Marinette's POV
Marinette raced down the seemingly narrow hallways, gasping for breath as she went. Each of her heavy, thudding footsteps echoed next to her panting, but in the moment, stealth wasn't her mission. She flew around the corner, grabbing the handle of the first door on the right and swinging it open as she dove into the room.
"I'm here! I'm here, don't worry, I'm here," Marinette gasped the moment she set foot into the classroom, her elbows resting on her knees as she caught her breath.
"Ms. Dupain-Cheng, please take your seat," the teacher tapped her foot furiously, her arms crossed in front of her. She was a new teacher, Mrs. Pilson if Marinette was remembering correctly. She'd been brought in for their class' senior year; a change everyone was still getting used to. While she was good at her job, she could also be a bit cold and harsh, especially when students arrived late for class. Needless to say, Marinette wasn't exactly her favorite.
"Of course, Mrs. Pilson-"
"Wilson."
"Wilson!" Marinette corrected herself after the stern teacher interrupted, wiping a line of sweat from her forehead. "Sorry, Mrs. Wilson"
"Very well. Now, Ms. Bourgeois, as you were saying?" Mrs. Wilson turned back to Chloe while Marinette made her way to her seat.
"Well, all I'm saying is that the revolution was, like, totally just like Ladybug now," Chloe smirked around the room, silently challenging anyone to argue with her.
"Very well, Chloe!" Mrs. Wilson said, a smirk to match her students' erupting across her usually cold features. "Drawing connections between your own personal life and history can form a much deeper understanding than looking at the same events in a vacuum. Wouldn't you agree, Ms. Dupain-Cheng?"
All eyes turned back to Marinette, who was in the process of pulling out her history textbook. She looked up from her book bag, red-faced from the sudden attention.
"Ummm," Marinette slowly brought her textbook onto the table, locking eyes with Mrs. Wilson while she stared her down.
"Or, even better yet, do you have anything to add?" The teachers' eyebrows popped up, her cocky smirk remaining on her face.
Marinette felt a tug at her stomach, and a bit of heat went to her face. "What, you mean the most recent attacks against Paris?" she redirected the comment towards Chloe, who's face twisted in confusion for half a second.
"I, uh-" Chloe began.
"Or the virus spreading? I guess I just can't make myself find merit in an idea that has no solid foundation. That would be counterproductive, don't you think, Mrs. Wilson?" Marinette side-eyed the teacher before turning back to Chloe with a small smirk on her face.
"And why, exactly, do you find yourself focusing on the current climate rather than on the lesson?" Mrs. Wilson asked, and Marinette's face went red as she felt her anger boil over.
"Well, considering her BEST FRIEND in the whole freaking WORLD runs the LadyBlog, I don't think she has much of a choice," Alya, Marinette's best friend and table-mate, slung her arm around her easily, cutting in before Marinette could blow up at the teacher.
Mrs. Wilson pursed her lips before turning back to her lesson plan and mumbling, "Very well," under her breath.
"You owe me one, girly," Alya whispered in Marinette's ear, elbowing her lightly in the side and eliciting a small giggle. "What's up with the tardy anyways? It's the third one this year, and it's only week two!"
Marinette sighed, turning her attention back to the teacher before looking back at Alya. "I'll tell ya later? I don't want Mrs. Pilson hating me even more than she already does."
"Uh, I think it's Wil-"
"Yeah," Marinette smirked at her friend before opening her textbook, "I know what I said."
The next two periods came and went without much commotion; Chloe answered every question - typical - and Alya spent the class updating the LadyBlog and pretending to take notes. When class ended, Marinette and Alya packed up their things, walking out into the sunny courtyard with the rest of the senior class.
"Anyways, THEN Ladybug swoops in, punches the monster in the face, and takes the infected away like it's no big deal! Like, totally amazing, don't you think?" Alya rambled, occasionally bumping Marinette with her grand gestures.
"Yeah-"
"But THEN," Alya interrupted her friend, grabbing her arm and leaning in close, "she vanishes."
Marinette's blood ran cold for half a second. That had been Alya's latest focus - Ladybug's vanishing act, as she called it. As the only hero in Paris, Ladybug was always expected to be around, which she was, thanks to Marinette's quick thinking and quirky excuses. But recently, Alya, along with a handful of other independent reporters, had started to speculate where she might go when she's not in the public eye. Of course, nobody knew the super heroine had a civilian life, so Ladybug couldn't tell them the truth. Instead, she had to dodge paparazzi anytime she needed to detransform and recharge her Miraculous; it was exhausting, and the reason she seemed to be constantly running late.
"Oh," was all Marinette could say, pulling slightly away from her best friend.
Alya's eyebrows furrowed at Marinette's apprehension, but before she could say anything, her boyfriend, Nino, swung his arm lazily around her shoulder,
"Hey baby, what's shakin?" Nino asked smoothly, giving Alya a quick peck on the cheek.
"Hmphf, Ladybug," Alya crossed her arms in front of her in frustration.
"Still can't figure out where she goes?" he asked, looking between his girlfriend and Marinette.
"No..." Alya's eyes flickered to Marinette for a brief moment before turning back to Nino. "But I think I might have a lead. I've gotta go, love ya baby!"
A quick peck on her boyfriend's lips, and she was gone. Nino turned to Marinette, sighing and shaking his head lightly. "Well that was..." he chuckled under his breath.
"So Alya?" Marinette finished, bumping shoulders with Nino playfully.
"So Alya!" Nino threw his hands in the air, laughing along with Marinette now. "She can be so...passionate about the LadyBlog, I love it."
"And her?" Marinette teased her friend, raising her eyebrows and watching his face go red.
"Well, duh, Mari," he kicked the dirt nervously. One thing about Nino; he wasn't the best at shows of emotion, so when he finally told Alya he loved her after a few months of dating, it was a big deal. It was Marinette's job as Nino's honorary sister to tease him about it relentlessly.
"Awe, c'mon, you know I'm just messing with you. It's just sweet, that's all..." Marinette trailed off, looking down at her feet.
"Yeah," Nino looked over at her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "How's everything, by the way? I know the breakup was hard on you."
Marinette looked back up at her friend, leaning into his touch before taking a step away. "Yeah, I'm fine. We're...still talking, but I mean, it's Luka. I can't just stop talking to him."
"I know. I just want what's best for you," Nino smiled at her sweetly, and Marinette smiled back.
"I know."
The two stood in the courtyard for another moment before Nino jumped up, as if remembering something.
"Oh! By the way, dd I tell you about my party this weekend? It's gonna be lit!"
"Party...?" Marinette asked slowly, answering Nino's question.
"Yeah! It'll be at my place - just a little get together for the seniors to get pumped for our last year, ya know?"
"Oh! Yeah, you know, I'd love to, but..." Marinette began rambling, shuffling her feet nervously.
"C'mon Mari! You've gotta come! I know how much you like outdrinking the guys," Nino bumped shoulders with Marinette once again.
Marinette let a small smile creep onto her face. "Yeah, I do like how flustered they all get...but I can't. Not this weekend, anyways. Sorry, bud."
"Please? My man Adrien's finally gonna make it to one of these things, and I want to show him a good time, you know?" Nino asked, practically begging Marinette at this point.
"Yeah, ok, that's what you always say," Marinette scoffed. "And he's never there! Besides, I don't really feel like spending time with Chloe's friends."
"It's not like that. I mean, sure, it was, but-"
"Yeah, it was the whole two weeks he went here freshman year," Marinette said bitterly, hugging her arms to her chest. "Didn't even say a word. And that was the worst of it, too."
"I know. It wasn't right, but it was four years ago, Mari! He's different, and so is Chloe. Besides, didn't you hear about how he told her off in the press?"
Marinette smirked at that. She had seen it, as well as the aftermath that successfully knocked Chloe down a peg. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyone who can stand up to Chloe like that can't be all that bad."
"Exactly! So, that means you're gonna come? Pretty please?" Nino pleaded jokingly, smiling widely at Marinette.
"Ugh, ok, I'll come. But you awe me one, ok?" Marinette pointed at him before he swooped her up in his arms, hugging her tightly.
"Thank you thank you thank you! You're, like, totally the life of the party, and it'd be a drag without you there!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Marinette pushed him away lightly, smirking at him jokingly. "If it means that much to you, I suppose."
"You won't be sorry. Now, c'mon, help me figure out where my girlfriend went, will you?"
Later that night, Marinette found herself studying on her balcony and watching the sun set over Paris. With a deep sigh, she pushed her textbook and notes aside, fiddling with her earrings and thinking about her second life for a brief moment. With just the thought, a rush of adrenaline coursed through her veins. It was like she was flying, every moment of it. And...it was also like she was falling.
Four years ago, it'd started with the earrings, showing up on her pillow without any indication of where they came from. At the time, she was naive enough to put them on without any question, and thank goodness she did because that's when she found her life's work - Ladybug.
While Marinette was a shy, mousy, intelligent girl with nothing much to say, Ladybug was a strong, powerful hero who didn't need to speak - her actions did that for her. It was exhilarating, and terrifying, all in a single piece of jewelry. Soon enough, the Akuma infected started sprouting up around the city - vulnerable people with dark purple veins radiating from the Akuma's mark. The virus outbreak started out small, affecting about one or two people a month for the first two years. Then, about two years ago, it started getting worse, and Marinette started getting stressed. Suddenly it was two infected a month, then five, then eight, then she was capturing an infected once a day. The cure was simple enough, Ladybug's lucky charm got rid of the Akuma's mark as well as any mind control they were under. But the pressure on Ladybug, and subsequently Marinette, didn't go away quite as easily.
Getting up, Marinette let herself slip into her transformation, becoming Ladybug in the blink of an eye and using her yo-yo to swing around the city. She made a habit of patrolling every night after her homework - it helped to keep her in the semblance of a routine. Usually, she only found one or two Akuma infected, committing petty crimes under Hawkmoth's rule. Tonight, though, felt different. The streets were eerily quiet, and Ladybug couldn't find a single person doing anything wrong. While it should've been a relief, it just weighed the heroine down even further.
Ladybug swung to the top of the Eiffel Tower, using it as a vantage point to do one last check of the city before getting some much needed rest. Upon landing, she immediately felt a jolt of electricity from behind her, turning with her yo-yo ready for attack.
"Who's there?" Ladybug asked, looking around carefully. "Nobody, duh," she told herself, letting herself relax. "You're just stressed..."
"No, I think you might be on to something," a voice came from behind her, causing the heroine to turn around. Standing before her was a boy. She couldn't get a good look, but she could see the flash of bright blonde hair and almost glowing green eyes before he swooped around her again in a flash of black.
"Wha- who are you?" Ladybug asked upon turning around and finding nothing. She should've known right away that it was an Akuma infected, but something tugged at her stomach; this was different. Something about this person felt...familiar.
"I could ask you the same thing, but the press seems to have beat me to it," the voice came from behind Ladybug once more, but this time when she turned, he didn't move. Sitting perched on a metal beam was a lanky boy about Ladybug's age with bright blonde hair and glowing green eyes. He wore a tight black leather suit, and his belt formed a tail behind him that flicked on it's own. Atop his head, a pair of black leather cat ears sat, twisting and turning like an actual cats' would.
"I-"
"Oh, don't worry Bugaboo, I'm just messing with you," the boy stood up, taking a few small steps towards Ladybug. "I'm Chat Noir, at your service."
Ladybug looked at Chat Noir in front of her, hey yo-yo still at the ready. For the life of her, she couldn't see any sign that he was Akuma infected. So what was he?
"You're probably wondering what's going on, right?" he took a few more steps towards Ladybug, causing her to take a few steps back. For whatever reason, her usual confidence and bravado was gone. "Who I am? What I am?"
"I- I- What-"
"Don't worry, Bugaboo, I've got you," Chat Noir lunged swiftly towards Ladybug just as she took another step back, grabbing her around the waist and back to keep her from falling from the tall building; it was almost as if he knew she was going to slip. Ladybug's breath was sucked away in that moment, a jolt of electricity running over her skin from the points Chat Noir was holding her at.
"Woah," her eyes widened in sync with Chat's, both of them thoroughly shocked.
"I, uh-" Chat pulled her back up, taking a few small shuffles back. "What...was that?"
Ladybug straightened up at that, moving quickly to pin Chat Noir down on the metal building, a heavy thud echoing around them. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" it was her turn to be the smug one.
Chat opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, an unforgettable ringing sound came from his right hand, drawing both of their attention down. Not even half a second later, Ladybug's own earrings rang, the sound exactly the same.
"You..." Ladybug leaned back away from Chat Noir while she watched a smile grow across his face.
"So it's true! You have a Miraculous!" the leather clad boy jumped up, excitement swimming in his eyes.
"I- How do you-" Ladybug stammered, looking between her yo-yo, Chat Noir, and his right hand where the silver and green ring sat.
"Wow! I thought you were just, like, some sort of master acrobat or something! This is AMAZING!" Chat bounded towards her like an excited kitten, causing Ladybug to jump back once again, though this time she was able to catch herself from slipping off the building. "We can work together, you and I. I know it, Bugaboo-"
"Don't- don't call me that-"
"I know it! Wow!" Chat circled around, throwing his hands up in the air. "But, right now, I suppose we should both get going. But I'll see you around, right Bugaboo?"
And before Ladybug could so much as blink, Chat Noir was gone, simply a black streak in the night sky as he bounded away.
"My name...isn't Bugaboo!" she yelled out after him, still in a state of shock.
Hey all! This is a repost from a different account of mine on here that I deleted the story from because I wanted it on this account instead, so if you've seen this before, that's why!
I'm gonna try to update as much as possible, but I am working two jobs and taking online courses, so I can sadly only commit to once a week for the time being. But don't worry! The next chapter is already finished and will probably go up within a day of this one!
Please let me know what you think, I love reading every single review and message!
Until next time, my dudes,
~Ash