I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help myself.

-

“I like you, Adrien!” Marinette squeezed her eyes shut. “I-I like you! Like, a lot!”

A second passed. Then, another.

Marinette peeked open one eye and found her crush staring at her. He looked stunned. Shocked. Confounded. His eyes were far away, as if he were staring a thousand-yards ahead.

They stood in an empty classroom. The rest of the class had already left for the day. She had only stayed to gather the parts of a project she’d presented. Adrien had stayed to help.

Suddenly, he blinked and refocused on her. “M-Marinette… I….” He closed his mouth and swallowed. “I… I don’t know what to say-”

“You don’t need to say anything!” She bit her tongue and glimpsed Adrien stepping back. “I-I mean, you say don’t any right thing-” She closed her mouth and turned redder than her supersuit.

Adrien’s eyes were wide and he looked paler. Sweat dripped down his brow and the sunshine glow that usually wreathed his head had dimmed.

He looked afraid.

Marinette took a deep breath and fought down her nerves with tooth and nail.

“I… You don’t… J-Just have dinner with me.” She tightened her hands into fists. “Or watch a movie. Or… Or just hang out with me… I… I just want a chance.”

He stared at her, then looked away.

Her heart cracked. Her breath hitched. A whisper in the back of her head told her to run now so she couldn’t face the possibility of a rejection.

“I… I’m really sorry, Marinette.”

Her eyes widened and she felt her heart plummet.

“You’re really nice and sweet, but…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I… I just don’t feel the same way.”

Heart heart struck the pit of her stomach, shattering like glass. Her ears were ringing as her pounding heart slowed. The adrenaline left her blood. The courage left her chest. She felt hollow. Empty.

She bowed her head. “Oh….”

“It’s not because you’re not pretty!” She felt a hand on her shoulder and winced. It stayed. “You’re really… cute, and I’m not blind to that… But….”

She felt herself tremble and willed herself to stop. She failed, though, but did her best to suppress the heartache that was taking over her body.

“But?” She asked, voice on the verge of cracking.

“I… I don’t like the way you’ve been treating Lila.”

She stilled. The heartache that invaded every part of her being and made it all hurt vanished. Suddenly, revulsion took its place. Hate and anger and fury unprecedented, all those dark emotions she warned herself from feeling surfaced.

Looking up, she met Adrien’s eyes and questioned in a quiet voice, “What?”

Rage swam beneath the surface of her stunned mask. He didn’t seem to notice as he looked away awkwardly.

“I thought we agreed that outing her would do more harm than good.”

She grit her teeth. He was wrong. And right.

Earlier in the week, Lila had boasted about her time in Germany, helping out at her family’s bakery. It’d started harmless at first. However, as the lies piled up—like they usually did—she started claiming they were the better than any bakery in Germany. In Europe. In the world.

They were better than her parents’ bakery.

She remembered the taunt. She remembered the stares and the whispering. She remembered Lila backtracking, excusing herself for the “unnecessarily rude” remark.

She’d tried Dupain-Cheng macarons before. They were a little stale.

She’d had some Dupain-Cheng croissants, but they’d been hard.

She’d ordered some dumplings, but they’d ripped open the moment she picked them up.

Lila probably had more “constructive criticism” lined up, but she’d snapped back before she could go farther. In the blink of an eye, she was demanding proof. Receipts. Dates. Titles of the food. Anything that could disprove her claims.

Adrien had tried playing mediator, but he’d just played right into Lila’s ploy.

Marinette leveled a glare at the ground. “She was crossing a line.”

“And it’s okay for you to cross one too?”

A part of her knew he was right. The rest of her wanted to say yes.

She closed her eyes and breathed in. “She was making fun of my family’s patisserie.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

“But doing nothing does?”

Her voice carried throughout the empty classroom. She was breathing heavily. A fire was burning in the pit of her stomach where the shattered pieces if her heart lay.

Adrien took a step forward, hand still on her shoulder. “Marinette, if we expose her we could get her akumatized. If we just… let her keep going, she’ll inevitably get caught.”

Maybe. She might. But, she hadn’t yet.

It’d been over two months since she’d returned to Collège Françoise Dupont, and everyone was still wrapped around her finger.

“What if you’re wrong?” She looked up at him, meeting his gaze. “What if she doesn’t get caught? What if she keeps lying and no one finds out?”

Her voice was trembling with the strain of suppressing her frustration. If Adrien noticed, he seemed to interpret it as fear, because suddenly, he was touching her hand and holding it in his own.

Her heart might have fluttered if it wasn’t turning to ash.

“Marinette, don’t worry,” he said with a smile that shined like the sun. “We’re in this together, remember? Even if she doesn’t get caught, her lies won’t hurt anyone.”

Her breath hitched. She stared a thousand-yards ahead.

Lila wasn’t hurting anyone.

She wasn’t hurting Adrien.

She wasn’t hurting Alya.

She wasn’t hurting Nino.

Or Kim.

Or Max.

Or Alix, Rose, Juleka, Ivan, Mylène, Nathaniel, Sabrina, or even Chloé.

She wasn’t hurting anyone.

So why did Marinette feel like someone had punched her in the gut?

“I need to go.”

She picked his hand off of her shoulder and stepped past him. He was still processing her reaction by the time she reached the door. Before she could walk out of it, though, he was running after her.

“W-Wait!” He grabbed her wrist and she struggled to escape. “Marinette, stop! What are you doing?”

“Leaving!” she snapped. “Now let go!”

“No!” He tightened his grip. “I need you to promise me that you won’t go after Lila anymore first.”

She stared at him in disbelief.

“Are you serious?” She shook her head before jerking her arm. “Let go, Adrien!”

“Just promise me-”

“No!” She pushed against him and ripped her arm away. “Lila has done nothing but lie since she got here! She doesn’t care about anyone but herself, regardless of the consequences. One of these days, she’s going to hurt our friends, and you don’t care!”

Adrien stared at her before he took on a disbelieving face too. “Of course, I care!” He threw an arm out. “But if we go after her she’ll become more dangerous! If we out her, she could become akumatized! Do you care about that?”

She opened her mouth, but closed it. Yet, she couldn’t stay quiet. Not anymore.

“Yes.” She never broke eye contact with him. “I am.” She took a deep breath. “Maybe then people will see her for who she is.”

Adrien stared at her, mouth agape. He closed it a second later and bore a heartbroken face briefly. Then, he closed his eyes and breathed in. “I can’t believe you, Marinette.”

She watched him with opened eyes, rounded like dinner plates.

He crossed his arms and raised his chin, shooting her a condescending look down past his nose. “You’re just another bully.”

Her hand flew before she could stop herself.

The next thing she knew, Adrien was a few steps back, holding his cheek. She stood over him, hand up and palm stinging.

He stared at her with wide, tear-brimming eyes. She stared back with the same expression, save for the lurking wrath that blazed around her wet eyes.

Silence reigned between them for an eternity before she turned and walked away.

I’m not crying. You’re all crying. Crying thinking about how Lila could have overheard so is planning to twist the blade, Alya agreeing with Adrien when Marinette goes to her for comfort, Marinette then also having to fight off akumatisation so shutting off her feelings… 

(Never ever apologise for making my stuff so much better, seriously you’re amazing)

…is it bad that I’m thinking of ways for Bewitched to appear in this?

Adrien is the last one in school she deals with.

Bewitched spots him from the corner of her eye, trying to run away for help or hide in hopes that the storm would pass. Without uttering a single word, the newly familiarized Chloe catches him, putting him into an armlock. Satisfied, she fires up the red beam in her hand and approaches.

“M-Marinette?” he gasps, “Were you really akumatized because I rejected you?”

She uses her free hand to pinch the side of her nose. How vexing it is for this foolish boy to be so dense. But she mustn't lose concentration. He would understand soon enough the error of his ways.

“Adrien Agreste,” she seethes, “You prioritize the feelings of everyone else over me, despite calling me your ‘good friend.’ It would have been one thing for you to reject me simply because you didn’t see me that way. But then you had to drag that liar Lila into this, and call me a bully. I’ve let many things slip with you, but that was your last mistake.”

“P-Please, Marinette, this is really uncomfortable for me-”

“Oh, uncomfortable for you? Do you expect me to cry because you don’t like the way Chloe is handling you? The same way you handled me yesterday?” she barks, “But don’t worry. If it’s hard for you to understand just what it is you put me through, I have just the trick for that.” 

The mark immediately appears on his head when she blasts him with the beam. At the sight of it, he looks horrified. He knows Chinese, and he knows exactly what the symbol means.

“I no longer have need for the emotions I once had as ‘Marinette’ because I am Bewitched now. No, instead, you can have them to drown out your own feelings. Think of it as a parting gift from an ex.”

Chloe releases the newly cursed Adrien, and he sinks into the floor stuck somewhere in between frozen with terror and on the verge of tears as the worst of her memories overtake him. 

Turning hotly on her heel, Bewitched steps out of the school and faces the rest of Paris, leaving Adrien to his prison of despair.

I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help myself.

-

“I like you, Adrien!” Marinette squeezed her eyes shut. “I-I like you! Like, a lot!”

A second passed. Then, another.

Marinette peeked open one eye and found her crush staring at her. He looked stunned. Shocked. Confounded. His eyes were far away, as if he were staring a thousand-yards ahead.

They stood in an empty classroom. The rest of the class had already left for the day. She had only stayed to gather the parts of a project she’d presented. Adrien had stayed to help.

Suddenly, he blinked and refocused on her. “M-Marinette… I….” He closed his mouth and swallowed. “I… I don’t know what to say-”

“You don’t need to say anything!” She bit her tongue and glimpsed Adrien stepping back. “I-I mean, you say don’t any right thing-” She closed her mouth and turned redder than her supersuit.

Adrien’s eyes were wide and he looked paler. Sweat dripped down his brow and the sunshine glow that usually wreathed his head had dimmed.

He looked afraid.

Marinette took a deep breath and fought down her nerves with tooth and nail.

“I… You don’t… J-Just have dinner with me.” She tightened her hands into fists. “Or watch a movie. Or… Or just hang out with me… I… I just want a chance.”

He stared at her, then looked away.

Her heart cracked. Her breath hitched. A whisper in the back of her head told her to run now so she couldn’t face the possibility of a rejection.

“I… I’m really sorry, Marinette.”

Her eyes widened and she felt her heart plummet.

“You’re really nice and sweet, but…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I… I just don’t feel the same way.”

Heart heart struck the pit of her stomach, shattering like glass. Her ears were ringing as her pounding heart slowed. The adrenaline left her blood. The courage left her chest. She felt hollow. Empty.

She bowed her head. “Oh….”

“It’s not because you’re not pretty!” She felt a hand on her shoulder and winced. It stayed. “You’re really… cute, and I’m not blind to that… But….”

She felt herself tremble and willed herself to stop. She failed, though, but did her best to suppress the heartache that was taking over her body.

“But?” She asked, voice on the verge of cracking.

“I… I don’t like the way you’ve been treating Lila.”

She stilled. The heartache that invaded every part of her being and made it all hurt vanished. Suddenly, revulsion took its place. Hate and anger and fury unprecedented, all those dark emotions she warned herself from feeling surfaced.

Looking up, she met Adrien’s eyes and questioned in a quiet voice, “What?”

Rage swam beneath the surface of her stunned mask. He didn’t seem to notice as he looked away awkwardly.

“I thought we agreed that outing her would do more harm than good.”

She grit her teeth. He was wrong. And right.

Earlier in the week, Lila had boasted about her time in Germany, helping out at her family’s bakery. It’d started harmless at first. However, as the lies piled up—like they usually did—she started claiming they were the better than any bakery in Germany. In Europe. In the world.

They were better than her parents’ bakery.

She remembered the taunt. She remembered the stares and the whispering. She remembered Lila backtracking, excusing herself for the “unnecessarily rude” remark.

She’d tried Dupain-Cheng macarons before. They were a little stale.

She’d had some Dupain-Cheng croissants, but they’d been hard.

She’d ordered some dumplings, but they’d ripped open the moment she picked them up.

Lila probably had more “constructive criticism” lined up, but she’d snapped back before she could go farther. In the blink of an eye, she was demanding proof. Receipts. Dates. Titles of the food. Anything that could disprove her claims.

Adrien had tried playing mediator, but he’d just played right into Lila’s ploy.

Marinette leveled a glare at the ground. “She was crossing a line.”

“And it’s okay for you to cross one too?”

A part of her knew he was right. The rest of her wanted to say yes.

She closed her eyes and breathed in. “She was making fun of my family’s patisserie.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

“But doing nothing does?”

Her voice carried throughout the empty classroom. She was breathing heavily. A fire was burning in the pit of her stomach where the shattered pieces if her heart lay.

Adrien took a step forward, hand still on her shoulder. “Marinette, if we expose her we could get her akumatized. If we just… let her keep going, she’ll inevitably get caught.”

Maybe. She might. But, she hadn’t yet.

It’d been over two months since she’d returned to Collège Françoise Dupont, and everyone was still wrapped around her finger.

“What if you’re wrong?” She looked up at him, meeting his gaze. “What if she doesn’t get caught? What if she keeps lying and no one finds out?”

Her voice was trembling with the strain of suppressing her frustration. If Adrien noticed, he seemed to interpret it as fear, because suddenly, he was touching her hand and holding it in his own.

Her heart might have fluttered if it wasn’t turning to ash.

“Marinette, don’t worry,” he said with a smile that shined like the sun. “We’re in this together, remember? Even if she doesn’t get caught, her lies won’t hurt anyone.”

Her breath hitched. She stared a thousand-yards ahead.

Lila wasn’t hurting anyone.

She wasn’t hurting Adrien.

She wasn’t hurting Alya.

She wasn’t hurting Nino.

Or Kim.

Or Max.

Or Alix, Rose, Juleka, Ivan, Mylène, Nathaniel, Sabrina, or even Chloé.

She wasn’t hurting anyone.

So why did Marinette feel like someone had punched her in the gut?

“I need to go.”

She picked his hand off of her shoulder and stepped past him. He was still processing her reaction by the time she reached the door. Before she could walk out of it, though, he was running after her.

“W-Wait!” He grabbed her wrist and she struggled to escape. “Marinette, stop! What are you doing?”

“Leaving!” she snapped. “Now let go!”

“No!” He tightened his grip. “I need you to promise me that you won’t go after Lila anymore first.”

She stared at him in disbelief.

“Are you serious?” She shook her head before jerking her arm. “Let go, Adrien!”

“Just promise me-”

“No!” She pushed against him and ripped her arm away. “Lila has done nothing but lie since she got here! She doesn’t care about anyone but herself, regardless of the consequences. One of these days, she’s going to hurt our friends, and you don’t care!”

Adrien stared at her before he took on a disbelieving face too. “Of course, I care!” He threw an arm out. “But if we go after her she’ll become more dangerous! If we out her, she could become akumatized! Do you care about that?”

She opened her mouth, but closed it. Yet, she couldn’t stay quiet. Not anymore.

“Yes.” She never broke eye contact with him. “I am.” She took a deep breath. “Maybe then people will see her for who she is.”

Adrien stared at her, mouth agape. He closed it a second later and bore a heartbroken face briefly. Then, he closed his eyes and breathed in. “I can’t believe you, Marinette.”

She watched him with opened eyes, rounded like dinner plates.

He crossed his arms and raised his chin, shooting her a condescending look down past his nose. “You’re just another bully.”

Her hand flew before she could stop herself.

The next thing she knew, Adrien was a few steps back, holding his cheek. She stood over him, hand up and palm stinging.

He stared at her with wide, tear-brimming eyes. She stared back with the same expression, save for the lurking wrath that blazed around her wet eyes.

Silence reigned between them for an eternity before she turned and walked away.

I’m not crying. You’re all crying. Crying thinking about how Lila could have overheard so is planning to twist the blade, Alya agreeing with Adrien when Marinette goes to her for comfort, Marinette then also having to fight off akumatisation so shutting off her feelings… 

(Never ever apologise for making my stuff so much better, seriously you’re amazing)

...is it bad that I'm thinking of ways for Bewitched to appear in this?

TDoM Ch 12: Akumanette

Ao3

.

The day Manynette was made in response to Chameleon, there was one extra Nette that had come to be alongside her sisters. Out of all of them, she looked the most like Marinette, only thing she was missing was were Marinette’s bright eyes and bright smile. In comparison, this Nette looked tired and grim. And she felt as such, while all others of her sisters were bubbly and excited and bursting with energy (minus Napinette who was heading to sleep), everyone else was ready to go.

As was this extra, though she didn’t include herself in the planning. She had another agenda on her mind than making it clear what everyone was doing and going to be. She turned and slipped downstairs, heading off to school.

She didn’t stop to greet anyone, kept her tired eyes forward, heading to Bustier’s class, a tightness settling in her stomach the whole time. She was the first to arrive, and settled down in her seat in the back with a sigh.

While the class slowly piled, this Nette ignored then, unwilling to look at any of them, and instead peered outside.

She was content for it to stay this way, not acknowledging each other, though Alya herself didn’t know that as she called out a greeting to who she thought was Marinette, sitting in the back. She frowned when she was ignored, Marinette acting like she didn’t hear her. Feeling a little sour and fed up with Marinette’s attitude, Alya prowled up to her seat, taking a breath to calm down, and prompted, “Marinette? You ok?”

Marinette turned to her, peering up at her with a dull look.

Alya narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms as she peered down at her. “Ok, what’s with this attitude.”

She received a glare in response.

“Are you really going to be this childish?” Alya huffed.

“I’m the childish one?” secret akuma repeated, an edge in her voice.

“You’re definitely acting like it. If you have an issue, if you would just talk—”

“Would you actually listen? Or just dismiss me?” the akuma wondered.

Alya’s job dropped at the accusation. Before she could give a heated reply, Adrien hurried up to their side, trying to placate things before they got to heated. “Hey, what’s going on?” he asked, giving Marinette a pointed look.

She didn’t back down like he expected. Instead, he blinked at the glare she gave him, frightening enough that he took a step back.

“Oh, nothing much,” the akuma responded with a bite. “Just enjoying being on my own.”

Adrien raised a brow at the wording. On her own? What did she mean?

“You two should just ignore her,” Lila called out from up from, sour that Adrien was up there with Marinette. “She’s just trying to get attention.”

“Yes,” the akuma called back. “I’m the one clearly trying to get attention.”

Lila gave the unknown akuma a look, daring her to say anything else. This Nette peered back, unafraid. Alya whipped around, scolding, “Marinette! That’s enou—”

“Hey!”

Everyone went still at Marinette’s sharp tone that went through the room, slowly turning to see another Marinette standing in the doorway, giving everyone in the back a stern look. “Need I remind everyone that class is about to start? And Saltinette, I noticed you skipped out on our morning meeting. You didn’t need to leave early to start trouble.”

“Trouble came to me,” Saltinette insisted, both Nettes ignoring the gapes and horror that was dawning on their classmates as they looked between the two.

Marinette was an akuma, who was volatile and upset with them.

They were screwed.