Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.
Chiba was wrong.
Being a superhero wasn't very freeing after all.
In fact, it added a lot more burdens and responsibilities to him and Ladybug.
They didn't instantly click and they made mistakes, so they tried to cooperate. But the problem was that neither of them liked to talk, so silent they remained.
"This won't work," Black Cat said after another fight with an akuma. Again, they did different things and they wasted time.
"I know," Ladybug agreed. "We'll talk this night. Our transformations are going to run out." She jumped away and vanished.
Black Chat sighed and also ran away. He had mountains of homework to do, family chores, babysitting his sister, and group projects. Not to mention patrolling duty with Ladybug and crime fighting.
Chiba buried his head in his work until dinnertime. He went out of his room, ate quickly and then retreated to his room.
His mom looked at him and sighed. "He's always so quiet. I never know what he's thinking about."
In his room, Chiba searched up the Ladyblog. It was ran by a diehard fan of the heroes, and it had appeared a few days prior. Its use was to post akuma attacks so Ladybug and Black Cat could arrive at the scene quicker. There was also a photo collection of the two heroes.
Afterwards, Chiba went on social media and searched for his alter ego and Ladybug. Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of comments about them, especially about their supposed romantic relationship. Surprisingly, a lot of people commented on Black Cat's looks.
"He's so cute! I wanna squish his face ~~~"
"I love him he's so hottttt"
"outta the way ladybug he's mine 3"
"...What?" Chiba looked at the screen, disgusted yet confused.
Plagg zoomed out of his pocket. "Well Ladybug's not going to like this."
"Why?"
"Would you like it if the public kept on commenting on your partner's attractiveness?" Plagg asked drily, remembering he wasn't supposed to reveal the fact that most, if not all Ladybugs and Black Cats end up together.
"I think not. And I should be meeting with her at eleven tonight. I still have time to work."
"Just don't overwork yourself," Plagg yawned and flew under Chiba's blanket. "I'm gonna sleep for a while.
"...hey! You! Wake up!"
Chiba grunted and lifted his face from where it was on the desk. Plagg was kicking his arm.
"I can't believe you fell asleep too." Plagg scowled. "That's unlike you. Anyways you're going to be late."
"Late?" Chiba muttered sleepily. "It's not the time for school… oh wait!"
He grabbed his clock. Three minutes until eleven. His sleepy eyes widened.
"Crap! The meeting with Ladybug!"
Ladybug stood on the roof of the town's public library. It was their preferred meeting spot. She checked the clock in her yoyo.
"5 minutes left," she muttered. She sat down and looked at the view, her hair ribbons blowing slightly in the wind.
Ever since Ladybug met Black Cat, she had somehow always anticipated his arrival, whether they were meeting for patrol or akuma fights. A thought flashed into her mind. I hope he won't be late...
She suddenly caught sight of a young girl running away from a bunch of thug-looking guys. Instantly alert, Ladybug leapt down from the library.
She looks around my age. Why is she out this late?
The girl wore a pair of shorts and a tank top. Maybe she's one of those party girls, Ladybug thought. The girl ran until she reached a dead end and looked around, scared.
"Hey pretty girl, wanna play with us?" one guy asked, his meaty hand slamming on the wall beside the girl.
"Umm… I'll rather not…" the girl replied timidly.
"Too bad," another boy cackled as he and the other guys walked closer to the girl. "Hehe, this going to be fun…"
To the boys' surprise, another girl clad in a black and red outfit suddenly stood in front of them.
Ladybug spun her yoyo quickly. "You want fun? I'll give you fun." she hissed. "It's my job to protect innocent citizens."
The guys paled when they saw the superhero. "Scram!" one of them yelled and ran away, the others following him.
"Cowards." Ladybug commented and stopped spinning her yoyo. She turned to the girl behind her. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yes." The girl replied. "Thanks for saving me."
"No problem. And you shouldn't be out this late. You better go home now." Ladybug advised. Now she could look closely, the girl seemed vaguely familiar.
"I am. In fact my home is just another block away. You don't need to worry, Ladybug." the girl assured her.
Ladybug wondered if she had to escort the girl back home. But a part of her didn't want to do that, because that would mean contact with strangers.
"Okay," Ladybug said finally. "I gotta go!" She swung herself up on the rooftops and ran back to the library.
She was busy seeing if the thugs were still on the streets when she crashed into someone. A pair of hands grabbed her and regained her balance.
Ladybug looked up and her heart skipped a beat. "Oh. It's you."
"Hi." Black Cat greeted, his partner still in his arms. He quickly let go.
There was silence and Ladybug brushed nonexistent dust off her arms.
"Shall we begin our patrol?" Black Cat asked.
"Sure." Ladybug said and they leapt across Japan's rooftops, chatting while keeping an eye on the streets.
"So," Ladybug began. "We have an interview next day."
Black Cat sighed internally. As a socially awkward person in both identities, he preferred to avoid people. "Yeah. People on the internet have a lot of questions."
"And most of them are about us dating," Ladybug crossed her arms. "We've only met for like two weeks."
"They're probably going to inquire after our ages too." The cat ears on Black Cat's head twitched. "By the way, how old are you?"
"Eh?" Ladybug looked surprised. Her companion realized that question might be offensive to a female too late.
"Probably as old as you are." Ladybug replied, after thinking for a while.
"Hmm…" Black Cat looked up and down at Ladybug's body. Her height seemed to overlap with the heights of the girls at his school, so unless she was an immortal or whatever they would be around the same age.
Unfortunately, this was the first time somebody had ever looked at Ladybug or Hayami this intensely. Feeling rather self conscious, she hit Black Cat across the chest with her yoyo. It didn't hurt because his suit absorbed the damage, but it was enough to bring him back to reality.
"What are you staring at?" Ladybug asked sternly, crossing her arms.
"Nothing." Black Cat answered too quickly and too innocently.
Ladybug didn't believe him. She looked down at her skin tight suit, and somehow that idiot Okajima came to her mind. Her face got redder and she spat out, "Pervert."
"I was just trying to see how tall you were!" Black Cat defended himself. "Or would you prefer…" He stretched out a hand and put it on top of her head, and pulled his hand back until he hit his nose.
Ladybug stiffened when Black Cat put his hand on her head. She was reminded that perverts like Okajima exist. From what she'd seen of Black Cat so far, he seemed like a pretty respectable person, but she had zero idea what he was like in his civilian form. She shuddered, and hoped that he wasn't a really weird guy under the mask. Because of her unpleasant thoughts, she decided to change the topic.
"Maybe they'll ask about how we feel as a superhero." Ladybug suggested.
The duo thought of possible questions and tried to answer them. Neither of them liked people prying into their lives, so they had thought of lying to the press about preferences such as favourite food and colour.
"I really hope they won't ask a lot of questions. I don't like talking about myself." Black Cat mentioned.
"Same." Ladybug agreed. "And that brings us to our next topic."
Black Cat knew what she meant. "We can start by discussing fighting tactics."
Surprisingly, the duo had a lot of things to talk about when it concerned their work. It was the most they had ever talked about. When they didn't use their special powers, their transformations could last for hours, so they didn't have to worry.
Some time later, Ladybug checked her yoyo."It's half past twelve in the morning," she said in amazement. "We have been talking for an hour and half."
"That's… some progress." Black Cat scanned the area to determine which direction his home was in. "We should go home."
A part of Ladybug didn't want to leave. As a very quiet person, she didn't have a lot of people to talk to. Her parents were rarely home, Nakamura could be too chatty and outgoing, but Black Cat was similar to her, and they knew each other's limits.
"You know, the people on the internet seem to like how you look," Ladybug teased her partner.
"I never thought that would happen." Black Cat muttered. When he was in his other form, people thought of him as weird no matter he showed his eyes or not. The power of the cat miraculous was strong. A bit embarrassed, his cat ears drooped.
Awwwwww, Ladybug thought automatically. A small grin appeared on her face, and she patted Black Cat's head. "You're kind of cute though," she said and leapt away.
Black Cat stared after her, bewildered. "Did you just…"
He put his hand on where Ladybug had just touched. Feeling a bit confused yet amused, he made his way home.
"I just did that," Hayami muttered, lying on her bed and cuddling her blanket.
"Yes, you did that." Tikki said patiently. "You said Black Cat was cute."
Hayami cringed and buried her face in her blanket.
"Why did I do that?" she muttered, and turned around so she faced Tikki, who was sitting on a chair. The kwami had a makeshift bed made out of a towel, but since she was a god she didn't need sleep like humans did.
"Well," Tikki's eyes lit up. "Maybe you like Black Cat!"
"I do like him. As a partner." Hayami replied.
"No Rinka-chi, I mean romantically," Tikki explained. Rinka-chi was Tikki's nickname for her.
There were a few seconds of silence.
"No. That's not possible. I don't like him that way," Hayami denied, although her heart was beating fast.
"I've seen many many cases," Tikki soothed. "It's normal for your age."
"I don't. I don't have a crush on him." Hayami continued to state.
"Do you always want him to show up?" Tikki asked.
"Yeah."
"Does your heart race when you see him?"
"Sort of."
"Do you think he's cute?"
"...Yeah."
Tikki flew down from her perch and hovered in front of Hayami's face. "Now do you think you have a crush on Black Cat?" she asked once again.
This time Hayami didn't reply. She turned away and pretended to sleep. "Good night Tikki."
Tikki smiled. She already knew her chosen's answer. "Good night."
When Chiba stepped into his classroom the next day, he got a big shock.
"W-what?!"
On the blackboard, there was a huge chalk drawing of Ladybug and Black Cat. It was completely drawn with white chalk and the duo were posed heroically, yoyo and baton out. A boy was carefully drawing the smaller details on the blackboard.
"Wow, he's good at this…"
"Amazing, Sugaya-kun!"
The class artist stood up straight and basked in his classmates' praise. "It's finished!" he announced.
Everybody clapped. Standing behind Sugaya, a girl with peach coloured shoulder length hair studied the drawing, arms folded.
Sugaya noticed the girl, who didn't seem to be impressed with his drawing. "What's up? Is it not good enough?"
"No," Hayami replied, who turned out to be the girl. She had let down her hair in civilian form after the first appearance of Ladybug, so she wouldn't be so easily recognized. "It's good." she allowed a smile on her face. "But that bit on Black Cat's bangs are wrong," she pointed at a spot.
Sugaya rechecked the pictures he had used for reference. "You're right. Thanks for telling me." Sugaya erased the spot and redrew it.
Chiba hadn't even realized the mistake. That girl must be really observant.
"It's a pity it can't stay for long," somebody commented.
"Yeah," Sugaya agreed. "Or else I'll be seen as a delinquent. Won't want to get into Class E, after all."
"Hayami-san, I can't believe that you noticed that small mistake. You must be a big fan of Black Cat." a girl said to Hayami.
"Umm, not really." Hayami laughed awkwardly to cover up her crush on the boy. She was the person Black Cat spent the most with in his superhero form, so naturally she would know the most about him. The problem was that she wasn't Ladybug at the moment, she was Hayami, and as far as they were concerned Hayami was just a normal citizen.
Chiba overheard their conversation, and somehow, seeing that girl noticing details about his alter ego, made him happy yet a bit embarrassed. He wasn't used to attention.
At lunch, the girls began to bombard Hayami with requests. Similarly, the boys also asked Chiba for favours.
"Hey, sit with us!" Sugaya poked Chiba's arm.
"Sorry, I work better when I sit alone. No offence." Chiba replied.
"You work when you eat? Life in this school is hard. You should try to relax a little," Sugaya reminded Chiba.
Soon, Chiba noticed that he and Hayami were the only ones who sat alone for lunch. Seemed like the girl was similar to him too.
In Chiba's bag, Plagg had finished munching on a piece of cheese. He poked his head out carefully, and saw Hayami.
Because Tikki and Plagg could sense each other's presence, they knew the true identities of both Ladybug and Black Cat. Plagg flew over to Hayami's bag, where he could sense Tikki.
Tikki widened her eyes when she saw Plagg. Venturing out in the broad daylight and in front of Ladybug! Plagg motioned for Tikki to go out and talk.
Tikki looked at her holder, who was busy trying to do sums while eating. Hoping Hayami wouldn't notice her disappearance, Tikki phased out of the bag.
"Why did you call me?" Tikki asked nervously when she and Plagg found a secret place in a storage room. "Is something wrong?"
Plagg shrugged. "I was bored." he explained.
"Well if we don't have anything to talk about, I should return to my chosen." Tikki said.
"You seem attached to her. You're like that for every holder." Plagg remarked.
"And you're the opposite," Tikki sighed. "Treat your Black Cats with some more gentleness."
Plagg scowled. "I'm not like you, lucky bug. I bring bad luck. Sometimes, my holders just…" Plagg choked a bit. "You know, die. That's why… that's why I can't get too attached to them."
Tikki looked at Plagg with concern. "I understand."
"No, you don't." Plagg replied angrily, a bitter look in his greenish yellow eyes. "Ladybugs protect the place, while Black Cats protect Ladybug. It's natural that my chosens die more."
There was a brief silence.
"Sorry for that just now," said Plagg, showing a bit of emotion. "That wasn't what I thought I would do to get rid of boredom."
"Let's change the topic," Tikki declared. "Are we resuming our usual bet of which one will find out first?"
Plagg smirked. "I think mine will. His hairstyles are vastly different when transformed."
"You're right," Tikki agreed. "Mine looks about the same in both forms. But miraculous magic will prevent it from being too obvious."
"Y'know, my holder doesn't have quality cheese," Plagg complained.
Tikki laughed, knowing Plagg's love of Camembert. "Maybe your standards are too high. And I think we should go back."
"Aww, man." Plagg laid lazily on an upturned bucket. "I was just starting to enjoy myself."
Tikki grabbed Plagg's hand and dragged him out. "Come on!"
Plagg showed a rare grin at the ladybug kwami's actions. Tikki was the only one that could break his sarcastic and seemingly uncaring exterior. After all, they had been paired with each other for centuries and centuries.
No matter what happens, the ladybug and the black cat will always find a way to end up with each other.
"It's the interview," Chiba thought as he sat on his bed, about to transform. "I can get through this," he muttered to himself.
Plagg couldn't have cared more (or at least appeared too). "What are you waiting for? Get your butt out of here!"
The interview took place at the park. It was only for the press, but the public could watch.
When Black Cat arrived, he found lots of fangirls holding up handmade signs with words like "I 3 Black Cat". They yelled loudly when they saw him.
Oh, no. Black Cat thought. He didn't want to disappoint, so he forced himself to wave. The fangirls cheered even louder and some even screamed.
Ladybug swung herself to the park, and the fans of Ladybug cheered, although they were nowhere near to the volume of the cheers on Black Cat's side.
Ladybug was annoyed by Black Cat's fans, and she could see that her partner wasn't comfortable. She walked to him and stood there.
Due to the preparation the two had done for the interview, their interview went smoothly.
"So, if you two aren't together, does that mean you are single?" the person asked.
Ladybug and Black Cat looked at each other while the fangirls and fanboys screamed crazily.
"That's private," Ladybug answered.
"What she said." Black Cat seconded.
"Next, will you receive fan mail?"
"Umm, we are busy since we have double lives, so we are sorry to say that we won't receive fan mail." Black Cat answered.
"There's a popular webpage about you two. It's the Ladyblog. Have you checked it out?"
"We have." the two answered together.
They could hear someone in the middle of the crowd scream, "SENPAI NOTICED MY PAGE!"
After the brief interview, the heroes decided to greet their fans.
Having no idea what to do, Black Cat said awkwardly, "Uh. I'm no good with saying things. B-but thank you for your support!" he bowed.
The fangirls went crazy and starting screaming. Apparently, the boy's cluelessness was adorable.
Meanwhile, Ladybug went to her mostly male fans, and was a bit disgusted by the fact that Okajima was there. They were all very excited and started waving their signs frantically.
"Ladybug! If I cheer for you, will you do your best?" a boy asked.
Ladybug couldn't help but smile at the effect she had over a bunch of people. "I always do my best. But thank you for cheering for me."
"Ladybug! May I have your signature?" another fan asked, holding out a notebook he owned.
"Alright," Ladybug agreed. She and Black Cat had practiced signatures beforehand. She took the offered pen and signed the notebook.
"Wow thanks!" the boy said. He suddenly winked. "Does it mean something special?"
"Don't get the wrong idea." Ladybug said immediately.
All the boys immediately ooohed. "Tsundere!" Okajima screamed, and almost had a nosebleed. That scream was enough to put all the boys there on the same brainwave.
"Tsundere! Tsundere! Tsundere!" the boys chanted. Ladybug turned pink. "I'm not a tsundere!"
That only seemed to make things worse. "Ooooh! It seems like Ladybug is a cute little tsundere!" Okajima grinned.
"Watch who you're calling cute," Ladybug glared at Okajima.
"Tsundere! Tsundere!" the crowd continued in unison.
Ladybug sighed. It seemed there would be no going back. She looked at Black Cat, whose fans were still screaming wildly.
His face was slightly flushed, greenish yellow eyes darting around. When they made eye contact, he gave her a small sheepish smile.
Ladybug felt something warm twist in her stomach, and smiled back automatically.
Afterwards, whenever Ladybug thought of Black Cat's smile, she would feel happy and bubbly all over.
A/N: Wow! Thank you all very much for the favourites and follows! And thank you for the review! I never expected people will read this!
(By the way, the party girl Ladybug rescued was Kanzaki. Sigh, Kanzaki's bad luck with men.)
Please read and review! :D