"Don't be amused, it's just the news. Police officer Agent Roger has reported no warrant has been granted. It is suspected that the judges have been bribed by the mayor in order to keep his daughter from facing the law."

Alya and the true fox

As Ms. Bustier was opening the review lesson, Lila glanced over at Alya. The violent blogger was on a rage Saturday. She had managed to convince Alya that she thought she saw Maribrat and Adrien, allowing the redhead to calm down. Alya had then suggested that they go see a movie, where they almost ran into to Adrien and Marinette again. Thankfully, she was saved by Nino's timely call, asking if they wanted to meet up. They sat there as Alya vented about how Adrien's one day off was spent with Maribrat instead of his good friends. Lila didn't care too much and had spent most of the time plotting on how to drive a wedge between them and Adrien. Her plotting was interrupted when the one person she was ever truly scared of arrived: Kagami.

"Hello Alya, Nino." She didn't even give Lila a second of her time. Kagami was on a tight schedule and couldn't afford to waste time. "I couldn't help but over hear you shouting about Marinette. Is she okay?"

"She is okay, but when I find her she won't be. Marinette broke Luka's heart and has been ignoring my calls. I told her the plan is to set up Lila and Adrien and she hung up on me."

Kagami shook her head at Alya, "You clearly forgotten Marinette's passion for Adrien, she talked to me when she was questioning whether or not to turn Luka down."

Alya frowned, "She didn't even say anything to me."

"I was there when he called, she felt terrible about turning him down, but now I feel like things are on the right course if she and Adrien are out on the town together." Before Alya could retort, Kagami's phone went off, "Sorry, but I must go. It was nice seeing you two." With that she spun on her heel and headed out.

"What a.."

"Babe, don't. Can't be giving Hawkmoth more akumas now."

It took all her effort not to sneer right there in class at the memory. She glanced behind her towards tomato head. Perhaps it was time to put her plan in motion. Or should she reconsider? She switched her look to across the alse, looking at Kim. He was a simple guy, easy to manipulate. And as far as she knew, no one else has a claim. That she knew of.

Adrien

He stood outside the Dupain-Cheng bakery, unsure whether or not to enter. Not quite recovered from his ordeal Saturday, his legs seemed stuck to the ground. At the movies, he managed to act normal, even convincing her to let him pay for the tickets and snacks. And he would argue with her every time to let him pay, because the pout she makes when someone pays for her is the cutest thing in the world. Which was the second time he thought she was cute in the same day.

Plagg couldn't stop laughing since about when he struggled to tell Marinette that he liked her Chat Noir themed outfit and that she looked cute wearing it. She blushed lightly, thanking him. From there it was an awkward silence which she broke saying, "I guess you could say I'm the cat's meow." Adrien's jaw dropped so hard he swore there was a dent in the pavement. First she had been texting him hearts. Then she showed up in a Chat Noir themed outfit. And then she drops cat puns the whole time. Due to being sheltered and only having Chloe as a friend weakened his social abilities to the point where he can't tell if she is flirting.

But he did know that she has a crush on him, and has been dropping support and appreciation for Chat Noir all around him. It's almost as if she knew he was Chat Noir and admitted her crush to Chat Noir knowing she was confessing to Adrien. If only he truly knew. Whatever it was, he couldn't help but admit he was starting to fall for designer and was both nervous and excited to spend time with her.

And Plagg won't help at all. At least he won't help Adrien that is.

Marinette

Despite her plans for finalizing designs for Jagged Stone's tour outfits and merch, she was helping out in the bakery. After helping a customer, she spotted the love of her life standing outside. Marinette smirked to herself. According to Plagg's reports, she had definitely knocked him off balance and had him spinning in circles. Maybe today she would ease up a bit. But then she remembered that CHAT NOIR, punning annoying Chat Noir was the guy who had been able to make her a drooling mess with one look.

She pulled out her phone and set him a quick text.

Marinette: If you are worried about how you look, I can see you and you look purrfect ;) 3

The way his cheeks lit up made her smile widely. It was extremely satisfying. Plagg snuck up on the counter, careful to stay out of sight. "Please leave some part of him alive. We still need him to fight Hawkmoth."

"I know, I know. But it's so fun to tease him. Especially when he doesn't know that I know that he knows."

"I need more cheese."

"What happened to the wheel I got you?"

"I ate it."

"You are going on a diet." Before Plagg could protest, Adrien entered the bakery, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Hi Adrien!" She beamed at him.

"Hi Mari," Adrien stuttered slightly, "Did I come to early? I mean I can come back later, or if you don't want me here at all that's ok to?"

Marinette giggled, making his already flushed cheeks grow darker. "Adrien, I invited you here, remember? I'm just helping my parents with the morning rush, which is almost over." He nodded understandably, clearly still embarrassed. She was tempted to tell him that she knew he was Chat Noir and that she was Ladybug. No, he had to earn that knowledge by asking her out. "Once I'm done helping here we can go upstairs." She looked at him, frowning did you have breakfast?"

Adrien hesitated, he did have breakfast just the model diet version that didn't support his secret superhero activities. "Yeah, I had breakfast." Marinette frowned at him, clearly catching his hesitation and not buying it. He sighed, "It was just the regular diet my father says is necessary for modeling."

Marinette's frown didn't go away, she knew that he was not getting enough food, unless the dietitian secretly knows Adrien is Chat Noir. "Here take a few croissants. you need to eat properly, not barely." He opened his mouth to protest, but then saw the concern in her eyes as she shoved a paper plate in his hands. "No buts, you can feed yourself or I can shove them down your throat."

He took the plate meekly and sat down at a table along the wall as another customer came in. Marinette gave the lady her order and accepted the payment, entering the transaction into the register. Once that was finished, she glanced at him to make sure he was still eating before heading back to talk to her parents. Adrien was simply running another similarity between Marinette and Ladybug. One time on patrol, she had brought some treats which he tried to refuse due to his diet. She glared him down and made it clear that if he didn't eat the right amount of food with the amount of exercise he got as a superhero, she will shove the food down his throat. Yep, he has a type.

Sabine looked up as her daughter approached, smiling knowingly. "Adrien is here?" Marinette looked surprised, nodding her head. Sabine laughed, "Dear, we could hear you threatening him if he didn't eat. Maybe go a little bit easier on him? Your father and I rather have him as a son-in-law rather than scared away."

Marinetteflushed, "Mooomm," she complained.

"You're the one who spent how long swooning over him?" Sabine smiled at her, "I'm taking over the front. It has slowed down enough, so you can take him upstairs to your room. But no fooling around, or do we need to have the talk again?" Marinette's entire face was beat red, she could not go through that again. She nodded, then headed to fetch Adrien before her mother could embarrass her in front of him. As she exited the kitchen, she snagged a plate of cookies that didn't make the test for going on the selves to sell to customers. To her approval, Adrien had finished the croissants she had given him and was waiting patiently for her.

"My mom said they don't need my help down here anymore, so we can go upstairs to my room." He nodded, getting up to follow her upstairs into the apartment above the bakery.

Kagami

She sat in her second class of the day, bored out of her mind. Her grades were excellent and she need not worry about final exams. Luka, on the other hand, was in need of help. She had talked to Marinette about rejecting him, but she was not there for the actual fact. When he biked by en route to a delivery, she noted he didn't carry his guitar no more. Nor did he give a friendly smile or wave when he saw her, he just kept going. Kagami had originally thought it was an off day, but then it happened again and again. Clearly something was off and she intended to find out.

Reaching out to the goth girl, Juleka is her name, she had learned when Luka gets off of work and what route he takes to go home. Her plan was to hopefully catch him and get his attention. Kagami sighed quietly, careful not to draw attention to herself. She excelled at extracurriculars, but her interpersonal skills were poor. Maybe she should call Marinette at lunch for some advice on how to go about this.

Lila the little piece of crap Thomas forces us to smell and won't flush away

She strode over to Kim, deciding he would be way easier to manipulate than Nathaniel. Kim was switching out his books for their next class while thinking of dares for everyone. "Hey Lila, wanna be dared?"

The fox smirked, all to easy. "I have a dare for you actually." Kim instantly stopped what he was doing, ready to prove his physical superiority.

"I'll do anything because I'm the bravest and strongest of all!"

Lila let out a fake giggle, "Well in that case, I dare you to take me on a date tonight."

Kim smiled, "Dare accepted. Lila, will you go out on a date with me tonight?"

"Yes, of course Kim." Giving him her contact info, she walked away smiling. Maybe now Alya would stop trying to set her up with Adrien. Little did she know that she made a worse enemy, as Alix listened to the exchange with narrowed eyes.

Marinette and Adrien

Marinette showed Adrien the outfits she had made for Jagged Stone's upcoming summer tour. She also showed off the shirts she had designed for merch, loving the way he was so eager to check everything out she designed. After fanning over all the cool outfits she had made, he excitedly checked out all of her sketches, openly admiring her talent at both design and drawing. He flipped through with her permission as she worked on her website. Her goal was to have it ready the same time Jagged released his new album so he could name drop her brand.

She arranged categories for shirts, pants, socks, sweaters, scarves and even included a special tag for Ladybug and Chat Noir themed clothing. Adrien noticed some of the images and slowly crept up on her, looking over her shoulder to see the various photos she had taken. "What is this?"

Marinette forced herself not to jump as she felt his warm breath near her neck. "My website that I am setting up for my designs. I want to get my designs out there so I can get some more commissions and hopefully noticed by some big name labels." She gestured to the rack full of Jagged Stone's orders. "If I have it ready by the tour, then more people will hear of it after I launch it."

"Is there anything I could do to help?" Adrien asked as he reached into his bag for his laptop.

Marinette bit her lip as she considered his offer. She couldn't ask him to post it on his social media because that might cause his father's wrath for advertising a rival brand. But he could help arrange the site a bit and upload her photos. Looking at him, she knew he was going to be disappointed if she said no. "Here, I'll give you the wifi password and permission to access and edit the current site. You can help me add products to the site. Here is a file with the photos and information for each. All you have to do is copy them over to the format I have set up." A week ago, she would have never been able to give out such clear instructions to him without failing miserably. Despite always saying their identities had to stay a secret, she found herself wishing she found out earlier.

"Like this?"Adrien's question jerked her out of her thoughts, turning her attention to his laptop screen. He had entered a Ladybug hoodie, listing the prices, sizes and ordering details.

"Like that," she nodded her approval, swiveling her chair back to her computer. The duo got absorbed into the work, Adrien asking for approval or complimenting her designs here and there. They didn't know what time it was until Tom poked his head through the trapdoor, inviting them down for lunch. They were eagerly eating the sandwiches he had made for them when Marinette's phone rang. Checking it, she was relieved to see it was Kagami instead of Alya. "Hello?"

"Hello, Marinette. I have been keeping an eye on Luka and something is wrong with him. I was planning on talking to him about it but I am," there was a slight hesitation in her voice, "unsure about how to do so."

"Just try asking what's wrong or if he wants to talk."

"Okay, I will try that. Thank you, Marinette." With that Kagami hung up, clearly busy on her end. Adrien gave her a questioning look, "What was that all about?"

"She wants to talk to Luka, Kagami had noticed that he is not okay and wanted to ask him what's wrong."

"That's probably a good idea." He paused, then cautiously asked, "How often do you and Kagami chat?"

"Since friend's day, when we can. Although we had a bit of a girl's night after the Miracle Queen mess."

Adrien panicked, but attempted composed himself. "So what did you all talk about, praying Kagami didn't tell Mari about the ice cream mix-up. {Was it really a mix-up? Or was it the right result?} he thought to himself.

Marinette smirked at him, "What happens at girl's night stays at girl's night." She burst giggling as Adrien dramatically sighed and dropped his head on the table, pouting at her. They were interrupted when Marinette's phone rang again. It was Alya.

Alya and Nino

The couple were in a good mood, eating lunch while enjoying each other's company when Lila came over, a wide smile on her face. "Guess what!"

Nino gave her a blank and said, "I give up, what?" Alya elbowed him hard as she nodded to her friend to keep going.

"Kim asked me out on a date!" When she didn't receive a reaction, she pressed them, "Isn't it great!?"

Nino glanced over to where Alix was sitting alone, head resting on her arm as she pushed her food around her plate while Alya answered, "Yeah, that's great but what about your crush on Adrien?"

"I am so over Adrien, his fanbase is even more jealous than Marinette and I want a safe relationship." Lila put on her best fake smile, "Kim is so kind and nice."

"Yes, and his brain is emptier than my bank account," Nino retorted, earning another elbowing from Alya. "What? Its true!"

"We gotta show some kind of support for her. She is moving on from her crush, which is hard to do. Just look at Marinette. She is at the point of insanity, rejecting a nice guy known as Luka for a celebrity crush."

Lila smirked inwardly, she was so close to cutting Marinette off from her friends.

Marinette

Her mood dropped as she heard her best friend's words. How could she say that behind her back? Alya clearly but dialed her and didn't know her phone was on speaker. It still hurt a lot. Adrien looked at her in concern, unable to hear the conversation. Marinette hung up the phone before she heard anything else that could damage her friendship. "So apparently Kim asked out Lila," she spat.

Adrien was shocked, "How did that even happen?"

"She probably dared him to do it. He does literally any dare you can think of. Lila probably dared him to ask her out, then pranced like it was all him to Alya," she scowled. Then she brighten, "At least she is over her 'crush' on you. Now you are probably free of being hunted by Alya for a set up attempt."

He tilted his head at her, "Is that it?"

Marinette bit her lip, unsure whether to share the rest of what she heard with him. "Alya may have made a rude comment about how I 'mindlessly' rejected Luka. And said I'm at the point of insanity because I won't move on from the guy I like."

Adrien scowled, "What's wrong with her? Why would she say that to you?" He knew that he was the guy she has a crush on, but he didn't voice it. She was honestly the best, always there for him, his everyday Ladybug. The fact that Alya even had the nerve to say something like that about Marinette made him angry. Marinette's voice jerked him out of his thoughts.

"I think she but dialed me and didn't know I could hear what she was saying."

"Still, that's no reason to say something like that. Especially behind your back." It warmed her heart to see Adrien angry on her behalf, knowing that in and out of costume, he had her back.

"It's not worth getting angry over, she is being tricked and manipulated by Lila, you know what it's like." Adrien grunted as he remembered a time when Lila had him convinced she was a descendant of a fox miraculous wielding hero. He was completely captivated till Ladybug showed and poked holes into Lila's story, though she could have been a lot nicer about it. "Besides, if we let ourselves get angry over that, then both Lila and Hawkmoth win.

Adrien sighed, "You are right.'

Marinette smiled at him as they went back to eating their lunch. Once they finished, they went back upstairs and Adrien showed off a new game called Jedi Fallen Order. Setting a new game up for her, he handed the controller he brought to her. Marinette immediately went to the settings to max out the difficulty, shooting him a hurt look when she found it set for the lowest difficulty. He tried to explain, stating it was a challenging game when it comes to the combat, but she shrugged him off. After learning the controls and various game play mechanics, Marinette played through the story, loving the game play and story much to Adrien's delight. She proved to be much better at combat and puzzle solving than him, progressing faster than he did. It was thrilling to watch her get in the zone with something she liked, even though she complained about the lack of major character customization.

He enjoyed watching her play, throwing in the odd piece of advice as she progressed. They were so entranced by the game that they lost track of time. Adrien's bodyguard was calling to see where he was as Sabine poked her head in the room to let them know that dinner was ready and Adrien was welcome to stay. Knowing Natilee and his father were not home to have him locked up, he accepted, after receiving the okay from Marinette, who couldn't stop smiling.

Lila and Kim

It was a simple movie date, but it was still fun even if she was pretending. Lila swooned about it to Kim, who asked if they could go out again. She happily agreed, kissing him on the cheek before parting ways. What she didn't see watching her and Kim though was the one thing that could bring down her whole charade. A jealous Alix Kubdel.