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The moment Marinette walked into class on Monday morning, she instantly knew something was off, and the glares she received as she walked into the room did not help to disprove her theory. A majority of the class was crowded around the front desk -- Adrien’s. Yet it was not the blond boy that they were crowded around. No, instead he walked in behind the navy-haired girl, frightening her when he spoke.
“What’s going on?” he moved past Marinette and stopped just in front of her, glancing back and making eye contact with her. “The tension in here is so thick you’d need several knives to cut it,” he whispered to her, and she grinned at him. But before Marinette could respond she was cut off.
“Are you happy with yourself?” the voice cried. “With all the pain that you’ve caused?”
Marinette and Adrien looked to Kim, then back to each other, and then to Kim once more.
Adrien pointed at his own chest. “Me? What did I do?”
Kim rolled his eyes. “No, not you blondie. Marinette. Bet you’re real proud, huh!”
“Um,” she began. “Proud of what?”
Kim opened his mouth to speak and at the same time Adrien stepped slightly in front of her, as though to protect her from the, but before the showdown between the two boys began, Ms Bustier spoke up from behind her desk, alerting the two newcomers to her presence.
“Now Kim, please let Marinette talk. This isn’t a lynching.”
“Yes,” Adrien said. “It isn’t a lynching. But enlighten us, what would be your reasoning behind this proposed act?”
Kim scoffed. “I’m sure Marinette knows what she did wrong! And to think she thought we wouldn’t find out that-”
A small, weak cough broke Kim from his angry trance-like state, and he moved out of the way, finally allowing Marinette and Adrien to see who was sitting at Adrien’s desk.
Lila sat at the desk, half slumped, her back left shoulder towards them, leaving her hair covering her face from where they stood. “Please Kim,” the brunette said in a small voice. “I don’t want any more trouble. Let’s just forget it.”
“Forget what?” Marinette asked, speaking for herself finally. “I don’t understand what happened?”
“You happened,” Alix said, speaking before Kim could. “Apparently.” Alix’s voice didn’t hold the same heat that Kim’s had, instead, sounding sympathetic on Marinette’s behalf, and when Alix’s eyes met Marinette’s they rolled.
“What?” Adrien asked. “When?”
“Last Thursday! Marinette attacked Lila, leaving her in some back alley-way where she could have been hurt further! It was lucky that Ladybug showed up to save her and get her to safety!” well that would explain Lila’s absence on Friday...
“Wait,” Adrien starts, his voice rising. “you seriously believe that-”
“Hey,” Marinette puts her arm in front of him, stopping him before he has the chance to berate the class for believing Lila. “its okay. I know I didn’t do it. There’s no need to get violent in order to prove that I wasn’t violent.”
Adrien holds her gaze for a bit before nodding at her and then steps back to be by her side. “I trust you,” he tells her under his breath and the vow gives her the exact amount of confidence she needs to take a deep breath and begin speaking.
“Lila, I understand that you may be in pain right now, but I would rather discuss this with you, like the mature young adults we are, rather than launching into this headfirst. As Ms Bustier said, this isn’t a lynching. And personally, I’d rather it didn’t become one.” the class was quiet and Marinette took this as a sign to continue. “Now to the best of my memory, I cannot recall any such events that involve me hurting you, either physically or emotionally, so why don’t you please inform myself, and the class on your take on the event, and we can try to come to some kind of a resolution?” she glanced at Ms Bustier who nodded.
“Discussing it is a good idea, this way we can all be informed on the claims being made, and then hear Marinette’s defence.”
Lila slowly lifted her head and looked at Marinette, her head still hung low, but even from this angle, Marinette could make out a large bright red-purple mark on her face. It took everything Marinette had not to laugh. “Okay miss. That’s a good idea. Discuss it in front of the class, instead of behind closed doors. I guess we can turn this into a learning experience -- a trial with victim, defendant and jury.” Marinette and Adrien made eye contact again, both of their brows furrowed.
“Very well Lila,” Ms bustier said. “If the two of you will be seated at either end of my desk, and the rest of you at your normal desks…” she let the comment hang in the air and the students quickly made their way to their assigned spots, Kim and Rose helping Lila to sit at the end of Ms Bustier’s desk furthest from the door.
“Alright,” Marinette said as she sat down opposite her. “Do you mind if I take notes?” she questioned Lila. “As I said, I cannot recall this event and would like to jot down some key events…”
Lila glanced between Marinette, Ms Bustier and the class. “Um, I suppose that’s okay. If you allow me to take notes too…”
Marinette knew the girl was attempting to intimidate her, but the threats fell flat. “Of course Lila, that’s only fair.”
Truth be told, Marinette wasn’t sure what she was even saying, it was as though she had been possessed, some demon of confidence had taken over her body, and honestly, she wasn’t that upset by it. Maybe it could help her sort out her feelings for Chat and Adrien? She’d just have to get through this dilemma first.
“There’s no need to be fake Marinette,” Sabrina said, surprising Marinette. “The truth will come out.”
Marinette nodded at the redhead and smiled. “Yes, you’re right. The truth will come out. That’s what I’m aiming for here.” she gave a sweeping glance over the class before locking eyes with Adrien.
It was at that moment that she realised what was about to go down, what this could possibly lead to. And for the first time in a long time, she actually felt okay about it. In fact, it felt as though a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.
“Well Lila,” Ms Bustier began. “Why don’t you recount your tale to the class?”
Lila keeps her glance mainly focused on the floor, but every now and then Marinette can feel the brunette’s gaze on her. “Well, it was the other day, after class was let out because of the akuma attack...”
Marinette almost rolled her eyes, but nonetheless started taking notes.
“And well, I was just walking home, when I was pulled into an alley and someone hit my head,” she uses her hand to wipe away her crocodile tears before continuing with her tale. “After that, it’s kind of fuzzy, but I remember seeing the face of my attacker, and being so shocked when I realised it was Marinette… and she just kept hitting me. I'm so glad that ladybug showed up after that to help me get home safely,” Lila wiped her eyes again, Ms Bustier offering a tissue box which the brunette took graciously. “I just really want to know why Marinette would do something like this…”
The class looked towards Marinette, waiting for her to start her defence. She sighed and looked down at the few notes she had taken, taking a deep breath before she began speaking.
“So Lila, you said it was at the same time as the akuma attack, yes?” Lila nods slowly and Marinette takes this as a sign to continue. “What time was the akuma attack on Thursday?” she questions, turning and looking at Alya, who was already scrolling through her phone.
“I began streaming at 2:43,” the red-head said, “and the live stream finished at 3:27,” she supplied.
Marinette rubbed her chin in thought. “And you saw Ladybug there?”
Alya looked at her like she had three heads. “I mean yeah, its called the Ladyblog, it mainly focuses on ladybug… shes kinda the main hero…”
Marinette’s head wobbled from side to side, showing that she disagreed. “That’s arguable, but okay. We’ll come back to that later.”
She sighed and moved onto her next point of topic. “Now Lila, you said that you were hit on the head?”
Lila nodded, then faked a wince at the movement. “That's correct.”
Marinette locked eyes with the girl, trying to feign sympathy and failing miserably. “you also said that things became “kind of fuzzy”,” Marinette let the statement hang in the air.
“That’s… that’s correct,” Lila says in a small voice, wincing once more at the movement.
Marinette fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Is it possible then, that the person you saw may not have been me attacking you?” Lila began stuttering trying to say something but Marinette kept speaking before the girl could get out anything semi-intelligent. “I mean, it is possible for more than one person to have dark coloured hair and blue eyes… why… aren't those Ladybug’s features?”
“What are you implying?” Alya half laughs. “Because it wasn’t Ladybug that hurt Lila -- she was off fighting the akuma then!”
“Of course not!” Marinette said, looking directly at Alya. “I’m just saying that perhaps it’s possible that the person Lila saw wasn’t me, as there are other people in Paris that may look similar to me,” she looked back at Lila. “And there’s also the fact that I cannot remember this event happening, it may be possible that that’s because it wasn’t me in the first place.”
“Do you even have an alibi though?” Kim shouted from towards the back of the class.
Marinette, feigning sweetness, simply turns to the boy and says, “of course I do. But I’m building up to it. Adds drama.”
“This isn’t about drama,” Rose said. “This is about figuring out what happened to Lila.”
Marinette nodded at the girl. “Of course, which is something I’d like to figure out too,” she looked back at Lila. “Do you mind showing the class the marks on your face?”
“Um…” Lila says. “I guess I can…” and she pulls back her hair revealing the bright purple-red marks on her face, causing a lot of gasps around the room. “Its fine everyone,” the brunette claims. “It honestly doesn’t hurt that much…”
There were whispers around the room which Marinette ignored. “So you said that it happened Thursday? And it’s now Monday, so that means that there’s been about four days since it happened. Correct me if I’m wrong of course…”
Lila nodded, “that’s correct…”
Marinette smiled at her and continued, “now, you all know how clumsy I am, so I have had my fair share of bruises in my time,” she looks out at the class as she speaks, holding herself as though she was Ms Bustier teaching the class about what the themes in their literature book meant. “Now generally after four or five days a bruise will be a deep purple, almost black colour, and will be slowly turning green,” Marinette looked back at Lila and recognised the fear in her eyes, oh yes. She was being called out alright. (This is why we do our research before coming up with silly lies!) “of course, everyone is different and no two bruises or bumps are the same. However, the colouring of the bruises Lila has is generally indicative of something that has been created in the last 24 hours, 48 tops.”
The class was silent, no one said anything for several moments.
Marinette met Adrien’s eyes, giving her a quick wink in pride, thinking that that was all Marinette had up her sleeve. The poor, innocent boy.
“There is also the matter that Kim brought up before -- my alibi,” this got everyone hanging on the edge of their seats. Marinette had said she was building up to it, so it had to be good right?
“Not just my alibi, but also Ladybug’s,” the girl says.
“What?” someone asks.
Marinette nods. “Oh yes, you see, after the akuma attack Ladybug was helping her parents.”
“Right, and you know this how?” Sabrina asks and Marinette almost laughs.
“Because they're my parents.”
Bonus:
“Oh my god, Marinette!” Adrien exclaims. “You have a sister?!”