understand. I will lie low for a few days, except to come see you."

"Yes," said Marinette. "Good. Okay."

"Thank you for inviting me today." Kagami took Marinette's shoulders and pulled her closer, planting a kiss on her cheek. "It was very fun to meet your parents."

If only Marinette could say the same for meeting Kagami's mother. If only things could be different than what they were — all things, forever. "That's good."

"Just remember to express yourself more clearly," Kagami continued, pinching Marinette’s cheek.

"Ow!"

"You can be very confusing sometimes. I thought you were going to say something terrible."

"Your mother made you with a Miraculous. She is about to attack the city alongside Hawk Moth and a sentimonster. Both of them are watching you, and you could lose Longg if he stays with you. I love you but I can't be with you anymore. I will be lying to you from here on until forever, about everything that could possibly matter to you."

Marinette said none of those things. She just sighed and faked a little smile. And as she did so, Kagami's feather seemed to glow just a little bit more.

They parted shortly afterwards, through goodbyes and fake promises. Only five minutes later, an akuma and a sentimonster attacked the city side by side. And the sentimonster had an outline of a feather hovering over its chest, glowing a pale and neon blue.