Miraculous One Shot Compilation

Respect

A/n - I came up with this idea while rereading The Hazards of Being a Baker's Daughter by nirvana0812. If you haven't read it, you should. It's the sort of fanfiction that I want to skim over again every time it comes up in my notifications. There's a certain mistake that Adrien/Chat almost made, but didn't. My story focuses on what would have happened if he had.

Chat glanced over at Marinette, who was beside him, scanning the city. Sure, she wore a red mask, and most of the city would have called her Ladybug - even he, had he spoken out loud, would have called her Ladybug - but the mask no longer seemed strong enough to cause him to see a separate person. Every time he set eyes upon the spotted heroine, he saw his sweet friend who sat behind him in class. Despite what she might have thought had she known, this was no disappointment to him.

Why then, was he Chat, and not Adrien? How could his mask still have the power to separate his identities when hers could not? It was because she still didn't know who was under the mask. Something inside Chat twinged at the secret he was keeping, but it was better this way - at least for now. She would want it this way.

His current dilemma had befallen him a little over a month prior, when Miss Bustier's class went on a field trip. Foregoing all the renowned museums that added to their city's fame, they instead went to a quaint little museum dedicated specifically to the small sector of Paris to which they belonged. Hardly anyone other than natives of the district had ever been there.

It just so happened that Hawkmoth had decided to release an akuma while they were on that trip. As soon as Adrien caught wind of the news, he had dashed to the building's single unisex bathroom to transform. That's when he realized he wasn't alone. He ducked into the nook where the bathroom was located just in time to see Marinette disappear inside. Ladybug ran out only a few seconds later. He'd opened the door cautiously to make sure Marinette wasn't still in there - but he'd never expected her to be. He'd understood instantly to what he had been witness.

After the succeeding akuma battle, Adrien considered admitting to his partner what he knew, but he decided against it. Hadn't she made it clear she didn't want her identity known? He swore to himself that he would keep her secret, and would not take advantage of it.

What advantage would there have been for him to take? Her feelings. His crush on Ladybug had not let up, only expanded to incorporate her entire being. Thus, he quickly found himself crushing on Marinette as well - or perhaps, only on Marinette. Marinette was who Ladybug was, after all.

In that past month, he hadn't given in to a single one of his numerous impulses to make a move on her. That wouldn't be fair. Not after she'd already rejected his other identity. Not when he knew what she didn't know. He couldn't try again from another angle without her knowledge.

That didn't mean he'd given up on her - oh no! He made sure that Chat continued periodic expressions of interest in his lady, and he also indulged in several daydreams about how he could have used a certain situation to flirt with her in civilian form. His imaginary advances were met with a high rate of success - and that was where the plurality of his hopes lay.

Adrien wasn't so experienced in crushing, but being crushed on was a different matter. He'd been playing dumb to Marinette's crush on him for most of the school year. It was nice; she was so much different from the girls who typically showed feelings for him - feelings derived from a shirtless ad for swimtrunks, and never from anything to do with his personality. However, he hadn't intended to make anything of it at first. What did it matter if she really might be his type? It didn't when he already had his sights set on another girl who was also his type. After all, he could only have one.