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“Never have I ever…not had a Miraculous!”
“Alix!” Marinette yells at the red head in her living room. “That goes against protecting secret identities.”
Alya grabs a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the coffee table, and pops one in her mouth. “Well, everyone already knows my identity.” She places a finger down.
“Ditto” Nino states.
Marinette watches one by one, each of her classmates put a finger down. Even those whose identities are still secret.
She wants to lecture her friends. Did they really not understand the importance of keeping their civilian side safe from Monarch?
But if she does say more, her identity would probably be exposed.
So instead she sits quietly, five fingers still in the air.
“Wow, isn’t it crazy that almost all of us have had a Miraculous at one point?” Rose obliviously asks.
“Yeah,” Alya smirks at Marinette. “Crazy, huh?”
Marinette rolls her eyes, only to spot her boyfriend with a finger down.
“Adrien?! When did you have a Miraculous?”
“Oh, uhm, it was a one time thing.” He fingers with his ring, a habit he’s picked up recently. “Before Luka - like, right before - Ladybug gave me the Snake Miraculous.”
Marinette hides a gasp with a cough, completely forgetting that day.
“Woah, cool dude.” Nino raises a fist to Adrien. The blonde bumps his knuckles without a ring.
“Why did Luka end up with the Snake Miraculous and not you?”
Everyone turns to look at Kagami, who is genuinely curious, but also very blunt.
Adrien seems used to this side of her though, sporting a smile that has zero signs of bitterness. “I failed her.”
The room is still silent so he continues. “I was so desperate to prove myself to be valuable to her. I honestly tried every outcome, like, every outcome.”
“Dang, how many times did you use the power?” Kim asks.
“25,913 times.”
Marinette, along with almost everyone else, drops their jaw. If Adrien used second chance to almost the full five minute mark, then that means-
“You used the Snake Miraculous for almost three months?!” Max says, being the only person to be able to calculate the math.
Adrien shrugs, as if it’s no big deal. “Yeah I guess so.”
“So are you technically three months older now?”
“Ooo, does that mean your birthday is three months earlier?”
“That’s not how that works, Rose”
“Oh…”
“I’m sorry,” Marinette interjects in the conversation. “Why exactly did you not give up after the hundredth time, or thousandth, or—“
Adrien rubs the back of his head. “We don’t have to get in the details”
“Actually, I would love to get into the details.” Alix says.
“Well it doesn’t matter, because Luka has the Snake Miraculous now.” Adrien continues to fidget with his ring. He observes his friend’s hands with a finger down, and when he glances at Marinette next to him, he cocks his head.
“Marinette…you’ve had a Miraculous before!” He exclaims.
Her heart begins to speed up in her chest as she nervously glances at Alya and Alix. “Uhm, what do you mean?? I haven’t had a Miraculous before, like ever!” Marinette awkwardly laughs.
Adrien looks even more confused. “But you were Multimouse.”
“Multimouse?” Alya asks.
“Oh right, hah, I forgot. Silly me I was…wait, how do you know that?”
Instead of her, now Adrien is sweating a little nervously. “Oh, you told me. Remember?”
“I never told you.”
“No, you totally did. Maybe you forgot or something.”
Marinette stares at him in disbelief.
Although during her day to day life she can sometimes be forgetful, Marinette would without a doubt know if she told anyone that she once yielded the Mouse Miraculous. The moment that she casted the lucky charm back into the air, Multimouse was officially no more. Nobody should know about Multimouse except—
Marinette gasps and unconsciously points a finger at Adrien.
He stiffens and quickly glances to the other side of the room, presumably searching for Alix’s knowing eyes.
“Okay, is it just me? Or am I missing some valuable information?” Nino asks.
Marinette quickly composes herself, and begins to make a story. “Ohhhh wait, I do remember telling you Adrien! Wasn’t it on our date to watch the new Kolaptical movie?”
“Y-yeah, that’s when.”
“Well I guess I do have to put a finger down. Oh, look, it's already seven! You guys should totally get home before it gets dark outside” Marinette stands and moves her arms in a forward motion to get everyone up and out of her apartment.
She turns to her right where Adrien begins to stand, but she places her hand on his shoulder and pushes him back down to the couch.
“Not you.”
Adrien gulps.
When the last person leaves, (which was Alix, who gave her a wink walking out the door) Marinette grabs her boyfriend's arm and leads him up to her room.
She sits on her chaise, her legs bouncing up and down. Adrien stands awkwardly in front of her. He still fidgets with his ring, but quickly brings his hands behind his back.
They both wait in silence, desperately wishing that the other would talk first.
After a minute, Adrien makes the first move. “What…what are you thinking about?”
“A lot. I’m thinking about a lot that you don’t even realize.”
“Marinette, I’m really sorry that I outed you to everyone. I didn’t even realize you never even told Alya that you had the Mouse Miraculous.”
“No, it’s fine.” She anxiously bites her fingernails. “I’m more concerned with the fact that I know who you are.”
Adrien stands a little straighter. “I trust you. I mean, you kept the fact that you were Multimouse a secret even though you only used the Mouse Miraculous once! And you’re not the only person who knows — Alix and Luka know as well.”
Marinette doesn’t respond to his attempts at reassuring her. Unaware to him, the main thing that’s bothering her is the dooming problem of their safety being at risk. She’s almost been fully akumatized six times, and if Monarch keeps targeting her, Chat Noir’s identity will be jeopardized.
Adrien will be jeopardized.
She groans as she covers her face with her hands. “Here’s the thing, I’m very conflicted about knowing your identity.”
“You are?”
“Yes, on one hand, I’m really happy that you’re Chat Noir.” Marinette shyly peaks through her fingers on her face.
Adrien begins to relax.
“On the other hand, I’m probably the second worst person to know your identity.”
“What?! Why?”
“I- crap I’m so confused about what to do!” Marinette grips her hair with both hands.
He’s for sure confused, but can Marinette really tell him her identity now? Wouldn’t that just put them more at risk?
“Look, I need to…” She looks up to her loft bed where Tikki is hiding. “Think. I need to think, just for a little bit.”
“I’m really sorry if knowing I’m Chat Noir freaks you out.” Adrien stares down at the floor.
“No, no, it’s just…“
Marinette sighs. “Would you be able to come to my balcony, around ten?”
He nods, but still has a worrying look plastered on his face. Marinette stands from the chaise and steps forward to gently wrap her arms around his torso.
She looks up at Adrien. “Don’t be nervous, okay? It’s not your fault.”
“It kinda is though, and Ladybug is really serious about secret identities-“
“Don’t worry about Ladybug right now. She’s a hypocrite.”
“What do you mean?”
Marinette ignores his question and buries her face in his chest, squeezing him tighter. “I’ll see you tonight?” She asks, voice muffled.
He hesitates for a moment, then wraps an arm around her waist and the other cradles her head. “Okay. I’ll see you tonight.”
“I love you.” Marinette softly whispers.
Adrien grip tightens harder. “I love you too.”
———
A few minutes after Adrien leaves her home, Marinette sits in silence with Tikki on her desk chair. The Kwami patiently waits for Marinette to ask her for guidance or opinions, but zero words have been spoken from the teenager.
Suddenly, Marinette jerks up from her slouched over position, and starts to hastily open and search her crafting drawers. She grabs a pink index card from her stationary organizer and takes a pen that rolled below her desk. Then she writes,
Pros & Cons
Pro: Ladybug and Chat Noir’s partnership will be stronger than ever before.
Con: Having your boyfriend being your superhero companion may be distracting.
Pro: It’ll be easier to contact each other
Con: Friends and Family will be in danger if Hawkmoth finds out our identity. WE will be in danger.
Marinette groans and throws her head back. “Tikki, what would you do in my situation?”
“I don’t know Marinette, but you’re the Guardian so the decision is all yours.”
Dramatically, Marinette stands up from the desk chair and throws herself on the chaise. “Both have good outcomes, but the bad outcomes are also just as terrible.”
Tikki flies to her shoulder. “Well, are the outcomes guaranteed, or are you just overthinking it?
Marinette turns her head which was previously buried into a pink pillow. “What?”
“Marinette, we both know that you tend to overthink things. It’s not a terrible trait to have, but you tend to get in your head by assuming the worst will happen.”
Marinette furrows her eyebrows.
Tikki continues, “Let’s go over the pros and cons.” The Kwami flies back over to the desk with the pink index card. “Your partnership will strengthen, and it’ll be more convenient to get in contact with each other. Is that a guaranteed possibility?”
“...yes.”
“Alright, then your cons – you may be less professional, and if either of you are akumatized your identities will be in jeopardy. Are those points guaranteed?”
“No.”
Tikki flies back over to Marinette, who is now sitting up. “I agree that it would be disastrous if either of you got akumatized again, but that is not something we know will happen in the future.”
“It could! Tikki I’ve almost been akumatized like six times!” Marinette says.
“Can’t you just give yourself and Adrien Ladybug’s protective charm?”
“I…oh.”
“Yeah, ‘oh’.” Tikki sits on her chosen knee. ”Marinette, you can’t predict the future, so focus on the present. Will revealing yourself to Chat Noir be a great positive right now?”
Marinette exhales. “It would. I-I think I know what I’m going to do. Thanks, Tikki.” She pats the Kwami’s head.
———
At nine fifty-seven, Chat Noir arrives at Marinette’s balcony.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
They stand in awkward silence for a moment, and then Chat Noir makes a sudden movement grabbing Marinette’s hands.
“Marinette, I thought about it, and I really need to apologize.”
“What?! What for?” Marinette asks.
Chat stares out at the city lights, still holding her hands. “I feel like I took advantage of you, that night when we…kissed.” He signals back and forth with his pointer finger directing to the two.
“You mean the night when Andre the ice cream man was akumatized for like the third time…and, when I almost got akumatized?””
“Yes, then.” Chat clears his throat. “I fell in love with you – it hit me like a train, but you stopped liking me for a moment.”
She interrupts him. “Technically I was just running away from my problems.”
“Still, I shouldn’t have kissed you then. I know that we talked it out later that night, but I still feel guilty about it. Before…today, you probably just saw Chat Noir as a famous figure, but you never knew who the true person was. It’s like…catfishing? No pun intended! But really what I’m trying to say is that–”
Marinette cups his cheek with her hand, stopping him from rambling. “Adrien.”
“Yeah?”
She leans in and softly kisses him. “You know, I’m supposed to be the rambling mess?
Chat’s eyes widen. “You’re…you’re not mad at me?”
“No?” Marinette cocks her head to the side.
“Then why did you say you were confused earlier?” He asks.
“Because I was really taking it all in. Like, I rejected you so many times during our early days of our partnership.”
“Our partnership?”
“Yeah and,” She sighs. “I really meant what I said earlier. I’m a hypocrite.”
Chat narrows his eyes, slowly putting the pieces together. “You’re…you're a hypocrite?”
Marinette removes her hand from his cheek and hugs herself. “Uhm, yes I am a huge hypocrite! So I don’t want you to feel bad about accidentally revealing your identity–”
“I’m sorry, can we just rewind real quick?!” Chat places his hands on her shoulders.
She shyly looks up at him. “Do I need to say it?”
“I would very much like it if you did that, because right now I’m really confused.”
Marinette bites her bottom lip. “I’m Ladybug.”
A few seconds of only the delicate breeze rings between the two. Chat slowly slides his hands down from her shoulders, taking a hold of her hands once more.
He breaks the silence. “Multimouse–”
“Was an illusion.” She avoids his eyes, staring at her slippers. “I unified one of the mini Multimouses with the Fox Miraculous to cast an illusion of Ladybug and Marinette together.”
Chat Noir chuckles. “Of course you did.” He gently grabs her chin and tilts her head so that she’s looking at him. Marinette’s heart stutters, noticing Chat’s broad grin.
He continues. “So this whole time we’ve been running around each other.”
“Basically.” Marinette laughs with relief.
Chat moves forward and passionately kisses her. Somehow he holds her tenderly and firm at the same time, as if he’s afraid that this is all a dream. Marinette snakes her arms up around his neck.
When they break apart, they press their foreheads together. Marinette studies his long eyelashes on his closed eyes and his face filled with bliss.
“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world.”
She blushes. “Well, I heard that Ladybugs bring in good luck.”
He opens his eyes. “Oh do they now?”
“Perhaps.”
“You know, at this angle your eyes combine into one and you kinda look like a cyclops.”
Marinette steps away and bursts into laughter. Chat joins in, and every horrible scenario that Marinette planned for the future completely flees from her mind.
Revealing herself was the right choice.
———
“So if you told Alya that you’re Ladybug, does that mean I can tell Nino?”
Chat Noir — now de-transformed to Adrien — holds Marinette in his lap on her lofted bed. The only light in the room is projecting from her laptop as they watch Finding Nemo together.
“I feel like it would only be fair. Plus, all four of us can share our superhero life together.”
“The four of us, or the whole class? I can’t believe I didn’t consider that you were Ladybug even after I knew our whole friend group has a Miraculous.”
Marinette giggles and Adrien hums happily, feeling the vibrations on his chest. “Well we can’t tell everyone! Not at least until we get the Butterfly Miraculous back.”
“We will soon, now that our partnership is stronger.”
He waits for her response, but Marinette sits quietly.
“Hey…” Adrien kisses the top of her head. “We’ll be okay. I promise. Don’t stress about the future.”
A new voice joins in. “Exactly, Marinette. I told you that you can’t predict the future.” Tikki says while sitting next to Plagg off on the side of the bed.
Adrien feels Marinette's chest fall. “I know, I just can’t stop worrying about how I can fix things if things went wrong.”
“If the worse of the worse happens, I’ll be by your side. You don’t have to do things alone Mari.”
She lets out a laugh. “I really need to allow myself to understand that.”
“And I will help you.” He places his chin on her shoulders.
“You’re actually the best person ever, did you know that?”
“Mm, I didn’t know that actually. Maybe you need to say it a few more times?”
“Okay, wow, Mr. Ego.”
They both giggle.
“I love you.” Adrien says, squeezing his arms around Marinette’s torso.
“I love you too.”