So... I've seen these before. I've seen three: The timer, the words, and the mark. This one has the words. It's probably going to be a two or three-shot. We'll see.
Title: Wrong Number
Synopsis: Soulmate AU. Marinette gets a call from an unknown number, and the caller happens to be her soulmate. Should she have asked for his name? Probably. Did she? No.
Setting: The first chapter takes place before Marinette becomes Ladybug, before Adrien is Chat Noir, and before Adrien goes to College Francoise Dupont.
Rated: K+
Other: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug.
"Hey, it's me."
Marinette studied the words on her arm. She rubbed at them absently. They'd appeared nearly a month ago.
Marinette turned to looked at Alya, her best friend who was sitting next to her at the lunch table. "When do you think I'll meet him?" she asked. Alya shrugged. "Anybody's guess." The girl looked at Marinette. "Are you busy tonight? I wanted to hang out."
"I'd love to, but I've got to catch up on homework, and projects, and business has been pretty hectic these past few days, and-"
"Are you sure you don't just want to fawn over the new Agreste Magazine? You've been pining after this model boy from afar for a long while now."
"Well, it's not like I'll ever meet him. And besides, I've already got a soulmate." She rubbed at the mark again. "Somewhere."
"Uh-huh. Fine. I'll just go to the movies myself."
"Listen, I'm really sorry I can't, but I am really busy."
"Alright." Alya started clearing her place. Marinette got up to follow her. "I'll see you later, yeah?"
"Yeah."
-Linebreak-
Marinette sat on her bed, looking at homework pages. Every so often, however, her gaze would stray to that of an open magazine. She continued working, albeit somewhat distractedly. Suddenly, her phone rang. She looked at it.
The number was not one she recognized, but Marinette knew that she only gave her number to people she trusted, therefore it was someone she had made acquaintances with. Or a wrong number, which was easily fixed. She pressed accept and held the phone to her ear, making an indiscernible sound that probably(in some foreign language) passed for a greeting.
"Hey, it's me. I was wondering if you had the new clothes line ready? My father was wondering when he should send Gorilla or Nathalie to pick them up, and told me to call instead of doing it himself."
Marinette stilled, her eyes shooting down to the words on her arm. Her eyes widened.
"Hello? Agnes? Are you there?"
Marinette frowned, opened her mouth and started to respond.
"...Who's Me?"
Adrien carefully wrote down a number on the page. He slid it forward. "There," he said. "I'm done."
His tutor nodded. "Good, Adrien. Now, your father asked to see you when you were done."
Adrien nodded, standing up and walking out. He walked through the halls, sighing to break the silence. It did nothing but only made him slightly more aware of the emptiness.
"Father?" he asked, knocking on his parent's office door.
"Come in," said a voice. Adrien walked in. His father sat at a desk. It swiveled.
"Thank you for coming," Gabriel Agreste said, his voice slightly business like. Adrien hated that his father spoke to him as no more than another client. Still, he pasted a pleasant look on his face and nodded.
"This will be quick, so there is no need to make yourself comfortable. Adrien, I'd like you to call Agnes and see if she has the clothing ready. Do you remember her number?"
"Yes."
"Good. You are dismissed."
Adrien turned to go. He began walking.
"Adrien, wait."
Adrien looked back over his shoulder.
"Come here."
Adrien walked over to where his father sat hesitantly. "Turn around," Mr. Agreste said. Adrien complied. Cold fingers gripped the fabric of the back of his shirt and pulled it down a little bit.
"What did you do? Did you get a tattoo? Adrien, you know what my rules are. How dare you break one!"
"Dad, it's not a tattoo. It just appeared a while ago. I don't know what happened."
His dad read the words and his eyes widened. "No," he murmured, turning around. He glared at nothing.
"Dad?"
"Adrien, leave."
"But dad-"
"I said leave!"
Adrien jumped at his father's outburst. He frowned, then sighed. "Yes, father."
Adrien left the room. Gabriel's features softened, and caught those of a picture on his bookshelf. "Angeline," he murmured, "He's just like you."
Adrien searched through his phone contacts. Huh, he thought, I could've sworn I put Agnes in here. With a shrug, the boy went to his keypad. I remember it, so it's not like it matters, anyway.
Adrien typed in the numbers. He held the phone to his ear and listened. On the third ring, Agnes picked up. She made a sound, and Adrien failed to notice that her voice seemed a little bit higher than usual.
"Hey, it's me. I was wondering if you had the new clothes line ready? My father was wondering when he should send Gorilla or Nathalie to pick them up, and told me to call instead of doing it himself."
There was a lengthy pause, and Adrien frowned. "Hello? Agnes? Are you there?"
Another pause. Adrien was just about to hang up when he heard a voice. A voice, he realized, that was decidedly not Agnes.
"...Who's Me?"
Adrien blinked. The words sounded familiar, until he remembered the mark on his back and realized that they were familiar. The first words he would ever hear from his...
Soulmate.
Adrien coughed. "Uh, sorry, wrong number."
"That's okay. Um, I don't know if it's my business to poke at your personal matters, but who's Agnes and why can't your father call her?"
"She makes the clothes that my dad designs and sells. He's apparently too busy."
"Okay."
"Alright."
Another long period passed. The girl on the other end cleared her throat. "Well, you should probably call Agnes and I should probably get back to schoolwork. It was, um, nice to meet you."
"We technically didn't meet."
"Right. Well, bye."
"Uh, bye."
-Linebreak-
In unison, two teenagers hit the end call button.
In unison, two teenagers looked at the words engraved on their skin.
In unison, two teenagers groaned and fell onto their beds with their arms covering their eyes.
And in unison, two small creatures grinned at each other before zooming away in opposite directions.
...I think that's how it works?
This will continue, so... I'll update it again eventually.
~Misfortune