Author's Note: I was inspired to write this after watching 'Miraculous World: New York, United Heroez' I felt like Chat Noir always gets the short end of the stick and wanted to explore that. This story is totally independent of the special so there's no worry about spoilers. I hope you enjoy.


Chapter One

There were times when Adrien wondered how it was possible that he'd never been akumatised. He was often resentful to his father's strict demands, gritting his teeth to the point where he was sure he'd crack a molar. Then there were the times when he was so emotionally troubled as Chat Noir, particularly when he thought he'd either let down Ladybug or she'd lashed out at him verbally without listening to his reasons. Sometimes he was utterly sure he would see a purple butterfly fluttering towards him and yet it had never happened.

Perhaps it was because Hawkmoth was lazy and simply re-akumatised the same people over and over again. Heaven knew, Chat Noir was sick to death of fighting Mr Pigeon. The sinus headaches from all those damn feathers was annoying enough, let alone all the uncreative pigeon puns from their foe.

But right now, as Chat Noir vaulted through his open window he harboured an emotion he'd held at bay for a long time. Resignation. The rose-tinted glasses had been knocked off his face and shattered at his feet. His tolerance of Ladybug's jibes at his faults had become too much for him to bounce back from and his heart couldn't take it anymore.

Sure, he might have come across as cocksure and egotistical at times, but not once had he torn Ladybug down for her mistakes. He always dragged her back to her feet and boosted her confidence so they could go on as Paris' super hero duo. Alas, that was not what she returned in kind. At least not until she cooled off enough to realise how much she'd hurt him. Even then Chat Noir had to wonder if she had any idea how deep his emotional wounds sank.

With a sigh, Chat hooked his baton at his back and dropped his transformation as his shoulders sagged. With his chin dipped towards his chest and his blonde fringe hanging down passed his eyes he didn't notice Plagg hovering before him. Adrien simply expected his kwami to dive headlong into the cheese cupboard.

The concern in Plagg's voice was said in one word, "Adrien?"

Defeated green eyes lifted to the tiny floating cat. "Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"No, Plagg. I'm not. Not this time."

"But you always bounce back from Ladybug's rants. As usual she realised she'd been overly harsh and said sorry. Heck, she even hugged you and told you how important you are to her."

The blonde let out a snort. "Yeah, but it means little when nothing changes, like from my ice-cold father. Adrien, you disappoint me. Chat Noir, I can't trust you." He mimicked first Gabriel and then Ladybug. "Am I good enough to no one? Doesn't anyone realise that you can only kick a dog so many times before it bites back?"

Plagg cleared his throat and pointed a paw at Adrien, "You're a cat not a dog."

"It was a metaphor, Plagg." Shaking his head, the blonde raked a hand through his hair before dropping it to his side. "I'm a forgiving person by nature, heck I'm a freaking doormat to those I care about. And while I still care about Ladybug, I feel like the part of me that loved her died tonight. I could practically feel the decayed layer of my heart sloughing away."

Concern knit Plagg's brow. "But she apologised. You hugged. All should be well."

"And before that she cut me down to my knees. Told me she couldn't trust me because I didn't do as I said I would. She didn't give me a chance to explain why because I was stumbling over my words while trying to plausibly come up with an excuse that didn't blurt out my true identity. Which only convinced her of my supposed betrayal to her trust, and then I messed up due to my own self-doubt. Which only gave her more ammunition to berate me further."

"But she said she was sorry and tried to make amends."

Adrien's eyebrows sank heavily as he looked over to his kwami. "Sometimes words aren't enough. While I forgive her, and know that I'm far from perfect, I just wish she could understand how low she makes me feel when she says such things."

"Then tell her."

The model let out a mirthless laugh. "Oh right, like she'd take me seriously. All I'd get in response is: Chin up, Chat Noir."

"You don't know that until you talk to her."

Letting out a huff, Adrien sat on his bed and rubbed his hands over his knees. "True, I suppose I can talk to her next patrol."

"It'll do you a world of good."

Yet something fundamental had changed deep within the boy's psyche. Unrequited love could never thrive and grow, such affection needed to be returned and Chat Noir had finally concluded that Ladybug would never reciprocate the depth of his feelings. It was time to move on.


The magnitude of Adrien's inner despair was invisible to the rest of the world. He was so used to plastering on a mask of faux emotions that nobody appeared to notice his melancholy mood. He smiled and greeted his peers. Laughed and sympathised at the appropriate times but inwardly he was numb.

Only in music class did his playing match his mood, using the piano keyboard to express his woe. Periodically, Adrien looked to the windows expecting a dark butterfly to be heading his way but nothing happened. With pursed lips, the model wondered why. So many of his classmates had been akumatised, so why not him? Internally he rattled off each of his peers and the akumas they'd been transformed into. Only then did he realise that neither himself nor Marinette had ever been touched by Hawkmoth's magic.

Green eyes narrowed and his fingers stilled on the keys. Why had they evaded akumatisation? Marinette was an emotional person, heck the girl wore her heart on her sleeve. There was one occasion he could recall when she'd almost been akumatised, yet Miss Bustier had been corrupted by the vile magic instead.

Which meant that Marinette wasn't beyond Hawkmoth's sinister gaze, she'd just managed to avoid akumatisation. So where did that leave him? Why did Hawkmoth avoid Adrien Agreste? Was it due to his fame? The blonde internally shook his head, that hadn't stopped Hawkmoth in the cases of Nadja Chamack, Jagged Stone or XY, nor a handful of other celebrities.

But before Adrien could probe further into that question, the bell rang and a hand landed on his shoulder. Startled, the model turned to find Juleka looking at him with concern.

"Are you alright?" she murmured.

It was then that Adrien realised that he must have been sitting silent at the keyboard for too long. "Just lost in my thoughts."

Juleka nodded and her long hair fell across her nose, covering more than the usual half of her face. Gently, Adrien caught the curtain of her straight hair and tucked the purple tips behind her ear. There was always a lingering sadness to this girl. Some inner pain she never disclosed. Perhaps it was just introverted shyness, or maybe it was something far darker. Adrien suspected that he'd never know. Yet he found himself asking, "Are you okay?"

One corner of Juleka's lips turned upward. "Yeah, but I know what it's like to get lost in your own head."

Adrien found himself returning her crooked smile. "Thanks for bringing me back to reality."

"Don't thank me yet, we've got physics next."

He chuckled at that. "It might be just the distraction I need."

She gave a nod of affirmation and headed to the door, glancing to her right before looking back at him with touch of slyness that had his eyebrows lifting. What was that girl up to?


Who could Juleka have spied in the hallway, and what could she be plotting? Find out next chapter.

Thanks for reading. If you leave a review, please be kind as my motivation has been 'meh' of late, so any encouragement is appreciated. Cheers :)