Adrien had barely payed attention to class, much less to his surroundings. He had caught a small smile from Marinette, which had given him incredible happiness and joy, but that was about it. He had spent his whole day in the clouds, his father had given him more liberty and his mind had fully drifted to all the many ways he could indulge in his newfound freedom. Perhaps he could go to the movies with his friends, or the whole class. Although a part of him wanted it to be just the group of four. Alya, Nino, Mari and him at the movies is sure to bring his mood up any day, and then they could go out to eat some ice cream.

Soon his reverie was shaken when he felt a tug at his arm, he looked up at the intruder, only to meet with familiar amber eyes, Nino.

"Dude, what's gotten into you today? You're even worse than Marinette." He looked back, trying to find the petite girl, but she wasn't there.

"What happened?" Nino rubbed at his face in exasperation.

"Classes are finished for the day, everyone already left, you're the only one left. Well, besides me that noticed you hadn't moved an inch since Ms. Bustier dismissed the class"

"Sorry, dude. I just was in my head all day today." He wanted to tell the good news to his best friend so badly.

"Oh really? Why's that?" Nino's eyebrow shot up and Adrien had to control himself from looking too excited, he failed of course. "Father's given me more liberty, I can hang out with you guys now. Granted, as long as I've finished with all my responsibilities, but hey! At least he won't be overbearing."

"Woah, seriously? That's great, now we have to make so much plans, I can't believe your pops is finally letting go a bit on that leash he has on you." The excitement in his friend's face was enough to make him feel elated. Finally, he could be like a normal kid.

… … …

Marinette wasn't one to dwell on her partners' other activities, but last night had left her with a massive question looming over her. Just how bad was Chat's civilian life? And if it was as bad as she felt it was, how come he had never talked about it with her, well, Ladybug?

Because you've left it very clear you don't want to know anything that could lead to an identity reveal.

Okay, perhaps she knew the reason as to why he'd never talked about it with Ladybug, but wouldn't it be safer to talk about that with Ladybug than a civilian like her, Marinette? Granted, she was Ladybug, but he didn't need to know that.

Maybe he was being considerate, he knew just how busy Ladybug must be with the new responsibility as guardian. In fact, instead of pondering so much on her partner she should stop procrastinating the inevitable. She had to open the miracle box once and for all. She hadn't wanted to because a part of her felt like it would make her responsibility and the loss of Master Fu too real, but she had given herself two weeks now, and it was time to face it all.

Considering how to approach the situation she pondered over the kwamis. Perhaps it'd be best to let out of the box those kwamis with whom I've interacted the least with, or maybe it'd be best to go over the ones I'm more familiarized with already? Ugh, I can't seem to decide!

Granted, she was wholly new at this and Master Fu had always been very vague with what he let her know. It was more than he ever let Chat Noir know though. A passing thought of how if Chat Noir knew more about the kwamis and the miracle box then he'd be able to help her soon was tossed away.

Chat couldn't know, not about the kwamis and not about her identity. Her body shook strongly as the memory of an akumatized Chat Noir, Chat Blanc he had called himself, crept unto her consciousness. If that was what would happen to her kitty if he ever found out her identity, then she'd prefer die than let that happen to him.

"Tikki, would it truly be bad if Chat Noir found out about my identity? You know with me being the guardian now and all?" The red kwami came out from her usual hiding place, and faced Marinette with a grim expression.

"Well, it would be even more dangerous Marinette, if he akumatized while knowing your identity," Marinette could almost see the gears move in her head as she thought of the possible consequences, perhaps she didn't want to talk about them as much as Marinette didn't want to hear them. "Hawkmoth would not only get hold of the Ladybug miraculous, but the whole miracle box and that would be a disaster."

She turned her head towards where she knew the box laid hidden from any onlookers. "Marinette, look at me." She turned her head towards Tikki, who now held a serious yet understanding expression. "I know you love Chat as a friend, and that you wish things didn't have to be such a mess at times, but you're the Guardian now, Marinette. It is your duty to keep the Miraculous safe, above anything else." She couldn't keep staring at the kwami, she didn't want to think about what Tikki was saying fully implied. "Marinette, seriously, look at me. Until Hawkmoth is defeated, you and Chat will have to remain strangers."

She couldn't help but laugh at the irony. "Yeah, strangers that trust their life in the hands of the other without the bat of an eye."

She felt grim after thinking so much about such subjects, it was enough to bring down her mood, not even taking into account how she was taking the whole Adrien situation. If she was honest she hated how she was treating him.

He had been nothing short of an amazing friend to her, and somehow that was a problem for her heart and emotions. If he wasn't so gosh-darned perfect perhaps she'd be able to move on. But even the sight of his blond hair in front of her as they sat in classes, or whenever she caught his movements from her periphery as he walked along with Nino, it all caused her breath to get caught in her lungs, unable to properly breathe.

Okay, perhaps her course of action wasn't the best, ignoring the blond wasn't really taking her anywhere besides creating him a nice little room in her head, and he wasn't paying any damned rent in it. She needed space, but she needed a way of making it so that he granted her that much needed space. She didn't know how she'd accomplish it, honestly there wasn't any reason that she could come up with to justify her not being as chummy with the blond as she had been not so long ago. Not without hurting him, or making him aware of her feelings for the blond.

Gosh, she desperately needed some fresh air to clear all her thoughts.

…

And like a normal kid he had a date that night. He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't nervous, he wasn't sure how a date between Kagami and him would go without Marinette there, because funny enough she was always there and her presence would calm his nerves.

But he couldn't ask her to act as an intermediary on a date with Kagami, it didn't matter that they were all friends, he was sure that his head would be on a platter for even thinking of it.

He walked up to his closet. Should he dress up? Perhaps using the same clothes, he used every day wouldn't be best, but he wasn't in the mood of actually dressing up for the date. Maybe change up his shirt and some simple jeans would do.

It had been a surprise when his father had greenlighted his date with Kagami, of course it was actually Nathalie that had actually notified him. He let himself get drowned by all the plans he wanted to do with his friends. Soon enough though his thoughts were left behind as the Tsurugi household came into view.

He hadn't planned anything for the evening per se, he had just left it all on Kagami's hands. He was curious about what she came up with, considering that they only met up for fencing class or events where their parents would make them attend together.

Seeing Kagami come out of her house, he quickly shook from his thoughts and came out of ther car, holding the door open for her, with a small smile. She looked at him with glee, which wasn't an expression often seen in the Japanese girl.

"How are you, Kagami?" She looked up at him, and without answering proceeded to enter the car and sit down. He closed the door behind her "Okay… good to know". Well, if this was how the rest of the date was going to go, then it would be a long evening. Going around the car he sat behind his driver, Kagami to the other side of the car, staring at him. "I'm quite well, Adrien, thank you for asking."

"Right, so what's the plan for today?"

"Well, according to the plan I made, we'll take a walk along the Seine, then we'll go to the Jardin des Tuileries perhaps even visit the Louvre, yeah I think we can squeeze it in, then we'll have dinner at Le Grand Paris."

Adrien could only whistle lowly at the extensive itinerary. "Woah, that's a lot, you sure we'll be able to make it to everything?" He wasn't even sure if his tired body could even handle so much and he was a superhero, for fuck's sake.

"Of course we'll be able to, it's only a few of the things I want to do with you. I figured we wouldn't be able to do them all in one day, so I divided them between this and our future dates." Future dates, huh? He probably wouldn't mind them.

It didn't take long for his bodyguard to park near the Seine, so he got out and once again held the door open for Kagami. "Shall we?" A smile graced his lips, as he extended his hand, waiting for her to hold onto it. She looked up at him, and grabbed at his hand with her oh-so confident poise that was so usual of her.

Not long after they walked along the Seine in mostly silence, he didn't know if he should hold her hand or what. He wanted to enjoy their date, truly. "So Kagami, how have things been for you since we last saw each other?"

"You mean since yesterday?" He couldn't help but chuckle at her sarcastic question "I've been well, busy as always. Although I did have a particularly nice time during archery today"

"Really, what happened?" He felt her hand get closer to his as they accidentally brushed, he had the sudden urge to say sorry, but kept it to himself. She was most likely doing it on purpose, and it would probably make things awkward if he even so much as moved away or said anything about it.

"Well, I had full tens today" her smug grin let him know that she was quite proud of herself.

"Don't you usually get full tens?" Her face fell slightly, and he suddenly felt like an idiot for asking that. He knew how much of a competitive spirit Kagami had. So much so that their relationship and friendship was mostly carried by their competitiveness in fencing and other aspects of life.

"No, open field archery is quite unpredictable at times, wind changes suddenly and it makes it difficult to hit the target all the time."

"Really, I didn't know that. Guess one learns something knew every day."

"Certainly."

"What about you, Adrien? How have you been?"

"Well, pretty great. My father has decided to give me a bit more leniency."

"Oh really, tell me more. How did you manage that?" And so, he did, the awkwardness he had felt quickly fading as they fell in a comfortable friendly conversation. He enjoyed it when they were like that, it felt nice.

… … …

They had been enjoying the view of the Jardin des Tuileries , talking leisurely, finally holding hands thanks to Kagami, when a sudden boom disrupted the atmosphere they had formed around each other. It hadn't sounded too far away and he struggled between wanting to put Kagami to safety and running the other direction so he could transform. But no matter how much he'd like to take the girl to safety, his duty as one of the heroes of Paris urged him to flee to the safety of eyes that could see him.

"Get to safety! Now!" He pushed the girl towards the opposite direction of the noise.

"What about you?" She wouldn't leave until he went with her, he knew it.

"I'll be right behind you, I just want to make sure everyone will be able to make it to safety." She didn't seem content with what he said, but only seemed to nod as she herself took the hand of an elderly woman that had been near them, taking her to safety.

He ran between some bushes, making sure no one was around. Just a few seconds after Chat Noir stood where Adrien had. Grabbing his baton, he lifted himself in the air, trying to figure out what was the source of the disturbance. He found it quickly, the huge monster was hard to miss. He saw Ladybug swing over the city, approaching the akuma quickly, so he vaulted himself along the rooftops of Paris to join her side.

"So, Ladybug, what do we have here?" she turned towards him with a serious expression, she seemed annoyed even. Well, what turned her day so sour?

"Chat, well, it seems to be a plant based akuma, I think it came from the Garden of Versailles" What? He had been there and he hadn't noticed the hard-to-miss monster. "Is the whole monster the akumatized victim or are they inside?" Taking her yo-yo from her waist, she stood up, readying herself for the battle.

"I think the person's inside; you see how when the vines of the monster move? It protects its' center. I'm pretty sure that's cause the person is there, and with them the akumatized object."

Chat turned to look at her, she had only gotten there just a little bit earlier than him and had managed to observe so much. He looked at the monster trying to see if he could figure out anything else.

There. He grinned in satisfaction.

"Ladybug, look at it closely, it grows every time water touches it, and it's heading straight to the Seine, but it's keeping away from the hot street poles, I think heat might make it weak." She looked at him with a small smile. "So we need to intercept it before it gets anywhere need he Seine, thanks Ki-Chat" Her change in name didn't pass unnoticed by Chat, but he figured that she was just re-establishing their professional relationship.

"Any plan?" She looked back to the monster, and with a frown, she just shook her head, "No, I think we'll have to fight it without a plan for now. Well, the plan for now is don't let it get close to any body of water, maybe keep it pinned against the poles"

He nodded, before swiftly following after her into the battle. She swung up into an arc hitting the monster in its face. The vines just moved, as if absorbing the shock from the kick that she had landed. She incorporated herself next to him on the street.

"So I guess, direct hits don't really work?" He could see her shaking her leg, as gooey substance went down her leg.

"No, and hitting it just leaves this on you. Great, I hope that doesn't have any effe-" she hadn't finished her sentence when he saw her fall down, the leg that had hit the monster had given under her weight. "Shit, Chat. It has numbing effects, don't touch it."

He helped her stand up. "Okay, so new plan?"

"Yeah, new plan, don't let it get close to any body of water, and don't touch it"

"Yeah that'll be easy." Grabbing his baton, he looked at Ladybug. "Can you stand?"

"Just take me to that pole, I think I'll be able to stand" He nodded, taking her to where she mentioned.

Once he knew she was okay, he turned towards the monster and lunged forward, aiming his baton towards the center, where the akumatized person was, according to Ladybug. His baton got stuck, the vines pulling on it trying to take it from his hands. He pulled harshly in an attempt to get it loose from the vines. The baton suddenly dislodged from the monster, sending him backwards from the tension between the two.

"So, the vines have a mind of their own. Any plan over there?" He turned looking at Ladybug.

"Not yet, I can't think of anything and this leg isn't helping" She looked frustrated, it had been a long time since she had taken this long to come up with a plan. "Don't you think it's a sign you should call out your Lucky Charm?"

She seemed to agree with him as she called out her Lucky Charm, "A hose? Seriously Ladybug? Tell your power that this guy over here actually gets more paw-erful with water."

"Chat, not now. Can you distract it while I try to figure out how to use it?"

"Of course, anything you need" He quickly turned towards the monster which had broken a fire exhaust and was quickly growing. How was he supposed to deal with that?

"Ladybug, I suggest you hurry up unless you want to fight a monster the size of the Eiffel Tower." He certainly didn't.

"I'm on it" He tried to move the akuma from the water "Hey, what's got you in such a vine-y situation?"

"I'm tired of people thinking that plants aren't important unless it's for their viewing pleasure, now I'm going show everyone the power of plants."

"Well, honestly I can't help but say that I really expected a bit more than just that."

"I'll just show you how I'll turn you into minced cat meat" Chat grimaced. "Hopefully we'll never get to that." He dodged a vine arm that landed next to him, missing him.

"Chat, take it up to the next light poles, and stretch your baton when he gets there so he can't go back." He swiftly followed Ladybug's orders. She created a net between the poles, blocking the way forward, and he put his baton just behind the monster. It tried to escape as vines went around Ladybug's net, effectively leaving the center without as much protection.

He could barely see what happened next but before he could even realize what exactly was going on, the person that had been inside was held in the air as the hose from Ladybug's Lucky Charm wrapped itself around their body caging them. The vines slithered on the floor, unable to reconnect with the body.

Ladybug stepped over the vines, careful not to actually touch them. Reaching up to the person, she grabbed the gardening trowel in their hand, breaking it to release the akuma. She quickly worked to purify it. She threw her Lucky Charm in the air, summoning the healing bugs throughout the affected areas.

"Well, I'm still not sure how you did it, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing your power in action."

"Thanks, Chat." Lifting their fists, they both pronounced the words that had become a routine at this point, "Pound it."

Suddenly remembering how he had been in a date before the akuma had appeared, he turned in direction to where Versailles was. "Do you think you'll be able to handle him? I was kind of busy with something before the akuma"

"Yeah, sure, no worries, I'll take care of things here." She smiled up at him, as she turned her sight to the direction he had been looking at as well, her expression turning somber in a flash before it was gone. Had he imagined that?

Leaping up, he vaulted along the rooftops, he only hoped Kagami wouldn't be too mad at him.

It was hard trying to write the Adrigami date, I feel like that's why I interrupted it with an akuma attack xD

Yikes, am I terrible at writing action sequences. Seriously, it's almost painful how not fluid the akuma attack was, and yes I did write the akuma attack from adrien's pov bcs I myself don't know exactly how Mari made it work, no shame.

P.s. I totally imagined the akuma like the "monster" the water bender from the swamp made in ATLA.

Also, thanks to those that have pointed out mistakes in my story haha, it really helps!