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Ladybug put down the kid she carried home after he got Akumatized and smiled at the small family as his parents hugged him and murmured their apologies and whatever promises they decided the kid deserved. Next to her, Chat Noir smiled gently at the sight, his posture tense as if he wasn’t used to this kind of scene but she didn’t ask him about it. She didn’t want to know anything about his personal life, after all.
The moment the father was satisfied with the kid’s condition, he left the group hug and turned to face her, a grateful smile on his face. “Thank you, Ladybug. I don’t know how we could ever repay you for bringing Jack back safely to us.” The man said warmly.
Normally, she would just accept the words and leave but today… today she suddenly blinked at the realization that hit her – the man didn’t even acknowledge Chat Noir. And considering Ladybug didn’t do much to help the Akuma this round since she was too busy also trying to talk to Alya over the phone – that girl just couldn’t tell when someone was actually unable to talk – Chat actually deserved all of the praises she got. He was the one who found the Akuma and who then captured, disabled and freed the little guy. All Ladybug did, really, was stand there, dodge a couple of colorful beams and purify the Akuma. That’s it.
Coughing awkwardly, she shifted a little to the side, allowing Chat Noir to make himself more visible. “Actually, Chat Noir did most of the work today. He’s the one who got your son back to you. I was just present.” She smiled patiently as the man before her was joined by his wife and kid. The three of them eyed Chat Noir like it was the first time they’ve ever seen him, let alone heard about him, before shrugging and mumbling a thank you. Then they thanked Ladybug once more and closed the door of the house, leaving the two heroes all alone.
Blinking at the apartment’s door, Ladybug couldn’t find the words to describe her feelings. She was… so confused. Chat did all of the work today and yet… this family didn’t seem to mind it at all. They still mostly thanked her. In fact, they almost looked at Chat like he was some unpleasant addition to her, something they didn’t ask for and didn’t need. And, to her surprise, when she turned around to face Chat Noir she only found his usual, playful grin. An uncaring one that told her he didn’t find anything wrong with the interaction they’ve just had.
Since he seemed to not mind what happened one bit, Ladybug chose to not mention it and they carried on with their patrol without a word, swinging and hopping around Paris with ease after months of getting to practice this way of transportation. Well, she tried to let it go, at least. But if her constant frown and annoyed expression were anything to go by, she wasn’t doing a very good job.
Eventually they both settled on top of the Eiffel Tower, swinging their legs over the edge and looking over their city with content. Chat Noir hummed and then turned to face her, his green, catlike eyes locked on her with curiosity and worry. “Alright, something’s clearly bothering you, Bugaboo. And since you’re no longer speaking with your mystery friend over the phone, I’m guessing it’s something to do with it or something more recent than that.” He leaned a little towards her, bumping their shoulders together. “Talk to me.”
“It’s not about the phone call.” She admitted and then sighed and let her shoulders slump in defeat. “I just don’t get it – these people back there, the parents of the kid we helped… they didn’t care about you. They only thanked me and then did me a favor when I told them you did everything back there.” She stared t him, waiting for some kind of reaction. She got none. Just his casual grin. “Don’t you mind even a little bit about the fact that they didn’t seem to acknowledge your help?”
His facial expression changed. From a caring, soft smile with slight mischievous hints in it, it turned into a sad grin, one that let her know he wasn’t going to say something she would appreciate. “My Lady, Paris adores you, not me. I’m just here for the ride and to jump in front of the Akuma when you need saving.” When she opened her mouth to speak, he lifted his hand to signal for her to be quiet and listen. She grumpily obeyed. “I know you don’t like it, but that’s the truth. And frankly, I can’t care less. I actually like the lack of attention pinned on me for once.”
That last comment piqued her interest but she kept herself from actually asking him about it because she knew it had to do with his civilian life and as much as she wanted to know more about her partner, she couldn’t risk Chat Blanc ever happening. The mere thought of her Kitty getting Akumatized and turning into this lonely, mad white cat made her shiver.
So she focused on the things that she could ask him about. “This isn’t fair, Chat. You’re my equal, not some alley cat joining random fights. You do just as much as I do if not more. You deserve all the recognition that comes with it.” Come to think of it, she’s stumbled upon more than enough Ladybug merchandise, yet Chat Noir stuff were so limited, sometimes people couldn’t find anything to do with the cat-themed hero, only Ladybug.
Her partner only shrugged and leaned even closer, bringing their faces so close, she knew he wanted nothing more than a kiss from her. “Like I said before, doesn’t matter. I don’t need it. The recognition is all yours, My Lady. You deserve it.”
She pushed his face away by putting a finger against his nose and he grinned at the familiar way of getting him to back away. At first he still tended to get offended by her getting him off of her, but lately he finally got over it and actually went away willingly, not fighting her about it. Not that he ever really put up a fight when it was about getting physically close to her, he wasn’t that kind of creepy.
Before she could protest further he got up and extended his baton. “Well, it’s getting late and I’m paw-sitively certain people would notice if I’m not home soon.” He froze for a moment and then something sad twinkled in his eyes, some kind of awareness that broke her heart. “Or… I hope they would.” He shook his head and sent Ladybug a mock-salute. “See you soon, Bugaboo!”
And as she watched him hopping away and beyond buildings that finally hid his figure from her eyes, she couldn’t help but feel the determination burning through her. Her Kitty deserved better, whether he asked for it or not. And she wasn’t going to let the situation remain as it is for much longer. She couldn’t.
And, as usual, she already had a plan.
Alya beamed at her phone the entire way home from school, her eyes crinkled near the corners. She was really glad Lila confirmed her attendance at the class picnic tomorrow. At first the girl said she might not make it because she was supposed to meet up with Prince Ali. Luckily for them, the Prince couldn’t make it after all and Lila told her right before they were released home that she would, in fact, be at the picnic. What great news!
Her legs led her into the apartment, past her twin sisters and into her room. And then she froze at the voice that addressed her from her bed. Her eyes lifted slowly to find the heroine of Paris sitting on her bed, in her house, looking casual and comfortable and not like she was FREAKING INSIDE ALYA’S ROOM! The reporter gaped at her for a moment, speechless, and then she immediately brought up her phone, ready to record.
“Ladybug, what are you doing here??” She was just about to press the play button when she froze. “Wait, do you need Rena Rouge’s help? Is that why you’re here?” But at Ladybug’s small smile and shake of the head, she started recording, her posture relaxing. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re actually here! Is there something you need? Can I help you with anything?”
With a little hand gesture, Ladybug signaled for Alya to sit opposite her. She didn’t say anything about the pone recording their conversation so Alya took it as permission to keep on going. “I do need your help with something and a friend of yours directed me to your house.”
Jaw dropping, Alya practically squealed with delight. “Oh, I owe Lila so much for this!” She exclaimed but before she could really come to terms with the fact that Lila helped Ladybug find her, the spotted hero shook her head, a frown on her face.
“Lila? As in, Lila Rossi?” Something was wrong because she almost sounded disgusted, and that didn’t make any sense because they were supposed to be best friends. “That girl is no friend of mine. In fact, she has some kind of agenda against me. I will admit I outed her as a liar to the guy she was trying to impress and I didn’t hold back, but I apologized more than once and she still doesn’t care.” Her shoulders slumped and her eyes glinted with fury. “That girl is bad news. Take my advice and get as far away from her as possible before she feeds you more of her lies.”
“W-what?”
Ladybug blinked at her. “Oh, and if she claims I’m only saying that to keep her safe, know that it’s a lie too. Of course I want her to be safe, but mainly I just want her to drop the act and stop lying to the world by claiming that we’re friends.” She groaned. “I hate liars. No, Marinette helped me.” And then, as if realizing where she was, Ladybug’s expression brightened and before Alya could question her more about Lila and her lies, the superhero already moved on. “Alright, I need to have an interview and who better to go to than the Ladyblog, right?”
Still feeling disoriented from the revelation about Lila, Alya had to physically shake her head from side to side in order to concentrate on Ladybug’s words. Blinking a couple of times in confusion, she tried to put on a smile. She had a couple of things to say to Lila. And if that was a lie, what else did she tell all of them that wasn’t true?? God, she felt like a fool… and Marinette’s been trying to warn her and the others all along! How could she follow some random girl blindly instead of listening to her best friend?!
But no matter. Right now, Ladybug needed her to… interview her… for some reason. “Umm… right. D-do you have anything specific you wanna talk about, Ladybug?”
With a promising grin, Ladybug smirked at the camera directly. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
Marinette sat next to Alya at the picnic, smiling contently at their class. Alya apologized to her the moment she got to the picnic, throwing herself around Marinette and begging for forgiveness. When Lila showed up and tried to whisk Alya away, the girl just snorted at her and dragged Marinette away from the liar, bringing a smile to Marinette’s face and a confused, betrayed expression to Lila’s. Neither girls cared.
The presence of Alya next to her made the picnic that much better, even with Lila present. Everyone was there, even Adrien who beamed at all of them, explaining his father actually let him come in the last minute. By the looks of it, Adrien thought it was definitely worth arguing with his father about. He even waved at Marinette (and Alya) when he moved past them to get himself some food from the table they organized earlier.
They were all visibly having fun. Alya, Nino, Adrien and Marinette ended up sitting together under the shade of a tree with the couple on one side and the two singles sitting to their right, shoulders touching every few moments. Lila shot them glares every couple of minutes but the only reaction she got was an eyeroll from Alya who told Nino and Adrien everything only for the Sunshine boy to cut her off and admit he knew all along. After Alya’s original anger at Adrien, she relaxed enough to realize he was right in not trying to convince her as well. She wouldn’t have listened to him, after all. Not if she dismissed her best friend without a second thought.
But the part Marinette was excited about was Alya posting the interview with Ladybug and calling for their entire class to watch with pride written all over her face. Lila, not thinking much about it, joined them as well. Alya originally wanted to post everything immediately but Ladybug asked her to wait to the middle of the next day before doing it, which meant – in the middle of the picnic, where everyone could hear the truth about Lila Rossi. Lila Rossi who blanched and disappeared before anyone could even realize what Ladybug was saying.
After the initial shock concerning the news about Lila, though, the interview caught their attention again when Ladybug stated that the interview would be about none other than Chat Noir. The students stared at the screen, their anger still visible but their eyes revealing interest in the subject. Adrien was the one to react the most. He actually choked on the drink he was having and Nino had to pat on his back for almost five minutes before the boy got ahold of himself again, his face crimson red and his eyes focused on the screen and the interview.
“About Chat Noir?” Alya’s voice came from the video. “Wouldn’t that be best with Chat Noir actually being here, though? Or was he too busy to show up? If that’s it then I totally understand – “
Ladybug smiled tensely at the camera. “Actually… he doesn’t know I’m doing this. You’re the only one and I’m trusting you to keep this a secret until the video gets out. Deal?”
“Deal! So… Chat Noir. Are we finally going to hear about his identity? About your relationship? About his burning love for you?”
Rolling her eyes at Alya behind the camera, Ladybug huffed. “We’re not a couple. And I’d appreciate it if people stopped assuming we are based on nothing but rumors or pictures that got put out of context.” The hero exhaled and then put on her soft smile again, facing the camera instead of Alya. “No, I’m here to talk about him, the person he is and how important he is to Paris and to me personally because I just realized people take him for granted way too often and I can’t have that.”
Marinette looked up and watched the expressions on her classmates faces. They looked at the screen with interest, but nothing like they would have had this interview been on Ladybug. It made her frown and she was about to look back at the screen when Adrien caught her eye. Really, the model catching her attention was nothing new, but this time it was the expression on his face, something between wander and affection, like the video was actually meaningful to him.
“No one but Chat Noir knows that, but I didn’t feel like I should be Ladybug. In fact, after I messed up with Stoneheart the first time around I decided to quit and took the Miraculous off, ready to get back to my normal life as a civilian. I even put the earrings in a friend’s bag, thinking they would be better superheroes than me.”
Kim snorted. “I thought she was going to talk about Chat Noir.”
Alya slapped his arm lightly. “She’s getting there.”
On the screen, Ladybug straightened up, her eyes looking determined. “My friend didn’t take her bag with her so I followed her to the streets with it, ready to hand it over to her no matter what, but she was already in too much trouble and couldn’t do much. And Chat Noir needed me, even if we didn’t know each other that well back there. I had to help, so I put on the Miraculous again, thinking I was still not ready, not at all. And when Officer Roger confronted us and told us we failed… Chat Noir was the one who convinced me we were able to stand up to Stoneheart and win despite our previous loss.
“Chat Noir is the one who keeps me going, who encourages me when I’m down or when I don’t feel like I’m good enough for this job. And maybe I’m not. Maybe Ladybug could have been someone even better but he only sees the best in me and always comes to the rescue when I can’t handle everything. I know I might try and hide it, but between the two of us, he’s the optimistic one. I tend to spiral down with so many dark thoughts that might be too unrealistic but still make me freeze up and lose it. Chat Noir isn’t like that. I know he has to face with plenty of bad things. I know he doesn’t have it any easier than me, but he handles everything a lot better than me. He laughs in the face of danger and sees an opportunity in everything and everyone. I mean, he even tolerates Chloe.”
From her place Chloe cried out in denial but Marinette didn’t pay any attention to her. She could only stare at Adrien as tears started to gather in his eyes, his focus remaining solely on the video of the interview. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but the smile on his face made her think that maybe those were happy tears.
From off-screen, Alya’s voice sounded. “Well, I can’t argue with that,” She laughed a little and then sobered up. “Sounds like you care about him a lot despite everything you claimed before.”
“I love him.” Ladybug stated simply, electing gasps from the people around. Marinette was the only one not to react to the statement. Well, Alya didn’t as well. And a quick glance let her know that Adrien was just smiling at the interview, not looking surprised or taken aback. “Maybe not in a romantic way like he wants me to, but that doesn’t mean I can’t feel anything towards him. He’s the most loyal person I’ve ever met. Sure, we’ve had our hiccups, but he’s always by my side when I need him. Without him… I don’t know what would have happened to Paris.”
Alya hummed in surprise from her place behind the phone and then sniffed a little. “The same goes to you, though, don’t you think?”
Winking at the camera, Ladybug smiled gently. “Of course. That’s just my point, Alya – we’re a team. One of us can’t handle everything alone.” She sighed a little and then looked down at her hands, seemingly contemplating something. “Let me tell you something. There are plenty of different Miraculous out there with different powers and meanings. Chat Noir’s and mine are special, though. Our Miraculous complement each other and complete one another. His ring holds the power of destruction and my earrings,” She briefly touched her black and red Miraculous for all to see. The students around hummed. “Hold the power of creation. Our powers are exact opposites and therefore have to go hand in hand. It’s not a coincidence that we both showed up at the same time – we were both chosen because one of those Miraculous couldn’t get out there without the other to balance it out.”
“You were CHOSEN? By whom?”
On the screen Ladybug visibly tensed for a moment before her shoulders slumped and she looked away from Alya and the camera, her expression sad. Marinette looked at Adrien and found the boy looking just as sad, as if he could tell what Ladybug was thinking about, which was ridiculous. How could he? Unless…
Eventually, Ladybug managed to paste on a fake smile. “The last Guardian of the Miraculous. Something… happened to him. He’s no longer around and the Miraculous have been entrusted to someone else, but it doesn’t matter. This isn’t the point.” She stared back at Alya – not the camera – and looked determined and tense. “The point is that Chat Noir are a team, equals. No one should look down on neither of us compared to the other because it doesn’t work like that. The other Miraculous holders, the ones I picked out for once-in-a-while missions are dear to me and important, of course, but it’s nothing like what Chat Noir and I have. We work well together and I don’t even have to explain myself for him to understand what I’m planning.” She sighed. “I know he sacrifices himself a lot during Akuma attacks and it makes him look weak to some of you, or maybe like I could win those fights without him. But it’s just wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that whenever he throws himself right into danger, whenever he gets hit, it’s because he helps in some way or another. He protects civilians from getting hurt and would sacrifice himself for them over and over again because he has the biggest heart I’ve ever seen. But more often than not, he’d get hit for me, because I would be the one to vanish or get pixelated or mind-controlled without him around. And it’s thanks to him that I manage to move on and keep on fighting. HE doesn’t disappear from the fight just like that without changing anything because without him I’d be the one gone and according to him… I need to last longer because I need to purify the Akumas and use my cure.”
There were murmurs of agreement from the classmates and Marinette watched as a beaming smile took over Alya’s face. She was clearly proud to be the reporter Ladybug chose to turn to and Marinette was only glad she could help her friend. Both her friends, really.
Her eyes trailed back to Adrien who kept on staring at the phone, tears streaming down his face, even though apart from her, no one seemed to notice that. When she looked down she realized he was fiddling with a metal ring he had wrapped around his finger. How had she never noticed that before?? Without thinking about it, she reached out and grabbed his hand. His head snapped in her direction and his eyes blinked at her, ignoring the tears. When she smiled at him he smiled back shyly, looking like a kid who got caught trying to steal cookies from a jar.
Taking a deep breath, Ladybug from the interview smiled at the camera, seemingly looking at the viewers. “Chat Noir, wherever you may be right now… I need you to know that I will always appreciate you and everything you do for the city and for me. And you, Paris, need to start appreciating this amazing hero you got because he could have easily ended up being someone else, less kind and friendly and funny and bright.” She narrowed her eyes. “And if I ever catch anyone hurting Chat Noir, know that I’ll be close behind, ready to protect him at all costs. It’s not a threat, it’s a promise. No one hurts my Kitty and gets away with it.” The heroine stood up and waved at Alya. “Thanks, Alya!”
Before anyone could notice, Marinette tugged on Adrien’s hand, gesturing for him to follow her. He furrowed his brows at her but didn’t fight her and just willingly sneaked away from the group, the tears on his cheeks beginning to dry off. Marinette was with her back mostly to him, making her way to a more secluded corner of the park, yet she could feel his green eyes locked on her figure, questioning the situation without saying anything out loud.
She only turned to face him once they were both hidden from their class’s eyes (and everyone else’s) and found the boy questioning gaze trained on her completely. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t think coherently with Adrien staring at her and standing so close and oh God, she grabbed his arm and just led him away from the group without explaining anything and without asking for his permission. Then again, he was her partner! She couldn’t possibly be wrong about it, so he must have been used to being led away by Ladybug. Only catch was that right now she was Marinette and not Ladybug.
Not thinking about her actions too much, she slipped his ring off his finger, making his eyes go wide and his face blanch. Their heads turned down immediately, just in time to see the ring changing colors from silver to black with a few green dots creating the shape of a paw.
“It’s not what you think!” Adrien blurted out, cheeks warm and expression desperate. He looked around like he was afraid someone might see them. Or maybe he was looking for a way to get away from her now that she knew his secret identity. Marinette ignored all of that in favor of trying to imagine Chat Noir in her classmate’s place. Both their eyes were green, the same shade as well, only their shape was different, but that was probably the Miraculous’ magic. He didn’t have his leather suit and mask but it wasn’t hard to combine teen-model Adrien Agreste with those. And when she brought up her hand to tousle his hair she couldn’t help the fond smile that spread across her face at the familiar, messy hair. Luckily, Adrien didn’t push her away. Though he did keep on pouting. “Ugh, Ladybug is going to kill me.”
Smiling, she handed him his ring back and he quickly put it back on before his eyes snapped back to her when she took off her own earrings. For a moment they remained dark red, almost black. But then they changed as well, revealing the familiar sight of the Ladybug Miraculous. Adrien gaped for only a moment before he engulfed Marinette in a hug that nearly crushed her.
Chuckling, she tried to squirm away. “A-Adrien, I can’t breathe!” She squeaked.
He didn’t let her go, but he did loosen his hold, allowing some air to go down and to her lungs. Finally breathing, Marinette let her head fall onto his shoulder, hugging him back and feeling so safe and comfortable, like she always did around her partner. For once Adrien didn’t make her THAT nervous.
“I’m really glad it’s you.” He whispered. “And I’m gonna assume… the whole Multimouse thing was a Mirage?”
Marinette had to fight the need to ring his bell – he wasn’t in costume. He didn’t have one. “I needed to make sure nobody thought I could be Ladybug.” She admitted. “By the way, how did you do the whole Gorizilla thing?”
He smirked and the expression looked so much like Chat Noir, it made Marinette’s head spin. “A fan of mine offered to help and pretended to be me.” He shrugged and then looked at her again with a teasing grin. “I told you I got too much attention under the mask. That’s why I didn’t mind letting you take all the focus – I couldn’t care less, honestly. I’m already sick of people knowing my name without getting to know me. But as Chat Noir I can be whoever I want to be and no one cares.”
She grimaced and shifted uncomfortably. “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense… I’m sorry I went to Alya about it, then. I should have listened to you.”
“It’s okay.” He smiled gently at her and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Marinette’s face burned bright at the action and she tried really hard to ignore the way her face seemed to radiate heat. “It’s probably the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.” Before she could feel bad about it, he jumped into a different topic. “I would have asked you on a date after all of this, but since I already know what the answer would be, what do you say about hanging out with Nino and Alya as well instead?”
Words escaped her. Marinette felt like a fish out of the water, gaping at Adrien like a fool. He… wanted to ask her out? Even though she was only clumsy, awkward Marinette who couldn’t even complete a full sentence around him without messing it all up? She wanted to ask him but the look in his eyes was enough to answer that question. Yes. He still loved her. He still thought the world of her. ‘Just a friend’ would have never looked at her this way, like Chat always looked at Ladybug. Like she always looked at Adrien.
Wetting her lips, Marinette braced herself before locking eyes with Adrien. Too green! “Umm… actually, I wouldn’t mind you going without me. I MEAN – you and me going out!” She shrieked and stumbled back, closing her eyes and tugging at her hair with both hands. “Oh, this is a disaster.” She whined.
“Wait, really?” Adrien’s voice cut through her panic. “You WANT to go out with me? But you always turned me down.”
“I turned Chat Noir down, not Adrien!” She protested.
For a moment Adrien seemed to not understand what the difference was but then his eyes twinkled mischievously and he put a hand against his chest. “Aww… so I was the other boy!” He chuckled and shook his head, looking both embarrassed and gleeful. “I had no idea you liked me, Marinette.”
Covering her face with both hands, she groaned. “You’re the only one who DOESN’T know.”
She expected him to tease her further, but instead she felt the crush of his lips against her cheek, just like that night she rejected him as Chat Noir and he said her friendship was more important. God, she rejected Adrien. And now he KISSED her! Sure, it was on the cheek, but it was still a lot.
“I guess we were both blind, Bugaboo.” He said sweetly and then offered her his hand. She just stared at it. “Wanna get back there before anyone notices we’re gone?”
“If there’s one thing I’m sure about, it’s that Alya is very much aware of the both of us disappearing at the same time.” She replied. “Trust me, she’s probably speculating about it as we speak. And if you see some of them handing out money, it’s the bets.”
Adrien blinked at her. “The bets?”
Pursing her lips, she fought the blush that was about to spread all over her face. “You were REALLY oblivious, Kitty,”
But she still took his hand with a smile and let him take her back to the group. And she was right, the bets were on and Alya’s gleaming eyes begged her for all the details later. Marinette didn’t care, though. She could only focus on her partner and best friend standing right beside her, no mask in sight. He really was the most important person in her life.