Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I’m dating Chat Noir,” Lila said to her gathered audience. Adrien’s head snapped up upon hearing that and before he could stop himself the denial was past his lips. “Oh, what makes you so sure about that?” Looking around Adrien noticed that everyone’s heads had turned towards him.

His head was going through a hundred options while also wishing that Ladybug was here. While he wished that he could just say that his amazingly awesome alter-ego was dating said also amazing women all the reports and interviews the two had given would prove him a quick liar. While his eyes darted around the room taking in everyone his eyes spotted the dark hair of Dupain and he came up with a solution. “Because Chat Noir told me he’s dating Multimouse!”

The Ladybloger descended on him in an instant. “Alright Agrest couple of questions. One when did you talk to the cat, but more importantly WHO is Multimouse. ‘Cause I can assure you that I keep full recorders of all of Paris heros and I have never heard of a mouse scurrying about.”

Well if everyone’s eyes weren’t on him before they sure as heck were on him now. “Oh Chat drops by my house occasionally,” seeing Alya’s questioning look Adrien rushed his brain for something, “when I asked why he said he needed a favor. Apparently the guy is a cheese addict or something cause he really needed some wheels of cheese,” whatever he was about to say was interrupted by Dupain.

“Wait he came to you for cheese?” Adrian saw emotions flicker across his friends blue eyes, emotions he couldn’t quite place. “Did he pay you for them?” Oh they were worried about him, such a good friend.

“Well he offered but I didn’t accept, it would be rude to ask one of Paris’s heros to pay.”

“Oh, sunshine,” Alya let out a sigh, “never change.”

“So after that he came back every so often to hang out and talk, so that’s how I found out he was dating Mulimouse.” Man he had to give himself a pat on the back for this, next to deceiving Ladybug about Plagg being in the school this had to be one of his better lies.

Everyone looked between themselves and whispered while Rose let out a sigh, “Aww, cat and mouse, I bet they're so cute together.” Well from what he remembered of Multimouse and her civilian identity…

“I have to get pictures next time I see them!” Ayla said pumping her fist while a look of sheer determination lit up her eyes. Ah, it seems he may have missed a step in his plan. Definitely need to get in touch with LB about this ASAP. Thankfully the Agreste’s saving grace came in the form of the lunch bell allowing him to slip out of the classroom.

“Whoa what’s the emergency kid?” Plagg asked when he got outside.

“Don’t act like you weren’t listening, Plagg.” The blonde said while trying to think of what to do next.

“Well you dug that hole pretty deep.” His unhelpful kwami said while seeming to enjoy the chaos. “So what’s your big plan? Convince Pigtails to let the mouse out so you can date the girl you only met twice?” Adrien let out a sigh because that was basically the plan.

“Well we did seem to get along really well the one time my lady let us patrol together.” The blonde said leaning against the wall. “Besides it should only be for a short time then everyone will forget about it and move on.”

“Yeah cause superhero gossip fades so quickly,” Adrian could almost taste the sarcasm Plagg was using, “especially that Ladyblogger friend of yours.” Crap, he might have forgotten her. “Well better get to work on those kitten eyes so you can convince the new guardian to let you date a mouse.”

~~~~~

Marinette was used to misunderstandings, they seemed common around her. Someone said one thing when they meant another thing, another mistook something for something else, so on and so forth. So Plagg was found in the school she went to, she just misinterpreted and thought Chat went to her school too, lucky they were able to clear up the misunderstanding and as a bonus she was able to take herself off of the ally cat’s list of suspects using a whole bunch of Miraculous. Though it might have been unnecessary given how he didn’t even seem to recognize her civilian self. Not that she expected him to recognize her or anything but just to double check she did a patrol with him as Multimouse and got nothing.

Was one patrol enough for Chat to fall for her new secret identity and why go to Adrien for more cheese for Plagg? Her mind going into overdrive was interrupted by a hard pat to her back by Kim. “Hey Dupain you managed to sneak a couple of those treats you promised for losing our bet?”

Rolling her eyes Marinette began to reach into her bag only to hear rapid feet pounding toward her. “What’s this I hear about a bet?” Nino asked, having come back from looking for Adrian.

“We made a bet a couple days ago about a Let’s Player and I won.” Kim said with a large grin on his face. Marinette muttered a few curses while handing over a baggy of treats.

“You guys had a bet going and didn’t let me know!” Nino said dramatically, “I’m hurt dudes.”

“Well we can make a couple more bets when we have another sleepover.” Kim said his mind going to what other bets he could make while waiting to challenge his friends again.

“You know we really didn’t thank Alix enough for winning that race.” Nino muttered to her. She gave a nod while restraining a giggle. “So you think we should try getting Adrian to come over for the party?”

“What’s this about a party?” Alya asked while walking up to her boyfriend.

“Oh did I never mention them?” Nino said while reaching up and rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry dudette, the party is more a sleepover between us and the rest of the guys.”

Hearing the explanation Alya nodded, “Well at least if anything goes wrong I have two reliable people to keep things from going too far.” Turning her attention back towards her boyfriend she added, “That said I still need your help if what Sunshine said is true about the new whisker team in town.”

A spark lit up in Marinette’s eye as a devious idea came crashing into her head. “Well as fun as shooting the breeze is with you guys I need to go help my parents at the bakery.”

“See you later dude,” Nino said tilting his head and hat towards her while Kim and Alya gave their typical goodbyes.

Exiting the school she made a beeline for her home as more and more pieces for her plan started forming while slotting into place. Reaching her room she dumped her backpack while Tikki popped out of one of the pouches with a hum as watched her chosen mutter to herself. The kwami of creation was about to grab a cookie while waiting for her to wind down only to feel herself vibrate. “Marinette Chat is calling you.”

A quick transformation later and jumping up to her roof Ladybug opened her yo-yo to answer the call. “What’s up Chaton?” A bit of worry crept into her tone, it was rare that he called her.

“Uh, hey LB, I was just hoping that, uh, Multimouse could show up to patrol tonight.” Was this happening because if so then her Ladybug luck was working overtime.

“Sure thing, in fact I was going to take a break from some patrols and let a few others cover some of them.” Ladybug gave him a smile while sitting down.

“Wait what?” Chat said, giving her a confused glance.

“Well after Miracule Queen we lost a lot of team mates so I want the few we have left to be on their top game for when we have to use them.” She watched him nod before giving a sigh. “You know I heard that the guardian is a bit looser with secrets concerning her partner knowing the identities of the other user.” She watched in amusement as his ears perked up and his pupils grew. “They just need to check with the temporary holders to make sure they’re okay with a certain kitty knowing.”

“Let me know as soon as you can!” Chat said and Ladybug knew if she saw him in person he would be hopping from foot to foot.

“Of course,” hanging up the call Ladybug landed on her balcony before returning to being normal.

“Are you really going to tell Chat all of the temporary holder identities?” Tikki giving her holder a look. “You would be giving him the fox, turtle, and mouse identities.”

“Oh I’m sure he’ll have Rena’s and Carpace’s identities but the mysterious Multimouse is going to play a game of cat and mouse with the brave hunter.” Letting out a giggle she went to one of her mannequins that she had modified to hide the miraculous box. “Well time to see what Chat will do next.”

Chapter Text

Chat bounced from foot to foot as he waited on the Eiffel Tower for the others to arrive. He was going to get their identities and then he could convince a certain mouse to date him. Yup everything about today was shooting up, he just had to avoid the tropes of fake dating.

“Heya dude, how goes it!” A voice behind him called out causing him to turn slightly to see Carapace arrive. “So I guess LB told you who I am?”

“No she hasn’t arrived yet.” Chat said trying to relax and not let his excitement show. “So how did you and Rena avoid Miracle Queen?” That was a question that was bugging him since that cullsole mess.

The turtle user let out a chuckle while messing with his hood. “Oh he saw the giant swarm of bees, started screaming, grabbed my hand and jumped into the nearest water source.” A joking voice called out to them as Rena appeared.

“I told you that I don’t like those stinging demons dudette.” Carapace told her while a blush appeared on his cheeks.

“Aw, don’t worry turtle,” Rena said leaning forward while giving him a full smile. “I forgave you the moment I saw what happened with the other miraculous users.” Giving an affectionate pat on his shoulder the sneaky fox turned toward Chat with a sly grin on her face. “So Mr. Whiskers where is Miss. Whiskers?” The Black Cat user’s eyes flew open. How did she know about that?

“Oh my god am I late!” A voice yelled out while the least experienced hero arrived stumbling upon landing. “I know I was Ladybug said I was her last stop but I thought I was quick enough especially when she said she needed me here early because she couldn’t show up and I needed to give you something.”

“Back up a bit there Mousinette,” Chat said calmly approaching her. “Now you said that my lady had something for me?” Waiting for her to take a deep breath she shoved a sealed letter toward him. Looking at her with a soft smile she gave a chuckle before facepalming and rushing back to grab a box she seemed to drop when she landed.

“I also brought this for you,” Shifting the letter a bit to grab a hold of the offered box.

“Oh and what purr-haps did I do to get sweets from such a sweet little mouse?” Giving the short hero a wink he was rewarded with an eye roll as she leaned toward him with a smirk.

“Well I remember that a certain super kitty talked about their favorite treats and thought that sense they were such an amazing hero they deserved some home cooked meals.”

“Thank you,” Chat felt some tears trying to escape at the thought she put into her gift. “That was quite paw-some of you to do.” Hearing a noise behind him Chat turned on his heel to see Rena staring at them and Carapace awkwardly standing to the side. “Oh paw-don me for the late introductions. Everyone let me introduce the a-moew-zing Multimouse.” Standing to the side Chat presented the other hero off to the others. “Now why don’t the three of you mingle while I read this.”

~~~~~

Marinette watched Chat Noir walk away with a smile. She knew she had to act differently then when she was Ladybug and it seemed to be paying off based on Chat’s reaction to getting the treats. Now he was probably going to read the letter and admit to Alya that they weren’t dating. Yeah it might hurt Adrien but that is what Chat gets for visiting a random citizen to get food for his Kwami.

“So you're the mysterious Multimouse?” Rena asked, shocking her out of her thoughts and causing her to let out a squeak.

“Um, well yes I’m Multimouse but the only mysterious thing about me is how clumsy I am.” Man it felt weird talking to one of her better friends in a different suit.

“Well it's nice to meet you dude.” Carapace said, giving a calm smile toward her. “So you only been out once?”

Looking over at Chat she saw him putting the letter away before heading her way. “Yeah I guess you could say I’m still learning the ropes.” While saying this she made sure to grab her tail and swing it around.

“Really?” Alya asked and Marinette was sure if the mask wasn’t there she would see a raised eyebrow.

“What can I say, she is hiss-terical.” Rolling her eyes the girl smiled at the grinning cat.

“I only wish I was as claw-ver as you.” Seeing his green eyes sparkle in amusement she felt a tingle go down her spine as her heart rate started to pick up. What was going on?!

Hearing a cough to the side they turned to see the other two heroes. “So I have a couple questions I would like to ask you two.” The redhead asked in her no nonsense voice.

“Well I would love to but LB said in her note that she wanted us to do separate patrols.” She didn’t say that. “So why don’t you two enjoy your superhero date while I take this cute little mouse for some mice cream.” What!

“Sounds like a plan cat,” The tratorios fox said, giving him a wink. “I hope you know that you can’t run from my questions forever.”

“Good luck dude,” Carapace said, giving him a nod. “Same patrol route as before?”

“Yup now don’t get distracted making out with each other.”

“Same goes for you ‘super kitty’,” the mouse user's eyes shot open at the fox’s comment. Did they actually seem to be in a relationship? Was she unknowingly dating her partner under a different mask? When did this happen!

“Hey we need to talk,” a hand and calm voice drew her out of her thoughts before she could get too far lost in her thoughts. “Follow me little mouse.”

“Oh so the mouse is going to chase the cat?” What is with her and the flirty attitude?

“We’ll just have to see how good at tailing me you are.” Chat gave a wink before bringing up his baton. “Now follow closely my good fur-end.”

Watching him taking off the raven haired girl didn’t wait long before taking off after him feeling a rush. Remembering his comment about tailing him she shot forward as best she could to try and catch the cat. Nearing him she tried to reach out and grab his tail only for one of his ears to twitch and the object of her focus to shoot out of range. Landing on a roof he shot a questioning look at her only for Marinette to give him her best innocent smile. “You said you wanted me to tail you so I assumed you meant you wanted me to try and catch you?”

Chat let out a chuckle as he walked toward her. “If you really want to play cat and mouse sometime then you just need to say so but for now I need to talk to you. So please just follow me okay?” Giving him a soft smile she respectfully followed him this time. Arriving at an out of the way roof the wielder of Plagg scouted for a quick second before nodding. “Alright looks like no one will over hear us.”

“Is this about what Ladybug wrote? If so I can explain.”

“It is abit to do with that but I really need to ask a favor of you.” Grabbing her shoulders Chat stared deep into her eyes. “I really need you to date me.”

“What! Why?” Marinette’s mind was going into overdrive. Did he really fall for her a second time? Did she have it in her to turn him down a second time? What if he found out her and Ladybug were the same person and was now one step away from figuring out her secret identity? Would she have to give the box and Guardian title up? How much would she forget?

“Hey, look at me,” Following his instructions she looked up at him. “Take a few deep breaths and I promise I will explain. Just know that you are free to say no.” Sitting down Multimouse took a few deep breaths as her teacher showed her. “Here,” looking up she saw her partner holding out one of the croissants she brought for them, “this should help.”

As she started taking small bites she saw the cat sit down next to her while reaching into the box to pull out his own treat. The two ate in comfortable silence for awhile, “Okay I’m ready.” For better or worse.

“Okay first I need to ask a question… Do you know a girl named Lila?”

“Unfortunately,” why was she not surprised this involved her in some form.

“Yeah she is not that pleasant to be around. Well yesterday she told a lie about me dating her and my friend Adrien defended my honor.”

“Sounds like something he would do.” A soft smile found its way to her lips.

“Yeah so he might have told his class that I was dating you.” Rubbing the back of his neck. “So now I need you to fake date me.”

“Oh fake date, not really date.”

“Yeah it would really help me out, and not just with Lila.” Her head shot to look at him worry clear in her eyes. “Some of my fans have been getting rather… rowdy about my single status.”

“Kitty,” Multimouse whispered, shuffling over to him and laying one of her hands on top of his. Why didn’t he tell LB this, they were partners, did he not feel comfortable talking to her about what he was going through? Looks like she had some investigating to do to see what they were doing to her kitty.

Not pushing her hand off his Chat continued on, “So it would be really nice if we could act like we’re dating. Just for a few months at least,” turning his head slightly to stare right into her eyes along with shifting his hand to hold hers, “please.”

Multimouse felt like she could get lost in his gaze and barley registered her nod, “Sure, yeah anything to help one of the heroes of Paris.” What was going on with her.

“Thanks, now can we talk about a certain cute mouse not wanting to share their identity.”

Chapter Text

Adrien watched the mouse go through a bunch of emotions before he tightened his grip on her hand which somewhat caused her to calm down. “Game!” She got out before freezing.

“Game?”

“Uh, yeah I um, wanted to play a game with you.” She stuttered out while her eyes shot everywhere like a trapped mouse.

“Oh so you want me to figure out your identity through a game!” Chat felt a bit of excitement start blooming in his chest. He still got to learn her identity but it was going to be through a fun method! “Oh we could do something like truth or dare!”

“Yeah, but um we have to set up rules for it.” Multimouse said, looking him in the eye. “Like how about not being allowed to directly ask for my identity.”

“Well that is obvious, it would take all the fun out of it.” Chat said, giving a nod while turning to look out over the city and taking another bite of his delicious food. “Oh how about just one question per day to drag out the hunt.” He tried giving his best predator smile which seemed to work as he got a nice red face from his fake girlfriend along with a cute stream of words before giving a nod. “Alright I think we wasted enough time I think we should finish our patrol.”

The two got up as Chat packed up the food and tried handing it back to the mouse only for her to push it toward him. “I brought it for you so all that's left is for you.” Thanking her he was careful the rest of patrol not to disturb the precious cargo he would have to hide when he got home. But it would be worth it!

During the patrol he saw her relax a bit more as they went over the basics of their fake dating. One: They actually had to act like they were dating in front of others. Two: They were allowed to call each other any nickname the other came up for them. Three: They stuck to the backstory of how they met and started dating.

The story the two came up with was that they first met during Kwamibuster and he fell for her creativity and strong will, plus seeing her in her cute pajamas helped. (When he had brought up that he had seen her in her pajamas she had gone through a whole spectrum of pink.) She already had a crush on Chat and the two hit it off very well on her first patrol so they decided to try dating each other. “All right little mouse it looks like our patrol of this fine city is over. So this knight of yours now has a question for you.” Chat said, taking an exaggerated bow.

“Very well I shall allow my knight in leather armor to ask me one last question for the night.” The mouse said with a giggle while leaning towards his bent over frame. When he rose she matched him as he raised to full height.

Looking down at her he got as close as he felt comfortable doing. “Truth Or Dare.” He muttered only a little lost in her eyes. He saw surprise in her eye before she looked down and muttered her choice of truth. “What is your favorite color?”

She looked back at him before leaning toward him with a flirty smile. Caught off guard the cat leaned back as she spoke. “Pink, just like your blush.” With a poke of her finger on his nose he became aware of how hot his cheeks were. “Well I best be off.” She turned to walk off only but Adrian refused to let her win like that.

“Dare,” Multimouse spun around her eyes wide at hearing what Chat said, “I choose dare.”

“What?”

“You said we got to play Truth or Dare so I choose dare.” Strutting forward he made sure his tail flicked from side to side. “Now then Purrr-incess what is my dare?” Once more he pushed forward into her space but it was worth it to see her face light up red as her eyes darted around before seeming to lock onto something.

“I dare you…” the bun haired girl gestured with her head slightly in a direction. Subtle looking over he saw a familiar gleam of light off of a phone meaning they were being watched. “To kiss me.” Clever mouse, he would need to do something really nice for her to make up for this.

“You don’t need to dare me to do that,” Relaying on years of experience from modeling he grabbed her chin with his hand while moving his other hand toward her hip to keep her close. “Just follow my lead,” he muttered as quietly as possible he leaned as far forward without fully kissing her. He knew she didn’t mention it during their discussion of the rules but he knew better then to kiss someone romantically when they weren’t actually dating. But when he felt her hands in his hair he had to restrain himself from purring at the contact. Waiting a few seconds while feeling her hot breath on his lips he pulled back giving her a dazzling smile all while he missed her hands leaving her hair. “Till next we meet my breath stealing princess.” With a little more pep in his step he shot away in a roundabout route toward his house.

Landing he muttered the words to return to being boring old Adrian. He watched Plagg float over to his fridge of stored cheese. “So you chose the mouse over the bug or dragon?” The black Kwami said amusement clearly in his voice.

“First of all we are just fake dating. Second, you know that I’m only friends with Kagami.” Adrian said grabbing a macaroon out of the bag while hiding it in his closet. “You also know that it's impossible for me to get over Ladybug.” He had tried so hard to move on but he couldn’t and it started affecting his relationship with Kagami. It had only taken the second date for both of them to realize something was up and them to break up. She just said they both needed to think over a few things.

That had been about a week ago and he had realized that he would never get over his lady, not when they were both always so close. “I will need to talk to her about patrols.”

~~~~~~

Marinette let her transformation fall as she collapsed onto her bed with a groan. “What was with me tonight?” She was a blushing mess around Chat tonight. She should be used to his flirting by now! But tonight it was like she just Marinette and had none of the confidence she was used to when in spandex.

“Hah, yeah, that might have been me.” Mullo admitted hovering over after grabbing his snack. “You’re not quite used to using me so of course you were a bit uncomfortable. Doesn’t help that he is a cat.”

“What does having the black cat miraculous have to do with what happened?”

“Well the cat and mouse share a special relationship, you know kinda like predator and prey.”

“Would the same thing happen with the snake user?” The young guardian inquired.

“No, maybe, it depends on the wielder.” Mullo said before shrugging. “But all mice have a reaction to the cat mainly due to him being two steps higher in terms of power than us whereas the snake is even with us.” Nodding her head she turned to Tikki who was just looking at her.

Seeing that her Chosen was done talking with the other kwami all Tikki did was ask her question. “So you are dating Chat?”

“Yeah I guess so…” Marinette muttered before grabbing a pillow to scream into.

“Well looks like things didn’t go as planned.” The Kwami muttered before fluttering over to the computer. “Wonder what Chat’s fans are doing that he felt this was the best response.” The girl didn’t seem to hear her as she was busy still screaming.

“How, how did this get so out of hand!” Looking over at her poster of her model crush she let out a sigh. “Well at least I’m dating a nice blonde.”

“Yeah and this one doesn’t see you as a guy.” Tikki drawled out. Man had that been entertaining to find out over the course of a week, but then it got a bit tiresome as she saw how it seemed that the universe was against her revealing her gender or feelings. At more than one point Tikki wanted to strangle Plagg’s Chosen all while the black cat laughed when he found out the situation.

“That’s not fair! Everyone but my family thinks I’m a dude!” Marinette whined, “I mean do you know how awkward it is to hear guys complain about guys things and not being to relate! Then when you try to clarify that you are a girl the zoo animals escape and you have to then run away.”

“Wow, is this really that common?” Mullo asked with a bit of amusement.

“Yeah hopefully nothing major has come from it.” Marinette not noticing Tikki fuming and scribbling things down. “How am I going to get out of this?” Moving around her hand landed on a pillow as an idea came to mind. “Guys like mature women…” A new plan formed in her head as a new plan came to mind. But first she needed to leave a message or talk to Chat about the new patrol schedule. Hopefully he won’t Ladybug not showing up as often for patrol.

Chapter Text

The next day at school Marinette was expecting just another normal day. It would be nice considering how the talk with her partner/fake boyfriend went last night. When she told him that she would be showing up less during patrols and Multimouse would be taking over for her he almost seemed relieved. When she went on to say that said mouse wouldn’t show up for most Akuma’s he seemed a little disappointed but seemed to accept it. What was with those reactions? Also why was Chat so comfortable around her.

Before she could get more lost in thought a red haired missile crashed into her with a cry of, “my ship!”

Looking at who was now attached to her the young black haired girl found her friend Alya clutching her hoodie. “What’s up?”

“Sunshine was right! LadyNoir is sunk!” Alya cried out before showing her the photos on the Ladyblog. The screen showed her, well, Multimouse, and Chat Noir during patrol last night. “Look at those two! They clearly have been dating for awhile!”

“Really now?” Another voice asked from behind them. Turning they saw Adrian and Nino walking up to them. “Chat said that was their first date.” Of course he told Adrian, or did Adrian flag him down to ask?

“Oh does this look like a first date kiss?” Alya said swiping through her phone before shoving her phone back at the young Agreste. Looking over at the screen the young girl had to do her best to beat back the blush trying to overtake her face. It seemed that their fake kiss was caught on camera really well and yeah it did look like they were in love. “Also look at how they look at each other!” Swiping through the photos of after the kiss which was of them staring at each other. Why did she need to bring up the kiss? Why could she still feel his breath on her lips?

“Yeah dude they are very comfortable around each other.” Nino said looking over at his friend. Did the two follow them around instead of doing their patrol route. Deciding that this conversation went on long enough along with not wanting to hear more about a second version of her nonexistent love life!

“Should it matter who Chat is dating? I mean as long as he’s happy that should be all that matter.” All of her friends looked at her before Adrian smiled and nodded at her.

“Yeah all that should matter is that he’s happy.” Marinette hatted how her heart started beating a bit faster as she caught a few comments saying how cute they were together. ‘Is falling him so bad?’ A small part of her asked. Unlike usual she didn’t beat it back and the longer it lingered the more she realized that it might not be so bad. Maybe she could work it out as they dated.

“Heads up Dupain!” Her body on autopilot the girl reached up to catch the frisbee heading toward them. “Nice catch, just like always.”

“Yeah!” Alix yelled running up to him. “Well you got the frisbee, you want to join in?” As the short girl said this she threw her a wink.

Exercise and a fun game? Why not, it would get her mind off of things. “Sure,” Marinette said, giving the girl her best smile before turning towards the others. “You guys feel like joining?”

~~~~

Mullo flew out of her holder's bag. The mouse kwami was always a jittery kwami and loved to be on the move when they could. Stopping they sniffed and perked up smelling something nice. Taking a glance around to make sure they wouldn’t be spotted the kwami flew right into the blondes bag. “Hello cheese,” Mullo said happily floating toward the canister of, OMG, camembert cheese.

“Hands off.” A dark gravelly voice said as Mullo felt a shiver go up their spine. Turning around after dropping the cheese they saw Plagg hovering in front of her. “I thought you would have learned better by now.”

“I didn’t know it was yours.” The little gray kwami squeaked out. “So um I guess this is your chosen.”

“Yup this is your holder's boyfriend.” Plagg said leaning back while hovering around the canister guarding his cheese. “So you snuck away again?”

“I didn’t mean to but Tikki was boring and the young guardian was bouncing around a lot so I just needed to get away for a bit.” Mullo tried to explain while floating around the bag. “Plus it just smells really nice in here!”

“Yeah took me a while,” Plagg preened while taking a deep breath, “Kitten kept trying to clean it but I won out in the end.”

Mullo felt the walls around them only to stop and rub against them. “Oh did you get him to do the interior too?”

“Nope he said the bag came this way, not that I’m going to complain.” He watched in amusement as the mouse kept themself against the soft fabric. “So you going to head back soon.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me so soon?” Mullo asked looking up at him with a bit of surprise.

“Not really I guess it has been awhile since we hung out.” Plagg muttered looking away from her as she let out an excited squik and flew towards him giving him a hug. “Hey!” Plagg commented though he didn’t fight her off. “So how are they taking the fake dating thing?” The two floated down to the container as Mullo got comfortable.

“Oh they are having fun with it, I mean you should hear what they have planned!” Mullo excitedly clapped as Plagg rolled his eyes though she could tell he wanted her to keep talking. “So get this she has this weird plan involving-”

“Plagg why are you being...so...noisy.” Plagg’s chosen opened his bag and stared at the TWO kwami’s in his bag.

“Hi,” Mullo squeaked out a bit shocked but calmed down quickly as she felt Plagg start purring. “My name is Mullo I’m the mouse Kwami.”

“Um, nice to meet you Mullo.” The Blonde said while reaching out to shake her hand only to seem to stop. Floating up the small gray spirit took one of his fingers to shake. Seeming to relax he smiled at her, “I’m Adrien Agreste, nice to meet you.”

“Yeah they are one of the more reasonable kwami’s.” Plagg said while taking the chance to take a wedge of cheese.

“He says that because I’m the only one that can keep up with his cheese talks.” Mullo whispered into Adrien’s ear before giggling.

“Plus it’s entertaining to hear some of the plans she comes up with.” Plagg said, tossing up his cheese to eat.

“Wait what are you doing here? Is Multimouse in danger!” Adrien asked looking at the mouse in clear worry.

“Nah don’t worry big ears likes wandering around, I’m positive she’s fine.” Plagg said after eating his wedge. Mullo gave a nod before gasping while darting toward Plagg.

“Speaking of which I have to finish telling you the plan!” Mullo said hopping in front of Plagg.

“What plan?”

“The date plan.” Mullo said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It sounds like so much fun I’m almost jealous.” Mullo said, causing Adrien’s chest to warm up a little. Multimouse had come up with a plan for their date? She was putting effort into their relationship. Well fake relationship but she had brought him delicious food for their second patrol and then the second they started fake dating she came up with a plan for their first fake date.

“Hey I have to go to class, can you tell me the plan during lunch.” Adrien asked while Mullo took a thinking position. “I’ll give you some cheese.”

“Deal!” The mouse said while smiling at him. “Well see you then.” With that the gray kwami flew off leaving Adrien to deal with a pissed off cat. Happily going back to Marinette’s bag the mouse heard them talking to the guy who used Xuppu. Floating into their backpack they found the pile of fabrics they were using as a nest.

“Where were you?” Tikki asked, looking intently at her.

“Oh I smelt some cheese so I went to check it up.” Mullo answered before starting to burrow. “You shouldn’t worry so much.” Looking up she saw Tikki roll her eyes.

“I guess your right I should be used to you by now.”

“Oh Tikki can I ask you a question!” Tikki nodded her head. “Alright, why does everyone call the guardian Dupain instead of Marinette?”

“Oh, Marinette told me how that happened. So to start with you have to understand that Marinette was a huge tomboy when she was younger and kept trying to play with the other boys but they were little boys and didn’t want to play with girls so she told them she was a boy. When someone said her name was femanine she said that wasn’t her name and her name was Dupain. It helped that Chloe kept calling her by that name so nobody questioned it.” Tikki said, shrugging her shoulders. “After the boys got over their whole girls' cooties thing she tried to clear it up only for something to come up.”

“Oh! Wait so then Chat doesn’t realize that the girl he’s dating is right behind him?”

“No… maybe I think he might have recognized her. It would explain why he was so comfortable around her. Plus she has short hair until I give her pigtails or you give her space buns.” Tikki pondered aload.

“Or we could go with Plagg’s theory that everyone’s blind!” Mullo said jabbing a paw out of her comfortable burrow. “Thanks for answering, I’m gonna’ take a nap!” With that the Kwami withdrew into the pile.

“Come on it’s lunch time Dupain and I want a rematch.” Oh it was lunch time? Well she had a plan to discuss.

“Where are you going?” Tikki asked glaring at the Kwami who just rolled their eyes before being interrupted by Plagg shooting into the bag.

“Need to borrow this.” Plagg said before grabbing them and shooting back into Adrien’s bag giving the red kwami no time to question them. Landing in his domain Mullo took in the scent of cheese and relaxed a bit. “Alright I got you here in time looks like the kitten needs to pay up.” Mullo only tilted their head before fluttering over to find a spot to sit back down.

It only took a few more seconds before the bag opened again as Adrien looked down at them again. “Okay lets pick up where we left off, what’s the plan? What do I need to do?”

“Do?” Mullo asked, “What makes you think you need to do anything? My user has it all planned out!”

“Wait if I don’t need to do anything then why are you here?”

“Kid in cause you forgot,” Plagg said before pointing at the pink eyed kwami, “she didn’t know who you were until earlier today.”

This seemed to shock the Agreste, “Wait so if you didn’t know that I’m Chat Noir then why were you in my bag?”

“Because it smells so good!” Mullo’s nose twitched as she took a deep breath.

“See kid I told you women love cheese.” Plagg said with smugness in his voice and on his face.

Adrien rolled his eyes at that before something seemed to click in his eyes. “Mullo is your holder still close by?”

“Yeah, why?” Dropping down a bit more they looked around. “So are we going to eat lunch or not.”

“Way ahead of you.” Plagg said, eating his cheese. Adrien grabbed his own container of food while grabbing some cheese for Mullo who let out an excited squeal as they started eating.

“So what did Multimouse plan for our date.”

“Oh she wants to make a pillow fort!” Adrien’s eyes lit up in excitement. He got to help make a pillow fort! “She even figured out how to carry or get most of the things needed onto the starting roof!” Oh man he was going to need to bring his own supplies.

“Whelp looks like we lost the kid.” Plagg commented, rolling his eyes as his chosen started making a list of what he would need.

“Oh, so how long do you think it will take him to figure out who my user is?” Mullo asked, taking another bite of cheese.

“A good while if I had to guess, my kitten is kinda dense.” That got a reaction out of Adrien as he grumbled a bit before taking a bite out of his salad. “I mean he once thought Ladybug was that rich blonde chick.” Okay that was a point, but he did get better since then right… Okay he might need help but where would he get it? “Then again it might not take long… I think he might actually recognize her.” He did? Then again he was super comfortable around her

“What are you doing eating by yourself?” A voice asked as he saw Dupain approach him rubbing his short hair. “Did Nino start making out with Alya again after Kim dragged me off?”

“No but he did forget deodorant so I ran to save my nose.” Adrien joked moving over a bit to make room for him. “So did you win again.” Getting a nod Adrien thought back to all the times Kim or Alex challenged his friend. “How did this all start? I mean Kim and Alex competing against you.”

“Oh did I never tell you?” Dupain said, running a hand through their hair. “It was back when we were younger. I think Kim was playing soccer or some other sport and when I wanted to play he said only boys could play.” Did Dupain look femine even when they were younger? Man they guy must have had it rough. But at least they weren’t stuttering around him like they did the first few weeks of school. “So after I thoroughly humiliated him he would take to challenging me any chance he got. Then about a year later Alix joined in and decided to beat us both and you can see how things went from there.” Dupain said with a roll of his eyes.

Relaxing Adrien took another bite of his food as him and Dupain fell into comfortable talk while eating. Then just like that Adrien found his solution to his problem. If he needed help solving Multimouse’s identity he would just ask the guys for help. After between Dupain, Max, and the others' brains they should be able to easily figure it out. He just needed a cover story if it got to that.

Chapter Text

Chat hid his grin as he saw Multimouse arrive at the roof while looking around. “Alright nobody is here yet?” Okay now it was getting harder to hide his smile, wait he was hiding so who would even see it. He watched her start bring out her pillow fort construction kit. “Hopefully I’ll get this setup before in time.” Now how could he ignore a perfect setup like this!

“I’m sure we’ll have this setup with time to spare.” Chat’s voice came out as smooth as ever. He saw Multimouse freeze no doubt an adorable squeak stuck in her voice. “So shall we get started on building this fort.” Please say yes, please say yes!

“Um, well, I guess we could, um, start building, that is if you want.” Multimouse stuttered out as a startled brush took over face matching the bottom part of her mask.

“Alright let’s get started.” Chat felt his grin widened growing as he grabbed a chair, how did she fit this in her weapon? Walking forward he set it down aquaderly on the roof.

“Um Chat what are you doing?” Multmouse asked, looking at him. “If you put that there the blankets won’t reach.” Hearing a soft oh she saw him uncontrollably start moving it back. Watching him she saw the grin slowly fade from his face. “Hey move it over here we have most of the stuff needed to finish up.”

Getting a forced okay and forced smile she grew restless. Why was she restless? He was the one that messed up. “Hey Chat, what’s the matter?” She asked, grabbing his wrist. “This is supposed to be fun, it’s not going to be fun unless you have fun too.”

“Don’t worry,” Chat said, giving her his best fake smile which only caused her to frown harder. When he turned around to put the chair where she told him to he felt something poke him in the side. Turning around he saw Multimouse nearby whistling innocently as she started setting pillows around the blankets to help hold them down. When he turned around to follow the instructions he looked up online he felt another poke. Spinning around he saw Multimouse now on the opposite of him sorting through different blankets. “Okay what are you doing?” Chat asked as she turned around to give him an innocent look.

“Whatever do you mean kit-kat?” The mouse asked, fluttering her lashes. “I’m just trying to come up with a meow-volious name for our fort.”

The look and pun almost sent his heart ricocheting around his chest. Forcing his mind back into order he gave a smile his photographer always worked for as he leaned in close. “Well with you in charge at least it will be squeaky clean.” She blushed a nice colour as he turned away from her to get back to work only to feel another poke a few seconds later. His tail flicked but he gave no other indications as a few seconds later he got another poke. Chat was wondering what she hoped to accomplish with another poke when he realized what the little black haired mouse was hoping to accomplish.

Waiting he slowed his breath as he worked attuning to his other senses. The very moment he felt her start to poke her his tail lashed out and wrapped around her as he turned to take his revenge. Multimouse lived up to her name sake and tried to scatter but his tail held strong as he extended his claws toward her. He could tell the moment the mouse felt his claws on her ribcage because he saw her stiffin. “You are quite a silly little mouse you know,” Adrien whispered into her ear trying not to notice how nice her hair felt against him, “trying to tickle your knight through his leather armor.” Having said that he could almost see her blue eyes with how wide they were. She only lasted a moment later as he began his tickling. He enjoyed her laughter as he continued. “You see this cat has claws purr-fectly suited to get around your defences.”

Despite his wisdom the little mouse still tried to retaliate against him. The two descended into a full tickle fight and despite Chat not feeling her attack he did wind up laughing a bit. “Stop,” his fake girlfriend begged in between laughs, “the fort won’t finish itself.”

“Only if you let me name it.” Chat offered while relenting his attack for a second. Did he use that time to admire her blushing panting form below him, maybe.

“Okay, you can name the fort now we need to hurry before the others get here.” Giving a bright smile he got up and sprinted to finish setting up the fort. It took Multimouse a second to get up and help him finish the fort but as they finished he stood in front of it proud of himself and the mouse. “I hereby dub it Fort Meow-coulis.” Turning he turned expecting to see her rolling her eyes or laughing at his brilliance. What he was met with was a fluffy white marshmallow to the face.

“That was for the tickles!” The mouse said with a laugh. Blinking, he saw her holding a marshmallow gun. “Now admit defeat!” She cackled while pumping and firing more white treats at him. The cat was forced to dodge and evade while trying to get in close.

“Come on purincess you said we didn’t have time for this!” Chat said as he slid just barley avoiding one going into his mouth.

“We still have time for you to admit defeat to my paw-someness.” Her onslaught stopped as she looked at her reserve before looking back at him, “uh-oh.”

Letting a predatory smirk come to his face he charged forward with a predatory smile. But as he got close her concerned look changed as she pulled the trigger. He attempted to stop but there was not enough traction for him to stop. All he could do was dig his claws into the gravel as the dreaded puffball hit him right into his wide open mouth. When he was done skidding out he glared at the curled over laughing girl. He chewed on the marshmallow for a second before swallowing.

“Okay that was pretty claw-ver.” Chat said as he now walked over to her. She looked up to him to say something only to see his serious expression, he definitely wasn’t pouting, and went into another wave of laughter. She held out the gun for him to take which he took from her. “You done yet?”

“Yeah,” she took a few deep breaths steadying herself, “I think I’m good now.” Turning she went into their fort and came out with another pack of marshmallows and another gun. “You ready to defend the base?”

Pumping the gun he gave her his most serious expression. “We will defend it well Commander Mouse!”

Pumping her own gun she gave him a salute. “It will be an honour serving with you Captain Cat.” So the two crept back into the fort and only a few seconds later saw two figures approaching.

“Is that a pillow fort?” He heard a confused Alya ask. Moving the blanket a bit he saw his civilian friends approach in their supersuits. “How did this get here?”

“I mean someone had to build it up here dudette.” Nino, he means Carapace, said, sounding just as confused.

“I know that but who,” Rena began only to get interrupted by a marshmallow hitting her cheek.

“So close,” MM muttered before pumping her gun again.

Seeing how the battle began Adrien took aim at his DJ friend and let loose. Nino let out a shocked cry as the little puff balls came flying. The two barley had a chance as the hunt began. The couple tried to evade while the fake couple charged out and began the pursuit. “What are you two, five?” Rena yelled as she pulled out her flute to whack at a few marshmallows.

“No we’re fun!” Chat said back, managing to hit Carapace on the cheek.

“You guys are just too serious.” His girlfriend shot back as Rena charged at her. The fox managed to lunge and grab her, pulling the gun from her hands.

“Nope I’m the second most awesome superhero!” Rena said with a smug expression.

“No! Multimouse!” Chat cried dramatically only for Carapace to seize on the distraction. He was quick to tackle him and grab the gun from him.

“Well I guess the better couple is now obvious.” Rena said holding the gun up in victory. “Turtle and Fox team forever!”

“You only won because you have experience!” Chat said scowling, definitely not pouting.

“I suppose,” Rena said no doubt thinking about her siblings. “Well you lost so now your fort is ours.”

“Wait when did we agree to this.” Multimouse asked, trying to get out Alya’s grasp.

“When you challenged us dude.” Carapace said letting go of Chat to peak inside. “Quite the nice set up we got here Rena.” Rena got up and let out a whistle, that's right stare in awe of their work.

“No, we worked so hard on it.” Multimouse cried while shuffling over to him. Upon reaching him she dramatically flopped over into his arms with a cry.

“It’s alright little mouse,” Chat said, patting her head while looking at the two in their fort.

“So how was your patrol dudes?” Carapace asked, raising an eyebrow at the two. “You must have gotten done early to get this setup.”

“Oh,crap!” Chat said picking up his mousy girlfriend and rushing off. “Don’t tell LB!” With a few jumps they started their patrol much later than expected. “That goes for you to.” He said looking down at Multimouse.

“Well seeing as how I would also get in trouble, I think it would be in my best interest not to.” The black haired girl said before squirming around a bit. “So any chance you could put me down?”

“Oh yeah I guess I could.” Chat said slowly putting her down. “So um I guess we better double time it?”

“Sounds like a plan.” So with that the two darted around roofs while occasionally trading quips. As they neared the end of their patrol they stopped on a roof, “well I guess this might be it for tonight.”

“Not quite little mouse, you see we still have something left to do.” Chat said walking forward with a sway to his step. “So since I’m feeling generous I’ll let you ask me the question first.”

“A-a-ask, ask what?” Multimouse stuttered out with another nice shade of pink on her cheeks. Chat started to answer it when she caught on, “Truth or Dare?”

“Hmm, tough call but I think I’ll pick truth.” Chat answered taking a step back as he waited for the question.

“Umm, well then who is your favorite singer?”

“Oh, come on that’s easy,” Chat said rolling his eyes, “It’s Jagged Stone.”

“Oh my gosh did you hear his new single!” The mouse said, bouncing in excitement.

“I know right!” Chat said his own excitement bubbling up. “That guitar riff was so good too!” Almost as if in sync they both began to air guitar and sing the part. They then stared at each other for a second before bursting out into laughter.

“You are such a dork!”

“Then what would that make you?”

“A dedicated fan.” The mouse answered with a smile.

“Well then little mouse I guess it’s your turn to answer a question of mine!”

“What! But-,” She seemed to look at him for a second before letting out a stream of babble, “You haven’t asked me Truth or Dare.” She eventually got out while stomping her foot.

“Alright Truth or Dare.” She muttered a very faint response of ‘Truth’ that he wouldn’t have picked up if not for his enhanced hearing. “What are your inciales?”

She stared at him for a moment as if debating with herself before nodding. “Fine but you better not overreact.”

“Please, I’m the king of cool,” Chat was thrown for a loop though due to the request. Why would he overreact to her inciales?

“All right cool cat my inciales are MDC.” Huh so that’s why. Using all of his experience as a model he kept his face cool as his inner self screamed.

“Well I guess I know what I’m doing the second I find out your identity.”

“And that would be?”

“Having you sign my Jagged Stone albums, at least all the ones you made.”

“Oh so you heard of me?” Multimouse asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Oh please I was in the hotel when you gave Jagged his glasses.” Chat said, rolling his eyes.

“You were!”

“I mean I wasn’t in the room and I don’t think I saw you but it was thanks to you that I got to go to my first concert.” He saw the mouse blink at him in confusion as he realized he let a clue to his own identity slip. “But how cool is it that I got to be in the same hotel as where your legend began!”

“If you mean the first thing I made then I hate to break it to you but I already made something else with the MDC signature.” Multimouse said casually as his jaw dropped at the news. His dad and Alya had done some digging after MDC had been credited with helping make Jagged’s wardrobe, his dad was pissed at losing the famous musician as a customer.

“Wait so what was the first thing you made?”

The mouse let out a hum before giving a nod. “You know what’s the harm it would be nice to get this off my chest. But you better tuck yourself in because it has a whole story to it.” Giving a smile the cat dramatically flopped down with his head landing on her lap. “Really?” She asked before giving a sigh but instead of pushing his head off she absently started rubbing his head. “Okay so one of my friend's birthdays was coming up so I wanted to make him something special for it.”

“Oh a friend?” Chat teased wiggling his eyebrows at her as her hand stopped much to his annoyance. He had just started to get into her petting, her fingers felt so good.

“Okay first of all I try to make something special for all of my friends. I mean yeah I have the biggest crush on him so the gift had to be extra special but that’s beside the point.” Why did he suddenly feel jealous of someone he probably didn’t know. But he was happy that her waving hands settled onto her head as his scratches started again. “So anyway I saved up my allowance months in advance and checked out hundreds of different colours until I found not only the perfect colour but also the perfect yarn. So with only three months I started making him a nice scarf.” At the mention of the scarf Chat felt something nudge in the back of his head. “I can’t tell you the amounts of times I knitted it only to take it apart again when I noticed or imagined noticing the smallest mistake. But by the end I was satisfied that it was perfect.” Multimouse let out a sigh as she took a breath.

“Then you gave it to him on his birthday and he fell for your charms?” Chat asked before blinking in shock at the bitterness in his voice. What was wrong with him?

Not seeming to notice his girlfriend let out a sad laugh as her hand slowed down the pets. “Oh Chat if only it was that simple. No, I kept chickening out of giving it to him at school. So I figured out the next best thing was to give it to him at his house. But well I might have gotten a bit freaked out at certain things at his house and just left it there. But once I got home being a disaster I remembered that I forgot to sign the gift.” Chat let out a dramatic gasp at that. “So I was going to head back to his house and see if I could somehow sign my gift. I mean the guy I like shouldn’t have opened it by then.”

After she stayed quiet for a while Chat poked her stomach. “Well what happened next?”

“Well Bubbler happened.” This caused Chat to blink and the nagging feeling in his brain to increase. “This did actually help me get to the present where I used a sticky note to leave my name.”

“Wait why a sticky note? Why not sign the box?”

“Because I spent a lot of money on the wrapping paper so I didn’t want to ruin it. Anyway you can imagine my shock when the next day he came walking into school wearing the scarf I made!”

“Then he confused his love for you? I mean how couldn’t he with how amazing you are.”

A sad frown crossed her face as she shook her head. “No he told everyone his father made it for him. It seems the dad gave it to him instead of getting his own present.”

“Man, that dad sounds like he sucks.” Hello nagging brain. What were you trying to point out? “So did you correct him.”

“I couldn’t do that to him.” She whispered with a sad frown, tears in her eyes. “Oh Chaton you should have seen how happy he looked that day. I loved how his eyes glowed with so much happiness and oh the smile he had on his face was just, just, so…” Instead of finishing she just let out a sigh as a dreamy smile took over her face. “Heck during lunch I actually ran to my house to grab him a spare gift from a pile I keep. You know for situations where I forget or didn’t have time to go out and get them something nice.

“You really love him don’t you.” Chat said suddenly feeling small. Why couldn’t he have someone who loved him like that? Someone who put his happiness over their own.

“Yeah I do. But it hurt and still sometimes hurts when I see him with that blue scarf.” She muttered as Chat felt like he had been punched in the gut.

Scarf, “Chat,” made for a birthday, perfectly made, “Chat you okay,” Bubbler, nice wrapping paper, ribbon, “kitty your not looking good,” going around saying his father made it, blue, “CHAT NOIR!”

The yell drew him out as he took a ragged gasp of air. “Kitty what happened are you alright!” Looking up he saw blue eyes wide with worry.

“Um yeah I just, I need,” he needed to go home, “I just realized I had an early day tomorrow and I need to be up in a few hours.” Adrien said as he felt like he swallowed something horrible. But using what was left of his strength he stood up.

“Oh, my god! Oh no I’m so sorry!” Multimouse said waving her hands in frantic motions. “I didn’t mean to keep you out so late!”

Placing a hand on her shoulder he gave his best calming smile. “Hey it’s alright I just had so much fun that I lost track of time. But if you can excuse me princesses this cat has got to scat.” Not giving himself a chance to say anything he sprinted home. Landing in through the window Adrien barely noticed as his transformation dropped. He didn’t notice as Plagg asked him what was wrong as he tore open his closet. He didn’t even notice as tears fell from his cheeks as he scrutinized his favorite scarf, going over it. He did notice though how his entire body went numb though as his thumb ran over the newly discovered hidden signature. There it was three simple letters that broke him.

“Kid you okay?” His kwami asked him genuine concern evident in his voice and on his face. Adrien tried to say something only to feel his vocal cord tighten. Looking down at the scarf again he noticed it getting wet as tears fell on it. That was odd, he didn’t remember crying. “Hey it's okay we can deal with everything tomorrow okay. Come on, let's just go to bed.” Dragging himself to his feet was harder then expected but eventually he got into bed.

After a while of tossing and turning Adrien asked what was on his mind. “Do you think he cares?” Looking over at the small black cat Adrien elaborated. “Father, he stole someone else's hard work without even thinking and had Nathenal deliver it. Hell now that I think about it, all the pens I got before probably came from her desks. Then the one year, ONE year I think he cares he stole somebody else's work!”

“Kid,” Plagg whispered before moving closer, “you know he…” It seemed the cat couldn’t finish

“That’s the thing Plagg, I don’t!” The blonde yelled to the empty room. “I always said or thought he became distant because mother… Anyway even before that he was distant to me! Always forgetting things about me like tournaments and such but I thought he would get better but instead he got worse.” Not getting a physical answer all he did get was a soft purr. Adrien tightened his hands around blankets or at least intended to but felt something soft still clutched in his other hand. Looking down he saw the scarf Multimouse made for him… Adrien him… the one she intended to give to him at school… the same school where Mullo was at two days ago… “Plaaaggg,” The drawn out letters drew the small gods attention, “does Multimouse go to my school?” Plagg did say he knew her somewhat and with how comfortable he was around her he must know her!

“We’ll talk about your skills of observation in the morning.” Yeah that sounded good. He really, really, really needed to sleep, today had been one of too many highs and lows for him. Now he just needed to sleep, yup, that would be a good thing to do…

Chapter Text

Marinette landed on her bed while setting out a sigh. What had happened tonight? “Mullo, quiet time,” with that Mullo flew out of her necklace to hover in front of her.

“So how was it? None of my mice before you ever made a nest with a cat before!”

“She’s not one of your mice!” Tikki yelled coming out of her hiding spot to glare at Mullo.

“Oh right,” Mullo said tapping her chin in thought, “sorry I was just enjoying being out.”

“We built the fort and had fun doing it.” Remembering the fort a smile came to her face. She felt a blush try to take over her face as she remembered the tickle fight and marshmallow gun fight afterwards.

“Then why did you look like some destroyed your burrow?” Mullo asked in concern.

“Well when we finished the patrol Chat had us play Truth or Dare.”

“Did you figure out his identity!” Tikki questioned flying in front of her chosen.

‘Thanks to you that I got to go to my first concert.’ Chat’s voice lazly drifted into her head before she pushed it down. After all the only people MDC had helped get into a live concert were her classmates and if she had helped Chat get in then that would mean her kitty was one of her classmates. No bad brain, Marinette pushed the thoughts back as best she could. She would just shove it into the closet where she kept all of the other hints to Chat’s identity.

“No Tikki, you know how important being Chat Noir is to him. He would never endanger that by giving away his identity.” She would never be the one to take it away from him. Walking down she opened the miraculous box to let all the kwamis out if they wanted. “I wonder what he has going on?” She really didn’t believe him about the whole having to get up early tomorrow thing but something did set him off.

“I’m too tired to think of this.” The young guardian whined while dropping down on her bed. A few kwami’s that had exited the bed settled down around her form. “Tomorrow, I will deal with this tomorrow.”

“That sounds smart,” One of the kwami’s said though she couldn’t tell who. Thus she let herself drift into sleep before hearing Mullo muttering to Tikki about something. Groaning she wanted to move but the small bodies around her kept her in place. Was today Sunday? No maybe it was Saturday, either way it was the weekend and she could sleep in.

As if to contest that fact her phone blasted alive her ringtone making her move to glare at it before answering. “Alright whoever this is had better have a good reason to wake me up.” A few Kwami’s looked at her horrified but screw them because she was comfortable they should understand.

“I need your help Dupain!” Adrien’s voice pleaded through her phone. Wait it was Adrien on the phone. She had just threatened Adrien! Adrenaline shot through her waking her up.

“What do you need?” Jerking up she barely noticed Barkk raising up one of his ears.

“I need you to come over to my house as soon as you can.” House, Adrien wanted her to come to his house. A thousand fantasies/nightmares flew through her head before she squashed them. “Please, I really need you.” Damn it heart, focus on how badly he needs you!

“I’ll be over soon!” Marinette threw her blanket off while hanging up. She had intended to run right out only to be stopped by Tikki and a few other Kwamis. “Tikki I need to go!”

“Yeah but I don’t think you need to go dressed in your pajamas.” The kwami jokingly pointed out. Looking down she felt heat invade her as she flew over to her dresser and grabbed a few clothes before charging into the bathroom to change. “Oh Marinette…”

It was ten minutes later that a fully dressed Marinette arrived at the mansion with a picnic basket. Why did she have a picnic basket you may ask? Her over enthusiastic parents had seen her about to charge out the door not having eaten breakfast and managed to drag out where she was going. Finding out where she was going they had packed a full brunch special for her and reminded her to tell them if anyone got a clue so they could update the betting pool.

Muttering under her breath about parents she pressed the call button and waited to let in. She definitely didn’t jump at the cyber eye, nope, no squeak of fear from her. So once the gates opened she was barely inside before Adrien ran toward her and grabbed her. “Perfect you’re here, come on everyone is waiting.” Wait who else was here?

Arriving in Adrien's room she saw the other members of their group in the room. “Nino, Alya? Did Adrien call you here too?” The two gave nods though they refused to look at each other. “What’s up with you two?” Did something happen… last… night. A cheeky grin spread across her face as she remembered where she last saw Carapace and Rena. “Did you two sleep together last night?” The two turned more red while Alya cleared her throat.

“We are not here to discuss what did or didn’t happen last night.”

“Yeah dude why did you call us here?” Nino turned to see the class’s sunshine child running and grabbing his scarf along with a vinyl record album and cd case. “Um, what’s with the Jagged albums? We here for a jam session?”

“No, we are going to find MDC!” Adrien said dragging a white board out of his closet after setting down the items.

“WHAT?””YES!””DUDE!” Marinette, Alya, and Nino said as Adrien wrote down MDC on the white board. Why were they investigating her! Why did this investigation require the scarf she made for him!

“Hang on I got some notes!” Alya said happily grabbing her phone. “I was doing this on the side, you know as something to pass the time.”

“Good we got a head start!” Adrien said with a nod as Marinette took a deep breath before walking forward.

“Adrien if we are looking for MDC then why do you have your scarf?” Her question caused Sadrien to come out.

“Dude?” Nino asked while putting his hand on the blonde's shoulder.

“My dad didn’t make it.” The words were so quiet that his friends barely caught his words. “MDC made it for me.” Alya’s eyes widened while she bit her tongue though Marinette swore she saw the girls glasses shine in a typical anime way.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette said, pulling him into a hug along with Nino.

“Yeah,” Adrien whispered while looking down at the scarf.

“Hey can I see that scarf for a second?” Alya asked as Adrien looked down at the item before handing it over. The reporter looked at it closely for a few seconds before passing it back. “So what do we know about MDC?” While the question was directed at everyone the black haired girl felt a shiver of fear at her friends glare.

“Well, um, she made Jagged’s glasses, made some albums, along with his costumes for his concert on occasions.” Marinette got out though Alya’s gaze tightened on her.

“Yes,” Alya said as Adrien and Nino took to writing things on the board, “you two mind if I take Dupain away for a second?” Not waiting for an answer the girl grabbed her wrist and dragged her away. The two went into the bathroom while after closing the door her shoulders started shaking.

“Alya?” Marinette asked before the red head spun around.

“You're MDC!” Alya paced the bathroom while taking a few deep breaths. “That was your scarf, the scarf you showed me you were making for him!” Oh, yeah that was a pretty big sign. “Why didn’t you tell me anything!” Her friend asked while looking a bit heartbroken.

“Oh, well, me and Jagged agreed that it would be best if I stayed out of the lime lights until I got a bit older. So to do that we made a quick NDC.” Marinette shrugged her shoulders. “I swear I was going to tell you on your next birthday but I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t breaking the NDC.” Man that lawyer was scary.

“Okay,” Alya said calming down a bit before something seemed to come up in her head. “Wait why does everyone call MDC a girl?”

“Wellllll, that might be---” Marinette began before a loud alert blared from everyone’s phones. Looking down they saw the, at this point, familiar akuma alert.

“WE WILL talk about this later,” Alya said, her eyes boring into her friend. She busted out of the door marching toward Nino. “Come on cappy we need to head home before our parents worry.” Turning toward Adrien she gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “I promise once we get to school on Monday we will talk about this.” With one last glance at Marinette she walked out the door.

The two looked at each other for a few seconds before looking at their phones. “I, um, my papa likes having me at home or to check in when an akuma attacks.” Marinette said, trying to walk away.

“Right, well, maybe we could hang out another time?”

“Sure, yeah, we could do that.” Adrien nodded at her while Marinette walked away, right into the bathroom. “I’m not used to mansions.”

“It is quite a big burrow.” Mullo said, flying out with Tikki. “You could fit a lot of pups here!”

“Mullo!” Tikki and Marinette said with the young guardian going bright red.

“What? It's true.” Mullo said with a smile.

“Alright we don’t have time for this. Tikki, spots on.” After transforming Ladybug snuck out the window and went into the bushes. She would make her way a good distance away from the mansion before heading toward the Akuma. However hearing a familiar sound she turned her head to see Chat pole vault his way out the window. Just that one action was enough to cause her brain to short circuit and the place where she kept all links between the two burst open. Well… what did she do now.

~~~~~

Chat Noir noticed a few oddities during the akuma/amok fight. First Rena seemed frustrated about something while LB seemed distracted. After the Ladybugs did their work of restoring everything and the four heroes did the fist bump he saw the heroes shoot off in different directions. The cat hero was about to leave only to hear something. “Oh my god did I arrive late!” Chat felt a smile grow across his face as Multimouse arrived on the scene. “I’m sorry I arrived late I got held up and then when I could leave it you guys were clear across the city. So I had to run all the way here and now it looks like I missed the akuma fight which means I failed as a miraculous holder.”

Chat stopped whatever else she was going to say by pulling her into a comforting hug. “No, no, you did nothing wrong, it was a rather weak akuma and amok.” Helped that there were four heroes taking them on. “Hey we both have time to kill so how about we hang out for a while.” Chat pulled back a bit and looked right into her eyes.

“Um, sure I mean we don’t have patrol today so it would be nice to hang out with you for a while.” Man was Chat happy to have not needed Cataclysm during the fight. “There are some things I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh, well how about we get something to eat since you are going to interrogate me you could at least take me out to eat.” Multimouse sassed back to him.

“Oh and what would such a great hero of paris be in the mood for?”

“I don’t know. What would Paris’s favorite hero want?”

“Hmm, usually a cat such as myself would have to work hard to catch a mouse but it seems I already got that.” He threw a wink at the mouse hero getting a nice red color out of her. “So I guess the only thing left is for us to get some nice fish. Lucky for you I have a purr-fect restaurant I’ve been meaning to try out.”

“I hope you're not fishing for compliments for your choice of food.” Multimouse teased back.

“Oh my god just kiss already!” Someone shouted causing the two to realize that they were still in the middle of the street. Right after an Akuma fight. Taking a breath Chat steadied himself, he would need to be careful with this next part.

“Only if the lady lets me,” Chat said only to feel hands on either side of his face. Looking down he saw her looking right up at him, with the familiar blue eyes he swear he recognized now more than ever. It hurt a little being so close yet so far. Maybe with just a little push he could put those pieces together. Without noticing he slowly moved closer to her and her to him until…

He heard people muttering but all of his attention was on the girl who he had locked lips with. It was like magic coursing through him as time seemed to slow down until they parted. “Come on princess we should go.” With that the two of them headed off towards the roofs. Unaware of the fox following close behind. A fox that was out for answers.

Chapter Text

Alya liked to consider herself a good journalist. She got interviews with heroes. She was able to figure out that there were other miraculous out there before she was given the fox miraculous. Heck while everyone else was shocked about hearing about the guardian Alya was one side happy at yet again being proven right and another side sad that she may have caused Hawkmoth's discovery of him.

So then why did she miss the most obvious thing in the world. That her best guy friend was in fact a girl. Heck not just any girl but MDC herself! Alya wanted to smack herself for being so oblivious! Heck she gave Alya pads when she forgot hers once! Okay it might have happened more than once but still that all the more evidence! The only satisfaction Alya had was that it seemed that everyone else didn’t seem to notice that she was a girl as well. It was drivin in more when she went to feed Trixx and saw Dupain (OMG was that even her name!) transform into Multimouse and head to meet up with Chat.

After taking a moment to process the fact that her BFF was dating a superhero it only drove home the fact more that they really needed to talk. “Wow you seem shocked.” Tixx said, letting out a chuckle.

“Of course I’m shocked!” Alya said, stomping her foot, “now I’m going to have to wait to talk to him! I mean her.” Them? Were they transitioning?

“Your right, Alya is going to have to wait.” Trixx said eating the jerky she seemed to like.

“What are you, oh,” letting out a chuckle the red head shook a finger at the kwami. “And people called me a tricky fox.”

“Where do you think the legends of crafty and sly foxes came from?” Trixx asked after finishing their treat. “Alright let’s get this party going!”

One transformation later Rena was on the roof and spotted the couple running off. Following behind them she saw them arrive at a sushi restaurant. Taking a breath the fox followed in behind them and found them just being seated. Did she feel a bit guilty crashing their date? Yes but Dupain should have thought about that before hiding their gender and who she was dating. Was she being a bit spiteful, again yes but she was still mad at Dupain.

Slipping into the booth Rena grabbed the menu from their friend who squeaked in shock. “So what are we thinking?” Multimouse and Chat Noir stared in shock at her. “What? I was bored and thought I would hang out with you guys.”

“Okay?” Chat said as he shifted a bit before glancing at her friend. Dupain met his eyes before letting out a shrug. “Well I was thinking of buying a plater, you know get a little of everything.”

“Sounds good to me.” Multimouse said with a soft smile. Chat gave the same look back as the two seemed to stare at each other.

“Hey back to earth space cadets.” Rena said, causing her secret friend to snap her neck to look at her. “If you two are going to be all lovey dovey then I’m going to call my boyfriend.”

“Are we going to have a double date?” Chat asked, excited, almost bouncing in his booth.

“Oh god I’ve been waiting to go on a double date.” Alya said already texting Nino. Within a few seconds she had her response, “he says he’s on his way.”

“Yes!” Wow, did the cat hero look excited. Wondering how her friend was doing she turned her head slightly to see the mouse’s face go through confusion to some sort of realization before settling on a sort of confronting look.

“Hey do you mind if I borrow your girlfriend for a second?” Rena asked, already grabbing the other girl's arm and dragging out of the booth.

“It seems like I have little choice.”

“Damn right,” With that the fox dragged the mouse into the bathroom before shutting the door. “Alright spill Dupain!”

“Huh, wah?”

“I saw you transform. So, now spill! You owe me an explanation!”

“Umm, explain what?”

“First why did you never even mention that you were a girl! Second, when did you start dating Chat Noir!”

“Well it’s not like I was trying to hide my gender or anything its just that any time I try to correct people or let them know something comes up.”

“Oh really like wha-,” Alya stopped to think. Hadn’t just earlier today they tried to correct her only for an akuma to attack? Then there was the first day of school, then Reflecta when they were taking the photo. “Alright but who else knows that you're a girl and why did you never correct them?!”

“You know you're being kinda careless with your identity.” Multimouse muttered under her breath.

“Oh, please you’re my best friend and if you can keep something like your gender a secret then this should be nothing. Now spill.”

“Well… you remember when Nino told you about the llama incident?” No way. “Yeah that was the seventh time I tried.”

“Girl…” Ayla let out a long suffering sigh. “Are you cursed or something?”

“I have considered it.”

“Alright let’s go before your boyfriend gets curious about what we're doing.” With that the two headed back to the table where Carapace was now sitting and laughing with Chat Noir. “Hey handsome turtle when did you get here?”

“About a minute ago, a waiter came by and we ordered some appetizers.” Her boyfriend said getting up from the table to kiss her cheek.

“You remember my favorite?”

“Oh course.” Chat looked between the two with a bit of jealousy before noticing his girlfriend sitting across from him. Once the four of them were seated they fell into comfortable conversation. A little too comfortable… Now that she knew that the mouse was Dupain she knew that three of the group were from her group but that still meant that they shouldn’t be this comfortable, unless. He was always heading out when Akumas showed up.

“Earth to sneaky fox.” Chat joked while waving to her. The food had arrived so they started digging in. “So either of you know MDC?” The cat asked after eating some fish.

“Man why is everyone asking about them today?” (Future) Turtle husband muttered, getting the fox’s brain in motion again. Seeing Multi Mouse shooting the cat a flat look.

“Well you just so happen to be in luck because you are speaking to their best friend.” Rena said with the biggest smirk she could. The reactions were instinct and hilarious. Chat turned to her with eyes as wide as plates, Dupain turning to her in shock and Nino spitting out his drink. Heck she swore she saw a few heads from other tables turning to look at them.

“When did this happen!” Carapace said, looking so confused.

“Oh, todayish.” Alya said, waving him off as Chat just staring as if he was trying to solve the world’s hardest puzzle. The cat turned to his mouse who just turned to look at him. A conversation seemed to pass between them before Chat gave a smirk and relaxed in his booth seat.

“So who wants to play Truth or Dare?” The cat said with a smirk aimed at the mouse. Was this some sort of inside joke?

“Really in the middle of a restaurant?” Nino said finishing off the plate, wow had they really eaten it that fast?

“Hmm, good point.” Chat said while pulling out money from his staff. “Waiter can we get the rest of the order to go?”

“Kitty…” Mouse said with a sigh. “I’ll join in the game.”

“Count me in too. This is getting interesting.” Alya said glancing over to the turtle who let out a sigh.

“Well if everyone else is doing it.” So with that they paid, well Chat paid (in cash no less), and headed out. “So we're heading back to the pillow fort?”

“It’s still up?” Chat asked, shocked.

“I guess if no one took it down then it makes sense that it would still be there.” Mouse muttered while rubbing her chin.

“Well only one way to find out.” Rena said before taking off to the rooftop. Hearing the sounds behind her she was quick to make her way to where the pillow fort was set up. Finding the location took a bit longer then expected but low and behold the pillow fort was still standing!

“Home sweet pillow.” Chat said with a slight smile placing down the bags. “So do we have a bottle or something to spin?”

“We could use my flute.” Rena said, placing her weapon down. “We’ll start with who the end points at then go from there.” So with that they placed down the food so they could start. Spinning the flute they started the game of Truth or Dare. Everything started out small like most games but once it was Alya’s turn and she got her friend she knew it was time.

“Truth.” Well if the mouse wanted to play into her hand.

“Do you have clothes based on hero’s?” Alya said with a teasing smirk.

“Oh yes I even made my own Chat Noi-.” The mouse cut herself off with a blush.

“You made what mousy-mouse?” Chat Noir asked with a smirk. The mouse muttered while his ear twitched. “Oh you got a whole outfit designed after me? I’m flattered.”

“Why have you never worn it?”

“Well in case you forgot I have a curse and I spent awhile on the design so I don’t want to ruin it.” Leaning down the fox allowed the game to continue for a bit. The next big development came unexpectedly from her boyfriend who once his turn came and he landed on the mouse. With a utterance of Dare her fate was set.

Casting a look to her they shared a silent conversation. “Dude I dare you to wear your Chat outfit tomorrow.” Just like that they had her.

“Bu-But, it’s pretty, I would love to,” the mouse stuttered out while her arms flailed everywhere. Meanwhile the cat was sitting straight up with his tail thrashing behind him.

“If you're worried about your curse then I’ll come over tomorrow to help.” Alya offered while trying to calm her down.

“*Sigh* Fine, I guess I’ll do it.” Restraining a laughing fit the curvy fox turned to her unexpecting boyfriend and gave him a thumbs up. Oh yes tomorrow will be so much fun.

Chapter Text

Adrien paced in front of the steps of his school. MDC was going to show up to school in clothes designed after him, well Chat him. So here he was having arrived early for school just in case she arrived early and he would miss her. She did seem the type of person to have her life together. “Hey dude.” Turning he saw Nino walking up to him. “Did you hear the rumors about Dupain?”

“What about Dupain?” Adrien asked, confused. Well at least this would be something to ground him.

“Are we talking about Dupain?” Kim asked, looking a bit mad. Adrien saw a few other classmates around talking to each other. “I’m so mad!” What was going on. “How could he do that to Lila?”

“What’s going on?”

“Oh Adrien it was horrible.” The sausage haired girl sobbed having clung onto Mylene. She appeared to have some type of blackeye and other bruises. “I can’t believe Dupain would do something so awful to me!”

Adrien felt his stomach drop as he saw Sabrina’s dad standing off to the side. Was Lila really going this far? What was going to frame his friend for? Assault, no judging by the way everyone was looking she was probably accusing him of something worse. Would Lila really go that far! Would she have really accused him of violating her? Judging by what Kim was muttering he could guess that she did in fact accuse Dupain of that.

“How the hell did all of that happen!” Alya yelled, drawing everyone’s attention. “It was one block! One block!”

“I told you I was cursed.” A happy voice responded back.

Looking at the new arrivals he saw the familiar red head walking with a girl. A girl wearing a skirt and shirt combo that was green and black with pawprints. Clearly Chat Noir inspired. The new girl had short hair and blue eyes, very familiar eyes.

No, focus on defending his friend first then go and hug the mouse. “Dupain would never do anything close to that!” This got everyone back on track.

“Dude we saw the texts.” Nino said, looking depressed.

“Whoa what is going on here?” Alya asked after throwing away some trash. “What did Dupain do?”

“Two days ago I was trying to talk to him about why he hated me so much only… only…” Adrien had to give it to the girl, she was a good actor.

“Really now?” Alya said, seeming to repress her anger. The reporter seemed ready to tear the other girl apart.

“Yeah look at this!” Lila cried while holding out her phone. Alya reached for the phone but Lila pulled it back. “Sorry this is a new phone and I don’t trust people with it.”

“Yeah well I don’t even need to see the texts to know you are lying.” Alya said with a sigh. “‘A good reporter always checks their sources.’ Man I really should have taken my own advice.”

“You think?” The other girl muttered to receive a sorry look from Alya.

“What are you talking about?” Alix asked, looking confused. After all if there were two things anyone knew about the girl it was that one she was very trusting of her friends. Two was that she always sought out the truth.

“I’m saying that Lila is lying about Dupain.” Alya said, causing a few gasps and for Roger to shift his feet. “Before anyone says anything I do have the evidence to back it up.”

“What do you mean?” Lila said her eyes shooting around, probably trying to think of some way out.

“Alright let's start with your claim about when this happened. Like at what time did this happen.” Go for it Alya!

“Well it was late at night.” Lila said, trying to appear more confident then she was.

“Well that is impossible because they were setting up a surprise.” Alya said putting her hands on her hips while a smile came on her face. “But the biggest lie is what those texts say.” Everyone looked at each confused. What was wrong with the texts.

“The texts are true! He admitted to doing everything in them.” Lila shouted while stomping her foot. All Alya did was smirk at the liar. “And what the hell ‘surprise’ was she setting up?!”

“Really now? I told you I have evidence so let's get to it.” Alya said with a smirk that was boarding on predatory. Turning slightly she looked at the other girl. “Hey how about you introduce yourself. Might as well rip the bandaid off.” Wait, how could she prove Dupain’s innocence? The slow gears of his mind that were more focused on proving Lila a liar now shifted gears. Looking at the girl he felt his mind crash into a steel wall at over a hundred kilometer per hour.

“Hi, my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” The girl said with a smile and wave. Everyone was very quiet before Nino cleared his throat sending everyone’s eyes towards him.

“Wow their last is the same as Dupain!” Kim exclaimed, cutting Nino off. “How weird is that?”

“Kim when has Chloe ever called anyone by their first name?” Marinette pointed out flatly. This caused everyone to think it over.

“So you aren’t transitioning?” A voice asked from the group of students.

“Nope they weren’t.” Alya said with a smile. “Seems it was a huge misunderstanding that never got cleared up.”

“Not for a lack of trying, mind you.” His girlfriend mumbled to herself. Did she try to let him know? Was he that oblivious!

“Wait how could she have done the things in the text if she doesn’t have the parts?” Kim pondered out loud.

“Yeah I would like to know that too.” Roger stated while shifting his belt. The look Lila gave was as if her mind was going into overdrive trying to figure out how to save anything.

“How do you know where she was two days ago!” Lila screamed seeming to latch onto her last hope. “She could have still beat me up! Where do you think these bruises came from!”

“Dupai- I mean Marinette was hanging out with her boyfriend.” Nino was the one to clear things up this time. “I know because after they set up a pillow fort those two idiots attacked us with marshmallow guns.”

The girl giggled to herself, “You should have seen your guys faces.”

‘That was so much fun.’ Adrien thought to himself only to notice everyone looking at him. Did he say that part out loud. A quiet dude from Nino confirmed it for the young Agreste. But who could blame him! All the pieces were coming together and it explained so much! The reason he was so comfortable around Multimouse? She was his best friend underneath the mask! That day on the roof did he recognize her? Maybe, and maybe he might have been falling for her ever since that day! Wait was he in the same situation as Li Shang?!

“Nath, you okay?” Alix asked the redhead who looked like he was impersonating a statue.

“Am I bi? Am I a disaster bi? Was I a disater bi this whole time?” The young artist was heard muttering to himself. It seemed everyone decided it would be best to let him work it out.

“Sooo… anything else Lila?” Alya asked, turning toward the italian only to find an empty space. “Where did she go?”

“I think she ran for home.” Marinette answered while looking around. “Well shall we go to class now?” Looking over she threw a wink at Adrien. Did she know? Wait how could she know? Those thoughts circled his head as he felt someone grab his hand and pull him toward the school. Looking at the arm that grabbed his hand he saw her giggling. “Come on Sunshine you don’t want to live up to the blonde stereotype.”

~~~~~~~

“Well this is turning interesting.” Plagg drawled inside Adrien’s bag.

“Oh course. How could it be anything else?” Mullo was busy trying to make a nest in the bag. “It is our wielders after all.” The mouse threw a wink at the cat.

“Yeah our games always end in fun chaos don’t they?” The black kwami gained a distancet look for a second. “Though I think Tikki might have something to say about you calling her bug your wielder.”

“If she didn’t like it she should take it up with the guardian.” Satisfied with the beginning of the nest she dove into it.

“Really?” Plagg muttered while rolling his eyes. “Well I should probably check on the kid soon.”

“Let me know when it's time.” Mullo was on the brink of sleep and fell into sleep after seeing Plagg’s nod.

Chapter Text

Marinette let out a happy sound while taking her seat in class. Alya sat down next to her phone already out. “I can’t believe I fell for her lies!” Her friend muttered while going through her blog. “I’ll have to double check everything!”

“Oh no! If only someone tried to warn you.” Marinette flatly looked at her.

“Oh my gosh!” Alya looked over at her with wide sad eyes. “I’m so sorry! I was such a hypocrite!”

“Actions speak louder than words.” Marinette gave her friend a smile before pointing at the phone. “So how about we start with cleaning up your blog.”

“I’ll have it squeaky clean by lunch.” Alya threw a wink at the blue eyed girl who rolled said eyes at the pun.

“Lay off the puns will you, your no Chat Noir.” Marinette gave the boy in front of her a wink.

Adrien felt a flush as his mind raced. Did she know his identity? How? When? It had to be recently or she would never have revealed who she had a crush on. Did he say something to reveal it? How could he date her now if Alya knew who MM was. Cause there was no way they could date and the fox not figured out who he was.

“Dude…” Nino muttered to him, bringing him out of his thoughts. Adrien turned his eyes forward trying not to look as red. “Are you going to explain why Dup- I mean Marinette has you like this?” Don’t answer Agreste, you only give him more ammo. So with the dedication of a stone soldier he stared forward. “It’s a bit weird you know. I grew up for most of my childhood thinking they were a guy but turns out I was wrong.”

“You weren’t the only one.” Kim said from the back row. “You think they would have mentioned it during the…” Everyone turned around to stare at the athlete. “You were over for guys night!”

“You were at guys night!” Alya exclaimed turning to her friend in shock. “What did you they talk about.”

“Bro code!” Nino turned in his seat to stare at the girl.

“Sorry Alya, bro code.”

“Maybe we could discuss the sis code?” Alya questioned and things probably would have continued if not for Miss Bustier walking in. The teacher didn’t seem to notice anything as she started roll call.

“Dupain-Cheng?”

“Here!” The teacher looked up and blinked.

“How did you convince the teacher to call you by your last name?” Alya inquired confusion written on her face.

“No idea about that one.” Marinette gave a shrug.

“Dupain is your last name?” Bustier looked confused. “We might need to check over some paperwork, again. I’m sure Mendeleiev will insist we check all the other students too.”

The rest of the class went for the most part normal which was good for Adrien as it allowed him to get his thoughts in order. Mainly how he, as Adrien, could convince Marinette to date him. Maybe he could convince Ladybug that she already knew his identity. Well he still had to confirm that fact. Feeling something poking his back he saw a smiling black haired girl. She slipped a note to him before focusing on class again.

Looking at the note he felt his heart almost stop. Is Mullo hanging out with your kwami? Well there was the answer to one question. Moving his bag he acted like he was grabbing a pencil and he was greeted by two sets of eyes. Grabbing a pencil he passed it back to Marinette with a nod.

She just gave a soft sigh and nod. Adrien looked forward again as his head went back to planning mode. He needed to talk to his girlfriend soon. So with great endurance Adrien waited. After what seemed like an eternity later lunch arrived. Acting quickly he invited Marinette to lunch.

“Dude, we all want to talk with-”

“No I need your help headphones,” Nino had started talking but it had been cut off by the dj’s girlfriend. “We are going through my blog then finding out everything else that stupid lair ever spread!”

“Count me in!” Kim shouted, rushing up dragging Max with him.

“I suppose me and Markov will be of assistance in this task.” Taking the chance to drag her off they escaped the classroom.

“Come on, we can talk at my house!” Marinette was then the one in the lead as she led to her house. “Mama, Papa! I’m going to talk to Adrien in my room.”

“WHAT!” Tom yelled as they raced past. “First you lose me the bet now this?”

Arriving in the pink room he turned toward the french-asian. “What bet was he talking about?”

“Oh they had a bet going about which of Marinette’s friends would discover first.” Mullo explained as they flew out of Adrien’s bag.

“Mullo good to see you again.” Adrien greeted the tiny gray kwami with a smile.

“Again?” Marinette asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“Yeah they were in my bag last week.” Adrien explained while discreetly looking around her room. This was the room of someone who loved him.

“Yeah Mullo does have a tendency to think with their nose more than their head.” Plagg also left his bag before giving a frown. “What no food?”

“Plagg!”

Walking over to the hatch of her room Marinette asked her father if he could bring up some food for them. After closing the hatch Marinette turned back towards him. “So… I guess we should talk.” Despite her earlier confidence it quickly evaporated as she looked at him.

“Yeah I guess we do.” Adrien sat down on the chaise. “Well first of all, how did you find out?”

“Oh well, you remember when you had us over to help figure out my identity?”

“Oh I guess I did do that.” Adrien muttered to himself while rubbing the back of his neck. His girlfriend just let out a chuckle before taking another deep breath.

“Yeah well after we got the Akuma call I tried to walk out of your room but wound up in your bathroom, again.”

“What were you and Alya doing in there the first time anyway?”

“Oh she figured out I was MDC cause she saw that I was making you that scarf.” Oh so that was when she figured it out. “Anyway once I was inside I went through your window and well I might have seen you leaving your room… as Chat Noir.”

“Yup that would have done it.” They fell into a comfortable quiet that was interrupted by Tom coming in with treats. Marinette and Sabine were quick to get him to leave though not before Tom had given him some rather threatening looks.

“Yeah cheese bread!” Mullo exclaimed while swooping down.

“And people say I have no self control.” Plagg muttered while coming down to grab his own. “I had to hold her back the second the food came in.”

“Thank you Plagg.” Marinette gave his kwami a very sweet smile while scratching his head.

“Just give me some more cheese and we’ll call it even.” While Plagg looked annoyed at the attention Adrien could easily tell that he was enjoying himself.

“So how do we go forward?” Adrien asked cutting right to the chase.

“Um, well, uh, what do you mean?” The short haired girl asked while twitching in her seat.

“Well I would love to keep dating you if that’s possible.” Adrien looked right in her eyes only to see her look back in confusion.

“Um, Adrien you do remember that we were fake dating right?” Now it was Adrien turn to blink in confusion. Looking back in his memory he did remember asking her to fake date him. When did it stop being fake to him? How did he fall for her so fast? Why didn’t any of his anime prepare him for this? “Hey?”

“Huh?” Adrien snapped up and looked at his former fake girlfriend. What were they now? He didn’t think he could go back to just being friends.

“Well are you going to ask me out for real now?” His heart was not ready for today.

“Could I?”

“I don’t know? Can you kitty?”

“Oh my god just kiss!” Plagg screamed from the table.

“Yeah get to making pups already!” Mullo got out between bites of cheese.

“Mullo!” Both of the red faced teenagers yelled wide eyed at the little gray kwami. Though Adrien swore he heard some very annoyed noises coming from around them. But the main one that he heard was from the purse of his (future) girlfriend’s purse.

“What you have to fill up that big house your mate lives in.” Mullo said with a smile. “Oh, I can’t wait to see another happy mouse with a nice full burrow!” Okay was her purse possessed or something? It was just as red as him and was making noises any normal purse should never make.

“Would be a nice change of pace from how quiet and cold it normally is in there.” Plagg muttered while rolling his eyes.

“See even Plagg agrees with me!” Mullo was almost bouncing in excitement. “I know you have the first three names already picked out but could Plagg and I pick out the rest?” At this point Adrien was barely hanging on. Then again the same could be said with whatever had made itself home in the purse. “Oh Plagg when was the last time a mouse-”

“NO! NO! NO!” A red blur shot out of the purse getting right up into Mullo and Plagg’s face. The blur might have even attacked the two if more kwamis hadn’t intervened. “Marinette isn’t a mouse she is a bug!” As the blur was pinned down he could recognize the red kwami with black spots.

“Wow sugarcube you seem a bit mad.” Plagg teased while not stopping his cheese eating.

“Plagg don’t make this worse.” Pollen asked while she and Sass held down Tikki.

“You do remember what happened the lassst time thisss happened?” Sass looked at Mullo who was still lost in her own world.

Marinette was stuck looking mortified as the other kwamis were floating around trying to help however they could. But Adrien didn’t care because what was left of his overwhelmed mind could only focus on two things. So with a stumbling step the model put a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. When she looked up at him with those blue eyes he had fallen for twice (three) times Adrien asked the question. “You have three of our kids' names picked out, M'lady?”

The girl gave a squeak and nod as her head impersonated a bobble head. “She squeaks, therefore mouse!” Not even the scream of furry got the model to glance over.

Why would he? The girl he wanted a future with had apparently planned one out for them to share. A smile came across his face as he closed the distance between them. “Marry me?” Did he wait for an answer, maybe later but right now he wanted her lips on his. Yes he would get his answer and judging by how much she got into the kiss, he would have that future they both wanted.

Chapter Text

Adrien was on cloud nine throughout the rest of the day. Yeah he got weird looks when the two of them arrived back from lunch. It might have something to do with the two of them arriving holding hands but his care about what they were thinking was low. His lady was his mouse, though maybe not for much longer if Tikki had anything to say about it. They had to separate the two and now Adrien was keeping both the cat and mouse with him so Tikki wouldn’t try to keep fighting Mullo.

The rest of the day had gone normally for the most part with Nino and the others asking him what had happened when he had gone to lunch with Marinette. The boy had just given them a smile while Nino had given him a questioning look. Adrien knew his best bro well enough to know that he was probably putting the pieces together.

Adrien was quick to head home so he could transform and send out a message about the surprise meeting. After the make out session him and his cute little mouse had agreed on a plan of action. So the cat was quick to put in the first step and then dropped his transformation. “So how are you holding up?” Plagg asked while going to get cheese.

“I… I can’t believe my luck!” A giant smile grew on his face as he almost collapsed.

“You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to keep quiet about it.” Plagg snipped while shoving his cheese down. “The second I found out I had to shove my paw into my mouth to keep quiet.” Adrien thought he had heard something during the time both of them had to detransform during Dark Owl.

“Well thanks for not giving any hints.” The young blonde muttered while grabbing a notebook.

“Your suffering and ignorance amused me.” Plagg admitted while laying down in the air. “So with that out of the way I have to know… what the heck are you doing?”

“Well I figured that if Marinette already had three of our kids’ names picked out I should at least contribute to planning out our future. Or more specifically I’m trying to figure out what gifts I can spoil her with.” A happy grin came to his face as the kid kept writing.

“I hope Tikki is having better luck with her holder.” Plagg muttered to himself as he went off to find something to entertain himself. Maybe hiding some of Adrien’s socks would be fun.

“Hey Marine-” Adrien started talking only to stop as his face lit up bright red. Rushing over Plagg saw that the kid had received a picture from his girlfriend.

“Wow that is a nice looking dress.” Plagg teased Adrien about the drawing of the wedding dress. “No wonder Mullo it.” Adrien turned slowly over to the kwami who gave a knowing smirk.

~~~~~~

Marinette rubbed at her temples as she looked at the two kwami’s. Tikki had her tiny little arms crossed and looked very annoyed. Mullo though seemed oblivious to it and was instead busy trying to leave where Marinette had put her. “So, let's get to the heart of the situation.”

“Okay, just tell Tikki how great it was being a mouse and we can bust out that wedding planning journal.” Mullo happily agreed with a nod.

“SHE! IS! A! BUG!” Tikki ground out barley, restraining herself from throttling the other kwami.

“Tikki, take a few deep breaths and then we can talk this out.” Marinette pleaded with her kwami. The red kwami did as instructed but still looked mad. “Now can we talk about what the problem is?”

“Yeah what is your problem with my mouse?” Mullo asked, causing the eavesdropping kwami to facepalm. Tikki turned a nice glare at her other kwami.

“That! That is my problem!” Tikki’s arms uncrossed so they could point at the grey kwami. “I would be okay with everything that has happened if SHE hasn’t tried to lay claim to you!”

“What are you talking about?” Marinette asked, confused. “Claiming?”

“Yeah you are a mouse!” Mullo stated while fluttering over to where Marinette keeps her dream journals. Well maybe not dream anymore, Marinette didn’t doubt her ability to mess things up, thus she was keeping the maybe.

“Stop saying that!” Tikki screamed, seeming on the verge of tears.

“Mullo, why are you insisting that I’m a mouse?” Marinette asked the gray kwami who was going through the journals.

“Because you used me to cleverly capture the cat!” Mullo explained with a smile. “You had an objective when you used the miraculous and achieved it using mine. So you are a mouse!”

“She was just using you to prevent Chat from figuring out her identity!” Tikki muttered while floating up to her chosen and pressing against her cheek. “She is using the Ladybug to stop Hawkmoth and save Paris!”

“Yeah but she used me to capture the heart of the one she loved.” Mullo stopped at the drawing of her in a wedding dress. “Oh you need to send your kitty this.”

“Listen you two we need to come to a compromise or something.” Marinette tried as Tikki flew in front of her looking scandalized.

“How could you say that!”

“Listen Mullo can say that I’m a mouse all she wants but you were with me first.” Marinette tried reasoning with Tikki before bringing her in close to whisper the next part. “Besides between me and you, you're my favorite.” Tikki was still pouting but now seemed placated.

“Thanks Trixx!” Mullo’s voice drew their attention. They saw the mouse being assisted by a grinning fox. Assisted doing what you may ask. Why holding a camera that they were using to do something. What that was she didn’t know yet.

“Heads up my kit is coming.” Trixx informed with the grin still in place.

“Marinette!” Alya yelled while bursting into her room. “My blog is clean… now…” Any momentum she had was lost upon seeing the red kwami cuddled up to the other girls cheek. “I swear if you tell me that you're Ladybug then I’m turning in my reporting career.”

“No, I’m the new Ladybug user.” Marinette flatly said her heart pounding loudly in her chest.

“Oh what happened to the old one?” Alya asked raising a skeptical eyebrow.

“She had to step down so she could properly protect the miraculous box.” Marinette pressed on her heart almost bursting from her chest.

“It was a very hard decision for her.” Tikki assisted with a nod of her head. “But in the end her duty to the kwami under her care won out.” Alya gave a nod of understanding. Though she seemed to start feeling down at the news.

“Hey pup what does this mean?” Mullo asked, looking up from her holder's phone.

“I don’t think this is even a language.” Trixx added their two cents to the conversation.

“Let me see that.” Alya said grabbing the phone from the mischievous kwamis. “Marinette.” A teasing tone had her heart pounding again. “I think our kwami’s might have broken your kitty.” Rushing forward Marinette made a leap for her phone only to have the other girl pull it away. “Then again who can blame the poor boy after they sent him these pictures. Maybe I should ask for your help designing mine and Nino’s wedding.”

“Mullo! Why did you send him pictures of that!” Marinette asked, trying desperately to get her phone. “And what makes you think that Adrien is Chat!”

“Really?” Alya gave a flat stare. “You two aren’t exactly subtle and I doubt you would ever cheat on him.” Well at least they got their cover story straight; she would just need to add the new element about Ladybug’s retirement. Yeah she would just need to get into contact with her boyfriend to let him know.

“Like you are one to talk!”

“Well I just came to let you know that I have purged the Ladyblog of any trace of Lila.” Alya gave a nod of pride while Trixx flew up to her.

“I helped!” Trixx held up a paw which Alya tapped.

“So I suppose I’ll see you later tonight new bug.” Alya gave a last wave before descending down the stairs. Tikki gave a little noise at what Alya said while Mullo just waved the two goodbye.

“Wait did you really come over just to let me know that you updated the Ladyblog?” Marinette had to know.

“Oh I came over to ask your parents for permission to have a girl’s slumber party at your house. Rose and Juleka are very excited about it.” Alya said before darting down. “They said yes!” With that the reporter was gone.

“New bug…” Tikki dropped onto the desk.

“Mouse.” Mullo responded automatically.

“I promise I will make this up to you.” With a sigh Marinette muttered the transformation. “Mullo get squeaky.” So with the jump rope she called her giant cat boyfriend.

“What was with those texts!” Chat yelled the second he answered.

“Um, well, Mullo sent them but that doesn’t matter! Alya saw me with Tikki! I panicked and well…”

“Ladybug retired to full time guardianship so let’s put Mullo away for good.” Tikki injected. You know Marinette was starting to think that this thing might have had a bit of divine intervention.

“Aw, no more little mouse?” Chat whined giving kitten eyes that almost made Marinette want to give in.

“No! No more mouse! Only bug!” Tikki was obviously not affected by the kitten eyes.

“Okay, okay,” Chat said with a chuckle, “as long as I can date Marinette I’m happy.” Giving a nod Tikki flew off to the miraculous box. “Now Multimouse we need to talk.” The poor girl froze at the serious tone of the cat. “About those occupations you drew…” Oh kwami no. “I think my favorite one is Stay at Home Dad.”

Marinette tried to say anything but between her heart beating too fast and her face overheating nothing came out beside squeaks and a jumble of words. “Well I say it would goodbye to talk more later.” She eventually got out as she forced the transformation to end.

“Wee,” Mullo let out a gleeful giggle as she flew out. “I can’t wait to see how everything turns out!”

“Mullo… I… Multi…”

“I know.” Mullo interrupted her. “The mouse miraculous is very situational and isn’t used very often. I’m just happy to be of some use every once in a while. I don’t have many mice because of that so I get a bit attached to whoever does. So even if Multimouse is never needed again I still care about you and want to know how this ends.”

“I’m the guardian so don’t worry you will be there for everything.” Marinette said reaching forward to pet the kwami. “And thank you for helping me.” Mullo gave a soft smile and flew up to the guardian.

“You are the best mouse I’ve ever had.” With that Marinette took off the necklace and returned it to the box. “Could you bring Plagg by sometime? I haven’t noticed how much I’ve missed him.” A noise from the balcony drew their attention.

“I wouldn’t worry about that too much.” Marinette muttered as a knock came from her skylight. Taking a few deep breaths she moved to let her boyfriend in. By kwami did he even ask her out? Yeah he asked her to marry her but she would like to do things a bit by the numbers here.

“Hey princess,” Chat greeted her with a suave grin as soon as she opened the access, “we have a talk to finish.” A bright blush made its way to her face as Chat transformed into Adrien. “So first love my tux, though I think you forgot to accommodate these bad boys.” Her blush grew as the Agreste came into her room and started flexing. “See all that hero work has caused these so sadly we will need to change the measurements.” Was he trying to kill her? “Now where is that sketchbook? I want to see the real thing.” Yes, yes he was trying to kill her.

“Plagg! What did you think of the pictures?” Mullo’s voice came from somewhere. The voices of the other kwamis soon filled the room as the girl now had decisions to make. Should she check on the little gods who were getting up to them knows what or prevent Adrien from looking through that sketchbook?

“You know I think I found my new favorite book.” Yup, she had a cat to catch.