Alya was still grinning from ear to ear by the time class ended.
As soon as the girl saw who exactly Marinette received for her first target, she'd laughed until class officially started, causing more than a few people to eye the girl warily as they subtly scooted away. Adrien and Nino, of course, had also moved away, but being seated directly in front of the girls, they could only move no more than an inch closer to the edges of their seats. It didn't help that Ms. Bustier ended class a minute late and already, they could see the edges of other students' shoes just around the corner of the doors, undoubtedly waiting for some certain people.
The games had begun.
"It was nice knowing you all," Nino said solemnly, making a mock salute at Adrien. He was already out of his seat, his back to the blackboard, unwilling to let either the class or doors out of his sight. He held his boba straw in one hand.
"Aren't you taking this a bit too seriously?" Adrien asked, packing his bag.
"Adrien, dude, you don't understand. Those exams last week? Those were nothing. These are the tests. It's killed or be killed," Nino said seriously. "Just wait until the screaming starts."
"What screaming—?"
"YOUR TIME HAS COME, KIM—DAMMIT." The shout from just outside the ended abruptly in curses as Kim bolted away from his new assassin, a loud whoop escaping his mouth. As if on cue, screams erupted from throughout the school, some followed by hysterical laughter while others ended in more curses and groans.
A few of their faster classmates made a run for it out the doors, one of them being Ivan carrying Mylene in his arms, a sight that was enough to distract a couple of the ambushers enough for a few more classmates to escape.
"Should we run for it...?" Alya asked worriedly, trying to peer out one of the doors. Nino copied her, jumping as a particularly loud scream rang out from nearby.
Marinette shrugged. She was somewhat confident about her skills, being Ladybug and all, but she couldn't tell them that. Besides, she would rather Alya survive past the first day at least. As she glanced over at Adrien, she was surprised to see that he too didn't appear worried in the least and was instead calmly staring at the door, as if debating when was the best time to stroll out. Then again, it shouldn't have come too much of a surprise. His dad was the one sponsoring the gifts and the most that he would get would probably be a slightly bigger allowance for the week. It wasn't like he could go on a date with himself after all.
"Nino, we can leave together if you want," Adrien offered. Nino narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously.
"You're not my assassin, are you?"
"If I were, do you really think you can run from me?"
"I think I can outrun a model. Maybe."
Adrien rolled his eyes. "Nino, let's go."
"What, not going to offer us protection too?" Alya joked, slinging her arm around Marinette. "We're here too, you know. How rude."
Adrien smiled apologetically the same time that Nino shook his head firmly.
"Nope. You guys were waaaay too suspicious earlier. I dunno who you two got but I ain't sticking around to find out."
"Aw, don't be like that. What if I die the first day?"
"Alya, knowing you, you'll probably survive until the last day. Don't think I haven't seen you play dodgeball."
She laughed. "What can I say, you gotta be fast to be a reporter on Ladybug and Chat Noir."
Nino harrumphed at that. "Yeah, well, let me know if you're still alive by tonight. See you tomorrow. C'mon, Adrien."
Adrien grinned. "So you trust me?"
"Let's go before I change my mind."
"Sure. See you tomorrow, Alya, Marinette." Adrien gave a small wave with his boba straw at them as Nino tugged him toward the door. After giving the coast a careful check, they bolted. Alya frowned.
"Well, there goes your target."
"There's tomorrow," Marinette said, smiling. Alya shook her head.
"You're too nice. I would have stuck it in his back the second class ended. Like Nino said, it's killed or be killed. Shall we g—Marinette!" Alya yelped, yanking Marinette towards her, onto the bench of their desks and dragging her to the other side. Marinette twisted, catching a glimpse of Sabrina raising her straw for another attack. Chloe stood in the corner of the classroom, watching with a large grin on her face.
"Move, move, move," Alya yelled, dragging Marinette onto her feet and out the door. They nearly ran straight into another boy who was running past their room, screaming, with a girl brandishing her boba straw, hot on his heels. Luckily, there were no ambushers left waiting for them at their door, although there was one waiting by the back door to their classrooms. The girl, who Marinette recognized as someone who was in her art class one, gave them a brief smile before continuing to keep watch on the remaining students in the room. As they all but flew down the stairs, Marinette noticed that they weren't the only ones running. She craned her head and realized for the first time that there was someone chasing them, a boy from their grade who she had seen a handful of times before. She vaguely recalled his name as Jean, a quiet brown-haired boy who was in the class next to theirs.
"Alya, run! Someone's chasing us!" She screamed, laughing. Horrified, Alya whipped her head around to look at their pursuer before run faster, putting on an extra burst of speed. Marinette easily kept up, dodging various other students running for the school's doors. By the time they were a block away from school, they had lost him.
They began to slow down to a jog, both trying to catch their breaths. However, before Alya came to a full stop, she took off running again without warning and Marinette watched as she nearly ran into a small group of students halfway down the block in front of them who had also just escaped from the building. She heard a distant "Die!" from Alya followed by a dramatic scream and an eruption of laughter. After picking up her new target, Alya returned, beaming.
"First kill!" she said proudly to Marinette as she got closer. She gave Marinette a high-five.
Marinette laughed. "I'm surprised you recognized him from so far away."
"Well, I actually wasn't sure. But hey, it did turn out to be him so it worked out in the end," Alya replied, grinning.
"You weren't sure?" Marinette echoed in disbelief.
"I mean, he was kinda far away."
"You scared the poop out of that boy without being sure it was your target first?" Marinette gave her a poke in fake disapproval. "Alya."
"To be fair, he should have been checking to see if anyone was chasing him even outside of the building. Speaking of, we should probably go before my assassin sees me. I don't plan on killing only one person. I gotta kill a lot more people before my time comes."
"Annnnd that's why context is always important in quotes," Marinette replied, laughing. They began walking towards her family's bakery.
"Who knows, maybe I am a serial killer and just never told you." Alya winked.
"Please, you wouldn't be able to resist reporting on all of your own crimes if you were one."
"True. A story like that can't go unreported. Oh, by the way, I have a new target now." Alya pulled out a small folded slip of paper, nearly identical to her original one. She unfolded it.
"Who'd you get?" Marinette asked curiously, peering over Alya's hand.
"Who...?"
"You don't know her either, huh?" Alya sighed. "I was hoping to get someone from our class. Or at least someone we actually knew."
"What, so you can scare the poop out of them too?"
"Imagine if I got Chloe," Alya sniggered. "Now that would be fun."
"Anyone is fine as long as you don't get Sabrina. I'd rather not have to run from you as soon as you finish Sabrina off."
"Hey, we promised to tell each other if one of us got the other. So at least you'd get a warning beforehand," Alya said. "But I guess during the second half of the week there would be a lot fewer people so it'll be easier to guess who got who. Not that it's hard to get at least a little information right now. I'll have you know that I, the great and resourceful Alya, has already made several connections across our grade," she boasted.
Marinette smiled. "Connections? Aren't targets changing a little too fast to keep up with properly right now?"
"Never hurts to make connections early," Alya replied easily, pushing open the door to the bakery. She took a deep, appreciative breath. "Did I ever tell you how much I love the smell of your place?"
"Only every time you come here," Marinette said, giggling. "I'm home!"
"Welcome home!" Her dad stuck his head out from the back room, a small stack of trays in his hands. His smile widened when he saw Alya. "Alya's here too?"
"Hey, Mr. Dupain. How have you been?" Alya greeted.
"Oh, the usual. Are you two going up?" Tom asked, setting the trays down on the counter. "Want me to bring snacks?"
"Yeah, we're just going to hang out for a bit. We'll get some snacks ourselves, don't worry. Where's mom?"
"Out. She just left to pick something up. How was school?"
"Great. It's a war zone right now," Alya replied cheerfully. Tom paused.
"Huh?"
"It's a game," Marinette explained quickly.
"A game?"
"Yeah, we're hunting people down," Alya said as they walked past. She paused at the base of the stairs. "Well, more like one person at a time."
"Alya, stop making my dad think we're killing each other and go up already," Marinette said, shaking her head.
"I mean, we're pretending to kill each other."
"Alya."
Alya laughed, hurrying up the stairs as Marinette made to jab her in the back. On the way to her room, Marinette grabbed a plate of croissants as Alya headed up first. By the time that Marinette got up to her room, Alya was already comfortably seated cross-legged on her sofa. Alya looked up from her phone as Marinette entered, a grin on her face.
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"Sabrina's out," Alya said, taking a croissant from the plate.
"What? Already?" Marinette asked in surprise. "By who?"
Alya shrugged. "Chloe didn't say on her post. By the way, that girl had already posted a ridiculous amount of selfies since school ended. But yeah, Sabrina's out. It happened recently apparently too. Didn't even make it to the second day, and now you have a new assassin."
"Wonderful," Marinette said dryly, settling into her usual pink chair. She nibbled on the corner of her own croissant.
"Don't worry, you got me remember? I wouldn't let anyone else hurt you," Alya said, grinning. "I'll even give you a headstart if I somehow get you."
Marinette giggled. "It should be me saying that. I'm faster than you, remember?"
"Nuh-uh. Bet I could outrun you any day of the week."
"Nah."
"Wanna bet?" Alya challenged, uncrossing her legs.
"Alya, we just sat down."
"First around the block and back wins."
"How do you even have the energy to run after school?" Marinette asked, exasperated as she set down her half-eaten croissant and stood up.
"Cause I'm Alya. Duh. Ready?" Alya made her way to the trapdoor, opening it. By the time that Marinette got there, the girl was already at the bottom of the ladder.
"No."
"Great! The race starts as soon as we leave the bakery," Alya said happily as Marinette hopped onto the floor next to her.
"Is there a prize?"
"Only the greatest prize of all—being the faster friend!" she replied. "C'mon, hurry up!"
Marinette rolled her eyes but complied. Within seconds, they were both out the door.