The first thing Denise remembered was feeling weak and sick. Her stomach tumbled and turned as her abdominal muscles cramped. Simultaneously, two delicious, familiar scents lured her out of sleep. The torture of delicious food in front of her while she was sick was unbearable.
"Miraculous Ladybug!"
The wave of pink and red whisked by her and instantly the nausea and weakness were no more. Her mind cleared and she opened her eyes, certain her sclera were white, and rolled into a seated position. Ladybug and Cat Noir stood in front of her.
"Pound it!" they exclaimed as they bumped fists.
She turned her head to see lockers and coat racks. She had just run out of Guru Monde. Why was she sitting in the locker room at school?
And why did she smell Adrien and Marinette so strongly? Especially Marinette.
"How did I get here?" Denise asked. "What's going on?"
"You were akumatized by Hawk Moth," Ladybug explained. "It's okay. It's over now."
She had not even realized it had begun and she felt herself sicken again, this time out of understanding. A subsequent shock opened her nostrils as the scents connected with the people before her.
Ladybug and Cat Noir were her classmates.
"Your stomach's growling," Cat Noir teased.
"It's because the ladybugs took all the food you ate away," Ladybug explained, and Denise's eyes glazed over. She had eaten human food. At least she wouldn't have to vomit, but now she was feeling a little hungry. Cat Noir bent over to a croissant wrapped in a paper towel and picked it up.
"Is this the problem?" he asked.
"I wish I could eat that," Denise answered, "and be like you."
"You already are like us," Ladybug said as she bent down. "Is this how you feel all the time?"
Denise felt her tongue start to unfurl. This girl had a secret life she could not tell anyone. It would be so good to talk to a human who wore a mask.
But Denise couldn't trust her. Marinette was clever and she had a good heart which carried over to her heroism. All her goodness depended on her believing that Denise was human. Even if Ladybug didn't emit the same animosity that other so-called heroes did, she was a superhero and sworn to defend against all evil.
And being a ghoul was evil.
"Not all the time," Denise replied as she stood up. "Just when my allergies are acting up. I'm fine now. Thank you, Ladybug."
A combined series of beeps bristled Ladybug and Cat Noir. Cat Noir's ring displayed most of its markings, but Ladybug's earring only had one spot left.
"Time to cut and run," Cat Noir announced. "I have to watch my figure, so here you go, bugaboo." He tossed the croissant to Ladybug who caught it.
"Thank you," Denise said. The two superheroes ran away, but while Cat Noir vanished from her sight quickly, Ladybug paused in the middle running away and turned towards Denise.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Ladybug asked.
"I'll manage."
Ladybug finished running out of the locker room, leaving Denise alone. She stood up and started to exit but stopped.
She heard the pair approach before she saw them and steeled herself. Four feet approached her in a walk that sped into a troy. They belonged to a purple-haired man in a trenchcoat and the woman in a lab coat. Between the two of masked figures, the man carried a singular suitcase.
The two ran removed his mask and the woman did the same to reveal softened faces.
"Denise!" the man cried. The woman bent down and hugged Denise.
"My liebchen," the woman said, slipping into German. "I was so worried."
"What are you doing in hunting gear?" Denise asked in French. "Is this my fault? I'm sorry."
"I couldn't bear to lose anyone else," her mother replied in German.
"We both know what it was like to be your age," Mr. Homais replied in French. "That's why we've tried to protect you."
Mrs. Homais released her daughter and her opened up the suitcase. Each of the adults put their respective coats and masks inside it, then Mr. Homais sealed it with a click. Denise drew herself closer to towards them, seeking the safety of their parental security.
"I guess it's time to go home," Denise declared.
"Not yet," Mrs. Homais said, slipping back into French and regaining her authority. "There's something you know you need to do first. You promised your classmates a study session."
"But what if I compromised us?"
"Don't worry," Mr. Homais answered. "They'll just think the ordeal was one of those 'akumas' or whatever you call them. Anyone who followed you would be looking for a single girl, not an ordinary family like us walking down the street."
The three exited the school with genuine smiles of relief.
The whisper of a memory of tasting a macaron brushed the tongue of Denise then dispersed. People would always be tastier than the food they made.
Ladybug watched Cat Noir run away on the roof on all fours in leaps and bounds, and in a pink sparkle of energy she was Marinette again. Tikki reappeared. Marinette held up a macaron which the kwami nibbled on as she dove inside Marinette's purse. Marinette exited the front gate in quick, casual steps.
She crossed the street from the school and was at the side of the bakery. A garbage can with an antenna jutting out of it was in her path. She opened the can to throw the croissant away only for it to speak back to her.
"There you are, ghoul!"
The voice accosted her with a pair of intense purple eyes. A short, balding man jumped from inside the garbage can, then landed directly in front of her. He sported pinstripe suit and a dark earpiece. He pointed a blue and red ray gun at her that was almost half his size. She reflexively raised her arms.
"Excuse me?" Marinette asked.
"You just came from that school," he noted. "Cat Noir just left and so did Ladybug and her family. That means you're the ghoul."
"I'm sorry," she replied, "but you have me mistaken for someone else."
"You just threw away human food. If you're not a ghoul, prove it." She sweated as he thrust the gun in her face. "Eat something!"
Marinette slowly lowered her arms and opened her jacket, and reached inside it and grabbed a pink macaron. She took it and placed it in her mouth and slowly, but comfortably chewed as the short man stared at her mouth. She swallowed the bite after a few chews.
"How do I know that's not a monster macaron made of human eyeballs?" he asked.
"You can try one," she replied. She reached into her jacket again and handed him a macaron. He nibbled at the pastry and suppressed a smile with a shudder.
"Tastes...acceptable. I need to sample more to be certain. Where can I get these macarons?"
"Right here." Marinette pointed to the bakery behind her.
"The monster bakery!" His eyes railed in suspicion but he lowered his weapon. "The Bureau claimed this was a Code Butterfly, but there's known werewolf activity here."
He followed Marinette as she walked through the door to the storefront and scowled at every piece of pastry inside. Darting from display to display, he made his way to the cash register where a large figure beamed with glee.
"Hi," Tom said, "and welcome!"
"I would like three dozen macaroons." The short man slammed bills of currency on the counter.
"You came in just in time. We thought we were sold out but like magic some fresh ones just appeared." Sabine handed Tom three boxes, who then struggled to bend over the counter and reach down to the little man. "Here you go."
The man took the boxes and opened up the top one, only to shut it at the sound of another voice.
"Agent," called the earpiece, "there is a suspected creature sighting at a houseboat on the Seine."
"Copy," the shirt man answered. "These treats will suffice for a stake out. You have done your duty to keep Paris safe from monsters."
The doors slammed but the expression of bewilderment did not vanish from Marinette's face.
"Marinette," Sabine said, "I don't know how you managed to sneak out, but you definitely are bringing in the customers today. But this time go to your room and stay there."
Marinette climbed the stairs yet another time today, and peeked inside her pocket. Tikki matched her smile and nodded.
Denise entered Guru Monde one more time today than she expected. Her parents stood around the corner, giving the young ghoul her privacy and protecting themselves from the brunt of the smell. This part would be the hardest, looking the people in the eye that she had unwittingly hurt.
"Thanks for the notes," the short-haired blonde girl said to Denise as she walked past her out of the store. "See you in class tomorrow."
Denise looked around and although the café was as stinky as ever, there were still people inside it. One of the employees approached her. From her slightly different uniform and her name tag she was not a server.
"How may I help you?" the manager asked, taking the place of a member of the waiting staff.
"I'm sorry for all the damage I did," Denise said. "I won't come back here again, but I-" She was interrupted with a hand pressed gently but firmly on her shoulder. The disappointment on the manager's face was both patent and earnest.
"Why not?"
"I'm the one with the condition and I'm the one who became a supervillain. I shouldn't have put myself in that position to begin with."
"If we held everyone responsible for what they did when they were akumatized, we wouldn't have any customers." The manager rested her hand on Denise's shoulder. "You aren't to blame for what Hawk Moth did. If anything, we'd like to make it up to you."
"Me?"
"As a world-class café, we know how to accommodate certain special diets. Guru Monde was founded in the hopes of cultivating a cuisine for everyone. That's why it's called Guru Monde." She rolled the R slightly, enough that it almost sounded like an L.
"But there's a special tribute to home," she continued. "Would you like to give it a try?"
"Yes, please." Her stomach already began to turn at the thought of the drink, but she remained cautiously hopeful.
The cup was brought to her in less than a minute, full of hot, dark coffee. Unlike the iced coffee from before, this liquid was dark, concentrated, and roasted to perfection. She took the cup, blew gently into it, and sipped it.
The hot liquid was not bitter but soft, tasting exactly like its aroma. It was sweet, savory, and fuller than a black cup of coffee had any right to be. Were it not for its temperature, she would have swallowed it in one gulp.
It tasted just like the concentrated flesh of multiple people.
"We call it the Anteiku blend coffee for customers with certain dietary restrictions," the manager explained. "If you're feeling run down, stop by and ask for a cup! This one is on the house. Go over and join your friends."
Aurore, Mireille, and Jean waved at her from their table, topped with papers and nearly empty plates. There was an empty seat that Jean patted.
She grabbed the coffee cup and walked over the table, sitting next to her classmates.
"I'm surprised you want to sit with me," Denise said.
"We don't have to eat the same food in order to be friends," Aurore insisted.
"You don't understand. What if I end up eating you guys?"
All of them returned her remark with puzzled looks.
"Then we'll give you indigestion," Mireille teased. Denise laughed as did the group. Even if she had to lie, the bond she and her classmates shared was true.
And as she sipped her coffee, the food didn't smell quite as pungently as it did before.
Marinette pored through the Ladyblog updates for today, and her eyes started to strain from reading articles and videos. The warmth of panic faded into the coolness of solace as the various accounts of the day filled in what she had missed.
"Yeah," another voice blared from the monitor, "Chloé came in and was all like, 'I'm Chloé Bourgeois' and Denise ran away crying. Then she came back as supervillain that wanted to help us study and give us food. Then Ladybug and Cat Noir-"
Marinette paused the video and wiped her brow.
"Whew, that was close!" Marinette half-shouted, half-whispered. "I can't believe it but for once I'm grateful Chloé caused more trouble when I wasn't around."
"It worked itself out, Marinette," Tikki said as she soothingly snuggled next to her owner. "You just have to be more careful next time."
"But I still have to study for this test!"
Marinette folded her arms on her desk and rested her head on them. A noise from her phone perked Marinette up. She picked up the phone and saw the notification.
"You owe me...again!" read the text.
"Alya texted me and Adrien!" Marinette yelled excitedly. She looked at the pictures sent with the text. They were images of the session plans that Denise had drawn up.
Marinette grinned as she began to memorize the information. She had saved Denise, and now Denise had saved her from the wrath of Ms. Mendeleiev.
The lights of the Agreste mansion began to turn on one by one as the sun lowered, but Adrien gave little thought to the change in ambience. He fixated on the lit monitor and a video that played on it. Alya had written a blog post about the latest attack, but Adrien played the accompanying video accounts.
"Ladybug was there when Chloé confronted Denise," Adrien assumed. "Any of the classmates who were at the café could be Ladybug. That's why she smelled so familiar."
"Great detective work," Plagg dryly commented as he tossed a piece of cheese in the air and swallowed it.
"Alya just sent me and Marinette the same notes in a group text since neither of us made it to the study session," he explained. "I guess that's one name I can scratch off the list."
"You almost sound disappointed." Plagg flew beside him. "You know Camembert always cheers me up when I'm feeling down."
"I have to admit it's nice to be able to be hungry for food." He stepped away from his computer then walked back and fell on his bed, face up. "I had no idea that's what it was like to be hungry for things you can't eat. Being allergic to feathers doesn't seem all that bad in comparison."
"It wasn't that bad." Plagg hovered in the air. "At least if you were a ghoul then I wouldn't have to worry about you eating my Camembert."
"A ghoul?" Adrien asked as he sat straight up.
"Yeah," Plagg answered. "What did you think happened to you? I've had a few ghoul owners in the past. It just meant more cheese for me."
"Wait a minute. Ghouls are real?"
"As real as humans they eat."
"But why would Hawk Moth turn someone into a-?"
Adrien fell silent as he remembered Taste Taster's rant.
"Then that means that Denise must be a ghoul," he said in a half-whisper.
"You'd better not let your father know you're going to school with a ghoul," Plagg replied, "or else he'd really never let you out of the house."
Adrien barely heard the words, as the memory of his adventure smacked him. He felt that hunger for human flesh. He had even eaten flesh. If ghouls felt that way all the time, no wonder Denise got akumatized. Worse yet, if it happened again she would know his identity. He and Ladybug only won this time due to Taste Tester using her power on him and letting her desire overrule her objective. She wouldn't make those same mistakes again.
Then he and Ladybug would have find another way to deal with her if she had another bad day, he quickly assured himself.
His thoughts were pierced by a series of coughs. He turned to the door and Nathalie stood straight up, regaining her stoic composure. Plagg had ducked out of sight, so only the teenager met her gaze.
"Adrien," she announced, "your dinner will be served in a few minutes." She did not need to say what he already knew. He would be eating alone, again.
He did not care about the lack of company. For once he was just glad to be able to eat real food.
Sunsets and sunrises sandwiched the filling of the classrooms of Collège Françoise Dupont with nervous students and their subsequent sighs of relief. It was after another sunrise that nearly all of the students from Ms. Mendeleiev's class and those from Miss Bustier's class mingled in the locker room in jubilation. Near the center were Marinette and Denise. The two dark-haired girls were the unofficial centers of attention, although both seemed slightly uncomfortable with the focus.
"That test was easy as pie!" Mireille declared. "I got one hundred points."
"I got the bonus so I got one hundred and two points," replied Aurore with a competitive, friendly wink. "If I keep my grades up I can still be a weather girl and a student!"
"Even Mariette got a ninety-five and she wasn't part of the study session," Alya mentioned. "Since the notes were so organized I just sent them as a text."
"Ms. Mendeleiev was so ticked off because she thought she made the test too easy," Jean said.
"Thank you, Marinette, for the idea," Aurore said. "And thank you, Denise, for your tutoring."
"I wanted to thank you, too, Marinette," Denise said, "for helping me out."
Marinette gulped.
"I did?" she asked, feigning ignorance.
"You helped me realize I could teach other people," Denise continued, "and you helped me connect with my classmates."
"Denise?" Alya asked, "what was your score?"
"I actually did worse." She lowered her head. "I got a ninety-four."
"That's still great," Marinette assured.
"Your performance is within a statistical margin of error," Max elaborated. "This is an expected variation well within your benchmark. In short, such a score renders it highly unlikely any cheating occurred."
"Hear that, Chloé!" Alix yelled across the hall to the rich girl and Sabrina, both wearing indignant visages.
"Ridiculous!" the blonde replied, storming off in her white pants with Sabrina following her.
"Maybe it's time for us to tutor you," Mireille joked to Denise.
"And we can be your friends on top of being study buddies," Aurore added, "if you want."
"Besides, we need you to help crush more tests," Jean remarked. "It's going to be a long term with Ms. Mendeleiev busting our chops."
Denise smiled at Marinette who smiled back. For an instant both of them imagined the other with the shades of red that they had seen each other sport, but the crimson memory was forgotten with the sound of shared laughter.