Miraculous (Angel-Demon AU)

Chapter 1: Marinette

One day more of school. But not just any day: it was the 10th to last until school finished. Forever.

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, Marinette!"Alya kept telling me. "Don't you know what comes after? University, partying... and hot guys", she whispered.

"Hey, what was that?" Nino intervened.

"Oh! Nothing, nothing..." she waved away carelessly, hiding a smile. She knew he'd heard her.

I shrank deeper into my seat and tried not to look at Adrien. Of couse, I failed. We were witnessing yet another of his photoshoots at the park, waiting for him to finish in order to hang out the four of us together, as usual. Alya followed my look.

"Look, you know this is your last chance, do you?"

I nodded. But we both knew I wouldn't do it. I wasn't going to tell Adrien how I felt about him. I simply couldn't. I had been granted a human life only in order to balance out the forces of... good and evil, I suppose. To make sure that there was still hope on Earth. But not to mingle with humans to the point where they became my friends, like Alya, or... or something more, like I shamefully wished for with Adrien Agreste.

It was wrong for me to desire him. I wasn't human. He was. I had memories of other lives I had lived throughout time, I knew more than anyone around me both about Earth and about what was beyond... I couldn't. I simply couldn't bond myself with an ordinary human. Not that it was strictly forbidden, but...

"Do you?" Alya insisted. I showed no reaction, so she simply puffed in desperation. Nino looked in my direction and gave me a supportive smile. I smiled back. This was all I had. This was all I needed.

----

"What's up, m'lady? You don't look too cheery today."

I sighed. I guess I wasn't doing my best to hide my mood, as absolutely everyone had noticed by now. What a mess.

"It's okay, it's just... end of term and stuff..."

"Oh. By end of term you mean end of high school, do you?" he winked at me.

Of course, he knew. Even though we'd made a deal long ago not to reveal our secret identities, we did talk from time to time, and enough information had slipped from our lips in order to know that we were the same age and, therefore, in the same year group. I sometimes wondered whether we'd be from the same school, since he appeared to know many of the names of the people who had been accumatized in my class... but it was impossible.

"Yeah, end of school." I waited for the "don't be silly", "how can you be sorry for that?" and so to come.

But they didn't.

"I understand." He replied

"You do?" I was frankly surprised. Chat Noir gave me a gentle smile and looked away to the setting sun.

"Yes. I like school very much. People don't appreciate it as much as they should. Well, it has a different meaning for different people, I guess..." He gulped nervously before I could ask him what he meant by that. "Well, whether we like it or not, it is going to end, so we'd better make the most out of it while it lasts, shouldn't we?" He turned towards me and winked once more at me.

For once, I smiled back.

"Yes, I guess you're right." This time it was me who turned around in order not to be seen. "Thank you, Chat Noir." I meant it.

"Anything for you, m'lady."

Our miraculouses beeped, and when I turned around to say goodbye, Chat was already gone.

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