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If it weren’t for the creepy stuffed animal with the weird eyes and too-wide grin, Alya would never have found out her best friend’s biggest secret.
Well, maybe it wasn’t her biggest secret.
(That girl was hiding things! And it was only when those secrets overwhelmed her did Alya give herself permission to confront her about it.)
No, this secret was more of the I’m hanging around with one half of Paris’s superhero duo and no one knows variety.
To be fair, Alya didn’t think they were trying to keep it a secret. After all, Alya had run into them entirely on accident.
She hadn’t even needed to pry.
“Ella! Etta! Come back!”
Alya chased after her younger sisters, trying—and failing—to get them to heed her. Trails of fluffy cotton candy drifted behind them from long forgotten treats, their attention span limited by the confines of their age.
“Of course,” Alya grumbled, stopping for a moment to catch her breath. She planted her hands on her hips and stared after her sisters, who had taken a momentary pause. “The one day I decide to do something nice for them, they repay me with this.” There was no one around to hear her, so her words were soft. Fond.
When the fair had sprung up out of seemingly nowhere, Ella and Etta had begged their parents to go. Apparently, it was the attraction of the summer, and everyone in their school had spun fantastical tales of the fun they'd had.
But Alya’s parents were both too busy to spare time, and both Nora and Alya—who, while loving the twins to bits—were reluctant to give up their summertime for what would undoubtedly be a chaotic trip.
Eventually Alya had felt bad and gave in.
It turned out she may have been a little too lenient. As evidenced by her protesting lungs when Ella and Etta took off again, careening towards the rows of booths, each displaying a stuffed toy that the twins would kill for.
After a yet another jog, Alya finally managed to clamp her hands around their shoulders while they were distracted by a glittering dragon the size of their bodies.
“Stay with me,” she said firmly, making sure that there was nothing in her tone that could be mistaken. “Don’t go running off, or we’ll be running right home.”
Ella and Etta nodded furiously. It made Alya’s head spin just looking at them.
“Good,” she said. She took each of their hands in her own. “Now, why don’t you find a prize you like? Maybe you’ll be able to win it for yourself.”
For the next few minutes, the three continued forward. Ella chattered nonstop while Etta tugged at Alya’s hand, enough to make her wary of another escape but not with enough pressure to fully pull away.
“There!” Ella paused in her commentary of the booths to point at a stall. Her voice was pitched with excitement, delight unmistakable.
Alya winced. Of course.
Hanging from one of the hooks was the ugliest and most disturbing stuffed toy Alya had ever had the misfortune of seeing—and that included all of Hawkmoth’s worst designed akumas. Its eyes rolled back into its head. A too wide smile stretched across its face. And to top it off, Alya could hold it in her hands, and she probably wouldn’t have been able to see over its head.
“Are you sure that’s the one you want?” Alya asked. It would stay in the twins’ room for most of its life, but Alya often spent time reading them stories before their bedtime. Having that stare at her would be unsettling.
It already was.
Etta nodded enthusiastically, which wasn’t a good sign. If both twins agreed, there was no hope of dissuading them from moving away from whatever they wanted.
At least this time Alya could give it to them. She made sure she was still holding tight to them before she pulled them to the booth. It was rigged, no doubt, but perhaps playing would sate the twins.
“Welcome!” The vendor made a dramatic bow. “Your tickets?”
Alya handed over the necessary amount. Her teeth grated but she stayed quiet, for the sake of her sisters.
The vendor flashed the three of them a smile that made Alya want to punch him. “Excellent. Now, all you must do is play a game of ring-toss.” He handed over six rings, three for each twin. “Just throw the ring. If it lands on one of these cups, you’ll win a prize!”
Etta didn’t even wait. She tossed one haphazardly. It hit the side of the cup and then flopped pathetically to the floor.
The next ring was from Ella. She fared a little bit better, but it still didn’t stick.
Two more tries from each twin passed. Neither of them made it. Alya began to see the droop in their shoulders, the sorrow of which they stared at the creepy prize.
Ella tossed her final ring. It landed just on the edge of the cup – teetering…teetering…
It fell away.
If Ella wasn’t in public and less self-conscious of herself, she would have thrown a tantrum. Alya could see it in her eyes. Her shoulders were tense.
Maybe Alya could take the final ring from Etta and try to win it for them – but no, Etta would complain. She could hand over more tickets, even though that would be a terrible idea in the long run.
Before Alya could come to a decision, a voice said from behind her, “Need any help?”
Alya whirled around, Adrien’s name on the tip of her tongue. How’d your father let you leave him for long enough? How’d he care about your happiness?
It wasn't Adrien. It was Chat Noir.
It was Chat Noir with an arm around Marinette.
Alya felt like her mouth was hanging open. Marinette! With Chat Noir! And they were holding a tub of popcorn that they were clearly sharing from. A giant teddy bear was draped over Marinette’s shoulders. From the way Chat Noir clutched at it, he won it. For Marinette.
“Hi!” Alya said. What do you say to your best friend when she’s dating a superhero and didn’t bother to tell you, a superhero enthusiast? Especially when she doesn’t even care that she’s out in plain sight?
“Hello to you back,” Chat Noir said. Marinette didn’t offer much except for a tiny wave.
Before Alya could question anything, Chat Noir nodded to the final disk in Etta’s hand. “My offer still stands, you know. I’m a natural shot.” He preened a little and flexed his arms.
“Chat!” Marinette said, pushing against him. “Don’t be a show-off.” She turned to Alya. “Don’t mind him. He’s insufferable.” Fondness was all over her tone.
How long have they been dating?
“Oh, um, Etta, what do you think?” Alya asked, mentally clearing herself.
Etta tilted her head. After a moment’s pause, her hand jerked out so the throwing ring rested mere inches away from Chat Noir’s Miraculous.
He took it gently—far gentler than Alya would have guessed, with a slow curling of claws and a kind smile—before turning to the vendor, who had fallen into a stunned silence.
“The deal is I have to land one of these, right?” Chat Noir asked. He said it with so much confidence, like he could make the vendor bend the rules just for him.
The vendor nodded rapidly. “Yes—yes, that’s how it works.”
Chat Noir smiled. Then, without warning, the ring spun across the air to rest perfectly on one of the cups. He wasn’t lying when he said he was a good shot.
Ella and Etta exploded into cheering. When the vendor awkwardly asked them what they wanted, they pointed at the creepy stuffed animal and said, “That one!” in a harmony so perfect horror directors would be jealous.
“Thank you, so much,” Alya said to Chat Noir as they walked away from the booth, with the toy of her nightmares clutched in Etta’s arms. “You have no idea how much that meant to them.”
Chat Noir waved off the compliment. He stuck a hand inside the popcorn bucket and brought some to his mouth. “It’s what heroes do. Besides, Marinette would never forgive me if I ignored her best friend in trouble.”
Ah, yes. Marinette.
“How long have you two been together?” Alya asked.
The reaction was not what she expected. Marinette jumped so badly the teddy bear fell from her shoulders. Chat Noir spat out his popcorn, and the bucket fared no better, with half its contents finding a new home on the pavement.
“Dating?” Marinette asked, a wild look in her eyes. “What gave you the idea? No, we’re simply just friends. Nothing else. Nothing else at all.”
Beside her, Chat Noir agreed with everything she said. “Of course, I know you get the wrong impression, from my charm and good looks, but we are only friends.”
Alya had to make a conscious effort not to gape. They truly believed this. For all their vehement denial that could be taken as a foolish attempt to keep a relationship hidden, the expressions they wore could not have been clearer.
She sighed. “You’re sure?”
“Obviously,” Chat Noir said. “We don’t act anything like a couple. Right, Marinette?”
“Yep,” came the reply.
As if they wanted to make Alya doubt them more, they instantly intertwined their hands together. Chat Noir offered Marinette more popcorn. She tossed a piece into his mouth.
If this is what you act like when you’re not a couple, Alya thought dryly, I’d hate to see what kind of mushiness you get up to when you are.