Chasing Chat Noir

Chapter 4

When I used my Lucky Charm and set my miraculous to fix anything that had been damaged, I felt the power transfer from me to around the city. It wasn't as if I grew weaker, but I could feel my energy being used to repair. Once it was completed, all was normal once more.

"Pound it" Chat smirked as we pounded fists. He then looked down at the guy we had just saved. We'd learned his name was Travis.

Chat's smirk immediately fell as he looked in the opposite direction from where we'd come. It took me a moment to recognize that he was looking in the direction of my house. I couldn't have him checking up on me yet, so I thought of a quick distraction.

"Could you make sure Travis gets home safely, Chat?" I felt my earrings give the notification that I had to leave soon. "I'm about to transform back."

He gave a reluctant nod and left with a quick "You owe me, M'lady."

...

I came home to see everything in my room was back in order. It was crazy to see how quickly my miraculous was able to change things. Furniture had been broken and thrown across the way, but now it was perfectly clean.

My parents had been trying to get into my room, but I made sure to move my dresser to avoid it. It was better to have them in the dark when it came to my abilities; they would do nothing but worry. Besides, it was against the rules.

I made my way to the shower and made sure the water was steaming before I got in. If my muscles were sore this morning, now they were on fire. I paused for a moment.

Was it really only this morning that I started my first day of school?

So much has happened. As I stepped in the shower, I let my hair down and let the water run over me.

Something about today's events just didn't sit right with me. The people Hawkmoth was targeting- the pattern of akumatizations. How did he keep up with it?

Logically, someone with this amount of time on their hands had to be dedicating every waking moment for these attacks. Chat and I merely reacted to these instances. They would have to be strategizing and making plans for how akumatizations could take place.

Something just wasn't adding up.

Though my powers had technically cleaned the dirt from me, I washed twice for good measure before turning off the water.

I threw on some sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt. In light of today, I was planning to spend the rest of the night curled up in bed.

I lay with my text book In front of me, my feet moving back and forth with a pencil in my mouth. For it being the first day of school, the amount of homework was manageable.

As I tried to focus on my last math equation, my thoughts started to drift. Chat had started dropping by over the summer, and the habit had just kind of stuck.

It was a night where the rain was unrelenting. You couldn't take a step outside with how the wind was blasting, so I had messaged Chat through my device that tonight the patrol was as good as cancelled.

A huge clap of thunder sounded throughout Paris, and lighting flashed so brightly outside I had to squint. The lights suddenly went out; I rushed to the windows, but the entire entire block from what I could see had lost power.

My parents had been out of town, so I scrambled for a light in the darkness. It was now that I felt how alone I was in the house.

I found a few candles and lit them throughout the room, so there was a bit of warmth added to the house.

As luck would have it, Chat had already left for patrol and was stuck in the rain. He was closest to my house, and there was no way he could make it home with the weather outside.

I saw a dark figure slide in through the balcony, and I instantly grabbed my lamp to defend myself. Without my powers at hand, I'd have to rely on my training for an advantage.

Just as I was about to swing, Chat turned and crossed his arms in front of him. "Now, is that any way to treat a guest?"

I held back a scream, but then everything in me relaxed. Chat didn't know me, but I certainly knew him. With us fighting together as Ladybug and Cat Noir, I'd assume I knew him better than almost anyone.

He shook his head like a dog, letting the water fly every which way across my room. "It was a serious question. I don't typically have guests in my household."

I noted how he said house and not home. Just thirty seconds into the conversation and I was seeing a different side to Cat Noir.

"Well, Chat, you're lucky this is all I tried to do. Most people would call sneaking into a persons house trespassing." I showed a little smirk and went to my linen closet to grab him a towel.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that... I was supposed to be on patrol and I can't get back to the house."

I shrugged my shoulders, "It just so happens that I'm feeling lonely and particularly generous tonight. We can wait out the storm together."

"You are more trusting than most people I know..." he paused for a moment, "what was the name again?"

I hesitated to offer up this information. What were the chances Chat came into Ladybug's home tonight? Would me telling him my name in any way compromise my identity?

Finally, I decided it was harmless. "Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng." I offered my hand out for him to shake.

He met me with kind eyes. Eyes I had never seen when we were outside of this room. "Chat Noir."

...

I woke suddenly. At some point, I had dozed off. Someone was moving my books off of the bed and moving with such ease I wondered how they were human. Chat.

"It's raining outside." Was all he said as he unmade my bed. I lazily crawled under the covers, my eyes still heavy.

"I like the rain" I replied. He took one of the books off of my bookshelf and flipped to where he had left off. He liked to make his way through my collection.

I don't know when it had happened, but at some point I had started to rely on these late night meet ups. Sometimes we did nothing, and others we stayed up half the night talking.

Regardless, it helped me feel less alone.

Chat shook his head, and water once again splattered around my room. I chuckled a little bit, but I was already dozing off.

He said it so quietly I wasn't sure if I'd dreamt it:
"I like the rain too"