Ok, so basically, Adrien and Marinette have known since the previous night, when Marinette finally agreed to reveal their identities. No one else knows, just them. And their kwami's of course. Tikki and Plagg act so much like Ladybug and Cat Noir, it's not even funny. Sugercube, Bugaboo, I mean, come on!
Marinette Dupein-Cheng was tired. She and Cat Noir, aka Adrien Agreste, had been up for most of the night, fighting a really difficult akuma. On top of that, she and Cat Noir-or should I say Adrien Agreste-now knew their secret identities. It was a long night.
Marinette ran around her room, grabbing her stuff for school. Tikki, her kwami, was munching on a macaron. "Come on Marinette, you're gonna be late to school!" Tikki said in her high-pitched voice as she finished off the cookie.
"I know! Tikki, in the bag!" Marinette ran downstairs, kissed her parents goodbye, and ran to Collège Françoise Dupont, her school. She grimaced in disgust as she took in the picture. Alya and Nino were standing with her partner, who currently had one Chloe Bourgeois hanging off his shoulder.
Alya spotted her as she ran towards them, panting and out of breath. "Hey girl!" she called cheerfully. "Hey Alya, Nino. hi Chloe," she said reluctantly. "Hey Kitty," she greeted Adrien, who shoved Chloe off his shoulder.
"Morning Puurincess," he replied, oblivious to the gobsmacked looks everyone was giving them. Or, just flat out ignoring them. "Sleep well?" he asked, putting on a look of total innocence. Marinette just rolled her eyes.
"You know as well as I do that I barely slept a wink last night Agreste. And for the last time, stop with the puns!"
Ooh, someone's feline feisty today," teased Adrien with a wink as they walked into the classroom. Marinnette, who was about to sit down, swiveled around to face Adrien with a sickly sweet face.
"Uh-oh," murmured Alya under her breath as she sat down behind Nino.
"Listen cat, I'm tired and have heard enough puns from you. So if you make one, just one more pun, I swear to camembert that I will punch your face in so hard, you won't be able to even think of any more puns." Everyone gasped, looking at the normally sweet, mostly shy girl around Adrien, standing in front of said boy, threatening him, calling him cat, for some weird reason, and Adrien just made a cat pun!? What the hell!? Also, what was this about camembert?
Adrien narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare," he said in a dangerous tone.
Marinette smirked. "Try me, if you're brave enough," she taunted.
"Burn!" came a shout from the back.
"Kim!" multiple people yelled at him.
"Fine, fine," surrendered Adrien. But then he leaned towards her and whispered something only she could hear. "But expect lots more puns on patrol tonight." Marinette just groaned, and put her head on the desk.
"Alright class," said their teacher, Ms. Bustier, "sit down. It's time to start the lesson."
As she went on to teach whatever they were learning, Alya leaned over to Marinette. "Girl, what was up with the cat stuff with Adrien? And speaking of which, since when do you talk to him without blushing?" she whisper-screamed the last part. "Also, the threats? What was up with that? And when did he start calling you Princess? And when did Adrien freaking Agreste start making cat puns?!"
Marinette sighed. "Adrien has been making puns for a while, you're just never around to hear them. The cat and Princess stuff is an inside joke, I told him yesterday, and as for the threats? Well, that's a long story. One that I am not explaining."
Alya nodded, content with the information she got. Meanwhile, Nino was asking Adrien the same thing. "Dude. Princess? Kitty? Puns!?" Nino asked, incredulous.
Adrien rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, um, kind of an inside joke between me and Marinette. And the puns, well, they've been going on for a while now, you just haven't heard any yet." Nino shrugged, accepting it, then turned back to the lesson. However, shortly before lunch, everyone's phones rang. They each pulled them out, revealing Nadja Chamak reporting on the latest akuma attack.
"And once more, Hawkmoth strikes, aiming to get our city's superheroes miraculouses. However, our favorite heroes have yet to show up. This akuma victim seems to shoot numbers from a supersized ruler in her hand. This akumas special power seems to be trapping civilions in a math cube. Ladybug, Cat Noir, we're counting on you!"
Marinette fidgeted. She couldn't transform with this many people around! Not if she wanted to keep her secret. Adrien was having similar thoughts. He raised his hand and politely asked to go to the bathroom, however Ms. Bustier said no, that he should stay in here so he doesn't get hurt. Marinette and Adrien gave similar groans at this. Now they couldn't get away to transform! They needed to get to that akuma somehow. But it turns out, they didn't have to.
Number Queen (if Hawkmoth can be shitty with names, I can too) crashed through the window, clearly aiming for their class. Everyone, including the teacher, screamed in fright and surprise. "Chloe! Now who's the best at math, huh?" Everyone glared at Chloe for causing yet another akuma. "What? How is this my fault?" she demanded. Everyone rolled their eyes. The akuma, angry for being ignored, smirked. She had a plan, and none of them were going to like it.
Number Queen thrust her ruler towards the closest person to her, which was Marinette, and a box of numbers surrounded her. Everyone was horrified at seeing their everyday Ladybug (oh, you poor, poor, souls) trapped inside a number cube, which was shrinking with every minute passing. "If you don't come with me Chloe Bourgeois then I'll crush your pathetic little friend right in front of you! And there's no Ladybug here to save you!" she sneered.
Chloe huffed. "Do whatever you want. Dupain-Cheng isn't my friend."
"Chloe!" everyone screamed.
Marinette, however, smirked. "Oh, no! Ladybug, wherever you are, please, save me!" she cried dramatically, putting her hand to her forehead like a damsel in distress for special effect.
Everyone was surprised and confused, especially when they saw her smirk widen.
"No Ladybug, huh? Well what do you say to this!" she opened her purse and Tikki came flying out of it. "Tikki, spots on!" right before their very eyes, Marinette Dupain-Cheng transformed into Ladybug! She grabbed her yoyo, swung it hard, and freed herself. Then glancing back at her cowering classmates, she asked a question that made no sense whatsoever. At least, to everyone but one Adrien Agreste.
"Well, Kitty? You gonna leave me to fight this maniac all by myself? And I thought you were supposed to be a gentleman."
Adrien put his hand to his heart, confusing everyone all the more. "Me-ouch M'lady! That hurts!" He then pretended to think, tapping his finger against his chin. "But your right, I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I left you to fight alone! Plagg, claws out!"
As the green light died down, leaving one Cat Noir in Adrien's place, everyone was gobsmacked. "Shall we, M'lady?"
Ladybug grinned. "Don't mind if we do!" she replied. "Lucky charm!" she shouted, throwing her yoyo up into the air. A ruler dropped into her hands. Ladybug's eyes widened. She quickly ran forward, and slapped Number Queen's ruler out of her hands with her own. "Cat!" she shouted, throwing it to Cat Noir.
"Cataclysm!" he shouted, destroying the ruler. The akuma fluttered out of it, but Ladybug caught it before it could escape.
"No more evildoing for you little akuma. Time to de-evilize! Gotcha! Bye-bye little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!" she yelled, throwing her lucky charm into the air, effectively returning everything back to normal.
"Pound it!" Ladybug and Cat Noir did their signature fist bump.
The evil energy bubbled around Number Queen, leaving a blond-haired girl with chocolate brown eyes in her place. She sat up, rubbing her head, and looked around. "W-what am I doing here?" She gasped. "Oh no. Was I akumatized?"
Cat Noir took her elbow and helped her stand up. "It's okay, let's get you home."
After he had leapt out the window, everyone was left staring at Ladybug. She sighed, knowing what was coming next, and turned to the class. "Alya, this is off the air, right?"she pleaded. Alya looked conflicted. On one hand, her best friend was Ladybug! She needed to post this! On the other hand, her best friend was Ladybug. She had to have had a good reason for not telling them. She nodded, albeit reluctantly.
Ladybug let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Alya. Tikki, spots off!" a pink flash lit up the room, and when it faded, the ladybug costume was gone, leaving a relieved Marinette and a hungry kwami.
Everyone stared in shock at the floating red creature, even more so as it opened its mouth to talk. "Marinette, can I have a cookie now?" Marinette nodded, rummaging through her bag. "Of course Tikki! Here you go," she said, handing the cookie to the kwami. Just then, Cat Noir leapt into the room. He bowed, took Marinette's hand, and kissed it. Marinette just rolled her eyes and sighed, mumbling something about stupid cats, and grinned. "The girl okay?" she asked. Cat Noir nodded. "As usual, a job well done M'lady!"
Tikki floated over to Cat Noir. "Can I see Plagg now?" she asked in her squeaky voice. Cat Noir grinned, and nodded. "Claws in!" the green energy faded away, leaving Adrien and Plagg in place of Cat Noir. "Can I have camembert now?" whined the black cat. Adrien chuckled, and drew a piece of cheese from his shirt. "Here you go Plagg," he said, offering it to the destruction kwami. Said kwami grabbed it and threw it in his mouth, devouring it in seconds flat.
Tikki, who was done with her cookie by now, floated over. "Plagg, stop being such a glutton!" she reprimanded.
"No can do Sugarcube! Camembert just calls to me! Who am I to deny it?"
Tikki groaned. "Plagg, how many times have I told you, stop calling me Sugercube!"
Plagg just winked, and their chosen sweatdropped. The class was staring in utter shock, until Chloe stood up and screamed.
"NO WAY! DUPAIN-CHENG CANNOT BE LADYBUG!
At this outburst the whole class erupted with questions and demands.
"How long have you been superheroes?"
"What are those floaty things?"
"Ladybug and Cat Noir are both in our class!"
"I call them for gym!"
"What's it like to save the city?"
Adrien and Marinette glanced at each other. They knew they'd have to answer the barrage of questions thrown their way. Luckily, Ms. Bustier stood up and calmed everyone down. "Now, I'm sure you all have a lot of questions." Almost everyone in the room nodded, bursting with excitement at the fact that both of Paris's superheroes were in their class. "Okay, raise your hand if you want to ask them something." she looked around the room, her eyes landing on Alya. "yes, Alya?"
"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked.
Marinette took a deep breath. "Well, first off, Adrien and I didn't even know who the other was until last night. Second, we couldn't. Our kwami's told us not to, but I guess that's changed now," she said, glancing at Tikki. "Also, we didn't tell you for your own protection. If Hawkmoth found out who we were, he could've targeted you. He still can."
Adrien smiled softly at his lady. "But he won't."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because. We will beat him. Together. You and me against the world, remember?"
The girls swooned at this. It was so cute!
Marinette batted his arm and smiled. "Thanks minou."
Ms. Bustier smiled at the scene, then called on Kim.
"What are those things floating next to you?"
Tikki 'stepped' forwards. "I'm Tikki, Marinette's kwami! I help her transform into Ladybug."
"And I'm Plagg, the kwami of destruction. I help Adrien turn into Cat Noir. And I get camembert!"
"You have too much cheese. Remember what happened to Atlantis?" Tikki said.
"That wasn't my fault!" Plagg protested.
"Uh-huh, sure," mumbled Adrien. Marinette bopped him on the nose.
The next question was Alix. "is this why you guys always make those pathetic excuses?" she asked.
Marinette nodded. "Sorry for blowing you guys off so much, but duty calls!"
"What's it like to be superheroes?" That was Rose.
"Well," Adrien started, "it's exhausting, but that's okay, because M'lady is always there to wake me up! It's also kind of fun, because with the powers that the suit gives me, I can sneak out for patrol, and of course to visit my princess." He winked at Marinette.
"You only visit because you want pastries!" Marinette said.
"Well, that might be a part of it, but it was fun hanging out with you. Especially now that I know you're M'lady."
The girls swooned again.
Just then, Alya gasped. "Wait, this means you were right about Lila! She claimed to be best friends with Ladybug, but since you're Ladybug, and you hate her, she was lying!"
Marinette sighed in relief. "Finally! Lila is a sneaky little liar. Also, remember when you told me to 'check my sources'? Well, I have Jagged Stone's number, so I can call him to see if he had a kitten, she never had any of the proper papers to prove she had those illnesses, and when did she actually give you proof for that interview she gave you? Also, great job on making a whole new seating arrangement without even talking to the class rep. So maybe you should actually be a good journalist, and check your sources."
Everyone looked in shock as Marinette chewed out her best friend. She would have continued, but Adrien laid a hand on her arm and calmed her down. "I think that's enough questions for now," he said, looking at the teacher for confirmation, who nodded. "Let's sit down. Oh, and everyone here is sworn to secrecy for what they just heard."
Marinette nodded, and slid into her seat next to Alya. "Sorry I went off on you like that," she murmured to Alya. The ladyblogger shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. You were right. I should have checked to see if she was telling the truth. Forgive me?"
Marinette smiled. "Always."
Later that night, Ladybug and Cat Noir met up on Ladybug's balcony.
"Spots off." "Claws in."
Marinette and Adrien went into Marinette's room. "Well, that went better than I thought it would," Adrien said. Marinette sighed. "Yeah, but I shouldn't have snapped at Alya like that," she replied.
"Maybe you shouldn't have, but at least this way Lila won't lie anymore," Adrien said, trying to make her feel better. Marinette thought about it, and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she said. "Did you ever get the full story about the akuma?" she asked after a minute. Adrien sat down on her bed next to her while the kwamis floated off to talk.
"Yeah. Apparently she was a tutor for Chloe to help her in math, but Chloe insulted her by saying that she was the worst math tutor in the world and that Chloe was so much better than her, so she got really mad and became akumatized, and well, you know the rest," he finished.
Marinette groaned. "Chloe has caused so many akumas! Why do we help her again?"
"Because, it's our job," Adrien said.
"But didn't she make you do her homework once?" Marinette asked.
Adrien rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, that was a mistake," he admitted. "But it won't happen again," he declared. Marinette giggled.
"Marinette!" called Sabine.
"Yes Maman?" Marinette called back.
"Alya and Nino are here to see you!"
"Send them up!"
Marinette and Adrien heard climbing when the trapdoor to Marinette's room popped open and Nino and Alya clambered in.
"Dude! You're Cat Noir!" Nino exclaimed.
"Yeah, I am," answered Adrien. Plagg came down from where he and Tikk were having their own conversation. "Adrien!" he whined. "I need camembert!" Tikki rolled her eyes. "You don't need camembert, you want it!" she said. "Yeah, well, I still need it!" Tikki rolled her eyes.
Marinette smiled and stood up. "I'll get some cheese bread Plagg," she said.
"Not as good as camembert, but thanks Bug!"
THE END