Megacon was AWESOME! I spied a few Ladybugs and Chat Noirs too! It did my heart good to see them. Whew… Sorry about the late post though it was a busy four days and it was my friends birthday. But now I am back and this chapter is extra long! Also Virtual Reality is real and is amazing to play in. In other news… I have officially recorded all but two of my Miraculous Ladybug Stories that I have posted here in Cats Closet. So sometime soon you will be able to listen to me reading them! The longer stories are all 1hr+ while the one shots range from 10-30min. Let me know if you guys are interested and I'll keep you posted!
Avatar NIX... It gets better and no tragedy in this one so hold on tight!
silverheartlugia2000... I have seen that theory too!
Q-A the Authoress... LOL Glad you caught that! I head the song on the radio as I was writing that part and it just felt like fate.
Kuroyuki no Ryu... Thank you! Also I don't know if Akuma are something he would know about. I mean we hear about news from all over the world all the time but depending on where you are from the facts get twisted and stuff. Like once when I was in japan and a news report was talking about giant killer lizards running around the everglades. Turns out they were talking about Alligators.
NitenGale... It was my friends fault! They wanted something tragic and that popped out! Also yes I was having a bad week when I wrote that.
Between akuma attacks and the stresses of everyday life Chat starts to see who the real person is behind a girl named Marinette.
I own nothing... Except my imagination.
The Cats Shield (Part 2)
(Monday)
Marinette went stiff and turned back to face the man her hands balling up in preparation of another beat down. It was then that Chat noticed the scrapes on her knuckles and a kind of cold fury washed through him. He fought crazy akumasized people almost on a daily basis these days and he as well as Ladybug got hurt all the time. It was hard to stomach seeing Ladybug get hurt but he had accepted long ago that it was simply a hazard of the job they did. All he could do is protect her from the worst attacks or the attacks she didn't see coming. However he knew that those people, no matter the damage and pain they inflicted they were never really in control. Plus he could see the horror on the peoples faces once they were de-akumasized and they witnessed the anguish they wrought. Those people were never to blame but this man in this alley, he was in control and that really pissed Chat off. Taking a deep breath so he wouldn't attack straight out Chat slinked around Marinette, pulled his baton out, and got into what could only be described as a hunting stance. The man took a single unsteady step forward then froze as Chat let out a snarl that even had the hairs on Marinettes neck standing up.
"You know who I am." Chat growled his voice low and menacing. "You see how well I deal with monsters do you really think I will have any trouble dealing with you?"
The man paled, slowly raising his hands as his partner came around with a groan. Close by Chat could hear the tell tail sound of sirens and could also make out the still frantic woman's voice as she led the police to their position. Figuring Marinette really didn't want to be filling out any kind of police report Chat glanced back to see her bag in hand watching the alley entrance looking more than a little nervous. He was a little surprised since he hadn't even heard her move and mentally he chalked up yet another thing he hadn't known about Marinette, once more wishing to get to know her better.
"Stay here. If you try and leave I will stop you and lets just say that humans are far more breakable than akuma." Chat snarled pointing his staff at the mugger making the man flinch then lower himself to the ground. Clearly this mugger wasn't as dumb as he looked and didn't feel the need to test how bad his luck could get that night.
"Chat, I think you have scared him enough." Marinette whispered a touch of worry in her tone as her hand came to rest on his shoulder.
Rising from his crouch and still keeping one eye on the men before him Chat glanced at Marinette hoping he hadn't scared her. Marinette didn't look scared she simply looked worried about him of all things. A small grin flickered across his lips and he slipped an arm around her waist.
"Hang on princess." He whispered then elongated his staff sending them straight up to roof level and eliciting a squeak from her. Setting her down as gently as possible he made sure she was in a safe flat spot on the rooftop then slunk back to the edge of the roof to make sure the men didn't try to run. They didn't even try, especially when the one guy looked up only to find Chats very green glowing eyes shining down out of the darkness. The cops finally arrived, handcuffed the two bruisers, and led them off while Chat let a breath whoosh out happy he hadn't needed to interfere. Turning to face Marinette and wondering if she was ok since she had been so quiet he nearly fell off the roof in shock. She had moved from his nice safe flat spot and was sitting on a pipe legs swinging merrily looking about her with interest. The fact that her legs were swinging free over a 20 foot drop or so didn't seem to faze her in the least but the sight nearly gave him a heart attack.
"What are you doing?!" he squeaked rushing over to the edge of the roof. He wanted to reach out and yank her to safety but he didn't want to fall off the roof himself or knock her off by trying to grab her. Instead he settled for hopping nervously from foot to foot as he yelped "Get back on the roof!"
Marinette turned so she was facing him and blinked, a bemused expression growing on her features. "I am on the roof." She pointed out waving a hand at the pipe she sat on.
Chat felt himself pale as he gaped at her and Marinette let out a sigh at his fretting then pushed herself up to her feet. With a small turn Marinette slid down off the pipe hopping the two foot gap with a well-placed step and landing to the side of him.
"You…you…" Chat stuttered his hands reaching for her yet never actually touching her.
Marinette raised an eyebrow at him a small smirk flitting across her lips. "I hang out on my rooftop all the time. Surely you didn't think I was scared of heights?"
Chat raised his hands to his hair forcing himself to take several deep breaths as she walked back to where her bag of groceries was. His mind was blown. Officially totally blown and he was shocked that the girl before his was the same one that constantly tripped over her own two feet on an even flat surface. Ruefully he wondered what other surprises her small form held.
"Do you take out bruisers in alleys all the time too?" He asked finally lowering his arms back to his sides.
Marinette flinched as she scooped her groceries up off the ground and turned back to him. "Um well no…" she managed looking embarrassed "I mean my mom taught me how to fight and I am pretty decent even though I am clumsy. I just cant stand to watch someone get hurt when I can help stop it and I… I just…" her voice stuttered to a halt as her eyes met his and Chat sighed
"I… understand princess but lets leave the saving people to the cops or Ladybug and I ok?" Chat asked as Marinette rolled her eyes. "I am your cat in shining leather and I think you have been through enough for tonight. May I escort you home?"
Marinette waved a hand about to decline his offer when she realized he wasn't really asking. "You're going to follow me no matter what I say aren't you."
Chat nodded a serious look on his face. "Basically"
"Ugh but you know I can take care of myself so why?" Marinette demanded compete with a foot stomp.
Chats lips quirked at her adorable display of frustration. "Because it's my job and Ladybug would skin my hide of she knew I let you walk off alone after that mess." He answered jabbing a thumb at the alley behind them.
Marinette huffed rubbing at her temple with a free hand. He was right. If she found out he let someone walk away from a situation like she had gotten herself into without making sure they made it home ok she would be upset. Even with her knowledge and strength as Ladybug Marinette had put herself into a very dangerous situation. It didn't matter that she could and had handled the situation or that Chat didn't know she really was Ladybug. She was going to have to pay the price of her recklessness so in other words she had lost this battle.
"Fine you can take me home." Marinette muttered looking resigned
Chat grinned and in the next second Marinette let out a squeal as he scooped her up into his arms before launching them into the sky.
"What are you doing you crazy cat?!" Marinette cried as they cleared a space that made her heart drop.
Chat spared a glance at her "Taking you home!" he answered a sly grin crossing his face.
Once more Marinette realized she had lost and shifted slightly in his arms "You could have at least warned me."
Chat laughed outright the sound rumbling deep within his chest. "You would have said no!"
Marinette lips quirked as she tried not to smile then gently smacked a hand against his chest as they cleared yet another gap in rooftops. "I said you could walk me home not carry me! Besides I went out through my front door. If I renter through my roof I will have some explaining to do."
Chat slowed as he thought about what she said. "You don't want them to know I brought you home?" He asked feeling odd as his heart sank into his boots. "Or you don't want them to see me?"
Marinette snorted "Neither, I don't want my parents to know I fought two bruiser guys in some back alley. It doesn't matter that I won or that I called the cops beforehand. My mom taught me to fight so that I could defend myself and she doesn't like it when I get into fights regardless of the circumstances."
Chat was silent for the rest of the trip and Marinette allowed it figuring he needed a moment to digest her words. Marinette sighed relaxing into his hold as he came to a stop on a roof directly across from her home and decided it was time to break his unusual silence. "You can come in as long as you don't mention the fight if you would like. My parents would like you and you must be hungry since its evening."
Chat dropped her he was so startled and she clung to him her feet hitting the roof as he managed to keep a grip around her torso at the last second. "I…I um… really?" he asked hoping he didn't look desperate.
Marinette bit back the sharp retort she had for dropping her so suddenly. The look in his eyes was practically desperate, lonely, and hungry all at once. Longing she realized and swallowing the sudden lump in her throat she nodded. "If you don't have anywhere else to be, come eat with us. Just first get me down from here without dropping me again."
Chat nodded eagerly. He didn't have anyone waiting for him at home and lifting her into his arms once more he made his way down to street level before setting her gently on her feet.
Following her to her front door he took her heavier bag of groceries with a smile and opened the door to her house. Marinette frowned a little at him but his smile never faltered and with a shrug she went inside calling out "Mama Papa I'm back and I brought someone home with me! I hope you don't mind having an extra!"
Chat allowed the door to close behind him and almost warily trailed after Marinette up the stairs. He had been in the house before with Ladybug and he had seen firsthand that her parents were kind accommodating people. However having a person just randomly show up to eat might not be the best test of such things. If such a thing happened at his home there would be repercussions which would most likely result in said person being thrown back out into the street. So it was with a bit of trepidation that he came around the edge of the wall pausing for a moment even as Marinette walked inside.
"Oh good you got the peas and garlic butter." Sabine called taking the bag from her daughters hands. "Where is your friend?"
Marinette glanced behind her and after a moment saw Chat still huddled by the door looking nervous. "You can come in mama won't bite Chat."
"Chat?" Sabine queried then spotted the hero by the door. A smile bloomed across her face and she came around the counter arms opening wide. "Chat dear how are you doing? I haven't seen you since you helped my daughters classmate!"
Chat blinked wide eyed as Sabine was on him in moments wrapping him in a hug that left him breathless and made his eyes water with held in emotions. The warmth of her hug enveloped him to his core as Chat took a deep breath filling his lungs with the sweet scent of bread, sugar, and flowers that Sabine seemed to wear like a perfume. Sabine pulled back pressing her hands to either side of his face as she gave him a once over.
"No injuries but I think you may have grown since we last met. Are you going to stay for dinner?" She asked leaving Chat feeling slightly shell shocked.
Marinette realized Chat didn't know how to answer and it was obvious he wasn't used to affection in the way her parents gave it. "Chat was nice enough to walk me home so I wanted to feed him some dinner before he wandered off again."
Chat blinked then flushed as Sabine grabbed took his arm and after taking his bag of groceries, pulled him into the room to Marinettes intensifying smile.
"Wonderful! We can always use another hand and with your father finishing up in the bakery Chat can reach all the high things for us!" Sabine chirped as she released his arm by Marinette and moved back behind the counter.
Marinette snickered at the stunned look on Chats face especially since he hadn't managed to find his voice yet. It was actually really cute. She was used to him being a suave flirt that rarely shut up. It was nice to see him shocked into silence for once.
They quickly realized as they put Chat to work that he was not a cook. He couldn't mold anything due to his gloves (his claws poked holes in the pastries), he was bad at timing when to flip the tortias, and in fact it quickly became apparent that he had a talent for burning even water. Sabine laughed at his mishaps and made him hold the bowls or sent him to fetch things for her instead as Marinette took his place cooking. The thing was though Chat didn't mind. He was ecstatic at the experience of helping them cook even if he had no clue as to what he was doing. They didn't mind his mistakes or his fumbling and if he were being honest this was the first time he'd had this much fun in a while. Plagg was mostly silent the entire time although he demanded that Chat bring home some of the cheese bread they were making.
"I didn't know we adopted a kitten!" Toms voice boomed from behind them and Chat yelped jumping into the air while dropping the bowl he had just fetched from the cabinet.
It clattered to the ground as Chat turned ears flat and shoulders hunched looking up into Tom merry eyes.
"Hello kitten haven't seen you since that one animal thing came after that kid." Tom said his voice a little softer as he realized he had startled Chat.
Chat nodded unsure of what to say and Tom smiled then tousled Chats hair. "Well then it would seem you have grown a bit since then unlike my tiny fairy daughter."
"Papaaaaa…." Marinette complained looking up from the dough she was rolling out.
Tom chuckled and in a not so quiet whisper said "She actually doesn't mind being called a fairy. She just likes to complain."
Chat snickered "I call her princess."
Tom roared with laughter slapping a hand to Chats back making him nearly stumble forwards. "Atta boy! Do they have you fetching all the implements they can't reach?"
Chat nodded and bent to pick the bowl up off the ground. Tom took it from him and guided Chat to the sink.
"They seem to have the cooking handled. Let start cleaning up so we don't have a giant mess at the end." Tom said brightly as he flipped the water on and rinsed the bowl off that had hit the floor. Once clean he handed the bowl to Chat who ran it over to Sabine before returning to Toms side to dry off the dishes he handed out. Once a few were clean and dry Chat raced around the kitchen putting the items away as Tom told him where they went. In between dishes, Sabine and Marinette sometimes requesting an item or a spice, and Marinette needing Chat to hold a spoon steady as she fixed a pastry chat found himself blending in with the small family before him. It was fun. Far more fun than he ever had in the evenings and he didn't even think about the time. Dinner took an hour to prepare then cook and when it was ready Chat was thoroughly warm as well as starving.
"Alright who's hungry?" Tom called as he pulled out the golden brown pastries from the oven. The smell that wafted from them was heavenly and Chat drifted forwards. Marinette hands on his arm stopped him and he glanced at her a sheepish grin crossing his face.
"The pan is hot let papa get them off then we will get started." Marinette said her eyes sparkling with mirth.
Chat was eager to get started. He had helped cook this meal (kinda) and it was an amazingly smelling Mexican style meal (sorta). In any case it was food that for the most part he wasn't allowed to have on a normal basis and that made him even more eager to try everything he hadn't helped burn.
"Make sure you grab some of that cheese bread." Plagg grumbled in the back of Chats mind and Plagg wasn't surprised when Chat didn't answer. In truth Plagg was happy for his kitten. It was rare that the boy was shown any kind of affection and the twin tailed bakers kid seemed more than happy to share the warmth of her home with his lonely kitten. That alone was sweet but he also sensed that there was something more to the bakers daughter, not that he would ever tell.
Chat tried everything they had made and in the end he lay sprawled on Marinettes chase in her room belly stuffed to its absolute max with a small doggy bag near his head on the floor. "I'm soooo full…" Chat purred stretching a little before going boneless once more.
Marinette snickered dropping to her knees by his head and poked his cheek. "Great I knew I shouldn't have fed you next you're going to want a sleeping place to nap in."
Chat felt a lazy smile slip onto his face as he pretended to nip at her finger. "Mmmm I could go for a nap." He said wiggling a little so his head pressed against her knees.
Marinette rolled her eyes and booped his nose "No nipping bad kitty."
Chat pouted then smiled again as she ruffled his hair. "Thanks for helping us clean up and fetching what mama and I needed. It was a big help."
"Any time princess" Chat purred arching into the touch. "I never get to do stuff like this at my house so anytime you need help I'm your cat."
Marinette frowned at his words but she didn't press for answers like she wanted to. His life behind the mask was his private business and as his partner it was her duty to respect his privacy. She was happy that she could do something for him though even if it was only feeding him dinner. Instead of questioning him Marinette slipped her fingers through Chats silky hair and smiled as he began to purr in earnest. Somehow he ended up halfway sprawled across her lap eyes closed and a rumbling purr oozing out of him as her hand stroked across his head and down his back. Chat was so comfortable and warm like this, he felt safe. Safe in the lap of his princess in a home that smelled of cookies and he didn't even remember falling asleep.
He woke up wrapped in a blanket that smelled like cookies and curled into a ball against the softest pillows he had ever imagined. Slowly he uncurled himself realizing that he was shrouded in darkness and he wasn't transformed. Jerking upright Adrien barely withheld a yelp of surprised worry as he took in Marinettes dark room. He could hear nothing but normal house sounds and he realized it was super early in the morning.
"They covered you up so they didn't see you detransform. You're lucky twin tails isn't a curious kitten otherwise your cover would be blown." Plagg whispered from the darkness and a moment later he flew out from under some of the blankets.
"Marinette just let me sleep?" Adrien asked a bit confused and awed by her.
Plagg grumbled "Well she did try and wake you but she couldn't so she covered you up and told her parents you were sleeping here for a bit but that you would probably be gone by morning."
Adrien gave a small groan and scrubbed at his face. "Great she probably thinks I'm some freeloading freak or something."
Plagg gave a sigh of his own and decided to be nice for once. "Actually she thinks you are cute sleeping and she was worried about your health."
"She thinks I'm cute?" Adrien asked a small smile lifting his lips.
"Yes and like me she called you a stupid kitten now can we please go? I want some proper cheese and you have school later."
Adrien glanced down at Plagg a bit surprised by the kwamis words. "Uh sure but since when are you responsible?"
"Since a bug decided to annoy me." Plagg grumbled too low for Adrien to hear. Then noticing his questioning look he sighed. "I just want my Cheese and some more sleep."
Seeming to realize he wasn't going to get any answers out of his Kwami Adrien relented. "Alright Plagg. Claws Out!" Before he left Chat wrote a brief note for Marinette saying thanks then grabbed the suspiciously lighter bag Marinettes parents had made for him. Slipping out Marinette window was easy and he made his way home hoping no one had noticed his absence. Detransforming in his room Adrien plugged in his phone and was happy to find that no one had missed his absence at all. By the time he took a shower and changed into pajamas he was actually a bit sleepy again and once Adrien set his alarm he collapsed into his bed falling back to sleep almost instantly.