(Summary: Lila has a new friend. The students of François Dupont can't help but compare her to a certain dark haired superhero.
If you have any prompts or ideas for the next oneshot, then leave them in the comments and I might choose them.
Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir.)
Big, beautiful blue eyes and dark, almost navy, hair that was perpetually tied into twin pigtails with two shining red bows? A tendency to wear only red and black? Best friends with Lila Rossi, who is coincidentally best friends with Ladybug?
Yeah, she's definitely Ladybug.
Or, that's what Alya Césaire thinks. And considering how loud and excited she tended to get with her theories, it was no surprise that the entire class suspected that Akako Coccinelle was Paris' most famous and beloved superheroine, Ladybug. Nobody may have believed her theory about Chloé being Ladybug, but the second Lila nodded as Akako furiously shushed them, suddenly it was the worst kept secret in Paris.
Interestingly enough, Hawkmoth never targeted the Coccinelle family, or Akako in general.
But there were two people who knew that Akako definitely wasn't Ladybug. Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And their reasoning behind not believing the duo was sound.
They were, after all, actual superheroes. And by mere coincidence, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was actually Ladybug.
Shocker, I know.
Marinette had been ready to blow a gasket whenever their classmates referred to Akako by a thinly veiled reference to her supposed alter ego. Adrien's warning grip on her forearm was the only thing holding her still. They had agreed to leave her alone, and alone they left her.
That didn't stop Lila and Akako from approaching her and Adrien's table before class began in hopes of starting trouble. After ignoring the taunts and accusation on multiple different occasions, Marinette finally thought, 'fuck it,' and looked up at her classmates with a sugary smile. Adrien sighed as he caught sight of her expression, but didn't try to stop her, either. He must've been equally as tired of their shit.
"Say, Akako," Marinette flipped through her sketchbook disinterestedly. "Where are you from, anyways?"
Akako certainly spoke without thinking when she said, "South Korea, but my mom's from Nice."
Lila looked at her sharply and Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Isn't Akako a Japanese name?" Marinette frowned at a stray pencil mark, quickly erasing it. She hummed. "Giving a Korean girl a Japanese name. Sounds like something J.K. Rowling would do."
"I─" Akako looked at Lila, seemingly panicked. "I─I─"
"I thought you were Japanese," Alya frowned from her seat.
"I mean─"
"She is Japanese," Lila quickly intervened. "She just wanted to see if Marinette could actually recognise a name from their culture."
Marinette froze, her eyes narrowing dangerously. Adrien spoke before she found her voice. "Marinette is half Chinese, Lila. Not Japanese."
"I─" Lila cringed, but she quickly grinned, as if she were telling a joke. "Did I say 'their'? You know that's not what I meant. Sometimes I mix up French pronouns. You know how learning a new language is. I meant 'her'."
Their classmates scandalised expressions were gone as quickly as they appeared, with the help of Lila's lies, but Marinette knew better. She narrowed her eyes at Lila, ready to rip her hair out for many, many reasons, but Adrien's hand on her knee stopped her.
"Don't pick a fight when there's no chance of you winning."
"Don't I do that everyday?" she quietly retorted. Mme. Bustier walked in, calling the class to attention. The crowd around their desk swiftly dispersed.
"No. You'll always defeat him. But Lila…" Adrien sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She's never going to learn from her mistakes, is she?"
Marinette bit her lip. "Not unless she's knocked down a peg… but they'll never believe that she's a liar."
"Not her," Adrien agreed. "But Akano…"
Marinette's lips quirked up. "She's not very good at thinking on her feet. Very unbecoming, for Ladybug."
"Indeed," Adrien smirked, a muscle movement that was almost unnatural without his signature black mask. "But if we're going to do this, no exposing our identities."
"Of course not," Marinette agreed, appearing, for all intents and purposes, to be completely focused on Mme. Bustier's lecture. "We're just going to expose Lila's."
"Who do you think she is?" Adrien asked after they'd finished up with their patrol that evening.
"Who?" Marinette's feet dangled loosely over her balcony from where she sat. Adrien stood up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Akano. I mean, there's no way that 'Akano Coccinelle' is her real name. She's either an actress for hire or another one of Lila's mindless followers."
"I'd say a follower," Marinette said. "No actress would have stayed by Lila's side after what she did today."
And it had been… something.
Adrien cringed, thinking back to just a couple hours earlier when he and Marinette were just getting back from lunch. Lila had cried and wailed about how Marinette had threatened to disembowel her with a paperclip if Akano didn't give up her Miraculous. They'd 'bravely' defeated the villainess Marinette, and now the entire class believed she was working for Hawkmoth.
"Yeah, Akano had the whole 'Lila is my goddess and can do no wrong' thing down pat. No morally inclined actress, no matter their payment, would actually physically harm a fellow actress for a stunt." Adrien's hand ghosted over Marinette's stomach, his grip on her tightening instinctively as red, hot anger shot through him. Akano had punched Marinette in the gut when she'd tried to walk past their angered mob of classmates. Marinette would've been fine, if there wasn't a distinctly sharp edge to Akano's ring, conveniently gifted to her by Lila. And Akano somehow managed to punch Marinette exactly where she'd hurt herself earlier that day… it was entirely too convenient for Adrien's liking.
"Stop that," Marinette said, reaching back and carding her fingers through his hair. "I'm fine. There wasn't even that much blood."
"None of them even bothered to help you… Kim and Ivan even tried holding me back."
"Yeah, well… when 'Ladybug' shows up and accuses you of being a terrorist, people are going to listen."
Adrien stood up straighter as she spoke. "Mari, you're a genius!"
"I am?" she asked, spinning around on the balcony and hopping onto her chaise, where she promptly sat. "Why?"
"All you need to do is show up and say 'she's not me'!"
Marinette froze, looking at Adrien like he had grown two heads. "...Shit. How did we miss that?"
"I have no idea," he shook his head with a laugh. He leaned forwards, kissing her forehead. When Adrien eventually spoke again, his voice was deep with a warning growl."We're doing this tomorrow. If I have to see her face again tomorrow I'll─"
Marinette shut him up with a kiss. "Hush, Kitty. Murder's illegal, you know."
"I'm pretty sure vigilantism is too."
Marinette paused, narrowing her eyes. "We're not really vigilantes, though." She looked down at Plagg and Tikki who were lazing about down in her room. "...Are we?"
You know, if Ladybug shows up to your class one day when your classmate is supposedly Ladybug, you're going to think of three possible explanations. One, it's an akuma, two, it's a sentimonster, or three: this is actually Ladybug.
Of all the students of François Dupont, only two didn't immediately freak out. Adrien Agreste and Alya Césaire. Adrien Agreste, because this was his plan, and Alya Césaire because she knew. She knew something was wrong. Ladybug would never harm a civilian like that. She'd never laugh as a fifteen-year-old writhed on the floor in pain. She'd never accuse somebody of being a terrorist so publicly.
She just… wouldn't.
"Guys!" Kim shouted. "Don't worry! Akano can just transform and defeat her!"
Lila looked around, panicking. "B-but then we wouldn't be able to tell who's who."
"We wouldn't be fighting," Alix rolled her eyes. She looked expectantly at Akano. "Well? Go on then."
The students stared at Akano, who shifted uncomfortably. "I─I─I─"
"She can't transform." Ladybug's voice was soft, yet strong and clear. "Tell me, have any of you ever seen her transform?"
"I have─" Lila started.
"Other than the person who somehow knows a million celebrities?"
Nobody spoke.
"Don't trust her!" Akano shouted out. "She's an akuma!"
"If I really were an akuma, you'd transform and defeat me, wouldn't you?"
"I─"
"If you really are Ladybug," Maz started, nervously pushing his glasses up. "Then why have you only showed up now?"
"I didn't mind at first," Ladybug said, starting up the steps so that she could be seen by the entire class, her back to Adrien. "After all, her lies were actually protecting my identity. I might never have intervened, because it was rather harmless…" Ladybug glared down at her. "But then, imagine my surprise when I hear that she assaulted an innocent civilian in my name."
"I─" Akano shook furiously. "She's a terrorist! She's working for Hawkmoth!"
"Is that so?" Ladybug smirked, hopping up on Adrien's desk. "If you really were Ladybug, you wouldn't feel the need to justify your actions to me, now would you?"
"I─"
"It's just an akuma," Lila snapped. "We should all get out of here, before she kills us all."
This prompted action. Sabrina jumped up, heading for the door.
"Stop."
Alya's voice caught everyone's attention. She swallowed. "Yes, Alya?" Lila was gritting her teeth.
"Ladybug would never… never hurt a person like Akano did… she'd never do that to somebody. She's never caused an akuma to bleed. Why would she attack Marinette?" Akano shifted uncomfortably as she caught sight of the deathly look on Adrien's face. "And…" Alya looked at Ladybug. "You're right. We have no proof that Akano is Ladybug. They only think that because of my theory and…" Alya's fist clenched. "Lila."
"She is unnaturally sound of mind right now," Adrien muttered to Ladybug.
"There's an easy way to answer this," Alix said, somehow materialising behind Akano and pulling out her earrings. She backed away before Akano's fist could connect with her face, dropping them into Alya's waiting palm. "You do it, Rena Rouge."
"Alright…" Alya put in the earrings. She, as well as several other known Miraculous users gasped in unison.
"Did… something happen?" Mylène asked, peering around curiously.
"It's what didn't happen," Ladybug said.
"There's no kwami," Chloé frowned, speaking for the first time in weeks. "It should've appeared immediately, but it didn't…"
"Then… Akano was lying?"
Adrien sat back in his seat, crossing his arms with a barely concealed smirk. "You know, Kagami taught me a few words in Japanese before. I asked her what the name 'Akano' means, and it means 'red'. And we all know that Coccinelle means Ladybug." Rose stared up at him blankly, still not catching on.
"It's a fake name," Juleka muttered into the silence that prevailed. Rose nodded in understanding.
"Damn…" Kim looked at Akano. "Wait, so you're Korean, right?" Akano looked around, knowing that she was well and truly trapped. She nodded dumbly, staring imploringly at Lila. "Huh. It really was something J.K. Rowling would do."
"Why did you lie?" Rose asked, her lower lip trembling.
"I feel like I can help out here," Ladybug said, smiling at them. "See, Lila's been claiming to be best friends with Ladybug. She's also been saying that Akano is her best friend. Akano looks suspiciously like me… are we seeing the pattern here."
"She lied… for Lila?" Mylène frowned, squeezing Ivan's hand.
"No. She lied at Lila's behest." Max bit his thumbnail. "But why would Lila make her lie? She's obviously not actually friends with Ladybug, so it stands to reason that she's been lying about a lot of other things. Which would mean that Marinette has been telling us the truth the entire time, but we haven't believed her."
"Come on, guys. This is obviously just Hawkmoth trying to tear us apart by planting a fake Miraculous on Akano." A bead of sweat dripped down Lila's forehead. "You shouldn't believe her."
"Come on, Lila. We know that you─"
"NO!" A sudden shriek caused Adrien to jerk forwards in his seat. Akano was clutching at her hair, eyes wide and unseeing. "NO, NO, NO! LILA'S NOT A LIAR! SHE IS PERFECT! SHE IS AMAZING! NONONONONONONNONONOO─"
And then she stopped. The class, even Lila, stared at the girl with baited breath, waiting for her to speak once more. Rose reached out to her, opening her mouth to speak, but Juleka quickly caught her hand and placed a hand on her mouth.
And then, she giggled. Just giggled. Hours must have passed before she abruptly stopped once more.
Adrien rose uncertainly, prompting Ladybug to hold onto her yo-yo, eyes darting between the shaking girl and the windows for any sign of an akuma.
Akano started to violently speak, quickly and quietly, but clearly because of the silence in their classroom.
"So what if Lila asked me to pretend to be a stupid superhero? It doesn't matter. She's my best friend. I'll do anything for her. She loves me. She said so. She loves me she loves me she loves me she loves me she loves me she loves me SHE LOVES ME!"
Adrien flinched back, grabbing Ladybug's hand. She stepped back, their joint hands hidden underneath the desk.
Even Lila looked scared as Akano looked up, smiling sweetly.
"So what if she asked me to kill that girl? I'll do it. It should've worked, but next time it will. I'll kill her─I'll destroy her─I'll do it with a pair of scissors and a smile." Adrien let go of Ladybug's hand, tapping her thigh rhythmically. She nodded in understanding, carefully circling the desks. He knew Morse Code would come in someday.
"I'll flambe her and feed her to pigs and it'll be perfect and Lila and I can be happy and alone and perfect because she loves me." Akano's head slowly tilted to the side, staring intently at the liar who was trying to hide behind Kim. With Alix's helpful prompting, he quickly stepped to the side.
"Right?"
Adrien shivered as he slowly descended the staircase. Lila was frozen in place, staring at Akano in fear. Akano began to move.
"RIGHT, LILA? YOU LOVE ME, DON'T YOU, LILA?!"
Lila flinched back at the scream. Akano lunged forwards, her intentions both a mystery and clear as day, but she was stopped as Ladybug's yo-yo caught her around the waist, pulling her back and away from the students.
"Lila, Lila, Li-lah, Lila, Lila, LilaLilaLilaLilaLiLaLiLALIlaLILALILALILALILALILALILALILALILALILA!"
Ladybug flinched, quickly incapacitating Akano with a move that could easily knock one unconscious.
And then, the only sound that could be heard was the students' laboured breathing.
"Agreste," Ladybug finally said. "I need you to go out and summon Chat Noir. Somebody… somebody call the police, please?" Sabrina's phone was out in an instance, ringing her father quickly.
Five minutes of silence passed. Even when Chat Noir arrived, without Adrien, nobody commented. Adrien must've filled him in on the situation. He was probably in the bathroom right now. There wasn't a single conscious person in that classroom who didn't feel sick.
"Oh my god…" Alya finally said. "'That girl'... she was talking about Marinette. You asked her to kill Marinette!"
Lila's lip trembled. "I─"
"Quiet." The class turned to look at Ladybug. "Not now."
And so, silence prevailed.
Even when four guards arrived, barely anybody spoke.
When Ladybug and Chat Noir were finally allowed to leave, Chat only said one thing at first. "I'm surprised Hawkmoth didn't try to get involved."
"Be thankful," Ladybug said, leaning her head against his shoulders.
"Oh, believe me, I'm not complaining."
By mere coincidence, Gabriel Agreste, who was bathing, couldn't help but bat at his burning ears.
"Stop that."
Akano ended up being committed to a mental asylum back in Nice. Turns out, she had run away to help Lila out when she'd asked. Nobody could prove that Lila really had asked Akano to kill Marinette, but her mother had mysteriously gotten a job back in Italy a few days later.
Eventually, the class did manage to speak with each other. It had left most of them feeling sick to their stomachs, but there was also a feeling, like a weight had been lifted from them.
Marinette had recovered from her wound quickly, and had received plenty of gifts during her temporary bedrest, which technically lasted two hours but nobody needed to know that.
Nobody ever attempted to impersonate the superhero again, except for costume parties, of course, but even then, there was a certain air of awkwardness around the adults whenever the eight year old would run up to them excitedly that first Hallowe'en. When they'd caught sight of Ladybug swinging around above them, they were almost fearful, but turns out she was just chasing another akuma.
But they learned their lessons, regardless.
Never try to best a superhero.
(A/N Fuck. That was… fuck. Yeah. I didn't intend to do that, but I did… wow. Shit.)