2 weeks earlier...

"Late again, Mr. Agreste?"

Adrien had a good reason for being late, but nothing that he could expose to his teacher. Ladybug and Chat Noir's enemy Volpina was terrorizing them once again. This was the second morning in a row that she had been at it.

Ms. Bustier folded her arms sternly. "If this keeps up, I'm going to have no choice but to contact your father."

Fear pierced Adrien's every nerve. Who knows what his father would do if he found out about his constant tardiness? Strip him of the little freedom he already had, most likely.

Adrien didn't let the emotion show on his face. "Yes, of course. I'll try to work on showing up earlier."

"Not earlier, Adrien," Ms. Bustier said and tapped her wristwatch. "On time."

"Yes Ms. Bustier," Adrien submitted.

Shoulders slumped with exhaustion, Adrien made his way to his seat beside his best friend Nino.

"Dude, what have you been doing these past few days?" Nino whispered to Adrien after he sat down. "You're worse than usual at getting to school on time. What's going on?"

Adrien obviously couldn't tell Nino the truth, so he decided to improvise a story.

"My father's been forcing me into these extra modeling gigs," Adrien lied. "They go pretty late and leave me with no time to complete my homework and work for other activities. I've been oversleeping because I've been getting to bed so late."

"That's rough," Nino said, looking concerned. "You should tell your old man that these extra gigs are taking a toll on your wellbeing and maybe he wouldn't make you do them."

Adrien chuckled. "Since when has my father ever listened to me? Besides, even if the school did call him, he wouldn't answer. He's been very busy recently."

That was a true statement. Gabriel Agreste had been cooped up in his room for over a week, but that was only to Adrien's advantage. The amount times he had to sneak out of the house as Chat Noir increased lately.

Nino patted Adrien's back. "It's not right, man."

Adrien smiled at Nino's caring attempts. "Thanks Nino, but don't worry about me."

"It's hard not to," he muttered.

"I have it under control," Adrien reassured him.

"I hope so," he said.

The door hurled open. Marinette ran through it, only to freeze at Ms. Bustier's stern glare.

"Ms. Bustier," Marinette panted. "I can explain-"

"There's no need," Ms. Bustier. "It'll probably be one of your bizarre excuses again. I do, however, find it strange that both you and Adrien have the same exact problem."

The class looked between Marinette and Adrien. Adrien felt a bit flustered but kept himself calm, and Marinette appeared flustered with her face turning shades of pink into red.

"It's just a coincidence," Adrien spoke up, covering for the both of them. "My reasons for being late are different from hers."

"Y-Yeah," Marinette stammered. "Very different." She wouldn't meet Adrien's gaze and he was used to that.

The teacher shot them both a skeptical expression, but didn't press further on the subject. Marinette hurried to her seat. When the lesson started, Alya and Marinette started a quiet conversation. Adrien strained his ears to listen when he heard the words 'Volpina' and 'Ladybug'.

"...she hasn't left Ladybug and Chat Noir alone for the past week. Hawk Moth must be getting desperate," Adrien heard Alya murmur. "Also, Volpina must have an undying hatred towards them to get akumatized daily and constantly go after them."

"I don't keep up with Ladybug and Chat Noir as much as you do," Marinette replied, "but Volpina is a real pest. I don't like her at all and I never did."

"Not even when the entire city worshipped her when she saved them from that meteor?" Alya asked, sounding intrigued.

"A giant meteor in Paris without any warning? Seemed fishy to me."

Alya chuckled. "Good point." She nudged Marinette. "I've never heard you really voice your opinion on stuff relating to Ladybug unless it was me prompting it. You must really dislike Volpina."

Marinette shrugged. "I don't like liars."

That reminded Adrien of Ladybug on the first day they encountered Volpina. Ladybug thought very lowly of Lila for her illusions and lies, so much so that she humiliated her in front of him in the park.

"But don't you always make up excuses for getting to class late?"

Adrien leaned back a bit.

Marinette lost her composure. "Uh- I mean, people who lie... to manipulate. I don't do that, my intentions aren't bad like hers are."

Good save, Marinette, Adrien thought.

She was right. There are many types of lies. Adrien had to lie often, but his reasons were different from Volpina's. He needed to keep his other life separate to protect his friends and his identity.

Adrien then began to wonder Marinette's reason for having to lie so much.

•••••••••••••••

Nino nudged Adrien. They were standing outside in the courtyard waiting for class begin since lunch break was about to end.

"What is it, Nino?" Adrien said curiously.

"Over there," he said and nodded his head in the direction of Marinette and Alya.

Marinette was talking to Alya, face red. She would take occasional glances at Adrien, so when she noticed that he was looking in her direction, she ducked away.

"Walk towards her," Nino coached. "She's been doing that for the past few minutes and it's too agonizing for me to watch."

Adrien glanced at him uncertainly. "Are you sure? I don't think she wants to talk-"

Nino pushed him forward. "Do you really think I haven't noticed you eavesdropping on her conversations in class? Just talk to her dude, it'll be so much better for the both of you."

At the corner of his eye, Adrien saw Nino doing hand gestures. Then he looked straight forward and found Alya giving a thumbs up in Nino's direction.

"Hey, wait a second...!" Adrien protested before shooting forward from Nino's forceful shove.

Marinette was pushed forward by Alya as well, but thankfully Adrien regained his balance before crashing into her. Marinette almost wiped out before being caught by Adrien's swift reflexes.

"Thanks," Marinette muttered, unable to look Adrien in the eye as he helped her up.

"It's nothing," Adrien said, cheeks warm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Marinette said, then shyly smiled up at him. "Thanks for... covering up for me. When I was late. Yeah... th-thank you."

Adrien was about to continue interacting with Marinette, but Alya rushed towards them with her phone in hand.

"Look at this breaking news story!" Alya exclaimed.

Adrien's heart dropped at the headline, which read "BREAKING NEWS: Volpina Strikes Again! Where are Ladybug and Chat Noir?". He unconsciously let out a groan, which earned him quizzical stares.

Adrien nervously laughed. "Just frustrated that Ladybug seems to never get a break."

"Don't forget Chat Noir," Marinette added. "He works too hard. Uh, I have to go to the... bathroom." She took a few steps backwards. "I'm also going to stop at home for something I forgot." She took more steps. "Bye!" And she hastily ran off in what seemed to be the direction of her home.

Adrien was flattered at Marinette's acknowledgement towards Chat Noir. And Alya thought that she wasn't that interested in superheroes...

"Wait!" Alya yelled. "Class starts in less than a minute!"

But Marinette was already turning the corner and out of sight.

Alya appeared confused at Marinette's strange behavior, but eventually shrugged it off. The bell rang to go back to class.

"I'll catch up with you two," Adrien said to Alya and Nino. "I need to get something from the library."

"See you back in the classroom, dude," Nino said.

When his friends were inside the building, Adrien broke in a full sprint towards the bushes. As he ran, he saw a red blur soar through the sky above him. Ladybug! Adrien quickened his pace.

Plagg flew out of his bag and grumbled.

"Volpina again?" Plagg complained. "We fought her only a few hours ago!"

"Do you think I want to go after her?" Adrien sighed. "Constantly fighting her is getting old."

"But seeing 'your lady' isn't!" the tiny cat teased, bursting into laughter.

A small smile appeared on Adrien's lips. "You're right about that. Plagg, claws out!"

The kwami was dragged into his ring after those trigger words. A stream of energy crawled down Adrien's spine. Tight leather wrapped around his body, and a mask modeled around his face that concealed his identity. His tail sprung out from behind him, and cat ears formed on his head. He was somebody else, a freer version of himself.

Chat Noir hopped out from the bushes and onto the roof of the school. He remembered the direction he saw Ladybug going. It was towards the Eiffel Tower. He vaulted over to the next building. In the distance, he made out a red figure.

"Ladybug," Chat Noir whispered. The name was sweet on his tongue.

He jumped building to building to catch up with her. When he was yards away, she silently beckoned for him to follow and started running. Hypnotized by the effect his Lady had on him, he obeyed.

"Ladybug, wait up!" he called after chasing her for a longer time than normal.

She paused, then proceeded to turn around, smile, and nod. Why wouldn't she talk to him? She was usually more vocal, especially when going after an akuma. Both of them had no time to waste, as their civilian lives were both demanding.

Since Ladybug was sensible, there might be a reason for her not talking. Chat was skeptical. But then again, he trusted his Lady. She wouldn't mislead him...

Chat finally caught up to her, letting out a few pants. Ladybug took him a far distance away from the school.

"What's going on with you?" Chat breathed, staring strangely at Ladybug's frozen smile. She was unresponsive. "Ladybug?"

He reached out to touch her, and when he did, she disappeared into a cloud of orange mist. Chat's eyes widened with terror.

Volpina! Did she do something with-

But before he could finish his thought, he was hit in the head with something hard, too hard for his suit to sustain the impact. His vision grew fuzzy. Chat stumbled to keep moving and fight through the dizziness. He doubled over.

He caught a glimpse of a pair of orange legs step towards him before he blacked out.

DUN DUN DUNNNNNN

Just to avoid any potential confusion, the events of this chapter take place 2 weeks before the events of the prologue. Thank you so much for reading and supporting this story! More is on the way!