"That doesn't make any sense," Ladybug said, but she was holding her chin in her hand thoughtfully as she considered the situation, "Why would using the miraculous make her sick?"

"I don't know," Cat Noir shook his head, "That's why I said it was weird, but it's too much of a coincidence."

"Yeah," Ladybug agreed, "This is definitely a lead we should investigate, but I think we're over our heads with this one. We should talk to Master Fu."

"Good idea," Cat Noir nodded, "but I can't go now. I need to get back before anyone realizes I'm missing."

"Right, me, too," Ladybug agreed, "How about tomorrow, at lunch?" Of course, I'll have to convince my girlfriends we're not kissing again…

"Sure," Cat Noir agreed, though his voice sounded far off. Ladybug had been too busy contemplating this revelation to really consider the look on Cat Noir's face as he provided it. Now she looked at him and saw the expression in his eyes. He looked hurt, betrayed, confused. She realized suddenly she had seen this look before, though last time it was more intense. It was the same look as when she suggested Gabriel Agreste as the identity of Hawk Moth. His father. That's why he was so upset! Now he himself was suggesting that his father's assistant might be in on it, and she could see how it pained him.

"Adrien," Ladybug placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to show sympathy, the name sounding odd when spoken to the visage of Cat Noir, "Are you all right? Do you want to talk about it?"

"N-No," he hesitated, "No, I'm fine. But… thank you." He pulled away from her, looking uncertain, and turned to leap away. "Until tomorrow, m'lady," he said with a little, half-hearted salute before jumping away.

For the first time, Ladybug realized that the loneliness she had always seen in Adrien's face was the same expression Cat Noir always wore on his. He joked around, but the humor was as much a mask as was the costume he wore, covering up just how sad and alone he truly was. As she watched her partner jump off, a tear rolled down Ladybug's cheek.

Cat Noir bounded away from the school, quickly coming to rest across from his bedroom window, but he hesitated before jumping over. He was not feeling in any rush to return home, not with his present suspicions.

He was half-hoping Ladybug would discount his suggestion as ridiculous. After all, since when do miraculous make people sick? That way he could put it from him mind and assume the people closest to him had nothing to do with the villain that regularly terrorized the city. Instead she agreed that his suspicions were valid, and it filled him with dread. If he was right, and Nathalie really was Mayura, then Hawk Moth could be…

Ladybug had suspected his father once, though her reasons seemed incidental at the time and he didn't want to accept it. Now he was giving serious thought to those suspicions, and everything else he'd learned since then. The only reason Ladybug dropped her accusation at the time was because his father had been akumatized. Now that they knew he had an accomplice, Mayura, it made sense that he would've given over the miraculous to her so he could be akumatized and throw suspicion off of him.

How could father do such a thing? he tried to convince himself, but his refusal to accept it felt hollow, just as it had last time. His father was a cold, calculating man, extremely controlling and accustomed to getting what he wanted. If he wanted the miraculous so badly, would he be willing to terrorize the city to do it? Cat Noir felt he knew the answer to that question.

What could he want the wish for? he found himself wondering as he became more convinced of the truth, He already has money, influence, fame… What else does he want? Can he really be that greedy? Cat Noir really didn't know his father as well as he would've liked, so he couldn't really answer this question. One thing was certain, though: Cat Noir was more alone than he ever had been before.