Going to school on three hours of sleep is beyond exhausting. Marinette imagined that the dead were enjoying the vacation of a lifetime as she struggled to keep her head from hitting the desk every few seconds.
“Next time limit yourself to half a puff,’” Alya sounded as she packed her notebook into her backpack.
The blue head wailed before throwing her head back. She had spent the remainder of the night baking like her life depended on it and she barely even managed to make the pastries look identical.
“There won’t be a next time because Dad found out. “
“Let me guess, too much sugar?”
“More like too much salt, I didn’t read the labels properly,” Marinette groaned, making Alya shudder at the thought of biting into one of them.
She wouldn’t have messed up a simple cream puff this badly if it wasn’t for Tikki switching the labels around in protest. When they baked the night away, she absolutely flipped at Marinette’s hesitance to transform into Ladybug and use her compact.
“Marinette, you need to get your priorities in line! Every minute we waste not getting in touch with Chat Noir is every minute that Hawkmoth could use against us,” the small creature said as it waved its arms in the air.
“I get it Tikki, but can you please keep it down,” Marinette said in a harsh whisper. “I’m worried about Hawkmoth too, but we can’t rush to him, not without evidence.”
If Ladybug raised the alarm without proof, she risked making a fool out of herself before her own mentor. She couldn’t do that to the cat, she needed to handle the situation by herself, even if it meant working behind his back. Besides Robin seemed capable enough, he’s worked alongside the Batman and he seemed to be taking the matter into his own hands. She could be like him too. Holding no one back and making a name for herself.
Marinette’s mind was already made up. She needed to be the main hero, not the clingy sidekick. She was sure that telling Tikki how she really felt would make the red creature even more opposed to her inaction. The best thing to do now was pretend to wait by piling in work with the illusion of waiting on Robin’s signal.
Alya snapped her fingers in her friend’s dropping face.
“Get back to reality girl because I have a scoop,” she said before winking at her sleep deprived companion.
Marinette was thankful that her best friend was providing her with a distraction with her determined investigative journalism. She leaned in closer to Alya for the next social event she had sneak her best friend into.
“The word on the street says Hiro Okamura is in town and is staying at Le Grand Paris.”
“Okay and who is he?” Marinette questioned as she raised an eyebrow.
“Um hello Marinette! He’s the teen billionaire that’s leading the tech industry at the moment.”
Marinette nodded her head silly before getting a feeling of déjà vu run down her spine.
“I thought we already had a tech billionaire among us,” Mari huffed as she stole a glance at Damian.
“Wayne Foundation mostly focuses on philanthropy,” she said as she rolled her eyes behind her thick black frames. “I’m sure Damian is great with kids.”
Dupain-Cheng felt like he had hardly held a toy in his life. The way the black haired teen sat quietly kind of spelt out ‘single child’ to her. Marinette shrugged her shoulders and leaned in closer.
“Fine,” she sighed. “Tell me more about Hiro.”
Ayla’s glasses glimmered in the sun.
“He’s hosting a once in a life toy design competition at the grand theatre later this week, but here’s the kicker, no one knows what the grand prize is.”
“So let me guess,” Marinette said as she placed her finger below her chin in imaginary thought. “You want us to get an exclusive interview with him to find out what the grand prize is?”
“You got it!” The ombre haired teen cheered. “But there’s a slight problem with that.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I might have abused my journalist pass a week ago and my mom revoked that privilege with her being the city’s top editor and all, so I might have borrowed a sketch for a doll-like plushie from your old notebook that you left at my house and submitted it into the competition. Under your name, of course, “ she nervously chuckled.
“You did what?!”
Marinette shook Alya with the force of a disgruntled teenager. Publicity was a big no-no, especially when you have a superhero ego that you want hidden from the whole world.
“Yeah it was the weirdly cute one with the ladybug pattern and the beady eyes.”
The girl’s life flashed before her eyes. Alya was describing the little impromptu sketch she had made of Tikki around the time she got her miraculous three years ago. The magical creature could show up on digital photographs and mirrors so she had to do the sensible thing of showing off her art skills to make her happy. She didn’t think and old notebook would come to bite her in the ass a few years down the line.
“You can’t just do that!”
Alya let out another nervous chuckle.
“Well here’s the thing, your face is already in the newspaper,” she said as she pulled out her phone and showed her the headline. “You already won the first round of the freestyle design category.”
Marinette felt her knees go weak. Alya wasn’t providing the distraction she wanted, she was providing the guillotine she wanted to place her head in.
“It’s too late to back down too. He wants to speak to all the round one winners around the city.”
This was her doom.
“Don’t kids prefer their iPads to dolls these days,” Marinette said as she took a moment to collect herself.
The teen recalled how she spent the whole day at the park with Mammon, the daughter of a news reporter she regularly babysits, the week before. The only thing that seemed to catch her attention more than the swing sets was the shiny digital billboard that was poorly placed by the park’s entrance.
“Well, just because you babysit weird kids, doesn’t mean you know everything about child psychology Mari. Spending all that time with them is why you drew that weird alien thing, right?”
The blue head bit the Inside of her cheek. Lying was the only way out of this situation.
“It was technically Mammon’s idea. She used to think that Ladybug and cotton dolls were really cool back then I made a ladybug inspired plushy for her,” she said through her teeth as she rubbed her neck.
“I guess her weirdness really paid off in the end for this scheme because you’re going to make me your plus one.”
“Yay,” Marinette let out a fake cheer as her joints locked up in the squeeze Alya gave her.
“And trust me on this girl. You’ll get to know our generation’s most brilliant inventors and who knows, you might even get to like Damian,” Alya cooed as she wiggled her brown coloured eyebrows.”
“What do you mean by that?” the blue eyed girl frowned.
“I took the liberty of inviting Damian to be your plus two.”
“No way!” Marinette protested.” I don’t want anything to do with him.
“Relax kid. He’s not some heartless elitist in Chloé’s social club. He’s actually a pretty nice guy once you get to fully talk to him.”
Marinette crossed her arms.
“I’m not buying it.”
“Well guess who got to spend the entire afternoon with him after school as she conducted an interview with Marinette?” she said with her thumbs pointing to herself. “The boy’s a treat that’s better suited for you than me. Give him a chance, the way you gave Lila a chance.”
The teen’s eyes looked over to her general direction. If the blonde Bourgeois was the queen bee of Paris nightlife then Rossi was the class saint. The two were complete opposites yet they miraculously became the best of friends at the beginning of high school and it’s been that way ever since. For every dab at the heart Chloe served, Lila was there to pick up the pieces like her lapdog. It was so… uncanny, but Lila seemed genuinely happy and unfazed by her ill-treatment. Maybe the two were made to be best friends forever.
But where did that put Damian? He seemed nice enough, but he could be trying to keep up with appearances. If Alya liked the boy to the point of recruiting him into their little adventures perhaps he wasn’t as he appeared to be. He didn’t really leave a bad taste in her mouth when they met.
Marinette screwed her lips and sighed.
“Do you think Damian would like to try a salty cream filled pastry? Even as a prank?”
A cunning smile spread across Alya’s face.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a little harmless fun between friends.”
The pair snickered and rubbed their hands together as they planned to bring their victim to the location of their scheming after school.