"I've got it!"
Marinette Dupain-Cheng looked up from her desk and into the spirited eyes of the student council president, Delaney Charron. She had her fists in the air and was grinning broadly.
"I've got just the idea to get more people on our website!" she clarified.
"What do you suggest?" Alya Césaire, a class representative of grade 11, asked. Her eyes shifted over to Marinette with a knowing gleam. "What kind of crazy idea did she have this time?" they seemed to convey.
Delaney paced the front of the room for a seconds, her hands clasped together. As if suddenly electrocuted with a burst of energy, she spun on her heel and exclaimed, "The answer is Adrien Agreste!"
A sour taste filled Marinette's mouth as she heard the name. Of all people...
"It's simple," Delaney said. "If we somehow get Adrien to support our website, its views will skyrocket! We just have to figure out how exactly he can help us."
Marinette's eyes narrowed almost instinctively. Getting assistance from Adrien Agreste for their student council website was about the last thing she wanted to do. It had been two years since they had last spoken to each other. Back then, Marinette had finally gotten over her panicky tendencies whenever she was around him. She had acknowledged him as one of her most trusted friends; she could confide in him like a normal classmate. Nowadays things were much different.
Unfortunately, however, Adrien Agreste was still the highly regarded fan favorite. He was always surrounded by many admirers who couldn't seem to get enough of him. In the last couple of years, his modeling career had skyrocketed and risen even further. Being the son of one of the world's most famous fashion designers, Adrien had no problem gaining a passionate fan club at the high school he attended.
Perhaps once his glamour and fame might have enticed Marinette, but her junior high dreams were long gone. The once rabid obsession started to trickle away once she realized Adrien was changing into a person who only cared about his image. The caring boy she had thought she knew had transformed into an unobtainable prince who could no longer be bothered to talk to someone like Marinette anymore.
"What do you think, grade 11's class president?" Delaney shoved her face near Marinette, interrupting her thoughts. "Good idea, right?"
"I don't know." Marinette bit her lip apologetically. How could she explain her dislike for the well-liked model?
"He probably wouldn't want to be bothered with something like this," Marinette went on. She saw Alya observing her out of the corner of her eye.
Delaney scrunched her eyebrows and pouted. "Why, sure he would! I bet the dreamy prince wouldn't mind giving us a hand." She focused her gaze on nothing in particular and smiled wistfully.
Marinette didn't want to completely dishearten Delaney, so she joked, "How could he even help us? A private modeling session so we could put pictures of him on our homepage?"
Delaney's eyes widened a moment. Grasping Marinette's cheeks with her hands, her mouth slowly transfigured into a wide grin.
"That's it," she whispered dangerously, and Marinette inwardly cursed herself.
"That's it, everyone!" she addressed the whole student council. "We snap some exclusive modelling photos of Adrien and attach it to our homepage. Then it'll be impossible for people to resist, and our website will be on its way to glory!"
She glanced at the clock for a second before adding, "That's all for today - we'll talk about the details later. Meeting adjourned!"
Marinette swiveled sluggishly to face Alya who had a remorseful expression. Picking up her purse from the desk, Marinette stood up to leave the meeting room with her friend.
There was an awkward pause before Alya noted, "It can't be that bad. Besides, someone else in the student council will be more than happy to snap the pics, so you won't even have to be involved."
An exasperated sigh escaped the dark haired girl. "I just don't understand why everyone worships the ground he walks on. He cares only for himself in the end."
Alya placed her hand on Marinette's shoulder with a considerate understanding. "Want to come over today?" It was after school hours.
Marinette smiled apologetically. "I can't, sorry. I have to stop by the library to pick up some books for my research project."
"Alright." Alya linked her arm with Marinette's for a brief moment. "Call me later when you get home!" With a wave, she headed down the hall in a different direction while Marinette continued on towards the school library.
As she walked, Marinette allowed herself to cool down. She almost never got this worked up over anything, or anyone for that matter, except for maybe Chloé Bourgeois. A few classmates from her grade smiled in greeting as they walked by her in the hall. She also witnessed a small girl hurry by with an odd grimace on her face.
Arriving at the library entrance, she patted her purse gently and pushed the door open.
/\
"We should totally hang out tonight," Chloé suggested, throwing her arm around Adrien. The hovering crowd around him awaited his response.
With clenched teeth and a forced smile, he gently pulled himself away from her. "I've got some things to do," he said, thinking that it wasn't a total lie. He didn't have any modeling sessions, but there was always homework.
"You're so busy all the time," Chloé pouted, her bottom lip jutting out. "How about you come over after you're done?" She eyed the crowd hungrily as some of them gasped in disbelief.
"I can't," Adrien said with a slightly impatient tone. He had to get going before Nathalie called; he had already spent too much time after school hours trying to finish his research project with Chloé. That had turned out to be disastrous, since all she wanted to talk about was everything but their research topic.
He wasn't really sure what the school thought of him and Chloé. They certainly weren't a thing, but Adrien had to keep on her good side according to his father's orders. Apparently being one of the world's most famous fashion designers wasn't enough; he had to have some political footing in the ordeals of Paris too. Accomplishing that was easy with a good affiliation with Chloé's father, the mayor of the city.
"Adrien," he heard a quiet voice pipe. He turned to look down at a short girl from one grade below him. He recalled her name was Jasmin.
She seemed to cower and shoot nervous glances around at everyone as they turned, surprised that she had said anything at all. She tugged on a beaded bracelet around her wrist.
"Y-You're always welcome to come over to m-my house if you're tired of going over to Chloé's." A stunned silence ensued.
"I-I mean all of you can," she quickly corrected herself. "My parents said I could invite any friends over this afternoon." She blushed and stared at the ground.
A sudden sharp, bitter laugh punctured the air after the initial quiet. Chloé twisted on her heel and towered over Jasmin, who turned further red and took one step back.
"What are you, nine years old?" Chloé shot venomously. Some people in the crowd tittered.
"No, I just-" Jasmin started, gulping. "I just thought that maybe- that maybe I- that you guys would like-"
"Oh, spare us." Chloé brushed her thumb over a manicured fingernail. "No one wants to go over to your place and have a play date." Now the whole crowd was laughing.
Adrien felt sick. Jasmin was a kind but shy girl, and he knew it must've taken a lot of courage to step up and offer what she did.
"I've got to go," Adrien said, attempting to pry himself away from horde. Most of them got the idea, chirping their goodbyes and stepping out of the way. Straining a smile at them, he grasped the strap on his shoulder bag and stepped through the path they had parted. He saw Chloé panic momentarily and look quickly from side to side.
"Later, Adrien!" she attempted cheerfully. As he walked further away from them, he could hear them asking Chloé questions about their "relationship" and just how affiliated they were with each other. He didn't get to hear her answers as he turned down a new hallway, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Why don't you ever just tell them to get lost?" the familiar black kwami sneered, flying out from his hiding spot in Adrien's bag. Adrien scanned the hallway quickly and attempted to catch the tricky creature.
"Get back in there!" he told Plagg, pointing to his bag. "What if someone sees you?"
"Aw, Adrien, there's no one around!" Plagg retorted, zipping alongside Adrien as he walked.
"Since when are you so energetic?" Adrien asked his usually lazy companion. "More than often I have to persu-"
He was cut short by someone entering his view from a side hallway. Plagg zoomed back into his shoulder bag and Adrien froze suddenly to make sure the person hadn't seen.
With a startle, he recognized the trademark black pigtails the split second before he could put a name to her face. To his relief, she wasn't facing him and seemed to be standing in front of the library's doors. He watched as she touched her bag once and pushed open the door, disappearing from sight.
It was rare that he saw her outside of the classes they had together; maybe because he didn't stick around after school as much. She was always on the move, being the class president for their grade, seemingly flitting around doing this and that for all the school's events. They hadn't really talked that much recently, in fact, it had been quite a while since they had actually sustained a full conversation with each other. He remembered being friends with her in junior high and playing a lot of video games. But most of all, he recalled her kind smile and the benevolence she radiated to everyone.
About two years had passed since back then, and she had a whole other life that now discluded Adrien. She was an important figure in the student council and didn't seem to have time to even look at Adrien anymore. It didn't really bother him though; he knew she had things to do and dreams to accomplish. Their lives were busy and their paths weren't made to intertwine, which was why, Adrien believed, they had fallen apart the last two years. In fact, he no longer spoke with any of his other old friends from junior high either. He saw them in the hall sometimes or had them in a class or two, but the high school he attended was a much bigger school than junior high had ever been. The attachments he had once upheld with Marinette, Nino, Alya, Max, Kim, and the others were all but a fleeting dream.
He missed those days when school was actually an escape from the stress of being Gabriel Agreste's son. He missed the parties and adventures they had together. Unfortunately, it was all bound to be tragically short lived. That was just how things worked with someone like him, someone who was watched by everyone at all times. There was never a moment where he could get away and act like a regular teenager. He always had to be the kind, careful son who was an exemplary representative of his father.
He continued walking until he reached the entrance of the library where she had just gone in. Not knowing what compelled him to do so, he grabbed the door's handle and hesitated. What would he say? Would she even recognize him?
Well, of course she would. It wasn't like she was oblivious to the media and the mobs that always seemed to float around him at school. But what kind of reunion would unfold?
"What are you doing?" he heard his kwami say. "Don't you have to get home?"
He did. Adrien knew he was already pushing the limits of staying after school, and he hadn't even notified Nathalie about it. For some reason, his heart was thudding in his chest unevenly. He never got nervous when up on one of his father's fashion stages, so why now? Marinette was a kind person; she wouldn't look at him with distaste at what he'd become. She'd understand why things had happened, and maybe they could laugh about the old times they had spent together.
Just for a moment, Adrien decided. He turned the handle and pushed open the library door.
/\
The Adventures of Achilles… Jason and the Golden Fleece… Top 10 Greek Heroes…
These were just some of the selections that Marinette had chosen for her research topic on heroes of Greek mythology. The pile in her arms was getting awfully heavy and was starting to wobble dangerously. Deciding then and there that she had plenty of books, she started hobbling down the aisle. With that many, she wasn't sure how she was going to make it home without collapsing.
Well, whatever, she thought, well aware that it might end up badly. I'll think about that later.
Grimacing, she readjusted her grip on the stack of books and slowly made her way towards the checkout counter. She barely reached the end of the aisle before colliding with another body. Books went flying and she threw her hands backward to catch herself, one of the books thudding onto her face.
"Oh my god," she heard a familiar voice say from above. "Are you alright?"
Marinette groaned and took the copy of Greek Tragedies off her face. As she peered up at whom she collided with, she deduced this tragedy could land her a spot in Greek Tragedies.
A sense of dread filled her veins as she stared up in horror into his familiar green eyes. They seemed to reflect worry as he thrust out his hand to help her up. Reluctantly accepting, she took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up by Adrien Agreste.
"Hey," he started, "Sorry about that, I-"
"No!" Marinette interrupted him, her mouth turning dry. She touched her purse lightly to make sure Tikki was okay, but she couldn't be sure without opening it.
"It was my fault. I wasn't paying attention." She wasn't about to add that she had probably been carrying more books than she could handle.
"Well, uh," he said, averting his eyes to the books now lying on the floor. "Let me help you with that." He crouched down and began stacking them.
Marinette felt a slight burning rise in her cheeks as she knelt down beside him to help. This had been the first time since back then that they had spoken a word to each other, and she wasn't for sure Adrien remembered who she was. Even if he did, he didn't act like it. He wouldn't look at her straight in the eyes, but of course he wouldn't. Things were different now and this situation was just a nuisance to him. She bit her tongue and struggled to keep from frowning further.
Adrien seemed to take interest in the books' titles a little longer than necessary. He finally looked up at Marinette with a testing smile. "Greek mythology, huh?"
Marinette's eyes widened as her head jerked up to the sound of his voice. Small talk. Small talk?! How dare he tried to make small talk, now of all times, when in two years he hadn't acknowledged her at all? Her fingernails dug into the cover of Perseus and Andromeda. Why now?
Adrien's kindly calculated smile slowly began to falter when Marinette didn't answer.
"Oh um," she said, mind whirling. "Yeah! Greek mythology. You know, for the research project." Her eyes darted around the library quickly to see if anyone was watching. No one but Juleka, who was running the checkout desk, was around. A dim light bulb flickered inside Marinette's mind. He was talking to her because there was barely anyone around.
Marinette held half of the stack of books while Adrien held the other half. She hoped he would hand the rest over so she could get on her way.
"Oh yeah, that project," he said as if he'd had a bad time with it. An awkward silence proceeded as Marinette nodded slightly.
"So," he continued, biting his lip. "Marinette." She felt a kick to her heart as he said her name. "How have you been?"
So he did remember who she was. His green eyes seemed to pierce through her as she struggled to keep a shield up against his princely smile. How dare he. She would have much rather have had him ignore her like before. Knocked into her, looked down at the fallen books, and left in a hurry. This was so much worse.
"I've been fine," she answered cautiously. She hesitated and couldn't stop herself before saying, "What about you?"
No, no, no, no! Stop talking to him! She pleaded to the heavens that she would melt into the ground and escape the situation.
"Oh, you know," he said vaguely, shifting his gaze down to the books he was holding. He seemed nervous, as if any minute someone would come into the library and judge him for talking to Marinette.
Was she just supposed to understand what "oh, you know" meant? Marinette could feel herself getting more and more upset. A part of her hoped he couldn't tell, but another part of her wanted him to realize just how angry she was with him.
Her eyes flickered over to the clock and then back to the blond haired boy. "I better get going." Without really thinking about the books he still held in his arms, she started to turn and head to the checkout counter.
"Marinette, wait!" he said. There he went again, saying her name like he still knew her.
He caught up and almost bumped arms with her. "I, uh, it's been a while. A while since we've last talked."
So he had noticed that too. She stopped and turned her eyes of fire on him.
"A while," she repeated with a harsh edge to it. "Yes." When would this end?
"I-" he started again, shifting his weight onto his other foot. "I heard you were our class president." He paused before adding, "Like you were in junior high."
Marinette felt herself freeze as her joints turned to ice. If someone had told her that she would bump into Adrien Agreste in the school library and be forced to talk to him today, she would have stayed home. She hated the way this was unfolding.
"Yeah," she said. "Funny how things worked out that way." Funny how things had worked out between the two of them also.
She looked at him and wanted to stab herself for the thoughts that flooded into her mind. Adrien still looked like the same guy he was two years ago, besides appearing slightly older. He was even more beautiful up close with his attention focused on her, different from the side glances she had managed to sneak from afar the years since. Same blond hair, same green shade of eyes, same flawless features that always seemed to be ready for the photographer's camera flash.
"Yeah," he said, half laughing and seeming to warm up to her more. She wasn't sure what had allowed him to think that things were okay right now. Things were anything but okay.
"Hey," he began, an idea starting to brew in his mind. "There's a lot of books that you have to carry. Can I help you take them home?" He flashed a triumphant smile like he had already ensnared her into his trap like old times.
"I think I can handle-" Marinette tried to respond, but she was interrupted by a sudden burst of sound coming from outside of the library. Adrien turned to Marinette in question, but she was just as confused. Juleka looked up from the rock band magazine she was reading, before shrugging and returning her attention to it.
A louder crash was heard, seeming to come from right outside the library door. Marinette rushed to set her books down on the counter before running over to it. Adrien was on her tail as she pulled open the door and stepped out.
A girl with a extravagant dress and pinned up golden hair walked down the hall as Marinette stared in horror. She had an eerie smile plastered on her face and a crowd of students was following her with similar expressions.
"What's going on?" she asked, but a slight twinge in the pit of her stomach knew exactly what was happening. She didn't know what had caused it, but an akuma was definitely at work. She flinched as some of the hallway's bulletin boards came crashing down with a flick of the girl's fingers
"It's Jasmin Fontaine," Adrien said, his brows furrowing. "She's a student here in grade 10."
Marinette gawked at the impending crowd from the other end of the hallway. She knew what she had to do; she just had to get away from Adrien first.
Marinette turned on her heel and started trotting down the hall in the opposite direction. "I'm going to get help!" she called back over her shoulder. When she looked back at the spot where he had been, she saw that he had already fled. She noted that he had probably escaped back into the library to hide.
Marinette tried to catch her breath as she zipped around the corner and kneeled, opening her purse after making sure no one was around. She saw the familiar red kwami staring up at her in worry.
"What's going on, Marinette?" she asked, floating out of the bag.
"It's an akuma," Marinette explained, "And I need to transform." Tikki nodded determinedly as Marinette chanted the words, "Tikki, spots on!"
Marinette was lifted into the air as the famous black-spotted red suit replaced her regular clothes. Within a few seconds, Marinette had become Paris's favorite masked superhero.
Marinette sprinted back around the corner of the hallway and saw she could no longer see Jasmin. To her dismay, the hypnotized crowd of students were piling themselves into the library.
Marinette bit her tongue in distress as she ran closer. Even though she hadn't forgiven Adrien, she still hoped he hadn't been hurt.
She pushed past hypnotized students and ran inside the library, quickly scanning the room and assessing the situation. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the familiar black masked boy with cat ears crouching atop one of the bookshelves. Adrien was nowhere to be seen.
"You're late to the party, Ladybug," Chat Noir chimed with a grin. "Oh, but maybe being fashionably late is your style?"
"Like you've been here much longer," Marinette said, rolling her eyes and throwing him a smile in greeting.
"Oh good," a small voice cut in. Marinette turned to see it was Jasmin in her lavish party dress. "The guests of honor have arrived!" She turned to her army of student followers and narrowed her eyes. "Capture them."
Ladybug unhooked her yoyo from her suit and wrapped it around the first person that got too close. She recognized it was Juleka, who apparently had gotten herself hypnotized a little earlier. She pulled on the yoyo, making Juleka tumble to the floor.
If Juleka was here, where was Adrien? Had he escaped into a classroom or something?
"Hey, Chat," Marinette said, tripping another student.
"Yes, my lady?" he asked, hopping down from his perch on the shelf. He activated his retractable staff and hit the backs of legs, causing several of the zombified students to fall on to their butts.
"When you came, was there anybody else in here that wasn't hypnotized yet?" she pondered, throwing her yoyo around. She bit her lip in worry and scanned the crowd for Adrien.
Chat Noir jumped and landed next to Marinette, nodding towards Juleka. "It was just that girl. Who are you looking for?" Chat tilted his head in question at Marinette's uneasiness.
"No one," she said quickly, accepting the fact that Adrien must have escaped elsewhere. Which was a good thing. She definitely didn't want Adrien to see her as Ladybug, his eyes widening in the admiration he'd never have for Marinette.
"Hey," Chat said, lightly touching her shoulder. "Are you alright?" His green eyes glowed with concern.
"I'm fine," she feigned a smile and looked away for a moment.
"Enough of the party introductions!" Jasmin exclaimed, her hands whirling. "You guys forgot to bring a party gift, I see, but your miraculouses will do!" She waved her hand and streamers and deadly balloons were shot out at them. Marinette spun her yoyo around in fast circles to stop the party decorations from hitting her and Chat.
"Why are you doing this, Jasmin?" she asked the usually calm, shy girl.
"I'm not Jasmin," she countered, shaking her head. "I'm the Hostess! And you guys aren't being very nice guests." She leaped at them with a new sense of purpose and flung more streamers.
Chat Noir spun his staff and deflected the whir of rainbow colored party decorations. "You're mad at Chloé, right? You shouldn't take her seriously since she's not a very nice person, you know."
Marinette shook her head slightly. Of course it had been Chloé who had caused this.
"Chloé!" the Hostess almost spat. "I'll make her come to this party and force her to eat cake until she explodes!"
Marinette's mind raced. She needed to use her lucky charm before things got any worse, as much as she would have liked to see Chloé explode.
She threw her yoyo up into the air and exclaimed the words, "Lucky charm!" What landed in her arms was a decent sized cake that wobbled when she moved too much, almost like the stack of books she had held earlier in the day.
"A cake!" Chat Noir's eyes lit up with a mischievous glint. "I am hungry…" He made a lunge for it, but Marinette shifted it out of his reach at the last second.
"It's not for you, kitty," she teased, looking around the room for items that would blink with a ladybug pattern. When she deduced that it was only the Hostess's face that showed the pattern, Marinette almost felt bad about what she was about to do.
"Chat," she said, "Do you know where the akuma is?"
"Nope," he answered smugly, eyeing her. "What's your plan?"
Marinette didn't have time to reply as she sprinted forward, thrusting the cake into the face of the Hostess. She mouth gaped in surprise, but it was too late for her to dodge the blow.
Shrieking, the Hostess stumbled backwards and hit her back against the checkout counter. Chat Noir hopped over and looked for where the akuma could have been located. Finally, he decided on the bracelet that adorned her wrist and took it off, flinging it at Marinette.
She caught it and pulled it apart, the beads clattering to the floor. A small dark butterfly fluttered from the beads and Marinette proceeded to catch it with her yoyo. Cleansing it from evil, she released it and watched as it flew away. She then walked over to the Hostess and threw a bit of the cake that was on her face into the air. Everyone began to transform back to their normal selves and the school began to rearrange itself back to the way it was.
Chat Noir dipped down to look at Jasmin as she woke up in a state of confusion. "I'm sure many people would love to come over to your house. Don't listen to a word Chloé says. No one would want to go over to hers anyways." He then turned to Marinette with a grin. "Shall we go?"
Marinette felt her heart warm a little after witnessing Chat Noir being so kind. He was someone she could count on to have never ending generosity, unlike Adrien who wore a fake mask of niceness.
The two heroes exited the library and turned down an empty hallway. Marinette's earring beeped once in warning.
"Wait." Chat Noir grabbed her wrists before she could head off. "What was bothering you today?" He brought his face close to hers and peered into her eyes curiously.
Marinette tried to step back a little, but her back hit the wall. A faint blush creeped into her cheeks, but she couldn't quite tell what it was from. Swallowing slightly, she reminded herself that this was Chat Noir. She could trust him with anything, and she wanted so bad to tell him of the unpleasant encounter from earlier.
"It was just bad luck." Marinette's eyes dropped to the floor. "I talked to someone I used to like today. He's changed from back then, though, and it just… It just makes me angry and kind of upset."
"How has he changed?" Chat asked softly, dipping his head so that Marinette was forced to look at him.
"He's become-" A flicker of pain shot through her. "He's become someone who doesn't have time for someone like me."
Chat Noir's expression indicated confusion. "Then that's his loss. He sounds like a real jerk anyways." He shifted one of his clawed gloves to slightly below her left shoulder while still grasping her right wrist with his other. "How could he not have time for someone like you?" The way he said "you" was too generous of anything that Marinette thought she deserved.
"I-" she started, "I'm not- I don't- I mean, I-" She was cut short. Her usual confidence as Ladybug was crumbling. As she was pushed more into the wall by the hand below her shoulder, he touched his forehead to hers.
Marinette didn't know what was happening. He was close, too close. His breath was warm on her lips and her senses were on overload. She closed her eyes as he slowly touched his lips to hers.
They were comforting and soft, not like she expected them to be like shards of glass, but- She couldn't think. What had they been talking about before this? What had even led to this? The encounter with Adrien from earlier seemed to evaporate.
Her heart was thumping as he kissed her, long and sweet, but with an edge of something that had been restrained for so long. She brought her free hand up to his waist, pulling his body closer, as if they weren't close enough. She was sure her cheeks were scorching with fire by now.
He must've been breathing toxic gas into her or something, because everything seemed so fuzzy and hazed over. She could only seem to focus on his lips on hers, moving slowly with a desire she couldn't understand under this spell he had cast upon her. Even though his hand pinned her shoulder in place and the other grasped her wrist, she couldn't leave now even if he hadn't gotten her like this. She was melting and quickly becoming entangled within Chat Noir's mouse trap.
Another beep from Marinette's earring made her jump and jolt back to reality, forcing her to bump her forehead against his a little too forcefully. Her eyes flew open suddenly, and he withdrew his grip on her.
"Ladybug," Chat's voice whispered lowly. He peered at her with a strange look in his eyes, as if he was mentally tearing down the walls built up around her heart.
"I've got to go!" she sputtered quickly, scrambling to find an escape. She ran from him down the hall and threw a look back at him only once. He stood there motionless with eyes still piercing into her, head tilted like a cat.
She rounded the corner and found herself fleeing into the girls' restroom. She slid her back down on to one of the walls in a crouching sit, flinging her hands up to cool her warm cheeks. As her thoughts spun like a top, she was barely aware of transforming back into Marinette.
Chat Noir. He had kissed her. Had she kissed him back? She couldn't remember. She was confused and felt like she had taken a spin in the laundry machine, but one thought rose above her whirling mind as she sat there in a daze.
She had liked it.