Important AN: While I've made no edits to the story, I want to caution those sensitive to topics such as sexual abuse, due to being very aware there are some unintentional but very real problematic elements to this work. Despite there being no sexual content in the story, there are still themes of dubious consent. I wrote this all in one week of finals and low sleep, so I skirted over lines that I shouldn't have brushed off so casually.

That said, I would take this down, but I'm aware there are people who still enjoy this work. While I can no longer in good conscience leave this story without a disclaimer, I highly appreciate all of you who took the time to read my writing and will leave this up out of consideration.

"Let's see how you feel about me now, Chloe!"

Another day, another akuma caused by Chloe. Ladybug sighed from her place atop the green stairs of the school, bringing her yoyo up in her hand. A part of her pitied the akuma- it was one thing to be rejected, but it was something else entirely to be rejected by the spoiled mayor's daughter. Kim had reflected that situation entirely. The fact that another boy would fall prey to the same scenario frustrated Marinette to no end. As fate would have it, even the akumatized villain was much like Kim's had been… or at least, he was as much the same to Heartbreaker as Chat Noir was to Ladybug.

Before Matchmaker could send a blast of fire towards a cowering and screeching Chloe, Chat Noir leapt into the court out of seemingly nowhere. Without pause, he parried the villain's wooden staff with his metal one, diverting the blow in the direction of the school ceiling.

"You might want to cool off there. Some of these people can't take the heat, if you catch my meaning," Chat Noir announced, a smug grin on his face as Matchmaker grit his teeth. The possessed teenager was clad in tight-fitting orange, his long red hair curled up in the shape of a flame and his brown eyes carrying a burning fury to match. When the wooden staff came swinging for the top of Chat Noir's skull, the masked hero blocked the hit just as easily, but that did nothing to stop the kick aimed at his heel directly after.

"No one can quell the flames of love!" Matchmaker snarled, sending a burst of fire at the tall guy peeking out from behind a school bench. Both Chat Noir and Ladybug- the cat on the ground and the girl still above the crimescene- widened their eyes in horror as the flame hit him square in the chest. Instead of burning him, his body began to glow. The glow dissipated two seconds later, and Kim traded his wide-eyed surprise for the goofiest smile Ladybug had ever seen on her classmate.

"I need to find Alix," he said with a dreamy sigh, standing up straight and spinning on his heel to leave.

"That's enough, Matchmaker!" Ladybug called, having made her way down the steps to cast her yoyo at his ankle. The man gasped for air when his back hit the ground, and by the time he mustered the strength to sit up, Ladybug and Chat Noir stood over him, arms crossed. Undeterred, he pointed his staff up at them.

"Did no one ever tell you not to play with fire?" Ladybug found herself inadvertently smiling at her partner's quip, and her eyes flickered down to the staff that caused a number of new couples today. Though she was very much a fan of love, the knowledge that all the victims were forced into returning one-sided affections didn't sit well with her. The villain scowled at the duo with disgust flickering in his gaze.

"It must be nice... having your feelings returned by one another," he spat, and Ladybug jumped at the implication of his words. Beside her, Chat Noir's shoulders tensed, also caught off guard by the sudden jump to conclusions.

"What?!" she asked out of reflex, her arms up in the air as if to make a defense from the accusation. They lowered back to her sides when she caught Chat Noir's green eyes snaking up to meet hers, and she could see the flirtatious comment that was about to leave his lips. Preparing to roll her eyes in advance, the two instead backed away from each other when fire barreled through the space between them.

"Too bad, but I bet someone else is dying for some Ladybug love," Matchmaker said with a wry grin, and jabbed the staff directly into Ladybug's chest as a bright orange glow surfaced from its tip.

In the next instant, the world swimmed around her head as a force different from gravity uprooted her from where she stood. All she could see was the upturned corners of Matchmaker's smile; all she could hear was the echo of her partner's voice, calling out her name. The feeling of warmth flooded her entire being, wiping away all prior affection until an entirely new love tied her to the ground she stumbled across backwards. Just as reality started to come back to her, her eyes were immediately pulled in the direction of the glass window of one of the classroom doors.

She felt her cheeks grow warm as she caught the incredulous aqua eyes staring back at her. How had she never noticed the unique shade that was comparable to the shores of vast oceans?

"Nathanael," she said, testing his name on her tongue with an entirely new weight. From the corners of her eyes, she realized too late that Matchmaker had been reaching for her Miraculous. It was Chat Noir who shoved himself between her and the villain, shoving him away with his baton and extending it to draw a distance.

"Nathanael?" he reiterated with his head angled towards her, his brow furrowed with disbelief.

She giggled, not sure whether it was because of bashfulness or the simple joy of hearing the name. Looking back at the window, she shot a wink at the redhead standing at rapt attention on the opposite side, and she was delighted when the action spurred an immediate blush. The importance of capturing the akuma decreased exponentially, and Ladybug ran from both her partner and enemy in order to make a break for the door across the basketball court.

"Ladybug?" Nathanael asked when she bolted through the door, the boy confused and still red from before.

"I'm getting you away from here!" she insisted, extending her hand to him. The boy hesitated, but she wiggled her fingers in further invitation. As soon as he grabbed onto her hand, she ran to the nearest window and reeled him in closer to her side in one fluid pull. The artist let out a startled outcry, but Ladybug could only smile at the proximity.

"Where are you going? What about the akuma?" Chat Noir called from the doorway. If Ladybug was herself, she would have noted the shrinking volume in his voice despite him stepping closer. If Ladybug was herself, the fleeting glance she cast in his direction would have been enough to see the frustration mixed with disappointment in his eyes. If she was herself, she definitely would not have abandoned her partner to have a date with Nathanael.

"I have an important side mission to take care of," she chirped instead, climbing up the window with her lover in tow and then disappearing with one flick of her wrist.

"Nathanael," Adrien repeated, raking both hands through his hair not long after his transformation released. Despite being returned to everyday model Adrien Agreste, his hair fell in a style more akin to Chat Noir when he lowered his hands. "Ladybug fell for Nathanael."

The idea was inconceivable. He stared up at the tall windows from the corner of a now empty classroom. Not long ago, Ladybug had swung across that same patch of sky with her inconceivable match in her arms.

"What? Did you want Matchmaker to make her fall for you?" Plagg questioned with narrowed eyes, his green eyes still glowing in the shadows of Adrien's half opened bag.

"Of course not, Plagg!" he snapped. "I shouldn't have let Ladybug get hit at all."

True, Adrien didn't want Ladybug to fall for him because of the magic of an akuma, but that didn't mean the thought hadn't occurred to him. On the list of people with unrequited love for Ladybug, he would have thought Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir took the top. No matter what the people of Paris thought, a year of crime-fighting alongside each other didn't spark the romance Adrien would have liked for them. So he was very surprised when Ladybug was put under a love spell that the first name out of her mouth belonged to the quiet artist who sat in the back of his classroom. Adrien didn't even know he liked her.

What happened to him liking Marinette anyway? He let out an exhausted sigh as he broke his stare from the window. It wouldn't be long until Gorilla came to pick him up.

Meanwhile, Matchmaker still ran amuck, binding rejectors to their rejectees. Little did the bitter fire-flinger know he had meddled with Chat Noir's love-life in the most ironic way possible.

"Maybe I can talk Nathanael into convincing Ladybug to fight again?" His lips formed a thin line as he considered the idea. One way or another, Paris still needed Ladybug to fix this mess.

"Sure, if he's not too busy enjoying smooches with Ladybug."

Adrien sent a glower in the direction of his bag.

"Please shut up, Plagg."