Definitely not the worst akuma she's ever been zapped with. It was a shame she'd have to rely on other people submitting videos to the Ladyblog this time, but at least she could give a first hand account of what it was like to be hit with it. And who knew? Maybe this would be useful. It could tell her Hawk Moth's identity, when a natural disaster might hit, or even which stocks to tell her parents to invest in!

Of course, that was assuming that the akuma actually COULD show the future. Akumas were capable of a lot of wild things, so she couldn't rule it out, but that didn't mean it was right. And she also had to account for which model of future sight the akuma was using, if it actually could tell the future.

Off the top of her head, she could think of two different types: the "you can't fight fate" type, where the future was set in stone and whatever you did, whether to try to change it or to make it happen, would still result in the future you saw. Any change had already happened. Then there was the second type, where that future was only a peek at what would happen without the precognition.

She hoped it was the second type. While the timeline being immutable would make sense and gave a sense of security, she preferred making her own future.

Scene: Unknown. Cerise is writing in a book.

Cerise: (writing in a book) First this.. then this. Then a bit of this. Then a bit more of this. Then..

"...huh. Who's that?" She couldn't see the person's face. She guessed this person was a girl because of her voice, but she couldn't tell her age. The writing was gibberish as well. Secret code, some language she'd never seen before, or magically obscured writing? Hm…

"That's the Butterfly Miraculous!" Marinette cried out. "And… is that a kwami?"

Alya peered at the tv. "I mean, that brooch does sort of look like a butterfly. But what's a kwami? Are you talking about the purple butterfly toy thing?" Marinette seemed like she knew more than she should. They'd never even seen Hawk Moth in person before, so why did she sound so confident that that was the Butterfly Miraculous? And then there was the mention of the 'kwami', whatever that was.

"Uh… you know… I just really think that looks like a butterfly? And did I say kwami? I didn't say kwami. Oh look, we're in my room now! Let's pay attention to that! Don't want to miss the future!" Marinette gave a wide grin that didn't reach her eyes, her speech getting faster and faster.

She narrowed her eyes. Marinette was a pretty bad liar under stress. She definitely knew more than she was letting on.

Scene: Interior, the Dupain-Cheng's Residence, in Marinette's room. Alya and Marinette are talking.

Alya: (explaining) So, we have a former holder who went by Hawk Moth, then Shadow Moth and finally, Monarch. And we know that he was defeated and that a new holder claimed his Miraculous, and what we know about the new holder is..
Marinette: Nothing! We know nothing! It's even worse than before!

"Yes! I knew they could do it!" she cheered. Ever since she first got to see Ladybug and Chat Noir in action, she knew that they'd best Hawk Moth. It was only a matter of time. And judging by how both she and Marinette didn't look too much older, it seemed like it hadn't taken super long. Maybe a year or two.

She eyed herself. Her tv version seemed exhausted, but aside from that, she looked good. Maybe she should think about cutting her hair short, she could definitely rock that style.

"Yeah, he may have been defeated, but did you hear the rest of it?" Marinette fretted. "Someone else got his Miraculous! I thought maybe the person we saw in the intro was Hawk Moth and had just like, disguised her voice and appearance when making the moth head projection thing, but it seems like she's the new holder. It doesn't do any good to defeat Hawk Moth if someone new just picks up from where he left off!"

"If Hawk Moth was defeated, then this new holder can be too," Adrien said confidently, looking over at Marinette. "Ladybug and Chat Noir must have succeeded, right? Just believe in them. They've got this."

Alya nodded. "Maybe it'll take awhile, but they'll recover the Butterfly Miraculous." She turned to Marinette. "I know you haven't seen them in action very often, but Ladybug and Chat Noir are amazing, and only getting better. They'll succeed. You'll see."

Marinette looked back and forth between her and Adrien. "You guys really think so?"

They both nodded. "I know so," Adrien said.

Marinette gave a warm smile, seeming calmer now.

Alya: (yawning briefly) Is that so bad? I mean, we didn't know a lot about Monarch either, but he still got busted.

Marinette: That's not true! We know lots of things about Monarch! He was an adult male, he akumatized 212 people in total, 99.8 percent of them in Paris. His goal was to seize Cat Noir's and my miraculous so he'd be granted one wish. Now we have a supervillain we know such about who akumatizes whomever, whenever, and who knows why! This is a disaster!

Two hundred twelve people?

Granting a wish?

Cat Noir's AND MY miraculous?

"Wait, did she say your miraculous?" Adrien asked, looking at Marinette in wonder.

"Uh… no! No! She definitely didn't say that!" Marinette's eyes shifted from side to side as she giggled, her voice getting higher pitched.

"She said 'my Miraculous', which works out to the same thing," she said. She was getting a pretty good idea of what Marinette might be hiding. It had always seemed odd that Ladybug had chosen her to give her first interview to, and that Marinette had been able to arrange it.

Clever, resourceful, good at making plans (especially super complicated ones)... her best friend fit Ladybug's profile very well.

"Hah hah! Let's move onto something more interesting! Like that over two hundred people were akumatized, isn't that crazy?"

Max hummed. "At the current rate of akumatization, not counting duplicates like with Mr. Pigeon, we ought to reach two hundred and twelve people akumatized shortly before the end of the school year."

Marinette blinked. "Wow, really?"

Max nodded. "There's been an akuma almost every day. That adds up."

"What about that wish?" Adrien asked. "What does that mean?"

Everyone looked around, shrugging.

Hm. Seemed like if Marinette was Ladybug, as she suspected, then she hadn't found out about this 'wish' thing yet. Presumably she'd discover what that was in the next few months.

Alya: (smiling) Except, this time, you've got a whole super team on your side.

Marinette: Ah! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! This is a double disaster! I gave out every Miraculous. What if one of the holders gets akumatized by this new supervillain, they could lose their Miraculous! I've put the world in danger!

Her heartbeat quickened. A super team? As in, more than just Ladybug and Chat Noir? MORE superheroes, right here, in Paris?

"I love it when you squeal," Nino smiled at her fondly.

Oh. She did appear to be squealing. And smiling widely.

She quickly collected herself.

Hm, come to think of it, what was the rest of what Marinette had said?

"You gave out Miraculous?" Adrien asked, looking over at Marinette. "Where did you get them? How did you get them? I didn't even know there were more."

"I have no idea, this tv is just making things up! We shouldn't listen to it, it's made by a supervillain after all!" Marinette protested.

Marinette was obviously hiding things, but she wasn't sure she was lying about having no idea about the other Miraculous. Maybe this was just something else Marinette hadn't found out about yet?

There was more evidence for her "Marinette is Ladybug" theory at least. It'd make sense if a superhero was the one to recruit other superheroes.

Alya: (sits beside her) We've all been akumatized before. We know how it works, and we learned how to deal better with our emotions. (winks) Trust me, we'll be able to resist if this villain attacks us, whoever they are.

She blinked. "It's possible to resist an akumatization?" She'd considered the possibility of course, but since no one had actually managed it before, it remained in the realm of conjecture.

Marinette shrugged. "Maybe?"

"I wonder at which point you can resist?" Adrien interjected. "Like, can you prevent the akuma from infecting an object, or say no to the Butterfly Holder, or even choose to just not be an akuma anymore?"

"I doubt that last one," she said. "Akumas are pretty far gone while akumatized. To the point where we're almost different people when it happens, and we can't remember what happened afterwards." She curled her hands, her fingers digging into the bean bag she was sitting on. Seeing the footage of herself as Lady Wifi, as a supervillain… it still bothered her, even months later. It felt so strange, seeing that caricature of her, doing things she wouldn't normally do, and yet still being derived from her own desires. And remembering none of it. She wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.

Marinette: (groans) You're right. (sits back up and hugs Alya) I'm lucky to have such good people and friends around me. (grunts, gasps) Adrien and Nino will be here soon! We gotta get ready for the movies! (tries to pull her up) Hurry!

Alya: Oh darn, it completely went out of my head. (yawns) Forget about it. I'm beat. (takes out her phone) I'm gonna let Nino know.

Marinette: (stops her) No! Don't cancel. I need you, please, please, please!

Alya: (stands up) Marinette, you and Adrien a legit couple for real now. You don't need us to go to the movies with you.

"WHAT?!"

"Congratulations!" Rose clapped her hands together.

"So, you finally managed it," she mused. She'd like to say she had faith in Marinette, but well.. She had a lot more confidence in Marinette's ability to fight supervillains than to ask the boy she liked out on a date.

"We're a couple?" Adrien asked breathlessly, his eyes going wide.

She resisted rolling her eyes. That wasn't the reaction of a boy who wasn't interested. That was the reaction of someone who was head over heels for his 'good friend' and was just beginning to realize how much he'd like that relationship to turn from platonic to romantic.

"No!" Marinette flailed. "I- I mean- she must mean that we're a couple of buds! Peas in the pod! Just some good ol' pals hanging out!"

"Oh, I see." Adrien looked down sadly.

She facepalmed. This was just depressing to watch.

Marinette: Easy for you to say. You and Nino are so perfect together, but.. (sighs) Adrien and I.. Things are brand new for us as a couple, and Adrien is so perfect too. I don't wanna mess things up. So, I need to watch you guys, so I know how to act perfectly around my perfect boyfriend.

Alya: Are you telling me you're afraid of spending time alone, with your boyfriend?

Marinette: Yep.

Alya: Marinette, can I be frank?

Marinette: (pushes her) Nope.

Well she wasn't removing her hand from her face any time soon. "You're not going to get far as a couple if you're terrified to even be around Adrien by yourself."

"I–!" Marinette's throat caught, seeming at a loss for words.

"Marinette, I'm not perfect," Adrien walked over to her, kneeling down to be closer to her level.

"Of course you're perfect!" Marinette declared. "You're kind and handsome– I mean WOW you've got hands! And you're smart and– and I'm just me. I mess up just walking down the street. I have to be better for you."

"You're already amazing, Marinette! You're kind and smart and– and pretty! You're great at making things, you help people out, and I'm honored to be your friend."

Adrien sounded so earnest in his praise, she wished Marinette would put this boy out of his misery and confess already. The chance of him saying yes was rising by the minute. She'd hate for Marinette to reject him in a bid to save herself from imagined rejection.

"You- you really think so?!" Marinette sounded like she could hardly believe what he was saying.

She sighed. "Marinette, there's a reason you were voted class president. Everyone likes you–"

Chloe coughed.

"-everyone but Chloe likes you," she amended. "You're a great leader, you talk to others when they're feeling down, and try to help with whatever's bothering them."

"I wish I was as certain of what I wanted to do as you are," Adrien cut in. "You're good at so many different things, and seem to enjoy all of them."

"But you're a great model, you look amazing!" Marinette protested.

He rubbed the back of his head. "I know, and I'm happy to help my father, but…" he let out a sigh. "I don't like doing them. They eat up large portions of my day, they're tiring, and it's weird seeing my face everywhere all the time."

"Dude, have you talked to your old man about this?" Nino asked.

"You think he would listen?" Adrien's hands curled. "You know what he's like. He banned you from the house just for asking to throw me a birthday party. I'm afraid that if I asked to quit, he'd pull me from school. I can't risk it."

She wished she could do something for him, but against a man like Gabriel, there wasn't much to be done. He had money and power, and legally he could decide what kind of schooling Adrien would receive and who he could associate with.

Wait, what was going on on-screen? This seemed different than the rest of the show.

The eiffel tower appears, as the camera zooms in on Marinette, with a voice saying "In the daytime, I'm Marinette."

Marinette runs to hug Adrien in front of a building.

"Just a normal girl, with a normal life"

She and Adrien stare into each other's eyes as pink surrounds them. They seem like they're about to kiss, but her own on-screen counterpart interrupts with her phone. The camera zooms back, revealing a bunch of kids. The rest of the class maybe?

"Is that us?" Kim asked.

"I think so." Hard to say with how quickly it moved, but with the glimpse she did get, that seemed right. This seemed like a theme song, so if this sequence was played again later, she could try and get a better look. She saw herself, Nino, Adrien, and Marinette of course, since the scene was centered around them, but the rest was a blur.

The camera zooms in on Marinette as the background goes dark, everyone but her and Adrien vanishing. The narrator says "But there's something about me that no one knows yet," as the camera zooms out and Gabriel's figure looms over the two of them, with him suddenly being shoved to the side as three other figures, which she recognized from her own future selves pictures as being Hawk Moth, Shadow Moth, and Monarch, stare at the camera.

"Why's my father here?" Adrien sounded perturbed.

Alya couldn't blame him. The way he loomed over the two of them, how everything went dark, Marinette seeming fearful and on-guard, and those three other figures with him, all mirroring Gabriel's pose… she had a strong suspicion of what was being indicated. She suspected that Adrien had picked up on it as well, but didn't want to admit it.

If all the versions of Hawk Moth were being displayed, and Gabriel was being included… well that certainly implicated certain things.

However, it was only an implication. Certainly a strong theory, but she wanted something more substantial than Gabriel being included in a line-up in a theme song before accusing the parent of one of her friends of being a supervillain. No point in causing Adrien unnecessary strife if her suspicions were wrong.

"'Cause I've got a secret." A little creature waved, then turned into light and rushed into Marinette's earrings, transforming her into Ladybug. She ran and jumped off of the Eiffel Tower, swinging past Chat Noir, then changing to a screen of her yo-yo's threads splitting the screen, showing pictures of Ladybug in all the different sections that were formed.

"No way is Dupain-Cheng Ladybug!" Chloe screeched. "Ladybug is far more impressive than her." She wrinkled her nose. "For this– THING to suggest otherwise is blasphemy."

"Thank you, Chloe," Marinette ground out, annoyed.

"Hmph. I only speak the truth." Chloe tossed her hair.

"Marinette is Ladybug…" Adrien murmured, staring off into the distance.

"I just said she isn't, Adrikins," Chloe shot back. "No way that baker girl could be a superhero!"

Chloe's aspersions fell on deaf ears. From the look of the slowly growing grin on Adrien's face, he wasn't listening to a word she said.

Well if he wasn't interested in Marinette before, he certainly was now.

Ladybug's yo-yo opened, showing animal symbols rotating in a circle. Various kids, who seemed to be her class, came in from the side of the screen, some sort of creature flashing over each of them before revealing a superhero in their wake.

Her heart pounded as she saw her own future self appear on-screen, flashing into some sort of beautiful fox superhero.

Was she going to get to be a superhero?!

She'd dreamed about that for years. When she was Ella and Etta's age, instead of playing pretend with unicorns or dragons or princesses, she'd insisted on playing superheroes and supervillains. She'd seen a few newscasts with Majestia saving the day. Stepping up not because you had to, but because it was the right thing to do. Because "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing."

That's what motivated her to be so active in documenting superheroes and villains, and to be proactive more generally. She refused to be complacent.

With superhero powers, she could achieve so much more than she could as just Alya! Do so much more good! …and it just looked fun and cool. So sue her.

The transformations all finished, showing everyone posed, and then running at the camera until they ran off screen.

"Where am I?" Chloe whined. "Everyone else is there, even though they're FAR less cool than me."

"I saw a blonde-haired girl?" Sabrina offered. "I didn't think she looked that much like you, but maybe you just change looks majorly in the future?"

"Hmph." Chloe looked away.

It did seem strange that so many kids, most of whom seemed to be her classmates, had appeared in the intro while Chloe hadn't, or wasn't as clearly visible at least. Maybe she'd just missed her though, or the intro had only been including Marinette's friends, and not her bullies. Hard to say for sure.

The screen zoomed in on Ladybug and Chat Noir fist-bumping, then zoomed out as the two of them ran in opposite directions off-screen. Immediately afterwards, Marinette ran back towards the middle, while Adrien appeared at the other end and ran forwards to greet her, culminating in what she assumed to be a kiss, with a heart covering the kiss itself.

Marinette squeaked, covering her face with her hands.

Alya was more concerned about the positioning of Adrien and Chat Noir. The theme song had already shown that Marinette was Ladybug, so for Ladybug to run off-screen and Marinette to run back, and for that to be paralleled with Chat Noir running off-screen and Adrien running back…

She looked over at Adrien, studying him closely. She'd considered that he might be Chat Noir before, when she messed with some photos of Adrien to put a mask and cat ears on him. Maybe she should revisit that theory.

The scene flashed to Paris again, the camera pulling back to reveal the whole team of Miraculous holders. Only to be jump-scared by a giant purple glowing gas figure picking them all up and crushing them in its hand.

"Well, that's not ominous at all!" Marinette laughed nervously.

Right. Hopefully that particular bit was not an accurate rendition of the future.

Oh hey, the actual show was starting back up again! Kind of funny that this glimpse of the future was formatted so much like a tv show, but then again when the one making it has a tv in their stomach, maybe it wasn't too surprising.

Scene: Bus Stop

Alya: Hello, pretty boy.

Nino: Hello, pretty girl.

Alya and Nino do a secret handshake greeting and then kiss. Marinette tries to copy Alya's gestures with Adrien, but just ends up hitting him in the face.

Marinette: Oh. Sorry! (giggles)

Adrien: Hello, Marinette.

Oh, this wasn't going to go well.

She glanced over at Marinette. Sure enough, her friend was cringing and hiding her face in embarrassment, only looking at the screen through her fingers. Honestly, she couldn't blame her. It was likely to get worse from here.

They enter the bus. Alya and Nino use a pair of headphones to listen to music together. Marinette leans her head too far to the side while examining Alya and accidentally bumps heads with Adrien.

Adrien: Are you okay?

Marinette:Yes! Yah! I'm good! (giggles) You, are you good? (giggles)

Adrien: I am, thanks.

Alix glanced over at Adrien. "Dude, can you really not tell that Marinette's super nervous here?"

"She's always like this, isn't she?" Adrien asked. "Actually, she's doing better than usual. I know she has a tendency to mix up words when she's talking fast like this, and she hasn't done that at all!"

She sighed. Adrien really didn't have much experience reading people. But she supposed that Marinette hadn't made it easy on him. She acted like this whenever she was around him, so this was pretty close to his baseline expectations of her.

Marinette curled up even more. "Please, just let me die," she thought she heard her mumble.

She scooted her own bean bag over to Marinette, petting her hair soothingly. She couldn't really say much in this sort of public setting without making the embarrassment worse, but maybe the physical touch could ground her.

Adrien got up, beginning to move towards Marinette as well. She shook her head, signaling for him to sit back down. While she was sure he'd be super nice and comforting, that was unlikely to pull Marinette out of her own head, and the reminder that Adrien was here and watching this might just drive Marinette deeper into her anxiety.

Marinette and Alya looked at each other. Alya began making funny faces. Marinette copied her, culminating in Alya putting up bunny fingers behind Nino's head, and Marinette doing the same with Adrien.

Nino: Looks like we're a couple of bunnies.

They all laughed.

Glad her onscreen counterpart was able to break the tension. Maybe this would get Marinette to loosen up. Adrien didn't mind a bit of silliness, not everything had to be perfect. He was super patient and understanding. Marinette just needed to relax, and everything would be great.

"It's cool that your father let you on the bus without your bodyguard. I'm surprised he let you go on this double date at all, actually," Nino noted.

Oh, huh. She'd been so busy concentrating on Marinette, that she hadn't noticed how weird Adrien's situation was.

"I doubt he would, especially if he knew you were there. He considers you to be a 'bad influence,'" Adrien made air quotes with his fingers. "I probably snuck out. Man, though, if they catch me…" he trailed off, looking worried.

All four of them were jostled by the bus's sudden stop.

Conductor: Everything's down.

Conductor (on announcer's system): Dear passengers, there's a crack in the road. The wheels are stuck. Everyone, stay calm.

Part of the bridge cracks, the bus falling a little as well, since part of it was over the crack. Passengers pounded at the doors, demanding to be let out.

"How badly underfunded are the departments tasked with bridge safety and repair?" she asked incredulously. Bridges crumbling as the result of akuma attacks was one thing, they weren't rated for supervillains, but this? This shouldn't be happening!

"Badly," Mylene told her grimly. "Like most sectors of the government devoted to the common good."

"I could use some tools I have to analyze all the bridges in the city. There's a robot I'm working on that should be able to do so, I just need to install the right sensors in him," he glanced over at herself. "If you post about the dire state of Paris' bridges and any other infrastructure problems we notice on the Ladyblog, we might be able to garner enough public outcry to effect change before some tragedy occurs."

She nodded. "I'm on it." Pride swelled in her chest. Her little personal blog that she'd created to honor Paris' heroes had quickly risen in popularity, becoming an important news source for scared Parisians. Hopefully people would pay attention even when she changed subjects.

Alya talking to Nino: Ladybug was clear. Unless it's an akumatized villain, we can transform and help out ourselves.

So she WAS a superhero. She knew it! And Nino was too, from the sound of it.

"Why would she forbid helping out with akumas though?" she wondered out loud, looking over at Marinette.

Marinette flushed. "I don't know! This thing is totally lying about me being Ladybug, I don't know what goes through her head!"

She rolled her eyes. Riiiiiight.

Alya and Nino: We're on it!

Marinette: What? No, you're not!

Adrien: Marinette, they have to. They're superheroes.

Marinette: Yeah, yeah, I know. (looking at Alya) But careful, okay?

Alya: Don't worry, girl. Everything is gonna be alright.

Adrien: We have you covered.

Adrien and Marinette stand in front of Alya and Nino with their arms out, trying to shield them from the crowd as they transform.

"How did no one see that?!" Alix asked incredulously. "You can still see Alya and Nino, especially with that light flashing over them!"

"People are blind?" Adrien suggested.

"They'd have to be to miss that," Alix muttered.

She, herself was more concerned with looking at hers and Nino's new forms. She hadn't gotten to examine them thoroughly during the intro. Honestly she wasn't sure who looked better, her, or Nino. Both of them rocked their superhero forms, though in different ways.

Hm… maybe she could incorporate more orange and white into her outfits…

Now transformed, the two of them left the bus. Nino used Shell-ter, which appeared to create force fields, to help support the bridge so it didn't collapse further, subsequently keeping the bridge level. Her own on-screen counterpart played the flute and then yelled "Mirage", seeming to create some traffic cones and a sort-of tent. Though with a power name like "Mirage", she suspected that they may not be real.

"It's Rena Rouge and Carapace!" One of the bus passengers cried.

"Rena Rouge and Carapace…" she wondered out loud. "I'm guessing I'm Rena Rouge, and Nino's Carapace."

"It'd be really weird if it was the other way around," Adrien agreed. "Since Rena Rouge means 'red fox', while a 'carapace' is the name for the top part of a turtle's shell."

Rena waved the passengers over.

Rena Rouge: This way! Head over to the secured area, please!

Marinette: Those two share everything, even as superheroes.

Adrien took her hand.

Adrien: We don't need to be superheroes to be a super couple.

She glanced over at Adrien. He had a fond look on his face as he stared at his and Marinette's on-screen counterparts. That boy was so smitten and didn't even seem to know it.

She glanced over towards Marinette. Seemed that she'd stopped cowering, and was actually watching the screen since nothing embarrassing was going on right now. Her wide-eyed gaze at the screen, at Adrien… maybe she'd start to believe that she didn't have to stress as much about being perfect?

Well, greater miracles had happened, she supposed.

Rena Rouge and Carapace worked together to push the bus onto stable ground.

Adrien: Even with superpowers, this must be hard.

Carapace: Unshield!

The force field collapsed, leading that part of the bridge to crumble into the river.

Rena Rouge: Vanish!

The safety cones, barriers, and the tent disappeared.

Marinette: Rena Rouge has thought of everything.

Emergency vehicles arrived.

Roger (talking to Rena and Carapace): Huge thanks to you two. Paris is lucky to have you.

Carapace: At your service, officer.

Carapace and Rena: Pound it!

"Congratulations!" "Woo hoo!" "That was amazing!" "I could do better."

She rolled her eyes at that last one. Trust Chloe to find a way to brag even when she had nothing to brag about.

"You two are really good superheroes!" Adrien congratulated.

She beamed. "Thanks! Or well, thanks on behalf of my future self, anyway."

"I've always known you would be an amazing superhero, right from the start," Marinette told her warmly. "You'd be a better Ladybug than me– if I was Ladybug!" she said quickly, flailing. "Which I'm not. But if I was, I think you'd be better at it."

"Don't sell yourself short. I've seen the sort of plans you come up with. No one can beat you in figuring out even the wildest Lucky Charms," she assured her friend.

"I didn't figure out any Lucky Charms, because I'm not Ladybug, but thanks."

She rolled her eyes. How long was Marinette going to keep the act up?

Rena Rouge: See you next time!

Little boy: Superheroes are awesome, Mom.

Rena Rouge and Carapace detransform in an alley.

Nino: Man, it's so awesome we can be Carapace and Rena Rouge together. Too bad Adrien and Marinette can't share bonds so strong like this.

Alya: They have things they could share, they just have to get more comfortable, they just have to get more comfortable about sharing them.

Alya: (gasps) What if we let them enjoy their date, just the two of them?

Nino: You're right. Their relationship is brand new, they've gotta give it a chance.

Alya: And I could use the time to investigate the mysterious new holder of the Butterfly Miraculous. We still don't know anything about them.

Nino: Oh, cool, way cool! We could even be a duo of reporters, you and me! What do you think?

Alya: I think that sounds awesome (kisses Nino)

"Alya, don't abandon me!" Marinette hissed quietly.

She sighed. "Marinette, you need to learn to stand on your own two feet."

"Do you not want to spend time with me?" Adrien asked her, giving the saddest puppy dog eyes.

Marinette yelped. "I– No– Yes– You see– AGH!" She buried her head in her bean bag.

She sighed. Marinette still had a long way to go.

She stared fondly at the Nino on-screen. He, on the other hand, was doing just fine. His utter excitement when she said the two of them could investigate together, the thrill in his voice, the kiss – she never would have thought of it before Ladybug locked the two of them in that cage together, but they were a great match.

Now if only Adrien and Marinette could get their act together.