Cat Noir sprinted down the hallways of the school, which were almost completely abandoned. His sensitive ears could pick up some fearful crying ahead, and he pushed himself to go faster. Marinette... would Ladybug beat him there? Or had she gotten caught up in whatever was happening? He shouldn't have left her. He should have just transformed in front of her. No one else had been there to see.
He rounded the corner to the hallway where she'd been, only to find that empty as well.
She didn't like Cat Noir. At all. She'd been disgusted at his declaration on her balcony yesterday. Horrified.
He turned another corner and could make out Ladybug's distant voice. She must already be there, facing the monster alone. It was confirmed when a new voice yelled, "I'm not Jeremie! I'm Big Wig now!"
Cat Noir had attempted to sooth his broken heart by telling himself that it was better this way. If they'd been together as superheroes and she never wanted to reveal identities, there was only so far their relationship could go. This was better for the long term. Then again, he already who she really was, so what did that to do his argument?
He should have just told her he'd found out, as soon as he'd found out. Maybe she'd be mad, but he'd feel better being honest. The yelling got louder, and he pulled out his baton, gripping it tight. He'd tell her as soon as the battle was over.
A nagging doubt, which sounded a lot like Plagg's voice, reminded him that she didn't seem too fond of Adrien either, and did he have a plan to deal with that?
But he didn't have any more time to wallow. He bounded up the stairs to the second floor and took one last turn, and there she was, his Lady, back to him, spinning her yoyo like a shield and crouched defensively. Behind her cowered Chloe, who was wailing loudly. Her hands clenched in her hair, which had turned dull brown with patches of gray. It was greasy and stringy and snarled, and it hung far past her elbows in matted clumps.
Ladybug hadn't noticed him yet, as someone deeper in the hallway held her full attention. "A bad haircut?" she said. "Really? I'm having trouble believing that you're the most distraught person in all of Paris."
"Chloe made fun of me in front of Sofia! She will pay!"
"Well," Ladybug's voice faltered a little bit, but her yoyo didn't slow. "I guess I can sympathize with getting humiliated in front of your crush, but still."
What? She could? Had he witnessed the whole scene yesterday? Had she been extra flustered because she knew "the other guy" was watching him flirt with her?
No, he couldn't think about this right now. Cat Noir shook his head and used the cover of their distracting conversation to inch closer and try to assess the situation.
The akuma hadn't changed much in appearance. Cat Noir had recognized the boy by face but not by name. Jeremie, he had said. He was a year younger than Cat Noir and about a head shorter, and his head was really the only thing about him that had changed. Where he usually had thick, mousey brown hair that reached past his ears, now he had thick, long locks that floated behind him, like his hair was underwater.
Jeremie, or Big Wig, stood in the middle of the hallway surrounded by two dozen whimpering students who were lying scattered across the floor. All of them had grotesque manes of hair, but there was something wrong. Why weren't they running? A few of them looked around from their fetal positions and called for help.
Ladybug still didn't know he was there, but Big Wig did. He plucked a large hand mirror with a long handle from his belt and leveled it at him like a sword.
"Don't let it hit you!" Alya's familiar voice screamed.
A jet of white mist shot in their direction, and Ladybug and Cat Noir both dodged to the left. Hair spray, probably. Shooting from a mirror. Okay. They took shelter behind the open door of a janitor's closet, bracing it in front of them like a shield. Flecks of hair spray ricocheted off of it harmlessly.
"Ack!" Ladybug squawked when she saw him. "When did you get here?" But she didn't wait for an answer. She popped out from behind the door and tried to lasso the mirror away from Big Wig, but she missed. When she reel her yoyo back in, he could see her hands were shaking, and his heart broke a little bit more. He hadn't even said anything yet and she was already so upset that she'd missed an easy shot. He had to do something, bring back the normal.
He extended his baton until it hit Big Wig in the chest and pushed him against the far wall, pinning him next to the doorway there. Ayla peeked out through the opening, phone in one hand, and she gave him a thumbs up with the other. None of the other students had moved, and Chloe still whimpered softly and clutched at her hair, which was now so long it touched the floor.
"I'm actually really excited for this akuma," Cat Noir said loudly, bringing Ladybug's attention back onto him for just a brief moment. He gave her a lopsided grin, hoping it would make her relax.
Her eyes met his, then darted all across his face, almost panicked. "Oh, no," she said. "I'm so doomed."
"Because of the akuma?" he asked. Or was it because of him? He tried not to visibly wilt.
"No, because you're-" She cleared her throat and turned back to stare at Big Wig, who was wriggling underneath the end of the baton and shooting hair spray into a cloud in front of him. "Why are you excited, Cat Noir?"
"I've wanted to fight a hair-based akuma for ages. I've got so many good puns. But I really wished we could have faced him in some... cat-a-combs."
Ladybug whirled back on him. "I knew it."
"What?" he asked, alarmed. Had he messed up again? Had he made it even worse?
"You go home, and you sit in your room for hours, and plan all these terrible puns in advance. I KNEW IT!"
"Oh, come on! That one was really good." He jerked forward suddenly as Big Wig finally managed to get out from under the baton.
Ladybug spun her yoyo in anticipation and muttered, "It was okay."
His heart leapt.
She didn't hate him.
They both snapped back to attention when the purple outline of a butterfly briefly lined Big Wig's face.
"You're right. I guess it is your turn. Thanks for the help." Shifting his focus back on the duo, he said, "Time for those miraculouses!" Big Wig's hair fanned out behind him as he took a single step toward them.
"I'm sorry," Cat Noir said. "I can't give you mine. It's an old family hair-loom."
Ladybug groaned. "And how long have you been saving that one?"
"About six months. Was it worth the wait?"
"No." But when he looked back at her, he could see that she was fighting a smile. That was progress. He felt a flutter of hope, but he knew he shouldn't press his luck with her today.
Big Wig didn't move far from the wall. Instead, he used his mirror like a club, batting away their long range attacks with ease. They were going to have to get closer to him, and Big Wig knew it. Picking their way through the minefield of victims wasn't going to be easy.
"Why aren't they moving out of the way?" Ladybug asked quietly.
One of the girls tried to raise her head up. She tugged and twisted but couldn't pull her hair away from the tiles. Cat Noir glanced back over his shoulder at Chloe. Her hands were still tangled in her hair. "I don't think they can," he said.
"It sticks to stuff!" Alya said. Ladybug gave her a grateful nod.
They weaved and bobbed through the students, careful not to step one anyone, but Big Wig wasn't making it easy. He relentlessly sprayed at them, forcing them to dodge and not letting them get closer.
It took only a few seconds of this before Ladybug realized that "We're going to have to split up. He can't hit both of us at once." She looked at him to make sure he'd heard her, and Big Wig struck, sending a long jet of hair spray at her. Cat Noir dove and took the hit for her.
Clumps of his blond hair fell out and his scalp tickled as new strands sprouted in their place. He made the mistake of pushing black hair away from his eyes with his right hand. When he tried to pull away, he couldn't. Oops. That was dumb. Double oops, because now he couldn't use Cataclysm. And his hair kept growing.
"Cat, are you okay?" Ladybug asked.
"Oh, My Lady, it's a tragedy! My modeling days are over! Will you still love me even though I'm ugly?" He froze with his mouth hanging open, akuma forgotten. He hadn't meant to do that. She didn't like him. She would push him away. He couldn't bear to see that look of horror on her face again, but he couldn't look away from her either.
She didn't seem upset, just surprised, then like she'd had a fantastic idea, then like she was about to challenge him to a race she knew he couldn't win. His stomach twisted, and he wasn't sure if he was suddenly excited or nervous. She leaned into him, letting her nose brush his. "Of course I'll still love you, Chaton."
What.
Alya wolf whistled at them from the doorway as Ladybug darted away from him, eyes on the akuma, and took all Cat Noir's air with her. Did he hear that right? What did she mean? Was that flirting?
He needed to help her, back her up, so he took one step forward and tripped on somebody's leg.
The battle was like most other battles, except for the fact that Cat Noir was questioning reality the whole time. When he took another dose of hair spray for her, she declared he was her hero. When her flirting caused him to trip a second time, she came to his rescue. As she pulled him up, she'd brought her lips so close to his ear that he could feel her breath tickle his skin, and then she asked in a soft voice if something was distracting him. He'd just about died. When she'd given his bell a flick and winked at him, he'd been left so speechless that she'd asked if the cat got his tongue.
With each flirt, he got more flustered, and Ladybug's smile grew wider. Why was she flirting with him? Did she mean it, or was she just trying to tease him?
Between the two of them – mostly Ladybug, because Cat Noir was having enough trouble walking in a straight line, never mind attacking – they managed to back Big Wig into an empty classroom. Alya hung around near the door, phone up.
The classroom wasn't much better than the hallway. Cat Noir's hand was still stuck in his hair, and there were four rows of desks in the way, but it was more contained, there weren't any people to trip over, and Big Wig was having trouble maneuvering around the desks. He couldn't keep his eyes on both of them and watch where he was going at the same time, so he kept bumping into things. The classroom was the best they would be able to manage.
"Give me your miraculouses!" Big Wig yelled, a slight tremor in his voice. His floating hair seemed to shiver the more nervous he became.
Ladybug pushed a desk out of her way. "It seems you're in a hairy situation, Big Wig. Why don't you just hand over the mirror?"
She was making puns, too! It was the best day of his life!
Cat Noir came up next to her. Only one more row of desks separated them from the akuma victim. As one, they leapt over the chairs, but Big Wig was ready. Hair spray filled the air, and he knocked Ladybug to the side mid jump. Cat Noir caught her around the waist and steadied her against his chest (mostly on purpose), but he couldn't shield her hair from the attack. Her hair grayed and thinned and lengthened. When they'd regained their footing, he'd realized his mistake. Carried by the momentum of her fall, her pigtails whipped around, slapping against their sides and sticking the duo together, chest to chest.
Ladybug realized how close together they were and went beet red and kept her eyes on his shoulder, all of her confidence evaporating. Alya cackled manically from the doorway.
"S-s-sorry," Ladybug squeaked out. "Sorry. Sorry!" She pulled her arms in, like she wanted to protect herself from him. This was his fault. He had to fix it.
"Not that I mind being lock-ed together with you," he said to break the tension, "but do you think this is perm-anent?"
"Ugh!" Ladybug hadn't yet turned to face him, but her blush went down slightly. "Why must you always pun?"
"Because puns are hair-larious!" Well, she hadn't started stuttering yet. That was good.
"No, they're still awful. Even if they're coming from- Never mind." She struggled to break away from him, and Big Wig took a few steps toward them, reaching for Ladybug's earrings.
Cat Noir took a few stumbling steps backward, dragging her along with him. "Can you still get to your yoyo?" he asked urgently. With his hand still tangled against his head, her special move was their last chance.
She got his meaning and called for her Lucky Charm. She caught a red and black-spotted cardboard box with the words "100 Pencils" printed on the side as Cat Noir dragged her away from Big Wig again.
"What are you planning on doing with that?" he asked, trying to think of something witty. "Write a hundred essays about why he should give up?" Oh, yes. So clever. Very intelligent. Ladybug was sure to be impressed. In his defense, it was hard to think with her pressed up against him like she was and Alya in the background, yelling at them to kiss already.
Ladybug propped the box against her hip and fumbled with the top flap with one hand. "No, I'm going to write you a hundred love letters."
"P-please do," Cat Noir whispered.
Alya screeched.
"You two are nauseating," Big Wig said.
But Ladybug had the biggest reaction. She stared up at his face when she heard his words and did something she'd never done before. She dropped her Lucky Charm. Pencils burst from the box and skittered across the floor. Big Wig laughed.
"Oh, no!" she cried. She tried bending her knees to pick of the pencils, but that only pulled Cat Noir down with her. Their foreheads knocked against each other and their drooping bangs tangled and stuck fast, holding their faces even closer together.
Now was not a good time to think about kissing her, but he couldn't remember what he was supposed to be thinking about instead.
Ladybug's earrings beeped, and she twisted away from him as much as she could. He couldn't see what she was looking at, but she suddenly said, "Wait, I've got it. Follow my lead, on my signal."
Cat Noir could barely see through his matted bangs and around her, but what he could see wasn't encouraging. Big Wig stalked closer to them, free hand outstretched. "Your hair's already at your waist. What are you going to do when it reaches the ground? You'll both be trapped." He hefted his mirror in front of him. "Or I can just speed up the process."
Cat Noir tensed, ready to move when she gave the word. Her face twisted up in concentration, waiting for their perfect moment.
Big Wig squeezed the handle of the mirror and released a cloud of hair spray.
"Now!"
They dove through the mist and right toward the akuma. Big Wig dodged, but slipped and rolled on the pencils at his feet, completely unbalanced.
Ladybug shifted her weight and looped her arms around Cat Noir's neck, carefully avoiding his long hair, and he was ready when she tucked her feet up and gave the akuma a kick. Big Wig spun his arms in an effort to stay upright, but he fell right through the lingering cloud of hair spray and fell. His beautiful flowing hair crinkled and went limp. Big Wig managed to break his fall with his arms, but the tips of his hair brushed the tiles and stuck fast, and he dropped the mirror. It clattered to the floor and slid just out of his reach. He strained, but he couldn't reach it.
"Phew," Ladybug said, lowering her feet back to the ground and blushing furiously. She didn't unloop her hands from around his neck. "Let's, uh, finish this off. Hey, Alya? Could you get the mirror for us?"
"No, sorry," Alya said. "Got to record."
Ladybug wrinkled her nose. "You just want to see if we'll fall over each other trying to get it, don't you?"
Cat Noir gulped.
"It's a dangerous akuma!" Alya said. "Surely, you don't want a civilian risking her life? Now, hurry up. I've got a great angle and my battery's getting low."
Ladybug grumbled, but started maneuvering through the scattered desks and around the still struggling akuma. Her earrings beeped a second time.
Cat Noir tried to focus on where he was putting his feet. Tried to focus on not brushing his hair against the desks. Tried to focus on the still-struggling Big Wig. Tried to focus on anything except the return of Ladybug's small smile, how cute her freckles were up close, how warm she felt next to him, how much he wanted to keep her there.
"All right," Cat Noir said when they reached the mirror. It had slid between two desks in the front row. "I can see it. It's right next to my foot." He kicked it closer to her. "Want me to stomp-"
"I'll get it," she said. She bent and reached, but she caught him by surprise, and ended up unbalancing both of them. He hit a desk on their their way down, but that wasn't what took his breath away. Alya had been right. When he blearily opened his eyes, he was flat on his back with Ladybug on top of him, her nose in his cheek.
"Sorry!" she squeaked. "I didn't mean- I th-thought I could reach-" Her face was so red he could barely tell where her skin ended and her mask began. She reached out and hammerfisted the mirror, then rolled until they on their sides and reached for her yoyo. With a quick flick of her wrist, she cleansed the akuma and called for her cure. When their hair had been magically fixed, she retreated quickly and refused to look at him, instead focusing on herding Jeremie back out the door. He didn't need much coaxing, and he darted past Alya as soon as he was back on his feet. Chloe had been right. It was an awful haircut, poor kid.
Alya blocked the door, trapping the duo inside and holding up her phone. Ladybug's earrings beeped a third time. "You've got a few more minutes, you know. You two should kiss!"
Cat Noir sucked in a breath and took a step backward. He carefully avoided looking at Ladybug, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw her jump in surprise. He'd love to. But he still wasn't sure what his Lady wanted. So he put his hands up and was about to make his apologies for ruining her scoop when he felt a hand reach up to his neck and pull him down.
He barely had time to register what was happening, barely enough time to feel the small peck against his lips, barely enough time to feel the warmth of her closeness, before she let him go and ran for the door past a dumbstruck Alya. Ladybug glanced over her shoulder at him as she turned the corner and smiled shyly at him. Then she was gone. She had kissed him? Cat Noir stared at the spot where she had disappeared for a solid ten seconds before turning back to Alya, who was getting a closeup of his amazed face.
"You got all that, right?" he managed to croak out.
"Yeah," she said. "I'm livestreaming it."
"Good." He lightly touched his fingers to his lips. She had kissed him! "Because I'm going to download that to every device I own."
He looked around the room in a daze, Alya's phone still on him. A few of the chairs were still out of place, so he started setting them back into place. Well, he tried to. He told his feet to move, but they were still frozen in place from the shock. He leaned forward to move, but he unbalanced and tipped over, smacking his face against a chair on the way down.
"Are you okay?" Alya asked.
"Never mind," he replied from the floor. "I'm not happy you're livestreaming it."
"Wow." She reached out one hand, keeping the phone trained on him with the other. "You've got it so bad."
"I know."
He stumbled out of the room, waiting until he was sure she had gone down a different hallway and was completely alone before calling off the transformation.
"She wouldn't have kissed me if she hadn't meant it, right?" Adrien asked as he slid down against a row of lockers.
Plagg slipped out of sight and back into his shirt pocket. "If I agree with you, can I have extra cheese?"
"Sure."
"Then you're right. She's totally into you. Congratulations. Gimme my cheese."
He still wasn't sure what was happening. She'd said that she liked someone else. Her behavior over the past 24 hours had been erratic. She'd run away from his attention every time he'd ever offered it before, but he couldn't get one unexpected truth out of his head: he still had a chance.
Author's note: Ah, Ladynoir. Ha ha. Serious question time. Should I be posting my writing anywhere else? I have it on FFN and AO3, but I've heard people talking about things like Wattpad, Livejournal, Tumblr, even Deviantart. I haven't yet, mostly because I feel like it'd probably be overkill. But... thoughts? (Leave a comment or PM me, if you want.)
Next chapter is the last one!
Incorrect Miraculous Quote
Ms. Bustier: Marinette, keep an eye on Chloe today. She's going to say something to the wrong person and get herself punched.
Marinette: Sure, I'd love to see Chloe get punched.
Ms. Bustier: Try again.
Marinette: I will stop Chloe from getting punched.
Ms. Bustier: Correct.
-Brooklyn Nine Nine
