To Felix and Beyond // Miraculous Ladybug

24 - Background

Bridgette was sick, Nino was "visiting his grandfather," and Alya was stuck watching her sisters all weekend. Which meant Adrien, Felix, and Marinette were left alone to hang out.

They decided to go to a cafe for breakfast, one that none of them had been to before. It was a day where they didn't have much planned, but they were just going with the flow.

The three of them found a seat and Marinette went to the cashier to order, as it was one of the places that you go up to order. Adrien wanted to go with her, and left Felix to watch their things. Adrien really only went up with her so he could sneak his credit card in and pay for all of them.

"Felix," A hand landed on the table in front of Felix, who was looking at his phone.

Felix followed the hand up until he saw a face. "Chloe. Nice seeing you here."

"What's going on with Marinette? And don't lie to me, you may be a good liar, but I've known you all my life. I know when you're lying," Chloe told him.

Felix let out a quiet laugh. It was strange, he had gotten used to laughing more, and he primarily blames Marinette for that. "Why, Chloe, I don't think anything has been going on with Marinette. And if there was, why would I tell you? You're terrible to her," Felix rolled his eyes.

Chloe crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "I know something is going on. And you best bet I have my assumptions. If I have to go to Marinette, we both know if I guess it right, she'll get like she used to around Adrien and flip out. That would be a dead giveaway," Chloe threatened.

Felix shrugged. "I don't know; she's managed to keep a lot of secrets."

Chloe let out a little laugh. "Besides," She started, going to walk away. "I know you know who Ladybug and Chat Noir actually are."

And she left.

Marinette and Adrien were laughing when they walked back over. "Hey, was that Chloe?" Adrien asked when he sat back down.

"Yeah," Felix nodded.

"What about?" Marinette followed up.

Felix shrugged and pointed to Marinette. "You," He said. She gave a confused look, waiting for an explanation. "She asked what's going on with you. Then, left after saying I know who Ladybug and Chat Noir are," Felix explained.

"Do you think she knows? I mean, Ladybug did end up in the limo with her...but I thought he didn't look!" Adrien started to freak out.

Marinette shook her head. "She can't know, I saw her doing everything she could to cover her eyes and not see me," Marinette explained.

Felix agreed. "She doesn't know, but she has her assumptions. So, if she starts saying things, Marinette, you have to stay calm. Or else Chloe will be the first one to find out that isn't family," Felix explained.

The three chose to disregard the subject and continue amongst their day, which was still undecided.

---

"What does this mean?" Alya murmured when she looked at the box that had been sitting on her desk for a month now. She had barely touched it, only to move it to a drawer and take it out. She had zero idea what the note could mean.

"'Only open when it's the right time. You'll know.' What does that mean?" She mumbled. She was meaning to be watching her sisters, but they were driving her so insane that she put on a long movie and went to her room.

She didn't know how it ended up in her room, and she didn't know what it was.

"Fu, she hasn't even mentioned it! Do you think she understands it? What if one of her sisters took-"

"I never got it wrong, Nino, and I believe you won't either. If you think Miss Cesaire can handle the Miraculous, then we go with it. I'm sure she got it, but Wayzz has not felt it being activated yet," Fu began to explain to Nino, as he was at another lesson. Nino had been seeing him more recently lately, mainly for the reasons of lessons.

Nino nodded. "I did as you said and put the note on there that she only opens it when she knows it's time. I guess nothing has stricken that yet," Nino told himself, trying to calm down.

"Exactly," Fu replied. "Ladybug and Chat Noir have attended every Akuma attack lately, and there haven't been any bigger threats. And you had even said you didn't know of anyone threatening her directly or indirectly, meaning she has no reason to open it."

Nino rolled his eyes. "I still can't believe you won't tell me who Ladybug and Chat Noir are," He groaned.

Fu shrugged. "It is not my secret to tell."

"Can you at least tell me why you chose them? I'm curious what they did that made you take interest and trust in them," Nino said. Fu had asked him a few weeks ago who he thought would make a good miraculous holder, and another superhero. Fu knew the fight was going to get harder, and he knew the two heroes couldn't do it alone. So he had Nino do it, and see if his reasoning worked well.

It did.

"Of course, Nino," Fu smiled. He had appointed many Ladybug's and Chat Noir's, and each one was different. "I was crossing the street, and you know I tend to walk slower, and a car was coming. A young girl, your age, saw me and ran into the street to help me cross and stay safe. She ended up falling to the ground, dropping her box of freshly baked sweets, crushing most of them. She was even nice enough to let me have one of the two good ones left, and I walked inside her house and placed the miraculous. I knew," Fu recited, remembering Marinette's clumsy ways. "She was late to school, though."

Nino let out a little laugh. "And Chat Noir?"

"He wanted to go to school terribly bad. He managed to escape his father, but his assistant got to him one second before he had a chance to run up the stairs. I had fallen over and couldn't grab my walking stick, so he made the decision to run over and help me, meaning he was stuck going back home," Fu told Nino, and little did Nino know Fu was talking about his best friend.

"And I chose Alya because I feel she would be responsible," Nino sighed.

Fu put his hand on Nino's arm. "No, you chose her for many reasons. She has little sisters, yes? She watched after them and felt the need to protect them, like she would do with Paris. She gets all her school work done, meaning she is responsible. She also runs the Ladyblog and the school blog, so she can do many things and still have time to see her friends. She would go in the line of danger to throw Chat Noir his staff or get videos of the attack to post and keep her followers and the people of Paris updated...she cares," Fu elaborated. Nino knew all these reasons were correct, and they were all Alya, and deep down, Nino knew that's why he chose her.

"I wonder what she'll call herself," Nino smiled.