Chapter Text
It was just her luck.
The moment she slipped out of Kim's sight, she thought all was in the clear. And when she heard the rest of Kim's dialogue, she just knew his butt was going to get hit by that beam soon.
(Although, it really did make her happy that someone was standing up to an akuma on her behalf.)
She called on her transformation and jumped out of the alley, just in time to reach Kim before he was toast. Just as she was leaving his side to finally join her partner, Kim just had to go and be the good friend he is and ask her to protect, well, her. How could she not get him his miraculous after the bravery he displayed?
The fact that he would enjoy this akuma take-down as much as she would definitely did not have an influence on her decision. Definitely.
But that's about how far her luck went.
During the battle, Chat Noir just had to say something that made her oh-so curious. The way he talked about her civilian identity was with a friendly familiarity and it just didn't make sense to her. Sure, she's ran into her partner a few times as Marinette but does it really mean they are friends like that?
It wasn't until she heard him mutter something that really caused her to balk and go wide-eyed.
"Honestly, I should have dragged her more in that interview. I let her off too easy."
When was Chat involved in an interview? Much less an interview about Lila?
And one dissing her? It just didn't make any sense! The only interview she knows of that did such a thing was Adrien's interview and-
That doesn't make any sense!
Okay, so it did make sense. It made a lot of sense. They are both extremely good-looking blondes, who just happen to have amazing green eyes and they were both just so incredibly sweet.
Did she mention their ridiculous need to constantly pun?
But could they really be the same person?
To test the waters, she swung and landed next to her partner. "Did you hear why she got akumatized?"
He shook his head and that only caused her suspicion to grow. "She said something about Marinette turning people against her, but quite frankly, I hope this is the last time we deal with her."
"Apparently, there was a leaked interview of that one Agreste kid. Chloe released it." She was pushing it, she knows. But on God, she thinks she knows just exactly her partner might be and there was no way she was going to be able to keep that to herself.
"She also released that one video of Rossi and Agreste. She's a grade-A psycho."
Interesting. Chat knew that Chloe released both videos. The only people in that room when she came charging in was her, Kim, and Nino. But of course Adrien would know if Chloe pulled off such a stunt.
Which led to one simple, yet terrifying conclusion that she absolutely refused to voice, even in her own mind.
"Wait, how did you know about the videos? It was released literally less than an hour ago and no one knows it was Chloe."
She stared at him when he asked those question, released that she's been caught. But wasn't that just what she was expecting when asking her partner these questions?
"And what interview were you talking about, chaton?"
She knows she shouldn't have opened that door.
-
He swears on all nine lives he wasn't expecting someone to actually hear him. Not when he was on a roof, away from everyone else.
But of course, he forgot about his Lady's amazing hearing and of course she was the one that heard him. In his defense, he did first mention how he didn't know anything about the cause of the akumatization. But when he slipped up and started talking about the video released of him and Lila, he knew he was screwed. But then it hit him.
His partner knew about the videos and that Chloe was the one who released them.
The only people that knew about that was a handful. Handful as in, literally him and three other people. And he knows that because Chloe told him. Right after Lila got akumatized.
So there's a possibility Ladybug is someone he knows personally.
And by the way she was treating Lila, she is someone he knows personally and doesn't like Lila.
Which narrows the scope by quite a bit. In fact, to just one person specifically.
And since when was he ever that lucky? There's no way his partner would be the only other girl who has his utmost respect.
Scratch that, it makes perfect sense but again, when was he ever that lucky?
Going back to the start of all this, he was suddenly feeling nervous. Not only was he fairly certain who was behind that mask, but he's sure she knows who he is too. It wouldn't be hard to piece together who he is based off of his comment and knowing the details of the videos. He might as well have just flashed a big neon sign above his head, declaring to be the one and only Adrien Agreste.
Then again, she's basically done the same thing. She even asked him question, practically trying to get him to confirm her suspicion. It's not his fault, right?
Well, not entirely.
But this chance, this possibility, had him wanting to end the fight right then and there so he could ask his partner just what was going on. And boy, did that akuma battle not last long after that.
(He felt pretty smug when he heard Lila was disappointed it was such a short battle. Did she really think she was clever enough for it to last even an hour?)
But soon after the girl was handed over to authorities, his attention was drawn towards a certain spotted hero. Walking up to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ready to go, m'Lady?"
She glanced over her shoulder and locked eyes with him. Usually, she did a pretty good job at keeping her emotions locked away, but right then, he saw fear and hope flicker through her iris.
"After you, minou."
-
"It must have been hard to keep quiet when Lila said you two were best friends."
Marinette groaned, not ready to remember those days quite yet. "You have no idea. And then Alya asked me to prove to her why Lila was wrong. I wanted to rip my hair out."
Adrien chuckled, running his fingers through her hair as her head was on his lap. After their initial freak out (and boy, was it one), they were able to find their rhythm pretty quickly. Sure, it was still a bit weird to know their partners were by their side the entire time, but it only brought satisfaction and happiness.
"I'm really sorry I said we should take the higher road. If I knew-"
"Adrien, we already talked about this. You did what you thought was best given what I told you." She huffed, sitting up to squish his cheek in between her palms. "If you knew who I was then and what she said, I'm sure you would have cataclymed her or something of hers."
"Yeah... sure."
Adrien wasn't meeting her eyes and Marinette’s narrowed. He would only do this if he was hiding something, which only meant...
"What did you do?"
"She hurt you, what I might or might not have done is irrelevant." He grinned cheekily, only to smother her in a hug. He did go ahead and cataclymed something of hers but in his defense, he did it before knowing Ladybug is Marinette. Finding that out made him want to destroy even more things but he had to resist.
Marinette knew there was no way she would be able to get him to tell her so she just sighed in defeat and cuddled closer. She was touched he would do something like that for her but did decide to boop him on the nose and explain he couldn’t do that ever again.
“Bug, how did we get so lucky?”
“I’ve got enough luck for the both of us. They don’t call me Ladyluck for no reason, kitty.”