LadyBugOut AU (Snippets)

Shackles of Consequence

Summary:
Marinette observes Adrien as he endures the class comments about Chat Noir.

Chapter Text
"Being free" was a meaningless ideal. The concept of freedom itself was illusionary. No one person could ever be truly free.

Marinette, for example, had always been seen as a girl who had all the freedom in the world. Her parents were seen as the kindest, most understanding people, and surely, Marinette would be foolish to complain about them.

People who thought that didn't understand that Marinette was not actually free. Certainly, her parents gave her praise and independence, but as a child, that was difficult to accept. To fall, hurt her knee, and patch it up all by herself meant that her parents would applaud her for her quick thinking and the strength she must have not to cry.

She'd really wanted to cry though, but any tears now felt like they'd act as a disappointment. To have to grow up all on her own gave her a heightened sense of intelligence and skill, but she'd never felt free. Her parents believed in her endlessly at all times, except when it was them on the line, only furthering Marinette's disillusion of what it meant to be a good parent.

She'd shrugged it off. They gave her "freedom," so surely she must be the problem. She must be selfish, desiring so much out of her parents.

This "freedom," she'd thought, was strangely suffocating.

People also presumed that Ladybug was free. She was a superhero with powers and the ability to go wherever she pleased. All she'd have to do was say the word, and Paris would be at her feet, listening to her every word.

But even she was not free. She had expectations to meet, akuma to purify, and a partner who was apparently "so in love with her" that he refused to back down from his advances despite her protests.

No, Ladybug was not free, because she was still trapped by the limits and confines of her own anxiety-ridden mind. There was a girl underneath that mask who'd grown to understand what was wrong with her life and, while she was eventually able to stitch it back together, she had to work hard to get there.

Thus, when Marinette saw Adrien leaning over his desk and trying to hide from the rest of the class, Marinette could tell that he no longer felt the false freedom he'd had.

"Did you see the new cat last night?!" Kim asked, nearly throwing his papers across the room as he slammed his hands on his desk.

"How could we not?!" Alix replied with a big smirk. "And how awesome was that? He just snuck behind the guy like 'Cataclysm!'"

"I know!" Kim exclaimed, pounding his fist in the air.

Mylene put a hand to her chest, breathing a sigh of relief. "That was bad for my heart! I thought for sure he was about to be hit!"

"It was thanks to the new fox!" Rose pointed out excitedly, clapping her hands together. "She was so clever!"

"Y-you think?" Juleka asked, blushing pink for reasons that no one in the class understood.

"Dude, they were both awesome!" Nino argued with a grin. "Everyone was! They were still going even when they could've been slammed!"

Marinette continued watching Adrien, whose seat looked even emptier than usual. He was hunched over more now, his hands clasped over the back of his head.

She knew that he'd always wanted to go to school, but she imagined he was now having regrets about that desire. School probably seemed like a way to get away from his father and his life as a model.

But that was an illusion all on its own.

"Did you see how happy Ladybug looked afterward?" Nathaniel asked.

"Yeah!" Ivan exclaimed with a smile. "She looked really happy."

Before LadyBugOut, Marinette didn't often hear people talking about Ladybug's feelings unless they were asking about her love life. It was pleasant, hearing people who actually cared about Ladybug as a person.

"...I'm just glad the old cat isn't around anymore," Sabrina piped up.

A few of the classmates glanced at her, though in that way of wishing they'd started that topic first.

Sabrina looked back at them. "W-well, Ladybug was so stressed out with that other cat around!" she pointed out.

Max mused, "It's still too early to confirm for sure, but there did seem to be an increased sense of urgency with the new cat while also not faltering on competency. It was quite impressive."

Adrien sunk lower in his seat, though most of the classmates seemed too taken by the talk of the new cat to notice.

In a way, Marinette felt bad for him, but in another way, she knew that there were things that couldn't be helped. This wasn't a misunderstanding or something brought on by someone else.

These were Chat's--Adrien's--actions, coming back to haunt him. Marinette imagined that there was perhaps a certain relief for him in terms of not being Chat anymore, given that he no longer had to directly face the public that way.

But he couldn't escape hearing the criticism lodged at Chat. Ladybug had worked hard to keep her reputation up, but Chat had recklessly said whatever was on his mind, all due to a false freedom that he believed he had.

In his excitement of being able to escape his father, Adrien stumbled upon a fate that might've very well been far worse.

Even as Miss Bustier entered the classroom, the conversation around the new cat continued, whether through whispers or otherwise. It didn't matter which class it was or how later in the day it became, as the awe and excitement continued.

The temporary heroes being replaced was certainly a shock, but Chat had been around from the very start. Regardless of his skill or how much people may have wanted to see him be replaced, no one thought it would've actually happened.

Not even Marinette.

By the end of the school day, students had begun idling around the school, both in and out of classrooms. They were all conversing casually, with some looking at their phones to rewatch Ladybug's video on the cat being replaced.

Marinette paid them no mind, simply set on heading home. She waved good-bye to her friends, then walked off to leave the school.

Just as she was about to make it to the doorway, however, she felt her wrist being grabbed in a way that was all too familiar. In fact, it was so familiar that she knew who it was without turning to look.

Nevertheless, she glanced behind her. Adrien wasn't meeting her gaze, his eyes directed toward the ground, but his grip on her wrist was firm.

Marinette had no doubt that he wanted to talk about what she'd seen last night. With his brows furrowed and his eyes sharp, he couldn't have been more obvious even if he tried.

She stared silently at his hand on her wrist, mentally debating with herself on if she should bother calling him out for it.

Then, after a long moment, she sighed. "Alright, follow me."