To Lyger 0: He's definitely improving as a person!

To Guest: That is a fair assessment.

"You've gotta be quicker than that!"

Leïla gritted her teeth, smashing the buttons in quick succession as on the screen Multiplice divided and swarmed up Capricorn's legs. She swung her shepherd's crook, swatting a couple of the Multiplice clones away, but two of them wrapped their jump rope around her arms and jumped off her shoulders behind her, pulling her down to the ground. Fifteen seconds later, the screen flashed, and Leïla groaned, closing her eyes and resting her head on the back of Marie's couch.

Amalia jumped up and pumped her fist. "Yes! Three in a row!"

Leïla frowned, giving Amalia a look of feigned annoyance. "No fair! I'm still not used to the arena battle mechanics," she complained, tossing the controller down next to her.

Amalia grinned, sticking out her tongue. "Yeah? I miss the part where that's my fault," she shot back.

Sophie cocked her head, arching an eyebrow at Leïla. "I thought you liked this game!"

Leïla hummed, grimacing. "I do," she insisted, glaring at the flashing screen. "I just… I don't know. I prefer just fighting the Akumas – especially as a team. That's what the Heroes of Paris are all about. This arena version, with the heroes fighting each other, is just… it doesn't feel right. Aren't they all supposed to be on the same side?"

"Well, yeah," Amalia agreed, nodding. "But it's just for fun, right? Seeing whether Multiplice or Capricorn or King Monkey is more powerful. The heroes aren't actually going to fight each other or anything like that."

"Besides," Sophie added, "don't they fight each other for training all the time?" Leïla cocked her head, furrowing her brows. "I saw Miss Pinky and Ryoku sparring in a park last summer," Sophie explained, shrugging one shoulder. "They seemed like they were just having fun together."

"I suppose that's true," Leïla allowed, nodding reluctantly. "I guess I hadn't thought about that." She frowned, looking away from the screen, her eyes falling on her purse where Kheaa was probably napping. Unconsciously, she covered her bracelet with her other hand. She had been a hero now for almost three months, but she could only remember two occasions when she had sparred with the other heroes. But, then, before now she had hardly had any opportunities to spar. She had received her miraculous while the Heroes of Paris had been in Africa and Paris had been in chaos. During that crisis, Emilie had focused on teaching her how to use her miraculous' abilities, Chrysaor and Turing had been too focused on all the repairs, and she and all the other heroes had been too busy trying to protect the city from the looting and violence. Of course, on her first time out as Nabatala, she had fought Mind-Wipe and managed to stop him with the others; on patrols she had done what she could to stop the looters and vandals. So she could fight okay. But Mind-Wipe and Fire-Fly weren't the same thing as the Lychpin-ions. And since the Heroes of Paris had returned and everything had started returning to normal, she had only gone on patrol a handful of times with them, and on those occasions they had spent most of their time talking. Her stomach clenched. Did that make her a poor hero? The miraculous could make up for a lot of mistakes… but not all of them. What if she had to fight someone like Killer Bee? Could she handle something like that? She squeezed the bracelet tighter, and her mouth set in a thin line, breathing in and out slowly. Even if she hadn't trained enough with her miraculous before now, she could fix that. She still had time to learn.

For that matter, perhaps she could learn to fight better with the Super Akuma Battle game…

She raised an eyebrow at Amalia in a challenge. "Okay; ready for a rematch?" she asked. "But this time I'm picking a different hero."

Amalia grinned. "Always," she agreed. "But no Ladybug. Or Cat Noir."

"Oh, don't worry: I have another hero in mind." Leïla smirked, shifting quickly through the menu.

"Just don't get too attached," Amalia warned her. "I'm looking forward to making it four in a row!"

Leïla furrowed her brows in thought, scanning quickly through the available heroes. Nabatala was the hero whose powers she was most familiar with, of course, but she wasn't part of the game yet. Rena Rouge's powers were a lot of fun, but she still hadn't figured out how to use Mirage smoothly – especially in arena mode. She could try Sent-Bee… or Hato Gozen. But none of them were quite what she was looking for. She had just scrolled down to her selection when rustling clothes on the far side of the bedroom drew her attention. Leïla and Amalia turned around at the same time, as Sophie glanced up from the magazine she had been reading through on Marie's bed.

"Okay, what do you think of this one?" called Marie, stepping out of the large walk-in closet and holding out her arms, giving a half-twirl. She frowned. "Too much?"

Sophie furrowed her brows and stood up, tapping her chin with one finger and making a lap around Marie while examining her with a critical eye. Leïla pursed her lips, eyeing Marie's outfit. She had spent the last half-hour rummaging through her closet before finally choosing a brightly-colored blouse with a swooping neckline and a matching skirt that hugged her hips and only reached halfway down her thighs, paired with a pair of heels. Sophie hummed. "It's not too much… if Laurent invited you to a cocktail party or something," she teased her playfully.

"Really?" Marie bit her lip, frowning, and tugged at the skirt. She sighed heavily. "It's too much, isn't it?"

"What does it matter what you wear?" asked Amalia, raising an eyebrow. "You're going to see a movie, and the lights will be down for most of it, right?"

"Well, yes…" admitted Marie. "But I still want to look cute…"

"And it does look cute," Sophie assured her quickly. "But the other blouse and capris would look just as cute. And if you switch to flats, you'll actually be able to walk around better," she added, nodding toward her shoes.

"I suppose…" Marie pursed her lips, sighing heavily. "I don't know. What do you think I should do, Leïla?" she demanded, turning on her.

Leïla started, her eyes widening in surprise. "What, you actually want my opinion on what you wear for your date?"

Marie shrugged. "Why not? I've always noticed that your outfits look nice – I didn't know you could accessorize with a hijab!"

Leïla giggled, color rising in her cheeks, running her hand along the fabric of her hijab. "The secret is that black matches practically anything."

Sofie raised an eyebrow at Marie evaluatingly. "Maybe that's what you need: that black shrug!"

Marie hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe…"

Amalia gave Leïla a look. "It's more than just that. I've noticed at least a few 'Marinette' labels on your tops…"

Marie's eyes widened. "Really? I would kill for a Marinette outfit!"

"It's not that big a deal…" Leïla looked away. "Adrien Agreste helped my dad get his clinic started, and he treated Mme Agreste back in the spring. Every so often they will give us some clothes – mostly the leftovers from the previous season."

"Still, that is pretty cool," Amalia told her. "I wish I could say I know Adrien Agreste. He seems like such a nice guy. And his fiancée…" She sighed, smiling. "They really are a cute couple, aren't they?"

Leïla nodded in agreement. "They really are."

Sophie blinked, staring at Amalia in surprise. "You mean you've never gone to the bakery across from François Dupont?"

Amalia furrowed her brows in confusion. "Well, yeah…"

"Every so often he actually works there," Leïla told her. "His… future in-laws own it."

Amalia started. "Huh. I guess I… never saw him there." She stifled a giggle. "But now I suddenly really want one of their éclairs!"

"Never mind that," Marie interrupted irritably, fixing Leïla with an intense look. She held her arms out. "So…?"

Leïla frowned, cocking her head to one side and examining Marie's outfit more carefully. "It does look nice together, but…"

"'But'…" Marie pressed.

Leïla hummed. "You look like you're not really comfortable with what you're wearing," she explained simply. "If you feel good with what you're wearing, you'll look good in it, too. So dress however you feel comfortable and confident, and that will be right."

Marie blinked. "I… yeah, okay. I'll try that."

Amalia glanced at Leïla curiously. "Is that your secret? Feel confident?"

"Wait, that's why you wear the…" Sophie waved vaguely at Leïla's hijab.

Leïla pursed her lips in thought, trying to stifle the nervousness that the question brought up, reaching down for her purse and holding it to her chest. She had been afraid of this question ever since the first time someone asked it and laughed at her. How was she supposed to explain what it meant to her? How could her friends understand? They hadn't grown up to it. They didn't get the culture behind it. In her hands, she could feel her purse vibrating slightly. She let out a breath. Kheaa knew – Kheaa accepted her for who she was. She didn't need to hide from him… and maybe she didn't need to hide from them, either. After all, how could they understand if she didn't explain? And looking at the other girls, they were genuinely curious. Finally, she nodded nervously. "Yes, at least to some extent that's why I wear my hijab," she explained. "It's part of my culture – part of my religion – to dress a certain way and cover one's hair in public. But sometimes I do more than that, depending on how close I am with the people I'm with. Back in Algeria, they made it illegal for a woman to wear a niqab and cover her face; my mom started wearing her hijab this way–" she tucked the bottom of her hijab into the side "–because she disagreed with that law."

Amalia cocked her head. "But… I thought the reason you had to wear it was because your dad made you hide yourself."

Leïla shook her head. "No; it's my choice. Sometimes it's a requirement – some places you can get in trouble for not wearing a hijab – or even for showing this much of your face. But we're in France now, right? So I can dress how I want. And this is how I want to dress."