Alya heard her phone go off, so she pulled herself off the sofa to read the text. "Marinette?" she said aloud, attracting Nino's attention.
"What does Marinette want?" he asked, taking the popcorn they'd been sharing all for himself.
"She said for both of us to go to the park..." Alya said, wrinkling her brow. Her phone went off again, so she looked down, "...Right away, apparently."
"Why the both of us?" Nino questioned as he got to his feet. That's when his phone went off and he read off a text from Adrien "Don't question it, just go."
Marinette wrung her hands and tugged the fabric of her super suit. She was incredibly nervous, having not told anyone about Ladybug besides her partner. Adrien stood by her side, his kitty ears twitching in concern for the girl.
"You sure you want to do this, My Lady?" he asked, touching a hand to her lower back.
Marinette nodded, swallowing hard when she saw the two friends. "Here we go..." she breathed out.
Alya noticed the two heroes immediately, and she took off in a sprint after them. "Ladybug! Chat Noir!" she called, laughing as she ran. Nino went after her, confused as to why the two were there.
"What's going on? Is there some baddie out there?" Nino asked, trying to calm his girlfriend's fangirling.
"Not that we're aware of," Ladybug said with a snicker.
"Then, why are you guys here?" Alya asked.
Ladybug and Chat looked to each other, and Chat gave a nod. "There's something your best friends wanted to tell you," he said. Both teens gave confused looks that slowly started to twist into excitement at two words: "Plagg, detransform."
"Tikki, detransform."
Right in front of them, Ladybug and Chat Noir let go, revealing...Marinette and Adrien.
"No WAY!" Alya screeched. "You're Ladybug..." she pointed to Marinette. "And you're ChatNoir?" Marinette and Adrien laughed awkwardly and looked to each other. Nino stood beside Alya, his mouth agape.
"Nino? You OK, buddy?" Adrien asked, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. He snapped in Nino's face, hoping to bring him back.
"I'm..." Nino gulped, and the other three teens seemed slightly afraid. "I'm best friends with a SUPERHERO!" he shouted, jumping into the air before hugging Adrien. "Dude, you should have told us SOONER!"
Marinette giggled, watching her boyfriend peel the other boy off himself. She looked over to Alya, whose eye were still wide and whose smile had done anything but falter. "I hope you're not mad that I didn't tell you before now..." she mumbled, tugging her earlobe.
"Are you KIDDING?" Alya squealed, "How many other people can say that their best friend is LADYBUG?!" She pulled Marinette into a hug, jumping up and down with her.
Marinette squeaked and pushed away, "Wait, you can't tell. You can't put this on the Ladyblog; it has to remain a secret!"
Alya seemed upset for a moment, but it quickly vanished. "Absolutely. Even better; we know who Ladybug and Chat Noir are and NO ONE else does!"
"Same goes for you, Nino. You can't tell anyone about us, got it?" Adrien said.
"Sure, sure. Dude this is so WICKED!" Nino jumped in place, his and Alya's excitement quickly wearing the super teens out.
That evening, all four friends sat on Marinette's balcony. Adrien and Marinette had given their friends some time for the new information to sink in, and now they were ready to answer all their questions.
"So, who are these little guys?" was the first question Alya asked. Tikki had taken up a seat on the girl's knee, quite enjoying the attention and affection.
"That is Tikki and this little guy is Plagg," Marinette introduced, scratching the top of Plagg's head from where he sat in her lap. "They're kwamis; they make us Ladybug and Chat."
"They're the reason we don't get to stick around very long after a battle. They get tired really when we use our powers," Adrien added.
"How do they change you, though?" Nino asked, leaning over Alya to tickle Tikki.
Marinette tugged her earrings off and held them out, "These are my Miraculous," she explained. "Tikki gets absorbed into them and then the energy is sent across my body."
Adrien took off his ring and spun it on the floor, "Same goes for mine."
"Oh, so these are what the akumas are always after?" Alya said, smiling proudly.
Marinette nodded, "You both should know that well," she snickered. Alya shoved her shoulder, which only served to make Marinette laugh more. "I'm just kidding!"
"How come you guys are Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Nino asked. Marinette looked down at Tikki, who giggled and shook her head. Adrien looked at Plagg, who was useless to answer, since he was asleep on his favorite person.
"We don't really know," Adrien answered.
"Tikki and Plagg have had hundreds of Chosen, but even they don't know why those people are chosen..." Marinette finished. "I've asked this questions too many times, because it just really doesn't make sense..."
They all sat up there comfortably for quite a while longer, just asking and answering questions. Marinette got to explain why it wasn't such deal that she started dating Adrien, since he was Chat. "Do you really think this kitty is something to get excited over?" she teased.
"Hey, My Lady!" Adrien faked hurt, shoving her shoulder. The action woke up Plagg, who groaned and nestled farther against Marinette.
"Be careful, you made her move!" the kwami fussed groggily. All four teens laughed, and Adrien apologized with a scratch to Plagg's head. "I need cheese..."
"You always want cheese," Adrien laughed.
"Oh, that's why you smell funny," Nino commented.
"Where do you keep it?" Alya questioned, not sure she wanted the answer. Adrien snickered and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small wheel of camembert. "Oh, gross!"
"Another reason to regret dating him..." Marinette snickered. "At least Tikki likes cookies..."
"Well, there's the reason she chose you! You live in a bakery!" Alya laughed. Tikki never denied the answer, instead she curled up for a nap.
