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Ladybug was rather disgruntled during the akuma fight. All she wanted to do was purify that stinking butterfly and get back to her breakfast date. Not that Adrien realised it was a date, at least not at this stage. The whole situation had her sighing continually.

Bitter Diamante lived up to her name, her attitude was indeed sour and her appearance verged on the blinding. The girl was covered in diamantes meaning she was hard to look at in the bright sunlight. But it was the handfuls of diamantes that she tossed at them that were most annoying. Small enough not to hurt too badly when hit but distracting enough to be a problem.

It didn't help that Chat Noir was laying the flirting on thick and heavy, irritating her more than usual. The feline hero smirked as he deflected the projectiles with his stick. "This is a shining example of how much I'm feline for you." He crooned as he picked up a larger diamante and held it out to Ladybug while going down on bended knee.

Ladybug shook her head at his silly antics. "I'd rather you give me her akumatised item."

Chat Noir laid his hand on his chest dramatically. "Does that mean you'd be my girl?"

"No, it would mean we could defeat this akuma and I could go back to my date."

Her partner froze and looked at her with slow blinking eyes. "Date?"

"Yeah, date. Don't seem so surprised," she huffed as she swung her yoyo to shield herself from the next blast of diamantes.

She didn't notice Chat Noir's smile slip or his form get sloppy. What Ladybug did see was the potential akumatised object, a chunky bangle around Bitter Diamante's wrist. Somehow, she managed to pull her partner from his dour attitude with a witty quip of her own. This meant he was back to sending her knowing smirks and cheeky winks. Then of course he had to dance and parade around her, flexing his lean muscles when the opportunity arose. Like it would impress her when she was busy working her Lucky Charm.

By the time Chat Noir used his cataclysm to destroy the akumatised bangle, Ladybug was quite over her partner's presence. She was gritting her teeth as he rested one elbow on her shoulder while lifting his opposite fist. "Great job, milady. Pound it."

With a barely restrained need to roll her eyes, Ladybug knocked her fist to his. "Pound it."

Then she raced off to find somewhere to relinquish her transformation and dashed back to the café, pretending to emerge from her hiding place. In this case, luck was on her side. She was the first to return to the café, minutes before the others. Alya and Nino were next to arrive, arguing loudly about what they considered safe distances to view akuma battles. A short while later, Adrien returned as well looking puffed and a little rumpled.

Marinette shuffled over in her seat so he could sit down but the moment his backside touched the seat his phone rang. Grimacing as he looked at the screen, Adrien answered and began tapping his fingers on the table. "I'm fine, Father. The attack is over. No, you don't need to do that I'm safe." A deep frown settled on the boy's face as he hung up and turned to his friends. "I can't stay. Father has ordered I come home, saying it's not safe even though the akuma is gone. My bodyguard is coming to get me."

"Bummer dude," Nino said, looking equally disappointed.

Alya glanced over to Marinette giving her a sympathetic look. So much for declaring her feelings.

A week later they were to meet up again. Adrien had been rather glum because the killjoy that was his father had put a stop to the whole New Year's Eve celebrations at the mansion before they could even start. Instead, Marinette had used her phone to video chat with him, along with Nino and Alya as they brought in the new year.

This time they were meeting a hip new café that was closer to Alya's home. The place was positively crammed as Marinette elbowed her way inside. Literally jumping to her toes to see over the shoulders and heads of other people to find her friends. She spotted Nino's familiar red cap and weaved her way through the crowd.

Adrien was yet to arrive, so Marinette had a chance to go over the menu without her hands shaking. This time she decided to have a vegetable omelette. As she laid her menu on the table she caught sight of Adrien's brilliant blonde mop and her pulse raced. Sitting a little straighter in her seat, Marinette watched as he shuffled his way through the throng of people until he was sandwiched in a group of girls.

Jealously began burning in Marinette's belly as one of the girls clearly recognised Adrien. A squeal of delight had the model edging away but the girl's friends were suddenly clued into why their buddy was so excited. "Oh my gosh, it's Adrien Agreste!" "Adrien, can I have a selfie with you?" "Adrien, will you sign my shirt?" "Adrien, will you sign my bra?"

That had Marinette launching out of her seat, scissoring her arms through the people in a determined quest to pull Adrien from his adoring fans. The boy had plastered on a smile that was clearly forced while he complied with what his fans wanted, although he was kind of frozen in shock as the girl wanting her bra signed pulled her shirt from her shoulder.

By this stage, Marinette was by his side and latched onto his wrist, dragging Adrien through the pawing mob as she exited to the street. To her surprise, his driver and car were still parked outside. The bodyguard took one look at the scene and ushered Adrien into the car, sweeping him away from the cloying fangirls.

Adrien peered out the tinted glass window wearing an expression of apology and thanks directed at Marinette as he was driven away. With sagging shoulders, the dark-haired girl marched back inside to her waiting friends. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Poor Marinette, she's having trouble just keeping Adrien around. Do you think she'll have better luck with breakfast date number three?

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