Chapter Text
[Puff, are you in Paris too?]
[Croissant, are you in Paris too?]
Two messages pop up simultaneously in the chat.
Adrien didn't care about exposing his IP address. The Lvbai app wasn't advanced enough to track his exact location. As for Paris, there were so many people in Paris. Who would think Adrien himself was also shipping Adrinette?
But Little Croissant—that's the nickname he privately gave Croissant—a few days ago her IP address had still been in New York, so he assumed at least she wasn't French. Though he had no right to say so, because his IP was in New York too. Well, he was following Ladybug to save New York when inspiration suddenly struck, so he published a new piece of work there.
Yes, he was recently obsessed with writing, specifically fanfiction about himself and Marinette. This wasn't surprising, considering he'd had a crush on that girl for a long time. It was inevitable for a young man in his prime to have some thoughts he couldn't suppress, and the Lvbai app that had taken the world by storm over the past two years had given him an outlet.
And, unexpectedly, he found a like-minded person.
Little Croissant is clearly a seasoned shipper. Skilled at drawing, absolutely no slouch at writing either, and her understanding of Adrinette was incredibly accurate.
So when Little Croissant followed him, he followed her back without hesitation. Then he received a private message from her.
This was interesting. Even though besides being a student and a model he also had to be a superhero, his curiosity and desire to explore kept him from stopping. So when an opportunity to encounter something new was placed before him, he decisively incorporated it into his tightly packed life.
He bit the pen cap in his mouth, deliberated for a moment, and typed:
[Since I entered the fandom, I've noticed Croissant-sensei. I really like your piece Green Apple, with the bittersweet and highly tension-filled mutual pining between the two.]
That fic was really great. He truly hadn't expected anyone to write the way he and Marinette looked at each other so captivatingly.
[And your art. I really like the atmosphere that belongs only to the two of them, and how Mari's azure pupils are so clear that one glance and you're deeply submerged.]
In the past, stuffy rainy days always irritated him. Even with an umbrella, the mud-mixed puddles and gloomy sky made it impossible to feel good.
Spring thunder suddenly cracked, spring waters newly rose, that person's eyes shimmered, and a thousand tender feelings flowed endlessly like rain.
From then on, he could never forget the rain of Paris.
[Actually, I've also been following Puff for a long time. I really like your portrayal of Adri's psychology.]
He never discovered how cowardly he was. The confessions he'd practiced countless times, the bouquet he'd secretly hidden away, all of them fell into the trashcan along with the movie ticket he never managed to give.
Finally, having overcome every obstacle, he stood before her. The girl's slightly reddened cheeks were nothing if not a burning sincerity. With parting imminent, all he could utter was, "See you tomorrow."
See you tomorrow. Those three words made the tip of his heart tremble. Perhaps the comic book he'd read before leaving home had an effect, he suddenly didn't want to wait for tomorrow anymore. An unprecedented emotion surged up all at once. He abandoned words, and in her sorrowful, desolate gaze, he rushed forward and held her tightly. They embraced at that moment, all the past hesitation and unease burying in each other's shoulders. In their laughter, they came to know each other's feelings. Before tomorrow arrived, they had already been reborn.
He raised an eyebrow at the screenshot of the article she sent.
Honestly, when he wrote, he had indeed inserted his own selfish intentions. He started creating purely to express feelings he had nowhere else to voice, and few people would pay attention to a pair of students in an ordinary school who seemed to have no relationship at all, so there was no need to worry about being discovered. If Nino hadn't kindly offered advice to help him alleviate this bitter unrequited love, he wouldn't have known that there were actually people shipped him and Marinette. He was somewhat surprised that in this obviously niche fandom, besides Nino, someone would actually read his writing seriously, not to mention that person was a popular creator in the fandom.
Little Croissant. She was truly talented.
His heart stirred, and he suddenly really wanted to have a deeper exchange with this one and only kindred spirit.
[How do you view Adrinette? No offense intended, I'm just a little curious. I didn't know there really are people who pay attention to them like I do.]
He paid attention to Marinette, of course, as his heart belonged to that girl. It is natural that other people, like classmates at school or customers who'd bought bread from her family, would also like her. Everyone loves Marinette.
Thinking this, he pointed out the most important thing,
[Especially when they're real people who actually exist in reality.]
Actually, he knew that hiding behind the internet fantasizing about romance wasn't the right thing to do. Normally, he would definitely choose to tell the girl he loved his feelings directly. But that was exactly the strange part. Whenever he saw those pure, innocent blue eyes, the desire to take things further with her instantly caught in his throat and was swallowed back down. If he made those eyes ripple because of his true feelings, that would be his sin.
Croissant was silent for a moment. Just as he was wondering if he'd gone too fast and made her wary, hesitating whether to send something to salvage the situation or just end the topic, several messages suddenly popped up from the other side.
[Adrinette is beautiful.]
[Even though saying this now sounds like I'm forcing a ship. But I believe they're real.]
[Actually, it was a good friend who told me their story, and I just felt they must like each other. They just don't know it themselves.]
[So my good friends and I created a lot of works together. It's partly selfish, because I hope that one day they'll really see these, and then understand each other's feelings.]
[Having a great author like you who also pays attention to them makes me a little happy.]
[Maybe we have both met them before. Speaking of which, next time I run into Mari, I definitely have to encourage her not to hesitate.]
[People are often bound by their own feelings. Facing someone who makes your heart beat strongly, being unable to express yourself is common. I just want them not to misunderstand each other because of this in reality.]
The other's sudden heart-baring left him momentarily choked up.
In front of other people, Marinette was always interesting and natural. Only in front of him did she always stumble over her words. Every time this happened, Alya would stand behind her and sigh, then find an excuse to pull her away. He always thought Marinette hated him and wanted to cut ties but couldn't bring herself to say it.
If it was because she liked him... oh god. He helplessly covered his face, the heat on his cheeks rising to the tips of his ears. If someone walked in right now, they would probably see steam rising from his head.
Plagg clearly noticed the commotion and put down his cheese to peek at the chat interface on the phone.
[Your understanding is really thorough.]
[It's so great to have met Croissant-sensei.]
He ended with two polite pleasantries, then propped his chin on his hand and stared at the screen for a long time.
"Kid, you two, your guard against strangers on the internet seems a little too low."
With just one glance, Plagg saw right through what kind of flour that croissant was made of.
Croissant! Croissant! Who on earth would write the hint as the answer? And who else but this kid would be so blind as to look right at the answer and not see it?
"Do you know who's on the other side?"
He tried to give a kind reminder.
"She's my bosom friend."
Oh, My Camembert.
His holder was too stupid.
*
"Pound it!"
After dealing with the akumatized villain and separating from Ladybug, he didn't go home. Instead, carrying a pink rose, he jumped onto Marinette's rooftop.
He hid the rose behind his back, freed one hand and knocked on the skylight.
"Meow~ Your exclusive kitty loaded successfully."
The girl poked her head out of the window. Hearing his silly words, her eyes curved into a smile. Under the night sky, those blue eyes became sparkling.
"Did something special happen today?" she asked.
"Just passing by."
He conjured the rose. The pink petals were delicate and soft, just like the two patches of pink on her cheeks.
"My Princess," He knelt on one knee and kissed her fingertips, "You're still so a-meow-zing at night."
"Sweet-talking kitten."
"May I have the honor of inviting the princess to enjoy the Paris night view together?"
"I happen to be free."
He picked her up and bounced through the air. Passing a familiar billboard, he noticed her gaze unconsciously linger on a certain model a few extra times, so he stopped to tease her:
"That model is really popular. Even with the cutest cat in the world by the princess's side, he can still steal the princess's attention."
"Haha, Chat Noir, you two are different. The public all likes superheroes like you."
He got the urge to dig deeper,
"Including you?"
Her eyes reflected the starlight as she looked at him sincerely,
"Including me."
"Then, what do you think of him?"
He unconsciously compared Chat Noir and Adrien, trying to see who came out on top. He didn't know which answer he wanted to hear more. His life was split in two by his identities, so much so that sometimes he forgot that both of these people were him.
"He's perfect."
In that instant, he truly felt the undisguisable infatuation in Marinette's eyes. This girl really seemed to like him.
He'd probably gone crazy from writing fic.
He realized that everyone, including the girl he liked, only knew Adrien. But Chat Noir, that free, unrestrained black cat, wasn't he also a part of him?
He decided to add something different to his next fic.
*
"Looks like, under our protection, Paris has made it through another peaceful day."
Chat Noir admiringly took in the romantic sunset on the horizon. Beside him, Ladybug opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but he was single-mindedly focused on going home and didn't notice the odd expression on his partner's face.
"See you tomorrow, Bugaboo~"
He left a cheeky farewell and vaulted away on his staff.
Climbing through the window into his room, he shed the day's exhaustion and collapsed onto the sofa. He opened his phone and immediately spotted the red dot in the top right corner of the Lvbai app. It must be Little Croissant reading his new fic, he thought, and excitedly tapped into the app.
[Chat Noir.]
Brain going blank for a moment, he bolted upright. His mind frantically searched for when he'd said something wrong that led Croissant to guess his identity— it was even the hidden one. However, the precise period, the familiar address, and the long silence after sending that word inexplicably reminded him of someone.
[Bugaboo?]
[Don't call me that.]
[Also, your latest fic, Adrien wouldn't say those ridiculous puns. Don't bring your personal preferences into your creation.]
[My lady you also ship Adrinette? No wait, hold on, you're actually Little Croissant 🙀]
[Little Croissant? Alright, now there's one more name you can't call me.]
[No! Little Croissant suits you so well, My lady 😿]
Adrien's chatterbox was completely opened. He didn't even care that at a time like this he should probably first break down over the fact that "the creator I like is actually my partner". Instead, he started commenting,
[We really are the best partners, even our ships are the same 😸]
The other person went silent.
A few minutes later, Croissant's avatar finally popped up with a message, as if in compromise,
[Why did Puff have to be you.]
Through the screen, he could feel a wave of despair physically emanating from the phone. He was overjoyed, quickly typing a reply, and attached a smirking black cat emoji.
[This is fate.]
*
Another ordinary evening. Adrien, having finished patrol, was typing at home. The familiar notification sound rang out. He clicked in and found it was his bosom friend.
[Though it's kind of mean, that akumatized villain looked so funny, a giant banana. You even stepped on the banana peel he threw and fell! Hahahahaha.]
She sent a screenshot. Chat Noir was flying through the air with a terrified expression, and by his foot was a flying banana peel.
[......I didn't expect you to be this kind of Ladybug. Next time please photograph me more handsomely.]
The address "Ladybug" made him pause. This weird fourth-wall-breaking feeling made his scalp tingle.
[Little Croissant, have you noticed that we were originally just netizens who shipped the same couple, but now we're naturally chatting about the akumatized villain we just encountered. Isn't this scene a little too bizarre?]
His curiosity was acting up again.
[Speaking of which, why do you ship them? Are you on very good terms with them?]
This feeling was so funny. His partner liked shipping his ship, and had written a lot of fic for it. He suddenly got very curious about what her reaction would be when she found out who he was. Maybe Ladybug would use her yo-yo to tie him up and drag him in front of Mari, and would only leave satisfied after watching them confess to each other. Oh, maybe she'd write a fandom-defining masterpiece about them overcoming countless hardships and finally entering the marriage hall, buying a house, having kids, and raising a hamster—documentary literature deserves to be deified. She could even include illustrations, great, Marinette would definitely like it. He would buy a copy to save for their kids to read in the future.
On second thought, never mind. This was really bizarre. He shook his head to dispel the awkward scene from his mind. Anyway, Ladybug wouldn't tell him anything. Thank goodness, he was even used to the feeling of being kept in the dark. Adrien was a delicate ordinary model who needed protection and was almost not even allowed to go to school; as for Chat Noir, he was a cat widely considered a brainless follower of his partner.
Cursing himself for getting carried away, he moved the mouse to the message, about to retract it when unexpectedly, Lady actually answered his question.
[Marinette and I are on pretty good terms, I'd say.]
This message was very informative, which made him unconsciously start deducing. If that was the case, then the "good friend" she mentioned earlier was very likely Marinette.
By some coincidence, Ladybug saved Marinette, and they became friends. Marinette told her story, and she wrote it into fic, drew it into art, hoping her friend would one day make her feelings clear to her crush. This was very reasonable, he thought he grasped the core of the issue. His hand hovering over the keyboard, eager to verify. But before he could send the message, the other person returned to her usual unapproachable demeanor.
[Kitty, you know we can't know too much about each other's identities. And for a cat, too much curiosity is not a good thing.]
This sentence was practically a feather tickling his heart. It felt like the cat's favorite ball of yarn was placed in front of him, but covered by a glass dome.
Well, the fact that Ladybug was still chatting with him after learning his identity was already terrifying enough. Based on his understanding of Ladybug's level of caution, trying to pry out more information was really unrealistic.
But he had a strange premonition—or perhaps he'd rather call it cat intuition—that he was only one screen away from some truth.
[I know, I know. If we knew each other's identities, Hawk Moth would find one through the other blah blah blah—]
Ladybug sent a smiley emoji.
After ending the chat, he thought for a moment, then clicked on the Croissant avatar to enter her homepage.
He discovered that almost every work had comments from the same person. And under the earliest work, that person's comment was "Girl, this is so well written!"
Acting on a hunch, he clicked into that person's homepage.
The entire screen was Ladynoir-related.
"?"
Did he and Ladybug look that much like a couple partner?
However, this person's videos and photos looked very familiar, reminding him of a certain reporter classmate...
*
Doorbell ringing twice, Nino greeted him through the camera.
There was a family matter, so his father and Nathalie had to go on a business trip together for two days. Taking this opportunity, he invited his good brother to come to his house.
"Nino! It's so great that you could come. So happy to see you."
"I'm happy too, dude. I gotta say, your dad is way too old-fashioned."
"Haha, he'll never change. I'm used to it."
Adrien dug out the game controllers from the drawer, gave one to Nino, and turned on the screen to pick today's entertainment.
"The newly released game, how about it."
"Awesome."
The two young men huddled together, time unconsciously taking on a joyful hue.
"Hey! Dude, your gaming skills are getting better and better."
"Of course, I'm planning to use this as an excuse to invite Marinette out alone."
"Oh—I get it." Nino dragged out the ending, wearing an expression of complete understanding.
"This is too boring." Nino started a new game. "Adrien, this round, the loser... writes 'idiot' on their forehead, how about it?"
"I won't lose."
"Don't say that too early."
"Hahahahaha."
Chatting while gaming, they laughed together. When the topic turned to the Lvbai app, Adrien was briefly silent for a moment.
"Nino, do you know if Alya has any alt accounts besides the Ladyblog?" He suddenly remembered the account he found in the comments a couple days ago, pulled it up and showed it to Nino.
"Like this person."
"That's Alya. Besides the blog, she also often posts Ladynoir content on the Lvbai app."
If this person was Alya, then the only person who could make Alya call her "girl," and also be connected to Adrinette, and also have black hair and blue eyes like Ladybug, was only one person.
Hiss.
No way.
"Nino, please play alone for a while. Something suddenly came up."
He walked to the bedside and opened the familiar chat interface.
[Are you there?]
He waited less than ten minutes before the other person sent a question.
[What is it?]
[My lady, your good friend who told you about Adrinette, it wouldn't be Alya, would it?]
The other person replied very quickly. Very quickly. From this seemingly reasonable reply, he actually detected a hint of panic.
[What about it? Alya runs the entire Ladyblog. It's normal for me to know her.]
That said, at this moment, those words seemed to carry a different meaning. Like hurriedly trying to clear herself of some suspicion, such as information related to her real identity.
[My lady, are you,]
[What.]
[Marinette?]
He asked tentatively.
[?]
[You've got the wrong person.]
The other person's denial was within expectations. A fire seemed to ignite in his heart, though he didn't know what was burning, he suddenly felt a sense of desperation of going all in. He decided to send this line, hoping the other person would also say something that could shock him:
[No, I haven't got the wrong person.]
He probably understood now why reporters were so obsessed with digging out the truth. Secrets had a natural, irresistible attraction for people, especially when the secret was related to his future happiness.
He waited patiently for five minutes. The other person had probably typed a message, deleted it, and finally conceded,
[How on earth did you figure it out?]
It really was her. His brain stopped functioning.
God. Adrien looked at the date in disbelief, it wasn't April Fool's. His current expression must be exactly like that famous painting The Scream. Unfortunately, he couldn't stand apart from it like the painting could, but had to face this ridiculous reality.
Ladybug's words had come true. Curiosity killed the cat.
If he were the only one who'd learned this news, he could start screaming. But remembering there was another person in the room, he suddenly felt like laughing.
"Nino, you'll never guess who Croissant is."
"What?"
The boy curled up on the sofa gaming looked up at the sound, his confused eyes turning toward the person by the bed who was looking at his phone with a face full of laughter.
"Is it that creator you said you met on the Lvbai app last time?"
"Yes." He was about to laugh himself to death. This world was just too small. "You know her too."
"?" Nino hadn't expected this to involve him.
"Alya is her good friend. You've even eaten croissants made by her family." Afraid Nino would spend too much effort guessing which good friend, he gave the most obvious hint.
"...Marinette?"
He nodded, congratulating his good brother on getting it right.
"Dude. You're saying the other person is? Huh? Why on earth are you chatting about this with a netizen?"
"And her identity actually got dug out by you?"
"And it just had to be Marinette."
"Wait, you're saying I recommended you get into shipping, and you shipped the real people?"
"Huh?!"
Poor Nino, after suffering the mental impact, was already on the sofa covering his head and wailing, immersively exploding. He wanted to comfort his friend, but was interrupted by the notification sound of a message.
[This isn't fair. You know my identity now.]
[I have to know yours too.]
The other person seemed to have gone through some inner struggle and decided to just go all out. He was really glad they were communicating over the internet right now, otherwise Ladybug would definitely want to use her yo-yo to beat him into amnesia.
[Do you really want to know?]
He asked in return. He didn't know whether to complain about himself still being in the mood to play "guess who I am" with his crush at a time like this, but the fact was, he really did it.
[Damn it. I actually do want to know. Kitty, you should really be grateful we don't have patrol today, or I would absolutely give you a yo-yo to the head and make you painlessly lose your memory.]
See? What did he say earlier?
[You said before that it was your good brother who got you into the fandom. So does this good brother know me too?]
[You definitely know my good brother, My Princess.]
[He's Alya's boyfriend.]
[?]
There really should be a lot of question marks tonight. Nino was currently lying flat on the sofa, motionless, with the word "idiot" written on his forehead in black pen, looking very peaceful.
[Wait.]
[Your good brother is Nino?]
[Then you]
[Adrien]
[Wait aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh]
It seemed this had a big impact on her too, because her punctuation all disappeared from shock.
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for the three of them. Of course, if Little Croissant got excited and called Alya, the number of insomniacs might become four.
You're saying that the fandom famous creator he revered as his bosom friend was actually his partner who happened to ship the same couple, and this partner was actually his crush who, like him, was pretending to be a fan of their own ship?
Ha, really funny. He was sure Plagg's cheese jokes absolutely couldn't compare to this.
He now felt light as a feather, his thoughts floating in the clouds. He belatedly realized that, the creator he'd been chatting with for over half a month was his crush. And both of them had been fantasizing about dating each other online, and then they wrote those thoughts into fic and posted them. Hey, he was going to write "art comes from life" in his profile bio.
Uh, so were they now mutual-appreciation writers or a couple who'd just broken through the window paper? This bizarre feeling of the virtual and real intertwining made him feel not meo-well—why did he have to use puns even in his thoughts?
Also, did their appreciation of each other's works count as a kind of mutual admiration between people from the same school?
Adrien desperately typed this message,
[I currently can't look at our relationship directly.]
Croissant spoke,
[I can't either.]
Just when he thought the topic should end and they should give each other some time to process, the other person quickly sent another message.
[Hey, kitty, you'll definitely be interested in this line.]
The new message quoted the very source of all this:
[Puff, are you in Paris too?]
Oh, this is definitely fate.