Marinette woke up tired as ever. The night before was long and she got banged up from the particularly violent akuma. She looked around, and immediately perked up. She remembered that it was Adriens' 17th birthday. She had to give him his present this year, and she made sure that her name was on it. She even added a stitch piece on the inside that said 'From Marinette.'

She got dressed in her normal outfit, grabbed her bag, present, and then a croissant on the way out. Tikki sat in her bag as she ran to school happily.

Marinette ran into the classroom, and sat down in her seat above Adrien. He wasn't there, but Alya was.

"You remembered to sign it?" Alya asked once more.

"Yes. And I added a stitch of my name inside, not visible from the outside." Mari was so proud of herself. She said to herself 'Today is the day I give him the present and he'll finally notice me.'

A couple minutes of anxiety later, Adrien and Nino walk into the room, sitting their stuff down. Adrien looked a little down in the eyes. But Mari pushed on anyways. She leaned across the table, and tapped Adrien on the shoulder.

"H-Hey Adrien. Um. Happy Birthday." She said, not stuttering as much as she used to. Adrien turned around and smiled.

"Thank you." He smiled. Mari pushed the packaged present over to him.

"I-I got you a p-present. I-I made it myself." She nodded. Adrien took the wrapped piece.

"Thank you Marinette. You didn't have to." He thanked gratefully. He ripped the tissue paper off, and unraveled the article.

He held up an olive sweater with two thin white lines going across the chest. It wasn't very decorative, but it looked good.

"I-I know you d-don't usually wear flashy patterns, a-and I thought m-maybe you'd like a sweater since winter is starting back up. I know it's not the fanciest thing you own, b-but you don't have to wear it if you don't want to. A-Also I stitched my n-name on the inside just in case you forget w-who it's from." Mari stuttered out. Adrien smiled.

He got up from his chair, and surprised her. He hugged her. She nervously patted his arm since the hug was a bit awkward.

"Thank you Marinette. I love it." He said happily. Mari blushed even darker and nodded.

"I-I'm glad y-you like it." Mari was so excited. Thankfully no one noticed that she was shaking slightly. But it stopped when she heard a snide comment from the side.

"That color looks retched. Who would ever wear that color anyways?" Chloe sneered, laughing with Sabrina. That certainly took Mari down a peg.

"Well I love the color. I think it will bring out my eyes. What do you think Alya?" He asked, holding up the sweater.

"Your eyes do look brighter against the green. It suits your blonde hair as well." Alya agreed coolly.

Adrien smiled and folded it up carefully in the tissue, and placed it in her bag.

"Thank you again Marinette. It's the best present I've gotten." He thanked her once more. Mari just nodded with a furious blush on her face. The teacher walked into class, and started the lesson.

But all Marinette could think about what Adrien would look in the sweater.

Once class ended, the group of people went to their separate classes.

At the end of the day, everyone met up for gym. Marinette and Alya got changed in the locker room. The girls school gym uniform were navy blue boyshort bathing suit bottoms, and a tucked in white tee shirt. They wore the same white shirts as the boys.

Mari walked out of the locker room adjusting her pigtails. She had been growing out her hair, and it was becoming a little harder to work with. She had been trying out new hairstyles, and she couldn't find one she liked completely. Her pigtails were getting old and they were really long now.

"Screw this." She huffed. She pulled her pigtails out and ruffled her hair. It cascaded past her collarbone, and was really wavy.

"Alya. Do you think I should get a pixie style?" She asked. She looked at her hair in the window reflection.

"If you want to. I think you'll look cute in any hairstyle, girl." Alya told her. Marinette took her hair, and tied it up in a pony tail. It looked okay. Her bangs were still there as she liked them a lot more.

The two joined the rest, and listened to the teacher.

"Alright. Today we will be getting your physical. It's for a grade. We'll do height, weight, pull ups, run, crunches, push ups, and v-set. Line up over there so we can take measurements and height." He pointed to the corner. Everyone got in a line, and waited patiently to be measured and weighted.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 160 cm. 55 Kilos. How are you 55 Kilos? You look no more than 45?" The coach asked rhetorically.

"Muscle I guess." Mari jumped off, and waited for Alya to finish. They waited with the others, and Adrien and Nino approached them.

"Who wants to make a bet in the run?" Nino asked.

"I know I'd loose." Alya admitted.

"I'll bet." Mari said. Adrien looked surprised.

"Against Nino? He was on the track team since Primary School." Adrien reminded her.

"W-Well I've been working out. I-I think I've got w-what it takes." She stuttered. Nino shook her hand.

"Alright then. If you can beat me in the race, I'll do one thing for you." He promised.

"And if I loose, I'll do one thing for you." Mari agreed.

"What other bets are on the table? I'm great at pull ups and v-set is super easy." Alya suggested. She wanted to be in on some bet. She knew she could cream them in pull ups.

"I'll bet for pull ups too." Mari said confidently.

"And I'll bet for v-set. And if there are any ties, the deal is broke off." Adrien finalized.

The group got together in line for pull ups. The teacher stood next to the bar with his clipboard.

"Remember a full pull up is having your chin reach above the bar, and your arms have to fully extend before you go back up. If you can't pull up, then hang."

Alya went up first. Each person was given 30 seconds to pull up.

She started off strong, but at the end she got a score of 19.

"Dangit. I've done better." She said. Next was Nino's turn. He already knew where he stood.

He ended up getting 10 before he collapsed off. Next was Marinette's turn.

She hung off the bar, and the timer started. Marinette started off, and ended, strong. When she jumped down, the teacher looked surprised.

"34 pull ups in 30 seconds. You passed even on the males' charts." He said surprised.

"Dang girl. When did you get so ripped?" Alya asked. She squeezed Mari's arm, and felt all the muscle underneath.

"Baking requires lifting bags of flour." Was her excuse. Although that wasn't the complete reason. Adrien went up, and he made 30 pull ups.

"Dang dude. Marinette beat you." Nino joked.

Marinette blushed when she realized she outdid Adrien.

The next they did was the v-set.

Adrien popped his shoes off and sat down.

"I've got this." He said confidently. He placed his legs flat on ground, and his feet flat against the metal box. He stretched once or twice, then he stretched forward. The metal piece reached all the way to the end of the box, barely making it.

"49 centimeters." Adrien said proudly. Alya's mouth gapped.

She sat down, and only reached to 37. Nino did his and he only reached to 30. When Mari sat down, she passed the limit.

Mari placed both hands on top of each other, breathed in, and leaned. She pushed the metal piece all the way to the end, and then a couple centimeters more. She held this as the coach took out a ruler.

"53 centimeters. You are the first person to have outstretched the v-set at this school. Looks like we'll need to get a longer one." He said. Mari high fived Alya.

"Nice job Marinette." He gave her a high five as well. But she was blushing too hard to speak to him.

The group then moved on to push ups, then crunches.

Alya only managed 5 push ups. Nino managed 10. Marinette managed 46. And Adrien beat them all with a whopping 71 until the audio recording counter stopped.

He stood up, and got a round of applause for beating the recorder.

When they moved onto crunches, Adrien beat them as well. Marinette got in 63 crunches in a minute, Alya got 23, Nino got 30, and Adrien got 67.

"What is your father making you do? P-90-X or something?" Nino asked.

"I guess all the years of sports paid off." Adrien excused.

They all headed, exhausted, to the last course; the one mile run.

The whole class lined up behind each other, and got ready.

"On your mark. Get set. GO!" He yelled starting the timer. Marinette and Nino where the first to pass. There were some other track members right on their tails, plus Adrien, but they weren't as fast. Alya ran for a minute, then started walking.

But Marinette and Nino were neck and neck. Nino sprinted as fast as he could around the gym.

"Bet you'll loose strength on the 6th lap." Nino panted.

"Bet I won't." She retorted. They needed to complete 10 laps around the gym to equivalent a mile. Adrien, Nino, Marinette, and a couple other students maintained their running pace, only slowing down a little.

Nino and Marinette were on their last lap, with Adrien right behind them. Nino was growing really tired from sprinting, and he was slowing down. Adrien caught up with Marinette, and now they were neck and neck.

"I think you're going to loose Marinette." Adrien panted as they ran. She blushed.

"Not in your dreams, silly kitty." She said. She put her energy in full gear, and was now starting to sprint to the end. She left Adrien and Nino in the dust.

Just as she passed the finish line when the coach yelled out her time.

"4 Minutes and 57 seconds!" He exclaimed. Adrien passed with 5 minutes and 16 seconds, and Nino passed with 5 minutes and 14 seconds.

"Amazing Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed, giving her another high five. Marinette was exploding with excitement and nervousness on the inside.

"T-Thank you." She stuttered. Nino crossed his arms.

"You win Marinette. What's your wish?" Nino asked.

She smiled deviously. "Oh I won't give you one today. But just keep in mind that you owe me. I'll pick the perfect time to use it." She assured. Marinette waited for Alya while Adrien and Nino got dressed. Alya ran it in 11 minutes and 34 seconds.

They went back to the locker room to shower and get changed. Marinette came back with her hair let down, and her jacket off.

Alya and Marinette started walking down the steps so they could walk home together. Chloe yelled to them from behind.

"Cheng! Wait!" She demanded. Mari stayed there rolling her eyes.

"I can't be held up girl. I've got to babysit today. Can you take her on?" Alya asked. Mari nodded, and Alya walked off.

Mari stood there till Chloe got to her.

"How are you so physically fit?" Chloe chastised her. It was certainly not what Marinette thought she would say.

"When I work at the bakery, I lift heavy bags of flour and I constantly bake in large batches. I also sometimes run deliveries for my parents, so I can run fast as well. And my stretching is because I did gymnastics as a kid." Marinette explained quickly to her. She held her jacket in her hand.

"Well, I hope you know that's very unlady-like. You can't just go around and openly beat Adrien at everything. Do you want him to feel bad about himself?" She pointed a finger at her. Mari just pushed her hand down.

"He didn't seem mad in the slightest. If anything he looked impressed. I guess he is more impressed of a girl who can hold her own, unlike someone who needs another person to carry her things." Mari told her defiantly. She was so sick of Chloe picking on her, making her feel like crap.

"Well I hope that you know he is very impressed by me. I bought him a gold watch for his birthday. He's going to love it when it arrives at his doorstep." She boasted, flashing her gold and diamond jewelry and designer clothes. Obviously Chloe liked showing her status.

"I'm glad you got him a present. It's better than last year when you completely forgot his birthday. Maybe he'll like the watch you give him, even though it is quite obvious that he never wears them." She told her. She was walking away from Chloe, when she felt something hit the back of her leg. She lost her balance, and fell down a couple stairs.

Sabrina joined Chloe, and the two walked away laughing. Marinette picked herself up, and dusted off. Her knees had a little rash from the inside of her pant leg rubbing it, but she was fine. Although she knew she'd get some bruises. She always did bruise easily.

Marinette got herself together, and walked back to the bakery. She contemplated her situation with Chloe. Chloe had never actually physically assaulted her before. It was always verbal before. Hopefully Chloe wouldn't be taking the physical approach. Mari disliked the bruises.

She entered the bakery, and greeted her family. The bakery was very warm inside.

"Hello Mama. Why is it so hot in here?" She asked walking past the counter.

"The air conditioning broke today, and the ovens are heating the place up. We're having a guy come over to fix it tomorrow. I've been working all day and your father is out catering. Can you take over the counter please?" Sabine asked.

"Sure. I'll just get dressed in something a little cooler, and be right down." Marinette promised.

She ran upstairs, and let Tikki out.

"I heard some girls talking about your performance today. You did great!" She praised Marinette.

"Thank you Tikki. Although it's all thanks to you. Having the job you gave me made me a lot stronger than I was before." She went into her closet, and got changed into some blue denim shorts and a yellow tank top. She didn't want to get dressed in anything too nice in case she made a mess along the way.

She fetched some cookies for Tikki, then took over the counter.

A couple people entered and exited the bakery, buying boxes of baked goods, and some singular items.

Marinette used the little free time she had between customers, and she wiped down the baking station that was on display. The apron she wore caught most of the flower that spilled onto her, but some got on her clothes. She tied her hair back since the heat was getting to her, and she ran back to the cash registers when she heard the door bell chime.

She saw that it was Adrien who was walking into the bakery. She felt so embarrassed. She was covered in flour, and her hair was in a messy ponytail.

"W-Welcome Adrien. W-What can I-I get you?" She asked. He looked in the display case, and saw the new items they made. They recently added two types of cookies with a hard frosting design.

"I see you got a new item. What are those?" He asked pleasantly.

"O-Oh. The L-Ladybug cookies are vanilla with a vanilla crème hard frosting, and the Chat Noir cookies are chocolate with a hard b-bitter cocoa frosting, s-similar to coffee but a little s-sweeter." She explained, still stuttering.

"Hmm. I think I'll take one of each, a strawberry macaroon, and a croissant, please." He decided. She bagged everything up into little wax paper with stickers on the sides, and put them all in a plastic bag.

"T-That'll be 10 Euros e-exact, please." She rung him up. He paid her, and she handed him the cookies.

"I've got to ask. Who is your favorite of the two? Ladybug or Chat Noir?" He asked.

"W-Well they're both great. L-Ladybug can't do what she does without Ch-Chat Noir, and Chat Noir couldn't do it without L-Ladybug. At least superhero wise. C-Cookie wise, I prefer the vanilla crème." Adrien nodded.

"I'd say Ladybug is my favorite. She's amazing and beautiful. I would love to know her identity." He said, almost reminiscing. "Anyways I've got to go. Goodbye Marinette. I'll see you tomorrow. And thank you again for the sweater." He thanked once more. Mari watched helplessly as he walked out of the bakery, and rolled down his sleeves to warm himself up.

Mari was blushing horribly behind the counter. 'I can't believe I couldn't say anything back.' She scolded herself internally.

She worked the counter until 7pm, and she closed the bakery. She cleaned out the display, and packed the breads that were more prone to becoming stale. They always would refrigerate the breads, then warm them up and bring them to the soup kitchen they had a couple blocks down.

Once that was done, she hung up her apron, took a shower, and hopped into some normal pajamas. She studied a little, and finished up her project that she'd been working on, and climbed into bed.

She said goodnight to Tikki, and fell asleep quickly. She hoped that the night would not interrupt her, and no akumas would flourish under the moonlit sky.