Chapter Text
It starts off as a harmless comment under one of her more recent posts.
What if Alya Cesaire was Rena Rouge?
It's not very convincing, and most likely a joke. The readers of the Ladyblog have tried to guess the identity of every hero, unsuccessfully.
Once, there was a long, complicated thread about how Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir and his father Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth, and all he wanted was to bring his wife back, and he really wasn't a bad guy, but that was disproved by the Collector and Gorzilla.
People would theorize anything.
Alya ignored the comment, knowing it would soon be forgotten.
It wasn't.
The next day, the comment had hundreds of replies.
They ranged from believable shock, to actual facts and data.
Wait, this seems so likely.
@Ladyblog anything you want to share? ;)
You know, she hasn't been posting as frequently.
the butts match
Alya never posts theories on who Rena Rouge is. I bet it because she already knows.
It was a little nerve-wracking, to say the least. If Hawkmoth saw these comments, she could be done for.
Although, these were the same people that tried to tell Alya her best friend Marinette was Ladybug, which couldn't be right, Marinette just had a big crush on Ladybug and ran away from Akumas out of awkwardness. Clearly.
They would believe anything.
So Alya tried to ease the chaos with a comment of her own.
On the speculation of whether I am Rena Rouge or not, I have to say no comment. I've been posting less because I'm busy with school, and haven't had time to get good footage and edit it.
She read over her statement, checking for any errors. It seemed fairly straightforward and to the point.
Within minutes, replies flooded her inbox.
that sounds like something Rena Rouge would say
You know, I bet Rena Rouge is busy with school too
Alya did not like the situation this was heading in. On the internet it was so easy to change things and post lies. Soon, her identity would be out to the whole world.
She even got a text from Marinette, asking, "u ok?" With a screenshot of the ladyblog.
Great, even her best friend thought she was a superhero, which like she was, but it didn't need to be broadcast to the world.
She sent back, "I'm good, just people being trolls."
Marinette sent back, "well, you're my hero :) " which made Alya blush.
Marinette was sweet. She had dealt with the Ladybug comments in such a calm and graceful manner. Maybe she would have some good advice-
Alya blinked, realizing the perfect solution.
When Adrien Agreste had been accused of being Chat Noir, he responded by posting about how hot Chat Noir was, and how much he wished he could be Chat Noir.
It led to a lot of shipping, and some fanfiction (which Alya was 99% sure was written by Adrien himself). People thought Adrien and Chat would make an amazing couple.
After that, no one accused Adrien of being Chat Noir. It was a strategic response, that Adrien probably hadn't even considered. He had actually just thought that Chat Noir was hotter than him, which like, they could both be models. They were equally gorgeous.
For Alya, it would be the perfect cover-up. Not posting about how she was in love with Chat Noir, but about how she liked Rena Rouge.
It was a little risky, considering that Alya did not hide her crush on Ladybug, but she could be attracted to more than one hero, and Rena was objectively attractive. Alya knew she looked good in that suit.
Alya typed out a comment. The perfect comment.
I wish I was Rena Rouge. She's gorgeous.
Then she hit send and went to school.
She had no idea the sheer level of chaos she had just spawned.
Before she checked her phone again, at lunch, Renalya was trending.
Trending.
And people were still saying that she was Rena Rouge
Alya you're pretty shut up
You literally could be Rena
We stan a gorgeous queen
Alya had to silence the truth. She replied to the comments with something obvious.
Guys, Rena Rouge doesn't wear glasses
it only fanned the flames. Instantly sparking hundreds of replies.
Clark Kent wears glasses
Its so easy to get fake glasses
Have you guys considered contacts?
The most compelling argument is the hair difference
Finally, that was something to latch onto. Rena Rouge and Alya had different hair. Clearly they couldn't be the same person.
Rena Rouge and Alya have never been in the same place at the same time
Why have you never interviewed Rena?
Alya sighed. She didn't have a good reason, other than the fact that she was Rena and it would be so complicated to fake an interview with herself.
She posted a simple reply: Its personal
the internet responded: you are Rena Rouge
Alya had had enough. They were too close to the truth. Clearly, she had to come up with a reasonable excuse, one that would validate avoiding Rena Rouge at all costs.
It wasn't like she knew anyone that avoided anyone else for any reason.
Except-
Without hesitation, Alya posted a public tweet.
I'm literally in love with Rena Rouge stop teasing me.
Surely that would be enough to silence the masses.
It was not.
One hour later, Renalya was still trending, but for a different reason.
People loved the idea of Alya and Rena Rouge. They told her she'd be perfect for the superhero.
Nino was... a little less than enthusiastic about the whole thing.
She received spam posts on the Ladyblog of fan fiction about her and Rena Rouge.
Alya read through some of it, and it wasn't bad.
Too keep up the charade, she swallowed her dignity and wrote fan fiction about herself. With herself. It seemed like the obvious solution. No self-respecting superhero would write fanfiction about themselves.
She posted it anonymously, but it had too many facts about her own life. No one knew that it was her that wrote it of course.
And then there was the intervention.
Marinette, Adrien and Nino sat in a circle around her in the library.
"Alya, you need to stop." Marinette started.
"Stop what?" She replied innocently, closing the Ao3 draft she had been editing.
"Stop acting like you're in love with Rena Rouge."
"But I am in love with Rena Rouge."
Nino stared at her. "I thought you loved me?"
"I can love two people."
"Yes, but not-" Nino sighed. He knew that she was Rena Rouge, but he couldn't say it out loud. Not in front of their friends. "I'm sure Rena Rouge doesn't like the attention. It creates weird media."
"Nino, know Rena doesn't care about the media."
"Its weird." Marinette frowned. "I would never write fan fiction about myself."
Adrien stayed oddly silent.
Marinette continued, "and Ladybug doesn't want anyone to speculate on the identity of the heroes."
"I never speculated the identity of the heroes. I'm just having fun."
"Its weird, Alya."
Marinette closed her eyes. "You named Rena's civilian identity Ralya Resaire. Even if you were trying to hide your identity, that's not a good way to do it. If I didn't already know, I would've guessed immediately."
"Yeah, it's too obvious, babe."
"Its a joke. Relax."
"It was a joke 30 thousand words ago. Maybe." Nino frowned. "Now its an obsession."
"This is an intervention." Marinette sighed. "We are asking you to stop. For your sanity, and ours."
Adrien finally contributed to the conversation. "Keep it up, it's exactly what I would've done in that situation."
Marinette rolled her eyes. "And how well did that go for you?"
"Very well, thanks."
"See, Adrien is on my side. Its not weird."
Adrien chuckled. "Its definitely weird."
Nino changed the subject. "I can't proofread this for you Alya, I'm sorry babe."
"You've told me that." Alya shrugged. "Its fine, I have a new beta reader."
Marinette spoke up. "I'm also quitting."
Alya gasped. "How could you do this to me?"
"Alya you're my best friend. I don't want to read about you making out with yourself."
"It's literature."
"It's weird."
"Its a work of art."
"Alya I can't do this." Marinette sighed. "I don't know what it is about superheroes giving me fanfic about themselves to try to hide their identities, but it doesn't work. Its a terrible plan."
Alya frowned. "Has this happened before?"
"Yes."
"Who-"
Adrien sputtered. "It was one time, Marinette. Let it go."
"Alya," Marinette opened her phone to a notes page, "this is the sixth time this has happened to me."
"Sixth?"
"Actually, it's the ninth. I read that wrong."
"I thought I was special." Adrien shook his head.
"You are." Marinette kissed him on the cheek.
"Really?"
"Yeah, but so is Alya, and Chloe, and Nino-"
Alya gave Nino a look. "Hypocrite."
He raised his arms. "In my defense, it seemed like the only option. She asked me if I was Carapace. And it was only a one shot."
"So?"
"You've written 100k on your slowburn enemies to lovers fic, and it's halfway done. There's a difference."
"Its literally the same thing, Nino."
Marinette was still naming superheroes. "-and Ryuuko, King Monkey, Volpina (which was a whole different level of weird), and Bunnyx but she laughed about the whole thing so I think it was some sort of future inside joke," After a pause she added, "and Viperion."
They all stared in shock.
Adrien was the first to recover. "Have you read fan fiction about all of your friends?"
"Only the ones that have asked me to read it."
"Do you know everyone's identities?"
"That's classified. And not Hawkmoth or Mayura."
Alya shook her head. "You scare me, Marinette."
"Good."
"You have so much knowledge..."
Marinette shook her head. "I have not once wrote fanfiction about myself, and its going to stay that way."
"Yeah, but you don't have a superhero identity to write about." Alya pointed out. "
Adrien and Marinette exchanged a look.
"You wanna bet?"
Alya in fact, did not want to bet.
That night, a new superhero, Multimouse, appeared.
The timing was too coincidental.
And the fanfic posted the next morning about Marinette and Multimouse was a little too detailed to be completely fiction, if you know what I mean.
Which only proved Marinette's point, it was a terrible way to keep a secret identity.