Under The Surface

Getting Worse

Marinette woke up that Monday morning, two days after the party and felt terrible. She felt like crap, worse than crap. Her entire body ached, and she felt drained. She laid there in bed from a little while staring at the ceiling, till a gentle knock sounded from her window.

"Ichigo! What are you doing here?"

She asked, as he slipped in through the window.

"I came to see how you're feeling. I heard about what happened on Friday."

A little part of Marinette groaned. This was something she most definitely did not want him to know about.

"I feel like crap, but I'll be fine."

She said as she started to get ready for school.

"Are you sure you should go to school today, Hayami? You could pass out again. I'm worried about you."

She cringed at those words. It was just like when they first found out she was sick. Every waking moment someone was by her side, worrying about her, not letting her do anything for herself, questioning everything she did. She had gotten so sick of it!

"Oh, so now all of the sudden you're worried! You were gone for eight years, Ichigo, and not once did you ever try to contact me! I had no idea where you were or if you were alive, but now, all of a sudden, you just show up again and start treating me like a china doll. I've done just fine on my own! But you- You're here for not more than a few weeks and suddenly my house gets broken into!! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have school to get to."

Then she stormed out of the room down the stairs.

~

Adrien woke up the next morning in a strange mood. He had been stressing all weekend about Marinette, seeing as no one bothered to update him, but this also left him pretty excited for school that day. But sooner or later, the strange mood was bound to turn into a strange morning, and that started when Gabriel came down to eat breakfast with Adrien, and they actually talked. Gabriel even brought up Marinette, saying she was a very talented young girl, and she reminded him of Adrien's mother. Adrien and him even hugged after. Gabriel said that he was sorry for all the pain he had caused him over the last few years, saying that he had been blinded by his grief. It was such a rare moment for Gabriel Agreste to apologize that Adrien was tempted to ask about his mother and the peacock miraculous, but decided against it. Additionally, he was very surprised to see Marinette sitting down for school that morning. She looked paler than before but had a stubborn look on her face. As class started, Adrian couldn't help but sneak glances at her. She seemed very tired but also troubled. What was wrong?

"Hey, are you ok?"

He whispered.

"Agh, yes, I'm fine! Why does everyone have to keep asking me that?"

She whispered back with a groan. Surprised by how frustrated she sounded, Adrien decided to give her some space. After lunch, however, Adrien was getting really worried because despite her efforts to hide it, Adrien could see that Marinette was getting worse. He often caught her trying to hide her coughing, and her movements were slow and unsteady. He was going to ask her again if she was alright when they got back to class, but before she even made it to their desk, she passed out on the floor.

"Marinette, are you alright?"

"What did she even trip on?"

The class voiced, thinking she had fallen (classic Marinette, right?). But when she didn't respond or even attempt to move, everyone started to worry. Adrien quickly rushed to her side more than a bit worried when he saw how pale she looked now. Mrs. Bustier rushed to aid the poor girl, and Adrien could see that she was alarmed and very concerned, almost like she knew what was going on.

"She needs to rest. Adrien, can you take her to the nurse's office?"

"Yes, Mrs. Bustier."

Within moments, he had an unconscious Marinette in his arms and was jogging down the hall to the nurse's office.

Later that day, after school was over, Adrien went to go check on Marinette before leaving. He hadn't been allowed to stay but Mrs. Bustier was kind enough to let him go check on her every once and a while.

"I'm sorry, Adrien. She's not here anymore."

"What!!? Where did she go?"

"I don't know. She woke up an hour or so ago and insisted on going home. But I'm worried about her. She was in no condition to be walking around on her own."

He knew the nurse was right. So, after a quick 'thank you' to the nurse, Adrien left the office, and after calling Tom and Sabine to confirm that she wasn't home, rushed out to the closest alleyway to transform and begin searching.

~

Ladybug swung through the streets, jumping over rooftops and alleyways, as she tried to outrun her feelings of weakness. When she woke up in the nurse's office, she felt somewhat better, but it didn't last long. She could feel the disease getting worse. She knew it was getting worse, but she didn't have the heart to tell anyone. She didn't want them worrying about something they couldn't fix anyway. She was about to jump over another alley when her legs suddenly collapsed, and she fell down towards the concrete.

"Lucky Charm!"

Right before she hit the ground, a mattress appeared below her just in time. As soon as Marinette made contact with the mattress, Tikki dropped the transformation, and another fit of coughs took over the poor bluenette. The little kwami silently floated by her shoulder, trying to soothe her master till the coughing died down.

"Please, Marinette, you have to go home and rest."

"I can't, Tikki. I can't let them see me like this, especially Ichigo. It was bad enough the last time around; I can't have him worrying about me, too."

Tikki didn't say anything after that, knowing her holder wouldn't budge on this one. The mattress had long since disappeared with her transformation, but Marinette made no effort to move, instead remaining huddled up against the brick wall behind her. As she sat there, she started thinking about what she said to Ichigo that morning. It was cruel of her to snap at him like that. She knew he was protective of her because of what happened to Nara. It wasn't his fault that she was sick. She shouldn't have yelled at him like that. Guilt welled up inside her like a water balloon, and she started crying.

~

Chat Noir leapt across the rooftops searching for his missing Lady, when his cat-like ears suddenly caught the sound of crying. Following the sound, he jumped down into the alleyway and found Marinette huddled up beside the wall.

"Marinette, are you ok! I was worried sick."

She smiled gently through her tears and hugged him after he sat down. They sat there for a while in silence till the crying had faded to a lite sniffle.

"You want to talk about it?"

Adrien asked softly as he rubbed her shoulder. She didn't answer right away and began to fiddle with the necklace around her neck, which he noticed she did when she was troubled.

"No, not right now, but I promise I'll tell you when I'm ready."

Adrien didn't like that answer but held on to the fact that she promised to tell him with time. He would just have to keep a close eye on her till then.

"Alright, let's be getting you home."

Chat smirked, picking her up bridal style before leaping back up to the rooftops of Paris.

~