Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.
Note: Hey guys. I was wondering if there was anyone out there who was willing to help out my friend Shyrlo over on webnovel. They have this super cool story about this gamer named Reynolds. I strongly encourage you to give the story a try, and leave comments on it- good or bad. Any support is appreciated, and thank you for reading.
Astral Transcendence: Reynolds accepts an invitation, unknowing that it would transport him into at digital world of goblins, trolls, and being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Enter The Astral's game, a Battle Royale where the boundaries of life and death are blurred as our hero, reincarnated as Raul Vuren, raises his sword to fight for his life against 357 other warriors out for blood. This experience is unlike anything Reynolds has ever experienced, which is fair because Reynolds is unlike anyone Garen has ever seen. Inventive, insightful, and creative, you may not know what he will do next.
Link: book/astral-transcendence_26983002806219005
Chapter 57,
The children had all gone to the park and begun their rehearsal when Nathalie arrived. Her confidence and new look caught the eyes of everyone she passed; not just Armand. As she walked over to Chloe and Luka with earbuds and a folder, Adrien couldn't help but stare at her.
"I've never seen her without a suit." Adrien commented. Marinette rucked some hair behind her ear as she looked at Nathalie as well.
"She looks really good though. Confident, sexy, happy. Don't get me wrong, the suit is iconic, but it's hard to beat being yourself." Marinette said and Adrien smiled at her.
"Do you think I'll look that confident after the show?" Adrien asked timidly. Marinette put down a box of finished decorations and grabbed one of Adrien's hands with both of hers.
"I know you will." Marinette said reassuringly and Adrien blushed and sighed lovingly.
"I'm glad I don't have to do this alone... It's kinda silly for me to say, since I'm just changing my look, which isn't that big, but I'm glad I have you." Adrien said and Marinette smiled sweetly.
"It's big to you, Adrien. You're taking a leap of faith and showing the world who really are. It's ok to be nervous. And I'll be here to hold your hand, just like this, and tell you it's all gonna be ok." Marinette said.
Adrien smiled and looked down at her hands. Her hands were so soft, it was almost difficult to remember that she was actually Ladybug. That hard-headed, miracle worker who made his heart race with every snarky comment she made. A stubborn, empathetic, selfish, clumsy, perfect, beautiful girl. He was so in love with his bluebell, that it took all of his strength to keep his cat-ness a secret. He wanted to respect her wishes, though. She wasn't ready to know, but soon she will, and then they'll have no secret between them.
"Am I interrupting?" Nino asked and the teens blushed and pulled their hands back.
"I was, um... nervous about performing and Adrien was comforting me." Marinette said bashfully.
"Oh. I guess Adrien would be the guy to go to. Being a famous model, he lives and breaths this type of stuff every day." Nino said. Marinette noticed that Nino was holding a clipboard, and rose an eyebrow at it.
"Taking inventory?" She asked sarcastically, and Nino happily rolled his eyes.
"Yeah right. But I wanted to ask, since I don't have it written down here, what song were you two dancing to." Nino asked and Marinette blinked.
"Did you request a duet?" Marinette asked Adrien. Of course she and Adrien were going to contribute to the show, but they haven't discussed performing together as of yet. The closet they've come to was Adrien's big reveal, but Nino didn't know about that.
"I didn't." Adrien said, and he looked at Nino.
"Are we suppose to?" Adrien said and Nino adjusted his glasses.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you two wanted to dance together. Seems like all the girls were talking about how perfect your dance will be." Nino said and Marinette paused.
"Really? Are a lot of people doing duets?" Marinette asked and Nino scoffed.
"Most people are doing duet or group numbers. It's the easiest way to go through 100 outfits. There's only a few key sets, that Nathalie selected, which have been pre-approved for solo acts." Nino said and Marinette nodded.
"Ok, that makes sense." Marinette said and she looked at Adrien.
"You wanna?" Marinette asked and Adrien blushed heavily.
"I'm sorry, you reminded me of a Trace Adkins song." Adrien said, as he rubbed the back of his neck, and Marinette giggled.
"Maybe we should perform together." Marinette said and Adrien nodded.
"That sounds fun." Adrien said.
"Plus, dancing with Adrien should help you with your stage fright." Nino said.
"Good point. Adrien, what would you like to dance to?" Marinette asked and for a moment Adrien stared at her.
"I'm not sure. Shouldn't we talk about it for a minute?" Adrien said and Marinette's eyelids lowered as if she were staring at the cutest think in the entire world.
"Have a minute if you want, but I think you should pick the song. I trust that you'll pick a good song." Marinette said and Adrien smiled.
"You know... Trace Adkins does have this really fun song called 'Gonna Make You Miss Me'. I always thought it would be fun to danced to that." Adrien said and Marinette turned to Nino.
"There you go Nino, 'Gonna Make You Miss Me' by Trace Adkins. Did you need anything else?" Marinette asked and Nino shook his head.
"I don't think so. I'll double check with you later, once I have everyone written down so that we can finalize the playlist; but I should be good for now." Nino said. He wrote down the song before walking away.
"It's gonna be really fun to dance with you Adrien. We could even ask Nathalie for help on the-" Marinette froze when she saw something.
"Huh." Marinette almost stated at the confusion. Adrien turned and saw Lila walking around, with a tablet in her hands.
"I thought she had no interest in the show." Adrien said and he saw by the look on Marinette's face that he missed something. So he looked at Lila again. This time when Adrien looked at Lila, he saw his father's face in the tablet she was holding.
"Huh." Adrien uttered and Marinette smiled at him.
"I wonder why he asked Lila to replace Nathalie." Adrien thought outloud and Marinette shrugged.
"Maybe because he broke her camera." Marinette said and Adrien blinked at her.
"Father broke her camera?" Adrien asked and Marinette hesitated. She almost forgotten that Adrien didn't know about that.
"Um... yeah. He replaced it, but he, uh... broke it on purpose." Marinette admitted and Adrien's eyes widened.
"I believe you, but it's hard to see my father braking her camera for no reason." Adrien said and Marinette hesitated.
"Well, I'm not really sure why, but it had something to do with a picture of m-... Cat Noir." Marinette said. She couldn't help but feel like she was lying to Adrien and throwing Cat Noir under the bus, at the same time. Even though this was the truth, and she trusted Adrien, the secrets of Ladybug and Cat Noir must be protected at all costs.
"A Cat Noir picture? I don't think father cares about Cat Noir- are you sure?" Adrien asked and Marinette sighed. She sat next to Adrien and held out her pinkie to him.
"I want you to promise that what I'm about to say will be honored as a secret." Marinette said. Adrien looked at Marinette's pinkie. It seemed so juvinille, but at the same time, people often break or forget to keep certain promises. At least doing a pinkie promise is more memorable and since it's a touch more intimate then breathing the word 'sure'; it does show a little bit more trust, even if it's silly.
"Ok, I promise." Adrien said, hooking his pinkie with her before lowering their hands. Marinette glanced around for a moment and then turned back to Adrien.
"Lila was telling your dad that she got a picture of Cat Noir and a girl." Marinette whispered and Adrien's eyes widened.
"What?" He asked, starting to get nervous.
"I heard Lila telling Mr. Agrest that she had pictures of Cat Noir making out with a girl on the streets of Paris-"
"That's a lie." Adrien said defensively and then he lushed.
"I mean, it doesn't sound like something Cat Noir would do." Adrien said quickly and Marinette giggled at him.
"It might be a friend, or a girlfriend, who knows." Marinette said, trying so hard not to blush when she said the word 'girlfriend'.
"But Gabriel called it frivolous gossip and broke the camera when Lila talked about selling it to a paper." Marinette said and Adrien blinked. In a weird way his father actually, defended him. It felt...
"Weird. I know Ladybug and Cat Noir have tons of supporters, but... but father? And why would Lila bring the picture to him anyways?" Adrien asked and Marinette looked away. Now that he knows it's a Cat Noir picture, she can't just tell Adrien that Lila was stalking her because she's Adrien's friend.
"Well, she had her camera. He probably wanted her to take pictures of something." She said and Adrien nodded.
"Yeah. Probably some venue shots for the show. Maybe that's why she's got the laptop now. It's probably faster to get Lila to show him where everything is, since all her pictures are gone." Adrien said, glancing at the miserable girl as she held the tablet.
"I guess. I'm just glad that Cat Noir's girlfriend can remain a secret for a while longer." Marinette said and Adrien's breath hitched for a moment. Did she really consider herself Cat Noir's girlfriend?
"And... what if she's just his friend?" Adrien asked and Marinette smiled sweetly.
"All the more reason to keep it a secret. Cat Noir is very important, to Ladybug and all of Paris. He should be able to see his friend from time to time... you know as long as they are more careful in the future." Marinette said, and this time she couldn't help the blush gently coloring her face. Adrien couldn't help but find her beautiful. He looked down at their hands and noticed that they were still holding each other's pinkies.
"I think they will be." Adrien said, smiling like the biggest dork in the world.
"I think so too." Marinette said with a giggle.
They sat their in silence for a moment enjoying the subtle hand holding, before they went back to the rehearsal.