Jagged Stone was overwhelmed that his two tracks 'It's Ladybug' and 'That's Chat Noir' dominated the hit charts not only in France but all over the world. Its music videos even earned millions of views and shares that the cover artists got a moniker...

"Adrinette." Ladybug and Chat Noir read it in unison.

"Aww, they're so cute you couldn't help but to ship them~" the music producer cooed when he unknowingly flipped the portfolios of their secret identity. "You can see the chemistry despite them not even filmed together. And they have a growing fan base in Tumblr!"

The superheroes gave him a deadpan look.

"So the reason why you called us here." Ladybug asked. "Is to sign an agreement for an album?"

"Technically, yes." the producer answered with a smile. "Due to popular demand, we're going to release a compilation album of Jagged Stone's hit tracks entitled 'Miraculous', and we would like to ask your permission to do a cover pictures together with these two."

"Impossible." the superheroes chorused.

"I - We - We're busy people outside the masks." Ladybug talked before the producer could ask. "As a 5,000 year-old entity, we have social obligations that need to be observed by the current generation."

"Like schoolwork." Chat Noir supplied.

"And part-time jobs."

"Round patrols."

"Community services."

"Public relation and interactions."

"Self-defense classes."

"Career development activities."

"Alright, we got it." the man huffed with a raised hand. "Collaboration is far-fetched, I understand. But at least we can get your approval to use your names for legal purposes."

Bluebell masked eyes met electric green ones for a brief moment then hovered towards their negotiator. "And what would that be?"

"That these two teenagers can pose as Ladybug and Chat Noir again, but for a photo shoot." the man said. "If that's alright with you."

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After the parties made an agreement, the Parisian superheroes bid their goodbyes then leaped away, only to make a short stop in a deserted alley.

Rubbing his neck, Chat Noir commented "Wow, that was an awkwa - "

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Ladybug's wails.

She was crouching down with hands yanking her pigtails out. Her spotted mask failed to hide the frenzy on her beet-red face, with hyperventilation all over her body.

Her partner immediately rushed to her side."Bu - Bugaboo? What's wrong?"

Despite having an enhanced hearing, he still couldn't make what his partner was mumbling about. She was talking incoherently fast , and the only words that he could make were 'Adrien' and 'I'.

"Ladybug!" he called her again then shook her shoulders heavily. "Calm down, will you?"

She finally stopped her blabbers and deliberately looked at his eyes. She was trembling in his arms, obviously not because of the cold, with a bobbing mouth like a fish seeking out for water.

Ladybug was having a panic attack.

"Breathe in," he commanded.

She inhaled.

"Breathe out."

She exhaled.

He repeated those words until his partner's pulse became normal.

"Are you alright now, My Lady?"

She nodded with a gulp.

"Now tell me what's the problem."

"I - It's..." she took a deep breath then screamed. "MARINETTEISGOINGTOHAVEAPHOTOSHOOTWITHADRIENAGRESTE!"

He blinked. "I'm sorry, I didn't cat-ch that."

For her to roll her eyes on his subtle pun told him that she was completely in her sane mind. "I said...Marinette. Is. Going. To. Have. A. Photoshoot. With. Adrien. Agreste!"

"Okay." he bemused. "So what's the problem with that?"

"That's the problem, Chat! Marinette is going to have a photoshoot with Adrien Agreste!"

"I still don't see why - "

"Of course you don't see it." she bemoaned weakly. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a clumsy, and idiotic - "

His spine went ramrod straight. "Whoa, wait a min - "

" - and a walking disaster that she will definitely flop the entire production - "

"LADYBUG!"

She stopped talking and froze in his booming loud voice.

Chat Noir didn't mean to shout at her. She might be the love of his life, and despite not knowing her real identity, he knew that the girl behind the mask was not rude.

"Do you have an issue with Marinette?"

"What?!" she shrieked. "N - no! No, I don't have one."

"Then why are you describing her like she's an awful being?"

He was obviously scolding her, but instead of taking it as an offense, she was flustered with happiness. She even felt a flutter in her chest.

"Marinette is an amazing, thoughtful and compassionate girl." he went on. "She was brave and wise during Dessinateur, same with Gamer when I rescued her."

"But I know her more than you do," she retorted. "She has a tendency to mess up with things. What if she'll end up late and ruin the production schedule? What if she'll trip some chords or wires that'll ruin the set? What if Adrien will realize she's a failure - "

"Hey, don't say that - "

" - and he'll quit because he's disgusted with her? She can't live with that!"

"My Lady!" he gasped with disbelief. "Is that how you picture Adrien Agreste? That he won't like Marinette because she's clumsy?"

"But - but he's Adrien fucking Agreste!"

"Fucking is not his middle name," he muttered stoically but she wasn't listening.

"He's handsome, compassionate and flawless! He's an embodiment of perfection that Marinette can't even match with!"

Chat Noir might be rejoicing internally how his Lady praised his civilian self but he wasn't happy on Marinette's false description.

"You're wrong, My Lady. Adrien is nothing like that." he sighed as he raked his locks with his claw. "He's just a normal teenager boy with insecurities and sketchy sides."

Ladybug was about to rant something but Chat pressed a finger to her lips.

"Believe me." he chuckled. "I know him more than you do."

.

.

.

Nino immediately spotted Adrien as he went outside his limousine then greeted him with a hand wave "Salut, Chat Noir!"

Adrien immediately jumped on his words then looked at his best friend with mortification. "Wha - what did you call me?"

"You're Chat Noir, right? It's hmmph!"

"Shh! Don't announce it so casually!" Adrien hissed as he covered his friend's mouth.

Nino squirmed on his grasp. "But everybody knows it!"

"What?!"

"C'mon, the MV man." the DJ wiggled his brows. "Your performance rocks."

Before he could say something, Rose's voice caught his attention.

"Bonjour, Chaton!"

"Chat Noir! Have you checked the game I recommended to you yesterday?" Max inserted.

"Did I hear Chat Noir?" Ivan called in, with Mylene at his side. "We're not done with our Chemistry presentation yet."

All Adrien did was smile and stare at his classmates dumbly.

"Oh, mon Minou~" Chloe's flirty greetings with a bone-crushing hug didn't help his dilemma.

"Oh, here comes Ladybug."

Nino's words had him turn around, only to see Alya with a petite, raven-haired girl in pigtails. Her blue mask-less eyes met his, and for a brief second, it glued in together.

"Bu - bu...buga..." he gawked. "Buga - "

"BOO!"

Their best friend's fingersnaps broke their connection, but before he could finish his greetings, she immediately ran towards the room.

If not for Marinette's abashed face, Adrien almost swore he saw Ladybug's true self.

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.

.

It turns out all students were nonchalantly calling them using their alter-ego's name.

"Hey, Ladybug!" Marinette flinched when Alix tapped her shoulder. "Can you make us a banner again? I'm going to knock Kim off this weekend."

"Uh, I - "

"You know," Kim interjected. "Her 'Lucky Charms' won't affect you."

"Bug off, Dislocœur."

"Are claw-ing something, Chronogirl?"

"Hey, stop for a - "

"Stop for a moment there!"

A male's voice halted the commotion. Everyone was surprised that it came from Nathaniel who was sandwiched by Alix and Kim.

"You're - you're..." he stammered while clutching his sketchbook. "You're troubling my - my Lady."

If that was not a declaration for a second chance, Marinette didn't know what to call it. She was already tongue-tied to refute, and her tomato-red could mean otherwise.

Adrien, on the other hand, was torn between two emotions.

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.

"What's wrong with the date today?" Ladybug huffed as she unclasped her yo-yo. "It's so weird."

"Tell me more about it." Chat Noir rolled his eyes.

The two were on their short break after covering half of their patrol route.

"Rumors are spreading about two innocent civilians being us," she told him. "What if Hawkmoth will think that are actually...us?"

"Unless we're stating the obvious?" he smirked.

"Really? Chat Noir as Adrien? That perfect and sensible gentleman was actually a ridiculous flirty you?"

He was somewhat hurt but feigned it with a snort. "How about the shy and clumsy Marinette as the badass you?"

She didn't respond to him afterward.

That moment, they both realized the convenience of not revealing their identity to each other.

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.

Days turned to weeks but the joke was still on them.

They believe that it was the studio's marketing ploy to garner more sales, and so far Hawkmoth hasn't sent any akumas directly to their civilian counterparts.

It looks like their nemesis was oblivious to the fact.

They couldn't let their guards down though, especially to those people close by.

"Marinette? Where were you when Condensateur attacked?" Sabine asked her daughter one time.

"Oh, I'm in my room."

"Really? But I checked your room during the attack and I didn't see you."

Cold sweat was starting to bud on her neck. "Ah, I might be on the balcony! Yeah, the balcony! You know, watching Ladybug and Chat Noir's fight afar."

"And you didn't respond even after I call your name?"

"The fight was too loud to hear you, Maman."

Her mother frowned. "I don't think a battle near the Seine that was more than a kilometer away from here was too loud even if you're on the streets."

Her intuition is scary, Marinette thought. She had to look around for clues.

"Well, there's music! I had my earphones plugged in, that's why."

"You're listening to a music while watching an akuma fight on your balcony?"

"Why - why not?" she stuttered. "There's always a BGM in every fighting scenes, li - like in the movies!"

The next akuma attack almost made the cat out of the bag.

Almost.

"Dude, where were you when La Fleur showed up? We were looking for you!" Nino asked Adrien.

"Ah, I'm on the toilet."

"What, peeing?"

"No, trapped." he reasoned. "Those vines infiltrated the campus, right?"

"But dude, Men's toilet is on this way. You just came in that way."

Before he could formulate another alibi, Alya's worried voice caught their attention.

"Marinette! I'm so glad you're safe!" she said as she hugged her best friend. "Where were you when La Fleur showed up?"

"Erm, on the toilet...?"

"What, peeing?"

"No, trapped." she rolled her eyes. "Those vines infiltrated the campus, right?"

Both Nino and Alya looked at the place where Marinette came from then their gaze moved towards Adrien.

"Don't tell me you're both trapped in the same toilet?"

"What?!" the two exclaimed in unison.

"No - no, I didn't see Marinette there!" the model flailed his arms. "I'm with...I'm with Chat Noir!"

The two looked at him with disbelief while Alya scrolled something on her phone.

"I have a live footage of the fight and I didn't see you together with Chat. At all."

"Tha - that's because he rescued me first, placed me somewhere safe then planned to return me back to where I first came from but he messed things up!"

"That sounds so hassle for a person who was about to de-transform." Marinette murmurs caught the trio's attention.

She blinked at their inquisitive stares. "What?"

.

.

.

It was the day of their photo shoot.

It was a private event, and none of the shenanigans were there, so Adrien and Marinette thought they could relax.

How wrong they were.

"Sa - Salut, Marinette! You...you look great!" he stammered with a flustered face, unable to look at the alluring beauty.

One word that entered his mind was sexy, but damn him if he will say it outright to her face!

In front of him was a dark-haired girl with wavy pigtails and a red spotted mask. She was wearing a red gypsy bralette in black sequins and paired with a red chiffon bloomer. A transparent red cloth with black spots was draped from her slim waist down to her ankles, with dark bands that held the garment in place. A similar cloth was loosely wrapped her toned arms starting from the strap to her banded wrist. With her bluebell eyes and pink kissable lips, she was definitely a killer.

"You - you too, Adrien! You're hot - I mean, not that you're hot hot - but more like handsome! Yeah, handsome!"

I think I'm in the gates of Heaven, Marinette thought, or probably Hell. And I don't freaking care.

In front of her was a lean, sandy blond man with a black mask. His ruffled hair has pointy black ears that almost akin to horns. He was topless, which made him more luscious than ever, with a gold necklace adorned on his chest. A black cloth was sagged like a short trouser and a black belt extended to his back like a tail. A black band was clasped on both his biceps and another pair on his wrist.

She was a goner.

"Hey, you two! Stop flirting there!" Vincent's call jolted them to reality, much to their embarrassment. "Let's start the business!"

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.

.

The internal tension between the two and the crew's scrutinizing glares didn't help them.

"This is not a mannequin show! You're supposed to relax, and put those hands on her waist!"

"I told you to touch his shoulder, not grip it!"

"You're a professional model here, can't you make a natural pose?"

"Wrong! Those expressions are wrong!"

The director tapped the photographer's shoulder then whispered something on his ear. With a huff, Vincent called for a fifteen-minute break.

"Did you two have difficulties in staying in character?" the director asked which earned a head shake.

"How about towards each other? Do you have a problem working with each other?"

Both teenagers met each other's gazes then looked away with a blush, only to answer him with another head shake.

"Do you think Ladybug and Chat Noir are friends?"

"Yes, they are," Marinette answered matter-of-factly. Adrien nodded.

"Then how about the two of you? You're friends, right?"

The two were wise enough to understand where his closed questions were leading to. Though separately, the teenagers were comfortable working with him as if he knows their inner selves but kind enough not to disclose it.

This director was more dangerous than Hawkmoth himself, they thought in unison.

"I want you, Adrien, to act like Chat Noir, and you Marinette, to act like Ladybug." the man explained. "Sounds easy, right?"

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.

The two were finally left alone, and with a deep sigh, Adrien started to talk.

"You look so purr-fect today, My Lady."

Marinette was surprised at first, especially how he pulled out Chat's voice and speech patterns without any effort. He was a pro, she knew, but she would never put her alter-ego to shame.

"That goes without saying, Minou," she purred. "And I believe the same applies to you."

Adrien blinked with wonderment how his classmate pulled out Ladybug's tone effortlessly.

She's damn good, he thought.

"That's be-claws I'm not Anubis in this job."

"Wait, am I going to deal with Egyptian puns?" she groaned with internal disbelief that her crush might be Chat's pun-friend.

"Oh, Buginette." he chuckled. "You love my puns. And the Nile ain't the only river in Egypt."

"Dream on, Chaton." she rolled her eyes then thought for a topic. "So, how's your day today?"

"Well, same as usual. After this photo shoot, there will be some fencing lessons. My piano class has been canceled due to my teacher attending a concour in Austria. Later will be my solo patrol."

If she was actually talking to Chat, she might feel bad on his schedule. "Oh, poor kitten. No wonder you're always distracted during fights. You need some rest. I can do a solo patrol on your behalf."

"Thank mew fur your concern, My Lady, but I'm paw-sitively meow-right! Paw-trolling helps me unwind and think things, and it's more relaxing than lying around doing nothing."

"Glad to hear that. But always remember to eat more. You're getting skinnier every day."

"Meow-ch! You wound me, my Lady." he gasped with a hand clutched on his chest. "That's pre-paw-sterous! I have a dietitian who regulates my food intakes without any preservatives."

"Yeah, yeah, convince yourself for all you want. And let me return your words: the Nile ain't the only river in Egypt."

Just like a typical Chat, he pulled his fake tail and twirl it. "But if there's a certain Purr-incess that can feed me...then who am I to say no?"

Adrien was good, so damn good to act like her partner - and that thought only fueled her competitive streak.

"I'm sorry, but I condone our house rules of not feeding strays."

"But I'm not just your typical stray," he smirked on her beady stares. "I might help you chase some mouse away."

"Let me think about it."

"This Kitty can even tutor you...like say, Physics perhaps?"

"Hmm, not a bad bargain." she bemused. "So what does the Kitty wants?"

"Oh, just croissants, and those spinach quiches from your Papa, and cookies, especially those chocolate chip ones. Ah, the eclairs, and macaroons, and - "

"That's not a 'just', Chat. That's too much! You're making our business to go bankruptcy." she deadpanned. "Oh wait, you're a black cat."

"What did I do to earn your ill-mouth today, Princess?" he huffed.

"Besides of your puns? I like to see you suf-fur."

This made Adrien's eyes grew wider. "I knew it, you love my puns! Mari, Marry me!"

"Don't push your luck, mon Minou." she scowled when he moved towards her. "And keep your paws off!"

They felt like they were not role-playing anymore.

"C'mon, I'll offer Agreste's designs as a dowry."

"Sounds interesting, but nope...nope...nope... no - gah!"

She squiggled when he grabbed her hips, and realized that he touched her ticklish spot. She gave her a warning glare but his playful side refused to be intimidated.

"Adrien, don't you dare!"

"Adrien? Who's Adrien, Bugaboo?" he teased as he wiggled his fingers, earning a hearty laugh from both of them.

Her giggles were his favorite sound now, and he would do everything to hear it more. "Ladybug has a weakness on her sides! Quick, the media will have a field day!"

"Sto - stop it! Stup - stupid cat, stop it! Stop!"

"OOOF!"

While trying to escape, Marinette accidentally head-butted her attacker. The poor blond guy squirmed.

"Oh my God, Chat! I'm sorry I didn't mean that!" she rushed towards him as she cradled his face. "Did I hit your nose? Any blood? Are you dizzy? Adrien, what's wrong?"

He closed his eyes as he listened to her panicked voice. "This spot hurts, My Lady. It hurts so much."

"Where?"

"Here," he answered, pointing his lips. "Can you kiss the boo-boo away?"

His green eyes slowly opened then glinted when he saw the pink tinge forming beneath her mask, with her mouth shaped like an 'O'.

"I can't - I can't believe you're a cute, insufferable dork!" she exclaimed.

"But I'm your dork." he nose-bopped her with a Cheshire grin. "The pharoah-est of them all!"

"One more pun and I'm going to - "

A bright flash interrupted them.

"Whoops, I pressed the wrong button." Vincent piqued as he shyly toggled his lens.

And that was how the two realized their position - Marinette was sitting on Adrien's lap with his hands wrapped around her body. For how long, they didn't know. What they only knew was that their photographer was already taking their pictures without them knowing.

Not only that, all of the crew already returned without them knowing.

And some of them were also snapping pictures of them through their phones at a fair distance, without them also knowing.

"PDAs over! Let's get back to work!"

The announcement made the two scrambled away with a beet-red face, same with the staff who resumed their work with knowing stares.

Both teenagers didn't know how many pictures Vincent took, or what poses were they at when he captured it, but looking at the smile forming on his lips as he navigated his camera screen, the result must be satisfying.

"Okay, we need a last pose before we wrap things up." the photographer told them. "Something like an encore."

"Encore?" the two chorused.

"Yeah. Like...if Ladybug and Chat Noir is here, right here, right now, instead of you two, what do you think will be their pose?"

The two looked at each other and tried to visualize their respective partners as a replacement to their current companion.

"Ready?"

The two nodded.

Once the lens was aimed, they raised their arm with a clenched hand aiming towards their partner. It was a pose that the superheroes do every time they freed an akuma.

They simply called it as a fist bump.

"Bien Joue!"

- END -