Surprisingly, little of this chapter has changed from the original. Also, I've joined NaNoWriMo! Also, I'm completely terrible at it! Also, it's concert season so basically, I've got no time for writing at all. But hey, I can't let this fic go for another three years without updating so!

Enjoy!

Adrien sighed as he slumped on his computer chair. Spotting a red dot on the Ladyblog, he clicked it.

"Whenever you're ready, Ladybug," Alya's voice spoke from behind the camera. The video shook a little before focusing on a certain superhero. They were on the Eiffel Tower, overlooking the city of Paris. Ladybug nodded.

"To all Parisians, I am here to tell you I'm sorry," Ladybug started.

Adrien's breath caught in his throat. Don't tell me—

"All of you have seen Chat Noir trip and accidentally used Cataclysm on the akuma villain, causing the victim to die. But the truth is…" she drifted off, "it wasn't Chat Noir who killed her."

Ladybug looked straight at the camera. "It was me."

No, my lady! You can't!

"The akuma villain's main ability is to switch the souls of two people into each other's bodies," Ladybug explained. "For those who were caught with the akuma's attack, you would know. Unfortunately, Chat Noir and I fell victim to its powers. And because of that, I was in Chat Noir's body and he was in mine. The only way we could return to back to normal was to use the body we were in to save the day."

Pain and distraught flashed through her face. "So in the end, you all saw Chat Noir use Cataclysm. But that wasn't him. That was me in his body. Iwas Chat Noir.I used Cataclysm. I was the one who killed her. Chat Noir is innocent."

"I-I'm not asking for forgiveness," Ladybug said softly, eyes downcast. "What I'm asking for is for Paris to apologize to Chat Noir. He did nothing wrong. From the beginning up until now, all he has done is to keep the city safe. He puts us all before himself. If it wasn't for him, then there would be no Ladybug at all. That's why…"

Ladybug looked back at the camera, straight into Adrien's eyes. "Chat Noir, wherever you are, I just want you to know, you are my hero. I'm sorry for failing your expectations. But I hope that you still want to come back. Paris needs you. I need you. A Ladybug is incomplete without her Chat Noir."

"He's waiting for you."

Adrien knew she was talking about Plagg. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Her voice quivered.

"I'll be waiting for you."

…

Paris was in an uproar.

The video of Ladybug garnered 2 million views in 3 hours. It was shared, reblogged, reposted, and mentioned so many times it was like everyone knew about it and have watched it more than 10 times.

Many reporters wanted to interview Alya, asking why Ladybug would go to her instead of famous TV stations, but Alya refused. She was under silent oath to Ladybug.

Headlines about the black cat superhero filled the front page of every newspaper. In each medium of social media, Ladybug and Chat Noir was what everyone was talking about. There were plenty of conspiracy theories as to why Ladybug would video that or why she couldn't do anything without Chat Noir.

"He's still Paris's superhero—"

"—who could he be—"

"—Ladybug has begged for forgiveness. Paris is also asking him to come back. But will Chat Noir, whoever he is under the mask, forgive?"

…

"Chat Noir should come back."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the class.

"Chat Noir helped me out during the akuma attacks."

"He always checked the victims and regularly pops up at the hospital for visits."

"One time I almost fell from the window, but he was there to catch me."

Marinette's chest swelled with pride as compliments of her partner filled the air. Outside the streets, people were parading, holding up banners, asking him to come back.

"Technically, since it was Ladybug in Chat Noir's body," Max said as he adjusted his glasses, "she should be held responsible for what happened to the victim. Sorry's not gonna cut it."

Several heads turned to his directions.

"What do you know, Max," Alya rose from her seat, project teamwork forgotten as she glared at him. "It was an accident. Of course, Ladybug wouldn't get used to Chat Noir's body."

Max shrugged. "I'm just stating the facts."

"It was an accident."

"Someone died."

"Guys, guys, chill," Nino waved his hands in the air. Alya and Max quieted down. Nino said, "We can't point fingers at the superheroes, okay? Because, first of all, they're the only ones who can save us from the akuma—which are still rampaging around, by the way—and second of all, we don't even know who Chat Noir is. And the only person who knows Chat Noir better than any of us is Marinette."

All eyes turned towards the girl whose cheeks were red with blushing. Even Adrien was looking at her with interest. "We're—we're friends."

"Friends. Yeah right," Alya muttered. Marinette elbowed her.

"But even I don't know who he is," Marinette said soberly. "The only thing we can do is to wait."

…

Debates were held, rumors were spread, and rallies were going on in the streets. But there was one united message:

BRING CHAT NOIR BACK

But not everyone joined in the fanfare. There were people talking, saying that it was all just a publicity stunt to cover the fault of Chat Noir. Some thought she was lying. Others blamed her instead.

But in the end, rumors were rumors, and nothing could be done because even though that was what happened, it was Chat Noir's Cataclysm that happened and Ladybug was the only one able to purify the akuma.

But mixed reactions were found everywhere, even inside the school. What shocked Marinette the most, however, was how cruel people could be; and how protective Adrien and Chloé – out of all people – were of Ladybug.

"Ladybug's such an attention whore." A guy in the upper grades said with a nasty laugh as they walked through the hallway.

Marinette stopped in her tracks. Alya was ready to rip off the guy's head, but Chloé beat her to it.

"He did not just say that," Chloé growled. She dumped her bag at Sabrina. "Hold this."

She marched up to the guy who said the passing remark.

SLAP!

The sharp sound resonated around the sudden quiet hallway. Chloé's fingers left a fine imprint on the guy's cheek. He turned to the mayor's daughter in outrage. Chloé gave him a cool look as she applied soothing hand cream on her stinging palm. She wasn't very fond of pain, but that slap felt nice.

"I heard a mosquito buzzing around, spouting nonsense, so I thought it was time for some pest control," Chloé said nonchalantly. He clenched his hand into a fist. He was about to punch Chloé in the face, but several things prevented that.

Adrien stepped in front of him, blocking the punch with his hand. He said in low voice, "Are you really low enough that you would hit a girl?"

"What? You're all touchy-feely because I said something that's true?" The guy sneered.

Rage flared up in Adrien's green eyes. He tightened his grip and the upperclassman winced. Adrien growled, "You don't know a thing about Ladybug. You don't know what she is going through, so don't you dare say a bad thing about her."

"It's true. She's just an attention whore," The upperclassman said. "Did you see her costume? It's like she's just asking for it."

Adrien's patience snapped. He had crossed the line. Grabbing the upperclassman's collar, he slammed him down on the ground. "You take that back!"

Nino tried to pull Adrien off, but he resisted. The guy struggled to get out of his grip, but years of fencing training and superhero duties had honed Adrien's reflexes. "Take it back!"

"You shut up!" The upperclassman spat. Adrien raised his fist, but Nino grabbed his arm, pleading for his friend to come to his senses. Students shouted for the teachers, while others whipped out their phone—recording the scene.

"Adrien! Stop it! You've done enough!" His fencing master snapped as he rushed to the scene and wrenched his student's hands from the senior's collar. It took Ivan and Kim to hold Adrien back as another teacher quickly led the upperclassman away to the nurse room.

"Let go of me! He hasn't apologized to her! How dare you disrespect Ladybug!" Adrien shouted at him. "How dare you say that in front of her!"

People were confused as to what he meant. But Alya knew it. And Marinette realized what he just said.

Adrien knew.

Suddenly, Marinette – sweet, shy Marinette who looked like she was ready to bolt when Adrien was a foot away from her – wrapped her arms around him. He froze at the contact. She said quietly, "Calm down, Adrien. It's okay."

"It's not okay." He hissed. But as she rested her head on his back, his anger dissipated.

Adrien's shoulder sagged. He squeezed her hand before slipping out of her hold. She looked up at him. He said, "Sorry for scaring you, Marinette."

Marinette blushed and she turned back to being a spluttering mess. "I—it's oaky! I – I mean, okay! Fine! Yeup! Not scared!"

"Adrien." He winced at the clipped voice of Nathalie speaking up behind him. He turned around. How did she get here so fast? She said, "Come with me."

Giving one last look at Marinette, he followed his father's assistant.

The incident was quickly covered up. Those who had recorded the incident were forced to delete the file All that was left were rumors that many people didn't believe. How could the perfect model student Adrien Agreste do something as drastic as that? It was never his character to lash out.

It was thanks to Nathalie (and his pleading kitty eyes, really) that had him suspended for a week instead.

…

Adrien sighed, flopping on his giant bed. He stared listlessly at the ceiling, wondering how his life got messed up.

Well, it's been messed up ever since mother was gone, he thought darkly to himself. Rolling around, he gazed at the empty cubbyhole where his kwami used to sleep.

"I can't believe I'm missing the smell of camembert," Adrien chuckled to himself. "Plagg would have a party if he heard me just now."

But Plagg wasn't here. And Plagg didn't hear him as they were both miles away from each other. Adrien absentmindedly rubbed his finger where his miraculous used to reside, wondering if he ever regretted letting go.

Before he could dwell on it, his phone rang. It was Alya.

Strange, he mused. I thought she would never talk to me again.

"What is it?" He asked nervously.

"Meet me at the Akuma Victim Medical Center at 4pm. I have something to show you."

…

It had been a week since the incident, and 10 days since the Ladybug video, that Adrien was finally allowed back in school. He was as popular as ever. Not only because he was a model, but because he stood up against the upperclassman who said those things about Ladybug.

"How - how are you feeling?" Marinette asked him nervously as she put a platter of chocolate chip cookies on the short table placed in the middle of her room. They were in Marinette's place, working on their project. With Adrien's outburst in school, there would be no peace and quiet found in the school's library.

Adrien drummed his pencil on the floor. Worksheets were scattered around them. He said quietly, "I should be the one asking you that."

Marinette paused. She wondered what he meant, and then remembered that he knew she was Ladybug. She bit her lip.

"Do you miss Chat Noir?" Adrien abruptly asked. She hesitated and then nodded her head.

Marinette bit her lip and then finally asked the question that she'd been dying to know. "When – how did you know that I was Ladybug?"

"Honestly," Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, "Ever since the debate. I mean, no normal citizen would defend a superhero that far. Not unless they knew them personally, and you seemed to know him personally."

Marinette groaned. It just had to be her big mouth and protectiveness that would oust her. "Does anyone else know?"

Adrien shook his head. "Aside from me and Alya, no one seemed to connect the dots."

Marinette blinked and squinted suspiciously at him. Did he just –? Adrien grinned. She huffed. He did.

"Are you disappointed?" Marinette said after a time, "that Ladybug is just a boring, ordinary girl—no one special."

"You're special to me!" Adrien blurted out. Her gaze snapped at him. "A superhero sits behind me every day at school and I didn't know! You're an amazing designer! You're incredibly friendly and optimistic! You're my best friend!"

With each compliment, the blush on her cheeks grew darker. With a giggle, she pointed out, "I thought your best friend was Nino."

He opened his mouth, but then closed it and just smiled. "Well, yeah. But you're one of my first friends. Even if we kinda started in the wrong foot."

"I-I'm sorry!" Marinette squeaked. "I was jumping to conclusions! I really thought you were like Chloé!"

Adrien laughed. "It's okay. I get that a lot. But I'm glad that I'm able to be friends with you. We are friends…right?"

"Of course!" Marinette declared fiercely. "And I like—"

Marinette stopped in the middle of her sentence. Adrien looked at her, cheeks red, eyes wide in anticipation. Her eyes flickered to the images on the wall. Her gaze softened. She drew away from Adrien.

"Chat Noir."

Adrien jumped. But she wasn't referring to him. She was looking at the newspaper clippings of the superhero on the wall where Adrien's modeling pictures used to be. Marinette said sadly, "He was always there for me. He was always there for Paris. But with the kind of person I am in real life, I'm guessing he doesn't want to deal with me any longer."

"That's not true—"

"I killed a person, Adrien!" Marinette cried. "Who would want to be partnered with a murderer?!"

"She's not dead."

Marinette's heart stopped. "What?"

He said. "The akuma victim? Her name is Evan and she's currently in the hospital for the usual checkup for akuma victims. But she's not dead. She's still alive."

Adrien grabbed her shoulders. He said firmly, "You didn't kill anyone."

Marinette stared at him, a stunned expression on her face. "How do you know?"

Adrien slipped out his phone and opened it to a girl in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV fluid. He explained, "She was in the Akuma Victims Medical Center under ICU. When she woke up, they transferred her to the other ward, just waiting for the day she can finally be discharged."

She stared at him before turning to the video.

"Ladybug, I saw your video and I just want to say: I'm alive!" Evan said at the camera. "I'm alive! All healthy with no abnormalities! The black thing didn't kill me. I was in a coma for who knows how long, but I wasn't dead. I have no ill will against you or Chat Noir. You both saved me and that is what matters the most. I'm alive, Ladybug! I'm alive! It's not your fault!"

"Evan's alive," Marinette repeated, a tear sliding down her face. Adrien watched as she cried silently. A huge burden had lifted from her small shoulders.

"But will Chat Noir come back?"

Adrien looked down guiltily. Everything was solved. Ladybug wanted him back. Paris wanted him back. They were forgiven.

So what was holding him back from being Chat Noir?

Suddenly, screams pierced the air.

Marinette and Adrien's heads snapped up at the sound. Marinette jumped up and opened her window. There was a large cloud billowing near the Seine River. "I have to go."

She turned to Adrien. "You stay here."

"But—"

"Tikki, transformez moi!"

Adrien stared at his lady. She squirmed under his heated gaze. Turning around, she climbed up to her balcony. He followed after her. Ladybug looked at him and smiled. "See you later, Adrien."

And with that said, Adrien watched her leave, a foreboding feeling creeping up inside him.

To do a reveal or not to do a reveal, that is the question, yeah?

The next chappie's got plenty of action, just a heads up (more for me tbh). It's probably gonna refer to a particular akuma villain in season 3 so…10 points for those who guess it correctly!

Anyway, I hope you liked it! See ya'll next time!