Happy Graduation to Shasta627! (& I hope the rest of you enjoy this fic too!)


Marinette was having a difficult time multitasking. Whenever she adjusted the phone at her ear, her nail polish got smudged and she had to correct it before it dried. Tikki was no help; the kwami was seated by the computer, snacking and watching the news—which Marinette was also trying to get caught up on. And then there was her math homework she was supposed to be doing… Marinette let out a small sigh. She loved being Ladybug, but it did leave her constantly behind in her schoolwork.

"And then it got even worse!" Alya exclaimed dramatically through the phone. "We were all sitting down to have dinner together—with my parents—and those little Sapotis started asking Nino if he liked kissing me and whether or not he was going to marry me! It was soooo humiliating!"

Marinette just laughed as she finished painting her last fingernail. The news was showing a live broadcast of a concert airing by the Hotel de Invallides, and it seemed that everyone was having a good time. Maybe she could have an entire afternoon without someone getting akumatized.

"Oh, you laugh, Marinette, but my face was redder than Ladybug's outfit. My parents thought it was hilarious, and Nino played it off cool, but I kinda wanted to strangle my sisters for the rest of the evening!" Alya huffed, exasperated. "Imagine if you had insane twin siblings and they were saying stuff like that about you and Adrien!"

"What?" Marinette almost dropped her bottle of nail polish. "Don't be ridiculous. Adrien and I? Dating? I—" she glanced at the pictures she had of her blond classmate, which were scattered around the room like angelic wallpaper. "Please! Can you imagine me even having dinner with Adrien?!"

"This is true," teased Alya. "Conversation would go like: 'Yum, this good is so roast beef! I mean, this beef is so roast good! I mean—"

"Okay-okay," interrupted Marinette, laughing. "I'm still working on talking to him, but one day…"

"Sure," said Alya, with false-confidence. "Anyway, after dinner, Nino and I decided to watch a movie in the living room and the twins thought it would be fun to…"

"Marinette!" Tikki had stopped snacking and was pointing to the TV anxiously.

Marinette toned out Alya's story and focused on the scene in front of her. A concert-goer had evidently gotten into an argument with a bouncer. The bouncer had shoved the man back into the crowd, and suddenly the man had grown an extra ten feet. He stepped over the bouncer and raised his hands to the sky angrily, calling for Ladybug and Chat Noir to challenge him.

"Come on!" Marinette sighed, knowing her nails still weren't dry.

"That's what I thought too!" said Alya. "Sometimes the twins are cute, but other times they really need to grow up."

"Hey, um, Alya? Can I call you back?" said Marinette. "My parents are um…needing my help. Right now. Gotta go!" She quickly hung up and set the bottle of nail polish on top of her untouched math homework. Tikki was still watching the news anxiously.

"So much for a quiet afternoon," Marinette told the kwami, jumping to her feet.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Adrien had already transformed into Chat Noir and was busy fighting the giant concert-goer by the time Ladybug arrived on scene.

"Thanks for joining the party, mi' lady," he teased her as she swooped in and landed on top of the giant's shoulders.

"My pleasure, Chat. Though is it just me, or has Hawkmoth been extra busy these last few days?"

"You're right. He should take a vacation," replied Chat Noir, dodging a blow from the giant's fists. "But since I doubt that will happen, how about you and I have some down-time? Tomorrow night? The carnival?" He tried not to get his hopes up; Ladybug usually said no to date nights. But still, if she did say yes…

"Sorry, kitty." Ladybug leaped from the giant's shoulders, wrapping her yo-yo around him as she fell. He tried to take a step and got caught in the wire, toppling to the ground as well. "I'm already going to the carnival with my friends."

"Yeah, well, I am too," replied Chat Noir, thinking of his classmates' planned outing to the carnival after school. "But you could always stay a little longer."

"We'll see. I am pretty busy," Ladybug responded, calling for her lucky charm as the giant untangled himself and began chasing them down the street, toward the Rodin Museum.

At least she didn't say no! Chat Noir grinned to himself. After the whole Glaciator-fiasco, he had hopes that she wouldn't disappoint him again. Not purposefully.

But then he was reminded of another more important fact: Ladybug had said she was going to be at the carnival tomorrow—as a civilian! What if he walked right past her?

Chat Noir grinned to himself as he went back to fighting the giant. Tomorrow was going to be an exciting day.