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Marinette was a bit on edge. Nothing had happened recently that was particularly bad, but the relentless akumas were really starting to wear on her. She could see that they were wearing on the city as well- people were tired and scared all the time and she felt guilty that she couldn’t save them from that fear, even if she could stop the akumas one by one. She needed to catch Hawkmoth before more people got hurt but without any significant progress recently, she was starting to feel helpless.
When Marinette saw a commotion in the courtyard during lunch, she ran over to see what was going on. A few of her classmates were gathered around Kim who had an arm pumped up in the air.
“I’m going to do it!” Kim yelled.
“Do it!” Alix cheered.
“No, stop!” Rose stood in front of Kim, looking as angry as Marinette had ever seen her. Marinette finally weaved through to see what they were looking at. In the middle of their circle, a monarch butterfly lay on the ground with a crooked wing. Around him, people were divided between cheering him on and murmuring disapproval. Marinette found her way to Alya.
“What’s happening?” Marinette asked anxiously.
“Kim swatted that butterfly because he thought it was an akuma and now it’s injured. He’s trying to kill it,” Alya replied. She looked upset. “I think now it’s just because it’s a butterfly.”
Marinette was shocked. “Hey, Kim!” she shouted. People turned to her. “Get away from it!”
Kim shook his head. “Hawkmoth could use this thing!”
“That doesn’t matter. It’s just a butterfly.” She stepped closer, standing beside Rose.
“I’m doing Ladybug a favor. The less butterflies in Paris, the less akumas,” Kim argued. Some of the students nodded their heads.
“Why do you think Ladybug purifies the butterflies instead of killing them? It’s not fair to kill them for no reason,” Marinette said. She turned around and carefully picked the butterfly off of the ground. “It’s not going to hurt anyone.”
Mylene spoke up, “Butterflies are also important for the environment. They’re pollinators.”
“Do you think Hawkmoth is good for the environment?” Alix said.
“The butterfly doesn’t belong to Hawkmoth!” Marinette said, holding up the butterfly for everyone to see. Some people stepped back in fear. “This is just an ordinary butterfly. We can’t let our fear of Hawkmoth make us kill innocent creatures like this.” The butterfly stretched out its wings and Marinette smiled at it.
“She’s right, we gotta let it live!” Rose said.
“And it’s like, really pretty,” Juleka mumbled.
“You’re just too much of a coward to kill it,” Kim said, stepping past Rose and leaning over Marinette. “Good thing you aren’t Ladybug.”
Marinette, filled with anger, opened her mouth to react. She was interrupted by Adrien, who had suddenly appeared by her side. “You’re the coward, Kim,” Adrien said, putting an arm between Kim and her. “You’re the one picking on bugs and Marinette, the bravest out of all of us.”
Seeing Adrien this close and hearing him compliment her was too much. Marinette’s face went completely red and she stumbled away from him. Adrien reached out and grabbed her by the waist but unfortunately, the butterfly fell from her hand and landed on the ground. Before either of them could react, Kim stomped on it. Rose shrieked and several people yelled at Kim.
“That was horrible!” Alya yelled, running over and shoving Kim away from the butterfly.
“It had to be done!” Kim said. Nino stepped between them and pulled Alya away. The bell rang and people dispersed, some still arguing.
Marinette was so distraught she didn’t even realize that Adrien still had his arm around her. Any other time, she’d be completely flustered by this, but she simply brushed his arm off and dropped to the ground next to the squished bug. Its wings were torn and flattened against the pavement and its body was a mangled mess of goo and exoskeleton. She buried her face in her hands.
Adrien sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Marinette.”
She took a shaky breath. “You should get to class, I-I know your father won’t like it if you’re late.”
He shook his head. “I’m going to stay here. Kim shouldn’t have done that and you have every right to be upset.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “No, he really shouldn’t have. Hawkmoth hurting people is bad enough, and now this. I- Ladybug wouldn’t want this.”
“I agree. You were so brave for standing up for it.”
Marinette began to cry. “But then I dropped it. I’m so clumsy and I can’t protect anything. Kim’s right, I shouldn’t- I mean- it’s good I’m not Ladybug,” she said between sobs.
Adrien pulled her into a hug and she continued to cry on his shoulder. “You would be a great Ladybug, Marinette. You tried your very best and Kim’s the one that stomped on it.” He rubbed her back. “I could tell you’ve been stressed and I’m sorry this happened on top of that.”
Marinette hugged him tight as she cried, not at all nervous about the amount of contact with her crush. “Thank you for being such a good friend, Adrien,” she whispered.
“Of course,” he whispered back.
After a while, Marinette pulled away and wiped her tears. “I think we need to get to class.”
“Are you going to be okay?” Adrien asked.
“Eventually.” She stared hopelessly at the butterfly on the ground. He followed her gaze.
“I think we’re late enough, we could stay a little longer. Maybe we could bury it.”
She perked up. “Do you think so?”
“Yeah, we can try to find a spot around.” He looked back at it. “Maybe look away.”
Marinette did as she was told and when Adrien informed her he was done, she saw that he had a napkin folded in his hand and the butterfly had mostly been taken off of the ground.
Marinette thought for a moment, still a bit teary. “There aren’t that many spots to dig at school. We could try the park? I know it’s a bit of a walk and you have to get back to class. And you have fencing after this so you won’t have as much time to do homework so you’ll probably want to be in class in case there’s time to start on it-”
“The park’s good,” Adrien replied simply.
The two walked quietly to the park. As they walked, Marinette seemed less and less sad. When they arrived, Adrien found a spot without grass by the trees. “Does this seem good?”
Marinette nodded. “It’s very pretty.”
“Just right for a pretty butterfly.” Adrien began to dig.
“Wait! I can do it, I know you have to keep your nails clean for modeling, especially with your father’s new campaign-”
“Marinette,” Adrien interrupted her. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’ve just inconvenienced you so much today with my stupid feelings and you didn’t have to do any of this and I’m way too sensitive and I shouldn’t have cried so hard over a butterfly-”
“Marinette,” he said again. He set down the napkin and held her shoulders. “Friendship is inconvenient and that’s okay. I care about you. You’re always so brave and if you’re crying over a butterfly, I’m going to cry over it too.”
Marinette hadn’t looked Adrien in the eyes since he’d arrived at the courtyard. She realized that he had tear stains on his cheeks as well. Her heart sank. “Adrien…”
“I don’t like seeing things get hurt either,” he said softly. “The butterfly, or you.” Marinette opened her arms and he hugged her again. This time, they were silent as they held each other. The park was mostly empty and the only sounds that played over their embrace were the soft singing of birds and the rustling of leaves in the breeze. When they pulled apart, Marinette took a handful of dirt from the spot they’d decided on and moved it to the side. They began to dig together, not worrying about how messy their hands were. When they got to an adequate depth, Adrien placed the napkin in and they covered it again with dirt. Marinette found a particularly pretty rock and placed it on top. They stared at the little grave for a while.
“Thank you for taking care of me, Adrien.”
He nodded. “We’re not going to stop the akumatizations by killing butterflies, we have to take care of people when they’re upset.”
The glimmer in his eyes and the care she’d gotten that day felt strangely familiar. “You’re our everyday Chat Noir.”
He smiled.