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“I am Artemis, and I will punish all these chauvinist men!” The shout fills the classroom. Everyone groans and goes to hide. As usual, Adrien was nowhere to be seen.
“Again?” Alix said. “How much do you all want to bet this has something to do with Adrien or Chat Noir?”
“Based on previous akumas with similar motives, it is 99 percent,” Max said.
“Anyone else thinks Marinette made the right choice transferring?” Lila asks. Everyone sadly nods in agreement. Lila sighs. Nothing was going like how she planned it. She thought that the major problem would be Marinette. Who would have guessed that just two weeks after her threat, Marinette would decide to remove herself with no inference from her at all? In fact, the reason for it was their shared love interest, Adrien. Lila can feel herself turning green just remembering why Marinette’s parents decided to transfer to a boarding school out of Paris. Honestly, she couldn’t blame them. She had done many things to reach the top, but she wasn’t a monster. Not like Adrien was.
“So, I got to meet the queen,” she was telling her sheep on Monday when Marinette came in looking haggard. Lila was surprised. She had only started her attack against Marinette. The tension between her and her friends had only started. Why was she so haggard? Everyone else was surprised because Marinette was early!
Marinette looks at Lila. Lila froze seeing the disgust, hatred, and terror in the other girl’s eyes. What was most shocking was the fact it wasn’t directed at her.
“Lila,” Marinette announces in a strong voice that is the exact opposite of her appearance. “You can have him!”
Everyone froze. What?
“What?” Rose voices.
“Adrien! You can have him!” Marinette stomps towards the crowd. Everyone part way for the usually sweet girl. “You can have him! But I am warning you now he is not as nice as he seems. In fact, I think the way he acts is just a mask.”
“What are you going on about, girl?” Alya asks, concerned. What had happened for Marinette to give up on Adrien in one weekend?
Marinette takes out her phone and furiously scrolls through it. “On Saturday I dropped my phone when I was recording a band and the Akuma attacked. It kept recording and this was what it recorded!” She slams the phone on the table with anger on her face, shocking everyone.
A voice that belongs to Adrien starts to play. Everyone was shocked, instead of the nice soft voice they were used to hearing, they heard a vicious growl. That wasn’t the most surprising thing. It was what he was saying.
He complains that Ladybug still won’t go on a date with him or at the very least tell him her identity. A stern voice informs him it is against the rules. Ladybug owns him for all he had done for her. He rants on about how Ladybug was in love with someone who doesn’t deserve her. He screams about how she would deny her feelings for him. There was no denying it was Adrien, because occasionally the camera would bounce, and they would see Adrien. The video ended when Adrien got a call and stomped off. Everyone was silent.
“This can’t be real,” Kim said. “It must be fake.”
Marinette hands her phone to Max. “You can check. I have nothing to hide” Max did. “It is real. Based on the time and the model of the phone, it is real.” No one knows what to do, except Marinette. She took her phone back and said to Lila “As I said, you could have him, but unless you want to be with a stalker, I would advise against it.” With that, Marinette walks towards the back and takes a seat.
Alya follows. “Why are you sitting in the back?”
“I don’t want to be close to Adrien after this revelation.”
Alya grimaces. “Good point.” Most of the girls move seats to be away from Adrien. Word spreads around the class. Nino tries to defend Adrien but fails as they believe Marinette’s word more since there is actual physical proof. Also, Adrien wasn’t close to them like Marinette was, so for all they knew Adrien was like that.
Nino tries to get proof, by asking Adrien about it in the library the next day. The rest of the class was hiding around the library. However, Adrien confirms Marinette’s video as true. Adrien talks about how Ladybug owns Chat Noir for all he has done for her. He said that there is nothing wrong with Chat Noir flirting or joking when an akuma is attacking. He defends Chat Noir’s actions when Nino points out how they endangered citizens, by blaming Ladybug for not going on a date with him or pushing him away when he tries to kiss her. Nino tries to point out how Chat Noir’s actions make Ladybug uncomfortable and she had begged for him to stop. Adrien laughs it off, saying Nino didn’t understand because Ladybug just didn’t understand. After all, she and Chat Noir were soulmates and destined for each other.
Alya feels her rage boils. She was about to stomp over when Marinette started having a panic attack. Everyone, including Lila, who was in shock and on autopilot, took her to the nurse. The nurse managed to calm Marinette, but still called her parents to take her home. Tom arrives and asks what has happened. Alya shows him the video she recorded of Nino and Adrien. Tom’s face darkens, especially when Marinette looks like she is on the verge of another panic attack. He gently picks up his daughter and bids farewell to the class. After taking Marinette home, he returned and pulled Marinette from the school.
Despite Marinette’s protests that she was fine, her parents insisted that she stay at home to recover until they got her transfer. Despite their daughter’s protest of wanting to stay with her friends, her parents put their foot down and said that they weren’t risking her well-being with Adrien around. She can make new friends in her new school. Alya agrees when she visits. After all, her own parents were considering at least transferring her to another class, after she showed them the videos. However, it would take time. Marinette’s parents had started the process a few days ago. They already had schools lined up from when they were planning to transfer to Marinette because of Chloe’s bullying. They had simply picked up where they left off after Sabine saw the video when she went to see why Marinette wasn’t coming down for dinner. Marinette had been watching it continuously unable to believe it.
Marinette and Lila come to an uneasy truce. Mostly due to the fact Marinette was still too shaken to care about Lila’s lies. Lila was also shaken when she realized just who she had picked for her target. Lila knew the world was full of lies, but even she couldn’t have imagined this. A speck of sympathy for Ladybug arises.
The class (except for Adrien) had a farewell party for Marinette. Her parents had decided to transfer her out of Paris, far enough away from Akuma attacks and Chat Noir but near enough for her to come home for the weekend. At it, Marinette warns Lila to be careful. After all, she was “Ladybug’s best friend.” Who knows what Adrien would do to get closer to Ladybug? Lila feels a shiver run down her spine. She didn’t think of that.
Afterwards, Lila admits to Alya she was lying. Fortunately, the majority of her class already knew and assumed she was just telling stories to make friends. She went with that. It wasn’t something they could afford to dwindle on. Adrien’s behavior grows worse and worse. He started saying how someone was a bad person if he pointed out that Chat Noir’s behavior is wrong, and it isn’t how a hero should act. Everyone tries their best not to be near him as Adrien seems obsessed with the idea Chat Noir was right and Ladybug should stop toying with his feelings. Adrien was moved to the back alone.
The videos that Marinette and Alya spread around. Adrien and Chat Noir to a lesser extent were under a lot of fire. Chat Noir tried to defend Adrien’s actions. However, Ladybug was incredibly vocal in her protest of both their actions and beliefs. This led Chat Noir to throw another tantrum and stop showing up to fights.
“This is the first time that Chat Noir has shown up in a while,” Rose remarks from where she is watching the live screen.
“And he is just as helpful as always,” Chloe sneers. Everyone had to argue unfortunately as Chat Noir was shot with one of Artemis’ arrows within seconds and turned into a dog. Ladybug defeats Artemis on her own. Then, just as Chat Noir becomes human again, she wraps him in a cocoon using her yoyo.
“I had enough of your recklessness! You are just helping Hawkmoth endangered Paris now! I have already found the true holder of the Cat Miraculous! I will be taking that ring now,” With that, she yanks the ring off. A green light flashes and Adrien is revealed. Ladybug looks disgusted. “I should have guessed.” With that, she disappears over the rooftops
When she saw the detransformation, Lila lost not just her lunch (as did most of her classmates), but all hatred for Ladybug. Ladybug had suffered more than enough. She was also not stupid enough to hold a grudge over being embarrassed in front of a stalker. Everyone in the class went back to the homeroom, discussing what they had seen. No one was as shocked as they thought they should be. After all, Adrien’s and Chat Noir’s behavior were the same.
“Who wants to call and tell Marinette?” Alya asks when the class lets out. Thanks to the Mayor, news in Paris wasn’t available to the outside world. Everyone looks at each other and then scatters with various excuses. No one wants to break that to the sweet girl.