A/N:So this takes place before Adrien becomes Chat Noir. Kuro Neko is Japanese for Black Cat and Tentōchū is Japanese for Ladybug. If I did a mistranslation tho, let me know! I'm still learning Japanese and my vocabulary isn't great.

It was like hurtling through a metal air duct, freezing slickness on all sides and threatening to suffocate Plagg as he was thrown out of his Miraculous. The transformation ceased and on the floor lay the body of a young man. Plagg could faintly hear the screaming of the boy's partner, Tentōchū. There was nothing he could do now, only take his Miraculous and wait outside for Tikki.

How long had he and Tikki been at this? How many Kuro Nekos had he been with? Whenever Tikki asked he tried to be indifferent; he would lie and say he lost count. But he could remember each and every one. Reo had been a good Kuro Neko, like the ones before him. All had been talented, but none were the same. Plagg always sought out someone drastically different from the previous Kuro Neko. Tikki had a type: cute, clumsy, sassy girls. If you asked Plagg, he thought it was morbid. It was like picking the same girl over and over again, watching her die again and again and again.

Homura, Tentōchū, ran out of the building sobbing. She was back in her civilian clothes. No doubt Tikki would be out soon.

"I'm sorry about Reo," And there she was, her earrings in her arms as she hovered near him. He shrugged. There was never any time to mourn. As soon as a Kuro Neko and Tentōchū were out of commission, they'd have to find another. That was just the way things were. "Homura managed to defeat him. Japan is safe now."

"So where to next?" he asked.

"I have a feeling France needs us."

And so the went to France. It had been a long time, maybe a few centuries, since Plagg had last been in Europe. It was about time they went somewhere with good cheese. Japan was fine, but the French really knew how to make good cheese.

He and Tikki set up a meeting date and time at the Eiffel Tower before roaming the streets, trying to find new Miraculous holders. He hated how once one partner was gone, the other had to go too. Although he didn't know Homura well, he wondered how she was holding up. After all, Reo had been her best friend since they were babies. And to see him die . . . Well, she was probably more devastated than he was.

It was a beautiful day, with bright sunshine and fluffy white clouds. Plagg wished it was raining. Nature could mourn in his place. The life of a kwami was hard work and being lost. You helped your holder until the got too old or died, and then moved onto the next. It was constant motion and Plagg hated it.

He watched from behind a trashcan as a black car pulled into a stately looking manor. A tall, pale man stepped out and behind him came a young boy dressed in black. The boy looked lost, a broken smile in his eyes. Who had he lost? Clearly someone important to him. Part of Plagg felt jealous; this boy was able to mourn for his lost loved one and Plagg couldn't. If only he knew what a luxury he had. Plagg watched as the teen reached out to his father only to be ignored and any envy he'd had were washed down the drain in moments. The teenager stood as still as a statue for a moment before sighing and walking behind his father.

This boy was just as broken as Plagg, just as depressed. He saw himself in the teenager. Tikki would be mad at him for choosing a holder so fast, but this boy was a kindred spirit and as far as Plagg was concerned someone who deserved a friend who was just as depressed as he was. No one was born being a good Miraculous holder, they train to become great. And this boy could make a great Kuro Neko.

Or rather, a great Chat Noir.