Hello. If you've found this story, it means you've likely fallen down a rabbit hole and are reading this on your phone as you speed down the hole to Wonderland because you literally have nothing else to do.
Also, I don't own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir (and yes, I will be spelling it that way).
That out of the way, welcome to this rewrite of the series Miraculous Ladybug. Enjoy!
PS: I will be reversing the love square (Marichat instead of Ladrien). If you don't like it, leave. I don't blame you if it turns you off right away.
"Since the beginning of time, there have been thirty-seven Miraculous jewels, one set of five for each continent. However, there have always been two of these Miraculous jewels that have been prized and sought after more than all of the others: the earrings of the ladybug which provides the power of creation, and the ring of the black cat which provides the power of destruction. It is said that if one person were to possess these two miraculous jewels at the same time, they would achieve absolute power."
An unspecified male closet a purple locket, hiding the sweet smiling face of his missing wife, gently rubbing the top, appreciating the smoothness of the locket jewel. "I want that absolute power, Nooroo."
Nooroo started. "But master, no one knows where these Miraculous are!"
The man growled, stomping his foot. "I want that absolute power!" he growled.
Nooroo bowed his head in submission. "Yes, Master."
The man smirked. "Your miraculous, remind me of its powers again?"
"The Moth brooch allows you to give powers to any given person, making them your devoted follower." Nooroo answered.
The man ran his fingers gently over the top of the purple jewel again. "And when it comes to luring superheroes, what could be better than creating supervillains?"
Nooroo immediately understood where his holder was going with this. "But master, the miraculous jewels are not meant to be mistreated like this!"
The man growled again, stomping his foot harder, scaring the white moths into flying in the air again. "I need that absolute power, Nooroo! I must bring my Tara back to me!"
Knowing that he would not be able to dispute against his holder should he force him to do this, and that there would be no changing his mind, Nooroo simply bowed his head in frightened submission, with a dutiful "Yes, master." to complete the act.
The unspecified male pinned the violet Moth brooch to his shirt, commanding with a loud voice: "Nooroo, dark wings rise!"
Moths from all around the room followed the command and surrounded the male's entire body.
Nooroo was sucked into his miraculous jewel.
The man lifted his eyes to the light, allowing his cane to fall to the ground with a soft clatter when it came into contact with the pristine marble floor. "From this day forth, I shall be known as Hawkmoth."
The window covered itself with a dutiful whir as Hawkmoth laughed in a stereotypical evil laugh.
Wayzz awoke from inside his matchbox with a start.
Nooroo?
"Master, Master!" Wayzz cried, floating dangerously close to his Master, completely forgetting the fact that Fu was currently with a patient.
"Hmm? What?" the man asked, turning to look back up at his chiropractor.
"Uh, it's all part of the treatment." Fu stuttered. "Master, Master~"
It was less than five minutes later that Fu shoved his patient out of the door with a dutiful "See you next week!" despite the man's protests.
"What was it you needed, Wayzz?" Fu asked his kwami.
"I sensed the Moth miraculous, master." Wayzz answered.
"Nooroo?" Fu asked, shocked. "I thought the Moth miraculous had been lost forever."
"But, it is a negative aura, Master." Wayzz continued. "I fear someone is mistreating Nooroo's miraculous jewel."
"Then we will need to put a stop to this before it gets out of hand." Fu declared. He began moving his body in complicated motions, attempting to initiate a transformation-
-but Fu threw his back out in the process.
"Master, be reasonable." Wayzz attempted to stop the elderly man's attempts to transform again. "You are not as young as you used to be."
"Still young." Fu argued. "I'm only one-hundred-eighty-six." Fu got to his feet. "But you're right, I can't do this alone anymore."
Fu tapped a specific pattern on the megaphone, which moved to reveal a black box accented with red. Fu lifted the lid to reveal four miraculous jewels lying peacefully in the box: the honey bee, the fox, the ladybug, and the black cat.
Fu gently put the Ladybug earrings in a similarly patterned box as the one from whence it had just come, and the black cat ring in an identical box as the earring container, then put them both in his bag and left.
"Marinette, your alarm's been going off for fifteen minutes, you're going to be late for school!" Sabine Cheng shouted up to her daughter.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng lifted her comforter off her head, revealing tired eyes. Marinette managed a breathy "Coming, mom" before groaning and pulling the covers back over her head.
Adrien Agreste tied the white laces on his orange shoes and picked up his bag. Over the past few months, he had been secretly registering himself at a school called College Francoise-Dupont, where he planned to attend school. He was fed up of constantly being stuck at home without anyone to talk to save the adults looking after him (he didn't count his brother, cause he wasn't always behaved the best). So, he left his home and hurried to the school to attend class, completely against his father's orders.
Adrien arrived at the school in high spirits. Finally, he wouldn't be alone.
Just a few steps away from the school's doors, Natalie and his bodyguard drove up. "Adrien," Natalie called, "please don't do this, you know what your father wants!"
Adrien sighed. "I don't want to keep being shut up at home! I want to meet people and actually interact with people my own age who aren't models or the ultra-rich and famous."
Natalie sighed. "Adrien..."
Adrien's eyes caught sight of a man with a red and white floral patterned shirt, lying down on the ground, reaching for a cane. Adrien went running to help the man up, handing him back his cane. "Are you alright? Do you need to see someone?"
The man sighed. "No, I'm just fine, thank you."
Adrien smiled and turned back to his supervisors, only to see them looking mad at him, blocking his entrance to the school.
Fu slipped a small box into Adrien's bag.
Adrien walked over to Natalie and his bodyguard. "I just want to go to school. Please don't tell father."
Natalie led the blond back into the limousine, which took off down the road.
Fu continued down the street, finished with his first Jewel test.
Marinette burst out of her parents' bakery with a box of cookies to give to her classmates, only to stop short when a red car nearly ran her over. Everyone on either side of the street was looking at their phones as a man in a red and white shirt slowly crossed the street with a cane.
A car was coming straight for the man with the cane.
Without spending more than one-tenth of a second thinking about it, Marinette darted forth and saved the man from being hit by the car, in the process spilling half her box of cookies her parents had given to her for her class.
Marinette groaned. Her knees ached, but that and the cookies were a very small price to pay for the life of this old man.
"Thank you. I'm sorry about your cookies." Fu spoke as he stood up on his own.
"Of course." Marinette groaned, picking up the (now-abused) box of cookies. Half of the green cookies had fallen out and were already being trampled underfoot by the passing pedestrians. "Just my luck."
Marinette straightened. "Do you want a cookie?"
"That would be nice, but I have nothing to give you in return." the elderly man spoke in response.
Marinette smiled. "That's alright, just take one."
Fu took one of the cookies from the box, taking advantage of the fact that Marinette was distracted by the cookie-taking that she didn't notice the slight increase in weight in her purse with the earring box. Fu took a bite, closing her purse with a content hum. "Delicious." the man noted with appreciation.
Marinette smiled warmly. The school bell rang, and the girl's attention was immediately drawn back to the building. "Oh, no, I'm gonna be late!"
Fu watched with mild amusement as the new ladybug holder dashed into the school as fast as she could while simultaneously making sure she didn't drop any more cookies.
She and the new black cat holder would make a nice pair of partners.
"Nino, why don't you sit in the front row this year?" Mme Bustier's voice called out gently, with an undertone of being commanding. Nino's grades had slipped from being the impeccable marks they had been last year from beginning to end, and his parents wanted to make sure he wasn't goofing off in class. To be frank, Mme Bustier wanted to keep the boy exactly where she could keep an eye on him.
The teenage boy grumbled and shuffled to the front row, taking the farthest left-hand corner, incidentally the closest seat to the door.
As such, he had full view of when Marinette stumbled in, dropping at least a third of the (until now) still preserved cookies. Marinette groaned, her pigtails drooping. The girl took notice of the strange fact that Nino was sitting in the front row, shrugged, and sat in her normal seat for the past four years, her heavy pink backpack resting peacefully beside her.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." the school bully, Chloe Bourgeois, addressed the girl.
Marinette sighed, exasperated. Here we go again.
What the pink-clad girl never expected the bully to say to her was: "That's my seat."
Marinette faced her. "Chloe, this has always been my seat."
"Well, now it isn't." Chloe replied, trying to pry Marinette away from the seat she had dubbed her own, if not for the brunette already sitting there.
"You're welcome to a cookie, but I will not move. Find another spot." Marinette spoke, gesturing to the box half-filled with green pistachio-flavored cookies from her parents' shared bakery.
Chloe snarled. "Who are you to speak to me like that?"
"The rightful owner of this spot," Marinette deadpanned. "as I was here first. Get lost."
Chloe groaned. "RIDICULOUS, UTTERLY RIDICULOUS!"
A dark-skinned girl with obvious dyed hair approached Marinette, chuckling. "If you get any more defensive about that seat, you'd be Sheldon!"
Marinette was confused. "Sheldon who?"
"Sheldon Cooper!" The girl gasped in mock offense. "Are you telling me you've never seen the Big Bang Theory?"
Marinette tilted her head. "The big bang theory? Isn't that a scientific thing on how the universe was created? I don't really take Religion class anymore, or theoretical aspects of Science."
"OH MY GOD, YOU'VE NEVER SEEN THE BIG BANG THEORY!" the girl cried furiously. She stuck her hand out. "My name is Alya, and you need to get out more."
Marinette reached into her box and brought out the last two cookies. "Marinette." she spoke, offering her one of the two cookies.
Alya plopped down in the seat next to her, accepting the offered cookie. "Nice to meet you."
Both of them ate the cookies with a smile.
Felix Agreste opened the door to the fridge, opened a fresh carton of milk, and chugged the liquid inside, leaving absolutely none for his twin brother sitting at the table.
"Hey-"
"Hay is for horses." Felix interrupted. He belched, wiping his mouth. "You were saying?"
Adrien crossed his arms, childishly pouting. "Aren't you supposed to get a glass for that?"
"Too much work." Felix shrugged. "Plus, it's mine now." the blue-eyed blond took another swig from his - now personal - carton of milk.
Adrien sighed. "This is why I always have to eat my cornflakes dry?"
"ABSOLUTELY!" Felix hammed with a shit-eating grin.
Adrien groaned, rising to his feet. He would settle for orange juice, at least until Natalie bought some more milk. Second time would be the charm. He was going to try and enlist again at school.
Being alone was unbearable, and his brother was an asshole.
Kim furiously scribbled a note on a scrap of paper, then passed the note to the gentle (when not provoked) giant directly next to him across the aisle.
Ivan quickly read he note, then scrunched it up. Don't get in trouble on the first day, don't get in trouble on the first day, don't get in trouble on the first day...
Ivan closed his eyes in an attempt to regain his bearings.
When he looked back over at Kim, he saw that the hoodie-clad teen was passing him another note.
Against his better judgement, Ivan accepted and read the second note.
It was worse than the first.
Ivan repeated the familiar mantra in his head. It helped him calm down.
Don't get in trouble, don't get in trouble, don't get in trouble...
Ivan tossed the crunched-up note behind him.
Despite his better judgement, he accepted a third note from Kim.
'Maybe if you had the guts to tell her how you feel, maybe she would actually notice you.'
Now, for all intents and purposes, Kim was not a totally inherently mean person, just incredibly blunt, shortsighted (metaphorically, not physically), and annoying.
Ivan actually accepted this as good advice.
Until Kim passed him a fourth note.
'Doofus.'
Now, Ivan really didn't like getting in trouble. It really wasn't his fault. It truly wasn't, really!
Mme Bustier caught Kim handing Ivan the fifth note.
"Misters Bruel and LeChien, just what do you think you're doing?" the redhead cried furiously.
Like the paper had burned them, the two boys dropped the scrap Kim had written on again.
Mme Bustier came up to Ivan and Kim, picked up the note, and read the contents.
"'Just confess.' Which one of you two wrote this?" Bustier waved the scrap of paper around in the air.
"It was Kim." Max spoke. "Ivan never did anything but accept the notes."
Bustier growled. "Both of you go to the principal's office." Quieter, she spoke, "On the first day, no less, I'll probably be giving out tests and people'll be giving me tardy notes within a few hours."
Kim slung his bag over his shoulder, and Ivan quickly followed with the scrunched-up notes all clenched in one fist.
Adrien plucked his schoolbag off the floor where he had thrown it. While rearranging the contents of his school books, he found a small black jewelry box. Adrien immediately frowned. "Felix, did you stick this in my bag?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Felix called sleepily from his spot in his hammock across the room, then drifted back off to dreamland.
Adrien opened the box, confused. A green orb of light materialized in midair. When it faded, a strange black cat creature with green eyes and no pupils seemed to wake up.
It yawned. "Hey, got anything to eat in here?" It (maybe he?) spoke loudly.
"Hey, be quiet! You're gonna wake my brother!" Adrien hissed.
"Oh, cool! Can I meet him?" The strange talking creature exclaimed happily.
"Adrie~en!" Felix groaned, annoyed, from the other side of the room. "What's going o~on?"
"Nothing, Felix, go back to sleep!" Adrien attempted.
Too late. The creature flew (flew!) over to Felix and poked his nose. "BOOP!"
Felix opened his eyes, staring cross-eyed at the strange black cat on his face. "Adrien, when the hell did we get this bug-mouse-cat thing?"
Adrien was still trying to figure out what it was. "Are... You the genie in the bottle or something?"
The creature groaned in disgust. "Seriously? Why does everyone insist on comparing me to him?" it spat. "I'm much better than that bozo. Name's Plagg, nice to meet'cha." 'Plagg' held out his hand for each of the twins to shake one.
Adrien walked over to Plagg, took one of his hands, and shook it. Felix was still hesitant about it.
Felix snapped. "Could you get off of me?!"
"No, thanks! I like squishy people!" Plagg replied.
Felix immediately sat up, sending Plagg flying across the room.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Plagg demanded furiously.
"You were poking at my face, pokey." Felix replied, getting off of his hammock, pouting. The excess fabric from his pajama pants layered around his feet and the waistband fell several inches away from being dangerously short, quite typical for a pair three sixes too large (Felix liked being able to breathe in his clothes, except in public).
"Come off it, Felix." Adrien spoke.
"Anyways, where did you get a talking flying cat anyways, and why did you name it 'Plagg'?" Felix crossed his arms. "You're so weird."
Adrien turned the other way, looking back at the red and black box. "I don't know! I just opened a box and out came this weird... thing!"
"I'M NOT A THING!" Plagg protested vehemently. "I'm a KWAMI! K-W-A-M-I! KWAMI!"
"A what?" the two twins echoed in unison.
Plagg sighed. This was gonna take a while.
Ivan and Kim sat with their bags in front of Principal Damocles in his office, waiting for the impending punishment.
"Sorry about all those notes." Kim apologized. "Really, you should confess, though. I'm getting tired of watching you beat around the bush with her."
This only made this worse (completely unintentionally).
Don't get mad, Ivan, don't get mad, he's only trying to help, please don't get mad...
"Yeah, you're right." Ivan spoke. "I just don't know how to tell her."
Kim hummed. "I get that. I don't know how to tell my crush, either."
Ivan calmed considerably after this. At least Kim knew what he was going through. Knowing him, Kim probably just wanted to see how it was done so he could repeat the same thing on his crush, thinking it to be a success or a fail, depending on the circumstance. If it was a fail, though, Kim could do the opposite. That way, at least one of them would be happy.
Ivan patted Kim on the shoulder. "Thanks for talking with me. It helped."
"Yeah, man. You're welcome." Kim responded.
Hawkmoth sat in his room all alone, twiddling his thumbs and toes. He wanted to create a super-villain!
...
but no one was angry enough for him to feel the vibrations of their negative emotions.
It was so frustrating!
Hawkmoth continued repeatedly scanning the area of Paris waiting for Ladybug and Chat Noir, but before that, a supervillain to create. After all, Akumae were created specifically for the reason of obtaining the Miraculous gems.
Hawkmoth was frustrated when he came up with absolutely nothing each time. Everyone was so sickeningly happy.
He would try again later tonight.
Felix messed around with Adrien's smartphone in an attempt to mess up his brother's strictly organised storage while Plagg explained what it meant to be a Miraculous holder to Adrien. Felix was also listening in, in case there was the case that he needed to take the Miraculous gem from him and perform his duties for a while as Chat Noir.
Adrien eyed the strange ring. It was just big enough for his middle finger, too large or too small for any of the others. There was an abnormal space between the ring, splitting it down the middle where it was obviously supposed to face upwards. The slit was wavy, looking almost like a river in a child's drawing or painting. The color was silver. On the inside was engraved a black paw print, mostly faded, like it had been been there for decades upon decades upon decades without being retraced.
Adrien slid the ring onto his middle finger, appreciating the cool metal now surrounding his finger.
"A girl will probably get Tikki's miraculous. It's normally that way, since the ladybug miraculous is a pair of earrings, and mine normally goes to a man because our two miraculous gems represent balance." Plagg continued. "Don't be surprised if you meet a girl in a red black-spotted suit with a yo-yo sometime within the next few days. Fu might take longer with the jewel test than normal, it's happened. In fact, both holders are normally found within, at the minimum, a day."
"The most time? How long was the maximum amount of time?" Felix asked, still playing with Adrien's phone.
"Like, maybe six months? Fu doesn't really want to make mistakes, and neither did any of the previous guardians. They want us to have a strong bond, and a soul bond is normally the strongest, which is why we try to find soulmates instead of anything else that could cause complications."
"S-soulmates?!" Adrien stuttered.
"Ooh, when's the wedding?" Felix teased his brother, who turned cherry-red. Felix cackled.
"Yup." Plagg said, ignoring Felix. "Soul bonds are the strongest. It limits the chance that you two'll turn against one another."
This... actually made a lot of sense.
Plagg jolted. Tikki woke up.
"Well, it's never happened that fast before."
Marinette screeched, staring at Tikki. "IT'S A BUG! A... A MOUSE! A BUG-MOUSE?!"
Tikki dodged all of the objects Marinette threw in her direction.
"You're a rather strange person, aren't you, Marinette?"
''GAH! Bug-mouse talks!'' Marinette paused, holding her biology textbook above her head. "How do you know my name?"
"Because I'm a Kwami!" Tikki answered like it actually answered her question.
Instead, it made the tenth-grader even more confused.
Plagg shook his head. "It's alright. Well, kid, let's do this!"
"CLAWS OUT!"
Ladybug stood confused in the middle of her room, staring at her reflection.
Her previous loop earrings (one red, the other black) had changed shape to give circle-shaped buds.
Strangely, her hair had also grown. It was once at her shoulders, but now reached past her butt. He torso and back were covered in red spandex, giving the impression of a bathing suit, but underneath the second layer was black spandex suit with tiny, almost unnoticeable, red flecks. Her hair covered where two rips stuck out through her suit, revealing Tinkerbell-type fairy wings.
"Tikki, why do I look like a cross between Natasha Romanov and Sailor Moon in a bathing suit? Can I have my real clothes back?"
"Marinette? Did you get home from school okay?" Sabine Cheng's voice drifted through her trapdoor.
Marinette jumped. "Yeah! I'm just gonna take a nap, okay?"
"Okay, sweetheart! Sweet dreams!" Sabine answered.
Marinette climbed up to the roof and opened the trapdoor leading to her balcony, exiting through the small entrance. She held her yo-yo in her right hand questioningly. "Alright, so I just throw it like this?" She flicked her wrist and the cord extended, latching onto the smokestack of a chimney three streets away. "Alright, that worked. Now I just tug back on it?" Marinette's other hand pulled back on her end of the cord. The yo-yo clicked and sent the girl flying Spiderman-style.
Adrien, now clad in black leather, stared approvingly at his hands, which now had claw-like metal points on the fingertips.
Felix giggled behind him. "You look like a girl!"
Adrien huffed. "So do you! I mean, you wear skirts half the time!"
"THEY'RE KILTS!" Felix retorted. "AND I DON'T WEAR THEM IN PUBLIC!"
"Well, good for you, but I have to go crime-fighting in this getup now, so I'll see ya later. Leave the window unlocked!" Adrien promptly jumped out the window, and Felix promptly locked it.
Hawkmoth was even more annoyed than before.
WHY WASN'T ANYONE LOSING THEIR TEMPER!
*Dramatic growling*
Ivan and Kim left the principal's office (they had been kept in detention).
"See ya." Ivan waved goodbye to Kim.
"Later." Kim replied.
Adrien walked carefully on his magic extendable telephone-telescope-camera-tracking device metal staff. He didn't really want to fall off.
His plans were thwarted by a girl. His mind gave no indication to understand the situation, for she tackled him in midair.
Two meters from the ground, the girl's yo-yo string wrapped around them, while the yo-yo itself wrapped around the leather-clad teen's weird baton.
Adrien took a minute to assess his situation. He was currently pressed up against a red spandex-clad girl in midair.
Marinette smiled. "Hi! You must be my partner my kwami told me about. I am-" She tried to let them down, but both their heads conked together, then they fell onto the ground to add insult to injury. "-Madly clumsy. I am so, so clumsy."
"No sweat, Clumsy! I'm learning the ropes too, and once you get the hang of it, it's easy!" Adrien slowly climbed out of the yo-yo's tangled string and picked up his baton. "My name is Chat Noir. Yours?"
"Ladybug." The girl decided, detangling herself from her yo-yo string. "My name is Ladybug."
Chat wrinkled his nose. "You do know a ladybug technically isn't a bug, right? It's a beetle."
"Too bad, that's what I'm calling myself!"
"As you wish, Bugaboo." Chat Noir bowed at a seemingly perfect 90-degree angle.
Ladybug blushed.
It suddenly began raining. Deep storm clouds gathered over their heads and a deafening clap of thunder was heard.
Chat Noir growled. He wondered why. He really loved the rain.
Wait... Cats don't.
"DAMN FELINE INSTINCTS!" Chat Noir shouted at the sky.
Ladybug looked at him questioningly with one eyebrow raised. "We should go to our homes. I'll see you tomorrow."
Chat Noir hummed. "Alright. Bye, Ladybug."
Ladybug giggled as she took off into the rainstorm, entirely going the other way to get to her own house compared to the Agreste estate. The yo-yo was used once again.
Chat Noir turned and ran towards his father's mansion.
Ladybug ran towards her parents' bakery.
Marinette shoveled spoonfuls of soup into her mouth and set a plate of cookies down for Tikki to eat (she had requested them herself).
Green eyes kept bothering her. She couldn't get the strange pupils pattern out of her head. The pair of eyes were beautiful.
Marinette got out her sketchbook and drew a rough sketch of Chat Noir, from what she remembered about him. She took care with her drawing of her superhero partner, especially his eyes, the part about him she remembered most. She made little notes referring to his costume, such as 'black leather', 'golden bell', 'cross-stitch', 'double-layering', 'paw pads', 'warmth receptors', 'staff holster', 'hints of dark green'. Along the drawing of his tail, she wrote: 'pain receptor - connected to spinal cord?'.
On a separate page, she drew his eyes as specifically as she could, including accurate colors.
Tikki peeked from over Marinette's shoulder at the drawing and gasped. "I think that my child has a crush on Plagg's child!"
Blood rushed to Marinette's cheeks, sending heat blossoming over her cheeks. "Wh-what?"
Tikki hummed. "Couldn't help but notice how specific Chat Noir's eyes were drawn in your book, there."
If Marinette wasn't red before, she most certainly was now.
Chat Noir was outside, banging on the window to his room. His brother had locked the window, the jerk.
"Felix, come on, let me in!"
"You know that whenever you tell me to do something, I don't do it." Felix continued tapping on his joy-con and tongue sticking out of his mouth, attempting to get his video game character to survive for longer amount of time. "And remember, if you say I could give less of a shit about my twin brother being stuck outside and gripping the window frame, you're 'englishing' wrong."
"STOP IMITATING JACOB!" Chat bellowed from outside. "UNLOCK THE DAMNED WINDOW!"
Felix put on noise-cancelling earphones and continued playing his game, ignoring his brother's furious screeching.
Marinette continued altering her picture of Chat Noir's eyes, a beautiful acid-green, black slits down the middle of the green orbs, a lighter green outside of the pupils replacing the sclera's white. The mask surrounding his face got rid of many personal aspects of his features, so instead of the peach lightly colored skin on the rest of his face, she surrounded the drawing of the pair of eyes with a black mask.
Satisfied with her work, she yawned and slipped back under the covers to go to sleep-
-until she remembered she actually had homework to do.
Oh, no. Maybe Tikki would help?
Plagg curled up on Adrien's stomach to sleep peacefully. He'd always slept more peacefully on squishy people.
Felix snored from the other side of the room.
Adrien snorted and rolled over, sending Plagg softly falling on the side of the bed.
Plagg abruptly woke when an Akuma popped up, his internal senses rigged to go off when Nooroo's holder created one of their vessels.
Plagg groaned and went back to sleep. He would bother his holder later.
Tikki desperately tried to wake Marinette. "Marinette, Marinette, Marinette, get up, get up!" Tikki groaned, trying to wake her holder.
Marinette simply groaned and rolled over, her hoop earrings softly shifting on her ear. Still, Tikki tried to wake her holder. Finally, she succeeded. "Tikki, what's going o~on?"
"There's an Akuma on the loose! You need to protect Paris!"
Marinette groaned. "It's the middle of the morning! Can this wait?"
Tikki scowled. "Marinette..."
Marinette groaned. "Fine. Tikki, spots on!"
Adrien was woken up by an explosion, hand softly curled around his sleeping Kwami. Plagg was also woken up (Felix was up reading a book in the dead of night) with a groan. "Seriously, I just fell asleep!" Plagg groaned.
Felix set aside his reading glasses and put down his half-finished novel and walked over to the window, watching the light show of fire and sparks. It stood out in stark contrast to the dark night sky, in which steadily rose excess smoke.
"We need to stop Furnace Flare." Plagg spoke, turning to Adrien. "Transform yourself. We need to help."
Adrien turned to Felix. "Are you-"
"I'll be fine, idiot." Felix punched his brother's arm in a playful manner. "Those people out there need you more. Go join the improperly named Ladybug."
Adrien smiled. "Stay safe, Felix, and seriously, leave the window unlocked."
Felix sighed. "Get going already!"
"Claws out!"
Felix locked the window and went to sleep.
Celia Convex was a cook at the Grand Paris hotel, her specialty being cakes and pastries. She was fed up with making pastries uniquely for Chloe Bourgeois, and the mayor making her, the cook, pay for making the elegant pastries and cakes with his ingredients, ovens, and time that could be spent making other things for the customers. While the pay at the hotel was magnificent, it was not enough to balance the compensation her employer demanded after making black forest cherry cakes his daughter ordered without his knowledge, leaving Celia to pick at the leftover scraps of money
Finally, when Celia burned her hands making a tray of elegant pumpkin cookies (Pumpkins weren't even in season quite yet, and so cost very much money) for Chloe and her only friend, and her employer had caught her bandaging her hands after making the pumpkin cookies (the pumpkins apparently cost more than 200$ each, and Celia had made the cookies out of only one, but it would take her entire month's pay to get rid of her debt for the pumpkin cookies), and had been exceptionally mad, even compared to everything else she had done in the past for his daughter without his knowledge. Of course, Celia had told Andre Bourgeois who she was doing this all for, but Andre believed his daughter, and Chloe never lost her shapely figure as a result of constantly swimming in the hotel's pool.
Celia snapped and lost her temper towards her employer, and he yelled back. Everyone was so shocked and scared to see the head pastry chef descend into an all-out screaming match with the owner of the hotel, especially when Celia lost more control by the second.
Everyone had been confused when a black and purple butterfly flew through the swinging double-doors to the kitchen and landed on Celia's bandages, which made the bandages grow purple, and everything, to Celia, faded to black. All that was left was a man's voice in her head.
"Furnace Flare, my name is Hawkmoth. I will give you the elemental affinity for fire in return for the miraculous gems of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Are we in agreement?"
Celia smirked evilly, a glowing purple mask in the shape of a butterfly taunting her and scaring the others in the room. "Yes, Hawkmoth." Furnace Flare answered Hawkmoth, confusing everyone. However, purple smoke covered Flare's body. When if faded a few seconds later, Furnace Flare, a woman with fire for hair, a dress looking like lava, a visible pair of leggings looking like solid rock at the precipice of a volcano, flaming shoes, and completely purple eyes (no pupils visible) stood where Celia had been a few seconds ago.
The only thing relatively the same were the bandages, now patterned with swirly purple flames, completely wrapped around her hands as if she were a mummy from the wrist down.
Furnace Flare realized everyone previously in the kitchen had escaped, and going by the sounds of sirens outside, someone had called the police.
Furnace Flare smirked. Fire lit her hands and she walked out of the room, leaving smoking black craters in the place of her feet. "Let's let the flames begin."
Paris immediately became three times as warm as it was before when Furnace Flare appeared. Fire spread like a plague in the city, easily burning houses. Thankfully, no one was hurt, for a loud city-wide alert summoned by Ladybug's Lucky Charm woke everyone up, and everyone wisely stayed out of the line of fire (if you'll pardon the pun).
Ladybug and Chat Noir's suits were cooling their bodies and allowing them to dramatically walk through the flames to find the first Akuma victim.
When they finally found the akumatized woman, she was still burning everything in sight, making fire demons out of the civilians on the street. She most certainly had plenty to choose from.
Ladybug growled. "My hands have been burned hundreds of time, and I've never gotten this bitchy about it." The female commented.
Chat shrugged. "Burn scars hurt. I've been known to be an asshole for months when I get a broken bone."
Ladybug crossed her arms. "You still don't need to be akumatized for getting yourself burned."
"Maybe she'd been really careful in the past and did't burn herself on the stove before?" Chat took another step towards Furnace Flare.
Ladybug deflected the fire demons charging at them with a grunt, and tied all of the minions up with her yo-yo, carefully soaring through the flames to avoid burning herself.
Ladybug's earrings beeped in warning. "I only have four minutes left, Chat!"
Chat continued deflecting monsters with his baton. "Got it!"
Ladybug dived into the battlefield, yo-yo in hand, skillfully avoiding the fire demons. Judging on the few intact and not-burning things on her, she found one anomaly: her bandages. Completely intact, not burned or burning?
'That's the Akuma holder.' Tikki's voice echoed in her head. 'I realize this is a strange request, but will you do a Reversal with me?'
Time seemed to have stopped for the moment as Marinette considered Tikki's request. 'What's a reversal?'
'A reversal is when the Kwami takes control of the Holder's body.' Tikki responded. 'You will have absolutely no control of your actions during this time, but it will allow for my full power to surface. I have to warn you, though, that your physical appearance in real life would change, too. Your attitude would also be different, not to mention your physical strength.'
'Alright.' Marinette responded without hesitation.
Time restarted and Tikki surfaced. Her wings twitched. She suddenly stopped short, a ways away from Furnace Flare, when pink and black light enveloped her her body.
Plagg froze. Tikki was attempting a Reversal? So soon? Plagg shook his head. If anyone could complete a successful Reversal on the second transformation, it would be Tikki. Plagg and his Holder kept fighting the Akuma's lackeys.
In Ladybug's place stood Tikki. She became faster, only a pink blur, and quickly tore the bandages using her yo-yo. Tikki landed and used her yo-yo to capture the Akuma, bidding goodbye to the purified moth.
Tikki smiled and released her Miraculous Ladybug charm and watched as all of the damage was repaired. This done, Tikki approached Chat Noir, who had put away his baton. Tikki got too far up in his personal space for his liking, but relaxed when she simply opened his left eye further and peered into it. "I've always loved these eyes." Tikki said, smiling. Her thumb brushed across the bottom of his eyelid, making Chat close his eyelid so as to not let her hurt him.
Tikki hummed, and flapped her wings, then kissed the space between the cat ears replacing his human ones. "Good night, Chat. Tell Plagg good night, too." Tikki bade, flying off towards her Holder's bakery.
Chat stood, shocked, until the press began to hound him, then he left towards the mansion.
Only to find the window locked. Again.
"FELIX!"
Marinette, clad in Ladybug garb, stood frozen in a black abyss. Tikki finally released the hold on her, and Marinette detransformed. She wanted to see what Tikki meant by physical and psychic changes caused by the Reversal.
The first of many was her eyes. They had darkened a shade and turned slightly purple, a few shades away from being Tikki's royal blue eyes.
The second was her hair. Instead of her normal default blue hair, her hair was pitch-black, no highlights even when you held them against light and looking at it with a microscope.
Third, and most important, was her wings. They were still visible, completely solid. "Tikki, what am I supposed to do?"
Tikki stared at Marinette's wings. "Oh. I forgot that this might happen."
It took a few seconds to assimilate this. "You forgot? Are you insane? Everyone's gonna know I'm Ladybug!"
"Hey, I've only had to do a Reversal about fifty times, including this one! Miraculous holders are not normally up against one another, and each Reversal is different! It depends on the Holder's personality!" Tikki softened. "Having wings is normally something associated with Pollen's, Nooroo's and Duusu's Holders in the Balance Circle. Having wings on a Ladybug Reversal is very rare. Only five other of my Reversals have had wings."
Marinette calmed. She understood the tremendous compliment Tikki was giving her. Among all of the Ladybugs, she was one of the two Reversals Tikki had performed that had gotten wings. "Alright, I get what you're saying, but how am I going to hide them when I'm not Ladybug?"
Tikki sighed. "The last Reversal with wings always wore a white cloak, but that would stand out in today's time. I could ask Pollen what she does, because her Reversal's wings never show, but until then, you can hide them in your jacket, I think."
The sun was beginning to rise. School would start soon. Marinette sighed. "Look, Tikki, let's just get some sleep. I'm exhausted." The altered girl yawned.
Tikki agreed, and both immediately went to sleep. Marinette's alarm clock woke them up five minutes later. So much for Ladybug luck.
Marinette's wings twitched. She opened her eyes and shut off the alarm. She'd always hated that alarm.
Marinette groaned. She didn't want to be late to school, but the bed was so cozy and warm.
Tikki shared Marinette's point of view, but still nudged her out of bed by her ear, then helped her get ready for school. Finally, the little Kwami hid in her signature pink purse (which Marinette slung around her right shoulder). Marinette took the brown bag filled with a salad, dressing, some cheese, an apple, and a croissant meant for her lunch to school, and quickly tucked some honey cookies into the bag for Tikki (Drizzled with honey, not cooked)(Marinette might not know all that much about the small Kwami, but she most certainly knew that her diet mostly consisted of sweets)(honey is the most natural sweetener, and it's used in most of the Dupain-Cheng pastries, which is part of why their boulangerie+patisserie is so popular: their sweets are quite good for health), then rushed off to school, wings twitching relentlessly in her jacket. She was suddenly really glad she didn't take PE this year.
When she arrived in her class, it didn't take long for her eyes to lock onto her seat. Chloe was sitting in it, Sabrina right next to her (though, Sabrina was struggling to keep in her seat, as Alya was frantically trying to pull Sabrina off the bench). A blonde-haired boy was sitting right in front of Chloe, and another next to Nathaniel behind Ivan.
Finally, in Chloe's seat from the previous day, there was a small spot of gum on the seat.
Marinette growled and looked back up at Chloe with a dangerous look in her eyes. "Did you do this?"
Chloe shivered under the dangerous look, but crossed her arms and responded eloquently as ever: "Sabrina did it. I just helped."
Marinette picked the gum off her seat, then flicked it towards the back of the class.
Thankfully, by chance, it landed in Chloe's hair (Marinette loved this newfound Ladybug luck. It was the best). Chloe's shrieks of 'MY HAIR MY HAIR MY HAIR' were halted when Mme. Bustier entered the class for homeroom before having class with the ninth grade. No amount of money or the fact that her father was the mayor of Paris would stop her from getting detention if she were called to the Principal.
Seeing new students, Mme Bustier took role call, seeing two new names on her list in short succession, and sharing the same family name.
"Agreste, Adrien?" Mme Bustier called out.
Adrien's eyes narrowed. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. A frantic look towards his desk buddy made Nino take pity on the blond. "You're supposed to say 'present'."
Adrien understood immediately. He abruptly stood, raised his hand, and announced: "PRESENT!"
The class got a little chuckle out of the cute faults of someone who was always homeschooled.
"Agreste, Felix?"
A more restrained boy looking exactly like Adrien (Felix would always insist he was taller) save for the eyes (emerald eyes are Adrien's, but stormy blue are Felix's) simply put his feet up on the desk and crossed his arms. "I'm here." Felix announced, eyes sliding shut.
Mme Bustier didn't appreciate rudeness, but accepted the answer. "Bourgeois, Chloe?"
"Present." Chloe responded, still trying to get the wad of gum out of her hair.
"Bruel, Ivan?" the redhead teacher called out, expecting to hear the customary 'cupcake' (Ivan loved to joke around about his hairstyle, and the little bit of humor always brightened everyone's spirits (save Chloe, but Ivan knew she was an asshole, so he didn't much care about her)), but was instead met with silence. "Bruel, Ivan?" Mme Bustier repeated. Silence met her again. "Class, does anyone know where Ivan went?"
Mylène raised her hand. "Ivan found me earlier when I was leaving the bathroom, and he started yelling at me. I think he thought he was singing, but I can't be sure."
Kim suddenly started banging his head on his desk. "Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot," Kim chanted for each time his face connected with the hard wood of his desk. Max took a hold of his red hoodie to stop him from causing permanent psychological damage. Kim's forehead was glowing red, and he was still chanting "Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot...".
Stoneheart, an Akuma made to be Ivan's representation of negativity, burst through the door. "CUPCAKE!" Stoneheart roared, then began walking through the class. Marinette decided it would be funnier if Ivan wasn't a Golem Akuma. "Mylène?"
Ivan picked up his crush in his hand. "Let go of me!" Mylène begged. Resistance was futile, however. "Why are you doing this?"
"So we can be together, forever!" Ivan responded.
Chloe was terrified, hiding under 'her' desk, calling her father. "Daddy," she begged, "there's another monster!"
Marinette growled. She was glad to have put the gum in that little asshole's hair. No one called her friend a monster and got away with it.
However, she figured that since she was Ladybug, she needed to leave as soon as possible. Chloe deserved whatever Stoneheart gave her.
Marinette darted for the washrooms, but bumped into Adrien and Felix on the way. Marinette growled. Her wings begged to be released from captivity, and the brunette pushed past the twins to transform in the bathroom.
However, the bathroom wasn't empty, so Marinette left the bathroom and climbed up to the roof to ditch her jacket there and transform in the sky, out of anyone's view.
"SPOTS ON!"
Plagg still nibbled on his Camembert when Adrien let him take a breath of fresh air. "We need to go. Ladybug can't do this on her own."
"Wait till I finish my cheese."
Felix snatched the cheese away and squished it with his shoe. "You're done, now transform."
"Felix, that was rude." Adrien chided his brother.
"Maybe so, but at least you can transform now, and I can't possibly lock the window." Felix narrowed his eyes at the windows at the very top of the room.
Adrien ran a hand down his face. "CLAWS OUT!"
A few seconds later, fully transformed, Adrien turned to Felix. "Stay safe."
"I should be the one saying that to you." Felix crossed his arms.
Adrien smiled. His brother was wishing him good luck and telling him to stay safe. He knew his twin like no one else; this was Felix being affectionate.
Adrien, now Chat Noir, vaulted out of a window just big enough to let him through.
Felix hated not being able to lock it.
Chloe whined and complained all the way to the Eiffel tower, unfortunately getting in Alya's video. She desperately wanted footage for her new blog called Miraculous Gems. There were many different folders, one on Akuma victims and a complete profile on them, one for Fanfiction on the miraculous holders (mostly involving shipping between Ladybug and Chat Noir) and Akuma victims and their own civilian forms, and individual folders on Ladybug and Chat Noir. Not much was known about the Gem holders themselves yet, however. It basically included their genders, superhero names, and special power (Cataclysm, Lucky Charm). It also included a picture of each of them, and their abnormal weapons (a yo-yo and a baton, really?).
Another folder included videos Alya had taken of Akuma attacks (so far there was only one, but she had managed to get security footage from Furnace Flare at the Bourgeois hotel and other places Flare had managed to reach before being purified by the Reversal, which was also on the blog.
Another folder was reserved for fan art (Nathaniel had promised to add something to that folder as soon as the drawing was finished). Another folder included a private chat room.
It had taken half the night to figure out the coding for a blog as complicated as that.
Chloe was really started to get on her nerves. However, Alya would not stop the video for anything. Ladybug and Chat Noir would show up soon, for sure. That was worth a few complaints from the spoiled brat.
Sure enough, Ladybug flew over Stoneheart and blocked his way. Chat Noir vaulted over Stoneheart using his baton, shoving Cataclysm into the stony street. Deep cracks spread across the street, and Ladybug lit her hands with lightning-like strange liquid, and sent it into the street's cracks. The white liquid spread across all of the cataclysm'ed cracks in the street, and slowly repaired it, allowing Alya significant time for escaping to safety. Mylène and Chloe, however, were still held by the Akuma, who stood on indented white threads knitted together by lightning and a skilled seamstress.
"Woo-hoo!" Alya cheered. "Go, LB and CN!"
Ladybug growled, flying around Stoneheart to distract him from Alya. "Keep quiet, you idiot! You're drawing attention to yourself!"
Chat's baton tripped the Golem Akuma up, sending him crashing to the ground, stretching the seams. Ladybug luck kept them together. Ladybug's yo-yo wrapped around Chat's ankles as the stitches slowly buckled.
Stoneheart was annoyed. He needed to deliver his message. He tossed Ladybug and Chat Noir aside and continued on his way to the Eiffel tower.
Ladybug secured her hold on Chat (taking a second to adjust to Chat's added weight, and the fact that he was pressed flush against her body) and flew after Stoneheart.
Chat was set down on the ground when Plagg's voice whispered in his head. 'You need enhanced strength, and I'm more experience in these matters. Do a Reversal with me.'
The entire world faded to black, and he was suddenly in a bubble all on his own. He was no longer Chat Noir, but Adrien Agreste, talking to his Kwami. Plagg wasn't visible, but his presence was there, and it was warm and comforting. It was like being completely wrapped in a hug. Adrien considered Plagg's request. 'Not that I don't trust you,' Adrien was hesitant to say anything that might offend the Kwami, 'What is a Reversal?'
Ladybug watched as Chat's body covered with black smoke and wondered why that was happening. According to the security footage from the kitchens of Hotel Bourgeois, this is what Celia looked like when she was akumatized. A black sphere encompassed Chat's body, but Chat's form was clearly visible, and his ring was glowing neon green.
'This is Plagg's Reversal. Plagg and his Holder will switch forms, just like you and I did.' Tikki explained when Ladybug began panicking about Chat's health and whether she was going to have to fight her new partner. 'It'll be completely safe, and while Chat might suffer some changes in behavior and appearance, not much else will happen to him.'
Ladybug sighed, relieved. 'Alright. I need to focus on Stoneheart.'
Plagg emerged from the black sphere. Chat's skin darkened and his hair grew pitch-black, not to mention his eyes grew darker. Chat's tail was a true cat tail, not an addition to his belt, and his ears were no longer leather.
'Marinette. Please invoke a Reversal with me.' Tikki pleaded.
A pink ball of light surrounded Marinette. Without hesitation, Marinette responded immediately. 'I will invoke a Reversal, but I really need to learn how to do this on my own.'
'I'll offer a Reversal if you can't handle an Akuma. All you need to do is ask me. My true power is still restrained. You can't handle it, otherwise your additions in civilian form would be far too difficult to hide.'
'Alright.'
Marinette flew into the air, pink energy swirling around and around, until finally Marinette's wings closed. She was high enough that she could fall without anyone knowing her true identity. "REVERSAL!"
Tikki and Plagg stood at attention in front of the collection of dark butterflies, not at all surprised by the way Hawkmoth was speaking. Tikki took one step forwards, and Plagg followed his partner, hand clasped around hers. The two opposites' faces grew dark. "Are you Nooroo's Child?" they asked in unison.
Hawkmoth growled. "I am Holder to the Moth." he responded to their question.
Tikki shook her head, scoffing. "This one knows you are the Holder. This is common knowledge."
"The Holding of Nooroo was not these two's question. These two's question was: 'Are you Nooroo's Child?'" Plagg continued.
Hawkmoth growled. "The question is not relevant. Gi-"
"The question is relevant to these two. Answer, lest ye feel our wrath and eventually confiscate your gem."
The bystanders were shocked to see Tikki and Plagg address Hawkmoth in such a rude manner. However, considering he wanted to take them and make a wish, the question was not only relevant, but it was essential. If Hawkmoth was Nooroo's child, then Hawkmoth was simply trying to get their attention and make a good wish that Tikki could bless with luck. However, if Hawkmoth was only Nooroo's Holder, his intentions were not honorable, and Hawkmoth should not be allowed to make the wish upon their two gems in the first place.
"This Hawkmoth is not Nooroo's Child."
Oh, no. Nooroo didn't approve. This was a dishonorable man, giving Nooroo's miraculous a bad name and a bad reputation.
Instantly, Tikki and Plagg grew colder. Nooroo was being taken advantage of. Hawkmoth was dishonorable.
The last time this had happened, it had taken centuries of consoling before Nooroo felt comfortable with another Holder without another Kwami present. Now he had another abusive Holder? Just his luck. Maybe Plagg was rubbing off on him.
Tikki's hand slipped out of Plagg's. The boy planted a kiss on the girl's cheek before she slowly approached Hawkmoth. Plagg was fully aware of Tikki's intentions.
"This Holder is my Child. My gem will not leave her possession, even if it is contrary to her wishes." Tikki spoke. "Plagg's is the same. Our Holders are ours because we're their imprints. If Nooroo did not imprint on you, you will never be his Child, nor be able to effect a Reversal, or be allowed to access your true limits. I am now locking the gem to my Holder." Blood-red magic filled the air, focusing on Tikki's ears where her gems lay still. Her earrings lost the black spots. Instead, they became lock symbols, which slowly faded into spots.
Plagg did the same with his gem. The ring was locked on his finger. "Hawkmoth, you are a disgrace to our Holders and to all of Nooroo's previous Children. Fighting Nooroo's Fairies is not something I particularly enjoy doing, but Akuma are fair game. We will annihilate the butterflies. Be prepared. In the maximum of one year, we will discover your identity and you will relinquish your gem. I pray Tikki's luck will kick in and we won't have to wait before you are stripped of your gem." Plagg snarled viciously.
"During that year, I shall release each day one Akuma." Hawkmoth announced. "If I obtain your Miraculous gems during that time, they will be mine."
Tikki had enough of his incessant rambling. She flew up to confront Hawkmoth face-to-face. "You are a fool, and a disgrace. Akumatized victims will be cleansed. They will never be yours to do with as you please. When they're lost, they are our Lost, and our children. Unlike butterflies, we take care of our Kin. Nooroo is our Kin, and we will reclaim him." Tikki swung her yo-yo around. "You will be purified now."
Plagg growled. "Butterflies are so troublesome."
The giant black head in the sky faded into nothing as Tikki captured the final Akuma forming the head. "Allow me to make this promise on behalf of our Holders." Tikki spoke to the public. "My Holder and my partner's Holder will do everything in our combined power to protect this city. To other Holder Children, I implore you to find your way here and help us. Together, us thirty-six can reduce this Holder to ashes and retrieve Nooroo. I plead other Holder Children to join us two Holder Children and retrieve Nooroo to help this public."
Plagg scoffed from his place on the ground and used his baton to join his partner on the ledge. "Biinky, I don't want to see you. Stay away from Paris."
Tikki elbowed him in the stomach. "He doesn't mean that."
Stoneheart's bright purple butterfly mask came to life on his face once more. "Ladybug and Chat Noir want to take your beloved away from you. Defeat them and bring to be their Miraculous gems."
"Okay, Hawkmoth." Stoneheart responded.
Tikki and Plagg's attention was turned back towards Stoneheart. "Let's go."
"Hmm."
Like a perfectly oiled machine, Tikki and Plagg worked together to take Stoneheart's Akuma object, break it, and purify the Akuma inside.
This occurred in under twenty minutes.
Tikki high-five'd Plagg. "Later!"
Neither of them flew away from each other. Instead, both of them settled higher on the Eiffel tower and enjoyed each other's presence and talking late into the night. When Tikki's gem finally beeped in warning to her transforming back into Ladybug instead of Tikki, the girl sighed. She turned to Plagg and kissed him. Plagg reciprocated. They hesitantly broke apart. Plagg buried his face into Tikki's neck. "I love you."
"I love you too, Chaton." Tikki responded.
Tikki slowly pulled away from her kitten (Plagg whined, making it more difficult for Tikki as she left). Tikki's wings flared. "I'll see you tomorrow, Plagg."
"A day too long." Plagg complained. Still, he smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Tikki hummed before flying off towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery.
Plagg went in the opposite direction, back to the Agreste mansion.
Plagg noncommittally broke one of the window panes when he found all of the windows were locked.
The Kwami wanted sleep, so he detransformed into Adrien straight away and deliberately passed out on Felix.
It was the best night of sleep he'd gotten in centuries.
Tikki was rudely woken up by an alarm clock yelling in her ear: 'GO-TO-SCHOOL-GO-TO-SCHOOL-GO-TO-SCHOOL'. Thankfully, her Holder had also woken up, gotten out of bed (not without complaining), gotten dressed, tied her hair into a bun, put her phone in Tikki's purse and gently put Tikki into her purse, careful that the small Kwami wouldn't be disturbed by the cool metal surface.
Marinette picked up her bookbag and hurried out the door, not without picking up some (forget some, it was enough to feed an army) cookies leftover from last week to yesterday.
Class occurred without disturbance, though she did most certainly notice the blond boy staring at her at random intervals all through the school day, and she took probably more satisfaction than she should have that Chloe's hair was cut halfway shorter than it was a few days ago.
What the highlight of her day was, though, was this: Chloe was being her usual rotten self and bullying Marinette because she got gum in her hair. Marinette simply calmly got to her feet and punched the brat in the face!
Following this, just as calmly as she had stood up, she'd left the cafeteria to check on Tikki. Her cookie supply was halfway gone, but she did snarkily remark that she had warned Marinette that the Reversal caused major physical and psychological changes.
No one noticed Adrien Agreste staring at the door Marinette had left through. No one had ever punched Chloe before, mostly out of fear (her father was the mayor, after all). Still, even Adrien, of all people, realized Chloe was a major brat. She'd deserved everything Marinette dished out, including stealing her spot.
Her eyes were entrancing, her hair perfect, her posture a bit slouchy. Her mannerisms were not without faults, but she was mostly she was rude to people who deserved it and who were also rude to her.
Mostly Chloe, from what he gathered. Marinette didn't even seem to mind that he was a famous model, he was greeted into the class by the girl like anyone else from a semi-normal family (AKA, not his father).
Adrien continued to incessantly think about the girl until, at a break between classes when Plagg was switched to Felix's bag and Adrien incessantly talked about Marinette, Plagg rolled his eyes in unison with Felix. "Lovebirds."
Felix promptly shoved his books into his bag and walked off to his next class.
Adrien couldn't get that comment out of his head. Did he like Marinette?
No, of course not.
Alya relayed a joke to Marinette she had read off the internet somewhere, and Marinette chuckled. It sounded like little bells chiming.
Oh. Yeah, he had a crush on her. Plagg was totally right. Adrien didn't know why he even tried pretending he didn't have a crush on her.