12It's a few minutes before classes start, and Marinette's on time (for once). The kids are debating who is better, Ladybug or Cat Noir, and Marinette hates this whole discussion and everyone in it. They're partners, gosh darn it. Don't compare them!
But then Adrien jumps in the conversation, and he's on Team Ladybug. Oh wait. She loves this discussion. She's trying not to blush.
And then she hears his reasons.
1) Ladybug's the best, obviously.
2) Ladybug's amazing.
3) Cat Noir's garbage compared to her.
4) All he can do is ruin stuff.
5) She doesn't even need him.
He's doing it in a self-deprecating way, but she doesn't know that. His joking tone only makes her angrier. All she hears is this stream of bad things about her partner, and how can Adrien say things like that?! And she surprises everyone by getting really defensive.
Marinette: She couldn't do it without him! They're a team! They balance each other out perfectly!
Adrien: Excuse me, she's saved his life a bunch of times.
Marinette: He's saved her, too!
Adrien: He's practically dead weight.
Marinette: YOU TAKE THAT BACK!
Adrien: No, because I can prove it.
Marinette: NO YOU CAN'T BECAUSE IT'S A LIE.
They're aren't sure how they got there, but they're suddenly standing nose-to-nose in the middle of the classroom, glaring at each other. Marinette's red-faced, but for once it's not from blushing. She never realized that she could *get* this mad at Adrien.
Adrien's not sure if he's more upset that Marinette disagrees with him or flattered that she thinks so highly of him. It's a very confusing time in his life.
As proof that Cat Noir is garbage, Adrien starts listing all the times that he's gotten brainwashed or captured by akumas, and Ladybug had to save the city *and* the person who was supposed to be helping her. "Timebreaker, Dark Cupid, Zombizou. Do you want me to go on? Because I can."
"None of those count, you big jerk! He was only brainwashed because he was taking hits meant for Ladybug."
"Not Zombizou."
"Yes, Zombizou. He stayed back and faced the hoard of zombies alone so Ladybug could escape. Held off a whole swarm of them and let them kiss him all over! If that's not heroic, then I don't know–"
Adrien's voice suddenly drops low. "How did you know that?"
It takes Marinette a few seconds to realize her blunder. She'd been alone with Cat Noir at the time. No one knew the details of how he'd gone down. No one, except the two of them.
"I- I saw it on some blog report somewhere. I don't remember. How…" A thought strikes her. She isn't supposed to know, but Adrien isn't either. "How do YOU know?"
"Must have read the same blog." He leans away, eyes wide with understanding.
They both start freaking out, but for different reasons.
Adrien: Oh no! It was an accident, I'm sorry! I can't believe Marinette is Ladybug and now she's going to hate me forever!
Marinette: Are you SERIOUS? Is this how Cat/Adrien really views himself?! [insert curse words here] How can he NOT see how amazing he is?!
Ladybug is a fixer. She needs to fix this. So she grabs Adrien's face and says, loudly enough for the whole class to hear, "Cat Noir is perfect for Ladybug." And then she pulls him down and kisses him in front of everybody. (Several people cheer.)
Before she lets him go, she whispers against his lips, "And don't you forget it."
Author's note: This is the first of several drabbles I posted on Tumblr ages ago that I'm finally importing over here. A little different than my normal style, but I like it.
