#text interactions

Chloe: I heard that fake reporter was coming over to ‘apologize’ today, so here’s some stuff to really drive your point home.

 Marinette: wait where did you get those pictures

Marinette: have you had them this whole time???

 Chloe: I have my ways. Don’t question me Dupain-Cheng.

---

Adrien <3: Alya wants to know if it’s a good time for her to come over.

 Marinette: yeah

 Adrien <3: I can tell the others, we can come over.

Adrien <3: Make sure she doesn’t try anything.

 Marinette: kitty.

Marinette: she won’t try anything

Marinette: she just wants to talk i can handle myself

 Adrien <3: Of course, I know you can.

 Marinette: adrien

 Adrien <3: Anyway, she’s headed over. I’ll let the others know so we can wait in the park and glare at her. It’s the least we can do.

 Marinette: or you could go about your day as usual and not bother with needless interruptions

 Adrien <3: We were already going to hang out, now we’re just coming by earlier. You can’t run from our love and support.

 Marinette: You don’t need to do that.

 Adrien <3: I’ll make plans that have nothing to do with that then.

---

Hug This Boy: So who wants to go to the park outside of the bakery for reasons completely unrelated to the fact that Alya is coming over to talk to Marinette. It’s just a coincidence if we go to check on Marinette afterward and maybe hurt Alya if need be.

Hug This Boy: Completely unrelated. 

 Patisserie Princess: Adrien.

 Hug This Boy: It’s so fun watching the grass grow.

 Kid Mime: o absolutly

Kid Mime: its so green

 The Mom Friend: yep

 Melodie: So fascinating.

 Felix: Most definitely.

 Patisserie Princess: …

Patisserie Princess: this isn’t necessary

 Melodie: Well how else are we going to look at the grass that happens to be right outside your house?

 Kid Mime: yea mari

 Patisserie Princess: oh she’s here ive got to go

Patisserie Princess: all of you are to go about your day as usual

 Hug This Boy: Wow, the next event on my schedule is ‘watching grass grow at the park that happens to be outside of Mari’s place’.

 The Mom Friend: wat a coincdence same here

---

“Alya,” Marinette states, opening the door, “Let’s go to my room.”

She nods numbly, and the pair make their way upstairs, ignoring the glares from Tom and Sabine.

They both sit on the floor of her room, and they sit in silence for what feels like an eternity.

Alya breaks first.

“Mari- Marinette. I’m sorry. I was supposed to be a reporter and I didn’t even bother to fact check! I just believed her because I was so- so- so infatuated with her stories! She sounded so cool! She’d been everywhere and met everyone, and then… she hadn’t. It was all a lie. You were right. When the slides changed during the competition it felt like everything stopped. I couldn’t even process that everything she’d told us seemed to be a lie. Everyone apologized to you yesterday, and I should have the moment I knew the truth, but I wanted to process it first because… well I mean now I’m trying to avoid acting before thinking- Not that I’m suggesting that you made anything up, or something like that! I’m not! I just wanted to make sure I had all my thoughts in order. I’m so sorry,” Alya says hurriedly.

“You’re not wrong,” Marinette agrees, “You completely threw me out for someone you didn’t even know. The whole class hurt me, but Alya… you hurt me the most. More than Lila - sure, she tore me down enough that I was definitely in a bad place… but you?” she sighs, “Do you even- Alya, do you remember the first week of school? Do you remember Thursday? Can you just… go through it with me? How did we go from making plans to… that?”

Alya is tearing up, but nods. “I didn’t know anything was happening until I got there. Lila was sobbing hysterically, and she looked awful. A few of the class were already with her, and she said she had something to tell us, but wanted to wait for everyone. She said she’d already talked to Adrien. When everyone got there she said that she was being bullied. Regular insults, cyberbullying, attempts at isolating her, so much and it was all so awful. Afterwards, we were all obviously furious and spent at least five minutes convincing her to give us a name. All she managed was to say your name and then she started sobbing and wouldn’t speak anymore. Then class started, and you came in like everything was normal and just made me more mad, I absolutely hated you,” her voice cracks, “So when class was over we all confronted you. We thought you were lying, we thought you threw yourself down the stairs for pity points. We figured if Chloe was coming to your defense, then you must be a bully, and when you left and didn’t return we just took that as you running away. Going to start over in a new place.”

Alya is openly crying now, staying as quiet as she can.

“That’s not how I saw it. You know, to this day my memories of it are vague, and there’s like half of it I can’t remember period. I spent hours just dead, staring at nothing,” Marinette takes a shaky breath, preparing herself. That day is still the hardest part to talk or think about for her, even all these months later. “I went to school in a good mood, you know, because we’d talked for the first time in months and were making plans to hang out. Lila had been gone for a while and I figured that she wouldn’t be back and I could have more of a break. Everything seemed normal in class, I was worried about being late, especially with Adrien gone. Then class ended. You were yelling at me, maybe Nino too? I couldn’t breathe right, and I tried to leave. You grabbed my wrist and suddenly everyone was yelling, and then the door slammed. You were surprised and I twisted myself away, falling down the stairs. By then I’d realized the door slam was another person and I was scared, so I ran. Chloe and Sabrina found me in the bathroom, and from there I don’t know, but others have filled me in. Chloe brought me home and apparently took pictures. Then Maman must have had me go to my room. Chat Noir said he saw me on my balcony and I was completely unresponsive. He sent me to bed, and then it was the next day.” Somehow, Marinette manages to get through the story with minimal voice cracking and tears.

Alya makes a choked sound, more tears falling. After a moment she croaks, “Can I see the pictures?”

Marinette looks at her. “What? Why?” “I deserve it. I was the reason you fell and I need to see what I did.”

Marinette pauses. She didn’t intend to show anyone the pictures, they were obviously upsetting. She’s sitting on the counter, slumped and staring downward. She had expected her eyes to be haunted, or sad, or something like that, but they were just… empty. Nothing at all. Somehow it’s worse that way.

Her red-rimmed eyes and dried tear tracks are proof of her earlier crying.

Marinette is covered in fresh bruises, on her arms, legs, and the one on her face. She got scratches near most of them, the angry red of the skin outlining and accentuating the bruises. Her wrist is clearly sprained - swelled and bruised. Her Maman is in front of her, cleaning her up as best she can, applying bandages and putting an ice pack on the wrist.

“Are you sure? You don’t need to see them. They’re-”

Alya nods. “I deserve it.”

So Marinette turns the phone to her.

Alya covers her mouth in horror, fresh tears coming to her eyes. She won’t let herself look away. She flips through each picture repeatedly, growing more and more upset. Her expression changes momentarily, confusion to sickened understanding.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobs, “I’m so so so sorry. I never- There’s no excuse- I- I’m so sorry.”

Marinette takes the phone. Seeing the screenshots that Chloe sent, she winces. She still doesn’t like reading them, somehow the pictures of her are more bearable so she switches back to those before shutting the device off.

“Why?” Marinette asks, “What on Earth was going on that day that you thought I deserved to hear those things? I wa- n-need to know.”

Alya shakes her head. “There’s no excuse. I… I was having a bad day, and then Lila told us that Ladybug had sided with you and I j-j-just got so mad. It felt better than just wallowing in self-pity. You s-sent that text and I just u-used you as some sort of p-personal punching bag. I t-t-texted you for a while, and then Adrien, Chloe, and Sabrina showed up. I guess Sabrina grabbed my ph-phone when I was d-distracted with Chloe and deleted your contact. I sp-spe-spent the rest of the day mad at you.”

Marinette stares at a corner of her room, her voice soft. “I was at lunch. I was already having a bad day, and I had found out you deleted the Ladyblog so I was thinking about you and wondering where I went wrong and how much you guys hated me, which was honestly the usual, but moreso.” Alya barely stifles a cry. “I meant to text Allegra, but I’d taken the wrong phone to school. I made myself read each text, and it was everything I’d been t-telling myself, so that was…” Marinette looks away and takes a deep breath. “My friends found me, and somehow I got to the library. I don’t…. I don’t really remember much until I got home, and Adrien was there and I decided to tell them why I transferred.”

“I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry.”

Marinette shakes her head. “I didn’t have you come over so we could compare events. Alya, you were my first friend, my best friend, and you just… left me. I don’t understand.” Her voice cracks.

Alya reaches toward her slightly, then remembers herself and draws back. Guilt claws at her inside, and it feels like it is coursing through her veins. “I- always thought that you had deceived us. That you had somehow faked kindness and that Lila was finally showing us the truth. I was d-disgusted with myself for ha-having ever called you my friend, and I just wanted t-to d-d-do everything I c-could to make it up to Lila for it. I thought- I started avoiding you near the end of school because you seemed like you were changing for the worse. Then that first week back just seemed to prove it. I’m so sorry, Marinette.”

Somehow, something about her words angers the designer. She’d been doing her best to stay calm, but something in her wants to make Alya understand how she was hurt and hurt her back.

“Oh?” Her voice is scathing, and she fakes disinterest, exaggeratingly inspecting her nails. “See, to me, I felt like I was losing my best friend. I had been so sure that Lila’s threat to take all my friends away would never come true. I told myself that sure, we weren’t as close, but you didn’t hate me. Then I returned to school. Wednesday we made plans to hang out, do you remember? I was so hopeful after that, and then you were the first to turn. All of you just threw me out - do you have any idea how badly that messed me up? How long it took me to believe I was worthy of being cared about after that?”

Like someone watching their neighbor’s house burn in the night, Alya stares as Marinette continues.

“I still haven’t recovered properly! My anxiety is so much worse now, because come on, look what Lila did in less than a year! Who knows what could happen! A part of my mind is still constantly waiting for people to leave me again, and while I no longer believe it- thank goodness- actually no! Thank my friends, because they stayed. They cared about me, when I didn’t even care about me and I would never have recovered without them! So yeah, while I no longer think that they’ll leave me, there’s a part of my mind forever wondering ‘what if they do’. I thought I’d lost them before. You met them after an akuma attack and Lila was with you, and I saw them talking to you and I was so sure that they would find out about everything and then they’d start looking at me in disgust too, that I’d be forced to watch more people drift away, to lose people again, and then I’d be alone again! They didn’t even know what happened yet! They found me having a panic attack and the first thing I said was that I’d prove to them that I wasn’t lying! I was so desperate! I didn’t want to lose them too! And…” Marinette exhales, fury dying down and giving way to exhaustion. “Look. We used to be so close, but no matter what, that can’t happen again. There’s a rift now. I don’t hate you, and I’m not saying I never want to speak to you, maybe years from now, we could maybe be some sort of friends, but we can never be best friends again, if we ever were.”

Alya nods. “Th-th-that’s fine. I don’t deserve you. Y-you’re b-be-being too nice as it i-is.”

Marinette’s heart breaks. She wants to comfort her so badly, but she won’t lie, and she’s beginning to feel that maybe it’s okay to think someone doesn’t deserve her. She has value, and if people don’t treat her that way, then she knows who isn’t worth her time. She won’t agree with the statement though, that just feels too mean, and she can’t bring herself to say it to her face.

The two sit in an awkward silence for some time, interrupted only by Alya’s barely stifled sniffling and sobbing. Marinette grabs her phone.

 Marinette: would you be up to talking with alya?

 Adrien <3: What did she do?

 Marinette: r talk went fine i meant for the way she treated u.

 Adrien <3: Oh.

Adrien <3: Sure.

 Marinette: well be on r way down

 “Alya? I think you should talk to Adrien. The way he was treated at school is inexcusable,” Marinette says coldly. She flips up on the messages app as she turns off her phone.

The other girl nods shakily, and they head downstairs. When they reach the entrance to the park, it’s not hard to spot her group of friends. The five of them are out on the grass, chatting with each other. Marinette walks over to them, staring down at them. “Watching the grass grow, huh?”

They all turn to look at her, there are several cries of ‘Mari!’ from everyone but Felix who just remarks, “Oh yes, it is indeed very intriguing.”

She can see the barely concealed smirk on his face, and she just rolls her eyes. “Goodness, you guys.”

“How did it go?” Allegra asks, eyeing Alya warily.

“It went fine. She’s here to talk with Adrien.”

Adrien nods, standing to give Marinette a quick hug before walking with Alya to the other side of the park.

“...I feel bad. She’s so upset,”  Marinette mumbles.

Allegra hugs her tightly, and Marinette can tell she’s scowling. “As she should, after what she did.”

“Still.”

“You care too much, that’s all,” Claude justifies, “Too much empathy, which isn’t the worst trait to have.”

“We can hate her enough for you,” Allegra growls, still watching Alya.

“She doesn’t deserve that. I don’t want her to hate herself for this, that’s not good.”

“Oh, ‘Nette. I’m sure she won’t hate herself, prob’ly just be pretty guilty for a while.” Allan reassures.

Felix adds, “Even if she did, it would not be your fault in the slightest. You cannot control what other people think.”

Marinette frowns, unconvinced.

Claude musses up her hair, earning an affronted squeak from the girl. He ignores her, saying, “Anyways, do you want to hear about the grass we’ve been watching? I swear it’s grown a whole one thousand twenty fourth of a millimeter.”

“Did you actually watch grass grow?”

“Well, that’s what we said we were gonna’ do, isn’t i’?” Allan teases.

Marinette shakes her head, sighing.

“Actually, it’s technically spring right now, how are you doing?” Allegra asks.

Marinette grins. “I’m back to normal, but in a few weeks? Once flowers start blooming I’m going to be a little hyper, so prepare yourself.”

“Wonderful,” Felix mutters, “Two Claudes.”

“You love meeeee!!” Claude flops towards him, teasing.

“I suppose.”

“So, is that from the same thing that makes you try to hibernate?” Allan checks.

“Yup! I really like spring! Flower crowns incoming.”

“I am all for flower crowns!” Claude crows.

“I’m guessing Adrien knows about this?” Allegra says, “He seemed to know something when spring was brought up, but decided he was going to be all cryptic about it.”

“It’s just more fun that way!” The boy in question returns, going next to Marinette.

“He’s not wrong.”

“Oh, of course you would agree with that, Claude.”

They bat their eyes innocently. “Why, Allegra, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Pfff. Yeah, you’re definitely the picture of innocence, buddy.” Allan rolls his eyes.

Claude gasps. “Allan! You’d betray me like this? Does our friendship mean nothing? Et tu, Brute?”

The boy puts the back of his hand on his forehead, falling backwards.

“Oh no! Claude feign-ted!” Adrien cries.

It takes a moment, but Claude is the first to get it, cracking up. Marinette just sighs wearily, soon followed by Felix. Allan and Allegra understand at the same time, the former laughing, and the latter groaning.

---

Author’s Note: How was that for a chapter? Originally, I was going to have her friends see the pictures, but it didn't quite fit in, and it wouldn't have led to anything big, so I dropped it.

Were you surprised there wasn't a strong language warning? I was when I was proofreading.

Hey, who wants to see the results of the survey? Do you want them later today or on Saturday (to give it a full week)? Also, there's some great extra responses from that bit at the end, so do you guys just want to see all of them or have me find some highlights? If you haven't taken it, please do, because I'm having a blast. Also, should I do another survey for a dumb debate like this, because I already found another great question.

(Can you tell I've been cooped up inside only leaving to walk the dog or get groceries? A little stir crazy here. My dog is just happy I'm home more.)

Regardless, I look forward to any and all comments you have for me! You guys make me smile!

P.S. I haven’t done a ‘things I’ve overheard’ in a while. I’ll probably post one soon.

She’s honestly disappointed in herself that it took so long for her to think of this. Lila had been hoping to find Marinette’s new school ever since the girl had left Dupont, and now Lila had finally realized she’d had the answer since December.

Felix Voclain.

He’d been one of the ones to assist Marinette at the Louvre that day, so it made sense to guess that the two attended the same school.

Already knowing where the boy went, Lila didn’t hesitate to go to the school ‘for a tour’. The class is under the impression she’s in South America or something like that.

She doesn’t really care - the morons can believe whatever they want.

Today is about finding Marinette.

Once in the office, she’s told her student guide will be arriving momentarily.

“Ah, here he is! Claude De Rosier! Claude, this is Lila, you’ll be showing her around today.”

The boy and girl stare at each other blankly. Lila isn’t sure what to think, because she’s sure she’s met him before - twice - but he’d insisted it had only been once, with legitimate proof to back up his claims.

The boy grins, sticking his hand out for her to shake, “Welcome to my school, Lila! I’m so excited to show you around!”

She isn’t sure what to make of his strange emphasis. It’s so slight, she isn’t sure if she imagined it or not.

As they shake, she smiles easily, “Thank you so much! I’m sure you’ll be a great guide!”

“The best!” he winks at her.

As they exit, Lila swears it looks like Claude wipes his hand on his leg. He rubs fingers against his palm a few times - confused - before subtly sniffing it, and frowning slightly. When he notices her glancing his way, he smiles reassuringly and leads her onward.

“Well, if you’re interested in transferring here, I can assure you this is a very welcoming school! There really wasn’t any need to rush out the door!” he takes some hand sanitizer from a dispenser on the wall - a lot more than what would be considered normal. Lila wipes her hand on her leg nervously as she responds.

“What do you mean?” She’d spent extra time on her appearance today. Being attractive helps sell a story more.

“Oh, well I just-” he pauses, looking over her slightly, “It’s nothing! Nevermind! Uh, here’s the math wing…” he hurriedly moves on to describe the current area of the school, commenting on teachers and the different subjects taught.

He is going over the locker arrangements - grade-wise - when he interrupts himself to say, “You know, my locker is close by. I’ve got a hairbrush you can borrow if you want…”

“I- uh- What?” Lila touches her hair self-consciously. It seems fine to her, but she can’t see all of it, “Is there something wrong with my hair?”

“Oh no! I just- nevermind! It’s fine!” he rushes to reassure her, but she can tell he isn’t being entirely truthful. Before she can ask for that hairbrush, he hurriedly moves onto another aspect of the school.

Lila keeps touching her hair, glancing in any reflective surface she could find, but none of them seemed to show her what was off about her.

“Oh! This is the theatre department! I can introduce you to some of my friends.”

The taller boy pushes through a door, holding it open just long enough that she had to catch it as she entered. He runs ahead, seemingly unaware.

“Amy! Victor! I was just showing a student around, and was wondering if we could talk to you!”

Claude has attracted the attention of two students, clearly a few grades above them. They turn to the boy welcomingly, agreeing as they turn to face the touring student.

She could have sworn that she saw recognition - and disgust - flash across their faces, but it’s gone before she gets a good look.

“I told her about that trip the three of us - and some of the other theatre kids - took to England! In December.”

Amy and Victor glance at each other. They went on the trip, as did many others, but Claude? Claude did not. There had been a running joke that ‘Claude was always with them’ to the point that one of the group had jokingly photoshopped Claude into several pictures, but Claude hadn’t actually gone.

He’d stayed home in Paris, especially since one of his friends - Marinette, sweet girl, a shame about the bullying they’d heard about - was going through a rough time. That wasn’t the only reason Cladue had stayed of course, but still. The point stands.

“Oh it really was a blast! We’re a really close group here!”

“Mhm! One big family! London was so fun!”

The pair may not know what’s going on, but they can play along. Amy and Victor both vaguely recognized the girl as someone they disliked, so they don’t have a problem screwing with her.

Lila grows uncomfortable as the boy keeps glancing at her head before correcting himself to make proper eye-contact. The girl seemed startled by some aspect of Lila’s appearance and frowned slightly before covering it up with a too-big smile.

“Oh, I forgot to introduce her! This is Lila Rossi.”

Oh, they most certainly know her. Most people in the school are familiar enough with her. She’s the one that was rumored to have done something to Marinette.

No one is quite sure of any details, but there’s a silent agreement among the school that the only ones allowed to bring up that girl around Marinette are her close friends. All others pretend she doesn’t exist.

Marinette doesn’t seem to have realized she joined a popular friend group. The former-quartet (now quintet?) had been known for being kind people who were fun to hang out with. Marinette had been adopted so quickly, and her nature seemed to be just as good-hearted, which made her just as popular. Not that she seemed to realize it.

When rumors started about bullying people were horrified. Then a name came up. 

Lila Rossi.

The girl who is apparently currently standing in front of them.

Claude’s actions make so much sense now.

“I’m really not much of an actor! I haven’t been able to do much work since the accident…” she trails off, playing melancholy and waiting for the usual sympathy. It never hurts to pull her tricks in a new place.

It doesn’t come. Each person before her seems fixated on whatever they’d been looking at on her earlier.

“Oh! I’m sorry, did you say something?” Amy looks at her apologetically and the others break from their staring to make eye contact, though the older girl has to nudge Victor a little to get his attention.

Lila is really starting to wonder what’s wrong, but she’ll never admit to it. Repeating herself won’t do any good so she changes topics, “I just, uh, was saying that fashion is more my thing! My, uh, friend Marinette might have transferred here I was wondering if you knew her?”

“Nope! I don’t know any Marinettes!” Claude shakes his head regretfully.

Victor shakes his head as well, but Amy speaks up, “There is Marinette Pontbriand, but she’s in the musical arts department, and she’s not a recent transfer…”

“Uh, no. That’s not her. I must have gotten the school name mixed up…”

“Well, it was nice meeting you! We do have to get back to work now though.” Victor says, then he leans in, patting her hand comfortingly and speaking softly, “You’re so brave. It’ll get better I’m sure.”

He turns, and Amy waves. The taller girl pauses and turns back to Lila, similarly leaning in and speaking softly, “We all have those days.” the girl looks over Lila sympathetically, then digs in her bag to subtly hand her a pad and tampon. Amy hurries to join Victor.

What the-?

“Anyways, we should get back to our very important tour!” Claude breaks her out of her confused stupor.

“Y-Yes! Let’s!” She stuffs the period products into her bag and follows the boy. 

---

By the end of the one hour tour, Lila feels shaky and confused. Everyone they spoke to seems to know something she didn’t - and that something had to do with her.

She’s never felt so self-conscious before. It’s driving her crazy, because she has no idea what’s going on. What do they all see?!

She smiles at Claude weakly as she heads out the door.

Lila turns to go home, deciding to not bother with school for the day. 

Once home, she spends hours in front of the mirror, studying herself.

By the end of the day she’s taken 5 showers, washed her hair 3 times, tried ten new makeup routines, washed her clothes twice, and considered three different outfits for school tomorrow.

---

Bonus:

Kid Mime: so

Kid Mime: remember how i was suposed to be leeding a new studnt arownd 2day?

The Mom Friend: yeah? is somthin wrong? r they ok?

Kid Mime: i sure hope not

Kid Mime: it was liela

Melodie: Excuse me?! She has the nerve to come here?? Does she think we’re stupid?? That little brat had better count her lucky stars that I didn’t see her.

The Mom Friend: o goodness wat did u do

Kid Mime: i pretended that there was something wrong with her

Kid Mime: u no

Kid Mime: besides everything else about her

Kid Mime: i had to shake her hand and i made sure she saw me wiping my hand on my leg and using a ridiculus amont of sanitizer

Felix: As you should, after being in contact with her.

Kid Mime: of corse

Kid Mime: anyways i kept suggesting somethign about her lookd weird

Melodie: Besides the sausage hair?

Kid Mime: bsides the sasage hair

Kid Mime: i had her catch every door

Kid Mime: it was almst as satisfin as slaming 1 in her face

Kid Mime: uh

Kid Mime: o!

Kid Mime: teh best part is that as soon as i introducd her to peaple as liela evry1 messed w/ her 2

Kid Mime: i think amy gave her a tampon

The Mom Friend: well mari is a sweetheart 

The Mom Friend: the scool is gunna protect there own

Felix: She has certainly made an impression here. I cannot think of anyone that does not like her.

Melodie: I’m so proud of her. Like, remember when we first met her Claude? She tripped over one of us or something and seemed to think we were going to yell at her, poor baby.

The Mom Friend: 2020 hindsite tho that makes a lot of sense

Kid Mime: she was so quietttttttt

Kid Mime: an it took like a month b4 she actualy hung out w/ us outside of scool

Kid Mime: :((((((

Melodie: She’s doing a lot better.

Felix: Speaking of, how is she now?

The Mom Friend: asleep

Melodie: Rest well, honey!!

---

Author’s Note: Lila, Lila, Lila. You are no match for my baby boy. I really do enjoy this chapter. Showing off my baby boy in a 'fox' v fox chapter.

Anyways, I know why you all stuck around. You want the chapter summary. Well, just so you know, the reason I'm giving it early is because I just love worrying you guys. Here it is: Ladybug goes down during a battle and Adrien can't find a pulse. 💕💕💕

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in my ask box, in replies or through reblogs. I love seeing what you think!

Claude had just exited the bakery. He had been visiting Marinette because he’d been in the area, and they’d hung out for a little bit until Marinette fell asleep. Now, walking out of the bakery, they saw another of their friends. Adrien is in the nearby park with-

Oh.

He’s with them. Alya, Lila, and some boy that must be Nino. It looks like it must be some sort of ‘double date’ but as Adrien had pointed out before, that would require both couples to be dating. That Lie-la girl is hanging off the poor boy who is so clearly uncomfortable. The so called ‘friends’ don’t seem to notice his distress, and Alya even seems to be taking pictures of the ‘cute couple’ every so often.

It’s time for an intervention.

“Adrien! I didn’t know you’d be in the area! We could have planned something with everyone!” Claude runs up to the group.

“Claude, it’s nice to see you!” Adrien takes the chance he gets and extricates himself from Lila to move closer to his friend. It’s only a momentary relief, Lila clings to Adrien again, looking at Claude in feigned fear.

“You! Y-you were one of the people that helped Marinette attack me at the museum!” Alya and Adrien both open their mouths to say something, but Claude speaks first, “Oh I’m so sorry to hear you were attacked, but I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about! When did this happen- I’d like to clear this up.”

“Early December a-at the Louvre. I-I haven’t been back since.” Lila’s shaky voice prompts Alya to hug her closely, glaring at Claude suspiciously.

Claude shakes his head, clucking his tongue, “Sorry darling, but you must have mistaken me with someone else. I was in England performing for most of December, just got back last week. I’m an actor.” He pulls out his phone, showing her various pictures of him in front of various English landmarks, and some with him in costumes with different people also dressed up. One specifically shows the date that he knows she’s talking about, so he lingers on that one, but doesn’t point it out seeing as he’s not supposed to know the day specifically.

Adrien covers his confusion well. Lila looks startled, “B-but-”

“Sorry, girl. It’s okay, it must be the trauma,” Alya comforts Lila, before looking at Claude, “Sorry about that, it was a scary day. She had a run-in with a former bully.”

“Hm.”

Lila gasps quietly, freezing in the journalist’s arms.

Alya and Nino notice immediately, asking her what’s wrong and hovering over her as though she might break.

“I-it’s j-j-just I forgot-t-t how c-c-close we were t-to her house.” Lila stares wide-eyed at the bakery nearby.

Alya frowns, handing Lila to Nino, storming over to the bakery and throwing the door open. She hasn’t even stepped inside before the group hears raised voices from the couple inside. Alya comes back after a moment, fuming.

She mutters bitterly, and Claude figures this is as good a time as any to rescue his friend.

“Well, anyways, Adrien did you still want to see Allegra’s practice for her upcoming concert? I was just on my way there!” Obviously, there is no practice, especially given that said girl is out of town visiting family for a few days.

“Oh, that’s today! I completely forgot! Sorry guys, I can’t miss it - she’d be so bummed!” Adrien plays along flawlessly.

“Well, maybe we could come with? We barely see you out of school anymore, Adrien!” Lila clings to him once more, and Claude knows that if Allegra were here she’d not have the self-control to keep herself from forcibly ripping the leech from him.

“Oh, sorry dear, but you can’t join us!” he shakes as head as though truly sorry, “The orchestra likes for people planning on watching performances to sign up beforehand - they don’t want too many people at once.”

“W-well maybe we could see the actual concert in a few weeks? We’d come with Adrien of course!” She won’t give up.

Adrien joins in, “Actually, that’s why I’m seeing the practice - the concert is on the same day as an important shoot so I won’t be able to see it. It’d be kind of weird for you guys to go without me.” He finally pries her off of him, moving to be near Claude, “Well, you guys enjoy the rest of your day!” He hurries away and Claude follows.

“Ugh, how long were you trapped with those dreadful people?” 

“A few hours. Thanks for saving me.” Adrien looks to him questioningly, “Where did you get those pictures?”

“Adrien, Adrien, Adrien. You should know that a magician never reveals their secrets.”

--- 

Adrien is practicing piano when Plagg flies over with his phone.

“Alright, Kitten. You’ve got an akuma to deal with. It’s near Notre-Dame.”

Adrien checks his phone for confirmation.

 Akuma Alert:

Type 3

Notre-Dame

More information and updates available.

 “Plagg, claws out!”

It’s their first akuma attack in a while. The absence of akumas lined up nicely with his father’s trip so they’d had a break from both his controlling nature and Hawkmoth’s nonsense. 

That break’s over with now apparently.

He arrives to see that Ladybug is already there. She’s standing on a nearby rooftop shivering and clearly not wanting to be out of bed. He lands beside her.

“Hey Bug, surprised to see you managed to beat me.” 

She only leans into him, mumbling, “I woke up. Didn’t wanna’.”

“Understandable. Do you know anything about the akuma, or are you just cold?”

“Both.” She huffs, as though he should realize she’s always cold,”’t’s giant construction work’r.”

“Did he see you?”

“No.” He hears loud thuds from down the street, and she continues, “He’s back…”

He turns, seeing a man wearing a yellow construction hat, an orange and red checkered shirt and blue overalls. He’s got work boots on, and a construction belt with various tools sticking out of it.

Oh, and he’s as tall as a building. There’s that too.

The man is holding a wrench and swinging it around, smashing the street and nearby buildings. Civilians are staying inside. Definitely a type three.

He spots the heroes and points at them with a screwdriver from his belt, putting the wrench back as he does so, “I am the Unhandyman! My work wasn’t good enough, so now nothing will work well! Nothing is repaired - everything is broken! Give me your miraculous!”

“Nah…” Ladybug mumbles at the victim.

“I’m with my Lady. You’re going down! What happened anyways? Didja’ screw up a construction project? Just couldn’t nail it?”

The man doesn’t respond, just throwing a hammer at them. They jump out of the way, but the building gets hit anyways, opening up the ceiling as the tool crashes through the ceiling. It fades eventually, showing up in his work belt again.

“Le’s get him… less build’ns an’ peoples…” Ladybug suggests.

“Good idea, we can lead him in this direction.” The duo continues in the same direction, being sure to be slow enough to keep him captivated. If he gets bored and wanders away then the citizens of Paris could get caught in the crossfire.

Ladybug swings around him once they’re in an open area, looking for a way to wrap him up. It’s a good thing their weapons are indestructible because it makes them easier to use when an akuma needs to be restrained.

Of course, their weapons are indestructible, but the things they attach them to are not. Unhandyman sees a chance and hits a hammer against where Ladybug has latched her yo-yo, sending her flying into a snowdrift. Chat winces as he realizes she will most definitely be hibernating. He needs to get to her immediately.

The akuma victim has other plans. Surrounding Chat with nails taller than him, Unhandyman aims the hammer at him. The hero ducks out of the way, only hitting a nail with his suit. The impact of the hammer shakes the ground and he stumbles slightly. A giant screwdriver stabs into the ground in front of him, stalling him long enough for the Unhandyman to draw out a measuring tape on its side as a makeshift barrier.

Chat Noir backs off for a moment, going to higher ground before vaulting over to land near his partner. All-in-all, she’s been in the snow for a little more than five minutes, maybe six. He isn’t sure how long exactly, but it’s definitely been too long.

She’s in a snowdrift that reaches above his knees, curled in on herself and shaking slightly. He’d typically be concerned about hypothermia, but her ladybug tendencies can protect her from the cold better than it would seem. Going into hibernation can help her, but only for so long. He picks her up carefully.

She doesn’t move to be any closer to him, completely limp in his arms. Definitely hibernating - not that he had any doubt given the whole falling into a snowdrift bit.

He makes his way to the rooftops, sparing a glance back at Unhandyman. He’ll have to trust that Paris will be able to stay out of his way while Chat gets Ladybug somewhere safe.

He won’t be able to defeat this akuma alone though. 

---

“Master, I’m sorry, I know Marinette usually comes for back-up, but…” He trails off, lifting the still limp girl in his arms to show his point.

Fu looks startled for a moment, “I take it that you two have revealed yourselves then?” He moves to allow the still-transformed pair into the house.

“Oh. Uh, yeah. Sorry, it was an acci-”

“No matter. It was bound to happen eventually. What led to this?” He gestures at Ladybug.

He nods, “She got knocked into the snow and I couldn’t get to her for a while.” 

“You should de-transform, Plagg will be able to release Tikki.” Wayzz suggests.

“Claws in.” 

Plagg flies out of the ring, blinking for a moment before going to the earrings to release his other half as he has before. Tikki falls against Marinette’s shoulder, both girls are entirely asleep.

“While it is not ideal, you will have to leave them here while you deal with the akuma. Wayzz and I can keep them warm, though she likely won’t wake up with you so far. Would I be correct in assuming you came for back-up as well?” Fu leads Adrien into the main room, grabbing the Miracle Box and placing it in front of him.

He hesitates. This is Marinette’s job. He’s never done this before and doesn’t know where to start. He’d default to Honey Bee - trusting Marinette’s past decisions - but Allegra isn’t in Paris at the moment.

“A distraction would be useful here, Kid.” Plagg suggests. Adrien nods, grabbing the orange fox tail. He transforms, thanking Fu for his help and hurrying to the rooftops.

He has someone in mind.

---

“Claude De Rosier, this is the Miraculous of the Fox which grants the power of illusion. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is done you will return the Miraculous to me. Do you accept?”

They stare at him in complete shock, “Me?”

Chat Noir smiles, “I don’t see any other Claudes here.”

Claude blinks, taking the necklace and placing it around his neck. He startles when an orange glow appears, fading to reveal Trixx.

“Greetings kit, I am Trixx, Kwami of the Fox Miraculous! Are you ready to be a hero?”

“I’ll do my best.” 

“It’s simple! To transform you say, ‘Trixx, let’s pounce’ and to detransform you say, ‘Trixx, let’s rest’. When you transform you will be able to use your flute to create a mirage for your purposes. Once you do so, you will only have five minutes before you will detransform, the necklace will display how much time you have left. Chat Noir can guide you.”

Claude notes the absence of the heroine’s name, “What about Ladybug?”

“Tikki is hibernating, I could feel it back when we were at the Guardian’s place.”

“Ladybug won’t be able to help. I can explain another time.” Chat offers.

“Ready?” Trixx turns to Claude excitedly.

They nod, “Trixx, Let’s Pounce!”

The Kwami flies into the necklace, and an orange glow overtakes the boy. As it fades, Chat looks to see how he changed.

He has an orange tunic with a white stripe running down the middle, and the long sleeves are covered by black elbow length gloves that end in zig-zagged cut and look fuzzy. The tunic is tied around the waist, and the material trails behind him, ending in three almost diamond shapes that are tipped in white. Their legs are orange and are covered from the knee down in boots similar to the gloves, that appear to have toe-prints on the bottom. On his head sits two fox ears that are more triangular than those of Rena Rouge and Volpina’s - more like a real fox and fluffy too. His mask is almost entirely orange, though the eyes are lined in black, as is the tip of the nose. They have a short shoulder cap around their front, orange except for the white zig-zagged cut edges. The flute is on their back, held there by magic.

He looks over himself, inspecting the various parts of the outfit.

“What should we call you?” Chat asks.

“Hmm…” The fox hero thinks for a moment, “How about… Kit Mime?”

“I like it. Let’s go!” The two boys jump out the window, Kit Mime taking a moment to adjust to using his abilities. The flute doesn’t extend, instead, they can jump far better than normal - luckily for them the boots seem to negate the slipperiness of the iciness of the rooftops.

It’s easy enough to find Unhandyman, following the trail of destruction which leads them to the Eiffel tower. He’s about to bash one of the legs with his hammer when Chat calls out, “Hey! You miss me?”

The giant turns, glaring once he’s spotted the heroes, “Where did Ladybug go? Finally admit defeat?”

“Actually my Lady realized she has better things to do, sorry if you’re a fan.”

“May I say something sir? I’d just like to say that I understand that it can sometimes be difficult choosing the right hammer, but you’ve nailed it!” Kit grins innocently at his pun.

Their response is the giant hammer being thrown at their head. Both boys jump out of the way easily, running to get closer.

“Any ideas on the akumatized object?” Chat questions Kit.

“Maybe the hat? Or the belt?” He’s new at this, but those seem like the most likely options.

“Okay, we’ll start with the hat - it should be easier. Maybe we can climb down from the  tower…”

They’re at the base of the tower, and Chat stops to consider things. Kit Mime looks up and jumps, landing at a platform much higher up. He continues in this way until he’s higher on the tower. At this point Chat has realized what they’re up to and is distracting Unhandyman.

Kit Mime lands softly on the hard-hat, stopping for a moment to think before shrugging and slamming his flute into it. A hole shows up, but no butterfly comes out. The victim has realized what happened so Kit jumps back to safety, sliding down the tower and running to join Chat.

“It was a good attempt.” Chat offers.

“Oh well. Do we try the belt now?”

“Yep, it’s mostly trial and error. I’ll let you in on a secret-” He leans in, whispering conspiratorially, “Ladybug and I don’t actually know what we’re doing.”

“I think you do pretty well for people that don’t know what they’re doing.”

“Thanks, you’ve done well for someone who probably also doesn’t know what they’re doing.”

The thud of a wrench slamming into the Eiffel tower brings them out of their conversation.

“Alright. Here’s how we’re going to do this. Make an illusion of me and just stick near me. Make it seem like we’re trying to get to him. I’ll sneak up from behind and catacl- destroy the belt. First let me go out of sight for a bit - maybe don’t let him see you making the illusion though.”

Kit Mime and Chat Noir duck into separate hiding places. Soon enough Chat Noir sees another him running alongside Kit, and he sneaks over to the tower, climbing quietly. Whispering, he says, “Cataclysm.”

He jumps to the belt touching it with his hand. An akuma flies out and he holds it between his fingers, sliding down the tower to meet Kit.

“Let’s get somewhere quieter. We gotta’ detransform.”

They find an alley just as the necklace runs out. Claude stands in his place, and Trixx is flying about excitedly, “You did so well!”

“You did. Welcome to the team.” The ring beeps, “I’ve got to take Trixx back now though. Are you free tonight?”

Claude lifts the fox tail over his head, “I think so. Why?”

“We’ve started bringing our temporary heroes on patrols every so often - for practice. Seeing as you’re free, I’ll stop by later. I’ve got to go now, are you good here?” “Yep! One of my friends lives near here, and I left a coat at his place once so it’s as good a time as any to grab it.”

Chat gives a two finger salute and jumps away, arriving at Fu’s place just as his time runs out.

“Alright kid, let’s check on our bugs.” Plagg is clearly antsy about being away from a hibernating Tikki for so long.

“I can assure you, Wayzz and I have kept them safe.” Fu allows them in and Adrien hands back the fox miraculous in its box.

Plagg ignores him, zipping through the walls to get to Tikki.

“Master, what can we do about this?” Adrien holds up the butterfly he still has pinned between his fingers.

“With Plagg’s assistance, we may be able to get Tikki to purify it and cast the cure. She will not be awake, but such a task is second-nature to her and as such she could likely do it while not entirely conscious.” Wayzz speculates, taking the butterfly and going to the other Kwami to discuss it as they enter the main room.

Marinette is lying across one of the mats, covered in blankets. Tikki is nearby, similarly unconscious, surrounded by Wayzz and Plagg. He sees a soft white glow and ladybugs rush out to repair the city. Plagg pulls her closer hugging her in the hopes of helping wake her up.

“Should I take her home now?” Adrien looks to Fu.

“It may be for the best. Her room is likely warmer than this one, and a familiar environment could be better for her.”

He nods, scooping her up without hesitation. He waits for Plagg to gently place Tikki on top of her before he transforms.

He does his best to avoid places he may be seen on his way to the bakery - one of the heroes of Paris carrying an unconscious girl could raise some questions.

Luckily, (thanks Tikki) he manages to go without anyone spotting him with the two bugs. He slips in through the trapdoor, relieved to see that her absence hadn’t been noticed. Her parents are still busy in the bakery below.

With her being in hibernation, there’s no hope of simply waking her up. He covers them in blankets and releases his transformation so that Plagg can be with Tikki. 

Hugging his partner closer to him, Adrien plays with her hair softly, hoping to warm her up faster. It probably isn’t good for a human being to hibernate for too long. Eventually, he falls asleep too, resting against her and purring contentedly.

---

Adrien hears his phone ding in his pocket, waking him. Pulling it out, he sees a text from Claude.

 Kid Mime: elsie drew me

Kid Mime: this is the best thing i’ve ever seen

Kid Mime: allan im stealing your sister

 The Mom Friend: no she’s mine

 Hug This Boy: Wait, who’s Elsie? Allan’s sister?

 The Mom Friend: yep

The Mom Friend: shes 6

 Kid Mime: i love her

 Hug This Boy: Is Claude at your place?

The Mom Friend: yep

The Mom Friend: someone decided the best way to get there coat back is to go OUTSDIE in the SNOW without a coat al teh way to my house

 Kid Mime: well i can only where 1 coat at a tme.

 The Mom Friend: C A R R Y  O N E

The Mom Friend: you coud hve goten sick

 Adrien looks next to him at Marinette. She’s still sleeping, but seemingly out of hibernation. That’s good. What isn’t good is the fact that - despite being in her warm room covered in blankets and right next to him - she’s very visibly shivering. He frowns at her shaking, touching her forehead gently. Definitely far too warm, it would seem her time in the snow got her a fever, perhaps also a consequence of her body being shut down for hibernation. The human immune system doesn’t work well that way.

 Hug This Boy: About that.

 The Mom Friend: oh no

The Mom Friend: are you sick?

 Hug This Boy: No.

Hug This Boy: Our favorite pig-tailed designer may or may not have ventured outside and may or may not have fallen into a snowdrift and may or may not have stayed there for upwards of five minutes before I happened to find her.

 The Mom Friend: SHE WHAT

Melodie: Is she okay?!

 Hug This Boy: I think it’s just a fever.

 Kid Mime: poor girl

 The Mom Friend: hi 😀⭐❤

The Mom Friend: my b ther is makin food

 Kid Mime: allan is stress cooking

Kid Mime: looks like pizza

Kid Mime: so were good

 Hug This Boy: What?

 Melodie: There are levels to it. If he’s making pizza then this should be enough to get it out of his system.

Melodie: Hi Elsie! Do you remember me? The girl with the long hair?

 Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: yeh i tink i do

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: clwed mayd me name pretty

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: do u lke it

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: 🍏🌻🐒🐧🐨🐩🐌🌺🎉🎅🎨

 Felix: It looks great Elsie.

 Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: r u the cat boy

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: ???❓❓❓❓¿

 Felix: Yes. I take it that you are referring to Pluto?

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: yeaaaaaa ⭐⭐😺😺😺🐋

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: he relly cute!!!!!!!!

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: can i seeee him agan???❓❓❓

 Felix: Attachment: 1 Video

 Melodie: (This is such a wholesome conversation)

 Kid Mime: (its even bettr in person)

Kid Mime: (felix she loves u. shes so smiley)

 Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: i love kitties!!

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: tel him hes reallie pretty

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: an giv him a lot of pats

Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: 😽😻😺😹😸🐱🐈😻😻😻😻😻😻

 Felix: I will.

 Really Cool Girl⭐🌞🥀🌛🎂: o allin mayed me a samwitch by by

 Felix: Farewell.

 Melodie: Bye!

 Hug This Boy: Goodbye!

 Marinette hasn’t woken up yet. Adrien is starting to worry.

“It’ll be fine. Bugs tend to get sick if they hibernate too long. It’s like a cold or a fever.” Plagg consoles.

“A magical cold or fever.” Adrien points out.

“There is that, yes.”

Marinette stirs slightly, murmuring nonsensically. Adrien focuses on her immediately, turning her face to him and feeling her forehead again.

“Mari? You waking up, Bugaboo?”

“...there’s chinchillas in the walls...:”  

“If you say so.” he holds her up carefully, her head lolling to the side. She’s still asleep, “Come on, you should wake up now. You’re sick, and I can’t help you if you’re sleeping.”

She only scrunches up her face trying to process what’s happening.

“Please? You can go back to sleep once we’ve made sure you’re okay.”

She squints at him, “Kitty?”

“Hi Princess.” he smiles at her, happy that she’s finally awake.

Marinette slumps onto him, mumbling incoherently. ‘Awake’ may be too generous of a term. 

“‘ssss col’...”

It isn’t actually that cold, but given her clear shivering she probably wouldn’t accept anything other than agreements, “Is that so? I had no idea.”

“‘cause you warm…” she falls against him again, humming happily. She’s still shivering.

He opens his mouth to respond when he hears someone on the stairs. Tom or Sabine must be checking on her.

Speaking quietly, he tells her, “I’ve got to go now. I’ll try to check on you if I get the chance. Feel better soon.” 

Her feeble attempts to stop him via hugs aren’t entirely effective. His heart breaks at her sad face, but there’d probably be trouble if they came in to see him with their sick daughter in her bed. He kisses her forehead softly and jumps through the trapdoor to the balcony, transforming once he’s outside. 

He probably needs to get back to piano anyways. 

---

Patrol with Kit Mime had gone well. He’d been understanding about Ladybug’s tendencies and had adjusted further to his powers.

Chat had returned the miraculous to Fu at the end of patrol, and is on his way to his house. 

What kind of partner would he be if he didn’t check on Marinette first though?

It’s a good thing he does, seeing as she’s on her balcony. Again.

Landing behind her, he lectures her, “Claws in. What is it with you and going out on your balcony when you’re sick?”

She turns to him, “...hi Adrien…?”

Tikki sits on her head, “Please get her inside,” she’s shivering from the cold, “She’s b-been out-t-t here for… too long?” Keeping track of time is difficult for sleepy Bugs.

“Why are you out here?”

“Gotta’ t-tell Chat I won’ be doin’ pat-trol… he k-know I’m m-me now, so I c-can do that…” She looks around at the nearby rooftops hazily.

“Mari. I’m right here. I already knew you were sick.”

She frowns, “N-no, you’re A-Adrien. Chat is C-Chat…”

“Right. My bad. Sorry Plagg, Claws Out.” the Kwami yelps in protest as he’s sucked into the ring.

Chat Noir stands in front of her, touching her arm gently, “Alright, will you go inside now?” “B-but I gotta’ t-tell y-”

“Shh. I know you’re sick, okay? Now you have to sleep.”

He leads her to the trapdoor, “I alr-ready slep’ a lots t-today?” 

“Hibernation isn’t the same as sleeping, Princess. Besides, I know for a fact that you’re tired right now.” He helps her inside, making sure she doesn’t trip on the snowy balcony as she enters.

Marinette slumps into him once she’s inside, “...am.”

“Told you. Can I detransform now?”

She hums in confirmation and he releases the transformation, Plagg returning to Tikki immediately.

“How have you been feeling? Have you eaten?” He leans against the wall and covers her in a blanket while she curls into him.

“...col’...Paris is mean, dum’ sno’.” she glares at a window across the room.

“That’s just how it is. The snow can’t get you in here-”

“You gonna’ save me from the sno’?” she looks at him expectantly.

“I will. You don’t like snow.” What else is he supposed to say? No? To that face?

“Yay.” she hugs him tighter, which isn’t actually all that tight given her exhaustion, “...’re purrin’...”

“Mhm. Don’t think you can avoid my second question though, did you eat?”

She makes a face, “yeah… Maman made me soup…”

“I take it you didn’t want to eat soup. What do you have against soup?”

“‘s not aphids. All them left ‘cause col’...luckies.”

“Are you still cold? What’s your temperature?” He glances around, hoping for a thermometer. He’s in luck, there’s one on a nearby shelf - presumably left by Tom or Sabine.

“Not enough. ‘Cause ‘m cold.” Clearly, Marinette doesn’t understand the question.

Adrien stretches, grabbing the thermometer and moving back to lean against the wall. Marinette settles herself again, glaring at him for disturbing her.

“Okay, can I take your temperature?”

She harrumphs, clearly wanting to rest, but allows him to check with the thermometer.

“38.8 (101.8℉). Hmm.” he pulls out his phone, googling a few things, “How’s your head feel?”

“Bad… everythin’ hurts.” she’s started blinking slowly, feeling heavy.

“Sorry Bug, you might have the flu. According to the internet at the very least. It’s hard to tell, seeing a lot of the symptoms are just your tendencies…”

“Kay…”

“Though I don’t think you’re supposed to be so confused…” He peers at her in concern. She only blinks up at him, smiling softly. She reaches up and ruffles his hair.

“...like ‘ur hair, Kitty-cat…”

“Yeah, that’s the earrings again.” Plagg interrupts, “Hibernating animals are going to be confused if you wake ‘em up early. She’ll recover by tomorrow, just stay close.”

“Always. She’ll still be sick though?”

“Yep. Bugs get sick really easily in the winter. Especially after they hibernate.”

Marinette is still mussing up his hair. He purrs at her happily, leaning into the touch. She blinks at him tiredly, still feeling heavy from exhaustion. At this, he returns the slow blink - not even thinking about it. It’s just what feels natural.

Marinette likes that Adrien is here. His hair is soft. His purring is nice too. What isn’t nice is her headache. It’s more than a headache - a person-ache? She’s a person and she aches. Her throat is sore too. It’s very cold. She has heaters, but they must be broken because she’s still cold. Then Adrien showed up. Then he left, but Chat came. Then Chat left again and Adrien came back. They should stop leaving her. It’s very confusing trying to keep track of who’s here and who isn’t.

At least he’s warm. He’s warmer than the rest of her room. She loves him. Also she likes that he is warm. Has she mentioned how cold it is? It is very cold. She wants to stay awake to be with her kitty longer, but it’s cold and she’s tired, and the tired is making her cold and the cold is making her tired.

She fights against the sleep hanging over her, forcing her eyes open again and again. It only makes her more tired, but she gets to see her favorite person so she’ll keep doing it. She can stay awake. She’s a hero, so staying awake is easy compared to everything else she has to do.

She feels Adrien’s hand playing with her hair, and her eyes slip close for a little longer, before she remembers that she’s awake right now. She forces them open again, determined to stay awake. His purr seems to get a little louder, and he’s still playing with her hair and she’s really tired. She’s stopped messing with his hair - her hand limp, twisted in his blonde hair and just above his face.

Okay. She’ll compromise. She’ll close her eyes for a little bit, and then she’ll open them again for the same amount of time. If she keeps up that cycle, she’ll make it through the night. Easy.

She’s on the verge of sleep when she remembers herself, startling herself awake. Maybe she can close her eyes for longer than she keeps them open? She really is tired. Adrien is really warm and it would be so easy to just sleep. She just doesn’t like that she’d miss him. He’s still running his fingers through her hair and purring, so she tries her new compromise, certain it will work better.

Adrien watches Marinette carefully. She seems to be fighting sleep, though he can’t imagine why - she must be exhausted. He keeps running his hand through her hair, trying to get her to finally rest. He’s still purring, doing nothing to quiet it, because Ladybug would always fall asleep on him in patrol when she was tired if he was purring.

Marinette is still fighting it, but he can see it’s a losing battle. He knows her too well for her to be able to fight him when it comes to her wellbeing - which includes getting the rest she deserves. He can feel her hand twitch slightly, as though she’s trying to keep messing with his hair. She’s too tired to pull that off properly, and only makes her hand slip slightly.

Her eyes finally close, and he waits to see if they’ll finally stay that way. She gives a small adorable yawn and snuggles closer to him. Her breathing finally steadies and she gives in to sleep. 

He keeps playing with her hair - it’s nice.

Inevitably, he will have to return to his house. For now though, he rests with his Lady, eventually following her to slumber.

---

Author’s Note: Well, what do you think? Lateness aside, this is one of my favorite chapters, so I hope you enjoyed!

New year (almost), new fox hero! Claude is the fox holder, I saw plenty of you guess that! Congrats on being right! I'm pretty proud of that name by the way, I feel like it's pretty clever! (Though I could be biased) Reference slides here! I had fun with their outfit. It went through many changes.

That akuma seemed familiar. Huh. Probably not an easily recognizable cartoon character or anything. Slides here.

Allan's sister made her debut! I haven't even considered what she looks like, but maybe I'll come up an outfit or something (I will take any excuse to mess around on dress up games, I have a blast). I love her.

Last update of the year! Decade too! There's no telling what the next chapter will bring, unless you have 2020 vision of course! (>ᗜ•)

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in my ask box, in replies or through reblogs. I love seeing what you think!

(Nearing 100 followers, feel free to give me ideas on ways to celebrate)

Marinette’s phone dings on her desk as her friends classmates are standing to go. She crosses her room to pick it up, glancing at the screen, “Oh hey, Adrien got his phone back! He says that he wanted to let us all know that he got into Concours d'arts musicaux!” She starts tapping at the screen, probably sending a congratulatory reply, “Isn’t that great?!”

Allegra smacks her palm against her forehead, “ That’s what I forgot to tell you guys! I don’t know how I forgot. I got in too!”

“You did? That’s wonderful, Allegra!” Marinette gives the taller girl an excited hug. 

“Yay! I’m jealous you two will get to spend a bunch of time together though, don’t forget the rest of us when you guys become stars!” Claude joins in the hug, pouting slightly.

“As if you’d let me forget you.” 

“Never!”

“That’s great Al’, do you know when it is yet?” Allan gives her a hug too.

“No, but it won’t be for another few months.” 

“Congratulations, Allegra!” Felix stands off to the side giving her a smile that she probably can’t see. Claude grabs him by the shirt and pulls him into the hug.

“There is no escaping a group hug, my friend!”

Felix sighs, accepting his fate for a moment and joining their hug before pulling away and straightening himself out. The other four break apart too.

“I’m so happy for you!” Claude is shaking in excitement.

Allegra shakes her head, smiling, “Claude, it hasn’t even happened yet.”

“Still!”

Eventually they do manage to get downstairs. As they say their goodbyes, Claude holds up his hands, “Wait!”

“What is it Claude?” Felix and the rest turn back to him. Marinette pauses in closing the door, looking at him questioningly.

“I have forgotten my textbook in Marinette’s room!”

“Oh, you can come back up and get it then.” Marinette opens up the door to let him back in. He races in.

“Do ya’ w-” Allan starts to shout after him before Claude calls down.

“No need to wait for me! You may go on without me, my pals!”

Allan shrugs, “That answers that question then.” He waves, “Bye ‘Nette!” The three turn and walk back to their respective homes.

Marinette shuts the door and exhales heavily, allowing the smile to fall from her face for one of the first times that day. That is, of course, until she hears Claude bounding back downstairs. At that, she fixes the look back onto her face, turning to greet him.

“Find it okay?”

“Yep!” He holds it up triumphantly.

She opens the door for him, “That’s a relief.”

He smiles at her, “Thanks for having us over again, Mari. It’s fun.”

She shrugs it off, “It’s no big deal-”

“We really enjoy hanging out with you, ya’ know.”

If Marinette had allowed herself to imagine him saying anything of the sort before, she may have reacted differently. However, as it was, she considered such a statement completely unrealistic and her surprise showed. She’d honed her acting skills in recent weeks though, so she was able to recover quickly, “Aw, you guys are sweet. It was nice having you over, goodnight Claude.”

Claude smiled at her, giving her a quick hug - seemingly on impulse - as he skipped out the door, “Goodnight Marinette!”

She shut the door, and as she did, his smile faded. He didn’t want to worry her - thank his wonderful acting skills for allowing him to pull that off - but she sounded more than just surprised by his simple statement - which would have been concerning enough on its own. She seemed completely caught off-guard, shocked - astonished even - and though he thought he’d noticed some hopefulness, it had gotten crushed immediately. The pig-tailed girl had better acting skills than he would have given her credit for, making him think through some things he’d filed away in the back of his mind as ‘off’ about her before. By the time he arrived home, he’d come some rather concerning and alarming conclusions. Pulling out his phone, he started putting a plan together.

He wouldn’t allow this to continue.

 ---

Marinette had actually gotten a reasonable amount of sleep when she woke up the next day. She’d slept in a little, which was a nice and surprising rarity. Checking her phone, she sees Claude’s usual good morning text.

Directly above it is an akuma alert. Darn it.

A type five too, fun . It could take a while, so she decides to quickly scribble a note to her parents that she would be out today in case they came up to her room. Saturdays can be pretty busy, but type fives are pretty annoying, and she didn’t want them to worry. Better safe than sorry.

Turning to her desk, she found her Kwami, still resting,“Hey, Tikki, you up?”

“I am now. What is it, Marinette?” the little Goddess sat up, looking to her chosen.

“There’s an akuma - type 5.”

“Okay, let’s go de-evilize it!” She floated up to be at eye-level as Marinette spoke the words.

“Tikki, spots on!”

Feeling the magic wrap around her, Ladybug takes a moment to prepare herself to go against another akuma. It is her job, yes, but keeping up the act when she is in front of a few people is very different than all of Paris. Not to mention the added stress of magical monsters and probably Alya. 

She hasn’t spoken to her as Ladybug since before… that Thursday. As Marinette, not since she left.

She exhales deeply. Ladybug doesn’t have time for this, not with a type five on the loose. Shoving everything deep back down where it belongs, she hops out of the bedroom. Swinging in the direction of the akuma, she focuses on getting her mind back together. It is a little ways away, so she has time. 

Ladybug is definitely approaching the akuma now. She can see plenty of citizens out on the streets. They look pained, and a few are speaking rapidly, many are crying. Others look upset or surprised at the very least. One couple seems to be in the midst of an impromptu proposal… interesting timing?

“Ladybug! Over here!”

Ladybug lets out a genuine smile for a moment at her partner. He’s one of her favorite people, and- no focus. If you can’t even stay on task you don’t deserve your miraculous. Quit smiling you moron.

She lands beside Chat Noir, “Sorry I’m late. Last time I’ll let myself sleep in.”

“I get that feeling. You let yourself get a few extra moments of well-deserved beauty sleep and Hawkmoth slaps you across the face with a dose of evil butterfly magic.”

“Heh. You been here much longer than me? Anything on the akuma?” Joking with her friend partner was something she didn’t earn today. She’d already treated herself to a few extra moments of sleep anyways. Time to actually do your job you airhead.

“Yeah, it’s going to be risky for us. We should really try to avoid getting hit…” Chat takes a moment to survey the area, making sure the akuma isn’t going to sneak up on the duo. She gives him a quizzical look before he continues, “It’s an honesty based akuma. She’s got two abilities. She can hit her gavel, which lets out a wave - if you get hit, it’ll slow you down- all of this is from observation. Don’t worry, she hasn’t seen me yet. Anyways, what we got to really look out for is when she throws her gavel - or the other circle-thing. If someone gets hit by either of them, they spill their guts. Seriously, these people just, like, let it go. It looks like you can hold it off for a little, but it looks painful? I’m not sure. I think people’ll tell more if someone asks them a question.”

“Yeah, okay we definitely need to be careful. Our secret identities are on the line.” Stupid, he already knew that.  

Chat Noir nods, bowing, “Shall we?”

Ladybug scoffs, taking a few steps before leaping off the roof heading towards the akuma that has wandered a few blocks away. Her partner follows behind her dutifully.

Ladybug finally laid eyes on the victim. She has long hair and is dressed like Lady Justice but without the scales and sword. In place of the blindfold she has glasses. Her wrists are wrapped in thick, heavy chains, which trail behind her on the ground, ending in a ball, her ankles similarly have a weighty pair of ball and chains cuffed to them. Despite the burden, she moves quickly and purposefully, holding her arms aloft as she wanders the streets. In her hands she holds a gavel and a circular wooden sound block. Ladybug observes her for a moment longer, waiting to see her abilities in use. 

She doesn’t have to wait long, soon enough the akuma hit the gavel to the sound block several times, releasing blue crescent shaped waves that rush out towards the people closest to her. Some get out of the way in time - others not so much. They slow considerably, and one unlucky soul gets hit by two and could probably end up losing a race to a snail.

Ladybug decides she’d done enough surveillance. She quickly puts herself ahead of the akuma, but stays on the roof. She shoots out her yo-yo, and as much it would be nice to wrap-up this akuma quickly (Chat would have liked that pun), she knows better. Type fives are never quick, and never easy. So while she is aiming to have her yo-yo wrap around the woman, she mostly wants the akuma’s attention. Knowing their goals and views on their task often helps to defeat them,

The akuma notices the weapon immediately, hitting it back with her gavel. 

“Ladybug! Chat Noir! So you’ve finally decided to show up, huh? I am The Revealer, I was hurt by the truth being kept from me, so I’m going to make sure no important truths are kept from anyone! All secrets must be revealed, including yours!” She punctuates the statement by throwing each of the objects in her hands at the superpowered pair.

Ladybug steps out of the way, and Chat bats the one aimed at him away with his baton, “Thank you for the exposition, but I’m afraid some secrets are meant to stay that way. Purr -haps you could encourage good communication instead?”

“No! Lies will persist without my intervention.”

“I can agree with you there - no one like a liar.” Ladybug really sympathizes with this woman, she knows firsthand the pain lies can bring about, “But forcing people to tell the truth in this way could hurt more people than it will help.”

“If they lied,” the akuma bangs her gavel a few times, before throwing it and the block again - summoning new ones to replace them, “then they deserve any pain this brings about!”

The gavel hits a man walking with one of his friends. He immediately collapses - much to the concern of the friend. They drop to his side, and evidently hear many surprising and upsetting things. They pull out their phone, dialing a number before speaking rapidly both to the person on the other end and to the man when he snaps out of it. Grabbing their friend’s wrist, the pair hurry away.

Many similar scenes are playing out all over - Ladybug can hear the yelling of a woman who was cheated on and crying from various others. The akuma is blind to the hurt around her and continues throwing things. 

“Ladybug! Chat Noir!” The Revealer has focused back on the heroes, “Paris demands to know the identity of the so-called heroes protecting them. How can we trust those that we know nothing about?!”

Dodging the projectiles, Ladybug calls back, “It is for our own safety that our identities are secret. We get the job done, that’s all you need to know.” She hooks her yo-yo above her, swinging to get behind the akuma.

“Even we don’t know each other’s identities.”  Chat chimes in as he ducks beneath the gavel aimed at his forehead. “ Purr -tty sure that how superhero-ing works.”

The gavel keeps flying and hits someone standing nearby, “Babe! You good?”

Ladybug freezes - only her momentum keeps her moving - she knows that voice, even if she hasn’t heard in weeks. Nino .

Nino. Which means… if he’s talking to someone here - at an akuma attack - someone he called ‘babe’ then that could only mean…

She recovers, turning her head to the voice, and seeing him, and on the ground near him is Alya. She’s clutching at her chest and speaking rapidly. The heroine hears ‘Ladyblog’, ‘not good enough’, and ‘jealous of my best friend’, but can’t make out much more. The last statement throws her for a loop. Jealous of her best friend? She hasn’t seen Marinette in weeks, what is there to be jea-

Oh. 

Lila. 

Nevermind, she gets it now.

Stupid girl. Why would anyone be jealous of you ? You’re just some fool playing superhero until they find someone better. You’re not anyone’s best friend because no one would want to spend time - Wait hadn’t Claude said-

A crescent wave goes right past her face, snapping her out of her thoughts. Turning to Nino and (the now-recovered) Alya she says, “Get out of here. It’s dangerous.”

Alya is holding her phone, still recording, “Girl, I’m fine, I already got hit anyways and this isn’t live so nothing important can get out.” she looks to Ladybug, winking, “Unless you need some back-up?” She and Nino turn to her, smiling eagerly.

Ladybug stiffens slightly, though the pair don’t notice. Someone else does though, “She’s right. You two need to get out of here.” Chat blocks another gavel with his baton as he lands near them. Ladybug recovers, nodding in agreement before swinging back into the battle.

“Finally see sense? Have you decided to let Paris see your truths?”

“Sorry ma’am, but Chat and I have good reasons for the lies we tell.” Do you though? Not all your lies are about your Ladybug identity. Sometimes you just lie because you want to, sounds like someone else you know… 

“I doubt that! You don’t feel the weight of your lies on your chest! You need me to show you just how wrong you are! Without me, how are you going to know all that you’ve done wrong? How will you make things better?! For that you need the truth!”

Ladybug scoffs quietly, muttering under her breath, “Ha! Joke’s on you lady, I already know that I’ve messed up big time! There is no righting my wrongs - truth won’t help me.” She’s quiet, and distracted with blocking more attacks. She misses how her partner’s fake ears twitch before he shoots a confused and concerned glance her way.

The Revealer hits her gavel several times, spinning in a circle and sending the glowing crescents everywhere. Ladybug returns to the rooftops and Chat Noir isn’t far behind. Seeing the heroes are out of her range, the victim moves on to reach more areas.

“Uh, Ladybug, you good?” “What?” Ladybug hears concern in his voice and her stress sky-rockets, what did she do?

“I just, uh, thought I heard you say something…? I thought maybe I should check on you…” He cocks his head, green eyes looking at her patiently.

You know the rules. You’ve memorized the rules. The rules are there for good reason and you can’t even follow them correctly.

She’s memorized the rules, and she knows them by heart and could recite them top to bottom, left to right, and she knows the last one well. It’s one of the more important ones, with them now numbered it’s #11.

  Rule #11: Adrien, Claude, Allegra, Allan, and Felix have been nice enough to put up with you, don’t make them regret it.

 It’s since been edited to include her partner, because unlike those she originally mentioned, he doesn’t even have a choice. His obligation to Paris requires him to put up with her idiocy on a near daily basis.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid you brainless numbskull. You’ve broken one of the rules, he’s worried about you now. For absolutely no reason. Fix this - now.

“Oh no, I’m fine kitty.” She puts on her most convincing smile, and pumps her voice with false sweetness and happiness that she doesn’t feel, “I think I just needed some more rest, that’s all!”

He keeps looking at her,”Are you sure? If something’s wrong…?”

“No, nothing’s wrong! I just need to be sure to get proper rest today, that’s all!”

He smiles at her weakly, “Alright, if you say so…”

“Mhm! Now, lets go get that akuma!”

“Right!”

The duo swings toward the direction they last saw the akuma head in. Ladybug’s thoughts trail behind her as she goes.

Stupid stupid stupid stupidstupidstupidstupidfailure…

--- 

It was just past noon, and they’d been at this for well over three hours and had gone through several Lucky Charms. Nothing seemed to be working, and it was hard to concentrate on setting up a trap for her when she was set on hitting them over the head with a gavel, or playing a painful game of frisbee with the sounding blocks, not to mention all the close calls with being slowed by a neon crescent wave.

“Maybe we should take a lunch break…” Chat has his hand on his knees, breathing heavily. They’re both tired, and have lost the akuma again.

Ladybug is about to protest - they need to do their job - but looking at her partner, doubled over and clearly overworked, she realizes he certainly deserves a break. He’s worked hard today, not to mention that she’d worried him earlier.

“Yeah, maybe we should. You certainly deserve one - be sure to eat something. Maybe check in with some people so they don’t wonder where you’ve been all day.”

“Bug, you deserve one too. We both have been at this all day. Besides, you must be tired out from being so radiant all day long.” He winks at her.

She huffs, folding her arms and turning away so he doesn’t see her blush. She is blushing from the compliment thank-you-very-much. She certainly doesn’t have any sort of crush on her partner. That would be unprofessional. She has a crush on Adrien and only Adrien . Not Chat Noir too - nope, no way.

“Farewell, my lady, enjoy your break!” Chat waves goodbye as he leaps away.

“Same to you, mon minou!” Ladybug heads in another direction, swinging from roof to roof until she lands on a familiar balcony.

“Tikki, spots off!” The Kwami in question shoots out of her earrings. Tikki waves tiredly at her as she floats down to presumably rest somewhere inside. She certainly deserves it - Marinette spent most of today transformed, with only a few very short breaks.

The tired and overworked girl flops onto her bed as soon as she’s inside. She wants to sleep, but her body refuses to shut down. Maybe it’s because she hasn’t eaten at all today. She’s fairly certain there’s leftovers in the fridge if she wanted them, but stairs seem like so much effort after hours of rooftop parkour. Her leg muscles are done with movement for now.

Her phone dings. Checking the screen she realizes that her friends have been messaging quite a bit while she was out, and there’s several messages asking about her. That’s right, she never responded to the good morning text from Claude - they’re probably worried now, good going.

  Kid Mime: ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Good morning my stars!!! *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

  Felix: Good morning, Claude.

  Melodie: It’s too early to be up do you wake up early just to send a text?

Melodie: I know you’re not a morning person how do you do it?

  Kid Mime: i’ll never tell

Kid Mime: my secrets shall remain that way for all of eternity

Kid Mime: i’m taking them to the grave

  The Mom Friend: youd better not be heading there any time soon

  Kid Mime: i dont plan on it

Kid Mime: whats this??!! Kid Mime: Allan isnt the last one up!

Kid Mime: this is almost unheard of!

  The Mom Friend: im not?

  Kid Mime: nope, Maris been quiet so far

  The Mom Friend: huh

  Felix: Perhaps she is sleeping in. She likely needs the rest.

  The Mom Friend: that she does

  Kid Mime: also unheard of! Today is a day of surprises!

  Melodie: Marinette honey I hope we don’t wake you up.

  Felix: I am fairly certain that we won’t. She may just have her phone off, or maybe it isn’t near her bed.

  Kid Mime: maybe shes talking with adrien. I still wnat his number especialy now he has phone back

  Melodie: How did he lose it again?

  Kid Mime: i dunno

  Felix: If I recall correctly, he did not perform as well as expected on a photoshoot, so his father decided to remove distractions, I believe he was pulled out of school for some time as well.

  The Mom Friend: translation his dad sucks

  Kid Mime: translatin allan is totally going to kidnap adiren

  The Mom Friend: no I won’t

The Mom Friend: … not yet at least

  Melodie: I’m in

  Felix: You are all terrible influences on each other.

  Kid Mime: u loooooveeee us!!!! :))

  Felix: …

Felix: … 

Felix: I do.

  Kid Mime: YAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!

The Mom Friend: awww

  Melodie: You’re all adorable.

  Kid Mime: u no who els is adorable????

  The Mom Friend: marinette!

  Kid Mime: ding ding ding!

Kid Mime: where is are favorite fabulous fashionista??? Kid Mime: i miss herrrrrrrrr

Kid Mime: :(((((

Kid Mime D:

  Felix: You just saw her yesterday.

  Kid Mime: but i stil miss her

  Melodie: Oh got to go for a moment.

Melodie: I’ll be back eventually

  The Mom Friend: careful theres a akuma out

  Melodie: I will!

  The Mom Friend: you better

  Kid Mime: maybe she’s been kidnapped!!! Kid Mime: we must find her

  The Mom Friend: im sure shes good

The Mom Friend: jus getting wel deserved rest

  Head Searcher: the hunt is on!!!

Head Searcher: she wil be found!!!

  The Mom Friend: fe’ i can hear u sighing from across paris

  Felix: Indeed.

Felix: Claude, it is very unlikely she has been kidnapped.

Felix: I agree with Allan’s guess.

  Also Head Searcher: wat’s that Felix?

  Felix: Nevermind.

  Head Searcher: never fear! our cool, cute, and creative companion will be saved fromthe clutches of evil

  Also Head Searcher: nice job with the alliteration

Also Head Searcher: ur on a roll today

  Head Searcher: thx

  Felix: The worst part is that I am unsure whether  Allegra would be another voice of reason or if she would join in on your nonsense.

  Melodie: What?

Melodie: Oh, hmmmm…

  Head Searcher: do it do it do it!!!!

 Marinette smiles as she finishes reading the texts she missed. She hates to have worried them, but they seem to think she just slept in so they’re fine. Deciding that she shouldn’t leave them hanging any longer, she hops into the fray.

  Patisserie Princess: hi!

Patisserie Princess: im ok guys!

  Melodie: Hi!!

  Felix: As I said.

Felix: Good afternoon, Marinette:

  Kid Mime: YAYYYY!!!!

Kid Mime: (つ・▽・)つ⊂(・▽・⊂)

Kid Mime: (つ≧▽≦)つ⊂(・ヮ・⊂)

  The Mom Friend: u get some rest mari?

The Mom Friend: its past noon

  Patisserie Princess: nah, i didnt sleep in much

Patisserie Princess: just lost my phone

 Lies. They deserve better than that, they deserve someone who can be honest.

  Kid Mime: u should sleep some! U deserve it!

  Patisserie Princess: thx, but i’ve got to go again

  Kid Mime: noooooooooooooooo

  The Mom Friend: take care of urself

  Melodie: Yes, please do. Have fun with whatever you’re up to.

  Felix: Farewell, Marinette.

  Kid Mime: buh-bye!

  Patisserie Princess: ( ･ω･)ﾉ

 Marinette sighs, putting her phone down. Her smile fades eventually as she just stares at the ceiling for a while, thinking of nothing in particular.

After some time she exhales sharply and sits up. Sticking her head over the side of her bed she says, “Tikki, are you up? I think it’s about time we get back to that akuma!”

“Really? That was quick… alright Marinette, let’s go!”

“Tikki, spots on!”

 ---

 Adrien is halfway done with his lunch when his monitor dings. He’s been eating at his computer, keeping tabs on the akuma. Plagg is sitting on the desk, munching on some camembert.

Clicking on the link, he sees that above the footage added this morning, Alya has added a quick clip to the front of the Ladyblog, “What’s up Ladybloggers? Alya here! After what was presumably a break for the heroine, Ladybug is back!” The camera turns around, showing a red and black spotted girl leaping across the rooftops. Alya continues with the commentary as she follows, “One question that remains on most everyone’s mind is where is the back-up lately? I know I for one would love to see Rena Rouge or Carapace out in the thick of it! Anyways, due to the nature of this akuma, I will not be filming this live. Alya out!”

Adrien closes the tab, turning to Plagg, so had been watching with him, “Plagg, I’ve got to go! Ladybug is out there again, she needs me!”

“Sheesh kid, does your partner have any chill?” “This is serious Plagg!”

“So is your health! The two of you have been at this all day and have only been on break for an hour! You haven’t even finished your food!”

“But Plagg-”

“No. Adrien, you need to at least finish eating before you head back out there. And don’t just stuff your mouth, you’re going to be moving a lot. Can’t be much help if you make yourself sick.”

At Adrien’s doubtful look the cat continues, “Besides, you two have very different personalities. Cats are lazier, and rest more. Bugs are constantly buzzing around, you two are there to balance each-other out. Too much of either mindset would be bad.” he stuffs some camembert into his mouth, swallowing before he adds - almost as an afterthought, “Never leave a Bug and a Bee together on a project - they’ll work themselves to death.”

Adrien sighs, Plagg is right - he won’t be much use if he rushes out now. His Lady must just eat quickly, “Fine. But I’m only staying here another half-hour; 45 minutes tops!”

He resumes eating, albeit at a slightly faster pace.

“Fine by me, kitten.”

 --- 

Despite the break, it’s been another six hours and the akuma is still around. People are starting to get upset, I know, I know, I need to do my job better - be better, please stop yelling at me.

Chat seems to be similarly over tired, having coming awfully close to snapping at a few people. She really needs to step up her game.

They’ve finally tracked down the akuma again, and they drop in front of her, ready to finally end this. 

“Ladybug, Chat Noir, ready to admit defeat?”

“Nope.” Chat’s tone is clipped - he dropped the puns and bantering some hours ago.

“That’s a shame, it would make this so much easier!” More hits of the gavel before she tosses the items out of her hands again. It’s a formula they’re well-adjusted to by now and they dodge the projectiles tiredly. Ladybug swings behind The Revealer to be opposite Chat. When it looks like she’s distracted by the feline hero, Ladybug shoots her yo-yo out, aiming to restrain her arms to keep more projectiles from being thrown.

The spotted weapon has almost reached its mark when the akuma turns suddenly, holding her gavel out where the yo-yo is headed. The string makes contact and loops around several times.

The woman grins, letting it go.

If it had been earlier in the fight, or if Chat had been closer, or even if Ladybug had eaten or gotten more rest, maybe things would have been different, but as it was, when the yo-yo wrapped gavel came flying back at her, Ladybug’s reflexes are too slow to do much good. 

The wooden mallet makes contact and Ladybug is down.

---

Author’s Note: Should the attack have lasted this long? Probably not. Did I want to make them suffer through an all-day akuma attack? You bet! 

Foreshadowing? It was unintentional, but it's there.

A quick note on the music competition - I don't think I ever really explained it. Basically middle-school musicians tried out, and the winners get to practice regularly together to perform a concert in the spring. The concert will be hosted at a local school, but which one will it be? Hmm...

Once again,  the reference slide for The Revealer can be found here! I'm tempted to post early in honor of Halloween? Or a bonus chapter maybe? Mostly because it feels weird writing so far ahead of what I've posted. That said, I really have to keep myself on a more reasonable schedule when it comes to updating this. Eh, we'll see.

Thanks for reading, and constructive criticism is welcomed in the comments below!

Kid Mime: So!!!! Wat do you all think of our new frend that weve had 4 a weeekkkk!!! Because I love herrr!!! We r going to keep her right!!!????

  Melodie: Oh you bet we are. I’m a little worried about her though, I mean did you see that bruise? 

Melodie: Also she is precious and very sweet. If she doesn’t seem uncomfortable with the arrangement, we should keep hanging out with her. 

  Felix: Are you referring to the bruise on her face? It did seem unlikely to have been caused on accident.

  Melodie: WHAT BRUISE ON HER FACE?!

  Kid Mime: SHE HAS A BRUISE ON HER FACEEEEE?! MOMMM SOME1 HURT UR NEWEST CHILD!!!

  The Mom Friend: Wait wat? When did you see that Felix? r you sure?

  Felix: On Thursday, when she seemed overly tired. She was falling asleep in class and her palm wiped some make-up off of her face. She excused herself to the bathroom when she realized, but I did see a rather concerning bruise on her face, and there seemed to be scratch above it. I assume you were referring to another bruise?

  Kid Mime: HOW MANY BRUSES DOES THS PRECIOUS ANGLE GIRL HAVE!!!?

  The Mom Friend: enuf that im concerned

  Melodie: The make-up means that she’s hiding it, and come to think of it, she is dressed rather warmly for the current weather.

Melodie: I meant the bruise on her arm, it was pretty big.

  The Mom Friend: yea long sleeves an pants in early spetember is kinda wierd

  Felix: While I find this to be disconcerting, we would do best to avoid jumping to conclusions. It would also be for the best to avoid mentions of her past school - when it was mentioned on Monday, she seemed rather uncomfortable.

  The Mom Friend: yea we don’t want to make assuptions and i don’t want to upset her

  Melodie: She’d better have just fallen…

  Kid Mime: Al’ no murder

  Melodie: … 

    Kid Mime: DOES ANY1 NO HOW 2 GET OUR AMAZING MARI TO HANG OUT W/ US??? I ONLY GET 2 SEE HER AT ACHOOL AND IT SADDENS MEEEEEE

  Felix: She may just be shy, it would be best to give her time to adjust to her new environment.

  Melodie: I do hope she decides to join us soon though. I think she seems like a pretty cool person, especially if she could get out of her shell.

  The Mom Friend: allegra, give er time dont want to force her it might make her uncomforable

  Melodie: I know, that’s not what I meant, I just worry about her. 

  Kid Mime: Im with u there. i wory about her sometimes something just… i dunno

  Felix: It is understandable to be concerned. It seems likely that she may have rather low self-esteem, and lacks confidence in herself. That, as well as the fact that we still do not know where she got so many bruises.

  Melodie: I think we were right about why she was wearing longer clothes, did you guys notice she’s wearing short sleeves now.

  The Mom Friend: poor thing at least she heeled now

    The Mom Friend: does anyone no y mari was so tired today

  Lovable Grump: I noticed, but she did not mention any reason in particular.

Lovable Grump: …

Lovable Grump: Claude, I’m changing my password again.

  Kid Mime: NOOOO pls we all have fun nicknamesssss

  Felix: Your nicknames have a tendency to be longer than my actual name, which makes them unnecessary.

  Melodie: Accept your fate Felix. Claude can not and will not be stopped. Also Allan, I don’t know know about Marinette. She did seem pretty tired today though….

  The Mom Friend: hmm…

  Kid Mime: FEEEELLLIXXXXXXX NOOOOO UR NAME IS SOO BORING NOWWWW!!!

  Felix: That is unfortunate for you.

Felix: It is not the first time that Marinette has seemed overly fatigued. She does commissions does she not? Perhaps one of her projects kept her up.

  The Mom Friend: maybe she should take on les if shes being overworked

  Kid Mime: *mom instincts activated*

  The Mom Friend: im just concerned about her health

  Melodie: He’s got you there, Allan.

    Kid Mime: I CANT WAIT IS SCOOL OVER YET

  The Mom Friend: only a little longer

The Mom Friend: then to mari’s

  Kid Mime: I KNOOOOOOOOO

Kid Mime: I CANT WAIIIIIITTTTTTTT

Kid Mime: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

  Felix: Claude, you should calm down. You do not want to overwhelm her.

  Melodie: I’m excited too! She actually wants to hang out with us after school and she invited us over to her house!

  Kid Mime: do u think i can finally get her number

  Felix: I doubt she’s interested in your memes Claude.

  Kid Mime: but i cant even send her cute baby animal oictures

Kid Mime: or texxt her good moring

  Melodie: You mean texting her good morning like five minutes before first hour? After you’ve already seen each of us in person anyways?

  Kid Mime: YES!

  The Mom Friend: all of u guys need to pay attention in class

  Kid Mime: :(((((( fine

    Melodie: Why did she give us a bunch of pastries and thank us?

  Felix: Perhaps she thought we were rather nice guests. Though I will admit I thought it rather odd as well.

  Kid Mime: as much as i like baked goods i don’t get it??? I feel like were missing something? It seemed liek she was thanking us for soemthing else????? all we did was come over

  The Mom Friend: did anyone notice that there was a school right across the street?

  Melodie: Hmmm.

  Felix: As much as I wish to get satisfactory answers, it is not our place if she does not wish to share.

  Melodie: Fine, switching topics: Thoughts on Adrien?

  The Mom Friend: u mean the boy you accused of bullying her

  Melodie: >:(  I just thought he seemed suspicious

  The Mom Friend: u meant well

  Kid Mime: PERSONALY I DONT NO Y SHE HID SOME1 SO GREAT FROM US

  Felix: Marinette was correct. The two of you should never have been introduced.

  Melodie: He seemed nice. (Besides the puns) I liked him

Melodie: He’s got my approval

  The Mom Friend: thats good i dont think it wood be good if two of her friends didnt get along. He seems to understand when shes upset so thats cool very good

  Kid Mime: does our mom have another child now?!

The Mom Friend: …

The Mom Friend: …maybe

  Kid Mime: :)

  Felix: Moving on, I’m impressed with the connections she has at such a young age.

  Melodie: RIGHT?! WHAT KIND OF BEAUTIFUL TALENTED STAR HAS BEEN GIFTED TO US?!

  The Mom Friend: allegra stop snooping on the internet we just agreed not to do that sort of thing

  Melodie: …

Melodie: Fine…

  Kid Mime: i still didnt get her number :(

  Felix: Perhaps you could ask her at school.

  Kid Mime: BUT THATS SO FAR AWAY

  Felix: It really is not.

  The Mom Friend: let him be dramatic

The Mom Friend: its his middle name

  Kid Mime: it is

Kid Mime: as my unofficial official mom, he wood no

---

Author’s Note: So basically, they're worried, but want to respect her privacy. I could have just said that, but I love their interactions.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  They're all just such sweethearts.

One thing I forgot to put in the note at the end of chapter 6 was my reasoning for Marinette getting to that point. I forgot one big reason (I'm sorry. This is why i need to write things down.) But for the most part it's that Marinette often takes the blame/apologizes for things that aren't her fault, so I feel she is quick to blame herself. That, combined with how she sees the good in people, I think she could have trouble identifying that she isn't at fault for how things turned out at her old school.

Okay, so this past weekend I was struck with the ability to write - don't ask I don't understand either - so basically now I'm writing chapter 11. Yeah, I managed to write the next 4+ chapters in a day. As much as I'd love to post them all now, I need to keep a regular schedule for the sake of my sanity and still need to edit them a bit. But hey, at least there's no chance of waiting too long now.

I really love seeing your comments so don't be scared to write one! I can assure you that it's one of my favorite parts of this.

Thanks for reading, and constructive criticism is welcomed! See (well, not 'see') you guys Saturday, with an akuma that doesn't like being lied to.