Miraculous Red Hands: a Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction

Chapter Two: The One That Got Away

Published: 4.19.18, 9:16 PM

Words: 1385

If you have enjoyed these two chapters so far, let me know! Thanks!

Marinette stared between her thin fingers, her mind wandering to the morning's events so far.

When she picked up Adrien's messenger bag because he had scratched up his hands too badly for him to be able to hold it, Marinette noticed the slight difference in weight to her own pack due to her Miraculous powers. That's odd, Marinette thought. We have most of the same classes, so why would he have more school materials?

Little did she know, Plagg had been stuffing his face full of fancy camembert, allowing him to gain some weight. Also, Adrien's kwami had snuck in the stinky cheese behind his back, a snack for the road, he had said.

Marinette let the idea slide, focusing her attention to the model with the bloody hands to her right. They were walking side-by-side to the school nurse, getting some weird glances here and there, but Adrien attempted to keep his hands hidden from onlookers.

Adrien hadn't had a real conversation with Marinette before, and he didn't know how she would react to normal talk, considering she would always run away from him when word of his presence would come around. I'm pretty sure Marinette doesn't like me.... She always avoids me, and when she's forced by Alya to talk, she says something weird that I can't decipher. It's a shame. I like Marinette; she seems to have a good sense of who her friends are, even if I'm not one of them.... Adrien sighs, catching the girl's attention.

"Did you say something?" Marinette asks with him with large, dark blue eyes. "N-No, just thinking about... my..." Adrien glanced around the empty gymnasium, a point they must cross to get to the nurse's office, and spotted a broom against a wall. "My chores!" He burst. That's what they're called, right?

Marinette found this to be a great way to start a conversation with her crush. "Oh! Well, chores are something to sigh about, I would know." Adrien glanced over to Marinette while they entered a narrow hallway, their shoulders brushing with every step.

"What chores do you have to do?" Adrien asks. He would like to know more about Marinette, but also the normalities of the middle-class Francian citizen. Marinette fiddled with her earrings before she spoke, her elbows sticking out, but after banging it on a fire extinguisher, decided against that. "Oww.... Well, since my family owns a bakery, we create lots and lots of pastries, usually by my dad, so we have to keep the kitchen clean constantly, and that's where I come in!" She said with a smile. "I do the dishes, sweep and mop the floors, take orders, and whatever else my parents are too busy for."

"Wow, that sounds like a lot of stuff to keep up with. I'm not so sure I could do all of that." Adrien honestly stated. He was now insecure to the amount of work his father actually tells him to do, which is nothing. "It's not so bad when you're paid a little," said the girl. Marinette and Adrien still had a couple hallways to go down, but an awkward air made its way into their lungs like a time bomb, the longer they waited in silence for the other to say something, the bomb was closer to exploding. Marinette almost hoped that Chole would burst out of a classroom, wrapping her arms around "Adrikins."

Until: "So what chores do you have that you're so... upset about?" Marinette finally spewed out. The word upset sounded odd to her, and she pronounced it under her breath, hoping she wasn't rude to Adrien for calling him upset. That makes him sound like a child! Marinette retorted to herself. She was too busy in her thoughts, berating herself to notice his verbal slip-up.

"My fath--dad," Adrien began; he didn't want to sound too formal to Marinette. She probably thinks I'm a stuck-up snob just because I'm related to Gabriel Agreste, France's most successful designer. He grimaced. He just wanted to be a normal teenager, and public school helped. "My dad doesn't let me do much around the mansio- I mean, house, honestly. Just sit and look pretty. Literally." Adrien hoped Marinette would show pity, because the life of a model is usually boring.

"Well," Marinette started, gaining her courage, like Alya would tell her to. "If you'd like to help out around the bake--" She was interrupted by a professor, who leaned around the corner of a hallway screamed as loud as she could, "Get to class, you love birds!"

Students from neighboring classes leaned in their seats to see who the loud-mouthed teacher announced as the school's next couple, when Marinette ran away from the scene, the opposite direction of the nurse.

"Marinette!" Adrien called out. "Where are you going?!"

"I'm sorry," Marinette whispered as she turned the corner, capturing a fierce look of worry from her rescuer's face. Marinette ran into the girls' restroom, locking herself into the cramped space with a dirty toilet.

Her head swarmed, as did Adrien's. He thought nothing much of the professor's comment, although it did shock him a tad. He didn't think it would bother Marinette, but Adrien seemed to be wrong about the mysterious girl, again.

Marinette grunted as she kicked the wall in frustration.

After his initial shock dissipated, Adrien ran to her general direction.

"How did she disappear so quickly?" Adrien muttered after turning the corner only to see an empty hallway. "And why did she run in the first place?" A severe anxious calm overwhelmed him, whispering lies into his ears. She will never be your friend, Adrien.... Your role here is useless.... Marinette never wants to see you again.... Adrien's fears became reality before his eyes, almost as if he were watching it on television: Marinette scrunching up her nose at the mention of Adrien's name. Marinette telling Alya how overrated Adrien is, and how he shouldn't even try to fit in. Marinette stating passionately, "Adrien Agreste will never be my friend, never in a million years!"

Adrien's heart seemed to deflate before his eyes as he stood in the silent hallway except for the laughter and curiosity of his classmates. A dark-winged butterfly squeezed out a door frame, whirling around Adrien's feet. Adrien gasped at the sight of the akuma, and immediately put all his thoughts in the very back shelf of his mind. He caught himself moments before becoming akumatized, which Ladybug would not be happy with. The akuma, after realizing the subject was now immune, quickly fluttered away before Adrien could react physically.

Marinette carried on with her intense emotions, Tikki attempting to console her. "Marinette, why did you run away? Don't you like Adrien?" her kwami asked innocently. "Of course I like Adrien, Tikki! That's the problem." Tikki looked at her Chosen quizzically. Marinette stared at her with glossy eyes, sighing. "I'm sorry. I'm just flustered." She picked her pink kwami up carefully, pulling her up towards her face. "It's been a stressful morning, but the professor made it impossible for me to stay. I'd get all embarrassed and red in the face! I can't let him see me like that! Especially not after our nice conversation...." Her thoughts trailed off, leaving Tikki to keep the sentence going. "You had a nice talk though, right? You two really seemed to be enjoying it!" Marinette let her eyes unfocus. "We did have a nice conversation.... Ugh! Why did I leave?! I'm making things even worse!"

Tikki sighed. "Let's just go out there and give his bag back, Marinette. You can apologize to him, mending the friendship. You do want to be friends with him, right?" She teased. "Of course! Anything to be closer to Adrien.... He is so down-to-earth! I love talking to him, even if it is about chores." Marinette gained her courage, and unlocked the bathroom stall, stepping out. Thankfully, no one was in the ladies' restroom except for herself. She closed her coin purse, placing Tikki in it first, then shouldered the messenger bag with renewed energy.

I hope it's not too slow or detailed for you guys. Let me know what you think of this chapter!

Also, do you think Hawk Moth would akumatize Adrien? It may be in a new chapter. Who knows? Until next time!