Two chapter update!
Rose smiled as the bestest and kindest teacher in the school went on about love, the best emotion behind happiness, throughout history. After all, without Love, how could the world function? With villains sprouting up, Paris, the city OF love, needed it now more than ever! If negativity was the door that let Hawkmoth in, then Love was the steel chains that wrapped around that door while you poured concrete over it. "Now, in most fairy tales, particularly the revised one's from their original folk tales, the 'classical' ending of them has your prince kissing the princess, thus undoing the spell and leading to the happily ever after. Any care to tell me why?"
"Oooh, ooh!" Rose shot her hand up excitedly. She may not be as smart as everyone else was when it came to math or history, but fairytales were something she was VERY familiar with. "Because true love can conquer anything! Fear, hate, sadness, anything is possible as long as you have love!"
"Very correct!" Ms Bustier smiled. "The concept itself originated from Shakespear's Richard the third, where Richard said the line 'Bear her my true love's kiss'. However, the magical properties associated with it didn't pull through until the 1697 Mother Goose Tales, where it awakened a princess from her hundred year slumber." She explained. "Now, who can tell me which popular author took the concept next?" She asked the class.
"Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, who wrote the original version of beauty and the Beast in 1740." Juleka quietly answered in a whispery tone that was only barely audible for everyone around her. This was a good sign if she was willing to answer without being forced into it. "Though it was revised with influences from stories such as 'Cupid and the psyche' and 'the pig king' around 1889."
"Good job Juleka." The woman smiled brightly, though that just made the girl keep her head down. Oh well, baby steps were still steps forward. "And on that note, your reading assignment for tonight will be to read that original version before next class. It is Valentine's Day after all. No better time than to refresh on how far we come on the day of love." It was little touches like this that made Ms. Bustier so great. She was always thinking of the class first before anything else.
Their lovely teacher walked out of the room, leaving the class alone until the bell rang. "..Why did we have an entire class spent on learning tired out Disney tropes?" Peter's eyes twitched, looking less enthusiastic about the lesson.
"Because the sixteenth century had very different views on consensual kissing?" Juleka guessed quietly.
"It's France, honey." Felicia grinned. "Unless you add tongue, it's all consensual."
"I remember you being a lot shyer when you joined." Alya noted.
"What can I say, Rose is great at helping people come out of their shells." Aww, she was sweet. Actually didn't take too much coaxing like it did with Juleka.
"Besides, as unrealistic as they are, stories such as Beauty and the beast and Hunchback of Notre dame have significant history in French literature." Max pipped up. "Although in the latter case, it was less of a romance and more a commentary of the religious corruption of the state. And the constant obsessions they had with everyone resulted in everyone but the womanizing captain to die."
"Aka, love makes people go crazy and insane." Alix shrugged. "Glad I don't have to deal with anything like that. Just friends, sisters from other misters, and fantasies about friends with benefits when I'm an adult."
"Aww, you're telling me there's nobody you'd see yourself with romantically?" Rose pouted.
"Romance just doesn't do it for me. The mushy stuff makes me feel as icky as Max feels whenever he sees two people kiss." She shrugged.
"This holiday is gonna be the death of us." The boy in question groaned. "Ivan, Mylene, I'm happy that you're happy, but could you keep the PDA to a minimum today?"
"Come on, we haven't moved that fast." Ivan blushed in embarrassment as Mylene held his hand. "We've just stuck to hand holding so far since Stoneheart."
"You two are the most adorable couple I have ever seen." Alya grinned.
"I have to ask." Peter spoke up, looking at Adrien. "Is Valentine's any different here than in America?"
"No clue. It's my first one in a classroom." The rich boy answered. "Usually It's just me and Chloe eating chocolate she snuck in my room while hiding from Father."
"And it's a tradition I will PROUDLY continue for years to come!" Chloe stood up, looking actually happy instead of stuck up happy like she usually was, and placed a heart shaped box onto Adrien's desk. "Happy Valentine's Day, Adriken's."
"You know what, you're giving Adrien treats and ticking off his father. I approve." Peter nodded in sincerity. "And the universe didn't even have to explode."
"It's more than you can do with your dime store allowance, American." THERE was the usual tension between the two.
"Come on guys, can't you two let it go just for today?" Adrian begged with an expression that looked like it belonged on a puppy dog. "It's the day of love and peace, we could do a class activity or something."
"Last time Chloe got involved with a group activity on Valentine's day was 07 …" Nino said. "Where she shuffled around everyone's valentine cards for each other."
"Luckily Max got mine, so we just had a simple talk to assure nothing was there." Rose smiled.
"The same can't be said when Kim got mine." Juleka quietly muttered. That was an awkward conversation, considering Juleka's letter described how much she loved the color pink on who she was giving it to.
"Yeeaash, it makes me feel like I've gotten it off easy over the years." Peter snorted. "For me, Valentine's day is just a reminder that some people aren't meant to date until after highschool. Never had luck with this sort of thing. Kids in the USA can be so cruel."
"Sounds brutal." Kim patted the boy's back.
Rose smiled, moving in close to Juleka. "You don't mind if I give him an anonymous valentine do you? I feel he needs something." She whispered, wanting to give the boy a bit of hope.
"Alright, but purely platonic. Not gonna go overboard and cause another mass misunderstanding." She nodded, giving Juleka a quick hug.
"What about you Nathaniel, you've been quiet." Alya asked the artist.
"Honestly, I'm just kinda scared." The boy admitted. "It's Valentine's Day, any akuma is gonna be romance related. And I kinda had my heart broken recently so …"
"Right, because Chloe took your journal, revealed your crush on Marinette and became an evil artist." Felicia said rather bluntly, making everyone stare at her. "What, I was there when it happened, it's still fresh in my mind."
"Honestly I was just more surprised Hawkmoth let him choose his own design." Peter said. "I mean, after Nino and the Bubbler you'd think he was just terrible at listening to external input." He turned around. "What do you think, Marinette?" He asked the blue haired blue eyed girl, who had been quiet the entire class, writing on a piece of paper. "Marinette?" She continued to ignore him.
Alya looked over the paper. "Your hair shines like the sun, your eyes are gorgeous green, I look at you and wonder about your thoughts and dreams…"
"What….ALYA!?" Marinettle nearly fell out of her seat, papers flying everywhere. "What are you doing reading over-No!" She tried snatching every one of them.
"You got lost in your own little world girl, we were trying to get your attention." Alya explained herself trying to help her gather all the papers.
"Well, you could do it without looking into my privacy-no, where is it, where's the poem!?" Marinette searched and searched as a pink slip of paper flew into the air…and landed into Felica's hands. "Please don't-!"
"You're skin illuminates the light in the dark, with that perfect grin It gives my heart a spark. Let my love find it tre, and let us me be a valainte to you." Felica smirked. "Wow, you got a way with words, baker girl. Didn't think you had it in you."
"Don't read it out loud!" Marinette shouted in horror, snatching it back.
"Oh…of course, it makes perfect sense." Felica smirked with a snapped of her fingers. "You're in love with Chat Noir!"
"...WHAT!?" Nearly the entire class erupted in shock and confusion.
"He came into your room alone, you helped him try and deal with Nathaniel, he saves this class all the time, the way you described him perfectly matches him, it all adds up."
"I mean… going by context, I'm pretty sure that matches more with Ad-" Peter began to explain.
"Okay, okay, you got me!" Marinette blurted out with a blushing face full of red. "I… I… I'm… in… in love with… Chat Noir…."
"You're what?" Peter, Alya, and Adrien asked with various degrees of disbelief.
"Oh my god that's so amazing!" Rose sparkled. "Oooh, should we set up a firework show and try to bring him in?"
"What, no!" Marinatte screamed.
"She's right, we should make it more subtle." Mylene nodded. "Maybe we can make some sort of Chat noir signal to bring him in and then have her sing her poem in song form privately."
"NO!" Marinette shouted again.
"What, that's just stupid." Chloe rolled her eyes. "None of you are rich enough to afford a hero signal, unlike moi."
"Oh, like you're going to make a Spider signal just to impress Spider-Man." Alix rolled her eyes.
"Actually we tested it last night." Sabrina raised her hand. "Only flaw at the time was that it took energy from Chloe's hair curling outlet."
"Oh, I wondered why your hair looked only half as stuck up as before. You almost look like an average person."
"Don't you DARE call me average!" Well, that was gonna go on for a while … hopefully one of these hero relationships worked out.
She had… a Spider-Signal… a legitimate… batman styled… Spider-signal … Peter didn't know whether to be flattered or creeped out. Well, the least he could do WAS thank her. Chloe was still the Mayor's daughter and Spidey still needed to be on good terms with her. Guess it WOULD be the only valentine's gift he got that wouldn't be from Aunt May… oh shoot, now he had to think about a gift to give to Chloe as well too. Meh, maybe just a crystal flower, she liked shiny jewels.
But before any of that … something else came first. "You distract her from the front, I'll flank from behind, then we drag her alone and get the truth." He nodded to Alya.
"Got it. No way our girl has a crush on Chat Noir after all that work we put in to help her get closer to Adrien." Alya nodded firmly. "I mean, if after that she just ends up switching crushes, then what was the point of all the trouble?"
"Exactly." He nodded. Too much investment into Adrienette and Ladynoir for them to suddenly start liking other people. "There she is. Red falcon, you are good for intercept."
"Can I get a cooler nickname?"
"Red puma?" He suggested.
"Come one, Sam Willson isn't called Black Falcon just because…you know." Alya stated. "Be a little creative."
"Fine then, Nosey shark." He shot back.
"Alright, then, Nosey Shark is on the move, Puny pencil." She smirked as she ran off.
"You get points for alliteration, but nothing else!"
"Hey Marinette, can I get your opinion, I wanna pick out some flowers for a guy." Alya lied as she blocked the girl's path. "I figured we can kill two birds with one stone, and get something for you as well."
"Oh, well… okay, I… I got nothing else better to do." Marinette chuckled nervously.
"Cool. Anyway I'm thinking green, but I'm also learning to red. Would a mix work or should I stick to one color scheme?" She asked as Peter moved in closer.
"Well, for one, green and red are more christmas colors, so while that would match, it would be better suited for around that time." Marinette answered. "And it would help if you told me what kind of guy you're planning on giving flowers to."
"Well …" He was finally in position. "The guy you want to give it to."
"Wait wha-" They grabbed both of her arms, pulling Marinette into an empty classroom. "I'm being kidnapped!"
"Yes Marinette, we're holding you for ransom. We won't let you go unless you hand over two dozen freshly baked macaroons and tell us the truth." He cackled evilly.
"You can't be serious!" The girl in panic cried out.
"Oh, deadly serious. They're the best Macaroons in Paris. Or rather, the best in the world if I may be so bold." He continued on. "I never kid when it comes to Macaroons."
"And I never kid when it comes to the truth." Alya squinted her eyes. "Girl, we may have only known you for about two months now, but we know you, and when you're acting like you, and when you're NOT acting like you." She pressed on. "And since when do you, in all your sweet, kind, shy and klutzy glory go for someone as jokey and brazen as Chat Noir?"
"I … can change." … They stared at her, before she sighed. "Alright, you got me."
"Please tell me your not actually in love with Chat noir." Not that he would shame her, but with Adrien in love with Ladybug, he didn't need two delusional friends with an impossible crush.
"No … I just couldn't admit I liked Adrien to his face." She admitted with a pout.
"It's not that hard." Alya said. "Walk up to a boy, say you like him, end of story."
"Not if it ends up ruining your life." Marinette stated.
"...How can going up to Adrian ruin your life?" Peter asked. "He's the nicest guy I know. Even on the off chance he says no, he'll be polite about it."
Marinnete seemed to hesitate, looking around. "... Alright, you have to swear, on your life, that what happens never, ever, leaves this room." She held out a pinkie.
"Really, we're going with pinky swears?" He asked.
"Hey, what works works." Alya grinned, holding hers up, and Peter reluctantly following.
"We promi-OW!" Peter was caught off guard by the sewing needle picking his finger.
"Blood pact." The girl responded as she pricked her own. "That way you can't back out no matter what or else I'll haunt you both."
"...I've never seen her so scary before." Alya muttered in slight panic.
"Must be an intense story." He whispered back, feeling nothing but trepidation.
The now scariest girl in the room took a deep breath. "Believe it or not, you two weren't the first best friends I had." They gasped dramatically, as Marinette rolled her eyes. "It was a girl named Socqueline. She was an upperclassman. She stood up for me, always hung out, we talked all the time … it was nice." She took out a phone and showed them a picture.
"Huh…she looks kind of like a slightly older version of you with bigger pigtails." Alya noted.
"So many people thought she was my sister." Marinette nodded. "It was great, she had my back… especially since Chloe, believe it or not, was ALOT nastier to me back then."
"You mean it got worse than firing her best friend's dad because she wouldn't arrest Peter on circumstantial evidence and getting me temporarily expelled?" Alya couldn't believe her ears.
"She put Cockroaches in my locker just so she could capture me screaming in panic."
"Wow …. Sounds a lot like me and my bully Flash." Except more psychological and less 'punch in the face'.
"Yeah… it was bad, but thanks to Socquline, I learned how to manage myself relatively well. I could relax and put my guard down. I didn't have to plan every single detail of every day… I could just trust things to happen naturally." She smiled sadly. "So low in fact, I was confident enough to go after my crush at the time …" Marinette blushed. "Kim."
"...WHAT!?" The two of them shout-whispered.
"You said you'd take this to the grave, keep your voices down!" She shouted back.
"Just… wow…. I didn't know you were into the dumb jock type." Peter shook his head in disbelief.
"Dumb, but sincere… outwardly at least." Marinette groaned. "So I gave him a love letter. We met at the pool, we had fun, it was nice … and then …" Her hands began shaking. "And then … he gave me a box and …" Her breathing got worse.
"Whoa, girl, breath, breath." Alya told her calmly. "We can stop if you want. You don't have to finish for us."
"No… No… I trust you two… I have to get this out." Marinette sniffed, shaking her head. "I…I thought it was a bracelet… but it was a box…full of spiders."
"What…." A box full of….was THAT why Marinette was so anxious around Spidey?
"I tried to get them all off, I backed away, I slipped off the diving board and fell down … and … and Chloe was there on the balcony … filming it … she and Kim PLANNED it …" She cried. "Socquline broke the phone so she couldn't post it online, but Chloe forced the principal to suspend her for the rest of the school year … she couldn't be in the student council, go to prom … she was basically expelled." Marinettte whipped her eyes. "All because Chloe wanted to hurt me."
That….that BITCH! What kind of monster was THAT vindictive to one person for no reason!? Peter just saw her as a regular bratty girl with WAY too much power… but… that was psychologically scarring. "I…I can't believe it." Alya growled, gripping her hands. "And Kim, I'm surprised you're not more angry at him."
"I am… just … not as much… Like you guys said, he's dumb. He tried to apologize but Socquline pushed him away, afterwards he went to school the next day thinking it was a harmless joke." Mariette grumbled.
"I wouldn't exactly call falling off of a diving board harmless." Peter grumbled. It didn't matter if he was dumb…he still never apologized properly if it still bothered Marinette.
"Anyways…after that … I made myself a promise." She said. "I would never tell a boy I liked him unless I knew everything about him." Marinette rightly justified. "Whether he's kind or not, thoughtful, what he does with people outside of school, his birthday, his schedule, what his room looks like, every name he ever had documented, his social security number, his interests, his hopes and dreams, what he's scared of in the night, everything."
Peter stayed silent at that. Normally, he would make a joke or a quip right now about how yandere she was being… but this girl was hurt… deeply hurt, the kind of hurt that he's only seen the residence of FEAST go through. The kind of hurt that one couldn't get over with quickly. This…this was her way of coping.
"And above all else … that they were never … ever … friends with Chloe." Marinette fished with a final sniff.
"... Marinette… Adrien has been friends with Chloe since childhood." Peter said.
"I know …" She nodded. "... I…I think that's why I get so nervous around him… because… apart of me is saying I can't trust him." Marinette sighed sadly. "I've seen him… he's universally nice to everyone, there's never any judgment in his eyes… and he just… oozes kindness… so… I can't understand how someone like that… can find someone like Chloe a good friend."
Peter nodded in understanding. "Yeah… I get where you're coming from. I'm not saying I've been through something that bad… but I understand." He sighed. "Back in the states, I had a crush on this girl named Liz Allen. She was the typical cheerleader, and I was the standard nerd. One day, I got the 'genius' idea to ask her out. The next day, I was met by Flash Thompson, who I didn't know at the time, was her boyfriend, and long story short, I got a black eye, a bruised stomach, and my wallet stolen." He grumbled. "Liz tried to say something, but I never let her have the chance. I mean, if they're okay with letting it happen that one time… it's hard to see past that."
Alya looked at them both, before bringing them in for a group hug. "How about we hang out at my place, eat some ice cream, and complain about romance? That sound good to everyone?"
"Yeah, that sounds great actually." Marinette chuckled. "Thanks you guys… there's not a lot of people I can tell that story to."
"Hey, us awkward nerds gotta stick together. There's always plenty of room at the bottom of the totem pole." Peter snorted. Apparently he hadn't been snarky ENOUGH to Chloe during civilian form. Next time he saw her as Peter he was going to lay it ALL out. That went double for Kim too, jerk was getting off TOO easy in Peter's opinion.
Kim smiled. Today was the day. After all this effort, he would finally … FINALLY … ask out the girl he had a crush on. Chloe Bourgeois. Sure, some people said she was a heartless monster, he believed her heart was down there … deep down. Like really…really deep. Sometimes the coolest parts of the water could only be found if you swam to the deep dark pits of the ocean.
"Kim, as a neutral party and a proudly single individual with no romantic attachment whatsoever, I have to tell you… this is a mistake." Max told him as they followed the route the class nerd calculated to where Chloe would be at this moment in time.
"Come on, you're the one that gave me the brooch." He proudly held up the piece of jewelry. "You said that this would increase my chances with a girl by twenty percent."
"Yes … a sane girl that doesn't have a crush on two famous celebrities, one of which can leap across buildings." Max continued.
"Aaaah, so I need to start jumping across buildings." Kim nodded. "That's easy! I'm already super in shape. People do those Parkour tricks all the time online. Shouldn't be too different from outpacing a dolphin."
"This also doesn't include the fact that no one has ever given Chloe a valentine without her ripping it to shreds and laughing at their face for the past five years." Max pointed out.
"That's because she didn't like them back."
"By that logic, you're assuming that she does like you in any capacity l."
"Of course she does, she lets me hang out with her and Sabrina when Alix isn't making me do dares." He pointed out.
"Because she needs muscle-based dirty work for her evil schemes."
"Exactly! Now you're getting it!" Why did people think that was a bad thing?
"Seeing how this is fruitless, I'm gonna go start boarding up the janitor's closet for when you get akumatized." Max sighed. "Go nuts."
"Will do buddy!" It was great to have such supportive friends, even if they didn't fully get him. "Alright, time to work my magic." Casually go up to the girl and present her gift and ask her out. Simple and foolproof. Now she should be around here somewhere…
"What do you mean it's gold and silver plated!? I asked for pure gold!" The lovely shriek of Chloe filled the air as she spoke to Sabrina, who was apparently trying to hide behind what looked a framed poster of one of Adrien's perfume ads. "Adriken's image deserves to be preserved in only the finest and expensive material!"
"I had to split the material we got between this and Spider-Man's gift." The girl responded. "The jewelry shop sold out."
"Ugh, it's useless, utterly useless! I gave you the simple task of ordering both gifts! Litteretally just two swipes of a button, and you still mess it up!" Chloe crossed her arms. "Now Adrikens will have to live on thinking I only love him second."
"Ah…to be fair, I..I'm a bit unclear on who you want as your valentine." Sabrina quietly answered, ducking her head out of Chloe's arm reaching length. "This is the first year you're giving out two gifts for two different people."
"Come on, you heard Adrikens, he needs his valentine chocolate. That father has the boy on a strict diet … he's not anorexic but it is sad to see what he eats on a daily basis." The girl pouted. "There's staying away from gross carbs and then there's torture. I'm trying to prevent torture here Sabrina! Do you want Adrikens suffering because of your mistake!?" See, Chloe clearly had a heart underneath all the spite and anger. It just took a while to find that side of her.
"And what about Spider-Man?"
"… Just keep moving! I have to fix your mistake, clearly!" Ha, a flustering Chloe was a cute Chloe. Now was the perfect time to make his move.
"Chloe." He wakes up to the pretty girl, holding out his letter. "Here you go." He delivered his valentine, bowing down on one knee..
Splash
And accidentally landed in a puddle. "Sorry, but I don't go out with guys that don't even have the guts to not wet themselves." Chloe said bluntly with a glare.
"Wait, no, it's just a puddle-"
Splash
A bike went by, splashing him with more water as a chip bag flew on his head. "Wow, you look ridiculous. Like…more utterly ridiculous than you usually do." Chloe laughed, snapping a photo of him in his compromising position. "Hah! That'll be worth at least a hundred likes."
"Wait, you can't mean that! You're not going to post that…right?" He begged.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me posting that."
"I … why …" No … that couldn't be right. "I thought we were cool.." He sacrificed ever having a good friendship with Marinette because he thought he had something good with Chloe going.
"You're a barely adequate pack mule at best, Li Chen. Don't think that you're even on the same level as me. I only hang around people actually worth the time sharing air with." The rich girl laughed easily as she turned around."Come on Sabrina, we need to get something worth Adrikens." They began walking away, leaving the wet Kim, on his knees, feeling nothing but his own heart break.
"She … didn't even get my name right …" He muttered. All that time he spent with her, alienating himself from all his friends because he was too stupid to listen to them. "I'm … I'm …" His soul opened up.
"Dark Cupid, I am Hawkmoth. Your love has been repropricated with hate. I give you the power to turn love into hate for vengeance. All I ask in return is Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous."
"Yes! I will make sure love no longer exists as every person in Paris feels my hate!" He shouted into the air. "…Do I have to be called Dark Cupid though? I'm not going to be flying around in chicken wings wearing a diaper, am I?"
"No, black bat wings, red spandex, and an unlimited number of arrows."
"Sweet…but what.."
"I'm not changing the name. It's valentine's day, you want to spread hate, it's a dark irony situation."
"What the heck is irony?"
"You know the longer we discuss this the more Chloe gets away."
"Good point." He let the purple energy overtake him as he felt wings spread over his back. "I hope all you romantics enjoyed your carnal apples, cause it's the last time you'll ever get to be happy, period!
"I called it!" Nathaniel and Max shouted as they locked themselves in the janitor's closet. Yeah yeah, whatever.
Adrien shook his head slightly in embarrassment as he saw Chloe dragging, or rather, ordering Sabrina to drag, a framed poster of one of his ads. "Chloe, why did you get this?" He had to ask. Today was supposed to be a special day when he gave a rose to his Lady. Now he was busy trying to figure out if Chloe was serious about going out with him as Adrien, how to let Marinette down gently as Chat Noir, and … well, how to just enjoy chocolate as anybody.
"Do you love it Adrikens? I spent weeks looking for the perfect frame to encapture your brilliance." She batted him with those pretty eyes that Adrian was questioning more and more the school year went on. "I would've had it gift wrapped for you, but someone forgot to get the proper wrapping paper too!" She sent a glare to Sabrina, who looked genuinely terrified.
"Chloe … you know I'm fine with chocolates, right?" He sweated a little with a light chuckle. "There's no need to go over the top. I just want my first valentine's outside of my house to be … normal and casual as possible." Just the fact he was outside instead of in his room right now was more than a gift enough from him.
"Of course, of course Adrikens, and we'll have plenty of time to do all the 'normal' valentine activities later." Why did she use air quotes around 'normal'? "But this is also my first Valentine's Day where I don't have to hide in your room just to see you. It's a special day for me too!"
"That's a fair point." He nodded. "But I thought that you wanted to give a valentine's gift to Spidey." Sorry web head, but someone had to take the bait.
She looked somewhat sheepish at that. "As much as I hate to admit it, I have as much chance with him accepting mine as Maritrash and that Alley cat."
….He would get back to those nicknames later. That was a concerning sign alone. "What? But I thought you two got along? Didn't you say he helped you with the golden age heroes history project?" Something shocking, but overall nice of the wall crawler to do.
"Yeah, he's smart and funny, and he just always knows the right words to say…" The girl blushed. "So I'm gonna give it to him … just … he's a super hero, and I'm just… me…" She shook her head. "And I'm amazing, I don't doubt that… but I'm not … super hero… amazing…"
He smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Chloe, you don't need Spider-Man to be amazing. You can do that just by being a good person. And I'm sure he can see deep down that-"
The door slammed open, as an angry Peter marched in. "You are a terrible, rotten, demonic soul with no kindness or sympathy inside of whatever vessel you think of as human." He growled.
"Kind of picked a terrible time to start the snark off." Adrien muttered.
"What snark? I'm just telling the truth." Okay… that felt meaner than usual.
"Peter, where are you, we're about to head.." Alya and Marinette came into the room next, the glasses-wearing girl sharing the same glare as Peter. "Oh… it's you."
"Would you all go along, I was in the middle of a conversation." Chloe rolled her eyes.
"Yes, we're just going to mind our own business and head out." Marinette pushed Peter and Alya along. "Come along guys, we have things to do."
"Yeah, things to do that are as far away from this cesspool of hate and spite as possible." Alya grumbled as they went to grab their stuff.
Please don't escalate, please don't escalate, please don't …"Better than the cesspool that makes up your combined cheap tackiness." Annnd Chloe proceeded to make it harder to defend her word. "Why don't you all just do the world a good favor for once and just disappear completely
That seemed to light up the already lit fuse in his American friend."Oh yeah, if you think you're so good, why don't you tell 'Adrikens' here what you did to Marinette, at the pool… the spiders." Peter growled.
"You made a blood pact!" Marinette shout-whispered.
"Blood pact-what?" Adrien shook his head. "Chloe, what are they talking about?"
"Spiders … oh riiight." She nodded. "You see, it's actually kinda funny. What happened was-" The door slammed open once more, this time as Nino rushed in with black lipstick on for some reason. "Gah, let me guess, here to yell at me?"
"Adrien!" The boy shouted. "I hate you!"
"….. What?" Everyone looked shocked.
"You're a spineless idiot that has no idea what's going on around him!" Nino kept going
"Bro, are you okay?" Peter asked.
"Don't bro me, you know it all jerk!" He shouted.
"For once, someone other than me is speaking sense." Chloe smirked.
Rose, also wearing black lipstick, marched into the room, walking up to Juleka. "I hate you, you silent, cute goth girl!"
"What!?" Somehow, that seemed even LESS believable than what was going on with Nino.
"Okay, what's going on!?" Marinette shouted in panic. "That completely came out of nowhere."
Alya looked to the window with a squint. "Is that a flying … LOOK OUT!" She shoved Marinette out of the way as an arrow crashed through the window and hit the girl … before the arrow vanished, and Alya gained black lipstick. "Gaaah! What was I thinking, helping a whiny girl who sabotages herself over something that happened years ago!?"
"Okay, so it's safe to say that an Akuma might be involved." Peter muttered.
"And this is what you get for ditching me every akuma fight, you wimpy know it all unfunny nerd!" Alya lifted up the desk, glaring at Peter.
"If New York taught me anything, it's always run from angry red heads!" He shouted with a squeak of fear as he ran out the door, barely missing getting hit with a desk.
"Okay, not that I'm trying to assume anything, but Chloe, did you say anything to anyone that made them upset enough to Akumatize them?" Adrien turned to his old friend.
"You're assuming wrong." Chloe scoffed. "People feel honored when they talk to me."
"Chloe!" A guy in a red suit with wings came, who also looked a little like Kim, shouted. "I am Dark Cupid! Let me show you what it's like to be destroyed by those that try to live you!"
"Wait, did he try asking out Chloe?" Marinette asked. "… I knew he was a little on the unintelligent side but wow."
"Ugh, that's exactly the lame kind of move I would expect from Li Chen." Chloe crossed her arms. "So gutless he couldn't take a simple rejection."
"At least get my name right, you heartless cow!" Kim shouted as he took his bow out. "How about I get rid of YOUR friends!?" He sent out two arrows, one at Sabrina, and one at Adrien.
"Adrian, look out!" Marinette shouted, tacking him to the young and avoiding the attack as the one aimed at Sabrina hit her.
"You…you…you stupid, vapid, air headed walking cliche!" Sabrina's lips went black as she immediately began targeting Chloe. "I hate you, I hate every single soul sucking ear grating second that I have to be next to you! Get the hell away from me and get a real life Daddy's girl, or at the very least stop waiting for that wall crawling creep to take you away from your miserable life!"
"TAKE THAT BACK!"
"If it wasn't for Alya and Nino being victims I'd call this an improvement." Marinette muttered. "We need to run!" She pulled him out of the classroom.
"Come back Marinette!" Alya shouted, holding out a pencil menacingly. "I'm not through making you pay for your idiocy! You'll never make him fall in love with your pathetic butt!"
"Hey, Marientte is a great girl! I'm sure she's can make anybody fall in love with her if she tries hard enough!" Adrien defended. The girl did just help him avoid getting hatified, the least he could do was defend her honor verbally.
"And you're just an idiot!" She threw the pencil at him as he and Marinette split up. Hopefully he could hide out and change quick enough.
Making his way under some stairs, and seeing everyone too panicked from hateful people, this seemed a good of a place as any. "It's about as chaotic as that valentines party in Latvaria during 88." Plaag snickered. "Except there was a satanic ritual in the middle of the city to contact Mephistopheles to collect lost souls of lost loves."
"Fun story, maybe later. Plagg, Claws Out." With a change, he flipped onto the rooftop. Priority, either locate the object, or get rid of Dark Cupid's bow. "Still can't believe Chloe caused another one…wait, is that why Peter and Alya were so mean?" But they didn't have lipstick … maybe it was cause it was still forming?
"Looks like we're the first ones here Chaton." Ladybug said, landing next to him. "You think it's gonna be a Spidey free day?"
"You wanna rush in without your favorite bullet shield?" Chat asked with a smirk. "I can substitute if you promise to hold me close."
"Nope; gonna wanna save the human target practice for another day, lady and gent." Spidey's voice spoke from the ceiling as he hung himself upside down. "Seems like all our alarms were set to Akuma o'clock today."
"Actually I came by the school anyway." Adrien shrugged. "Heard from some kid that a girl had a crush on this little kitty and I wanted to turn them down gently. You know, before it blew up in our faces all Akuma style …" He half lied as they looked at Kim firing off hate arrows. "Irony at its finest apparently."
"Not so when it's another Chloe disasterpiece." Ladybug grumbled. "She turned down one of her Classmates, Kim, and by the looks of it, very brutally too."
"To be fair she made it pawsitively obvious she already has her heart set on our little spider." Adrien sent a teasing grin to his friend.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll send her a card later, any idea where the akuma is?" Weird, Spidey didn't take the bait for a counter tease.
"No, we haven't gotten in close enough to take a look." Bugaboo said. "It's either the bow, the holster, or some other object we can't see this far away."
"So close range to counter his long range attacks and start going down the list." Spidey nodded, cracking his knuckles. "The holidays make me pretty cranky, so excuse me if I come off as a little forward." He leapt ahead.
"Wait, at least let us come up with a plan of attack!" Ladybug shouted.
"I have a plan….attack!"
"But that's my trademarked plan!" Chat shouted, following to keep watch of Spidey's back.
"Oooh, if it isn't the heroes of Paris. So full of love!" Kim pulled on an arrow. "Let the Dark Cupid turn it to hate!" And fired.
"Trust me pal, I have no love in my webbed filled heart for you." Spidey jumped over the arrows as Chat Noir slid under them.
"Maybe you have a point, being friends with a girl like Chloe!" Dark Cupid shouted, firing off more arrows as they got closer.
"That's something you'd know all about, being nothing but an empty headed simpy jock that treats everything like a joke!" …Ahh… was Spidey okay?
"Wow, throwing out the anger taunt tactics early I see." Chat chuckled nervously.
"My heads far from empty; it's just clouded by all the anger I've boiled up!" Dark Cupid tried to fire again, only for Spidey to swing ahead and jump on his back. "Good luck trying to find my Akuma! You'll never guess what it is-"
Pow
Spidey punched the villain right in the face, sending the two of them right into a wall.
"I can find it out after I knock you out!" He shouted, punctuating his sentence with another hit to the face. "YOU STUPID, HEARTLESS, ASSHOLE!" Spidey repeatedly punched the flying villain in the face.
"...Did he get hit with any of the arrows?" Chat asked in horror as Ladybug landed next to him.
"Not as far as I remember." She said with surprise. "I thought his one good trait was his lack of violence against brainwashed teenagers?"
"Like I said, holidays make me cranky!" Spidey continued punching. "And he reminds me of someone I hate."
Chat ran up, grabbing his arm. "Spidey, you're gonna break something-" He froze, as an arrow entered his side.
"CHATON!" Lady … the BITCH shouted out.
"Oh can it!" He threw Spider-Punk at her direction. "I can't stand you two fighting all the time! It's driving me nuts!" He ran forward and slammed the two of them into the hallways before they could stand back up. "Do you know how much pressure it puts on me being the middleman?! It freaking sucks, and trust me, my life already sucked before I had to deal with your collective bull crap on the daily!"
"Chaton, calm down-"
"Don't you Chaton me Bugafreak!" He screamed. "You're so unrelenting! I try every time to connect but you always run! It's frustrating!"
"How about we take them down together, partner." Dark Humor grinned.
"Only because I won't have to see any of their stupid faces again after today!" He'd happily give up his miraculous if it meant not dealing with that half wit spider and that fucking tease Ladybug. Maybe he could cataclysm his old man before giving it to Hawkmoth. "Oooh, now there's an idea." He smirked, raising his hand. "With how fast and instant it is, a small part of me wondered what would happen if I used cataclysm on something alive." Chat Noir felt the energy flow. "Of course I was always scared and had to be careful … but now I see someone I hate enough to try it on!"
"You referring to me or her?" The spider-bastard asked with a gulp.
"Get closer and find out."
Marinette jumped high as she avoided Chat trying to cataclysm her yet again. "Okay, we have officially entered dangerous waters!" She shouted. And unlike Copycat they couldn't just hit this one.
"Oh really?! Didn't notice!" Spider-man shouted as he avoided Dark Cupid's arrows. "This is why I hate Valentine's Day! Something like this always happens! One minute you wait around for a single gift, the next a love themed supervillain is brainwashing all the women in the city into a super cult for regicide!"
"For once I'm somewhat on the same page as you. Valentine's Day's never been the luckiest time of the year for me either!" Failed letters she couldn't bring herself to send, failed crushes that either thought she was creepy or got a girlfriend before she could make a move. "Chaton, come on, you can fight this!"
"I don't wanna fight this Bugacreep, I just wanna fight you!" Chat noir kept swinging around his claws. "Wouldn't it be cathartic!? You wouldn't have to listen to spider-maniac's terrible jokes anymore and I won't have to constantly play second and third fiddle to a couple of bugs! Wins all around!"
"Chat, you aren't second fiddle!" Spidey shouted. "You are literally the nicest and kindest hero we know!"
"Shut up Mr 'never takes anything seriously'!" He shouted, trying to cut the web head. "Why go so hard against Kim!? What happened to avoiding hurting brainwashed teenagers!?"
"Lapse in judgment. We all have them, like Ladybug with screwball and you right now!" Spidey shouted, running up a wall. "Can't we be adults and just not hold it against each other!?"
"Too little, too late, spider-creep!" Chat shouted, trying to use his staff to leap to Spidey, who leaped out of the way and over to her.
"Alright, we're down a member, and have to avoid getting hit by anger inducing arrows that make us bad guys while trying to not hit our own friend." He said. "Please tell me you have a plan here before my eight legs go down to two."
"Goons have to rely on old fashion luck for this." Ladybug nodded, throwing her yo-yo in the air. "Lucky charm!" The magic flowed…and in her hands came a heart shaped Caramel apple. "Come on Tikki! I thought the romantic gifts were for when I don't have to use the lucky charm in a fight!"
"Sticky Carmel can't mend what's already broken, M'Loser!" Chat noir began swapping as his timer began going down.
"We gotta end this fast before either he kills one of us or he transforms back and loses his identity!" Spidey shouted as he flipped onto a wall to avoid dark Cupid's arrows.
"I know, I know!" They couldn't waste too much time, what could make a sticky dessert useful…. sticky carmel meant sticky fingers… fingers needed to fire arrows. "Spidey, mind giving the villain his valentine?" She handed the lucky charm over to him.
"I don't really think Dark Cupid is in the mood for …" He paused, slowly feeling his hand around the sticky treat. "Aaaahh … hey Dark Stupid, the valentine shop ran out of heart shaped treats, here's a compliment on the house!" He ran forward, dodging the arrows.
"I'll pay you back by shredding your backside!" Chat Noir tried to attack Spider-Man from behind.
"Someday, but not today Chaton!" She used her yo-yo to grapple his legs and pull him to her. "Come on Chat Noir! You're the one that belives in this team the most! We need you!"
"This team is rotten! I hate it more than anything in the world!" He shouted, trying to grab her YoYo which she pulled back. If she didn't have that, she couldn't purify the akuma. "I'm gonna get rid of the most ugly girl in the world while I'm at it!" He rushed at her as she was forced to duck under the cataclysm.
"I know you don't mean that! You're always flirting with me and…" Love conquers all. … Was this really how she was going to fix this? Was she going to give her first kiss to an admittedly okay guy in a cat mask? "Ugggh…You so owe me after this."
"Ha, you're the one owing me-"
Smooch
She pressed her lips against his… his nice and warm lips… NO! Don't fall into temptation! He was just a Good partner, but nothing else! It was a simple kiss, she'll save her first lovers kiss for Adrien… eventually.
The boy blinked for a minute, as the black lipstick faded, looking completely confused. "Ladybug … what's going-"
"No time to explain!" She grabbed him by his collar. "You're already low on time, touch his object!" And like the first day they met, she threw the cat themed hero at Dark Cupid.
"Ugh, I hate candied apples!" Dark Cupid shouted, distracted as Spidey rubbed the sticky dessert all over the villain.
"I admit, they're too sweet for my tastes too!" Spidey shot back as Chat grabbed the bow, disintegrating it. "That's why I stick to coffee. Sweet and bitter. Perfect balance.
She saw the purple butterfly leave. "No more evildoing for you akuma, time to de-evilize!" She snatched it up with a grin, watching the purified creature float away. "Bye bye little butterfly … Spidey, the apple?"
"It's stuck to my hand." The web head tried pulling it off, only to get it stuck to his other hand.
"Ironic. The sticky bug stuck to sticky candy." Chat snorted.
"Ugh, you're hopeless." Ladybug rolled her eyes as she grabbed the handle and yanked it off.
"Ow! I think you pulled the skin underneath the suit!"
"If I'm lucky." She smirked. "Miraculous Ladybug!" She tossed it up, sending out the red bugs that cured all things around them.
"Aaahh … what happened?" Kim asked.
"Valentines day happened." Spidey groaned.
"Right." The jock rubbed his head. "I just thought I could do something nice for Chloe. No one in class is ever nice to her."
"I wonder why?" Ladybug rolled her eyes. By now they'd probably get rid of half the Akuma's in Paris if they just locked the girl up in a dark hole somewhere.
"It was a nice intention at least …" Chat half heartedly chuckled, before his ring beeped. "Man, I don't even remember activating the Cataclysm. What happened?"
"Wait. So you don't remember trying to kill us, or the k-" Ladybug shoved Spidey down before now could finish.
"It's nothing to worry about, you just go ahead and have a happy Valentine's Day Chaton! Go enjoy yourself, get a macaroon somewhere, go before you change back!" She shoved the cat into the nearest empty room and shut the door.
"…You know that the topic of said kisses being non consensual was brought up, right?" Spidey asked, rubbing his head and getting back up.
"Let's be honest, in any other situation Chat would immediately say yes." She groaned. "What was the deal with going punch happy on Dark Cupid? Aren't you the one that's always saying to hold back?"
Spidey sighed, looking to the ground. "It's personal… hating this holiday would be the simplest explanation."
"Well you better hope we catch Hawkmoth before next year's valentine." She shot back.
"Yeah, rather not deal with Hawkmoth's tacky fashion sense for another three hundred sixty five days." Spidey nodded, turning to Kim. "... So … you think you'll be alright?"
"Yeah… I will be." Kim chuckled. "Sure Chloe is no doubt going to hold this over me and everyone else is going to say I told you so for the next year or so… but I gave it my best shot." The jock nodded. "And maybe next you I'll have something that'll actually make her smile."
"Why….why go that far for someone that doesn't even like you?" Marientte had to ask.
"Everyone deserves a chance right?" He asked. "Just because someone's rotten doesn't mean you have to be rotten back. Helping people just makes sense. Like how my friend Max helped me even though he said it was a bad idea."
"It was!" The voice of max shouted from down the hall.
"Huh…" For some reason, that made Spidey's eyes widen, like he had an epiphany. "You don't say..."
"And besides, it's not like any other girl likes me." Kim shrugged.
She chuckled. "Maybe one day Kim." She sent out her tool, swinging away. Kim was well meaning, just a little dumb and naive. She wouldn't hold him to what Chloe put him up to… maybe that could apply to Adrien too. He was nice in spite of Chloe's nastiness… maybe… maybe she could ease her guard down… just a little though.
Tikki watched as Marinette flopped onto the bed. "Worst … Valentine's Day … ever." She groaned.
"That's not true Marinette. I've seen plenty of worse through the years." She reassured the girl. "There was the asgardian love spell invasion, the love triangle of the victorian era, the hellfire mindwipe of 87, the worst Valentine's day's all dealt with mind control of some kind weirdly enough." Tikki recalled.
"Okay, it's the worst Valentine's Day for me specifically." Marinette corrected. "Alya reads my poem for Adrian, Felica makes everyone think it's for Chat Noir, I spill my guts for one of the worst days of my life, Kim got akumatized, and I had to give my first kiss to Chat noir AS ladybug!"
"Well, Chat Noir won't remember that last part, so you could pretend it never happened." Tikki suggested.
"But Spider-Man does, and we both know he's gonna spill it as a jab at me." She grumbled. "Sometimes I hate that love exists. It's so messy and confusing!"
"You're only saying that because you're young. In time, it gets better." She rubbed the top of the girl's head. "Adrien is only, what, the second crush you've ever had?"
"And what if crushing on him just leads to another Kim incident?" She asked. "He's nice, but … Chloe could get him to do something and just ruin everything." Marinette rambled again. "And I don't even know if he already has a crush." He does, with Ladybug …ugh, loves squares like these were just the worst.
"Don't you remember what happened on the first day of school when he showed up. He was trying to stop Chloe from her gum prank." Tikki said. "You two had that chat underneath the umbrella, of which you still carry around."
"Right …"
"So what I say is, go for it." She smiled. "The worst someone as nice as Adrien could do is say no. Nothing to lose."
"Well… that is what Peter said… and I do trust his word as a fellow Chloe hater." It was sad that the friendship with Peter was more healthy than the love square mess when the two of them hated each other with the masks on. "You're right. Adrien's as nice as they come. It would be a shame if I didn't at least try."
"So you're going to write him a new poem and give it to him?"
"Nope, I tried to do that, but that ended poorly." Marinette went under her bed, and pulled out a bulletin board with several pictures and strings held together. "I got too careless and didn't account for classmates other than Chloe getting in the way. My birthday gift to him established a steady friendship that he can look onto fondly, but now that Valentines day is over with, the only time I'll be able to make something just as nice if not better would be for Christmas, but I can look into minor holidays and give him smaller gifts without coming across as too creepy or obsessed…" Too late for that. This conversation was going so well until Marintte decided to… well… Marinette.
There was a knock on the window, as Tikki hid away, seeing Chat Noir on the balcony with a wave and smile. "Hello purrincess. Mind if I have a Chat?"
"Whaaaa!" Marinette quickly stumbled to throw her bulletin board to the side as she shook herself ready. "Just a minute!" Marinette shouted, before looking down. "Aw man, I'm doomed! Butterfly doomed!"
"Marinette, he said that he was going to turn you down gently." Tikki reminded her. "Just relax."
"But what if he changed his mind!?" She shout-whispered. "What if he's decided I'm his valentine!? This could be a disaster!"
"No, a disaster would be if it was Spider-man coming through asking to be your valentine."
The girl shivered at that, before running to the window, and opening it up. "Chat … what's up …"
"This little kitty heard on the catnip vine that a certain girl had a crush on yours truly." The boy smirked. "And I have to say, it's kinda flattering. This side of my life doesn't get that much attention."
True… even with the ratings boost from Alya's blog, Chat noir didn't get as much coverage as Ladybug or Spider-man… even though Marinette would've preferred to NOT have any coverage at all. "Well… I mean, you did protect me during Eviliustrator. I just wanted to…thank you more properly." Hopefully she would be able to downplay this and make it seem like less of a big deal.
"A thanks well received." He took the girl's hand, kissing it. "Unfortunately, I can not fully return your affections. My heart belongs to M'lady and her alone."
Great, he wasn't in love with Marinette because he was in love with Marinette. Oh brother. "I understand. You're a superhero. Only makes sense that you'd fall for another."
"Well, that does add to her charm, but that's not exactly why." Chat smirked. "It's the way she can be so smart and confident in her decisions that really draws me in. She comes up with these amazing ideas using random objects. I mean, who else could think that you can stop a villain with a stop sign, or a can of spray paint, or a caramel apple … probably." He said. "I'm still kinda confused about what happened today, memories are a little foggy."
Tikki smiled. It was nice to hear that Chat Noir's feelings for her holder weren't because of superficial qualities. "Well, I just…wanted you to know that no matter what happens, you'll always have a number one supporter in me." Marinette pecked him on the cheek. "You're the glue of Team Miraculous. They couldn't win without you." Ladybug wouldn't survive the insanity without Chat Noir, and her holder DEFINETELY would've murdered Spider-man by now.
"Awww." He smiled with sparkly eyes. "Thank you."
"Not a problem, good night Chat Noir." With a smile, Marinette closed the glass door … watching as he didn't leave for a moment, before opening it back up. "You want chocolate macaroons, don't you?"
"Hey, they're the best in all of Paris. Not my fault you're a goddess of baking."
A blush of red came over Marinette, before she shook her head. "Alright, alright, just give me a second." Tikki couldn't help but smirk as Marinette made her way downstairs. "What? He was just….he's just nice, alright."
"Of course." These two idiots were both annoying, and adorable to watch.
Chloe sat in her lounge chair, tapping her foot. The signal was in the air, she had her gift, and looking at her phone confirmed Spidey wasn't doing a stream. Meaning all there was to do was wait for her hero to show up. After everything that happened at school with dumb Li Chen and that annoying American, she wanted to have actual pleasant company tonight.
Sabrina tried to apologize for her absolutely rude and horrible comments when that dumb villain hit her with those stupid arrows, but Chloe didn't want any of it. Even if it was out of brainwashing or mind control, or whatever, it still came out of Sabrina's mouth… And seeing the normally docile girl just run her mouth with no filter…. it hurt… it hurt more than it should've.
It only went to show that the only real friend Chloe had was Adrikens. She couldn't imagine him saying anything remotely mean to anyone, let alone her… even though he could stand to make fun of a few people who DID deserve it. Like that american trash, ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Guess she would fill the void and double her snark until Adrikens wised up.
Chloe kept looking up at the sky, wondering how much longer she was going to have to wait. He was an amazing famous superhero, of course he wouldn't have all the time in the world to visit her ... unless he thought she wasn't worth it … which was an utterly ridiculous thought to have… but not… unreasonable.
… Did she think she actually had a chance with a superhero? Someone so amazing they could have anything they could ever want at a moment's noticed. Fame, money, adoration…..attention from people that wanted to get to know you… when even Mommy herself never paid-
THUD
She heard a thud, turning to see the man himself standing there. "Spider-Man!" She greeted him happily.
"Please, call me Spidey, we're friends, remember?" He smiled at her. "Hope that Dark Stupid didn't do anything too crazy to you. I know you tend to be the center of attention a lot when it comes to akumas."
"Just the price of being me, I guess." Chloe laughed off. "And like that overgrown chicken could do anything to me with you around. Really, all he did was make Sabrina slightly more annoying than usual."
"You sure?" He asked, with a more concerned look his eyes. "Sticks and stones, I know, but words do more damage than you think." She knew that far too well.
"Well yeah, nothing nobody hasn't said before. Besides, everyone else just attacked the other losers around me … other than that DJ cap kid. He tried pulling out a handbag and threatening to club Adrikens." Had to chip her make up kit knocking him out.
"Well, I'm glad. Can't have my number one fan in low spirits, not on a day like this." Her hero smiled, taking out a little gift wrapped box. "I know you're rich and can probably buy anything, but here's a little something." He shyly gave it to her. "It's probably not much…"
"No no, it's greatly appreciated." HE GOT HER A GIFT! "I got you something too!" She gestured to the golden encrusted portrait, of which was an enlarged picture of him holding her. "It's from when you first saved me from Stoneheart….its..it's a really special day for me…cause it was the day I learned I have a hero that will always save me."
"Wow … thank you." He nodded with a light blush.. "Although … how much did you spend? I get you're rich, but how much of an allowance do you get for that and a Spidey signal?"
"Allowance? I just used Daddy's credit card." She shrugged. "He just leaves it with me incase I get hungry, so I say money well spent." She turned over and leaned on the signal. "But isn't the signal great!? Now we can talk to each other without those akuma losers getting in the way."
"Yeah … sounds nice." He nodded. "So … you sure you're gonna be okay? Gotta get back to patrol, stop a gang."
"Oh yeah, totally fine." Chloe nodded. "When you spend nearly five years getting told you're a 'mean girl' and 'rich bitch', you just….become numb to it after a while. It's a at least better than getting ign-" She stopped herself from finishing. "It's fine. Go on Spidey…save the city again."
"... No problem, number one fan." He ruffled her perfectly scrunched up hair, before leaping off of the roof. "Happy Valentine's day!"
"Yeah…." She smiled as she watched him swing away, deciding to open up his gift. Inside… was a little red and black hair clip in the shape of a spider. It looked a bit ridiculous ... .but it was the first Valentines gift she's ever gotten from anyone else. Usually she spent the day giving all she had to Adrikens….this was the first time she got something in return.
Letting out a small chuckle, Chloe placed the clip in her hair. She would proudly wear it as a sign to her hero. "Happy Valentines Day, Spidey."