Chapter Text
“If you could choose anyone in your real life to be Ladybug, who would it be?” It was Mylène that asked the question, leaning in close as they ate their lunches at a picnic table right by the school.
Marinette forced herself not to audibly choke on her bite of sandwich, swallowing back tears, in order to keep from coughing and forcing the attention to shift to her. She took a long drink of her water, glancing around the brim of her cup to make sure no one could see her. Everyone looked deep in thought at the question, and she felt relieved that she hadn’t taken this moment to paint a giant target on her back like she usually did.
“Definitely Alya!” Nino shouted gleefully. Alya rolled her eyes, but smirked.
“But I run the ladyblog, Nino. It’s impossible for me to be in two places at once.” She reasoned with him, though not in a panicky way that Marinette knew she would if someone pulled her into this. Once again, she was struck with the reality of how much better Alya would be at this job than her.
“We’ve never seen you and Ladybug on camera together.” Nino reasoned, waving his fork full of green beans towards her accusingly.
“How do we know you don’t just dub over your camera person with your own voice later!”
“I’m trying to expose Ladybug, why would I do that if I was her?” Alya was getting wrapped up in the excitement though. Marinette could almost hear her thoughts. She was sure Alya wished she could be Ladybug just so she could be that clever and throw people off of her trail.
“Well that would be the perfect cover!” Nino shouted. “You throw out wild theories to keep people off your trail.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Alya laughed, the picture of easygoing. She’d be much better at lying about a secret identity than Marinette.
“Well, she didn’t ask who I thought it actually was! I think you would make a great Ladybug though!” Nino shot Alya a sly smile, and Marinette stared hard at her sandwich –feeling like she was intruding all of the sudden.
“I think you would make a great Ladybug too, Alya!” Mylène added.
“Me too,” Marinette smiled at her friend. She really did think it. She’d even tried to trick Alya into becoming Ladybug, in the beginning.
“Well, I am amazing!” Alya beamed, while the rest of the table groaned at her. “What? You all just said as much! I’m miraculous! Just like Ladybug!” She flipped her hair to the side, in an exaggeratedly confident move.
“I think it would be Juleka!” Ivan said. Mylène rolled her eyes, and Marinette figured they’d had many drawn out debates on the identity of Ladybug. They had met her one-on-one in quite a few situations. Juleka laughed, biting a small chunk out of her apple.
“Oooh! That would be so cool, Juleka!” Rose was so excited, Marinette was surprised that she could sit still in her seat.
“I’d have to cut my hair every day!” Juleka mused, but then looked completely horrified at the thought. Marinette giggled with the rest of the table. “Besides, if I were Ladybug, I’d totally throw in some purple!”
This drew a real laugh, as the table tried to remind Juleka that Ladybugs weren’t purple, and didn’t wear purple. She didn’t seem fazed by the information, insisting that purple would look great on Ladybug. Through all of the chit-chat, they barely heard the quiet interjection from beside Nino.
“I think Marinette would make the perfect Ladybug.”
The chatter around the table died down for a moment as everyone took in the new suggestion. In hindsight, Marinette was glad she wasn’t trying to eat or drink anything, or the surprise and fear would have probably sent it flying through her nose or something equally embarrassing. Instead, her jaw dropped open in surprise.
Not only was she in the hot seat as a Ladybug contender, but Adrien had put her there. Of all people to think that she would make a great Ladybug –no, he’d said perfect Ladybug –Adrien Agreste thought she would. She could barely breathe, as she tried to think of something to say, even though she knew it would probably come out a jumbled mess anyway.
She was too surprised to blush. The shock of everyone looking at her and trying to picture her as her alter ego had drained all of the color from her face instead. She forced herself to look where she knew the incredibly handsome blond was sitting across from her.
She was equally surprised to see that, while her face had drained of color, he was looking down towards his lap and had a slight pinkish tint to his cheeks that she’d rarely seen before. That more than anything, prompted her to squeak out a response.
“M-me?” She hated the stammer in her voice, the quake that signaled that she was both nervous and…nervous.
His eyes rose slowly to meet hers across the table. They held eye contact for a moment, as she tried to form even one coherent thought.
“Well yeah,” He admitted, finally breaking the silence that had settled around the table. He seemed to wish he hadn’t said anything at all. “You’re smart like Ladybug, and kind like Ladybug, and-” He broke off, as though he didn’t want to finish his thoughts out loud.
“You’re forgetting that she’s incredibly clumsy, totally unlike Ladybug! What are we even talking about?” Chloé had snuck up behind her at some point. Marinette jumped about twelve feet in the air, knocking over her cup of water and drenching herself in it.
Her friends had the decency not to laugh, but Chloé felt no such loyalty. Doubling over, Chloé teased mercilessly between her laughs. Marinette’s face did fill with color now, her embarrassment stealing away any of the giddiness she’d just had at Adrien’s compliments.
“Oh yes, she’s definitely like Ladybug!” She laughed. “Just look how coordinated her attack is!”
Marinette couldn’t decide if she was more embarrassed or angry, as she sat completely still –her face burning. She wanted to scream at Chloé, but she also wanted to be invisible. She couldn’t do both.
“Oh, give it a rest!” Alya snapped, and Marinette was grateful once again that she had the best friend in the entire world.
“You’re so touchy!” Chloé sniffed. “I just want to know what we’re talking about!”
The table tensed, the shadow of Chloé Bourgeois seeming to stretch over the table for miles. No one wanted to outright tell her to go away. It would be mean to send her away, and it would also be a pain to deal with the aftermath of her resulting anger. No one wanted to ignite her wrath.
“Mylène was just asking us, if we could pick anyone in our real lives to be Ladybug, who would it be?” Rose answered, her voice more subdued than usual.
“Oh, definitely me as Ladybug!” She crooned. Marinette rolled her eyes. Cloé would definitely make an interesting Ladybug. Though it was doubtful that Ladybug Bourgeois would get much saving done in between creating akumas and checking herself out in the mirror.
“I don’t think that’s really the point of the exercise, Chlo.” Adrien prompted gently. “You’re supposed to guess with someone other than you.”
“Why would I do that?” She sighed, “I’ve met Ladybug, and it’s obviously not anyone I know in my regular life. It’s definitely not any of you, and it’s especially not clumsy Marinette!” Chloé pointed at her accusingly and stomped a bit. She reminded Marinette of Manon, the little girl she babysat, when she was throwing a fit. Then, having wreaked enough havoc on what had been a perfectly pleasant lunch break, Chloé turned and left in a huff.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but she’s right.” Marinette heard herself say as Chloé walked out of earshot. “Me as Ladybug would probably wreck the city faster than any akuma could. I’d trip with that fancy yo-yo of hers and knock out the Eiffel Tower!” That sounded believable, didn’t it?
The table was polite enough not to laugh too hard, more of a polite chuckle. Alya put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. She didn’t argue, Marinette noted. So it seemed like she told a pretty decent half-lie this time. They didn’t know that wearing that uniform made her feel graceful and invincible.
She peaked over at her close-call supporter. Adrien was frowning at her.
She looked down at her lunch. Had she done something wrong?
“Uh, what about Chat Noir?” Alya threw in, trying to change the subject before the entire lunch break was ruined by Chloé’s rudeness.
“What about Kim?” Adrien seemed to jump at the chance to end the uncomfortable silence that had settled over the table again.
“Kim?” Mylène rose an eyebrow at him, as if it were the strangest suggestion in the world.
“Well he does have the same cocky attitude as Chat, I guess.” Marinette added, hoping her support would help her get back in Adrien’s good graces, though she had no idea what she’d done to step out of them. His eyes snapped to hers, but he didn’t seem pleased by her addition to the conversation.
“Yeah, that guy is over the top!” Alya jumped in, rolling her eyes. She’d seen firsthand how silly Chat could be, when she was trying to get footage of them during their battles.
“He’s completely ridiculous!” Ivan added. “I mean, he seems like he’s fast and tough and all, but it’s not like Ladybug really needs his help!”
Marinette felt a prickling of irritation. Chat liked to flirt and be silly, but he’d saved her butt more times than she could count. And he was completely ridiculous, but it was endearing, and she didn’t like Ivan saying it like it was an insult. Besides, hadn’t Chat saved his life too?
“That’s not true!” She half-shouted, not realizing that she had been planning on defending him until the words were out of her mouth.
Everyone was staring at her now. She had to get better at controlling her emotions. Hopefully one day she’d be able to talk when she wanted to, and stop when she needed to. Until then, it looked like she’d just keep digging holes for herself every time she was in an unpredictable social situation.
“I-I mean…Chat helps Ladybug all the time. It’s not like he’s her side-kick, they’re partners.” She spoke the words as quickly as possible, wishing she hadn’t said anything. She could feel her face heating up again.
“Uh oh, looks like Miss Marinette has a liking for a certain cat-eared boy!” Nino smirked at her, “is that who you told Alya you have a crush on?”
“W-wh-what? Of-of c-course not!” She stammered out in shock. She was mortified.
“Nino!” Alya reached across the table and whacked Nino on the arm.
Nino had been actively trying to guess who she liked since their trip to the zoo. Marinette thought that he already knew by the way he jokingly and exaggeratedly avoided guessing a certain blond-haired best friends’ name. He’d also never teased her about it in front of said best friend either. At least, not until now. She saw the mischievous gleam in his eye, and silently swore to enact revenge someday.
If she had wanted to be invisible earlier, now she wanted to melt into the floor. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Adrien, even out of her peripheral vision. She didn’t want to see his face. Today was not going very well for her.
Alya coughed, “who else could be Chat Noir?”
She was a saint. Marinette vowed to give her the best Ladybug interview ever, the next time she had the time. And she would bake a special box of treats, just for her wonderful friend. She might even start trying to listen better to all of Alya’s crazy theories about Ladybug and Chat Noir.
The conversation continued to flow after that. Everyone supplying their own ideas for Ladybugs or Chat Noirs. Marinette was sick of listening to people guess who Ladybug and Chat Noir were, but for now she was okay with it. She was just glad that the conversation was no longer focused on her, or her crush. She peaked up at him, just as he was looking away from her.
He thought she would make a perfect Ladybug! He thought she was smart and kind! She was glad that no one was expecting anymore answers from her, as she let her wonderful moment from earlier wash over. She was Ladybug, but the fact that Adrien thought civilian her reminded him of Ladybug made her feel like she could fly –yo-yo or no yo-yo.
“Obviously Chat Noir can’t be that outgoing in his regular life, people would take notice!” Ivan practically shouted, the discussion becoming more heated as each person tried to convince the rest that their guess was the correct one.
“Well of course not, but Nathan? Really?” Nino rolled his eyes. “There’s just no way!”
Marinette thought about what Ivan said for a moment as they continued to argue. Maybe Chat Noir wasn’t as confident out of his mask, she knew that she certainly wasn’t. He was probably just as much of a flirt though –she doubted he knew how to dial that part of his personality back. She tried to think of any of her friends that might fit the bill. Nino was outgoing and smooth…sometimes, but she couldn’t see him as Chat Noir. Besides, all of the people they were guessing had already been akumatized and defeated by herself and Chat Noir together. The only boy in their class that hadn’t been akumatized yet was Adrien –and she didn’t know what she’d do if that day ever came.
Not like she thought Chat Noir actually went to her school! She doubted she’d ever even met him outside of his mask. They were guessing people they knew though, so she tried to think of someone else. She’d agreed with Adrien earlier, that maybe Kim could do it, but now that she thought more about it she wished she hadn’t. He’d been akumatized too.
Did she even know anyone else that could even remotely come close to Chat in her real life? She tried to think of Chat, with a more subdued personality, and couldn’t do it. She liked the crazy silly Chat that she knew, and he was probably at least a little like that outside of the mask.
She supposed it could be someone else at their school. Someone in a different class than theirs. There was a really flirtatious boy in the class next to theirs, and he had asked out Marinette the year before. She’d turned him down, but he still liked to flirt with her sometimes. He was too tall though, almost two full heads taller than her, and she didn’t think the kwami could make people shorter.
Physically speaking, she didn’t think she really knew anyone that looked like Chat Noir. A few boys in her class were close to the same height, but all of them had been akumatized. Except Adrien of course.
Chat had pretty distinctive features too. His hair was a very specific shade of blond. His eyes too, were a very particular and vivid green. The only other person she knew with green eyes that vivid, and blond hair, was-
She cut off that line of thought immediately. Just and instant of imagining Adrien in the Chat Noir suit, flirting with her and making puns, brought yet another blush to her cheeks.
“Marinette, are you okay?” A hand waved back and forth in front of her face.
She glanced up to see Adrien looking at her, concern written all over his face.
He would look great in the Chat Noir suit! She thought, glad that she probably couldn’t blush any more than she already was.
“I’m fine!” She blurted, just as the bell rang. She wasn’t exactly excited to go to class, but she wanted to stop imagining her crush and Chat Noir as the same person, as the visual in her mind was doing confusing things to her heart.
Adrien spent so much time trying to figure out who Ladybug was. Probably at least an hour a day, just thinking about who she could be, and whether he’d already met her. He’d never put much thought into who he’d want her to be. Well, sometimes he did, but he tried not to. He didn’t want to confuse himself or give himself false hope.
But when Mylène had asked the question, he’d immediately looked at Marinette.
Somewhere deep down, he hoped that maybe she was Ladybug. It would definitely take away some of the confusion that clouded his mind when he thought about her. The confusion that had been building for a while now. He’d always considered her a great friend, but he also considered Nino and Alya great friends, and he didn’t smile every time someone said their name. Marinette was…different somehow.
He didn’t want to get too carried away though. He’d sworn his love to Ladybug, and he’d meant it. She was the smartest, bravest, kindest, most beautiful woman he’d ever met. Yet even as he thought that, a small voice told him that Marinette was kind, and smart, and brave (when she wasn’t trying to talk to him, for some reason), and beautiful. He shook his head –he couldn’t keep thinking like this. If they weren’t the same person, which they probably weren’t, then he’d be getting himself into trouble thinking of Marinette like this.
He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. She was giggling at something Juleka had said. The table laughed, so he laughed to.
Marinette’s eyes lit up when she laughed. So blue, he could get lost in them. A lot like Ladybug’s eyes actually. He’d thought that before, but now he found himself trying to merge them into the same eyes. It was working.
“I think Marinette would make the perfect Ladybug.” He breathed, almost like a sigh.
The table went quiet, and he realized that he’d spoken out loud. A blush rose to his cheeks, which almost never happened to him, and made him feel doubly self-conscious. The last time he’d blushed like this was when he’d been around Ladybug. Heart pounding, he stared into his lap. Finally, feeling everyone’s eyes on him, he looked up.
His eyes rose slowly to meet those incredibly blue eyes across the table. They held eye contact for a moment, as he tried to form even one coherent thought.
“M-me?” She asked, sounding so adorable that he had to resist the urge to smile. Ladybug may seem like the braver of the two, but Marinette was definitely the sweetest of the two.
“Well yeah,” He admitted, finally breaking the silence that had settled around the table. He’d already said it, so he might as well explain himself. “You’re smart like Ladybug, and kind like Ladybug, and-” He stopped himself just before he called her beautiful. That would definitely create an uncomfortable atmosphere for everyone at the table. Especially him and Marinette. She already had a difficult enough time being around him for some reason, the last thing he wanted to do was make it worse.
In the next moment, Chloé was there. Her words soaked in venom as she poured them all over Marinette.
He scowled.
Chloé was one of his very first friends, and he didn’t ever want to completely cut that part of their relationship out of his life. It wouldn’t be fair to her, after she’d been nice to him for so long. That said, he really hated how mean she was to all of his other friends. He wished she would just learn to be a little nicer.
“Oh, definitely me as Ladybug!” She crooned. Adrien resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course she would say herself, what else would he expect from her?
“I don’t think that’s really the point of the exercise, Chlo.” He told her, trying to keep the feeling of wanting to roll his eyes from leaking into his voice. “You’re supposed to guess with someone other than you.”
“Why would I do that?” She sighed, “I’ve met Ladybug, and it’s obviously not anyone I know in my regular life. It’s definitely not any of you, and it’s especially not clumsy Marinette!” She pointed angrily at Marinette, before leaving with a pout.
He felt a little guilty. Chloé was always especially mean to Marinette, but he had the feeling that this time, her anger was due in part to the compliments that she’d overheard him giving to the dark-haired girl. He hated that she had been teased simply because he’d said a few nice things about her.
“Uh, what about Chat Noir?” Alya blurted, trying to change the subject.
Unfortunately, she changed it to a subject he really didn’t want to discuss. Luckily, he’d already guessed that the topic might come up, and he had a ready answer. Not that he’d really thought it through, but he wanted to supply a guess to prove that he wasn’t just mooning over Marinette, and also to keep the spotlight from turning towards him.
“What about Kim?” He guessed hastily, trying to sound casual about it.
“Kim?” Mylène rose an eyebrow at him, as if it were the strangest suggestion in the world.
“Well he does have the same cocky attitude as Chat, I guess.” Marinette added. His heart dropped. He thought she said she liked Chat! That she thought Chat was awesome! He met her eyes, but tried not to seem too disheartened.
It’s not like he should care this much anyway, he told himself for the nth time! She most probably was not Ladybug, so he didn’t know why he worried so much whether or not she liked Chat. He didn’t care nearly as much whether everyone else liked Chat. In fact, they were dissing him now, but he couldn’t find it in himself to get too worked up.
“…it’s not like Ladybug really needs his help!” Ivan concluded. Adrien resisted the urge to shrug. She probably didn’t, but he was glad he got to be there with her anyway.
“That’s not true!” Marinette snapped. She sounded livid for a moment, and he looked up at her –startled by her reaction and the fire in her eyes. She seemed to realize how intense she’d sounded, because she pulled back a bit with embarrassment. “I-I mean…Chat helps Ladybug all the time. It’s not like he’s her side-kick, they’re partners.”
Adrien felt a bit touched by her response. He knew that she didn’t know who he was, but he wanted to thank her anyway.
“Uh oh, looks like Miss Marinette has a liking for a certain cat-eared boy!” Nino smirked at her. Adrien grinned. “Is that who you told Alya you have a crush on?”
Marinette had a crush on someone? How come this was the first time he was hearing about it? Why hadn’t Nino said something before? Not that it was his business. He promised himself to Ladybug. Marinette could like whoever she wanted.
“W-wh-what? Of-of c-course not!” She stammered. He felt a bit bad for her, she looked like she wanted to sink into the floor. He tried to think of something to break the tension, but couldn’t think of anything to say.
Alya coughed, “who else could be Chat Noir?”
He watched as she relaxed, the attention shifting to other things. Her eyes flickered over to Alya, full of thanks, and she smiled. He turned his head, as though he was listening to the conversation, but he found himself looking at her out of the corners of his eyes again. It had become a bit of a bad habit of his.
He couldn’t look at her outright because people would notice. Worse, if she caught him she would become completely incoherent and leave the room. He didn’t like that…because they were friends. He didn’t want her to be uncomfortable.
Her eyes glazed over. She didn’t seem to be listening to the conversation either. Her eyebrows knit together, deep in thought for a moment, and once again he found himself trying to merge his image of her with his image of Ladybug. The eyebrow knit looked exactly the same to him, though he knew it was probably only because that’s what he wanted it to look like.
Suddenly, her face reddened. She seemed to have gotten caught up in her thoughts. Her red face, and knit together eyebrows, made for a comical facial expression. She looked torn for a moment.
“Marinette, are you okay?” He asked, waving a hand in front of her face.
Her eyes snapped to his. Her face reddened, if possible, even more. He wished he knew what she was thinking. She looked like she felt a bit guilty.
“I’m fine!” She answered frantically, jumping up as the bell rang. He couldn’t help but smile as she hustled away from him.
Sometimes, he really wished she was Ladybug.