Hello, fellow Miraculous fans!

I'm BassDS, and I've pretty much been in the fandom going on two weeks; can you believe it was just a single picture a friend of mine drew that made me look this up, then next thing you know, I'm watching the episodes. Life can be kinda weird sometimes.

But anyway, I figured for my first venture into the fandom, I'd throw in my own little 'reveal' story and join the party, but as I do, one thing I just want to state, is that if anyone seems OC in any sort of way, or if it seems TOO straightforward, I apologize in advance. This is literally the first thing I've written for another fandom in eight years, all of them being spent in the Star Force series of the Mega Man franchise, so again, if anyone seems out of character for some reason, I'm sorry; I'm kind of leaving my safety zone here and venturing out into the unknown, so constructive criticism is welcome.

All I can say is, I am glad to be apart of this fandom, and I'm very lucky to be jumping on board right when things are starting out. So I hope you all enjoy this little story, so go ahead and dig right into the first small chapter of this VERY short story, because I've still got so much more on my plate to do.

...

Identity

Act I: The pieces lie where they fall

...

"Well, I know one thing's for sure; a garden is no place for THIS cat." Chat Noir said as he dodged the numerous prickly vines being aimed at him.

"Well, what do you expect? Animals and bugs are off-limits in Botanica's garden!" said the akuma-controlled woman as her eyes barreled down at him, the rose on her chest glowing lightly.

"Chat, keep her distracted while I go in for the rose!" Labybug called out as she managed to avoid several vines being sent her way as well.

"Easier said than done, here, my lady!" he replied as he used his baton to swipe away at the vines, only to get entangled with them.

Ladybug made her move as she leaped up toward Botanica and reached her hand out to pluck the rose off from her, but as she did, a vine rose up and collided with her face, knocking her back down to the ground, but in the end, Botanica no longer had her rose.

"Time to fertilize your garden!" Ladybug exclaimed as she crushed the rose, freeing the akuma butterfly from within as she brought her yo-yo out and captured it within its confines, purifying it of the darkness within it. "Bye-bye, little butterfly." she smiled as she watched if fly away.

"Gaaahhh...nnnooo...my garden!" Botanica cried out as she reverted back to normal, passed out and exhausted.

Chat watched the vines fade away as his baton became free and walked over toward Ladybug.

"Another exceptionally done job, my lady. You were absolutely purrrfect." he grinned lightly.

"Your puns are seriously giving me a migraine, Chat." she rubbed her forehead.

"Well, I have the purrrfect remedy for that." he said as he brought his face closer to hers.

"Not on your life, kitty."

"Had to try, you know." he smiled before his eyes looked over to a few scratches on her cheek, a small bit of blood visible on the wounds. "Might want to take care of that." he said as he looked at her.

Ladybug had no idea what he was talking about until she finally felt the small bit of pain the scratches caused. "Thanks, Chat. Didn't realize it to be honest. I must have really been caught up in the heat of the moment with the fight." she said, only to be interrupted by the beeping of her earrings, signaling she didn't have long left til she de-transformed.

"You go on home. I'll handle things here." Chat motioned to her to head out before the worst could happen."

"Such a gentlemen, tonight." she smirked. "Although, don't think that earns you extra points. Night, kitty." she said as she threw her yo-yo out to latch on to a pole and make her way to the rooftops.

Chat watched her leave, basked in the light of the moon as his lady made her way home.

"I'll keep trying as long as it takes." he said to himself as he tended to the woman as the sirens of police cars signaled that they were finally arriving on the scene.

...

"Oww..that stings!" Marinette yelped as she applied antibotics to the wounds. Sure the scratches looked minor, but better to take care of it now than to let it get infected later.

"Need some help?" Tikki asked as the small kwami floated over to her.

"If you don't mind." she said as Tikki gently placed the cotton to the wounds a few more times before grabbing a bandage big enough to cover both scratches and placed it atop the wounds.

"There. All better!" Tikki exclaimed as Marinette placed the cap back onto the bottle and went into the bathroom to put it away.

"Thanks, Tikki. How about a little snack before bed?" she said as she moved over to her desk and pulled out a small bag of cookies, giving one to her tiny friend.

"Gladly." Tikki beamed as she help the cookie in her small hands and began to lightly munch on it as Marinette pulled one out for herself and took a small bite as she looked up at her wall filled with pictures of nothing but 1 Adrien Agreste, completely lost in thought of the many fantasies rolling in her head between the two.

Tikki pretended not to notice, fighting back a chuckle at her friend's infatuation for the young model.

...

"Sweet Camembert, how I love thee..." Plagg said as he opened his mouth as wide as he could, literally shoving a whole wedge into his mouth.

"You're like a bottomless pit, you know that?" Adrien looked on at his kwami, head cupped in his hand as he eyed him.

"So what if I am? Got a problem with it?"

"No, I just hope it doesn't get to the point where you raid every piece of cheese out of the pantry and leave the cooks dumbfounded on how it could all completely vanish out of nowhere." Adrien stated.

"Nah. Won't happen..." Plagg responded, but then muttered to himself "Thanks for the idea though."

Adrien turned to look out his window at the clear Parisian sky lit with the light of the moon before he turned his attention back to a newspaper clipping of him and Ladybug...well, to be more precise: Chat Noir and Ladybug. He truly longed to find out who the girl was under the mask, but he respected her wishes on keeping their identities from one another.

He sigh as he looked down at his phone as the clock read 11:45 as he heard a light snoring sound coming from behind him, chuckling a bit at the sight of Plagg totally conked out with a bit of Camembert still lodged in his mouth as he attempted to remove it away from him, only for Plagg to subconsciously latch onto it.

"Alright, fine...sleep with it if you want." Adrien sighed as he looked on at the kwami before deciding it was time for him to sleep as well.

...

The next morning:

"Gotta hurry! Ugh! Can't believe I overslept!" Marinette groaned as she dashed through the hallway to make it to class.

"I tried waking you, but you kept rolling over." Tikki said from within the small opening of the purse around Marinette's waist.

"Save it for later, Tikki." she whispered through her teeth as she was nearing the corner of the hallway. "Good...I'm going to make it, but barely!" she thought, but before she knew it...

BAM!

Marinette had been in such a rush, she had no idea what hit her until she found herself on the floor and wondering that the heck happened until she heard a groan in front of her, her eyes widening as she realized the object she ran into had been Adrien as he sat up from the impact.

"Adrien! I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" she asked with concern and got up to help him up.

"I'm fine. No apologies needed. It was my fault." he said as he dusted his clothes off. "I was kind of behind on time and not watching my step." he added as he looked over to the young girl and noticed the bandage on her cheek...something about the placement upon seeing it bothered him.

"Umm...we...better get to class." she uttered out now that the realization that it was Adrien she ran into finally settled in as she rose to her feet and grabbed her bag.

Adrien only nodded as he got up and followed suit as they made their way to Ms. Bustier's with seconds to spare.

The day seemed to just drag on to Adrien as they all waited for the last few minutes of the school day to end. Adrien gathered his things as his mind trailed back to his morning collision with Marinette. Something seemed very off to him. He looked up to see Ayla talking with Marinette as they stood near the door waiting for the bell.

"Hey, Marinette?" he exhaled as he approached the two. "Just wanted to say I'm sorry about this morning. I really wasn't watching where I was going." he said.

Once more, like always whenever she was around him, Marinette became fidgety and nervous inside, but did her best to compose herself in front of Adrien. It felt like a curse in a fairy tale.

"No, I'm at fault too. I overslept and was just trying to get here on time; it could happen to anyone, right?" she managed to get out, her nerves starting to get the better of her.

Adrien eyed the bandage once more and took notice of its position. It couldn't...she couldn't be.

"Just wondering...what happened here?" he asked as he touched her cheek gently.

Alya could only hold back a chuckle and image what was going through her friend's mind right now; that her crush was ACTUALLY touching her cheek in a caring manner.

"Oh...I um...I..." Marinette scrambled to make an excuse as fast as she could. "I was in the park yesterday, and a ball that belonged to a few kids bounced into a rose bush, and I ended up bumping into a thorn when I was getting it back for them." she managed to get out. "That sounds believable, right?" she thought to herself as she tried to keep her composure. No way in hell she could tell him she got it from fighting an akuma. "Why do you ask?"

Adrien thought for a moment as his eyes made contact with hers, and he found himself drawn in by the blue orbs...the same draw power the eyes of his Ladybug possessed.

"Oh...uh, no real reason. I was just curious." he said as he tried to take his mind off the thoughts in his head as the bell finally rang out to signal the end of the day. "I'll see you two tomorrow." he flashed a smile as Marinette's face began to glow red.

"Mari? Earth to Marinette?" Alya said as she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder to snap her out of her little trance.

"I am NEVER throwing this away." she muttered as she came back to reality, her fingers touching the bandage atop her cheek.

"This coming from the girl who had his daily schedule on a giant board at home; Yeah, you'd be crazy enough to keep it." Alya joked lightly, causing Marinette to turn red a bit.

"Alya!" she hushed toward her friend.

...

Adrien laid on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling, Plagg beside him on the sheets as he stuffed himself full of more Camembert; sometimes Adrien wondered if the kwami had a bottomless pit for a stomach. It would make sense, considering everything he would eat. But that was the last thing on his mind. All he could think about was Marinette and Ladybug, and the more he thought about it, he began to think about how similar they looked, but the contrast between their attitudes separated them even more. It really made him think.

Could his confident Ladybug and often-awkward-around-him Marinette REALLY be one in the same?

That bandage on her cheek didn't help much either. It only increased Adrien's speculation even further. It was placed in almost exactly the same spot where Ladybug had been hit by one of the vines the other night.

"Is she really..." Adrien murmured to himself.

...