Summary:

Marinette is more uneasy, two people knew about her little break down in the girls bathroom, and that alone made her feel a bit on edge, afraid that Chloe and Sabrina would tell people. Surprisingly enough, It isn't Chloe or Sabrina that Corner her at the end of the day.

Please forgive any typos/mistakes I may have made.

Chapter: Conquer(ed)

She can feel two sets of eyes burning into her at least every few minutes, she knows the two girls those two sets of eyes belong to, Chloe and Sabrina, she was afraid that they'd say something, that they would tell people. But as each class came and went, Marinette found that Chloe and Sabrina weren't talking much to the other students. It baffled Marinette, yet also didn't, she and Chloe were always at each others neck, trying to get on each others nerves as much as they could. So sure it was surprising that Chloe or Sabrina didn't immediately attack her in class in front of everyone, she figured Chloe actually had feelings. Chloe seemed to actually care about her when they were in the bathroom, Sabrina was awkward, but sympathetic towards the whole thing, Sabrina tried to comfort her too.

Marinette couldn't help but put her head down on her table, her forehead resting on the edge of the table, her eyes stared at her shoes and the floor.

She bailed on a girls night she herself set up...oh the many phone calls she got on her phone. Her mother, her father, Alya, Juleka and the rest of the girls she invited. She didn't come home until late last night, she got an earful from her parents, but she just brushed it off and went to bed.

The girls were all awkwardly silent around her today. Even Alya.

Alya, the name used to fill her with warmth and security, after all, it was the name of her best friend…a best friend she wasn't sure she even had anymore.

Chloe and Sabrina were there for her. The two most unlikely people. She'd never seen Chloe so angry before, the way Chloe tried to coax more information out of her so that she could 'destroy' the person responsible, but Sabrina eventually decided to step in and tell Chloe to let her just...think on it, think on if she wanted to confide in them. Sabrina understood her doubts, of course she did and as much as she didn't want to share what happened to her, it felt a little relieving to know that Chloe and Sabrina both wanted to help her.

And just as she was getting further in her thoughts, she felt a sudden feeling of being watched, she was aware of the short glances both Chloe and Sabrina were throwing her way, but they didn't feel like this, she couldn't help but tense slightly as she noticed the chair beside her get pulled out, her eyes widened as she noticed a pair of shoes appear, she could hear the other person sit beside her as the chair slid back to how it was.

Marinette screwed her eyes shut, she couldn't help but feel her heart starting to race, she didn't have to look up to know who it was. It was Lila. She tried so hard to ease her breathing, she didn't want to give herself away, she didn't-

And once again, any and all inner thoughts she had were suddenly swatted away when she felt a warm hand place itself over her leg, her breathing hitched as she bit her bottom lip, she opened her eyes and indeed found a hand over her leg. She tensed heavily as she felt the hand slowly sliding up and down over her leg. A soft strangled whimper escaped her throat. It wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for Lila to hear it.

A small chuckle reached Marinette's ears.

The ravenette clenched her jaw, she glared at the hand, the urge to get up and slap the owner of that hand welling up in her, but she restrained herself. Trying to keep her growing anger at bay. She balled up her fists tightly. She turned her head slightly, she sent a side glare towards the smirking brunette who was already looking at her.

Lila's smirk only widened, as if mocking her.

Marinette grit her teeth and suddenly stood up, startling many students in the class, silently she rounded the table and without saying a word, she walked passed the teacher that had just entered.

"Marinette?", Adrien called out as he stood up from his seat, his hands resting on the table's surface.

Nino and Alya both looked at each other.

Students started to murmur, before finally looking back to find Lila standing up.

Miss Mendeleiev was confused, and just as she was going to say something, Lila spoke.

"She isn't feeling well, Marinette's been feeling really ill.", Lila quickly said, "She's having problems keeping her food down, today.", the teen explained and started to round the table she shared with Marinette. "Is it okay if I go check up on her? She went to the bathroom."

The teacher shrugged and nodded, "I'll excuse it this time, but next time if she's feeling sick, she should head home."

Students started to murmur.

Chloe narrowed her eyes a bit, "Sick?", she whispered.

Sabrina hummed softly, "Something's off, Marinette seemed fine to me."

"That's because she is fine.", Chloe said softly, her eyes not leaving Lila's figure as the girl walks down the row and eventually exits the classroom. "I think Rossi's got something to do with this."

Sabrina nearly choked, "What?!" She said in a harsh whisper, "Lila's a sweet girl-"

"Urgh, you too…", Chloe rolled her eyes, arms crossing as she sat straight in her seat, she faced the forwards, she knew Lila had all these idiots wrapped around her finger, all but herself, and Adrien, and in all honesty, that's saying something. Adrien was never one to oppose a person, but in a conversation it came out, he didn't trust Lila. The boy was nervous to admit that out loud to her, but she assured him and promised him it would stay between them. They were on the same page, and that didn't really happen when it came to disliking someone, because Adrien was never one to talk negatively about anyone. "Whatever Sabrina, forget I said anything.", she mumbled. She knew what she was talking about, deep down she also felt that Marinette also didn't like Lila. It lumped the ravenette in with herself and Adrien. She knew fake when she saw it, and so did Adrien. She was debating on whether or not to press the Dupain-Cheng further, she wanted to know what caused her to break down, normally she didn't care for the girl, but she grew up with a certain imagine of the teen in her mind, so of course, seeing the strong sassy baker girl crumbling onto the bathroom floor made her feel rather uneasy. A part of her wanted to tell Adrien, they tell each other everything, but then the other part of her wanted to wait and see what would happen, if Marinette would come to her on her own accord.

Until then, she'd wait.

Marinette huffed softly as she wet her face, she stood over the sink, lifting her gaze to face the mirror, she growled softly, she was angry, and only getting more and more frustrated as days came and went. Lila was overwhelming her, getting the best of her. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, the Rossi girl would come and go, she'd come to school one week, and then be out for the next 3 weeks. But as of late, the girl was here, and as present as ever. She gripped the edges of the sink tighter, her knuckles turned white, she sucked in a breath and then softly exhaled through her mouth, she had to get a grip and calm herself, the last thing she needed was to be akumatized.

"Damn it.", Marinette sighs deeply, exhaling, she closes her eyes for a moment, allowing herself to bask in the silence of the bathroom, calming herself, letting her anger go.

Until the sound of the bathroom door opened.

Marinette's eyes snapped open, her eyes glanced at the mirror, taking in the reflection, she found Lila leaning against a stall door, piercing olive green eyes staring at her, a coy smile playing on pink lips. The ravenette glared at the girl from the mirror.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.", Lila remarked snarkily. Arms folded over her chest, eyes narrowed, she let out a flirtatious giggle.

The ravenette was reaching the end of her rope again, her patience was already running thin. "What do you want from me.", Marinette said with a bite.

Lila's smile faltered slightly but remained, "What makes you think I want something?", she asked, an eyebrow playfully going up.

The taller of the two spun around, "Don't get stupid on me.", Marinette said through clenched teeth. She took a step towards the Rossi teen.

Lila hummed and rose a hand, gesturing for Marinette to stop, "Watch it, Dupain-Cheng, you wouldn't want to lose your temper and accidentally hurt me.", a look of amusement was a juxtaposition to how her voice's tone sounded. A wicked smile curled the Rossi's lips.

The Dupain-Cheng tensed and took a step back, finding her back against the sink, she grimaced. A look of horror washed over her facial features.

"It'd be pretty bad if you hurt me in any kind of way.", Lila spoke again, "Can you imagine, the reactions from the class?". The brunette now stepped away from the stall door, she took steps towards the horrified teen, drawing closer and closer, as if she was cautiously trying to corner a wild animal. "Just imagine it. The supposedly 'oh so sweet class rep', Marinette Dupain-Cheng, bullying the poor helpless Lila Rossi.", she stopped just in front of the ravenette, emerald eyes held a smoldering look to them, it was fierce, piercing, it was almost as if Lila was warning Marinette to not cross her in any way shape or form. "What do you think?", Lila spoke again, her voice sounding so full of innocence, "Quite the scenario right?"

Marinette felt fear fill her, fear quickly replaced the anger she felt just moments ago, she put her hands behind her, gripping the cold sink until her knuckles turned white. She didn't know what to say, how to argue against Lila's words.

She felt herself losing hope.

Lila sighed softly, she rose a hand up and cupped the side of Marinette's face, the pad of her thumb caressing the cheek, "I warned you Marinette, I told you not to cross me.", she tilted her head to the side, her action appeared innocent, as if signs of maliciousness were nonexistent.

Lips trembled, "I...I didn't...I-"

"You tried to expose me a few times, I let them slip by, I was being nice.", Lila's gaze was soft, "But then I just decided that maybe shutting you up was something I needed to do sooner rather than later. Just in case."

The ravenette swallowed thickly, "But...I…I don't get it…"

Lila rose an eyebrow, "What don't you get?"

"Why...kiss me?", Marinette started, "A-And the touching…", she stuttered slightly, a puzzled expression washed over her face. She understood If Lila attempted to blackmail her with intentions of ruining her reputation, but where exactly did the...weird not so platonic touches and kissing factor in?

Lila shrugged, "Oh that, yeah. I just realized you were kinda cute."

The ravenette nearly scoffed, she was taken aback by how casually Lila answered her, "Uh Bu- what- I-...", she couldn't form a coherent sentence, she was struck speechless.

The Rossi teen smirked, "There were plenty of ways to get under your skin, and I just decided to go about taking you down in a more...subtle way, I mean, it's not like anyone would believe you if you told them, me, a girl, was touching you.", The teen laughed softly, slowly she removed her hand from the side of Marinette face, she placed her hand over the tense shoulder, she then rose her other hand and did the same thing. "No one would believe you. I would immediately deny it, and I'd bury you even deeper.", The brunette's eyes narrowed suddenly, she then leaned forwards, leaning her entire body against Marinette's own, her lips brushed against Marinette's ear for the shortest moment before she spoke again, whispering. "I mean, for all I know, you're some in closet lesbian or bisexual.", her hot breath blew passed the red ear, the ravenette tensed.

The Dupain-Cheng was certainly buried in a mess, the last thing she wanted was anymore trouble. "B-...I...I'm not…", she managed to say.

Lila giggled sweetly as she pulled back, but remained close, "You sure about that? You sound a little...unsure."

Marinette felt heat explode over her face, her lips quivered. She didn't respond.

A wicked smile appeared, accompanied by a hooded gaze taking over Lila's face. "Interesting.", she said, it was clear her interest was peaked.

Marinette swallowed thickly, she looked away, averting any more eye contact with the emerald eyed brunette, "What does that make you?", Marinette couldn't help but question, after all, Lila seemed-

"Interested.", Lila said suddenly, cutting off Marinette's thought process.

Marinette's eyes widened, but she kept looking away. Her lips pressed into a tight line. She said nothing more.

"But, more or less out of curiosity.", the brunette said, ''I kissed you and touched you, just for the feel of it. I've always identified as straight and I still do."

The ravenette frowned heavily, "I'm not your plaything.", she growled, turning to face the girl, quickly meeting that smoldering gaze.

"Well...that's debatable. I mean, you're in a tight spot right now, aren't you.", Lila said a bit straightforward. The brunette was in control, she could always throw the girl down at any moment, and she knew Marinette knew that.

The ravenette sneered.

And Lila laughed. "This is fun."

"To you.", Marinette was gripping the sink so hard, she was starting to lose the feel of her fingers.

"Go out with me.", Lila said suddenly with a growing smirk, a mischievous expression taking over.

"Go to hell.", Marinette replied not knowing how else to reply. Feeling frustration starting to get the better of her.

The brunette was unfazed by the taller teens harsh words, she chuckled, clearly amused by what was happening, "I like it when you fight back...or well, try to.", the Rossi finally broke all physical contact with the Dupain-Cheng, "I'll leave you to do your sulking alone, Dupain-Cheng." She said, finally turning around, leaving the bathroom, "Also.", she spoke again, stopping the bathroom door from closing, "I told the teacher you weren't feeling well. You might wanna head home, Dolcezza.", the brunette said the last word accompanied by her blowing a kiss and winking, finally taking her leave.

Marinette released a heavy exhale, her wobbly legs finally gave out from under her, she finally released her grip on the sink and fell into a sitting position, she buried her face into her hands, her finger still felt slightly numb. Lila got the best of her, the Rossi girl cornered her and tamed her before she even knew what was going on. She was done for.

For now.

Tikki came out of the jacket pocket, a look of sympathy already on her face, "Marinette, are you okay?"

Marinette nodded slowly, lifting her gaze from her hands, "I...she…", Marinette looked away from her kwami, "...Tikki, she...she bested me...I can't work myself out of this, she cornered me this time."

Tikki floated into Marinette's line of sight, wanting to face her holder, "Tell someone-"

"Who!?", she yelled, her voice broke slightly, she groaned and quickly apologized for raising her voice, "I'm sorry, Tikki...I just...there's no way out this…"

Tikki frowned heavily, "There has to be a way out of this. You can't let Lila turn you into some...some, plaything. You're Ladybug, Marinette, if Lila catches onto you, There's no telling how many people will be put in jeopardy. Think about your family and friends, your parents, Alya, Nino, and Adrien. It's clear Lila's also after Chloe and Adrien already. You have to do something.", the Kwami tried to encourage her holder to seek help, or at least talk to someone. "You need to get her off your back, Marinette, or how else will you slip away to fight akumas during school hours? She'll put two and two together."

"Not to mention the fact that I risk putting the other Miraculous in danger.", the ravenette groaned, she knew how painfully observant Lila was, the girl was scary good. "Chloe…knows what it's like for her family to be put in danger. What if I…", Marinette trailed off, debating on what to do, "and I trust Adrien...what if I…", an idea crossing her mind.

Tikki listened closely, "What if you what?"

"Adrien and Chloe are the only two people that truly see through Lila and her lies. I trust those two, Adrien doesn't have a single bad bone in his body, and Chloe...well, she idolizes Ladybug...what if I reveal my identity to them, they can cover for me, help, or something-"

"That's a horrible idea, Marinette, no one can find out your Ladybug, not even Chat Noir knows who you are.", Tikki countered, "Besides, Chloe is reckless, she might accidentally out you, and as for Adrien, the last thing you want to do is have him get caught in the crossfire.", Tikki reasoned, feeling concern for Plagg's safety and Adrien's hero identity. The last she wanted was for Adrien to be found out by Lila, it's bad enough the girl lumped him, Marinette and Chloe together.

Marinette sighed out and shrugged and once again buried her face into her hands in frustration, she gave up thinking on solutions. She sat there silently before the silence was suddenly interrupted by what sounded like shoes meeting the floor. The teen raised her face from her hands and instantly saw a pair of shoes in the stall across from her. 'Oh no.', she thought to herself. She slowly scanned the gap of the stall and of course, she found a single amber eye meeting her eyes. She was startled, she quickly shot up to her feet. She just stood there, and so did the other person.

Tikki squeaked and flew into Marinette's jacket pocket.

Neither said anything.

The ravenette stood stiffly, every muscle in her body was tense. She didn't know what to do. For once she just wanted a break, if she wasn't dealing with akumas as Ladybug , then here she was, dealing with school b.s as Marinette.

'Fuck', Marinette cursed internally, someone saw, someone knew who she was.

After what seemed like an eternity, the person in the stall finally unlocked the door, slowly pushing it open, and little by little as the door opened Blue eyes were fixated on the door, anxious to see who discovered her.

"K-K...Kagami…", Marinette stuttered out, eyes wide.

A sigh escaped passed lips, "Well...this is awkward.", the teen spoke rather stiffly.

The ravenette rose a hand and facepalmed, "Fuck."

Amber eyes and Sapphire eyes locked.

"So, You're Ladybug.", The heiress said casually.

"Shhh!", The Baker girl hushed the girl and looked at her trap door for any signs of her parents, "Look, I know I said we couldn't discuss this in public, but we also can't really discuss it here either, my parents don't know, they can't know.", she turned back to meet Kagami's surprised expression.

Kagami sighed softly and nodded, "So, what do we 'discuss'.", she questioned.

"Why didn't you make your presence known?", Tikki popped up and sat in front of the amber eyed teen, "You humans are really-mmmph", Before Tikki could continue to complain, Marinette grabbed her and brought her closer to her side.

"Enough, Tikki.", Marinette said.

"Hmph", Tikki turned away from both teens, still in her holders gasp.

Kagami looked in awe at the tiny being, she was curious of course and fascinated by the being. "That is…", Kagami started, wanting for Marinette to explain what Tikki was.

"She's the Ladybug Kwami, she's existed for as long as Creation has.", The ravenette explained to the amber eyed teen.

"Fascinating.", Kagami managed to say.

The Dupain-Cheng sighed, "Look, It's important you keep this to yourself, not only are my family and friends put at risk, but you're now in the mix, and-"

"I wouldn't say anything. I understand the duty you've taken on. However, my problem is that...Rossi girl. Doesn't she have a strong disliking towards Ladybug...you.", amber eyes narrowed slightly.

The ravenette nodded slowly, "She doesn't know, not yet at least, and I want to avoid her finding out for as long as possible, she'll destroy my life."

"No doubt about that. Although...she does seem...um…", Kagami cleared her throat a little awkwardly.

The Dupain-Cheng didn't have to hear the rest of the sentence to know what Kagami was getting at, "Interested in me?"

"Yes...that. I um…", Kagami sucked in a breath and then softly exhaled, "The reason why I didn't make my presence known was because I didn't want to get involved, I thought it was just some simple school drama you two were having, but then...all that stuff...happened and I opted to stand on the toilet to avoid being detected.", Kagami shifted in place, clearly she was feeling a little awkward. "I was going to keep it that way until...I found out about you being…'her. I felt it wrong for me to have heard such sensitive information without you knowing."

"I see...you were really quiet.", Marinette said with a soft forced chuckle. A part of her felt uneasy still.

"Listen, Marinette.", The heiress spoke again.

The ravenette met the heiress's gaze, immediately she saw sincerity. "Yes?"

"I know we don't know each other very well, and I know we both aren't exactly the friendliest towards each other, but despite that, I want you to know your secret is safe with me, I won't tell anyone about the whole…Ladybug thing. But, I am concerned with Rossi, and what she's capable of. You should talk to someone about this...the nature of what's going on there-", Kagami rose a hand and gestured around Marinette. "-Isn't right, she's physically...touching you…", the heiress frowned heavily, "It bothers me just knowing that, it's horrible and it's not something you should keep to yourself, you have to put your foot down-"

"It's easy for you to say, Kagami. I...I can't just do that, you don't understand...she has all of my friends wrapped around her fingers, Adrien and Chloe are the only two that see through her, and not even they were able to stand a chance against her, Adrien gave up on her, he stays away from her, Lila threatened him, and the same thing with Chloe, the only reason those two aren't going through what I'm going through is because they have connections, the means to untie themselves from her should she get them in trouble.", Marinette explained, "As for me...I'm just...an ordinary girl, my parents are ordinary people. The last thing I want is to cause trouble.", her voice lowered, she turned away.

Kagami clenched her jaw for a moment, in all honesty, she felt disgusted, not by Marinette, rather by Lila, the girl was a snake, she didn't have to personally know her to know that much, she went off by that whole encounter in the bathroom. "Well...not that I think I know better than...uh...your kwami, but frankly, I think you should talk to Adrien and Chloe, ask them how they've managed to keep their distance from Lila for as long as they have, of course...leave out the whole-", Kagami once again rose a hand, this time she gestured toward Tikki. "-out, the less people that know, the better."

Tikki puffed her cheeks.

The heiress gave the kwami an amused smile, "Be subtle about it though, keep Lila in the dark about you interacting with those two. But don't just cut them off all together, interact with them like you normally do at school, but once school ends, meet up somewhere privately."

Marinette nodded, "That could work…", doubt clear in her voice.

The heiress knew the ravenette was stressed, she felt bad, she didn't normally involve herself in problems, she preferred to avoid them, henceforth why she opted to not make her presence known when Lila cornered Marinette. "You know...you could always...engage in her behavior...", the teen sounded unsure of what she was saying, she was trying to help, but wasn't sure how to go about it.

"Um...what?", the Baker girl was quite baffled by the suggestion and taken aback.

Tikki gasped, "No way!-", Tikki started, but Kagami rose a hand to silence the kwami, or at least trying to silence the kwami.

"O-okay, just...just hear me out.", The teen said trying to calm the angry kwami. She returned her gaze to Marinette and started to explain. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, I'm pretty sure Lila likes you, I mean...she did ask you out-"

"She was being a sarcastic asshole.", Marinette countered. "And she said she identified as straight."

Kagami sighed again, rose a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, "I know, but still. There has to be a perfectly good reason why she's targeted you and has gone about dealing with you in such a...odd way. I'm pretty sure she likes you romantically."

"She said she was straight.", The ravenette cut in again.

The heiress felt a headache coming on, "Look, I'm not going to force you to face the whole Lila problem, but I do recommend you at least try to placate the whole situation, even just a little bit. What if you got close to her? You can break her down a lot more effectively. You'll be playing the long game, and if you execute your plan properly, what ever plan it may be, you could very well get her off your back."

Tikki hummed, she turned to her holder.

Marinette groaned, "In other words, I'd have to subject myself to a relationship with...that."

Kagami nodded, "If I were in your shoes, I'd go about it that way. Make her feel safe, let her drop her guard, get some dirt on her, and then take her out."

The ravenette rose an eyebrow, "Wow, you sound scary."

The heiress shrugged, "It's either you, or her."

"Hmm…", blue eyes dropped down to gaze at her hands on her lap, it was a good idea, she might be able to catch Lila slipping. Or...Lila might catch her and destroy her. "What if she catches on to me?"

"We'll cross that bridge when that happens.", the Tsurugi spoke calmly.

"We'll?", Marinette rose her gaze to meet the other ravenette's own, she could see the focused look Kagami wore.

"Yeah, I mean, I was the one that gave you the idea, might as well sink along with it if everything goes to hell."

A small smile tugged at Marinette's lips, "I see."

"Now, how about we trade numbers. That way we can communicate about this whole thing...the Lila thing.", The Tsurugi took her phone out of her school bag, "Here.", she said as she placed her phone on the table for Marinette to take and put her number in.

"Right.", Marinette said as she put her phone on the table as well, they traded phones and both put their numbers in.

"Great.", Kagami said as she got her phone back. She gave Marinette a small smile "Keep the whole Adrien and Chloe thing in mind as well."

"I will. Thanks...for everything."

Both teens stood up. It was a bit awkward, but they both knew they'd get over it with time. Both shook hands.

"Goodbye", the heiress said to Marinette, amber eyes then looked at the floating kwami, "Goodbye"

Tikki waved. "Bye."

Both Tikki and Marinette stood in the middle of the room, both watched Kagami leave. They started their conversation once the trap door was shut.

"So, that happened.", Tikki said.

"Yeah...it certainly did.", Marinette groaned.

It most certainly did happen.

Welp here's an update.

Hope it's been an interesting read so far. Feel free to drop comments/critiques/questions.