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Chapter Text

The Miracle Box is getting weaker, Marinette thought to herself, Either that, or maybe I’m just not able to hone its full power…

She raised her hand to her black-studded earrings and brushed her fingers against her Miraculous stones. They’d felt a lot heavier in the passing weeks since Master Fu relinquished the box to Marinette.

Lunchtime at school was a noisy affair, as per usual. She sat quietly beside Alya as she energetically chatted with Nino about the newest Ladybug movie. The noise level of the cafeteria seemed like a low hum in comparison to the volume of her thoughts.

They were thunderous.

Unrelenting.

Accusing.

Master Fu clearly made a mistake in picking you as the guardian, just like he did making you his Ladybug.

You’re only 14. What can you really do?

None of this would’ve happened if you’d been focused on the mission.

It’s all your fault.

Your fault.

The box doesn’t work for you because it knows that you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are a fraud.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a normal teenaged girl. She’d had hopes and dreams. Marinette wanted to become a world-renowned fashion designer, marry the boy of her dreams, adopt a pet hamster, and live happily ever after with three children.

This is what her life was supposed to be like.

But it’s not.

“Marinette?” It amazed her that despite the fact that she was no longer pursuing him, Adrien Agreste was still able to effortlessly attract her attention. To his right sat Kagami, clutching a spoonful of potatoes that she was trying to feed Adrien.

Distantly, Marinette stomped down the painful tug in her chest, reminding herself firmly that Adrien and Kagami were in love.

In love, and she’d almost gotten in the way of that.

“Marinette?” Adrien asked again, his voice softer this time around.

She blinked owlishly at him, her words not coming out of her mouth. Adrien furrowed his brows and leaned forward across the cafeteria table.

“Are you okay?”

A simple question, but how was she supposed to answer it? She was physically healthy as a horse, the picture of perfect health.

But somehow, she knew that Adrien didn’t mean it that way.

She didn’t mean to worry her friend, but her head was so full. She couldn’t control the faces she made. She’d noticed now that Alya and Nino had both stopped talking and were observing Marinette closely. Kagami also watched Marinette, her golden brown eyes narrowing in focus.

You’re bringing down the mood of the room! The little voice in the back of her head scolded.

“I, um..” she cleared her throat and abruptly stood from the table, collecting her bags, “I’m okay,” she tried reassuring Adrien with a smile, “I just have a lot on my mind and need to think…”

Adrien opened his mouth to object, but she was already spinning on her heels and walking away into the abandoned main corridor of the school building.

“Marinette…” Tikki popped her head out of Marinette’s purse, frowning at her charge, “…you don’t look too well…maybe you should go home for today.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Marinette sighed, dragging a hand down her face, “I can’t really concentrate today anyway.” 

With her decision set, Marinette quickly exited the school and sent a quick text to Alya. It didn’t take much convincing for Sabine to usher Marinette upstairs to bed.

(“You’ve been looking awful for weeks now, sweetheart!”)

In the safety of her blankets, Marinette rolled over towards Tikki.

“Tikki?”

“Yes, Marinette?”

She paused, carefully forming her question in her head before asking, “Do…do you think Master Fu made the right choice picking me as his successor?”

“Of course!” Tikki replied instantly, “You’re the best Ladybug we’ve had ever. What makes you think that?”

Marinette could think of a million and one reasons, none of which Tikki would agree with. Her eyes drifted towards the fabric box that held the Miracle Box.

The Miracle Box that clearly wasn’t accepting her for some reason.

“Marinette?”

“It’s nothing,” Marinette answered hastily, “It’s just a thought I had.”

Chapter Text

School is barely out before Marinette can hear the tell-tale sound of Alya running up the stairs. Tikki has only a moment to dive into Marinette’s sheets before the trap door is flung open, and Alya climbs into Marinette’s bedroom.

“I thought you had a date with Nino,” Marinette remarked, carefully descending from her lofted bed.

Alya holds her phone up, her screen displaying the last text message she’d received from Marinette.

Marinette <3: I don’t feel well, so I’m just gonna go home.
Alya: Is everything alright? Do you need me to keep you company.
Marinette <3: Nah, it’s okay.

“Do you wanna explain this, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” Alya demanded, waving her phone.

“I thought it was pretty straightforward,” Marinette grumbled to herself. She padded over to her work station, where she rolled her pink office chair out from her the desk.

“Straightforward!” Alya burst, her red curls swinging wildly, “Marinette, that was as vague as can be!”

“It’s not vague,” Marinette argued, “I have a lot on my mind, and I wasn’t able to deal with school because of it…”

It was the truth.

There was too much for Marinette to deal with.

Even though Marinette couldn’t risk Alya knowing the entire truth for her own safety, Marinette also refused to flat-out lie to Alya.

Besides, Marinette knew just how clever her bold best friend was. She’d figure out something was wrong in no time.

Alya’s bright hazel eyes softened, and she sighed, plopping herself down on Marinette’s chaise lounge.

“Marinette…” Alya began, “…you haven’t been yourself in a while, and I’m really worried about you.”

“But I’m—”

“Don’t say ‘I’m fine!’,” Alya interrupted, “Because I know you aren’t. And I know it’s something else other than Adrien and Kagami.” Alya gestured to the wall that was previously covered in photos of Adrien’s face.

“…” Marinette couldn’t say anything for a moment, startled by Alya’s intense presence.

The two friends stared at each other, Alya gazing imploringly at Marinette.

“Please Marinette,” Alya pleaded, “You’re my best friend. I know that there’s something else that’s been bothering you. I want to help you.”

Boldly, Alya crossed the room and kneeled before Marinette, capturing her hands in her own, squeezing firmly.

“Please.”

Marinette knew would Master Fu would do.

He would staunchly deny that there was anything wrong and that she wouldn’t need to worry. He would smile and walk Alya to the door, waving good-bye as Alya headed home. He would lock every single secret he had away, only for him and Wayzz.

Master Fu would push away any kind of help to keep the secret of the Miraculous.

And though Marinette understood why Master Fu made the decisions he did, she also knew that it wasn’t something that she could realistically do.

She wasn’t Master Fu.

She was Marinette. Just Marinette.

Just another reason why it was mistake making her the guardian in the first place.

“Alya…” Marinette breathed, “…do you ever find your head just so full of thoughts that you can hardly function? Like loud thoughts that don’t ever stop?”

She blinked, “What do you mean?”

“I might’ve bit off more than I can chew,” Marinette admitted, “It’s not something I can openly tell you, but there’s been a recent development in my life that I wasn’t prepared for.”

“Anything I can help with?” Alya asked eagerly.

Marinette smiled softly, envisioning Rena Rouge’s mask over her best friend’s face. Though she wouldn’t be able to ask for Rena Rouge’s help as Ladybug, she still felt lucky to have Alya around as her every day Rena Rouge. She squeezed Alya’s hand back.

Marinette appreciated Alya’s offer to help her, but the only person who could help her was her other best friend. Her goofy, pun-loving, crime-fighting partner who she felt unbeatable fighting beside.

“Having you here listening to me is more than enough,” Marinette admitted truthfully.

Seemingly satisfied with Marinette’s answer, Alya let out a sigh of relief and stood to her feet, pulling Marinette up as well.

Alya’s phone buzzed in her hand, and she lifted the device to read her caller ID.

“Oh, this is a surprise,” she murmured. “Gimme a sec, Marinette.”

“Sure!”

As Alya turned from Marinette to answer the phone, Marinette looked towards her fabric box that held the Miracle Box.

It wasn’t a common item that you could find in a 14-year-old’s bedroom. Marinette wondered if the box had been stashed in less dignified places than a fabric box. It wasn’t like she could easily hide it in plain sight—it was far too conspicuous. Anybody would be able to spot a red and black polka-dotted egg.

It’d only been a few weeks since she’d gained possession of the box, and she had yet to actually open it.

She wasn’t even sure if she could, given the fact that Tikki informed Marinette that the box wasn’t quite as powerful as it previously.

“Does this happen when you transfer ownership?” Marinette asked Tikki one evening.

Tikki hummed thoughtfully, and took the last bite of her gingersnap cookie.

“No,” Tikki answered, “This has never happened before. But then again, there’s never been a guardian like you before.”

“What do you mean?” Marinette asked.

“Master Fu might’ve transferred the box to you, but you were never formally picked by the Order of the Miraculous.”

“W-What?!” Marinette stammered, “There’s a procedure to it?!”

Tikki nodded, “Of course. Guardians like Master Fu are reincarnated from previous Guardians. Normally, the order visits remote villages throughout Tibet in search of children who are suspected Guardians.”

“How do you even know that you’ve found the right person?”

“The box lets them know,” Tikki answered. “The box will reveal itself to the child—”

“But that never happened to me!” Marinette interrupted, panicked, “The box never opened itself to me because Master Fu always opened it for me. So, I’m not the right choice—”

“Even if you aren’t a reincarnated guardian, Marinette,” Tikki replied, “Even if you technically weren’t destined for this job, there’s a reason why Master Fu picked you. He might not know what this means,” she pointed to the fabric box, “But he knew what he was doing. You’ll just have to trust his judgement…”

Marinette was pulled out of her thoughts as she felt something brush against her ear. For a brief moment, she felt as if somebody had been next to her whispering in her ear.

She blinked once, twice, before shaking it off.

Must’ve been my imagination…

Just as she recovered, Alya entered the room, waving her phone excitedly.

“Guess who just called?”

“Nino?”

“No,” Alya’s grin widened, “Wanna try again?”

“Not really.”

“Adrien just invited us to grab some ice cream!” Alya informed Marinette, “He and Nino are already headed towards Andre’s cart.”

“What is it with everybody and Andre’s ice cream?” Marinette grumbled, too low for Alya to hear.

“Do you wanna go, Marinette?” Alya asked, her voice considerably lower than when she originally entered the room, “Because if you don’t wanna spend time with…you know…then…”

“It’s fine,” Marinette waved, “We’re just friends, right?”

She pushed down the unpleasant sinking feeling in her stomach at her own words and tried her best to ignore Alya’s sympathetic look.

“Adrien’s really worried about you too, you know?” she said. “He wants to help you too…”

The best friends stood quietly in Marinette’s bedroom before Marinette abruptly turned on her heel and left to grab her purse, ushering Tikki inside.

“It’s not something anyone can help me with,” she said, “But I appreciate everyone’s concern.”

Chapter Text

“Did you want to invite Luka too?” Alya asked as the girls crossed the street.

In the distance, they could make out the shape of Andre, standing behind his cart. Marinette wrinkled her nose at the possible flavor combinations he could offer her and hoped he strayed from anything remotely resembling peppermint and orange.

“No,” Marinette answered easily, “I don’t want to give him the wrong idea.”

“And what idea is that?” Alya turned a curious eye to Marinette.

Luka was the best guy out there, on the same level as her Papa and Chat Noir. He was patient and kind and it seemed that he could read Marinette when she could hardly understand herself.

He deserved someone who could whole-heartedly bare their soul to him. Not somebody who is recovering from an unrequited love and moonlighting as a superhero.

There were too many secrets, too many ways for her friendship with Luka to go south. Most of all, she didn’t want to hurt him by giving him false hope.

“I don’t want Luka to wait for an answer that might not ever come,” Marinette said at last.

“Marinette…” 

“I’m too tied up about a lot of things to even consider jumping into a relationship,” she continued, “It’s not because of…because of Adrien—” she winced at the painful lurch of her stomach, “—I left that behind and I’m still dealing with my feelings…there’s just…other stuff.” 

“Ladybug stuff?” Alya said, and Marinette stopped abruptly, spluttering in front of a group of giggling pre-teens.

“What?”

“Ladybug stuff,” Alya repeated smoothly, “The stuff that you can’t talk about. I’m calling it Ladybug stuff because it’s like you have a secret identity or something…” 

I should really be thankful that the suit has a really strong glimmer, Marinette thought to herself, the panic in her veins quickly cooling in the warm afternoon air.

“A secret identity?” Marinette said, attempting to sound incredulous, “Alya, I’m just a normal teen girl.”

“You’re just a normal teen girl with some interesting extracurriculars that nobody knows about,” Alya corrected, “Don’t worry. I won’t dig for answers. That’s why I’m calling it Ladybug stuff.”

“Weren’t you trying to figure out her identity a few months ago?” Marinette laughed.

“That was then, and this is now,” Alya waved.

Marinette appreciated Alya’s new approach to Ladybug. It was less focused on her civilian identity, and more so focused on helping to unmask Hawkmoth. She’d become somewhat of a conspiracy theorist, digging through decades of information to find a lead on the elusive Hawkmoth.

“You didn’t want to invite Lila?” Marinette asked a few moments later. Alya shrugged.

“I came over to check on you,” Alya said, “Having Lila around would only stress you out. I know things have been tense since the whole expulsion thing.”

Marinette scoffed, “You’re not wrong. Maman and Papa are still considering sending in a formal complaint against Principal Damocles and Mme Bustier for how it was handled.”

“As much as I like Mme Bustier,” Alya remarked, “I gotta say that she’d deserve it, and Principal Damocles. How do you forget that someone has a rare lying disease and go around expelling students without a proper investigation?!”

It seemed that in the weeks following Marinette being reinstated to school, Alya’s attitude towards Lila had become more cautious. 

Anything that came from the liar’s mouth was immediately double checked by Alya and taken with a grain of salt by the rest of the class.

“I’m still sorry for giving you a hard time about Lila.” 

Marinette grabbed Alya’s hand and squeezed their palms together, “Thank you.” 

It was almost too easy to forgive her best friend, as Alya had made leaps and bounds in mere weeks, always researching information with due diligence. Marinette was positive that Alya had learned her lesson.

“Alya! Marinette!” 

Nino and Adrien were waiting beside the cart, waving enthusiastically at the girls. Marinette looked for Kagami, but couldn’t find the girl anywhere.

“Where’s Kagami?”

If Marinette hadn’t spent the past year so focused on Adrien, she wouldn’t have noticed his smile becoming forced. His green eyes tightened and he replied in a voice that was slightly higher than she was used to hearing, “She, uh…she had fencing practice today!” 

Marinette tilted her head, “Then why aren’t you at fencing practice?”

“It’s good to have a break every once in a while!” Nino cut in, throwing an arm around Adrien, “Adrien was craving some ice cream. He’s been so stressed lately, and just thought we could all use the sugar.”

“Uh-huh,” Alya responded, unconvinced. Nino chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.

“Why don’t we go and place our orders?” Nino hastily asked, “C’mon Alya!” 

Seizing her hand, Nino lead his chuckling girlfriend towards the cart, leaving Marinette and Adrien alone.

Chapter Text

Just because Marinette could speak without stammering around Adrien, doesn’t necessarily mean that she wasn’t struggling being in close proximity to him. Adrien shifted towards Marinette, giving her a warm smile, his vibrant green eyes sparkling in the afternoon sun.

If this were Marinette of the Past, she’d gush about the sunlight catching his thick blonde lashes just right.

If this were Marinette of the Past, her knees would buckle after noticing the flecks of golden brown in Adrien’s eyes.

If this were Marinette of the Past, she’d wiggle and squirm that she was close enough to Adrien to spot the freckles faintly spattered across Adrien’s nose.

I’m a new improved Marinette, she told herself sternly, stubbornly ignoring the warmth in her cheeks, I’m not in love with Adrien. He’s in love with Kagami. Kagami, my good friend.

“It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to speak to you, just the two of us,” Adrien interrupted her train of thought.

“Yeah,” Marinette said, “I haven’t really been seeing much of anyone lately. I’ve been tied down with some…” she hesitated, “…some stuff.”

Adrien nodded, “I get it.”

“Yeah…”

Marinette mentally grimaced at the awkward silence that fell between them, wondering if this entire field trip was a mistake.

“So…” Adrien began, not at all bothered by the atmosphere (or if he was, he didn’t let it show—just another reason why he was so wonderful), “…how’s Luka? You could’ve invited him, you know.”

He smiled tightly.

“I haven’t seen Luka in a week or so,” Marinette replied, “Why would I invite specifically Luka here?”

“You know,” Adrien gestured towards the cart, “It’s kind of a ‘couple’ thing to do…”

She knew that Luka made his feelings abundantly clear to everybody about Marinette, but she couldn’t understand why people just assumed they were going to be attached at the hip. Or even a couple.

Marinette raised a brow at her (former) crush, “But we aren’t a couple.”

“You aren’t?” Adrien looked surprised.

“Not at all,” Marinette shook her head, “We were never a couple.”

“I could’ve sworn Kagami said…” he trailed off, finally falling silent. Marinette observed her friend as he thought. Normally, Marinette would’ve left him to his thoughts, not one to pry in one’s inner monologue, but she figured she’d ask anyway.

“She said what?” Marinette prodded.

“She told me that you two were a couple,” Adrien said quietly. “That you’d been distracted by something else for so long and you reprioritized your relationship with Luka…this’d been going on for weeks.”

Marinette knew that Kagami meant no harm, really, she didn’t.

And perhaps Kagami was confident that Marinette would move on to the boy who expressed interest in her after giving up on Adrien. Knowing Kagami, this was probably her trying to help Marinette get over Adrien so it wouldn’t be so painful being around him and her.

But Marinette couldn’t help but to feel stung by this piece of news.

Hurt and, dare she say it, upset.

Nevermind upset, Marinette was furious.

“Well,” she huffed, incapable of taking the edge out of her voice, “she was wrong. Just because Luka’s said he has feelings for me, doesn’t automatically make us a couple.”

She gripped the strap of her purse tightly, the pleather stretching between her clenched fists.

“Marinette…” Adrien breathed.

“I don’t need people making decisions for me!” she spat angrily, “I have a choice too! And I didn’t choose Luka, so I’m going to need people to stop putting words in my mouth.”

She was red-faced, and huffing like a bull. Her shoulders trembled, and Marinette could feel that burning sensation in her eyes that she always experienced before she burst into tears. She could hardly understand why she was lashing out like this, but in some sense, it felt liberating.

It felt like she was fighting for control of her own narrative.

She felt a soft pressure on one of her fists, squeezing her hand firmly.

Marinette blinked, when did Adrien get this close?

He was watching her closely, a concerned look etched onto his handsome face. His green eyes shone in understanding, a frown pulling at his lips.

“It’s okay, Marinette,” Adrien comforted, “I understand.”

She wasn’t sure how he was able to do it, but she deflated under his touch, her anger escaping her as she exhaled slowly.

Someone understood.

Adrien understood.

“My father has every waking moment of my days planned out,” Adrien shared, “He makes my choices for me, and I know he doesn’t mean any ill will by it, but—”

He paused, his brows furrowed in thought, as if he were searching for the right words.

“—but you’d rather make the choice yourself?” Marinette offered.

Adrien nodded.

Now that Marinette thought about it, it was obvious that Adrien’s life was like this. It was so obvious that Adrien wanted to be able to make his own choices, and not have his life practically scheduled.

Marinette felt both pity for her friend, and gratitude.

The corners of her lips lifted in a smile.

“Thank you, Adrien.”

“Anytime!” Adrien replied back with a wide grin of his own, “And if you need a listening ear, I’m here for you.”

She felt warmth return to her stomach and a fondness unlike any other blossomed in her chest for her friend. It wasn’t unlike the love she’d felt for Adrien when he handed her his black umbrella that rainy afternoon at school.

It felt like more.

A gust of wind blew past the pair and again, for the second time that afternoon, she heard a whisper in her ear. A small, indecipherable whisper that rushed past her as if there were an actual person—

“What was that?” Adrien asked, tearing Marinette’s attention away from the whisper.

“What was what?” she asked.

Adrien’s hand was pressed against his ear, his silver ring catching Marinette’s eye for a brief moment—had he always worn that?

“It was like a whisper,” Adrien said, unsure, “Did you hear that?”

Looking around, Marinette noticed Andre’s other patrons were carrying on with their business, enjoying their ice cream. Nobody else seemed to have heard the voice in the wind.

Part of Marinette wanted to believe it was just her imagination and merely a coincidence, but she also learned in the past few months as Ladybug that sometimes coincidences weren’t merely coincidences.