It is I, Ladybug trash. It's official. I have a badge.
You guys aren't that great at dishing out insults. Like, they almost sounded like compliments? You should work on that.
All jokes aside, I'm glad this is going so well. I've actually wanted to do this for a while, but I never really had the confidence/time before. So this is pretty clawesome, as Chat would say. Anyway, as promised...
If there was one thing Adrien liked about being Chat Noir--aside from seeing his lady of course--it was the total anonymity that came with the job. Though he'd never admit it to Ladybug, Adrien abused his power a lot. He used it to duck his body guard on a daily basis, avoid paparazzi, and sometimes just to get away from it all. In fact, he recalled, once he transformed for no reason other than to walk the streets as Chat Noir, just because he was curious what would happen.
But alas, curiosity killed the cat, and, in lieu of the usual fangirls, he found himself battling off reporters and the media. Needless to say, experiment failed.
Still, though, there was a certain thrill to being incognito that Adrien would've never experienced otherwise. All his life, everyone knew his name, who he was, and where he lived, in addition to his favorite kind of ice cream (someone asked him in an interview once, and they published it. Consequently, he no longer liked cookie dough ice cream). Admittedly, Chat still battled with the media quite a bit, but lucky for him, most of the spotlight landed on Ladybug, so he was pretty much free to do whatever he pleased.
He felt this freedom as he sprung from rooftop to rooftop, basking in the light of the full moon. It was a gorgeous night, and fortunately for him, his lady was taking patrol, giving him time to visit his princess. He landed on the roof of the familiar bakery with grace, his feet padding almost silently against the balcony floor. He chortled as he put his staff away, cracking his knuckles before crouching down and peering through the glass trap door, but the lights seemed to be off inside. He tapped on the glass with a gloved fist, gently at first, but it appeared his princess wasn't home. He stood back up, stretching his arms above his head. Darn, he thought, that could have been fun.
"Chat?"
He jumped, whipping around to see none other than his lady, in the spots. She had her hands on her hips, her gaze curious, yet stern. The black-clad hero straightened up, laughing nervously. "Oh, Ladybug... Hi."
She scrutinized him with cobalt eyes, brows pinching together suspiciously. "What were you doing looking into the Dupain-Cheng bakery?" she asked in an accusing tone.
His fluorescent eyes blinked, and he pointed to his chest meekly. "Me?"
"Do you see any other black cats around here?"
He scratched behind an ear, wracking his brain for an excuse. "I just... What are you doing up here, Ladybug?"
She flinched, but relaxed, knowing he couldn't possibly have found her out. He was just stalling. She tapped her foot, patience wearing thin. "Out with it, kitty. What were you doing looking into Marinette's room?"
"I just, uh, wanted to check up on her. I like to visit her occasionally." Chat smiled at the lie. Gaining confidence, he grinned at the spotted girl, stepping closer to her. "Jealous, my lady?"
Ladybug, of course, recognized that Chat was lying through his teeth; he'd never visited her, aside from the time with Evillustrator--at least, not that she knew of. But without evidence to call him out on this lie, she knew she had no choice but to accept it. She rolled her eyes at his advance. "Either way, she doesn't appear to be home, so I don't believe you have any business here."
"My lady, no need to be so harsh." He cocked his head, fixing her with a smolder as he backed away to excuse himself. "She may be my purrincess, but you'll always be my lady."
Ladybug couldn't help a smile at that, but she shooed him away, saying, "Run along, chaton. I'd better not catch you peeping into any windows again!"
"As you wish, milady." The cat boy bowed before disappearing into the night.
Ladybug stood on the balcony a moment longer, still wondering why Chat was looking into her room, but after a moment, she dismissed the thought, too tired to question it. If it was anyone else, she would've dwelled on it much longer, but knowing her silly kitty, there was probably a reasonable explanation. She popped open the trap door, forgetting all about Chat the instant her head hit the pillow, Tikki resting at her side as she drifted into sleep.
--
Adrien stepped out of the vehicle, climbing the steps toward his school. He spotted Nino leaning against the collège waiting for him, as was their daily ritual, and called out to him as he approached.
Nino looked up from his phone, grinning as he pulled his headphones down to rest around his neck. "Hey, Adrien!"
"Hey, Nino. Whatcha listening to?"
"The usual. Come on, I have to grab something out of my locker."
Adrien started to follow, but stopped as he heard a familiar voice behind him. He turned to find the source. "Wait." A sly grin spread over Adrien's face as a certain girl with pigtails walked up, Alya by her side. He turned to Nino, who gave him a questioning look. "You go on ahead. I'll catch up."
"Uh, alright." Nino lingered a moment longer, glancing between the blond and Marinette before finally shaking his head and retreating into the school.
On a normal day, Adrien was an apprehensive creature, so used to disappointment that he came to expect it. But knowing Marinette had a crush on his livelier self had boosted his ego quite a bit, which, in turn, had lowered his inhibitions about the shy girl. He had always suspected she still held a grudge against him for the gum incident, so he tried to bother her as little as possible most days.
But he couldn't resist.
If he was being honest with himself, he was overjoyed with Marinette's approval of his alter ego; after all, Marinette reminded him of his lady at times, and if she was impressed, maybe Ladybug would be, too!
Mostly, though, he just wanted to mess with her.
"Hey, Meow-inette," he said as they drew closer, a Cheshire grin lighting up his features.
Marinette smiled at him with pink cheeks, but looked confused. "Uh, h-hey, Adrien. What's up?"
"Oh, nothing... But enough about me. How you feline today?" he asked, falling into stride with the two girls as they entered the school. Alya, meanwhile, was holding in her laughter, her face turning a deep shade of red from the effort.
Marinette paused, putting her face in her hands as she groaned. "I don't have a crush on him!" she insisted.
Alya burst out laughing, clutching her sides as Adrien grinned. "Sure you don't, chaton." He bounced ahead of the two, walking backward to keep his gaze on his princess, whose face had turned scarlet. "After all, I'm just kitten around."
The blond saluted her, giving her a wink before swiveling around and marching off in the direction of Nino's locker. As soon as he was out of sight, Marinette rounded on her giggling friend, blushing furiously. "Fix it!" she demanded.
Alya forced her laughter down, wiping a tear from her eye. "Girl, you sure you want me to do that? This is the most attention you've ever gotten from Adrien."
"Yeah, well, I don't want this kind of attention!" Marinette groaned again, tugging on her pigtails in frustration. She already got enough from Chat Noir, but now the love of her life was spewing puns? "Gah!"
"Calm down, Marinette," said Alya as she finally sobered up. She grabbed the girl by the shoulders to look her in the eyes.
"No, you don't get it, Alya!" Marinette whined. "Why now? Why is he so happy thinking I like Chat? Does this mean he really doesn't like me, so he's trying to pin me on Chat Noir?"
Alya shook her head. "Marinette, I'm sure there's an explanation."
"It's no use!" Marinette lamented, her expression one of horror. "Adrien will never love me now that he thinks I like that mangy alley cat! Without Adrien, I really will have to marry Chat Noir, and then all our children will be cats, and in ten years when Adrien and I reunite, he'll see all my cat babies and--"
"Get a grip, girl!" Alya steadied her friend, amused. "You don't have to marry Chat if you don't want to. You know what? If it comes down to it, I'll marry you."
Marinette giggled tentatively. "Unless you marry Nino."
Alya scrunched her face up. "He wishes." She grinned at her friend, leading her up the stairs by her arm. "Come on, let's get to class."
--
Bella was just about done with her sister.
Her mother was gone again, her stepfather at work, so of course the little monster was left to the care of her older sister, who apparently had nothing better to do, in the eyes of their mother. Maybe it would have pissed her off less if she didn't have to watch her sister directly after getting home from school, leaving her no time to talk to her friends, or even say goodbye to them.
She supposed with most things, the kid was pretty easy to care for, since all she did was play on her tablet and watch T.V. That was what annoyed her the most, though--when Bella was her sister's age, she didn't have anything but her imagination most days, since the electronics they did have were constantly occupied by her older siblings, all of which were out of the house by now. And yet her sister, Lilith, always seemed convinced she was somehow underprivileged.
Bella sat on the couch, curled up with a notebook, scribbling in it relentlessly. She wrote of beautiful women and handsome men, whose lives were far more interesting than hers, distant lands, and dark creatures. She wrote of a girl, not much older than she, with a waterfall of golden curls, solemn blue eyes, and a face dotted with freckles. She wrote of--
"BELLA CAN YOU FIX THE WIFI?!" Lilith wailed from the other room.
Her pencil snapped in half. "NO."
"PLEASE?!" Was she... crying?
"NO!"
"PLEASE?!"
Bella stood up, throwing her now-useless pencil aside and marching into her stepdad's office with her notebook in hand, seething with rage. "WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT."
"The internet's not working," the small blonde whined.
"Then do something else," Bella said through gritted teeth.
The child instantly burst into tears, throwing her tablet down in anger. Bella stood shakily in the doorway, glaring down at the girl as she tried not to lose her temper and throw the stupid tablet through the wall. Lilith showed no signs of stopping, though, and after a moment, Bella was pushed over the edge. "THAT'S IT--"
But she never got to finish the thought. In that moment, a little purple butterfly happened to land on her notebook, and she heard the voice of true evil whisper in her ear.
She could do anything she wanted.
She could leave.
All she had to do was catch a bug and a cat.
I feel kinda bad for Nino. He doesn't get much attention in this fandom, which sucks because I identify with him so much, and I feel like he's glossed over a lot. Plus I want him to ninja turtle, hard core. Alya, too. Why is it that Chloe gets so many redemption stories, and yet I never see any about Alya or Nino? Ugh. Anyway, I know that for a MariChat fic, there hasn't been a whole lot of our two favorite dorks. But trust me, I've already started writing the next chapter, and it's all MariChat. All of it. Literally the whole thing. So keep your pants on (or not. I'm not one to judge). Adieu!