Piece by Piece: A Marichat Story

Step by Step

A tuft of blue hair, pulled and left ragged.

Think, Marinette. Think. You at least need to draw something. Come on, your future depends on this!

Marinette, a usually very calm and collected girl when it comes to her designs, scratches at her previously neatly pulled-back hair which now sticks out every which way.

She had never been this blocked before. She could always think up a design on the spot and scribble it down before the idea became lost within her mind. It was so bad that she was now pacing back and forth, staring at the blank page within her hands. She chews her pencil, the nerves getting to her. If she couldn't think up a design soon, she would spiral into a never-ending cycle of artists block.

This was a big deal. Gabriel Agreste, the father of Adrien Agreste, personally requested for Marinette to design him a jacket for an upcoming gala that he was scheduled to attend. Marinette was thrilled, basically leaping over the moon and almost becoming one of the prancing sheep in a little boys dream.

The poor girl continues to pace, back and forth, back and forth, until she managed to run into a post. Marinette falls to the floor in a heap, losing her book along the way. Once she shakes her head and stands herself up, she rises in a panic when she can't see her sketch book. She looks around jaggedly, jogging back and forth around the area she was in.

"Where could it have gone?" She asks herself, her eyebrows etched together in worry. She couldn't lose her sketch book - not now, not ever! She needed it to draw her designs. Heck, she needed it to draw Gabriel's jacket! How would she ever design it without her sketch book? Sure she could purchase a new and improved sketch book, but hers was special to her.

She rounds a corner, thinking it may have slid away from the area she was in. But instead of finding her book, she finds something rather...disturbing.

There, pressed up against the brick wall, stands Adrien with Lila stood in front of him. But that's not all... Their lips...are touching. Adrien and Lila are...kissing?!

Overwhelmed with the panic of losing her book and now with the shock of this discovery, Marinette turns to sprint off. Luck doesn't seem to be on her side, however, as she trips over a trash can.

There's a big clattery mess as Marinette falls to the ground, eyes closed and heart racing.

Please don't see me, please don't see me, please don't see me.

The words play over and over in Marinette's head until she hears a voice she didn't want to hear in that moment.

"Marinette?" Adrien's voice rings through Marinette's ears and she tries to hold back the urge to cry, but once she opens her eyes and looks up at the blonde boy...she can't help it. The tears flow and she struggles to stand up, hands shaking and legs trembling. She never wanted to witness something like this. She never wanted Adrien to see her like this either. "Marinette, are you okay?"

She looks to the ground, hands clenched in embarrassment. "I-I'm fine." Her voice cracks when she speaks.

"Are you sure?" Adrien asks. "Hey, why are you crying?" She can hear his voice get closer to her and she looks up at him to see him walking towards her. She steps back and Adrien stops. "...Marinette?"

She turns on her heel, ignoring Adrien's sweet voice, and she runs. She runs for dear life. She doesn't even look back. But she doesn't really care about anything in that moment, for she is heartbroken. So when she reaches home, where she is safe and kept well away from harm, it's only then that she realises she never found her sketch book.

// Authors note:

Hi there! My name is Courtney and I just wanted to say this - thank you for reading the first little chapter of my book! It was inspired by a comic I've seen in the Miraculous Ladybug community and some of you may recognise it. Sadly I don't know the illustrator of the comic... I apologise for how short this first chapter is, but I hope to put out much longer chapters in the near future. Happy readings!