She took bright and early seriously. She showed up before Arnou even did. It just so happened that he decided to get up earlier than usual and head to the training hall.

She had ditched the cloak. She was wearing her hair in pigtails tied with two red ribbons. She was wearing a red tunic tied in at the waist with a string and a pair of black shirts that ended just above her knees. Unlike her, Plague wore his new jacket to the match.

"You're early."

"You said bright and early."

"Yes, but I also said an hour before sunrise. The sun rises at 6. It's barely 5," he said remembering how dark it was during his walk over.

"Well I'm here. Are you ready?" She retired her stance of standing akimbo against the wall to walk to the middle of the floor. Plague stayed in his spot against the wall next to the weapon's rack.

"What's your choice of weapon?"

"Sword." Plague pulled a sword from the wall for her and a spear from the bottom placement for himself.

"Interesting." Her eyes were calculating as she stared at the big spear in her hand as she came closer.

"What is?" He handed her the sword. She grabbed the handle and brandished the sword with a small flick of her wrist.

"Arnou says that you too have mostly trained using swords, so I thought the sword would be your go to weapon."

"I am comfortable with using a sword. It was the first weapon I was trained in."

"So you had a master?" He froze when she said that. He didn't mean to reveal that much. "Y-yes I did."

"That was a rather hesitant answer."

"I just don't like to talk about him often. Are you ready to start?" He quickly changed the subject and walked away to get into position on the other side of the mat before she could question him any further. Seeing that she wasn't going to get any more out of him, she followed suit.

They stared each other down opposite sides of the floor. Each was waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Heaviest weapon goes first," Ladybug teased.

"Wouldn't that be yours?" He asked back.

"Haha," She positioned her sword bown by her side, both hands on the handle, away from her body when she charged at him.

Her sword was aimed low so he expected her to go for his chest. He bought his lance up to black his chest, but then stepped back at the last minute to dodge the swipe at his knees..

She still pursued him, following his step back with a kick to his thigh and a shove to his chest with the butt of the sword. He avoided hitting the ground with a backflip. He landed in a crouch, but he stumbled from the stinging sensation in his thigh.

Ladybug was standing where he once was, her sword was pointed down towards the ground. "Is this you at your best? To be honest, I'm disappointed."

Plague huffed, "Just warming up."

"I hope so."

Plague pushed himself off of the ground. He checked his leg to make sure it wasn't sprained. When he knew his leg was okay he brought his spear back up. He brought his hand up and taunted her in a 'come here' motion. She came.

He stuck his own this time. They traded blows in the middle of the mat. When one was blown back they came back to the middle harder.

Eventually they received some company. Rena Rouge and Carapace lounged against the doorway to the old auditorium.

"Who's sparring?" The two turned around to see Viperion walking towards them.

"Hey newbie," Carapace greeted him. "Looks like Ladybug and Plague."

"Plague? You mean The Black Plague?" he asked. He too leaned against the door frame close to Carapace. "I thought that him being here was just a rumor."

"Nope. He's not really that social either though."

"He looks like a good fighter though."

"Sure looks like it. Not a lot of people are able to keep up with Ladybug when it comes to combat."

The two fighters were oblivious to the conversation commencing behind them. The score was officially 2 - 5, with Plague in the lead and Ladybug determined to top him.

In a clash with sword against spear, spear gained the upper hand and won the clash. He swiped his blade up, managing to nick Ladybug's sheek and push her back out of the middle of the mat. Much like Plague during the first round, Ladybug took a minute. She was catching her breath and collapsed back on her knees.

Plague himself was out of breath too.

"Tired yet?" Ladybug asked.

"Exhausted." Plague had no qualms about admitting it. He tipped his head back trying somehow to get more oxygen to come into his lungs. His hood fell down with the action. He felt it fall, but he didn't pay much mind to it since his mask was still in place over his eyes. "You do realize that I have to spar with someone else today, aren't you."

But he didn't get a response back.

Confused as to why it was so quiet, he looked back over at Ladybug. She looked a mix between mesmerized and shellshocked. Her eyes were wide and her mouth formed into an 'o' shape. "What?"

"You- you have blonde hair."

Suddenly he felt subconscious about his hair and resisted the urge to reach up and grab one of his bangs. "Yeah, what about it?"

Suddenly she became flustered and quickly hobbled to her feet. "Right you have another someone to teach don't you. I'll just be on my way then." She hurriedly picked up the training sword and put it back where it belonged and breezed past three posted outside the door. Rena chased after her.

'What's wrong with her?' Plague thought until he saw something weird on the mat where Ladybug once stood. He kneeled down to examine it.

'Is this blood? Why is it black?'

"You look tired. Were you sparring or something?" Arnou came through the other door with a dry towel tossed over his shoulder.

"Sparring? I guess you can call it that. Are you ready for today's lesson?"