Okay, okay, I know that I already have a bunch of WIPs, but I just couldn't help myself with this one. I needed something more fluffy and cute when I don't have the time to focus on my more complicated fics, especially now that Chat Vert is semi-on-hold while I try find my muse for it again. I need a simpler story in my life right now, and something more light-hearted. I do hope that you get a great deal of enjoyment out of this story though, as it's been floating around my brain for a while now. And if you're new to my work, welcome!

Rated T for possible mild language, mild violence, teenage angst and all the fun stuff that goes along with that.

I do not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir. No money is being made out of this fic and no copyright infringement is intended. This is purely written for fun.

~ Professeur Noir ~

Chapter 1: Big Trouble

This was a situation that Marinette never thought she would encounter in her entire life. She had always tried to be a good student and keep herself out of trouble. Now here she was, sat in the principal's office, sandwiched between her petite mother and her large father who dwarfed the both of them. She risked a glance up at them both only to cringe when their usual cheerful demeanour had been replaced with expressions of disappointment and worry. Expressions she couldn't bear to see on her parents' faces, especially when said expressions were caused by her.

Marinette's palms grew even sweatier as she clasped her hands together and sank further down into the uncomfortable wooden chair. A lump formed in her throat as she worried about what threat awaited her. Facing akumas as a walk in the park compared to this. Hero life was always so much less complicated than her real life.

Her heart almost thudded to a stop when she heard the office door open behind her, promptly followed by the heavy footsteps of her principal. Marinette didn't dare look up though. She didn't dare look anyone in the eye. She couldn't handle their disappointment. She just wanted the floor to swallow her up right now. Anything was better than facing what was about to happen.

The principal's chair creaked as he sat down before clearing his throat. "I'm sorry to have called you here in the middle of the day like this Mr Dupain and Mrs Cheng, but this was a matter that needed urgent discussion."

Marinette gulped.

"Though after having received your daughter's report card yesterday, I'm sure that you both know why I have summoned you here," Mr Damocles continued.

"It's alright," Sabine spoke up, "we would have come to see you anyway. We couldn't believe what we had read. This is so unlike Marinette."

Marinette sank even further into her seat, her face turning a beet shade of red.

"Rest assured that we will be doing everything we can to prevent Marinette's behaviour from further decline," Tom added, and Marinette could feel his green eyes burning holes in the top of her head.

"I'm glad to hear it," Mr Damocles responded gruffly, stroking a hand through his beard. "Especially since our warning letters we had written to you seemed to have mysteriously vanished."

Memories of screwed up paper, shredder machines and even the fowl taste of ink on paper flooded Marinette's mind. She had done everything she could to prevent her parents from finding out. She had disposed of every single warning letter, hoping that she could improve things at school before her parents could even find out what was going on. She would hope for a quiet period from akumas, but Hawkmoth just never stopped. It was hard to focus on school work when you were out saving Paris all of the time.

"Indeed." Sabine glanced towards Marinette suspiciously.

"Just look at some of these grades!" Mr Damocles exclaimed. "A 9 in biology, an 8 in gym, even a 3 in physics, and not to mention the number of unauthorised absences! Teachers tell me how distracted she is in most classes and how sometimes she vanishes mid-lesson. Just what do you have to say for yourself, Marinette?"

All eyes turned to her.

"Ummm… I'm really sorry…"

"Sorry is not good enough on this occasion, young lady," Mr Damocles continued to scold. "You were always one of our brightest and most well behaved students up until a few months ago. What happened? Is there something you're not telling us?"

That she was a superhero with a duty to protect Paris.

"No."

"Sweetheart if there's anything going on, you can tell us you know," Sabine tried to reassure her daughter. "Are you being bullied?"

"What? No!"

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing okay!" Marinette cried out, almost beginning to crack under the pressure. "I just… find it hard to concentrate that's all. The work is hard and then I fall behind, and when I try to skip class to catch up, I fall even further behind."

This technically wasn't a lie.

"You shouldn't have been skipping classes in the first place," Tom responded firmly.

"I know…" Marinette admitted. "I just got stuck in a vicious cycle, that's all."

"Well you're just going to have to break that cycle," Mr Damocles ordered.

"I know," sighed Marinette.

"Because if you don't, you could end up in serious trouble," the principal continued to explain. "At the moment, I'm merely going to put you on report which must be delivered back to me at the end of every school day."

"Yes, sir."

"And you're grounded until further notice," Tom added.

"I want to give you a chance, Marinette. But if this behaviour continues, you could be looking at exclusion or even expulsion. Not to mention your parents could get into huge trouble with the law if they found out you had been skipping school. And I'm sure you don't want that, do you?" the principal questioned.

"No, sir."

"I don't expect overnight miracles, but I do expect to see effort and improvement," he continued.

"Yes, sir."

"Very good." He then turned to her parents again. "I'm sorry to have bothered you. You may leave now."

"Thank you Mr Damocles," Sabine responded as both of them stood up, slowly followed by Marinette.

"Marinette, you better head back to class. I'll be giving your parents some resources for them to contact to help both them and yourself," was the principal's final word before Marinette was all but ushered out of the office by her mother.

The door clicked behind them, echoing throughout the quiet corridor. Her parents remained silent, and that only made Marinette feel worse. The punishment at school she could cope with, but not the disappointment of her parents. No doubt they were blaming themselves when it wasn't their fault at all. Marinette just wished that she could tell them the truth, but for their own safety, she couldn't. The feeling of Tikki shifting around inside her purse reminded her of that.

"We'll discuss this more at home later," Sabine finally spoke.

"Mom… dad…I'm really so –"

"You better head back to class like the principal said," her father interrupted her. "We need to get back to the bakery."

And with that, both of them turned their backs on the daughter and began heading towards the school's entrance, wrapped up in each other's arms. Marinette's heart sank like lead in her chest at this sight. Words became stuck in her throat as she longed to call out after them. She wanted their embrace. She wanted them to tell her that everything was going to be alright. But she had disappointed them. She had lied, hidden things from them and embarrassed them. Worst of all, she had failed them.

Marinette was determined to improve things. But how? In order to fully get back on track, she would have to quit being a hero. But she couldn't do that. She couldn't do that to Master Fu who was relying on her. She couldn't do that to Tikki, her closest friend and faithful kwami. She couldn't do that to Paris. As long as Hawkmoth was still around, she couldn't abandon her duty. The city needed her.

This whole thing definitely made her feel like she was caught between a rock and a hard place. She couldn't stop being Ladybug, but she also couldn't continue to let her school work suffer. It made her briefly wonder how Chat Noir managed to balance his hero life and his personal life. Did he go to school just like her? Was he in just as much trouble as she was? Maybe she would have to try and ask him for tips or something the next time they saw each other.

Making a mental note of that, Marinette began heading back to class, her face once again turning red at the thought of all her classmates and friends wanting to know what was going on. It was always an interesting point of gossip when a student was randomly pulled out in the middle of class. No doubt Chloé and Lila would be loving this.

Shuddering at the thought, Marinette made it back to her classroom and peaked in through the window. It looked like everyone was busy with work and chatting with each other, so Marinette used this opportunity to sneak back in. Nobody looked up apart from Alya, who no doubt had been worriedly awaiting her return, and her hazel eyes certainly gave that away as Marinette once again took her seat next to her best friend.

"Girl, what happened? What's going on?" The intense questioning began the second Marinette was at her side again.

"Ssssh," Marinette pleaded, not wanting this whole ordeal to broadcast to the entire class.

"Sorry." Alya lowered her voice.

Marinette leaned in closer so they could whisper. "I'm in huge trouble, Alya."

"What? Why?"

"My school work has been really bad. The principal called in my parents after sending them my mid-term report card," Marinette admitted.

"But you've always been fine with school work. What happened? This isn't like you."

"I don't know, I've just been struggling lately I guess…"

"Well, you do skip a lot of classes," Alya pointed out.

Marinette sighed. "Yeah, that was another thing I got into huge trouble over."

"Though you can't really blame them for that."

"I know." Marinette ran her fingers through her hair, almost ripping out her pigtails in the process.

"Don't sweat it girl, it seems like they're letting you off with a warning since they sent you back to class," Alya tried to reassure her.

"Yeah, but I'm now on report. The teachers, principal and my parents will be keeping a close eye on me. Oh, and I'm grounded." Marinette slammed her head down on the desk.

"Oh well done, Marinette. Now we can't go and see that movie together," Alya sulked.

"Sorry! I didn't exactly plan this!" Marinette's whisper became harsher.

"I know, I know, but you still should have seen it coming."

Marinette felt like she was about to burst into tears as the reality of the situation was finally beginning to dawn on her. "All I know is that if I don't make improvements, I could be expelled."

"It isn't that serious, surely?"

Marinette nodded grimly.

"Can your parents not get you a tutor or something?" Alya inquired.

"I think that's what they're going to try and do, but I hate the idea of having to deal with some stranger. What if they're horrible? What if they're bad tutors and it makes things even worse?"

"Calm down, Marinette, I'm sure it's not going to be that bad."

The more Marinette thought about it though, the less calm she became. What if there was an akuma emergency? She wouldn't be able to escape a private tutor. Then Chat Noir would be left to deal with everything on his own and she couldn't do that to him. She was truly trapped in a situation of her own making. Leading a double life like this was almost impossible. There was no perfect solution to be found. Either her work as a hero would suffer, or she would face expulsion from school. Fail as a hero, or fail as a student. That was the choice it looked like Marinette was about to face.

"Trust me. It would be," Marinette finally replied, her head still pressed against the wooden desk.

"Well I can think of one obvious solution to this whole thing." Alya's tone sounded almost devious, and Marinette quickly looked up at her best friend, feeling both hopeful and suspicious.

Alya wasn't looking back at her though. Instead her gaze was firmly planted in front of them, and Marinette followed her line of sight to the handsome blond haired boy sitting in front of them. Marinette's heart skipped a beat like it always did when she stared at the boy of her dreams. He was obliviously chatting away with Nino, a happy smile on his face that turned Marinette's legs to jelly. Though her hopeless daydream was quickly interrupted by Alya's now fully devious tone.

"Your knight in shining armour: Adrien."

First chapter done! It felt short, but then again, my first chapters usually are. I hope that I have you all intrigued and I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter. I really appreciate you taking the time to read it, even if you decide that this story isn't for you and you never click on it again. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts and opinions in a review as they always help me out a great deal! Thanks for reading!