#idolnette

These days came, all dependant on how Lila was feeling. Sometimes, Lila would be getting all the attention in the world, praise, love and admiration flooding to her, and she would breathe it in like fresh air, as if she had been drowning. Other times, she would be bored, and then she would look to Marinette for entertainment, hunting her down and burn her at the stake.

It was awful.

But Marinette had learned to live with it, for some time. In the beginning, the promise, idea, and the hope that Adrien had her back, motivated her enough to keep going. When that promise fell through, Marinette clambered to Uncle J and Clara, drowned herself in the lyrics, and revived herself with the melody and beat.

She sighed, looking at Adrien's seat.

It admittedly took a while, but eventually, they were no longer in whatever the hell the Lila situation was, together. It had hurt, but Marinette was quick to get over it. Over him.

"Of course I was invited to the charity gala tomorrow," Lila said, eyelashes fluttering. "but I'm not sure if I'll be able to go."

The class gathered around the liar, drawn like a moth to the flame, but Marinette just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You see, I have this important conference call with Prince Ali tomorrow, and I really can't miss it." Lila amended.

"Girl, I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out, so many famous people are gonna be there!" Alya exclaimed excitedly.

Losing Alya had been like a slap in the face.

She was probably the last person Marinette had expected to lose, but she had been the first to pack her bags and leave. Alya and Lila left the class. Marinette didn't care.

She stopped caring a couple of years ago.

As Marinette headed towards the door of the classroom, she didn't notice the foot that discreetly shot out, tripping her up, but she was quick to regain her balance, looking around in disgruntled confusion. When her eyes landed on the retreating backs of Alya and Lila, both of them cackling loudly, she just let out another sigh.

She had better things to worry about than the people Alya chose to hang out with.

The upcoming days would be busy for Marinette, so there was no point in wasting time thinking about a bond long broken.

She and Master Fu had been meeting frequently, her training for becoming the next Guardian beginning to get more and more serious.

The only "positive" thing Marinette could think came from the whole Lila situation, was all of the extra free time she had gotten.

-

Master Fu's place had always been a place of comfort for Marinette, and after the day that she had, it was a comfort that was much needed. Dealing with Lila was draining, especially on the days were Lila seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

So, as Marinette stepped inside the parlor, she couldn't help but take a deep breath, finally letting the tension leave her shoulders.

Thoughts about Lila could take a break, with Master Fu, matters of the miraculous came first, and that required a clear mind and a clear soul. As Marinette took a seat, after a polite greeting to Master Fu and Wayzz, a cup of tea was quickly placed in front of her, and they were ready to begin. For the last couple of days, they had been discussing the severity of the situation with Chat Noir, and whether or not they should be taking more drastic measures.

"Marinette, I hope you've been well." Master Fu had always been polite, and he knew that the upcoming discussion was one that made Marinette uncomfortable, so he was easing her into it. The topic of changing partners was rarely a very nice conversation.

"You as well," Marinette replied.

She closed her eyes, rolled her shoulders, breathing in for 7 seconds, breathing out for 11 seconds, before she opened her eyes again, her expression serious as she looked at Master Fu.

"It's getting worse with Chat Noir." It was a statement, but Marinette nodded anyways.

"He's getting out of control," Marinette noted.

The last Akuma attack had been intense, but Chat Noir refused to take action.

Marinette had turned him down again that day, so he was in a particularly bad mood. He had thrown another tantrum, and Marinette had barely won.

"I know."

-

The conversation replayed itself in Marinette's head all through practice with Clara.

It was a monthly thing between her and Clara, they would meet up at the dance studio, and then go through Marinette's newest choreography. It was a nice little thing they had going on, which was why it made it so frustrating for Marinette that she had a hard time enjoying it. She had been distracted the entire time, and Clara had taken notice by the end of the practice.

"Care to tell me what's wrong, or do you want me to find out myself what's going on?"

Marinette let out a sigh, letting her shoulders droop.

"I... I don't know."

Clara hummed in thought, before a mischievous grin spread across her face.

"You've been distracted," Clara noted, grin growing wider. "tell me, is it someone attractive?"

Marinette snorted, shaking her head at the rhyming star.

"I wish." Marinette sighed. "Lila was just... a little more Lila today." She explained.

Clara's teasing grin immediately disappeared, a look of worry and anger taking its place.

"Someone should take that girl down a peg. I was personally thinking, maybe a broken leg?"

In any other context, Marinette would have thought Clara was joking, but her voice had been grave with a seriousness that spoke of her anger. Marinette was quick to try and reassure that she was fine.

"Nothing happened." Marinette looked Clara in the eyes, giving her a small smile. "She was just being stupid." Marinette's smile grew a little. "She even lied and said she was invited to the gala tomorrow."

It was a small comfort to Marinette.

Despite all that Lile loved to lie about knowing all these people and be invited to all these things, at the end of the day, that was Marinette. Marinette knew all sorts of famous people, Marinette was invited to all sorts of events that Lila could only ever hear about. At least there was that.

When Marinette had been younger, she had never imagined that she would ever live the type of life that others would lie about having. Sure, she had Uncle J, and he had always told her that one day, she was going to be a star, but she had never thought much of it. If something happened, then great. If Marinette became a popular idol and sold albums, that would have been wonderful. But she would have been just as happy working from the sidelines, designing for those who chose to shine on stage.

And it had started like that, too, but then Jagged introduced Marinette to Clara and things changed.

One day she would be satisfied with just working as a designer, but at the moment, there was nothing Marinette enjoyed more than being on stage.

"Those classmates are gonna regret they ever crossed you, Netta." Clara suddenly said. "They will someday see how you are so much better."

Marinette smiled.

"I know."

-

Tikki looked at her chosen as she darted around her room, trying to get ready for the gala before her car arrived. Sure, it wasn't necessary for her chosen to be there exactly on time, but Marinette did not want to be late, especially when her popularity in France wasn't exactly at the top.

At least Asia loved her.

Tikki had been worried for Marinette, and had been ever since the first instance with Lila happened. It had been hard to see her chosen to get mistreated so much, it was something that had never become easier with each new holder.

Tikki hated being forced to watch her chosen to suffer, unable to do anything as they were beaten, bullied and killed, all because of some rules. Of course, she understood the importance of the rules, that they were in place just as much for their safety, as well as a holder's.

But knowing that never made it easier.

So Tikki took comfort in the knowledge that tonight, it was not about Lila or Ladybug, but it was more about Marinette.

"Oh shoot, I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late-"

Even if Marinette was worried about not making it in time.

"Marinette!" Tikki finally yelled, after having seen her chosen run around her room, looking for something, for the 6th time. "What are you looking for?"

Marinette's pure look of relief at getting Tikki's help warmed Tikki's heart, and Tikki continued with assisting Marinette in her preparations; brushing Marinette's hair, smoothing out the deep red chiffon of her dress, helping to tighten the black corset.

Marinette had been proud of her design, even if it probably wasn't something you would normally wear to a formal gala, with a tight, knee-length black skirt, and a one-sleeved, red chiffon top, that went all the way to the floor. The black corset was something Marinette found tied the entire outfit together, and it was a nice little nod to her last mini-album.

Tikki was proud of her chosen. She had always found Marinette's ability to turn all of the negativity around her into art, something incredible.

Marinette kissed Tikki on the cheek, Tikki giving one in return before Marinette put Tikki in the black purse she had chosen for the occasion.

-

The flashing lights of the cameras reflected the stars shining brightly above them tonight, Marinette noted, as she, Jagged and Clara all posed for a picture together.

The cameras had been overwhelming for Marinette, in the beginning. She wasn't used to being in the spotlight.

Of course, Jagged, Penny, and Clara were all quick to reassure Marinette that it wouldn't always be like that. Jagged had told her that he had been deathly afraid of looking dumb in pictures for the press, and he had started his career a lot later than she had.

15 years old.

It had taken two years, but Marinette was able to finally debut at the age of 15.

When she thought of it that way, it struck Marinette how long she had been in the industry, and briefly, she worried that perhaps that was why she had gotten the downfall in her class.

Marinette smiled more to the flashing cameras, as she, as well as Jagged, Penny and Clara, finally made it inside of the giant ballroom.

She wasn't going to blame her success for her downfall. She refused to.

Everyone else in that class had things they were dedicated to, things they were passionate about, but it had never cost them this much.

Marinette greeted various celebrities and rich people, all of them having varying degrees of surprise on their face at her presence.

Marinette, understandably, was proud of her achievements. She wasn't going to let horrible classmates and a bad liar ruin that pride for her. Marinette had achieved so many things, done so much good, and even if Marinette disliked being selfish and asking for more, she felt as if it was okay for her to say that she deserved a little better than what her class was giving her.

She was cut off from her chain of thought by Jagged Stone, swinging his arm over her shoulder as he lead Marinette somewhere.

"Mari, you have to meet my old friend here." Jagged exclaimed loudly as he lead Marinette closer and closer to a very business looking man. "I don't even know how I haven't introduced you yet." He continued, tapping on the man's shoulder enthusiastically once they arrived. "Mari, this is Bruce, he's a really good friend of mine."  Jagged grinned wildly, shoving Marinette's and Bruce's hands together for a handshake. "Bruce, this is Mari, my favorite niece, and rockstar."

Bruce blinked, probably not expecting the sudden handshake, but quickly came out of his stupor, gracing Marinette with a small, professional-looking smile.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you. My sons are big fans of your work."

Her eyes widened, Marinette glowing with pride at the knowledge that the Bruce Wayne knew about her.

And his sons liked her music too.

"It's a great honor to meet you as well, thank you!"

The trio quickly fell into a comfortable conversation after that, Marinette off-handedly mentioning that she was trying to plan a class trip, but that the school's budget was a bit tight. They also talked about her next comeback, and when it was going to happen, and when Marinette felt like they had been talking about her for too long, was quick to change the subject to Jagged's upcoming projects

-_-_-

If you don’t want to be tagged in this version of OBaB, message me and I will remove you from the tag list. 

"Marinette!" Alix and Kim yelled out, with Max standing between the two, all three of them looking worried.

"I didn't know if you would have been able to get here," Alix said, walking over to Marinette.

"Claude drove me," Marinette said, nodding in her bodyguard's direction who waved at them.

"Mme. Bustier wouldn't listen to us when we said she forgot you," Kim told her, looking mad at the teacher.

Marinette's grip on Damian tightened slightly, before she took a deep breath and relaxed again.

"Your teacher didn't do a headcount?" Damian asked incredulously, looking down at her, Marinette simply shrugging. "That's-"

Damian was cut off by the shrill voice of Alya.

"Marinette how dare you!"

Marinette breathed in sharply, eyes darting between her three friends and Damian, before looking at Alya with panic in her eyes.

"Doing all of this for attention, I mean that's low, even for you."

Marinette blinked once, twice, cocking her head to the side, looking at Alya in confusion.

"...What?"

This response only seemed to anger Alya even more though, as she puffed out her chest and narrowed her eyes.

"Don't play dumb with me, you know what! Acting as if you got left behind at the hotel? We know Lila told you about the change of plans, yet you just stay at the hotel and pull this crap!"

Marinette's brows furrowed.

"Lila never told me anything about a change of plans," Marinette stated simply.

"Yes she did, I saw her send you a text last night!" Alya exclaimed.

Marinette blinked a few times again.

"Lila doesn't have my number," Marinette slowly shook her head.

"Yes, she does because I gave it to her," Marinette's eyes narrowed.

"You don't have my number either," She said curtly. "And even if you did, you have no business handing it out to people without my permission."

"What do you mean I don't have your number?" Alya asked, confused.

Marinette just rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you should check when you last used that number," Marinette simply stated, before walking over to the back of the group, the class looking at her wide-eyed.

She wanted to feel bad for saying that stuff to Alya, and by the disappointed look Adrien sent her, she knew that he thought so too. She shrunk in on herself, hiding behind Damian slightly, who looked at her confused before finally spotting Adrien, promptly sending a glare his way.

"Your classmates seem nice," Damian said sarcastically.

Marinette laughed awkwardly, keeping an eye on the group as they started walking.

"We used to be really close to each other, but I guess we grew apart," Marinette shrugged. "Not everyone is all bad though, Alix, Kim, and Max are all my friends," She said, pointing in the direction of the trio, Kim wiggling his brows and Alix sending them a wink. "...Never mind."

-

It was interesting, being able to talk to Marinette properly. He had only truly gotten a hint of her personality the night before, so holding a full conversation with her was nice.

"In my pajamas! It was so embarrassing," Marinette told, covering her face with her hands. "I don't know how many pictures Alya has put up of me on her Instagram. She took them down a couple of years ago, but gosh, I was so embarrassed."

Damian hadn't expected Marinette to be a bit of a spaz, but he found that it was a rather endearing trait of hers.

"She just posted pictures of you without asking?"

Marinette paused for a moment, probably trying to remember, only to end up shaking her head.

"I was fine with it in the beginning, we were friends and it was mostly just our classmates that saw, but..." Marinette shrugged. "It did start bothering me after a while, but she wouldn't take the pictures down for some time." She looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to think of the right words. "Because of the Ladyblog, Alya has a lot of followers, and some of them follow her everyday Instagram account too. I started getting some rude comments on my own posts, on an account I have now deleted."

Damian was starting to dislike her classmates less and less, the more Marinette told. Disrespecting her privacy several times over, asking her to do things last minute. He did wonder what the Ladyblog was however, and noted to himself to check it out later, or ask Tim to look into it for him.

"Do they always just... expect things from you?" Damian asked.

That made Marinette stop in her tracks, brows furrowed in thought. In the end, she just let out a sigh before gently pulling him along again.

"I guess? I don't really know why it became that way, I just- I've always been happy to help, you know?" She said, finishing off with a disarming smile.

Damian was left speechless for a moment. This girl's generosity was getting abused on a daily basis, and all she had to say was that she was happy to help?

She didn't even seem upset about it!

"You really are an angel, aren't you?"

It didn't hit Damian that he had said it out loud until he noticed how her eyes widened and the most wonderful rosy color filled her cheeks.

"I-I don't know about a-angel, really..."

This was his chance! Come on Wayne, you can be smooth, just don't be rude to the girl who was literally heaven-sent.

"Of course you are, Angel, and I think I'd like to keep calling you that," Damian said, trying to look at her as charmingly as possible. "Unless you don't want me to, of course."

Damian smiled in success as Marinette stammered out an okay, looking more and more flustered by the moment, until she just gave up and nodded instead.

"If it would not be too much trouble then, Angel, would you like to join me for lunch today after the tour?"

Marinette didn't get the chance to reply, as just when she opened her mouth to give him an answer, someone yelled out.

"Marinette!"

-

"Marinette!"

Dread filled Marinette's chest as Adrien called out to her. Her grip on Damian's arm tightened, Damian looking at her in confusion before looking in the direction of the voice.

She hadn't even gotten the chance to process that Damian had the same nickname for her as Robin did.

Adrien had quickly made his way over to the duo at the back, Claude standing at the ready discreetly behind them.

"Marinette, Princess, why don't you join me and the other's for lunch later?" Adrien asked, smile blinding.

Marinette wasn't sure if the use of her nickname was an accident or not, but she couldn't really find it in herself to care over the feeling of fear.

"I uh- actually I was going to-"

"Come on, the others feel bad about leaving you behind at the hotel, they want to make it up to you."

Marinette could only imagine what making it up to her would look like, and she would rather not have her fears confirmed. She knew what they really wanted to do with her, or at least Adrien, and Marinette wasn't interested at the moment.

"I just made plans, actually," Marinette said, but her voice was meek and soft, wavering.

Adrien glanced at Damian, probably realizing what those plans were, and quickly grabbed Marinette's arm, pulling her from Damian.

"Come on, Princess, you can't seriously choose a stranger over me," Adrien took hold of her chin, tilting her head up and uncomfortably close to his. His hold on her arm was starting to hurt, Marinette noted to herself numbly. "We're in this together, aren't we?"

"N-no, Adrien let go," Marinette whispered, not wanting anyone else to hear, trying to get out of his hold. "Please."

"You know, Princess," Adrien continued mumbling, as if he hadn't heard her. "I think I've wasted my time going after Ladybug."

Marinette's thrashing started to become more violent, and she hoped that Claude would notice on his own, because Marinette was too scared to start yelling.

"Adrien, Adrien please, let go."

Damian took a step forward, but before he got the chance to do anything, Claude had already ripped Adrien away from Marinette.

"Mlle. Dupain-Cheng told you to let go, Agreste."

Claude kept his grip on Adrien as he started walking towards the tour guide, Richard if Marinette had heard correctly, nodding to her before he left.

Marinette rubbed her arm where Adrien had held her, even if she couldn't quite register the pain yet.

She couldn't believe he had actually done that in front of everyone, though it didn't seem like they had noticed the commotion at all. Then again, neither of them had been all that loud.

"Angel?" Damian's soft voice cut through her thoughts, and it wasn't until he gently started wiping them away, that Marinette realized tears were running down her cheeks. Hesitantly, he pulled her into his arms in a loose hold, probably wanting to make sure she was okay with it.

When all Marinette did was turn around and cry into his chest, his hold on her tightened.

-

After some time of Marinette crying in his arms, Damian slowly led the two of them to a secluded part of the building.

"Thank you," Her voice cut through the silence.

Damian had spent their quiet thinking about what had happened. Were Marinette and, Adrien if he heard correctly, dating? The look Marinette had given the blond boy would suggest otherwise, but what was their relationship then?

"Angel what... what happened in there?" Damian asked, looking at the girl with worry.

"Just Adrien being Adrien, I guess," She said softly, but she refused to look at him.

"Is he always doing that?" Damian asked, this time with a clear anger carrying in his voice.

"No! No, normally he doesn't get physical and stuff..."

It was obvious that she didn't want to talk, and Damian could understand that. He had only just met the girl properly, and already were too many things not going the way he thought they would. That didn't mean that he would give up though.

Marinette was a sincere girl, out of anything, that was what had stood out to him the most. She meant what she said, about herself and those around her.

That was why this was confusing Damian.

From the little he had seen of her, the situation with Adrien went against all of it.

Marinette was nice, yes, but she didn't seem like the type to not speak up against what, to Damian, looked like abuse.

He looked at the girl beside him, trying to understand her.

"Adrien seems like a bit of a dick to me," Damian said, feeling a swell of pride as he finally heard her giggle, if only a little bit.

"Yeah, he... he's been better. Not in a long time though," she sighed. "Adrien and I are best friends, or well, we used to be. He gets mad over everything I do though, so he's kind of hard to please..."

Damian frowned at that.

She shouldn't have to "please" Adrien, even if he was her best friend.

"What do your friends think about it?" He decided to ask, rather than saying what he really wanted to say.

Marinette's brows furrowed as she thought it over.

"I don't think they know," She shrugged. "Adrien normally sticks to our other classmates and stuff, so he usually only talks to me in private."

More and more alarm bells started going off in Damian's head, but he also knew better than to just tell her what was wrong with all of that.

Just from what she had been saying now, it seemed as if this was something that had been going on for years. If that was true, Marinette would most likely just deny whatever Damian said.

It wasn't even the fact that Marinette happened to be a girl he was interested in. What was going on between her and Adrien was clearly not healthy.

Maybe Damian would talk to his father about this later.

-_-_-_-

Then Adrien had arrived a little later, Marinette not doubting for a second that he had kept an eye out for when the trio left.

Marinette, after all of her training with Master Fu, could sense the miraculous close to her. That, mixed with the amount of time she spent around Chat both in and out of the costume, helped Marinette figure out that Chat Noir was Adrien.

So, Marinette had felt the ring around close by sometime after the trio had first arrived in her room, and her suspicions of him spying were confirmed when, around ten minutes after they had left, Adrien showed up at the door.

"We need to talk."

His brows had been furrowed, he had been fiddling with his ring.

They went up to her room, neither of them looking at the other. Once they were up and the door was closed, Adrien let out a sigh.

"Look Marinette- we can't have Alix or Kim out Lila," He looked at her so pleadingly, and her chest tightened.

"You said it yourself Adrien, her lies would expose herself when the time came," Marinette tried to keep her voice as steady as possible, sending Adrien a leveled gaze.

"Having them speak up about it will just humiliate her! Especially after what she said about knowing- knowing you!"

Marinette flinched.

"And that's another thing! How dare you be mad at Lila for lying when you kept something this big a secret all this time!" Adrien fumed. "What Lila said today was your own damn fault, even if we both know she didn't mean anything by it."

"Didn't mean- Adrien she was being racist!"

"She didn't know what it would sound like, she didn't mean it like that," Adrien had said, looking Marinette straight in the eyes.

When Adrien had left, Marinette was filled with a hollow feeling and soul-crushing guilt. She wasn't even entirely sure why.

Then, he showed up again later, this time as Chat Noir.

He ranted for a while about Ladybug, talking about how she still wasn't seeing things his way, about his frustrations with his strict family.

But then he had talked about Marinette.

She doubted that he knew that she knew that he was Adrien, otherwise he probably wouldn't have started talking about an argument he had not that long ago, with a friend who was being unreasonable.

It had left Marinette stunned for a moment.

Never had she imagined that she would end up being one of the things he complained about.

It made the hollow feeling in her chest more consuming, and her guilt grew to the size of her shadow.

Marinette sighed.

Tikki had reassured her once Chat left that she was not being unreasonable, and that he had quite some nerve coming to Marinette of all people to complain about it.

Marinette had just gone to bed, mumbling a little excuse to Tikki, the weight of the day finally pushing on her eyelids.

Besides the altercations with Adrien, her free week had gone quite nicely in her opinion. The trio would come and visit her after school every day, and even eat lunch with her on occasion. Alix had informed her that the class had been invited on a sponsored trip to Gotham by Bruce Wayne, something that Lila had been quick to claim was her doing.

Marinette had gone to Master Fu as well, getting the horse miraculous, and handing out the snake and dragon.

They talked about Chat Noir too.

"Soon."

It was a weird promise.

-

The Sunday before the class trip, Marinette had somehow managed to convince Alix to go with her to do Marinette's hair.

They didn't go to salon, Marinette's hairstylist being more than happy to do her hair.

Somehow, they instead found themselves in Jagged Stone's hotel room.

Marinette wasn't sure why, she had just mentioned to Jagged that she was getting her hair dyed for the first time, and he had demanded to be present. Telling Alix that Marinette was getting her hair done at Jagged's place seemed to have helped the pink-haired girl go with at least.

"You know, the others are going to freak when they see you tomorrow right?"

Marinette sighed, looking at Alix through the mirror.

"I know, but at this point? I just don't care," she looked down at her lap, clenching her hands. "Not anymore..." she mumbled.

Alix looked pained, Marinette thought once she lifted her gaze again, so she smiled reassuringly at the girl.

"I care about you though. And Kim and Max. It's been nice to have friends to talk to," An offended hey could be heard in the background. "Besides Jagged and Clara, I mean," she added with a grin.

"I still can't believe you used to be neighbors," Alix said, shaking her head lightly.

"My parents were his neighbors," Marinette corrected. "They just kept in contact after my parents moved to Paris."

"They make the best eclairs!" Jagged yelled distractedly, playing with Fang on the floor. "Of course I'd keep in contact!"

Marinette just rolled her eyes.

Her stylist started taking off the foil and washed off the residue dye. Marinette's hair was blowdried and styled, and when Marinette looked in the mirror, she couldn't help but smile.

It was quiet in the hotel room for a moment as Marinette took in her new look.

"You've really changed, haven't you?" Alix suddenly asked, and Marinette was just about to retort when Alix reassured. "I mean that in a good way! It's just- you seem more confident. Comfortable."

Marinette thought about, turning her head to look at herself again.

"I guess you're right," She looked down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers before looking at Alix again. "I've never really thought of how much of myself I gave to the class, but never really gave to myself," She shrugged. "It's weird, thinking about my own needs, but this week has actually been really nice."

Alix smiled at her, and Marinette returned the gesture.

-

Marinette arrived at the airport on her own.

Well, not completely, a bodyguard had accompanied her, but Marinette had decided against taking the bus with the rest of the class.

The reason why was largely that Marinette didn't want to listen to Lila. Alix, Kim, and Max had tried their best to disprove Lila's claims, but Lila had been slippery and was quick to make excuses for all of their accusations.

After that had gone on for a while, Marinette told them to just drop it and wait until Lila messed up somehow, or until Marinette actually sued the Italian, like she very much wanted to do.

They had grumbled a bit, but Marinette promised that they would figure something out, and if she had to, she would out the liar herself as NeTi.

Marinette was slightly offended when the majority of the class, save for the trio and Mme. Bustier, seemed surprised to see her for this class trip at all. They probably hadn't expected her to come, or maybe Lila had lied about her absence in some way.

She was surprised however, when Rose and Juleka came up to her and complimented her new hair, Marinette stuttering and stumbling over her thank you's.

She had been quite happy with how it had turned herself.

Her hair looked completely normal from the back, except for maybe the fact that it was now loose and bluntly cut at her shoulders, rather than in the usual pigtails. If people looked from the front however, they would see that under the outer most visible part of her hair, it was dyed peach pink.

When she had gotten it done, Alix had noted that it reflected Marinette quite a lot. At first glance, she might seem like a normal girl, but there was something special that Marinette was hiding.

Marinette had sweat-dropped at this, even if she knew that Alix was probably referring to her career as NeTi and not her being Ladybug.

Lila had made a comment about how it made Marinette look like a delinquent, quickly adding that she meant no harm of course.

Marinette didn't pay that any mind, focusing instead on where she was going to sit on the plane.

It seemed Bruce had simply just decided to change the original flight she was supposed to have taken later for when she was originally going to Gotham, because her seat was exactly the same.

She couldn't say that she was disappointed getting to sit first class and away from her classmates, even if she had slightly wanted to sit next to Alix.

When the announcement was made that everyone on first-class had to board, Marinette was stopped by one angry Alya.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Alya asked, crossing her arms and looking at the idol with narrowed eyes.

"Boarding," Marinette answered simply, with a bored tone.

"We're not supposed to board yet if you hadn't-"

Marinette didn't even give Alya the chance to talk, simply walking up to the personnel, showed them her ticket, and boarded her flight, only looking back to wave at Alix, Kim, and Max, all of whom snickering in their hands as they looked at Alya's stunned expression.

Lila was quick to jump into action however, and walked up to the person who was accepting people's tickets.

"I'm sorry, but some tickets must have been mixed up, I'm supposed to sit in first class," Lila said, fluttering her eyelashes and looking at the worker with every ounce of fake innocence that she could muster.

"Do you have any form of documentation for that?" They asked Lila.

"Ah, no, you see, I lost the paper where I printed the email on, and the email was deleted," Lila tried, but the worker looked unimpressed.

"What's your name?"

"Lila Rossi."

The worker typed something up on the computer and simply shook their head.

"I'm sorry, but it says you have an economy seat in our system. I can't get you a first-class seat without any form of proper documentation," They told Lila in a bored tone, it probably not being the first time someone tried to get a different seat.

Lila was just about to come up with something else when the worker simply said next, and she was shoved to the side by what appeared to be pissed off businesswoman.

-

When the flight had landed, Alya wanted to have a serious conversation with Marinette.

Asking her parents to pay for a first-class seat? Unbelievable.

Alya was absolutely seething as she watched her class president walk away with some strange man in a suit. Who even was that guy?

Ever since the class had taken off for the trip, it seemed as if Marinette got special treatment, arriving privately, sitting in first class, and now this, leaving in a private car.

It didn't make sense.

Alya stomped her way over to Mme. Bustier, her face screaming murder. Everyone parted a way for her; Kim, Alix, and Max all sharing a worried look.

"Mme. Bustier!" Alya's voice rang clear in the car park where the class was waiting for their bus. "Why isn't Marinette driving to the hotel with us? And what was the deal with her sitting first class on the plane?"

Mme. Bustier looked at Alya in surprise, having thought that the reporter would already know.

"The plane ticket was one that Marinette had already previously had to Gotham, from my understanding," Alya's eyes widened. "and the rest are security measures made by both Mr. Wayne, as well as Marinette's company."

Mme. Bustier knew full well about Marinette's career, had been one of the first informed as well, partly because of Marinette having to be gone for more than a month because of touring and training.

"What do you mean Marinette's company? Marinette isn't part of any company, I would know," Alya insisted.

Mme. Bustier's brows furrowed.

"Marinette has been part of an entertainment company since she was 13, so I don't know what you're talking about."

Alya was taken aback. Marinette had been in some type of entertainment company for years and hadn't told her?

"I guess you didn't know her as well as you thought," Lila said, putting a comforting hand on Alya's shoulder. "She should have told you about this."

Alya was pissed. Marinette had some nerve thinking that she could just keep something that big from her best friend.

"Why would she keep something like that a secret?" Alya's voice shook as she asked Lila.

"Maybe she didn't want to tell you," Lila shrugged. "or maybe she just didn't want to help you with your career. She could have gotten you so many opportunities, couldn't she?"

Lila's voice was all sweet innocence, her eyes big and thoughtful, as if it was something to be pondered.

"If I was Marinette, I would have told you immediately, friends shouldn't keep secrets like that."

Lila was right, of course she was, and it just made Alya even more mad. Marinette didn't deserve that career, Lila did.

"You would probably be better at it than she is too," Alya said. "What does she even do? I certainly haven't heard about her."

"Ah, I don't know, I don't think I'd be that great in entertainment," Lila looked down, fiddling with her jacket.

"Wha- of course you'd be great! Didn't Clara Nightingale want you to be her protegé?"

"I guess..." Lila trailed off, looking up at Alya before shrugging. "I just don't like all of the attention, you know? I hate being in the spotlight like that, Marinette probably loves it though."

Alya sneered.

"It's just like her, such an attention whore," Alya rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I can't believe I thought she was nice."

The bus arrived and everyone got in, Alya and Lila continuing to talk about Marinette, largely in distaste.

-

Marinette let out a tired sigh as she collapsed on her large, soft bed, another thing Alya had thrown a hissy fit over.

"Why is Marinette's room so much bigger than ours?"

The room was one that had been previously booked for her stay in Gotham, Bruce having somehow managed to extend her booking, rather than changing her room completely.

Kim, Max, and Alix had left not that long ago, having told her all about Alya's little episode at the airport.

It hadn't surprised Marinette that Lila managed to make Marinette's secrecy look bad, she even understood why Alya might have been hurt by the fact that Marinette had kept it a secret.

Marinette had her reasons for why she had kept it a secret however and she felt like it was okay for her to keep certain things private. In the beginning, Marinette hadn't wanted to tell Alya until she had an actual confirmed debut date, but by that time, Alya already seemed to hate her. Why in the world should Marinette tell someone who hated her that she was about to debut as an idol?

As for the contacts, well...

Marinette hadn't wanted Alya to be her friend just because she could get her good contacts and interviews. Jagged and Clara had both warned her about making friends with reporters while an understudy. It was simply just too big of a risk.

"This is going to be a long trip," Marinette sighed.

"Don't worry Marinette, I'm sure you'll find something to enjoy here," Tikki reassured, nuzzling her chosen's cheek. "We could go and explore Gotham for a bit before going to bed," she suggested.

"Are you sure?" Marinette asked, kind of uncertain. "It's kinda late now."

She would be lying if she said she didn't want to, however.

"We'll be fine Marinette, you need some fresh air."

Marinette sighed, before looking at her door. She couldn't go out of the hotel entrance, Claude would be around somewhere and either tell her to head back to her room, or demand to go with her.

She looked at her window instead.

"I guess there's only one way to get out," she turned to Tikki and grinned. "Tikki, spots on."

-_-_-_-