Miraculous Adventure - a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic

Chapter 7

"You think we're...you know." her voice wavered a bit. "What if we're -"

"No!" he interrupted with a whimper. "Please don't say that four-letter word that starts with L!"

She bit her chapped lips to control her grin. "I'm not planning to say that L-word. "

"You better not, because I refused to accept that we're...L! No! Never!"

"But what if we're actually...L?" she teased.

She couldn't help but be reminded of a certain Kitty who was whining during Jackady's attack.

"Hmm...show some leg?"

Marinette burst out laughing when Adrien wiggled his brows then flaunted his leg on the side of a deserted road with a jerked thumb pose as if waiting for a hitchhike.

He may not know it, but he was the dorkiest guy she ever known next to Chat Noir.

"Isn't it more effective if you show them some face instead?" she teased again as they went on to their tracks.

"Then our efforts of running away from that mob assault will be futile."

"Point taken." the designer wondered with a groan. "I don't think going back to Paris would be a better option."

"We do that." her companion smirked. "And this time, both of us will be swamped by media."

A grunt escaped from her mouth upon realization. "And I gave my word to Miss Bustier. And Alya. Crap."

"Natalie didn't contact me yet, so maybe Monsieur Antoine pulled a rank to block the news?" the model said as he checked his phone for the last time before turning it off to conserve battery.

"Better to be safe than sorry."

Though Marinette was greatly concerned about her parents discovering the news, the anxiety she felt was milder compared to her worries towards her classmate and his father.

Business-wise, the blond model's involvement was a good PR for the company, but that doesn't mean it would be interpreted as positive by a mogul person like Gabriel Agreste.

She only idolized the man for his creativity, nothing more.

"I'm sorry about this mess. I should be more careful in public places." Adrien apologized with eyes on his feet.

"I didn't blame you." was her casual response. "And I understand your situation, being famous and all."

"And that's something I'm not proud of."

Marinette hummed then emptied her bottle. "If by telling you that I'm the one behind the sabotage, will that lessen your guilt?"

He paused for a moment then looked at her red, freckled face - got distracted a moment there - and asked: "How?"

"I stuffed a cardboard ball in the exhaust pipe."

This raised his brow. "Why am I not surprised?"

She gaped at his bemused expression. She was flustered not because of the scorching heat, but because of her embarrassment.

"I didn't mean to offend you." he sniggered when she suddenly caved in. "We're accomplices, remember?"

The girl nodded as she looked on the mirage projected by the dusty road. "Toilets aside, I think I'm going to have nightmares about buses."

He followed her gaze then observed the blurry images caused by the heat emitted from the concrete road. "And here I am experiencing what L people had in the desert."