Once upon a friendship

The journey to school

Marinette almost had to physically drag herself to school. Ladybug she might be, but her luck primarily had to do with her superhero side, not her regular one. Her alarm gone off at a completely inappropriate time: the inappropriate time of four in the morning. She had dressed, found her homework, and was halfway down the stairs to the bakery when she looked outside the window and realized it was still dark. She had not slept since then.

And I thought I was doing so well too, she groaned internally. Her luck seemed to run out whenever she needed it most. I wonder if Chat Noir's real identity has good luck in his normal life, she wondered briefly, It would certainly even out his poor luck on the job.

Thinking of Chat Noir brought back memories from earlier in the night. Marinette frowned. The fact that he knew where she lived and had actively sought her out worried her. She had practically spelled out that she wanted their secret identities and their super life separate. If he continued to visit her, he could find out who she really was. That could ruin everything.

Marinette bit her lip and stared at her feet, taking her on the well-worn path to school. Ladybug might be fierce and brave, but Marinette was not. The fact that Tikki had chosen her for the destiny of Ladybug was nearly humorous. If Chat Noir ever found out her identity, heaven forbid, he would surely abandon her.

Even at the thought of losing him, Marinette's eyes almost began to water. He was the only one who truly understood what it was like to be her. He too had a secret identity, a role to play in regular life, a destiny that he wasn't quite prepared for. Chat Noir was her only friend on the other side.

With him, it was the Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir, heroes of Paris. With him it was them against all evil. Without his partnership and trust, Marinette seriously doubted she could do her job. Sure she usually came up with the plan that saved their hides, but twice now he'd saved her from certain peril: Once from Time Breaker's energy stealing and another time from Cupid's poisoned arrows. If he hadn't foolishly sacrificed himself for her, she would most surely be dead.

If he found out about the girl behind the mask, the fearful gentle Marinette, he'd begin to doubt her. He'd lose his love for Ladybug, and doing so, lose what kept them so close.

I can't let him figure it out, Marinette thought, suddenly steeling herself and standing straighter. She was determined now. The next time Chat Noir invaded her personal life, she'd definitely tell him to butt out.

Adrien tapped his fingers impatiently against his leg. He was dying to see Marinette. While he wanted to see her as Chat Noir, he was intrigued enough by their conversation last night to want to talk to her today, as Adrien.

Sure, he had tried before, but all of his advances at conversation or friendship seemed slim once Marinette started stammering. At first, he thought she was afraid of boys. When he'd first gotten out of homeschooling, he had been terrified to talk to any girl, but it soon passed. But if she was bold enough to talk to Chat Noir in the darkness of her room late at night, surely she could handle talking to Adrien in the day at school.

Finally, his limousine pulled up to the curb of the school. He thanked his driver and stepped out of the car into the sunshine. He shielded his eyes from the sudden brightness and scanned the sidewalk for Nino.

Upon spotting him, he rushed over, eager to see his friend. Nino was sitting on the steps to the main door talking to Alya. They were laughing and waving their hands animatedly. A brief pang of longing went through Adrien at the sight. As much as he loved being Chat Noir and fighting evil with Ladybug, he wished sometimes that he was like them, normal with a normal life. The simplicity in it called to him.

"Nino! Alya!" he called waving to them. They called out their greetings and smiled, waving him over.

"Adrien, you won't believe it-", Nino began as Adrien joined them.

"The most incredible thing-", Alya said, overlapping him.

"Let me guess," Adrien said grinning "you saw Ladybug."

Alya beamed "How did you know?" she asked wiggling her eyebrows.

Adrien chuckled, beaming back. It was well known that Alya was Ladybug's biggest fan, followed closely by him, and her ability to find Ladybug was almost uncanny. Really, the amount of times that Alya had run into the illusive Parisian hero seemed astronomical. Her determination to reveal Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities scared Adrien a little when they had come face to face with her as an akuma, but luckily Ladybug had proved that masks are not always easily removed.

Alya's Ladyblog was Adrien's most visited web page. The daily updates and occasional video footage or picture of the two heroes was quite impressive. Adrien monitored it constantly to make sure Alya had not discovered his identity or Ladybug's. It was one thing to have him seek out Ladybug on the sly, but a civilian damasking her seemed more like a threat than anything.

"I saw her swinging from her yo-yo yesterday," Alya said blissfully staring into space. "It was sooo magical, you wouldn't believe it!"

"I really couldn't," Adrien said, laughing internally. Oh, how envious Alya would be if she got to see Ladybug as much as he did.

"I wish you could have got it on video, Alya," Nino said, pouting slightly. "I'd like to see it. Ladybug's incredible!"

"What about Ladybug?"

The three turned at the sudden voice to see Marinette walking up to them. Bright as ever, she strode up to the steps and sat next to Alya.

Her best friend turned and clutched her shoulders tightly. "I saw her!" Alya said. "There I was, walking home from the café, and who should go swinging over my head, none other than Ladybug, herself!" She swept her hand over the horizon dramatically "It was one of the most inspiring sights I've ever seen. Ahh, Ladybug! One day I'll find you!"

Marinette giggled and pulled Alya's hands from her shoulder into her lap. "Alya, you're so lucky to see her so often! I wish I was around whenever she was there."

"On day you will, Marinette," Alya said, holding Marinette's hands in hers, squeezing them in excitement. "I swear it! With my good luck, you're bound too."

"Could you extend that promise to me?" Nino said jokingly. "I may not be Ladybug's biggest fan, but man! She's so cool! I wish I could take a picture with her, it would definitely get me some kind of credit for film school."

"I've seen her," Adrien said suddenly.

At his voice, Marinette turned and blushed ferociously. In her haste to get to Alya, she had overlooked Adrien. Her bad luck seemed to have taken her from simple time confusion to ignoring the most amazing boy in school, and her crush.

"I was driving to the Pantomime show," he continued "and there she was. She saved me from The Mime. It must've been two, three weeks ago? It was really cool."

If it was physically possible, Marinette might've blushed even more. Adrien praising Ladybug was one of the things she really loved about being a hero. Seeing someone she liked talking about her without knowing was almost like a compliment.

The bell rang for class just as Alya laughed. "Really, Adrien, I'd think you'd remember about all the times she saved us here, at school."

"This was different," Adrien said as they all walked into the school. "This time it was just me and Ladybug. I mean, she saved me sure, but looking at her standing there, so brave in the face of danger, it just made me think, you know? She's just fantastic."

Marinette remained silent, but internally she was practically squealing with joy. Adrien Agreste, the most incredible boy in school, thought she, Ladybug, was fantastic. It was almost too much to handle without melting into a puddle.

Alya laughed again. "Well if you love her so much, why don't you marry her?" She turned away from the boys to link arms with Marinette and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "That is, unless you marry him first."

"Alya!" Marinette sputtered, "Don't talk so loud! What if he heard?"

Alya giggled at Marinette's incomprehensible mutterings and, with a small wave to the boys, turned with Marinette to go to her locker. As Alya locked at Adrien, however, her brow furrowed. His face wasn't locked with her eyes long enough to properly assess his features, but she could swear, for the briefest second, that his face flushed a slight pink.