A/N: Thanks for sticking around! Here's chapter two. I hope you enjoy it and let me know if you do!

Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous. I don't own Studio Ghibli.

Prompt: Ghibli AU

2.

Marinette slept in. When her mother came to check in on her, she didn't have much time left to get dressed, grab a croissant and get to school. She barely remembered to slip her phone into her bag before running off. So when she arrived at school, face red and her breathing erratic, she had no idea why everyone was looking at her as if… well, as if something had happened. And from the glint in Alya's eyes, she gathered it had something to do with the Parisian superheros.

"Good morning," she said, slipping into her seat next to her friend.

"Don't good morning me, Marinette," Alya teased, shoving her phone under Marinette's nose. Her hand was shaking from the excitement, so the bluenette's eyes had hard time focusing on it. In the end, she just grabbed the phone to get a good look. She immediately wished she hadn't.

"What's this?" she asked cautiously. She tried very hard to hide the upset in her voice, because she clung desperately onto the hope that this was some kind of editing trick. Of course she knew it couldn't be – the dress in the background was proof enough. She hadn't started working on it a long time.

"You tell me, girl!" Alya laughed, thinking Marinette was joking. "It was posted on your account yesterday around 1 a.m."

"WHAT?" Marinette almost dropped the phone, so the journalist took it back before anything could happen to her precious device. She watched as the bluenette scrambled to get her own phone out, unlocked it to find a flood of notifications just the moment Ms Bustier walked in and she had to put her phone away. Marinette took a few deep breaths in order to at least look calm, but Alya could tell she was panicking on the inside.

"Let's talk later," she whispered to her friend. She had a lot of questions and from the way it looked, so did Marinette. The journalist wondered, if Chat was just being his mischievous self and taking advantage of an opportunity. Based on Marinette's reaction, she probably wasn't involved in it. Yet even so, Alya found the photo to be awfully cute. It was just like Marinette to fall asleep over a textbook. Chat Noir looked good, too, with his wide grin. He appeared to be having fun.

She tore a piece of paper from her notebook and scribbled on it before passing it to Marinette.

It's a great picture! You look good in it and that dress! It's gorgeous! Why have I never seen it before?

Marinette read the note and slipped it in her pocket. Then she wrote a reply back on the edge of her notebook. Alya leaned only slightly closer to read the black-inked I'm going to kill that cat. She suppressed a laugh and rolled her eyes. Marinette pulled her notebook closer to her, glaring at Alya who smirked back at her.

As soon as the bell announced the end of the lesson, Marinette jumped out of her seat and made a dash for the door, phone securely in her hand. Alya rushed after her. Nino and Adrien, who had been discussing the photo earlier, too, exchanged a look and went after the two. The girls were headed towards the stairs where Marinette plopped down and started checking for damage.

"This is awful," she muttered, seeing that everyone in their class had liked the photo. And some more people that Marinette didn't even know. There were some comments, saying they looked cute. A lot of people were asking how she'd managed to get the superhero to come to her house.

"It's not so bad," Alya tried to console her. "It could be worse! He could've tagged himself or added more hashtags… Honestly, Princess Diaries isn't that big of a thing anymore, so hardly anyone who matters to us follows it."

Adrien, who overheard all that, nodded thoughtfully. Alya was right. He would have to do much better the next time. As soon as he thought about it, he realized how much he actually wanted to do it again. So what if Marinette was upset right now? Alya had managed to coax a smile out of her. She always could.

While Adrien was planning his next move as Chat Noir, Nino wrapped her arms around his girlfriend, coming to her aid. There was an amused smile playing on his lips.

"If it helps somehow, dude over there thought you looked really cute." He winked at Marinette whose face transformed from sad to hopeful to absolutely horrified. She glanced at Adrien. He seemed to be in his own world. The girl was grateful for that, because it meant he couldn't see her bright red face.

She slapped Nino's arm, making the man laugh.

"Shut up, Nino!" Her face was beet red.

"Well, he's right," Alya quipped with a smile. "It made me weak in the knees when I first saw it!"

"Are you sure it wasn't because you saw Chat?" Marinette asked playfully. Her friend pretended to think for a moment.

"Nope. You look so damn cute there that… hey, what's that?" A sweet melody drifted in through an open window. Alya looked out just in time to see the newest supervillain turn the street and everyone on it into a mellowed out version of them.

"Guys, we've got to go!" Marinette called to everyone just as the akuma alert was broadcast throughout the entire city. Adrien took this moment to slip away. And just in time, too. Unknown to him, the rest of his class was touched by the magic. It all happened quietly. He transformed in the boys' lavatory. His surroundings were transforming as well, becoming liquid and then solidifying again. It didn't look too different, but when he landed back on it, he knew it was not the same as before. There was a hum to it, a gentle melody. The atmosphere had changed. If he didn't know what had granted this power of creation, he would even have said he liked it. It was strangely peaceful.

Chat Noir moved cautiously on his reconnaissance mission. He entered the classroom he'd left to check up on his classmates, surprised to see them all very much like themselves. Except for the obvious: everyone had changed. The class was buzzing with life. Among those who had retained their human form, there were others who had been less fortunate. The superhero noticed a brown fox squirrel and a red turtle huddling together (Alya and Nino he presumed), the girl baring teeth at anyone who threatened to come too close to her or her companion.

"Chat Noir!" It was a small, but angry voice that spoke, drawing his eyes to a tiny creature, merely ten centimeters tall if even that. It had blue eyes and dark blue hair in pigtails. It took Chat Noir a moment to realize this was Marinette.

"Need a little help?" he leaned forward with a wide grin that sent shivers down her spine, offering her his hand to step on. Marinette stomped on it unhappily. She wasn't keen on having to deal with the cat but she wanted someone else's feet to accidentally crush her even less.

"Oh my gosh, you look so cute!" gushed the superhero at her pouty face. "I need a photo of that!"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Marinette grabbed onto one of his fingers, as Chat looked around for the phone he'd left behind. He moved fast and it made the girl in his hand feel dizzy. There were so many things she wanted to tell him. But she was too terrified of falling to open her mouth. Being tiny put things into a new perspective. She was hyper aware of all the dangers to her brief existence. She could fall. She could break her neck. She could survive the fall and then be crushed under feet or eaten by someone who had lost their human form.

Finally, Chat gave up on the phone and pulled out his baton instead. He pressed the paw print at the upper end to reveal a small screen. She lifted Marinette up and put her on his shoulder before instructing her to sit down, so she wouldn't fall off.

"Come on, say cheese!" He took a photo with the selfie camera. Marinette glared at him. Chat Noir didn't mind. If anything, the boy under the mask felt glee at getting another awesome photo with his sweet classmate. He might even start an album!

"Don't think you can get away with this!" Marinette waved a finger at him. Chat Noir burst out laughing. It was too precious. His body shook with raucous laughter badly enough that Marinette grabbed onto the first thing she could think of: his golden hair.

"I'll take whatever punishment you come up with, Purrincess." His eyes were sparkling as he eyed mini-Marinette through his eyelashes. "Let's get you out of here. I bread to think what could happen to you here, Purrincess."

Marinette groaned at the pun. "Just leave me in the other classroom. I'll be fine there."

"As you wish, Purrincess."

The neighboring classroom was empty just like Marinette had anticipated. Chat checked every nook and cranny in the room twice before placing her on the teacher's desk. In safety, Marinette was free to let all her frustration with the cat out. But just as she was about to tell him what was on her mind, the cat winked at her from the door and was gone, locking it behind him.

"That cat… " she muttered angrily.

"Marinette!" Tikki phased through the ceiling, normal-sized and looking very much like herself. Marinette sighed in relief.

"Tikki, thank heavens you're alright! We have to help Chat! Do you think it's okay to transform?"

Tikki gave the girl a quick once-over. "We won't know until we try." she said wisely.

"Well, then… Tikki, spots on!"

Pink light engulfed the girl immediately. As soon as her transformation was complete, she sighed in relief again. It had returned her to her proper size. She jumped off the desk, moved to the window and opened it, escaping the super safe room Marinette was locked away in.


"Milady, you made it!" Chat Noir grabbed Ladybug's arm and planted a kiss on the back of her hand. "I totoroly knew you would!"

Ladybug pulled her hand back before he could kiss it again. "Chat Noir…" she warned. "I saw that photo. You're putting Marinette at great risk by visiting her like that."

Chat Noir scoffed at that. Marinette was so clumsy sometimes that as far as he was concerned, she was already at risk. "Princess is more than capable of fighting her own battles."

Ladybug's smile softened a little. Chat didn't know it was her who he was complimenting, but it was definitely working the right way. "I like your spirit, kitty, but it might be better to stop before… what the heck is that?" Her eyes moved past the superhero to the villain.

Chat Noir turned his neck to see what she was talking about. "Oh? That, milady, is a giant Totoro."

"I can see that. The akuma must be in the umbrella." Ladybug looked at the creature with confusion. There weren't too many options. It was either the umbrella or the giant acorn. "Let's go get it."

Chat didn't move. "Oh, deer god."

"What now?" Ladybug snapped. She was ready to attack the giant plushy however necessary.

"I think you might be wrong this time."

Ladybug spun around. Down on the street behind her, there was a giant deer. On its back sat a young man, dressed in black. His face was covered by a mask that Ladybug, having seen the movie a couple of times. He had No Face mask on, but the colors were flipped. It was black with white slits for eyes and mouth, its stripes remained purple.

"I am No Face and I am here to take your Miraculous!" He didn't use words to introduce himself. His animosity was carried over by a sudden gust of wind.

"I'll get the mask while you distract the Totoro?" she offered, flailing her hands. Ladybug wasn't sure how to approach this villain who seemingly did nothing but stare sadly into space. She felt sorry for him. Ladybug didn't wait for Chat Noir to answer, trusting him to follow the plan like they usually did.

"We don't have to fight, you know." She approached the deer god in a confident stride. Her yo-yo was swinging in her hand up and down, up and down, ready to be used for a quick escape if necessary. No Face turned to face her.


Their fight was quick and surprisingly painless. It was impossible to discern why. Looking back, Marinette surmised it was because sadness wasn't a very motivating negative emotions. The akuma victim turned out to be a Japanese animator who had been told his work had no originality, "no face" as his French colleagues had put it jokingly.

"I'm still working on finding my voice…" he admitted to Ladybug after she'd purified the akuma. Marinette related to that. Sometimes it felt like her head was home to a gazillion brilliant and at times awful ideas that she couldn't share with anyone. The good and the bad and the weird and the wacky – pictures that she had sketched out of pure curiosity. Finding her voice had been less about what kind of clothes she wanted to make but more about what she didn't like at all: the discarded ideas, the trying and failing.

Marinette made it back to the locked room seconds before Chat Noir. Hearing the door unlock, she hid Tikki behind her back before it swung open and a curious cat peeked in.

"Chat Noir!" she squeaked nervously. "What brings you here? Hahahahah!" Even despite her inner panic, she managed to stay coherent. Her anger was replaced with panic as soon as she realized there was a risk of revealing her secret identity.

"I'm good! So you can go? Yeah, you can go!" Marinette moved Tikki, so she was holding her with only one palm, and used the other to wave at Chat Noir awkwardly. The superhero grinned, as he grabbed her hand to kiss it goodbye and left without a word. After all, she wasn't yelling at him for taking sneaky photos and that's what mattered.

When the door closed after him, her entire body slumped forward as she sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry, Tikki, I'll give you a cookie right away!" She said, taking the treat from her bag and passing it to the kwami.

"It's okay, Marinette. We must protect your identity."

"Yeah, but still. Chat Noir is too perceptive for his own good sometimes…" She groaned. "Oh no! I forgot I wanted to give him a stern talking-to! What is he doing taking photos like that?"

Tikki giggled. "Maybe he'll get bored soon!"

"I hope so! If he doesn't, I don't know what I'll do."

Marinette's phone pinged with a new notification. She reached for it and Tikki pushed it closer, her soft laughter warning the superhero about possible puns. Chat Noir had tagged her in a photo.

"Baron: The Cat Returns meets The Secret World of Marinetty," she read the caption out loud. Tikki's giggles rocked the bag. "That cat!"

They heard steps. Marinette snapped her purse closed and walked over to the door to open it before the other person could. Alya showed her phone into her face.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" she squealed. "Look at this!"

It was the photo of mini-Marinette sitting on Chat Noir's shoulders. She was glaring at him. He was grinning in a way that made girls weak in the knees. If Marinette didn't know him so well, it would make her heart jump in her chest.

"As your best friend, I demand an exclusive interview for Ladyblog!" Alya continued matter-of-factly. "He just posted it and it's already blowing up. I wouldn't be surprised if they report it on evening news."

"Evening news!" Marinette wanted the ground to open up and swallow her.

"You two look so adorable! You make a great Arrietty!" The journalist continued, patting her friend on the back in a halfhearted attempt to comfort her. "Hey, Nino! Adrien! What do you think of this picture?"

Alya rushed over to the boys in the hallway to show them the photo, too. Nino whistled. Adrien smiled, cheeks turning a light pink. It went unnoticed by his friends.

"I think it's sweet."