I Hate Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction)

grief

One month later:

It's funny how people's opinions change when someone is gone. All of a sudden it's nothing but kind words and sentiments of praise and Adrien hated the whole idea of it.

But what he hated more...

Was that no one was doing it. Not for Marrinette.

Ladybugs death was a tragedy... marrinette's was a casualty... no more than a statistic and no less than a relief.

She was the bad guy... the person who killed paris' greatest hero. She wasn't a victim of hawkmoths power and manipulation... she was a cold blooded murderer who deserved what she got... at least that's what the media said.

And school was no better.

Adrien thought that marrinette's death would help Lila change... but alas (and to no one else's surprise) it didn't. She made the most vicious lies that got more absurd and damning as the days went by... pushing the limits of what she could spin.

Alya never seemed to really acknowledge marrinette from that day on... as if the girl had never existed at all. Though she didn't spend time around Lila anymore... maybe she finally stopped believing her lies, though it would of still been too late. Or maybe she just couldn't bear to hear about all the horrific stories of her ex-bestfriend that lila would tell but either way she had distanced herself.

Adrien had seen Luka wandering around a couple times. He always looked distant... like he was in his own world... maybe one where marrinette was still okay. Adrien had tried to speak to him a few times and luka always put on a soft, kind smile that reminded him of marrinette. But Adrien never knew what to say. Adrian had never really understood what Luka had meant by 'inner musics' and 'rythms'... but he understood now. What use to be a gorgeous, complicated tune that luka embodied was now a simple, slow repetitive beat that was played slightly out off tune.

Adrien had actually been the one to tell kagami about marrinette. Her mother had always had a habbit of censoring the news from her so she hadn't heard anything about it untill she asked about her friend during a fencing lesson about a week later. The whole class had gone silent and was gauking at her with a mixture of sympathy and surprise. Adrien pulled her aside and told her. Oh the look on her face... adrien had never seen kagami look so sad... it felt wrong and made his own heart break all the more. Marrinette had been the only one that ever brought this much emotion out of kagami... and even in death she still was getting her to open up. Kagami spent the next few weeks throwing herself into her studies and fencing practice determined to distract herself though she would become visibily upset whenever someone would talk about marrinette in a bad way- always jumping to her defence and at one point she even broke the phone one of adriens school mates in the year below who had been posting some particularly nasty tweets, throwing money in her face as she mumbled a insincere apology for breaking it.

Chloe was perhaps the only one to come out of this better than she came in. She mourned marrinette... she really did... but she didnt let it keep her down. She was Determined that everything marrinette had lost would be what she gained. Constantly doing what she could to live up to marrinette. And to her delight... no sooner did she start her journey towards kindness did her classmates start to accept her. And with every new friend she made the more she wanted treat them well. And adrien finally got to watch her show off the side of her that she had hid away from the world for so long... but if made him sad that marrinette would never get to see it.

Marrinette's parents had it probably the worst of all. Not only were they forced to grieve a daughter but they also blamed themselves entirely for her death. The last time they saw marrinette they fought with her... they yelled and verbally disowned her... and then she got akumatized... what else were they meant to think?
But you see... the world is cruel... so they didn't get to just grieve her... no. They had to deal with constant barration as the media tried to interview the people who raised the girl who killed ladybug. To judge and harass them for their daughters possession. People yelled at them on the streets and defaced their shop... and within just three weeks they had to move away. Adrien never found out where... he had meant to see them before they moved but everytime he did he couldn't work up the courage.

Adrien spent every moment of the day hating himself. Regretting never speaking up to Lila or waiting to notice how bad things were getting for marrinette till it was already too late. Since then he had confronted Lila many times but none were taken seriously, all of his friends chalking it up to grief though they all were slowly tiring of his constant accusations. Adrien's attendance had dropped severely... making it for 2 days a week if he was lucky. Unable to step foot in his once favourite place now turned reminder of beautiful memories he'd inevitably lose to time. His father had been surprisingly supportive about the whole thing... helping marrinettes parents pay for her funeral and cancelling all of adriens upcoming work... just letting him grieve.

Today had been one of the days that adrien had managed to drag himself out of bed and into school. Every second that past by felt more like an hour and the atmosphere of the school had completely changed in the most unwelcome way.

Adrien may as well of not been at school. He hadn't listened in any of his classes and he didn't talk to any of his 'friends' though he really couldn't stand any of them anymore... each playing their separate parts in marrinettes death... something he knew he shouldn't blame them for but did.

The final school bell rang out and he threw his stuff into his bag messily and tossing the leather band over his shoulder. It was raining out the front of the school. It reminded him of time he first met marrinette... even when she hated him he wanted nothing more than to be the reason she smiled. He reached his hand out and felt the soft drops of water land on his skin. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply for the first time remembering marrinette and not feeling sad.

Adrien stepped out into the rain. Rain pattering against his skin and soaking his hair and clothes. He felt the cool water run across his face and arms and finally felt like he was in his own body again... a feeling he had forgotten a month ago.

Adriens limo pulled up along the side of the road and his body guard gave him a grumpy look as he saw that adrien was soaked. But it was quickly wiped of his face when he saw that the agonised expression that had claimed adrien had finally eased.

~

Adrien walked into his room drying his hair with a towel before throwing it onto his bed and shaking his damp hair out into its usual messy style. He couldn't explain it... but the feeling of depression and loss that had followed him for months had suddenly disappeared and he wondered if he had just woken up from a bad dream or perhaps he'd fallen into a good one.  Adrien pinched his skin and was relieved when he felt the sting of pain. He dumped his school bag on the ground and walked over to his drawers, refiling through looking for some dry clothes.

Adrien walked over lazily to his desk tossing the clothes onto the table before freezing in place. His eyes catching on something.

A small - very familiar - box.