Appreciating Chat Noir

Chapter Eleven

After weeks of hard work, accidentally pricked fingers, and sore backs, the day of the fashion competition has finally arrived. Marinette had arrived at the location of the fashion competition half an hour early – just in case. Having some extra time to set up her submissions, as well as being able to scope out the competition was the reassurance that she needed.

She walked 'backstage' to where there was space for all of the contestants that thought they'd have a chance at winning the chance at working with the  Gabriel Agreste! She soothed her nerves and carried her bag with her finished projects inside – finally, at last she had managed to finish them last night thanks to the help of a certain superhero friend having given her a good head start. Thanks to his help, she had been able to finish her projects after fighting the akkuma with him without losing too much sleep.

She smiled at the thought.

Having remembered from when the last time she took part in a fashion competition – when Chloe had tried to steal her design, she made sure to put her 'signature' on both of her costumes, just to make sure there wouldn't be a repeat of last time.

She found the two manikins available for her to display her costumes on and began to set up for the day. Marinette knew this was unusual for her to be early for once, but with the exception of the one last night, there hadn't been very many akkuma's lately – giving her ample time to prepare. She smiled at the thought, proud of how far she had come.

Her only concern was at the arrival of Chat Noir. He had agreed to be there to cheer her on – but she wasn't sure when he'd arrive. She heard the voices of some familiar faces nearby approach her. "Hey Marinette!"

Nino and Alya walked up to where she was standing. Marinette turned to face them. "Hey!"

"How are you feeling?" Alya asked. "We're excited to cheer you on!"

Marinette wrinkled her brow, concerned about the whereabouts of Chat Noir. She thought he'd agreed to meet her there. Perhaps it was asking too much of his time. He had a life after-all outside of her. She hoped he hadn't been too tired after fighting the akkuma last night.

She put on a brave face, choosing to think about the excitement of the competition instead. "I can't wait!"

"That's the spirit!" Nino said excitedly. He didn't know much about fashion, but he still was looking forward to spending more time with Alya, who was excited about the competition thanks for Marinette of course. Good besties support their friends!

Her smile faded as she thought about Chat Noir not being there. He had promised to help her model! Who was going to fill in now?

"What's wrong, Marinette?"

"Well, I had asked someone to help me model one of my designs, but he hasn't shown! I can't just show a dressed manikin!"

A walking ball of sunshine approached their group. "What happened?" Adrien asked.

Marinette whirled around, accidentally tripped over the carpet, and as a result, fell onto him. Turning bright red, she quickly tried to separate herself from him, brushing invisible particles from her clothing.

"Oh, hi Adrien. I was just mentioning how one of my models is a no-show. I haven't been able to get a hold of him." She looked all around the floor making sure she didn't drop anything, and searched her pockets for her cell phone to check for messages from Chat Noir.

"Looking for this?" Adrien asked from his position of kneeling on the floor, picking up her cell phone up.

Marinette's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, thank-you!" She grabbed her cell-phone back and checked her messages, and sighing disappointedly, quickly sent him a brief text: "Hey Chat Noir, where are you?"