Under The Mask 🎭 (a Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic)

-14- Detective Plagg

Adrien drives Marinette home after the fashion show. He walks her to the door. "Goodnight, Marinette." He leans down to kiss her. "I had a great time with you tonight."

"Goodnight, Adrien." She sneaks another kiss before Adrien climbs back in his car. She waves as the car disappears around the corner. As she unlocks the bakery, she spots a letter taped to the front door. "How did this get here?" She pulls if off and opens it. "Oh! A scavenger hunt!" She smiles in excitement at the rules, clues, and mini map.

"Let me guess, from Adrien again?" Tikki asks, flying out of her purse. Marinette nods. "But we didn't see Adrien put it there."

"He must have taped it to the door while we were kissing." Marinette reads through the rules. "He wants me to follow these clues and meet him somewhere for a romantic date!"

"Are you sure, Marinette?"

Marinette looks up at Tikki with a frown. "What do you mean? I shouldn't do it?"

"It doesn't sound like Adrien to write you love letters and sketch drawings of you." Tikki taps the letter. "And now we wants you to run all over Paris to go on a scavenger hunt?"

"But what if Adrien really worked hard on this, Tikki?" She looks down at the paper in her hands. "I don't want to disappoint him."

Clue #1- Got a sweet tooth? Find this cold, sweet treat. Something we shared on that special day together.

"Cold sweet treat? Ice cream! It has to be ice cream. Come on, Tikki." Marinette takes off running, holding up her skirt as she crosses the bridge. She finds Andre waiting for her. "Andre?" She asks with a smile. "Are you a part of this scavenger hunt, too?"

There's something off about Andre. He looks almost terrified. "But of course, Marinette. And your sweetheart has a treat for you." Andre hands her an ice cream cone. Vanilla and mint chip. Marinette smiles at the thought of Adrien. "Don't eat it too fast. You'll get a brain freeze." Don't eat it at all, Marinette. But Andre couldn't say anything.

"Thank you, Andre!" Marinette walks off and sits on a bench, starting to eat her ice cream. Tikki pops her head out and Marinette offers her a bite. At the bottom of the cone, there's a plastic ball with a note inside. "Adrien sure thought everything through, Tikki." She breaks open the plastic ball and reads.

Clue #2- Your face belongs in a frame for everyone to see and admire your beauty.

"Frame? Admire? What do you think that means, Tikki?"

Tikki yawns and blinks her eyes. She tries not to fall asleep. "I think we should go home, Marinette. I don't have a good feeling about this."

"But we're so close, Tikki!" Marinette gasps. "I got it! The art museum! Adrien's talked about taking me there before. Art's framed and its beauty is admired by people!" She stands up, throwing away her trash, and starts running towards the art museum. The front door is unlocked when she gets there. She pushes it open. No one's here. The door creaks as she steps inside.

"Marinette, I'm scared," Tikki whispers, hiding further into the purse.

Marinette wraps a hand around her purse. "It's okay, Tikki. I'm sure Adrien's around here somewhere." They both jump and scream as the door slams shut behind them. "Must be windy outside." She keeps walking in, climbing a flight of stairs to the second floor. She strolls around for a couple minutes, annoyed that she hasn't found Adrien or another clue. "This is harder than I thought." At the end of the hallway, she sees a white letter on a pedestal. Grinning, she runs over and grabs it.

SURPRISE!

Marinette looks down at it, confused. "I don't get it, Tikki. Where's Adrien?" She turns and spins, looking for him. "Maybe I should call. I'm probably in the wrong spot. Did I miss clue #3?"