บท 34: 34: Rivercrossed Lovers
"These lyrics are brilliant, Marinette!" Luka's eyes gleamed as he carefully read the handwritten stanzas.
"Are you crazy?" She muttered. "I made that in a panic."
He gave her a side smile. "Gems don't pop out of nowhere, Mari. It starts out as a rock then carefully grinded to let its beauty shine."
Mari's nose wrinkled. "And I'm still a rock. Solid hard rock." She threw her head back.
In frustration, she huddled against the prow of Luka's boat (his mother's boat), examining the clear waters in front of them. Luka paid no attention to her comment and continued to read the slightly crumpled parchment.
"Listen here Marinette." He said, touching the back of her hand. "When emotions turn to words and words turn to lyrics, it has power."
Mari's gaze fixed to his. His eyes reflected the glimmer of the river. She felt a blush creeping in which made her look away.
"Power?" She mumbled. "You think my lyrics have power?"
"Sure it does!" He smiled. "You might not know but among the people who will get to hear your song, there will always be that someone who will not only hear your melody but also feel it."
Relief glowed in Marinette's eyes. She looked out to the open canal and giggled.
"With that," Luka lifted the paper, "I'm going to keep this so I can start making the tune."
Mari watched as her ripped notebook page shrank to a four part note and Luka slipping it in his vest pocket.
"Now," He faced her, "What's this about a dance theater?"
Her face turned pale. Remembering Chloe's declaration and demand from earlier made her hands reach for her face as she blanked out in a daze.
"I have to make all the costumes." She cursed. "At first I worried what kind of role Chloe wanted for me but then again she IS Chloe Bourgeois. Obviously she'll want to torture me. I'm starting to think her hatred extends to me because of my other self. Of course that's not possible since she doesn't know me but―"
Then it occurred to her that she wasn't supposed to say that last bit. Panic crept in but she managed to control her facial muscles not to show any of it. She turned to Luka studying his reaction.
"Your other self?" He asked. "What are you talking about?"
Marinette forced a laugh. "Silly me!" She said fanning her hand at him. "That's just stress talking."
"If it's stress talking, then why won't you look at me?"
She froze.
Noticing her awkwardness, Luka decided to glance up to the mast above them. "You've been acting strange lately and I can tell you've been keeping a lot to yourself."
She scoffed, eyes lowered to her lap. "You can tell, huh?"
"Mhhmm." He nodded.
It took about a count to ten before Mari broke silence.
"It's not that I like keeping it to myself." She managed. "I HAVE to keep it to myself."
He fixed his gaze at her, "Why?"
She shuddered. Her fingers began to twirl around as her mind searched for an answer.
"I guess because it's my problem to solve." She said weakly. "I can't bother other people when it was entirely my fault."
Luka wasn't sure how to respond. He too had his share of mishaps in the past, but he's always found a way to solve it. He didn't have anything that might help clear Marinette's mind. Until he thought of something interesting. He was sure it won't clear her mind, but he was positive in wanting her to realize something.
"Have I ever told you that I met Ladybug?"
Marinette's eyes snapped open. She stared at him, anticipating a continuation.
"N-No.." She stuttered. "You did?"
"Yup." He said. "It was a weird experience. She pulled me into a manhole and then we talked underground."
Marinette's neck began to sweat. "Really? How odd. What happened next?"
"I'm not supposed to tell anyone but―" He peeked at her with one eye.
"Oh no, of course!" She held her hands up, "You shouldn't break Ladybug's trust."
"―but since I trust you won't tell anyone." He continued, "I'll let you on a little secret."
"Secret?" She squeaked.
Luka rested his head on her shoulder which made her flinch. "I'm going to say it once, okay, so you better listen." He said.
"A-Alright." She muttered.
He deeply inhaled through his nostrils and relaxed beside her, "Ladybug is the most selfless person I've ever met. She values trust and friendship even among the temporary heroes she chooses. She recognizes her shortcomings and flaws that's why she asks for help. I've always seen Ladybug as an ultra powerful superhero. But when she asked me to fight alongside her is when I saw that she and I were no different."
Marinette's lip curled.
"What I'm saying is...you don't have to keep it all to yourself." He sat back up. He reached for her cheek that had a trickle of tear and wiped it away with his thumb. "Ladybug or not, you can count on me."
* * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, on the other end of the river was Adrien and Kagami enjoying their flavorful frozen delight.
"This new blue lemonade and peppermint is so refreshing." said Kagami as she spooned a scoop in her mouth.
"Yeah."
"Maybe I can make this in shaved ice as well. Kakigōri is one of my favorite Japanese flavored treats. What do you think, Adrien?"
"Yeah."
Kagami realized the conversation wasn't progressing. She turned to him and saw his untouched gelato sitting on the sidewalk.
"Is something wrong?" She veered him towards her. "You look glum. We haven't seen each other in a while so I thought this would make you happy."
He didn't look her in the eye.
"Adrien, you can talk to me. I'll try to understand." Her mouth curved into a smile.
"I'm just tired." He exhaled.
"Tired? Of what? Is this about your modelling?"
He shook his head. "No. Something else."
"Is it...me?"
Hearing that snapped him back up.
She chuckled, "You're finally looking at me."
Adrien held her arms, "No, don't say that. You've been very patient with me despite the times I've rejected affection from you." He sighed, "I'm just not very good with these things. I grew up feeling isolated and so I don't know how to act with other people."
Many times had it occurred to him that Kagami wasn't at fault. The girl was patient and kind. She looked out for him despite the restrictions both their family has. She didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of his doubts.
"You know," She interrupted his thoughts, "Marinette and I have been talking."
His heart sprang up. "Talking?"
Kagami nodded. "Well not exactly face to face, but she messaged me."
He blinked. "What did you talk about?"
Kagami blushed. "You, of course."
Adrien didn't know what to feel. His thoughts went from: 'Marinette is talking about me?' to 'Marinette is talking about me with Kagami?' to 'Marinette is Ladybug.'
The last one definitely made his inner stirring worse. He felt as if he had eaten hundreds of dynamite by accident and now it won't stop exploding inside.
He laughed shyly, scratching the back of his head, "Why would you talk about me?"
That's when he saw Kagami's face shift from happy to worry, "She said you were acting strangely in school."
"Strangely? How?"
"She told me to talk to you about your sudden impulses and that you should try talking to me about it. What exactly did you do, Adrien?"
He began to recall his unprecedented advances towards Marinette and to how he pissed her off while they were trapped inside the closet. Guilt and embarrassment flooded his conscience. His jaw tightened.
"So this is her way of saying 'choose', huh?" He mumbled to himself.
"Adrien?"
"Yeah. Sorry." He shot back up. "I sometimes forget to be sensitive of others that I end up annoying them." He managed a smile.
"Have you hurt anybody? Maybe I can help you talk to that person."
Her concern made him feel worse knowing it was Marinette whom he'd hurt. He's even sure that hurt was an understatement to the damage he caused. And possibly, he'll even hurt Kagami too.
"No, it's alright." He said, "I'll have to figure things out myself in order for me to learn. But I appreciate your offer. You've always been keeping an eye on me."
She giggled, "Of course, silly. We have each other to count on."
The idea made him wince. He thought: If only Ladybug had the same mentality as Kagami.
A pang of regret pierced him again. The thought of leading Kagami on wasn't doing him any good. He knew right from the beginning that he was just using her to fill the void with the hope of forgetting Ladybug and falling in love with another girl. But it didn't work. The more he pushes his feelings for Ladybug to a breaking point, the more he realizes how much she really means to him. And now that he found out she's always been near him, it just made things clearer and harder to avoid.
He took her hand. "Kagami, I.."
"Yes?"
He pursed his lips, "Kagami, I..."
But before he could continue, screams from the street alarmed them.
People were running towards the canal as if running away from something. Adrien looked up and saw a humanoid riding an inverted pyramid shooting lasers―lasers turning the people into stone.
He pulled Kagami up and steered her running away from the crowd. They ended up at the park where a Merry-Go-Round stood and commanded her to stay put and take cover.
"Call your driver to pick you up here. This is far enough from the monster." He instructed.
"But what about you?" She tugged on his sleeve.
He smiled pulling her hand away, "I'll be fine. I have an idea to keep that creature away from the people."
"Adrien if this is one of those impulsive―"
"You have to trust me." He said sternly.
They exchanged a few glares at each other until Kagami pulled away and nodded.
"Be careful." She reminded and watched him run away to the corner of the street where he disappeared.
* * * * *
/Whoosh./
Something fast swooped by the dock, alerting Marinette and Luka to their feet.
"What was that?" yelled Luka, the wind buzzing in his ears.
"It looked like a pyramid the size of a car!" She exclaimed.
The two of them exchanged worried looks.
"I can't." She whimpered, crouching back to the prow. "I don't have my kwami."
Luka pulled her back up, "There has to be a way."
As if on cue, Wayzz comes flying in from the direction where the floating pyramid zoomed to. The turtle kwami froze afloat, realizing Marinette wasn't alone, but the girl waved at him to come close acknowledging it was fine.
"You told him?" Wayzz said.
"No." She sighed, "He figured me out."
Wayzz stared at Luka in astonishment. "Wow. You're smarter than Chat." He praised which made Luka blank out.
"What's wrong Wayzz?" Mari pulled him back on topic.
"Right." He shook his head. "An akumatized creature has come to life. Chat Noir has sent for me!"
Plagg flew out of Marinette's pouch. "Where is he?"
"He came running from the Merry-Go-Round and told me to get you. He's planning on luring that thing to the Louvre."
Marinette's eyes widened, "Is he crazy? And you let him do that without his kwami?"
"I didn't have a choice! He was so eager to do it that it felt bad stopping him. His deeds serve Paris well." Wayzz explained.
"He's not that far." said Plagg. "I can sense him. I can still catch up to him if I fly now."
"It's too dangerous!" She yelped.
"It'll only be dangerous if you won't let us deal with that thing! We have to think about the people first then we'll worry about Big H catching us afterward."
Plagg and Marinette stared for a few milliseconds, then the girl exhaled.
"Distract that thing. Make sure to tell Chat to wait for reinforcements before doing anything stupid or else it'll be Cat Piñata by the Eiffel. Understood?"
Plagg found that extremly nauseating but there was no complaining when Marinette threatens you. He nodded.
"Now go!"
On her command, the black cat flew up and disappeared to the sky.
Despite the response she's sent off, Wayzz still had one more concern. "Hold on Marinette." He said, "You can't transform into Ladybug to heal the akuma. How are you planning to defeat it?"
She bit her lip, "I'm so sorry to say that Chat will have to destroy the butterfly for now."
Wayzz and Luka looked at each other.
"Alright," Wayzz replied, "But Chat Noir will still need some help over there. I sense the enemy is greater than an akumatized victim. Something tells me it's one of Hawkmoth's power up creations."
Marinette fell silent. She scanned over to the different items on deck hoping for something to click. Then, with luck on her side, her eyes darted over to Luka's bicycle.
"Luka," She turned to him, eyes burning in excitement, "How fast can you bike?"
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
Mai_Luna
Mai_Luna This chapter excites me. It makes me want to jump in and join in on the fun. (≧▽≦)
What is this new creature? Is this from Hawkmoth? How will they defeat it without Ladybug's powers?
Thank you so much for all your support! I look forward to you all in the next chapter. Ciao~
Stay safe.
Stay sane.
Stay happy.
Miraculous Away!
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