Chapter Text
It was as though Marinette’s nerves had decided to jump out of a plane and go skydiving from twelve thousand feet in the air. While previously content, any trace of happiness she had felt that day had seemingly evaporated without warning when she glanced at the whiteboard her teacher was writing on. She would rather be having a conversation with Lila than look at those words again. Mortified, she had taken her seat while wondering why on earth God had chosen to put her in this world, and hoping it wouldn’t be long before Alya’s arrival. She had been dreading this for a long time, but nothing she had read online had prepared her for this moment.
Health class.
It’s not as if she had never taken a health class before. She remembered the puberty class she had attended in grade 5, and tried not to think of the painfully awkward sex ed class her mother had her go to so she could “learn from a teacher”. But this was a different kind of health class, so unlike those she had been to before, but equally nerve wrecking, if not more so.
The bell rang, signaling the beginning of class and causing Marinette to sit back with a grimace, which got considerably lighter as her best friend slipped through the doorway just seconds before their teacher turned around. At least if she was going to sit through seventy minutes of learning about the dynamics of how the world worked, she wasn’t going to suffer alone (though Alya was more likely to laugh than get flustered).
“So,” a sharp voice commanded their attention just as Alya slid into her seat. “It’s that time of year to learn about your roles in life, and how you will go on after learning them.”
Marinette was already wishing she had faked an illness.
“Alphas, betas, omegas,” Madame Lagarde continued, looking directly at her students. “I’m sure you’ve all heard of them and what they are. I know some of you even have predictions for what you’ll be, but regardless of what you may think, the test could show otherwise. Be sure to keep that in mind, and remember that each role has its own advantages and challenges in society. We won’t be going into the characteristics of each one today, rather, the focus will be on how to navigate the world in each perspective, including having interactions with the others.”
Suddenly, seventy minutes seemed like a century.
. . .
Never in her life had she been so relieved to leave a classroom. Alya could act like she was unbothered all she wanted, but Marinette felt the urge to scream as they descended the steps of Francois Dupont high school. She was hoping to make it home quickly so she could lie under her blankets and have some much needed alone time, but before she could head to the bakery, Alya was already dragging her over to where Nino was sitting.
“Oh. My. God. Did you have that health class today too?!” Alya shouted at her boyfriend, looking around to see some younger girls startled by her outburst. “Sorry!” she shouted after them as they left, before turning back. “Okay but seriously, did you?!”
Nino laughed at her intense stare. “You really need to stop scaring people, babe, but yes.”
It should have made Marinette feel better that Nino was also having to do all this preparation stuff, but it didn’t. It couldn’t. Because if Nino was doing it, then that meant so was-
“Hey guys!” Adrien greeted cheerfully from behind her. Marinette let out an involuntary squawk and jumped, accidentally tripping over her own feet and landing on the concrete ground near Alya. She groaned as she pushed herself up, brushing off the bits of dirt that stuck to her clothes, and glared at her friends, who were laughing hysterically with tears practically forming in their eyes. She could barely bring herself to look at Adrien, whose expression had clouded over in concern.
“Are you alright, Marinette?” he asked worriedly, stepping closer to her.
She ignored the light blush dusting her cheeks as she nodded quickly. “Y-yeah, I’m fine, thanks Adrien.”
He remained serious, and Marinette wished she could do something to draw his perfect smile out again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s all good, don’t worry about it.” She waved him off, laughing awkwardly, half because of the embarrassment that came with falling flat on your face, and half because oh my God he really did care about her!
Platonically.
Obviously.
Alya sat up again, the reporter side of her coming into full force now that she was calm. “Oh, the innocent child finally got to experience his first health class today! How’d you like it, Adrien?”
It was Adrien’s turn to blush a little, his hand coming up to scratch the back of his neck, which Marinette supposed was a nervous habit of his. “Um…I was definitely not expecting to learn about both male and female behaviors and…feelings, but it’s important to know.”
Nino chuckled and elbowed him lightly. “That sounds like something your father would say when he looked over the curriculum.” At this, Adrien buried his face in his hands and the other three couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of Gabriel Agreste saying anything about this topic to his son.
“Dude,” Nino gasped, trying to regain his breath, his signature red hat slightly askew from all the laughing. “Does he expect you to be an alpha like he is?”
Adrien shrugged, his face contorting slightly in some kind of emotion that Marinette couldn’t read. “I don’t really know.”
“Oh please, all your fangirls are dying for you to be an alpha,” Alya snorted. “But I can see you being a beta as well to be completely honest. Very peaceful, smart, also very common. But I think the real question is,” she placed her hand on her best friend’s shoulder. “Which role do we think Marinette will be?”
Three pairs of eyes gazed at her thoughtfully, Marinette huffing in annoyance. “Is this really that important?”
“Yes!” Alya insisted, still studying Marinette, just before her phone buzzed. She searched blindly for it in her bag, the screen lighting up to reveal a text from her mom. “Shit!” she cursed, grabbing Nino’s hand. “C’mon, we’re supposed to babysit my sisters in two minutes!” She pulled him up from the bench, and as quickly as foxes in the night, they disappeared, leaving Marinette alone.
With Adrien.
Crap.
“Well,” Adrien broke the silence, Marinette turning to face him. “Do you-”
He was interrupted by a loud crash that sounded only a few blocks away. They both froze, as did the few other students still at the front of the school, nobody moving an inch. A scream emitted from down the street, a loud banging noise coming closer to where Marinette and Adrien currently stood. Panic started to arise and a teacher exited through the school doors briefly, trying to organize the students and file them inside.
Adrien quickly glanced at Marinette before starting to run in the opposite direction, yelling out a fast, “I gotta go!”
“Adrien, wait!” she shouted after him. Why couldn’t he just go inside the school, which was a whole lot safer than running throughout the streets of Paris with what was quite possibly an akuma on the loose?! But that wasn’t her main focus as she sprinted around the side of the school before the teacher could see her and usher her inside. She hurriedly unzipped the main pocket of her backpack after double checking that no one was around to see her, and Tikki zipped out. She gave her holder a small nod, and Marinette barely took a breath before calling out, “Tikki, spots on!”
Ladybug stood in her place a few seconds later, drawing her yoyo out and throwing it around the chimney of a nearby house. Once she was on top of it, she only had to hop a few streets before the akuma came into view. The victim was a girl probably not much younger than she was. Her costume was almost an exact replica of Dorothy’s from The Wizard Of Oz, except this one included large, dark, bat-like wings and a huge golden scepter. “Where is he?!” Her screech was high and shrill, causing Ladybug to almost drop her yoyo in an attempt to cover her ears. “Where is my boyfriend?!”
Ladybug let out a sigh as Dorothy looked around furiously. Yet another akuma caused because of love problems, sounded about right. It was becoming an issue, really, it was the top reason for akumatizations according to the article on the Ladyblog published a few weeks ago. She didn’t even need to voice this to her partner, who had just landed beside her, knowing they were thinking the same thing.
Fortunately, Dorothy didn’t notice the two superheroes watching her until they were perched on a ledge across from where she had her scepter pointed at a middle aged man. He cowered against a wall, and she was about to strike when Ladybug’s yoyo wrapped around the weapon and pulled it straight out of her hand. “Hey!” She shrieked, growling in response to Ladybug’s triumphant grin. She flapped her wings twice, lifting herself higher into the air, before charging full speed at the heroes. Just as Ladybug put her hands on either side of the scepter as if to snap it in half, an unexpected force knocked her straight off her feet and across what she could have sworn was half of Paris, causing her to lose the scepter in the process. She landed on top of an apartment complex, lying on her back and mentally assessing how badly she was hurt. In just a few seconds she figured that she was mostly okay, but her wrist throbbed in pain, probably from landing on it wrong. Although their magic suits protected them from their usual blows, landing on something wrong was inevitable if an akuma had this type of power. She barely heard Chat Noir’s yell to her before she forced herself to sit up and face the villain that wasn’t far from the edge of the structure.
Dorothy then pointed the newly caught scepter at herself, a puff of pink smoke surrounding her. A few seconds later, she was no longer Dorothy, but Sophie from Mamma Mia, her wings and scepter staying intact throughout her transformation. She had a musical theatre theme going on, Ladybug noticed, although her wings fit neither character. She figured that’s what had hit her so hard. But she barely had time to think as her wrist started to burn from the pain. She held it up with her other hand and looked at it carefully, which made Sophie cackle and disappear with one swoop of her wings.
She heard rather than saw Chat drop down beside her, immediately looking her straight in the eyes. “Are you okay Ladybug?!” His tone was alarmed, and it only made Ladybug all the more nervous. How was she supposed to defeat this akuma if she couldn’t use that wrist or hand?
“Hey,” Chat touched her good arm, his nervous energy quickly dissipating and being replaced with gentleness, noticing her shifting anxiously at his previous words. “You’re alright, LB. She’s not here right now.”
She felt a sense of calm wash over her at his gentle tone, sighing in relief. Her partner could do that; read her emotions like they were his own. Leaning on him slightly, Chat helped lift her into a kneeling position and she flicked her yoyo into the air with a call of, “Lucky Charm!” A large flashlight dropped into Ladybug’s arms moments later. Her eyebrows furrowed and her nose scrunched, a strategy already forming in her mind.
She nodded to herself, trying to move to stand, but the motion of her hand helping her up was too much. She hissed in pain, grasping it with her other hand again. “How am I supposed to defeat her like this?”
“It’s alright, we’ll figure it out. We always do.” Chat gave her a small smile, able to read the worry in her eyes once again. “Do you have some sort of plan?”
She smirked, the rush of adrenaline starting to flood back into her body. “Always.”
“Come back, Henri! I’ll turn into whatever role matches yours and then you can kiss me!”
It wasn’t long before they were able to navigate Sophie again, given the trail of people in musical theatre themed costumes and hairdos led just about up to where she was. She was still looking for her boyfriend apparently, though Chat couldn’t even begin to think of what exactly her intent was. He descended his staff and landed on the street that she was standing on, hiding behind a nearby recycling bin in order to remain hidden.
He heard the zip of his partner’s yoyo and peeked around the can to see Sophie tied up with it. “I don’t have time for this, Ladybug! Just give me your and Chat Noir’s miraculous so I can fulfill my part of the deal with Hawkmoth!” She screamed in frustration.
Ladybug kept her there (thankfully her injured wrist was not her dominant one), and for once, he was glad that this girl would not shut up, or she would have heard him coming up behind her. At that moment, Sophie finally seemed to realize that she still had her wings, and raised them, which undid the yoyo and freed her. But not for long, as Ladybug switched the flashlight on and pointed it directly at her face. Sophie let out another scream as she was blinded, which was Chat’s cue. He darted over to her, holding his baton in between her wing joints, making her yelp. Unable to move her wings and trying to get the baton away from her while still blinded, she loosened her grip on her scepter, Chat snatching it from her hand moments later. As Ladybug jumped down from the structure she was on top of, Chat let out a quick “Cataclysm!” The scepter turned to dust at his touch.
Ladybug swung her yoyo to capture the released akuma as best she could, before purifying it and yelling an exhausted, “Miraculous Ladybug!”
She watched the cure sweep across Paris, turning everyone and everything back to normal. Chat kept his eyes on her the whole time, waiting for her to be healed. He hated knowing she was in pain, and wished he saw the wings coming so he could have blocked them, or had kicked the akuma down before she had even gotten the chance to harm Ladybug. Both breathed a sigh of relief when the cure finally did come washing over her, the sight of her relaxing making him smile. She stared at her wrist hesitantly, and Chat kneeled beside her. “Can I see it?”
Ladybug glanced at him, before nodding shyly and reaching out. Chat held her lower arm delicately. “Can you roll your wrist?” She nodded again and did so, her face losing its worry when it didn’t hurt. “See? Purr-fectly fine!” He shot her a cheeky grin. Ladybug rolled her eyes playfully and pushed herself up off the ground, before extending her hand to Chat. She helped him up, and both of them turned their attention to a very confused akuma victim.
Ladybug crossed over to the victim, Chat following, and laid a hand on her shoulder. The girl looked up at her and a kind smile overtook Ladybug’s face. “Could you tell me what happened that caused you to be akumatized?”
Her face fell, her eyes downcast, as if she was upset with herself more than anyone. “My boyfriend has the lead in the school play,” she muttered. “He has to kiss another girl as part of his role, and I know that it’s just acting, but I got jealous anyways, even when I shouldn’t have been.”
“I would talk to him about it. He probably doesn’t know you’re feeling this way, and if you’re important to him, then he’ll care.” Ladybug gave her a smile, eyes filled with sympathy. “Don’t be mad at yourself. I know you are, but it’s only natural for you to feel that way. Just try to remind yourself of that.”
The girl nodded, saying something about needing to call her mom before rounding the corner and vanishing from sight, leaving the two heroes alone. Chat couldn’t help but beam proudly at his Lady. Her kindness to civilians she hadn’t even met before was always a beautiful sight.
He was still staring at her in some kind of lovesick daze when a beeping noise sounded from his hand. He looked down to see four pads flickering on his ring just as a similar noise came from his partner’s earrings, her miraculous dwindling down to four spots. He beat her to the farewell, bounding forward and laying a quick kiss on her knuckles. “See you soon, Buginette!” He exclaimed, flashing her a wink before extending his staff and vaulting up to the rooftops, heading towards the Agreste manor.
“Until next time, Chaton!” Ladybug returned, her melodic voice drifting up to where Chat was already running. He beamed, heart swelling when he heard the nickname. Only his Lady could make all his negative feelings slip off his shoulders so easily. His smile dimmed, however, as he approached the castle-like house. Slipping through his open window in an all too familiar fashion, he heard the echoing sounds of Nathalie’s shoes clicking on the marble floors.
He barely had time to mutter his detransformation words before there was a knock on the door. Adrien motioned for Plagg to hide, the kwami hurriedly phasing through the door of his cheese cabinet. “Yes, Nathalie?” He answered, striding over to the door. He clicked the lock once and swung the door open.
She stood there with an emotionless expression, posture straight and stiff as per usual. “Your father wishes to speak with you, Adrien.”
His insides churned nervously. “Did he say what about?”
Nathalie shook her head solemnly, looking down and tapping something on her tablet. She turned and walked towards a different doorway at the end of the hallway, leaving Adrien in the otherwise silent mansion. He took a deep, controlled breath as he walked across the hall he was currently in and stepped down the staircase. While the house was once filled with light and happiness, which made up the moments Adrien so fondly remembered, his mother seemed to have taken it with her when she disappeared. It reflected on his father too. While Adrien was able to work through his grief and accept that he would most likely never see his mother again, his father had been the opposite, completely closing himself off from everyone and rarely ever leaving the house. That’s why, as Adrien pushed the doors to his fathers office open, he was nervous about what he could possibly want from him this time.
Gabriel looked up from whatever design he was editing as his son approached him. “You wanted to see me, Father?”
His usual cold stare seemed to consider Adrien before he spoke. “Today was the preparation day at school before you find out what rank you are. Any clues to what you may be?”
Adrien made a mental note to tell Nino that he had been right about Gabriel looking over the curriculum. He shifted uneasily, knowing that the answer wasn’t what the man wanted to hear. “No, Father.”
Gabriel’s face showed no signs of change. “I expect you to tell me when you know. Do everything you can to make sure you’re an omega.”
“I will,” Adrien bit the inside of his cheek until it throbbed painfully.
He glared at him a few more seconds before turning back to his sketch, the reflection bouncing off his glasses. “You may go. Be sure to check in with Nathalie for your photoshoot times tomorrow.”
Adrien gave a nod before turning and walking out of the room, the door closing behind him with a soft thud. While logically there was nothing he could do to determine his rank, he was almost one hundred percent sure that he would indeed be an omega. Submitting to his father’s every wish as Adrien, and following Ladybug in battle as Chat Noir, was just basic confirmation. He didn’t mind the idea of being any of the three ranks, but he found himself hoping that when the day came, he was announced as an omega. If not for him, then for his father. Maybe then they could have some kind of relationship.
But currently, the only source of comfort Adrien had was a little black cat with glittering green eyes, eating all the cheese he could hold.