Miraculous Reveals and More (A collection of One-Shots)

Class Dismissed: Part 2 (1211 words)

"Bye bye, little butterfly." Ladybug's yoyo reveals the purified butterfly as it flies away. "Miraculous Ladybug!" She throws her lucky charm into the air, curing the akumatized man and unlocking the rest of the doors in the school.

Cheers erupt as students pour into the main courtyard at the center of the school. Chat and Ladybug wave as they make their way out of the school, away from the crowds to transform back. On their way out, they spy the usual news truck pulling up in front of the school. Reporters always wanting to know about the latest Akuma attack, or to get an interview with the superheroes themselves. The principal tries his best to keep them out of the school and away from the students.

Chat and Ladybug manage to sneak by undetected to their usual place to de-transform. Once back to their normal attire, they simply walk back in the doors of the school just as the principal gets on the speakers telling everyone to return to class, "Please resume your normal schedule till the end of the day." His voice echoes through the school as everyone meanders their way to their next class.

"Seems like you lucked out this time, Mari, your presentation will just have to be finished on Monday." Adrien nudges her.

She pushes back, "That's why they call me Ladyluck."

"Who calls you that?" He smirks.

"I've heard it around." The class bell chimes, "I'll see ya for patrol after school!" She reminds before walking to her next class.

He waves as he makes his own way to class. As everyone else scurries to class, he feels more eyes on him than usual, or maybe it was the slight paranoia.

"Won't be long now." Plagg whispers under his shirt.

Adrien talks quietly, carefully, "Long till what?" His eyes shift around to make sure no one's paying attention to him.

"The rumors. Kids these days just can't keep a lid on anything." Adrien can practically hear him roll his eyes.

"Well you weren't much help when I had to make the decision to either be stuck in that room forever or to just face the problem and transform" he says curtly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know you had 'no other choice'. At least you were smart enough to spare Ladybug's identity."

"Thanks, I guess."

The final bell rings. Students swarm from their classrooms and onto the streets of Paris. Adrien lags at the back. His mind has been running wild with all the possibilities of what happens now, his eyes unfocused on the ground as he walks down the stairs out of the school

As he steps off onto the sidewalk, someone jumps in front of him, "Camille Allaire, News at 7. What can you tell us about the Akuma attack at the school today?" She holds a microphone to him.

He takes a step back, "Uh, not much. I was locked in my classroom the whole time, didn't see much. Excuse me," he tries to stay polite, knowing his father would kill him if he didn't maintain his public image. He attempts to step around the reporter and her cameraman.

She deliberately blocks him. "That's not what our sources say," the faux friendly undertone of her voice drops a few notches, "Are you Paris' hero: Chat Noir?"

He inhales sharply, but otherwise is able to keep his composure, "'Chat Noir'? Someone told you that I'm Chat Noir?" He stifles a stiff laugh, "What source told you that?"

The reporter is unrelenting, "We got a tip from a student at this school that said 'Adrien Agreste transformed into Chat Noir' right before their eyes. What is your comment on that?" She pushes her mic closer to him.

"That it's made up? Some kind of prank?" He lies easily. Just then he sees Nathalie and Gorilla emerging from the car, noticing his situation. He's never been happier to see them.

Not a moment later, Nathalie puts herself between Adrien and the reporter, "No press." She says calmly as she guides him to the car, Gorilla keeping the reporter at bay.

Once inside the car, Nathalie doesn't hesitate, "What did they want?"

He shrugs, "They just wanted to know about the akuma attack, that's all." He calmly dismisses. This seems to satisfy her for the moment and she settles in for the silent ride home.

Adrien, on the other hand, tries and fails to suppress the constant shivers running up his spine. 'Someone told. The rumor is out there' rings throughout his mind. Instinctively, he reaches for his phone to text Marinette about the situation, but it only ends up clutched in his hand as he sees the small crowd of reporters gathered at the front gate to his house. He sinks into the seat.

Gorilla blasts the car horn, scowling at the reporters, and effectively getting them to move aside. Nathalie looks back at Adrien again, eyes narrowing.

"Nathalie!!" Gabriel Agreste booms as soon as they enter the house. "Why is my phone ringing off the hook with reporters asking for my comment on Adrien?" He rounds the corner and makes eye contact with Adrien. "Why are there people on my phone asking if you are Chat Noir?" He asks, his jaw set.

"I don't know. This rumor was not my doing." Adrien confesses, keeping eye contact.

"Humph" he exhales, turning to focus his attention at Nathalie, "I demand to know who is at the bottom of this rumor. Find out and return to me once you have found the culprit" he demands before turning back to return to his office.

Adrien dismisses himself to his room, locking the door behind him. Plagg flies out of his jacket, "Here we go. This is how it starts: suspicion."

"Not now," Adrien ignores, pressing the contact button for Marinette on his phone. He holds the phone to his ear. "Pick up, pick up," he mumbles before the phone goes to voicemail. He hangs up, throwing his phone on the bed. "She must be on patrol already. Plagg, transform me."

In a flash of green, Chat Noir materializes. He leans out of his window, ready to leap out into the city, until he spies the news vans on the street below him. He, ungracefully, falls backwards into his room. He activates the communicator on his staff. Ladybug picks up immediately.

"Chat, where are you? You still in your room?" She asks as she seems to land herself on a rooftop.

"We have a problem" he says in a hushed voice, "There are news reporters outside my house asking if I'm Chat Noir. I can't risk leaving in case they see me and connect the dots. Oh, and my dad is trying to trace the rumor and who knows how that's going to go."

Her eyes widen, "C-Chat, just keep calm. I, uh, we'll figure this out, don't worry" she looks around, "Maybe it'll just blow over, just lay low, just stay Adrien."

"But what if there's an Akuma? I need to be there for you," he pleads, but doesn't have any other answer to counter with.

She smiles gently, "I'll be fine. Your identity is more important."

He sighs, "I wonder who told,"

"I think you need to ask in class tomorrow."