This is my first Miraculous Ladybug fanfic. Please be kind
Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug.
It has been a peaceful weekend and Paris was cheerful, but there was one girl in her room who wasn't as 'cheerful'.
"A masquerade ball..." the girl muttered, looking at her sketchbook and tapping her pencil against the page. She sighed and told herself mentally to not pull her hair out of her head.
Her little kwami peeked and looked at her sketches. "What's wrong?" she wondered out loud.
Marinette stood up from her pink desk chair and walked towards her window, sighing once again. "As you know, my school organized a masquerade ball in about a month from now. But we have to design everything ourselves because it is also a contest." The secret heroine explained. "But I can't come up with a good design." she muttered as she started to walk circles.
Tikki hummed, unconsciously catching Marinette's attention. "It's dangerous..." Tikki said, looking at the sketches again. "I am not going to forbid you to go there, but you have to remember people might recognize you as Ladybug if you wear a mask..."
Marinette sighed deeper. She forgot about that. So she either goes with a mask and people might recognize her, or she goes fully dressed with a different wig and all... But how big is the chance they might find out?
She bit her lower lip and she looked at the ground.
What would she do...?
What would he do...?
Plagg looked at the sketches Adrien made. They aren't really interesting or eye catching... And he already explained him it might be dangerous if he walked around with a mask. Adrien laid with his head on his desk as he thought deeply, but he was about to give up.
"You could ask Natalie if she maybe can hire designers for you?" Plagg said, thinking together with Adrien.
"No, we're not supposed to get help..." Adrien muttered under his breath, waving his hand in the sky. He closed his eyes and wondered if other people from his class had the same designing problems as he did... Other people in his class... His class... His eyes opened again and he looked at his sketches.
'How about-'
"How about Marinette?" Plagg asked, ruining Adrian's train of thought. Truth to be told, Adrien was almost thinking the same thing. "She made a beautiful hat the last time, so she is good with designing."
"Yeah..." Adrien muttered as he closed his sketchbook. "But that would still count as 'help'..."
"No! No! No!" his little black kwami exclaimed, getting all of his blonde haired friend attention "It's not help. You are asking for advice. And correct me if I'm wrong, but you are in each others class, so it's not weird to ask advice."
Adrien looked dumbfounded at his grinning little friend. He cocked an eyebrow as his mouth corner lifted up. He grabbed his pencil and sketchbook and grinned. "We're going to her, but we're first going to make a trip to the kitchen."
"Yay! Camembert!" Plagg yelled ecstatic, flying fast towards the kitchen.
The black haired hummed with a smile as she sketched fast, and Tikki also smiled and flied enthusiastic around. She finally got the hang of it and it looked quite good what she was going to make. "I'm almost done." She said, stretching her arms with a content smile. "Do you like it so far?"
"I love it!" Tikki smiled cutesy as she took a better look at the sketch "You outdid yourself."
"Thank you." Marinette grinned, petting her kwami with her index finger. She looked at her sketch and couldn't wait to buy stuff for the mask. She added one small accessories to her design and she still had to finish the dress.
Marinette looked up in confusion when the doorbell rung. She looked at the clock and saw it was 8 PM. Her parents weren't home, maybe they forgot their keys?
"Tikki, stay here." Marinette said as she walked downstairs towards the front door. She opened the door, thinking it was her parents, but she gasped with a blushing face as she saw it was the love of her life. She froze up.
"Hi." Adrien said with his sweet smile on his beautiful face and a wave. "I had a question and I was wondering if you might help me with it..." he asked.
Marinette woke up from her daze and she shook her head, trying to shake the blush away. Her crush was at her door, it felt like a dream. "S... Sure... What's wrong? C... Come on in." she muttered, opening the door further and beckoning him to come in. Adrien entered and Marinette pinched her underarm, to make sure it wasn't a dream. It did hurt so she was awake...
"What would you like to drink? I... If you'd like to drink something?" she asked unsure. Adrien smiled and looked around. He had been here a few times but he never took a good look around.
"Do you have milk?" He asked as he looked at some framed pictures. Marinette nodded and grabbed the milk and put it in a glass. "Aren't your parents at home?" the green eyed asked as he walked to the couch. Marinette put the glass down on the table and sat down far across from Adrien on the couch.
"No, they went to my grandma. They are back in about an hour or so." Marinette muttered, looking at her crush who was looking around. Marinette looked at his bag and saw his sketchbook peek out. "Your... Question?"
"Oh! Right! I know we're not supposed to get help, but this is more like some advise... And if I do win, something I think will not happen, you'll get credits." Adrien explained.
Marinette cocked an eyebrow. Not because she didn't trust him but... "Why did you come to me?"
Adrien looked at her with a smile, making her heart skip a beat "Because you made such a nice bolster hat, so I thought you might make something good again."
Marinette blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well... I'm not going to show you what I've got... But I could tell you how I came up with my idea..."
"That would be great! Maybe it could help me out." He said with a grin. Marinette smiled but a blush. He looked so freaking good...
"Euhm... I thought about the things in my live, and I put a thing very important to me in my design." Marinette explained.
Adrien looked at her with a slightly surprised expression. Something very important. He smiled as soon as a thought occurred. "I can work with that."
"What did you think off?" Marinette asked curiously. Adrien drank his milk and put the glass down.
"I'll also keep it a secret." Adrien said with a smile and a wink as he stood up. Marinette blushed and also stood up with a small pout.
"I'm curious..." Marinette said, walking behind him as he walked to the door.
"Curiosity kills the cat." Adrien stated matter of factly. Marinette's pout turned bigger and she opened the door for him. "But-" he said before turning around "I will thank you some way after I finished my design." He said, putting his hand on her shoulder. Marinette blushed and nodded, as he gave a last smile and left. She watched him walk away and she closed the door, holding her hand onto the spot he just touched on her shoulder.
"Does your shoulder hurt?" Tikki asked, floating downstairs.
"No." Marinette said love struck. "Adrien touched my shoulder, and now I'm indirect holding hands with him."
"What?" Tikki asked. She floated towards the window and she saw Adrien walking away. "Why was he here?" she asked as she turned around to look at Marinette.
"He asked some advice for his design. I gave him the advice I thought of when I was sketching mine." Marinette explained. She walked upstairs again and Tikki followed. "I have to text Alya for this. He was inside my house a second ago!"
" I wonder why he went to you..." Tikki whispered to herself, while Marinette was texting her best friend. She looked at her sketch again and smiled. Nothing could go wrong!
Two weeks passed and everyone had been working on their designs. Of course there had been a case of an akumatized person, but Ladybug and Chat Noir could handle it easily. The school gave them a lot of free time to finish their designs, and they hadn't seen each other much the last few days. Which was good news for Marinette, for Chloé was irritating her immensely.
The doorbell rung and Marinette hid her design under a cloak, hiding it for the person she thought it would be. And it was.
"Hi!" Alya said enthusiast walking upstairs "How is it going here?"
Marinette smiled and looked at the cloak hiding her design. "Yeah great. Working hard and hoping to finish it. And with yours?"
Alya sat down on Marinette's desk chair. She had begged Marinette very often to show the dress to her, but she didn't want to. So she gave up. "It's an easy design so it's coming to an end." Marinette was putting her needles and thread away, and Alya was looking intently at her. She looked tired and her fingers were covered with band-aids. "I went to the cinema with Nino yesterday." She suddenly said.
Marinette looked at her, and accidently stung herself again with a needle. She sucked on her finger and looked at her.
"It was like a date. Nothing much, but sorry for not asking you."
Marinette smiled and shook her head "Don't worry. I don't mind."
Alya looked around, hoping to see some sketches "But I talked with Nino about Adrien yesterday. He also keeps his design a secret. But other than that, I know something you don't know." she said with her knowing grin.
Marinette dropped her stuff and leapt to her best friend, who only grinned. "What? What do you know?" she begged
"You gave advice to Adrien two weeks ago. He told Nino his design is turning out great after he listened to you." she explained.
"Yeah?"
"And he told you he would thank you somehow."
"Yeah?"
"He will thank you with a dance at the ball." she said with a grin.
Marinette took a step back and she covered her face with her hands. Her dream... Her dream to dance on the ball with him... She couldn't hide the blush on her face.
"Aaw, you look cute when you're happy." Alya said with a grin "I also didn't believe it at first. But it is true. You will look like the best couple on the ball, and Chloé will be very jealous."
Marinette had to register everything in her head. Is it true? Will Adrien dance with her? But if he does, she has to practice a little. Maybe her father could teach her the basics?
"Well, I see your attention is somewhere else so I am going." Alya stood up and patted her shoulder. "Take a nap, girl. You look tired."
Marinette looked up after she got out of her trance and she looked at her friend who was walking towards the stairs. "Alya, thank you so much!" Marinette said with a smile "I'll have to practice! And I have to make sure my design looks great now!" Marinette said, grabbing her material again to go further.
Alya smiled and shook her head. It was hopeless. This girl was hopelessly in love... "Sure, but think about your health." Alya said. Marinette grinned and they said their goodbyes.
"Purrfect." Adrien said with a grin and a needle between his teeth. He looked at his design and walked around it. "What do you think?"
"Your pun is cheesy." said Plagg eating his camembert, sitting on Adrien's desk.
"Says you." muttered Adrien with half lidded eyes. "And I asked you about my design, not my pun."
"Oh yes! I like it. It looks very manly." Plagg said with a grin.
Adrien smiled and thought as he looked at his sketches. "I have to practice again if I'm going to dance with her..." Adrien whispered. He hadn't danced for a while. He used to dance with his mother for fun...
Well, he had two weeks... So it would work out greatly, even though he still had a lot of work on his design.
"Marinette." Tikki whispered. It was 3 PM and Marinette slept with her head on her desk. "Marinette." she whispered again. She wouldn't wake up. Tikki now gave a head-butt against Marinette's head, and she finally woke up.
She rubbed her eye and looked at her red kwami, who was floating in front of her. "You should sleep in your bed. You will catch a cold or a sore neck otherwise." Tikki said worried. Marinette nodded and walked towards her bed. Tikki shook her head and frowned. At this rate, she will turn into a zombie...
Marinette woke up with a gasp and she looked around in her bed. Where is it? Her phone rang, but she couldn't find it in all her mess. She finally found it between her pillows and answered. "Yeah?"
"It's almost time! Have you practiced your dancing?" she heard Alya say. Marinette grinned and looked at her design. It's finished just in time. Tomorrow was the masquerade ball and her finished design looked amazing.
"Yeah, I have practiced a lot."
"Im happy for you. But the real reason I called you is because you're late for school. Again."
Marinette looked at her clock and gasped. "NOOOOO."
Alya laughed, and Nino and Adrien looked behind them after hearing a faint yell through Alya's phone. "Is Marinette late again? Does she get enough sleep?" Nino wondered out loud.
"I told her many times to rest and think about her health, but she wouldn't listen." Alya sighed as she put her phone away. Adrien frowned worried. She had to be healthy. Not only for the ball tomorrow, but also because he was worried.
After some time, Marinette finally arrived into the classroom and muttered a bad excuse. The teacher told her to sit, but she wasn't mad. She knew everyone was tired because of their designs, so she also let everyone go away sooner.
"I'm so anxious..." Marinette murmered, nibbling her thumb nail. "I have no idea what to do with my hair! I bet I can't sleep tonight."
Adrien heard their conversation as they were sitting behind him. He turned around and he saw her looking into the mirror. She looked tired and pale... He really was worried.
"Hey." He said, catching Alya and Marinette's attention. Of course, Marinette couldn't help but blush. "You look tired. You should try and sleep tonight." he said.
"Why?" Alya asked with a grin "Do you want her recharged for a dance or something?"
Marinette blushed deeply and hid her face, but Adrien turned to Nino. "You told!?"
"Yeah, but this is a special moment, dude. I couldn't keep it a secret."
"Are you going to dance?" Chloé asked, hearing half of the conversation "Who are you going to dance with?"
Nino and Alya rolled their eyes and Marinette ignored her.
"You will see at the dance, Chloé. But I know Adrien will dance with the most beautiful tomorrow night." Alya said with a mean undertone.
Chloé cheered and grabbed Adrien's hands "I didn't know you were going to dance with me!" she cheered ecstatic. "Everyone knows I will look the most beautiful with my original design."
Adrien pulled his hands back with a cocked eyebrow. Marinette held back to scold her, and she also held Alya back. At least, she tried "Original or are you going to steal someone's design again?!" Alya said mad.
"How dare you talk like that to me! I can get you suspended again!" Chloé said mad back. "Even if I were going with my every day clothes, I will still look the most beautiful!"
"Arrogant." Alya muttered with her arms crossed, looking away.
Chloé grinned and looked at Adrien. "I will see you tomorrow. I will practice my dance." the blonde said with a hand kiss.
She walked away and Nino looked at his friend. "Why didn't you say you weren't gonna dance with her." He whispered.
"Because if I did, she would irritate Marinette, and even destroy her design. I wouldn't be surprised if she was capable of that." Adrien explained softly. Nino nodded in understanding and he was looking at Chloé who cheered with Sabrina.
"Kids, you are allowed to go home and prepare for tomorrow. It starts at 9 PM. Good luck and I am anxious to your designs." The teacher said with a smile. Everyone smiled and grabbed their stuff, preparing to go home.
"What are you going to do when you get home?" Alya asked with a smile to her best friend.
"First, I'm going to look at how I should do my hair, and after that, dinner and directly to bed." Marinette explained with a chuckle, remembering Adrien asking her to get some sleep. "And since it's Saturday tomorrow, I can still practice dancing."
"Sounds like a good plan." Alya grinned, high fiving her hand.
At least she did sleep, because she went to bed early, but now, the day of the ball, she was wide awake. She was so nervous. She went out bed and rubbed her eyes.
"Good morning!" Tikki said, floating around. "I am so excited for tonight! I'm glad you made a purse I fit in."
"I'm nervous." Marinette said, brushing her hair as she looked into the mirror. She decided to let her hair hung loose for a change and it was easy. She looked at her design and smiled. She couldn't wait to see everyone's faces when they saw it. She had been keeping it a secret for so long.
"I'm going to practice with dancing, and I will take a short nap after." Marinette thought loudly to herself. "After that, I will prepare myself for the dance."
"I'm surprised how you don't seem so nervous, even though you just said so." Tikki said with a giggle.
Marinette looked at her kwami and smiled. "It will get worse."
And it did get worse.
The ball started and the outside area inside the school has been decorated. People were already dancing with their masks on. The costumes all had a variety of colors and glitters. Almost every male wore a tuxedo and every female wore a dress. A dress coming to the knees, or a long dress draping on the ground.
Alya clicked her tongue as she looked around. Or Marinette was here already and she couldn't see her, or she hadn't arrived yet. "Where is she?" She wondered. She was wearing a purple and black dress with glitters and drapes on the ground. Her masks also had purple and black colors with glitters. Nino, who was standing next to her, was searching for Adrien. Adrien also kept his design a secret so he had no idea what he was searching for. Nino himself wore something easy. He wore a white tux with a purple and black tie. Probably to fit with Alya's. His mask was also white.
"I was napping too long!" Marinette said as she was running towards school. Her hair was probably ruined, but she didn't care because her dress looked amazing. Marinette stopped running as she saw someone in front of her also running to school. They both stopped at the entrance and we're speechless with slightly gaping mouths. Marinette looked at Adrien's design and Adrien looked at Marinette's design.
Marinette was wearing a black dress stopping at her knees. It was decorated with golden embroidery and ruffles. Her black gloves were decorated with small diamonds, just like her black mask. She wore a diadem with diamond laced cat ears and she even had a tail attached to her dress. She had a black purse with a golden chain and a cat bell on it.
Adrien wore a black tuxedo with a red dress shirt. His slacks were black and he wore black shoes. His mask however, was red with black spots. He had a diamond laced brooch in form of Ladybugs yoyo attached on his chest pocket.
They didn't say anything for a few minutes. The only thing echoing through their heads was what Marinette said.
'I put a thing very important to me in my design.'
Adrien was the first one opening his mouth "Cha-" but he got interrupted fast.
"Dude! You look good!" Nino yelled, seeing Adrien and Marinette standing at the entrance. Alya gasped too, seeing their costumes. Adrien finally broke his gaze from Marinette, and she eventually also broke her gaze, looking at her friends.
"Ladybug and Chat Noir! How did you come up with this? Are you sure you didn't work together?" Alya said ecstatic, running downstairs.
"No, I really kept it a secret." Marinette said with a grin.
"Make a spin, girl! I want to see it all!" Marinette did what she was asked, and made a pirouette. "You even have a tail! How cute!"
Adrien was glad his, what might have been the biggest ever, blush got covered by his mask. Even a tail...
"You really look gorgeous! You two are going to win this! Winning as the most heroic couple." Alya said, thinking what could happen.
Nino was inspecting Adrien's clothes and also got excited. "This is not normal. How big is the coincidence you two being dressed like the heroic couple of Paris without even planning it." Nino said with a shake of his head.
"Come inside! Now!" Alya cheered, grabbing their hands and dragging them inside the school. They both gasped. Marinette looked at Adrien as she got dragged. His mask got dark because of the shadows... She couldn't help but wonder... No, must be coincidence...
Marinette and Adrien got pushed into the crowd. Everyone started to look at them, and they both looked dumbfounded. Everyone was frozen and it got quieter besides the music.
"Look! Marinette and Adrien dressed as a male Ladybug and a female Chat Noir!" Alya said, breaking the silence. Everyone made a sound. Gasping, startling or making a sound of disbelief.
"You look amazing!" Alix yelled surprised, looking at them both "How did you come up with that?"
"I thought it would be funny." Adrien said with a smile. Marinette looked at him with a knowing gaze. Everyone was looking at their designs with anticipation.
"Yeah, me too." Marinette said with a smile. After everyone had inspected their design and complimented one another, they began to dance again. Marinette looked at the table with food and drinks.
"You have to dance. You promised." Alya said, nudging Adrien's arm with her elbow.
"Let me drink something first." Marinette said with a nervous laugh. "I ran fast just a minute ago." she explained as she walked towards the table. Adrien smiled and nodded. He wanted something to drink, too.
Adrien poured some soda for Marinette and gave the cup to her. "Is this ok?"
She looked at it and accepted it with sweet smile. "Just purrfect." She answered.
Adrien's eyes slightly widened and a blush grew on his cheeks. Did she just...? Was that a pun?
Everyone grew quiet again after Chloé entered the school ball. She was wearing a black dress, showing her legs but draping behind her. It was purple colored and decorated with white flower prints. She was wearing golden big earrings and a purple mask with golden embroidery.
"Look at me, Adrien! I told you I would be the most beautiful!" Chloé said with a smile, while Sabrina was carrying her draping dress from the back. Adrien did look and Alya rolled her eyes. Some people complimented her on her dress and some danced further. Luckily she didn't see the compliments Adrien and Marinette got earlier, otherwise she would have been jealous. Marinette stared only at Adrien's back, wondering something already since she saw him with that mask... She reached to the diadem on her head and put it off.
"Adrien." she said. She didn't feel like Marinette now. She felt like Ladybug. Adrien turned around with some confusion and his confusion grew when Marinette put her cat ear diadem on his head and she pulled her hands back again. She kept staring and Adrien felt what she had put on his head.
His eyes widened instantly and he was staring back at her. For some reason, she wanted him to deny it. He definitely looked like Chat now. If he would just say something like 'What are you doing?' or something like that...
But why didn't he say something?
"Adrien! Look at me. I own a dance!" they heard Chloé say somewhere on the background.
Marinette kept staring expressionless at him, and he only stared back, with a shocked face.
'Please, say something... Deny it... Say something...' She thought, still staring expressionless and seeing the cat ears fit with him.
His lips finally parted and he finally said something.
"Oh no..."
Also, I am not native English. I do my best. But my English is good enough to make you know this was a cliffhanger xD Thanks for reading!