"Ladybug, look out!" Chat called, rolling across the street to avoid an attack. Ladybug flipped away from a whip lash, aiming at the Leopard King with her yo-yo. The spotted-clad villain simply swatted it away with a powerful swipe of his gloved paws and jumped onto the top of a light pole.

"I almost had him!" She cursed as Chat leapt beside her. "I think the akuma is in his whip."

"Hey Leopard King," He yelled at him. "There's only room for one feline around here and I'm not going anywhere! I am quite cat-ching after all." He couldn't resist wiggling his eyebrows at Ladybug.

Ladybug rolled her eyes, but giggled. That was a victory in his book.

"Oh really," the Leopard King purred and tapped his chin thoughtfully, pointed tail swishing behind him. The fanged smirk that spread across his face didn't settle well with Chat at all. "We'll have to see about that. I'm going to prove just how superior animals are to humans; this will be the perfect test of my power!"

His tail flickered and began to glow. Chat eyed it warily, "What do you think that is?"

"It must be another attack. Don't get hit." Ladybug warned.

"You don't have to worry about me my lady." Chat grinned.

Expecting to avoid a powered attack, they jumped into the air but instead of using his tail he lashed out with his whip. Unable to dodge, it wrapped around Ladybug's ankle and yanked her to the ground. Crying out, she landed hard, her yo-yo clattering out of her grip.

"Ladybug!" Chat yelled from above her as the Leopard King twisted around, his tail releasing a glowing arrow that was aimed straight for her. He knew she wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time so without a second thought, Chat dove back down and encased Ladybug in his arms, eyes squeezed shut.

"Chat!"

There was a bright flash as the arrow hit him in the back- and shattered immediately in a flurry of light.

"Chat! Are you okay? Chat?" Ladybug shook his shoulders desperately, her blue eyes shining. Chat blinked at her.

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay. Actually," He said, reaching for his back in confusion. "Did he even hit me? I don't feel anything." Well that wasn't completely true. There was a warm, pleasant tingling left behind.

"What do you mean?" She asked, equally as baffled. "I just saw it, of course it did-" She stopped mid-sentence as she moved around to inspect him. "Wait, what? There's no wound! And you don't sound like you've been possessed or changed like that last time."

Suddenly the air was filled with an obnoxious snickering and they whirled to face the Leopard King.

"I don't know what you're smiling at. Your attack didn't exactly work." Chat stared at him with a hand on his hip. "In fact, it even felt kind of nice. Mind aiming for my shoulders next?"

The Leopard King merely grinned his toothy smile, "Oh, I wouldn't say that Mr. Kitty Cat. But you know what? I think this is my cue to exit, for now at least; I wouldn't want to spoil all the fun right away. Au revoir!"

Ladybug and Chat charged for him but there was a bright flash of light and when they could see again, he was gone.

That had definitely been bizarre, Chat thought. Then he became aware of the fuming Ladybug beside him and groaned inside. Uh oh. Dreading the inevitable, he turned to face her with a hesitant smile, uncertainly scratching his head.

"Well, that could've gone worse-"

"You stupid cat!" She yelled. Chat wilted slightly. "You're always jumping in front of me and putting yourself in danger. You could've gotten really hurt."

"But I'm fine! His attack didn't even do anything." He shrugged, but that wasn't good enough for her.

"We didn't know that would happen though." She looked away, eyes downcast and he felt his heart clench. He hadn't realized just how worried he'd made her. "This is serious Chat. One day I'm just afraid that you'll do something reckless and get really hurt..."

Chat felt himself warm inside. Despite the pain in her voice, he couldn't keep down the tiny flutter of joy she'd caused him knowing how all this worry was for his sake. But he ultimately couldn't bear the upset look on her face and decided he needed to fix that right away. He laughed. "Oh please, reckless is only my middle name. Besides, we both know you're much more important than me. You're the only one with the power to cleanse the akuma after all."

"I know that, but your life is just as important-" She began to protest but Chat cut her off when he tried slipping an arm around her shoulders.

"What's this now?" He teased, his mischievous green eyes twinkling. "Worried about me my lady? Have you fallen for me?" With a huff, she let out a loud breath. He was pleased when she lightly pushed him away.

"Hardly, you silly kitty." She playfully punched his shoulder. The ease had returned to her face, the tension leaving her shoulders. There was that sunny smile that he knew and loved.

Chat spared a grin before eyeing the spot where the akuma had just vanished moments ago. "So what do we do about Leopard King?"

"He really seems to have just disappeared." Ladybug said with a shrug. "But he's still out there so we need to keep an eye out. We should patrol tonight just in case. I don't know what he's up to, but he seemed to definitely have something up his sleeve. We'll get him next time for sure." She smirked at him. "You were right about there being room for only one feline though: one cat is plenty for me."

"You love me." Chat winked and she just shook her head, raising her hands in exasperation.

"I should get going; I was actually in the middle of something before this, but I'll see you tonight. Try and stay out of trouble till then Chat!" She laughed before gracefully swinging away.

He watched her fly across the skyline until she finally vanished in the distance, allowing a fond smile to spread across his face. "I'll try my best, my lady."

~.~.~.~.~

"Ready Plagg?" Adrien stretched his arms, eyes drawn to his tiny kwami who whined loudly from his perch on Adrien's pillow.

He had been feasting on a lovely piece of camembert and only clung to it tighter. "Now? But I just started on this. The sun hasn't even set all the way yet!"

"There's no harm in being early. And Plagg, that's already your fifth one." Adrien grimaced. How Plagg managed to eat so much cheese in so little time was beyond him. He groaned at the thought of having to sleep with that smell later that night.

"I don't see your point." With a happy cry, Plagg inhaled the remaining chunk and sighed, blissful. He patted his stomach. "Ok, let's go."

A moment later, Chat was leaping out the window on all fours and springing into the evening, delightfully sprinting from roof top to roof top. It would've felt perfect if not for the light rain that had begun to fall several hours before. He shook some of the raindrops from his hair off in annoyance.

He was definitely a little earlier than he needed to be but he had just been excited at the thought of seeing his lady so soon again. They didn't often go on patrols together and it wasn't so much that he enjoyed the patrolling itself over the fact that it was only more time spent with his precious Ladybug.

Of course, there was also the matter of the akuma still on the loose. Their jobs first and foremost were to protect the city of Paris but Chat thought of it in a different way, thinking back to how Ladybug had gotten so mad at him for trying to protect her again.

In his eyes, Ladybug was amazing by herself and he truly did not doubt that she was strong and incredible enough to defeat any adversary all on her own. Her fiery spirit and passion to protect the people was one of the things that burned so brightly about her after all. But while she was busy protecting others, she gave no thought of protecting herself. That's what Chat believed he was truly there for.

Ladybug existed to protect the people. Chat was there to protect Ladybug.

That was his opinion anyway. Of course he cared about the citizens too and it wasn't as if he didn't believe she didn't have his back as well. They were a team after all and a great one at that, but he would always be thinking about his lady, regardless of how mad she got because of it.

That was something that wasn't about to change.

"Alright, where could she be..." Chat paused, watching the sun finally sink beneath the horizon. It wouldn't be long now before she-

POOF!

There was a puff of smoke and suddenly Chat was falling down, limbs flailing in surprise. Even though he'd been caught off guard, he managed to twist around and land on all fours safely. What on Earth had just happened? He shook his head to try and reorient himself.

There was a dull clunk behind him and he jumped in surprise, flipping around. He recognized the glowing green paw on the black ring immediately. His miraculous!

Chat reeled. He hadn't felt it come off, but also why did it look so much bigger now?

Seconds later, the ring glowed brightly and turned back to silver as Plagg frantically flew out of it. Adrien yelped in shock: Plagg had suddenly gone from palm-size to about the size of his head but rather than an actual yelp, a high pitched meow filled the air instead.

There was no question that that sound had come from his own mouth. He clamped it tightly shut, as realization started to hit him. He shakily looked down in growing horror expecting to see gloved hands only to find adorable cat paws?!

"Okay, this is definitely not normal." Plagg said slowly, flying around his face.

Plagg what's going on?! Adrien tried speaking, but only a series of high-pitched yowls were coming from his throat. This could not be happening. He had not just turned into a cat.

"I hate to break it to you, but I think you did just turn into a cat." Plagg said. "You even have real cat ears and a tail!" As if to prove his point, Plagg pulled straight up on his tail. Adrien screeched.

YUP. He had definitely felt that.

Wait Plagg, you can understand me?

Plagg deadpanned. "Um... yes? Have you not looked at me? I'm actually a cat!"

Adrien rolled his eyes. Whether or not the tiny cat kwami could be classified as a real cat or not wasn't exactly the biggest issue here. The initial shock was quickly wearing off and the panic was creeping in. He could feel the fur on his back standing on end, his back arched in alarm. He was even doing cat actions!

How did this happen?

"Did you eat anything weird today?" Plagg offered.

Plagg! Adrien hissed. You're not being helpful.

"Hmm," Plagg floated anxiously in thought. "Wait, do you think it could have to do with that fight earlier today? The Leopard King's attack!"

Adrien's eyes widened. Could that akuma's attack actually be the cause of all this? He had initially believed that nothing had happened but maybe this was the effect?

"This is not good..." Plagg said.

We have to find Ladybug! Adrien said.I bet her Cleansing Light could fix this and turn me back to normal. Of course! They just had to find Ladybug and then problem solved.

"Oh good idea," Plagg said. "Except how is she going to know it's you?"

Oh. Plagg had a point.

Ugh. It can't be helped. Adrien bristled. You'll just have to explain for me.

"Just like that? But what about your secret identity?"

It's not like we have to tell her. She has to have a kwami too right? So it'll be fine as long as you don't say my name. Once you explain the situation, we can leave right after she turns me back to normal so she doesn't see me. She should be showing up soon!

And just as he thought his bad luck hadn't already been enough, a flash of red caught his eye and they simultaneously turned to see his one and only Ladybug leaping from roof to roof farther and farther away.

Come on Plagg! We have to catch up to her! Never had Adrien been so grateful for having fingers now that he was lacking them and had to resign to picking up his ring with his mouth. He took off in her direction.

"Careful Adrien, you're just a cat right now. It's dangerous!" Plagg said.

He ignored him, bounding across the roofs with such practiced ease that it didn't feel much different from when he usually moved around. The biggest problems were leaping across distances. Before they'd been far but as Chat Noir he had easily been able to cross the distance. As a mere cat, not so much, but most of the spaces were small enough for his lithe body to make it. He grudgingly admitted that he worked well as a cat.

Quickly making his way over, he became aware of Ladybug in the distance. She had finally come to a stop and was looking around as if confused.

She must be looking for him, he realized. He was there, she just didn't know it. And he was so close to her now!

Eager to catch her attention before she moved on, Adrien opened his mouth to call out to her but he had already forgotten that he couldn't talk. With horror, he registered a moment too late that he'd dropped his silver ring.

My miraculous! In his scrambling to stop, he skidded across the roof top but couldn't gain traction since it was so slippery from rain and slid right off the edge.

"Adrien!" He was only dimly aware of Plagg's frantic cry as he plummeted downwards.

The rain had begun to fall harder. There was a muffled crash, his body too light to cause any noise that would draw much attention.

Adrien rested on his side amidst a pile of garbage that had broken his fall and saved him from most harm, but he hadn't managed to escape unscathed. His entire body felt heavy and his vision was beginning to blur as dark spots clouded his sight.

Faintly through the sheet of rain, there was a soft intake of breath and then the silhouette of a fuzzy red figure crouched over him.

Ladybug...? He vaguely felt a pair of arms scooping him up and the last thing he was aware of before slipping into darkness was a familiar pair of bright blue eyes.

Hello! I'm new to this fandom but I am most definitely Miraculous trash! I just really wanted to write a story in which Adrien gets turned into a real cat. Only good things can happen :D ...

I also have a tumblr (on my profile) so come be friends with me and we can cry about this wonderful love square together!