One day, his black soulmark would light up in color. His mother had amped him up enough for that. It was the first touch you would ever have with your soulmate, hence why a lot of people had black marks on their hands. His mother had, and so had his father, a handshake when they were introduced because, as his mother lamented, "Gabriel was so formal."

He was really excited for his because it wouldn't be a simple hand touch, though there were black smudges on his fingers. No, he had a black mark all over the top of his chest and shoulders. It was going to be very interesting.

His father wholly disapproved, but there was nothing to be done about it. However, his mother was always intrigued. "Well," she had always said, "You'll definitely know who she is, your soulmark coloring or not."

Marinette always cringed at her soulmark. Her parents had to have the cutest soulmark on their hands, where they had fist bumped the first time. Why couldn't she have that? There were so many of her classmates that had little handprints on their arms or shoulders or hands. But no, she had to have it sprawled out over her chest.

Meaning she was going to be the klutz and fall on her soulmate and he's going to hate her and ohmygosh how humiliating.

It made her thankful she was a clothes designer, meaning she'd learned how to cover her embarrassing mark after Chloe had teased her mercilessly about it.

Mercilessly.

At least she had black smudges on her fingers to pass for her mark whenever anyone asked. She always passed it off as her soulmark so she never had to reveal the other part. The huge black mark of shame.

Because it had almost become a shame mark at this point. A reminder of how klutzy she would always be. Hopefully her soulmate wouldn't resent her for it. For leaving a huge mark on… wherever she fell on him.

She sighed, then grabbed her bag to get ready for the first day of school.

He was in heaven. His soulmark had lit up, all because he'd been tackled by a superheroine.

His superhero partner.

He squealed his excitement.

"Calm down, kid," Plagg said. "You sound like a girl."

Well… it could have been worse?

Marinette groaned as she stared at her chest in the mirror. A menagerie of colors filled the void where black had once been.

"I'm not surprised, Marinette," Tikki said. "Chat Noirs and Ladybug are often soulmates."

That would have been nice to know before she accidently tackled him while trying to figure out how to use a yo-yo.

But one thing puzzled her.

"Then what's this, Tikki?" she asked, showing the black smudge prints on her fingers that had yet to color.

Tikki shrugged. However, the smile said she knew the answer full well.

Marinette sighed. Oh well, she'd worry about that later. For now, she had enough to worry about considering that her soulmate spouted horrible puns more often than her father.

She should have been prepared. Like, far more.

But this was Marinette. Was she really that surprised she'd forgotten to pack an umbrella.

The telltale click of one opening sounded beside her. She looked up, only to lock eyes with Adrien Agreste.

"Hey."

She scoffed and turned away.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice so low and sad she could barely hear him. "I was trying to take the gum off your seat. I swear."

She looked up at him, the honesty in his voice persuading her to listen.

"I've never been to school before. I've never had friends." With that, he offered her his umbrella with a smile.

She stared up at him, speechless, as he held the umbrella out for her.

One she reached out to take.

As her fingers brushed against his, light shone from them, dazzling them both.

She hadn't seen this the first time it happened—

She looked up at Adrien, who had dropped his umbrella to the ground in favor of staring at his own finger tips.

She hadn't seen it the first time it happened.

"Chat Noir?" she whispered, breathlessly.

His wide, green eyes met hers. "Ladybug."

For a moment, all they could do was stare. Their partner, their soulmate, their newfound friend.

Marinette smiled.

A car horn sounded behind them, alerting them to the fact one of them was scheduled to be picked up.

Adrien snatched the forgotten umbrella off the ground. "For you, My Lady."

She took it with a smile. "Go. Don't get in trouble."

His grin was lopsided and so oddly familiar. And she'd only known it a day. "See you later."

"See you around, Chat."

With that, Adrien shot her one last grin and ran out to his car, leaving his umbrella with her in the process.

She watched as the boy whom she'd sworn to avoid drove off into the rain. She smiled fondly, looking down at her hand. "I guess he's not so bad."