#CHECK. SAVING MASTER FU WHICH LEADS TO TIKKI CHOOSING HER?

[literaphobe]

miraculous movie very funny to me bc of how many adrichat things are just unexplained. why is he at school now? no clue. how’d he meet nino? you tell me. why did plagg choose him? yeah he just uh. he just saw a window ran in and knew. no adrien didn’t save the lives of any old men. yeah he’s just a hero now. also plagg will not stop farting

[idk-mlb-is-reals-cute44]

Miraculous Secret Santa gift part 4!

For @clockworkgalaxies

~••~

“A certain master told me you were my partner,” the man winked, “I’m Chat Noir!”

“You’re here to help me?”

Chat Noir nodded. (And gave her finger guns. Silly—but kind of cute.)

Marinette felt herself sagging with relief (she would take all the help she could get!) but stopped herself.

“Prove it,” she said, putting up her guard, “How do I know you’re not really working for... for him?!”

She pointed at the closed door, behind which was the purple room.

“Look, Master Fu explained everything to me,” Chat said, “I promise I’m not abusing my miraculous like he is. I didn’t even know any of this was going down! My friend snuck me out to a pub in the city and then some man brought me into his back room, saying things about destiny, and then, well! Here we are!”

Marinette wanted to trust him. She really did.

But...

“Prove it.”

“How?” Chat Noir asked.

“Prove that you’re really on my side by...” Marinette faultered. What could she ask of him? He was no more trustworthy to her as she was to him.

She sighed, and then offered him a small smile.

“I’m... Ladybug,” Marinette said, and it wasn’t the most creative name but it could’ve been worse for something she made up in the spot.

She stuck out her hand, and he shook it.

“Well met, Ladybug,” Chat Noir said, “I admire your caution. But I promise, we’re on the same side.”

“I’m choosing to believe you,” she said, “For now. Please don’t let me down.”

“I won’t.”

Marinette, no, Ladybug, felt a little heat rise in her cheeks and the sincerity in his voice—but quickly banished the feeling and instead turned to the door.

“I want to find a way,” she said, “To save one of them.”

She opened the door, checked to see if there was anyone there (there wasn’t) and strolled in. Chat followed her.

“Any ideas?” Ladybug asked.

Chat sucked in a breath.

“I feel like I’m gonna puke,” he said, voice strained.

“Do you here the voices too?” Ladybug asked, tuning out the pleas for help that were a constant background soundtrack to this room.

“Yes,” Chat said, “I heard them once, before, from afar. But this...”

He turned a little green.

“This is horrible.”

“Something is off,” Ladybug agreed, “Spmething is wrong. Which is why we’re going to save someone. Her.”

She pointed at Mylene.

“Why her?” Chat asked.

Ladybug opened her mouth, and closed it.

No personal detail. Personal details meant he might know enough to guess who she was. (And she had promised Tikki. No more reveals.)

So instead, she went with the frustratingly vague response of, “I have my reasons.”

Chat nodded.

“Ok.”

They circled Mylene, looking for a clue on how to break her out. Marinette knocked on the purple pillar, but although it was see-through and seemed to be made of light, it was terribly solid. Impenetrable.

Ladybug tried saying her name, but to no avail. Mylene gave no response.

(Ladybug tried to shove down the guilt. She couldn’t have known this would happen to Mylene. She had just given Mylene the space she asked for.)

Ladybug sat down on the floor, defeated.

“I have no ideas,” she admitted, and then laughed without humor. “That’s a new one. I’m usually pretty creative. Not when it matters, I guess.”

And then suddenly she was chocking down tears—except not very successfully, because they spilled over anyway.

“Maybe I’m not cut out for this,” she whispered, “I’m not a hero. I’m not a fighter. That’s... that’s my best friend. She’d be better at this.”

She hadn’t meant to cry, but it was so frustrating. There was no solution in sight, and Marinette didn’t even know how to begin with this problem.

Chat Noir crouched down next to her.

“Hey, hey,” Chat said, “Don’t say that.”

Ladybug frowned.

“It’s true,” she said, “My best friend would be better at this.”

“Look,,” Chat said, and paused, and sighed, “I know I don’t know you. But in the, what, ten minutes since we met, right, I’ve already seen your bravery, and-and you care about these people. It’s obvious: you have heart. That’s way more important than having the ability to... I don’t know. Punch someone’s lights out.”

And then Ladybug was laughing as she scrubbed away the tears.

“You’re good at this,” she said.

“At what?” Chat asked.

“At cheering people—or me, at least—up,” she said, and then scooted closer and hugged him, even though he was right: they’d met ten minutes ago.

Chat, thankfully, returned the hug, squeezing her reassuringly.

“Ok,” Ladybug said after a moment, getting to her feet (aided by her miraculous-made grace and wearing-heels-ability), and stared at Mylene, and ran everything Tikki had said about her powers over in her head.

While a lucky charm that was supposed to be whatever she needed would be helpful, she really didn’t know how that would help with an impenetrable magic pillar, and she didn’t want to waste the power to get something useless or that she didn’t know how to use. So that left—

Ooooh. Wait. Idea!

“Did your... fairy,” Ladybug started, hoping he’d been accompanied by a magical being as well so she didn’t sound like a freak, “Tell you what your special power was?”

“Yeah, Plagg said I had something called Cataclysm, so I destroy... anything... I... touch...”

He turned to her, wide-eyed.

“I’m an idiot,” he whispered, grinning.

“You’re not!” Ladybug said, excited, “Try it!”

Chat Noir yelled “Cataclysm!” And slammed his palm against the pillar. The purple light dissipated—but they still had one small problem.

Even though there wasn’t anyone controlling her at that very moment, Mylene was still possessed. And her base mode, without orders, seemed to be “attack.”

The guitar pick was not an effective weapon, so Ladybug was relieved until Mylene clenched her fist around it and swung a punch at Ladybug.

Alya was right, Ladybug thought as she staggered back from the blow, They do have insane super strength.

Chat was blocking her swings (seeing his partner getting hit was good enough warning to be prepared) and yelled, “You alright there, M’lady?”

“I’m fine!” Ladybug said, “My pride’s a little wounded, but I think the miraculous protects us from getting too hurt.”

She studied the battle, not too concerned (Chat seemed to have it under control).

“How’re we supposed to get the guitar pick?” Ladybug asked, “That’s the object that’s being used to possess her!”

“We really need to come up with some shorthand,” Chat grumbled, and then said, “I don’t have any ideas about getting the object being used to possess her! It’s in her fist, right? Can we...” he grunted, dodging a blow, “Uh, pry her hand open?”

“Not while she’s attacking us,” Ladybug mused, and then remembered something.

“I have a yo-yo!” she yelled, “It’s magic, I think. Tikki gave it to me! I put it...” She patted her sides. “Oh crap! I left it in my room!”

“Okay, then, any other ideas?”

Ladybug paused, considering everything.

“Sorry, Mylene,” she said, and then clocked the girl over the head with her boot, knocking her out.

She found the guitar pick and snapped it, hoping it worked. Nothing changed—but Mylene was still unconscious, so that made sense.

“What do we do now?” Chat asked.

“I... know someone who can help.”

~••~

Ladybug helped Luka clear the lab table so they could lie Mylene down on it. Chat stood in the corner, holding Mylene piggy-back style.

“I would ask,” Luka said, “But I figure everything you explain that isn’t already obvious would confuse me more.”

“I’ll give you the full story later,” Ladybug whispered, not sure if she wanted Chat to know that Luka was privy to all of her secrets. (Or, most of them at least.)

Luka nodded and gave her a smile.

“Now,” he said, shelving the last vial, “Bring the patient here. Does anyone want to help me make the healing tonic?”

“Sure,” Ladybug And Chat said in unison.

“Trusting me now, aye?” Luka teased, and Ladybug went red as Chat looked back and forth between then curiously.

“I do trust you,” Ladybug said, “Obviously. Otherwise I would’ve gone to the other wizard of the castle to help me.”

“Oh, I see,” Luka laughed, “Are you telling me I have competition for my job? Who’s the new start up? Anyone I know?”

Ladybug grinned a little too.

Luka gave them a series of easy tasks (chopping, mushing, whisking) And Chat asked about each and every step. Ladybug didn’t know him well, but she couldn’t help but smile endearingly (and noticed Luka doing the same).

Chat was very excited to be helping the wizard out. Very curious. He offered to help Luka sing the spells, and his smile practically blinded Ladybug when Luka agreed.

Cute, Ladybug thought.

When the healing tonic was ready, Ladybug helped Luka to get Mylene to swallow it, and the girl woke up coughing.

“Where am I?” she asked, surrounded by strangers (as far as she knew).

“We’re here to help,” Chat assured.

“Let’s take you back to Ivan, ok?” Ladybug said, helping Mylene off the Gabe and to her feet, “He’s been worried sick about you.”

“You know Ivan?” Mylene asked.

Ladybug tensed and glanced at Chat.

“We’ve... met,” was all Ladybug said.

Needless to say, Ivan was practically crying when they brought Mylene back up to the kitchens, and she was crying too, and the sound woke everyone else up and it was a huge bombardment of “Thank you for bringing her home!” and “We’re forever in your dept!” and thus Ladybug And Chat Noir’s anonymity was somewhat destroyed.

Ladybug didn’t really mind, though. Seeing her friends so happy was worth it.

The two parted ways, and Marinette dropped the transformation in a bathroom, sneaking back up to her room.

Alya, of course, asked to hear everything, and Marinette oblidged.

(Any and all teasing about Luka was met with faked obliviousness.)

“So what are you going to do now?” Alya asked.

“I have no idea,” Marinette confessed, “We have no leads. We found the room, but there’s never anyone there, except for the one time. And there’s nothing in the room besides... the people.”

“You guys could set up a patrol of the castle?” Alya suggested, “I could help when I’m not busy watching Adrien.”

“Thank you, Alya,” Marinette said, “You’re a lifesaver.”

“I know!”

“Hey,” Marinette asked, “Why aren’t you with Adrien tonight?”

Alya hesitated.

“King Gabriel... set him up to meet with potential matches.”

Marinette winced. “Poor him.”

“I heard he snuck away,” Alya slyly added, “Suprised King Gabriel hasn’t stormed over here already demanding I help find him. Maybe... he’s trying to keep his options open? For a certain someone? You two really hit it off at breakfast today!”

Marinette flushed and hit Alya with a pillow.

“Don’t shoot the messenger!” Alya laughed.

“Yeah, well,” Marinette faltered, “It’s probably best I keep my mind off boys for now. Ladybug should take priority. I have a mission.”

Alya rolled her eyes.

“Don’t give me that,” she said, “I have a mission too—a well paying job—and that doesn’t keep me from snogging Nino begins the stables!”

“Alya!” Marinette shrieked, “Tell me everything!”

She tried not to think too much about the unsurmountable task before her for the rest of the night.

~••~

“What does this mean?” Marinette asked, slamming her head into the table.

“Don’t give up!” Luka laughed. “If you’re going to be be messing with ancient, powerful magic, it’ll come in handy to know this stuff!”

“How will knowing the notes to a toad-summoning song help me defeat Mr. Evil Purple Man?”

“Mr. Evil Purple Man?” Luka raised an eyebrow, “You guys really need to come up with snappier names for these things.”

“You avoided the question!”

“It won’t,” Luka said, “But just think: when you’re cornered by an evil witch in the woods, who will let you free if you give her either all of your hair or a whole bunch of toads, you’ll be grateful I taught you a toad-summoning spell.”

“I could pull off being bald,” Marinette said, turning the page.

“I’m sure you could.”

It was right after lunchtime, and Alya was busy babysitting Prince Adrien, so Marinette was with Luka, combing through dusty, boring tombs. “Magic-For-Beginners” one was called, and Marinette had tried to read that first, but found it too hard. She was now skimming, “A Dummy’s Guide To Magic.”

Needless to say, she would not be pursuing a career in wizardry or witchcraft anytime soon.

“This is giving me a headache,” Marinette said, shoving the book away (Perhaps a bit more roughly than she had to). “Can’t I, like... chop some more magic plants or whatever? I grew up in a bakery. I’m an A+ chopper.”

“You’re so smart!” Luka said, “I’m sure you can handle this.”

“Just because I’m smart doesn’t mean I like reading moldy books written a million years ago,” Marinette grumbled, but picked back up the book and renewed her efforts.

The room was silent, except for the calm bubbling of potions and such. Or, it was silent for a moment.

“Luka! I barely managed to slip away, but I—” Chat Noir, and then cut himself off. “Marinette? What are you doing down here?”

“Uhhhhhhh...” she said, thinking up a lie, “I was so thankful you helped my friend Mylene that I wanted to... Um... help Luka out! In return.”

(She’d never stopped to consider how he’d learnt her name.)

“Oh,” he said, “Well, I was here to do the very same thing.” And Marinette wasn’t sure, but was that a hint of... competitiveness in his voice?

“We all have two hands,” Luka whispered, chuckling a little.

“What?” Marinette asked.

“Nothing.” Luka winked at her. “Anyway, Chat, I’m sorry to say that the only thing I’m doing right now is torturing our friend here with reading material.”

He said “reading material” like a parent might say “the boogeyman” while trying to scare their kids on Halloween. Marinette scoffed and told him to shut up.

“I know a bit about magic!” Chat said, suddenly very excited, “Maybe I could help!”

“I’m a lost cause,” Marinette said.

Luka rolled his eyes.

“You know magic?” Luka then asked him.

Chat blushed. “Only a little. And in theory.”

“I’m sure you’re not giving yourself enough credit,” Marinette noted absently, skimming a page about the usefulness of skunk tongues. (Gross.)

Chat blushed a bit more now.

“Are you sure there’s nothing I can help with? No... spell prep or anything?”

“Me too,” Marinette said, “I would take anything over reading about various skunk parts.”

“You’re welcome to just hang out,” Luka said, “But I suppose you two could come out on an ingredient finding trip with me.”

“Why didn’t you offer this before?” Marinette asked, slamming the book shut.

“I’m not out of anything important just yet,” Luka said, “But if you guys truly don’t have anything else to do besides complain about my bookshelf...”

He smiled at them to show he didn’t really mean it.

“Where would be go?” Chat asked.

“Nothing far. Just out into the forest. We can stick nearby.”

“Out into the forest?” Chat sounded incredulous, “Unacompanied?”

Luka nodded slowly, looking a little confused.

“Let’s go!” Marinette declared, “Off, to the forest!”

~••~

Marinette was officially very concerned about Chat.

He had, apparently, never been in the forest unaccompanied before. And she knew he lived in the castle—the forest was barely three steps past the edge of the castle grounds.

Who is he? Marinette couldn’t help wondering.

Gathering wizardry ingredients was fun. Marinette was in charge of spotting mushrooms, and Chat’s job was to spot all the flowers. They made a game out of it: who could spot the most?

Marinette was grateful for the chance to stretch her legs, the normal, unmagical way. (Although she did trip over more than one tree root.)

Marinette was also trying to get to know the two better. She asked simple questions like what’s your favorite color? (Luka’s, unsurprisingly, was blue. Chat’s was green.) what’s your favorite food? (fish and croissants, respectively) and what would you bring to a desert island? (they would both bring a boat, cleverly).

She didn’t dare ask anything too deep, but she was encroaching on dangerous territory when she asked about their families, it seemed. Chat’s whole body tended up.

She quickly changed the subject.

“Do either of you like card games?”

It was a great time. Everyone was laughing as Marinette recounted the disastrous Flour Incident of two years ago.

Then Marinette heard the voices.

Marinette. Help. Marinette.

She had gotten used to the quiet echo of them in the purple room. But it was so much stronger now.

She could tell Chat heard it too.

Help. Help. Marinette, help us!

It was getting closer.

Closer.

Right there!

“What’s wrong?” Luka started to ask, but he was quickly shushed by Marinette.

“The voices,” she whispered cryptically.

“Like from the room?” Luka whispered back.

Chat nodded.

Closer.

Closer.

Barely a foot away.

Marinette! Help!

Creeping, quiet as a mouse, Marinette tiptoed to where she heard the voices coming from.

She peered from the brush, and barely stopped herself from gasping.

King Gabriel.

He was standing in the forest, and thank goodness, he hadn’t noticed them yet.

Marinette yanked Chat and Luka down to a crouch behind the bush and watched him.

“The king,” Chat whispered, and he sounded conflicted. Part afraid. Part... something Marinette couldn’t decipher.

“Nooroo, dark wings rise!” King Gabriel said, and then he was in a purple suit and Marinette was filled with nausea so great she was worried she’d give them away by projectile vomiting.

She had been right.

The king was... doing all of this.

That still left the question: why?

And what was he doing in the forest?

The second question was quickly answered when he brushed away a curtain of hanging branches, mummering a spell and revealing...

Marinette sucked in a breath sharply between her teeth.

The corpse of the dead queen, in a glass casket. Somehow, she was still in perfect shape, no rot or mold at all.

The king didn’t do anything else. He just kind of stood there, staring at her.

Marinette wanted to suggest they attack him, then and there, get the whole thing over with. But she looked over at Chat, and saw he looked so damn heartbroken and... lost. Hardly in any condition to fight.

Plus, Marinette wasn’t transformed, and the glitzy affair of changing that fact would surely give away their element of surprise.

Best to leave the... confrontation for another day.

“Come,” Marinette whispered, and then crept away. Luka followed, and then Chat did too, although it took him a second longer to tear his eyes away from the scene.

As soon as they were far enough away, Marinette started running, and, hearing their footsteps crashing through the forest, could tell they were running too.

She ran into the castle, down the staircase, and then the three of them were in Luka’s lab, panting and totally flabbergasted.

Luka said a few words that Marinette didn’t know the meaning of, but that she could easily guess were pretty foul.

“W-What do we do now?” Chat asked, and his voice sounded kind of broken.

No one had an answer for him.

~••~

Chat didn’t show up the next night to plan with Ladybug.

Or the next.

Or the next.

She asked Luka if he’d seen him. Luka had not.

It was possible he was busy, but after hearing the way he sounded after they’d seen the kind in the forest... she was worried something worse was going on.

And he wasn’t there the next night, or the next, or the next, or the next.

It had been more than a week.

No sign of Chat.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, no progress was made on any other front.

Alya couldn’t help with patrols. Adrien kept slipping away, every night, and Alya was in charge of tracking him down. (He refused to tell anyone where he went.)

Luka And Marinette didn’t find anything out about the king. They tried to rummage around in his study while he was out riding. Nothing suspicious. Nothing that could point to his motivation.

No leads.

Marinette was so desperate she even followed him around one day as Ladybug, but... nothing.

She kept catching him on days where he was to busy to be sinister. And if he wasn’t doing something mundane... she couldn’t find him.

It wasn’t like she could just march up into his office and attack him. She didn’t know what his miraculous looked like. There would be too many guards.

And she needed Chat.

She couldn’t do this alone.

(Or, alone + Luka. But Luka quickly confessed to not being the fighting type, although he promised to support her in any other way he could.)

In summary: she was in a stump. A useless, unproductive pickle.

Having dinner with the king was torture.

She sat next to Alya and Luka, but it was terribly hard to pretend like nothing was wrong. Like she didn’t want to leap over the table and strangle the king until he gave her some answers.

Without Chat’s cataclysm, she couldn’t free the possessed people (“Seriously. Get a shorthand.”), and even if he was there, so many new people appeared each night it wouldn’t been useless to try.

The room was nearly the size of a ballroom. And it was nearing maximum capacity. In fact, the pillars were so close together that it had probably passed maximum capacity a while ago.

Marinette didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t just do nothing.

“Lucky charm!” she yelled, but her powers gave her nothing. They were stumped too.

“I’m sorry,” Tikki said, “Chat’s your other half. It’s impossible for you to fight this battle without him, just like he’d be unable to fight this battle without you.”

Two weeks passed.

Marinette finally figured out how to free the possessed people, using a drill (a drill!) her lucky charm gave her, but it was so time consuming she could barely manage to free one a day, not to mention fighting them and finding a way to snatch their object all by herself, which was doable but not preferable.

“This sucks,” she told Luka.

And he, usually a staunch optimist to the end, said, “I know.”

The only good thing that had happened that two weeks was her friendship with Luka had grown. And she’s been seeing Adrien more often, because Alya was always dragging her off to some tea party or cricket match where Adrien would be.

Part 5 coming

[whiteravensoars]

My re-upload is almost finished. Only one chapter left which will probably show up next week. :)

 Link to AO3 

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Pairing:  Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe

Characters: Adrien Agreste, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Tikki, Plagg, Chloé Bourgeois, Master Fu, students of Francois Dupont

Tags: post-series, identity reveal, fluff, lots of kitten, secret relationship, eavesdropping, Dork Adrien Agreste, but totally in love, established relationship, poor Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire Ships it

Summary: After scoring the highest points in a stress level test at school Marinette and Adrien have to take 'recreational hours' in order to prevent being akumatized. It seems like a long awaited break for them until Ayla hacks into CCTV and discovers …? Mostly fluff. Especially the kittens.

Chapters: 8/9

Length: 18k

Chapter 1

Nervously Adrien knocked his pen on the desk. Tap, tap. He couldn't stop worrying about this damn test. Tap, tap. Why had he agreed to take it in the first place? Ah, yes, the school decided that every student had to undergo with it … Adrien almost crashed his pen, leaving a small dent in the surface. Beside him, Nino sent a puzzled look but then concentrated on his own convertible tablet. Hiding the strength that he had built up as Chat was getting more and more difficult. Adrien needed every ounce of power to protect his lady, at the same time he couldn't explain how he gained so many muscles as a non-stop-dieting-model who burned up every additional calorie at fencing. Sighing heavily he borrowed a pen from his best friend and pushed those unsettling thoughts away.

The survey, he remembered and tried to focus on the almost never-ending row of questions. He would love to cast a glance over his shoulder where his princess sat but didn't dare to. Lately, their teachers punished any rule violation as if rebellious students could attract akumas or even something worse. Adrien wouldn't get his princess into trouble because he was behaving like an attention-seeking cat. Nevertheless, he was an attention-seeking cat. His mind was glued to Marinette non-stop.  Would she answer honestly? The last days were a fuss of fights and photo shoots and way too short meet-ups after dark so Adrien simply forgot to ask her. Did she stare a hole into his back now? Pondering which option would be the best to choose? Would Marinette pretend to be a care-free teenager like she always did?

Since three years Ladybug and Chat Noir were fighting akumas. Trying hard to oppose Hawkmoth with all they've got while balancing out their civilian lives. Marinette and Adrien would instantly agree that the latter was getting harder and harder to achieve, soon it would be an impossible task. School work was piling up, they had constantly to tell lies to Ayla and Nino, they'd never expected that secrets could weigh so heavily over the years. But they managed somehow. Thanks to their companionship. Thanks to Tikki and Plagg. Until today. Because some adults had the great idea to measure the stress level of all students. Was he stressed? Hell, yes! Should anyone know this? Definitely not. Questions would arise to whose his supermodel lifestyle could not serve as an excuse. For starters, it was kind of a miracle what his classmates thought about supermodels. He could tell them almost everything. As long as he smiled happily they've swallowed it.

"Bro…" Due to his cat senses, Adrien caught Nino's almost inaudible whisper. He was reminding him to answer before their time ran out. Otherwise, Alya would kill him. For sure. Again he turned to his survey, though a Cheshire grin spread across his lips as a dangerous idea popped up. Yes, he would take this risk. Most likely it was worth the reward. Q17. Do you eat regularly? – Depends on my jobs. He ticked 'no'. Q18. Do you eat healthily? – Depends on your definition of healthy, so probably a no, too. His eating habits were absolutely weird. He didn't need a test to prove that. Since he had found his princess he was leading a double food life, training even harder to run off all those chocolate buttery tasty sweet treats the Dupain-Cheng bakery did offer. So far no photographer complained that he had gained unnecessary weight. Adrien chose his answers as fast as he could; trying to forget all those limitations he was bound to in his civilian life. Be yourself. Act naturally. Don't lie. Q23. Is it hard for you to concentrate? – Sometimes. He did not dare to write depends on Ladybug's smile, rainy days and other things cats despise. Q24. Do you tend to have small accidents? Or are you getting hurt unintentionally? Yes. Akumas created accidents while breathing. Q25. On a scale from 0 to 10, how easily do you get angry over those small accidents? This survey was very thorough. Adrien crossed 3, he was often reacting over-agitated but lately, his princess leveled him very well. Q42. Name your best friends. Marinette. – Adrien paused for a moment and scribbled – My cat Plagg. Nino. Tikki. Alya.

Adrien swiped the page with a fluid motion of his pen. Hopefully, he wasn't provoking to much trouble for his lady. Still, after being Chat Noir for three years he trusted his intuition more than anything. This survey would turn out interesting.

Marinette squirmed in her seat. Her stress level had to be higher than anyone else's - because nothing could be compared to a superhero life. The good things and the worse. Except for Adrien who struggled to maintain two alter egos simultaneously.  What should she do now? Should she answer honestly? Her gaze shifted to the blond mop of hair in front of her. Why did she forget to talk about this with him in the first place? Ahhh, yes, because this week had been super eventful and absolutely stressing.  As if to prove her thoughts Adrien hardly suppressed a yawn and sipped coffee from his travel-mug. Marinette stifled a sigh. She already drank her mocha coffee till the last drop. "Stop daydreaming", Alya whispered and Marinette nodded dutifully. "You can swoon over your prince afterward, girl." Now and then she was still swooning over Adrien, especially if a new magazine was published with a glossy masterpiece of him. She would never tell her kitty though, he didn't need to know this fangirling side of her too well. Fighting akumas was hard enough without ogling his leather-clad ass. "Mari", Alya pressed. "I'm on it", she yawned. With an apologetic smile, Marinette focused on those damn questions. In her purse, Tikki sent an encouraging buzz plus a wave of warmth in order to calm her troubled mind. Never ending lines of black words on an illuminated screen didn't mean her downfall. There was no reason to panic over a catalog of almost hundred questions. Especially when most of her classmates already finished this dull task; eager to leave school afterward.

Q5. Are you feeling tired? – Always. Q6. Can you sleep at night? – No. Marinette deleted her first answer and replaced it with: hardly. Q7. How often are you having nightmares? – Marinette ticked 'regularly'. Since Adrien sneaked as Chat into her bedroom after suffering from a nightmare, too, hers were kept at bay more often. Cuddling while hearing his steady breath always soothed her. Until recently Marinette never thought how many Parisians hardly managed everyday life due to the constant stress of akuma attacks. Sure, her Lucky Charm could repair all damage done, but this only referred to objects. She realized almost too late how fearful and nervous especially the students of their lycée had gotten. In the third year of their superhero life official polls awarded college and lycée Francoise Dupont with an undeserved label: For the time being their school had suffered the most akuma cases of Paris. Almost every student had been akumatized twice or even three times. Hawkmoth was claiming schools as his private playgrounds. Raging teenage hormones, bullying, insecurities – Francoise Dupont was like a feast for purple butterflies.

Marinette and Adrien had read the news and seen all the talk shows on TV where politicians and worried parents discussed possible solutions without speaking about the real culprit: a certain Moth miraculous holder. Hesitant how to react without revealing too much, Alya had sprung into action. Thanks to her blog her knowledge of akumas was huge. She still hasn't discovered every detail of the magic, but she was as good as a civilian could be. Studying the victims, their reasons and the reactions of the crowd for three years now, Alya developed a stress level survey. In the first place, it should discover students who tended to be emotionally unstable. Alya wanted to intervene and help before Hawkmouth sent out a butterfly.

Q9. Do you feel satisfied with your work? – Yes. Saving Paris all the time was quite satisfying. Although she had to sacrifice her ordinary life, she loved the thrill and she loved to help all those people even more. That's why she was answering honestly. Maybe her answers could be used as a role model for a high akuma alert or something like this. Without her miraculous, she would have been... No, Marinette did not want to visualize those horrific scenarios, never again. Her nightmares of a possessed Chat were still haunting her. More than anything she wished to lessen the tension, to ease everyone's nerves. Plus for the first time in forever, she could do this as plain Marinette. Not as Ladybug. Having a change of pace once in a while was refreshing, wasn’t it? Taking another glance at Adrien she hoped he would acknowledge her decision. Q10. Do you make mistakes? – Probably more often than she should and checked 'often'. Q11. Have your grades dropped? – Yes. But her tutor was working hard to change that. Marinette smiled at her thoughts. Adrien did his best to learn together with her; somehow they squeezed those sessions into their hectic schedule. The best motivation had offered his kwami, though. Tikki always encouraged her and tried to see the positive side of things. Plagg was brutally honest: If Marinette screwed up tests, assignments or finals; she wouldn't go the same class as her love anymore. This fuelled her more than anything. Shaking her head till her pigtails went flying Marinette swiped the page of the questionnaire. She forced herself not to look at Alya. Her bestie was probably glowing from pride and trying to read her answers. Since she had to learn from psychologists and a bunch of other specialists she was noisier than ever, her curiosity never reached its peak. Heck, she even forced some of those questions into Ladybug's face – Marinette remembered now. Alya mentioned that she worked her superhero knowledge into this survey, too, but Marinette had been too tired to inquire this further.

Q52. When was the last time you fully enjoyed yourself on a trip or outing with friends? – About four months ago. Back then Hawkmoth vanished into thin air for two whole weeks. Two whole weeks she spent with sleeping, playing games and having a first date with Adrien disguised as superheroes. This question was especially hard to answer honestly. Somehow Marinette felt like she was missing out on her teenage years, although the sadness did not linger for long. Which teenage girl could fly over Paris with a magical yoyo? Kiss Chat Noir on top of illuminated Eiffel Tower? Still, akumas seemed to sense all her happy moments, eager to interrupt them. Even yesterday she failed to finish an ice cream cone with Adrien before the latest attack hit Paris. Q64. Is someone bullying you? If yes, how often? – Yes. Almost daily. Hawkmoth, you big butterfly bully. Marinette controlled herself not to write that down. Q65. How do feel about this? Choose an adequate adjective….

She was determined to get rid of him one day. Suddenly Marinette's thoughts drifted to Chloé, another target to get rid of. Sometimes she wondered if Miss Akumatizer was secretly acting as Hawkmoth's minion, but the mayor's daughter would never lift a finger for anyone. Probably the super villain would be working for her instead or kick her out of his hideout after three days of constant bragging. Both ideas seemed possible. Marinette ticked 'furious'. It was a risky phrasing but deep down she was full of rage and insecurities and disappointment. After three years of playing a monstrous kind of hide and seek with Hawkmoth, they still had no clue how to catch him.

In the end, all her answers would be summarized into a ratio that depicted her stress level. Yet, the details were confidential, the others students would only see her result. Satisfied with this kind of concealment Marinette pressed 'send'. Her convertible beeped before closing the app her best friend created in order to take this test at every school in Paris. Adrien's chimed in a similar fashion and their gazes shifted to the screen in front of their classroom where a chart presented everyone's results. The names of her friends were colored in different hues referring to their current stress-level. Alya had explained that the best results were painted white, but only a zen-master could attain this level. Blue was pretty relaxed, green numbers had a tinge of aggression, followed by yellow and so on … Marinette hadn't bothered remembering all the details. 

The chart reloaded, presenting her own result in letters as red as her ladybug suit: Stress level 96/100.