Adrien just doesn't get it. Why doesn't Ladybug want to be his? He's got everything going for him: he's rich, he's likable, he's friendly... he knows how to get what he wants, so why can't he seem to land her?
Fortunately, an alternative lands in his lap when Marinette works up the courage to confess her crush on him. Maybe she's not the girl of his dreams, but she does look enough like his lady that he can potentially pretend that they're one and the same. And hey, Marinette's a sweet, agreeable girl, somebody he knows how to manipulate... What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
I See What You Do Behind Closed Doors
is a series of Miraculous Ladybug fanfics, starting with a story with the same title and a planned sequel detailing what follows on the heels of Adrien's two-timing. For Laser-Guided Karma is really just the beginning, and contrary to his beliefs, the world doesn't solely revolve around him.
I See What You Do Behind Closed Doors includes examples of:
- Accidental Truth: While attempting to bluff his way out of being caught two-timing, Adrien claims that he only offered to take Ladybug to dinner because she's "having trouble in her civilian life". While this is complete bullshit, he's not wrong about her having problems as a civilian... just about the nature of those issues.
- Accomplice by Inaction: Lila outright names Adrien as such after her exposure, personally thanking him for it in a speech much like those delivered at award ceremonies.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Adrien is a full-fledged manipulative, opportunistic and entitled bastard here, whose POV showcases just how incredibly self-centered he is Beneath the Mask.
- Adults Are Useless: After learning the truth about Lila, Ms. Bustier makes no effort whatsoever to punish her, as that would require leaving the classroom and tracking her down.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- It's deliberately unclear how much of Adrien's confused reaction to Marinette dumping him is due to him being Unknowingly in Love with her versus simple entitlement.
- When Retropedaler Rue is erasing the impact of his victim's deepest regrets, it is unclear what causes Ms. Bustier to vanish and the name plate on her desk to change. There are two different options: one is that Ms. Bustier's deepest regret is becoming a teacher; alternatively, somebody else at the school regrets hiring her.
- During the fight, Ladybug expresses concern that she could be retconned out of reality. It's unclear whether she thinks Lila or somebody else with a grudge against her could cause that, or if she fears that her deepest regret is becoming Ladybug.
- Armor-Piercing Response:
- Seen when Mylene tries to apologize for Marinette for how she and nobody else was willing to believe her, but says the wrong thing:Mylene: We... Lila... I didn't... I'm so sorry! I didn't know she was lying, I couldn't've!
Marinette: Of course you could've.
Mylene: Wh—what?
Alya: What are you getting at, girl?
Marinette: I don't understand how you think there's no way you could've known. After all, I think I mentioned multiple times? How she was lying? - When Alya tries to defend how everyone assumed Marinette was simply jealous of Lila by trying to remind her about Kagami, Marinette points out that she helped Kagami get a date with Adrien. Alya freezes up, unable to come up with any way of brushing that off.
- Marinette then causes the rest of the class to fall silent when she reacts to Kim's poor excuse as to why they refused to listen to her warnings:Kim: We didn't know... if... we... could trust you?
Marinette: I'm sorry? Did I hear that right? You didn't know if you could trust me? I've done... I've done everything for you guys! I got Alya an interview with Ladybug! I fixed Mylene's Papa's outfit so that he'd be able to perform in less than an hour! I spent forever making that sign to cheer Alix on for her race! I designed six costumes within a week just so Kitty Section could send in their submissions! What do you mean you couldn't trust me!?
- Seen when Mylene tries to apologize for Marinette for how she and nobody else was willing to believe her, but says the wrong thing:
- Badass Boast: When Plagg protests that she can't just strip Adrien of the Ring, Ladybug bluntly reminds him that she's the Guardian, and has every right to make such decisions.
- Beneath the Mask: Adrien presents himself as a Nice Guy, but is secretly a self-absorbed Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who believes he's a master manipulator and Prince Charming, and that the objects of his affection must love him back because he's just that much of a catch.
- Betrayal by Inaction: On top of his usual refusal to do anything about Lila, wanting to "keep the peace" by letting the Consummate Liar do as she pleases, Adrien doesn't bother stepping up to defend Marinette when she's harassed by the classmates who have been manipulated by Lila to see her as the issue.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Out of the whole class, Rose is the first one to turn upon Adrien after learning about how he not only refused to do anything about Lila, but pressured Marinette not to act.
- Cassandra Truth: Marinette repeatedly tried to warn her classmates about Lila, only to go unbelieved. After she's exposed, Marinette points this out when Mylene attempts to apologize.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Finding out that Adrien is Chat Noir and having him continue to pursue her as Ladybug while he's dating her as Marinette really does a number on Marinette.
- Didn't Think This Through: Adrien runs into this several times:
- Firstly, he decides to start dating Marinette purely because she happens to look like Ladybug, with every intention of continuing to pursue "his lady". At no point does he consider that either of them might learn about his two-timing, right up until he's confronted.
- He also didn't consider that Marinette might expect her boyfriend to actually stand up for her when others are giving her grief, leading to her calling him out for his inaction.
- While trying to make excuses for not standing up for his girlfriend, Adrien claims that he was distracted by having a lot on his mind. He's then caught off guard when Marinette asks him just what he's been thinking so hard about, forcing him to improvise...
- ...and leading into him telling her that he's Chat Noir. He then turns around and happily flirts with Ladybug during their next battle, neglecting the fact that Marinette now knows that it's him behind the mask and could easily learn that he's still trying to ask Ladybug out despite already dating her.
- Adrien chose not to do anything about Lila and advised Marinette against doing anything because he saw it as disrupting his "perfect school life". He never considered that Lila might get exposed anyway, nor that she might know about his deliberate inaction and reveal that to the whole class.
- Dramatic Irony:
- The whole premise hinges upon it: Adrien starts dating Ladybug without realizing it, as despite noticing the resemblance, he doesn't realize that she and Marinette are the same person.
- After having his memory erased, Adrien takes this to whole new levels when he casually observes that Chat Noir is absent and offers to replace him as Ladybug's new partner, declaring that "You deserve better." The irony is noted by Aurore, who muses that he can at least admit his failures unintentionally.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: When Marinette fails to show her usual empathy and concern towards her classmates, Ms. Bustier assumes that she's trying out some kind of new tactical approach to solving their problems for them. She continues to believe this even as Marinette calls them out for being Fair-Weather Friends.
- Entitled Bastard: One of the reasons why Adrien is so self-absorbed is due to how he's grown up privileged; he has an immensely high opinion of himself, and can't grasp how anyone could deny him what he wants when he's such an amazing (and wealthy) guy!
- Entitled to Have You: Naturally, Adrien has this attitude towards Ladybug, believing that their "partnership" means that she has to eventually accept his advances.
- Fatal Flaw: Adrien's self-centeredness is comorbid with his other major flaws, which all work against him here.
- Firstly, his Lack of Empathy means that he doesn't care about Marinette's suffering or understand her capacity for empathy. This means he's caught off-guard both by her calling him out for ignoring her pain and her sympathizing with his Blatant Lies about being distracted by heavy thoughts, wanting to know what's been weighing on his mind. This lack of consideration on all fronts leads to him telling her his Secret Identity just to maintain the lie.
- As Chat Noir, Adrien repeatedly ignores Ladybug rejecting his advances because that's not what he wants to hear. This symbolically comes back to bite him in Chapter Four, where his temporary tinnitus prevents him from hearing her decision to erase his Miraculous-related memories... but he also ignores all other evidence that Ladybug is done dealing with his gross entitlement, as he'd much prefer to believe things are still going his way.
- "Fawlty Towers" Plot: After claiming that he was too distracted by his thoughts to assist Marinette, Adrien then has to come up with a plausible topic to have had weighing so heavily on his mind. The only thing he can come up with is that he was considering revealing his secret identity to her, so he does.
- Foil:
- Marinette and Adrien are both in love with the idea of who the other could be — though in Adrien's case, he doesn't suspect that Marinette could actually BE Ladybug. Though Marinette tries giving him the benefit of the doubt, it doesn't take long after they start dating for her to see past his pretty facade, while Adrien simply ignores any evidence that Marinette or Ladybug might differ from his desires.
- Adrien and Lila are both Bitches in Sheep's Clothing, acting as False Friends to their classmates while manipulating them to their own ends. But one critical difference is that Lila understands the concept of empathy, using it to her advantage while Playing the Victim Card, while Adrien's inability to comprehend the feelings and perspectives of others proves to be his downfall. In addition, Lila is completely unphased by her exposure and losing her power over the class, while Adrien is so upset by Marinette breaking up with him that he gets akumatized, then tries to bluff his way out of further exposure.
- As Chat Noir, Adrien is a Nominal Hero who's more interested in forcing his partner to date him. Compare this to Aurore, who also gets an immediate thrill from becoming a hero, yet is still willing to put others before her own desires and Cataclysm the Ring in order to help Ladybug purify it.
- Ms. Bustier is shown to employ similar tactics to Adrien's by pretending not to notice problems and hoping they'll go away. However, while Adrien specifically discourages Marinette from confronting Lila, Ms. Bustier actually counts upon her "star student" to solve issues for her.
- For the Evulz: Lila "consoles" her classmates by reassuring them that she had a blast stringing them along, declaring that "The stuff I made you guys do was too good to be true!"
- Gullible Lemmings: Lila sees her classmates as such, noting that she was honestly astounded at all the things she was able to convince them to do.
- Hesitation Equals Dishonesty:
- When Ladybug asks Plagg if he knows how to erase others' memories, Plagg pauses and looks everywhere but directly at her while telling her not to be ridiculous.
- Also demonstrated when Ladybug hesitates before agreeing with Adrien that yes, the memory-erasing potion is for Aurore, while the one she's making for him is the antidote.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Adrien's decision to date Marinette just so he can pretend she's Ladybug becomes his undoing, especially after he decides to share his secret identity with her.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Once the jig is up, Lila outright laughs, admitting that there's no point in trying to continue the charade.
- Lack of Empathy: Even after he starts dating Marinette, Adrien remains unconcerned about how she's being affected by Lila's bullying, getting incredibly upset when she dares to complain about his continued inaction. Since he doesn't empathize with others, he's unprepared for Marinette sympathizing with him after he falsely claims to have had a lot on his mind, forcing him to improvise in order to maintain his lie.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: As usual, victims of akumatization don't recall precisely what happened while they were akumatized. In addition, Adrien drinks a potion that erases all of his Miraculous-related memories.
- Liar Revealed: By the climax of the first story, Lila's true nature has been exposed to the whole class and she took Adrien down with her.
- Little "No": Alya utters one upon seeing the results of Max's research, realizing that Lila wasn't what she claimed to be.
- Loose Lips: Adrien impulsively decides to reveal his secret identity to Marinette as a quick distraction. His only acknowledgement of all of Ladybug's warnings against doing so is reassuring his girlfriend that this can just be "their little secret".
- Loving a Shadow:
- Marinette loves the Nice Guy she believes Adrien to be, enough that she initially tries to excuse and explain away any signs that he's not so sweet and compassionate after all. After he reveals his Secret Identity to her, however, she's able to see beneath the mask.
- Along the same lines, Adrien loves the idea of Ladybug as a Standard Hero Reward, refusing to believe that she's legitimately uninterested in him.
- No Sparks: Marinette is concerned when she notices that she didn't feel any zing! or magic when she and Adrien got together. Despite this, she's willing to stick it out and work on the relationship.
- Not Helping Your Case:
- When Marinette reveals that she "overheard" him asking Ladybug out on a date, Adrien claims he only did so "as a friend", then starts spinning a lie about how his partner supposedly isn't doing so well in her civilian life and doesn't have much money. Instead of convincing her of how charitable and compassionate he is, this only enrages her further, and she promptly breaks up with him.
- Retropedaler Rue rants about all the reasons why Ladybug and Marinette should want to date him even while his actions illustrate how much of a lie those declarations about himself and his character are.
- The whole class engages in this after Lila is exposed, as they attempt to convince Marinette that it wasn't their fault that they didn't believe her by citing the fact that they all knew about her crush and presumed she was just jealous.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Alya briefly wonders whether Ms. Bustier is doing this when she casually leaves the classroom while Max is Pulling the Thread on Lila's claims, noticing that the teacher is wearing a bathroom-pass lanyard despite not actually requiring one as a teacher. Ms. Bustier's perspective in the following chapter implies this might be the case; while she swears she legitimately did need to go to the bathroom, she also expected everything to be resolved by the time she returned.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Alya notes the oddity of Adrien casually insulting Chat Noir, as he normally speaks very highly of them.
- While researching Lila's claims, Max snarks back at Alya when she asks him how much longer he intends to take.
- Ms. Bustier finds Marinette's behavior in the wake of Lila's exposure very strange, wondering if she's employing some new tactics to deal with all the tension.
- Playing the Victim Card:
- As usual, this is one of Lila's favorite tactics. Once she's exposed, she casually declares that she'll convince her mother that the whole class is bullying her.
- After Lila's exposure, Chloé dramatically wails to Ms. Bustier about how they can't possibly go on after learning about such a betrayal, only for Sabrina to point out that Chloé wanted to work with Lila.
- Plot Parallel: Adrien betrays Marinette's trust for his own personal gain, turning a blind eye towards anything that contradicts what he wants to believe is true. Such as his insistence that Ladybug is Playing Hard to Get when she rejects him. Along the same lines, Marinette learns that her classmates would rather believe that she was Driven by Envy to make false accusations towards Lila.
- Pull the Thread: Max starts doing this after Ladybug bluntly denies that Lila is her "best friend", noting that Lila has been making him do all of her homework for her while still claiming to have landed an internship with Tony Stark.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Ladybug hits Adrien with one after curing his akumatization, reading him the riot act for his recent behavior and for brazenly assuming that he'd get back the Black Cat Ring afterwards.
- Marinette tells her classmates off, not for falling for Lila's Too Good to Be True claims, but for brazenly attempting to convince Marinette that it was her fault they refused to heed her warnings by dismissing her as being Driven by Envy.
- Rejected Apology: Marinette turns down Mylene's apology after the whole class tries to wriggle their way out of taking responsibility by insisting it was Marinette's fault they blew off her Cassandra Truths.
- Retconjuration: Retropedaler Rue possesses the power to erase their victims' biggest regrets; for instance, it is implied that either Ms. Bustier regrets becoming a teacher or somebody regrets hiring her, for the name plate on her desk changes to "Mandy Usalp".
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: When Marinette asks Tikki when her crush on Adrien turned into an obsession, Tikki remarks that she's likely not looking for an exact date, remarking that "That was one of you humans' 'rhetorical' things, right?"
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Once it becomes clear that Adrien/Chat Noir is pursuing her in both of her identities, Marinette concludes that he wants to date them both. This isn't entirely wrong, as Adrien is only dating her as a placeholder for Ladybug, and is deeply upset when Marinette breaks up with him, though he doesn't quite comprehend why.
- Rule of Symbolism: In Chapter Four, Adrien temporarily suffers from a ringing in his ears — tinnitus, one of the very things Lila claims to suffer from. This proves very apt, as Adrien repeatedly ignores others telling him things that he doesn't want to hear, and conveniently prevents him from hearing Ladybug decide that she needs to erase his Miraculous-related memories. Tellingly, Adrien reviews the evidence on hand and draws a conclusion that, while completely wrong, is precisely what he wants to happen, further driving home how much he rejects reality on a regular basis.
- Selective Obliviousness:
- No matter how many times Ladybug rebuffs his advances and insists that she's just not interested in him, Chat Noir continues to insist that she's just "playing hard to get".
- Marinette suggests that her classmates engaged in this, glossing over any evidence that Lila was being less than truthful because they really, really wanted to believe in what she was selling them.
- Ms. Bustier deals with a fight in her classroom by walking out, acting as though she didn't notice the rising tensions. While her POV implies that she truly IS genuinely oblivious to Marinette's feelings, it's also made clear that she prefers to just ignore problems in hopes that they'll go away on their own.
- Switching P.O.V.: Each chapter follows the perspective of a different character.
- Too Good to Be True: Not only did Lila trick most of the class through lies of this nature, once they finally figure out the truth, she cheerfully declares that the things she had them doing for her were "too good to be true!"
- The Tell: When lying, Adrien tends to play with his ring, absently twisting it around his finger. He's well aware that he does this, and is frustrated by its existence, but figures that he can train himself out of it eventually.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Adrien's decision to tell Marinette about his secret identity is spur-of-the-moment, coming off the cuff when she asks him what's been weighing on his mind.
- Two-Person Love Triangle: Adrien wants Ladybug, and decides to start dating Marinette since she looks enough like her to let himself pretend she's the object of his affections... unaware that she actually is Ladybug.
- The Unapologetic: Lila refuses to apologize to anyone about how she tricked them; instead, she brags about how much fun she had stringing them along for so long.
- What Is This Feeling?: Adrien gets hit with this immediately after Marinette breaks up with him, as he doesn't understand why he's actually bothered by her doing so.
- You're Just Jealous: Alya and everyone else who was aware of Marinette's crush on Adrien attributed Marinette's insistence that Lila was a liar to jealousy. Marinette is unimpressed when they say as much, reminding them that she actually helped Kagami go on a date with Adrien.
