Chapter Text
“Do you feel it? I’m sensing a strong emotion,” Hawkmoth breathes in before he continues, “There’s someone who is feeling… Wronged? By someone important perhaps?”
Hawkmoth waits as his current akuma travels through the city until it meets its victim- A despaired young boy sitting alone against the nearest wall. He moves to sit against the boy's helmet, slowly merging with the object, and Hawkmoth watches his surroundings transform into a scene he’s unfamiliar with. There’s a group of children celebrating on one side while another side shows a different group of obviously disgruntled kids standing. Everyone is covered in different paints of different colors including the one Hawkmoth has akumatized.
“They were supposed to listen to me,” A jagged voice whispers out, “They were supposed to listen and they didn’t and we lost.”
“Ah, I see. Your so-called friends didn’t think that your opinion mattered. But I bet if they listened to you, it would be you who was celebrating instead of feeling miserable all alone.”
The anger grows within the boy and Hawkmoth’s grin deepens.
“You’re right! It should’ve been us who won. Not them!” The young boy exclaims and every pair of eyes around him moves over to his direction.
“Dude, you okay?” A voice calls out from behind, but it’s never acknowledged.
“How about we make it so that no one ever ignores what you have to say again? Splat Master, I’m giving you the power to be able to control the attention of those around you with just a simple hit of the paintballs in your gun. In return, all I ask is that you capture Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculous for me,” A grin spreads across his mouth, “That way we can both get what we want. Do we have a deal?”
“Yes, Hawkmoth.”
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“This is Nadja Chamock reporting on the latest Akuma attack. A warship has been spotted flying over the city close to the Eiffel Tower. At the bow of the ship appears to be a teenage boy, no older than eleven-years-old,” A camera pans over to the ship, Splat Master’s face in view , “There have been no signs of hostility just yet, but that could change at any moment.”
Feet hitting the ground, Ladybug continues watching the live broadcast through the screen on her yoyo, trying to locate the exact coordination of the Akuma sighting.
“- Decked out in some type of gear, all of which appears to be neon colors. Behind him is a group of masked soldiers approximately of the same age. Parisians are encouraged to get away from the area as quickly as they ca-”
A harsh laugh erupts from the captain of the ship as his attention shifts onto the cameras pointed toward him, “Listen up, Paris. The name’s Splat Master and we’re going to play a little game,” At the snap of his fingers three of the soldiers standing behind him push a large cannon to the front of the ship, then remove paintball guns from their holsters , “There will be two separate teams pitted against each other. One will be responsible for hunting down Cat Noir’s Miraculous. You’ll be marked with the green paintballs. If you’re hit with an orange paintball, “ A smug grin spreads over his mouth , “Ladybug’s Miraculous. Whoever finds their designated Miraculous first will be the winner and will join me on my ship. Everyone understand the rules?” The camera pans over the crowd as several members murmur before it turns back to Splat Master just in time for the cannon to be set off. A giant paintball aims for the camera, getting closer and bigger, until the screen is pitch black.
“Great. Just what I need today,” Ladybug groans, flipping through her yoyo until Cat Noir's face pops up.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
“ Cat got your tongue? Leave a message at the beep. Beeeep. ”
“Cat Noir, there’s an akuma attack near the Eiffel Tower. Some kid is planning on starting a paintball war over our Miraculous’. Get here as soon as you can.”
Ladybug tosses her yoyo over light post to light post, running across different rooftops to her destination, only halting when she hears the sound of paint splattering across the yard. Several shots hit the citizens below who don’t seem phased at first as they question what happened, but it’s not long for their eyes to dissolve into neon tinted colors.
“Well, that’s unsettling,” She mumbles, focusing on Splat Master watching at the chaos he’s caused, “I hear you’re looking for me.”
Slowly, he turns to the source of her voice. A dark paintball mask hides his face, but she can practically see the way his eyes light up at the sight of her, “That was easy. Are you here to hand over your Miraculous?”
“Give up my Miraculous? I don’t think so. Better villains than you tried that before and it hasn’t worked.”
“Did those villains have a whole army that does what they want at their command like I do?” Splat Master snaps his fingers and several paintball guns aim toward her. She tosses her yoyo to another lightpost and avoids several shots of pink paint that hit the building she had been on. She lands on top of a car.
“What do the pink ones mean? Is that just your favorite color?”
“Funny. You won’t be laughing when I have yours and Cat Noir’s Miraculous. Where is that kitty of yours anyway?”
Ladybug wraps her yoyo around a stop sign to tug it from the ground and she uses it to force the crowd around her away.
Mumbling, “I wish I knew,” She swings herself from the car to the closest building to his ship. He doesn’t seem to notice and she takes the time to try for Cat Noir again.
Ring.
Ring.
Ri-
“ Cat got your tongue? Leave a message at the beep. Beeeep. ”
“Yeah, yeah. Cat Noir, hurry up and get here. I need you.”
“Where did she go? Ladybug! Come back down here and fight me face to face,” Splat Master’s voice screams.
“You want her to fight you face to face when you aren’t even the one fighting?” A voice from the crowd calls out. Ladybug peaks over to the source where she spots a little girl standing in front of her mom who’s tugging at her sleeve to pull her back.
“A good leader knows when to pass down orders and a good army knows when to take those orders.”
Ladybug pushes off of the ground before he can say another word, “Arguing with children now? That’s pretty low. Then again, you’re just a child yourself, right? I guess that’s why your plan is so messy. I mean, paintballs? Who would’ve thought that a villain could have such a ridiculous power?”
“I may be a child, but my paintballs give me the power to make anyone do anything I command them to. Maybe you should do the same and give me your Miraculous .”
“Or what?”
An unnerving smirk forms on his mouth, then- slowly- he raises his own paintball gun that’s aimed somewhere below her, “Would you like to find out?”
“Give it up. No amount of paintballs you shoot could ever make me give in to you.”
“Wanna bet?” Without a second thought, Splat Master releases several rounds of paint and every single one of the civilians below her is it. Any movement they make is halted as orange eyes turn to pink.
“You’re going to regret not listening to me,” He drops the paintball gun to his side, then points straight to the little girl and her mom, “Get them.”
Pink eyes scan the area until they spot their target. The mom tugs at her daughter’s arm to bring her closer and she’s about to run until she realizes that they’re blocked off by several cars around them. Pink paint hits two extra people who are close by and as they climb over the cars, the mom lets out a loud shriek.
“ No ,” Ladybug tosses her yoyo to the closest pole, swings over to the family, and knocks out the two attackers before either can get near them, “Get your daughter out of here before-”
“That won’t work, Ladybug. As long as they’re under my orders, they’ll do as I say.”
“Leave them out of this. You’re after me, not them.”
“Correction. I’m after your Miraculous. All of this can be stopped if you just give me what I want,” Another round of pink paint hits another group as they join the rest. Ladybug manages to keep the two behind her away from anyone after them while she dials for help.
“ Cat got your tongue? Leave a- ”
“Cat Noir, get over here! I need you. There’s pink paint and mind control a-and…” A hand wraps around her yoyo, throwing it to the ground before it reaches toward the child behind her. She kicks him away, but can’t stop three other arms grabbing at them. Through the cracks in between the people surrounding them, she spots Splat Master as he aims right at her. She shuts her eyes, waiting for his aim to hit her, but nothing ever comes. Hisses and growls erupt from the crowd as Splat Master and Ladybug meet the source of the reaction.
Black baton dripping in pink paint is shielding her vision.
Black cladded leather steps in front of her.
Smug grin turns toward her, “Miss me, Milady?”
“Cat Noir! Where the hell have you been ? I called you three times.”
Cat Noir shakes the paint off of his baton, “Gross. This is going to be a pain to clean,” Then, he’s fully facing her with a hand stretched out to her,” Sorry. I was held up. I came as soon as I could.”
“Not soon enough,” She grumbles as she stands to her feet.
“So. What are we dealing with here?”
“Did you not get my messages?"
“You mean the one where you told me you needed me?” He grins flirtatiously at her, “Of course. I need you, too.”
Her eyes roll, “Not that, dummy.”
Eruptions come from the crowd as several people run toward them. Cat Noir manages to push some back with his baton while Ladybug kicks at the ones at their back. Her back hits his and she shoots him a grin before entangling her limbs with his. He bends down, raising her up enough to swing around and kick everyone away. Most fall to the ground, too stunned to move, and she takes this opportunity to get the mother and her child out there.
“Get your daughter to safety. We won’t let them get to you.”
The mom nods, wrapping her daughter up in her arms and running as fast as she can from the scene.
“Seems like you’ve had fun without me,” Chat jokes, kicking at another pair coming toward them.
“I wouldn’t say that I was having fun,” She drags him close to her to yoyo them to the farthest building, “Okay, look,” Her breath is ragged- She only notices when he looks at her with concern, “The kid on top of the ship is the one who’s akumatized. He’s been using paintballs on everyone. Green means they hunt for your Miraculous, orange means they hunt for mine, and pink means that they attack whoever he tells them to. Got it?”
“Uh… W-Wait, what-”
“Also, they have a cannon.”
“ A cannon ?” On cue, the cannon sets off again and shoots straight through another building. Paint oozes through the destroyed bricks, “A cannon.”
“Come out, Ladybug and Cat Noir. I just want to take your Miraculous and control all of Paris,” Splat Master lets out a hefty laugh.
“Any ideas on where the Akuma is?”
“Well,” She searches over the entirety of the warship. Soldiers search from their spots for a sign of them while others load more balls into the cannon. Meanwhile, Splat Master clutches the paint gun in his hands closer to his chest as he looks throughout the crowd, “The akuma has to be in his paint gun. If we get that away from him, we can deakumatize him.”
“Great. So, all we have to do is make it through the crowd of bloodthirsty people to get onto the ship heavily guarded with paint guns to get a weapon loaded with mind controlling paintballs. Seems easy enough.”
“You’re just going to have to trust me on this.”
“Hm,” Cat Noir nudges at her side, “Always, M’lady.”
“Okay, I have a plan. I’m going to distract him by making him think that I’m giving him my Miraculous while you sneak onto the ship and knock the paint gun out of his hands.”
“That way I can destroy it and we can defeat him.”
“Exactly.”
Cat Noir leans against his staff so that he’s only mere inches from her face, “If I do say so myself, and I do, I think this is the best plan we’ve ever had. We make a really great team.”
A finger presses to his chin as she pushes his face to the side, “Later. We have people to save. Get going.”
Cat Noir jumps over several roofs while never letting Splat Master see him. As soon as he’s in position on the one behind the ship, Ladybug calls for Splat Master’s attention.
“Hey, Splat Master,” She waits for him to find her location to continue, “I give up. You’re too powerful for me. I’ll give you my Miraculous.”
His lips curl up, “Finally. Was that so hard? There was no way you were going to win.”
“You’re right. There was no way we were going to defeat you,” Ladybug scans over the rooftop where she spots Cat Noir’s ears peeking over the edge. Never being spotted as he jumps from the roof to the ship.
“There’s just one more question I have for you,” She states, causing his eyebrow to raise, “Do you really think that I’m that stupid?”
“Wh-Wha-”
A swift kick to the gun in his hands and Cat Noir knocks it from his grasps. Splat Master doesn’t register what’s happening until the word, ‘Cataclysm !’ echoes in the air around them. He turns in time to see a black flickering light in Cat’s palm as he lays it onto the barrel of the gun. The object dissolves into dust and blows away without a trace.
“Your time’s up, Splat Master. Without your gun-” His sentence is cut off by laughter spilling out Splat Master’s mouth. Neither Ladybug nor Cat Noir understand what’s going until they realize that no butterfly was recovered from the paint gun.
Cat Noir finds Ladybug at her spot and in unison, “ The akuma wasn’t in the paint gun ,” Comes out.
“Nice try. Now that I know what you’re planning,” A snap of his fingers and several soldiers form a circle around Cat Noir. One grasps at his arm, lifting him off the ground, and he struggles to break free.
“ Hey, let me go . This is so not how this plan was supposed to go.”
“ Cat Noir . Let him go, Splat Master.”
“Not until I get what I want and I want those Miraculous’,” Splat Master walks over to Cat Noir as he kicks at the air to keep him away, “Quit… Kicking. I just… Want to… Take your Miraculous.”
“Not a chance,” Cat Noir aims a kick straight to Splat Master’s helmet causing him to fall to the ground, “You’re not getting anything from me.”
Splat Master touches the crack spreading over his helmet, cursing under his breath, and it clicks.
The helmet.
The akuma’s in the helmet.
“You think so?” Splat Master nods to the man holding Cat Noir up, signaling for him to remove the ring from his finger. Cat Noir fidgets his hands and arms, but his capture holds a firm grip on his hands and manages to move the ring to the last knuckle of his finger.
“ No .”
Cat Noir squirms more, “I could use a little help over here, Ladybug.”
Doing the only thing she knows to do, she tosses her yoyo into the air, calling out, ‘ Lucky Charm .’ Bright lights build up and burst as the chosen object lands into her hands. A black and red spotted paintball gun.
“Are you serious? I am so done with this,” She sighs, aiming the paint gun toward Splat Master, “Hey, Splat Master. You want a game? I’ll give you a game.”
Splat Master finds her in her spot in time for red and black paintballs to shoot right at him. Colors hitting his chest, his arms and lastly his visor, shielding his eyes from what’s happening around him.
“Wh-What is this? What did you do?” He stumbles backwards and his lower torso smacks into the railing of his ship. Ladybug wraps her yoyo around his arm and as he falls forward back onto the ship, she tugs herself over, landing right behind Splat Master. Cat Noir kicks backwards, striking into his capture’s abdomen and knocking him away, then presses the bottom of his baton to his chest and pins him to the ground below.
“The helmet,” Ladybug tells him, “It’s got the akuma in it,” Then, she pulls the cracked helmet from his head, revealing his irritated expression.
“This isn’t how you play the game,” He growls as he tries to break free from the baton on his chest.
“The game’s over,” She doesn’t hesitate and slams the helmet onto the ground. Thousands of pieces break against the ship and as a purple butterfly floats away from the scene, Ladybug tosses her yoyo toward it.
“Time to de-evilize!” White bright light encircles her yoyo before fading as she releases the now white butterfly back into the air, “Bye bye, little butterfly.”
This time, she tosses the paint gun into the air, “Miraculous Ladybug!” Another beam of light flashes over the city. Buildings are restored, paint is removed, and the citizens return to normal. Lights wrap around the ship, slowly dissolving it until everyone on it stands on the concrete ground. Only then does Cat Noir release his baton from Splat Master’s chest. Immediately, he scrambles to his feet.
“Wh-What happened? Where am I?” He grips his head, nearly falling to his feet until Cat Noir grabs onto his shoulder. Ladybug bends forward with her hand on his other shoulder.
“You were akumatized by Hawkmoth. Do you remember anything that happened before? Anything that could have caused you to get angry?”
“I-I… Think that I lost… A game? I-I don’t-”
Cat Noir squeezes his shoulder to sooth him, “Hey, relax. It’s okay. How about we start with your name?”
“H-Henri. My name’s Henri. I remember… Being with my friends. We were… Somewhere.”
“Could you have possibly been playing paintball with them?”
“Yeah. I think so. I think that we lost? I think I was supposed to be the captain, but no one was taking my orders, so we lost. That’s the last thing I remember. D-Did I cause a lot of damage?”
“Nothing that we couldn’t fix,” Ladybug reassures him. She’s about to speak again when a group of boys begin chatting to each other.
“What just happened?” One questions while gripping his head.
“Augh, I feel like a lot, but I can’t remember anything.”
“I don’t remember being here.”
“Are those your teammates? Are you guys friends?” She nods in their direction and Henri follows her line of vision. He lets out a somber sigh.
“Yeah, that’s them. We were friends, but I bet they’re really mad at me.”
“Hey, friends fight sometimes. I fight with my friend sometimes, too. The important thing is to work it out,” She motions to his group of friends again and he sighs. He slumps over to them.
“Listen, guys, I’m sorry about today…”
She watches as he explains what happened and they listen intently. His friends seem to take his apology well. One high fives Henri while the other two pat his back. Ladybug smiles on at the scene.
A nudge at her shoulder gets her attention and she turns to see Cat Noir resting his arms against the baton laying across his back, “Good job, Milady. As usual. I don’t think they’ll be fighting again for a while.”
“I hope not. You did good, too. Maybe next time you won’t be late, though.”
He smirks at her, leaning in just enough to leave an inch between them, “Well, maybe if you give me your number so I can call you sometime, I won’t have to be late.”
“Not gonna happen, Kitty,” She pushes his face to the side, leaving a firm pat onto his cheek.
“Worth a shot.”
“How about we stick to the usual way of keeping in contact,” Pulling out her yoyo, she pulls up the image of him on her screen.
“While that is a good looking picture of me, wouldn’t you like to see me outside of my superhero form?”
“I think I see you enough as it is,” She doesn’t wait for a response. Instead, she uses her yoyo to maneuver across the city, leaving him behind as he shakes his head with a grin across his lips.
*************************************************************************************************
“Curses! They’ve defeated me again,” Hawkmoth watches in anger as the windows in his lair close, shielding the sunlight from his view, “Don’t underestimate me, though, Ladybug. There will come a day where you’ll slip up and I’ll have the upperhand. There will be a day where I’ll win the game and capture your Miraculous.”
*************************************************************************************************
“Where are you? I've been waiting for you for over an hour.”
Marinette turns every corner, avoiding any obstacle that she came across as she ran through the streets to her destination, “I’m sorry. I must’ve completely forgotten that we had plans to go over our yearbook project today,” Nearly running into a couple walking the opposite way, she whispers out an apology before continuing down the street.
“You forgot? I sent you, like, three texts this morning. What were you doing that made you forget?”
Images of paint splatters and a warship pop into her thoughts. Not that she can use that as an excuse with Alya, though.
“I, uh… I-I was just coming up with ideas for our project, is all. Gotta make sure that we have everything ready.”
“Right,” Alya drags the word out and it’s obvious that she doesn’t believe her, but drops the subject anyway, “How long is it going to take you to get here?”
Marinette jumps from the concrete road to a patch of grass, only halting her run when she’s directly behind Alya. She bends forward with her palms pressed to her knees as she gasps out for breath. The sudden gasping of air catches Alya off guard until she spins on her heels to see Marinette struggling to breathe.
“I’m… here,” She gives a smile that Alya gives back and she lets out a chuckle.
“Girl, you look like a mess. Did you run all the way here?”
She nods, “Yeah, well, I didn’t want to keep you waiting. Well, longer than you already have been. Sorry.”
Alya pats at her back, then helps her stand back to her feet with her arm around her shoulder, “It’s all good. I, uh, actually have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?”
“Mhmm. I was talking to Nino earlier and he said that Adrien’s fencing classes have been put on hold for the time being. Something about the instructor going on a vacation.”
“Okay? So, what’s that got to do with the surprise?”
“Well,” Alya leans close enough to whisper to her, “Nino convinced him to join our yearbooking club.”
“ What ?” Marinette exclaims, pushing back from Alya, “Adrien? In the yearbook club with us? Adrien’s going to be in the yearbook club with us? Adrien and me in the same club together?”
Alya chuckles, “You can say it as many times as you need to. Yes, it’s true. He’s going to be at tomorrow’s meeting after school.”
“ Really ? Adrien’s going to be at our- Adrien’s going to be at our meeting tomorrow ?” Marinette grabs at the side of her head, “Oh, no. What am I going to do? What am I going to say? What am I going to wear?”
“I’m assuming what you always wear? Why the sudden panic? You see Adrien every day.”
“Yeah, but not for an after school project. Especially one I’m in charge of. He’s going to hear my ideas and- What if he thinks they’re stupid? What if he hates them?”
“Relax. Your ideas are great and he would never say that they’re stupid. Plus, we’ve been doing this for months now. Everything’s already been put into motion anyway. But I was thinking, since he’s coming in so late, he’s going to need someone to catch him up on what’s going on,” She shoots her a wink, “And that’s where you’ll come in. Get a little one on one with him. You know, go over what you’ve come up with, catch him up on what’s happening. Maybe you can invite him out with you as an excuse.”
“Oh, no. No, no, no. There’s no way that’s happening. I can barely say two words to him without stumbling over everything.”
“You’re exaggerating. You’re- Okay, maybe you do that a lot. That just means that you need to get you more comfortable around him. What better way to do that than to spend some alone time with him? Plus, Nino told me he seemed pretty excited to be on this project with you.”
“Really? Me?” An image of Adrien smiling at the mention of her name pops up into her head.
Marinette, I’m really looking forward to you and me spending time together.
Marinette, maybe we should make a page dedicated to us.
Marinette, how about we discuss this over dinner tonight?
“Did you bring the camera?”
“Camera?”
Adrien’s sparkling eyes shift into Alya’s concerned ones and the image of a date dissolves, “Yeah, the camera with the pictures we’ve been taking for the yearbook, remember?”
“Oh! Right, right, uh… The camera that I was supposed to bring. But I didn’t?” She lets out a soft giggle.
“Marinette,” Alya sighs, “What am I going to do with you?”
“I’ll bring it tomorrow to the meeting, I promise,” Marinette links their arms together, walking them through the park as Alya unlocks her phone.
“It’s a good thing that I downloaded all of the photos to my phone,” The first thing the screen displays is the website for her Ladyblog where several messages pop up at once. All of which are by the same username.
Beelzebug758: Look at this picture I took of Ladybug
Beelzebug758: Did you see my attachment???
Beelzebug758: This was taken today by the way
Beelzebug758: But you probably already knew that
“Who’s that?”
Alya sighs, swiping through every single message, “He’s just this guy who follows my Ladyblog. He’s been sending me a bunch of info on Ladybug. I think he’s more invested in it than I am. He’s sent me, like, twenty pictures today alone,” Alya flips through the images sent today- Images of Splat Master as he’s capturing Cat Noir along with the moment he was deakumatized, “Though, I have to admit, sometimes he finds some great pics.”
The next few pictures seem to have one subject in mind- Her and Cat Noir. The first three are of him the moment he blocked the paintballs from hitting her, just from different angles. The next is one of her swinging him with her on her yoyo. And the last one is what confuses her the most. An image of him leaning into her with her hand pressed to his cheek. Taken out of context, obviously, but the fact that they had been on a roof hidden away is what gets her.
“How did he-”
Another message pops up.
Beelzebug758: Looks like a romantic moment between battles
“ What ? Cat Noir and I- Ladybug aren’t dating. These pictures are clearly taken out of context.”
“I don’t know. I mean, look at the way she’s got her hand on his cheek.”
“Whatever. She’s clearly pushing him away.”
“How are you so sure?”
“I-I… I just… Feel like if they were actually dating, we’d know. There’d be obvious signs.”
“Hm. You mean like the thousands of photos of them on my blog,” She gives Marinette a You-Know-I’m-Right look before going to the specific pictures she’s referring to. Cat Noir kissing her hand, Cat Noir leaning into her, Cat Noir with his arm around her, Cat Noir-
She pushes the phone away, “Okay, you made your point.”
Alya chuckles, “I’m just saying, if not both, then at least Cat Noir has feelings for her. Look at the way he’s looking at her.”
Instead of looking at whatever picture Alya pulls up, she remembers different moments in their missions. How he’d say things to get under her skin, how he’d lean into her, how he’d wink at her just to see if she’d blush. He’s always been like that since the day they met. It doesn’t mean anything and it never really has.
“Yeah, right. He’s just flirtatious,” She mumbles, crossing her arms, and Alya wraps an arm around her and pulls her forward.
“Come on, we’ve got work to do.”
*************************************************************************************************
“Okay, let’s see. Croissants?”
“Check.”
“Macarons?”
“Check.”
“Cookies?”
“Uh,” Tikki searches through the pastries resting on the counter until she gets to the plate of chocolate chip cookies, “Check.”
Marinette checks off all of the boxes on her list, then sets it down on the counter as she begins boxing up the treats.
“Don’t you think that you made too many desserts?” Tikki asks, watching from the sideline. Marinette breaks a cookie in half and gives Tikki half while she bites into her half.
“There’s going to be a bunch of people at our yearbook meeting today, Tikki. We’re going to need enough snacks.”
“Yeah, but all of your meetings have the same people as usual, right?” Tikki bites into her cookie before wiping away the crumbs on her cheek, “I think it’s just because Adrien’s going to be there.”
“What? That’s crazy. This has nothing to do with Adrien. I just want to make sure that my team is-”
“Are those passion fruit macarons?”
Marinette’s eye twitches, “Okay, fine. But this is his first time in our yearbook project. I want him to feel welcome,” She ties a ribbon over the boxes before stacking them on top of each other, “What better way to do that than to bake some treats?”
“I guess, but-” Tikki’s sentence is cut off when Marinette picks up several boxes only for the pile to nearly fall to the ground. Thankfully, a pair of hands keeps the boxes up by grabbing them on the opposite side.
Assuming it’s Alya, who was supposed to meet her this morning, she breathes out a sigh, “Whew, that was almost a disaster. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Except, Adrien’s face pops up from the side of the boxes, catching Marinette off guard.
“Ah!” The boxes fall to the ground anyway and she backs away from him, “Wh-What are you doing here? I-I mean… I don’t mind you being here. I’d love for you to be here with me. W-Wait, I mean- Oh ,” She looks down to the boxes on the ground that are face down and she bends down to pick them up.
Adrien helps by picking up the one closer to him, “S-Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Alya texted me and said that you needed my help with bringing these to the school.”
“I do?” She asks, his eyes scan over her features, she backtracks, “ I do . I-I remember now,” She makes a mental note to have a long conversation with her best friend, “W-Well, uh, I guess you can help me with these boxes then. I-If you want.”
“Sure,” Keeping the one he has in his hands, he stacks the two she has on top of it, “What’s in these anyway?”
“Oh, um… I made treats for my yearbook club.”
His eyes beam at her, “Really? Did you make any passion fruit macarons? Those are my favorites, you know?”
“Really? I had no idea,” She can practically hear Tikki giggling in her purse and she taps her hand against the fabric. She throws her backpack over her shoulder and turns to find Adrien grinning at her as he holds the door open. She sucks in her breath, then walks through the door with him moving to stand next to her.
"Thanks for letting me join your yearbook club so late by the way. Nino's been trying to talk me into it for months now and now that I have some free time, I can spend it with you guys,” He smiles at her, causing her face to heat up.
"Y-You're welcome.
The rest of the walk is silent until they get to the front steps of the school where they’re met with Alya and Nino. Alya tugs at Marinette’s wrist as she passes her by.
“Hey, how was your walk with Adrien?” She whispers, giving a not-so-subtle wink to her.
“I hate you.”
“Whatcha got there?” Nino asks Adrien.
“Marinette made desserts for everyone,” He looks over to her long enough to smile, then he follows behind as Nino leads him into the school.
“You made desserts? Any passion fruit macarons in there?” Alya nudges Marinette’s side.
“Did I mention that I hate you?"
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“”Why would there be a collage of Ladybug and Cat Noir in our school yearbook? They don’t even go to this school.”
“How do you know? We don’t even know who they are under that mask. They could be in this very room with us.”
Marinette watches as Adrien picks up a macaron, biting into it and there’s crumbs on the side of his mouth.
“Besides, even if they don’t, they still save Paris everyday. They deserve the recognition.”
Does he like it? Does he know that she made his favorite flavor?
“What do you think, Marinette? You and Alya are in charge.”
Would it be weird to ask him if he’s enjoying it?
“Marinette?”
Hey, Adrien, how are you liking that cookie I made specifically for you because I know that it’s your favorite flavor? Do you like-
“ Marinette .”
Her attention turns to Nathaniel and Marc at the other side of the table, “Wh-What? I’m sorry, what did you say?”
Alya smirks, “You have to excuse her. She’s a bit distracted today. I think that a page dedicated to Ladybug and Cat Noir would be a great idea. I’ve got plenty of pictures of them saved on my blog. We can use those. Marinette and I have also been taking pictures around the school of everyone to throw in just to give some insight on life outside of our classes. You remembered to bring the camera this time, right?”
“Yep, it’s in my… Room. Oh, no, I forgot to bring it again,” Marinette rubs her palms together and hopes that Alya isn’t mad.
“Marinette, again?”
“It’s not my fault this time,” She leans in to her to make sure no one else can hear, “Someone decided to surprise me with a visit from a certain someone and my mind slipped.”
She looks over to Adrien who is chewing into a chocolate chip cookie while Nino catches him up on the project, “Okay, okay, that was my bad. But I was just trying to get you some more time with him.”
“Thanks, but how about a warning next time?”
“Will do.”
“What are you two chatting about over there?” Both of them turn to Nino as he looks in between them.
Alay speaks first, “Marinette was just telling me about how we can catch Adrien up on the yearbook. She’s been taking notes since we started and she thought that they could spend some time together to go over it. Right, Marinette?”
She sends a glare to Alya, but her attention shifts over to the hand that Adrien lays against her shoulder, “That’s a great idea. Who better to learn from than the one in charge?”
“I-I-I… Wouldn’t say that I’m in charge-”
“She’s being modest, Adrien. She can tell you all you need to know. In fact,” Rummaging through Marinette’s bag, Alya pulls out a binger decorated in different photos with the title ‘Yearbook Breakdown’ on the cover. She passes it to him, “This has all of her handwritten notes inside. It’ll tell you everything that we’ve gone over so far.”
“Really?” Adrien flips through the first few pages, “Awesome. Can’t wait to go over it. I’ll go over what I can and give you a call tomorrow. Sound okay?”
“C-Call me? You’re going to… Call me?”
“Yeah, if that’s okay with you.”
“Y-Yeah, that… That sounds great. I’ll be waiting by the phone.”
He’s about to respond when his phone buzzes, “That would be my driver. Guess it’s time for me to get going,” He grabs his bag along with the book and as he picks up one last macaron, he bends down to her level, “I’ll call you tomorrow,” Then. shoots her a wink and heads for the door. As soon as he’s out the door, Marinette lets out a scream that gets the attention of everyone in the room.
“Sorry, she’s had too many cookies,” Alya states, “Calm down, girl.”
“I can’t. Adrien’s going to call me tomorrow. He’s going to call me . I must be dreaming. Pinch me,” Doing as she asks, Alya pinches the skin under her arm, “ Ow . I didn’t mean literally.”