"Just a Friend?" Book 1 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy (MLB FanFic) |COMPLETED|

Chpt 26: Are we sure Ladybug and Cat Noir haven't been cursed?

Ladybug arranged for everyone to meet Friday night for training. She arrived first and was setting things up when Cat Noir arrived. "Hey, Kitty!" she said and he smiled at her. He came over to help her move some things out of the way and into the back room and then took her hand, giving it a kiss.

"M'Lady" he said, continuing to hold onto her hand. They sat down in the back room to wait for Rena Rouge and Carapace to arrive.

"When we hear them coming, you'll still have to wait here until they transform," Ladybug said, looking over at him to see how he was taking that.

"Yeah, I know. But, now that I know the best secret of all, I don't mind so much." He leaned over and gave her a kiss. Ladybug heard a little rumble- was he purring? Cat was just deepening the kiss when--

"Ladybug?" came Alya's voice. Startled, they pulled apart.

"I'll be right there!" Ladybug called back, filing the purring away for later.

"And I'll be waiting for you here, M'Lady," he said softly. Cat Noir released her hand and she stood up to meet Alya and Nino. He sighed dreamily. He could still hardly believe this was real. His dream of being with Ladybug was even better than he imagined. Cat Noir thought it was so interesting how Ladybug was definitely Marinette but also different. He wasn't exactly sure what it was- having more confidence in herself was probably a part of it. He wondered if Marinette found he was different. He would have to ask her sometime.

A minute later, Ladybug stuck her head back around the corner. "Okay, everyone is ready. Let's see how this goes!" Cat Noir stood up and followed her to the main room.

Ladybug had set up an obstacle course of sorts, with things to hit, tie up, use shields against, a set of mirrors to see how Rena's illusion power dealt with those, some areas that they could practice combining their different powers, and a "person" to rescue. She'd never put together a training room before, let alone one for people with superpowers, so she had no idea whether any of this would be helpful. Only one way to find out!

She explained what she set up and then offered for Rena and Carapace to try it out first together so she could watch how they used it. Ladybug could tell that they had been practicing together as they each let the other take lead on the areas that required their strengths. They made a good team!

She and Cat tried it next. Things didn't go as well as she'd hoped!

Rena and Carapace watched with jaws dropped at the confusion they had just witnessed from the "professional" superheroes. When Ladybug and Cat Noir finished the first run through ending up all tangled in Ladybug's yoyo, Rena and Carapace looked at each other wondering what was going on!

As Alya was never one to keep her opinions to herself, she said as Rena "You know, I'm just a part-time superhero, but what was that?! Did something happen to you guys, like a curse or something? Because that was neither awe-inspiring nor confidence-boosting!"

Ladybug and Cat Noir looked at each other, blushing slightly, knowing just how badly that went. Cat Noir decided to let Ladybug respond to these very valid questions. They started to untangle themselves from her yoyo string. Ladybug grimaced and replied "Something like that" as she stepped out of the string and Cat Noir raised his eyebrows at her in amusement.

"We're hoping that with some additional practice, we can get this problem straightened out." Ladybug unwound the string from around Cat's legs, falling slightly into him when the last loop was still stuck under his foot. She braced her hands on his chest and made the mistake of looking into his eyes, which twinkled back at her.

"Finally falling for me, M'Lady?" he said so only she could hear him and then gave her his lop-sided grin. 

Ladybug could feel her heart racing at their closeness and feel Cat's heart doing the same under her hands. She blinked, trying to clear the image of him smiling at her from her head and then quickly pushed her hands against his chest to straighten herself. I can't let him distract me when we're working! With that firmly in mind, she reset her yoyo at her waist, and turned to face the other two superheroes, trying her best to appear as if she was completely in charge of the situation.