18. Chapter 18

'Look out' was supposed to be the appropriate phrase one would say if a projectile was about to hit a nearby person, even if the said projectile was you.

But for some reasons, Ladybug screamed differently.

"Don't look!"

It was her warning for Chat Noir that she de-transformed as Marinette and a reminder to her that Chat Noir de-transformed as...well, whoever he was because she closed her eyes when a green light flashed before her.

And as far as her Physics goes, she went into a 'Slingshot Maneuver' and crashed to a nearby body by sheer luck.

It was one hell of an impact.

"How nice for you to drop by." said body rasped beneath her. "At least...we're not hanging out this time."

She groaned.

Falling face flat on a truck's metal roof was now added to Marinette's Clumsy List, as well as Ladybug's Unfortunate Events, and the fact that she almost killed her partner had her run some inventory on their anatomies like dislocated joints or broken limbs.

"Did you see me?" she asked him.

"No, my Lady," he answered on her implied question, then got worried. "Did you?"

"No, Kitty. I didn't."

Adrien sighed with relief. He might've been pestering her for years about her identity, but on his end, he wasn't ready yet. He was too concerned about her opinions on him, as well as her disappointments.

No one dared to move, not only because their bodies were still singing with pain, but because they were afraid that the person beneath - or on top - might see a glimpse of their unmasked face.

Besides, the sun wasn't set yet.

"I can't feel my arm." the blonde bemoaned as he moved his right that was numbed by his partner's weight.

"Chat."

"What?"

"You're groping my chest."

"Oh. Sorry," he said in an unapologetic tone.

So Marinette kicked his shin.

"Meow-ch!" he whined even though he stopped moving. "I never thought that's gonna be a tibia matter."

"Why am I regretting not to knock you out cold?"

"You hurt me, Bugaboo. Oh wait - you already did."

She squirmed. "You and your punny attitudes will lead you to death."

"Hey, don't deny this cat for his identity," he replied with a notion. "My eyes are closed for your concern, you know."

"Oh. Mine too," she assured him, now that the humor gradually mellowed.

She had to muster her strength to lift her upper left body a bit, and when he wiggled his arm out for a better blood circulation, she slumped herself back again.

If they weren't mindful of their detransformation, Adrien might've enjoyed their intimate cuddling position.

Though in reality, they were just sprawling on each other.

And speaking of detransformation...

"Tikki?" Marinette croaked, raising her head with closed eyes. "Tikki? Where are you?"

Adrien didn't know Tikki, so he presumed it was the name of Ladybug's kwami, which made him remembered his own.

"Plagg? Plagg, are you here?"

Both felt something wiggled between his shoulder blades and her neck.

"I'm here." a small, feminine voice sounded, and the way his partner sighed he knew it was her kwami. "You almost suffocate me Ma -"

"I AM SO HAPPY YOU'RE FINE, TIKKI!" her charger immediately cut her dialogue with a high-pitched tone.

Despite being lethargic, Tikki looked at Marinette first, then to Adrien with incredulity.

"You haven't seen each other yet?!"

"No, Tikki. Not yet." It was Adrien who answered her.

It was tempting to take a sneak peak on Ladybug's kwami, but he has a cat's honor to uphold.

"It's nice to see you, Chat Noir. Though I wish you could say something similar to me."

"If Bugaboo permits." he chuckled when he felt his partner huffed. "By the way...have you seen Plagg?"

Marinette squeaked, jolting Adrien beneath her. As if on cue, Plagg flew out from his squashed position.

"This - this is horrible! Your girl friend almost killed me Adri -PHMFF!"

The teenagers could tell by the sound that the kwami was choked. They didn't know that Tikki arm-locked his neck.

"Wa - what the hell, Tikki! We haven't seen each other for almost a century and now you greeted me like this?"

"Aww, I miss you too." the kwami cooed sarcastically. "If only your mouth doesn't have a tendency to blabber."

There was a pause in the air, followed by a mild gasp.

"They still don't know?!"

Tikki hummed, but for some reason, Marinette knew her kwami made an eye roll there.

"Boohoo...cheese...I want cheese..."

"I can't believe you have the audacity to say that." Adrien's eyes twitched despite the lids were closed. "Why don't you help us get out of this place so that you can get your cheese?"

"First of all, you don't necessarily need me to rouse you two up from that ridiculous position." the black kwami scoffed. "And second, I don't know how to stop a running truck."

That was how realization hit them.

When Chat Noir leaped on top of a ten-wheeler cargo, the vehicle already swiveled to move westward. He was on the roof's base so he knew the driver wouldn't see him through his side mirrors.

But before he could go to the front windows and halt the driver for a short inquiry, Ladybug took him by surprise and landed on top of him.

And unfortunately, they collided just as their transformation dropped.

Which means that their body lost the Miraculous suit that could protect them from the painful impact.

Hence, the agony.

"That wasn't a soft landing." the girl muttered. "The driver must've noticed us that we're on board."

He could've laughed on her unintentional pun, but already lost the mood. She wasn't heavy per se, but her weight was making him uncomfortable.

Plus his mind was reeling from something else.

"I think the driver was distracted to notice you two. He's playing Jagged Stone's in high volume." Tikki chirped. "Too preoccupied to notice my presence when I checked inside."

"Not even a single cheese there," Plagg added.

"Gee, thanks for that information." the boy scowled, then asked his companion. "Do you have something to feed on Tikki?"

"She eats cookies but - "

"There's nothing edible inside." her kwami supplied. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. We'll manage. Right, My Lady?"

"Yeah," Marinette said with a gulp. "We need to stop the truck."

But first, she must get off with him.

"If you're planning to roll over without opening your eyes, then don't," Tikki interjected as if she could read her charger's mind. "The gap on each of your sides are not enough to support you."

"So...crawl then?"

There was a hum, probably a silent communication between two enervated kwamis.

"Why not?" the black kwami snickered. "My boy has finally realized one of his fantasies of being pinned down by his beloved Lady -"

Adrien grunted. "Shut the hell up, Plagg!"

"- and it's in an open area, how scandalous!"

"Plagg!"

Marinette chortled despite the boy's discomfort. "Your kwami is funny. He must be cute."

"I disagree." He miffed. "And apologies for his rude behavior."

"You two seems to have a dynamic relationship. Oh well." she shrugged, palming the metal surface of the cargo with both hands, and once she secured her balance, she pushed her upper body up again.

"Plagg, right?"

"Yes, Pri - ACK!"

"No namings!" The red kwami warned him, stomping his right foot.

"That's not even her real name!"

"But that'd clue your charger!"

"He's stupid to know that!"

"I'm here, you know." the boy inserted with a scowl. "And I can hear you."

"Okay, okay. That's enough."

Marinette was not only losing her patience, but also the strength on her arms.

"Plagg, can you assist Tikki in dictating my moves?"

"Oh sure." the black kwami replied. "I have night visions if that'll help."

"That's comforting to know." she cracked a thin smile. "And once we leave this place, we'll get you some cheese."

There was a pause, then an awed tone.

"You choose well, Tikki."

"Of course. She's a perfect Ladybug."

Adrien couldn't help but agreed on the kwami's words.

He felt how his partner shifted her body and moved according to the kwamis' instructions.

He knew that Plagg has a tendency to screw things around, being a black cat and all, but after realizing that Ladybug's kwami was sensible like her charger, he became complacent and let himself relaxed a bit.

Until he felt a hard nudge between his legs.

He yelped.

"Chat?" Marinette froze. "Are you alright, Kitty?"

"Ye-yeah."

She wasn't convinced. "You sure?"

"Paw-sitive," he told her. "Just...surprised, that's all."

"...if you say so."

As if he could tell her that she almost knelt Little Adrien's crowning jewels.

A cold sweat broke when she shuffled on top of him, following whatever the kwamis instructed her to do.

He trusted Ladybug with his entire life, and he believed that she could do anything even with handicaps. But their current position made him start doubting her. He was afraid that she might crush something that would damage his future.

Who would've thought that a blind Ladybug crawling on top of you was scary?

His nervous state was not missed by his kwami. The Jerk.

"Don't worry boy, no one's going to kink shame you."

Adrien responded him with a growl.

The designer was busy concentrating on her balance to mind the exchange.

Chat's limbs were larger than hers which was why she needed to scale her arms and legs wider, but the rumbles on the cargo's roof and the wind that wafted her face made everything difficult.

It felt like years when she finally reached the space above his head, and once she sat and settled herself, she tapped her partner to move.

She felt him getting up, with a hand on her shoulder for support, and then wobbled to sit down.

As soon as his back rested behind hers, she squinted and opened her eyes.

Before she was a frontal view of the truck's path that was leading them to nowhere.

"Oh no." Adrien moaned when he saw the darkened sky and the unfamiliar roadside. "We need to get off. Now."

"If you want to jump from fifteen feet of a running truck, then call me out," she told him. "Unless you're transformed."

"Which you know I can't."

"Likewise."

"Then what do you suggest, My Lady? Abandoning Marinette back there while I made myself safe and secure?"

She frowned. "What's with you and m - Marinette that agitates you this way?!"

Fortunately, he has the nerve to chuckle. "You know that my loyalty lies with you Bugaboo, so don't be that jealous - "

"Excuse me." she cut him. "You're letting your dreams mix up with your reality. And even if we get off right now, we'll end up lo -"

"No!" he chided. "Don't ever mention that four-letter word that starts with L!"

She frowned, but deeper this time.

Where did she hear that L-word gag again?

Tikki and Plagg were sitting on their respective charger's lap in inconspicuous silence as they listened to their antics.

"I could've said 'love'. But that doesn't matter anymore."

"Ha-ha."

She knew her partner's mannerism, as well as his subtle movements to know that he was clearly, truly agitated. She didn't need to see his face to verify that. She was working with him for years anyway.

"Marinette is here," she told him.

She felt his spine abruptly straightened, then stilled. "What makes you say that?!"

"Because." she huffed. "Adrien is here."

"...what?!"

"I think...Adrien is in this truck."

The blood immediately drained out from Adrien's face, thankful that her partner was not seeing his stupefied expression.

"Are...you sure?"

Her hair tingled his nape so he knew she was nodding. "I used my Miraculous tracker and got a faint signal coming from Adrien's phone here."

So that explains the excessive alarms he felt on his phone, and Ladybug's sudden appearance.

Except for one thing.

"What drives you to conclude that Marinette was here after knowing Adrien's location?" he asked. "Because I'm pretty sure Adrien is not with her right now."

Both kwamis rolled their eyes in unison.

"Well, you're right but..." she trailed off, then wondered. "Wait a minute - how 'pretty sure' are you that she's not with him right now?"

This time the kwamis groaned with frustration.

"That's because..."

I'm Adrien?

No way he'll be saying that.

But there was something in her words that throbbed his brain.

It was like a mysterious puzzle with a missing piece, and that piece was being dangled on his face as if it has been there all the time enough to be mocked by the gods.

And somehow, one of the gods was on his lap with pitiful glares that wasn't helpful at all.

Ladybug was here.

Ladybug was here because she found out that Adrien was here.

Ladybug was here because Adrien was here, thus Marinette was also here.

But he was Adrien.

She was right that Adrien was here, but got it wrong because Marinette wasn't here.

Or was she?

Ladybug was his partner and best friend for years, so he knew that she would never ever abandon a civilian alone, or even lied about their welfare.

Ladybug was sure that Marinette was here.

There were only three people - minus the kwamis - on this truck: Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the Driver.

Marinette couldn't be the Driver.

Marinette couldn't be Chat Noir.

However, Marinette could possibly be...

"Ladybug?"

"Yes?"

"What..." he breathed. "What are you doing here in Normandy?"

She didn't like the tone of his voice.

"My...my school was having a study trip." then added. "How about you? Why are you here in Normandy?"

"A study trip. My school has a study trip here."

Marinette wasn't the only one who has a perturbed feeling, an uncertainty that stirred some questions she forcibly buried on the back of her mind years ago, only to resurface after the recent debacle.

"Perhaps you..." she wanted to jump off the road for asking it. "You missed your bus after that Akuma attack?"

Adrien shut his eyes tight as he calmed his nerves. "Yes, my Lady. And I believe...same goes with you?"

"Ye-yes." her voice hitched as her heart almost leaped out from her rib cage.

She could feel some stray tears forming in her eyes. She didn't know if it was because of her guilt, her fear or bliss.

"Chat?"

"Yes?"

"You-you didn't tell me the name of your friend."

She heard him sighed exasperatedly. "You didn't tell me about yours either."

Marinette bit her lips tightly, unconcerned that her teeth would puncture her skin and drew out some blood. She would welcome the pain as an assurance that everything was real, and hoped that the pain she inflicted was enough to bury the sting that was gnawing her consciousness.

His voice disrupted her trance again.

"Ladybug?"

"Yes."

"Do you - do you have your phone with you?"

"Yeah," she answered. "Why?"

"Be-because." he choked. "I'm going to call my friend."

Suddenly, her phone vibrated.

It was on her purse, and currently, it was slumped on her back. Despite the rumbles beneath them or the billowing wind that muffled the loud engine, they could sense that it was an incoming call alert.

Marinette fished her phone and froze when she saw the caller ID.

It was Adrien Agreste.

With trembling fingers, she pressed the Answer key.

"Hello?"

[Hello?]

Her erratic breathing stopped momentarily when she heard her voice echoed behind her.

No need for her to look back in order to know that her companion activated his loudspeaker, or dare seeing the terror on his face.

"Ma - Marinette?"

"Ma - Marinette?" a familiar voice responded on the other line that matched the words of the man sitting behind her.

She can't hang up. She can't run away. She can't just stay silent and let the other person disconnect the call because she knew he won't do that.

In short, she was trapped. Trapped by their own demise.

"Ye-yes, Adrien?"

[Ye - yes, Adrien?]

After hearing those words, calling his name like a confirmation, Adrien knew that he was fucked up.

He didn't mean it at all, and as far as he knew, he wasn't the only one who was innocent on this discovery.

This was a matter of a flight-or-flight response, but then he wasn't that kind of person who would easily back down.

"Where are you?"

"Where are you?"

Marinette swore her partner was testing her, or more like baiting her if she would accept the challenge or not. It was a fight of protecting a secret that they kept for years, and it was up to her whether to accept her loss or still deny the truth.

To be honest, she was fed up with everything.

"I'm..." she sighed. "I'm with Chat Noir."

[I'm...I'm with Chat Noir.]

That was a nail in the coffin.

She knew.

She finally knew that he knew who was Ladybug. And she also knew who was Chat Noir.

She knew that he was Chat Noir.

"How about you?"

[How about you?]

He chuckled, letting a tear fell on his cheek. "I'm actually sitting beside Ladybug."

"I'm actually sitting beside Ladybug."

Marinette immediately hangs up and covered her face with both of her hands. She shuddered as tears fell down on her cheeks.

She could feel the shift of his body behind her, so she knew that he was also overwhelmed with the things that unfolded between them. Things that they've painstakingly kept from each other for quite a long time.

And not once they felt any remorse of unveiling it.

"Hey...Marinette?"

She knew it wasn't the phone talking. The person itself was actually whispering those words in her ears.

"Princess?"

She sobbed when an arm suddenly wrapped her body, with a head slumped on her shoulder and dampened her shirt.

"My Lady?"

Without further ado, she twisted her body and returned his gesture by wrapping her arms around him as she murmured his nickname.

"Kitty."

Adrien's dam broke as he tightened his hug as if the woman would disappear anytime.

He heard her chanting 'Chat' and 'Adrien' several times, so he couldn't help but respond it with several monikers he invented for her.

Everything was unbelievable.

But what happened next was more believable.

"What the hell are you two doing here?!"

Both heads jerked towards the loud booming voice of a man coming from the front cab's roof. He was holding a flashlight with its beam aimed towards them.

"Erm.."

"Uh..."

Adrien and Marinette were overwhelmed dealing with their insuppressible emotions to notice that the truck completely stopped and that the driver finally noticed their presence.

Whether it was their kwami's doing, or the fact that their drama was quite a disturbance, they didn't know.

At least they could get off from the vehicle.

The teenagers didn't get any lengthy scoldings or interrogations about how they ended up on top of his truck's cargo or the possible dangers that would happen if they fell off and the damages that would incur on the driver's records.

They empathized the man's frustrations and went silent when he scolded them for being runaway kids. It didn't matter.

What matters most was how the driver dropped them off at a non-secluded place with an intersection road.

No 'thank you's' or 'good-byes', the man left the two alone all by themselves.

When the truck zoomed away, Tikki and Plagg flew out from their charger's hiding place and looked at their awkward stares.

It was Adrien who broke the silence.

"Well, My Lady," he said shyly while rubbing his neck. "I guess we can officially drop that L-word."

Marinette facepalmed.

"Looks like the cat was finally out from the bag," he added.

She groaned.

For the umpteenth time since that day, the two were left behind. Again.