Marinette and Chat are a public couple.

I had this idea a year ago while thinking about the prompt 'Copy Cat' and I loved it too much to not write it and include it here. Slightly over 2,000 words but, what u gonna do?

Marichat May 2023

Day #12: Unforgivable

Inside the boy's bathroom at school, Nathanael was livid.

The young artist was watching an interview on the Ladyblog with Chat Noir and his new girlfriend; Marinette. His Marinette.

Nathanael had been in love with Marinette for a long time. She was sweet, caring, smart, brave, and beautiful beyond compare. She was an artist, he was an artist. All he wanted to do was draw her and shower her with affection, and also be brave like her, so he could protect her from super villains or bullies like Chloe. That bleached blonde brat was nothing but horrible to him, her, and the rest of their friends.

If only he was a super hero too. He could protect her ten times better than that feline show-off.

He'd make a better Chat Noir any day!

Unbeknownst to him, an akuma flew into his phone, turning it black and a butterfly mask appeared on his face.

"Copy Cat. You might not be the original person I made a doppelganger of Chat Noir, but I sense the same anger and jealousy you have towards him. As well as a longing for someone he has captured the affection of, when their affection should be for you," Monarch said in Nathanael's face.

Nathanael growled. "Marinette and I have been friends for years. She and I have spent countless hours together in the art room, working and talking about our passions. I'd be much better for her than that guy!" he shouted angrily.

"I understand. Well, I can give you the power of Chat Noir, even his exact appearance, so you can prove to your love that you would make a better Chat Noir than him," Monarch offered.

Nathanael paused for a second, thinking that over. "Chat Noir's exact appearance, you say?" If he looked and sounded exactly like Chat Noir, he could make anyone, including Marinette, think that he's the real one. She was already in love with the superhero. But what if he could change that instead? "Actually, I've got a better idea," Nathanael said with a sinister grin before letting the dark miasma consume his body.

~*MDC+CN*~

The school day was over so students were slowly making there ways out of the building. Some hung back a bit to chat with friends and/or teachers or needed to do some last-minute things before they went home.

Adrien had needed to grab a book from the library so Nino was waiting for him with Marinette and Alya in the courtyard. All Alya wanted to talk about was Marinette's new boyfriend. Not just because that he was a superhero and Ladybug's partner, but because she was very invested in her best friend's love life. She wanted to make sure that she was happy.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" everyone out in the courtyard heard a voice shout and looked up. There, standing on the roof of the school, was Chat Noir. Marinette saw him and blushed, smiling, then waved.

Chat jumped down from the roof and landed right in front of the bluenette. Alya and Nino backed up a bit to give him some space. "I thought I told you. You can't come visit me while I'm at school," she lightly scolding him. He'd done that before and they had talked about the times he couldn't just popped in unexpectedly.

"Well, it's the end of the school day if I'm not mistaken," he said smoothly. Marinette couldn't argue there. If she wasn't still talking to her friends, she would be in her bedroom right now. "I really need to tell you something and it just couldn't wait," he told her.

"Oh! Can I film this for my blog? If you two don't mind," Alya exclaimed, excited to get more content on the new couple for her blog.

"Alya, this is sort of private," Marinette said to her. This wasn't the best time for that. She needed to respect that her and Chat's relationship need a bit of privacy.

"No, she can record. I'd actually prefer it," Chat said. If she posted this, Chat Noir's reputation as Paris's sweetheart would be ruined forever.

This puzzled Marinette for a second but if he said it was okay, then she was fine with it. They already had a bit of an audience with everyone who was still in the courtyard staring at the super hero among them. "Well, okay." Having permission, Alya raised her phone and started recording. "What did you want to tell me, kitty?" Marinette asked affectionately, as she always did.

But Chat just gave her a sour frown. "Well first of all, I hate it when you call me that," he told her bitterly. Marinette's face fell, along with her friends watching. "I mean, seriously. What am I? A kitten? A child? Is that how you see me?"

"I'm…sorry. I can come up with another nickname for you," she offered, a bit offput by his attitude. He wasn't normally like this with things so minor.

"Don't even bother. Because I'm officially ending our relationship. Both as friends and as a couple."

There was a gasp. But it was hard to tell whose it was or whose was the loudest; Marinette's, Alya's, Nino's, or a few other students in the courtyard.

"What!" Marinette exclaimed, not believing what she was hearing. Chat was breaking up with her? Now? Like this? "But…I don't understand. We've been dating for weeks and you've seemed so happy with me," she said. She thought their relationship was going so well.

Chat just crossed his arms and turned away, not looking at her. "Well I was wrong. I only dated you because I needed someone to get my mind off of Ladybug after she's rejected me so many times. But I guess it didn't work. I'm still deeply in love with her. And only her," he said that last part staring directly at her, putting in extra emphasis to get his point across.

Marinette could feel her throat closing up and her eyes starting to sting. "So…it…wasn't real? Your feelings for me?" she choked out.

"Ha! Of course it wasn't. You thought we were serious?" Chat laughed cruelly in her face. At that exact moment, Adrien finally stepped out of the library. He noticed all of the other students staring at something so he looked down too to see a shocking and confusing sight; Chat Noir standing with his closest friends, including his beloved princess. But he was Chat Noir. That person was obviously an imposter. An akuma most likely. He should leave to go transform but his curiosity as to what they were doing was peaked, so he couldn't help but stick around for a minute. He thought he wouldn't be able to hear them from the distance but with everyone else in the courtyard staying quiet to watch the scene unfolding and the fake Chat projecting his every word, he could. "I mean, look at Ladybug. She's beautiful, confident, brave, and amazing," he said, gesturing off into space as he spoke so highly of the heroine with a smile on his face. "Then look at you," he gestured back to the girl before him, frowning again. "Boring, plain, timid, and clumsy. You're so lame compared to Ladybug. How could I even love someone like you with someone like her around?"

And with that sentence, Marinette's heart broke.

It had already broken a bit when she realized she couldn't be with Adrien or Luka. But those relationships were never truly secured. This one was. Chat had told her that he loved her, she had told him that she loved him. But now, he was taking it back, along with the other half of her heart. His words hurt, but what hurt more was that he preferred Ladybug over the real her.

He still loved the mask, not the girl behind it, even after he told her that he loved all of her.

Adrien's heart broke as well. Then it was filled with rage.

This person was using his likeness to break Marinette's heart and end their relationship.

It couldn't be Theo again, he barely knew Marinette. Was it just because he still held hatred for Chat and wanted to make him suffer by making him lose his girlfriend? Possibly.

Whoever this was, he needed to transform and stop him. Then he could patch things up with Marinette. Adrien ran back into the empty library and called for Plagg to transform him.

~*MDC+CN*~

Nathanael—in his Copy Cat form of Chat Noir—grinned as Marinette ran out of the school in tears.

His plan had been brilliant. Instead of letting her love him as Chat Noir, he used this copied form to break her heart. Now she's free for Nathanael to love as himself.

After this, he'll go over to comfort her, she'll love him for it and forget all about Chat Noir. But first, he needed to fulfill his deal with Monarch.

Out of nowhere, a foot came down and almost struck down the imposter. Copy Cat jumped out of the way as the real Chat Noir landed in the courtyard. Drawing his baton, he faced the akuma with rage like he'd never felt before.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he yelled, charging at the also armed cat.

Copy Cat blocked his strike and the two fought. Nino had dragged Alya with him back behind the stairs to watch from a safer distance but Alya kept filming.

"You don't deserve Marinette! And once I get your miraculous, she's never have to see you again. I'll be her super hero and she'll love me, just like in my comics!"

"Nathanael?" Alya gasped. That had to be Nathanael.

Chat growled and continued to attack. Meanwhile, Alya got an idea to help. After giving her phone to Nino to keep recording, Alya ran into the boy's locker room.

Once she found what she was looking for, she ran back out.

She watched as Chat Noir stood a distance away from Copy Cat, breathing heavily; from exertion and/or anger. Perfect moment.

"Hey Nathan!" she said, stepping out into the open. Copy Cat turned his head at his real name being called. He saw Alya standing there, then he noticed what was in her hands. His sketchbook. Copy Cat turned around to face her. His back to Chat Noir. "Is this the comic you were working on? With you as a super hero and saving Marinette?" she yelled, opening the book. She stared at it for a moment before showing him the page. Then she grabbed it.

"NO!" Copy Cat yelled. Thinking she was gonna tear his drawings, he made a lunge for her, but he never reached her. Chat tackled him to the ground from behind and pinned his arms. After a quick search of his pockets, he found his cellphone that was glowing purple. Chat threw it on the ground and released the akuma.

Because Ladybug was nowhere to be found, Chat had no choice but to cataclysm it himself. In a cloud of black miasma, Copy Cat turned back into Nathanael.

Chat got off of him and helped him stand, but he still looked at him with a stony glare.

"Chat Noir, I-" Nathanael stuttered, not sure how to properly express his remorse. "I'm sorry. I thought I was over Marinette for a while but seeing her with you…I guess something just snapped," he explained. He thought that after the first time he was akumatized, he was getting over her, especially after him and Marc were getting so close, but maybe deep down, he still wished to be with her. But now, he just felt regretful. "But I can fix this. We can go find her and I'll explain that it was me."

"Thanks, but I'm not sure she'll believe anything either of us says," Chat said. He appreciated the apology and his desire to correct his mistake, but doubted it would do any good.

"Maybe. But I bet she'll believe this," Nino chimed in, waving Alya's phone at them.

A few minutes later, after running into an empty classroom to feed Plagg and transform again, Chat Noir made his way to the Dupain-Cheng bakery with Alya and Nathanael. Before they could get to Marinette, who was upstairs in her room crying her eyes out, they needed to get pasted her furious parents.

At the sight of Chat Noir, they both wanted to pound him like bread dough, but after the three of them explained what had happened and showed them the video of the two Chat Noir's fighting then one turning back into Nathanael, they calmed down. Then they were clear to enter their daughter's room.

Sabine lead them up. Marinette was up in her bed with her face buried in her other pillow. Her big cat pillow had been tossed down to the floor. Chat stayed silent as her mother and best friend coasted her down from her loft. But when she saw him, she started yelling for him to leave.

It took another minute to get her to stop yelling so they could explain everything. Alya showed her the video, Nathanael apologized several times, and Chat reassured her that he truly loved her.

Marinette was silent for a long time. Everyone waited patiently with baited breath. Then finally, Marinette looked up, stared Chat right in the eyes and said, "I believe you."

The whole room sighed in relief. Chat went over to his princess, picked her up and spun her around. Marinette hugged him back. A few more tears escaped her eyes but these were more from relief.

Relief that her kitty was still her kitty.

After their hug, Marinette asked everyone to leave, except for Chat. When they were alone in her room, Marinette turned back to her 'still boyfriend' with a neutral frown.

"If you had actually said those things to me, I'd never forgive you," she told him, still a bit upset. And Chat couldn't blame her for that. Then she stepped up closer to him and took his hands in hers. "But it wasn't you. So I can," she said before finally giving him a smile.

Chat smiled back and kissed her nose. She giggled and kissed his nose back.

Another one tomorrow =^.^=