It was nearly lunchtime once the Lucky Charm had set everything to right again and true to form, the College had shut down to resume classes after the usual lunch hour.

Marinette had run home on the rooftops as her earrings beeped angrily, transforming almost as soon as she'd landed on her rooftop in order to get in.

It was on days like these that she appreciated how lucky she was that her parents were so often working down in the shop, so they sometimes missed these less-than-expected entrances.

It was just as well, since she desperately needed the time to recover.

As the swarm of Ladybugs had washed over his statue, freeing him from the stone prison, she had wanted nothing more than to hug Chat. To hug Adrien.

But she'd barely had enough time to dash home. And as much as she'd wanted to, she couldn't tell him.

Not yet.

Her heart couldn't take knowing how he kept putting himself into harms ways to keep her safe.

"I nearly lost him again, Tikki." She dropped down onto her bed, curling up with the large stuffed cat pillow.

Tikki snagged a cookie from the stash Marinette kept in her desk drawer, and cuddled close enough to pat her cheeks.

As sad as she was that Adrien - that Chat Noir - didn't like her as she liked him, the literal reality that he so easily could gave been gone with a single misstep was almost too much to bear.


After a half an hour curled up in bed with Tikki attempting to spur her onwards, Marinette had managed to muster a little bit of an appetite again.

Or maybe it was her overpowering need to make sure he stayed safe.

She'd raced through her sandwich, wanting to head back to school and confirm for herself again that Adrien was alright.

She hadn't even noticed her mother come up the stairs from the shop, until she was ruffling her hair. "Are you alright, Marinette?"

"Oh!" Marinette's eyes met her mother's. "Yeah. We just had to evacuate near school today."

"That had to be a little scary." Sabine frowned, pulling her own chair out to sit down at the table with her daughter. "No one was hurt though?"

"Well," Marinette winced, "This Akuma was turning people into statues. They even got Chat Noir before Ladybug managed to get it fixed."

Sabine was up and giving Marinette a hug. "I'm glad everyone is all right now. Why don't you take some macarons in to your friend? It was a slower sales day today because of the early attack, and we definitely have some extra to spare."

Marinette smiled softly. "That would be nice, maman."


Though Nathalie had arched a brow at the request, Adrien ate his lunch in his room.

He didn't stop pacing the whole time.

Plagg rolled his eyes. "Sit down, kid. You're making me dizzy."

"I just…" Adrien grimaced, gripping the back of the computer chair. "I'm so close. I need to figure all this out."

Plagg popped a tiny morsel of the cheese between his lips, rudely talking with his mouth half full. "She gave you a solid clue."

Adrien grinned. "I know…"

Arms crossed, Plagg he plopped down onto the desk, not so subtly forcing his charge to sit and talk. " Unfortunately you sit in the front row, kid. If she's in your class then you don't get much of an opportunity to check on your classmates."

Adrien nodded. "Right, and if she's in another class I am already limited in the time I'd have to find her."

"Sounds about right," Plagg confirmed.

"Can I ask you a question, though?"

Plagg grinned cheekily. "Why, yes. These rock hard abs are real."

Adrien snorted, gamely tossing a freshly unwrapped chunk of Camembert at his Kwami. "Not what I wanted to know."

"Shoot."

"Can Ladybug change her appearance, too? I always assumed she must change a lot or I might have recognized her sooner. I know my hair changes and my eyes change."

Plagg pressed his lips together thoughtfully. "She might. Or she might not."

Rolling his eyes, Adrien didn't bother to mask his grumbling. "Well, that's helpful."

Plagg shrugged. "Ladybug's Kwami is a little different in what she's capable of adjusting." Plagg eyed him carefully. "What I can tell you I can't change your height or your frame."

Adrien raised a brow. That was surprisingly helpful. "And my eyes?"

Plagg grinned. "Those change so I can see through as well. It helps me know where to focus my protection when we fight."

Adrien beamed, as he leaned back and sent the chair into a celebratory spin. "So her eyes might be the same...got it."


Marinette had managed to sit down with Alya and Nino eagerly raiding her box of treats before Adrien had returned to the classroom.

Nino snagged a cookie for him, practically waving it in front of his face to no avail.

Adrien's eyes were everywhere, taking in the entire class at once and then focusing on each individual person, the girls in particular.

Clearly, her Chaton had gotten his hint.

As Madame Bustier entered the classroom to begin the afternoon lesson, Nino tugged Adrien's chair out with his foot. "Have a seat, dude. Madame Bustier is going to notice."

Madame Bustier arched an amused brow as she turned around to write a few keys test dates on the chalkboard.

Adrien sat down, taking the cookie Nino had set in front of his desk. Blinking, he'd smiled back at her. "Hey, thanks, Marinette!"

"Sure." Smiling, she nodded. She was extremely careful not to meet his eyes for long, leaning down to her backpack and pulling out her notebook.

He blinked, before turning around in his seat and take a bite of the macaron.

Marinette exhaled, opening her notes to a fresh page. If she was lucky, she might even be able to focus just a little bit on the afternoon's lesson and not on the boy in front her her.

If not, maybe Alya might take pity on her.


Adrien's foot tapped perpetually throughout the lesson. His eyes darted around the classroom at every opportunity.

She had to admit it was a little distracting.

Not that Adrien wasn't always distracting. He didn't usually stir that much during lessons, though, but now he was just bursting with spare energy.

It was amazing that no one else-not even Alya-could see the Chat Noir practically shining through. Her lips curved as she could practically see his leather tail rankled, twitching back and forth, anxious to pounce on the slightest clue.

Surreptitiously, Marinette peeked out from under her lashes. She was trying desperately not to watch him directly...unless he looked back at her.

Frowning, she bit her lip. It had been hard enough to not just rush over and hug him earlier, but that would lead to no end of mis-understandings, least of all from Adrien.

It was only fair that he should know; he had every right to find out for himself. But all of this delay was only serving to increase her own anxiety, weighing heavily in the pit of her stomach.

What would he think when he found out that she was his partner all along?


Chat Noir scrambled atop the rooftops near the collège. He still had way too much nervous energy to sit still at home behind a desk attempting to finish homework he'd done months before he'd joined the class.

It felt like not a day went by that an Akuma doesn't attack, but they usually tend to be more present at odd times during the day and early evening. If his mental energy wasn't so otherwise occupied, he' probably be trying to figure out some sort of pattern.

Alya had certainly had some interesting details saved on some yet unshared section of the Ladyblog.

Right now, his head wasn't entirely in the Akuma fighting game, although it honestly should be.

He'd seen the footage Alya had captured of today's battle and it was more than a little terrifying.

Alya had been lucky not be to caught out herself.

But Ladybug was close. She's seriously close.

Maybe once he'd found the girl behind his Ladybug, they could both focus on changing the game with Hawkmoth.


He'd wound a similar path to the days before. Chat Noir should have been surprised to find Marinette out sketching again, but he was rather relieved to find her there. She'd been such a good listener the day before.

For a moment earlier that day he'd considered the fact that she might be Ladybug, but her reaction was so odd.

She looked close enough to Ladybug, but Plagg had said Ladybug's kwami may or may not be more inclined to disguises. But it was Marinette's reactions that made him think she wasn't Ladybug, though.

If he had truly found Ladybug, wouldn't she be making it a point to confirm who she was? Wouldn't she be meeting his gaze? Maybe even subtly dropping a hint into casual conversation.

Wouldn't she be watching for him too?

Chat Noir sighed, vaulting down onto her rooftop, safely out of range of the lounger. At least the brief distraction would be good for him.

"Good evening, Princess?" Chat folded over into a near instant bow. "Another evening of sketching away in your tower?"


Marinette smirked over her sketchbook as she'd closed it. He really had the uncanny ability to find her whenever her mind had already drifted off to him. She was sketching out his suit and mulling over some sort of special Christmas present for the year. She'd made something for Adrien the year before, but his alter ego had been rather sadly neglected. "Something like that anyways. Patrolling again."

Chat Noir nodded, green eyes glowing with the slightest hint of mischief. "No better way to get my mind off of troubles."

"You have lots of troubles?"

"More than I'd like." He admitted, leaning back against the stone near her lounger. "I have a mystery to solve, a never ending stream of villains to help defeat, a whole life I can't even talk about, and a pile of homework on top of that."

"Must be tough." She carefully looked away, stowing the sketchbook safely out of view. He had already gotten his hint for the day. And who knows how many more quiet nights like this she might have left before he knew and everything changed.

His smiled turned mischievous, flexing his muscles. "Hey, this cat can usually handle it just fine."

Marinette chuckled at the absurdity, her hand covering her eyes. It was one thing to watch her partner do that, but to know it was actually her crush under all that ridiculous bluster. "Oh, I have no doubt."

Arms cross over his chest, Chat Noir peered down at her, half offended. "That sounds like you have doubts, Princess."

She rolled her eyes, pushing herself back upright on the lounger. "No. I just rarely see you so serious for long."

He grinned. "I have to play up for the camera. All my fans are watching."

Marinette winced slightly She had certainly been watching. "I did see the footage from today."

"Ah." He murmured, crouching down closer to her, his head tilted in curiosity resting in his glove palm. "So are you a fan, too, Princess?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Can't you ever be serious?"

"Why would you think I wasn't serious?" Chat Noir smirked, not moving an inch. "I seriously want to know if you are a fan?"

"I've seen the footage on the Ladyblog. Because my friend runs it." Marinette chided. "Today was seriously scary."

Chat Noir backed off, letting his claws fall to his side. "I can't argue with that."

She breathed, looking out across the Seine. Her expression was even, measured. "Do you flirt this way with all the girls?"

Glowing green eyes widened, blinking. "Huh?"

She'd narrowed her eyes, but she couldn't quite bring herself to face him head on. It was a question that had bothered her for some time, one that she couldn't quite bring herself to ignore given what she knew now. "I know I've seen you flirting with Ladybug? I mean, even Alya - you know the girl who runs the Ladyblog? - is convinced you must be a certified flirt."

The tips of hips claws grazed the brick where he'd pressed back against it. "I don't really think so, honestly. I don't really get much opportunity, and people usually misunderstand when I pay them any sort of attention outside of the mask. So, I really only do so with Ladybug."

Marinette was up on her feet to hide the shock on her face. He was much too close and her expression was sure to be too telling.

Biting her lip, she was quick to look away. But she had to know. "So, why only Ladybug?"

Chat Noir smiles sadly, sighing as he gazed out towards the tower. "Because she's the one the matters."

Her jaw dropped.

Thankfully, Chat Noir had dropped his head into his palm along the rail lining her rooftop. "I've tried to tell her, but every time it's somehow managed to go awry. Hawkmoth is usually to blame for that."

Marinette blushed furiously. "Oh. I'm sorry. I uh...really didn't mean to pry."

It was just her luck that the shock had rendered her feet a little more clumsy than usual, slipping and almost falling as she backpedalled.

Of course Chat Noir had to be far too much of a gentleman to let her fall, especially with his superpowered reflexes in play.

"Careful." Of course, he's close enough to catch her, echoing her a-ha moment as he righted her.

Warmth flooded her cheeks, as she was careful to quickly extract herself from his arms.

Marinette shook her head to clear her thoughts. She needed to focus on something else, even if only for a little while. "Wait. So then...why would you flirt with me when Evilustrator went down?"


He chuckled. "You were my pinch hitter for Ladybug for the day. You know, I don't think I've really ever worked with another civilian who didn't end up under Akuma influence-outside of maybe the Ladyblog girl when she was captured by an Akuma."

Her head tilted as Chat's grin took on shade's of Adrien's real smile, soft and warm. "This banter had become the normal. It was fun and it was actually, surprisingly easy to fall into. And as far as I knew at the time, Ladybug was trusting you to act in her stead, which you carried out really well."

Her blush hadn't subsided, but she had finally turned back to look at him. Her smile reached the darker blue pupils in the dark. "I suppose I can be happy enough with that."

His lips curved, as they stood side by side in companionable silence for a few moments.

She yawned.

"Sorry." His claw drew back. "I didn't mean to keep you up so late."

"It's not a problem." She smiled softly. "But I should be getting to sleep since I do have school tomorrow."

"Me too." He nodded.

As she turned on her heel, tossing a surprisingly familiar grin over her shoulder and heading back downstairs. "Good night, Chat Noir."

"Good night, Princess!"

Chat Noir watch her descend, carelessly waving back up at him as shuffled down the ladder, her skylight door closed behind her.

His glowing green eyes slowly blinking wide.

The weight of familiarity didn't hit him in full until the door dropped shut behind her.