A/N: Great news, fam! I got a snow day today, which let me work on this update all day ;)

Chapter 14

He didn't know what to make of this. It could be a scam, someone could be impersonating her, but he had seen plenty of pictures on the internet of Volpina's signature. True, there were probably plenty of people who could forge signatures (like himself) but he doubted that just anyone could copy the drawing of the fox face exactly as she did.

But if it wasn't a fake, then why was she here? He knew she mainly operated in Rome, so why would she suddenly pop up in Paris? It didn't make any sort of sense.

"Plagg," Adrien whispered in the darkness of his bedroom. "Got any ideas?"

A tired, grumbling meow from the foot of his bed was the only answer he received. It was obvious the cat was peeved from being disturbed, yet his master seemed perfectly clueless on the matter.

"What is she even here for? There's no new special, priceless gem for her to possibly be drawn to. I could understand if she was from a few cities away, and maybe she wanted a taste of Paris. But Plagg, she's from Italy! Why would she just randomly turn up like this?"

Plagg silently rose from his comfortable spot on the bed, his tail twitching being the only hint to his irritation. When he met with Adrien face-to-face, his back arched with his fur standing on end, his tail stood straight in the air, and his ears were folded back.

Then, he unleashed a hiss that made Adrien momentarily pause in surprise, and maybe just the smallest bit in fright.

After getting the reaction he wanted, the cat sniffed once before turning on his paws and going back to his sleeping spot. He fitted himself in the little blanket gully he already had and didn't waste time on trying to return to his rest.

Green eyes blinked, before their owner let out a weary yawn. Maybe Plagg had the right idea, maybe he should just go to sleep and think about this problem in the morning.

…

Morning came, and still no spectacular epiphany about the Volpina situation. He didn't figure it out during breakfast, when Nathalie reminded him of his fencing lesson for later that day, and couldn't come to a conclusion as he rode in the limo and eventually walked up the stairs to the school and to his classroom.

He released a sigh outside his classroom door. This was starting to give him a much unneeded headache, and right now he could do with just having a regular school day with his friends. Not to mention he had Marinette's heavenly blue eyes to look forward to seeing. Her presence was enough to brighten his day even when he was feeling at his worst.

Adrien opened the door, his eyes noting all of his classmates talking and/or goofing off with each other. He briefly narrowed his eyes at Kim, who was certainly looking better, then shifted his gaze to his three friends.

Alya and Nino looked to be engaging in some sort of exciting topic, while Marinette simply stared at her desk with her mouth parted. He didn't think much of it, she was prone to randomly daydream throughout the day.

Not that he minded, of course. He thought it was an adorable habit. Come to think of it, was there really anything he disliked about her?

Well, she could be stubborn sometimes. And sometimes she could snap and let her temper get the best of her, and make a few rash decisions…

But he loved her all the same for it.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted, cheery and loudly in order to make his presence known. "What's going on?"

"Dude, you'll never believe it!" Nino grinned excitedly. "Chat Noir saved me last night!"

"Really?" Adrien gasped, feigning shock. After all this time of lying, it came out as naturally as breathing. "You're kidding."

"Nope!" Nino replied, shaking his head. "I was almost robbed but Chat Noir came in and beat the shit out of him! It was awesome! I thought he was a criminal but maybe he's becoming a good guy."

Him? A good guy? That was hilarious! As if he would ever actually be the 'hero'. He was only interested in saving his friends and limited family, no one else.

However, he couldn't hold back the chuckle that escaped from his mouth. He couldn't help it, the thought of it was too funny! He knew Marinette wanted him to be a hero, but still. It was never going to happen.

"Don't mean to burst your bubble, Nino, but I highly doubt he's going to change his ways."

"But he saved me!" he protested, eyebrows drawing down as he tried to make his point. "He could've let the guy take my money or took it for himself. But he helped me! Why would he do that if he wasn't a good guy?"

He shrugged, mentally trying to find a suitable excuse he could use.

"Maybe he felt generous last night."

"Or he's becoming a good guy," Nino retorted, stubbornly crossing his arms in front of his chest as he did so. "You're not him, so you wouldn't know."

Oh, sweet, sweet irony.

"You're right, Nino," he sighed, perhaps a bit over-dramatically but it did match the tone of defeat. He shook his head and grinned quietly to himself in amusement. "I wouldn't know at all."

Mme. Bustier came in just a second later, with a wide grin and a curious sparkle in her eyes. Adrien and Nino moved to their bench, joining the rest of the students in looking at each other in confusion of what their teacher could be so excited about.

"Class, we have a special addition to our school," she announced in a mixture pride and eagerness.

Adrien's curiosity was immediately piqued for whoever this mysterious student was. New students normally received a nice, ordinary welcoming and that was that. The teacher definitely wasn't this excited over it, so he knew whoever this person was had to be special in some way.

Besides, she had spoken those same exact words when he first came to the school. If that wasn't enough of an indication to this student's high status then he didn't know what was.

"Please welcome, Lila Cagna!"

His face remained carefully blank as the famous Italian actress strutted into the room. With a simper she gently brushed some of her brown locks away from her shoulders as her olive eyes began to go around the room, surveying the students.

They happened to lock eyes for a few seconds. Her lips briefly twitched before she looked away and stared straight in front of her. Her hand lifted into a friendly wave.

"Hi, everyone! I'm so happy to be a part of your school!" she greeted, clapping her hands together to better portray a perfect, innocent angel.

However, he didn't buy the act. Something was off about her, but he couldn't put his finger on as to what it was. He did think it was suspicious that an Italian actress suddenly happened to join their school, but he had a feeling that there was something bigger going on.

His instincts warned him not to trust this girl.

"We're glad to have you," Mme. Bustier continued, oblivious to his mistrust of the new girl. "We actually have another famous person attending, do you happen to know Adrien Agreste?"

Adrien shook his head before Lila could answer.

"No, we don't know each other."

"But I've heard about you," Lila cut in, returning her attention back to him. "Your dad makes amazing clothes!"

He raised an eyebrow, silently trying to gauge her personality. He couldn't tell if she was just being nice or trying to curry favor with him. Still, he thanked her, nonetheless. He didn't want to look like a rude asshole in front of Marinette.

"Since we don't have anything closer to the front, you're going to have to sit in the back, Lila. I hope this is okay?" Mme. Bustier asked a bit worriedly.

She nodded, seemingly not minding at all.

"It's perfectly okay!"

With a smile she walked to the back of the room to her new seat. Adrien grinned in amusement as he noticed most of his male classmates' eyes trailing after her. Although, who was he to judge? He often found his gaze lingering after Marinette many times. He wasn't any different.

…

"Hey, check this out!"

Adrien barely paid attention when Alya had discovered something new on her phone. He tried to pay attention, but he found his thoughts straying to Volpina and trying to figure out why she may be in Paris. But so far, he couldn't come up with anything.

"…robbed a jewelry store last night and she goes by the name 'Volpina'."

"Volpina?" he repeated interestedly after swallowing his tarte tatin that he had probably been chewing for far too long. He removed his gaze from outside the bakery window and back to his friends.

"Yeah, she's kind of like Chat Noir, in a way. She leaves notes at her crimes and leaves a fox drawing on them." Alya turned her phone to show them a picture of one of her famous notes. "She's from Italy originally, so Paris police are wondering why she's suddenly here."

"That's what I'd like to know, too," he muttered bitterly before looking back out the window again. He considered himself to be smarter and cleverer than the police, so for him not to know something that they also didn't know hurt his pride.

"Adrien? You okay?" A soft voice inquired, distracting him from his thoughts. He didn't even realize that he was oblivious to what was going on until she had called him.

He turned to give her a warm, reassuring smile.

"I'm fine, just thinking about my schedule," he lied smoothly.

She didn't look completely satisfied with the answer, yet didn't push for any more details.

"Oh, okay," she complied before she looked down at her pastry. He wished he could've been honest with her, but to do that she would have to know he was Chat Noir, and he wasn't ready for that yet. So for now he was resigned to maintaining the perfect, almost carefree attitude that the most handsome model in Paris was supposed to have.

…

That night, as he was on his way to visit Marinette, he caught her outside on her balcony. She was holding a spray bottle and watering her plants. He grinned in anticipation as she moved on to the roses.

He managed to sneak around behind her before she could see him. Then, leaning down close to her ear, he murmured:

"Evening, Princess."

She stiffened in surprise prior to facing him. He almost laughed at her sour expression.

"Good evening, Chat Noir," she responded curtly, though the corners of her lips were twitching into a smile, revealing that she wasn't truly mad at him.

"So, how'd it go with your friend last night?" he asked, his smile forming into a frown. Alya and Marinette still spoke with each other like everything was normal, so at least their friendship was still intact. However, that didn't mean he was out of the woods.

"It went pretty well, actually." She grinned. "She kinda likes you."

Well, he wasn't expecting that, given her reaction to seeing him. But he wasn't going to complain.

"You and only you own my heart, fair Princess," he quipped with a well-timed finger gun and a cheeky wink.

She giggled, ducking her head most likely in an effort to hide the blush blooming across her cheeks. He instinctively smiled at such an adorable reaction.

"I didn't mean it like that, but good to know. I told her how you saved me, she really appreciates it."

"It was my pleasure," he replied and bowed. He smirked and locked eyes with her as he rose back up. "This cat is furever your protector, Princess."

"Speaking of protecting," she trailed off mysteriously (and suggestively?). She placed the spray bottle down on her spool table before walking closer to him and smiling up at him.

"I heard you saved one of my friends last night. Thank you for that."

He blinked in surprise as she placed a feather-light kiss against his lips. However, he was able to regain his bearings when he noticed her fall back and blush shyly.

He couldn't resist.

"A kiss for every act of heroism? That might be enough to purrsuade me to do it more often."

Honestly, the sad part was that he probably would do it if she offered. Damn, he was so pathetic.

"Then that means you'll have to have a punishment if you do something bad," she concluded.

His eyes lidded as he smirked at the suggestive remark. Well, he thought it was, anyway.

"And what happens if I'm a bad kitty?" he purred.

She caught on to his game, using her index finger to trail it seductively down his chest. His breath hitched, at the same time she peered up at him through her lashes with a coquettish smirk upon her full, kissable lips.

He found himself bending down to capture that smirk with his own mouth, utterly entranced by her alluring spell. In the back of his mind he idly wondered if she was a witch, after all, with how she could so easily bend him to her will.

Until suddenly a splash of water hit him in the face. He immediately sprang away from her as he closed his eyes and started to furiously wipe at them to get the water out.

"What the hell?!" he spluttered, still confused and surprised by the change of atmosphere. He thought he was going to get a kiss, but as usual Marinette had other ideas.

Speaking of, she was currently in hysterics as she clutched the bottle tightly to her chest.

"That-that's what happens if you do something bad!" she breathed, still laughing.

His eyes narrowed as his sight returned to him.

"You little tease," he accused bitterly.

When her giggles didn't show any sign of subsiding, he decided he had to use a punishment of his own. He jumped into action, picking her up and diving to her lounge chair so that he was on the bottom for the impact. But he didn't hesitate to flip them over so he straddled her, and very soon his fingers were busy at work against Marinette's sides.

Marinette quickly gasped before dissolving into full-blown laughter. Her body writhed underneath him, desperate to get away but he grinned as he managed to keep her in place.

"Chat-Chat stop!" she cried out in between peals of laughter.

Once more she tried escaping him, but he wasn't having it. He smirked, thankful of his criminal life that gave him enough strength to keep her pinned beneath him as he continued his tickle assault.

"Chat, please!" she panted, tears forming in her eyes.

"Please, what?" he asked with a smug grin.

"Please, stop!" More laughter escaped past her mouth before she chose to bite down on her lower lip to keep them at bay.

"You want me to stop?" he questioned mischievously, still unrelenting in his attack.

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

"Will you ever tease me like that again?"

"No!"

"Purromise?"

"I-I-I promise!"

Satisfied, he pressed a kiss to her cheek and stopped his tickling, most probably to Marinette's relief. He flipped them over so that he was underneath her this time, with her lying over him. Her head lolled to the side, close to his neck, and he didn't waste the opportunity to bury his nose in her hair and bask in the scent.

Strawberries and crème, along with a wonderful mixture of bakery scents. Like vanilla, for example. Normally so many smells at once would irritate him, but it worked beautifully for Marinette.

He wished they could lie like this forever. With her comfortably lounging on top of him with himself able to lay in perfect contentment, just appreciating the enticing scent of her hair.

So lost in his thoughts, he barely noticed when she had asked him a question.

"May I?"

"Hm?" he hummed, coming out of the daydream. He saw that her hand was holding his own, with her fingers on his ring.

Her meaning immediately struck him. She wanted to try on his ring.

"Oh. Yeah, you can try it on," he approved before chuckling and sighing in bliss as his nose went back in her hair.

He opened his eyes to find her admiring his ring on her right ring finger. Apparently, it was so loose on her slim fingers that she had to clench a fist in order for it to stay on. He smiled before closing his eyes again.

A few moments later he felt his glove being slowly peeled off. He didn't know why she was doing it, but he didn't reject her task either. So he remained silent as she paused, to allow him the chance to stop her attempt. When he continued not to say anything she resumed with her work until the glove was lying on her stomach.

Her fingertips just barely brushed against his own, the warm skin a nice change from whenever he touched her with the leather covering his hands. He liked the feeling and wanted more, and so he began to entwine her fingers with his own.

She didn't object, and so they remained just basking in the quiet, starry night. That is, until she spoke.

"I heard there's another criminal around here. Volpina, I think her name is."

He hummed in agreement, finally removing his nose from her hair to look down at her.

"Yeah, it is."

"Have you met her?" she asked.

"No. I've heard of her, she was pretty good back in Italy. I'm still trying to figure out why she's here, though."

"Is there some new, priceless object here or something?" she guessed.

"Nope," he replied. "It's a mystery why she's here." His tone hardened. "And I don't like mysteries."

She giggled, although he had no answer as to why. They soon vanished, however as she shrugged.

"Maybe she just wants to claim Paris for her own. Maybe she got tired of Italy."

Could it be that was really the reason she was here? To take away what was his? Well, he'd be damned if he let that happen.

"Paris is mine," he hissed, offended and angry at such an idea. "It took three years to gain the top spot and I'm not letting it slip out of my claws."

"You could always catch her," she suggested, paying no heed to his temper as she raised their joined hands in the air. "Imagine all the kisses you'd get if you caught a criminal like her." He could practically hear the teasing smirk in her voice.

"Hm," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her temple. "Tempting."

They sat in comfortable silence once more. He felt her snuggle deeper into his body, and the broad smile that took over his face could only be described as goofy.

"So what do you do when you're not committing crime?" she asked, breaking the silence yet again.

He bit his lower lip. He knew the question would come up sooner or later, but there wasn't much he could tell her without divulging his identity.

"A little of this and a little of that," he replied vaguely.

"What does that mean?"

He snickered at her unrelenting questioning.

"Looks like cats aren't the only curious creatures," he mused.

"Come on, tell me!" she persisted. He knew if he could see her that she'd be pouting.

"Say 'purretty purrlease' and I might just let a detail slip," he teased with a chuckle.

Chat heard her sigh of defeat.

"Pretty please?"

"Nope. You have to say it like I did."

He held back his laughter when he heard her huff in annoyance.

"Fine. Purretty purrlease?"

"Purrfect!" he cheered with a wicked grin. "Hm, now what secret could possibly satisfy an inquisitive princess like you?" He tapped his chin in thought. "Decisions, decisions…"

"Chat," she whined impatiently.

"Alright," he relented with a laugh. There could be no harm in telling her this secret, it would be no possible hint to his identity. "Well, I go to this club sometimes."

"A club?" she repeated in interest. "But wouldn't people scream and call the police if they say you?"

"This isn't an ordinary club. Only Paris's elite criminals are allowed in."

"Soo, it's like a secret underground club?"

"Correct," he confirmed.

"Can I come?"

He balked at her request. Was she insane?!

"Hell no! That isn't a place you should be in."

He would never take her there, not to the place where all the men leered shamelessly at the women, not to where a fight could break out at any moment. It was fine enough club, it wasn't decorated like some cheap, sleazy bar, but an innocent girl like herself still shouldn't be anywhere near there.

"But I want to see!" she protested vehemently, not at all pleased with his answer.

"I said no, Princess," he replied firmly. "Didn't you hear what I said about 'Paris's elite criminals'? There's no way I'd let you in a place like that."

"What if you accompanied me?" she tried, switching tactics. "If I'm with you they won't touch me."

Damn, she was probably right, he realized with an agonized groan. If he took a girl there, it was highly likely that the other criminals would know not to touch her, lest they incite his wrath. They would probably not even look at her.

But he still didn't want to take her there. It was still dangerous.

"Please, chaton?" she begged sweetly. She turned around, letting him see her puffed-out bottom lip and her doe-like sapphire eyes looking up at him through her thick, black lashes.

He grimaced. Already he could feel his resolve crumbling.

"You said you're my protector forever, I know I'd be safe with you. And if there's any danger we can leave, no questions asked."

He closed his eyes and let out another groan. Damn this girl.

"Please, minou," she implored, taking their entwined hands and kissing his knuckles. Her soft lips connecting with his skin ripped away any lingering refusal.

"I hate you," he ground out through clenched teeth.

Maybe he could bring her there, and nothing bad would happen. No one would dare to mess with a girl that he brought with him. And he knew that Jackady and Mime would be on his side should something happen.

"Fine!" he hissed, looking at her with eyes that screamed his frustration.

"Yay!" she squealed, practically pouncing closer to him to wrap her arms around his neck in a hug. "Thank you!"

This girl was going to be the death of him.

"Saturday, ten at night. Wear a disguise so no one will target you." He closed his eyes, covering his face with his gloved hand. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this," he lamented in a defeated moan.

"We'll be fine," she assured, brushing off his concern. "What's the worst that could happen?"

He groaned again for the millionth time while leaning his head back against the chair.

A/N: Still not changing Lila's name just because the real one was revealed xD