Airin: Me encantaría escribir un AU donde Nino se ponde el anillo en lugar de regresarselo a Adrien. Este fic sería super diferente si eso pasaria. Y sí, los padres siempre quieren lo mejor para sus niños. Habrá más escenas con los padres, entonces vamos a ver como sigue esta parte del fic. Y yo también estoy de acuerdo que Adrien merece todos los abrazos por regresar y recuperar la laptop de Nino. Te lo juro cuidare a Adrien en este fic. xD ¡Espero que te guste este capítulo!
Chapter 4
Yells erupted from within the greenhouse. Alya pulled Nino back into the safety of the trees as pieces of glass shattered and dropped to the ground.
"You alright?" they both demanded of each other, hands going to the other's face.
A laugh that could only be amplified by magic roared within the greenhouse. "Is my spider-hating twat of a boss here?" a voice singsonged. Even above the din of screams it echoed, every word dripping with malice.
Both Nino and Alya stepped over the threshold's wreckage and into the greenhouse. The paths were covered with trampled plants, shards of glass, and pieces of rock, both artificial and natural. Bronze plaques lay crumpled around the exhibits.
Nino craned his head to the top of the stone at the greenhouse's center and caught sight of the most disgusting woman he had ever laid eyes on: purple abdomen, eight spindly legs jutting out of the violet and silver spandex. Her top half was all woman, except for the six additional eyes on her forehead.
She raced down what remained of the ceiling with no apparent regard to gravity, each leg somehow sticking onto the sleek, moss-covered stone.
"Both fortunately and unfortunately I got that on video." Alya lowered her cellphone with a disgusted sigh.
Nino stepped back when the akuma swept the area with her eight eyes. Glass crunched and splintered, bringing along memories of Saturday night. Dread pooled in his veins, hot and viscous. No amount of Chinese medicine could dispel his nerves. Adrien didn't need another akuma fight. This was what, his third this week? How many times could he afford to be batted around like a rag doll if whatever magic mojo Ladybug used didn't heal his injuries?
"My students, please make your way outside to the park's entrance!" Ms. Bustier commanded as people, both students and adults alike, began to run out.
Alya's hand tugged him into the waking world. "Come on, hot stuff, time to move."
"Wait! Adrien might still be here!" Nino ripped himself free and stood strong against the flow of the crowd. People crashed into his shoulders and sides, but he stood on his toes to try and catch a glance of that familiar mop of hair, either combed or windswept. How long did it usually take for Adrien to transform?
Alya grabbed him by both wrists and glared. "What did we just talk about? He can take care of himself."
Nino struggled until a sharp clang rattled the air. Nino whirled around, heart skipping a beat.
Chat Noir vaulted over their heads. At the height of his jump, he retracted his pole from what remained of the greenhouse's metal frame and dropped down to the courtyard. Nino scrambled to the edge of the railing that lined the winding path, his throat filled with a yell, but Alya appeared beside him and dashed the urge away.
"Right on time!" Alya crowed as she stood on the railing with her phone in her hands.
Chat Noir touched ground as silent as any other cat. Even when he straightened, he moved fluidly from one action to the other. This was not the Adrien he was accustomed to seeing. If Nino hadn't seen the transformation with his own eyes, he would have chalked it all up to a very realistic fever dream.
Chat Noir scanned the area. Nino stiffened, but those green eyes didn't linger on them. Rather they and his costume ears— at least Nino hoped they were part of his costume— swiveled towards the akuma perched on the rock face.
"I don't think you're part of the tour group," Chat Noir told her, all grin. "Next time make sure you check the web to get a ticket."
Nino gaped because the pun was truly awful and he had the misfortune to know exactly who made it.
The akuma spared Chat Noir a glance before she jumped on what was left of the greenhouse's steel beams and scurried up to the roof. Through the glass, they saw her aim for the outside courtyard Nino and Alya had just left.
Chat Noir huffed. "No need to be so rude."
He scaled the rock on all fours to follow suit.
Nino jerked in place, almost bumping into Alya. When his brain realized that he didn't have a magical ring that allowed him to defy gravity, he joined the people that rushed outside.
He saw Chat Noir dashing through the tree tops, and, "Wait, stop! Adrien!" burst from his mouth before he could think twice.
The panicked crowd shifted as people split off in different directions. Nino was back in the nightclub. Shaking, bruised. Terrified. Legs and knees kept him down until Alya grabbed him from behind by the strap of his backpack and dragged him out of the crowd. Nino stumbled back, taking every breath he could.
"What was that?" she demanded, towering over him, her hair a frizzy mess that wound around the frames of her glasses. Alya shook him by his backpack and refused to let him go. No doubt she was tired of saving him from his dumb decisions.
Nino picked himself up and stood strong against the spinning ground. "I didn't mean to say that!"
Alya's brows furrowed. "Say what?"
Okay, so he didn't have to explain that part. "Never mind."
"Did I just see you go after Cha—?"
"Babe, don't you need to film for the Ladyblog? I bet the Parisian news has already gotten wind of this by now. I mean, this is one of the biggest tourist places in this part of Paris."
Alya shut her mouth and gave the growing chaos a surveying glance. Duty battled love, her grip on his backpack weakening. Nino didn't dare continue his chase with her sights still on him. Alya would round kick him to the nearest bench for his stupidity.
When the akuma roared up ahead, Nino sucked in a breath. Alya glanced at him and finally let him go. Alya muttered, "If you're going to look for Adrien then make sure no one sees you. They'll just escort you to the exit."
Was that actual permission to be reckless? "Alya?"
She squared her shoulders against his concern. "Don't forget to watch your own back. Find each other after the battle?"
Nino pecked her on the cheek. "You got it."
She darted off with eyes only on her phone.
What could have been minutes rolled by. Nino remembered to breathe. On his twelfth breath, the akuma laughed again somewhere up ahead, on the opposite end of the park's exit. It was loud and piercing, washing over the crying children and the yells of panicked adults.
Nino wrapped his arms around himself. His knees locked in place. Nino pushed and pulled against the fear to walk towards the danger rather than away from it. He couldn't run away this time, not when he knew it was his best friend taking the hits for them.
Besides, from what Nino'd gathered so far, his injuries wouldn't last. He remembered those scratches on his arms from the club and how they disappeared by the time he got home. Unless he somehow developed super healing, it had to be Ladybug's Cure.
"Okay, Nino, okay." He stomped one foot to rid himself of the numbness. Nino stomped again, and again, until his mind focused on the movement rather than his mounting hesitation. Then he launched himself into a run.
He heard them first. Ladybug and Chat Noir always yelled, cheered, and cursed loud enough for their audience to hear. It alerted citizens to the danger. Right now, Nino felt it jump start his mind to all the hits Chat Noir was being dealt with. Once he passed the last fleeing tourists, he saw the heroes jumping and flipping in the air like swooping birds. Nino approached the trees that lined the courtyard in front of the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution.
The akuma balanced on a web sewn at the entrance of the museum. Her eight legs poised her far enough to attack Ladybug and Chat Noir with globs of web without leaving the web that shielded the front doors. Within the museum, tourists banged on the glued windows and yelled out to anybody who made eye contact. Nino tore his eyes away before he got sucked into their pleads.
At the museum's courtyard, those trapped in web cocoons writhed on the ground, trying in vain to escape the throes of battle. Chat Noir bounded to as many as he could. He hooked his claws into two cocoons at a time, swung the bundles on each shoulder and ran for the trees before the akuma's web struck him down.
"You annoying little twerp!" she yelled when her web covered the purse the victim had left behind instead of Chat Noir himself. She leaned forward to glare but held her place on her web. Whatever— or whomever, if Nino had heard correctly back at the greenhouse— was in that museum was more important than dealing with Chat Noir.
Away from her glare, Chat Noir settled the victims back against the walls of the adjacent museum. Even with sharp claws, it was delicate, careful, and Nino saw, in that moment, Adrien Agreste, the boy who wouldn't hurt a fly.
Chat Noir saluted back to his partner. "I think we should wrap this up, My Lady!"
Ladybug touched down after avoiding a shot of web midair. She brought her yo-yo to her palm. Facing the fuming akuma, Ladybug canted her head in a playful manner, though her shoulders steeled for the upcoming battle. "I think you've overstayed your welcome, Little Miss Muffet."
"It's Araignée," the akuma bellowed, finally leaping off her web. On her upper torso, her sheer cloak of web showed off a tantalizing red dress that plummeted down to her cleavage.
Nino should have looked away. After all, he had the most amazing girlfriend to go back to. Yet he stared and stared until Araignée herself skittered out of his line of sight and showcased her stunning body for someone else— Chat Noir if the embarrassed sputtering was anything to go by. Nino blinked away the wave of vertigo.
Definitely magic. Most definitely.
Trying to avert his eyes from the side cleavage he could still make out under her cloak, Nino shuffled to another tree and peeked for any prying eyes.
Nino deflated. "Damn it, why did I have to be right?"
There was the Parisian news crews and Nadja.
In a bold move, Nadja turned her back to Araignée and spoke to the camera. "As the battle continues in the Jardin des Plantes, Ladybug and Chat Noir—"
Araignée jumped toward her.
Ladybug slid between them and batted away Araignée's barrage of web while Chat Noir closed in from the side as backup.
Nino decided to make a run not towards safety but towards the building Araignée was guarding: the Galerie de Mineréralogie et de Gólogie. Nino kept his head down, avoided the entrance, and aimed for the building's side. What was once carefully-kept brickwork was now an artwork of sticky web that shined silver under the afternoon light. There were depressions in the webbing that could be footholds, if one dared.
Did he dare? He'd only scaled Adrien's rock climbing wall a handful of times, and he'd never made it to the top.
But if he made it to the roof then maybe he could find someway to enter and save those people inside. One less thing for the heroes to worry about.
Araignée's battle cry behind him was enough for him to take the plunge; better to get away now rather than risk a run through the battlefield. Nino climbed the webbing with shaking hands and a somersaulting stomach. His beaten sneakers were not meant for climbing, and his backpack shifted too much for it to be comfortable. Nino paused a two off the ground. He forced to look up and continue step by agonizing step.
Miraculously there were no spiders lurking underneath to grab him by the wrists.
Nino crawled over the lip of the roof before his tremors sent him straight back to the ground. As he worked on getting his breath back, he realized there was no plan of action, no weapons on hand. He just knew he had to get away from the battle but somewhere where he could get the upper hand on Araignée.
Nino got back to his feet and made the mistake of looking over the edge.
"Oh shit," he cried out. Nino fell on his hands and knees, nails digging into the shingles. Gravity pulled at his clothes with sharp, greedy claws. Nino held on with, "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," flowing from his mouth, along with some curse words in Arabic thrown in for flavor.
From his hands and knees, Nino craned his head this way and that in search of some kind of entrance leading inside the building, even a chimney if it was wide enough. Instead, he just saw shingles and vents too small to fit an arm through.
Eternity trudged along. Ladybug and Chat Noir kept on yelling down below. Nino eventually felt the beginnings of numbness taking hold and figured he should start moving before he fell off in an impromptu freak out. He started to rise, but his fingers refused to leave the safety of the rooftop, pulling up half a shingle. Nino paused and kept pulling until the entire shingle was laying in his hands.
This could work.
Nino pulled two more until he couldn't find any more that weren't glued down with wayward web. Nino walked along the roof, picking and choosing roof shingles. There was a nagging sense of impending doom whenever he turned and caught sight of the ground way down below. It sent shivers running down his arms and legs, rattling the pile of shingles in his hands. Nino breathed through it as best as he could.
Pluck.
Pull.
Pluck.
Pull.
Nino had at least fifteen when he heard the first set of skittering feet behind him.
When he turned it wasn't the ground that stole his breath but three, cocooned tourists shambling over him. Covered in web, they wrapped the excess in their hands, one of them twirling the strands above its head like a lasso.
Actual spider-people-zombies. Just his luck.
Still, if they were with him then that would be less enemies on the battlefield.
The zombies shambled to the edge of the roof, seeming to deem him too useless to go after.
"Hey, web for brains!" his traitorous mouth yelled at them.
When they turned, Nino frisbee'd a shingle their way and ran for it.
Their steps were muffled while his pounded the roof as loudly as his heartbeat against his ribcage. Nino stumbled on a sleek patch of web, threw a single shingle that tumbled from his arms, and continued his mad dash to the end of the roof.
All the while, Ladybug and Chat Noir battled Araignée. He caught shades of red and black from the corner of his eye, along with a dash of purple that told him Araignée left her post just long enough to deliver more blows to the heroes. Nino cradled the shingles in one arm against his chest while he dropped one into an outstretched hand. He tried to take aim at Araignée, but even if he wasn't running he couldn't hit her. He didn't have superhuman reflexes.
So he continued running and hoped Araignée stood still when the time came.
Between his building and the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution next door stretched an expanse of web. Nino jolted to a stop, and two shingles tumbled to the ground far, far below him. Nino backed up, cradling his weapons with trembling hands.
"Okay, Lahiffe, okay." Hoarse and dry, Nino wondered if he'd actually said anything aloud.
Something slick and wet ran down on the collar of his shirt. The lasso pulled him back with an inhuman tug of strength. Nino fell on his back, the contents of his backpack slamming painfully into his back. The line tightened once more. Abandoning the shingle, Nino dug both sets of fingers under the lasso as the sky darkened around the edges. He kicked more shingles loose in a mad dash for air.
Nino's luxury of fight or flight was gone. Pure, adrenaline-filled fight remained on the table. One of his hands searched the side and found a shingle. There was no aiming, no careful planning. Nino launched the shingle over his head like a catapult and knew it hit when the lasso slackened around his neck. He ripped away the web with short, stuttering gasps.
Nino managed to get his feet under him. The cocoon zombies cocked their heads, the attacker rolling up its lasso back into its covered hands. In unison ,they turned to the battle, then to him, then jumped off the roof when Ladybug' cry of "Lucky Charm!" rent the air.
Paris knew that sometimes, when the battles were tough and citizens were aplenty, Ladybug took her sweet time in using Lucky Charm. A prime opportunity for Araignéee.
Nino knew what he had to do. It was stupid, downright ridiculous, and if he died it would be karma. Nino's heart, however, drove him to pick up a shingle and aim at Araignée's rearing figure. She was gathering her minions in one place for a final blow.
Nino threw the shingle hard enough to hurt his shoulder. It fell short and hit one of the zombies that had leaped in the back of the head, sending it to the dirt. Biting through the burning in his shoulder, Nino threw his second shingle before the bravado left him. A zombie was quick enough to dodge, only to bump into a second zombie and sending them both crashing into Araignée.
She tore them off her, throwing them to the side with a flick of her wrist. "You useless bags of flesh!"
That was enough of a distraction for Chat Noir to barrel into her with his staff. Araignée was taken off the web she guarded and scrambled to stay on the staff when Chat Noir extended it up to the sky. Gathering more web, she took aim with her hand, then planted both around the staff when Chat Noir jostled her to and fro.
Nino stared until Chat Noir jerked his head up to the rooftop. Nino caught a glance of a bruised jaw before he dropped to his stomach. There he laid until Ladybug called out a battle cry. More fighting. Flashes of red and green lit up the back of his eyelids. Nino hoped no stray shots hit the roof.
"Miraculous Ladybug!"
Relief opened Nino's eyes. Tiny ladybugs ate away at the web underneath him in a flurry that had Nino sneezing. His shoulder tingled until the pain ebbed away to nothingness. His arms and legs were still store from the impromptu parkour, but he'd never been involved in an actual battle against an akuma before. Maybe the Cure didn't bother with the unimportant aches.
Nino waited to be carried off by the swarm. He waited while the ladybugs replaced the shingles he ripped away. Nino even waited while the first cheers of the victims burst into the air.
Eventually he realized that if he wanted off the roof he would have to do it himself.
Nino army crawled across the shingles, too shaken to attempt walking. He dove for the first stretch of web still intact and climbed down as everything continued unraveling beneath his fingers. If Nadja and her crew caught him on camera right now, his parents would string him by his toes, if he was lucky.
Nino tumbled onto grass when the last of his makeshift ladder evaporated. A ladybug still crawled over his knuckles. "Yeah, thanks for nothing," he muttered and flicked it off.
Leftover adrenaline trickled off him and left him relatively numb. Nino adjusted his cap without actually feeling the brim under his fingers. Then he stopped when Alya's name smacked into his mind.
He stopped himself from yelling out her name. Instead, he used the cover of the trees and buildings to edge his way down the cobblestone path. Nino hoped Alya had enough sense to head for the exit when the zombies popped up.
In front of the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution stirred a spectacle. Nino picked up the pace when he made out two heads of red: Alya and Nadja. Cameras were rolling and coming up to a startled Ladybug and Chat Noir, Nadja leading the march with the ferocity of a general going into war. Alya trailed behind just as riled up. She worked her jaw but no words came.
Ladybug and Chat Noir watched them approach with identical looks of confusion. Chat Noir leaned heavily on his staff and managed a pained smile. Nino froze behind the women and tried not to make eye contact with his best friend.
"Ladybug. Chat Noir." Nadja stole their attention with her microphone and the camera hovering over shoulder. "Can you please explain why you seemed to struggle with this akuma more than with ones from the past?"
Ladybug wrinkled her nose, her entire face flickering from offense to shame. Her cheeks rose in color. "I—"
"Now hold on," Chat Noir demanded, using his staff to gently steer the microphone away from their faces. "Who are you to ask—?"
"And why hasn't that bruise healed with Miraculous Ladybug?" Nadja cut in with a renewed stab of her microphone, almost hitting his bruised jaw.
Chat Noir paled and shut his mouth.
Alya's fuse ran out. She gripped her phone and grabbed Nadja by the elbow. Nino sucked in a breath, mentally preparing himself to have a girlfriend behind bars. The cameraman faltered and grunted a protest but otherwise decided to not touch the minor. Without a care for the eyes on her, Alya whirled Nadja around to face her.
"Who are you to corner the heroes of Paris after they just saved your ass?"
Ladybug and Chat Noir stood back. Nadja shot them a glance to keep them in place, then shook Alya off her her expensive, tweed jacket. The cameraman circled Ladybug and Chat Noir like a vulture.
Comforted that her prey was cornered, Nadja gave Alya her full attention. "As our heroes, they need to be interviewed for the citizens to be aware of what's happening."
Alya set her jaw. Her phone shook in her grasp. "But how is this fair to them?"
Ladybug and Chat Noir battled between staying for Alya's sake, staying for the camera's sake, and fleeing to the rooftops. Chat Noir leaned closer to Ladybug and his staff-turned-cane every time the cameraman made his round. He was a cornered cat waiting for the net to come down.
Nino sucked up his nerves and marched right over. He still felt like he was running on shingles, unsteady, reckless. The camera man turned his way, rising up to his full height to address him, when Nino grabbed Ladybug and Chat Noir by the wrists. Screw it if his parents saw.
The cameraman spluttered a, "Hey!" through the shock.
Nino pulled Ladybug and Chat Noir towards the trees They were warm to the touch. It was the same heat from Adrien's Miraculous but more potent. Nino dropped their wrists like hot coals when Nadja turned their way.
"Go." Nino rubbed his hands on his jeans to rid himself of the tingling magic.
Chat Noir canted his head. The sun caught the darkening bruise on his jaw. Nino stared with an unsettling sense of guilt. He hadn't been fast enough to stop it from happening.
Behind them, the cameraman lumbered over to them, camera still rolling. "Kid! What in the world are you doing here?"
Ladybug ignored the cry. "Thanks, Nino," she said, smile bright and genuine.
Then they leaped into the trees.
Nino craned his head to catch the tail-end of Ladybug's yo-yo and Chat Noir's staff launching them over the Galerie de Minéralogie et de Géologie. What civilians were left waved them off with cheers and smiles. Nino settled for watching them disappear over the building.
"You children are insufferable."
Nino turned around, angry and ready to take it out on someone. Children? After what Ladybug and Chat Noir did? After what he did up there on that rooftop? They were the children?
He intertwined his hand with Alya's and brought her close to his side. "You better not touch her," he warned Nadja and her lackey.
Nadja heaved a long, suffering sigh from her nostrils and massaged a temple. Opening her eyes, she gave her microphone to her cameraman and planted her hands on her hips. Guess they were done recording.
"Please, that's not what I want. I'm not looking to get fired." Nadja fixed Alya with a glower. "Just tell your girlfriend here she should leave the journalism to the professionals."
Alya stamped her foot. "The Parisian News is focusing on the wrong things, and the Ladyblog aims to rectify that. You don't care about Ladybug or Chat Noir. Nothing they do is right. You live to criticize."
Nadja raised her eyebrows. She was an attractive woman, but there was nothing beautiful about the scoff of dismissal she shot at their faces. "I did not go to school and put my life on the line to tolerate a hobbyist telling me how I should do my job."
Nino's grip tightened. Alya shot him a curious glance, but his eyes were on Nadja and that damn camera behind her. He would have never gotten in trouble if it wasn't for them and their snooping.
"Take a hike," Nino told her. After getting chased by zombies on a rooftop, she didn't scare him. "Next time you should be the first one on the scene if you want the story all to yourself."
Nadja adjusted her jacket and took off with her cameraman man in tow. "Find another hobby, girl, before you get hurt."
Jardin des Plantes continued its ebb and flow of visitors. Alya wrapped her hands around his arm and pulled him to face her. Her bangs stuck to her forehead with sweat, and her glasses precariously balanced on the end of her nose. Even disheveled, she captivated his eyes like the sun itself.
"Thanks for coming to our rescue, hero," she said when he relaxed in her grip. Her thumbs massaged the lingering aches in his hands. "Couldn't have done it without you."
Chat Noir's ugly bruise sprung to mind. Even with his rooftop escapade, Chat Noir still got hurt.
Another injury to add to the list.
Another injury the akumas could expose.
He should have kept that damn ring.
A useless friend with a useful first aid kit.
Nino stared down at his purchase and felt the entirety of Paris looking over his shoulder. A simple plastic box with only the essentials because Nino couldn't afford much with his allowance. Teachers kept them in their classrooms for paper cuts and the occasional bruise.
Adrien deserved better.
Ms. Bustier had officially canceled the school day once they all met up at the park's entrance. She encouraged them all to go home and use what notes they took to start their essay on biodiversity. Nino, instead, went to the first drug store and bought a first aid kit.
There wasn't much to his thought process. If magic couldn't heal Adrien after a battle then maybe some good ol' gauze and antiseptic could. That was the idea, until he realized he would actually have to talk to Adrien for it to work.
Slipping the kit into his backpack, Nino continued walking. One step in front of the other, it was perhaps the easiest thing he could do. Even as his mind battled to decide where to go— home or to Adrien?— he kept on moving. It would sort itself out. Something had to give, and he would be at his destination before he knew it, wherever it was.
Yet his backpack grew heavier. Nino adjusted his grip on the straps and put on a burst of speed that cut through the thin stream of Parisians on the sidewalk.
You did your best, a sensible voice piped up. It came from somewhere near his heart, where the first aid kit banged against the backpack.
Nino nodded frantically before the words slipped from his mind. The shingles knocked some of those zombies down. They could have wrapped up Chat Noir and slammed him into the nearest building, or squeezed hard enough to break a rib, or—
"I get it," he snapped at himself.
Chat Noir had been saved from something worse.
This time.
Nino squeezed his eyes shut and focused on his steps. One foot. Then another.
Controlled and measured steps against shingle.
One foot on the ledge, the other on sticky web that cemented him in his spot.
Nino stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, but his mind was still trapped on the rooftop with a pile of shingles cradled in his arms. Gravity latched onto the hems of his jeans to trip him.
A buzz sent him a mile into the air. Nino stumbled forward when another buzz threatened to sent him careening off the edge of the roof.
Sidewalk.
Nino took a steadying breath to regain his bearings and fished out his cellphone. Squashing the urge to throw it at invisible enemies, he took the call. "Hello?"
"Nino, are you coming home?"
Even through the phone, his mom's worry caused him to avert his eyes to the ground. Nino shuffled to the edge of the sidewalk to avoid walking headfirst into someone. "So you saw the news?" he asked, switching to Arabic.
There was a huff of pure indignation. "Of course I did. So are you on your way home?"
His feet were certainly taking him somewhere. Nino glanced at the passing street signs and realized he was far away from home, though not lost. With settling dread, he realized where his steps—and heart— were taking him. He'd looked up the address once before, after leaving Adrien's place last week, even though he knew he wasn't going to attend such a fancy event. Nino just thought he could catch up with Adrien afterwards.
At Saliha's hum, Nino managed to say, "I am. I mean, I will."
There was a knowing pause. Nino stopped at a crosswalk with a clump of unassuming people.
"What are you going to do?" Saliha finally asked, voice free of accusation. The sun was still out. The clubs were still closed.
"I need to check up on Adrien." A woman stared. Nino ignored her just like any other time he spoke Arabic in public. There was no need to lower his voice when she couldn't eavesdrop. "He, uuh, got hurt when the akuma first attacked but managed to escape before I did."
His insides twisted not at the lie but at how easy it was to lie. Surely that wouldn't be good for his karma.
Nino nearly sprinted when the crosswalk sign beeped at them to cross. Vaguely familiar buildings cropped up to his right. He was near the Arc de Triomphe, but that's where his familiarity ended.
"Are you hurt?"
Just his pride. "No."
"Well I'm glad you're looking out for your friend."
Nino grounded to a halt once he was on the other side. "You're fine with this?"
"We should always be disposed to help our friends and family."
He expected more resistance.
When his feet refused to move, Nino realized he wanted more resistance. Right now he seemed much too happy to put himself in Hawkmoth's line of fire.
Nino cupped the phone to his ear and said, "It's… not that simple."
"How?"
He wanted to continue helping Adrien in battles. Maybe he wasn't the best distractor, but he was something, and that something saved his friend some ribs or a concussion. Anything was better than nothing.
But wouldn't Hawkmoth catch wind of one particular kid causing his akumas trouble? One particular kid whose name he knew because of that one time Nino had a public meltdown?
Nino stared at a chalkboard menu outside a café, too lost in thought to move. "Adrien's dad hates me. If I go see Adrien or give him this first aid kit I bought—" His breath hitched. That piece of information should have stayed secret, but plowed on. "I won't see Adrien again."
A clang of a pan in the background. "Nino, do you need me to talk to this man?"
The thought of Gabriel Agreste being intimidated by his mom nearly sent him into hysterics. Nino shook his head. This was his own battle, his decision to make. "I can do this, Mom. I just don't know if I want to. Or if I can. Or…"
Nino spiraled into a storm of self-doubt. He was alive through sheer, dumb luck and Ladybug's powers. Running was hard when the floor moved and was situated three stories up from the ground. There were times akumas preferred to fight on the Eiffel Tower. There was no way he could be there every time Adrien needed help.
When he didn't finish his sentence, Saliha probed, "You want to help Adrien, right?"
"Right." He'd started walking again.
"Then you have a moral obligation to push that fear aside and help your friend. Helping someone you care about is not always easy, but it's necessary." Saliha chuckled. "It's a lot like being a parent, actually."
His phone was glued to his ear, though his heart continued leading him towards Adrien. His mouth went dry. "I-I'm not sure if I can. You know, ignore the fear."
"I know you can. We've raised you to be kind and considerate."
Adrien was kind and considerate. Not even Alya put up with Nino's brainstorming for more than an hour. Adrien was far too oblivious to realize that most friends didn't listen to three hours of the latest pop hits remixed into something resembling a beat.
The smile came unbidden, swallowing his dread enough for him to raise his head. Nino saw his destination cropping up in a flurry of colorful banners. A very familiar trademark decorated the boarders.
"Is Adrien worth all of this?"
Of course. Nino heaved a tremendous sigh. His arms ached from his impromptu rescue mission at the Jardin des Plantes. He still kept away from the sidewalk's edge in case he lost his balance.
His mom waited as patient as ever, oblivious to the heavy decisions weighing on his mind.
Magic shouldn't have been on his mind.
It shouldn't have been on Adrien's either.
"Yes, he is."
"Then I see no reason you shouldn't try. Don't stay out too late. I might need your help getting dinner started after I run to the store."
Nino wished all he had to worry about was dinner. "Okay, Mom, love you."
"Love you, too, sweetie. Be safe."
Saliha hung up. Nino, too lost in his thoughts, only noticed when his phone locked at the home screen. He stared at the screen, his reflection blinking back at him.
Time to try.
Sometime between crossing the street and finding the entrance, Nino decided that Adrien was going to get help whether he liked it or not.
Ladybug seemed like a swell gal, but she had her hands full. Adrien needed an extra pair of eyes to watch out for him.
Thought right now Nino was the one under the microscope.
He loitered outside the garden's entrance. Gabriel Agreste's Auction Show was starting to teem with Paris's most fashionably elite. They side-stepped around him with polished dress shoes and elegant dresses that Marinette would die to get her hands on. Disrupting the flow was the street kid with the lost look on his face. The security guards leveled a flat stare in his direction.
Nino dug into his pockets and pulled out what money he had left from buying the first aid kit: twelve euros. He offered the wrinkled bills to the guard at the right, who nodded towards the entrance. "Donations at the booth."
Nino nodded dumbly. He had never been to an auction show before. "Okay."
Beneath the decorated archway of the gates sat a woman with a tailored pants suit. Nino thought it was the Agreste secretary, Nathalie, until the woman flashed him a bright, sincere smile. She patted the decorated box in front of her. "Donations here, sweetie."
Down went the last of his allowance. Nino turned to leave when the woman cleared her throat. She held out a ticket. "To gain entrance to the auction, as well as the charity fashion show later today," she said, fully knowing he could only afford to watch but much too professional to say otherwise.
Even the ticket was high-quality. Reading it, Nino made out the date and the name of the event in elegant cursive and gold lettering. "Thanks." Nino shoved it in his pocket and turned on his heel.
"Not just yet."
Nino turned around to come face to chest with the security guard that didn't take his money. The woman still smiled and gestured to his person. His clothes? They weren't the nicest jeans and t-shirt in his closet, but Miraculous Ladybug had at least brushed away the dust.
"He needs to check your backpack."
Oh, right.
Nino shrugged his backpack and held it out to the man that could crush him beneath his shoe. The guard laid it on a separate table without the same care. Out came the laptop, textbooks, and tablet. When the guard took out the first aid kit, Nino averted his eyes to the laced tablecloth.
"I'm a klutz?" he offered without looking up.
The guard grunted his acknowledgment and zipped everything back in the backpack. "So are some of the novice models, but we have medical staff in the wings for that."
Nino shot his head up. Shouldering his backpack, he jogged away with the knowledge that Gabriel Agreste had the capacity to hire workers with a sense of humor.
There was something about being among the rich that fascinated Nino. Graceful and lithe, they fluttered from one cluster to another for the latest news and gossip like the social butterflies the magazines made them out to be. High heels deftly glided over the cracks on the cobblestone and the treacherous dips in the paths. Nino avoided them, but he was sure they could dance circles around him if he was in their way.
Attendants were still setting up the stage. Men as handsome as the actual models put up posters featuring different spring outfits on either side of the walkway. Nino's eyes wandered from the tux, to the vest, to the breeze polo shirt on the racks and wondered if Adrien was showcasing any of them.
Speaking of Adrien.
Nino sighed. Expecting Adrien to be standing in the middle of the manicured grass, waiting for a discussion he had no idea was going to happen, was ridiculous. Even without the mask, he was hard to get a hold of.
Nino wandered around, tight-lipped and as inconspicuous as possible, until he saw the tops of tents behind a second, smaller stage. Models usually changed in tents. Bits and pieces of Adrien's conversations about his (civilian) life trickled back. Nino picked up the pace and wetted his lips for the hard conversation that was going to follow.
"Whoa, kid, where do you think you're going?"
Another security at yet another checkpoint. Nino looked towards the neighborhood of tents beyond the barricade to the hulking man guarding it. "I'm guessing I can't say hi to my friend?"
The guard raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Not unless you have the clearance."
This time Nino was observed from head to toe. Shuffling uncomfortably, Nino backed up. "When can I see my friend?"
"When it's on your time."
Nino gave the man a curt nod and walked away until he was out of his line of sight. The guard was back to casual observance by the time Nino reached the seating in front of the stage. He rocked on his heels, craning his head to try and see the entirely of the gate the man guarded.
It wasn't much. These were models, not the President, so a simple wired fence was more than enough to keep the riffraff away. Chest height, Nino was positive he could jump it. Whether they saw him do it was another story.
Nino walked along the front of the stage. With the setup done, there were no attendants flitting from place to place, no curious elite peeking for a chance to see the models and their clothes. Nino only had the company of a charity sign looking down on him.
Then there was the truck. Two workers were carefully unloading antique after antique. Nino walked behind them and saw the moving truck filled to the brim. Everything glinted under the afternoon sun, a little dust useless against the jaw-dropping splendor of jewels and polished mahogany. Nino watched them unload works of art his parents would think as gaudy.
The auction had a long ways to start, if the truck full of treasure was any indication. Nino dared to step closer, and, when the workers continued their work, slowly walked his way to the side of the truck facing away from the stage.
There, the gate. Nino glanced over his shoulder one last time before jumping the gate to the other side. His backpack banged against his back too loudly and had him crouching behind the nearest tent. When no one came to pick him up by the collar of his shirt, Nino worked his way through the makeshift camp.
Finding Adrien's tent was easier than expected. All were white, but only one had Adrien's backpack hastily thrown outside the entrance. Nino threw a glance over his shoulder and barged right in with the beginnings of his speech.
Chat Noir whirled around with a yelp.
Nino gaped and eventually settled for letting out a few, incomprehensible squeaks. His words— and his bravado— tapered out until he was standing in silence.
"Nino!" Chat Noir piped up, eyes wide and settling on everything but on him. Chat Noir pushed a water bottle he had knocked over to the side with a nervous smile. "I didn't imagine to see you here."
Those green eyes unsettled him. Nino cleared his throat and forced himself to stand in place. Despite knowing it was his best friend behind the mask, no words made it past his throat. Why didn't Chat Noir lose his transformation the moment he got here? What was the hold up? Everything would have gone a lot smoother if it was Adrien in front of him.
"So, umm," Chat Noir started when the silence became stifling. "I came here because of Adrien. He, uhh, I didn't see him back at the Jardin des Plantes, so I came to see if he was okay and…" Chat Noir glanced around, as though expecting Adrien to pop up from behind one of the vanity mirrors to corroborate his story. When no such thing happened, Chat Noir finished off with a dazzling, yet unsure smile.
Nino summoned his voice. "That's good. That's—" He cut himself off with a mental shake of his head. "Okay, dude. I'm done with this. Adrien, I know it's you."
Chat Noir gaped back at him. After a pause he dramatically turned on his heel and made a show of looking behind the vanity mirror. "Oh, yeah, he's here, oh—"
"Seriously, dude? Give it up. I know it's you."
Chat Noir's tail twitched erratically behind him. "What are you talking about?"
Nino steepled his hands behind his head, looked to the heavens, and groaned. Staring up at the tented ceiling he muttered, "Adrien, dude, just… Don't make me say anything else. This is already pretty awkward."
He stayed like that: head thrown back, eyes half-lidded in the hopes that he could drift off to a different, much less stressful, reality. Beyond the flaps of the tent, the faint chatter of normal people filtered in.
"Why are you here?"
Nino straightened, met those cautious green eyes, and refused to look away. Chat Noir stayed tight-lipped, the bruise on his jaw shadowing his expression. Gone was the flustered grin. Nino cautiously laid his backpack on the floor and fished out his first aid kit. Chat Noir's heavy stare weighed him down and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. It was Adrien, but it wasn't, and his mind couldn't mesh both realities into one quite yet.
"I know you've been getting hurt," Nino started off gently, "and I don't know if you've been treating your injuries or whatever, but here I am."
Chat Noir breathed in heavily through his nose. He stared down at the kit, facial muscles twitching without settling on one expression. When he looked up, Nino tried to give a reassuring smile, but it came out as a grimace. "Come on, man. You can trust me."
Exhaling Chat Noir finally said, "Claws in."
Leather peeled away in rivulets of green magic. Adrien stepped forward when the last sparks fled his ring and flew into the overarching shadows of the tent. Nino flinched back from the dying heat. His nerves shot up, but he tried not to show just how uncomfortable he was in front of such a magical object.
Adrien held out a hand but stayed back. "You okay?"
Nino pointedly stared at the Miraculous in front of him before nodding. "Look, you're the one who's hurt, so I'm throwing the question right back at you: Are you okay?"
Adrien used the hand Nino hadn't taken to simply gesture at the tent. "I'm here, aren't I?"
"Dude, your leg's bleeding again."
Adrien stared down at the red staining his pants leg. When he looked up, his smile was shakier. "It's not as bad as it looks."
"Just sit your butt down so we can wrap it up."
"We?"
"Okay, me, now sit down."
Adrien glared, but without the mask and the luminescent eyes Nino had no trouble grabbing him by the elbow and gently dragging him to the armchair in front of the vanity mirror.
Adrien stumbled into the chair and immediately burst out with, "Anybody can come in right now."
Nino laid the first aid kit on the vanity and began rifling through its contents. He jabbed a roll of gauze in Adrien's face and raised an eyebrow. "Then why were you still Chat Noir when I walked in?"
The name stumbled from his tongue and landed awkwardly in the air. Adrien averted his eyes to his ring. "Guess I forgot. I was deciding how to hide the bruise on my face."
It didn't sound like the whole truth— Nino suspected the leg hadn't started bleeding until after he let go of his transformation— but it at least got Adrien talking.
"With the makeup right in front of you…?" Nino said with the thickest layer of sarcasm and a wide wave of his arm to the vanity stocked to the brim with concealer.
"None of them go with my skin tone."
Nino chuckled, then outright laughed at the sheer absurdity of it all. After everything, Chat Noir was still sweet Adrien with a penchant for makeup. What nervousness still lingered melted away, leaving him smiling in front of a very irate Adrien.
Adrien leveled a glare. "Do you want the Gorilla to come in here and find you?"
"Dude, do you even freaking hear yourself right now?" Nino rolled his eyes when Adrien didn't let up. "You're freaking bleeding after battling a super villain, and you're worried about your complexion?"
Adrien scowled and playfully threw the roll of gauze in his hands at Nino's head. "Could you be any louder? I don't think the people at the Louvre heard you."
Nino rocked back on his heels. "I get it, dude. I'll keep it down." He picked up the roll of gauze and ripped a strip. "Now roll up that pants leg."
A pause where Nino held his breath. Adrien silently leaned back and did as he was told.
The cut was smeared with fresh blood. Purple surrounded the worst of it all. Nino wiped most of the blood away with a wad of gauze before using an antiseptic wipe. His touch was gentle but effective, Saliha's advice from years ago guiding his hands. Many a scraped knee were healed under her watchful eye.
Instead of squirming, Adrien sucked in a breath and asked, "How long have you… you know…"
"Saturday, since the club attack." Nino grabbed a fresh patch of gauze to dab away the remaining antiseptic. He focused on applying the right amount of pressure. Eventually he admitted, almost too quietly to hear, "I saw you get hit, and your ring fell."
Ring. Miraculous. It got the point across. The sickening, crushing point.
"Sorry."
Nino jerked up. "What?"
Adrien averted his eyes. "Sorry you had to see that."
Nino left the gauze to grab the bandages. Rather than dwell on Saturday night, Nino channeled his energy to the speech he had entered the tent with. He shot Adrien a quick smile and continued wrapping the bandage around the wound. "It's okay. That's going to change." He clipped the bandages and waved at his handiwork. "I can patch you up whenever you need it."
There was half of it, out in the open. Adrien frowned as he picked at the bandages. "You really don't have to, Nino. I could probably do this myself." He stopped, then gave a small smile. "But I really do appreciate you helping me right now."
Nino bit the inside of his cheek. He could stop right there, and Adrien would be none the wiser.
Then his mouth decided to speak.
"Actually I can keep an eye on you during battles so we can skip some of this part."
Adrien jerked back and almost kicked Nino in the face in his surprise. "What?" Nino made a grab for the bandage that had come undone, but Adrien stood out of his reach. He grabbed the back of his chair hard enough to turn his knuckles white. His face paled. "Nino you can't 'keep an eye out for me' in battles. When you seen an akuma, you run. That's it."
"But look at yourself." Nino waved a hand at his bandaged leg. "Every battle you keep getting more and more hurt."
"I can take care of myse—"
"Your leg," Nino sharply cut in, ticking off his grievances on his fingers, "then your forehead. Then that leg again, and now your jaw."
Every injury darkened Adrien's expression until, at the end of Nino's list, his face was stone. He straightened, using the back of his chair to stand at his full height. His jaw stubbornly refused to give up his scowl.
"I can take care of myself," he repeated slowly. Somewhere a line had been crossed. "I've been doing this for a year."
Nino took a moment to close his eyes and remind himself what he was doing here. He couldn't pull the angry friend card again. It hadn't worked at school, it hadn't worked at the club, and it would certainly not work right now.
What he had left was the truth. Days of worry coalesced until he had to open his eyes and say something.
"Did you know," Nino began, voice low and heart heavy, "that you were this close to getting smacked in the head with a brick?"
"Ladybug has my back, and I have hers."
The blatant, naive certainty would have sent Nino over the edge on Saturday, back when he thought outbursts would work.
Here in Adrien's tent, bandages in his hand, bloodied gauze on the vanity, it just made his heart ache. He didn't know Ladybug, probably never would, but she clearly couldn't defeat an akuma and keep Adrien safe all at once. There was only so much one person could realistically do, Miraculous or not.
"Dude, I was the one that had your back today. I was up on that roof throwing shingles at those zombies before they got to you."
Adrien stiffened. The remaining color drained from his face. His expression slackened in horror. "That was you up there?"
Nino chuckled humorlessly "You're welcome."
Adrien walked up to Nino and grabbed both of his shoulders. His grip was strong, and now Nino knew why. "You can't just do that. You could have fallen or.. Or…" Adrien bowed his head to gather his thoughts. His grip tightened until Nino felt Adrien's Miraculous digging into his shoulder. Goosebumps ran down his spine like an electric shock, drawing his breath.
"Nino, the Cure, it's… it's not working properly. We don't know why, but…That's why I have this bruise and this cut. What if you get hurt and the Cure doesn't help?"
Theory confirmed.
Nino didn't have the energy to celebrate his detective work, not when Adrien was looking at him as thought he would crumble the moment he let him go. "I'm willing to get a little hurt if it means you'll survive another day. If you can't run because of your leg, you're toast."
Adrien bristled. "We got this under control."
Even with all his worry, Nino couldn't hold back the sarcasm. "You clearly don't."
"Because you have no idea what it's like to be a superhero." When Nino didn't respond Adrien continued, "You have no idea what it takes to keep the city safe."
Nino shrugged off Adrien's hands. Those hands had hurt. "I may not be a superhero, but I know that you can't do it without me. I actually gave you back that ring. I could have kept it, you know, and then you wouldn't have been getting hurt."
Adrien tensed. Any gentleness, any understanding left his eyes. Steely determination replaced the Adrien Nino knew. This was all Chat Noir now. It was the same shift in tone Nino had witnessed on Saturday, but it was colder now that Adrien knew exactly why Nino had his ring. "You're not going to help me. You're not going to climb roofs. You're not going going up against akumas. You're going to run as far away from Chat Noir as possible."
It wasn't quite anger nor worry but an order from a hero to a civilian. Maybe Nino shouldn't have said he could have kept that accursed ring.
Nino knew a dismissal when he heard one. Still he waited for a change of heart. As Adrien's first and best friend, he had a moral obligation to try his damndest to make him listen.
"I'm not going to tell anyone," he said, channeling all the concern and worry he could in those last words.
Adrien averted his eyes. "I know."
And that was that. Nino grabbed his backpack and snuck out. Every step hurt. Obligation tried to reel him back into another dead-end discussion. He could show up to akuma attacks and risk his friendship with Adrien if he was spotted. Or he could show up after the fact and hope Adrien was still in one piece so he could help bandage him up.
Past Adrien's tent, past the oblivious guard, and over the fence. Nino grumbled over Obligation's whisperings.
Fix it.
How could he when laying his heart bare for Adrien to see didn't work? That was his last card, and Nino had no more tricks up his sleeve that didn't involve blackmailing. As much as that would work, Nino would never steep so low.
Go back.
Nino didn't think he could take a second dismissal. He wasn't prideful, but he knew he didn't deserve being waved off like that. Adrien was right; he could have died. Apparently, that wasn't enough to make Adrien listen to him for more than five minutes.
Fix him.
"Fine," he snapped. Nino glanced over his shoulder. With no Adrien in sight, his shoulders sagged. "Fine," he repeated quietly.
He could at least go back and finish the bandaging. They wouldn't even have to talk.
Then Nino heard voices coming his way, where he was clearly not meant to be. One look at him at the edge of the wire gate and they would throw him out without even taking his twelve euro donation into consideration. Nino doubted he could get Adrien alone for another heart-to-heart anytime soon after this.
Nino jogged behind the stage. He took off his backpack and held it against his chest. Three guards, including the one that had shooed him from the gate, came into view. They chatted amicably, then split off to their rounds. Nino crouched lower when one guard dawdled between the stage and the path that would take him back to the fence.
Come on, Nino thought as his backpack dug into his arms. Just one piece of good luck today.
He'd apparently spent all his luck on not dying because the guard picked the stage to patrol.
Nino backed up. He could easily go around and back to the gardens, where the elite mingled. There was nothing suspicious about a kid loitering there, even if his clothes would beg to differ.
But doing that would take him further away from Adrien's tent and his chance to convince him that he needed more backup than what he had now.
When the guard started his patrol, Nino ran past the path to the gardens and to the truck of antiques he'd spotted earlier. Armoires, tables, and at least a dozen paintings had been loaded off. Nino stopped at the cluster of furniture and glanced around. Two men chatted at the front of the truck— a rising argument about who would cover the next shift and who would go for lunch.
Directly behind Nino was the open ramp of the back. More antiques awaited their turn, too many for Nino to single out.
The two workers stopped their arguing and instead laughed. Nino ducked down as they passed. Apparently both were going to lunch.
Nino clambered up the ramp to take refuge between two dusty armoires. He could hear everything with his ear against the truck's metal wall. There was the guard from earlier making his rounds.
"Just leave already," he muttered. He was sure taking his sweet time.
The guard stopped near the ramp. "Mr. Agreste, sir."
Nino could only see Gabriel's tall, slime build lean to see the darkened interior of the truck. Nino tried to make himself as small as possible. Forget his parents. Gabriel Agreste would filet him alive for touching his precious antiques.
"This lot was not meant for the show today." It could have been anger, but his tone was cold and flat, no different than when he addressed Nino a week ago. "Who is in charge of packing this truck?"
The guard hesitated. "I don't know, but I can ask."
Gabriel sighed, the more expressive Nino had ever heard him. "Don't bother. I will ask myself. Inform the driver for this lot to be returned to the mansion at once."
The guard nodded and kept nodding even as Gabriel walked out of sight. "Yes, Mr. Agreste." He scurried away, presumably to find the driver.
Nino let his head fall back in palpable relief. Maybe he still had some luck left in him.
"Load it up!" someone unseen yelled.
The screech of metal against metal catapulted Nino back into alertness. The ramp folded back inside the truck. As the truck's rears door closed, darkness washed over Nino and the leftover antiques.
Nino stood, frozen between yelling and continuing to hide.
The truck began to move.
Well that chapter was longer than usual, but I couldn't find another suitable place to end it. Next chapter is the First Plot Point, or the point where Nino enters the conflict and there's no turning back. I'm sure you can guess what that may mean...
More fun facts! In my first draft, Nino went to the Agreste mansion to confront Adrien, but he never made it to Adrien's room and had to hide in an abandoned room at the mansion so he could sneak out. Nino also left the first aid kit somewhere where Adrien could find it instead of actually volunteering to help Adrien himself.
Next chapter should be up Friday!