The little red kwami stared at her chosen, Marinette Dupain-Cheng who was sobbing quietly on her bed. Marinette had only just found out that her father, Tom Dupain, had ended up in the hospital from a recent Akuma attack. Hair soaked with tears, Marinette lifted her head and stared at her kwami. Tikki noticed something, something she had not noticed before and really should have. "Marinette?"
No reply. Tikki tried again. "Marinette?" No response. Inclining her head slowly, Tikki hovered over and curled up on Marinette's stomach. Standing up, Tikki unexpectedly fell to the bed and she watched hopelessly as Marinette walked down the stairs into her room. She headed to the window. Tikki followed.
Before Tikki could say anything else, Marinette opened her mouth. "Tikki. Spots on!" Her tone was flat; almost inaudible nevertheless Tikki could not resist the urge to fly into Marinette's earrings to grant her the Ladybug powers.
Flying above the rooftops seemed to calm Ladybug's nerves. However, the feeling of guilt remained. She hadn't had a chance to talk to anyone about it, not even Chat. And he was there. He was there when it happened, was there when a certain civilian got hurt. He watched her as she desperately tried to swing over in time. But she didn't. Ladybug had to resist from calling her father's name. And it was all her fault. If she was only paying more attention to the stupid Akuma, she could've prevented her father from getting up.
With a cry of frustration, Ladybug flung her yo-yo mid-air to pull her atop of a certain building, The Louvre. Standing atop the prism-shaped building, Ladybug scanned the area for everything. But she saw nothing, which would make sense as it was pretty late in the evening. Huffing, Ladybug shot into the air, swinging away into the night.
Adrien Agreste. The model, pianist, master of fencing and many other things that some would wish to be, except for himself. He'd rather be his super alter ego, Chat Noir. He'd spend all day as Chat if he could but, alas, his kwami, Plagg, who granted his powers, needed to eat, and rest, and do a whole bunch of other things that were unnecessary. However, Adrien loved him all the same, even if he could be annoying, and rude.
"Adrien!" Plagg moaned. Said boy flopped backwards and landed on his oversized bed with a huff. "I need some cheese, I'm starving!" Adrien raised his head, frowning at the black kwami. "Where is it?"
"Plagg, I literally just fed you." Adrien let his head fall back onto his pillow. He closed his eyes. Opening them slowly, he was greeted with his kwami's face.
"But I'm hungry," Plagg whined.
Adrien merely rolled his eyes and said nothing.
"Adrien!" Adrien ignored him. Turning, Plagg froze, staring at a figure on the opposite building of the Agreste house, and the figure was staring right back at him. "Uh, Adrien? I can't believe I'm saying this but the cheese can wait…"
Adrien sat up. "Fine! What do you want? I'm tired and I—"Shutting his mouth quickly, Adrien stared at Plagg. "Plagg?" Adrien asked. What is it?"
Plagg turned around slowly, his ears drooped. "I think somebody knows that you're Chat Noir," he muttered.
Adrien's face dropped. "What?"
"It's not my fault!" Plagg defended. "I'm not the one who left his stupid lights on at a stupid time in the night!"
Adrien paced swiftly, roughly running his hands through his hair. "No. No, no, no, no, no!" Groaning in frustration, Adrien's knees went out from beneath him and he collapsed to the floor.
Plagg landed on his knee. "Maybe this could be a good thing?" Adrien scowled at him. Plagg watched as Adrien merely stood up and said nothing, falling forward onto his bed and burying his face in his pillow. Plagg zipped over and curled up beside Adrien's neck.
What Plagg didn't tell him was that the mysterious figure looked a lot like Ladybug. Though how was he supposed to be sure? All he cared about was cheese … well, most of the time anyway.
"Spots off." A flash of pink surrounded Ladybug as her transformation was taken away. Tikki flew out and floated in front of Marinette's face. The breaths she took were quick and uneven, because she was hyperventilating. "Calm down! Marinette, please, calm down. Take deep long breaths. That's it. It's OK."
Marinette slumped in her desk chair, swallowing nervously. "I saw something in his room, Tikki. It-it looked awful like a-a-" Marinette took a deep ragged breath, clearing her throat and locking eyes with Tikki. "It was a kwami, Tikki. I'm sure of it."
Tikki's eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal size. Sighing, she said, "You're right." There was no point denying it. Ladybug had seen Plagg in Adrien's room. There was nothing Tikki could do except from tell the truth.
Marinette looked at Tikki. Realisation crept across her face. "Do you know?" Marinette whispered, hugging her knees to her chest.
Tikki said nothing.
"You did, didn't you?" Marinette buried her face into her knees and when she looked up again, Tikki saw tears erupting in the corner of her eyes. "Why Tikki? Why didn't you tell me?" Marinette wiped at her eyes furiously.
"I was not allowed. Ladybug and Chat Noir are destined to find out each other's identities alone. Me and Plagg cannot interfere." Tikki landed on Marinette's knee. "I'm sorry. I really am."
Marinette nodded, not replying with words. As she got ready for bed, she couldn't help but think, is Adrien actually Chat Noir?
It's impossible, her mind said.
It's possible, her heart said.
Adrien is nothing like Chat Noir!
But Chat Noir is a lot like Adrien!
How?
Ending the mental argument, Marinette got into bed and curled up in her covers, mentally dreading the next day.
"Plagg!" Adrien hissed, for the tenth time, trying to remember where his kwami had hidden. "Plagg! I need my phone!"
"Nope!" Plagg's voice echoed from somewhere around the room.
"I need to go!" Adrien groaned, scanning his room desperately. "Look, if you come out now, I'll get you an unlimited year's supply of cheese. Sound fair?"
There was a knock at his bedroom door. "Adrien? You are going to be late."
"Uh, one sec Nathalie!" Adrien scanned the room once more. The previous night hadn't been easy for Adrien and Plagg knew that but even so; he still had the nerve to piss Adrien off. "Come on Plagg, we need to go!" Then Adrien saw something, and smirked. Tiptoeing over to Plagg's hiding spot; Adrien lashed out and grabbed the kwami with one hand, grabbing his phone with the other. "A-ha! Gotcha!"
"Where's my cheese?" Plagg snapped.
Adrien shrugged, letting go of Plagg so he could fly into his shirt. Grabbing his school bag, Adrien ran out his room and followed Nathalie to the car.
He got to school in no time, even having minutes to spare. Checking his phone, he quickly noticed he had a message. It was from Ladybug and it read:
Chat,
We need to talk asap. I've got school this morning so how about we meet on the Eiffel tower, say, five o'clock?
Please come. It's important.
LB.
Adrien typed a quick response back:
My lady,
I'd love to but, alas, I am busy tonight . Maybe we can meet at school? That is, if you tell me which one you attend ;).
He clicked send. Almost immediately he heard a phone vibrate nearby. No, he thought, it's just a coincidence … or is it?
"Why does he have to be so difficult all the time?" Marinette muttered, staring down at her phone. She hit something and froze. Looking up, she saw blonde hair and green eyes. Adrien. "AH!" Marinette exclaimed, jumping back a few feet. "Adrien!" She gasped. "I'm so sorry! I didn't watch where I was going because I was staring at my phone and-"
Adrien smiled. "Don't worry about it."
Marinette blinked, quickly sending her annoyed response to Chat to scold him about flirting and hastily putting her phone back in her purse. Almost instaneously Adrien's phone went off. Wait. Adrien?
Adrien! Adrien is Chat Noir. Chat Noir is Adrien. How could Marinette forget? "Marinette?" Adrien repeated, eyebrows furrowed in misperception. A hand landed on her shoulder. Adrien's hand to be exact. "Are you okay?"
Marinette shook herself furiously out of the trance she was in. At that point all the memories came. The good memories, the bad, even the saddest, but, she could never forget them as they were all spent with her partner, Chat Noir. One of her best friends. That is, until she found out whom he was the previous night.
All but one memory made her laugh. This particular memory made her smile but gasp in shock. It was when she kissed Chat to save him. She convinced herself time and time again that she would never fall for Chat. Never. But, if she hadn't fallen in love with him, the kiss wouldn't have worked. Ladybug had kissed Chat without even thinking. The worst part was that he couldn't even remember it, and it broke Marinette's heart. She thought, all this time it was Adrien. Ever since the kiss, she had thought it was Chat. But it was neither of them because … she had fallen for both of them without even realising it.
And now that she knew Chat's identity, it made sense she had fallen for both him and Adrien because, in reality, they were the same person. And to think, Marinette was scared about finding out whom Chat really was under that mask.
"Marinette?" Adrien asked. She hadn't realised he had led her all the way into their classroom and into her seat. He was hovering beside her, staring down at her worryingly.
"I'm fine. Really! I am." She smiled nervously at Adrien, hoping he would believe her. He did. Returning the genuine smile, Adrien turned and sat at his own desk, grabbing his books out of his bag.
Marinette did the same though she wasn't focusing on that. She was focused on the back of Adrien's head – which wasn't a surprise. But this time it was different. Now that she knew that Adrien really was Chat, it was hard to compare them. They acted so different, yet, they were the same in their own little way. Marinette loved that. She loved him. All of him. Both sides of him, and she didn't think she could leave without him, no matter how annoying Adrien's alter ego was.
Morning lessons flew by like a flash and before Adrien knew it, it was time to meet Ladybug. However, Ladybug recently sent him a message and he had yet to open it. It read:
Chat,
I know who you are. I'm sorry. I never wanted to find out this way, but, I saw your kwami in Adri-your room and then, I just knew… Scratch meeting at the Eiffel Tower, you're meeting me, right now. At school. In the Principal's office. Hurry.
Adrien swallowed. She knew. Ladybug knew. He couldn't believe. Without wasting any time, Adrien sprinted up to the Principal's office, running in and slamming the door behind him.
There she was. The girl of his dreams. Ladybug. She was staring out the window, cradling her arms against her chest. Taking a deep, silent breath, Adrien cleared his throat.
Ladybug jumped, spinning around and locking her eyes with Adrien's. "You came." Ladybug gasped.
Adrien came closer. "Why would you think that I wouldn't?"
Ladybug glanced at him. "Honestly?" Adrien nodded, encouraged her to go on. "I thought you'd be angry with me for finding out…"
Adrien walked around the desk and settled himself in front of Ladybug, dropping his bag by his feet. He chuckled. "That would be pretty clawful wouldn't it?" Ladybug glared at him. "Too soon? Sorry." Adrien rubbed his neck sheepishly. Sighing, he let his hand trail up to cup Ladybug's cheek.
Surprisingly, Ladybug felt herself leaning in to the warmth of his hand. "LB, you should already know this."
Ladybug raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Know what?" she asked.
Adrien cupped her head in his hands. "That I could never be angry at you."
"Chat-"
Ladybug stopped and stared at the door. Adrien turned to see Kim frozen in place, his hand still on the door handle. The Principal came rushing up from behind. "So sorry Ladybug. Ignore this disruption. My deepest regrets."
Ladybug smiled. "That's okay, Principal Damocles, Sir. Just give us a minute?"
"Of course."
The moment the door closed Ladybug leaped at him. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, burying her face in his neck. Stumbling backwards until his legs hit the edge of the desk, he clutched her even more tightly, squeezing her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Ladybug said repeatedly. Still holding onto her, Adrien turned them around and sat Ladybug on the desk, and, because of this, they were now both the same height.
Adrien pulled back enough without letting go to rest his forehead on hers, letting their breaths mingle together. "Stop apologising. Okay? I'm glad you found out."
"But-?"
Adrien hushed her with a kiss. A kiss so deep and meaningful that Ladybug couldn't resist returning it. "I love you, okay?" Adrien told her. "Nothing is going to change that. And whoever you are under that mask, I love you. All of you. Don't put yourself down, okay?"
"Adrien…" Ladybug gasped, laughing sadly as tears stung her eyes once again. She couldn't believe it. Adrien was Chat Noir. She loved him. All of him. "I love you too." Ladybug pulled him close again but for only a minute. "I have to go," she muttered.
Ladybug left his grip and Adrien felt cold, like something was missing, because it was. "When will I find out who you are?" he asked.
"Soon," Ladybug promised.
She left without another word.
NEW STORY! Hope you enjoy the first chapter! xD Hopefully will be updated weekly.