I have been having this idea for a while, the challenge I received on a03 just gave me the perfect opportuinty. Final warning that this will include problemtiv topics such as depression and suicide, please approach with caution. I do not own anything
I – Wrong behavior
Quite exceptionally, Ladybug and Chat Noir had not run into any situation that needed their stepping in during tonight's patrol. It gave the two heroes some time to attend to their fans, giving out autographs and taking some pictures. As Ladybug was currently holding conversation with a girl who claimed to be her biggest fan- something almost every of her fans did- she had not really been paying attention to whatever Chat was doing. She as only stopped mid-sentence when a surprised yelp sounded from where her partner was.
She turned her head to see a boy around her age instinctively dodging the clawed hand Chat was directing towards him, the familiar black energy of Cataclysm having formed around it.
The bystanders' shock turned into relief when the boy's dodging successfully saved him from the impacting doom. As Chat's hand hit a street lamp instead, the Cataclysm made it crumble into pieces just one would expect. Everyone who watched mistook the scene as a display of the cat hero's skills, and the small crowd surrounding them cheered.
Ladybug, however, did not feel like cheering at all.
"Sorry everyone,", she said, "my cat has exhausted himself."
She approached Chat and gestured for him to come with her.
"You'll all have to excuse us.", she put the crowd off as the two heroes began making their way upwards onto the Parisian rooftops.
They came to a halt not far away, Ladybug turning to face her partner with a mixture of confusion and anger visible in her features.
"What was that about?", she asked, "You can't just lunge at people with your Cataclysm. You could have hurt someone."
Chat's ears drooped. "I didn't mean to.", he admitted, "I swear I didn't even realize I had Cataclysm active until I saw that guy dodge it. My body just moved on its own."
"Please make sure this doesn't happen again.", Ladybug told him.
"I'll do my fur-ry best.", the cat hero replied with one of his trademark grins.
Ladybug gave a small sigh at his pun, continuing: "I'll need to figure out what to do about that lamp, you just destroyed, though. Can't really summon the Miraculous Ladybug without a Lucky Charm item on hand."
"Don't worry about it milady.", Chat assured her, "I happen to know someone who will provide the city with enough money to replace that thing."
"I'll take your word on it, kitty.", the spotted heroine replied.
Back home in his room, Adrien detransformed and caught Plagg in his hands.
"What happened back thee, and why?", he asked without waiting for Plagg to find his next serving of Camembert.
"Not a clue.", the kwami simply answered and floated away to where his beloved cheese was stored.
Adrien followed him, still confused about the earlier events.
"I know I didn't summon Cataclysm by will.", he began, "You really telling me you had nothing to do with it?"
"Mh-Mh!", Plagg sounded while shaking his tiny head, his cheeks stuffed with cheese.
"But what if it happens again? What if I actually do hurt someone if it does? This is serious Plagg!", Adrien said pacing back and forth.
Plagg swallowed and produced a small burp before speaking:
"Nah, it's probably nothing."
Adrien was curious whether something like this had ever happened before, but he never got to ask his Kwami, as a knock sounded on his door.
"Adrien?", Nathalie's voice sounded from the other side.
"Come in.", the boy replied after he had made sure Plagg had hidden himself away.
His father's assistant while scrolling through something on the tablet she always carried with her.
"Your teacher has informed me that you failed to hand in an essay that was due two days ago."
He knew which essay she was referring to. And he had initially finished it. The problem had been an Akuma attacking the moment he had planned to turn it in. And bet on his bad luck that the Akuma's power had been corrupting and wiping digital data. This had been the day the heroic found it that Miraculous Ladybug was not able to restore data wiped from digital appliances, like Adrien's school table he had saved his essay on.
And with the previous days packed with school, preparations for a fencing tournament, his Chinese tutor giving him a particularly hard time and patrolling, Adrien simply hadn't managed to rewrite the essay. But of course, he couldn't tell Nathalie that...at least not the Akuma part.
"I'm sorry.", he apologized.
"Make sure it doesn't happen again.", Nathalie told him, "Your father would surely be disappointed if your grades started dropping."
Adrien just nodded. Even though he did his best, it seemed as if he still managed to disappoint people. Despite his efforts, someone would always find and point out his mistakes.
He sighed as he prepared to go to sleep. Maybe, tomorrow would be a better day. But knowing his bad luck, he didn't bet on it.
A/N: Starting this off slowly, but we will very soon be descending into angst and depression hell. Brace yourselves.