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Public school really opened Adrien’s eyes.
Never before had there been a place that offered so many different… interactions. Both negative and positive. For so long he had been used to people adoring him for superficial reasons, so the concept that he was now considered a “peer” was still a radical one. He sometimes had to remind himself that his classroom wasn’t a nature documentary, and that he could interact with these people at his own behest.
Take for instance when his class was filming that horror movie in the school. When conflict arose between Chloe and Mylene, the latter eventually running away in humiliation, Adrien’s initial reaction had been to stand there and watch the scene unfold. He hadn’t thought to interfere, or even to provide a solution. Sure, being Chat Noir had given him a more defined sense of responsibility, but this was more… domestic. Not really in Adrien’s area of expertise.
Thank God for Marinette, though. She somehow single-handedly managed to provide a solution for each problem that arose. Even though most of her suggestions were thwarted (by Chloe, as Adrien was coming to realize was per usual), Marinette remained determined and optimistic. During the incident with the movie and the Horrificator, she never gave up hope on Mylene, or on the idea that the movie would ultimately succeed. She was presented a series of sticky situations and took them by the reins, steering the conflict in the best available direction.
Adrien’s instinct to jump in and take heroic control of a situation was frequently being outshined by his fascination in seeing Marinette… being Marinette.
She was such an enigma. In one moment, he’d think that he had her figured out; in the next, she would open up like a Russian doll and reveal an entirely new side of herself.
It was such a new experience. Adrien prided himself in being a skilled wordsmith, if his brilliant cat puns were anything to go by, yet he couldn’t come up with any words to describe his feelings towards Marinette.
Did she entertain him? She was certainly capable of being entertaining. Adrien thought fondly about her sporadic clumsiness. Her unintelligible stammering whenever he caught her off-guard. Her constant tardiness. Her clever quips. Her laughter.
The more Adrien thought about it, the more he came to realize that Marinette belonged to an entirely unique classification of people. He’d never met anyone like her. No one came to mind that could match her tenacity, her intuitiveness, her determination.
Wait. That’s wrong. Someone did come to mind, someone incredibly present in Adrien’s life.
Ladybug.
Her name encased his mind in wordless wonderment. She was a source of inspiration for him, constantly reimbursing his faith in justice and compassion.
Adrien compared the two girls. There were a couple of obvious differences, like Marinette’s clumsiness versus Ladybug’s agility, Marinette’s occasional shyness versus Ladybug’s constant confidence. Other than that, not much differentiated between the two.
Adrien startled himself with the idea that Marinette could be encroaching on his affections for Ladybug. No, no. Adrien was devoted to his Lady. He was faithful in his love for her, even if it was one-sided. There was no way Marinette could outshine his beloved Bugaboo.
Adrien reminded himself of all the qualities that had ensnared his heart in the first place. Ladybug was an amazing leader. Ladybug was clever. Ladybug was brave in the face of adversity.
Marinette was a competent class president. Marinette provided solutions to problems almost as soon as they arose. Marinette constantly defied injustice.
They both had black silky hair. They both had big, beautiful blue eyes.
Adrien’s brain was reeling.
It was alarming how many similarities came up between the two girls. He remembered something he’d heard on TV. One was an accident. Two was a coincidence. Three was a pattern. Adrien was pretty sure this pattern far exceeded three shared qualities. The weight of this discovery had Adrien paralyzed in realization, the heavy conclusion of his reflections staring him right in the face. So to speak. There was only one explanation for the abundance of similarities between Marinette and Ladybug that had Adrien so completely enraptured. He couldn’t pretend to be ignorant anymore. He had to look at the truth and come to terms with it, no matter how alarming.
He had a type.