Edge of the Circle

by

Agent X

The mysterious supporter of pairs!

A/N: Way back in origins, Ladybug made a promise that they would find and stop Papillon. Well, the haven't really gotten anywhere on that front. I think what's more egregious than that is that they don't even seem to be looking. Our heroes show up, stop akuma, and leave. There's no extra-credit hours being put in here. I kinda always wondered how they felt about that.

Alya was seated at a little two-person table placed right beside the broad windows, the light catching at the red tones in her hair. She wasn't looking at the setting sun, though. She was lounging back in her seat, fingers tapping away at the phone in her hands. A steaming mug of coffee lay untouched before her.

Marinette made her way over. She dropped her backpack beside the chair and placed her hot chocolate on the table, before flopping down with a relieved groan. Alya snorted as she put her phone away.

"Girl, you sound like my grandma."

"I've met your grandma," Marinette returned from her boneless sprawl. "That's a compliment."

Alya stirred her drink. "She is pretty amazing. No one else is as simultaneously endearing and terrifying as Granny."

"What? She's not terrifying."

"Oh, she is," Alya raised an eyebrow. "But only to her enemies."

This time it was Marinette's turn to snort. She lifted her head enough to smile at her friend before deciding it was too much effort and flopping back.

There was a sympathetic hum from across the table. "Bad day?"

At the concern in her tone, Marinette attempted to rearrange herself like a somewhat functional human being. She took a sip from her drink, hoping it would help. "Not really. Lots of homework, mostly."

"No surprise there." Alya was shaking her head. "That school is crazy. And you were barely keeping up in collége. I don't know how you manage to do it but girl, you amaze me."

"Thanks." It didn't matter how long they'd been friends, Alya's praise always made Marinette feel a little bashful. "It's nice to know I have a fan."

"That's me, founding member of the Marinette fan club," the taller girl grinned, "And speaking of fan clubs, aren't you going to ask how I am?"

"I already know how you are," Marinette pulled out her phone. " 'Girl, I can't wait to see you', 'Mari, I'm dying', 'You'll never believe—"

Alya slammed her hands down on the table. "Well, put that away, because now you have the real thing," she exclaimed, "And guess what! I'm going to be on TV! I've had an offer for a live interview on Noir sur Blanc next week."

"An interview? What?" Marinette blinked. "Why?"

"They're doing a piece on Ladybug and they asked me to come as an expert," she leaned in, "An expert, Mari."

Ladybug. Of course.

With skill born of practice, Marinette pushed down the natural unease that blossomed whenever her friend's obsession with the polka-dotted heroine came up. She smiled almost reflexively.

"Alya, that's great!"

"It's more then great, girl! This is the final step to making it serious. It's been a long time coming. With this kind of publicity I'll be able to get more funding for the blog, hopefully some new equipment, some upgrades—"

The excited girl cut herself off, turning her focus back to her friend. "I haven't told anyone else yet. I wanted you to be the first to know."

"Thanks," Marinette said carefully, "but isn't it a bit sudden?"

Alya looked sheepish. "Well, they contacted me about a week ago. One of their previous guests couldn't make it, but they said they were doing a report on Ladybug and wanted my extensive experience."

"Why do they even care about Ladybug?"

"Why wouldn't they care? Ladybug and Chat Noir are heroes. Who wouldn't want to celebrate that?"

"Celebrate what?" Marinette frowned, "Paris is pretty much the same as when they started."

Alya looked at her like she'd just kicked a puppy and laughed afterwards.

"I just mean," Marinette almost stumbled under the disapproving gaze, "you know, Papillon is still around and—"

Alya took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay. Mari, you know I love you and I know you've never really been a fan of Ladybug or superheroes, but you are not giving them enough credit. Ladybug and Chat protect the entire city from a madman who never shows his face. We would all be royally screwed without them."

Marinette held her tongue. Alya was right: without the power to dispel akuma, Paris would be in a lot worse condition than it was now. Besides, there was no arguing with Alya when she got onto a topic she was passionate about.

"Anyway," the star-to-be continued, "part of the reason I'm so excited is because I'm allowed to bring one person with me to the studio. Despite your traitorous leanings, I want you to come along."

"O-of course!" Marinette smiled at her friend.

"No need to look so nervous. It's not like you're the one being broadcast globally."

"Globally?!"

"Well, streamed, really," Alya clarified.

She wasn't really sure how she felt about her story being shown to the wider world. Come to think of it, it was something she should probably have considered before now.

"But hey, it's Friday, girl. Loosen up! Get excited."

"Sure," Marinette said, pushing away her discomfort, "I am super excited for my bakery shift tomorrow."

"You can put that sarcasm away," Alya grinned as she leaned in, "Because I have something that will definitely excite. You will not believe what happened with Kim and Alix this week."

Marinette took a sip of her no-longer-hot chocolate and let the rhythm of her friend's chatter block out everything else.

It was dark in Marinette's room but a soft blue light was washing over her face. She sat up in bed, arms hugging her legs to ward off the cold as she peered over her knees at her phone.

"It's changed," said Tikki from her place on Marinette's shoulder.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd looked at the blog. Despite the fact that her best friend was the creator, Marinette had never been able to play the part of an avid Ladyblogger. She already experienced all the fights firsthand, felt odd looking at the pictures, and she had no need to theorise on who she was. Thankfully, Alya had never resented Marinette's lack of interest in her hobby.

She still felt guilty, though. Alya often complained about the many issues she dealt with as her project expanded. Marinette listened, but she was never comfortable contributing to the discussions or theorising. It felt too much like lying.

"Here it is!"

Tikki had scrolled down to find an article announcing the upcoming interview. The timestamp on it was listed at exactly one minute after she and Alya had parted ways earlier. True to her word, she'd waited to tell Marinette first. She must have been sitting on the already written article all evening. Marinette couldn't help but smile at her friend's dedication.

She smothered a yawn, "What do you think, Tikki?"

"There's no danger in going," the little kwami smiled, "It could be interesting!"

Marinette nodded, absently scrolling down further. There were thousands of posts on the site. Hundreds of people sitting at their computers, thinking, writing, talking about her. She didn't really want to consider that either.

The page went on and on: praise, speculation and criticism all blurring into one giant stream of thought.

A tiny paw touched her hand. Tikki looked up to her with her large blue eyes. "You've done a lot for them, you know."

A sheet of guilt washed over Marinette as she recalled what she'd said earlier that evening. Marinette cupped Tikki in one hand, bringing her closer.

"We've done a lot," she agreed, "We have."

The little kwami didn't respond. She watched Marinette, seemingly searching for something. She must have found it because after a moment she flitted off, bouncing onto a nearby pillow.

Marinette turned back to look at the post on which she'd stopped.

'Latest akuma defeat sets new record!'

She stared at the title, then clicked off the phone and waited for sleep.

A/N: So I am not really happy with this chapter. It's a pretty clumsy attempt at what I was trying to do but I have to move on. This will probably be heavily edited later.

Also, FYI, Granny Cesaire is the shit. She is one of those cool 'free-spirit' Grannies who basically gives no fucks. People think it's because she's old, but she's always been this way. She encourages Alya in all her shenanigans and plots. Totally covers for her when she sneaks out. She was a spy in the war so her idea of 'dangerous behaviour' does not really match up to that of other adults. Granny is also stubborn as hell, so don't make her cross.