Hello! Sorry for the long-ish wait, but I've finally finished Chapter 5!

This chapter is part of my Valentine's Day Fic Bomb-my stories The Disposables and The Living Nightmare are also getting updated tonight as well! I might also do a President's Day Drabble Drop, if I get enough finished in time.

This chapter was beta-ed by Flautist4ever on Tumblr! Thanks so much!

With that, I'll leave you to reading! I hope you enjoy it!

~anipwrites

When he came back from lunch break, Chloe didn't dare even look at him. Kim gave him a friendly (but painful) slap on the back and a congratulatory 'My man!' Rose and Juleka snickered quietly, and everyone else was trying to keep a straight face lest they burst out laughing in the lesson that was soon to start. Lila offered him a high-five under their desk.

He took it.

Class went by fairly quickly. And when the day ended and the class headed out the school, Chloe didn't even dare try to approach him.

He could get used to this.

Flute lessons weren't necessarily bad. Rose clearly knew what she was doing, and was good at it. The problem was, Nathanael wasn't. Granted, it was his first time picking up a flute ever, so he was still working on the basics - how to blow into it properly and hold it and clean it and store it - but it felt like he was going too slow. That clown akuma - if it was an akuma - was still at large, and if he was going to be a hero, he needed to be able to help Ladybug and Chat Noir defeat him.

On his way home, flute case in hand, he tugged off his beanie and looked at the little fox kwami inside. "Hey, Trixx?"

"Yes, Nathanael?"

"When Chloe pulled my hat off… where did you go?"

"I felt her coming closer and figured out what she was going to do, and I grabbed on to the inside of the hat." Trixx beamed up at him with a sharp-toothed grin.

"So, if she had actually looked inside the hat, then what would you have done?"

"Hm… well, I don't know. The important thing is that, she didn't, and no one else knows of my existence."

"Alright," he opened the door to his apartment and slung his bookbag off his shoulder and halfway across the room. He plopped down on the couch with a sigh, letting himself relax as the weight of his school life and social interactions melted off his shoulders.

"Um… weren't you meeting up with Alix today for that project?" Trixx asked, floating in front of his face. His eyes blew wide and he shot up off the couch.

"Well, fuck!" he jumped up and grabbed his bookbag and his hat again.

"Nathanael!"

"Sorry, I meant frick!" he kept forgetting his kwami didn't like curses - why didn't she? Oh well, wasn't his place to be nosy. He quickly scooped the miniature flying fox out of the air and put his hat on before rushing out the door. If he didn't want to be late, he'd have to run probably.

He had to duck and weave between a few tourist groups to make it, but he managed to get to the library at a decent time. Alix was already there, frowning at a notebook. He slid into the seat beside her and opened up his bookbag.

"Hey, tomato boy." Alix nodded a greeting.

"Hey, cotton candy girl."

"Don't call me cotton candy girl."

"Don't call me tomato boy."

"...fair enough. Did you actually read anything, because I sure as hell didn't."

"Oh, thank god, I thought I was the only one. I figured I was just going to check out the audiobook and listen to that over the weekend."

"Sounds like a pretty good plan to me!" Alix grinned. She cast a glance over at his bag. "So… is your sketchbook in there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you have that comic?" Nathanael sighed and pulled out his sketchbook, flipping to the page where the comic of his experience as an akuma started. Rose and Juleka were the first ones to see it, but Kim heard about it somehow and word spread and next thing he knew, everyone in class wanted to see his comic.

He watched Alix's face, already knowing the routine of someone reading it for the first time. Her eyes widened and her eyebrows furrowed and arched on cue. When she had finished the comic, she turned to look at him, eyes wide like dinner plates.

"You drew this? With no outside help?"

"Yes, I did." he ran a hand through his hair. He knew the routine, he knew what was bound to happen next.

"And you remembered all this shit? Didn't make a single thing up?"

"Yes, I did. All true to facts, every detail as exact as I remember."

"You sure this wasn't a dream or something you had afterwards?"

"Yes, I am. Marinette saw it and said the date was exact, down to the letter."

"And you did all of this, what, two weeks after you were akumatized?"

"Yes, I did."

"That's fucking weird, man! How do you remember all of…. All of that?!" she desperately gestured to the open book on the table in front of them. "I don't remember jack shit from when I was akumatied, and apparently I split in fucking two!"

"I'm aware that it's strange, I've been told so several - "

"That's, like, freaky fucking weird! I mean - " she gestured at the book a few more times. "What?!"

"Don't yell, we're in a library."

"You remember every detail from being fucking akumatized, and you somehow don't expect me to freak out?!"

"I know it's weird, but you could be more quiet about it."

Alix gestured frustratedly at the book for a few more minutes before finally resigning. "I just - Max doesn't even remember anything, and Max is Max, he remembers everything! How do you remember?!"

"I… don't know what was different for me. Maybe it's because he hurt my hand?" he looked down at his left hand, which was gripping a pencil. "Sometimes, when other akumas are sent out, it starts hurting again."

"He hurt you hand? Hawkmoth?" Alix gaped, eating up every bit of his story.

"Yeah, in the comic? He was mad because I wasn't going after the miraculouses, and threatened to take my powers, and then my hand just…" he shrugged, setting the pencil down.

Alix looked down pensively. "...well, I get the feeling that something great is about to happen."

"You think so? Like what?" he sat up a bit, his interest piqued. Alix wasn't always introspective or anything, but when she was… it was pretty close.

"I dunno. Just… something that'll bring the city a few steps closer to bring down Hawkmoth. I mean… I dunno. I probably sound stupid, Kim always says I sound stupid when I say stuff like that."

"No, no… I think you're right. It's been a long time, they'll find an advantage sooner or later."

Alix nodded, looking out the window a moment before turning back to the sketchbook. "This is pretty rad though, how you remember. And the drawings too, but your drawings are always wicked cool."

"Oh, um, thanks!" Nathanael couldn't help but blush a bit at the compliment.

"Anytime. So, let's meet up in, I dunno, three days cool with you?"

"Sounds perfect. Then we can finish the report before it's due next Friday!" the two fistbumped. Alix raised an eyebrow and they both said "Bien joue!" before devolving into a fit of giggles. Eventually, she stood and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"See you at school. Also? Keep throwing shade at Chloe, the class is loving it."

"I'll keep it in mind." he grinned as he put his sketchbook back in his bag. They checked out the audiobooks and walked to the door together before splitting their separate ways with a final wave goodbye.

As he walked back home, Trixx darted out from under his hat. "So, are we gonna transform now?"

"Eh…. maybe later. I'm tired, and we should probably wait until it gets darker. Fewer people will see, less people will see me and accuse me of being another Fox akuma."

"Sounds fair! What are we gonna do until then!"

"I dunno, probably take a nap or - " as he turned the corner, he saw another clown - this one shorter than the one he'd seen what felt like ages ago - luring over a few kids from the playground nearby. Trixx squeaked and dove back under the hat. If that news report from a few days ago was right, the clowns were tied to the disappearances of kids all over town. If he didn't do something, these kids would end up in the same situation. But he couldn't just transform now, what could he do to stop it?

He saw a rock a few feet away. It would have to do.

The kids were halfway across the street when he picked up the rock and threw it. It hit the small clown right in the head, making it turn his way with an accusatory glare. Focus gone, it lost its hold on the kids and they quickly ran off.

But now Nathanael was getting dizzy. His feet here beginning to move without his permission, and his thoughts were getting foggy, maybe he should just let the clown take him to its leader, get to the bottom of this mess -

"Nathanael, don't!" his kwami hissed, tugging his hair hard. He reached a hand up to soothe the pain and found himself closer to the clown than he would ever really want to be. The small trickster tried to grab him, but he jumped out of the way and ran down the street to his house.

He didn't stop running until he'd gotten home, and didn't even think about relaxing until he'd locked all the doors and windows. His fingers were trembling when he called the police station to file another clown sighting report, and he felt his breath shaking as he spoke. The officer thanked him for saving the kids, and urged him to get a drink of water and get some rest for the day. He promised to oblige once he hung up.

"So, when should I wake you?"

"Huh… around 7." he sighed as he filled a glass with water and took a few sips. The water felt cold in his belly, sending a calming chill through his veins. His breathing began to relax a bit. "Yeah, I think that's sunset. Get me around sunset."

"Alright! Go get some rest!"

"Okay, okay, I am, I am." he raised a hand in mock-surrender before heading into his room. He put his glass on the nightstand and laid in bed patiently until sleep overtook his senses.

Sorry, this chapter was kind of short. The next chapter will probably be longer, and Nathanael transforms for the first time!

For those who may be interested, I do art streams on Twitch usually at least once a week, on the weekends. If you want to hop in, they usually start around 6:30-7:30, and I'll be painting a drawing I did of Nathanael's Vulpes costume! My username is anipwrites there.

Follow Flautist4ever at flautist4ever. tumblr. com

Happy Valentines Day! I hope you have a good day, and I'll see you next update!