Miss Bustier's class was unfocused. Many students were struggling to stay awake while others had given up listening completely, opting instead to talk quietly to each other.
Marinette stared blankly ahead, an absent grin on her face as she daydreamed about her future with Adrien. Next to her, Alya was skimming through the news with her phone hidden under her desk.
An alert sounded on her phone, causing Alya to gasp and shove the phone into Marinette's face. Jumping at the sudden appearance of something in her peripheral, Marinette looked over at her friend in annoyance.
"Look at this!" Alya whispered excitedly. "There's an akuma just a few blocks from the school." Her not so quiet comment drew the attention of the students closest to her, and soon the whole class was gathered around to watch the live news report. Whispers quickly rose up amongst them.
The footage showed the location of the attack being close by to the school. It then cut to a monstrous looking akuma picking up a car and throwing it into a nearby building. Glass littered the pavement, causing citizens to flee from the scene. Several police officers were helping to evacuate the remaining citizens from the area.
"Everyone, get back to your seats please," Miss Bustier called from the front of the room.
"But Miss Bustier," Alya said, "there's an akuma, and it's only a few streets away." She pointed in the general direction of the news sighting.
Miss Bustier frowned and walked over to the window. She saw no sign of the akuma but it did not put her at ease. "Well, I think that's all the more reason for everyone to go back to their seats."
Most students didn't listen to her although she made several attempts to regain order. Most of the students were loudly gossiping about the akuma at this point. Ladybug was nowhere to be found and the akuma could now be heard in the distance. Everyone was growing more tense as the minutes passed.
Alya continued to argue her point, and a group of students had crowded around the window to watch for signs of the akuma. Marinette used the chaos to sneak out the classroom unnoticed, running to a deserted area before transforming.
Nino was trying to ask Adrien his opinion on the akuma but only got half-hearted responses. He was more focused on listening to the live-stream for any sign of Ladybug's arrival. Adrien was getting anxious to leave and fight the akuma, so when Miss Bustier's back was turned, he got up and started towards the door. Unfortunately, she caught him before he had made it halfway and told him he needed to stay in the class during the attack.
"But Miss Bustier, I feel really sick. I think I need to go to the nurse's office," he said, clutching his stomach and groaning dramatically.
"Well... okay, Adrien," Miss Bustier said, concerned, "but I want you to go straight there. Do you need someone to go with you?"
"No, no. I can manage on my own," Adrien responded, quickly moving for the door. Once he was outside, he started to run, transforming once he was in a safe spot.
Miss Bustier had finally managed to get the class to sit, but she knew there was no point in continuing the lesson. It was also too dangerous to let them go home. Instead she sat quietly at her desk, waiting for any further news.
Alya was back to watching the live-stream on her phone. Ladybug had finally shown up to the fight, followed a minute later by Chat Noir. They were doing their best to move the akuma away from the school but they weren't very successful; it was slowly drawing closer. Alya was so engrossed in watching the fight, she didn't even notice Marinette was missing at first. It was only when she turned to ask her something that she realised.
She stood up and looked around the room. "Has anyone seen Marinette?" she asked. Everyone looked around before shaking their heads. No one had noticed her leave.
"When did you last see her?" Miss Bustier asked urgently.
Alya thought for a moment. "It was before Adrien left," she said, "I don't think she knows the akuma is coming this way."
Miss Bustier got up and told the class, "I'm going to check if Marinette is safe. Everyone stay in your seats until I get back." She left quickly, the door slamming shut in her haste.
"Maybe she went with Adrien to the nurse's office," Nino suggested, trying to lighten the mood. Alya's response was cut off by a deafening roar from right outside.
Suddenly, Ladybug was thrown through the classroom window, and slammed into the wall opposite. Her head and back took the full force, her right earring falling out from the impact. She slumped forwards, too dazed to move.
Everyone stood up in surprise to look at the superhero. Alya grabbed her phone and moved closer to the front of the room to record Ladybug, but Nino stopped her from moving past the front row of desks.
The noises from outside grew more distant, which was a relief to everyone. With the danger gone for the moment, Alya turned to Nino and tried to pull her arm free. She paused when she heard the sound of crunching glass.
A worried Chat Noir landed on the broken windowsill and scanned the classroom. He didn't even notice the small earring rolling slowly towards him. His focus was on Ladybug at the opposite end of the room, who still hadn't moved from where she landed.
Alya changed her camera's focus to him. The rest of the students continued to watch him, too shocked to do anything else.
Chat Noir sighed in relief when Ladybug shifted in her position. She mumbled something too quiet for him to hear as she slowly looked up at him.
He noticed her transformation was coming apart, parts of her civilian clothes appearing. As he moved towards her, he noticed her mask was beginning to disappear too. He tried to get his legs to move faster; he knew he only had a short time before her identity would be exposed.
"Nino, let go," Alya whispered as Nino pulled her further from the two heroes. "We can finally find out who Ladybug is."
Chat Noir realised Alya was standing there recording Ladybug, whose secret was moments from being exposed. He quickly grabbed Alya's phone, cracking the screen and bending the case with his grip.
"Hey! What the hell?" Alya yelled, outraged.
Chat Noir looked down at the now broken phone then tossed it back to her. "Sorry," he said insincerely.
Ladybug looked at her disappearing costume and moved her hands to cover her face in an attempt to protect her identity. She called out to Chat Noir, her voice barely audible, "Chat, my earring."
That snapped him out of it. He looked around the floor and spotted the earring hidden near one of the front desks.
Ladybug's transformation was slipping faster than anyone anticipated. By now, over half of her civilian clothes were visible, and the classmates could clearly see the similarities between what she was wearing and the ones Marinette was wearing that morning. Whispers broke out from the students.
When Ladybug tried to move, she experienced a sudden wave of dizziness that made her fall to the side. Instinctively, she used her arms to break the fall. She shook from exertion as she tried to push herself up to a seated position. Alya's broken phone dropped from her hands and smashed to the floor. "Oh my God, Marinette?"
Chat Noir spun around fast, earring in hand. At this point Ladybug's costume was completely gone. He watched, unmoving, as Alya ran over to Marinette and helped her sit up properly. Marinette flinched away from her gaze, but knew there was no way to hide her identity now. Alya carefully checked her head for injuries, and was thankful when she didn't find anything wrong.
Marinette waved off Alya's concern and attempted to get up from her seated position. "I'm fine, Alya. I'm feeling a lot better now." Marinette was looking more steady, but Alya could see that she was still struggling. She grabbed Marinette's upper arm and helped pull her up.
With Alya's help, Marinette managed to stand. She didn't bother to hide her face anymore, having already been seen by everyone, but avoided looking at her other classmates.
She looked over to Chat Noir who was still standing in the same place as earlier, his eyes comically wide as he stared.
"...Marinette?" he finally asked.
"Chat, I need my earring," she said.
He didn't move. Another roar came and someone outside screamed.
"Chat! We really don't have time for this right now," Marinette said, stepping towards him. "The akuma's still out there." She grabbed the earring from Chat Noir's hand and put it back on, and moved slowly towards the window.
Alya halted her. "You can't go out there like this. You hit your head really hard, you might have a concussion," she said.
"I'll be fine, Alya," Marinette said. "I was just a bit dazed, but my suit protected me from most of the damage." Alya gave her a look. "I'll go to the nurse's office when the akuma's defeated."
Alya groaned in exasperation. "Fine, but you better not die out there."
Marinette cracked a small smile. "Thanks Alya."
Alya thought for a moment, then grinned widely, "And afterwards you'll get to spend some time with Adrien," she teased, making Marinette blush.
The sound of his name snapped Chat Noir back to reality, but he didn't have much time to process what Alya just said. The akuma was more important.
Marinette steeled herself before moving out of Alya's grasp, towards the broken window.
"Tikki, Spots On."
Chat Noir watched Ladybug leap out of the window, swinging from her yo-yo. All eyes turned to him. He gave a small wave to the students and then he left to fight alongside his partner.
AN: Feel free to give any thoughts or criticism on the fic if you feel up to it.