In this one-shot song-fiction, our favorite kitten has figured out that Marinette and Ladybug are one and the same.
Problem is, he's known in school as a womanizer, but as Cat Noir, he's as loyal and faithful as any dog. But he's smitten with Marinette, and now he isn't sure what to do.
The song "What Do I Need With Love?" from Thoroughly Modern Millie is included.
If you pay attention, you'll probably notice a reference to another cartoon. Keep an eye out for it!
It was just another day at school for Adrien Agreste. It was the usual scene: he was sitting next to his best friend Nino Lahiffe, in front of Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Alya Césaire.
If one was unaware that Adrien was a model for his famous fashion-designer father, one would think that Adrien was just your average, seventeen-year-old boy. But even if the modeling part was taken away, he was not your normal teenager. He was also the superhero Cat Noir, the holder of the Cat Miraculous and the embodiment of bad luck. But ironically, that was lucky for him.
He had such a restricting lifestyle and such a distant father in Gabriel Agreste, that being Cat Noir was the best way for him to cut loose and be true to himself without his father being on his back about it.
However, when he was also away from his father's prying eyes at school, he was also known for one thing: womanizing.
He had no idea when it started, or maybe he was always this way. Whenever a willing girl came along, he indulged her and flirted with her. He would even go out on a date with the girl.
The most repetitive case was how he was constantly flirting with Chloé Bourgeois, the daughter of the mayor of Paris. They had known each other since they were in diapers, but that still did not make her any more appealing to him.
She was about as catty and bratty as she could get, and no matter what she did – including misuse of the emergency hotline just to get out of a baking lesson in class – she got away with it all because her father was the mayor.
Then there was Lila Rossi, an Italian exchange student. She was known as a huge liar, so he never believed a word she said, minus her supposed affection for him.
Every night, he was on a date with a different girl, much the chagrin of Plagg, his kwami – the creature responsible for his transformation into Cat Noir.
He would flirt with every girl in school, minus those who had either had a partner or could not stand to even breathe the same air as he did. He had his fans, but he had a few haters, too.
Adrien was a player, but he had standards and did not want to be the cause of any strife in a relationship.
For example, Adrien knew that Nino was dating Alya, so he was not going to try anything with her, lest he lose Nino's friendship. He also had no intention of hitting on Myléne, since he knew Ivan would probably break his face over it. Ivan was not a violent person, but sometimes he was willing to physically fight back when pushed to it. That was a gamble that Adrien was not willing to take.
"Adrikins!" Chloé squealed, as she came into the room, with Sabrina following behind. The queen bee immediately made a beeline for his desk. "So, daddy has rented out the entire movie theatre for us tomorrow tonight, so we can watch as many films as we can!"
Adrien winked and said, "Looking forward to it, baby."
Chloé squealed again before going to her desk. Adrien swore he heard gagging from behind him, courtesy of either Alya or Marinette.
As much as he valued Chloé's "friendship," at the same time, he could not stand her behavior and it made him nauseous at times. Especially the way she treated Marinette.
In fact, after they had first met, Adrien had to admit that he was smitten with the raven-haired girl. If he were thoroughly honest, he thought Marinette was beautiful. Not the superficial, overly-maintained beauty that Chloé would flaunt, or the cunning, deceitful beauty that Lila would ooze. No, Marinette's beauty could only be equated to that of Belle from "Beauty and the Beast." As a child, it was one of his favorite films. And Adrien even felt Belle paled in comparison to Marinette.
He would never admit it out loud, but he was a major believer in love at first sight. As far as he knew, that was how Gabriel reacted when he met his mother. But if there was one thing he learned from his father, it was that no one should ever rush into love. It was just going to embarrass him.
However, it seemed that Marinette was uncomfortable around him. When he had been blamed for putting gum on her seat when they first met, and even after that misunderstanding had been cleared up, she was still incoherent around him. He had no idea why, though.
So, he decided that in order to try and get over Marinette, he would try to fill the void with the company of other girls. Adrien knew that his luck was pretty rotten, because that plan of his did not work.
In spite of his womanizing and his success with the girls, there was something that had been bugging him for a while. Ladybug, specifically.
Since they had fought Stoneheart together, he had fallen head-over-heels for Ladybug, the holder of the Ladybug Miraculous, and the personification of good luck. The two of them made a great team, with him destroying anything with a touch via his Cataclysm, and her Lucky Charm conjuring up some random item that she would creatively use to save the day. And then using her "Miraculous Ladybug," she would be able to clean up any mess and fix any broken items that the akuma would cause.
While she had insisted on drawing a very clear line between their superhero and civilian lives, they had to admit that they made mistakes. Cat Noir's feelings for Ladybug had caused at least one akuma, and Ladybug was no stranger to causing akumas herself. Then again, no one was perfect, even her.
What was bothering him was the fact that even though she insisted otherwise, he had figured out who the girl under the mask was.
It was the very same girl who would stammer around him as Adrien, but be a coherent, intelligent girl towards him as Cat Noir. The same girl that he would hit on either in or out of the mask, but without success.
As he was pondering over this revelation, he looked behind him and gave a warm smile to Marinette, who was giggling with Alya over something about Jagged Stone.
'She's so beautiful…' Adrien thought, a smitten look on his face. He had been head-over-heels for months.
He sighed subtly, taking the time to look at his Princess, his Lady. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the adorably-clumsy, creative, sweet, aspiring-fashion designer that he had come to know.
How did he find out that Marinette and Ladybug were one? Adrien smirked to himself as he essentially knew the best way to summarize it: curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. It was that simple.
The longer story was, he and Ladybug had just finished off yet another akuma, courtesy of Hawkmoth's shenanigans.
They had both used their respective powers, and they knew the drill: after the use of either her Lucky Charm or his Cataclysm, they had five minutes to clean up Hawkmoth's mess and then clear out before the transformation was released.
He felt that since the two of them had known each other for such a long time, he felt that he had the right to know who she was. So, after she had left, Cat Noir indulged his desires and quietly followed her.
As she swung and leaped over the city, he kept an eye on her, being quiet as a mouse. However, she stopped on the roof of one particular place: the Dupain-Cheng bakery.
'Why would she be here? Unless…' He thought. He hid behind one of the pillars on a nearby roof, and soon, a pink light flashed.
Ladybug was gone, and standing there was Marinette. When he learned about this, too many thoughts were racing through his head.
The first one being why he had not seen it sooner. She was literally right in front of him – or rather, behind him when in class. Heck, they nearly kissed when the class was trying to film a movie.
Before he could get any more upset, he remembered one thing that his father would always tell him: logic is panic's prey, so he had to chill out.
Once he relaxed, he realized that there were too many things those girls had in common for it to be a coincidence.
To start with, Marinette and Ladybug were never in the same place at the same time. Secondly, they had the exact same hair and eyes, and they even sounded identical. In fact, Adrien could swear that if Ladybug and Marinette were standing next to each other, one would think they were twins. Third, whenever it came to Chloé, it was clear that they could not stand the girl. In addition, both girls were pretty creative thinkers, be it in fashion or creative use of Lucky Charm. And they were able to think on their feet, and at times were one step ahead.
He also noticed that as Adrien, both girls stammered around him and were a bit shy. When he was Cat Noir, however, she was coherent, able to talk normally to him, and they never took his flirting seriously.
Now that he knew that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person, everything started to fit together like a puzzle.
After he had calmed down, he had realized that his crush on Marinette and his love for Ladybug carried over, mask or no mask. He was relieved that he was not smitten with two girls, but had fallen for both sides of one girl that was truly amazing.
But then Adrien realized he had a huge problem. Due to her obvious discomfort around him, whenever he even tried to talk to Marinette, she would stammer and stutter, and then turn away in fright, as if he scared the living daylights out of her. It hurt his feelings, although he never said it or let it show.
Whenever he did flirt with aspiring fashion designer, he would notice that either A: Chloé or some other girl would stare death at Marinette, or B: Nathanaël Kurtzberg would be staring death at him.
Adrien knew Nathanaël had a massive crush on Marinette, and the situation would probably get ugly if he legitimately tried to ask Marinette out in front of the aspiring comic artist.
Madame Bustier soon came into the room, and Adrien redirected his focus from Marinette to the lesson at hand.
Adrien just decided to stick with what he knew: hitting on any girl as Adrien, sticking to his lady as Cat Noir. He knew better than to blur the lines.
That night, the duo had just finished their patrol. Cat Noir decided to wait about an hour so he would not catch Marinette in the middle of transforming. The last thing he wanted was to scare her half to death by walking in on her.
After the hour had finished up, he had silently made his way to Marinette's balcony and looked in through the skylight. The moonlight that was hitting Marinette acted like a spotlight. Her midnight hair looked like it had a blue sheen to it, and her peaceful, comforted smile was gracing her lips.
"Oh, Marinette…" Cat Noir said. Just looking at her made his heart pound. He sighed romantically, wondering what could happen between them if he could just make a move.
"Oh, the places I would like to show you… Though I'm still getting to know you. I've a funny feeling, we'd make the perfect pair." Cat Noir sang, as he then sat on the balcony and looked up to the moon.
"All the famous sights I want you seeing, then nights of you and me-ing…" Cat Noir sang.
He imagined himself and Marinette going all around Paris, seeing the paintings at the Louvre, going to the Eiffel Tower, then the Grand Palais.
Then, at night, the two of them in superhero form would sit on the roof of the buildings, stargazing, holding hands.
"Me. You. We…" Cat Noir sang, as he imagined himself and Ladybug about to share a kiss.
However, he snapped out of it immediately.
"Wait a minute!" He sang, as he stood up and leaped off the roof in a hurry. "Just a minute! No, no, no, no!"
Jazz music started to play as he tried to remind himself that he was a player.
"I'm a Joe with just one aim – ev'ry night to date a diff'rent dame." Cat Noir sang, as he started dancing. He spun on his feet and started to dance.
"Call each one of 'em by the same pet name, "Hey baby!"" Cat Noir sang, as he started dancing as he moved around the rooftops of Paris.
He remembered as Adrien, he had girls going gaga over him, and he thrived in it.
"In a row, I have my ducks. Loads of gals to give me loads of yucks. Leave the cooing to the other clucks." Cat Noir sang.
He remembered that Ivan was always making efforts to make Myléne swoon; Kim's poor judge of character had him crushing on Chloé, of all girls; Nino and Alya were always together outside of class; finally, Nathanaël had been quietly pining for Marinette for who-knows-how-long.
"I don't mean maybe. Got it good. What do I need with love?" Cat Noir sang, as he swung around a pole on a roof and then hopped onto another one.
"Always practice what I preach: keep temptation out of easy reach." Cat Noir sang, while remembering that he would make efforts not to flirt with Marinette in front of other boys.
"Stick to dolls who wash their hair in bleach. I'm happy!" Cat Noir sang.
He had flashbacks of the times he would flirt around with Chloé, regardless of how many times it made him want to gag. His flirting made him happy – or so he thought.
"Come and go the way I choose. Never gonna sing the tied-down blues." Cat Noir sang.
He would go on a date with a girl and then never talk to her again unless she instigated it. He also would watch sitcoms about a man who was unhappy in his marriage, and was essentially lamenting about it.
"Other guys would kill to fill my shoes. No wing-clipped sappy." Cat Noir sang.
Adrien would often encounter other boys in school that would complain over the fact that Adrien had all the girls going after him while they were striking out everywhere. Adrien chuckled at the concept.
"Got it good, what do I need with love…" Cat Noir sang, as he noticed he had found his way back to Marinette's balcony. He immediately got a glimpse of Marinette, before once again taking off.
"That was a near-miss. Talk about a close shave. Flirting with disaster." Cat Noir sang.
He was singing this because one: he did not want to wake Marinette up in the middle of the night. Two: if he did wake her up, there would definitely be questions that he would be asked. Three: if his luck was as rotten as always, chances are that if she did wake up, things would definitely hit the fan, and then he would have to come clean about both his feelings and the knowledge that Marinette and Ladybug were one.
"There must be someone up there watching over me. Talk about a four-leaf-clover me." Cat Noir sang, as he looked up to the sky and hoped his MIA mother was watching out for him.
"Peter Rabbit's missing footsie, means I roll without a Tootsie." Cat Noir sang, as he tucked and rolled before standing up and leaped off onto another roof.
"Got it good. What do I need with love?" Cat Noir sang. "I got it good. What do I need with love?"
He looked around and saw that the building he was standing across from was a bridal shop. He immediately imagined Marinette in a wedding dress that she had designed herself.
"Skip the vows and all that rot! Tell the minister that "I do" not!" Cat Noir sang, as he erased the image from his mind and then leaped away again, trying to get closer to his house.
"Bright and breezy is the – birds and bees-y is the – free and easy is the life I've got!" Cat Noir sang, while he was running across the rooftops of Paris to get back to the mansion.
However, he stopped when he saw a poster of one of Jagged Stone's albums – specifically, the one that Marinette had designed.
"Without her…" Cat Noir sang softly.
He leaped down to the ground, and approached the poster. Marinette's face was plastered on it, and she was making a peace sign. Cat Noir's eyes were drawn to Marinette's picture, and hers alone. He sighed before giving poster-Marinette's cheek a kiss.
"Though I'm still getting to know you…" Cat Noir sang, before immediately using his baton to get back up on the roof to go home for the night.
"What do I need with love?!" Cat Noir sang aloud. "I got it good."
Cat Noir immediately found his way home. He leaped in through his bedroom window, said, "Claws In" to release the transformation.
"Got it good…" Adrien sang, as he gave Plagg some camembert to keep him quiet.
However, he saw his desk and saw a framed photograph of his beloved Marinette, with a smile on her face.
Adrien picked up the picture frame, and once again kissed the picture. He then held it close to his chest as he sang, "But now I've got it…"
He sat on his bed, and let his imagination run wild. He did not try to deny it anymore: he was in love with Marinette.
"Bad~!" Adrien sang, as he held the note for a few more seconds. After that, he fell backwards onto the bed and then placed the picture on the side table.
"Okay, so we've established that Ladybug and Marinette are the same person," Plagg said, interrupting Adrien's lovesick imagination. "Question is, how are you going to go about winning her over? It's not going to be easy."
"What do you mean, Plagg?" Adrien asked.
"There are several factors working against you," Plagg said, having finished off his camembert. "First off, she can't get a clear sentence around you when you're out of the suit, but she can talk to you just fine when you're Cat Noir. Second, you're known in school as a womanizer. Chances are that if you ask Marinette out, she's likely to think you're pulling the same old thing with her. On the other hand, as Cat Noir, you're a one-woman-cat who's loyal to Ladybug, so if you approach Marinette, she's bound to be confused and likely suspect something. Third and most importantly, she doesn't know that you know that she's Ladybug! How do you think she'll react when you come clean to her about that?"
Adrien sighed in annoyance. Plagg was right. As Adrien, he was a womanizing model who could not talk to Marinette without her becoming a stammering mess. On the other side of that fence, if he were to approach her as Cat Noir, she was bound to ask questions or maybe figure out that he knew that she's Ladybug. As either persona, he was likely to run into some obstacles.
But then an idea popped into his head. What if she was unaware that it was him approaching her romantically?
"Simple, I take an indirect approach." Adrien said. He leaped off the bed and ran to his desk. He took out a pen and some paper, and started writing something.
"Do you have to do this now? It's nearly midnight, and you have school in nine hours. Shouldn't you get some sleep first?" Plagg asked, yawning.
Adrien stopped. Once again, Plagg had a good point.
"Right… I'll worry about this later." Adrien said, before putting on his pajamas and going to bed.
As he drifted off to sleep, images of him and Marinette danced in his head.
The next day at school, Marinette was with Alya at her locker. She was hoping for a quiet, uneventful day. No akumas, no stress, zilch.
"I hope I can try to stay calm and say something that makes sense in front of Adrien today." Marinette said, as she fiddled with her lock.
"Come on, Marinette," Alya said, scoffing at the idea. "You deserve better than that lady-killer. All he did was give you his umbrella and then you're head-over-heels for a smooth-talking model?"
"Yeah, his flirting with other girls is a real nuisance." Marinette admitted.
One thing that Marinette hated about Adrien was his womanizing. He had Chloé and Lila at his beck and call; all he had to do was wink, and girls were swooning over him. The only girls who did not go bonkers over him like that were Marinette herself, Alya, and anyone else in school who had a partner. Marinette would swoon, but on the inside.
"I can't believe he's best friends with my boyfriend." Alya snorted.
As Marinette opened the lock, she opened the door. However, she stopped when she saw something inside.
"That's strange." Marinette said, as she quirked a brow. Something was off.
"What's up?" Alya asked.
"Check this out," Marinette said, as she pulled out a bouquet of red and pink roses that had been left in her locker, and there was even a burgundy-heart-shaped card attached to it. "How did this get in here…?"
"Who knows?" Alya asked. "But OMG, girl! Looks like someone has his heart set on you! Read it, Marinette!"
Marinette rolled her eyes. Alya was always interested in her love life, so she indulged her best friend.
The card's writing was in pearl-white, so it stood out against the burgundy paper on the card. The writing was in an elegant, cursive script, and it was written with a practiced hand.
"Mon chéri Marinette Dupain-Cheng,
Skin of cream, hair of night. Eyes of blue, a heavenly sight.
"Love is blind" is what they say, but I disagree every minute of every day. Those who have eyes for another girl fail to see how you light up my world.
In the language of flowers, this bouquet of twenty roses, ten in pink and ten in red, says, "I'm sincere in my love for you."
Amour, Your Secret Admirer."
Marinette's face went about as red as the roses, and her eyes bulged for a second. Someone was in love with her, and she was pretty surprised.
She smiled, feeling very flattered. Marinette's heart was pounding, because she wondered who would do this for her.
"Oh, wow!" Alya said, her eyes lighting up. "Looks like Nathanaël finally grew a spine and decided to make a move."
"I don't think this is from Nathanaël," Marinette said, a little skeptical. "Yes, a more indirect approach like this is something that would fit him, but I'm not sure he's my secret admirer. He's an artist, so I think a personally-sketched picture or something is more his style."
"Hmm, valid point. That would be more like him. But if it wasn't Nathanaël, then who?" Alya asked.
Unbeknownst to the two of them, Adrien was hiding around the corner, and he had a smirk on his face.
He let Plagg out of his inner jacket pocket to show him the results.
"So this is what you meant by an indirect approach. Good thinking!" Plagg said.
"Hey, Adrien!" Nino shouted from nearby. Plagg immediately hid inside the jacket pocket.
"Nino, hey bud." Adrien said, as he and Nino shared a fist bump. Adrien immediately went back to watching Marinette and Alya.
"Whatcha looking at?" Nino asked, as he took a peek.
He immediately saw the roses and card in Marinette's arms and then he got a shocked look on his face.
Alya must have noticed, because she was about to catch Nino spying on them. Nino, noticing this, pulled Adrien behind and panicked.
"What's going on?" Adrien asked.
"Um, hello!" Nino hissed, gesturing to the girls. "Marinette has a bouquet of roses and a card, and from the looks of it, it was an anonymous present!"
Adrien snorted a bit before saying, "Your point?"
"Dude, someone beat you to the punch and moved in on your girl!" Nino said, in near anger, grabbing Adrien by the shoulders.
Nino was not just Alya's boyfriend, he was Adrien's best friend and greatest confidant, aside from Plagg. Adrien could only really talk to Plagg about his Cat Noir-related problems. Nino, on the other hand, was someone Adrien could talk to about almost anything else.
Adrien admitted his feelings for Marinette to Nino about two weeks after he figured out that she was Ladybug. Obviously, Adrien left out the superhero details when talking about this. He also told Nino that the only reason he was skirt-chasing was to try and get over his feelings for her. Sadly, Adrien yielded and told Nino that it was not working.
Adrien chuckled a bit, before saying, "Nino, what makes you think I would let that happen?"
He winked at his best friend, and then Nino realized what Adrien was saying.
"Oh…" Nino said, before growing a smile and chuckling. "So you're going the "secret admirer" route, eh? Classic, man."
He and Adrien shared another fist-bump.
"Hah. Wait until Alya hears this." Nino said, moving to tell Alya.
"Nino, don't you DARE!" Adrien whispered, pulling Nino back by the shoulder.
"What, why?" Nino asked.
"Dude, you and I both know that Alya has no sense of discretion! If she finds out about this, she'll tell Marinette, and then my plan will be ruined!" Adrien said. "This situation isn't called a "secret" admirer for nothing, Nino! Marinette won't take me seriously unless I woo her this way!"
Nino nodded in understanding.
"True. After all, the biggest womanizer in school being head-over-heels for someone as clumsy and innocent as Marinette? I wouldn't believe it, either." Nino said, snickering.
"Nino…!" Adrien seethed, not sure whether or not Nino was teasing him.
"Adrikins!" A shrill, girlish voice shouted. Adrien's shoulders slumped and he groaned.
"Chloé…" Adrien said, as the rich girl hugged his arm again.
"So, are we still on for our movie date tonight? I'm sure if you call Natalie, she can clear your schedule for tonight so we can have the night all to ourselves." Chloé said, as she was getting into Adrien's space.
"Um…" Adrien said, as he started walking to class with Chloé. The two blondes turned the corner and came upon Marinette and Alya.
Adrien blushed, trying to maintain his cool. He was not expecting to encounter Marinette this fast. He wanted to give it a bit of time before he said anything.
"Hey, Marinette," Chloé said, sneering, before going into a teasing/sarcastic voice. "Nice flowers. Where'd you get them?"
"If you must know, Chloé, someone put them in my locker," Marinette said. "A secret admirer. Even the card he left was very endearing."
"Hah. So someone dug up some ugly plants and put them in the locker of the least-eligible girl in school? Obviously this boy's got poor taste." Chloé mocked, before scratching under Adrien's chin.
Adrien nearly gave a visible grimace. He only liked getting scratched like that by Ladybug.
"Oh, please, whoever gave Marinette this gift clearly has GOOD taste in girls. That's a lot more than I can say for Mr. Womanizing Model here." Alya said, scoffing and then pointing to Adrien.
This hurt Adrien like a knife in the heart. On the other hand, he knew he could not defend himself without blowing his cover and ruining his plan.
"Hah! Well, Adrikins here is too good for Marinette, anyway!" Chloé insisted.
"If anything, Marinette is too good for Adrien." Alya said, in Marinette's defense.
"I deserve someone who will be loyal and faithful to me," Marinette said. "Like my secret admirer, whoever he is. Come on, Alya, let's get going."
Marinette took a pink rose out of the bouquet and put it in her hair, while holding onto the rest of the bouquet. Then the girls left the company of the blondes.
Adrien smiled to himself. The bouquet seemed to work, but now he needed to keep up the ruse for a little while so he could win Marinette's heart and then break the news to her.
In the classroom, Marinette kept looking over the card and the flowers. She had a smitten gaze on her face.
"Wow, you must really be happy that a boy is interested in you if you can't stop reading that card." Alya said.
"I know," Marinette said, before turning to her best friend. "But maybe I fall for boys a little too quickly? All it takes is something like this and then I'm a pile of goo? I'm so pathetic."
"Oh, come on," Alya said. "There's nothing wrong with falling for a guy who clearly has a thing for you and is sweet enough to do this."
"But still… who could he be?" Marinette asked.
They were so absorbed in this situation that they failed to notice that Adrien was silently cheering to himself and he gave Nino a thumb's up. Nino smiled, but he was a bit nervous – how Marinette would react to the truth was beyond him.
Adrien decided to keep going with this. He was on a roll and was not about to stop. He started to brainstorm ideas for what he was going to do next.
The next day, Adrien was in front of Marinette's locker. Using his intangibility powers, Plagg came out of the locker door.
"As gross as this is, I think she'll like it." Plagg said.
"Thanks for the encouragement, Plagg." Adrien said, with a disbelieving shake of his head. Plagg then flew into Adrien's jacket pocket again to hide.
He heard someone coming, and then made a break for it.
Just as he cleared out, Marinette and Tikki – her kwami – made their way to the former's locker.
Marinette fiddled with her locker. She was in a chipper mood because of the events from yesterday, especially the flowers.
"Oh, be sure to remember all of the books for classes today." Tikki said.
"I know, Tikki, I know," Marinette said, as she opened her locker. Once she saw what was inside, she squealed with delight. "Oh my gosh! Tikki!"
Marinette reached into her locker and pulled out the newest present: it was a large, stuffed ladybug that was holding a new sketchpad, with a cylinder package of seventy-two colored pencils, including gold and silver in metallic. She even noticed the sketchpad and pencil set was from Gabriel.
Once again, there was a burgundy, heart-shaped card.
"Wow, looks like your secret admirer has struck again!" Tikki said, as Marinette smile brightly. However, the kwami saw someone coming and dove back into Marinette's bag.
"Hey, Marinette," Alya said, before noticing the gift in her arms. "Looks like your mystery Romeo gave you another gift."
"He sure did." Marinette said, blushing and hugging the toy.
"Come on, girl, read the card!" Alya said.
Marinette nodded eagerly before taking the card up into her hand.
"Ma douce Marinette Dupain-Cheng,
A future fashion designer of your caliber only deserves the best. Thus, here's a present from the brand of Gabriel Agreste.
Forever will my heart belong to you. I can only hope that you'll love me, too.
Amour, Your Secret Admirer."
Marinette smiled, she blushed, and she started jumping up and down while squealing in delight. She then hugged the ladybug plush and cuddled with it, but she was so flattered and caught up in the moment that she did not notice the fact that the toy was a ladybug…
However, unknown to them, Adrien had seen the whole thing and was absolutely adoring the reaction. He sighed romantically, hoping that his next present for her would make her absolutely ecstatic. Adrien planned to sneak it in later.
"Adrien, why give her a ladybug plush?" Plagg asked. "Isn't that too obvious of a hint that her secret admirer knows she's Ladybug?"
"I'm sure she'll realize that later, but I'm sure she'll just play it off to anyone who asks by saying that she's a big Ladybug fan." Adrien chuckled before going to the classroom to meet up with Nino.
Marinette was distracted by her new presents for the rest of the day. She did not even bother responding to Chloé's teasing or everyone else's questions.
Adrien did not bother giving Marinette any grief, since he already knew she liked the gifts. He was happy, knowing that his gestures were working.
"Wow, Marinette, looks like you've caught someone's attention." Sabine said, as she noticed Marinette coming in with the second load of presents.
"I wish I knew who he was." Marinette said, with a smitten sigh escaping her lips.
"A secret admirer, huh?" Tom said. "I remember seeing girls getting secret admirer presents and notes all the time when I was your age."
Marinette tuned out as she gave her present a lovesick gaze. She really wanted to know who her secret admirer was. While she hoped and prayed on the off chance that it was Adrien, she slowly started to get go of that hope. After all, a womanizer would never give her a second glance.
Speaking of Adrien, he was standing outside the doors of the bakery, being sure to stay out of sight. In his hands was a white box with a red ribbon tying down a single red rose, and another burgundy, heart-shaped card with Marinette's name on it.
"Just give it to her in person." Plagg whispered.
"And blow my cover? No thanks." Adrien said. He gently put the box down, rang the doorbell, and then he ran.
Sabine answered the door, saying, "Hello?"
She looked around and saw no one was there, and then she looked down to see the present.
"Marinette!" Sabine said, as she picked up the box and brought it inside.
"Yes, Maman?" Marinette asked.
"You got another gift, it seems." Sabine said, as she gave Marinette the box.
Marinette squealed and then she ran upstairs to her bedroom.
"Maybe this boy will be the one Marinette goes steady with." Tom said.
"I hope so. Certainly better than Adrien Agreste." Sabine said, as she hugged her husband.
Once Marinette got to her desk, she opened the box to see a small bolt of black satin and a larger amount of red taffeta.
"Oh, WOW!" Marinette squealed, her eyes alight with joy.
"But… red and black? Doesn't that seem a little suspicious?" Tikki asked.
Marinette immediately had her head cleared, and then she remembered the Ladybug toy from earlier.
"And a ladybug stuffed toy, too…? You're right, Tikki, something isn't right." Marinette said.
"Maybe the person just thinks you're a big Ladybug fan?" Tikki said, trying to think of any other reasons.
"That sounds about right," Marinette said, calming down. "Now, let's look at that card!"
Marinette immediately opened the card up and read it.
"Mon bien-aimé Marinette Dupain-Cheng,
My love knows no bounds. I want to come forward, but I'm scared of causing a scene.
I want to tell you the truth privately. Please use this fabric to make a dress. Knowing you, you'll make it your best.
Friday night at the Grand Paris Hotel penthouse is where we'll meet. At 9PM, don't be late, my sweet.
Amour, Your Secret Admirer."
"Looks like he wants you to put your designing chops to the test!" Tikki said.
"But… Friday night? That only gives me about a week," Marinette said, as she took out her new sketchpad and pencils. "Time to get to work!"
Once Marinette had a design down on her new sketchpad's pages, she immediately smiled. She took the taffeta and started to do her thing. She was delighted at this chance.
The next day at school, Marinette showed Alya the card.
"Looks like he's given you time to make a dress. He's finally ready to come out of the shadows!" Alya said.
Nino and Adrien shared a fist bump. Adrien was confident that he could win Marinette's heart yet.
"But…" Alya began.
"But…?" Marinette asked.
"Asking you to meet him at a hotel penthouse in the middle of the night?" Alya asked, crossing her arms. "I doubt he has ill intentions, but be careful."
Adrien winced while Nino gave him a deadpan look that said, 'Dude, what were you thinking?' Adrien clearly was not thinking this whole thing through, asking his beloved to meet in the hotel.
Adrien merely gave a sheepish laugh, and he tried his best not to give Marinette grief in class, lest he blow his chances.
Days passed, and Adrien kept dropping love notes in secret. Since he had to build up Marinette's excitement before the big night, he had to make sure he could hold Marinette's interest for at least another week.
Thursday night, after patrol, Cat Noir had once again snuck onto the balcony of Marinette's house. He looked in through the skylight and saw Marinette gazing at the bouquet again with a lovesick smile. Cat Noir also saw that Marinette was still reading the notes. He saw Tikki, too.
"Whoever this boy is certainly has it hard for you, Marinette!" Tikki said.
Cat Noir smirked, knowing that Tikki had it right. He definitely had it bad for Marinette.
"All of these gifts and cards are so sweet, Tikki. Who could he be?" Marinette said.
"I don't know, but if his goal is to make you go gaga and swoon over him, it worked. So, you're finally going to move on from Adrien?" Tikki asked.
Cat Noir's breath hitched when he heard his civilian name. He questioned that particular statement.
"…Yes," Marinette said. "Alya's right: I deserve better than a player. Adrien only wanted to clear the air between us when he gave me his umbrella. For all I know, that could have been out of pity. This secret admirer, however, seems to be serious about me."
"Then when you meet him tomorrow night, give him a shot. If things don't work out, it's not like you didn't try." Tikki said.
"…You're right, Tikki," Marinette said. "Enough pining over an unattainable boy. Time for me to find happiness elsewhere."
Cat Noir then noticed something else: there were pictures of Adrien Agreste on her walls, but he soon saw Marinette stand up and begin taking them down. She then threw the photos in the garbage.
"Goodbye, Adrien. Have fun playing around with every girl in school." Marinette said to the last of the photos before throwing it in the trash.
Cat Noir realized something: Marinette was only stammering and stuttering around Adrien because she liked him so much. And now she was planning on moving on from him to someone who genuinely liked her instead of flirting around with other girls.
Now that he knew this, he was evermore determined to prove his love for her. He had to step up his game tomorrow night. And he knew just what to do. He leaped off the roof to get ready for his date that following night.
Friday afternoon, Marinette had finished her dress, and she ran downstairs to get her corsage.
"Marinette, you have your meeting with your secret admirer, right?" Sabine asked.
"I do, Maman," Marinette said. "I know that the meeting time and place is a little bit of a concern, so I have a few secret weapons up my sleeve just in case."
The potential that the secret admirer was probably another akuma had crossed Marinette's mind, so she was ready to transform into Ladybug when she needed to. So, she would bring along Tikki just in case.
"Just be careful, dear." Tom said.
"Okay!" Marinette said, as she took the corsage out of the freezer and then ran back upstairs to get dressed and her face ready.
At the penthouse of the Grand Paris hotel, Adrien had finished getting himself ready.
"Looking good, Agreste," Adrien said, as he clicked his tongue, and winked. "I'll win Marinette's heart faster than Philip and Aurora!"
He was wearing a somewhat informal tuxedo, and he had a green handkerchief and matching necktie. He also had a red rose boutonnière in the suit, too.
"Yeah, unless she rejects you like Belle did to Gaston about three times." Plagg sarcastically remarked.
The poor kwami had to endure watching both the animated and the live-action versions of the famous Disney film, and while he admitted it was entertaining, the romance was unpleasant to him.
"Yeah, well I'm not Gaston!" Adrien said, as he turned to Plagg and said through grit teeth. "I won't treat her like that."
"Assuming she doesn't spit in your face and run." Plagg muttered.
"I heard that! And you're supposed to be keeping a lookout!" Adrien said, as he ran around the room, setting everything up.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." Plagg said. He turned invisible and then he went through the door to the penthouse. He kept himself invisible to keep an eye out for Marinette.
"You're looking great, Marinette." Tikki said, as she and Marinette had walked out of the elevator, when they made it to the top floor of the hotel.
"Thanks, Tikki." Marinette said.
Her dress was and above-the-knee dress with a sweetheart neckline with pleated fabric, a bell skirt with ruffles, and the black satin was used to make a sash with a small bow on the back. The satin was also used to make a small choker with one of the red roses that she had been gifted over the week. The dress itself was fairly simple, but it worked and it looked like something a professional made. The corsage she was gifted was on her wrist, and it matched the choker she made, and she was wearing black flats to match the dress. She kept her makeup fairly simple, since she wanted the clothes to be the star. Her hair was not in its pigtails this time. She wanted to break out of her usual routine. And as always, she had her Miraculous on.
"I'm sure whoever this boy is will treat you with kindness and love." Tikki said.
"I hope you're right, Tikki." Marinette said, as she kept walking down the hall.
Plagg, though invisible, saw them coming and flew back into the room.
"She's coming!" Plagg called.
"Right! Plagg, make yourself scarce. I'll take it from here." Adrien said, as he made to shut out the lights.
Marinette stood outside the door to the penthouse, and was beginning to second-guess herself.
"Don't be shy, Marinette!" Tikki said. "Go in!"
Marinette took a deep breath, and then knocked on the door to the room. The door opened by itself, and the room itself was pitch black. Marinette steeled her nerves and stepped inside.
Once she was inside, the door closed, and she could have sworn she heard the door get locked. This made her a bit nervous, but she had to stay calm, lest she scare her potential new boyfriend away.
"Um… Hello?" Marinette called.
Once she said this, the curtains in the room opened, and the moonlight lit up the whole room. Looking around, Marinette saw that there were flowers everywhere, all in different varieties and colors. But they also had one thing in common: they were all flowers that ladybugs tended to like the most.
Someone hugged Marinette from behind and a voice said, "You've outdone yourself with your dress, mon chéri."
Marinette's face burned with a blush, but feeling no sense of danger from the person hugging her, she relaxed and leaned into his embrace. However, she also recognized the voice.
"Wait a second…" Marinette said. "Do I know..."
Just as she said this, the person in question broke the hug and backed up. Marinette turned around and saw Adrien leaning against the door and giving her a smile.
Her eyes bulged out and said, "Adrien?!"
He merely smiled a bit and gave her a nod, before saying, "Yes, Bugaboo. I'm your secret admirer."
"Bugaboo… Oh, NO…" Marinette said, as she immediately clued in. "Adrien, you…!"
"Yes," Adrien said, nodding and giving her a bit of a serious expression. "I know that you're Ladybug."
"But… how?! Why?! I thought…" Marinette began stammering again, completely embarrassed. Great, now her crush-turned-secret admirer must think Ladybug was absolutely pathetic.
Adrien merely started chuckling a bit. Marinette stopped when he heard his laughing.
"Are you trying to make a fool of me?!" Marinette said, tears about to form.
"No," Adrien said. "After all, I'm not one for kitten around."
"Really?" Marinette said with a deadpan expression. "A cat… pun… Hold on…"
Adrien smirked and said, "Yep. Cat Noir, at your service, Princess."
Marinette was now completely confused. Adrien was Cat Noir, and he had somehow figured out that she was Ladybug. She had so many questions.
"How did you find out?" Marinette asked. "Or to start with, how long have you known?"
"About four months, now." Adrien said, looking down.
For about a third of a year, Marinette's cover had been blown. But at least her secret was still a secret. She had to give Adrien credit if he could keep it to himself for that long.
"You've got acting chops, I'll give you that. You never acted any different." Marinette said.
"Thanks," Adrien said. "I felt like I had the entitlement to know who you were. After all, we had been working together for so long, I was wondering why you still did not seem to trust me with our secret identities. So I followed you and… Well, found out."
Marinette slapped herself in the face at this revelation.
"So… the loyal, faithful cat I've come to know and appreciate is actually the school playboy?! How rotten can my luck get?!" Marinette said, groaning.
Adrien looked hurt at this. However, he leaned off the door and started to approach her.
"Sorry to put you through all of this, Marinette," Adrien said with a sigh. "But realistically speaking, I couldn't do this face-to-face."
"Why not?" Marinette inquired.
"I know my reputation as a womanizer is pretty famous. Would you have believed me if I came out with it the old-fashioned way?" Adrien inquired.
"Probably not." Marinette said.
"Exactly why I did it like this," Adrien said. "Besides that, you're smart. You'd probably realize something was up if I approached you as Cat Noir, too."
"Also valid." Marinette said, understanding Adrien's point.
He immediately took Marinette's hand, the one with the corsage on it, and he got down on one knee. Adrien kissed her hand, a la Cat Noir.
"A-Adrien, I…" Marinette said, as she was surprised. Her face went redder than it already was, and she put her free hand to her heart.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng…" Adrien said. "My heart has yearned for you ever since we first met."
Marinette was shocked that he had liked her for that long. He stood up and hugged Marinette close to him, so their faces were close and were still able to maintain eye contact. Marinette was stunned silent at the seriousness in Adrien's face.
"Your midnight hair, your bluebell eyes… Your beautiful lips…" Adrien said, as he began to pour his heart out, and he tenderly stroked her cheek with his hand. "I couldn't say anything before. I didn't have the courage. But tonight… I have the strength to tell you my true feelings, mon amour."
"But… Chloé… Lila… Those other girls…" Marinette began, questioning Adrien's fidelity.
Adrien knew that topic would be brought up. He sighed, and sadly said, "All those other girls meant nothing. It was only a useless way to try and move on from you, since just talking to you made you stammer and stutter uncontrollably. So… Yes, this method was elaborate, but I didn't see much other choice. I love you, Marinette."
Marinette hugged Adrien back by his neck and said, "Stupid cat…"
Adrien flinched a bit, thinking that he totally blew it, but then her next words surprised him.
"When I'm not Ladybug, I'm too timid around the guy I like. I can't speak a clear sentence around you because I like you so much." Marinette said.
"Yeah, well I already knew that, My Lady," Adrien said with a chuckle, to Marinette's confusion. "I checked in on you as Cat Noir last night and saw you throw out all of those pictures of me."
Marinette's face went completely red. Great, Cat Noir just had to discover her feelings for Adrien. How humiliating…
"You were in love with a player, and was hoping this would be a chance to move on," Adrien said, as he kissed Marinette on the cheek. "But now it seems like at the end of the day, you're still in love with a womanizer."
Marinette was not sure how to react or what to say.
"Marinette," Adrien said. "Mask or no mask, you're an amazing girl. You're the only one who can make my heart throb like this."
He took Marinette's hand and placed it on his chest. Marinette's eyes widened when she felt his heartbeat was faster than normal.
Unknown to them, Plagg and Tikki were watching the whole thing go down. They were eager to see the two of them kiss and Plagg was tempted to tell them to hurry up.
"Adrien…" Marinette said, as she noticed Adrien was leaning in closer. Marinette began leaning in, too.
Their lips were so close, their breath was heating each other up. They were both blushing, and were absolutely focused on each other.
"My lady…" Adrien said.
"Kitty…" Marinette said.
The two of them connected their lips, and Adrien gently stroked her hair to comfort her. The two of them began to share a passionate kiss. Marinette was in complete heaven. This was not like when she had to kiss him to snap him out of Dark Cupid's spell. This was better than having to give him a stage kiss – which would have happened if Chloé had not interrupted them in the middle of filming. No, this was a real kiss, and she was so happy.
The two of them broke it off, and Adrien was very happy. He said, "I'll never forsake you, Marinette. You're too important to me."
"So… Your womanizing…?" Marinette asked.
"Starting now, that's a thing of the past. If Chloé or anyone else tries anything, I'll set them straight." Adrien said.
The two of them kissed again, and this continued for several hours.
That following Monday, Marinette came into class and saw Adrien was there alone. He beckoned her over, and Marinette smiled before going to sit next to her beau.
"How are you this morning, m'lady?" Adrien whispered, before kissing her cheek.
"Not here, Adrien." Marinette said with a giggle, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Sorry, Marinette, can't help it," Adrien said, before once again kissing her cheek. "I finally got the girl I've been after for so long."
Nino walked in the room, and then when he saw Marinette and Adrien together, he said, "Nice on, dude!"
Alya soon walked in, and her eyes bulged at the sight. She asked, "Hey, what about Mr. Secret Sweetheart?"
"You're looking at him." Adrien said, winking, and then hugging Marinette closer.
"I'll fill you in later, Alya," Nino said. "Let's leave those lovebirds alone."
Nino and Alya took their seats behind the new couple.
Adrien had gotten his wish. Marinette's dream came true. And now, they were going to have a happy ending…
And that's all she wrote! If you were paying attention, you probably noticed that Adrien's confession scene was a small reference to "Keen on Keane" from the original version of The PowerPuff Girls.
I hope you enjoyed this one-shot. I couldn't help myself. Shout-out to ghostgirl19 for her stories. I can't wait to see what else this author will come up with!