Control // miraculous ladybug

Chapter Six

It had been a total of twelve hours since Love Bug's last encounter with Chat Noir and Adrien had trudged his way into school, realising that he couldn't do much about the situation while his father thinks he's still just, well, Adrien.

"Adrien?" Alya's voice shouts after the blonde boy and he comes to a halt, turning towards the fiery girl. She runs up to him with a confused look upon her face. "What are you doing? School was cancelled because of the situation with Love Bug."

Adrien's eyes widen, "What? Really?" Alya nods, pulling up a message on her phone and showing him. It was a notification from the school. Adrien searches his pockets for his phone, but finds nothing. He sighs, "I must have left my phone at home."

Alya tsk's the boy and grabs onto his arm, pulling him along with her as she walks. "Well since you have nothing to do for the next few hours, you can come help me and Nino find Marinette."

Adrien frowns at the name. Marinette... Ladybug... Love Bug... Everything clicks even more and he realises why she had been akumatized. He rejected her love. If it's true that Marinette is Ladybug, Adrien will pull his hair out. He would have basically rejected the one person he has been chasing for the past few years now.

"Hello? Adrien?" Alya muses, her hand waving in front of the models face. Adrien looks at the girl. "You okay? You zoned out for a few seconds."

"Uh... Yeah, I guess." He looks down at his moving feet, the sudden detailing of his shoelaces becoming more interesting than anything else around him.

"Well can you pay attention?" Alya snaps at him. "You were the last one who got to talk to the girl. She disappeared after you so rudely denied her love for you." She points an accusing finger at him, poking him in the chest harshly.

He sighs, "I deserve to be hurt in return."

Alya's face contorts into one of shock at his words. Did he really just say he deserved to be hurt? They stop walking.

"I deserve to feel the pain that I put Marinette through," he stares down at his now still feet. Alya gulps, lifting his face and frowning at him.

"That's a bit extreme of you." She whispers. "Look, just help us find her."

"I think I already know where she is."

"Where?!"

***

"Love me!" Love Bug cries out as a sadistic laugh cracks from the back of her throat. She zaps unsuspecting civilians left and right, morphing every single person into her drooling admirers.

The sudden boost of power goes to her head and her levitation lowers as she grips her head, her laugh coming to a sudden end. "Crap," she cusses under her breath and squeezes her eyes shut.

She whirls around and scowls at the love-sick stranger running towards her. A short staff appears in her hand slowly as the person approaches her.

"Bye bye, little butterfly." She mutters dangerously as she swipes the staff through the civilian's hip, evidently busting them into dust and dirt. A small smile rises on Love Bug's face as the blood rushes back to their respected veins and her sudden headache immediately subsides.

From around the corner of a building to the side, a gasp escapes Alya's lips. Nino places his hands on the bloggers shoulders and he squeezes lightly.

"Where is Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Alya asks no one in particular as she looks around. Once she catches no sight of the heroes anywhere, she turns to Adrien with a deep frown etched in her face.

Adrien stares at his hands - the hands that have made contact with Ladybug multiple times before.

"Adrien!" Alya shouts at him and he looks up at her. He frowns as he feels his heart sink, Love Bug's stance turning in their direction. Love Bug's eyes connect with Adrien's and she narrows her sight at him.

"Adrien Agreste!" Love Bug screeches, her voice distorting as she bursts up into the air with rage fuelling her. She points her staff at the secret hero. "Face me, you coward."

He lets out a sigh as he finds no reason to take what he's been given. Adrien steps out of his hiding spot and away from his friends, walking out into the open where Love Bug has perfect access to him.

"Good," she smirks at the boy.

"What do you want," Adrien calls out to her and she feels her facade twitch at his voice.

She recovers before lowering her height to get a better look at the blonde. "You broke my heart." She speaks low, but efficiently. "You must pay."

He nods and Love Bug stammers. "Okay."

"Wha-" Love Bug's eyebrows etch together and she lowers her floating height even more so that she's almost on the ground. "You're not going to put up a fight? You're giving in? That's it?"

Adrien nods again. "That's it."

Love Bug hesitates before a smirk rises to her face once again. "That's fine by me. All the easier to corrupt you!" She pulls her arm back, the staff in hand, before she takes a deep breath and charges towards the boy.

"It's okay, my lady," Adrien's whispering voice rings throughout Love Bug's ears as if he had been standing right beside her. She feels her facade crack slightly and her arm becomes frozen, although she still charges towards him. She feels her frozen heart ache and pump at the sound of those two simple words. They are the only words that she heard, really. My lady. It repeats in her head like a broken record. Like a song on loop mode. A lullaby for her heartstrings.

"No!" A warrior cry sounds throughout the Parisian street and before Love Bug swipes her staff through the boy that hurt her, she hits a blue surface.

The ravenette's eyes widen as she recognised the blue fabric of the graphic tee shirt.

Nino.