The Side Character | Adrien Agreste

00| the protagonists

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          The irony unfolding before me is utterly ridiculous.

I inwardly groan as I tousled my short hair, beholding the blunette ridiculing herself -once anew- in front of her prolonged crush. She is undoubtedly an adorable bubbly girl, but her behaviour around the dazzling blond is now tiresome. One would conclude she would have either confessed already or grown out of this period, but unfortunately, that is not the case. It has remained significantly longer than I had envisioned. Her complicated behaviour is not the sole matter that irks me. The blond's obliviousness is another factor that causes me to want to smack my forehead against the brick wall. He appears genuinely clueless of her apparent attraction towards him, and he is, most likely, the only student in Collège Françoise Dupont to be unaware of it.

But surprise, surprise. The charming blond is also infatuated with the clumsy blunette indirectly.

It has become troublesome to conceal my exasperation after continuously witnessing the mutual pinning between Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste. However, like countless other tales amongst the protagonists, there is a twist, where dramatic irony is required.

These two are my classmates, as well as the miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir, heroes of Paris. For some time, they have been protecting us from those godawful akumas and keeping Paris safe. And, of course, as usual, romance has to be inserted. Chat Noir's unconditional adoration for Ladybug is unmistakable, but the dotted heroine does not 'reciprocate' his love, ironically. This class of irony is only appearing because they are the protagonists of our time. Whether we may choose it or not, our storyline now revolves around them. Everyone is perpetually so focused on them, as though they are the exclusive individuals who matter most.

Meanwhile, there is I, the infamous side character, who just so happens to have unusual common sense and apprehend those two are, in fact, the heroes. It did not take long for me to discover the civilians under those masks, given that I see them almost every day, and they happen to disappear whenever an akuma is needed to purify. It is a miracle that I am the only character who discovered their true identity.

With Alya Césaire and Nino Lahiffe by my side, I watch Adrien smile politely at Marinette, to which she explodes in redness. I grimace slightly to myself as I tilt my head at this sight. Truthfully, I believe they are incompatible with each other. The vast distinction between Adrien's and Chat Noir's personality is evident, suggesting that he is not entirely himself as Adrien, and his actual nature is manifested solely as Chat Noir. And if Marinette, or Ladybug, does not accept him as his vigilante ego, would it be true love? She fell in love with the image he portrays himself to be since he is the son and model of the famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, so he has a reputation to uphold.

« I'm going home now. I want to finish my homework quickly tonight to sleep in early. À demain tout le monde, » I say, waving my hand lazily at them as I departed from them. All four of them respond with « à demain, Juliette » as they watch me leave.

I walk home alone with my hands tucked into my sweater's pockets, the miniature turtle charm attached to my school bag jingling at every step.

« I wonder what'll happen tomorrow. »

| to be continued