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Redemption	By : Cat_Eyes Category: +M through R > Miraculous LadyBug Views: 2815 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. Miraculous Ladybug is the intellectual property of Thomas Astruc and released by Zag studios. No profit was made writing this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Marinette slumped to the ground beside Adrien with a heartfelt sigh.
'I take it the police questioned you about yesterday,' Adrien guessed, wryly.
'An hour,' groaned Marinette. 'They repeated the same three questions for an hour. "What happened?" and "why did you come here?" Followed by, "did you know he's a criminal under surveillance?" I don't know how many times I can explain without losing it.'
'Sorry,' Adrien replied. 'They grilled me, too, even though they can track my every movement with this.' He tugged up the leg of his jeans to reveal an ankle monitor. 'God, I hate this thing. It chafes like crazy.'
'Ooh, look at that. I've never seen one before,' Alya said as she threw herself down beside Marinette.
Adrien tugged the hem down over the monitor, face red and downcast.
'Alya,' Marinette scolded. 'Some tact, please.'
Alya grinned in reply, unrepentant.
'Unbelievable,' muttered Marinette, with a shake of her head.
'Hey,' called Nino as he approached them. 'Mind if I sit here?' he asked, pointing to the ground.
Adrien sat up straight. 'Please, go ahead.'
Marinette covered a smile as Nino awkwardly lowered himself to the ground, facing a spot between Adrien and Marinette.
Alya nudged Marinette in the ribs with an elbow, grinning openly. 'I told him to pull his head out of his butt, and start acting like a decent person,' she whispered in Marinette's ear.
Marinette raised an eyebrow back at her.
'Oh, don't give me that,' Alya hissed. 'I got there, eventually, didn't I?'
'Yeah, after I told you to,' Marinette reminded her.
Alya gasped, then crossed her arms with a huff, and turned up her nose. 'Well, if you're going to be like that,' she trailed off, leaving the threat hanging.
'Anyway,' Nino said, loudly. 'We're supposed to get our math tests back today. You guys ready?'
Marinette and Alya both groaned, despairingly, leaning against each other in shared misery.
'I probably only got sixty percent, at best,' Alya predicted.
'At least you passed,' Marinette replied.
Adrien looked to Nino. 'Are they always this dramatic?'
Nino rolled his eyes with a long-suffering sigh.
The bell rang and they all drifted to class in pairs or small groups. The others ignored and avoided Adrien, but no one actively worked against him. With Sabrina, Alix, and Kim suspended, the hostility against Adrien lost its driving force. If he were upset by his classmates studiously ignoring him, though, he gave no sign of it. The morning passed by without incident, to Marinette's relief.
As they stepped outside for lunch break, Nino looked around in confusion. 'I don't see any reporters.'
'I wonder where they all went,' Alya said, looking around in equal confusion.
Marinette snorted. 'Off to harass someone else, no doubt.'
Adrien shrugged. 'Things have been relatively quiet around here. Boring doesn't sell, so I guess they've moved on to something more interesting.'
Dismissing the subject as unimportant, Marinette turned around to look at them. 'What are you guys doing for lunch?'
'I had no plans,' Alya answered.
'Me neither,' added Nino.
'Do you want to have lunch in the bakery?' Marinette offered, as she began to descend the school's front steps.
Alya and Nino accepted enthusiastically, but Adrien gave her a sad smile. 'House arrest, remember?'
'Oh,' Marinette bit her lip. 'Is there someone you can call and ask?'
Adrien blinked at her. 'I hadn't thought of that,' he confessed. He then pulled his satchel around and rummaged inside, finally extracting an older model smart phone. He fiddled with it before putting it to his ear. 'It's Adrien. Yes, thank you. I was just wondering if I could have lunch with some friends today? Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you've met her. Alya Césaire and Nino Lahiffe. Yes, I promise I will.' His face lit up. 'Really? Thank you so much. Bye.'
Alya grinned. 'I take it they said yes.'
'He said yes,' Adrien cheered.
Nino put his hands on his hips and shook his head, but his actions were belied by the smile tugging his lips. 'Geez, Marinette, the cops must really like you.'
Marinette turned and started walking, trying to hide her blush. 'I'm a very personable person,' she stated.
'That's my girl,' Alya said, approvingly, as she caught up to Marinette, and rested an arm over her shoulders. Adrien and Nino began walking as well, not wanting to be left behind.
'Actually, it's true,' Adrien confirmed. 'When the cops spoke to me yesterday, they spoke very highly of you, Marinette.'
'No kidding,' Nino muttered, sounding impressed.
Adrien nodded. 'Yeah, they said she's mature, responsible, and compassionate. They even encouraged me to be friends with her. I think they're hoping she'll be a good influence on me.'
'You don't need me for that,' Marinette scoffed.
They entered the bakery and were immediately engulfed in hugs from Tom and Sabine. Marinette smiled as the shock on Adrien's face morphed into something soft and yearning. She hoped Tom and Sabine would spoil Adrien with hugs in the future.
Lunch was happy and boisterous, the last of Alya's and Nino's unease fading to nothing when Adrien splurted into his drink, and dribbled soda down his front, after Tom told a particularly bad pun. They ribbed him mercilessly on the way back to school.
The mood plummeted, however, the moment Madame Mendeleiev handed Marinette her test paper back, see me after class, scribbled across the top.
Marinette sat through the rest of the afternoon on tenterhooks, anxiously waiting for the bell to ring. When it did, the sick dread in her stomach surged.
'You ok, Girl?' Alya asked, placing a hand on Marinette's shoulder.
Marinette nodded. 'I'm ok. You go on ahead.'
'You sure?'
Marinette smiled reassuringly. 'Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow.'
Alya, Nino, and Adrien gave her worried looks, but did as she said. Marinette slowly gathered her things and approached Madame Mendeleiev's desk.
'You wanted to speak to me?'
Twenty minutes later, Marinette walked out of the classroom, trying not to cry. If she didn't pick up her grades immediately, Madame Mendeleiev was going to fail her. Even though she studied almost every night, the complexities of math escaped her. Marinette let her head thump against her locker, and focussed on breathing.
Arms wrapped around her from behind, and pulled her close. 'Hey, it'll be ok,' Adrien murmured in her ear.
Marinette drew in a shuddering breath, and rested her hands on Adrien's arms. 'I'm going to fail,' she whispered. 'I'm going to fail, then I'll have to repeat the year, and all my friends will leave me behind, and forget about me. I'll never graduate, never get into university, and never become a world famous fashion designer,' she ended with a wail.
'Whoa, whoa. You want to become a fashion designer?'
Marinette cried louder.
'Hey,' Adrien said, letting her go to turn her around by the shoulders. Once she faced him, he lifted her head with a finger under her chin. Gently wiping her eyes, he said, 'it's only maths giving you problems, right?'
Marinette nodded, looking up at him mournfully.
'I'm pretty good at maths. One of the perks of being the son of a wealthy lunatic is that he could hire all the best tutors. Although,' Adrien rolled his eyes, 'he fired them all after a while, and just had Nathalie tutor me.'
Marinette sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. 'I feel bad for her. She must've had a killer work load.'
Adrien gave a short, humourless, bark of laughter. 'You have no idea. In the end, I think she was the only person Father trusted,' he added, looking sad and far away.
Marinette cocked her head. 'What about you? You're his son.'
He tipped his head from side to side with a considering hum. 'As his paranoia grew, he accused me of deliberately failing to get Ladybug's earrings.'
Marinette placed her fingers over her mouth in shock. 'That's awful.'
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. 'He wasn't wrong.'
'What?' she gasped.
'Yeah,' he drawled. 'By the end, I was just going through the motions. I guess, subconsciously, I felt guilty about what I was doing.'
'So, if Ladybug hadn't stopped you,' Marinette trailed off.
'I would've sabotaged myself, sooner or later.'
There was a moment of silence as Marinette thought back to those last few weeks when she had been Ladybug. She hadn't noticed anything like what Adrien just described, at the time. She resolved to think more on the subject later.
'Anyway,' Adrien said, drawing Marinette from her thoughts. 'I can tutor you, if you want. Help you pick your grades up so you won't fail. I'd like us to graduate together,' he confessed with a hopeful smile.
Marinette smiled back. 'I'd like that very much, thank you.'
- 7
- 8
- 9
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Redemption