Miraculous Ladybug – Confessions Part 1

It was a typical morning at the Collège Françoise Dupont. The students of Miss Bustier's class were getting ready to start their day. Upon her arrival, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was pleased to see that her crush, Adrien Agreste, was already seated in the front row.

"Good Morning, Marinette," he greeted her with a charming smile. Feeling her knees go weak when his brilliant green eyes met with hers, Marinette stumbled on the first step up the middle aisle. Adrien's hand shot out to steady her as she passed. "Careful," he told her with a note of concern.

"T…Thanks…," Marinette gave him a nervous laugh as she successfully took the next couple of steps to take her seat behind him. "I'll never wash this arm again," she whispered to her best friend, Alya Césaire, who was already sitting beside her.

"Gross," Alya whispered back in a teasing voice as she shoulder-bumped her love-struck friend.

The light-hearted atmosphere was soon interrupted, though, when the loud mouthed, spoiled Mayor's daughter, Chloe Bourgeois, suddenly threw open the classroom door and flung herself towards her prey. "Adrienkins!" she exclaimed, grabbing hold of Adrien's hands from across the desk. "Daddy managed to get me two VIP tickets to the Ice Skating Championships, tonight! You'll go with me, of course!"

Trying to hide how taken back he was by her sudden appearance and bold expectations, it was all that Adrien could do not to pull his hands away. Chloe was a childhood friend, after all. "I already have tickets, Chloe, since my dad is one of the sponsors of the show."

"Oh… Well in that case, I'll just tell daddy that I don't need these," Chloe exclaimed about the tickets, "We'll just use yours."

It wasn't a surprise to anyone that Adrien's father, the famous fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste, would be a sponsor for the Ice Skating Championships but Chloe's refusal to see that Adrien didn't have any feelings for her beyond friendship was shocking. While Marinette stewed with anger over the way Chloe was acting, it was Alya who suggested, "Since you both have tickets, why not share the wealth and take someone who doesn't?"

"Why would I do that?" Chloe stated as a matter of fact.

"I think it's a great idea!" Adrien jumped onto the idea.

With an all-knowing grin, Alya continued, "Adrien should take Marinette and Chloe, maybe you should take Kim." Everyone knew that the class athlete, Lê Chiến Kim,had a crush on Chloe.

"What!" echoed both Chloe and Marinette at the same time. Chloe out of disgust and Marinette from disbelief.

"What a perfect idea!" Adrien grinned and turned to Marinette to ask, "would you like to go to the Ice Skating Championships with me?"

To stunned to answer, Marinette stared at Adrien with her mouth slightly agape. Alya gently bumped into her shoulder and spoke in her stead. "She says yes, don't you, Marinette?"

"Huh? L..Love to, yes, would I…," Marinette replied, mixing up her words in her typical nervous manner.

"What's that supposed to mean? It's not very clear," Chloe huffed with an air of annoyance.

"It means yes!" Alya snapped.

"Perfect, I'll pick you up at six O'clock," Adrien told Marinette just before the teacher entered the room and called the class to order.

After school, Alya walked home with Marinette. "You have to help me figure out what to wear," Marinette had told Alya earlier in the day. Both girls were now in Marinette's room of her parent's apartment above their renowned bakery, The Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. "I don't like this outfit, either," Marinette cried in frustration as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"Calm down, girl. Here, try this," Alya told her from where she had been going through Marinette's clothes. Alya shook her head with a sigh after viewing the pile of outfits that Marinette had already tried on.

"I don't have anything that's right to wear on a d…d… date with Adrien!" Marinette was nearly in panic mode again. After slipping into the next outfit, she stared at herself with wide eyes. "I look like Ladybug!" she moaned, referring to her secret alter-ego, superhero self, which nobody knew about.

"It's perfect!" Alya exclaimed. "Adrien likes Ladybug."

"How would you know that?" Marinette asked skeptically. She was now wearing a short red flared skirt with black leggings and a black cami under a red waistcoat of her own design.

"Of course I know, I run the Ladyblog, remember!" Alya reminded her friend of the blog that she ran which contained all the latest news about Ladybug.

Meanwhile, there was a knock on the door, downstairs. Mr. Dupain, Marinette's father, answered extra exuberantly. "Adrien! Come in, come in! It's nice to see you again!"

"Good evening, Mr. Dupain… Mrs. Cheng…," Adrien entered the living room and greeted Marinette's parents respectfully.

"Good evening, Adrien," Mrs. Cheng replied with a cheerful smile. "I'll let Marinette know you're here!" From the bottom of the stairs where she had been standing, Mrs. Cheng yelled, "Marinette, Adrien's here!" She then turned back to Adrien and continued to say, "I hope she doesn't take much longer. She's been up there with Alya for quite a while, now." Mrs. Cheng motioned to the couch. "Please sit down."

"How about a cream puff," Mr. Dupain chimed in, picking up the platter stacked with the round, puffy desserts that had been sitting on the coffee table. "Baked fresh out of the oven."

Just before Adrien could accept, Marinette's voice came from the top of the stairs. "Dad, we don't have time for that!"

Adrien's eyes widened in surprise when his gaze found her. "Ladybug?" he started to say, quickly standing back up from the couch. He corrected himself upon a second glance. "Marinette, wow, you look great!" As he watched her descend the stairs he became aware of her parent's all-knowing grins. He quickly cleared his throat and added, "that is… wow, your outfit! Did you design it yourself? Maybe you should show it to my father. He might include it in his next show."

Initially, Marinette could feel the heat in her cheeks at Adrien's reaction, but she was more worried about her parents telling him unnecessary things. "Do you really think your father would take an interest in it?" While leading Adrien to the door she grabbed a cream puff and handed it to him. "Shouldn't we be going? Won't there be a lot of traffic? The Arena is bound to be packed." She glanced up at the top of the stairs to wave goodbye to Alya while mouthing a thank you to her before following him out the door.

"You're off so quick?" Mr. Dupain almost seemed to pout. "Well okay, have fun, don't be out too late, it's still a school night!"

Marinette let out a sigh of relief when Adrien closed the car door for her after she had slid into the back seat of the car that his bodyguard drove. She was happy to have gotten away from her parents before they could get too nosey about Adrien. However, she was now becoming aware of her nerves over being on a date with him.

"These are amazing!" Adrien exclaimed, holding up the now half eaten cream puff as he slid into the other side of the car, next to her. "I'll have to stop by another day to buy some more."

Adrien's bodyguard pulled the car away from the curb and they were on their way. The trip to the Skating Arena was filled with small talk which revolved around school and their parents. Most of the conversations were initiated by Adrien while Marinette simply focused on keeping her responses coherent.

Thanks to Adrien's bodyguard and the location of their seats, getting into the Arena wasn't a problem at all. From their box seats in the VIP section, they had a commanding view over the ice. They had some time to spare before the start of the show. Marinette busied herself with watching the skaters warm up.

"Do you have a favorite?" Adrien broke the silence between them to ask, gesturing towards the rink.

Completely distracted, Marinette was startled at the sound of his voice. She blinked at him for a moment as she processed his question. "Well… I've always liked Claudette Dubois. She's won the gold metal for the past three years." Marinette pointed out the young woman on the ice. "But, that person there seems rather good, too," she pointed to someone else. "I wonder who she is…"

Adrien had to lean closer to Marinette to get a good view of the second skater whom she pointed out. At that moment, he caught the scent of cream puffs. "mmm…"

"Well, clearly you don't know anything. That's Dominique Bernard, the next up in coming star on the ice." Marinette cringed at the sound of Chloe's voice. "Adrienkins, isn't this perfect, my seats right next to yours!" Chloe looped her arm through Adrien's as she sat on the opposite side of him from Marinette. "It's just too bad that we have all the extra baggage."

Looking to the other side of Chloe, Marinette saw that instead of Kim, Chloe had brought Sabrina along. "Isn't that awful rude to say about your best friend?"

Chloe shrugged, "She begged me to bring her with. Better her then that bubbling idiot, Kim. At least one of us will enjoy the show. I personally find these things boring. But it's all worth it to spend time with Adrienkins!"

Shaking with anger, Marinette was prevented from giving Chloe a piece of her mind when Adrien suddenly took and gently squeezed her hand. "Look, the shows about to start," he announced with a nod towards the ice.

Claudette Dubois' routine was one of the best that Marinette believed she had ever seen. That is, until Dominique Bernard's performance, which completely blew the former out of the arena. It was obvious from the scores who would win the gold metal and from their spectacular view point, Marinette watched as a distraught Claudette ran away from the rink. "I'll be back," she told Adrien as she stood from her seat. There was still the awards ceremony, and before that Marinette wished that she might find Claudette and offer some words of encouragement. Leaving the VIP seating area, Marinette made her way towards the locker rooms, hoping that she might find Claudette. Unfortunately, security was tighter then she anticipated and she couldn't get close.

"What were you expecting?" Tikki, her ladybug stuffed animal looking Kwami – which enabled her to transform into the superhero, Ladybug, with her miraculous earrings – asked.

"She just looked so disappointed and downhearted. Isn't that normally when an Akuma shows up?" Marinette observed about the evil black moths that possessed people who had been weakened by some sort of trauma in their life. The Akuma were sent and controlled by the supervillain Hawk-Moth, who promised those possessed by the Akuma the ability to get revenge against the world in exchange for steeling the miraculous'. Aside for Marinette's miraculous, there was one other. The ring belonging to Cat Noir, Ladybug's partner, whose identity was also a complete secret to everyone.

"Well, maybe," Tikki responded, but was cut off at the sound of an explosion.

"Tikki, Spots on!" Marinette yelled, starting her transformation into Ladybug. She was soon standing in the hall wearing her ladybug masquerade mask and a red with black spots bodysuit with her magical yo-yo hanging around her waist. She took off running towards the ice and was soon met by a screaming crowd trying to escape.

"Ladybug! It's Ladybug!"

"Save us, Ladybug!"

"Ladybug, help us!"

"Alright everybody, calm down. Please walk, but hurry… This way!" Ladybug directed everyone towards the emergency exit.

"Bwah, hahaha," came an evil sounding laugh. "I am the Ice Queen! I am the only one here… no, the only one in the world who is worthy of the gold metal! No one will take the Gold away from me!"

Ladybug fought her way through the crowd, back towards the rink where she caught her first glimpse of the one calling herself Ice Queen. The akumatized skater was entirely blue, though different shades, from her skin tone to her hair and outfit.

"Give me that metal," Ice Queen demanded as she approached the man who had been prepared to award the winner, Dominique Bernard, who was already trapped against the wall by rings of ice around her wrists, ankles, and waist. "That metal belongs to me!" Ice Queen prepared to attack by kicking a leg up as she bent to touch the ice. This action sent blades flying from her skates towards her target. Except that Ladybug managed to knock Ice Queen's leg out of the way with her magical yo-yo. Ice Queen let out a yell of rage and turned to face Ladybug. "You'll pay for that!"

Catching a glimpse of the VIP seating, Ladybug spotted Chloe glued to the glass, cheering her on. Though Chloe was rude to everyone else, except for Adrien, she idolized Ladybug. Behind Chloe, Ladybug saw Adrien trying to get everyone out of the box. "Is that so?" Ladybug responded to Ice Queen. "Then come get me!" she taunted and ran towards one of the emergency exits to lead Ice Queen away. Once outside, Ladybug used her magical yo-yo to swing above and onto the roof. Ladybug's hope was that Ice Queen would be rendered helpless without access to the rink. However, those hopes were crushed when a circle of ice, at least fifteen feet in diameter, followed beneath Ice Queen wherever she went.

"Get back here, Bug, so I can smash you!" Ice Queen made a series of triple axel jumps, each spin sent out a ring of ice in Ladybug's direction.

"Mind if I cut in, milady?" Cat Noir asked when he suddenly landed in front of Ladybug, spinning his weapon to shield them both from the attack. He was dressed in a black leather-like bodysuit with cat ears made of the same type of material sitting atop his blond hair. A black belt tied around his waist acted as a cat's tail, flowing long behind him. His green eyes were visible through the black masquerade mask on his face. A golden cat bell hung at his neck from the zipper of his bodysuit. His weapon was a black staff that changed in length depending on what it was being used for.

"Cat Noir! You're here, perfect! Keep her busy!" Ladybug said with a sense of urgency. Throwing her magical yo-yo into the air, she called upon her lucky charm – a random object that would be created to help defeat their foe.

"Anything for you, Bugaboo!" Cat Noir said before he twirled his staff and jumped into action to deflect the next round of ice rings that had been sent their way.

I think the Akuma is in her skate," Ladybug explained, talking about what item had been used to possess Claudette. That item needed to be broken in order to capture the Akuma.

Having dodged an attack of flying blades that were created by Ice Queens jumps, Cat Noir landed in a cat like position within throwing distance of Ladybug.

"Here!" Ladybug tossed her lucky charm at him, which he nimbly caught. It was a red jar with black spots. "Use it to catch the Akuma. I'll take care of it when I get back."

"Wait, what?" Cat Noir stood up, positioned the jar under one arm and grabbed Ladybug's hand to pull her away from one of Ice Queens attacks. "Where are you going?"

"Let go of me, Cat Noir," Ladybug yelled as she tried to pull her hand out of his. "I have to go back! Adrien's still in the arena!"

"No he isn't… he… I helped evacuate the VIP box."

Ladybug stared at him in disbelief. "How did you know Adrien was in the VIP section?"

"Of… of course he was...," Cat Noir started to stutter. "You're talking about the super model, right? Who doesn't know Adrien Agreste?" Shoving the lucky charm jar back into Ladybug's unexpecting arms, he grabbed her up under one arm and ran. Using his staff to vault over the edge of the roof, together they fell to the ground, landing safely. Cat Noir continued to run, still carrying Ladybug, in order to draw Ice Queen away from the Arena. Finally coming to a stop, Cat Noir picked up the conversation where they left off. "So, you're one of his fangirl's?" he asked, talking about Adrien, when he released her.

"What? No, that's not it!" Ladybug exclaimed in panic. At Cat Noirs smirk, she tried to explain. "He's my classmate and a really nice guy. He's not stuck up or arrogant… like some people I know," she rolled her eyes at the thought of Chloe. "He even tried to stick up for me once, against that suggested stuck up and arrogant person. He's really very sweet…"

Cat Noir stared at her in astonishment. So, his beloved Ladybug was indeed someone that he personally knew. He couldn't help but wonder how she might react to discover that he, Cat Noir, was Adrien. Opening his mouth, he considered revealing his identity. At that moment, the light breeze that blew around them brought a familiar scent to his cat like nose; cream puffs.

"Break it up, Love birds," cackled Ice Queen.

Caught by surprise due to their discussion, Ladybug and Cat Noir found themselves in the mists of another attack. A series of ice rings made them separate. As Cat Noir rolled to the side, one of the rings caught and sent him flying back into a tree and trapped him there. Ladybug managed to dodge a couple of the rings, but was just a fraction of a second too slow to block a round of blade attacks by spinning her magical yo-yo to deflect them. Ladybug was driven back against the wall of a building with enough force to make her lose consciousness. Her body slid down and crumpled on the ground.

"No, LB!" Cat Noir yelled with mixed concern and rage when he caught sight of Ladybug's helpless body.

"Now I can get both of your Miraculouses! Then I can go hunt down that Dominique Bernard!" Ice Queen gave a malicious laugh that echoed with darkness.

~To Be Continued~