"I just don't know what to think, dude.", said Nino as he walked Adrien to fencing practice. "I mean, I know Alya really cares about Mari, and she didn't really mean what she said. She just gets lost in the heat of the moment. She's impulsive like that. But...that doesn't mean what she said wasn't mean. I mean, she pretty much called Marinette a lovesick looney-toon."
Adrien sighed. "I think the real problem is that Alya's also stubborn. She doesn't like to admit she was wrong, about anything. But what I'm really wondering is how Marinette got that video in the first place."
"Dude! Isn't it obvious?!", exclaimed Nino. "It was Henri! He's had it in for Alya—for all of us—ever since he stole her seat, because we want to expose him to Mari!"
"But Nino...how did he even know Alya was bashing Marinette to begin with?", said Adrien.
Nino's face went neutral.
"I mean you saw the video.", Adrien explained. "Her green-stained pants proved that it was after the paint can incident. Marinette left the room with Henri. I saw her leave the school with right after the incident. And no one was in the room but Alya and Lila. So how did Henri know what she was saying or where she was when she was saying it? None of us knew."
Nino's eyes went wide as it sank in. "Dude...you're right. No one could have known what Alya said. Well, except Lila."
Now it was Adrien's eyes that went wide. "Lila?"
"Yeah, she was in the room, too. She was the only other one there. But it couldn't have been her, dude. She and Alya are friends. And even if if they weren't, Lila would never do something like that to anyone. She's way too nice."
Adrien's brain started it wrack itself with doubts and suspicions. His mind flashed back to the bathroom stall after Henri's first threat to stay away from Marinette, Plagg's words about Lila possibly having something to do with Marinette's blind trust in the new guy echoing in his ear.
Adrien thought back to the flicker of glee on Lila's face. What if he hadn't imagined it? What if she had leaked the video to Marinette to get her to cut ties with Alya? If she had, then Plagg's theory about her not being so innocent made more sense.
"Are...Are you sure?"
Nino looked back at him, one brow raised. "About what?"
"Are you sure that Lila couldn't have leaked the video? I mean, like you said, she was the only other one in the room when it happened."
Nino groaned, to his surprise. "Oh man, not you, too! You're starting to sound like Marinette?"
Now Adrien was deeply invested. "What do you mean? How?!"
"Tell you later, dude. Right now, we're here."
Adrien hadn't noticed that they had arrived at the fencing grounds, to engrossed in the conspiracy theory that was Lila Rossi and Henri LeRoi. But right now, he would have to wait for more intel from Nino until practice ended.
—————————
"Engarde!"
Sabers clinked together and swished through the air, each opponent locked in battle, not showing any weakness. Nino sat on the benches, leaning forward, the intensity of the battle having him on the edge of his seat.
Just then, a thick, cold hand fell upon his shoulder, the touch hard and heartless. Tensing up, Nino's eyes wandered beside him to see no other but Henri LeRoi himself, giving his signature cruel smirk.
"Hello, Lahiffe."
"You! Dude, what are you doing here?"
"None of your beeswax, Scarecrow." Henri loves calling Nino that name because of his thin, scrawny frame and spindly arms and legs.
The taller, more buff boy snatched the hat off Nino's head and tossed it behind him. When Nino rose up to get it, Henri grabbed him, put him in a headlock, and starting rubbing his fist into the top of his head hard. "Noogie, noogie, noogie!"
"Hey!"
Both boys looked up to see two fencers stomp over, one in a white uniform, the other in a red one. The white one lifted their mask away to unveil the irritated face of Adrien Agreste. "What are you doing here, LeRoi?!"
The red fencer looked at Adrien, then back at Henri before lifting her mask to reveal herself. Kagami had her usual poker face, but with shades of determination and a touch of anger. She always wore it while fencing. Her peers called it her "fence face".
"So...", she said in a monotone. "You are Henri LeRoi. I have heard many things about you."
He gave her a charming smile. "Have you?"
Her brown eyes narrowed. "I never said they were good things." Her tone was deadly, as if she was one step away from murdering the boy before her. And in her mind, she felt she was.
Adrien had been telling her all sorts of stories about Henri and his menancing, backstabbing ways. It made Kagami seethe with rage, and not just because he was threatening Adrien.
Marinette was the only other friend that Kagami had beside Adrien Agreste. Even though she saw the girl as a rival for his heart, she admired her courage and compassion. The thought that this new boy was taking advantage of Marinette, manipulating her just so he could trap her into a toxic relationship, it was enough to make Kagami boil. Her friend deserved better than this lying, two-faced snake.
Henri smirked as he let Nino go, the smaller boy diving to the ground to collect his hat. "I came here to look into joining the team."
"Since when are you into fencing?", asked Nino in a bitter tone, dusting off his cap.
"You don't know what I'm into."
Adrien looked at him suspiciously. "I know you're into messing with me. Is that why you really wanna join? So you can have more opportunity to harass me?"
Kagami glared at the other boy. "Don't you dare lay a finger on my fencing partner!", she bit out.
Henri chuckled in a way that made Kagami want to punch him in his stupid face. "Marinette was totally on board with the idea.", he told Adrien. "She thinks it will give you the push you and I need to become friends."
"I'd rather be friends with Hawkmoth.", sneered Adrien.
"You gonna tell Marinette that? She'd be so disappointed that you're not giving me a chance."
The point of Adrien's saber appeared an inch from the tip of Henri's nose. Adrien was posed like a cobra ready to strike. "Don't you dare bring Marinette into this!", he growled. "I don't know how you weaseled your way into her heart, seeing as you have as much kindness as a rattlesnake, but I do know that you can't keep up your little innocent act forever. Sooner or later, Marinette will see who you truly are."
"Is that so? Like she saw who Alya truly is? In that little video?" Henri shook his head. "Harsh."
Kagami looked at Adrien. "What is he talking about?"
Nino sighed. "Henri tripped Alix in art class a couple days ago and make her spill paint accidentally on Alya. After Marinette took Henri's side—again—and everyone left, Alya started ranting to Lila in the room alone. She said some pretty ugly things, but she was pretty upset at Marinette for constantly believing Henri over her. I guess she just...snapped."
Adrien chimed in. "We know this because someone leaked a video of Alya ranting in the arts room and sent it to Marinette. She showed it to the class, confronted Alya, and ended their friendship right then and there."
Nino turned back to Henri with a scorching glare. "I dunno how you got that video, dude, or even how you knew about Alya's rant..."
Henri laughed in his face. "Wait...you think I sent Maribelle the video?"
"Who else could it be?"
Henri rolled his eyes. "You really love jumping to conclusions without proof, don'tcha? You and Alya really are perfect for each other, then." He smirked. "But I didn't send her the video. For your information, I was right next to Marinette when she got the video. Ask her. She'll confirm that I wasn't even holding my phone when she got it."
Nino's face fell.
Kagami examined him. "He's telling the truth."
"What?!"
"He is confident. He feels no fear of you asking Marinette for her side of the story. Marinette is not a liar. She will always tell the truth. If he's sure enough to send you to her to confirm his tale, it must be true."
Adrien glared steadily at Henri. "You're still a piece of slime, Henri. I don't care if you threatened me. I won't let you manipulate Marinette. I will find a way to expose you to her. You're a liar and a bully, and Marinette hates liars and bullies. You don't deserve her, Henri."
It was then Henri cocked a brow at him and asked in a condescending tone, "Oh? And who does? You?"
Adrien faltered under his inquisitive words. "What are you talking about?"
Henri chuckled low and darkly, like a Disney villain. "You really amuse me, Agreste, the way you run around in circles."
"Huh?"
"Wake up, Agreste. You have the hots for my Maribelle."
Adrien's face turned red, although from anger or from embarrassment, no one could tell. "What?! That's a lie!"
"Is it?"
Adrien looked away. "Yeah, she's just a friend."
"Look at me when you say that."
Adrien looked back at him, but remained silent. Henri smirked.
"Say, when was the last time you said that while looking someone in the eye?"
Still no reply. Nino and Kagami were dumbfounded as they remembered how although he said it often, Adrien never really looked anyone in the eye when he claimed Marinette was "just a friend".
Adrien looked deep in Henri's brown eyes. "Marinette is just a...just a..."
Adrien was flabbergasted as he soon discovered that he could not say the words while looking Henri directly in the eye. And it made him boil when he saw the amused look from the taller boy in the face of his failure.
"Ha! See? You can't say it while looking at me! And you call me a liar! Well, maybe I am, but you know what? At least I'm honest with myself. At least I know what I want. You can't even admit the truth to yourself."
He strutted off. "I'm out. I've already had my fun for today." And he walked away.
Adrien stood there, his mind slow as he drank in his lack of success in proving Henri wrong. Kagami and Nino stared at him and waited for him to come back to life.
"Why couldn't I say it?", he whispered. "What is wrong with me?"
"It was just one time, Adrien."
"But it's not! Ever since Marinette started dating that jerk, my feelings have been on this sorta rollercoaster ride! One moment, I'm happy around her, and the next, I'm seething at Henri just for saying hi! I can barely sleep, I've almost completely lost my appetite, I can't go an hour without thinking about Marinette! What is going on with me?"
Nino sighed. "Dude...as much as I hate to agree with Henri...I think he's right. I think you like Marinette. You know, as more than a friend."
Adrien shook his head. "I can't be. And even if I was...I couldn't be with her. There's...there's this other girl I'm in love with."
Kagami was surprised. She had known that Adrien had feelings for another girl, but she had assumed it was Marinette. "Who is it?"
"Can't say. It's complicated between us."
"Does she return your affections?"
"Well...no. She actually told me she likes another boy. But I can't give up on her. I'm gonna wait for her. She's the only one for me."
Kagami's face went sour, like she had just finished sucking on a lemon. "Wait a minute...so your plan is to just sit around and wait for this girl who has already informed you she is not interested in you romantically to somehow suddenly change her mind?"
Adrien blinked at her. "Yes?"
Nino looked uncomfortable. "Dude...don't take this the wrong way, but...that's kinda lame. You're just gonna stay single for the rest of your life?"
"No! Just until she falls in love with me. Which she will, someday. I just know it. I just have to be patient. She'll change her mind someday."
"What if she doesn't, dude? What if she never sees you in the light? Are you just gonna turn down every other girl who shows interest in you?"
"I can't be with another girl! That would be unfaithful."
Nino looked at him. "It's not unfaithful if you're not dating. Which you're not, because she turned you down, dude!"
Adrien faltered. "I know, but...it feels like I'm being unfaithful. One time, after she rejected me, I tried to move on, but...it just didn't feel right. It felt forced. I just can't erase my feelings."
He deflated a tiny bit. "That's...That's kinda why I can't be with Marinette. Even if I did have a crush on her, I can't be with her if my heart is with someone else, too. Marinette deserves better than that. She shouldn't have to settle for being anyone's second choice, let alone mine."
Kagami and Nino exchanged a glance.
"And even if I did somehow move on from the first girl and fall for Marinette, it still wouldn't make much difference from my current position. She's dating Henri now. Even if I had a chance with her somewhere in the past, it's long gone now."
Adrien lowered his sword. "And for my final point...how do I even know that I see Marinette in that romantic light? I mean, sure, I care about her a lot, but date her? I...I don't know if I see her that way."
"Well, how do you see her?", asked Kagami.
Adrien blinked. "Hm?"
"Describe Marinette to me. In your own words."
"Why? You know what she's like."
"But I want to know what she's like in your eyes.", said his fencing partner. "I want to know what you think about when you think about Marinette." She sat on the bench, staring at him with a steely, untreatable gaze. "Go on."
Adrien stared at her, but decided to follow her advice. "Well...she's kind. And caring. And selfless. She's always doing favors and nice things for the people she cares about, sometimes even at the expense of her own needs and wants. She's always ready to lend a hand, and she's not afraid to stand up for herself, her friends, or what she believes in."
"Whatever she does in life, she always gives a hundred percent, whether it's her fashion dreams or being the class rep. She's never mean to anyone, not even Chloé, the girl who bullied her for years. But if Chloé does cross the line, Marinette will set her straight. She's tough but fair."
"Marinette is also a born leader. Like how she made that speech about coming together that won her the class election. Remember that, Nino? She was so strong, so determined. I mean, I don't call her our Everyday Ladybug for nothing. Heck, there used to be a time when I thought Marinette could actually be Ladybug herself!"
"And that's why it cheeses me off to see her with Henri! She deserves better than him. She deserves to be with someone who gets her, who understands her. Someone who loves her for all her little quirks and the things she does and not in spite of them, like the cute way she sticks her tongue out when she draws, or how she flaps her arms around when she's nervous, or the adorable way she gets flustered and messes up her words. Someone who can support her and be her hero when she needs it, instead of isolating her and trying to pass it off as helping. Someone who won't see her as some shiny object to be won, but as her own person. Her own amazing, incredible, beautiful per..."
Adrien was on the final word of his speech when he trailed off, his green eyes growing wide with realization. Nino looked at him in anticipation, while Kagami had a hint of a smile on her face.
"Oh my God.", Adrien mumbled. "I'm in love with Marinette."