Chapter Text
Marinette heavily considered faking sick the moment she woke up. There was little point in her going to school nowadays, not with the jeers from her classmates who believed Lila’s lies or her anxiety that she might be called to the principal’s office yet again and possibly suspended for a crime she did not commit. Not even her best friend Alya believed that Lila was lying despite knowing that Marinette was Ladybug and absolutely did not consider Lila her best friend.
“Marinette,” Tikki chirped from beside her, poking her cheek with her tiny flipper, “Your alarm’s been going off for the past ten minutes. You’re going to be late for school!”
With a groan, Marinette snoozed her alarm and pulled the covers over her head.
The alarm went off again, and Marinette could hear her mother calling her from downstairs.
A knock on her trapdoor.
Her father poked his head in. “Marinette, it’s time to go to school. You don’t want to be late again, do you?” Marinette flushed when she thought about all of the tardies and absences she’d gotten, some of them as a result of genuine tardiness but most due to Ladybug responsibilities. Now that Monarch had almost all of the Miraculous… She shook her head. She couldn’t think about that right now. The point was that she couldn’t afford another tardy.
“I’m awake, Dad!” Marinette answered, climbing off her bed. “I’ll be down in a minute!”
Scrambling around the room, Marinette put on her clothes and prepared for the day. She wore her pink purse, which had two macarons at all times for emergencies, and motioned for Tikki to hide before she ran downstairs.
“Love you!” Marinette shouted as she grabbed a croissant and started running to school. With her natural clumsiness, she nearly tripped over two dog leashes, ran into a tree, and got hit by multiple cars.
On the plus side, she still made it to school in time, skidding into her homeroom a minute before the bell rang.
“Hey girl, you’ll never believe what I just posted on the Ladyblog.” Alya showed her a picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir patrolling the night before. “I got it on my professional camera! This… is… so… awesome! It’s already gotten a thousand likes.”
Marinette returned a smile, hoping that it didn’t seem utterly exhausted. “It looks great!” Of course, given that Alya had a rough estimate of when Ladybug patrolled, Alya’d be able to set up all of the cameras in advance. That said, the photography was truly impressive… even if Marinette didn’t know how she herself felt about being such a public figure.
“Marinette.” Marinette froze when she heard Lila’s voice. “I had a long night doing charity work. You know, for Prince Ali. You wouldn’t mind if I sat here today with Alya, would you? Alya’s really good at keeping me focused, and I’d hate to fall behind in class…”
“Of course, Lila…” Marinette muttered. She clenched her fists when she saw the satisfied glint in Lila’s eyes. Lila was lying. Of course she was lying. But Marinette didn’t have the energy to argue, and it’d be useless even if she did.
Sitting at the back of the class, Marinette did her best to pay attention to class. She couldn’t afford to fall more behind than she already was. But flashes of Lila’s smug face would cross through her mind, and she’d lose her focus.
“-answer to question 3 on the board. Marinette?”
Marinette flinched. “Here!” The question caught up with the rest of her brain. She stared at the board. She hadn’t even realized that Ms. Bustier had put questions up.
If only a Lucky Charm could give her answers to the board like they did with akumas.
“What’s the answer to question 3?”
“Fifteen?” Marinette guessed.
“That is incorrect. I would appreciate it if you paid attention in class from now on. Anyone else want to give it a try?”
Marinette shrunk down on her seat. Today wasn’t looking any better than yesterday.
Lila took Marinette’s usual seat next to Alya before Marinette even finished getting her food. She’d also taken the remaining seat by resting her foot on it. No doubt she was making something up about her leg.
Standing in the middle of the cafeteria, Marinette imagined herself walking over to the tables. Maybe someone would make room for her or tell Lila that she couldn’t take Marinette’s spot- chair.
She thought about how the class acted since Lila joined and how she didn’t have energy to deal with that. Ladybug couldn’t afford to be akumatized, and Marinette wasn’t sure how much longer she could stay positive.
Sitting on the steps outside of the school, Marinette took a bite of her sandwich, looking into the distance at nothing in particular.
The door creaked open behind her.
“Mind if I join you?”
Marinette nearly dropped her sandwich in her haste to turn around. “A-A-Adrien?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“O-Of course you can sit me. I mean sit here! Here, next to me. In this spot! Haha…” She awkwardly patted the space next to her.
Adrien beamed at her and sat down. He took a bite out of his apple. “Thanks.”
“N-No. Thank me. I mean. Thank you. For joining me.”
“Of course. You’re one of my closest friends, Marinette. I don’t want you sitting alone during lunch.”
Marinette’s face darkened when she thought about Lila. “She’s somehow worse than Chloe,” she grumbled.
“Chloe’s not that bad,” Adrien defended.
Marinette considered all of the bullying Chloe had put her through. She didn’t want to argue with Adrien though. “R-Right…”
“No, really. You should give her another chance. Hey, maybe the three of us can go get Andre’s ice cream sometime.”
“No! I mean, yes! I mean, kind of? I don’t know,” she stammered. She didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to get ice cream with Adrien, but she really didn’t want to go anywhere with Chloe. But Adrien seemed so eager… “O-Okay… We can try that.”
“Great!”
There was an explosion in the distance. Both Adrien and Marinette leapt to their feet.
“I need to go to the bathroom!” “I forgot to get something from my locker!”
After the akuma battle, Ladybug and Chat Noir sat on a roof together.
“I don’t like it when you get hit, Kitty,” Ladybug said, keeping her gaze on the horizon. It was nice, not having anything to worry about for a few minutes.
Chat Noir shrugged. “You can save the city,” he said for the thousandth time. “I can’t. I can afford to get hit. You can’t.”
“Still. Promise that you’ll be more careful in the future?”
“I’ll try.” Both of them knew that Chat Noir had no intention of doing that. “I should get going. Cat-ch you later, M’lady!”
Marinette ran into her class. Thankfully, the akuma battle had been short, so she wasn’t even tardy, even if she was cutting it close.
Adrien Agreste
Hey! Would you be free to grab ice cream with Chloe and I in an hour?
Sorry for the short notice.
She told her dad, and her dad contacted Father, and Natalie says that this is the only time I’m available this week.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Yeah! I’d love to. Meet you guys there?
Adrien Agreste
Yes. See you there!
“Adrien and I are going for ice cream!” Marinette squealed to Tikki. “Maybe he’s falling for me.” She gasped. “Oh no. Maybe I should bring a present. Do you think that he’d want a hamster wheel? No, no. I don’t know if he wants hamsters in the future. Maybe he’ll hate me if I brought him a hamster wheel. What about a bracelet? No. He’s a model. He already has all the clothes he needs. Tikki, he’s going to hate me!”
Tikki giggled. “Relax, Marinette. It’s not a date. Chloe will be there too.”
“Chloe! Oh no. Chloe’s going to be there. She definitely brought something for him. I can’t be outshone by Chloe! Tikki, quick, spots-”
“Marinette! You can’t use your powers for personal gain.”
“You’re right. I can’t… But that doesn’t mean I can’t make him something!”
“That’s the spirit!”
“Marinette! We’re over here!” Adrien called.
Marinette hurried over. “A-Adrien! Bye! I mean, bi! I mean, hi!”
“Ugh, you couldn’t have dressed any nicer, Baker Girl?”
“...Hi to you too, Chloe.”
“Chloe, that’s not nice to say.”
Chloe huffed. “Whatever. I don’t know why you’d drag me to a terrible ice cream place.”
Adrien nudged her. “It’s one of the best ice cream places in the city! Give it a try, alright?”
“Only for you, Adrikins.” She swung her arm around Adrien’s shoulders. Adrien gave a nervous chuckle.
“Ah, a lovely group of three,” Andre said with a wide grin on his face. “What can I get for you?”
“We’d like ice cream to celebrate our newfound friendship,” Adrien answered for the three of them, not noticing the daggers the two girls were throwing at each other with their eyes.
Andre nodded. “An unconventional friend group means an unconventional yet lovely ice cream cone. Let’s see… A scoop of blueberry for the girl in pigtails, some lemon for the girl wearing yellow, and mint for the boy with green eyes.” He handed the ice cream cone over with three spoons. “May your friendship bloom!”
Adrien thanked him and paid for the cone. “Let’s go sit by the river,” he suggested. “It’ll have a nice breeze.”
The three of them sat. Marinette barely said anything. Adrien didn’t have the room to get a word in because Chloe was filling up the air about her father and how she’d never come back. Marinette was only grateful that Andre was far away enough that he couldn’t hear her—she didn’t feel like dealing with another akuma, especially not one that Chloe caused.
“-And Daddy says that I have more fashion sense than anyone combined. Besides you of course Adrikins. You might be the only one who can match me. But the baker girl has no chance of ever catching up with my style. Look at the shabby clothes that you’re wearing. So much for a fashion designer, baker girl.”
“You know, Chloe,” Marinette abruptly said, her patience wearing thin. “I get why Andre put lemon in the ice cream to represent you. It’s sour and bitter and represents you perfectly.” She stood up. “I’m leaving.”
Chloe gaped at her, then huffed. “Good riddance.”
“Wait, Marinette-” Adrien tried to say. But whatever he had to say wasn’t heard by Marinette’s ears, since she had already darted off with tears in her eyes.
She ran to her room and collapsed on her bed. Tikki escaped her purse, looking at her worriedly. “Marinette, you need to calm down. You can attract an akuma!”
“Tikki, I don’t understand. W-Why doesn’t he ever stand up for me? Lila, then Chloe… But he’s- he’s perfect. He stands up for everyone else! He stands up for Chloe all the time! Does he hate me? Does he think that I deserve all of this?”
“Marinette-”
“Does he even like me, Tikki?”
“Of course he likes you! He’s your friend,” Tikki emphasized, though her eyes betrayed her worry as she scanned each possible area in case of an akuma.
“Then why does he place everyone above me?” Marinette clenched her fists. “Tikki, spots on!”
“Marinette-”
Ladybug swung around the city, avoiding the river area. She didn’t feel like talking to either Adrien or Chloe—both of whom might wave her down and then it’d be her duty to talk to them.
“Just patrolling!” she called down to a couple citizens who were asking her if there was an akuma. She leaped from building to building, desperately running from the heart that was attached to her chest.
By the time Ladybug returned home and transformed back into Marinette, the adrenaline that flooded her veins had replaced the awful feeling that dragged her down earlier.
“Marinette,” Tikki admonished while eating a cookie. “You aren’t supposed to use your powers for your own purposes.”
“It’d be worse off for Paris to have an akumatized Ladybug,” Marinette responded. “I can’t afford that. There wouldn’t be anyone who could purify the akuma or repair the damage if I wasn’t here.”
Tikki frowned disapprovingly. She opened her mouth to say more, but Marinette cut her off. “No one wants Marinette for… Marinette anymore. Not Alya. Not Adrien. But people want Ladybug. I am Ladybug.”
“That means people need Marinette!”
“No, that means that people need Ladybug,” Marinette corrected softly. “It is my responsibility as Ladybug to stop Monarch. If I keep focusing on my personal life… when no one tries to help… then why not drive those efforts toward stopping Monarch instead? That is the responsibility I have taken as both Ladybug and the guardian of the Miraculous.”
Tikki’s eyes filled with concern. “You need to have a personal life. It’s not healthy to-”
“Tikki,” Marinette interrupted. “I have only been summoning Lucky Charms to stop akumas. What would happen if I summon a Lucky Charm to discover Monarch’s identity?”
“I… I don’t know. It’s whatever the universe would like you to know.”
“Tikki, spots on! Lucky Charm!”