38: Teething Fever

The new installment at the square created a commotion. Parisians were confused as to how a giant croissant was able to make its way into the front of the museum. Even the staff were perplexed as to what to do with the giant model of baked bread. As confused as the people have been, Chat Noir had his own commotion to himself. D'Angelo finally found who the number's owner was.

He got back right on time at the park where he left Kagami before his transformation wore out. The girl was nowhere to be found which relieved him. He called his driver the Gorilla to pick him up and he went home.

As soon as he closed the door, Plagg flew around his drawers searching for cheese while Adrien frantically typed on his phone. He exchanged a few words with D'Angelo and came to an agreement that best they meet on the weekend. He heard about the commotion at the Louvre and doubted it'd be safe for him to come looking for him while the incident was fresh. D'Angelo even requested that he come meet him in civilian as precaution.

"Good job today kid!" Plagg said flying over to him. The kwami had found his slice of camembert that was bigger than him and was wolfing it down in large bites.

Adrien gave him a sheepish grin as a response.

"Hey, don't look so disappointed. You did great with Multimouse and Viperion."

He locked his phone, staring at the blank black screen. "She was with him and...they were such a great team."

"No. You three were a great team." Plagg corrected. "You should give yourself credit for luring that thing and stalling it until they arrived." He said inhaling the rest of the slice.

Adrien shifted. "Do you...think there's something going on between those two?"

Plagg blinked. "Who―Multimouse and Viperion?"

"Marinette and Luka." His mouth set on a hard line.

"Oh. You meant their real selves."

"Come on Plagg, you were with them all afternoon before the whole thing happened. Tell me what you think."

Plagg folded his arms. "I think, you're overthinking it."

Adrien frowned. "You saw how they treat each other?"

"Weren't you like that with Ladybug too?"

The boy's shoulders slacked. "Do you think he knows about her real identity?"

Plagg settled on his lap. "What do you think?"

Adrien didn't answer. He didn't want to answer knowing he already knew the answer. As much as he wanted to protect Marinette, the girl just doesn't want to be protected. She's too independent and pushing himself to her would scare her off.

"I'm turning in." He said and left for the bathroom to take his bedtime bath.

Adrien felt better the next morning. He had a dreamless night and he slept like the dead. He must have been so tired that even Plagg's sleeptalk didn't wake him at all. He was fine until Plagg pointed out how Wayzz didn't come back to check on him. Ever since Ladybug ordered Wayzz to watch over Chat Noir, the turtle kwami had stayed by his side until last night. Wayzz wasn't the type to stay out all night especially with what happened to Tikki, but Plagg was listless all morning that he had to bribe him with camembert to relax.

Later at school, Adrien noticed Alya pacing around outside the classroom. Nino was with her and was looking concerned for the girl who had been at it for half an hour now.

"What's wrong with her?" Adrien stepped towards them.

"Good morning Adrien." Alya greeted without even looking him in the eye.

Nino shrugged. "Alya's been listless all morning."

Adrien was then reminded of Plagg's fit earlier. The kwami now slept soundly muttering camembert in his pack after his morning banter of Wayzz's absence.

"Alya, what's wrong?" He managed.

The girl stopped in her tracks and faced the two who wore the same confused look.

"Nino doesn't get it. This is the first time she's been sick."

"I already told you, she's gonna be fine. Didn't she call you earlier? She said it was just a cold."

Alya rolled her eyes. "I know her more than you do. That girl is an attendance freak. Last time she had a migraine she refused to take the day off and endured it all day. I bet she keeled over thanks to that queen bee's assignment."

Adrien's eyes widened. "Marinette is sick?"

Alya's eyes flickered. "Huh. Surprised you got that figured all out in one go. Usually you're the thickest of the bunch."

"Hey guys, what are you all doing out here?" Julieka said coming up the stairs. She had her usual one side fringe and her side smile ready for the day.

"Alya being overdramatic." Nino shrugged which earned a pinch on the side from his girlfriend.

"I am not being overdramatic you soft-shelled idiot." She complained then faced Julieka. "Marinette's down with a cold."

Julieka grimaced. "So it is true."

"What do you mean?" Nino managed from Alya's glare.

"My bro Luka was with her yesterday all afternoon. He said he was with her in her house until her parents came home. She's got a pretty nasty cold to black out."

"She blacked out?!" Alya rushed Julieka holding her shoulders.

Adrien and Nino stared at the girls exchanging notes of Marinette's condition, but Nino noticed Adrien was not looking good himself.

"You okay man?" He clapped Adrien's shoulder.

The boy was too deep in his thoughts to respond. There were two things running in his mind: (1) Marinette collapsed and (2) Luka was with her. The second one didn't seem necessary but he couldn't help but think about how he could have been the one to take care of her. He was there yesterday and yet he didn't notice how she was possibly already sick by the time they were fighting the creature. He balled his fists.

"Well should we visit her later then?" Nino chimed in at the girls.

Julieka shook her head. "Luka told me to tell you guys that she doesn't want to bother any of you since there'll be a lot to prepare for the dance-play. That she'd feel better knowing that everything's progressing."

Alya thrust her fist on her palm. "That silly girl. She better rest up and not overexert herself with the costumes."

"Speaking of the costumes," Julieka perked up and pulled Alya away from the boys enough to be out of earshot.

Nino turned to Adrien looking glum. "Guess we can't check on her then."

Adrien bit his lip. "Yeah."

"Alya must be annoyed. She was supposed to be her partner in everything and yet she can't do anything about it."

"Yeah." Adrien replied helplessly.

He was about to give up when Nino's words struck an idea into him. His eyes lit up. He grabbed Nino's arm and shook him. "That's it! Of course." He beamed.

Nino knitted his eyebrows. "I have no idea what you're talking about dude."

"I know, that's exactly why you're brilliant. You don't know!" He snickered and hung his arm around his shoulders, leading him inside the classroom.

* * * * *

Class ended in the afternoon and Adrien rushed out before Chloe could even bust him the details about their glorious loveteam in the play. He simply waved her goodbye and left the maniacal brat projecting her frustration at Sabrina.

He ran across the basketball court but found himself eye to eye with Luka Couffaine who happened to be walking out of the faculty room.

"Hey." said Luka giving him a side smile. "Going home?"

"Yeah." Adrien said walking towards him. "You? Something going on with..?" He glanced over to the faculty door.

"Oh." Luka glanced at where he was looking at. "Marinette wanted me to hand over her excuse letter to your homeroom teacher. I forgot to turn it over this morning."

Adrien suddenly felt like he was about to turn into Plagg. "Oh, yes of course. Erhm, I heard about that." He wiggled his finger at him, "She has a cold."

"More than a cold if you ask me. The girl suddenly fell over while we were talking."

"FELL OVER?" Adrien's voice raised. "Did she hit her head?"

"Oh no, I caught her before she dropped to the ground. Next thing we―I knew she was burning up."

Just as he suspected, this was no ordinary cold. The way she'd always want to handle things on her own made him angrier at himself. Sure he could stomach not saying a thing even though he wants to be next to her all the time, but this, this has gone to far.

"I'll-I'll go ahead." He managed a weak smile.

"Sure, man." Luka clapped his shoulder.

Adrien was a few feet away when Luka yelled for him making him turn around.

"Yeah?" He turned looking a bit annoyed.

"You should talk to her Adrien. She has a lot in her mind that I think you're the only one who'll understand." Luka smiled that had a hint of pain in his eyes. He turned to the stairs and disappeared in the corridors upstairs.

Adrien didn't know what to do with what Luka had just said. He always thought Marinette didn't need him. She always had things under control. Yet now he hears from the guy who has the potential to become her lover that she has something bothering her that only he can help resolve. Adrien shook his head. No use pondering over it, he thought. All he knows is right now, he wants to see her, fast.

As soon as Adrien got home, he asked Natalie where his father was. Natalie reminded him that his father would not be able to show himself for a while due to his unforseen projects. Adrien felt hurt but it wasn't new. He smiled at Natalie and told her he'd be eating his dinner early since he had some homework piled up. Natalie nodded and accompanied him to the dining room.

Eating alone was Adrien's usual routine. It always bothered him how the table was too long or the food was too many for one person, but a lot has been going on that these tiny details seemed like a blur to him. He wolfed down his plate in a few minutes, took a huge slice of cheese off the basket, and bid Natalie a good evening. He had a feeling he won't be seeing Natalie until tomorrow.

Plagg excitedly met him at the door. The kwami must have been anticipating a treat just hearing Adrien's footsteps growing near. Seeing Plagg's beady wide eyes beaming at him, he couldn't help but tease him a bit before handing over the cat's dinner.

"Alright." He chuckled, shutting the door behind him. "Eat up. It's gonna be a long night." He said handing over a huge chunk of camembert which was twice as much as he usually gives him.

"Are we staying out?" said Plagg sniffing and biting off a part of the cheese. He did that quite often when he wants to savor the meal.

"We might be." Adrien shrugged as he set up his computer on the speakers. He shuffled through his piano playlist and pressed play on a long queued repertoire.

"That's a lot of songs." Plagg muttered while chewing.

"It'll give us at least four hours of playtime."

"Ahh.." Plagg swallowed the last piece then patted his tummy like an old man who had just finished his beer and chips in one go. "That was good." He moaned.

Adrien snickered. "You good now?"

"I'm good." Plagg weakly replied floating in pure euphoria.

"Then let's go."

* * * * * *

Chat Noir was naturally stealthy. He managed to perch across Marinette's window view without getting noticed. He saw her mother come up her trap door bringing her a bowl of congee, medicine, and water, but Marinette waved her off politely saying she'll eat it a little later.

The food was settled at the table next to her dresser. Sabine looked distraught of her daughter's condition. Marinette was a very healthy child and this was one of those rarest occasions when she can't even rise from her bed.

As soon as her mother kissed her goodnight and left, he saw Wayzz flew above her touching her forehead. They exchanged a few words with Wayzz gesturing strongly and Marinette just laughing it away until she drifted into sleep. Wayzz was so mad that he turned his back against her. He looked like he wanted to say more, but at the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Chat who immediately pushed his finger against his lips mouthing "Shhh" then pointed at the balcony.

Wayzz nodded. He glanced back at Marinette to check if the girl was asleep before he disappeared into the shadows.

"I had a feeling you already knew who she was but what are you doing here?" Wayzz complained as he met with Chat upstairs. The sun was finally down and the lamp was lit at her sun deck hazing the city into a pool of starlight.

"I heard she was down with a fever."

"A teething fever." Wayzz added exasperatingly. "She overexerted herself yesterday. Moreover I have a slight idea that this..." His eyes narrowed. "Not yet time. I'll explain once she feels better. For now, she has to rest."

"Agreed." Chat nodded. "But can I see her at least?"

Wayzz studied his eyes. He began to wonder how and when he found out or how much he knows. He was supposed to consult Plagg about this yesterday knowing it must have been his doing, but he was unable to leave Marinette at her current state. He's been suspecting Chat's actions lately, and now it's been proven. He began to rethink if Marinette knew about him knowing of her. Then again, surely she would have said anything or scolded Plagg for it. Alas, the girl must have been unaware for this boy to be still up and about and was careful of his movements. Wayzz just hopes he wasn't simply reading too much into it or that scenario Marinette had told them might just be around the corner waiting to happen. The end of the world just because their identities were revealed to each other. Such a frightening image.

"Very well." Wayzz sighed. "Maybe she'll listen to you and very least eat her dinner. The girl's been stubborn since yesterday. I'll stay here on guard in case anything happens."

"Thank you." Chat smiled and leaped into the entry of her room.

He found himself hanging from the stairs gazing down at her. Marinette wore a pink zipped hoodie over her floral tank top. Her hair was untied and was all over the place. She was tucked in bed with two layers of blankets and yet she was visibly shivering.

Chat Noir carefully landed at the foot of her bed and slowly crawled next to her. Up close she was looking awfully pale but flushed around her eyebags. Her nose was slightly crunched up and her breathing was rough. A cooling strip was stuck on her forehead but that must have not been working at all.

He slightly brushed the back of his hand to her cheek. She was too warm. Cats like warmth but this warmth was something you'd feel from a hot spring.

"Oh princess.." He whispered, carefully tucking away a strand of hair to the side.

Marinette's eyes fluttered open and was shocked to see who her visitor was.

"Chat?" She managed in her hoarse voice. Normally she'd bolt upright just from seeing the black suit kitty, but her body reacted like an old woman's. She slowly sat up with him assisting her back then gave him a frown as soon as she had her balance straight. "What in the world are you doing here?"

He gave her a side smile. "A little bird told me you were sick so I wanted to check."

"What bird?" She begrudgingly replied. "Whatever. That isn't the point. You shouldn't be here."

"And why not?"

Marinette winced. She wasn't sure what to tell him. You're not supposed to be here because it's too dangerous. You're not supposed to be here because you can't see me like this. You're not supposed to be here because...you're going to give me the wrong idea. She wanted to scream all that, but it felt wrong because she knew deep in her heart she was glad to see him.

"It's just a cold." Marinette looked away.

"Just a cold?" Chat smacked his hand to her neck. "You're boiling!"

"Ow!" She yelped. "Do you really have to smack a sick person?"

"You deserve that for not telling me anything."

"And how am I supposed to tell you anything when I bloody can't see you anytime I want?!"

Chat's mouth hung open. "What?"

"What?" She absentmindedly replied.

"Do you even hear yourself princess?"

She grunted. "I know what I said you stupid cat. I will not repeat myself."

Chat began to recall what Luka had told him. There are things only he can understand and help her with. His heart sank. All this time she wanted to talk to him but she didn't know how. She wanted to say something but things always get in her way. Now that he thought about it, Marinette was only honest when she was talking to Chat Noir. Not even Ladybug could be completely honest with him or whenever she faces Adrien. Only when he's Chat and she's his princess can she open up.

Chat flicked her forehead.

"Ow! That's it kitty. You've gone too far. Flicking me in the forehead is―" Her rambling was cut when Chat suddenly embraced her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"You're such an idiot." He snickered.

"Hey! Who are you calling an idiot?"

He laughed.

"You feel like a warm water bottle." He said in his gentle voice.

Marinette wrapped her arms around his waist and burried her face to his neck. "And you feel nice kitty." She mumbled hiding her blush.

Chat pulled away slowly trying to catch a view of her face. Now that they're nose to nose, he could feel her warm breath against his cheek. He cupped his hand on to her right cheek and smiled.

"You got warmer princess."

"Oh shut up. It's the same heat." She pouted.

"I wonder if you'll get warmer."

"Chat I swear to god this isn't funny. You're gonna catch my sickness if you don't get away from me this instant."

His eyes glanced down then back at her stare. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Excuse me―?" Marinette was about to fight back when she caught herself already leaned forward by his hand and was shut up by the very thing she was using to make him shut up.