#deaf!ladybug

Adrien sat at the dining room table, awaiting a lecture of somesort, maybe even a punishment. His father must be furious, outraged that he disobeyed him and ranaway the previous morning to try and join Chloé at school.

He didn't succeed, of course. Natalie was far too devoted to let him runoff, ans his bodyguard would never allow for Adrien to put himself in harm's way.

He just wanted to be like normal kids, is what he told them as they escorted him home, telling him to go to his room and practice piano, signaling the conversation was over before it ever truly began.

Adrien heard the clacking of shoes against tiled floor and assumes that Natalie had arrived to tell him his daily schedule while he ate breakfast, saving a lecture at the end about his recklessness the previous day, ans how he would have extra lessons to make up foe his disobedience.

"Adrien," a voice addressed him, and all his assumptions came crashing down.

His head snapped up, meeting the cold blue eyes of his father ― of Gabriel Agreste, someone who was far too busy to be bothered by his son.

Adrien shank into his seat, knowing that if his father had taken the time to come and see him himself, he was really in for it.

Gabriel took a seat at the opposite side of the table, Natalie standing a close beside him while still giving him his personal space. Adrien was too much of a nervous wreck to even bring himself to greet her goodmorning like usual.

"Adrien," his father repeated, "just what was it that you were thinking?" Adrien shrunk futher into himself at the sound of his father's voice. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you when I heard you had ran off, without your bodyguard at that? The world is a dangerous place, you could have been seriously hurt ― if not worse," his father's voice raised at the end, stressing his point.

"You... you were worried about me?" Adrien asked carefully, his voice quiet as he peaked up at his father.

Gabriel frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. "Yes, I was." He said firmly, his voice holding the authority it always had. "You are never to do that again. Do you understand me?"

Adrien hesitated, torn between his thoughts. His father was worried about him, which shouldn't of been as comforting as it was ― but he was just so glad to hear that he cared.

"But," Adrien frowned, he hated breaking promises, he hated lying to those he cares about, but how often was he allowed to leave the mansion on his own accord? How often was he allowed to attend school?

"Of course, father. I'm sorry."

Gabriel acknowledged his apology with a grunt. "I've let your tutors go, all except your Mandarin teacher who you will continue to meet with on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday."

Adrien felt his throat tighten. His tutors were one of the few people who lived outside his house that he interacted with. They weren't very close, and they weren't exactly friends, but he didn't want to give that up. He couldn't handle having Natalie simply quizz him on information out of textbooks.

"Your bodyguard will drop you off every morning and pick you up every afternoon, and your personal chef will prepare all your meals. You are not to cause any problems for the staff, but you will report back to Natalie immediately if anyone is causing you trouble. Do I make myself clear?"

Adrien blinked. "What?"

Gabriel sighed through his nose, closing his eyes in exasperation. "You have never once snuck out before. It is clear you want nothing more than to go to school, and Agreste did not give up easily when they set their mind on something, I would only be causing myself more problems if I tried to stay between you and your goal."

Adrien jolted, "does this mean―"

"You will be attending Collège Françoise Dupont from Monday to Friday. I've placed you into the same class as the Mayor's daughter. You start in thirty minutes. Eat breakfast and meet Natalie outside, she has a school bag prepared for you."

"Thank you, father! Thank you so much!" Adrien beamed at his father, too excited to see the slight smile Gabriel had on his face as he left for his office.

This was going to be the best day ever!

"This is the worst day ever," Adrien wanted to cry to himself as he took his seat, his eyes trailing the girl who refused to meet his gaze, even as he stumbled over his apologies. Her two friends, one with ombre-hair who sat beside her, and a redheaded boy who sat in the very back, look liked they wanted to rip him a new one as well.

"Dude," Adrien turned hid head to lool at the boy sitting next to him, meeting his confused look, "why didn't you just tell them it was Chloé that put gum on the seat?"

Adrien frowned, looking down at the desk. "Chloé's my best friend. I know what she did was wrong, but..."

Nino’s expression softened, and he held out his hand. “I’m Nino, and I say it’s time for you to make some new friends, dude.”

His mother always told him that meeting new people, making connections, having friends ― it was the best part of life.

He really missed her, especially at times like this.

"So, what type of music do you like?" Nino asked him as he leaned against his locked, waiting for Adrien as he shuffled through which books to use when. "I'm pretty cool with all genres, but if you like XY then I gotta say, this friendship is over."

It sounded like he was teasing, but still those words sent a jolt of fear through Adrien. His eyes widened slightly, but he covered that up with a classic smile as he looked at Nino, heart pounding a bit faster.

Nino was just grinning a friendly smile, showing that he hadn’t messed up his new friendship, instead just pulling out his phone. He had a music app open, holding it out for Adrien to see.

"I like a lot of classical music," Adrien replied as he scrolled through his friend's Spotify. "I also listen to a lot of American music, if you're into that, it helps me better my English." His eye caught on a familiar artist's name. "Oh! I also like Jagged Stone! My father doesn't really like me listening to that type of music, but he's really cool, love his instrumentals too."

“Did you see that collab Jagged did recently?” Nino asked.

Adrien relaxed, and was glad to get lost in a conversation about music. It was quite easy to see that it was something Nino was passionate about, and his music list was quite lengthy. It wasn’t long before they found themselves in their science classroom, exchanging artists and songs as they waited for class to begin.

Nino had let out a low whistle when Adrien had pulled out his phone, and for a moment he felt a bit out of place, but Nino didn’t say anything else ― only offering him his headphones when he heard Adrien didn’t know his favorite band.

"This is nice," he smiled to himself.

The day continued on, seemingly getting easier and easier. Nino headed off to talk to the threatre teacher about some type of equipment, so Adrien kept himself busy in the lockeroom.

His eyes caught on a head of curly dark hair, and recognized it as the girl from this morning who thought he had put gum on her seat.

Adrien stood in front of his locker, his back to the girl who sat on the bench, whose back was also to him. He frowned, subtly sneaking Plagg a bit of cheesr from his lunch, as he thought of what to say and how he could make it up to her.

Just as a few ideas entered his mind, he heard the sound of her phone smacking against the floor as she took off in the opposite direction. He wanted to call out to her, asking if she was okay, but his eyes landed on the bench where she previously sat and his mouth flew open.

Hearing aids.

Adrien carefully picked them up, unsure of how to hold them and worried that he would break them. He looked in the direction of where she had disappeared to, planning to chase after her to return them when his kwami pounded against his chest, catching his attention.

"Kid, check your phone."

Adrien's eyebrows dipped, confused. He glanced over at his phone that sat in his locker and almost dropped the devices in his hands as he saw the akuma warning flashing across the screen.

Adrien carefully set the pair of hearing aids into his locker, sparing Plagg another piece of cheese before taking off.

Adrien felt his face heat up in embarrassment as he de-transformed. How had he not realized his partner was mute?! He was so oblivious sometimes.

"Geez, two akuma attacks in a row, does this guy have a life?" Plagg grumbled as he gnawed on a piece of cheese.

Adrien sighed, glad the attack was over but upset it had caused for the rest of the school day to be cancelled. He was finally enjoying himself and now he had to return home.

Plagg stirred from inside his shirt pocket as he left the school, complaining about how he hated rain. Adrien gave a light laugh, about to retort when his eyes caught on someone and the words died in his throat.

Marinette felt her heart drop as she arrived back at school, classes already over and dismissed due to the akuma attack. The teachers were no doubt furious at their interrupted scehdule, whereas students were slightly relieved at the extra time off - if they ignored the whole "city being attacked by supervillains part."

It had been just a few months, just barely making it past summer break, and Marinette had already lost her hearing aids. She'd been so caught up in the akuma attack and running off to transform that she'd forgotten she had left them on the locker-room bench where she's been sitting during passing period. The office was closed, so she couldn't go ask if anyone had returned them there, and she already dug through the lost and found more times than she could count.

She'd also forgotten her umbrella ― again.

Tightening her arms around herself, snuggling deeper into her jacket, she peaked up at the sky. Dark rainclouds covered the horizon and she was relieved it hadn't rained while she was dealing with the Cameraman. Electricity and water did not go well together and she really didn't want to get electrocuted on her second day of being a hero.

Marinette sighed, feeling the rain began to drip onto her head. It was only a few blocks from the school to the bakery, but she was exhausted; both from pulling an all nighter, the fight, and the new emotion weight that fell onto her shoulders as she realized her parents were going to be so disappointed in her for losing her hearing aids on just the second day of school.

"Sorry, Tikki," Marinette mentally apologized, knowing her kwami must be shivering from within her thin coin purse as the wind blew harshly through the city. "Guess we should get going before it rains even harder..."

As if the world was trying to spite her, the sky erupted into crackles of thunder as the clouds began to pour heavily down onto the city of Paris. Before Marinette could let out a whine at her ongoing streak of bad luck, a gentle hand clasped her shoulder.

Trying to stiffle her surprise, Marinette spun around on her heels to face whoever had tried to gain her attention. Her eyes swept over the figure and she felt her heart clench as she took in one of the contestants for the last person she wanted to see.

Adrien removed his left hand from Marinette's shoulder, coming to rub at the back of his neck as a nervous habit, his eyes dropping to the ground momentarily as she smiled shyly. His right hand came forward, unclenching to reveal two matching objects.

Marinette blinked at the sight of her hearing aids.

Peaking up at the boy in front of her, she slowly moved to retrieve her hearing aids, waiting some type of trick or foul play. When none seemed to come, she quickly packed away the devices into their case before slipping it back into her bag.

Marinette looked back at the boy, extremely confused - and still a little upset from what had happened that morning, if she was being honest - but she knew she would feel awful if she just left him like this.

"Thank you," Marinette's hands came in front of her to sign the words. Even if most people didn't know Sign Language, there were still some words and phrases that practically everyone had known the meaning of. Marinette hoped this boy wasn't too sheltered to not know what she had said.

"Don't worry about it," he replied, ans Marinette watches as his lips formed the words at the same time his hands did, speaking in both languages simultaneously.

Marinette's shock must've been clear on her face judging by the way Adrien averted his gaze again, a light blush coating his cheeks. "I wasn't aware you were deaf earlier, I only realized when I noticed you taking out your hearing aids. I'm sorry for not using Sign when I tried talking to you this morning, and I'm even more sorry for what had happened," a grimace crossed his face and Marinette was quite sure where this conversation was going.

"I know what it must of looked like when you entered the classroom, but I promise I wasn't putting gum on your seat - I was trying ro remove it," he looked at her with sincerity, genuine guilt playing across his features and Marinette couldn't help but to believe him. Being deaf made her rely on facial expressions a lot, and she'd gotten quite good at reading people. She really didn't think he was lying.

"I had no idea Chloé had this type of... reputation. She and I are childhood friends, and despite her rougher edges, she's always been my best friend. I should've stopped her when I first saw her putting gum on your seat, and I'm really sorry I didn't. You don't have to forgive me, and please don't feel compelled to, but - for what it's worth - I really am sorry, Marinette."

Their eyes met and Marinette hated the churning she felt in her stomach as she did so.

She droppes her gaze back to the concrete beneath their feet. "Please don't apologize, you have nothing to be sorry for," Marinette signed in reply, watching from the corner of her eye as he stilled in response.

"It's my fault for not giving you a chance to explain, I should've known better than to judge someone based off speculation. And thank you again for returning my hearing aids, they're the only pair I own."

Marinette and Adrien's eyes met again, and she watched as his blank look of surprise melted into a soft smile. "Happy to help," he replied before his eyes caught on something behind her.

Marinette threw a look over her shoulder, expecting the worse but very relieved to see it was just a fancy car, most likely Adrien's ride home. She couldn't deny the disappointment in her chest as she realized their conversation was over, or that fact that she had no excuse but to walk home in the rain.

"Your rides here," she smiled at him, "guess I'll see you in class tomorrow," she said as a goodbye, trying not to end things awkwardly.

Adrien hesitated, however. Glancing up at the sky before back at her, his hand moving to his bag hanging from his shoulder to retrieve an object.

"Here," Adrien signed with one hand, the other holding out his umbrella. Marinette stared for a moment, but one glance at his face compelled her to take it from him. Her left hand brushed his right and she swore she felt a jolt of electricity jolt through her when their rings touched.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Adrien signed, his hands now free, and Marinette nodded dumbly. She watched as he walkes towards his car, sending her one last grin before driving off.

Tikki smiled from within her holder's purse.

"Breathe, Marinette," Tikki said calmly, though her voice was full of amusement as she flew towards her disheveled holder, "he's going to love it," she assured, landing on the girl's shoulder.

"Really? You think so?" She questioned hopefully.

"He'd be silly not to," Tikki nuzzled against her cheek, causing Marinette to let out a content sigh.

Marinette's eyes raked over the present for a few more moments, searching for anything that needed alteration or improvement. Eventually, she gave into Tikki's pleas and told herself it was fine.

After securing the gift in a wrapping paper with a bow, she gently placed it on her desk before continuing her morning routine.

She could not be late today.

The autumn weather was nice, Marinette noted as she stepped outside the bakery, smiling at the incoming costumers. She loved all the seasons for a multitude of individual reasons, but she especially enjoyed fall; when the temperature was just right and she could dress to her heart's content.

Marinette felt a grin grow on her face as she peaked around the side of the building to see a figure approaching. Tikki giggled inside her coin purse at Marinette's excitement, but she found herself too giddy to be embarassed.

Marinette popped out just as Nathaniël was about to turn the corner, his eyes growinh wide and nearly jumping a foot into the air. She giggled at his expression as he tried ro compose himself.

"Geez, Marinette, there are better ways to say good morning than that," he rolled his eyes and he adjusted his sweater, but Marinette could see the smile he was fighting back.

"Happy Birthday!" She signed with a grin, and Nathaniël could only stare at her for a moment, taking in her expression of pure joy and the way she looked at him with affection in her eyes.

"Thank you," he found himself responding after a moment, a soft smile of his own being sent her way. He blamed the cold air for his reddening face, is what he would say if anyone asked why he couldn't control his blush around his best friend.

"I have something for you," her hands dove into her bag and he watched as she pulled out a white box and handed it to him.

He opened it and his eyes widened as he saw two large macaroons with strawberry filling and whipcream instead, as well as decorating the top. Strawberry Maccroon Buffet, is what they had named the item after creating it in her kitchen many years ago when her parents gave them permission to use the extra baking materials.

"Mari," he whispered before looking up at her, too shocked that she remembers making the dessert to form words. So he doesn't say anything, he merely pulls her into a hug, and Marinette smiles as she returns it.

"I'll give you your real present later," she told him with a wink, ignoring his raised eyebrow.

They arrived at school not much later, the two making easy conversation along the way with a comfortable silence following along. Nathaniël began to rant about the newest Webcomic he read when they stepped the school doors.

"Nathaniël!" A voice called, causing him to pause ― and Marinette repeated the action, a bit confused. A petite girl with a blonde pixie cut sprinted towards them, a tall brunette following in tow.

"Happy Birthday!" Rose shouted with a wide grin and Juleka mumbled along with a shy smile. Marinette took in the exchange between the three with a soft smile, and is even more touched when they continue their conversation in Sign in order to include her.

Juleka has a speech impediment thay she was mocked for, something Marinette could empathize with due to her deaf accent. Her mother had decided to have their fanily learn Sign Language to make Juleka more comfortable, and Rose had learnes as well due to the two of them being childhood best friends. It was a relief when Marinette found out some of her other classmates also knew Sign.

Some had picked up on a few words and phrases, some even learning them from Youtube videos and books ― but not many where actually fluent in the language.

The school bell rang and Marinette cringed at the sound. The students seemed to deflate at the realization of having to go to classes, and the four of them headed off.

"Nathaniël!" Marinette's head shot up at the sound of her friend's name, turning around in her seat she saw their teacher standing over his desk. "These artist endeavors are clearly why you are failing science," she glared at the boy and Marinette frowned as the students around them laughed at him.

"You go march yourself down to the principal's office and show him that chicken scratch, I'll have none of your goofing off today," Mme. Mendeleiev pointed towards the door and Nathaniël hesitantly stood up to walk towards it.

"Well, that's a bit harsh," Marinette's brow furrowed. Sure, he shouldn't of been drawing during class, but she could have just sent him a warning. Then again, Mendeleiev wasn't exactly know for her kind ways of teaching.

Marinette watched as her friend headed towards the door, realizing too late that Chloé's bag was in the middle of the walkway, watching as he tripped.

Laughing filled the classroom as Chloé snatched up his fallen sketchbook, being as loud as possible as she spoke, "ooh, loom Sabrina! He was drawing Marinette ― he totally has a crush on you, Marinette," Chloé giggled, throwing a look at said girl in question from over her shoulder, and Marinette caught a glimpse of a sketch of her from the shoulders up, flowers surronding her.

"Enough!" Mm. Mendeleiev shouted, ripping the sketchbook from Chloé's grasp and shoving it into Nathaniël's as she once again told him to leave, sending a glare to Chloé, who simply rolled her eyes.

Marinette blinked, her mind going blank for a moment. She shook her head, clearing away Chloé's words. Nathaniël and Marinette have drawn each other before, it made for good practice to draw someone they were so familiar with ― Chloé was just going out of her way to make him upset. On his birthday too, nonetheless.

"The next partical psychics group is Chloé, Sabrina, and Marinette," Mme. Mendeleiev announced just before the bell rang and Marinette wanted to bang her head against the desk.

Alya placed her hand on her should supportively before the two began to pack away their belongings and head towards their next class.

Marinette sat down at an empty table in the library as Study Hall started, waiting for Sabrina and Chloé to join her. "Of course I was paired with people who don't even sign," Marinette thought to herself while fighting back a groan of annoyance.

Speak of the devil, the two girls approached the table and Chloé crossed her arms over her chest, "tell her the plan, Sabrina."

Sabrina nodded frantically before turning to Marinette, "we've decided that you and I will do the research and the writing, ans Chloé with do the presenting; that way it's all equal!"

Marinette frowned, about to respond before she remembered the two didn't even know sign. She flipped open a fresh page of her notebook, writing out her response.

"That's not fair at all! Is that how things work between you two?" Marinette showed the notebook to Sabrina and Chloé grew pouty when she wasn't able to see.

"Yeah! Chloé helps with the talking aspect and I do the work," she agreed cheerfully.

Marinette frowned, this time out of pity rather than anger, and began to write out her next response. "Sabrina, Chloé's taking advantage of you. This isn't how a healthy friendship works ― it's 50/50, not 90/10."

Sabrina paused, staring at the page for a moment. Chloé's temper began to rise and she snatched the book out of Sabrina's hands, tossing it at Marinette.

"C'mon, Sabrina, I have a hair appointment and you have better things to do than talk to a girl that can't even talk back," Chloé sneered.

Marinette flinched. Chloé rarely, if ever, made comments on her disability ― even she wasn't that cruel, she thought.

Thought.

Sabrina opened her mouth ― whether she was going to taunt Marinette as well or go against Chloé for once, she wasn't sure ― but stopped herself when tape appeared over Chloé's mouth, the girl unable to rip it off. A loud fan-like sound was heard and a giant fan appeared just a few feet from them, beginning to chase after Chloé.

Marinette's eyes widened when she realized it was an akuma and she took off to transform, only for the person behind the attack to be gone when she returned. The library doors still swinging open from their escape.

Yùnqi paced around the room of Chloé Bourgeois, growing more and more agitated with every word out of the girl, occasionally pulling on her antennae to cut off the sound.

"So, the akuma behind this seems to personally be targeting you, any ideas why?" Chat Noir asked Chloé, who was lounging on her bed with a magazine in hand.

"No! Everyone adores me," she said proudly, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder.

Yùnqi rolled her eyes, sick of the situation ― and sick of Chloé sneaking up besides them to snap pictures!

"I'm over this, let's go." She signed to him when Chloé wasn't looking, walking towards the balcony.

"What? Are you kidding? What if the akuma attacks her again?" He trailed after her, confused her by her moody behavior. Yùnqi ignored him, pushing through the double doors and heading towards the ledge. "Come on, you've been acting off all day? Is something wrong?"

Yùnqi paused, closing her eyes as she sighed. "Look, I just don't see why both of us have to be here when the akuma could be causing problems elsewhere. I'll catch up with you later," and with that, she wrapped her yo-yo around a nearby building and took off, leaving behind her confused partner.

Marinette detransformed as she landed in her bedroom, shutting the ceiling hatch behind her. Tikki appeared next to her, sending her a curious look.

"Sorry Tikki, I know it was immature to leave Chat behind ― but I can't stand being around Chloé right now. Not after what she said or how she embarassed Nathaniël on his birthday," she signed with clear anger on her face before she paused and her expression went blank. "Nathaniël!"

Her hand dug into her pocket, fishing out her phone and pulling up his contact. She sent him a few hastily written texts, along the lines of; where are you? Are you okay?

She bit her lip, hoping her suspicions of an art akuma being a specific person were incorrect. She frowned at his lack of response, anxiety further growing in her chest.

She saw Tikki quickly dark into hiding just as her wall was erased, a figure stepping foward. They had light grayish-purple skin, and his hair is brushed back while colored orange with purple tips. On his head he has a dark purple beret, and on his face, he has a deep violet butterfly-shaped mask, and his eyes are moderate cyan.

He wears a white jumpsuit with dark purple stripes and solid dark purple legs that become red halfway down his lower legs. On his chest, there is a black circle with smaller red, yellow, and blue circles inside. A black drawing tablet is attached to the back of his right forearm.

Marinette's heart sank as she recognized the figure. Nathaniël had told her about how Yùnqi and Chat Noir inspired him to make a superhero comic, and this was one of the the main character.

"Nathaniël...?" She hesitantly signed.

"It's Evillustrator," he responded, switching his pen from hand to hand as he signed.

"Okay," she nodded, "Evillustrator, why did you attack Chloé?" Nathaniël wasn't violent, not even in the slightest. He avoided conflict like the plague and couldn't stand to see people being picked on.

"Because Chloé is cruel and selfish, a true villain. It's my job to get rid of villains like her by erasing them," he said sternly, and Marinette was quite sure if she wanted to know what he meant by erase.

Marinette nodded, trying to convince herself that this wasn't Nathaniël ― it was the akuma that Hawkmoth had turned him into and she needed to regard the situation as such by leaving her emotions off of it. "And you're here because...?"

Nath―The Evillustrator seemed to grow a bit shy at the question, and it became harder not to see him as her friend. "Oh, well, it's my birthday today and I wanted to invite you to join me for my party.".

"But I was already going to come to your party," Marinette responded confused, "remember? We're throwing you one with your family and friends."

Evillustrator shook his head, "no, this party is different. It's just for you and me," he said softly and he handed her a sketched out invitation, her face and party favors decorating it. She couldn't help but to smile at it.

"The pier next to Notre-Dome, at sunset," he said, and she looked up at him, "will you come?"

Marinette hesitated for a moment before nodding, "on one condition," she said, gaining his attention. "You can't hurt Chloé anymore."

"Anything for you, Mari," the boy grinned at her before taking off.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked, spotting her holder's frown. "Now you have a location and time on where to find him."

Marinette sighed. "It's just ― that place he mentioned, it used to be our favorite place to sketch together, we haven't gone there since his father passed away..."

Marinette closed her eyes and went over her plan with Tikki, who nodded in agreement, before transforming.

"You can't just fly out of here and then make cat calls, Lucky," Chat Noir teased her over text and she smiled in amusement.

"Sorry about ditching you, that wasn't cool of me ― but you can leave Chloé alone for now, I have someone else I need you to protect," she forwarded a picture of her civilian form, "pretty cute, isn't she? Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The Evillustrator promised not to harm Chloé as long as she came to his birthday party, I'll forward you the time and place."

Sure, she didn't have to call herself cute, but where was the fun in that?

After getting confirmation from Chat that he could handle it, she made her way to the front door so she could be early to the "party."

"Hey!" Marinette opened her door, just short short of bumping into Sabrina. "I wanted to thank you for being so nice to me earlier in the library! I thought I would come over and we could get started on the project, then we could tell Mme. Mendeleiev that Chloé didn't help at all!" The girl rambled on, not allowinv Marinette to get a word in.

"Look, I even brough a whiteboard for us to communicate!" She pulled the object out of her bag with a proud look on her face and Marinette but her tongue. She couldn't blame Sabrina for not knowing Sign, but she certainly didn't like her assuming that Marinette wanted to talk for hours over a board and marker.

Marinette nodded with a forced smile and began to write a message, "okay, thanks, Sabrina ― but I actually thought it would be better for us to talk over text and do our parts of the project by ourselves. I work better alone, and I actually have something to do tonight."

Sabrina hummed as she read it, "oh, wow, Marinette, you know who else would say things just like this?" She asked sweetly before her eyebrows furrowed, "Chloé! You're just like her, aren't you? And here I thought we were friends!" She snatched the whiteboard from Marinette's hands before storming off, leaving Marinette to just stare after her in stunned shock.

"Woah!" A figure in black jumped down from her roof and Marinette nearly socked them out of reflex. "I thought I was gonna have to save you from that girl's claws ― get it, claws?" Chat Noir signed to her, which confused her as to how he knew she was deaf.

"I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Chat Noir," he grinned at her, slipping in a wink. Marinette willed herself not to laugh at her partner's ridiculous antics.

"I know, you kind of save the day all the time. I'm Marinette," she replied, despite knowing that he knew her name. "What are you doing here?"

"That friend of yours is akumatized and it's my job to keep you safe from that sketchy guy," she wanted to groan at the pun, "so I'll be watching over you two from the shadows until it's time to pounce."

"But I am going to need a bit of help, care to assist a superhero?" He asked with another wink, leaning against the wall as he lookes at her.

"What about Yùnqi? Aren't you two a duo?" Maybe not the best way to get information out of Chat Noir on how he sees her, but it would work.

"The lucky lady is busy with a secret mission, so for tonight," he trailed off before looking at her with a sly grin, "we get to be a duo."

Marinette didn't even need ro feign surprise at that, slightly shocked by his overly flirty nature. "Me ans Chat Noir working together? Sounds amazing! What do I do?" She pretened to fawn over him, forcing herself not to laugh and break her cover.

"Just get that drawing pencil away from him, princess," Marinette blushed at the nickname as Chat Noir took off, shooting a glare at Tikki who giggled within her purse.

Marinette watched the sunset as she approached the location Evillustrator told her to meet him at, and she was shocked at how beautiful everything around her was. Lights, candles, music ― it was amazing.

She spotted him sitting ontop of the boat, "Happy Birthday!" She signed after gaining his attention. He jumped down from his spot intop of the boat to lead her to the front, where he had everything set up. "This is beautiful," she told him, and swore she saw his purple skin turn pink in a blush.

"You think so? Here, let me make it even better," Marinette watched him lean against on of the lanterns as he created a moon to hover over them ― she loves moonlight, she remembers telling him once. However, as touched as she was, she focused on the way he continued to make things brighter.

"He can't draw in the dark."

The two took a seat on thr bench, Evillustrator continuing to play music as they went sight-seeing. Marinette spotted Chat Noir crossing the buildings nearby, and an idea came to mind.

"Y'know, I'd love to draw you something," she signed, glancing at his drawing tablet connected to his arm, "art is extremely personal, whag could make for a better gift?" She smiled innocently.

"I-I'd love that," his face heates up to match his hair and Marinette pushed down the churning in her stomach she felt for lying to her best friend.

"This isn't Nathaniël," she reminded herself as she took hold of the drawing pencil, "Hawkmoth has akumatized him and it's my job to save him."

If there was one thing that sat Nathaniël and Marinette apart, it was his extremely good hearing. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw his eyes dart behind them, hearing Chat Noir as he landed.

"Marinette, give me my pencil back. I need to draw something ― now."

Marinette gulped in a breath of air as she jumped away from him, signaling Chat Noir to extend his baton over Evillustrator. Before he could further detail him, the akuma kicked the staff at Marinette, hitting her right in the hand and successfully grabbing his pen back.

Marinette let out an airy cry as she clenched her right wrist with the opposite hand. It was definitely broken, and a little bruised too.

Chat Noir and Evillstrator exchanged a few blows, but Chat was thrown back by another one of the life-like drawings, before a clear prism fell over them.

Evillustrator glared at the two with disgust in his eyes just as he erased the bottom on the ship before taking off, leaving Marinette to realize just how dangerous it was to underestimate an akuma.

I didn't want to make this chapter too long so I decided to make it a two-parter, the second half should be posted tomorrow. Also, I'm not a fan of Sabrina, but I hope I didn't portray her too badly. She have development later on.

Nathaniël snorted into his hand as he watched his best friend faceplant after trying to chase after a little girl who was barely over two feet tall. He looked away innocently when Marinette shot him a glare.

"I'd like to see you do better," Marinette signed to him after recovering to her feet, tryimg to save what dignity she had left after tripping over a Barbie doll car.

"Hey, I proudly admit I am awful with kids. You, however," he pointed his pencil at her, "are too nice to ever tell a child no when they want something." He nodded toward Manon playing on Marinette's phone for good measure.

Marinette pouted at him. "Why did I invite you over again?" Despite her remark, she had a playful look on her face as she leaned over the couch to get a better look at what he was drawing.

"Oh, wow! Nath, that's beautiful!" Marinette grinned at him, watching as his face turned a pretty shade of red to match his hair. "You've always been so good at drawing clouds."

Nathaniël smiled, willing down his blush. "I'm not one to focus on landscape pieces, but since they're picking a new weather girl, I had some inspiration."

"Speaking of weather, I'm glad the rain has cleared up." Marinette sighed, taking a seat besides Nathaniël where she could keep her eyes on Manon, who was playing with her dolls. "I usually love stormy weather, but it's been such a hassle to walk to and from school in."

Nathaniël perked up, "oh, that reminds me," he trailed off, moving his body so they were facing each other. "I was wondering if you wanted to start walking to school together. The bakery is on my way, and maybe now you'll have a reason to stop being late," he teased and she rolled her eyes at him.

"I'd like that," she pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, "I feel like we haven't had much time to hang out together due to all these school projects they're throwing at us. I miss you," she smiled shyly at him.

Nathaniël's face flushed to match his hair. He began to stutter out a response, his hands moving without actually forming words. Thankfully, he was saved from his embarssment by the ceiling light flickering and the sound of the doorbell ringing.

Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng has installed a light monitor to let Marinette know when someone was at the door since she couldn't exactly hear knocking ― being deaf and all.

Standing, Marinette walked up to the door. Manon followed her, clinging to her leg as she opened the door. Nathaniël smiled when he saw it was Alya.

The two of them weren't very close. At least, not as close as she and Marinette had become, but they still talked from time to time. He'd help translate something in Sign if she hadn't know the right word for it, and she's bite back at Chloé if she made any snide remarks about him around her. She was the perfect balance of extroverted to push Marinette and Nathaniël out of their comfort zones, while still being respectful enough to keep in mind their boundries.

"Hey Mari. Oh! Hi Nathaniël," she grinned as she spotted him and he gave a small wave. Alya turned back to Marinette, speaking as she signed, "there's a foodtruck at the park to celebrate the new weather girl. Since the bakery is on the way there, I stopped by to ask if you wanted to join me."

Marinette perked up at the mention of food, realizing it was getting close to lunch time. Marinette turned to Nathaniël, "would you wanna go to the park? You can bring your sketch book, if you want."

Nathaniël set his sketchpad down before replying. "Sure, but it's not me you should be asking," he looked down, and she followed his gaze to the little girl clinging onto her leg.

Marinette had been hesitant to accept the babysitting gig, since being deaf could make things a lot more difficult. Nadja insisted it would be fine, and went on to say that she had been raising Manon to br multilingual and had put her in Sign classes, and that having a deaf babysitter would really help her to improve. That had been two years ago, and Marinette had been Nadja's go-to sitter ever since, despite her young age.

Marinette crouched down to face the young girl. "What do you say, Manon? Wanna go to the park?" She smiled as Manon jumped up and down in excitement, cheerinf about how much she loved the park.

Ten minutes later, Marinette was setting Manon down onto the carousel with Alya taking a seat next to the young girl. Nathaniël stood next to Marinette, laughing at the sight before something else caught his eye.

"Hey, isn't that the Agreste kid?" Nathaniël squinted at the figure from across the park, frowning at him.

Alya glanced over, "oh, yeah. Looks like Adrien's having a photoshoot or something." She turned to look at Marinette, "didn't you say he apologized for what happened?"

Marinette nodded, "yeah, he said he was trying to remove the gum Chloé put there and he was sorry for not correcting things sooner."

Alya rolled her eyes, "sounds like something Chloé would do."

Nathaniël continued to narrow his eyes at their classmate, "I don't know. Even if he did apologize, I'm not too sure I wanna be buddy-buddy with someone whose best friends with Chloé."

Marinette gave him a half smile, knowing that Chloé was just as awful to him as she was to her. Mocking his drawings, laughing at his clothes, teasing him over every little detail. She understood why Nathaniël was so hesitant to befriend Adrien.

"But still," she thought as her eyes glanced over to him. Adrien went out of his way to return her hearing aids to her and even gave her his umbrella. Sure, it was a small act of kindness, but it was still something that made Marinette see him in a different light. He was nice to her, even when no one else was watching, and it made her want to be kind in return.

"Hey, why don't I take a picture of you guys?" Marinette asked before pulling out her phone, walking back a few feet to get the three of them in frame. Manon smiled wide and toothy at the camera, Alya grinned as she held up bunny ears behind Manon's head, and Nathaniël looked amused with the whole situation as he stood beside them, leaning onto one of the nearby carousel horses.

Suddnely their smiles dropped into looks of terror and Marinette looked up to see why.

There, flying in the air, was a girl. Her skin was practically white, standing out against her dark violent and lavender swirled hair that she wore in sharp pigtails. Her outfit was mostly made out of deep purples with a matching umbrella in hand.

Shrieks filled the park as the carousel was entrapped by ice. Marinette sprinted to a nearby alleyway, quickly transforming before heading back. She bit back a groan as her yo-yo failed to cut through the ice, unable to get a solid hold on it.

Her antennae picked up on the sound of her friends and Manon shouting her name, worried for where she had disappeared to.

"Nice weather we're having," she heard a cheeky voice remark from beside her and she smirked as Chat Noir and her met eyes.

"We should be expecting lightening storms right about now," Stormy Weather shouted, aiming her umbrella towards the sky. Yùnqi watched as the sky crackled into violet lighting bolts, heading straight for Chat Noir.

She grabbed him around the middle, tossing her yo-yo to catch onto a streetlight and pull them away. Just as the two landed, more harsh wind came towards them ― sending cars crashing through the sky.

The wind knocked her off her feet and she felt herself gliding through the air before landing roughly, Chat Noir beside her. Before she could catch her breath, a bus ― a bus?! ― came heralding towards them.

Yùnqi held her breath, feeling Chat pick her up bridal style and leaping away just as the bus crashed into where they previously stood. Her heart lept into her throat she he set her down.

"Hello viewers," a voice glitched on the tv in one of the wrecked shops next to them. "Here's the latest forecast of the first day of fall ― looks like winter is coming early!"

"She must be at the news recording studio," she signed to Chat, who nodded, and the two took off.

She paused as her eyes caught on a cardboard cutout of Aurore Beauréal, another student at Collège Françoise Dupont. Her eyes widened as she realized it was her that they were facing.

"Come on, Lucky," Chat winked to her as he headed towards the studio doors. She was surprised that he knew what her name meant the first time he called her that, but assumed he must've Googled it and seen the Chinese translation for lucky.

"Huh?" Her brow furrowed as she realized the studio was empty. Then a crash was heard and she looked up to see the lights falling and Stormy Weather cackling as she fled the scene.

"Is that a damsel in distress I see?" She heard Chat asked teasingly and she pouted.

"Not all of us have nightray vision, you know," she hoped she was signing in the right direction.

"No need to bugout, your knight in shining leather is here," her partner grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet and towards the direction the akuma had run off to.

She was slightly relieved when they managed to make it to the roof, the darkness leaving them. Her relief was short lived as storm swirled around them, loud and violent.

"Hail!" Stormy Weather shouted, and Chat held up his baton to shield them from the downpour. Her eyes scanned their surroundings, landing on the large buildboard towering behind the akuma.

"Chat, I need you to cataclysm the railing," she signed before covering him from the hail as he lept into action.

She busied herself with creating a distraction as Chat destroyed the builing. The sound of the creaking grabbed Stormy's attention' causing her to lose track of Yùnqi, who used the opportunity to pull her to the ground and knock the umbrella out of her hand.

Chat Noir snapped it over his knee and Yùnqi released her hold of the girl as she tossed her yo-yo in the direction of the akuma. A moment later, a white butterfly flew into the air.

"Wait, how are you supposed to use your Miraculous Ladybug if you didn't use your creation?" Chat looked at her before gesturing to the crumbled materials surronding them.

Yùnqi thought for a moment before her eyes drifted to Aurore, who sat on the ground with a confused look on her face. A towel emerged from her hand and she held it out to Chat, "go warm her up, will you?"

After the whole fiasco was cleared up, Marinette de-tranformed near the park before sprinting to meet her friends. Manon launched herself into her arms, causing her to come to a hault.

"Marinette, there you are!" The little girl shouted, causing Marinette to wince as Manon's head was right besides her hearing aids. Still, she was glad the three of them were safe.

"Hey guys!" The four looked over to see Adrien smiling and waving at them. Alya and Marinette smiled back, and Nathaniël tried to not look too surprised at the friendly greeting.

They approached him, Manon still in Marinette's arms so she couldn't sign a greeting. "My photoshoot just got cancelled, what're you guys up to?"

"We were just heading to get Manon a lollipop before she loses her mind," Alya giggled, gesturing to the young girl. Adrien looked at her and smiled, causing the young girl to burrow her head into Marinette's chest out of embarrassment.

"Perfect!" A voice shouted from behind them, and they turned to see a man with a camera looking at them like they're were pieces in an art museum. "Beautiful! The picture of friendship is like no other ― no spaghetti can compare!"

The three looked at Adrien in confusion, who only laughed in embarassment. Alya simply rolled her eyes, grabbing the three of them ― four, with Manon in Marinette's arms ― and pulled them close, grinning at the camera.

Marinette smiled too.