Disclaimer: The author does not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

Chapter 1: Lady in Red

The day, an uneventful Wednesday, started off perfectly normal for Adrien. He woke up to the shrill blaring of his alarm, dressed while Plagg complained- also as usual- about how he was positively starved in a futile effort to rouse his charge to hasten his dressing. He was driven to school by his bodyguard, while Natalie informed him, in her precise, clipped voice, his schedule for the day. As if telling it to him once (while he was eating, of all things), was not enough.

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But when he entered the almost-full classroom, he was suddenly conscious of a feeling of something being different.

This feeling increased in intensity when, greeting Nino with a fist-bump, he turned to greet the girls. Marinette was there too, early for once- perhaps that was what he had found different? She was rarely seen at this time, always managing to make it right on the dot, or else, bursting through the doors with sheepish apologies and smiles.

Or- maybe it was her outfit. Marinette had foregone her usual jacket and top in favour of a bright red sweater. Slightly loose, it nevertheless looked very well, accentuating her pale skin and dark hair in a surprisingly charming contrast.

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He glanced subtly down, the designer in him almost involuntarily needing to check what she had paired it with. He noted, with approval, that she was wearing deep blue denim jeans. Of course, if there was any girl who had superior taste when it came to fashion, it was Marinette. She would hardly have worn her usual pink jeans with such a red ensemble.

He glanced up into her face, and was momentarily startled to see a blush on her cheeks, almost matching the colour of her top.

Alya looked smugly between the two of them, a smirk on her face. "Like Marinette's new look, Agreste?" she drawled out teasingly.

Passing over his confusion at her words, or the way Marinette blushed even harder, Adrien smiled, setting his bag down on the seat. "Yes, I do. You look very pretty, Marinette; red suits you."

She stuttered a thank-you, and as the model turned away and sat down in his seat, he thought he heard a squeal behind him. Maybe it was his imagination?

.

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As class started, Adrien, usually an impeccable student, found his thoughts wandering back to Marinette. There was something so different about her- and yet so oddly familiar! Adrien just couldn't put a finger to it. It was a vague feeling, not exactly disconcerting, but enough to make him wonder.

He was summoned to reality when he looked down at his notebook and realised that it was glaringly blank. Pushing away any errant thoughts from his mind, he supposed that maybe the aspiring designer's new outfit was the cause of – whatever he was experiencing.

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At the end of class, however, a reprieve came to him in the form of Alya. She was regaling her best friend with news of the Ladyblog, regarding some updates she was planning to make, and her voice, although not sharp and abrasive as Chloe's, was certainly carrying. All at once, Adrien felt the pieces click into place, and he turned towards Marinette with a beaming smile. So engrossed was he in the light of his revelation, that he failed to notice the way she started nervously at his sudden movement. "I just remembered," he said smoothly, "You really look a lot like Ladybug today, Marinette!"

"That's what I've been saying, girl, ever since that Frightingale incident!" Alya agreed, referring to the time Marinette and Adrien were asked to play the part of Ladybug and Chat Noir for Clara Nightingale's music video. The two of them missed the way the girl-in-question's posture stiffened, before turning alternatively pale and red. "You could be her- oh, I don't know, body-double or something!" Alya continued excitedly, her eyes shining, as various untouched opportunities surfaced in her head.

"Or cosplay as her," Adrien, the hugest anime nerd to ever exist, piped in, unknowingly adding more fuel to the fire. "You'd be great!" He assured the hapless girl.

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Marinette, whose situation was becoming more and more dangerous with every passing minute, never thought she'd be relieved to hear Chloe's sneering voice. The mayor's spoilt daughter, evidently having overheard them, declared with a toss of her hair that no one could possibly pass off as a convincing Ladybug but her, the superheroine's most devoted fan. This, of course, escalated into an argument, and in the process, Marinette's woes were forgotten.

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However, it was unsurprising that when Marinette was home, safely ensconced in the privacy of her room, she vehemently declared to Tikki that she would never wear red in her civilian form ever again.

Bonus:

A few weeks later, as Ladybug and Chat Noir were aimlessly running around the rooftops, Chat Noir uttered a casual declaration which made the usually agile superheroine nearly fall face-downwards into the street. Recovering her posture, she stopped and glanced fearfully at her partner. "What do you mean?"

"There's this…. friend of mine, and she wore something red the other day, and it reminded me of you." he explained, sheepishly scratching his head. "You are always in my thoughts, my lady," he smirked, transitioning from awkwardness to flirtation smoothly.

He was puzzled at her uncharacteristic lack of response and her slack-jawed expression. "But don't worry!" he assured her, mistaking the cause of her worry. "No one can ever compare to you, Bugaboo! You're pun in a million!"

He glanced at her suddenly, taking in her dark ponytails and red ribbons. A thought assailed him, and he felt momentarily breathless. It couldn't be- could it? The very next moment, though, he shook his head mentally. Nah. The two weren't at all alike.

He grinned victoriously as Ladybug laughed, troubles entirely forgotten at his ridiculous joke, even though later she would freak out at the discovery that he gave away an important detail about his identity.

But that is a story for another day...