Alter Egos - Chat Noir x Reader

As you stopped to catch your breath, you looked back to make sure you had not been followed. It was a quiet weeknight in Paris. You could barely see a thing in the alley you snuck into. The only source of light was the faint glow coming from the street light at the other end of the alley. You had to get back home and fast. It was already very late, and you had to get enough sleep to not pass out in class again. Your eyes scanned the silent alley for any sign of movement. Once you felt you were in the clear, you let out a long sigh of relief. Now you can finally turn out of being Renard Roux (Red Fox) and get back home. Suddenly, a dark figure lands in front of you causing you to let out a squeak. You jump back and got into a fighting stance, until you noticed familiar green eyes.

“Come on, Renard!” Chat Noir whined. “I promise I’ll turn back too. We’ll be even!”

“No, Chat Noir. How many times do I need to tell you? I want to keep my two lives separate, thank you very much.”

“And you will! We’ll just be able to recognize each other any time.”

“No. I’m not saying it again,” you insisted. For the past week your teammate Chat Noir had become insistent on seeing you out of transformation. He’d even give up his own identity. You had no idea why he suddenly became pushy about this. You, Chat Noir and Ladybug had agreed to keep your everyday lives and your vigilante lives separate from each other. You definitely had no complaints. (f/n) (l/n) and Renard Roux were two entirely different people. Out of transformation, you were shy and reserved. On the other hand, you were confident and open once you were transformed. You couldn’t risk bringing those two selves together and possibly lose the confidence you had as Renard Roux.

You had to bite your cheeks so you wouldn’t gush at the adorable pout Chat Noir gave you. His green cat-like eyes begged you to give in. You had to look away or else you might have actually cracked.

“Please?” he asked. You rolled your eyes and gave a small laugh. You scratched the back of your head before you strode up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Luckily for Chat Noir, the darkness of the alley hid his blush.

“Maybe some other day, but not now,” you promised before leaping up and escaping the alley. Chat Noir stayed behind and rose his hand to wear you had kissed him. He sighed longingly as watched your silhouette disappear in the night.

You slipped into the alley between your apartment and the neighbouring one. You checked if the coast was clear then finally transformed out of Renard Roux. The moment you were back to normal, everything that had just happened hit you.

“I kissed him!” you gasped incredulously to yourself. You could feel the butterflies fluttering in your stomach and your cheeks setting on fire. He’s kissed the back of your hand before and given you flirtatious gestures, but you never initiated any of that yourself… until now.

“What was I thinking?” you asked yourself after entering your apartment. Your mind was a complete mess, going through thousands of ‘what ifs’ and deciphering what he could’ve thought about the kiss. Finally, you crashed onto your bed and sighed. He flirts with Ladybug as much as you. He’s just the flirtatious type, you concluded. You probably took it too far with that kiss, but you’d hate to take it back. You couldn’t help but smile when you thought about it one last time before falling asleep.

~ Next Day ~

You were stirred awake when someone nudged your arm a few times. You looked up to see who woke you. Was that Chat Noir? You raised an eyebrow and rubbed your eyes to see it was just your friend, Adrien Agreste. Last night was definitely messing with your head.

“You fell asleep again, (f/n),” he told you as you stretched your arms across your desk. “Are you feeling okay? You’ve been sleeping in class so much lately. It’s not like you.”

“I’m okay. Just been staying up late, that’s all,” you assured, giving him a smile. Adrien looked away quickly so you wouldn’t notice his blush. He passed you his notebook.

“You can borrow my notes to copy,” he told you then gathered his things into his bag. “Oh, you’ll need our math notes too, huh?”

“Yeah,” you said, embarrassed at how much he has to help you. You had no idea what you’d do without Adrien helping you like this. You two have been friends since middle school, and since you were shy, you struggled with making any new friends. If it wasn’t for him, you’d probably fall behind. The two of you walked out of class together. It was the end of the school day now. Nino, Adrien’s best friend, had a DJ gig tonight so he had to leave early and get set-up. Adrien explained to you that he stayed behind to wake you up. You blushed out of embarrassment.

“So why have you been staying up late?” he asked.

“Uh, I found this new show online. I’m kind of addicted so, you know, I end up staying up late,” you lie. You scratch the back of your head, hoping he’ll buy it and not ask anymore.

“I didn’t know you were that type of person,” he laughs light-heartedly. “What kind of show is it?”

“It’s about this girl that transforms and fights crime with the help of her really cute sidekick.” Brilliant, just brilliant. You bite the insides of your cheeks to keep you from scolding yourself for your terrible lie telling. And what was that about a ‘really cute sidekick’? Luckily Chat Noir didn’t actually hear that, who knows what that would do to his ego.

“Oh, like Ladybug?”

“Uh, yeah… yeah!” you said, grateful that the lie worked. Suddenly, Cloe appears. You never really understood why Adrien hangs out with her. She’s so rude to everyone, even him at times. However, this was a rare moment that you were grateful to see the materialistic girl. As usual, she stole Adrien from you so you were left to head back home on your own.

You couldn’t get your mind off of the kiss from last night. It was only on the cheek, sure, but you’ve never kissed anyone before. You kept thinking of Chat Noir for the rest of the afternoon. You thought of the times he’s saved you, the times you saved him, the times when you could just read each others minds to take the bad guy down… and you thought of how gorgeous he was, on top of being funny and caring. You’ll have to talk to him tonight, and figure things out. He may flirt with Ladybug too, but what if there’s a chance he thinks about you like you think about him?

~ Later that night ~

“Good job, guys!” Ladybug said and wrapped her arms around you and Chat Noir. The three of you had another successful night of saving Paris. However, you just couldn’t look at Chat Noir. Every time you tried, you feel the butterflies in your stomach as flashbacks from the night before came to mind. Ladybug noticed your weird behaviour around him and how Chat Noir was much less flirtatious than usual. In fact, he couldn’t even look at you much either without blushing bright red.

“Well, I’m off. Enjoy the night, lovebirds,” she teased before leaping onto the next rooftop. A long silence hung between you and Chat Noir. You scratched the back of your head as you thought of what to say. Even as Renard Roux, it seems like the you’re still the shy (f/n) (l/n).

“Look, about last night,” you started.

“It’s fine,” Chat Noir assured. You looked up, and he was giving you his charming smile. “It was just a kiss on the cheek, right? Everybody in Paris does that.” You felt your heart sink. That kiss was more than that to you. ‘I have to tell him,’ you thought.

“Chat Noir, I need to tell you something.” You were silenced by his finger on your lips.

“It’s okay. I get it.” No, he doesn’t. You had to tell him now. “Let’s just head back home, Renard. We can’t have you falling asleep in class again,” he joked. Wait, what?

“How do you know that?” you asked. You stepped away, giving him a warning look. He realized his mistake and tried to move towards you. “Stop right there. I told you that I didn’t want to reveal who I am to you.”

“You did.”

“Then how do you know I sleep in class? How did you find out?”

“Renard, just listen to me.”

“Answer the question,” you stated firmly.

“I just guessed.”

“You guessed?”

“(f/n), look.” Before you became angrier, Chat Noir removed his mask and moved his bangs around. You couldn’t believe what you saw.

“Adrien?”

“You know, while I like being called ‘really cute’, I think I’m more than a sidekick,” he joked and made his crooked smile. You had no idea what came over you when you threw your arms around his neck, but you loved feeling his arms wrap around your waist.

“How did you find out?” you asked.

“I wasn’t sure at first. Then I realized you were more tired when we started crime fighting,” he told you. “Also, you’re a pretty bad liar,” he laughed. You laughed with him and pulled away. The two of you spent some time just looking into each others eyes. You had to tell him now.

“That kiss on the cheek, it was more than just any old kiss to me,” you said. “I never kissed anyone before, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it all day.”

“I couldn’t either,” he told you. He seemed relieved by what had said. He cupped your cheek and pressed his forehead against yours.

“I think I love you, Adrien.” You could hear your heart pounding in your ears.

“I love you too, (f/n).” Feeling the confidence you get as Renard Roux, you pressed your lips against Chat Noir’s. The rest of the night had more kisses, cuddles, and Chat Noir telling you stories of how he figured out your true identity (as embarrassing as it was for you). Needless to say, you slept in for most of your classes the next day.