Chapter Text
It started off as an average Monday morning. A yawning Alya headed into the kitchen, made herself some breakfast, and poured a glass of orange juice. Her sisters were being especially annoying today – but luckily that was her parents' problem for now. Whilst waiting for her toast to pop out of the toaster, she turned on the TV to see if anything interesting was happening. Nadja Chamack's face appeared on the screen as she sipped her drink.
'Don't be bemused, it's just the news. This just in – teen fashion icon Adrien Agreste has been seen kissing none other than Ladybug! We suspect many teenage hearts will be broken by this news, including that of a certain black cat. What will this mean for the heroes of Paris?'
Alya spat out her drink everywhere. Adrien and Ladybug? That had to be a joke. She couldn't think of two people less likely to kiss. A moment later, however, her stomach dropped through the floor as, sure enough, a photo came up onscreen of her friend and her heroine. Adrien's arms were wrapped round Ladybug's waist, hers were clutched around his neck, and there was no mistaking that their lips were firmly pressed together. She rapidly switched off the TV. She'd seen enough.
She wondered if Marinette had seen the news. If not – how was she going to break it to her? Her best friend was going to be heartbroken. The boy she loved was dating a superhero. Marinette was an amazing person, and her self-esteem wasn't terrible – but how would she take it? Would she start comparing herself to Ladybug…and how would that make her feel?
Alya couldn't bring herself to hate Ladybug…could she? She owed a lot to her. If not for Ladybug, she would never have become Rena Rouge. It wasn't as if Ladybug had meant to break Marinette's heart. Marinette was one of many girls in Paris who had a crush on Adrien. And so, apparently, was the red-and-black spotted heroine.
She whipped out her phone and called the most recent number in her contacts – Nino's.
'S'up?' came her boyfriend's voice.
'Nino. Have you seen this picture of Adrien and Ladybug?'
'What picture?'
'Open the news app on your phone. It's the top story.'
There were a few moments of silence as Nino did as she asked. And then:
'Holy-'
'Yeah, that was my reaction too. What on earth do you think happened?'
'Must have been that akuma yesterday. I mean, she did save his life.'
'Yeah, but that's what Ladybug does. She saves people all the time. But how often does she kiss them too?'
'Not very. But you gotta admit, she has great taste in guys.'
'Nino, this isn't funny! Marinette's probably heartbroken right now.'
'Shoot, yeah, she is. What are we gonna do about that?'
'Let's get to school. I'll comfort Marinette and make sure she's okay. You grill Adrien and ask him what the heck happened yesterday.'
'Well, okay.' Nino didn't sound too happy about this. 'You sure you don't wanna grill Adrien? You're the detective among us.'
'He's your BFF. And Marinette is mine. She needs me right now. Okay, I'll see you at school in twenty minutes.'
'Sure thing.'
Alya got ready as quickly as she could and raced out of the door, saying a hasty goodbye to her bewildered family. She'd make sure Marinette was all right. She had to.
Gabriel wasn't sure how long he'd been staring at the tablet.
Perhaps this was all a strange dream. Maybe he'd wake up any moment and find that Adrien, who always did what he was told, had not shared a kiss with none other than the heroine of Paris. His own son with his sworn enemy – that pesky little girl who stood between him and his dream of getting Emilie back. Perhaps this could be used to his advantage…to get closer to Ladybug and get his hands on her Miraculous. Or even better, to akumatize her, or Cat Noir, or both if he was really lucky. But first he was going to get to the bottom of why this had happened.
Nathalie entered the room. It was clear from her expression that she, too, had watched the news.
'Fetch my son. Now.'
Nathalie needed no further encouragement. She turned and headed in the direction of Adrien's room.
Adrien woke feeling happier than he'd felt in a long time. Yesterday, at long last, his dream had come true. Ladybug had kissed him – and this time, he actually remembered it! What's more, he was fairly certain that this could mean only one thing – he was the boy she was secretly in love with. The one she'd repeatedly turned him down for. Otherwise it would never have come to pass. Ladybug didn't give out kisses lightly. He knew that from Dark Cupid and Oblivio. His partner had been mortified to discover pictures of herself kissing a boy she didn't love.
'She loves me, Plagg,' he said dreamily, for about the eightieth time. Plagg groaned and burrowed deeper underneath the covers, taking his cheese with him.
'I know, kid. I heard you going on about her in your sleep. It's too early for this.'
'It's never too early to think about the one you love. Besides, it's time for school.' Adrien threw back the bedcovers and got up. 'Now I just wish I could get her to love me as Cat Noir too. Then we could be a real couple.'
'You'd have to tell her who you are for that to happen,' came Plagg's muffled voice. 'And you know that…'
'Yeah, yeah, it's too dangerous.' Adrien rolled his eyes. 'Oh, well. It's not how I imagined my first kiss with m'lady would be, but it's better than no kiss at all.'
'Whatever you say,' mumbled Plagg as he emerged. 'Now let's go to breakfast before I lose my appetite from all your gooeyness.'
Adrien laughed.
'When have you ever actually lost your appetite?'
'Never, but I might if you don't shut up about Ladybug.'
At that moment, the door opened. Plagg quickly dived back under the covers just before Nathalie appeared round the corner. She was wearing a frown.
'Adrien, get dressed. Your father wishes to speak with you. Immediately.'
'Oh. Okay. Why?'
'He will explain. Don't keep him waiting.' Nathalie left the room.
Adrien quickly dressed. He supposed his father was going to lecture him about the previous day. He'd run away from his bodyguard to go to Rose's birthday party, which his father had forbidden him from attending. This had caused the arrival of Gorizilla 2, by whom he had been captured once more. Ladybug, of course, had saved him, and that had led to the kiss they'd shared in a secluded alleyway afterwards. But there was no way his father could know about that. He was probably going to get lectured for running away again.
'Let's get this over with,' he grumbled as Plagg zipped inside his shirt and he set off to face his father's wrath.
'I kissed Adrien. Tikki, I kissed Adrien!'
'I know, Marinette. I was there.'
Marinette sighed happily at the great number of pictures of Adrien she had on her wall.
'I wish I could have been there to see it,' said Daizzi. 'It sounds so romantic!'
'Does this make us boyfriend and girlfriend now? Ladybug can't have a boyfriend. She's a superhero. She's not meant to let feelings get in the way of saving Paris. Even though I have a few times, but that's not the point. Why did Adrien kiss me? Is he in love with Ladybug? And why…'
'Marinette, you need to stop and breathe. Also, it's time for school,' said Longg.
'There's no way I'll be able to focus on school today,' Marinette groaned as she slid down from the bed and began to take off her pyjamas behind her screen. 'Especially since I'm sitting right behind Adrien!'
'You always sit right behind Adrien,' Tikki pointed out.
'Yes, but today I'm going to be sitting behind an Adrien that I've kissed! For real, not just in my dreams or a magazine.'
Tikki smiled to herself. If only Marinette knew.
'And the worst part is he doesn't know it's me! I have to try and act like nothing happened. I wonder if he'll tell anybody.'
'That he kissed Ladybug? I doubt they'll believe him, since everyone thinks Ladybug is dating Cat Noir,' said Wayzz.
'Stupid tabloids,' Marinette grumbled as she pulled her t-shirt over her head. She yelped, realising it was on back to front, corrected it, and hurried downstairs.
'Morning, dear,' Sabine said tentatively. 'I made your favourite breakfast.'
'Oh…thanks! What's the occasion?' Marinette asked as she began to stuff strawberry pancakes in her face.
'Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you're alright.'
'Yep! Absolutely fine! Never been better,' she replied with her mouth full to bursting. When she had finished, she put her dirty dishes in the sink and said goodbye to her mother. Sabine kissed her cheek, and her lips lingered slightly longer than normal.
When Marinette arrived downstairs, she barely got a glimpse of the bakery before being pulled into a huge bear hug. She gasped in surprise as her feet said goodbye to the floor.
'Papa! What are you doing?' she laughed, feeling very confused.
'I just want you to know that I'm here for you, Marinette,' Tom said as he placed his daughter back on the ground.
'That's really sweet, but…I'm fine. Really.'
'Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? Has your mother already spoken to you?'
'Talk about what? No, she hasn't.'
Just then, a large group of customers entered the bakery.
'I'll be late for school. Tell me later!' Marinette rushed out of the door.
What was going on?
Adrien made his way through the cold, lonely hallways, his footsteps echoing. His father's portrait seemed to glare down unapprovingly at him. Upon arriving in his office, the real Gabriel fixed him with the same cold look he knew so well.
'Sit.'
I'm a cat, not a dog, he thought. But obviously he couldn't say that. He sat.
'You had better have a good explanation, Adrien.'
Adrien took a deep breath, and gave the speech he'd hastily prepared.
'I'm sorry Father, but I just wanted to wish my friend Rose a happy birthday. I didn't mean for my bodyguard to get akumatized. I'm very sorry. It won't happen again.'
'Yes, Adrien, you should be sorry for disobeying my orders. However, that is not what I am referring to.'
'What, then, Father?'
'What exactly is the meaning of this?'
Nathalie held up the tablet to show the picture of Adrien kissing Ladybug. His heart stopped. Surprise and embarrassment flared up inside him. Oh no. Someone must have gotten a picture when they weren't looking.
'That's not me. I mean, yes it is, but…it's not what it looks like,' he stammered.
'Then what is it?' Gabriel asked frostily.
'It's…I…well…um…'
'The picture isn't the half of it. There are dozens of news articles appearing. Look at this, Adrien.'
Nathalie held up the tablet once more to show an internet search with a list of articles. He picked out phrases like 'Ladybug's new model boyfriend', 'Adrien Agreste locks lips with Paris' heroine', and 'Where is Cat Noir? Heartbroken superhero refuses to show his face'.
Adrien ground his teeth angrily. Cat Noir was not heartbroken. But he supposed the whole of Paris now thought he would be. Which meant they might not be too happy with a certain model, i.e. him. What a disaster.
'Are you or are you not in a relationship with Ladybug?' Gabriel asked.
'No. I'm not. It was just a kiss. She saved my life. I wanted to show her how grateful I was.'
'A simple Thank you would have sufficed, Adrien. You will not leave the house until this has been smoothed over.'
'Smoothed over?'
'We must tell everyone that the two of you are not a couple, never have been and never will be. That this whole thing was a misunderstanding and somebody must have edited this picture to make it look like you kissed Ladybug, when in fact, you did no such thing.'
'Yes, Father.'
Adrien's happiness deflated like a balloon as his father spoke. This was all wrong anyway. He wanted to date Ladybug as Cat Noir, not as Adrien. Even better, he wanted to meet the girl beneath the mask and be both sides of himself with her.
'Now go to your room. You are not going to school today.'
'Yes, Father,' Adrien repeated miserably before trudging back upstairs.
Marinette, as usual, arrived at school with minutes to spare. The fact that she actually arrived before school started could be considered early for her. She spotted her best friend and walked over to her.
'Hey, Marinette.' Alya was looking at her as if she might explode at any moment. Everyone was acting so weird today, as if they were expecting her to be upset about something. Little did they know that she was, in fact, the opposite.
'Why are you looking at me like that? Is something wrong?'
'I take it you haven't watched the news this morning?'
'You know I'm never up early enough to watch the news, Alya. Why? Did something bad happen?'
The pitying look Alya gave Marinette scared her a little. She was looking at her as if her hamster had died or something.
'You might want to be sitting down for this.'
Perplexed, Marinette followed Alya into the courtyard, where they sat down on a bench together. Then Alya brought up an image on her phone.
'This picture is all over the internet.'
Marinette's blood ran cold as she saw the photograph of herself from the previous day - kissing Adrien.
'What the…'
Alya clicked onto the latest news video of Nadja Chamack.
'That's right, everyone. Evidence from an anonymous source shows that just after Ladybug heroically saved Adrien at the Eiffel Tower yesterday afternoon, the two of them shared a romantic moment together. Does this mean that Ladybug and Cat Noir have split up and we have a new couple? We still haven't heard anything from Adrien, his father, Gabriel Agreste, or from either of our heroes.'
Marinette ran her hands through her dark hair.
'Oh, that is not good. That is really not good.'
'I'll say,' said Alya. 'Oh, girl. It's okay. I'm here for you.'
Remembering that Alya knew nothing of her double life, Marinette realised she had some acting to do.
'Oh, yeah. My heart is broken. Shattered into a million pieces, never to be fixed.' She added a few over-the-top gestures for good measure, swooning and clutching her hands to her chest.
'Yeah, I thought it would be. But listen…I still think you and Adrien are meant to be. So don't feel like you're not good enough. Because you are.'
'Thanks.'
So that was why everyone was acting so nervous around her. They thought she would be devastated at the news that Adrien apparently had a girlfriend – a superhero, no less. When really she herself was the one in the photo. What a mess.
The bell rang and they headed to class. Nino was sitting at his desk. He was alone.
'No sign of Adrien yet, guys,' he said. 'His old man might be keeping him off school. Wouldn't surprise me at all. I hope he's okay.'
Marinette's stomach squirmed with guilt as they took their seats. What had she done? Poor Adrien was being punished and it was all her fault.
'Do you think he knows her secret identity?' Alya wondered.
'What? Of course not. She wouldn't reveal it to him.'
'Something's just not right here. I mean, why him? Couldn't she fall for that cat of hers instead?'
Marinette almost retorted with No, she could not, thank you very much, but stopped herself in time.
'I…guess not. So…are you not a fan of Ladybug anymore?'
Alya chewed the end of her pencil in thought.
'I dunno. I guess I am. I mean…she has saved me a bunch of times.'
And made you a superhero too, Marinette thought.
'Yeah, me too. And as heartbroken as I am, I can't blame her for having a crush on Adrien. I mean…it's Adrien.'
'I know, but…you're his everyday Ladybug. He said so himself. So I reckon you've still got a chance, Marinette. You belong with Adrien and Ladybug belongs with Cat Noir. I wish I could make her see that. Maybe if I show her that picture I took of the two of them kissing it'll jog some memories and remind her that she loves him.'
Oh boy, thought Marinette. Her head was starting to hurt. As much as she loathed Alya's plan, she played along to keep her happy.
'Sure. You show Ladybug that picture. She'll be falling for Cat Noir in no time.' Yeah, right.
Alya brought up the Ladyblog on her phone.
'Wow…I haven't had this many messages since that kiss photo. Everyone wants to know if I've spoken to Ladybug, if I know anything.'
Marinette felt slightly more optimistic at this. Maybe she could use the Ladyblog to show everyone that she wasn't dating Adrien…or Cat Noir.
Suddenly, something else caught her attention. From just outside the classroom, there came a shout of:
'Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!'
The corners of her mouth twitched upwards. A few seconds later, a certain mayor's daughter entered the room looking furious.
'Well,' she nudged Alya, glad for a change of subject. 'At least there's one good thing about this. Chloé doesn't look too happy!'
Chloé stormed inside, Sabrina following nervously. Chloé's eyes fell on Adrien's empty seat and she folded her arms.
'Where is Adrien?' she demanded.
'At home, I'm guessing,' said Nino.
'So his father is keeping him off school. Well, when he gets back I'm sure he'll have an explanation for us.'
'He kissed Ladybug because she saved him. What else do we need to know?' asked Ivan.
'Poor Adrikins is just confused. I bet it's Ladybug who has a crush on him. I bet she kissed him.'
Well, you're not wrong, thought Marinette with a smirk.
'If Adrien wants to date a superhero, I'm Queen Bee. What does Ladybug have that I don't?'
A few people sniggered.
'She's actually a good superhero, Chloé,' said Kim. 'You know…she actually saves people.'
'And she doesn't brag or show off,' said Alix. 'Or cause people to get akumatized all the time.'
'And she keeps her identity a secret, which makes her ninety-six point seven percent less likely to endanger her family and friends,' said Max.
'Alright, I get it,' Chloé snapped. 'Just wait until Adrien gets here. He'll tell you this whole thing was a misunderstanding.'
'Of course, I knew about this all along,' Lila drawled. 'Ladybug and I are BFFs. She told me ages ago that she had a crush on Adrien.'
'See?' said Chloé. 'She just couldn't wait to get her lips on him. And now she's cheating on Cat Noir.'
'No she isn't!' yelled Marinette before she could stop herself. Everyone's heads turned to her. 'I mean…um…when has Ladybug ever actually said that she's dating either of them? Never.'
Chloé scoffed.
'You just like to think you have a chance with Adrien, Dupain-Cheng,' she sneered. 'He'd never fall for a nobody like you.'
'And you suppose he'd fall for a stuck-up brat like you?' Marinette retorted.
'I think we should wait until Adrien gets back and ask him who he is or isn't dating,' said Nino firmly. 'It's not cool to talk about him behind his back like this.'
There was an awkward silence in which a few people shrugged and nodded in agreement. Then Miss Bustier walked in. She didn't look at all surprised by Adrien's absence.
'Settle down, everyone. I need you all to try extra hard to focus today, especially since we have a test tomorrow. I know I can count on all of you to do that.'
They all took out their tablets to show they understood. As soon as roll call had been taken, they began to work in silence.
For once, Plagg's cheese lay forgotten. Although he would never admit it out loud, the one thing that did make him lose his appetite was seeing Adrien unhappy.
'I'm sorry, Adrien,' he said. 'I wish I'd seen who it was that took that picture. I would have given them what for.'
'And destroyed half of Paris in the process,' said the blond, who was lying face down on his bed. 'It's not your fault, Plagg. You were busy recharging and then you had to get back to me.' He rolled over onto his back. 'Hang on…what if they also saw me transform into Cat Noir as soon as Ladybug left?'
'Nah. I reckon they took the picture and ran for it. Probably followed Ladybug for a piece of the action. Otherwise 'Adrien Agreste is Cat Noir' would be headline news, and I think that would cause a bigger stir than any kiss.'
'You're right,' Adrien sighed in relief.
'Look on the bright side. No school! You might even get out of that History test tomorrow. Right now, we can kick back and relax. And if anyone gets akumatized, we can get straight out there.'
'Yeah, that's a good point,' said Adrien. 'A lot of people must be upset. Shadowmoth is probably choosing his next victim as we speak.' He sighed. 'Even so, I wish I could go to school and see my friends. They're probably worried about me. Or…do you think they'll be angry at me?'
'If they're really your friends, they'll be there for you. If not, you've still got me. You've always got me.' Plagg nestled himself against Adrien's cheek. Adrien scratched him between his ears, making him purr.
'Thanks, Plagg. I don't know what I'd ever do without you.'