Chapter Text
The bell over the door to Tom & Sabine's Boulangerie Patisserie rang as Adrien walked in, a box in hand.
"Welcome-oh, it's you, Adrien," a voice came from the light pink behind the register. Adrien smiled.
"Hello, Mme. Dupain-Cheng," he said.
"Call me Sabine. In the months that you have been visiting us, how many times have I told you that?" she scoffed. "Marinette's in her room as usual, and Alya is also here today."
"I know; we're partnered up for a group project and decided to meet up today," Adrien said as he walked to the stairs leading to the Dupain-Cheng household, his cane tapping in front of him. Ever since he'd become Chat Noir, his senses out of suit had increased incredibly. The more time he spent as Chat Noir, the more he learned about his natural abilities and now could use a much weaker form of echolocation than Chat Noir could. Where Chat could "see" a room with a clap, Adrien could only "see" if there was something ahead of him with the same noise, but this was a large step from nothing. As Adrien's cane tapped along the floor, he could see the outline of the doorway leading to the house. Suddenly, a large man filled the doorway, his colour a light, comfortable blue.
"I thought I heard you come in," Tom said, "off to see Marinette?"
Adrien smiled. When he first started hanging out with Marinette, Tom and Sabine were very careful around him, announcing where they were, and were always cautious of their word choice as not to offend him. While Adrien understood their unease, it was the same way he was always treated: a fragile thing that always needed help. Although he wasn't sure, he thought Marinette helped put a stop to it after he confessed his problems to her. The next time he visited, her parents acted different. They still were wary about his blindness, but tried not to treat him differently. With each subsequent visit, they acted more and more like his blindness didn't affect anything, and now he was treated as normally as Marinette. Tom and him often joked about his blindness, something that he was sure made Marinette regret her decision.
"We're working on a project with Alya; since I'm a model, I'll be making sure it looks good," he said, earning a laugh from Tom. He stepped to the side, waving Adrien through.
"By the way, Adrien, what's in the box?" Sabine asked from behind him. Adrien turned around, shifting the box in his hand to a more protective grip. "Oh, just some supplies from home."
He saw Sabine nod, then she paused, forgetting for a moment that he was blind. "Well, I'm sure they're waiting for you upstairs," she finally said. Turning back around, Adrien walked up the stairs, following the now-familiar path to Marinette's room. As he walked up the stair to her hatch, Adrien reflected on the past few months since Marinette had discovered Chat Noir's identity.
At first, she was mad that he had given her a hint when he promised that he wouldn't, but it didn't last long. A few days after Volpina was defeated and the truth revealed, Ladybug asked him to meet her to talk. With no akuma that day, the two were able to talk for as long as they needed to. At first, Marinette was too nervous to talk, but she soon warmed up after meeting Plagg. The two got along a little too well, and Adrien was secretly glad that he got Plagg instead of her. As time went by, Marinette calmed down and was able to talk to him like normal.
Then Adrien asked why she was so nervous, and all her nerves came back, her colours, which had been swirling around each other, suddenly flushed dark, meaning she was either angry, nervous, or afraid. She never got to say anything, though, as Plagg announced, "well, since you're apparently as blind figuratively as you are literally, it's cause she likes you."
Adrien had never seen anyone react as fast as Marinette did. Her colour switched to a dark crimson as her hand swatted Plagg out of the air in front of him. If he had blinked, he would've missed it. "You deserved that," he heard Tikki say. Marinette curled up as Adrien's mind slowly turned. If she likes me, and I like her, then..."Would you like to go out with me some time?" he asked, his mind suddenly yelling at him. There was silence between them for a moment, then she nodded. And like that, they had secretly been dating ever since. They spent time discussing how they should date, and decided that dating as Ladybug and Chat Noir first, and, because Marinette and Adrien dating when LB and CN did especially with how little they hung out, would be suspicious. That had been months ago, and while Paris' favorite superduo were confirmed to be dating, Marinette and Adrien were still "just friends."
Adrien's head bumped into the hatch; he'd been so focused on the past that he'd forgotten to count the steps. As he rubbed his head, he heard Marinette say, "come in."
Pushing open the hatch, he was greeted by the deep blue of his girlfriend and the vibrant orange that was Alya. As he walked into her room, he could see Alya's colour twitching; she was trying to figure something out.
"Hello Marinette, Alya," he said, shutting the hatch behind him and resting his cane over his shoulder as he walked towards them. There were few places where he could travel without his walking stick leading him, but Marinette's room never changed and he quickly memorized it.
"Was getting it any trouble, Adrien?" Marinette asked about the box in his arms. Adrien shook his head. "He knew we'd need it sooner or later, and he trusts us."
"I knew it," Alya said, turning to Marinette, her colour brightening. "I didn't know why you needed to talk to me today, but now I get it." She turned to Adrien. "So, how long have you two been dating behind my back?"
Adrien looked to Marinette, then back to Alya. He sat down next to Marinette, placing the box on the ground between them. "Do you want me to start, or...?" he asked her. Marinette shook her head, then took a deep breath. Her colour deepened as she steeled herself for the coming conversation.
"Well, first off," Marinette said, "what makes you think that Adrien and I are dating?"
Adrien could see Alya adjusting something on her face, maybe glasses? I'll have to ask Marinette if Alya wears glasses, he thought to himself.
"You invite me over to talk about something important, something too important for a phone call. When I get here, you stall, making me wait until Adrien shows up. That's suspicious enough, but then M. Model walks over to us without using his cane. That tells me he's either been faking blindness his entire life or he's been here enough times to know where everything is. So now I know that you two have been at least hanging out, at most doing things that I won't mention. So now the only reasonable question left to ask is how long have you two been dating?"
Adrien looked to Marinette, and she looked back. "Well, it's not quite like that..." she started.
"Relax, Marinette, you know I've been cheering for you two since the first day of school." Adrien's cheeks felt hot as he blushed.
"It's true that we've been dating for a little bit," Adrien cautiously said. Although he couldn't see it on her face, Alya's colour seemed to say I told you so. "But that's not why we asked you to meet us today."
He could see Alya's head move between him and Marinette. "So if telling me that you're dating isn't why you brought me here, then why did you?"
"Well," Marinette started, her hand rubbing the back of her neck, "how good can you keep a secret?"
Adrien could see Alya's colour darkening again, swirling around itself as she tried to discover their secret before she was told. "Marinette, in all this time that I've known you, have I ever betrayed your trust?"
Marinette took another deep breath. "Alya...I'm Ladybug." The words hung in the air, Adrien watching as Alya's colour slowly came to a stop.
"And I'm Chat Noir," Adrien said. The Alya's colour shifted to her usual vibrant orange. "Prove it," she said, crossing her arms. Adrien felt Marinette stand up and he followed suit. The two kwamis flew out of their respective hiding places, causing Alya to take in a sharp breath.
"Do we have to do this?" Plagg asked, zipping to Adrien's face, "isn't our presence enough?"
"I agree with Plagg," Tikki said, "but for a different reason. What if you parents were to come upstairs?"
"Marinette, Adrien...what are those?" Alya asked, her voice soft.
"Alya, these are our kwamis, what give us our powers. Mine is Tikki and Adrien's is Plagg."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Alya," Tikki said, flying over to her.
"You got any cheese on you?" Plagg asked. "Uh, not...not at the moment," she responded. Adrien and Marinette sat back down, their kwamis returning to their respective Chosen.
"So let me get this straight," Alya said, "my best friend is secretly the person I've been trying to unmask ever since she made her debut in Paris. You know, that actually explains a lot, especially why you're such a Chat Noir fan."
Adrien felt himself blush again and by his partner's rigid posture, he was sure she was blushing too.
"But how can you be Chat Noir?" Alya asked Adrien, "you're bl-" She cut herself off, unsure if she could finish it.
"Blind?" he finished. She nodded. "Well, Chat Noir's suit gives me some special abilities, like echolocation."
Alya leaned forward. "Echolocation? Like bats and dolphins? THAT'S SO COOL!"
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. He felt Marinette's hand on his shoulder and he put his hand on top of it. "But there's more to it than just echolocation, but that's not important right now."
"What is important is why we told you," Marinette said. Reaching around, Adrien knew where the box was by the power that it emitted. He pulled it around, placing it between him and Marinette and Alya. "Open it," Marinette commanded.
Slowly, Alya's hands moved towards the box, pulling it close to her before she opened it. "As you know, Adrien and I have been fighting akuma for a while now, but recent akuma attacks have been harder to fight. We almost lost to Robustus, and after that we started talking. The two of us together are powerful, but just two of us won't cut it anymore."
Alya lifted something up, inspecting it. "Is this...a Miraculous?" she asked, her voice filled with awe.
Marinette leaned over to Adrien. "It's the same necklace that Volpina had," she described for him.
"Wait, isn't this Volpina's Miraculous?" Alya asked. "What ever happened to her?"
Adrien heard Marinette sigh beside him. "Volpina was Lila akumatized," he explained.
"I know that," Alya said, "I'm not the creator of the Ladyblog for nothing. I just was saying that it looks just like Volpina's necklace."
"She based her necklace off the real Miraculous, it's a long story," Marinette said. Alya slowly put the necklace on. Suddenly, an orange blur flew out of it. Floating in the air between all three of them was a small fox-like kwami with purple eyes. It floated there for a second before yawning, looking at Alya after rubbing her eyes. She flew over to her. "Hi," she said, "I'm Trixx, your kwami."
Alya held out her hand. "Alya," she introduced. Trixx shook her hand, then paused. She whirled around to see the other two with their kwamis. In an instant, she zoomed to Plagg, tackling him out of the air. "PLAAAAAAAAGG!" she shouted.
"Hey, Trixx," he said, "long time no-" A quiet smack filled the air as Trixx slapped him. "That's for Venice," she said before zooming off to Tikki, tackling her too. "Trixx! It's been so long! How are you?"
"I'm great, sis," she said. "Got any treats for me?"
Tikki flew to Marinette's purse. A moment later, she returned with a small pouch of mixed nuts. Trixx let out a squeal as she took the bag and flew back to Alya, landing on her shoulder to eat.
The three Chosen sat watching as Trixx ate the nuts. "So," Adrien said, turning to Plagg, "what happened in Venice?"
"Nothing that concerns you, kid," he grumbled.
"Trixx, I'd like to introduce you to my friends," Alya said, "that's Marinette, Ladybug, and that's Adrien, Chat Noir."
"Nishe to fmeet chyou," Trixx said through a mouthful of cashew. After she swallowed, she looked at Adrien. "You look familiar," she said.
"Adrien's blind, he won't know who you're talking to unless you address him," Alya explained.
"Actually, I can see kwamis since they're magical," Adrien said. Alya turned to him, shocked. "And unfortunately I don't think we've ever met," he said.
"One of his ancestors was the Ladybug in Venice," Tikki chimed in. Trixx pointed to him. "That's why I recognize you. You got that same colour thing she had?"
"Colour thing?" Alya asked.
"Well, I guess the chat's out of the bag on that," Adrien said, eliciting a groan from Marinette.
"Does he always pun?" Alya asked Marinette; she nodded.
"I'm sorry that it bugs my Lady, and I hope it won't rub you the wrong way either, Alya," Adrien said, smiling. His face grew stern. "As I told Marinette when I first told her about it, this is a secret about as big as my identity. If I'm being honest, I'd rather you tell my identity before you tell anyone this. Understand?" Alya nodded, then shook her head. "Sorry, I nodded; whatever this is, I'll keep it."
"Well, the thing is that-" Alya's phone went off, startling them all. She took it out, apologizing, then froze.
"Uh, guys, there's an akuma alert," she said.
"Akuma?" Trixx asked.
"Nooroo's Chosen is evil," Tikki explained, "his Champions are known as akumas."
Trixx nodded. "So then some things about your newfound powers, Alya. First off, to transform, just say, transformez-moi. To detransform, destransformez-moi. Your power is called Illucio; say it then play a tune on your flute and you'll get to make up to 5 illusions who'll exist until they're touched by someone. You can control them however you want but you can only use this ability once per transformation. Unlike those two, though" she said, pointing over to Adrien and Marinette, "you can stay transformed for as long as you need to. Oh and I like to eat nuts. Any kind, just no macadamias. I don't like macadamia nuts."
"O-okay," Alya said, looking to her friends.
"Well then, what are we waiting for? We've got an akula-" "Akuma." "-akuma to fight!"
Alya was nervous. "Alright, then. Trixx, transformez-moi!"
A flash of orange lit up Marinette's room. When the light faded, Alya was gone; in her stead was a fox-themed superheroine. Her suit was similar to Volpina's suit, but was a darker shade of orange than Volpina. Her outfit was covered in a short fur that stopped just before her gloves. A belt around her waste held a bamboo flute as well as a piece of cloth that resembled a fox's tail.
Adrien stared at her; at first, he couldn't tell if she had changed at all. Then he noticed it: her colour had changed ever so slightly. No, instead of the vibrant range of oranges that was Alya, she now radiated a dark orange that didn't waver like her normal colour. Satisfied that he could tell the difference, he transformed. I guess the change in colour isn't always as drastic as it was for Marinette, he thought to himself.
She walked over to Marinette's vanity, looking at herself in the mirror. Seemingly satisfied, she turned back to find Marinette and Adrien already transformed, ready to go.
"Wait, before we go, I need a name," Alya said, "and I don't want Volpina." She sat in silence for a second, then snapped her fingers. "Renard Roux," she said.
Ladybug and Chat Noir nodded. "Alright, Renard Roux, let's go catch your first akuma," Ladybug said, walking over to the hatch leading outside. The other two superheroes followed her lead out the hatch, and soon were running towards the sound of screaming coming from the Eiffel Tower.