This is a rewrite of the original story xD I decided I would have more fun adding the magical aspect of miraculous instead of a realistic setting because there's nothing realistic about marinette being able to fight with a yo-yo xD

Anyway the usual warnings:

This story will contain sensitive themes in later arcs so regardless of it being tame for now it will get dark real fast.

For now the next chapters will be like the original but a few key differences.

…

The city of Paris was a wonder truthfully- to think that he could easily just walk in here and walk right out without any police intervention because they're so incompetent makes this ever so sweet. Sure he had to beat a couple of lookout guards up but who cares- he can get all the money that's being stored and take his time with it- how great!

Picking up the bags full of money and loading them onto his truck is troublesome but it's a small price to pay for being too good at his job- the boss will love him and surely compensate him as well. Papillon was a man of business so surely he would-

Woosh

Huh?

He looked around wondering what was the mysterious air like sound he heard from a distance- almost as if someone was walking around. The feeling of being watched seem ever so present- he should just hurry up and-

The sharp pain of something hitting him from the side caused him to drop the bags of money he had on him. "Shit!" He yelled out as he held onto the truck with an arm but he was already on the ground so what was the point?

"You might want to rethink your life decisions." A woman dressed in red, gold and black appeared from the shadows wearing a confident smile.

What was this? A wanna be a vigilante?

From the corner of his eye, he spotted the gun that had slipped out of his pocket. If he could just… grab it.

Police sirens distracted the weirdo enough for her to look away. It gave him the advantage he needed to finally grab hold of it. It only had one bullet but he would make it count.

"Now just stay still and-"

BANG

"Shit!"

He got up and immediately began to run the other direction away from the freak in red clothing. He unfortunately missed and it only grazed her arm but it was enough for him to run away.

Soon he couldn't hear anything, no police sirens, no weird air kind of sounds, nothing. He chuckled to himself as he was sure he had got away scot-free from the damn police and that wannabe vigilant.

It was weird though- how was she able to even get near him without-

"Looking for me?" He was immediately kicked in the face and thrown to the ground in pain while hearing those fucking police sirens in the distance.

…

Rising From The Shadows

Arc 1: Ladybug Origins

Chapter 1: A Fateful Encounter With A Certain Cat

…

Good morning Paris! Don't be bemused it's just the news!

Today the Papillon gang member caught last night by infamous night hero Ryuko was found dead in his jail cell, reports say it was to keep him from talking.

In other news, reports have come out about a new hero in the streets by the name of Chat Noir, is he a friend or a foe?

To be honest Marinette didn't care much for the news. As an 18-year-old finally living alone in her own apartment things couldn't get any better for her. Not that she hated her parents no- in fact, she had to explain to them why she was moving out and so a fight began because they loved her too much and fear something would happen. In order for them to not worry she decided to move to a nearby apartment building. This pleased them and thus she was able to have her own place.

Don't be wrong though as they did have perfectly reasonable reasons to not want to let their only daughter live alone in such a dangerous city. The Papillon clan had some time ago begun to make this city theirs. It caused a huge war between them and the Tsurugi clan and so many innocents died in the process. Nobody knows how or why they reached an agreement and decided to cease fire and just split the city. One half is for the Papillon clan while the other belongs to the Tsurugi clan.

What does the mayor do?

Nothing, much to the dismay of Chloe Bourgeois who gained a heart after a series of tragic events nobody knows the full story of. Marinette thinks it had to do with Sabrina but she'll never know since Chloe always breaks down when asked.

Chloe had spent a whole year going around apologizing to everyone on her knees and swore to never be a bad person again. Marinette was one of the first people she apologized to- sure Chloe was like a bully but she wasn't terrible now that she looked back on it. At most she made people feel bad but with the horrible management this city had it was the least of anyone's problems.

Chloe had grown up to constantly advocate for the safety of her people but her father Andre Bourgeois would just back down. It was clear he was receiving money from both the Papillon clan and the Tsurugi clan.

Marinette ended up feeling bad for Chloe and decided to get close to her. In the end, Marinette, Alya, and Nino befriended her and to this day remains as one of their best friends.

Knock knock

"Marinette we're here!" Marinette opened the door and was greeted by Alya, Nino, and Chloe who had come to visit her in her new apartment. She hugged them each welcoming them in.

"Welcome to this hell hole." She joked- they all began to laugh and settle down their things. Alya had brought some of the extra kitchenware she had in her house that she didn't use.

It had been a year since Alya moved in with Nino. They had been dating since they were teenagers and are still going strong. Love was real and they proved it.

Marinette and Chloe were the same, single as a rock but happy nonetheless although Chloe wished to find her prince charming one day, for now, it is what it is.

"Marinette you really need to unpack your things." Chloe picked up one of the boxes and opened up to put away Marinette's clothes in her closet.

"Yes mom," Marinette said sarcastically

Chloe rolled her eyes as the three teens laughed. "Yeah real funny."

They spent the day cleaning and unpacking Marinette's things so she can settle down and not worry about it later. As they took a break and sat on the couch they turned on the T.V.

When will the mayor stop this massacre! Innocent people die every day and the government does NOTHING!

Chloe looked away from the huge protest that was being shown on T.V. It was from yesterday and that had ended with many people dead or hospitalized.

"Can we change the channel?" Chloe's voice sounded small and weak. Nobody had to ask to know why- once again she had to see the death of many innocent people all because they wanted peace. And all because her father refused to stand up for what was right.

The channel was changed but it remained the same- more news except for this time it was rather peculiar.

Mysterious sightings from a new hero named Chat Noir.

"More heroes?" Alya asked out loud. "I guess that's a good thing, did you guys hear about what happened to Ryuko? She was shot the other day!"

"She was shot?" Marinette asked surprised. She had heard about that hero- she was mostly around the Tsurugi territory but slowly made her way towards the Papillon territory where Marinette and her friends lived. Nobody knows who she is or why she was doing all of this but so far she had been the only competent person to catch thirty criminals in a span of a year and naturally people loved her for it too.

"Yeah, but who knows if she's okay." Alya scrolled on her phone to see if there was any news about it. So far there wasn't any- truthfully she wished she could investigate herself but she promised Nino she wouldn't get into any trouble ever again.

...Never again.

"If she shows up again then that's all the confirmation we need to know that she's okay," Chloe said getting up from the couch. She stretched a bit feeling tired from all the cleaning and unpacking today. "Well, I should get going because I'm super tired after all that unpacking and organizing."

Alya got up after. "Yeah Nino and I need to get going too." She pulled Nino up who was tired from carrying all the heavy stuff and walked towards the door.

"Bye guys, drive safely." She waved at them goodbye and closed the door. She grabbed the remote on the coffee table and turned off the T.V and threw herself onto her bed face first. After a few minutes, she was finally starting to fall asleep until the sudden sound of yelling from across the street could be heard.

She groaned a bit as she covered her head with her pillow allowing sleep to overtake her.

Bang

Marinette flinched and slowly got up to look out the window a bit. A masked man dragged a body inside a truck and sped off. She could only tremble and close the blinds. As she went back to bed she forced herself to forget what she saw.

This should be normal by now… but it never will be.

…

Beep beep beep!

Click

Marinette got up looking like Frankenstein's monster with her wild hair, dead look in her half-lidded eyes and overall looking like she could die at any moment. School was back on after it was suspended for a few days due to a break-in, so it meant she had to get ready but she really didn't want to since it was such a pain to get up so early.

Dragging herself out of bed she looked through her closet for what to wear and set the clothes down on her bed. She went into the shower and once out, got dressed, brushed her teeth while drying her hair, ate breakfast like a typical morning. She grabbed her bag and left her apartment successfully locking it- although who would want to rob her? She honestly had nothing on her.

"Good morning Marinette!"

"Good morning Tiana."

Tiana giggled as she locked her door. "You can call me Tikki silly." She patted her head on the way out.

Marinette smiled. "Right."

Tiana was her neighbor and her friend too, kinda. She was always super nice and immediately welcomed Marinette when she was deciding to move in a while back. Tikki was a childhood nickname someone had given her- it ended up sticking and thus nobody would call her by her real name. In the day and a half Marinette had spent here she could tell Tikki was loved by everyone. Her vibrant red hair and red eyes were always the first things people would notice- she was always so cheerful and kept her hair nicely. Frankly, Marinette was kind of jealous of how pretty it was.

"Need a ride Marinette?" Tikki asked with a smile- she worked nearby Marinette's high school so it was never a bother to her.

"You sure?" Marinette really didn't want to abuse her kindness.

Tikki rolled her eyes playfully and motioned her inside. "Yes of course silly come on!"

And so Marinette did as asked and managed to make it on time again.

She waved goodbye and went inside to start her day. Marinette wasn't popular but she was liked and respected amongst the students for being generally just an overall nice person, kindness was rare these days after all. That and her parents ran a bakery so she won brownie points for having parents that made the best pastries in the world.

Once she entered the courtyard she immediately spotted Alya, Nino, and Chloe and went to greet them.

"Hey, how are you guys today?" She asked- she got the usual good morning groans that were typical of Chloe, who had her head down on the table, she wasn't a morning person.

"So and so, I could use some coffee." Alya sighed as Nino hugged her close to him.

"Yeah, same," Chloe muttered as she lifted her head up a bit.

Marinette was about to offer to go get coffee until she heard a bunch of people whispering.

"Oh shit, she's here."

"Shut up she'll hear you!"

They all looked over to the entrance and froze.

Kagami Tsurugi, daughter of Tomoe Tsurugi who belonged in the Tsurugi clan entered the building with a not so happy look on her face or perhaps just a neutral expression. Everyone avoided her as nobody really wanted to associate themselves with one of the biggest mafia empires out there or with Kagami in general as they feared if they made her mad they would be in for it.

Despite what people might think Marinette knew there was more to that girl then meets the eye.

Immediately after a limo pulled up and out went Adrien Agreste, son of Gabriel and Emilie Agreste- his father was a fashion designer while his mother was a movie actress.

She was actually a fan of his father's designs since Marinette had an impossible dream of becoming a designer one day.

"Good luck at school!"

"Thanks, mom."

Adrien went inside not really wanting to be there. He was the opposite of Kagami- everyone wanted to associate with him but he wanted to avoid people instead.

"Say weren't you friends with him Chloe?" Alya asked curiously.

Chloe only sighed. "Yeah, when I was five- Adrien… changed." She looked at Adrien sadly remembering the kind boy she used to play with. She wasn't sure what had happened honestly.

Marinette wasn't sure why but Adrien always seemed like a mysterious boy to her. A part of her wished she could get to know him strangely enough.

Riiiiing

As the bell rang they all ran towards their perspective class. Marinette quickly waved goodbye to her friends and went the other way. As she looked at her books to make sure she wasn't missing any she didn't realize where she was walking and bumped into someone.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry." She quickly kneeled down to grab her books. The person she had bumped into also kneeled down to help her out. Like a typical romance movie their hands touched and they both looked up to see the other. Marinette was hoping for fireworks and butterflies but instead, she panicked on the inside. She had bumped into Adrien Agreste of all people. Adrien didn't really say anything and just got up and handed her the books. "Um… thanks." She said looking down as she was kind of intimidated.

"No problem." He said in a low voice as his gaze continued to linger longer on Marinette. Ultimately he snapped out of it and continued walking to class. Marinette didn't know why but she suspected that wasn't going to be the only time she'll interact with Adrien Agreste.

…

Once class was over Marinette didn't waste time running home in order to sleep some more. She didn't really want to do anything today but she knew she would have to go shopping eventually and possibly find a job.

Knock knock

She groaned not wanting to get up but as the knocking continued she forced herself to answer the door.

"Yes?" She was immediately greeted by a familiar face.

"Hey, Marinette!" Marinette felt herself cringe a bit upon seeing Luka Couffaine at her door bright and cheery as always.

"H-Hey Luka." She forced a smile on her face, not really wanting this conversation to happen.

"Juleka told me you were living here now and I thought I should stop by and see how you're doing." He smiled at her which she would usually appreciate and probably fall for but she was over that.

She dated him once but decided she only liked him as a friend. Unfortunately for her Luka still continued to have a crush on her despite her rejection and she wondered if he would ever get over her.

Marinette sighed. "Luka listen I-"

"I know, I know, I swear I only came to see how you were doing." He held his hands up in a defensive position but still smiling.

Marinette sighed for the millionth time today. "Okay fine- well as you can see I'm really tired and I wanna sleep for a bit and stuff so… yeah." She smiled as politely as she can in order to not seem like she hated the fact that he was here.

He immediately nodded. "Right well I was hoping to-"

"Bye Luka."

"Wait Marinette-"

She shut the door, no longer really caring about being rude or not and proceeded to go to bed.

Once she woke up it was around 7 pm meaning she needed to do her shopping as quickly as possible.

"Ugh, why me?" She said to no one in particular and speed walked to the nearest grocery store she could find. She honestly wished she had taken the bus instead but curse her for not thinking honestly. Her feet were kind of killing her by the time she found one and proceeded to buy the essentials. She didn't have much aside from the money her wonderful and caring parents gave her so finding a job really was needed despite still being a student. She should just find a part-time job and sell some of the clothing she makes on the side.

By the time she was done she thanked the cashier and once again started speed walking home while carrying a small bag, her father would be proud.

A light breeze passed by that made her shiver a bit. She rubbed her arms while still carrying her bag and picked up the pace a little- it was rather quiet now that she thinks about it.

Too quiet.

She didn't know if it was just the wind or her paranoia but she began to hear footsteps behind her. Out of instinct, she peeked behind her and to her horror, four men were following her at an even pace. She started to walk even faster discreetly acting as if she didn't notice unfortunately they also picked up the pace. Marinette continued until she was practically jogging, they too did the same thing finally realizing she had noticed them. She straight up bolted once turning the corner not even caring if her groceries were ruined. The men ran towards her trying to catch up. Marinette had never felt so scared for her life like today, she was sure she was this fast out of pure adrenaline and fear.

Unfortunately, they managed to catch up and pin her towards the wall in a dark alley. She screamed and kicked and desperately fought her way out of this. The men began to laugh and mock her as they started to undo her pants.

"HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" She continued kicking and screaming, practically fighting her way out of this in order to buy time for someone brave enough to come to her rescue but she was starting to realize that wouldn't be the case.

The real world is often disappointing like that.

"Nobody is going to help you doll- now stay still like a good little-"

A fist connected with the man's face breaking a tooth and sending him flying to the street in the process.

"What the fu-" The other man was kicked in the stomach forcefully causing him to lose some air.

"What is going on!?" The two remaining looked around for their attacker as it seemed as if they were being attacked by shadows. Suddenly out of nowhere, they both got kicked in the face simultaneously causing them to hit the ground.

"Let's get out of here!" The practically toothless man said as they all got up slowly and bolted towards the direction they came from most likely out of fear.

Marinette was too freaked out to even think or open her eyes- she knew she was saved but she was still scared thinking it was all just a dream and reality was different. The sound of something landing beside her did get her attention however and slowly opened her eyes. She tried not to gasp in shock when a pair of green cat-like eyes stared back at her in concern, yeah, genuine concern.

"You okay?" He asked, she noticed he was on all fours almost like a cat, in fact, she noticed he was wearing a black skin-tight suit- or maybe leather- with a black mask and a… tail? Is that a tail? Yeah, that's a tail.

"Um, yes… I am… I think." She slowly stood up still looking at the mysterious boy that was kind enough to help her. He stood up as well and she got a better look at him. He was taller than her by a few inches and his body was… let's say really really well built.

They both held their gaze onto the other longer than it should have been. Marinette felt like she had seen those eyes before...

The boy looked away from her and towards the ground. "Sorry about your groceries, I'll make it up to you."

Marinette was snapped back from her momentary freeze to see her groceries scattered around. "Oh, well it happens, you don't have to pay me back I- WOAH." Before Marinette could finish her sentence the mysterious grabbed her and was currently holding her bridal style.

"I'll definitely make it up to you." He winked at her and literally climbed the wall and start jumping from roof to roof at a rather inhuman speed.

Marinette felt rather nice despite what had almost happened to her a few minutes ago. She felt safe and protected in his arms.

Eventually, the boy left her at a bus stop and waved her goodbye. Marinette wasn't sure what to make of this weird situation but she felt as if this was a fateful encounter.

…

Two days went by and she still felt rather heavy when getting up and getting ready for school. She wouldn't really get much sleep at night as nightmares from what could have happened kept replaying in her head over and over again.

But in the midst of her dreams, that boy would always appear.

She didn't know who he was or what he was but she wished she could thank him somehow. He saved her life and that's something she'll always be grateful for, heck her parents would probably throw him a party or something but that's if she ever gathers the courage to let them know what had happened in the first place- she didn't want to worry them after all.

"Marinette why do you look like death today?" Marinette groaned not really wanting to answer Tikki's question due to lack of sleep. Once again she took her offer to drive her to school because Tikki was just a ball of sunshine all the time it seemed.

Tikki chuckled nervously. "Hit a nerve did I?" She opted to stay quiet the rest of the ride not really wanting to get on Marinette's bad side.

Once they arrived Tikki thought for a bit and immediately stopped Marinette who was midway out of the car ready to finish this horrible day.

"Marinette wait!" She immediately felt intimidated by Marinette's death stare of well, literal death. "Ah, I'm hoping you could stop by my house after school!" She forced herself to smile as cheerfully as possible in hopes of not letting Marinette know she's extremely scared as fuck right now.

Marinette narrowed her eyes. "Sure whatever." And closed the door behind her making her way towards the stairs.

Tikki let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and slowly drove away from the campus.

Once Marinette entered the building Alya immediately greeted her but stopped midway upon noticing her foul mood.

"Woah girl are you okay?" She asked as she inspected Marinette literally everywhere much to her annoyance. Nino was just trying to hold her back but it was too late. Marinette didn't waste time in backflipping Alya to the ground.

"And there goes Alya," Chloe muttered grimacing at how painful that must have been while Nino nodded and rubbed his temples.

After a few minutes of going to the nurse's office, making sure nothing was broken and multiple apologies from a now semi-sane Marinette, they reunited for lunch.

"I don't even know how I did that." Marinette groaned and hid her face in shame- her friends chuckled a bit.

Alya waved at her dismissively. "It's okay Marinette we're used to you somehow gaining strength enough to take us all down." She chuckled while grimacing slightly from the pain of the bruises.

"It's almost as if you're secretly a martial artist." Nino joked while cuddling Alya. The laughter amongst the four friends continued until the courtyard grew rather quiet.

"Did it just get silent to you guys?" Chloe asked looking around and noticing everyone paralyzed in fear.

It didn't take time to notice why. Kagami Tsurugi had entered and decided she finally wanted to eat lunch at the courtyard like everyone else. She had packed herself a bento and began eating quietly while avoiding eye contact.

Marinette and friends looked over rather confused about Kagami's sudden decision.

"She looks kind of lonely," Marinette said as her friends couldn't help but agree with her. Kagami looked like she wasn't having such a fun time at lunch.

"Should we… talk to her?" Chloe suggested nervously, Alya's eyes went wide in horror.

"Are you crazy Chloe? Are you forgetting who her family is? They're a bunch of murderers and thieves and for all we know she could be one too!" Once Alya stopped her rant they didn't realize Kagami had heard all of that and was now staring at them.

Nino panicked a bit as he noticed Kagami looking at them. "Oh shit, I think she heard you, babe" He whispered to her. Alya looked over and immediately noticed Kagami staring.

Kagami looked away and quickly started packing her things and basically ran for it. Marinette was sure she didn't like what she heard.

"Alya I think you hurt her feelings," Marinette said as she looked at her disapprovingly

Alya looked offended. "Excuse me? What part of what I said is wrong though?" Marinette immediately shut her mouth because unfortunately, she was right. "Yeah, I thought so."

Lunch was quiet after that.

…

Marinette went to the park to finish up some overdue homework and in general just to have some peace. She did feel like she was forgetting something though. Her mind was kind of wondering towards the other night and that boy she ran into- well more like he saved her from possibly being… nevermind.

She sighed looking at her work not really feeling like doing anything since her mind can't seem to think straight. She was so caught up in her own world she didn't even notice a certain someone walking nearby.

Adrien Agreste would usually frequent this park. Be it for photoshoots his father would make him do or to spend time with his dear mother. Today he decided to just walk around a bit and take in the fresh air he usually never gets from being stuck in his house.

He sat down in the shade and looked out in front of him immediately noticing the black-haired beauty he had run into earlier this week. He was sure her name was Marinette, it was rather beautiful.

He wondered if he should say hi.

Deciding to take this one in a lifetime opportunity Adrien got up and walked towards Marinette feeling rather nervous, it was a first for him since he usually never gets nervous.

"Hi, are you Marinette?"

Marinette looked completely taken aback to see the Adrien Agreste looking down at her. God damn, he looked rather nice today- wait what were those thoughts she just had?

"Uh… yes?" She felt extremely nervous considering how popular this guy really was.

"Ah, good." He sat next to her without even asking because he had the bad habit of inserting himself in situations somehow. "I'm Adrien." He extended his hand out to shake. Marinette shook his hand, he could feel she was shaking which amused him a bit.

He smiled at her and opened up a book to read from his bag while she did whatever she was doing. Adrien felt like screaming to himself because he came over to talk not to just say hi, read a book and proceed to ignore her personal space.

Marinette moved her things a bit further and semi glared at him. "Riiiight." She was rather confused as to what his intentions were.

Adrien panicked on the inside, great Agreste you fucking blew it.

Marinette decided she couldn't concentrate on homework and opened up her sketchbook to do some doodling to distract her mind. Unfortunately, it kept thinking the same thing- the boy from the other night.

She hummed as she sketched his cat-like eyes. They were actually quite beautiful and mysterious and green- almost like an emerald. She very much liked how they looked, don't ask her why though because she had no idea. Maybe she was just grateful because he saved her and that's why he's on her mind now. Perhaps if she saw him again she could-

"Are you drawing Chat Noir?" Adrien's voice disturbed Marinette's wonderful daydreaming.

She looked at him confused upon hearing the familiar name. "Chat Noir?" She asked curiously, she had seen stuff on the news but never knew what he looked like.

Adrien finally finding an excuse to put away the book and converse with her, faced her. "Yeah, he's Paris's new hero- he takes care of these parts of town when Ryuko can't."

That was rather interesting to Marinette, did that mean Ryuko and Chat Noir know each other?

"Are they friends or something?" She asked but was immediately met with rather loud laughter from Adrien which did catch her a little off guard.

"Are you kidding? I doubt it." He waved at her dismissively. "Heroes always keep to themselves." Adrien mentally facepalmed realizing how rude he sounded when speaking to Marinette just now.

Marinette nodded and narrowed her eyes a bit but didn't say anything further and continued her drawing. At least she knew who this mysterious boy was now.

Adrien sighed in relief, he could still save face. Unfortunately, the conversation seemed to have ended which raised a new problem. He decided to ask a question instead.

"Why are you drawing him anyway?" Adrien's innocent question unbeknownst to him once again broke Marinette's concentration pushing her towards the edge a bit since she was still going at her day with little to no sleep.

"I just wanted to." She stated a bit forcibly and continued her doodle.

Adrien hummed and wondered if he should continue talking not realizing Marinette's foul mood. "Are you a fan of him?" His curiosity was by nature rather annoying- at least that's what his father would say anyway but Marinette's scowl immediately let him know she didn't want him here.

His mischievous side found this assuming much to his dismay.

"It's none of your business!" She slammed her sketchbook shut, gathered her things and left without even looking at him.

Adrien on any other day would feel disappointed at the rejection but he didn't, more like couldn't because he knew right then and there that he was going to like her.

…

Marinette hated the fact that she had been here for about thirty minutes waiting for a damn bus. There were constant delays because of some mysterious reason and it honestly ticked her off because she wanted to go home and sleep- god she was lucky tomorrow was Saturday or else this would be a disaster! Her parents were also calling her and she's clearly making it worse by not responding.

After what happened two days ago she honestly didn't like the feeling of standing next to a bus stop alone in the middle of the night in a rather shady and quiet neighborhood. There weren't even sounds from the occasional dog barking or a cat in the alley. But honestly, she had nobody to blame but herself. Yes, that's right, she had the damn bright idea to come all this way in order to get a discount on some food at a restaurant. Damn her cheap ass.

She groaned and looked at the time on her phone.

11:00 pm

She felt her heart stop when realizing this. It was so damn late what was she even doing? Stuffing her face? Actually technically she was stuffing her face with- why was she even having this conversation with herself!?

She put her phone back in her pocket and decided to just walk home but more carefully this time. She used to not look over her shoulder every three seconds but after what happened that day she didn't really have a choice, that and she was dumb enough to not bring a weapon or something to defend herself with.

Rubbing her arms again like last time due to the cold she looked around her surroundings and noticed a lot of small but interesting details. Despite looking rather abandoned it was clear people lived around here. It was dark sure but she could see the occasional faint light peeking from a window or balcony. If she listened closely she could even hear the faint sound of people talking, from arguing to idle chat. Upon making this discovery it didn't seem so quiet anymore.

"Maybe I should text Alya to come pick me up." She wondered out loud because honestly, her feet were kind of killing her.

To Alya:

Come pick me up pls

From Alya:

Can't we're already asleep girl wtf

Marinette sighed, maybe she should just walk to the next bus stop and hope that one isn't delayed. She took out her phone for a bit as a distraction and noticed there were various reports and incidents going on that she had no idea about. She was just glad it wasn't happening near where she currently was or near her home- she wasn't that unlucky right?

The moment she turned the corner the sound of a car engine and a few chuckles caused Marinette to freeze in place. In front of her, a bunch of men were standing around carrying what looked like a body bag- it was a familiar scene to her. Immediately she hid in an alley and peeked out a bit praying they hadn't seen her and would leave soon.

"Papillon is gonna love this." One of the men stated as he blew some smoke from his cigarette. The other three with him laughed as they inspected the bag.

Oh god, oh god, oh god, please.

They opened the body bag looking at the insides clearly not shaken up by the fact that it was a dead body. To Marinette's horror upon further inspection, she could see clearly who the person in the body bag was, it was none other than Anarka Couffaine, Juleka and Luka's mother.

Marinette wanted to scream in horror so badly seeing someone she knew dead. Juleka was somebody she knew from middle school and one of her dearest friends. It was how she met Luka too. Whenever she went over her mother while always outgoing and weird and was the nicest person ever. Why would anyone do this to her?

"I'm sure Papillon wouldn't mind knowing that the great Captain Hardrock has finally met her demise." The guy with the cigar chuckled darkly and pushed the body bag deeper into the truck- they were getting ready to leave it seemed.

Marinette felt extremely sick and nauseous as she basically witnessed a murder scene yet again in a span of a few days. Not only that but what were they talking about? Captain Hardrock? Who's that? And why would their death bring joy to Papillon the biggest mob boss in town?

As she tried to get a bit closer in order to get answers she accidentally knocked down the garbage can near her causing her to run back inside the alley, heart beating heavily.

"The fuck was that?" The men guarding the truck ready their guns and walk towards the alley Marinette was in. She ran deeper hoping for an exit at the end only to realize it was very much a dead end.

Oh, fuck her luck.

She huddled the wall and closed her eyes, hoping for a quick and painless death.

It never came though, instead, the sound of a scuffle going on made her open her eyes in curiosity. There wasn't anyone in the alley with her so she slowly walked back to see what was going on. To her surprise, she saw the men on the ground in pain almost as if someone beat them up.

"Looking for me?"

The sudden voice behind her caused her to jump and smack the person in the face.

"Shit! Is this the thanks I get!?" The mysterious boy grabbed his face in pain.

It was Chat Noir!

Marinette rolled her eyes in annoyance but felt extremely relieved. "It's not my fault you snuck up on me!"

He looked like he wanted to say something but closed his mouth. "Okay fair enough." He suddenly grabbed her arm and gave her money.

Marinette looked at it confused. "Wait… what?"

He looked back at her with an are you serious kind of face. "What? Don't you remember I said I would make it up to you?"

Marinette went wide eyed and blushed a bit. "I mean… yeah but I did say you didn't have to."

Chat shook his head. "I insist, my Princess." He winked at her which caused Marinette's face to go full scarlet.

Good thing it was dark in here.

"Anyway I better get going, you gave me a bit of an injury my Princess." He chuckled. Marinette felt utter embarrassment.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry Chat, now it's my turn to make it up to you!"

Before Chat could protest, Marinette grabbed him and dragged him out of the alley.

…

Marinette didn't know where else to take him but against her better judgment, she let Chat Noir into her home… at night… alone.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." She mentally facepalmed ready to face whatever consequences came her way because of this.

Chat Noir smirked at her as he sat on the couch. "Inviting me into your house? Well it is your fault princess, you're the one who injured me after all."

His cockiness was a surprise to Marinette but strangely enough she didn't mind.

"Yeah, no need to remind me." She playfully rolled her eyes and went to her room to retrieve the first aid kit her Maman practically shoved into her bag for emergencies. She loved her Maman she really did but she can be just as bad as her dad in terms of being overprotective and super cautious.

To be fair though she no longer blames them at all.

"Ah, here it is." She took out the small box and made her way towards the boy on her couch. God that doesn't even sound okay.

"Oh, that's great what are you do-"

Marinette immediately shut him up with her finger by placing it on his lips and opened the box to get a bandaid because honestly what else is she supposed to do? She unfortunately never took first aid classes like her friends.

Chat Noir must have sensed this and chuckled at her lack of knowledge with a hint of humor in his eyes. He took the box away from her and well… proceeded to fix himself basically. Marinette was a little embarrassed honestly, she took this boy to her house probably expecting her to do the healing instead- but no she's just a dumbass.

"Never took first aid classes huh? You probably should." He smirked which would have annoyed Marinette but she knew he wasn't being malicious at all.

A moment of silence passed by while Chat Noir was busy cleaning himself up and whatever else he was doing and turned to face Marinette with a serious look.

"About what you saw." He said in a rather low voice. "It's best not to tell anyone ever."

Marinette could only feel the sickness she had felt earlier remembering what she had witnessed tonight. She understood his reasons so she couldn't blame him.

Chat sighed and let her calm down.

"I knew her…" She uttered which had Chat's full attention.

"I figured… she was one of Papillon's henchmen gone rogue." At this Marinette's eyes practically went wide and looked at Chat Noir in hopes this was some kind of sick joke except one look at him said a whole other story.

"T-That's impossible! She was weird, yeah but she was a kind person! She would have never joined Papillon!" Her desperate plea for it all to be some sick prank didn't go unnoticed by Chat. It was hard to receive such terrible news in a span of a few hours. Not only was the mother of one of her friends dead but apparently she was working for Papillon, an evil mob boss. It explained her death at least.

"Sorry, princess but that's the truth, the reason I was even nearby to save you was because I had heard about her going rogue and followed the truck she had gotten on, I ended up losing track of it after some time… she wanted out in the end but it got her killed instead." He placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

Marinette didn't like this.

She didn't like it all.

…

I hope old readers of this story enjoy the nostalgia xD

And I hope new readers like this story!

There was a decent amount of changes in this chapter from the original~

Since all the old chapters need to be updated and such (which was 7 chapters) do expect them to be uploaded all throughout march and next month.

Chapter 8 is on hold until this story is up to date.

RR