A/N: Long time no see my fellow drabble readers~!

So this is an old one based on Miss Noodles' prompt of wanting to see Marichat with an enemies dynamic and of course, how could I resist? It's been a while since I've written anything for this pairing after all.

For the context of the story - Marinette's and Chat Noir's interactions when they first met in Le Dessinateur went completely sour. Marinette wasn't a fan of how over-the-top Chat Noir was and thought he was just an immature boy who flirted with anything that moved whilst Chat Noir got the impression that she was actually very rude and reckless. So they developed a silly, stupid, rivalry-like relationship and always try to one-up the other.

Chat Noir is still madly in love with Ladybug but she's a little more cooler and aloof with him, not wanting their partnership to go beyond professionalism. Marinette is madly in love with Adrien but he's a little bit afraid of getting closer to her because her moods can change in a switch and the last thing he wanted was for her to bite his head off in anger.

Despite all of that, Marinette and Chat Noir do not hate each other and start to understand one another better as they collide more and more often.

I actually planned to have this story as a full-fledged oneshot where I explore this dynamic and have them tackle their miscommunications. Unfortunately, I'm just so busy with other things IRL so I thought…might as well just edit and post what I've already written and let the world see it rather than have it rot in my docs, right?

Without further ado, enjoy!

"Don't want to be trapped in days of dissatisfaction

There is no sky visible when in captivity

From the bottom of my heart

I'm starting to crumble down"

I'm A Mess - MY FIRST STORY

Pairing - Marichat

Prompt - 'Stupid Enemies'

~(x)~

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"Ugghhh. YOU again." The way that one Marinette Dupain-Cheng spoke to him in such a scoffy-like, rude manner right AFTER he saved her in the nick of time only irked Chat Noir to the point where he decided to give her a taste of well-deserved karma by proceeding to 'accidentally' drop her on her butt instead of keeping her in his arms princess style for a second longer. "HEY!?" Her outraged squawk was like music to his feline ears and he smirked in return without a single ounce of guilt. In her opinion, he could have given the most notorious demon a run for its money with that smile and she desperately wanted to scrape his grin off with a stained rag fetched from a nearby bin.

"Whoops~!" He drawled with a roll of his eyes and then bent down to her level with his hands on his hips, his fanged grin becoming more and more smug much to her ire. "My hands slipped. My bad~!"

"Sure it did." Marinette leapt back to her feet only for her infamous clumsiness to strike and proceeded to trip over her own legs and topple back to the ground with a pained grunt. Instead of acting like the hero he's SUPPOSED to be and helping her back up, Chat Noir decided to shamelessly laugh at her face in that stupid, annoying (yet infuriatingly adorable) way, pointing a clawed finger at her and ignoring the Akuma behind them who was rampaging through the city.

"This is what you get when you don't thank someone for saving you! Hahahahahaha— uHWOAH!?" His face found the floor next thanks to Marinette's sneak attack, the girl having swept his legs with one of her own in one fluid movement. A whiny mewl left his throat but unfortunately for the pathetic-looking feline hero, she wasn't done with him.

"And this is what YOU get for laughing at me!" He was suddenly pinned down by her tiny (but frighteningly strong) form and he instinctively shot his hands up to stop her own from reaching his face and deliver her infamous cheeks-pulling move! Last time he was too slow in stopping her, his face ached ALL day and was left rosier than his precious Lady's suit! Hell, even Plagg wouldn't stop teasing him about it and found Marinette's unjustified dislike towards him oh-so amusing! "Let go of my hands you stupid cat!"

"You let go of my hands!" He hissed back, both of their hands clasped with one another as they semi-wrestled on the ground, the hero still baffled with how despite him being suited up, the feisty little girl was practically evenly matched with his brute strength. "This is your fault! You should have thanked me when I saved you instead of letting your pride get in the way!"

"I didn't need YOU to save ME. I would have easily dodged the Akuma!"

"No, you wouldn't!"

"Yes, I would've!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-uh!"

"Nope!"

"Yes!"

"You are so stubborn!"

"And you are insufferable!"

"Fine then! Next time, I'll let your stupid butt get kicked by an Akuma and I'll watch with front row seats whilst eating baked goods from your parent's boulangerie! Then you will be sorry and finally give me the appreciation I deserve!"

"Oh! You mean you'll watch ME kick the Akuma's butt on my own as you choke on a croissant you greedy fleabag! And stop crawling to Maman's and Papa's bakery for free bakes you cheapskate! PAY UP LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN PARIS!"

Meanwhile, as the silly duo continued to argue like a pair of five-year-olds fighting over the last slice of cake, Alya gleefully recorded the entire thing in the background with her phone whilst Nino facepalmed himself.

Why does this happen every single day?

"uWAAAAAAaaAaaaAAAH! LADYBUUUUUUUG! HELP MEEEEEEE!" Nino didn't even have to take his hand off his face to know that once again, Marinette had won the tussle against the now whining Chat Noir. She was on his back, arms around his neck and legs wrapped around his torso whilst her teeth were gnawing on one of his faux kitten ears like a feral animal on the loose. "I will get my revenge on you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng! I swear on all nine of my lives!"

No one was able to make out her muffled comeback, the heroine in disguise was determined to leave a permanent mark on the poor hero's ear or maybe even tear off a chunk and take it home like a morbid trophy to assert who's the true boss. At this rate, the conspiracy theorists of the internet will keep up with their accusations of Marinette being Le Papillon's civilian identity and the only way to debunk it would be either for her to get akumatised one day or for the villain himself to stop hiding where ever he is.

Overall, who can blame Nino for being so, so fed up?

"Ladybuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuug…" The pitiful Chaton was practically one with the floor now, face glued to the ground along with the triumphant Marinette sitting on his back with her arms crossed and puffing up her chest. "What did I do to deserve this…?"

"Exist." Bleated Marinette, paying no mind to the way her best friend was bawling with laughter in the background from the free entertainment and Nino once again, shook his head with exhaustion no thanks to the lively duo on the floor. "Next time you dare to even think about coming anywhere near me, say goodbye to your tail."

Unfortunately for the girl, she had her guard down and before she knew it, the crafty catboy flipped their positions and straddled her stomach whilst slamming his hands on either side of her head. The way pure irritation was plastered over his (stupidly handsome) facial features made her lose all her thoughts and her mouth went dry.

Perhaps…she was an eensy, weensy, bit too rough on him today.

"My tail is replaceable. You, however, are not." He jabbed a finger against her forehead, surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) mindful of his claws. His eyes were genuine and he wore a rare frown, kitten ears plastered to his hair. "You may be a menace. A pain in my butt. The most reckless girl I know. But I will never forgive myself if you were to ever get hurt and I wasn't there to save you. No matter what." Chat Noir jabbed his finger again and his ears perked up as his frown turned childishly pouty. "You can shout and bite all you want later— just save it for when there are no threats around."

When he leapt off her, Marinette remained speechless on the floor, the apples of her cheeks pinkening and her eyes wide. As if she couldn't decide whether to yell and point out the hypocrisy of his words (Dieu! Didn't he vow to watch her get slammed by an Akuma with front-row seats and everything just a minute ago!?) or to just crawl into a nearby hole and quietly sizzle from the weird, weird feelings that tugged her heartstrings because even she couldn't deny his honesty just now.

He didn't give her a chance to make a decision.

"By the way, I'm telling Madame. Cheng on you." He scoffed like the immature brat she knew he was and annoyance reignited itself within her eyes anew. "My poor, poor ear~ if my Lady's cleansing magic can't heal the pain you've inflicted on me, then I'm sure getting your allowance halved this month shall~! With the bonus of Madame petting my head and feeding me some freshly baked, delectable chocolate croissants~!"

"CHAT NO-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?"

"Bye~!" And the hero leapt away with the swing of his baton, but not before he blew a raspberry at the gawking girl and pulled a face. Oh, she so was going to find one excuse or another to toss him off the tower once she's suited up as Ladybug! She swears it! Her weird feelings towards him be damned!

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Nino just wants to go home.

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~(x)~

A/N: Pleeeeease let me know what you think of the drabble~! Feed me all your comments~!

Or else the next time you have a cheese toastie (or grilled cheese sandwich for the Americans), there will be NO cheese pull and your bread will be burnt…