Chapter 3: Playing cat and mouse

Alya and Adrien play a clumsy game of tag where no one seems to win.

During class, there was usually one pair of eyes staring intently at Adrien's back, but for the last week, Alya had joined Marinette in The Obsessive Watching of Adrien Agreste. Her reason for observing the young model, however, couldn't be further from appraising the assets of his demeanor - like it had been in case of her best friend.

Alya wanted answers. She wasn't convinced, mind you, that staring at her classmate would suddenly enlighten her with them. Rather, it became her only option after a week full of fruitless efforts to confront Adrien.

One would think that being her classmate, he would have a hard time escaping Alya but it seemed she had a problem with securing his attention for even a minute. Whenever the blogger approached the model, he would engage in a conversation with someone or walk away to take care of something very important.

Alya had to admit that Adrien had been really smooth and clever in his ways of avoiding her. Those past few days he had been greeting her normally, he had been making a small talk when they were in a group, he even had explained a maths problem to her when she had asked him, hoping to steer the conversation towards a different subject.

Talking to Adrien without witnesses had turned out to be almost impossible. Firstly, he had Nino, who unknowingly assumed a role of his guardian and bodyguard, attached to his side all the time. Secondly, Chloe made sure to twirl around the model non-stop, whining to get his attention and creating a big spectacle out of it. And lastly, there was always someone watching him.

Adrien Agreste was constantly on the radar of the students of the Collège Françoise Dupont, serving as a somewhat of a school attraction. Even after those few months when he first started attending classes, people still asked him for autographs, still peered at him curiously like he was a very precious specimen. Still flung an unwanted attention at him. However, no one seemed to be too eager to make friends with him.

Why Alya hadn't the slightest idea. Was it because they idolized him and deemed him unapproachable? Did the well-known, prestigious model seem to be out of reach for a plain student?

It was certainly possible as Alya herself had thought about him in a similar manner at the beginning of a school year. Truth to be told, she didn't really regard him as anything else besides Marinette's potential boyfriend or Nino's best friend (of which she was quite ashamed).

Before the circumstances lead her to chase after Adrien she had never realized how many pairs of eyes were drilling into the model outside of the classroom, how people had been following his every move and gesture. She wondered whether he felt as an exhibition in a gallery or a monkey in the zoo.

Despite the growing feeling of pity for the blonde, Alya was becoming fed up with Adrien's tricks and sidesteps. Her patience had been tested for quite a while and the blogger didn't have a reputation for being a patient person. She balanced on the verge of explosion, which was hardly a good sign for those who were behind her frustration.

At that point, Alya started to regret deleting her article about Adrien being Cat Noir. She should have just posted it on her blog and watch the drama unfold. There would have been a hell to pay but at least she wouldn't have had to run in circles like she did now, trying to get the attention of Adrien Agreste.

The blogger sighed as she made her way towards the school gate, trailing after the swarms of students hurrying home. She wondered what could she possibly do to make her classmate talk to her. Of course, after she had noted the way Adrien was being followed, Alya concluded that school was hardly an adequate place to discuss secret identities. The only problem was that she couldn't confront him anywhere else as the young model had lived in a constant rush and under a mass of responsibilities and duties. Nino had once complained about how difficult it was for him to catch his best buddy outside of school, and how uncool it was that he didn't have time for anything besides working and studying.

"He needs to live a little, you know? He is going to grow old before he actually uses his youth to the fullest."

Well, Nino, maybe he is living a more exciting life than you are aware of, Alya thought, suddenly wondering whether Lahiffe knew his best friend was a wild cat superhero. She should corner the DJ to find out what he knew. Dealing with Nino was so much easier than talking to Adrien.

Just as she was thinking that she noticed the blonde model in front of the school gate, waiting for a limousine to pick him up. If that didn't look as a chance, Alya didn't know what did. She rushed forward, jumping of stone steps with surprising grace. She considered shouting out the blonde's name but it occurred to her that it could scare Adrien away. So she crept behind him silently until she stood beside her classmate.

"Wow, your driver takes his sweet time, doesn't he?" she spoke out of blue, making Adrien jump in surprise. She ignored his scared expression. "If it was my driver constantly running late, I would make him take care of my sisters for a week. Let lazy employees suffer!"

After recovering from the early shock, Adrien stepped away from Alya but smiled a little at her remark. "I'm afraid I don't have any siblings to torture the employees with. Working for my father seems like a punishment on its own, however."

The blogger eyed her classmate curiously. She couldn't guess whether he was joking or being serious. From what she heard about Gabriel Agreste (mostly from Nino), she understood he was a very strict and uncompromising man.

But would Adrien so readily admit that his father was not the nicest person in the world?

"I imagine it must be difficult to satisfy the demands of the CEO of Gabriel enterprise." Alya continued in light, conversational tone, trying to put the blonde at ease, to make him unsuspicious of her real objective.

"You have no idea." Adrien murmured in an almost inaudible whisper, suddenly looking down.

"Is it the reason why you keep running away and end up in some weird Parisian alleys?" Places, fire.

The model became still like a statue, frozen and speechless; awareness of Alya's real goal sinking in. He lifted his gaze and opened and closed his mouth a few times, resembling a fish out of the water. He felt so small under the intensity of blogger's look, who kept quiet, keeping him in place with her gaze.

Just then, as if to save Adrien from the tough spot he was in, his limousine appeared. The nervousness turned into relief at the sight of the black car. Not to give his classmate any chance to stop him, he quickly jumped into the vehicle, shutting the door close behind him. Before the car started, however, Adrien rolled the window down and said:

"I can take you with me to one of those alleys if you're so interested."

Alya blinked, shouted for him to wait, but was left in the dust of engine fumes. That cheeky little...

Such a coward - he wouldn't have been able to say such a thing to her face. Everyone could be so brave when protected by a bulletproof limousine. A hero. What a joke. Alya had seen a more courageous five-years-old.

Feeling her blood boil with anger, the blogger stomped vigourously into the direction of her apartment. This was what she got for acting noble and proper. Fighting against her instinct apparently was the worst decision she had ever made. She would forever dislike cats.

Black cats with an additional passion.

Alya took out her phone and pressed Marinette's number. When your life was falling to pieces call your best friend - it was an old folk wisdom, which always proved effective. When she heard young designer's voice on the other side of the line, she started talking rapidly and unnecessarily loud.

"You have a crush on such a jerk! He is not worth you Mari, okay? Please, fall in love with someone else! How about Nathaniel, or Max? Or maybe even Kim? No, wait, scratch that, he has an unhealthy obsession with Chloe. What about Nino? He is such a great guy..."

"Uhh, Alya?" Marinette had troubles stopping her friend's ridiculous monologue. "Don't you kind of have a crush on Nino yourself?"

"Doesn't matter, I can share." Alya shrugged, slowing her pace a little. "There's no rule saying you cannot crush on Nino. And you're missing a point by miles, Marinette. You need to uncrush on Adrien, immediately."

"Alya, what's wrong? You sound even crazier than I usually do." At this point, the designer was starting to worry about her friend. Normally, the brown hair girl displayed the symptoms of madness only when it came to superhero duo, not to her crush. Marinette was an expert in that field. "Did Adrien do something?"

"He dared to be cheeking me!" said Alya at once, almost tripping on her words. Being sassy was her forte, not unreasonably handsome models'.

There was a short-lived silence on her friend's side of the line until Marinette broke it with a burst of laughter, which made the blogger even more annoyed.

"I'm sorry, Alya." the designer managed to speak between her fits of laughter. "I just can't imagine it. Adrien is not really a cheeky person, is he?"

"But Cat Noir is!" exclaimed Alya in a voice that was a little too loud, a little too irritated.

"What does he have to do with Adrien?"

The blogger bit her lip, suddenly less confident, less angry. Her best friend sounded genuinely curious, but would she really consider her suspicion legitimate? Marinette always dismissed her excited speculations, which was hardly surprising, taking into account Alya's record of absurd surmises.

On the other hand, sharing her sus with her best friend could turn out beneficial. Having a companion while searching for more evidence would be comforting, and considering Marinette's interest in the certain model, she could acquire more information connecting him to superhero in black.

After a quick calculation in her head, Alya started hesitantly:

"Mari, how crazy would I sound if I said that Adrien is..." the rest of her sentence was jammed by the sudden screams and sounds of terror. Alya turned to the direction of the commotion and saw people running away from the creature of a height of two adults, with greenish skin. The attacker was holding a golden trident and a fishing net. Inside it there were at least three people, screaming for mercy.

"Girl, I'll call you back, there's an akuma before me. I need to get new footage. Love you!" Alya hung up before her friend could fully vocalize her protest, and started following the akumatized citizen. As much as excited she was about the chance to obtain fresh material for her blog, the blogger had to admit that the sight of the newest Hawkmoth's victim, made her skin crawl. The person had an oval scarred face curved into a frightening frown. His roars seemed to pierce the air and to knock down people who were fleeing in a hurry.

Alya crept behind the akuma, trying not to attract any attention to herself, her phone in hand recording every single move of a villain, who did not move too quickly, evidently slowed down by the "fish" he caught. The blogger restrained herself from providing any witty commentary, unusually careful not make any disastrous noise.

Adrenaline kicked in quickly, even though she was just following the akuma. For Alya, silent purloining was much more nerve-wracking than jumping head-on into danger. She just hadn't been born for anticipation.

With a sudden motion, the villain started turning around, and Alya had just a split of a second to react by taking cover behind the closest tree. From the akuma's chest lashed out a deafening roar that jolted buildings, sent shocks through the ground and laid civilians down. The blogger held tightly to the trunk, but still barely managed to avoid getting blown away. Her phone almost slipped through her hand which gave her a heart attack. Everything important in her life was stored in that little device!

(Everything except her family and friends, that was.)

Making sure the akuma was moving forward, Alya scrambled to her feet and resumed the spying mission. She couldn't wait for Ladybug and Cat Noir to arrive. Sadly, there was no superhero in sight, and the blogger started to wonder when something to heat up the atmosphere would happen.

As to answer her, Neptun (as Alya dubbed the villain) let out another ground-shaking roar, which sent cars and benches flying, stranding civilians in the process. Among them was a small boy, at whom the akuma was advancing in an attempt to catch him into his net.

Alya's legs moved before her brain registered what she was doing. She reached the boy and pulled him from underneath the objects, that were preventing his movements. She managed to push him to the side before the net covered her body and swallowed her.

The blogger blinked. She suddenly felt pain due to her back corrading with the pavement. It allowed her to process the situation she found herself in.

She had been caught by the akuma. Again.

Instead of feeling too concerned like every sane person would have, the blogger did the most Alya-ish thing she could have - she started live streaming the event onto her blog.

"Hey there Ladybloggers! Live from the newest villain's fishing net, it's Alya, covering the current akuma situation." she chattered happily, waving at the camera "There's no sight of our favorite superheroes yet, but there's no doubt they will arrive soon. In the meantime let's check how other victims are doing!" she changed her position and lumbered along to one of her fellow net-prisoners "Sir, would you share with Ladyblog followers under what circumstances were you kidnapped?"

The man looked at Alya strangely but seemed to be too unstrung by the incident to speak. That did not discourage the aspiring journalist in the slightest, and she proceeded to question other people, who all gazed at her as if she lost her mind.

All this excited twitter, angered Neptun causing him to drop the net with abductees. He leered at them, nearing his massive, scarred head in an attempt to silence his prisoners. However, he was the one who ended up recoiling, surprised by the sudden proximity of the blogger, who jumped forward almost sticking her phone into his face to get a better shot.

"Hello, Mr. Akuma. Can I address you per Neptun? That's rather a fitting name, don't you think? Anyway, would you like to share with us, what do you need this net for? Are you an ecologist or -"

Alya was cut off by a strong roar that caused her hair to fly in all directions creating a mess on her head. The blogger felt the akuma's saliva on her cheek, and clothes. Yuck, she thought, completely disgusted. She hoped her phone was in better shape than her.

"Thank you for the exhaustive response," she muttered, wiping the mucus away.

The akuma swung his trident, ready to skewer Alya with it, when the red yo-yo hit him hard in the face, followed by the hard kick.

Before the net full of abductees, landed two superheroes, ready to destroy their opponent.

"That is the most hideous thing I have seen today." commented Cat Noir distasted.

"Probably because you haven't seen your hair in the mirror yet." said Ladybug offhandedly. She seemed annoyed, but there was no venom in her voice.

"Luckily, everyone beautifies with you around." superhero in black winked at her, not offended by his partner's remark.

Ladybug just rolled her eyes, and turned around to check on the abductees, and was greeted with the sight of messy Alya who was trying to clean her camera with her blouse hurriedly.

She decided then, it was best to defeat the akuma, without saying anything. She gestured to her companion to move forward, and they rushed into battle.

"Hey, Ladybug! Please release us from this net!" shouted someone.

She didn't even look back. "It's safer for you to stay there." Especially for some people. "Don't worry, it will be over quickly."

Alya was desolated. Being stuck in the net meant no further footage. Getting covered in saliva was for nothing apparently. No one understood the pains of being a reporter.

Like the heroine said, Paris's defendants defeated their opponent fast. Neptun might have been big and strong but agility or cleverness was not his fortes. Before the victims knew it, they were surrounded by magical sparkle and the entwining them net disappeared.

When Alya was about to get up, she saw an extended hand towards her. She took it and was hoisted to her feet, meeting very green eyes of Cat Noir.

They started at each other for a while, and the blogger suddenly remembered that behind this black mask might have been a face of Adrien Agreste.

The superhero must have seen something in her gaze then as he winked at her, and - was gone.

The second time that day, Alya wanted nothing more than to punch the blonde model in the face.

XXX

It took Adrien a few days to fully recover from his pessimistic thoughts. He knew he had overreacted and his whole behavior had been both ridiculous and dramatic. He knew he had been acting in a way that drove Plagg insane. He knew it and he finally started to think rationally.

Yet, he still couldn't face Alya.

Whenever he saw her, he always backed away. Like a coward. He ran away from the persistent blogger who might have figured out his secret identity.

Not even that; he had been careless enough to allow her to find out.

Adrien felt as if he and Alya were playing some sick game of hide and seek. A game of cat and mouse, and, oh the irony, he was the mouse in that chase.

If it wasn't for Nino, behind whose back, he could always hide, Alya would have probably cornered him at some point. For once, he was grateful for Chloe's relish in overly affectionate sticking to his side.

Even though the DJ's presence had saved him from his classmate a lot, Nino wouldn't have been himself if he hadn't seen through Adrien. He had noticed that the model was trying very hard to avoid Alya and certainly hadn't thought about leaving the subject alone.

"Dude, what did Alya do to you? Do you want me to tell her to back off? You know you can talk to me, right?"

Sometimes it was hard to have such a perceptive and caring best friend.

Yet, when Alya approached him while he had been waiting for his chauffeur, he had wished for Nino by his side, with all his might.

The blogger caused all his fragile calm to break into thousand pieces. Had his limousine arrived any later he would have run away, or become a victim of Alya's wrath.

He still didn't know why he had called out to her, while the car left her in the dust. Maybe he went insane. Or he had a death wish.

Or maybe he was fed up with feeling useless, with feeling suffocated, with Alya holding his secret over him.

A new emotion pressured his consciousness turning into anger. Red and motivating.

He quite enjoyed experiencing it.

How happy he was when the akuma attacked. It gave him a chance to get rid of the stress, to relieve his anger.

He could see His Lady again.

Fighting against new villain was liberating. Landing a punch after a punch, parring, kicking - a dance in which Ladybug's and his souls were connecting, unifying against a mutual opponent. A unique kind of link, open only to him and His Lady.

He never got enough of adrenaline pulsing through his system.

As Cat Noir, he was free and brave. Not scared of anything or anyone. Not of his father and his rules. Not afraid of loneliness, or disappointment. Not of Alya.

He saw his classmate in the net among other abductees of the akuma, and couldn't help thinking serves her right. As soon as such thought appeared in his head, he immediately felt ashamed of it. He was a hero - heroes were not petty.

And so, after Miraculous Ladybug charm covered Paris in its magnificent glow, driven by guilt or pity, Adrien made his way towards Alya. She was still kneeling on the ground when he reached her. Her hair was a mess, and she looked a little bruised, despite Ladybug's powers.

He extended his hand, intending to help her to her feet. She accepted it. Their eyes met and they ended up staring at each other. Curiously, cagily.

She had very pretty eyes that gave away her intelligence and courage. Or recklessness. A mixture of both, probably.

In a blink, something in her gaze shifted and Adrien knew she might have remembered the last time she had seen Cat Noir. Time to go.

He felt himself smirk. He winked at her cheekily, disappearing before she got a chance to react.

It wasn't a time to be scared - it was time to act.

The next day, he approached her of his own initiative, which made her blink in surprise, then eye him suspiciously.

He asked her whether she wouldn't like any help with getting new footage. Why? Since the last time she had been caught and couldn't take shots of the real battle, he thought she may need some assistance. And since he had an ability to end up in weird Parisian alleys, his help might be indispensable.

She said yes. After a painfully long-lasting minute of her eying him suspiciously, she said yes.

He thought it might take much more time to convince her of his usefulness to her cause, but she said yes! Knowing Alya, she had a hidden agenda of her own in agreeing to his help, but it was Adrien's chance to sway his classmate away from suspecting him.

It just had to work.

Alya spotted Marinette and headed in her direction, telling him that they would talk about their operation during a longer break.

"Kid, are you out of your mind?" for once, Plagg was not napping due to overstuffing himself with cheese. "How are you planning to save the city when you will be taking pictures of superheroes? Oh wait, of one superheroine." he said flatly.

Well, Adrien hadn't thought that far.

"I don't know Plagg." he admitted reluctantly "But I know I can't continue running away."

XXX

If on that particular day someone asked Alya what she thought of Adrien Agreste she would let a long groan of frustration and say that he was the most confusing human being she had ever encountered.

He had been acting around her like a startled sheep for the longest time only to approach her and offer help with her blog. She was so astonished by his proposal that she forgot to punch his pretty face (and it had been such a beautiful vision that lulled her to sleep the previous night).

Alya's mind went into overdrive as she started calculating her options and thinking of Adrien's real objective in his plan. What is your goal, pretty boy? Do you want to confuse me?

The blogger could tell something was off with the model's offer. His behaviour changed too quickly for her to believe in the genuineness of his motives. On the other hand, if Adrien helped her with footage hunting she would know for sure whether he was Cat Noir or not. He couldn't be in two places at once. With a little luck, she would end this hopeless paper chase during next akuma attack.

"Very well." she said slowly, observing Adrien's reaction carefully. "Be prepared my young apprentice for a dangerous yet thrilling adventure. Footage hunting is not for amateurs!" Alya waved her hand exaggeratedly, smirking at the model, who brighten up instantly. She then spotted Marinette, who was gawking at her converser. "We'll talk about our strategy during the long break. See you later!"

She then approached her friend, who had the goofiest smile on her round face. "What were you talking with Adrien about?"

"He asked about my last post. Wanted to know if I was okay." she shrugged, not feeling guilty about her white lie.

What she said sent Marinette into a series of squeals. She started gushing about Adrien's kind heart and whatnot - Alya had tuned out her friend's adorable blabber, choosing to concentrate on catching one sneaky black cat.

However, as it usually turned out for Alya's plans, Hawkmoth decided not to cause a ruckus for more than a week, effectively preventing her from achieving her goal.

For the blogger, it felt like eternity without any excitement or purpose. Once again she had been stalled by circumstances and it didn't sit well with the short-tempered teenager.

Having noticed her grumpiness, Mylene and Marinette decided to take their friend for ice creams. Alya appreciated their efforts to cheer her up, but her mood remained down in the dumps. When the trio decided to head to Dupain-Cheng's bakery, the blogger's prayers were answered in a form of a teddy bear akuma.

She split up with her friends, rushing to capture the fight with her camera. She dialed Adrien's number, following the plan she and the blonde had formed the previous week, only to be greeted by the voicemail. She tried again but to no avail.

Alya rolled her eyes, not really surprised by the lack of response from her classmate. Noticing the appearance of Ladybug she sprinted towards the akuma, which meant the opposite direction from other citizens fleeing the scene.

Cat Noir joined the fight soon enough, and the superhero duo quickly gained the upper hand over the cutest akuma in the history of akumas. For once, Alya got perfect shots of the clash - getting adequate angles was not difficult this time and the blogger was ecstatic about the battle, commenting everything gleefully.

"And with the well-aimed punch Ladybug knocks out Teddy Bear. It's an undisputable K.O!" the teenager exclaimed, blurring the vision of her video a little because of her uncontrolled movements of joy.

After the Miraculous Ladybug Charm got rid of every akuma-related damage, Alya strode towards superheroes, waving at them frantically. "Ladybug, Cat Noir, do you have a minute for a quick interview?"

Paris's defendants shared a look and nodded at the blogger, who couldn't hide her beaming smile. "For such a long time with no akuma attack, Hawkmoth didn't try too hard with Teddy Bear, now did he?" she asked, winking at her idols.

Ladybug snorted and Cat Noir smirked. "I could get used to fighting such adorable akumas, to be honest."

"I would prefer for Hawkmoth to take some well-deserved holidays." The superheroine sighed, massaging her temples. "I could use a break myself."

Alya shot the superhero in black a sly look. "What do heroes do in their spare time? Are you playing the part of model citizens, trying to blend in with us, normal people?"

Cat Noir laughed and grabbed Ladybug's shoulder. "I don't know about My Lady, but I do love a good nap in my free time. Laying in the warm sunlight is the best thing ever."

"So there's no chance this lazy Cat would like to try something new? Like modeling, for example?" Alya raised her eyebrow at the unchanging carefree demeanour of the black superhero.

"Sure! I would be the greatest swimsuit model! Don't you think my Lady?" Cat Noir winked at Ladybug who just rolled her eyes.

Alya was about to fire another shot when a message got her attention. It was a text from Adrien Agreste.

The blogger looked in disbelief between her phone and the cat superhero. It didn't make sense. Cat Noir stood in front of her, giving an interview but in the same moment, she got a text from Adrien.

The same person who was supposed to be the wild cat hero.

Whatever happened, confused her so much that she let her idols go without complaint, which never happened as she would sooner eat her phone than allow the superheroes to escape her easily.

The message she received contained an apology, something about having a fencing class and not knowing about the akuma attack. Alya typed a reply, and she quickly received another text from the model.

Something was off.

Well, Adrien, I don't know what you're playing at, but I'm not buying this jiggery-pokery of yours.

The similar situation had happened again and again. Adrien hadn't appeared at the akuma battle scene, always excusing himself with many extracurriculars.

Alya didn't believe in his stories at all, so she cornered him during school hours. The boy was apologetic, and shot her a sad look full of guilt, almost as if he was genuinely sorry for not helping her with her chase.

"I would love to help, but I have so many extracurriculars. Hawkmoth is not considerate of my tight schedule at all." He sighed, smiling wistfully, and Alya would be lying if she said she was not affected by the way the corner of his lips turned up. His expression almost convinced her of his sincerity. Almost.

"I just don't understand why would you offer your help if you knew you don't have much time to spare." said Alya, not really irked but not completely calm either.

Adrien averted his gaze, his cheeks reddening adorably. "You have so many interactions with Ladybug thanks to your hobby so... I thought that if I helped you I would also be able to talk to her..." his voice got lower with every word he spoke, his embarrassment growing.

That was something the blogger had not expected. At all.

"You are a Ladybug fan?" she asked not bothering to hide the surprise in her exclamation.

The green eyes met hazel ones and Alya knew that he was telling the truth. She felt the whisper of excitement on her skin. A fellow Ladybug fan.

"If that is the case, we can't give up, can we?" her statement brought an interestingly weird expression on the model's face, and she had to muffle her laughter building in her throat. "Shall we meet up and match our plan with your timetable?"

She could probably ask Marinette about their classmate's schedule but she didn't want to feel like a crazy person - acquiring such information behind his back.

Adrien smiled so brightly, the blogger could swear that at that moment the Sun came to Earth in a presence of a boy. It was a blindingly charming view.

"Actually, today I have a free evening. Would you mind coming over to my house?" He seemed like he wanted to add something but stopped himself., suddenly looking embarrassed.

Alya had no objections. She was a little curious about the decor of Agreste Mansion. Marinette would enjoy hearing about it too.

They decided to meet at around six o'clock.

And so, Alya found herself staring at the intimidating gate guarding the entrance to the house of Adrien Agreste.

It was not the first time she visited the place - she had spent at least a couple of minutes in front of the mansion before Marinette decided to leave their classmate's birthday present - yet coming here alone felt a tiny bit like a challenge.

Alya let out a breath and rung the doorbell. The stern feminine voice greeted her and instructed to state her business. Soon, she was walking through the patio, she remembered from the Bubbler party, into the grand hall.

As soon as she stepped inside the mansion she could feel the coldness on her skin. It was as if the marbles were glaring at her, sending shivers down her spine. As if in their glassy splendor they were touching her with ghastly freezing hands. The hall gave the impression of a carefully crafted marble cage.

It was dreadfully disconcerting.

In contrast to the overall coolness of the decor, Adrien's voice, when he greeted her, was full of warm kindness, of glittering amiability. The spring wind was winnowing snow in the hallway.

Her classmate ran to her down the stairs, gracing her with a welcoming smile. "My father is not home and I told Nathalie that we have a project to make." It wasn't a lie technically. It just wasn't school project.

The blonde led her through the mansion to his room, and Alya felt awfully out of place in her simple plaid shirt and worn-out jeans. The whole mansion was richly adorned, and full of dazzling splendor. It was positively the most gorgeous living space in Paris, yet its lavishness was raw and unpleasant.

Entering Adrien's room, Alya knew she had to remember as much as she could. She did not want to spare any detail for when she would be relating the story to Marinette. All her focus disappeared quickly as she was gawking at the unusualness of the place. Who has a climbing wall in one's room? Wait, is that a ramp? Adrien skateboards?

"Make yourself comfortable. I brought us tea and croissants." He gestured towards a table where porcelain teacups were neatly arranged. "Do you prefer black or green tea? Or maybe you would like some coffee or water?"

"Tea is more than enough, thank you." Alya smiled awkwardly at his eagerness to please her.

They sat down and talked about nothing in particular, sipping their tea. The blogger was very aware of the value of a teacup she was holding. She made sure to handle it with as little pressure as she could. Somehow, she had a hunch she would not be able to afford to pay for it if she broke it. Do they not use nice solid mugs in here?

Alya wanted to cut to the chase and form a plan that would allow Adrien to interview Ladybug for her blog, but the expression on her classmate's face prevented her from doing so. The blonde seemed overjoyed to have her over and she couldn't bring herself to change the topic.

Was Adrien as lonely as Nino said? Alya had thought that the DJ was blowing things out of proportions, but maybe she had been ignorant?

"Thanks for coming. I am really happy that you want to help me talk to Ladybug. Everyone knows she has a soft spot for you." said Adrien suddenly, making Alya blush furiously.

It was true that the superheroine seemed to like her, but the blogger would not go as far as to say Ladybug had a soft spot for her. That was ridiculous. Nevertheless, the mere thought of such a possibility made Alya's heart beat so fast, she could hear her blood pumping.

They discussed different scenarios of engaging Ladybug into a conversation with Adrien and went over his overly cramped timetable. When does that guy sleep?

In the midst of their animated discourse, Alya remembered what led to this weird situation of her chattering in the Agreste Mansion, in the first place.

Her chest grew heavy with the suspicion that her fruitless chase would continue forever. If she wanted answers she would have to mend her prime mistake - straying from her policy that honesty was the solution for everything.

Silently, she made a mental list of pros and cons of such an approach and felt a new wave of determination rising. It was now or never kind of situation, and Alya always preferred now.

Steadying herself, she cut Adrien off mid-sentence. "Listen, Adrien, there's something I want to ask you." The blonde smiled encouragingly at her, not suspecting the graveness of her question.

"Are you Cat Noir?"

In a split of a second, the smile on Adrien's face was replaced with the look of sheer horror and panic. The blogger focused her gaze on him, crumpling a guilty feeling stubbornly.

The mouse found itself in a pitfall with no escape in sight. There was no evading vigilant eyes of a determined predator.

The silence between two classmates was so long and heavy that Alya thought she would get no answer. However, suddenly, Adrien hid his face in his hands and let a resigned, desperate cry.

"Yes. I am." he said so quietly, the brown-haired girl could have imagined it. "Please, don't tell anyone."

Alya's mood changed instantly - she was on her feet, too excited to sit still. She was right all this time! Adrien Agreste was a superhero. What amazing news was that?

Her mind was crowded with so many questions she wanted to ask her classmate, she didn't notice the blonde observing her fearfully.

"Alya, can you keep it a secret?" he said pleadingly.

The blogger looked at him as if he was the craziest person in the world. "I am not very good at that, but I will try my best." Such an answer did not satisfy Adrien at all.

"You know, just forget about what I said. It's best for both of us if you pretend you don't know that I am Cat Noir."

"Are you insane?" Alya exclaimed loudly. "How am I suppose to do that? This is the biggest scoop of the century! The famous model is, in fact, a wild superhero in black! Wait, do you know who Ladybug is?" she asked, hopeful.

Adrien shook his head. "We keep our identities a secret. And it should stay this way."

Alya was not convinced, but she decided to let it slide for now. "So how did you become a superhero?"

Her question was left unanswered, however, as Adrien called Nathalie to show his classmate the door, excusing himself with work he had to do.

Alya's curiosity was hardly sated, but Adrien did not spare her another glance.

XXX

If Alya had thought things couldn't get more awkward between her and Adrien she was gravely mistaken.

To say the atmosphere between them had been tense would be an understatement of a month.

The blonde model could hardly look his blogger classmate in the eyes, and when he did, his face assumed the expression of pain and sorrow so heartbreaking that Alya wanted to go back in time and prevent herself from chasing after Cat Noir.

All the brief excitement she had felt evaporated into thin air and the teenager started to worry. What if she couldn't keep her mouth shut and would end up blabbering Adrien's secret? Contrary, to her dismissing answer to his plea, she was concerned about keeping Cat Noir's identity from the rest of Paris. In the end, she didn't want her classmate to get hurt. Too late for that.

She was also wondering whether Ladybug could also be someone she was familiar with. If the cat superhero was attending her school, maybe the heroine was too. That history book might have been a clue after all.

Alya lay on her bed, trying to think of what to do next. The most logical solution would be to talk to Adrien and make amends. On the other hand, the last time she wanted to speak to him, they had ended up playing an endless game of hide and seek.

And she was sick of that.

The blogger felt guilty about her reaction to Adrien's revelation. She should have been more mindful of the blonde's feelings.

She grabbed her phone, thinking of texting Nino. He would be able to help her apologize to Adrien. Maybe she could get him a small gift and write an apology letter? That way the model could make the decision on his own if he wanted to talk to her or not. She would not invade his comfort zone this time.

Her musing was interrupted by a soft knocking sound. Alya got up, startled a little.

"Mum, is that you?" she asked, looking for a source of the noise. There was no one at her door. She moved to inspect the window and -

Her gaze met a pair of glowing green eyes.

Author's Note:

I had so much trouble with this chapter. I rewrote it many times, yet I am still not fully satisfied with how it turned out. Still, I have decided to post it, as I can't move with the story.

Despite my mixed thoughts, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, still.

Thank you for reading and have a great day :)

Next time: midnight Paris strolls and some heart to hearts.