The next day throughout my classes, I was much more collected and able to think straight. I could talk to Adrien like normal, smile like normal, and all in all had pushed the thought to the back of my mind with relative ease. Yeah, it still caused something like nerves to tug uncomfortably at my gut and heart whenever I looked at him and noticed the similarities, but it didn't affect my friendship with him. He was Adrien and Chat Noir. He was himself, and it wasn't like I wasn't doing the exact same thing. That thought calmed my nerves faster than I had expected.

"Hey, Jasper, when is your mom's exhibition?" Nathanael asked as we walked to English from another class. I thought for while, thinking of how many paintings my mom had finished and what she had left.

I shrugged lightly and flipped to a clean page in my notebook, writing my response. "Probably in a month or two. She'll start letting me give out invitations once the date is confirmed."

"Cool. I can't wait to see them." Nathanael smiled sheepishly, clutching his drawing book a little closer to his chest. "Think she could give me pointers at some point?"

I chuckled breathily and nodded, flipping to a highlighted page where I already had a response prepped for the question. "She'd love to. Come by whenever you'd like and she'll gladly help you where it's needed, if at all."

Nathanael's smile brightened and he nodded. "That's be great, Jasper! Thanks so much!"

I waved my hand dismissively, which translated to "No problem" or "Don't worry about it" in this context. Nathanael's grin didn't leave his face as we walked into the last class of the day.

The excitement and relaxing atmosphere of the day didn't last long, however, as screams came from the floor below. Chloe groaned in annoyance, checking her nails for a moment as she whined, "Not another akuma attack!"

Kim piped up next, looking a little nervous as everyone seemed to debate leaving or staying in the room and hoping nothing would happen. "Yeah, does anyone else notice how often our school is attacked? It's a hotspot for akuma!"

I nodded and looked around, starting to slowly inch my way to the door. I needed to leave and transform before people got hurt. I didn't know where Adrien was but I was certain he'd find a place to transform and make sure he didn't get himself hurt. Ladybug would be fine and get here soon, wherever she was.

I froze when I felt something slimy and warm touch my leg, a heavy shiver traveling up my spine.

Something is crawling up my leg-

Okay, okay. Stay calm. It's probably nothing.

I slowly looked down, gasping and mentally screaming as I saw a long, thick gelatinous tentacle wrapping around my leg, watching with wide eyes as the disgusting thing started to slowly dissolve the parts of my clothing it touched. My breathing skyrocketed and I started hopping on one foot, shaking the other in an attempt to somehow loosen the thing and get it off me. I'm pretty sure it only tightened its grip but I kept trying anyway, terrified of whatever property was causing it to dissolve.

Rose, Chloe, Sabrina and Mylene screamed loudly, Nathanael and Alya shouting my name slightly drowned out by the girls' screams. Nathanael dropped his things to try and help me get the tentacle off my leg. I fell back onto the floor as I tried to pry off the tentacle with my shaking hands. It kept slipping through our fingers and reforming, steadily making its way up my body. I could feel it start to touch my skin on my leg and waist, the skin starting to tingle from the acid. My mouth was shooting off curses and other things at lightning speed, and currently I was thanking my inability to speak properly in the back corner of my mind because it was not pleasant to think, much less hear.

I shoved Nathanael away when the goop tried to wrap itself around him as well, only to watch as more tentacles darted into the room and trapped whichever teens they could reach as it tugged me back through the doorway once it firmly wrapped around my waist. It tugged me harder and most of the kids in the classroom that hadn't been caught shouted my name as I was pulled from the room.

I stumbled on my hands and knees to try and keep from scraping or bruising myself too much as I was pulled down the steps. The tentacle was joined by others, effectively tying me up from my shoulders down. Through the panic that was building in my chest I was thankful that the tentacles didn't wrap around anything that would be revealing once dissolved but I knew that my waist was already beginning to turn red from the acid.

Other kids were screaming as they tried to pry tentacles from their bodies as well as we were dragged to what I think was the cafeteria. I couldn't transform with so many other people around though. Even through panic, someone was bound to see if a classmate was eveloped in a bright flash and a superhero stood in their place. Neeks pressed his small paws against my pounding heart, probably panicking along with me internally and trying to get me to calm down enough to not be on the verge of flashbacks.

As I was dragged closer to the source of the goopy, acidic tentacles, I watched red and black blurs start freeing people, making me relax greatly. Ladybug and Chat Noir were here, and I could get away soon. Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to free everyone but me and a few others in just a few moments, and Ladybug went ahead to try and stop the akuma. Chat Noir freed and took the others to safety as they were closer to the akuma, but the tingling around my waist had turned to an uncomfortable level of faint bubbling that made my throat burn and my fists clench with worry that was making me terrified that he wouldn't realize I was there.

Another wave of panic washed over me as I realized the chain for my miraculous was about two seconds away from dissolving into two.

I struggled desperately, pulling against the pressure of the tentacles and trying to ignore the steadily becoming painful tingle and bubbling that was starting to form along the exposed parts of my arms and legs with my chest and waist, the skin turning bright red from the irritation. A choked, broken cry escaped my lips as tears formed in my eyes, memories beginning to flash across my eyes. Neeks snuck closer and hid himself under my scarf, paws just below my ear.

"Jasper, it's going to be okay. It's okay, don't panic. I need you to focus on breathing, pup. Deep breaths, come on." Even though I needed to listen to Neeks, I couldn't remember how to breathe. My lungs refused to accept the air, feeling like they had locked up on me. Everything burned. Chat Noir was going to forget about me.

Chat landed in front of the cafeteria's door and looked around, fake ears flicking to pick up any stray noise. His entire body, ears and all, straightened when he saw me, in the middle of trying to remember to breathe. He cried out something that sounded like a strangled version of my name before darting over, his shadow crouched over me as he placed a hand on my shoulder to keep me still. Along with Neeks' coaching, his warm hand against my shoulder grounded me and suddenly I was shakily taking deep breaths and breathing as normally as I could beneath the layer of panic that still covered me.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out soon!" He smiled reassuringly at me as I stared at him with wide eyes, half-focused on the boy over me and half-focused on the tentacles that were beginning to rise behind him. I struggled slightly and moved my eyes from his to the tentacles behind him, trying to tell him to look out. His face screwed up into a confused expression as the tentacles shot towards him and my eyes grew wider and I attempted to yell, "Behind you!"

His own eyes grew wide and he extended his baton on reflex, smacking away the tentacles and disrupting their form long enough for him to focus on me again. I whimpered weakly when a small bit of the goop landed on my cheek, shivering and wishing I would wipe it away as I felt it burn.

Chat Noir's attention snapped back to me and he gasped, wiping it away for me. "Shoot! I'm so sorry! Give me two seconds and you'll be free, I promise!" He broke eye contact and I felt a quick burst of cold on my arms and shoulders before the weight and tingle of the tentacles disappeared. I quickly wrapped my arms around Chat Noir's neck in an extremely loose hold to keep myself from being pulled away to the akuma while watching as he used Ladybug's lucky charm to created a burst of- was that liquid nitrogen?! - on the tentacles around my waist and legs, and effectively smashing them with his baton.

"Hold on tight!" I didn't argue with his words, burying my face into the crook of his neck and wrapping my arms around him tightly as he wrapped an arm carefully around my waist. I was grateful that he avoided the acid burns and felt rather than saw as he launched us over the roof of the school with his baton. I felt the wind whip around my hair and press against the wounds on my back, tried to focus on the warmth radiating from the superhero and the scent that I could only describe as uniquely Adrien and Chat Noir.

Seconds, if not minutes, later, I felt my feet touch the ground but wasn't yet ready to move away from Chat, needing him to ground me just a moment longer.

"Hey... A-Are you okay? I'm so, so sorry I didn't get you earlier, oh my god. These burns look bad." Chat fretted in a gentle voice, hands carefully grabbing my shoulders as I moved away to look at him and nod. He didn't look too convinced, and the guilty look he was giving me was absolutely crushing. I carefully reached up to take one of his hands, and he looked confused for a moment before a small flash of recognition entered his eyes as I wrote, "I'll be fine, it wasn't your fault."

"Can... Can you not talk...?" He hesitated, faking confusion while trying not to seem insensitive. It made sense, since he had no idea that I knew who he was. I nodded in response to his question, which he returned with one of his own. "I see... What's your name?"

"Jasper." I wrote, before looking over to the school again. Truthfully, we were just on the other side of the walls, at the bottom of the steps, but it felt farther away from the monster than it looked. I looked at Chat Noir and smiled bitterly, nodding towards it. "You need to help Ladybug, right?" I mouthed the words slowly, so he could understand, and his green cat eyes widened.

"You sure you'll be fine? The burns-" I placed my hand over his mouth, giving him what I hoped was a pointed look along with a small, endearing smile.

"Go, Chat Noir." I mouthed, "I'll be right here until you guys win, promise."

His eyebrows furrowed but he nodded after a moment, so I took my hand away from his mouth. He stood up and looked back and forth between me and the school, and I gestured to the building once more. Chat Noir sighed, but nodded once again. "I'll be back as soon as we've beaten the Akuma. I don't know if those burns will be healed by Ladybug's abilities." I nodded to show I heard, and he went back inside the building.

I heaved a sigh, coughing slightly afterwards, and stared back at the school, wondering if my help really was needed or not. I was already exhausted from the panic and adrenaline I had felt when I was caught, and my entire body ached from the burns.

Neeks popped his head out from the folds of my scarf, looking at me with worry. "You okay, Jasper?" I shrugged in response, holding out a hand for him when I confirmed that no one was around. He flew onto my hand, nuzzling my cheek in the way. "Do you feel up to fighting?"

I shrugged once again, looking at the school before looking at the ground. I started tracing my response on the ground, "I don't know. Maybe."