Marinette woke up later than usual and had to run to school, but even though she lived next door she was still late for class. Miss Bustier being the tolerant and patient teacher she had let her in with a smile. The first thing the ravenette noticed once she had taken her seat next to Alya was that the spot in front of her was empty." Adrien must be at a photoshoot" she realized sadly; a day without the blond was never worth more. Not to her at least.
When recess came, she approached Nino and asked him if his best friend had warned him about him skipping classes today to fulfill another idiotic exigence from his father. Seriously, too much was asked from the teen. But that was beside the point. What was important was hearing about her crush, even if it was to hear why she wouldn't see him. But unlike any other time, Nino had no idea where Adrien was. That is when she started to worry. Of course, she wasn't crazy worried but something just didn't feel right. Yet she managed to smile to her friends joke and forget everything and get lost in the fog of a normal school day.
She turned the question over and over in her head, until she heard screams in the streets. It took her about three seconds to put two and two together. Someone needed Ladybug. She quickly made an excuse about feeling seek and having to go to the nurse's office and went to the empty locker room. She took a deep breath and let her kwami out of her purse. "Tikki, spots on!" she said. A blinding pink light engulfed her. When it finally went out the heroine of Paris was ready for the fight.
She sung her yoyo, locking it in the chimney of a neighboring building and let it carry her to the rooftops. She immediately started running and jumping to the sound's origin. It took her about five minutes. I the middle of the champs Elysés, right next to the 'Arc du Triomphe', was a man with a white lab coat with bright red polka dots, his skin was purple and across his back were two test tube's which were connected to the gigantic gun he was holding. Every time a blast came out of it, a toxic fog was spread and left the persons behind struggling to breath for just enough time for them to suffer but not die.
She stopped to think. This wasn't the kind of akuma you could take in up front. She would lose her miraculous before she could blink. This needed planning. And help. Where was Cat Noir anyway? He usually bet her to wherever problems were. As if on cue with her thoughts she felt the presence of her chaton landing beside her. "What took you so long?" she asked him, her eyes never leaving what would soon become a battlefield.
"sorry m' Lady, but I'm here now. Seems like we're fighting a disastroxic situation. How are you planning on beating this guy? "her partner joked but she saw his flatter to the horizon. Something wasn't right with him, but this was not the time to ask.
She had to admit she had no idea. How did you beat someone you couldn't approach? She had to come up with something fast, every second more civilians were hurt. This akuma was one of the worse one yet.
"Tell when you come up with something. I'm gonna contain him for as long as I can."
"Whait…." She tried saying but he was far gone. Think. Think. Think, Marinette think. Finally, desperation got the best of her and she used her lucky charm to early in battle. It was a balloon. She just couldn't think of anything to do with it. That was until she payed closer attention to the gun he was using, only one exit. She used her yoyo to get there, making sure she was going fast enough so the gas wouldn't have time to affect her. She used the balloon to block the exit of the gun and the rest was a piece of cake. Turns out the akuma's victim was a scientist whose theory had just been destroyed by someone else's experiment.
After that exhausting mental exercise, she came back to school and continued her long day without Adrien.
Adrien woke up to the sound of his alarm clock and he immediately closed his eyes again. The time had come, show time. He just didn't know what to expect or how to behave, less what he was supposed to feel. Everything was just a blurry hurricane in his brain. He just wished his mother was still there, she would smile at him warmly and would tell him exactly what he needed to hear to feel like he could affront even the worst thing.
But she wasn't. Not anymore. So, he was on his own.
After a quick shower, he went downstairs for what little breakfast he was allowed to have. Being a model was truly a burden for a model with a sweet tooth such as Adrien. For the first time in a long time he wasn't bothered by Nathalie and her schedules. His father had agreed about today being too important to waste in photoshoots or school. It was a shame, he could have used the distraction.
He took his time eating. After that he simply didn't know what to do. He was usually busy from sunset t'ill dawn. He had forgotten what free time felt like. Sadly, it presented itself as a perfect opportunity for his thoughts to take him far away, to paths he had forced himself to avoid since last night's conversation with his father. He's coming back. Was he pumped? Was he mad he hadn't been there? Was he facing the same dilemma as him? It wasn't like Adrien hadn't missed him. Of course, he had. But things would never be the same, not after he left him behind. So, there he was, so mixed up he could have been two different persons. One as excited as a toddler with a new toy, one bitter and resentful.
It was just too hard to go through this. He shouldn't be going through this. No one should. But he wasn't like the others no matter how much he wished he was. His train of thoughts took him far into the past and into his own mind. To simpler times in which he would smile, smile for real not like those perfect fake smiles he wore every day. To melancholic nights, spent alone in an empty house.
His kwami hadn't complain or asked for cheese in all morning and Adrien was truly thankful. Plagg knew how hard it all was to him. Yet he craved for the normality of it all. He wanted to anchor himself to something because his whole world was being thorn from under his feet. Thank goodness form that akuma attack in the morning. He thought he was going mad by the time it happened. It took him some time to put himself together before he could rush to his lady's side.
As usual he was to buy her sometime while that beautiful head of hers did all the hard work. He jumped in to save the civilians, using his baton as ventilator to dissipate the gas and his cataclysm when a woman and a baby where about to be enveloped by the gas, making a building block the villain's way to them. And then his dashing partner came and defeated the akuma like so many times before. He anchored himself on that. No matter what happened today he was still Cat Noir. He still had Ladybug.
As he left he looked at her retreating figure at least twice. How could she comfort him by just being within sight, when his father couldn't make him feel better no matter how hard he tried. Well he guessed that was how real love felt like. At the end he left himself, reluctant to let go of his transformation. Being his alter ego was just so much easier. He didn't have to think about him. He was safe from his own thoughts.
As soon as he set foot on his bedroom the debate began again. Stupid feelings. Stupid thoughts. Couldn't they just decide on one state instead of changing every few minutes, twisting his stomach over and over?
The time to go to the airport came way too fast. His father wouldn't accompany him. He was too busy working to pay attention, even in such an important occasion. That meant that Adrien was on his own against one of the biggest challenges of his life. Damn how he wished he was fighting a gigantic akuma right now. But he wasn't, he was just Adrien Agreste and there was no fight. He went to the terminal and waited in the arrival gate with the gorilla. It felt like an eternity before a familiar blond head came in view. He inhaled sharply. They both walked towards each other.
"Hello Felix. How was your flight?"