Chapter Text
The scent of freshly baked pastries fills the air as Marinette hurries down the stairs, hastily cramming her books into her already full backpack. She hasn't had a chance to eat yet, but there's no time to waste.
How did she manage to oversleep again?
First, her phone had died overnight, so her alarm didn't go off. She jolted awake when her mom called her, only to tumble off her loft bed in her rush. The shower was ice-cold, and she discovered she was out of toothpaste.
The day can't possibly get any worse, and it hasn't even officially begun yet.
Rushing past her parents, Marinette manages to shout a hurried "I love you!" before dashing out.
She arrives at school on time, but at what cost? She's breathing heavily, sweat forming on her forehead. Isn't Ladybug supposed to be in peak physical condition? Why didn't that carry over to her civilian self? It just feels plain unfair.
Alya only laughs.
"Girl, we need to put a buzz collar on you for an alarm."
Marinette would have done more than a grumble if she wasn't trying so hard to get her breathing under control.
"Better put your game face on, Adrien's ride just arrived," Alya chirps happily, blissfully ignoring Marinette's squawk.
In a moment of genius, Marinette dives behind the wall of the staircase and clutches her backpack to her chest.
Alya, deciding to be benevolent for once, leans against the column casually and effectively blocking Adrien from seeing or reaching Marinette.
Marinette evidently uses her sense of preservation and peaks through Alya's legs to get a glance at Adrien.
The model's car door opens and he climbs out with a slightly downcast expression and Marinette is instantly on alert.
What happened? Is today significant in some way? What is his schedule?
Alya kicks back a foot toward Marinette to discreetly push her back into her hiding spot.
Despite having been gasping for air moments ago, Marinette holds her breath. She must look a mess if Alya is playing along at hiding her. Her friend may be an instigator at times but she always pulls through when it matters.
"Good morning, Alya," Adrien says and Marinette can picture his model smile. Marinette knows he uses it to hide how he's feeling, she's watched him do it enough times. One day she hopes he'll let her in enough that she'll see what he's hiding behind it.
"Hi, Adrien," greets Alya. "Looks like you beat Nino today."
Adrien chuckles softly, "And Marinette it seems."
"Oh, you know," Alya says innocently. "Knowing her she probably overslept and is running her way here as we speak."
Marinette takes back what she thought before. Alya is the worst friend ever. Period.
"I hope she gets here before the bell," says Adrien. "She's been late a lot lately."
Marinette's heart stutters and she feels a grin growing. He noticed? He noticed! She inwardly squeals, missing what is said next.
"Marinette, why are you sitting there on the floor?" she hears and Marinette feels the blush of mortification rising in her cheeks.
She glances up to see Nino peering behind Alya. Adrien pops into view and Marinette is sure she's about to pass away.
In a flash, she's on her feet and she pretends to dust off her pants.
"Oh! Um, uh, I was just - resting! Yeah! Resting! I was… hot! So I just needed to take a second."
Nino looks confused and Alya winces.
Not Marinette's best work.
Adrien smiles politely, "We better get to class before we're late."
"Yes! Late! For an important date! Haha!"
Can Marinette just fall into the earth, please?
Adrien smiles again before looking away and Marinette curses herself.
Why is she like this?
Fortunately class goes better than her morning did and Marinette even got some daydreaming in between taking notes and collecting homework. At lunch, she shares a sandwich with Alya since she left the house without bringing anything. At least the devious woman is good for something.
While lifting her sandwich slice to her mouth, Alya points a pinky in the boys' direction.
"Sumfin seems wong wid Adwen doday," she says around her bite of sandwich.
Marinette chews contemplatively and swallows.
"I wonder what's the matter…"
"Well, why don't you go ask him?" Alya suggests with a twinkle in her eye.
Marinette side-eyes her.
You're on thin ice today, Missy, she thinks venomously.
"Oh yeah let me just go insert myself into a conversation that doesn't concern me to also butt my nose into something that is none of my business."
Alya rolls her eyes and pops her last bite of the sandwich into her mouth. She dusts off some crumbs from her lap and stands.
"Well, I'm going to go talk to them so you can either stay here by yourself and look awkward or you can come with and be awkward there."
Marinette deliberates for a couple of moments but when Alya starts moving she hurriedly jumps up to follow her. Adrien's eyes flick up to them as they approach and Marinette feels her heart in her throat. She focuses on not tripping over her own feet and almost doesn't hear Alya greeting the boys.
"What's going on?" Alya asks, ever tactful. "Why the long faces?"
Adrien looks down for a moment and Nino interjects, "His old man is taking him out of school for the whole of next week. Some sort of fashion week thing. Personally, I would be ecstatic. A full week of hanging out with hot models? Paradise!"
Alya makes a sound of disapproval and Nino laughs. Adrien is looking away, staring at nothing.
Marinette addresses him, "Are you worried about missing out on schoolwork? I'll collect it for you! I mean, if that's what you want, I mean of course you need the schoolwork but I don't have to be the one to do it. Not that I don't want to do it, otherwise I wouldn't have offered but-"
Alya elbows her in the side and Marinette's mouth fortunately stops digging her a hole.
Adrien smiles at her and it looks a bit more genuine. "Thank you, Marinette. I would actually appreciate that. I just am going to miss everyone here at school, that's all."
Marinette feels a twinge of sympathy. She knows that Adrien had to fight to even be allowed to come to school in the first place. She can't imagine how lonely it must be at home that you look forward to coming to school.
She looks up at Adrien through her eyelashes. Maybe she does understand wanting to come to school just to see someone.
Her mouth moves without her permission, "What if we visited you?"
Adrien focuses on her completely, eyes a little wide. "You mean at the couturière?"
Marinette panics a little. Was that a bad suggestion?
Nino slaps Adrien on the shoulder. "Yeah! That's a great idea! Surely your dad would allow us to visit during lunch or something!"
Adrien looks simultaneously doubtful and hopeful.
"I mean it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?" Alya inputs. Adrien's expression falls a little more.
"Yeah… it wouldn't hurt…"
Marinette wants to say something else. Anything else. She just wants to make him look less sad. The school bell rings and the moment passes.
Marinette is surprised by how calmly class passes in contrast to her chaotic morning. Her homework is light and there are no akuma attacks on her way home. Despite the outward peace, Marinette feels restless. She wishes she could do something for Adrien but she hasn’t got an idea on how to do it - or even what to do. Maybe she could make him a small gift? Or would that be going too far? She doesn’t want to intrude too much and they’ve already inserted themselves into his situation more than they should have, right?
After distractedly doing her homework, Marinette gazes at her pictures of Adrien on the wall. She wonders what he’s doing and thinking now and blissfully fantasizes about him thinking about her too.
A dreamy smile graces her lips until the unmistakable echoes of distant cries reach her ears. Springing to her feet, she transforms and gracefully steps out onto her balcony. Ladybug takes a confident leap, soaring toward the origin of the screams. Upon reaching a rooftop, she halts, her eyes sweeping over the scene before her, her stance poised for action as she assesses the situation with practiced determination.
What seems to be an armored go-kart is racing through the streets, sending shockwaves in intervals that flip cars out of their way. The akuma is wearing what appears to be a brown tanuki onesie. Ladybug can’t help but feel the situation is familiar but she doesn’t have time to dwell on it.
“Good evening, my lady,” she hears and gives Chat Noir a small smile.
“Doesn’t seem to be a good evening for someone,” she remarks.
Chat’s eyes glitter, “It’s going to be a race against time with this one.”
Ladybug rolls her eyes but it’s more out of habit than annoyance. “We have work to do, Chaton.”
Chat rolls his shoulders, “You’re right, of course. We shouldn’t get off track.”
Ladybug snorts softly enough that Chat can’t hear her. He doesn’t need any more reason to puff out his chest.
She swings down into the road and Chat vaults down after her. The akuma speeds toward them and then slams on the brakes, screeching to a stop. He points in their direction angrily but Ladybug can’t bring herself to take him seriously when he’s wearing a tanuki onesie.
“Ladybug and Chat Noir!” he yells. “I am Chariot! Give me your Miraculous or I’ll run you over!”
Ladybug swung her yoyo, “You’re telling us nothing new, we know the drill.”
“Yeah!” calls Chat, “Get a place in line! Otherwise, we’ll get your kart Toad!”
Ladybug glances at Chat, who looks way too pleased with himself. It takes a moment to click and she realizes that she recognizes the akuma’s design from Mario Kart.
With an undisguised groan, she swings her yoyo to wrap around the akuma but ends up dodging it as it throws a green shell her way.
Chat hits it away with a flourish, “Don’t be a sore loser!”
“Chat, we need to find where the akuma is!” Ladybug calls out as she dodges a red shell that curves after her.
Chat is running at an angle at the akuma and the driver angrily turns the wheel to chase after him. Ladybug notices the strange shape of the wheel and gets an idea.
“Chat, you have to distract him for a moment!”
“You’ve got it, my lady!” he shouts and vaults away with Chariot racing after him.
“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug yells and out of the air falls a curious polka-dotted shell with spikes. Is it really going to be that easy?
Propping the shell under her arm, Ladybug swings her yoyo and chases after them. Chat is dodging and dancing around as Chariot furiously tries to drive him over while throwing out shells.
“My lady! What a happy Wii-union!” he laughs as he jumps over a shell.
“Get out of the way, Chaton!” she calls and punts the shell at Chariot.
Just in time, Chat extends his baton so he’s safely out of the blast zone. The shell detonates and Chariot’s kart flips over. The driver flails his arms wildly and Ladybug uses the moment to pull herself towards him. She snatches the Switch-shaped wheel and tosses it up to Chat, who destroys it with his Cataclysm and releases the purple butterfly. Chariot is enveloped in purple and is revealed to be just a nine-year-old boy. Ladybug captures the butterfly and purifies it, watching it flutter away harmlessly.
“Miraculous Ladybug!” she yells, throwing the remnants of the shell into the sky.
Cars are returned safely to the road and even the skidmarks left from the go-kart are removed.
Ladybug instinctively holds out her fist and Chat fist bumps her.
“Pound it,” they say together.
The nine-year-old boy is sitting on the ground with his switch next to him, looking lost.
“Ladybug? Chat Noir? What happened?”
She walks over and leans down in front of him.
“It’s okay now,” she says kindly. “You were akumatized. Do you remember what happened before?”
The boy looked ashamed.
“I was playing in a tournament,” he mumbled. “I was so close to getting first but someone bumped me off Rainbow Road and I lost. I was so angry… I’m sorry Ladybug.”
She reached out and patted the boy on the shoulder, “It’s alright, I promise. Everyone gets those emotions sometimes and it can be frustrating to lose at something you work hard on. The important thing is to learn to control those feelings, right?”
The boy looks down and nods, hiding his face.
“Where do you live? We’ll take you home,” Ladybug says but the boy looks up frantically.
“No! It’s okay! I can get home on my own, I promise!”
Ladybug hums, “Well, if you’re sure…”
Chat grips her wrist, “I’m sure he’ll be fine, my lady. Let’s get going.”
She smiles one last time at the boy and follows Chat to the rooftops. From the shadows, she worriedly watches the boy stumble to his feet and head in the direction she assumes is home.
“Don’t worry, we can follow him from up here and make sure he gets home okay,” she hears Chat say.
She looks up at him and he has a look of understanding on his face.
“Thank you,” she says with a small smile.
Chat makes an exaggerated bow, “Don’t worry, you’re always first place in my heart, my lady.”
Moment gone, Ladybug groans.
The two of them watch over the young boy on his way home and thankfully, he doesn’t live far. Ladybug is about to say goodbye to Chat and head off on her own way when she catches sight of his expression. He looks distracted and a little upset.
Ignoring the beeping of her earrings, Ladybug takes a step toward him.
“Chaton? Are you okay?”
Chat looks as if he just remembered she was there. He grins in a way that reminds her of Adrien’s model smile when he’s trying to hide his true feelings. “Never better, my lady! Another successful akuma takedown. Our win rate is secured!”
Ladybug considers him and says softly, “You know if you need to talk about something, I’m here for you.”
He looks conflicted for a moment and then scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, “I might actually be a little tied up next week. Just some… personal things I gotta take care of.”
Ladybug nods, “That’s okay. You gotta do what you gotta do.” Chat doesn’t look convinced so she continues, “I’ll be fine, Chaton. I always am.”
Both their Miraculous beep in warning. Neither of them move.
“Let’s get going home,” Ladybug says. “We’ll meet up for patrol tomorrow, okay?”
Chat smiles again, though it looks like more of a grimace, and gives her a salute, “See you tomorrow, my lady.”
He jumps away and Ladybug is left alone on the rooftop. It takes another warning beep before she makes her way home.
She sleeps fitfully that night, worried for Adrien and for Chat. At some point she wakes up, feeling as if she’s being watched, but she can’t see anything in the shadows of her room. Self-consciously, she lifts her blanket higher on her chest.
“Hello?” Marinette whispers but she is only met with an intense whirl of emotions she can’t identify. The feeling of being watched amplifies until she feels herself choking on the tension. About to transform into Ladybug, suddenly the feeling completely disappears, as if it were never there. Marinette breathes out shakily and tries to feel comfortable enough to sleep again but it never finds her.
Marinette doesn’t oversleep when it’s time to get up for school. Though that has a lot to do with the fact she never fell asleep after the Incident ™. With a sigh, she showers and has to borrow some of her parents’ toothpaste. She thankfully does have time for breakfast which does make her feel a little better.
Perhaps today will go better than yesterday, though even thinking it makes Marinette scared she jinxed it.
The Wednesday at school proves to make up for Tuesday’s reprieve and Marinette feels herself drowning in homework and assignments due for next week. She and Alya spend lunch in the library, trying to get a headstart on some of their assigned work. Nino and Adrien join them, the latter concerned about how much he’ll be missing next week. Marinette feels a pang of sympathy. She sometimes found working at the bakery with her parents a little stressful but that was nothing compared to Adrien’s schedule.
The group of them make good progress with their work, promising to help each other on the groupchat. Marinette is rarely present when Adrien has time to chat out of fear of sending something stupid, but she can’t help but look forward to having an excuse to talk to him.
Adrien is truthfully feeling more resentful and annoyed than sad at his father’s plans for the following week. After years of being treated as a mere puppet for his father’s company, today seems to be the day he gets fed up. Of course, he would never say anything to his father, but it won’t stop him from moping at school and complaining to Plagg under his breath when he gets the chance.
He also feels tired from lack of sleep. He had been sleeping quite peacefully when he awoke with a start. He felt eyes on him from the dark recesses of his room and felt his metaphorical hackles raise and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
“Who’s there?” he demanded but was met with nothing but silence. He switched on the light on his nightstand and the feeling of being watched disappeared. Plagg hadn’t even woken up but Adrien couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling. He browsed his phone for a while before he felt ready to sleep again but even then it wasn’t restful. Waking up this morning left him annoyed and even his model smile was being tested. Nathalie briefed him on his day while he sullenly ate his breakfast. Straight after school would be fencing and then he would have to be home for Chinese lessons. Not a busy day but he couldn’t shake the feeling of irritation at having plans at all.
He felt happier at school at least. His friends cheered him up even if they were working on schoolwork.
He’s more aggressive than he should be at fencing, though Kagami fortunately can keep up with him. He loses to her at the last moment and takes off his mask in frustration.
“What is wrong with you today, Adrien?” she asks bluntly.
He grunts and runs a hand through his sweaty hair, “Nothing.”
Kagami doesn’t look convinced but she doesn’t ask again.
Chinese lessons are uneventful and he immediately goes to his room once he’s finished. He flops onto his bed and resists screaming into his pillow.
“Jeez, kid. What’s the matter with you?” asks Plagg and there are faint chewing noises.
Adrien groans into his pillow. “I don’t know.”
Plagg doesn’t comment, content with stuffing his face.
Adrien eventually gets up to work on some more of his assignments, keen to be finished before patrol tonight. He feels his irritation fade a little at the thought of Ladybug. He wonders for a moment if he should tell her about the unsettling experience last night but thinks better of it. It was probably nothing.
Adrien barely waits for the sun to go down before he transforms and vaults out the window. The rushing air on his cheeks calms him down a little and he works out his frustration with moving limbs and grunts as he lands hard on rooftops. He doesn’t pause to wave to civilians as they call out to him. He’s not in the mood to put on a friendly smile when all he wants is to punch something.
He takes a long way around to reach their patrol spot, aware that he would be incredibly early anyway. He kind of wishes he would come across a mugging or something just so he has an excuse to be angry with something. Much to his disappointment, Paris is quiet in the twilight and he arrives at their meeting spot without incident.
He resists the urge to pace and stares out at the city skyline, brooding.
“You’re early today,” remarks Ladybug as she swings to the roof behind him.
“I could say the same for you, my lady,” he responds with a tense smile. It’s surprisingly difficult to put on his model smile now, now that he’s around her.
Ladybug looks as if she’s evaluating him and he fights to keep his smile on his face.
“See something you like?” he purrs, hoping to distract her.
She snorts and he knows he’s been successful.
“Are you ready for patrol?” she asks, already swinging her yoyo.
“Always ready to spend an evening with you, my lady,” he responds without hesitation and she snorts again, throwing her yoyo to the next roof. She knows he’ll follow her.
They jump from rooftop to rooftop and Chat eventually finds himself calming down enough to wave down to civilians. He’s still distracted, searching for trouble more out of habit than anything else. Night finally falls and Chat relishes in the darkness and seeing the lights of Paris gradually come into view around him.
The two heroes pause on a rooftop and Chat expects Ladybug to bid him goodnight after an uneventful patrol. From below he overhears a conversation and sees Ladybug react to it as well.
“There was another akuma attack in Le Marais,” says a man to his friend. “Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t show up, though.”
“They weren’t there?” his friend asks incredulously. “What happened?”
“Some other person was there, maybe another hero? No one really got a good look at them and they didn’t stay long enough for reporters to ask anything.”
“Sounds suspicious,” remarks the friend, and Chat agrees.
The conversation fades as the pair move further away.
“What do you think, my lady?” Chat asks.
“I want to get a closer look,” she says.
They head to Le Marais and see some remnants of destruction evidently left by an akuma. There’s no trace of the akuma nor the dark butterfly. On the ground, police are talking to some pedestrians and Chat can pick out some reporters. Thankfully, Alya doesn’t seem to be here.
Ladybug swings down ahead of him and he lands next to her with a slight huff. Wordlessly, they split up and ask people what they’d seen.
The akuma was a woman slighted at her job for something she supposedly didn’t do to her boss’s standards as she worked late in the evening. She obviously couldn’t remember anything from the akumatization itself but she remembers a mysterious dark figure moving away from her as she regained her senses. Even from the questioning of the victim as well as the witnesses, nobody seemed to get a good look at this supposed hero.
The general description seems to be a tall, dark, androgynous figure that worked quickly and subtly, taking the akuma down without much fuss. Chat can only assume the butterfly itself was purified because there don’t seem to be any more akumatization reports.
He meets up with Ladybug slightly to the side and they share their findings. Neither of them has any enlightening information and Ladybug seems as frustrated as he does. No one even has a picture.
Something interesting is the presence of debris at the scene. While the akuma butterfly itself may have been caught and purified, without Ladybug’s lucky charm and miraculous ladybugs, there was no restoration of the damage. Without her being involved, she isn’t able to summon her lucky charm to repair anything, which seems to miff one of the police officers.
Feeling quite empty-handed, they retreat to a nearby rooftop, away from the public. As they stand in thoughtful silence, Chat is reminded of his irritation from earlier which has mellowed out into something more sullen.
“My lady?” Chat mumbles. Ladybug makes a noncommittal noise, evidently distracted.
“My lady,” Chat says a little louder, reaching out and gripping Ladybug’s wrist. She finally turns to look at him, eyes a little wide in surprise.
“Can you… can I hold you?” he asks, hating the vulnerability in his voice. Ladybug’s eyes soften and she smiles gently.
“Oh, Chaton,” she sighs and hugs him. She makes a little sound of surprise when he pulls her in closer, arms tightening around her shoulders and face buried in her neck. He feels the tension dissolving in his shoulders the longer he holds her. After a few moments, she starts rubbing gentle circles onto his back. “Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know,” he admits. He wonders if he should tell her about the previous night.
She hums thoughtfully.
“Something odd happened last night,” she says softly, surprising him. He tensely waits for her to continue. “It felt like something was watching me. I could hardly move. It… scared me.”
“It happened to me too,” he mutters. “It stopped when I turned on the lights. Like it had never been there.”
Her ministrations pause. “What does it mean?” she whispers. “Do you think it has something to do with this new person everyone mentioned?”
“I don’t know, my lady,” he responds, pulling her closer protectively. “We’ll face it together.”
Ladybug hums. He doesn’t know if she agrees or not but he’s then distracted by how long they’ve been embracing. And she hasn’t pushed him away. She must be more shaken up than he first thought if she’s willing to indulge him this much.
His contentment to just be held is interrupted by that immense and overpowering feeling of something watching him again. Ladybug tenses as well and his head snaps up from where it was resting on Ladybug’s shoulder. He scans the shadows furiously.
“Who’s there?” He demands, pushing Ladybug behind him, trying to protect her from whatever this is and whoever must be behind it. He feels as if he’s being looked up and down, evaluated, and sized up. He snarls and flexes his claws. Ladybug is silent but he thinks he can feel her tremble from where he’s pressed up again her.
There’s a moment where Chat imagines a touch against his shoulder and then Ladybug squeaks. He whirls around, eyes darting from side to side.
“Who’s there?” he demands again, and he feels as if the darkness is laughing at him.
“... I see,” he hears faintly and turns again to search for the source of the words.
The presence fades and he feels the constriction in his chest lessen. From behind him, he hears a choked noise.
He turns to Ladybug and sees tears in her eyes as she holds herself tightly.
Frantically, he leans in and tries to wipe the tears from her cheeks, being extra careful with his claws.
He’s mumbling soft reassurances that he doesn’t really understand himself, just so desperate to console her. She drops to her knees and openly sobs. Chat kneels by her, hands not sure what to do with themselves. In a moment of anguish, he pulls Ladybug into his lap and holds her tightly. She throws her arms around his shoulders and cries into his neck. In a horrible mockery of their embrace from earlier, Chat feels himself rubbing her back in comforting strokes.
He doesn’t know how long they stay tangled up in each other and he feels angry.
Angry at whatever is making Ladybug feel this way, angry that it takes such distress to hold her this close - a moment that should have made him elated.
It takes a while for Ladybug to stop crying and she sniffles.
“I’m sorry,” she says thickly.
“Don’t be,” he murmurs, resisting the urge to kiss her cheek. He doesn’t want to push her boundaries, even if it comes out of good intentions.
“What are we going to do, Chat?” she says, and he hates the desperation in her voice.
“I don’t know,” he confesses. “But we’ll do it together. You’re not alone, my lady. I’m here with you and I always will be.”
It feels different, saying these words when they’re in such an intense embrace. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he can’t help but feel his heart flutter and he can’t manage to squash the butterflies.
“Do you think it’s Hawkmoth?” Ladybug asks, sounding a lot calmer.
“I don’t know,” he says again. “But it feels different. I think.”
Ladybug hums.
They almost reluctantly untangle themselves from each other. They stand together, unsure of how to proceed.
“We should go home,” Ladybug says and Chat is torn on whether to agree. He wants to stay with her, more confident in protecting her if she is with him, even if they’re facing something unknown.
“I’ll go with you,” he says, not willing to let her out of his sight.
She smiles gently at him, “You know you can’t do that.”
“Oh… right. Sorry.”
They continue to stand awkwardly. The moment feels tense in a completely different way than earlier.
Ladybug sighs and reaches out to gently pet Chat between his ears.
“Goodnight, Chaton,” she whispers. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” he whispers back.
They move in their respective directions to go home, but Chat waits a little longer to watch her go. Once she disappears, he looks out once more at Paris with a feeling that things are going to change and he’s afraid of the implications.
Who is this new person and what do they want?
What he and Ladybug felt earlier may not have been malevolent but it hadn’t felt positive either.
Is this a new ally? Or a new enemy?