"Just a Friend?" Book 1 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy (MLB FanFic) |COMPLETED|

Chpt 40: Stress.

The next morning Tikki was fluttering nervously around Marinette while Marinette was getting ready for school. "But, if Adrien's father really is Hawk Moth, you need to be extra careful snooping around the house! You will be careful and not do anything crazy, right Marinette?" she asked, hovering in front of Marinette's face, blocking Marinette's view of herself in the mirror as she did her hair, trying to make sure that Marinette was listening to her. Marinette moved over so she could see herself again and finished tying and adjusting her hair ribbon. She took one more look in the mirror, satisfied, and then turned her gaze back on Tikki.

"Yes, Adrien and I will be careful, Tikki! And, you and Plagg will be there if we get in any unexpected trouble. Try not to worry!"

"But, it's extremely worrisome! Hawk Moth could be right there watching Adrien's and your strange behavior and realize your true identities. That would put you in so much danger and Plagg and I can't protect you from that!"

Marinette stopped what she was doing and let her mind work on what Tikki said. She supposed Tikki was right, but how else were they supposed to find out if Gabriel was Hawk Moth? This first plan seemed less risky than their second, which was to search Gabriel's office.

Marinette gathered Tikki up in her hands, cuddling her to calm her. "You are right- there are risks to this plan, but it's needed not only to potentially stop Hawk Moth, but also to help Adrien with his own worries about his father. We can't just let him continue to wonder and worry, can we?"

Tikki sighed as Marinette did make sense. "No, you are right," Tikki eventually conceded. "We all need to help Adrien. I can't imagine how he feels wondering whether his own father is Hawk Moth! As far as I remember, no other Ladybug or Cat Noir had that additional burden."

Marinette gave Tikki a hug. "I promise you we will try not to take any unnecessary risks, okay?"

Tikki nodded and zoomed into Marinette's purse as school was about to start. Marinette grabbed her purse and her bag and raced off to school.

Marinette met Adrien at the bottom of the school steps and both started up the stairs together. "Everything ready for this afternoon?" she asked him.

"Yes, I sketched a basic floor plan. Plagg is worrying about our plans, though," he said with a whisper.

"Tikki is, too," Marinette whispered back. She raised her voice back to a normal level and asked "Did you tell Nathalie about the assignment, so she won't be suspicious of our detailed examination of your house?"

"Yes, she was even going to pull out the house's records for us so we could see if there was any useful information there!"

"That's lucky! And let's hope our luck holds and nothing unexpected happens!" Marinette said as they reached the lockers.

"What was that about luck?" asked Alya, meeting Marinette at her locker. Marinette shared a quick look with Adrien hoping he would know what to reply with. He just gave her a small shrug and headed to his locker. Marinette rolled her eyes at his back and tried to come up with a somewhat reasonable reply.

"Oh, well, we were just talking about how, um, we've been lucky that . . ." Marinette found herself wildly gesticulating and stammering her way toward what she hoped would be a convincing lie. "That we've both been lucky that we've never been akumatized and hope our luck holds," she rushed on, ending her lie with the points of her index fingers pressed together awkwardly. She dropped her hands to her sides, knowing she was the worst liar on the planet!

Alya gave her a pointed look clearly indicating that she knew Marinette was lying to her before saying "Uh huh." Marinette lowered her eyes in guilt.