Shandy: Updating again!

Candy: Reviews!

Rose Tiger: Yeah, decided I'd make things complicated just a bit. Not too much tho.

mayuralover: Thank you!

Shandy: Enjoy the chapter!

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When Adrien got home, he let Nathalie know to not bother him, and that Marinette had accepted the dinner invitation.

Right now, he was laying down on the floor, staring through the window wall he had. He honestly couldn't clear his mind from his confusing thoughts. What was he going to do? Sorting things out one at a time really didn't seem to be helping all that much, because they all dealt with a blue haired, blue eyed girl.

"Oi, kid."

"You know where the cheese is, Plagg." Adrien replied instantly, too wrapped up in his thoughts to care.

"Adrien, do you want to listen to my advice or not?"

"You don't give out advice." Adrien replied instantly.

"This one time, I will." Plagg flew in front of Adrien's line of sight, looking Adrien straight in the eye, green to green. "I know something that can help. But you have to listen carefully and promise to use your knowledge only for good." When Adrien didn't respond, Plagg continued. "Wearing my miraculous is more than just gaining a suit or freedom. It was designed to give someone who was worthy of it, the power to help others." Adrien blinked.

"Once, I was human. I was cursed to be the caregiver of the cat Miraculous by a previous reincarnation of yours. All of my fellow kwamis have been freed, Because I still need to do something important. Don't know what." Plagg shrugged. "It's clear now that you won't be able to help me get back to Tikki, but until then I can help you help others. When in suit, you have a special superpower called Cataclysm. With it, you can destroy one thing you touch. The second you use it, you only have five minutes before you detransform."

"Destroy?"

"Look at me." Plagg gestured to himself. "I'm a literal black cat- luck's never been my forte, and it never will be. So, naturally, I get destruction. Anyway, the suit you gain when you transform is indestructable to just about any heavy impact, along with most blades. It also enhances all of your senses and physical capabilities. Speed, strength, vision, healing, and more. You'll be like a super human- err, hafukyatto. You should be able to do it by instinct- most of my past holders have."

"Why are you telling me this?" Adrien asked, slowly sitting up.

"Fresh air does wonders for conflicting thoughts, kid." Plagg answered snarkily. "Not to mention that fighting also does that, along with releasing stress and clearing the mind."

"Okay." Adrien stood up. "Anything else?"

"Well, I'd wait until night to do anything." Plagg admitted. "Capture petty criminals and stuff. Nothing too big. However, you can never use Cataclysm on a human being. If you do…" Plagg shook his head. "It won't be pretty to anyone involved. Many will die."

"Alright." Adrien stared past Plagg and out his window. "The sun's setting- dinner will be ready soon. I should go downstairs."

"One more thing, kid." Adrien looked Plagg in the eye again. "If you do start doing this, I'm gonna need a lot more Camembert."

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Only a few hours later, Chat Noir was soaring through the sky. But not to go and visit Marinette- she didn't want to hang out with Chat anymore. Adrien was still a go, but it would be weird for Adrien to just appear on her balcony or doorstep to hang out without warning. That would be too suspicious. Besides, with the advice he gave her for her friend, he should probably give it a few days. Or weeks. He was willing to wait for her.

Right now, though, was his first day on what the Miraculous was supposed to be used for.

As he ran past, he observed the alleys and streets for any wrong-doers. His staff could also open up to a phone, and every single Police station was marked on there, so he would be able to take them to the closest one.

He spotted some suspicious figures sliding against the wall of a Jewelry store. They had guns in their hands, except for one, who was carrying some equipment and a bag. Chat Noir landed in front of them, just before they left the alley.

"And, what do you think Meow doing?" He asked, slinging his staff across his shoulders. It didn't phase him when they aimed their guns at him.

"Oh, it's just a homeless stray cat-guy." One of them said. One of his friends chuckled.

"We're gonna rob that store, big-shot." A third one replied.

"Yeah, that won't be happening." He took his staff down and pointed it at them like a sword.

"Just who do you think you are?" Guy one said.

"No one you need to worry about." Chat Noir admitted. Then he extended his staff, and it hit one of them in the lower region. "Unless you're on the wrong side of the c-law. Then you should worry."

"Shoot 'im!" The one he hit said in a higher octave than previously, falling on his knees and covering his crotch. "Now, you idiots!" Instantly, the other two fired while the one with all of the supplies helped the one that was down. Chat Noir swung his staff in a circle, the metal in his staff deflecting the bullets aimed at him. He looked around the alley, before leaping onto the wall, kicking off of it, and then twisting in the air to kick one dude in the head. Using his staff after landing on the ground in a crouch, he tripped the other guy and used his staff to slam him into the wall. Then he walked over and punched the dude with the supplies in the temple, and then in just the right spot to knock the breath out of him. He did the same with the other guy who was down.

Then he froze.

What… had just happened?

It was weird- he was aware of what he was doing and what was happening- but he had never been in an actual fight before! How the heck did he do that?!

Then he looked around at the four knocked out guys with wide eyes.

How?

Shaking off the weird feeling of guilt and sickness in his stomach, he reached into the material guy's bag and pulled out some rope. He wrapped them all up, and then proceeded to leave them in front of the nearest Police station like he had planned.

As he headed home, he knew that he had learned something.

He really didn't want to have to do that again.

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He ignored the small murmurs of an unidentified hero on the streets of paris having caught four members of a Gang that had been terrorizing Paris for a while now. Adrien felt sick for some reason whenever he thought about it. Thank goodness it was only a small thing and not on the headlines everywhere in Paris.

Plagg had tried to talk to Adrien when he got back, but Adrien ignored him, having very little sleep that night.

Whatever the reason- fighting definitely didn't help his conscious.

Marinette wasn't looking much better than he was, and this time Alya and Nino were here.

Ode to Joy.

"Dude, what's wrong? Ya know that you can tell me anything, right?" Nino asked. Adrien blinked.

"What?"

"Dude, if you were like this yesterday, this isn't good."

"No, I just stayed up a little late doing assignments." Adrien brushed off. Nino raised an eyebrow, but let it drop.

"Girl, I want to help you! If you could just tell me what's wrong-"

"I can't Alya. It's something that I have to figure out for myself."

"Mari-" Alya froze. Adrien wanted to turn around and see what face Marinette was wearing to make her go quiet. Then, Alya spoke again. "This… it's really important, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Does it have anything to do with 7th grade?" Marinette didn't respond, but he could hear Alya shift behind him and Nino. "Marinette…"

"I just need to sort things out." The bell rang and the teacher walked in to start class. Adrien didn't pay much attention, going with the flow for the day.

That was, until lunch. Before he could leave the class to follow Nino, Alya, and Marinette to lunch, Chloe and Sabrina came up to him.

"We need to talk." Chloe said. Adrien raised an eyebrow and then rolled his eyes.

"I'm not in the mood today, Chloe." Adrien sighed. "Try to force yourself on someone else."

"This is important, Adrikins." She eyed her nails, and Adrien watched sadly as everyone else left the classroom.

It was just them.

"Then hurry, I promised Nino, Alya, and Marinette that I'd eat lunch with them today." He relented, sighing. Chloe smirked, triumphant.

"Sabrina, go and make sure that no one comes in." She ordered. The redhead nodded, moving to do so. Then it was just the two blonds. "Listen here, Adrikins-"

"Adrien."

"Whatever." Chloe rolled her eyes before looking him in the eye. "I know your secret."

'What… There's literally no way.'

"I don't know what you're talking about, Chloe." Adrien started to pack his bag.

"You love Marinette." She stated with surety.

"We're just friends." Adrien rolled his eyes. His tone sounded sure, but he really wasn't sure. "Honestly, if you're trying to blackmail me, it won't work."

"Blackmail?" Chloe gasped. "I would never! Anyway, I thought that I would try to show you just how unworthy of you Mari-trash is." Adrien's eye twitched, but he watched as Chloe pulled out her phone and showed him a picture. He squinted.

It was of him, as Chat Noir, on Marinette's balcony. Clearly it was during one of the nights where they would stargaze, because both of them were on the balcony. He took the phone in his hands and swiped to see several others.

'Since when has she taking pictures?' He asked himself. Secretly, while Chloe talked, he began to delete them subtly. He doubted she had the common sense to save them to a hard drive.

If word of that got out, not only would Marinette be exposed at a time where she needed all the privacy she could get, but his father would pull him out of school. He didn't want either of those happening.

"She's already together with this stupid half-cat creature." She scoffed. "Well, she clearly couldn't get better, so she just had to stoop down to that all-time low. Honestly, dating and sleeping with a monster. Anyway, she's taken, so you have to go out with me now-"

"Chloe." Adrien said slowly, successfully deleting all of the pictures. "Marinette's life is her own life. You shouldn't bother with her personal business. Besides- a cat boy? That's ridiculous. Nothing like that actually exists in reality. Get real." He moved to walk over to the door. "Bye, Chloe."

"But I haven't even told you the worst about Mari-trash!" Chloe whined.

"Her name." Adrien breathed deeply to stop himself from shouting at her. "Is Marinette. She's done more to earn respect than you. And she's not trash. She's the furthest thing from it." And then he left the room.

After he walked down the hallway, he smirked when he heard her indignant screeches.

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Adrien was trying to sulk in absolute peace when Nathalie walked into the room. Adrien turned his face out of the pillow to face Nathalie.

"Adrien, you're father wishes for you to meet the Mayor of Paris, Andre Bourgeois, and his daughter, Chloe." She said calmly. Adrien's ear twitched.

"I don't want to talk to Chloe." He replied. Silence, and then he heard footsteps before Nathalie sat down on the bed beside Adrien.

"What did she do?"

"She called Marinette trash and tried to get me to stop hanging out with her." Adrien glanced at Nathalie. "She claimed that I was in love with Marinette."

"Are you?"

"I don't know." Adrien's face met the pillow again, but then he moved until he was looking at the ceiling. "I know that she's a friend, and that I really want to be friends with her no matter what, but I also want to be closer to her. And I also know that I wanted to slap Chloe for calling her trash."

"I see."

"I don't know what to do, Nathalie!" He groaned, waving his hands in the air. "Nino and Chloe both think that I love her- but how do they know when I don't even know myself?"

"Well." Nathalie stood up. "I'd suggest that you get something, but I might have something that could help. I'll tell your father that you don't want to be seen now." Adrien nodded, smiling up at her.

"Thanks. My father really doesn't pay you enough for your job." Nathalie nodded in agreement and walked out of the room, closing it behind her. Plagg instantly flew out and sat himself on Adrien's head.

"Ya know, kid, you could always ask me." Plagg pointed out. "I've lived for years."

"Would you actually give me a straight answer?" Adrien asked in reply.

"Love's never straight." Plagg seemed to quote. "It twists and turns and loop-di-loops. Sometimes It takes you to the sky. Sometimes it slams you on the ground. Sometimes it makes you so dizzy and confused that you wish it'd just stop. But if it's meant to work out in the end, it will. That's what Tikki always said about it, anyway."

"You mentioned Tikki before." Adrien said thoughtfully. "Who's she?"

"The only thing in existence that was more precious than Camembert." He sighed dreamily. "She was the yin to my yang. Caretaker of the Ladybug earrings, she brought good fortune and creation with her, wherever she went. My soulmate- my one and only real love. She's gone somewhere now. Won't be seeing her for a while. She always knew what to do or say- she'd be way better with the mushy stuff like this."

"You sound like you love her." Adrien admitted. "It must hurt, knowing that she's out of your grasp."

"We'll find each other again someday, kid. It's how the world works." Then he zoomed away. Adrien lay on his bed in thought for a few minutes before he heard someone knock on his door. He opened his mouth to say 'come on in, Nathalie', but it was very obvious in a moment that it was not Nathalie.

"Adri-kins! It's me, you're best friend Chloe!" He heard Chloe's voice through the door. He shot out of bed and rushed to the door, locking it.

"Don't come in here!" He shouted. "I-I, uh, I'm not dressed!"

"That's perfectly fine with me, Adri-kins." Chloe admitted, and he scrunched his nose in disgust, his ears flattening.

"A-And I'm not feeling well!" He hastily added, coughing a bit. "Y-Yeah, don't want to get you sick, you should leave!"

"That's not the truth and you know it, Adri-kins." Chloe blatantly called out on his lie. "Is this anyway you treat your friends that come over and want to hang out?"

Adrien wanted to say 'You're not my friend.', but he instead said, "I really don't want you in my room. Or in my house. Or with me in any way."

"You're father said to go and hang out with you, Adri-kins!" Chloe said.

"That's a load of crap, Chloe. If my father really wanted me to hang out with you, he would've come up here and told me so. Or Nathalie would've said that I had to. Neither of them did."

"Adri-kins, let me in!"

"You're not coming into my bedroom!" It was silent for a moment, but Adrien knew she hadn't walked away. Then he heard the jingle of something, and then he heard something click into his doorknob.

'She's lock-picking the door?!' He thought, eyes wide with fear. His headband was on his nightstand, but he had thrown his jacket across the room. He wouldn't have time to hide his tail.

He clenched his teeth together and braced himself. His ears twitched at every movement that the lock made, and he prepared himself to fight against the door that would try to open any second now.

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

'Nathalie! Thank heavens!'

"Oh, I'm just trying to go see my best friend Adri-kins!" Chloe said from behind the door before he could answer. "He's probably just really embarrassed about something in his room, but that's fine, he doesn't have to hide anything from me."

"I don't want you in my room, Chloe." Adrien said through his teeth. "And even if we were friends, I wouldn't let you in because I'm not dressed." He stressed the last three words, knowing that Nathalie would understand.

"Ms. Bourgeois, my job is to assist Mr. Agreste and his son, Adrien Agreste, to the best of my capabilities." Nathalie said. "Mr. Agreste will not be happy to know that you were trying to break into Adrien's room against his permission."

"But Mr. Agreste said-"

"To go entertain yourself." Nathalie interrupted. "And then he told you to stay away from Adrien's room, and then he told you where that was. You're not even supposed to be here."

"But-"

"Now, Ms. Bourgeois, leave him be." Adrien heard Chloe grumble, and then Nathalie walk to the door. Chloe was still outside. "Adrien, do you mind if I hand you the book that you asked for?"

"Not at all, Nathalie." Adrien opened the door a crack, and Nathalie pushed an old book through. Adrien grabbed it. This must've been what Nathalie had gone out to grab.

"Is there anything else that you want, Adrien?"

"If it's possible, a few croissants, a glass of water, and some Camembert please."

"Right away." Nathalie closed the door, but Adrien still pressed himself against it. "Now, Ms. Bourgeois, might I direct you to the entertainment room?"

"Fine." He heard the two walk away and then slowly slid onto the floor with a sigh.

"That, was too close." He decided. His heart was still beating in fear. After a few, he reached for the book that Nathalie had brought. It was made out of leather and looked worn- several years older than him. Smelled like it to.

Adrien stood up when he heard Nathalie approaching again. He opened the door, looking up at her curiously, book in hand.

"Adrien." She said, walking into the room, sitting down on the couch. Adrien closed the door and followed her, handing her the book when she gestured for it.

"This, is the photo album you're grandmother gave your mother." She said, opening it up to the first page. "You're grandmother filled it with photos of you're mother's life growing up." The first page was the image of three little girls and two little boys. Two of the three girls had cat ears, and one of the boys did as well. "According to what you're mother told me when we became friends, this is your aunt Clara, your aunt Yuki, your Uncle Rei, and your uncle Tim."

"So, the last one's mom."

"Yes." Nathalie turned the page to show a family photo with the five kids. "Your mother was the youngest of her litter. You know most of what the next few pages contain- your mother winning a talent show for her voice, learning how to play the piano, fencing- but the one thing she loved most of all was your father." Nathalie flipped several pages until it showed one with a young version of Gabriel and Annalise going out on what looked like her first date. In the background of the picture, you could see his Uncles studying Gabriel, and his aunts hugging each other. Gabriel looked a little awkward with all of the attention, but his eyes remained on Annalise as she beamed up at him. Both were blushing.

"That's what father looked like?"

"Yes, he was just a little older than you." Nathalie flipped the page. "Everyone in your family adored him." Adrien was just surprised to see that his father was actually smiling. She flipped past a few more pages, stopping in a picture of them kissing.

"This was the day that he proposed. She was twenty and he was twenty two." Nathalie explained. She flipped to show another picture of them looking at each other with the sunset behind them. Both were staring at each other in such a loving way that Adrien wished that he could be there to see it. She tapped the photo.

"I might not have experience with it, but I do know that if you or someone else stares at someone like that, that they've fallen hard." Adrien looked at the photo closely, and Nathalie handed the book to him. "I'll let you look through that- you're father expects me soon."

"Thanks Nathalie."

"I hope it helps." Nathalie added before she left.

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Adrien looked through the Photo album over and over again. He didn't remember much about his mother, but seeing her with his father back then… it helped him, in some unexplainable way.

Yes, he probably liked Marinette more than he cared to admit. He liked her more than any of his other friends, and he often imagined swinging her off of her feet and walking off into the sunset with her. That wasn't something you fantasized about with only a friend.

But now that he knew that, what was he going to do with the information? Marinette didn't want to talk to- or even see him- again.

Well, for Chat anyway. She still liked Adrien. Or did she? He knew that they were friends, but there was no way of knowing just how close he was to her.

The fact that he was just now figuring this out did not help him with how he was to go about this.

He ran a hand through his hair, his ears flattened against his head. It had been a while- he could ask to see her again, right?

No, she'd need days. Days. Not one day, not a few hours, days.

"Kid, ya wanna go out again tonight?" Plagg floated just behind the book.

"I don't feel like fighting." Adrien admitted, slowly closing the book. "Or doing anything like last night."

"You don't have to." Plagg reminded. "Just get out of the house. Of course, you'll have to pay with twice the amount of Camembert if-"

"Plagg, claws out!"

"But my Camembert~!"

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