Alternative scene from season 5 'Derision.'

What If…Adrien acted on how truly angry he was right after hearing what Kim did to Marinette. (Not while he was Chat Noir and Kim was akumatized).

Adrinette April 2024

Day #16: What If…

At the pool, after changing into his trunks and swim cap, Adrien waited for Marinette to come out of the changing stale. When she finally came down in her suit, cap, and goggles, they made their way to the ladder.

Adrien climbed down the ladder first, most of his lower half in the water as he stood on the last bar, and reached a hand up for Marinette to take. "Need a hand?" he asked her. He wanted to show Marinette how much of a gentleman he could be.

Marinette looked down at him with wide, nervous eyes. He could tell that she was nervous but he was hoping that he could make her feel comfortable and safe with him, hence, him offering his hand. But when she slowly started reaching for it, she quickly took it back and screamed.

"Marinette?" Adrien asked, concerned. And he just got more so when she suddenly ran from the pool edge and back towards the stairs. "What's wrong?!" he tried to shout to her as he climbed out of the pool. He dashed towards the stairs too, intending to follow her, but she stopped a few steps up and turned back to him.

"Leave me alone!" she cried like she was mad. "I need to be by myself and stop pretending to be so nice to me!" And with that, she ran the rest of the way up the stairs.

Adrien just stood there, confused. Pretending? He wasn't pretending. Why would she even think that?

Inside the pool, Kim and Ondine swam over. While Ondine made her way to the ladder and climbed out, Kim laughed before swimming closer to the edge. "Woah, Adrien. That must have been some prank you pulled to make Marinette freak out like that. What did you do to her?" the tall jock chuckled.

"It's not funny, Kim. Can't you see Marinette's not okay?" Ondine said to him after she was out of the water, standing next to Adrien.

"Oh come on, she always reacts like that when someone pranks her," Kim replied.

"What on Earth are you talking about?" she asked him. Adrien had the same thought. He and Ondine could clearly see that Marinette was upset, why couldn't Kim?

"Right. You guys wouldn't know," Kim said as he swam over to the ladder and climbed up as well. After getting out of the water, he stood with them on the walkway. "Let me explain. You'll see, it's hilarious. It was last year, when Marinette and I were in the eighth grade." As Kim talked, he walked over to a pillar close to the ladder with a life-preserver hanging on it. On the other side of the pillar were some benches. Adrien and Ondine followed, listening closely. "One day during school, Marinette came up to me and asked me if I wanted to go to the pool with her that day after class. I of course said yes, 'cause, you know, I love to swim," he said as he grabbed a small towel from the bench and started casually drying himself off a bit. "Then Chloe stopped me at the stairs and told me she knew about Marinette and me going to the pool." A rock suddenly formed in Adrien's stomach at the mention of his childhood friend. He already hated where this was going. "I thought we were just going to swim, but Chloe told me that Marinette was going to declares that she had feeling for me," Kim said casually. Adrien was stunned. Marinette used to have feelings for Kim just last year?! He had no idea. Then again, he never suspected that she had feelings for him during this current year. "I wasn't sure what to do about that. That's when Chloe recommended the funniest practical joke I could pull on Marinette."

Neither Adrien and Ondine liked the sound of that. "A practical joke?" they both asked.

"Yeah," Kim continued, still not sensing anything wrong. "So, anyway. After we swam around for a while, we were just sitting on the diving platform together, then Marinette told me that she'd like to be more than friends." The way Kim said it so casually, like Marinette feelings weren't serious, made Adrien clench a fist. "And that's when I did it."

"Did what?" Adrien couldn't help but ask even though he was sure the answer would just make him angrier.

Kim draped his towel over the back of his neck. "I got down on one knee, said a super corny line about my feelings, then I offered her a tiny gift box." Kim smiled bigger as he remembered the 'super funny' event. "She stood up and took the box from me," Kim paused to chuckle a bit. "And then…" he chuckled some more. "she opened it and-" he laughed a bit louder. "there were a bunch of spiders inside!" He yelled before cracking up, holding his gut as he laughed.

Adrien and Ondine just stood there with wide, petrified eyes. Clearly, they didn't see the punch line in that joke.

Adrien's shock and horror quickly scorched up to a burning rage.

"You did what?!" Adrien grunted.

Kim was still laughing but calmed down enough to respond. "What? Spiders are hilarious. That's what Chloe said and she was right." Both of Adrien's fists were clenched so tight, he was sure his nails were going to penetrate the skin of his palms and draw blood. "But what was even funnier was when Marinette was screaming, she accidently stepped off the diving platform and fell right into the pool!" Kim started laughing again and Adrien saw red.

~*MDC+AA*~

Despite almost being akumatized, Marinette smiled. Because she was able to recall why she felt the way she felt about love confessions and why she was always so nervous around Adrien. How could she have forgotten the details of that day, especially if they were still affecting her today?

There she sat on the floor of her changing stale, proud of herself and oddly refreshed.

Now that she realized what had been wrong, she didn't feel so afraid anymore.

Adrien was nothing like Kim in that way. Sure, Adrien's social skills were still a bit off sometimes but that wasn't an issue. He'd never take any sort of advice from Chloe. True, they used to be friends—that had been why she wanted to steer clear of him when they first met—but things were different now. He knew Chloe couldn't be trusted these days and he'd never hurt her on purpose.

Now, Kim didn't necessarily mean to hurt her either but he still couldn't seem to understand how pranks can still hurt people's feelings if you're not careful. Adrien could tell when a joke was too far and always made sure the person was okay.

All this time, Marinette had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. For Adrien to do the same thing to her; prank her, say 'gotcha' and laugh at her misery. But she knew Adrien now.

He wasn't like Kim. And he wasn't like Chloe either.

Marinette sprang to her feet, opened the door, and dashed down the stairs, longing to find Adrien and explain everything to him. What she found when she was close to the bottom was Adrien, Kim, and Ondine standing over by a close pillar. She stopped on the stairs as she heard Ondine's enraged outburst.

"You did that to Marinette?" Ondine said, completely appalled. Neither of them were looking at her, so Marinette decided to hang back and listen. Had Kim told them what had happened?

"Yeah. Hilarious, right?" Kim chuckled again, then it turned into a sigh. "Chloe's the prettiest girl in the world and the funniest too," he said, glancing off to the side, thinking about the other girl.

Ondine huffed in outrage. They just started going out but he was still thinking about another girl?! And a bully at that. "How could you say that in front of me!? And do such awful things to Marinette. Your behavior is cruel and unacceptable," she scolded him.

Kim frowned and rolled his eyes. "Come on, it was just a-"

The fist that collided with Kim's face cut off his sentence.

The force of the blow and the shock of how unexpected it was threw the taller boy back and sent him falling to the floor.

Both Marinette and Ondine's hands covered their mouths.

There Adrien stood over Kim; face red with anger and panting like he'd just ran a mile.

"Are Marinette's feelings a joke?!" the blonde former model screamed at the boy on the ground. Kim turned over and clutched at his face. His left eye hurt the most. "Is humiliating her and scarring her for life a joke?!" he screamed again. Kim sat there in shock. Did Adrien seriously just punch him? What'd he do? "Chloe has done nothing but be awful and cruel to Marinette and everyone else in our school. She saw an opportunity to hurt her again and you were too blind to see it and did exactly what she wanted." Adrien lowered his voice a bit but still kept the angry tone. "Chloe lied. She wanted you to prank Marinette because she knew Marinette wouldn't be laughing. Just you were, and her. At Marinette. How could you still listen to her and pine after her when you know how awful she really is?" That's when something in Adrien's brain clicked. And how could he still be friends with her and support her when he knows how awful she really is? After quickly giving himself a mental scold that he'll remember to finish later, he continued with Kim. "And while you supposedly like Ondine?" If he had to spell it out for him, then so be it. Whatever it took to get the message across.

"I-I do like Ondine," Kim said weakly, glancing at his swim partner. Hoping that she'd object to Adrien hitting him and all the yelling at him, but she just stood there with her arms crossed and looked down at him with similar angry frown.

She didn't like this but she still thought he sort of deserved it. So she just stood there.

Ignoring Kim's short response, Adrien continued. "Marinette liked you, you had her heart and what did you do with it? You threw it away for a laugh. Marinette is the sweetest, bravest, smartest, most amazing girl I've ever met. She's never done anything to intentionally hurt anyone, is always helping others, and selflessly does so much for everyone. Anyone to earn her love should be honored." Adrien paused for a second. He'd never said this out loud to anyone other than Marinette. Even then, he hadn't been this specific. "I know I am. And…I know I love her and would never do anything to hurt her!" he exclaimed passionately. Kim and Ondine's eyes widened. But Marinette's were wider. "She and I are trying to start a relationship but she's been having a hard time expressing how she feels. And now I see why. The last time she tried, her crush humiliated her and broke her heart," he said with a sneer as he looked down at Kim. He might be being a bit harsh by this point but he didn't care. He thought he deserved it and he was angry enough to dish it out. "You're a jerk, Kim. A jerk who doesn't think before he acts and doesn't care in the least who he hurts."

Everything was quiet after that. So Marinette, after processing what Adrien just said on top of everything else she realized while in the changing stale, she walked the rest of the way down the stairs.

When she started moving again, Ondine finally noticed her in her peripherals before turning around. She watched her when she reached the bottom and walked around the railing.

"Adrien," the young swimmer nudged Adrien's arm. Adrien turned around and saw Marinette standing there.

Suddenly, all his anger melted away to relief. She wasn't locked away somewhere, alone and upset. She was holding her arms but she was smiling.

Marinette walked over to him and hugged him around his shoulders without hesitation. "I love you too," she whispered in his ear.

Adrien blushed. Hearing her finally able to say those words to him crystal clear felt better than he had dreamt they would. He smiled and embraced her back. When they pulled back, just enough to look at each other, Adrien leaned in and planted a kiss to her forehead.

"Marinette," Kim said. They turned back to see that the boy had gotten back onto his feet. Adrien protectively retightened his hold on Marinette just a bit. "I…I'm sorry," he said in a crushed tone.

At last, the boy finally saw the wrong he'd done and felt bad.

"Apology accepted," Marinette replied kindly. Kim wasn't a bad guy. He was still her friend, even after the incident and before this day. Still, she appreciated the remorseful apology. Maybe now they could all put this behind them for real.

Ondine walked over to Kim's side. "You guys can stay and swim. Kim and I are going to leave," she said to the couple. Then she turned to her 'boyfriend.' "We have some talking to do," she said in a tighter voice.

Marinette and Adrien just got there. They hadn't even gotten to swim yet. They deserved to still have their date. She and Kim on the other hand had been there for a while already, so she thought it best to move their important conversation elsewhere, as to not disturb them or the rest of the patrons of the pool.

Kim walked away with her without complaint. Leaving Adrien and Marinette to themselves to salvage what they could of their date.

Just like earlier, Adrien climbed down the ladder first, most of his lower half in the water as he stood on the last bar, and reached a hand up for Marinette to take.

Marinette hesitated again, but it was only for a split second this time before she smiled and took his hand.

Marinette stepped onto the first bar, then the next, slowly entering the water. Adrien swam back a bit to give her some room but held onto her hand. When she was on the last bar, she kicked a bit off it to swim out but ended up colliding into Adrien's bare chest.

One of Marinette's arms instinctively wrapped itself around his shoulder while Adrien wrapped an arm around her middle, holding her close as they both treaded water. Marinette blushed redder than ever, being this close to the love of her life, and with no shirt on.

"Don't worry, I got you," he said in a tender voice. Marinette looked up at his face and into his emerald eyes, and without a trace of fear or doubt, she believed him, and smiled back.

I like Kim but he was kind of an oblivious jerk here. He didn't deserved to get cataclysumed but a punch to the face I think was appropriate.

Next one will be on the 20th. See u then ;D