CHAPTER 1

"So what are you doing for break, dude?" Nino asked as he and Adrien headed towards the doors to school. Around them, the familiar sound of whispers sounded along with cheery good mornings from their classmates. Nearly all directed at Adrien Agreste, school idol. Living such a sheltered life, Adrien still wasn't used to this kind of mass attention. He was glad that Nino was able to put up with it.

"My dad arranged some shoots, but I should be mostly-"

"ADRIEN!" a loud, very male, voice called out. Nino and Adrien only had time to turn before the model was nearly bowled over by a flash of blond and designer clothes. "You grew up so handsome!" Adrien (sort-of) thanked all his experience with hard knocks as Chat Noir to keep himself on his feet instead of sprawled over onto the concrete. Nino stared at the sight, as he tried to pry the stranger off enough to see who had assaulted him.

Only to find out it wasn't a stranger at all. Underneath the mop of styled blond hair were violet eurasian eyes and a big, bright guileless smile that was unmistakable, despite the fact that it was wrapped up in a much more expensive package.

"Tamaki!" Adrien cried as he squeezed his friend back.

"Um..." Nino held up a hand as the two blonds tried to hug each other to death, "Who is this?"

"Oh, sorry!" Adrien said, as some classmates paused to watch the spectacle. "Tamaki, this is my friend Nino. Nino, this is Tamaki de Grantaine. We go way back."

There was an odd quirk to Tamaki's smile, but it was gone almost immediately. "That's right. Maman taught us both piano. Which led to playdates, which led to sleepovers, which led to being inseparable. Adrien is like my adorable little brother," he said as a rush of shared memories flooded both of them along with twin grins. Adrien was particularly delighted that Tamaki used 'is' not 'was' in calling him his little brother. Although from what Adrien remembered, Tamaki didn't hold himself so... flamboyantly before. (Did he have something to tell him?)

To Nino, Tamaki gave a dramatic bow, "Thank you for putting up with Adrien's appalling sense of humor. I so worried it would be detrimental in his ability to make new friends."

"So what are you doing here?" Adrien coughed, "I heard that you moved to Japan." They had somehow grown distant when Tamaki's mom started getting sick, then when his own mom... Well, he always regretted not keeping in touch.

"Ah, yes, yes. I'm living with my father now," which the model recognized as code for avoid the mom topic with a hundred meter pole. One who didn't have their own parental problems wouldn't see it from the way that Tamaki gesticulated so wildly and spoke joyfully. "-living the high life with my school club filled with the love and beauty of young maidens' hearts. And Haruhi! Oh! I have a picture! Here's our club! Haruhi is just the cutest!" Tamaki cried as he pulled up a picture on his phone, with what could only be hearts in his eyes. In it was a club picture with several handsome teens in sharp blue school uniforms.

Okay, yup. Out of the closet, Adrien decided as he looked at the androgynous slender student in what was definitely a boy's uniform. Despite his surprise, he couldn't help but be happy for his old friend. "Wow, congratulations! He is a cutie!"

"He?" Tamaki blinked and looked at the picture. Then he laughed brightly, in a way that just filled passersby with a bubbly feeling. Adrien grinned. Yeah, he really missed Tamaki. "Haruhi isn't a boy! She's Daddy's adorable little daughter. But I can see why you'd make that mistake. Just about everyone at school does. No, she keeps up the disguise so that she can keep up the work as a host in our club."

Just what kind of school does he go to? Adrien wondered. Also, who exactly was Daddy? Tamaki's daddy? Were they half-siblings?

"Nino! Adrien! Morning!" Alya called as she approached. She wrapped an arm around Nino's waist, raising an eyebrow at the unfamiliar face. "New friend?"

"Ah, an old friend, mademoiselle. Though I hope to be a new friends of yours..." Tamaki replied, smoothly taking Alya's hand to press a kiss to her knuckles. "Adrien, you should have told me that you went to school with an angel who fell from heaven."

...Exactly how was I supposed to tell you that? Adrien wondered again, as he was subject to Nino's evil eye. It wasn't his fault that Tamaki turned out to be an outrageous flirt. He laughed nervously, not noticing the speculative glint to Alya's eye as she studied the newcomer. "Ah, well, if you give me your number, I'm sure I can tell you everything in the future. I'm sorry we have to cut this short, but we have class starting soon and..." Adrien slowed as the grin spread wider on Tamaki's face. "What?"

"Actually, Adri-chan~" Tamaki replied cheerfully, wrapping an arm around Adrien's shoulders, "I'm going to be spending this next week at school with you!"

"Wait, what? You're transferring here?" Adrien asked, eyes widening.

"Just for the week before break! Then I'll have another week before I need to head back," Tamaki replied cheerfully.

"A-are you allowed to do that?" Nino asked dubiously. "Are you even in our grade?"

Tamaki merely chuckled. "You could say I have some pull with the superintendent," he said with a wink. With that, he managed to whirl Adrien with his arm, turning them towards the doors. "Now Adrien, come! Show me through this beautiful world of yours!"

Somehow, the outrageous behaviour didn't stop there. "Good morning, class!" Tamaki announced loudly at the head of the classroom. "I, Tamaki de Grantaine, will grace your lives for one beautiful ephemeral week. But don't be sad at my impending loss. Think instead of what beautiful memories we will create this springtime in Paris." Then he immediately took to introducing himself personally to everyone, paying particular attention to the girls. He even flirted with Mylene, right in front of Ivan, exclaiming how the best things came in small packages.

"Where the hell did you pick this guy up?" Nino hissed at Adrien, as they stared dumbfounded at the other blond.

"He wasn't exactly like this when I knew him," Adrien whispered back. He couldn't help but be in awe. Tamaki was confident, wild and open. Just about everything that he wanted to be. Everything that he was when he donned the mask. Only Tamaki didn't need a mask to be his true self.

Then Tamaki stopped in front of Chloe, the last person present, after he so suavely complimented Sabrina's 'fiery' hair. Chloe Bourgeois leaned forward, peering down her nose at Tamaki. Suddenly, Adrien remembered that they met before. Ages ago. Giving him a saccharine smile, she sniped, "So you came back, half-breed bastard. Didn't your mother's business tank? Do you need money? Is that why you're trying to crawl back into Adrikin's good graces?" She shot Adrien a smile, as if she thought she was doing him a favor.

However, the look only made a pit of shock and disgust well up in Adrien's stomach. At the same time there was a collective suction of breath and a chill went through the class. As though they expected a black butterfly to flutter in at any second.

Tamaki, however, was unfazed. He gave Chloe one of his most winning smiles yet, planting a hand on top of her desk and leaning in. "Oh Chloe, you've certainly grown more beautiful since the last time I saw you. It is such a shame your rotten core disgusts everyone around you."

Chloe gaped at him, growing redder and more flabbergasted by the second, while the tension in the room dissipated.

Nino grinned. "Never mind, I like this dude." Adrien nodded slowly, but was left with the disquieting thought that maybe Chloe had always bullied Tamaki.

His task apparently done, Tamaki took the only empty seat left, next to Alya. "Ah! My Angel, it seems I am blessed to be in such lovely company once more," he said, taking the reporter's hand in his own. "Would you do me the honor of being my guide for the rest of the day?"

"Er- actually-" Alya started, when the doors burst open.

"I'M HERE!" Marinette Dupain-Cheng cried, with just seconds to spare. She looked up to Alya and the teen next to her in her seat. "Ah, wait, who-?" she pointed to him.

Tamaki stood at once. "Oh a thousand pardons, milady," he said with a bow and a flourish, "I would never deprive a maiden of her seat." He took Marinette's hand in what was to be his customary greeting and pressed a kiss to it. "Would you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Marinette, to Adrien's surprise, didn't blush or stammer at the advances. Instead her eyes went wide and she let out an "Uhhh..."

"My apologies, dear lady. Let me introduce myself. My name is Tamaki de Grantaine. I am Adrien's dearest childhood friend," Tamaki went on, ignoring the way that Chloe squawked at the claim. "Might I know the name of such a lovely creature as yourself?"

Adrien frowned. For some reason, he was starting to get a little irritated, though he couldn't fathom why. And what was with that knowing look Nino was shooting him?

"Marinette," the teen replied slowly, as if not sure she should. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng..."

"Ma-ri-nette~" Tamaki sounded, before smiling wider. "Such a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. It is a pleasure to meet you."

That was when Mme Bustier decided to make an appearance. She frowned at Tamaki's presence, but from the way she collected herself, seemed to expect him. "Good morning class. I see that you have met Tamaki Suoh. He will be joining us this week. Mr. Suoh, please take a seat. We will have our test first thing. I will ask that you not be disruptive."

Wait. Suoh?

Adrien's eyes widened, as did a couple others in class. Suoh as in Suoh Enterprises? The financial powerhouse that owned all the Roy Grand Hotels, the Outo Theaters and so on? Tamaki merely gave them a sheepish grin at being caught. Adrien's eyes flicked over to Chloe, whose jaw could not have possibly dropped any lower.

After all, it wasn't everyday you ran into the owner of your hotel.

~o~

Of course, Tamaki continued to be an endless source of distraction, much to Mme Bustier's irritation. He blazed through the test (insisted that he take it, since he was an honorary member of the class), then took over science class with an unsanctioned experiment. Then he treated the whole class to a catered lunch from one of the best restaurants in Paris. Only to punctuate the end of the absolutely bizarre day by inviting all of them to a spring party, location TBD. All throughout, he continued to attempt to charm his way into everyone's hearts. In the most over-exaggerated way possible. He seemed to have quite the thing for Marinette too, lavishing her with more attention than any other girl in the room.

Marinette had no idea what to make of him, but Alya sure had some ideas. "Listen, I think he's Chat Noir!" she said as they walked home from school.

"Alya..." Marinette sighed. "You have a habit of jumping to conclusions, you know. Doesn't he live in Japan?"

"Oh, so he says. He's obviously French," the reporter replied dismissively, "and he already lied about his name. Plus he's blond, isn't he? Same build? Same height?"

Marinette's mouth pinched, unable to dispute those points. "His eyes aren't green," she argued.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that Chat Noir's whole eyes aren't green in real life either," Alya said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, he acts just like him! Seriously, who else do you know would flirt like that?"

"You can't base this off of hair color and flirting!" Marinette cried, even as the words that Tamaki spoke to her earlier in the day ate away at her. A thousand pardons, milady. "He doesn't pun," she decided. "Chat Noir isn't Chat Noir without the puns."

"Oh right, let's just whip out all those cat puns and make it totally obvious what his alter-ego is. I know I'm right about this, Mari. We need to take advantage of this while he's here. Tail him and see him transform when there's an Akuma attack," Alya said, a fire of determination lighting up in her eyes. There was no way Marinette would be able to talk her out of this. "Now, he took off after Adrien after school, so why don't you use your stalker chart of yours and-"

She paused as an expensive black town car slowed to their walking pace next to them. The tinted window slid open revealing the gorgeous blond face within, eyes hidden by a pair of sunglasses. He smiled brightly at the pair. "Angel! Milady! Good afternoon!" Tamaki said boisterously. "Are you free right now?"

Alya and Marinette shared a look. A universal exchange of eye contact when a strange boy asked a couple girls into a limo. "Aren't you supposed to be with Adrien?" Alya asked, though Marinette could see the gears spinning in her head.

At this, Tamaki let out a dramatic sigh. "I tried, but his bodyguard wouldn't let me come with him. Although I'll see him later," he said cryptically. "Which is why I would be honored if you would escort me in a tour around Paris for the time being."

"Didn't you live here all your life?" Marinette asked. She overheard Adrien and Nino chatting away about him. Not that she was eavesdropping... exactly. "Why would you need a tour?"

"Ah, but I have never toured Paris with such lovely company," Tamaki reasoned. "The presence of such beautiful maidens lends such a different air to seeing Paris. One that I have been cruelly deprived of my whole life." With that he took the sunglasses off and laid on them, the most puppy-dog eyes that he could muster. "Would you deprive me now?"

Alya and Marinette hesitated. The puppy-dog look was powerful indeed. "I- I'm sorry, we both have homework," Marinette managed, watching the puppy deflate. "We have an essay that we need to finish tomorrow and-" Then she got an elbow in the ribs, along with a significant look. "B-but if you'd like to come with us, you're welcome. It just won't be very exciting."

At once, the puppy reinflated. "Nonsense!" he said, opening up the door to his town car. He hopped out, then held out his hands for their books. "I would be honored to escort you home. If you'll allow me."

When they arrived home, the blond was absolutely ecstatic to see that Marinette lived above one of the most famous patisseries in Paris. After he charmed the pants off of both of her parents (he knew Chinese, of course everyone knew Chinese except Marinette), he then bought up nearly all the cakes in the store. Which were then passed off to his driver waiting outside to be delivered to his friend.

"Wait, Honey-senpai. Like a classmate?" Marinette asked.

"Exactly!" Tamaki chirped.

"...A classmate in Japan?"

"He will love them!" Tamaki said just as brightly. Not at all sensing the problem. Aaand maybe it wasn't, given how obscenely rich he was.

"Must be nice to be so carefree," Alya remarked as they headed upstairs to do their homework.

Naturally, Tamaki was absolutely charmed by Marinette's room. "It's so pink and girlish!" he cried, admiring every nook and cranny. "Such a bold display of femininity is to be admired. How refreshing!"

Marinette was mortified. Thankfully, he didn't comment on the multitude of pictures of Adrien she had posted to her wall. "I don't suppose you could entertain yourself while we work?" she asked desperately.

"Of course, milady, but in addition to my perfect features, I have the brains of a brilliant scientist in the making. I would be happy to help you with your assignment."

"Thanks, but I think we need to do this ourselves..." Marinette sighed. This boy was like Adrien in so many different ways and at the same time, not like Adrien at all.

It was Alya who voiced the thought aloud. "Tamaki, you're like an Adrien from an alternate universe. Some weird, super flirty version of Adrien," she said, giving her bestie another significant look. See, he's so Chat Noir!

He is not! Marinette shot back.

Tamaki chuckled, making himself at home on Marinette's chaise, unaware he was being silently gossiped over. "Is it flirting to be so open with your heart and to heap compliments on beauty when you see it? You do not hold back on your admiration of art in the Louvre, so why would you when you see another beautiful human being?"

Because it's completely inappropriate in the middle of a fight, Marinette thought with a mental sigh. The more she listened to Tamaki, the more she was convinced he wasn't Chat Noir. Tamaki seemed harmless enough, more enamored with the idea of beauty than trying to make an actual pass at anyone. Like he thought he was spreading cheer. Not like her tomcat-

"So, tell me about these Akuma," the blond blurted.

Marinette stiffened. A-huh. So, they were getting right into that, huh? "Um, well. They're basically victims of a man named Hawkmoth, who appeared about a year ago. He takes over them when they've been wronged or are suffering heartbreak and turns them into villains."

"Which he then uses to fight Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Alya interjected, whipping out her Ladyblog on her phone. "See? They're our new heroes of Paris! Ladybug always kicks ass and saves the day!"

"Not without Chat Noir's help!"

"When he's not getting possessed you mean."

Tamaki's face, however, cooled into an expression so stoic and cold, that it did not seem as though it belonged to him. "How despicable," he whispered, scrolling through the list of past Akuma. "To take advantage of a broken heart. To use someone else's pain. How could he?"

Something in Marinette softened and she smiled. Obnoxious as he was, he had a good heart underneath all the narcissism (probably). Maybe this was Adrien's good influence, to counter Chloe's bad. "He probably has a broken heart himself," she murmured. "Anyway, have fun with that. We need to work."

With the blond finally distracted, they managed to grind through editing the rest of their paper. Until Sabine called them all down to dinner, where Tamaki heaped compliments on her mother's cooking, while regaling them of his boundless fascination with plebeian cuisine. Afterwards, he offered Alya a ride back to her home, but not without a departing kiss to Marinette's hand. "Thank you for a lovely evening. Sweet dreams, milady," he spoke, giving her a wink. With that he left.

"Well," Sabine said as they watched the car pull away. "He's a very nice boy. But I somehow feel a little... exhausted."

"You're telling me. I spent the whole day with him," Marinette said as her whole body slouched with weariness. "And he's sticking around for another two weeks."

"Oh? Why is he here?" Sabine asked as they headed up to clean up after dinner.

Marinette blinked. "You know... I'm not sure that he ever said."

~o~

Adrien sighed as he entered his mansion much later that night. His shoot had gone long and he'd been given hell for the bruise he'd picked up in fencing earlier. One that was easily covered up with concealer. Honestly, it was only so lucky (hah) that he never kept any of his injuries with his night job.

"I'm home..." he called out into the empty hall, waiting for his voice to echo.

It echoed back, "ADRIEN!" For the second time that day, the model was nearly knocked onto his ass, as a blur of blond and blue collided into him. He was wrapped up into a hug, which was nice but a little overwhelming. "Welcome home!" Tamaki beamed at him.

"T-Tamaki?! What are you doing in my house?!" Adrien cried as he pried the other blond off of him.

"Oh, well, your dad is one of my father's most important clients. So when I told my father that I wanted to come to Paris, he wanted me to be a little more secure and supervised than cutting me loose. So he called your dad up and asked if I could stay. And he said yes!"

Ah. So strong-arming. Despite this, Adrien grinned. He pulled back, holding hands with his old friend. "That's awesome! It's been so long since I've had anyone over. Are you all settled here? Did you get a room? Dinner?"

"Oh, I had dinner with the Dupain-Chengs. They were absolutely lovely. You can see how Marinette grew up into such a vibrant young lady with such a loving family." Something in Adrien twitched. But- it couldn't be jealousy surely. He should be happy that Tamaki somehow became best friends with the shyest girl in class in a single day, when it took him months.

"Your hands are a little tight," Tamaki said, giving his friend a strangely knowing smile.

"Oh! Sorry!" Adrien yelped, letting his hands go. "Um, yeah, what was I saying? Do you have a room?"

"Don't be silly! I'll sleep in your room!" Tamaki said as he spun around, towards the bedroom in question. "It'll be like old times!"

Inside his shirt pocket, Adrien could feel a wriggle of intense disatisfaction. He winced. But, it was impossible to say no to Tamaki. ("Sorry Plagg, I'll give you a ton of cheese in the morning,") he whispered to his pocket.

("Are you kidding? I have to stay in hiding with that nauseating sunshine child frollicking around? He's worse than you are!")

("Plagg, please, it's only for a couple weeks. I never get to have friends over. And I haven't seen Tamaki in years.")

His pocket grumbled, but didn't argue further. When Adrien peeked in his room, he saw that Tamaki had already availed himself to all of his sheets, pillows and couch cushions, setting up a tent attached to the rock wall. "Uh... Tamaki?" he said, "You're not serious, are you?"

"Adri-chan~! It's just like our old slumber parties!" Tamaki grinned, peeking out from beneath the draped sheet. "Come on! Get inside!"

"Are you seriously a year older than me?" Adrien asked, even as he began grinning. Taking care to hide Plagg in a safe place in his closet, he shimmied into some PJs and joined the other blond in his rather impressive pillow fort. "This is kind of a tight squeeze," he said as he tried to make himself comfortable on all the floor cushions.

"We are bigger," Tamaki grinned, patting Adrien on the head. "You're almost my height now, Adri-chan." He laughed as Adrien swatted his hand away. "Oh, so I raided your kitchen and found crackers. Also, I saw you have camembert stashed all over your room. We can celebrate your entry into the 'stinky cheese fan club'."

Outside the tent, a muffled 'Noooooo~!' squealed from the closet.

Tamaki blinked. "What was that?"

"My text tone!" Adrien yelped. "I probably have a text from my dad. Just ignore it." He grabbed the crackers and camembert, wrinkling his nose as the gooey smell permeated their tiny tent. "Mmm~! R-rotten cheese! Yum!" he said, trying not to grimace as he ate the snack meant for his kwami.

The older blond raised an eyebrow, but he had the grace not to call him out on the obvious lie. "So," he said instead in a conspiratorial whisper, "let's play Truth or Dare."

~o~

The next morning, Marinette and Alya looked on as Adrien and Tamaki entered the classroom, looking as though they had all of about 30 minutes of sleep. They sat next to each other in the front row, heads nodding as to stay awake. Nino sent the girls a long suffering look as he kept elbowing Adrien awake.

"Don't they look like twins?" Alya grinned, as their heads bobbed in unison during third period.

"From the back, sure," Marinette muttered.

"Fraternal twins."

"Tamaki's half-Japanese!" Marinette hissed at her.

"Half-brothers, then."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Marinette peered over at the blonds. She had to admit, they both looked really cute, all slow-blinking and sleepy. Tamaki was infinitely more tolerable when he wasn't so hyperactive. When he was awake and talking, he was about as annoying as Ch-

No. She was not going to finish that thought.

"You know, Tamaki's awfully sweet on you," Alya said with a conspiratorial smile.

"Ugh, no," Marinette said with a wrinkle of her nose.

"But he's blond and pretty."

"So's Chloe," Marinette muttered. "Besides, I thought you said he was Chat Noir. Aren't you all over LadyNoir?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind a little Mari-Chat either," Alya teased, laughing when Marinette threw an eraser at her.

Just before lunch, Tamaki seemed to gain his second wind. As bright and as cheery as the perfect sunrise, he draped himself over the edge of Marinette's desk and beamed up at her. "Milady, what are you doing for lunch? Do you have plans?"

"I-I was going to go home..." Marinette replied, wishing he would stop calling her by that nickname.

"You could come have lunch with me," Alya said with a smile. "You're interested in Ladybug, right? I'd be happy to tell you everything I know." Which meant that she was probably going to grill him to see if he was Chat Noir, while she was at it.

"Ah, Alya. We have plans remember?" Nino interrupted, not at all liking the idea of his girlfriend having a private lunch with such a flirt. Marinette didn't blame him, even though she knew very well Alya could handle herself. "Adrien," he elbowed the model in the arm. "We have plans, right?"

"Mm? What? Sure," Adrien said, shaking his head to wake himself up. Oh, but he looked so cute when he did that. Like a puppy shaking himself dry. "What plans?"

"We were going with Alya to grab gyros at that new place," Nino said so convincingly, it really did sound like it wasn't made up on the fly.

"Oh?" Alya said with a raised eyebrow. "So I'd go out with you two and leave my girl on her own? Doesn't sound like me."

"Well, obviously Mari's coming," Nino replied.

Before Marinette could even protest, Tamaki said, "That sounds wonderful! I'd love gyros!" All four turned to him. He beamed back with bright puppy-dog eyes.

~o~

"So, Tamaki, do you know any martial arts of any kind?" Alya asked as they stood in line for said gyros at a little shop stand nearby school. (Marinette was pretty sure the shop had been around for ages.)

Tamaki smiled wanly at her. "My dear Angel~ Just because I'm half-Japanese doesn't mean I automatically know martial arts."

To her credit, Alya flushed. But it didn't last long. "...Okay, but seriously. Do you?"

"Alya, you're embarrassing yourself," Marinette hissed at her.

"I will endure anything for the truth," the reporter hissed back.

"Oh, I see!" Tamaki spoke over them. "You're impressed with my athletic build! After all, my looks couldn't possibly come from being slovenly in my lifestyle. Since you are so curious, I do know a couple self-defense moves from a friend of mine. But the rest of this," Tamaki said, making a grand gesture at his body, "is all completely biology, much to the envy of my peers. Alas, sometimes it is such a trial to look as good as I do." He punctuated this with a flick of his blond hair and a dramatic sigh.

"...Okay, now I'm embarrassed," Alya muttered.

"Babe, what's with the interrogation?" Nino asked suspiciously, as the smell of roasting meat wafted over them into the stone street.

"Can't I be curious about a new, albeit temporary, classmate?" Alya shrugged. "One who's such good friends with Adrien besides?"

"Yeah, well it sounds like you're trying to know more about him than I do," the model replied as they finally reached the head of the line.

"Don't blame them, Adri-chan. It's perfectly natural that ladies would be curious about such beautiful specimens as we," Tamaki smiled. "It is our duty to indulge their maidenly desires. Isn't that right, milady?" he asked, casting a smile at Marinette.

Marinette reddened. Then when Adrien looked at her perplexed, she choked on the air. "Wh-wh-what?! No. NO! Th-that's not. Don't be ridiculous! Why would I possibly- Not even someone as perfect as Adrien could- Just no!"

"Now you're the one embarrassing yourself, girl," Alya whispered at her.

"Oh, shush," Marinette replied miserably.

~o~

"Can you please stop calling her milady?" Adrien asked as an aside after they paid for lunch. They had made their way towards some park benches to eat, with Tamaki and Adrien on their own while Nino hovered protectively over Mari and Alya. "That's totally inappropriate. You're older than her."

"By only a year," Tamaki replied. "It's not so awful, is it?"

"Yeah, well," Adrien replied stiffly, feeling confused and conflicted. He knew for sure, he didn't want Tamaki calling his shy classmate that name. "Can you just not? Please? As a favor to me."

"Why? Are you in love with her?" Tamaki asked idly.

Which was when Adrien did a fantastic Marinette impression, reddening as bright as a tomato. "Wh-what! No! That's absurd! I barely know her-! I mean! She's sweet and pretty, but she's-! No!"

("Methinks he doth protest too much,") Plagg purred from his pocket.

"Shut it!" Adrien snapped, without using his indoor voice. At Tamaki's raised eyebrow, he said, "Sorry. Talking to myself. But seriously, no. I don't have anything going on with Marinette. It's just a completely normal friend-classmate relationship."

"Hmm," Tamaki mused. "Then what about Princess?"

"You can't call her that either!" Adrien shrieked, spilling a third of his gyro on the ground.

Tamaki blinked. Then a sly smile stretched over his lips. He waved to the others on the opposite bench. "Milady! Adri-chan needs a bite of your gyro! He lost his!"

Marinette choked on her mouthful of food. She looked up after hacking up the roasted lamb, long enough to see Tamaki looking at his flustered and red-faced companion with the most smug cheshire-grin she's ever seen. Except for on one other face.

...Chat? she wondered, looking on Tamaki with newfound astonishment.

~o~

"Tikki..." Marinette said, later that night. "Is Tamaki...? I mean, should I...?"

The sweet little bug kwami looked up from her cookie. They were safely ensconced away in Marinette's room, homework and pastries laid out over the computer desk. "Do you want me to answer, Marinette?"

"No... Yes," the teen sighed, letting her head thump on her book. "I can't help it, Tikki! He really acts as flirty as Chat. He's got the same hair, the same build. And the Milady! I know it doesn't make any sense, but he's so much like him!"

"It's perfectly natural to be curious, Marinette," Tikki chirped. "What matters is what you plan to do about it."

"I don't know, Tikki," Marinette sighed again. "I'd feel like a hypocrite if I go and try to figure out if it is him or not. After all the times I kept denying him. It's such a violation of his privacy." She worried her lip. "At the same time, I don't know what Tamaki's doing here. Plus the Milady. Does he already know who I am? What if he's trying to drop hints?"

"Well~" Tikki said slowly, "if you're really curious if Chat Noir knows who you are, why don't you ask Chat Noir?"

Marinette blinked. "Oh... oh, of course!" she cried as realization struck. "Chat Noir wouldn't lie to me. Well, not to Ladybug in any case. As soon as another Akuma attacks, I'll try to talk to him afterwards." A fond smile spread over her face as she booped Tikki's head. "Thank you, Tikki."

"Of course, Marinette."

~o~

Somehow Adrien managed to convince Tamaki that night three in the pillow fort was just not going to work. So somehow that meant Adrien had to share his only, albeit large, bed. It really wouldn't have been so bad... if Tamaki hadn't wanted to grill Adrien about his love life.

"I'm telling you, I don't like Marinette like that! She's just a friend!" Adrien said as he whacked Tamaki's annoying face with a pillow. He was in absolutely no mood for this, since it was midnight and he was already two-days sleep deprived. "I like someone else!"

"Oh~?" the older boy said in interest. "And who is that? The superhero celebrity you've got all over your computer wallpaper? I'll admit, she is quite beautiful."

"She's more than that," Adrien scoffed. "She's brave and heroic. Even when she's scared." His eyes took on that wistful luster that they held whenever Ladybug captured his thoughts. "Plus she's so quick on her feet and confident. She totally kicks ass too. She's amazing."

"...She looks an awful lot like Marinette," Tamaki remarked idly.

"Will you just stop~" Adrien groaned, covering his head with a pillow. Deciding that it was high time to change the conversation, he asked, "Why don't we talk about Haruhi instead? What is she, your new half-sister?"

At this, Tamaki belted out with merry laughter. "Oh no, no, no! She is a normal plebeian. Well, incredibly gifted to become an honor student at my school, but she is Daddy's precious little daughter!"

"So she's adopted?" Adrien tried again, his brow knitting into a frown.

"Oh! Yes, you could say that!" the older blond replied, his violet eyes lighting up with glee. "I may not have any relation to her, but she inspires so much paternal affection from me," he gushed. "I want nothing more than for her to grow up into a beautiful, sweet, feminine lady! She already is the cutest, isn't she?"

...What. Adrien stared. "I'm... sorry... You're the Daddy?"

"Exactly!" Tamaki beamed.

...I give up, the model thought, I can't even follow him anymore. "Tamaki, it's late and I have a shoot tomorrow after school. My dad'll flip if I show up with rings under my eyes."

Tamaki's lips formed into a little 'o' before he smiled. "Alright Adri-chan," he replied softly. He reached out, gently combing his fingers through the model's hair in a slow soothing fashion. "You do need more help than I do in that department. Go ahead and get your beauty sleep."

"You are such an ass," Adrien mumbled into his pillow. However, the gentle motion was really nice, as starved for affection as he was. He leaned into the brotherly touch and it wasn't long before his eyes slipped closed into a restive slumber.

Tamaki watched him for a while longer, a faint smile spread over his lips. Then his phone buzzed on the bed stand nearby. He picked it up and answered it.

"Ah, Kyouya, good morning," Tamaki spoke quietly into his phone in Japanese. "...No, I haven't found them yet. ...No, I would really prefer if you didn't cause an Akuma, though I'm sure you're capable of that. ...I still have over a week. I'm sure they'll turn up. ...Right. ...All right. Say hello to everyone for me. And give our little daughter a kiss for me. ...On the cheek, Kyouya! Honestly!"

Cheeks puffed with indignation, he ended the call and dropped his phone back on the stand. Then with a wicked grin, he scooped an unsuspecting Adrien up against him and spooned against him before he too fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Plagg listened from underneath the bed, snacking pensively on his camembert.

~o~

The next morning as they were getting ready to head for school (after Adrien laid into Tamaki for cuddling him against his will), Plagg communicated he needed a word with a secret tap code against Adrien's chest. Understanding instantly, Adrien called to Tamaki, "Oh hey, I need something from my room. Go ahead to the car. I'll just be a minute."

Sneaking off into the bathroom, Adrien let Plagg out of his shirt pocket. "Plagg? What's up? I'm gonna be late for school."

"There's something shifty about that Tamaki guy," the black kwami sniffed. "He thought he was being so clever, taking calls at midnight and speaking in Japanese. What he doesn't know is that I know every language on the planet."

"He doesn't know about you period," Adrien said with a frown. "And don't eavesdrop on other people's conversations. I'm sure it was completely harmless. Tamaki is completely harmless." Well, except for violating his personal space, but he could deal with that.

"He was talking about Akuma, kid," Plagg replied, his eyes sharpening into green slits. "Didn't sound harmless to me."

Adrien faltered at that. "W-well, it makes sense that he's interested in them. He grew up here. He must be worried about what's going on in Paris."

"Do you know what he's doing here?" Plagg pressed. Adrien hesitated. "I didn't think so. You better find out soon, kid. This boy smells like trouble."

Unconvinced, but unsettled, Adrien gestured for Plagg to hide again, before making his way to the car. Outside Tamaki seemed to be making a project of trying to get the stoic Gorilla to accessorize. "No, no, no! You're the chauffeur of a fashion icon! You must look the part!" the eurasian cried, donning the Gorilla with a floppy red hat and frilly scarf. Meanwhile his bodyguard looked like he was trying not to outright murder the son of his boss' most important investor.

Adrien snorted with an aborted laugh. Plagg really didn't know what he was talking about, he decided, as he let the Gorilla usher them hurriedly into the car to school.