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Diagnosis by Mintacia

Cartoons » Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Rated: T,

English, Romance & Humor, [Marinette D-C./Ladybug, Adrien A./Cat
Noir] [Alya C./Lady Wifi/Rena Rouge, Nino L./Bubbler], Words: 16k+,
Favs: 131, Follows: 210, Published: Jun 10, 2019 Updated: Sep 19,
2019

Chapter 2: Familiar 43

-x-x-x-

Part Two: Familiar

-x-x-x-

One little slip.

That's all it had been. Her foot had just inched forward a bit too
much. One second, she was admiring the moon from halfway
up the Eiffel tower. The next second, she was falling, the world
around her lurching into motion.

It was instincts that had saved her. Half a heart beat into her
fall, Marinette had hurled out her yoo yoo. It had shot upwards,
seeking purchase on a beam above.

The yoo yoo found its target. However, there was too much
slack in the line, too much swing, and it was all a bit too late.
She may not have fallen to her death, but she did smack her
head hard on a beam before the yoo yoo's line went taunt. That
smack was enough to knock her out.

It had been the beeping of her suit that woken her.

After vomiting on France's most famous symbol, Marinette

slowly made her way down the structure. The rest of the night
was a blur, but she remembered bits and pieces. She
remembered knocking on Master Fu's door for what seemed
like forever before he finally opened it. He'd been wearing
Hawaiian print pajamas. For some odd reason, that was one of
the few things she remembered vividly.

It didn't matter that it was the middle of the night and he was in
his pajamas. He'd ushered to her and went to work. She spent
most of the night there, as he fretted about, doing this and that.
Marinette had laid on a warm spot on his floor, fading in and out
of consciousness. She did remember forcing down some
flavorless crackers and drinking some medicinal tea, though.
Spicy and lemony, the tea'd helped strengthen her mind
enough that, as the first rays of morning sun burst over the
horizon, she was ready for the trip back home as Ladybug.

"You can do it, Marinette," Tikki had encouraged her, "It's not
too far." But it had been far. Marinette had vomited on at least
two more unsuspecting Parisian buildings before she finally got
home.

Once she was home, she went to action. She tucked away the
medicinal tea mix that Master Fu had given her, dropped a
random bolt of fabric on the ground, made herself cry by staring
at a bright light (surprisingly easy, what with the seemingly
permanent headache that'd planted itself in her brain), and then
hobbled down the stairs. Her story was simple: she'd tripped on
the bolt of fabric and slammed the back of her head on her
computer desk.

Her parents had been so worried. They rushed her to the

emergency room, where a doctor quickly concluded that she
had a very severe concussion. Bad news, she would be dizzy
and very sensitive to light and sound for awhile. She also
needed to avoid electronics, as they may hurt her healing mind.
Good news, she could take a break from school.

It also meant that she could take a break from superheroing.

This was something Master Fu had to her, rather than the
doctor at the hospital. That was no big deal, though. Paris
would be okay without Ladybug for a few weeks. Her superhero
friends would be fine without her too, although Marinette knew
she would miss them. That was one of the problems with the
secret identities; it meant keeping in contact with Chat Noir,
Rena Rogue, and Carapace was very difficult.

Sometimes, she wished she knew them, outside of the masks.

"Dude, did you get any sleep last night?" Nino asked with a
frown.

Adrien grinned sheepishly and then yawned again, for what

might have been the fiftieth time. "No, honestly, not really. I had
-" he yawned again, "- a shoot this morning before school." The
boy wiped a small, tired tear from the corner of his eye.

The four musketeers were outside again, their lunches

sprawled in front of them. It was a lovely day outside and they
weren't wanting to squander it. It was sunny with a soft breeze,
which was Marinette's favorite kind of weather. It was also
excellent weather for an outdoor nap and poor Adrien looked
ready to use the courtyard's grass as a bed.

"Before school? That sucks," commented Alya as she grabbed

one of the macaroons that Marinette had brought to share.

"Eeh," replied Adrien, shrugging, "my dad actually gave me a

heads-up this time. I was supposed to go to bed early, but…
ah, well, I didn't." He laughed guiltily.

"Didn't what? Go to bed at all?" joked Nino, "Cause that's what

it looks like."

Nino had a point, joke or not. There were dark shadows under
Adrien's eyes. In their morning classes, he'd fallen asleep no
less than two times. "I don't know, I think I maybe got to
sleep…" Adrien closed his eyes and hummed, clearly trying to
recall what he'd been doing last night instead of sleeping, "...
some time past midnight last night? Maybe."

Midnight. Marinette frowned thoughtfully to 'd been about when

Chat Noir had left her apartment the night before. She'd woken
up when he'd eased himself out of her clutches. Stay, she'd
whispered to him, even though it was silly. His suit had a time
limit, and no doubt he had parents or some sort of guardians
who'd be looking for him in the morning. Still, he'd hesitated, his
black leash tail flicking back and forth, as if he was tempted by
the idea.

In the end, he'd left, after giving her a little peck on the
forehead. Sweet dreams, Marinette, he'd told her. Then he was
gone, the window opening and closing as he made his exit.

It was kind of funny that Adrien just so happened to be awake

until that time too, despite an important photo shoot. What were
the chances? She glanced at the exhausted Adrien sitting next
to her. He didn't say what kept him awake so late. Could it
be…?

No, thought Marinette suddenly, I'm being ridiculous . It was

such a silly thing to think about, so she shook her head and
pushed it out of her mind.

"Does this mean you're too tired to go see a movie with us later
today?" Alya asked. Marinette rolled her eyes at the us part.
Alya had a bit of a problem with jumping the gun on plans. This
was the first time Alya had mentioned a movie to Marinette
and, judging by Nino's amused expression, the first time she'd
mentioned it to him too.

Adrien nodded, "Yeah, sorry Alya, I wouldn't last ten minutes."

"That's okay, you need your rest," replied Alya, with a casual
shrug, and then joked, "we can't have Paris' favorite model with
bags under his eyes!" Next, Alya turned to and poked her
boyfriend, "How about you, Nino, you're good with a movie,
right?"

"That depends." Nino raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "What

movie do you want to see?"

Alya's eyes glittered dangerously. However, before she could

say anything, Nino quickly spoke again.

"Alya," Nino said, annoyed, "no. We've seen it four times."

"It's good ," Alya huffed. Her eyes then drifted over to
Marinette, hopeful.

Marinette, too, knew exactly what movie Alya was hinting at.
Laughing, she put her lunch down and wiped at her mouth with
a napkin. "Sorry Alya," she said, "count me out. You've already
dragged me to see Endgame twice. Besides, I'm still
recovering. Bright lights, loud sounds - no thanks. I'm not ready
for that."

The movie theaters in Paris were in no rush to remove

Endgame from their rotation. That meant that Alya had had
plenty of time of time to subject the whole group to her
superhero obsession. Luckily for Marinette, her concussion was
like an ace up her sleeve. There would be no three-hour marvel
movies for her any time soon.

Alya accepted Marinette's reasoning with a groan, before

turning her attention back to her boyfriend. "Come on, babe,"
she pleaded.

The couple bickered amiably back and forth while Marinette

focused on finishing her lunch. Adrien was equally as quiet. In
fact, Marinette wasn't paying him a lot of attention, mostly
instead listening to Nino try to talk his girlfriend into seeing
some other movie that had just came out. Nino was fighting an
uphill battle and it was, admittedly, relatively amusing.

A weight on her shoulder caught Marinette's attention. Blinking,

Marinette glanced sideways and found Adrien slumped against
her. His eyes were mostly closed and his cobb salad was
forgotten in front of him. Oh my , thought Marinette, drawing a
sharp breath of air. Adrien was somewhere around half awake,
his breath slow. He made soft grumbling noises, as if his
drowsy self was annoyed her shoulder wasn't more
comfortable.

Alya and Nino didn't even notice. They were too caught up in
their argument about whether Marvel movies were worth
seeing five times.

That is, they didn't notice, until Adrien moved again. He flopped
sideways, his head falling into Marinette's lap. Most of his limbs
sprawled out sloppily, except for one hand which reached up
and grabbed at Marinette's thigh like it was a pillow. Which,
well, it kinda was for him.

Marinette was trying not to have a heart attack.

Meanwhile, Alya and Nino were trying not to laugh. "Oh my,"
giggled Alya, "Someone's sleepy…"

Marinette struggled to keep her composure, despite her blush.

Gathering all the maturity she could muster, Marinette
chastised Alya in a soft whisper, "Oh, shush, let him sleep."
The poor boy looked like walking death. He deserved a few
minutes of shut eye before class.

Besides, Marinette definitely didn't mind being Adrien's pillow.

There was no reason to wake him up with Alya's teasing.

Thankfully, Alya and Nino rather quickly went back to their

discussion, albeit with quieter voices. When they weren't
looking, Marinette risked toying softly with Adrien's hair. He had
such lovely, blond hair. Reminds me of Chat Noir. The thought
raced through her mind, followed shortly by a throb of mental
pain.

Don't think about that , Marinette reminded herself, thinking

hurts.

She just wanted to enjoy this moment. Here, with Adrien using
her legs as a pillow. Marinette ran her fingers slowly through
Adrien's hair.

That's when the weird noise started. It reminded Marinette of

her laptop when it was struggling to launch a program. Like a
sort of whirring sound. Only, it seemed to be punctuated with
soft breaks every few seconds. Like… breathing.

What the… thought Marinette, her eyes searching the boy

resting partially in her lap. Where was that noise coming from?
She wondered. Carefully, so as to not tickle him, she placed
her other hand on his side.

The rumbling sound was coming from Adrien's chest.

"Impossible," Marinette whispered to no one in particular.

With her left hand, she stroked her fingers through Adrien's
hair, brushing just above the ears, just like she did with Chat
Noir. It was ridiculous, this spontaneous experiment of her. It
was terribly odd for her to pet Adrien like she did Chat Noir.
But, she did it anyways, curiosity getting the better of her.

Despite the impossibility of it, the results were immediate.

Adrien's purring increased ten fold, his body vibrating under
Marinette's hand. She could even feel it in her thighs.

"He's purring," Marinette gasped, accidentally speaking her

thoughts out loud.

Her friends paused from their Marvel argument and looked over
at her. Alya quirked one eyebrow up and laughed softly, "What?
No way." She leaned forward, listening. Nino, blinking owlishly,
did the same.

This wasn't right. Although Marinette couldn't quite explain why,

she really regretted drawing Alya and Nino's attention to…. it .
The noise. The world didn't need to be privy to the fine details
of Adrien's sleep. That included their friends, as well. Heck, it
included Marinette too, who was starting to feel like she was
somehow snooping on the boy buzzing in her lap.

Oddly enough, after a few moments of listening, Alya just

laughed. "Marinette, he's snoring," she said, rolling her eyes,
"he's just exhausted. I think you're just nervous, that's all." Was
she just nervous? Was the rumbling really snoring? Marinette
began doubting herself.

"Relax, Marinette," Nino spoke kinder, "take it slow." There was

something ironic about that statement, but Marinette couldn't
put her finger on it.

Leaning closer to her boyfriend, Alya whispered loud enough

for Marinette to hear, "If they go any slower, their first date will
be bingo in a retirement home." Flushing, Marinette babbled
what could barely be called words. Both Nino and Alya were
keenly aware of her crush on Adrien, so she couldn't be
surprised much by the tease.

In the end, Marinette ended up sticking her tongue out at Alya.

It was the most mature response that Marinette could produce.
Alya just laughed and returned the gesture.

"So anyways. Ironman, Nino, Ironman. We have to go see it

again. You know I love Tony Stark!"

"Why can't you love Aladdin a little? Or John Wick?"

"Because no, Nino." The two continued their argument, but

Marinette stopped paying attention.

She ran her fingers through Adrien's hair again.

I'm not imagining it , she thought, frowning. The noise rumbling

out of his chest was not snoring. It was nothing like snoring.
From the origin of the sound (in his chest) to it's rumbly-ness
(rather than soft breathing in and out), it was definitely not
snoring. How on earth could Alya and Nino reach that
conclusion? Surely they had to notice it. It was obvious.

Obvious.

Marinette sucked on her lower lip.

She only knew one other person who purred like this. A person
with blond hair and green eyes. A person with about the same
height and build as the one on her lap. A person who got
strangely sad after the explosion at Agreste mansion, the same
explosion which had sent the famous designer (who also
happened to be Adrien's dad) in a strange, spiraling
depression.

There were so many other clues. Clues that had always been
in Marinette's head, but for some reason had been
compartmentalized as "unimportant." Like how Chat Noir
always went towards the Agreste mansion after finishing
missions. Like how Adrien had never been akumatized. Or, like
how she'd never see Chat Noir and Adrien in the same room at
the same time.

All the dots connected themselves in Marinette's head. It was

obvious, after all. Painfully so.

Adrien was Chat Noir.

As soon as that critical thought appeared in her mind, so did

the intense pain. Like an avalanche, it tried to smother her
thoughts. Marinette whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut. She
moved, reacting involuntarily to the awful pain that filled her
cranium.

She clung to her revelation, though. As her senses went

haywire, her ears pounding with sharp noises, Marinette held
that thought in her mind. Adrien is Chat Noir , she told herself,
Adrien is Chat Noir . She wouldn't lose this thought to the
waves of pain that wracked her brain. She wouldn't let the pain
take it from her.

Then, thankfully, it started to subside. The sounds around her

started to stabilize; Marinette felt like a radio tuning into a
signal. She heard a voice, cooing to her gently, telling her, "It's
okay, hey, you're okay, Marinette, just breathe." Adrien. Adrien
was talking to her, trying to help. Her heart swelled.

A hand brushed her cheek, wiping away tears she didn't even
realize were there.

"I'm going to take her to the nurse's," she heard Adrien say.

Then his arms were wrapping around her, lifting her up against
his chest. "Okay, we'll tell the teacher," Alya's voice replied.

Then they were moving. Marinette focused on calming herself.

Most of the pain had left her skull, but there was a pit of panic
in her chest. Panic over the fact that, all this time, the boy she'd
been infatuated with had been her masked best friend. Heck,
she regularly cuddled with him! That meant that Adrien had
spent countless nights, curled up with Marinette in her bed.

Marinette was pretty sure she could open her eyes again, but
she wasn't sure if she wanted to. Her face was hot as the
surface of the sun. It didn't help that she could hear the beating
of Adrien's heart in her left ear, steady and strong. Chat Noir's
heart , she thought.

Cool air tickled her face as Adrien pushed through the school's
door. The hallways were loud, but the sounds were bearable.
She heard a few of her classmates, asking Adrien if she was
okay as they passed. "She's got a bad headache," he told them
simply.

Marinette was starting to wonder if her headaches were entirely

normal. She was going to have a talk with Tikki about it.

"Oh, dear," the nurse said as they reached the end of their
journey, "is she unconscious? Here, put her down on this bed."

"I think she's awake," Adrien answered as he followed her

instructions. The infirmary's bed was hard, covered with a
crinkly sheet of thin paper. A hand - Adrien's hand - played
softly with one of her pigtails. "She's been having headaches
this week."

"Yes, well, that's part of having a concussion. Let me go call her

parents." The nurse's shoes clicked against the tile, telling
Marinette that the nurse had walked away.

Finally, Marinette dared to pry an eye open.

"Hey," Adrien whispered, noticing her, "how are you doing,

princess?"

Princess. A tiny giggle escaped Marinette. "I think my brain

hates me," she whispered back to him.

"Nah, it's just a little grumpy," Adrien replied. His hand was still
playing with her pigtail, slipping his fingers slowly through her
black hair. Gulping, he added, his voice soft and rough, "You
scared me a bit, there."

Embarrassed, Marinette looked away from Adrien, "I'm sorry.

Sometimes, when I think too hard… it hurts." That was kind of
lame way of explaining it, but she didn't know how else to say
it.

The bed shook a bit as Adrien leaned on it, bringing himself

closer to her. "What were you thinking about?" He asked
curiously.

Marinette swallowed deeply. Could she tell him? Should she tell
him? It wasn't her business to know, but she now did. Master
Fu had once told them that there'd be a time and place for
revealing identities. Here, in the nurse's infirmary, hardly
seemed like the place.

Also, admitting that she knew… that would be the same as

admitting, Adrien, it's you that I've been cuddling with in the
dead hours of the night. It's you, well, you with a mask, that I've
almost kissed more than once. Chat Noir and Marinette had
never actually kissed, but it was hard to forget about that draw,
considering the intensity of their weird intimacy. Hell, they'd
taken naps together, heads pressed together.

Instead of replying to Adrien normally, Marinette ended up

gurgling like a noisy faucet.

"Marinette?" Quirking one of his eyebrows up, his hand left her
hair and traveled up to her forehead. "You're a bit warm."

Warm, like his body through his suit when they cuddled. Oh my
god, Marinette thought, exasperated, what is wrong with my
thoughts right now? "I'm okay. I'm just being stupid." Her voice
was raspy.

"No, you're not," huffed Adrien, "you're never stupid."

Then how come it took me so long to realize who you are?

Luckily, Marinette's brain wasn't addled enough to say that out
loud. "You're too kind."

"Only to you," he smiled, and then did something crazy. Much

to Marinette's surprise, Adrien leaned down and pressed his
lips to her forehead. Marinette became incapable of making
actual words once again. He chuckled and tapped her cheek
playfully. "Get some rest. Think less, if that helps. Or," the next
few words sounded nervous yet playful, "think of me."

Clearly, Marinette must have died and gone to heaven. That

whack on her head, when she slipped on the Eiffel tower, must
have done her in. There was no way that this was real.

Adrien Agreste was flirting with her.

Then, Adrien's cheeks reddened and he cleared his throat, "Ah,

that is, um, if you want. I… uuh…" He glanced towards the
door and rubbed his neck. "I think, uh, I'm going to go now…"
As peculiar as it was, her superhero-best-friend-and-crush
looked downright embarrassed at his own flirting. It was so cute
that Marinette actually felt a bit emboldened.

Before he could walk away, Marinette reached forward and

grabbed his wrist, "Do you want to come over after school?"
She asked him, the words pouring out of her mouth.

Just like that, Marinette asked Adrien on a date.

Alya was going to owe her twenty bucks. Although, Marinette

would have to survive this moment first, before cashing in on
that ancient bet.

Adrien smiled lopsidedly for a moment, his green eyes locking

with hers. "Yeah, okay." But then, a moment passed and his
smile fell. "Oh. Um. I actually am busy after school today. I've
got this thing I've got to go to with my dad…"

"Oh," Marinette tried not to let her disappointment show, "A,

um, photo shoot?" It seemed a bit excessive to have one in the
morning and then again after school, but Gabriel Agreste was
very passionate about his company. His passion, unfortunately,
meant Adrien got signed up for an excessive amount of those
silly shoots. Some of them, like the one this morning, left him
exhausted.

Oh, thought Marinette, as she suddenly remembered Adrien's

lack of sleep. Caught up in her own massive realizations, she'd
completely forgotten that Adrien needed sleep. He wasn't
yawning at the moment, but he still had the dark shadows
under his eyes. He needs to sleep , she thought with guilt.

"Oh, no, ah, it's ah, ah, a thing," Adrien looked really
uncomfortable. He looked down at where Marinette was still
holding onto his wrist.

A thing . Maybe this was just Adrien's polite way of saying no. It
was probably because he was downright tired and needed to
go home and crash (which was very understandable). This train
of thought was very logical.

However, there a tiny part of her mind that began to panic.

What if Adrien just didn't like her like that? What if what she
thought was flirting was just him, being friendly? This train of
thought was dramatic and pessimistic, but Marinette couldn't
help it. She was just a teenager, and teenagers were allowed
mental hyperbole.

She let go of his wrist.

"Oh, okay," she whispered, looking away from him. I'm just
Chat Noir's friend , she thought, and I'm just Adrien's friend .
She had no right to get her hopes up.

The bed shifted as Adrien stepped closer, bumping into it. His
hands clenched onto the little guard rail at the side of the
medical bed. Marinette dared to meet his gaze once again. The
boy looked torn. "I'm sorry Marinette, I can't cancel. It's sort
of… ahh…"

"No, it's-it's fine, y-you don't have to tell me," stuttered

Marinette, feeling guilty. Why was she being so ridiculous?
Adrien had literally passed out not five minutes ago. He was
tired and busy. Busier than I'd known , she thought to herself,
what with superheroing as well as modeling filling his schedule.

"It's our weekly therapy session," Adrien blurted out.

Therapy? Marinette blinked owlishly at Adrien, surprised. "Oh,"

was all that she managed to say.

Adrien was bright red. "Ever since… a while ago, um, my

father, he's been trying to, I don't know, change, and um, we
started, like, going together, and it's actually really good, but it's
also really embarrassing, and, um, but I can't miss it and, uh…"

"That's wonderful," Marinette told him, her voice firm yet kind.
She reached out again, putting her hand on top of his, and
repeated herself, "Seriously, Adrien, that's wonderful."

Her favorite boy on the planet dropped his gaze to the ground
shyly. She watched as his other hand reached up to touch at
the base of his neck. Where his bell usually is , she realized.
She'd seen Chat play with that bell a hundred times.

"Thanks," Adrien told her, his voice rough with emotion.

"Marinette…" He picked up his gaze and met hers. "Thank you
for always understanding."

"Okay, so I talked to her parents." Both of them startled, having

forgotten about the nurse. She walked back into the infirmary,
her shoes clicking on the tile. "Ah, I see you're awake. Well,
anyways, your parents will be here soon to pick you up." The
nurse looked pointedly at Adrien, "You can go back to class,
young man."

"Yes ma'am," Adrien replied politely. The nurse stepped to the

other side of the room, giving them one last moment of privacy.
"Marinette," sighed Adrien, as he flipped his hand around,
intertwining his fingers with hers. Squeezing her hand, he
promised, "I'll see you tomorrow." Tomorrow. Tomorrow was an
eternity away.

"Tonight," Marinette told him, her selfish impulses getting the

better of her.

Tilting his head in confusion, Adrien repeated, "Tonight?"

"I'll leave my window unlocked," she promised absent-

mindedly, "we can nap." Her brain was already mixing the two,
Adrien and Chat Noir. It wasn't until Adrien's face changed, his
eyes widened and his mouth falling open, that she realized she
had said too much.

Adrien didn't visit her through the window. That was Chat Noir.
Not to mention the napping aspect, which was also exclusively
a Chat Noir thing.

"Uh."

"Uh."

They both stared at each other. Marinette knew she really

should say something, undo the damage. I'm joking, of course,
haha, how could you, normal, non-magical Adrien, climb up
four stories? Hahaha. Also what, napping? That'd be weird,
what's wrong with me? I definitely don't have a habit of cuddling
with strangers who come through my window at night. But
before Marinette could attempt any sort feeble damage control,
the nurse walked back over, shoo-ing Adrien out.

Marinette sat behind the counter of the bakery, watching her

parents serve Parisians a wide variety of delicious pastries.
Annoyingly, her parents wouldn't let her help. "You should be
resting," her mother said, "you came home from school early
today because of your headaches. And now you want to work?
Marinette." The way Sabine Dupein-Cheng said her daughter's
name was with firm mother-disapproval.

"I feel better now," complained Marinette, crossing her arms. It

was true, her head was feeling leaps and bounds better.
Marinette was starting to feel normal again.

"No, Marinette," her mother stated flatly.

Ding , chimed Marinette's phone. Pulling it out, Marinette read

the text message.

"Marinette," her mother's voice was exasperated, "seriously.

Put down the phone, go upstairs, and rest."

Sighing, Marinette slipped her phone back into her pocket and
stood up. "Fine, okay. I'm going. By the way, Alya wants to
come by after school. Is that okay?" Her parents had been
picky about Alya's visits after she'd gotten her concussion. You
need rest had been Sabine's mantra for the week.

"That's fine, but no video games or television yet."

"Mom, the doctor said electronics were fine now."

"Marinette." Sabine was pulling the mom-knows-best card, and

Marinette knew she wouldn't win.

"Okay, okay, no video games, no television." Or at least, neither

of those things with the volume turned on.

Marinette was halfway up the stairs when her mom spoke

again. "Honey," Sabine said, and Marinette hesitated, looking
back down, "you know, your other friends can visit you, if you'd
like."

Her mother must have meant the other students in her class.
Rose, Alika, Juleka, and all the others. While Marinette was still
friends with them, as she'd been in freshman year, she just
never felt that close to them. She never felt with those girls like
what she felt with Alya, Nino, and Adrien. "It's fine, mom, I see
the other girls at school."

"I don't mean just the girls," Sabine added, walking over to the
foot of the stairs, "but, you know, boys too."

Blanching, Marinette spluttered, "What?"

"Well, you know, you could always invite Adrien over," casually
explained Sabine, "he's such a polite young man. Maybe I
could make you two dinner. That'd be nice, wouldn't it be?"

Marinette was absolutely dying inside. "Mom!" she shouted,

blushing, "Don't be weird!"

"It's not weird to invite a boy over, Marinette," Sabine tutted,

"when I was your age, I had quite a few young men who were
interested in spending time with me." Behind Sabine, Tom
chuckled and shook his head.

"Honey," he advised his wife, his one word communicating

caution to his wife.

Completely lost for words and blushing too hard, Marinette just
yelped, "Mom!" before turning on heel and run up the rest of
the stairs. She threw herself through the trap-door entrance to
her room, her breathing erratic. Why did her mother insist on
being so embarrassing?

The trap-door was still open. "Oh well," Marinette heard her
mother say, her voice carrying up the stairs.

"You were a bit heavy handed there, Sabine," her father said,
sounding more amused than anything else.

"Well, I want grandchildren eventually, Tom." Oh lord, Marinette

felt like vomiting. She could hear in her mom's tone that she
was kidding, but that didn't make it any less horrifying.

"Let's not rush that," laughed Tom, "I'm happy waiting another
ten or twenty years."

Marinette did not want to hear any more of her parents

conversation. Dropping the trap-door shut, she walked away
and over to her desk.

"Today's been a weird day, Tikki."

The red-and-black kwami floated out of Marinette's purse and

settled down on the desk. "Yes, I know," sighed the kwami, "I'm
sure you have some questions for me?"

"Will you answer them this time?" Marinette asked as she dug
through her drawers. She was searching for the special tea
mixture that Master Fu had given to her. Right now, she felt like
she needed it's calming assistance.

Wringing her tiny hands together, Tikki nodded, "Yes. I could

feel it when you had your realization today."

"When I realized Adrien is Chat Noir," Marinette clarified.

"Yes," the kwami cleared her throat, "yes, that."

The tea mixture was hidden in the back of her drawer, shoved
behind rolls of thread. Marinette yanked it out and dropped it
onto the table, next to Tikki. As she busied herself with filling
her little electric water kettle with bottled water, she grumbled to
Tikki, "What I don't understand is why I didn't see it before now.
Now, it seems… so obvious." She'd spent countless nights
sharing a bed with Chat Noir, playing with his blond hair and
secretly admiring his green eyes. Yet, at no point, did her brain
realize that that masked boy was a carbon copy of one of her
best friends.

"That's kind of the thing." Tikki's eyes followed Marinette's

movements, watching her as she scooped up some of the tea
leaves into a little metal tea infuser. "It is obvious. You guys
aren't exactly the best actors, or the best liars for that matter."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Tikki paused and breathed deeply, as if judging which

words to use, "if there was no magic protecting the miraculous
holders, your identities would have been outed a long time ago.
Teenagers aren't exactly known for being subtle."

This idea wasn't entirely foreign to Marinette. In the past, she'd

considered that there was a good possibility that the
miraculouses made it difficult to recognize the wielder based on
looks. After all, how many girls had black hair and blue eyes?
Not many. Although Marinette had a feeling what Tikki was
hinting at was a bit more complicated than just that. "What
exactly does this magic do?"

"Well, the magic stops people from noticing things. Things that
would give your identity away. It suppresses thoughts, causes
people to ignore certain things." The water kettle began to
bubble. "For example, if someone was trying to figure out who
might be Ladybug, your name would never cross their mind."

Mug in hand, Marinette stared at the water kettle intensely. Her

mind was rolling with thoughts. "But," she said, "then how come
I could figure out who Chat Noir was? Is my brain so messed
up that the magic isn't working?" She knew that her injury had
been bad, but it seemed silly to think her brain was messed up
to the point that magic was being rendered nonfunctional.

"Well, no, it's sort of the opposite," vaguely responded Tikki. As

Marinette poured hot water into her mug, Tikki had knowing
look on her face.

"Opposite?" Steam rose up from the mug.

"It's more like, your magic is too strong."

That response caused Marinette to hesitate, completely

befuddled. "My magic? What on earth are you talking about?"
The physical damage to her brain shouldn't have caused an
increase to her miraculous powers. After all, her powers came
from Tikki, and it wasn't Tikki who had a concussion.

"Yes, your magic. Well, our magic. The magic of the Ladybug
miraculous. There are ways to strengthen it, which can be
especially useful." Tikki flew closer to the mug, which was full of
the spicy, lemony tea from Master Fu, and touched the handle.
"Especially if one is in need of intensive healing."

Suddenly, Marinette recalled a memory from the night she got

her concussion. She'd been laying on the floor, fading in and
out of consciousness. Master Fu'd come up to her, holding a
hot cup of tea. This'll make you stronger , he'd told her. He'd
stayed there and helped her down the whole cup. Sure enough,
it definitely had seemed to help, it's warmth trickling through
her body and helping her feel less dead.

"The tea," Marinette realized.

"Yes," acknowledged Tikki, "it's a special blend, meant to

enhance certain magics. Unfortunately, a side effect is that your
magic starts to overwhelm the magic of the other
miraculouses."

"That does explain a lot…" Marinette muttered, blowing on the

hot tea. It would explain why her headaches had almost felt like
a fight at some points, like she'd been pushing against an
invisible wall. That invisible wall had been the magic of her
teammates miraculouses, magic that was intent on keeping her
from noticing the quirks in their behaviors.

With a sigh, Marinette plopped herself down in her desk chair

and curled her feet under her. Her mind were rolling with
complex thoughts and a new headache was building up. There
was one big issue: Adrien wasn't the only one around whom
she'd experienced those kinds of headaches. Hell, now that
Marinette was thinking about it, she could distinctly remember a
particularly bad headache she'd got from one of Alya's visits, a
few days after she'd gotten her concussion.

"Alya," Marinetted gasped softly. There was something odd

about Alya, something that triggered the same kind of
headaches.

"Oh Marinette, please, let them tell you. Don't try and figure it
out," pleaded Tikki, her big black eyes full of worry. They were
probably breaking numerous protocols, what with Marinette
guessing the identities of the other miraculous wielders. But, it
was kind of hard to stop. It was hard to ignore what was plain to
see.

However, Marinette did try to concede to Tikki's request.

Banishing the dangerous train of thought, she instead focused
on her tea. It's sweet smell filled Marinette's senses and helped
her relax. Slowly, the new headache she'd gotten by daring to
think about Alya started to fade.

She sat there, sipping her tea and staring out the window.
School would release soon.

"Alya's coming over today," muttered Marinette, as the thought

suddenly popped up in her mind.

"So she is," Tikki replied, peeking an eye open. The kwami had
curled up in a spot of sunlight, at the edge of the desk.

"I'll try not to… notice things."

"Thank you, Marinette."

The two of them settled into a peaceful silence for a few

minutes. Faintly, Marinette could hear the sounds of her
parents in the bakery and the light chatter of customers.

Ding.

The chime of her phone interrupted the peace. Had Alya sent
her another message? Marinette fished her phone out and
clicked it open. Then, she gasped and blushed.

Adrien Agreste

One new message

The tea wasn't the only thing giving her a warm feeling now.
Marinette forced herself to take another calming sip of the tea
before opening the message. It read:

Adrien Agreste

So would you consider yourself a cat person?

The text message made Marinette choke on air. "Oh my god,"

she muttered, cradling her phone closer to herself. So, it
seemed that her slip up in the infirmary had been enough. He
knew she knew. Or at least, he suspected it. Either way, it
explained this flirty text message from the boy of her dreams.
The boy of her dreams, who also was the masked superhero
who cuddled with her at night.

Marinette had no idea how she should respond to his message.

In fact, she had no idea how she should respond to all of this. It
was complicated, amazing, and nerve-wracking.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Marinette groaned aloud.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Tikki told her reassuringly, a hint of
amusement in her tone.