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“Did you see the pratfall Cat Noir took yesterday? The guy flew over thirty meters and landed in a fountain! Guess that makes him a Catfish Noir, huh?”
Kim, Alix, Ivan, and a few others laughed as they watched the video play over and over again on Kim’s phone. Adrien closed his eyes and let out a long slow breath. No need to take it personally. They didn’t know the ‘catfish’ taking the fall was their classmate and that he suffered from phantom pains over injuries that would have killed him without the suit. He focused on his breathing as the snickering went on behind him. He rubbed his forehead at the tension.
“What do you think you’re doing,” asked a familiar voice with deadly intent.
“We’re watching Cat Noir’s greatest hits,” Kim chuckled, ignoring the chill that had descended on the rest of the room in the face of his pun.
“Oh, really,” Marinette asked, too sweetly. “And do you know that Cat Noir has enhanced hearing so that loud noises are painful? Yet he fights through it anyway. He stays as long as he can to encourage akuma victims, he is often on the scene before Ladybug, and fights twice as hard so she is safe to fix things.”
“Yeah, but you have to admit, Marinette, the guy is almost as much of a klutz as you are!”
“Dark Cupid turned him,” she growled and Adrien turned around to see her pointing directly in Kim’s face. She turned her accusation on the rest in turn. “Timebreaker erased him from time. Stoneheart, Gamer, Evilistrator, Miraculer, every akuma wants the same thing - his and Ladybug’s miraculous and are willing to do anything to get them for Hawkmoth. You don’t even want to know how many times he has died for us. Paris doesn’t deserve Cat Noir. He is an amazing hero in his own right and if I ever hear any of you making fun of him again, I will personally make sure you regret it. Is. That. Clear?”
She leaned into Kim’s face, radiating menace as the jock just smirked at her. “Oh, sounds like ‘Nette has a crush on the cat! Oh, we could call you Maricat! What are you going to do, Maricat? Tickle me into submission?”
It was all Adrien could do to not warn him what was coming. He would learn, poor guy.
“Nope. I know how to hit you where it hurts the most.”
“I don’t know about that. I’m pretty tough,” Kim replied, flexing. Little did he know that wouldn’t impress Marinette. “Where would you hit me, Maricat?”
“Your stomach,” she said and poked him in the middle. “I won’t make you guys cakes for your birthdays anymore.”
A circle of jaws dropped in unison as she turned with the superior look of a queen who held all the aces. It immediately vanished as her eyes fell on him. “Are you okay, Adrien?”
“Y-yeah, why,” he stammered, surprised.
“You’ve been rubbing your forehead for the last ten minutes. Do you have a headache?”
“Yeah, I guess I do.”
“Then I’ll walk you to the nurse’s office. Hey, Alya, can you let the teacher know we’ll be a few minutes late?”
“Sure thing, girl,” her friend replied, smiling with an amused grin. “You take care of Sunshine.”
“Come on, Adrien.” She offered him her hand and pulled him to his feet. “Let’s go.”
As they walked down the stairs, he watched her face wishing he was behind the mask right now. Strange how she had suddenly grown more comfortable with Adrien after she had started secretly dating Cat. It was just one of the curious things about the girl he adored.
“It was great what you did back there,” he murmured, blushing. “Cat Noir is lucky to have you as one of his fan’s, Marinette.”
She smiled sweetly at him and blushed. “Thanks, but I was a fan of yours first, you know.”
“Well, super model doesn’t quite measure up to superhero, does it?”
“Don’t get me wrong, Adrien, you are amazing, kind, sweet, brave, and funny - just like Cat - and I admire you a lot and you are one of my best friends To tell you the truth, if we were having this discussion six months ago I wouldn’t be able to talk a straight sentence to you because I was crushing on you so hard. But now? Cat holds my whole heart, whoever he is behind the mask, and I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the world, not even Adrien Agreste.”
He flushed all over at her sweet, honest words. All he could do was stare at her until she left him in front of the nurse’s desk. “See you later, Adrien,” she said with a cheerful wave and was out of the room before he could fight the desire to kiss her goodbye.
As he sat on a chair while the nurse fetched him some pain medicine, Plagg poked out of his shirt pocket.
“That’s some girlfriend you’ve got there, kid. Boy, it will be hilarious when you can reveal your identity to her. She wouldn’t trade you for you? Priceless!”
“Yeah, she is,” he sighed happily, glad he had such an amazing, secret girlfriend.