Secret Identity

Chapter 5

Adrien casually strolled into school with Nino by his side. Though, if he was being honest, he wasn't paying attention to anything his best friend was saying. He was thinking about the previous night where he had visited Marinette ... as Cat Noir of course. Adrien couldn't help but notice a few posters of him cut from magazines. That made him blush.

"Adrien? Adrien!"

Adrien blinked twice. "Huh? What?" He looked to see Nino smirking at him. "What?" Adrien asked innocently.

The two boys entered their literature class. "Dude, you weren't paying attention. Were you thinking of Marinette again?" Nino sat in his seat.

Adrien shrugged as he sat down, his hands in his front pockets. "Most definitely not." Adrien grinned. 

Five minutes later everyone in the class was seated in their usual places. Everyone except for one girl. Marinette. Nino glanced sideways at Adrien then sighed. "Just talk to her bro!" 

Adrien widened his eyes but before he could stutter out a response, the classroom door flung open and Marinette fell through it. Chloé and Sabrina laughed. Adrien glared at her as he got up and walked over to the girl on the floor. He bent down and started to help her collect up her fallen things. Marinette looked up and froze. "Uh ... "

"Here." Adrien stood and pulled up Marinette with him gently. He handed her back her books. "There you go."

"Um... Uh... Thanks ... " Marinette mumbled rushing to her seat. Adrien did the same, but with less urgency. Adrien noticed that she had that cute look of surprise on her face, the same one whenever he spoke to her. He loved it. Nino nudged him, smirking. Adrien waved him off, chuckling quietly. Well, he thought, guess that's a start.

Meanwhile, Marinette was totally freaking out as Adrien had just helped her when nobody else came to her aid. Alya winked at her as she sat in her seat and she immediately buried her face in her hands. Marinette blushed... That was until the class heard a deafening scream. Marinette gasped, following the other students out the room and down the stairs. 

What they saw surprised them all. Cat Noir was standing in the middle of the courtyard, a cunning smirk plastered across his face, his arms stretched high above his head. But it wasn't Cat Noir, because Adrien was standing with the other students with Nino to his left and Marinette to his right. 

"Cat Noir?" Alya raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you doing here?" 

'Cat Noir' laughed, throwing his left arm across his chest as he bowed. "Why, I'm looking for Ladybug of course. We have some ... business to sort out."

"That's Copycat!" Adrien hissed. "Is he feeling jealous again or something?!" 

"What did you say?" Nino asked.

"That I need to go to the bathroom!" Adrien shouted, cringing as he realised he said it a little too loudly. He wasn't the only one that had disappeared.

Ladybug dropped from the roof of the school. "Cat Noir! What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to see you L-B," he purred. 

Ladybug groaned. "Stop fooling around and tell me the real reason!" 

"I'll tell you the real reason." A voice announced from behind Ladybug. She heard the students gasp. Ladybug turned around slowly and saw ... Cat Noir? "I'm the real Cat Noir. That's Copycat!"

Ladybug turned back to 'Cat Noir'. "What?!" 

Copycat sneered. "Ugh. Don't listen to that liar! I'm the real Cat Noir!"

"Then prove it," Cat Noir growled. "Prove that you're the real Cat Noir!"

"Fine," Copycat huffed. "How should I do that?"

"Wait!" Ladybug shouted. "Time out!" She looked to and from the two Cat Noir's completely confused. 

Cat Noir ignored her. He glared at Copycat. "Name at least two of the nicknames we call Ladybug."

Copycat snickered. "This is easy. I call her m'lady and bugaboo." 

Ladybug stared at the real Cat Noir, thinking it was Copycat. She grabbed her yo-yo, swinging it at Cat Noir and trapping him in the wire. He had no time to react. "Cat Noir! Grab his miraculous!"

Copycat smirked. "With pleasure." He ran over, swiping his foot under Cat Noir's legs and tripped him up, making him fall backwards. Copycat hovered over Cat's body, about to grab his ring until Cat kicked him off. Struggling relentlessly, Cat shook off Ladybug's yo-yo and ran over to her, grabbing her head in his hands. Without hesitating, he pressed his lips to hers in a firm, but quick kiss. When he pulled back, Ladybug looked up at him. "Cat?" She whispered.

Cat Noir winked. "Your one and only m'lady." His hands dropped to his sides. "Now, let's get rid of this Copycat."

Ladybug smirked, swinging her yo-yo beside it, throwing it at Copycat. It wrapped around his leg and, when Ladybug pulled back her arm, Copycat tripped and fell backwards.

Jumping over a railing with her yo-yo following her, Ladybug pulled and pulled until Copycat was dangling in the air by his ankle.

Cat Noir jumped up and grabbed a photo from Copycat's pocket ripping it in half. Ladybug let Copycat down gently and cleansed the akuma in a matter of seconds.

"What?" Theo, the akumatized victim asked. "Where am I?"

Ladybug held out her clenched fist to Cat Noir. "Pound ... it?" Her partner was not looking at her, slightly annoyed that she couldn't realise he was the real Cat Noir at first. "Cat?"

Ignoring her, he ran off across the courtyard of the school grounds, pushing himself up as he extended his staff. Landing on the roof, Cat Noir sprinted off into the distance.