✩𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕤𝕥 ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥, 𝔹𝕝𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤✩

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴

After spending an entire afternoon checking up on her rogue gallery from afar, Marinette picked up on a few things.

Firstly, no evil little black butterflies have paid any one of them a visit. A clear relief on her end. Secondly, every akumatized victim seemed to be moving on with their lives. They all seemed happier, livier. Chat Noir would have loved to see Princess Fragrance finally get over her obsession with him and get asked out on a date rather than kidnapping a foreign prince and dangling over the EiffelTower because he didn't put up his pinkie when he sipped tea. Thirdly, nearly every single one of their villains hates Ladybug.

A deep set loathing radiated from Nino when she asked about his encounters with The Bug. Ian just grunted, and Alex called her a pain in the ass. They all had the common understanding that she meant well, but the key point was that they thought she was a really big snob, and it really bothered her.

"I am really that unlikable?" Marinette groaned as she fell face first into her pillow.

"Well, you've had better days, that's for sure."

"I don't understand. Paris loves Ladybug. I save people and fix things with my lucky charm. I'm the lovable sidekick."

"Maybe it's just not enough, Marinette. From the guys we've seen today, they've all been reakumatized on more than one occasion. If anything, you may have made their lives worse just by being Ladybug."

"Probably," Marinette said with puffed out cheeks. "But, why haven't they said anything bad about Adrien? He was a superhero, too. I'm sure he's ruined someone's life with his cat puns."

"Debatable, but Adrien never went home when you did. After you guys fist pumped, he would stay behind and talk to them. Made them feel better and safer before going on patrol again."

"Why are you only telling me this now?!" She said as she threw one of her pillows at the kwami, only to phase through it.

"Why didn't you ever think about it? Besides, wasn't it obvious to see?"

Marinette sat up with a frown and hugged her knees.

"No, but now that you made me think about it, yes. He always lingered around," she said in deep thought. "He was always the better hero. Geez, maybe I am just a selfish snob."

"Cheer up, Bug-Girl. You are making a second chance to work out your kinks, right?"

"How am I supposed to do that with no leads? We haven't visited all of the akumatized victims yet, and Robin's deadline is tomorrow!"

"That's a simple fix. Stop targeting the common criminals. If Hawkmoth was really back and if he was working alongside a warlord, do you really think he would be contacting Mr Pigeon for one more bird spree?"

Marinette shook her head.

"Then let's get to the point. We need to go see Gabriel Agreste himself."

Marinette cast her eyes to the ground. Plagg was right. Running around in circles was becoming a habit she couldn't shake off. If she wanted to maintain the semblance of a decent relationship with the kwami, she was going to build up the focus to get to the bottom of it.

"Okay," she exhaled. "Let's go see Gabriel. I'm sure they allow late afternoon visits, right."

"Let's find out," Plagg grinned as he whizzed into Marinette's clutch bag.

Normally, she would transform into Ladybug and jump out of the window and swing across downtown, but it was still daylight, and her mother was hyperventilating over disappearing daughters.

The teen descended down the stairs to enter the kitchen where the ovens cooled down.

"And where do you think you're going?" Her mother asked as she swept crumbs off the floor and into her small dustpan.

"I just need to pick up my notebook from Alya's, Mom. I'll be right back."

"And when has a mediocre excuse like that ever worked on me?"

'Never,' the girl thought in her mind before finding another set of words to grace her mouth.

"Okay, so it's not a notebook, but I still need to get it. It's personal."

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"Mom, you know how Alya is."

Her mother gave her a stern look.

"No, actually. I don't. At least, I thought I did once upon a time until today."

Marinette raised her eyebrows at her mother.

"What happened with Alya?"

"She's a cunning one. I went upstairs to collect your laundry, and there she was snooping around. She didn't announce that she was coming over and she didn't see me at all from your door. Before I could bust that naughty one, she jumped out the window! I felt my heartburn kick in when I looked out the window and saw that she was gone. Like a banshee, I tell you. Gone. It's probably how she came in, too. When I told your father he went pale."

The bluenette's mouth hung open. That was so crazy, but it sounded like a crazy thing Alya would try to pull off. But for what reason?

Marinette bit her lip. She would have felt guilty about throwing Alya under the bus like this, but she did ignore all her earlier texts and half a dozen attempts to call her. Most of the notification banners had exclamation marks and angry face emojis. She clearly survived the fall, and she was most likely pissed about her skipping out on their playday at the hotel.

Mrs Dupain-Cheng took a deep breath in before sighing and placing the broom against the wall.

"Go," she muttered as she shooed her daughter with one hand. "And make it quick."

Marinette fist pumped the air. "Thanks, Mama."

"Before you go," her mother said, making Mari whip her head around while standing by the store door
before her voice went dangerously low. "Get anything of yours that's at her place and break off any type of friendship that you've formed with that girl."

"What?"

"I never want to see her face around her again. Never!"