A/N: (sniffs pathetically) Well…I didn't expect to wake up to more favorites/followers/reviews T_T Thank you everyone who read my one shots till now and actually liked them, I always have that nagging voice in my head that I may be writing them as too OOC. .

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:

Starlin's Ghost: Hi there, thank you so much for reading this short collection! ^.^Aw, thank you for the sweet compliments haha I thought I wrote them too OOC in this chapter! Eheh, to be honest, I only noticed the cliffhangers now after I read your review . Sorry about that, I have a knack for (unintentionally) writing cliffies :D haha And to be even more honest, I was actually toying with the idea to continue chapter 5, but I would leave it as it is until more readers think I should continue it :3 (sighs) Yup, I know exactly what you mean, 2 people, 4 ships, never had that one before haha Marichat has that magnetic pull that I can't get out of, I can't explain it lol ^^ There's just something about sweet, sassy Marinette being with daring, flirty Chat Noir ;)

Marichat4Life: (bows) Ahh, thank you! I thought it would suck since you said during an akuma attack . But really, it's no problem if I write another one shot (this time) Marinette getting hurt by an akuma! :) Honestly, thank you so much for the kind compliments, I feel flattered. And yes, I saw all of the episodes of Season 2 and I'll wait for a bit until they're up on the internet for a bit longer before writing anything about them because spoilers. ;)

Prompt: Chat Noir carries his unconscious princess back home after an akuma attack!

Rated: K+ (ready for Marichat FLUFF)

Enjoy! ;)

Back to You

Chat Noir sighed, carefully balancing his movements and jumps with his baton and the precious cargo in his arms as he navigated through Paris, straight towards a familiar bakery he frequented often lately.

Marinette seemed sound asleep in his arms but Chat's nerves were on edge.

An akuma had terrorized the citizens of Paris, but even though Ladybug managed to purify it and turn everything back to normal, she had vanished so suddenly he didn't even get a chance to ask her if she was alright.

Not even ten minutes after he himself planned to go home, he found Marinette, behind a thick wall near a park, unconscious on the ground.

He had tried not to think of the bruises, bruises on the same places his lady had gotten hit while fighting the akuma earlier. Maybe it had been pure coincidence, maybe the akuma had been playing a bad joke or maybe Chat Noir started losing his mind.

Whatever it was, he couldn't just leave the girl there. He still had time until he detransformed, so the best course of action was to bring her home quickly.

The weight against him felt comforting in some way, her head nestled against his shoulder and he pulled her just a bit closer, feeling a wave of protectiveness wash over him. He could just kick himself. How didn't he notice her? How didn't he check up on possible injured akuma victims earlier? The Lucky Charm should have repaired any and all damages done by the akuma, he didn't understand how Marinette remained injured.

Whatever the case, he swore to himself, ever since the Evillustrator incident, that he would keep a closer eye on her, whether she wanted it or not.

He felt stirring against his chest, but when he looked down, Marinette's eyes squeezed shut, brows drew together, her hand curling against his chest and Chat's ears lowered when he recognized the expression, it was one of worry. He pulled her even closer to his body, so her head was safely tucked into the crook of his neck.

Slowing to a brief stop, Chat Noir brushed her bangs away from her face and ran a clawed finger carefully over the smooth skin of her cheek, "Marinette," his grip around her tightened and he resumed his hold around her, his pace speeding up.

The bakery was already in view and instead of jumping up to her balcony, Chat Noir bypassed a stunned old woman on his way into the bakery shop, ignoring the surprised gasp and the admittedly sweet-smelling delicacies baked in the kitchen.

Sabine and Tom quite nearly dropped everything in order to rush towards the leather-clad superhero and Chat Noir braced himself for the questions.

"Chat Noir! What-what happened to Marinette?" Sabine's eyes were full of worry, solely directed at her unconscious daughter.

Tom's own worry seeped into his voice, "Is she badly injured?"

Chat Noir cleared his throat, "Marinette fell unconscious after the akuma attack, I'm sorry, sir, ma'am, but I…I was too late to protect her," his ears flattened against his head, "It was my fault Marinette got hurt and I'm ready to face the consequences however you see fit,"

Tom and Sabine shared a look with each-other and Tom's large hand fell heavily on Chat Noir's shoulder, the cat themed superhero looked up at Tom's intimidating size, but the man smiled kindly, "Thank you for keeping her safe, Chat Noir. I'm sure you did your best trying to protect our little Marinette,"

Sabine nodded, smiling kindly at the stunned hero, "We always see you fighting akumas and trying to protect everyone, we understand you can't protect everyone," her face saddened as she looked at her unconscious daughter, "And…our Marinette is known to get into trouble," she shook her head, brushing away her daughter's hair.

Tom cleared his throat suddenly and Chat Noir looked at him like a deer caught in headlights, until he noticed his death grip around Marinette didn't relent. Embarrassingly, he carefully placed her in her father's awaiting arms, watching how her parents fawned on her worriedly and assessed her condition.

He was about to turn away and leave the little family, until Sabine suddenly said, "Are you injured, Chat Noir?" he froze, slowly turning to regard the parents of his friend and classmate.

Their worried gazes were now directed at him, he must look worse than he thought, "No, no, I'm fine, thank you," he bowed, "Please take care of Marinette and…" he hesitated, swallowing thickly, "…tell her I'm sorry,"

Sabine stopped him again with a hand on his shoulder, "Wait, young man," he blinked at her maternal tone, the Chinese woman quickly rushing behind the counter and retrieving a box.

When the box came close to him, Chat Noir smelled croissants and all sorts of baked goods, "Please take this as a token of our gratitude for saving our daughter," she smiled gently, eyeing his form critically, "You should eat more, you're still growing." She patted his shoulder in a motherly gesture, and it made Adrien's heart ache.

Hesitantly accepting the box of baked goods, Chat Noir bowed deeply at the waist, his ears flat, "Thank you very much,"

He rushed outside before his emotions got the better of him.

He knew Marinette would be alright with her parents there, but he couldn't stop the nagging little voice at the back of his head, which suspiciously sounded like his own, that convinced him to transform into Chat Noir again later that day to check up on her.

Landing with all the gracefulness of a cat on her balcony, Chat Noir made his way slowly to the little hatch door, looking into it. He couldn't see much, so he balanced on the small roof next to it and lowered himself upside down to her window.

Now it offered him a clearer view and he could see Marinette covered by blankets, sleeping.

He sighed in relief, allowing the open emotions to play on his face in the form of a warm smile.

He froze when he heard a high-pitched scream and looked back at Marinette, sound asleep, before running toward the iron railing of her balcony, looking at the street. Nobody else seemed alerted, people weren't running around in a frenzy or panic and there seemed to be no akuma.

Slowly moving away from the railing, Chat Noir sighed, shrugging. Must have been a little girl.

Resisting the urge to knock on her window, Chat Noir extended his baton and made his way back home.

He could visit Marinette again after school and see her during school as Adrien.

Everything would be alright.

The minute Marinette had walked into the classroom, everyone quietened down.

She was still feeling sleepy, partly exhausted from yesterday's events. The lucky charm should usually cleanse and repair everything the akuma did, but it seemed like she had underestimated her own enemies as she soon destransformed and collapsed somewhere.

When she had woken up, she was at home, her mom and dad doting on her and rushing through the house to shove cookies, milk and aspirin into her face.

She wished she had taken them up on the offer of food, at least then she would have stalled a little longer and avoided answering questions concerning a certain superhero.

She hadn't even known who brought her home, but when her mother looked at her with a knowing, far too mischievous look in her eyes, Marinette knew she had been doomed, "You know, next time you meet Chat Noir, you might want to invite him over for dinner, the boy looks far too skinny for his age. And he needs the strength to fight akumas alongside Ladybug, he would need all the help he can get, right?" she had winked at her and Marinette felt ready for the ground to swallow her up when her father intervened.

"I don't know about that sweetie, isn't it a little too early for dinner? I doubt he even properly took her out on a cup of coffee or dinner or something," her mother had rolled her eyes at her protective husband.

"Oh Tom, I think Marinette is old enough to know if she wants us to meet her boyfriend or not. I wished we had a little more time to get to know him before his superhero duties get in the way," her mother had sighed in disappointment, completely ignoring her stuttering, blushing daughter.

"Mom! Dad! It's not like that at all! Chat Noir is just a friend!"

"Oh, we know honey, we know,"

"Mom!"

Needless to say that conversation was one Marinette could have well avoided.

She slid onto her seat next to Alya, slumping on the desk and resting her head on it, sighing heavily.

"Is there something you want to tell me Marinette?" Alya's voice sounded far too low, she knew that tone.

Marinette's head shot up, looking at her quizzically until Alya practically shoved her phone at her face.

Marinette's cheeks blazed a burning red at what she saw.

Chat Noir, carrying her in his arms through Paris' rooftops and through the streets.

One shot in particular captured a stunned old woman, looking at the pair incredulously as Chat Noir went inside a building.

The building was the bakery shop of her parents.

She screamed.

"WHAT?! CHAT NOIR?! HOW CAN THIS BE?!" she clawed at her hair desperately.

"Hey Marinette, I saw you had a rendezvous with Chat Noir yesterday," Kim grinned suddenly from ear to ear, "Is it true that you guys have something going on?"

Juleka and Rose stared at their friend, Rose in particular looking bubbly and excited, "Marinette! You're in love with Chat Noir?! How comes you didn't tell us anything?" she jumped at the startled bluenette, hugging her tightly, "But what happened to your crush for Adr-"

"Shh Rose, shhh!" Marinette quickly clamped her hand over Rose's moving lips, confusing the oblivious girl when Juleka rolled her eyes playfully and smiled.

"Well, I think you've got some explaining to do, Marinette," for once, the quiet girl let a small smirk stretch over her lips.

Marinette was at a loss of words, internally cursing Chat Noir to oblivion.

"Yeah, I mean, who knew our sweet and shy Marinette could have a secret relationship with Chat Noir?" Mylene looked excited, smiling brightly. Poor Nathaniel apparently heard her, for her sunk even further in on himself, with Kim roughly patting his shoulder to console the smaller boy.

Marinette flailed with her arms wildly, her face a dark pink, "N-no, w-wait you got it all wrong!" Alix suddenly swung her arm around Marinette with a devilish grin.

"Do we? But it looked like he kissed on one of the pictures! Are you sure there's some romance going on, Mari?" she giggled, smiling broadly at Marinette's flabbergasted expression.

Alya giggled and despite wanting to desperately know the truth for herself, comfortingly placed her arm around her friend's shoulders and regarded their friends, "Alright girls, I think poor Marinette will have a meltdown if we tease her anymore, we can ask her for details later," Alya winked, promising no good as the girls eagerly dispersed with matching smiles.

Marinette groaned, slapping her hand against her face, "Alya! I-I can't tell you anything about Chat Noir because there is nothing to tell!"

Alya crossed her arms, "Then what about the pictures, hm? After all, a picture says more than a thousand words," she lifted her finger, sharing a smirk with Nino over her shoulder.

Marinette groaned, "It's true, he did save me a couple of times, but we aren't a couple! You have to believe me! Chat Noir was…just there when I was in danger and he's my good friend," she sounded sincere and Adrien listened intently to every word she said, feeling weird emotions stirring within him.

She likes Chat Noir? She thinks of him as a good friend?

Adrien coughed into his hand, watching Nino have a large smile on his face as he watched the exchange between the two girls.

Adrien knew who had sent that photo to their class group, it had been Nino.

Adrien frowned suspiciously at his friend, "What is going on here? Are you tailing Chat Noir?"

Nino stared at his friend, "Dude, did you just…pun?" he shook his head, "I swear Adrien, you're starting to get bad with these puns again," he sighed, "W-well, I don't know what you mean…I'm not tailing anyone," he whistled innocently and Adrien narrowed his eyes.

"Adrien, your Chat Noir is showing again," Plagg snickered from the inside of his jacket and Adrien roughly patted his chest in order to silence him.

"How comes you get all these cool snaps of him?" Adrien tried to behave as casual as possible.

Nino rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm…just in the area, I guess," he shrugged but a relentless look from his best friend broke his defenses as he threw a cautious glance over his shoulder at Alya, "Alright, alright dude listen. You have to be quiet or Alya will kill me!" Adrien rose an eyebrow, "Look, Alya persuaded me to follow Chat Noir around whenever I see him and take photos of him together with Marinette!"

Adrien's eyes widened, and he quickly grabbed his best friend's shoulders, "What?! But I-I mean I'm sure Chat Noir didn't notice anything since he would have surely, uh, said something to you right?" he chuckled nervously, a low hiss in his jacket making him feel embarrassed.

Nino blinked, staring weirdly at his friend, "Dud what got you so nervous? Well, anyway, I don't think he noticed me at all, must have been too busy with Marinette and saving Paris with Ladybug to notice," he smirked, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially into Adrien's ear, "But dude, you think he has something going on with Marinette? I mean, I saw it with my own eyes after seeing them that one time on her balcony,"

Adrien frowned, his own emotions in chaos.

"Nino is right, what is this that I or Chat Noir have with Marinette? I mean, I love Ladybug but every time I think of her, Marinette appears in my mind and she reminds me more and more of her… Besides, it's not like I don't like spending time with Marinette, she's so carefree and herself when with Chat Noir but so nervous around Adrien…" Adrien sighed heavily, looking as troubled as he felt as Nino placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Dude, you alright man? You look troubled, what's eating at you?" Nino smiled reassuringly when Adrien look at him and the blond sighed.

"Nothing, I…I guess it's hard to imagine Marinette with a guy when she's so nervous here in school," he chuckled nervously.

Nino deadpanned, "You mean so nervous around you?" he smirked, "Oh, is someone jealous?"

Adrien's eyes widened, "No, no, no of course not!" even to him, those were too many no's, "I mean, Marinette is just a very good friend," he smiled, trying to keep his cool, trying to let Chat Noir's bravado creep into his civilian life.

It seemed Nino was convinced, for now, "Fine…whatever you say dude," he smirked, laughing quietly.

He would need to be more careful as Chat Noir in the future, especially when visiting Marinette.

He felt a strange wave of satisfaction and embarrassment wash over him when Marinette turned into a stuttering, blushing mess when Alya insinuated…something explicit going on with Chat Noir's apparent nightly visits to her house.

Adrien chuckled, he couldn't hide the Chat-like grin from stretching on his lips.

Really, he couldn't.

Done for now! Suggestions are always appreciated and if anyone is interested, I'm searching for artists for some of my stories, including this one! Thanks for reading! :)