As the two of them hiked along the trail, following the teachers the boy who had offered to be paired with Rin, Justin Girard, made an attempt to hold her hand. Rin moved her hand from his touch with cat like reflexes.

This earned her a puzzled and wounded expression from the boy whose blue eyes seemed to almost blush at the response. He shyly ran a hand through his red hair before asking, "Do I scare you?"

"No," Rin replied. It wasn't a full lie. She'd faced down Arrancar and Menos Grande that were the size of the Eiffle tower in the past.

Justin however wasn't convinced, "If you took a chance to get to know me, maybe I wouldn't scare you."

"Being honest here, it isn't you, it's me," Rin answered, firmly.

Chloe was walking with Nathanael and catching bits of the conversation as they walked, despite the fact that Rin wouldn't hesitate to cut her down, Chloe also didn't like the pressure this guy was putting on her. Pressure that he seemed to think was completely valid.

"If you're going to reject me, you can at least be honest," Justin snapped.

This grabbed Adrien and Marinette's attention as they both spun around but what they saw made their jaws drop.

As they'd spun around so had Nathanael and Chloe, but it was Chloe's warning that threw them off, "Look pal, she's told you as nicely as possible that she isn't interested. Take that answer and drop the topic or you won't like what happens next. If you keep harassing her, I won't hesitate to make your life a living hell!"

The blonde haired girl then threw her arm around Rin and pulled her close to herself while Nathanael slunk back with Justin.

"Man, I get it ya know? I mean I've liked Marinette for over a year now but I'd be blind if I didn't see that she's into someone else," Nathanael offered in a near whisper, just loud enough for Justin to hear him.

Justin nodded a bit but still felt the sting of embarrassment from both Rin's rejection and Chloe's berating but instead he answered Nathanael with, "I just wish I knew why."

Nathanael paused for a moment before replying, "I overheard her speaking with Marinette and Adrien earlier… apparently this summer was the anniversary of something and it really upset her. Just an idea but maybe it's something to do with that? I don't know, man. All I can suggest is just give her space and give it time.

Justin nodded in a agreement.

"So you don't have to tell me anything, just listen okay? I've never dated anyone. I've only ever had my eyes set on one person, but it's clear that he likes someone else. What I do know is how little interest my daddy's had in dating since my mom died. It's been a few years, but even now he just… doesn't see a need to date? I guess that's the best way to put it? All I'm saying is, no matter how things go, if your feelings aren't returned or if the relationship ends either through running its course or fate takes them away from you, it takes time to recover and if that's what you're going through, don't let someone else make you feel like you have to give them a chance. You don't owe them anything," Chloe offered Rin, quietly.

Rin felt an urge to squeeze her eyes shut tightly, gave her head a strong shake and smacked the side of her head with an open palm. Chloe was just nice to her? Really? Chloe Bourgeois?! The apocalypse was really coming. It had to be. The only person she'd ever seen Chloe be nice to, only because she wanted into his wallet and eventually his pants, was Adrien.

Instead of acting on impulse, Rin gave a small nod of acknowledgement along with a verbal, "Thanks Chloe."

Rin bit her lip a little, 'I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I have to know if she's in danger.'

Steeling her nerves Rin looked to Chloe and asked, "About how long has it been since your Mom passed?"

Chloe shrugged, "About—five years, I guess? I don't know, really. I try not to think about it."

Rin nodded a bit before admitting, "You're right you know… about me. I did lose someone close… they're never coming back. It was just before I moved to Paris."

Chloe pulled Rin in close and confessed, "Well, anyone will tell you I'm not the best for advice, and I don't think anyone needs to tell you I'm not the nicest person… I guess I kind of closed myself off after she passed, but I know what it's like to lose someone you're close to, if you ever need a shoulder."

Rin nodded, swallowing her saliva a little, "Thanks."

"Can I ask what happened or-?" she stopped when she saw Rin's expression.

"I'm sorry," Chloe apologized.

"It's been over a year, but it's still pretty raw to me. I prefer not to talk about it," Rin agreed.

Chloe nodded in understanding as they kept on their trail.

Marinette regarded Adrien, "That's what you helped her through this summer?"

Adrien nodded a bit, "Yeah… hey Rin, is it okay if I- umm…"

Rin gave a weak smile and nodded, "Long as I don't have to tell the tale… or hear it."

Adrien nodded as he moved slightly closer to Marinette, "You see… before Rin left Japan there was a guy… they were always friends growing up but they'd begun to have feelings for each other but before Rin had figured out how she wanted to tell him… there was a tsunami, and he drowned."

Marinette held her hand over her mouth briefly considering if something happened to Adrien before she had a chance to tell him how she felt.

'She likes someone else? Is that it? Who? I'll fight him for her,' Justin thought to himself as he inwardly growled Nathanael's eyes grew wide as he recognized an angry expression on Justin's face. He gripped his hiking partner by the waist and headed off away from the others. Kim and Ivan exchanged glances before following after them.

"Alright guys, we're at a nice clearing here, let's get in our lunches, if anyone needs the facilities the out houses are right here, and yes you heard that right, out houses. No running water out here for miles, unless you count the bodies of water," Madame Montclair announced.

'Yeah you don't need to tell me… just hope I don't drown in it,' Rin thought to herself as she glanced behind her at the wood and rope bridge that seemed ready to rot away anyday now. Not safe at all, at least not to her eyes.

Chloe didn't think Rin could lose anymore colour to herself but she did pale about two shades as she looked over the bridge.

"Are you alright?"

Marinette's voice broke through Rin's thoughts, her voice seemingly to snap her out of her trance.

"Yeah, I just… I'm not crazy about water," Rin confided.

Marinette offered her a smile, "Don't worry. I know Adrien can swim, and so can I."

"They're not the only ones," Chloe offered.

Adrien gave a slight chuckle, "right, I forgot… miss water baby over there. I'm a stronger swimmer than her though."

Rin bit her lip a little as she sat as far away from the edge of the river as possible. It wasn't just the river, the one Shinigami skill she didn't have in her gigai was to stand on reiatsu in midair, if she fell the odds of falling on the rocky bottom, cracking her gigai's skull open was very realistically the outcome.

Rin opened up her bento box and picking up the chopsticks began eating.

"Oh that looks so good," Chloe gushed as she regarded Rin's bento.

Rin blushed a little.

"I love sushi," Chloe confessed.

"Really? Well, I make my own," Rin replied.

"Is Chloe actually…"

"Y-yeah, don't ask why. I mean first she's putting Rin down and now—I don't know what the game is," Adrien stated with a shrug of his shoulders as he sat down and prepared himself for a low fat low calorie atrocity within his own lunch, his jaw dropped when he saw what Marinette had for lunch, not just the contents, but the amount.

"I figured I'd bring enough to share, I know you don't get to have a lot of sweets, and I also know that you rarely get enough to actually fill you," Marinette admitted.

Adrien smiled a bit and blinked as a stick of Mitarashi dango was placed on his lunch box as well.

"I know it's the one thing from Japan you really like," Rin offered as she went back to sit with Chloe.

"Man, just calm down, please… you don't know what happens when you get like this," Nathanael pleaded with him.

Justin snarled at Nathanael as he swung his fist at him.

Kim caught his swing and kept his eyes glued to Justin's before he spoke, "he's right you know. Right before I was akumatized, I felt horribly embarrassed and heart broken."

"She's rejecting me for someone else… I'll cream him!"

Kim tightened his grip on Justin's fist, "She's rejecting you for who? Nathanael? If not, it makes no sense to harm him in order to gain her, does it?"

"Let go! You don't understand. Nobody understands!" Justin screamed as he wrenched his fist from Kim's grasp and ran off away from the rest of the group.

Kim and Nathanael exchanged glances before the two of them raced back towards the others.

Justin headed back towards the others, his blood seething, he was so angry he heard his own blood pumping in his ears, 'I will have my Queen!'

He didn't notice the purple butterfly that entered his green hoodie as a purple outline of a mask appeared on his face.

"Yes Hawkmoth," Justin replied to the voice within his head as dark energy engulfed him.

Rin paused in lifting the sushi to her mouth as she regarded the shift in spiritual pressure around her. She'd quickly realized that Akumatized victims, who often suffered an injury to their heart resulting in their strong negative emotions, felt a lot like hollows to her, but was certain that if an akumatized victim ever did die, they would hollowfy instantly. Which one was this, Akuma? Or maybe it was a hollow?

Setting her sushi and the chopsticks down Rin stood in a near robotic fashion before she spun and blocked a massive green fist from grasping her. The Akumatized victim let out a deafening roar as he grasped Rin and lifted her up over his head.

Adrien dropped the last of his croissant onto the grass as he stared open mouthed at the latest victim, he undeniably resembled the Hulk featured in the comic books he'd read, while the Hulk was considered to be a hero, he also had a deep in explicable rage that would often get out of control and the angrier he got, the larger and stronger he got. Was this Akuma going to be the same.

"You gross monster! Let her go!" Chloe bellowed at them.

The walked over to the edge of the river, wrapping his massive green hand around Rin's midsection, pinning her arms to her sides with his gigantic fingers as he ripped apart the rope and wood bridge.

Rin's eyes widened as she quickly realized what was likely about to happen.

"Everyone let's go!" Madame Montclair shouted as the students hurried away from the scene.

Chloe charged at the green monster and threw herself at his arm that held Rin tightly in its fist. Wrapping her arms around his as strongly as she could she let go on one arm and began hammering her clenched fist against his shoulder. "I said let her go!"

"Chloe! Stop it," Marinette exclaimed. She'd seen enough already to know this could only in a tragedy.

The rest of the class had ran away but Chloe stayed latched onto the Hulk's massive arm.

Adrien realized exactly what was about to happen and felt he was watching in slow motion as the soul reaper who had actually helped him gain the freedom to go to school was thrown from the monster's giant fist, her terrified scream reached through the heartbeat thumping in his ears and he felt as if his body was moving of its own accord as he watched her fall.

Chloe seemed poised to throw herself off after her, Marinette held Chloe back and quickly made an assessment that made her heart drop below the soles of her feet, 'There's nothing there for Ladybug's yo-yo to wrap around! Oh Rin'

She let out a scream when she saw Adrien had launched himself off the cliff after Rin, and propelled himself in the air as if he was swimming.

"Adrien!" Both girls cried out from the top of the cliff.

What Marinette heard next rang in her ears. Adrien's voice travelled up to them as he called out loud, "Plagg, claws out!"