Nino felt like the absolute unluckiest guy in France. Possibly in the world. During the latest akuma attack, he could have run and hidden literally anywhere in the school, but he chose to dash into an empty classroom and hide under a desk. Unfortunately for him, someone else had the same idea.
"Tikki, transform me!"
Oh. My. God. Nino couldn't even blink. Ladybug—Marinette—had ducked out as quickly as she'd come in. His thoughts were a jumble of,
Oh my god oh my god oh my god.
I have to tell Adrien.
But I can't betray Marinette!
Alya will kill me if she finds out I know.
Alya will kill Marinette if I tell her.
But Adrien has a massive crush on Ladybug!
Who is Marinette!
Who has a crush (that I'm not supposed to know about) on Adrien!
Oh, god, I'm so screwed.
For an agonizing month (a whole month!), Nino clamped his mouth shut over the words every time they wanted to spill out. He went out of his way to prevent others from finding out the way he had.
He was pretty good at keeping secrets, but this one was too big. It was too heavy a load for him to bear on his own.
"Nino, are you doing okay?" Adrien asked. "That's like the fifth time you've sighed since we got back to your room."
"Dude." Nino took his hat off and rubbed his face, knocking his glasses askew. "Listen, I can't… I have to tell you something."
Adrien's heart sank a little. Did Nino know he was Chat Noir? "What's up?"
Nino adjusted his glasses, ignoring the heavy feeling in his stomach. "This isn't my secret, so you can't tell anyone. Not a soul."
His friend was confused. "If it's not your secret, you shouldn't tell anyone."
Nino groaned. "But I can't keep it to myself anymore! It's making me crazy! Please, just… I need to tell someone."
Adrien bit his lip. He was already keeping one secret. He could help his friend keep another. He sighed. "Alright. What is it?"
Nino leaned close and whispered. "I know who Ladybug is."
Adrien's heart dropped to the floor. "Nino, you can't tell me."
"But I already started. I was hiding under a desk when I saw her transform. Listen, man, I can't tell Alya because she runs the Ladyblog. You're the only one I can tell." He gripped his hat in his hands as Adrien replied.
"No," Adrien stalled, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You have other friends, right? What about Marinette? I'm sure she can keep a secret."
The look in Nino's eyes went from desperate to panicked. He shook his head slowly. "No, dude."
Adrien grabbed Nino's shoulder for support, eyes wide as his brain took the hint and ran with it. "Oh, my god."
"See? Now you understand why I can only tell you!"
Adrien sat down on the edge of Nino's bed, dazed. "Marinette. Oh, my god. Nino, she's going to kill me. She's going to murder us in our sleep."
His distant stare was starting to scare Nino. "Dude, you okay?"
"Say goodbye to your friendly neighborhood cat," Adrien mumbled as his friend gripped his shoulders.
Luckily for both of them, Nino just thought he was going delusional. "Oh, hell, I broke him. Earth to Adrien!" He tapped his friend's forehead with his knuckles. "Listen, dude, you can't tell anyone. Especially not Alya or Marinette. It'd ruin their friendship and our lives. Do you understand?"
Adrien nodded dumbly.
When Adrien's bodyguard drove him home, he stared out the window, mind racing. On the other hand, Nino felt much lighter, having unknowingly handed to his friend a much heavier weight than he could have understood.
Now Chat Noir knew who Ladybug was.