Hi! Warning: This chapter was written before I started any rewatching. High chance of sounding off. (See chapter one for important notes.)
Marinette collapsed onto her chaise with a satisfied sigh.
"Wow, Marinette, you've been on fire!" Tikki congratulated her, nibbling on a cookie.
"I know! It's been really crazy."
Everything was more or less going her way. (Except for that Chemistry quiz, but that wasn't really her fault. She dared anyone else to try it on a half hour of sleep.) What was with this crazy change? Not that Marinette was complaining, no. She wasn't even being all that clumsy anymore and was even stuttering less around Adrien!
Adrien. A bit of Marinette's joy faded slightly. If there was one thing that Marinette would change about life right now, it would be that Adrien really seemed to be struggling lately. He always seemed tired and wasn't doing all that great in class, despite the fact that he had to have already known the material. He was more withdrawn, which was something that Marinette would've never believed if she hadn't seen it.
"What's the matter?" Tikki asked, noticing her sudden change of mood.
"Just worried about Adrien. You've seen him. Lately he hasn't been doing so well."
She could only wonder if his father had anything to do with his current state. Adrien put a lot of value into what his father said and told him. If Adrien was upset about anything, it was likely because of him. At the very least, Marinette was at least concerned that the man might withdraw Adrien from school, which would be the last thing he'd want. But Gabriel Agreste had a very…low opinion of school to begin with. If he'd noticed that Adrien was struggling, Marinette had very little doubt that the man wouldn't hesitate to isolate Adrien again.
Marinette was definitely very concerned about his well-being, but she also was wary of Adrien potentially being akumatized. Very stressed out and emotionally thin were conditions that Hawkmoth thrived on in his victims. And while Marinette had fought enough akumas by now to know that she could likely take care of it in short order, she was worried about her motivation against him. She couldn't bear the thought of hitting that gorgeous face with those glittering green eyes… All around, it was better to avoid the issue where she could.
That said, maybe she should go and check on him.
"Hey Tikki, it's my duty as Ladybug to take care of potential threats, right?"
"Yes. It is a very important part of Ladybug's job," Tikki played along, crossing her little arms and nodding seriously. Then her expression broke into a teasing smile. "Just be sure to actually talk to him this time!"
"Hey! I've been able to talk to Adrien recently," Marinette claimed indignantly, scooping the small kwami into her palms and gently depositing her in her purse.
"Barely" was Tikki's muffled reply. Okay so maybe she still stuttered a bit when around him, but she couldn't help it. He was just that dazzling.
Marinette ran downstairs, being sure to swipe a couple extra cookies as she yelled goodbye to her parents.
It was a short walk to the Agreste mansion, but the closer that she got, the more she dragged her feet. She definitely wanted to go see him more than anything. It was just…strange. She'd gone to the mansion before, and sometimes even as a friend, but it was still more intimate than Marinette expected somehow. Walking over to his mansion never failed to make her blush.
But she was different now! She could do this without being a blubbering mess. She could!
Marinette gave herself a good solid slap to her cheeks. It left her face red, but not with embarrassment anymore. As the mansion came into view, she straightened her spine and walked over the manor's intercom.
"Hello?" Unsurprisingly, the answer came from Gabriel's assistant, Nathalie.
"Hi," Marinette responded confidently. "I'm here to see Adrien, if that's okay?"
"I'm sorry. He's busy with his tutoring session. I'm afraid he can't afford to leave it. He's been doing rather poorly lately."
It was disappointing, but definitely not unexpected. Marinette refrained from yelling that Adrien would probably only get worse if he couldn't hang out with his friends. That particular strategy never really worked out well in the past. She would need to go about this indirectly. Well okay then. Time for Plan B.
"Sorry to bother you," Marinette apologized. The screen crackled back to a flat black, and Marinette waited a few moments to make sure the woman wouldn't be coming back. Once it was clear that the conversation was done and over, she ran over to a nearby alleyway and transformed. She knew Tikki disapproved of her using her powers like this, but it wasn't like she was doing this for nothing. If things went well, she was just decreasing the number of future akumas to fight.
She swung into the tree outside of Adrien's bedroom and almost fell off the branch when she realized that he wasn't alone. Nathalie was there, talking and pointing down a paper Adrien was looking at. Ugh, duh! Nathalie had literally just said that Adrien was in the middle of a tutoring session! Marinette felt kind of stupid for thinking that Adrien would be alone.
If it was anyone else, Marinette might've chanced it. Most of the people in the city adore Ladybug and wouldn't hesitate to keep a little secret if she asked. But Nathalie was a whole other story. She was Gabriel's personal assistant, someone that had worked for him for years. She would most definitely tell Gabriel if Marinette went in there, Ladybug or no.
Marinette huffed and leaned back against the tree. Maybe if she waited a bit, Nathalie would leave.
Hours passed, and no, the woman did not leave. Seriously, how severe were these study sessions! If Adrien had to deal with this on top of school and everything else, it was kind of no wonder that he's been stressed.
With the sun starting to go down, Marinette had to go back home before she got scolded by her parents again. They'd been particularly protective lately and took to realizing her absence after a while.
She gave one last regretful look at poor Adrien, hunched uncomfortably over his desk. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would do something about it.