Chapter One:
Adrian Agrest sat moodily at his desk, ignoring his teacher, and watching the rain trickle slowly down the windows. The rain had put a damper on his good moods, and he was getting more and more frustrated by the growing second. Adrian felt his eyelids growing heavy, he rested his head against his arm to support it, Oh well, He thought tiredly no one will mind if I have a quick catnap anyway. The truth was, the akumatized villain attacks were becoming more common, and a lot more...aggressive, putting him and Ladybug at great risk. For instance, he thought happily to the day before, where he (as Cat Noir of course) had saved Ladybug from becoming well, bug soup. And the way she had touched his shoulder, smiled at him (oh her smile!) and said thanks. It was what he lived for, making the love of his life happy. Well, that side of his life anyway, he couldn't be Cat Noir all the time, and he didn't know who Ladybug was outside the mask. It was most frustrating thing, but he had to respect her wish. Adrian closed his eyes, imagining her, wielding that yoyo, her eyes darting around, watching for any danger lurking around. The way she smiled, brushed his antics off coolly, and rejected him so many times. Adrian sighed, but he would not give up hope. He would not give up hope!
A loud clap of thunder roared overhead. Drowning out anything the teacher had just said. Adrian jumped like he'd been stung by a thousand bees, and had to scramble to remain in his seat. Blushing bright red, he returned to his normal position, hoping no one had noticed. Lucky for him, no one had noticed, because they were too busy comforting themselves. Jueleka and Rose, were clutching each other, their eyes wide with fright. Ivan was patting Mylan's hand, who was cowering in fear. The only three people who seemed to not be affected by the storm were Nino, Marinette, and Clohe. Nino was discreetly nodding his head to the music on his headphones, Adrian doubted he had heard a single sound. Clohe, was in her own bubble as usual, tapping away at her phone, a smug smile on her face. And Marinette. None of these three seemed to notice that Adrian had jumped, so he sighed, and tried (in vain) to concentrate on what the teacher was saying.
Meanwhile, Marinette sat directly behind Adrian, not even bothering to take notes on what the teacher said. She was watching him, her eyes trained on him, the way a hound trains its eyes on the fox. All of her concentration was on him, she was immune to everything else in and out the classroom. I wonder how he gets his hair so perfect, she wondered dreamily, distracted doodling both their names in swirly writing. Suddenly, a flash of lightning crackled from the dark clouds, followed by an overwhelming, deafening sound of thunder. Adrian jumped again, as the lights flickered and went out, coating the classroom in a mass of black. Clohe and Sabrina started screaming dramatically, as the teacher tried to get the children to calm down.
"Everyone follow me! I can still see the door!" Adrian thanked his miraculous powers, which gave him better sight than the average human being. And sure enough, he could see the faint light shining from underneath the door. "Everybody link hands!" Marinette's voice came out calming and confident.
The awkward shuffle off feet came to Marinette's ears as she linked hands with Alya and made her way down to the door. Adrian pushed against the door but nothing happened. "Oh!" The teacher exclaimed. "I locked the door to keep it from blowing open, the key is on my desk." Adrian tried not to groan, as the children became more and more agitated, and nervous. He tried to remain calm himself, as he peered into the dark to try and locate the desk. "Everybody, it's going to be alright!" Marinette said, "We've spent all year in this classroom, you should be able to find the key in your sleep!" This brought a little light onto the situation (excuse the pun, I'm becoming Cat Noir!) And the children started walking blindly around the classroom, bumping into each other, but laughing. "I've got it!" Adrian shouted triumphantly, as his hand touched the metal object. He raced for the door, and unlocked it. As soon as the door was opened, everyone raced out, Clohe clutching her neck and taking in huge gulps of air as if she had been stuck in an airtight container for weeks, and not a large classroom without any light for a minute or two. Marinette rolled her eyes. Clohe always seemed to make her annoyed or unsettled, even if Clohe wasn't doing anything. She brought out the worst in her.
"Oh! Well done students!" The teacher said, looking slightly flustered, her hands in Mylan's and Alexis. "Especially Adrian and Marinette, Good job in keeping calm in a dangerous situation like this." Marinette blushed and brushed of the compliments good naturedly, "Yeah no kidding!" Nino said, taking his headphones of for the first time that day, and slapping Adrian across the back. "You have some kind of super sight bro! How on earth did you see the door?!" Adrian grinned sheepishly, and put his arm on the back of his neck. "It's no biggie, I've just got good eyesight." The rest of the school was also starting to file out of the other classrooms, and the headmaster's voice came up from below. "Students!" He bellowed into the loudspeaker. "May I have your attention please?" When all eyes were upon him, he cleared his throat and went on. "We seem to be experiencing a power fail, you may all return home for today, and we will notify you about tomorrow." The clamour of students exiting the school was louder than usual, as they all re-lived the power cut.
"Marinette that was so cool!" Alya exclaimed linking hands with her best friend as they walked down the steps, "You took complete control of the situation! I've never seen you act like that before!" "Oh, it was nothing!" Marinette blushed at the praise. Truth was, she had to thank her miraculous powers, since she had become Ladybug she was a lot bolder, well, just a little….
"Hey Marinette!" Adrian called as he saw the dark haired designer hesitate as she came to a stop outside the school gates, he smiled as she jumped when she heard his voice. "O-O-H Hi you, how are Adrian? I mean, how you are…no wait! I mean….Hi Adrian, how are you?" Marinette stumbled over her words, as she came face-to-face with her crush. "I'm good thanks," He said, looking out to the road. A car pulled up, and he recognized it as his own, he stepped out into the rain, but then stopped as he realised Marinette would have to walk home in the rain.
"I don't have an umbrella with me, so….would you like a ride home?" Marinette stared at him, unblinking, her mouth wide open. Alya, who had been standing a little while away, talking to Nino, realised this was the perfect opportunity. "Of course! She would love to have a ride home!" Alya butted in, giving Marinette a nudge. Marinette's checks, were blushed pink, but she managed to nod, say yes, wave to Alya, and mouth 'I WILL TEXT YOU!' Alya watched with the biggest grin ever recorded on her face, as her best friend stepped after Adrian, and climbed into the car with him. "What are you up to?" Nino's voice came up behind her. The two had started dating (for reference, watch Animan) and he knew when his girlfriend was up to something. "Have you noticed how Marinette likes…Agh, no guys never notice these things. Marinette reaaaaaaaaly likes Adrian, but she's too shy to do anything about it, I mean I'm sure you've heard her babbling. And Adrian's a dude, so he's to doof to realise it…no offense, and so now it's our mission to make the two of them…one!" Nino blinked, "I didn't get a word of that, but I'm going to go with it, and suppose you have an idea in check?" Alya's smile got bigger, and Nino could just imagine the cogs in her brain turning, as she rubbed her hands together smugly.
"Not just an idea, Nino, but a plan!"
Marinette sat in Adrian's car, biting her lip, she didn't think she had ever been this close to him (in her human form at least) and it was the best thing ever, but it was also the scariest, most frightening thing EVER! She would rather battle a thousand akumatized monsters, get tied up on the Eiffel tower, or be dropped into a cage of hungry great white sharks, covered in bacon sauce…..than be where she was right now. But….she also wouldn't trade her current position for anything in the world. Ever!
"So…" Adrian tried to come up with something to talk about, but his mind was blank. He looked around for something to talk about, but all he could see was slow moving traffic, the rain, and his TV, Which was a news talk once again about Ladybug and Cat Noir. "It's really cool that they're here, I don't know what we would do if we didn't have them." Adrian commented casually, "Well, I'm getting the feeling that you would step up to the task. After all, you were really good with finding the key and everything." Marinette said, this time without stuttering. "And you! You kept everyone calm and got us out, without you, it would have been absolute chaos!" Marinette grinned. "You're right," She teased, "Paris would be at a total loss without me!" Adrian laughed, his entire face lighting up, he was having an actual conversation with Marinette, and she was laughing, teasing and actually looking at him, not like she usually did, where she gave mixed up answers, looked at the ground, and looked petrified. Girls are a strange species. He thought to himself.
I'm talking to Adrian, I'm sitting in his car. I'm making jokes! Marinette had kicked into Ladybug mode, where she managed to remain cool and collected the entire drive back to the bakery.
And that's a wrap! I actually made the first chapter of my beloved Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction! Go me! Anyway, I have a lot in store for you guys, the next one promises to be a lot more…interesting? But this one holds the story together, so yeah. Bug out ;)