Miraculous!!! On Ice: Miraculous Ladybug Ice Skating AU

Chapter 5

It's time for the Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship! If I win this, I'll move on to the next round, and soon I'll be in the Grand Prix Final!

... If everything goes well and I don't choke like last year.

My name was called. It was my turn to pull a number, determining my order in the competition.

'Anything but first... Anything but first....' I thought to myself.

I pulled the piece of paper out of the bag to reveal... The number one. "Oh no oh no oh no...." I mumbled under my breath as the assistant wrote down my name and said, "Congratulations Ms. Dupain-Cheng! You will skate first!"

I sighed as I walked back to my seat. "Don't worry Marinette," Adrien said, putting a hand on my shoulder to console me, "I drew first plenty of times, and I still made it!"

"Yeah, but you're... You." I replied.

I heard some muffled screaming.

"Marinette there's not need to be upset...." Adrien said, confused.

"That's... Not me...." I said, just as confused as him.

I looked to my right and saw a girl in a pink warmup suit, mumbling and smiling into her hands.

"Um... Are you alright?" Adrien asked, holding a hand out to her.

The girl put her hands down and have the biggest smile I've ever seen. Her eyes were bright blue and as wide as a deer's. She clutched her hands around her pixie cut of blonde hair, "I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT TO SEE YOU DRAW THE FIRST SPOT AGAIN MARINETTE! NOT ONLY THAT BUT I GOT TO SEE YOU WITH THE ADRIEN AGRESTE!" She grabbed my hands, "WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE SUCH AN AMAZING SKATER WITH SUCH AN AMAZING COACH?!"

I blushed and looked at Adrien, who looked down at me and back at the girl, "I'm sorry," I said, "But have we met?"

The girl's jaw dropped. "WHAT?! Y-you don't remember me? I've been following your progress for years-"

Suddenly the assistant called the name, "Rose Lavillant!" And the young girl jumped up and ran to the assistant with her smile back on her face.

"Do you know her?" I asked Adrien as we watched the girl, Rose, draw the number four out of the bag. She did a little victory dance.

-----

Adrien and I went to practice with the other skaters. Adrien tried to cheer me up with a tiny stuffed animal version of his beloved cat, Plagg, who had begun to like me before we left.

"Plagg is cheering for you Marinette!" Adrien shouted from the behind the rim of the rink as I practiced my 'Ladybug' routine.

As I skated I felt someone staring at me. I looked around the room during a spin and saw that it was Rose. I continued to spin and tried to get myself back into my zone, but I couldn't help but listen to Rose's coach try to gain her attention.

"Don't lose focus!" The coach said, "Remember how you did at the Nationals last year! Don't let the other skaters distract you!"

I couldn't help but think this advice was aimed at me. As I finished my practice skate I thought of how I had cracked under pressure last year.

But I couldn't do that this year. I had to prove myself. I had to prove to the world that Adrien wasn't wasting his time on me.

I had to win.

For Adrien.

-----

I pushed through the crowd, trying to find a familiar face. We had just gone through a grueling interview, and Adrien said he was going to get changed, but I didn't expect he would take this long. I was about to go on and I didn't have a coach!