Adrien Agreste stared at his face in the mirror for a minute, before letting out a loud groan. Plagg cackled. "Kid, that girl really is hilarious! I like her!"

"I do too." Adrien agreed "But this is kind of ridiculous! I can't go to school like this!"

"Sure you can." Plagg grinned, throwing a piece of cheese into the air, swallowing it whole.

"But people will see!" Adrien cried dramatically, falling against the mirror. The black lines drawn on his cheeks were going to be a dead giveaway for his secret superhero life, to anyone that knew of Chat Noir's existence (that is, everyone in Paris)

"So?" Plagg shrugged.

"What if Ladybug goes to our school? What if she is in my class?! What if she finds out who I am?"

"It's not the end of the world;" Plagg sighed, whizzing through the air to rest on the blond teen's head. "I mean, the worst that can happen is other people recognise you, Hawkmoth finds out who you are, it puts your friends and family in danger, he starts targeting your civilian self, you have to give up your miraculous, and then he make you suffer through a fate worse than death and—"

Adrien slammed his head against the mirror.

"Okay, it's pretty bad;' The Kwami admitted with a sigh "Maybe you could pass it off that you have a video channel or something and it was a challenge someone sent in."

"That won't work... unless I actually set up a channel to prove it."

"Nah, too much effort," Plagg complained, slipping down to rest in front of his companion.

"Then what excuse works? Photo shoots?"

"Wow, you really are the worst at coming up with ideas." The black cat-being floated up into the air again, tail whipping from side to side. "Come on- you don't want to be late for school."

"B-but what about Natalie and Father?" Adrien asked, turning to watch his Kwami.

"When do they ever see you in the morning anyway?"

"...You're right..." Adrien frowned, brow creasing.

"Ah," Plagg faltered "I'm sorry kid, I didn't mean it-"

"It's fine. Come on, we should go." The boy sighed, holding open his jacket. The cat-like creature whizzed into hiding, and as soon as he was settled Adrien exited the bathroom. He grabbed his satchel, before pausing and quickly scanning his room. Quickly he grabbed the blue scarf off the back of his couch, winding it around his neck, effectively hiding the lower whiskers.

Nodding in bare satisfaction, he turned to cross his room once more, bag dangling off his shoulder.

Reaching the door, he stood there silently, hand hovering before the handle.

"Hey, what's the hold-up?" Plagg groaned, head popping out.

"Gorilla." Adrien said simply, and Plagg scoffed.

"Like he'd notice."

"He notices everything." He protested "It's his job."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuurrrgh." The Kwami sighed loudly, flying out to head-butt the boy. "Look kid, what do you want to do about it?"

Adrien looked pointedly at him.

"No."

"Plagg."

"No."

"Plagg."

"No!"

Chat Noir jumped over the rooftops, making sure to stay out of line of the civilian's line of sight, leaping from place to place and ducking out of view. He reached the corner the school sat on and ducked around an alleyway, checking several times that the coast was clear.

Releasing the transformation, Adrien rewound his scarf tighter, before slowly making his way to class, trying his best to avoid any other students.

"Adrikins!" No such luck.

"Uuh, Hey Chloé." He mumbled, pulling the scarf up further as his childhood friend came running towards him, tackling him with a hug as soon as he was within her arm's reach.
He pushed her away quickly when she tried to plant a kiss on his cheek, attempting to pull down the blue fabric as she did so. When he resisted she pouted slightly, staring at him in suspicion. He shuffled uncomfortably under her gaze, arm reaching up to rub the back on his neck.

"Sabrina, let's go." She announced suddenly, turning on her heel and flouncing off. Her friend trailed along after her, tapping frantically at the screen of her phone. Adrien let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding, taking more care as he ascended the steps to the school.

He waited for the bell to ring, slouching behind the open door to his locker, listening to the daily banter between Alix and Kim, rolling his eyes when he heard the announcement of yet another crazy dare. Several of their classmates dotted about also groaned, and Adrien swore he heard someone slam their head into their locker in annoyance.

Startled by the ringing bell, he quickly grabbed his subject books and tablet, dashing off to class. As he rounded the corner he blinked in surprise, holding his book up higher to hide the lower half of his face. Nino leant on the door, grinning as he talked to Alya. The two fist-bumped, before Nino looked up and spotted his best friend. "Yo, Adrien!" He called, bringing a hand up to give a short wave. "We were just talking about the new Ladyblog update. It's mega-cool."

"Is it?" Adrien asked casually, though his mind was already going through the five stages of grief, shifting the books again.

"Dude!" Nino laughed "I thought you kept up with the news." Adrien shrugged in reply. "I'll let Alya tell you then."

Said girl grinned, holding up her phone to the blond model. "Big scoop last night." She started, clicking to enlarge a photo from her blog. A clear shot of Ladybug poking her tongue out at her partner as he threw his hands up in the air. Adrien recalled the exact moment, though tried his best not to show any recognition.

"Weren't you meant to be doing homework?" Adrien muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"Shush, I just had to get this one. Anyway, Ladybug and Chat Noir were on patrol last night and met up on a rooftop. They sat for a while, talking I suppose, but I couldn't hear them, even when I snuck out to—"

"You snuck out?!" Adrien yelped.

"Besides the point, bro." Nino sighed, folding his arms. "Alya hasn't told you the best part."

"Get this- Ladybug used her superpower- you know- Lucky Charm? She used it when there we no super villains around. This is the first time ever!" She scrolled across, a new photo of Ladybug with her yo-yo in the air, magic glittering around it. "Though I couldn't zoom in far enough to see what it was the object was really small..."

"Oh man, this is the best part." Nino chuckled, motioning for the reporter to continue as the three walked together into the classroom, taking their seats. Alya leant between the two, Marinette not yet in class (late, as usual)

"Ladybug started to chase Chat Noir around the city, too fast for me to follow faithfully, but they were laughing most of the time. She pulled her phone back, smoothly navigating her blog to find a shaky video of the heroes part way through their run.

"Here kitty, come on!" Ladybug called as she vaulted over a gap, nearly catching up to her partner.

"No! Ladybug don't!" He ducked around a chimney, doubling back across rooftops. Ladybug wasn't far behind, easily swinging on her yo-yo back to where he was. They dashed over a flat roof, jumping in perfect synchronisation to the next one.

Chat Noir pulled out his staff, extending it so he reached across the street, rolling when he hit the roof. Ladybug followed, string whizzing past him and cutting him off.

"No no-nonono!" He yelled, dodging and turning tail to escape, only to find he was cornered.

"Trapped like a mouse in a cage." Ladybug announced, yo-yo whirling by her side as she advanced. Chat Noir started slowly backwards, only to find himself up against a chimney.
With a swift movement, Ladybug tossed her yo-yo, catching the cat-themed hero off guard and tying him to the short brick tower. He struggled, unable to move properly.

She walked up to him, hand twirling the lucky charm as she pulled it up to his face. "This little kitty is missing his whiskers." She said, and the video cut off.

Alya laughed ecstatically, exiting full screen and pulling up another image. "And this-" She said dramatically, holding up her phone, much to the dismay of Adrien "Was what her lucky charm was! A marker!"

The photo was off a pouty Chat Noir, whiskers drawn on his face as he sat on the edge of a roof, ladybug laughing to herself in the background. Though Chat was clearly annoyed, a humorous spark was still in his eyes as he half turned to look at his Lady.

"Chat Noir had whiskers!" Nino crowed. "She gave him whiskers!"

"That's not even the best part though." Alya continued. "I don't have any photos, but Ladybug did her purifying thing afterwards, and the whiskers did not come off."

"This is rich, dude!"

"It might be my ticket to finding out who he really is, granted that they didn't come off when he de-transformed."

Underneath his jacket, Plagg shifted nervously. Adrien tried his best to laugh along with his friends, but desperately trying to keep his face hidden.

Oh no this is bad this is very, very bad they are going to find out and my identity won't be a secret oh no oh no oh no

"Hey, bro, why are you hiding behind your books anyway?" Nino poked Adrien's shoulder, attempting to view his friend's face.

Oh no no no-no-no-no-no-nononononono craaaaaaaaaaaaap.

AYY I DID IT :D (sorry for the hold up but school is stupid. Good news is I got a new maths teacher and he's SO much better!

Keep your eyes peeled for chapter 3!