All rights to Miraculous Ladybug belong to Zagtoon, Method Animation, Thomas Astruc, and Disney. All rights to Persona 5 go to Atlus and Sega. This is my own creative work.

Counting back the days, Marinette could say the insanity started a week ago.

November was in its swan song, playing on repeat for a month with the fervor stores had for the holidays. Shopowners, including her parents, had wide smiles putting up signs for their sales and promotional events, Christmas being that special time of year for business owners. Windows and streetlamps were already being wrapped with holly and bells and carolers were readying their lungs for the sweet streets. Francois Dupont was just as much in the spirit of the season with wreaths on the stairways, merry tunes on the loudspeaker and a Christmas tree set and decked in every classroom. With the obvious exception of Ms. Mendeleiv's classroom, of course.

It was just last Friday when Ms. Bustier came in with a red, cotton-tipped hat and filled it up with their names for the class Secret Santa. In their city with safety hinging on good cheer, little activities like that were all but mandatory. Marinette walked home that day like Jacob Marley post-life but content hearing the excited whispers of her classmates with who they got and who might be their secret gift-giver. She didn't bother to check the name on the scrap she pulled.

Busy bug that she was, she would just make gifts for everybody. Simple enough.

Which was why her room was decorated as well. Her floor was a festive dogpile of scraps of paper and unrolled yarn completely obscuring the floor. Her walls were painted over with binder paper with extensive lists and approved designs thumbtacked. Any failures were huddled in her now overflowing trash can.

"Okay, next…" She said to herself.

The clock above her computer ticked louder. She was late for school; the girl knew it. Another tick, another tock. It was coming like thunder. She got the message already, if time could just be merciful for once. Marinette turned a knob on her sewing machine and pushed piece after piece of cloth through.

"Okay, just a few more stitches for Juleka's scarf…" Marinette muttered pulling the black garment away and pulling out a pink set of matching gloves with a rose embroidery. "Now to work on Rose's gloves, then I can get to Nino's handkerchief, Kim's cap, Alix's scarf. Wait, did I take care of Mylene's new beanie left? Where's that bandana for Nathaniel…?"

Her eyelids drooped. The girl had lost track of the time somewhere after 2:00 in the morning. The strands of cloth in the finely crocheted scarf and mittens blurred into blobs of purple and pink.

"Guardian!" A squeaky yet sagely voice popped behind her.

"Just a second, Wayzz!"

"I don't think the others are feeling very patient, young Guardian."

Guardian… Marinette still wasn't used to being called that.

With a sigh, she was forced to put down her current project. "Okay, alright, just… be right back."

"Thank you, guardian!" The squeaky, mischievous voice of Trixx piped.

The girl nearly slipped on the layers of cloth on the floor and had to dig through them for the handle for her attic bedroom's trapdoor. She'd just managed to catch fabric that had spilled from the side as she stepped down. Moments later, she was back with a full porcelain bowl of treats in her hands.

"Yay!"

A small army of smaller kwamis zoomed out of the spherical Miracle Box towards her. It took five to six kwamis to take the bowl from her hands and set it by them, grunting with noticeable effort.

Trixx dug for the grapes and munched on them greedily, while Wayzz and Sass found their own favorite treats. It made for a constant bite out of her savings to sneak off to the grocery store to get all those things. Not to mention the task of sneaking it all past her ever watchful and almost too considerate parents.

While the kwamis proceeded to eat their snacks and the bowl they came in, Marinette turned to the many lists on her wall. Her ever-growing list of commissions were what kept her from getting eaten out of house and home, though it made geeting the things she needed for more work difficult. Then there were the décor plans for the classroom beneath those. It was no problem, she said. Everyone should just let the class rep take care of it, she said.

She could clock herself with her own yoyo.

While she stared, lost in her many self-assigned tasks, one particular kwami floated beside her.

"You certainly have a lot to do these days." Tikki noted.

"Tell me about it."

Tikki giggled. "If I did that, you'd just yell and collapse. I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

"That's the price of a double life, I guess." Marinette shrugged with a tired smile. "Always something to take care of…"

"I'm pleased you're taking all of your responsibilities so seriously, Marinette, but there's one I think you're neglecting." Tikki's flipper-like hand tapped her on the nose. "The one you have to yourself."

"I'm fine, Tikki. Really."

"That's what all my Ladybugs say. You realize you haven't spent any time with your parents or friends in quite a while?"

"Well… kinda. That's why I'm making these gifts extra special." Marinette gestured to the gloves and other items.

"As an apology?"

"No. I mean, yes. I mean… I should just get back to it." Marinette returned to the table. "There's too much on my plate."

Tikki floated down and plopped on her charge's shoulder. "So maybe you should think about what's on your plate you can share."

Marinette blinked, stopping. Slamming her palm on the desk, she scanned a nearby list of completed items, running through words in milliseconds. Sweat ran down her skin and her bags darkened the longer she went up and down the entries, over and over again. Her mouth drew wider, releasing a strangled gasp.

"What? What is it?" Tikki spoke. "…Marinette?"

"Adrien…" Marinette reeled back, screaming. "I forgot to make Adrien's gift!"

She tore the papers from the walls, stripping layers until the original shade of pink came back into view. She had to be wrong – she wasn't so engrossed in her work that she didn't make a special gift for Adrien Agreste. Though looking over the papers one by one, she only went paler. Names upon names, clothes upon clothes, and there was nothing for one perfect blonde boy.

Screaming, she leapt from her seat, tripping on the scraps of her fabric on the first step. It was hard to believe the boy who consumed her every thought once upon a time suddenly got shifted to the backburner. Nursing the new bruise on the back of her head, she just wanted to add to the throbbing more. After all, what had happened to those sweet dreams of a beautiful house, three beautiful kids and a beautiful pet hamster? Moreover, what happened to her own career as a fashion designer, being a brand name in the apparel scene?

Marinette supposed she would just have to make ladybug-patterns iconic, because that's what she would be wearing more often than ever. She wasn't just Marinette Dupain-Cheng, normal girl with a normal life. There was nothing normal about being a magical superheroine and new Guardian of the Miraculous. That was it – her future was no longer hers, but it was a future that was worth it if it meant people she loved could keep on smiling. Those old dreams would just have to stay on the backburner.

Still, it would be nice after all this time if she could finally tell him how she felt… At least accomplish that. Then, if the fates believed in given and receive, find a way to make it work. That would be nice.

A jingle to the tune of Clara Nightingale's 'Miraculous' song came from somewhere on her desk.

"Marinette?" Tikki floated before her face. "I think someone's trying to call you?"

"Huh?"

Marinette righted herself and brushed aside the papers cluttering her workspace. Her phone was jingling louder and vibrating, with a perky pick of a glasses-wearing brunette flashing a peace sign. Marinette pressed call.

"Hey, Alya." Marinette smiled, brushing her hair back.

"So you are still alive." The girl on the other end joked. "After a severe lack of appearances in the outside world, I was wondering."

"Sorry about that. I've just been busy."

"Girl, that's what they all say. By they, I of course mean hermits with a distinctly lacking love life."

Marinette pouted, blushing. "Excuse me, my love life is perfectly… fine. In fact, I was just about to make Adrien a gift."

"Oh, no! You're up to your armpits in projects. If this keeps up, you're bound to blow a gasket!"

KA-ZAP!

"Like that." Alya muttered.

Marinette nervously turned on her heel. Alya had a sixth sense in terms of the inner workings of Marinette's life. She had probably picked up on Marinette's sewing machine blowing a fuse and smoking. Marinette stammered for words, while wondering in the back of her mind how she hadn't been sniffed out as Ladybug yet.

"Hey, don't get me wrong Mari, it's totes awesome you're getting going with your designing. Not like I've had as much luck with the Ladyblog." Alya's pride and joy, Marinette mused as her friend shifted to anger. "I mean, they've been fighting that same wacked out Akuma all month and they still manage to go AWOL. I'm starved for new content!"

"Can't you just post some Cat Noir meme? It's not like he doesn't crave attention."

"What, do you know him or something?"

Marinette yelped and nearly dropped the phone in her panic. She juggled it back into her grip. "I-I mean, what? Isn't he the type to do that?" She forgot Alya could be shrewder than the average girl.

"Uh-huh… Well, anyway, I've already got plans for a new theory video. I was hoping I could get help on it?"

"Sorry, Als." Marinette sat back down shuffling through papers again. "I'm still getting Christmas gifts done."

"I'm guessing you're hoping to get lucky with the Secret Santa at school or something?" Alya spoke knowingly.

"Nope, just trying to be a good Samaritan, as always."

Although, getting lucky with the Secret Santa would be a bonus in her book. Marinette had armor-plated her heart and said it didn't matter at the time, but the birthday scarf fiasco did sting a little. It was the closest she ever got. What was hurting more were those chances for a perfect whirlwind romance becoming fewer and far between.

"Marinette, don't make me beg. It goes against my code!" Alya begged anyway. "Can you just take a break and lend a BFF a hand?"

"I really am sorry, Alya…" Marinette sighed. "This isn't the kind of thing I can just put down…"

Alya went silent on the other end. Marinette gulped silently. Maybe Alya had hung up, maybe this was the last straw after weeks upon weeks of ditching.

"Okay, don't say I didn't try to do this the easy way…" Alya spoke in that sinister tone she made when poking at Marinette's most vulnerable spots. "Word on the old grapevine is that Adrien's busy getting ready for the winter edition of his dad's brand magazine."

"Yes I am well aware." His schedule wasn't still on her drape for nothing.

"Are you also aware that he'll be working with some model from overseas? I hear she's a real looker."

Marinette yelped, blood going as cold as ice. It was all the makings of a magic formula that was the cornerstone of cheesy romance films. Adrien meets a girl in his line of work, they come from different worlds but defy all odds. Because they have the same job, there was the addition of multiple sightings and the multiplication of feelings, along with the subtraction of outside distractions. She was hoping that her goal of being a fashion designer meant she would be one of those variables – this foreign girl threw all the math off balance.

What if that old goal on the backburner was now to be taken off the stove by someone else? Adrien would now soon be living in a different country in a penthouse with three bilingual children and a pet koi fish. The girl would be lucky if he'd even spared a glance from the airplane that would whisk him away. Soon enough she'd be peddling her failed old rags on the streets to hairless alleycats or singing 'Joyeux Noel' with her friends in rehab wondering what might have been.

"GAAAAHHHH! DON'T BUY THAT KOI FISH, ADRIEN! I REFUSE TO DESIGN FOR HAIRLESS CATS!"

"Aaaand she's back. Hope to see you before first breaks's over!"

"WAIT! IT'S THAT LATE!?"

Her head swung like a wrecking ball towards the clock, screaming after looking at its hands on dreaded number 11. Marinette tore her desk apart knocking books to the floor and stuffing a random handful into her limbs. It was a good five minutes before she discovered her backpack buried in mounds of yarn. Stuffing the books into her pack she jumped out the trapdoor.

"Forgetting something?" Alya's voice called from her still-active phone on the desk.

Marinette shot back up the steps and pocketed her phone, ending the call in the process. She leapt back down again.

"Marinette?" Tikki piped. "Something else?"

Again, she ran back up. This time, she grabbed her school tablet which had been near her defunct sewing machine. The kwamis, watching their new Guardian lose her head and laughing all the while, gave her a giggling good-bye. Tikki had to do it once she saw Marinette was running downstairs for a quick snack and out the door.

"Oh, Marinette…"

Despite being held back another day from school, Adrien still found a smile on his face, albeit a small one. For once, his empty house, white as the ghosts that haunted it with its marble floors and walls icy cold to the touch, had some colors. He reached into a box by his feet, filled with golden dusted Christmas ornaments, setting them one by one on the branches, breathing in the artificial pine.

It was small and had white pine needles to give the house that wintery feel, as if his house needed that more. However, a Christmas tree was still a Christmas tree, and it had taken no small amount of begging and bargaining with his father to even get the credit card needed to purchase it. The lights adorning it were just a plain set with uncolored lights, but they matched the balls, stars, and small angelic figures. Plus, unknown to the adults in the house, he'd gotten the special set that blinked in repetition to Jingle Bells. He'd just have to be sure to keep the switch hidden, although the boy was sure Natalie or his father wouldn't look up from their tablets.

At the very least, it breathed a frosty breath of life into his home that had been lacking for quite a few holidays past. Late at night, when his father retired, he could sneak downstairs and watch the lights twinkle. Adrien hoped that, while his father was sorting through business in his study, he could get a sneak peek.

He reached for the button at the base of the tree. Adrien sneaked a glance at his father in the other room. Sure enough he was still sorting through documents. At least he was handling business at home instead of flying around the world.

The boy had just gotten the switch in his hand.

"Adrien, I'd like a word." The emotionless tone of his father came out.

He heaved a sigh and walked in. There was never room for argument with that voice, but Adrien had hoped to make his case. After all, he did have other things he needed to do, and his father had to have some Christmas spirit in him. Right?

Adrien gave a nod and wave to Natalie. His father's secretary was glued to her tablet, scrolling at mounds of text and lost in her own world. His father was no different, swiping his fingers away at his screen. With how engrossed he was, in his constant business attire of a suit and ascot with his pupils lost behind glasses reflecting the screen, you'd think Christmas didn't exist. His face was as rigid as ever, lines carved as if out of ice.

Adrien nevertheless stepped across the checkerboard floor, his small steps making echoing cracks in the stone. As always, he rubbed the cool metal of his ring to shake strength out. Gulping it down, he drew a breath.

"Father… I know you wanted to speak to me about something important today, but there's something important I need to do as well." No response, Adrien thought with a sigh. "The school is preparing for Christmas and they're really counting on my help to get the decorations and everything set up. There's only a few days left before December and they want to-"

"We need to discuss the upcoming winter campaign."

Adrien stopped short. This time, his father hadn't even justified attention. The young model gave a silent growl.

"This will be an important step forward for the Gabriel brand." He spoke without looking up. "For the past few months I've been preparing for a collaboration with some well-known designers. Their works have been featured in well-known magazines here in Paris and they have stores in both the U.S. and Japan. This move will be a good publicity boost as well as allow us to open our own stores in those territories."

Adrien blinked. "That's great, father, but-"

"Of course, you will be doing photoshoots and fashion shows throughout the month." He lifted his head to look at Adrien, in a tone that wanted no argument. He did hear. "You will have to take an extended leave of absence from school."

"I've already notified his teachers." Natalie spoke from behind. "Everything has been cleared."

Adrien turned so fast between them he near got whiplash. "But father-"

"You don't have a choice."

"But my friends-"

"-Will have to understand that you have an obligation to your work and to the Gabriel brand." Gabriel Agreste spoke without blinking. "Do not make me say it again, Adrien. This is not up for debate."

Adrien clutched his ring hand with his other, looking down.

Seeing no further resistance, Gabriel returned to his screen. "As part of the collaboration, you will be working closely with their daughter, who has garnered some popularity as a model herself. Her name is Ann Takamaki."

The name had struck Adrien as familiar. Ann Takamaki had not been active for very long but through a golden deal of genetics, opportunities, and word of mouth she had become something of a rising star in the industry. He had scanned her face when she'd scored herself some TV interviews as his father was looking out for the competition. This girl had supposedly scored a quick succession of major brand names in Japan from clothes to accessories. Offhand, Adrien could say she was something of an exotic beauty but not much else came to mind.

The boy was shaking files in his head for further information on the girl with quadruple knots forming in his stomach. Whatever request he'd wanted to make had died before it was even really born. It would only have caused problems for his father, so it shouldn't have been that important.

"This collaboration was an important condition for this collaboration." Gabriel raised the evil eye that sent an unnatural chill down his spine. "I trust that you will be cordial with her and do your best for the company's sake."

"Yes, father…"

His father gave a silent nod, the telltale sign that their daily interaction was done. Adrien bowed and left the room – powerwalked, really. As soon as the double doors closed, his original complaint returned to the forefront of his mind.

Adrien turned to voice his concerns again but was greeted with a large polished wood reminder.

Sighing, he walked shoulders hunched up the steps sliding his hand on the cold rail. He found himself in his room where a wreath or two was on the walls and a tiny Christmas tree was by his bedside, wrapped in red and green lights. It was decent enough for a household where Christmas spirit was essentially on life support.

Adrien sat on his bed and opened his drawer for a few decorations he'd saved from his youth when his mother was still around. When there was a family living in this house. The paint on the bulbs was chipped and flaking, and some handmade ornaments were missing parts. He smiled when their strings held on the branches and they still glowed in the morning light.

His black kwami flew from underneath the opposite bedside. "I'm guessing it didn't go well."

Adrien only shrugged. "Does it ever?"

"Not really. I'm betting even Christmas ghosts think your dad's a lost cause." The kwami shrugged.

"Come on, Plagg. You know he has a lot to do." Adrien murmured hanging ornaments. "I'm used to this."

Plagg face palmed. "Look, just forget this photoshoot and the magazine and what's-her-name. If you wanna go to school, and I still don't know why you do, then go. To. School."

"I can't, Plagg. I've been taking too many liberties lately. I need to help my father."

The ornaments in his hand were now chastising him with their shoddy appearances. Like father, like son, it seemed when Adrien had the epiphany that hero work and normal life outside of this old mansion were prying him away from family as well. It was nothing short of a Christmas miracle that his father was even here. It coated his insides with the dripping of slime as he grimaced. His finger pricked on a pine needle punishing him further for absentmindedness.

His father needed this, his support. Adrien could just call it his Christmas present. The best gifts in his opinion were the ones you didn't need to wrap, anyway.

Plagg floated down to his shoulder. "Kid, sometimes you are too nice for your own good…"

"Oh, really?" Adrien quipped.

The boy reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small lump wrapped in red paper. By some miracle of science, the stench didn't leak out. His kwami locked onto the moldy-shaped gift and latched onto it for dear life.

"But that works for me!" He cackled flying back into his hiding space to enjoy his gift.

Adrien shrugged smiling. He reached for his pant pocket and pulled out his phone. A few button presses later and he was greeted with his glasses and cap weaking life of the party best friend.

"Dude, Adrien!" The boy called, his laid-back tone crackling with energy. "Sup?"

"Hey, Nino. Sorry, but I won't be able to make it to school today. Could you go ahead and tell everyone else?"

Nino's laid-back grin went flat with sympathy. "Oh, man. Don't tell me daddy dearest has got you working triple-time as a pretty boy again?"

"Pretty much." Adrien chuckled. "Such is the life of a pretty boy."

"I swear, is your dad even human? It's like the man never had a childhood."

"Hey, go easy on him." Adrien said holding out a hand. "He means well."

The classic back and forth. Nino was firmly in Adrien's corner, of that there was no doubt, but that usually meant harsh rants towards his father. By this point it had become routine. Even the slow scowl that crept onto Nino's dark skin had become predictable at this point. Adrien scratched his golden locks at how he knew the boy better than he knew himself.

"Alright, alright. I'll let it go on one condition…" Suddenly the outside world of Francois Dupont disappeared, and Adrien got a screen full of Nino. His friend wagged his eyebrows in a knowing manner. "Mr. Agreste, any word as to the current rumor floating around that your latest spread will have you working with a hot girl model from overseas?"

Adrien laughed. "Dude, don't you have a girlfriend or something?"

"If the meme fits, live it. Just dudes being dudes."

"Okay, yeah. It's true." Adrien walked up towards the window, looking to the slightly overcast sky from which his supposed new co-worker would be arriving. "I'm not really looking forward to it too much, though."

"What, models don't know how to have fun, either?"

"It's nothing like that. You know me, I prefer a little more… real-world." He'd never breathe a word of it, but most folks in the industry tended to be after certain things. The best thing to do was, as his father said, be cordial and not give this girl any reason to latch on. Adrien trusted his judgment in those matters. "I've got to be prepared to meet with her, so I need to go over my Japanese. Kagami's been helping me practice."

"Japanese on top of English, French and Chinese? Dude, there's a such thing as being TOO well-versed!"

"My father would have to disagree with you." At Nino's exasperated groan, he laughed and went on. "I should get going. We're getting one last lesson under my belt before Ms. Takamaki comes."

Nino nodded with a wink. "Okay, okay. Real talk, though. Has all this talk of a girl model… you know, churned the waters?"

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Again, it's not like that. Kagami knows this is for work. It'll be totally professional."

"Right. No, yeah. TOTALLY professional."

"Okay, I'm hanging up now." Adrien chuckled with a head shake. "I promise I'll make time to hang out as soon as I can."

"It's cool. Just be ready for a party when said time rolls around." Nino brushed his cap. No one could throw a party better than his best friend. "You gotta do you sometimes, am I right?"

… You gotta do you…

"Yeah, right." Adrien murmured. "See ya."

The phone screen went blank, reflecting Adrien's suddenly tired features. If only…

The boy returned to his bed and scrolled through his list of contacts for Kagami's number.

I think this one turned out okay. It ended up longer than I expected but it should be some nice compensation since the last chapter ended up longer than I expected.

I'm glad this story has already gotten such a positive reception. I feel good about how things are going to work out. In terms of my update schedule, since I know people are curious, I don't have a set day for when these chapters will come out but I will try and get them out as soon as possible.

Right now, we have a glimpse of Marinette and Adrien and where they are currently at in terms of everything. As the first line suggests, this takes place about a week earlier from the first chapter. I thought it would be cool if we started this off from a future point as they do in the Persona games. I think it worked out pretty well. By the way, I forgot to add this in the first chapter: for a mood effect, try reading the part in chapter 1 where the PTs hack the jumbo-tron while listening to 'Take Over' from P5R. That song was some good inspiration for that part.

For the reviews:

DangerousFox682: Hopefully, I'll be able to hold on to your attention. What I have planned is interesting.

foxchick1: So far we're just moving slowly along. Intros and characteristic moments are important in stories, after all.

Theludwiggamer: I would like to hear if I'm still number one in your book now that you've had time to read the others. I know 'Raise Your Voice Against Liars' has drawn a bit of a crowd so far itself.

As always, review, favorite, follow! Until next time!