At Francoise Dupont, the bell rang for the first class, so everyone walked into the classroom.
Marinette took her seat as she listened to another lie from Lila passing by. This time, she told Nathaniel that she was a friend of the best manga publisher in Japan. She was already furious in her mind. It was only morning, but she had to listen to this already.
"She's such a liar!" she growled as Alya looked at her confused. "You gotta stop obsessing over her, Marinette." she said while the other just looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You don't find these claims strange at all? I mean, they're too unbelievable, too many. She doesn't even have proof."
Alya seemed to get a bit carried away by this, as she seemed to stutter a bit as she tried to answer. She was unable to say her answer, however, as Miss Bustier spoke.
"I've graded your mock exam papers. Most of you did quite well. Some...better than others. But, before I hand them back, Marinette, could you bring your school bag to me, please? I need to check something."
Marinette was a bit surprised and looked confused at Alya, who had an equally confused face. She had no idea what she could have done, but she was sure it was nothing. She always paid attention. Nevertheless, she brought her school bag over and placed it on the table.
"Today, someone placed an anonymous note in my mailbox, claiming that you'd stolen the exam answers." she began as she opened the bag and began to search inside. After a few moments, she pulled out some paper. "And it looks like the anonymous person was right!"
Both Marinette and the class gasped in surprise. "But, that's not true! Someone must have planted that piece of paper in my bag!" she defended herself.
"But you answered everything correctly." said Miss Bustier, looking unconvinced. "I did?" Marinette smiled, but realized that now was not the time to be happy about that. "Yes! But because I studied."
Alya then stood up and quickly came to her friend's defense. "Miss Bustier, Marinette always scores high on your tests." Then another voice spoke.
"This is terribly unlike you, Marinette. You're usually so well-behaved!" Lila told her. Marinette's eyes widened and she suddenly realized something. She growled angrily and pointed at her. "Of course. You put the answers in my bag! You're the anonymous informer!"
Lila gasped in offense. "I'm coming to your defense and you're accusing me?"
"You can't accuse someone without proof, Marinette." Miss Bustier told her. Marinette knew she was right, but she was pretty sure Lila did it. It could only be her.
"But I'm sure it's her! She stole the test answers!" she fumed as she turned to her teacher. "That's impossible, Marinette. Lila got the worst grade in the class."
Marinette backed away for a moment. She knew Lila was smart. If she wanted to get her in trouble, she had to make all the evidence disappear. If it meant getting a bad grade on her test, she would do it.
"Th...Then she flunked the exam on purpose!" she kept trying to find an argument, but she knew it wouldn't be enough.
"Excuse me, Miss Bustier," Y/N spoke up. "but everyone here knows it isn't like Marinette to cheat. She's smart and I'm sure she doesn't need to cheat to pass a test. It doesn't make sense."
"She's right!" Alya agreed. The rest of the class slowly began to speak up in her defense. Marinette softened for a moment. She was glad that her class stood by her.
Miss Bustier clapped a couple to silence the class. "Marinette, Lila, please go to the principal's office until we get to the bottom of this."
Lila stood up and walked down to the front of the classroom, glancing at Marinette as she walked towards the door. Marinette glared at her, then she too walked out.
The class immediately started talking and everyone tried to understand what happened.
Y/N looked worried at their departing figure and then turned to Adrien. "That makes no sense. Marinette wouldn't do that. It's Lila's doing! But why would she do that?" she was furious.
"You're right. It doesn't make sense. I'm sure Lila is up to something with this. We just need to know what and why." he explained.
Suddenly Miss Bustier started clapping again to get the attention of the class. "Calm down class. We hope everything will work out. Until then, I'd like you to go down to the locker room."
The class didn't object as they could see that their teacher was already frustrated enough. Everyone slowly stood up and walked down to the dressing rooms.
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All the members of the class were now in the dressing room and they were talking. Most of them were still deliberating about what had happened. That was until the door suddenly opened.
Everyone looked over to see Marinette, her parents, Lila, Miss Bustier and Mr. Damocles walk in. Each of them had a tense look on their face. They walked until they came to the lockers.
"Open your locker, please." the principal ordered as Marinette did as he asked. As she opened the door, a box fell out of the closet, which fell open and a fox-like necklace fell out.
Marinette gasped in alarm as Lila bent down to pick it up. "My grandmother's pendant!" Behind her, Sabine gasped as she saw the scene. Marinette worriedly looked over at her parents and friends who didn't look happy.
"She's making up this whole thing! It wasn't me! I didn't do anything, I swear!" became defensive and increasingly desperate. Sabine slumped against Tom's chest in frustration. Looking at her parents, she was getting more and more worried.
She glanced at the twins who were looking at her worriedly. "You know Lila's lying, don't you, Y/N and Adrien?" she asked and hoped they could help her. The three of them knew the truth. Maybe now they can finally put an end to this if they do something.
Y/N looked worried at the girl who looked at her with desperate and pleading eyes. She knew Marinette was innocent. The only problem is that they cannot prove this at the moment. They had no proof. Lila took care of everything. Still, they should try.
"Mr. Damocles, I don't think-" she began, but the principal held up his hand to silence her.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are expelled from this school!" The students around her gasped in surprise. How could this even happen in the space of almost an hour? How did they get to this point from Marinette allegedly stealing the exam answers?
Marinette's eyes widened, but she knew there was nothing she could do now. She slowly started walking towards the door with her parents behind her. She opened the door but immediately covered her eyes as a large number of red colored akuma flew through the door.
The akuma flew to everyone and tried to transform them. Most of them successfully resisted, but Rose and Juleka, for example, did not, so they transformed into their villainous forms. Also Miss Bustier and Mr. Damocles.
Before them, the akumas flew into Marinette's purse and Sabine's ring. The scarlet butterfly sign appeared in front of their faces.
"Verity Queen! Princess Justice! I am Scarlet Moth. Since the innocent isn't to be believed any more, I'm giving you both the power to expose the truth! As for you, my desperate, loyal ones, disappointed by her who you once admired so much, I'm glad to have you back! In return, you will bring me Ladybug and Kitty Noir's Miraculous."
Marinette reached for her earring and was about to take it off when suddenly the sign disappeared from her face and she came back to reality in surprise. The villains behind her have now transformed back to themselves.
She looked back scared and saw the others trying to wake up from the sudden change. Her emotions slowly got the better of her. She immediately hurried to the door and ran out of the dressing room. She hurried all the way to the bathroom and as soon as she got there, she immediately locked herself in one of the cubicles.
It might not be the best idea to vent her grief in the place she was kicked out of, but she couldn't handle her emotions right now.
Meanwhile, in the dressing room, Y/N worriedly watched her run out of the room, so she immediately ran after her. She saw her running to the bathroom, so she hurried after her.
Reaching the bathroom, she slowly opened the door and was greeted by a soft sniffle. She stepped inside and went closer to the booth where she heard the voices. "Marinette?" she said softly as the sniffling died down for a moment.
In the booth, Marinette's eyes widened. Why did Y/N come after her? What was she doing here? Still, she didn't want her to leave now. She needed someone who was there for her and understood.
"Y-Yes?" she asked through a sniffle as she wiped away her tears. "I-I...can I come in?" Y/N asked, patiently waiting for her answer. If she didn't want it, she wouldn't force it. She wasn't going to force her to talk either, but she wanted to be there to reassure her.
There was silence for a few moments, then the sound of the lock clicking was heard. Y/N stepped away from the door as it opened slightly. It revealed Marinette whose eyes were watery and slightly red.
She slowly looked up at her, but as she did so her eyes began to water again. "Marinette..." she muttered softly and held out her hand to her. She did this slowly, watching to see if she felt uncomfortable or wanted to move, but she didn't.
She brought her hand closer, but suddenly Marinette threw herself on her and hugged her tightly. Y/N flinched for a moment at the sudden move, but then quickly came to her senses. She immediately wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. Marinette's grip tightened as she rested her head on her chest.
Her tears began to fall much more this time. Y/N held the girl steady and then slowly began to sit them down.
Marinette was now essentially sitting on her lap with her hands now around her neck and her head in the crook of her neck. Her breathing was slightly ragged as she tried to catch her breath and calm down. Y/N gently stroked her back and tried to comfort her.
"I-I don't u-understand this. How c-could this h-happen?" Marinette mumbled into her neck. Y/N now reached up to her pigtails and started playing with them. She noticed that she liked having her hair played with, so she hoped that would calm her down more. It seemed to work as her breathing calmed down a bit.
"I honestly don't know. But what's for sure is that I'm going to do everything I can to make it right. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't steal that necklace and you didn't cheat on the exam. Lila planned this. And I'm going to do my best to make it clear." she provided.
Marinette caught her breath for a moment and carefully lifted her head from her neck to look into her eyes. Although her eyes were teary, there was still a great love in them.
"R-Really?" she stammered and it was the only thing she could say. Y/N smiled and carefully tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear.
"Of course. You're an awesome girl, Marinette. You never, I repeat, you never deserve to have someone do this to you. You deserve the whole world. You deserve every good thing there is."
Marinette's heart started pounding like crazy. Y/N Agreste was perfect. She just felt grateful that her heart had chosen her to love. She was here with her now, comforting her. She didn't even care if her clothes got wet. Moreover, she would do anything to prove her innocence.
A smile slowly grew on her face, then she leaned her head back into the crook of her neck and hugged her tightly. "Thank you." she muttered. In response, Y/N started playing with her pigtails again as she continued to hug her.
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About an hour has passed since that happened. Marinette was no longer at school.
Y/N stood by the stairs trying to think of what she could do to prove her innocence. She heard Alya texting her next to the stairs. She heard that she too had no success with the investigation.
She suddenly saw Lila sitting on a bench not far in front of her, surrounded by a small crowd. She seemed to be really enjoying herself, judging by her laughter alone.
Then she remembered something. If she wants to prove her innocence, she has to start with the person who framed her as guilty.
She started towards the bench, but suddenly her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket and saw the news being announced. She saw Mayura fight Ladybug and declares that she will destroy her.
She anxiously watched the news, then put her phone away. She wanted to solve the Lila problem, but at the moment she had to wait a little longer.
She ran into a classroom and closed the door. She opened her jacket and Plagg flew out. He looked really bored. "Don't tell me. We have to go and help your lady."
"We always help each other. Today we're going to help not only her, but another lady! Plagg, claws out!"
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Kitty Noir hurried towards the Arc de Triomphe and then jumped to the top. She saw Mayura holding Ladybug in her hands. "I'm here, M'Lady!"
She then saw Mayura strike her stomach with her fan, causing her to cry out loudly in pain. Her eyes widened and she immediately rushed over to her. "Bugaboo!" she shouted and quickly took her in her arms.
She carefully tried to help her up. "Are you OK?" she asked, but Ladybug put her hand on her chest to stop her. "Don't worry about me. Go after Mayura!" Suddenly she groaned again and collapsed a little. Kitty Noir took hold of her again and carefully placed her on the ground. "Kitty Noir, I don't feel so good."
"There's something wrong. We're supposed to be nearly invulnerable." she wondered as she examined her carefully. Then Ladybug put one hand on her shoulder. "Kitty Noir, don't leave me."
"You know I would never leave you, M'Lady. But...what is happening now?"
"I've always gone out of my way to hide my true feelings for you, but I just can't do it any more." Kitty Noir was a bit shocked. But she said she was in love with another girl. What suddenly changed? "But I thought you said you loved somebody else."
"It's...It's over. After all this time, I've realized..." she slowly moved her hand from her shoulder to her hand, then took it and placed it on her chest. "You're always here for me, even when I reject you. Your feelings for me haven't changed and mine are growing stronger every day. I can't keep pretending any more."
Her eyes closed and she leaned closer to the blonde. Kitty Noir's eyes widened. Almost unconsciously, she leaned closer as her eyes slowly narrowed.
This was all weird. She felt that something was wrong. Something about Ladybug wasn't right.
She was so busy with her thoughts that she didn't even notice that Ladybug was carefully starting to slip her ring off. When their lips were only inches apart, both of them were suddenly pulled away from each other.
They both looked up and saw Ladybug standing there. Another ladybug? How is this possible?
Reality suddenly hit Kitty Noir. That was so weird. This was the only way to explain the sudden change. That Ladybug was someone else. "You're...not Ladybug?"
"No, she's not me!" the other Ladybug defended herself. "She's manipulating you! You know I'm in love with someone else."
Kitty Noir looked at the two of them a little frozen. One looked confused and the other desperate.
"Listen to your heart!"
"No, listen to your brain!"
She thought for a moment. Maybe there was a way to find out which one was real. "M'Lady..." she began, as both Ladybugs immediately looked at her. "Do you know who I am?" she asked, and for a moment both Ladybugs looked at her in confusion.
"You are Kitty Noir." answered the one sitting on the ground.
"My kitty." answered the other after a moment.
A small smile appeared on Kitty Noir's face. Although this was a very simple question, the answer was nevertheless not so clear. Sometimes, when she joked with her, she often called her 'My Bugaboo'. After a while, Ladybug got used to this, but then she started calling 'My kitty' instead.
"How right you are, my Bugaboo." Kitty Noir stood up smiling, then turned to Ladybug sitting on the floor and got into a fighting pose. Beside her, Ladybug smiled and satisfactorily imitated her actions.
The other Ladybug was surprised, but then she got up and her face became emotionless. She backed up slowly and spun the yo-yo. Then suddenly Mayura appeared behind her. Kitty Noir's eyes widened for a moment. "Mayura?"
"This Ladybug isn't an illusion or an akumatized person. She's a Sentimonster." Ladybug explained. "Almost your perfect counterpart. There's nothing monstrous about her."
"I'm nowhere near as perfect as her."
"I love you just the way you are, M'Lady. You will always be perfect for me." Ladybug turned to her partner with softened eyes and a smile. It always made her feel good when Kitty Noir said things like that to her.
"Got a hint of where the amok is. Look at what Mayura's holding!" They looked over and saw a mini Eiffel Tower keychain in her hand.
"Whatever it takes, steal their Miraculous from them!" Mayura ordered as Sentibug nodded. "Senticharm!" A huge weapon appeared from it.
"Whoa. I think she did better than you just now." Kitty Noir marveled. "I'll show you a real...Lucky Charm!" A fork appeared from it. "Okay, now it's even more certain that you're the real one."
Sentibug started shooting at them, so they quickly jumped away. They kept jumping away from her shots until Ladybug caught sight of Mayura looking exhausted. While she was distracted, Sentibug took advantage and fired a shot at her. Fortunately, Kitty Noir jumped up in time and dragged her along.
"Mayura looks exhausted. It's our chance to bring her gown and find out who's beneath the mask!" More shots flew towards them, so they jumped away. While jumping, Ladybug spotted a glass table. "Cover your ears!" she called out to the blonde and then ran over to it.
She began to drag the fork down the glass, making a horrible screeching sound. Sentibug dropped her weapon and covered her ears as Mayura did the same, causing the key ring to fall out of her hand.
Ladybug immediately wrapped the yo-yo around and pulled it to her. "No!" Mayura shouted. The blue haired was about to break the key ring, but then she looked up at Sentibug, who was standing idly by.
"What's wrong?" Kitty Noir asked, jumping up next to them. "You're right. There's nothing monstrous about her. Whoever owns this controls her. She couldn't help but follow orders." She walked over to Sentibug and handed her the key ring.
"Sentimonster, you're free now. I won't give you orders. But I ask you, help us grab Mayura's Miraculous."
"Thank you, Ladybug. I will help you!" she smiled and they both spun their yo-yos. Kitty Noir looked at them in awe. "Oh, wow. We are cool. We could call ourselves 'Kitty Noir and her Ladybugs'."
"I prefer 'The Bugettes and Kitty Cat'! What do you think?" she turned to Sentibug. "You're in charge, Ladybug." Kitty Noir shook her head softly at the two but followed them.
They got closer and closer to Mayura, who tripped and fell. She held out her hand as Sentibug grunted in pain and collapsed slightly. "I release you from existence." she said, then clicked and she was gone. The amok flew out of the key ring and then changed back to white. The two heroines looked at it in horror.
"Oh, you little..." Kitty Noir grumbled and immediately ran towards her, but then Hawk Moth appeared in front of Mayura and hit her. "Getting sentimental on a sentimonster?" he scoffed.
"Hawk Moth!" exclaimed Ladybug. "You're the real monster!" this time it was Kitty Noir calling out to him.
"Oh, that you'll find out very soon!" He started towards them, and the two immediately attacked him. "We missed you a little, butterfly man. But maybe it would be better if you flew away for good, don't you think?" Kitty Noir taunted him.
"You won't be joking around when I take your Miraculous!" He kicked Ladybug away, then went towards Kitty Noir, who jumped away from him. "Kitty Noir, cover me!" They both ran towards him and then attacked him. Ladybug jumped over him, then rushed to Mayura and wrapped the yo-yo around her.
"Check, Ladybug!" grinned Hawk Moth as he held Kitty Noir tightly and held her hands in front of him. He reached for her ring, but the blonde wouldn't let him. "Cataclysm!" he was a little surprised, so he quickly pulled his hand away.
"Good move, kitty! Now all I have to do is grab Mayura's Miraculous and it's over. Checkmate, Hawk Moth! You'd better surrender!"
Hawk Moth just laughed. "All I need to do is wait a few minutes until you and your pet transform back into regular kids, so fragile, so easy to break!"
"Release her!"
"Release her!"
"Don't mind me!"
"Don't listen to him!"
Suddenly, they both threw them away and immediately ran towards each other. They looked at each other angrily, but jumped away from each other. Ladybug immediately grabbed Kitty Noir and carefully placed her on the ground.
"You had Mayura right where you wanted her. I could've managed. What did you do that?" Ladybug glanced at the two departing figures, then back at her partner. "Because we're Ladybug and Kitty Noir! 'Ladybug' by itself doesn't sound half as cool." She smiled at her as Kitty Noir did the same.
"I think you are right." Kitty Noir took her hand and kissed it. "Thank you."
Ladybug smiled and stood up. "Miraculous Ladybug!" She threw up the fork and all the damage was repaired.
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In the afternoon, the twins went for a photo shoot. As soon as they arrived at the scene, they got out of the car and walked to the photographer. "Oh, Y/N, Adriano, come stai?"
"We're good, thanks, Giuseppe." Adrien replied as the photographer put his hands on their shoulders. They looked at the chair and their smiles immediately disappeared from their faces. Lila was sitting there, having her makeup checked.
"Lila?" Y/N mumbled. "Do you know each other? Oh, man, your papa's new muse is incredible! She's been all around the world, she knows everyone and she's Italian, just like me!" Giuseppe marveled as he walked up to her.
"Hi, Y/N and Adrien! You're gonna give me tons of tips, because I'm not as experienced as you two are!" Lila spoke as the twins walked over to them. "Would you mind leaving us alone for a second?" Y/N asked.
"Sure." said the photographer, and then he and the make-up artist walked away. As soon as they left, the two looked at each other, then sat down on either side of Lila with serious faces.
"I warned you once already, Lila, but you didn't listen. You hurt Marinette and that's not OK." Adrien began, and Lila turned to him in disbelief. "Me? Hurting Marinette? But she's the one..." Y/N cut her off.
"I don't know how to prove you lied since you're good at it and there's no evidence since you probably took care of everything. So now you have to come up with another one to prove Marinette's innocence this time." her voice was serious and it was clear that she was not going to make any excuses.
Lila narrowed her eyes and turned away from her. "Why would I do that, Y/N and Adrien?"
"Because we're friends, aren't we?" Adrien began. "And there will be consequences. After all, we can say or do almost anything, can't we?" Y/N finished.
Lila stared ahead with an emotionless face, then turned for a moment towards the Agreste car, where she caught sight of Nathalie. She just nodded her head to do as they were told.
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(A/N)
I drew a little again. I wanted to shade them, but I didn't know where to put them, and shadows don't really fit the drawing.
Background drawing is still my weakness, but I would really like to make nice, elaborate ones.
Now I have drawn them in Reverse version. I tried to draw a good hairstyle for Kitty Noir (or Lady Claw according to my plans), but I don't know what to think of it. Anyway, I wanted her to have ponytail, but I don't think it turned out so well. It looked better in my imagination.
By the way, this was inspired by another drawing, so the positions are not my own idea.