•Bad Luck•

Grumpy Kitty

"What the hell do you call that!?" Plagg's nasally voice echoed through the silent bedroom. The moonlight shone bright through the glass wall as Adrien got ready to go to sleep, his side still aching  furiously.

"Could you please elaborate on that Plagg?" Adrien asked annoyedly, reaching out for a slice of camembert in hope of shutting him up. All Adrien wanted to do was rest; it was already reaching the early hours of the morning and his mind and body was exhausted from the shock and pain of his little ordeal.

"You and that girl, do you wanna explain?" Plagg questioned, for some reason annoyed by Adrien's actions.

"Who, Marinette? I needed help and I knew she could help me," Adrien frowned as he stared at the carpet floor, not seeing a problem with what he had done.

"Are you sure that was just it? You got a little more than help. Why'd you stay for so long after?"

"Marinette is just a friend, Plagg, and since when were you so interested in who I talk to?" Adrien snapped back. He'd heard it a million times before.
'You and Marinette look cute together, you should date!'
'Do you and Marinette like each other?'
'Why can't you two just date already!'

And each time, he would respond the same way, because they really were just friends. He couldn't imagine how Marinette put up with it. How come no one thought Chat and Ladybug were cute together?

"I'm not," Plagg responded defensively, snatching the camembert from Adrien's hands, "I just thought you liked Ladybug," he muttered through a mouthful of cheese.

"I did-I still do! I already told you this Plagg: I will always love Ladybug, and I know she will return my feelings someday." Plagg rolled his eyes at how naïve and blind the boy was.

'If only he knew she already did, just not in the way he thinks. The kid has got to be careful, because if he starts acting like that with her all the time, and he thinks they're just friends, he will surely be in for a surprise if she ends up falling for him, twice,' Plagg thought to himself.

"Whatever you say kid. Just get some rest, you'll have to figure out how to hide that wound so no one realises tomorrow."

"Yeah I know," Adrien groaned,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All too soon, Adrien was woken by a knock at the door, a feminine voice requesting to enter.

"Come in!" Adrien called with a groan, rolling to his side.

Big mistake.

"Argh!" He yelped as Nathalie entered his room, her face course with concern.

"Is everything alright Adrien?" She questioned, rushing to his side.

Adrien glanced under his covers to see blood beginning to seep through a white bandage. His heart thumped as he struggled to make up an excuse.

"Ah yeah, I think I just pulled a muscle running in PE yesterday I'm fine though," Adrien assured the assistant. She eyed him strangely, but let it go. She learned it was best to let the Agreste's keep to themselves.

"Very well, it's time you get up and get ready for school, we will be leaving in a half hour," Nathalie informed before letting herself out.

"There's no way you can hide that from people," Plagg chimed in, appearing from behind the bed as soon as the door was shut.

"I have to, Father has had me taking so much time off of school for photoshoots and piano practise, my attendance is suffering. I can't afford another day off," Adrien grimaced, making his way for the shower. His entire abdomen ached as he moved, struggling not to limp.

"Well how are you going to explain that limp then?" Plagg followed after him.

"I don't know, I'll figure that out later!" Adrien snapped.

"Yeesh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Plagg rolled his eyes as Adrien removed his shirt and peeled away the bloodied bandage, throwing it into the bin. Below, it revealed the messy stitches and deep gash from the previous night. "You really ought to be more careful kid," Plagg added, a little more serious and meaningful.

"Yeah, I know. Look sorry for snapping at you Plagg, but I'm just under a lot of stress lately. Between school, my Father and patrol, I've just had so much on my plate," Adrien sighed.

"Just try and remember what really matters," Plagg reminded before leaving the boy to shower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hurry Marinette, you're gonna be late!" Tikki squeaked as Marinette leaped up the stairs to class three at a time. Her alarm failed to wake her for the fourth consecutive day, leaving the girl only minutes to spare before class began. Although it appeared she wasn't the only one.

The one and only Adrien Agreste was late to class, his body wobbling side to side as slowly, he made it closer to the door. Marinette's lungs screamed for air, and it wasn't because she just sprinted to school.

Adrien sensed her presence, turning around to give her a warm smile and wave. "Hey there Marinette."

"Oh-ah h-hi Adrien," Mari blushed profusely, her hand nervously waving in the air. "Is everything okay?" she managed to spit out, gesturing to his limp. Adrien's eyes widened for a second, never having an excuse.

"Oh y-yeah! Just hurt myself during fencing practise," Adrien winced, scratching the back of his neck nervously, hoping the girl would believe him.

"Oh well I hope you beel fetter, I mean teel beffer, I-I mean-" Marinette sighed, looking to the ground in shame.

"Thanks Mari, I will," Adrien chuckled at his friend, somehow understanding what she meant. Marinette turned away, hiding her bright cheeks behind her hand.

'The only person to ever call me that has been Chat Noir. Speaking of which, I wonder how he is today, he must be really sore.' Marinette thought to herself. "I suppose we should get to class," he added, continuing the strenuous journey to the door.

Marinette silently followed behind, her mind in a flurry of emotions. She glanced away when Adrien held the door for her, trying to hide the smile on her face. She immediately joined Alya's side at their desk, trying to answer her questioning expression with just her eyes.

"Oh Adrikinns what's wrong?" Chloe literally flung herself onto Adrien, his eyes widening in pain as he battled to hold her up with his wound shooting a sharp pain up his side.

"Get off him Chloe, can't you see you're hurting him?" Marinette seethed, rising from her seat. Adrien let out a puff of air in relief as Chloe let go, marching over to Mari.

"And how would you know, did you hurt him?" Chloe accused with a malevolent smile screwing up her face.

"No, it's something you can do when you care about people!" Marinette refuted angrily. Alya yanked her back down in her seat as the teacher arrived, saving her from getting in trouble. Chloe stormed off in a huff as she was ordered to sit down, Adrien hobbling over to take his seat in front of Marinette. He flashed her a kind smile before turning his attention to the teacher.

Alya nudged her best friend in the ribs lightly, drawing her attention to the messily written note on the corner of her notebook.

'You do realise you just said that you cared about Adrien in front of everyone, right?' Marinette felt her jaw drop open as she skimmed along the writing, her heart picking up its pace.

'Oh god, do you think anyone noticed?' Mari fretted.

'Nah, don't sweat it Girl. Half the people in here are already half asleep or listening to music.' Alya reassured with an amused expression.

The rest of the day continued on uneventfully, another school day passing and allowing Marinette to reunite with her bed. But sadly not before her nightly hero duties had been checked off her long to-do list.

'Well at least it will be interesting to see how Chat explains getting in a cat fight with a robber. I hope he and Adrien are doing better,' Marinette thought to herself as she prepared to start her patrol.