Francoise Dupont High School had just announced the stupidest thing Marinette had ever heard.
Something so utterly pointless and unexpected, she wouldn't have believed it unless Principal Damocles had just announced it over the PA that morning.
Their school had decided to hold a pun contest, in honour of Chat Noir's heroism.
She was sure that if the leather-clad superhero went to her school, he would undoubtedly win.
"Girl, are you going to enter?" Alya asked, nudging Marinette on the shoulder.
"No way, Al," Her eyes widened. "The only person I know who even uses puns is Chat Noir. There's a reason why no one else does!"
"Well… I may have something that could change your mind about taking part…" Alya's eyes glistened with mischief. "I heard Nino talking to a certain someone… and he's entering!" Marinette squeaked. "You'll be blindfolded anyway with a random partner, so you won't even know who you're talking to!"
"Yeah, Alya… I don't know," Marinette pursed her lips together.
"Just think about it, 'kay?" She smiled. "Nino and I will be entering…" She eyebrow quirked, "As well as Buttercup!" Alya whispered with a grin.
The contest was all Marinette could think about for the rest of the day, and she eventually came to the conclusion that she needed to talk to a certain black cat that night.
"Hello, m'lady, how are you feline on this fine night? 'Cause I'm paw-sitively purrfect!" Chat Noir leaped onto their favourite rooftop, sitting beside a pondering Ladybug.
"Chat, how on earth did you just fit three puns into two paw-ful sentences?"
Chat Noir's eyes widened in shock. "Bugaboo…" He swiped at his eyes dramatically, imitating tears. "Did you just make… a pun?"
"Yes…" She grumbled in defeat and sighed. "Our school's holding a pun contest! And if I want to enter, I really need to brush up on my skills."
"My school's holding the exact same thing," Chat Noir's mouth quirked. "Maybe the whole of Paris is holding one in honour of me,"
Ladybug smiled and rolled her eyes. "Don't go thinking you're too special, kitty. They've got a 'wear spots to school' day coming up in honour of me next month," She giggled.
"Why don't we practise together?" Chat Noir asked, "I'm entering as well, and wouldn't it be a bonus to make cat puns for the contest dedicated to Paris' favourite cat?"
"I guess it could be fun…" Ladybug stood up and placed a hand on her hip. "Show me what you've got, kitty cat!"
He smirked, cleared his throat and began.
"Life without Chat Noir would be a cat-astrophe! Sure, he can be a little purr-tentious at times, but he does paw-sess some great qualities," Chat Noir bowed and gestured to Ladybug.
"I guess he's rather paw-sitive and has a fun purr-spective on life. But you've got to be kitten me with all his puns!" Ladybug winked at him.
They fell into a rhythm, laughing at each other's puns, going back and forth for hours.
"The villains he and Ladybug face aren't even fur-midable opponents! They'll both go down in hiss-tory as Paris' purr-fect superheroes," Chat Noir laughed.
"I'm unbelievably fur-tunate to have such a pun-derful partner like you, Chat," Ladybug said, smiling softly.
"You and me against the world, m'lady, fur-ever," Grinning, Chat Noir held a fist out for Ladybug, which she silently bumped.
When it came to the pun contest, Marinette couldn't have been more nervous.
Sure, she was able to whip out a few cat puns with her crime-fighting best friend and partner, but punning with a stranger blindfolded was vastly difficult to that.
"Mari, you'll be great, I know it! It's just for fun anyway, so go out there, do your best! We'll be rooting for you from the sidelines!" Alya cheered her on right before she was ushered onto the platform, completely blindfolded.
"Uh… hi?" Marinette stumbled slightly, before regaining her composure. She could do this.
"Hello," Her partner spoke confidently. "How are you feline on this fine night? 'Cause I'm paw-sitively purr-fect!"
The gears in Marinette's brain were malfunctioning as she realised he had used the exact same wording of Chat Noir's greeting last night.
It had to be some sort of coincidence- there weren't that many cat puns in the world.
I can just say whatever I did last night with Chat Noir, right? Whoever this guy is, he won't know any different.
She cleared her throat and countered with, "How on earth did you just fit three puns into two paw-ful sentences?"
Unbeknown to her, her blindfolded partner stuttered a bit, slightly in shock from her phrasing.
"L-life without Chat Noir would be a cat-astrophe! Sure, he can be a little purr-tentious at times, but he does paw-sess some great qualities,"
Marinette's heart started to race. Deciding to test her theory, she continued to follow her mental script.
"I guess he's rather paw-sitive and has a fun purr-spective on life. But you've got to be kitten me with all his puns!" The audience and panel chuckled a little at that, unaware of Marinette's inner turmoil.
"The villains he and Ladybug face aren't even fur-midable opponents…" Her partner's voice trailed off, resembling something like shock. "They'll both go down in hiss-tory as Paris' purr-fect superheroes,"
"You seem a little fur-miliar. I'm unbelievably fur-tunate to have such a pun-derful partner," Marinette said, overcome with the realisation of who she was speaking to.
"You and me against the world, m'lady, fur-ever," He said in the softest voice possible, but just loudly enough for Marinette to hear.
Overcome with emotion, she pulled off her blindfold, leaving it to lay limp on the floor, and ran off the platform, leaving a stuttering boy in shock.
"Marinette!" Alya called worriedly, "Marinette!"
The blue-haired girl turned around to find her best friend.
"What happened? You and Adrien did so well out there!"
Marinette's brain stopped working, her eyes widening with even more shock. "W-what did you just say?"
"You and Adrien did really well out there?"
Breathing shakily, Marinette turned to flee, running to the girls' bathroom where she transformed into Ladybug and swung to her and Chat's favourite rooftop.
Upon arriving there, she found Chat Noir sitting on the edge of the roof.
"M'lady," Chat's eyes were staring towards the horizon as he held out her abandoned blindfold. "It was you, wasn't it?"
"Chaton," Ladybug smiled, her eyes filled with tears. "This was the most unexpected way for our identities to be revealed," She chuckled slightly. "I know who you are, minou,"
"Ladybug, how?" Chat Noir asked, clutching the blindfold tightly.
"Because it's me, Adrien…" Ladybug's transformation was dropped as she uttered three words, "Tikki, spots off,"
Chat Noir dropped the piece of fabric as he found Marinette standing before him, eyes downcast. "Adrien, this isn't how I wanted this to g-"
"Marinette," He crushed her in a tight hug as he detransformed.
"Adrien," She spoke softly, melting into his embrace.
"This is exactly what I wished for, m'lady. An absolutely pun-derful reveal."
