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Chapter Text

Marinette woke with a start, her alarm blaring only to be silenced by her outstretched hand. She yawned, stretching as Tikki — her adoptive sister — came in through the trap door.

"Marinette! You're gonna be late!"

That one phrase erased every ounce of tiredness from within her, and she panicked, racing to get dressed and collect all of her school supplies.

"I'll be down in a minute Tikki, thanks!"

She quickly ran a brush through her dark hair before pulling it into a pair of pigtails, rushing to her door and only hesitating to admire her wall of Adrien Agreste photos.

She quickly made her way downstairs and into her parents' café, a small safe haven for both ghouls and people... of course, the people never knew that both the owners and the few workers were ghouls. That was the way it had to be kept.

Before the 15-year-old could make her way out the door her mother grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"Have a nice day at school, Marinette," she said, smiling at her daughter and slipping a freshly made coffee into her hand, before lowering her voice as her expression turned from joyous to concerned, "And, please, be careful?"

Marinette returned the smile that her mother had given her, her bluebell eyes shining brightly, "Don't worry, Mama, I'll be fine."

She then commenced to kiss her mom's cheek before waving to Tikki and her dad — who were working at the counter — and heading out the door.

She ran down the street, not stopping until she was bursting into her classroom right as the final warning bell rang.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she sat down by Alya, setting her bag and coffee down on the desk.

"Looks like you got here just in time," Alya laughed at her exhausted friend.

"Thank god, I can live another day!" Marinette joked, and the two girls giggled as the teacher entered the classroom.

The lesson passed slowly, Marinette taking notes and every now and then glancing at the handsome boy in front of her.

Eventually it was time for lunch, a point in the day that Marinette both looked forward to, and heavily feared.

On the bright side, she got to socialize with her friend Alya; on the downside, she had to eat.

Walking out of the classroom with Alya, they made their way to a bench, sitting down as Marinette pulled out a sketch book and Alya pulled out her lunch.

"Forget your lunch again, Marinette?" Alya teased, laughing at the sheepish grin that formed on Marinette's face.

"Well, I was running late this morning, and I'm not really hungry at the moment anyway-"

Alya cut her friend off by holding out half of a small sandwich, "You need to eat, girl! That's the third time you've forgotten your lunch this week, I can't have my best friend dying of starvation before weekend finally arrives."

She sighed, silently accepting the fact that there was no way she was going to win this battle. Marinette took the sandwich, forcing down the bile that rose in her throat at the thought of eating it. Sure, she was a bit hungry, it had been a few weeks since she'd actually eaten, and she and Tikki were set to go get food that weekend, just not this food.

She forced the sandwich into her mouth, ignoring the ill flavor that erupted, and pretended to chew as she swallowed the small piece whole, tasting as little of it as humanly possible.

A fake smile spread across her face, "Thank you, Alya," she lied, as her friend bit into her own sandwich and pulled out her phone as Marinette ignored the ache forming in her stomach and began to sketch a design for a dress.

"Mari, you have to see this!" Alya suddenly said, pulling Marinette from her small trance by shoving a phone in her face.

On the screen was a new article, the title reading Five Found Dead on the Streets of Paris After Late-Night Ghoul Attack.

"That's the sixth time this month in that neighborhood, I'm surprised that people are still going out at night there!"

"Yeah, it's insane," Marinette replied with a small frown. This certain neighborhood wasn't that far from the Notre Dame, and even though ghoul attacks were common there, this was an insane amount for a single month.

"I'd bet it's another binge eater," Alya continued. She'd always been fascinated with the news on ghouls, and that'd made Marinette wary of being around her at first, though Alya's outgoing and supportive personality quickly brought down that invisible wall.

"What makes you say that?" Marinette asked, questioning her theory, but before the girl could reply another voice cut in.

"Wow, you were spot on once again, Alya!"

Marinette turned quickly, finding herself peering up at her one and only crush — Adrien.

"That's right, your dad's a CCG investigator, right Adrien?" Alya asked, flashing a small smirk towards Marinette as she blushed slightly over the fact that he was here, speaking to them.

"Yeah, according to him that's what people are saying about the attacks."

"It's really terrifying, isn't it, Marinette?" Alya threw a sideways glance at her friend, having dragged her into the conversation.

"Y-yeah, 'tis ingfrighten! I mean... frightening it's! Or, um... it's frightening?" Marinette stuttered over her words, her stomach only becoming even more unsettled with the fresh embarrassment she'd just laid upon herself.

Despite the awkwardness, Adrien laughed, "Yeah, don't worry though, there's hardly any attacks happening anywhere near here, we should be perfectly safe as long as we stay away from those areas at night."

Adrien waved at the two of them as he turned away, heading towards his friend Nino, who was sitting on another bench a bit away from them.

Marinette dropped her head into her hands, letting out a muffled scream, "Did I really just do that?" she questioned, as Alya patted the back of her head.

"It's fine girl, he's not going to think you're some kind of monster just because you stuttered a bit, it happens to everyone!"

Marinette's gut seemed to twist, causing her to let out a pained groan, which would seem like a simple groan of frustration to anyone else, including Alya.

She stood, wrapping the remains of her sandwich in a napkin, "I'm going to the restroom for a bit, so I'll meet you back in class, okay?"

Alya nodded, "Right, I'll be out here if you need me."

Marinette quickly headed into the empty bathroom, going to the far stall and heaving into the toilet. Yes, she felt bad about throwing up the food Alya'd given her, but she couldn't risk hurting her health unless she wanted Tikki and her parents to lecture her.

She flushed the toilet, heading to a sink to rinse out her mouth, ridding it of the fowl taste.

Suddenly the warning bell rang, telling students to make their way back to class. Marinette gathered up her stuff, heading out the door towards her classroom.

The end of the day passed similar to the beginning, Marinette taking notes and doing her work as she should, before the bell finally rung to release students to the weekend.

"I'll text you later, Marinette!" Alya called, heading off towards her home as Marinette headed to the café.

"Yeah, see you on Monday!" was the ghoul's reply as she headed home.

The small growl that her stomach released made her heart sink. Tonight they had to leave the city, travelling to a few popular suicide spots that aren't widely known of.

And if they didn't find anyone, she'd have to kill someone.

Chapter Text

There was no doubt about it.

The girl was watching them, watching him.

Adrien wasn't going to lie, she was pretty. But there was something... off... it was as if she was engulfed in an aura that screamed DANGER, STAY AWAY.

"Chill out, dude," Nino interrupted his uneasy thoughts, "You're a model, she probably just recognizes you from a magazine or something."

Adrien sighed, taking another sip of the coffee in front of him, sunlight streaming from the window where he sat at the Dupain-Cheng Café.

"It looks like Marinette's not working today," he noted. His classmate's parents owned the local café, and their home was right above it. It was unusual for Marinette to not be helping.

The strange girl took a shaky breath, standing and making her way to them timidly.

The boys watched the girl with curiosity. She brushed a small lock of brown hair behind her ear, before she then commenced to speak.

"It's Adrien, right? I'm Lila, a friend of Marinette's."

• • •

"So, Lila, you're interested in those old legends of the Miraculouses as well?"

"Yeah, I always thought it was amazing how the Miraculouses would work, with normal people being turned into beings with god-like power."

"It is pretty amazing, isn't it."

The two of them sat facing each other, talking idly as they enjoyed the dinner in front of them on their "date". At least, he thought Lila was enjoying it, she'd only taken a few bites of her small sandwich.

"So, what was your favorite Miraculous from the legends?" she asked, leaning forward slightly and causing some hair to fall over her shoulder.

"I'd have to say the black cat, he was always so cool and epic with his powers, he was sort of my idol growing up."

Lila nodded, "I always enjoyed the stories with the fox Miraculous, the way she could always create such realistic illusions with her flute."

Adrien glanced back down to the barely touched food on Lila's plate, "Are you okay? You've hardly eaten anything-"

"Oh," Lila waved it off, "it's fine, I just recently started a very strict diet..." She stood, smoothing out her shirt, "Excuse me, I have to go to the restroom, I'll be back in a minute..."

Adrien nodded, surprised at her sudden need to leave the table.

She's really thin already, though... he thought, watching the brunette's back as she walked away.

Minutes later the waiter came by with his check, and Adrien saw that she'd ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, as well as a coffee, despite it getting late and her already having one at the café earlier.

Lila returned as Adrien set down the money to pay for the food, and the two of them made their way out of the restaurant.

"Thank you for tonight, I had a really nice time."

Adrien smiled, "Same here, it was nice being able to talk about old stories like the Miraculouses. Maybe I'll text you later? We could meet up again?"

Lila began returning the smile, before a small look of fear crossed her pretty face. "Actually do you know what time it is?" she asked worriedly.

Pulling out his phone, Adrien replied, "A little past nine, why do you ask?"

She looked down, twisting her fingers together and shuffling her feet nervously. "I-I actually live by the Notre Dame, and if you've been watching the news... if it wouldn't be much trouble..."

Adrien knew what she was talking about, even if she seemed too timid and scared to say it out loud. "You're worried about the ghouls, right?"

The question seemed like more of a statement than anything else, and his suspicion was only confirmed by the small nod of Lila's head.

"Don't worry, I'll text my dad to tell him I'm walking you home."

Adrien sent a text quickly, before they began heading to the subway entrance down the street.

The ride across the city was surprisingly quiet, and not many people were out. The metro car they sat in was empty, the two of them sitting across from each other. Adrien's eyes were glued to an add that warned people to be careful when walking around at night.

The strange unease of being alone with Lila seemed to creep back as they sat there in silence, it was the same feeling he'd had when he first saw her in the café, only this time they were alone.

He felt his phone buzz a few times, but ignored it. It was probably just his dad telling him to head home and be more responsible with his time, he still had to finish his essay for Chinese, and work on that new piano piece, he didn't have time to hang out with girls.

The metro slowed to a stops, and Lila stood, heading to the doors with Adrien following.

He could see the Notre Dame over the buildings, the lights reflecting off of the aged stone in a simple beauty.

"It's this way," Lila interrupted Adrien's thoughts by taking his hand, leading him further away from the main streets, where even now people were wandering around, doing late-night shopping and getting dinner with friends. "Here, I know a short cut," Lila explains, motioning down a dimly lit alley, going through two apartment buildings in what seemed to be a maze of back streets.

"But isn't this around where ghouls-"

"Don't worry," Lila cut in, "I have you, no ghouls would risk attacking two strong, independent individuals like ourselves."

Lila said it with such confidence, Adrien complied.

That was the decision that determined his fate.

They walked through the alleyways, the occasional light of a building flooding into the trash-filled streets.

Soon they made it to an area beside what seemed to be a construction site, that was when Lila stopped in her tracks.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you out for a while now," she said nonchalantly, "I-I really like you Adrien, I wish it didn't have to be this way."

Her words shocked him, what was she talking about? The pit of his stomach squirmed with the dread-filled feeling that'd been bugging him for the past half-hour or so.

Every single one of his instincts told him to run — this was where someone would die in every horror story, in every news article-

Lila turned, "It's a shame, I really did like you, Adrikinz."

Adrien didn't see her move, all at once his shoulder exploded in pain.

His worst fear had been confirmed.

Why hadn't he listened to his instincts, at least then he would be safe at home by now, not a care in the world as he worked on homework and texted Nino.

But no, he just had to go down the dark alley with a girl he barely knew.

He saw a flash of something red, and an immense pain erupted from his stomach area. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, traveling up from his throat and causing him to cough painfully.

He felt sick, and began shaking uncontrollably as one thought filled his head.

He was going to die.

He was going to die, he was going to die he was going todie he wasgoingtodiehewasgoingtodiehewasgoingtodie-

The thought released inside his head endlessly inside is head until it was nothing back a jumble of thoughts.

He was brought back from his panicked state of mind by the insanity-filled laugh that belonged to Lila, "Human boys are so easy to fool," she giggled, her normally dark brown eyes now filled with black and red, and a cruel expression filled her once pretty face.

Now that he was up close he could see every small detail.

She threw Adrien back with what appeared to be a long, red tentacle that erupted from the base of her back, and Adrien hit the brick wall that bordered the construction sight with a sickening crack, he felt several of his ribs snapping at the impact, and he found he was unable to breath.

Dizziness overtook Adrien as he attempted to move, only to be met with a wave of nausea and pain, causing him to fall back to the ground and for black spots to cloud his vision.

"Aw, is he dead already?" he heard Lila ask, and one of the tentacles wrapped around him, pulling him from his crumpled position. "Such a shame, it's always much more fun to eat while they're still alive. I guess I'll have to be a bit gentler next time."

The iron grip around him loosened, and Adrien felt himself fall.

He heard footsteps approaching him, and as his vision began to clear slightly, he heard the click of metal.

"Now, which part of him should I eat first?"

Seconds later the world around him jerked, and he heard sirens in the distance.

The last thing he could see before blacking out was the silhouette of a girl with pigtails, and a strangely familiar voice calling out his name.

"Adrien!"

Chapter Text

Everything was dark.

Coldness engulfed Adrien, and he was vaguely aware of the frantic voices around him, something about an organ transplant, someone dying.

It occurred to him that he was the one dying.

His consciousness never stayed for too long, but he was aware of a nagging sensation in his stomach whenever he drifted awake.

Hunger, hunger so painful that he wasn't even sure if it was even that.

His eyes drifted open for a second, and it felt as if his left eye held a strange sort of power.

Adrien was just barely able to make out the hospital's ceiling before his mind was dragged into unconsciousness.

• • •

Adrien was recovering incredibly fast for someone with an organ transplant, and only a few days had passed before they finally allowed his dad in to see him.

The look in the man's eyes came close to concern about his son's safety, but Adrien was sure he'd just imagined it when the same man began scolding him a second later.

"You were out how long past curfew? And you didn't even say anything! It's almost as if you've forgotten what's been happening around the Notre Dame, around Paris at night!"

Adrien tuned most of the lecture out, nodding when needed and answering any simple questions thrown his way.

He wasn't concerned about any of that.

What he was concerned about was how, whenever he tried to eat, the food would taste old, rotten.

Yet he was hungry.

Adrien was released from the hospital a week later, when his father explained that he had to go on a business trip to Tokyo for a month, and needed Adrien's caretakers to adapt to taking care of Adrien as he recovered.

For most of the next day, he found himself sitting in his room, hunger gnawing at the edges of his stomach, and Adrien wondered how long it would take for someone to notice how he wasn't eating, how he ended up coughing and spitting up everything he tried to consume.

Fortunately Gorilla and Natalie were working in their offices, doing whatever work they were assigned by his dad.

He snuck downstairs that night, turning on the living room's TV as he grabbed the box of croissants that his father purchased for Adrien when he was released.

He still hadn't touched them.

Adrien sat down on the couch, flipping through the channels absentmindedly until the title of a news segment caught his eyes.

It was about ghouls.

"It's really quite unfortunate, see, ghouls can't consume human food, everything they eat tastes rotten to them, as if it's been spoiled and left to sit in the sun all day."

Adrien switched the channel again, only to land on another news segment about the CCG. An investigator was explaining how they fought the creatures.

"Normal knives and bullets can't harm them, it's as if they have an invisible shield that can only be breached by another ghoul's kagune-"

Adrien switched off the TV, looking down at the box of croissants in his lap.

Timidly, he reached down a hand and picked up the piece of food, what used to be one of his favorites, and bit into the flakey bread.

A single tear escaped his eyes as he stood up, making his way to the kitchen, a place he barely ever went.

He picked up one of the largest knifes he could find. Lifting up his shirt, his hands shaking as he gripped the knife. The circulation to his hands had been cut off, but he didn't notice. Before he could second-guess himself, he brought down the knife.

It shattered on impact.

Adrien sunk to his knees, unable so suppress the sobs that now raced through his body.

He was a ghoul — a monster that survived off of human flesh.

Picking himself up from his knees, he gathered the knife's shards and tossed them into the trash.

He grabbed an old back hoodie from his room, one that he'd worn the total of one time for a photo shoot, and fled from the house.

It was night out, but that didn't bother him, it was the sound of people, the unbearable smell that drifted to his nose, causing his mind to twist with insanity.

That was when the scent caught up with him.

It was the smell of an old home-cooked meal, one that he hadn't had in well over a year — not since his mother was killed.

He found himself following the scent blindly, shoving past everyone until he found himself in a maze of alleyways.

When he saw what the scent was he nearly cried.

There was a man, maybe in his thirties, who was hunkered over the bloodied corpse that once belonged to someone, but was now too mangled and shredded to even resemble a person.

Adrien let out a strangled cry, sinking to his knees.

The ghoul turned quickly, relaxing slightly as he hooked on to Adrien's eye.

The boy's hand drifted up, slightly aware of the sensation of power swelling up there. He scanned the ground, his gaze hooking onto a small puddle of water forming by a drain.

His eye was filled with a mix of black and red.

"There isn't much left," the ghoul said, digging a hand into the corpse and pulling off what seemed to be the remains of a muscle. Adrien's stomach heaved at the gory sight, "you can have some if you want-"

The ghoul was cut off abruptly by a shadowed figure, "Really, how many times do I have to tell the leaches to stay off of my feeding grounds."

Adrien recognized the voice, though he didn't recognize from where. He was too worried about the severed head that now laid beside the ghoul's corpse, two bodies now in align.

"Adrien, huh? Who'd have thought that you were one too..."

"Juleka!"

He froze, that voice... it couldn't be...

A figure dropped in front of him, facing the girl who'd just murdered the ghoul who'd offered him human flesh.

"This is no one's hunting ground, how many times do we have to tell you?"

He'd recognize that voice anywhere, it belonged to the sweet, awkward girl who was in his class, the girl who always helped her parents at the café, she couldn't be....

"You peace-lovers at the café make me sick." Juleka, the girl who sat at the back of his class, spoke.

How many more things was he going to learn tonight? The only reasonable explanation was that this was a nightmare... just a nightmare he was unable to wake up from.

Marinette turned, freezing at the sight of the boy.

"A-Adrien, I-I-"

"Marinette?" he asked, hurt obvious in his tone, "How-"

Adrien didn't finish, he found that it was impossible to not pay attention to the fresh corpse, and that his stomach twisted in the pain that only had to be hunger.

Marinette overcame her shock quickly, crouching down by her crush. "I heard that you'd gotten an organ transplant, I never would've thought... they gave you Lila's organs, didn't they?"

Even now, even when Adrien was so close to loosing control and devouring each scrap of that body, Marinette was trying to help.

Juleka groaned, hopping up to a nearby building, "Help this lost cause if you want, his dad's a ghoul investigator, and I don't feel like dying tonight."

If his mind had been clear, and it was only a week or two ago, he'd be running, trying to get to the safety of his home so he could alert his father or call the CCG.

But now it was quite clear that wasn't an option.

"Adrien," Marinette said, her voice terrifyingly calm, "you need to eat, if you don't then you'll only end up hurting those around you."

Marinette wasn't stuttering, it was strange, this wasn't the quiet and awkward girl he knew, yet his mind subconsciously agreed with her. After all, whoever that person was, they were dead, and nothing was stopping him from-

No.

No.

He clutched his head, trying to suppress the unending pain.

He was human, human, and he couldn't eat one of his own kind, he couldn't-

"Adrien, please, I don't want to have to force you, but you can't be around others when you're like this."

No. No no nonononono.

His hand began reaching out to the flesh that Marinette had taken from the body.

It was close to impossible to resist the hunger that clawed at him, and he attempted to drag his arm back down.

It was as if his mind and body were at war, it wasn't right, it was sickening to think of.

A gently hand caressed his cheek, "Adrien, please, don't make this harder for yourself."

They sat there for what seemed like days, Adrien constantly holding himself back from taking the flesh.

The flesh that Marinette held, the blood and gore didn't suit her pale skin, and the very thought of her being a ghoul seemed insane.

He heard the girl sigh, and her hand went down to his chin, he heard the faint echo of "I'm sorry." before the bloody chunk was forced into his mouth. He immediately resisted, trying to spit out the substance, but Marinette refused to let that happen.

His hunger overtook him.

Adrien gave in, letting it slide down his throat with a sickening gulp.

He wasn't human anymore.

He didn't deserve to ever be considered that.

Chapter Text

Marinette felt like crying.

The one day she wasn't working, when she had to go search for poor souls that had ended their life just so she could satisfy her hunger for another month, the one day she wasn't there was when Lila decided to strike.

Whenever she expressed discomfort at the idea of serving her before, her parents just waved her off, saying that they knew why she was worried, but they couldn't simply tell the ghoul that she was banned from the shop. That option held far too many risks.

Now Marinette was in her bedroom, watching Adrien as he slept on the simple bed-like couch in the corner.

She was supposed to be doing homework, but the stress of what happened to Adrien kept her from functioning properly. Eventually she gave up on reading the next three chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird, and resorted to just sitting at her desk, monitoring the sleeping boy and replying to any texts she'd get from Alya.

Marinette had made sure that her wall of Adrien photos had been taken down, replaced with clothing designs and designer magazine pages. He was on a few of them, but not too many to seem suspicious.

She let her head fall into her hands.

This was a mess.

What would she say when he woke up?

"Oh, hey Adrien! Yeah, I'm a ghoul, and now you're one too! Isn't that awesome?"

No, it wasn't awesome.

Marinette glanced to the coffee cup by her computer, her mom had brought it up an hour or two ago, when the sun had first started to rise.

What a wonderful way to spend her Sunday morning, waiting for the boy she likes to wake up and — upon realizing she's a ghoul — call the CCG and report them so that they would all either be taken into captivity or die.

He shifted, a pained groan escaping from his throat.

Marinette squeaked at the sudden noise, falling out of her chair in her panicked state before rushing to his side.

"Adrien? Are you okay?" she asked, almost regretting the action when he groggily sat up, a head on his head as he took in his surroundings.

"Marinette?" he asked, obviously confused. It didn't last long, realization dawned on his face as he remembered the events of the night before.

They sat in an awkward silence, and Marinette began messing with her hair — which was let down in a tangled mess from jumping across roofs the night before.

She hesitated, before finally speaking up, "I should probably tell Tikki that you're awake, she's the best at explaining things."

As Marinette turned to go downstairs, Adrien followed, calling out to her as she entered the living room ahead of him.

"Is it true?"

The question was barely a whisper, yet the girl hears him clearly.

She sucked in a deep breath, preparing herself to be killed later by the CCG.

"Everything you remember happening last night was most likely real."

Her voice was calm and clear, and Adrien remained silent after that, and Marinette left him sitting on the couch to go get Tikki.

They returned less than a minute later, Tikki holding a small cup of coffee in her hands. She set the mug in front of Adrien, sliding into the chair next to the couch where Adrien sat.

"What happened to me?" he asked as soon as the older girl sat down.

"We have a small idea," Tikki admitted sheepishly, "the only thing we know for certain is that you're no longer human — or at least not completely human."

Adrien looked down into his lap, his arms were limp, "I figured that much," he admitted, having no idea what he was going to do.

"We think it's because of Lila," Marinette piped up, still uneasy about the fact Adrien knew she was a ghoul — a monster, "she asked you on a date, didn't she? When I wasn't working?"

Adrien nodded, shocked at how normal Marinette seemed, he could almost believe last night never happened. Almost.

"She attacked you, didn't she?"

He nodded again, biting his lip at the memory that was still fresh in his mind.

Tikki spoke next, leaning forward as she explained he situation to him, "You had an organ transplant, and received the organs from an unknown girl who was killed in the 'construction accident'. That girl is who we are assuming to be Lila."

Adrien caught on quickly, "So I now have the organs of a ghoul inside me..."

"Which makes you unable to consume normal food."

Adrien sighed, glancing at the cup of coffee, which smelt strangely normal...

Tikki saw Adrien eying the cup, and she waved at him, motioning to take the drink.

"But wouldn't it-"

"Just try it," Marinette interrupted quietly, moving to fix her own cup in the small kitchen across the room, "You might be pleasantly surprised."

Adrien nodded, shaking slightly as he brought the mug to his lips. He let the hot liquid fall into his mouth, expecting the disgusting flavor to erupt on his tongue.

It never came.

Instead of the normal bitter rotten sensation, the coffee tasted normal, the flavor in a way only the Dupain-Cheng Café could achieve.

It made him cry, it had to be made of blood or something to taste this way, right?

"Don't worry," Tikki assured him, "it's just plain coffee, the only thing we can seemingly enjoy alongside humans."

He nodded, attempting to wipe away the tears. Marinette returned with her own cup, and sat by him, wrapping her arm over his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

He now had to suffer. If only she'd been at work that day, instead of leaving in search of suicide victims, if only she'd been able to warn him about Lila, if she'd done that he would still be normal, not some monster that everyone on this cruel earth feared.

She let him cry, knowing that he'd need to let it all out at this moment.

A ghoul didn't have the luxury to cry, and he would soon have to comply to that rule.

Chapter Text

The day passed rather quickly after that, Adrien was sent home with a small packet of flesh for whenever he got hungry, and was told to return when he needed more.

However, what really worried Marinette was school. She woke up surprisingly early the next day, and when she found that she couldn't get back to sleep she got dressed and made her way downstairs. Her mother was in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in one hand as she read a book at the small bar. The TV was on, and the news title showed that the CCG was still investigating the case with the "Binge Eater", who'd mysteriously just stopped killing.

Marinette ignored the news, she didn't want to think of Lila so early in the morning.

"Good morning, Mama." Marinette said, outing herself a cup of coffee from the machine and sliding next to her mother at the bar.

Her mom smiled at the young ghoul, "Good morning Marinette, you're certainly up early."

"I couldn't sleep," she confessed, dropping her head onto the bar, "I keep thinking about what happened to Adrien."

Mrs. Dupain-Cheng nodded, "Why don't you go help in the café for a bit, to get your mind off of it?"

Marinette stood, taking her coffee with her, "Yeah, sure."

• • •

The café was busy, as it usually was in the morning, and soon Marinette forgot completely about the worries plaguing her mind.

At least, until he entered the shop.

"Welcome-" Marinette momentarily froze where she stood, turning away from the coffee machine behind the counter. "A-Adrien!"

He had a smile on his face, one that seemed so pure and happy...

It was so obviously fake.

"Good morning Marinette," he called, making his way to counter, "could I have a normal coffee?"

"Y-yeah! Of course!" Marinette shuffled to quickly make the drink, setting the cup on the counter. "Oh, wait, one more thing."

Marinette reached under the counter, opening a cabinet and setting a small, dark green velvet pouch by Adrien's cup.

He eyed the pouch suspiciously, glancing back to Marinette as if to ask, "What is this?"

"Oh, well..." Marinette racked her mind for a way to explain it simply without drawing any suspicion, "If you get hungry, place one of those sugar cubes in a coffee, it should help for a bit."

Adrien nodded, pulling open the small pouch and taking out one of the brown cubes and dropping it into his coffee.

"If anyone asks," Marinette piped up, "just say it's brown sugar?"

"Right, thanks Marinette." Adrien flashed a small smile, and Marinette's heart felt as if it were breaking. How was he still trying to be so nice and positive?

"Marinette!"

The said girl quickly turned at the sound of her name being called, findings Tikki holding her school bag.

"You'd better get going or you'll be late!"

"R-right!"

Taking her bag from her sister, she made her way with Adrien out of the café, walking down the city sidewalks in silence.

There are clouds in the sky, Marinette noted, it looks like it might rain soon.

Usually rain was a blessing , especially if they needed to find food or fight the CCG. The fog obstructed the Ghoul Investigators' vision, and the constant downpour washed away any blood or evidence of a ghoul attack.

Right now it just seemed fitting, this was a tragedy, wasn't it?

"So about that offer Tikki made yesterday."

"Hm?" Marinette turned her head to face Adrien. They were now stopped at the crosswalk of a street, waiting for the light to change so they could cross.

"I can really join the staff there? And in return receive protection and food?"

She nodded in response, "It's always nice being to help ghouls who'd prefer not to hurt people, but sad as well."

Adrien cocked his head to the side, "Sad? How so?"

"Well..." Marinette considered the question, replying with eyes that seemed to cloud over, "For one, it's kinda dangerous, if anyone were to ever find out, well, everyone there is pretty much as good as dead. And you also have to see families that are torn apart, ones being hunted down by the CCG and killed."

"Oh..."

The light changed, and the two of them crossed the street. They walked up the front steps of their school just as a few rain drops escaped from the sky.

"Come on, let's get inside." Adrien gripped Marinette's hand, shocking the girl by his actions.

"Wait..." she called before he could move.

"Yeah?"

"Why aren't you... ugh... how do I phrase this... disgusted by me?"

The rain had started falling, and Marinette felt the soft mist from the water springing onto her back.

"What do you mean?" was his reply.

"Well... I-I'm a monster, right? I lie to everyone on a daily basis, making simple excuses to not eat... Adrien, I've killed people before, innocent people who had nothing to do with me, with anything! And I eat the corpses of those who ended their life- how are you not afraid of me? How can you even stand being in the same room as me?"

Adrien simply guided her under the shelter of the school's front, away from any rain that threatened to touch her.

"Marinette," he whispered, his eyes hard and serious when he spoke, "from what little I've seen of you this weekend, you're not a bad person. You didn't choose to be a ghoul, like I didn't choose to become one. So stop thinking like that, I'm not going to turn you in or tell anyone about you. You're still Marinette, the sweet girl who's in my class."

The warning bell for school rung, and one or two students ran into the building, kids who were running late or overslept.

"Just a small question, so I don't make any big mistake," Adrien continued, glancing into the school, "does Alya know?"

Marinette shook her head, guilt creeping into her heart as she replied, "No." she whispered, "She doesn't know."

"Right."

Adrien gripped Marinette's hand the slightest bit tighter as they turned to the building, entering through the double doors.

All Marinette could think of in that moment was how warm his hand was — and how much more in love with him she was falling.

Chapter Text

"Are you going to explain yourself?"

"It was nothing, I swear!"

Alya was latched on to Marinette's shoulders before class began, refusing to stop pestering her until Marinette explained what she was doing with Adrien.

"Marinette, do not tell me it's nothing! You just walked into class with your crush holding your hand, do you realize how important this event is?"

Marinette let out a strangled cry, dropping her head into her hands as red spread across her cheeks, "I know," she whined, lifting her head and looking into Alya's eyes, "I told you, I was helping in the café when he came by to get coffee, and when he saw the time he offered to walk to school together. That's it, I swear!"

Alya nodded, disbelief spreading across her features, "Yeah. Sure."

It was at this time their homeroom teacher walked in, setting her things by the front desk and opening a folder to take attendance. The only one absent was Juleka, which worried Marinette slightly.

"As most of you know, there's been a steady increase in ghoul attacks lately, and though as of now there haven't been many in the area, the CCG — Commission of Counter Ghoul — has requested for schools to begin teaching students more of ghouls so that they can have an increased chance of avoiding them."

Marinette saw Adrien tense slightly in his seat, and she understood why. They'd learned about ghouls in school before, but never had an actual unit on it.

"Yes," Alya whispered excitedly, "it's about time we learned something interesting."

The ghoul simply smiled at her friend, laughing at the excitement in the girl's tone, "You'll ace this unit, Alya."

"Quiet down, class, this is a serious matter." the Mrs. Bustier called, hushing the sudden chatter that erupted in the room. "We've been provided the information that we are required to share with you all, so please pay attention. It would be a shame for any of you to get hurt because of a ghoul."

She turned on the overhead projector, and Marinette caught a snide comment coming from Chloé's area, "This is so stupid, if you don't want to get eaten then just don't go anywhere with a ghoul, simple?"

Marinette sighed, of course Chloé would think like that.

The teacher turned off the lights at the front of the room, illuminating the projector as the slideshow was pulled up.

"It's common knowledge that ghouls reside in Paris, as well as several other major cities around the globe, with the heaviest known population of them being in Tokyo." she said, turning to the class, "Adrien, I'm sure you know of the issue with your dad being an Investgator?"

The said boy nodded, though Marinette could sense obvious hesitation in his movements, "Yeah, he's currently in Japan trying to help put the situation under control."

Nodding, Mrs. Bustier pulled up a map of Paris, several red dots littering the streets. "This is a map given to us by the CCG, the red dots you see are where ghoul attacks have happened over the past two years." Her hand traveled along the map, eventually stopping by the Eiffel Tower. "Thankfully, our *arrondissement has seen close to no attacks. They don't know if it's because we're close to the Eiffel Tower — and several more people come here daily — or if the number of ghouls is smaller than other arrondissements."

Chloé raised her hand, and Mrs. Bustier sighed, "Yes, Chloé?"

"Can I leave?"

"Why do you need to leave, Chloé?"

"Ghouls aren't real, it just has to be some group of serial killers. I'm not interested in things that don't exist."

Marinette felt bad for the teacher having to deal with the spoiled girl.

"Chloé, you can't leave this class because of something like that. It's that kind of attitude that'll get you killed."

As she spoke, Mrs. Bustier clicked to a new slide on the power point, on it was two photos and a small paragraph.

Marinette recognized the face immediately.

It was a man, probably in his late teens or early twenties, with messy black hair and a mask that resembled some hellish cross between a rat and a cat. The first photo was blurry and low-quality, and the second was a drawing done by a talented artist.

"Along with information about the ghoul species, we also received information about powerful ghouls who're being hunted down by the CCG. The one you see on the screen is known as 'The Gourmet', and is known for luring humans to infamous 'ghoul restaurants', where they're killed and served to multiple ghouls. Unfortunately they can never seem to find these hideouts that often."

Chloé sunk back into her seat, "That's just some stupid cosplayer..." she muttered.

Marinette's heart skipped a beat as the teacher went to the next slide, subconsciously beginning to mess with her hair.

Up on the screen was a photo of her, dressed in a black and red hoodie with a mask resembling a ladybug. Her kagune flared out behind her in a burst of red and black. Thankfully her dark blue hair was hidden by a scarlet wig.

Unlike the last slide, the photo was in much better quality, and there was no drawing.

"This is the S-Ranked ghoul known as 'Ladybug'. Unfortunately, like you can see from the small amount of info, there isn't much known about her. The few time she's been seen were after one or two other ghouls in the area were taken out by the CCG. She appeared afterwards and attacked recklessly, killing an investigator and fleeing just as quickly."

Chloé piped up quickly, "She just sounds like a coward to me." she said, though there was an obvious hint of fear in her eyes at the sight of the wing-like kagune.

"Even if she is a coward, she'd be able to kill you in a heartbeat."

Chloé opened her mouth to reply, but Mrs, Bustier switched the slide.

Marinette would recognize this ghoul anywhere, even if the photo was only a rough sketch. It was an SSS rank, one that — thankfully — resided on the other side of the city.

His mask resembled a butterfly, it's wings stretching across his red eyes that peeked through the purple mask. A rinkaku kagune spread out from behind him in shades of a bruise-like red.

He was terrifying, and rightfully so.

"This ghoul is one of the more severe cases, most investigators who go up against him are either seriously injured or killed."

The teacher quickly exited the PowerPoint, instead opening a separate file on her laptop, a video labeled "kagune".

Chloé looked like she was about to protest, but the teacher started the video before a single word could escape her mouth.

Marinette braced herself for the things she already knew, hoping that nothing she did could reveal her secret.

It was going to be a long day.

Chapter Text

"This has to be the most interesting day of school since when Chloé forgot to put on mascara!" Alya gushed about the morning class excitedly, "I can't wait to talk about this on my blog, they even showed the official drawing of Hawkmoth — or Le Papillon, whichever name you prefer."

"It's certainly surprising that they decided to teach us about Ghouls," Marinette admitted, swallowing another soggy clump of the sandwich Alya decided to share with the poor ghoul who — as always — forgot her lunch.

"And Chloé actually believes they're fake? That's freaking amazing!" Alya laughed, "You'd've think that she'd brag about her father giving her a dress made from their skin or something."

Marinette nodded, her gaze shifting over to Adrien, who was talking with Nino as he sipped on a coffee he'd bought from the cafeteria. The said boy turned his head, his gaze catching on Marinette's. He waved at her, and her face exploded in blush as she shyly waved back.

She forced herself to take another bite, swallowing the substance and ignoring how her stomach ached. With the class now actually learning about ghouls, she was going to have to make sure she seemed as normal as possible.

Her gut screamed in protest at the thought.

As soon as she finished her sandwiches half she stood, planning to excuse herself to the toilet.

"I'll come with you!" Alya said, following her, "I still have to tell you about the recent ghoul attack that happened this weekend!"

Marinette was in a corner, though only figuratively. She couldn't just tell Alya to not come with her, it wasn't right.

She nodded, making her way to the girls' room as her friend followed. She felt the food trying to crawl up her throat, but she just swallowed it back down.

Marinette already saw how this was going to go. She would end up not being able to hold it in, throw up the food, and be sent home sick with people wondering why she never said anything sooner.

Her anxious thoughts were interrupted by a hand on her shoulder, making the young ghoul jump.

Spinning on her heels, she let out a breath of relief, it was only Adrien.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" he asked, concern filling his eyes.

"N-no, not at all!" Marinette waved off the issue, and Alya gave her a knowing glance before quietly slipping away.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"Just a small stomach ache, that's all."

They sat in an awkward silence, a hint of blush on Marinette's cheeks as she peered at the ground, shuffling her feet as she racked her mind for what to say.

"So... how did you do it?" he suddenly asked, and Marinette looked up to see they were the only ones in the hall.

"Hm?"

"You know... eat the sandwich?"

"Oh... well..." Marinette moved her hands, hoping to explain it a simply as possible while not mentioning the fact that either of them were ghouls, even if it still sounded suspicious, "When you bite into the food, it's best to swallow the bite whole and just pretend to chew a few seconds afterward. It helps to not spread the flavor. But it's best to get it out of your system before digesting it."

"Right..." Adrien sighed, "I tried eating breakfast this morning, just for appearances... but I ended up spitting everything out when it hit my tongue."

Marinette understood the feeling, and she tried swallowing back the food that was climbing up her throat again, but the substance kept trying to escape her system.

It's not right, her body screamed at her, it's unnatural, gross.

Marinette soon saw that there was no keeping the food down, and began quickly heading to the nearest trash can as Alya entered the hall.

"Hey, class is about to start- Marinette!"

The ghoul found herself releasing the contents of her stomach — of her "lunch" — into the garbage, coughing as the bitter taste filled her mouth.

Her two friends ran up to her, Alya putting her back and asking if she was okay.

"She mentioned not feeling that well earlier, maybe she caught a stomach bug?"

Alya frowned, "Marinette, you should've told someone if you felt sick, it's not healthy to go to school like that."

Marinette nodded, wiping her mouth with her hand.

"Adrien, go tell the teacher I'm taking Marinette to the nurse, she has to go home and get rest."

"Alya, honestly, I'm fine now!"

"Don't give me that! Girl, you need to take care of yourself," Alya took Marinette by the shoulders, leading her the bathroom as Adrien went to class to notify the teacher that Marinette wouldn't be returning to class that day.

"Here, wash out your mouth and I'll get you some paper towels."

Marinette complied, thankful to at least get the rest of the aftertaste out of her mouth, washing her hands and taking the towels that Alya offered her.

"You really don't have to do this, you're going to miss class-"

"Nope, none of that. I'm taking you to the nurse and someone from your family can pick you up."

Marinette sighed, "Fine, let's go to the nurse."

[A/N- I was so tempted to write "Let's go home" here and re-write a few things so that it made sense]

The two of them made their way down the hall, and Alya left to get Marinette's stuff from class when they arrived.

The nurse called the café's number at Marinette's request, they were usually busy in the café at this time, and her parents always left their cell phones in the house or turned off so they wouldn't be distracted by any notifications.

"Hello? Yes, this is the nurse from Marinette's school. Your daughter appears to be sick and cannot finish the day. Yes, thank you."

Alya brought back her stuff, and Marinette thanked her before she left.

It didn't take long for someone to arrive to accompany her home, the café was quite close to the school. And Tikki walked into the nurse's office in full-blown worry mode.

She thanked the nurse, and took Marinette's hand as they exited the building.

"So, want to explain what happened?"

"Alya gave me food because I "forgot" my lunch, when I got up to leave to the restroom she decided to go with me. We ran into Adrien in the hall, I ended up puking in a nearby trash can."

Tikki nodded, "Well, you'll probably have to stay home tomorrow for the sake of appearances. Just hang out in the house and your room, maybe work on a few designs. You might be able to go out or help in the café in the evening."

They crossed the street, making their way into the small, empty café.

Her mother fretted over her health for a minute or so, and her dad stood by and supported her words.

Marinette found herself overtook by exhaustion, she would have to tell them that they were now learning about ghouls in school, but for the time being, she simply took the cup of coffee offered to her and made her way to her room.

Chapter Text

Marinette wasn't at school the next day, which caused Adrien to become slightly worried. He would stop by the café after school, just to make sure she was okay.

The classes passed in a show drag, and Adrien found it difficult to pay attention. They were given a new list of vocab in English, and he jumped up before Alya could and offered to bring Marinette the notes she'd missed.

Before long, classes were released for the day and kids made their way either to clubs, placed to hang out, and home.

He was standing in front of the school with Nino when she approached them.

"Hey, Nino," Juleka said, "sorry for being absent yesterday."

Adrien found his heart rate quicken. Juleka was the one in the alleyway with Marinette, the other ghoul.

"No problem, did you bring the radio with you today?" Nino replied, and Juleka shook her head.

"I forgot it at home, but we can go get it if you have the time!"

Nino nodded, before turning to Adrien, "Hey, Juleka borrowed my radio the other day for a school project, do you mind taking a detour on the way home?"

Adrien agreed without hesitation, not trusting Juleka to be alone with him, there was something in her eyes that just set him on edge.

"Great, let's get going. The sooner we get there the sooner y'all can head home."

Juleka turned a waved goodbye to her friend Rose, a small sweet girl who seemed to be the complete opposite of her, and began heading down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the way Nino and him usually went.

They went down into the subway, going to the platform where their train was set to arrive any minute.

A foul stench made its way to Adrien's nose.

"Oh, dude, look! Croissants!" Nino went to a small stand set up in between two of the tracks, taking money from his pocket and buying three of the baked goods. He handed one to Juleka, who thanked him as she took the food, and then passed one to him, "They're your favorite, right?" he asked, biting into his.

"Yeah, I haven't had one in a while, thanks Nino!" Adrien said as he folded the small paper bag around the croissant, "I'll eat it while doing homework later."

Nino nodded, and he and Juleka commenced to eat the disgusting things.

It was funny how opinions could change in just a short time, but what really surprised him was how Juleka looked perfectly fine while eating it. Marinette could do the same, but ended up getting sick only a few minutes later.

Their train arrived, and the three of them boarded the vehicle and stood by the doors as they waited for the next stop, which was near where Juleka apparently lived.

"So when is your dad coming back from Tokyo?" Nino asked as they exited the metro minutes later, walking back out into the warm afternoon.

"He's set to return next month, on the first of November." Adrien explained, mentally sighing at the thought of him returning and quite possibly noticing that he'd changed.

They turned onto a side street, laughing and joking about random things before they eventually heading under a bridge that went over the river they walked along.

Nino was suddenly thrown, hitting the wall with a sickening crunch.

The smell of blood reached his nose, and Adrien's eyes went wide, one of them unconsciously changing to black and red.

"Wh- Juleka?!"

He turned to face the ghoul. Her kagune was activated, and she calmly strolled across the distance she'd thrown the poor boy.

"So, how long were you planning on pretending?" she asked, "How long were you going to deceive him?"

Juleka kicked Nino's seemingly unconscious form, blood trickled from an unseen wound on his head. Her kagune flaring out and slicing part of Nino's arm.

"W-wait, what are you doing? You'll kill him!"

"And?" Juleka turned to the side, sticking two fingers up her throat and letting slightly chewed pieces of croissant fall from her mouth. "Ugh, disgusting..." she muttered before going to face Adrien. "I've been unable to eat for the past several weeks and my damn stomach is killing me."

"But, he's Nino! You can't just kill him-"

"Please, like you weren't planning on doing so yourself. It's almost fun watching you interact with him." her hand drifted up to her eye, a smirk playing on her lips, "Besides, you're saying one thing, but your eye is giving away your true intentions. Just stay out of the way and I might share some of him."

Adrien felt his kagune sprouting from his back, unraveling into multiple red arms.

[A/N- "Unravel", get it? Possible pun? Anyone???]

He did not know a thing about what he was about to do, he hadn't really even known if he would get a kagune.

Adrien pushed the thoughts to the side, trying to focus on the problem at hand.

She was an experienced ghoul, one that was hungry and willing to kill anyone to satisfy that hunger.

He, on the other hand, didn't even know the first thing about fighting.

Then the smell hit him.

It was a sweet, almost metallic smell that overwhelmed his senses. He didn't know what he'd been thinking of earlier, all he knew was that he was hungry, and that a silver platter of food had practically been laid in front of him, with only a minor fly getting in the way.

Go, a voice inside his head whispered, we're awfully hungry, aren't we? Eat.

His kagune stretched out grasping onto the other ghoul and crushing her ribs as he threw her like she had with Nino, attacking and attacking until he was sure she wasn't getting back up.

"He's my friend, so I have to eat him," he murmured, staggering over to the unconscious boy, his laugh sounding foreign and almost feminine as he picked up Nino's arm, slowly licking away the blood from a cut, finding himself unable to handle the wonderful taste.

That was the last thing he was able to do before a flash of red filled his vision, and he found himself slipping away into unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

Adrien came to several hours later, all traces of hunger gone and blood staining his shirt. There were no obvious wounds, but every inch of his body ached as if he'd just run ten miles.

"You're awake!" a girl's voice called as he pulled himself up.

He moaned in response, trying to maneuver in a way that didn't cause himself pain.

He was suddenly aware of a warm, wet sensation in his mouth. Adrien quickly brought his hand to his lips, only to return with a thin layer of blood covering his fingers.

"Did I...?"

Marinette was holding a coffee and her hands tightened around the cup, she was sitting next to him on the sofa.

"There's only one way to satisfy a ghoul's hunger," she explained, causing Adrien to panic.

"Wait- where's Nino?"

Marinette set a gentle hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm the frantic half-ghoul, "Don't worry, he's resting in my room. Tikki's watching him."

Adrien let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

"We can go see him if you'd like?"

He nodded, quickly pulling himself off of the couch and ignoring any sore pains.

Marinette stopped him before he could run to the stairs. "Calm down, you may not have any visible injuries, but the internal ones are still healing."

Adrien sighed, following her advice and slowing down his actions. The two of them made their way up to Marinette's room, entering through the trap door.

Nino was set at the same place Adrien had been on that first night, only he was covered in multiple bandages, both on his head and arms from being thrown by Juleka.

The faint stench of blood filled his nose.

"I was out doing some shopping for fabric when saw that Juleka was attacking so I went to try helping, but it was as if you'd gone completely insane with hunger," Tikki explained to Adrien when she saw him enter, "I did what I could to stop you, thankfully you'd never used your kagune before."

Tikki stood and went to Marinette's desk, where a first aid kit had been set. She opened the kit as Adrien stood in the doorway, his emotions at war at the sight of his injured friend.

He'd been the reason Nino was hurt. If only he'd said something, somehow convinced Nino to wait until Juleka brought his stuff to school again, then he would still be fine and they'd be texting and joking-

His thoughts were interrupted by the clock on the table.

"Wait- Marinette, what time is it?"

The ghoul seemed shocked by the question, but replied nonetheless, "8 a.m on Wednesday, my mom got a call from the school not long ago. A recent ghoul attack caused a ceiling in the subway to collapse, and with the rain the way it is this morning, the rails are flooded. School was cancelled for the day."

Tikki made her way to the two of them, a small piece of cotton in her hands.

"You might want to wear this," she said, handing Adrien a simple medical eyepatch.

"Why would I need to?" he asked, "My eye isn't hurt-"

He was interrupted by Tikki shoving a small makeup compact into his face, the small mirror revealing a single red eye.

"Wha- how is it-?"

"Nino is hurt, and he has a few open wounds. If your eye changes from just that, you'll need to wear an eyepatch."

Adrien felt like protesting, but realized that there was no point.

He was a ghoul.

A stupid, useless half-ghoul who couldn't even control his own kagune.

He took the eyepatch, slipping it over his head.

None of the ghouls noticed the certain human that shifted in his "slumber".

• • •

"I'm really worried about Juleka though, she had to be taken to a hospital? I thought what happened to me was bad..."

Nino had awoken around an hour ago, and currently everyone was inside the empty café Marinette and Tikki taking care of the coffee shop as their dad was out shopping for food for the café and their mom was doing laundry in the house.

The only sound that could be heard from the outside was the gentle patter of rain.

"Yeah, some luck of ours. Who knew that a truck would run off of the road and crash there." Adrien said, "We had to text your parents saying you were staying with me to study."

Nino took a mug from in front of him, finishing off the last of his coffee with one final gulp, "It's a shame that your eye got hurt, your father would freak if he saw that."

"It might end up scarring, so I'll probably end up wearing the eye patch more often than not."

The peaceful atmosphere was shattered when the door was opened, two ghouls coming in from the rain and making their way to the counter.

"Mrs. Chamack, good morning!" Tikki called, making her way to the woman.

The small girl who was with her ran behind the counter, latching onto Marinette's legal the girl laughed and picked the child up.

"Good morning Tikki, is Sabine home? I have something important to discus with her."

"Yeah, she's in the house, I could call her down if you want."

The woman nodded, before calling out to the child, "Manon, come back over here and stop bothering Marinette, she has to work."

Manon looked like she was about to protest, but was interrupted by Marinette nudging her towards the child's mom.

Tikki exited the café, heading up the back stairwell while the two ghouls sat at a table.

Marinette brewed a coffee for the two ghouls, and Nino stood, pulling his backpack from its place on the floor.

"I have to get going, my parents are probably freaking out about me not being home yet."

Adrien took his bag, rummaging through the mess of papers in search of an umbrella. He found the needed item, handing it to his friend.

"You sure you'll be okay? It's been raining all day, it's probably not good to get those bandages wet."

Nino took the umbrella gratefully, "Thanks, dude."

Adrien watched as his friend left the café, and seconds later the back foot opened to reveal Tikki and Sabine, who made their way to greet the woman.

Now that the only human was gone, their faces were grim.

"Nadja, what happened?" Sabine asked, worry clear on her face.

"Hawk Moth."

At that one name everyone sat in silence.

"Marinette, please go change the shop sign to 'closed'." Sabine asked, and Marinette immediately complied.

"He's been coming back to our home, demanding these torturous tools from my husband. He made us leave in fear that we'd get hurt."

Sabine nodded as she sat at the small café table, facing Nadja, "He did the right thing! I can't even imagine how many Doves would be in the area after him."

The small child tugged on her mother's sleeve dragging the ghoul from her conversation, "I'm bored, when will we go home?"

"Oh- uh-"

"You'll be staying here for a while," Sabine cut in before Nadia could finish, "your dad has some important work to take care of, so you won't be able to go home until later."

Manon cocked her head slightly, confusion obvious in her stance.

"Marinette? Please take Manon to the spare room under the café, and try cleaning up a bit. It's been a while since anyone's stayed there."

Marinette took Manon's small hand, beckoning Adrien to follow them as she headed up the stairwell and into their living room.

"Every now and then ghouls come to us in hope of shelter," she explained to Adrien as she unlocked a door in the corner, "before I was born they had them staying in what is now my room, but now they renovated the basement into a small living quarters." Marinette picked up Manon, and the three of them headed down a thin staircase to the room below. "If it were just Manon, she'd stay in my room with me, but because Mrs. Chamack is with her they're sharing this room."

Adrien slowly processed what Marinette had said as she set the child down to explore the room, "Why would they even need to stay here in the first place? Couldn't they just rent a room in a hotel?"

"Because, Adrien," Marinette said, making sure she wasn't in the child's range of hearing, "If ghoul investigators are after Hawkmoth, one of the most powerful ghouls in Paris, what do you think would happen to the ghouls who cross paths with them?"

Realization dawned in Adrien's mind, and Marinette's words sunk in.

Manon and her mom were here because it wasn't safe at their home.

They were here because they'd most likely die if they weren't.

Chapter Text

Later that afternoon Adrien was pulled from the café shift he decided to pick up, Tom returning and telling him to go meet Marinette in the house.

He did so without any complaint, taking off the apron from his waist and leaving to meet his friend.

"It's finally stopped raining, get your bag." she said, meeting him at the door, "We need to get you a mask."

Adrien did as he was told, picking up the backpack that he'd discarded there earlier.

He followed Marinette out onto the streets of Paris, still slightly confused with why he would need one.

They entered the metro that was still running, going on a line that led away from the damaged tracks that they were currently repairing.

It was quiet, yet the car they were in still had other people. Soon enough the small crown slowly thinned, leaving the two of them on the underground train as they made their way from the 7th arrondissement of Paris to the 1st.

It wasn't that long of a ride, but the station was close to deserted by the time they arrived — except for the middle-aged man running a small convenience stand — which was to be expected. It was currently 6 p.m, and the area was known to be empty and dangerous at night, ghouls often attacked here.

"This way," Marinette called, leading Adrien away from the filthy public transport and into the early October heat.

It was almost eerie how quite it was. They were near the center of the city, shouldn't there be more people?

They walked for a few minutes, cutting through several small alleyways and passing several places that'd seen better days.

"The shop is around here," said Marinette, and the two of them rounded a corner into an alleyway, a grime-covered staircase at the end, a small wooden sign with Mask Tailor scribbled in a font of cursive was hung above it. "I know, it looks sketchy, but at least it wards off most people."

Adrien nodded, not sure what to think about anything.

They made their way down the stone steps, taking extra care to not step in any of the water that managed to pool up, despite the metal drains tucked along the cold cement walls. There were traces of graffiti that Adrien noticed while walking down, a few initials, one or two gang signs, and around five mask silhouettes that Adrien spotted.

The door was simple, and had a black curtain covering the thick glass of both the door and the small window beside it, a simple sign in the corner of the glass read Open, though the appearance made it seem as if it wasn't.

Marinette opened the door, heading into the air conditioned building with Adrien close behind.

The room was dim, and the colors of black and violet were prominent around the small shop. Several small tables littered the floor, upon each one sat the head of a mannequin wearing a mask, the style ranging from elegant and fancy, to something you'd see the villain wearing in a superhero movie. A few of them had white sheets covering them, which led Adrien to believe that they were either empty of any mask, or a work in progress. He noticed that there was a pair of roller blades lying by the door.

"Alix, you here?" Marinette called out into the seemingly empty shop.

When there was no reply Marinette looked crestfallen, and Adrien made his way to one of the sheet-covered stands, his curiosity overtaking him as he gently lifted the fabric and-

"Boo."

Adrien shrieked, stumbling back and falling to the ground.

A loud laugh filled the room, and a girl with pink hair and a snake-print leather jacket jumped off of the table. "Priceless! Hey Marinette, who'd the newb?"

Adrien's classmate sighed, her hand making contact with her forehead and causing a small smack to resonate throughout the room.

"We came to get a mask for my friend, Adrien." Marinette said, crossing a small distance to help the half-ghoul up.

"Well, nice to meet you!" Alix laughed, pulling what appeared to be a small eyeball from her pocket and popping it into her moth as if it were a piece of chocolate, "The name's Alix, but I'm known as Time Breaker by the doves, ya heard of me?"

"Umm..."

"Stop messing around, Alix, you know how dangerous it can get here at night."

Marinette's words caused the girl to laugh again, "Chill out, I'll make him a mask, don't worry."

Adrien's wrist was suddenly in an iron grip, Alix dragging him across the room to where a tall stood stood next to a counter with a cash register. She pushed him onto the chair, going behind the counter and emerging with a long tape measure as Marinette sighed and leaned against the wall.

Alex dug into her pocket again, bringing out a second eye that matched the first, "Snack?" she offered Adrien, who shook his head and turned away the "food".

Alix popped the eye into her mouth, folding up the tape measure before taking out a sharpie and scribbling something on her wrist.

"Right, I have your measurements, any requests for the design?"

"A cat, maybe?"

Alix wrote down a few more things on her wrist, before pulling down her sleeve and walking to the door and pulling it open as she flipped a switch by the door. A small light outside flickered on.

"'Kay, it should be done in about a week, but in the meantime y'all should probably get going. It's getting late."

Marinette nodded, "Thanks, Alix."

"Oh yeah, Marinette," Alix said, rushing back to the counter and emerging with a small paper bag, "I fixed your mask," she tossed the bag to Marinette, who caught it easily.

"Thanks Alix, come by the café later and I'll pay you?"

"Sure, now leave before people start wondering around. It doesn't usually end well for a normal high school girl walking alone."

"Noted."

Marinette took Adrien's hand, leading him out of the shop and back onto the street as the sun was beginning to set.

They retraced their steps through the alleyways, slowly crossing the 1st arrondissement to the metro.

The train ride back was quiet, and the two of them didn't speak as they headed back to the 7th arrondissement.

By the time they made their way back onto the streets above the sun had set, and Marinette quietly walked with Adrien until she saw that he was safely at his mansion.

It was when she was walking home on her own there was a shuffle in the alleyway beside her.

Marinette sighed as the dark figure made its way out of the shadows. His dark hair was messy and his gray, translucent-like skin caught in the moonlight and his green eyes glowed as they cut through the dark shadows and his twisted mask. He was wearing a short leather jacket, though it did little to cover his bare chest, scars evident even in the faint light.

"What do you want, Plagg?"

Chapter Text

School the next day was dull, and Marinette found herself unable to focus as she stared blankly at the board in front of her.

It was their daily lesson about ghouls again — ghoul restaurants, to be exact. That small fact didn't help her concentrate.

That damn Plagg... what did he mean he was inviting her to that stupid restaurant of his? He knew that the only time she was interested in those was when he was stealing too many people from the 7th arrondissement.

"Marinette, do you recall the name of the ghoul who's suspected to lead these 'restaurants'?" the teacher asked, noticing that the girl had been zoning out."

"Oh- it's..." Marinette stopped herself before she could say that Plagg was the one, they didn't know the ghoul's identity, "It's The Gourmet, right?" she asked.

"Thank you, now please pay attention from now on."

The ghoul nodded, and Adrien flashed her a bright smile before turning to the front.

Marinette was slightly shocked at the fact that she didn't burst into an immediate crimson blush.

Alya nudged her, whispering under her breath so that the teacher wouldn't notice, "Hey, so I heard that Adrien's working at the café, what is the status on your relationship?"

Marinette found herself laughing nervously as she copied down a few notes from the board, "I think we might be friends now?"

"Just friends?"

"Marinette, Alya, if you can not pay attention at least do so quietly." Mrs. Bustier called, and Alya laughed, attempting to cover up what they'd been talking about.

"Sorry, but I did research on these at home before, I was just explaining a few things that Marinette didn't understand."

The teacher sighed, "Very well, but next time please just raise your hand, Marinette."

"Of course, Mrs. Bustier."

When the bell rang releasing students for the day, Alya began excitedly chattering about things mentioned in the class about ghouls. Marinette was only half-listening, her mind still swarming with a million different thoughts.

"Marinette, girl, are you listening to me?"

Marinette's head shot up, "Sorry Alya, what?"

Her friend laughed, "Did you pay attention to anything today? Two ghoul investigators are coming to the school tomorrow, answering questions and giving an in-depth explanation on what exactly the CCG does."

"You seem awfully excited," Marinette pointed out, attempting to hide her worry about the small fact she'd missed.

"Why wouldn't I be? I've actually been considering applying for a few training programs after high school."

They began walking, Alya deciding to visit the café with Marinette.

"What programs? Ghoul research?"

Her friend rolled her eyes, "What, it isn't obvious enough? I kinda want to become a ghoul investigator."

Marinette stalled mid-step, stumbling to a stop, "W-what? Alya, that's dangerous! People die with that job, not to mention you'd automatically become a target for several ghouls if you became one!"

A laugh cut through the air, "Relax, I've been thinking this over for a while. It's the only career that's really stuck out to me."

Marinette felt herself panicking at Alya's carefree words, "But Alya, I don't want anything to happen to you, why can't you become a bureau investigator instead, that path isn't nearly as-"

"Marinette," Alya halted the ghoul's ranting with her hands firmly gripping the girl's shoulders, "I'm not sitting around all day doing paperwork. Besides, we still have a year or two left until we have to start worrying about colleges, we can discuss it then."

Marinette sighed, seeing that there was no way she could convince Alya otherwise, and began heading to the café once more.

They entered the coffee shop, a rush of cool air blending with the smell of ground beans.

"'Sup Tikki," Aya called as she slid into a bar seat, Marinette following after her, "two coffees please!"

"It's nice to see you again, Alya." Tikki smiled, setting the rag she was using to clean the counter aside as she left to the coffee maker, "Welcome home, Marinette."

She set the two mugs down in front of the girls, before returning to cleaning the counter.

"So I was thinking that we could go out this weekend, since the weather is beginning to change, and get clothes for fall and winter," Alya started as she sipped on the coffee, "There's this new clothing shop that opened near the Notre Dame, if we headed out in the morning we should be back before dark."

"Hasn't it been dangerous there lately? Something about a binge eater.... Volpina, I think?"

Alya waved away Marinette's concerns, "The attacks pretty much stopped a few weeks ago, we'll be fine!"

Alya pulled out her phone, the small ladybug charm dangling to the side as she opened up her blog, taking a picture of her coffee and typing in the caption something about how the Dupan-Cheng Café was the best in Paris before posting the photo.

"There. Free advertising, now you have no choice but to go with me."

Marinette picked up her coffee, taking a small sip before replying, "You know it doesn't work like that."

"Nonsense, it works however I say it works," was Alya's immediate reply, before she pulled her backpack onto the counter, opening it and removing a few notebooks, "Now, on to homework."

The bell at the front of the shop suddenly rang, signifying that someone had just entered the café.

"Bonjour! Tikki, it's been too long!"

An involuntary shudder raced up Marinette's spine, and she could almost hear Tikki's heartbeat quicken.

"Hello, Plagg..." she mumbled, turning to begin organizing coffee mugs behind the counter.

The Gourmet ghoul was dressed much nicer than he was the night before, having ditched the leather jacket and replaced it with a fancy suit. He walked with an aura of confidence to the counter, dropping ten euros in front of Tikki before ordering a plain black coffee.

Alya glared at the ghoul in suspicion, before dismissing any thoughts she had about the man.

It was what he said next that made Marinette's blood boil.

"So, about that blonde kid that now works here, what was his name... Adrien?"

Chapter Text

Adrien was sitting on a park bench, sipping on a coffee as he flipped past yet another page of Chinese notes, memorizing as much vocabulary as possible in the span of a few minutes.

The day wasn't exactly cold, but not quite warm enough to be considered "hot". But despite the nice weather, the small park was still close to empty.

"So, you must be Adrien!" a voice spoke up, startling the boy away from his studying. He immediately knew this man was a ghoul, they seemed to have a distinct scent that Adrien never noticed before the accident that turned him into one.

Adrien could tell that the man was wealthy, though only a few years older than him — possibly in college? He wore a gray and black suit, one made of a high-quality fabric that looked much more expensive than the fabric used on his father's ghoul investigator uniform. If it wasn't for his formal attire, Adrien would've thought he was one of those kids parents told their children to stay clear of,
his gray-tinted skin giving off an eerie glow that clashed with his emerald eyes and blended with his black hair.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Adrien asked in an attempt to be polite.

"Oh, no, we've never spoken before," the man said casually, "but Alix does love to gossip, and I happened to hear a small bit about Lila disappearing while on a date with you, and her scent really does seem to cling to you."

Adrien stiffened, closing his notes and slipping them into his bag.

"Please don't think I'm going to hold anything against you," he said quickly, "Lila and I were actually pretty close, but in the end her constant eating habits got the best of her. Everyone saw it coming."

The half-ghoul's eyes were filled with suspicion, and found close to no reassurance in the man's words.

"Oh, I should probably introduce myself," he said suddenly, before bowing extravagantly. "Plagg, the one and only Gourmet at your service."

Adrien laughed nervously, question in his tone as he replied, "You don't was to eat me, do you?"

Plagg shot up, "Eat you? My dear friend, you know close to nothing, do you. Ghouls taste disgusting, why would anyone want to eat another? The only one crazy enough to do that is the psycho Hawk Moth."

The tension slowly began to drift from Adrien's bones, though he didn't know why. There was something about him that just set you on guard, like if you looked away you'd be dead before even being able to scream.

"I heard that you had an interest in the miraculouses, am I wrong? Lila texted me that night, saying it was a shame she'd have to kill you." Plagg continued, "There's actually this old café I know, Lila and I went there often. It's a cross between a book store and café, so you can read while enjoying a cup of coffee. They have a few story-based things on the menu — not that we can enjoy any — but there's a nice atmosphere, we should go get coffee there sometime, and talk."

Adrien pulled out his phone glancing at the time. 4:58.

"Would it be possible to go now?" he asked, hesitating.

"Oui, but of course!" Plagg said, a grin spreading across his face.

Adrien noticed how large his canines were compared to what would be considered normal.

Adrien stood, at least it wouldn't be getting dark for at least several more hours, he knew he would be safe until then.

"It's by the Louvre," he explained, and Adrien stood as they began heading to the subway, "I don't really prefer taking the metro, but I'm afraid that it would take significantly longer to go by car."

The half-ghoul nodded, not knowing why he'd agreed to go anywhere with this dude.

They entered the subway, and entered a car almost instantly. After a few stops Plagg stood, motioning for Adrien to follow.

They made their way back onto the street, heading past a small crowd of tourists who were leaving the museum.

The café was tucked away, the street that went in the opposite direction of the Louvre, and Adrien could see several bookshelves through the window.

"Come on," said Plagg, "I want coffee."

That was pretty direct, Adrien thought, following the ghoul into the small shop.

"Bonjour, welcome!" a girl called from behind the counter, the "welcome" being in a heavily-accented English.

They sat at a table by the window, peering at the small menus placed in front of their chairs.

"Welcome back, Plagg," the girl said as she approached the table, "will it be the same as always?" she asked.

"You know me so well," he gushed, acting quite flattered that she'd asked him.

"And you?" the girl asked, turning to face Adrien.

"Oh, one black coffee, please."

She nodded, "It seems you two have similar tastes," she joked, before heading behind the counter to brew the drinks, "feel free to read anything from the shelves!"

The girl returned a minute later, setting the two mugs down before leaving to collect empty plates from another table and prepare it for more costumers.

Plagg appeared to enter into a deep thought as they sipped on their coffee, and Adrien paid no mind at first. That ended when Plagg's coffee mug suddenly shattered.

Adrien jumped back slightly, before sighing and reaching over to help clean up the mess, "You have to be more careful-"

A piece of glass sliced into his skin, cutting him off as his finger erupted in pain.

"Oh, here," Plagg pulled a small handkerchief from his pocket, tossing it over Adrien's bleeding finger, "I'm sorry, it was completely my fault." he confessed.

"Um... it stopped bleeding." Adrien noted, surprise filling his tone. "I can get this cleaned and return it to you..."

Plagg quickly snatched the handkerchief from Adrien, "No, no, it's fine, I can clean it."

Adrien watched him with confusion as he flagged over the worker, giving her a large tip as he apologized for the mess.

"Oh, and Adrien, before I forget, I'd like to show you Lila's favorite place. It might help you understand her more, I'll pick you up after school tomorrow, if that's okay."

The half-ghoul simply nodded, still unsure of what to think about the man who now ran off to the restroom.

Adrien pushed the thoughts away, he felt bad for being suspicious, Plagg seemed like a nice guy. Besides, what could really go wrong?

Chapter Text

Marinette woke up late, rushing downstairs after hastily throwing on her clothes and splashing some water on her face to wake her up.

She took the coffee offered to her by her mother and ran out the door, bag in hand as she crossed the street and rushed up the school steps into the building.

In her panic-induced haze she didn't even notice the dark car parked out front, or the nicely dressed duo that exited the vehicle.

Marinette burst into the classroom just as the bell rung, and let out a deep breath as she collapsed into her seat by Alya and let her head fall onto the desk, who laughed at her friend's ridiculous actions.

"How could you possibly be late today of all days?" Alya asked, "Or did your mind go on vacation and forget again?"

"Nope," Marinette replied, "my mind's still here, I'm just tired." She lifted her head from the wood, picking up the coffee and taking a sip in hope that the caffeine would help her stay awake, "I ended up helping close the café yesterday, and there was a bunch of messy costumers, then I still had homework..."

"Give yourself a break every now and then, don't overwork yourself when you still have school!"

The teacher then entered the classroom, followed by two people.

Marinette's blood ran cold, she'd forgotten all about today.

Since it was the last day of their "ghoul" unit in school, the CCG sent two investigators.

She couldn't slip up, not in the slightest, not as long as they were here.

When she was finally able to muster up enough courage to look at them.

The ghoul was surprised by how young the two of them were, but even more so by how the girl resembled her.

She was a few inches shorter than her blonde-haired partner, and her long black hair was pulled up into a bun, chocolate-brown eyes scanning over the students cheerfully.

Her partner looked quite different, and — though Marinette hated to admit it — looked like he could be related to Adrien. He had blonde hair that was slicked back over his head, and green eyes that were emotionless and cold, his posture alone sent off warning of "if you talk to me you're dead".

"Class, please welcome the lovely Ms. Bridgette Pain and Mr. Felix Agreste, the representatives from the CCG that will be answering your questions." Mrs. Bustier announced, before moving to her desk to let the two speak.

Bridgette smiled warmly, waving to the class as she set her silver briefcase down, "Good morning everyone! My name is Bridgette, I'm a rank 1 investigator from the CCG, and my partner — Monsieur Agreste — is a rank 2 investigator."

Felix nodded in confirmation, and Marinette could see the hint of an amused smile form on his stone-like face when Bridgette spoke.

Bridgette opened a file that she'd been holding, heading over to the projector and turning it on, "Anyone who had any questions, please, don't be afraid to ask!" she called, placing the files under the projector.

Alya's hand shot up, and Bridgette laughed as she called on her, "Yes, girl with the awesome hair, ask away!"

Her eyes gleamed as she asked her question, "So, ghouls can't eat human food, right? What would happen if they consumed it?"

"Normally the food would taste too terrible for them to even try consuming in the first place. Imagine having to consume a pill without water, and chewing it before swallowing, your body automatically tries to reject the foul flavor of the medicine." Alya nodded as Bridgette spoke, eager to hear more, "In the odd chance they do consume some, it weakens the ghoul considerably, like poison would weaken a human."

"So then how do they blend in with humans?" Alya wondered aloud, and to everyone's surprise Felix was to one to reply.

"They teach themselves to act normal, and avoid eating when possible." he said. His voice had a low tone, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "They consume the food, and leave to throw it all up when they can."

Adrien raised his hand after Felix spoke, and the man sighed, "Yes, Adrien?"

"How would you be able to tell a ghoul apart from a normal human? I mean, everyone gets sick from eating a certain thing every once and a while, how would you know for sure unless they show their kagune?"

Felix sighed, going to the files that were projected at the front as Marinette leaned forward, "Do you know him?" she asked.

"He's my older cousin," Adrien whispered quickly, turning back to the class as a page was revealed on the overhead.

Marinette's head spun as she tried to process this new information. He had a cousin?

"There is a type of cell that a ghoul possesses in much larger numbers than humans, the RC cells. They obtain them by consuming humans." Felix began explaining, and the photo of what looked like a security metal detector appeared in the screen, "This can be used to determine the amount of RC cells in one's body, and thus if they're a ghoul or not."

The ghoul felt herself involuntarily stiffen.

She'd known that if you were under the suspicion of being a ghoul you had to be tested and turn in a form with the number of RC cells you possessed... but could they really find out that easily if you were one?

The duo then stopped accepting questions, and switched the projector screen to that of a laptop, playing what appeared to be a recruitment video for the CCG.

Marinette tried to pay attention, and went along with Alya's excitement as the video went on, but she was unable to think of anything but that device. How had they not known of it's existence before? It was easy to get a fake doctor's sheet, but for rearranging your cell number entirely? The thought made Marinette want to cry.

There was no way for a ghoul to get past an RC cell reader, that was the one thing Marinette knew for certain.

Chapter Text

As promised, Plagg was waiting for him when school let out. What threw Adrien off was the fact that he was waiting while leaning against a fancy black car.

"Adrien, there you are! I was beginning to wonder if I had to go in there and get you."

Plagg dramatically opened the passenger side on the car, motioning for Adrien to get in, "Enter, Monsieur."

Adrien climbed in, and Plagg shortly followed, beginning the drive to where've he was taking Adrien.

The trip was somewhat long, and Adrien lost track of where they were around halfway there.

Soon they'd reached their destination, and the size of the place was quite large. It resembled a small castle, and they appeared to be at the edge of the city, in one of the richer neighborhoods.

Plagg led him into the castle, and a servant wearing a plain white mask appeared to lead Adrien away.

"Go along with him," Plagg called, "I'll meet up with you soon."

Adrien complied, following the servant to what appeared to be a shower area.

"You can bathe here, then change into the clothes provided," the servant said, leaving just as quickly as he had originally appeared.

Adrien was confused, but then again, when hadn't he been confused while with Plagg?

He showered as instructed, changing into the fancy suit that had been left for him. Another servant was waiting for him when he exited, not saying a word as he motioned for him to follow.

The servant led him to what appeared to be a sitting room, and Adrien was surprised to see two other people there.

One of them was a boy who appeared to be fairly young, with brown hair and a thinner frame than the lady next to him, who appeared to be middle aged and a bit overweight.

They seemed to be involved in a conversation, so Adrien just to the side while they snacked on a plate that held a few finger foods.

He caught bits and pieces of their conversation, and discovered that the boy was an artist, and the woman the director of a small theater that had mimes put on shows around the city.

Adrien pulled out his phone, disappointed when he found that there was no signal.

After what seemed like forever another servant came into the room, a tray of coffee in his hands. The servant proceeded to set down the tray, before exiting just as quickly as always.

Deciding there was no harm in doing so, Adrien stood and grabbed a cup of coffee, his tastebuds dancing in happiness as he sipped on the hot liquid.

Suddenly his small bubble of peace was shattered, the floor of the room jerking before slowly lowering down.

The woman screeched, stumbling at the sudden movement as the boy gripped onto the table.

The floor opened up around them, rows and rows of masked people bordering what appeared to be a large arena.

Adrien spotted Plagg quite easily. He was at what appeared to be the most important seat in the small stadium.

"Plagg!" Adrien called, feat evident in his tone, "What the hell is this?"

"Dinner, my friend!" he called, a mad grin visible under his twisted mask. "Ladies and ghouls, I welcome you tonight. A wonderful, young, healthy artists for an appetizer; a fat and juicy piggy for the entre; and for desert, none other than a ghoul!"

His last line sent ripples of confusion through the crowd, and Adrien could hear mentions of cannibalism, and the two humans beside him turned to him disgust written on their faces.

"No need to worry," Plagg assured everyone, "this is a rare delicacy, you see, he still has human blood running through his veins!"

The Gourmet pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, tossing it into the crowd, causing an uproar of excitement.

"Now, Miss Stormy Weather, you do have your own 'child' for this round, right?"

A seemingly young girl wearing a blue and purple mask spoke up, a parasol resting over her shoulder, "My adorable Blizzard will be perfect playmate for this meal."

Plagg smiled, motioning to someone in the stands. Seconds later Adrien heard a loud creaking sound.

He was afraid to turn, but his body moved on its own.

"I-I get it," the nameless artist said, "this is just a huge joke, right? Because if so, you got me."

The man in front of them seemed to beastly to even be considered human, with what appeared to be a sac draped over his head and a large saw swinging by his side.

The man who Adrien assumed was "Blizzard" swung the saw, slicing a chunk of the artist's arm off. The artist screamed as his skin was shredded into a million bloody pieces, and soon enough he was dead.

Adrien had recovered from the shock by the time Blizzard looked up, and he gripped the lady's wrist and dragged her away from the man who was filled with blood-lust.

"Get behind me!" he shouted, moving in front of the lady as tried to conquer up a plan to somehow miraculously survive.

[A/N- MIRACULOUS, SIMPLY THE BEST, UP TO THW TEST WHEN THINGS GO WROOOONG]

He knew that the huge saw that the man held couldn't harm him, ghouls couldn't be hurt by normal metals. But the woman... if it were to somehow graze her in the slightest, she'd be injured.

His train of thought was interrupted by a pain at the base of his spine. Adrien was pushed forward onto the ground, turning to face the woman with confusion at the betrayal.

"Damn ghoul, if you're so eager to protect me, go die first."

Adrien didn't know what to think anymore, and he could only watch in horror as Blizzard ignored him and ran up to the woman, slicing her in half as blood sprayed onto him.

Blizzard turned to him right after, the saw pointed towards his shoulder.

The blade fell onto him, and he could feel the cold metal sliding against his skin... but there was no pain.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, and Adrien was vaguely aware of the silver suitcase that was thrown into the arena, causing several in the stands to gasp.

Blizzard picked up the suitcase curiously when he saw his blade was no longer cutting, and when he pressed the latch to open it a large saw-like kagune filled his hand.

Adrien tried to run, but it seemed his legs were no longer able to move, he could only watch in horror as the man approached him.

"It looks like the drugs are finally kicking in!" Adrien heard Plagg yell.

What drugs? The coffee?

Adrien's hand reached to his head, his eyepatch was soaked through with a mixture of tears and sweat. He tore it off before turning to look at Blizzard — the man who'd kill him — in the eyes.

Suddenly a hand pierced through Blizzard's stomach, and Adrien felt like throwing up as the blood sprayed and Plagg came walking through the new corpse.

"It seems there has been a misunderstanding!" Plagg called as he crouched by Adrien, "I do hope you can understand a good joke."

Chapter Text

Adrien still hadn't recovered from his experience at the "restaurant". He was positive Marinette noticed, she seemed to notice everything.

When he'd gone to the café shaking and terrified later that same night, she was furious. He was reluctant to think about what she might've done to Plagg.

Note to self- don't piss Marinette off.

The next day the ghoul seemed to have calmed down a bit, and Adrien forced the horrifying memory to the back of his mind.

"Adrien, could you take this coffee up to Manon?" she asked, bringing Adrien out of his thought-filled daze.

"Sure." he replied, taking the cup that Marinette had offered to him.

He made his way to the door at the back of the café, heading into the small stairwell that led to their home. He entered the living area to find Manon reading on the couch, her feet kicking lazily in the air.

Adrien set the coffee on the small table, sitting down next to the little girl and looking at the book she held.

"Harry Potter?" he asked, recognizing the words on the page.

"Yep!" she replied, "It's a good book. I like Hermione."

"Yeah, Hermione is a good character." Adrien replied, before glancing over to an open notebook on the coffee table. "What's that?" he asked, motioning to the journal.

"Oh, just notes." Manon replied, "Since I don't go to school, I try writing down words I don't know and asking mom what they mean."

Adrien looked at the notebook, looking at the first word written on the page.

"Gargoyle," he read, a grin spreading across his handsome face.

[A/N: because it needs be well known how amazing and beautiful this boy is.]

"What does it mean?" the little girl asked, and Adrien pulled out his phone, opening safari and searching for a picture of one.

"This is a gargoyle, I haven't heard that word in forever." he explained, showing a photo of the stone statues, "There are a bunch at Notre Dame, maybe we should go there some time so you can see."

Manon nodded, excitement evident in her posture. "Hey, what does this one mean?"

The half-ghoul picked up his coffee, warmth filling his being as he settled next to the little girl and helped her with her reading.

• • •

The day ended when Marinette locked the café's door, flipping the small sign to closed and turning off the front light as she began cleaning tables and stacking chairs. There were still people outside, walking down the streets and biking to the next rent-a-bike station. Marinette saw a small boy running down the street after his mom, and from their scent she could tell they were ghouls. They faded from her sight quickly.

Placing the last chair on its table, Marinette went behind the counter, entering the stairwell and heading to her home. The clock read 11:25 pm, and the café closed at 11. Adrien never came back down, which slightly worried the young girl.

She opened the apartment's door, shocked to find a disheveled Manon and Adrien, surrounded by books and sleeping on the couch.

Marinette smiled, moving a book from Manon's lap and setting it to the side before gently lifting her from the couch, heading downstairs to her bed and laying her gently down on the soft fabric before pulling the blanket over her and heading back to the living room to wake Adrien. She placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, shaking him gently in an attempt to wake him.

He groaned, yawning as he let his eyes slowly droop open.

"Hm...?"

Marinette couldn't help but laugh at his tired and clueless expression.

"Wake up, sleepyhead, you have to go home."

"What time is it?" he questioned drowsily, before his eyes scanned the area for any clock.

"It's around 11:30, we don't have school tomorrow, but it might be best if you returned home for the night."

Adrien nodded, standing from the couch and beginning to collect the Harry Potter books that lay scattered around him.

"Were you reading to Manon?" Marinette asked the half-ghoul, who shook his head.

"Believe it or not, she was mostly reading to me. I was just helping her with some of the vocabulary."

She nodded, understanding what he was saying, "She's never gone to a real school. I know that her mom signed her up for online one when she was reaching the kindergarten age, but had to take her out of it because it was too expensive."

"She's really good at reading for someone with so little experience."

Adrien set the books in a stack, arranging them neatly on the coffee table before heading to the apartment's door, stopping at the sudden sound of thunder in the distance.

"It's raining again?"

"It would appear so."

The blonde model laughed, his voice like tiny bells in the silent home, "It's like when we first met!" he recalled, opening the door and heading down the stairs with Marinette following close in pursuit.

He burst out into the the wet street, pausing right outside the door where he was slightly sheltered from the falling water.

"Are you going to be working tomorrow?" Marinette asked, walking up behind him; the only light was from a nearby street lamp, and the darkness from the empty stairwell halfway consumed the young ghoul.

Adrien's hair seemed to glow in the dim light, the faint appearance of crystals in his hair where water dripped.

"Yeah, anything to get my mind off of that creep Plagg."

Marinette laughed, "Don't worry, you get used to him after a while. As long as you don't follow him alone anymore you should be fine."

Adrien nodded, "Thanks, Marinette," the boy said, turning to look at the bluenette.

She blushed in return, "Anytime."

The light near them flickered slightly, and the rain lightened slightly.

"I should get going, if my dad found out about me being out this late he'd ground me for life."

"That wouldn't be good, considering recent... developments..."

Adrien nodded, turning and walking a ways down the street, before slowing to a stop and turning back to the open door where the ghoul stood, "See you tomorrow?" he asked, quoting what he had said that one day.

Marinette smiled, nodding.

"See you tomorrow." she replied; and to her surprise, she didn't stutter once.

Chapter Text

The Sunday morning seemed to hold the air of silence, despite the crowds of people already awake and roaming the streets. The bells of Norte Dame could be heard faintly in the distance, ringing out over the entire city as some people left to attend the mass despite the dangerous neighborhood, and others simply enjoyed the simple melody.

Adrien entered the mostly empty café, the morning rush having already passed and the only current costumers seeming to only be a few ghouls. He wasn't sure what to do with that information, and opted to just avoid eye-contact before heading to Marinette, who was behind the counter where her parents were currently grinding more coffee mix from their store of beans.

"Morning, Marinette," the half-ghoul called, picking up one of the aprons from under the cabinet and tying it around his waist.

She replied with a smile, "Did you get home alright last night?"

"Yeah, I was soaked by then, but other than that I was perfect."

Marinette arranged a small cup on a plate and placed it on a metal tray next to another one, "These are for Manon and her mom, can you take it to them?" she asked, motioning to where the two were seated in the corner.

"Sure thing." Adrien replied, picking up the tray and heading out from behind the counter.

His good mood was replaced with confusion as he approached the small table, a loud "I want Papa!" rang out through the café as Manon stood, letting her chair screech across the floor before she shoved past Adrien, causing bits of coffee to slosh over the edges of their cups. Manon disappeared through the back of the café, a concerned Marinette sending a confused glance in his direction.

Manon's mother — Nadja — sighed as Adrien approached her, gratefully taking the coffee he offered her.

"I'm so sorry about Manon's outburst. She hasn't seen her dad or been home in over a week, she's getting impatient," the ghoul explained, and Adrien nodded.

"It's fine, I understand where she's coming from. I wasn't in the best mood when my mom disappeared a few years ago."

Nadja nodded, "I wish she could see her father, but at the moment he's currently dealing with some pretty dangerous ghouls... I don't want her to get hurt."

Adrien smiled, "Here, why don't I take her some coffee and talk to her a bit, usually outbursts like this never last too long."

"Would you really?"

"Of course!"

Adrien picked up the tray with the other coffee, turning and heading behind the counter. He entered the empty stairwell and made his way up to the apartment door, knocking.

A muffled "Go away." could be heard.

"Manon? It's me, Adrien."

Silence.

Adrien slowly opened the door. Manon was seated on the couch, curled into a small ball.

"I brought you some coffee," Adrien said, setting the tray in front of the little girl.

"Thank you..." she muttered, a small hand quickly darting out and grabbing the mug.

"Are you okay?"

"I want my dad."

"I understand that," Adrien admitted, "But your mom needs you too, you know."

Manon peered down into her cup, a frown playing on her lips.

"Why do the CCG want to hurt us so much?" she asked suddenly, and Adrienne was taken aback by the question.

He took in a deep breath, trying to find the right words to comfort the girl, "It's because they're scared of us," he explained, "we're different, so it's frightening for them."

Manon sniffled, "That doesn't seem to fair."

"Yeah, it doesn't," Adrien replied, letting out a sharp laugh. His heart filled with even more guilt every time he saw Manon, or Marinette, or any other ghoul that walked into the café. His father's career revolves around killing them, it just didn't seem right.

He hated that it took him becoming one himself to see that.

• • •

Adrien had all but forgotten about his work by the time Marinette finally came in to check on him. Shortly after he had visited Manon in the house, she'd asked him to help her with reading again. At least an hour had passed since then.

"Adrien, are you okay?" Marinette asked as she opened the front door, "You disappeared a while back, do you feel okay?"

She trailed off when she saw what he was doing, his gaze drifted up, and his face filled with realization.

"Oh, god, Marinette," he began, "I'm sorry, I was taking coffee Manon and completely forgot that I was meant to be working."

The bluenette giggled, waving off his concerns, "It's fine, you're helping Manon. Though I think it's pretty obvious that you've never had a job other than modeling before, am I correct?"

Adrien nodded sheepishly.

Marinette smiled, "Well then, let's just forget about this. I can show you how to start making latte art!"

"Sure, you okay with that Manon?"

The little girl nodded, "I'll just ask Maman for help."

"Okay, I'll send her up, 'kay?"

Manon nodded, hopping up from the couch and picking up her books.

She walked up to take Adrien's hand, "When will Adrien be back?"

This caused the half ghoul to smile, "I'll come back up as soon as my shift's over, is that alright?"

"Yep, I'm holding you to this promise!" she exclaimed, before Marinette placed a hand on Adrien's back, pushing him out the door.

"She really likes you, Adrien," Marinette mentioned, "Usually it takes forever for her to open up to people."

"Yeah," Adrien replied as they entered the café. "Now, what was that about teaching me latte art?"

Chapter Text

"Manon and her mom are leaving?"

This set of news shocked Adrien. Sure, he knew that they'd been searching for a new place to live, but he never thought it'd be so soon.

"They found a cheap appartient near the Notre Dame. No ones been willing to move there since the murder rate rose due to recent ghoul activity. They won't stand out there," Marinette explained, flipping a page in the book she was reading for Mrs. Bustier's class, "It's not a very nice neighborhood, but it'll have to do for now."

The café was deserted, which wasn't all that surprising considering it was a Monday afternoon. Clouds filled the sky, once again hinting at the chance of rain.

"It's been dreary all week," Adrien mentioned, "like one of those tragedy romance movies Rose once made us watch."

Less than a minute later, droplets began painting the sidewalk, those passing by quickly pulling out their umbrellas or heading into nearby shops.

Marinette's eye caught on something by the door. She sighed, picking up one large, black umbrella.

"A few minutes ago those two left to the library, they couldn't've gotten far. Do you think you could bring this to them?" Marinette asked, handing Adrien the umbrella, "Manon just got a new dress, I would hate for it to get ruined in this weather."

"Yeah, no problem," Adrien said, taking the umbrella and picking up his own from where it sat by his bag, "I'll be back in a few."

The temperature seemed to drop several degrees as he stepped outside, water falling over his head as he made his way down the soaked sidewalk.

While walking through the small park that was near the café, Adrien caught sight of a small merry-go-round. He smiled, making a mental note to take Manon over here before she left. It was a nice place to be when it was sunny, he was sure she'd enjoy it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sound of frantic running through the rain.

"Adrien!" a small voice called, one the half-ghoul immediately recognized as Manon's, "Help!"

"Manon, what-"

"Maman's in trouble!" she screamed, grabbing the blond's hand and yanking him into a run, causing him to drop the umbrellas. It was all he could do not to slip and fall as the young ghoul dragged him along.

He'd never been to this area much before, and he couldn't really tell where things were. But Manon dismissed any need to navigate. They passed the library, as well as a plastic bag that held several unidentifiable books, now soaked by the rain.

She dragged him into an alleyway, coming to a stop as she pointed around the corner. Nadja Chamack stood kneeling in the middle of a group of investigators. He quickly yanked the child back, wrapping his arms around her to keep her from running into their sight.

Manon's trembling hands hooked onto Adrien's arms, "Y-you have to save her!" she choked out, "You have to save Maman!"

"Any last words?" he heard one of them say, and Adrien hated that he recognized the investigator.

It was one of the men his father often worked with, one who's name kept slipping his mind.

He seemed to be frozen in his shoes, paralyzed, unable to do anything but simply stand there, holding Manon close as he watched the horrific scene take place.

Nadja just stood there, silently. Her kagune was out, but just laying there limply on the cement, as if they were nothing but mere decorations. It occurred to him that Nadja had never actually bothered learning how to fight, she was a nonviolent ghoul. That was why her family had relied on the Dupain-Cheng Café, so they'd never have to be in a situation of violence.

He felt Manon trembling against his chest, the seconds that followed feeling like an eternity. Adrien was soaked to the bone at this point, the only warmth being that of the girl he held, the one who was about to witness the murder of her own mother.

As if she'd sensed their presence, Nadja's head slowly turned, her eyes landing on her daughter's small, breakable form. Her eyes were a startling color of black and red, Adrien realized. It didn't suit her. Her face softened at the sight of her child, and her lips formed a small smile.

"Manon, li-"

Adrien didn't have time to cover the young ghoul's eyes, only barely managing to place a hand over her mouth to muffle the screams as she called to her mother.

A split-second later Adrien's hand was over Manon's eyes, preventing her from seeing any more of the gruesome scene before them. He moved as quickly as possible, picking her up and quickly carrying her as far away as he could as she cried into his chest.

He felt sick to his stomach. This had to be a dream. A cruel, nightmarish dream where he'd wake up to find himself back in his own bed, where none of this ever happened.

Try as he might, he couldn't get the stench of blood, or the image of Nadja's head rolling to the ground by her limp body to exit his mind. He soon found that he couldn't run anymore, so he turned into a dim alleyway, letting himself fall to the ground by a dumpster, hidden from view. Manon was clutched tightly in his arms, and her sobs only grew louder as the seconds passed.

There was a constant stream of Maman flowing from her lips.

Adrien found himself crying as well, unable to contain himself. He was safe, Manon was safe. They were okay.

But they weren't.

This girl, who couldn't've been older than a third-grader, just saw her own mother beheaded right in front of her. And he was powerless to save her.

After what seemed like an eternity, Manon's sobs slowly silenced, turning into the gentle breathing of sleep. He carefully pulled himself upright, dusting off his clothes.

He began the agonizing walk back to the café, silent words stuck in his throat as he whispered to the sleeping ghoul.

"Let's go home."

Chapter Text

Gabriel Agreste just wanted this piercing headache to fade. His trip to Tokyo, Japan wasn't even halfway over, and already he wanted back in the familiar comfort of his own city.

If the language barrier wasn't enough, the amount of ghouls in this particular ward alone was enough to fill the entirety of Paris. In his short time here he'd already managed to unveil two hideouts, and exterminate twelve problematic ghouls. How the CCG's Japan branch managed to let it spiral this far out of control? Gabriel hadn't the slightest clue.

His migraine only grew each time his thoughts drifted there.

Sighing, he finished off his fifth cup of coffee. Glancing at the clock mounted on the office's wall, he confirmed that it was 4:55 AM.

Another all-nighter, great.

He briefly considered making a call to Nathalie, and perhaps Adrien — just to see how he was doing — but quickly dismissed the thought. It was getting late there, and if Adrien had been complying to his usual schedule he'd be asleep at this point. Either that or his usual schoolwork.

Deciding that there was no point in even trying to sleep at this hour, Gabriel opened another file that he'd been working on at the sidelines of his current Tokyo case.

Statistics showed that, soon after his son had been hospitalized, the ghoul attacks nearly ceased all together around the Norte Dame. It didn't make any sense, a binge-eater of that intensity simply just didn't disappear. On top of that, crime in the 4th arrondissement was at an all-time low.

But they'd never caught the binge-eater, Volpina. And Gabriel knew for a fact that the fox mask-donning ghoul would've gone out with a bang.

He'd even considered the possibility of Volpina being that girl Adrien was with, the one that died in the construction accident. He looked into her background, but all he managed to find was that her parents were wealthy foreigners from Italy, and their vacation home was located in the 8th arrondissement.

Gabriel mentally cringed at that. His home in the 7th arrondissement cost several million, but if it had been moved to the 8th it's value would undoubtably skyrocket. Why anyone would willing waste that much money to live there? Still, the fact that she wasn't even local cancelled the possibility of her being Volpina.

Still, the story didn't add up.

Adrien had texted him about dropping Lila off at her house, yet they'd been found near the Notre Dame. And if Lila really had been the binge-eater, then wouldn't that have caused her organs to be incompatible with Adrien's body?

Then again, it was a miracle that Adrien was even alive in the first place.

It simply didn't make sense.

Another possibility was that the binge-eater simply moved, but most ghouls couldn't risk doing that without legal papers, and it wasn't like they could simply be given legal proof of residency or have any form of ID that wasn't forged.

His body involuntarily shivered.

It was too early for this.

He pulled himself out of his chair, exiting the office he was temporarily using and heading to the coffee maker. It bugged him that everything here was written in Japanese, and it bugged him even more that he couldn't read it. His wife was the one who was good at foreign languages, he was only good at English, French, and the different variants of Chinese. It had taken him several tries to originally select the right settings on this machine.

The phone in his pocket began buzzing, and he mentally cursed. It was 5 AM, time for him to attempt to make himself presentable for when his co-workers were scheduled to start work at 6.

He took a sip of his freshly brewed coffee, ignoring the bitter taste as the caffeine forced his body awake. If Volpina really was Lila, he needed a way to gather more information on her. She certainly had the appearance of the S-ranked ghoul, with her brown hair and tan skin. He'd have to speak with his son's doctors about the girl, especially the one who'd preformed the transplant.

Adrien really was too nice for his own good. If he'd gone on a date with a binge-eater, then proceeded to have her organs placed inside him...

He could only hope that wasn't the case.

Chapter Text

The next morning Adrien didn’t have the will to get out of bed.

When he wasn’t downstairs in time for breakfast, Nathalie came to check on him, surprised to see that he hadn’t even gone through the trouble to turn off his alarm.

“Adrien, school starts in thirty minutes,” Nathalie pointed out, entering the room and standing by his bed, “are you alright?”

Adrien simply mumbled in response.

In all seriousness, he was pretty sure he’d caught a cold from yesterday. Even after returning home he was too tired to change, so he’d just slipped off his shoes and went to bed in his wet clothes.

Nathalie sat down on the side of his bed, gently reaching over and placing the back of her hand against his forehead, surprised to see that he was, in fact, sick.

“I’ll call the school to let them know if your absence,” Nathalie decided, “I’m cancelling your afternoon piano lesson. You should shower and get changed into more suitable clothes.”

It wasn’t surprising that he was sick, considering the damp shoes at the foot of his bed and how it appeared that his clothes had been soaked the night before.

“I’ll let your father know if your condition, and be back in a bit with some breakfast.”

Adrien didn’t even bother protesting.

It took what seemed like hours for him to finally drag himself out of bed. He’d refused to leave Manon’s side last night, only returning home well past midnight and after the child had finally fallen into a restless sleep.

He slowly made his way to the shower, sluggishly changing into soft, warm clothes before exiting the bathroom only to see that someone had come to change his sheets while he was in the bathroom.

He picked up his phone only to find concerned texts from both Marinette and Nino. He replied to Nino with a simple text saying he was fine, but he couldn’t bring himself to even read Marinette’s. He simply dialed her number, it rang for a few seconds before she picked up.

“Are you okay Adrien? I saw you weren’t in class and started panicking,” she rambled, and despite the situation, he found himself rambling.

“I guess I forgot you were still at school, sorry if I interrupted class,” Adrien said, grabbing a blanket from his bed and moving to sit on the couch, lazily turning on the tv and flipping through channels.

“It’s fine, really, I don’t mind,” Marinette protested, “Besides, I know how hard it is after someone dies. The first time is always the worst.”

Adrien felt like crying, “You mean this happens multiple times?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” she admitted, “I understand if you want to stop working at the café, we’ll still give you food, it’s no trouble-”

“No, I’m going to keep working,” he said, “this happening only makes me want to help more.”

“Really, I understand how hard this is, you don’t have to.”

“But I want to,” Adrien decided.

If someone else was going to get killed because of something they couldn’t control, he was going to do anything in his own damn power to stop it.

• • •

Marinette had brought Manon food well over an hour ago, but the plate sat untouched on the coffee table. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and a water-damaged book was clutched in her arms, despite the small red stains that decorated the cover.

She wasn’t hungry, she had decided. She wasn’t going to eat again, not if she could help it. If she stopped eating and just forced herself to be human, she could prove to the “CG” people that she was normal, that her Maman was normal, and that they were just mean.

It was called the “CG”, right? She couldn’t remember.

But her Maman wasn’t there to correct her anymore. They had killed her, and all the evidence of her existence was gone, along with the rain.

Manon sniffled, but refused to cry. She’d done enough crying.

She was supposed to be a big girl, and big girls didn’t cry.

Suddenly her body froze, and sniffed the air again. She stood from her position on the couch, walking over to the open window, and leaning her head out.

“Maman?” she whispered, confusion twisting her features. Surely it wasn’t her. After all, she’d seen... she’d seen...

‘Manon, li-‘

Tears began to well up in her eyes, but she forced them back. She inhaled the night air again, sure that her mind was tricking her.

It was definitely Maman.

“Maman?” she called, timidly looking back to Marinette’s room.

Manon carefully walked to the apartment’s door, opening it and stepping into the dark stairwell. She quietly crept down the stairs and stepped out into the street. The scent was much stronger out here.

Her breath caught in her throat, it couldn’t be..?

Without another thought, Manon rushed down the darkened alleyway, leaving the apartment’s door ajar as one thought filled her head.

Maman was alive.

Manon was breathless as she ran, her eyes gleaming with hope as she navigated the back streets of Paris. She paid no mind to where she was going, only slowing to a stop at the entrance to an abandoned subway.

This was very near where it had happened.

Manon took in a deep breath, walking down the stairs and into the enclosed space.

She looked around, confused. There was nothing there, just a single duffel bag emitting the distinct smell of her mother.

“Maman?” she whispered, her voice cracking as she approached the bag.

She knelt down, timidly unzipping the bag, pulling it open and peering inside.

The little girl froze, her eyes wide as tears began to leak out. She cried, despite her best efforts not to. Her ivy hands latched onto a severed arm as if it were her lifeline, mumbling “Maman” over and over again as if it would make her mother magically appear in front of her.

She didn’t notice the figure of a man approach from behind her, she didn’t notice the quinque of her mother unraveling behind her.

At that moment, she didn’t care.

Chapter Text

When Marinette left her room to check on Manon, carrying the child's favorite dolls that she had made, she nearly had a heart attack. The dolls fell to the floor, and Marinette sprinted out the open door. She hastily dialed Adrien's number, praying that she'd simply made her way to where the blonde's house was a few streets over.

Before Adrien could even confirm that Manon wasn't with him, a sickening smell filled her nose.

Nadja.

"Adrien," she whispered, her speed increasing steadily as she followed the blood-tinted scent down alleyway after alleyway, "They're after Manon."

The line went dead.

Marinette suddenly realized that she'd forgotten her mask in her panic-induced haste. At that moment, she didn't care.

She slowed to a stop in front of an old subway station, all too aware of the human that was down there. Marinette went past the police tape that covered the entrance and rushed inside, hoping with all her heart that she made it in time.

Immediately upon entering, she found herself facing the back of an older man.

He looked familiar, from where Marinette couldn't recall. Then it hit her.

It was Roger Raincomprix, the father of Sabrina.

Great.

Marinette had two choices, either quietly back out of his sight and make her way out of the subway, leaving Manon to die and returning to her life of regret and isolation, or she could reveal her identity to a man who trusted her, either killing him and leaving with Manon or dying in the process.

She briefly remembered a time in grade school when he had come to school for career day, and it was the coolest thing ever. Marinette had been terrified, of course. The girl had been out sick for most of the week, and when she returned to find that it was career day and a CCG officer was there she almost considered getting cafeteria food to make herself sick just so she could go back home. When he began showing people a small quinque Marinette had started crying, sure that she was going to be taken and killed. Instead, the man had simply put the weapon away and let someone else's parent present as he tried to calm her down.

And yet, here she was several years later, in a situation where the only escape was someone's death. She couldn't begin to imagine how Sabrina would react to her father being killed. Marinette would never be able to look at her classmate in the eye again.

Roger clicked a concealed button on the silver briefcase he carried, and the kagune of Manon's mother emerged.

Marinette's eyes drifted to where Manon was. The child was crying, clutching something in her arms, completely oblivious to any danger she was in.

Roger raised the quinque, and in that split second Marinette made her choice, her eyes shifting into a shade of red as her ukaku kagune unfurled behind her. Her wing deflected the attack, and she stood firmly in her place as shock filled the CCG investigator's gaze.

"Marinette?" he questioned, confusion evident in his stance, "But- how?"

Marinette ignored the look of betrayal in his eyes, speaking only to Manon in that small moment before Roger came to his senses and attacked.

"Manon, run."

The little girl complied, darting away from both the CCG officer and Marinette, with the severed arm of her mother clutches tightly in her arms. The child jumped down onto the tracks — where electricity hadn't been running for who knows how long — and curled up.

Roger then came back to his senses, swinging his quinque once again at Marinette, who easily dodged out of the way.

“So, you were Ladybug all along?”

Marinette didn’t answer, simply darting from side to side, dodging the CCG Investigator’s attacks with ease.

“Just tell me one thing,” he continued, and Marinette internally panicked.

She knew this couldn’t go on forever, that soon she’d grow tired and her movements would become sluggish.

“Was any of it real?”

This startled the girl, and her kagune released a poorly aimed shower of spikes, the only damage being the fresh cracks in the subway’s wall where they’d been embedded.

“Was what real?” she asked, her voice harsh and low as she tried to keep up her guard.

“Everything, your friendship with Alya, the time you helped my daughter to step out of her shell, your obvious crush on Adrien-”

“Wait, what?” Marinette stammered, despite the situation, she stumbled back, her heels hitting the edge of the platform as she began to fall back into the abandoned tracks, “Ow...”

Roger raised his quinque, and Marinette braced herself for the pain that would follow, but then he did something Marinette had never seen a ghoul investigator do before. He laughed, causing Marinette’s cheeks to only grow redder at the awkward situation. Roger dropped his quinque to the side.

“Marinette, listen,” he suddenly spoke, walking to where the ghoul was now hastily scrambling back up and out of the subway tracks, “In all honesty, I was given this mission against my own wishes.”

“But, how?”

“Do you really think anyone would be able to kill a kid, ghoul or not, without feeling the overwhelming guilt?” he asked.

“Well, no, but...”

“Marinette,” Roger continued, “yes, I’m a CCG Investigator, but I’m also a father. I’m not going to turn you in.”

“But-”

“Unless I run into you in the middle of Ladybug massacring dozens of innocent individuals, I’m not going to turn you in or hurt you.”

Without her realizing it, her kagune dissipated, her eyes returning to their normal blue as she let out a simple, “Huh?”

“Marinette!”

The ghoul stiffened at that voice, and a flash of blonde shot in front of her, taking a flashy pose and the newcomer blocked Marinette from Roger’s view.

“Adrien?”

“I will not let you hurt Marinette! She did nothing wrong!”

Marinette almost laughed at how bizarre this whole situation was, with Adrien posing in front of her as if he was a wall.

Roger simply shook his head, “So you knew, Adrien?”

The ghoul investigator picked up his quinque, heading back to the stairs, “Be sure to hide that girl well, as of now she is officially proclaimed to be dead.”

Adrien and Marinette watched Roger’s retreating form, and Adrien was the first to speak.

“What just happened?”

“I’m not too sure myself.”

Marinette ran to where Manon had disappeared, hopping down to the child, where she was still clutching her mother’s lifeless arm.

Marinette’s heart hurt at the sight of the child, and she gently picked the girl up in her arms, bringing her back to Adrien.

The child spoke a total of one time as they made their way back to the café.

“Maman’s never coming back, is she?”

Chapter Text

Juleka hated her luck.

She wasn't healing, and hadn't eaten in who knows when. With the way her body currently was, it was impossible for her to leave her house, let alone kill someone. Rose has been stopping by every other day, after Juleka had texted her that she'd been in a car crash a little over a week ago.

The ghoul didn't know how much longer she could last. Her room was already littered with empty coffee cans and containers of the un-ground beans. It wasn't helping.

Thank god Rose wasn't meant to stop by today.

Rose was so sweet, so innocent, she didn't deserve to live in such a messed up world. She didn't deserve to be stuck with a friend like Juleka.

Another wave of pain brought her back to reality. The combination of having not eaten in over a month and the injuries that refused to heal combined into the worst feeling ever.

The sound of her apartment's door unlocking echoed through the small home.

Juleka froze, the scent of flesh filling her mind as the front door swung open.

"Damn it, Rose," she mumbled.

A hand shot to her eyes as she shut them, the familiar sensation of her kagune activating sending fear through her body.

"Juleka! I brought you some more coffee, since I saw you were out. And I stopped by the bakery for some macaroons!" the girl called in her cheery voice.

Juleka'd hand gripped a blanket from her bed, wrapping it around her and reminding herself that this was Rose. It was Rose, her best friend. The one she could count on for anything.

"I was thinking we could binge watch Netflix and-"

Rose was cut off when she opened Juleka's bedroom door only to find her friend curled up on the ground, in an obvious pain.

"Juleka!" Rose cried, dropping the bag she held and rushing to where her friend was.

In response to the smaller girl's touch Juleka flinched, using her arm to shove her off.

"Leave," she growled, turning to glare at the girl only to realize that her kagune was activated.

The shock on Rose's face temporarily brought her out of her hunger-induced haze. She wasn't aware of the blood that had begun sleeping through the bandages on her torso and through her shirt.

"Rose, I-"

"You're hurt!"

Juleka froze. Right. She was still hurt from her run-in with Adrien.

"You don't understand, Rose, you have to leave..."

The ghoul trailed off, wincing as her hand flew up to where blood was now proceeding to drip down her chest and stomach. Great, the makeshift stitches must have come undone.

Realization seemed to dawn on Rose's face as she took in how Juleka's injuries were still as bad as they had been a week ago, and how the ghoul's kagune wouldn't dissipate, despite Rose not having known about Juleka being a ghoul.

Well, that was a new bit of information. It would appear that Rose had the macaroons to herself.

Rose promptly sat down, a look on determination on her face as she confidently reached across her chest and pulled down the sleeve of her shirt, exposing her shoulder. Bracing herself for pain, she spoke.

“Eat.”

Juleka didn’t seem to process her friend’s words, “What?”

“I said to eat,” Rose repeated, and, despite the confidence of her words and actions, she found herself trembling.

It’s just Juleka, she reminded herself, she’s still Juleka.

“Wha- You’re an idiot, Rose!” Juleka mumbled, “You have to leave before you get hurt!”

“But you’ll die if you don’t eat!” Rose retorted. She was trembling, and that sight alone terrified Juleka.

“Who the hell cares about me?”

“I do!”

Rose suddenly glanced around the room, her eyes lingering on a small sewing kit that rested on the bookshelf to her right. Rose decided to get it for Juleka after coming to school with one too many torn t-shirts. There was bound to be a pair of scissors in there, if she remembered correctly. She quickly reached to it, opening the kit. There were no scissors, but a small circular blade meant for cutting fabric.

It would have to do.

Juleka’s eyes had been shut tight, so when she heard the small click of the blade sliding open it was too late for her to do anything.

“What, Rose?”

The said girl quickly dragged the sewing blade across the skin of her shoulder, wincing as blood began to bubble up from the stinging cut.

“No—”

The scent of blood reached Juleka’s nose, and her eyes seeped into the familiar black and res of a ghoul. Before she could even think about restraining herself, her body moved on its own. She was across the room in a split second, her teeth sinking into the soft skin of her best friend.

She smelt of roses. That was something Juleka always noticed whenever she was close enough to her. It was a sickeningly sweet smell, and at first Juleka wondered how the small girl was still alive, having not been a target for a hungry ghoul.

As expected, the small girl’s blood was sweet, and it reminded her of the flower for which she was named. It made her feel sick, and for that moment she resisted the urge to clamp down even further, ripping the skin and muscle from the small girl.

A gentle hand graced the back of Juleka’s head.

“It’s okay,” Rose whispered, though her voice shook, “Eat.”

It was most certainly not okay.

“I don’t want you to hurt anymore,” Rose continued.

Juleka felt tears pricking the edges of her eyes. This girl, the one human she’d sworn on protecting, just happened to be another one she consumed to survive.

It was clear that the piece of flesh on her shoulder was severed, and Juleka gently pulled away, allowing the meat to travel down her throat and into her empty stomach.

“I’m okay now...” Juleka whispered, tears welling up. She wiped blood from her mouth, ignoring the sickeningly sweet scent.

Rose was too good for her.

“I’m awful,” she mumbled, “Come on, we need to get that treated at a hospital before you loose any more blood.”

Rose nodded, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Juleka found herself smiling.

She definitely needed to protect Rose.

The girl was too naïve for her own good.