Adrien stared long and hard and the two pieces of paper before him. One was a poem written out on a piece of lined paper, a poem he had wrote last year for Ladybug, but never sent. The other piece of paper also had a poem, written on a heart shaped card that responded to his poem, but with no signature. He had received it last year after going through all the fangirl Valentines. So for the months following, he believed it to be from Ladybug.
Then came Ladybug's reveal that summer, and when he discovered his shy classmate who could barely say two words to him without stuttering or running away was Ladybug, Adrien quickly discarded the card being from Ladybug. If Marinette had liked him, then why was she always running away? Why could she barely talk to him?
So if Ladybug/Marinette didn't write the card, someone else must have. Someone in his sophomore class who read his original discarded card.
This year, he was going to find out.
"Happy Valentine's Day bro!"
"Same to you to man!"
Nino, Kim and Max stood in the park across the street from the school, Nino pulling out of his bag a ray with a heart at the end of it.
"I'm calling it the Cupid Ray, by synthesizing certain pheromones in the love-inducing chemical found in chocolate, this Cupid Ray will send out sonic pulses to any female's emotional cortex," informed Nino, Max nodding in understanding while Kim was totally lost.
"So this will would work on Chloe?"
"Technically it should work on any female you target, but it has a time limit became of the short range."
"In order to avoid targeting multiple females at once," concluded Max.
"Precisely. This should work to get you your Valentine's date after last years…" Nino tried to come up with words to describe last year's Valentine's Day, where Kim was rejected and humiliated by Chloe over his confession, which was later texted to the whole school. Nino offered to help Kim out, seeing as how he didn't need a Cupid Ray to get a date with Alya for Valentine's Day.
"Embarrassment?" finished Kim
The other two boys nodded.
"Well, hopefully this year will be better, and Max here," Kim dragged Max under his arm, "can finally get a date with Sabrina."
"Good luck to you bros, you know where to reach me."
Nino began walking over to school, leaving Kim and Max to follow at a distance. After Nino entered the building, the two boys didn't have long to wait before Chloe showed up, Sabrina present to open the door for her as she left her limo.
"Go hit a homerun," encouraged Max. Kim took a deep breath and marched forward, approaching Chloe before she made it in the building.
"Morning Chloe," Kim came up beside her, effectively cutting Sabrina out of view.
"Ugh, what are you doing?"
Before Chloe could complain any further, Kim shot her with the Cupid Ray. Hearts appeared in Chloe's eyes as she looked up at Kim.
"Oh Kimmy-cub, how I missed you!" Chloe latched onto his neck.
Kim proceeded to escort Chloe into the building, giving Max the ok.
"You can do this," Max said to himself as he approached Sabrina, who had been left behind by Kim and Chloe.
"Hey Sabrina."
"Good Morning Max," answered Sabrina, slightly confused by the reaction of her best friend to Kim.
"May I escort you to class today?"
Sabrina smiled, "I would like that."
Max led Sabrina into the building.
The moment Marinette stepped foot on campus, she could tell something was off. For one, Chloe was hanging all over Kim, while Max was walking up to the second floor with Sabrina. And two, by the time Marinette had made it to her locker, Nino and Alya were helping Adrien pick up the Valentine Day cards that fell out of his locker, Adrien examining everyone carefully, comparing it to something on his phone.
"Girl! Happy Valentine's Day," Alya jumped over the cards to hug her friend.
"Happy Valentine's Day Alya!" Marinette returned the hug, "and congrats on your first Valentine's Day with a Boyfriend."
"Thanks!" Alya stepped back to stand by Nino, who had finished helping pick up the cards, Adrien still sorting through them.
"You better treat her right today Nino."
"Don't worry LB, I got a whole afternoon and evening planned." Alya giggled in excitement.
"Speaking of Valentines, you want me to forward you the Ladybug emails?"
"Ladybug emails," Adrien perked up.
Marinette continued to her locker, refusing to say anything.
"Ladybug gets a bunch of fan emails on Valentines. Both from fans and secret admirers," affirmed Nino as he pulled out his phone, showing Alya and Adrien the emails.
"Girl, that's a lot of emails to go through," Alya glanced between Marinette and the emails.
"Well, wouldn't want the fans to be disappointed," answered Marinette as she put in her locker combination.
"You mean you respond to all of them?" asked Adrien. Considering most of his letters were in person and his schedule was too busy, he never answered them unless they gave them to him in person.
"Since its email, why not? I'm just glad I don't have to deal with any physical," Marinette opened her locker, only for a bunch of Valentine letters to pour out. "Letters."
"I think you just beat Adrien in fan-mail," stated Alya as the three looked between Marinette and the letters, Marinette already bending down to pick them up. Adrien stuffed the letters into his bag, as Nino and Alya went to join Marinette in picking up the letters, Adrien following behind them.
"This is going to take awhile," Marinette sighed.
After a quick stop home to deliver letters, the rest of the day proceeded almost normal.
With the exception of Kim and Chloe, who sat next to each other for every class they had together, with Max and Sabrina following in suit. Then there was Adrien offering to collect everyone's homework in every single class.
"Is it just me, or did Chloe get a heart," asked Marinette to Alya as they opened their lockers at the end of the day, more fan-mail pouring out. Marinette quickly stooped down to pick the letters up.
"If she grew a heart, then it's a heart only big enough for Kim," concluded Alya, shutting her locker.
"Do you want to stop by the bakery and get some Candy Apples before you go spend the rest of the day with Nino."
"Let's ask him. He hasn't told me the schedule."
Marinette finished putting the rest of the letters in her bag as they left the locker hall.
"Since I'm busy, why don't you spend some time with Adrien?" Alya nudged her friend to see Adrien sitting by the exit of the school, comparing letters again to something on his phone.
"I don't know Alya, it's Valentine's Day."
"Exactly, it's the perfect guise to hang out, with him being none the wiser that it's more than just friends who are hanging out."
"I'm not going to trick Adrien like that. Besides, I tried last year with the letter to tell him how I feel and it didn't work."
"That's because you forgot to sign your name."
"Don't remind me," Marinette sighed. Last year she had noticed Adrien writing a letter, and after picking up the discarded letter in the class trash, she had been sure it was for her, especially with more convincing from Alya. So she responded to it, only to forget to sign her name because they got distracted by a ladybug.
So much for ladybug's bringing luck.
"She said yes!"
"Awesome bro!" Marinette and Alya turned towards Marinette's house to run into Nino, Kim, and Max in a conversation.
"Who said yes?" Asked Alya.
"Chloe agreed to be my Valentine and go on a date tonight," answered Kim.
"And with Sabrina being free for the day, she agreed to go on a date with me," echoed Max.
"Congrats guys!" offered Alya, full of enthusiasm for her friends.
Marinette though felt something was off. Chloe would rather wear out of style clothes than go out with Kim.
"Have fun guys," offered Nino, sliding his hand into his girlfriend's.
"Will do, you too," responded Max as the boys left.
"Hey, so do we have time to get candy apples before we have to go," the girls looked up to Nino, who checked his phone.
"I don't think so, we got to be somewhere to be in half an hour and the line is already probably getting long."
Alya squealed in excitement, "What are we waiting for then?!" Alya began pulled Nino down the street.
"I'll see you tomorrow girl!"
Marinette waved, watching her friends go. She looked back to the school, to see it nearly empty, Adrien's car driving away. She proceeded back to her own home, stopping in the bakery before heading upstairs.
"Hey Papa, hey Maman," Marinette greeted as she entered the bakery. The adults responded in kind, Sabine busy with a customer, and Tom setting out freshly made candy apples.
"Candy Apple?" offered Tom.
With a small smile, Marinette took the offered treat and headed upstairs.
"Oh just so you know, your maman and I will be going out tonight."
"Ok papa, I'll probably be here if you need anything," Marinette shut the door leading to the apartment flat behind her.
Darn her former stutter and shyness around Adrien for that year and a half of school. Maybe then maybe this Valentine's Day she wouldn't be alone.
Adrien sat alone at his desk staring hard over the letter. He had gone over every piece of fan-mail and all his classmates homework, comparing them to the letter, but none of them matched. Sure he had skipped over the girls who were dating someone at the time when the letter was written. And he didn't bother looking at Marinette's because Ladybug didn't respond to handwritten notes, just the emails.
His phone chimed with a text notification.
Adrien opened up the phone to find a text from Marinette.
"Hey Adrien, I was going over the emails for Valentine's Day, and there a few for Chat Noir. Do you want me to send them to you?"
"Sure. School email, Nathalie and my father don't check that one."
"Ok.
"Happy Valentine's Day!"
Adrien smiled. He was happy that their friendship had grown in the past few months since he became Chat Noir. A year ago she was too scared to talk to him while he pined after the mysterious Ladybug. After her identity reveal and her being a revealed hero, he hoped they would talk more since he understood celebrity pressure. But when summer passed and nothing changed, he took chance as Chat Noir to get to know her better. He was glad he did, and even more so when they became friends in and out of costume.
Did he want something more? No, he wouldn't push. He was just glad she could talk normally to him now.
"Happy Valentine's Day to you too!"
In a moment, Adrien received a batch of emails from Marinette.
May as well answer them.
Marinette squealed in delight as she spun around in her chair. She had gone out on a whim to say Happy Valentine's Day to Adrien, regretting it five seconds after sending. But when he responded back, it made her heart whirl in excitement. After sending the emails to Adrien, she screenshotted the conversation and sent it Alya.
"Invite him over to hang out, go through fan mail."
Marinette panicked at the thought.
Her parents wouldn't be home. Surely they wouldn't allow her and Adrien to be home alone? Which would force them to go out. Like on a date.
Marinette pushed her face into her chaise pillow, unsure how to cope with the idea.
Her phone chimed with a text.
"Want to come over and read over and hang out? Father is in Los Angeles for final fittings and didn't schedule anything for tonight so Nathalie can have the night off. We can read over the Ladybug and Chat Noir fan mail. Some of these Chat Noir ones are hilarious."
Marinette almost combusted reading that text. Adrien wanted to hang out with her. Alone. At his house. Unsupervised. With the exception of the security cameras.
"My bodyguard will still be here. He doesn't have any plans for today."
Ok, so maybe not unsupervised, but spending Valentine's Day with Adrien felt like a dream come true. Even if it was as friends.
"Yes."
For Kim, this was a dream come true. So far he had managed a whole day with having Chloe's attention devoted only to him. Chloe had secured them seating at her father's hotel, only the best for her Kimmy-cub she said. A text from Max said he and Sabrina were doing great, and Sabrina had stopped talking about Chloe once they went to dinner, their conversation switching to academics and likes, normal date talk.
"And what does my Kimmy-cub want to eat, something sweet? Liiike, you!" Chloe giggled at her joke.
"This was totally worth it," Kim patted the Cupid Ray in his lap.
"And what would the lovely couple like this evening," an old man came up with a cart filled with desserts, dressed professionally, almost too professional to be a waiter.
"I think we have something that we should share. We should share something! Let's see, share... a sundae!"
"We will get right on it."
"Father I got it!" Came a voice, almost sounding like it came from the cart.
"Excuse me." The waiter hurriedly directed his cart back out of the restaurant and to the kitchen, Kim watching them speed off.
"Now, where were we?" Kim turned to see a confused Chloe, he reached for the Cupid Ray in his lap to find it gone.
"Kim? What are you doing here?"
Adrien was internally freaking out. Marinette had agreed to hang out with him. At his house. On Valentine's Day. When he initially asked her, he thought since he had nothing to do, and it seemed since she had nothing to do, they could do nothing, together.
But now, as she sat on his couch, reading fan-mail on her laptop while playing with Plagg, he began to panic. He hoped she didn't see this as a date. He did not want to ruin their friendship right now.
"Plagg, get off, I need to type," Marinette moved the cat over the laptop.
"Find any funny emails?" asked Adrien, hoping to break the silence in his room.
"Depends," came the single worded response as she began typing.
"On what?"
"What you think is funny."
"Well, some of mine have some pun-derful cat jokes."
Marinette slightly chuckled at that but kept typing.
Feeling as if the conversation was going nowhere, Adrien snuck over to behind Marinette to read her latest email. Without reading ahead, he began to read the email out loud.
"My Dearest Ladybug, Will you Marry me?" Marinette quickly shut the laptop before he could read anymore, pulling Plagg into her lap to cover the evidence.
"Probably someone playing a joke," jested Adrien nervously. They were juniors in high school for crying out loud. And the world knew that, at least for Ladybug.
"I wish," Marinette groaned, burying her face in the cat. Adrien turned so he could rest his back against the side of the sofa.
"How many of those kinds of letters do you get?"
"Quite a few. And requests to go to school dances, or dates. Even more so now that they know me."
Adrien could relate, having received letters and emails of similar intent as the model, Adrien Agreste.
"It use to be easier to reject them when there was a difference between Marinette and Ladybug. Ladybug could reject because she had to save people and no time for romance. Marinette could like whoever she wanted."
Marinette liked someone?
"I mean, if I like someone. Because I don't. And didn't. Ever. Nope. Never had a crush," Marinette rambled.
Another reason why Marinette was not the one to answer his letter.
"Well, if it helps, with fan mail like that, I remind myself that they don't really know me. If they did actually like me, they would try to get to know me. You know?"
"Like you? Ladybug fan-boy?" Marinette leaned her head back against the sofa, still unable to get a good look at Adrien, who was turning fifty shades of red.
"Not necessarily, you were just one of my first friends here, but they you got all shy and weren't able to talk to me, so I thought if I got to know you more as Chat Noir, then maybe we could be actual friends," Adrien covered up, not noticing Marinette's crestfallen face.
Did Adrien have a crush on Ladybug? This time last year, yes.
This year? Marinette was his best friend next to Nino. He wouldn't trade that for a fantasy crush.
He felt something scratch his head, looking up to see Marinette's hand bent over backwards to play with his hair.
"For what it's worth, I'm glad you did."
"Me too Bugaboo."
"I can't believe you got us tickets to Jagged Stone's 'Rockin' Love' Concert!" Squealed Alya for the 56th time since finding out. Nino led her over to their seats, close to the seats they had at the last concert, but more in the middle. He normally didn't like calling for favors like this, but anything to please his girlfriend. Plus the concert hall managed to get a million mega-watt amplified speaker system, which he had to check out.
"Good Evening PARIS!" Jagged announced as he entered the stage, the crowds roaring in excitement.
"Get ready to Love, Rock, and Roll!" Jagged and his band began to play, crowds standing up to dance and jump to the music.
It was then Nino's cell phone began to ring. It was Kim.
"Hey Kim, how's the date going?"
"Not good man."
Nino stepped away from their seats to hear Kim better.
"What's up?"
"The Cupid Ray's been stolen?"
"Stolen? You sure you didn't just drop it?"
"Positive, I had it in my lap when a waiter came over to take our order."
"What did the waiter look like?"
"Old man, too fancy for a waiter. Ran out of restaurant once he took our order. Then the ray was gone?"
Old man?
Suddenly, the roof came crashing down on the crowds below, two helicopters flying overhead. They extended magnets attached to cables, pulling out the speakers.
"Hey you, stop ruining my show!" yelled Jagged Stone, from where he was escorted off stage.
Both helicopters began dispersing flyers everywhere before taking off.
"I gotta go bro."
"But-" Nino hung the phone and rushed over to Alya, who was holding a flyer.
"Super A-OK Rock Star Sensation, Moni, in the biggest Rock Star Concert Ever. Ladies Only"
Well that answered that question where the Cupid Ray went.
"Nino, why is Monsieur Monsieur the Second throwing a rock concert?" Alya looked over at Nino, raising an eyebrow.
Long discarding awkward fan mail, Adrien and Marinette settled down to play Ultimate Mecha-Strike 3, Adrien purposely not purchasing the latest Mecha-Strike game with the virtual reality.
"Triple head combo, Marinette style! Booyah!" Announced Marinette, landing the final hit on Adrien's bot.
"Rematch," Adrien readily challenged.
"Are you sure Chaton? How much losing can you take in one night."
"I've been practicing. I just need to beat you once, then we are good."
"Fine," Marinette selected her usual character, while Adrien selected his usual.
They were about to fight when Marinette got a call on her watch.
"What's the sitch... Alya?" Adrien hit pause as he leaned over to see and angry Alya with guilty Nino standing outside the concert hall.
"This guy decided to play cupid this year, and is out to destroy the world. Again."
"What did he do now?" asked Marinette.
Alya moved Nino back in front of the camera.
"Hey guys, glad to see your enjoying Valentine's Day together."
Marinette and Adrien jumped feet apart from each other.
"We're just hanging out!" exclaimed Marinette.
"As Friends!" added Adrien to their defense.
"Just friends," echoed Marinette.
"Did he show you his Ladybug scrapbook yet?"
Both teens turned bright red.
"Nino! Stop changing the subject!" Alya yelled.
"Yes ma'am. I made a Cupid Ray for Kim so that Chloe would fall in love with him, but now the Monsieurs took it and are planning a ladies only concert where they'll probably use the Cupid Ray."
"Alright, we're on it, can you get us a ride?"
"Nowaygirl, we're coming with you!"
"What?!" Marinette and Adrien crowded around her watch.
"Nino's mistake, Nino needs to fix it."
"Alya's right. I shouldn't have tried to mess with that sort of thing. But it's your call LB"
Marinette sat back to think. True with the Monsieurs it was impossible to fix once they went evil, but maybe this one mission Nino could fix his mistake."
"Alright, send us all the location for our ride. I'm counting on you Carapace."
Nino smiled and winked, "On it LB."
"Whose Cara-" Alya asked Nino before the called ended.
"Whose Carapace?" Asked Adrien.
Marinette giggled before standing up, "good thing I brought my uniform, just in case. Can I use the bathroom?"
"Whose Carapace?"
Marinette, Nino, Chat Noir, and Alya crept along the side of the stadium on the Monsieur's private island, Chat Noir and Alya pouting as they followed.
From what they had been told, Carapace was Nino's undercover name when he tried being Ladybug's sidekick back in freshmen year of high school. That only lasted a few missions until the Monsieurs turned evil, but he still had met all of Ladybug's arch foes in those few missions. He even had a green outfit to match Ladybug's, green and yellow goggles included to serve as a mask.
Carapace hadn't even been mentioned on the Ladyblog, which was how undercover his identity was.
It made his girlfriend and best friend realize they weren't first choice in partners.
"Dude, I can't believe you didn't tell me you were the original partner?"
"Not only is my best friend a hero, but my boyfriend is a hero?"
"Technically I'm a retired hero. I was always more of a behind the scenes guy. Plus you both of knew about my deal with the Monsieurs, "answered Nino
"But not that you fought Anti-bug before," commented Alya.
"Or Hawkmoth," added Chat
"Can you all zip it?" demanded Marinette. The three nodded, Chat making the motion of zipping his lips.
Marinette held her watch up to the wall to scan, revealing guards posted all around the stadium.
"Security's tight. We'll need to find a different way in."
"I'll use my new grappling belt," the buckle of Nino's belt shot up, hooking onto the top of the wall.
All three of his friends looked at him.
"I got bored when I was sick. I had a lot of time on my hands to make things."
"Uh, yeah. Good for you. But what about Alya. She's grapple-challenged," countered Chat.
"You do remember the concert said girls only. The moment they see two boys in the crowd, they're going to get suspicious," reminded Alya.
"True, unless…" Marinette and Alya looked at the two boys, who looked at each other then back to the girls.
"Oh please don't," whined Nino.
"They did," answered Chat, whose hair was pushed back by original kitty ears headband, trading Alya's skirt for his pants, and Marinette's shade of pink lip gloss. Nino wore an actual dark colored wig, trading his shirt for Marinette's shirt and blazer, with some lip gloss from Alya.
"At least they didn't make us stuff our shirts to look like," Chat stopped Nino from saying anything more as they passed the guards, safely making it into the stadium with Alya and Marinette following behind.
Once they were safe in the crowd, Nino pulled out some ear plugs.
"These will protect you from the effects of the Cupid Ray."
Each of the girls took a pair.
"Okay, it's probably backstage," commented Marinette as she looked around the stadium, no visible sign of the Cupid Ray in site.
"Yeah, got your crowd control covered, My Lady," said Chat with a smirk, before pushing through the crowd, "Make way! Big fans coming through! Hey! Watch the skirt!"
Marinette shrugged and followed after him, leading them right to the middle of the stadium, before the stage lit while the surrounding lights dimmed.
"I've always wanted to do that," whispered Chat excitedly to Marinette, who smiled.
Sir Monsieur the First came on the screen.
"Ladies from around the globe, welcome, to our concert of love. It is my sincere pleasure to present to you, Monsieur Monsieur the Second."
"But you did not call me a rock sensation!" came Moni's voice over the speaker.
Sir Monsieur only sighed, "And I assure you he is a rock sensation."
Fireworks exploded around the stage as the screen changed to pink, Moni's Shadow appearing behind the screen walking towards the crowd. Until he tripped and fell through the screen.
He quickly stood up as the song began to play, Nino finding his vocals an insult to the musical world.
"On the road to love, you must pay the toll. Exact change is required, 'cause that's the way I roll. I've got a tortured soul, and my heart, it has a hole. Because that's just the way I roll, baby. That's just the way I roll."
The crowd seemed very disinterested at Moni's lack of talent.
"Please tell me you brought more ear plugs," asked Chat.
"I wish," grumbled Nino.
Just as the chorus began, all the girls in the stadium, minus Marinette and Alya, got hearts in their eyes, and began screaming and jumping to the music. Marinette and Chat maneuvered and dodged the wild fangirls with ease, Alya and Nino having a more difficult time. Nino got stuck between two girl, constantly jumping together and squishing him, until they squished him out and onto Alya.
"Moni? Moni! I LOVE YOU!" Alya cried out, Nino noticing the ear plugs no longer in her ears.
"That is not something you ever want to hear your girlfriend say," commented Chat as he pulled Alya and Nino away from where the mosh pit of girls had begun to gather.
"You two keep an eye on Alya, I'll go deal with Moni," commanded Marinette.
Marinette launched her yoyo, flying over the crowd and landing behind Moni.
"Oh! Ladybug!" cried out Moni in shock.
"Monsieur Monsieur the Second," responded Marinette as she stepped into the light.
"Are you not falling in love with me and my funky fresh moves?"
Marinette pointed to her ear plugs, "Mmm, not so much."
Marinette felt something removed from her ears, her heart filled with adoration as she looked at Moni.
"M-moni! My Valentine be you will? I mean … Will you be my Valentine?" asked Marinette, blushing. Had he always looked so handsome?
"I am expecting a lot of offers this year. I will think on it."
Marinette giggled; that was as good as a yes.
Chat frowned as Marinette latched onto Moni, her hand caressing his muscular chest.
"That's something you don't ever want to see your girlfriend doing," retorted Nino, holding back Alya who was trying to make a run for the stage.
"She's not my girlfriend," exclaimed Chat.
"I'm kidding bro. You go distract them, I'll shut down the Cupid Ray," responded Nino.
"What about Alya?"
"She'll be fine, I'm frankly more scared for anyone who gets in her way."
Chat nodded in agreement. Alya was a force to be reckoned with when upset. Nino let her go, Alya charging into the crowd.
With a final nod, the boys split up.
How could Marinette have ever loved Adrien rather than Moni before was beyond her. She latched to to his bulging arm while gazing into his brown eyes.
"Hey, give me back my partner!" Marinette turned to Chat, removing his head band so his hair popped back into style.
Moni began laughing mid song.
"What's so fun?"
"I thought you were a lady."
"Well, you are no gentleman," Chat pouted.
Just as Nino thought, he found Sir Monsieur behind the stage, standing next to the Cupid Ray.
"Ahh Carapace, Ladybug's genius friend. It's been a long time."
"That's super genius."
"Your genius can not beat my evil or treachery." Two men lurking in the shadows came forward., "Have you met my bodyguards, Evil and Treachery? Get him!"
The two men raced towards him, Nino, unlocking his grappling belt, sending him towards the ceiling as the bodyguards collided. Nino came landing back down on top of Sir Monsieur.
He grabbed the Cupid Ray and threw it on the ground before stepping on it.
"That's the way I roll."
What happened? Marinette looked around to find herself latching onto Moni. He looked down and gave her a pearly white smile.
"Uh, no," Marinette backed away, the rest of the crowd coming to their senses, proceeding to throw rotten fruit at Moni.
"Marinette," Marinette turned to see Chat Noir on the edge of the stage, far enough away from the flying fruit. Marinette jogged over to his side.
"What happened?"
"You got hit by the Cupid Ray, but it looks like Nino fixed it," answered Chat while watching Moni run away and the rest girls race after him as an angry mob.
"You mean I was?" Marinette pointed after Moni, unable to finish her sentence.
Chat looked away but nodded. Marinette's face turned a red to rival her Ladybug outfit. Chat saw her all over Moni. Even though she was under the Cupid Ray, Chat saw her hanging all over Moni, almost like how Chloe clings to Adrien.
Now any chance of making it out of the friend zone was gone.
"Nino Lahiffe! Where are you because you have got some explaining to do," screamed Alya as she went backstage searching for Nino. Chat and Marinette laughed as they saw Alya chase Nino out of the backstage and around the stadium.
"Dear Ladybug, I think your smart and talented. Will you please go out with me, signed your Secret Admirer. Girl, you have way too many secret admirers," chided Alya as she took a bite of candy apple, while tossing the letter to the "read" pile.
After a hour of chasing Nino and lecturing him on the misuse of science, Alya forgave Nino enough to let him catch his breath. The group then retired to Marinette's place, granted permission from her parents, and considering Nino's evening plans were toast due to the surprise Moni concert. They were spending the rest of Valentine's Day reading Adrien's and Ladybug's fan-mail they received at school.
"At least Adrien's fans sign theirs. Here's one from Mireille," Nino tossed it over to Adrien.
Marinette picked one of the letters, finding on the outside a drawing of her in her Ladybug attire, doing an action pose.
"Read it girl," Alya urged as she moved closer to take a look at the card.
"Dear Ladybug, will you be my Valentine? Hmm, no signature."
"Hey just like the one you received last year," Nino elbowed Adrien in the ribs, Adrien and Marinette turning a shade of pink, "Did you figure out who its from?"
"No," answered Adrien as he picked up another card, comparing it to the picture on his phone. After seeing how Marinette acted when in love under the Cupid Ray effects, he was certain it wasn't from her. So his search continued through the fan-letters.
Alya elbowed Marinette in the ribs, but Marinette just proceeded to study the card in her hand. Whoever sent it to her was a good artist, but normally artists signed their work. She reopened the card to reread the note then flipped back to the picture until she found what she thought may be the artist's signature, not noticing Adrien's glance at her as he picked up another card. At the bottom of the card was an exclamation mark in a rectangle.