Chat Noir had watched as Ladybug became more and more stoic, a pure symbol of heroism. The guardianship that had been thrust upon her had firmed up her resolve, but it had stripped away the childish glee that the young heroes had when they first started. She had grown up too fast, forced into responsibilities well beyond her age.

Ladybug was all business now, and Chat lamented over again not knowing who she was beneath the mask – to see anything beyond the symbol. The mask now covered all imperfections, and it hid her adorable quirks that he had fallen for. She still smiled at his jokes, but he could no longer get under her guard to help her to relax.

When her veneer cracked a little, he reluctantly resolved to speak to her about taking a break to relax, but he shouldn't have been surprised that she was a step ahead of him, as always.

On a normal Thursday night patrol, Chat was waiting impatiently for his lady to arrive. He was anxious about bringing up a subject that she might not want to talk about with him, and he was uncharacteristically pacing to dispel the anxiety.

He turned at the soft thump of feet landing behind him, but he was surprised to find himself face-to-face with the fabled Multi-Mouse instead of his lady.

"What's got your tail twisted, Kitty-Cat?"

He was stunned momentarily, but his smirk came out full force. This was the best version of Marinette, with a completely irresistible charm instead of the shyness she usually treated him to at school. He leaned in cockily and teased, "A problem that you seemed to have solved, Mari-Mouse. Where's Ladybug tonight?"

"She said she needed a break tonight," she answered in a slightly defensive tone.

Chat relaxed fully then. She was taking care of herself, and he was relieved to not have to talk her into it. "Good," he murmured sincerely, but he was at a loss for what to do with Multi-Mouse. "Umm, what did she tell you to do? It's been a while since these patrols were formal. Lately we've been using them as strategy sessions."

"Babysitting!" she called out cheerfully. "Wanna play a game?"

"Babysitting?" he spluttered indignantly.

"Ladybug said to watch your back. What else would you call that?" She leaned into his personal space and blinked her widened eyes flirtatiously. He almost missed the sudden change in her expression as her eyes filled with mischief. She pushed him so he tripped backward flailing while she bounded to the edge of the rooftop. She called over her shoulder, "Tag! You're it."

She stuck her tongue out at him and turned. He watched stunned again as she gracefully launched herself off the roof, like she roof-hopped all the time. It took two rooftops head start before he was up and after her. What kind of a Chat would he be if he refused to chase the Mouse?


It became routine for them to play around together once a week. Multi-Mouse brought back the fun in being a superhero, and it was becoming more and more difficult to separate out his masked persona when Adrien saw Marinette at school every day.

He loved chasing Marinette.

He went too far one day, getting into her personal space to flirt with her like he would as Chat Noir, but she didn't react like Multi-Mouse. She blushed violently, at first looking pleased, but her expressive face moved from pleased to confused to concerned to frantic to resolved too quickly for anyone else to recognize, though he could see it all in brilliant detail since he spent so much time with her lately.

She moved away from Adrien and smiled back warmly. Friendly but guarded. Reserved.

He hated it. He didn't understand it, and her restraint towards him while unmasked irritated him. There shouldn't be a difference!

He tried harder each day to earn her attention as himself, but the harder he tried, the further from reach she seemed to be.

When he couldn't take it anymore, he started writing. As he had on many other nights when thoughts of Ladybug kept him awake, he stayed up until dawn getting the daydreams of Marinette out of his head.

By the time he was finished, he was exhausted. Without even bothering to read over what he had written, he quickly posted the story on his fanfiction account OutoftheBag, taking a second to appreciate his own pun. He felt lighter and was able to finally get restful sleep.


The next day, Adrien felt calmer. His frantic energy dissipated when he finally got some sleep, and he thought he would be able to meet Marinette with composure, or at least resignation.

He didn't realize anything was wrong until Alya and Marinette walked into the classroom together. They were already deep in conversation, like they were most mornings, and Adrien tried not to eavesdrop too closely to their conversation. Until he heard his alter-ego mentioned anyway.

"It has to be Chat Noir's account," Alya said firmly, obviously trying to convince Marinette to agree.

"What makes you think so? He's never mentioned writing fanfiction before," Marinette disputed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Adrien had to interject.

"I think Chat Noir wrote a story about the new elusive hero. The story names her Multi-Mouse and shows off her power in a super cute way. She can break down into a multitude of mini-mice."

"You mean mini-mouse. It's just copies of the first mouse."

Alya laughed at her. "You just wanted to say Minnie Mouse. So, you did read it?"

Marinette shook her head. "The link you sent showed that the story was posted at like 4 this morning. I'm not crazy enough to get up that early. How did you already read it?"

"I AM crazy enough to get up that early, or close anyway. I got the twins ready for my mom then read it over breakfast. That's not the point, Mari. Stop trying to distract me."

Marinette smirked proudly and tried to derail the conversation further, "Point stands. Crazy Ladybug fan sets up alerts for new fanfiction."

Adrien tried to be satisfied with only listening to them talk, and he knew he should let Marinette turn the subject away from her alter-ego. Really he did, but her smirk was irresistible, and he wanted to tease her. "What does the story say about the adorable new hero?"

Marinette blushed lightly, just like he hoped she would, and he smiled broadly.

"Have you seen her? She hasn't been in any of the battles that have happened recently, but I see her out running across the rooftops with Chat sometimes. They never get close enough to get a good picture. It feels like Ladybug told them to stay away from my street."

Marinette looked down guiltily, and Adrien wondered if Ladybug had told her to stay away from Alya's prying eyes. If so, he really shouldn't have published a story about her.

Alya pulled out her phone to show a grainy picture of Multi-Mouse as Chat snuck up behind her. That was a fun night, Adrien remembered blissfully.

"I'm sure she is just trying to be careful. She might be Ladybug's secret weapon," Adrien supplied while watching Marinette's response carefully. She was masking her feelings again.

"Hmm, could be." Alya brightened back up though, "I think Chat has a crush on her!"

Marinette snorted at that. "What makes you think that? Seems really unlikely. He's been in love with Ladybug for years."

"Yeah, which is how I found the account in the first place. He used to write Ladynoir fanfiction, but he stopped a while ago and hasn't posted anything at all in months. The name is Out-of-the-Bag. As in 'Chat's out of the bag'. It's just the sort of dorky pun he would think is hilarious."

Marinette looked worried then. She pulled her bottom lip through her teeth thoughtfully before breathing out, "Yeah, he would," in a defeated tone.

Even though Alya kept talking, Marinette had withdrawn from the conversation. She was out of it most of the day. Every time Adrien looked up at her, she had her phone out reading.

He tried to talk to her after school, but she rushed off as soon as they were released for the day. He stared after her until she was out of sight, hoping that he hadn't just ruined the best thing in his life.