Chat Noir watched as Rin paced back and forth while seemingly texting on an old fashioned flip phone, a behavior she'd been practicing since they got back to her house an hour ago. Like a cat watching an anxious owner he observed her occasionally biting at nearby strands of her hair, suddenly realizing why she never let her hair down. It was a nervous habit, one he'd never seen her perform. Thinking back on the times they spent together, he could recall every bit of body language he'd learned of her, how to tell when she was self-conscious, she rubbed her arms. How to tell when she was faking happiness, that was the first one he learned, she put on a smile but her eyes held no spark to them. He'd seen her face down hollows, he'd seen her take on two Akumas, he'd seen her falling off a cliff to what would've been a watery grave, but nervous behavior was something he hadn't seen yet.
"What are you doing?" Ladybug finally asked.
"Sending my report to my Captain, the head Captain, and Central 46… they're kind of like our government," Rin answered as she closed the flip phone over and sat down on Marinette's bed.
"Huh? There's a government there?" Marinette asked.
Rin inwardly sighed and nodded, "Yes. Even us ghosts need governing."
"Makes sense," Marinette agreed before she inquired, "What are you hoping they'll do?"
"Send back up," Rin stated plainly.
"I thought you were our backup," Chat Noir teased with a grin.
"I am, but I'll be pretty useless if things get worse. Today was a close call," Rin admitted before flopping down onto a bean bag chair.
"How do you mean?"
Rin raked her fingers through her hair, gently tugging on it as she reached her neck, 'Sometimes I forget they really are just sixteen years old and know nothing of soul society history.'
"I'm part of a military force called the thirteen court guard squads. Appropriately named as there are thirteen squads, I hold the second highest rank in the eighth squad. However the guard squads didn't always exist. They were made roughly 2150 years ago by then Head Captain Yamamoto. He rounded up the strongest fighters in soul society and offered them an opportunity to defend their world and the human world. About three thousand years prior, however, he forged the jewels of the Miraculous and gifted them to earth as a means of humans defending themselves against hollows… that's why when you're transformed you're able to see hollows, Marinette… you haven't yet, but you will. Adrien could faintly see the outline of them before he got his miraculous due to his heritage," Rin explained.
She gave a heavy sigh before continuing, "But - this isn't the first time Hawkmoth has appeared. The trouble with the butterfly Miraculous may well lie in the power it grants, empathy. It allows the wielder to feel the emotions of those around them, and negative emotions are often felt more strongly than positive emotions. The last time that two Miraculous wielders turned evil, went against their comrads is what spawned the birth of the guard squads. The Akumatized victiims eventually became so destructive, they'd die while Akumatized and immediately became hollows. That upset the balance of spirits being alive on earth and the amount of souls in soul society. Had we not taken up arms and done what we did, if we hadn't assisted the remainder of the Miraculous team, it would've meant the apocalypse."
Marinette felt her anxiety creeping up and threatening to take control. She hadn't felt like this since they first spoke with Hawkmoth the second time that Ivan became Stone Heart. She also realized that their transformations had worn off while Rin was talking. Adrien caught sight of Marinette's concerned expression, he'd seen that same face once before and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a very gentle squeeze as he consoled her, "Hey smile a bit. It'll be okay. One thing I've learned about Rin, and this is going right back to the day I met her, she's like you. She doesn't stop, no matter what the odds are. As long as she can move and breathe, she still fights. I get that you can't see hollows and that's scary, but we can and we've got your back. If Rin isn't there, you know I am, alright?"
Marinette gave a smile before nodding. Rin observed the two before inwardly screaming, 'God! Just kiss her already!'
"Huh? Rin?" Marinette asked glancing at the white haired girl.
Rin gave a slight scoff, "I guess obliviousness is genetic."
Both Marinette and Adrien stiffened at the statement as they watched her climb out of her window and jump. Adrien didn't have to look to know she'd landed on her feet but Marinette ran to the open window and glanced out to see Rin running down the street.
"What just got into her?"
"Uhh I have an idea, but I'm not sure," Adrien admitted.
Marinette quirked an eye brow at him, "Right…"
A thought entered her mind and she was quick to shake her head furiously and shake the thought away. Adrien watched his friend and classmate for a while before giving a slight sigh and answering, "I wouldn't know. If she does and she hasn't told us, it's for a reason."
Marinette nodded a bit.
A few hours later, Marinette had gotten home safely and Adrien sat in Rin's room in his soul reaper form, his Zanpkauto hung at his left hip as he watched and waited before a voice from behind him made his eyes widen.
"If you're going to try hide yourself, at least try to conceal your spiritual pressure, Golden boy," Rin teased.
Adrien glanced behind him and noticed Rin was also in her soul forum he smiled a bit, "Snowy… where'd you go when you left?"
"I had to clear my head," Rin admitted as she avoided his gaze.
"What's wrong?"
"A lot. A lot is wrong. Everything's wrong. It should be him here with me, I shouldn't be doing this alone. He shouldn't have had to die to stop that creep. I should've spoken up. I should've told him. But now he's gone and I'm here. I'm helpless as a damned kitten, not even a quarter of the strength I should be and having to use my powers to help you guys out is just wearing me out even more. I'm going to die at this rate," Rin ranted as she slid down and hugged her knees close to her chest.
Adrien was startled to see tears brimming in her eyes, still she didn't look to him and she bit her lip harshly.
"I'm scared-," She whispered, "-I'm scared, and I hate it. I haven't been scared since I was a child. I want my Mamy."
A sob escaped her throat as she hid her head in her arms.
Adrien blinked at the last bit before crouching in front of her, gently he began stroking her hair as she cried while his voice gently cooed, "Hey, it's going to be okay. You're not alone, Rin, you've got us. Mari and me, okay granted she isn't a soul reaper like I am, and without you I wouldn't even be one—but we're both very dedicated to our friends, and you're a mutual friend now. We're not going to let anything happen. We've got your back."
"Save her," Rin stated as she discretely dried her face.
"What?"
"If it comes down to me or Marinette, save her and let me go. Don't be a fool like you were on the hiking trip. You realize that because of you, I had to wipe Chloe Bourgeois memory of that event? Trouble is the memory replacer is completely random, there's no way to tell what it replaced her memory with so she began rambling about some weird vampire werewolf hybrid rescuing me and the teacher thought she'd done some sort of drug," Rin explained.
Adrien's face dead panned before he burst into a laughing fit.
"Why haven't you kissed her?"
"Oh, so that's what the whole 'obliviousness must be genetic' comment was about? You should maybe include yourself in that one too… seeing as you could've well ended up becoming my Aunt," Adrien retorted before giving rubbing the back of his neck.
"Truth is- I want to kiss her- but then I think about how perfectly that gikon you made actually behaves like me. I'm not sure Marinette would be able to tell the difference. I wish it was a bit flawed at least, then I wouldn't feel so bad. As it is now if she kissed that gikon by accident while it was in my body I can't guarantee I wouldn't be jealous—I'd be jealous of myself in a weird way? I don't know how to explain it really. I just—I want to wait for a time when I won't need to become a soul reaper and I can be just Adrien all the time—well Adrien and Chat Noir," Adrien admitted.
"If you wait too long you may not get the chance. Take it from someone that knows that time is never guaranteed to anyone. The trouble is you always think you have time and you really don't. It's the one thing we're rich with at birth and poor of when we die, the one currency that can never be replaced or replenished. Use your time wisely. Take risks, leap at chances, and don't ever allow yourself to regret anything. None of us really have long in the grand scheme of things. Even those like me," Rin offered.
Adrien nodded in acknowledgement before looking to a nearby clock, "It's getting late. I should be in bed already."
He looked back to Rin, "Are you going to be okay?"
Rin bit her lip and nodded slowly.
"Well geez don't get too enthusiastic there Diva, you're likely to nod your head off," a new female voice joked.
Adrien glanced around before he heard a sharp whistle coming from the window. Turning around he saw a girl about Rin's height and age with red hair tied back into a spiky ponytail, although if he was honest his hair reminded him of a pineapple. She had large violet eyes, delicate facial features, and wore a mischievous grin. Fishnet arm warmers and a spiked choker were added to her outfit to give insight to her personality, at her left side rested a katana sheath, the Zanpakuto had a lightning bolt shaped tsuba.
Adrien stood defensively in front of Rin, his left hand gripping the sheath of his Zanpakuto as he demanded in an even tone, "And you would be?"
This apparently amused the girl as she let a hearty laugh escape her as she watched him, "I'm the third seat of squad eight, Ichika Abarai, nice to meet you, Chat Noir."