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Well Tough Shit for Him

Chat Noir shook his head, trying to comprehend what Ladybug had just said. "Half an hour?" he repeated. "How is that possible? What I saw only took-" He stopped himself. "I think I need to talk to the Guardian."

"I'll go with you," Carapace declared. "I need to return the bracelet, anyway."

Chat frowned, eyebrows furrowing together. "Don't you usually give your miraculous back to Ladybug?"

"Not this time." Carapace took a deep breath, a stern look still on his face. It looked so… wrong on him, so out of place. "I've only got a minute left. Let's go, dude."

"Carapace," Ladybug cut in, shooting him a glare.

Carapace let out a frustrated huff. "I figured out who he is, okay?" he said. "And he needs to know who I am for this conversation to work. I know we're not supposed to, but I've gotta. I'll get the bracelet back to the other guy while I'm at it."

"Am I missing something?"

"No."

"Yes."

Ladybug and Carapace glared at each other, and Chat wondered just what he had missed. "Ooookaaayyyy… we'd better get going so neither of you transform back in front of everyone."

Carapace nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "You know where we're going?"

"I do," Chat replied simply before jumping into the air. He landed on the rooftop and took off, expecting Carapace to keep up without issue.

They barely made it and touched down in the alley next to Master Fu's Massage Palace before Carapace transformed back into Nino Lahiffe.

Chat's jaw dropped at the sight of his friend, who seemed so incredibly out of place with a scowl on his face.

"C'mon, Adrien, let's talk to the guy before our lunch is up." Nino walked past Chat Noir and around the corner into the shop, leaving him to detransform with an awestruck look on his face.

Adrien turned to Plagg, trying to catch up with all that was happening. "Plagg, what was that?"

"Just go inside, kid," Plagg ordered, voice solemn and almost parent-like. Well, parent-like for a normal kid.

For a moment, Adrien considered arguing, demanding answers right then and there, but having both Plagg and Nino look so serious dissuaded him. Reluctantly, he headed into the shop, where he was met with a confused Master Fu and an irritated Nino.

"Okay, I'm really lost here," Adrien confessed. "What did that akuma do to me?"

"I'm not sure," Master Fu replied. "It's very rare for akumas to have more than one power, and unheard of for those powers to be unrelated to one another."

"Well it happened," Nino declared. "The question is why, and why did it only target Adrien?"

Master Fu shook his head. "I wish I could tell you, but I honestly don't know. You were right to bring this to my attention, though."

"We need to find out who Hawkmoth is. Now," Nino said, voice curt.

Adrien sighed, sure he knew why his friend was acting like this. "Nino, I know you're mad I didn't tell you-"

"I'm not mad about that," Nino interrupted. "I get that you couldn't tell me. I didn't exactly tell you who I am either. I'm mad because Hawkmoth is obviously targeting you."

"What? Why do you think he's targeting me?"

Nino let out a breath of a laugh. "You're kidding, right? Yesterday, an akuma attacked when you were coming back from the airport. Today, it attacked at lunch and did that weird thing to your eyes- twice! If Master Fu wasn't there to pass off the bracelet, I wouldn't have been able to use shelter, and you would've been killed. I'm freaking out, dude! I don't want to lose my best friend!"

Adrien sighed, the fear and worry fading from him. "You're not gonna lose me," he promised. "I'm sure it's just a coincidence, the past two akumas. If it happens again, then you can start worrying."

"Believe me, I will," Nino replied. "In fact, I'm still worrying now. Wayzz will agree with me. Right, Wayzz?" No response came. "Wayzz?"

Adrien looked around, realizing that he didn't see Plagg either. "Plagg?" he called out. "Plagg! This is not the time to be playing hide and seek!"

The two kwamis flew in from the adjoining room, solemn looks on their faces. Plagg recovered faster, pasting on an annoyed façade. "What? Am I not allowed to catch up with my brother?"

"Tell him the akuma making him space out is a bad sign," Nino demanded.

Plagg and Wayzz shared a look before turning back to the three holders. "It's nothing," they declared in unison.

"Nothing?" Nino parroted. "His eyes were blue! He lost half an hour! How is that 'nothing?'"

Wayzz sighed and flew over to Nino. "We'll keep an eye on it," he promised. "But for now, there's nothing that can be done. Worrying will only put yourself in a bad position."

"Besides, an akuma did that to me, so there's nothing to keep an eye on," Adrien added.

Wayzz turned back to Plagg, and again they spoke in unison. "Right."

Adrien gestured to the two, as if to say 'I told you so.'

Nino let out a frustrated huff. "Fine, but I'm watching out for when things go downhill."

"They won't, but feel free." He turned to leave, knowing Nino didn't plan to follow.

"You're right about this, kid, it's no big deal," Plagg assured him on the walk back to Le Grand Paris. They still hadn't eaten yet. "I don't know why your friend's getting his tail in a twist."

Adrien shook his head and sighed. "He's just worried," he replied. "I understand it, but he hasn't fought as many akumas as I have and isn't used to the whole thing. Especially not the part where I sometimes have to take the rough hits." He shrugged. "He'll get over it in a day or two."

Plagg flew back into his pocket as they neared a busy intersection, and Adrien tried to shake off the argument. It was his first real fight with Nino, and of course it had to be over superhero stuff. As much as he loved being Chat Noir, that was the one part he worried about: getting his friends too wrapped up in it.

By the time Adrien got back to Le Grand Paris, his lunch break was nearly over. Chloé, Alya, and Marinette sat around a table together, actually seeming to get along for once. Or at least, something had brought them together long enough not to kill each other.

Marinette glanced up, her eyes catching Adrien, and she smiled as a weight appeared to lift from her shoulders. She pointed him out to the other two, and they spun to look at him.

"Hey, guys," he greeted them. "What's going on?"

"What's going on?" Alya parroted. "We were worried sick and about you and Nino! Where have you been?"

Adrien shrugged. "Ran from the akuma," he explained with a wave of his hand. "Nino's fine; he and I got in a fight, so I doubt he really wants to be around me right now."

Chloé scoffed and leaned back in her chair. "Well tough shit for him; you two share a desk." She gestured to a couple of sandwiches wrapped in plastic on the table. "One of those is for you, by the way."

"Once we realized you wouldn't be back in time for a real lunch, we asked my mom to make these," Alya added in.

A smile worked its way onto Adrien's face. It was good to know that even when he was fighting with Nino, he still had friends he could count on. "Thanks," he said, sitting down and diving into his sandwich. If he tried to save it until they were back in class, Plagg was sure to go after it.

"So what was the fight about?"

"Chloé!"

"What? Chloé asked, turning to Alya. "Don't tell me you're not curious, too."

Marinette cringed. "Maybe you could have been a bit more tactful," she suggested.

Chloé rolled her eyes. "Like he wouldn't have seen right though that, right Adrikins?" She looked at him.

Adrien could only sigh and sit back in his chair. "She's right… I think. Maybe." He shook his head, willing his confusion away. "It wasn't important. Just… stupid stuff. He'll be over it in a few days."

"If you're sure…" Alya replied hesitantly, giving Adrien a skeptical look. "If my man comes at me crying cause he thinks your friendship is over, I'm gonna be out for blood."

A laugh bubbled up from Adrien. "If anything, he's gonna be out for my blood, so I wouldn't worry about it." He took another large bite of his sandwich, hoping he'd be able to finish it in time.

"You still coming over to my place this afternoon?" Chloé asked. "Your dad's still going to that stupid gala, so you should be able to sneak out, right?"

Adrien nodded, still chewing his food. He covered his mouth to speak. "Your turn to pick the movie, yeah?"

Chloé nodded.

Alya raised an eyebrow, but it was Marinette who spoke up. "You two have movie nights?"

"Of course," Chloé replied dismissively. "Whenever our parents are both doing some dumb corporate thing, we sneak over into each other's rooms and watch movies."

"We've been doing this since we were seven," Adrien added after swallowing his bite.

Chloé glanced from Adrien to Marinette and Alya and back and forth again. Finally, she asked, "Do you guys want to come?"

Marinette's face went blank, and Alya looked at Chloé like she'd grown a second head. "You're inviting us? To your room?" Alya asked, looking her over skeptically. "Without any pushing from Adrien?"

Chloé just rolled her eyes. "I can be nice," she grumbled.

"This is weird." Alya looked to Adrien and Marinette for backup. "This is weird, right? She's been acting like this since Queen Wasp showed up; she didn't even yell at Alix or threaten to get her expelled after she made fun of her selfie collage."

Marinette cringed and muttered something that sounded like "I knew I shouldn't have told you that."

"People change, Alya," Adrien said dismissively. He and Ladybug had done their best to keep Chloé's identity from getting out but there were still a few fuzzy news shots of Chat Noir carrying a blonde girl in yellow and white away from the site of Queen Wasp's defeat. If anyone thought too hard about it, it could spell bad news for Chloé and Pollen.

Chloé cleared her throat. "And thanks for talking about me like I'm not here," she added in.

This time, Alya winced, realizing she'd gone a bit too far. "Chloé, I'm sorry, it's just… you're not… you're kind of… abrasive."

"Subtle." Chloé let out a sigh. "The invite still stands; we start at 18h30. I'm going back to class." She got up and left the patio, leaving the three of them behind.

"She's learning, okay?" Adrien said firmly. "When I was alone, I had her, so she means a lot to me, and it means even more that she's trying to be a better person than her parents raised her to be."

Alya sighed and nodded. "I didn't mean to be so… like that," she said. "It just caught me off guard. The Chloé I know doesn't do kind, selfless gestures."

"She used to, and she's learning to again."

Both Adrien and Alya turned to Marinette with wide eyes. The last thing either of them expected was for her to go to bat for Chloé.

Marinette looked back and forth between the two, then curled in on herself a bit. "What? I've known Chloé since she was five, too. Don't think I haven't seen it."

Alya leaned in to mock-whisper to Adrien, "Call Brie Larson. I think Marinette's been replaced by a skrull."

"Ha, ha," Marinette said, giving Alya a light swat. "I think we should go- if that's okay with you, Adrien?"

Adrien just grinned. "I'd love it."