A couple akumas ago, Ladybug and Chat were invited to the opening of a new Ladybug themed restaurant, but Marinette was worried that Chat might not be back. Should she have trusted Adrien? He was pretty and kind, and had been her friend and crush for over a year now, but how could she know if he knew Chat's identity?

And when she saw that black furball, she needed to kill him for telling someone his identity. A famous model of all people.

But the restaurant opening was tomorrow, so she would be able to talk to him without changing back.

For now, she had to go to school, where she could examine Adrien himself.

As Adrien walked into the class and sat down in front of her, she eyed him closely. Had he given back the miraculous? She couldn't ask without looking suspicious. And he could be lying. What if he wanted to take the miraculous? If he knew Chat's identity, maybe he knew Hawk Moth's?

Wait. But this is Adrien she was talking about. He wouldn't do that. Would he?

Maybe Ladybug should pay him a visit.

No. Bad idea. She felt Tikki pulling on her bag, probably already knowing what she was thinking.

"Hi, Marinette!" Adrien turned around and smiled.

"Hi" she waved in reply, looking closely for any guilty look on his face. He just seemed to be the normal Adrien.

Alya arrived and sat down beside her. "Hey Marinette, Adrien, Nino" she said as she put her bag under her desk. "I didn't miss anything, did I?"

"No, class hasn't started yet." Marinette assured her.

"Mari, don't think I haven't noticed you're paying extra close attention to Adrien today." Alya leaned over and whispered in her ear at the end of class.

"What? That's not it! No, Alya, I'm not" she blubbered, unable to think of an excuse. "But this time it's different. You're not fawning all over him. Hmmmm." She sighed suspiciously.

"No, Alya-" she started, then realised that she, in fact, hadn't been fawning all over Adrien like normal. She had only cared about the miraculous. "Again?" She whispered, too quiet to hear.

"What was that?" Alya asked.

"Nothing."

Arrien had also noticed the sudden behavior change in his friend Marinette. He knew that she usually acted not far off scared of him, and was usually nervous. He did know that her personality was actually pretty confident, and creative. But today... something was different. He didn't have the heart to ask her, and didn't want to interfere with anything, so decided to leave it. It probably had nothing to do with him.

She stood in front of the restaurant, press bombarding her with questions. She noticed Alya in the front of the crowd, and smiled. But where was Chat?

He rushed over the rooftops to get to the restaurant. He almost forgot about it, and his dad wanted to keep him in all day because of the akuma that had happened the day before. Either way, he had to get there. He saw Ladybug amongst a crowd, smiling and talking, and jumped, aiming for the space beside her.

With the skills of a cat, he landed perfectly where he aimed, startling the super heroine.

"CHAT!" She yelled, jumping backwards as he landed beside her.

"I'm back." He bowed, then immediately turned to a reporter, who was unfortunately asking about yesterday's akuma. She couldn't ask him yet, it would look strange.

They ended interviews with their signature "pound it", which she only realised now that she missed yesterday when Chat wasn't there.

The interviewers started to dispersed. "Wow, Ladybug. You seem awfully calm."

Then she exploded. "Calm? Of course I'm not calm! I can't be calm when just yesterday your identity was about to be revealed, and I was forced to give your miraculous to some boy, and hope you would get it back!"

"You did purrfectly." He replied shortly.

"Chat! How does Adrien Agreste know your identity?" She yelled, ignoring the pun.

"Hush! That's a secret! You can't expect me to tell" he winked, then grew serious, which Ladybug had never seen before. "I know yesterday was dangerous. If you just let what happened have happened, life will go on as normal" he continued solemnly.

She hesitated, then threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I missed the pound it yesterday. I didn't have anyone to do it with." She told him, then jumped back.

He regained his smile. "Don't worry, M'Lady. I'm pawsitive I'll be there next time!" And with that, he extended his baton, and was away.

She looked back at the restaurant. Inside was only staff, and the Mayor, and Chloe. She entered and sat down. The walls were Ladybug print, red with black spots, and so were the tables. There were pictures of her and Chat on the walls, too. It was well done.

Before she knew it, Chloe was beside her. "Hi, Ladybug! I hear you saved an akuma yesterday without Chat Noir!" She squealed.

"Oh, hi Chloe! Yeah..." she began, not wanting to elaborate.

"Wow, that's amazing!" She replied.

"Look, I'm sorry, I have to go now. She stood up, and walked to the mayor. "I love the new restaurant. Thank you!" She bowed her head.

"Thank you for continually saving our city!" He replied, and with that, she left.