Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. Those rights go to the respective creators and owners. I'm just having fun playing in their world.
Note: This is a Season 3 second half altered universe. (Assuming production order is canon chronological)The main alteration is that Miraculer and Stormy Weather 2 are moved to after Party Crasher and a few episodes are removed or rewritten. Gamer 2.0 and Christmaster are deleted in entirety. Stormy Weather 2, Miraculer and Puppeteer 2 will be rewritten. Truth and Lies from season 4 will possibly be moved to before a rewritten Miracle Queen.
Chapter 1: Lost Lunches
Marinette slipped out of the locker room just as the lunch bell rang. "Great!" She thought sarcastically. "I've missed a whole class thanks to Hawkmoth."
With a sigh, Marinette walked over to the cafeteria. She hoped no one had noticed her long absence. Her stomach grumbled loudly reminding Marinette she had skipped breakfast in her rush not to be late to the first class.
The moment she walked into the cafeteria, Marinette noted she was the last student to arrive for lunch. Everyone from her class had already sat down with their respective friend groups. Lila had her posse of Alya, Rose, Juleka, Sabrina, Mylene and Ivan listening to her tall tales. Adrien had managed to pry Nino away from his girlfriend and the duo were happily chatting at another table away from Lila. On a third table, Max, Kim and Alix were enthusiastically debating the difficulty of a challenge Alix had set for Kim. Nathaniel sat with Marc, Ondine, Aurore and Mireille from Ms. Mendeleiev's class who were loudly discussing Ondine's latest date with Kim.
The oddity was Chloe. The rich mayor's daughter sat on her own. It seemed even Sabrina had deserted her in favour of Lila. While paying for her lunch Marinette saw Chloe stare begrudgingly in Adrien and Sabrina's directions. Marinette wondered if she was lonely.
As much as she held animosity toward the spoiled rich girl, Marinette knew it would be the right thing to do to give Chloe company for lunch. Besides that she certainly was not going to sit with Lila's group, she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Adrien and she didn't want to get involved with Kim's shenanigans or dating life. Given her few options, Marinette reluctantly placed her tray down across from Chloe and sat down.
Chloe crossed her arms and scrutinised Marinette carefully. "Just what do you think you're doing sitting here?"
Marinette nodded towards Sabrina at Lila's table. "Sabrina seems pretty enamored right now with Lila. I thought you could use some company."
Chloe sniffled haughtily, "I couldn't care less about that. Sabrina can be friends with whoever she wants."
Chloe wasn't biting Marinette's conversation starter and she wasn't eating her lunch either. Marinette took note of that after a mouthful of her own lunch. "If you're not concerned, why are you playing with your food?"
Chloe stopped poking around with her fork and scowled darkly at Marinette. "It's hard to eat when you're being harassed by your classmates."
"Sorry," Marinette conceded but continued anyway, "but I think we're in a similar situation. Alya is to me what Sabrina is to you and both of them look like they are deserting their old friend for the 'amazing' new girl."
Chloe abruptly stood up scraping across the floor as she did so. "They are nothing alike. Sabrina is loyal to me, not that harlot. Alya is a gullible, foolhardy hypocrite with no respect for personal privacy."
Marinette didn't know how to respond to that outburst. It didn't matter anyway since Chloe swiftly moved away to another empty table that had a view of Lila's table. Marinette thought over Chloe's description of Alya. "All that can't be true, right?"
It wasn't long ago that Marinette realized she had been emulating many of Alya's traits in and out of the mask. Confidence didn't come naturally to Marinette, but was one of Alya's strongest traits. Likewise, Marinette was quite forgiving and didn't make a big deal over minor wrongs before Alya came along with her strict sense of justice.
Now Marinette wondered if she had picked up some less desirable traits from Alya too. In any case, she still didn't want to sit on her own. Marinette decided she might try her luck with Adrien and Nino despite the risk of embarrassing herself in front of Adrien. "I guess I'll take my chances with Adrien."
To get to Adrien's table Marinette had to walk past Lila's table. When she did so Alya called out to her. "Marinette, Ladybug gave Lila a lucky charm that repels akumas."
"Cool, sounds like we won't have to worry about Hawkmoth much longer then." Marinette immediately brushed off the lie and continued on.
"Don't you want to see it?" Alya stopped Marinette in her tracks.
"It will still take a while to defeat Hawkmoth. This was the first one and it took forever to make." Lila commented holding out the yoyo she was passing off as an anti-akuma charm.
Marinette frowned. She could draw attention to a flaw in Lila's strategy. "Why not give the first one to Monsieur Ramier. He's been akumatised so many times, I've lost track of the count."
"That's not nice, Marinette. You shouldn't make fun of a poor homeless man's feelings." Lila faked a tone of concern for her audience.
"Marinette!" Alya scolded with a scowl.
"Don't twist my words, Lila. Firstly, I'm suggesting the man who is bullied most by Hawkmoth should get an anti-akuma charm. Secondly, Monsieur Ramier isn't homeless." Marinette's temper got the better of her and she unleashed a rant upon her rival. "Thirdly, Ladybug has a duty to the city first. I don't think she would be so selfish as to put a friend before that."
"Selfish?" Lila turned away from the table and swung her legs over the bench to more properly face Marinette. "Hardly selfish when we don't even know if they work yet. We wouldn't want to get Monsieur Ramier's hopes up for nothing or give away Ladybug's plan."
The rest of Lila's posse hummed in agreement. Marinette was flabbergasted. It didn't make sense. Lila had such influence over her followers that they ignored Marinette's first two points. She was at a loss for words. "But…"
"Don't be so critical, Marinette. This has to be kept secret until we know the charm works." Alya implored Marinette's silence unnecessarily.
"Alya, if Lila wanted this kept secret she wouldn't have told all her friends in the middle of the cafeteria." Marinette huffed and moved past her friend.
Unfortunately, Marinette didn't see that Lila had subtly stuck a foot out in her path during the argument. Marinette promptly tripped, seemingly over thin air, and went crashing to the ground, lunch tray and all. Marinette's lunch and drink splattered all over her chest and ruined her shirt.
"My lunch!" Marinette cried in dismay.
"Here, let me help you up." Marinette looked up to see Adrien offering his right hand to her. In his other hand he held a bunch of napkins ready to clean up the mess. How he got over to her so fast Marinette didn't know, but she was happy to accept his help.
Marinette took his hand and stood up. "T-thanks, Adrien."
Adrien quickly gave her the napkins. "Are you alright? No bruises?"
Marinette froze after receiving the napkins. Adrien was wearing a smartwatch, a Tsurugi Tech smartwatch to be specific, on his left arm. She was instantly reminded that Adrien was on very close terms with Kagami Tsurugi.
Kagami was Marinette's main rival for Adrien's affections and it seemed the Japanese girl was winning. Despite that, there was something amiss about Kagami's relationship with Adrien. It almost seemed just as one sided as Marinette's relationship with Adrien. Marinette couldn't put her finger on why though.
Marinette had recently become friends with Kagami. However, only one of them could have Adrien's romantic affection. It would end in heartbreak for the other. A dilemma reared its ugly head in Marinette's mind: she could keep pursuing Adrien or retain Kagami's friendship. Marinette really wanted to be with Adrien, but Kagami had been a sturdy rock to lean on with the waning of her other friendships to the 'courtesy' of Lila. If a special gift like that watch was any indicator, then Marinette was fighting a losing battle in gaining romantic attention from Adrien. Maybe it would be better to…
"Marinette?"
Adrien's voice brought Marinette back to the present. She realised she hadn't answered Adrien's question. "Uh, wh-what? What was the question?"
"Are you hurt?" Adrien repeated his concern then offered, "I can take you to the nurse if you need a hand."
"NO!" Marinette suddenly squeaked. "I mean you're fine…I mean I'm fine…not hurt at all…only bruised my dignity…no need to see the nurse."
"That's good." Adrien sighed in relief. "Sorry about your shirt. You should probably get that cleaned up."
"My shirt?" Marinette frowned and looked down at her top. There would be little chance of getting the stains out. The shirt was likely ruined. "Oh, right, I'd better go to the bathroom and get cleaned up before lunch ends."
Marinette turned and ran out of the cafeteria, her face blushing red as her anxiety and embarrassment caught up with her. She madly dashed straight into the girls bathroom to clean herself up in front of the mirror. It wasn't until all the mess was gone that Marinette thought more thoroughly through her interaction with Adrien.
The way Adrien had rushed to help her didn't seem like something 'just a friend' would do. Then Marinette saw his new watch. If Adrien had accepted such a gift from Kagami then Marinette should concede that the other girl had won his affections
Which brought Marinette back to Adrien rushing to her aid. Everyone was watching when Marinette fell, and some people might construe Adrien's kindness as an attempt to flirt with her. Some people might construe Marinette's flustered reaction as flirting back.
Adrien had a lack of social awareness at times and could be forgiven for not seeing how he would be perceived. That social ineptitude was usually blamed on homeschooling for a decade, but that was a common misconception. Marinette knew better. The blame could solely be laid on Adrien's reclusive father and his strict to the minute schedule that removed any time for social interaction between activities.
On the other hand Marinette was outgoing and helpful despite her shy, nervous and clumsy demeanour. People had higher expectations of her social awareness. She should know better than to flirt with a crush taken by another girl.
What if someone said something to Kagami? What if Kagami thought Marinette was moving in on her man. Kagami wouldn't want to be her friend anymore. What if Adrien was told Marinette was hitting on him like a stalker fan even though he had a girlfriend. Adrien would hate her too and then she would have no friends!
BRRRRRRiiiiiiiing!
The school bell rang signifying the end of lunch. "Great!" Marinette thought with a sigh. She couldn't get a replacement lunch now.
TIkki, the kwami of her Miraculous, realised Marinette was no longer distracted by her spiralling anxiety and flew in front of her holder's face. "Finally! I've been trying to get your attention for a while now, Marinette. Your stomach has been growling for the last five minutes!"
"It looks like it will have to wait a little longer, Tikki. I have to go to class now." Marinette reminded the ladybug kwami as she gathered her things.
"You need to eat something, Marinette." Tikki contradicted Marinette. "Have the cookie from your purse."
"We need that in case you need to recharge during an akuma attack." Marinette argued stubbornly.
Tikki crossed her tiny little arms and pointed out, "Hawk Moth has already scraped the bottom of the barrel today with Mr. Pigeon. Do you really think he'll find another victim? Besides, you haven't had anything to eat for too long."
Marinette didn't heed Tikki's argument. "We can't underestimate Hawk Moth's desperation. I can eat when we get home this afternoon. It won't be that long."
Tikki tried to protest one last time, but Marinette was already heading out the bathroom door. It was clear Marinette had made up her mind. Instead, Tikki hid inside Marinette's purse.
Walking down the hallway toward the next class Marinette suddenly felt light-headed. Her vision went blurry and she swayed off balance. Were her ears ringing or was that her imagination? She staggered…..and then she fell.
Marinette banged her head as she hit the floor. She cried out in pain, but to her ears it sounded like a distorted whimper. The last thing Marinette saw and heard before she lost consciousness was a yellow blob calling her name. "Marinette? Are you ok?"
Author's note: For those who read the first version, I know what you're thinking. This is very different to the original start I had. One of the main ideas behind Marinette's health crisis in both versions is to have her parents become suddenly overprotective toward her. Under their watchful eyes Marinette will be unable to use ridiculous lies to transform and have to resort to a sort of classified truth which won't always work.