How It's Changed

The extent of Marinette's amnesia seemed to extend to all her memories of Chat, and it wasn't bad enough that she forgot about the superhero. It wasn't bad enough she didn't remember what the actual two of them had, what the two of them felt for one another. It wasn't bad enough their established Soul Link had been cut. It wasn't bad enough that she forgot all about her and his relationship.

She'd forgotten everything.

.

Even her feelings for Adrien.

Speaking to her now, she was indifferent, almost cold. Not outright hostile, but she just didn't seem as warm to him as she was to everyone else. That warm, loving personality that she expressed, the personality everyone knew Marinette for, the personality that everyone loved about her, just seemed to turn to ice around Adrien. It hadn't gone unnoticed by the people around her. People had known about her love of the blond model... Although, they had never gotten around to actually announcing their relationship to everyone around them before Spite had showed up. Now it just seemed like Marinette had totally changed her mind about Adrien. It was so weird, so surprising, so... Un-Marinette. No one had expected such a dramatic change from the blue haired girl.

She was still friendly... But almost fake-friendly. Like she didn't even want to be friendly to him.

It had been a harrowing few days for Adrien, slugging it out, day by day. He hadn't turned into Chat Noir since that day. There hadn't really been a point. And he suffered enough, seeing Marinette there at school, every single day. He knew exactly who she was, and what she was like. What she did, and he was painfully , painfully aware of just how much she meant to him. He didn't need the painful reminder every night either.

That was a call to duty he wasn't prepared to answer. He wasn't strong enough.

At school, life continued as normal, and thankfully, excluding Marinette, everyone else was back to normal too. No after-effects of Spite's power-trip. Thankfully, there were no outstanding effects now that the Link destroyer was taken care of.

That didn't bring Adrien much reassurance though.

He'd tried to talk to her again and again... But it just wasn't the same. Talking to Marinette was normally a warm, lovely experience. Something he had so enjoyed... She spoke so kindly around him before Spite had destroyed their Link. It was obvious with her voice and actions that she did care about him, and just hearing her talk made Adrien feel warm. Now it was like talking to a snowman. She didn't seem to want to talk to him, that him talking to her was something that heavily inconvenienced her. That wasn't to say he stopped trying.

The third day was marked for him as one of the biggest attempts he had made. During the breaks between classes, Alya and Marinette would often hang out. In fact it wasn't inaccurate to call that the norm. That was fine in itself, but that didn't give Adrien a lot to work with.

On this particular day however, Marinette was going over the various drawings in her design book with Alya for whatever reason. It was the same book Adrien had seen her show him before, but her enthusiasm for such things never ceased. He smiled gently, remembering a few of the designs she had shown him.

Thinking back now... He wanted to say more about them to her. He wanted to say so many more things to her. Do so many more things with her. For all he knew... He'd lost her.

For good.

The thought pierced his heart, and before he'd known it, he was going over plans to try and win her back, in spite of the Soul Link being severed. He'd find a way, even if it took him years and years to build up that trust with her again. And he wouldn't let himself be held back by his own awkwardness or worries. He's show her just how much he loved her. He'd show her just how much she meant to him.

Of course, that all relied on him making some sort of progress with her.

"What's happening with you two, Adrien?" Alya wasn't someone you wanted to upset, especially when it came to Marinette. She really was a force to be reckoned with. She probably would have hit him in the stomach were it not clear he was visually upset with how that mess had just gone down.

Adrien sighed. He had attempted to join the conversation the two of them had been having. That had gone fine enough, albeit to Marinette's visual chagrin, and, as a way of trying to speak to Marinette, he asked her about her designs. That hadn't gone over well. Marinette seemed very defensive about them. Apparently, forgetting about him also included forgetting about moments the two of them had shared previously. She claimed to be very particular about who she let see her designs, and then left, leaving Alya and Adrien alone, and the blond model mentally punching himself in the face.

It was difficult to hide his clear upset. Gritted teeth and fists tightened, as well as refusing to look at anyone, instead opting to glare down at the floor, hoping his hair would hide his face. Alya knew how Adrien was, but she couldn't remember a time where he looked so... Rejected by her. He bounced back better during the first time they ever , and that had ended in outright . He looked worse now, for whatever reason.

Spite's abilities seemed to leave all of his victims with some amount of amnesia, as Alya didn't seem to remember the encounter she had had with Adrien when he was going to go on his date with Marinette, and it seemed those effects varied. Nino claimed to not remember any arguments, while Alya claimed not to remember a few days, and Marinette had the most specific affliction, able to remember days and events, but none of her romantic memories.

The blond hero wasn't sure who had it worst, but he know which one made him feel the worst.

"I... I don't know, Alya." Adrien said, still not looking at the blogger. "I... I don't know..."

Alya just couldn't understand it. Marinette had always liked Adrien, and now she was acting like he had personally insulted her entire family and way of life. "Did you do something to her?"

"No, of course not..."

It didn't take much to convince Alya. She knew Adrien wasn't the type of person to upset someone intentionally. She sighed, unsure of what it was that she should do now. "I don't get her sometimes..."

Adrien wanted to tell Alya it wasn't Marinette's fault. He wanted to explain to her. He wanted to let her know what happened... But he knew he couldn't. He knew that. But that didn't stop him from wanting to. "...Go easy on her, okay? May - Maybe she's going through a rough time?..."

"I'd know though." Alya shrugged, folding her arms, still confused by her friend's newfound apathy towards Adrien. She was worried. She honestly wasn't sure what to make of her friends personality anymore.

Marinette sat in her room that evening, looking over her own design documents, flipping over the pages, looking over her old designs again, out of sheer boredom.

Her thoughts weren't in the best order. They hadn't been for a few days now. She felt weird, like something wasn't right. It was just an odd sensation she was feeling right now, something she couldn't quite explain. And it was something that she couldn't stand.

Once more, she sighed. Adrien Agreste in particular was someone who was driving her crazy these days. For whatever reason, she couldn't quite remember a lot about him, and she felt almost hostile around.

There was just something about that blond boy that she couldn't stand. She kept up the social facade, of course. There wasn't any reason for her disliking him, but she just did. Something about him was just... She growled, irritated.

But she didn't remember any reason for it... So why was that?

So why was she feeling this way?

She didn't know.

She just didn't know.

Not only that, Chat Noir had apparently just decided to go AWOL for whatever reason. She hadn't seen him in days, leaving her to go on patrols on her own. That hadn't done anything to help improve her mood.

Come to think of it, he had been acting weird as well the last time she had seen him...

She shrugged.

What a mess of a life she was living right now.