Stay by my Side

Stay by my Side - Chapter Twenty-Seven

Adrien - or rather Chat Noir - sprung from rooftop to rooftop, following the purple akuma as it flapped through the streets. He knew his job was important, he had to make sure the akuma didn't hurt anyone, but even so, his mind remained... distracted.

"Adrien. You need to go protect the civilians and find Ladybug."

Chat Noir shook his head back and forth, scolding himself for getting distracted, as he almost lost sight of the butterfly's flapping wings. Even with the additional reprimanding he was giving himself, he couldn't seem to get his mind away from Marinette. Something... something had changed. Something was different. Marinette was different.

Or was she...?

As he chased the evil creature before him, he thought back to Marinette's expression as she said those lines. Without the stutter, she sounded less like the Marinette he thought he knew. She seemed more sure, more confident, more...

"... more Ladybug..."

He paused, halting in his chase, and clapped his hands over his mouth. Regardless of the fact that he was currently standing on a roof, so no one would be able to hear him anyways, he felt heat rise to his cheeks in both shock and embarrassment. Hopefully no one heard or saw him become distracted... he's been distracted all day and need to get his head back into the fight - before a fight actually began. This Marinette and Ladybug comparison could continue later, when he wasn't in the middle of a battle.

"Kitty!"

Never mind then, Ladybug couldn't ever seem to leave his mind. "Ladybug!" He called over joyfully, glancing once more at the whereabouts of the akuma before running over to her and pointing it out. "It's over there!"

"I see it, Kitty, thank you." She smiled warmly at him, and Chat Noir felt his heart rate spike. He couldn't take his eyes off her, not when she ran over to the butterfly, not when she de-akumatised it, not when she landed slightly wrong and slipped from the roof-

Wait.

"Ladybug?!" Chat Noir ran over to her, determined to catch her in his arms before she hit the ground. He knew he was too far away, but he could... he could still make it, and save her!

But Ladybug didn't need saving.

She never had.

She immediately used the excess force from her falling off balance to carve her foot through the air as she turned, flipping mid-air and twisting before Chat Noir's eyes. After regaining control over her body through that motion, Ladybug scanned her surroundings and shot her yo-yo upwards, it attaching to a pole on a nearby roof, and she swung up, safely landing on her feet on the roof.

In that moment, Chat Noir didn't see Ladybug anymore... he saw...

There - an akuma - heading straight for her. It's evil purple wings flapped as it inched it's way closer to Marinette's face. Instinctively her Ladybug reactions kicked in, and she twisted, kicking off into the air, carving a cut through the sky as her leg flicked upward as she tilted and flipped in mid-air, landing solidly on the ground, completely dodging the butterfly.

"... Marinette...?"

There may be a grand distance between them two, but the wind caught the words that left his lips and delivered them to Ladybug's ears. He may be standing far away from her, but he knew her well enough to see her freeze up and realise that she had heard him. She had heard him - and had frozen in shock.

He felt his chest shudder, as he forgot how to breathe. Was... was Ladybug really... really Marinette? The sweet girl he saw in class every day as Adrien? The one he comforted late at night as Chat Noir? The one who... who he told his secret to...?

He chuckled to himself lightly. Well he was intending on telling Ladybug eventually - so if they were the same person then it'd be a very happy coincidence, and then he wouldn't have to worry about another person knowing his identity. But if Marinette and Ladybug really were the same person, then... well... that would change everything.

Without him realising, Marinette Ladybug had swung down and landed in front of him, her eyes wide and panicked. It unnerved Chat Noir to see her so scared, and part of him wished he had never said a word. He watched her slowly approach, and realised she wasn't just scared... she also seemed... slightly relieved?

"Kitty... did you say something?"

"I..." For a moment, Chat Noir couldn't speak. What should he say? Should he press for an answer or simply leave it be? If they really were the same person, then Marinette certainly had enough on her plate already, with Lila and everything. The entire class had basically betrayed her, even if they were all being manipulated by Lila... Marinette was going to take a short break and return to school in a couple more days apparently - or at least that's what he heard the principle tell Marinette's parents. When she did return, he had no idea what would happen. All he really knew was that he would be there for her - whether Marinette was Ladybug or not.

But that still left him with the question... should he ask or not?

He paused and took a moment to ponder the scenario of Ladybug and Marinette being the same person. They were both incredibly talented and driven, putting everyone else's health before their own. Marinette in general was a lot more clumsy than Ladybug, but he'd seen Marinette also do incredible dancing and show off her fast reflexes, which he wouldn't have expected from anyone besides Ladybug. In addition they both really dislike Lila - which for Marinette was a given, but Ladybug's reaction to Lila had always seemed strange to him. Of course now, however, it made perfect sense.

As the connections continued to be made, he realised he... he really liked Marinette. He liked Ladybug a lot too, but Marinette... both Marinette and Ladybug had a certain... aura to them. Ladybug's is fierce and Marinette's is tame, but both are kind. Both are caring.

And both are what he fell in love with.

"Are you... are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

Hi guys! Wow I wrote a new update quicker than normal, huh? There's a power outage going on in my house right now (which at the time of writing this is supposed to last another 6 hours), so I have a bit more spare time to write than normal!

(note, it's been about 8 hours and power has JUST returned so-)

In addition I'm taking a short 2 week break from Discord. Discord was taking up a lot of my time until now, so hopefully now I have more time to put into my studies and writing. This book is almost complete, I don't have a plan but genuinely could end up being as little as two more chapters until it ends - that isn't confirmed, just to clarify, I don't know exactly how many chapters are left haha.

I hope you enjoyed the new update! It's been fun writing this, haha! See you all again soon!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊