"I swear I love those two, but why can they never be on time?" Alya and Nino sat together on the class's coach bus. Their class had planned to go to shanghai for months, and yet somehow both Marinette AND Adrien both found a way to be late for the bus. If they were late, the bus was late, and if the bus was late then the whole class could miss the plane to Shanghai.

And to make matters worse; an Akuma attack was happening in the center of the city- and Alya was missing it. She knew it was petty, people could be in danger- but it was Alya's job to keep people up to date with the Ladyblog. She fiddled with the lady bug charm on her phone.

Nino could see that she was stressing. He put his hand on top of hers to stop her from fiddling. "Calm down, Alya. They'll probably be here soon. And Paris can go a week or two without their top blogger."

Alya smiled softly. She and Nino had been dating for two weeks; it was pretty casual, but them being together still sent little butterflies through her stomach.

"I should still stay up to date on what's going on." Alya said, unlocking her phone. She scrolled through the news.

"What's the Akuma this time?" Nino asked.

"It seems to be some kind of bus driver." She laughed, reading further into the article. "He calls himself the "Toll Troll"."

"Just our luck that we're on a bus while he's attacking."

"I trust ladybug and Chat Noir to keep us safe." Alya said, and then smirked. "And if it really comes to it then Chloe could just insult the Akuma into tears."

He snickered as Alya's phone buzzed, informing her of the battle's end. "It's over."

"Who won?"

"Who do you think?" she answered.

Marinette rushed onto the bus carrying her purse and a backpack.

Alya's stress deflated a bit. "Marinette! Where have you been, girl? I thought you had been hurt in the Akuma attack or something! Text me next time, okay?"

The girl sat down in the seats facing them and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Alya. I forgot one of my bags and had to go back for it." Marinette looked around. "Is Adrien not here?"

Nino shook his head. "You're not the only one who's late. He won't answer his phone either." He looked up the bus aisle. "Speak of the devil."

Adrien walked towards them, when he got to them he slung off his back pack and sat beside Marinette, who turned beet-red beside him. The second he sat down the bus jolted to a start, the driver had been impatient to get a move on.

Nino laughed "Dude, after your late enough it stops being fashionable."

"My car got stuck in traffic near the Akuma fight."

"It's all cool." Nino said. "I'm still surprised your dad let you come on the trip."

Adrien shrugged. "He's sending Natalie over to China once she finishes helping him with some business."

"Speaking of family in China," Alya interjected. "Don't you have family in Shanghai, Marinette?"

She tore her gaze from Adrien. "Y- Yeah. Much of my mom's side of the family. I haven't seen most of them for years." Marinette looked out her window. The sun was setting causing the sky to melt from blue to pale orange.

The bus got eerily quiet, Nino filled the silence. "Alya's going to go crazy not being able to get more information for the Ladyblog."

"I heard that Chat Noir will be taking a break for a while anyway." Adrien mentioned.

"What?!" Both Alya and Marinette were taken aback.

Alya sat forward. "How do you know?"

"Uh, last time Chat Noir saved me, he told me." He ran his hand through his hair nervously.

Alya was a bit offended. "And you didn't tell your friend who runs a blog about superheroes?" She sighed. "I guessed Ladybug will have to take care Paris alone for a while."

Marinette looked worried and touched her small pink purse.

"It better that it's Chat Noir that's taking a break than Ladybug." Alya continued. "It's not like he could do anything with the Akuma once it's released."

"What?" Adrien objected. "Chat Noir's so cool though! He's so- so-"

"Obnoxious?" Marinette supplied, then blushed when he looked at her. She touched her bag again and stood. "I'll be right back."

Adrien frowned and twisted a silver ring around his finger.

"Where'd you get that?" Alya asked.

"What?"

"Your ring." She repeated. "Where'd you get it?"

He looked at his hand and quickly answered. "A gift from my father."

Something was wrong. He was lying. Alya didn't need her reporter skills to see it, but she kept her mouth shut. She hoped he didn't get the ring from a partner. If Adrien had a girlfriend it would break Marinette's shy little heart.

"EXCUSE ME!?" Chloe's shrill voice echoed from the front of the bus. Alya looked to see her yelling into her phone. "NO. I will NOT travel anything but first class. Put my Daddy on the phone! ...-I DON'T CARE IF HE'S BUSY!"

Alya took pleasure in Chloe's anger. "I guess she's been forced to fly with the rest of us peasants."

Nino scowled. "No, we peasants are forced to fly with Chloe."

Adrien laughed softly. "The whole point of this trip was for us to all go together."

Marinette returned and sat back down across from Alya. Marinette's worry had seemed to have doubled in the time she was gone. Alya picked up her phone and shot her a text.

you ok mari?- Alya

Yeah, all good.- Mari

so when we get to china i was thinking the 4 of us could go on a double date- Alya

Marinette looked up sharply at her, and shook her head. Alya smirked back.

so you dont want to?- Alya

of course i do but it wont end well- Mari

why not?- Alya

cause i cant look him in the eye without becoming a puddle- Mari

The bus pulled up to the airport. The students put their carry-on onto the X-ray conveyor belt.

One of the security guards stopped Marinette from picking up her purse. "Miss, we got a strange readin' on that bag, would you mind if we checked that out?"

"Not at all." They waited patiently for him to rummage through her tiny purse.

"I'm sorry for the delay." He handed back her purse. "The X-ray made it look like there was some sorta mouse in your bag."

They walked towards the boarding area. Alya turned to her friend. "That was weird."

"For sure!" Marinette smiled. Again Alya felt something was up, and again she did nothing.

It took much less time than Alya anticipated for everyone to be boarded onto the plane, but still Chloe complained loudly about the wait.

The four of them sat in the middle aisle Marinette and Adrian sat on either end while Alya and Nino sat beside each other.

Adrien and Nino were talking in hushed tones. Adrien was sweating, and yet still, somehow looked good.

"Chill dude." Nino said. "We'll be fine."

Alya leaned forward so she can see them both. "What's up?"

Nino smirked. "Adrien's never been on a plane before. He's low key freaking out."

"High key." Adrien squeaked. "If we crash it'll be a catastrophic." He laughed nervously to himself.

"Hang in there buddy." Alya said. She handed over some gum. "Try this, it helps."

The plane began to take off and Alya turned to Marinette who was scribbling on a postcard. "What ya doin' there?"

Marinette looked up from her work. "I'm writing to my parents. I'm going to send it home when we get there."

Alya smiled. "Isn't the whole point to write the postcard when your actually there?"

"It's called time management, Alya. I need that time to do the things I'm writing about." Marinette giggled and went back to her writing.

What felt like forever past on that plane. Alya was extremely exhausted. She checked the time on her phone. It was late, very late. She turned and rested her head on Nino's shoulder. He was listening to his headphones. She could hear music faintly through the padding.

"This is good. Who's the artist?"

Nino smiled softly. "Me."

"I'm lucky to have such a talented boyfriend." Alya said, laughing quietly.

He laced their fingers together. "I'm still crazy happy that you call me your boyfriend."

She wasn't sure, but sometime in the next half hour Alya drifted into a deep sleep. She only woke when the flight attendant sent the five minute landing warning over the intercom.

Tearing herself from Nino's shoulder, Alya stood, stretched, and turned to see Marinette smiling maniacally at her.

"What?" Alya put her hands down, suddenly self-conscious.

Marinette voice was sing-songy. "I've got something to show you."

Alya sat back down while Marinette pulled out her phone. She pulled up a photo and handed the phone to Alya. The screen showed Alya and Nino sleeping, arms draped over each other. In the background Adrien slept too, but a small black blur covered part of his face.

"This is a good pic!" Alya said." We look really cute. Could you send me a copy?"

"Sure, no problem."

The resolution was much better on Alya's phone. She could swear she could see the stubble on Nino's face (That in which he was very proud of). But along with that the blur over Adrian's face got clearer.

It had... eyes.

Alya zoomed in on the photo. Could it be a bat? On a plane? Not likely. Something wasn't right. She felt it in her gut. Adrien had been acting weird too. Something was going on- And Alya intended to find out what it was.