Nino slid the chemistry book across the table to Max. "I can't concentrate. It's like I'm reading gibberish."

Max picked up the book, opened it, and placed it on top of the chemistry book he was reading. "Why are you so unfocused today?" He asked.

"Yeah, man," Kim said as he propped his legs on  top the library table. " You seem out of sorts. Is everything with the movie okay?"

Before Nino could say anything, the librarian walked over to their table and glared down at Kim. "Please keep your feet off the table, young man," she said sternly.

Kim groaned and placed his feet back on the floor. "Yes ma'am."

The librarian walked away before Nino said, "Everything is fine so far with our film. It's just...I'm kind of in a...predicament and I don't know how to solve it is all."

"Anything serious or life threatening?" Max asked.

"No. It's nothing, actually. Forget it."

"Ok then. If no one's in any danger of getting a red card, let's get back to our project. Hey, Max, you find anything useful about water?"

"The scientific term for water is H2O, and so far I've found that-"

Nino tuned out the rest. He couldn't concentrate anyway, not when he messed up the already insane love rectangle. That's what Alya had named Adrien and Marinette's problem. They loved each other but didn't know that they were...each other.

Nino sighed and placed his head in his hands. He wished he could pull them to the side, look Adrien dead in the eye and say, "Marinette is Ladybug." Then turn to Marinette and say "Adrien is Cat Noir. You two like each other and now know each other's identities. Have a wonderful happily ever after!"

Yeah. If only. Nino couldn't, though. He promised never to tell anyone Marinette's secret and he wasn't even supposed to know Adrien was Cat Noir. What were he and Alya going to do? They had to help their friends somehow but they couldn't tell them. Maybe...

He heard her approaching the library before he saw her. He shot out of his chair and said, "I was never here!" to Max and Kim before he ran and hid behind a bookcase.

She walked into the library and saw the two very confused boys sitting at one of the many tables in the library. "Where is he?" She asked, like she already knew exactly where Nino was.

The two didn't say anything but simply pointed towards the bookcase that Nino was hiding behind.

Traitors, Nino grumbled. He quickly pulled out a random book and turned to a page before Alya walked around the bookcase and saw him.

"Nino, you can't keep avoiding people when there's a problem." She crossed her arms in front of her.

"I can and I will," he said, stubbornly before he saw that Alya was alone. "Marinette isn't with you?"

"She was before she had to go and talk to her teacher about the history test. Seriously, Nino, even though you can't keep a secret to save your life, Marinette is still your friend and you know her secret. She knows that you know and if you keep avoiding her, she's going to get the wrong idea."

Nino sighed. "I just don't know what to say to her other than blabbing that Adrien is Ca-"

Alya's eyes widened. She ran over to Nino and slapped a hand over his mouth. "Hey, loud mouth," she hissed, "it's probably not a good idea to mention that fact in school where the said boy and his classmates are." She released  her hold on him.

"Sorry, but I told you that I'll blabber just about anything that comes to my mind." He tightened his hold on the book in his hands before he realized it was upside down.

Alya glanced at the book and tired to hold back her laughter. "Uh Nino?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know it's upside down. It's not very convincing for me to look inconspicuous while trying to read a book upside down in the library."

Alya failed at holding in her laughter. "No, it's not that. It's just..." She gestured toward the book.

Nino looked down and saw that it was The Imbecile's Guide to Keeping a Secret.

"Why is this book even in our school library?" Nino asked, incredulously, as he shoved the book back onto the shelf.

Alya snickered and Nino rolled his eyes. "So, anyway," he said, "what are we going to do? We can't just pretend that we don't know anything, but we can't go and spill their secrets."

Alya sighed. "Tell me about it. It's so hard to act normal around Marinette now. Knowing she's Ladybug...it's just different."

"I totally get it," Nino nodded. "It's the same with me and Adrien. I don't know how many more secrets I can keep."

They looked at each other. They didn't say anything, but nothing was needed to be said aloud. They didn't know what to do. They had to help their friends but both were clueless as to how. 

"Wait," Nino said suddenly. "I have an idea."

"Really? What?" 

"Well, just hear me out okay?"

Alya nodded.

"Alright. So first, we need to dress you up like Lady WiFi-"

"Lady WiFi?!" Alya said, astonished. "Um, in case you haven't noticed, Nino, but I've been Lady WiFi twice and both times I've had no control over my actions. And I also tried to broadcast Ladybug's identity across Paris. So, why in the world, do you need me to be Lady WiFi again?"

"Because we need an akumitized person to-"

"Well then why can't you be the Bubbler? You were akumitized too, you know."

"I can't because I don't have a large, three-foot bubble wand handy with me at the moment."

"Well my phone can't actually swipe out "pauses" and "fast forwards" anymore and I don't know where I can get one on such short notice."

"No, no. We only need for you to look like Lady WiFi-"

"But why? Why do I need-"

"Could you please just let me talk?" Nino asked, exasperated. 

Alya nodded. "Alright."

"Thank you. So anyway, if we dress you to look like Lady WiFi, you can go to the school and cause some "commotion." Then you make a big show of telling everyone about how you're going to go to Marinette's place and leave. Adrien will become Cat Noir and race over to Marinette's to protect her. Then when he sees Marinette, he and she will start talking and BAM! They'll know each other's identities!"

Alya was quiet for a moment, staring at her friend, before she finally said, "That's...a great backup idea. Let's just put that in our back pocket and-"

"Like you have any better ideas?" Nino crossed his arms.

"Well, I do like your idea, Nino, honest, but maybe I could go to Adrien, not as Lady WiFi, and say that I saw an Akuma attacking at the Eiffel Tower. Then he'll go off and save the day."

"And why would we send him on a goose chase without an actual Akuma?"

"Because right now, it's 3:40 and Marinette is there. She always goes to the Eiffel Tower at this time in order to get some inspiration for the clothing line she's designing. I'm sure she's told you about it?"

"Of course. I love looking at her designs. They're wicked! But in a good way." Nino smiled. "So, the plan is that Adrien will run into Marinette at the tower and they'll hopefully get to talking?"

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?"

~~~

Cat Noir leaped across the rooftops on his way to the Eiffel Tower. He was shocked when Alya interrupted his fencing lessons. She had pulled him to the side and told him that there was an Akuma attacking. She had barely gotten the words out before Adrien transformed and dashed out of sight. 

Now vaulting from one roof to the next, he strained to hear any kind of commotion that usually rang through the city whenever an Akuma attacked. But he couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. He landed on a building, overlooking the plaza in front of the landmark but didn't spot any Akumas. He sat down and dangled his legs over the edge. 

Alya must've misunderstood, Cat thought to himself. Weird, though. Usually she's pretty good at spotting Akumas before they could cause too much trouble.

He looked down at the streets and saw someone sitting on a bench doodling in her book. She looked so concentrated and focused on designing. It was adorable. Cat extended his staff and landed gently next to the bench. 

"Hey, Princess," he said as he bowed low in front of her. 

Marinette didn't acknowledge him.

"Ugh, Princess?"

"Huh, what?" Marinette looked up and gasped. "Cat Noir? What are you doing here?"

Cat smiled. "I heard there was an Akuma attacking from a friend, but apparently it was just a false alarm." 

"Most definitely." Marinette smiled and cocked an eyebrow. "I've been here all day, and I haven't seen anything. Your source most not be that great at keeping up with the latest Akuma, Ladybug, and Cat Noir news."

Cat laughed. "You have no idea." He turned his gaze away from her eyes and leaned forward to look at the girl's designs. "What are you doodling?"

Marinette leaned away and hugged her notebook, hiding her designs from Cat's view. "Oh this? These are just...my designs but they're not that good. At least, not yet."

"Really? I doubt they're anything less than perfection. May I see some?" Cat smiled softly.

"Oh, well," Marinette slowly released her notebook and laid it on her lap. She turned it to face Cat. "I mean, it's not finished yet, but I wanted to, I mean, I was inspired to design a new clothing line from your and Ladybug's suits and-" 

Cat gently took the book from her lap and met her blue eyes. A soft knowing smile was in his gaze as he turned his attention back to the notebook. He saw that she had designed entire outfits completely inspired by his look. She had even deigned a hoodie with green accents and  little cat ears on top. She was designing something based off of him. Him. He was touched that she had been inspired to create these amazing designs by his and Ladybug's looks. She really is amazing, isn't she?

"These are incredible, Marinette. Seriously!"

Marinette took her notebook back from his outstretched hands. "Oh, it's nothing."

"No it's most certainly not nothing," Cat moved to sit on the bench and Marinette slid over to make room for him. "Marinette, thank you for thinking of me when designing your new line. I mean, I have only seen you a few times around Paris, and each time, you're incredible."

Marinette blushed from his compliments and looked away. "You must have me confused for someone else. Maybe you're thinking of your partner, Ladybug, but it surely can't be me."

Couldn't she see that what I'm saying is true? he thought. "Princess, each time I'm around you, you're brave, strong, and amazing. When I came to ask if you'll help me take on the Evillustrator, you didn't even bat an eye. You were so smart and calm when facing him. You also were the target of the Gamer. When he attacked you and I carried you to a safe place, all you could think about was your friend, Adrien, was it?  You were more worried about his safety than your own because you cared."

Marinette was as red as a tomato when she looked away from the ground and met his eyes. "You're amazing," he whispered.

Her eyes were as wide as saucers and Cat thought for a moment that she actually registered what he had said, but then she let out a small giggle and playfully punched his arm. "You make me sound like I'm Ladybug."

Cat shrugged. Well, aren't you, princess?

Marinette's phoned beeped, indicating a new text message.  She pulled her phone out of her small purse and read the text. She immediately jumped up from the bench and turned back to face Cat. "Hey, kitty, I've got to go. My dad needs my help with an order. A woman ordered two hundred cupcakes for a party she's having tonight." She slowly started to walk backwards from the bench. "I guess I'll see you around, then?"

Cat nodded, smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Most definitely."

"Okay then," Marinette waved to him before she turned and speed walked away to get to her father's bakery as quickly as possible.

As he watched her walk away, Cat only had one thought on his mind. She called me kitty. Only Ladybug calls me that.

~~~

"How do you think it's going?" Alya asked Nino while they sat on the school's front steps. 

Nino shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not good at predicting what people are going to say, except when they are in cliche movies. Then I know exactly what they're going to say and when." Nino extended his hands out in front of him. " 'No! Don't go down into the basement, Sally! A monster is down there.' 'I have to, Mark. And maybe we should split up too since that way it'll be easier for the monster to pick us off one by one!' "

Alya rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, though." Nino shook his head and chuckled. "Those movies are great to watch so that way you know what not to do with your own films."

Alya scanned her eyes through the crowd. She wasn't looking for anyone in particular. She was just looking for something to do. Soon, she spotted familiar pigtails walking through the crowd on her way to the bakery across the street. 

"Hey, Nino! Look, ten o'clock."

Nino looked and saw Marinette crossing the street. "It's Marinette!" He stood up from his spot on the stairs and ran over to the girl with Alya right behind him.

Marinette was just about to walk into the bakery but stopped when she saw Alya and Nino running toward her.

"So how'd it go?" he asked her, a smile on his face.

Marinette cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"You and Cat Noir, of course." Nino said like it was so obvious. Alya's eyes widen and she elbowed her friend in the ribs. 

"What he means to say is that we saw you two talking and were just wondering what you guys said is all," Alya said as she glared at Nino. 

"You saw us? But I didn't see you guys there." Now she was really confused.

"We were just, um, passing by and we happened to glance and see you guys together. So we were just curious as to what you guys were talking about," Nino said quickly.

"Oh well, all we did was look at my designs," Marinette said as she gestured toward her notebook in her hand.

"Really? You guys didn't talk about anything else?" Alya asked she eyed her friend.

"Nope. Why the sudden interest, though?"  Marinette asked. She didn't understand what was going on. Why were they suddenly wanting to know everything she and Cat talked about? Why did it feel as if they knew something? 

Marinette looked over at Nino. He wouldn't meet her gaze. He looked down at the ground, at the bakery's door, and across the street, but he never looked at her or Alya. Then she looked at Alya. Alya's expression was one that Marinette all too well recognized. She had found out something good, something juicy, something life changing. Her fingers were twitching at her sides, her eyes were too wide in surprise and a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She was practically about to explode from the need to blog about the huge news she had recently discovered. Could she...could she know?

"Oh no reason, I just thought that maybe you found out something good for my Ladyblog. That's all," Alya shrugged her shoulders, in a useless effort to appear nonchalant. 

It was too late for that, Marinette thought to herself. "Speaking of your Ladyblog, you haven't recently posted anything. Haven't found anything news worthy concerning the heroine?"

"Yeah, well, I've actually discovered something really important about her that I...I mean, it's just....no. No. I haven't found anything recently." Alya was scrambling to come up with a plausible excuse before she finally just gave up. 

But Marinette had heard enough. She looked back at Nino. "Nino, could I talk to you for a moment?"

Nino met her gaze surprised. "Huh?"

Marinette gently grabbed his arm and pulled him around the front of the bakery to the side, away from Alya. 

Once she released him, she quickly spun around and looked at him closely. "Okay, what's up, Nino? Something's wrong, here. I can feel it. Please, just tell me what's going on!"

"Nothing's...nothing's wrong with Alya. She knows nothing." Nino said as he desperately tried to ease Marinette's suspicions. 

"I didn't say anything about Alya," she said, quietly. Then it finally hit her. Alya knew. She knew! That's why she hasn't posted anything in while. That explains why she has been so distant recently and acting weird. Marinette thought it was because she and Adrien where a thing, but not anymore.

"Nino, please. Please, tell me she doesn't know my secret," she said as she looked up at her friend, wishing he'd say no. Please, tell me she doesn't know.

"I know, Marinette." Alya said she appeared next to them.

Marinette turned to her friend, shocked. "You do? And...and you're not mad at me?"

"Of course not, girl." Alya placed her hands on her friend's shoulders. "I completely understand why you didn't tell me. I wish you would've though. I could've helped cover for you... I wished you would have trusted me enough to keep your secret."

"It's not that," Mairnette said as tears slowly ran down her face. "I was just so afraid you'd get hurt or that Hawk Moth would come after you once he found out you were close with Ladybug. I mean, I was going to tell you someday, but I didn't want you to find out like this. I mean Nino discovered my secret when....Nino...Nino!" Marinette spun around and jabbed an accusatory finger at the boy. "You told her!"

"No, I didn't! I swear!" Nino held up his hands in surrender. "I just...I mean-"

"I discovered it on my own, Marinette!" Alya tried to explain. "Nino had nothing to do with it! I mean, okay, yeah maybe a little, but I was the one that put two and two together. Come on, what kind of reporter would I be if-"

But Marinette couldn't listen anymore. She couldn't take any more. She turned away from her friends and booked it down the street. Her friends cried out to her, but she ignored them. She had to get away from there as fast as possible. She couldn't believe that Nino had told her. She had trusted him! But it wasn't only that. Both of them were in danger now. Having Nino know was fine because she could protect one person. But now two people she cared about were in danger because of her and it was all her fault. She didn't know what to do anymore. 

Eventually, Marinette couldn't run anymore and she eventually collapsed on a bench on a random street. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wanted to cry. She wanted to somehow release the anger, the frustration, the hurt, and the worry from her system but the tears wouldn't come. 

"Marinette, please, calm down," Tikki said, her voice muffled. "Don't cry. We'll figure this out, together. Let's just go back to your friends and-"

Tikki gasped and flew away from the anguished girl and hid behind the bench. Marinette couldn't see her and just as she brought her head up to look at what had worried her Kwami, a purple butterfly fluttered towards her. Marinette scrambled away from the creature and fell sprawled on the sidewalk. She sat up quickly and her head started to throb painfully. She brought a hand up in a useless effort to rid herself of the pain as she tried to get up from the ground. The butterfly softly floated towards her as she stood up. 

"No, please, no," Marinette cried as she tried swatting the bug away. The butterfly easily dodged all of her attacks and slowly floated towards her bag. Marinette tried to run but just she turned away, the Akuma landed and morphed into her bag.

A dark and cruel voice rang through her mind. Miss Fortune, my name's Hawk Moth and I've got a deal for you-

No, Marinette tried to resist. This...this isn't right.

Ah! A fighter, are we now? Come now, Miss Fortune. I can help you protect your friends. 

Marinette shook her head, trying desperately to rid herself of the voice, but once he mentioned her friends, she stopped. 

How?

Why, I can give you powers beyond your wildest beliefs! Surely, you've seen my other Akumas receive great power. I can give you that power too.

You don't even know me. 

Oh, but I do know you, Miss Fortune. I've seen how your friends discovered a dark secret of yours, one you've desperately tried to keep hidden from them. But now they know and they are in danger. I can help you protect them from anything that might bring them harm.

Do...do you know the secret?

Alas, I do not. I can only feel your strong emotions and feelings. I've dealt with others who've been in the same situation as you. I've helped them protect those they care about....and I can help you too. But only if you let me.

Marinette was silent for a moment. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to protect her friends, but the very thing that she wanted to protect them from was offering her help. Maybe Hawk Moth wasn't such a villain after all. He didn't even know that she was Ladybug, so she wasn't in any danger of risking Hawk Moth discovering her identity if he didn't already know. Was she?

No, this...I can't. This isn't right. You're...you're evil. Villains never win and if I let you help me, I'll become evil too. Then-

Yes, you can! Hawk Moth shouted forcefully into her mind. And you will. Once you see what I can give you, you'll see that I was right. Mark my words, Miss Fortune, with the powers I'm bestowing upon you, you're friends couldn't possibly be in better hands.

Before she could stop herself, a soft "yes" escaped her lips and the dark purple goo consumed her.