Nobody was talking about Sandboy the following morning at school, which Nino quickly decided he greatly appreciated. No one spoke to anyone either, however, as though they were all too ashamed of their fears and speaking might somehow bring them back to life.
"Fear is a powerful thing," Wayzz spoke softly from underneath Nino's cap. "It can turn even the strongest of warriors from battle. That is why it is so dangerous. Especially in Hawkmoth's hands."
Nino didn't answer. He was still stewing at his kwami for up and leaving him the night before without even so much as a warning that he was going to some secret Guardian that Nino knew nothing about. Marinette said the elderly man was trustworthy and that he had been Wayzz's previous holder, but Nino had never met the guy, and for some reason, letting his kwami, his responsibility, just fly away to another holder, it just didn't sit right with him.
The first warning bell had just begun to sound as he pushed open the front doors, shrugging off the surrounding crowd and trudging across the gym. Adrien was already waiting on the stairs and he waved as Nino approached.
Instantly, Nino's mind went into hyperdrive. The events of the previous evening were still shooting through his brain, threatening to spill the moment he opened his mouth. But it wasn't something he could tell Adrien without raising a ton of questions he didn't have the answers for.
Oh, hey dude, no, I didn't have terrible nightmares. I totally don't know who Ladybug is, man, and I positively didn't have nightmares of her identity being exposed and it being my fault. Haha, absolutely not. Why do you ask?
He pulled on a fake smile (fully aware it looked much more like a grimace) and uttered a muffled hello as he fell in step beside Adrien who looked as though he'd been hit by a bus, only for the bus to hit reverse and strike again.
"Hey, Nino. Rough night?" Adrien said, yawning and running a hand through his tangled hair.
"Yeah, dude. You?"
"Wasn't the best, gotta be honest. Hey, at least Ladybug and Chat Noir took care of this one pretty quickly, right?"
"Yeah..." But not quick enough. He could still see the fury and hate in the poser Ladybug's eyes and it chilled him to the bone. What if the nightmare was something more? A premonition to what was inevitable? That he would accidentally expose Marinette's identity to the world and get his superhero friends hurt?
"Hey, dude!" Adrien clapped a hand down on Nino's shoulder, making the taller boy jump slightly. "What's with this cloud of gloom and despair? Lighten up a little! It's a new day! The akuma is gone and all of its nightmares with it! Hey, come on," he added with a grin. "I heard Alya got ahold of a video from an amateur recorder and she cleaned it up and added it to the blog. She's probably a radiant ball of sunshine today, which would make it the perfect time to ask her to the movies, right?" He nudged Nino in the ribs teasingly and the boy sent him a wounded look.
"I-I'm not sure I--" he stammered. He couldn't take Alya to the movies. Not that night. He'd promised Marinette he'd go on patrol with her. He needed to tell her about his nightmares. Maybe she would have some kind of secret to help ease the constant anxiety because behind her front of calm...well, as calm as Marinette ever was...she had to be freaking out too.
At his hesitance, Adrien paused and suddenly glanced up at him, adjusting his bag worriedly. "Hey, Nino? Are you guys...you and Alya...are you guys good?" He glanced away quickly, as though ashamed to be reversing the roles and prodding into Nino's life.
YOU ARE READING
Shell Game | Miraculous Guardians Book 1
Fanfiction"The world as we've known it has changed. Perhaps it is time that we change with it." 𓆉︎𓆉︎𓆉︎ Determined to help out the saviors of Paris, and still running high on adrenaline from his experience against Anansi, Nino s...
