The last chapter from Adrien's POV. Some things become clear.

Several hours earlier

Adrien had finally made it home. He was exhausted. After a particularly hard akuma, all he wanted to do was to lie down and rest, but the mountains of homework were calling at him from his desk. Not to mention that he also had to practice his piano. He could easily cheat that one, though. At least until his father demanded him to play something to him again. However, that probably wouldn't happen for quite some time. Adrien's father was always busy with the company, and he made time for his son only once or twice a week, and that was usually just a few minutes. Nathalie was the one who handled everything in the household.

Adrien sighed and sat down at his desk. Opening the chemistry homework that was due next week, he started going over the inorganic chemistry as he tried to make some sense of it. Thankfully, thanks to being homeschooled for the better part of his life, he already had a grasp on it.

His kwami, Plagg, flew to the in-built fridge he had in his room and pulled out a wheel of aged Camembert.

"I don't know what you're doing with that stuff when you could always settle down with some fine cheese," he said, floating next to his shoulder. Throwing a piece of the cheese in the air, he swallowed it whole. The whole action made Adrien pull away.

"Eww, Plagg! You know I'm not a fan!" he said, pinching his nose, trying to get away from the smell. The Black cat kwami shrugged.

"I'm just saying, cheese would solve all your problems," he remarked and went in for another piece.

Adrien rolled his eyes and went back to his chemistry. He was determined to have this homework done before the deadline. With all his extracurricular activities, he could never be sure just when he would have time for it. And he had to keep up his grades, otherwise, there was always the risk that his father would pull him out of school.

It was ten minutes into his homework when his phone beeped with a new notification. Adrien opened it with a groan. He had recognized the Ladyblog's notification sound. He was fully expecting another akuma to ruin his day (Hawkmoth sometimes sent out two akumas in one day, and those were usually a pain), but what he saw made his breathing stop for a second.

It was a notification from one of the Ladyblog's forums.

Adrien's eyes widened in surprise as he saw a large photo of his very good friend Marinette at the Trocadero, and a large cookie floating in the air next to her. Marinette didn't seem distressed like she always did when she was clumsy and tripped over thin air, usually sending flying anything she had in her hands. It wasn't like that. The Marinette in the photo seemed calm and collected. Just like she always did whenever she calmly and confidently took on the class representative duties. But what was Marinette of all people doing on the Ladyblog's forum? Adrien's eyes flickered to the name of the thread.

Guys! I think I found out Ladybug's civilian identity! by Ladybuglover92. Underneath the photo, there was a caption: Hey guys, I think I met Ladybug's civilian identity today. She was talking to a weird ladybug-looking thing that wolfed down three cookies!

"Plagg?" Adrien asked, unsure. His kwami almost didn't look up from the cheese heaven that he had around him. Only when Adrien repeated the question did he look at his holder.

"What is it?" he asked, floating to him to see on the screen better. Reading the caption, his black-purplish colour had paled. Oh no.

"Tikki… what does she eat?" Adrien asked in all seriousness. Plagg let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh, you know… we kwamis can eat anything as long as we're hungry…" he started, trying to avert Adrien's attention. The blonde boy furrowed his brows.

"But you all have favourite foods, don't you? You like cheese, some other kwamis must surely like other things," he pressed on. Plagg looked away, all his appetite gone.

Adrien refreshed the page. There were already hundreds of comments in the thread. Suddenly, he was overcome by fear. Hundreds of people had already seen it, and it was only within two minutes of posting. If such a large number of people had seen it, then the word would get to Hawkmoth sooner or later.

"Plagg, Marinette is one of my best friends. She could be in serious danger now!" he pressed, his tone getting desperate. Marinette was the first friend he made. Ladybug or not, she was now a target. He had to count on that. And as such, he needed to protect her. Not just as a superhero, but as a friend too.

The kwami gave in.

"Fine, Tikki eats sweets. Any sweet thing," he replied to the boy's previous question. Adrien gasped.

"We need to go, now," he decided, standing up abruptly. "Plagg-"

Knock knock.

Adrien stopped mid-through the transformation phrase, and just in time. Plagg dashed out into his shirt and, moments later, Nathalie came into his room. She cleared her throat and Adrien rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Adrien? Your father wishes to speak with you," she announced, and Adrien looked at her. His concern was masked by the happy expression he put on.

"My Father? He found some time in his schedule to spend with me?" While he didn't forget about Marinette, the prospect of his father spending time with him was new and unexpected. After his mother disappeared, his father never had any time to spend with him and when he did, he had to make an appointment in advance.

He followed after Nathalie quietly. Plagg peeked out of his shirt with one green eye and Adrien nodded slightly. He hadn't forgotten. They would go to Marinette as soon as the talk with his father was done.

Soon, they arrived at Gabriel Agreste's office. It was a place he spent most of his time at. Always working on some new designs, that must've been why Gabriel's sales were rising that year. After Emilie's disappearance, Gabriel had plunged himself into work to forget about his grief and produced several new masterpieces.

Adrien stood in the middle of the room, shifting from foot to foot, fidgeting the hem of his shirt between his fingers.

"You wanted to see me, Father?" he asked, looking up with hopeful green eyes.

Gabriel was standing with his back to his son, looking at the golden portrait of Emilie. In a low voice, he asked: "What is Marinette Dupain-Cheng like?"

Adrien felt two things at once. The first was a pang of disappointment. His father had made time for him, only to ask about his classmate and friend. The second was a drop of sweat rolling down his back. If this was about the Ladyblog post, he had to be careful now.

"Marinette?" he repeated, thinking. "She's very sweet, but also very clumsy. She can trip over her own two feet and she's almost always late to class in the morning. You might remember, Father; she won your bowler hat contest! She's usually late because she's up working on another idea. She makes all of her designs by herself!" While he was here, surely he could promote Marinette's designing career a little, no? He had seen her designs and they were all masterful, definitely something not anyone her age could do.

He couldn't see it from his spot, but Gabriel Agreste pursed his lips into a thin line.

"I see. I heard that she won against Chloe Bourgeois to be a class representative?" he asked. Adrien wanted to frown, he wanted to desperately ask his father what he was doing, but he made sure to put on a smile.

"Yes, she did! I could tell you all about my classmates if you want?" he offered, the look in his eyes hopeful. Maybe his father would give in this time and spend some time with him.

Gabriel closed his eyes.

"I didn't ask to hear about your classmates, I asked to hear about Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng," he said coldly. Adrien took a step back.

"Father, why are you asking?" he asked cautiously, narrowing his eyes. Maybe his father would give him a straight answer for once.

This time, Gabriel turned to his son.

"I am merely looking out for you. I have seen… disturbing news that that girl could be Ladybug... " he rolled the words on his tongue for a few seconds. "And I wouldn't want you to end up in danger if she is."

Adrien narrowed his eyes more. So this is what it was all about. Of course, he was already suspecting it, and now, he had a perfect answer.

"I doubt that she is, Father. She's so clumsy that she couldn't be Ladybug. Besides, I've seen them at the same place at once!" He didn't mention how he saw them as Chat Noir, but what was important was that he had seen the two of them next to each other.

But… inwardly, he frowned. How could that be? Multimouse didn't turn up from thin air. That had definitely been Marinette. Unless… unless she wanted to conceal her identity from him. He remembered that he was quite close to figuring it out, heck, he even suspected her to be the spotted heroine! He would have to ask Plagg later on.

His father didn't seem convinced, but he half-turned back to Emilie's portrait.

"Very well, but Adrien… if Mlle. Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug, I will have you pulled out from school, is that clear?"

Adrien's eyes widened. No… he couldn't! But, he knew that he wouldn't win in the battle of wills. There was only one thing he had won, and that was being able to go to school. He knew that he would fight if Gabriel tried to pull him out again.

Right now, though, Adrien had no choice but to nod sadly. Keeping his gaze at the ground, he waited for the dismissal and then left back to his room.

Once away from the office, he quickened his pace. He refreshed his phone again and breathed out in relief. It seemed like Alya acted quickly upon discovering the thread and deleted it. At least one thing was taken care of, then.

Adrien closed the door to his room carefully and set his phone to play Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

"Come on, Plagg, we need to-" he was interrupted by his phone chiming. Raising a questioning eyebrow, Adrien opened his message chain with Nino.

17:15, Nino: Hey dude, wanna come over to Marinette's to study maths? Her mum's making dinner.

Adrien smiled. He almost couldn't believe that he got so lucky. It was a win-win situation, he would get to check up on Marinette and spend some time with his friends. There was, however, one obstacle that he had to get over first.

17:16, Adrien: I have to ask Nathalie, give me a moment.

The blonde went back to the hallway again and went back to the study. Knocking on the door, Nathalie opened it, looking down at him with a disinterested look.

"Uhm, Nathalie? My friends are having a study session and they asked if I could come and study with them," he asked nervously. Nathalie looked at her tablet, swiftly going through all the obligations that he should've completed for the day.

"What about your piano lesson?" she asked, watching Adrien's smile falter. He clasped his hands together.

"Please, Nathalie, I can practice my piano later. This is for an important test," he said, hoping that his father's secretary wouldn't be so heartless as to leave him here.

Nathalie shortly turned her head towards the office, but then breathed out: "Alright. But I expect you to focus on your piano after you come back."

If he hadn't been so terrified just moments ago, Adrien would've jumped in the air from excitement. Maybe he would've also hugged her, but he knew for a fact that Nathalie disliked physical contact.

"Thank you, Nathalie!" he exclaimed, the happy undertone once again sneaking into his voice. "I will practice, I promise!"

With that, he turned and ran back to his room. It was time to tell Nino the good news.

17:20, Adrien: I'll be on my way.

Five minutes later, he had his bag and was seated in the back of the car. His bodyguard sat in the front as he navigated through Parisian streets. In fact, Adrien's house wasn't that far away from the school and Marinette's place, but he understood his father's fierce protectiveness and let himself be driven everywhere. If he wanted to take the scenic route, he could always go out as Chat Noir later on.

His phone chimed. Another message from Nino.

17:27, Nino: also dude, you might wanna come to the backdoor. The front's taken by journalists.

At first, Adrien raised his eyebrow, but immediately after, he realized that if thousands of people saw the "news", it would definitely attract a large crowd. And while he was almost positive that Marinette was Ladybug, he could always give her the benefit of the doubt and wait until she actually felt comfortable to tell him.

Adrien leaned forward and told the Gorilla to go to the alleyway. His heart warmed when he saw his friends already waiting there for him. He opened the door with a nervous smile.

"Hey, Nino, hi, Alya, Marinette," he greeted them and waved in the direction of the front entrance. "What's up with the camp there?"

He saw Alya shrug.

"Nothing, they just think that Marinette's Ladybug. Which she's not."

Marinette almost tripped going over the porch. Adrien almost smiled. Clumsy, as usual. But that was Marinette, she's always been like that for as long as he had known her (which wasn't that long, but her characteristics and mannerisms didn't really change during that whole time). "Yeah, totally, I mean- No! Not at all! I mean… No, I'm not!"

Hearing her deny the thing that he wanted to know the most, he felt a pang of disappointment. He felt Plagg shift around under his overshirt. The identities had to remain secret, he remembered. He wondered if that was the case. But, for now, he was comfortable with this.

Marinette led them back upstairs. Adrien shivered slightly when stepping over the porch to the Dupain-Cheng apartment, the events of the last time he had been there lingering in the back of his mind. He definitely didn't want a repeat of that.

Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain were in the kitchen preparing dinner and desserts.

"Hello, Adrien," Sabine greeted him warmly. He smiled, lifting up his hand to wave.

"Hello, Mme Dupain-Cheng, M Dupain-Cheng," he greeted politely, forcing himself to look at Tom when he spoke. Somehow, he didn't have any desire to get thrown off another huge beanstalk today.

Tom seemed excited.

"Hello, Adrien!" he said, excited. "Did you come for some rounds of Ultimate Mecha Strike III?"

Adrien scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, actually… I'm here to study, so maybe later?" he said apologetically and breathed a sigh of relief when Tom nodded.

"Maybe after dinner, then," he remarked. "After all, I have this dessert to bake too."

Adrien nodded and followed after his friends to Marinette's room. They all took seats on the floor, and Alya waved her maths textbook.

"So, Adrien, Nino," she said. "We girls are a bit lost at maths."

Adrien exchanged glances with Nino before he reached into his bag and pulled out his own notebook. At least Marinette seemed to be alright and unharmed, apart from the large crowd of journalists in front of the house.

The four of them got to studying. Apart from thinking about the probability and combinations they were supposed to count, Adrien sometimes glanced at Marinette. Did she realize just how much in danger she was now? She didn't address any of that, and he was left wondering.

He watched as her bangs fell into her face while she tried to solve an equation with her tongue sticking out in concentration. Gosh, why had he never realized how pretty she looked? With her dark hair pulled up into pigtails, hunched up over her homework. Was it because he'd always been so hung up on Ladybug that he failed to realize? Adrien didn't know, but he quickly looked at his own homework before someone noticed his slightly pink cheeks.

They spent quite some time studying, but for Adrien, it felt like an eternity. Then, they were called for dinner. Adrien sent a quick message to Nathalie that he would be staying for dinner, hoping that she wouldn't inquire about all of the ingredients and calories to see if it suited his diet, but, thankfully, she made no such comments.

Honestly, Adrien kind of pitied Marinette. She didn't deserve any of this and she seemed to be properly frustrated with the current events as she tried to find a TV channel that wouldn't have her face on it. Adrien could relate, at least to the second part. He had grown up and was used to his face being showcased everywhere. He was, after all, the #1 teenage model in Paris and his fanbase was huge, especially among teenage girls (and some teenage guys as well).

But Marinette? She was on TV, not in a truly negative light, but for her, it must've been pretty stressful. Not to mention that, judging by the face she made, she realized just what it meant for her. Adrien frowned. He should probably stop by as Chat Noir later on, just in case.

Adrien was disappointed when he got the abrupt message to go home. He had hoped to play at least a few rounds of UMSIII, but apparently, he wouldn't have that luxury. Never mind that then. At least he got to see his friends outside of school too. He had often been denied that, and he was glad that could at least come over to Marinette's for a quick study session.

At least Alya and Nino had decided to leave too, maybe so he wouldn't feel as if he were the only one going home. It was nice of them, really.

"See you tomorrow, Adrien," they waved as he sat back into his family's blue car and closed the door. Adrien waved back. He would see them tomorrow at school, except… he wasn't sure just what tomorrow would look like.

Adrien didn't speak the whole way home. The mansion was silent and the atmosphere inside felt cold. Adrien shivered. His father probably hadn't left his office yet. He shrugged and went upstairs to his room. He let Plagg out. The kwami floated right next to him before flying away to lazily sit at the piano. He didn't forget to bring a piece of cheese with him.

As Adrien promised, he spent some time actually practicing the piano. It wasn't fun. It used to be, once upon a time. Once upon a time, when his mother had still been there. She'd sit down and watch him play, and she would always compliment his playing, even if he made mistakes. His father, however, was different. He offered him no warm words of praise. The only thing he knew was how to comment. Sometimes, Adrien wished that Gabriel would praise him instead of scolding him, but he had long resigned himself to it. His father wouldn't change. He kept telling himself that he was still grieving. It had been a year since Emilie disappeared, and his father just needed time. That was it. He wouldn't allow the other possibility, that his father simply didn't care for him, he wouldn't allow it to sow the seeds of doubt in his mind.

Adrien missed those days when his mother was there.

He forced himself to practice for a full hour before standing up. It was time to learn for that history test anyways. Thankfully, Medieval Europe was a nice topic and he was already ahead in the subject, thanks to his years of being homeschooled. There were only a few things that he didn't know about it.

At some point, Nathalie stuck her head in.

"Good night, Adrien," she said. The teenager replied the same thing, turning his head to look at the clock. It was almost half-past nine. An ideal time for a night visit.

He came closer to the window to look at night Paris. The city was shrouded in the night, only the street lightning illuminated the streets at this time. In the distance, the Eiffel tower was lavishly illuminated as it was probably the most important monument in the city. Adrien looked at Plagg.

"Ready to go?" he asked. The kwami floated up lazily next to him.

"You know that Pigtails is okay, no need to go check up on her a second time. Why not sit down and savour some chee-"

"Plagg, transform me!"

With a shriek of protest, the kwami was sucked into the ring and in Adrien's place stood Chat Noir. The hero leaped out of the window and into the night. It was time to pay a certain classmate a visit.

Sometime later, Chat Noir jumped in and in a green flash, Adrien collapsed on the bed.

"Plagg," he moaned. "Help me…"

For once, Plagg abandoned his cheese and sat down in Adrien's blonde locks.

"You knew," Adrien moaned into a pillow. Plagg stayed silent. Of course, he knew, he had known since the Dark Owl akuma, but both he and Tikki had stayed quiet. It wasn't up to them to spill other people's secret identities, not to mention that they couldn't do it; magic prevented them from doing so.

On one hand, he would probably have a hard time as Adrien tomorrow. He wasn't supposed to know as Adrien. However, as Chat Noir, he could easily check up on Marinette from time to time. Not that she wasn't capable of taking care of herself, no. He knew that she was more than capable of doing so. He knew how she had rescued them all during Weredad, and possibly without any powers. She certainly wasn't as clumsy as everyone thought… or everyone underestimated her because of it.

Adrien abandoned his lying position and sat cross-legged on his bed (Nathalie wouldn't be happy to know that he hadn't bothered changing into his pyjamas. Suddenly, the red and black spotted pair of pyjamas seemed to be rather… inappropriate for sleeping. The superheroes had their merch, heck, even the other heroes were getting some, especially Queen Bee (but that was heavily influenced by Chloe, who wanted her own merchandise), but actually knowing who the hero was? Adrien now wasn't so sure if he wanted to keep sleeping in his Ladybug-inspired pyjamas.

His cheeks coloured slightly at the thought of Marinette spotting him in them. She seemed to be well-used to Ladybug merch being everywhere, and to Alya constantly talking her ears off about Ladybug of all people, she wouldn't mind, right? From his friend group, only Nino knew that he was a die-hard Ladybug fan, but not even he knew about the little shrine he had in his room.

The boy sighed.

"Marinette is Ladybug… Plagg, my Father told me that if she is, he'll have me pulled out of school!" he lamented, hiding his face in his hands.

The kwami floated up.

"She'll still be doing anything to keep her identity a secret," he said, sensing his Chosen's distress. It wouldn't do if he was akumatized because of this. Adrien peered at him through an opening between his fingers.

"That's true," he admitted. "We just have to make sure that Father never hears about it."

Plagg extended one tiny paw and patted his forearm.

"You see? It will be alright," he said, trying to comfort him. Adrien let his hands fall and nodded. As long as they came up with a plan to convince everyone else that Marinette wasn't Ladybug, it would be fine. Meaning that he would have to go see her again - not that he minded that.

"She said I could tell a teacher," he mused, looking down at Plagg. "She's probably gonna tell Mlle Bustier." Plagg offered a disinterested hum.

"Do you think Mlle Bustier can handle knowing two superheroes' identities?"

Technically, they should consult Master Fu first. But Adrien didn't know how to contact him - only Ladybug could. Adrien was always left waiting until he showed up on his doorstep or behind him on the street. He certainly couldn't discuss it with him, and Marinette probably didn't have any choice but to wait. The crowd in front of her house would follow her and he was sure that Master Fu wouldn't be happy if she led half of Paris to his apartment… and the Miracle box.

Plagg made a slight move that resembled a shrug.

"I don't care, it's your decision," he said, narrowing his eyes so he looked pretty disinterested. Adrien sighed.

"Gee, thanks, Plagg," he said sarcastically to which the kwami replied: "You're welcome."

"You know I didn't mean it like that," Adrien said, running a hand through his hair. Plagg sat down on his side of the bed (he had a whole pillow for sleeping and, like a cat, he took it for himself. Adrien didn't mind. He had enough pillows to spare after all).

"Then you shouldn't have asked," Plagg replied, knowing full well that Adrien had meant it sarcastically. Sometimes, though, it was fun to mess with his holder.

The blonde sat on his chair, thinking.

"I think Mlle Bustier can keep a secret, and she is always so positive, I don't think it's a bad idea," he said out loud, thinking about it.

Plagg yawned.

"If you think that's a good idea…"

"Plagg, do you realize how ominous that sounded?" Adrien asked, raising an eyebrow. Surely his kwami must've realized it as well. All bad ideas started out like that.

"When you're talking about cheese, I might be more helpful," the kwami replied, yawning again. He curled up on the pillow, ready to sleep. He wouldn't be of much help now.

Adrien sighed and got up. Quickly, he got through the evening routine, throwing on his pyjamas and getting to bed.

"Goodnight, Plagg," he said, closing his eyes. The kwami mumbled in response and then fell silent. Adrien snuggled into the blanket.

Five minutes later, the teenager shot up, startling his poor kwami out of the pillow.

"Multimouse! How could she be at two places at once?!"

Plagg couldn't contain his irritation.

"Maybe ask her the next time you see her?" he said, floating back to his pillow. Adrien pouted.

"Come on, Plagg! There are so many things that need answers!" he said, once more wide awake. The kwami grumbled; he wasn't happy to be roused from sleep.

"If you need to know, the real Ladybug unified with Tikki," he said, making Adrien look at him, his eyes asking the obvious question.

"You can unify miraculouses?" he asked, genuinely curious now. Plagg opened one green eye to look at him. He guessed that after this reveal, it didn't hurt to explain.

"Duh, you can. Though you can only unify two at the most and you have to wear both of them."

"So that's why Marinette needed my ring," Adrien realized, raising his hand to look at his miraculous. "And why Multimouse had so many copies."

Plagg didn't bother answering. His Chosen would get to the right answer eventually. He wasn't stupid. Sometimes, he needed a bit more time to figure things out, but he wasn't stupid.

"She had all the kwamis with her," Adrien mused, sitting cross-legged on the bed, his hand on his chin thoughtfully. His eyes widened as he came to a realization.

"She must've had the fox miraculous with her as well, right?" Plagg grumbled, already half-asleep.

"Congratulations, you finally got it. Now go to sleep, lover boy."

Adrien pouted. As much as he'd like to discuss it more, his kwami was right. If he didn't go to sleep now, he'd probably arrive just as late as Marinette did. He sighed.

"She's so amazing," he breathed out, earning another grumble from Plagg. He chuckled quietly and lied down again. It was time to sleep. And Adrien was sure that he'd have the best dreams.

"Goodnight, Plagg," he whispered, and the kwami let out equally quiet: "Night." Adrien closed his eyes and soon there was no more noise, just the sounds of their breathing.