continuation of amnesiac marinette + reverse crush
Ladybug is gone while Marinette recovers from the accident. She doesn’t show up when Chat goes on patrol, and he gets increasingly worried.
Hearing about Ladybug’s disappearance, Master Fu pays the Dupain-Chengs a visit and discovers that Marinette is hospitalized. He keeps tabs on her until she wakes up and it’s found that she has partial amnesia.
Thankfully, she still remembers Tikki, and being Ladybug, so Fu comes in when no one else is visiting her to have a talk about her current situation.
While Marinette has her memories of being Ladybug, she doesn’t remember Chat Noir at all. Any attempts to recall her previous escapades saving Paris all come up with empty spaces. She remembers the Akumas, her Lucky Charms, but gaps come up when she tries to piece together the entire solution. How did she break those ice skates? How did she dodge that unavoidable point-blank attack? How did she get from Point A to Point B? Fu tells her that it was the work of her partner, Chat Noir, who she doesn’t remember at all.
He advises to just pretend that she remembers who he is. Fu damn well knows that Adrien is her classmate, and Ladybug’s extended disappearance combined with amnesia would immediately reveal her to be Marinette.
To prepare for meeting her partner again, Marinette watches videos on the Ladyblog to familiarise herself with the agile, flashy black catboy who casually throws puns about in the thick of battle, all while nonstop flirting with Ladybug.
Marinette blushes a little.
She asks Fu what he’s like, and is told that he’s loyal, determined, sweet, a jokester, and completely in love with Ladybug.
Marinette blushes deeper.
Okay, she already knows all of this. Since they weren’t dating, she doesn’t have to worry about not knowing anything about their previous relationship since her old self presumably didn’t have any feelings for him.
This doesn’t prepare her for the real thing during a night patrol where Chat practically bounces up to her, gleefully yelling “My Lady! You're back!”. He’s nearly a head taller, and that grin full of flawless teeth is like sunshine with how warm and joyful it is. She could see that he was good-looking from the video interviews she’d watched, but no one told her how handsome he was in person.
Marinette giggles a little nervously. “A-Aha, Sorry about that, Chat. Had a family emergency I couldn’t cancel out on.”
“Aww, you should have told me! I’ve been feline so lonely all this while, wondering where my Lady has been~ They say curiosity killed the cat, but this kitty can’t help but wonder what happened to my bugaboo?” He extends his baton into a staff and leans on it, their faces close. She can’t help the sudden flush on her cheeks.
Marinette’s about to explain that she couldn’t have told him since she got into an accident and was hospitalized, but remembers she can’t say anything that would hint at her identity.
“Sorry about that, minou.” She responds, remembering the way she spoke about him in their interviews. “Gotta keep this-” She taps her mask, “-secret.”
She isn’t expecting him to grin even wider.
“I understand, bugaboo. Master Fu did let me know you would be indisposed.” He leans in even closer, their faces almost touching. Marinette’s heart beats faster.
“W-Well, we’re wasting moonlight. L-Let’s go!” She stammers, ducking away to blindly throw her yo-yo out and begin patrol. She hears his delighted laughter from behind her as he follows.
Chat’s a ball of energy, rivaling the sun with how bright he is (and he even has golden hair to fit!) He loves calling her bugaboo, and all Marinette can think is of him is cute. There’s no end to how many affectionate nicknames, sincere compliments or bad puns he can come up with, always seeming to produce a rose out of nothing to give to her. Marinette smiles and sticks it in one of her pigtails, which just seems to make him happier. It all feels as natural as breathing and never feels forced. She’s only known him for a short while but they feel like the best of friends and the most bonded of companions.
He’s so sweet, Marinette thinks. Surely her old self could have at least gone on a date with him.
As her civilian self, Marinette’s no longer cowed by Lila’s manipulations. “Prove it.” Her tone is dubious, and Alya rolls her eyes. “Girl, I know you don’t remember, but we’ve been over this. Lila’s just being nice.”
“Okay, fine, but I don’t know why Nino can’t also enter his audiomixes into the upcoming competition even if Lila’s going to recommend him to that music producer.”
“Lila’s our friend! I’m sure she’ll put in a good word for Nino!”
“What if the producer isn’t into the same genre? You’re not going to ask Gabriel Agreste to put out a punk fashion line, are you?”
“Are you doubting me, Marinette?” Lila asks, her feigned hurt as fake as plastic. Marinette narrows her eyes.
“Probably? I don’t even know who you are.” Marinette replies simply, as shock crosses the faces of her classmates. She frowns at their reactions. Even if she doesn’t know remember Lila, she can still tell bad advice when she sees it. “I think taking all the opportunities you can is the best approach, Nino. It’s the best of both worlds. You have the competition if the producer doesn’t take up your work, and if you get both, then you can just drop out of the competition, right?”
Nino nods. “Good point. Thanks, Marinette.”
She doesn’t miss the coldly furious look Lila gives her, and wonders what her deal is. Alya sighs and interjects again. “Look, you have got to stop competing with her for Adrien-”
Alya blinks, wide-eyed. “Because you have a crush on him-”
“I do?” Marinette glances at the boy in question, who is clearly eavesdropping and returns a sheepish smile. He’s a model, Gabriel Agreste’s son, and clearly looks like it. “He’s pretty good-looking. Makes sense my old self would have a celebrity crush on him, I guess.”
Alya’s jaw drops. Adrien’s cheeks go pink. Lila butts in, her sweet tone syrupy and sick. “So you won’t have any problems if I ask him out, right?”
“Sure? Go for it.” Marinette says dismissively, but catches how Adrien shoots her a look of panic. Something’s not right here, and Adrien clearly isn’t comfortable with Lila. Marinette resolves to keep a look out for him.
When Lila loudly and publicly asks Adrien to hang out with her after school, Marinette’s surprised when Adrien, as loudly and publicly as Lila, claims that he’ll be at Marinette’s house to play Ultimate Mecha Strike III. It’s just something they do every Wednesday, apparently. Marinette can see the desperate look he gives her and quickly plays along. Lila glares at her, and Marinette resolves not to trust that girl.
“Oh, that’s a four-player game, right? Mind if I join?” Lila’s expression has snapped back into friendly again in an instant, and Adrien furiously shakes his head.
Marinette blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. “I’ve only got two controllers, Lila. Sorry!”
Adrien profusely thanks Marinette after school as they walk to her house. He seems like a nice enough guy, and is the guy who she apparently had a crush on, if her parents’ knowing looks and suggestive winks at her mean anything. But she never confessed to him, so they’re just friends. Good enough for her, since she’s much more interested in another leather-clad blond catboy,
