Chapter Text
Flutter
Chapter 1
Black
Long, heaving breaths fell from trembling lips as Marinette spat the last of the acidic black liquid into the toilet bowl. With one more hacking breath, she let her head hang into the bright white porcelain, exhaling through her nose and shuddering as droplets of the black fluid flew into the bowl.
Before she had even a moment to clean herself up, the school bell rang overhead, startling her so badly she almost slammed her nose into the toilet seat. “Shit!” Marinette cursed under her breath, grabbing a wad of cheap one-ply toilet paper and hastily dabbing it around her mouth, then under her nose. Shoving the dirtied paper into the right side pocket of her light pink backpack, she shouldered the door open and ran through the sparsely occupied hallway.
“Hi Marinette—!” Blue hair flew by the corner of her vision, though she didn’t stop for the boy calling her name.
“No time, Luka!” she called back, black flats smacking hard against the linoleum as she flew towards her home room.
“See ya, Marinette!” Luka called after her as she rounded the corner, throwing open the first door on her left. Immediately, she regretted her decision to use as much strength as she had; the door handle slammed against the hallway wall, drawing the entire eleventh year class’ attention towards herself.
“Oh, uh...hey?” Marinette asked the statement more than saying it, cheeks reddening as a few chuckles cascaded through the classroom.
“Please, take your seat, Marinette,” Ms. Evelyn offered her a kind smile, nodding towards the empty chair next to Alya in the second row. With a small nod, Marinette made her way to her seat, burying her head in her crossed arms as soon as she sat down.
“Third time this semester?” Alya asked.
“Fourth,” Marinette mummbled into the fabric of her white and pink fuzzy sweater. “And it’s only the second week...”
“You’re lucky Ms. Evelyn likes you.” Alya chuckled lightly, drawing Marinette’s gaze up to her, cheek resting on her right hand.
“You think so?”
“Well, duh!” Alya swatted Marinette’s arm, causing the bluenette to straighten up. “She gives you way more slack than anyone else; it doesn’t take a journalist to figure that out.”
“I guess, but doesn’t she also do that with—“ Marinette began.
“Adrien,” Ms. Evelyn spoke to the blonde boy running into the classroom, shooting him a joking smile. “Looks like Marinette beat you this time around. Better luck next time.” She finished tying her curly black hair into the messy bun she must have started before Adrien showed up.
“I’m sorry Ms. Evelyn, it’s not going to—“ Adrien started, face flushing redder by the moment.
“Just make your way to your seat. I’ll talk to you and Marinette after class today.” She dropped her arms from her hair, folding them in front of her.
Adrien complied wordlessly, smirking at Marinette on his way to his seat. When he was finally seated in front of her, he turned around, catching her gaze. “You too, huh?”
Marinette returned Adrien’s smirk. Two years ago, she would have been a bumbling mess at the thought of talking to him. Nowadays, things weren’t nearly as intense. Sure, she still had feelings for him, but she’d accepted long ago that maintaining her role as Ladybug and a dating life was unmanageable. When she finally got over her feelings and decided to be Adrien’s friend, she found out they actually got along pretty well.
“Yeah, late night. You?” Marinette asked, just hardly loud enough for Adrien to hear her.
“Sure, you could say that.” He blinked glazed eyes at her, yawning and stretching his back as he finished his sentence. He gave her one tiny nod before turning his attention back to Ms. Evelyn.
“So what is it today, kiddos?” Ms. Evelyn asked, joking gaze passing between Adrien and Marinette.
“I—“
“It was—“
Red faced, the two teens looked at one another. “You first—“ they spoke at once again, shutting their mouths in unison.
“Ok, Adrien, go ahead,” Ms. Evelyn chuckled as she spoke, shaking her head in amusement.
“My, uh, dad had a lot stuff planned for me last night and I, um, didn’t get a lot of sleep,” Adrien’s face reddened once again as he spoke, eyes never leaving his shoes.
“If that’s what you say, then—“ Ms. Evelyn’s tone held an air of playfulness.
“It’s true, ok?” Adrien looked up at the teacher, suddenly defensive.
“Alright, well get going then. No need to be late to your next class, too,” Ms. Evelyn looked right at Adrien as she spoke, making Marinette a bit queasy. She had a feeling her teacher wasn’t about to let her leave with the blond.
“Thank you, ma’am.” Adrien gave a small bow before shooting Marinette a supportive glance. He turned on his heals and left, not daring to shoot another look back.
“Marinette, what’s your excuse today?” Despite the harsh words, Ms. Evelyn somehow managed to retain her cool, joking demeanor.
Marinette’s stomach fell to her feet, face flushing pink before she could try to control it. Since Ms. Evelyn had become their home room teacher a year and a half prior, Marinette had developed a close relationship with her. The late-twenty’s teacher somehow had a broad knowledge of all of her class subjects, and Alya hadn’t exactly been lying about Ms. Evelyn’s favoritism of the young designer, as she often studied with her. After how much time Marinette had spent in her office, the guilt she felt lying to her rivaled how she felt lying to Alya or her parents.
“I wasn’t feeling very well,” it took Ladybug levels of confidence to keep Marinette from stuttering. At least she wasn’t totally lying.
“Oh? What’s the matter?” Ms. Evelyn’s cool exterior crumbled, genuine concern painting her features.
“Nothing too bad,” Marinette blurted, moving her hands in front of her as she spoke. “Just a, uh, stomach ache.”
“Ok, well you keep an eye on it and let myself or the nurse know if it gets any worse.” Ms. Evelyn crossed her arms in front of her, concern still lingering on her features.
“Of course, thank you,” Marinette offered the teacher a small bow before turning towards the door.
“Do you know why I became a teacher?” the elder woman asked, effectively stopping Marinette from leaving the room.
“Uh, why?” Marinette’s posture and gaze crept towards the teacher, fiddling with her chipped nail polish as she watched Ms. Evelyn lean back against her wooden desk.
“Because I believe in youth — in the growth of a new generation.” Her expression fell into one full of wistfulness. “Young people are the future. I’m meant to help you — to guide the future.”
“Oh,” Marinette chuckled, exhaling in a soft puff of air. “I guess I never looked at it that way.”
“Well I have.” In a decisive move, Ms. Evelyn stood up straight, training her gaze on Marinette. “Do you know why I moved to France? To Paris, in particular?”
Marinette would be lying if she said the question hadn’t taken her off guard. She usually forgot that her favorite teacher wasn’t a French native, particularly due to the lack of accent and excess knowledge of the city. She did remember, though, that Ms. Evelyn had some long, foreign-sounding last name, something starting with an ‘L’, maybe? Marinette had thought it sounded pretty, but the young teacher insisted everyone call her Ms. Evelyn — her first name.
“I don’t think you mentioned it,” Marinette shrugged her backpack higher up on her shoulders.
“Think, Marinette.” Ms. Evelyn poked her own temple with a perfectly black painted nail, smiling as she spoke. “You’re a smart girl. What’s your guess?”
Marinette continued to fiddle with her nails, eyes darting between them and her teacher. “Something...um...”
“Think harder,” Ms. Evelyn’s tone took on a harsh edge, causing Marinette to train her vision on her. “What makes Paris different than any other city?”
A chill ran down Marinette’s spine, the answer spontaneously on the tip of her tongue. “Chat Noir. And Ladybug.”
Ms. Evelyn nodded, leaning back against her desk once again. “Different order than I would have chosen, but yes. The voices of the blossoming generation. I just couldn’t stay away.”
“You really think they’re that great?” Marinette’s voice was quiet as she spoke, her own insecurities bubbling beneath her hushed tone.
“You don’t?” There was something there in the teacher’s voice — something that made Marinette’s stomach churn more than it already was. Ms. Evelyn opened her mouth to speak again, but whatever she was about to say was covered by the sound of the final bell for next period. “Well, shoot,” her voice was a bit too smooth as she spoke, “looks like you’re late. Let me write you a note, Marinette.”
“Thank you, Ms. Evelyn.”
“So what did Ev keep you for?” Nino pulled Alya closer towards him as he spoke to Marinette, who was sitting on the ground across from the happy couple, the smell of fresh cut grass tickling her nose.
“Ms. Evelyn just wanted to know why I was late again,” Marinette grappled with her nose, rubbing it and sniffling before taking a bite of her apple.
“Yeah, but you were late to maths. Everything ok?” Nino asked, smiling at his girlfriend as she nuzzled into his side.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Marinette stifled a sneeze before taking another tentative bite. “I mean, it’s Ms. Evelyn. She’s cool.”
“I told you she’s soft on you,” Alya chuckled as she spoke, popping a granola cluster into her mouth.
“Well, I wasn’t arguing with you.” Marinette shrugged before taking the last bite of her apple. “Adrien got off without detention too, you know.”
“Yeah, and I was super lucky,” Adrien said from behind Marinette, eliciting a small squeak as she jumped a bit. “Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you, Marinette.”
“It’s fine.” Marinette waved a hand in front of her as Adrien took a seat between herself and Nino, setting his lunch down in front of him. “We were just talking about how Ms. Evelyn has a soft spot for you and I.”
“Really?” Adrien asked, looking between his best friend and Marinette. “Are you sure?”
“Dude, you really are oblivious,” Nino laughed. “She’s let the two of you off with a warning so many times, you’d both probably be suspended or something if she actually documented it.”
“Yeah, you two seem to run about fifteen minutes later than the rest of us,” Alya chimed in before scooping some mango yogurt into her mouth.
“I’m just really busy—“
“You know I can be kinda—“
Adrien and Marinette turned to one another, their overlapping sentences coming to a halt.
“Yeah, whatever, old news,” Alya straightened up under her boyfriend’s arm as she spoke. “You wanna know some real news?”
Marinette immediately felt anxiety creep into her throat; Alya only ever got this excited over things related to Ladybug or the LadyBlog. Despite her growing panic, she swallowed hard, forcing a tight smile. “What is it?” her voice felt taught as she spoke.
“Well, obviously I can trust you guys, but don’t say anything — I’ve been waiting to write this article until I have enough solid evidence,” Alya began to explain, only hardening the growing pit in Marinette’s stomach. “I sort of have a theory I’ve been working on. You know how the mayor passed that law a year ago about every Akuma crime scene being swept?”
“Sure.” Of course Marinette remembered — it was the reason finding a place to detransform had become so difficult.
“Well, the reports were made public about a month ago, and, get this,” Alya lowered her tone as she spoke, leaning in closer to her friends. “Well, there’s this really fucking weird stuff that’s been showing up. This, like, black goo in puddles has been found on ten of the last twelve scenes, and tons more before that. Scientists have studied it, but they refuse to make their analysis public.”
Marinette felt the blood drain from her face, fingertips and nose going numb. “What do you think it is?” The words were as numb as her appendages.
“Well, I found some two weeks ago, and had Ivan take a look at it,” Alya explained. Ivan had expanded his interest in chemistry, learning on the college level thanks to a post secondary program at their school. “I didn’t want to say anything in case it was a bust, but he gave me the results today, and oh boy, you’ll never guess what it is.”
“Black goo?” Adrien leaned forward, curiosity sparkling in his emerald eyes. “Is it...coming from the Akumas?”
“I don’t think so,” Alya fed on Adrien’s interest, her hushed tone growing almost feverish. “It’s mostly human bile, mixed with an unidentifiable substance. Bless Ivan’s soul, he knew I’d want more information, and oh wow did he provide!”
“What?” Adrien asked, his excitement only adding to Marinette’s growing panic.
“The DNA all comes from the same person,” Alya’s words turned Marinette’s stomach to cement. “We have DNA from either Ladybug or Chat Noir.”