Chapter 10

Dumb note no one asked for: Is no one gonna point out, that Marinette almost had her hands near Adrien's balls? No? Welp, then it's my dirty mind.

Marinette sat in front of her computer having a video call with Alya so they could do together their homework.

"So just because she tried to convince him, that Onyx offered her and other teens a drink he began to mistrust her?" Marinette asked her friend.

"There were some facts she mentioned wrong like how they were fighting, which she mentioned wrong and she began to feel a little tensed and later as we wanted to know her exact date of when Ladybug saved her there were two different stories about her from the same month and that's when Lila admitted she had been lying all this time,"

"I hope she will this time be careful and be more honest from now on. After this, I don't think people will be trusting her that easy,"

"Are you going to do anything in relation to her?" Alya asked watching Marinette shrug.

"Not really," Marinette responded. "It depends. The last thing I want is her to get akumatized and go the same faith as Chloé did and believe me Alya, I don't think the superheroes would stand a chance this time,"

"If Hawk Moth gives Lila the same powers and the same thing happens as it did to me on Ladybug and Co, that would be a catastroph…...hey just let's forget about this, tell me where you and Jin are going tonight? Do I have to add you and him to my shipping list?"

"We're…...a shipping list?"

"I was just joking. Once for practicing my word skills I made a document with all my favorite pairings. Funnily my list is shorter than I imagined it,"

"Okay. This is not a date for your info. It's just for us to get to know each other,"

"That's good too," Alya confessed.

"Have you heard anything about Adrien? Is everything okay with him?"

"Nino hasn't managed to talk to him yet, but hey you've got him as a friend on Facestargram, why don't you call him?"

"I would do it, but…..I don't know what to say to him…..I'm most likely to end up ruin it in one way or another," Marinette responded sinking her head making Alya roll her eyes down.

"And sending him a message?" Alya asked. "You're not afraid to send him a message?" The best friend asked watching Marinette shrug her shoulders. "It's easy, you've got plenty of time to think about a sentence to him. Here a suggestion. Hello Adrien. How is London for you?"

"Okay, I try to type it down…...Hello Adrien….How is London….. How does this sound?"

"Good now send it,"

"Done," Marinette answered pressing the enter icon on her smartphone, then looked at his name, which said he was last online three hours ago. "He's offline,"

"Well then we just have to wait until he answers. Don't worry about him, he will reply," The Martinic girl assured, then behind her appeared the mother of her, which grabbed the daughter on the shoulder.

"Can you make sure Ella and Etta are dressed for dinner after bathing?"

"Yes mom," Alya answered glancing up at the woman. "Sorry Marinette, I gotta go. We're going to visit later mom's parents,"

"It's okay. I can finish the rest by myself," Marinette declared earning a nod from Alya, which waved at her best friend before logging out.

"Oh Tikki, why did I do this?" Marinette asked dropping her head on the table. "I ruined his life, just because I didn't want to have Kagami near him,"

"I already know that. There's nothing we can do about it now. The only thing we can do is move on and avoid this sort of mistakes,"

"Yes I know," Marinette responded sighing looking at her Facestargram to see it get updated automatically to show an image of Alix at the skate park with Nathaniel and Marc watching a few young men skate around at the park. "Wait a second…...the mistake I did was really bad, right?" Marinette asked earning a nod from Tikki. "Why didn't Bunnyx come from the future or the past as this had happened?"

"Bunnyx said she comes when no one else can defeat Hawk Moth or the akumatized villain. We managed to defeat Miracle Queen in the end," Tikki responded. "Gaining and losing crime-fighting partners are part of our life,"

"Yes," Marinette agreed watching a new picture appear of a young woman lying inside a bed in a hospital holding a newborn in her arms, and over the picture stood the caption Every end is a new beginning. "Look Alya's favorite journalist just got her baby today," Marinette pointed out watching Tikki look at the image. "Every end is a new beginning….Her pregnancy now ended and now her life begun as a mother,"

"Do you know, what the sentence could mean in our case…..or well yours?" The red kwami asked watching Marinette think about it.

"A new partnership? You know with Onyx?"

"Yes and what else do you think it means?" Tikki asked watching Marinette look back at the image seeing the English name of the journalist on top of the quote making Marinette shrug.

"There's a lot I could say," Marinette mentioned lying her head on the desk then notice the miraculous canister and remembered Master Fu giving it up to her. "Master Fu also named me as the new guardian, which is a beginning for me…...but…..how am I going to handle this?"

"The most important thing is to keep this safe from Hawk Moth and anyone else. You can also hand out one miraculous or two like Master did when you needed more help,"

"Yes, I can. Nino and Onyx are also there for me. I can always send one of them with a miraculous in case we need extra help. Like I did with Cat Noir to get Chloé,"

"Yes and I suggest you, that this time you need to be extra careful. Hide in places with several people, destransform back and go back to your house to get the miraculous," Tikki stated. "You have always done this well. You will handle it well Marinette. I understand this might sound like a lot to you, but you will handle that. I believe in you,"

"Thank you, Tikki," Marinette thanked holding her hands up to embrace the kwami. "My life as Marinette and Ladybug would be not bearable if you weren't in it," Tikki giggled and nudged her cheek on Marinette having her owner emotions far from the danger zone.

Jin stood in the bathroom in his parent's house at the lavatory drying his face with a towel, then looked at himself on the mirror, then took out a small blue box with white cream in it and took out a bit with his finger, then spread it on his hands, so he could pass it all over his face.

Plagg the cat kwami got into the bathroom holding in his hands a large, rectangle cheese, then stopped by Jin, which finished to put the cream over his face and noticed his kwami there.

"Do you know, what type of cheese you just got me?" Plagg asked.

"I couldn't find any camembert so I brought you Swiss cheese," Jin responded. "Didn't you tell me, that you also liked Swiss cheese?" Jin asked. "It says Appenzeller and that's Swiss cheese,"

"Yes, but this one is a quarter-fat cheese, not a full fat or half-fat cheese as I like," Plagg explained. "I'm not eating this,"

"Are you kidding me?" Jin asked at Plagg's rejection. "I've given out half of my allowance for your cheese and you're just dumping that down because it's not fat enough? What's next? You want a lactose-free cheese?"

"I don't like low-calory cheese,"

"Plagg, the cheese tastes the same," Jin pointed out stern. "I'm not going to get you another one, just because it is a little different,"

"Taste it and you'll see the difference" Plagg ordered holding the cheese closer to Jin's face,"

"I just brushed my teeth before. I do it after dinner, "

"But you're out with Marinette,"

"Yes and afterward I'm back home," Jin mentioned. "Have you ever tried a bit of that cheese before?"

"Nope, I don't want to get poisoned from it,"

"Are you kidding me? You know what? Give me a bit and I'll show you, it's not dangerous" Jin stated breaking up a piece of the cheese to take a bite on it, chewing on in relishing the savor. "It tastes like cheese to me. There's nothing different about it,"

"I'm not convinced," Plagg said crossing his arms, making Jin frown, then he took a piece of cheese out of the square and held it closer to Plagg's mouth. "No!"

"Come on, it's good,"

"I don't want it," Plagg said pushing the hand away from him stopping Jin, which groaned annoyed at the kwami's rejection.

"How do you know, you don't like it if you never tasted it before?" The raven-haired question asked watching Plagg shrug his shoulders and open his mouth to speak then Jin stuffed the cheese into Plagg's mouth shrieking him, which chewed on it wrapping his face, afterward it got neutral and happy as he got to enjoy the flavor of the milk product.

"Okay this one tastes good too," Plagg mentioned making Jin smirk.

"Didn't I tell ya?"

"Good, then I can finish the rest without any more worry," Plagg announced taking away the last piece from Jin.

"Good, I'm not expecting to be fighting an akuma this evening, but at least we're prepared,"

"A break would be nice, but Hawk Moth never does a break or holidays as we have seen the past months,"

"I know, I remember during summer break almost every fourth day someone was akumatized," Jin mentioned thinking about it. "We're leaving in a few minutes, borrow me some privacy, I need to pee,"

"Wow, you're the first holder to ask me that,"

"Didn't the other's mind to have you around?" Jin asked wondering about the kwami's comment.

"I rarely was around, but when I was they never said anything,"

"Okay, but don't look at me,"

"Wow you act as I have never seen anyone pee before," Plagg puffed. "Over millions of years ago I used to see Adam without clothing and he didn't seem to mind anyone's presence,"

"I simply don't like it, when people stare at me, while I'm doing my job. It makes me nervous,"

"I will just wait here," Plagg announced flying at the door sitting down on the handle letting Jin alone.

In the evening Marinette and Jin sat together on the inside of a QSR restaurant waiting for their order while they chatted.

"You really never ate spring rolls?" Jin asked curious earning a nod from Marinette. "Not even dumplings?" Marinette shook her head again. "Wontons? Tofu? Not even Vermicelli rolls?

"Nothing of it. My parents were always busy with the bakery and couldn't find time to take two weeks or three off to visit Shanghai at least one time. My grandparents couldn't also come to Paris because they can't afford to always get a cheap flight here to Paris. Mom and dad offered them several times to buy the tickets, but they don't want us to pay it for them,"

"Wow, that's sad"

"Is this embarrassing?"

"You're not full Chinese, right?" Jin asked making Marinette shake her head. "No, if you were raised here your entire life, it's okay. I do know a lot of people, that have two nationalities and speak both languages. "Clara from my class is Mexican and Spaniard and she speaks both Spanish dialects,"

"Isn't that the same language?"

"It sounds different I think. I don't know it right,"

"Alright," The blue-haired girl responded. "What else do you know? Can you do Kung Fu?"

"No, but I have a driving license for light motorcycles," Jin answered. "Okay, it's not very special,"

"I find it cool. At least you don't have to have your parents ride you to school or anything,"

"I never had. School wasn't far away from my family's apartment. Major of the times I used to walk together home with Yi as we lived in the same building,"

"Oh you were neighbors?" Marinette asked curious.

"Yes, but we mainly got to know each other, because our mother's were high school friends and have still contact with each other. This is why I and Yi know each other so well…..well did,"

"Aren't you still friends?"

"I still see her as my friend," Jin responded. "Just after this year and her father's death I feel like she's growing apart from everyone she knows,"

"She needs her time to process, what happened. Maybe his dead hit her hard, cause it came outta nowhere like a stroke?"

"I don't know. I never asked her or her mother, what happened to him," Mentioned the raven-haired boy. "But whatever it was I believe it was terrible for her to hear about his death,"

"Uh hum," Marinette agreed, then a waiter appeared bringing the two a plate for each, one with a natural omelet and the second one filled with minced meat. "Thank you, Monsieur,"

"Thank you," Jin said, then watched Marinette grab the cutlery to begin on the left side, then Jin interrupted her. "How was that boy you had a crush on?" The boy questioned watching Marinette roll her eyes up at Jin surprised at his question. "Uh I shouldn't have asked that right…...Sorry, just was wondering,"

"It's okay….he...erm…..was polite….smart, friendly,…...good-looking…..,er.."

"That's kind of obvious to me, but what else woke your interest in him?" Jin questioned. "How well did you get to know him?"

"Well…..technically I don't know him so well as I planned to,"

"Why not?" Jin asked watching Marinette shrug her shoulders.

"I sort of blew up certain chances I had in getting closer to him. His father also rarely lets him come out to meet his friends or do anything else,"

"That sounds harsh,"

"Yeah…..oh and do you know what his father listed to him to learn during his teenhood? Mandarin,"

"Really? You two could have at least talked a little about it to move on a little further. Maybe why his father never lets him go out,"

"Well, he has more or fewer reasons why, but you know I still feel like I don't know the real Adrien, the Adrien he shows around Nino or when he's by himself,"

"Couldn't his father be an influence, that he can't show his real side in public, because he may fear any consequences from his father's side"

"Most likely the truth,"

"That's harsh for him…... Haven't you tried to at least befriend him, convince his father to let him out, try to be a good influence as a friend to him?"

"I don't remember. I just followed Alya's instructions as she had more or less a clue on how to help me move on," Marinette answered, then her smartphone rang causing Marinette to jump up shrieking Jin at her reaction, then she had taken out her smartphone and widened her eyes as she saw who was calling her. "Oh oh,"

"Is it the call center?" Jin asked watching Marinette get up, looking at the call feeling blocked.

"I've sent Adrien a message and he's trying to video call me," Answered the girl.

"Then attend it," Jin noticed watching Marinette look at it nervously, then Jin rolled his eyes and got up to help her by pressing the green button making her yelp.

"Hey!" Marinette shouted at Jin, then on the display appeared Adrien sitting on a chair looking at the two Chinese descendant teens.

"Hey Marinette, hey…..do I know him?" Adrien asked making Jin shrug his shoulders.

"Probably not personally," Jin responded.

"That's Jin. One of Luka's friends," Marinette responded. "Funnily I discovered, that he's like my grandparents from Shanghai a little while ago,"

"Oh so he speaks Mandarin too?" Adrien asked earning a nod from Marinette and Jin.

"Nihao" Jin greeted.

"Nihao. Jiàn dàonǐ hěn gāo xìng" Adrien said making Jin nod impressed.

"Not bad," Jin responded. "I'm fine,"

"What about you, Marinette?" The blonde asked.

"You're fantastic…..I mean I'm fantastic…...I feel fantastic…..erhm…..what made you call me?…..It's rare for us to talk like this with each other you know,"

"I had seen your message and just tried to call you to see if you would attend,"

"Oh that's gre,…..great!" Marinette responded, then looked at Jin, which just sat there listened to the girl's stammering. Jin shrugged his shoulder seeing Marinette seeming to have the need for assistance.

"Didn't you ask him something on the message?" Jin asked making Marinette feel a little uncomfortable. "Marinette?"

"I have to…..I need to go to the bedroom…..I mean bathroom…...my bladder is full of water, because…...I was so thirsty and drank a lot…...I'll be right back!" Marinette ran away leaving the smartphone back with Jin, which got bewildered at Marinette's behavior.

"Uh…..what happened?" Adrien asked making Jin shrug his shoulders.

"I don't know it either. I thought I did something wrong," Jin mentioned.

"Are you and Marinette having a date?" Adrien asked watching Jin shrug his shoulders.

"Well this is more a dinner to get to know each other. I feel like she's really nervous when she talks to you,"

"Really? She's always like that around me,"

"Yes, some girls and even boys have a great anxiety, when it comes to talking or confessing to their crush and she seems one of them," Jin mentioned earning a nod from Adrien.

"Marinette is very kind. You sure will like her too, when you two come closer,"

"Yeah…..wait a second. What do you mean?" Jin asked, then behind him appeared Juleka Couffaine, which grabbed Jin on the shoulder to get his attention, then he looked up at the girl and smiled.

"Hey there, do I know you?" Jin asked while Adrien smiled looking at the raven-haired girl.

"Hey Juleka," Adrien greeted making Jin wide his eyes and look at Adrien.

"That's Luka's sister?" Jin asked surprised, then the girl embraced Jin from behind leaning her chin over his head.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Luka about us," Juleka whispered into Jin's ear making him flinch his teeth uncomfortable.

"I don't even know you, girl, why are you interested in someone older than you?" Jin questioned, then Adrien widened his eyes as he figured out, what was going on.

"Run, that's not Juleka!" Adrien shouted making Jin wide his eyes and jump off the chair getting off her hands.

"What's wrong, Jin? Aren't you looking for a girlfriend?" Juleka asked watching Jin walk backward, then a random blonde teen came between Juleka and Jin, then grabbed Juleka by her hand.

"The name's Steven L'eclair, two times winner at the basketball championship of France," The blonde announced giving her a kiss on her hand making Juleka giggle and peck him on his face, causing her to transform and take his shape while he fell down asleep on the ground making Jin drop his mouth.

"Woah" Jin commented seeing the new shape of the supervillain.

"Jin, get out of there! "Adrien shouted making Jin around the room getting followed by Steven's disguise, on it he pushed some chairs behind him to block the villain to approach him and Jin ran out on the sidewalk heading to the end of the street. He hid behind an alley and checked if someone followed him, but only saw guests from the restaurant escape, afterward he hid in the alley and watched Plagg come out of his jacket.

"Welp I think we're dealing with Chameleon" Plagg mentioned. "She's one easy prey, just don't let her kiss you or you end up in having an eternal sleep until she kisses someone else,"

"Good thank you…...Plagg, claws out!" Jin shouted transforming into the cat-themed superhero, therefore he ran back into the restaurant to encounter a few persons hiding and Chameleon under Steven's disguise looking above the table looking for something, then Onyx whistled calling the villain's attention.

"Hey kitty cat, where's your lady?" Chameleon asked watching Onyx take his staff from his back.

"Oh don't worry, Ladybug will soon be here too," Onyx assured playing with his staff. "I've heard your name was Chameleon,"

"I see Ladybug told you a lot about the many supervillains she fought in the past,"

"Yours actually was told by my kwami, but it doesn't matter," Onyx extended the staff out watching Chameleon grab a chair to attack Onyx, which got pushed away by the supervillain afterward he tried to fight her away and Chameleon had rotated her chair to prevent Onyx to have it difficult to remove his staff off it. "That's not fair, you have four legs," The hero complained making Chameleon smirk, then Onyx looked down and moved his leg to try to put her down, but he was pushed away towards the floor, afterward he threw the chair aside and saw Chameleon jump down at him and Onyx got up in the air with the help of his staff and landed on the ground behind Chameleon's back, then knocked her down on the ground.

"Stay here" Onyx ordered placing his staff over Chameleon's back, then he heard from the other side of the room a voice then saw Ladybug come out of the restroom.

"Is that the supervillain?" Ladybug asked earning a nod from the superhero, which shrieked as Chameleon removed his staff making Onyx lose his balance, then she got up and grabbed him tight on his arms.

"Hey!" Onyx complained pushing the villain on the legs with his foot, followed by her pulling him over a table making him fall down, then she got over it and pressed him against the ground. "Get off me!" Onyx ordered, then Ladybug threw her yo-yo to catch Chameleon, then she pulled her off him, letting her sit on the ground.

"Thank you," Onyx said looking around Chameleon's male body to look for a place, where the akuma could have hide.

"Check his earrings on the ears," Ladybug stated earning a nod from the superhero which reached both his hands on Chameleon's ears to grab them, then Chameleon bite Onyx on his arm shrieking him, which glared annoyed at the superhero.

"I just want to take off your earrings!" Onyx complained followed by the smirking villain press her lips on Onyx's lips shrieking him and turning her into a copy of him, while the real Onyx felt down unconscious.

"You've got to be kidding me," Ladybug complained, then she shrieked as Chameleon managed to stretch the yo-yo around her and jump out landing in front of the sleeping superhero.

"Your new friend needs to be less distracted" Chameleon joked, then jumped towards Ladybug with her staff and Ladybug used her yo-yo to grab Onyx's staff and battle with the villain with the staffs.

"Ladybug! I'm here!" Carapace announced entering the restaurant.

"Quick! Take Onyx out of here!" Ladybug ordered. "Chameleon can't take his miraculous away," Ladybug got hit by Chameleon's staff making her growl, which used hers to hurt Chameleon too, then she swung it to take her down as Carapace pulled Onyx out of the restaurant walking the sidewalk up to the alley and went deeper into the alley and sat him up against the corner of a wall and a container.

"I'll be right back," Carapace announced, then ran back at the restaurant to encounter Onyx's doppelganger fly across the room moving her baton towards Carapace shrieking him, which quickly took out his shield to block her attack causing her to bounce away flying towards Ladybug crashing her down. "Ladybug!" Carapace shouted, then saw Ladybug shake her head and before she looked up at Chameleon the villain gave Ladybug a kiss on her lips causing her to blush. Chameleon took now Ladybug's form, then Carapace ran towards Chameleon and pushed her off Ladybug with his shield making the supervillain smirk.

"Looks like it's just you and me, boy," Chameleon mentioned making Carapace frown. "What? Did you just lose your voice?"

"I'm doing this for a good cause, Alya," Carapace whispered under his breath, then he grabbed Chameleon on her face to kiss her afterward she transformed into Carapace, while the real turtle-themed superhero fell down on the ground and Ladybug slowly got up to spot her friend on the floor.

"Carapace?" Ladybug asked, then Chameleon looked down at her with a smirk, then Ladybug grabbed a chair by its leg and threw it towards Chameleon causing her to trip over Carapace and fall on the ground. Ladybug grabbed another chair, then watched Chameleon ran out to the streets at the same moment Onyx showed up farther from the entrance and broke the restaurant's window with his staff landing in the hall of the building. "Onyx, you just missed Chameleon disguised as Carapace!" Ladybug warned watching Onyx look out seeing the villain salute at her and leave making Ladybug groan.

"I'm so sorry Ladybug. I didn't know, that this was Chameleon," Onyx apologized dropping his cat ears, slowly seeing Ladybug feel sorry for the newbie.

"I'm sorry too. You couldn't guess after what happened, that she was him now," Ladybug responded placing her hand on his shoulder.

"What will be about Carapace?" Onyx asked looking down at the superhero, then Ladybug went to the reception and took out a pen and a block, then wrote down a note on it and placed it inside Carapace's hands. "What did you write?"

"If he's awake, we're still looking for Chameleon," Ladybug explained. "Onyx, we got no time to lose, follow Chameleon and I will look for someone to assist us during the pursuit,"

"Sure, I'm on it!" Onyx announced running out of the restaurant, then Ladybug threw up her yo-yo to activate her lucky charm.

"Lucky charm!" Ladybug shouted receiving a red-colored compass, which almost stung her with the end on her pulse making her flinch her teeth. "Woah if this had been a knife instead, that would have hurt," Ladybug mentioned looking at it wondering, what she should do with it. "I think I know, who I'll pick for this mission," Ladybug told herself smiling.