Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

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Choosing them had been a gamble.

Creation and Destruction. Yin and Yang. Two parts of a whole. Such a combination with great potential… Perhaps it’s only fitting these Miraculous tend to be drawn to people as different as night and day:

A headstrong Ladybug with something to prove.

A confident Chat Noire who hasn’t quite let go of the past.

They could make up for what their partner lacks and help each other grow… Or their differences will prove to be too great and they’d clash too much to work as a team.

I didn’t want to pick them at first, but there were no better candidates than them. They were young -   too young. They have so much potential. Given a few years, they could become something great… But they don’t have years to find their footing.

Only time will tell if I’ve made the right choice.

0-0-0-0-0

Ladybug

The clanging sound of a staff hitting metal echoed through the empty warehouse. The light of the full moon and her glowing green eyes were my only guides in finding my opponent. Every swing of her staff, I barely managed to dodge. I swung my yoyo into a defensive shield.

“Is that the best you’ve got?” Chat Noire mocked, leaning over her staff under her chin with a wicked grin.

I huffed and with my yoyo swinging wildly, I charged at her. Quick to react, Chat Noire dodged by slamming the end of her staff on the ground and quickly extended it. My yoyo wrapped around her staff instead. I tried to pull back to force her down but Chat Noire was ready for it. She jumped off her staff and landed by my side. Chat Noire didn’t give me time to react. A swift kick to my stomach had me down on the floor in a flash. With the end of her staff pointed at my head and my yoyo in her ‘Cataclysm’ hand, this fight was as good as over.

“I yield.”

For the fifth time that night, Chat Noire defeated me in our sparring session. My partner put away her staff and offered me a helping hand. I pushed it away and helped myself up.

“Aww, don’t be such a sourpuss,” Chat Noire said, the smugness in her tone annoyed me more than it should. “You lasted like, fifteen seconds longer than last time.”

“That’s hardly an improvement.”

“It’s only been like, three weeks. I don’t expect you to be as good as I am in a fight,” Chat Noire just couldn’t help but brag about her superior fighting skills and rub salt on my wounded pride. She flashed an obnoxiously cocky grin and spun my yoyo on the tip of her claw before offering my weapon back. “Just count on me to do most of the fighting while you do your thing with Lucky Charm and fix everything when we’re done.”

It’s been almost a month since we received our Miraculous and it’s become increasingly clear that Chat Noire is the better fighter between the two of us. Much better fighter. It’s like she was born ready for this! If it weren’t for the fact that I’m the only one who can purify akuma and fix everything, I’d be completely useless next to her.

I snatched my yoyo and took a fighting stance. “Again.”

In response, Chat Noire just nonchalantly stretched her arms up and crossed them behind her head. “Nope. That’s enough sparring for now. Let’s call it a night.”

“No! I can still fight another round!”

“Your eye bags beg to differ.”

I clenched my fists and I stomped my foot on the ground. With a glare, I said, “This is not the time to slack off! We have to get stronger! Hawkmoth has to go down as soon as possible!”

That woman… Just the thought of her makes my blood boil. I can never forgive her for what she did – for what she’s still doing to others.

“Whoa there, Bugsy. Chill,” Chat Noire waved her arms up in a placating manner.

“How can I be ‘chill’ at a time like this?! She’s still out there! Any minute now, she can turn anyone into an akuma and we’re no closer to finding her!”

“This is what happens when you’re up way past your bedtime for several days in a row, Cranky Pants,” Chat Noire placed her arms down to rest on her hips and had the nerve to talk to me like I’m some kid having a tantrum. “We’ll find her.”

“She could be anywhere! She can attack using anyone! You should take this threat more seriously!”

“Believe me, I’m all for taking down the crazy old hag. But I don’t think we’ll be fighting her again anytime soon,” Chat Noire’s fake leather ears curled back, the only sign that shows she’s as frustrated about our lack of progress as I am. But that didn’t make her words any less aggravating. “We’ve searched every inch of the city, asked everyone we could, and we came up with no leads. Over three weeks and no progress. I think it’s time to ease up on our patrol days. We could use the time to relax and focus on our lives.”

I growled my disapproval of that plan. “No! We have to be even more vigilant! We can’t drop our guard just because we haven’t found her yet!”

“And what do you propose we do?” Chat Noire smirked maliciously as she raised a clawed finger for every suggestion, each sounding more mocking than the last. “Patrol the entire city every night? And while we’re at it, should we also save every cat stuck in a tree? Help every old lady cross the street? Stop every purse-snatcher even when they’re halfway across the city?”

“You knew?” I leveled her with a disapproving glare. “And you didn’t help me?!”

“It’s all over the Ladyblog,” Chat Noire lowered her clawed hand back to rest on her hip and rolled her eyes. “Overboard much?”

“We’re heroes! It’s our duty!”

“Au contraire Ladybug, stopping Hawkmoth is our main duty. We should focus on that, not overextend ourselves helping everyone for every minor thing.”

“If we don’t do it, who will?!”

“There’s still the cops-”

“They’re useless! They’re not the ones with superpowers! It has to be us! This is what we’re chosen for!”

The smug grin on the black cat finally dropped. Chat Noire folded her arms over her chest, her glare as cold as ice. “If you’re so eager to work yourself to exhaustion, then you can do it yourself. Leave me out of it.”

“Chat Noire, don’t be unreasona-“

“No, you’re the one being unreasonable!” Chat Noire snarled, showing off her fangs. “Our main priority is to stop akumas and capture Hawkmoth. That’s literally it. We don’t need to go overboard with all the extra hero duties! They don’t need our help with every little thing! We’re not here for everyone else’s convenience!”

“Don’t you dare talk like that about the people we swore to protect!”

“They’re not worth the effort! They don’t deserve it!”

There was a tense silence as we glared at each other.

“If that’s how you feel, then fine,” I said. “Leave.”

Chat Noire huffed, her annoying smirk returning. “Really, Bugsy? You’re gonna fire me?”

“I don’t need a partner who doesn’t care for the citizens.”

“At least I get things done,” Chat Noire said with a condescending smirk. “I don’t know what the guardian ever saw in you but you’re not good enough for the Ladybug Miraculous. Don’t come crying to me if an akuma manages to kick your incompetent overworked butt!”

Chat Noire turned away from me, walking out of the warehouse. Her words stung, but I won’t let her get the last word.

“You may be the better fighter, but you’re hardly a hero,” my words made her pause, but she stubbornly refused to turn back. If this is how she’s gonna be, then fine. “Maybe this is why you weren’t the one given the Ladybug Miraculous. If I were the guardian, I wouldn’t trust someone as callous as you with the power to save the day.”

For once, the snarky cat didn’t have a comeback. She stabbed her staff on the floor – with so much force that the cement cracked – and vaulted herself out of the warehouse.

Alone in the warehouse, I decided to continue training myself. I don’t need her. She’s not the one who could purify the akuma or fix everything. What I lack is something I could fix with a little hard work. I’ll get stronger.

I can do this on my own.

0-0-0-0-0

Blair

“Stupid bug. What does he know about anything?” I grumbled as I dropped my transformation in my room. “He’s not the boss of me!”

“Barely a month in and you two are already breaking up?” Plagg sneered after making his Camembert disappear.

“He started it.”

My ever so supportive kwami snorted at me. How precious.

“Look Plagg, I know you can still get the gist of what’s going on when I’m transformed. You’ve seen how Ladybug was like. He’s in over his head on this one, and I don’t share his fatalistic crowd-pleaser views.”

Plagg rolled his eyes. “But he’s your partner and you’re stuck with him. Deal with it.”

My hands wove themselves into my hair to massage my scalp, just barely resisting the urge to pull my hair out. “Who the heck chose him to be my partner anyway?!”

“The guardian, duh.”

I narrowed my eyes at my kwami. “Now you wanna talk about him?”

This isn’t the first time I asked Plagg about where my Miraculous came from. I always wondered… But the only time Plagg ever mentioned the guardian was on the day I got my Miraculous.

“You are simply the best person for this job and you are trusted to use my powers responsibly. It’s got nothing to do with your mother, but you. Of all the people in this city, the guardian saw potential in you- Believed people needed you. That is why you’re chosen to wield my Miraculous. Take it or leave it.”

Since then, Plagg never mentioned the guardian no matter how many times I asked. Every time, he keeps steering the conversation towards cheese. That is, until today.

“Actually, this guardian is a ‘her’. And yes, I’m mentioning her now that the heroic duo she picked isn’t working out the way she hoped.”

I folded my arms under my chest. “And how exactly did she thought we were supposed to work out?”

“You could’ve helped Bugaboy be less of a stubborn stick in the mud.”

I snorted. “Yeah, not happening.”

“And he could’ve helped you out with your own issues.”

This time, I let out the most sarcastic laugh I’ve ever done in my life. Plagg gave me an unimpressed look, so I stopped and told him flatly, “That’s definitely not gonna happen. I don’t have issues and even if I did, I don’t think Ladybug would be much help there.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Plagg. I don’t need him,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m better off without him.”

“But he’s the only one who can fix everything.”

I fiddled with the ring on my finger. “It takes more than having the right Miraculous to be a good hero, and Ladybug merely lucked out on that.”

“You may be the better fighter, but you’re hardly a hero,” Ladybug said in that self-righteous tone he likes to use. “Maybe this is why you weren’t the one given the Ladybug Miraculous. If I were the guardian, I wouldn’t trust someone as callous as you with the power to save the day.”

Just the thought of what he said made my blood boil.

“Getting to the point where he can fix everything is just as important, and he’s not gonna get there without me.”

I looked out the window. The moon has long reached its highest point and can only descend from this point on. I’m sure Ladybug is off training himself to exhaustion somewhere. Also somewhere out there, the guardian could be watching us.

“Maybe I can show the guardian she gave the Ladybug Miraculous to the wrong person.”

0-0-0-0-0

Shizuke

My alarm clock blared at exactly 6am. I got up from bed and made my way over to the kitchen. Our kitchen is a small place with all the essentials and not much else. On one side there’s a gas stove with an oven, a rice cooker with a steamer, and a cupboard. Another side by the window, there’s a sink with a dish rack attached to the side. Setting apart our small kitchen from the rest of the apartment is a countertop with a pull-out dining table, light lamps hung above it. Off to the side next to the counter is a wall to hang cooking pots and pans, and our fridge with electric magnets holding up pictures of me, Grandma, my family and friends.

Deciding on what to make for breakfast wasn’t that difficult since my cooking is as basic as it gets; fry or steam whatever I can find in the fridge with a bowl of rice from the rice cooker. Today, it’s eggs and hotdogs with rice. As I finished washing the rice and placing the right amount of water in the rice cooker, grandmother woke up, rolled up the sleeves of her orange yukata and started cutting up the hotdogs.

“[Grandma, you don’t need to do this. Just relax and I’ll prepare breakfast,]” I pressed down the button for the rice to start cooking before gently trying to take the knife out of my grandmother’s hands.

Grandmother dodged my reach and clicked her tongue. “[I’ll have you know that I don’t need my legs to cook.]”

“[But you need your legs to stand and reach the counterto – Ow! Stop that!]”

Grandmother stopped poking me with her cane and continued to cut up the hotdogs. “[That’ll teach you for being a smart mouth around your elders.]”

“[I wasn’t being a smart mouth. I was just stating facts – Ow!]”

Another poke before she passed me the hotdogs, which are now shaped like little octopus.

“[I’ve been cooking long before your mother was born. I can finish up before my legs need a break. Just let me help.]”

I studied the precisely-cut little hotdogs and sighed. On top of being a skilled gardener, herbalist and flower arranger, Grandmother is also a skilled chef. Not just in Japanese cuisine, she’s good at cooking up a wide variety of foods; from chocolate cupcakes that can satisfy even Fuyu’s infamous sweet tooth to enchiladas Kaji would deem authentic.

In the time it took for me to fry the hotdogs, grandmother was already scrambling the eggs. This time, grandmother passed me the bowl and let me fry them. From the corner of my eye, I saw her pull out the tabletop tucked within the counter and set it for two.

Sigh… She shouldn’t be moving around so much but for an old lady with a limp, she’s still pretty quick. Paired with her insistence to do everything herself, I often find myself having to race her to my chores. Stubborn old lady, I’m supposed to be the one taking care of you, not the other way around!”

“It’s alright, grandson. Just ‘cause I have a limp doesn’t mean I can’t do anything anymore.”

I stumbled at grandmother’s reply but thankfully, I didn’t spill the eggs I was transferring to a plate. With the eggs and hotdogs on a plate in one hand and a bowl of rice on the other, breakfast was ready.

“Ittadakimasu!”

It’s pretty good. Grandmother sure knows just the right things to add to make even scrambled eggs taste fantastic. But a part of me sometimes longs for Okaa-san’s slightly burnt and a little too salty versions of the scrambled eggs and her deformed attempts at making little octopus hotdogs. I shook off my nostalgia and quickly finished my breakfast. I turned to my right side to see my grandmother primly wiping her mouth with a napkin.

“You don’t have to push yourself. I told you I can handle it.”

Grandma slammed her hands on the table.

“I DON’T LIKE FEELING USELESS! STOP BEING STUBBORN AND LET ME HELP!”

I scooted away from my grandmother and stayed quiet. I know better than to interrupt her when she gets like this. It’s best to let her calm down on her own and talk it out.

“Let me do at least this much. It’s been years. There’s no harm in stretching my legs a bit,” as if to demonstrate, she stretched out her sandal clad foot. “This is as good as it gets. I’m used to it.”

My eyes couldn’t help but look down to my grandmother’s left foot. Save for the faded jagged scar wrapped around her ankle, it doesn’t look so bad at a glance. It can no longer bend the way it’s supposed to, making it difficult for grandmother to walk. It’s been seven years… She’s lucky the only permanent injury to her was a limp.

When I first came to Helios City, it was during summer break. My parents received a call from the hospital. Grandmother was attacked by a burglar. We flew to Helios as soon as we can. I could still remember the day I first saw her… Laying still on the hospital bed in a patient’s gown, greasy white hair splayed on her pillow, her left leg in a cast. There were so many machines attached to her such as the mask that’s helping her breathe, the bag of fluids feeding her body through a thin little tube injected into her bony hand, the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor… Otou-san comforting Okaa-san as she cried for her every day.

One week became one month. Against all odds, she woke up. Because of that, my mother insisted we stay in Helios at least until grandmother fully recovered. It took a year before we could get her out of the hospital and another two years before she could replace the wheelchair with a cane permanently. And every minute of it, grandmother was stubborn to the bone.

As aggravating as she is sometimes, I consider her as an inspiration. In time and through sheer determination, she got used to her limp and can manage just fine without any help for most things. If she can make it from the brink of death, surely a talentless nobody like me can persevere to surpass people’s expectations.

“Would you look at the time. You better hurry up. School starts in fifteen minutes.”

A glance at the clock made me jump out of my chair and bolt towards my room… Then I run back to gather the dishes and dump them into the dishwasher, took some leftovers and put them into a tupperware for lunch, before dashing back to get my things for school. I said good bye to my grandmother as I rushed out the door and went on my way to school.

0-0-0-0-0

By 8am, I’m at school. I sat down on my seat on the second row, right next to my best friend Fuyu, and took a long sip from my Styrofoam cup.

Fuyu narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you okay?”

I held out one hand in a gesture to wait for me to finish my drink first. As soon as I drank it down to the very last drop, Fuyu snatched my empty cup and took a sniff. Her face wrinkled in disgust.

“You don’t normally drink coffee. You always prefer tea.”

“Just because I prefer tea doesn’t mean I can’t have coffee every once in a while!”

“Try five times in a row,” Blair commented from her seat in front of me. I frowned at her with suspicion, but she just shrugged it off like she’s perfectly innocent. “I can smell it from here. You must be drinking the strong stuff.”

Her statement made Fuyu look even more worried.

My frown deepened. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“Just saying,” the model turned back to face the board and leaned back on her seat in a relaxed manner, no longer caring about me.

“Yeah,” Kaji is giving me concerned looks from his seat next to the model. “You only drink coffee when you’re cranky.”

I slammed my hands on my desk. “I’M NOT CRANKY!”

Now the whole class is shooting me questioning looks. I shrank down into my seat and shot glares at my overly concerned friends.

“I’m fine! Really!”

My friends looked like they wanted to argue more but thankfully, Mr. Ross entered the room and started taking attendance. I just have to get through the day then train all night.

I can do this!

0-0-0-0-0

“What are you doing here?!” I yelled at the black cat who claims to be a hero. She smirks down at me as she dodged another thunderbolt from the akuma while carrying me bridal-style.

“Saving your Lady-butt-” she dropped me to the side and used her staff to deflect the incoming hale. “-from getting iced.”

I groaned at her pun and pushed myself up, swinging my yoyo around as a shield. “I still don’t think you deserve to be here.”

“I’m not asking for your approval. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got an Ice Queen to dethrone.”

Then Chat Noire proceeds to Cataclysm a billboard and trapped the akuma, leaving me stuck on the sidelines. Again.

Next time, I swear I’ll get the akuma before Chat Noire!

0-0-0-0-0

Every Wednesday, I have Judo Club.

Fuyu was the one who introduced me to this back in her martial arts phase back in 4th grade. We used to go on classes together, but Fuyu… Well, she ‘quit’ after a few months because she felt people kept underestimating her no matter how many practice sessions she won. The Taekwondo Club were particularly condescending. Her temper didn’t help. She can’t even come to watch me practice and tell me her own opinions on how I could improve. Then again, her suggestions would likely get me disqualified in an actual competition... Let’s just say she’s banned from all martial arts clubs for more than one reason.

But I stayed. While I know I can count on Fuyu to protect me from bullies like Damien, I didn’t want to keep depending on her. I wanted to be able to protect myself. After trying out at the school’s extensive selection of martial arts clubs, I discovered Judo. I was drawn in by a demonstration where the club mentor, an average sized man, managed to take down a much larger opponent. It gave me hope that even a boy like me could take down a giant like Damien with enough training. It always helped to imagine my opponent was Damien.

Like with a lot of things, I wasn’t very good at it at first. But I was determined to get good at this. After five years, I’m proud to say I’m a Brown Belt – just one rank away from getting a Black Belt.

Opponent after opponent, I took them down. Channeling all my frustrations from sparring with Chat Noire, I threw my fifth opponent down hard on the floor. The referee declared me the winner.

“Sanchez, you should’ve anticipated your opponent’s move and your footwork needed to be firmer.”

“Yes, sensei,” my opponent said, bowing at sensei while deliberately not bowing back at me. He stomped away without another word as soon as sensei was done giving him his critique.

I’m used to this treatment. Wherever I go, there’re always a few people who resent me. Whether it’s because I’m best friends with the mayor’s son, a teacher’s pet, or the wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous… I’m used to people thinking I don’t deserve to be where I’m standing.

“Excellent work, Midorikawa. But you may wanna put a little less force into your throw. Judo is not about strength but technique.”

“Yes, sensei,” I said with a bow.

“Keep this up and you may be the first freshman to get a black belt.”

I stood up straight at the unexpected praise. “You really think so?”

“I’ve never trained anyone as dedicated to learning as you. You’d make a fine addition to the school’s competitive team.”

I’ve told sensei about my intention to join the school’s Judo team since the beginning of Junior High. A black belt may as well be the first step to getting in as sensei only wants the best for his team. Xyril Tech provides scholarships for those who could get into any of their competitive teams. Just like with how I didn’t want to depend on Fuyu to protect me, I didn’t want to depend on Kaji to keep getting his father to recommend me to the school. I wanted to stay based on my own merits. I want to deserve to be here.

“I-it would be an honor, sensei.”

“Just keep it up, Midorikawa,” sensei said before going over to another pair to critique.

I held my head high with pride. It’s always nice to be acknowledged. Yes, I’ll keep improving. I’ll get into the school’s Judo team. I’ll get my athletic scholarship. Most of all, I’ll surpass Chat Noire’s fighting skill. Someday, I’ll show everyone!

I will do this!

0-0-0-0-0

With my desktop logged into the Ladyblog and other sites, I typed in a few more new entries of akumas from this week into my Akuma Chart. Location-wise, I still couldn’t discern a pattern. All the akumas that happened are pretty spread out. Dates and times are also random, as there had been akuma attacks that happened as early as the crack of dawn and as late as two in the morning. As for frequency, there’s only three this week… Which is a vast improvement compared to the first week’s twelve, second week’s eight, and third week’s five. There’s a steady decline!

Maybe Hawkmoth’s getting tired keeping up the pressure… or maybe finding people to akumatize is getting harder in general.

Looking around the Ladyblog, I felt my heart swell from the overwhelmingly positive response to my superheroing. Numerous people I don’t personally know are thanking me for everything I’ve helped them with. People praising me for all my efforts…

“Why are you crying?” a concerned Tikki asked from her perch atop a jar of cookies.

I wiped at my eyes, and sure enough, my sleeves felt wet. I can feel my face heat up in embarrassment.

“I’m just not used to this,” I gestured at my desktop screen where a long string of positive comments are shown. “I’m a little overwhelmed, that’s all. Nothing to worry about.”

Tikki flew over to get a better look at the screen. Her little face looked pensive.

“Shizuke, getting praise for all your good deeds is nice and all, but don’t get used to getting it as a reward for everything you’ve done. You don’t do any of this for flattery.”

At what Tikki said, I could almost imagine Kaji and Fuyu calling her a killjoy. While a part of me wants to agree with them, Tikki is my guide. It would serve me well to listen to her…

One time I shut her out, well, let’s just say I spent the day feeling lost and by the end of it, I felt emotionally drained. Not a disaster, but it could’ve all been avoided if I’d listen to her from the start. She’s stern but she always meant well and want what’s best for me… Just like Grandma.

“I won’t lose sight of what’s important, I promise.”

0-0-0-0-0

I stretched my sore limbs and breathed in the clean air at what used to be a dusty corner in the library. Books lined up in proper order, free of dust and molds. Wooden tables polished to a shine with matching chairs tucked on all sides. The glass windows cleaned and the curtains changed to a warm maroon with golden patterns. All in all, a job well done.

I wiped the sweat off my brow and began to pack my things when the door creaked open.

“’Sup loser?” said a voice that could’ve sounded so much like Kaji had my friend spoke with so much spite.

I glared at the silhouette by the door.

“Leo.”

The boy stepped out of the shadows to reveal himself. Light brown skin, tall straight posture, reddish brown eyes - Like his voice, he also looked a lot like Kaji. It’s almost painful to watch. If he claimed to be Kaji’s twin, I wouldn’t blame anyone for believing him. Thankfully, his head of wavy blond hair is a blatant sign that help tell the cousins apart.

“How’s library duty going?” Leo said in that fake affable tone his mother liked to use.

“I’m done,” I picked up my bag and made my way towards the door… But then I heard the sound of falling books.

By an empty shelf surrounded by books on the floor, Leo smiled serenely.

“Looks like you missed a spot,” he patted me on the shoulder as he passed me by. “Better clean that up before the librarian gets here.”

And off went the reason why I’m dedicating at least an hour of my day every day to cleaning the library. I clenched my fist to stop myself from charging at him. That’s what got me in trouble to begin with. I took deep breaths and started cleaning up the mess, one book at a time. Just one more week of this and this punishment will finally be over.

0-0-0-0-0

Because of that delay back in the library, it took me ten minutes to notice the Ladyblog has updated and there’s another akuma on the loose.

Once again, it’s one of those annoying fanboy akumas. One would think by now, they would’ve learned that their celebrity crush isn’t worth getting akumatized over but time and time again, I’ll find myself fighting and saving one of those obsessive fans who honestly believe they’ve got a chance with the celebrity of their choice. Sometimes, I just want to yell at them to take their rejection like a man and move on.

This time, the unlucky celebrity I have to rescue is Blair Crawford. She’s an up and coming model from Aphrodite and she happens to be my classmate. She’s also my number one suspect for Hawkmoth.

I know, crazy right? What are the odds that I’d end up in the same class as another Miraculous wielder? But the evidence is there: Her absences line up to the akuma attacks. I’ve seen her in the area of a lot of akuma attacks; I’ve even personally saved her from a couple of them. She has extensive knowledge on how the Butterfly Miraculous works; she mentioned some tid bits before Chat Noire and I told the public what we knew. Then there’s that one slip up on the day we met… And how Hawkmoth once implied she lost someone too…

Sadly, all these pieces of evidence are circumstantial, as Chat Noire once put it. I needed cold hard evidence, she said. That’s why I’ve been gathering as much information as I can about her. From magazines to social media, I looked into every tidbit I can get my hands on… Any one of them might just help me piece together the proof I need.

For now, until I can say with 100% certainty that Blair is Hawkmoth, it is my duty to rescue her like any other civilian.

I heard a high pitched scream of pain and I hastened my way towards the akuma. To my surprise, when I got there, it wasn’t Blair who screamed in pain.

Writhing in pain on the curb was the akuma of the day. He was curled in on himself, his hands covering his privates. Blair was standing over him, flipped her hair as she gloated.

“Next time, just take ‘no’ for an answer. It’ll spare you the pain,” with her nose pointing up in the air, Blair walked away.

There were quite a few people who stuck around and recorded the scene. I almost pity the akuma. Among the lingering bystanders, I recognized Blair’s twin brother Blake standing next to Kaji and Fuyu.

“What just happened?” I asked Kaji.

“He was trying to force Blair into dating him. But Blair kicked him…” Kaji paused, searching for the right words while twiddling with his fingers over his phone.

“Blair kicked him in the nuts,” Fuyu supplied with no hesitation, looking pleased with the incident. “It was awesome.”

Kaji and I both winced, involuntarily imagining the pain the akuma is going through.

“Not that he didn’t deserve it,” Blake’s eyes hardened as he crossed his arms, having no sympathy for the akuma. “I would’ve done it myself but Blair beat me to it.”

I let out a sigh and released my yoyo. It’s time for clean up duty.

At least this time it wasn’t Chat Noire who beat me to the akuma.

0-0-0-0-0

During Fridays, Fuyu and I go over to Ashworth Castle’s private fencing studio to watch Kaji train.

About a week after Hawkmoth started making akumas, Kaji’s father noticed his tendency to chase after akumas. The mayor tried to forbid Kaji but as usual, Kaji didn’t listen. Then he tried to get Kaji a bodyguard… but that didn’t work. Kaji kept finding ways to slip through them. Two weeks later, he gave up and decided to entrust his safety to the only one who can keep up with Kaji – which is Fuyu. Fuyu preened like a peacock when Kaji’s father had to admit this to her face. But he wasn’t content with just entrusting his son’s safety to Fuyu.

Kaji, clad in full fencing gear, just barely sidestepped the thrust of a shining silver foil before he retaliated with his own against his opponent.

“Good recovery,” the fencer in the customized red fencing gear said, her voice light and full of pride. “And your agility is in top form.”

“Well, thank you,” Kaji said. I can imagine him grinning behind his mask. “I had a lot of practice.”

Kaji’s father wanted him to learn self-defense. Coming from a family of fencers, Kaji had some experience with fencing. In fact, he had a talent for it. He just never took to it the way almost everyone else in his family did. He always treated it like a hobby or a casual exercise to do once a week. Now Kaji’s father wants him to take his training more seriously every day. With Kaji’s teen rebellion phase at its peak, Kaji didn’t attend every day like his father would’ve wanted. I barely just managed to get him to attend every week instead of skipping it altogether to further spite his father – which is why I’m here, after Fuyu and I dragged him to his family’s personal sparring arena.

The red fencer let out a frenzy of thrusts that put Kaji on the defensive. Kaji dodged and parried as many attacks as he can but he was eventually overwhelmed. He fell to the floor, breathing heavily. He threw his mask to the side and frowned at the victor.

“I thought you said you’d go easy on me, Octavia,” Kaji huffed.

The winning fencer removed her mask to reveal long brown locks that curl up on the ends. She combed through her hair, pushing them away from her light brown face, a little pinkish from the spar. Her reddish brown eyes peered at my fallen friend with sympathy.

Her name is Octavia Eleanor Aurelio-Ashworth, Kaji’s elder sister by three years. She’s on her last year in high school and is the captain of the school’s fencing team. Beautiful, smart, and athletic, Octavia is the golden child of the family.

“Sorry,” she said as she put aside her sword and helped Kaji up. “It’s just… With all the dangerous akuma you were able to dodge, I thought dodging my attacks would’ve been child’s play for you.”

Kaji pouted at his sister. “No need to get passive-aggressive with me. You know you can just tell me what you really meant to say.”

Octavia’s demeanor hardened as she folded her arms over her chest. “And if I tell you to stop chasing akumas, would you listen?”

“Point taken,” Kaji picked up his mask. “Well, it was nice sparring with you. See you around, sister.”

Before he can leave the strip, Octavia called after him and it made him stop. Kaji turned to his sister with a resigned look on his face. Like every other member of Kaji’s family, Octavia tried to reason with Kaji to stop filming for the Ladyblog. As always, Kaji never listened. Like a moth to a flame, Kaji kept pursuing akumas for answers they’re in no position to give him. Not even Ladybug and Chat Noire’s interviews can appease him.

“You can’t just tell me to drop it. The city needs this!”

“That’s not what I’m telling you to do,” Octavia huffed in frustration. “I’m just saying you could still do it from a safer distance. Try being ten meters away from the akuma’s range.”

“It’s just not the same. People need to see what’s going on!”

“There are plenty of professionals who can do that for you. Why not use them?”

“This is my advocacy, my responsibility. It has to be me!”

By my side on the bleachers, Fuyu is grumbling. “Here we go again with his atonement complex.”

I nodded in agreement, afraid my voice would give away how I really felt about this situation. I gripped my bag on my lap just a little bit tighter.

Kaji is one of my best friends. Of course I care about his safety. But while I would rather he stopped going anywhere near akumas, I can understand where he’s coming from. Doing what he can to right some wrongs, fixing what he can cause it’s a responsibility he felt he had to pick up… His heart is in the right place. We just wish that place doesn’t always end up within an akuma’s line of fire.

Kaji made his way over to our row and collapsed on the empty seat next to me. I offered him a bottle of water, which he took with a mumbled ‘thank you’.

Back down at the strip, Octavia was frowning at Kaji, which Kaji wilfully ignored. At exactly 5pm, a young man with bleached blond hair came to pick her up for her last extracurricular for the day. Just like Kaji, Octavia was also assigned her own bodyguard – she just never shook him off like Kaji tended to do with his. It helps that he’s her boyfriend.

As soon as Octavia had her back turned on us, Kaji made ‘I am watching you’ gestures at Octavia’s bodyguard. Kaji never approved of that young man. He already broke Kaji’s trust once. Before the bleached haired man could point this out to Octavia, Kaji took one long swig of his water bottle to pretend he wasn’t doing anything.

Once Octavia and her bodyguard left the room, Kaji’s mood quickly brightened. “So, now that that’s over with, where do you guys wanna hang out?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t come tonight. There’s something I need to do…“

There’s patrol and training and civilians to protect and…

“Again?” there’s a sharp edge to Fuyu’s voice when she said that one word.

I could only nod and say, “It’s important, I-“

“But today is Friday Game Night,” Kaji said, his hold on my wrist is like a silent plead. “Can’t you put it off? We haven’t hung out since…”

“I can’t,” I averted my gaze from his kicked puppy look. I pulled my wrist out of his hold and tried to leave when Fuyu blocked my way.

Even at barely five feet tall, Fuyu can be as imposing as a giant. “What’s so important that you can’t put it off for tonight? You’ll have the whole weekend to do it.”

“I can’t put it off!”

“This important thing you’re doing, didn’t you already do this yesterday? And the day before that?” Fuyu’s eyes narrowed. She looks tough but there’s something so fragile about her voice when she asked, “When will it end?”

I wish I can tell you. You’re the reasons I took my first steps as a hero. The two of you deserve to know more than anyone in this city but…

“I’m sorry. I have to go.”

I need to do this.

0-0-0-0-0

Days drag on and Chat Noire continued to outdo me. Whenever an akuma shows up, she either resolves it before I could get there, or she’ll swoop in after I wore down the akuma and finish the fight. And that’s about the only time I ever see her. She doesn’t patrol, nor does she save anyone from a non-akuma related threat… And she had the nerve to gloat about how she’s a much better hero than me!

“Hey, Ladybug. How’s solo patrol going for ya?~” the ever smug cat sneered, leaning on her staff like a cane.

I ignored her and called out my Lucky Charm. Before the object could fall into my hands, Chat Noire batted away the akuma’s cosmetic-based projectiles.

“Think the akuma would give you a good concealer after you purify her? You look like you desperately need one.”

Resist. Urge. To throw Lucky Charm at Chat Noire’s head!”

Chat Noire shot me an annoyed look.

“I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“Whatever, weirdo,” Chat Noire ran ahead to stop the akuma.

At this point, I don’t care what she thinks anymore.

0-0-0-0-0

Cleaning my room is the one chore my grandmother doesn't try to take from me. I'm not a messy person so keeping my room passably clean doesn't take much time. I lay on my bed as soon as I was done, only to look up and see the one glaring thing I taped up my ceiling.

It was a poster of me and Chat Noire standing side by side as the heroes of the city. Kaji requested us to pose for that to spread word of the city's new protectors. It helped build trust, Chat Noire once said. Knowing us by face would give us a more heroic impression in contrast to a certain villainess lurking in the shadows.

"Are you going to take that down?" Tikki asked.

Why would I want to keep that poster up? We're not partners anymore. And yet, my body felt heavy. I couldn't lift a hand to do something as simple as tearing it down...

"Maybe tomorrow," I grumbled, turning to my side so I don't have to look at that prideful cat smirking down at me from the poster. "I'm too tired right now."

... I never got around to taking down that poster. If Tikki noticed, she made no comment on it.

0-0-0-0-0

Whenever akuma attacks happen near school, class is always dismissed until the akuma is taken care of. Thanks to that, I managed to maintain my perfect attendance on a technicality – they can’t mark me late or absent if class is officially dismissed. But because of this, the school board decided to make us attend classes on Saturdays just to keep up. Between the akuma attacks and the occasional students taking advantage of akuma attacks to skip school, it took a month for the class to fully assemble and for Mr. Ross to officially start our long overdue class election.

Mr. Ross stared at me with comprehension, before looking back at the rest of the class like he’s begging someone - anyone - to try to stop me. Nobody did. My teacher sighed to himself like he’s dismayed.

“Fine. For this year, Shizuke will be our class president.”

For five years in a row, I’m the class president. I never had any competition for it, I’m the only one who’d volunteer for it. Nobody else wants the extra duties that come with the position. As for my deputy…

“Now for the deputy officer… Any volunteers?”

Mr. Ross was met with silence. Just like with the class president position, no one else wants the extra duties. Not even Kaji and Fuyu would volunteer for me, not that I mind. If they can respect me for wanting to be class president for extra credits, then I can respect them for not wanting the extra duties of a deputy for extra credits they don’t need.

A girl with brown hair styled in a neat bob raised her hand.

“Melanie?”

With her name called, the girl stood up and said in a stoic voice, “If it’s alright, I would like to be the deputy officer for this year.”

Mr. Ross looked around the classroom. Seeing no objections, Mr. Ross declared Melanie the new deputy officer, much to my relief. Now there’s a girl I can work with. Serious and reliable. Nothing like Chat Noire.

“Okay,” Mr. Ross said with a sigh. “Now that that’s settled, you can now go on to your next class.”

When the bell rang and my classmates filed out. He’s been giving me concerned looks the whole time. Growing up in Helios with my teacher’s fiance’s nephew as my best friend, it made Mr. Ross sort of like an uncle to me. It’s not unusual for Mr. Ross to show concern over my well being. But usually, when I get assigned as the class president, he’s a lot more supportive.

“I won’t let you down, sir,” I told him before I went to follow the rest of my classmates.

“... Just try not to collapse while doing it.”

I couldn’t stop myself from frowning at Mr. Ross’s comment. That made me turn back to my teacher. On my first day in Xyril Tech, he was the first person to every stand up for me. Ever since then, I’ve always looked up to him. His approval means a lot to me, and I always strive to earn it. I know he only said what he said out of concern, but it still stung.

“Sir, I’ve been doing this for five years in a row. I can handle it.”

Mr. Ross raised his hands in surrender. “Not that I doubt you could but… Are you doing okay?”

“I’m doing-” I held back a yawn. “I’m doing great.”

“My self-proclaimed nephew told me otherwise. He’s worried about you. I can see why,” Mr. Ross pointedly said, got up from his desk and approached me. In his gentlest borderline familial voice, he asked, “Is there something wrong?”

When I didn’t give him a reply, Mr. Ross continued to try to gently coax me into confiding in him.

“In between your studies, helping out your grandmother, Judo club activities… You seem more tired and stressed lately. And now you’re taking up your class president duties again. Everyone’s worried that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew just so you can keep your scholarship. Don’t you think you’re a little too young to be overworking yourself like this?”

Well Mr. Ross, I doubt my age was a factor for whoever gave me the Ladybug Earrings.

“I’ll adapt sir. I just need time.”

Just like all my other commitments, I’m going to adapt to my new superhero duties. I’ll get better eventually.

“Look Shizuke, I know how it feels to take on so much responsibility and wanting to prove yourself. Trust me, I’ve been there… If you need help, just know you can talk to me about it.“

My hand went over to my wrist where I’m wearing one of the Ladybug earrings as a cufflink. I shook my head. “I don’t think you’d understand…”

Unlike him, I’m a Miraculous wielder. I was chosen to be Ladybug. This isn’t just about proving my worth. I’m a superhero now. I can’t afford to fail people. This is my responsibility.

“Shizu-“

“But thank you for your concern Mr. Ross,” I cut him off. “This is just an adjustment phase. I know I can get over it eventually. You don’t have to worry. Goodbye.”

… I have to do this.

0-0-0-0-0

At the top of Xyril Tech’s clock tower, I watched over the school. The autumn sky was blue, the birds were chirping… Everything was peaceful.

In a blink of an eye, everything burned.

Fire spread until it circled the school grounds. Many lush gardens burnt down leaving nothing but ashes. The Junior High School department’s pristine white buildings were covered in soot and flames. A beastly roar echoed around me.

Below the clock tower were Kaji and Fuyu. Kaji was screaming as fire swallowed him. Fuyu was looking on in fear. She ran towards him, trying to help. He reached out for her… but she caught fire too.

I just stood there paralyzed, unable to save anyone.

“The people have suffered enough because of you!”

Her voice rang in my ear.

“Give me the Miraculous, the Ladybug Earrings and the Black Cat Ring, and I promise everything will go back to normal!”

My hands moved against my will, removing the Miraculous I wear as cufflinks…

“SHIZUKE! WAKE UP!”

My heart hammered through my chest. I forced myself up. I have to move… I have to… but my hands are shaking.

“Calm down and breathe with me. Inhale. Exhale,” said a commanding voice.

I breathed with the rhythm the voice set until my heartbeat steadied and my vision cleared. My eyes opened and I saw I was no longer at my school. Instead of open skies and burning buildings, I was surrounded by four mint green walls and my grandmother’s worried face.

“Grandma…?” I rasped.

The air left my lungs when my grandmother crushed me in a hug. Feeling her here helped me find myself in the present.

“Everything’s okay, Shizuke. It was all a bad dream.”

Unable to find my voice, I nodded. Yeah. It was all just a dream. Things ended differently. Nobody died that day.

Grandma released me from her embrace, taking all her warmth and comfort with her. She looked at me with sad brown eyes.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

For one moment, it felt like I was a kid again, running to my grandmother for every bad dream. She’d comfort me the best she could and I’d feel safe in her arms until I finally fall asleep. For one moment, I wish I could be a kid again.

“No,” I placed my clammy hands on my lap and took a deep breath. I need to look calm. “I’m fine.”

Grandmother didn’t look like she believed me, but she nodded.

“Alright. Get some rest,” before closing the door, she peeked into my room one last time and said, “If you need me, don’t hesitate to knock.”

As soon as she closed the door, Tikki came out from behind my headboard. She didn’t say a word as she snuggled at the crook of my neck. It’s not the same as grandmother’s hugs, but knowing she’s here puts me at ease.

It’s just a nightmare. Things didn’t happen that way. My friends are safe. I didn’t give up.

It’s gonna be a long night. Whatever’s left of it anyway. Looking over at my alarm clock, I groaned when I saw the time.

2:37am

I’ll remember to prepare extra strong black coffee later.

0-0-0-0-0

“{[SHIZU-KUN! IT’S BEEN SO LONG! HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?!]}”

I winced at the volume, but I’m not even tempted to turn it down. I missed hearing this voice.

“[Hello Okaa-san, Otou-san. I’m doing alright, thanks.]”

Sunday mornings are when my parents are free to call me.

The woman on the screen, my mother, frowned. Her brown eyes were looking at me intently. “{[Are you sure, Shizu-kun? Have you been sleeping well? Eating well?]}”

“[… I’m just a little busy lately. That’s all. I have to work hard for that scholarship.]”

“{[Are you sure you’re not getting bothered by the akuma?]}” the blue haired man, my father, said as he squeezed his way to fit into the screen. As straightforward as ever.

“[I’m fine. Really. They’re not that disruptive at my part of the city.]”

From the doubtful looks on their faces, I can tell my parents didn’t believe me. They probably see my friends in the news every day

“{[You can always return home. It shouldn’t be too hard to have you transferred to another school here,]}” Otou-san suggested. “{[Xyril Tech is a reputable school. There’s no shame in leaving it due to akuma attacks. I’m sure several schools will be willing to accept you.]}”

“{[Yeah, I’m sure your grandparents here would love to have you around again. They miss you,]}” Okaa-san added. “{[We miss you.]}”

“[I miss you too…]”

It would’ve been so easy to just say yes… To go back to Japan where I can see my parents every day. Where I don’t have to work at grandma’s flower shop. Where I don’t have to strive so hard to prove I deserve my slot in the school. Where I don’t have to fight akumas almost everyday with this selfish arrogant cat girl.

“[But I love it here.]”

As much as I miss Kyoto, Helios is my home too.

“[All my friends are here, and grandma still needs me.]”

The people that matter most to me – the people who were always there for me – are all here.

“[I can’t just leave her alone now that there are akumas attacking the city. I’m needed here now more than ever.]”

And most importantly, being Ladybug is a responsibility I can’t just abandon.

“[Ladybug will keep us safe. Please believe in him.]”

“{[O-okay. If you’re sure,]}” my mother looked crestfallen as I told her my decision to stay. “{[Just… Just be safe, Shizu-kun.]}”

“[I will.]”

As hard as it is to stay, leaving everything I have here is harder. I’ll do whatever I can to prove I deserve to stay here. That choosing me to be Ladybug wasn’t a mistake.

… That I’m good enough to be worthy.

I’ll fight anyone who tries to take it away from me.

0-0-0-0-0

Chapter Text

Blair

Lounging lazily in my room surfing through channels is the new norm for me every weekend. No training, no patrol, no high-strung guys in magic red spandex… Just me, my flat screen and a bowl of caramel popcorn.

“Oh, my sweet magnificent cheese! How well you’ve aged!”

Oh right. Can’t forget about the cheese-obsessed cat kwami forever taking residence in my room.

“So gooey,” the flying cat poked the disgusting melty thing then took a huge whiff of it. “Such a heavenly scent…”

I increased the volume of my Spider-Man movie to tune him out. And I thought my brother was bad whenever he has a crush. Noticing my annoyance seemed to amuse the teeny tiny avatar of destruction.

Plagg took a small portion of it and waved it near my face. “You should try this.”

“No thanks,” I grimaced at the foul smelling goop that dared to call itself food. “I’ll stick to food that actually smells good.”

“Suit yourself,” the kwami licked the cheese off his paws like a grooming cat. Then his ears twitched and he zoomed out of sight.

Before I can question him, my door swung open and in came my twin looking like he just survived a mob. Considering our profession, he probably just did.

“Hey bro. How did the photoshoot go?”

He flopped next to me on my bed, ignored my protests about getting leaves and dirt all over my beddings, hugged my pillow to his face and screamed into it.

After letting out a resigned sigh, I paused my movie so we can talk.

“That bad, huh?”

He nodded vigorously without removing my pillow from his face.

I patted his back comfortingly. “There there, bro.”

“It dragged on forever.”

“It’s over now.”

“The photographer was a demanding jerk.”

“Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“Then I got chased by fangirls on the way home.”

“I can see that. You look like a survivor of a zombie apocalypse movie.”

Blake finally raised his head from my pillow just so he can give me the stink eye. “Let’s see you do better.”

“Well, I did just escaped an akuma last week and walked out of it unscathed,” I checked my nails with a smug grin.

Blake rolled his eyes at me. “That was a fluke. The akuma was busy declaring his undying love for you when you kicked him in the balls.”

“He had it coming.”

“I agree,” he said, taking a handful of my caramel popcorn and popping some into his mouth.

I pulled out my remote and twirled it around my hand. “So, wanna watch a movie?”

“What, you don’t need your beauty sleep by now?” Blake raised a questioning brow.

“Nope. I can stay up another hour or two.”

I’m definitely not regretting my decision to ditch Ladybug now. Before, I’d be nagged at by Ladybug for being late for patrols at this hour. Now, I don’t have to worry about that. I can take my time just talking to Blake or catching up on the latest superhero movies we both love to watch instead of pretending to be sleepy and shutting my twin out.

… Had Blake been my partner instead, I wouldn’t have those problems to begin with.

“Sure, but can we maybe not hang out in this room?” Blake took a sniff in the air and scrunched his nose in disgust. “Ugh, what is that smell?”

Yikes. I’ve gotten so used to the smell that I can ignore it. It’s not like I haven’t tried to contain the smell – I bought a mini-fridge which I had to beg Mrs. Liung to let me have in my room. But even that is not enough to stop the camembert smell from lingering whenever Plagg deems the cheese to need to age more at room temperature. Such is the price I pay to become a superhero. I bet Ladybug’s got it easy. Plagg occasionally calls Tikki ‘Sugar Cube’, so I can guess what she likes. Why can’t Plagg obsess over something less hazardous like sugar cubes?!

Blake stretched out on my bed, accidentally reaching his hand into the disgusting camembert Plagg was cooing over just minutes ago.

“Ew! What the heck is this?!” Blake wipes off the melted cheese onto his dirty pants.

I coughed loudly to cover up Plagg’s wailing over his beloved and sneakily threw a pillow in the annoying cat’s direction while Blake was busy wiping his hand. Plagg shot me a dirty look. I ignored it in favor of pulling my twin up and getting us out of my room with my bowl of popcorn.

“It’s just Camembert,” at Blake’s judgemental look, I hastily came up with an excuse. “Some models at work told me about how melted camembert makes for a good moisturizer. Like milk.”

“Seriously?” his eyes narrowed, his protective brotherly instincts kicking in. “Sure they’re not just saying that to trick you into smelling bad?”

“I’m sure,” I took Blake’s hand, holding back on gagging at how Camembert even feels disgusting and poured every ounce of my model skills into selling this act. “Your hand feels smoother already.”

“Still not worth the smell,” Blake pulled his hand back and made his way to his room. “I got a copy of that Spider-Man movie. We could watch here.”

I shut the door to my room to block out Plagg’s whining about cheese murderers and smiled at my twin.

“Sure, bro.”

“Oh, and by the way sis, you’ll never guess who I ran into today…”

Yup. Life is good without the annoying bug to drag me away from my family.

0-0-0-0-0

For someone who isn’t a morning person, I can sure move fast when I need to. I just have to make sure I wake up at least thirty minutes before school starts and I’m good. Blake and I made it just in time before Mr. Ross came in to check attendance.

This is where we part ways: me with the Helios Prince, Blake with Sleeping Beauty. Blake’s lavender haired seatmate was snoozing away as Shizuke nagged him to death about wearing his PJ’s to class.

“Jake, wake up! You’ll get in trouble! At least change into the school’s P.E. Uniform!”

Blake ignored him as he pulled out a textbook to make himself look busy and not incite the nags of the bespectacled mother hen. I zoned him out in favor of chilling with Keagan, who greeted me with a wide smile and a friendly wave.

“Blair! I saw you took down an akuma a few days ago and I was wondering if you can give me an interview?”

“Sure,” I grinned at him.

Just another morning for a star like moi.

0-0-0-0-0

“Care to tell me what’s up in class today?” I asked him after the interview.

Keagan’s always happy to help whenever anyone asks. This is why he’s my school life line - he keeps me up to date with school work so I don’t flunk out. While being a crazy blogger who stalks akumas means his attendance is hardly better than mine, he’s got connections in the teachers’ staff. Namely, Mr. Ross, our homeroom teacher.

I know what you’re asking. If Keagan’s so eager to help, why not make him do all the work? Simply because:

A. There are lines I wouldn’t cross for I have morals.

B. Fiona and Shizuke will have my head if I take advantage of Keagan’s generosity.

Eyes practically sparkling, Keagan said, “This week, Mr. Ross wants us to research some famous French figures. I’m calling dibs on Joan of Arc!”

“Okay?” I tilted my head in confusion. “I don’t get why you’re excited about this, but yay?”

“I’ve been researching for possible past Miraculous Wielders,” the school prince pulled out his phone and showed me some tabs. The one he’s showing me has an image of the French Saint herself garbed in red armor with black spots a la Ladybug. “Guess who turned out to be a former Ladybug?”

It’s all I could to not to drop my grin. Of course he was looking for a past Ladybug. Everyone knows Keagan prefers my flipping partner Ladybug. His stupid blog is named after Ladybug. Heck, I’m like eighty percent sure he has a crush on Ladybug!

“Interesting. Happen to find any former Chat Noire’s?”

“No, not at the moment,” Keagan’s shoulders slumped down and he looked to the side with his head bowed down. At least he looked genuinely sad about it. “I thought I was onto something with Hercules, but he seems to be more of a Lion than a Black Cat.”

Crud! Now he’s sad.

“Okay… How about any other Miraculous?” I prompted. “Weren’t there others besides the Black Cat, the Ladybug and the Butterfly a few years ago?”

Keagan sunk further into his seat. “Aunt Vera won’t tell me anything. I can respect that Aunt Vera didn’t want to give Hawkmoth any hints of other Miraculous in case she didn’t know but still… I wanna know!”

Double crud! I made it worse.

“Hey, I’m sure you’ll find something.”

My half-hearted pep talk earned me a half-hearted smile from the prince and a half-hearted glare from his knight in a black leather jacket sitting behind him. Sigh. For Fiona, I’ll try to do better than this. Wouldn’t want my life line’s other bestie to hate me too.

“So, about that project…”

“Oh, right!” Keagan perked up and went back to fanboying about the past Ladybug.

As a person, I actually like Keagan. He’s upbeat, friendly, and helpful with a strong mental fortitude… But I’m far from in the mood to listen to him sing Ladybug’s praises. Still, I wear a model smile and nodded along to it hoping not to piss off Fiona. This will be worth it!

When Mr. Ross gave us the project later that day, it turned out to be a group project, done by pairs based on seating arrangement – meaning, I’m stuck with Monsieur Ladyblogger.

Keagan’s got this in the bag. He can take the lead with research, while I’ll just assist with everything else. Except maybe reporting. He’s probably itching to report this himself. Or at least, the Ladybug part of the report.

Truly, I’ve invested on the right person to be my friend.

0-0-0-0-0

“You want my number? My, aren’t we forward.”

The freshly minted class president shot me the sternest glare he could muster… Which wasn’t very effective when his eyes could barely stay open and he looks like he hadn’t slept properly in days. He’s practically a coffee scented zombie at this point.

“It’s not like that!” he said with his arms waving about like it can make his statement any clearer. “I’m asking for your phone number strictly for school purposes!”

“That’s a new one. I’ll give you that,” I rolled my eyes as I took his phone to indulge him.

This is Shizuke Midorikawa: the dude who sits behind me, best buddies with the Helios Prince and the Jewelry Princess, and for some unexplained reason, he hates me. The reason why, to this very day, remains a mystery.

“Don’t be presumptuous!” his voice cracked. Noticing this, he coughed to regain control his voice and started gesturing wildly like a frustrated pre-school teacher. “As the newly elected class president, I need everyone’s contact details so I can inform my class of any school work or events. And seeing as your attendance is less than perfect, you have to give me your contacts so you don’t fall behind!”

“One, don’t get your glasses in a knot” I used the tip of my pointer finger to fix Shizuke’s glasses that went askew during his explanation. He huffed in annoyance and I carried on. “Two, your attendance is only perfect on paper. Don’t think I didn’t notice your little disappearing acts. What makes you any better at keeping up with school?”

Just like me, he’s pretty flaky with class. Not really absent but like, one minute, he’s a presence that can always be heard like a ghost haunting the school. Next minute, he’s gone. Then by next period, it’s like he never left. At first, I assumed he was just getting dragged around by his friends whenever there’s an akuma but apparently he was never with them. Do I care? Not really. But is he being kind of a hypocrite right now? Totally.

“… I have my ways.”

One of my brows rose questioningly. “If it’s Keagan, then no thanks. You’re not the only one who’s buddies with him.”

Shizuke then started rambling to himself. Lucky for him, I don’t have time to wait for an answer nor do I care.

Typing down random numbers, I handed him my phone back. “Here you go. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a shoot to get to.”

Before I completely left the room, I heard him trying to call someone, probably me. Like heck I’d just hand over my number that easily. Stranger danger and all that. Plus, I don’t need him yelling my ears off outside class any time he feels like it. I’ve had more than enough of that from Ladybug yelling my ears off whenever I’m late for patrol.

But alas, I underestimated the resourcefulness of the overbearing nerd.

“Blake-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll give you her number.”

Et tu, bruh?

0-0-0-0-0

Modelling is a career path I wouldn’t have chosen for myself, yet here I am. It’s not all that bad. Flexible work hours and good pay sweetens the deal. Sure, there’s pressure from photographers, publicists and who else is in charge of shoots but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m a professional, after all.

“You could say ‘no’ if this makes you uncomfortable,” said my manager and my legal guardian, Erin Liung. From the mirror, I can see her standing behind me with her arms crossed, not caring if it wrinkled her plum colored suit, and her coral lips pursed.

“It’s alright. I can handle this. That swimsuit collection last summer was more risqué than this lipstick commercial,” I said, careful not to move my face too much as the makeup artist applied my makeup.

Mrs. Liung’s button nose scrunched up. “Don’t remind me.”

“I’m sixteen, that shoot gave me a shot to get into Aphrodite, and the model I worked with was a professional who kept his hands to himself,” I firmly said.

What I didn’t say is that Blake cracking his knuckles as he glared at him across the room probably helped my co-model stay professional. I did the same for Blake during his shoot, not that any of those dumb model girls took me seriously. Times like these, I can understand Fiona’s desire to look intimidating.

“Look, it’s not that I don’t trust you or any of your co-models to stay professional…” Mrs. Liung traced a finger over that silver butterfly pendant she always wore along with her matching wedding ring. It had curled silver wire wings and an amethyst center. “But this is your first kiss. Wouldn’t you rather give it to someone you love?”

I frowned at her.

The makeup artist stepped back to examine her work. Happy with what she saw, she excused herself and left my dressing room as soon as she can. Can’t blame her. Nobody would wanna listen in on what could either be family drama or the birds and the bees talk.

“How sure are you this is my first kiss?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Women’s intuition,” Mrs. Liung moved to the vanity so she can properly face me. “Something tells me you’ve never even been remotely interested in anyone before.”

“So what?” I refuse to let it look like I’m bothered by that so I looked her straight in the eye, emerald green to amethyst violet. “Not everything has to be romantic.”

“I’m just-” Mrs. Liung hesitated before her eyes harden. “You’re just a kid - a teenager if you wanna get technical with me. There’s nothing wrong with wanting things to be romantic. There’s nothing wrong with wanting things period.”

Well I’m sorry to say, but the things I want in life just aren’t possible.

“Mrs. Liung, I’m telling you for the millionth time, I am totally okay with this job. Seriously. It’s just a peck. It’s not like I’m offering anything more than that. I've read the fine print before signing the contract, just like you taught me to. I know exactly what I'm getting into.”

Besides, models willing to do kissing scenes are more marketable than those who don't. More jobs mean more money. More money means Mrs. Liung will need less work hours to support us all.

“If you’re sure…”

I purposefully let out an exaggerated groan. “I’m sure.”

Mrs. Liung frowned, her brows creased with worry. Feeling a little bad, I felt the need to reassure her.

"I'll be fine."

I stood up from my chair and removed my robe. My outfit for the day is a sleeveless white dress that ends just above my knees. My hair is styled in a half up half down ‘do that kept just enough of my red hair out of my face. Make up was light but carefully applied so my red lips stand out. I popped a honeylemon breath mint into my mouth - wouldn’t want to have rumors spread about me having bad breath. All that’s left to do is put on the wedges they gave me and kiss my co-model for the cameras.

For something many people make a big deal about, it felt anti-climatic. No butterflies in my stomach. I didn’t feel tingly anywhere. The world didn’t stop. I can still tell there are people around us, especially the director when he yelled ‘Cut!’.

I pulled away from my co-model. I guess he’s a handsome guy like the dozen or so I’ve worked with before. He was smiling down at me, leaning closer and closer… And I patted him on the shoulder to stop him in place, told him he did a good job, and went on my merry way to my dressing room before he starts to think there’s anything more to this.

Later that day, I had to fight an akumatized fan girl of his as soon as he bragged to the internet about kissing me. At least we’re done with the shoot for the day. Time to sneak away from Mrs. Liung and beat this fangirl before Ladybug gets here.

All in a day’s work for a professional like me.

0-0-0-0-0

Back in the early days of my career as Chat Noire, Ladybug had us patrolling and training every day. At first, I was fine with it because I thought we could find Hawkmoth within a month. Days were tiring but the thrill of being a superhero spurred me on like an extra battery. But I can’t run on adrenaline forever. It’s clear now that we underestimated how slippery that witch can be.

As Chat Noire, I’ve contacted the police if they’ve found anything in their security cameras, see if they can trace her tracks via butterflies. Those butterflies had to come from somewhere, right?

A cranky Ladybug then told me, “Kwamis don’t show up on cameras. Of course Hawkmoth’s butterflies wouldn’t show up! They’re part of Nooroo! We’re wasting time here,” blah blah blah, whatever.

Then I thought, it’s not like Hawkmoth herself would be invisible through cameras. She even showed up on the news once! But even that became moot because that woman only went out in public once and of all places, it’s on a cathedral at night – plenty of towers and gargoyles to hide behind under the cover of darkness, minimal security cameras. Cunning witch probably planned it to work out that way whether she got our Miraculous or not.

Face and voice identifying technology is also useless due to glamour magic. The police had tried to leave it all to technology but just like the cameras, magic messed with it. Great. Magic thought of everything!

There’s always the good old fashioned power of deduction, but that’s about as reliable as technology thanks to glamour magic. Hair, eye, and skin color can’t really count for much, transformations can change that if the wielder wills it. But let’s lay out all the clues about Hawkmoth’s identity anyway:

Hawkmoth is a woman – or at least identifies as one. Transition tech has vastly improved over the years. You could hardly tell apart a transwoman from a ciswoman. One thing’s for sure, she’s got an hour glass figure that belongs in the front cover of a magazine.

Height is roughly estimated to be 5’8” but could be shorter due to heels. I can’t really be sure, I only got close to her when we’re fighting and I was paying more attention to her sword than her heels. Most of the time she had the higher ground. All I’m sure of is that she’s not too far from my height.

And most importantly, she’s lost someone important to her.

“I can sense your feelings. We’re more alike than you think.”

I remembered what she said that time she crashed Ladybug’s public press con. Her voice echoed through the swarm of purple butterflies she sent out on the City Square. It felt like she’s everywhere; like there’s nowhere to run and you’ve got no choice but to listen to her.

“Try as you might to be a hero, you’re nothing more than a selfish lonely little girl still crying for the loss of her-“

That’s gotta be her prime motivation.

To summarize, Hawkmoth is a woman who’s a little bit taller than me and - if her words are to be believed - she’s lost someone important to her. Sadly, I know one woman who matches this description. I had to send Plagg out to investigate. For once, the glutton didn’t ask for any camembert in return and just did what I told him to. Instead of feeling touched or relieved, I just felt worried.

I remembered how Hawkmoth wore the Butterfly Miraculous - it was a brooch pinned to a black ribbon choker around her neck… And my primary suspect just happens to wear a silver wire butterfly pendant with an amethyst center. Sure, she’s been wearing that necklace long before Hawkmoth… Back when Hawkmoth’s predecessor was active alongside other Miraculous-wielding heroes. It was an anniversary present from the guy she eventually married ‘til death went and did them part. But I can never be too careful.

It wasn’t until Plagg came back and told me his findings – or lack thereof – that I can feel some relief.

“I searched everywhere in the house, even inside the walls, floors and ceilings. She’s clean.”

As much as it pains me, I can’t rule out Erin Liung as a suspect without investigating her. I didn’t want to suspect her at all. I owe her everything. But as dad would say, everyone’s a suspect until proven innocent.

“Don’t feel too bad. You did what you had to do,” Plagg said, in an odd moment of compassion. “Or rather, you had me do what needed to be done.”

“Yeah, I know,” I hugged my legs closer, not relaxed enough to snark back. “I can’t let sentimentality stop me from finding Hawkmoth.”

Sensing my mood, Plagg’s ears drooped back. He floated over to me and sat on my shoulder. “You know, I once had a Chat Noir whose father turned out to be the villainous mastermind he and his Ladybug had been hunting down for years.”

“How did that turn out?”

“They beat the bad guy, but my wielder paid for it. Well, it’s not like he wasn’t used to feeling like a stray with the way his father treated him. Distant but controlling. Frankly, he was more like an employee than a son. Home was so much like a prison he sees school as a sanctuary in comparison.”

“Uhm, Emergency 911? We’ve got a major of case child abuse here,” I said, in a vain attempt to lighten up the mood.

Plagg let out a small chuckle, like he’s pretending my joke actually worked. “In retrospect, his father was pretty abusive.”

“But something prevented him from seeing it,” I said, barely above a whisper.

The kwami nodded. “Yep. All that time he held out hope his father would change, wishing they could be a happy family even without his mother. But the time came when he found out and his father forced him to make an impossible choice… It hurt to know his father was beyond saving.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, ouch.”

There was a moment of silence as I imagined my predecessor’s life and how he must’ve felt. Learning that the person who was supposed to love and protect you has done you nothing but harm can’t be easy. Much more if despite it all, he still loved him. The betrayal he must’ve felt… I can see why Plagg agreed to investigate Mrs. Liung without question. Wouldn’t wanna see another of his cats go through the same heartbreak again.

“At least now you know your mom isn’t secretly a villain.”

“She’s not my mom,” I said sharply. I looked towards the family picture hanging in my room, eyes lingering on the green eyed woman standing next to my dad. “She can never replace my real mom.”

“It’s okay to admit you love her. She’s family too.”

I let go of my legs and laid flat on my bed, turning away from my family portrait.

“I’m just glad I’d never have to fight her to the death. I wouldn’t know where else to go and the alternatives aren’t looking too hot… What did that Chat Noir do after the fallout?”

Plagg narrowed his eyes at the subject change but humored me anyway.

“It was a long process before he was truly okay. His Lady was there for him and that helped more than anything.”

By ‘his Lady’, Plagg’s probably talking about that Chat Noir’s Ladybug. The thought of red with black spots soured my mood.

“If this is a long-winded ploy to get me to go apologize to my Ladybug, I swear – “

“Calm down, kid. I know every Ladybug and Black Cat’s relationship is different and I don’t expect you two to get along as well as they did. What they had was something special,” for a moment, the kwami looked like he was reminiscing... Then he remembered I’m still here, so he stuck his tongue out in exaggerated disgust. “But they were so sweet it was sickening! If you and your bug ever start dating, please don’t be as lovey-dovey as they were if I’m in the same room.”

“Ha! Fat chance of that happening.”

Plagg was smirking, like he got the reaction he wanted. It was a few seconds later that I realized he was trying to rile me up on purpose to release some tension. Plagg is far from affectionate, but I know he cares in his own way.

All’s well that ends well. I can now rest easy knowing my legal guardian isn’t secretly trying to kill me.

0-0-0-0-0

“Blake! Blair! Long time no see!” a familiar blue eyed blonde greeted, the skirt of her white and navy blue striped sundress fluttering in the wind as she ran towards us - I’m impressed she managed to run that fast without flashing anyone.

She slowed down as she got closer to me and my bro standing under the shade cast by a red brick bridge. It took me more than a moment to recognize her as the blue eyed blonde seven-year-old from my childhood. Blake did say he ran into her a few days ago - he literally and figuratively fell for her then and there.

No wonder Blake’s excited. It’s only been a few days and he’s already crushing hard on her.

“Hey ‘Talia,” Blake shyly waved at her like an awkward dork who doesn’t know what else to say.

“I see you grew your hair. It looks great,” I said, starting off the small talk cause my twin is useless at that.

“Aw, thank you,” Natalia smiled, curling a strand of blonde hair around her finger. “It took me years to grow it… But yours look silkier. What’s your secret?”

Natalia Hale is a girl Blake and I befriended with one summer. Blake got injured falling off a tree when we first met her at her father’s clinic. She treated his scrapes and the three of us became friends ever since. Together we’d try a new flavor at Old Magnolia’s Ice Cream Parlor, or play whatever story we’d come up with - Natalia with her dolls and us with our action figures. We would stick together having fun until our parents took us home.

… A lot of things changed since then.

“If you checked out my latest shampoo commercial, you’d know it,” I flipped my hair to demonstrate.

Blake rolled his eyes, intuitively getting into our sibling banter. “Sis, this is an advertising-free zone.”

Natalia giggled at our antics. “You guys haven’t changed. Not in that regard at least.”

“Yep. Our sass is the only thing constant in the world we live in,” I said.

“So, we’re going to Lucia Park today?” asked Blake, losing his sass the minute he remembered his crush is in the vicinity.

“Could we wait a little longer?” Natalia asked, looking nervous all of a sudden. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Blake stiffened next to me. He looked like he wanted to ask Natalia about it but his lips are shuddering too much to get a word out.

My lips curled into a mischievous grin, making sure Natalia’s attention is on me and not on Blake, who’s too nervous to grow a pair and ask himself.

“Ooh, is it a boyfriend?~”

My dearest brother jabbed me at the side for asking a question he was dying to ask. What an ingrate.

Laughter broke up our stink eye contest and we both turned to see Natalia laughing so hard she was clutching her stomach. “No! Hahaha! He’s not my type and I’ve been bro-zoned. I would’ve been offended if his little bro wasn’t the cutest thing ever.”

Us twins only had one thing to say about this, “Whut?”

“Oh! Here he comes!” Natalia smile widened as she waved over someone behind us. “Damien! Get over here!”

As one, we turned to see the newcomer - and holy cow, what a giant! He’s like six feet tall with spiky black hair that only adds to his height and broad figured with huge hands - the better to strangle us with. Wearing a black shirt of some obscure heavy metal band, he makes an interesting contrast with our giddy blonde friend in a white sundress dragging him towards us.

Talk about tall, dark and intimidating. If Natalia’s preference for Prince Charming hasn’t changed, then I can see how he’s not her type… But I’m having a hard time picturing this guy’s little brother being the cutest thing ever.

“Damien, these are my childhood friends, Blake and Blair Crawford. Twins, this is my best friend, Damien Guerrero.”

My eyes widen as I recognized the name. Pretty sure Blake is having the same realization with the way he’s going pale.

“Guerrero? As in Guerrero Real Estates?” I just had to clarify.

“Yes. And you two are the famous new model twins from Aphrodite.”

Blake and I nodded.

Our confirmation didn’t put Damien at ease, judging by the way he’s staring us down. It’s like he’s trying to intimidate us into revealing any ill intentions… He kinda reminds me of Fiona, except he actually looks the part of a guy who can bash your skull in if you ever hurt his bestie. Can’t say I blame him, knowing our public reputations as a pair of heartbreakers.

Maintaining his poker face, my timid twin took a step back so he’s a little behind me. That just made Damien’s glare zone in on him. I moved to further block my twin. He’s hopeless at times but I’m not about to leave him to this giant’s mercy.

Natalia pouted, probably feeling ignored. “Yes, and I’m Natalia Hale of the Hale Clinic at Virgo Street, just a normal girl with a normal li - Holy shit.”

Damien and Blake forgot the tension between them and turned at the same time to give Natalia concerned looks.

Whatever it is, it’s making Natalia go red in the face - whether it’s anger or embarrassment, I can’t be sure until somebody asks.

“Uhm… What’s wrong?” I’m the only one here who had the balls to take a step in a potential landmine.

“I’m like the Shizuke Midorikawa of this group! Fuck!”

I guess I can see what she means - an average nerd surrounded by a rich Latino and some famous names in the fashion industry. One has to wonder if there’s a story behind that unlikely friendship.

Damien looked like he got stung… Is he not used to Natalia’s potty mouth? She’s always had a colorful vocabulary, even when we were kids.

“I-if it makes you feel any better,” Blake spoke up, finally gathering the courage to speak up as he turns redder by the second. Go bro! You can do it! “You’re be- You dress better than him.”

… and he chickened out of calling Natalia ‘beautiful’ at the last second.

The big guy stared at Blake like he’s having trouble believing what he just saw. Yes, Damien. This is Blake Crawford, the infamous ‘womanizer’ who’s never had a girlfriend before. It’s totally normal for him to get tongue-tied around the girl he likes and make an idiot of himself.

Natalia took the half-baked compliment well anyway. “Thanks, Blake.”

The two started walking ahead of us on the sidewalk towards Lucia Park - it’s signature abnormally large tree towered over the buildings like a beacon - leaving me to talk to Damien a few steps behind them.

“So, he’s really like that?” he asked in a cautious but hopeful voice.

“Yup. ‘Awkward dork’ is his true color.”

“Didn’t expect that…”

“You know what they say, ‘looks can be decieving’.”

Damien looked at the pair ahead of us, contemplating. Blake is scratching the back of his head as Natalia giggled at him. Knowing my twin, he probably said or did something awkward. Seeing that, Damien’s hunched shoulders slowly relaxed. He even smiled, looking relieved to see that Blake’s playboy rep is a fraud.

“That saying could also apply to you.”

Quickly turning his attention back to me, he asked, “What do you mean?”

“You seem scary at first, but I bet you’re a softie.”

Damien shook his head, looking down as if he didn’t believe me. “No, I’m not.”

“You so are,” I speedwalked to get ahead of the giant. “C’mon! Those two might ditch us if we don’t hurry!”

0-0-0-0-0

We spent the rest of the day hanging out and having fun like normal teens. I was feeling so relaxed, lying on the grass and basking under the sun… Until a flash of red and black polka dots both literally and figuratively put some shade into my sunny day.

Ladybug was holding on to the string of his yoyo as he slowly went down from that ginormous century old tree, the canopy of leaves parting in a way that lets the sun shine down on him like some angel descending from heaven. When his feet touched the ground, a little girl ran over to him. On his arm, he was cradling a calico cat which he handed over to the crying girl. Like some kind of kiddie cartoon superhero, he spouted some moral of the day for all children to follow. The girl beamed a gap-toothed smile at the hero as he swung away.

What a paragon of unattainable virtues.

“Man, that Ladybug’s everywhere these days,” Natalia commented after she took a bite out of her strawberry ice cream. “Just last week, he brought an injured man into our clinic. The man said Ladybug had saved him from a mugger earlier that night.”

“Now that’s a hero. He doesn’t just save people day in and day out, he makes sure they’re okay afterwards,” Damien said. Sigh, another Ladybug fan.

“It must be taxing. Patrolling the city ‘til the dead of night every night. Helios is a huge city and he’s just one guy,” Blake thoughtfully said. “If he keeps this up, he could break one day.”

As expected. Blake’s the only one who can remember Ladybug’s a person like any other behind the mask rather than some almighty smiter of evildoers. He knows the cost of Ladybug’s heroics, something I doubt the bug himself is aware of.

After taking the last bite out of her cone, Natalia wondered, “Doesn’t Ladybug have a partner? Where the hell is she? They should be splitting the work!”

‘Crack!’ went the aluminum can of orange juice in my hand.

Three pairs of eyes were staring at me with shock and concern. I let out a refreshed sigh to cover up my frustration.

“Welp. I’m out of juice,” I got up and stretched. I pointed towards the vending machine twenty feet away from us and made my way there. “I’ll be right back.”

0-0-0-0-0

“Blair, are you okay?” Blake asked, giving me a skeptical look. What do you expect from a twin brother?

I put a coin into the vending machine and bought another can of orange juice, humming some peppy pop song I heard from the radio. Once I retrieved my drink, I turned to Blake and smiled.

“It’s nothing.”

“Are you sure? You know you can tell me,” Blake said, his emerald green eyes imploring me to trust him.

I almost gave in.

“I’m fine.”

The lie left a bitter aftertaste, but my facade held strong until Blake hesitantly bought it. Together, we went back to Natalia and Damien, completely forgetting about my little incident.

Lying to him just never gets easier, doesn’t it?

0-0-0-0-0

In my early days as a model, Mrs. Liung once told me not to look for negative comments on my work around social media. They do nothing but bring you down and make you sloppy. And if you’re sloppy at work, you give your haters more ammo for their negative comments. It’s just an endless cycle of hate you can never hope to overcome.

Looking around the Ladyblog feels kinda like looking for negative comments. Clearly, I’m in a masochistic mood today.

I flipped through article after article about Ladybug, my mood sinking lower and lower with every positive comment. ‘Ladybug saved me from a mugger’ this, ‘Ladybug helped me carry my groceries home’ that, ‘OMG don’t you think Ladybug has the best butt in all of Helios?’ - oh please, I’m sure I’m hotter than him from every angle, not just my butt.

As for articles on me, there isn’t much. Most of my grand achievements in taking down akumas single-handedly is drowned out by Ladybug’s many mundane chores. Talk about quantity over quality. And then there’s the occasional pervert commenting on stuff I’d rather not talk about. I flagged them for Keagan to delete later. Being a model made me numb around these kinds of comments and learn that the most efficient way to deal with them is to ignore them.

“{Everyone, give it up for Ladybug! The best superhero Helios ever had!}” hailed Monsieur Ladyblogger as the aforementioned bug boy just stared blankly with dark circles beneath his eyes - he might just pass for stoic if you squint hard enough. A round of applause echoed around them amidst the sea of flashing cameras. “{You’ll never find a hero more dedicated than our very own Ladybug!}”

Keagan’s hosting one of his interviews again and this time he didn’t invite me. As a person, I like Keagan, I really do. But some days, his Ladybug fanboyism is getting in the way of what could’ve been a beautiful friendship between us.

The Helios Prince raised a hand to quiet down the crowd so he can begin his interview with the spaced out bug. Placing his hand on Ladybug’s shoulder made the hero jump, but Keagan carried on like a pro.

“{Ladybug, it’s an honor to have you here tonight.}”

The disoriented bug looked around as if he’s just now seeing his surroundings.

“{Uhm, uh… The honor is mine?}”

Tsk, tsk, Ladybug. Didn’t anyone ever taught this guy how to handle the spotlight?

The rest of the interview, Monsieur Ladyblogger went easy on Ladybug. He’s not trying to make Ladybug look bad like any other reporter would - in fact, he’s taking every opportunity he can to prop Ladybug up. While mentions of me are kept to a minimum. How biased!

I didn’t bother finishing the interview. I get what they’re - or at least Keagan’s trying to do. Boost the city’s morale. It’s working for now, but from that tired look on Ladybug’s face, it’s only a matter of time before that pillar everyone is leaning on crumbles to dust.

Until then, I’ll be here just waiting to pounce.

0-0-0-0-0

Having had enough of Blake’s well-meaning-but-still-kinda-insulting attempts to warn me about how me and my room smell like Camembert, I decided to do something about it. Again. Heaven knows how many perfumes and air freshener brands I’ve gone through. No matter what I tried, that new scent just blends in with the Camembert and makes it worse. Ugh, it’s bad enough when I had to explain to Mrs. Liung about my Camembert purchases – for something that stinks, they sure are pricey. This is humiliating!

I was mulling it over when – surprise, surprise – Fiona comes along with a useful tip.

She wordlessly passed me a calling card with a neutral look. It helps. I appreciate her effort to not look judgemental.

“Haruji’s Garden at Taurus Street… Wait a minute, isn’t that Shizuke’s grandma’s flower shop?” I can vaguely remember him mentioning - rather, yelling about it once or twice.

“That’s the one. She also sells other organic stuff she makes out of the flowers and plants that didn’t sell. From fragrant medicinal tea to hypoallergenic cosmetics, she’s got an answer for everything.”

“That’s… Uh… Amazing?” nothing against people who like organic stuff but I think I need something stronger to get rid of the Camembert smell.

“Just try her stuff,” Fiona waved me off with Shizuke’s grandma’s calling card. “Papa swears his loyalty to her soaps, shampoos, and lotions. He says they’re effective, like magic.”

Say what?! THE Feodor Kuznetsov of Hera likes Shizuke’s grandma’s stuff?! That prissy pink haired jewelry designer is infamous for being knit picky! If he doesn’t like something, he’d throw a hissy fit until it gets replaced with something up to his high standards! THIS guy happens to like what Shizuke’s grandma sells? If this is true then…

“... It’s worth a look.”

0-0-0-0-0

And that’s how I find myself here, standing in front of a pair of glass doors with a wooden sign hanging above that says ‘Haruji’s Garden’. It’s just a couple of blocks away from school; I can walk here without the Liungs knowing. There’s a wide assortment of flowers on display, from classic roses to exotic orchids, all of it arranged in combinations I didn’t think would fit yet the way they’re presented just works. But that’s not what I’m here for.

I pushed through the doors and was greeted by my bespectacled classmate from the counter.

“Good afternoon and welcome to Haruji’s –“ upon seeing my beautiful face, Shizuke’s customer-friendly smile sunk into a frown. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”

Before I can speak, Shizuke yelped in pain as a short old lady with a cane appeared from behind him to pinch his ear.

“SHIZUKE! THAT IS NO WAY TO TREAT A CUSTOMER!”

… Yup. Without a doubt, the old lady in a mint green kimono must be Shizuke’s grandma.

The old lady quickly let go of Shizuke’s ear and smiled serenely at me like she hadn’t just disciplined her grandson in front of me.

Shizuke was gingerly rubbing his ear when his grandmother nudged him. He let out a groan before he forced a smile on his face, all teeth showing like an angry dog, and said in the flattest tone I’ve ever heard from him, “Welcome. How may I help you?”

I snorted at his efforts.

His eye twitched but the rest of his face is frozen in forced politeness. “Well?”

“I was wondering if you have something like…”

C’mon, Blair! This is just Shizuke! Keagan’s nerd friend who doesn’t like you! There’s no impressing this guy at all but…

I scratched the back of my head and said, “… Like an air freshener? For my room.”

Like me, hate me, it doesn’t matter. Saying ‘I need something to stop stinking like rotten cheese’ will never not be humiliating no matter who I’m talking to!

Plagg snickered within my purse and I slapped it down hard, hoping nobody noticed.

Shizuke narrowed his eyes but said nothing as he walked out of the counter and directed me towards a shelf full of bottles, candles, incenses and other knick knacks.

“Is there anything specific you’re looking for?”

I can’t tell if he’s sassing me or not with how flat he sounded.

“We sell a lot of products that is ‘like an air freshener’ and lucky you, they’re all used for ‘rooms’.”

Conclusion: He’s totally sassing me.

“I don’t know, just something to get rid of this bad smell that lingers in my room. I don’t care what scent you give me as long as it could get rid of the smell,” I couldn’t help the disgust that crept into my tone as I thought about Camembert.

“How bad is it?” Shizuke asked with a deadpan stare.

It’s too embarrassing to describe.

Shizuke is giving me a judgemental once over.

I glared at him, daring him to say something about me.

He dared.

“Are you sure this is ONLY about your room?”

Saving me from reacting, Shizuke’s grandma poked his leg with her cane making him yelp in shallow pain. “That is no way to talk to a lady!”

I snickered at Shizuke’s karma.

“Alright, let me rephrase that: Can I interest you in our SOAPS or PERFUMES?”

I glared at the blunt nerd and his not-so-subtle insults. Shizuke glared back with his scary shiny glasses. The old lady groaned and decided to do things her way.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got just the thing,” the old lady went into a door behind the counter and just as quickly returned with a small bottle of what I assume to be orange scented oil.

She handed me the bottle, which I carefully examined. “So, am I to burn this over a candle or something?”

“No, that’s not for your room. If that smell in your room is as bad as you say it is, I suggest finding the source and either get rid of it or contain it. It should air out eventually.”

Fat chance of that happening. I’d rather put up with it than give up my Miraculous.

“That bottle is for you. Just a drop to rub on your pulse should do it.”

I pouted at her but said no more. The bottle of oil doesn’t look impressive. Surprisingly, it doesn’t smell like oranges when I sniffed it. It smelled rather earthy yet refreshing, like wood with the bark freshly peeled off and a hint of lemon zest. There’s something nostalgic about it… My eyes widen when I remembered and I looked at the old lady.

… Did Mom used to buy from her?

“I’ll take it,” I reached over for my wallet as I asked, “How much?”

“Oh, no need,” the old lady waved me off. “Think of it as an apology for my grandson’s rudeness.”

“Grandma!” Shizuke protested.

“She’s your classmate, isn’t she? The one with the red hair in all those magazines you bought?“

“Okay fine! Whatever,” Shizuke grumbled something under his breath as he went over the counter to do whatever it is that cashiers do.

“You have my magazines?”

I raised a questioning brow at Shizuke which he wilfully ignored while continuing to grumble something, but this time he’s doing it in what I can only guess is Japanese. I snickered. So, is he just playing hard to get or is he some kind of tsundere?

The old lady took back my bottle and put it in a paper bag and then gave the package to Shizuke. The two muttered things to each other back and forth, all in Japanese. With a resigned look, he took the paper bag and turned to me.

“Grandma no kandai-sa o aete riyo shinaide,” he growled like a curse, probably thinking to himself without noticing he said it out loud like he tends to do.

“Say what?”

Shizuke blinked as if he forgot he was speaking Japanese. “Uhm, I hope this helps?”

“Somehow, I get the feeling that’s not what you actually said but for your sake, I’m gonna pretend it is,~” I said with a wink, just to annoy him.

Forcing a smile full of gritted teeth, he gave me my freebies. “Here you go. Have a nice day. Goodbye!”

“Yeah, A+ customer service for you,” I said with a finger gun.

Prompted by a nudge from his grandmother, Shizuke stiffly bowed at me. “Please come again.”

“We’ll see about that.”

When I got home, I tried the oil. I didn’t notice a difference until I’m out of my room and Blake is no longer pointing out how I smell like camembert… Just my room. I can live with that.

Okay, Shizuke may suck at customer service but his grandma sure has the goods. I’m definitely coming again.

0-0-0-0-0

Shizuke

After school, I help around the shop however I can. I rearrange the flowers and their pots, organize the shelves of various supplies, label everything, sweep the floor… All so all that’s left for my grandmother to do tomorrow is to unlock the door, flip the open sign and wait at the counter. On the days I’m not preoccupied with Judo Club or dragging Kaji to fencing practice, I take over cashier duty. Today, Blair Crawford happened to be a customer I had to assist. It was a very trying time, but I guess I can cross out ‘being a difficult customer’ off her list of evil deeds.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead as I finished cleaning the counter. It only took me fifteen minutes. And it’s almost time for dinner.

“Shizuke, I think it’s about time you try to patch things up with Chat Noire,” Tikki said from her perch hidden among the flowers.

It’s been over two weeks since we split up and there hasn’t been a day where Tikki wouldn’t try to gently talk me into trying to fix things between me and my wayward alley cat of a partner.

“No,” I flatly said.

Tikki followed me as I crept up the stairs to my apartment. “But she’s your partner! You’re supposed to be a team!”

There she goes again, telling me how the Ladybug and the Black Cat make the ultimate duo.

“Have more faith in Chat Noire. You’re partners; opposites meant to complement each other. I know hundreds of Ladybugs who would attest to how reliable their Black Cat partner is. You can count on her.”

Different words, same old message… And to think I used to believe it.

I wish I could still believe it.

“You once said hundreds of Ladybugs found their Black Cat partner reliable, but exactly how many Ladybugs were there?”

Tikki looked solemn when she said, “More than anyone can count. But not all of them had a Black Cat for a partner.”

“But not all Black Cat partners are reliable. Am I right?”

At my statement, Tikki tensed up. “Every Ladybug and Black Cat dynamic is different, Shizuke.”

I’ve been itching to ask Tikki about this since Kaji’s presentation… I knew Kaji was right from the way Tikki acted wistful after class that day.

“Where was Joan’s Black Cat when she burned at the stake?”

Tikki’s antennae drooped at the mention of that tragedy and her big blue eyes looked like to be on the verge of tearing up. Seeing her this sad… I felt a stab of guilt tear through me for causing that.

“Sorry Tikki, I went too far there.”

Tikki shook her head. “It happened a long time ago. You wouldn’t be the first to ask about Joan…”

‘Nor would you be the last’ went unspoken between us.

“But it still hurts for you to think about her,” I petted Tikki’s head with my finger. “I won’t pry anymore if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine. Just know that it wasn’t her Black Cat’s fault. He did his best… It just wasn’t enough. He died long before her trial. They’re among the most tragic Ladybug and Black Cat pairs, but their partnership is the one thing they never regretted, short-lived as it was.”

We were silent for a moment, giving Tikki time to reminisce of happier times with the French Saint who was also a Ladybug. It also gave me time to think about my own partnership with this generation’s Black Cat. Tragedy aside, I’d like to have a partnership I could proudly say I didn’t regret too.

“SHIZUKE, DINNER IS READY!!!” my grandmother shouted from behind the door.

That’s when I realized we stuck around the stairs a little too long and my grandmother didn’t wait for me to make dinner. I rushed up the stairs with Tikki zooming close behind. A quick pause at the door to make sure Tikki has was tucked into my sweater vest pocket, and then I entered my apartment.

Tikki’s right. This fight we’re having can’t go on forever…

“At least I get things done,” Chat Noire said with a condescending smirk. “I don’t know what the guardian ever saw in you but you’re not good enough for the Ladybug Miraculous. Don’t come crying to me if an akuma manages to kick your incompetent overworked butt!”

… But that cat sure makes it hard for me to feel apologetic.

0-0-0-0-0

Chat Noire

After having defeated yet another akuma on my own and yet another argument with Ladybug for stealing his thunder - and the akuma victim for the day turns out to be yet another Ladybug fan, ugh - I decided to leave him to his akuma-hugger routine and blow off some steam. I know when I’m not wanted.

While I’m no longer patrolling and training with Ladybug every flipping day, that doesn’t mean I don’t patrol or train at all. I just do it at my own pace - a pace that wouldn’t give me permanent eye bags. A model can’t have that after all. My parkour practice around the city was interrupted when I heard a scream. Seeing the annoying bug isn’t around this part of the city at the moment, I guess I’m gonna have to come to this person’s rescue.

“Help! Like, somebody help!” a woman screamed. I saw her running down an alley, looking behind her from time to time as though looking for pursuers.

I jumped down from the building I was standing on, just in front of the woman.

“What’s the problem?”

Upon seeing me, the woman’s demeanor quickly changed from scared civilian to something like an annoyed fisherman who snagged a boot instead of the fish he was aiming for.

“Where’s Ladybug?” the woman crossed her arms over her probably fake chest partially covered by her probably fake blonde hair. Now that I got a closer look at her, she doesn’t seem to be that much older than me. Probably a senior highschool student - one of those vain popular ones who likes to believe they’re hotter than me.

“On the other side of city,” not that I really know for sure, but as if I’d tell her that. I crossed my arms in a mock imitation of her pose which, might I add, I’m pulling off better than her. “Where’s your problem?”

“Oh please. Aren’t you like, busy not doing your job or something?” the woman huffed, pouting her thick pink lips. “Seriously, where’s your hot partner? I needed him to save me like an hour ago.”

“From what? A broken nail?”

“From an akuma! I just wrecked that loser like so harshly she should totally be an akuma by now! I even wasted my soda on her!”

Suddenly, I pictured a gangly girl wearing a coke stained Ladybug-themed jacket. Pimply with buck teeth and shaggy brown hair, not much to look at. She was crying her eyes out as Ladybug tried to cheer her up. She was the akuma I just defeated, tearing down the streets the way this stupid girl tore her down.

“Serves her right for thinking she has a chance with Ladybug. He’s way out of her league.”

“So you decided to akumatize her just so Ladybug will come to your rescue? Just because you think you’re within his league?”

“Yeah? And?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I grabbed her by the shoulders, my claws digging into her skin just enough to make her wince in pain but not enough to make her bleed. “You shouldn’t akumatize people just so you can start your very own rescue romance!”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Just ‘cause I don’t have a stick up my ass like Ladybug, doesn’t mean I can’t be serious,” my vision narrowed in a way that tells my pupils have thinned into slits. “Akumas are not a laughing matter. Don’t give them a reason to chase you around town.”

The stupid girl dared to roll her eyes at me. “Says the chick who cracks lame puns around them.”

One tight squeeze from my clawed hands was enough for her to dial back the sass. “I mean it! Don’t ever akumatize people for petty reasons! Got it?”

“Or you’ll what?” a bead of sweat dripped down the side of her face betrayed her fear, ruining her facade of nonchalance.

I wanted to say I’d scratch her skin ‘til she bleeds, give her a taste of what harm an akuma could do, and ruin her clothes with Cataclysm for extra measure…

I closed my eyes and let her go. This isn’t what a hero would do.

I shouldn’t sink to her level.

“Just don’t do it again,” I shot her an acid green glare.

“You’re all bark and no bite, kitty cat. No wonder you’re just the sidekick,” the stupid girl scoffed and had the nerve to flip her hair arrogantly - just like I do. “This is why only perverts like you.”

It took all my strength not to pounce on her as she turned her back and left. I don’t know how Ladybug keeps up his goody-goody act around bitches like these… and he’s the one with the temper between the two of us. I shook my head and decided a nice run around the city is in order. I need to keep a cool head and not let myself get akumatized.

Days like these, I could almost forget why on earth I ever signed up for this thankless job. To think my parents sacrificed so much for these people.

Passing by a billboard that featured Blake reminded me of why I even wanted to be a hero. Those emerald green eyes and that mischievous smirk… They didn’t just mirror mine. They belonged to a hero this city doesn’t acknowledge.

This isn’t for the people like the stupid girl earlier. There are people in this city who deserve to be protected. It’s for them that I take up my Miraculous and carry on.

No bug will get in my way. I’ll be the only hero this city needs.

0-0-0-0-0

Chapter Text

Chat Noire

“Bonjour, Ladybug! You made it just in time for the finale!” with my signature cocky grin, I handed him the black book that’s radiating that familiar corrupted energy of an akuma. “Here’s the possessed item by the way.”

Behind me, the akuma - who looked like a crazed neon colored playwright - was squashed underneath the rubble of what was once a stone pedestrian bridge hanging over the main road. I used up Cataclysm half an hour ago, which was plenty of time to recharge and stick around to wait for Ladybug to get here. Gotta make sure the bug does his job right.

“What just happened?” Ladybug said through gritted teeth, trying so hard to hide how out of breath he really is.

For all his bravado, Ladybug looks like he hasn’t slept in days. His posture is wobbly, like  a slight breeze can topple him - far from his usual sturdy stance that’s as stubborn as he is. His mask couldn’t conceal his now prominent eyebags. And if I were to guess, his fuse is at an all-time short.

“I saved the day?” I flipped my hair in a show of confidence, which I know does wonders to his temper. “And I did it all on my own.~”

“You destroyed public property!”

Be nonchalant. It’ll piss him off even more. “Nothing Miraculous Ladybug can’t fix.”

“The akuma-”

“He’s fine,” as I said this, the akuma thrashed but couldn’t pull himself out of my improvised prison. “See how lively he is?”

Ladybug let out a frustrated groan and waved his arms around like a temperamental toddler. “Someone could’ve been hurt!”

Shrug casually and smirk as smug as possible. It doubles my mocking power. “That’s what the Ladyblog is for. Warns people to evacuate and stuff.”

At the mention of the Ladyblog, Ladybug quickly looked around for any signs of orange plaid. “Where’s the Ladyblogger?!”

Typical Ladybug, always prioritizing the safety of citizens like a goody-two-shoes. One time, keeping Keagan away from an akuma took so much of his attention that by the time he came back, I’ve already taken care of the akuma solo.

“No need to worry. Monsieur Ladyblogger and his little lady friend are safe right over there,” I pointed to a phone booth.

Keagan waved excitedly from inside the phone booth’s soundproof glass doors. His mouth is moving, probably yelling a greeting at his favorite bug hero. Fiona jabbed Keagan on the rib with her elbow, also trapped in the cramped phone booth.

It was a flash of genius really. If Monsieur Ladyblogger won’t stop running towards akumas, I should just trap him somewhere he can’t leave and make sure the akuma stays away from there. If Fiona’s there, I’ll trap her with him.

Next to me, Ladybug is fuming red. Like a kettle reaching its boiling point, I’m half expecting him to scream any minute now. At his angry constipated expression, I shot him a taunting smirk.

And for the finisher: order him something he can’t refuse.

“Now do your thing, Bugsy.~”

If he refuses and blows up at this, he’ll look bad for not wanting to do his job out of spite. If he does it anyway, it’ll look like I’m in command and it’ll sting his fragile ego. With the way I stoked the fires of his temper, I was expecting the former rather than the latter.

What I got instead was a scowling, fist-clenched Ladybug who accusingly asked, “Okay Cat, what game are you trying to play?”

Even when I’m trying to manipulate him to blow up and expose his temper to put a stain on his public image, Ladybug finds a way to throw a wrench into my schemes! Why does he chooses the worst times to use his brain?!

“What ever do you mean, M’Lady?”

Oh no he wouldn’t dare…

He dared.

“Don’t play dumb with me! I told you to leave yet you’ve done the exact opposite! You said-”

I pounced on Ladybug, clawed hands squeezing his mouth shut. With Ladybug quiet in my hand, I scanned the area to make sure no one can hear us. With what he was going to say, he would’ve taken me down with him. I shot the annoying bug an acid green glare.

“You wanna talk? Fine. Meet me tonight at the old warehouse where we used to spar,” I let go of his mouth so I can pull him down so we’re face to face. My throat letting out a low growl as I hissed just low enough for only him to hear, “Just don’t broadcast OUR problems to the entire friggin’ city. Got it? Your oh-so-precious citizens don’t need the extra stress over this.”

We had a glaring contest before I let him go so he can do his thing. Ugh. I just can’t win with this guy, can I?

He called out his Lucky Charm. As soon as it fell into his hand, he tossed it into the air to summon his swarm of magical Ladybugs to fix everything. Finally, he went over to the purified ex-akuma to do his wannabe-therapist shtick.

With everything fixed, Keagan and Fiona were now free to go from their telephone booth prison.

Monsieur Ladyblogger meekly approached me and asked, “So, uh… Did you guys finally kissed and made up?”

I gave him the mother of all deadpan looks.

“Miraculous! Simply the best! Up to the test when things go wrong!~”

Off went Keagan’s phone. I peeked over from Keagan’s side and saw there’s an akuma alert. Not surprising, really.

On the first week after our team’s break up, there has been a decline in akuma attacks… then on the second week, there’s been an onslaught of akuma attacks one after the other. It’s worse than our first week! I’ve been patting myself on the back for making the wise decision to ditch Ladybug’s rigid patrol schedule and training regimen. I’d be dead on my feet by now… Like Ladybug.

“Don’t even think about it,” Fiona glared at Keagan.

“But Fuuuyuuu…” Keagan pouted like a child.

“Haven’t you seen enough action for today?”

I stepped away from the bickering pair and pulled out my baton, readying myself to leave while they’re busy arguing. Before I can vault away, Ladybug called out.

“Where do you think you're going?”

“There’s an akuma at Xyril Tech. I’ll handle it. You just take your time to recharge and I’ll wait for you there,” I winked at Ladybug to further annoy him before going off, leaving him, Monsieur Ladyblogger and Fiona behind.

I hope the guardian’s seeing this. I can totally handle everything on my own. The fact that I can’t purify akuma is the only thing holding me back. It’s only a matter of time before the bug falls.

0-0-0-0-0

Ladybug

I swung as close to the school as I can before my timer ran out. The last akuma was half way across the city. I can rest easy knowing if I take care of the akuma fast enough, Kaji won’t make it in time to put himself in danger trying to film akumas again. My timer ran out and dropped my transformation as I ducked behind a billboard.

“Okay Tikki, we better hurry before Chat Noire goes ahead and takes all the credit.”

Tikki nodded as she munched on a cookie I gave her.

From where I’m perched, I could oversee the school grounds. Nothing seems out of place at first until you notice it’s too quiet at this hour. Students should be milling about, dismissed from class to do as they please or participating in clubs.

A streak of black and red streaked by from the corner of my eye. It turned out to be Chat Noire. She jumped on the school fence, scanning the area before jumping into the main administration building.

I hate to admit it, but the cat’s always had good sense in finding the root of the problem. If only she wasn’t so aggravating to work with, with her tendency to show off, her penchant for biting sarcasm, her destructive maneuvers that could potentially endanger civilians…

A yawn broke me out of my thoughts and I shook my head. No, this is not the time to rest! Not even my anger is giving me much energy to power through. I slapped myself, hoping the light shock of pain would help me wake up.

“Are you okay?”

“We’ve got an akuma to take care of. I have to be okay.”

Tikki couldn’t argue with that one.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down and focus on the mission at hand. As soon as Tikki finished off the last of the cookie, I called on my transformation and jumped after the black cat.

0-0-0-0-0

Xyril Tech was eerily quiet. Inside the administration building explained everything. Students and faculty members alike are all sprawled on the floor, fast asleep.

I carefully walked around a janitor sleeping on the floor hugging his mop like a lover, swung over a teacher and her scattered papers, moved a student away from a door so I can pass through… Holding the student up, I saw golden specks of sand falling from her eyes.

Just my luck that the akuma of the day has sleep-based powers.

The sounds of a scuffle can be heard just beyond the door. I carefully set aside the student and made my way through the door. The administration building has a courtyard in the middle with a garden that can be viewed from any of the floors above… But now that garden looks like a desert.

Running across the open hallways overlooking the garden was Chat Noire. Try as she might to get near, she’s forced to go from pillar to pillar to shield herself from the sleep-inducing sand.

I can’t help but smile to myself. Finally! An akuma that arrogant cat can’t handle! While the akuma was preoccupied with attacking the cat, I summoned Lucky Charm - a pair of goggles, their purpose is obvious. I put the goggles on and charged at the akuma.

The akuma of the day looks to be a boy around my age. He’s pale gold from head to toe, with a white night gown and a white sleeping cap. Every wave of his arms lets him move the sand. Something about him looks familiar but I can’t dwell on that for too long as he turned around and narrowly dodged my grasp.

A glowing outline of a butterfly mask appeared over his face. I was expecting the akuma to retaliate, but instead he stepped away from me shaking his head in denial.

“No Hawkmoth! I don’t want t-this! I just w-wanted to sleep! I-”

Little crackles of purple energy flowed all over the akuma, who held his head as he cried in pain.

The horrific sight froze me in place. My mind flashed back to a different akuma… A far more deadly akuma being forced to do things against his will. The sand replaced by fire. The gold replaced by black obsidian engulfed in flames. In the akuma’s place, stood Scorch - the first akuma.

People were screaming. The smell of smoke and burnt leaves invaded my senses. Kaji’s screams… The fear in Fuyu’s eyes… An arm reaching out but instead fired an attack…

“Ladybug! Watch out!”

Chat Noire’s voice barely registered as she pulled me out of the way. I closed my eyes and shook my head to bring myself back to the present. What I saw as a ball of fire was actually a stream of golden sand.

“I am Slumber! And if people won’t let me sleep, I’ll put everyone else to sleep!” the akuma yelled, succumbing to Hawkmoth’s control.

A salve of sand blasted at Chat Noire, but the black cat was too quick, even while lugging me around like a sack over her shoulders. She pulled me up a balcony of a private office, hidden from the Slumber’s view.

“Jeez, not even hit by sand and you’re already half-way to dreamland,” Chat Noire snatched the goggles off my face, putting it on herself.

“Hey!” I made a move to take it back but she slapped my hand away.

“We don’t have much time to argue,” she pointed at one of my cufflinks, which beeped to prove her point. “You’re too vulnerable to fight this akuma. Leave this one to me.”

I wanted to deny her claims, but all that came out of my mouth was a yawn. Chat Noire’s smug smirk says it all.

“When I give you a signal, prepare to capture the akuma. Got it?”

Not giving me a chance to argue, Chat Noire jumped off the balcony.

“Hey Slumber! Come and get me!”

A sandstorm started up and blocked my view of their ensuing fight. I clenched my fists, nails painfully digging into my palm to help me stay awake. There’s gotta be something I could… That’s when I spotted it. Through the office’s sliding glass door was a coffee machine.

I tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. Locked. Miraculous Ladybug will fix this later, I repeatedly told myself as I grabbed my yoyo, raised it up… I saw my reflection in the glass. Tense, shaking, and haggard. If I go down there, how much help would I be?

“Cataclysm!”

No time to waste. I steeled my resolve, smashed the glass and grabbed the coffee pot. The caffeine quickly flooded my body with extra energy.

With my eyes closed, I plunged myself into the sandstorm. Caffeine and adrenaline are the only things keeping me awake now, but I doubt I’d last much longer if I let the sand get into my eyes.

My Miraculous beeped, signaling I only have three minutes.

Instincts urged me to move, just in time to dodge a stream of sand.

“Ladybug! So glad to see at least one of you isn’t a coward!”

I swung my yoyo into a makeshift shield. I can’t let my guard down around this akuma. I have to get close to him without opening my eyes.

“Y’know, I like you. You make my life easier. Instead of hiding away like a certain cat, you show up ready to hit the sack with your Miraculous on a silver platter!”

Don’t listen to the akuma, Shizuke. He’s just gonna say things to get you off balance… Wait, I can use his voice to find him!

“Slumber! Why are you doing this?!” I said, carefully deflecting the sand thrown my way with my spinning yoyo.

“You wanna know why I’m doing this?”

“That’s why I asked!"

The sandstorm around me got stronger, pelting me with sand at every angle. All I can do for defense is cover my eyes and hope none of the sand can get through.

“Fine! I’ll tell you! The teachers are dumping us students with too much homework nonstop! As if that’s not bad enough, they made Saturday a school day too!”

Focus! Follow Slumber’s voice beyond the sandstorm raging on.

“And it doesn’t end when I get home! Oh no. My parents would then get a tutor to make sure I’m keeping up! I haven’t slept properly in days!”

His general direction seems to be at my one o’clock.

“So many adults telling me what to do. It never ends! Now I’ve got Hawkmoth ordering me around too!”

Around three meters away.

“This is all because YOU couldn’t stop Hawkmoth!”

My blood boiled at the accusation.

“No, it’s all because HAWKMOTH won’t stop terrorizing our city!”

Having a good estimate of his location, I charged at the akuma.

Slumber fought back and threw streams of sand my way. Each burst of sand sapped away some of my energy, but I powered through until I managed to grasp Slumber by the arms. The sandstorm died down.

Taking a chance, I opened my eyes. This close to the akuma, I can recognize him as one of my classmates.

His name is Jake Falkner. While he’s a lazy sleepyhead who constantly ignores the school’s dress code, he’s not actively looking for trouble. In fact, he’s hardly active at all! He’s the most unmotivated person I’ve ever met! His parents paid well to get him into Xyril Tech, but not a day goes by where he doesn’t complain about being here. My complete anti-thesis as Kaji would describe him.

Being an akuma hardly changed that. Without Hawkmoth ringing in his ear, Slumber lost all aggressiveness. He’s not even trying to escape my hold. It’s almost like he’s back to himself.

Maybe I can reason with him.

“Listen,” I said in my calmest voice. “I’m here to save you. You have to snap out of this and let me help free you from Hawkmoth.”

Slumber looked at me with a blank expression. “Urgh, there you go again with your goody-goody speech…”

“This will be quick and effortless.”

That got his attention, as expected.

“Just give me your possessed item, and I’ll do the rest.”

Slumber nodded and pulled out a piece of paper - a detention slip? - from his pocket… Then he shoved me away from him and with his arms free, the sandstorm started up again.

The sinister glowing butterfly mask outlined Slumber’s face and crackles of purple energy came all over him once again. But this time, Slumber endured the pain, he didn’t attack…

And then he fell through the ground in a cloud of sand.

I swung my yoyo into a shield, ready for an attack. A pair of red black-spotted goggles flew out of the sand dust and hit me in the face. Ow! I rubbed my aching nose and glared at the culprit.

The dust cleared to reveal Slumber buried up to his neck in the ground with Chat Noire standing over him, holding Jake’s detention slip in her clawed hand.

“What are you waiting for?” Chat Noire tore apart the detention slip, releasing the akuma. “Do your thing!”

Not bothering to argue with the bossy cat, I pulled out my yoyo and captured the corrupted butterfly. Opening my yoyo, a pure white butterfly fluttered out and disappeared into the orange sunset sky.

Then I picked up the discarded goggles and called out the miraculous cure. Swarms of magical ladybugs flew around fixing everything. The sand disappeared to reveal the courtyard’s garden. Jake was now normal and lying on the grass - right next to the ‘Don’t step on the grass’ sign. The sounds of groaning and yawning filled the hallway.

The miraculous cure wasn’t quite done. The swarm was flying straight towards… Me?!

All of a sudden, I felt all my energy drain away. Why? Then the swarm flew over a balcony to fix the office I broke in and drunk a pot of coffee… Oh. Right. I guess the miraculous cure puts everything back to where they belonged, even the caffeine I stole to stay awake. My mind and my body felt light and the world was shifting. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was the golden bell around Chat Noire’s neck.

0-0-0-0-0

Chat Noire

“What the hell, Bugsy?” I huffed from my place on the grass.

Right after purifying the akuma, Ladybug collapsed… Taking me down with him when I tried to catch him. Now here we are, sprawled on the floor with his face cushioned by my chest. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he did this on purpose. Ladybug is a lot of unflattering things - a nag, a killjoy, a cranky pants - but he is not a pervert.

Then there was the sound of footsteps and a door creaked open. I turned just in time to see Keagan gasping audibly with his phone out, 'shipping grin' spread from ear to ear, barely suppressing a squeal.

I glared at him and hissed in my most threatening voice, “Take one picture and I swear I’ll Cataclysm your phone.”

Keagan promptly closed his mouth and put away his phone like a good little boy. Then he got tackled from behind by none other than Fiona.

“You’re not getting any further than this, idiot!” she yelled while restraining Keagan.

“Calm down, Fuyu! See? Jake’s purified!”

I ignored the bickering not-a-couple and the snoozing ex-akuma as I carefully moved Ladybug off of me. I tried to wake him up but the stubborn bug was sleeping like a log. Good thing he managed to hold on long enough to purify the akuma.

“Scorch…” Ladybug mumbled in a groggy voice.

At the mention of the akuma’s name, Keagan and Fiona froze.

A quick check confirmed that Ladybug is still asleep. Yep. Figured he’d totally be the type to sleep talk.

“... M’sorry.”

The apology gained contrasting reactions from the other two: Keagan’s head drooped down and looked away while Fiona’s tense shoulders relaxed as she let out a sigh.

His Miraculous beeped, showing two spots - two minutes left.

While I don’t like the bug and fully intend to have him replaced, I can respect his work ethic and his desire to not screw things up. He doesn’t deserve to have his identity exposed. I wouldn’t want Hawkmoth hunting his civilian butt down just cause he’s a potential lead.

I picked up Ladybug and shifted him behind me until I was carrying him piggy back style. He better not drool on my hair.

“Mind if I ask where are you carrying him?” Keagan asked.

“Somewhere safe.”

I took out my staff vaulted away, Ladybug’s beeping Miraculous urging me to go faster.

0-0-0-0-0

Because time is of the essence, I took a shortcut through the most secluded area I know of: Gemini Street.

The Zodiac District is a series of twelve streets lined up and connected into a circle forming something like a residential belt around Xyril Tech. Just like in the Horoscopes, Gemini Street is located between Taurus Street and Cancer Street at the Easternmost side of the belt.

Because of a disastrous event seven years ago, Gemini Street has since been abandoned.

One of every three street lamps flickered to light up the lifeless street. The air is filled with dust and decay, not a sound to be heard. What used to be carefully pruned trees that lined the road have now lost their shape. Their branches lost all green leaves and grew into claw-like tendrils spreading out, roots breaking away from their designated pots and further ruining the cracked sidewalk. There are two rows of crumbling houses with doors and windows either shattered or boarded up. Dust and overgrown ivy vines have completely covered the surface of their terracotta brick walls. Broken glass and shreds of a wooden sign were left scattered in front of what used to be Old Magnolia’s Ice Cream Parlor…

I sped past all that.

At the very end of the street was the abandoned warehouse where Ladybug and I used to spar. Ladybug found this relatively empty warehouse. Because of the uninhabited location and the fairly wide space, he decided it would be the perfect sparring area for us – that is, after a quick inspection to see how stable the building is and clearing away all the clutter with a Cataclysm. There’s a nice loft Ladybug painstakingly set up with some furniture he salvaged. For now, it served as the perfect place to hide my soon-to-detransform ex-partner.

I laid Ladybug down on an old dusty leather couch and covered him with a dusty quilt just in time for his Miraculous let out five quick beeps and a flash of pink light. The shape of the boy under the quilt didn’t change but I know there’s a kwami under there somewhere.

“We’re the only ones here. You can come out now.”

Big blue eyes cautiously looked around before the Ladybug kwami fully revealed themself. I don’t know what to expect the Ladybug kwami to look like, but this isn’t quite it. They’re red with black spots and two little antennae, like a garden variety ladybug. They have long eyelashes making me think ‘girl’ but Plagg never called them a ‘she’… Strangely, they have no wings or extra arms. And what’s with that tail? Are all bug-type kwami as stylized as this?

“Hi?”

“Hello to you too, Chat Noire,” Tikki said in a tone that reminds me of a disappointed kindergarten teacher about to give me a lecture.

We silently stared at each other, like two opponents sizing each other up rather than two allies meeting each other for the first time. Tikki perched over Ladybug’s unconscious form like a protective mother hen. This is when I remembered one little detail about kwami: they can more or less sense what’s happening while their wielders are transformed and Tikki here probably sensed all the verbal potshots I’ve thrown at Ladybug.

“… This is awkward.”

“So you do have some shame after all. I was beginning to wonder.”

I felt a surge of indignation rise up to my chest. As I was about to speak up, my Miraculous made its last warning beeps and dropped my transformation. I held out my palm to catch Plagg.

“Bl-” before Plagg could even sound out the first syllable of my name, bubbles came out of his mouth.

“That’s new,” I said.

Curious, I popped a bubble only to cringe at the smell it released. Should’ve known it would smell like Camembert.

“Oh right, there’s a spell that prevents me from saying your name around-” Plagg’s eyes widen and his eyes quickly found- “Sugar Cube!”

Tikki’s face quickly went from ‘elated to see their long time life partner’ to ‘stone cold bemusement’.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”

“Any number you want, but that’s not gonna stop me,~” Plagg gave them a shit-eating grin.

“Hold up a minute!”

That got the kwami’s attention back to me. I turned to Tikki and pointed to my face.

“See, I’m a famous model and my face is kinda plastered all over Helios -”

Plagg snorted with a muffled ‘don’t flatter yourself’, earning himself a quick stink eye before I refocused on Tikki.

“The point is, you probably know who I am, right?”

Tikki nodded. “And?”

“What’s the point censoring Plagg from saying my name if you already know?”

Plagg rolled his eyes. “Yeesh. Ever heard of ‘curiosity killed the cat’?”

“Yes. And just like the saying ‘cats have nine lives’, it’s so not true.”

“It’s magic. Yeesh. Just roll with it!”

Before I could retort, Tikki cuts in and said, “You’re more cautious than most of Plagg’s wielders.”

“Thank you.”

“To answer your question, it’s because my current wielder doesn’t know you’re Chat Noire,” Tikki patted on the quilt where Ladybug is snoring away. “Until you tell him, Plagg can’t say your real name in the same context as Chat Noire around either of us."

“That’s nice, but what I really want to know is if you can be trusted not to tell him,” I tilted my head in Ladybug’s direction.

“The spell works both ways. We’ve sworn to keep our wielders’ secrets until our wielders choose to expose themselves. You don’t have to worry about us kwami exposing your identity to anyone you haven't revealed your secret to.”

“Good.”

"Now that that’s settled,” Plagg zoomed into my face. “Where’s my Camembert?”

“Ugh. Here’s your disgusting crud,” I pulled out a slice of Camembert from my purse and shoved it into Plagg’s mouth to stop his incoming retort about insulting his beloved.

As Plagg floated off to savor his cheese, I went over to Tikki to pass them my honeylemon breath mints.

“I don’t have any sugar cubes on me, but will this do?”

“Actually, I prefer cookies. But I’m fine with anything sweet,” Tikki said before they threw a mint into their mouth.

I eyed Plagg with annoyance and stage whispered to him, “Why can’t you be more like that?”

“Mhm?” Plagg isn’t even bothering with basic manners as he showed me his mouth full of cheese.

“Eww.”

For a few minutes, we just stayed in silence. The two kwamis took the time to recharge as I sat by on the leather couch’s arm rest, right next to where Ladybug’s head should be. Better keep an eye on him in case he wakes -

Ladybug shifted.

For a moment, I tensed, ready to call out my transformation phrase… But Ladybug didn’t get up. He just moved around under the quilt until his hand got out and touched the floor. After that, he settled into his position and his breathing steadied.

It’s just a hand. It’s hardly a hint of who he is. So what if I learn Ladybug wears button up shirts? Everyone knows he uses the Ladybug Earrings as cufflinks. Gotta give the bug some credit where it’s due, black stud cufflinks on a black button up is a smart idea. No one’s gonna notice unless they knew what to look for.

I made a move to put his hand back into the quilt…

“What do you have against my wielder?”

Tikki’s question made me pause. There are many answers to that, I’m just having trouble picking one. Tikki didn’t have the patience wait for my answer.

“I know my wielder isn’t perfect but he tries his best!”

“Sugar Cube…”

Plagg flew over to Tikki and made an effort to calm them down but they shrugged him off and refused to back down.

“You put him down every chance you get. You know his self-esteem is fragile!”

“All the more reason for him to toughen up,” I said with ice in my tone, eyeing his unconscious form critically. “The life of a hero is a life of no mercy. It doesn’t care how hard you work or how much heart you put into it. If this is the best he can do, then he’s not cut out for it.”

“And yet he’s the one the city would trust. Just a few minutes ago, he managed to talk an akuma into surrendering his possessed item – something you weren’t able to find until Ladybug jumped in.”

“That was a fluke,” I said with a click of my tongue. “Akumas are highly emotional. If you know the right buttons to push, you can manipulate them however you want. Taking them down after that is a simple matter of learning how their powers work and how to shut those down.”

Tikki’s antennae reared back and their eyes sharpen into a glare.

“Not every chosen has the same advantage you have! You knew more about the Miraculous than most wielders when they start out but you didn’t share that knowledge to help your partner!”

I scoffed and gave the kwami a sharp fanged smirk. “Who says he’s gonna be my partner for long?”

Tikki growled, looking like they were gonna say something when Plagg cuts in. By flying into my face with a devious smirk, he blocks my view of the angry bug kwami.

“If you truly believe he doesn’t deserve to be Ladybug, why don’t you take his Miraculous?”

“Plagg!” Tikki hissed.

Plagg waved them off. “We kwamis aren’t the ones to decide who gets to wield us. If that were the case, Hawkmoth wouldn’t be a problem.”

“But what about the Guardian?” as tempting as it is, I prefer to cover as many factors into this as possible. Wouldn’t wanna deal with unforeseen consequences later.

“The Guardian chose you two to protect the city from Hawkmoth. But if you guys can’t cooperate, maybe a change in management is in order,” Plagg smirked at Tikki.

Tikki glared at Plagg, folding their little arms and they had a stare off. They made faces at each other like they’re silently communicating. Then Tikki shot one last glare at Plagg before facing me. Looks like Tikki’s gonna keep defending Ladybug’s honor...

“Plagg’s right.”

“Now Tikki, maybe you should consider what Plagg is say - Wait, what?!”

“The mission is more important. If you think it’s for the best, I won’t stop you…” Tikki looked over Ladybug like this may be the last time they’ll see him, even if he’s covered in a quilt.

Guilt shot through me as I realize what I’m trying to make Tikki do.

“Are you sure you’d be alright with this?”

“All Ladybug wanted was to keep everyone safe. If you know someone who can do it better than him, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

I turn back to look down at Ladybug’s Miraculous.

This is it. I could take the Ladybug Miraculous and choose my own Ladybug… I could give it to Blake… Or I could be the new Ladybug with him as my Chat Noir. Us twins could be hero partners, just like we always wanted…

I held up Ladybug’s arm, turning his wrist so I can see the Ladybug Miraculous used as a cuff link.

And Ladybug… whoever he is under the mask… He could finally rest properly. He wouldn’t need to push himself beyond his limits. He could live the life he truly wanted. I know for a fact he never intended to be a hero to begin with.

“Now’s your chance to pick a true hero for a partner,” Plagg said.

Without meaning to, my fingers brushed against his hand… His skin is rough but firm. Full of callouses. The hands of a hardworker. I never doubted that about Ladybug. I traced my finger around the Ladybug Miraculous…

“No!”

Ladybug’s sudden shout made me drop his hand and jump away from him. He shuffled some more, but once again, he didn’t sit up. He mumbled under the quilt but I’m pretty sure he’s still asleep. A groan from under the quilt made me tense until Ladybug started sleep-talking.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t... Please don’t die…” he sobbed.

Those words felt like a bucket of ice cold water splashed down on me. I stepped back and looked over the struggling boy hidden beneath the quilt.

Ladybug is a lot of unflattering things… but he doesn’t deserve to lose his Miraculous like this. Not after everything he’s done.

“Plagg, claws out!”

As soon as my transformation is complete, I vaulted out of the warehouse leaving Ladybug and his Miraculous alone. All month, I’ve been trying to show the city, the guardian, that Ladybug doesn’t deserve the Miraculous… That he’s not a true hero.

But I can’t even convince myself.

0-0-0-0-0

Shizuke

Red.

Of all the colors I could pick out with the stained glass moonlight, it was red that stood out the most.

The red of my Lucky Charm, a useless jar of glue shattered by my feet.

The red of Chat Noire’s fiery red mane, glowing under the moonlight as she lay still on the floor.

The red of blood, spreading like an infection on the marble tiles… leaking out of my partner’s body.

Heels clicked as a shadow grew, shrouding me and Chat Noire in its darkness. A woman with a butterfly wing shaped cape sauntered over the circular stained glass window. Around her neck was a butterfly shaped pendant. In her hand, a sword gleamed silver, dripping with blood.

“Not even your Lucky Charm can save her, boy.”

Hawkmoth’s cold dark eyes observed us, her lips curled in a malicious smile.

My eyes open and I was greeted by darkness. No colourful moonlight streaming from stained glass windows. That was comforting. I took a deep breath. Things didn’t happen the way it did in my nightmare.

I sat up and got off my bed… but instead of the familiar linens, I felt leather. I clutched my sheet which felt thicker than what I’m used to and pulled it off to breathe in fresh air – only to be disappointed that the air felt musty.

Wait, this isn’t my room.

Looking around, I recognize the place as that abandoned warehouse I use for training with Chat Noire.

“Where is that cat?”

“Chat Noire just left.”

A voice by my side made me jump. I let out a strangled yell when I realized it was Tikki – which means I’m not transformed. And Chat Noire was here – which means she saw me detransform!

“Calm down! She saw nothing!” Tikki shouted, managing to stop me from having a meltdown. She floated down to the quilt I dropped. “She covered you in this before you ran out of time. She didn’t take a peek.”

That calmed me down. I picked up the quilt in wonder.

“Your secret identity is safe.”

“I thought she hated me.”

“If she did, she would’ve taken your Miraculous.”

At that thought, I clutched my wrists – my cufflinks – close to my chest as though that would’ve prevented Chat Noire from taking them.

“But she didn’t,” Tikki smiled wryly, eyes lingering on my cufflinks. “Sometimes people say things they don’t really mean when they’re angry or scared…”

A yawn escaped me.

“Or when they’re sleep-deprived.”

Somehow, I get the feeling Tikki isn’t only talking about Chat Noire.

Twisting my wrist, I look down on my Miraculous. It’s only because of Chat Noire that my identity is safe and these are still in my possession. The proud cat saved me once again. From day one, regardless of how she felt about me, she’s always there to pick up where I messed up.

“She gave you another chance… I think it’s about time you give her one too, don’t you think so?”

I guess it’s my turn to set aside how I feel and apologize to Chat Noire.

0-0-0-0-0

Blair

I dropped my transformation in an empty alleyway near the Liungs’ apartment, only to be greeted by Plagg’s smug grin.

“I knew you wouldn’t take his Miraculous.”

Being on the receiving end of a smug grin for a change did wonders to worsen my mood.

“Tell me something else you know.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Plagg cackled. “A little introspection could be good for you.”

“Some guide you are. I thought you kwamis are supposed to help with that.”

“We do. We just have our own styles. I for one prefer the hands-off approach.”

“That’s like no help at all.”

“It’s not my fault you’re so keen on doing things your way, Ms. Know-It-All.”

I shot him a withering look before walking to the end of the alleyway. After that, it should only be one quick turn to the Liungs’.

“I’m sure you’ll figure out what you need to do from here on out. It comes with the territory of being a vixen’s daughter.”

Vixen’s daughter… It’s been a while since anyone acknowledged that part of me.

With how naïve Ladybug is about how being a superhero should work, it’s clear Ladybug and I aren’t the same in that regard. Tikki pretty much confirmed it. He was only doing his best with what little he knew. As much as it pains me to admit, he had a point. His compassion got him this far… but he has to understand having a Miraculous doesn’t make him invincible.

If it did, mom would still be here.

We’ve got a lot to talk about, that’s for sure. We just have to approach this from another angle, and hopefully, we won’t end up butting heads again by the end of the night.

But before that…

“Hey, Plagg.~”

“Wha-”

I shoved a breath mint into his open mouth.

Plagg spat out the mint and snarled at me like an angry cat.

“What was that for?!”

I shot him a smug grin. “You needed it.”

0-0-0-0-0

Ladybug

After dinner with grandmother, I went back to the warehouse at our usual meet up time. I wasn’t sure if she’d actually show up but before Slumber happened, she told me to meet her here tonight. Just a few hours ago, I would’ve thought the mood would be different; more shouting, less actual talking.

I heard the familiar clicking of a metal baton a few seconds before I saw flaming red hair flying by. Then, a black clad figure did an acrobatic leap through the warehouse’s open window.

Chat Noire is such a show-off.

“You came,” I flatly said.

The cat smirked. Not her usual arrogant smirk, but one that’s half-hearted. Almost self-depreciating.

“Is there anywhere else you’d rather I’d be?”

There was an awkward silence. Even the snarky cat doesn’t know where to start. Steeling my nerves, I decided to be the first to apologize.

“I’m sorry!” we said at the same time.

Apparently, Chat Noire had the exact same idea.

We went on speaking over each other with phrases like, “No, I should be the one to-“ and “This isn’t your fault, I-“…

“Let me apologize to you, Cat!”

“Dammit, Bugsy! That’s what I’m trying to do here!”

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. It wouldn’t do to lose my temper now. I’m trying to apologize, she’s trying to apologize…

I raise my hand in surrender. “Let’s not argue over apologies, please.”

“Yeah, let’s not,” Chat Noire crossed her arms over her chest… her rather ample chest… the things that cushioned my fall just a few hours ago.

I looked away as I felt my face heat up and tried not to think about that. Now is not the time! I need to think of something else… but what? Looking around the room, I begged every deity I know of to give me an idea, a sign… Before I knew it, I was already pacing around the warehouse.

“Hey, wanna play a game?” Chat Noire twirled around her baton in one hand.

“What game?”

“Let’s call it, Tsundere Stick,” Chat Noire smirked and proceeded to explain the game.

‘Tsundere Stick’ isn’t even what it’s really called, but she’s calling it that for ‘Secret Identity’ reasons. Yet she felt safe enough to say her mother came up with it.

The rules are simple enough. For every insult you say, you balance it out with a compliment. Who gets to insult-compliment who is decided by passing around a ‘tsundere stick’. When you get the stick, you need to insult-compliment the person who gave it to you. Like a tsundere, hence the name. This makes me wonder what this game’s originally called.

“It’s basically like Truth or Dare, but without the Dares and twice the Truths,” Chat Noire offered me her baton. “You start.”

Hesitantly, I accepted her baton with narrowed eyes. She could be up to something… But she didn’t just take my Miraculous when I was vulnerable. She deserves a chance.

Chat Noire didn’t bother getting up from the leather couch and crossed her legs, her lips curling into a smirk.

“I hate your smirk. It’s annoyingly smug… Not that it isn’t justified. You’re also annoyingly good at what you do.”

Somehow, her smirk got even smugger. “Was that so hard to admit?~”

I groaned and offered her back her baton. “Your turn.”

She twirled around her baton, making a show of contemplating. “Hmm… what should I go with first… There’s plenty of options…”

“Careful Chat Noire…” I tapped my foot impatiently. “You’re giving me plenty of things to fire back at you...”

“You are such a major stick in the mud,” her baton extended until it nearly hit me in the nose. I fell on my butt in my effort to dodge.

“Cat! Take this seriously!”

The aforementioned cat heroine just snickered at me. “With that attitude, I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t have a girlfriend in real life.”

“That’s TWO insults!” I raised a shaking fist.

“No, that’s just one insult given an expansion,” she looked down at me slyly. “As for your compliment, your overreactions can be funny.”

As soon as I got up and took the baton from her, I answered without hesitation. “You always joke around, even when it’s not appropriate.”

Chat Noire rolled her eyes, muttering ‘killjoy’.

I clenched my fist and summoned all my patience to say what I need to say.

“But you have a way with commanding attention. Whether it’s answering questions from fans or battling akumas, you never lose your composure. You always kept a level-head,” I swallowed my nerves and quickly muttered my next words, hoping she doesn’t care enough to make me repeat it.

“What did you say?”

This cat must love causing me misery. Unable to face her, I told her, “I wish I was more like that.”

Thankfully, Chat Noire didn’t laugh nor made any snide commentary this time. This reminded me that Chat Noire can be nice sometimes.

I quietly passed the baton to Chat Noire without looking back at her.

“You’re stubborn and don’t know when to quit. Seriously, Bugsy! You need to know when to stop. I hope today taught you something about physical limitations. Our Miraculous may grant us powers, but it doesn’t mean you can neglect your basic human needs!”

Her voice sounded stern, not like the mischievous cat I’ve come to know for the past month. I always knew there was more to her than the cocky heroine wannabe she presents herself to be.

“… But you always come through in the end. Just… Just try not to overdo it next time.”

My eyes widen. She’s admitting this?! After all the insults - I sensed rather than saw her throw the baton at me. This time, I caught it before it could hit me.

“Huh. ‘Spider-Senses’ really is a thing.”

“When it’s not puns, it’s superhero references with you.”

“Is that your insult for me?”

I shook my head. “No. What I really find annoying about you is how you just do whatever you want! Always going off on your own, doing something dangerous, not discussing your plans while expecting me to just go along with it… What’s the point of being a team if you won’t cooperate?!”

Clenching my fists, I reigned in my temper. Thinking of what I’m going to say next helped.

“For all you say about how you don’t care about the people, you kept doing right by them. You save what you can in your own way with your less than ideal powers… Even with the right equipment, I’m barely keeping up. Hawkmoth would’ve won a long time ago if it weren’t for you.”

Chat Noire’s mom had the right idea with this game. I can throw all my grievances at Chat Noire, but having to think of anything nice to say afterwards felt like throwing a bucket of water on what could’ve grown into a full blown house fire.

“If anyone’s a real hero around here, it’s you.”

It was Chat Noire’s turn once again.

“… You have no control of your volume.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from proving her right. It’s an insult, but it felt half-hearted... Like she just said it because the rules of our game said so. It’s not worth reacting over.

She let out a sigh that sounded regretful. “You help out as many people as you can with genuine compassion. You had a point about that. Our enemy takes advantage of our emotions and what better way to combat that than compassion? Just today, Slumber resisted Hawkmoth's commands just because you heard him out. No wonder people trust you more.”

When I chanced a look at her, she had her arms crossed with a pensive frown.

“It didn’t matter to them that I was the better fighter. They trust you over me. Not that I care or anything.”

“… What a tsundere thing to say.”

“I mean it, Bugsy. I don’t care what they think about me,” Chat Noire pushed herself up from the couch and stepped over in front of me so she can face me eye to eye. “You shouldn’t either.”

“But they’re the ones I promised to protect! Their opinions-“

“Are just opinions. One minute, you’re the city’s hottest topic. The next, they’ll drop you like last season’s magazine. Like fashion trends, it’ll pass,” Chat Noire placed her clawed hands on my shoulders… Just like she did after I let Hawkmoth get away. Staring into her feral green eyes felt like finding something firm to hold onto in the middle of a storm. “You shouldn’t let anyone decide if you’re good enough. Not them. Not even me.”

She let go of my shoulders and took a step back. I couldn’t explain it. It felt like she took back some of the warmth when she did that. Chat Noire ran her hand through the back of her fiery mane in an uncharacteristically awkward way.

“What I’m trying to say is… If you wanna be a hero, who am I to stop you? Just remember that you’re a true hero… And that I’m here too.”

No, my heart did not skip a beat just then. I better say something before this gets any more awkward.

“Well, I suppose the same applies to you… Not that I can! Make you quit, I mean. You wouldn’t have listened to me anyway. Not that that’s a bad thing! I just mean that you already set your mind to this. You know! Clearly you were always a huge nerd with the whole superhero thing – Oh no! That came out wrong! What am I even saying?!”

Chat Noire is laughing at me. It doesn’t sound mocking in any way… More like, she just found something funny. So funny, she’s holding her stomach while rubbing out the tears in one eye. She’s actually kinda cute…

Feeling heat rushing up to my cheeks, I faced away.

A clawed hand gently grasped my shoulder and made me turn back.

“Sorry!” it took a few more seconds for Chat Noire to reign in her laughter with a cough. “Sorry. I just… It’s been a while since I laughed.”

Refusing to make an even bigger idiot out of myself, I kept my mouth shut and nodded.

The moonlight streaming down on her made her red mane look like fire, her emerald eyes gleaming with mirth, and her pearly white smile was a small light in the dark… Come to think of it, I hardly ever see her smile. It’s always smirks or grins, rarely something like this. Even rarer when it’s directed at me.

She should smile more.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”

She’s a dork. But a beautiful dork…

“NO WAY!”

Unfazed, Chat Noire let go of my shoulder and walked over the open window.

“Listen Bugsy, it’s been a long night. Let’s call it quits for now.”

This can’t be happening!

“We’ll discuss our plans for patrol and training tomorrow, or maybe the day after. We could use a break after that akuma rush this week. It wouldn’t do if we collapse on the job, right?” she winked.

Just no – she’s not even my type!

Chat Noire put her hands on her hips. “You clearly need more sleep if you keep zoning out like this.”

“I’M NOT ZONING OUT!!!” I slapped a hand over my mouth and took a deep breath to calm down. “But sure. You’ve proven your point today about me wearing myself out… It’s time to ease up on patrols and training.”

Chat Noire flashed me a smug grin. “Told you so.~”

I couldn’t even find it in myself to be mad.

“Welp,” she twirled her baton until it extended into a staff. She did a two-fingered salute. “’Til next time, Ladybug.~”

And off she vaulted through the window and out of the warehouse. I was left alone with the silence of the warehouse and the loud beating of my heart.

She’s right. I really do need to rest. I’m starting to have crazy thoughts.

All will be well and clear in the morning.

0-0-0-0-0

???

“The team is back together, even stronger than before,” Tikki ended their report.

Plagg snickered. “Yeah, especially on Ladybug’s side.”

Tikki made a face. “He’s still in the denial stage.”

“What can you say about that, Master?” Plagg’s gleaming green eyes were full of mirth.

I rubbed my forehead. I knew picking those two, a clash of methods would eventually break out. But this resolution is just…

“I didn’t think his feelings towards her would shift that drastically.”

Tikki floated over. “Master, I believe his feelings for her had been building up since the day they met.”

“It’s not my wielder’s fault she’s attractive,” Plagg looked too amused with this situation.

If I remember my history lessons correctly, whenever the Ladybug and the Black Cat wielders become a couple, the Black Cat tends to fall for the Ladybug first. Though there was this odd case where the Black Cat fell for the Ladybug just as the Ladybug as a civilian fell for the Black Cat as a civilian on the same day… It was one confusing situation that eternally baffled the historians and the scholars of the Order. On a technicality, it was still the Black Cat who fell first even if the difference is only by a couple of hours. I can see why Plagg would be smug to have it the other way around for once.

“That’s not what made my wielder fall for her,” Tikki said, determined to protect her wielder’s honor.

“Oh right! Didn’t he fall face-first on my kitten’s chest just a few hours ago?” Plagg said, not quite succeeding at holding back his snickers.

“It was an accident and even your kitten acknowledges that!”

“This better not distract him from his duties,” I took a long sip of my tea. I could still feel the headache coming. I should’ve gotten something stronger.

“It won’t. I promise I’ll keep him focused,” Tikki said.

Opening a drawer, I pulled out an old picture. In it stood four people dressed like superheroes.

“As the Guardians taught, emotional attachment is never good for judgement. It either blinds us from someone’s potential or attaches us to the wrong choice…”

A nervous young man in yellow spandex with black stripes stood hunched. There’s a pair of translucent wings visible on his back. Big blue aviator goggles concealed most of his face above his flushed freckled cheeks. Two strands of black-tipped hair stood prominently from the rest of his long wind-swept golden strawberry hair. A Bee Comb kept it out of his face.

Dragging the nervous bee into the picture was a jovial man with wing-shaped visor covering half of his face. His hair was spiked up, tipped with cyan. His blue suit had gradients and patterns reminiscent of a peacock. On his back, his cape that doubles as his wings resembled a peacock’s tail was spread open. A Peacock Pin held it together.

On the other side of the picture was an aloof raven-haired man in flowing purple robes. While his hair was swept back into a neat braid, a cloth mask wrapped around his head protected his identity. He kept his jewelled staff close to his chest. He’s the tallest of the four, but his presence is the most subdued. A Butterfly Brooch was placed over his heart.

In the middle, keeping the three men together was a woman wearing a domino mask reminiscent of a fox. Long blonde hair was tied at the end like a fox’s tail, crowned at the top with a pair of fox ears. Her suit was a bright shade of orange, save for the white in the middle. She has a sash around her waist, fashioned like a tail. One of her emerald green eyes winked back at the camera with a mischievous smirk. Around her neck was a Foxtail Necklace.

Setting that photo aside, I pulled out a folded green fabric with tortoise shell patterns all over - my haori, the same one I wore the day I tested Ladybug and Chat Noire. Hidden within the seams were runes imbued with glamour magic. Creating magical clothing like this is one of the many things the Great Founder taught my generation of guardians.

“In the end, all we can do is hope we chose right.”

Further within the drawer was a pentagon shaped box - made of glossy dark wood marked with runes of protection so that only I and my chosen heir can open it. I’ve learned to be more careful since that incident. I opened the box to reveal three pieces of jewelry: a Bee Comb, a Turtle Bracelet, and a Foxtail Necklace.

“When the time is right, they will be ready to fight alongside…“ I shook my head. No personal attachments. “… alongside Ladybug and Chat Noire.”

“In the meantime, our chosen will continue kicking akuma butt,” said Plagg.

“They both show promise. Have more faith in them,” reassured Tikki.

If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have chosen either of them.

0-0-0-0-0

Chapter Text

???

What I’m doing isn’t exactly against my master’s teachings… Ladybug and Chat Noire should be left alone to develop their teamwork. Wait for them to be ready and reveal all when the time is right. Do that tried and true old master routine the Great Founder herself practiced and preached around me back when I was a mere apprentice. It built character she said. They need the challenge to get stronger she said. It'll train them to be independent when the time comes she said…

Well, forget that! If she wants to justify her old mentor's poor guidance, fine by me. But I refuse to leave it all to my chosens! I feel bad enough for choosing children for this… I have look out for them! It’s the least I can do. No, it’s the most I can do.

This is why I’m here. I’ve taken measures to keep track of them through their kwamis as I help them figure out the best ways to help their wielders. Speaking of…

“You’re late.”

“We came as soon as we can,” Tikki said.

“Suck up,” Plagg said. “Where’s the cheese?”

“Plagg! Show some respect!” Tikki scolded.

“What? Unlike you, I had to fly all the way from the other side of Zodiac District just to get here! I deserve some cheese!”

And off the two went, chasing each other around my room, mercifully without knocking down any of my artefacts. Is this how he feels whenever his two best friends bicker with each other?

“That was a risky gambit you pulled! What if she actually took Ladybug’s Miraculous?!”

“She wouldn’t. I told you it was just her jealousy talking!”

Right, last meeting I approved of Plagg’s proposed gambit out of desperation. We needed to make Chat Noire crack before Ladybug falls for good…

I pulled out the tray full of treats for the little kwamis: one tin of Camembert for Plagg and a plate of freshly baked cookies for Tikki. Noticing the snacks, the kwamis stopped arguing and fluttered down to my table as I prepared my tea.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Plagg immediately dove into the cheese. “Let’s get this PTA meeting on the road!”

Tikki didn’t dignify his antics with a response as she primly nibbled on a cookie.

The two kwamis went on to tell me how today’s akumas went. When I first chose them, I knew I signed them up for a bumpy partnership. These two were going to be the death of me, that’s a fact of life… but I didn’t expect they’ll start this early!

I’m going to need more than one pot of tea tonight.

0-0-0-0-0

Shizuke was diligently cutting out all articles he could find on the model Blair Crawford. The information was carefully sorted out and pinned on a cork board. Red yarn was used to highlight and connect details that seemed important or related.  

“Perhaps you shouldn’t focus too much on one suspect,” Tikki weakly attempted to dissuade the stubborn boy. “She might not even be Hawkmoth.”

“I can’t let my guard down around her now, Tikki! I’m so close to piecing together her moti-”

The door opened to reveal Fuyu waving around a book.

“Yo, Shizu! I found this book full of interesting stuff for our repo –“ what Fuyu saw made her jaw drop along with her book.

“THIS IS NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!!!”

Too late. Of all the pictures scattered around to catch Fuyu’s eye, it just had to be the rather risqué picture of Blair in the Summer Swimsuit Collection. Shizuke uselessly tried to shove his pictures of Blair under his bed, face going red in embarrassment – which only made him look more suspicious. Eyes full of judgement, Fuyu shut the door without another word.

“FUYU!!!”

0-0-0-0-0

Every once in a while, I have these two report to me about their wielders. I’ve learned some interesting things about my new chosens… Like how Ladybug believes Chat Noire’s civilian identity is Hawkmoth. Plagg nearly choked on his cheese when he first heard about that.

“You sure your bug doesn’t need his glasses anymore?”

“It’s not his fault,” Tikki huffed at the slight to her wielder. “He noticed your kitten’s absences and she let slip a few things around him that he found suspicious.”

“Not like she could help her absences. She’s a model after all,” Plagg justified.

“The Glamour Magic probably didn’t help,” I took a sip of my tea, wondering when will the calming and medicinal effects kick in. “He sees the hints that she could be Chat Noire… But the magic forces him to latch on to any excuse he could come up with to prove she’s NOT Chat Noire.”

“Not to mention his crush on my wielder only made his fixation on her worse.~”

“Don’t remind me,” Tikki deadpanned. “What about your wielder? Does she have any suspects?”

All mirth left Plagg’s face.

“There was Erin Liung.”

Tension surged up in the room. Please no…

“But I searched her. I don’t sense any magic around her. She’s clean.”

A sigh of relief escaped me. Good. History didn't repeat itself down to this particular detail.

Tikki wasn’t convinced. “You sure you didn’t overlook something this time?”

“Gimme a break! That was a long time ago. How was I supposed to know that fashion designer didn’t just happen to make pins that just happen to look like the broken Peacock Miraculous?”

I remember the history lessons for that particular event. A man known as Gabriel Agreste became Hawkmoth… And Plagg’s chosen at the time was Adrien Agreste, Gabriel’s only son. No matter how you slice it, that confrontation did not end well for either.

“I swore I won’t let another kitten suffer the way he did. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Plagg doesn’t act like it but he loves each and every one of his kittens deeply… That’s why it hurt him just as much as it hurt Adrien when they found out who Hawkmoth was.

“And my current wielder’s different from Adrien,” Plagg smirked full of pride. “This kitten won’t hesitate to scratch.”

0-0-0-0-0

“Shizu! Get over here! Quick!”  

Kaji was waving his bespectacled friend over with a manic grin on his face. Fuyu sat by his side, jamming her earphones as deep into her ears as possible, eyes fixed on a catalogue for headphones. Warily, Shizuke carefully placed his tray of lunch on the table and slid on the bench across the giddy brunet.

“What is it this time?”

“You know how Jake got turned into Slumber yesterday?”

“Yes,” Shizuke continued to look at his best guy friend with caution. “How’s he doing by the way?”

While Shizuke could’ve checked on the sleepyhead himself, his mind was elsewhere – or rather, on someone else – all morning. He honestly didn’t think about Jake much until Kaji mentioned him. Thankfully, Kaji didn’t mind filling him in, chalking up Shizuke’s lack of observation to his lack of sleep lately.

“He’s doing fine. Uncle Ross is handling his detention and letting him sleep through it.”

Shizuke sweatdropped. “Let’s hope he doesn’t make a habit of getting detention just so he could slack off.”

Kaji nervously laughed. “That’s why Uncle Ross told him next time he gets detention he’ll be helping the school’s cleaning drive.”

“Is it over yet?” Fuyu asked, pulling out an earphone.

“Oh! But that’s not important,” Kaji pulled out his phone and shoved it into Shizuke’s hands.

“Not over yet,” Fuyu concluded and put her earphone back on and went back to her catalogue.

Shizuke looked at the picture Kaji’s phone is displaying and his face instantly went red.

“What do you think?” Kaji said with that same manic grin.

Shizuke averted his eyes from the phone where a picture of Ladybug lying face first on Chat Noire’s chest was displayed.

While the bug hero wasn’t completely conscious when it happened, he still had the faintest memories of his face cushioned between two soft leather-clothed mounds before he blacked out. It was both a blessing and a curse last night, replacing his nightmares with a different kind of torture. Such are the trials of a hormonal teenage boy hero.

“W-w-what should I think?”

“Shizu, what have I taught you about shipping?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Don’t assume things about other people’s relationships!”

Kaji eyed his flustered friend knowingly. “I’m calling it now, LadyNoire is gonna be a thing.”

“LadyNoire?”

“It’ll be their ship name,” Kaji let out a dreamy sigh. “I always thought there was some romantic tension going on between them.”

“Since when?!”

Kaji went on to tell Shizuke about his shipping theory, unintentionally helping Shizuke open his eyes to his attraction to his feline crime fighting partner. In Kaji’s eyes, Ladybug and Chat Noire’s spat was all Belligerent Sexual Tension. Well, he’s not completely wrong on one half of the ship.

Two tables behind Kaji sat a pair of model twins. One of them happens to have enhanced hearing and is secretly plotting to assassinate Kaji’s phone.

0-0-0-0-0

“Cartwheeling through a window and Cataclysm-ing her classmate’s phone! I’ve never seen such irresponsible use of a Miraculous in my life!” I said, slamming a fist on the table.

Plagg rolled his eyes. “Please, you’ve seen more irresponsible stunts than this.”

“I hate to say this, but Plagg’s got a point,” Tikki said with a grimace.

Plagg evilly smirked. “Like that Butterfly who made a champion to deliver his groceries to him just ‘cause he didn’t wanna leave his house.”

“Or that little Peacock boy who made his sentimonsters steal jewelry.”

“And that goody-two-shoes Bee once pulled an Aladdin and took his girlfriend on a Miraculous bee-hero ride across the endless diamond sky.~”

“There was that Fox who pretended to be the harvest god, Inari…”

For that one, I had to cut in. “That wasn’t irresponsible! There was a famine at the time and he did what he had to do to get help for his starving village!”

“Then he developed a bit of a god complex after that,” Tikki added sternly.

“He got better…”

“Whatever,” Plagg cut in. “The point is my wielder’s stunt is laughably small compared to some of the other wielders’ screw ups. It’s not like she didn’t warn the boy before destroying his phone.”

“That doesn’t mean we should be lenient!”

“A hero needs to keep their words. Otherwise, who would take them seriously?”

“… She bribed you to defend her honor, didn’t she?”

Plagg shrugged noncommittally.

I narrowed my eyes at the gluttonous cat kwami. “She spoils you too much.”

“Agreed,” Tikki said.

0-0-0-0-0

“Can’t you stop the akuma attacks?”  

“When are you gonna find Hawkmoth?!”

“The citizens need you to protect-“

“CITIZENS OF HELIOS!”

Ladybug took the mike from a stunned Keagan, who stepped back and let the bug hero take center stage.

“Our promise hasn’t changed! We will still protect you from Hawkmoth and save anyone she’s akumatized! We will stop Hawkmoth!”

Hearing agreeable murmurs, Ladybug continued.

“But please understand that Hawkmoth is an elusive enemy! We’re just two people and we can’t be everywhere all at once at all times!”

Uproar erupted from the people full of doubts and demands. It was enough to make Ladybug falter. Chat Noire thrust her arm to cover for the anxious bug and stole the spotlight from him.

“ENOUGH!!!”

The crowd went quiet as the cat heroine commanded their attention.

“If any one of you can find Hawkmoth, please step up the stage and tell us where she is! We’ll be more than happy to hunt her down and put an end to things if you can point out where she is!”

No one can answer the smug cat heroine.

“Why so quiet?~”

Chat Noire carried on ignoring the glares she’s receiving for mocking the crowd.

“Nobody knows where Hawkmoth is. Until then, I respectfully suggest you all cooperate.”

Outrage was bubbling beneath the surface but only a few voiced it out. Most realize Chat Noire is right. Chat Noire handed over the mike back to Ladybug.

“Hawkmoth is everyone’s problem! We come here today to ask you to fight her with us! You too can be heroes!”

At this, the crowd’s spirits were lifted.

“Everyone has a part to play in flushing out this menace plaguing our beautiful city!”

Loud cheers spread out and soon the heroes informed them of their plans and how the common people can help, such as evacuation protocols (so Ladybug wouldn’t worry about people getting caught up in an akuma’s rampage and Chat Noire can use Cataclysm freely), reinforcing anti-bullying policies (to make it harder for Hawkmoth to akumatize people), and general assistance (from police and medical personnel).

All of it carefully worded to sound more like a rallying speech rather than a cry for help.

0-0-0-0-0

“That level of manipulation reminds me of someone I’d rather forget,” Tikki grumpily said.

“She’s nothing like her,” Plagg said with exasperation. “Hasn’t my kitten proven herself enough for you?”

“She has, and I’ve forgiven her… I’m just… Marinette was a highly optimistic girl. One of my strongest bugs… Then this girl came along and nearly broke her more than once. Even without a Miraculous, an akuma or a sentimonster, she was among Marinette’s most formidable enemies. She did all that by swaying people to her side and knowing the right words to hurt Marinette,” a dark look came over the motherly bug kwami. “Your kitten nearly did the same to my current bug. I won’t forget that.”

The history books never mentioned anything about such an adversary. To think Marinette Dupain-Cheng, arguably the best Ladybug that ever existed, THE Great Founder of the New Order of the Guardians, was nearly taken down by some girl… Just as Plagg is protective of his kittens, Tikki is the same with her bugs. She can sure hold a grudge.

“Nearly. My charge may be clever as a fox, but she doesn’t have the same intelligence-draining charisma nor the sociopathic mindset that other girl possessed. My kitten has standards.”

Whoever that girl is, I’m glad she’s no longer here. As interesting as this history lesson is, I’d rather we get back to talking about the present Ladybug and Chat Noire.

“Basically, those two are playing ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop’ with the citizens of Helios,” Plagg explained.

“Ladybug does his best to encourage and reassure while Chat Noire eggs them on and keep them in line,” Tikki smiles wryly. “They make quite a team.”

“It’s thanks to Chat Noire’s coaching that Ladybug was able to handle the crowd’s harsh words and rally them into cooperating,” Plagg bragged.

“Yeah, but this was Ladybug’s idea,” said Tikki. “And he’s the one with the influence they needed to compel the people to follow.”

“Psh. He wouldn’t have thought this if it weren’t for Chat Noire.”

Tikki begrudgingly agreed with Plagg. “Knowing my wielder, he would’ve tried to shoulder everything on his own.”

“Yep. He’s got major inferiority issues.”

“Your kitten just had to rub salt in his wounds.”

“She already said ‘sorry’ for that! Now it’s more like she’s passing him the disinfectant,” in a quieter voice, Plagg said, “Besides, your boy isn’t the only one with issues.”

0-0-0-0-0

“Sis, it’s the Day of the Dead. You coming?” Blake asked from behind the door.

Blair didn’t even turn to him from where she sat by the window. A pen was idly twirled around her fingers. Books and notebooks were scattered over her duvet. None of them were open.

“Sorry bro, I’m busy with homework.”

There was silence beyond the door, then footsteps growing fainter and fainter by the second.

“It’s not too late. You can still go after them,” Plagg suggested.

Blair crossed her arms. Based on where his voice is coming from, Blair could tell Plagg was floating next to her family portrait. Facing his way and seeing the portrait is the last thing she wants to do, so she kept her gaze to the cityscape.

“So I could do what? Stare pitifully at a bunch of rocks with their names carved on it? No thanks.”

“It’s the Day of the Dead. Everyone’s doing that among other things. There’s nothing pitiful about that.”

Down below, Blair could spy her twin standing by the porch with their foster brother as the Liung matriarch locks the door. Both of the young men were carrying baskets of flowers and candles. Once Mrs. Liung was done, the three hailed a taxi. Blair watched until the taxi took a turn and disappeared from her sight.

“Well, I’m Italian. I don’t celebrate it.”

“That didn’t stop your just-as-Italian twin and the Chinese Liungs. You don’t need a holiday to visit them.”

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She didn’t need to look to know it was probably them wishing her well. She didn’t want to hear it.

“Leave it,” Blair ordered.

The two remained quiet for the rest of the day as the cityscape outside glowed with festivities of remembrance.

0-0-0-0-0

“Chat Noire isn’t the sort who’d bare her heart to anyone,” Tikki said, placing a sympathetic paw on Plagg’s back. “Until she says anything, there isn’t much anyone could do to help her.”

“At this rate, it might take some kind of inner-self-exposing akuma to get her to open up,” Plagg said.

Just imagining that morbid scenario made me chug the rest of my tea.

“I’m getting too old for this.”

A few months later, that’s exactly what happened with an akuma named Ego Split. There is not enough tea in this world to ease my stress. Just how many close calls will these two go through before they give me a heart attack?!

The good news is Ladybug’s definitely improving.

0-0-0-0-0

It was one of those rare days Hawkmoth didn’t attack the city. Taking this opportunity, the heroes decided to spar. After losing for the nth time, Ladybug decided to call for a break and they ended up discussing fighting styles.  

“I don't understand what fighting style you use. You wield a staff and a baton quite well, but you tend to throw it at your enemies when they least expect it. You move like an acrobat, have good balance, throw good punches and kicks, but your movements are too flashy to be practical. You attack from various angles with both your weapon and your limbs as well as dodge most attacks, but you have no form. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it,” Ladybug said.

“Ahahaha,” Chat Noire nervously scratched the back of her head. “Well, you see Ladybug, I’m not really formally trained at anything.”

Ladybug’s eyes widened like saucers. “How in the world are you this good?”

“Imagination?” Chat Noire waved her hands in an arc like a rainbow.

Ladybug shot her an unimpressed look. “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Chat Noire shrugged. “I imagine what I want to do, and the Miraculous makes it possible. Watching so many hero movies help enrich that imagination. Oh! And I keep in mind some self defense tips my dad taught me.”

That perked up the skeptical bug. “And they are?”

“Aiming for the guts will wind them, the head will knock them out, and the groin for maximum pain,” Chat Noire finished with a cheeky grin.

“That doesn’t sound like self-defense.”

“Well, they say the best defense is the best offense.~”

“That would be true in a street brawl.”

“Have you ever been in a street brawl?”                                                                                                                               

“No!”

Chat Noire raised a brow at her too-squirmy-to-be-honest partner but decided against pursuing this line of questioning. After everything she’s gone through just to keep this bug’s secret identity safe, she’s not about to throw it all away out of curiosity, no matter how tempting it is to ask how Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes over here got into a street brawl. She opts for the safer more relevant topic of interest instead.

“You seem to know what you’re talking about when you’re trying to describe my fighting style. Do you know how to fight?”

Ladybug went from panicky denial to meek admittance.

“I tried out various martial arts until I eventually discovered Judo.”

“Judo, huh...”

A certain classmate came to Chat Noire’s mind when Ladybug mentioned Judo. Isn’t that the club Shizuke attends once a week?  She remembers seeing him stopping a bunch of bullies from harassing their quiet class deputy once. Lots of grappling, counterattacks, and throwing people around.

“… That explains a lot,” Chat Noire said, eyeing up Ladybug with her analytic gaze. Ladybug does look like the sort who would practice that.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

A sudden squeeze on his arm caused him to jump away from the Black Cat.

“So your arm muscles aren’t just for show?” Chat Noire said with a smirk.

Ladybug blushed and self-consciously crossed his arms. No, he does not feel happy she complimented him nor did he feel a pleasant jolt when she touched him.

Oblivious to Ladybug’s internal denials, Chat Noire shifted into a fighting stance.

“Care for a spar? Let’s do this hand-to-hand,” Chat Noire bounced on the balls of her feet and threw a few practice punches. “I wanna see how good you are.”

Ladybug reluctantly agreed.

Fifteen seconds later, Chat Noire is flat on her back staring at the ceiling.

“Whoa.”

“I’M SORRY!”

Ladybug flailed and pulled up the dazed cat heroine.

“I didn’t mean to – I mean, I did want to win but I wasn’t expecting…” he paused as he thought of a possibility that made him frown sternly. “Did you let me win?”

Snapping out of her daze, Chat Noire scrunched her nose in disgust at the suggestion.

“Nope,” Chat Noire bopped Ladybug on the nose. “That was all you.”

“How in the world…”

“This is the difference between my improvised moves and your technical skill,” Chat Noire walked around Ladybug, examining the bug hero with her knuckles on her chin. “The akumas we’ve faced so far aren’t trained in fights like you are and tend to over rely on their powers. Between that and the way they let their feelings rule their judgement, it’s easy to find an opening. That’s how I always win.”

Ladybug stared at her like she just told him the secret to winning at life. Then he furrowed his brows when another thought occurred to him.

“Then how come I always lose to you?”

Instead of telling him, Chat Noire chose to demonstrate: by tripping him with her staff.

“WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!”

Chat Noire rested her staff across her shoulders.

“Fights outside your sparring ring-“

“Mats.”

“Whatever,” Chat Noire rolled her eyes. “Fights outside of Judo practice have no rules. You take too long to switch between using your yoyo and your limbs, following a different set of rules for each when you could use both.”

“But-“

“You’ve got skill, Bugsy. But this isn’t Judo practice. Your yoyo isn’t just a weapon for defense and swinging around town a la Spider-Man. It can be anything you need it to be,” Chat Noire held out a hand to help Ladybug up. “Just use your imagination.”

This time, Ladybug accepted her help.

0-0-0-0-0

The two heroes have been working hard to improve themselves. There’s a subtle difference in how they fought before and after Slumber. The most noticeable is how they communicate more. They’re helping each other up instead of tearing each other down. Slowly but surely, they’re reaching their full potential together.

“Any updates on Ladybug’s Akuma Chart?”

Tikki nodded and recited all the information Ladybug had on the latest akumas. This was another loaded week. Ladybug’s in better shape than he had been before Slumber’s attack. Chat Noire has managed to talk him out of his rigorous schedule and got him to ease up on it. While they still patrol and train, they no longer do it every night until the wee hours of the morning. Whenever there’s an akuma attack that lasts more than an hour, Ladybug has agreed to take the rest of the night off. Slowly, he’s recovering with some much needed rest… Hmm… Wait a second…

I slammed my teacup down so hard, it nearly broke and spilled its contents all over my records.

“Master?” Tikki worriedly asked.

“This Hawkmoth is craftier than I thought.”

“What do you mean?” Tikki asked.

My finger traced along the line graph of akuma attacks.

“Notice how a week after your wielders got into a fight with each other, she bombards them with one akuma attack after another. That week, Ladybug was motivated more than ever to outdo Chat Noire. He spent so much time training and patrolling to close their gap that he dominated the Ladyblog’s content. All of that chipped away at his energy…”

Tikki gasped, her shock slowly shifting into anger as she came to the same realization.

“She noticed my weakened charge and took advantage of his condition!”

Plagg put his paws together as he caught on.

“That explains Slumber. Even though her grasp on him was weak, she still forced Slumber to stay under her power because he had the perfect ability to finish Ladybug off.”

“Forcing control over an unwilling champion costs a lot of energy from a Butterfly,” I added. “Which is why she didn’t follow up with another akuma immediately even though Ladybug was vulnerable.”

“She made a gamble,” Plagg said. “She put all her money on Slumber. It’s a good thing Chat Noire wasn’t as out of it as Ladybug… But Ladybug isn’t completely back to his usual chipper self.”

“Her current barrage of akuma attacks is meant to keep Ladybug from fully recovering,” Tikki growled.

“This isn’t a coincidence,” I said. “All this time she’s been trying to wear them down.”

“What do we do?” Tikki asked, full of worry.

“Hawkmoth can’t keep this up forever,” I point at the chart, this time at the estimated time. “Whoever she is, she’s not free during most of the day. Most of her attacks happen during early mornings, lunch breaks and late afternoons to nightfall - common free periods as any working class citizen could tell you.”

“So she has a day job outside being a terrorist. Big deal,” Plagg said.

“It is a big deal! Like the rest of us Miraculous Wielders, she’s balancing two lives. She can’t keep sacrificing her time and energy to send akumas after your wielders,” on the latest week’s record of the akuma chart, there’s a slight decline in their frequency. “If she keeps this up, she’ll end up like Ladybug.”

My knuckles went white as I curled my hands into fists.

“When that happens, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop her.”

That scenario didn’t come to pass. Hawkmoth eventually relented and went back to her usual frequency of sending out akuma. The heroes better prepare for when she comes up with another plan to get their Miraculous.

As much as I want to help them, I can’t guarantee it. I’ll do whatever it takes… even if it meant giving away my Miraculous.

Taking down Hawkmoth will ultimately fall onto their shoulders.

0-0-0-0-0

The kwamis eventually ran out of things to report and returned to their respective wielders. Plagg once again complained about his distant flight on his way out. I paid him no mind.

Not for the first time, I felt the tug of the jade turtle bracelet within the Miracle Box beckoning me. Carefully, I put it around my bun, just like how I used to back in the day. With my eyes closed to focus my senses on the power emanating within, the gentle weight of it made me feel like I’m whole again… When I opened my eyes, the illusion ended. I’m still alone.

“I hope your next wielder takes good care of you, Wayzz,” I touched the jade turtle, wishing my words can reach my old friend.

If it were up to me, I’d be the one fighting Hawkmoth.

I removed the Turtle Miraculous and put it back into the box. As I cleaned up my office, putting things back where they belong until all that’s left is the group photo of the four heroes, my last set of chosens. It’s been seven years since they had that picture taken. On the back of the picture was a letter full of gratitude, apologies, and final farewells. My eyes lingered on the last line:

“I wish you the best, Master Hisui.”

Sometimes, I think it would be easier if they hated me in the end. Four people with bright futures… All ruined because they were chosen. Because they were all inherently good people that can be trusted with the power to protect everyone else.

If I’d passed on my Miraculous sooner… Given them a younger, stronger turtle capable of following them into battle… Given them a shield to protect them too… Things could’ve ended differently.

Perhaps those two children could’ve lived a normal life. Go to school and pick up a hobby or two of their choosing… Be whoever they wanted to be rather than be who everyone needs them to be. They could grow up with parents who love them rather than be forced to grow up so fast. They could stay safe without worry rather than fighting demons in and out of their dreams. Perhaps they’d never meet…

No. They would’ve met anyway if that vixen had anything to say about it.

0-0-0-0-0

“Who’s that kid with the glasses?! He’s so cute!”  

The excitable green eyed blonde pointed at a postcard I pinned on my fridge with electric magnets. I should’ve made extra sure I’ve put this away before I let her in! Foxes do have a tendency to stick their noses where it doesn’t belong, after all.

Standing by my fridge is the Fox Miraculous’ Wielder, Bianca. When we first met, she was an aspiring photographer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time trying to help out what she assumed was a helpless old lady. Since then, she’s proven herself worthy of being a hero…

“That is of no importance to our meeting,” I slammed a tea set onto the tabletop I’ve pulled out from within the counter.

Bianca’s smile dimmed at the reminder of her visit. Soon, the others will be here too.

“I know there’s a serious threat lurking within the shadows... That’s why it’s even more important to talk about the people we fight for,” as soon as she pulled out her wallet, her smile brightened a hundred fold as she showed off a picture I’ve seen a million times. “Like my twins! Aren’t they adorable?!”

Then there are days like today when I question my decision to let her keep Trixx.

“You shouldn’t let your guard down, young lady.”

“And you shouldn’t keep your blood pressure up, old lady.”

A quick jab on her arm made her yelp in pain.

“You should respect your elders,” I said with my hands on my hips.

“With all due respect, Master Hisui, you really do need to chill.”

I glared at the fox’s smart mouth but she wasn’t deterred. Her emerald green eyes were lit with determination. Picking up the picture, she got a closer look before pointing out the boy to me.

“Up close, this boy has the same brown eyes as you. What’s your relation to him?”

Why must she feel the need to know everything? With a resigned sigh, I gave in.

“He’s my grandson. His name is Shizuke.”

“How old is he?”

“Seven. Turning eight real soon.”

“He’s around my twins’ age! We should totally set up a play date!"

I gave her a wry stare. Her twins. Blake and Blair. The troublesome pair of redheads who made it a habit to get into places where they shouldn’t out of curiosity while donning matching fox onesies. This is what happens when a fox and a detective have children and have the kwami of illusions act as a babysitter.

“He’s meek, obedient and well-behaved. I’m not sure he’ll get along with your twins.”

“Hey, the twins aren’t that bad!” Trixx said, setting aside the sunflower seed they were nibbling on. “Sure, they get into a little mischief, but they can be sweet too.”

Bianca eyed the sunflower seed and smiled fondly. “So they’ve moved on to seeds now?”

“They’re getting warmer,” Trixx said. “They’ve narrowed it down to Go foods.”

“Well. That’s one way to learn the food pyramid.”

“What’s this about?” I asked.

“Oh, just the twins trying to figure out my favorite food,” Trixx grinned as they swallowed the last bit of sunflower seed. “They’ve been trying to figure it out for days now. I think it’s cute how they’re eager to please.”

“Yep!” Bianca nodded eagerly in agreement. “My twins are nice kids. I’m sure they can get along with your grandson.”

Trixx grinned mischievously. “And maybe your grandson needs to get in trouble from time to time. Learn to live a little.”

My wry stare intensified.

Bianca raised her hands in mock surrender… Until she opened her mouth and restarted our argument.

“But really, how bad can one play date be?”

“He knows nothing about the Miraculous!” I slammed hands on the table and glared at the fox. In a calmer voice, I added, “I’d rather keep it that way.”

“What’s so wrong about him learning about the Miraculous? You can’t protect him from the truth forever.”

I gave her an incredulous look. “You’re a wielder. You should know.”

I poured myself a cup of tea, staring down at my reflection in the steamy drink. I’m not as young as I used to be. My prime has long past and I’ll only get weaker as time goes on… I tightened my hold on my cup until my knuckles turned white. I can’t afford to think like that now. They need me to be strong.

“Danger follows us who wield the Miraculous. I want him to stay safe, even if it’s the last thing I do as Guardian...”

It’s the same reason I had to leave my daughter behind as soon as she was old enough to take care of herself. All I wanted was a safe peaceful life for her and the family she makes for herself. I never wanted to drag her into this if I could help it.

Sensing my mood, Wayzz flew over to my side. They nudged my cheek in silent comfort. No words were need to be said. Wayzz and I have talked about this many times before. Our time together is drawing to a close.   I better find someone to inherit the Turtle Miraculous soon.

“I understand,” Bianca shot me a sympathetic look. “I wish I could turn back time and do the same for my twins… But knowing them, they would’ve found out eventually.”

“Kids these days are too smart for their own good,” Trixx nodded sagely.

“You just weren’t careful,” Wayzz piped in an admonishing tone.

Bianca crossed her arms over her well-endowed chest. “Yeah yeah, I learned my lesson. Always get enough rest so I don’t do anything stupid in a half-asleep daze.”

I gave her an unimpressed look. “Like transforming for patrol, but then remembering to tuck your children in for bedtime while forgetting to detransform.”

“Will you ever let me live that down?”

I continued to give her an unimpressed look. Sometimes, I wonder what I was drinking when I decided to make this woman the Fox Miraculous Wielder.

“Ugh, fine! Don’t trust me to keep a secret. But give my kids a chance! They understand the golden rule of secret identities.”

“Probably got that from your husband.”

“We’re lucky he’s on our side,” Wayzz said. “If he wasn’t, he would’ve caught you at the very least.”

Noir Crawford is a man of few words. He took on the assignment to investigate the city’s ‘mysterious vigilantes’ so he can purposely obscure evidence that can directly expose everyone’s identities while using his connections to further investigate our own hidden enemies. With his sharp wits and meticulous nature, there’s no question he’s the best at his job. Even without a Miraculous, his help has been invaluable to us. The rest of the team consider him to be an honorary member.

“You say that like he hasn’t already caught me,~” she said with a wiggle of her brows and a dreamy lovesick smile.

Ugh. I downed the cup of tea in one go, fervently wishing it’ll keep any incoming migraines away. In the middle of my drink, the fox duo just had to throw in a few more words.

“Well you know what they say, opposites attract,~” Trixx said.

“Maybe the same could happen between my daughter and your grandson.~”

The shock made me choke and spit my drink all over the counter. Wayzz quickly flew over to pat my back in a soothing motion. As soon as I cleared my wind pipes, I glared at Bianca.

“IT’S TOO EARLY TO THINK ABOUT THAT!!!”

“I was just joking!”

I shot her a disbelieving look.

“… Mostly,” she grinned, sheepishly scratching the back of her head.

Not content with downing a whole cup in one go, I poured myself another one. This hopeless romantic vixen better not try to matchmake my grandson behind my back…

Bianca poked at my tea set. “This tea isn’t spiked with magic potions, right?”

I almost spat out my tea again.

“Sorry!” said Bianca.

It was then that someone knocked on the door. I opened it to reveal an unexpected guest.

“Noir!” Bianca excitedly pounced over to the door.

Once the red haired detective was within Bianca’s reach, she was quick to embrace him and give him a quick peck on the lips. Like magic, his stone-cold poker face melts away for a more tender look to take over.

“So, how’s your day?” Bianca asked.

It was like a bubble popped and the detective was back to being all business. Noir pulled out an envelope from his trench coat, his lips a grim line.

“I’ve got some new intel. You’re not gonna like this.”

Her emerald gaze hardened as she let Noir report his findings. Things aren’t looking good. The enemy is bigger and more organized than we thought. But Bianca doesn’t look deterred. She’s got a plan. Despite her lack of discipline, this fox is as clever as they come. More importantly, she has the heart for it.

Out of all my chosens, she’s the only one I would trust to lead in my stead…

0-0-0-0-0

When I woke up from my coma, my daughter and her family were by my side. The worst has passed. The plan succeeded even without me. The city of Helios was safe once again… At the cost of my chosens.

My fingers traced her name carved on the cold marble tiles.

Bianca Crawford.

Loving wife. Caring mother. Seeker of truth.

All that’s left of them are their Miraculous. Only half of them made it back to me. One of them remains lost while the other is being used to terrorize the very city they sacrificed so much to protect. Out of shame, I couldn’t muster the will to use the Turtle Miraculous and put a stop to it myself… I have to rely on one of her beloved children and my own grandson to retrieve the Butterfly Miraculous for me.

Some Master Guardian I turned out to be.

“I’m sorry I took so long.”

A bouquet of calla lilies was placed on her grave. They symbolize purity and honesty. A flower of choice for both weddings and funerals. I couldn’t help but notice how ironically fitting it is for this fox to like those flowers. I took a few of the flowers to place over her husband’s grave right next to hers. They were together ‘til the end. Heroes no one recognized.

“We’ve got a lot to talk about, but you’d be pleased to hear…”

While I’d still rather be the one defending the city my chosens died for, I’m rather proud of those two. They’ve grown so much in just a matter of months. I thought their differences would be a huge hurdle between them. Instead they’ve managed to overcome them.

“… You were right about them.”

0-0-0-0-0