Chapter 5: Curiosity Killed the Chat

The akumatized man appeared to be entirely made out of diamond, with long dagger shards for arms and legs that held him high above the ground. His eyes glowed blue and shot concentrated beams of light toward the hearts of his victims. Couples around the restaurant scattered, but the unlucky ones hit by the akuma attack immediately began sobbing what appeared to be tears of diamonds, which slowly started encapsulating their bodies in the shimmering, unbreakable mineral. They were being trapped within their own tears.

Adrien's bodyguard quickly ran inside, but was swiftly hit by the akuma, leaving him paralyzed with grief.

"No one will escape the pain I feel! Everyone in Paris will know the agony of a broken heart!" The akuma cried, breaking down the walls of the restaurant and releasing his reign of terror on the city.

Adrien grabbed Marinette by the hand and raced her out the back door through the kitchen. The dark alley was littered with garbage bins and boxes, perfect to transform behind. There was only one small problem.

"Adrien, we have to get out of here! I know a good hiding place, follow me!" Marinette insisted in a hushed tone. Still holding each other's hand tightly, they raced through narrow corridors between buildings until they happened upon a small park shoved between apartments.

"There's public restrooms over there. I think we should hide in them."

"You want to split up?" Adrien balked out of instinct, but then, realizing he needed to transform, agreed. "Right. That sounds good. Just stay in the restroom until I come get you."

"Same to you. Stay put!" Marinette ordered, running into the stalls without a glance back. Adrien was stunned; Marinette had never spoken to him with such authority. He followed suit and ran into the men's restroom. Normally he wouldn't want to split up and just keep running back home, but he needed to get back to the akuma.

"Alright, Plagg. Let's do this quietly, Marinette is next door. Claws out!"

"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette said in a whisper.

The two transformed hastily in their respective restrooms. Ladybug ran out and leapt quickly to a nearby rooftop. About twenty seconds later, Chat Noir emerged from the building and flipped up into the air to jump along a nearby trellis onto a roof. Much to his surprise, Ladybug was right there on the rooftop next to him.

"Fancy meeting you here, bugaboo! Were you following me?" The answer was obviously a no, because Ladybug nearly stumbled off the roof in surprise. Chat Noir quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto a flatter portion of the rooftop.

"Careful, milady, cats have nine lives, but I don't know about bugs."

"Thanks. How did you get here so quickly?" Ladybug asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I could ask you the same thing, milady. Care to tell me what you were doing this fair evening? I'll have you know, I can be quite purr-sistent; I haven't given up. You weren't out on a date tonight, were you?

"Eyes on the prize, kitty." Ladybug changed the subject, pointing out towards the horizon where the akuma was visible. "We've got more important matters at hand."

"So you were on a date?" Chat Noir continued to tease, waggling his eyebrows at his partner.

"I wouldn't call it that. Let's go, I'll take the North approach, you come from the South!" Ladybug took off before Chat Noir could ask any more questions. Chat Noir couldn't help but sympathize with the expression "curiosity killed the cat."

"A date, huh?" Chat Noir sighed, and quickly glanced back to the restroom where Marinette was hidden. He needed to hurry up and get back before Marinette realized he was gone. He didn't like the idea of leaving her there alone. Deftly, he followed his partner toward the source of commotion.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir, feel hurt you've never imagined! I, Le Diamant, will take your miraculous!"

"Chat Noir, now! The ring box!"

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir shouted, leaping toward the akuma who had Ladybug trapped under a shell of diamond. His hand landed perfectly on the akuma's source, shattering the diamond around ladybug, and releasing the butterfly from the akumatized man.

"All yours, milady!"

"Time to de-evilize!" his partner exclaimed, grabbing the butterfly in her yo-yo. She released the butterfly purified and white, and returned Paris to a quiet night free of akumas. The poor man from the restaurant thanked the heroes profusely.

"How did you know it was the ring box, milady?" Chat Noir asked, completing their post-battle fist bump ritual after the victims started heading home for the night.

"Well, this time I actually saw it happen, right from the start." Ladybug said without thinking.

"You…you witnessed it?" Chat Noir asked, rooted to the spot.

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

"No reason, milady. Good thing you were there." He replied, trying to keep his voice level. "We should probably head out. We're about to transform back."

"You're right. Good night, kitty cat." She gave him a wink and turned to take off back in the direction she came. She noticed with a bit of annoyance that her companion was following her course.

"Chat Noir, remember that secret identity talk we had? You can't follow me back." She called out to her partner.

"This is the direction I came from, though." Chat Noir called back, as the two heroes continued to jump from roof to roof.

"Chat! Come on!"

"Fine, fine, you go on, I'll look the other way. See ya, bugaboo."

Chat Noir ducked into an alley just in time, as his transformation broke the minute he touched down on the cobblestone street. Plagg groaned with exhaustion and flew back into his beloved cheese pants pocket to recover from the latest battle. Adrien was about a minute or two from where Marinette was hiding; he would just need to run back quickly.

Ladybug made it back to the restroom with seconds to spare before Tikki released the transformation.

"Marinette, you have to be more careful! You told Chat Noir too much today, what if he had been in the restaurant?"

"The chances of that are pretty slim, don't you think, Tikki?"

"Marinette…" Tikki insisted.

"I know, you're right. It just slipped out! Sorry. Tonight is making my brain crazy!"

"It's okay, Marinette. Just be more careful."

"Oh my goodness, I almost forgot about Adrien!" Marinette held her purse open for Tikki who quickly flew inside out of sight.

"Adrien?" Marinette called out, "They've announced on the news the all clear for the akuma attack. Are you still in the bathroom?" Silence followed. "Adrien?" she repeated. Still nothing.

"What should I do?" Marinette asked, just loud enough for Tikki to hear.

"Let's just give him a minute. Maybe he needed to use the bathroom?" Tikki suggested. Just then, she heard running footsteps from across the street and looked up to see a rather disheveled Adrien Agreste sprinting toward her.

"Marinette! Are you alright?"

"Adrien! There you are. When did you leave?"

"Oh, um, I wanted to find my bodyguard."

"You went back in the middle of an akuma attack? Did you find him?"

"Yeah. Sorry I ran off. He's okay, he was hit by the akuma though. Good thing Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up."

"Well, I'm glad he's okay. Are you okay?"

"A bit shaken up. If it's alright with you, I think we should probably head home for the night. I don't want your parents to worry."

"That's probably smart." Marinette agreed, realizing her night was almost over with Adrien. "Let's walk back."

On the way to the restaurant, the two were fairly silent.

Adrien's mind was racing. Ladybug was usually so careful about hiding her identity, but she had revealed she was present at the beginning of the akuma attack. Had she been in the restaurant? There was an unease creeping into the pit of his stomach. He tried to remember the people he had seen eating, but all that sprang to mind were the countless couples who likely frequented the establishment for a Saturday date night. Had Ladybug been there with a date? He had to fight the wave of jealousy briefly before he recalled what she had said to him.

'I wouldn't call it that.' She had said. So she was there, but not on a date? He couldn't wrap his head around the situation. Had she seen him? Did she know who he was, but wasn't telling him? She knew who Rena Rouge was, but from what he could ascertain, the situation was slightly different with her. He shook his head to dispel the thoughts. Ladybug would tell him if she knew. She wouldn't keep secrets from him unless she absolutely had to. He would just need to trust her.

"Adrien? Are you sure you're okay? You're really pale."

"Huh?" Adrien had been so wrapped up in thought he hadn't realized they had already made it back to the restaurant. Adrien's bodyguard spotted them and immediately gestured to a streetcar ready to take them home.

"Sorry, I was just a bit lost in thought. Can we give you a ride home?"

"If it isn't too much trouble, that'd be great, but if it is, it's only a twenty-minute walk."

Adrien could help but laugh at her strong-willed determination to not be a hassle.

"It's almost ten in the evening, Marinette. You're not walking home alone. Come on, let's go."

"Tell me everything! How did you fight the akuma without Adrien noticing?" Alya was bouncing off the walls since hearing the news about Ladybug and Chat Noir's latest battle. She raced over to Marinette's house on her bike after taking photos for her Ladyblog at the scene of the attack.

"First of all, Alya, you are SO not off the hook for tonight's scheming. Second of all, Nino must be getting really tired of you running off in the middle of the night to take photos for your blog, especially on date night. It's not safe! Thirdly, it was completely a mess! I basically stuffed Adrien into the public restroom at that park we like and ran at the first chance I got."

"Ah, Paris, the city of romantic public restrooms, I knew there was a reason they put that on all the postcards."

"Alya! What was I supposed to do? Transform in front of Adrien?" Marinette huffed, plopping down on her lounge while Alya spun in circles on the desk chair.

"I mean, the boy has a fat crush on Ladybug, it wouldn't be the worst thing for him to see that."

"It was just such a weird night. Chat Noir showed up literally moments after I transformed; I was worried he saw me run into the restroom."

"Wait, Chat Noir was at the park where you transformed?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Was Adrien in the restroom?"

"During the akuma attack he left to look for his bodyguard, but yeah, he went into the restroom."

"So… let me get this straight. You and Adrien ran to a park. You both ran into restrooms. You came out as Ladybug, and seconds later Chat Noir showed up out of nowhere. And somehow, during the akuma attack, Adrien left the restroom and went to…the location of the akuma attack."

"What are you saying, Alya?"

"I mean, it's a bit of a coincidence, don't you think?"

"What was?"

"The fact that Chat Noir just happened to be there at that moment."

"Not another Chat Noir theory!" Marinette moaned.

"Mari, come on. This one is just too easy."

"How could Adrien be Chat Noir? That makes no sense. Their personalities are completely different."

"Is your personality the exact same when you're Ladybug?"

"No…but, this is different! Remember when Miss Bustier was akumatized and the kissy zombies took over? Adrien had already been kissed by the zombies way before Chat Noir did. He can't be him."

"Hmmm… I don't know, girl. As Rena Rouge, I'm the master of illusion. I know trickery when I see it. What if he had been faking it?"

"Adrien wouldn't do that."

"We can argue more about this later. I want to know how your date went with Adrien-Chat Noir-Agreste." Alya chuckled, kicking up her feet onto Marinette's exposed stomach to tickle her friend.

"Hey, you know how ticklish I am, no fair!" She threw off her friend's feet. "My non-date with Adrien-Not-Chat Noir-Agreste was…actually pretty great." Marinette admitted, blush creeping into her face.

"Yes!" Alya cheered, throwing her arms into the air. "I am the master of romance."

"I was actually able to hold conversation without tripping, falling, or horribly embarrassing myself."

"I am so proud of you, girl."

"Thanks, Alya. You're the best."

"Sorry, what was that? What did you say?"

"I'm not repeating it!" Marinette laughed, throwing pillow after pillow at Alya as she dodged them gracefully.

"Sorry, speak up!" Alya cackled.

"Plagg, Ladybug was at the restaurant. She knew about the failed proposal. And then she shows up just after I transformed? A rooftop right by the park? It's just a huge coincidence, don't you think?"

"I'm not allowed to say anything until Master Fu gives us the go ahead, Adrien." Plagg reminded him, just finishing his third mini cheese wheel that night.

"But Plagg. I've been thinking about it. We were so close tonight. We could've run into her! You saw who she was when we were fighting the Dark Owl akuma, did you see her tonight?"

Plagg thought back to the time Adrien and Marinette stood face-to-face with their eyes closed just to beat the Dark Owl. Tikki had made sure they didn't recognize each other by keeping them from talking. Plagg rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, Adrien. My memory is so hazy."

Adrien threw himself on his bed, arms stretched wide. "What a crazy night."

"You can say that again." Plagg agreed.

'This kid is blind.' He thought.