Chat Blanc - a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic

Caterwauling

Something was going on with Chat Blanc.

While Marinette knew that cats were nocturnal beings, she wasn't fully prepared to suffer from his occasional night howls that almost ruined her sanity.

She couldn't remember when did it all start. There were nights wherein the white feline was completely silent, but oftentimes he was quite agitated. Not only his temperaments were unpredictable, his random cries threw her out of the loop.

If she locked her skylight, he would claw the bolts like there was a mice behind the wall. And if she left it opened, he would go to her balcony and begin his yowls.

What struck her as odd was that the noise lasted no more than a minute, and it always occurred around midnight.

The Dupain-Chengs haven't received any complaints from the neighbors yet, and fortunately, the cat wasn't loud enough to be heard downstairs, but Marinette didn't want to wait for an Eviction Notice to be issued before she made a move.

So after doing some online research and veterinary trips, she learned that cats tend to do that either to vocalize their insecurities out or to lure a mate.

They called it as caterwauling, a term used for cats in heat.

"But Chat is a male." Marinette reasoned. "Male cats don't go into heat."

"Unless there's a female in the vicinity." Alya countered. "Female cats emit scents that can make the males go wild. And looking at Chat, I can see that he's one hell of a healthy Tom."

The duo was having their lunch at the park when the conversation strayed from Biology project to Chat Blanc's nightly quirks.

"Have you considered neutering him?"

The pig-tailed girl shook her head. "I don't think Chat is in heat. Mating lasts for several days, and with a distinct pattern. My cat, however, yowls randomly for some unknown reasons. Besides, that bummer never leaves the house, let alone sniffing other cat's butt."

"Then maybe he's craving for more attention?"

Marinette also considered that as a possibility, but she was overly affectionate with him. Her parents dote him so much they often double his kibble servings when she's not looking. Then she, later on, found out that her cat was also receiving free meals from their customers in exchange for petting.

She glanced at the sight of Nino batting a toy wand to the playful white feline while Adrien was recording it with his phone.

"He's an attention whore all right." the girl deadpanned.

Alya placed a finger under her chin. "Hmm. Maybe Chat senses other cat's presence lurking around his turf at night?"

"Like some strays hanging out on my balcony?"

Street animals were a common issue in Paris. May it be cats, dogs, birds or even reptiles - some of them were feral, while others were abandoned pets.

"I don't think my cat was being threatened, or that he was scared that's why he meows at night." she went on. "Chat was all by himself sitting on my balcony railings when I checked him out once. And I've seen him spotting a stray before. He wasn't acting like that."

"Either Chat woke up from a nightmare, or he saw something that's not visible to our naked eye." her best friend smirked. "You pick."

Marinette shuddered at the thought.

With a help of Mr. Cesaire, the pig-tailed designer installed a fence roller as a cat confinement. It was deemed useless days later because Chat Blanc learned to do a workaround by pawing the gaps between the enclosures.

Despite it, the cat never left the premise at all. He still meows infrequently at the dead of the night.

Which was why Alya suggested building an animal trap during the weekends.

"This is getting ridiculous." Marinette shook her head with amusement. "Knowing my clumsiness, I might end up trapping myself."

"Oh. I've got everything covered, Girl." the brunette patted her back. "Including your clumsiness."

On her balcony rested a four by six feet long black mesh cage with an automatic lock. With its matte finish that blends well at night, the thin sturdy wires were designed to be undetected for animals with night visions.

"Papa was a wildlife conservationist back in Martinique," Alya told her. "When I was around my sister's age, he taught me some tricks of his trade. Sometimes I tag along during their rescue missions. There was this one time I squealed on a bunch of fox cubs running freely with their mom in the meadows."

"Do you miss your hometown?" Marinette asked as the two sat on her garden bench while observing the sunset.

"Sometimes. I mean, I grew up there. It's normal to feel homesick." she sighed then chewed a brioche. "But then, living here in Paris is still the best decision I've ever made in my life."

Her best friend scrunched her nose. "Yeah, chasing superheroes with your camera while being pit in a life-and-death situation must be the best."

"Aww, Mari-poo, don't be a jelly. I might have hots for Ladybug, and Chat Noir is my ultimate bae, but you're always my one true love."

It didn't take that long for the two to burst out laughing.

"Hey, now that we're done with our entrapment operation, why don't we discuss my Ladybug and Chat Noir's theories and how to unmask them?"

Chat Blanc joined them moments later and relished for more petting while they engaged in a heated debate.

When Alya went home for dinner, Tikki flew out from her hideaway and eyed the animal cage.

"Isn't that quite big for a cat trap?" the kwami asked.

"I think so too, but Mr. Cesaire doesn't have a smaller cage aside from his panther's," Marinette answered with a frown. "We don't know if it was really a cat that was distracting Chat Blanc at night. It might a mice or some sort of a bat."

"Let's hope his best pal understands that it's a trap cage, not a pigeonhole." Tikki snickered while they eyed Pierre, the pigeon, who was nestling comfortably on the rails. "Why don't you install a CCTV here instead?"

She tilted her head to the side. "Not only it may arise some silly questions from my parents, I don't want to out myself if someone saw a footage of Ladybug slipping into my room and dropped her transformation."

"Point taken."

"Besides," she added. "I don't sense any animosities towards my cat's secret enemy. At least they leave my plants in peace."

The kwami hummed then observed the trap's interiors with interest. "Using a catnip as your bait here will never do you favors."

"Urg, don't remind me that again." the girl groaned, recalling how she left a pouch of catnip open in the balcony and found an army of bleping strays the next day.

Marinette though of tuna, or tuna sandwich, but realized that its savory meat can also attract flies. So she resorted to a less savory yet delicious treat that can be eaten in an exposed environment.

Croissants.

"I don't think that's an attractive bait to lure an animal out, Marinette."

"The luck is on my side, Tikki." she glanced at the trap cage for the last time before heading downstairs. "Unless this animal is the most unfortunate cat in Paris."

Marinette never thought she has proven herself to be correct that night.

When Chat Blanc began to knead the walls incessantly again, a loud yelp sounded above her skylight, followed by a crash.

She was glad her parents remained undisturbed from their deep slumber despite the alarming noise. Covering herself with a thick coat, and with a flashlight activated on her phone, the girl opened her glass trapdoor and aimed it towards the trap cage.

Who would've thought she was lucky enough to capture the most unfortunate cat in Paris?

"Good evening, Princess." Chat Noir greeted sheepishly with drooped faux ears and a leather tail in between his legs. "I guess you've bagged yourself a cat tonight."