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character-fan19 · 1 month

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Love Square Screen Time Records

Hey, everyone! As some of you may know, I've recently completed calculating the exact screen time for all the love square ships for all the episodes we have up until now, including the Miraculous World Specials. Now I've decided to list all the noteworthy moments in love square screen time based on the data I've collected.

We're going to start with doing some general overall records, then we're going to see the noteworthy moments of love square screen time for all the love square ships individually. so let's begin, shall we?

General Records

First episode to include all of the love square ships: Cat Blanc

Of course it's "Cat Blanc' of all episodes to not only be the first episode to have screen time for all the love square ships, but also the only episode by far to have screen time for all the love square ships. It's already one of the greatest episodes of all time, so why not add some screen time for all the love square ships with it too?

We have the Adrienette dating montage, the battle between Ladybug and Cat Blanc, Adrien saving Marinette from akumatization as Cat Noir and revealing his identity along with it too, and finally Ladybug starting this mess by coming in to deliver her gift to Adrien, allowing him to catch her and piece together her identity.

2. First episode to include none of the love square ships: Representation

Closely followed by "Conformation" as the second. Who does this episode have to thank for to having this record? Gabriel, of course. Since Gabriel sent his his son to London specifically so that he can't spend time with his girlfriend anymore, this was the result. Adrien and Marinette weren't able to get together again until the end of "Re-Creation".

3. Love square ship with the most screen time in an episode: Adrienette in "Oblivio"

Not that surprising since a lot of the episode was spent in Adrien and Marinette running from the titular villain and re-learning who they are. It was only towards the end that they were able to figure out how to activate their powers again, thanks to Master Fu, giving Adrienette a total of 9 min 3 sec of screen time in this episode.

Adrienette Records

Episode with the most Adrienette screen time: Oblivio

Since this episode already has the title for ship with most screen time in an episode, it will obviously also have the the title for episode with with the most Adrienette screen time. No need to repeat what I said earlier.

2. Season with most Adrienette screen time: season 5

No surprise here. We don't need to know the exact screen time to know that this season was full of Adrienette. First third of the season had a few patches of Adrienette here and there but from "Transmission" onwards we had a continuous stream of Adrienette content up until "Revolution" where Gabriel separated them by sending Adrien to London, after which the only got back together at the end of "Re-Creation".

Even though Adrienette didn't dominate this season like Ladynoir does every season, it still had over a third of the love square screen time and had 45 min 57 sec of screen time this season which a lot more than it usually has.

3. Season with least Adrienette screen time: season 4

Just like the other love square ships this season, Adrienette took a significant hit, having been reduced to having 12 min 38 sec of screen time as opposed to its usual half hour of screen time per season (roughly). It makes sense though considering that this season is more focused on the plot than past seasons have been and this is supposedly the season of Ladynoir.

4. Miraculous World Special with most Adrienette: New York Special

Makes sense for this to be the special with the most Adrienette as this special had the plotline of Marinette trying to be nothing more than a friend to Adrien, giving us a total of 7 min 40 sec of Adrienette in this 1-hour special, even surpassing Ladynoir in screen time.

5. First episode Adrienette surpasses Ladynoir in screen time: Gamer

Yes, this is an actual category since it's usually the norm for Ladynoir to have the most screen time in an episode. Not only was this the first episode where Adrienette surpasses Ladynoir in screen time, it's the first episode where any ship surpasses Ladynoir in screen time, and also the sole episode in season 1 where an episode surpasses Ladynoir in screen time. Adrien and Marinette being partners in the Mecha Strike tournament really did well to increase the Adrienette screen time.

Ladynoir Records

Episode with most Ladynoir screen time: Mayura (Heroes' Day- part 2)

Kind of an interesting episode to have as the one with the most Ladynoir but OK. This part had the secondary heroes up until now put out of commission by scarlet akumatization in the first few minutes of the episode, leaving Ladynoir to fend for themselves, them against the world just as always.

2. Season with most Ladynoir screen time: season 1

Of course it's season 1 with the most Ladynoir screen time, with this being the show being at its most formulaic at this time, leading the focus to be more on the usual battle with the akumatized villains than with progressing the plot, gives us a total of 1 hr 53 min 26 sec of screen time that season which is nearly 2 hours.

3. Season with the least Ladynoir screen time: season 4

Ironically, the supposed Ladynoir season had the least Ladynoir screen time out of all the seasons. Despite it having the most screen time in terms of percentage, it still had the least screen time in terms of actual value, having a total of 59 min 24 sec of screen time this season, which isn't even an entire hour, although it's pretty close. But since this season focused more on the plot progression than any season we had before, it makes sense.

4. Miraculous World Special with most Ladynoir screen time: New York

Similar to Adrienette, Ladynoir also gets the most screen time it's ever gotten in the New York Special, and just like Adrienette it makes sense given that this special had a lot of focus on their relationship and how Cat Noir broke Ladybug's trust by coming to New York, giving us a total of 6 min 29 sec of screen time.

Maricat Records

Episode with most Maricat screen time: Glaciator 2

Out of all the designated Maricat episodes, this was the one that got the most screen time for Maricat having a total of 8 min 14 sec of screen time. Makes sense, given that the whole episode was them practicing Marinette being able to confess her love to Adrien and going on a "date". "Elation" would be a worthy contender but as it turns out it didn't have nearly as much screen time as we thought though it was still a fair five and a half minutes.

2. Season with most Maricat screen time: Season 4

While season 4 had the least amount of screen time for Adrienette and Ladynoir, it had the most amount of screen time for Maricat, although it was only featured in 3 episodes of season 4 and most of the screen time was concentrated in "Sentibubbler" and "Glaciator 2". This gives it a total of 9 min 44 sec.

3. Season with least Maricat screen time: Season 2

Season 2 had Maricat take a huge hit due to which it became the ship with least screen time in a season for the first time. It only really got to shine a little bit in the designated Maricat episode of the season "Glaciator" and other than that had small moments in "Befana" and "Anansi", leaving it with 4 min 7 sec of screen time in the entire season.

4. First episode Maricat surpasses Ladynoir in screen time: Weredad

After 2 seasons of Ladynoir taking away their designated episode of the season, Maricat was finally able to surpass Ladynoir in screen time with 3 min 57 sec of screen time. Considering that the episode revolves around Marinette getting herself into the mess of Cat Noir thinking she has feelings for him and the awkward date between them set up by Tom and Ladynoir was only present at the beginning and towards the end of the episode, you can see why.

Ladrien Records

Episode with most Ladrien screen time: Desparada

The episode where Ladybug entrusts Adrien with the Snake Miraculous gets the title of the episode with the most Ladrien screen time. It's obvious why since a good portion of the episode is Adrien as Aspik trying to woo Ladybug and failing terribly because he's focused more on that rather than defeating the titular villain.

2. Season with most Ladrien screen time: Season 2

After only having most of its screen time concentrated towards the end of the season aside from "The Bubbler" and "The Mime" in season 1, Ladrien was finally able to get its moment to shine in season 2 with there being several episodes focuses extensively on Ladrien, some even surpassing Ladynoir in screen time, giving it a total of 8 min 46 sec in the entire season which is the most it will ever get as from here on out it, its screen time decreases with ever season.

3. Season with least Ladrien screen time: season 5

Ladrien already usually gets the short end of the stick in Miraculous due to it's lack of a requirement for any development, so naturally, season 5 ends up being the season with the least Ladrien screen time, with us only getting Ladrien in "Passion" with detransformed Adrien holding a Venomed Ladybug and the small scene in "Deflagration" of Adrien handing Ladybug's Miraculous to her. Hopefully, future seasons will give us more Ladrien, but I doubt it.

4. First episode Ladrien surpasses Ladynoir in screen time: Riposte

Since season 2 was the first time Ladrien ever got to shine, it also contains the episode where Ladrien surpasses Ladynoir in screen time, that being the first Ladrien-focused episode of the season, "Riposte" involving the titular villain going after Adrien, hence Ladybug having to protect him and Adrien being unable to go off somewhere to transform.

Conclusion

Well, that's it for all the love square screen time records. Let me know what you think about them and feel free to find any other notable records in love square screen time history by checking my work here. Until next time!

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rosie-b · 10 months

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Tough Luck, Tender Love

Written for @ladrienjune days 17 & 20, Bad Luck & Passionate Declaration, 5756 words

A bead of sweat rolled down Marinette’s forehead as she stood frozen in front of Adrien, who still hadn’t spoken a word. She raised an arm to wipe it away quickly as her heart stuttered out an unfamiliar rhythm, and a red and black design came into view.

She froze. She’d put on her usual outfit today, but she was very obviously not wearing it now. The black spots on her red sleeve and glove could only mean one thing: Marinette Dupain-Cheng hadn’t confessed her love to Adrien — Ladybug had.

Read the rest on AO3 or just below!

After this, nothing will be the same, Marinette thought as she bit out the last words of her confession and winced as she prepared herself for rejection.

Adrien stared silently at her, his mouth hanging open, as whispers swirled around them like the first winds of a storm.

Marinette bit her lip. She always knew that asking Adrien out at school was a mistake, but it wasn’t supposed to cause such an uproar! Everyone at François-Dupont seemed to know about her crush on Adrien except for the boy himself, so why did it seem as though everyone had just received the shock of their lives?

Within seconds, people started nudging each other and exchanging money. They were probably trying to be discreet, but that was impossible when nearly everyone had a bet to settle. Some people were pumping their arms in victory; most were shaking their heads in disappointment; even Ms. Bustier had a discontent frown on her face.

--*--*--*--*--

To be fair, Marinette hadn’t had much — or any — luck in confessing to Adrien so far, which was something that Rose had repeated multiple times during the intervention she was holding in the park near their school.

But maybe it was just fate! Maybe she and Adrien were destined to be star-crosses lovers, like Romeo and Juliet, or the cowherd and the weaver girl. She could love Adrien, but only from afar, as the universe confined her to saving Paris as Ladybug and sacrificing her only chance at love until Hawk Moth was finally defeated.

I can’t tell them that, though, or I’d lose my secret identity, Marinette realized. She nervously chewed on her lip as the girls continued urging her to either take up their new, foolproof plan and confess to Adrien or give up on him once and for all.

“—And the best part is, all you have to do is sign this card! We’ll put it on Adrien’s desk for you, and that way no one else can claim to have written it themselves or steal it before he has the chance to see it. Foolproof! Right, Juleka?”

Rose nudged her girlfriend, who nodded her head and muttered something that sounded like a yes.

“We all agree! Don’t you see, Marinette? This is your best chance yet. If this doesn’t work, then nothing will.” Mylene folded her arms and set her face determinedly.

Alya sighed and pushed up her glasses.

“I know why you don’t feel like doing this, girl,” she said softly, her gaze darting to the purse Tikki was hiding in and returning to Marinette’s shimmering eyes. “But I do think this might work. There’s no reason for Adrien to turn you down now that he and Kagami aren’t dating anymore, and he’s started smiling at you more often. That’s a great sign, girl!”

“Alya, I can’t date anyone while I’m you-know-who,” Marinette whispered. “It would be too dangerous. Besides, I barely have time for my school responsibilities! How would I have enough time to date Adrien on top of everything else?”

“Are you really still hesitating?” Rose cried in exasperation. She had had enough of Marinette’s indecision, and since she was certain that Adrien returned her emotions, she was determined to put an end to her friend’s struggles once and for all. “Just give us your answer, Marinette!”

Straightening, Marinette turned away from Alya to look at her gathered friends, who were sitting on the park benches and grass, looking at her in confusion and impatience. Alix checked her watch and popped her bubblegum as she looked at Marinette.

She sighed.

“It isn’t that I don’t appreciate your plan, girls,” she said slowly. “I just don’t think dating Adrien is a good idea anymore. It isn’t that I don’t love him, because I do! But...” She rubbed her arm and puffed out a sigh. “I don’t think I’m the best person for him. He deserves someone who can be there for him all the time, and you know that girl is not me. I’m flaky, remember?”

Mylene sighed. “That’s true, but that doesn’t mean he can’t love you, or that you don’t love him! Your emotions speak louder than you think they do, Marinette. Trust yourself!”

“Yeah!” Alix said, holding back a knowing smirk.

Rose headbanged her way through an agreeing nod. “You’ve done so much to help us, Marinette. Now, it’s finally your turn to let us help you!”

Juleka mumbled in agreement, even brushing her bangs back to give Marinette an encouraging smile.

“You can do it, girl,” Alya said, putting her hand on Marinette’s shoulder and turning her around so that she had to look at her. “You don’t have to, but I want you to know that you can . Put us out of our misery, huh? I want to go on a date without worrying that you’ll never go on one with your ‘Buttercup.’”

“Please don’t remind me of that name,” Marinette muttered through a strained smile as a blush covered her cheeks. She dropped her head down and pulled Alya’s arms off her shoulders.

The group watched her expectantly as she turned to face them all.

“Fine,” she said in a confident voice. “How about a compromise? I promise to try to confess to Adrien on my own before the end of the school day tomorrow. If it doesn’t work, then I’ll take your plan. And if that doesn’t work—”

“It will work!” Rose declared ecstatically. “I’m so happy for you, Marinette!”

She hopped up from the bench and threw her arms around Marinette. The other girls quickly followed suit, forming a giant group hug around a beet-faced Marinette.

“Thanks, girls,” she said in an embarrassed voice. She awkwardly patted their arms as they continued to hug her. “I’ll handle it from here.”

__*__*__*__*__

It was bad luck. That was the only explanation for what happened next.

Marinette had been planning to confess to Adrien with a fresh bag of chouquettes, drizzled with a chocolate heart design by Tom, after lunch ended. She would catch up to Adrien just as he was walking back into school, and that way she wouldn’t have any time to chicken out of her confession.

Of course, an akuma had to strike just as Marinette finished scarfing down her grated carrots and was getting ready to dash over to the bakery to pick up the chouquettes. There was a new sentimonster to defeat, and so the akuma took twice as long as it should have. By the time it was over, it was time for Ms. Mendeleiev’s class to finish. Marinette would have to hurry if she wanted to catch Adrien before he walked back over to Ms. Bustier’s class.

And hurry, she did. Focused on nothing but speed, she didn’t notice that her yo-yo never vanished as she replaced it at her hip. Usually, she’d be detransformed by now, but she’d had to quickly recharge and help the former akuma victim after purifying the akuma. Chat Noir had had to rush back to school, muttering an excuse about attendance and his crappy father’s punishment system.

So, Ladybug had stayed behind to help the former akuma victim, who’d had some bad luck of his own. He had suffered a broken leg before his akumatization and had no one to help him to the hospital, into the ambulance she’d called and then headed back to the school.

She found Adrien just in time, skidding into the hallway as he stepped out of Ms. Mendeleiev’s room beside Nino.

“Adrien! I have to talk to you!”

Marinette knew she probably looked like a madwoman, her hair frizzy and falling out of her pigtails. She licked her lips and quickly tightened her ribbons. That should help her appearance at least a little.

Adrien’s mouth fell open as he watched Ladybug shift nervously on her feet, clasping her hands tight and breathing deeply to shake off her nerves.

“Wha...?” He couldn’t manage to finish his question.

Nino, who looked similarly confused, gently closed Adrien’s mouth and back away, whispering a quick assurance as he left.

“A-Adrien, I...”

Ladybug closed her eyes. No! She would not give in to fear this time. If Chat Noir was brave enough to take her rejection, she could be brave enough to take Adrien’s. At least then she would know his answer.

She opened her eyes and looked into Adrien’s green ones with a determined huff. A camera flash went off to the side, but she ignored it.

“When I first met you, I misjudged you,” she began.

Adrien’s jaw dropped down even lower this time.

“I thought you were conceited and superficial. But then, I got to know you. I saw who you really were deep down—someone sweet, sincere, and generous. Since then, there's something I've been wanting to tell you. But every time I try, it's like my brain suddenly freezes. But now, I think I'm ready.”

One of the younger students hollered across the hall. Ladybug ignored whatever he said and kept her gaze steady as she finished her declaration.

“Adrien.” The boy’s eyes widened as she said his name again, and he stared at her like he was hanging on to every word from her lips. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the painful ending to this surreal moment.

“I love you.”

Immediately, the whispers and camera flashes that Marinette had been blocking out rushed into her ears. She caught sight of people laughing, exchanging money, gawking at her as they spoke with their friends. Down the hall, Ms. Bustier waited for her last students with a frown.

Adrien still hadn’t spoken.

Marinette reached up to wipe the sweat off her brow, and that’s when the depth of her bad luck hit her.

Really, what superhero would be reckless enough to publicly confess their love to a civilian, especially a famous one?

There was no way this would end well.

“Sorry!” Marinette rushed to salvage the burning ruins of her confession. “I don’t—I’m sorry—I—”

“I love you, too,” Adrien said, his eyes full of wonder.

Ladybug licked her lips. “What?”

“When you see Marinette again,” Adrien continued, keeping his eyes fixed on Ladybug’s, “Tell her that I love her, too. You were delivering her message for her, weren’t you?”

Icy shock mixed with guilty relief flooded Marinette.

“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, the confession was from Marinette. Because she loves you, but I don’t love you! That would be ridiculous!”

“Utterly,” Chloe muttered from behind Adrien. Ms. Bustier directed her back into the classroom. She rolled her eyes as she left.

“So, you’ll tell her, then,” Adrien was saying, and Marinette snapped her gaze back to his.

“Yes! Absolutely! She’ll be thrilled,” she said with an awkward laugh. Then she shot finger guns at him. Another camera flash went off, and she cringed.

“Perfect,” Adrien said, holding the ‘r’ just a second too long. “And tell her I’m sorry that she had to go home sick. I’ll visit her after school, and we can talk about it more then, okay?”

Ladybug nodded, unsure whether to swallow down the hope she felt or let it grow. “Okay,” she whispered.

But her eyes narrowed as she continued gazing up at Adrien. He seemed like he’d figured out more from her speech than she’d thought. How did he know it was Marinette’s confession? Had someone told him?

It had to be Chat Noir. But why would he tell Adrien?

And who else had he told?

Ladybug felt a stab of betrayal.

“No,” she told Adrien, clenching her fist and ignoring the wild pounding of her heart. “I’ll come visit you after school. I mean, if Marinette is sick—”

That was another thing. Adrien had provided her with the perfect cover for her tardiness, but how had he known to do that?

If he knew, then Ladybug might as well personally deliver her Miraculous to Hawk Moth.

“—If she’s sick, then you’d better not visit her, or you might catch whatever she has. I’ll deliver your message to her and keep being your go-between for the day. Is— is that okay?” she finished nervously.

Her excuse didn’t make sense. If Adrien didn’t know who she was, he would just suggest he and Marinette talk over the phone, something way more normal and far less complicated than communicating through Paris’ busiest hero.

But Adrien only nodded, stars in his eyes, and Ladybug’s heart sank.

“I’ll be waiting by the window for you, m— Ladybug.”

Yeah, he knew. But he looked so excited to see her again that Ladybug almost didn’t care. It was hard to remember that her world was crumbling when the boy of her dreams was gazing at her like she’d granted his every wish by just existing.

“All right, if you’re done delivering Marinette’s message, you can leave now, Miss Ladybug,” Ms. Mendeleiev’s nasal voice called out.

The superhero jumped and whirled around. “Oh! Sorry! Yes, good students don’t hold up class time. Er, good heroes! Heroes like me,” she said, giggling nervously as she walked into the wall.

Adrien caught her as she fell. She practically leapt out of his arms.

“Byedrien! Bye, Adrien! And Ms. Mendeleiev! And the other students who I definitely do not know! ” Ladybug pushed the nearest door open and scurried through it.

It led to the bathroom, but that was okay. She was very experienced in escaping from bathroom windows.

And there were definitely no pictures of Ladybug entering the men’s room being posted right now. Nope! Those thoughts could wait for another time. Marinette had finally confessed to Adrien!

And it had only cost her secret identity.

Was it bad luck, she pondered, or had its opposite led to her passionate confession?

__*__*__*__*__

After she managed to convince her mother that she really was sick (of school, at least), Marinette sat in her room, watching the video of her confession play in a loop on the news. Apparently, superheroes confessing to supermodels on behalf of other, normal girls was headline material in Paris.

It was amazing that Marinette hadn’t noticed what she was doing, that she hadn’t felt her suit on her fingers and known before she opened her mouth. It was also amazing that Adrien, although he had figured out her secret identity, had protected it instead of sharing it with anyone.

It gave her hope when she shouldn’t be able to feel any.

Well, she had to feel some hope now that she knew Adrien loved her, too! It was the best outcome of a love confession she’d dared to dream of (almost, after the one where they got married and moved to the beach with their cute, fuzzy hamsters).

He’d really said that he loved her! She hadn’t dreamed it up, Marinette marveled as she watched the video for the fifteenth time. As soon as it ended, she went to hit the replay button again, but Tikki landed on the mouse and blocked her from clicking it.

“Marinette, don’t you think this is a bit excessive? School has been over for almost half an hour now. Shouldn’t you go visit Adrien like you said you would?”

Tikki had seemed very excited by the prospect of her visit, though Marinette could not fathom the reason why. After all, she’d just lost her secret identity to the same person who’d found it out before in a doomed timeline that led to her poor kitty being akumatized.

Oh, right, Marinette remembered. That was the real reason she was watching these videos. She needed something to distract herself from the sense of impending doom she’d been feeling.

“Well, the Gorilla could be late to pick Adrien up,” she said to Tikki, offering her weak excuse with a wide grin that was probably less reassuring than she’d hoped. “I don’t want to be caught by M. Agreste if he’s the only one at the mansion now.”

Tikki quirked her brow.

“You need to talk to him, Marinette! How else will you know if he figured out your secret identity or not?”

Marinette sighed. “I already know he did! He even knew I’d panic about it and made up an excuse for me to go home instead of staying at school!”

“He was also the first to suggest that you talk more after school! Which means that he’s probably in his room now, waiting by the window for the girl he loves to come say hello! But instead of doing that, you’re watching a scratchy recording taken on a phone for the umpteenth time! Marinette, when I picked you to be my holder, I thought you’d be much braver than this.”

Oh, Tikki could play dirty when she wanted to. The other kwamis snickered to themselves as they watched their Guardian splutter her excuse as she evaded the only true course of action.

“I can be brave! But right now I’m being cautious, which is another heroic quality I should have! After all, the whole ‘leap before you look’ is Chat’s thing, not mine!”

Tikki giggled. “Well, leaping before you look sounds an awful lot like what you did earlier today, Marinette. The two of you are more alike than you might think! Now,” she said, moving off the mouse and clicking the power button on the computer, “Get off that chair and go visit Adrien! If you still haven’t transformed in one minute, then I might murder you before Alya gets the chance to.”

Tikki’s eyes glittered playfully as Marinette glanced at her discarded phone, which was still blowing up with ignored notifications from her reporter friend and what seemed to be half of Paris.

Marinette swallowed. “I guess anything’s better than that. Tikki, spots on!”

Throwing open the trap door, Ladybug flung her yo-yo around a distant building and took off towards Adrien’s house, swallowing the butterflies in her stomach back down.

Why, oh why had she confessed to Adrien as Ladybug? Why hadn’t she just taken the girls’ idea and signed a card as Marinette, or would her awful luck have ruined that plan, too?

Would she have signed the card as Ladybug? Or worse, would she have asked for more constipation medicine instead of drawing a heart by her name?

Why do some people think ladybugs are lucky? Marinette wondered as she deftly avoided crashing into Adrien’s window. If I was lucky, I would have never fallen in love!

Ladybug straightened up on the windowsill and looked into Adrien’s room. He probably wasn’t home yet, because Tikki had been exaggerating about the time and oh no he was looking right at her!!!

Ladybug did a panicked dance that looked a bit like she was Vogue-ing and fell off the windowsill.

She landed in a tree.

“Ow,” she commented blankly while internally slapping herself. The fall had been so short that it hadn’t hurt!

But Adrien didn’t know that. Clapping his hands to his cheeks, he gaped at Ladybug in horror.

There’s the reaction I was expecting earlier, Ladybug thought drearily as Adrien threw open the window and started climbing down the wall to help her out of the tree.

“Ladybug! Are you okay? I am so sorry; I didn’t mean to scare you like that! I thought I told you I’d be by the window earlier!”

He reached out for the branch that Ladybug had landed on, but just barely couldn’t reach it without coming in danger of losing his grip on the wall.

Ladybug’s eyes widened.

“Adrien, be careful! You’re going to fall!”

Adrien shook her worries off. “It’ll be fine, my lady, I’ve done this a million ti—!”

He grabbed onto the end of the branch and let go of the wall as he started speaking, but the branch was not as strong as he’d given it credit for. Unable to support his full weight, it cracked off from the rest of the branch and fell, dragging the model down with it.

“Adrien!” Two voices cried out in harmonized horror.

Ladybug jumped up and tossed her yo-yo to catch Adrien as a black blur zoomed out of his window and dropped down after him.

The yo-yo string wrapped around Adrien’s waist while Ladybug’s brain short-circuited as she registered both the reason the black blur’s voice was familiar and the nickname Adrien had just used for her. Unable to handle the surprise of finding out her partner’s identity, she fell off her perch for the second time that day.

Plagg moved out of the way as she tumbled past him, and milliseconds later, she wound up tangled upside down in the yo-yo string with Adrien about a meter and a half above the ground. Luckily, Plagg hurriedly wrapped the end of the string around a thicker branch, which brought their progress to an abrupt and jarring halt before they could come to a crash landing.

“Ugh,” Adrien groaned, and Ladybug nearly shivered out of her skin.

“I am not a cat!” she snapped, and Adrien twisted around to look at her. The yo-yo string spun around accordingly, intensifying the queasy feeling in Marinette’s stomach.

“I beg your pardon?”

Why had Ladybug ever opened up her mouth? She should have known only gibberish would come out! Still panicking, she did it again without thinking.

“It’s pawdon! And you’re not getting any until we get out of this tree!”

Adrien blinked. It probably would have been adorable if Ladybug hadn’t been looking at them upside down while she got spun in dizzying circles by her own weapon.

“My lady, I really am sorry about the reveal, but I was so scared when you got hurt! And I can’t think straight when the girl that I love is in danger!”

He pulled out his best pout while Plagg sat on top of the yo-yo string tied around the branch and stared wide-eyed at him.

“Transform, you rollot-headed cheese curd! Transform and destroy the string!” he cried impatiently.

“But then we’ll fall,” Adrien pointed out, and Ladybug craned her neck upwards in the direction Plagg’s voice had come from.

“Why don’t you just untie the string, Plagg? That would be a lot easier!”

“Yeah, I thought you hated transforming!” Adrien called.

Plagg flew down and landed on the string tying Ladybug and Adrien together.

“You’d still fall if I untied the string, you solid slices of Swiss! Only Adrien wouldn’t be protected from it, because he wouldn’t be wearing a suit!”

“But it’s only a meter drop,” Adrien protested. “I’ll be fine!”

Ladybug jerked, swinging the string in a sideways motion. “Do you want to get hurt? Take Plagg’s advice!” If you really are Chat Noir, she added silently.

Adrien stared up at Ladybug for a moment. “Whatever the lady wishes. Plagg, claws out!”

Good, we’re at this part of the dream. Shouldn’t I wake up now? Ladybug asked herself.

But that must not always be the way dreams worked, because there was that one time after Oblivio when she’d dreamed that Adrien turned into Chat Noir and then he’d kissed her and she—

As she was still thinking, the string disintegrated around Ladybug and she and Chat Noir fell to the ground in a tangled heap.

“Your foot is covering my eye,” Ladybug complained. Chat Noir moved it immediately.

“Sorry,” he apologized as he moved Ladybug’s heels off his chest and stood up. Offering Ladybug a hand, he pulled her to her feet. She nearly fell over again, and he steadied her with a hand.

“I really am sorry,” he repeated as Ladybug carefully stretched out her arms, which had been pinned to her sides by the string.

“It was my fault, I should have remembered you’d be at the window,” she said sheepishly. “And, as for the identity reveal? I wouldn’t have figured it out if it weren’t for Plagg.”

Adrien detransformed and frowned at his kwami.

“I’m entirely innocent,” Plagg said, crossing his arms. “I am also starving. I need cheese!” He looked pleadingly at Adrien.

“I don’t think now is a good time for cheese, Plagg, but if you need some, you know where it is.”

With a cheeky wink at Ladybug, Plagg zoomed off to Adrien’s room before she could say a word.

“All this because of a poorly executed confession,” she grumbled, scuffing the dirt under the tree.

Adrien tilted his head. “Poorly executed? My lady, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven because I was so happy! Your delivery was perfect. If it wasn’t for the fact that you were Ladybug at the time, it would have been purrfect!”

Ladybug pursed her lips. “You made that joke before,” she said, wagging a finger at him. “I can’t believe I didn’t get it! I can’t believe I didn’t notice you were Chat Noir,” she groaned, covering her face in embarrassment.

Adrien laughed and delicately peeled her fingers apart so he could peer into her eyes.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice you were Marinette,” he said in a voice so sweet it made her heart skip a beat. “But I guess that’s the way the Miraculous work, isn’t it? Or else we would have figured it out on the first day.”

Ladybug giggled as she lowered her hands from her face. “We really should have,” she said. “But I guess I was too busy falling under your spell, instead.”

Adrien blushed. “You— really?” he squeaked.

Ladybug smiled as she reached up to ruffle his hair. He leaned into her touch the way he always did.

“Yes, really,” she said softly. “Weren’t you listening to my confession? It’s always been you, Adrien,” she said, tapping his cheek with one finger. “I fell for you the moment you gave me your umbrella and showed me who you truly are.”

Adrien grabbed her hand and held it to his cheek, gazing into her eyes with a look so tender it made her want to melt.

“I fell for you on the first day, too,” he breathed. “You were so scared, but so courageous! You stood up to Hawk Moth and gave hope to all of Paris. I’ve never met anyone so brave.”

Turning his face, he pressed a kiss to the inside of her palm, and Ladybug gasped as a blush took over her face.

“I said to myself back then that I’d love whoever you were under that mask. And I was right,” he said, tracing its edges with a smile.

Marinette looked at him in wonder. “You do? Even though I’m the worst Guardian ever? A-and even when I can’t talk right to you most of the time?”

“Even then,” Adrien assured, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose and smiling when her blush got even darker. “For the record, I think you’re a wonderful Guardian. And I think your stuttering is quite adorable.”

Surrendering her face as a total loss to the flames licking at it, Marinette dropped her head onto Adrien’s shoulder.

“You’re abhorrable,” she said into his shirt. Holding up a finger, she took a breath and tried again. “Adorable! I think you’re adorable, too. And now that we’re finally out of that tree, I think I know how you can earn my pardon.”

Wrapping his arms around her, Adrien hummed quietly. “What is it?”

“Take me on a date. Next Saturday, in the park, after your piano recital. I’ll bring the pastries,” Marinette said as she returned his hug.

“I’ll bring the flowers,” Adrien said happily.

Marinette felt her heart swell as he kissed her hair and held her closer to him.

“I’m so happy it’s you,” he whispered into her ear.

“Me, too,” she confided. “I’m so happy. I don’t think Chat Noir could be anyone else.”

A camera flash went off in her eyes as she lifted her head.

Ladybug pushed herself away from Adrien and spun him around so he could see the problem.

“Alya!” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t returning any of my calls, girl,” she said, putting a hand on her hip. “All you did was send one text panicking about how Adrien knows who you are now. Listen, all of Paris knows that you were planning to visit Adrien after school. You guys are lucky it’s just me who showed up. I was expecting there to be at least a dozen camera crews here already.”

“Hold on a minute,” Adrien said, scrunching his eyebrows. “Do you know?”

Alya hesitated, her gaze wandering from Adrien back to Ladybug.

“She does,” Ladybug said, wrapping her arms around herself. “Alya knows. I’m so sorry, but I had to tell someone!”

“Ma—Ladybug was basically having a panic attack when she told me,” Alya said, defending her friend to Adrien. “It only happened because she needed the support, and she couldn’t see another way. She hadn’t been planning to reveal her identity to me, or you for that matter.”

“Trust me, I know she wasn’t,” Adrien said. “I only figured out who she was because of a weird coincidence, actually.”

“Oh? And here I thought it was obvious,” Alya commented. “We’re lucky you covered for our girl, or all of Paris would have figured it out from that confession. Which you had better have accepted, by the way, or I will have Chat Noir cataclysm you for me.”

“Oh-h, you will?” Adrien asked in a strangled voice.

Ladybug laughed nervously. “Well, we won’t be needing that, Alya! He said yes.”

“Good,” Alya said, folding her arms with a smile. “I’m so proud of you, girl! You finally faced your fears and confessed to Adrien. And see where it got you!”

Ladybug grinned at her friend, but as Plagg reappeared behind Alya’s head and zipped back into Adrien’s pocket while she wasn’t looking, she remembered something important.

“Actually, Alya... there’s another reason that threatening Adrien with Chat Noir wouldn’t work. Right, Adrien?” She looked up at him imploringly, hoping that he got the message. You don’t have to tell her, but we need to think of something to say!

Adrien cleared his throat. “Oh, yeah! Are you sure it’s okay for her to know that, though?”

Marinette shrugged. Telling Alya would be simpler than trying not to act like she was in love with Chat Noir or coming up with some explanation of her sudden turn to polyromanticism. It also carried a large danger with it, but she’d proved herself to be capable of handling it before.

Alya was frowning as she looked between Adrien and Ladybug.

“What’s going on, Marinette?” she asked quietly.

Adrien twisted the silver ring on his finger. “I’m Chat Noir,” he said, watching Alya’s reaction closely.

She blinked twice, then adjusted her glasses as she peered at him. Plagg peeked out from Adrien’s shirt pocket, and her jaw fell open.

“Oh, wow,” she breathed. “You really are him! I totally called it!”

“What?”

Ladybug flushed. “You put a filter on a photo of him one time as a joke, Alya. That does not count as calling it.”

Alya grinned. “Was it a joke? Or was it my awesome reporter skills coming in handy? Because I seem to remember you being the one who thought it was a joke.”

Adrien smirked at Alya. “But you didn’t guess who Ladybug was, right? I did,” he bragged. “Back during Kwamibuster. Of course, my lady was clever enough to cover her tracks, but I knew there was a reason Multimouse looked so cute!”

Ladybug let out a squeak, which made Alya smile.

“You didn’t tell me about using the Mouse! I bet you looked adorable,” Alya said, and Adrien nodded his agreement.

“You should have been there! It was the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen.”

“It wasn’t that impressive,” Ladybug said, wishing the fire in her cheeks would cool down. “I just did what I had to do.”

“She’s so humble, too,” Adrien said, looking at her with a smile. “My heart never stood a chance.”

Ladybug spluttered and hid her face in her hands as Alya laughed good-naturedly.

“Well, since you’re safe from the paparazzi, I think I’ll leave you two alone now so you can keep talking. You should probably keep an eye open, though. Oh, and if you ever want to formally announce your relationship as Ladybug and Chat Noir? You know where to find me,” she said with a wink.

“Thank you, Alya,” Adrien said politely. “We’ll think about it later, once we figure all the details out.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything else. All right, then, Alya out!”

With a cheeky salute, she turned and walked toward the wall around the mansion, which she scaled with an ease that would have sparked the opposite feeling in M. Agreste had he been there to see it.

“Alya was right about the press, you know,” Adrien said casually as Ladybug watched the spot Alya had disappeared from. “If you want, we could go somewhere else to talk. There’d be less of a chance of causing a scandal.”

“I think you mean causing another scandal,” Ladybug sighed. “You’re both right, of course, a press intrusion is the last thing we need right now. Still, it could always be worse! I might have messed up my confession, but I was lucky enough to have— well, you. You’ve always got my back, kitty.”

“You and me against the world,” Adrien said in agreement. “I think I got lucky, too. Until recently, dating you seemed like an unattainable dream. And yet, here we are,” he said, lifting her hand for a kiss. “I finally get to be with the love of my life.”

Ladybug couldn’t stop a smile from blooming on her face as she gazed back at Adrien warmly.

“And I, mine,” she said, her breath tangling with his as she moved closer. “I love you, Adrien Agreste.”

He didn’t need to say anything back as he leaned closer and wrapped her in his arms.

The kiss said more than enough.

#ladrienjune2023 #ml fanfic #ladrien #rosie-b writing #identity reveal #miraculous ladybug #takes place after in season 4 after gang of secrets and glaciator 2 #the ending tried sooo hard to turn into marichat but i managed to keep it ladrien

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