To Love Thy Enemy

well well well...

Adrien - For whatever unfathomable reason - could not stop thinking about Marinette.

Memories of their unfortunate kiss flickered in his mind throughout the day, and he found himself observing her far more than he should have been, leading to some interesting discoveries.

Firstly, she spoke to herself. Not often, only when she thought she was alone or out of earshot, but enough for Adrien to notice.

Secondly, she was obsessed with Ladybug and Chat Noir, having absurd amounts of pictures decorating her locker and phone wallpaper that she must've gotten from the Ladyblog. This particular revelation made Adrien mildly uncomfortable, knowing that she only liked him in the suit and despised him without it.

She also seemed absurdly nice. To everyone. Besides him it seemed. Mylene needs to borrow a pen? She's got a spare. Nathaniel doesn't understand the topic? She offers to help. Even Chloe received a higher level of niceties than he did.

It was as fascinating as it was infuriating.

Thoughts of Marinette lingered far into the following week, as Adrien rushed down the busy Paris streets, walking home from school beneath a torrential downpour.

All of a sudden, a loud commotion occurred across the street when a vine-like tentacle burst from inside the building, swiftly followed by more as the ceiling tile crumbled.

A figure leaped from the rubbled hole, skin painted green and completely covered in what looked like large leaves wrapped around his body.

Adrien groaned, backtracking in his hasty stride to find a secluded area to transform.

Slipping into the nearest alley, intensly releived that it sheltered him from the sheets of rain, Adrien shuffled to the very end, almost hidden behind a tall dumpster.

His rain soaked clothes clung to him like a second skin, trapping the wet cold into his bones, and he quickly ushered Plagg out of his bag.

Plagg hastily demolished the rest of a cheese slice, and opened his mouth to speak. He didn't manage to get anything out though, because he promptly dropped down below the top of the dumpster, tiny body curled into the wall as though hiding and causing Adrien to crouch instinctively with him.

As he did so, wet footsteps rushed into his alleyway, effectively leaving him trapped. If it was a civilian, hiding from the chaos unfolding outside, there was a chance they'd stay until it was safe.

Taking a risk, Adrien peeked around the dumpster, cursing his luck at finding Marinette standing mere feet away from him, wringing water out of her hair.

That in itself was unsurprising, if anyone were to trap him in his civilian form in time of crisis it would be her. What was surprising was the tiny red smudge that flew out when she opened her purse.

The strange creature was suspended in mid-air, coloured a pinkish red hue with a black smudge on its forehead, and around the same size Plagg was. In fact, if he didn't know any better he might have thought it was…

“Tikki, spots on,” Came the whispered voice of Marinette, before she was engulfed by a glimmering red light and was replaced by Ladybug.

Ladybug.

The girl he saw everyday. Was…Marinette Dupain-Cheng?

Adrien was having a hard time picking his jaw up off the floor as Marinette/Ladybug fled the scene, yo-yoing her way out of the alley. The second she left, Plagg groaned softly.

“You weren't supposed to see that…” he mumbled.

Adriens head whipped around to face him, “you knew? Why didn't you warn me?”

“I couldn't tell you genius,” he said grumpily, crossing his stubby arms.

Adrien wasn't listening though, entrapped within his own mind.

As much as he was loathe to admit it, it made sense. Over the past few days, weeks even, he'd found himself comparing the two, convincing himself he was imagining things, even outright denying their similarities, but he'd not once considered…this.

It was absolutely unthinkable, so much so that Adrien could hardly wrap his head around it, and even when Plagg nudged him pointedly he had trouble conjuring any desire to transform and fight the akuma with… Marinette.

Eventually, he managed to swallow his pride and transform into his alter ego, following the sounds of destruction and the sight of more strange vines.

“Hey Kitty!” Marinette/Ladybug greeted him, only receiving an awkward wink in response as Chat Noir threw himself into combat. He couldn't stop seeing Marinette in her place, and while he didn't intend to ignore her, he couldn't manage conversation at that moment.  

Instead, he watched her out of the corner of his eye, seeing her fight through a new lens. The quantum masking effect flickered, allowing Chat Noir to see in perfect detail as if Marinette herself was by his side.

Which he supposed she was.

It was all so confusing. His conflicting feelings on the two- er, one person were being forced together and creating a new,  bewildering image of her in his mind that blended into a mildly uncomfortable concoction, like a temperature too hot for a sweater but too cold to go without.

“Miraculous, LADYBUG!” Came the cry of Marin- Lady- his partner. Chat Noir shook himself out of his haze, looking around in puzzlement. He couldn't remember defeating the akuma. Did he make her do it all herself?

A quick glance found her staring at him in frustrated concern.

Whoops.

“Hey kitty…you okay today?” she asked softly, sidling up to him comfortably.

“Yeah, just- you know, school…” he replied. He could feel the falseness of his excuse hang heavy in the air, but he couldn't very well tell her that he knew her identity, he may as well tell her his while he was at it.

Ladybug's eyebrows tightened slightly, before she tiptoed beside him and wrapped her arms around his torso.

While before it would have been a comforting gesture that reassured him of her unwavering support, now it felt suffocating, only serving to fill him with self-hatred. This was Ladybug. he tried to remember. His girlfriend. Nothing really had changed. But all he could think about was the last time she had been this close to him the previous week during their kiss, and how even that had felt less awkward than this.

~

Short chapter today!! but At least I updated lmao. Plot is finally moving along too!!!!

P.S. if this is illegible lmk and I'll edit it, it's late at night rn.