A/N: [Akuma attacks mentioned in this chapter— Volpina. If you have not watched this episode, I suggest you do.]

Long paragraphs literally mean long paragraphs, guys😁 this chapter gone be quite hectic.

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Marinette 🍪

The old Marinette who used to hang up pictures of Adrien Agreste on her wall, would have died if she knew that he would be helping her future self spy on Théo Barbot. We made our way to the libaray as slowly as we could so that no one would find us suspicious. We were just two friends, casually making our way to the library to read in peace.

Once we were inside, Adrien immediately took my hand and lead me somewhere near the back. I'm not going to lie: my heart did flutter just a bit when his hand gripped mine. I couldn't help it— no matter how many times I told myself I was over him, Adrien would always somehow tug on my heart just a bit...until I snapped myself from the fantasy that could never have been.

We stood behind a stack of books that acted as a wall, blocking us from the table in which Théo sat, reading a book. I heard Adrien muffling a gasp as he glanced at the object. I could hear him mutter, 'He's reading my book' in a surprised matter under his breath. I couldn't get a proper look at the cover, but the red design looked elegant and ancient almost in a mysterious way.

That's when Lila came in, walking towards Théo from the opposite shelf. Théo quickly hid his (well, Adrien's) book under another and greeted her warmly. It felt strange spying on them behind the bookshelf, but we needed to find at leat some form of evidence that Lila was a liar.

"Now we can get going on our history homework," Lila giggled, "It's so much more fun doing it together, don't you think?"

I looked through a gap in a series of books about the French Revolution and could see Lila eyeing the book that Théo was trying to hide.

"What's that?" she asked, grabbing the book from his grasp.

Théo blinked in surprise, rubbing the back of his head nervously, coming up with excuses like how it was only a few stories about superheroes. Nothing special.

Lila placed her hand above Théo's and smiled in a sweet manner.

The only thing sweet about her is her appearance, I thought in disgust.

"I love superheroes," Lila said in an admiring tone

"It's too late," Adrien whispered into my ear beside me, "he's already head-over-heels for her. Look."

It took me a moment to compose myself after feeling a strange chill up my spine, but I did as he said, glancing towards Théo who looked as if he had just been told that it's Christmas just around the corner. That's when I felt my bag and realized that Tikki was missing. I gasped and searched the floor, bookshelf and the cart that was next to me.

"Ladybug?" a voice asked.

My heart hammered in my chest before I looked up to watch as Lila read a specific page in the book. I shifted my attention away from her to the top of the opposite staircase to the upper floor of books and gaped in surprise. Tikki was sitting on the shelf!

"Marinette, are you alright?" Adrien whispered again— I could hear something in his voice...stress? Concern?

"Yes," I lied.

From the other side of the shelf, Théo sighed, "Ladybug is amazing."

"A girl doesn't need to wear a costume to be amazing you know," Lila scoffed, scooting her seat closer to Théo.

She then said something in hushed voice. It was infuriating, not knowing what they were mumbling or whispering to each other. It seemed nobody was paying any attention to Tikki, which allowed some part of me to be relieved.

I had never over-heard someone saying anything bad about me before in my life, so listening to Lila speak about me as if I was just some girl in a suit was more than a little insulting. Out of anger, I swung my arm to the side and accidentally hit the cart next to me. I winced at the impact, but luckily it did not blow our cover. In fact, it gave me a crazy idea.

Adrien lifted his finger to his lips to tell me to keep quiet, but I just pointed to the cart. His emerald-green eyes sparkled, intrigued. Meanwhile, Théo stuttered and tried covering up the comment, but Lila ignored him and started flirting again, "So you've got a little soft spot for the bug, huh?"

"Me? Oh, no! Not at all!"

Adrien and I hid behind the book cart together, surreptitiously moving closer to them.

"You know, I actually happen to be very close friends with Ladybug," Lila lied.

Théo gasped in shock— I'm pretty sure Adrien and I were just as surprised. Not at the fact that Lila and I were 'close' but because she so easily lied about it. It was that simple for her.

"We can chat about it if you want," she said, "Not here, though. Why don't we meet at the park after school and I'll tell you everything."

I don't know where my mind was when my hand gripped on the side of the cart and slipped. The cart zoomed to the other end of the wall and crashed into a shelf in the corner. Lila and Théo stood up to investigate where the ruckus came from, but before they come catch us in the act, Adrien pulled me underneath the table with him, his hand in front of my mouth so that I didn't yelp or scream. My heart rate just botched up to a thousand. We heard an alarm coming from someone else's phone (please not mine, please not mine).

"I gotta go!" Théo said, "I've got a modeling session now."

I sighed with relief into Adrien's hand which he removed the second we heard a bang. Théo's bag had crashed to the floor.

"Oops, my bad," Lila apologized.

Adrien and I watched from under the table as Lila pulled the book on the floor behind her back with her foot. I widened my eyes and turned Adrien who stared back in surprise.

"So, the park next to the bakery?"

"See you then," Théo said before running out of the library.

Lila picked up the book and spoke to herself, "A vixen superheroine? Hmm, interesting..."

She left the library without another word. Suddenly, I felt my bag get heavier for a moment, checked it and realized that Tikki was back in my satchel. She looked furious— she too must have witnessed Lila's wicked lies.

Adrien crawled out from under the table and I followed, him helping me up along the way. I thanked him for pulling me under the table just in time, but he just waved it off.

"It seems Lila has my book now," Adrien sighed, "Just great. Now how am I supposed to get it back?"

"It seems that they'll be in the park right next to my home," I replied calculatingly, "If we want to know what she's scheming, we should be watching her everymove. She also said something about a 'vixen superhero' just now—"

"Like in my book," Adrien interrupted, "with information on the superheroin, Volpina from a thousand years ago. I have a really bad feeling about where this is going... I need to get that book back!"

Information of a vixen superheroin from an ancient-looking book? I had heard Lila ask something about Ladybug as she read... Could it be that the book was actually about...

"Miraculouses?" I mumbled under my breath.

"Sorry, what was that?" Adrien asked, confused for a moment.

I digressed in a testing manner, "What's so special about your book that you need to get it back? Why was Théo trying to hide it from Lila before she took it?"

He looked almost intrigued for a second before he came up with an answer, "It's not mine— it's my dad's. I swiped the book from his possession this morning and now I desperately need to give it back to him. I'm not sure what's in there, but it must have been important."

He was lying as well, I could tell, which got me a little ticked off because I felt as if I had had enough of lies and tricks for now. Did he feel the need not to trust me? Did he think I was just an average person who wouldn't understand his situation? It was quite insulting, actually. I interrogated Adrien again with folded arms and narrow eyes.

"If you're 'not sure what's in there', how did you know so much about this vixen superheroin... Volpina, is it?"

Adrien stuttered and came up with every excuse in the book, but I just frowned— what was up with this lack of trust towards me that day? Why could nobody truly see me as a sympathetic, reliable friend enough to not tell me anything before a matter gets out of hand?

I thought back to Alya and just sighed, "You know what, Adrien, if you're not ready to tell me then don't."

His eyes widened and I immediately regretted saying it. Adrien opened his mouth to say something, probably another excuse, but decided rather not to say anything. I looked up into his green eyes and noticed the guilty and worried expression on his face. In a way, the look seemed a bit familiar...but I did not dwell on it further because I had the intention to follow Lila out of school to see what exactly she wanted to do with the book.

"Could I probably come to your house later then?" Adrien asked suddenly, "Since Lila's planning to talk with Théo at your park. I would help— only if you want me to, that is...?"

It was my turn to act surprised. My old self would have died for his company. Since when had Adrien been at my house? Ever since the Gamer incident a couple of weeks ago? I would never have imagined Adrien Agreste asking me if he could come to my house.

"I guess I might need a bit of help on this," I said, thinking back to my accident with the cart, "Come early, though, just in case."

***

Tikki and I watched as Lila walked out of the jewelry store with a strange-looking pendant in her hands. I glared at her back, spying from behind an alley wall. Tikki insisted that I'd follow her until I felt the need to go home and meet with Adrien again. I wasn't sure if I could truly face him after knowing that he couldn't trust me either.

Tikki flew out of my bag and hovered in front of me, "Why do you think she needs to go into the jewelry store?"

"Probably to make her look better when she sees Théo again," I sneered.

My kwami shook her head, "We have no time for jokes— we need to get that book from Lila ASAP, Marinette. You need to find a way to convince Adrien to give it to you."

"I don't get it, Tikki. Exactly why would we need Adrien's book again?"

"I'll explain to you once I know for sure. Please, we mustn't let Lila out of our sight."

But it was already too late: Lila hopped into a convenient limo that was probably waiting for her in the streets for a while. Did the driver notice me spying? I surely didn't notice him.

I cursed under my breath as the vehicle drove away. That sly fox got away on my watch and I was determined never to let it happen again.

***

I made my way back home, exhausted and hungry. I greeted my parents, grabbed a plate of cookies and donuts from the kitchen counter and basically slithered up the stairs to my room. I rested the plate on my desk, allowing Tikki to eat as much as she wanted from the available treats.

I crawled up apon my bed, stomach flat on the matteress hoping that Adrien would take his time in getting there even though I told him to come earlier. A few minutes later, I heard a knock on my trap door and sighed tiredly.

"Wow," I heard Chat say sarcastically as I burried my head further into my pillow, "don't come rushing to smother me with kisses of excitement now, Princess. You know it's not ap-purr-ropriate for this occasion."

I groaned at the horrible pun, willing for everything to just disappear. I then felt a leathery hand rub my back in reassurance. As irritated as I was, I could not argue with how relaxed it made me. I know I shouldn't have been ignoring Chat because of Lila's comments but I still felt a bit uncertain.

"What's wrong?" Chat asked in that worried voice of his.

I just mumbled in answer, "School."

"I heard from the Ladyblog that this 'Lila' girl is going to your school," Chat acknowledged.

A shiver ran up my spine when I heard him say her name. A series of negative ideas appeared in my head and second thoughts sprouted from the decision-making area of my mind. Until Chat lay down next to me, staring up at the ceiling and said, "I immediately dislike her. The nerve. Since when did Ladybug ever save her? Who the hell is she, anyway? I know I have secret admirers and all that, but jeez!"

For the first time that entire day, I laughed. Oh, Chat, how did he always know what to say? He pulled me close by my waist and kissed me on the lips, long and hard.

"My parents are home," I stated, pulling away.

Chat snorted, "Will that stop me?"

I smiled again, my heart racing. No, it won't. I reminded myself that, no matter how badly I wanted him, Chat needed to leave the second Adrien came to my house so there would be no time for...getting undressed. So we just talked.

"Remember Adrien Agreste?" I asked, blushing, "the guy on the posters I used to put up in my room?"

Chat smirked, "I was wondering what happened to those."

I told him everything that happened that day, starting from the time I argued with Alya about Lila, until after school when I followed Lila to the jewelry store. He payed attention to my every word, brushing my bangs out of my face.

"Adrien 's still coming here," I added, "in fact, he should be here now. If he doesn't come, that's fine. I'll probably just go on my own..."

Chat pounced from his spot which gave me a short fright. I then laughed at his reaction, "What? Are you scared that I'll be spending a bit too much time with him?"

Chat laughed as well (was that nervousness in his voice?), "You know what, Princess, I think my Miraculous is going to beep soon so it's best I be on my way..."

He kissed me on my cheek once more, I just stared at him in confusion.

"Tell me everything when I come back okay? I'd like to know what goes through your mind when you're with that 'Adrien' boy."

Before I could reply to that, Chat jumped towards the trap door and used his baton to fly off of my balcony.

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Théo ⛓

The shock of my life happened when I was making my way towards the park and stared up at the balcony of the Dupain-Cheng Bakery.

[A/N: Mwahahahaha!]

At first, I did not believe what my eyes were seeing: Chat Noir, climbing out of the trap door from Marinette Dupain-Cheng's balcony. I punched myself just in case, rubbed my eyes for luck— he was still there before he used his baton to launch himself from the top of the bakery.

Next, I witnessed the culprit herself— Marinette appeared on the balcony, looking from left to right over the streets of Paris, searching for the same black cat who disappeared just a few seconds before.

My mouth opened, flabbergasted. Lila was not the only close friend to Paris's superheroes. I turned back where I came from and decided to stroll around the area before meeting Lila in the park.

I needed time to really take in what I had just witnessed before facing someone who had probably never knew about it at all.

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Marinette 🍪

We made our way to the park where Lila was sitting alone on a bench. I gestured for Adrien to keep quiet behind me as we both snuck up close to her behind a nearby tree.

"We're too far away," I whispered in his ear.

Adrien then brought out his phone, using it to zoom in to where Lila was sitting.

She seemed to be putting on a necklace with a fox tail charm. What does she need that for? I thought sceptically.

Lila pulled out the book from her bag, but then quickly hid it behind her back again when Théo approached from the other side of the park.

"Oh, hi!" Lila exclaimed, casually dumping the book in the bin besides her.

"She dumped my book in the trash!" Adrien gasped as Lila ran to Théo.

"What a brat," I sneered just as angrily, "but don't worry, I'll get it—"

Before Adrien could stop me, I was already making my way to the trash can. In all honesty, I was mainly doing it for Tikki so that she would stop blabbering on about the stupid book. I also did it for myself because I wanted to listen to Lila and Théo's conversation better...about myself and Chat.

"So, you do know Ladybug and Chat Noir, for real?" Théo asked curiously.

I managed to grab the book from the trash without any of them noticing (thank goodness Lila's hair full of lies prevented Théo from seeing me).

"Not only did Ladybug save my life," Lila answered, "we've become very close friends because we have something very special in common..."

I glanced over the trash can, enough to see her taking out the fox tail accessory, "It's what I wanted to tell you about. I'm the descendant of a vixen superheroine myself... Volpina."

That sly fox.

"Wait a minute!" Théo said, "I think I read about her in Adrien's book..."

Lila stopped him from searching for the object in his bag, "Of course she's in your book she's one of the most important superheroes. More powerful and more celebrated than Ladybug."

I clenched my fists in anger, using all my will power not to spring right up from my spot and call her a liar (and other names).

"Between you and me Ladybug doesn't even make the top ten... Not to mention Chat Noir."

My body tensed, leaning towards the conversation a bit more. I glanced behind me to see if Adrien was paying attention, which he was. He raised a finger to his lips, gesturing for me to stay low and quiet. I nodded and turned back to the conversation.

"C-chat Noir?" Théo stuttered, "uhm, w-what do you know about him?"

"That he's obviously in love with me," she said in a nonchalant tone, "because my powers are greater than Ladybug's and all. He's such a flirt sometimes..."

I pushed the book closer to my heart, trying to stop it from beating too fast. I knew she was lying, no way would Chat—

"Did you know about him and Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

I quickly covered my mouth with my hand to stop myself from gasping. Oh, no— how did Théo...? I did not dare look behind me to see the look on Adrien's face. He was probably so surprised that I'd keep a secret like Chat from him. Would the secret be spread now to everyone I knew? Would they think that I betrayed them?

"Who's Marinette?" Lila asked, "What do you mean Chat...?"

For a moment, I could tell that she was lost, but then she managed to hop back to her lavished, flirtatious tone, "Oh, you mean Chat Noir's new toy."

No...

"Oh, Chat does this ever so often to try and get over me. He does that to other girls to try and 'find someone better' and make me guilty, but he should know it's not going to help, you know?"

I pushed the book closer and closer to my chest, on the verge of tears. I knew it was lies. All lies...so why was I taking in her every word like this?

"The poor girl, though, she doesn't know he's using her. Chat's a very good actor, I'll give him that... He probably says things like 'I love you' and 'You're so amazing' to make them feel special. He does that all the time to girls. But as long as he's happy doing it..."

Now the tears were flowing. I could not stop them. I needed to get away from there before I started to hiccup and howl in that horrible way I did whenever I cried. I came too far to ruin my chances of spying now.

Easing myself away from the trash can without them noticing, I managed to quickly jump behind a tree and run out of the park. I ran and ran— the bakery was so close.

Somehow, I knew that he was behind me, running after me desperately: Adrien. He probably needed his book, but it was plastered to me, pulled to my chest as if it were the only thing keeping my heart from breaking.

"Marinette?!" he called when we were out of hearing range, reaching out to me.

"Leave me alone!" I sobbed, hand already on the handle of the bakery door.

"WAIT! Please, you know she's lying!"

I stopped for a moment and turned back to him with all the will power I could muster. His green eyes had that same, familiar guilty look.

I wanted him to see how broken I was, how exhausted and desperate I was to get inside and just cry because I was not in the mood to deal with him, Théo or Lila after hearing something as heart-breaking as that.

"She made it sound so real," I said, almost in a whisper, "I just..."

Pulling the book closer to my chest and letting out the worst, wrenching sob I ever did in my life, I opened the bakery door and ran inside. I couldn't bare to see those eyes on me as I shut the door on his face.

Tikki's voice tried comforting me as I made my way upstairs, but she was just a blur. Everything was unclear as my tears would not stop coming.

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Théo 🎙

I was suddenly angry at Chat Noir. I remember when I first met Marinette: a sweet, funny, courageous girl with hidden talents and wits. She did not deserve to be treated the way Lila was explaining. And Chat Noir only did it to get his mind off Lila, which is really low (even for me).

"Poor Marinette," I sighed.

Lila rested her hand over my own and squeezed, "Don't worry, Théo, if you want, I can talk some sense into Chat, even if I'd have to use some persuading."

She gestured to her necklace with a fox tail and I immediately understood what she meant. Is it really what I think it is?

"Are you telling me this is a miraculous?" I asked incredulously.

The next thing that happened almost scared my soul out of my body. Chat Noir himself landed in front of us with a furious scowl on his face, green eyes boiling with hatred.

"Hey, Lila!" he said sarcastically, "Long time no see..."

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A/N: Mwahahahaha! Turning tables like a boss😎 Thanks for all the reads, everyone (CLIFF-HANGERS)!

Please don't be silent readers, though. Tell me what you think about this story and theories of what will happen next. I'd love to know your opinions❤️😍

16~~ Feather Pen

[SPOILER: five chapters left]