Responsibility

"You're a thief!"

"I'm sorry! I forgot!"

"This is my favorite hoodie! And you stole it! Not to mention my heart!"

"Well in that case you stole mine too!"

"But I've never taken your favorite hoodie!"

"I brought it back! Besides, it doesn't smell as good now anyway."

"Are you kidding? It smells way better now!"

"Does not!"

"It does too!" You try to insist, pulling on the hoodie.

"But it doesn't smell like you now!"

"Exactly! It smells like you!"

"OH MY CHEESE SHUT UP!" Plagg interrupts the playful argument between you and Adrien, once he'd returned your hoodie later the same day he took it.

"Didn't you have something important to tell her?!" Plagg asks.

"Yeah, but she started accusing me!"

"I didn't accuse anything, I stated facts!"

"Don't get started again!!" Plagg yells, and you're thankful your parents had taken s/n for a play date.

"What did you need to tell me?" You ask, trying not to laugh at the situation.

Of course neither of you were actually angry at the other, but were just teasing.

"Master Fu needs to see you."

"Oh no, what did I do?"

"Lots of stuff. He says it's urgent."

You see the twinkle in his eye and know you're not actually in trouble with Master Fu, but you are curious as to what's going on.

So you text your mother that you're going out, and walk sneakily with Adrien to avoid the press, and because his mom went out shopping with his aunt, so Adrien doesn't want them to spot him.

"Me and Mom watched some movies, then went shopping with Aunt Amelie for a while earlier, until they started going in stores that didn't have anything I wanted, so I said I was going home." Adrien tells you, but you can tell there's another reason he left them.

"And?"

"And they kept trying to set me up on dates."

You laugh at the thought of him trying to worm out of such conversations.

"Like Mom would be talking to a young cashier about me if they had one of my magazines. 'This is my son, you know. He's about your age, I think.'" He impersonates, making you laugh harder.

"It's not funny! Especially when one of them would within earshot of somebody, be like 'Ooh, aren't they cute?!' Yeah, sometimes it was a baby or an old guy, which was more for them, but still!"

"You mean you didn't find the old guys cute? Wonder what they'd say about Master Fu? " You tease.

"Gross!! I think I'm gonna be sick!"

You laugh at his dramatics, but secretly you're happy he's so loyal.

"So am I hearing you think Master Fu is cute? Maybe we should turn around." Adrien says, looking at the door in front of you.

"Now I'm gonna be sick!"

You both laugh, then let yourselves into Master's house.

"Welcome, children. Sit, sit." Master Fu greets you, gesturing to the mat in front of him.

As you sit beside Adrien he raises his eyebrows and glances at Master Fu.

You give him an unamused look, then address Master.

"So Adrien says you want to talk to me?"

"Yes. You see, I am not as young as I once was, and after recent events, I have realized that I am not very well suited to be the Guardian of the Miraculous anymore. I have thought long and hard about it, and I think you would be a good choice as the next Guardian. You get along with all the kwamis very well."

The bombshell of what a responsibility this would be hits you, and for a moment you're speechless.

"Wow, Master! What an honor! But are you sure I'd be a good choice? I mean, I do have a nosey sibling." You worry.

"Yes, but your entire family has already taken the oath, so they would be unable to say anything. I thought about all that already."

"If you're sure, but will you still be around to help us if we need it?" You ask.

"I am afraid not. Once a Guardian gives up the job, they lose their memories."

"But how will I know what all to do?! Adrien has told me about the power ups, I have no idea how to do that!"

"Ahh, I didn't say I was giving you the job just yet. I will teach you first, then you will guard the miracle box for a week, and we shall see how things go. If they work out, then everything is settled. If not, I shall find a new Guardian elsewhere. Sound good?"

"It sounds amazing! That would mean I could talk to Kaalki anytime, right?"

"Yes. All Guardians choose a kwami they have as their own to mostly use. I chose Wayzz, you may choose Kaalki. If I were to give Adrien the job, he would have Plagg." Master explains, which reminds you of something.

"So would I need to hand out miraculouses if it was needed, or would I just let Cat or Ladybug do it?"

"That would just depend on the situation."

"Well, if everything goes smoothly, I would love to take on the responsibility. I'll do my very best! When do we start my training?"

"The sooner the better. You are homeschooled, correct?"

"Yes."

"That makes things much easier, as you will have a more flexible schedule."

"Totally, I'm usually free anytime."

"That will be very good. How about tomorrow we start?"

"Great!"

"Yes. Now, Adrien. Your flower, it has been doing well, I have potted it and it has come right back to life." Master turns his focus to Adrien, who has been mostly silent, just watching with pride.

"Great! If we could maybe grow more we could give them to hospitals or something!"

"That is a good idea. Y/n, one of your first lessons will be dealing with this magical flower. So far, I've been treating it as most any flower, but Adrien tells me you know about it's origin?"

"Yeah, in a way. Technically, this one originated from a genie, but I know how it was created in the material Adrien got the idea for it from." You explain.

"Good. You might end up teaching me more about it than I, you." Master says knowingly.

"It's a possibility, I suppose!" You laugh.

"Alright. That is all for today. Come back tomorrow around three and we shall get started."

"Will do!"

You and Adrien say your goodbyes to him, then start to make your way back to your house.

"Now you're just gonna be learning, right?" Adrien teases.

"My gosh, Adrien. That's nasty! He's like, almost 200!"

Adrien bursts into laughter as he slings an arm around your shoulder.

"Oh, I'm just kidding, Angel! If I can ignore my mom and aunt pushing me at random people in the supermarket, surely you can ignore Master Fu's charms!"

"As long as they're not as good as yours, I'll be fine." You say dryly.

"Aw, how kind! I find you quite charming as well!"

"Mmmhhmmm." You say sassily.

Before he can say anything else, he stops and listens for a moment.

"What is it?" You whisper, but he puts his finger to his lips, then utters something you can't hear, but must be "Claws out" since he transforms.

The green light illuminates the alley you're in for a moment, and you hear "What was that?!" before jogging footsteps.

"Crap." Adrien, now Cat Noir, hisses under his breath, then pulls you to the side of the building and presses against you to cover the orange lanterns on your hoodie, which could be seen from the front of the alley, where you now see two figures looking in.

"My mom." Cat whispers so quietly that you almost don't hear it, even though he's so close you can feel his breath on your ear.

"Do you see anything?" One asks.

"Nothing." The other replies.

"What was that light coming from?"

"I have no idea, maybe one of the buildings has some sort of flashing sign down there?"

"I guess."

The figures move on, and Cat waits a moment to let them get far enough away, then pulls away from you.

"Perks of being able to hide in the shadows?" You say.

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't want them to see us, and I didn't have enough time to get us to the roof safely."

"Right. Uh, should we wait longer?" You ask.

"Maybe just a little while, if that's alright with you?"

"Fine by me."

He steps closer again, but this time he doesn't put his face close to the bricks, but to where he can kiss you.

In the time it takes until you have to part for air, you're sure the two women have gotten plenty of distance.

"We better go, before Plagg kills us, plus I have to get home before they do!" Cat realizes.

"You can go ahead if you need to, I can find my way home from here."

"No way. Some creep is likely to pop up, being all 'hows about we get to doing the same thing as you and that cat?'"

"Good point, and gross!"

"Yep, so we can just take the express route!" He suggests, pulling one arm away from your waist to get his staff.

He hurries you home, gives you a quick goodbye kiss, then leaps away.

As you return to your room, you can't help but wonder where you might keep the miracle box.