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“Shit.” Ladybug ran through her school corridors, the spots on her earrings beeping aggressively. She needed to find somewhere to hide before her transformation wore off, class was due to end any minute and transforming out in the open was simply a fast way to ensure that Hawkmoth would be able to harass her as a civilian.
Willing on Tikki to give her some good luck, she spotted a door leading somewhere that wasn’t a classroom. “That will have to do.” She muttered as she rushed towards it, swinging it open and rushing inside before slamming the door behind her.
In a rush of sparks her transformation dissolved and Tikki materialised. “Uhh, Ladybug?” The tiny God looked over her shoulder. “Don’t turn around.”
Before Marinette could question her little friend, another rush of sparks filled the small space as she suddenly became aware of a body behind her. She immediately knew who it was. Afterall, who else could it be?
“Um Chat?”
“Yes Bugaboo?”
“You’re here. In this cupboard. With me…”
“Yes?”
There was an awkward moment of silence as the pair processed the fact that they were in a cramped cupboard together in their civilian forms.
“Did you see anything?” For some reason, Marinette didn’t feel upset at the thought of him knowing who she was. After all, she was the guardian, there was no one to take her miraculous from her.
“No, did you?”
“I didn’t, Tikki stopped me from turning around.”
“And we should get going shouldn’t we Ladybug?” Tikki piped up from where she had been floating overhead, presumably with Plagg.
“Awww man, do you have to go just yet Sugarcube? I thought we were having fun!”
Before an argument could break out between the two Gods, Adrien reached into his pocket and pulled out a wedge of Camembert.
“Ooh Camembert!” The black God was immediately distracted, flying down to land in his holder’s hand.
“Such a pig.” Chat chuckled, “Okay M’lady, I will cover my eyes if you want to leave first.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Marinette waited for her partner’s confirmation before pushing at the door. She pushed once, twice, three times but the door was stuck.
“Kitty, it’s not opening.”
“Let me try.” Adrien stepped forward, awkwardly shuffling past Marinette in the small space. The pigtailed girl covered her eyes as he attempted to succeed where she had failed but to no avail.
The pair were so absorbed in their struggle with the door that they didn’t notice Plagg phasing through the back wall, dragging Tikki with him. “C’mon Sugarcube. It’s about time, plus it will be funny. Serves him right for buying me the cheap cheese again.”
With only a small protest, Tikki allowed herself to be led in the direction of the school kitchen where the black Kwami was sure to gorge himself on the leftover food from the day.
Meanwhile, the pair in the cupboard had given up. “It seems to be completely jammed or something.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think of a solution. “Oh, I’ll just use cataclysm. Plagg, Claws out!”
The blond stood expectantly in his transformation pose, only for nothing to happen. “Uh, Plagg?” There was no response.
“Tikki?” Marinette tried calling her Kwami but no red God appeared. “Have they disappeared? Do you think an Akuma got them?” The black-haired girl reached for her earlobes and upon feeling the miraculous still in place breathed a sigh of relief.
“I bet Plagg went to the kitchen, walking black hole that he is. He must have taken Tikki with him.”
“That means we were stuck until they get back, unless...” She checked her phone. “Nope, school is over. No one is coming to let us out.”
“Not so catastrophic being stuck with you Bugaboo.”
Marinette tried to ignore how her cheeks heated up at the words. Over the years that they had worked together the cat hero - and his puns - had grown on her, not that she would have ever admitted it, after all, her heart still belonged to Adrien.
Sliding down the wall the pigtailed girl settled herself on the floor, not worrying about facing her partner as the darkness of the cupboard made it impossible to discern any facial features. “We might as well make ourselves comfortable.”
Chat Noir joined his partner on the floor, a sigh escaping his mouth. “Shall we play a game M’lady? It might help pass the time.”
“What sort of game?”
“What about truth or dare?”
“There isn’t really any room to do any dares.”
“Okay truths then.”
Marinette let out a long-suffering sigh. “Chat, we have spoken about this before. A game of truths might lead to us discovering each other’s identities.”
“C’mon Bugaboo. There are so many people living in Paris. The chances of us knowing each other well enough that a simple game of truths can expose our identities is extremely low. Please?” He attempted to send his kitten eyes across the darkened room towards his partner. Much to Adrien’s surprise, it seemed to work.
“Okay, fine. But no revealing questions.”
“I’ll start. What is your… favourite colour?”
“Pink.”
“Oh, that’s the same as Ma-my friend.” Adrien blushed slightly in the safety of the darkness. Why has his mind immediately jumped to Marinette?
“Okay, Kitty. What is your favourite food?”
“Oooh, that is a tricky question Bug. Basically anything from my favourite bakery, Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie? Do you know it, I love it there! Especially the croissants and passionfruit macarons.”
“O-oh. I didn’t know that we- I mean they sold passionfruit macarons.” Her eyebrows drew together in thought. She knew that her parents didn’t make any passionfruit macarons for the counter and she had only made them once, for Adrien. She tuned back in to hear Chat continuing to speak.
“-and honestly it was one of the nicest gifts I have ever been given, I mean fresh macaroons. You can’t go wrong!”
“Uh, who gave them to you?” Marinette ventured, too curious to worry about the potential consequences.
“My good friend Marinette!”
She could almost see his grin in the dark as her world shattered around her.
“-she is just so sweet and amazing and just so brave-”
She could hear snippets as he rambled on, her brain processing the new information. There was only one person who she had given passionfruit macarons to, only one person who referred to her as a good friend in that exact tone of voice.
“-I call her my everyday ladybug because she kinda reminds me of you-”
Everything was falling into place. Her silly, sweet kitty and the kind, gentle Adrien were the same. She wondered how she never saw it before.
“...M’lady?” Chat’s voice was suddenly right next to her ear causing her to jump. “What are you thinking about? Dreaming of my good looks again?”
“I think we have fucked up.”
“What?”
“I’m pretty sure I have worked out your identity… Adrien.”
“Oh shit. Shit-shit-shit-shit. Please don’t take my miraculous. If you know me you must know what my life is like. I can’t do it without Plagg. Please M’lady.”
“Calm down. I’m not going to take your miraculous, I need my kitty too much for that.”
“You… you need me?” Adrien sounded confused as if the thought had never occurred to him.
“Yes mon minou, of course I do. You are my partner.” Her heart broke upon hearing the hope in his voice. Did he really not know what he meant to her?
“But-” “But what. My silly kitty, stop with all this nonsense.” Marinette reached over to put her hand over his mouth but missed, her hand going over his shoulder. The momentum carried her forward leading her to fall in the cramped space, bringing Adrien down with her.
“M’lady! Are you okay?” Adrien moved his hands, dusting them around her head to check for bruises or lumps.
“Yeah…” Marinette groaned, “I’m just madly clumsy.”
“I remember you said that the first day we met! Though I haven’t seen much of this so-called clumsiness bugaboo.”
“I think the suit helps me when I am Ladybug. It’s out of the suit that I am always falling over.” She let out a soft giggle, “My poor friends, I am always falling on them.”
The thought of her friends suddenly brought into sharp focus the situation she was in. Tangled on a storage cupboard floor with Adrien Agreste. She felt her cheeks start to burn and felt even more grateful for the cover of darkness as she untangled herself and moved to sit alongside her partner.
Unable to see his face, it had been easier for her to fall into old conversation patterns of simply Ladybug and Chat Noir. The longer they talked, the more she could see elements of Adrien peeking through and the more the two mixed in her mind. It seemed unbelievable that she didn’t realise who was hidden under the mask of Adrien Agreste years before.
“Bug?” She was brought back to the present with a slight nudge. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” She sighed, “I was just thinking about how unfair it was that I know your identity but you don’t know mine…”
“You don’t have to tell me,” His voice was soft, “I was stupid and revealed too much. I know how important keeping your identity secret is to you. I wouldn’t want my mistake to screw that up.”
“No kitty… You have nothing to be sorry for, I wish we could have done it under more planned circumstances but we both know that this identity reveal has been long overdue.” She reached over to take his hand. “And Adrien? You are the best Chat Noir I could have asked for.”
He gripped her hand tight under the cover of darkness. “Whoever you are under the mask Ladybug, I want you to know that I love you.”
Marinette let out a squeak at his confession. “But I’m just me! I’m not a superhero like Ladybug, I don’t know how to fight monsters or lead people or be a perfect guardian. I'm just me, just Marinette.”
“Marinette?!” Adrien let out a gasp of delight. “You mean you are my Marinette? My everyday ladybug?”
She mumbled out a small yeah.
“Of course! Who else could it have been?” His mind was flooded with a realisation as everything clicked into place. His feelings towards Marinette, unconsciously suppressed, burst to light with a new vengeance.
He reached over and took her face in his hands. “What do you mean ‘just you’? Marinette, you are one of the most incredible people I have ever met. You manage to stand up to monsters like Lila in your everyday life, you lead the class and you do the best you can to help everyone, homeschooled freaks like me included. I call you my everyday Ladybug because you reminded me of Ladybug without the mask. You are purrfect both in the mask and out.” “
Really?” Marinette's voice was quiet. “You think of me like that?”
“Of course I do Princess.”
With the nickname came a sudden rush of courage. This was just Chat, her partner, there was nothing to be scared of. “I… I love you too Kitty. I’m sorry for not seeing you sooner.”
Adrien’s heart leapt up into his chest. “But what about the other guy?”
“You are the other guy. I was so blinded by Adrien that I couldn't see Chat.”
“And I was so blinded by Ladybug that I couldn’t see Marinette.”
There was a moment of silence, both breathing quietly in the darkness, breath mingling as they realised how close together they were.
“Marinette?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I kiss you?”
“Yeah.”
His heart was in this throat as he leant forward to capture her lips with his, closing the short distance between them. She let out a sigh as they touched moving forward to wrap an arm around his back as they explored one another.
Before the kiss could progress any further, a sudden blast of light shocked the pair apart.
“Oi! What do you think you are doing?!” A rather angry looking janitor stood in the doorway. “Get out of my cupboard before I report you.”
Adrien quickly scrambled up, pulling Marinette after him. “We are very sorry sir.” He pulled her further away and down the corridor, the pair breaking into a brief run.
“Shit that was a close one.” Marinette looked at Adrien, half of her mind focused on the current situation, the other half still back in the cupboard, lost in the kiss.
“Yeah.” Adrien gave out a laugh, his face lit up with joy. “C’mon bug, let's go find those pesky Kwami.”
He looked at the love of his life, she looked back and they both knew that this was a new chapter for their partnership. A chapter in which they would grow stronger, better and maybe even a chapter in which they would defeat Hawkmoth.