This is a story for the lovely @kellarhi. It was written some time ago, definitely before Troublemaker, which might be important in future chapters.
Enjoy this sickeningly fluffy Marichat with rain and umbrellas in it!
Summary: Chat Noir discovers Marinette’s unusual habit of walking in the rain. Driven by his curiosity he approaches her and learns it’s about a secret of hers. Marinette offers him a deal: for every time he finds her in the rain, she will tell him one detail. And suddenly the next rainfall can’t come faster.
Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
AO3 / fanfiction
Chapter 1. Curious Kitty
Chat Noir never particularly liked rain. Maybe it was a cat thing. Maybe it was a model thing. Either way, he’d rather avoid getting wet. Yet here he was, trailing after his pigtailed classmate, as she marched through Paris with pink boots keeping her feet dry and a black umbrella bobbing above her head. She looked happy. He could swear he even saw her jump into a puddle once or twice. He definitely saw her twirl gracefully when she thought no one was watching.
He was intrigued, his curiosity tickling him to find the reason for this ritual. Because it was a ritual. One Marinette was surely dedicated to.Â
The first time he’d caught a glimpse of Marinette’s pink boots and dark pigtails as Adrien was when he was passing by in his silver car on his way to another practise. Then, he had spotted her a few times as Chat, walking in the rain with a wide smile and glazed eyes. Spring weather made it easier, with frequent rainfalls and warmer days. Even without his mild aversion to water he just couldn’t understand why would she do this. As far as he could tell, there was no particular destination to her walk, no purpose. After some time she just went back home, delighted at her wet shoes and umbrella, humming under her breath.
So that day, against his better judgement, he found himself following Marinette again, with his drenched hair misbehaving even more than in a dry state and his wet tail sloshing miserably behind him. He was sneaky, but somehow she still could blow his cover.
‘I can see you, you know,’ Chat heard an amused voice. Marinette tapped her foot in a puddle, making splashy noises. She was looking directly at the spot on the roof where he was hiding. ‘You can come out now, unless you prefer to stalk me some more.’
Ah. Now that would be creepy. Resigned, he made his way down using the staff as an elevator.
‘Hi, fellow citizen,’ he winked, letting his flamboyant side to the surface, to mask the fact that he felt embarrassed at getting caught. He collapsed his baton.
‘Care to tell me why you are following me?’ the girl eyed him up and down. She didn’t look angry or scared. He took it as a good sign.
‘I’m not…,’ on instinct his hand went to the nape of his neck to rub it and caught a handful of wet locks. He winced at the sensation of water dripping down his collar. ‘I’m not a creep, I just... ‘ he sighed, ‘I’m curious.’
‘Curious?’ she cocked a brow.
‘Why do you do this?’ he finally asked. ‘Why do you walk in the rain?’
Marinette leaned in and tapped him on the nose. ‘It’s a secret,’ she whispered with a broad smile.
‘As I already told you, this cat is very curious,’ he countered without missing a beat. ‘Humor me.’
The girl narrowed her eyes at him. She bit her lip hesitantly. ‘I suppose I could tell you,’ she drawled and he nodded vigorously causing a small shower of droplets around him that earned him an adorable giggle.
‘But!’ Marinette raised a finger. ‘It can’t be that easy,’ she smiled sweetly. ‘Let’s make a deal. For every time you find me in the rain I will tell you one detail about it.’
‘But Princesssss,’ he lamented. ‘I don’t like getting wet.’ He also hated not to know. And now that he knew there was a secret involved, his curiosity grew even more, like an itch he couldn’t scratch.
She shrugged, unabashed. ‘Then you can’t know my secret.’
‘But I want to know your secret,’ he whined with a pout. He even scrunched his nose, but the girl seemed unaffected.
‘Then you know what you have to do,’ Marinette stated in a no nonsense voice. ‘See you next rainfall, Chat!’ she called with a small wave and turned around to march home.
Suddenly he couldn’t wait for another rain to come.
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Let me remind you that this fic was part of an impromptu fanwork exchange with the amazing @kellarhi . She made this lovely AMV that you should definitelly watch! Once again thank you!!!Â
***
Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
AO3 / fanfiction
***
4. Umbrella
So after many days of following Marinette in the rain he still was in the dark. Chat actually ran out of things he could ask about Mr. Mysterious Crush. The biggest part of that mystery, at least to him, was how someone so kind, smart and talented as Marinette claimed him to be, could at the same time have been so blind and ungrateful? With every passing day instead of liking the guy Marinette was obviously infatuated with, he developed a low-key distaste towards that unknown boy.
He needed to find the guy soon, or he would end up really hating him. He would rather not, considering he planned to be as supportive of Marinette’s relationship as he had seen her with their friends, even if the thought of her dating someone made him feel uneasy. That required a change of strategy.
‘You know, I’ve learned a lot about this secret boy of yours,’ Chat supplied. ‘But I totally forgot about the main reason I even asked about him in the first place.’
That was true. He was so fixed on Marinette’s crush that he hadn’t noticed when the focus shifted from the initial topic to some stupid, oblivious boys.
‘You forgot about what?’ she asked, twirling the umbrella in her hands. He noticed she brushed the handle with great care and reverence. Yeah, he really should have paid more attention to other details than that boy’s many qualities.
‘About the reason you walk in the rain,’ he pointed out. ‘How is your walking in the rain connected to that secret?’
Marinette’s lips stretched in a charming smile. Her eyes lit up and her cheeks warmed, brushed with pink shade.
That’s how love looks like, he thought. The sight stirred something in his heart. He knew he chose the question well.
‘So?’ he quirked a brow, prompting her to answer.
She leaned in to whisper into his ear, ‘I fell in love with him in the rain on the first day I met him.’
Quite unexpectedly her words sent Chat’s thoughts straight to the first day Adrien met Marinette. That had been a very intense day. First time in school, the gum incident, first friends, Stoneheart, Hawkmoth, his first lessons ending in… rain.
His heart stuttered. Could this be… it could, couldn’t it?
Strange warmth filled him at that thought. He had never contemplated that he might have been her crush. Of course he had never noticed her acting differently around other people. He had always been there! He was good at sports, he had a talent for music, he was handsome. Chat blushed, recalling other adjectives she had used. Kind, sensitive, smart. Was it really him? The sheer possibility she thought so highly of him made him feel dizzy enough to stagger and stomp into a giant puddle.
‘Awww, Chaaaat! You splashed water into my boots,’ Marinette complained, oblivious of his shock. ‘Now I need to get rid of it. Hold this,’ she ordered and pushed the handle of her umbrella into his unresisting claws. She put one hand on the lamppost to keep herself upright, and then took off her pink boot. ‘Be careful,’ she instructed as he took a hold on the handle with his shaking hand. ‘It tends to-
SNAP!
The umbrella closed over his head.
‘-close itself when you press the button like that,’ Marinette finished with a smirk in her voice.
Enveloped in the waterproof darkness he returned to the rain of the first day of school. Him offering his umbrella to her. Their fingers brushing. Her taking the handle. The thunder rolling in the distance. The canopy snapping over her. He remembered how funny Marinette had looked and imagined how ridiculous he probably looked now, an umbrella-headed leather-clad pair of legs with a tail.
Chat couldn’t help it. The laughter rose from his chest in a myriad of happy bubbles and spilled from his lips before he could suppress it. It was the same laughter he uttered on the school stairs at the sight of Marinette trapped inside his umbrella.
Her giggles stopped abruptly at this outburst.
He peeked from under the rim of the canopy, uncertain of what had caused this.
She was staring at him, eyes wide, mouth agape. Her questioning gaze skipped over his figure and to his face, to his eyes.
‘There’s one more clue left,’ she rasped, staring at him intently.
Just like that first day he watched her in silence and waited.
‘This is his umbrella,’ Marinette whispered.
His umbrella.
He gasped, trying to find his voice, but nothing came out of his throat.
Marinette made a step towards him. He opened the umbrella not taking his eyes off her.
‘Do you already know my secret?’ she asked.
Chat nodded, not trusting his voice.
She raised her hands to his face, her fingers tracing over the edge of his mask and brushing the hair out of his forehead.
‘This is your umbrella.’
That wasn’t a question, but a statement. A confession. A conclusion.
That was the umbrella of the boy she had fallen in love with in the rain. The boy who had been oblivious, but kind and caring enough to capture the heart of this amazing girl. The boy foolish enough not to realize what treasure was offered to him. The boy who needed to have some sense knocked into him.
That had been Adrien all along. That was his umbrella.
At that the veil of secrets lifted and he could finally see it and recognize it for what it was. That twisting of his stomach, that unease and jealousy, that curiosity fuelling him to trail after her, that fluttering of his heart as he leaped in the rain to find her. He wasn’t the oblivious boy anymore.
‘Want to know my secret?’ Chat whispered softly. He felt his cheeks reddening, but he soldiered on. He offered the handle to her, but when she took it, he didn’t pull away his hand, but wrapped it over her palm.
‘It just took a bit longer to realize, ‘ he pressed a feather-light kiss to her other hand and murmured against her skin. ‘but I’ve fallen in love in the rain too.’
Now I can finally share the link to the lovely AMV @kellarhi made for me in our little fanwork exchange. Check it out, it’s amazing! Thank you for this gem!
***
Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
AO3 / fanfiction
***
2. First Clue
It wasn’t easy to find her again. After all, he wasn’t exactly available every time the skies decided to grace Paris with another rain. And even if he happened to be free at the time, either Marinette didn’t go out or she chose different routes. The awareness that she might have been walking somewhere and he couldn’t get to her to learn something about her secret was slowly driving him crazy.
When he finally spotted the girl alone in the rain, a week later, he almost pounced on her in relief.
‘Here you are!’ he exclaimed stepping in front of her.
‘Mep!’ Marinette squeaked as she collided with his chest. He caught her expertly before she could fall to the wet pavement.
‘Sorry,’ Chat mumbled. ‘I thought you saw me.’
The girl exhaled audibly. ‘I wasn’t looking,’ she admitted. ‘I was thinking-’
‘About me?’ he made a show of flexing his arms and raising his brows.
‘Hah!’ she snorted. ‘You wish.’
Well, he would lie if he said he was opposed to such dreams. But that wasn’t the reason he was there, getting wet again.
‘Remember our deal?’ he murmured as low as he could.
Marinette started at the sound of his voice. ‘Y-yeah,’ she offered.
‘Well?’ he cocked a brow and ducked his head expectantly.
‘Hmmm,’ the girl sent him a studying stare. ‘What should I tell you first,’ she mused, gnawing at her lower lip.
‘Maybe something general,’ he offered. ‘Like the category of this secret. What is it about?’
Marinette’s cheeks turned dark pinkish color at his suggestion. She narrowed her eyes and he took a step back under the weight of her stare.
‘But you can tell me anything, really,’ he raised his claws protectively in front of him.
The girl tilted her head. ‘Actually, it’s not a bad idea,’ she admitted, her eyes dropping to her pink boots. She twirled the handle of the black umbrella in her hand before adding, ‘it’s about my crush.’
Chat’s eyes bulged comically. ‘Your c-crush?’ he croaked, feeling the heat crawling to his own cheeks. He had no idea why his treacherous body decided to react like this.
‘Yes, Chat,’ she confirmed with a short nod. ‘My crush. And that’s all you’re getting out of me today.’
Damn, instead of feeling sated he grew even more curious. That girl was devious, he thought, watching her disappearing around the corner. He heard a telltale splash of boots hitting another puddle and smiled to himself at the sound. That tidbit left him with more questions than answers. How was walking in the rain about her crush? Was she trying to lure them? Was she performing a summoning ritual? Was she just happy after meeting them? And at the back of his head a tiny voice volunteered: Who! Who was her crush? His insides twisted anxiously.
‘Who is your crush?’ he blurted out at her the next day as soon as he caught up with her.
‘It’s nice to see you too, Chat,’ she deadpanned. ‘Still no umbrella, I see.’
‘What? Oh,’ he backpedalled a bit. ‘Hi, Marinette!’ he gave a little wave.
The girl shot him a lopsided grin. ‘It’s been killing you, hasn’t it?’ she asked, not even trying to hide her contentment.
‘Yeah,’ he sighed in defeat, picking at the end of his tail.
‘Well, it was you who suggested it,’ she reminded. ‘I only followed your idea.’
‘I knooooow,’ he whined. ‘Now, please tell me, who is your crush?’ he deployed the kitten eyes.
‘Ooooh, heavy artillery, I see,’ Marinette chuckled. ‘But it seems I’m immune,’ her grin widened.
‘Please, please, please, Marineeeeeeette~,’ he chanted.
‘And where would be the fun in that?’
‘Fun?’ How was this supposed to be fun, he mused. It was torture!
Marinette twirled on her heels and jumped right in the middle of a giant puddle, splashing him as a result. Chat winced with disgust.
‘Fun,’ she repeated, as he raised his foot and shook it to let the water drip down.
‘This is supposed to be fun,’ she pursed her lips and fluttered her lashes - a picture of pure innocence, with the devil hiding beneath. ‘Or where you thinking I’m just gonna give you my secret without anything in return?’
He hadn’t thought about that. ‘So this is your price? My suffering?’ he sighed dramatically. ‘Not only am I getting wet, but also relentlessly teased? Do you have no shame, woman?’
He noticed her cheeks got warmer but she held his gaze. ‘I do have some, and that is one of the reasons I’m not going to tell you who my crush is. My offer still stands - one detail every time you find me in the rain. But I won’t blame you if you give up,’ she shrugged. ‘It’s not like you have to know my secret,’ she suspended her voice.
What a tease, Chat thought. She already got him hooked and she knew it perfectly well. His pride hurt a bit, so he decided not to let her know she won, at least not yet. ‘Well then, I need to rethink this whole deal,’ he waved a clawed hand at the puddles, the boots and the umbrella.
