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“Come on, Tikki. Just a little hint if I’m right,” Marinette pleaded, her hands clasped in front of her. “I’m like 99% sure Adrien is Chat, but I know you know who he is. Can you please, please, please tell me?”
Tikki blinked up at her chosen a moment before closing her eyes and shaking her head.
Marinette slumped against her chair, disbelieving she couldn’t get the confirmation she needed that her beloved partner and favorite cat superhero was Adrien Agreste.
She didn’t have any hard evidence in truth, just a series of coincidences that had added up over time. Tardies or even complete absences from school at the same times she and Chat fought an akuma. A few similar puns they’d both told her over the past year or so. Their similar body shape and hair color. Sure, Chat’s was a bit messier, but she’s seen Adrien on a few bad hair days to see the similarity between them.
There were other instances, too. More than she could possibly name in the next few minutes as she made her next decision.
“Hey, Tikki, I think we should start patrol a little earlier tonight. What do you say? That last akuma might’ve spooked people more than the ones in the past.” She stood up, daring a glance at her kwami and seeing Tikki’s approval written in the open smile.
One point for winning this round. Now, she just needed to keep her cool until she transformed and headed toward a certain mansion a few blocks away.
A minute later, she leaped through her window and sprung from her balcony, flying across the skyline of Paris toward said mansion.
The brightly lit room brought a smile to her face as she stopped on the rooftop across the way. A brief glimpse widened that smile as she caught her crush sitting at his computer, perusing a familiar website.
Swinging across the street, she gripped the windowsill and tapped on the glass, making sure her smile didn’t falter as she waited for him to notice her.
It didn’t take him long.
He rushed across the vast room, pushing aside the window to allow her entrance. “What brings you out tonight, Ladybug?”
“Just a normal patrol,” she said, dropping into his room and walking toward his computer. The Ladyblog, huh? She thought she recognized the site from her previous perch. “But, I thought I’d checked on one of my favorite citizens before I started. So, what’ve you been up to?”
He hurried back to his computer, shutting down the screens as a faint reddish tint bloomed on his cheeks. “Just checking out the latest on a friend’s blog. Nothing too big.”
“Hmm, I see the Ladyblog is still going strong. Any interesting posts lately about me?” She swiveled to rest against his desk, her smile growing a bit cheeky as she caught his blush darkening.
Interesting.
“Yes. No! I mean, you’re always interesting. I mean, the blog is interesting. Not that you aren’t interesting, but…” He drifted off, his hand coming to rub at his nape. His blush looked almost cherry.
She wondered briefly if his cheeks would be hot to the touch, deciding they might with how bright they appeared.
He couldn’t look more adorable.
“Well, tell me about the latest. After all, I hear you’re my biggest fan, right?” She pushed away from his desk, walking closer to him. She smiled as he backed away, only stopping when he ran into his foosball table. “What’s wrong, Adrien? You’re not usually so shy around me, are you? I mean, it’s not like a cat has your tongue or anything, right?”
He froze as her words washed over him, his eyes going a darker green than she’d ever seen before they brightened. His lips curved into a grin she knew all too well, already backing up as the tables turned, and he advanced on her.
“What’s the matter, Ladybug? Did you find that curiosity might kill more than a cat? Perhaps the bug isn’t as immune to curiosity as she pretends to be, huh?” He maneuvered her back to his desk.
She squeaked as she dropped into his chair.
He didn’t give her any time as he spun her around to face his computer, turning the monitors on once more. “So, Bugaboo, you’ve discovered my secret? Pray, tell how you managed to do that, my amazing and brilliant Lady.”
Oh, this wasn’t what was supposed to happen. How had he managed to get the drop on her? She couldn’t let him win, not if she wanted to keep her reveal on her terms.
A thought came to her, her hand going for his mouse and scrolling through the Ladyblog until she found the video Alya had shown her a month ago.
Adrien’s eyes widened at seeing it. He took a step back as he saw his superhero ego on the screens, screaming while being thrown high into the air by an akuma. His screams had died when she’d caught him bridal-style, a wide and cheeky grin replacing them in the next photo captured by the Ladyblogger herself.
“So, Chaton, you think you’re still going to win this one?” She spun around and leaned the chair back, her fingers lacing in front of her. “It seems that you’re quite happy being caught by me, huh? It doesn’t even matter if you’re in or out of your suit. Does that mean that you might have a crush on me, pretty Chat?”
He opened his mouth to answer but snapped it shut as he met her triumphant gaze. When he spoke, he surprised her by saying, “You think I’m pretty?”
Shoot, she silently shouted. He’d gotten one on her again? This couldn’t be happening.
Not about to lose to him after finding him all this time, she leaped from the chair and marched up to him. She put her hands on his shoulders and used them to balance as she lifted up to place a kiss on his cheek, right at the corner of his mouth.
“What do you think, Chaton?” She blinked as she realized what she’d done a moment later.
His hands came around her waist and pulled her closer, his lips moving within an inch of hers before he whispered, “I think I’d really like to know who I’m kissing under this mask.”
“Kissing, huh?” She arched a brow at him, challenge in her eyes though they closed a minute later.
He sealed their lips together in the sweetest kiss she could ever recall them sharing. It certainly ranked far better than the one she’d given to save him during Dark Cupid’s little reign of terror on the city.
He pulled back sooner than she would’ve liked, his eyes still closed.
Not wasting her opportunity, she whispered, “Keep them closed, Chaton.”
He nodded, his eyes squeezing tighter together.
She whispered the words to drop her transformation, lifting herself again to initiate the kiss this time. She had to admit it was far nicer kissing him out of her suit than in, but that first kiss would always remain special.
When she pulled back, she smiled as he peeked his eyes open.
They widened for only a moment before his arms wrapped around her and spun her in circles around his room.
She giggled at his antics, grateful she’d been more than right in knowing her partner and best friend. Her arms went around his neck as he continued to spin her, gaining every last giggle he could from her.
Maybe he’d been onto something long ago when he said his curiosity would always be cured by his satisfaction of knowing.
Hers certainly had.