Running from the Night (A Ladybug and Chat Noir Fanfic)

Chapter 15

Marinette tapped her pencil on her sketchbook. Her eyes were locked on the back of Adrien's head. Well manicured fingers were lazily twisting through his golden hair. Adrien was, again, on the edge of his seat, his legs angled away from Lila and protruding into the walkway through the class.

"Excuse me Marinette," Rose twisted in her seat to face Marinette, "that's kind of distracting."

Juleka mumbled an affirmation as Marinette glanced at the pencil she had been furiously tapping on the paper in front of her.

"Sorry," Marinette muttered, putting the pencil down. Rose gave her a half hearted smile before turning back to the lesson. Marinette slumped in her seat . Rose had been awkward with her since her most recent akumatization. In fact the entire class had been frigid towards her since Adrien and Lila started dating. Certain rumors had been spreading, most of them revolving around her insane, jealous obsession with Adrien. She assumed it was Lila's doing.

Marinette pulled out her phone and leaned back so she could hold it under her desk away from the teacher's view. She opened the article announcing the relationship and reread it. She scoured it for any inconsistencies to prove Lila's lies. The article was vague as far as how long they had been dating or what prompted it, aside from a quote from Lila.

'We looked into each other's eyes and we just knew we were meant to be together,' the quote sat just below the vomit inducing photo of Adrien looking lovingly into Lila's eyes. She scrolled down so the photo was out of view. The rest of the article was about all the heartbroken girls of Paris, now that the model was off the market.

A muffled bang sounded outside the window. A blanket of silence settled over the class. All eyes were trained on the glass separating them from the street outside. After a moment the students looked to the teacher waiting for an instruction. Mrs. Bustier gave the window a wary look, no doubt she was sick of akumas interrupting her lesson plans. The street remained silent so Mrs. Bustier turned back to the class and resumed her lesson.

Marinette went back to her phone hoping the sound wasn't a pressing matter. She switched to another article; it was less reputable but maybe she would find something new.

"Marinette, shouldn't you be paying attention to class!" Tiki angrily whispered from under the desk. The red kwami floated with her arms crossed and a disapproving look on her face.

"I know Tiki but this is important," Marinette muttered, she nervously glanced up at the class, "and you shouldn't be out of my purse!"

Another much louder crash interrupted the class once again, followed by a myriad of screams. The students jumped out of their seats and rushed to get past each other out of class. Marinette ducked behind the table and waited for the class to clear out.

"Okay Tiki, Spots on," Marinette felt the familiar glow of red light engulf her. She stood up and ran out of the classroom jumping to the rooftop so she could survey the skyline. Pillars of ice jutted out from the normally peaceful horizon. Citizens were running from the densest area of ice. Ladybug threw herself in the direction the people were running from. She swung over pillars of ice reaching into the sky.

"Gah!" The force of a battering ram slammed into her torso sending her flying into the nearby building. She felt her side hit a windowsill and she fell to the ground. Pain blossomed through her ribs, they were bruised but not broken thanks to her suit. She pushed herself to her feet and pulled her yo-yo out, spinning it in front of her as a shield as she looked for the source of the ice column that had collided with her.

The street was a maze of frozen pillars. Ladybug saw her half a dozen reflections refracted in the ice around her, all spinning their yo-yo's from unique angles. Her attention snapped to a shape moving on the other side of a column of ice.