Don't Remember Me Like This

Chapter 4

The lesson began as any other day, because it still was a normal day, a happy sunny morning in the city of Paris. No one knew about the screams of the hopeless victims, no one knew about the loud cries of a young girl who had just lost her love, no one knew about an innocent boy who would lose his life trying to save the people he loved. Because it hadn't happened yet. And you can't blame them for not knowing, for smiling in a day that would bring so much sorrow, a day that would bring so much pain, so much loss. A day a broken teenage boy would sacrifice everything, even his own life, for people who didn't even know his real name or the fights that were consuming him from the inside.

Right now that boy was sitting on his school bench next to his best friend, as any other day, while participating  in some small talk or listening politely to the teacher. Ignoring the fact that this was his last day, that all his efforts would be in vain. Because he wouldn't come to school tomorrow, not Thursday either, not even on Friday or next Monday. Adrien would never again enter the big gates leading to the school. Adrien would be dead.

Marinette on the other hand was too occupied to concentrate on Miss Bustiers words. Her attention was glued on the blonde boy sitting in front of her, the one who she admired as a greek god sculpted during Ancient times. Too drawn by his silhouette she fell in love with his most insignificant little actions, that, for her, were all a piece of art. Adrien was so appealing to watch. How could she ever manage to do school work with the beautiful, godlike and kind Adrien Agreste just some decimeters in front of her? If she just would have known what was coming, who he really was...

"Marinette? Are you listening?"

"What?! No. I mean yes! Yes! I am totally listening! To Ad- No! I mean... I was listening to you of course! Not Adrien? Why would I be listening to Adrien? That would be stupid, right?" The words would just come out in a messy mumbling, Miss Bustier had totally got her off guard.

The class laughed. She could even notice Adrien letting out a little giggle while directing a satisfied and kind grin towards her. Marinette was so cute, he thought to himself, always so innocent and tender. He admired that.

Adrien smiled and turned his back once again towards the front of the classroom. Suddenly, in his movement, he noticed a dark blur from the window of the door. He only got to see it in a fraccion of a second, it vanished almost directly once he had his gaze fixed to it, almost as if the shadow feared being caught by his attention. Was it the same figure he had perceived when entering the classroom? Was he following him? Curiosity crept through his spine, yet he was still overwhelmed with a feeling of discomfort.

He stared at the window door with determination, waiting with patience to catch it once more, prepared to analyse its origin, or rather, the identity of who hid behind the darkness. A minute passed by and no luck. But it had to appear again, he thought. If he was right and the figure had followed him, it would come back, he was sure of it. Who could it be? Someone who knew his identity? Master Fu? There was no way... But why else would this strange silhouette stalk him?

And suddenly he saw it. A movement taking place in the hallway. However, this time it wasn't the dark, dim and obscure figure he had perceived earlier, it was something lighter, more vibrant. Could it be the same? It was a red glowing colour that made its way through one side of the window to the other in a flash. It was gone again in just a short instant. Ladybug? He couldn't put the pieces together, was it her that had been following him this whole time? Why? Adrien's earlier suspicions disappeared with the thought of his beautiful Lady. By an impulse and totally ignoring the warnings from his consciousness and pulling his better judgment aside he stood up.

"Miss Bustier, I have to go to the bathroom, it's an emergency! I will be right back!"
And before the teacher could raise her voice in protest the young boy was already long gone closing the classroom door behind him in a sprint.

Marinette's eyes were wide open in confusion, what had just happened? But instead of wasting energy in wondering about Adrien she opted for actually attempting to pay attention to class and take notes.

The minutes passed and no Adrien. With every lap made by the clockwises her intrigue grew exponentially. Where was he? First five, then 10, 15 minutes... But still no Adrien. Marinette's attention was now glued to the door instead of the board. Everytime she noticed a sound from the outside she turned her head expecting him to appear. Her fingertips moved up and down rapidly, gently hitting the desk over and over again in nervousness and worry. What was taking him so long? Normally him leaving the classroom wouldn't even catch her attention, but... so abruptly? And such a long period of time? There was something in the air that felt off, maybe a premonition, maybe just nonsense.

"Miss Bustier. Adrien hasn't come back from the toilet yet. Should I go and check on him?" Nino asked. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had noticed, even his best friend found Adrien's early behaviour strange. To leave abruptly and not come back. It had been almost half an hour.

"Yes Nino, that would be very kind of you. If there is something wrong with him, come back and tell me so I can go and check on him. Meanwhile, the rest of the class can start doing the first exercises of this Unit, is that ok with you?" the teacher added.

Nino stood up slowly preparing himself to turn towards the door. But before he could take the first step, it happened. The time was now here, the time we were all dreading for. Confusion filled the classroom, darkness crept through the windows and a cold freeze took possession of the blood flowing inside their bodies. Fright. Terror. Shock. The unexpected event had caught the teenagers by surprise. The time was now here, the final battle had slowly started to begin.

Nino took one step and got caught off guard by the heavy sound of thunder. The boy fell to the ground and looked around in pure confusion. Lights went off, slowly blinking till the power vanished completely. There were voices of amusement, surprise, or maybe even terror. Marinette looked around in the darkness, the only light came through the windows. The outside was gray, the sky completely covered by a heavy fog and clouds were growing in fast pace completely limiting Paris from the sunlight. A shiver grew inside of her and she noticed the entire class observing the panorama in complete silence, not daring to pronounce a word.

What was happening? It had to be an akuma, what else could it be? Marinette directed her gaze towards the teacher, expecting some type of indication or order, she was after all the only adult in the classroom. Surprisingly, she stayed in place motioning with her hand to stand down, which may be the most clever thing to do since their total unawareness of what was going on. However, Marinette knew she couldn't stay for long, she had to transform, and to be trapped in the classroom only difficulted her mission.

Adrien!

Suddenly she remembered, she had been so blinded by the shock she had totally forgotten her earlier worries. The chances were high that he would be in danger. She had to find him! First he leaves abruptly without giving explanation, he totally vanishes for half an hour and now an akuma attack. There had to be some correlation to the happenings.

Marinette knew she couldn't wait any longer so she took her bag and ran towards the door without saying a word. She knew it wasn't prudent but she had to find Adrien at all costs! She hadn't enough time to give explanations or figure out an excuse! Adrien may be in imminent danger!, she thought. Then it hit her, what if he was the one who had gotten akumatized?