Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Nino? Nino, are you awake?"

"Mmmm," Nino groaned, twisting as Lucie called for him. He wasn't sure what time it was, but all he knew was that he was very comfortable, and he didn't want to move.

"Nino, you're going to be late for school!"

This caused Nino to open his eyes, gradually becoming more awake. He tried to sit up slightly, only to find that one of his arms was pinned, the limb filled with pins and needles from the lack of blood. His arm was wrapped around the figure nestled up with him. Blond hair was brushed up against his chin, the prone form curled up tightly under the blanket. He couldn't help but wrap his arms around him tighter, listening to the quiet beating of his heart.

"Nino, you need to wake up," Lucie said again, twisting the doorknob, and Nino bolted straight up.

"Don't come in, I'm not decent!" He cried, and Blue shifted below him– and he quickly covered him with the blanket, muffling the confused sounds coming from him. "I'm up– don't worry!"

"Hurry up, your breakfast is going to be cold," Lucie said with a chuckle, and Nino didn't dare relax until her footsteps were retreating down the hall.

"Okay, she's gone," Nino whispered, slowly pulling the covers back. His face was warm as he slowly took in everything that was happening, but as he pulled the blanket up it was yanked back down.

"Don't look at me!" Blue whispered, voice panicked.

"O-oh, um," his eyes flickered across the room, landing on their two Miraculouses on the lamp table. He grabbed the Peacock Miraculous, but as he felt the warm brooch in his hand, he hesitated. "I... I..."

"Nino?"

"I..."

"Nino, I need to get home before they notice I'm gone," Blue whispered.

Nino closed his eyes, a part of him wanting to throw the Peacock Miraculous out the window, before pressing the brooch under the covers and into Blue's waiting hands. There was a burst of blue light as the kwami was summoned forth, Nino's first time being in the presence of Duusu despite his time together with Blue. He didn't get a chance to even see the Peacock though– Blue instantly muttering the transformation phrase, another wave of blue energy lighting up Nino's room.

The blanket was pushed back from the bed as Blue's wings unfurled, the cloth rising up to reveal the familiar form of Blue Wing and his suit. The once stunning wings still held their impressive length, but unlike the brought colors of Blue's apparel they had lost their sheen.

"I... I need to get home..." Blue whispered, eyes wide.

Nino hesitated. "You... you said you don't go to school, right? Are you homeschooled, or...?"

Blue shook his head. "I... I'm not doing anything right now. Ever since Father gave me the Miraculous my tutors have stopped coming and I... I just do piano and, er, work. Sometimes. I'm not scheduled as much as I used to be."

He folded his wings against his back, the blanket falling back down to the bed, and Blue Wing slowly rose to his feet. He was looking at Nino, eyes slightly wide, an uncertainty about him as he stumbled towards the window.

"I... I need to go, I don't want to, but I have to, I'm sorry, I..." He stammered out, and Nino grabbed his wrist.

"Just come see me again soon," Nino said softly. "Okay?"

Blue Wing nodded. "Last– last night–?"

Nino's mouth was slightly dry. "I meant every word I said."

"I... I meant everything too."

Nino smiled softly. "Then there's nothing else to worry about, is there?"

Blue's fingers wrapped around Nino's hand, and the two were quiet for a moment. Neither seemed sure of what to say, though there was no tension about them. The memories from last night were new, something to still make sense of, and the fact that they had spent the night in each other's arms was not something that was going to be forgotten. Nino wanted that again, but he didn't know what to make of it.

"Nino?" Lucie called, his mother's voice shattering the moment– and Blue took that as his cue to leave. The warmth of his hand left Nino's, the Peacock turning towards the window, pulling it open.

Then he was gone, a slight breeze from the open window as he took to the air.

His door opened, his mother sicking her head in. "Nino, you're going to be late at this rate."

"...Coming," Nino said, grabbing Trixx's Miraculous as he pushed himself to his feet.

"It's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!" Chloe huffed as Nino walked into the classroom– late as his mother had predicted.

"Well, it's beyond our control now," Miss Bustier said, giving a placating smile.

"If the dance is going to be hosted at my hotel, then I think I should choose the theme!" Chloe said. "If it was originally going to be heroes then it should stay heroes!"

"Can't believe I'm saying this," Alya said, her voice almost a growl. "But she's right. The student council agreed on 'heroes' for the theme, and the principal changed it behind our back!"

"Well, at least that 'masquerade' is still pretty close!" Rose piped up. "We can still have hero themed costumes for the dance."

"Sorry I'm late!" Nino said as the teacher's eyes turned toward him. "I– um– was up late with a friend last night and kind of slept in."

"Well, we haven't started our lesson yet, so you haven't missed anything, so just take your seat," Miss Bustier said.

"We can't start this lesson until we right this wrong," Chloe said with a huff. "Césaire, didn't you say you were going to make a post on that silly blog about how ridiculous everyone is being?"

"It takes time to write an article," Alya muttered– and Nino wasn't sure if the two were butting heads or not, because from the fragments of the conversation he had caught it seemed like they were on the same page.

"Is this about the things everyone's been saying about the heroes?" Nino asked.

"It's technically not 'everyone'," Max replied. "However negative things, such as headlines, tend to be the most memorable and what sticks in one's mind over positive counterparts."

"Okay class," Miss Bustier. "Now that everyone is here we should start class, and you can continue this conversation at lunch."

Nino pulled out his notes, the rest of the class shuffling behind him as they did the same, and began writing. Not notes for class, but rather a note for Alya, passing it behind him as the teacher wrote up on the board. It wasn't long until he felt the prick of the paper pressing against his neck, and he grabbed it and looked over his note and her reply.

so Alya, what did I miss?

the theme that was voted for the dance was originally going to be "heroes" not this stupid masquerade the principal changed it behind the class reps backs and won't change it back

He was careful as he wrote his reply, as he was right in the very front row, but as long as he waited to pass the note back when the teacher wasn't looking, Miss Bustier didn't know that he wasn't just taking notes. The paper between him and Alya were passed back and forth several times throughout the class, sometimes minutes going between it being passed, when Miss Bustier's focus was out on her students.

of course he did

me and a few other students went to his office this morning but he wouldn't budge. something about it now being official and it's now too late to change anything

well like Rose said you can still go as heroes for the theme

that's not the point! the point is that we're disrespecting Ladybug and everything she's done for the city just because a few idiots decided that she's to blame for hawk moth's actions and I literally want to punch someone.

like hawk moth?

Alya let out a snort as she read this, causing Miss Bustier to look up. "Something you'd like to share with the class?"

"No ma'am," Alya said swiftly, and she waited a little while longer before she slid the note back to him.

I wish I could, but I think there's a pretty good line to stand in to do so. can't believe this city is letting hawk face have so much control that its affecting stupid dances.

are you and Mari still going to go?

as much as a part of me wants to scream "strike", Marinette has put so much effort into preparing the dance as class rep and she's started on matching dresses for the both of us (it's going to be so awesome!), so there's no way I'm backing out of this after all her hard work. are you going?

probably. It's going to be at the hotel which means the food has to be pretty good, right?

watch your mouth, Lahiffe, my mom is a chef there– which means the food is the best in the whole city

of course.

you gonna ask anyone to the dance?

This made Nino pause, because if you had asked him this just a day ago, the answer would have been 'no'. But things were different now, because not only was there someone he could picture himself taking, the theme of the dance actually made it possible. Obviously Blue couldn't walk in transformed, but perhaps with a mask he'd be willing to come...

Maybe.

wait. wait wait wait what do you mean "maybe?" you can't just leave me on a maybe Nino!

you know that friend I told you about?

Ha! I totally called it! I called it! tell me more about this little date of yours

I know you, don't get ahead of yourselves. we... we aren't officially together or anything. I don't even know if he wants to come to something like this or not, but I am definitely going to ask him.

not 'officially' you say? sounds like feelings are in the air~

Maybe.

This is so adorable! I'm telling Mari FYI, and you can't stop me

of course you are

And tell her she did– because Nino did not get another note from Alya, even though he could still hear furious scribbles behind him, so he assumed that the notes were now being passed between the girlfriends. He twisted his own pen between his fingers for a moment, but if Alya was excited about this maybe it would be enough to get Marinette's mind off of what everyone was saying about Ladybug for a little bit– even though he was sure they wouldn't be having this reaction if they knew who exactly he was talking about.

As class ended Marinette gave him a smile and a thumbs up as she and Alya headed out of class– he wasn't sure if it was approval or encouragement, but it was nice to see her smile, because all this weight she was feeling was partly his fault, thanks to the necklace he had stolen from her.

Perhaps that's why he kept going to the bakery when it came time to buy anything for Trixx, even though his pocket change wouldn't fix what he had done, but he always did make sure to leave a generous tip in the jar as he bought tarts and pastries, and Mme. Cheng always gave him a beaming smile as he did so.

That only made him feel more guilty for everything.

"Why the long face?" Trixx asked, sticking his head out of Nino's bag as soon as he no longer had to stay hidden.

"Just thinking about everything," Nino said quietly. "I just... I just don't think it's right not to tell Blue about what's going on with his Miraculous. He's... he's getting worse, Trixx."

"I know," the Fox said, ears falling back.

"This can't keep going on," Nino said, looking down at the kwami. "I know I can't just start shouting everything that I want to, but staying quiet isn't the answer either."

"You know him the best."

"But you know Miraculouses the best," Nino said, turning towards Trixx, who flew out of the bag. "You saw him last night. How... how bad is this broken Miraculous? How much is it affecting him? How... how long..."

He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence.

"I don't know," Trixx said quietly. "If... if it was only the Miraculous hurting him... but it isn't." He looked up at Nino. "I'm not sure how much of this is the Miraculous, and how much of this is his father– and that's not even considering the mental strain he's being put through."

"Is he in any immediate danger from that Miraculous?"

"I don't think so," Trixx said. "Him using it isn't helping him, but... but he should still have time. He should."

"Okay," Nino said, taking a deep breath. "That's... that's fine." None of this was fine, and both of them knew that. "Next time I see him I'll... I'll figure out how to handle this. I will."

"I'm here, Kit, if you need anything," Trixx said, floating up so they were at eye level. "I ain't going anywhere, not until this is over."

Nino reached out, scratching him behind the ear. "There... there is something you could help me with."

"Yeah?"

"I want to learn how to split illusions, like what you did back with Stormy Weather."

"He just needs to word things right when questioning you and then they'll know about Sting."

"Nothing we can do if he does. So far though, we've been lucky."

Adrien paused, listening to the voices in the hall. The voices were high pitched, and he instantly recognized Nooroo, which surprised him, as the kwami was forbidden from leaving Gabriel's side. He headed towards the door where the voices were coming from, nudging open the door, where he could see Nooroo and Pollen hovering in the empty room, urgently talking to each other.

"He could ask us about this conversation," Pollen said.

Nooroo shook his head. "Again, nothing we can do. He got the information about the wish from persistent asking, he will wrangle whatever information we aren't forbidden from saying. The only thing we can do is not let it be clear we're hiding anything."

"I'm telling you, the woman is the dangerous one of the two of them," Pollen muttered.

"No one is more dangerous than Master."

"Hey guys!" Duusu cried, bursting out of Adrien's pocket– causing both of the kwamis to look towards the doorway in horror, their eyes widening even more when they saw Adrien there as well.

"How long have you been there?" Pollen asked, stiffening.

"Like thirty seconds or something," Duusu said proudly, flying out to join the two of them, flying about them. "Watcha guys talking about? The wish? You know we can't talk abou that around Adrien."

"What wish?" Adrien asked, looking between all of them. The kwamis all exchanged glances, but it was Duusu who opened up her mouth– magic bubbling up from their throat.

"Guess we still can't talk about it~" Duusu said, flipping upside down. "Oh well. Hey, we should all go play! It's been so long since I could play with other kwamis– me and Trixx got to play though!"

"Duusu, no!" Adrien whispered, eyes widening.

The Peacock paused. "What? You said not to tell Gabby or Nathalie– they're not Gabriel or Nathalie."

"You've seen Trixx?" Pollen said urgently. "Are they okay? When was this?"

"Oh it was a little bit ago, I don't remember, I'm not Fluff," Duusu giggled. "Trixx was begging Adrien to let us play together, so we got to meet at the Eiffel Tower, Adrien doesn't like detransforming in front of Silvery Paw-y. But we did last night! We slept over at Silver's house!"

Fear pulsed through Adrien, his eyes looking towards the kwamis. "H-he hasn't seen my identity! I've made sure of that!"

Nooroo's gaze focused on Adrien. "But you have been around Silver Paw– and you know who he is?"

"I..." Adrien felt sick. "I... I promised him and Trixx I wouldn't talk about it. I promised I wouldn't say anything about their identity."

"Don't worry, Adrien, we don't want Trixx's holder to be discovered by your father either," Nooroo said.

Pollen zipped forward. "How about we make a deal, Blue Wing– you don't mention me and Nooroo's conversation to anyone, and you order Duusu not to talk about it– and we won't say a word about your frolicking with the Fox. I have a feeling your father wouldn't react too well to knowing that, would he?"

Adrien's eyes were wide. "You can't say anything, please."

Pollen's eyes gleamed. "Keep our secret, Peacock, we'll keep yours. Order Duusu not to talk about it, now."

Duusu deflated. "I hate orders."

"Pollen, maybe that's a bit much–" Nooroo began.

"We can't take a risk, Nooroo," Pollen snapped back, her blue gaze locked on Adrien. "Order them to stay quiet, now, Blue Wing."

Adrien swallowed. "Duusu... we're not going to talk about what happened here, okay? Just in case. Not to Father or Nathalie... that's an order."

Duusu had curled up on themself, and Adrien felt guilt run through him. They weren't looking at Adrien though, but at Pollen, tears falling down their feathered cheeks. "Why?" Duusu asked. "Why are you being like this, Pollen? You and Trixxy have been making my chick give me orders, you've never done that before." Their crying turned to sobs, tears gleaming in the light. "Why is everyone treating me so different? Is it because I've been gone for so long? Nooroo's been gone too! It's not fair!"

He grabbed the crying kwami, tucking them against his chest. "I'm sorry, Duusu, I'm so sorry," Adrien said, holding them tightly. "I– I don't want to do that, I hate doing that to you, I'm so sorry–"

"I'm sorry too, Duusu," Pollen said, her expression softening, but remaining firm. "I'm just trying to protect us, and this is the only way to do so– we can't risk you slipping up."

"You don't trust me?" Duusu whispered, quivering in Adrien's palms.

Nooroo rushed forward, bringing Duusu into a tight hug. "No no, Duusu, of course we do!" Duusu clutched their fellow kwami tightly, still crying. "It's not just you– me and Pollen are under a lot of orders too. Even more than you, our holders put us under orders too."

"I– I–" Duusu was gasping for breath. "I don't wanna have orders! I don't wanna fight Tikki and Plaggy and Trixxy and everyone– I don't wanna!"

"I'm sorry, Duusu," Adrien muttered quietly.

"You can leave now," Pollen said, turning away. "Both of you, this is a private conversation."

"Pollen," Nooroo said softly.

Adrien hesitated– but didn't leave. It had been forever since he had been with Nooroo without his father lurking, and he saw no reason to let himself be pushed over by a kwami, especially one who had made Duusu cry. He put the Peacock on his shoulder, running a finger across her as her tears slowed to sniffles.

"How did you guys even get here alone?" Adrien asked, looking at Nooroo. "I thought you were forbidden from leaving Father's side."

The kwami gave a nervous grin. "We, um, kinda annoyed him until he told us to leave."

He blinked, surprised that Nooroo had dared to do this.

"Miss Nathalie allows Pollen to wander more, to come talk to me, so she comes up to where me and Master are and we just talk about anything we can think of. We did this for a few days, and today Master just told me to go with Pollen," he let out a giggle. "I think he thought we would go to wherever Miss Nathalie was, he probably thinks Pollen is ordered not to wander too."

"You were hanging out without me?" Duusu whispered.

"We don't know what your holder allows," Pollen said.

"Adrien lets me do whatever I want. Sometimes we play video games," Duusu curled up on Adrien's shoulder. "Can we go play video games?"

"Of course," Adrien said softly, and he turned to leave. He paused, looking back at the Bee kwami for a moment. She had been nothing but cold, but he understood why. He hesitated for a moment. "Pollen... I... I am sorry for bringing you into this, but I had no choice, I needed–"

The Bee turned her harsh blue gaze towards him, eyes flashing. "You have nothing you need to say to me," Pollen growled. "I don't want to hear a word about what happened."

"Hey!" Duusu cried. "Don't talk to Adrien like that!"

"Pollen," Nooroo said, drifting towards his fellow kwami. "I... Duusu is right. Adrien... Adrien's not to blame here–"

"Not to blame?" Pollen snapped. "So he didn't steal my comb?"

Adrien winced. "I–"

"He didn't take me directly to our enemies?"

"What enemies?" Duusu asked.

"He didn't hand me over to be enslaved by that horrible man?"

"Pollen," Nooroo whispered. "You don't know everything–"

"I'm not blind, Nooroo, I can see what's happening here, I know what they're doing," Pollen looked up at him, her honey-colored irises shifting to something that was a bit less harsh. "And you are just like a pupa– young, blind, and helpless to what's happening. So listen closely, Blue Wing, because orders can only restrain Subjection so far."

"Wha-what–?" Adrien began, but he stumbled back as Pollen zipped up right in front of his face. Duusu's tail feathers spread out, on edge, but they didn't move from his shoulder.

"There are many kinds of bees in a hive," Pollen said quietly. "But when you break it down, there are three main roles that make up a hive– the queen, the worker, and the drone. Do you know which one controls the hive, little Peacock?"

"The qu-queen–?"

"No," Pollen said. "It is the worker bees. They control everything, put in all the work in maintaining the hive– and at the end of the day they're the ones that decide what happens within. If they feel a queen does not suit their needs, they will kill her. Doesn't matter if it's their mother, sister, anyone; they will not hesitate to kill a member of a hive that brings them down, and they will raise a new queen to take her place."

Adrien could only gawk at the kwami.

"A queen ensures a next generation, makes sure life can be brought to the hive– but she can always be replaced," Pollen said softly. "The worker bees, they appear in countless numbers. They collect food, build the hive, protect it, raise the young– they do everything. The hardest workers, the ones truly in control, the only ones that can sting. The worker bee is the one they all depend on– and the one to fear."

"...And the drone?" Adrien asked quietly.

"The drones... they are simply there to ensure that life carries on in the hive– even when it means the hive will do nothing for them after," Pollen said, drifting closer. "Once he has done his part for the hive, he will begin to wither away. And if winter comes first, then the drones are driven into the cold to freeze and starve. Their whole life exists for one purpose– and they are abandoned to die the moment it is completed."

Adrien didn't say anything.

"I know exactly how this hive of yours is structured," Pollen said quietly. "What role everyone thinks they're playing, and what they're expected by others to do." Pollen's gaze, just for a moment, softened into something kind. "Blue Wing, in this hive you are a drone– and I hope you don't meet the same fate as others like you."

With that Pollen turned and flew away, leaving Adrien alone with the other kwamis. He stood there, not sure what to make of the kwami's words, but there was only a horrible feeling in his chest. He turned away, trying to make sense of her words, but nothing came to him. He looked at Nooroo, desperate for some explanation, but the Butterfly just looked at him sadly, before flying after Pollen.

"Duusu?" Adrien whispered. "What does she mean?"

"She's just being a meanie head," Duusu said, crossing their little paws. "We should go play video games, Adrien, that sounds like fun, doesn't it? We can do the ones that we can play together."

"…Okay," Adrien whispered, the horrible feeling not leaving.