Marinette wasn't sure what the text meant, but she immediately tensed up. The only 'work' Adrien could mean was superhero work, obviously. Was there another akuma already? Why didn't he just tell me where it is then? Whatever it was, it must've been important. She texted him back, 'Meet me on the school in 10 mins' before heading downstairs.

Since her parents saw her come in, she couldn't just vanish without warning. They would get worried if they came upstairs and she wasn't there. When she got back downstairs, she found they were still working together in the bakery, though her mom was just coming out.

"Hey, mom," Marinette tried sounding cheerful, though she felt nervous, "I'm going out for a bit of fresh air. I'll be back soon."

"All right," her mother looked worried, but didn't protest as Marinette left.

As soon as she was outside, Marinette started walking up the line of apartments, looking around in case anyone could see her. Standing behind a pillar where she was hidden from view from the nearest pedestrians, she quietly declared, "Spots on."

Tikki flew to her earrings, granting them her power. A familiar wave of warm energy washed through her as she was granted the powers of creation. At this point, the transformation was so casual to her she barely appreciated it, but the strength and confidence that came with it was truly miraculous.

Ladybug jumped out from behind the pillar, quickly pulling herself up to the roof, then leaping across to the roof of the school. Adrien lived close by, but she didn't know how long it would take him to get away from home.

How does he get away? Ladybug wondered, His father is super-protective of him. For the first time, she realized that he probably snuck out of home most of the time. The guise of Cat Noir was probably the only time he could get out of the house unsupervised. As she realized that, she finally started to understand his behavior a little better.

Before she could ponder it for long, the black-clad, leather-bound figure of Cat Noir landed on the roof not far from her. Apparently he was able to get out quickly.

"Well?" Ladybug asked as she walked up to him, arms crossed, "What was so important?" She didn't mean to come across as unkind, though she realized that's probably how she sounded. It had barely been a few hours since she discovered his identity and she still wasn't done digesting it.

"It's…" Cat Noir started slowly, his deep, green eyes betraying an intense sorrow, so strong that it shook Ladybug when she saw it, "It's about Nathalie."

"Nathalie?" Ladybug wondered. she looked at Cat Noir in confusion, but she seemed to be listening.

"Ok, this is going to sound weird," Cat Noir sighed, struggling to find the right way to say this, "but Nathalie's been getting really sick lately."

"Yeah, I think you mentioned it," Ladybug nodded, "On our…" she choked out the next couple words, "our date."

"Right," Cat Noir looked away in shame for a moment before resuming his explanation, "She never got better, but she's gotten worse. When I got home today, I saw she had gotten worse again."

"I still don't see what this has to do with us," Ladybug's tone turned impatient, frustrated. For a moment, Cat Noir wondered if he was wrong and should forget the whole thing, but he had to at least suggest the possibility. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him, and the more it frightened him.

"Like I said, this will sound weird, but," Cat Noir went on, "she got sick on Heroes' Day, then she got worse about a week ago, when Mayura showed up for the second time, then again today, when Mayura showed up again."

Ladybug's eyes went wide as she started to grasp what he was insinuating. He could almost see the gears in her head turning as she processed this new information, trying to make sense of it. Her arms were still crossed, but they loosened a bit as she thought about it.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked, sounding uncertain.

"I think there may be a connection," Cat Noir looked to her expectantly, as if hoping for some confirmation of his suspicions, "I think… she may be Mayura."