Miraculous One Shot Compilation

What a Day to Miss

Adrien was overjoyed to be back at school. Many students would gladly trade for his frequent excused absences, but nothing of great excitement ever happened at his photoshoots - and he still had to complete his school work without the company of his classmates.

School, too, was no longer the great adventure it had seemed when he started, but it had settled into a comfortable sort of mundane where at least he got his people fix. That was exactly how his first morning back was going, until Marinette arrived.

"Hey, Girl! How's it going!" Alya high-fived her best friend. The interaction didn't faze Adrien at all; those girls had been close for as long as he had known them.

"Uh, Marinette... I was wondering if you would look at my fan art of Ladybug. It's supposed to depict the time when, uh..."

"Photo day! It's from the Reflekta incident, right? You did a good job, Nathaniel, really!" That was a bit more unusual, but could still be explained away. The whole class knew that Nathaniel used to have a crush on Marinette. Even if he had given up on her romantically, he still might seek her approval.

Come PE, the class was picking teams for their activity. As two of the most athletic members of the class, it was no surprise that Alix and Kim were picked to be the team captains. "I choose... Marinette," Kim declared, after being granted the opportunity to pick first.

"No fair," Alix complained. "Your team got her last time. Marinette should be on my team."

"Did I miss something?" Adrien whispered to Nino. "Marinette was never unpopular, but... wow."

"Sorry, dude," Nino shrugged. "Marinette made us all promise not to say a word about what happened to anyone who wasn't there. You can ask her if she'll let up her secret herself. Otherwise, you're not going to hear it."

'But... I'm part of this class too!' Adrien sulked to himself. 'I would have witnessed what happened if I weren't on that dumb trip.'

Back in the classroom, Chloe approached Marinette. 'Oh no,' Adrien thought, 'not this again.'

"Hey, Marinette, I'm hosting a party on Saturday afternoon."

Adrien grimaced, predicting Chloe's next words. 'It's going to be amazing, and you're not invited.'

"I'd love it if you would come."

Adrien's jaw dropped, then he had to collect himself before anyone noticed his surprise. Chloe was being genuinely nice to Marinette - something serious had transpired.

"Ehh..." Marinette hesitated, probably reflecting on their years of rivalry before deciding that, if Chloe was growing out of it, so should she. "You know what? Sure! I'll be there. Thanks for the invite, Chloe."

Adrien watched in pleasant disbelief. Two friends of his who were often at each other's throats were getting along for once. If that was going to last, he could get used to it. "That was nice of you," Adrien commented to Chloe once Marinette was gone.

"Of course it was!" Chloe agreed. "That's why everybody loves me! But, who wouldn't want to have Ladybug at a party?"

"Ladybug?" Adrien echoed, his eyes tracing the path by which Marinette had left. There she was, not too far away. He mentally replaced her everyday clothes with the spotted suit, his heart beating faster all the while.

"Right. You weren't here the day she was forced to transform in front of the class. An akuma had us all cornered, and her partner never showed up at all. I hate to admit it, but Marinette saved all of our lives. She deserves respect."

The two stood in silence a moment before Chloe spoke again. "Oh, by the way, Adrikins, of course you're invited to my party."

"Yeah, sure, thanks!" He managed a polite response, but his childhood friend could see his mind wasn't really there at the moment. His eyes were already somewhere far off. Soon his feet led him away, perhaps to catch up with his eyes.

Chloe put her hands on her hips. "Well, he's lovesick, isn't he?"

Sabrina, who had silently watched the whole incident from her best friend's side, emphatically nodded her head. "Definitely, he's been showing signs of a crush on Ladybug since..." the redhead paused in speech to flip through the papers attached to her clipboard, where she kept a meticulous record on all aspects of school life. "I have it here somewhere."

"Whatever," Chloe waved her hand dismissively. "That doesn't matter, as long as he's happy."

--

"You're a hard guy to satisfy, huh?" Plagg asked, floating near Adrien's head. He could never understand his human's moping about his love life. This new development appeared as though everything was being handed to him on a platter, and still the boy wasn't happy! "You know that girl likes you, right? So it works out that she's Ladybug. Just ask her out; then you both get what you want. I don't see why you're unhappy."

"I wanted to be first," Adrien sighed. "I hoped she would trust me with her big secret. Then, I could prove my loyalty to her. Instead, every last one of our classmates knew before me."

"You can't always have it just the way you want it, kid."

Adrien grunted, frustrated by the kwami who refused to understand. "Do you think I'm being overly dramatic?"

"You think? Take a moment to consider how good you have it! You could do a thousand times worse in matters of the heart."

Begrudgingly, he did as he was told. He hadn't exactly lost all chances with the girl; in fact his prospects seemed a lot brighter than they had in a long time. His dream had lost a vestigial limb, was all-  the scar would fade. "I know, I'll get over it, but still...what a day to miss!"