"Wait, wait, wait, wait… You're that moth guy?" My leather shoes squeaked on the circular ending of a sentry flag pole that was long forgotten on the roof of an old apartment complex that looked like it came straight out of a DC comic.
"Do I look like a damn moth?" Though it was hesitant, her soft voice pierced the silence that grew the higher up we were from the buzzling traffic below. It was as sweet as it was annoyed. Must've been my doing.
"Hmm, well you are an insect.. Right?" I straightened from my balanced pouncing position to get a closer look at the dotted villain who struck a very unapproving pose on one of the many beams of the famous Eiffel Tower, the lights of which lit up the curves of the girl making them seem endless. Purring, I gave the girl a wink of desire that could win the hearts of many. "Though, you are one hell of a bug."
"Fuck off."
….
That was the first time I had made any acknowledgement towards the dashing girl in red and black latex. It was deliberate, our meeting, for sure. She had always been blending into the background, hiding in the shadows of the lower parts of Paris while I was fighting the growing numbers of Akuma victims. No matter how many bloody fights I was subjecting myself too, I could always pinpoint her frosty blue gaze from afar. Though she's probably the reason for all my victories, always seeing her in proximity had encouraged me to win the battles thanks to my conceitedness to impress the mystery gal. Her viewing had became almost constant, witnessing every attack move from a distance but today was different. Today she was sloppy.
It was an art student at a local university who got me out of my fifth period class during school, a young man who was tired of being mediocre all of his life finally snapping into a flamboyant, flamingo pink wearing artist who turned everything into a bland surreal piece of his art. The boy wore a thick pair of black squared eyeglasses, the only relatively normal part of his rose feathered victorian blouse with waves of fabric from the cuffs, kind of what you'd expect if he were the main character of the buff pirate lover from your mom's favorite romance novel. His skin tight leather pants that flared at the bottom made me cringe at how high waisted they appeared to be, though I soon reminded myself that my tight black cat costume may not be so different. But anyways, years of constantly battling these guys and pinpointing their weaknesses raised some red, or pink, flags of where the akuma had hidden itself in. Let's just say with a couple of nice puns and a few kickass moves later, I had his glasses in my clawed grasps.
"It's time you get a new prescription." The glass under my boots cracked in a satisfying sound and wave of shards. Shrugging, I groand as the boy lost his scary appearance and shook my head shamefully. "Man, I'm loosin' my touch. Right, M'Lady?" I turned my head towards the black silhouette who peaked her head from the coverage of the seven story building she surveyed on.
The akuma who escaped from the cracked optical lenses floated upwards towards the hidden villain but seemed to of lost it's way, blowing away from the girl's grasp as the villain leaned from the building in attempts to beckon it to her hiding place. With one hand she gripped the edges of the damp bricks as the other grabbed only at air to get the butterfly. It was cute at how her attempted to keep her secrecy made her look like a cat pawing a laser pen. Purring out a soundless laugh, I looked up fondly at the girl. Hell, she may be a villain but she made it worthwhile. Just when it was getting sad at her downplayed attempts and her own frustration was getting in the way, and right when I was about to help the poor chap, the hand that supported her weight slipped on the moss covered surroundings. But thanks to my catlike instincts, I was able to catch the girl from certain death of plummeting to the the earth below. Well, right before she whipped out a giant ass yo-yo and started beating me with it.
…..
"I have the akuma you sent out today." I leaned onto the elevator's door, met only by pitch blackness lit vaguely from the bright golden yellow entry I stood in.
"Another failure?" The disembodied voice responded after a time lapse of silence.
"Afraid so." I opened my folded hands that kept and protected the insect close to my side, my face unreadable with trained skills.
"Did you purify it?" His voice showned as much emotion as my blank face.
"Yes." I sighed heavily, leaning more into the door as my muscles relaxed, releasing the bug from my hand. I watched as the white butterfly made it's way back to it's owner, disappearing as soon as it left the reach the overhead light from the elevator.
"Uhg.. What is that smell, Lady Bug?" A hint of emotion softened his monotone edge.
I bit my lip, recalling the incident...
…..
As soon as I felt his warmth coil around me like snakes, I knew I made a vital mistake. It was my stupidity but that damn butterfly just kept taunting me. And after this hellish day, I just didn't care.
"Get off of me!" I straightened out my yo-yo, skipping the string and going straight to handling the red plastic to bash his head with it. Shit shit shit shit shit, not good.
"Hey!-OUCH!-Is that, is that a yo-yo?!" He groaned, only tightening his hands that held my shoulders and thighs in the embarrassing princess hold.
I could feel the heat spread through my face as if fire was in my veins and my elevated heart rate fueled it. Pulling his golden hair, I swung my yo-yo like a lasso, casting it to a light post to haul myself from his proximity. This isn't good. This wasn't suppose to happen. I heard him groan in pain when I pushed off his chest and face in reckless, hasty actions that turned in an adrenaline charged blur.
Finally getting air and clearing my head I stared down the boy who I was assigned to observe, gripping to the cold steel of what I had just noticed was one of Paris' most popular landmark. He had also recovered, sloppily and clumsily finding a balance on top of a rounded pole. After a couple "close calls" of slipping off either side of his bent legs, he breathed out stored anxiety to face me with nothing but cocky confidence
"That wasn't very nice, especially since I just saved you from an early grave." Sulking, he rubbed the red welting claw marks I had made in the process of my escape. Before making a smart remark, I held my tongue to remind myself of my silence. He took it as a challenge. "Finally got tired of watching behind the screens, huh. Well I don't blame you-" I groaned inwardly and rolled my eyes. He obviously couldn't see it as he continued to ramble on. "I'm like catnip to you people."
"So you're the one making my life a living hell?" He inspected his claws in a higher fashion. "Gotta say, you're not what I expected for the one and only Hawk Moth… I mean not at all. Y'know, I never really got the whole Hawk Moth and the butterfly thing but looking at your outfit, I really can't find any correlation-"
I could literally feel a vein pop with seething anger. Forget miraculous, I wanted this guy taken down for his annoying rambles alone. "I am not Hawk Moth." I spat out under my breath, furrowing my eyebrows as if my patience was a strained balloon of hot air getting too close to a fire. Instantly, I regretted even giving him the attention of stomaching his presence let alone actually talking to him though I think it must've been incoherent mumbles to him. His eyes lit up with interest as well as mischief. Damn it.
"Oh, you're not? So what are you? The forgotten lackey whose job is to cower in the shadows?" This narcissistic cat actually thought he could provoke me! Scoffing, I shook my head in amazement at this specimen. I knew Hawk Moth wanted him for his miraculous but he definitely didn't seem like a worthy opponent, especially how he barely won against the Akumas. Must've been luck, though I had thought black cats were the unluckiest of them all. He swung his limp tail in a playful gesture which failed to aggravate me..
"Red and black? Oh! I know, you remind me of a Backyardigan… Not that I watch kid shows.. Hmm, is your power perhaps solving friendship problems? Oh, you must have an amazing imagination."
What the hell is a Backyardigan? The question almost left my lips but he had started talking again, which I was momentarily grateful for.
"Can't say that Hawk Moth can't use someone like you. I mean, I think we all need a splash of color in our lives." Him toxic looking eyes shone through the darkness of the Thursday night like a wild animal, revealing a wink as one eye plunged into the darkness in a flirtatious gesture. "Can you understand me? You're so quiet and I do love a quiet girl but I hope I'm not rambling on like I'm speaking Chinese to you." He huffed, shaking his head in a "what can you do?" gesture. But something inside of me sparked and ignited. I threw my yo-yo to wrap around a broken pipeline sticking out of the building diagonally from the hero, using it to leverage my balance as I shared the small post with the leather cat. We could've danced on the small surface area the pole provided, and it was probably the closest I ever came into contact with a boy. Fighting the blushing heat, I stared into the surprised green eyes of Chat Noir as he scurried to find balance and withhold my challenging stare.
"Wǒ de míngzì shì piáo chóng, díkè." (我的名字是瓢虫，迪克.) My native language flowed out evenly despite my pounding heart. Which only helped my cool image I was fighting to project.
"Wait-" His bewildered expression almost made me fall laughing, the poor guy! I took his stunned opportunity to pull on my yo-yo, willing it to retract with me one the other line. My luck was short lived when I felt a weight grip my ankles, looking down to see the damn guy holding onto my leg for dear life. "I said wait!"
We didn't even get halfway to the other building when we fell, my grip on the yo-yo disrupted by the sudden attack of my opponent. Falling, we landed in an open dumpster that was full to the brim. After pulling off the wet plastic bags from my view, I saw the blond hero inches from my face pawing at an old banana peel from his head that obstructed his eyes. The raunchy smells of whatever this dumpster held fueled my anger and broke the last straw, with the help of the dumbass infront of me. "Are you serious?! You know I thought you were stupid but this is an all time low for you. I thought I saw all your dumbass decisions but this, this!" Gesturing to the decaying foods that we swam in. "I'm sitting in sour milk because of you." I hastily wiped away the food from my lap, after a few clean swipes I looked up to see the spellbound boy who had the skeleton of a fish woven into his hair as well as the plastic circles that weren't cut to protect sea life. "What!?" I screamed when his eye contact was unwavering.
His opened 'o' slowly turned into a wide grin, his pearly whites neon in the low lights of the dark alley. The smile reached his eyes, as he squinted in delight as if a boy in a toy shop. "You are a cute one." Throwing himself forward, his head was closer than ever, studying my face. Fear covered my body in goosebumps, not from this goofball but the consequences I'd face if he had someone found out my identity with his stupid luck. Muttering an apology under my breath, his head tilted in a way that resembled a puppy struggling to understand a command, and it made my heart swoon. "Huh?" He leaned closer with a contorted look.
"I said, I'm sorry." Forcing myself to breath evenly.
"For?"
"This." Finally wiggling my foot from the depths of the trash, I kicked his head back with a satisfying crack as my heel met his chin. It was an instant hit, as he fainted directly at impact. He'd have one hell of a headache but he was safely unconscious.
Standing on the edge of large tin enclosure, I studied the hero whom I was set to watch from afar. His hand was resting on his chest, the one with a big thick band around his clawed finger with a cat's paw print with only two fingers. I inched down to detach it from his limp hand when my own miraculous rang into my ear. I had to deliver the butterfly back before my time ran out. Without a glance back, I pounced into the night feeling the weight of our encounter add guilt to my shoulders as the weight of the trash I carried along fell to the plummeting depths below.
…
"Dude, sick bruise." Nino tapped his chin, indicating the light bruise that created a nice semi circle at the bottom of my chin.
"Thanks." I groaned in return to my bubbly best friend, slamming my locker back into it's place.
"Anytime. Bet your dad freaked when he saw his money maker's face had a boo-boo."
"Uhg. Managed to sneak past him and Natalie. Now I'm just waiting for my doom." We walked in unison to our Algebra class. To distract myself of my impending doom, I more than willing turned my attention to the mystery gal I encountered the night before. "Ah, Nino?"
"What's up?" He looked above his phone to show at least he was semi-interested.
"Any chance you understand Chinese?"
Nino stopped walking, with a dumbfounded look on his tanned face. "No…? What, are they offering Chinese as a language in this school now?"
"No, well I don't know but um, I was thinking of… Learning.. It.. For work! Yes, work." Nice one Adrien.
"Oh! Well, if you need a tutor I know Marinette is part Chinese. Oh, speak of the devil." Nino pointed with his phone towards the back of a short petite, black haired girl who struggled to place her books at the top part of her locker, that was a good foot higher than her. "Need help there, shorty?"
She looked down at her tip-toes which she expertly balanced on, her face shading into a warm pink color of embarrassment before mumbling a 'no thanks'. A pang of sympathy traveled through my heart, so I decided to help the poor shy girl out. Practically dashing, I found myself by her side, leveraging the two books she struggled to stack ontop of each other and ultimately saving the downfall of them.
"Thanks." She spoke a bit louder, probably because I wasn't mocking her like she initially thought Nino was doing.
"No problem!" My voice sounded genuine but even I could hear the hint of fake preppiness. She eyed me carefully, especially at my yellowing bruise, before gathering her composure and turning to Nino.
"Did you need something?" Her quiet voice shown surprisingly strong and loud. Nino vaguely remembered addressing her to begin with.
"Oh, no… Actually, I was wondering if you spoke Chinese." Nino asked on my behalf.
Marinette puckered her pink lips in suspicious confusion, perhaps wondering if it was part of some cheesy pickup line or joke. "A little?" She finally answered after rolling out her anxiety, relishing in spreading annoyance instead.
"A little, huh." Nino's brown eyes found mine, unsure whether to inform her of my interest in the language. Though it's not much of an interest than finding out what the hell that villain said to me last night before beating me up. Widening my eyes, I silently informed him to not bring any more people in my problems. Nino sucked in his lips, puffing his cheeks in thoughts, shrugging when he had no excused to the suspicious girl. "That's cool."
Her face instantly contorted in disbelief, but it was revealed by a tired sigh. Everyone knew how.. Uh, how to put this in a nice way- How "special" Nino was and how it's better not to invest in his strange personality, in his ways. "Well, um, I have to go to class." She finished lamely, nodding her thanks once again to me, and once to Nino for acknowledgement. Sure she was shy, but was just as kind. "See yeah." She said softly, awkwardly flipping a hand in a small wave.
"Bye, Mari!" I called as she headed her way down the hall, meeting with her best friend Alya before turning into a classroom. Hastily, when she was out of earshot, I shot daggers at my friend. "Really? 'That's cool'?!"
"Hey! I was just trying to help you, why didn't you ask her to tutor you?"
"It doesn't matter anymore."
"You're acting weird man." Nino shrugged, extending his arm over my head and bending it to his mouth. In a loud whisper, he managed to laugh out "Ohh-hohohooo-Is it a girl!?"
Red flush crept over my cheeks that were stretched in a grim line of disbelief, oh and embarrassment. "Oh my god."
"Dude! I'm the ultimate wingman and the best friend of the one and only Adrien Agreste. You're in good hands, so why don't you tell me about the mystery woman?" He tugged harder, practically dragging me down the hall.
I couldn't help but give into his contagious silliness, joining his barking laughter as we ventured down the hall. While doing so, my reassuring resolution was that I'd find the mystery gal who managed to take down the Chat Noir… No matter how hard it'll be. I had a feeling I'd see her soon.
…..
"Hey! Saw you talking to Adrien!" Her grip was squeezing into my bicep as she couldn't wait to whisk me away along with the good gossip. But it was delayed as her face went into mild shock. "Damn girl! Have you been working out?"
"You know.. The bakery, lifting pans full of bread, kneading dough.. Quite the workout." I laughed awkwardly, happy for the small delay from re-living the embarrassing encounter.
"Anyways," My best friend leaned over her desk to get a good luck at my face I struggled to hide behind my bangs. Her eyebrows lowered in anxious concern. "Hey, you okay? Is everything okay?"
"Oh.. Yeah!" I forced a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes. "Just long nights studying, preparing the bakery."
Hazel eyes scanned me with suspension. "I worry about you.. You haven't been yourself lately."
"Really? I feel fine." Forcing an edge to my voice she didn't seem to hear.
"Yeah? Well… Okay." Finally she found her seat and we passed the time in contemplative silence as our science teacher rambled on about radioactive isotopes.
I painfully swallowed a trembling feeling, relieved as it somehow relaxed my muscles I tend to unconsciously tense. Unthreading my hands from each other, the dazzling feeling still remained from when Adrien brushed against me in order to prevent my stack of books from smooshing the tiny me. Just remembering his eyes made my heart jump my chest, but I remembered to discipline myself from thinking that I deserved love, that I deserved to be happy. Slowly tracing the miraculous with my thumb and pointer finger, my mind raced through routines I had given myself, schedules Hawk Moth had given me, in order to control my objectives and unruly feelings. Taking slow breaths that seemed to inflate my confidence, I fixed my eyes at the desk in order to regain control, almost hearing Tikki's encouragement…
Tikki.
My lip quivered slightly at the thought of the demigod who was once so loving and caring. It was enough to break down every wall I created around myself. I miss you. It only occurred to me that my eyes were burning when my fingers were numb from repeatedly rubbing my earrings. A sudden pressure dug into my arm that I realized wasn't something that came from my mind, but rather a poke from Alya who slipped a paper in front of me.
I love your new earrings, BTW! Could you make a pair for me?
I turned to my best friend who silently pointed to her ears in eager interests, too stunned to process any thoughts but 'smile and nod.' Shakingly, I answered her ripped note.
I'd love to!
After giving me a thumbs up, I stared back at the board as if I was an empty shell that was programmed to move through somebody else's motions, with a stranger's thoughts, and a nobody's feelings. By the end of the period, my notebook was full and I was smiling brightly before but I knew I felt darker than ever before. Hell, I even looked darker. Like a Lady Bug that was black with red dots.
…..
New AU I thought of while writing Hate and Love. Still haven't caught up on Miraculous but I'll be doing it soon but, I hope you enjoy! More to come as well as updates in (hopefully ALL) of my stories! Yeah, I'm such a procrastinator I am so sorry. BUT UH YEAH.