Haven't written for this fandom in years, and then suddenly inspiration beat me over the head. Here, have a one shot.
There weren't many occasions for Adrien to regret having the Black Cat miraculous; generally he took more joy from the abilities and freedom it offered than he suspected even Ladybug or Hawk Moth did from theirs.
That wasn't to say being a superhero didn't have its ups and downs - it was just that to him the costs and responsibilities were a small price to pay for everything else he had gained from being Chat Noir.
Recently however.. It wasn't that he so much regretted being Chat Noir, as it was that he was sort of, maybe.. kind of jealous of his masked self.
Specifically about how much easier it was to be brave and confident while hiding behind a mask.
It had been a few weeks since Lila had tried to get Marinette expelled and he had stepped in to get her to back off, and while Lila hadn't tried anything nearly as bad as that again, he couldn't help but feel it was too little, too late.
He had made sure to apologise to Marinette in private for not helping her expose Lila when they had the chance, for not supporting her enough even though he knew the truth.. and though there had been an awkward stage to their friendship after that day, when it passed they were almost better friends than they had been before everything.
Almost, because getting to know the Marinette better had made him realise what a genuinely good person she was, how much she cared about people even if they weren't particularly close to her, how enthusiastic she was about everything that mattered to her!
And how reserved she had become in class, especially after people still didn't believe her about Lila - even with him now backing up her claims. He couldn't help but wonder if he had just voiced his support at the start of this mess, would she still have become so withdrawn?
Marinette had always seemed a little shy or quiet around him (he didn't know if it was due to the intimidating knowledge of who his father was, or some lingering resentment from their first meeting), so he had at first missed that she was now acting similarly with everyone.. It was different when he saw her as Chat Noir. She was happy, and bubbly, and excitable, and.. well. After everything, he wasn't entirely sure he deserved to be her friend.
The worst part was that he didn't want to leave her without a close friend, and so the occasional visits from Chat Noir while he was on patrol became first a visit every second week, then a quick stop every week and were now a scheduled movie/game night every Thursday evening.
This had led to him seeing a side of Marinette that he wasn't familiar with; one that he had seen indications of whenever she stood up for others or those rare days where she came to school so tired she seemed to forget whatever it was that made her so nervous around him.
On an unrelated note, he had noticed whenever she was hyper-focused, the exhaustion from working on her designs so late affected her mood very intensely - it had made him curious about whether or not his father would be less.. like he was, if he got more sleep? Not that Adrien was going to bring it up with him, but still.
Marinette's ease around him as Chat Noir only made him appreciate her more, and though he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to give up on Ladybug.. She was his first real crush, which was already hard for most teens his age, but then adding in the fact that she knew the side of him he only let out as Chat Noir, and how often she had saved his life.. not to mention, he still felt a little starstruck at the memory of her standing against Hawk Moth the first time he appeared.
She was also beautiful, but at the risk of sounding like an jackass, Adrien was frankly surrounded by beautiful women on a regular basis. Heck, he could freely admit that Marinette was at least as beautiful as Ladybug!
Plagg may call him dense, and okay sometimes he really could be, but he knew he liked Marinette as more than a friend.
The real question was; was it simply a minor crush he developed due to quickly getting to know her better, or was he falling in love with her?
It was a question he had been struggling to find an answer to for weeks.. one that had developed some serious urgency, considering what had almost happened at their movie night last week..
Which was why he had currently been thinking through his feelings for both of the women in his life, when he arrived at school to find some smirking blond guy sitting next to Marinette and addressing her as babe."
'..Yeah, definitely have the answer now.'
Marinette knew Chloé would start to think she was insane if she didn't stop glaring suspiciously at any sudden movements on their way into school, but she couldn't help it. Something was going to happen today, most likely something weird, and most likely to her.
Her day had started when she woke up an hour earlier than usual from a pleasant dream she could only vaguely recall, rather than her normal panic-inducing hour late. Which almost never happened, especially considering last night had been movie night with Chat (she still couldn't believe he'd never seen Treasure Planet) and she hadn't gone to bed until late.
Surprising yes, but not that shocking.
She had used that extra time to take a long relaxing shower, and afterwards saw she would still be early to school if she left now. So she had taken a slightly longer route to school in order to stop by a coffee place she liked, to find that not only were there no queue and they had a promotion on that the first ten customers would receive half-off on their first order - and she was lucky number ten.
Again surprising, but nothing to worry over.
Yet when she started heading to school, Chloé's limo pulled over beside her and in a somewhat friendly tone (which was admittedly becoming more common as the former bully worked through a lot of her personal issues) offered Marinette a lift.
The two of them had a surprisingly enjoyable conversation about the latest fashion trends and their favourite pieces from various designers - for as much as she loved Alya, her friend was about as interested in fashion as Marinette was in journalism.
Which is too say, not at all.
Unless it involved the 'How To Talk To The Press For Dummies' book she had gotten from Chat - only cementing her vague suspicion that he was some kind of celebrity in his civilian life.. she was leaning towards either a nationally ranked gymnast, or former child-star from some TV show she'd never seen.
Chloé, while a self-confessed 'average' designer, was even more up to date with the current trends or competitive side of high end fashion than Marinette - and while Marinette could both design and create amazing clothes, Chloé had inherited her mother's ability to intuitively known which fashion trends would be momentary blips, and which would last multiple seasons.
Their conversation lasted the entire drive to school, as well as the few minutes it took them to enter the building and walk towards their classroom. As Marinette opened the door and made to enter, both she and Chloé spotted a group of students seemingly surrounding someone while excitedly chattering.
She supressed a groan and quickly looked around to see if any of her friends were at school yet; seeing they weren't, she decided rather than sit through whatever story Lila had made up, she might as well continue her conversation with Chloé.
..or she would have, had Chloé still been beside her. Marinette's eyes caught her just as she was heading around the corner towards Principle Damocles' office, muttering something about having had enough. Not sure what that was about, she braced herself and took her old seat next to Alya (seeing as after Lila's "lying disease" became known to Madame Bustier, there was no reason to rearrange the classroom).
—
She was just putting the final touches on a doodle of Chat Noir crouching on a table and hissing at a cucumber held in a spotted hand, when she felt someone (she assumed it was Alya) slide into the seat next to her.. though that assumption was proven wrong as an unknown male voice spoke:
"That's a pretty interrresting drawing you have there," a voice drawled out.
'Oh no,' Marinette couldn't help but think, 'I know that tone. What are the odds that this guy is blond, somewhat attractive and has green eyes?'
And yup, there it was, exactly as she expected.
Blonde hair (not fluffy enough), green eyes (too pale), a decent build (not as defined), a casual smirk (too pompous) and the oh-so-original too-tight T-shirt.
Another 'Chat Lite' - just one more utterly clueless boy in Paris who kind of resembled Chat Noir, and tried to capitalise on his popularity to become popular - as if that would ever work when the real thing ran around saving damsels and kicking ass. It was like that awkward period a few years ago where a bunch of kids tried to replicate the pale-loner-vampire vibe in the hope of getting popularity.
She wasn't sure exactly what annoyed her so much about the trend; the girls mimicking the 'Ladybug' hair-style and colour scheme barely registered as a bother to her. Maybe it was the fact that none of them came close to the real thing, and yet they all tended to act like they were somehow better.
They weren't.
They really, really weren't.
One the on hand, she almost felt guilty about thinking so poorly of them (or rather, she felt guilty for not caring how harsh her inner monologue was to them), but on the other.. they started it.
And she had an abundance of criticisms for the lot of them.
Oodles of refutals, even.
Marinette actually kept a list of the various reasons why the various 'fakers' couldn't match up to the real deal - and she never even had to dip into the 'routinely-sacrifices-himself-for-her' or 'so-much-sweeter-than-anyone-realises' parts of her memory that she actively forced down!
Why in the name of Kwami where there so many Chat-Lite pretenders out there?!
The fact that there might be a connection between herself being an exceptionally attractive girl, combined with it being somewhat well known that she was a fan of Chat Noir (due to the few interviews she had done for Alya's Blog as her best friend), completely failed to occur to her.
She was still trying to consider how to respond (Sarcastic barb? Forced politeness? Subtle insult? Overt insult? Kick to the shin?), when she heard someone whisper something (her hearing wasn't as good as Chat's, but she made due) about the odds of drawing Chat Noir like that on today of all days.
She didn't miss the reactions either - eyes wide, pointed looks, and barely hidden grins - clearly there was some 'mysterious' secret afoot.
Combined with the new guy exaggeratedly staring at the others nearby, not-so-subtly making a keep quiet motion.. obviously he was involved somehow. She especially didn't miss the look on Lila's face, which all-but-confirmed this was something she was involved in, which meant a long day of irritation at best, or another scheme to make her look bad at worst..
Unfortunately, she couldn't figure out what Lila's plan was - it couldn't possibly as much of cliché as hiring a guy to do that whole 'fake-asking-out' thing; that would be ridiculous.
..so maybe Marinette was a little paranoid, but frankly her day had started off weird and it was unnerving her. Besides, was it really paranoia if someone outright told you they would completely ruin your life and turn all your friends against you?
She kind of zoned out during the following conversation between her classmates; just going through the motions as the new kid was introduced as Jacques Lecourt, hiding her annoyance at his attempts to flirt like Chat Noir and nodding politely at some new challenge Alix and Kim were talking about.
Sometimes their dares and competitions were pretty fun to watch - but Marinette hadn't really been able to enjoy them the same way since Timebreaker. Generally she could shake off any lingering ill feelings with regards to akumas, but she really hated Timebreaker.
'Not only did I end up facing two akumas for the first time, but I had to do it alone because Chat.. I still have nightmares about that sometimes, and I didn't even know about Master Fu back then! I don't hold it against Alix, but seriously - fuck Timebreaker.'
Before Marinette could go too far down her usual rant of insulting Timebreaker, the small part of her mind that was always actively listening since she first became Ladybug caught onto those two words that tended to make her panic more than usual - secret identity.
Startling upright, Marinette quickly looked around at the others standing nearby, trying to see what they knew.
For a moment she thought she must have misheard, since everyone was just staring at her with familiar 'what-the-heck-is-Marinette-doing' looks that came with being as awkwardly clumsy as she used to be, before there was a snort from Lila.
Marinette shot her a look, but didn't say anything - trying to counter Lila's usual nonsense before she picked up steam gave her too much time to adapt and change her into the bad guy of the story.
Contrary to her expectations, Lila wasn't glaring at her, but instead smiling some kind of.. conspiratorial grin? At her? Her, Marinette?
Okay, she was now officially weirded out. Deciding she needed to go dunk her head in some cold water, she stood up - only to realise she was vaguely boxed in by the Chat-Lite on one side, and her friends on the other.
"Ohh! Look, she's so shy about meeting him!" squealed Rose.
'Uhh.. what?'
Realising her friends were too distracted with.. whatever they were talking-about-but-not-actually-saying, she cleared her throat to gain their attention and said:
"Um.. sorry. I kind of.. zoned out for a bit? So I don't actually know what everyone's talking about.." she trailed off, noticing her friends staring at her in disbelief.
She did not miss the flash of irritation that flickered across the new kid; another strike against the catastra-phony - Chat Noir wouldn't get as easily annoyed by something as silly as someone not listening to his every word.
Whoops. Guess they were talking about something important?
She was startled out of her thoughts and into a blush, as first Alya, and then the rest of her friends started to laugh good-naturedly.
She smiled internally at the thought that they were genuinely amused this time, rather than the slightly condescending way they had been laughing recently when she tried to expose Lila.
Then she scowled due to having to make the distinction - Lila may not have been able to succeed in her whole 'turn-everyone-against-Marinette-scheme', but the fact that all of Marinette's attempts to tell them about Lila's lies was met with either dismissive comments or slight condescension burned her up inside.
"Girl, I should have known when you showed up early for class you were probably still half asleep!" Alya said, shaking her head with a grin.
Marinette pouted - mostly because she knew Alya was right, and her waking up early and refreshed, and arriving at school early?
Strange.
Before she could respond, Lila leaned over to whisper something into Alya's ear.
'Maybe you and you-know-who should break the news to her alone - we all know how shy Marinette can be!'
Now granted, if she didn't have enhanced hearing she would have missed the entire exchange, but she did, so she hadn't.
The next thing she knew, Lila was shooing everyone away to the other side of the classroom or their desks; some of them with a disappointed mutter and others actually shooting her a knowing wink?
Suffice to say, Marinette was very confused.
She had seen the smug look on Lila's face - the girl was clearly up to something, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what. Lila did her best work with an audience to eat it up.. maybe Ladybug could dangle her off of the roof? That would get her the biggest audience she could possibly want!
Marinette was pulled from her dark musings (she wouldn't really do it! Though Volpina did use that illusion of Adrien so maybe.. no! Happy thoughts!) by Alya suddenly stepping closer and taking both Marinette's hands in hers, holding them up between them.
"Marinette.. as your best friend, I need you to stay calm when you hear what I'm about to tell you. Can you do that for me?"
Marinette felt her eyes widen in surprise - her friend was being more serious than she would have expected. This was clearly something serious.. but Alya seemed more excited than nervous? Maybe it was good news she just wanted to keep quiet for now?
"You know how you have this kind of hero-worship-crush on Chat Noir..?" she asked rhetorically, though Marinette wanted to protest anyway.
She just stayed quiet instead.. but just because there was no use arguing with Alya! That's all! Not because a small part of her agreed! That would be crazy. Fortunately, her friend seemed to take her silence as acquiescence, and continued on before Marinette could spiral too far into the implications of her crushing on Chat Noir.
"Welll," Alya drawled out, obviously full of excitement, "I actually know who he is! Beneath the mask!" she finished in a whisper-shout.
There was a second that seemed to last a lifetime as the words floated around in her mind - spinning round and round in a whirlpool of worry, panic, stress.. before the focused intensity that came with being Ladybug for three years slammed down with the force of a crashing wave.
She couldn't panic, her partner might be in danger in his civilian life and have no idea! This wasn't how she wanted to find out, but needs must when Hawk Moth is a dick - which was always.
First thing though - information. Information, then she needed to get him away to safety, then they could think on how to go forward from there. Nodding to herself at the first semblance of a plan started to form, her hands shot out to grab Alya by the shoulders.
"Alya, focus. Do you know if anyone else knows?" she all but demanded.
Unfortunately, her friend seemed to miss the urgency in her voice, and just waved her off.
"I'm not sure of everyone who knows, but I know the entire class does? He told us, just this morning!"
'The entire class?!' she mentally screeched, 'That was so bad! Sure, my friends were good people, but as this mess with Lila proved, anyone can be tricked! The saying goes two can keep a secret, not two dozen!'
Letting go of Alya, she grabbed her pigtails in a panic (a nervous habit she still couldn't break).
"Damn, damn, damn! How could this happen?! How are we going to..—" she froze as something else registered.
"Wait a second - did you just say he told you?" she asked, lowering her hands and staring at Alya.
"Uhh.. yeah? That's what I've been trying to tell you this whole.." Alya said, though Marinette had stopped listening.
She started to calm down - Chat Noir told her class? Before telling her? No, she didn't buy it. The idea that either of them would willingly share their identity with anyone other than each other first was - to borrow a phrase - utterly ridiculous!
Catching the intense-but-unthreatening gaze of Lila, she knew something suspicious was afoot - something the little liar expected to work on Marinette.
Which was even more suspicious, considering their history..
"..being rude, even though he's right there,"
Her head snapped towards her friend.
"Wait, he's here? Where?!"
Alya gaped at her, before slowly shaking her head.
"Girl, you are out of it!" and that said, she motioned with her eyes behind Marinette.
Spinning around quickly (her heart skipping a beat was obviously because of the sudden movement, not excitement at the possibility of meeting her Chaton outside the mask).
Her excitement quickly vanished, however, at seeing nothing but the new student.
Vaguely registering he was trying to do that eyebrow-wiggle-thing (Chat had it down to an art form - he could do the wave from both sides, and even stop midway before reversing), she turned back to Alya with a frown.
"That's not funny, Alya," she responded, wondering if that tone of disappointment was obvious to anyone else.
Alya was now staring at her with.. a strange mixture of worry, and humour.
"Marinette.. he's sitting right next to you. You know, where I usually sit..?"
She shot Alya an almost identical look.
"Uhh.. no? That's just the new kid, Jacob?"
"My name is Jacques!"
Marinette rolled her eyes and shrugged; usually she wasn't so rude to people when she first met them, but damn if this guy didn't.. Okay so maybe she didn't have a good reason to dislike him except for some vague paranoia, but she gave herself plenty of leeway when it came to these.. Dupli-Chats.
"Marinette.. Jacques is Chat Noir.." Alya said, in the tone one used when explaining that one plus one equals two to someone who might have a panic attack at that knowledge.
Marinette gaped at her friend.
Alya was kidding, right?
Judging from her expression, she honestly wasn't.
Marinette slowly turned to look back at the new student.
He leaned back in his seat, threw one arm over the desk behind him, did a silly wave thing with the other, and shot her what was supposed to be a confident grin - though it actually just came off as vain. Something she knew, despite his reputation, the boy who watched silly movies with her on Thursdays was not.
She supposed he was trying to look suave, or something?
She looked back at Alya and made a motion with her hand that clearly asked 'This guy!?' - because Marinette sure as hell couldn't see it.
Granted, she had the additional advantage of knowing about their promise to tell each other before anybody else, knowing him better than anyone else in this class, but still!
And yet.. despite being 99% certain this Jacques wasn't who he said he was, there was no harm in checking. Ladybug had told him once that he'd be disappointed with the girl beneath the mask, and she remembered the unreadable look that had crossed his face at her words.. a look that had been followed by the confession that he doubted she'd recognise the boy beneath the mask either.
Was this what he meant? Did he purposefully act out, in the hopes of throwing off anyone who suspected the truth?
Who knows, maybe there was something going on he couldn't outright say? Maybe someone had seen him leaving her balcony last week, and this was his way of covering it up? After all, a superhero leaving a civilian's home that late.. it could be prime blackmail material! At least in the eyes of everyone who didn't know she was Ladybug.
Which, as previously stated, still included Chat Noir.
She pursed her lips, considering how she could figure out if he truly was Chat Noir without either tipping off Alya to the truth, or reveal anything important in the likelihood that he wasn't who he said he was.
In a flash, the idea came to her.
"Hey, Jacques? Have you ever seen the movie Ballerina?"
He blinked at her in response, before sitting up with a smile on his face.
She still couldn't see it, but for a moment his reaction gave her hope that he really was Chat Noir - that like when they fought akuma, he could read her without a moment's thought.
"Can't say I have.. though if this is you asking me on a movie date, I suppose I would be willing to give it a watch.." came the conceited response.
The wrong response.
Despite herself, she let out a disappointed sigh. A part of her desperately wanted to know who he was - but a far larger part was too afraid to take that first step. To even let him take that first step!
She wasn't sure she could bear to have their partnership fall apart because he was disappointed that behind the mask, behind the hero of Paris, was just ordinary Marinette.
"..Yeah, I'll pass," she said dismissively.
She and Chat had watched that movie just last week - he had been immediately taken with it, and the two of them had made a game out of imagining themselves in a similar situation.
Her being a baker's apprentice to support him following a music career.
Him working construction to support her fashion designs..
It was silly, and ridiculous, and barely made any sense.
Yet they had continued on anyway, laughing themselves breathless by the time their hypotheticals had reached a point where he would be working as a cabaret dancer to support her passion for pantomime.
Despite forcing their laughter down to avoid waking her parents, they had still needed to take a minute to catch a breath.
A minute that had stretched forever - in the darkness of her room, with the movie credits slowly scrolling by, it seemed to strike them both simultaneously that a joke or not, they had just spent fifteen minutes talking about running away together.. and that they were very close to each other.
She had wanted to kiss him, then.
She had been about to, actually - any remaining feelings for Adrien pushed aside by the way her heart beat with Chat so close.
And unless she misread the situation, he was about to kiss her back.
At least until his sensitive hearing had picked up her father getting up for a glass of water; and in a flash, his emotions were replaced by guilt for putting her at risk. Weredad had made him both more careful when around her, and awfully guilty despite it being nobody's fault but Hawk Moth.
Shaking herself out of the memory, her good mood from earlier all but vanished. Turning away, she decided she would leave for the bathroom after all. She had just stepped past Alya, when a hand closed around her elbow with just too much force to be considered an accident.
Looking behind her with a glare, she saw the Faux Noir look at her with an arrogant grin.
"Aww, c'mon! I promise to make it worth your while, babe.."
Adrien actually had to supress a growl as he saw the way whoever this guy was yanked on Marinette's arm and delivered the sleaziest line he had ever heard in person.
Dropping his school bag by the door, he started to step forward - to put himself between them, to offer an excuse to leave, maybe straight up deck the guy - he wasn't sure yet, but it proved moot as Alya was a lot closer and just a bit quicker.
Adrien snorted at the speed with which the guy backed up when there was suddenly a furious redhead between him and Marinette.
"Excuse you! I don't care who you are Jacques, no one goes around yanking on my best friend! No doesn't mean try harder, or has all your superheroing gone straight to your head!? You better get your act together, alley cat, before I have you neutered," she snapped off with what Adrien could freely admit was a more terrifying tone than he'd even heard from Hawk Moth.
And then her words fully registered, leaving him very confused.
"Wait, what?" he muttered to himself, trying to figure out why the class (at least half of which were nodding along with Alya, and Sabrina of all people offering to help!) seemed to give off a distinctly anti-feline vibe at the moment.
It was setting his whisker-senses tingling.
His words must have been louder than he thought, since Marinette now turned to face him, completely ignoring the verbal evisceration Alya was dishing out to the stranger.
"Oh, good morning! Excited for the weekend?" she asked with a smile, and he was glad to note she wasn't too distressed over this Jacques' behaviour if she was still making that joke (he had mentioned once that he preferred school to weekends, and she had never let him forget it.. even if she did understand what he had meant).
Taking a moment to look her over for any signs that she was just putting up a front, but seeing none, he smiled back.
"Ah, you know me - Fridays are the bane of my existence," he responded overdramatically, and tried not to preen at successfully getting a giggle out of her.
Ignoring the butterflies in his stomach, he motioned to where Alya was still tearing into the new guy, with him attempting to stammer excuses, and Lila now approaching to do.. something.
"Care to fill me in?" he asked.
"Sure. Long story short, they're trying to convince me that Monsieur Manners over there," she said with a wave of her hand, "is none other than Chat Noir!" she finished off in a mocking squeal, expression never changing from the look of complete bafflement at the very idea.
Adrien gawked at her.
"Him!?" he whisper-shouted in disbelief.
"I know! And they looked at me like I was the crazy one for not believing it!"
Adrien was really starting to worry about the gullibility of his friends - and that was as someone who, at 14 years old, was given a magical ring that gave him the ability to transform into a leather-clad cat-themed superhero with the power to destroy anything he touched.
"But.. but he's so smarmy!" he exclaimed in dismay.
Surely his friends didn't think so little of Chat Noir..? Or was that genuinely how he came off to people?
Marinette's eyes snapped back to his, and wow they really were such a lovely blue he could just.. no!
"Smarmy! That's the word I was looking for!"she exclaimed, her behaviour leaving him very confused.
His confusion only grew as she started rooting around in her ever-present purse and letting out a cute little hum as she pulled out a small-ish notebook.
The notebook itself was either a darkish-grey or a faded black, and the cover had an olive green paw print of some kind.. actually, taking a closer look, it almost seemed as if the notebook was in Chat Noir's colours, just.. really washed out?
Noticing she was mumbling something while writing, he strained his ears to their limit - probably not the most moral reason to use his advanced hearing, but he was curious!
'Chat-Lite 58.. smarmy..'
"What are you writing there, Marinette?"
Adrien almost jumped at the sudden voice, only now registering Marinette's behaviour had drawn the attention of a few others as well.
"Hmm? Oh this," she said, holding the notebook out to Alya, "is just something I got to keep track of all those Faux Noirs running around these days."
He was happy to see everyone else looking just as confused as he was - he had no idea what Marinette was talking about!
Something she must have noticed, as she rolled her eyes with a chuckle, and explained:
"You know, all these guys in Paris that kind of resemble Chat Noir, and try to take advantage of his popularity to flirt with people?" she finished in the way of someone who clearly thought what they were saying was common knowledge.
Alya just blinked at her for a few seconds, before biting her lip and looking at the rest of the class.
"Uhh, anyone else want to chime in here with similar experiences..?"
Adrien felt a pit start to form in his stomach as everyone else just looked around at each other, shaking their head in the negative.
Moving beside Alya where she was paging through Marinette's book, but she passed it to him quickly and instead turned towards a now bewildered looking Marinette.
"Wait, really..? None of you have ever noticed them..?" he vaguely heard Marinette ask, but his attention was fully taken by the contents of the book.
Chat Lite 12 - Hair not blond enough
Chat Lite 27 - Voice not as nice as Chat's
Chat Lite 33 - Was harassing Maman, cried when I broke his nose
Chat Lite 48 - Too skinny to be Chat
Chat Lite 58 - Too smarmy!
He wasn't sure how it made him feel - on the one hand, there was a kind of guilty pleasure in seeing how well she thought of him.. but on the other hand, he had just realised he definitely liked Marinette as more than just a friend, and this notebook was an unintentional log of how many guys flirted or tried to make a move on Marinette.
It shouldn't surprise him, really.
There were many reasons to like Marinette - she was kind, and sweet, and always willing to help; she was fearless when she stood up to bullies, but forgiving if someone made a serious effort to be better. She was also one of the most genuinely earnest people he had ever meant, never shying away from bragging about her friends' accomplishments but humble when someone mentioned her own..
Even if you didn't know her, you could still fall for her! She was beautiful; eyes that sparkled like the night sky, hair the colour of a moonless night, a smile that brightened up the room and a laugh that provoked a smile from anyone who heard it.
"When exactly did this start, Marinette?" Alya's voice penetrated his thoughts, and his head snapped up, eager to hear her response himself.
Marinette bit her lip in thought, and Adrien valiantly fought the desire to test the softness of those lips with his own.
"I.. guess around a year or so ago?" she stated, half asking.
He and Alya shared a look, both thinking it over, when he suddenly felt his eyes widen as the realisation hit.
"Weredad," he growled - overcome by a mixture of guilt for having caused the akuma in the first place, and anger at how many people had apparently tried to use Marinette's rejection as an opportunity to ask her out.
Judging from the protective anger he saw in Alya's eyes, she had made the same connection.
Before either of them could say anything, however, the door burst open with a loud bang. As everyone turned to face it, Chloé entered followed by a harried-looking Principal Damocles.
Clearing his throat, he said:
"Jacques Lecourt - there's been a.. change in the class system. Come with me please, you're to be transferred to Ms. Mendeleiev's homeroom. Come along."
Jacques wasted no time, and immediately took the chance to get away from the other students (who had still been berating him for grabbing at Marinette). Just as they reached the door, Principal Damocles turned back towards them.
"Oh, and Ms. Rossi? We finally managed to reach your mother, something about an appointment with the Mayor that was cancelled, and she's on her way," he said, almost as an afterthought.
Adrien took a bit of vindictive pleasure from the panicked look that crossed her face at that moment, and he shared a surprised grin with Marinette as Lila rushed out after the Principal.
After they left, Chloé approached him, Alya, and Marinette. She wasn't sneering, so he hoped she and Marinette would get along (they had gotten better, but they still had their bad days), but the odd way Marinette was staring at his old friend made him worry.
"Chloé.." she started, seeming unsure of what she wanted to ask, "did you.. do this? Get Jacques transferred and Lila's mother to school?"
He noticed Alya's confused look at the last part, and pulled a face at the remembrance that Lila still had her mostly fooled.
Chloé narrowed her eyes, but then flipped her ponytail and smirked at them.
"Well you and Wonder Boy over there were taking forever to deal with her, and she was getting on my nerves. As for the new kid.. I like our class the way it is. Just look at the mess Lila made when she got here; I am not going through that again."
He saw Alya open her mouth to respond, likely to defend Lila, but Marinette put her hand on her friend's arm and something passed between them. Letting out a sigh, Alya just shook her head and mumbled something about 'this weekend'.
Possible argument averted, the four of them spent a few minutes talking (in other words, Alya tried interrogating each of them for anything interesting to write about on her non-Ladybug blog).
It was a surprisingly fun conversation, considering the odd makeup of their group.
So naturally, it all had to go wrong.
"One thing I still don't get, Marinette," Alya started in a questioning tone, continuing when they all turned to focus on her, "what was with the reaction when Jacques said he hasn't seen Ballerina?"
Any possible response was cut off by the loud groaning from Chloé.
"Ugh, not you too! Adrikins has not shut up about that movie for over a week! He kept talking about the characters, and the dancing, and the setting! Don't even get me started on the setting! He kept joking about running off with some girl to join the..-" was as far as she got, before she was suddenly interrupted by a panicking Adrien who covered her mouth and pulled her off to the side.
"Chloé, if our friendship means anything, then please, under no circumstances can you ever bring up the Cabaret dancing thing to Marinette!" he hissed out in a whisper, utterly panicking at the almost slip up.
"Tell me about the what?!" Marinette suddenly exclaimed, staring at him with a narrow eyed intensity.
He blanched; how did she hear him!? Wait.. maybe she didn't know, and just thought it was weird?
Then her eyes widened in disbelief, before rapidly filling with outrage.
"Adrien Agreste!" she suddenly shrieked, and Oh kwami she definitely figured it out!
Deciding descretion was the better part of valour, he turned and made a run for it.
Hearing shocked outcries from his classmates, he looked back to see an indignant Marinette vault her desk like it was nothing.
"Wait no, it's not my fault! The rules said I couldn't tell you!" he tried to explain, still running down the hall.
"Get back here you mangy stray!" was the only response.
The uncharacteristic display from a usually-shy Marinette (at least when talking to Adrien) unnerved him so much, he didn't even pay attention where he was running - which turned out to be a mistake, as he turned into the dead-end hallway that lead to the janitor's closet.
Feeling a glare on his back, he slowly turned to look at a furious Marinette storming towards him.
..he probably shouldn't have been as attracted to her at this moment as he was.
She stopped almost fully against him, eyes roaming over his face; searching for similarities, he supposed. She must have found them, as her expression started to mellow out into..
He frowned.
Actually, he wasn't sure what her expression was - it seemed.. kind of excited? Which he could have understood, she was a civilian learning a superhero's identity.. but it seemed. More, somehow. Like a giant weight had been lifted from her.
"You really are him, aren't you.." she said softly, and her tone made him hopeful that she wouldn't hold his secret-keeping against him.
Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, he said:
"Uhh.. yeah. I had to keep my identity a secret, for safety. If I'm being honest, I probably shouldn't have spent so much time with you in the first place."
Her eyes softened further, and she took a step closer, asking:
"Then why did you..?"
"Because.. because you always seemed so nervous around Adrien, but around Chat Noir you.. I couldn't stay away. You were captivating," he said with a sigh.. before smirking, "Chat-tivating."
He suddenly sobered up.
"Oh, Kwami - Ladybug! I'm going to have to tell her a civilian learned my identity! She's going to be so mad.. I'm almost too scared to think what her response might be," he said faintly..
Only to freeze as a pair of slender arms wrapped around his neck.
"Oh I don't know Chaton.. I'm sure you could handle it," and his eyes snapped to hers so fast he heard his neck crack.
Then his brain stopped working, because—
—because Marinette was kissing him!
—because Marinette was Ladybug!
—because Ladybug was kissing him!
—because Ladybug was Marinette!
He felt her start to pull back hesitantly, and his brain rebooted instantly at the realisation that he was overthinking the implications and hadn't actually kissed his Lady back!
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to make up for his hesitance, and kisses her like he could convey his utter joy at learning the truth, his sheer amazement that Ladybug was Marinette and that Marinette was Ladybug.
She's warm and soft, her petite body melding against his as his hand trails up and down her back, her fingers tangling into the soft hairs at the nape of his neck. He wasn't sure how long they stood there kissing, but by the time they had to pull back for breath they had an audience and two detentions each.
Seeing the utter joy in Marinette's eyes that reflected his own, he decided he honestly couldn't care less.
No matter what came next, he had found his lady and she had found her knight, and together they could take on anything.
Hope everyone enjoyed! If you did, please feel free to review, and hoping to publish more soon. Left the Lila-reveal as something that's coming soon, rather than adding one more story with it.