Chapter Text
“Oh no! I’m late! I can’t believe I overslept again! I hope Miss Bustier doesn’t send me to the principal’s today,” Marinette stumbled out of her parents’ bakery as she placed a newly baked croissant into her mouth. The nice, buttery pastry nearly melted in her mouth as she stood at the crosswalk, waiting for her cue to cross. The road wasn’t busy, so she probably could have crossed, but as the hero of Paris, she needed to set an example, albeit no one knows her secret identity. “Still though,” she thought, finally crossing as she finished her croissant, running up the school stairs as a school monitor approached the doors to close them. She managed to slip through before the doors closed, almost catching the skirt to her light pink dress in the process. Skipping two steps at a time, Marinette hurried up the stairs and almost slammed herself into the door as she entered her classroom, right before the tardy bell rang. “Yes!” She exclaimed inwardly, giving a little triumphant dance, “I managed to arrive on time!”
Unaware of an uneasy silence, and confused looks, Marinette sat down at her assigned seat and rummaged through her bag for the textbook needed for her morning class. Finally settling to her seat, she noticed the stares her classmates were giving her, some astonished, others were covering their mouths, as if a secret threatened to escape their lips. Marinette’s shoulders tensed up and her eyes darted from one classmate to another until her eyes landed on Alya’s seat, only to find she wasn’t seated there. Instead, Alya was standing at the front of the class, staring at Marinette with her mouth wide open, apparently speechless. “I-is it what I’m wearing?” She internally pondered, looking down at the little jacket and dress she hastily put on in her panic to get ready for school. There was nothing wrong with it that would cause a disturbance in the classroom, she often wore cute outfits to school. As a matter of fact, she had worn this dress before on a special occasion at school. So why…?
“Marinette.” The teen jumped at the mention of her name, she glanced upwards towards the front of the class, where her best friend was now looking at her with concern, pointing at the projector screen which had an image, or a video paused at a certain point. It seemed to be Ladybug in an alleyway. The blood drained from Marinette’s face as Alya played the rest of the clip, showing Ladybug transforming back into her civilian form: Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
Marinette slowly stood up as Alya replayed the video, her eyes glued to the projection. The video starts off with the camera person hiding behind a car, filming into the alleyway where Ladybug was standing, looking around to make sure that the coast was clear. Then she started to detransform, revealing Marinette as the person underneath the mask. The class was silent as they watched Marinette with bated breaths, observing her facial expressions, but Marinette’s face remained stone cold still.
“Alya, how did you get this video?” Marinette bored her big blue eyes into Alya’s hazel ones, hoping, begging, pleading for this to be fake although she already knew when this footage was filmed. It was the day before when a child was akumatized because her mother would not let her keep a stray puppy. She was a hard one to catch, but they caught her. She remembered vividly how the girl, clad in a stylized dog outfit, commanded all the dogs with a silent whistle. It was a nightmare, a cute, fluffy, slobbery nightmare. Marinette had plans, so she had to leave right after the fight. There was no way she could come up with an explanation that it was a hoax. Maybe CGI, but the footage was too shaky and low quality to pull that off.
Alya turned her back to her best friend and stared at her phone. “It was sent to me a few minutes ago… by an anonymous email. They sent it to the LadyBlog named under ‘cool Ladybug footage’. I just thought it was a video about yesterday’s fight, so I put it up on the projector so that everyone can see, but…” Alya took in a shaky breath and quickly turned to face Marinette, who now looked scared, face pale and eyes wide. “I promise, I didn’t upload it to the LadyBlog! I always check my footage before uploading!” Marinette began to tremble. Who sent that video? She needs to find this person so that they can delete it, FAST. No one else needs to see, needs to know…
“Is there a way to find out who sent that? That person needs to get rid of that video now!” Panic began to bubble in her chest as she approached Alya, shaky hands reaching out towards the phone. “Please, no one else can find out. If other people find out, I-my parents- you guys… will be in danger if Hawkmoth finds out.”
“There’s no point Marinette,” Nino said solemnly. He was looking down at his phone, shaking his head. “The local news is currently showing it… So everyone who’s watching this… knows.” A few kids gasped while others pulled out their phones to see what the news has to say. Marinette was planted firmly where she stood, white as a sheet, heart beating desperately with the hope that people believe that it is fake. However, it only takes one person to see and believe that this is true, and that one person could be Hawkmoth. If he finds out, he can take her parents hostage, he can harm her friends in many ways possible, he can kidnap her, he can take the miraculous, he can destroy everything, he can, he can…
“–nette, Marinette, please…” tears stung her eyes as a pair of green eyes stared into hers and strong hands held her shoulders, gently shaking her to bring her back from the grim future. Adrien gently swiped a stray hair from her face as he tried to calm her down, but as soon as she realized who was in front of her, attempting to comfort her, tears began to cascade down her cheeks as panic finally took over her being and all she wanted to do was hide. She jolted for the classroom door and escaped into the hallway, letting out a pained sob for her class to hear before the door closed. Adrien was about to go after her when Alya stopped him. “Let’s all go together, I don’t think it’s safe for her to be alone, especially in the state she’s in. Also, you need me to go into the girl’s bathroom in case she’s in there. Miss Bustier, may we…?” Alya gave their teacher a hopeful look and she nodded solemnly. Alya, Nino, and Adrien all left the classroom in the search for Marinette. A few moments of silence passed in the classroom before chaos ensued.
“Marinette is Ladybug? Clumsy Marinette??”
“She probably was purposefully clumsy to hide her identity?”
“That would make sense. But something tells me she’s just clumsy.”
“Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug… I admire Ladybug… Does that mean I admire DUPAIN-CHENG??”
“Chloe, c-calm down…”
* * *
Marinette sat in the stall directly in front of the door in the bathroom on the ground floor, quietly crying, trying to figure out what to do. Her phone rang silently beside her as Alya was attempting to call her. Her parents have also tried to call her, but she just ignored her phone. “This is a disaster…” she muttered as she hugged her knees, sniffling. A little red creature flew out of her purse and hugged her cheek to try to cheer her up, but that little action caused Marinette to cry even more, covering her face to hide her shame. “I’m sorry T-Tikki,” she managed to say between sobs, “I should have been more careful, and now a-a-all of P-Paris knows… I-I’m the worst Ladybug ever…”
“Marinette, don’t say that! You are one of the best that I’ve had the pleasure of knowing! You couldn’t have known that someone was recording. No one would have known…”
“I agree,” A voice echoed through the bathroom. “With Marinette. She is the worst Ladybug ever! Who could EVER think of giving her such an important role to play, when wee little Marinette is the clumsiest person in the entirety of Paris– no the entirety of the universe!” The voice was dripping with delighted malice and a giggle erupted from the other side of the stall door. Marinette recognized the voice.
“Lila!” Marinette stood up and opened the door, to face Lila who was giving her the biggest, smuggest smirk with the most malicious look on her eyes that it even gave Marinette shivers down her spine.
“Who would have known,” Lila stepped into the stall, trapping Marinette into the small space, “That Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Ladybug. You really did fool them, no one would have suspected a thing. Though, now that I think about it… You two do look a lot alike. I’m surprised no one caught that– Well… one person did though.” Lila waved her phone. Marinette gasped and glared daggers into the smug face Lila wore. “And now it’s all over the news. I’m surprised Alya didn’t upload it to the LadyBlog, that’s some juicy, juicy stuff.”
Suddenly the door to the bathroom opened, and Lila’s demeanor did a complete 180, suddenly pretending to comfort the now infuriated Marinette. “Oh Marinette! You must be so scared! You need to calm down before an akuma gets you! And then what would we do if Ladybug got akumatized?”
“Lila! What are you doing here?” Alya walked into the bathroom as the boys stood outside. Marinette noticed Adrien looking at her as the door closed and she gave him a pained look before it shut completely.
“Oh Alya, I was running late for class because I was so caught up with the news, and then I saw Mari running into the bathroom crying, and I just knew that I needed to comfort her. Afterall, Ladybug and I are best friends, so it makes sense that I take care of my best friend!” Lila sniffed and wiped away a tear that wasn’t there. Alya, although a bit annoyed that Lila emphasised “best friend”, believed her and nodded her head.
“Well I’m her closest best friend and I’m here now, so you can leave her to me.” Alya suddenly got a weird look on her face as Lila left, as if some cogs suddenly started to turn in her mind. “Best friends? But you despise her (for no reason), how can you be best friends?”
“Exactly,” Marinette muttered but Alya missed it completely, for she began to focus on what’s more important: Marinette.
“Are you okay? You left so suddenly. The whole class is worried,” Alya cupped Marinette’s cheek and wiped away a stray tear that shed suddenly.
“No. I’m not okay. I don’t think I’ll ever be okay now that my identity has been exposed. Anyone that I know and love won’t ever be okay because they’ll be in danger. I don’t know what to do to fix this…” Marinette began to cry again, but this time she’s more frustrated because the person who recorded her was a very effective liar and if she tried to tell the truth, everyone would believe Lila over her.
“Hey hey, sh shh,” Alya held Marinette tightly as she sobbed into her shoulder. “You’re not alone in this though. Nino and Adrien are waiting for us outside. We should go meet up with them and figure this out.” Marinette nodded and followed her best friend outside where Nino and Adrien were waiting.
* * *
Adrien had a hard time wrapping his mind around the events that happened in the past ten minutes. Marinette is Ladybug, she had a panic attack, Marinette is ladybug, they came to get her, Marinette is Ladybug, Lila came out of the bathroom looking worried, at first, but a look of malice slightly slipped out and only he noticed, Marinette is Ladybug…He couldn’t believe it, but at the same time, it made complete sense to him that Marinette was Ladybug. Was it the hair? The big blue eyes? The cleverness? Regardless, Marinette is just a friend, and Ladybug is his lady, how can she be the same person? He didn’t have those kinds of feelings for Marinette, those were reserved for Ladybug, but Marinette is also Ladybug, so maybe… he was just wrong? The look she gave him before the bathroom door closed made his chest so tight with emotion that he wanted to cry alongside her, but it was Alya’s job to take care of her for now. The boys sat down on the floor by the bathroom door and waited.
“Can you believe it? Marinette is Ladybug,” Nino looked at Adrien who just stared at the floor, thinking. “But at the same time, it explains a lot.” Adrien looked at Nino questioningly. “Why she’s always tardy to school and why she always got flustered whenever Alya would tease her about being Ladybug. And why she chose me and Aly–” Nino suddenly shut his mouth, realizing what he was saying .
“What?”
“Nothing.” Adrien gave Nino a suspicious look then continued to look at the floor.
Both girls walked out of the bathroom, Alya guiding a still shaken Marinette to the boys, who were keeping a close eye out for Akumas. Adrien immediately stood up, perhaps a bit too quickly, for Alya gave him a puzzled look. Gulping, Adrien ignored Alya’s inquisitive look, and with a slightly flushed face, looked at Marinette, who was staring at the ground. Feeling his eyes on her, Marinette glanced up at him and they locked eyes for a moment before Adrien looked away rather too quickly, blushing more. “Get a hold of yourself,” Adrien thought as he decided that a small piece of chewed gum was more interesting. “As if that is more interesting than those vividly blue eyes of hers.” His mind retorted as heart began to race. “What is going on with me? I find out Marinette is Ladybug and I’m head over heels over her? B-but Marinette is just a f-f--”
“Are you okay, Adrien?” Marinette’s voice snapped him from his very confused thoughts and they just stared at each other, both confused, but for very different reasons.
“I-I’m okay.” She cares about others so readily, just like Ladybug. It just keeps making more and more sense… “Ahem. So what should we do about this situation?”
“I don’t know, I’ve been thinking but I can’t think of anything. My mind is too… worried to focus…”
“It’s okay Marinette, let’s think. What can we do to fix this?” Alya rubbed Marinette’s shoulders to help her relax. Everyone began to think.
Adrien piped up, “I know, what about we just say it’s a hoax? Marinette can go on the LadyBlog to give an interview and just say it was all a hoax.”
“An actress with special effects added in after, that’s perfect Adrien!” Alya nodded, admiring Adrien’s plan.
“Would it work though?” Marinette asked. “The main person who we would need to convince that it was a hoax would be Hawkmoth. If he doesn’t believe it…”
“Mari, relax.” Adrien placed his hand on her shoulder. When she didn’t relax, he cupped her cheeks so he can guide her to face him so she can see, so she can know that what he’ll say next is the truth. “If anything, Chat Noir will be there too.” I’ll be there for you. “He’ll protect you, with his life is he has to.” Her eyes widening, she stepped back, slowly shaking her head in disagreement.
“No, I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of me. Not even Chat Noir. He may be a silly tom cat, but he’s still my partner and I don’t want him to–to…”
“You’re right. He’s your partner. So as Ladybug, you shouldn’t go through this alone. As Marinette, you have us to support you. You’re not alone in this!” Adrien pleaded. Alya and Nino looked in disbelief at how Adrien was acting towards Marinette. Very caring, and protective, as if he’s the asking to protect her.
Marinette took a moment to absorb what Adrien has said and nodded. He’s right, she’s not alone…
“I’ll have to talk to Chat Noir about all of this, see what he has to say. So I’ll have to text you all later to see what the game plan is. Let’s get back to class… I think everyone is worried about us… about… me.” Nodding in agreement, the four of them headed upstairs into their classroom, where everyone waited anxiously.
* * *
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug. There’s no doubt about it.” Hawkmoth stared out of his butterfly shaped window as he sensed the despair emanating from the young student. It was so easy, just akumatize her in her current state and get her Miraculous, then use that miraculous to get Chat Noir’s. It was the perfect situation.
“What are you going to do, sir?” Nathalie asked, watching her boss ponder all of his possibilities.
“I’ll akumatize her right now, so I can get her Miraculous as soon as I can. Then it is all uphill from here.”
“Well, do it before all of the other miraculous users assemble, if they haven’t already.”
“Good point,” Gabriel reached out a hand and a butterfly landed perfectly on his palm, ready for it’s master’s plan. But as soon as the purple bubbles enshrouded the little bug, the feeling of despair vanished. “What happened? Where did all the feelings of worry and frustration go?” He tried to send off his butterfly, but it just flew back, not knowing where to go. Frustrated, Hawkmoth purified the butterfly and stood there, plotting, planning his next move to get his hands on that damned Ladybug miraculous.