To Be a Hero | MLB

26: The Crowd

"Pound it." Ladybug and Chat Noir fist bump and share a smile.

"Your plan worked out purr-fectly, as always, Milady," Chat Noir says admiringly.

I rise, my fists still clenched. "Oh, you mean turning my own minions against me? That plan? Yeah, that really worked out well for you, didn't it?"

Ladybug's eyebrows tick up. "You... you remember what happened when you were akumatized?"

"And you're still upset about it?" Chat Noir adds.

"Of course I remember! And, yes, I'm still upset—you took the one thing that could actually make me happy, and..." I take in their stony expressions and feel my lip curl. "And you don't even care."

Ladybug starts toward me. "Tori, if your Miraculous was the only thing making you happy, then maybe you should re-evaluate some things in your life. Or maybe you could talk to someone, or—" Then her earring starts beeping, and she starts stepping back. "I have to go before I transform back. Bug out!" Then she launches her yo-yo and flies away.

I turn back to Chat Noir, who's watching Ladybug go with a sad smile. "Until next time, milady." He takes off in the opposite direction, and I'm left with nothing but a scowl and my bitter heart.

Ladybug's Magical Ladybug brought everyone back to the safety of the riverbank and released them from my—no, Reverb's—control, and now the crowd is beginning to spread over to where I'm standing. I see a soaked Jakob and Jaxon in the crowd and try to avoid them, wondering if I can just hop on the next train to London—

"Tori?"

I glance to my right, and—no surprise here—it's Antoine.

He didn't know it was me, I remind myself. And I want to keep it that way. "Antoine. Hey."

He looks like he wants to hug me again but isn't sure if it's the right time. "You seem less and less excited every time we meet. Are you... were you—"

"Mind-controlled? Yep." He already made it clear how he felt about being mind-controlled, and if he knows I was the one responsible, he might never want to see me again. So... things are better like this.

And besides, little white lies never hurt anyone, right?

"I was going to ask if you were okay, but that is good to know as well."

I cringe. "Oh, well, I—"

A hand closes around my arm from behind, and I jump, spinning around.

Jakob pulls me into a hug. "Tori, you're okay, thank God."

Antoine raises an eyebrow, frowning. "Tori, is this your b—"

"Brother, yes, he's my brother. Antoine, this is Jakob. Jakob, this is Antoine."

Antoine visibly relaxes. "Hello, Jakob. It is nice to meet you."

Jakob glares at Antoine, and Antoine shrinks back a tiny bit. "You're the boy from yesterday, aren't you? The one who was hugging my sister."

"I... uh..."

I grab Jakob's arm and start pulling him away from Antoine before things can get more awkward. "Jakob, we should get going. Antoine, I'll... talk to you tomorrow?"

"Oh, no, you won't," Jakob growls.

People pass between Antoine and me, and he tries to find a way to me. "Wait, Tori! Did you get my texts? I sent—"

Jakob blocks my view of Antoine and guides me toward the center of the crowd, where Jaxon is standing with our younger brothers and... a girl?

She's laughing a lot and talking even more while Jaxon listens to her with his usual impassive stare. But this time, I notice, there's a little more light in his eyes as he watches her.

As soon as Jaxon spots Jakob and me, however, he turns back to the triplets, shutting the girl out and leaving her to find her way through the crowd alone.

"Who was that?" I ask him, and he shrugs.

"Just this girl I know from school. Not important."

"That was kind of rude, what you just did to her."

"I don't remember asking for your opinion."

Before I can respond, Jakob steps in. "No. We're not starting this up again. Both of you, take a triplet. We're going home."