A/N: SALUTATIONS! Great, now that I've got your attention, I'd like to inform you all of the update schedule for this fiction and the proceeding fiction after, I plan to slap the 'complete' sticker on this story by Saturday (My time, so like a chapter for the next 2 days not including this one and we are done.) And get the new Miraculous fiction out by Sunday, you might be thinking that's a lot of writing but I already have the next chapter almost completely done some minor editing and a few sequence tweaks leading into the final conclusion!
And so, without further ado onto the chapter!
Adrien paced around his room, his eyebrows pulled down into a sharp frown "What the hell am I doing?" He demanded audibly, he kissed Marinette he had initiated it completely, she hadn't seemed against the idea, she did kiss him back, but he had Ladybug, even if Marinette and Ladybug shared a lot of similarities, wasn't this just a blatant betrayal on his part?
"You need to calm down," Plagg floated in front of the blonde and gave him a serious look, that in itself caused Adrien to stop and stare at his Kwami for a second "Look, a lot of things happened yesterday, whilst you have no definitive evidence that Marinette is Ladybug, you also don't have any proof that she isn't, if you kissed Ladybug in her civilian identity that's not a betrayal is it?"
Adrien rocked slightly as he thought, would that count? Technically they were the same person, but that would mean he would have to believe without a shadow of a doubt that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person, it felt like he was taking an easy way out to avoid the problem "No, I won't do that, let's just say on the off change your right and I got unimaginably lucky and I just happened to fall for the same girl twice, I didn't know. I'm not going to run away from this."
"This is why I shouldn't give you advice," Plagg exclaimed throwing his hands in the air "If you had all that figured out what was the point of all that pacing? Distracting me from my cheese, shame on you."
Adrien waited a few more seconds whilst Plagg's mind processed all the information he received "HEY! You finally admitted to falling for Marinette good for you, I was afraid I'd have to beat you with a stick."
"How would that help me?" Adrien asked in confusion
"I wouldn't," Plagg replied bluntly "It would help me, relief some stress and irritation using your overly pretty head."
Adrien just shot a half hearted glare.
Marinette was having much the same discussion with Tikki only slightly different.
"Tikki, I never thought I'd see the day I became a player, what do I do? I liked kissing Cat Noir, it was like he completely overlapped with Adrien in that moment, wait, that sounds like I thought I was kissing Adrien, I knew it was Cat Noir and I still liked it what's wrong with me?!" Marinette rambled in rapid panic as she paced around her room, throwing her arms around in front of her.
"I think you are over thinking this a little too much," Tikki answered from her perch on Marinette's computer "Imagine how Cat Noir's feeling right about now? He's probably tearing himself up thinking about how much he betrayed you by kissing…well you."
"Oh," Marinette froze, her eyes widened and she paled slightly "Your right Tikki, Cat Noir doesn't know he kissed me, but can I really just reveal it? Just like that?"
"I think it would be a good idea," Tikki nodded "I don't know why you've kept it from each other this whole time anyway."
"It was just a promise, we wanted to keep each other's personal lives separate from each other…No, I think we should keep that promise," Marinette stared at her feet silently "It was one of the first things we did when we became Cat Noir and Ladybug the duo, I can't break that over this."
Tikki rolled her eyes "So, you're just going to leave it at that? Let Cat Noir torture himself over it?"
"No, I'm simply going to tell him that it was a heat of the moment thing, teenage hormones, stressful situations," Marinette explained "It's not untrue and later I'll tell him, as Ladybug, that it's okay and that I understand."
"How is this better?" Tikki titled her head to the side as she asked
"Look, as much as I enjoyed kissing Cat Noir, I won't lie it was quite amazing, I don't like him like that, I still like Adrien." Marinette sighed calmly
Marinette's phone rang in her pocket and she started looking down at it in confusion, there wasn't school today, why was her alarm blaring at her? She glanced down at her phone, the small notification floated in front of her eyes before completely registering.
The statue, she had promised to be at the big unveiling, well as least she was close to the park, she glanced out the window calmly at the covered statue and shrugged.
"Looks like Ladybug needs to make an appearance Tikki, let's go." Marinette smirked as Tikki flew into her earrings, Marinette pushed the trap door of her home and stood on her roof whilst the suit finished appearing around her and ran her fingers over her eyes, the mask settled quickly and she jumped into the air, pulling herself around the street and landing on the statue's base with a light thud and a smile as the crowd erupted into cheering.
Ladybug dropped down beside the creator, she was an older woman, early thirties from her face, black rimmed reading glassed hung over her eyes, her hair was pulled back into a neat bun and she wore a business suit and skirt with a red scarf, her eyes were brown and her hair was black, she smiled kindly at Ladybug.
"It's an honor to have a statue of Cat Noir and myself in this park." Ladybug inclined her head as she shook the woman's hand.
The sculptor smiled "Can we expect the handsome tom-cat to make an appearance?"
Ladybug's smile waned slightly, there was something about the way the woman spoke, the glint in her eyes and the excited dart about her eyes did as she said it.
"I'm not sure, cat's are known to be quite lazy, he might not show up at all." Ladybug replied with a shrug.
"Isn't her your partner?" The woman questioned "Sounds like you don't like him very much."
"I have complete faith in his ability, it's his punctuality in question," Ladybug chuckled, before she smiled at the woman, a small fire lighting in her chest as she spoke again "You are correct though, he is mine."
The woman looked taken aback as she moved to stand beside the mayor, casting occasional glances towards Ladybug.
Marinette's eyes widened as she stepped around behind the statue, she ran her fingers through her hair, Cat Noir was hers? When did that start, what happened to heat of the moment, doesn't matter?! If he got wind of that he'd never let her live it down, she pulled out her compact quickly, she just needed to make sure he didn't talk to the maker of the statue, easy enough.
I've got the statue situation under control, I need you to keep an eye out for Akuma's, I have a bad feeling.
Perfect, give him an important job somewhere else, something to keep him away from that woman, she stepped around the corner and threw a sickeningly sweet grin in the older woman's direction as her compact rang on her waist, she glanced at it.
Understood, I'll keep an eye out.
Ladybug released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as the mayor stepped up to the podium to begin his speech.
Adrien frowned at the message from Ladybug, that was a statue for both of them, but she wasn't wrong, watching for Akuma's was much more important than smiling in front of camera's he did that more than enough as is, but he still wanted to at least see his statue, so Adrien Agreste would be attending the unveiling, the beauty of being rich and having someone who would drive you around.
He arrived as the mayor finished his speech, from the look on Ladybug's face it had been long and likely full of colorful words to make the mayor look better in the public eye, the election was coming soon, this commissioned statue was just as likely another political publicity stunt.
Adrien paused at the back of the crowd, his height allowing him to see over the top of most of the people there, when a specifically large gentlemen stepped in front of him he dodged forward, stepping towards the front of the crowd, eventually finding himself leaning against a tree to the left of the crowd, giving him a good view of Ladybug, the statue and everyone present.
Ladybug glanced at a tree to her left when she spotted a quick movement, her heart beat against her chest as Adrien smiled at her, sending her a little wave, which she returned as stealthily as she could.
She didn't catch the artists glare, Adrien however, did, he frowned he couldn't determine any reason people would dislike Ladybug.
The cloth was removed from the statue, the wide piece of grey obscured his vision of the artist for a moment, there were gasps, cheers and then a loud cackle.
Then there were two Ladybugs, the pair stared at each other, one's face twisted into surprise whilst the other just grinned widely.
"HOW DARE YOU PRETEND TO BE ME, YOU IMPOSTER!" The collective audience gasped and the surprised Ladybug's face twisted into first realization before irritation.
"I'm the real Ladybug." The Ladybug that spoke crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow, Adrien moved forward quickly.
"How are you going to prove that?" The second Ladybug exclaimed quickly.
The Ladybugs shifted slightly and their yoyo's spun, Adrien lowered slightly and broke into his fastest sprint as the two threw their weapons at each other, he slid in front of Ladybug that had been closest to him and kicked the yoyo into the air, he winced when the thing hit him but otherwise seemed unharmed.
The Ladybug in front of him eyes widened and his head whipped around, both of them had reacted the same way, the Ladybug opposite him smirked "I knew it, you and Cat Noir aren't together at all." She strode forward.
Adrien's head spun slightly, Ladybug had said they were together, when?
The Ladybug ran her fingers along Adrien's arm slowly and he shivered slightly, it was the exact same look, he couldn't tell who was the fake at all, how was he supposed to even know?
The Ladybug behind him stepped forward and battered the others hand away "Don't touch him." She ordered, practically a hiss escaping her mouth.
"Oh, isn't this a story? Adrien Agreste and Ladybug, does the famous model know whose under the mask?!"
The crowd of reporters ran forward, each spewing questions towards them, Adrien glanced behind him "You need to get out of here, I'll keep these guys at bay."
The Ladybug nodded to him gratefully as she threw her yoyo and zipped away, leaving Adrien to placate the reporters on his own, he lifted his hands and let a practiced scowl of indifference fall on his face all of those times his father had lectured him finally coming in handy as he spoke flatly.
"I know nothing about Ms. Ladybug's identity and even less about this business of us being together," Adrien's voice managed to remain level as he spoke "I saw a fight break out and I moved to stop it, I didn't have any time to think about the participants or any implications, now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
He nodded his head quickly and darted passed them, climbing into the back of his car quickly, the car pull onto the road and rounded a corner, camera flashes following them for a moment.
"Pull over here and head home, I will be along later, a friend of mine lives nearby." Adrien said simply, it was true Marinette lived nearby. Not that he was going to go see her, he just needed to get out of the car to transform, one of these two Ladybugs had to be an Akuma.
"What the hell!" Marinette exclaimed angrily throwing her hands into the air and running them through her hair "Prissy artist, turning into me when she get's corrupted, putting her hands all over Adrien! Talking about my Cat Noir like that!
She was so frustrated her mind didn't even stutter as she looked around, her clone looked exactly like her, but Adrien had defended her, the right one, she assumed the boy just had ridiculous luck, but why had he defended her, it's not like Adrien and Ladybug spoke often.
She shook her head quickly, pushing the thoughts away, the Akuma being a more important issue. She knew it was the artist that made the statue, so she'd check the woman's workplace first and see if she went there.
She perched on the roof of the large warehouse of the artist, peering down at the wide open area beneath her, her lifted the window slowly and flipped inside, landing with a light thud as she peered around. She walked over to the large desk, plans for the statue, a few notes, a small picture of Cat Noir with a heart drawn around it, she grimaced and let out an uncharacteristic growl as she crushed the picture in her hand.
The sound of wire extending towards her hit her ears and she felt the yoyo wrap around her legs, she rolled her eyes in slight annoyance as she was lifted into the air and left to dangle there for a moment "A trap, why did I not see this coming?"
The mirror Ladybug moved in front of her, a victorious smirk on her face as she swiped Ladybug's compact and opened it, Marinette was surprised the woman could work it properly.
"What seems to be the puurroblem milady?" Cat Noir's voice enquired with a grin.
The fake Ladybug rolled her eyes, but Marinette watched the woman shift her feet in slight excitement as she spoke "I've caught the imposter."
"That was fast, I'm on my way." Cat Noir's face flicked off the compact and the fake Ladybug smirked as she closed it "I think I'll hang onto this, a little reminder that I beat Ladybug and being Ladybug."
"You really think this plan is going to work?" Ladybug asked with a laugh "I've been fighting with Cat for years, looking like me won't get you out of the clear much longer."
"I wouldn't worry about that little Lady," The woman swayed her hips widely as she moved "The allures of a Lady are much better than a teenagers and I know how to use my weapons," The woman gestured to her chest and behind calmly "It's no secret Cat Noirs infatuated with you, do you think he will say no to me? Who looks exactly likes you but thinks only of him?"
Marinette let out another growl, the image of Cat Noir's lips pressed against the woman in front of her made her eyes narrow as she pulled her body up and slammed down, the bar she was wrapped around snapped free she whirled around and landed deftly before charging the imposter, she hopped quickly on a foot and kicked forward sending her compact into the air, she leapt up and caught it in her hand and began spinning it around herself.
Cat Noir landed in the centre of the room and his head snapped around in surprise "This does not match the definition of caught I remember." He noted calmly
The fake Ladybug darted forward, her arms wrapped around Cat's stomach as she pressed into him and peered at her over his shoulder "She's much stronger than I thought," She stepped back as Cat stiffened and she smiled darkly as she looked at Marinette "I'm glad you came."
Marinette caught her compact in her hand and stepped forward she flew passed Cat in a quick movement and grabbed the fake Ladybug by the scruff of the collar and pivoted before throwing the woman, who slammed through a window.
Marinette turned to the very surprised Cat Noir, she racked her brain for a way to make him believe her, when he just continued to stare at her in wide eyes surprise she rolled her eyes and did the first thing that popped into her mind, she grabbed him by the collar and yanked forward, his lips slammed into hers with a familiar warmth, Cat's eyes widened in surprise but he relented quickly, pressing forward eagerly.
Cat Noir's body heated quickly as his heart slammed against the confines of his chest loudly, the familiar scent, the taste everything completely overpowering him in a few moments of complete bliss then it was over and Ladybug pulled away.
"Milady, I'm sorry." Cat Noir bowed his head quickly
"You have nothing to be sorry for Cat Noir, just stay here for me, she made this personal." Marinette stepped forward quickly and vaulted the window sill, the fake Ladybug charged and she rolled forward, taking out the woman's legs so she fell with a loud 'oomph', she flipped around and threw a quick punch at Marinette who back stepped and dodged before lunging forward catching the woman's arm and flipping her over.
The glasses she had been wearing flew into the air and Marinette jumped after them, catching them in her hand she spun them around before quickly snapping them, the small black butterfly flew out of them quickly and Marinette twirled her yoyo quickly, she drew a line over it and it split and opened, the purple circle spun around her and closed around the Akuma, sealing it for a few moments before Marinette opened the compact and watched the small white butterfly take off and she smirked and sighed in relief.
Cat Noir stuck his head out from the window and grinned at her "I never thought I'd see a real cat fight."
Ladybug rolled her eyes "Don't get used to it Alley Cat, I'll leave the rest to you, try to keep yourself under control."
Cat Noir gave her a quick wave and she jumped away, leaving him with a squealing older woman asking for his autograph.
Marinette sat perched on the roof opposite Adrien's large mansion, Tikki floated next to her, a quick text to Alya who texted Nino had gained her the address, now it was just a matter of wait for Adrien to get home.
Marinette wanted to confirm something and Ladybug was going to hel her do it, she spotted Adrien's car pull up out the front of his home and he ascended the stairs to get inside. Marinette climbed to her feet quickly.
Adrien plopped down on the bed with a thud, he had kissed Marinette and Ladybug in the short space of two days, well, Cat Noir had, but they were the same person so it was the same thing right?
He felt wrong, like he needed to properly discuss things with Ladybug, but she had kissed him in that warehouse, so did that mean she liked him? Or was that just what she thought was the best way to show him who was the real one?
The familiarity of the kiss was the farthest thing on his mind as he stared at his ceiling, silently willing everything to just order itself in a nice neat line so he could deal with it.
When someone tapped on his window he snapped up abruptly and walked over to it, his eyes widened in surprise as Ladybug gave him a small grin and a wave, he slid his window open quickly, she was dangling upside down from her yoyo, his window being a midway point between the ground and the roof.
She gave him a warm smile "I wanted to thank you personally for your help earlier and tell you that was really brave."
Adrien blushed scarlet "I-I-I, Y-you don't need t-to t-thank me." He was stuttering like a fool, he never stuttered where was his Cat Noir confidence when he needed it?
Oh right, passed out in his bathroom because he ate way too much cheese.
Ladybug giggled into the back of her hand, Marinette secretly singing in joy, she was always the one stuttering and blushing like a fool, turning the tables on Adrien was a whole different experience and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
He seemed to gain some of his confidence and he grinned at her "Don't tell me you were going to do a Spiderman from my roof?"
Ladybug raised an eyebrow a small grin appeared on her face as her hand flew around the back of his head and she pulled, Adrien's eyes widened and his hands caught the window still to steady himself as something warm pressed against his lips, his breath caught in his throat and his mind completely stopped as his heart was sent into another frenzy against his ribs, it was so loud he could have swore Ladybug would hear it.
Ladybug pulled back and flashed him a wink before drawing herself onto his roof and disappearing, Adrien's fingers brushed across his mouth as a giddy excited smile fell on his face, every thought in his head having just disappeared as he fell onto his bed and let out a happy sigh.
Marinette squealed on her bed and pressed a pillow to her face "WHAT AM I DOING? WHY CAN'T I KEEP MYSELF UNDERCONTROL WOULD IT BE SO HARD JUST TO NOT KISS A GUY!?"
"Marinette, sh!" Tikki warned quickly, pressing a finger over her mouth.
Marinette sent a half hearted glare at the Kwami "What's wrong with me Tikki? I'm just causing myself more problems!"
"You need to take a day to think, get your head and your heart in order!" Tikki ordered, Marinette rolled over onto her stomach and sighed.
Cat Noir kissed Marinette.
Ladybug kissed Cat Noir.
Ladybug kissed Adrien.
Marinette rolled onto her back, technically Cat Noir had kissed someone before she did, even if she happened to be Ladybug this was sort of turnabout and turnabout was fair play.
Right?
A/N:I can't believe this chapter ended up being the shortest, I fully expected this to be the longest but it just didn't work out that way at all, I think a lot of stuff happened all things considered and this sort of fleshes out the rest of the arc that I have planned as we draw towards the conclusion, so I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
Replies!
TVDFan245: Hey, don't hate on my MariChat! I agonized over the end of that chapter for like 4 hours! Don't you yuck me :P! I warned you all the pairs would spend some time in the spotlight, that being said, I hope you like the Ladrien I supplied you with in this chapter, I am a little sad it ended up being shorter than intended, but such is life!
nerwenadanedhel: Don't Implode! What will I do without your fangirling?! I need at least someone to tell me I can produce solid fangirl/boyable moments! I make puns all the time, even really bad ones, they are purrfectly acceptable, I mean, I could pawbably make way more than I do you know? Your English is quite good, I mean, It's my mother tongue and I can't grammar at all, so your already beating me Milady, thanks for your kind review!
21nagarcia: I'm glad you are enjoying it so far! Hopefully you like this chapter as well!
NitenGale: You can say a lot of things, technically, it's a free review system, you could say I'm a twelve foot tall Velociraptor, not saying you would, but I mean you could, if you wanted to. I'm glad you like what I'm doing with them, I noticed that myself and was like 'why?' just don't do that thing and everything is good, but it is a kids show, so they have to make some kind of tension for the youngins, oh and he or she better be cute, I'm now invested in this Childs wellbeing! (He'll definitely be cute who am I even kidding, the mothers adorable and my younger brother is no potato.) So thanks!
Spektor: I'm glad you enjoyed the kiss, I did put a lot of thought into the end of that chapter, it was the one that would make or break the little arc I was planning out and I decided to go with it, I am hoping with the conclusion all the flow will come together in a big 'Woot' moment? I guess, note entirely sure.
ddrockdoesfanfic: Hah, you wanted the next chapter I give you the next chapter! Hope you enjoy this one too, glad you've enjoyed the rest of the story!
