Marinette paced the length of her room with vehement determination. Each time foot met floorboard her steps became a little less precise and a little more violent. After a few lengths, she was seething with rage. It was a bit of a childish display, perhaps, taking out her frustration on her innocent floor, but Marinette Dupain-Cheng, part-time heroine of Paris, was officially at her wit's end.

Finally flopping onto her bed with a huff, Marinette let out a long, exasperated groan into her pillows. As much as she would have loved to blame someone or an invisible force for her misery, she knew full well that it was self-imposed.

She had decided to challenge Chat Noir to a competition, because she was sure that she could figure out his identity before he could ever figure out hers.

The bastard figured it out in one day.

Marinette grabbed the small Chat Noir plush from the corner of her bed and glared at it. The plush smiled back at her, the signature Chat Noir smirk stiched permanently onto its felt complexion.

"Stop mocking me!" she hissed at it, throwing it back in the corner. She allowed her head to drop like an anchor back into her pillows and thought back to her fruitless attempts over the last couple days to figure out her partner's identity.

From what Chat had said at patrol 3 days ago, it seemed that he was someone who knew her, at least as an acquaintance. And he had stated outright that they went to the same school so…

Marinette bolted upright and ran over to her desk, lifting piles of sketches and pulling out last year's yearbook. She hadn't looked at it since school ended in June and had nearly forgotten about it. She then ran across her room and found her backpack, rummaging through it to find a thick red Sharpie. As much as she lamented defacing a book full of memories, she knew it was for the good of the investigation.

"Marinette!" A small bell-like voice interrupted her thoughts. Tikki floated up and rested on the cover of the yearbook, pouting slightly. "It's 10:15. You're late for your patrol!"

"I can't go yet!" Marinette protested. "I still haven't figured out who Chat Noir is! Hell, I'm not even close! I can't face him yet!"

"Don't worry about that, Marinette," Tikki giggled. "He told you he couldn't make patrol tonight during the akuma attack this morning. He's busy! Don't you remember?"

Marinette may have been too busy over-analyzing her partner's every move in a desperate attempt to draw a conclusion to actually pay attention to what he was saying.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Marinette responded. "Tikki, spots on!" She grabbed the sharpie and yearbook before she swung away out of her window. Who said she couldn't multitask?

First, she crossed out the faces of every girl so she could see her options more clearly. Next came all the boys who had been akuma victims. Obviously, she couldn't remember them all, but she was still able to narrow down the pool quite a bit. Next, she eliminated boys based off appearances. Of course, she only crossed out those who looked absolutely nothing like Chat Noir, since she wasn't sure which features were possibly changed by his transformation. So far, so good.

Ladybug sat near the top of the Eiffel Tower, haunched over the yearbook for about an hour, eliminating boy after boy for various reasons. Too quiet, too short, and when she looked at Adrien, too perfect in every way.

Ladybug crossed off yet another face, her sharpie running low on ink. She then groaned in anger and let her face drop on the pages of the book. What had she missed? She had crossed off every single boy in the school.

"What are you doing?"

"Ahhhhhh!" Ladybug screamed involuntary, startled by the sudden appearance of her leather-clad partner. In a clumsy motion, she fumbled to grab her yearbook before it fell out of her arms and finally hugged it close to her chest, breathing heavily. Then she turned back to glare at Chat Noir. "How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that!" she raged.

"Sorry!" he said sheepishly. Then he raised his right hand. "I swear that next time, I will make all kinds of noise as I approach to save you from a potential heart attack, Marinette."

She rolled her eyes. Of course he would call her by name just to rub in the fact that he won easily while she was still struggling.

"What were you doing?" he asked again. Then he leaned over her shoulder. "Is that a yearbook?" Marinette was too embarrassed to tell him that she was not even close to figuring out his identity.

"I thought you said you were busy tonight," she said instead.

"Finished early," he said simply. "Don't tell me you still haven't figured it out!" he added, voice laced with amusement. "Do you want a hint or-"

"I don't need hints!" she snapped. "I just…uh…" She flipped through the pages of crossed-out faces. "…hit a dead end." Chat Noir walked over and sat down next to her, green eyes scanning the page.

"Well, how about this," he said. "Go through the last couple candidates you crossed out and explain why you did. If you talk through it, maybe you'll find your mistake." That…wasn't a bad idea. And staring at the last page of the school photos like it insulted her wasn't getting her anywhere.

So, starting with the Zs, Ladybug explained to her partner why she'd ruled out boy after boy. Sometimes Chat Noir would point out specific classmates and ask why they had been eliminated.

"Ok, what about Jean Duparc?"

"Akumatized."

"Justin Extra?"

"I've literally never spoken to him, and you seem to know me pretty well."

"I'm pretty sure I'm actually Nathaniel Kurtzberg."

"Ok first of all, you were literally with me the whole time he was akumatized, and on top of that, there is no way someone so shy would act as ridiculous as you do."

They went through page after page until they reached the beginning. Marinette felt the sting of defeat once again. Had she missed him? Was she just that oblivious?

"What about Adrien Agreste?" Ladybug tried–and failed—to keep from laughing.

"Ha! Yeah right!" she said. "As if!"

"Why not?" he laughed back. "I've got the looks."

"There's no way!" Ladybug continued laughing. "I mean he's so perfect, right? And so handsome, and funny, and selfless…and…" Wait, she thought.

Fuck. Fuuuuuuuuuuck.

"OH MY GOD YOU'RE HIM, AREN'T YOU?" And all the pieces simultaneously fell into place. How? How had she missed that? She looked over at Chat Noir, and it was like she was seeing him for the first time. She saw those same kind, emerald eyes under the mask. Adrien's beautiful golden locks, which usually fell perfectly, were messy and wild, made all the more tantalizing. The same (super hot) boy who had stolen her heart with a simple act of kindness, even when he thought she hated him, was the same brave and altruistic superhero she was lucky enough to call a partner.

And he loved her.

"Hi, Marinette," he breathed. Marinette knew she should say something, but she couldn't even begin to form words. Ladybug was a woman of action. So she grabbed Adrien by the shoulders and kissed him softly. And there was no need for words, nor could they ever describe something that felt so right.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated! :)