"Well... with a mask and a costume, don't you think he looks a little bit like Chat Noir?" Alya investigates her hunch, not having learned her lesson, after the end of Lady Wifi.

.o.O.o.

"No way, dudette! You got suspended last time you pulled something like this. I'm staying out of it!"

Alya narrowed her eyes, desperate to win Nino over. Sure, she thought she had nailed Ladybug's identity before and was totally wrong. Yeah, she may have gotten akumatized on top of that. But this was different! If she explained her theory, how could he ignore such an obvious lead? "I'm serious Nino! I even have a photo to prove it!"

Silence hung between the two as Alya looked anxiously at her friend. He pondered his answer as he looked at the Seine from his spot on the bench. They were sat on the same bench that got him wrapped up in that crazy situation just a couple days ago. He could refuse to help her, but she would go through with it anyway. However, the last time she was alone in this situation she was akumatized. Nino winced as he once again felt the guilt gnaw on his conscience. He knew how awful it felt to be controlled from the inside out and not remember anything except anger and sadness. That was the last thing he wished on any of his friends. "If I agree to help you out, will you promise not to go cray cray on me?"

Hazel eyes sparkled as if they were made of gold. Alya gripped Nino's shoulder a little too firmly in her excitement and he yelped. "Nino, you're the best! I knew I could count on you!"

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, brushing off her hand. "Now, who do you think is Ladybug this time?"

"Nuh-uh, not Ladybug," she replied, closing her eyes with a smirk and wagging finger. "Chat Noir." Her determined gaze fixed onto Nino's eyes. He shrunk back slightly from the sheer strength of her resolve.

"C-Chat Noir? Okay, fine, then who is Chat Noir? And you said you had a photo to prove it?"

The smirk never left her face as she swiped through several photos on her phone. Suddenly her phone was in Nino's face and she questioned, "With a mask and a costume, don't you think he looks a little bit like Chat Noir?"

Leaning back so he could see the picture clearly, Nino gasped when he saw the photo depicting Adrien with a black domino mask and cat ears atop his golden locks. "You think Adrien is Chat Noir?" he asked breathlessly, unsure of how to process this new information.

"Why not? This picture is certainly convincing. I've never seen Adrien and Chat Noir in the same place. Add to that how he always has to leave school at random times for photoshoots," she gestured air quotes with her fingers.

"He really does! Are you calling my bro a liar?"

"Hey, calm down!" Alya waved her hands in front of her, pleading. "He's a model, of course he goes to photoshoots! I'm just saying, have you seen pictures from every time he runs off?"

"Well..." Nino's fingers ran back and forth across the brim of his cap nervously. Truthfully, the amount of pictures in Adrien's portfolio and the number of times he claimed modeling as an excuse didn't seem to add up. His curiosity was officially peaked. "What's the plan?"

Alya's mischievous smile made Nino gulp. He had a sinking feeling that those just might be his last words.

.o.O.o.

"Shhh, he's coming!" Alya's urgent whisper barely registered in Nino's ears before her hand shoved his head down behind a large bush. It had been about an hour and a half of watching Adrien pose by the fountain at Place des Vosges and the investigation had yet to yield any useful information. Alya had already expressed her dissatisfaction and mostly blamed it on Nino's lack of cooperation. As creepy as it was, he was alright with spying on his best friend, but no way would he betray his bro by stealing his bag and rifling through it. When Alya declared she would take it in her own hands, he used all his strength to pull her back and threatened to reveal their location. So, here they were, hiding in the foliage next to the photographer's equipment, watching Adrien gather his things.

"Hey Plagg, what do you say we get something to eat? ... Yeah, then we can nap." Nino and Alya dared not blink as they witnessed the blonde speaking and chuckling to himself. As he slung his bag over his shoulder he glanced toward the bushes with a sudden frown. The investigators immediately dove to the ground until they heard footsteps walking away from their hiding place.

"Did you hear that?" Alya wondered out loud, rising to her feet.

"Yeah. Who do you think he was talking to?"

"I have no idea. Have you heard him talk to himself before?"

Nino recalled several times that he thought he had seen Adrien standing alone while muttering to his shirt. All he could do was nod his head, perplexed by his best friend's actions.

.o.O.o.

Nino was placed on reconnaissance during the school day, reporting back his findings to Alya. There wasn't much to say though. Adrien was a dutiful student, he raised his hand often and his eyes rarely left the teacher unless he was jotting down information. Nino was glad his friend took such thorough notes, since he was missing a lot of the lessons as he focused on Adrien, which earned him a side eye from time to time.

The final bell rang and Nino rose with a sigh. Another day wasted on a pointless mission. He wondered how long it would take Alya to abandon her theory. Beside the frequent conversations with himself (a daily occurrence, they noted), Adrien hadn't displayed any odd behaviors.

"Hey, is something wrong, Nino?"

Emerald eyes slant with worry looked at him and Nino suddenly felt nervous. He couldn't let Adrien know he was being observed! "N-no way, man! Why do you ask?"

"Ahhh, no reason, I guess," Adrien's eyes darted to the side in embarrassment as his hand reached to his collar. This made Nino notice something different about his friend.

"Dude, have you been working out?"

"O-oh, yeah! You know, fencing and all," the blond replied, albeit without meeting his friend's eyes.

"No way that's from fencing! You're on your way to ripped, man! You've got to be doing something else!"

Adrien muttered under his breath, but Nino managed to pick out "fighting with" and "every night".

"What was that?" Nino watched his friend stiffen at his question then cast his gaze to the floor. After a moment had passed he looked up with a cheerful smile.

"Nothing, Nino. Maybe it's the new diet my dad has me on!"

Nino narrowed his eyes, sensing something wasn't right. Who could Adrien be fighting with?

.o.O.o.

"So, we've gathered that he talks to himself, mostly about being able to eat or sleep, he mentioned something about fighting with someone every night, and he has a tendency to shove cheese in his pockets," Alya rattled off, once again perched on that fated bench.

It had been a week into their investigation and these were their only three clues as to Adrien's supposed secret identity. The last piece of information was gathered when they had spied on the model during his lunch hour. They had hardly believed their eyes until Marinette had accidentally knocked him over as she turned the corner in the hall too fast and several pieces of Camembert fell out of his pockets. Why would Adrien need to hide food?

"Hey Alya," Nino began, feeling sick from where his thoughts were going, "Do you think Adrien could be... abused?"

Her head turned so fast he was surprised she didn't get whiplash. "Why would you say that?" she asked indignantly.

He reached up to his cap and fiddled with it for a moment before replying. "Well, he's always talking to himself about finally getting to eat or go to bed, like he doesn't get to often. After class that day I know I heard him say that he was fighting with someone and it seemed to make him upset. And who would carry stinky cheese with them unless they had no other choice if they were going to eat that night?"

Alya tapped her chin, lost in thought. Her hazel eyes then set towards Nino with a determined fire burning within them. "We have to confront him. I'm officially calling off the Chat Noir investigation. This is way too important."

.o.O.o.

School seemed to drag the next day. Nino's leg bounced up and down anxiously until the final bell rang. He quickly dragged his best friend toward the library with Alya following close behind. After checking that the room was empty, each grabbed one of Adrien's shoulders and pushed him into a chair. His eyes were wide and he looked at absolute loss as to what was happening.

"Guys, what are you-"

"Adrien," Nino interrupted, looking to the floor, "Alya and I have been watching you because you seemed a little strange." If he thought Adrien's eyes couldn't get any bigger before he was wrong.

"You were watching me? But why?"

It was Alya's turn to speak. "Well, I had a reporter's hunch, but it lead us to another conclusion..."

The silence thickened the air to the point that it was getting hard for Nino to breathe. Unable to suffer another second, he blurted out, "Are you being abused?"

Adrien started laughing. Laughing! As if his best friend had delivered the best punchline he had ever heard. Nino and Alya looked to each other in confusion.

"So, you're not being abused?" the girl asked carefully.

"No! Why would you even think that?" Adrien asked as he wiped a stray tear from his eye, never losing his humored smile.

"Well..." Nino explained everything the they had observed over the past week, though he left out the reason they were watching Adrien to start with. He already felt embarrassed enough, imagine if his best bud knew he considered the possibility of him being Chat Noir!

Adrien explained everything away. He claimed that talking to himself was a quirk from being homeschooled for so long. With his busy schedule he often looked forward to meals and rest, as he didn't have a lot of free time to relax. His father had been having him take intensive self defense classes in case anyone attempted to abduct him in order to hold him for ransom. This was supposed to be a secret so that he could take his would be attackers by surprise. Finally, cheese was just a favorite snack of his and he carried it with him in case he got hungry.

"Well, dudette, that's the end of that. See, your hunches really don't get you anywhere." Nino walked with Alya away from the school to head home, relaxed and carefree, knowing his best friend wasn't in trouble.

"One day I will find Ladybug and Chat Noir as civilians! If I don't follow every rope thrown my way, I might miss a vital clue! Speaking of, have you ever noticed that Marinette looks a lot like Ladybug?"

"Alya..." Nino growled with a warning tone.

"I kid, I kid!" Alya held her hands up in surrender. "There's no way Marinette could be Ladybug; she's too clumsy!"

.o.O.o.

Next time: After the end of The Evillustrator, Nathaniel is very upset at the direction his birthday took.