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Adrien sighed dreamily, hopping down into an alley. That day’s afternoon patrol had been wonderful, filled with banter and laughter. It left him with a good feeling that nothing could possibly bring down. Except for his father. Or his potential depression. But that wasn’t important.
As he uttered the detranformation phrase, he heard a voice say, “Tikki, spots off,” at the same time. Without thinking—which Ladybug said he did a lot— he whirled around, only to be face-to-face with Ladybug. Well, not literally, since he was a bit taller than her.
“M’la— Marinette!” He exclaimed. He was probably too loud, but Paris was equal parts blind as it was deaf. The girl in front of him just gaped like a fish as Plagg cackled beside him. Tikki was in shock.
“Ch— Ad— A—“ Marinette seemed unable to compute the fact that he was Chat Noir.
Beside her, Tikki muttered, “Oh, sh—“
“Tikki! This is a kid’s show!” Plagg said, shushing the other kwami. Her mouth clamped shut.
Adrien was still waiting for Marinette’s reaction, but she seemed unable to do anything other than staring at him blankly with wide eyes and a slack jaw. He wondered how much longer it would take for her to say something. He was starting to get a bit nervous of her reaction.
“Is-is something wrong, Marinette?” Adrien asked hesitantly. She continued to give him the same wide-eyed stare.
Plagg shrugged, “She’s probably trying to figure out how Sunshine is also the Personification of Sin or something.”
Adrien blinked at his kwami. Personification of sin? “What?”
He thought he was dubbed a dork as Chat Noir and perfect as Adrien. What was the media thinking of Chat Noir? Or was it his fans? Or the fanfiction? He’d heard Alya talk about fanfiction before and how it portrayed the characters.
The kwamis hid, then seemingly out of nowhere, Alya looked into the alley and found them. “Hey guys! What are you doing here?”
“Running from fans,” Adrien replied automatically. It was one of his many excuses, and it was believable, too. He had to run from fans more often than not. Somehow, he found Marinette a lot whenever he did.
Alya nodded, then quirked an eyebrow at Marinette. “Is she ok?”
Marinette mumbled something, but her words were warbled and bled together. It was impossible for Adrien to comprehend. Apparently not for Alya, though, because the girl nodded in understanding. It was Adrien’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
“She wants to know if you’re free tomorrow to go on an Andre’s ice cream date. She also wants you to know that she’s been in love with you for a long time.” Marinette mumbled something else. Alya nodded, “Every side of you.”
Adrien beamed. “I would love to go on a date with you. I’ll text you a time and place to meet. And I love you, too, Marinette.” Said girl promptly fainted and landed in Alya’s arms.
“We’ll be going now,” Alya said cheerily. She seemed to be under no strain from holding up Marinette.
Adrien waved as Alya dragged Marinette away and toward the bakery. That day’s afternoon patrol had certainly been wonderful.