Miraculous Ships

The Date Plan (LadyNoir)

Alya cringed as she watched her staged confession to Carapace on TV. She was Rena Rouge at the time and she knew that the overdramatic act they had been put on couldn't be traced back to her, but she still cringed. Every news station, big and small, had been broadcasting and reporting about it for hours, more than enough time for Alya to see it on repeat multiple times. She just had to keep reminding herself that now she could start dating Nino without any suspicions arising.

Her phone rang, the picture she had taken of Nino mid-transformation showing up on the screen. She knew it was dangerous to have his secret identity in such an obvious place, but she promised herself that she would change it... but she had made that promise a week ago...

As soon as Alya answered the phone she heard Nino say, "Hello there, Rena."

"Hello, Carapace," Alya laughed. "Shouldn't you be getting ready to be a famous DJ?"

"This is only a small show, I have a bit of a way to go before I get famous. Maybe finish high school first?"

Alya laughed more, throwing her head back. She always seemed to laugh more around Nino, even when he made the most horrible jokes. "While you do that, I have another life plan, but for Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Let's hear it, then."

"Ladybug and Chat Noir need to date, obviously, but we should probably wait a few months until we actually set this plan in motion."

"Are you going to tell me the actual plan or just talk about how long until the plan can start," Nino asked teasingly. He knew that Alya would start to spiral if he didn't interrupt now, so tried to get her attention back on track.

"Right, of course. The plan is to make Ladybug and Chat Noir start dating! They've known each other for so long and yet insist there isn't anything romantic between them! It's insane!" Alya started to wave her free arm around, indicating exactly how ridiculous she thought it was, even though Nino couldn't see her.

"I don't think Chat is denying that he likes Ladybug, and I'm sure Ladybug likes Chat as more than just a partner." Nino thought back to all the times Chat and Ladybug had been subtly romantic with each other, including the time Chat had been hit with one of Dark Cupid's arrows and Ladybug's plan was to kiss him, like a fairy tale.

"Exactly! Now we just have to get them together! Lock them in a cupboard or something! Then, we can make Adrien and Marinette get together! Something romantic!"

"I really don't think locking two people in a cupboard is romantic."

"I beg to differ."

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"Chat?"

"Yes, M'lady?"

"How did we end up locked in a janitor's cupboard in the middle of an Akuma attack?"

Chat paused for a moment, his dreams of Ladybug asking him something else being crushed. "I... I don't know. I think someone locked us in here purposefully, I heard giggling and footsteps after the door locked.

Ladybug realised who locked them in. She moved as close to the door as she could considering she was pressed up against Chat, and knocked on the door, slamming her fist against it. "Rena Rouge! Let us out of this cupboard right now!"

"She must be fighting the Akuma," Chat offered, trying to pull Ladybug away from the door before she broke it open. He tried to make himself think that he didn't want to have to fix the door, but he knew that the magic ladybugs would fix it. He just wanted to have an excuse to stay in the cupboard with Ladybug.

"There isn't an Akuma. This was some sort of a set-up. We defeated the Akuma and Rena must have used her Mirage to make us think there was another Akuma here so she could lock us together! We have to get out, can you Cataclysm the door?" Ladybug turned to Chat. He could see her face with his night vision. She was clearly angry, but it wasn't as serious at it could have been.

"The cupboard is too small. I don't want to risk hurting you." Chat gently grasped Ladybug's shoulder, making sure she knew how serious he was. "You mean too much to me."

"Okay, I'll crouch down and you can just reach over me. No problems. We wouldn't want to leave Paris partially undefended, right?"

Chat scowled playfully at Ladybug, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to see him. He was the only one present with night vision, after all. "I don't really feel like using my Cataclysm though, what if there actually is an Akuma and I need it later?"

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug threw her yo-yo as high as she could into the air, calling upon her power to get them out of the cupboard.

Chat squinted his eyes against the bright light  but opened his eyes wide when he heard something drop to the floor and Ladybug curse loudly. "I dropped the crowbar!"

"Crowbar? What are you going to do with that?"

Ladybug turned to Chat, her face completely serious in the dark. "I'm going to break that damned door down one way or another, and I know you have night vision so help me find the crowbar!"

Chat searched the ground, his eyes almost instantly locking onto the crowbar lying next to Ladybug's foot. "Found it."

Chat reached down, aiming to just grab the crowbar and stand back up, hand Ladybug the crowbar and mope around his room at the lost opportunities in the cupboard, but when he bent down, Ladybug did the same, even though she couldn't see, and everything got a little more awkward than either hero had wanted it to be.

Ladybug flew upright, stumbling back against the door. "I'm sorry!"

Chat stood up with her, holding the crowbar in front of him, making sure he didn't hit Ladybug with it. "Here's the crowbar."

"Thank you." Ladybug took the crowbar and pushed it violently into the doorframe before throwing her body weight against it and cracking the door frame and the door apart, splinters going everywhere.

When Ladybug gave the door a final kick and it opened, Rena Rouge was standing outside, pressed against a wall. When she saw an angry Ladybug, she exclaimed, "I was going to let you out after seven minutes!"

"I don't care!" Ladybug pulled the crowbar out of the broken door. Rena took off, running down a hallway and disappearing, Ladybug close on her heels.

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Over the next few weeks, Rena and Carapace were dead set on getting Ladybug and Chat Noir together. Carapace was more subtle than Rena, maybe suggesting that they should split up to fight an Akuma and dragging Rena away, even though that might have had nothing to do with Ladybug and Chat Noir...

Rena, on the other hand, was less than subtle, preferring to throw Chat off a roof onto Ladybug or vice versa, or more recently, throwing both heroes into a dumpster and locking the lid closed just before they transformed back into their civilian selves. Luckily for both Ladybug and Chat Noir, their Kwamis had gotten them out without anyone learning their identities.

When Ladybug started to look back at all of the subtle plans, all of the times she had been thrown onto Chat or locked somewhere with him, she started to notice that she didn't hate it as much as she used to. If anything, her feelings for Chat were growing fonder, and stronger. He went from being just her partner to someone she was getting a small crush on.

"Hey, Ladybug." Chat landed next to Ladybug and grabbed her hand. Ladybug didn't pull her hand away like she usually would, and Chat stood frozen in place, staring at their joined hands. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be, Chat?" Ladybug grinned at Chat, slowly swinging their hands. "Shall we go find Rena and Carapace?"

A loud squeal sounded from behind a chimney. Chat turned to where the squeal came from to catch a glimpse of orange trying to hide. "No need, apparently."

"Rena, Carapace, you can come out. We know you're hiding." Ladybug started to walk towards the chimneys, dragging Chat with her.

Rena laughed and jumped in front of Ladybug and Chat. "It worked!"

"What worked?" Chat was completely oblivious to almost everything that had happened, only thinking of the incidents with Ladybug as a stroke of good luck, rather than a meddling partner pushing them together at every turn.

"You and Ladybug are finally dating! You're holding hands and everything! My dreams are finally coming true, and I've only had to wait a few months!" Rena twirled on her toes, clasping her hands together in front of her chest, much to the amusement of Ladybug.

"But we aren't dating?"

"I was meaning to ask you this, Chat, but Rena thought she should interrupt our conversation by screaming, but would you like to go to the movies some time or another?"

"Of course, M'lady."

"Great. I'll see you around then." Ladybug leaned on her tiptoes towards Chat and kissed his cheek, before taking out her yo-yo and jumping away, her original mission of asking Chat to the movie accomplished.

Chat stood, awestruck, while Rena fangirled in the background and Carapace stood next to Rena with his eyebrows raised.

Then, Chat spoke, a single sentence, filled with shock. He said, "I'm going on a date with Ladybug."