Disclaimer.: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug, or any of the characters.
Marinette has a tendency to not only trip over herself but also her words in front of Adrien Agreste. She blames him more than she blames herself. Yes, she is a bit awkward as it is, and she has always affectionally been dubbed the class klutz before he came along, and some things just can't be helped because at the end of the day it's who she is. However, being in his presence certainly doesn't help, and only adds to the original issue being that she can't function like a normal human being. It doesn't even matter that most of her friends find it to be an endearing quality because it's all his fault.
His fault for being a literal ray of sunshine, lighting up her world. His fault for being such a kind-hearted soul. His fault for being a considerate classmate. His fault for being a concerned friend. His fault for being such a genuinely amazing person, all things considered. He couldn't have been just a little horrible? Was that really too much to ask for? And, Marinette muses, it is most definitely his fault for being so stunningly attractive, so much so that she often forgets how to breathe properly when gazing upon him.
Alya and Nino often joke that Adrien is incapable of looking bad at any moment in time. Adrien, always humble, denies the claims and insists that they should see him when he has just woken up and rolled out of bed. According to him, his hair resembles a rat's nest, drool trails down his chin, and he looks utterly horrendous. The class, who is listening in at this point, pauses to imagine it and after they do, they all burst into collective laughter. They call him a liar, though they don't intend for it to be taken offensively. Adrien, very indignant at this point, tells them he looks like a bum fresh off the street. No one believes him.
And so it begins. All of the class, even Chloé shockingly enough, have become engaged in an intense competition to capture a picture of Adrien casting him in a most unflattering light. At first Marinette is reluctant to participate. She says it would be an invasion of his privacy (since no one in the class has actually told him about their little game), and that she would never want to do anything that would make him uncomfortable. Marinette had only confided in Alya, so when Adrien approached her after class she was immediately unnerved. He tells her that Alya told him what was going on, and he really doesn't mind, and if anything he says he's excited that everyone seems to be having fun plotting his downfall.
Then Adrien does something Marinette never would have expected from him in a million years. Sweet, sheltered, naïve Adrien Agreste. His lips curl into a devilish smirk that sends her brain reeling, and then he winks at her. She blinks, unsure of how she is meant to proceed. In normal circumstances, Marinette would have been reduced to nothing but a stammering and blushing mess in front of him. Something about this situation is different though. Adrien's luminous green eyes are lit up by mirth and there's an unspoken challenge in them. Marinette realizes in that moment that he truly doesn't believe that anyone is going to accomplish the task at hand. He's confident in the fact that he retains his model-like looks at all times, no matter where he is, and no matter the circumstances.
Adrien pats her on the shoulder and wishes her good luck in her "futile endeavors". He departs and Marinette narrows her eyes at his retreating form, her arms crossed firmly over her chest. She can just imagine how smug his face must be. She decides in that moment that he can wish her all the luck in the world, but it won't matter because one way or another she is most certainly going to capture an unattractive picture of Adrien Agreste. And, besides, she won't need his luck anyway. She is Ladybug, after all.
Two weeks later and all her classmates were beginning to doubt whether or not the feat was truly possible. Nobody has had any relative success whatsoever. They always make it a point to have their phones out and aimed at Adrien whenever he's around, but he carefully keeps his features in check at all times. Alix had almost gotten a prefect shot, according to her. For one reason or another, she was vague on the details, she had gotten to school early to find Adrien asleep on his desk, his head buried in his arms. Her phone had already been clutched in her hand at the time, and she had shook him awake to see if he was alright.
He had yawned, apparently. No one could understand Alix's excitement at first. So what if he had yawned? What was the big deal? People yawned every day after they first woke up, it was a natural thing to do. Alix then went on to explain people often made the strangest faces while yawning. More often than not, ugly, strange faces. Alix had been in too much shock upon witnessing the sight that she forgot she had her phone in her hand, her grip loosened, and the device fell to the floor. That must have snapped both of them out of their respective stupors because while she bent down to grab the phone, Adrien took the time to smooth out his shirt and run a hand through his hair. Alix began to splutter angrily when she rose up again, and Adrien grinned impishly at her.
Everybody shares a look after Alix is finished telling her story, and they all know, in that moment, that the only chance anyone has of getting a horrible shot of the young Agreste is to do it when he is mid-yawn. The opportunity just so happens to present itself to Marinette the very next day.
The four of them are seated in the library together, trying to get a bit of last minute studying done before their physics exam tomorrow. The four of them being the usual gang, consisting of Adrien, Alya, Marinette, and Nino. Alya and Nino have excused themselves from the table, claiming that while they're here, they need to find some more books for other classes that they share. Marinette can see right through their lie, and she knows that they're just going to find a bookshelf to make out behind. Not that Marinette minds. It gives her time to be alone with Adrien, which is always a plus, and now it's even better because it's more time for her to attempt to get him to yawn with no one else around to steal her shot.
She's gotten a little better at talking to him, and she believes she's made great strides in the past couple of months. Marinette can now proudly hold a semi-normal conversation with him, and keep her stuttering to a minimum at the same time. The only reason the sudden change has occurred is because since they've started dating, Alya and Nino like to ditch them whenever they hang out as a group. This led to many awkward exchanges between the two, and Marinette was determined not to ruin the already strained friendship. That, and she realized Adrien would never fall in love with a girl who couldn't even talk to him properly.
She's forgotten the game momentarily, and it seems Adrien has too because he seems to have lowered his guard. Patrol last night had ran late, mostly because she was reluctant to leave Chat alone. He didn't want to go back home for reasons he said he wasn't comfortable sharing just yet. Marinette didn't mind though, and she didn't press him, the whole secret identity thing weighing heavily on her shoulders. Her partner though was the most important person in her life, and she would be damned if she left him alone and visibly upset in the cold city that late. Of course, around an hour past midnight they were finally getting ready to head home, an akuma decided it would be a perfect time to wreak havoc and curse the world of online gaming. Needless to say Marinette was pretty much running on empty.
The case seems to be the same for the boy across from her. His hair is tousled and mussed, like he hadn't had time or the energy to brush it, far from the usual perfect styling of his golden locks. His cheek is pressed flat against an opened page of the textbook he had just been flipping mindlessly through before he slumped forward. His face is expressionless and his eyes are blank, unblinking, and staring into nothing. Marinette might have checked in with him to see if he was doing alright, but today she can't be bothered to do much more than place her phone on the table beside her and slouch lowly in her chair.
"Late night I take it for you too?" Adrien finally lifts his head to blink slowly at her.
"Mmm," Marinette hums, too tired to do much of anything else. She allows her eyes to flutter shut slowly for a couple long seconds before she opens them to peer at the boy in front of her. The sight that awaits Marinette is enough to snap her out of her sleep deprived state as she scrambles for her phone.
He is yawning. Adrien Agreste is yawning right in front of her and she is currently not freaking out. Honestly, she fins the face he is making right now to be utterly adorable. Though, Marinette may be slightly biased in her opinion because she thinks he could have just murdered someone right in front of her, and she'd have to fight off the overwhelming urge to coo at him.
But she can sort of see why someone may think the face he is making right now is unattractive. His features are contorted in a most unpleasant way. One eye is squeezed shut, a fat tear leaking out and trailing down the side of his face. The other eye is wide open, though rolled into the back of his head. His arms are twisted behind his head at an awkward angle that makes her want to cringe. His mouth hanging wide open and saliva trailing down the side of his- snap.
Adrien blinks, startled. He drops his arms after the flash of the camera goes off and he swipes the back of his hand across his mouth. Then he begins to drag his hands up and down the length of his face, rubbing it vigorously.
Marinette holds her phone in the air, her smile triumphant, the picture of himself on full display for Adrien to see. "Highly attractive," Marinette teases, a light blush dusting over her cheeks.
Adrien appears momentarily flustered, unsure of how to react, before he schools his expression. He lowers his voice and winks at her. "I know right."
She stops working. Marinette's phone slips from her fingers and clatters to the floor. Before she can react, Adrien swoops down to retrieve her phone for her. He places it gently in the palm of her hand. Marinette stammers out something that vaguely sounds like a thank you. Adrien's eyes gleam as he takes her other hand in his own, and ghosts his lips over the back of it. "Anything for you Princess." He presses his lips to her knuckles and lingers for a few seconds longer before he finally pulls away.
It's not until the end of the day that she realizes. She has been too wrapped up in forgetting her name and how to breathe, before she remembers that she won the competition. She pulls out her phone, excited to show Alya the evidence. And then she notices. The picture isn't there. But she knows she took it, and she knows she wouldn't have deleted it, so Adrien must have-.
Adrien. Oh boy, she is so going to kill him.
I remember my crush was yawning and class, and he looked so goddamn awkward, so I was like "Highly attractive." And he kind of looked up at me before he winked and was like "I know right." And like he was so frustratingly arrogant, and confident in his looks (which he should be), but like that didn't matter to me at the time because I got so flustered. Anywho, I just thought it would be a very Marinette and Adrien-ish thing that these two goofballs would do.