"You'd better all be there; it wouldn't be total victory if I didn't crush every single one of you." Kim said with a air of confidence, the top-heavy boy gazing at each of his classmates in turn and raising his arms behind his head with a self-assured swagger. He was calling out loudly to the rest of the class, homeroom not yet started but most of them ready in their the day, informing them that he was inviting them all to join him for laser tag the day after school ended for his birthday.

General sounds of agreement rang out throughout Miss Bustier classroom. Max, of course, was the first to announce his intent to attend, declaring that he "was certain his performance in this game would far exceed his sub-optimal performance at paintball last year", but even Nathaniel briefly tore himself away from his sketchbook to give a quite "okay" after a few moments.. Although, first it took Rose frantically "whispering" at him from across the row for him to even notice a conversation was happening.

Marinette nodded a little bit, more for her own benefit than his. The part-time superheroine knew she couldn't really make any promises, but she genuinely did want to be able to attend: After all, she'd managed to attend most of the other birthday parties her classmates held over the course of the school, disregarding the absolute disaster that had been Adrien's incident with the Bubbler and having had to sneak out of the sleepover Rose had held just after the other girls had gone to sleep.

She winced at the memory: It was four in the morning when Hawkmoth had akumatized the Party Animal (a frat boy who was very upset about last call after trying to drink the trauma of a break-up), and she'd nearly fallen asleep in Chat Noir's arms when they'd finally de-evilized him an hour later. Thankfully, the telltale beep of her earrings had jolted her awake enough to remember she had to flee before she turned back from Ladybug into Marinette.

"That would have been a nightmare…" She murmured to herself, biting down on her pencil absentmindedly. Chat Noir had already made several suggestive jokes about her wanting to "snuggle up with your favourite kitty", and she could only imagine how the pun-slinging superhero would have reacted to her turning back into a schoolgirl while snoozing in his arms. She suspected if he pieced together her civilian identity, he'd never leave her alone.

"What would have been a nightmare?" Alya cut in, interrupting her thought process. Marinette blinked a couple times, turning her attention to her red-headed bestie. Her brain quickly and categorically searched for an excuse for her off-hand comment, a process which was nearly second later at this point.

"Oh, uh, we-ell…" She said, pressing her fingertips together in front of her chest, talking with her pencil sticking out of her mouth like a toothpick or lollipop. "I was just thinking about… how I almost came to school today with flour all over my face. From helping with the bakery last night! Yeah, I went to bed last night just covered in it, and then I woke up late and was rushing out of the house when I caught myself in the mirror, and so I rushed back in to wash it off, and… Now here I am! At school, without flour on my face." Marinette explained.

Alya raised an eyebrow, and Marinette could tell from the look on her face that she was processing something: Clearly, she'd found a loose end or logical fallacy in Marinette's explanation. Before she could voice her thoughts, however, a familiar voice chimed in from behind them.

"Hahah, I've almost done something just like that." Adrien said, leaning a little forward in his desk. "Er...Sorry to eavesdrop, you just kind of caught my attention." The blonde boy said sheepishly, not wanting to come across as nosy.

"N-no, no, it's fine, your attention is great! I mean, you attention span is great! I mean I want your atte-...I mean, go...on?" Marinette sputtered, cheeks tinted as red as her Ladybug costume.

Adrien smiled, glad that she wasn't annoyed at him for interrupting their conversation. Granted, she was doing that thing she always did where she got a little carried away with the aggressive compliments and the stuttering, but he was used to it from all his fans, and he knew Marinette in particular was just nervous. They were friends, so it wasn't like she put him on a pedestal, she just...Hadn't totally acclimated to him. At least, that was what he hoped. Either way, best not to acknowledge the first half of her rambling.

"Well, a couple weeks ago, I… Had a long night, and barely got any sleep. So when I was getting ready for the day, I kind of forgot to actually rub my moisturizer into my face, and almost came to school with it just sitting on my face like war paint." He chuckled a little, sheepishly. That had been a long night. He'd been just about to turn in from patrol when an akuma had shown up, as a very exhausted looking Ladybug had informed him over their communicators, and then… Well, after the battle she'd almost collapsed into his arms because of how tired she was. And how could he possibly sleep after something as miraculous as that? No, he'd been up all night thinking about it. About her.

"You moisturize?" Nino said, sliding into the seat next to Adrien and adjusting the brim of his hat. "Dang, dude, that model lifestyle is gonna rip your masculinity to shreds. Didn't you know we men are supposed to have dry, rugged skin?"

It was clear he was joking for the most part, but nevertheless, Alya inevitably shot back, ever the silver-tongued feminist. "Oh, don't listen to him, Agreste. Nino over there is just insecure over the fact his toxic man-pride has him left ashamed of the fact he's never gonna grow any facial hair. Don't worry, buddy, it's okay." She said with a smirk, twisting back in her seat and patting Nino on the shoulder with mock sympathy. The blue-shirted boy rolled his eyes, opening his mouth.

Marinette could feel another one of their little fake-fights brewing, and while she'd ordinarly love to sit back and let the lovebirds bicker, she'd mustered up more of her courage than usual: She was going to keep talking to Adrien! Especially with the safety net of the school bell inevitably approaching. The conversation wouldn't last more than a couple minutes at most, so she wouldn't be able to make too much of a fool of herself… She hoped.

"Oh, well, you know, the moisturizing is great, Adrien. I moisturize too! Just love that moi-...Oh god, where am I going with this. Um, sorry! N-not going to ramble to you about moisturizing, you probably...hear enough about that… from your… make-up artists?" Marinette squeezed her head down into her shoulders, only rising up to meet Adrien's gaze as she finished speaking. Oh, how did she managed to mess up speaking so badly? But he was just gazing down at her with a small smile, ever calm and collected, listening intently. Gosh, that totally infallible nature was one of the reasons she liked him so much.. She couldn't imagine him ever really losing control or cutting too loose. Sure, he'd opened up about himself a couple times, but he was never as blunt or impulsive as, say, Chat…

Adrien, meanwhile, was just happy to hear Marinette trying to get to know him better. And she was right, he didn't really want to have a long and complicated conversation about moisturizer. The fact she recognized that pleased him, because so many people would just make assumptions about his interests… People trying to actually relate to his actual nature always made him feel more… whole. Like he had worth. Just like being Chat Noir.

"You're right, I do hear more about make-up than I really care to." The blonde said, pressing his hands against each other, palms out, and cracking his knuckles. "Not that I'm adverse to hearing your opinions if you really want to tell me about it." Marinette was silent for a couple seconds, mouth agape, so Adrien decided to gracefully transition the topic to something he figured all four of them could talk about. It was more polite to keep the conversational pressure off his class president, after all. "So, are you going to Kim's party, Marinette? It should be fun, and I'm hoping everyone will go...I don't want to lose touch with the class over the summer."

Marinette nodded energetically. Suddenly, her resolve to go the party had doubled. Unless an akuma was tearing through Paris, nothing would stop her! This was her chance to establish contact with Adrien outside of school over the summer...Maybe without Chloe around all the time to interrupt things, she could make some serious progress in wooing him.

"Oh, don't worry, she and I will be there." Alya assured Adrien. "I kick ass at laser tag, and unless an Akuma is tearing through Paris, nothing will stop me! I've got to cover everything for the Ladyblog, after all."

"You know, you'd probably be in the prime spot already all, some people might get pretty pissy if they lose." Nino cut in, scratching his chin. His eyes widened suddenly. "Wait, that'd be seriously bad mojo! Can you imagine it, dudes? It'd have to have lasers, obviously. We'd better make sure we all let Kim win! Don't want him to get over competitive and then transform on us, after all."

"Oh, ha hah, funny guy." Kim said, arms crossed. Nino had gotten too loud, and now the conversation had caught the interest of the entire class. "You know as well as anyone else that I've already been akumatized, and aside from Ivan over there, nobody's been turned more than once!"

"That was only because I was first and Ladybug didn't turn the butterfly white." Ivan answered grumpily, Mylene nodding supportively. "And don't forget, you're the one put me in that mood."

Kim fidgeted a little, looking discomforted at the reminder. He wasn't heartless, after all, so neither Adrien nor Marinette were surprised that he seemed a little guilty. "...Yeah, sorry. That's not what I meant."

"...It's fine." Ivan said, simply. It was clear he meant it.

"Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, I've been akumatized twice as well." Alya said. "Same for Nathaniel."

The red-haired boy looked up from his sketches once more as he heard his name. "Well...That was different, though. The second time was because of that little girl, does that really.. Count?"

A silence fell over the classroom as they puzzled over this question, nobody really certain. Even the two superheroes in the room weren't quite sure. Could Hawkmoth prey on their emotions a second time? Nobody really wanted an answer…

Inevitably, Chloe was the one to break the silence. "Uh, hold on a minute, we're forgetting something. Marinette hasn't been akumatized. She's perfectly liable to go psycho if someone puts her in a bad mood, so if there's anyone to be scared of, it's her. In fact, Kim, uninvite her from your party, she's a danger to us all."

Marinette felt her blood boiling. Chloe, harbinger of akuma after akuma, was going to claim she was the danger? She clenched her first for a second, willing herself to calm down. She had to keep her cool before she chewed Chloe out. After all, she wasn't so sure she was immune to being akumatized, and that would spell certain doom.

Before she could speak up, though, Adrien did.

"I don't think we need to worry, Chlo. Marinette isn't a danger to anyone. Can anyone here really picture her being an akuma?" Adrien asked, glancing around the classroom to find faces that seemed to find reason in his sentiment. "She's always pretty in-control, and I know some of us are too, but...I guess I get the feeling that whatever needs to be there for her to become an akuma just isn't there."

Marinette was nearly swooning. Adrien was saying such wonderful things about her! Adrien was stepping up to defend her! Adrien… hadn't been akumatized either, come to think of it. She allowed herself a small smile. Of course he hadn't. He was better than that.

"T-thanks, Adrien, but… you haven't been one either, at least, I don't think so? Or remember it? I mean, not to say I know ever akuma ever, but it's never b-been mentioned if you have." She says, peppering her speech with uncertainty, pretending she didn't know the identity of every akuma by heart.

"I haven't, no." Adrien admitted. He shrugged, trying to act casual about the fact, sticking his hands deep into his pockets. Even if he was Chat Noir, he privately considered the fact he hadn't been turned by Hawkmoth a matter of luck. Surprisingly good luck, in his case. He knew he had emotions that could be manipulated if pushed in the right matter...After all, that was why he couldn't know who Ladybug is. If his identity was revealed, it wasn't the end of the world. He was expendable. He couldn't purify akuma.

That said...There were two people he honestly believed couldn't be akumatized. The first was his Lady, naturally. Ladybug was far too brave and sincere and heroic and put-together to fall prey to their friendly neighbourhood supervillain. The other… was Marinette. He'd meant what he'd said. He couldn't put a finger on it because he didn't know her that well, but something about her made him believe she wouldn't fall prey to her darker side. In some way, it kind of reminded him of Ladybug. Just a little.

"Well, of course Adriekins hasn't!" Chloe said. "He's far too wonderful for that. But take a look at all the times Marinette has started a fight with me. It's only a matter of time until she's an akuma."

"Oh, yes, definitely." Sabrina agreed, desperate to help Chloe sway the crowd and fulfill her duties as BFF to the mayor's daughter. And it almost worked. Even if everyone knew Marinette didn't start those fights… Well, she got along with Chloe worse than anyone, and Chloe had a well known habit of triggering akuma attacks with her bitchiness...The classroom shared an uneasy moment.

Marinette sunk a little into her seat. If she made her classmates so nervous, maybe she shouldn't go… After all, if she went, fear of her might accidentally turn someone into an akuma… or, god forbid, make her feel so bad she turned herself. No, better to back out now, accept it as a job hazard, and then cope in a healthy manner rather than dwell on it. Maybe she could get Alya and Nino to find her a chance to hang out with Adrien in the summer.

"If it makes you all so nervous, I'll stay home." She said, standing up, tone hard to read. A quiet wave of guilt seemed to wash over her classmates, save Chloe and Sabrina.

"No, Marinette, of course we want you there." Alix began, tugging on the ends of her fuschia hair. "What Chloe is saying is bullshit".

"Of course, Marinette. We're not scared of you or anything, I promise." Mylene chimed in, despite the admittedly somewhat uncertain look on her face.

Marinette cut her off. "Alix, Mylene don't worry about it. I can read your faces. I don't blame you for being kind of scared about this. I'll be fine, so… Everyone just enjoy Kim's party. Who knows, maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir will beat Hawkmoth for good by the end of the week. If that happens, then I'll go." She said, shrugging.

Adrien's heart sank. What was Marinette doing? From anyone else, he'd suspect this was false assurances, and he'd be preparing to find a spot to go transform in the next few minutes...But he could feel sincerity in her words. She wasn't honestly about to sacrifice her enjoyment, just to reassure her classmates, with no regrets.

He stood up before he knew what he was doing, speaking in a louder voice than anyone in the class had heard the quiet model verbalize in before. "Marinette, no." He began, concern seeping through his voice, an undercurrent in his authoritative tone. "That's not fair to you, and it's not fair of Chloe to be accusing you." He shot a glance at his long-time friend, who looked more than a little displeased at his sudden outburst. "You're not a bigger risk than anyone else here, and you're definitely not a bigger risk than me. Neither of us have been an akuma, so we shouldn't be treated any differently. Kim, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to go unless Marinette goes." He said with an apologetic look at the birthday boy, who nodded.

Adrien lowered himself back down, laying a hand on Marinette's shoulder. She'd turned to look at him with a look in her eyes that he didn't quite know how to describe. Relief? Awe? Confusion? "...I'm serious, Marinette. Even if you still don't want to go, I'm going to insist that we hang out that day instead. You shouldn't be alone when everyone else is having fun."

Marinette took a deep breath. Adrien, wonderful Adrien, had just...He'd just done that. For her. And he'd done it by...He'd seemed to lose control of his own restraint, but taken control of the situation. She'd never seen him do anything like that before. Normally he seemed so in control of himself, but so capable of going with the flow of the world around him. This…

This was something that her silly kitty partner would have done. It was impulsive and loud, and it was to support her. And in the same way Ladybug and Chat Noir supported each other, she needed to support Adrien now. He'd surely want to go to Kim's party, not just spend the day with her...Plus, she'd probably have a heart attack at the prospect of an entire day with him. Oh god. Oh god, his hand was still on her shoulder and it felt so soft over her pull-over and she needed words, brain, give her words.

"O-okay, Adrien. We'll go, I mean, I'll go, I mean, you and I will go but not like, to-together for any reason, how would we go together, silly me." She stammered out.

"I mean… We could go together, if you like." He said, an earnest tone in his voice. He knew he was being louder than usual, and going beyond the usual bounds of affability he normally presented, but… Adrien wanted to let someone see the other sides of him. The sides he let loose when he was Chat Noir. Nino had seen some of those parts, and maybe Marinette should too. "I know your bakery is on the way to the venue, so I could meet you there on the way?"

"...Okay." Marinette squeaked out. Before she could say anything else or allow her brain to go on another wild ride of panicked emotions, the school bell rang. Miss Bustier was running late for some reason, and they could hear her footsteps clattering down the hall. The class settled back down into the seats, Adrien included.

But, before the teacher entered the classroom, Max offered one final thought. "Eighty five point seven percent of this class has been akumatized." He announced.

"...I think we have problems." Juleka said, but with Miss Bustier entering the room and closing the door, nobody had time to acknowledge her first words of the day.