"the moth's apprentice" chat noir x y/n

The Truth

Before I knew it, I was pinned to the ground and Adrien was hovering over me. The air was fully knocked out of my chest and I couldn't move. 

"Tell me the truth, Raven," Adrien's sudden bout of anger was not taken lightly. I huffed out a breath, regaining air and equilibrium. I looked from side to side, but there was no one in sight. My wings flapped weakly underneath my dead weight. 

Adrien shoved my shoulders, kneeling at my side. His eyes searched mine frantically. "You can't be Y/N. I would know." He narrowed his eyes. "Are you lying to me?" 

"No, you wouldn't know, Agreste," I spat, sitting up and shaking the dirt out of my hair. I beat my wings, sending a gust that blew his hair back. "Why would you know? Just because we slept together once you think you know everything about me—" 

Adrien's face fell slack and so did his entire body. His arms landed limply at his sides and he stood up, letting me up off the ground. The shock on his face was registered clearly, green eyes gone numb and far away. 

"Y/N." He still couldn't look at me. His chest heaved up and down and his crisp shirt was wrinkled. The doubt, I had expected. This reaction — mostly inevitable. The loss of eye contact and sudden distance — I registered my own shock. 

I brushed the dust off my suit. "Vector, time to rest." He landed limply in my palm and I fed him a couple pieces of candy I had stuffed into my back pocket. 

The air felt too tight. Adrien had taken a few paces away from me and was unceremoniously still. He seemed to be staring off into the distance. We were in an isolated area of the park. It wasn't likely that anyone was going to walk by and see this pathetic interaction. 

"Are you disappointed, Chat Noir?" I arched an eyebrow, crossing my arms. I leaned against a tree, watching his expression carefully. 

The shock that I was expecting didn't come. He must've been out of emotion. It sure appeared that way to the blank and cold eye— because his only reaction was to nod. "You were hoping for —what — Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" 

"No," Adrien stopped his mindless searching and looked back at me. His eyes finally met mine, in a calm expression that was somewhat much more off-putting than the ignorant meander. "Y/N, I'm not disappointed." 

I stayed silent. There was a tense moment of hesitation. 

"I wanted it to be you," he laughed softly. There was a wide-innocent way that he looked at me, and for just a moment I was reminded of the person he really was. 

A pure, innocent spirit trapped within someone forced and exploited to perform. Every second that Adrien existed was torture. Between modeling and the loveless life he lived with his father — it was a wonder he could exist so kindly. 

Adrien took a step forward. "Which is why I made sure it was you." 

I blinked. "What?" 

The mask fell from his face and something in his expression changed. He looked almost calculated, standing stark against the green trees. Adrien Agreste. Chat Noir. The powerful figure he truly was. 

It was clear at that moment — exactly what I was wrong about. 

A shiver ran down my spine, and I realized that I wasn't going to like what Adrien had to say. 

"This isn't how it was supposed to be," I whispered. "This is wrong." 

The apocalypse, and everything that followed flashed through my brain. My relationship with Luka. Mom and — 

But things didn't go as they had before. Mom wasn't dating Seth — she was with Gabriel Agreste. Things were very different. 

Adrien tipped his head to the side. "Please, Y/N. Listen to me, yeah?" He took a step forward, but this time I stepped back. The ring on his finger flashed. "I've loved you since I met you, Birdy. Do you remember that? When we first met?" He smirked. "The first time you became Raven?" 

And then it became clear that he wasn't talking about the Miraculous that Bunnix had supposedly given me just a week prior. He was talking about before. 

"How long have you known my identity?" 

"Oh, that I didn't figure out until you told me the first time. Remember? When I destroyed the world?" Adrien responded quietly. "Listen." 

I stayed still. Silent. It was much too quiet. 

"I had to save you, Birdy," his eyes grew desperate. 

"What are you talking about?" My breathing felt faint. I could barely comprehend the words coming out his mouth. He sounded like he'd gone completely insane. 

"When Hawkmoth akumatized me, and I became Chat Blanc, the world fell to shit," he made a fist, clenching it. His eyes narrowed. "Poof. Everything was gone. I destroyed it all. Except for me...and Ladybug.." 

"What?" I stared at him. "That — this doesn't make sense, Adrien. None of this makes any sense." 

Adrien grew frustrated. He clenched his jaw. "Do you need me to spell it out for you in simple terms, Y/N?" He stepped towards me, standing with his head angled down to look me directly in the eyes. "You died."