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He spotted her from a far away: Multimouse was slumped on top of a Parisian rooftop, looking glum against the city lights. Quickly, he leapt across the horizon to join his mouse.
Chat Noir had been over the moon when Ladybug had agreed to let Marinette become a hero again. She deserved to be one, more than anyone else, he believed. Night patrols had also become more enjoyable with her around—he liked spending time with his mouse as much as his Lady.
Multimouse tensed up, sensing him land on the same rooftop. But she loosened up when she saw that it was just him. “Hey, Chat,” she greeted half-heartedly.
“Why does Mousey look like she lost her cheese?” Chat Noir grinned.
When she didn’t answer, he moved to sit beside her. “What’s the matter?” he asked.
She fiddled with her jump rope. “It’s—ugh—it’s kind of stupid. You see, I was looking up fashion articles earlier this morning . . .”
Chat Noir looked at her in confusion. “Yeah?”
“And—and, I saw one—uh, ‘the Fashion Style of the World’s Top Designers’ or something like that. Then I looked at the pictures and my brain went, ‘damn, these outfits are awesome!’ because they really have their unique style, you know? But then suddenly, I thought—I thought . . .”
She bit her lip. “What about me? I’m a designer myself and my style is horrible .”
Not once Chat expected Marinette to worry about her fashion sense. He saw her style unique, as he remembered her dark jacket and pink pants. Despite being a model, he never really paid attention to fashion choices (unless they were actually stupendously horrendous), so he didn’t know what to say to her.
Multimouse looked at him. “You’ve seen me, right, Chat? I want to change up my style so badly.”
“I don’t think your style is bad,” he replied honestly, “there’s nothing wrong with it.”
“But—gah! I designed it so long ago that it’s so—so . . . I really can’t describe it! Out of date? Childish? It’s been driving me crazy the whole day because a stupid clickbait internet nugget made me rethink my life’s decisions.”
Chat wanted to laugh at how endearing she was when she rambled but he held himself back. “I don’t think it’s bad if you really want to switch it up.”
Her voice turned quieter, almost a whisper. “And . . . there’s also this one thing. I was thinking of dressing up differently to—to impress this boy. But it kind of sounds desperate, right?” She dragged out a sigh. “Yeah—yeah, let’s just say I’m dressing up for myself. Let’s go with that.”
Chat Noir pondered over it. Marinette had mentioned a boy before, but she never disclosed who she was. He was curious, but he didn’t pry.
“So,” he dragged out the syllable, “What style did you have in mind, princess?”
She pouted. And it was one of the most adorable things Chat had ever seen. He wished to save the moment, so he could take it with him to heaven if he suddenly died by the hands of her cuteness.
“That’s my problem,” Multimouse ranted, “I have no idea what to wear. I know I’m dressing up for myself, but I couldn’t find anything in my closet and I searched the internet like a madwoman but I couldn’t even find one single style to stick to!”
“Okay,” Chat began, “What if you try going through different stuff first and see what you like best?”
She perked up suddenly, struck with an idea. “What if you suggest what I should wear? What would you like to see me in?”
The cat hero laughed nervously. “I’m not really a fashion expert, Mousey.” He almost grimaced at the irony of it all.
Multimouse had moved closer to him, both palms flat against the rooftop ledge and millimeters away from his thigh. Chat Noir swallowed as she gazed up at him with eagerness. With the brightest blue eyes. He mentally cursed.
He was weak against her.
“Please?” She practically bounced in excitement. “It’s not like you mismatch your clothes—just give me a rough idea.”
Chat sighed. He caved in because how could he possibly resist? “Let’s see,” he thought for a moment, “First, your space buns.”
Her hands immediately flew to her hair. “My buns?”
He nodded. “They’re really cute and they look good on you.”
“Won’t other people recognize me, though?”
“You underestimate the power of our masks,” he waved a hand to dismiss the thought, “Besides, only me and milady know about you.”
He shifted to get a good look at her. “And then, an oversized sweater, a comfy shirt under it, a skirt and maybe chunky sneakers?”
Lips parted, she expressed her amazement, “I can picture it! I think I have those on hand. Whoa, Chat, I didn’t know you had an eye for fashion!”
“Ah, um, I watch a lot of random videos.” He chuckled, hoping to cover up his uneasiness. Considering his career, he was bound to pick up some things here and there.
“I can’t wait to put the outfit together!” Multimouse swung her legs. He marvelled at how one tiny girl can let out so much energy and joy.
“How about you go on ahead and prepare it?” He offered. “We’re done with all the patrol routes anyway and I can do one last sweep.”
She lit up even more. “Really?”
“Of course.”
She stood up swiftly. “Thank you, minou! You’re the best!” With a wave, she set off into the night.
Chat leaned back with a smile. He was glad he was able to help her out, even if he didn’t say much.
It did not turn out the way Adrien was expecting.
She wore the outfit to school. He was minding his own business, lightly humming as he passed through the classroom door and wondering if he would see her again at patrol that night. She was setting her bag down on her chair when he saw her.
And proceeded to trip on his feet.
It was a total K.O. Adrien’s face became acquainted with the floor the second he laid his eyes on his classmate. She wore his suggestion and she wore it well. The Multimouse space buns perched on her head with a few playful strands sticking out. She wore a thick rose-colored sweater, with the sleeves extending to her hands. The sweater partially covered her white pleated skirt. Black thigh-high stockings and a pair of sneakers finished off the look.
“Dude. Are you okay?” Nino asked from behind him.
Adrien scrambled up to his feet, coughing. “I’m okay!”
He wasn’t okay.
Marinette took notice of him. She smiled a little, a blush coating her cheeks. Adrien smiled back awkwardly as he stumbled into his seat.
He willed himself not to think of how she transcended to be more adorable than she already was. He tried not to think of the bows adorning her stockings. Or how the large sweater emphasized her small frame. Or how her hair looked so poofy. Or how her eyes complemented the softly colored outfit—
“Ooh, Mari, what’s with you today, girl?” Alya slid into her seat.
“Just wanted to wear something else today, that’s all,” Marinette squeaked, “It doesn’t look bad, does it?”
“Bad? Girl, you’re so cute I could eat you up!” Alya laughed out loud.
Marinette cocked her head, “Uhh . . . huh?”
“Chat, Chat!” Multimouse straight into him, grabbing him by his forearms. Chat Noir lost his balance for a moment but managed to keep both of them from falling.
“Sorry! I was too excited!” She flailed her arms around. He chuckled and assured her that it was alright.
“So how’d it go?” He asked, although he had a clue on how the day went: Adrien almost didn’t survive through it.
“It was nice!” She said, “Ah, I—I don’t know, though, my friends said it suited me and it was fun dressing up and putting the outfit together! And the space buns were more comfortable than I thought.”
“But,” she flushed, “People—people kept staring at me and I don’t know why. Maybe I looked too weird?”
“Nah, I bet it’s because you looked ameowzing, princess,” Chat Noir winked.
She giggled. It was a sound he wouldn’t mind hearing every day for the rest of his life. “Are you sure? I wasn’t used to all the attention and that boy tripped and my friend said it was because he saw me but I didn’t think so because he seemed a bit tired lately and it must’ve been an accident . . .”
A blush threatened to creep to Chat’s neck. “Uhh, he must’ve been caught off guard since you looked so purrfect.”
Multimouse blinked at him. “How are you so sure? You didn’t even see me.”
“You already look good in anything,” Chat beamed, “I don’t need to see you to believe it.”
“Oh.” She wrung her hands, “What’s next?”
“Next?”
“Ye—yeah! Next outfit?”
He frowned, “You didn’t like the one I told you about?”
Her eyes widened as she waved her hands. “I liked it a lot! Really cozy and easy to throw on except for maybe the stockings.” She averted her gaze anxiously. “But you said I could try different styles and I scrolled through my phone again a while ago but I couldn’t decide. So—so I was thinking, maybe you have more ideas in mind?”
Chat’s eyebrows raised under his mask. At least with the second time around, he could actually see it coming and avoid tripping mishaps again. Plagg had mockingly laughed at him the whole afternoon and he had a feeling the kwami would never let him live down that incident.
“What about something completely different this time?” Chat began, “Badass biker vibes?”
He listed off the things on his hand. “Leather jacket, a dark top, high-waist pants and boots made for stepping on all the losers.”
He could see the gears turning in her head. “Yes, yes, that sounds interesting. And the hair?”
“You can wear it down or in braids maybe?”
Her enthusiasm fired up again. “That sounds really cool! Oh, but I don’t think I have a lot of clothes in black.” She tapped on her chin. “I could borrow from a friend, though.”
The fact that she didn’t wear anything different the next day scared Adrien. It probably took some time to put together the outfit since she had to borrow some of the pieces. And it scared him because he wouldn’t know exactly when she was going to wear his new suggestion.
So she caught him off guard. Again.
Marinette was running late. Their teacher was writing on the board when all of a sudden, she burst into the classroom in a panic. Adrien nearly dropped his pen. The style, turned a hundred eighty from the previous one, was bewitching on Marinette.
Her hair was down and curled, secured with simple bobby pins at the top. She wore a leather jacket with a Jagged Stone themed artwork plastered on the back. The top was a simple navy blue one, which lifted slightly to expose her bare midriff at each subtle movement. Rips decorated her high-waist pants. And the boots were exactly for stepping on losers: heavy, laced and rugged.
Alya let out a low whistle once class finished. “Looking hot , babe.”
“Why do I feel like you’re ready to leave me for Mari?” Nino raised an eyebrow.
Alya laughed, “Come on, don’t you see her? See! Adrien’s practically drooling.”
Adrien ran a hand on his mouth just in case he actually was drooling. He wondered briefly why he even gave the suggestions but ended up being surprised in the end. Marinette truly worked wonders in fashion.
“Did you put on makeup?” Alya asked.
Marinette nodded shyly. Adrien noticed the eyeliner put under her eyes, matching with the outfit’s aura.
“You look ready to beat up Hawkmoth,” Alya snickered, fishing out her phone, “Here, let’s take some pictures.”
Multimouse appeared for patrol again that night. Chat sent a quick message about patrol updates to his lady before approaching the mouse for another fashion planning discussion. He was half certain Ladybug wouldn’t mind them talking about non-hero work. But if she did find out, he hoped she wouldn’t scold Marinette for it.
“How about we go for something more . . .” Multimouse wrinkled her nose, “Graceful?”
“Do you have anything in mind?” Chat asked.
“I don’t really have a specific picture in my head. You?”
The last two outfits could be deemed ‘simple’ in their own right, but she was yet to wear the true embodiment of simplicity. Chat knew it wouldn’t be necessarily equivalent to boring or plain. In fact, if she dressed effortlessly, her striking features could stand out more.
“A dress,” he stated straightforwardly.
“Wha—? Just a dress?”
“If I could elaborate,” a smile tugged on his lips, “Light material, long sleeves, and a bit flowy?”
Multimouse sucked in a breath, deep blue eyes expressing wonder. “That’s . . . I never really wore dresses before. Except on special occasions.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“No, no,” she shook her head, “I like it! I like trying these new things.”
Marinette didn’t arrive late the following day. She arrived fashionably late. The bell had just rung, and she floated into the room, just at the right time. Adrien took a few minutes to register the glow she exuded.
The first look was cute. The second was powerful.
But the third was downright beautiful.
She wore a purple floral dress, cinched at the waist. The bottom of it swished and flowed gracefully as she walked up to her seat. Her feet were clad with smooth-looking flats. Finally, an elegant French braid was draped over her shoulder. Marinette looked straight out of a movie.
“You’re on a roll, huh?” Alya smirked at her best friend.
“I think you look gorgeous, Mari,” Adrien said, turning around to face them.
“You—wha—really?” Marinette squeaked out, turning red.
“Yup! You look like . . . a princess.”
“O—Oh, I um, tha—thank you, Adrien.” She stammered, “You look gorgeous too! I mean, you look like a princess too! I mean—!”
Alya burst out laughing.
A smile stretched on Chat Noir’s lips, seeing his lady heading towards him. Marinette’s company wasn’t any bad, but he admitted that he missed Ladybug terribly. He stretched on his seat on the rooftop, wondering which puns he was going to welcome her with.
“Chat!” She looked delighted to see him.
After Ladybug rushed to him, she stopped, resting her hands on her knees to catch her breath. “My outfit today! The—the boy!” she exclaimed, “He called me gorgeous, Chat! He called me gorgeous!”
Chat Noir blinked several times. “What do you mean?”
“Do you think he likes the dress better than the other outfits? Should that be my style from now on? No—no, wait! I wasn’t dressing up for him in the first place! I still need to go over more options.” Ladybug went on, “So what’s our next one? Should I go for sexy? Or wear more accessories? Or maybe a jumpsuit? I’ve always wanted to try a jumpsuit!”
“Milady?” Chat said slowly, “What are you talking about?”
“My next style, minou ! I was thinking of embroidering—” She looked down on her suit and paled. “Oh. Oh shit.”
“No,” Ladybug backed away from him with a few steps, hands visibly shaking, “Oh God, no.”
Chat reached out to her. “Marinette?” he breathed out.
Marinette. Multimouse. Ladybug. His lady. His princess. They were one and the same. His thoughts went haywire while Ladybug continued to panic.
Before he could go nearer, Ladybug sputtered out a string of incoherent mutters and swung off in the distance. That left Chat Noir alone in the comfort of the night, trying to piece together everything.
Her words from earlier echoed in his head. The boy she liked called her gorgeous. Adrien called her gorgeous. It was him who called her gorgeous. Did that mean what he thought it meant? And Marinette was his lady all along? Who put on the guise of another hero to protect her identity?
Chat distractedly vaulted back home, hoping it wasn’t all a dream.
Adrien was both giddy and worried.
Giddy because the girl he loved for so long turned out to be Mariette, another girl he held dear to his heart. And she might— possibly —like him back. Possibly. As Adrien. That meant they had been chasing after each other all this time.
But he was worried out of his mind too. After that night, neither Multimouse nor Ladybug showed up for patrol. It continued for days. There wasn’t a single message at all. In school, he observed that Marinette looked extremely stressed out.
“Pff, big deal,” Plagg said, gobbling down another piece of cheese, “She just needs time. Like good cheese needs lots of time to be all good.”
“I don’t know, I can’t help but think of the worst scenarios. What if she gave up her Miraculous?”
“To who? She’s the guardian .”
“But what if she relinquished the box too? And lost all her memories?” Adrien paced in his room.
“Do you really think pigtails is that dumb?”
Adrien groaned and called out the words to transform. Maybe she would turn up for patrol this time around. He could easily head to the bakery and check up on her, but he didn’t want to intrude on her space.
He let out a small gasp, seeing a message on his baton. It read: Come to the bakery.
Chat Noir never ran as fast before then. He darted across rooftops, seeing the familiar balcony in sight. His breath caught on his throat as he thought about the possibilities of what could happen. He dropped into a crouch near the small trap door that led down to her room and knocked.
“Just a minute!” came Marinette’s muffled voice on the other side.
He stepped away, playing with his baton. After a few beats, the lock clicked and Marinette emerged. Chat’s eyes widened little by little, taking in what she wore.
Pajamas. Chat Noir. Chat Noir pajamas.
He clutched at the railing, thinking how completely— utterly —screwed he was. Her hair was mussed up in a cute way. The baggy black top had a large green paw print on it, with the words ‘I’m Pawsome!’ The bottoms were black lined with green, long enough to graze the floor.
Custom. He immediately realized that Marinette had made it herself.
“You never saw me in my outfits, so I guess . . .” she said in a small voice. Marinette peered up at him and he was mesmerized by her eyes again. She cleared her throat. “I—I’m sorry. That was really careless of me.”
“Don’t apologize, princess. Milady.” Chat assured her. “It was an honest mistake. You were really excited.”
“But—but it was so stupid! I can’t believe I gave away my identity like that! And I didn’t contact you for days because I was so scared.”
Chat’s face contorted. “Of what?”
“I—I . . .” Marinette placed her hands on her cheeks. “You were probably upset about me lying to you. About Multimouse. And I gave away my identity when I was the one dead set on keeping it a secret. And I didn’t talk to you. And—and we missed out on all our outfit planning. And you’re probably disappointed that I’m just Marinette.”
Chat stepped forward and took her hands in his. “I wasn’t upset. I was worried, actually, I thought you renounced or something. And I can’t be upset about Multimouse too. You were trying to protect your identity.” He remembered Aspik; he would have also kept up with the dual alter ego if he were in her shoes.
“And what are you saying about ‘just Marinette’? I couldn’t be happier that it’s you! You’re kind, amazing, caring, pretty, courageous, strong, hardworking . . . I—I don’t even have enough words to describe how pawsome you are!”
Marinette only stared at him, seemingly shocked by his statements.
When she didn’t say anything, Chat said, “By the way, it’s only fair if I reveal my—”
“Wait!” Marinette blurted out.
“You—you don’t have to feel forced to,” she said, “I’d want you to keep yours a secret, kitty, but it’s your choice. You need to think about it first though. I don’t need to know yours just because you know mine.”
Chat wanted to protest and call off his transformation right then and there but he stopped himself. “Okay,” he gave a nod while a plan formed in his head. “Tomorrow, milady. I’ll make sure you know it’s me. Trust me.”
He bent down on one knee and pressed a soft kiss on her bare hand. “And I purromise, whatever happens, your secret’s safe with me.”
Adrien prepared it carefully. For the first time since he attended school, he picked out an outfit on his own. One that he hoped screamed ‘I’m Chat Noir!’ just for his lady.
He had a dark sweater on, with a large paw print and a matching pun on the front, much like the ones on her pajamas. Dark wash jeans and sleek boots accompanied the look. He also purposely ruffled his hair to mirror his hero persona.
Adrien received a few curious stares from his classmates but he wasn’t the slightest bit bothered. He understood why Marinette enjoyed switching styles—he felt comfy in his new clothes. They weren’t restricting or stiff like the ones his father had him wear. He strolled into the classroom with his hands in his pockets, eager to see Marinette’s reaction.
Nino gave him an odd look from his seat. “Did you and Mari decide to couple match today?”
“. . . Huh?”
Nino pointed to the doorway where Marinette showed up in all her glory. Adrien gaped, bumping into the corner of the table.
She was wearing a red skirt with the signature pattern of black polka dots. Her top was a dark collared blouse, with the words ‘Bug Out!’ stitched on the breast pocket. She wore her hair in a high ponytail, held up by a silky ribbon. Even her shoes paid homage to the heroes; there were ladybugs and black cats drawn over them.
Marinette was looking at him with the same stunned expression.
“Minou?” She whispered so only he could hear it.
Adrien couldn’t help the wide smile that stretched on his lips. “You look meowvelous, milady.”