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The mere brush of fingers shouldn't have been something to get excited about, but Marinette couldn't stop the wide grin spreading across her face. Adrien's hand had reached for hers in a bid to drag her away from the latest akuma attack, yet all she could think about was the zing of electricity she felt from his touch.

She should have been focussed on the situation at hand. She should have been scanning the area for somewhere to transform. Instead, she was relishing the nearness of her crush. A projectile flew through the air and Adrien tugged her to his chest, pushing her against the nearest wall to shield her body with his own. Marinette grasped the edge of his white button up shirt as he held her close, protecting her from the chaos.

As romantic as his gesture was, Marinette realised that she should be the one protecting him. She was the one with the alter ego and she'd let her hormones cloud her judgement. She needed to sneak away from Adrien so she could transform. With her mind clearing, she glanced about and decided her best chance was to duck into the nearest classroom to hide.

Apparently, Adrien had the same idea. "This way," he instructed her as he grabbed her hand again, leading her to the safety of the classroom. He swung open the door and shoved her into the room. "Stay here, you'll be safe."

Bluebell eyes blinked in confusion as he closed the door on her and rushed off. It wasn't the first time Adrien had told her to stay safe during and akuma attack, only to dash off on his own. Tikki's voice spoke from her handbag, "Quick, Marinette, you need to transform!"

"Oh, right." Scanning the room, Marinette sunk down below one of the desks and called out, "Spots on!" In moments, the girl was transformed into Ladybug. Striding to the opposite side of the room, the heroine opened the nearest window and climbed outside.

A man dressed in army fatigues mottled in red, orange and pink, scurried around shouting at those running from him. "I am the Recruiter, you will join the army!" From there he tossed what looked like hand-grenades at the crowd. Ladybug spun her yoyo, angling the end so it hit the grenade, knocking it away from the innocent people. Unlike real grenades, when it exploded it merely fragmented into a gas. The few unfortunate people within range then morphed into soldiers in matching red, orange and pink outfits, then began marching behind the Recruiter.

As Ladybug took in this information, Chat Noir landed beside her. "Well this reminds me of Darkblade," he muttered with a cock of his feline ears.

"Yep, we need to avoid his grenades."

"Do you know where the akuma is?"

"Not sure, maybe the belt he's pulling the grenades from. They seem to be replenishing themselves as soon as he's run out."

"A likely candidate. Let's do this."

Without further prompting, the pair of superheroes set to action. Chat Noir played the distraction while Ladybug snuck in to relieve the Recruiter of his belt after calling on her lucky charm. Things were wrapped up with relative ease. After the bumping of their fists, Chat Noir snagged Ladybug's fingers. "So, milady, we've got patrol this Saturday night. I was wondering if you wanted to go out for ice cream afterward?"

Ladybug gave him a dubious look. "As long as it's not a date."

A black gloved hand came to rest upon his own chest. "While my heart beats only for you, and I'd love it to be a date, I'm content with just your company and ice cream."

She couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Fine. See you Saturday."

Chat Noir grinned as he placed a kiss on her knuckles. "Can't wait."

With a shake of her head, Ladybug retreated in the opposite direction to her partner and dropped her transformation. She scurried back to the classroom where Adrien had left her and settled beneath one of the desks just as the door opened. The stunning blonde popped his head inside. "Marinette?"

"I'm here," she said as she crawled out of her supposed hiding place.

A relieved smile tugged at Adrien's lips. "I'm sorry I didn't come back. I didn't want to draw attention to your hiding place."

Marinette nodded in understanding but felt a little hurt that he hadn't returned, even though it would have been hard to explain her sudden disappearance. While it was easier this way, it didn't sit right with her. Not once had he ever offered to stay with her during an akuma attack, and while it made her life easier as Ladybug, it made her wonder why he always ran off.

Before she could think better of it, she asked, "Where did you go?"

"I um, uh, ended up getting exposed to the gas from one of those grenades."

Something was off with his answer as his voice pitched too high and his cheeks were tainted pink. What exactly did that mean? Was he lying? Perhaps covering something up? "You should have stayed with me."

Adrien raised his hand to rub the back of his neck. "Yeah, I probably should have." By this stage, students were streaming back into the school and heading back to class. Green eyes took in the flow of people and added, "We should head back to class. Don't want to be late."

Marinette was reluctant to let it go that easily but really, what else could she say? So, she just nodded and followed him back to class. When she sat down, she began jotting notes about all the times she'd been with Adrien when there'd been an akuma attack. Of one thing she was certain, he always managed to disappear in some way. Perhaps he was just unfortunate and managed to be affected by the akumas, but why did he always run headlong into danger?

It wasn't like he ran the Ladyblog, although Alya had mentioned his great interest in Ladybug. That had been rather flattering. Then again, Chloe was as big a fan as well. Still, she wanted to understand Adrien's motive. The idea of him being afraid didn't sit right with her, he was far too bold and protective for that to be the reason.

Tapping her pencil to her lip, Marinette decided that she'd be keeping a very close eye on her crush when the next akuma attack occurred.

Marinette is certainly in for a big surprise later on. What do you think Tikki will say when she discovers Marinette's plan?

Thanks for reading!