Chapter Text
1. All Good Stories Need a Twist
Marinette plopped into her seat with a pained sigh.
Alya smirked. “Well, you look exhausted, as per usual.”
“Let’s just say I had a long night.” Boy, if that wasn’t the understatement of the century! Marinette had been up on her computer far past her bedtime, watching in horror as the rumors from Nadia’s interview began to spread and spread and spread.
Alya crossed her arms. “Girl, I was tied up, locked inside a coffin, and nearly pushed into the Seine, but you don’t see me complaining.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. How many times has an akuma captured you by now?”
“You forgot about it?” Alya threw her arms wide. “It’s all anyone’s talking about! Well, more about the fact that Ladybug and Chat are totally dating, but whatever.”
Marinette tensed. “W-what? But we—I mean—in the interview, they said they weren’t dating!”
“Sure, that’s what their mouths were saying. But their eyes—that’s a whole different story.”
“Alya, come on! You’re just seeing what you want to see.”
“You didn’t even watch the interview, girl! Trust me, if you were there, you’d be agreeing with me right now.”
But I was there! Marinette screamed in her head. Outwardly, she just huffed. “No way. You’re always jumping to conclusions, Alya! Remember when you thought Chloé was Ladybug?”
“Ugh, don’t bring that up!” Alya said, rolling her eyes. “So embarrassing. But this is different. I hate to break it to you, but you’re in the minority here, Mari.”
“Wait, what?”
But before Alya could respond, Mme. Bustier called for the class the settle down so they could start. Alya waved her phone at Marinette, mouthing something she assumed was “Text you after class.”
The long-awaited text arrived as Marinette was laying on her chaise, doodling out some new designs in her sketchbook. Her phone vibrated in her back pocket, making her jump and strike a harsh line straight through the bodice of one of her dresses. She swore under her breath and allowed herself a brief moment of fury before composing herself and looking at her phone.
Alya had sent her a single, foreboding link: ladynoirfanfics.net/stories/
“Oh, god,” Marinette mumbled. No way. She’d known that people liked to write fanfiction about celebrities sometimes, but it’d never even crossed her mind that they’d write about her. And Chat.
Oh, god, her and Chat. Alya hadn’t been kidding. Marinette pulled a face.
Bracing herself, she suppressed her survival instincts and clicked the link. Immediately, she was bombarded with a wall of fanfiction:
Spotted Moon by TheChatsMeow123
Ladybug x Chat Noir
Paris’s superheroes stay up late and watch the stars together. (Just wanted to write some fluff lol)
Marinette hummed to herself in contemplation. That could actually be really sweet, if it were about anyone else. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
Gone With the Butterfly by ChristieRedd
Ladybug x Chat Noir
They’d done it. They’d beaten Hawk Moth, and they’d saved Paris. And Chat was never going to see Ladybug again.
And it was killing him.
Oh, god! No! That’s terrible! Marinette frowned. What if that happened, though? What if they never learned each other’s identities? What then? No, surely they would stay in contact, right? Ugh! She shouldn’t be letting this stupid fanfiction get to her!
Ladybug and Chat Make Out a Bunch by SuckMyHawkmoth69
Ladybug x Chat Noir
On top of the Eiffel Tower, hanging upside down on LB’s yoyo, while falling out of a helicopter; you name it! 100% self indulgent but that’s what we’re here for right folks ;)
Marinette stuck out her tongue and kept scrolling.
Caught by SummerButterfly
Ladybug x Chat Noir
Markus Lavert, famous reporter, captures a photo of Ladybug at the worst possible moment, setting Paris ablaze and putting our heroine in a sticky situation. But when she’s at her most vulnerable, Chat sacrifices everything to help her.
Marinette sighed. Far too many of these were hitting close to home. She guessed she could sort of see the appeal; she hadn’t fully realized the potential for drama in her life, and if she wasn’t so creeped out by them all, she might’ve actually read a few. Even so, it weirded her out how many people wanted her and Chat to be a couple. And least she hadn’t seen anything too risque yet.
[M] Chat’s a Pussy when it comes to Pussy by SqullyBawdess
Ladybug x Chat Noir
The duo has just finished a particularly stressful akuma attack when Chat decides to turn up the heat—but it turns out he can’t finish what he starts. Fortunately, Ladybug’s happy to give him a push (in more ways than one).
Marinette closed the tab, threw her phone across the room, grabbed her cat pillow, stuffed her face into it, and screamed for all she was worth.
Tikki zipped up to her with wide eyes and a small frown. “Marinette, is everything alright?”
Marinette lowered the pillow just quickly enough to bark out, “I’m not having sex with Chat Noir!”
Tikki’s eyes grew even wider, now taking up approximately eight-five percent of her face. “Oh my. So… Wait. Are you screaming because that’s true and you don’t want it to be, or because it’s not true but you do want it to be?”
“What? No! Neither!” She stuffed her face back into the pillow.
Tikki stalled in the air for a bit, unsure of what to do. Eventually, she decided to just pat Marinette reassuringly on the back of her head; the girl whined in appreciation.
The Next Day
“Alya!” she hissed, quiet enough that nobody else could hear. “Why’d you send me that link?! I don’t want to read about Ladybug and Chat having sex! That’s disgusting!”
At least Alya had the decency to look ashamed. “Oops, sorry, girl. That’s my bad for sending you to the home page. Here, I’ll just send you my favorite—”
“No! Alya, I’m not reading any fanfiction about them! It’s too weird.”
“Oh, come on, Marinette. Give it a chance!” Alya poked around on her phone a bit. “It’s called ‘Starclawsed,’ and it’s a really sweet slow burn romance fic. I know what kind of books you read, and I know you’ll enjoy it. Trust me!”
Marinette made a face. “Okay, but it better cool it with the cat puns. I mean, really, ‘Starclawsed’?”
Unexpectedly, in front of them, Adrien perked up, twisting on his bench. “Hey, are you guys talking about ‘Starclawsed’ by ActuallyChatNoir?”
Marinette went bright red. “A-Adrien!? Don’t tell me you read this stuff!”
In an instant, Adrien was as red as Mari. “No! I mean, well… a lot of it’s actually really well written, and, I don’t know, I just—”
“My god, dude,” Nino said, shaking his head. “Just stop talking.”
Alya took the interruption in stride, smirking at Marinette. “See? Adrien likes it. But I’d understand if you still thought it was stupid.” Wink, wink.
“Fine, I’ll read it,” Marinette conceded. Her will had dissolved unnervingly quickly—damn Adrien and his cute, perfect face!
“Cool!” said Adrien, flashing a thumbs-up. “Hey, tell me what you think once you’ve read it. I’d love to hear your take on it.”
Marinette blushed twice as hard and made an embarrassing ‘Meep!’ sound. “Of course! Yes! I’ll… do that!”
“Great!”
Adrien turned back around, and Marinette clapped a hand to her heart; her breath came heavily.
Alya just winked again.
Starclawsed
By ActuallyChatNoir
Notes: Hey guys! This is my debut fic on this site (or even about LB/Chat in general), but I’m really excited for it. The backstory is basically that I was browsing the site and noticed that in the vast majority of the fics here, Ladybug and Chat already know each other’s identities. So I was thinking, ‘Hey, what if they didn’t know?’ and thus: this!
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy, and make sure to leave a fav if you do! I’d really appreciate it.
Chapter One: Honor
Ever since he’d met her, Chat had wanted to know the identity of the girl behind the mask. He’d suggested it more times than he could count—but he was always shot down. So he resorted to attempts to pique Ladybug’s own curiosity: “So what do you do when we’re not fighting akumas?” he would ask, only to be told it wasn’t the time. “Have you ever considered that we may know each other as civilians?” he would propose, only to be told it was unlikely. Putting it simply, he wasn’t getting anywhere. And then, just as he had resigned himself to his fate, a golden opportunity presented itself.
It was on the day they fought Lady Wifi, fittingly; the akuma had, after all, tried so hard to unmask ladybug. But it had been in vain—they took her down. The day was saved, and it was time for the heroes to part once more. They were fleeing down the stairs of the hotel the fight had taken place in when Ladybug spotted a service closet.
“Hey, I’m going to transform back in here,” she said. “You’ll find someplace else, right?”
“Of course I will, my lady,” he responded with a bow, wishing more than anything that he could join her instead.
She rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her face as she stepped inside. Chat was about to turn and leave when a flash of light caught him off guard—she’d left the door open just a crack. And then it hit him.
He could find out, right now.
His hand flew to the handle. He turned it, just a bit. Inside there, Ladybug was waiting, and without that damned mask.
But he couldn’t do that, not to her. No way. He wouldn’t betray her trust.
So, with a sigh, he turned and ran away, not daring to look back.
“…”
Marinette’s eyes were fixed to her computer. There was more to the chapter, but right now, there were far more pressing matters.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she said aloud. This wasn’t fiction in the slightest—all of that had really happened. And aside from her, there was only one person who could possibly know about it.
“Damn that cat,” she murmured. She couldn’t believe it. This was… this was wrong, in so many ways!
She clenched her fist. That settled it—tonight on patrol, she and Chat were going to have a little chat; and she was bringing the spray bottle.