Author's note: Thank you guys so much for the favs, follows, and reviews. Oh, instead of being spring in the story, I decided to make it October. I had a good Halloween arc for our lovely criminals. I'm glad I made you guys think he now knows her identity, I'm going to be mean, I'm going to put something in there to make him not think she's not Ladybug. Evil I know, but I love the characters going around circles. Also, I would really like to know what you think of Goldilocks so far?
Disclaimer: Don't own Miraculous Ladybug
Shout to you lovely reviewers, you guys are so wonderful:}
Kiimthehedgehog,
Guest: Thank you so much, guest:} Don't jumped to conclusions about him finding her identity just yet, I have few twist in my head. I'm actully glad because I'm trying to make it like the original show. Despite it being an AU. I'm just adding some of my own ideas in there, to make it my own. Don't you worry, this story would be a pretty good length, so you still have future chapters to look forward to. Thanks again:}
Linguine Returns, Izzy: Guilty as charged, I'm evil, lol:} missdragongirl, SparklesX3, Guest, Adrinette, Daisy, Guest, MLSuperfan , MiraculousMoonLo
Game Three: Chess
Chat Noir laughed out loud when he picked up Ladybug's fake costume. He noticed the heavy price tag that dangled on the red sleeve. He also took out the cheap yo-yo, the paper mask, and the plastic earrings. He had to give Marinette credit, she was a very smart cookie. He figured she would dress up as Ladybug in case his real Lady didn't show up. Also, he figured that Marinette did it for Alya, so Alya could record some sort of Ladybug on her blog. Despite it not being the real thing.
His eyes widened when he looked at the price. This was totally unacceptable. His Lady's costume was more expensive than his. Lately, the costume stores he went to, he found his Chat Noir's costume very expensive. Not to brag or anything, but a lot of stores were already out of stock. The customers were quite eager to dress like him for Halloween this year.
So what made hers more expensive? He shook his head from his perturbed thoughts when he heard the police coming. He quickly put her stuff back in the bag before he high-tailed out of there. If he had dug a little further, he would have seen Ladybug's real costume, and not the decoy costume that Marinette planned for caution.
Time Skip
Adrien didn't know how to approach Marinette this morning. Should he quickly come over to her and ask if she was alright? Everyone, he literally meant everyone, saw the Ladyblog that Alya posted last night, so it would be a legit excuse. He quickly took his seat as he quickly looked for the bluenette. So far, no sign of her, which he figured because she was usually never punctual. A grin came over his face when he recalled how cute she could be by running late. What made him laugh was the colorful vocabulary she would yell out loud when she reached her destination. He would never forget that one time last year, when she was late, and how she let out a huge cuss word in relief right before the bell had rung. Luck must have been on her side, given that the teacher didn't hear the cuss word, which was literally saved by the bell.
Speaking of Marinette, he started to think about his Ladybug. She was a no show last night, which didn't surprise him, but it could still be disappointing. There was a lot of crime in Paris, so she couldn't be everywhere to stop criminal mishaps.
Adrien wouldn't lie, he found himself entranced at Ladybug the first time he met her. She crept up on him and he respected her on so many levels over the years. Adrien really wanted her to be his partner in crime. Yes, like Bonnie and Clyde, if he was being unoriginal here. The only reason Adrien became a criminal because his father was in debt. Yes, his father, Gabriel Agreste, knew about his son's notorious criminal activities.
After Adrien's mother died from cancer. They owned a lot of eros from all of those hospital bills and those many prescriptions she took. Also the business wasn't doing so good since Gabriel's heart wasn't in designing. One day, by sheer bad luck, his own father sold his soul to the devil. Adrien Agreste now belonged to Hawk Moth who would pay the debts. Adrien would admit that the heavy debt was now paid, but he didn't get out of the criminal business like he should have. He stole to repressed those feelings of his mother and even his father. His father didn't care what Adrien did, as long as he went to his photo shoots, and that was about it. His father was in his own web of grief and no pair of scissors would cut him out of it.
Being a criminal gave Adrien something to live for. His criminal self let him show his true feelings, instead of that God awful mask he had to put on for people. Adrien Agreste had to be the perfect golden boy. Like his Lady said: "Labels stick with you like a tattoo," Her fundamental words still caressed his ears.
"You okay, dude? Did you hear what happened to the girls? I swear, Alya is going to give me a heart attack!" Nino said with an exasperated sigh as he sat next to him.
"I did, I even saw a lot of things posted on her Ladyblog," Adrien piqued casually.
He felt bad for Evillustrator. Adrien even remembered how Hawk Moth gave a real earful for the red head. Hawk Moth found relationships weakness, but he gave few exceptions to a few partners in crimes, given if you reached his expectations.
"Nino, when are you going to talk to me," Alya pleaded, which snapped Adrien out of his thoughts.
"When you learn to stop being so damn stubborn," Nino retorted while he tried to ignore his adamant girlfriend.
Adrien turned his face away to leave the quarl couple alone. He now faced a scarlet Marinette and found himself blushing as well. He mentally sighed in relief when Marinette didn't have any scars or bruises. Adrien almost wanted to laugh because Goldilocks wasn't so lucky. She had a huge bruise on her cheek, and Marinette was the one responsible. His princess did have some sharp claws.
"How are you feeling, Marinette? I heard about everything and those despicable criminals," He made himself shiver in fright. Oh the irony, he thought to himself with a mental smirk.
Marinette just stared at him like he grew a second head. He frowned in concern, it was a probably a lot for her to handle right now. In fact, he was surprised she came to school today.
"Thanks, Adrien. Thoughtful so nice, you. I mean, that's very thoughtful of you. Those criminals, being them naturally bad selves," Marinette said shyly as she looked at anywhere but him.
"What did you think of Chat Noir?" Adrien pressed with hidden persistence, trying to hide his frown from her avoiding eye contact with him.
"Chat Noir, he has a thing for puns, which I had the pleasure to hear. He thinks he's all that, which I find pretty funny. However, he's got a sense of morals, then like some of those other cold-blooded criminals." Marinette said thoughtfully.
The way she talked about Chat Noir made his heart quicken. He liked how nicely she talked about Chat Noir, despite him being a criminal. Suddenly, Adrien had a crazy idea that glittered in his mind. What would happen if he could learn her cool Kung Fu moves as Chat Noir? What she did last night was bloody amazing. He was a good fighter, but those moves would be a great advantage for him. It would really help him in sticky situations and have the upper hand in a fight with Ladybug. Ladybug was somehow knowledgeable with Kung Fu too, so it would be easier for him to be on the same level when he fought with her. He was going to ask Marinette as Chat Noir, but the problem was how?
"I see, Marinette. The guy still gives me the creeps, though, given that he's the top criminal in Paris." Adrien stated in fear, but he beamed inside when Adrien brushed his alternate ego.
Before Marinette could reply, Madame Bustier came into the classroom with a smile on her face. As they took their seats and began class, Adrien's thoughts were somewhere else entirely. He was scheming about how he could approach Marinette as Chat Noir.
Time Skip
"Why must we show our work when have a calculator to do it for us?!" Marinette whined childishly as she put her Physics homework away like it burned her.
"I hate when there's math involved, there is only one answer, you can never think outside the box," Marinette said wistfully as she took out her sketchbook to calm herself down.
She started to sketch out a design, which was her mental ritual. Marinette was so enraptured in her design. She didn't even notice the excessive tapping sound on her balcony window.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Finally, she noticed that persisted taping. Confusion flooded all over her face when she slowly got up from her chaise. Marinette grabbed a pair of scissors, for safety measure, before she headed towards her window. Marinette took a deep breath as she slowly unlocked the balcony window. She peeked her head out and was met with green feline eyes.
She gasped at the spot before she found her butt on the floor. Chat Noir invited himself inside and landed on all fours like a true cat. He looked amused at her flabbergasted shock.
"Princess, don't you know it's rude to greet your guest armed?" He asked while he pointed his pointy claw at her scissors.
Marinette scoffed as she got herself up. "Don't you know it's rude to come in uninvited, particularly if you're a criminal for that matter?" She retorted with sass.
"My deepest apologies, Princess. I'm an outdoor cat, so I'm not used to indoor customs," Chat Noir said with grin.
"How did you find me?" She asked deadpanned.
"Do you know how in Cinderella, the prince used the glass slipper to find her. We'll, guess what, Princess. Your book bag, was your glass slipper, so it showed me where you live," Chat Noir answered cryptically.
Marinette literally wanted to bang her head against the wall. She had a habit of losing things, so she always wrote it down on where to return it to her. Her book bag was no exception: it had where she lived, where she attended school, even her friggin phone number. Marinette was a klutz, never punctual sometimes, and lost things at a regular basis.
"So fair maiden, what is your name?" He asked eagerly.
"If I tell you my name, will you leave me alone, and why did you pop by? All we have is pastries, nothing glamorous." Marinette said matter-factly.
"The reason I came here, is that I need you to teach me, Purrincess…" He explained while he got down on one knee and gently put her hands in his.
"What, teach you what, exactly!?" She splatted embarrassingly.
"Can you teach me some of those moves you did back at the museum? So that my pride would never be wounded again." He asked with a hint of hope.
"And if I refuse?" Marinette asked dumbly.
"Then I guess your bakery will go out of business, given how you were robbed blindly…" He drawled with a sinister promise.
"Is that a threat?" Marinette asked with so much venom.
"Maybe, but I can offer you a lot for your services. Like for example, give you the 411 of a criminal. Come on, I'm sure you're curious as a citizen, to what we baddies do as a routine. And of course, protection..." He tempted her with an easy grin.
For the first time in Marinette's life, she found herself open to one of Chat Noir's crazy offers. If she taught him her moves, she would know as Ladybug, what to look for when they fought. Another good thing about this, she could really get a outlook of the criminal life, and maybe find out one of their hideouts. His offer was a goldmine.
"Will I have time to think about it?" She asked slowly.
"Sure, I'll give you a few days, Marinette Dupain-Cheng," With that, he headed towards the balcony before she stopped him as she pulled on him.
"How do you know my name?" Marinette asked quizzically.
"Your book bag, my fair maiden, I just wanted to hear your name from your beautiful lips," He answered before he disappeared into the night, leaving a flustered blunette.
Thoughts and thanks for reading:}
