Orange and Blueberry
Happy holidays, @iamcatchild , I’m your @mlsecretsanta ! I hope you enjoy this Marigami piece I wrote for you! It was an interesting pairing to write for and more of a challenge than expected, but I’m happy with what I’ve written for you.
Meet me as soon as you can at the Pont des Arts. -Kagami
Provided you are not busy, of course. -Kagami
Be there soon.
-Marinette
Sprinting down the street as fast as she could, Marinette glanced down at her phone and checked the conversation for the millionth time. Marinette nearly tripped when her eyes left the screen, but she kept her balance and stayed on her feet. She was already late, but in her defense, Kagami had sent the text only moments ago asking to meet nearly halfway across the city. Why she suddenly wanted to meet by the Pont des Arts, Marinette wasn’t sure, but it was clearly important. And spontaneous. Which wasn’t like Kagami at all.
Pausing at the last crosswalk, Marinette doubled over, leaning on her knees, in an effort to catch her breath. Once the crosswalk changed Marinette would be able to cross the street and then it was only a matter of locating Kagami. She glanced from under her bangs in time to realize finding Kagami wouldn’t be so hard. She was already within sight, occupying a nearby bench alone just before the Pont des Arts. She was too far away to see clearly, but Marinette didn’t believe Kagami looked distressed. Good, that was a promising sign.
“Marinette! You can go now.” Tikki prompted, careful to be just loud enough that only Marinette could hear.
“Uwah! Thanks, Tikki!”
With a sudden burst of energy, Marinette quickly sprinted across the road, careful to dodge the few pedestrians walking past her.
“Sorry for taking so long.” Marinette apologized in between gasps for air. “I came as fast as I could from the bakery.”
With one arm propped against the bench, Marinette gave Kagami an exhausted smile.
“Don’t worry. I believe you.” Kagami softly laughed, brushing flour off Marinette’s shoulder.
Marinette perked up at the laugh and carefully slid next to Kagami on the bench, only now noticing that Kagami was holding a rose.
For a second, her heart skipped a beat. And the next, she felt the cold reminder of the last time she had seen Kagami with a rose. When she had been akumatized because of Lila’s photo with Adrien.
“Oh, did something happen between you and Adrien?” Marinette asked, careful to swallow the lump in her throat.
Kagami hummed to herself, her attention drifting from Marinette to the rose in her hands.
“I wanted you to be the first to know.” Kagami began, twirling the rose between her fingers.
“The first to know what?” Marinette interrupted; eyebrow quirked as she looked between Kagami and the rose.
Taking a moment to breathe and calm herself, Kagami slowly raised her eyes to meet Marinette’s.
“I’ve decided to change targets.”
The look of confusion on Marinette’s face only grew. She scooted closer, leaning on one knee so as not to get too close. Kagami was rather particular about her personal space after all.
“I’m not sure I heard you very well. Could you repeat that? I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”
“I’ve decided to change targets. I will no longer be pursuing Adrien romantically.” Kagami articulated, this time much louder. “Or in any manner really. I’m content with just being his friend.”
“I thought you didn’t like the idea of losing. Isn’t that the same as giving up?” Marinette went on. “If this is because you are worried about one of us ending up with Adrien will cost us our friendship, you don’t need to worry.”
“I can assure you, Marinette, I’ve had time to think this over. And while I certainly come to value our relationship above pursuing a romantic relationship with Adrien that’s not why I’ve decided to change targets. It’s hardly worth winning when you’re heart just isn’t into it, you know?”
“Oh.” Marinette paused, realization setting in. “You’ve moved on too, haven’t you?”
This time, it was Kagami’s turn to stare back in confusion. Although from Marinette’s perspective, her eyes merely flickered wider for a second. Even in a shocked state, Kagami was the calmer of the two.
“Yes,” Kagami responded. “But what do you mean by ‘too’? I’m not sure that I follow you now.”
“Oh, well I.” Marinette trailed off before shifting awkwardly on the bench.
Her cheeks tinted pink and her gaze fell to her shoes. Marinette wasn’t sure whether now was the time or not to mention her new crush.
“I have decided after everything that’s happened that I’m moving on from my crush. Or rather, finally accepting that those feelings have passed.” Marinette sighed. “Like you said, I’m content with just being Adrien’s friend.”
When Marinette finished, there as only silence between the two. Too nervous to go on, Marinette focused instead on settling the flurry of butterflies in her stomach.
This wasn’t where she had anticipated the conversation going at all.
Next to her, Kagami took a measured breath. She waited for Marinette to continue and when Marinette stayed quiet, Kagami opted to take hold of the conversation once more.
“I’m glad to hear that, honestly.” Kagami gave a small smile, eyes trailing back to the rose in her hand. “After a while, I realized I didn’t like the feeling of competing against you and even more so, I didn’t like the idea of assisting you in your pursuit of Adrien. Like you mentioned, I thought maybe it was my pride that I didn’t want to see you win even if I was no longer interested. It took me a while to understand exactly why.”
Rising from her seat, Kagami moved in front of Marinette. She waited for Marinette to look up, nudging Marinette’s shoe. She didn’t say anything more to Marinette until she had Marinette’s full attention, even going so far as to wave the rose in front of Marinette’s face.
“Walk with me,” Kagami spoke softly.
Looking up at Kagami standing confidently above her only sent Marinette’s stomach into a round of somersaults, but she kept her attention on Kagami. There wasn’t much that could pull her attention away from Kagami now.
Tentatively, Marinette took Kagami’s free hand and rose from her seat.
With a gentle tug of her hand, Kagami led Marinette up the steps onto the Pont des Arts. Kagami kept her steps measured as they walked together, careful to guide Marinette rather than simply pulling her along. All too aware of Marinette’s clumsiness, especially when hasty.
When the pair had made it up the steps of the bridge, Kagami paused by the edge. She held the rose up, catching Marinette’s eye and brought her hand out over the water.
“I want this to be symbolic so that you understand my feelings for Adrien have passed,” Kagami explained, her fingers releasing the rose.
Together, they watched as the flower fell into the water below and disappeared out of view.
“I’ve been waiting for you to ask who my new target is,” Kagami remarked, a playful smile on her lips. “Granted, by now I’m wondering who has stolen your heart away from Adrien.”
“Why would that matter?” Marinette asked, her voice hesitant.
“Well, originally I was going to challenge Adrien in a fencing match, but it seems that won’t be necessary anymore. Instead, I will have to send my challenge to whoever your new crush is.”
With a confident smirk on her lips, Kagami gave a playful wink in Marinette’s direction.
Marinette, for her part, simply stood there in shock. She could feel the warmth spreading to her cheeks but couldn’t find the words as her mouth hung open. Instead, she could only open and close her mouth the words dying on her lips.
“That won’t be necessary, Kagami.” Marinette finally spoke up, cheeks still blazing.
Kagami quirked her eyebrows in response but waited for Marinette to explain further.
“That won’t be necessary because I don’t think you would be able to challenge yourself to a fencing match,” Marinette added with a soft, embarrassed laugh.
Marinette had hoped to catch Kagame off guard. Maybe even cause her to end up a blushing mess as Marinette had been only moments before, but once again Kagami maintained her composure.
Her face did not betray her emotions and the only indication that Marinette had otherwise was the slow blush that spread along Kagami’s cheeks. A small victory for Marinette.
“So why bring me here?” Marinette asked, still flustered herself.
Just as Kagami was about to explain, she was interrupted by another voice.
“My name is Andre, Andre Glacier the sweetheart matchmaker.”
Marinette’s eyes widened in surprise as she noticed Andre setting up his ice cream cart on the other side of the Pont des Arts. She could already see a crowd of couples forming around his cart.
“It’s why my text to you earlier was so urgent. I had figured out where Andre was going to be set up today and I didn’t want to miss my chance.” Kagami explained once she found her voice, “I thought you might like to get some ice cream with me. I’ve been meaning to try the orange and blueberry ice cream together.”
