-Julian's POV-
Landing into my estate's garden and detransforming, I let out a sigh of relief.
"Another job well done Os, let's get some food." Today's Akuma attack wasn't as bad, but I had crashed into the scene late because I needed to finish my classes first, something I can't afford to skip unless I suffer the wrath of my parents. For some reason Chat Noir arrived around the same time I did too, which meant that Ladybug had to stall the Akuma all by herself for hours.
"That Ladybug is a real stand up gal, ain't she?" Ossi mumbles, weakly landing on the top of my head.
Letting out a hum, I enter my kitchen from the garden door and open the cabinet with the croissants. "She is, I feel kind of bad that I couldn't help her earlier, I didn't think Chat Noir would be late as well…" Passing one croissant to Ossi and eating another one, I can't help but frown at the thought of what I said to the cat superhero.
"Kid ya have that face on again." Ossi said with his mouth full, swallowing before continuing as he notices my confusion. "Whenever ya think about being a bad person ya make that face, do ya need me to headbutt some sense back into ya again?"
I let out a sad chuckle. "No need for that, I'm just thinking about Chat…"
"About you avoiding 'im like the plague?"
I wince. "Yeah, that…" If Ossi can find out in his subconscious suit form there's no way Chat didn't realize it too.
"What's the matter kid? It's not like Faon Vert to avoid confrontation."
Letting out a groan, I lean back on my chair. "Yeah, but Julian avoids it, and the last time I talked to Chat I was more Julian than Faon, so this reaction is justified." I finish, looking at Ossi's confused face.
"Sorry kid, ya lost me."
Groaning again, I stand up and trudge towards my room, leaving Ossi to his meal as I bemoan my new awkwardness with superheroes.
-The Next Day-
Why must locker rooms be so… open. I think to myself grumpily as I quietly walk towards my assigned locker. It could be worse I guess, I've seen some lockers in the movies where it's just along the hallways, at least this way the chances of being bumped into is significantly lower.
Quickly getting some of the books for my next class out of my locker, I turn around, planning to get the heck out of here immediately before I notice one of my classmates, Nino, slam into the locker near Chloe out of the corner of my eye.
Quickly finding his bearings, Nino turns to Chloe. "Oh, uhhh… Ladybug! Look over there!"
Looking to where he's pointing, I see no polka dotted superheroine hiding on top of the lockers at all.
"Uhh, what kind of lame joke is this?" Chloe asks, probably not very appreciative of having her time wasted.
Nino barrels on, as if reciting a script. "Uhh, well, that was… Did you see Ladybug yesterday? Isn't she amazing?" Nino slowly inches closer to her. "I wonder who she really is."
Chloe says something, but I get distracted again when I notice Alya poke out from nowhere all of a sudden, sneaking towards the both of them and snapping a picture of the blonde's locker.
Suddenly Chloe's friend, Sabrina, lets out a gasp. "Chloe! Alya's looking in your locker!"
Immediately everyone's eyes were on Alya, and kudos to her for standing her ground, if it were me I would've crumpled onto the floor by now.
"That's a lie! I so was not!" Alya tries to defend herself but another classmate, Kim, plucks the phone out of her hands and tosses it to Chloe.
"Hey! Give that back!" The reporter demanded, but her pleas were ignored.
The blonde scrolls through the phone before giving Alya an evil smirk, revealing a picture of her locker that Alya took. "Who's the little liar now?"
Hiding behind the corner, I quietly watch as Chloe, Sabrina and Kim drag Alya towards the principal's office, Nino completely left behind, looking a little dazed and confused.
"Umm… Are you okay Nino?" I finally peek out of my hiding place to ask, startling Nino.
"Woah dude! I didn't know you were there! No worries man, I'm good." He said, although he doesn't sound like he meant it.
I shake my head. "A-are you sure? I'm worried for Alya as well, do... do you know what happened?"
Nino lets out a sigh. "Yeah I'm fine, Alya's a little bit crazy today cause she thinks Chloe is Ladybug, and now that she's caught Mr. Damocles is probably gonna suspend her."
"W-what?" I ask, shocked, whether at Alya thinking that Chloe is Ladybug or that she's going to get suspended for taking a photo of a locker, I don't know.
"Yeah, Chloe's probably gonna threaten to call her dad and the principal would roll over, not the first time it happened." Before I could respond, the school bell rings, Nino gives me a smile. "Looks like we gotta go dude, see you in class." He walks out of the room with the other students, leaving me standing there alone.
"Ya alright there kid?" Ossi asks from inside my jacket.
I fiddle with my jacket sleeve nervously. "Kind of… It just… it doesn't seem fair that Alya is getting suspended…"
"Well why don't cha do somethin' 'bout it?"
I look at my Kwami with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well ya saw the entire story didn't cha? We should bust into the principal's office and show them who's boss, be the key witness to Alya's defendant."
"...Have you been watching crime dramas again?"
Ossi flies out of my jacket and headbutts my face. "Ya watched it with me so ya know what I'm talkin' about, let's do this."
I take a deep breath. "You're right, Alya needs support, I'll just… head to the principal's office…"
"Good luck kid, I'll be right here with ya."
Heaving a sigh, I slowly make my way up to the principal's office, I'll probably be late to class but if I get to stop a friend (are we friends? We've only talked once, when I practically fell on them.) from being suspended, it'll be worth it.
Hand raised to knock the door into his office, I gulp, maybe I should go in as Faon instead, he would know what to do.
"Are my ears failing me? Did I hear you're giving one miserable hour of detention to a... a heinous criminal? Sabrina!" Chloe's shrill voice can be heard from within the room.
"The school rules clearly state that any student guilty of theft should be suspended for one full week." Replied Sabrina's voice. I can't believe they're actually going to suspend Alya!
Before anyone else could say anything, I decided to just rip off the bandage and open the door.
"E-Excuse me!" I squeak, voice cracking at the worst possible moment. Suddenly feel everyone's attention turn on me and oh gods there's more people in here than I thought and they're all looking at me now and I'm sure I'm not breathing oh no why did I even come in here in the first place-
"Julian?" Alya asks, wide eyed.
Mr. Damocles clears his throat. "Young man it is quite rude to barge in without knocking."
Suddenly I feel Ossi bite my chest (what am I, a chef?), flinching from the pain but successfully snapping out of my spiral, I decide to just focus on the corner of the ceiling. "I-I know, it's just, I… umm…" I fiddle with my jacket sleeve, trying to calm myself down, come on Julian, you're a lawyer with life changing evidence, bursting into the court right before the verdict!
"I'm here to defend Alya's wrongful and unjust suspension from the school curriculum!" Too much crime show! Too much crime show!
Chloe scoffs. "What're you even saying? And why would someone like you defend a loser like her anyways?" The blonde asks, sounding surprised and offended for some reason.
"I-it's just…" I stutter, before realizing that I was still holding the door open, walking in and shutting the door behind me to stall for time, I take a deep breath. "It's just that I was there, and Alya didn't do anything else except take a photo, a-and she's sorry about that, right?"
Alya still looked a little surprised but snapped out of it when I looked at her. "Right! Super sorry, won't happen again Mr. Damocles."
Chloe didn't look convinced, pulling out her phone. "I'm not sure that my father would share your point of view Julian."
That seems to put some fear in Mr. Damocles' eyes. "Uhhh, well, now, Chloé, let's not bother your father, I mean, the honorable Mayor with a minor locker situation…"
That doesn't stop the blonde, as she clicks the call button and raises the phone to her ear.
If it's possible the principal looks even more scared than before. "Ehhh... what I mean is, you're suspended for a week, Alya."
Both Alya and I look at the principal in shock. Alya snaps out of it first. "What!? That is so unfair! I am so gonna protest this on the school blog!"
Mr. Damocles sighs, looking at Chloe who is smugly shaking her phone. "The school blog is hereby suspended as well."
"S-sir! That's not-" I stop suddenly as I feet the glares of the other students in the room besides Alya, who is gripping her fists so tightly it's shaking.
"She's no superhero, she's super-psycho!" Alya shouts before storming out of the room, me tripping over myself to chase after her.
"A-Alya, wait!" I whisper-shout, classes are going on and I don't want to distract anyone.
Alya doesn't listen, running out of the school with me hot on her tail.
"Alya, y-you need to slow down!" I shout now that we're outside but she continues to run, jogging down the stairs to the river.
Grabbing the banister, I look down towards her to see that she was calling someone, and turn pale as a sheet when I notice a dark butterfly heading towards her phone.
"S-she's going to get Akumatized." I whisper to Ossi, rushing to the stairs, Ossi flying out in front of my face.
"No, it's too late, ya need to find a place to transform."
"But Alya-"
"Alya needs help from Faon Vert right now."
I let out a sigh of frustration, looking over to see Alya now standing up, phone already glowing purple. "You're right, but I'm not happy about this…"
Quickly finding a quiet place, I pull out my pen and point it towards my Kwami. "Ossi, Horns Drawn!"
Ossi immediately dives into the tip of the pen, causing a deer head to appear in front of it. Swiping the pen across my eyes, the mask gets drawn and materializes onto my face, I drag the pen from my left hand back to my right as a brown suit slowly starts to appear from my arms towards the rest of my body. Twirling the pen around effortlessly as it slowly grows longer, I toss it upwards before reaching towards my back and pulling up a newly made hoodie, ears on its side and antlers on top as I catch the pen which has turned into blowgun as I lean against it with a lazy smile and a peace sign raised in the air.
Leaping towards the river, I groan as Alya is no longer there.
"Where could she be…" I mutter, looking around before realizing-
She might actually try to attack Chloe!
Rushing into the school, I quickly run towards my classroom, bursting into the door, stopping Ms. Bustier's lecture as the students look at me with various degrees of surprise and awe.
"Sorry to interrupt your class, but is everyone here accounted for?" I ask my teacher, snapping her out of her surprise.
"Oh, umm, I was told that Alya is suspended, I sent Marinette to the principal's office, and Julian is absent so far." I nod, noticing that Chloe is still in the crowd, so where is-
Suddenly the projector in class turns on, showing Alya's akumatized form. " I'm Lady WiFi, revealer of the truth! For our first exposé, your principal would like to share a little tidbit with you. So, Mr. Damocles, is it true you wrongly suspended a student named Alya today?"
"Uh… yes, it is." Mr. Damocles replies, clearly in danger, immediately I run out of class and charge towards the principal's office.
"So, you were biased? Unfair? Totally unjust?!" Alya's voice can still be heard outside class, it's probably being projected across all of Paris.
"Yes, I was."
Finally arriving at the principal's door, I take a second to prepare myself to fight before kicking the door in, only to realize that the principal has been frozen, a stop button on his face, and standing in front of him is-
"Ladybug? You're here quick." I tilt my head in question.
Ladybug jumps and turns towards me. "Faon Vert! I could say the same for you."
I snicker at catching her off guard for once. "Well, we can both keep our secrets I suppose."
Before the superheroine can reply, the video continues. "For my next scoop, I'll be taking you to meet the girl who's been hiding behind the Ladybug mask!" The Akuma promises, flicking a stop button to the principal, freezing him in place. "Stay connected." She signs off, and the video disappears.
"I think the Akuma is Alya, she runs the Ladyblog." I explain, mentally patting myself on the back for mixing a truth and a lie so flawlessly.
Ladybug nods. "You're right, but where would she be right now?"
I let out a hum. "The livestream said she will be unmasking Ladybug…" I think for a second before snapping my fingers. "I got it! She's probably going after Chloé Bourgeois."
Instead of being suspicious at how I know that, Ladybug joins me in my revelation instead. "Of course! Let's go."
Following Ladybug leap from rooftop to rooftop, we eventually arrive at Le Grand Paris, one of the most luxurious hotels in Paris. Chat Noir is already perched on a nearby rooftop.
"Shhh." Ladybug shushes me as she slowly creeps up toward Chat, normally I would be joining right along with her but I'm still in that precarious situation I put myself in between Chat and I.
The blond hero, not realizing that we're here, is looking at his staff's screen intently. "What? This can't be!"
"Who's being a sneaky kitty now?" Ladybug interrupts, standing right beside him.
Chat jumps, looking at Ladybug. "Oh, Ladybug. But-"
"Come on, you don't actually believe she's the real Ladybug." Ladybug teases, pulling out her yo-yo and flipping the screen on and giggling. "Faon, you have to see this." I wince at her calling for me.
Chat visibly tenses up before looking back at me and I give him a weak wave. He turns back to Ladybug. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He sighs, before standing up and walking towards me.
"Hey Faon." Chat greets, smiling sadly, and something in me breaks a little at him finally calling me by my name now, of all times…
"Hey Chat, um…" I look around for something to distract him with, maybe the Akuma will attack us out of nowhere, that'll be great.
The two of us stand around awkwardly for nearly a minute, Ladybug stuck with monitoring Chloe's room for signs of danger.
I sigh, this is getting us nowhere, might as well just get it over with.
"Chat listen-"
"Faon I-"
The both of us stop and look away, feeling the blush slowly starting to take over my face.
"Sorry, you can go first." I hear Chat say, okay, I can do this.
I take another deep breath, willing my blush to go down. "Chat… I'm sorry." Watching as Chat's face immediately snaps towards me, I continue on. "I'm sorry that the last time we talk I got a little bit too… personal, I shouldn't have offended you like that, and I'm sorry if you felt like you were being guilt-tripped, it wasn't my intention…" I explain, the last part only occurring to me now, which makes me feel even worse.
"Faon, no, you didn't offend me." Chat assures gently. "You don't have to apologize either, if anything I should be the one apologizing." He takes a seat next to me, patting the empty space beside him, I slowly sit down next to him as he continues. "I didn't realize that I was doing all those things you said, I guess my jealousy got in the way."
That got my attention. "Jealousy? Over what?" I ask, confused. Chat simply looks towards Ladybug and I widen my eyes in realization. "Oh! So the flirting wasn't just for fun? I thought you were playing the part..." I mumble, feeling a blush creep up my face again when Chat looks confused. "You know! Like, the flirty superhero! It's a classic archetype in movies, or comics." Noticing the blond's confusion slowly growing, I panic a little. "I-I mean, you don't have to worry about that, I'm not interested in Ladybug."
Chat looks a little relieved, but still suspicious. "Really?" He asks.
I take a deep breath. "Yeah, really, I umm… I don't really like girls, like that, anyways… it's umm…" I cringe, first time coming out and it's a C minus at best.
Chat looks surprised at what I said anyways. "Oh! That's cool, now I kind of look even more like a jerk don't I." He says, prompting a small laugh out of me.
"A little." I say, laughing again at his pout, which makes him smirk a little.
"So… we're good?" Chat ask, reaching out a hand.
I pretend to think for a while, not that I needed to, I was never mad at him in the first place. "Yeah, we're good." Grabbing his hand and giving him a shake, I smile at him as he looks caught off guard for a second before blushing, pulling his hand away from mine.
After that the Ladybug, Chat and I take turns watching Chloe's room for Akuma activities, talking about nothing really personal since Ladybug isn't really a fan of sharing details like that readily.
"We got WiFi!" Ladybug finally shouts, the sun already starting to set as the three of us jump off the building, heading towards the hotel room with haste.
Suddenly Lady Wifi's face appears on all the screens on the buildings. "Everyone thinks the girl beneath the Ladybug costume is a little angel. Think again, people! The real Ladybug is... Chloé Bourgeois, everyone!" the Akuma declares, peeling off Chloe's Ladybug mask, seconds after, the three of us break into the room, surprising the Akuma.
"Who are you?" She asks. The three of us look at each other for a second before Chat and I start making funny poses besides Ladybug, the superheroine rolling her eyes.
Alya looks frustratedly at Chloe. "But I thought you were Ladybug!"
"Sorry to bust your news story." Chat provokes.
I nod, "Yeah, didn't you learn not to always trust info from the internet?"
The Akuma shakes her head. "You'll be sorry." She growls before swiping at her phone, immediately Chloe reanimates, running and tripping into the corner of the room.
"Alya?" Ladybug asks worriedly.
"Alya's been disconnected. I'm Lady Wifi! News flash! Ladybug, let's find out who you really are." She declares, launching pause buttons towards Ladybug.
"Follow me!" The superheroine orders, dodging all of the Akuma's shots before diving towards the door, Chat Noir and I right behind her, sharply turning towards the stairs, a pause button barely missing me as it hits the elevator.
"What's the plan?" I ask Ladybug as we start running down the many… many staircases.
"She gets her powers from her phone, so let's lead her to the basement, where there is no service!" Ladybug replies, stopping to let the rest of us pass and providing lookout.
"No service, no power. Nice one, milady!" Chat says as he slides past her with me on his tail.
Ladybug looks up for a second before dodging out of the way of another pause button. "We've gotta go lower!"
Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, the three of us assume our defensive stances.
"Get ready." Ladybug commands.
"So, what do you do when you're not Ladybug?"
Both Ladybug and I look at Chat with befuddled expressions, although Ladybug was more exasperated than me, pinching her forehead. "Can't you see we're a little bit busy right now?"
Snickering, I lean on my blowgun with both my hands, staring at Chat playfully. "What about you Chat Noir? Do anything in your free time?"
Chat smiles brightly at me "A cat like me enjoys the finer things in life, long walks on the beach followed by a nap by the fireplace, what about you?"
Before I can respond, Ladybug shushes us again, looking at the both of us exasperatedly. "She's gone back into the hotel, come on!"
As we run up the hotel again, all the doors we see so far have been locked by Lady Wifi.
"Hey, you realize we might actually know each other in real life." Chat suggests
"Doubt it." Ladybug says simply.
I however felt a small sense of dread at his words. "Hopefully, we don't." I reply, I don't want anyone to know that Faon Vert's real identity can barely leave his house without breaking down.
Chat looks like he has more to say about that, but thankfully the next door in our path is unlocked.
"Get ready for an ambush on three!" Ladybug warns, all of us reeling back to prepare ourselves. "1,2,3!"
Bursting into what seems to be a restaurant, a bunch of tables side by side and no one in sight, which is very fortunate.
"So much for an ambush." Chat Noir sighs.
"Follow me." Ladybug orders, leading us towards the tables. "Where is she hiding? And what's up with all these phones?"
As soon as she said that, a pink light burst out from one of the phones near us, Lady Wifi materializing, letting out a laugh before firing at us.
"I thought! She wanted to! Get Ladybug!" I shout, wildly dodging around before accidentally stumbling into a table. Lady Wifi, taking advantage of this, fires a button at me, I quickly use my blowgun to lift up one of the tables to block the attack, barely managing to do so, but the force of the shot sends me crashing into the kitchen.
"Faon!" I hear Chat shout from the restaurant.
"I'm okay!" I yell, just in case the blond wants to chase after me for whatever reason.
"You can't get me!" I hear the Akuma shouts, and not long after, she runs into the kitchen, Ladybug hot on her trail.
Quickly Lady Wifi turns around and fires a shot, it shoots right past Ladybug and hits the door, locking it shut.
"Hold on in there Faon, Ladybug!" Chat shouts from behind the door.
Ladybug lands beside me. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, let's do this." I insist, grabbing a nearby pot and flinging it towards Wifi, who phases through it like it's nothing.
It went on like this for a while, Ladybug trying to get close enough to attack her while I pelt her with any pots and pans that I could find. In the end both Ladybug and I saw the perfect opportunity, leaping towards the Akuma at the same time, but she immediately phased out, the both of us diving past each other as I slam onto the floor and Ladybug into the wall, cornering herself in the kitchen. Before I could get up, I felt lock buttons hit both of my hands, pining me to the floor face down. Ladybug lets out a gasp, probably in the same predicament, even though I couldn't see them.
"Who is Ladybug? Is she a superhero or a super-weirdo? How can we trust the girl when we have no idea who she really is? We have the right to know!"
"Why would anyone care about our identities if we're saving people!" I yell, struggling against my binds.
There was a tense silence for a moment, before Wifi lets out a frustrated groan. "Why doesn't it come off!?"
"Uhhh, because it's magic?" Ladybug retorts, me still struggling against my binds.
"Hmmph, well second time's the charm." Is all I hear before the locks around my hands disappears, quickly spinning around, I yelp as Wifi sits on my stomach, hands immediately grabbing my mask, yanking at it as hard as possible.
"Ow ow ow ow ow!" I whine pathetically as the mask stretches the skin around my face.
She doesn't seem to be stopping, pulling at my face harder and harder before out of the corner of my eye I see the service elevator open next to me, Chat Noir hangs out of it.
"You're out of minutes Lady WiFi!"
Wifi looks at Chat and rolls her eyes. "Aww, how romantic. Tomcat's come to save his love bug."
Ladybug scoffs, "I am not his love bug!"
"And me too, I'm still here." I whine again, looking at Chat with pleading eyes. Chat does a double take when he notices my current position, I feel my face grow red at the implications of the Akuma practically straddling me.
"Chat…?" I ask, embarrassed and confused at his hesitation. WiFi suddenly leaps away from me, aiming her phone at Chat's distracted form.
"Oh no you don't!" I yell, backflipping to stand in front of Chat, grabbing a nearby pot to defend against the attack, but the power of the shot ends up knocking both me and Chat Noir into the freezer before it slams shut.
"Today is just not my day…" I groan again as sit up, "Chat are you-"
"Faon don't look! Close your eyes!"
Immediately shutting my eyes as I stand up, prepared to fight with my eyes closed. "What! What happened!? Who's hurt?"
"My ring, I dropped it and detransformed."
"Oh…" I slowly feel my way to the wall and slam my forehead onto it, no Julian, if you don't want them to figure out who you are, you can't find out who they are, it's only fair.
"Ohh, it's so chilly in here." Another voice out of nowhere made me jump.
"Is, is that you're Kwami Chat?" I ask.
"Oh uh, yeah, Faon, meet Plagg."
I smile at the rushed introduction. "Heya Plagg." I said before a sudden shiver courses through me. "Chat, Plagg, you two are probably cold huh?"
"Oh uh, yeah I guess." Chat replies.
"Extremely." Plagg joins in as well.
"Okay then, hold on."
Pulling out my blowgun, someone suddenly kicks the door from the outside.
"I'll get you guys out of there!" Ladybug shouts from outside.
"Thank you!" I yell back, running possible options that my weapon can turn into.
"I got it." I mutter, holding my stick in one hand. "Sticks can act as torches, on fire. Mind's Eye." Suddenly my blowgun shortens to the length of a regular torch, a bright green fire glowing at the top, letting out a sigh of relief, I turn around from the wall, eyes still closed.
"Here Plagg, you can float near the fire if you want, Chat as well." Scratching my head, I hold my torch out into the center of the freezer, thinking about how dumb I would look if no one is near the fire at all.
"Mmm… So cozy, good thinking." Plagg compliments, making me smile lightly.
"Sooo… You're Ossi's fawn, right?" The Kwami asks.
I nod, smiling, although I'm still not sure if he's watching me.
"Well, when you see him again, tell him that he still owes me doubloons from the last time we met!"
I frown a little, tilting my head in confusion. "Doubloons… Like, pirates?"
"Gotcha! Gotcha!" Chat shouts, interrupting our conversation before shouting again "Claws Out!"
Feeling a bright light fade from the inside of my eye, I slowly open them to see Chat Noir shivering in his classic superhero outfit.
"Welcome back Kitten, want to cuddle near the fire?" I tease lightly, not bothering to wait for a response before pulling him closer.
I gulp nervously. "Here…" I say softly, passing the torch into his hand.
"Faon, your Miraculous." Chat exclaims, in awe as he holds onto it.
I smile faintly, crawling behind him and wrapping my arms around his shoulder, hugging him from behind like how the people do when cold in the movies. "Ossi says that I won't transform back as long as I give it to people I trust, and I trust you…" I whisper, feeling Chat shiver under me, probably still too cold.
The lock on the freezer door suddenly disappears, opening to reveal Ladybug, looking confused at our current position before correctly assuming that it's for the cold.
"You guys okay?" She asks worriedly, I give her a small smile and a shrug, Chat looks at her earring as it beeps.
"You both used your Miraculous, there's not much time left." He deduces, Ladybug and I nodding gravely, quickly helping Chat up, the three of us run towards the kitchen exit which also has a lock on it.
"Open the kitchen door!" Chat tells Ladybug, but she shakes her head.
"We can't, microwave's busted." She explains, looking at the camera symbol before whispering her plan to Chat and I.
"Got it." We both say as I grab one of the pots and climb to the camera, sticking a tongue out before covering it with the pot.
"I'll go jam the wi-fi antenna." Chat says, climbing back into the service elevator.
"Good luck." Ladybug wishes before pressing the button, sending Chat towards the highest floor, shortly after that, a huge cloud of smoke bursts out from the elevator.
Joining Ladybug by the door, we both wait in tense silence for Chat to succeed.
Ladybug's earring beeps again. "Hurry, Chat Noir…"
I give her a tight smile, deactivate my Miraculous as it reverts back to its original form. "He'll succeed, he always does." I say confidently, not even flinching when it beeps as well.
Suddenly the lock on the door disappears, along with the camera. Ladybug sends me a relieved look as the both of us charge out of the kitchen and towards the roof.
Bursting out of the roof door, the both of us see the Akuma pining Chat down on the floor, phone raised in the air, laughing haughtily.
Quickly Ladybug throws her yo-yo towards the Akuma, wrapping around her hand and pulling, dragging WiFi onto the floor, phone flying through the air. Bringing the blowgun to my mouth, I fire a shot, the bullet hitting the phone, cracking it, the Akuma flies out from it.
Letting out a sigh of relief as Ladybug purifies the Akuma, I walk over the Chat who is busy dusting himself off.
"Are you alright?" I ask, worried about not being there with him when fighting the Akuma, today's fight has been much more difficult than the previous times.
"I'm fine." Chat responds, face slowly growing red.
"Ladybug! Wow! Chat Noir and Faon Vert too!" The two of us turn to see Alya's normal excited look. "Can I get a quick interview? Just let me grab my phone!"
Planning to wait for the interview, my Miraculous beeps to remind me that I actually don't have much time left, Ladybug too.
Chat notices this as well, looking at us worriedly. "We gotta go, you guys only got a minute!"
Letting out a sad smile as I see Alya picking up her phone, the three of us run back into the hotel, quickly shutting the door behind us. At least she's safe.
Running into the lobby, Ladybug quickly calls dibs on the storage room, entering it and closing the door behind her, me trying to run past them, hoping to get on a rooftop or something to hide from everyone.
Chat however quickly grabs the door and my hand, Ladybug and I staring at him in surprise. "Stay! I won't tell anyone who you both are. Cat's honor." He lets go of my hand to place it on his chest, other hand raised as his ring beeps again.
Ladybug gives him a sad smile, "Nobody must know who we really are. Not even us." She says before going back into the room, closing the door behind her.
Chat lets out a sigh before turning to me instead. "What about you? Please." He begs, giving me the wounded kitten look that strongly resembles that one movie…
Resolution nearly crumbling, my miraculous beeps again before I realize that I literally have seconds before I turn back. "I'm- I'm sorry, but not now, not right now..." I say in a rush before taking off, not bothering to see if Chat is chasing me.
Immediately jumping on a nearby roof, my Miraculous finally runs out, detransforming me as Ossi flops pathetically on my head.
"Kid… Today was…" He groans as he flips over, I hum in agreement, giving him a few croutons I have stored in my pocket before slowly lying down on the roof, deep in thought.
"Are ya really gonna show him your real identity soon?" Ossi asks after inhaling a few of them.
"I… I don't know…" I sigh. I don't like disappointing Chat, but it feels like whatever I do in this situation he's going to end up disappointed anyways.
"Well, at times like these humans gotta either follow their brain, or their heart." Ossi says.
I chuckle. "How about… neither?" Laughing lightly at his indignant grumblings about 'not appreciating' his wisdom, I transform back into Faon again, heading back home to take a much deserved nap.
