ʏᴏsʜɪᴋᴀɢᴇ ᴋɪʀᴀ's ᴍɪʀᴀᴄᴜʟᴏᴜs ʟɪғᴇ

Meeting Marinette

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was exhausted. The battle with Time-Tagger took a lot out of her, more than battling the akumatized villains usually did. This, added to the new knowledge of the future, just had her ready to go to sleep.

Cat Noir was a great partner, but he was a lot to handle. As she made her way down to her family's bakery, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

She took out her phone, and smiled, seeing her best friends name. She answered, almost running into a pole as she raised her phone to her ear.

"Hey Alya, what's going on?"

The earsplitting sound of pure joy that came through the speaker caused her to hold the phone away from her head, "Hey bestie!! Nino just asked me out to that brand new superhero movie!"

Marinette sighed, she already knew where this was going, "That's great, Alya!"

Her friend continued to spit out information, "Is there anyway you could babysit for me today? We've been waiting for this movie forever!"

Sure she was tired, but Marinette knew she should help her friend. "Sure Alya! I'd be happy too."

The response was quick, "Thanks bestie, I owe you one!" The phone beeped, signaling Alya had hung up. Marinette then realized she didn't even know who Alya was babysitting today, and she groaned.

"What's wrong Marinette?"

The soft voice came from her bag, it was her Kwami, Tikki.

"Oh nothing, Tikki. I was just really looking forward to a good nights sleep."

The Kwami smiled, she knew Marinette would never pass up a chance to help someone in need. Just then, Marinette's phone buzzed one more time. She looked down, Alya had texted her the address and details.

"Come on Tikki, let's go."

--

Sometimes there were things harder than fighting supervillains. Babysitting these kids was definitely one of them.

They had been all over Paris, they wanted to see the Eiffel Tower, then they wanted ice cream, and then they wanted to go to the Louvre.

Marinette was almost sleepwalking at this point. She could barley keep up with the energized children running around the sidewalk. They sped around the human traffic, stepping on people's toes and causing a string of chaos through the Parisian streets.

Right as Marinette caught up to them, apologizing to tourists and workers alike, one of the children saw a shirt that they desperately wanted. It was black, with a ladybug imprint on the front. Marinette smiled at the sight, she had always liked that her logo was a symbol of peace, and planned to always be there for her city.

That's when she heard it.

"Hey! Are you going to pay for those?"

She turned and saw a mop of golden blonde hair turn towards the cashier, looking stylish in what was obviously a brand new outfit. It was, "Adrien!!"

She ran into him full force, mostly by accident, and hugged him tightly to avoid falling onto the ground. She hadn't been able to talk to him since she went to his house the day before for a small party. That was when Time-Tagger attacked, and because of the interruption she didn't even get to enjoy the rest of the day with him.

Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember what Future Alix said had happened to the Akumatized villain. She made a mental note to ask her the next time they crossed paths.

"Errr... who are you?"

She jumped back so fast she heard Tikki yelp from her purse. The boy she had just enveloped definitely wasn't Adrien Agreste. He was a couple inches taller, he was skinnier but still noticeably fit, his hair was fixed differently, and his blue eyes had a sort of wisdom about them.

Her face flushed red, realizing she just hugged a stranger in the middle of a crowded store.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I thought you were someone else!-"

He looked at her warily, as if he wasn't sure she was real. He ever so slightly moved his head from side to side as if he was testing her, so she held his gaze. That seemed to satisfy him.

The cashier walked up to them, obviously angry. "Hey kid, you think you can just shoplift from my store!?"

Marinette sprung into action, "I'm so sorry sir! We didn't mean to shoplift anything, please, allow me to pay for it!"

She gave him a handful of cash, and after he meticulously counted to make sure everything was in order, gave her the change and walked away.

The boy looked at her, "Thank you, but... why did you help me?"

She sighed, "I'm sorry, I was embarrassed that I mistook you for the wrong person, please accept my apologies!"

Whenever she looked up, he wasn't even looking at her, instead he was surveying the area around them, as if he was expecting an attack of some kind

She didn't want to just leave, that would totally make him think less of her. She decided to make small talk instead.

"So, do you go to Françoise Dupont? That's where all of my friends go. Of course I do too! I've never seen you there though."

He stiffened, and spoke quickly. "Yes, I just moved here. I'll be attending, er, that school from now on."

Marinette smiled, and this comforted him. She didn't suspect a thing. Not that he knew what he was going to do until the Monk made contact. He would just have to lie low.

He felt something tug at his hand, and he looked down and saw a child staring back at him blankly.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Marinette screeched, pulling the girl away from him. "That reminds me, I better take these kids home, I guess I'll see you at school!"

The girl skipped away, this strange new boy on her mind. She couldn't wait to see him again, and get to know him as she had done with so many other interesting people.

I have a good feeling about today

--

She turned, and as Kira went towards the door, he swore that for a split second, he could see a figure looming behind him, reflecting menacingly in the stores window.

Before he could react, Marinette turned back around, causing them to collide. She blushed, but quickly recovered. "I totally forgot to ask, what's your name?"

He noticed her cheeks flush a deeper shade of red as they pulled themselves apart, and quickly backed away. He quickly debated whether or not he should share information with her.

No. I need to stay inconspicuous.

He sidestepped her, and continued walking to the street. Immediately, he felt her deflate, as if he had hurt her feelings in the worst way possible. Surely maintaining your cover didn't warrant being an asshole though... right? He raised his hand to wave goodbye, and gave her the only piece of information he remembered.

"The name's Yoshikage Kira."