Chat noir stood mesmerized by the sound he was blessed to be hearing. He and Ladybug had just defeated the most recent akuma and were about to go their separate ways to detransform and return to their regular civilian lives, but something, and he would do anything to know what that something was, had made Ladybug pause and burst into laughter, the most beautiful, adorable, perfect fit of laughter he had ever heard.
Sure she had chuckled or giggled at some of his jokes in the past, but never before had he seen or heard such mirth from the red, and black spotted super heroine. He knew he would remember that sound forever, wishing he knew what had caused it so he could make it happen over and over just so he could hear it. The sound of her laughter would be a sound he would be sure to never forget.
Ladybug didn't even realize the effect she was having on her feline partner. she wasn't entirely sure what had caused her outburst of laughter but to be fair she hadn't gotten much sleep last night and was running on overdrive, plus Alya had made a really funny comment right before the akuma attack that she hadn't fully appreciated until now, pair these things with the end of a stressful battle and adrenaline slowly ebbing away and it seems you get a Ladybug who could not control her laughter if her life depended on it... ok so maybe that was going a bit far but she couldn't help it.
Suddenly her earrings let out a beep jolting her back into reality. She composed herself as best she could and turned to look at her wonderstruck partner who pouted as Ladybug wiped tears from all the laughing from her eyes, he was upset she was done, worried he would never be graced to with hearing that laughter, joy and mirth come from his lady again. Chat noir couldn't remember anytime he had been more frustrated with the wearing off of their super powers and secret identities.
"I-I have to go." Ladybug gasped out, still trying to get over the fit of laughter she had been having.
Chat noir blinked himself back into reality and took her hand in his, bowing to kiss the back of hers. He looked up at her curiously "Whatever was so funny, my lady?" he questioned.
Ladybug pulled her hand out of his and shook her head "it was honestly nothing." she admitted.
The blonde black cat straightened "Anything that makes you so happy can't be nothing." he stated earnestly.
"Oh shush, silly kitty" she waved his affections away, before her earrings let out another beep signaling she really had to go. "Well I'm off, see you." she said before using her yoyo to swing away and find a place to detransform before Chat could say anything else.
He watched her fade in the distance before going off to find somewhere he could detransform as well, but he just stood watching, replaying the laughter again and again.
Finally, mostly due to Plagg's incessant nagging he snapped out of his daze. He had a photo shoot to get to and if he was late he would be in trouble that would make it a lot harder to sneak out and be Chat noir. Plus Plagg was tired and really wanted some cheese. So he found a place to turn back into Adrien and rushed to his shoot, thinking up an excuse for his very possible slight lateness on his way. Though Ladybug's laugh never completely left his thoughts.
The next day Marinette arrived to school early which was a rare feat for her, after the akuma attack the day prior she had crashed almost immediately when she got home at about eight o'clock, thus that morning she woke up rejuvenated and ready for anything.
She took her seat in the second row, noticing Adrien wasn't there yet. She was early so she didn't think much of it, but she hoped her crush hadn't gotten sick, maybe she would bring him a get well treat if he was, she thought letting her mind get ahead of her.
Alya sat next to her and they began chatting, taking the raven haired girl's mind away from Adrien. Alya seemed to be in a particularly good mood as well as she had gotten to the akuma attack last night before any other reporters and had gotten some amazing shots of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Marinette eagerly agreed it was great for her friend and her camera skills were amazing, surprised she hadn't even realized the over excited blogger was there while they fought. Marinette shook her head frowning slightly, that girl was going to get herself into some serious trouble, but as Ladybug she had faith she could protect Alya.
Alya noticed her friends face shift and wrongly assumed she was upset, upset that Adrien wasn't there yet; So she began making jokes and telling funny stories in an attempt to cheer up her, not actually upset friend.
When Adrien walked into class, albeit a bit late, he was glad to see the teacher wasn't there yet. He had been concerned he was going to be late and would get in trouble with his father, he very much did not need another lecture on punctuality. The blonde happily went to take his seat but froze when the most glorious sound ever filled his ears, a sound he never thought he would hear again, at least not so soon.
'The laugh' He thought 'it sounds just like Ladybugs!' He excitedly whipped his head around 'she's in my class! How could I not have noticed?' He chided himself, knowing there was no possible way he could ever mistake that laugh.
Adrien's eye's widened in surprise when he realized the source was Marinette. Alya seemed to be telling a story that the pigtailed girl found so funny there were tears forming in the corners of her eyes. He longed to know what exactly was so funny so he could replicate it and illicit the sound from her for himself.
He would never have expected the quite stuttering girl who sat behind him and could barely look him in the eye to be his lady. But then again whenever she wasn't talking to him she seemed to be so in control and confident. He fondly recalled how relaxed she had been with him as Chat Noir during the Evillustrator incident. As he thought more about it, Marinette being Ladybug started to make more and more sense to him and he the blonde found himself becoming quite pleased with the possibility.
She was kinda cute, now that he took the time to really think about her. 'It would be really awkward if she isn't Ladybug' He thought, now that he couldn't get Marinette out of his head, but he was sure he had recognized her laugh correctly.
Adrien wished he could just go over and ask Marinette if she was Ladybug, but he knew he couldn't for a multitude of reasons. The raven haired girl seemed to become a stuttering mess every time he talked to her, he hoped she didn't do that once she found out he was Chat Noir. The blonde knew he was getting ahead of himself but couldn't help it, now that the idea was in his head it was stuck and he was excited. If he asked and she wasn't it would look very suspicious of him to have just grabbed her out of the classroom considering he barely talked to her and she would be left very confused. Also the teacher had just walked in. That was probably the best thing that could have happened for the poor boys brain because he had been close to just straight out asking even though he knew it was the stupidest thing he could do, he may have even just blurted it out if he had been left to dwell on it any longer.
'Marinette being Ladybug...huh' He thought pretending to focus on his notes as class dragged on. At least it wasn't Chloe he shuddered at the thought, recalling the Miss WIFI incident. When he thought it might actually be her.
Later that night, when an akuma attacked Adrien found himself quite excited, well at least more excited than usual to become Chat Noir and see Ladybug. Even when it did involve fighting a crazy akumatized person who seemed to be terrorizing Paris with 'were those DINOSAURS!?' Man, he didn't know how they were gonna deal with this.
Though, like usual the heroes figured it out and Ladybug eventually was able to change the dark akuma butterfly back into a regular light butterfly and set the city straight once again, and not a moment too soon the T-Rex that had been trying to eat the black leather clad hero had just realized it could use it's' head to destroy the buildings that Chat Noir had cornered himself into, so it could use its' tiny hands to grab him.
After the battle Ladybug and Chat Noir met on top of a nearby building for their customary fist bump. Ladybugs earrings beeped signaling her transformation would soon wear off.
"Ladybug wait!" Chat called after her as she turned to leave, she looked over her shoulder at him, confused, raising a curios eyebrow at him. The black cat paused, unsure what to do know, he hadn't actually thought about how he was going to ask her.
The super heroine shrugged and turned back to continue leaving as her earrings beeped again.
"Wait ladybug!" he called again "...or should I say Marinette?' He asked relying on Chat Noir's smooth, cocky personality to just ask the question that had been bothering him all day.
He grinned slightly when he saw her freeze and her shoulder muscles tense. "W-What wh-who's that?" she asked trying to play it off, stuttering across her words in a way that sounded pleasing familiar to her partner.
Chat cockily sauntered over to her, proud he had figured it out. "I believe it to be you m'lady." he stated before losing his typical Chat Noir cool when he saw the distressed look in her eyes. She really had wanted to keep their identities a secret, suddenly he felt bad for betraying her trust like this. Not that it was completely his fault that he recognized her laugh, but with his cocky attitude about the whole thing he had never thought of her and now felt so awful about it.
Suddenly her earrings let out one last beep warning she was about to detransfom, but it didn't matter now. Chat couldn't help the slight skip in his heart when the bright light engulfed her and faded away revealing Marinette. He felt even worse about it when he saw the forlorn look she wore even clearer without the mask, and chided himself for being so selfish.
"A-Are You disappointed?" she asked not meeting his eyes, which widened in shock 'Was that why she wanted to keep it a secret so badly' he wondered 'because she thought she would be a disappointment?'
Apparently he had spent to long not saying anything, as he noticed tears gathering in Marinette's as she turned to leave for the third time that night. In typical Chat Noir fashion he acted on impulse and wrapped the smaller girl in his arms, holding her close in what he hoped was a comforting manner.
"Of course I'm not disappointed." he murmured into her hair, feeling her body stiffen at the closeness, but he was happy to note she didn't pull away "I was actually kind of happy when I started to think it might be you." He admitted sheepishly.
"How did you figure it out?" she asked curiously, voice still quite as she whispered into his chest, without his enhanced senses he wasn't sure he would have been able to hear her.
"Your laugh." he stated simply.
"My laugh?" she asked, pulling away slightly so she could look up at him curiously, thankfully she no longer looked so upset, and he tried (and succeeded) in not showing his excitement at the fact she was letting him keep his arms around her.
"Yesterday after the akuma attack you were laughing so freely and beautifully and today when I walked into class you were laughing and it was unmistakably the same." he explained.
Her eyes widened and she looked up to study his face closely "You're in my class?"
Chat nodded, blushing slightly at the close proximity of their faces as she tried to figure out who he was behind the mask, she didn't seem to notice though, which was fine by him for if she had she surely would have pulled away. Suddenly his ring let out its final beep signaling he too would soon detransform. Marinette regretfully pulled away a slight blush dusting her cheeks when she realized their closeness.
"Y-You don't have to show me who you are if you don't want to."
"You already know that I'm in your class," he shrugged "plus you were always the one who was concerned with secret identities." He confessed, internally cringing as he recalled his insensitivity earlier, letting his transformation wear off.
"A-Adrien!" Marinette's eyes widened in surprise as the bright light that consumed him faded and she completely pulled away from their embrace in her astonishment.
The blonde, now normal looking boy rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed. "A-Are you disappointed?" he fidgeted uncomfortably under her prolonged surprised stare.
She immediately cleared herself of her initial shock and shook her head furiously in order to comfort his worries and tell him of course she was not disappointed. Which helped calm his nerves almost immediately.
"It's just-" Marinette said as she covered her mouth in a failed effort to stop a small giggle from escaping "well it's just-" she couldn't help it when she burst into laughter
Adrien smiled, knowing the laughing wasn't directed at him so he just basked in the glorious sound as she tried to catch her breath in order to explain. He was satisfied just listening to her, he must have been the luckiest boy in the world, even with his bad luck, because it had led him to being able to hear that beautiful sound three times that week, three, and this time he would be sure to ask why she was making such a beautiful sound.
"What's so funny my lady?" he asked, grinning when he noticed how easily she blushed at the causal use of his nickname for her in costume, out of costume. He had only ever dreamed of being able to illicit such a reaction from her, and now here they were.
"I was just always so nervous talking to you in school" she explained between gasps of air as she collected herself "and yet we were fighting crime together almost every day. Plus the main reason I deflected Chat Noir affections was because I had a crush on you." Marinette blushed furiously and covered her mouth in surprise, obviously she hadn't meant to say that last part out loud but in her dazed mirthful state she hadn't been able to properly filter her thoughts before they reached her mouth.
Adrien chuckled lightly, face slightly red. "That is funny" he admitted thoughtfully, finding it incredibly amusing that the only thing in the way of his affections had been him. He was slightly upset that she was no longer laughing as freely as she had been before, but he shrugged it off with a feeling that with this new development in their relationship he would be able to make her laugh like that in, that beautiful way, over and over.
A/N- This was my first ML fanfic! Hope you enjoyed! I apologize for any and all grammar errors and if it was at all OOC I'm just getting used to writing these characters, which reminds me I realized once I'd already finished it that I had completely forgot about Tikki and Plagg! So we're just gonna pretend they stayed quite threw that whole ordeal...okay? Thanks...