"... and in local news, rumor has it that the elusive younger brother of Lan Xichen, fencing prodigy and headmaster of Francoise Dupont high school, is finally coming out of his mysterious seclusion to join his older brother's five time award winning team. Lan Wangji has won several individual fencing championships himself, though has never participated in a competition where his brother's students compete, reportedly due to his own morals. Word on the street is that the two brothers together will be unstoppable and absolutely wipe the floor with lesser fencing schools such as the D'Argencore Academy for Fencing, just as they did last year, dashing any hopes D'Argencore may have had of redeeming his ruined reputation! Sorry, D'Argencore, it seems you won't be able to beat this dream team of Paris's best fencers anytime soon!"
Wangji shut off the television with a frown. As a general rule he didn't just shut the thing off when Tikki was watching it, but he really had to draw the line somewhere.
"Wow, that reporter lady, Nadai Chamack, sure is mean! Tikki chirped, "but she had a lot of nice things to say about you and your brother!"
"Mn," Wangji said, in lieu of pointing out that he took no pleasure in being lifted up by dragging others down.
"Are you and your brother really fencing prodigies?"
Wangji hesitated for a moment, he hated the word prodigy, his skill was as much a product of his privilege at affording the best tutors out there as it was his own dedication. Tikki, it seemed, was already used to his habit of mulling answers over carefully, and waited patiently.
"It's true that Xichen has gained a lot of renown, both as a fencer and an instructor, people know me mostly as his younger brother."
"But didn't Nadia Chamack say that you had won several awards yourself?"
"I have," he admitted, "but the excitement about my entrance into the fencing world was mostly about my relation to Xichen at first, he is well liked and respected, but-" he hesitated again.
"But?" Tikki pressed.
"But soon everyone started comparing us; they say we couldn't be more different. People think I'm odd."
Tikki's face very quickly became defensive, and Wangji allowed himself a small smile. He was very glad to have Tikki in his corner. Already he was forgetting how he'd managed before he had her.
"Well I don't think you're odd! You're the best Mister Bug I've ever served!"
Wangji smiled again, not pointing out that he was the only Mister Bug she'd ever served. Her miraculous had always been given to women before him. He wondered about that- surely there were worthy women in Paris, so why him? But perhaps the mysterious person who had chosen him had been short on time and simply selected the first two worthy people they'd seen, regardless of gender. Hawkmoth was a pressing problem, after all.
"Thank you, Tikki, I only hope I don't embarrass my brother today."
"Or embarrass yourself in front of Wei Wuxian," Tikki added, teasing.
Wangji turned stiffly away, grabbing his gym bag and saber before striding away, annoyed that he'd styled his hair away from his ears today, relieved that he could finally stop hiding his earrings, and his burning ears were on full display to her.
By the time he got to the car Tikki was hidden dutifully in his pocket and his ears had cooled, returning to their normal color. Xichen didn't notice anything amiss when he entered the garage with his own gym bag and saber in hand.
"Are you nervous?"
"I only hope to make you proud."
Xichen softened. "I'm always proud of you, Wangji."
Wangji kept the smile off his face, but his brother's expression told him he'd seen it anyway. He placed his things in the backseat of the car, feeling most of the apprehension he'd been feeling fade away.
"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying called as soon as he opened the car door.
Wangji looked up just in time to brace himself before Wei Ying came barrelling into his chest, face split in a grin, his own saber and gym bag abandoned on the ground next to his brother who was wearing what Wangji had come to think of as his 'signature' angry face. Beside him Jiang Yanli was smiling fondly. Gently, Wangji extracted himself from Wei Ying's grip, wary that the other boy may feel the pounding of his own heart.
Other than the occasional smug look, and really what did he have to be so smug about, shut up, Xichen hadn't made any comments about the change in their dynamic since the day Wei Ying had lent him his umbrella. The umbrella itself still sat safely in the corner of his room. Xichen had given it another smug and amused look, but had said nothing. Wangji couldn't bring himself to give it back.
Now Xichen simply pulled both their bags and sabers out of the car while both of Wangji's hands were busy juggling Wei Ying. He handed the bags back when Wei Ying elected to once again stand under his own power after a pointed look from Xichen.
"I told you! I told you, Jiang Cheng! I told you so! I so told you he would be going for the free spot!"
"I literally agreed with you. Why are you saying 'I told you so?' I also said so."
"He's going to be on the fencing team with us for sure~"
"Again, I literally also think that. Why are you screaming like you were right and I was wrong?"
Xichen chuckled, locking the car and entering the school alone, cruelly abandoning Wangji with the kids his own age.
"Wei Ying," Wangji scolded, keeping a carefully curated distance between the two of them as they climbed the stairs together, "tryouts are not until this afternoon. It is not assured that I will make the team." Even as they talked they passed by a few students who were holding duffle bags of their own, clearly also gunning for the same position he was.
"Duh! Of course you will!" Wei Ying says, like these students don't exist, or like he simply wasn't aware of them. Which, come to think of it, might be true. Wei Ying tended to have a very intense and singular focus. Sometimes Wangji felt like a deer in headlights when he looked at him. "You're the teacher's younger brother, you two probably received all the same training and spar all the time! No way you'll lose!"
Wangji said nothing, partially because Wei Ying was right and they had had all the same training and did spar at least once a week, but usually more. But he was also touched by Wei Ying's confidence in him. Sure, Wangji had won several championships, but both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin had a few of those under their belts so that couldn't be all that impressive to either of them. He had never seen Wangji fence, but seemed entirely assured that Wangji was a sure thing for the team, his only evidence apparently being his own high opinion of Wangji?
Wangji felt hot all over.
He walked to the locker room together with Wei Ying and Jiang Wanyin. Wei Ying chatted merrily the entire way, tugging Wangji around by the elbow and insisting Wangji take the locker next to his. Wangji did not allow his heart to skip a beat at the insistence because he was a normal and rational boy. Of course Wei Ying wanted him close by, he liked keeping his friends close. Even as he began carefully placing his things in his new locker Wei Ying started hollering at Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen that they had better not pick a locker on the opposite side of the room again he had these two specifically picked out for them. They laughed and took the lockers on the other side of Lan Wangji, looking fond.
Being Wei Ying's friend is already far more than he had ever thought that he'd get out of high school, so he wouldn't ask for more. The warm feeling he got when he closed his locker door and Wei Ying attempted to draw him into conversation with Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen was enough.
Lan Wangji was having a wonderful morning.
Armand D'Argencore was having a terrible morning.
First, it was that horrible Chamack woman and her accursed catchphrase and nasty habit of being horribly cruel and unfair. Then, it was the pitying looks his students gave him, all laced with regret, like they wished they could be training under Lan Xichen instead of him. His coworkers and bosses were sending him disappointed and judgemental looks, but the worst thing of all was that none of them seemed surprised.
It wasn't even a surprise anymore how much better than him Lan Xichen was. And now there was that blasted Lan Wangji. He'd known about him, of course, everyone in the fencing world knew about Lan Xichen's strange and elusive younger brother. The few competitions that he'd bothered to attend he'd blown out of the water in the same method that his brother had back when he was in school. He'd always taken for granted that the child would remain in home schooling and thus not add to the already impressive list of students that Lan Xichen had.
It wasn't even fair, Lan Xichen had such a crop of natural talent like the Jiang boys, and Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen. Given the money that had been invested in these children's fencing careers since they were old enough to hold a saber, how was Armand meant to stand a chance?
Someone had accidentally (probably) left him on the faculty email chain where they were sharing the news articles about Lan Wangij and Lan Xichen.
A foul morning indeed.
Sometimes during class Wei Ying would pass him notes for no reason. They meant absolutely nothing to Wei Ying, just idle scribblings that he was barely even aware of. Wangji knew this because, on one memorable occasion, Wei Ying had forgotten to actually write anything on the scrap of paper he'd passed conspiratorially to the front. Already he'd collected what was apparently a single line of his favorite song, a sketch of a turtle, and a pair of bunnies engaged in amorous affairs.
Wangji kept all of them, of course, even the blank one, despite the weird look that Tikki had given him for it.
Wei Ying also made little paper dolls with people's names scribbled on them. So far Wangji had a little angry Jiang Cheng, Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen holding hands, a dead Jin Zixuan (Wangji had given him a dirty look for that one), and a little version of the American superhero Magestia. (This one had started Tikki on a minor obsession with trying to figure out what the source of the woman's power was. She now knew a disturbing amount about the hierarchy and inner workings of the American Superhero Alliance.)
Wangji sighed through his nose as a crumpled piece of paper was shoved into the collar of his shirt, warm fingers grazing the back of his neck and sending sparks down his spine. This was how Wei Ying passed notes when he was feeling a bit more mischievous than normal.
Wangji calmly pulled the paper out of his shirt and smoothed it out over his binder. It was a stick figure drawing of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji fencing one another. Jin Zixuan was crying in the background for no discernible reason. He shook his head slightly, but still carefully tucked the date into one of the bottom corners and slipped the note into his binder. Later it would go into his secret 'Wei Ying' box that only Tikki knew about (and only judged him a little for.)
"Sorry, sir, but my mom says that it's an embarrassment for me to be a member of your fencing academy. She wants me to go to private lessons from now on," the boy in front of him was saying.
Armand D'Argencore could barely hear him over the roaring in his ears.
"Man, if it weren't for that Lan Wangji, we might have actually had a chance this year," another student muttered. Somehow D'Argencore heard that.
Lan Wangji, he growled.
"Ah, yes, the bitterness and defeat of an inferior combatant," Hawkmoth purred, smirking into the darkness.
In the distance he could hear the laughter of people doing far better in their lives than Armond D'Argencore was doing. He tuned them out, focusing only on the single shaft of light filtering in through the dirty window.
Hawkmoth released the butterfly in the glass dome of his staff and clenched his fist around it, watching the familiar condensation of black light into the spaces between his fingers before releasing the now blackened akuma. "Fly away, my vile akuma, and evilize him!"
The black butterfly drifted over Paris, homing in on the beacon of resentment and rage that it's master had locked it onto. The akuma was once again unnoticed for all that Paris now knew what to be on the lookout for. Slowly but surely, the amuka made its way to the target.
Wei Wuxian was practically vibrating out of his fencing gear in excitement, a fact which Wangji did not let go to his head. Wei Ying was happy to have another friend trying for a spot on the team, and glad for another potential sparring partner. He was like this with everyone. Wangji tried to communicate this to Tikki, who was hovering in the shadows of his locker, waggling her eyebrows excitedly at him.
Well, not her eyebrows, because she didn't have any, but the part of her face that would have been eyebrows if she had them.
She either didn't understand or flat out ignored his silent signals and kept gesturing in Wei Ying's direction, trying to encourage him to flirt. Yeah, like that was going to happen. He glanced over at Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen who were flirting, and far too distracted to notice, then he carefully lifted his chest pad and gestured for Tikki to swoop into the space there. Hopefully she wouldn't get stabbed during practice. He had suggested she wait in his locker, but she was anxious about being separated. Transforming into Mister Bug was impossible unless she was with him.
Wangji closed his locker door and followed the still flirting pair out of the locker room. Wei Ying had been lured away from hanging of Wangji like a shoulder money by some loud argument with his brother that Wangji didn't understand. He pushed away the irrational flash of jealousy he felt at the ease in their interactions.
"Alright," Xichen said, drawing the attention of the students that milled together in the courtyard, "I want to start by having all auditioning students pair off with a member of the team."
"DIBS ON LAN ZHAN!" Wei Ying shouted, ricocheting from his brother's arm to Wangji's.
Xichen chuckled along with the class while Wangji squirmed, wishing he'd put his helmet on so no one could see the burning of his ears.
"Please separate into your pairs quietly," Xichen amended, eyes still sparkling as Wei Wuxian stubbornly refused to be dislodged from Wangji's arm. He was like, weirdly strong.
"Wei Ying, we cannot spar with you attached to my arm," Wangji said quietly once everyone paired off. Wei Ying sighed dramatically.
"Alright, fine, are you ready to get creamed, Lan Wangji?" He asked, falling into seriousness. Wangji was glad he had already donned his mask so Wei Ying couldn't see the color that voice embarrassingly brought to his ears.
"We'll see," he replied simply.
While other experienced members were gently walking their partners through the basics (and Xue Yang was pretending to have entirely too much trouble figuring out how to hold his sword so that Xiao Xingchen keep correcting him and Song Lan looked on in annoyance) Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji jumped right into combat. The singing of their sabers drew Xichen's attention from where he was considering rescuing Xiao Xingchen (who somehow didn't seem to have realized he was being played) so he instead turned to watch their match.
Wangji dodged Wei Wuxian's opening attack, sweeping to the side and lunging himself, both moving so fast that he would have had a hard time calling if this had been an official match. They exchanged a few more rapid blows before they seemed to come to an understanding and backed off one another. Both boys removed their helmets, Wei Wuxian wearing his usual exhilarated grin and Wangji looking like he wanted to eat Wei Wuxian alive. Xichen looked away.
Actually, he did need to rescue Xiao Xingchen, and if he needed to face the opposite direction his brother was in to do it, well, serendipity.
In his hand Armond D'Argencore held the saber of the student who had resigned, citing the news story about Lan Wangji as his reason.
A small black butterfly landed on the sword, absorbing into the metal with a soft sound, turning the blade black.
"Darkblade," a smooth voice murmured. The glowing purple outline of a butterfly appeared before his face and forced his head back. "I'm giving you the chance to prove yourself to those who would think themselves above you, but in return I want you to bring me Mister Bug and Chat Noir's miraculous."
"On my honor, Hawkmoth."
Wei Ying stood beside Wangji, as quiet as he ever heard him. He'd whisper commentary on the bouts occasionally, but he remained surprisingly subdued for all of the auditions until it was their time to spar.
Wangji mounted the stage with some trepidation, facing off with Wei Ying, whose face was promising no small amount of difficulty with this fight. He glanced at Xichen, who gave him an encouraging smile. Wangji nodded back and was about to put on his mask when a shout from the open doors caught his attention.
"Lan Wangji!"
Wangji spun around to see a supervillain in black and glowing green plate armor standing in the entryway of the school, pointing a saber right at him. Wangji took half a step back in surprise, eyes already searching for an escape so he could transform when a wall of white blocked his view.
"Wei Ying?" Wangji said, eyes widening as he realized that Wei Ying had stepped in front of him, face fierce, blocking Wangji from the akuma's sight.
"Who are you? What do you want with him?" Wei Ying demanded in a voice that sent a shudder down Wangji's spine.
"I am Darkblade! I am here to redeem my honor as a fencer against that insipid Lan Wangji!"
"How dare you? What has Lan Wangji ever done to you?" Wei Ying snapped, pointing his saber at Darkblade. "I bet you're just jealous that he's better than you!"
This, obviously, was the exact wrong thing to say. Wangji shot Wei Ying an incredulous look, nearly missing the beam of green light that Darkblade shot out from the end of his saber.
"Look out!" Wangji said, throwing himself onto Wei Ying just in time to knock him out of the way.
The two of them tumbled to the ground in a graceless tangle of limbs and elbows. Wangji pushed himself up only to freeze when he realized he was laying nose to nose with Wei Ying, draped over him like a dish towel. All the breath rushed out of his body as his blood raced to his ears and Wangji found himself unable to speak.
"Heads up!" Wei Ying shouted, rolling them suddenly to the side as another beam of green came their way. They rolled backwards off the podium and collided with the ground again, thankfully not one on top of the other, so Wangji had a semblance of his sanity intact.
Enough of it to look around and realize that the students who had been hit by the beam of green light were all kneeling mindlessly around the courtyard while everyone else seemed to have fled. Xichen was crouched behind a door, waiting anxiously for Wangji to get himself out of harm's way.
Wangji looked from Wei Ying, who was in the direct line of fire then met eye's with Xichen, who seemed to realize with horror what he was about to do, before climbing to his feet, saber in hand.
"You were looking for me, not him," he said, shoving Wei Ying away as hard as he could. Xichen hissed his name, but Wei Ying stumbled out of the courtyard, looking stunned. Good.
Wangji swiped up his saber and pointed it at the akuma. All he had to do was hold him off until Chat Noir got here, then he could sneak away and transform. It shouldn't be long. He could see Luo Qingyang crouching on the balcony, no doubt live streaming this. She'd been here to document the tryouts for the school blog, but having her here would mean a fast response time from his partner. Good.
"You arrogant wretch! I am going to defeat you in battle and proclaim myself as the most talented fencer in all of Paris! No more will my fencing school be second to Francois Dupont!"
That would seem to indicate this man was a fencing instructor, but Wangji hadn't the faintest idea which one. Not that it mattered. Lot's of fencing instructors were jealous of his brother's success, so why was this one after him in particular?
"Shut up and fight, then," he said.
Xichen made another distressed sound as Darkblade leaped forward.
Wangji ignored him, forcing himself to focus on the fight. He found that he had been utterly unprepared to fend off a villain without the super strength his miraculous granted him, and the very first strike sent him to his knees painfully.
"Ha! Not so strong now are you?" Darkblade taunted.
Wangji rolled out of the way and too his feet as Darkblade made to strike him again. He darted out of the way, thinking that he'd have to choose his attacks and defenses carefully to avoid shattering his saber.
"On the retreat already!"
Wangi didn't point out that having superstrength when your opponent did not was tantamount to cheating, thinking that it would only further incense him. He elected to deflect the blows of Darkblade's sword with glancing hits from his saber, directing it in other directions and dancing around the courtyard not unlike a ballerina armed with a weighted throwing saber. After he was sure he spotted a hole in his enemy's defense he darted forward and struck, landing a clean hit.
Darkblade screeched in outrage as Wangji darted back and away from his retaliatory slash, not bothering to conceal his smirk. He'd managed to score a point clean on Darkblade, which may have only served to anger him further, but part of him was still proud of his skill. He wondered if Wei Ying would have been able to score a point on Darkblade.
He shook away the foolish thought that fighting Darkblade here, side by side with Wei Ying, might actually be fun.
He dove again, aiming a blow for the villain's chest. His armor would protect him from any damage, but after he landed his first hit the glow in the green accents of his plate armor dimmed slightly. Wangji wanted to score another hit to see if it would happen again. Perhaps if this akuma's motivation was to prove himself a worthy opponent, losing bouts would decrease his power.
He shifted tactics. Instead of dancing around the courtyard in defense of an onslaught of furious attacks and carefully choosing his moment to strike, Wangji shifted his footing and started pressing forward, praying that his saber didn't shatter. He'd already cataloged where the ones that lay abandoned in the courtyard were, just in case he needed them.
Darkblade was momentarily put off by Wangji's sudden change in strategy and he took a step back, allowing Wangji to press forward even more. He actually managed to push the akuma back several steps before he regained his sense and started pressing forward again, and suddenly the two of them were locked in a stalemate.
Darkblade heaved an almighty furious overhead strike, forcing Wangji to swing his sword above his head and brace his blade with his other hand to avoid his saber being shattered. The force of the hit forced Wangji back onto his knees, pain lancing up his left leg, as his glove was sliced, blade biting into his palm.
Biohazard he thought idly as his blood dribbled to the ground.
"Wangji!" Xichen cried as Darkblade went in for the kill.
Wangji threw up his arm to protect his face, eyes closing instinctively as he braced for pain that never came. Wangji opened his eyes to see a wall of black leather blocking Darkblade from view.
"Chat Noir!"
Chat Noir stood in front of him, ponytail still swinging with motion, stick raised in defense, holding back Darkblade's sword, eyes alight with fury.
"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here!"
Chat Noir heaved his entire body forward, throwing Darkblade off his feet before spinning around and sweeping Wangji into his arms. Wangji didn't even have a chance to protest before he was being lifted into the air and whisked away, bridal style, across the rooftops of Paris.
"We're going to put you somewhere safe."
"My brother!"
"It's you the akuma is after, not your brother. Once he saw you get carried away by a super hero I'm sure he went to find a better hiding spot, he seemed like a smart guy. I'm just going to put you somewhere safe and keep this guy busy until Mister Bug arrives to capture the akuma."
Wangji shifted slightly in Chat Noir's arms so he could get a better look at his partner's face. This was the first time he'd interacted with him as himself rather than Mister Bug, and he couldn't ignore how odd it felt.
"I've got to say though, I'm impressed. It was pretty brave of you to take on that akuma all by yourself without any superpowers to back you up."
"I was reckless," Wangji said, remembering the panic in his brother's voice. He hadn't really considered how his actions would affect his brother. Not to mention he'd gotten himself hurt foolishly trying to take on an akuma as a civilian and his ability to fight as a superhero was now impared.
"Maybe, but aren't reckless and brave really the same thing?" Wangji frowned. Of course Chat Noir would say that. "Besides, I don't know anyone else skilled enough at fencing to hold off a supervillain!"
Chat Noir finally seemed satisfied with their distance from the school and sat Wangji down tucked behind a fireplace.
"Oh, by the way, I never introduced myself, I'm Chat Noir," he purred, leaning in and batting his eyes. He winked and took Wangji's hand in his own, pressing a kiss against his knuckles. Wangji snatched his hand back, glaring. Chat Noir chuckled fondly.
"Alright, alright," he pulled out his stick and slid open the interface, dialing Mister Bug.
Mister Bug, obviously, didn't pick up.
"This isn't like him, he always answers."
"Perhaps he is otherwise occupied," Wangji suggested. He had pretty good intel that this was the case. "But you should know, I think-"
The sounds of metal slicing rang through the air between them and there was a beat of hesitation before the chimney behind them collapsed with a rumble of stone. The two superheroes (only one of them transformed) turned to see Darkblade standing menacingly where the chimney used to be.
"Let me be clear, you are not allowed to surrender!"
"Well what the hell is up with that?" Chat Noir snapped, up in arms over this rule immediately.
He got to his feet and stepped in front of Wangji, and this time Wangji allowed himself to be protected. He climbed slowly to his feet and stood behind his partner, saber still clutched tightly in his hand. "What do you have against Lan Z- Wangji? Why are you so determined to fight him?"
"It's all his fault my school has fallen into shame!"
"School? Armand D'Argencore?" Wangji asked, remembering this morning's news story.
"That guy?" Chat Noir asked. "Are you mad about that news story this morning?" Wangji felt a hot flash of embarrassment, ears burning, at the idea of Chat Noir watching that news story, even though he had no way of knowing Wangji was Mister Bug.
"My school is humiliated and it's all that arrogant brats fault!"
"Lan Wangji has nothing to do with what Nadia Chamack said! Why don't you go after her for biased journalism?"
Don't send him after other people, Chat Noir, Wangji thought, annoyed.
"If Lan Wangji didn't exist Nadia Chamack never would have written that foul story! I'm going to prove myself as the best fencer in Paris no matter what!"
"Yeah, right," Chat Noir said, diving in for a fight.
Wangji hated to turn and run, but he really needed to transform. He would be far more useful to his partner as Mister Bug. He winced as he put weight on his sprained ankle, but persevered until Chat Noir was knocked off his feet and into the street. His stick was knocked out of his hand and rolled away.
Without thinking Wangji threw himself forward onto Darkblade's back, knocking him off balance as he leapt off the roof for the finishing move. The added weight threw him off course and sent the two of them careening to the left, away from Chat Noir. Thankfully Drakblade hit the ground first, but they still rolled several times, bruising Wangji badly. A cry of pain escaped his lips as the two of them rolled to a stop, Darkblade on top of Wangji, but out of the corner of his eye he could see Chat Noir collecting his stick, openly gaping. No doubt he was stunned by the level of recklessness Wangji had just displayed. Well. The feeling was mutual.
But inside the costume or out, Wangji still had a duty to protect his partner.
"Now I've got you!" Darkblade said triumphantly, raising his sword to finish him.
Before he could bring his sword down through Wangji's throat, though, Chat Noir barrelled him over with a full body slam. Wangji rolled to his feet, sweeping up his saber and knocking Darkblade's sword away long enough for Chat Noir to regain his posture after his full body attack.
The two of them stood side by side, weapons extended and pointing at Darkblade.
"Chat Noir, I believe he weakens when you land a fair point on him."
"Really? Thanks for the tip!"
Wangji was distracted by how right this moment felt by a shutter click and flash of light to their right. He looked over to see a civilian holding a camera up, looking starstruck. Suddenly he remembered he was Wangji, and not Mister Bug.
I'm so dead, Wangji had time to think before Darkblade took advantage of their distraction to get to his feet and then there was no time for him to slip away and transform because the both of them were occupied with blocking and parrying the hailstorm of attacks. He sank easily into his battle calm, the security and familiarity of fighting side by side with Chat Noir pushing away his worry. Even like this, he and Chat Noir moved together like a well oiled machine. He had to suppress a smile thinking that they worked well together even as Wangji and Chat Noir.
After several exchanges the two of them finally started to get the upper hand, Chat Noir managing to get another hit on him, proving Wangji's theory. It hadn't escaped Wangji's notice that Chat Noir was an incredibly skilled fencer himself. He wondered if they had ever fought each other in a tournament before.
Wangji struck high, forcing Darkblade to block above his head as Chat Noir moved to strike low at the same time and throw off his balance. Darkblade stumbled and fell to the ground, back against the wall, two weapons pointed at his throat. Both of them were breathing heavily, eyes gleaming with triumph.
"Wow, Lan Wangji, I'm really impressed, you really are as good as Nadia Chamack said!"
Wangji shook his head slightly, eyes not leaving Darkblade. "I trust you can hold him here until Mister Bug arrives?"
"Yeah, now that you helped save the day, you go ahead and get to safety." Wangji nodded once and withdrew his sword, walking as steadily as he could away from the scene. If uncle saw video evidence of his injury he'd probably be locked in his room for a month. He stepped into an alleyway and Tikki zoomed out of his clothes the second they were out of view of the street.
"Wow, Wangji you were so amazing! You really are a fencing prodigy! And holding off an akuma on your own without super powers! I knew you were chosen for a reason!"
Wangji reeled a bit with all the unexpected praise. "I was reckless, Uncle and Xichen will be very unhappy." Tikki's excited face fell.
"Oh yeah, I didn't think about that, if your uncle made you write a ten page essay for piercing your ears, how is he going to react to you fighting a supervillain?" She squeaked, looking apprehensive.
"Not well," Wangji said, feeling the unease churning in his stomach.
The two of them spun towards the street when they heard Chat Noir swearing.
"Tikki, spots on!"
Mister Bug swung onto the street from the opposite direction Wangji had left from to see Chat Noir, now with a bleeding nose, fighting against Darkblade.
"Sorry I'm late!"
"No trouble," Chat Noir said thickly, voice nasally and garbled through all the blood. "I had help from a really badass civilian, but Darkblade used a dirty trick to get out of my hold after he left." Mister Bug looked over to see that Darkblade's armor had returned to its former brightness, denoting that he'd gotten a few shots in on Chat Noir.
"Akumas rarely fight fair," Mister Bug said, ignoring the part where Chat Noir called him a badass.
"Fair enough," Chat Noir said, grinning. The sight was slightly terrifying when the bottom half of his face was covered in blood.
Fighting the akuma was much more challenging when using a yoyo rather than a saber, and he found himself spinning it around so fast it was a blur to block attacks that were headed for Chat Noir, who was actually wielding a weapon suited to a sword fight. They still worked together seamlessly this way, Chat Noir falling back as Mister Bug stepped forward to block attacks, but he still longed for the saber he'd fought with earlier.
Mister Bug saw an opening and wrapped his yoyo around Darkblade's sword and yanked, blinking in surprise when the sword didn't move.
"The sword is merged with his hand," Mister Bug said to himself, kicking himself for not noticing sooner, but he'd been too busy analysing how he and Chat Noir worked together.
Darkblade tried to take advantage of Mister Bug's distraction but was easily intercepted by Chat Noir. Mister Bug stepped back, planning his next move, when Chat Noir glanced back at him, looking annoyed.
"How long are we going to keep up this pointless back and forth, exactly?"
"Ah, apologies. Lucky Charm!"
Mister Bug threw his yoyo into the air and was nearly bowled over, eyes wide, as a full sized radiator fell from the sky.
"It looks like the fight is heating up, Chat Noir said, flashing another blood stained grin. Mister Bug almost wished the Lucky Charm had been a handkerchief.
"No time for that," Mister Bug said, hefting the radiator with both hands to block the incoming attack from Darkblade. The tip of the blade slipped through the grates and got caught just inches before it pierced his chest, sparking an idea in his mind. He glanced back at Chat Noir and eyed his belt.
"I know what to do, Chat Noir, use this! I need your belt!"
"Sure thing, Bugaboo!"
The two moved with precision, Chat Noir stowing away his stick and grabbing the radiator as Mister Bug used one hand to pull away his belt. Chat Noir blocked one attack by Darkblade, understood Mister Bug's plan, and flipped the radiator in his hand so that the long space between all the heat coils faced the akuma.
Darkblade struck again and Chat Noir angled the radiator so the blade threaded the space down the middle and Mister Bug looped the belt around the hilt of the sword, locking Darkblade in place as together the two of them rocked from side to side, shattering the blade and releasing the akuma.
Darkblade shouted in defeat as Mister Bug released the belt and got to his feet, capturing the akuma easily. The yoyo snapped back into his hand and he pressed the middle spot, opening the top and sending the butterfly back into the world.
"Bye bye, little butterfly," he murmured, watching it float away. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
The swarm of magical butterflies were kind enough to heal Mister Bug's ankle and bruised ribs. He didn't know what he'd do if he had to walk back through the front door with an obvious limp.
"Pound it!" Chat Noir tried. Mister Bug left him hanging again, instead helping Mister D'Argencore to his feet.
"It isn't proper to become jealous and irate over a news story, Nadia Chamack is no authority on fencing," Mister Bug tried. Presumably he was still failing in the world of bedside manner, if Chat Noir's quiet 'dude' was any indication.
"What he means to say is don't believe everything you hear on TV, Mister D'Argencore."
"Mn," Mister Bug said. His earrings chirped. "I must go."
"I've still got time, I didn't even have to use my Cataclysm! Maybe I'll try to find that Lan Wangji and take him back to school. I was the one who carried him all the way out here, after all."
"Good idea," Mister Bug said, not unselfishly. He departed in the opposite direction of his alleyway and doubled back around, detransforming and picking up his fencing saber again once he was sure it was safe. He could hear Chat Noir calling his name from the street, so he peeked his head out of the alleyway.
"Is the akuma defeated?" He asked, drawing Chat Noir's attention.
"Yeah! C'mon, let's get you back to your school, I bet your classmates were worried!"
"Mn, my brother will be very upset with me for behaving recklessly."
"Hm, maybe I can do something about that."
Somehow Wangji doubted that, but he accepted the outstretched arm and allowed himself to be swept off his feet once more as Chat Noir leaped into the air and vaulted across the rooftops to get him back to school.
Once they arrived Chat Noir paused on the roof, peering into the courtyard they had fled from to try and gauge the damage. He winced when he saw the state that Xichen and Wanyin were in, waiting on their respective brothers.
"Oof, it's not pretty," he said, "I'll do my best." He extended his stick so that they would land nearby Xichen and lowered the two of them down into the school.
"Wangji!" Xichen cried, throwing himself at his brother. Wangji caught him, expecting this reaction after what happened after Mister Pigeon. He accepted the hug, patting his older brother awkwardly on the back.
"Sorry to worry you, Xichen."
"Thanks again for your help, Lan Wangji, I really couldn't have done it without you! You're a real hero!" Laying it on a bit thick, Wangji thought. "Your brother is really amazing, you know, Headmaster Lan! You're lucky to have him on your team!"
"I haven't made the team yet," Wangji said automatically.
"Aw, come on, you held your own against a super villain! You're a super fencer!"
"Have you seen my idiot brother?" Jiang Wanyin snapped, apparently having used all of his precious little patience.
"UH," Chat Noir said, suddenly clamming up. Wangji supposed he couldn't blame him, Jiang Cheng did have a rather formidable angry face. "I think I saw a guy dressed like you outside?" Wanyin spun on his heels and stormed out of the door without further ado.
"Alright, well, I've got to get going, thanks again so much for your help, Lan Wangji, you're a real one!"
He saluted them goodbye and jumped out of the building and out of sight. Wangji turned back to his brother, concealing a wince at the severe expression he wore.
"I apologize for my recklessness, Xichen," he said, head bowed. There was a long pause.
"We'll talk about it later," he said, eyes on the door. Wangji turned to follow his gaze and saw Jiang Wanyin dragging Wei Ying into the building by his ear. Wangji frowned at the rough treatment, but said nothing, figuring he was too deep in trouble to help anyone else out of it.
"Aw, come on, I was just trying to get a glimpse of Mister Bug or Chat Noir! He totally passed right overhead!"
"Yeah and if you bothered to think about your brother instead of your weird dumb crush on Chat Noir then you'd have met him. He was just here, dropping off Lan Wangji."
"I don't have a crush on- wait, what? He dropped Lan Zhan off?"
Wei Ying turned wide eyes on Wangji, who froze under the weight of that wonderstruck look. Beside him Xichen sighed audibly through his nose, evidently too angry with Wangji to find his crush amusing right now.
"Really? What was he like? Was he super awesome? Did you like him?"
"Mn," Wangji replied. Wei Ying's responding grin left him equally dumbstruck, he didn't even have the presence of mind to dodge when Wei Ying threw himself forward and wrapped around Wangji's arm like a starfish.
"Headmaster Lan! We totally have to do tryouts now!"
"Alright, alright, let's pick up where we left off."
With the support of his partner in mind, and the taunting smirk of Wei Ying spurring him on, Lan Wangji fenced like he never had before.
He made the team.
Once again Wangji stood in front of his uncle with his head bowed, though this time, in a fit of theatrics, Lan Qiren had pulled up the bystander footage of Wangji that Luo Qingyang had stitched together and posted up on the tv screen in his office to showcase Wangji's wrongdoing.
"What were you thinking?" His uncle asked.
"I didn't have a choice, the akuma was after me, specifically."
"You should have waited for the proper authorities, Mister Bug and Chat Noir, to arrive."
I am Mister Bug. "I had no way of knowing when they would arrive on scene. I felt that I had to defend myself."
"If you were concerned about self defense why did you stay and fight once Chat Noir arrived?"
"If I had allowed Chat Noir to be injured I would have been drawn into battle again anyway, except I wouldn't have had help."
"Chat Noir is a superhero, he would have been fine, unlike yourself if you had been injured throwing yourself off a roof."
Wangji nodded. "I apologize for my recklessness, Uncle, I believed it was the only way to save Chat-"
"Enough!" Lan Qiren snapped. Wangji shut his mouth immediately. "You should have allowed Chat Noir to take care of the problem."
"He was disarmed and caught off guard-"
"Wangji!"
"I thought it necessary to assist him," Wangji continued, speaking over his uncle for the first time in his life.
He glanced up to see himself fighting side by side with Chat Noir as if the two had been training together their whole lives. A thread of satisfaction pulled at him even as he tried to school his features into submission. Despite everything the footage warmed him, even though he was in trouble he couldn't regret it, it had been invaluable to him to fight alongside his partner as a civilian.
"You should have hidden once Chat Noir took you out of the school!"
"He tried to hide me, but Darkblade found us and caught us off guard."
To his credit, Lan Qiren looked like he was taking this information into account. Wangji knew he was by no means out of trouble, especially given the way Xichen was standing with his arms crossed, looking furious.
"For what it's worth," he began, looking like he was speaking against his better judgement. Wangji felt his shoulder relax just a bit, even though Xichen was clearly angry, he'd always been able to rely on him to be on his side. "Chat Noir did say that he couldn't have done it without him." Wangji sent him a warm look of thanks. Xichen nodded once, jaw still tight.
"Mister Bug was waylaid for some reason, he didn't appear until after Chat Noir and I had already battled Darkblade to a standstill and I had fled." As he said it he watched Darkblade swing his leg up and kick Chat Noir in the face, no doubt breaking his nose. Wangji winced involuntarily.
"Regardless, what would you have done if the ladybugs hadn't repaired the damage to your ankle?" Wangji didn't allow himself to start, he'd seen himself wince a few times on the footage, even as he'd tried to hide it.
"I apologize for my reckless behavior, Uncle," Wangji said again. "I believed it was necessary for my own safety and the safety of others."
"Wangji has never been one to do things without thinking them through," Xichen said, and Wangji finally understood why he'd directed Wangji to let his hair down before entering the office. This way his earrings, a physical reminder of Wangji's recent impulsiveness, were hidden. "An Akuma caught us by surprise, he was cornered. He definitely could have made some different choices-" he said with a pointed look, "but he was trying to do the right thing. It wasn't as if he was being arrogant, trying to prove himself against an akuma."
"Wangji," Lan Qiren said, "you owe me another essay, twenty pages this time, and you're grounded for two weeks. You will relinquish your cell phone and watch no television, and go nowhere but school and home."
Wangji nodded. He placed his phone on the desk between them, not letting his anxiety show. How would he know if there was an akuma alert? It wasn't likely Hawkmoth would suddenly decide to take a two week vacation.
"Yes, Uncle."
"You may now return to your room. You may only study or practice your guqin."
"Yes, Uncle."
Wangji let out a slow silent breath, trying to unclench the muscles in his body, wound tightly like a spring. His stomach was roiling with anxiety, never having been in this much trouble before, and a little guqin practice sounded like exactly what he needed to unwind. He strode into his room and closed his door behind him, sagging back against the wood momentarily.
"Wow, grounded for two whole weeks, your uncle is really strict!"
"I'm sorry, Tikki," Wangji said, opening his eyes to meet her gaze. "My actions have consequences for you as well."
"It's alright, Wangji, I lived for thousands of years before television existed, I'll be alright without it for two more weeks."
Wangji nodded, allowing himself a small smile.
A knock at his door startled him and Tikki. She zoomed into her drawer as Wangji opened the door and allowed Xichen inside. Without warning, Wangji was folded again into his brother's arms. Wangji froze. He'd been expecting another stern talking too, not another embrace. Xichen was usually so careful about not breaching Wangji's boundaries. He must have been more worried than Wangji had initially thought.
"I am sorry," Wangji said, returning the embrace, "I didn't mean to worry you."
"I know you didn't, it's just," Xichen sighed, then pulled away, holding him at arms length. "An Akuma came running into the building, shouting your name and brandishing a sword and you just jumped into a fight with a supervillain? That's so dangerous! What would I have done if you'd been hurt? What would Uncle? Wangji, you and Uncle are all I have in this life!"
Wow. Wangji sure felt like shit at the moment.
"I'm sorry, Xichen. You're not going to lose me like we lost our parents. Even though I'd been hurt, the magical ladybugs put it right."
"That's not the point!" Xichen snapped, raising his voice at Wangji for the first time in their lives. He froze, seemingly having the same realization that Wangji was, before taking a moment to reel himself in. "I'm sorry, it's just, I know you Wangji, better than anyone, and I know you're sorry for worrying me, but that you're not actually sorry for what you did." He smiled wryly at whatever he saw on Wangji's face. "You can't hide anything from me, I know your way. Do you at least know why I'm upset with you?"
Wangji thought over the question carefully. "You're afraid I'll do it again and get hurt worse this time."
"And you're not sorry for taking on the akuma, so what's to stop you from doing the same next time?"
"...I promise not to take unnecessary risks, Xichen."
Xichen apparently did known Wangji's way, because he frowned, unimpressed. Still Wangji didn't back down, couldn't back down, because even though Xichen didn't know it, couldn't know it, it was Wangji's sworn duty to take these risks on behalf of Paris. Wangji wouldn't stoop to the level of lying to his brother if he could help it, though, so for the first time in their lives, Xichen and Wangji had reached an impasse.
"Wangji-" Xichen said, voice full of warning.
"Xichen, please, he could have hurt you or- or Wei-" Xichen closed his eyes and Wangji stopped dead in his tracks. He waited a beat before trying again. "I can't just standby and watch the people I care about be hurt right in front of me."
"You're not a superhero, Wangji!"
Wangji said nothing. Xichen glared, also silent.
Wangji relented first. "Mister Bug and Chat Noir can't be everywhere." That, at least, was true enough. "Can you honestly say you wouldn't have done the same if I had been able to get to safety before you?"
Xichen opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Alright, fine. But please promise me you will take more care?"
"I will, Xichen. I will do my best not to be caught in such a situation again." Also true. His recklessness had resulted in injuries to himself and Chat Noir, and delayed the defeat of the akuma by several minutes. He would be far more careful not to be caught with an akuma as a civilian again.
Xichen relaxed, reading the honesty in his expression. He gave him one last pat on the shoulder before departing.
"I feel so bad for Xichen," Tikki said, once the door was closed. "He was so worried for you and he can never know why you did what you did." She drifted sadly to his side, looking genuinely distraught.
"I know, but when I accepted your miraculous I knew that this would probably happen eventually. There is nothing to do but bear it, and do our best to discover Hawkmoth's true identity."
"You're right, but that doesn't make it any easier to bear. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not tonight, I'd like to practice my guqin. Would you like to hear my mother's favorite song?"
"I would love too!" Tikki said, zooming over and sitting daintily on one edge of the instrument, kindly volunteering to turn the pages of his sheet music for him.
"No need, I know it by heart." So she settled again on the edge of his guqin and listened quietly to his song.
It was nice, he found, to have company.