CHAPTER THREE
"Maybe they are friends? Maybe she decided to visit to thank them for the macarons? Doesn't exactly mean Ladybug is Marinette!" Plagg tried to reason with Adrien. They weren't supposed to figure out each other's identities, and Adrien was on spot with his suspicions of them being the same girl. Adrien eyed up his kwami. The two of them had been kwami and miraculous holder for so long they could read each other like a book. Adrien could tell Plagg was trying to lead him in a different direction and based on the nervous expression on his face, he knew he was right. "Ladybug is Marinette!" Adrien countered. "Ahh fine! Yes she is, but you are not supposed to know this and you know that!" Plagg sighed. He remembered Tikki telling him about Cat Blanc. "Well she doesn't have to know that I know.''Adrien said, smiling lovingly at the thought of how amazing it was that Ladybug was Marinette.
"NO! YOU WILL TELL HER YOU KNOW!" Plagg shouted, taking Adrien by surprise. "Ok." Was all Adrien could say. He honestly wanted to tell her anyway, but assumed he shouldn't for the risk of having his miraculous taken away. Then again, what would that even do to fix things? "It's the right thing to do." Plagg said simply. There was no way he'd let his Cat Noir get akumatized in any timeline. Plagg hoped this wouldn't lead to another disaster, he only wanted Adrien to finally be happy.
Adrien pulled out his phone and scrolled through all his pictures of Ladybug and then some of him and Marinette. He wondered how he never saw it before. They were identical, he simply had to just imagine Ladybug without a mask and he'd totally see Marinette. Plagg read his mind, "Yes you were stupid that you didn't see it sooner." "Hey!" Adrien complained of the insult, but laughed a bit since he had to admit it was true.
Marinette held up a photo of Cat Noir in one hand and Adrien in the other. She narrowed her eyes at the similarities. Tikki tried to come up with anything to distract her, but when Marinette got onto something there was no stopping her. "You aren't supposed to know! Stop trying to figure it out!" Tikki shouted desperately. Nothing was driving Marinette away from the pictures. "You wouldn't be so worried unless I was actually about to figure it out. I'm onto something, aren't I?" Marinette looked at her Kwami, and already knew the answer.
Tikki gave up and zoomed away to her cookie jar. It just seemed to make sense now to Marinette. The way Cat Noir was so familiar with her, his favorite passionfruit macarons, even just the way he had the same eyes and hair. The way he admired her parents the way Adrien did. Nino had even once hinted that Adrien liked Ladybug, well if he were Cat Noir it would make sense. Then there came the doubt. What other solid evidence did she have? What if this was just wishful thinking?
She sighed and dropped the photos. There was no point in stressing herself out about this, but he said he knew her (Marinette) and her family personally. Sure that could be just because of weredad, but there was something in the way he said it that seemed like there had to have been more. That time they played video games for the competition. Adrien had admitted he wished he had parents like hers, and the way Cat Noir looked at her parents was all too familiar. Marinette couldn't think of anyone else who would have such a similar family situation than Adrien. Well maybe Kagami or who knows even Chloe, but she knew Cat Noir was definitely neither.
Her phone buzzed. She turned it on and saw another text from Alya and Nino.
Nino: "Guess what."
Alya: "What?"
Nino: "Adrien is grounded again. Sucks right!"
"Poor Adrien," she thought. Then decided to ask Nino if he knew why.
Marinette: "How come?"
Nino: "Told me on the phone his father was angry that he missed a photoshoot and wasn't home during the akuma attacks."
Nino: "That was before Natalie came in and snatched his phone right during the call. "Your father is keeping your phone." She said. :(
Marinette: "He wasn't home in any of the attacks?"
Nino: "Nope."
Now if this didn't add to the list of things that had Marinette wondering if Adrien was Cat Noir, then what was evidence. A thought popped up in her mind. Cat Noir had visited her by her balcony multiple times, maybe she'd pay Adrien a visit as Ladybug. Besides, nobody likes to be grounded and alone in their room. Especially Adrien didn't deserve such. "Tikki?" Marinette called and Tikki peaked over a cookie. "Yes Marinette?" Marinette called her transformation, "Spots on!"
"When should I tell her?" Adrien wondered out loud. Which only annoyed Plagg who had to spend over an hour listening to Adrien ponder, fantasize, scream of joy, get worried, blush, and then repeat. "Give me a break." Plagg replied before biting a huge chunk out of a wheel of smelly cheese. Adrien didn't even have time to comment on what Plagg said, because just as he looked over he saw Ladybug swing and faceplant into his window. He heard a muffled sound of pain. "OoOoow" Adrien winced. They caught eye contact and Adrien rushed over immediately to let her in and see if she was okay.
"Ladybug? What are you doing here? Are you okay? That looked like it hurt…"Adrien asked, opening the door and helping her in. "Yeah I'm okay…just me being clumsy." Ladybug rubbed her sore face. "I can get you some ice..I have a fridge in here." Adrien offered. Ladybug took the ice he gave her gladly. She let out a little whimper at the cold feeling of the ice. They sat there on his couch for a while feeling awkward. Adrien's wall of windows was much more confusing to get into than her trap door. Ladybug was embarrassed, she came to give him company and someone to talk to. Now she was the one getting the attention thanks to her clumsy entrance.
"So what brings you here?" Adrien asked as soon as Ladybug felt good enough to remove the ice. "Well…" Ladybug wondered what to say. Should she ask him about her suspicions? Should she just keep things simple and give him company?
