Ladybug blinked, trying to process. Christmas always made her happy. The colours of the lights. The smells of fresh baked cookies. The snuggles on the couch watching a movie together with her parents. The excitement of homemade gifts. This was her favourite season! But, Chat - obviously it wasn’t the same. 

“Oh,” was all she could think of to say, her brain already slipping into planning mode. Something had to be done. No one should be unhappy at the happiest season of the year! She looked around the view of Paris, pieces of an idea popping into place in a typically Marinette/Ladybug fashion. 

“I have an idea.” 

Chat looked at her startled when she got to her feet. 

“An idea for what?” 

“An idea for you. Come on. Follow me.” And then she was swinging across Paris.  It took longer than she expected to arrive at her destination - a large building built like a square. Landing on the rooftop, she turned to find Chat close behind, a confused look on his face. 

“What are we doing here?” he asked. 

“Look,” she replied. A simple gesture brought his attention to the ice track laid out on the top of the building in a long path. “Transform to ice.” 

He gave her a startled look, shocked as she gulped down one of her power up macrons. Fumbling through his pockets, he followed her lead. 

“What are we doing?” he asked again. She just laughed, grabbing his hand and dragging him onto the ice. 

“Come on. I think you just need some fun.” 

She had to admit that the sheer look of surprise on his face was worth it. It took a few laps around the icy path before his usual boyish grin took over and he started to show off with spins and acrobatic displays. It felt like hours later when they both collapsed onto a bench with tired legs and hearts full of laughter. Ladybug felt thankful that her little plan had worked. She never wanted to see that hollow look on his face ever again. 

“Thank you, Ladybug,” he said softly, dropping his ice transformation with a sigh. “I needed that. Christmas season is just …  hard for me. It makes me think of someone I miss a lot.” Throwing his head back, he stared at the sky a moment before grabbing her hand for his trademarked knuckle kiss. 

“Anyway, thank you for the special evening. I should probably get going - I have a crazy day tomorrow and need to get some sleep.” 

Still on the bench, she watched him vault away. Detransforming, she sat there for longer with Tikki as the little kwami chomped away at a cookie. 

“Oh, Tikki. I wish I knew more about Chat Noir. Who could he miss so much that he gets that sad over the holidays?” 

Tikki simply chewed, not answering. Marinette sighed. “I know. I just wish I could do something to make Christmas special and happy for him instead.” 

It took all of 5 minutes for a massive, crazy, totally insane idea to come together. Changing back to Ladybug, she swung home, brain whirling with plans, knowing there was little chance of sleep for her creative self yet again. 

-----

Hands fussed with his hair. Others pulled at his clothes. Voices barked out orders as people raced around, moving props and backgrounds. The chaos of a photoshoot never got easier. The sooner he could get through these “fake happiness” last minute winter shoots, mostly for social media, the better. The head photographer shouted him in place - telling me which way to stand or sit, what to hold, how to pose, what face to wear. His body and expressions moved on auto-pilot. His thoughts wandered to the memories of the skating he’d done with Ladybug the night before. She understood him in a way that no one else likely ever would - able to read his REAL body expressions. 

“Adrien Agreste, get your head out of the clouds and down here onto the fake snow,” someone snapped, pulling his full attention back to the business at hand. 

The day promised to be one of chaos. Early photoshoot, obligatory fitness workout, rehearsal for a big presentation at an upcoming Christmas charity event, guest appearance on behalf of his father at two different events, another short photoshoot (outdoors - which sounded uncomfortable), followed by an evening at the 2nd or 3rd Christmas gala of the season. Hopefully there would be time to eat somewhere in there. 

Rushing from thing to thing on his schedule, Adrien mused over the busyness. Why did Christmas obligate people to fill their lives with meaningless activities and fake smiles? He would give anything to just sit together with his family and enjoy each other’s company in quietude. 

By the time he arrived home from the gala, dressed to the nines in one of his father’s top-line suits, that hollow feeling had returned. The oversized tree sparkling with lights and silver ornaments screamed how fake this holiday season felt - meaningless, impersonal, and just there because of obligation. 

He was too tired to do much else, stripping down to slip into some comfortable pajamas and tossing an extra chunk of cheese at his kwami. Briefly, he transformed, mostly to check if there were any messages on his baton. 

One unread message. 

“Hey Chat, I have this idea. Can we get together tomorrow? Say…. 10pm? The tower?” 

He typed back a quick message in agreement, mentally sifting through the day’s schedule, then flopped himself onto his bed with muttered words to transform back into his civilian clothes. 

At 9:45pm, Chat Noir burst out of Adrien’s bedroom window and raced over the rooftops. The snow from two days earlier had vanished, leaving things with a slightly damp look. Crisp winter air singed his cheeks, but it felt refreshing after yet another busy day. 

Ladybug stood waiting at their usual Eiffel Tower hangout, a large bag slung over her back. 

“So, what’s up, LB?” he asked, wondering what exactly she hid in a bag that size. 

“Follow me,” she said, jumping away. Whatever hid in the bag rattled as she took off. He hurried to keep up with her as she yo-yoed across the city, landing finally in a small park. She slipped the bag from her back, the rattling (and possible jingle?) sounding out. She unzipped it with deliberate slowness, giving him a grin. 

Inside sat decorations. 

“What are we -” he cut himself off as she laughed, pulling one of the silver spheres from her trove. 

“We’re going to decorate this tree. Together. It’s an important Christmas tradition!” 

Suddenly, he realized that he hadn’t even noticed the large evergreen tree in front of them. He must have frozen long enough with his mouth open in surprise that Ladybug had managed to hang 4 or 5 ornaments before asking if he was going to help. Springing into action, he carefully grabbed a ball and placed it onto the tree. A few ornaments later, he found himself wonderously tangled by tinsel with Ladybug laughing hysterically. He could feel his cat ears drooping as he asked for some help getting loose. 

When the bag was emptied, they stood side by side admiring their work. 

“Perfect.” He had to admit, she was right. They had done a terrific job. And it meant so much more to put together a tree with someone he cared about. Better than the team of professional decorators that Nathalie had hired this year. 

“Tomorrow? Same time? Eiffel Tower?” 

He had no idea what she planned to do, but he nodded, unable to stop the smile that crept onto his face. 

-------------

Everything was ready. Flour. Ginger. Molasses. Sugar. Marinette looked around the bakery kitchen with the feeling that she’d forgotten *something* but time to meet Chat crept closer. Maman and Papa had been more than generous when she had asked to use the kitchen for a  couple of nights. 

“As long as you don’t touch any of the morning’s baking,” her mother had answered, not needing any other explanation. 

“Time to go!” chirped Tikki, wide blue eyes twinkling. “I think he’s going to love this one.” 

“I know he will.” Taking one last glance at everything laid out, Marinette transformed and raced to find her partner waiting with anticipation at the tower. 

“Follow me.” 

She led him back to the bakery with an elaborate explanation of how the owners had graciously let her use their kitchen. From there, Ladybug spent the night helping Chat discover the joys of making a gingerbread house from scratch. Much laughter ensued as flour ended up on faces, ginger sent Chat into sneeze fits, and Ladybug discovered her partner’s lack of skills in a kitchen. By the end of their adventure that stretched early into the morning hours, they had a pair of iced together houses, one more askew than the other. 

“Go sleep now, Kitty. We’ll decorate them tomorrow night.” The excited twinkle in his eyes before he escaped made her smile when she finally crashed onto her bed for a few hours of sleep. 

The next night consisted of a sugar-fuelled cat boy, happily slapping candies and decorations to his somewhat lopsided gingerbread house. The next, she set up a laptop with a Christmas video on a nearby rooftop with some thick blankets and a thermos of peppermint tea. An afternoon visit to a local library ended up with them sitting in the middle of the children’s section with kids climbing all over them as the librarian read The Grinch and other kids acted it out. 

A midnight excursion wandering through Paris, taking in all the amazing light displays led to another spent window shopping well after most Parisians were sleeping. He hadn’t ever really just looked at window displays for their artistic value before. 

The following night, all plans were thwarted by the Giftster - an akuma who wrapped everyone up in paper and  bows out of spite over a poorly wrapped gift. It took longer than she hoped to defeat the villain,leaving her a little sad that her plan for the night was ruined - the hot chocolate bar she’d put together cold and the whipped cream melted to liquid by the time they arrived. 

“It’s still purr-fect, Ladybug. I don’t mind at all. It’s the people we’re with that make the holidays special, not the temperature of the drink.” He poured himself a large mug of cocoa and piled the top full of marshmallows, syrup, and sprinkles.”Delicious.” 

---

Adrien’s view of Christmas shifted. The anticipation of Ladybug’s holiday shenanigans brought him more excitement than he had felt for the holidays in a long while. Nothing would ever replace the hole left by his mother’s disappearance, but at least this made him feel hopeful again instead of melancholy. With less than a week left to Christmas, he sat in his class for the last day before the two week break. Marinette lay flopped on her desk, possibly asleep, as Nino and Alya argued the merits of their gift wish lists. 

“What about you, Agreste?” Alya snapped, poking Marinette awake with her elbow. “What are you doing this Christmas? Any big plans?” 

He shrugged. “Not really.” 

“No running off and sending your dad into Christmas Godzilla mode this year, ok?” Nino quipped. Adrien felt himself flush. 

“I won’t,” he murmured. “Listen - last year was hard. The first Christmas without my mom, ok? She loved Christmas and it just feels … I don’t know. Christmas season is just …  hard for me. I miss her so much.” 

Realizing that he was killing their fun conversation, he decided to turn himself around.  “But don’t worry! No running off this year. I promise. I’ve actually had a friend from work making sure that Christmas is awesome. We’ve gone ice skating, watched a really fun holiday movie, and we even made these gingerbread houses - from scratch! Even Mother didn’t do that!”  

He told them all about the adventures that he’d been having and how special they’d made the holidays become, carefully avoiding any mention of their superhero selves. The more he rambled on about the activities he had been doing late in the nights with Ladybug, the more Marinette’s eyes grew wide. He stopped talking when she let out a strangled sound. 

“Are you ok, Marinette?” 

She sat frozen, statue-like for a long moment, staring blankly at him. Suddenly she jumped with a yelp, clutching at her side. 

“Oh, yep. Yep. Totally good. I’m totally fine. Everything’s fine.” She let out a wild and panicky laugh, blinking rapidly. “I’m good. Are you good? Everyone’s good, right? Ok. I’m just - I’m just - Ms. Bustier? May I be excused to use the bathroom?” 

And then she bolted, racing out of the classroom in a gangly, flailing pile of limbs. The whole classroom paused in their conversations for a quiet moment as they stared at the door, then with a universal shrug, returned to what they were doing. 

“That was weird,” muttered Alya, frowning. “Even for Marinette.” 

-----------

“Just breathe, Marinette. Breathe. In. Out. Innnnnnnn. Ouuuuuuuuuuut. Innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. Out.” 

From the bathroom stall she hid in, Marinette could hear and see her kwami giving anti-panic attack advice, a blurry red dot floating in front of her face, but she couldn’t process the words being said. Adrien Agreste. Chat Noir. Adrien Agreste? Chat Noir. Nope. It just had to be a coincidence that Adrien’s “friend from work” had taken him on all the same adventures that Ladybug had put together for Chat Noir. Totally a coincidence that Chat missed someone special while Adrien missed his mother. Just coincidence. 

Oh crap. 

Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste. ADRIEN AGRESTE WAS CHAT NOIR. 

She threw up in the toilet. 

-------------

Chat couldn’t quite put his finger on what was different that night as they listened from the rooftops to a group of carollers in one of the parks. Ladybug sat a little farther away than she usually did. She didn’t roll her eyes at his jokes or speak much at all. In fact, she didn’t even look him in the eyes. 

“Everything ok?” he asked finally, unable to stand the awkwardness any longer. Her head snapped at that, eyes connecting with his for the first time in the night. 

“Oh. Yes, sorry. I just found out something about a friend today and it’s been hard to work through, that’s all.” She smiled, but it wasn’t a real smile - her eyes skittering away from him. He frowned. 

“Want to talk about it? In generalized terms, I mean.”

She shook her head. 

“No. I’d rather just listen to the music, ok?” 

“Ok.”

The next evening, with only 2 days left to go before the big holiday arrived, Chat found himself at a local food bank, handing out meals to families whose faces shone with so much gratitude that it made him feel embarrassed to live as he did. Ladybug still seemed preoccupied. He smiled at her every time she tried to stealthily look at him, wondering exactly what was going on behind those brilliant blue eyes. 

At the end of their volunteer time, they escaped to the rooftops. 

“Are we doing anything special tomorrow?” he asked, wondering if the magical sense of Christmas had worn off for her. “It IS Christmas Eve after all.” 

She gave him a look he couldn’t quite define. 

“Are you ok, LB? You’ve been really … off for the last day or so.” 

He watched as she opened and closed her mouth like a fish for a moment before snapping it shut. She visibly straightened her back. 

“It’s nothing big, I promise, but yes - let’s meet at the tower tomorrow?” When he nodded, she flashed him an almost real smile before swinging off into the distance. 

Plagg had no ideas, simply focusing on his cheese and musing over whether Adrien had any stocking fillers planned. The kwami tapped suggestively at the pictures in his Gentleman’s Camembert magazine. 

Adrien gave up, hoping that whatever bothered Ladybug would be resolved by the time they got together tomorrow. 

---------------

Christmas Eve dawned bright and crisp, the cold smell of winter on the air. Marinette did not want to get out of the coziness that her oversized comforter provided. If it hadn’t been for the wail of her akuma alert alarm forcing her to drag herself out of bed, she might not have for the whole day. 

The realization that Adrien Agreste - face of perfection and heart of gold - and Chat Noir - jokester and  impulsive rogue were the same person had left her rattled. Marinette had needed a few days to process it all, but she was slowly coming to terms with how much it meant to her to discover the boy she deeply cared for was also her best friend. 

She swung across the city to find a Grinch-like akuma, green from head to toe with a red hat and coat. With a single touch, the lights and decorations found on the streets of Paris simply vanished. Anyone found in his path transformed into lumps of coal. 

“I think he has the wrong city. This isn’t Whoville.” Chat voice chirped happily - sickeningly so, given the early hour of the morning. “Good morning, milady.” 

“Morning, kitty.” With a yawn, she searched the akuma for clues where to find their target. “I’m guessing it’s the Santa hat. But we have to keep out of range of his hands. Turning to coal sounds like a terrible way to spend Christmas.” 

With a nod, he stood up and extended his baton with a grin. “40 feet.” Then he launched himself off the rooftops to place himself securely in the path of the opponent. 

“Hey, is that your resting Grinch face?” he taunted, starting his usual distraction methods. She watched for the briefest of moments as the akuma threw itself at her partner with a growl. If she could just sneak in behind while it was distracted, she could probably pull the hat from his head. 

Things never are that easy when fighting akumas. Realizing that a second superhero attempted to stealth attack him, the Grinch whirled around, knocking her to the ground mid-pendulum arch. She hit the ground with a roll, dodging away from the outstretched hand. Chat responded with a careful leap, vaulting himself towards the villain and narrowly missing the hat. Acrobatic flips moved him back out of the way of danger. 

A few cheesy puns about the Grinch and being green later, Chat still somehow managed to keep most of the attention on himself while Ladybug attempted another grab for the hat. Failing, the Grinch growled, grabbing onto Chat’s baton and flinging the cat boy into the air. Ladybug watched in horror as her partner landed right in the akuma’s grip, wide-eyed and legs kicking.

Mere seconds felt like hours, a black heaviness overcoming Chat from his toes to his face. She screamed his name, panic clawing at her heart. No. No! Her yo-yo whirred with renewed vigour, calling her Lucky Charm. Into her hands dropped a carefully wrapped, red-polka dotted present with a tag reading “For the Grinch.” 

A plan clicked into place. 

“Oh, Mr. Grinch. I have something for you.” The akuma dropped the lifeless stone figure of Chat Noir to the pavement with a loud thud, turning its attention instead to her. She thrust the present at him with a smile, which made him stop and cock his head sideways with a frown. If she hadn’t been so focused on where the hands of her opponent were in that moment, she would have started singing. After all, music won the day in the story of the Grinch - hadn’t it? 

“Merry Christmas.” 

Cautiously, the akuma accepted the gift, settling down on the pavement beside Chat’s coal statue to rip open the paper and see what his gift was. The moment the lid popped free, a brilliant flash of light went off, blinding the akuma long enough for Ladybug to grab the hat and tear it apart. Away fluttered the butterfly, captured a moment later in her yo-yo with a snap. Bubbles enveloped the akumatized victim. In its place sat a confused man. 

Grabbing the remaining pieces of the gift box, Ladybug threw it up into the air with a shout, releasing the Miraculous butterflies. They swirled around everything. Lights and decorations reappeared. People changed back from coal to themselves. She watched with relief as Chat emerged from his own coal statue, throwing her arms around his neck. 

“Whoa!” he yelped, arms wrapping around her to prevent himself from falling backwards onto the pavement. 

“Stupid cat,” she murmured, prying herself free to pay attention to the man on the ground nearby. Helping him to his feet, she found herself giving Chat the chance to interact with the victim - watching in silence as her partner graciously reassured the man that everything was okay now and Christmas hadn’t been ruined. 

With a wave, they escaped to the rooftops. 

“So,” drawled Chat, giving her the most curious of looks. “I have a question for you. Why did you shout ‘Adrien’ when I turned to coal?” 

Certain that her heart stopped, Ladybug froze. She hadn’t. Had she? She blinked at him, wondering exactly what to say, brain scrambling for words. 

“Why would I call you Adrien? That’s just silly. You aren’t Adrien - you’re Chat Noir. Completely different people. You must have heard wrong. I’m sure I shouted for you, silly cat. Chat Noir. Not Adrien.” Realizing that she rambled stupidly, she snapped her mouth shut and waited. 

He narrowed his eyes at her, the gaze heavy and searching before he laughed. “Of course. I must have been mistaken. See you tonight then, LB?” 

She nodded and he saluted before running off. Breathing a sigh of relief, she headed home, hoping to get a little more sleep before the busy part of the day before Christmas required her attention. 

-------

“She knows, Plagg. I don’t know how, but she knows who I am.” Adrien lay flat on his bed, arms thrown wide, eyes staring at the ceiling. “Is that why she’s been acting strange lately? Maybe she figured out who I am and doesn’t like that it’s me!” 

A million ideas and thoughts raced through his mind, distracting him through the day’s schedules. Appearances here, appearances there. Fake smiles and poses for media cameras. No family time like all his friends. His Instagram feed showcased Nino and his brother working on making cookies, Alya’s family sitting around in their PJs playing board games, Marinette hard at work in the bakery with her parents. Sitting in the back of the car that drove him everywhere, Adrien felt that emptiness that always seeped in around Christmas. Alone, isolated, and now - Ladybug knew who he was to the point of not being able to look him in the eye. Christmas sucked. 

When their designated meetup time approached, he dutifully transformed into Chat Noir, stuffing the gift he’d put chosen for her into one of his pockets. Hopefully she would at least like that. 

Ladybug stood on their favourite platform of the Eiffel Tower, pacing back and forth with wild arm gestures. She must have really been deep in thought since she didn’t even hear him land on the metal railing. 

“Merry Christmas!” he called out, making her jump in surprise, hand clutched to her heart and blue eyes popped open wide in a strangely familiar and out-of-place motion. 

“Oh, Chat. You scared me.” He chuckled. “Merry Christmas.” 

“So, what’s on the plans for tonight’s Christmas adventure?” he asked. “Anything exciting?” 

She blinked twice, staring at him for longer than should feel comfortable. 

“Oh. Right. I thought I’d give you a special gift. It’s a tradition that my family has to open one gift each on Christmas Eve, so I thought it would be fun to do that with you.” 

It would be fun, he thought. As long as she still liked him. 

“Can I go first?” he asked, pulling the small package from his pocket and thrusting it at her. “It’s not much, but it seemed to scream like the gift you needed.” 

Inside held two small pins. The first - a tiny ladybug with closed wings, the other - a small white circle with a set of black cat ears and green eyes peeking up from the bottom. She laughed, telling him that his gift was wonderful and that she’d find the perfect place for them. 

She took a deep breath before she passed him a gift bag. 

“For you.” 

Carefully, he pulled out the tissue paper and unwrapped something soft. Into his hand fell a palm-sized hand-stitched doll of himself - Chat Noir. Digging into the bag more, he found a matching Ladybug. Something nagged in the back of his mind that he’d seen dolls like these before - back when Manon had been akumatized. Marinette had made dolls that Manon wanted to play with. He flipped them over to admire the neat stitching work and attention to detail.

“These are adorable. Thank you so much. Did you get these from Marinette Dupain-Cheng? I think she had some similar to these.” 

She made a funny sound before answering. “Kind of? I made them for you.” 

She had made them? He frowned in confusion. 

Ladybug stepped forward, pulling the dolls gently out of his hands and putting them back in the bag before putting it on the ground. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and moved so that she was achingly close. 

“Tikki. Spots off.” 

He didn’t have time to close his eyes, other than to wince slightly at the bright and unexpected flash of pink light as Ladybug’s transformation dropped. In her place stood Marinette herself, a heavy black cat-ear hoodie pulled up over her head. An homage to himself, he realized. Two heartbeats later, she raised herself up on her tiptoes, hands clutching at his arms, warm lips pressing against his. 

She stepped back before he could even react, whispering “Merry Christmas, my kitty - Adrien Agreste.” 

He stared into her bluebell eyes, the pieces of the puzzle in his life clicking together in the most wonderful of ways. She did know. And she kissed him. Marinette Dupain-Cheng had turned a season full of disappointment and missing his mother into something full of memories and wonder. She had turned it into the best Christmas he had ever had. 

“Thank you, milady Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Merry Christmas to you, too.” 

Sitting uncomfortably at the dining table as Nathalie droned on about schedules and plans for the day, Adrien mused about how much cheese he could remove from the kwami's stash in punishment for the feeling of stiff jeans against sensitive skin.

The moment she left, Adrien growled at Plagg. "Where did you hide them?" The cat just grinned smugly. Even the threat of cheese loss didn't knock the smirk off.

Nathalie returned to the dining room, forcing Plagg to slip into Adrien's shirt collar. An order to get his school books sent Adrien running to find his bag. A quick glance inside assured him that his kwami hadn't messed with his books. Phone. Wallet. School books. Check.

"Come on, Plagg. Please. I have school today. Commando is fine for photoshoots but not for class! What if someone notices?"

Plagg snickered in response, leaving Adrien without a clue what to do. That kwami definitely was going to regret this decision at cheese time.

Gorilla waited in the car, grunting in greeting as Adrien slid into his seat with a frown. The car pulled away from the house slowly, leaving Adrien to check on his phone for any messages. A quick glance at his screen made him groan loud enough to get an eyebrow raise from his bodyguard.

Cats. Plagg had changed every single app icon to a picture of a different cat.

It was going to be a long day.

----

School, at least, started off better than his morning. The over-exaggerated set of morning affections from Chloe. The secret bro handshake with Nino. The sharp-witted comment from Alya. The flailing arrival by Marinette which he barely managed to prevent from turning into a nasty tumble. The soft feeling he got in his chest when she would blush at him for helping. It almost felt normal.

“Too bad you don’t have anyone to play pranks on today, bro,” Nino drawled, “I got Chris good today. Froze his cereal last night. Totally hilarious.” Adrien forced himself to laugh, still annoyed at his own prankster.

Surprisingly uneventful, math class finished without a single prank or sign of Plagg mischief. Adrien felt suspicious, nerves on edge for whatever his kwami might have planned next.

Pulling his books from his bag for science class, Adrien dropped them on his desk before grabbing his phone to see if he could figure out how to change the icons back.

"Dude, what is that?" Nino hissed from Adrien's side. Thinking his friend had caught sight of the cat faces (and one exceptionally unnecessary butt) on his phone, Adrien scrambled to come up with a reason for the change.

"Oh, it's just a-" Looking up at his friend, Adrien realized Nino's eyes were elsewhere. Following his gaze, Adrien found himself staring at his own notebook, tossed carelessly open on his desk. The page, which should have been blank, instead featured sketches of.... Marinette?! Hearts of various shades and sizes framed the doodle of her face. Adrien blinked for a moment, stunned by the randomness of the drawing but the feeling that he wasn’t completely opposed to it. At least until the subject of the drawing herself came walking into the classroom.

A flush burnt his cheeks as he slammed the book closed with a frantically pleading stare at Nino. His friend simply looked confused, shrugging as he sat back into his seat. Eyes turning back to Marinette, he took in her startled expression at his loud and unexpected action. Trying to ease her, he threw out what he hoped was a casual and friendly smile, despite the fact that he felt a little wild. She smiled back nervously, sliding into her seat behind him.

Adamantly avoiding opening his notebook, Adrien slid it back into his bag, hoping that somehow it landed straight on Plagg’s little obnoxious head.

Phones placed on desks and in school bags rattled and buzzed throughout the classroom.

“Akuma!” cheered Alya, already on her feet and rushing out the door to catch the latest scoop. Adrien followed in her footsteps, waving his arms in some pretense of needing to run for safety. Finding a place to hide, he called for Plagg, making sure to glare at his black cat friend before transforming.

Instantly, Chat knew something was wrong. His usually comfortable suit felt… different. A quick glance down revealed what appeared to be a tutu around his waist. Tulle bracelets wrapped his wrists and ankles, the usually sturdy boots on his feet replaced with black satin slippers. His zipper was gone—replaced with a thin black collar that housed the ever familiar golden bell at his throat. He could practically hear Plagg’s laughter. There was no way Adrien was going to give his kwami the satisfaction of begging off another of his stupid pranks.

“You think you are hilarious, don’t you, annoying little pest? Well, watch me stun the world as Chat Noir with a Tutu.”

His feet slipped slightly in the unusual soles of his temporary footwear, but he found himself making his way to where the Akuma wreaked havoc on the city of Paris. Skidding to a halt beside his partner, he posed for a moment with a grin as she stared at him in surprise.

“That’s… new,” she muttered, poking the ruffles around his middle.

“It’s not tutu much is it?” Ladybug’s annoyed glare made him laugh sharply. “Plagg decided April Fools’ Day would be a great time for a costume upgrade. So I’m proving him right.”

The akuma was simple - a man angered by a stupid prank done to him by some youth, armed with a toilet paper gun that covered the city in streamers of white cotton-y soft fabric. Chat simply danced around happily, avoiding getting tangled into the paper shot in his direction, while goofily exaggerating pirouettes and grand jetes. It took every ounce of effort not to let crass jokes roll off his tongue while they found the akuma and freed the butterfly.

Cameras out and people laughing at his silly costume made his day. At least Plagg’s inane prank gave the people of Paris smiles. With a wave to the crowd, Chat threw himself up to the rooftops as his ring chirped in warning, Ladybug hot on his tail.

“I hope that Plagg hasn’t been too hard on you today. Sounds like he’s enjoying April Fools’ Day a little too much.”

Chat grimaced. “It’s been a mess of a morning. He’s certainly going all out.”

Her hand on his arm made him smile. Taking her fingers in his, he raised them to his lips.

“Of course, not having the chance to share Plagg’s antics with you would have made the day pointless.” Wiggling his eyebrows, he kissed her knuckles before pulling away to dance on his toes. Another chirp of his ring made him toss her a quick salute before vaulting off the roof with a grin.

At least he had a chance to see her. Any day with Ladybug was a wonderful one, even if it meant being dressed in a tutu.

-----

A quick transformation around the corner from the school led to a wildly laughing Plagg and a mildly cussing Adrien before racing back to the front door. Crashing into Marinette was a completely unexpected event, one that knocked her clean off her feet and onto the sidewalk while he flailed about trying to maintain his own balance. Instantly, Marinette began a wide-eyed, panicked flow of words, scrambling to her feet and nearly knocking her head into his face—an incident he missed only by letting himself fall backwards.

“I’m so sorry, Adrien. I didn’t see you and I was just trying to get back to class and-” He could barely keep up with her rambling words. Standing up, he took hold of her arms and forced her to stop flailing around and look at him.

“It’s ok, Marinette. Calm down. We’re both ok, right?” She relaxed in his grasp, the relief in her eyes tangible. Taking a step, he realized his tumble had skewed his clothing, the waist of his jeans slipping dangerously low on his hips while his shirt sat crooked. Marinette’s eyes dropped to the sudden evidence of bare skin, her face flushing a brilliant scarlet red before she snapped her eyes back to his face. A sheepish grin hit his own face as he quickly pulled himself together, unable to deny the slight tingling feeling of pride he had at her reaction.

“I thought it was socks that people knocked off,” he joked, trying to make light of the moment but cringing on the inside at his near wardrobe malfunction. He gave her a smile to help reassure her before grasping her elbow and walking her up the stairs. Plagg deserved another earful and a definite cutback on his allotment of cheese today.

 Slipping back into class together while everyone attempted to settle down after the akuma chaos provided no challenge. Adrien just prayed that the rest of the day would go Plagg-prank free.

Soft chuckles from Adrien’s school bag that thankfully seemed audible to only his over-sensitive ears left him cringing in worry. Breathing through his nose to keep his cool until the end of class, Adrien scooped his bag at the sound of the bell and nearly raced to the waiting car for lunch.

Flipping back the cover, he glared at a grinning Plagg lounging inside in a manner that was anything but innocent.

"No more Camembert for you." Plagg didn't even bat an eye, grinning silently to himself.

"That's what you think," the whiny little voice from deep within his bag purred. "I think tomorrow will  be a wonderful day of cheese heaven."

Punctuating his statement with a satisfied thump on his stomach, Plagg flashed his teeth in a way that made Adrien excessively nervous.

Lunch break didn't last long, just long enough to shovel food into his mouth and tear apart his bedroom in a continued search for his missing underwear. His father would have a fit if he found his room in such a state but Adrien pulled things apart anyway.

A sharp rap on his door forced him to call off the search and head back to school. Only a few more hours of April Fool's Day hell from his kwami and then he could finally rest.

Thankfully, Plagg seemed to settle for the afternoon, not making any trouble or noise during both his afternoon classes. Suspiciously quiet, actually, Adrien thought, eyeing his school bag with some trepidation and a growing sense of impending bad luck. He felt on edge, considering kicking his bag to give Plagg a silent warning.

With only half an hour left of history, the sound of Marinette's phone buzzing in her backpack made Adrein nearly jump out of his seat. Turning around to see her, he watched as she scrambled to stealthily pull it from her bag. Her eyes grew wide as she read whatever was on her screen, flashing up to look at him in gaping surprise with a quickly growing spread of adorable blush across her cheeks.

He just smiled, turning his attention back to his notes. The sound of his own phone buzzing made him frown. Reaching down, he yanked it out of his bag to see a message from Marinette on his screen.

A quick swipe had it open, his eyes tearing over the contents in shock and a shiver of excitement.

"Really? You want to kiss me?"

It took all of two seconds to see why she had sent him that text, why she had looked so surprised.

Sent from his phone to hers was a text message combined with a GIF. In a brilliant, flashing yellow neon style script, the image simply said, "I woke up this morning wanting to kiss you." Beneath it, text added:

 <<and I have been thinking about it all day.>>

Adrien internal visualization instantly took to imagining what it would be like to kiss Marinette. Soft and sweet, with lips that tasted like cookies. He would be lying if he didn't admit that there was… something… between them. Something that he very intentionally shoved way, way down to avoid ruining the preciousness of their friendship and because of his feelings for Ladybug.

All his careful insistence that they were only friends despite the fact that he always felt strangely drawn to her had been single handedly blown out of the water due to a certain little black cat kwami who was definitely losing all his cheese privileges.

He didn't know how to answer, thumbs hovering over his keypad. An elbow in his ribs by Nino reminded him to pay attention and hide his phone from the still rambling teacher.

Twenty minutes left. What could he say that could get him out of this situation without hurting her or making everything an awkward mess? Silently he cursed the whole premise of April Fool’s Day and his kwami’s need to be an infernal pest.

He left her hanging for the rest of the class, tempted to just bolt at the bell. Very intentionally, he tossed the phone into his bag right on Plagg’s head as he quietly gathered his school supplies still unsure what to do.

The classroom emptied quickly, other than Nino who drawled on about some jam that he’d been listening to between classes. His chatter ended abruptly with a yelp at being dragged out of the classroom by Alya’s grip on his collar.

He didn’t need to turn around to know that the only other person left in the room was Marinette. He could practically feel her standing nervously behind him.

A fortifying breath brought his pounding heart under control. He could do this - apologize that something strange had happened and that he didn’t send her that message. That he valued their friendship more than anything. That his heart belonged to someone else.

At least, he believed he could do all that until his eyes connected with hers and it felt like he was struck by lightning, pulled to her by the shocking blue of her eyes. Her lips were parted just enough, trying to breathe, he supposed - just like he was.

“Did you really want to kiss me?” she whispered, searching his face for something. He blinked, frozen in response. Yes? No? Maybe? He didn’t know. “I want to kiss you.”

Suddenly, she was there, breathing his air, closing her eyes as she leaned in and he couldn’t do anything but respond in kind. Her lips were just as soft and sweet as his brain had expected, pressed against his in a gentle, innocent kiss for little more than an instant. When she pulled away, he thought maybe his brain was broken, watching in slow motion as she gave him a shy little smile before grabbing her bag and rushing out the door.

--

Plagg still laughed when Adrien shoved him into a locker for fencing practice. He needed some kind of distraction to force his brain back into some level of functioning. All he could think of was the look in her eyes the moment before she shut them, the feel of her lips on his, and that smile before she ran away. Over and over.

Resting his forehead against the cool metal of his locker, Adrien took a moment to reset himself before facing his teammates and Mr. D’Argencourt. If his kwami could just give him some time to successfully make it home without causing any more trouble, he could do this.

With a nod, he stepped back, swishing his foil back and forth. Only an hour of fencing, then he’d be safe at home. It was the look on Kagami’s face that tipped him off that something was wrong, the frown she gave a second before she asked what was on his mask. Ripping it from his head, he groaned as he discovered a smiley face drawn to the front. ---

Homework done, phone returned back to normal icons, smiley face scrubbed off and underwear recovered from some unknown place - Adrien stretched before flopping face first onto his bed with a sigh of relief. Somehow, he had survived an entire day of Plagg’s foolishness.

How he was going to face Marinette tomorrow, he wasn’t completely sure, but at least it hadn’t gotten any weirder. The memory of her lips and that sweet smile would probably haunt his dreams in the most fantastic of ways. He pulled the pillow over his head with a soft moan.

A ping from his phone made him check it again. Maybe it was Marinette. Instead, the text he read made him throw his phone and glare at the kwami curled up on the pillow beside him.

  <<Delivery Notification: Your order of 210 cases of Camembert cheese will be delivered by noon on April 2nd. >>