"You're going to be late," Tikki said. Marinette paused in the middle of redoing her pigtails for the third time and pulled a face. Turning her back on the mirror, she gave Tikki a small nod. The first class of the day was with Miss Bustier, and that was the class she was dreading the most. The thought of seeing everyone seemed like such an overwhelming prospect for her, but she knew she had to get it over with.
Picking up her bag, she made her way downstairs. As she passed her parents on the way out, she gave them a small smile. They each gave her a quick hug and wished her a good day. It was a relief for them, seeing Marinette looking happier after some time with Alya.
As Marinette began walking down the street towards the school, she began to have second thoughts. The reality of it all was catching up to her, and she realised she would now have to face everything that happened. She clutched the strap of her bag tight as her steps started to slow.
"It's okay Marinette," Tikki said, coming out to hover in front of her. "We're all here for you." Marinette smiled gratefully. It didn't do much to ease her nerves, but the thought was comforting in its own way.
As she peeked into the school courtyard, she was relieved to find it empty. Still, she sneaked around until she made her way up to the classroom, hiding near the door so no one could see her. When she didn't move to go inside, Tikki gave her a gentle nudge of encouragement. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
There was silence at first as everyone looked around to see who it was. Marinette locked eyes with Alya whose face lit up with joy at the sight of her. "Marinette," she called out. That was all it took to break the silence. Questions seemed to explode from everywhere at once, rooting Marinette in place. The sudden noise was too much for her, and she realised that she was way out of her depths.
Miss Bustier quickly raised her voice to silence the students. "Everyone, quiet please. This is no way to act towards a fellow student." When everyone was silent once more, Miss Bustier made her way over to Marinette, bending down to eye level to quietly ask, "Are you alright, Marinette? No one would fault you for taking the day off."
Marinette gave her a weak smile. "It's okay. I want to be here, and Alya said she would look out for me." Alya sat up straighter to look more imposing to the others, making Marinette crack a smile.
Someone snorted in amusement. "As if she can't look out for herself," Kim said. Alya turned around and glared at him until he stopped talking.
Miss Bustier chuckled. "Well, okay. But I want you to tell me if anyone says or does anything."
Marinette nodded. Happy with the outcome, Miss Bustier moved to let Marinette get past. Her movements were slow as she made her way to her seat. She could feel the stares of her classmates, although she was unable to make eye contact with anyone.
The moment she sat down, Alya leaned over and hugged her. "I'm glad you made it." Having Alya on her side was a huge relief. It made the idea of dealing with everything a bit more tolerable. It wasn't long, however, before some people couldn't hold in their questions.
Kim was the first to crack. "How strong are you?" he asked suddenly. Everyone waited for an answer. "I mean, I know you're pretty strong as a hero. But are you strong outside the suit too? Can I fight you? Are-"
Alya stood up quickly, cutting him off. "Kim, stop. You're overwhelming her." Marinette smiled gratefully. "And she would win anyway, she's Ladybug," Alya finished off, her eyebrows raised to make a point.
Marinette decided to dispel some of the rumours. "I'm actually not that strong outside the suit," she said apologetically. She knew Kim would have been looking forward to having a strong opponent. He looked visibly disappointed at her admission.
"You could still fight her in the suit," Ivan suggested. Kim perked up at the thought.
Marinette couldn't help but laugh at that. "You definitely wouldn't win that fight." The class joined in on her laughter, the imagery very clear in their minds.
"If you're ever up for it," Alix said, "I'd love to race you one day."
"Yeah, we could probably do that," Marinette replied. She wasn't confident she could win against Alix, though unless she was in her suit.
A few students moved closer to hear better, forming a loose circle around her. One exception being Chloé, who had refused to look at Marinette ever since she arrived, and Sabrina, who sat reluctantly next to her friend, sneaking peeks at Marinette whenever she thought Chloé wasn't looking.
More questions started up from all around Marinette, blurring together until she couldn't pick out any single voice from the crowd. "Ugh." Chloé's disgust was heard from the sea of noise. She crossed her arms, finally glancing over at Marinette with a sour look on her face. "I can't believe I admired her," she said, turning away to face Sabrina. Alya looked furious.
"Does this mean we won't be playing superheroes tonight?" Sabrina asked quietly. That surprised everyone. The memory of Chloé in a Ladybug suit made Marinette cringe.
"Is she for real?" Alya whispered in disbelief. Marinette had to stifle a giggle at her reaction.
"Don't be ridiculous," Chloé said to Sabrina, pouting. She lowered her voice so she was talking under her breath. "Of course we are."
"I still can't believe it's you. You're my favourite superhero." Nathaniel's eyes shone with admiration as he spoke. The intensity of his words caused Marinette to blush in embarrassment. She wasn't used to people acting this way towards her.
"You're really amazing, Marinette," Juleka said. "Even before we found out. You're always so helpful to everyone. It's why we look up to you." Everyone nodded in agreement. Marinette couldn't believe how nice everyone was being to her. All of her anxiety had been for nothing; her classmates, her friends, had her back.
Alix studied her. "You know, it's kind of weird that no one figured you out. I mean, you do have a habit of running off whenever an akuma appears. You even look the same as her." Marinette looked around the room, and saw everyone looking her over calculatingly. This level of scrutiny was too much for Marinette, and she looked pleadingly at Miss Bustier to step in.
Max, however, was oblivious to her plight. "I'm surprised no one has noticed the similarities before, though," he said. "After all, you have a ninety-"
"Okay," Miss Bustier interrupted, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "I think that's enough for now. We still have to start class."
Everyone reluctantly went back to their seats and waited for Miss Bustier to start the lesson. Before she could begin, there was a knock at the door. Miss Bustier sighed at yet another interruption. The class was silent as she opened the door.
A student from another class came in to speak with Miss Bustier. At the sight of a stranger in the classroom, all sense of calm left Marinette. Any moment now, someone could say the wrong thing and it would be over. She sat completely still, straining to hear what they were saying. When the student finally left, Marinette sighed in relief.
Alya gave her a look of exasperation. "Jeez, Marinette. Relax. No one's going to find out just by walking into the room."
"I know that," Marinette said defensively. It still took her some time to calm down though. Eventually, her thoughts drifted to Adrien. He still wasn't here yet, which was a relief. But, how would he react once he found out? Would he still want to be her friend, even though she had lied to everyone all this time? She knew how much he hated liars. But, there was no way he could hold this against her, right? Unless…
Her spiralling thoughts ground to a halt as the door to the classroom opened again and Adrien himself walked in, pausing in the entranceway to apologise for being late. Marinette froze in her seat, wondering if it was a terrible idea to tell him after all. The internal debate made her miss the nervous looks Adrien was giving her.
Miss Bustier smiled at him. "Adrien, please have a seat. We're just about to start."
He couldn't help but glance over at Marinette again as he sat down. It caught him off guard seeing her up close without a mask; he had almost convinced himself that it was all a strange dream. Remembering his manners, he politely said hello to her. When she spoke and Ladybug's voice came out, he wondered how he never noticed before. He found it incredible to have been sitting right in front of his partner all this time.
Alya nudged Marinette, looking expectantly over at Adrien. It was now or never.
"Okay everyone, settle down," Miss Bustier called out. "It's about time we start today's lesson."
Marinette frantically shook her head at Alya; now was not the right time. "I'll do it after class," she whispered. Alya accepted it with a sigh.
The class dragged on, no one really listening to what was being said. Marinette was going through all the reactions Adrien could have when she finally told him. It didn't help that she couldn't find the right words to say. Would he even believe her if she just said, "Hey, I'm actually Ladybug." She was so swept up in her thoughts that by the time Alya got her attention with an elbow to the side, half the class had already left.
Adrien was getting up to leave after slowly packing his things away. Alya raised her eyebrows at Marinette to hurry up and make her move. When she hesitated, Adrien finally began to move. In a panic, she leant over the desk and grabbed the back of Adrien's shirt, nearly tumbling over in the process. "Wait!" she shouted.
Marinette looked at Alya for guidance but she didn't provide any help, she was too busy shaking her head at her friend's antics. The few people who were left in the classroom watched on in excitement. "Are you going to tell him?" Kim asked.
Adrien looked at her in confusion. "Tell me what?" It was obvious to Adrien that everyone was in on something. The thought did cross his mind of it being related to the incident the day before, but he'd promised himself he wouldn't think about that.
The whole situation made Marinette feel very put on the spot, and she strongly considered backing out and trying another day. Alya sensed her hesitation and gave some encouragement. "Go for it, girl," Alya whispered to her. "Remember, there will never be a perfect time to say this."
Adrien looked at Marinette expectantly. Marinette wondered why she ever agreed to this. Why was she telling him again? Shutting her eyes, she took a deep breath to prepare herself.
"Just say it already!" yelled Kim.
"Yeah, it's not that hard to say that you're-"
"I'm Ladybug!" Marinette blurted out, then cringed.
Adrien never imagined she would just up and tell him, so much so that he didn't even know how to respond. Instead, he said the only thing that came to his brain. "What?"
Marinette couldn't look him in the eye while she explained, so she stared intently at the desk. She didn't want to see how he was reacting, if he even believed it all. "Everyone else in class found out yesterday during the attack. Since you're the only person in class who doesn't know, I thought it would be fair to tell you personally before you had a chance to figure it out yourself. But no one else can know, under any circumstances, okay?" When she managed to look, he had his dazzling modelling smile on.
"Wow, Marinette. That's amazing. I've always thought you were incredible." Adrien's cheeks went red when he realised what he said. He wondered if he went too far. Flustered, he walked over to the door without saying anything else, waiting for Nino to join him. They left quickly, Adrien whispering furiously into Nino's ear.
Marinette deflated. Oh God, he thinks I'm lying. He must hate me. He'll never talk to me again. Alya shook her out of it. "Calm down. He's probably just overwhelmed. Nino will talk to him." Marinette took a deep breath.
Whispers from the front of the classroom soon grabbed her attention. She looked up and found what was now her entire class, minus Adrien and Nino, staring expectantly at her. She stared back questioningly. When Alya noticed, she looked over at them then back at Marinette. "Oh, yeah. The whole class wants to get together to interrogate you."
Marinette sighed and started to pack her stuff up. "Yeah, I know," she said unenthusiastically. She got up and looked at her classmates. "Alright, come on." She ushered them out the door. "The sooner I answer all your questions, the sooner you'll get over this and go back to normal."
Alya squealed in excitement. "I'll get the boys!" she said as she rushed off ahead of them.
Marinette walked out of the school grounds, her whole class following behind her, watching her in wonder. She led them over to an empty section of the park, near the shade of the trees where no one was around.
Alya was already there, along with Nino and Adrien. Their seating arrangement forced Marinette and Adrien to sit next to each other. Once she sat down, everyone began chattering excitedly.
"Alright!" Alya shouted. "There are going to be some ground rules here. Number one, Marinette can choose not to answer any questions she doesn't want to. If you try to push her on any subject, you'll be kicked from the group. Number two, we all need to keep our voices down so no one overhears us. And number three, never tell anyone anything about this. Understood?" Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Alya looked at Marinette for confirmation.
Marinette took a breath. Focusing on anyone but Adrien to distract herself. "Okay, I'm ready," she said, attempting a smile.
"Awesome! Me first, then," Alya said. "So, how did Chat Noir react?" The questions started pouring from the others.
"Did he know who you were?" Mylène asked.
People were already starting to talk over each other, making it hard for Marinette to focus. "No. We agreed to never tell each other," she said. "But he was always very respectful about it, especially once he found out."
"Your relationship with him sounds so lovely," Rose said dreamily. "Are you two together?"
Marinette's face felt like it was on fire. "What!? No, we're just friends," she insisted. Next to her, not noticed by anyone, Adrien's mood soured. It was never easy for him to hear that she didn't like him back.
Rose's shoulders dropped. "Oh, but you two are so perfect together."
Alix nudged her and held out her hand expectantly. Rose unhappily handed her a small trinket that Alix pocketed with a smug grin. The exchange made the group laugh. Although Marinette laughed along with them, she still felt a bit on edge.
"Hey," Alya said slyly, "don't you think Marinette and Adr-" Marinette gave her a look to silence her. She was not having this conversation in front of the whole class. Alya took the hint and sheepishly dropped the topic.
The mood lightened considerably after that. But, as the questions continued, Marinette's answers still remained short and stilted. She wasn't yet comfortable. Alya was the first to address this. "You know you can trust us, right? We're here for you." Everyone agreed. "The only person you should be worried about is Chloé," she joked.
Chloé huffed, offended. "Please, I would never do that to Ladybug."
"Thank you, Chloé," Marinette said sincerely.
"Ugh, whatever, Dupain-Cheng." Alya and Marinette shared a smile.
It did cheer Marinette up to know they were all supportive, which helped her relax a little. Although they continued to ask her slightly too invasive questions, they didn't push her to answer them.
Dusk had settled over the city before Marinette arrived back home, and she spent the time leading up to their patrol freaking out. She walked circles around her room, trying to burn off some of the excess energy in her body. She had no idea what to say to him, but she had to say something. If she didn't, he would keep his distance forever, out of niceness. It was up to her to make things go back to normal, or whatever normal was now.
Tikki noticed her agitated pacing and stopped her, resting a paw on Marinette's cheek. "Relax. He's your partner, Marinette. He won't think any differently of you."
"That's not what I'm worried about, Tikki," Marinette said as she gave up her pacing to lay down on the lounge.
Tikki looked at her curiously. "Then what are you worried about?"
"Because, Tikki," Marinette said, leaning up on her elbows. "He will want to reveal his identity too, and I-" She sighed. "I don't know." She let herself drop back onto the lounge, rubbing her face in frustration.
Tikki took a moment to consider her words. "It doesn't have to be that way. You've both grown a lot since you began. I'm sure Chat will understand if you want things to stay the same."
Marinette's voice was muffled beneath her hands. "But, I'm not sure if I want it to stay the same."
Chat Noir sat lazily on the edge of a roof, his feet dangling. At the sound of her arrival, he turned and smiled at her. At the sight of him, Ladybug felt her worries melting away. "Hey, Bugaboo," he said as she sat down next to him.
"Hey." She smiled back and leant against his shoulder. They looked out at the city. It was too dark to see much except the many specks of light that dotted the area. "I talked to everyone at school today," she said. Chat perked up at this. "They were really nice about it. Promised they wouldn't say anything to anyone." Chat smiled at that. He knew they were all good, trustworthy people.
Ladybug sat up suddenly, startling him. "Oh! I just remembered. You owe Alya an apology." Chat looked quizzically at her. "You broke her phone, remember?"
Chat's eyes grew wide in realisation. "Oh, right. I'll have to get her a new one then." That made Ladybug laugh, and she rested her head on his shoulder again.
Although she was relaxed, Chat was growing restless. He debated whether to bring up what happened yesterday. Eventually, he decided to go for it. He took a deep breath first to calm his nerves. "Ladybug, is it okay if I say something?" he asked. She looked up at him, considering for a moment before nodding. "I know this is a tough time for you. It's a lot to handle all at once, but… I just just wanted to say I'm glad it's you who is Ladybug. I don't think anyone else could have done it better."
When she didn't respond, he looked at her and saw her eyes were watery. "Chat," she said, sounding close to tears. She didn't know what to say to that. Hearing him say that was a huge relief. It was the best outcome she could have asked for.
Chat continued, fidgeting where he sat. "Look, I'm not going to ask you to change anything about our partnership. I know I used to be…" He trailed off, rubbing his neck at the thought of his pushiness in the past. He cleared his throat and continued. "But, it's up to you if you want things to change or stay the same. I'll support you one hundred percent."
Ladybug leaned into him, hugging him tightly. "Having your support means the world to me. But... I'm not really sure what I want right now."
He hugged her back, squeezing her shoulder. "Then we'll take it day by day."
"Thank you, Chat. For everything. You're the best partner I could have ever asked for, you know that, right?"
Chat puffed out his chest in an exaggerated manner. "Of course," he preened. "Only the best for my lady."
AN: Thank you for reading. I'm pretty happy to end the story here, even if there are things that could be continued, like CN's reveal. I might one day write more for this but I don't think it will happen any time soon. I've become kind of burnt out on this story, so I'm going to focus on other things I'm writing for now.