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"M'lady, you've been acting strange all night." Chat Noir peered at Ladybug, concern written on his face. "Is something bugging you?"
Patrol. Usually a nice way to unwind. Running through the rooftops of Paris with one of his three favorite people on the world. (Possibly his very favorite, but Nino was up there too and he and Plagg cared for each other more than either of them would ever admit.)
But tonight was different. Ladybug had been acting off, which worried him. She'd been quiet the entire time. She hadn't even groaned at any of his puns.
She took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye. "Chat. I..." For a moment, she bit her lip, looking uncertain, but that was gone in an instant, and her gaze was steely once again. This time, her voice was stronger. "I accidentally figured out who you are."
That had not been what he was expecting.
His stomach plummeted. For all he wanted to reveal their identities to each other, he had wanted to do it on their own terms. He wanted his lady to choose to know who he was; to understand each side of him. To give him a chance to explain how such different personalities could be two sides of the same person. But she had figured it out on her own. He didn't have that chance to help her understand.
And he still didn't know who she was. He probably never would.
"...Oh," he said after a moment. His ears flattened against his messy hair. "Oh. I... I guess I should get going then." He turned away, ready to bound across the rooftops, but Ladybug grabbed his tail.
"Wait!" she yelped, her voice sounding panicked. "Wait. Please, Chat."
Even in a situation like this, he would not deny his lady what she wished. He paused.
"Why would you leave?" she finally asked. "We're friends. You know that. This doesn't mean you're no longer my partner."
He frowned. "It... doesn't?" He tilted his head. "But... I thought you didn't want to know my identity."
"I didn't," Ladybug said. "I wanted to keep it secret. If I could take back my discovery, I would. It'll make things way more complicated." She sighed. "But you're my friend, Chat. On both sides of the mask."
Chat's eyes lit up. "Really?" He smiled a small smile, unlike his usual cat-like smirk. "We know each other?"
Ladybug hesitated, and then nodded. "Yes," she said. "But before you ask, I'm not telling you who I am. It's bad enough that one of us knows. So don't go asking."
Chat was crestfallen. His lady knew both of his masks, and she still wouldn't let him get close to her. But he would respect her wishes. He would always respect her wishes. "All right," he agreed. "I promise." He grinned. "But I don't think my knowing would be quite as catastrophic as you fear, m'lady."
She groaned. "Ugh, Chat."
And he knew they would be okay.
Marinette slipped into her seat right behind Adrien as the bell rang. She let out a little breath of relief, and Alya shook her head.
"What am I going to do with you, girl?" Alya asked with a sigh. "Are you ever not late?"
Adrien and Nino both turned to look at her as she answered.
Marinette shrugged. "I was up late chatting with a friend." She winked at the row in front of her.
"Oh?" Adrien asked innocently. "Really? But Alya doesn't look that tired."
"I wasn't talking with her." Alya shrugged a little. "I was passed out by nine. The kiddos really wear you down."
"He's a different friend," Marinette said flippantly.
"He?" Alya repeated. "You have some secret boyfriend I don't know about? Girl, spill!"
Adrien was staring at Marinette. He wasn't quite sure why he felt so weird at Alya's words.
Marinette shrugged, a small smirk on her face. To Adrien, it was positively unMarinettelike. "He'd like to think so." She seemed to be staring directly at him and Nino.
Adrien's face turned bright red and he turned back up front as the teacher began to talk.
"Salut, Marinette," Adrien greeted her as the class filed out to lunch hour.
Marinette's face turned bright red. "Salut, Adrien," she mumbled in reply.
"How do you think you did in class?" Adrien asked. "That worksheet was a little tougher than usual, wasn't it? It's good that school is challenging us." His eyes glittered with excitement.
"Y-yes," she stuttered. "Hard." She bit her lip and stared at the wall opposite them. "I... I should go! Maman and Papa should be expecting me for love! I mean, lunch!" If possible, her face turned even redder.
"Oh," Adrien said. "Have a good lunch break, then, Marinette!" He waved at her as she ran off, and his heart panged. He couldn't help but wish he had a family to eat lunch with.
As she walked away, Marinette ran into Nino. She raised her hand in greeting and grinned at him. "Hey, Nino," she said. "Clawesome headphones!"
She giggled to herself until she was out of sight, leaving both Adrien and Nino scratching their heads in confusion.
"I have a bone to pick with you," Ladybug said to Chat Noir.
Chat blinked. "M'lady, I thought it was dogs that were associated with bones."
Ladybug crossed her arms, ignoring his comment. "I want you to stop flirting with me."
Chat stared at her. "...What."
"I want you to stop flirting with me!" She stomped her foot. "There's a poor girl who's got a crush on you, and you're leading her on!"
"What."
"Poor girl has it bad. Ever since that day when you two... you know!" Ladybug scowled.
"What."
"And if you really want to know who it is, I won't tell you!" Ladybug snapped.
"What."
"Don't you mean who?" Ladybug pointed out. Her face turned pink. "It's... umm... it's Alya Cesaire!" Her voice came out in a rush, as though she had not meant to say it.
Chat blinked once. And then he blinked again.
"What."
"Hi Alya!" Adrien said the next day. "You look nice today." His voice betrayed his discomfort. His lady had wanted him to get together with Alya, but he couldn't do it. He just didn't like her that way.
Alya looked surprised. "Thanks, I guess. But you know who else looks really nice today? Marinette!"
Beside her, Marinette turned pink. Adrien gave her a small smile.
"You both look great," he said encouragingly. He took a deep breath, bringing up strength from his Chat Noir persona. (Purrsona... stop it, brain. For once, that isn't important right now.) "Alya, may I please speak with you alone?"
Alya shrugged. "Sure, why not?" She followed him out into the hall.
Adrien took a deep breath. "Look. I wanted to apologize. I just... Idon'tlikeyoulikethat." It came out in a rush.
Alya blinked. "What?"
"I don't like you like that," he said more carefully. "I'm sorry."
Alya stared at him for another moment, and then burst out laughing. "You know," she said, "I don't like you like that either. Wherever did you get that idea?"
Adrien couldn't look at Alya for the rest of the day. He distracted himself by telling Nino his best cat ouns for the rest of the day.
He was going to kill Ladybug for this.
"Ladybug!" Chat hissed. He dodged the akuma, deflecting her blows with his staff. "I cannot believe you!"
"Later, Chat!" Ladybug said. She yelped as she narrowly avoided the akuma's ray.
Apparently some American tourist girl had decided she wanted to be a villain. For some reason (no one could ever guess why), being told she couldn't had made her angry, thus giving Hawk Moth the chance to... turn her into a villain. According to her mother, she had the powers of some of the gadgets from some American movie called Despicable Me. Now Chat and Ladybug were dodging freeze rays, shrink rays, and battling citizens turned into cookie bots.
Well, it wasn't the strangest akuma they had come across.
"You told me Alya liked me!" Chat complained. "You liar! She laughed in my face when I tried to turn her down today!"
Ladybug actually stopped. "Wait. She doesn't like you? I could have sworn..."
And before Chat could warn her or jump in the way, a shrink ray hit her right in the stomach.
Suddenly, Ladybug was no longer there.
"M'lady?" Chat called out in worry. "M'lady!"
"Down here!" a high voice squeaked.
Chat scooped her up off the sidewalk as Despicable She cackled maniacally. He placed her own his shoulder and practically dived into an alleyway.
"What are we going to do?" Chat panted. "You're too small to catch the akuma!"
Ladybug frowned. "It would be really hard to be Ladybug like this." Her face was hard to see, but it was ghostly pale.
Chat swallowed. "W-what can we do, m'lady?"
Ladybug's tiny head tilted. "Well..." she said slowly, "I'm not sure if my kwami was affected."
Chat blinked. "What?"
"I'm tiny," Ladybug said. "Tikki might not be. If someone else could be Ladybug, they could purify the akuma."
Chat stared at the ladybug-sized Ladybug on his shoulder. "What? You want me to find a replacement Ladybug? But..." He couldn't replace his lady. He just couldn't. "...but your earrings are shrunken, too! How could anyone put them in? And who can I trust to be Ladybug?"
"Yes," Ladybug said thoughtfully. "But I don't think it matters where the earrings are as long as they're on your person. And ask whoever you trust to be Ladybug."
"Are you sure?" A lump was forming in his throat. "You're my lady. No one else is."
"Aww, that's sweet," she cooed. "But I trust you to choose well. It's only for one battle, right?" She reached up to her ears and unfastened the tiny earrings. Chat flinched and squeezed his eyes shut. "Put me in your hand, and don't look," she instructed. "Just drop me off on m-Marinette's balcony, and I'll wait there until the end of the battle. You remember her, right? Okay?"
Chat nodded mutely, holding his hand by his shoulder until he felt her drop on it. Then he took his staff and bounded away toward the Dupain-Chengs' bakery.
There were only four people he would ever dream of trusting with this. One was Ladybug herself. The second was Marinette, but she was probably watching Ladybug. The third was Alya, but he didn't want to talk to her after what had happened earlier. Which only left one option.
Nino.
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Chat asked Ladybug's kwami for the thousandth time.
Tikki giggled. "I am, Chat Noir. Don't worry about it. As long as everything gets fixed and I get back to my bug, I am willing to temporarily bond with another. It has happened before, and it will happen again."
Nino thankfully opened the door when Chat knocked. He opened the door, took one look at Chat, and stared. "You have cat to be kitten me."
Chat grinned. "I believe this is the start to a beautiful friendship. May I please come in?"
Nino, still looking star struck, moved to allow Chat to step into the living room.
"So," Chat said. "You've got a furbulous house."
"Thanks," Nino said. "I think it's pretty clawesome. But there's something bugging me. Why aren't you out fighting?"
Chat fidgeted.
"Ladybug was hit by a shrink ray," Tikki said cheerfully. Nino gaped.
"Is this true?" he demanded. "And what is that thing?"
"That is a kwami. And yeah," he admitted. "Buginette can't do anything at three inches tall."
Nino let out a long low whistle, still staring at Tikki. "Tough."
"Yeah." Chat sighed. "But we figured we needed someone to take her place - temporarily! - and I thought you'd be best, so..." He spread his arms apart. "So here we are."
"But my ears aren't pierced," Nino pointed out. "And those things are tiny, dude."
"Yeah," Chat agreed.
"You'll be able to transform whether they're in your ears or not," Tikki assured Nino. "As long as they stay on your person at all times!"
"Pin them to my shirt?" Nino suggested.
Chat's face lit up. "So you'll do it?"
"Yeah," Nino agreed. "As long as we can get those doll earrings pinned on my shirt."
Chat clamped him on the back. "You're such a Ni-bro."
"I Ni-know."
"As Ladybug, you'd better lie Ni-low."
"Right now, LB is the size of my Ni-toe."
"Marinette can Ni-sew."
Nino raised an eyebrow at that one.
"Boys," Tikki cut in, "I'm glad you two are bonding, but we need to Ni-go."
Chat snickered. "Sorry we're so Ni-slow," he said. "But Ni-oh! I Ni-know! We can put the earrings in your pocket. That'll mean he'll have a pocket on his costume, right?"
"Right," Tikki confirmed. "I can make that work. It'll be closed, Ni-though, seeing as we don't want them to fall out." Nino put the earrings in his pocket, and Tikki grinned. "What are we waiting for? Nino, say 'spots on'!"
"Spots on!"
"Ni-whoa," Chat Noir breathed.
"Unfurtunately, I have Ni-no idea of how to use a Ni-yo-yo," Nino said. He held the yoyo in his palm, staring at it as though it were a dead thing.
"I'll lead," Chat assured him. "Just follow me. You should probably step back until I've caught the akuma, though."
"You mean Ni-though?" Nino teased, trying not to show his relief about not having to fight.
Chat grinned. "Come on, Ni-bro. Can you spot the akuma?"
"Yes, you have to say 'bye-bye little butterfly'!" Chat huffed. "It's what Ladybug does!"
"Dude, I told you, I'm not Ladybug! I'm Manbug. There is a difference."
Chat tried not to cringe at the name. He hadn't been able to bring himself to say it aloud, and he wasn't sure that would change He loved Nino, but that was a stupid hero name. There were so many better options out there.
"But it might be part of her magic!" Chat fretted. "You might need to say it and if you don't the akuma might not purify, and..." He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
"Relax, cat," Manbug sighed. "It'll all turn out fine. I promise."
He let the butterfly go, now white, and it flapped into the air. "You're no longer an akuma!" Manbug yelled. "You're free, dude! Be an acoolma!"
Chat blinked. "...You're my bro, and I like puns and all, but that's pushing it."
Nino shrugged and detransformed. "Whatever, dude. Just get these things back to Ladybug. I might not know much about fashion, but polka dots aren't really my thing."
"Chat Noir!" Marinette called as the superhero landed on her balcony. "Ladybug had to go, but she said to leave her earrings here. I'll get them to her."
Chat frowned. "Are you sure? I can always-"
"Stop. She told me she doesn't want you to know her identity," Marinette said gently. "It's safest this way."
For once, Chat did not argue, though he sorely wanted to.
(Then again, he never did.)
"Nino! Is it true you got to work alongside Chat Noir yesterday?" Alya demanded.
Nino grinned. "Yeah! I was Manbug."
Alya paused. "...Please do not repeat that name ever again." She shook her head. "But how was it? What was it like?"
"It was clawesome!" Nino said with a wink. Marinette walked in and stood next to Alya. "Want an interview later, babe?"
"You know it." Alya turned to Marinette. "Did you hear the news? Nino got to work alongside Chat Noir yesterday!"
Marinette's mind came to a screeching halt.
"You... you tricked me!" Ladybug fumed that night on patrol.
Chat Noir blinked. "I did?"
"Yes!" she hissed. "You were supposed to be Nino!"
Chat paused. "...You thought I was Nino Lahiffe? The Manbug kid yesterday?"
"Yes!" Ladybug complained. "He kept spewing cat puns! It made perfect sense!"
Wait. She thought I was my best friend because of a few cat puns I told him?
"I am not Nino Lahiffe," Chat said.
Ladybug groaned.
"Ni-no," Chat continued. He shook his head.
"Please make this torture end," Ladybug groaned. "This is embarrassing enough. This is all your fault with your stupid puns."
"I'm not the only one in the world who can pun," Chat pointed out. "I'm just the only one who could do it well!"
"And you two have such a similar sense of humor!"
"I did pick the kid to be your replacement."
"And he was in love with Alya! You guys could have been like Lois Lane and Superman!"
"But I like you, m'lady."
"And he always disappears at random times..."
"You mean with his girlfriend?"
"He's always missing during attacks!"
"Because his girlfriend drags him along to record us!"
"And besides you, he's the most ridiculous dancer I've ever met!"
"I am offended, Buginette. I have moves."
They both stopped, breathing hard, though they hadn't been running. Chat was the first to speak up again.
"...You do know we've been seen in the same room together before, right?"
"Gaah!"
"I still can't believe you thought I was Nino."
"It has been ten years, Adrien. Please let this go."
"Never. I still need to get back at you for making me reject Alya."
"Ten. Years."