"Just a Friend?" Book 1 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy (MLB FanFic) |COMPLETED|

Chpt 3: Wait- is that Cat Noir!?

For the next week Marinette carefully watched what Adrien did after school.  But, everyday seemed normal (she knew this as she knew his schedule by heart!).  He went to fencing, talked about his Chinese tutoring, piano practice, fashion shoots, everything she knew about. 

Yep, all normal! she thought.  It had been a week since the weird behavior.  "I guess I just overreacted, Tikki," she said toward her purse.  Tikki stuck her head out a bit. 

"I'm glad everything is okay, Marinette.  You must be so relieved!"  Just as Tikki said that, Marinette saw Adrien head toward the rooftop stairs.

"Not again, Tikki," Marinette exclaimed as she quickly crossed the room toward the stairs she saw Adrien headed up.  "I can't get any closer to him without letting him see me, but I might lose him on the roof if I stay farther behind!"

Tikki could see she was really worried so she said, "Maybe Ladybug could help you answer the mystery?"  Marinette shared a grateful glance with Tikki.  She knew Tikki disapproved of using her powers unless it was to fight evil.

Marinette opened the door to the nearby janitor's closet, closed it, and said:

"Tikki, SPOTS ON!" 

Marinette's clothes were magically replaced by a red suit with black dots and a matching mask. Once she had transformed into Ladybug, she peeked around the door to make sure it was clear, and then headed out of the school.  She tried to ignore the startled looks from the students as she raced by.  She hoped they would think she was on important business and not that she was a student here! Once she was outside, she used her red and black polka dotted yoyo to pull herself up to the rooftop. As soon as she landed she scanned the area, but Adrien still wasn't there.

"How can that be?" she said to herself.  She gazed out over the city searching for any sign of Adrien, but soon instead became distracted by a billboard across the street that had a large picture of him on it, advertising the new "Adrien" fragrance. 

"Adrien," Ladybug said dreamily.  She started to think about her happy future with her crush involving a house and hamsters, if Adrien would only ever really notice her, when she suddenly remembered what she was supposed to be doing and gave herself a mental shake.   She scanned the city again and was surprised to see Cat Noir off in the distance.  She wondered if she'd missed hearing about an akumatized person.  Things had been quiet for awhile, but that could change at any time.

I better follow Cat! she thought and headed toward where she last saw him.  She arrived at the spot but was puzzled when he was also nowhere to be found. 

What was with all of these males today! she thought grumpily.  She looked out over the city, but everything looked quiet.  She checked the internet for any news alerts about akumatized people.  Nope, quiet. 

No idea, thought Ladybug.  I guess I better go back to school, get my stuff, and get home before my mom wonders what's going on.

She landed on the rooftop of the school and called out:

"Tikki, SPOTS OFF!"

As soon as Marinette detransformed, she rushed to the staircase and headed down to her locker. She quickly grabbed her things and raced home, passing another smaller Adrien poster on the way. 

She was lost in her thoughts about Adrien as she headed upstairs toward her room.  She was halfway up the stairs by the kitchen when she turned her head in disbelief and half fell over the banister. Cat Noir was sitting at the table. In her house. With her mother! What was going on today!?

Marinette was about to ask her mother what he was doing there when her mother looked toward Marinette, shook her head slightly at her, and made a shooing motion with her hand.  Marinette shook her head in disbelief and slowly headed up the stairs, though her gaze was glued on Cat who was talking to HER MOTHER at HER TABLE!