"Marinette?" The boy's voice came out broken, his tone far too high and raspy to be his own. And it couldn't be, right? This had to be all a bad dream! Yes, that was it! He was still dreaming! All of his adrenaline must have produced this vivid nightmare. It had to be all in his imagination because there was no way in all of Paris Marinette could be Ladybug!
Because surely someone would have noticed!
Surely he would have noticed!
But there was no denying the bright blue eyes stretched in absolute horror before him, or the absolutely Marinette way she was staring, or the little bug creature hovering worriedly at her side.
"Nino?"
The world tilted underneath him upon hearing the bluenette's voice and he fell back against a desk, hands clenching his head in a panic. "Oh man, oh man, oh man," he gasped, his fingernails digging through his hat to his scalp. He felt no pain as the sheer adrenaline coursing through his veins blocked out all sensations of feeling. "You're...you're Ladybug! But...but...Marinette...Ladybug...gave me my...but if-if-then that means...you...Ladybug is...you...and...OH MAN! MARINFFFFTTTEEEE-!"
That last part came out a little louder than he'd anticipated and Marinette must have agreed because, faster than his eyes could follow, she'd moved from her frozen solid stance and had positioned herself inches from him, a hand pressing firmly over his mouth and a terrifying glint in her eyes.
"Nino, shut up!" She hissed, wincing noticeably at her harsh tone. She was leaning over him now, uncomfortably close. Nino's spine was firmly planted against the table as he struggled to lean back and avoid touching noses. "Do you want the others to hear us!?"
"Mffftttt lffffdffffffggg!" Nino repeated fervently, his brain still refusing to process what he was seeing. "Mrrrnnnnt!" Oh my word, I've seen her! I've seen Ladybug-er, Marinette. She's going to kill me. I'm an accessory, a danger to her identity. She has to take me out. It's the only way to keep herself safe. I'm just a footnote. A dangerous liability if Hawkmoth ever found out.
Oh maaaannnn. Hawkmoth. He hadn't even considered the danger the villain might pose, even with his brief escapade as a hero. His mind had solely been focused on Alya. But now...
"Argh!" Marinette cried, letting go of Nino and backing away, frantically tugging at her ponytails. "This is bad! Really, really bad! Tiiiiikiii, what am I supposed to dooooo?"
The miraculous hesitated, glancing from her holder to Nino and back again. She seemed at a loss for words. After a moment, she mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "I hope Wayzz chose a holder who can keep secrets."
Nino dared to breathe. So, they weren't going to kill him and bury him behind the Dupan-Chang bakery? Or maybe the kwami was stalling, trying to catch him off guard. But surely Ladybug wasn't going to kill him, was she? Marinette wouldn't kill him! Especially not now because he had a miraculous.
But holders can be replaced. He tried not to flinch as he thought about Wayzz willingly leaving him for a new master.
Liabilities are too dangerous. I wouldn't blame her if she wanted to lock me away in some dark hole and throw away the key. It would probably be safer there. Hawkmoth would never run the risk of finding her true identity.
Not that I would ever, ever snitch on my bro like that.
And Mari knows that.
Which...for some odd reason, didn't make him feel any better, especially as Marinette turned back toward him and went right back to her spasms, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him down to her height. He could feel her hands shaking and the fear that must have been coursing through her.
"Nino," she hissed, her gaze still glazed over and slightly maniacal. "You can't tell anyone! You have to promise me you'll keep this a secret!"
"I..." he hesitated. Then, seeing her panic, his breath hitched and he found himself unconsciously nodding, gripping the brim of his cap reassuringly. "Of course I will, dudette!" he promised adamantly, puffing out his chest proudly. "You can trust me! No one will ever find out that you're Ladybug! Not even Alya and-oh no, Alya is going to freak when I tell her that I know who Ladybug--wait, no, no, I can't tell Alya." He deflated slightly at this, knowing how much his girlfriend would love to get a scoop on the identity of Paris' greatest hero.
No, no way. Alya can't know about this. It would put her in way too much danger!
Nino finding out about Marinette was one thing, but if anything were to happen to Alya because he'd been selfish enough to spill the beans, he would never forgive himself and Marinette would probably revoke his miraculous for good. As in, kiss-Carapace-and-superpowers-goodbye-you're-a-lousy-hero-and-an-even-worse-friend-like-dude-come-on-seriously-what-where-you-thinking?
"Nino?" Marinette whispered, her voice much more gentle now. She released him and instead sat down next to him as his knees gave out and he sunk weakly to the floor, burying his head in his knees and wrapping his arms around his neck.
"Oh man, oh man, Mari. I just...dude...Mari..."
"Yeah," she sighed, opening her bag and letting Tikki settle back inside. She cautiously reached out to pat him gently on the back. He tensed, understandably, but did not try and pull away. He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled loudly. "That's...pretty much how I felt when I first found out too. But Tikki was there to help guide me through everything. Without her, I think I would have clutzed up my first mission. I'm your Tikki, Nino, and I'll help you. All you have to do is say the word."
"Shell On?" he asked, glancing up at her with a weak smile.
Marinette laughed at this. "Wayzz was right. You are weird."
"But you love me for it," he joked back, knocking his knee against hers in a friendly manner.
Marinette wrinkled her nose. "Love? Love might be a bit of a strong word. Tolerate might be more appropriate."
Nino laughed nervously. "Yeah..." An idea suddenly formed in his brain. "And speaking of love..."
Marinette froze. "Oh no," she groaned, her head dropping into a similar position to Nino's. "Not you too..."
"Yeah, 'me too', bro!" Nino exclaimed, perking up instantly. "It's all Alya talks about, so spill already! What's this about you and Chat Noir? Are you guys like a thing yet or..."
"Argh!" Ladybug groaned. "I can't take it! First Alya, then Chat, now you? Why is everyone suddenly so invested in my personal life?"
"Well, I mean, technically, I'm the only one who knows your personal life per se..."
"Ninooooooo."
"All right, all right! I get it!" He laughed behind his hands. "You and Chat are just bros then?"
Marinette nodded.
"Mmhmm."
She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"What? Nothing, nothing!" Nino chuckled nervously.
"Uh-huh..." Marinette raised an eyebrow at him.
"But seriously, dudette! This is wack! I don't get how you've been able to keep this a secret for so long!" I can't believe I didn't see it before! I was such a blind fool. Emphasis on the "blind".
Marinette frowned. "It hasn't been easy," she admitted. "I've had far too many close calls that I'd rather not relive. Especially with you and Alya around."
"Hehe, yeah," Nino rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. For that, I mean. Sorry that we...kept getting in your way. You could have just...blown us off and...um...thanks for...ya know...not...doing that?"
"Of course!" Mari responded instantly. "You're my friends! I could never do that to you!"
"Friends." Nino dropped his gaze to his knees now. "I guess I haven't been a very good one, have I?"
"What are you talking about?" Marinette sounded...surprised. Nino ignored that.
"It's just," he threw his hands up, flailing them to emphasize his point, "we should have seen this coming! I...I should have seen this coming! I didn't even notice that my friend...the girl who has sat in front of me in class for the past...well, all of my life...was Ladybug!"
Marinette giggled. "True, but you were pretty distracted most of the time." She pointed to his headphones.
Nino reddened slightly, recalling his hermit-like actions at the beginning of the school year. "That's no excuse!" he exclaimed. "I...I wasn't a good friend to you, Marinette, and I'm...I'm sorry." He pulled his cap over his eyes shamefully.
"Hey." Before he could register what was happening, he felt her arms wrap tightly around his shoulders and he froze.
"Uh...Marinette? Dudette? You're...uh...you're hugging me."
But she didn't relent, only squeezing tighter. "You're an amazing friend, Nino. You don't give yourself enough credit."
"Oh, uh, no, hehe, that's...erm...I'm not really." He fought the flush threatening to creep into his cheeks.
"You are," Marinette said again, more firmly. "Or I wouldn't have trusted you with a miraculous, would I?"
"But, you only gave me the miraculous because Alya-"
At that moment, the door flew open, sending both teens a foot into the air and Tikki diving for cover in Marinette's bag. "'Because Alya' what?"
Said girl stood in the doorway, hands on her hips, brows raised at the scene before her. Immediately, both holders froze, mouths open, neither knowing how to respond to the posed question.
"Because Alya wanted to get a new shot for the Ladyblog!" Marinette saved, recovering first and gingely removing her arms from Nino's shoulders and backing away with an anxious smile. "And...there's nothing more exciting than seeing your boyfriend leap heroically into battle to save a friend...right?"
"Marinette!" Nino added hastily, turning even redder. "She means herself! Yeah! Because I certainly haven't done any other saving of any girls. Or anyone for that...for that matter. Yeah. Um. Yeah." He caught Marinette's flabbergasted expression and cringed. "And I...uh...I'm shutting up now."
"Uh huh," Alya went on, her arms moving to fold across her chest as she shifted her weight and eyed them suspiciously. "Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Mari, but this is one boyfriend I'd rather not see risking his hide. I'm glad you're safe of course, but Mr. Gotta-Be-A-Hero here and I should have a talk about crossing lines. Such as ones that involve leaping into battles clearly meant for superheroes only." She glared pointedly in his direction and said boyfriend gulped.
"Welllllll," Mari said, clearly sensing danger, standing up hastily now and dusting off her pants. "Now that it seems like the akuma has been taken care of, why don't we all start heading back to class? You know, lots to learn and...stuff!"
Then, before either of them could say anything, she'd hitched up her backpack and high-tailed it from the room, leaving the two standing there, watching her go in bewilderment. A moment passed before either said a word, and it was Alya who broke the awkward silence first.
"So... I saw you speaking to Ladybug during the battle."
Nino immediately began sweating bullets.
"It seems the two of you are pretty tight."
At this, Nino gave a constricted and not-at-all convincing laugh. "Us? Me and...Ladybug? Nah, dude, we barely know each other. I mean, we met briefly, extremely briefly, when your sister was all spider and revenge and yeah, so that was kinda cool, but no, I wouldn't say we are...tight...exactly."
"Really?"
"Yeah!" Nino winced at the traitorous rise in his tone and prayed to the Lord that Alya hadn't caught on. "Nah, my girl, we just bumped into each other and she recognized me from yesterday and then went on and on and on about how I wasn't supposed to be there and how dangerous it was. Basically the same stuff she tells you that you blatantly choose to ignore."
Alya also decided to ignore that.
"All right," she said. "I suppose I can forgive you this time. After all, you were trying to help Mari. But don't think this means I'm not furious at you. I mean, what part of 'stay hidden' were you having difficulty with?"
"The part about me trying to help Mari?" Nino offered unhelpfully.
"Ugh," Alya pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine. I'll let you off the hook for this one, Nino. But just this time. I have a feeling you aren't telling me something. I don't like it, but I'll respect it. For now at least."
"Great." Nino let out his breath and sidestepped the reporter, holding his messenger bag close and making a beeline for the door.
"But, Nino," Alya called after him, stopping him dead in his tracks. "I'm choosing to overlook the fact that you know something, something about Ladybug no doubt, that you're keeping from me. But I am a reporter. Sooner or later, the truth will come out. Are you sure you don't want to tell me now and save all the hassle?"
"Tell you?" Nino said, flashing her a weak grin. "Tell you what? That I know who Ladybug is? Good one, girl, but not even close. Keep trying though. You're smart, Al-y, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Whatever 'it' is."
And then, without another word, he pushed open the door and left the reporter standing there, jaw dropped and phone in hand.