Chapter Text
Chapter One
Alya took the news of Marinette being Ladybug like fish to the water. It scared Marinette if she were honest about it. While there were some awkwardness and hard questions to ask, after about a week, it became natural for Alya to cover her during akuma attacks and other Ladybug related issues Marinette constantly ran into. Alya, natural in role as a reporter, managed to keep focus when updating the Ladyblog.
“What do you think about doing a one-on-one interview again like we did in the past?” Alya asked within a week of the reveal. There was excitement in her voice. Marinette had thought about this, knowing it would come up, but she had yet to come up with a concise answer for her.
“I… I’m not sure about that,” Marinette answered honestly. It was of her opinion that she needed time to get used to the waters of someone else knowing about her secret.
“I’m not saying no completely, but things just feel too uncertain right now.”
“What’s uncertain? I’m not going to tell anyone or ask any questions that would be compromising. I’ve been wanting another interview for a while but had no idea how to set it up. Now I know!” Alya radiated excitement. Marinette waivered.
“You have to understand, Alya. This is all new territory for me. The only person I’ve ever talked to about this is Tiki and she’s a magical being. I’m just scared it’s not going to be an interview that you’re going to want. I’m going to be fearful the whole time, I know it,” Marinette fretted. For so long, she has been able to suppress some anxiety about this because there had been no way of someone finding out who she was because of how good she was able to hide it. Now that someone else knew, she felt the two identities were becoming blurred. She felt more on guard this past week. She knew it wasn’t logical, but she needed time to adjust.
Sensing Marinette’s anxiety, she chose patience for her friend.
“I get it. How about we come up with the questions before and rehearse it. That way there’s no way you could mess it up and it will build confidence.” Alya spoke clearly in a softer tone than she had before. Marinette couldn’t help but be soothed by the idea. She deliberated silently in her head. She supposed that she was going to have to work on this block sooner or later.
“Great!” Alya’s excitement returning, she started to think of all the questions she could ask. “Okay, so obviously identity questions are off, but I wouldn’t look like ‘Alya: Ladyblog Reporter’ if I didn’t ask about you knowing Chat’s identity, even though ‘Alya: Ladybug’s Secret Best Friend’ knows the whole picture.”
Marinette nodded slowly, feeling a bit more confident.
“Okay, ground rules: no questions about my identity, no pressing questions about my and Chat’s relationship.” Alya gauked. Marinette sat up straighter to appear more confident. “No questions about what I do outside of Ladybug, and finally, no, absolutely no questions about any romance. I just do not want to talk about that at all.”
Alya grimaced and made her lips into a straight line. “Counteroffer: All those rules, except one, and I mean one, question about you and Chat’s relationship. I have to stay true to my Ladynoir shippers. You can play it off however you wish, but I need to make this believable.”
Marinette smiled, knowing that she would push that one. She stuck her hand out for a handshake. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
Marinette and Alya worked for hours on the phrasing of the questions and answers. As they went along, Marinette felt more confident about it.
“Can I throw in one surprise question just to get a natural reaction?” Alya asked, hesitantly. Marinette knew her best friend wouldn’t betray her and answered yes quicker than Alya thought she would have.
They decided the interview would take place at the same theater that they did the previous. This meant that they would have to do it after all the staff had cleared out for the night. Until then, Marinette went over the material. Alya constantly kept stopping Marinette from trying to see what the “secret question” was. When it was time, the girls walked over to the theater. After a quick set up, they were ready. Marinette transformed while Alya stared.
“I’m never going to get used to that.” Alya said. Ladybug laughed and took her seat while Alya positioned her camera. “And we’re recording!” She exclaimed while she ran over to take her seat. She cleared her voice and looked starry-eyed at Ladybug.
“Thank you for doing this, Ladybug. I must say, you are not an easy person to get an interview with.”
Ladybug laughed at her attempt to appear starstruck.
“It’s no problem. I suppose it’s a good thing I’m not easy to get a hold of.”
“I guess. Shall we get started?” Alya asked.
“Shoot.”
“Alright, let’s dig in. There've been a lot of questions about how close you and Chat Noir are to apprehending Hawkmoth. As I know you’re aware, akuma’s have been causing havoc around Paris for more than a year. Is there any new information you can share today about that?”
Prepared, Ladybug answered honestly. “Unfortunately, I can’t share anything today. I will say that Chat and I are doing everything we can to get to the bottom of who is responsible. Hawkmoth is now using two miraculous’ at the same time, making his akumas more of a danger. But I want to reassure everyone that Chat and I are capable of dealing with this and in the end, justice will prevail.”
“Have you lost any steam fighting them? I mean, it must be somewhat of a blow knowing the enemy is more powerful.” Alya came up with the questions so far, all of which she asked before even bringing up the interview. It made coming up with answers easier, though she knew the answers would have to be adjusted for the whole of Paris to hear.
Ladybug looked down. “I mean, I love being Ladybug. The fact that I can do it and still fight akumas is great. This is kind of a double edged sword though because there are people suffering each time an akuma does happen, so for that, I do want them to end. But I still feel the same each time I fight one. I love my job.” Ladybug looked up with a smile, knowing that was the complete truth.
“Does Chat Noir feel the same?” Alya asked. Ladybug knew this was a segway and prepared herself.
“You’d have to ask him, but I feel confident that he would give a similar answer.”
“I’d kill myself if I didn’t ask. What is the nature of you and Chat’s relationship? Surely you know that there’s a lot of speculation.” Alya grinned. She felt really pleased with this.
“Chat and I are partners. There’s a deep trust that goes into that because we’ve fought together for so long. He definitely is one of the reasons I love being Ladybug, but as far as the rumors and speculation, they’re just that. Rumors.” She knew Chat would watch this interview and get a kick out of her answer. Ladybug put on a focused face. She knew the secret question was next.
“I just wanted to end this kind of fun, so I have a fun question for you,” Alya grinned knowingly. Ladybug suppressed a shiver.
“Go for it,” she said a little flatter than she intended.
“If you had to go on a hot celebrity date, who would it be. Adrien Agreste is a popular answer for this one, but who would you choose?” Ladybug nearly fell to the floor. She knew this question was a bad idea. She felt her face heat up intensely. She knew she probably looked as red as her suit.
“Uh, I… I’m not sure,” she stammered.
“Oh, come on. Surely you have someone in mind.” Alya was probing and Ladybug knew it. She knows what she was getting at. She tried to think of an answer other than Adrien, but she was coming up blank.
“Jim Carrey!” She shouted and immediately regretted it. Alya laughed hard.
“Jim Carrey? The grinch guy?” She snorted.
“Uh, yeah!” She thought quickly. “His facial expressions and voices and… humor... It’d be a fun date!”
“He’s, like, fifty!” Alya howled.
“S-so?” Ladybug was mortified.
“Okay, then. I think this has been a great interview. Thank you for doing this.”
“No problem,” Ladybug said once she had regained her composure. She smiled. Alya got up and went to her camera. As soon as she knew they were clear, she turned to Ladybug and laughed hard.
“That was cruel,” Ladybug stated with a frown. Alya laughed harder.
“Jim Carrey! I honestly wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but that was gold!” Alya was bent over at this point. Ladybug dropped her transformation. Marinette kept the frown on her face. She knew she had just given Alya ammunition for years to come. Thankfully, it would only be between them that she could tease. She thought about being petty and deleting the footage before she could post it, but she secretly thought it was funny herself.
Once Marinette got home, she fed Tiki a cookie before heading up to her bedroom. Given that it was a Friday, she decided to stay up a little later working on her designs. She worked for what must have been an hour and a half before her phone dinged. Picking it up, she read the text from Alya with the link to the newly posted interview. She watched it in full and cringed when she got to the end. She knew that Alya was going to pull some stunt like that, but she had to admit it was pretty funny. She got her.
However, let’s see her get another interview with Ladybug anytime soon.