Strong Disguise || Marichat

➣ 2

Ladybug swung as high as her yoyo allowed, vaulting her into the murky sky. By a stroke of pure luck, she managed to catch the corrupted butterfly at the last second before plummeting to the ground. Chat Noir desperately flung himself into the air in to catch her, sending them both crashing into the street below.

Chat ignored the flaring pain in his ankle and quickly got up, offering a hand to his lady apologetically.

The heroine shakily stood up on her own, rejecting his help wordlessly. She tapped her yoyo to send the butterfly away before turning to him. "That was too close."

Chat nodded slowly, sobering as he recognized the danger of the situation. Ladybug was incredible, but even he knew she wasn't indestructible. She had been seconds away from hitting the concrete full force, all because he asked her out to dinner at the worst possible time. The impact alone would've shattered her spine. "It won't happen again, I promise. You know you mean the world to me, Ladybug. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got hurt."

She nodded silently, eyes downcast and eerily thoughtful.

"Please, tell me the truth," Chat said, green eyes glinting in the dim light. "If your lover wasn't in the picture, would you have given me a chance?"

Ladybug stared into the alleyway. "You still don't get it, do you?" She said quietly. A soft roll of thunder resounded as she stared at her partner.

The hero looked up in surprise, but Ladybug shook her head before he could respond. "If we met each other as normal people, maybe I would've. But the world isn't perfect, chaton. We're heroes who protect Paris by doing what needs to be done. We can't do that if we're together." She let out a shaky breath.

"It can never happen, Chat Noir."

Her earrings beeped impatiently, cutting off her unspoken apology. With a sigh, she threw her yoyo around streetlight and swung into the darkening twilight. The clouds let out a quiet clap of thunder and the rain started to fall, the droplets growing larger and more intense. Before Chat knew it, he was caught in a downpour.

Chat Noir hung his head and let the rain fall freely into his hair. For the first time in the year they had been partners, Ladybug had truly hurt him.

* * *

Adrien anxiously drummed his fingers against his desk, impatiently glancing around the room to find Marinette's possible crush. It was probably someone in their class, Marinette wasn't involved in any clubs after school so she wouldn't see anyone else on a daily basis.

The girl herself was early to class for the first time in a long while, chatting amiably with Alya. Adrien frowned to himself, noticing she was the only one he knew to wear her hair in ponytails other than Ladybug. Had she been inspired by the spotted heroine? Who had worn it first? He shook his head. He could ask her about it later, right now he needed to focus.

He nibbled his pen out of habit and surveyed the most likely candidates. She had used male pronouns, so that ruled out half of the options. He was obviously a close friend of hers, but the only ones not in a relationship were Max and - Nathaniel!

Adrien leaned back in his seat, proud of himself. It all made sense! Marinette had must've gotten closer to him after Cholé revealed his crush on her, but both of them were too shy to ask the other out. He was a genius.

The rest of the school day dragged on, taking so long in between each class the blonde was sure time was moving backwards. He kept sneaking glances at Marinette but could never manage eye contact, she seemed to look away as soon as he turned his head. At least he got a good view of her hairdo. Those ponytails were really starting to bug him.