Adrien narrowed his eyes as he walked towards Marinette who was sitting by herself innocently. Did his older brother really need to scare her the way he did? No. She would one day turn like them. And they would wait an eternity for this cure to find them and cure them all.
"Marinette."
She turned around to see him right behind her. The girl was quite surprised to see that he had walked because he honestly looked like he was panting. She covered her neck where her friend had bit her. Thankfully she didn't faint again or something. "Hey, Adrien."
He managed to get out of class with the excuse that he needed to go to the restroom, when he was really going to see her. "I thought we said to stay put. Not be out here all alone in the dark." he sat next to her.
She didn't let her hand drop from her neck. "I decided to explore this place." she replied.
His eyes narrowed again when he noticed one of her hands on her neck. "What are you hiding?" he got closer.
This caused her to fall back and have her hand fall off her neck. The unfamiliar bite marks sort of angered him, yet he was surprised after all of them biting her, she hadn't turned yet. It didn't make any sense.
He got on top of her, only to be kneed in a place he thought he protected so well.
"I'm not letting you take my blood, Agreste." she got up. Then realized the big mistake she made.
He didn't let the pain down there affect him too much.
She could see pure rage boiling up in his eyes. Okay, this is getting scary.. She backed up until her back hit a wall. "I-I'm sorry.."
He laughed. "Sorry? Mm. I'll have to punish you tonight for that. Or now." he slammed one of his hands against the wall, startling her. "You're kind of cute when you're frightened, Marinette.." he licked her earlobe, getting a soft whimper out of her.
She tried slipping away from him. "He was just a friend I hadn't seen in a long time."
He softened his look. "Is that all? Then why did you let him take blood from you? Hasn't it been clear that you belong to the Agreste brothers. Or me, for that matter?"
She couldn't help, but look into his softened eyes. "I can help you.." she tried to say.
But all she heard was a rough tear off of her sleeve and him biting into her like an apple.
"A-a-adrien.." she clutched his shoulder, whimpering once more. Was everyone going to do this to her everyday? She would faint and wake up forever. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping that it would end just sooner.
"This is innapropriote behavior at school, Adrien."
Adrien drew himself off of her. "You're such a debbie-downer." he held Marinette pretectively away from his brother.
"Making up excuses to go to the bathroom to have a little snack? This is why I didn't want her to come alone. Father will be waiting for us when we get him and explain to us why she is even here with us."
The blond narrowed his eyes. "You never let me have any fun."
"I'm keeping you in line so father doesn't make you cry again."
Adrien let go of the girl. "I haven't cried since our mother died."
"Don't bring up our mother. She has nothing to do with this conversation. If you still want to live in the mansion, then act like the Agreste you are."
He growled.
"Let's not start this again."
"You started it first!"
Felix chuckled. "You're so ignorant, Adrien. Let's get back to class and you can try to argue with me some more. We both know the if you try arguing with me, I'll win."
Adrien wanted to punch his own brother, but knew he had to restrain himself. They were brothers after all. And deep down, he just wanted his family to be normal again. He waved at Marinette. "Don't get into any trouble, Marinette." he gave her a genuine smile and walked back to class.
Felix gave a look to Marinette and followed Adrien from behind.
As soon as both of them were gone, Marinette sat back down on the bench. She couldn't help, but look at the bite mark Adrien left on her shoulder. Then she gazed down at the stone grounds beneath her feet. "You can come out now.."
The red creature flew out of Marinette's bag and the first thing she saw was the bite mark the blunette had on her shoulder. Her big blue eyes widened. "It'll be alright, Marinette. Before me, you were given that golden gift to not be infected by any sorts of dark magic."
She held her hands out.
The creature happily sat on her hands. "Unfortunetly, the cure I have can only be used once every full moon. The other Miraculous have been corrupted."
She nodded her head, trying to understand how she could be of help.
"You are Ladybug. You'll purify butterflies and feathers and offer your blood as a soothing release to let anyone affected be healed. Together, we can heal, but alone, our power doesn't work. Only on the night of full moons is when you can transform. And I'll be giving you advice on anything you might have questions on."
"When is the next full moon?" she asked.
"Tomorrow night." she replied.
"You can't be serious.."
"I am. Should I explain your powers?"
"P-powers? Uhm, I don't think I'm cut out for this at all."
"I know you are!" the creature flew up and placed a kiss on Marinette's nose. "My name is Tikki."
She nodded. "Nice to meet you Tikki." she looked away for a moment and looked back into the eyes of the creature. "I have all day. So, tell me all about these super powers."
"Be cautious not to say 'Spots on' or anything close to that. It could trigger you to transform. And to de-transform, you want to say 'Tikki, spots off' or just 'spots off'.
"And you said as Ladybug I have to purify whatcha macallits?"
"Akumas, which are corrupted butterflies which are black with white dots and feathers that are a dark blue."
"How will I know the difference?"
Tikki sat on Marinette's open hands again. "It'll just feel right. You'll be in disguise so no one recognizes you. Be sure to wear these earrings at all times! If they fall into the wrong hands, chaos could happen!"
"I understand."
"Thank you Marinette. I must warn you that if you activate your special power, you will only have minutes to transform back to yourself. I can't hold transformations for long."
This was a lot to take in. So she took a deep breath.
"This power is called 'Lucky Charm'. It never fails." Tikki flew back into her bag.
Marinette sighed softly. "I won't let you down, Tikki." she saw how there was sunlight at this school where other students seemed un-bothered by it. Didn't ladybugs need sunlight to survive?
"Why did you run, Marinette?" the Evilistrator asked as he went to sit next to the ready frightened girl.
"The bites just hurt." she admitted.
He slowly wrapped his arms around her small body. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could be regular Nathanial and we wouldn't be in this crazy mess."
"I wish so too." she muttered. She set her chin on his shoulder. Now she had to wonder where this akuma was. In everyone she met. "We could sketch together."
He had stopped embracing her and pulled out his digital device and a pen that could draw on it. "Want to see something cool?"
"Sure."
He drew a bright full moon, which appeared right in front of them. "I have a hard time drawing in the dark."
"Who wouldn't have a hard time?"
"You're funny, Marinette." he gently clutched her hand with his. "Do you know what time it is?"
She checked her phone. "10:17 am."
"Ha. It's still my birthday."
She gasped. "It's your birthday?! I didn't plan anything for you! I..I.."
He laughed. "Your company is enough for me."
"Happy birthday, Evilistrator."
"Thank you. It's the best one yet because you're here." he blushed.
And she just smiled at him.
