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“Watch out, Ladybug!” Alya’s scream carries through the air and Marinette throws her yo-yo so that she can twist out of the way in midair. The superheroine’s able to dodge the onslaught of paper planes in a graceful arc before touching down on the pavement. She whirls around, this time deflecting a volley of paper throwing stars that push her back slightly.
“Alya, get out of here!”
Alya’s known for years. It figures—other than the fact that she’s been Marinette’s best friend since they were children—she still runs the Ladyblog on her own. The sheer number of interviews and conversations they’ve had with Ladybug in and out of costume. Alya learned about it on Marinette’s eighteenth birthday, when they were being restlessly pursued by a disgruntled akuma.
The blogger grits her teeth before stopping the recording. “Be safe, Marinette,” she whispers before ducking into a nearby alleyway. It’s actually terrifying, knowing that the woman behind the mask is her closest childhood friend. Every single time Ladybug’s sent flying, Alya feels as though she might have a heart attack out of worry. But there’s always been a tenacity behind all of Marinette’s actions that’s indisputably Ladybug.
She takes out her phone again, this time observing the interaction between Ladybug and Chat Noir. They exchange a small greeting, and judging by Ladybug’s eye roll, he said some semblance of a pun or flirty line. The two superheroes nod before chasing after the akuma that’s attempting to attack again.
Alya loses track of what’s going on as she races inside of the nearby building to get a better vantage point. She’s able to watch the city’s superheroes ducking and dodging the akuma’s paper based attacks. Her commentary has died down from when she was younger; the teenage zeal (as well as her obliviousness) faded over the years as more pressing matters and her best friend’s identity came into the picture.
Ladybug tears apart the paper crane pendant that Chat Noir has snatched from the akuma’s neck, releasing a black butterfly into the cerulean skies above Paris. A quick cry of “Oh no you don’t!” and a swing of her yo-yo captures and purifies the butterfly. There’s a flash of white light and everything’s back to normal, without any trace of the weaponized papers’ destruction. Ladybug and Chat Noir fistbump before consoling the student who had been transformed into an akuma.
Ladybug is the first to leave the scene, and Alya watches in amusement as Chat Noir watches her soar away. Poor guy, never really got over that childish crush, did he? Not that she’s about to tell Marinette, even though the fashion designer’s face would undoubtedly turn as red as her suit. She waves to the superhero of bad luck, and he grins back before scaling the side of the building to meet her.
“It’s been a while, Alya,” Chat Noir greets, releasing his miraculous before it times out on its own. “How’s Nino?”
“Nino’s great. He’s working tonight at Alix’s club tonight as the main DJ.” She’s surprised that he hasn’t heard about it from Nino already.
“How stressed out is he?” Adrien asks, before opening the staircase so that they can leave from the roof of the building.
Alya shrugs in reply. She can’t say much about her fiancé’s mental state. Twisting the gold band on her ring finger, she sighs before changing the topic. “You still love Ladybug.” He hesitates to respond, and she adds, “Answer me now, or it’ll be a full-out interrogation with not just me, but also Nino and Marinette.”
Adrien rolls his eyes before leaning against the staircase wall, and Alya grins in a bit of pride for finally eliciting a response from one of the superheroes. “I don’t know anything about her. How does that work?” He opens his mouth to add something else, but the tips of his ears turn red and there’s a look of mortification on his face.
Alya’s eyes narrow: he’s got another secret, and she’ll figure it out eventually. “It works because you understand each other.” She pauses before adding, “How have you not discovered each other’s civilian identities yet?”
His response is an indecipherable mutter, and she raises her eyebrow as an indication for him to repeat the concept. “I’ve had the chance. But every time, it would be an invasion of privacy. I trust her, but I’d rather we both know.”
There’s the sound of someone entering and moving up the staircase, and Alya reluctantly gives up her interrogation. For the moment. She lets out a sigh, pressing the heel of her hand against her forehead. “You two are hopeless.”
“Who’s hopeless?” The person who had come up the stairs wonders, greeting Alya with a smile. “Oh, Adrien, I had no idea you were here. Did you get to see what happened?”
“I’m just glad that it’s over,” he replies. “You’re not injured or anything?”
Marinette shakes her head, holding her arms out to her sides as if to prove that she’s uninjured. “I’m fine, you?”
“I’m good.”
The pair of roommates start heading down the staircase, and Alya takes a picture of them standing shoulder-to-shoulder without their knowledge. She sends a copy of the image to Nino with the caption, ‘They’re so oblivious’.
When she reaches the ground floor of the building, Alya checks her phone again, and it’s a message from Nino insisting that they get their best friends to realize the truth that’s right in front of them. She does her best to reign in her laughter, instead shaking her head as she slips her phone back into her pocket. It always amazes her how oblivious her best friend is. And Adrien too, for that matter. How have they been living together for the better part of a year without any inkling of the other’s identity?
She really should talk to Nino about this.
Alya is deep in thought when Marinette waves her hand in the air in front of her. She smiles sheepishly, a small grin and crinkles around her eyes. “Sorry, what?” She’s totally zoned out the last five minutes, which is still supposed to be Marinette’s job.
“You’re okay with me cooking dinner rather than us going out?”
Alya shrugs. “Yeah, sounds good.” Marinette’s a great cook.
Marinette turns to her roommate, smiling at him. “Get the ingredients from the store, ok?”
“No problem,” Adrien replies, and Alya can just imagine Nino’s uninvited comments about how they’re already a couple.
She feels her phone buzzing in her jeans pocket and sighs. She answers it to hear Nino freaking out on the other end of the line.
“You’re right,” Alya responds, cutting him off as the two superheroes smile at each other before parting ways for their domestic tasks. “This needs to happen.”