𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗼 ;; oneshots

ZOO

Last update!

"You'll be safe in here!" says Ladybug brightly, but firmly, as she tosses Nino and Alya into the cage and shuts the door.

"You okay, or what?" says Nino, and Alya sighs with irritation as Ladybug leaps away. Not only is she about to miss out on some prime Ladybug footage, she's stuck in an animal cage with a boy who has a crush on her and she doesn't like at all.

"Save it, Nino," she says, sitting down on the floor in a corner of the cage and pulling out her phone and opening up Notes. If she can't film Ladybug, at least she can start drafting a new post.He doesn't take the hint. Instead, he sits down beside her and looks curiously at what she's written.

"What are you working on?" he says. "Is it something for the Ladyblog?"

Alya raises an eyebrow. "Are you actually interested, or are you trying to impress me?"Nino shrugs. "Just curious." He pulls out his water bottle and takes a drink as he looks out the cage at the deserted zoo.

Alya looks at him. "You know I only see you as a friend, right?"

Nino looks at her, perplexed. "So...do...I?"
"Are you kidding me? Why did you tell Marinette that you had a crush on me then?" shouts Alya.

"How do you know that?!" sputters Nino defensively.

Alya rolls her eyes as she stands back up and waves her hands around. "Marinette was nervous about going on her date with Adrien, so she was wearing an earpiece connected to me so I could help her say the right thing. She doesn't exactly have a history of being articulate around him. But then you showed up instead of him, and things still went south."

Nino stares at her, eyes wide, as he processes this new information. "So you were listening the whole time?"

"Yes, I was. And I heard you tell her you like me. So what's the truth?"

Nino looks down, embarrassed. "Actually...it's Marinette I like, but I chickened out at the last moment—but wait, what does Adrien have to do with my date with her? Why did she think that he would be—oh, wait...oh, man. Dude."

He trails off as he connects the dots, and Alya groans. Marinette's going to kill her when she learns that Adrien's best friend now knows about her crush on him. But to be fair, the girl has been taking way too long to tell him about her feelings! The longer she takes, the higher the chances that other people are going to figure it out.

"I can't believe I never figured it out before!" he exclaims with a laugh, smacking his hand against his forehead. "It seems so obvious now! No wonder she's always so awkward around him!"

Alya glares at Nino and points her index finger in his face. "HEY! Don't you dare tell him a word about her crush, and don't you dare tell Marinette that you know about it either."

"But I can help them get together!" protests Nino. "Marinette's so sweet and cute, she'd be the perfect girlfriend for Adrien. They have so much in common."

Alya shakes her head. "Hold up. Didn't you just say you liked her? And now you want to set her up with Adrien? Do you even know what you want?"

Nino laughs. "Well, honestly, my crush on her is a recent thing. When I saw how amazing she was at that Mecha Strike tournament, and how she helped her uncle at the cooking tournament on tv—she's just so cool! It made me want to ask her out on a date."

Alya nods. "Yeah, Marinette is pretty great."
"You've been best friends since primaire, right?"

"Yup. The first time we met was when we were five. She loved my dress and I loved the chocolate chip cookie she was holding in her hand, so I guess you could say it was love at first sight!"