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A dragon is a fierce creature. Strong. Dangerous. Greedy.
And Kagami was so very greedy.
Particularly when it came to the time and attention of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
It started small at first, beginning with that contest they had participated in together. For all of the missteps, Kagami’s awkward attempts, and the other girl’s anxiety, it was probably one of the best days of Kagami’s life. Even if they hadn’t won the contest, they both had gained something from it. A unique experience. A better relationship.
It hadn’t been until she finally confronted her mother after the akuma battle that she realized.
Kagami had her first “friend”.
One who was willing to defend her. One who was willing to stand up to her mother. One who stayed by her with an ease and jovial mind even when they lost at their goal.
The life of a Tsurugi was one of strictness and discipline. A loss was a burden. A failure was a shame.
But here…drinking juice together and talking and just being together…Kagami felt none of that.
It was freeing in a way. Confusing, true. But freeing, like the weight that normally dragged her down after any failure was lightened…perhaps even nonexistent.
If she felt this way in Marinette’s presence despite a loss, perhaps it was a feeling she could continue to have around her?
And so, Kagami started making a point to spend more time with the other girl. Seeing her more often at school. Joining her for lunch. And even taking precious moments she would use to hurry to fencing practice and get a head start to stay with the other girl for a bit longer, arriving to her practice on time instead of early as per her usual. And as she grew closer with Marinette, she was invited on more outings with her and her friends, which was something she had come to enjoy.
And yet…something had to be wrong, because Kagami found she couldn’t seem to get enough. As time passed, Kagami slowly began to feel dissatisfied but didn’t know why.
Was it because of Marinette’s infatuation with Adrien? It had to be, Kagami realized one day as she found herself glaring at the horde of pictures of the boy on Marinette’s wall. They were both in love with the same boy, after all.
Except then Marinette started talking about the blue-haired boy, Luka. Some pictures of him slowly started to make their way onto the wall. And to her surprise, rather than lessen, that dark feeling was just as strong.
Was she…jealous of Marinette?
Or was she jealous over Marinette?
Did she want Marinette to get rid of the pictures of Adrien? Yes. That meant she saw her as a rival for his affections, right?
But then the niggling little thought interfered. That one questioning little thought with a loud voice and a perfect image of how Marinette’s wall would look so much nicer if it had pictures of Kagami up instead…
It hit her.
She remembered hearing before…how everyone had something that represented their heart and what was most important to them within it. For more traditional folks, it would be some manner of collection—antiques, trophies, souvenirs, or other collectables. For many, it would be their computers. Or their phone. Their music. Some sort of tangible thing to display that showed a person’s heart.
And for Marinette, it was that Wall.
That Wall of pictures wasn’t just a sign of Marinette’s love for Adrien. It was also symbolic of just how much space Adrien took in her heart.
…Kagami wanted that space.
She wanted to be in Marinette’s heart.
She wanted to be on that Wall.
Much as a dragon would hoard its treasures, Kagami found herself inclined to hoard what meant most to her.
And her “treasure” was every little moment she could spend with her new good friend. Seeing Marinette smile. Hearing her laugh. Having her gaze solely on herself.
She started with little things. Compliments of Marinette’s appearance. Praise of her skills. And something in Kagami sparked when she got a blush or stammer in response.
Then she started increasing their time together. Visiting the bakery Marinette’s parents owned after school as a post-fencing practice “break”. Staying in the bakery itself if Marinette happened to be working that day and chatting with her between customers. Arriving early to walk to school together in the mornings, and gaining gratitude from Marinette’s parents and much surprise from everyone else that her doing so has since helped Marinette to start arriving on time.
As days and weeks passed, she saw how Marinette became ever more comfortable around her. Her friends were nervous and uncertain. And that Rossi girl and Bourgeois brat certainly made themselves scarce. But Marinette was genuinely happy to have her around.
And never was this more clear than the day Kagami entered Marinette’s room and discovered a change to the Wall of Faces that took up her heart.
More pictures took up space on the Wall than just Adrien now. Some of that blue-haired boy. A couple of the hero Chat Noir. A few of her friends all together.
And then there was one of her.
Of Kagami.
Not even of her and others in a group. But just one—a profile picture. Something she recognized from a magazine that had done an article about her once. It had been a while ago. Marinette would have had to do some searching to find it.
Marinette had gone out of her way to find a picture of Kagami for her Wall. And furthermore, she had not placed her in the somewhat limited section that seemed specifically set aside for her friends. Rather, Kagami was in the mix of photos that seemed to be designated for a deeper feeling.
She…felt warm at the prospect. Almost giddy.
And yet…
It wasn’t enough.
She didn’t just want a part of her heart.
She wanted all of it.
And that meant only one thing.
She had to take over the Wall.
She continued from there in a rather simple manner. Marinette had an instagram account and Kagami shortly after started her own as well. With this excuse, she suggested they take “selfies” and pictures of their outings together to add to her account. Marinette had happily agreed, and soon both Kagami and Marinette’s accounts had pictures of the two of them at various activities.
This also had the fortunate effect of providing additional photos available for Marinette to add to her Wall at any point. Something Kagami saw was working, as she noted more pictures of herself taking up increased space on the Wall. It was still not as much as she would have liked, but given that the Wall had originally been solely dedicated to Adrien, it was substantial progress.
The next step was to introduce herself as a potential object of Marinette’s affections. While she seemed to hold some feeling for Kagami, the limited space on the Wall and the girl’s own mixed feelings meant that she likely didn’t consciously realize Kagami as an option.
She had to fix that.
And what better way than to offer her tokens of her esteem?
So Kagami started giving her gifts. A keychain from a souvenir stand they happened upon during one of their outings. A small plush toy from the arcade. A mask from a carnival. Just small things here and there…at least at first.
In her time with Marinette, she took note of the other girl’s interests. Design, obviously. Sewing and knitting as well. And then there was the less noted one of gardening.
Marinette gasped in delight the day Kagami presented her with a gift of potted pink hydrangeas.
“They’re beautiful! But are you sure you want to give them to me?”
Kagami smiled.
“I wouldn’t have brought them for you if I wasn’t certain. In fact, I could think of no one I would entrust with them more.”
Marinette blushed at that, gratefully accepting the gift.
(Marinette didn’t understand why Tikki kept giggling the rest of that day. It wasn’t until she looked up online for information about hydrangeas and how to care for them that she discovered the symbolism.)
When Kagami next came into Marinette’s room, the number of her pictures on The Wall exceeded those of Couffaine. She felt a thrum of pleasure in her heart.
And so she continued. Gifts of yarn. New sewing needles. And at one point, much to Marinette’s awe, a rather expensive roll of fabric that earned her a very pleasant hug of excitement. Kagami kept the gifts sporadic—she didn’t want to overwhelm her after all. But the more time she spent with her and the more gifts she gave her, the more that Kagami found she was slowly but surely taking over the Wall as well as forging her own place in Marinette’s heart. One that was eventually comparable to the space of Adrien’s own.
This was never more clear than when, to Kagami’s joy, Marinette started to reciprocate.
“Hey, Kagami! I made you some mittens!”
“Here’s a scarf I made for you! As thanks! For…for the materials you gave me…”
“I had a thought about a new fencing uniform. Would you like to take a look and tell me what you think? Um…if that’s all right?”
Kagami’s new fencing uniform three weeks later made it more than all right.
Marinette was acting different. Stammering a bit more. A little awkward. Flushing and blushing and making Kagami’s heart thrum with delight. Even her friends started to realize what was happening.
…Adrien, it seemed, did not.
“I’m glad to see you two are becoming such good friends!” He told her one day after practice when she was about to leave with Marinette.
Kagami had to hold back her laughter. Because really, how ridiculous could he get?
She didn’t want to just be Marinette’s “friend”.
She wanted to be Marinette’s “one”.
That meant wooing Marinette.
Kagami smirked.
Well, if Adrien wasn’t going to get a clue, it might as well be a woman who shows him how it’s done.
Things came to a head at a specific point.
It was an akuma battle. Not any different from the usual, except that the akuma this time was a slighted fencing rival who was targeting Kagami herself. Her attempts to fend him off would have been admirable, but were sadly lacking as she didn’t have the power of a Miraculous or akuma to defend herself with. At most, she had only her own physical abilities and skill.
“LEAVE HER ALONE!”
And one Marinette Dupain-Cheng attacking with a frying pan she must have grabbed from her kitchen when the akuma barged in and WHAT WAS THAT GIRL THINKING?
“Are you CRAZY?!”
“Kagami, he’s after you! Just RUN!” Marinette shouted as she parried a strike.
Kagami could only stare in shock. Partly in fear. Mostly in awe of this girl who was only an amateur in fencing at best but who was still trying to step in for her sake.
…She hadn’t thought she could be any more in love with her.
Unfortunately, the moment didn’t last. Now that the akuma was focused on Marinette, the two adult Dupain-Chengs grabbed Kagami and rushed outside of the bakery, ordering her to run. Then pushing her when she attempted to refuse until she had no choice without making all their attempts futile and risk them coming to even more harm. If she wasn’t there, at least, maybe the akuma would leave them alone to try and chase after her? Maybe it would lose interest in them?
That is a big “maybe”, though…
And didn’t that just grate everything in Kagami? To run away? Unacceptable. To flee from an opponent? Unacceptable. To allow Marinette to be facing an enemy in her stead? To be injured—possibly killed for Kagami’s sake?
UNACCEPTABLE!
She was about ready to turn around and head back, damn the consequences! But something else stood in her way.
A certain black-clad something with a rather familiar box.
“Special delivery!”
Chat Noir had somehow gotten ahold of the Dragon Miraculous and sought out Kagami for her aid in the battle. She didn’t know how or why. She didn’t know if this was part of a plan. She had no idea where Ladybug even was.
None of that mattered.
The only thing that mattered was that she finally had a way to fight back and defend the treasure precious to her heart.
“Longg, bring the storm!”
Within mere moments, she was transformed and taking to the sky, leaving Chat Noir yelping out in surprise. She didn’t have time to wait on him, though. She had a treasure to protect. And a lady to save!
For Marinette, the fight had been a short one—little wonder, as she was untransformed and a frying pan could really only do so much against a skilled fencer powered by magic. Within minutes, the akuma had Marinette cornered and unarmed.
Marinette saw the akuma’s weapon raised and ready to swing down on her. She closed her eyes, knowing this may very well be it.
Something slammed into her, though. But it wasn’t a weapon. It didn’t hurt.
“I have you, Hime!”
Her eyes snapped open in shock.
It wasn’t that she was alive. It wasn’t that she was in the air.
It wasn’t that there was a Miraculous user active. It was that her saviour was Ryuko.
Kagami.
She was in Kagami’s arms. With Kagami smiling at her. With Kagami holding her oh so closely.
“Are you unharmed, Mari-hime?”
And calling her “Princess”.
Marinette felt herself blush in a way she hadn’t around Adrien in weeks.
“Fine! You’re fine! I-I mean I’M fine! We’re fine! Just…”
Very fine. Were her arms always this muscled?
She squeaked.
Kagami—Ryuko! Her hero name is Ryuko!
Marinette shook her head.
Ryuko gently set Marinette to stand on a nearby rooftop. To Marinette’s embarrassment, she stumbled, causing Kaga—Ryuko to grab her again to steady her.
“Careful!”
“Thank me! I mean—you!” Marinette couldn’t even bring herself to speak.
Kagami—because it WAS Kagami behind that mask damn her—gave a gentle smile.
“Of course, Hime. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
She bowed and placed a kiss to the other girl’s hand.
“Until we meet again, Mari-hime.” Kagami told her, giving that oh so satisfied smirk she always wore when she knew she was winning.
Which she was and she knew it, seeing the way the pigtailed girl flushed a deep red and started stammering. Kagami would almost say the reaction made everything worth it.
Almost, because there was the little matter of the akuma responsible for endangering her Princess...
“Ryuko!” Came the call from a distance. Chat Noir was in trouble.
Kagami gave Marinette a wink before going after the cry.
Marinette curled into a ball, covering her face with her jacket and giving out a muffled cry with only Tikki to witness the display and try to calm her down enough to get her to transform.
Needless to say, Ladybug was distracted for the rest of the fight.
Two days later, Kagami met with Marinette in her room. To her inner glee, there was a picture of Ryuko front and center in the middle of The Wall. More pictures of Adrien had been taken down in its wake as she saw her Miraculous self standing tall with sword in hand. The picture was larger than a good majority of the others, and it in combination with her other pictures left her taking up a good three quarters of the entire canvas that represented Marinette’s heart.
There were still some pictures of Adrien left on The Wall. But Kagami had time to remove those. As things stood, it was clear who held most of the space in Marinette’s heart.
“Marinette? I was wondering if you would perhaps like to go out to dinner with me?”
The designer blinked in surprise at that. “You mean like hanging out at the cafe like usual?”
She shook her head and took Marinette’s hand in her own. “No. I mean…dinner. With me. Together.”
Marinette gaped in surprise. But Kagami did not falter.
“The fight with the akuma the other day really made me realize that I have been…hesitating. I like you. I like being with you. And I…want to be with you. If you will have me.”
Marinette blushed. When her eyes met Kagami’s, there was uncertainty. But she was looking at Kagami—just at Kagami. The way Kagami had been wanting her to.
“I think I would like that.”
Kagami smiled. They both did.
The Wall still had pictures of Adrien. And a few of Luka. As well as a couple of Chat Noir.
Kagami didn’t care.
It didn’t matter if Adrien still had a part of Marinette’s heart. Kagami had most of it, she was sure. And if the amount of space she took up in Marinette’s heart was enough for her to at least get to call Marinette her own…
She wouldn’t be wholly satisfied with that, but she could at least try to be.
For now.