Suffice to say, Merlin was a little surprised (and a lot confused) to wake up in his own bed the next morning, finally well rested despite the clumsiness of the way his blankets had been thrown over him. The blankets tangled around his legs, a large part of them still trapped under his body, now out of costume, as he had detransformed in the night.
Still, it didn't take a genius to realized it was Chat who had brought him home and put him in bed. It was Chat who had been loving enough to lay him down in his own bed instead of letting him sleep on the Eiffel Tower. Sleepily, he smiled, warmed by the extent of Chat's compassion.
And then sat bolt upright as he realized that Chat knew which house was his. Which meant Chat knew who he was.
Frantically, he wondered if maybe Chat had brought him here because he trusted Merlin to take care of the sleeping Ladybug. But Merlin knew that no matter how close he was to Chat, they were not so close that Chat could do the equivalent of taking a drunk friend to Merlin's house and leaving him there.
No, there was no doubt about it. Chat wasn't as much of a himbo as Merlin thought. In fact, if he had been certain enough to bring Merlin back here after he had fallen asleep on Chat's shoulder, then Chat was quite the detective.
With a flash of annoyance, Merlin realized that also meant that Chat had not given up on figuring out his identity as he had seemed to all those months ago and had managed to figure out who Merlin was before Merlin knew the same about him.
It was annoying.
And terrifying.
But the fact that Chat now knew the truth was also strange relaxing. He no longer had to worry about trying to get Chat to realize the truth. And he no longer had to pretend he wanted to hide the truth from him. He no longer had a secret to guard, not from Chat.
His best friend.
Merlin sighed, letting his head fall into his knees as he curled them up to his chest with a mixture of relief and total defeat. Tikki stirred on the pillow next to him, rising up to hover near his head and peeking one bright blue eye into Merlin's range of vision. "Are you okay? How did you get home?"
Although Tikki's statement was innocent enough, it brought up yet another question, rising like a virus through Merlin's mind. Was Tikki aware of what happened while Merlin was in costume? She had given him advice about past battles before, suggesting she was at least partly aware.
Maybe she just lost awareness when Merlin did while in costume.
"Chat brought me." Tikki's face light up with shock and fear at this statement and she gaped at him for a few long, charged seconds before flying up to his face and pushing him into a more upright position.
"But.... but that means he knows! He knows who you are! How else would he know where to take you?" Tikki was as frantic and chaotic as Merlin felt, panic showing in every surface of her over round, chibi face. Her speech was as chaotic and frazzled as Merlin's swirling thoughts.
There went any relaxation and the relief of getting enough sleep.
Merlin was more or less resigned to the fact that Chat knew the truth. Now the question was how he was going to find out the truth about Chat. The need to know Chat's identity for certain was all the more burning know that Chat apparently knew the truth about him.
The answer to his dilemma came a couple seconds later as a familiar but not entirely welcome name popped up on his phone. He reached over to grab it, haste in every motion.
From: Kagami Tsurugi
We need to talk. About Chat.
Merlin wanted to believe they simply wanted to exchange evidence and theories about the blonde hero's identity. But, knowing Kagami, it was more likely that they wanted to milk Merlin for information and not tell him anything. Probably just for the pleasure of finding out before Merlin did.
But maybe not. Kagami wasn't as bad these days, he thought. They were less vindictive, he hoped.
Merlin agreed to meet them, this time on the river bank, down the stairs from the school. He pulled on a hoodie and loose jeans, too lazy to dress nicely, especially for Kagami. He didn't hate them, or at least he didn't think he hated them, but he certainly wouldn't claim to feel any real love for the newly reinstated dragon hero.
Kagami was already there when he arrived, hair and clothes perfect as ever, posture ruler straight despite the hard design of the bench. "Hello, Merlin."
"Hey." Merlin hurried down the stairs to take the seat next to Kagami gracelessly, hunching over the second his butt touched the uncomfortable bench. "What do you need to talk to me about?"
Kagami raised on perfect eyebrow. "Chat. I told you that." They stared coldly at Merlin for a few seconds, amber eyes like lasers. Merlin had the distinct feeling that Kagami could sense his growing doubts and faint resentment toward them in his gaze.
He didn't really have anything against Kagami, but he couldn't help but feel a little insulted at the way Kagami had acted as though his hero team was unworthy and incompetent. He also didn't like being strongarmed into letting them back onto his team, regardless of how useful they might be.
So Merlin didn't feel too awful when he rolled his eyes at them. "What about Chat?"
Kagami smiled cruelly. "I know who he is."
Merlin jumped. He had expected Kagami to ask for evidence. He had not expected to yet again be beat to the reveal of a secret. That made twice in the space of 24 hours. Merlin needed more coffee. "Okaaaay. Are you going to tell me who it is? Or do you need to watch me reach the conclusion myself?"
Merlin couldn't keep the faint resentment out of his voice during the latter part of his statement and the faint pinching of Kagami's perfect brows seemed to suggest they too had not missed his tone. "I think you should figure this out yourself, yes." Their next smile was a little less cruel. "Or you could just ask him. From what I know about you two, it would seem he would be happy to have better communication and honesty."
Ouch. Merlin wasn't sure if that was meant to be reassuring or not but it sure felt like another jab at his leadership and team building.
But they might be right. Maybe asking Chat straight up was the best answer. But Merlin, still reeling from the shock of finding out Chat knew who he was, wasn't really in the mood to confront him about his identity today.
"Are you sure? You don't....." A horrible notion hit Merlin, "feel jealous that it's... him?" Maybe it was Adrien. In fact, the speed of Kagami's deduction and knowing behind every smile suggested it was someone close to both of them, if nothing else. And if they were jealous, it would make sense to keep Merlin in the dark for a bit longer. After all, if it was Adrien, there was a good chance Merlin would confess his feelings to him in the same breath he confessed his identity.
And he was at least 40% confident his feelings would be returned. Which was a much higher chance than if he didn't know Chat's identity.
So it made sense, in a horrible sort of way, that Kagami would try to keep him in the dark a little longer. In fact, he wouldn't be all that surprised if Kagami actively tried to prevent him from finding the truth or even tried to throw him off the trail entirely.
But Kagami only laughed. "Jealous? I thought I told you I knew I had no chance. But I do think it would benefit you to talk it out with him. So I won't tell you now." They paused, a warmer, more regretful smile gracing their face now. "I just wanted you to know that I had the truth if you give up."
God, maybe they were trying to help, maybe they cared, maybe this was their kindness. But in that moment, all Merlin could think was..... damn, FUCK Kagami Tsurugi.
So, in an effort to stay in control of his emotions and maintain his dignity, he stood up, prepared to walk away. "I will try my best. To..... communicate, as you put it. Thanks."
He really hoped his steps didn't come out as angry as they felt when he swept away up the stairs and back down the street to the bakery.
Now he really needed to know whether or not Chat was Adrien.
