Adrien pretty much skipped through the hallway to his next class—Physics, his favourite subject! Félix, who plodded along beside him, seemed to be anything but enthusiastic though.

"What's wrong, Fé? It's Physics! You like Physics!"

"I have nothing against the subject, but you aren't the one that got seated next to Rose." Félix said the name in the same way he talked about cold coffee or a bad book.

"Come on, she can't be that bad," Marinette, who was walking behind them, argued. She somehow performed the feat of not only carrying her school bag, her purse and her coat, but also holding her sketchbook and tablet while reading something on the latter. Adrien had offered to at least carry her coat for her, but for inexplicable reasons that had thrown her into a stuttering frenzy. It probably had been another one of these customs regular people just knew and he utterly failed at. Not wanting to make her uncomfortable he had dropped the subject, though now she looked like a pack mule. …A very adorable pack mule. He quickly looked away as the thought warmed his cheeks.

"On Tuesday she kept browsing her phone and squealing about celebrities and scrapbooking instead of concentrating on the task we were given. I much prefer Nathaniel as a partner," Félix said.

"Maybe you can ask Madame Mendeleiev if you can sit next to Ivan instead? He's relatively quiet and when Rose is on her own, she can't talk to anyone. Problem solved," Marinette suggested while not looking up from her tablet. A closer look told Adrien that she was reading the text about particle physics that had been their homework. He frowned. It wasn't like Marinette was a bad student, but Physics just really wasn't her cup of tea. Should he offer to help her with it?

"It's certainly worth a try," Félix said.

"I heard Madame Mendeleiev gave another class group projects yesterday so maybe we'll get assigned presentations too," Nino threw in.

Group projects? That sounded amazing! Maybe he'd get paired with Marinette and then he'd have the perfect excuse to help her! Maybe they would still have some time afterwards where they could take turns in trying to beat Sans in the genocide run of Undertale again. They had spent the entire weekend and the last day of the Christmas holidays on Monday with playing through almost the entire game, but they were just stuck on this one battle. It was ridiculously hard.

"Oh fantastic. As if there wouldn't be enough to dread already," Félix said and Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Don't be so dramatic, Coffee Boy. Group projects are fun!" Alya threw in.

Félix just gave a resigned sigh and grumbled something about needing to make a trip to Starbucks a morning routine.

In a cruel twist of fate, Félix had been right when he'd said that there was something to dread, even though that thing didn't turn out to be what Adrien had expected.

"Look, Sabrina, it's him as a superhero. And look who he's saving, it's Marinette. He's totally crushing on you, Marinette."

Adrien was halfway out of his seat before he even noticed it. Before he could do anything though, Nathaniel, clutching his sketchbook, was sent out of the classroom. When Adrien turned around to Marinette he was surprised to see neither embarrassment nor any other sort of discomfort on her face. Instead she looked in the direction Nathaniel had disappeared into with a worried frown. An ugly stinging feeling of jealousy settled in his stomach and the only thing keeping him from growling was Mme Mendeleiev who walked back to the board and continued class as if nothing had happened.

Just like Nino had predicted, they were arranged into groups to work on presentations about particle physics. Adrien tried to get his thoughts away from this irrational anger since he knew that it would only get worse if he'd allow it. Only when he heard his name did he look up.

"—Adrien, and Alya," his teacher said. Nino held out a fist for him to bump so apparently, he was in their group too? He really should have paid attention.

"So lucky," he heard Marinette whisper behind him.

"And Sabrina, Chloé, and Marinette," Mme Mendeleiev ended. Adrien froze and sent an anxious look back to Félix who was already throwing a dark frown at Chloé.

"So unlucky," Alya muttered and Adrien couldn't help but flinch. Wasn't Alya supposed to be the one with bad luck?! She should have been—

No, this wasn't Alya's fault. He shouldn't blame her for the unfortunate division of study groups.

Unexpectedly, it was Chloé who spoke up.

"Madame? Can't you add her to another group? We work better on our own."

For once, he agreed with Chloé.

"This is a group presentation, not pairs. Deal with it."

Now Adrien had to really stop himself from growling. He didn't like this at all!

When the bell rang, he immediately went to the front.

"Madame?" He asked timidly and Mme Mendeleiev's piercing eyes turned to him. "Is it possible to maybe trade groups?"

"Are you not happy with your group?" He winced at her sharp tone.

"No, my group is great! But I wanted to ask if I can still switch groups with Marinette?" He could think of a thousand things he would rather do than work on a group project with Chloé and Sabrina, but letting that fate fall upon Marinette was something he wanted even less.

"I arranged the groups so that at least one student in each group knows the material enough to help the weaker two. I can't switch you with Marinette because she needs someone who understands the subject matter and can explain it to her if needed."

From the corner of his eye he saw that Chloé and Sabrina were about to leave the room. He had to act quickly.

"And what if I switched with Sabrina?" He asked in a last try to persuade his teacher. If he couldn't get Marinette out of the study group with Chloé then at least he could be there personally to ensure her safety.

Mme Mendeleiev arched a sceptical eyebrow.

"May I ask why?"

Adrien swallowed. "Well, Marinette and Chloé don't get along very well—" The understatement of the year, "—so I wanted to prevent that they start…uh…fighting." Or worse. "Nothing against Sabrina, but I don't think she'd be good at settling a dispute."

Now he just hoped that his Physics teacher didn't really have a heart of stone like a lot of students said. After a few moments of contemplation, she called Chloé, Sabrina and Marinette over. The latter was so annoyed and anxious that Adrien could feel the weird phantom sensation of the fur on his tail standing on end under the glamour. He automatically moved closer to her in an attempt of silent comfort.

Mme Mendeleiev was very concise about the whole thing. "Adrien has voiced concerns about the group arrangements, so Sabrina and he will switch groups."

Adrien saw Nino and Alya throw them confused glances from where they waited at the door while both Sabrina and Marinette looked at him as if he had grown a second head. The reaction he had dreaded the most was Chloé's, though she surprised him by staying calm and just giving a curt nod. As soon as their teacher turned around though, she stormed out of the room with Sabrina hurriedly scurrying after her.

"Why did you do that?" Marinette asked as she picked up her coat and the two of them wandered in the direction of the locker room.

"As if I'd leave you alone with Chloé!"

"I can hear you, you know!"

Both of them jumped at the sudden voice behind them and whirled around to see none other than the Court princess herself. Adrien shouldn't have been surprised at her appearing seemingly out of nowhere, but he was certainly unsettled by it. Was she angry? Gods, don't let her be angry! An angry Chloé was not a Chloé he wanted to have to deal with for an entire day. And definitely not one he wanted anywhere near Marinette.

"You know what I mean," Adrien said and threw Chloé a meaningful look. She seemed unimpressed.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this over with," she said with a flip of her ponytail and then strode by them in the direction of the locker room.

"We'll wait for you in the library," Adrien called after her, not knowing if he was actually hoping for her to show up or not. Marinette sighed.

"This is gonna be a long day," she said.

"Ah ah ah, no jinxing, Princess," Adrien said with a raised finger and a grin. She scrunched up her nose when he poked it. Adorable.

"When you two are done flirting," a voice—Félix—said behind them and Adrien whirled around again, this time with quite a deep blush, if the reflection in the classroom window wasn't lying. Marinette let out a squeak and blushed scarlet.

"W-we're not—we w-weren't—" She stuttered.

"Why were you waiting for us? We're not in the same study group," Adrien asked instead and Marinette visibly relaxed next to him at the change of topic. Félix rolled his eyes.

"Nathaniel is nowhere to be found and Ivan had to help Mylène with something. And the last thing I am looking for is to be joined at a table by Nino and Alya when instead of working they're just going to flirt and even think they're being subtle about it." Another eyeroll followed.

Ever since the Akuma attack at the zoo, the two had gotten quite close. Being locked into a panther cage had apparently been all that was needed for them to get closer. Adrien and Marinette were very much seizing the opportunity for well-deserved revenge against Nino when it came to poking him.

"Yeah, they really aren't fooling anyone, are they?" Marinette said, her voice steadier again.

"You know, you could just drop your solidarity with Nino for the time being and just start this stupid poking game with him too. I'm sure he'd stop flirting then," Adrien remarked with a grin. His brother chose not to comment on it.

"By the way, congratulations on dooming yourself," Félix said instead with a flat stare. Adrien's grin dropped.

"Ha ha, very funny," he deadpanned.

Marinette sighed again. "It can't be helped now, so let's get this project done and move on with our lives," she said, took Adrien's hand and dragged him in the direction of the library.

"Hey, you can't just steal our partner, Chloé!" Nino argued as Chloé dangled a hat in front of Sabrina. It seemed rather unfortunate that she had shown up in the library at all. None of them would get anything of the project done at this point.

"It's a very cute hat though," Sabrina muttered. Adrien heard Félix scoff from where he stood in front of a bookshelf.

"Stop bribing her. It's just one stupid project," he said and Chloé sent him a look that could best be described as a soft glare. A look bordering on the edge of contempt without being downright murderous.

"She can just switch with Dupain-Cheng then," Chloé huffed.

"Chloé, you know what Madame Mendeleiev said," Marinette threw in, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"Do I look like I care?"

Adrien was about to argue that she better shouldn't mess with their Physics teacher but in that moment, a rain of berets, looking just like the one Chloé was dangling in front of Sabrina, materialized out of nowhere and assaulted her. He blinked and looked around for an imp or another likely trickster. He even looked at Félix with a questioning gaze, but his brother seemed as surprised as he was.

Only when a giant hairdryer appeared and chased Chloé through the entire library did things click. Not the fair folk playing tricks, but an Akuma that was apparently out for revenge on a certain blonde. Not at all surprising, honestly.

Adrien quickly ducked out of the library with a few other students who stumbled out the doors into the hallway in a panic. One trip to a broom closet and a transformation later and he was back in the library where Ladybug—had she transformed right there with an Akuma in the same room?!—was already doing her best to get the floating hairdryer under control. Chat Noir couldn't help but snicker at the display of her riding it like one of those bull riding machines. To be fair, she had been excellent at the one they had encountered a few months back and now she also had superpowers to help, so he wasn't too worried.

"I got wind you were being blown away by a hairy situation," he therefore joked, though his lady wasn't all too impressed.

"Fewer puns, more action!"

The giant hairdryer was surprisingly easy to destroy. Only one hit with his baton let it disintegrate into blue glowing lines. That was also when Chat Noir noticed the Akuma on the first level. His eyes narrowed.

"That guy looks sketchy."

They immediately pursued him, only the run into an invisible wall that appeared out of nowhere. No, not out of nowhere. He seemed to have drawn it on his tablet. Chat Noir watched as he disappeared and gave a silent growl. An artist who was angry enough to be akumatised and who had it out for Chloé? He could only think of one guy that fit the bill.

It was enormously weird to be in Chloé's room as Chat Noir together with Ladybug. His lady didn't seem thrilled by the situation at all and he caught her throwing glances at the untouched Physics project on the desk. On that part he shared her frustration. If the Akuma wasn't defeated soon, neither of them would be able to finish it.

"The Akuma is targeting you specifically, Chloé, any idea why?" Chat Noir asked while the blonde was busy reading a magazine.

"Well, clearly because I'm important," she said with an eyeroll.

"Yeah sure," Ladybug muttered and he almost had to laugh at the offended look Chloé sent her.

"Not more important than you, obviously. We can't all be gods," she said in a surprisingly polite tone.

Suddenly Chat Noir realised with terrifying clarity what was going on: Chloé was idly talking about Court business while Marinette—well, Ladybug—was right there! He had to put a stop to it before things went out of control. Plagg seemed to agree.

"Get the bug out of here!" he hissed.

"Say, my lady, don't you have other things to do this afternoon? We could take turns in watching Chloé so we're not both held up," he said as he lightly pushed her in the direction of the balcony door. Ladybug sent him a puzzled look but then sighed.

"You know what? Yeah, actually I do have something to work on," she said and took her yo-yo. "I'll get back here in two hours, okay? Contact me if anything happens."

"Will do," he said with a wink. "See you then."

"Later!" she called and then swung off Chloé's balcony. Chat Noir had to restrain himself from sighing in relief.

When he walked back into the room, he looked over Chloé's shoulder at the magazine she was reading. He had to blink when he noticed the runes and incantations.

Plagg snorted in his head. "I have to admit, she's sneaky. Enchanting a spell book to look like a fashion magazine is a good cover. Take notes, kid."

"Brushing up on some spellcraft, are you?" Chat Noir asked and Chloé shrugged.

"Like I said, we can't all be gods."

He hummed. "Glamour spells, huh? Yours doesn't seem to be failing yet," he said as he skimmed over the page she had been reading.

Chloé touched her necklace that held a blue stone. He had never asked her which stone exactly it was. A blue diamond? A cut sapphire? Something else?

"It's not good enough. It failed on Samhain and on Midwinter."

Ah, yes, the liminality problem. He was more than familiar with it.

"Then good luck," Chat Noir said and sat down in an armchair across from her. It was still surreal to talk to her as someone she regarded as a god. A few minutes of silence passed in which he once again reflected on what a close call it had just been. He couldn't risk that happening again.

"Let me make one thing clear, Chloé," he, therefore, said after another minute of silence and she immediately whipped her head around. The look she gave him was unlike anything he had ever seen on her face: fear, insecurity and terror. He was genuinely rattled for a moment before he regained his composure. "Ladybug and I aren't here for Court business, nor do we want to have anything to do with your messy deals and favours. We're here to fight Akumas and get a Miraculous back from someone who misuses it. That's it."

Chloé looked like she was about to start begging for mercy, which was both surreal and hilarious, but he bit his lip to hold back a grin.

"I—I don't—I didn't mean to insult you."

Chat Noir grinned. "Oh, I'm sure you didn't. None of the fair folk would be foolish enough to deliberately offend the god of destruction."

"You're laying it on a little thick there, aren't you, kid? Don't sully my title or I'll hide Camembert in your shoes."

The thought of stepping into gooey, stinky cheese sobered his bravado a little. Right, he might wear the Black Cat Miraculous, but that didn't mean he was a god. That title belonged to Plagg.

"Anyway, it would be beneficial for all of us if you wouldn't draw a connection between the fair folk and Ladybug and me. The less the humans suspect, the less likely they'll find out about the folk and everything that entails."

Despite the serious topic, he just couldn't help the pun at the end there.

"Okay," Chloé said timidly. He couldn't recall the last time he had heard his old friend talk in such an intimidated way. Was it seven years ago? Eight years? Ten years? He honestly couldn't tell.

"Be reminiscent about childhood days later! You can't slip out of your role now."

"I get it, it's risky. Can I still ask you a question though?" Chloé asked.

"You can, but I'm not gonna promise to answer it," Chat Noir said and crossed his arms.

"I talked about it with some…acquaintances from the Court and…is Ladybug really Danu?"

To tell the truth or to lie? Technically Ladybug was Marinette, but the magic she used was Danu's. He decided for half the truth.

"Tell me someone else who could use the magic she does," he said with a shrug. "And by the way, she doesn't have the best opinion of you, so better not get on her bad side."

After all, he knew from personal experience what it was like to be on Danu's bad side. Chloé paled, but before she could say anything else, Chat Noir's baton started ringing.

"Seems like my lady sensed that we're talking about her," he joked and picked up the call. "I thought I was supposed to call you.

"Nevermind that," Ladybug said just as he stepped outside again, hoping for some privacy, even though there was none to be had with a Sidhe sitting less than ten metres away from him. "Good news: You can leave Chloé."

"Well, that's nice to hear, but why the sudden change of plan?"

"I need you to protect this girl, instead." His baton beeped and he looked at the screen.

Chat Noir almost dropped his weapon when a picture of Marinette showed up.

"Her name is Marinette. Cute, isn't she?"

The cutest, but also the most insane! His brain supplied while his jaw was still dropping. What in the netherworld was she thinking?!

"The Akuma is called the Evillustrator and he's in love with her," she continued, oblivious of what these words did to him. The same poisonous feeling from before in Physics boiled in his stomach again and he felt himself clutch the baton tighter. Good thing it was unbreakable. "He won't harm Chloé if Marinette comes to his birthday party. While he's distracted, you take him down."

Had. Marinette. Lost. Her. Mind?!

At the last second, he bit back his retort of 'You can't fight an Akuma as a civilian!' and instead remembered that Chat Noir wasn't supposed to know Ladybug's identity. So, acting, it was.

"And what about you?"

"Uh…I'm going on a secret mission," she said.

A secret and horribly reckless mission.

"I'll catch you later. Can you handle it?"

"Did you forget who you're talking to? No worries, my lady. That girl is in good claws."

First impressions were important and ironically enough, this was the fourth first impression he would make when it came to Marinette. Though, she already knew Chat Noir as Ladybug, so did it actually count?

"I hole-heartedly think that your window is in need of some repairs, Prrrretty girl," Chat Noir said as he dangled upside down from the outer wall and looked through the quite strange hole into her room. First sentence and he had almost messed up by calling her 'Princess'. That wasn't a mistake he should repeat any time soon. Unfortunately, his save had sounded suspiciously like flirting and he just hoped that if he was blushing, that it at least would be hidden by the mask.

"Chat Noir! We have a door, you know?!" He snickered as he saw her eyes widen in panic when she realised that her first words to him had been a reprimand. "I mean, uh, why are you here?"

He loved her dearly, but acting really wasn't one of her strong suits.

"Well," he said, swinging into her room and looking at her with raised eyebrows. "Ladybug told me that someone had quite the reckless plan, so I'm gonna be your bodyguard for the day."

He more felt than saw her cringe.

"The Akuma came into my room and said he wouldn't harm me and he invited me to his party. So, all things considered, he seems rather harmless."

That the Akuma had been in her room was pretty much clear. His scent still lingered around and it took a lot of self-control not to growl at having this sanctuary sullied with what didn't belong.

"If you don't mind, I'll be the judge of that. Until then, I'm afraid I'll have to stay and make sure you're as safe as possible."

No way would he leave Marinette alone while there was a chance that Evillustrator—what a stupid name—changed his mind and would come back, possibly to harm her.

"O-oh? You're…going to stay? But the date isn't until this evening, so you could go home until then."

Date. She said date! The poison was back with a vengeance and it took a lot of effort to mask it. Nathaniel would be lucky if he got out of this with all his bones intact!

"I don't mean to be rude," he said with a bow to mask his inner rage, "but your safety is at stake here and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to you. Especially since my lady is temporarily unavailable and has given me this very important task."

For the record, he didn't like to make Marinette feel bad, but making her squirm a bit was completely justified. He really didn't like her plan, but he had to play along.

She sighed. "Alright. Let's go downstairs then," she said and rubbed her arms when an especially cold January breeze blew into her room through the very defective window. "It's getting freezing up here. We also have to tell my parents what's going on or they'll be worried."

Yeah, no doubt.

"You go ahead. I'll quickly put a blanket in front of it or something in case it starts to rain and also to keep pigeons out."

"Okay, then I'll tell my parents and come back with some plastic bags to tape over it. They might work better than a blanket."

"Good idea," he said and at that moment his stomach rumbled. Oh, right. He hadn't eaten lunch yet. Marinette threw him a knowing grin.

"And I'll see if I can find something to eat for my brave bodyguard," she added and then disappeared downstairs.

He waited until she was down in the kitchen until he silently hissed out: "Tikki, are you here?"

The red sprite appeared almost immediately from behind a stack of books on Marinette's desk.

"It was good thinking to get her away from Chloé."

Chat Noir blinked. Praise? From Tikki?! That was a first. He couldn't linger on that thought though since Marinette would probably be back soon.

"Why did you agree to this plan? It's insane and unnecessarily risky!"

Tikki frowned and he was afraid that she was going to give him a scolding of a lifetime for daring to speak to her that way.

"You're right," she said instead, surprising him so thoroughly that he needed a few moments to understand what she had said.

But even then, he didn't bring out more than a confused "Huh?"

"I don't like that she's putting herself at risk, but she trusts you to keep her safe. As much as I hate it, lulling the Akuma into a false sense of security as her civilian self is a good strategy. She's skilled enough to pull it off, even though she would be without my direct protection."

"Even if it prevents a fight, it's still too risky. She hasn't even had the Miraculous for half a year yet and now she's supposed to take on an Akuma as herself? I don't think this is what you had in mind when you gave her your earrings."

And just like that, the terrifying version of Tikki was back.

"Let me make this crystal clear to you, Cat Sidhe," she hissed and flew so close to his face that he had to cross his eyes to keep his focus on her. "How I deal with my chosens is my responsibility and my decision. You might have some attachment to her but you don't own her, nor do you decide the risks she does or does not take. Your only role here is to be a support and a safety measure."

"Oi, tell my sugarcube to not talk to my kitten like that."

"No, thanks, Plagg. I don't have a death wish," he muttered under his breath.

Tikki's eyes narrowed.

"You can talk to Plagg while transformed?"

"Another side-effect of my magic," he said meekly. "And I wasn't implying to doubt you, I'm just very worried for her."

He shivered as another breeze blew through the hole in the window.

"And to be quite honest, the Akuma doesn't seem to have her best interests at heart when he just lets her become an icicle."

Tikki backed off again. "Just because we both worry about her doesn't mean that I have to trust you."

Four months and still barely anything had changed between Tikki and him. It wasn't really surprising but he had still hoped that it wouldn't take quite that long to convince the goddess of his pure intentions.

Hurried footsteps on the stairs made Tikki duck back into her hiding place and only seconds later Marinette re-entered her room with a roll of bin liners and some tape.

"So," he said as he held the plastic bag in place while she taped it to the remains of the window. "You seem surprisingly calm about all this."

Marinette shrugged as she tore off another bag and taped it next to the first one. "Two of my friends have been akumatised and I've been chased around Paris by zoo animals. Going on a date with an unusually friendly Akuma to get his pen away from him sounds quite harmless in comparison."

There was it again. That cursed word.

"Why do you keep calling it a date when it's a birthday party?" He couldn't completely keep the sneer out of his voice unfortunately.

"He said it would be just me and him and he did say he was in love with me. Most people would consider this a date," Marinette said and stepped away from the hastily covered up window. "That should do until the cure fixes it. Should we go downstairs now? We probably have some leftovers from lunch if you want to eat something and I'm sorry in advance if I'm gonna bore you, but I have a Physics assignment to do." She sighed.

The audacity! How could she just talk about a supposed date like it was nothing?! Especially since he had it in good conscience that it was her very first date ever!

"Do you like this guy that got akumatised?" He asked and suddenly had the intense urge of scratching something—or most preferably someone—with his claws.

Apparently, he had gone too far because Marinette raised an eyebrow at him. The expression looked hauntingly familiar to the one Félix always wore when he told him he was being an idiot.

"Yes, in a platonic way, though I don't see why that's your business?"

He swallowed the growl. "Just…uh…checking," he grumbled and then followed her downstairs.

While he had been revived by Sabine's cooking—the leftovers of a delicious noodle dish to be exact—Félix had more than earned a week's worth of Starbucks coffee by being a lifesaver. It really was very useful to have a brother who could imitate his voice and therefore make believable excuses, as well as reschedule working on the project. But to be fair, being involved in an Akuma attack was a pretty solid reason to be a little tardy with homework.

Being stuffed with all kinds of baked goods, including a marvellous piece of marzipan cake, had almost succeeded in making him forget why he was even at Marinette's. The day felt so normal that he even almost slipped up several times by forgetting that he was Chat Noir at that moment and not Adrien. Plagg was very good at reminding him of that fact though.

At five in the afternoon—when it was already dark outside—Marinette eventually left the house, wrapped in that adorable black coat she had made during Christmas break. Chat Noir, on the other hand, kept to the rooftops and did his best at not being seen while still staying close to her.

"Kid, I hope I'll only have to say this once: Don't. Freak. Out! Your girlfriend is smart and can keep her cool."

"Stop calling her my girlfriend already," Chat Noir growled. Especially under the current circumstances the teasing nickname Plagg had given her hurt. "Even if I would want her to be, it'd be too dangerous with the Court breathing down my neck. Besides, she doesn't like me that way. We're just friends."

Plagg let out a sigh that sounded like he would have gladly hit him atop the head if he could.

"Urgh, I didn't think a Sidhe could be such an idiot."

"Hey!"

"Head in the game, smitten kitten. She's almost there."

Plagg was right. His eyes were drawn back to Marinette among the still steady flow of tourists that were probably on their way to the nearby Notre Dame. Not even the early darkness of winter seemed to daunt those persistent people with their cameras and phones at the ready to take as many pictures and memorials as possible. Some of these pictures even ended up being of a certain boat. Meanwhile, none of those oblivious foreigners seemed to realize that the person sitting on said boat had quite the unusual skin tone and was wearing an outfit that was definitely not meant for these kinds of temperatures. Or they just thought him to be an actor, which was a reasonable conclusion to draw, since Marinette had been right: Evillustrator was surprisingly non-destructive for an Akuma.

Chat Noir decided to stay in the shadows nearby while watching with growing interest how Evillustrator suddenly seemed to be in pain. He even smelled a little bit of fear as a result. Could Hawkmoth inflict pain over the link he had to his victims? Was he perhaps displeased with how non-threatening his latest villain was? He would have to ask Plagg about it later because for now, he had to pay close attention as Marinette approached the boat.

"Happy Birthday," she said when she was already on the boat and the Akuma turned around to her.

His breath formed a small cloud this time when Chat Noir couldn't hold back the growl anymore.

Too close!

He wasn't even sure anymore if he was more concerned for Marinette's safety or if he just wanted to tear Nathaniel apart limb from limb for daring to bring her to such a romantic setup and acting all innocent. If it wasn't for the powers, he would have doubted he was even akumatised. Maybe he should have been impressed about the amount of control he kept even while under the influence of dark magic—Nino and Alya had both been much more unreasonable as Akumas. As things were though, he didn't want to allow himself a single positive thought about this…this…princess thief!

"Stop complimenting him," he hissed and dug his claws into the stone with an unpleasant scratching sound when Marinette called the boat beautiful. Hadn't he thought just earlier that afternoon that she wasn't a good actor? Well, based on that, she must be serious in her admiration to at least a certain point to make it sound believable. The fact that she was even a little impressed irked him immensely.

He would have to dwell on it later, because suddenly the boat started moving. Following its course from the rooftops was easy enough and he also caught Marinette glancing in his direction once. When she started talking to Evillustrator, Chat Noir used the Akuma's distraction to sneak to a nearby bridge.

Oftentimes he asked himself what he would have done in situations like these if he wasn't a Cat Sidhe and therefore couldn't use magic. Sneaking past the crowds on the bridge unnoticed as a hero of Paris was basically impossible after all. A simple spell of redirecting everyone's attention was all he needed to get into position unnoticed and jump on the boat noiselessly. There was no doubt that a small spell like this wouldn't have worked with the Akuma at all though.

"I actually draw a little too. I'm not as good as you, of course," he heard Marinette say just as he climbed onto the boat cabin's roof. He knew that she was trying to get the pen—no doubt the akumatised object—away from Evillustrator, but couldn't she do that without complimenting him? At this point he wasn't sure if he could promise not to claw Nathaniel's eyes out.

"I'm sure you're great," he said.

Chat Noir glared. Marinette was more than just great. She was an absolute genius! If it weren't for Tikki—the literal goddess of creation—he would have even called her a goddess. This boy was as shallow as Adrien's hundreds of fangirls that kept saying they 'loved him'. Idolisation and obsession were not love and—

"Focus, kid. I may not be able to read your thoughts, but I can feel that you're getting worked up over nothing here. She just gave you a signal, slowpoke. Pay attention!"

Once again, Plagg was right. In the time he had spent attempting to glare a hole in the back of Evillustrator's head, Marinette had actually managed to grab hold of the pen. Chat Noir shifted silently into a very feline position, ready to pounce and make mincemeat out of the Akuma at any second.

Suddenly the mission became very easy as clarity overtook him. It was just like the games of catch and release he always played with Félix. All he had to do was to wait patiently for Marinette to successfully get the pen and get out of the way. He knew she hated violence, so he wouldn't hurt the Akuma…much. A few swipes of his claws should be tolerable under the circumstances when even innocent games between him and his brother often resulted in unintentional scratches.

Chat Noir lingered in his position; his focus now hyper-fixated on the pen in Marinette's hand. Like always, his lady was in command and he was fully at her beck and call. He would do nothing until she gave him a signal.

"Kid."

His muscles were tense as he readied himself to jump.

"Kid!"

He suppressed the excited growl that threatened to escape him. Some part of him, and for the moment he didn't care which part it was, was immensely enjoying the anticipation of finally being able to rip this threat to shreds.

"Adrien!" He blinked at the sound of his name. While his focus didn't lessen, he felt something primal and dangerous within him retreat again. "You're Chat Noir right now, so act like it! No faerie business, got it?!"

With not a small amount of shame he had to admit that his first instinct was to defy Plagg's orders. Marinette was his and—

"You might have some attachment to her but you don't own her."

Tikki's words suddenly echoed in his mind.

Right.

He had almost forgotten.

He couldn't claim what wasn't his, but he could protect what he considered dear. And 'protect' didn't necessarily mean mangling the enemy, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Chat Noir, now!"

He pounced, effectively pinning the Akuma to the ground while Marinette held the pen out of reach.

"Marinette? You're working with him?"

Chat Noir growled viciously at the Akuma but otherwise did his best to ignore him.

"Steer the boat to the shore and bring the pen to Ladybug!" he said and nodded to the boat's cabin that hopefully included a steering wheel. The whole vehicle was drawn after all, so who knew how it worked? "I'll hold him here so he can't escape."

"I'm so stupid," Evillustrator muttered.

Finally, something we can agree on.

"I thought you liked me but you're just like Chloé!" He yelled after a hurriedly retreating Marinette. Chat Noir's growl picked up again. Enough was enough!

"Now, listen here," Chat Noir said and intentionally dug his claws a little deeper into Evillustrator's shoulder. He doubted that Akumas had the same sensory sensibility that humans did, so he wasn't very worried about causing permanent damage. "You just compared her to the one who tormented her for years and the one you despise. If you would really love her, you wouldn't dare to even think about comparing the two."

His voice had dropped to a calm and at the same time threatening tone. It was the sweetness that came from faerie tongues that at the same time promised doom. A paradoxical, terrifying mix that seemed appropriate for the occasion. No, he wouldn't mangle the boy, but he could scare him.

"Don't disgrace her name just because you lost," Chat Noir hissed with a voice as sweet as honey and with his claws digging deeper. A fearful whimper and the absolute terror in the Akuma's eyes made it clear that the message had come through. The superhero grinned and then turned his head when the boat suddenly swerved and stopped on the bank of the Seine.

His malicious grin turned soft when he watched Marinette emerge from the cabin—akumatised pen still in hand—and attempt to climb over the side of the boat.

"See you around, bakery girl," he said, too afraid to use her name out in the open at night. The fair folk was surely listening.

She turned around to him with a grin of her own. It just so happened that hers was the confident one she also sported as her alter-ego. "Thank you, Chaton!" And then she was gone.

"Sorry again that we couldn't work more on the project yesterday," Adrien said as he leaned on the closed locker next to Marinette's while she rummaged through her open one.

"As if we haven't been over this a hundred and one times already," she said and rolled her eyes. "Your dad locks you and Félix up even when nothing happens, so obviously he'd do so when there's an Akuma attack."

He internally cringed at the lie, but knew there was nothing to be done about it.

"So, I heard about your adventures with Chat Noir."

Marinette snorted. "Yeah, because I told you on the phone yesterday while he was at my house."

"How did it go?" Adrien asked, beyond curious to find out what she thought of his alter-ego when she was just herself.

"Well, he helped me with the Physics project, ate even more cake than you can stomach and when we went out to confront the Akuma, he held Nathaniel in place while I brought the pen to Ladybug."

"How can you just say that so casually? Weren't you scared?" He knew for a fact that she hadn't been, not even for a second. That should actually be worrisome.

"Nah," she said and closed her locker. "I knew he had my back. If Ladybug trusts him then I trust him too."

Adrien felt his cheeks warm and masked it by going ahead.

"And how much nagging do you think you'll have to endure once Alya gets here?" He asked with a grin. Marinette groaned.

"Don't remind me. She's probably already in the classroom, just waiting for me to arrive."

"Aww, come on. Do you really want to deprive her of the deets? Maybe I could tell her about your tea party slash study session with one of Paris' heroes?"

"Oh, don't you dare!" Marinette laughed and hit Adrien lightly with the notebook she was carrying. "She'd never let me hear the end of it."

When the two of them turned the corner, they almost ran into Chloé. Silly grins were instantly forgotten and they were about to just go around her when she suddenly held an arm out in an obvious stopping gesture.

"I can't risk my grades slipping now that Sabrina is not here to do the work for me. I expect you two in the library at lunch to get this annoying thing over with," she said, threw her head back in a typical Chloé fashion, and marched off.

Both Adrien and Marinette stood there frozen for a moment, staring after her.

"Did I just hallucinate or did Chloé say she'd actually work with us?" Marinette asked eventually.

"Unless this is some sort of mass hallucination, since I saw the same thing, she really did. Wow," Adrien said and looked back to the locker room where he caught Chloé's eye.

She raised her eyebrows at him challengingly.

He looked away. "Let's just get to class," he said.