Ladybug squeezed her eyes shut as she landed, slid across the locker room floor; she had stopped to detransform with so little time left that she didn't really have a chance to escape from where she ended up, right beside Cat Noir who had arrived before her.
It was a train wreck waiting to happen, but they still might be able to salvage it if she didn't look, and he didn't as long as they both exited a little bit behind each other.
Most of the students after all were hiding in empty classrooms or had already went home; she certainly didn't expect to land beside Cat Noir or come to the conclusion too late that someone else was in the room with them too.
She could feel the energy of Cat Noir's detransformation right next to her though she didn't dare open her eyes and tried to ignore the soft sounds of his breathing and his Kwami's lighthearted complaints of exhaustion in her suddenly hyper aware state.
"There's an almost zero percent probability that you, two, would be in the same class with a slighter higher probability of the two of you going to the same school. The probability increases exponentially once you consider the fact that the two of you were able to be at the scene of an Akuma fight while the school was locked up and able to easily jump in and help shortly after the Akuma started causing havoc." Max had spoken up, making Ladybug twice as curious and more than a little concerned over having their identities revealed to each other.
"M-Marinette?" She heard a voice next to her stutter; Cat Noir had met the temptation of curiosity and looked over despite himself.
She sighed and opened her eyes, turning to her partner, almost on instinct alone to find his unmasked face before her.
"Adrien?" She felt shock drop into her belly, too surprised to properly stutter and half running on the rush of being Ladybug that took a few moments to completely fade away despite itself.
"It's understandable that you wouldn't have revealed yourselves to each other thus far, only revealing yourselves by accident when a situation calls for it." Max seemed nervous; Marinette finally noticed as she glanced over.
He couldn't help but comment on it and yet he looked nervous under this responsibility, the responsibility of knowing who they are.
Max shifted somewhat awkwardly, and she remembered that he was fairly decent at keeping secrets and yet she still felt cautious about how she was to approach this reveal.
"Max, don't tell anyone about us." She grew slightly surprised to see his robot companion peek out, his best friend, and she knew that in a way they had accidentally revealed themselves to two different people, both of whom were once Akumatized.
"We won't." Came the response from Max's bag, and Marinette released a breath that she hadn't realized that she'd been holding; truthfully, words meant nothing if they couldn't be kept, and she needed Max to assure them somehow that he wouldn't reveal their identities.
"I know the risk of why you couldn't tell anyone even each other." Max began, seeming much more nervous now, "And I definitely do not want to put the two of you in danger or those close to you. I won't tell anyone."
Cat Noir finally seemed to relax a little more by Marinette's side or rather Adrien relaxed a bit more.
"Thank you for promising to keep it a secret, just don't let it slip to anyone whatsoever." Adrien seemed to be trying to find the proper words to speak, "No teachers, no friends, no family, no one."
"I won't tell anyone." Max repeated with a bit more confidence.
"Milady, this was certainly not the way that I imagined telling you who I am." Adrien remarked, letting his hand nervously touch her elbow as a belated means of reassurance.
"I didn't imagine it like this either." Marinette responds, trying to release some of her pent up nervous energy before it fell from her in ways that she wasn't quite ready for; her eyes flicker over towards Max, and she feels sort of sorry to have just dropped this on his shoulders as it is a bigger responsibility than he probably ever needed.
"Is there anything that you need from me?" Max looked as if he were trying to find the best way to handle their identities especially in whatever way that Marinette and Adrien needed him to handle it.
"Just prove to us that you can keep our identities a secret." Marinette's lips pulled up into a stern, almost frown, a look more befitting of Ladybug under the sudden wave of seriousness of the young female student.
"I will in whatever way you need." Max assured them though his eyes lit up with a sort of curiosity that made both Marinette and Adrien realize that they may end up answering a lot of questions in the days to come.
"Thank you." It isn't much to say after such a big revelation and may not be as genuine as it could be with further proof, but it's all that Marinette can think to say right now.
