Chapter 10

Chat Noir first heard the click of Ladybug's yo-yo before hearing her say, "Gotcha." It felt like it happened slower than it normally did as his hearing came back to him. Slowly he realized he laid on the ground, his face on the floor where the half pike should be. The rope around his neck disappeared just as the bonds holding his hands did, freeing him to push himself up.

Quickly he realized Adrien himself might be missing for a longer period of time than he should be if the Mimic was telling the truth. He glanced over at Ladybug, the girl only now releasing the white butterfly back into the air. While she was looking upwards, Chat Noir quickly hid himself in the stop beside the door and whispered, "Plagg, claws in."

Adrien felt the magic release him, Plagg quietly hiding in his vest as he had earlier. He pushed himself against the wall as tight as he could as he heard Ladybug call out, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The ladybugs flew over him, bringing him out of the small hiding spot beside the door and over to stand beside where Annick sat on the floor.

"Wha-?" Adrien asked, surprised by being teleported by the bugs. He looked at Ladybug, their eyes locking for a moment as she gave him a smile.

She sharply turned her attention back to Annick, the teen getting to their feet with confusion on their face. Ladybug took the step over to Annick and offered the necklace that had been what the akuma had taken over back to the teen as she asked, "Are you alright?"

"Huh, Ladybug?" Annick asked, their eyes going wide. They looked around before stopping on Ladybug. "Thanks, sorry," they offered, taking the necklace back.

"They're looking for you," Adrien said, offering Annick towards the door as they put the necklace back on. He turned back to look at ladybug as her earrings let out a warning sound. "Uhm, are you getting called?" Adrien asked, remembering what the public thought that it signaled.

Ladybug put a hand on her ear before hardening her features. "Yeah, uhm, bug out," Ladybug offered, pulling out her yo-yo. She turned around and swung out the opened window, leaving the two alone.

"Hey, here's your phone," Adrien said, pulling it out of his pocket as a crazy plan formed in his mind. "You might want to go and let your mom know you're okay."

Annick took the phone, giving him a smile as they said, "Thanks." The teen gave Adrien one last look before leaving the room.

As the door closed behind them, Adrien quickly ordered, "Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg let out a sound of surprise as he was sucked out of Adrien's vest and into the ring, transforming him once again into Chat Noir.

As soon as he could, Chat Noir grabbed the pole off its place on his back and pole vaulted out of the still open window. He made his way to the roof top of the houses across the street and caught a glimpse of her red jumpsuit in the twilight heading towards the school. He ran across the roof tops on all fours, keeping a distance but still keeping sight or scent of her. He knew it was against what they were told, but he had to know. He had to know the girl behind the mask of the one that held his heart.

Chat Noir skidded to a stop as he saw Ladybug fly higher into the air than she would for covering distance only to see her drop through the roof of the patisserie beside the school. "Why is she going to Marinette's?" Chat Noir asked himself. He quickly got up to his feet and bound over to the roof top patio, finding the sky light open as he perched silently on the railing.

"It's so good to have you back home," Ladybug's voice said from just below the open window.

"It's so good to be home, Marinette," Tikki said.

Chat Noir gripped the fence tighter with his hands as he struggled to believe his ears. "Marinette is Ladybug?" he found himself whispering to no one. Realizing he said it aloud, and that he would defiantly be missed from the party by now, Chat Noir jumped off the railing and up to the roof to make his way back home.

-.-.-.-

Adrien walked over to his bed, feeling it long past when he should've gone to sleep with everything that had happened in a day. He wasn't sure what to make of the knowledge he had learned as he finished buttoning up his pajama shirt. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked out the window when what Plagg had said earlier reappeared in his mind. He looked over at the pillows, seeing the black kwami asleep on his pillow. But what was he supposed to do with that knowledge?

AN: this is as far as this had gotten written. I feel even worst about that now that only in this month it has been reaching the thousands in times people have opened it to read. Please accept my apologies as I had already promised the Code Lyoko fans a re-write of Exchange students and have already finished 2 Adventures of Link stories (one main and one sidequest). I won't forget about this story though I have a total of 35 chapters to post so *looking at calendar* so…February? I might push Exchange Student down because the re-write isn't complete. That would cut out 15 weeks as of right now. I'm sorry. This is what happens when I'm a fan of many stories.