A/N: Oh my gosh. 101 followers! I feel so special. 3 To show my gratitude for all of you wonderful people who seemed to have liked my story enough to click that 'follow' button, I will post two chapters at the same time! Enjoy the rest of the One Rainy Night episode!

One Rainy Night: Part Four

Adrien sighed, closing his window. Marinette had turned into 'Kitty Noir' and left on the promise of dropping by after school with some cookies for Tikki. Running on automatic, he grabbed some clothes and jumped into the shower, nearly yowling when the water hit him.

He really didn't like water.

The discovery shocked him. He had never been one to dislike water, even as Chat Noir; however, as he quickly scrubbed his hair, he couldn't shake the creepy feeling of how the water dripped over him, encapsulating him and dampening his senses. He escaped that watery cocoon as fast as he could, drying off in record time.

As soon as he was dry and dressed, he went to the sink, inwardly grumbling to himself about the water. However, his reflection in the mirror froze him, and every thought in his mind fled.

His hair, having been plastered to his head after he had brushed it, was noticeably sticking up at two spots on his head. The way they were raised made him think of…

Cat ears.

Pressing down on his head, he felt nothing but hair. However, as soon as he released the locks, they sprang back up as if invisible cat ears were there, framing the vague shape. He met his own gaze in the mirror, trying to swallow the panic welling up within him.

Marinette had told him earlier that he still had cat-like eyes, although her words hadn't registered until just now. His green eyes looked normal except for the two vertical slits that were his pupils. They were paper-thin now, turning his entire iris a vivid green.

Darting out of his bathroom, he skidded into his closet, tearing through it to find a hoodie in the back corner. He tugged it on, already heading to his desk to find some light sunglasses - enough to disguise his eyes, but not enough to impede his vision.

Not that it would. He had been able to see in the dark closet just fine.

His reflexes were as good as when he had been Chat Noir, too. He found that out when he accidentally bumped against his shelf in a rush, and one of his trophies had fallen. His hand had snapped out and caught it before he had even realized what he had been doing.

Taking a deep breath, he double-checked that his hood was in place before yanking the door open, steeling himself to face his father.

A boy of about sixteen years old with light blue eyes stood there, his tanned hand raised to knock. His other hand was in his ripped designer jeans pocket, his black leather jacket open to expose a simple grey shirt underneath it. Dark brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, the tail draped over his shoulder. His finely-shaped Arabian face showed surprise as he took in Adrien's appearance.

"Hey, Adrien," he greeted, smiling awkwardly. He had only a slight middle-eastern accent. "It's been a while."

"Zamir?" Adrien said, gaping at the model. "What are you doing here?"

Zamir frowned in puzzlement. "Didn't your father tell you? Him and my father are working together on preparing for the winter fashion show this year. I got to transfer to Paris for the duration of our stay."

Adrien followed Zamir down the hallway, still dazed. "No, he didn't tell me…" He glanced at the fellow model. "Wait, what school did you transfer to?"

He rattled off the name of Adrien's high school. His head spun.

"Your father said you attend that school, as well!" Zamir exclaimed, looking excited. "Maybe you could show me around today?"

Adrien shook his head. "Sorry, man. I'm on house arrest right now; grounded for a week." He pointed at his hair underneath the hood. "I… pushed it a little too far with him."

"Black hair looks good on you, though," he complimented, unfazed by Adrien's comment. "And you father said he would let you go to school as long as you're with me."

"Zamir!" A tall man with dark hair clipped short and in a business suit stopped them, his pearly teeth looking bright against his dark skin. Adrien recognized Zamir's father, Viraj, who was a famous fashion designer from their home country. "Hold up a moment, son. I need to tell you something before you leave. Good to see you again, Adrien," Viraj said, patting Adrien's shoulder as he passed by.

Gabriel approached Adrien. The boy gulped, his eyes wide as he stared up at his father. He looked tired as if he hadn't slept much the night before. I wonder if he pulled another all-nighter, Adrien thought. I hope he finished it… he's grumpy when he doesn't.

Gabriel sniffed in disapproval at his son's appearance. "Make sure to behave yourself with Viraj's son. If I hear you stepped out of line - "

"What?!" Zamir exclaimed from across the room, sounding appalled. Viraj hushed him, continuing in Persian.

Gabriel took a deep breath. "You are allowed to go to school as long as Zamir is with you. We already matched up his schedule with yours; he will be attending all the same classes as you."

Adrien felt hope flicker in his chest. Freedom with a leash, but he would take it. "Yes, sir. Thank you."

Zamir approached them, giving Gabriel a curious expression before leaning on Adrien's shoulder. "Ready to go wow the commoners?" he asked, grinning.

As they climbed into Adrien's escort car, the Gorilla looked at them in the rearview mirror until they were buckled before driving down the road towards the school. Zamir leaned towards Adrien, whispering, "Who's the silent giant?"

"I call him Gorilla," he whispered back, "he never speaks, and he's just so huge!"

Zamir smothered his laugh. Within a few minutes, they were at the school; Gorilla pulled up front and stopped, putting the vehicle in park.

"See you later!" Adrien called to Gorilla, hopping out of the vehicle first.

Zamir followed, a little bit more refined as he unfolded his long legs and stood up, stretching in the morning sun. He glanced around lazily, a small yet dazzling smile hinting at his features.

Always the attention hog, Adrien thought, remembering the different times he had had to do shoots with the Persian model. He gestured up the stairs. "Come on; we don't want to be late."

Marinette fidgeted in her chair, staring at Adrien's seat. She wondered how he was doing. Was he prowling around his room like a cat, or had he retained his human mind?

"Spill, girl," Alya whispered, leaning towards her. "You've been staring at Adrien's seat ever since you sat down. Plus, why is you hair blonde now?"

Marinette bit her lip, wondering how much she could tell her best friend. Nino glanced over his shoulder, watching them closely. "Well, I-I heard he was put on lockdown again for a week…" she stammered, hoping this topic would distract her friend from her hair. It did.

"Again?" Alya hissed.

Nino leaned back, staring at Marinette. "Where did you hear that? I haven't heard of it."

She blushed. "H-he told me."

Alya's and Nino's eyes widened. "Wait, you have his number now?" Alya feigned fainting. "Marinette's getting brave!"

"Sh-shut up! I've had his number for a while now!" Marinette defended herself, her face bright red.

Nino stared at his best friend's seat, frowning. "At least it's only for a week this time…"

The door burst open and Adrien darted in, dragging someone in behind him. Squeals followed them into the room as the two models shut the door behind themselves and leaned against it heavily, gasping for air. They looked at one another and laughed.

"Good to see you're still popular with the ladies, Agreste," the tan-skinned Persian said, his smile perfectly white against his skin. He straightened his leather jacket as he stood upright.

Adrien tugged on the corner of his hoodie, adjusting his skewed glasses. "I think you're more popular than me, Sanaz."

"Oh, Adrikins!" Chloe exclaimed, vaulting across the room and latching onto Adrien's arm. "Those three were just talking about how you had been grounded again! I'm so glad it was a lie." She shot Marinette a nasty, triumphant glance.

"Actually, it was true," Adrien said sheepishly, moving to rub the back of his head but thinking better of it with his hood on. "Remember Zamir? He showed up this morning and convinced my dad to let me come to school."

"Chloe Bourgeois?" Zamir exclaimed, surprised. "Wow, you… haven't changed at all."

Marinette nearly snorted with surprised laughter at the blunt insult.

Chloe stared at him, her mouth falling open. She detached from Adrien, staring at Zamir as if he would disappear if she blinked. "You…"

He raised an eyebrow, waiting. He placed a hand on his hip.

Chloe squealed loudly, her hands flying over her mouth. "Zamir Sanaz! What are you doing in Paris? Is your father here? Is he and Mr. Agreste doing another show together?"

Zamir smirked. "Yup, so I'll be here for a bit."

Adrien slipped into his seat next to Nino, sighing heavily. "Dude, what happened?" Nino asked, glancing between him and Marinette.

Adrien rested his elbows on the table, rubbing his temples. "I don't even know where to begin, Nino." He turned around, looking up at Marinette. "Good morning, Marinette."

"G-good morning," she responded, her cheeks reddening.

"Dude!" Nino exclaimed. "Your hair!" He reached forward to pull back Adrien's hood.

Adrien's hand snapped out, wrapping around Nino's wrist and stopping his friend. He chuckled nervously. "Y-yeah, right? Turned out great after I slept over at your place."

Nino froze, then joined in on the laughter. "No kidding! I didn't realize it was so dark until now."

Adrien smirked. "It's part of the reason I got put on house-arrest."

"Ohhh," Zamir breathed, setting his arms on Adrien's shoulders and resting his head on top of his hood. "Are these your friends, Adrien? Care to introduce me?"

Adrien pointed at Nino. "This is my best friend, Nino, and his girlfriend, Alya," he explained simply, his finger moving in an arc to stop on Marinette. "And that's Marinette, my girlfriend."

The entire room went silent. Chloe, who had been powdering her face, suddenly choked on the nose-full of powder she had launched on herself. She whirled around, facing them. "What?!"

"Marinette!" Alya gasped, her eyes wide and hands covering her mouth. "When were you going to tell us?" Nino glanced between Adrien and Marinette as if he knew some secret.

Marinette blushed. I-I guess we are, she thought, twirling a lock of blonde hair. "We-well, it only happened ye-yesterday…" She glanced shyly at Adrien. "I mean, I wasn't even sure…"

Adrien smirked at her, his eyes glinting behind the glasses. "You doubt my feelings, Princess? Ouch, that hurts." He winked.

Marinette blushed at the nickname Chat had always called her in her civilian form. Alya and Nino gasped, glancing between each other and the new couple in barely-contained excitement.

Zamir watched Marinette for a moment before sitting down next to Adrien on the bench, making him scoot closer to Nino. "No wonder you didn't want to stay at home!" he said, grinning. "With such a cute girlfriend sitting behind you, how can you even focus in class?"

Just then, their teacher walked into the room, silencing the room and beginning the class. He began by introducing Zamir to the class, saying he was a transfer student from the middle-east and his father was partnering with Gabriel Agreste on the winter fashion show. Zamir stood tall and regal, thriving in the spotlight of the room.

In the next class, Alya pulled Nino into the seat next to her. Marinette took the hint and sat shyly next to Adrien. It felt awkward to try to act normally around him after what they had been through recently. "I-is it all right if I - "

"Oops," Zamir huffed, accidentally bumping Marinette's shoulder as he sat between Adrien and Marinette. "Hey. Mind if I sit here?"

Adrien looked a bit irritated. "Dude. really?"

Grinning, Zamir opened his mouth. However, when he looked at Adrien, his mouth hung open for a few seconds before he scrambled up and moved to the end. "Sorry, man. Didn't realize it was that big a deal."

Adrien scooted closer, exhaling slowly. Seeing his hand clenching and unclenching underneath the table, Marinette reached out and touched it lightly. He wrapped his fingers around hers, smiling at her gratefully.

That was when she saw what had probably freaked Zamir out.

Adrien's pupils were two narrow vertical slits behind the slightly tinted glasses; from a distance, no one would notice, but she was sitting right next to him. They slowly widened as he stared at her, taking one slow breath after another.

"Are you feeling okay?" she whispered.

He gave her a small nod. "Better than earlier," was all he said, but she understood. He had meant he was feeling better than last night when he had nearly lost himself to the feline spell that had been cast on him.

"Say, Marinette," Zamir started, leaning forward to look at the girl. His blue eyes glinted almost like ice reflecting light. "I hear you're an aspiring fashion designer. Which field are you most looking forward to?"

"I don't quite know yet," she admitted, continuing to hold Adrien's hand underneath the table. "I kind of play in each field to see how I feel about it. I've yet to find one I don't like, in fact." She laughed self-consciously.

Adrien smirked, glancing at her. "Mari is pretty amazing. She's made several things in my father's competitions, and if she didn't get first place, it was only because she made it to the rounds with professional designers."

Zamir whistled, impressed. He grinned. "Maybe you could make me something, then."

Adrien hissed.

It was faint and barely there, but Zamir and Marinette were close enough to hear it. Zamir's eyes widened. "Whoa, dude, I was just - "

Marinette tugged him closer to her, squeezing his hand almost painfully as she whispered, "It's okay, kitty. Just settle down; if you can make it through the day, I'll give you a good scratch, okay?"

Adrien's eyes swiveled towards her, wide and shocked. For a moment, she wondered if she had taken it too far when he breathed, "Promise?"

"Promise."

He took a deep, steadying breath. "Okay."