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To be honest, Marinette was completely lost.
Why had Kagami summoned her to discuss confession strategies? Why did Marinette’s heart rate pick up when she stepped into the car, and why couldn’t she get enough of that subtle lavender scent coming from Kagami’s…shampoo? Perfume? Hand cream? Marinette would ask later.
But mostly, mostly, it was Kagami’s words that made no sense.
Since when did Adrien have a sword? Or was he the sword? And what did an edge have to do with anything? Marinette had been in enough Akuma attacks to know that attraction was nothing like combat, no matter how well Chat Noir might think the two paired together.
Then again, Kagami made some valid points. It wasn’t like any of Marinette’s previous confession attempts had been anything short of disastrous. Kagami’s suggestion was certainly no more convoluted than Operation: Secret Garden, or more humiliating than the time Marinette had given Adrien Master Fu’s prescription. And it was nowhere near as cringe-worthy as the failure that still haunted Marinette’s nightmares—the dreaded statue confession.
So really, Marinette had nothing to lose by trying things Kagami’s way. After all, practice did make perfect, and if anybody knew perfection it was Kagami. Not just because of her flawless skin or silky hair or surprisingly warm brown eyes, but because of her drive to be the best. Hell, Marinette had even entrusted her time and time again with the Kwami embodying perfection.
Marinette just had one question. “But what if the person I'm practising on falls for me? Since I don't feel the same way, couldn't there be awful consequences?”
“That's why you must be sure that the person you pick has zero chance of falling for you,” Kagami said.
“Huh.” Marinette took a moment to think that through. It did seem like a good plan, and surely she’d be able to find someone to help her out. Alya, or maybe even Nino…No, that would be a little awkward seeing as he was Adrien’s best friend. Maybe there was even another option.
“Would you help me?” Marinette asked.
Kagami’s eyes widened. “Well, that isn’t really what I meant…but yes, actually. That could work.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “Actually, that’s brilliant. It would allow me to ensure we’re approaching this as efficiently as possible. I can do some research too, to really make sure we build up the best strategy…”
Kagami smiled, staring somewhere off to the side. Marinette almost wondered if she’d forgotten she wasn’t alone until her gaze suddenly darted back to Marinette’s.
“That’s all then,” Kagami said.
“Wait, so…that’s a yes?”
A slight nod was Marinette’s only response.
“Great!” Marinette beamed. “We can get started right away. I just have to run home and grab the confession I wrote out, so—” she broke off when Kagami grabbed her wrist with a surprisingly soft set of fingers.
Was all of Kagami’s skin that soft, or did she just have really good hand cream? Surely she could afford high-quality cosmetics, but how much of an effect could they really have? There must have been some sort of natural…talent? No, that was the wrong word, but what was the right one? Gift from the Gods? She was fairly sure Kagami was agnostic. Perhaps there was something to the gift part, though. Hm…maybe Marinette should make Kagami a gift for helping her out. What would Kagami like? Certainly not hand cream, she had that covered.
“Marinette.” Kagami smiled again, and there was something even softer than her hands about the way her eyes sparkled. “Not now. I have other commitments at the moment.”
Before Marinette could decide how to respond, Kagami leaned across her, and—oh! The lavender smell was definitely her shampoo—pushed open Marinette’s door.
“I’ll be in touch,” Kagami said, and it took Marinette a solid few seconds to realize she was actually supposed to get out of the car.
Marinette stumbled outside, turning around to see Kagami’s smirk widening as she pulled the door closed. As the car drove away, Marinette couldn’t help but grin, her heart thumping eagerly as she considered what would come next.
With Kagami on her side…well, frankly, Marinette couldn’t imagine anything she wouldn’t be able to do. Confessing to Adrien would be a piece of cake after Kagami’s tutelage.
And spending more time with Kagami in the process? That was just the cherry on top.
Marinette’s mind reeled as she closed her locker. She had so much to do, and it had already been a long day. An Akuma struck just before the end of the class, forcing her to stay late to finish copying down the notes. Awaiting her now were several hours of homework followed by patrol with Chat Noir.
Still, she wasted a minute or so just standing there with her forehead pressed against the locker, wondering if she could spontaneously master the art of micro napping on her feet. Maybe if she focused hard enough…well, no. She probably needed to do the opposite of focus if she wanted to sleep. She needed to relax.
She didn’t get the chance, because out of nowhere somebody grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her back. Marinette yelped as she stumbled backwards, but her potential assailant seemed to have good reflexes, and a surprisingly gentle hand steadied her before she could fall. That made a lot of sense when Marinette recognized a familiar red fencing outfit in her periphery.
“Come with me,” Kagami said, giving her arm another tug.
Marinette followed without protest, somewhat confused until she remembered their conversation from a few days prior. Perhaps she should have clarified what Kagami had meant by, “I’ll be in touch.”
Soon they stood face-to-face in one of the bathroom stalls, close enough that Marinette could tell Kagami’s chapstick smelled of peppermint. That likely wasn’t an important detail, but Marinette took note of it nonetheless.
Like her abrupt arrival, Kagami wasted no time before getting down to business. “Well, let’s hear your confession.”
“I, uh…” Marinette tensed at the sound of running water—what if someone else was listening?—but it turned out to be the pipes. She sighed. “Do we have to do this here?”
Kagami shrugged. “Probably not. But we’re here now, and I don’t have much time before practice.”
So there was no getting out of it, then. Unless…
“The thing is…” Marinette fiddled with the straps of her backpack. “I don’t actually have the confession with me.” She stared right at Kagami as she spoke, trying not to blink or look up in either direction—she couldn’t remember which way was supposed to signify lying.
Kagami simply arched an eyebrow in disbelief. “You brought an actual ball gown when you tried to get me and Adrien back together at the pool. I’m fairly sure you have the speech on hand. In fact, I’d be highly surprised if you didn’t have it memorized.”
Truthfully, yes, Marinette did have it memorized. But she wasn’t about to give Kagami the satisfaction of being right, as petty as that might be. So she simply groaned and slipped off one strap of her backpack, letting it hang from one shoulder—away from the toilet, since Marinette knew her own clumsiness—while she riffled around for the paper bearing her confession.
The page was a bit crumpled when she pulled it out, but there was no major damage, and everything was still legible. In other words, Marinette had no more excuses. She timidly offered the paper to Kagami, only to have it pushed back towards her.
“You should read it to me. The entire point was to have you practise.”
“Do I have to?” Marinette pouted, but Kagami’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
Eventually, Marinette sighed, cleared her throat, and raised the paper a touch so she could at least hide her face while she read. The last thing turned out to be useless when Kagami pushed her wrists down. Marinette regarded her incredulously.
“What?” Kagami crossed her arms across her chest. “How am I meant to judge your confession if I can’t see your face? What if you look constipated while you talk?”
“Then I suppose it’s a good thing we’re practising right beside the toilet,” Marinette said drily.
“Do you really want Adrien to think you have intestinal issues when you try to confess your love?”
“What?! Of course not!” Not again. “Ugh. Fine.” Marinette sent Kagami one more disgruntled look, then she began to read. “Dear, uh, Adrien, ever since I’ve met you, I’ve had three suns in my heart. They—”
“Stop.”
“Why? I just started!”
Kagami shook her head. “Why on Earth would you have three suns?”
“Well—”
“I can understand the figurative language of your heart being warm, even though that makes very little sense if you think about it. I mean, if your body temperature were too high, then you’d have a fever. And why would you want Adrien to think he makes you sick? But even ignoring that, I stand by my original point. Is three a number that has any particular meaning to you?”
Marinette blinked in disbelief. “I don’t know? I guess not…”
“Hm. I think you should stick with one sun then.”
Glancing down at her paper, Marinette tried to imagine how that would read. “Can I at least say one giant sun? For emphasis?”
Kagami’s lips twitched almost imperceptibly, her expression unyielding. “I suppose so. If you must.” She gestured to the paper. “Continue.”
“Right…” Marinette took a deep breath and decided to start again from the second line. “They shine so brightly, that whenever I see you, they make me melt until—”
“Why are you melting?”
“It’s a metaphor!” Marinette scowled, nearly scrunching the paper in her fist. “I mean to say…” What had she meant to say? “It—he—being around him makes me trip over my words. It turns my brain to mush, because he’s just so…so…I don’t know. He just does!”
“I feel like it would be much simpler just to say that,” Kagami said, and Marinette hated that she had a point. “Is the melting part why you thought you needed three whole suns? Because I’m certain one would suffice. Although, I’m not really sure you would melt so much as disint—”
“Kagami! Can I just finish? Without the constant interruptions?”
“Oh. I suppose that would be more efficient, yes.”
It took Marinette a few moments to work up the nerve to continue, then she picked up after the sentence about melting—the rest of that one didn’t really make sense anymore.
“Those su—wait, this is why I had three suns! Those suns are only three little words, but they’re, uh…burning my lips.” Not nearly as much as Marinette’s cheeks were burning now, though. “Please, um, soothe me, Adrien, and tell me that you…” Marinette squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out the rest in a single rush of air. “Tell me that you love me as much as I love you!”
There was silence when she finished—save for the pipes which seemed to be performing an out-of-tune symphony. Just the soundtrack Marinette needed for one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. When she peeked her eyes back open, Kagami somehow looked even less impressed than before.
“Soothe me? What are you, an infant?” Kagami paused, her eyes darting to the side in concentration. “And that last part…it sounds like you expect him to return your feelings. And while I suspect he does—”
“Wait, really?”
Kagami cracked a small smile. “You didn’t think I’d waste my time on an impossibility, did you? But I’m fairly certain he’s not aware of his feelings, so…” She held out her hand. “May I?”
Still caught up on the possibility of her feelings being requited, Marinette passed over the paper. When Kagami continued to stare, hand outstretched, Marinette fumbled through her bag and pulled out a pen as well. Then she could only watch in a mixture of horror and bemusement as Kagami crossed out sentences and scribbled new words underneath. By the time she passed the paper back, Marinette’s confession was unrecognizable.”
“Try that,” Kagami said.
Marinette sighed, knowing it would be easier to go along with Kagami’s plan than to argue, but also knowing there was no way the modified speech would be effective.
“You make me warm,” she read. “But not literally, figuratively. Seeing you renders me incapable of proper thought, but I do know I would like to feel your lips against mine. Please let me know at your earliest convenience if you feel the same way.”
Marinette sighed, lowering the paper. “I don’t think this is going to work.”
Kagami pressed her lips together. “You’re right. It does seem to be lacking…something.” She sighed. “This entire thing is far worse than I thought. We’ll have to figure out a new approach for next time.”
“Next time?” Marinette said as Kagami unlocked the stall and started towards the exit.
“I’ll text you,” Kagami said, waving to Marinette as she opened the door.
“Okay, but next time better not be” —the door swung shut, and Marinette mumbled the rest of her sentence— “in the damn bathroom.”
The door didn’t respond, and Marinette just stood there for a while, missing the scents of lavender and peppermint.
The next time, Kagami did make proper plans and let Marinette know ahead of time. Against all odds, Marinette even showed up to their usual juice spot on time—an entire two minutes early, actually. Since Kagami had yet to arrive, she tried to calm her nerves by looking through the menu several times, only to settle on getting her usual orange juice.
She wasn’t exactly sure why she was so nervous, but her swirling stomach refused to listen when she tried to convince it this was just like any other juice date. No, not date—that made it sound weird. It was just a juice hangout.
Totally.
Marinette had just set down the menu when Kagami joined her at the table.
“I can see that telling you to show up fifteen minutes early worked,” Kagami said as she sank into the chair next to Marinette.
Marinette wanted to be annoyed about that revelation. She really did. But instead she got a little distracted watching as Kagami tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled at the waiter approaching them. They both placed their orders, and as soon as the waiter walked away Kagami cut to the chase.
“We have a lot of ground to cover, so I think we should get right to it.”
“Alright. Where do we start?”
Marinette felt her eyes widen as Kagami slipped off her shoulder bag and pulled out a folder. There was a distinct THUNK when Kagami set it down on the glass table.
“I’ve been doing some research about how to craft the perfect confession. Or at least, I’ve been trying to.” She pursed her lips. “Many of the articles focus on how to build up to a confession—not the words themselves—and I don’t think you need any help concocting elaborate schemes.”
Marinette narrowed her eyes, but before she could protest Kagami slid a few stapled papers in front of her.
“I think this article might come in handy,” Kagami said. “I’ve already taken the liberty of crossing out the lines that don’t work, but some of these seem like they might be appealing. I’ve highlighted the ones I really like.
“‘Hamsters run in wheels all day, and I run after you,’” Marinette read out incredulously. “How’s that supposed to help me tell Adrien I love him?”
“Hm…maybe that’s not the best example. But you do both seem to have this weird thing about hamsters.”
“It’s not weird.”
Kagami ignored her, flipping to the next page and pointing to one of the highlighted lines. “I actually thought you could start with this one.”
“‘I like you more than waking up late?’”
“I mean” —Kagami smirked— “it does say a lot coming from you.”
Marinette tried to narrow her eyes, but a split second later she and Kagami were both laughing. The air felt a little lighter—and Marinette’s stomach far more settled—when she returned to working her way through the list. She wasn’t sure the list was really that helpful, though. Each suggestion seemed more ridiculous than the last.
“Wait!” Kagami interjected at some point.
She reached for the paper, her finger brushing Marinette’s in the process. Marinette did her best to ignore the weird flutter that ran through her when Kagami leaned forwards excitedly.
“You forgot one of my favourites,” Kagami continued. “‘Are you the square root of two? Because I always feel extra irrational around you.’” Her grin only widened when Marinette gave her a playful shove. “What? It’s accurate. And Adrien does enjoy math!”
By the time their drinks arrived, they’d only made it halfway through the article, having stopped too many times to make jokes. They could barely stop laughing long enough to thank the waiter, and Marinette couldn’t for the life of her figure out why she’d been nervous about this before/ Hanging out with Kagami was always fun...when it wasn’t in a bathroom stall.
And it was nice that Kagami seemed to be taking this so seriously, jokes aside. Schemes and such didn’t seem much like her thing, but she obviously still cared enough to help Marinette and that felt nice.
It felt really nice.
“Okay, okay, okay,” Marinette said as the waiter walked away. “As fun as this is, none of these lines are all that…useful. These are pick-up lines, not really confessions.”
“You make a good point.”
Kagami stared at her juice like it held the answers to the Universe. Marinette watched as she spun her metal straw around the edge, her brow furrowed. Her eyes were always so intense when she was trying to figure out a problem, and Marinette loved that. She also loved the softness inside them when Kagami finally looked up.
“It should be something more personal,” Kagami said. “Something that says you care about him. That you know him. For example, if I were to confess to you” —Marinette froze mid-sip— “I’d probably say something about how…you make my life more interesting.”
Marinette narrowly avoided swallowing down the wrong pipe. “I do?”
A faint smile played across Kagami’s lips. “I don’t think there are many people I’d help out with a love confession, for starters. But it’s obviously more than just that. You do things that are unexpected. You care about people. And that’s rare enough as is, but the way you do it is…all-encompassing. It’s not something I’m normally taken with. If anything, it’s something I’m typically skeptical of. Trusting people so wholly can be foolish. But it’s not with you. You don’t trust everyone, and you don’t trust blindly. You do it in a way that’s just so…you. It’s admirable.”
As she spoke, Kagami leaned forwards, her hand inching across the table. Marinette had the strangest urge to take it, but she was unable to move.
Instead, she tried to laugh off the weird palpitations in her chest. “Well, uh…I suppose I can adapt that somewhat for Adrien. I don’t know about unpredictable, but he’s certainly—”
“I wasn’t done,” Kagami interrupted. Her gaze seemed to focus in further, and Marinette couldn’t help but feel like the world had reduced to the two of them. “I think one of my favourite things is how I have absolutely no idea what you’re going to do next, but it’s always clear in retrospect. There’s a reason for the things you do, and sometimes I spend hours after we see each other trying to figure out the whys of it but…they’re always there. And I can’t help but trust you. Even if I hate giving up control or not knowing all the facts, with you that’s all part of the thrill.”
Marinette moved without really thinking things through, because suddenly she needed to grab Kagami’s hand. She wanted to see if that would amplify the same thrill she could feel coursing in her own veins.
Instead, she wound up knocking her juice right over. The liquid quickly soaked through the pages Kagami had brought, spilling onto the tablecloth beneath and already dripping onto Marinette’s lap by the time Kagami righted the glass.
“Crap,” Marinette muttered, reaching for a napkin to start cleaning up the mess.
“Well,” Kagami said, her eyes sparkling as she passed her own napkin over, “there’s a reason for nearly everything you do.”
Marinette sat there stunned for a moment, her eyes drawn to the corner of Kagami’s lip as it twitched upwards. Their eyes met again, and they both burst out laughing.
The waiter came back to bring more napkins, and Marinette cleaned herself up amidst giggles. When they’d done the best they could they both decided it would be better to carry on another day, so they shared the rest of Kagami’s drink and made their way out.
As they waited for Kagami’s car to pull up, Marinette couldn’t help but notice the way her jeans stuck to her thighs. She couldn’t help but realize she’d made a fool of herself when she wasn’t even trying to confess to Adrien—she’d only been thinking about the prospect.
Marinette stared at her feet. “I’m never going to get this right, am I?”
A hand brushed against hers, and before Marinette could fully process what was happening Kagami had wrapped her fingers around Marinette’s.
“My research suggests you stand a better chance if you remain positive,” Kagami said as Marinette met her eyes. “And for what it’s worth…I believe in you.”
Her car pulled up soon after that, whisking her away and leaving Marinette there, still wrapped in her last words.
I believe in you.
Marinette smiled the whole way home.
“...but more than anything, I’m just happy to have you in my life. You’ll always mean the world to me—to all your friends—and whatever you decide, that won’t change.”
Having finished running through the hundredth or so draft of her confession, Marinette slumped back on the park bench where she and Kagami had met that day. This was their third meeting since the juice incident, and every time Marinette finished reciting a confession the result was about the same. Sometimes the critique was harsh and sometimes it was minor. But there was always something.
Except this time, Kagami nodded. She didn’t look up from her sketchbook, but her voice was steady as she gave her assessment. “I think that’s perfect.”
“Really? Because I have a whole list in mind of things to tweak. I know the middle section is still a bit awkward, and—”
Kagami laughed, briefly meeting Marinette’s eyes before refocusing on whatever she was sketching. “Really, Marinette. I have no notes.”
Marinette had expected to feel overjoyed when this was done. Or maybe to feel her usual nerves surrounding Adrien to resurface because now she had no more excuse to avoid him. Instead, she just felt…disappointed?
She had really been enjoying this time with Kagami, and she didn’t want it to end! And even if they’d no doubt find other ways to hang out, it would somehow be different in a way Marinette couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“So…that’s it, then?”
Kagami’s pencil halted halfway across her page, pressing down until the crack of lead breaking echoed off the paper. She did look up then, her eyes calculating. “Perhaps not.”
Marinette felt a wave of relief. “Should I take it once more from the top? Or should we call it a day for now and meet up again soon?”
“No. I still don’t think you need to tweak the confession any further. You wouldn’t want to overthink it.”
“Oh. Right.”
“But…” Kagami selected another pencil from her case. “The words aren’t really your only problem when it comes to confessing to Adrien, are they?”
Marinette laughed. “Not exactly, no. Pretty much anything that can go wrong will.”
“Indeed. So, perhaps we could play through a few scenarios for where and how the confession might take place. And to be thorough, we should probably go through what might happen after the confession as well, assuming things go well and Adrien ends up asking you out.”
It took Marinette a moment to process that. “You mean…you want to go on dates with me?”
“Something like that, yes.” Kagami shrugged. “For practice. Not that I think spending time with you will be unenjoyable. I daresay we’ll have fun.” A tiny smirk appeared on her face, one so natural that Marinette wondered if Kagami was even aware of it.
A warm feeling spread through Marinette. “Probably. What, uh…what sort of things did you have in mind?”
“Hm. I’m not sure. We should probably cover a range of possibilities, so you’re prepared for anything. How about…”
Kagami went on to list a series of potential date ideas, and Marinette could feel her smile widening the entire time. She practically vibrated in her seat as she wiped sweaty palms across her jeans, her heart hammering in her chest every time Kagami glanced her way.
Oh, Marinette was very excited for their practice dates.
Dating Kagami—for practice!—was riveting; Marinette couldn’t get enough of it.
True, the first time was a little awkward. Kagami chose a restaurant with a dress code and four different forks, and Marinette spent most of the time worrying she’d never be able to cut it as Adrien’s date. Thankfully, they finally got to talking things through over dessert, and Kagami concluded that Adrien probably wouldn’t even want to go to a place like that.
After that, they only chose activities they wanted to partake in. Some still qualified as stereotypical date ideas—after all, going to see a movie was something anyone could enjoy, and Marinette even got to practise brushing her hand against Kagami’s in the popcorn bowl a few times, both of them glancing shyly at each other and laughing as they pulled away.
Then there was the time they went to the fair, and Kagami made it her mission to win Marinette the giant stuffed teddy bear she’d noticed (despite Kagami’s insistence that all the games were rigged). Marinette almost tripped over the bear ten times on her way out of the park, but she refused to let go of it the entire ride home and for several hours afterwards—though Kagami didn’t know about that last bit.
Some things were a little less conventional. Once they played laser tag, teaming up and obliterating their competition in no time. Once they ended up hanging out with Adrien—an attempt to ease Marinette into spending more time with him—and Kagami made Marinette laugh so hard she nearly snorted soda out her nose. Once they spent an entire afternoon on a blanket in the park while Marinette sketched out some designs and Kagami sketched Marinette.
But, after a month or so, they were starting to run out of ideas.
They lay across Marinette’s bed, trying to decide on their next outing. Kagami’s head was in Marinette’s lap, and Marinette played with Kagami’s hair absent-mindedly. It was sort of wild—in the best possible way—how normal that had become.
Marinette loved how easy things had grown between them. She loved their casual teasing and the way their hands always sought each other out and the way she felt softer than a cloud when Kagami looked at her a certain way. And Marinette had become better at communicating with Adrien lately—even if she hadn’t gotten around to confessing yet. But growing closer to Kagami was hands down the best part of this whole experience.
She wasn’t ready for it to be over.
Which explained why her stomach churned at Kagami’s next statement.
“Maybe we don’t really need to go on anymore dates.” She twisted onto her side to face away from Marinette, who was suddenly glad she didn’t have to make eye contact. “We’ve pretty much been through all of the reasonable date options, and a bunch more things. And you’ve got the confession down to a fine science, so…maybe you’re ready.”
“Oh.” Marinette swallowed a lump in her throat. “I guess so.”
Kagami sat up, turning back to face her with an intense look that Marinette couldn’t interpret. “Do you disagree?”
“I…”
Marinette’s heart raced as she fumbled for an excuse, but it was hard to explain why she didn’t want their dates to end when she couldn’t even rationalize it to herself. Then the answer came to her, and in her excitement she forgot to stop and think things through before she spoke.
“There is one thing we haven’t tried yet.”
“Oh?” The intensity of Kagami’s stare sent a shiver down Marinette’s spine.
Oh no.
Marinette had fucked up. She was about to ruin everything. What was she thinking? Was it too late to run away? Could she even afford a plane ticket? Or at least a train ride to London? Sure, her aunt was a piece of work sometimes, but when the alternative was her entire life ending, then maybe—
“Marinette? I’m waiting.”
Shit.
“Well, um…” She fiddled with her fingers, but they didn’t seem to have any answers, so she half-buried her face in one hand and started picking at her blanket. “We haven’t tried…” She couldn’t get the last word out.
“I didn’t catch that,” Kagami said, frowning. “Is everything alright? Have I done something to make you feel uncomfortable?”
“No! Not at all! I’m just…” Marinette took a deep breath, fixated on the way Kagami’s forehead creased in concern. “It’s just that…what I meant to say is probably a little stupid?”
Kagami smiled. “Sometimes the things you say are a little…unique. But I’m certain that whatever you’re thinking isn’t stupid.” She ducked her head. “I’m actually quite impressed by your ideas most of the time.”
That was probably meant to be reassuring, but hearing Kagami say nice things about her was not helping.
“Okay, but like, keep in mind that this was just a thought! So we totally don’t have to do this. We probably shouldn’t do this. You know what? I’ll just shut up. Because there’s absolutely no way in hell that we should ever, under any circumstances, be—”
“Marinette.”
“Kissing!”
Kagami opened her mouth as though meaning to respond, but she seemed to have glitched. Instead of producing words, her jaw simply kept dropping. Her mouth was probably too far open to make for a nice kiss, not that Marinette had any real experience there; Akuma kisses didn’t count.
The longer Kagami remained silent, the more Marinette felt like someone had dumped a bucket full of ice water on her head.
Marinette waved her hands frantically. “Just forget about it! It was silly. I mean, you helping me out with my confession? That’s been great. Super helpful. Super duper helpful, even. But kissing? Ha! That would be taking things too far.”
“Probably,” Kagami finally managed, making Marinette’s heart sink for some reason. “But then…” Her hand slid across the mattress until her pinky nudged Marinette’s. “Maybe it would be alright. I mean, I trust you. If you want to try it.”
Frankly, it was a little embarrassing how much Marinette wanted to try it. But…
“Friends don’t normally kiss, though.”
“No,” Kagami agreed. “Not normally.” Her fingers circled Marinette’s wrist as she moved in closer. “But it could be…imprudent for us to ignore such an important area of your training.”
“Th-that’s true.”
No! That was insane!
Marinette could feel herself leaning in. Kagami tilted her head and scooched closer. Marinette’s heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest.
“Is this okay?” Kagami whispered, laying a hand on Marinette’s waist.
Unable to trust her voice any longer, Marinette just nodded and shut her eyes.
Their lips met a moment later, and Marinette’s eyes flew open in shock. But Kagami’s eyes were still closed, so she slammed hers shut as well. Then she tried to stop panicking long enough to figure out what to do next.
Her mouth was probably supposed to move, right?”
Luckily, Kagami took the lead there. Her lips parted slowly, and her hand snuck around to the small of Marinette’s back. A rush of adrenaline took over, tapping into some instinct that made Marinette stop thinking so hard as she melted into the kiss.
It was all light, careful movements that matched the flutters in Marinette’s stomach. Their hands laced together on the mattress and their knees bounced gently against each other. And despite her earlier nerves, Marinette couldn’t help but want to go further. To deepen the kiss.
But as Marinette surged forwards, Kagami pulled back, breathing a little harder than she had been before as her hand slid back to Marinette’s waist.
There was a very pretty flush on her very pretty face. Her pupils were dilated. She licked her lips, and Marinette had to suppress a shiver.
“That was…good,” Kagami said. “Very good.”
Marinette beamed, her heart racing and her palms clammy—hopefully Kagami couldn’t tell when Marinette raised a hand to cup her face.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I think I need more practice.”
Kagami glanced down as Marinette’s thumb stroked her cheek. “I really don’t think you need it, but if you want to…” Kagami surged forwards and kissed Marinette again.
They didn’t end up coming up with any new date ideas—so maybe the dates really were finished. But over the next hour or so, they got very, very good at practising.
There was a fair amount of Marinette screaming into her pillow when Kagami had to go home. There were the Kwamis racing around her room in alarm and her parents coming up to check on her and finally a panicked phone call to Alya when she finally remembered—mostly—how to breathe.
But hours later, as she sat cross-legged on her bed across from Alya, fiddling with the ear of the giant teddy bear Kagami had won for her, Marinette felt strangely…calm.
“I can do this,” she realized.
Alya cheered, placing her hands on Marinette’s knees and shaking them excitedly. “Hell yeah you can!”
Marinette laughed. “No, I mean…I can really do this. This is what I’ve been training for. And I already know how to confess to Kagami! I mean, I’ll need to change up the speech. I have to make it about her. About the way she smiles when she draws something she’s proud of and the way her eyes get all intense before a fencing match and how she’s so brave—but also soft! People don’t know that about her, I don’t think. They don’t know how gentle, and sweet, and encouraging, and—”
“Okay, okay, okay!” Alya interrupted, smirking. “Save something for the confession.”
“Als, oh my God. Do you have a pen?”
“Pfft. I mean, we’re in your room. I think you can probably find one.”
Marinette shoved the teddy bear in her face and then spent a solid few minutes caught up in laughter that verged on hysterical. But by the time they fell asleep, Marinette had written down everything she wanted to say. And yes, she’d probably go through about twenty more drafts before she was fully satisfied, but still.
All her work had paid off, and she finally had the perfect confession.
Now she just needed to give it.
Since Kagami appreciated a direct approach, Marinette tried not to overcomplicate things. She scheduled another juice date—with any luck, a real one—and she was even early for once. Actually early, since she’d been the one to decide on the time. She wore one of her favourite skirts and a little extra lip gloss, but aside from that…she was determined to keep things normal.
As normal as she could while her stomach threatened to turn itself inside out.
But then she saw Kagami walk onto the patio, the sun glinting against her hair and her eyes narrowed in focus, and Marinette couldn’t help the goofy smile that spread across her face. She was still terrified, but also…strangely determined.
Kagami deserved her best shot at this.
“I have to tell you something,” Marinette said as Kagami sank into the chair across from her.
But to her dismay, Kagami shook her head, her eyebrows slanted downwards. “I think I’ve made a mistake.”
Marinette’s heart dropped. “A m-mistake?”
Kagami nodded. “I’ve tricked you. Or tricked myself. I’ve…”
Marinette missed Kagami’s next words, trying her best not to cry. Of course she’d misread this. Of course something had to go wrong.
When did Marinette’s confessions ever go right?
But the end of Kagami’s rant brought her back to reality. “...so I think I fell in love with you.”
“You what?”
“I apologize, Marinette. I didn’t mean to deceive you like this, I just…normally it wouldn’t take me so long to finish reading a series, but I got so invested in planning for our strategy sessions and dates that I hadn’t touched any manga in a while. So when I finally made it to that part in the series, and I realized that the confession technique could lead to falling in love with your practice partner, I felt terrible.”
Marinette took a moment to process that. “Wait a second, the advice you gave me at first was from a manga?” She laughed when Kagami nodded. “Oh my gosh, how many of our other lessons were inspired by manga?”
Kagami laced her fingers together and stared at the table. “The beach day might have been somewhat influenced by the popular anime trope. But that’s not the point. I meant to help you confess to Adrien, but I now realize I may have…changed targets at some point.”
“Really?” Marinette breathed. “You really love me?”
“I do, yes. I’m sorry.”
“Well, I’m not.”
Marinette didn’t know what else to say in that moment, but she knew the distance between them was too much. She stood and dragged her chair over so they sat side-by-side, and lay her hand palm up on the table.
It was time.
“Kagami, I came here to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed the past couple months. How much I’ve enjoyed spending more time with you, and…”
The rest of her prepared speech suddenly died on in her throat. She remembered exactly what she’d meant say, having practised it until she could recite the words in her sleep. And she even had the confession on hand, just in case.
But if Kagami had fallen for her…then she hadn’t fallen for the perfect confession. She must have fallen the way Marinette had, during all the moments in between. When they laughed so hard they cried. Or when they weren’t sure of what to do next, so they figured it out together. She must have fallen for all of Marinette’s quirks and imperfections. She must have fallen because it just felt right.
Suddenly, Marinette didn’t care about the so-called perfect confession at all.
She grinned. “Kagami, I have three suns in my heart—”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Those words had become something of a joke between them—a way to break the ice when Marinette became discouraged or when she grew tired of practising and just needed a laugh. So now…the words belonged to them in some way.
“What?” Marinette said with false innocence. “Is this not what we practised? Because…” She took a deep breath and eyed Kagami meaningfully, urging her to understand that this time the words were no joke. “Those three suns shine so brightly whenever I see you, they make me melt.”
Kagami just stared at her for a moment, and Marinette’s heart thumped ominously in the silence. But then Kagami laughed, and the sound was brighter than any amount of suns could be.
“I still maintain that the suns would disintegrate you, but please. Do go on.” Kagami took her hand.
Marinette’s cheeks hurt from smiling so hard as she continued, “Those suns are only three little words, but they’re—”
Kagami cut her off with a kiss, one that made Marinette very glad they’d done so much practising the other day. The movements were familiar—from the hand sliding along her thigh to the way Kagami’s tongue teased her bottom lip. Faint hints of lavender wafted towards Marinette when she slipped a hand into Kagami’s hair, and Kagami gasped in response.
When the kiss broke, it was mutual. They pulled apart slowly, their eyes racing around everywhere and only making the briefest of eye contact. But their fingers were still laced together on the table, and Marinette didn’t think she’d ever felt so alive.
“I love you too,” she whispered. “As much as you love me.”
And despite Kagami’s warning from a couple months prior, Marinette didn’t think that was presumptuous at all.