A/N: I'm actually getting my hair done for Prom as I post this XD
Note for this chapter: I'm going with the English dub and Mari started as Ladybug in 10th grade
Prompt: Marinette and Adrien are close friends and one day they they slip up on the names -Lord Mushroom Kat
Enjoy!
Marinette couldn't believe her life right now, somehow in the middle of the school break, she and Adrien had begun to hang out more, and thankfully her stuttering nervous self seemed to subside after a few weeks. Now, she was starting a new school year, Chole wasn't in her class, she had transferred to some fancy private school to be with people of a "finer taste in life and clothes". Everything was looking good, she was close friends with Adrien, Chole was far far away, and even her life as Ladybug had gotten easier, she and Chat Noir had gotten close as a duo and made quick work of the Akumas, they barely used their special powers anymore. Life was good for the young Parisian girl, and she planned on keeping it that way.
When Marinette woke up on the first day of eleventh grade and something was off, she was awake before her alarm and a boy was shouting her name.
She squawked out in shock as she failed in the covers, trying to escape. When she finally managed to get herself untangled, she ended up on the floor of her room, huffing angrily as she finally pieced together what happened: Chat Noir was in her room.
"Ugh! What are you doing waking me up this early?!" She groaned, peering over the edge of her loft to see not her partner, but Adrien, huh. Weird.
Adrien smiled up sheepishly as he held up a cup of coffee and spoke, "your mom thought it would be nice for you to get to school on time so she sent me up when I was walking past."
Adrien set the coffee on her desk and turned to the trap door, "well, I'm in the kitchen with your mom if you need me!" With that he disappeared down the trapdoor in her floor and into the rest of her house.
Marinette shook her head, how had she confused Adrien with Chat Noir? True, they sort of acted the same, but Adrien was very polite and would never flirt the way Chat would. And, his puns weren't every other sentence! And Adrien was cuter! Well, that last one Marinette seemed to flip-flop her decision on, it all depended now. Why had she thought Adrien was Chat? That's ridiculous, she chided herself as she fixed her twin tails and then went about getting ready for school as quick as possible, there was no way she was letting her mom embarrass her more than absolutely necessary.
She grabbed her purse and let Tikki sleepily fly inside, giggling as the Kwami grumbled about mornings, then she grabbed the coffee and slipped downstairs.
In the kitchen, Adrien and Sabine were talking about something in in the oven as she slid up, bumping slightly into Adrien as she did.
"Oh, Marinette, you are actually awake! That's a surprise!" Sabine chuckled as she patted Marinette's head. Marinette rolled her eyes fondly as she sipped her coffee.
"Well, you're just in time, the rolls are finished, go get plates, please."
"Yes, Mama," Marinette nodded handing Adrien her coffee absentmindedly as she turned to grab three plates.
Sabine handed them each a roll on a plate and they sat and ate for awhile until Marinette looked at the clock and decided that they should head out.
The walk was nice, talking about nothing in particular as they laughed. Marinette still had the idea of Adrien being Chat Noir nagging at her mind, she just couldn't shake it.
"Hey Adrien, what do you think of Chat Noir?" She asked suddenly, pointing at the magazine that thankfully had one of the recent Akuma battles plastered to the front of it, some silly tagline on it that she did not care about heading the cover.
"Huh? Why do you ask?" He avoided her gaze, seeming to inspect the magazine stand.
"Well, I'm curious! We never talk about the main talking point for most of our classmates and Paris, and I'd like to know!" She sighed, "you don't have to answer, it's s-stupid..." Marinette kicked mentally kicked herself, she was stuttering again!
"No, no, it's fine Marinette! I don't mind! I think he is purr-fectly amazing, and I have a feline you think the same," Adrien winked as the pun set in, Marinette scoffing disgustedly as he giggled, jogging ahead of the girl to avoid her playful punches, ending up running as she gave into the chase, sprinting the rest of the way to school.
Marinette was distracted all day, every time she tried to talk to Adrien, she kept seeing Chat Noir and it was throwing her off! She should take matters into her own hands, she decided, concocting a plan to get someone to reveal a superhero identity, even it that someone was her!
After school, she found Adrien at his locker, pulling out his fencing gear, he had practice that night and had wanted to get to the gym early for some extra practice. He hadn't noticed Marinette slide over or take a deep breath to steady her rapid heart rate. Oh boy, she was nervous this was a terrible plan that she had just put into action.
"Hey, Chat, we still on for patrol tonight?" She asked, pushing all of her confidence from her Ladybug mind and letting it out through Marinette.
"Uh, I think so? Yeah, that works, LB," he nodded, not even noticing. That is, until he noticed what he was holding and where he was.
Marinette straightened up and gave a small squeak, trying not to full out freak out and draw attention to the two of them. She hopped up and down in place, her eyes wide as she watch Adrien drop his fencing and school gear unceremoniously on the ground as he grabbed for her arms, his eyes wide but the rest of his body seemed relaxed, must be from years of learning to control his emotions.
"Marinette?! Why did you call me Chat Noir?!"
"What?! Why did you RESPOND to Chat Noir?! Are you Chat Noir?!" She whispered hurriedly, searching his eyes, which seemed to give up slightly as he loosed the grip he had on her arms with a nod.
"Guess the Chat's out of the bag, huh?"
"This is no time for puns, we will discuss this later, but you're late for fencing, silly kitty!" She smacked his arm lightly, "see you on patrol, Adrien." She took a step back, and a deep breath, before turning and sprinting away, getting as far from the school as possible in the shortest amount of time.
Adrien was Chat Noir, of course he was, from all that she learned by just hanging out with him, she should've known sooner! She chuckled, stopping her run and skidding to a halt, turning back around and jogging to the school, they didn't have to wait until patrol, she could talk to him after fencing, she'd wait for him, after all, they had kept this secret long enough.
