Hi everyone!!  SylveonKwami here.

It's super early here.  Why am I updating now??  Well, because writing this chapter literally left my heart pounding.  I'm not joking.  And I KNEW what was going to happen.  

Anyway, let's start this chapter.  As you can probably tell by the title (and the above note lol), there's gonna be some interesting stuff in this chapter!!

Enjoy :D

Marinette

After a good sleep Monday night, Marinette was ready to go to school today.

Or so she thought.

It was really odd... walking to school was fine, as per the usual.  Marinette actually had a good breakfast, and so did Adrien, as well as the kwamis.  She even got a message from her parents saying that they would be back on Thursday, which was music to her ears.  All she had to do was figure out a way to hide Adrien from them, or purify the Akuma by Thursday, no big deal, right?  Okay, she might've been a little stressed by the whole situation, but that wasn't the problem.

Things were just... extremely tense.  Marinette arrive at school early, but Ms. Bustier's door was locked.  She considered it weird, because her teacher always left it open to allow students to get settled in for class early.  Marinette figured that she was probably late, no big deal, until she saw her teacher come up and ask her why the door was locked; apparently she'd come an hour earlier and had unlocked it then.  What was even more unnerving is that her entire class was waiting in there, having some sort of discussion.  It stopped as soon as she and her teacher had come in of course, almost as if it was a secret...

Oh well.  At least Alya is talking to me again-

"Hey, Ms. Bustier.  Can me and Juleka go to the washroom?" Alix suddenly asked, breaking Marinette from her train of thought.

"I'm not sure girls.  You know the rule, only one person out at a time," their teacher said firmly, shaking her head.

"But please?  Me and Juleka both need to go," Alix begged, Juleka nodding with her.

Ms. Bustier sighed.  "Fine, but be quick girls."

Both girls got up and quickly raced for the door, saying a quick thanks to Ms. Bustier as they left.  Marinette was puzzled; what was that about?  Both of them usually obey the rules, and I've even seen both of them wait before!  Something's up...

Their teacher droned on about their lesson, which was literary devices or something, Marinette just couldn't focus.  She could almost fall asleep listening to examples of 'onomatopoeia' and 'simile'.  I'm gonna a thousand hours worth of homework from this, she thought, sighing a little.  No wait- that's a hyperbole- DAMMIT this lesson is affecting me too much!  ARGH-

"Marinette, you okay?" Alya whispered to her, a smile on her face.

"Uh.. yeah, don't worry, just tired," she explained, giving a small yawn.

Their teacher turned her head towards the girls, and just as she was about to tell them off, giggling was heard from the hallway.  What are Alix and Juleka up to?  Marinette thought, watching Ms. Bustier crossly walking out into the hall.  Jeez, it's almost as if they were asking for a scolding-

"Grab her!" 

Suddenly, Marinette felt herself being roughly pulled out of her desk by Kim.  He stood in between the desks, holding her arms up so she couldn't move.  She tried kicking and screaming, but Sabrina came and put a hand on her mouth, stopping her.  Confused and scared, all she could do was watch the scene unfold; it was then she realized that Alix and Juleka left just to distract Ms. Bustier.  Alya and Chloe walked to the front of the classroom, while Marinette looked at any, any, of her classmates to come to her aid; no one moved.  She looked at Nino, who made eye-contact with her, and he silently nodded, as if saying everything was going to be okay.  No, everything is NOT okay, Nino.

"Well well well, have fun keeping your secrets Dupain-Cheng?" Chloe mocked, waiting for Marinette to respond.  She tried, but Sabrina's hand kept muffling her voice.

"Sabrina, hand," Alya said, sounding more fierce than Marinette had ever heard her speak ever.  It was then when it finally set in that her best friend in the entire universe betrayed her, and for once, wanted her out of the picture.

That's why she sided with Chloe...

Sabrina moved her hand, and Marinette let out a breath.  "I'm not keeping any secrets Chloe," she said, defiant.  I'm Ladybug, I should be able to get out of this.  I could just transform, but-

Wait, Tikki- Plagg-

ADRIEN!

She quickly turned her head down towards her back, which still sat neatly on her side.  She let out a breath, then watch as Alya grabbed the bag, Kim letting go of her arm a little to get if off of her.  Marinette's breath hitched.

"Wow, Marinette, you make this really too easy," Chloe said, laughing a little.

"Why are you all doing this!?" Marinette demanded.  "What have I done to deserve this?"

Everyone paused, then Alya spoke for all of them.  "We don't want to see you lie to us all anymore, simple," she stated.  She started opening the bag, an evil smile on her face.  "Time to find out what's in here," she said, Chloe looking at her with interest.  No- scratch that- everyone was looking at her.

What... what happened to the Alya I used to know?  What happened to the class I used to know?

What happened to the friends I used to know?

Marinette tried pushing back against Kim, willing Ms. Bustier to come back into the room at this moment.  Unfortunately, she didn't, and all Marinette could do was watch Alya pull Tikki out of the bag.  Luckily, she knew her kwami was smart, so she "played dead".  She hoped Plagg and Adrien would catch on.

Adrien... oh God...

"Huh?  What's this?" Alya asked, turning Tikki around in her hands as if she was some stuffed toy.  "Wait- don't tell me this is-"

"Hey, there's another one in here!" Chloe exclaimed, pulling out Plagg.  "Weird.  They look a lot like... Pollen..."

Both girls looked at Marinette, and so did Nino.  She froze, her heart pounding in her chest.  Please don't say it please don't say it please don't say it-

Alya, knowing what it actually meant to be a heroine, seemed to realize that enough was enough.  "Okay Chloe, I think there's nothing else in here-"

"No, there is something else in here!" the blonde exclaimed, reaching her hand into the bag.  Marinette went pale, watching her worst fear come to life.

Adrien.  Seen.  By.  Everyone.

"I didn't know Adrien has a doll line!" Chloe exclaimed.  "Why didn't I hear about this!?"

"Haha.  Marinette has an Adrien doll!" Sabrina laughed nervously, peaking to see if others were laughing with her.  Unfortunately for Marinette, there was. 

"It just proves how much of a crush she has on him," someone said; Marinette couldn't tell who, her ears were ringing too much.  She could make out sounds of laughter all around her, all of it directed at her.  She almost felt like crying.

"Well, whatever.  You don't need this piece of trash anyway," Chloe said, dropping the supposed 'doll', letting it fall towards the floor.

Only it wasn't a doll.

It was a living, breathing, human being.

It was Adrien.

And at his size, a fall from that height would kill him.

Tears sprung from her eyes, and at that moment, she used all of her inner Ladybug strength to burst out of Kim's grasp.  She leaped, hands outstretched, and fell face-first on the floor to catch him.  "Adrien!" she cried, willing herself to have made it on time.  When she looked, her heart stopped.  She caught him, but...

He wasn't moving.

Too little too late.

"Adrien!" Marinette cried, not caring who saw.  She went on her knees, crying for him.  "Adrien wake up!"

"Hey Trash, stop crying," Chloe said, kicking her.

"Come on, Marinette, lighten up!  It's only a doll," Alya said jokingly.

Finally, Nino stood up.  "Guys, this has gotten out of hand," he said, walking towards Marinette.

Rose stood up, and so did Mylene, Ivan, Nathaniel, and many others.  "Let's stop," they said, looking at Marinette's crying figure.  

Nino held out a hand to her, but she didn't take it, bawling her eyes out in front of her classmates.  "Adrien I beg you.. please.. please stay with me..!"

"Marinette... what are you..." Alya trailed off, looking at Tikki, Plagg, and her crying with the supposed 'doll'.  She seemed to realize what was going on, and pushed Chloe aside.  "Girl, I-"

Marinette stood up, one hand clutching the love of her life, the other curled into a fist.  "Don't 'girl' me, Alya.  I didn't deserve any of this.  There was a good reason for me to lie, did any of you ever think that?  And now... and now... Adrien... A-Adrien..." she trailed off, breaking into tears.  She ran out of the classroom, wanting to go somewhere to be alone.  Ms. Bustier saw her and called her name, but she didn't respond, she needed to get away.  At some point, she saw Tikki and Plagg flying beside her, but she didn't care if her entire class discovered her secret, not anymore.  All she wanted was Adrien to live.

She saw the girl's bathroom and ran into it, locking the door behind her.  She laid Adrien's body on the counter, seeing if there was something, anything, that she could use to wake him up-

"P-Princess?"

https://youtu.be/cWY8B5dTwss

Marinette whipped her head around, seeing Adrien sitting up, coughing a little.

"A-Adrien," she sobbed, picking him up and hugging him close. "I th-thought you..." she couldn't speak, she was too overcome with emotion at that moment.

"I'm fine, Mari," he said shakily. "I'm just winded, that's all. I'm okay, I'm okay," he said, standing up to wipe her tears.

Instantly, Marinette went into overprotective mode. "Are you sure? You might be bleeding or-"

"Princess, I'm fine," he said, flashing her a smile. "I-"

"ADRIEN you're alive!" Plagg screamed, flying straight into his owner. Quickly enough, he seemed to recompose himself, giving a small cough. "I mean it's good to see that you're alright, Kid."

Meanwhile, Tikki just giggled at the three of them, happy everyone was okay.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Marinette, it's me," Alya's meek voice sounded. "Everyone's here. Just come out and..."

"I will break this door down Dupain-Cheng-"

"CHLOE!"

Marinette scowled at the door, finding it incredulous that her classmates expected her to forgive them for straight-up assaulting her. "I'm not opening this door," she said, backing away from it.

The knocking continued, then turned into a pounding, and Marinette gulped. When she said she locked the door, she meant that she put a barricade up against it... she wasn't sure how much longer it would hold for.

"Marinette, it's Nino. Just come out, and we can talk one-on-one, okay?"

She was almost tempted to go with him, but then she remembered how he had stayed silent throughout most of it, and she didn't move. Suddenly, her phone vibrated, and she took it out of her back pocket to look at it.

It was her news app ringing her with a notification. She frowned, about to go and swipe and ignore it, when Adrien told her to stop, pointing at the title: "SHRINKINATOR RETURNS?"

"Hey, is that Adrien in there?" Alya's voice sounded, but Marinette tuned it out. If Shrininator really did show up, it was her and Adrien's duty to stop him. He's been in hiding long enough, it's time for me and my Chaton to take him down!

"Plagg, Tikki, it looks like we'll be transforming today after all," Marinette said, ignoring the barricade slipping on the door. She looked at Adrien, who looked as fired-up as she was. "Ready, Chaton?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, My Lady!"

"Tikki..."

"Plagg..."

"SPOTS ON!"

"CLAWS OUT!"

Once the transformation was complete, Ladybug ran up to the nearest window, shattering the glass with her yo-yo. Luckily, none of it injured her or Chat, but she still was extra cautious climbing onto the glass-covered windowsill, even though her suit was literally indestructible.

She and her partner leaped out into action, missing their classmates staring at them in total shock.

Okay, okay. This chapter was... intense. I didn't want to spoil it at the beginning, so I didn't!! But still, my heart was pounding the entire time that I wrote this chapter.. now you can see why.

Also. Rising tensions? More like TOO MUCH TENSION AND FEELS AND AAAAAHHHHH

As you can see, this chapter broke me as much as it probably broke you.

Another note: Remember the picture I posted about my Miraculous OC?? Well, after waiting for forever, I've finally decided on a set date for the series to start.. and that is:

October 2019!!

A long way away I know, but it will be worth it when it comes out. Besides, I have to think of villain ideas lol.

Anyway, that'll do it for this chapter. Stay tuned for next week to find out what will happen next!!!