"Marinette, there's something that I need to tell you," Tikki flew up to me as I was getting ready to go to Alya's house.

"What's up?" I frowned, sitting down on my bed. Whenever a person says "I need to tell you something", I get very nervous and concerned. Especially since Tikki sounded so serious.

"I think I may know who Chat Noir's identity is," She said, looking up to me, locking her blue eyes with mine.

I blinked a couple of times. "You do?"

"I said that I think. I am not certain but I have a hunch on who he is," Tikki continued to observe me. It was as if she was testing me, to see my reaction.

"Well, won't you tell me?" I asked her, my heart beating very fast.

"No. I won't tell you. Until I am really sure," Tikki replied. "I don't want to lead you on and then find out later that I was wrong,"

"Okay," I said cautiously. "Just be sure to tell me when you are certain of his identity, okay?"

Tikki nodded. "Don't worry. I was planning to do that anyways,"

I desperately wanted to ask Tikki who she thought it was because, well, the curiosity was killing me. But as they say, curiosity killed the cat. Huh. How ironic.

Curiosity killed the cat, that's true. But satisfaction brought it back, my brain argued.

"Tikki, what time is it?" I asked, to distract myself from going into a full-on argument with my brain on that simple statement it made.

Tikki flew to my computer and hi the space bar. "It's 5:47,"

"I better get to Alya's so that we can study for the history test," I got my bag. "I really want to pass this test,"

Tikki nodded. She flew into my bag and zipped it closed. I reopened it to put some snacks in there for her, just in case she was hungry.

"Thanks, Marinette," She beamed at me. I nodded and smiled back.

I made my way down the stairs and saw my parents on the living room, watching the news.

"Mama, Papa, do you mind if I go to Alya's to study for a history test?" I asked.

"As long as you don't stay there too long," My mother answered.

"Look, dear. The headlines is about a psychic who is able to tell the future and read minds," My father shook my mother in disbelief.

"That's preposterous," My mother shook her head.

The headlines caught my attention, too, so before I left, I decided to watch. Tikki also flew out at the sound of that.

It was a lady who wore a dark purple cloak and a black beautiful dress beneath it. There was a diamond, situated at the middle of the cloak, and it was where the lady could decide to open or close the cloak. The diamond seemed to glint a bit.

As much as I would've loved to stay, I needed to get going. So I slowly crept out and shut the door. I went down the flight of stairs to the bakery. I opened and shut the door, making sure to lock it for security purposes.

Everyone in my family has a key to open and close the bakery, but there is a spare key inside one of the flowerpots.

It took me about ten minutes to get to Alya's house. When I rang the doorbell, her father answered the door with a very big smile.

"Hello, Marinette," He greeted me with a warm hug.

"Hello, Antoine," I said. Alya's father always insisted that I call him that, not Mr Césaire, but Antoine.

"Come in, don't stand out there. The weatherman said that today it may rain," Antoine stepped aside for me to get in.

I took one look at the cumulonimbus clouds and silently agreed. I wish I carried an umbrella.

"Thank you," I said, still smiling.

"Do you want anything? Something to eat? Something to drink?" Antoine asked, as he closed the door.

"No, thank you - well, actually I would like some hot chocolate if you don't mind," I replied.

"Very well, then. Alya is upstairs with two other people. One of them wore headphones around his neck, while the other one, I think I've seen him on telly," Antoine mused.

His description described Nino and Adrien perfectly.

Antoine went to the kitchen where he brilliantly prepared his famous hot chocolate. His hot chocolate is so good, that only the mere thought of it, makes my mouth salivate.

His wife, Émilie, always jokes that that was the reason why she married him.

"Where is Émilie?" I asked, thinking of her.

"She is probably on her way home. Most likely caught up in traffic," He handed me a brown mug filled with the delicious beverage.

"Thank you," I said, once again, before heading upstairs.

I had to take a few sips of the beverage while it was still hot. It was too irresistible for me to just wait until I had sat down.

I didn't bother on knocking on the door. Alya, Nino and Adrien had all gotten chairs and they were seated on a table. Nino was facing Alya, seating next to Adrien.

"Marinette!" Alya jumped up from her seat and pulled a chair for me. "It's about time. I think I would have lost my sanity if you showed up later,"

I sat down and took one, long, satisfying sip of the hot chocolate. If I could, I would live on Antoine's hot chocolate alone. "What do you mean?"

"Tell them that they are not welcome here," Alya motioned to the boys, who were grinning at Alya.

Another long sip. "Well, you did let them into your room," I pointed out.

Alya gave me one long look. "You're on their side?"

"No. Of course not," I replied, putting the hot chocolate down. After a few seconds, I couldn't resist. "Okay, just a few more sips,"

Alya grinned. "My father's famous hot chocolate?"

"You know it," I grinned back. I set the cup down on the table and looked at Adrien, who was facing me. I was beside Alya and he was directly across me. Then I turned to Nino. "Get. Out,"

"Thank you!" Alya said. "Get out, or I will call my father who may or may not have a rifle with him,"

Then I heard the sound of something bouncing off the roof. A loud clap of thunder scared the living daylights out of all of us. I stood up to peek out of the window.

"No can do, Alya. It's raining. And I don't think you would want to send both of them home right now, unless you want them to die of hypothermia or get pneumonia," I sat back down.

"Fine," Alya groaned. "But you better behave. I may or may not be serious about my father having a gun with him,"

"Yes ma'am," Nino and Adrien said and they saluted. Alya face palmed herself, muttering that she regrets the decision already.

I picked up the hot chocolate and continued to drink it. My eyes met Adrien's, and he was looking at me so intently.

Little butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

"Why do you keep drinking that after every 2 seconds?" He asked.

"Because it is the best thing that I have ever tasted," I replied, complimenting the drink.

"Is it because it's hot? Because I am hotter," Adrien said in Mandarin. "And it's the best thing you've ever tasted? You haven't tasted nothing yet, Mari,"

The crude innuendo nearly made me spit out the hot chocolate in my mouth. "You are disgusting!" I said in French.

"What are you talking about? I was talking about the hot chocolate at my house," Adrien switched back to French and he played the innocent card.

"No you didn't," I shook my head. I turned to Alya and held her arm. My index finger pointed at Adrien. "This boy is not as sweet as this hot chocolate, Alya,"

"Okay?" She said, gently removing my fingers from my hand, as if I was a crazy person. "Why are you acting like this?"

"It's probably the hot chocolate," Adrien shrugged.

"It can't be! My father's hot chocolate is just fine, thank you very much," Alya crossed her arms.

"It must be something she ate after school," Nino suggested.

"I am not crazy," I clarified as I gripped the brown mug. I massaged my temples and turned to Alya. "Can we just start reading for the test?"

"Okay," Alya agreed. "The French Revolution was a period that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French Empire. But let's focus on the outcomes -"

I turned to send a glare to Adrien. He was listening to Alya but he caught my eye. Instead of being horrified by the death glare that I sent him, he wirked instead.

For those of you who do not are not up-to-date with my vocabulary, wirk is the combination of the words 'smirk' and 'wink'.

So basically he smirked and winked at me, but it is faster to say that he wirked at me.

I just got my hot chocolate and gave Alya my full attention because this test was more important than Adrien's cheeky shenanigans.

In about 2 hours, I had gained information which I had never known before about The French Revolution. I was able to imagine how it happened and I was able to look at it from different points of views.

I could recite it in my sleep.

"Thanks, Alya," I gave her a hug. "I am almost positive that we will ace this test. Well, you will, as always, but this time, I have a shot at almost getting the grades that you get,"

"Marinette, don't think about it like that. Don't compare yourself to me, because that won't help you at all," Alya held my shoulders.

"You are probably right, guru Alya," I said. "I have to go. My parents told me not to go home late," I grabbed my bag and the mug.

"I'll take the mug," She took the mug from my hands. "Bye, girl. See you tomorrow," She gave me one last hug.

I went downstairs where Nino and Adrien were. The three of us left the house together. The second we got out, the rain was pouring hard.

Nino's ride was here, already. He asked his mother if Adrien and I could have a ride. She had to politely decline, because it there was a lot of traffic and the distance from Alya's house to Nino's house was a lot.

She said that she could only drop us at some point. Adrien and I agreed and we got into the car. I am grateful for the creator of heaters. The second I got into the car, the warmth hit me and I felt like I could fall asleep in it.

Nino rode shotgun, while Adrien and I sat at the back. The ride was short and in 5 minutes, we were caught in terrible traffic that Adrien and I had to get out and walk.

Adrien, fortunately, had an umbrella with him.

"You wouldn't want me to die from hypothermia or get pneumonia, would you?" I asked. "I am the one who convinced Alya to let you and Nino stay,"

"I'm hurt, Mari," He placed a hand on his chest, feigning to be hurt, before opening the umbrella. "I wouldn't let you die,"

I sighed with relief. "Good, because if I die, I would make sure to haunt you from the rest of your life,"

"Just the mere thought of that gives me goosebumps," He shivered. We began walking as he held the umbrella in between us. "Nah, it's probably just the cold which is giving me goosebumps,"

I slugged him on the shoulder.

"I knew girls hit on me, but not like this," He shook his head, with a smirk. "Seriously, Marinette, if you want to hurt me, you would have to punch much harder than that,"

"Shut up," I mumbled. "I-I I don't like you," That was the comeback that I had. Pathetic, I know.

"Ah, Mari," He put an arm on my shoulder, pulling him close to me. "We both know that isn't true. Why don't you like me?"

I tried to think of a reason. "Because...," I trailed off.

"You don't actually hate me," He completed the sentence.

"I want the sweet Adrien back," I muttered to myself.

"The sweet Adrien has some technical difficulties and is being repaired. You will have to stick with this one for now," He replied with a wirk and he released his arm from my shoulder.

"Why weren't you picked up today?" I asked.

The smirk on Adrien's face faded. "Can you keep a secret?" He turned to face me, with a mysterious glint in his eyes.

"Okay?" I replied, unsure of what he was going to say.

"I actually told my driver to come for me an hour from now," Adrien replied.

"Why?" I asked, frowning.

He shrugged. "I wanted to walk home, for once. My father is very overprotective of me. I am like his prized jewel that he doesn't want anyone else to have. So he won't let me go out unless it is to study,"

I could now see the sweet Adrien yearning for freedom.

Adrien is an interesting person to explore. It's honestly amazing how he has a sweet side which is his mask to the world. Under that mask is someone fragile, but hides it by being cocky and a huge flirt.

It's like he has an alter ego.

Around family, friends and acquaintances, he puts on that sweet face and sweet personality. Apart from me, and I think Nino and Alya, his mask falls and he reveals his true side to us.

"What are you thinking about?" He poked my cheek. I am starting to get used to him doing that, but nonetheless, despite the cold and the number of times that he has done this to me, my cheeks still heat up.

"You are an interesting person to explore," I told him with a smile making its way to my face. My house was a few feet away.

"Thank you, I guess," He shook his head at me but he was smiling. We arrived in front of the bakery door. "Goodbye, Marinette,"

I fumbled for my key as I maintained eye contact at Adrien. But once I heard it hit the ground, I gritted my teeth and shut my eyes.

The stupid key decided to play hide-and-seek with my hand and then takes its chance to hide on the ground, which meant leaping out of my bag.

It was so ruining the moment.

I got down on one knee to pick it up. Little did I know that Adrien did, too, and his hand landed on top of mine.

I could feel my cheeks getting warm again.

Our hands immediately jerked away from the key on the ground. After a few seconds, our hands reached out for the key at the same time and our hands jerked away from each other again.

Adrien chuckled nervously and he finally got the key before I did and handed it to me. "Uh, I should get going. I don't want to get sick. Then who would you sit next to tomorrow in class?"

"Right," I nodded. "See you tomorrow," I said. After a second, I added, "Hopefully,"

Adrien nodded and turned to leave. He crossed the street easily because traffic came to a crawl right now, so he maneuvered the cars, like a meander.

I couldn't see his face because his back was facing me and the umbrella hid his hair from my view.

He, however, turned back and met my eyes. My eyes widened because I knew that I was caught. I quickly opened the bakery door and got in, as my cheeks heated up even more.

____________________________________________________

I drummed my pencil on the table and bit my lip. My eyes watched the second hand move. I only had 10 minutes left and there was this one long question which was 7 marks long.

My eyes briefly left the clock to scan the room. However, I was seated at the front so that limits me from seeing anyone who is stuck on a question like me.

And it's not like I could crane my neck to look behind. That can make my teacher suspicious.

Seconds continued to fly by and I was panicking. I took a few deep breaths like Alya advised me to do whenever I panicked. I tried to relax my mind and go back to last night.

I remember Alya mentioning something related to this question. I just needed to calm down, and think.

What did she say?

I replayed what happened from when I walked in with my hot chocolate. Slowly, I began to recall everything and with 5 minutes, I began to scribble down whatever I remembered.

When I handed in my test, I had no idea what I wrote. The words just seemed to flow out of my brain to my hand and then to the paper.

I sighed with relief that school was done for the day. What I needed right now was some food and TV. My poor brain needs to rehabilitate after that test.

It was Wednesday, so we only learnt for half of the day. But that meant that we had to come back to school on Saturday to learn in the morning. I thought that was fair enough.

I didn't bother to wait for Alya or anyone because I was so exhausted. I just sent her a text saying that I was going home.

As I exited the school building, I found myself rubbing my eyes and yawning. Last night flew too quickly for me. I think I might have to add sleep on the list of things to do today.

Being a superhero and a school student is a bit overbearing at times.

I reached the front door of the bakery with a sigh. There were people there, who were yelling and banging on the counter.

A frown crossed my face. Something was wrong. My parents wouldn't leave the bakery unattended, especially on a weekday.

I made my way through the angry customers and dealt with them, until each and one of them was satisfied.

After the last customer left, I headed upstairs. I pushed open the door and I gasped. My mother was still chopping tomatoes from this morning and my father was still watching TV.

Their eyes focused on one thing, and one thing only. I was about to follow their gaze when Tikki flew out of my bag.

"Marinette, don't. Do not follow their gaze. Not without wearing something to protect your eyes," Tikki made me face her.

"What?" I asked very confused.

"They've been hypnotized," Tikki explained. "I'm not sure why or how, but just take a good look at them. Your mother has just sliced part of her thumb off and she doesn't appear to feel it,"