Adrien called Nino the moment he got back to his room.
"Adrien! My man! How did it go? Are you coming?"
Adrien sighed. "It went about as well as I thought it would. He says if I want to go out I have to schedule it around my other obligations."
"Your dad is so strict, dude!"
"Yeah, I know. It's irritating, but he only does it because he thinks that's what's best. He's not really trying to be a jerk."
"Hey, Adrien, have you ever thought about what you'll do once we graduate?"
"Like getting a job?"
"I was thinking more like...moving out."
"Um...well..." Truthfully, Adrien had not given it much thought at all. With school and extracurricular activities plus the obligations that came with being Chat Noir, he simply hadn't had much time to give it any consideration. "Yeah... Yeah, of course I've been thinking about it. I can't go on living with my father forever."
"I've been actually looking around at apartments in the city. It's really expensive."
"This is Paris, of course. I don't think you'll find anything cheap here."
"But I don't want to move out of the city. All my business is here. If I moved away, it would take forever to get to all my gigs. I would lose a lot of customers."
Nino had been developing a thriving DJ business ever since he had made his appearances on a popular television game show, winning some substantial prize money in the process. His business was booming.
"What are you thinking, then?" Adrien had the sneaking suspicion that his best friend was leading up to something.
"I was just thinking... Well, it's not important right now. You know, forget it. I'll tell you later."
Adrien glanced at his clock. "Uh, sorry Nino. I need to go get ready for fencing."
"Hey, no problem, dude. I'll see you in school tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
Adrien was running late, so he put the conversation with Nino out of mind and hurried to gather his gear, packing it all neatly into his duffel bag, throwing it over his shoulder, and jogging downstairs where The Gorilla and Nathalie were waiting with the car.
Adrien climbed in with his bag and they drove back to the school where his fencing classes were held in the courtyard. On the way, he noticed that Nathalie was having a conversation with his bodyguard. Or, rather, she was talking to him and he was grunting in reply, apparently in agreement. But he didn't hear what she was saying.
They arrived at the school and Adrien hurried to his locker to change into his gear. He was just fastening his jacket when Mr. D'Argencourt, his fencing instructor, came limping into the changing room, favoring his right foot and grimacing in pain.
"Mr. D'Argencourt! Are you all right?" Adrien rushed over to him and helped him to a bench, where he sat heavily, wincing, and rubbed his ankle.
"Oh, I think I'll be okay, Adrien. I just missed a step coming into the school and turned my ankle. A silly accident. All the same, I do feel it swelling up a bit-"
"Wait right here!" Adrien interrupted, and ran away and up the stairs. The school was almost completely empty now. But he hoped he would be able to find someone in the cafeteria. And he was in luck. The kitchen staff was just finishing up their cleaning when he came running in.
"Please, can I have a bag of ice? My friend twisted his ankle and needs it to help the swelling."
In a few moments Adrien was running back to the locker room with a plastic bag full of crushed ice.
"Good gracious! Did you really run all the way to the kitchen to fetch ice for my ankle?" Mr. D'Argencourt exclaimed when he saw Adrien.
"It's no problem, sir. Here..." Adrien went to put the ice on his teacher's ankle, but Mr. D'Argencourt stopped him, taking it in his hand and regarding Adrien fondly.
"Don't fuss over me now, lad. I'll be fine. But I'm afraid I am going to have to cancel your lesson for this evening." He raised an eyebrow. "You will just have to find something else with which to occupy your time today."
The locker room door opened again and The Gorilla entered. He looked at the dumbfounded Adrien, at the nearly empty duffel bag, and at the clock. Then he gazed at Adrien inquiringly.
Adrien stood for a moment in utter confusion, then comprehension flashed through his mind.
"What? Really? Are you serious?"
"Of course, my boy! I can't fence on this ankle." Mr. D'Argencourt winked.
Adrien started stripping off his gear and stuffing it into his duffel. "Thank you Mr. D'Argencourt!" He exclaimed as he threw his clothes back on again.
"I haven't the slightest idea what you could be thanking me for. Injuring my ankle?" Mr. D'Argencourt replied with a too-innocent expression which quickly melted into a smile. "Be aware that I'm going to work you twice as hard on Friday, though!"
"Yes! Of course! Thank you!" Adrien gasped, and ran out of the locker room, phone in hand, dialing Nino.
"Adrien! What's up, bro?"
"Nino, my lesson was cancelled! Do you guys still want me to come? I can be on my way now. I know the movie starts in fifteen minutes, but..."
"Sure! Of course! I'll tell Alya right now. See you soon."
Adrien put his bag into the back seat of the shiny black car and hopped in.
"Where to, Adrien? Home?" Nathalie asked, a slight smile playing at the corner of her mouth.
"The movie theater, please. As fast as we can."
The Gorilla grunted in approval and pulled out of the parking lot.
They made it to the theater shockingly fast. Not for the first time, Adrien wondered where his father had found The Gorilla. The man had some serious skills. But he also never spoke, so it was hard to learn anything about him. Adrien would have been surprised if The Gorilla hadn't at one time been a member of the French Secret Service or DGSE.
Adrien leaned forward to thank the man, and surreptitiously opened up his jacket. Plagg zoomed up out of his duffel and tucked himself back into the inside pocket without being seen.
"We'll be waiting for you here when it's over." Nathalie said, pulling out her laptop and sitting back contentedly.
Inside the theater the smell of popcorn and excited murmuring of the crowd filled Adrien with anticipation. He rarely had the opportunity to "kick back" as Plagg would put it. He'd never even really heard of this movie, which looked like it was a comedy about secret agents who fell in love on the job, but didn't know that they knew each other in their daily lives.
He purchased his ticket and one for Marinette as well - he was supposed to be taking her on a date after all - and saw Nino and Alya waiting by the concessions.
"Yo, Adrien!" Nino called, waving him over.
"We're so glad you could make it!" Alya exclaimed, her phone was in her hand. It looked like she was dialing the same number over and over.
"Me, too. Is Marinette on her way? The movie is about to start."
"That's what..." Alya began, "wait...here we go." She held the phone to her ear. "Marinette. Nino and I made it to the theater and guess who could come after all, and is standing right next to me?"
Adrien couldn't make out the response, but it sounded kind of like a squeal.
"That's right, he's right here with us. If you want to come, the movie starts in a few minutes. Hurry and you won't miss much of it."
Adrien winced internally. He hated that his unpredictable schedule today caused his friends trouble.
"Okay, if you say so." Alya continued into the phone, rolling her eyes. "But we all know you live across town...What? Girl, since when do you go jogging?...All right, we'll see you when you get here. Bye." Alya hung up and chuckled.
"So, what did she say?" Nino asked.
"She said that she decided to go for a jog this evening and was already almost here, so she should only be a couple minutes." Alya shrugged. "I wouldn't question it too much."
"Lets grab some popcorn while we wait," Nino suggested. So the three of them went up to the counter and ordered some popcorn and soda. Before their snack was even ready, the theater doors opened again and in stumbled a rather breathless Marinette.
"Wow, you weren't kidding!" Alya exclaimed when Marinette walked up to them, grinning and flushed.
"You really jogged here?" Adrien asked, surprised and a little impressed. She was even dressed nicely, wearing a blouse, capris, and a light jacket.
"Um, yeah! I really like funning to run! I mean running is funning! I mean..." She took a breath. "Jogging is fun." Her face flushed a deeper red and looked at her feet. Then her head snapped up. "Oh, I need to buy a ticket! You guys go in without me, I'll be right there."
"Wait, Marinette. It's okay, I have a ticket for you." Adrien held it out to her and her eyes widened a little in surprise. "I, um, sort of told my father I was taking a girl on a date tonight. So it would seem strange if I only bought one ticket." He explained. "I hope you don't mind." He added, when she said nothing but continued to stare at the ticket in his outstretched hand.
"Oh, that's okay. Right, Marinette?" Alya intervened. "You can buy the tickets next time!"
"Um... yeah!" Marinette laughed nervously. "Next time... I'll pay next time." She reached out and took the ticket, Adrien thought he saw her fingers trembling slightly.
They grabbed their popcorn and drinks and strolled down the hall to the theater. Alya and Nino walked side by side and Adrien and Marinette followed behind them.
"So... have you heard much about this movie?" He asked her.
"Huh? Oh, me? Um, well... not really. Which movie are we going to see?"
"Spy Face. I heard it's pretty funny. But I don't know much about it."
"Oh!" Marinette blushed. "I think Alya picked the movie. She was telling me about that one the other day." Marinette glanced up at Adrien. "She thought it would make a good date movie." She looked away again quickly and brought her hand to her mouth.
"I like funny movies the best." Adrien said. "If you can laugh with someone, then you know you really get along. So I think Alya might be right."
They took their seats in the middle of the theater, with the boys on the outside and the girls sitting next to one another.
In front of them, a lady with a streak of shockingly white hair sat by herself. But throughout the room there were other groups of people, mostly couples, seated and waiting for the movie to start.
They didn't have long to wait. The lights dimmed and the usual pre-show notices played on the screen. When the previews began, Plagg squirmed out of Adrien's pocket and wiggled his way down by Adrien's elbow, where he'd be able to watch the movie without being noticed. Even if someone did notice him, he was completely black and looked very much like a toy. Adrien tossed him a few pieces of popcorn, but he refused to eat them. The little kwami ate exclusively cheese unless it was an emergency. But Adrien kept trying to tempt him with other foods. He hated carrying around stinky camembert or brie all the time just to satisfy Plagg's particular tastes.
The movie started, and it was every bit as funny as Adrien had hoped. There was plenty of action, too, and a good dose of romance. The two main characters, who were madly in love with one another in their secret agent personas, couldn't seem to make it work when they were being just average citizens. They were constantly misunderstanding one another, or just not being themselves. Adrien laughed at the absurdity that they couldn't recognize one another just because they were wearing different clothes.
As the movie progressed, Adrien noticed the woman in front of them turning around periodically and looking up into the back seats, like she was looking for someone. She was fondling the pendant hanging from a gold chain around her neck nervously. Finally, during a long scene at a beach, when the brightly lit screen filled the theater with light, the woman looked back and seemed to find who she was looking for. With a shocked expression she turned back around and slumped in her seat.
The scene changed. The screen grew darker. Adrien could just make out the outline of the woman in front of them, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. He felt badly for her, though he didn't know what could have upset her.
What nobody in the room saw was a small black butterfly fluttering down from the ceiling and landing on the woman's necklace