"Okay! Um! Let's start from the top!"
Marinette tried (and failed) to keep her clipboard from slipping out of her hands for the fifth time that hour. She wasn't even in the performance. Somehow, Alya had talked her into being the stage manager.
Which sounded simple.
Until she realized she had to coordinate Kim's off-key singing, Ivan's fog machine obsession, and Alix insisting she "didn't do choreography—only confusion."
A familiar, calm voice cut through the noise.
"I heard you needed help with timing."
Marinette looked up to see Kagami Tsurugi standing near the back of the auditorium, posture perfect, arms crossed behind her back.
"Uh—Kagami?! You want to… help?"
"I do not want to," she said plainly. "But my schedule allowed it."
"…R-right. Of course."
Kagami scanned the stage. "You're using a 3/4 count over a 4/4 beat. It's inefficient."
Marinette blinked. "W-what?"
"Your choreography. I will fix it."
She walked off before Marinette could respond.
At first, Marinette bristled. Is she always this cold?
But as the rehearsal dragged on, she noticed things changing—people moved smoother, the timing made more sense. And Kagami didn't just bark orders—she demonstrated. Poised. Focused.
During a break, Marinette offered her a juice box awkwardly.
Kagami accepted it without blinking. "Thank you."
"So… uh. You're really good at this."
"It is like fencing," Kagami said. "Precision. Flow. Purpose."
"…Do you like musicals?"
"No."
"Oh."
Pause.
"But I like structure," Kagami added.
Marinette smiled a little.
"…So, uh… do you… like Adrien?". She accidently blurted out, (OH SHOOT-)
Kagami blinked. "No."
"Wait, really?". Marinette asked sheepishly.
"I did," Kagami said bluntly. "But he's not mine to pursue. And I want something else now."
"…Like what?"
Kagami just sipped her juice box and just smiled.
The Paris skyline was calm that night—no akuma, no shit. Just rooftops, quiet streets, and a black cat in leather crouched on the chimney of an old building, humming to himself.
"Cool view."