39. Chapter 39

"What's wrong with Adrien?" Alya poked Nino. "He doesn't look so sunny today."

"Ah. Night terrors. There were light thunderstorms last night, so he's a bit disturbed." he responded. "How about Mari? She seems off."

"Bad dreams." the brunette sighed glumly. "It was normal for her to move around, so I never thought she was having a nightmare after I heard her whimpers."

"That bad, huh?" he muttered, then ogled at the notifications that continuously popping out from her phone screen. "Whoa. Is that something from Ladyblog?"

"Uh-huh. This was yesterday's news about the fiasco in Gare St. Lazare - a couple who saved a political figure - which converted as a media campaign just today of why people got inspired to become 'heroes' of their own. And to quote Chat Noir: It was Paw-sitive~." she squealed while firing rapid words on the keypads. "So now my blog was blasted due to high traffic, and I'm forced to announce system maintenance or else it'd crash - which kind of unfair to my loyal followers who were insisting for a one-on-one interview with our resident superheroes. Just wait till LadyNoir becomes a canon and I bet my rep that this website will fall down. RIP."

The DJ only patted her shoulder. "Good luck on that."

"Wait a second." she halted her tracks. "Where are our dorks again?"

Her boyfriend just shrugged his shoulders and led her casually to an open house café.

The class was spending their early morning tour at the Place du Vieux-Marché in Rouen. Since their teachers gave them few hours to freely roam around the marketplace, most of the students rushed to the souvenir shops and began their shopping spree.

One of them was Chloe Bourgeois.

"Adrikins! What do you think?" the blondie taunted as she twirled a floral lemon dress around her childhood friend. "I'm so pretty, right?"

Adrien hummed indifferently.

It wasn't because of animosity or that he didn't find window shopping interesting, but Chloe has a self-centered demeanor that she preferred not to care about other's opinions. Especially if that opinion was clashing her beliefs.

They've been hopping from one boutique to another while carrying a human tower of tote bags.

Sabrina must either be a masochist or a blind martyr for tolerating her best friend.

The model sighed exasperatedly.

He was so bored and so weary he was chanting demonic curses to Nino for abandoning him alone with companions he preferred the least - hey, he was an embodiment of Misfortune so it should work. He must bestow a miraculous punishment against that four-eyed Pogo stick he considered as his best friend for ditching his bro and choose the love of his life.

Speaking of the love of his life...

Adrien was unable to look at Marinette without shedding a tear or two during their morning assembly. A mere glimpse of her had him reminisced a painful dream that haunted his sleep.

In his dreams, he witnessed how a man named Tyrone aimed a pistol straight at her head while Joseph Howards was grinning maniacally in the background.

He couldn't do anything for his Princess. He was a weakling, a helpless, a shame for all Miraculous wielders. All he could do was to plea for their captors. He was unfit to be considered her hero. Her knight.

But what hurt him most was how her bluebell eyes stare at him with high regards while telling him to leave her.

Marinette was telling him to go.

Thanks to his cowardice again, he didn't ask her out during their pit stop. He even allowed himself be dragged out by Chloe and her minion.

Marinette didn't deserve a spineless scaredy cat like me. he soughed dejectedly.

A sight of a certain raven-haired girl in pigtails bobbing outside the store glass caught his attention.

She was all by herself, with her bright angelic smiles he finds susceptible to Casanovas, Don Juans, Romeos, and Lotharios, but the bundle she was clutching in her arms piqued him most.

It was a bouquet of red fleurs-de-lis.

Adrien immediately rushed outside.

"Stalker." Plagg snickered much to his peeving charger.

"I'm not." he hissed as he stealthily docked on a signage. "I'm just guarding my friend."

"Yeah, and the Nile 'ain't the only river in Egypt."

It didn't take him that long to know her destination.

On a small grassy mound surrounded by the short fence was a placard that scribed 'Le Bucher'.

The location where Joan of Arc was burnt on May 30th, 1431.

"Hey."

Marinette shrieked when a hand landed on her shoulder. Reflex taught her to grapple the forceps, twist it upwards then chop the nape but the person was able to evade it.

So she threw an uppercut.

"OOFF!" a familiar voice yowled in pains.

"What the - foutre - ADRIEN?!"

The girl knelt down to check the blond who was cupping his jaw as he sprawled limply on the ground.

"I'm so, so, so sorry! I didn't mean it! Did I break something? Mon dieu, did I damage your face?! Am I going to be jailed for an assault?! Adrien, please tell me..." she apologized profusely and almost on the verge of crying when he groaned.

"Geez, you really know how to make a drop dead gorgeous guy fall."

She felt her blood ran cold and froze when he gave her a wink.

"I should've dropped you to death." she deadpanned.

Adrien winced when he tried to smile. His jaw was slightly tendered but not swollen enough to require an ice pack. When he stood up and wobbled a bit, his classmate swiftly held his arm for balance.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault for catching you off guard," he told her meekly once settled. "I was curious why you're alone...and where did you get that bouquet?"

"Oh. You mean this?" she showed him the fresh flowers. "I actually bought this as an homage. For Sainte Jeanne."

Once he steadied himself, the designer stepped forward then laid the bouquet near the placard.

"A dear friend of mine was a fan of Jeanne d'Arc. She looks up at her and really admired her heroism. When she learned about my itineraries in Rouen, she made a request to bring her some flowers on her behalf. So here I am."

"Have you visited L'église Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc?" he asked with a suggestion.

"I did." was her solemn reply, unable to hide her sorrow. "Though...to be honest, she deserves more than these."

"It's the thought that counts, Marinette."

She shook her head then mumbled. "It wasn't enough, after all the sacrifices she did for our country. After she received an unjust punishment and called as a heretic. She too young to die, Adrien."

"She was an epitome of a hero." the boy responded.

When he realized the irony of his self-depreciation, he smiled. "Sainte Jeanne reminds me of Ladybug in terms of bravery and selflessness. Both lived for justice and equality. I bet she'd be the Lady Luck of Orléans if she has the Miraculous - and if she did, well, I couldn't imagine how the tides would turn if her Chat Noir was there."

"I've heard they found some remnants of a black cat among her ashes." his companion told him. "Her partner was there. Her Chat Noir even stayed with her till the end."

"Just like our current Chat Noir to his Lady."

"She was unfair to him, our current Ladybug. Chat Noir deserved someone better than his Lady."

"What makes you say that?"

He knew something was going on with Marinette, especially when she averted her gaze. She was looking on the memorial again.

"Because she will never admit anything even though she knows her partner's identity," she muttered with a blanked face. "What will you do if the best friend that you trusted most with your life kept something like that? What if that person lied to you all along?"

Adrien was taken aback how her words pierced him with guilt. "Just because my best friend lied to me doesn't mean I have the right to incriminate them. I might've done something similar, or probably worse, which gives me no right to impose such judgment."

"Sometimes," he went on. "We tend to hide our real selves because we don't want to disappoint those people we loved the most."

The teenagers were unaware that their bodies moved close enough for them to hear their attuned heartbeats. It felt like their entire surroundings disappeared and stopped to exist.

Until a loud shrill broke it.

"ADRIEN!"

Two heads simultaneously jerked and saw a red-faced Chloe storming towards them with a balled fist.

"Back off, you Maritrash!" the blondie spouted as she grabbed Adrien's wrist, in which he immediately shrugged it off.

"What's the matter with you, Chloe?" he asked with a borderline irritation. "You shouldn't treat Marinette this way."

The mayor's daughter gaped at him incredulously.

Ever since his childhood friend entered public school, he began to learn how to stand up for himself and many other things - in which she was glad, to be honest - but she didn't expect that she'll be treated indifferently someday.

Her Adrikins started to change when he befriended her archnemesis, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

And now that she was witnessing their mutual affections, she felt disheartened.

More like dumbfounded.

"Why shouldn't I?" Chloe crossed her arms proudly. "I am better than her. I know you better than her. You're nothing but a stranger to her, and so you are to her - so you don't have the right to ask the way I treated her!"

"Excuse me?!"

Both Adrien and Marinette exclaimed in unison.

"You don't know about my feelings towards Ma - "

"You don't know about my feelings towards Adrien!" the designer miffed propulsive, unaware of the boy's astonishment. "So shut your trap, Chloe, since you don't have any rights to incriminate me!"

"Oh yeah? As if you can take Adrikins away from me."

Marinette was furious but decided not to fire back.

If Chloe really knows Adrien way better than her, then she should've realized that he doesn't like public commotion, much more if it was something about him. That he doesn't want to be treated like a prized possession or an image trophy like what he had witnessed from his raging fans and the media.

She doesn't want to stoop that low just to prove something for Chloe.

But that doesn't mean she can't do something to slap on her face.

"Oh really?" the designer smirked devilishly. "Watch me."

Without further ado, Marinette immediately grabbed Adrien's hand and pulled him to run away.

The action took him by surprise yet he allowed himself to be hauled by the pig-tailed girl who was flashing him a victorious smile. She was a fast sprinter, and he was thankful for his long legs to cope up with her speed.

The two ran as they laughed at their ridiculousness, drowning the strings of curses that gradually vanished as they tread another alley.

Along their way, they passed several locals and tourists who were amused at the beautiful couple who were having the time of their lives.

.

.

.

.

Marinette released her grasp upon reaching a corner, much to his disappointment.

"Let's...just...stop here." she rasped. "Need...breathe..."

Adrien slumped his back on the post. "Mouse-ly she can't...cat-ch us."

The designer choked, then giggled mirthfully despite his lame pun as she shoved the boy away with a light force.

"That...was...horrible!"

"It's not!" the model retorted between breaths.

"Adrien no!"

"Adrien yes!" he guffawed while wiping his stray tears. "You litter-ally swept my feet off, ma Purr-incesse."

Then the two suddenly froze up.

"I mean I'm Purr-incess! PRINCESS, I mean! Princess! I am a Princess!" he sputtered, flailing his arms wildly. "Like a Princess, you know, not a Purr-incess because Princesses don't purr? I mean why would I purr? I mean, I must stop rambling now before I choked myself to death."

"Okay." she chuckled, amused how her crush was acting like he has an actual crush on her. "Princess."

He pouted indignantly.

"Now that we've escaped from the Evil Queen's hive..." the girl wavered, then looked around.

They were in a small children's park with a small fountain and few bistros surrounding the area. It was a place that was almost residential, and quite unfamiliar.

"Please don't mention that four-letter word that starts with L.," he told her with disgruntlement.

I could've said 'love', she thought with an odd familiarity. Where the hell did she hear that L-word gag again?

"How am I supposed to say it then?"

Placing his hands on her shoulders, Adrien gave her a stony look. "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Marinette snorted.

The teenagers knew the consequences of their actions. That once they failed to locate their classmates and return to their designated station in less than an hour, their bus would definitely leave them behind.

And for some unknown reasons, getting lost together has never been this appealing.