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Marc and Zoe walked down the street from their school, idly conversing about the game they were both obsessed with, albeit not in the usual way as everyone else in the fandom.
‘Doki Doki! Heartfelt Feelings at the Miraculous Magical Academy!’ was a dating simulator in a fantasy world that featured the protagonist, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a commoner who was allowed to attend the royal academy after being blessed by the goddess of creation. Some of the love interests included Adrien Agreste, the crown prince, Felix Fathom, Adrien’s jealous cousin from a branch family, and Luka Couffaine, a lower ranked noble with a talent for music.
Marc and Zoe liked none of the love interests. Instead…
“I wish Marinette was real,” Zoe sighed dramatically, draping herself over Marc’s shoulder. “I would treat her sooooo much better than the love interests.”
Marc snickered, pushing her off lightheartedly, “That’s not exactly a high bar to clear.”
“You can’t blame me! She’s the protagonist, of course she’d be the perfect girlfriend,” Zoe whined, walking backwards with her arms behind her head.
Marc’s eyes trailed past her to the pedestrian signal switching to an orange upright hand.
“ZOE, LOOK OUT!”
Before Marc could even comprehend his actions, he was rushing forward with his arms outstretched. He could only register Zoe’s shocked expression as she was shoved onto the sidewalk before the force of a speeding truck slammed into the side of his body.
---
Marc groaned as he sat up in bed. He massaged his head, grinding his teeth as if it would alleviate the headache throbbing in his skull. His eyes squinted as he adjusted to the lighting in the room. Surprisingly not as blinding as he would’ve expected a hospital room to be.
Although, weren’t hospital rooms supposed to be white?
As his vision finally cleared up from his nap, he finally got a good look at where he was sleeping. The canopy bed and giant room the size of his house was definitely not what he was prepared for.
“What the fuck?” Marc croaked, before jumping at how high pitched his voice seemed. He rubbed his throat, trying not to freak out. Maybe the hospital was full? And… And his throat was damaged in the accident so someone had to donate their vocal chords for him?
God, he hoped Zoe didn’t feel too bad. At least, he was still alive so she wouldn’t have the guilt of his death on her shoulders.
A knock at the door startled him.
“Hey, girl, you in there?”
Marc furrowed his brows. He had assumed hospital staff weren’t so casual with their patients, but what did he know? “Yes, come in.”
He held down a scream when the person opened the door and poked their head in.
Alya Cesaire, one of ‘Doki Doki! Heartfelt Feelings at the Miraculous Magical Academy!’s side characters, was right there. In front of his very eyes.
He rubbed his eyes. Marc looked again. She only seemed to grow more concerned.
“Marinette, is everything alright? Are you coming to class today?”
…Huh?
“Class?” Marc murmured, mind still reeling over the first word.
“Girl, don’t even worry about going to school,” Alya winked, “After that spectacle yesterday, I don’t think anyone will blame you for sleeping in a day.”
“Spectacle?”
“I don’t blame you for not remembering,” Alya smiled as she leaned against the doorway, every bit the epitome of the cool girl character she was meant to be, “After summoning that giant sword, you passed out immediately. Adrien was the one to carry you back here.”
No way.
No fucking way.
That was an event in the game. Marinette would summon an item dependent on which love interest’s route she was pursuing and pass out from the exertion of using the goddess of creation’s powers. Then the love interest would carry her back to her room afterwards.
Does that mean…?
Marc ignored Alya, rushing to the mirror in the room, feet skidding on the floor as he slowed to a stop in front of his reflection.
Or well. Marinette’s reflection.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Alya asked, a frown on her face as she reached out to place a hand on his shoulder.
Marc spun around, wheezing as he quickly ushered, “Yeah, I’m fine, you should go though! You don’t want to be late yourself, right?”
Alya hummed, crossing her arms, “Fine. But I’ll be back during lunch to check on you.”
Marc flinched. He really couldn’t handle meeting with someone who thought he was a completely different person so soon into this experience.
“You don’t have to-”
“Don’t fight me on this, girl,” Alya called out, already heading out the door, “I’ll bring you the sweets from the cafeteria!”
And with that, she was gone.
Marc turned back to the mirror, slumping down with a groan. He rubbed his face with his hands, peeking through his fingers to once again stare at Marinette’s appearance.
Which… didn’t have her hands on her face like he was currently doing.
Marc yelped, jumping back from the vanity. That seemed to stir the reflection into action, scooting closer to the surface yet never breaking through.
“Who are you?!” Marinette hissed, “Give me my body back!”
What else was Marc supposed to do but scream?
---
It had taken them a while until the late afternoon to properly sort everything out. Marc had to chase out both Alya and Adrien to continue talking to Marinette, despite how the girl insisted Adrien should be let in.
“So… do you know which love interest you’re going to go for?” Marinette asked after finally understanding everything. “If this is a dating simulator, like you said.”
“You’re not gonna try to tell me to go for Adrien?” Marc asked, slumped over on the vanity counter.
“Well, that’s who I would- or I guess, was going for,” Marinette mused on her side of the mirror, “But it’s your body now. I’m not going to force you to keep doing what I want.”
Marc softened his gaze at her. It must be hard for her, suddenly being ejected from her own body with no explanation as to why. He reached a hand out, fingers resting on the glass separating the two, “I promise I’ll look for a way for you to get your body back.”
Marinette smiled back at him, shoulders relaxing, “Thank you.”
Marc sighed, eyes fluttering shut, “...Nathaniel.”
Marinette blinked, “Hm? You didn’t say that name before. Is he another love interest?”
Marc slammed his hands down on the table, standing up and knocking the stool he was sitting on down to the ground, “NO, because the game devs are cowards ! Nathaniel was robbed in the game!”
“Robbed?”
“He’s an early game event!” Marc started to ramble, barely taking a moment to breathe before launching into his rant, “He asks the protagonist out, but instead of treating him with the respect he deserves, the love interest interrupts him and humiliates Nathaniel in front of the entire school for daring to think about Marinette liking him back! There’s not even a reason for it! He wasn’t rude or pushy at all! The writers just use him to set up a dumb jealousy plot that doesn’t even make sense because the love interests barely know the protagonist!”
Marinette hissed, hunching in on himself, “That’s horrible.”
“Right!” Marc shouted, starting to pace around the room, “And then- And then , they don’t even give him a proper resolution! He doesn’t have any speaking roles for the rest of the game!”
Marinette tilted her head, voice wavering as she quietly asked, “So why do you like him?”
Marc spun back around, hands on his hips, “Even without any dialogue, Nathaniel proves himself to be one of the most respectful characters in the game! Every time he appears in a CG, he’s shown being helpful and kind to others! He helps Alix up when the school gets attacked by monsters!”
“The school is gonna what ?”
“And then during the ballroom CGs, you can see Nathaniel getting drinks for the people who are dancing, even though any normal person would be upset that nobody wanted to go with him!” Marc continued on, not paying any mind to Marinette’s question, “He shows up a lot in crowd scenes because the artists couldn’t be bothered to come up with new character designs for background characters, but Nathaniel is never seen doing anything mean! Which is more than I can say for the love interests .”
Marinette laughed, an angelic sound that suited the protagonist of a dating simulator perfectly. “I think I get it. Well then, I’ll support you happily during it.”
Marc beamed, before he bit his lip, awkwardly asking, “So do you have any sports bras?”
“What are those?”
Marc groaned, disappointment immediately crashing into him, “Damn it.”
“What’s wrong?”
Marc bit his lips, crossing his arms over his chest, “Well… In my past life, my body didn’t match my gender either. I had clothes to compress or otherwise hide my chest, but I don’t know if you had anything to do that here-”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” Marinette waved a hand, “Why don’t you just get a breast reduction potion? They’re at practically every corner store here.”
“...Really?”
“Yeah, we have a store on campus that supplies it. The price is pretty cheap too, even for a commoner like me!”
Free and accessible healthcare for transgender teenagers? This really was a fantasy world.
---
Nathaniel hummed happily, doodling in his sketchbook as he sat in the school courtyard. High-pitched, obviously-forced giggles floated from the fountain over to where he was sitting. He groaned, narrowing his eyes at the girl.
Lila Rossi sat on the fountain’s edge, conversing with a group of girls from a different class. “And then Adrien kissed me on the cheek! It was so romantic!” The others immediately oohed and aahed over her tale, gushing over the thought of the crown prince being so caring to one of their friends.
Nathaniel rolled his eyes, turning back to his drawing. Ever since Marc had announced his name (and gender) change, he had to relearn how to draw his crush with his new hairstyle. He was getting pretty good at it, for having to adjust to it in a week, although maybe that was more of a testament to how often he found himself doodling Marc than any aspect of his skill.
He couldn’t help but blush and smile giddily at the mere thought of him. Marc really was the entire package: cute and strong, yet also humble enough to not let it get to his head. He always treated the people around him with kindness and respect, which was surprising for a commoner who has risen to noble status. Nathaniel would’ve expected him to be haughty about his ability.
“You know that boy? Marc Anciel…”
Nathaniel zoned back into Lila’s conversation, squinting at her with a frown. What business did she have talking about Marc?
The girl batted her eyes, wiping away fake tears as she whispered, “He tried to summon a weapon to harm me the other day. He said it was because I was getting too close to Adrien, and that he was going to end up being Adrien’s partner in the end, not some loser like me.”
The group of girls around her gasped in unison, clutching their expensive jewelry in shock.
“He said that to you?”
“And summoned a weapon no less! This is exactly why commoners ought to stay in their place!”
Nathaniel frowned, gathering his belongings. He couldn’t bear to be around this senseless gossip anymore. The artist quickly walked past Lila’s entourage towards the exit of the courtyard, only to be stopped in his tracks when Marc turned the corner, coming face to face with him.
“Oh, hi, Nathaniel,” Marc greeted with a cheery smile.
Nathaniel blushed and waved back, slightly leaning his body away from him. For some reason, Marc had suddenly become a lot more aware of him since the training accident. He was still getting used to having his attention.
“Oh, I just remembered. I wanted to give you something.”
Marc tilted his head in intrigue as Nathaniel reached into his bag and pulled out a dark chocolate bar. The redhead handed it over to the transfer student with a smile.
“I heard that you were just starting to take the potions. These’ll help with the transition.”
Marc beamed as he took the candy, holding it in his hands like it was a gold bar. “How did you know it’ll help?”
Nathaniel blushed further, averting his eyes as he mumbled, “I take them myself.”
Marc gasped, quietly whispering, “T for T.”
Nathaniel… didn't know what that meant. “I can bring you more if you want it-”
Marc cut him off by getting on one knee. He placed the chocolate at his side before reaching up to grab Nathaniel’s hands, gazing upwards with sparkling eyes.
“Marry me.”
Nathaniel squeaked. The entire courtyard went silent.
“M-Marc-”
“I mean it!” Marc said, squeezing tighter, “You’re one of the nicest, most respectful people here! Ever since I first noticed you, I haven’t been able to get my thoughts off of you. I literally could not care about any of the other guys here if it meant that you would give me the chance of letting me take you on a date.”
Lila sweated nervously in the background as her followers turned to face her with raised eyebrows.
Nathaniel stammered, voice constantly cracking as he finally managed to answer, “We- We can go out to eat this weekend?”
“Yay!” Marc shot up, sweet back in his hand. He beamed at Nathaniel as he spun on his heel, “I’ll set everything up! I promise it’ll be the best date you’ve ever been on!”
Nathaniel could only wave farewell wordlessly, smacking his cheeks lightly to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
Well. That was one way to start dating his crush.
Lila (Guest) Sat 11 Nov 2023 05:25PM UTC
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