Talk to Me, Princess | Marichat - Miraculous Ladybug

Chapter Eleven - I Don't Want to Hold You Back, I Want to Hold Your Hand

"Adrien, move!" I grab him, running back towards the community centre. I need to get him to safety before I can successfully change into Ladybug and fight this Akuma.

I hear Adrien protesting, but I just keep moving forward dragging him along with me, his hand gripped tight in my grasp.

"My bodyguard-" He's cut off by a loud scream begging for help. I grit my teeth, running down a flight of stairs towards what might be a basement? Or maybe a storage area?

"Stay here!" I say, opening a door and shoving Adrien inside. It's just a closet, which in all honesty might not be the greatest place to hide but if the Akuma comes in the community centre at least it might not find him.

"Where are you going?" He huffs, quickly grabbing onto my arms to stop me from taking off.

"I-I need to see what's going on! Then I can help fill in Ladybug and Chat Noir when they show up!" I suppress the urge to physically cringe at my piss poor excuse. If Adrien had any suspicion I was Ladybug, I bet this would confirm it for him.

I expect him to protest but he looks away for a moment clenching his jaw. When his eyes meet with mine, he looks determined. He looks like he trusts me.

"Okay, but stay off the streets and far away from the Akuma, okay? You can observe from afar. I'll go find my bodyguard, and we meet up back here after everything, okay?"

"Adrien, it isn't saf-"

"And it is for you?" He questions, his eyebrow cocking in a look of annoyance. I've never really seen this side of him before. "Just go, and promise me you'll be okay."

"I-I promise." I say quietly. He leans in, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. I feel my legs turn to jello, suddenly the Akuma doesn't even matter anymore. My face is as hot as it could possibly be, and I can't seem to make sense of my surroundings. Adrien just kissed my cheek!

"I'll hold you to that." He says, and within a moment he's taking off running down the hall.

I'm slowly brought back to reality as I hear distant screaming.

Whatever this Akuma is, it must be a huge and powerful one. This is more chaotic than usual.

I run down the hallway and quickly dip into a random storage room. Tikki comes out of my purse suddenly, an alarmed look on her face.

"Tikki, spots on!" I exclaim, feeling the adrenaline surge through me as I transform into my powerful counterpart. Taking a quick peek into the hallway to ensure there are no people or security cameras, I run out and back down the hall as Ladybug.

Outside is about as chaotic as it sounds. People run around screaming, taking off for shelter inside different business fronts. Homes open their doors to allow strangers to hide inside with them. But the part that's the most scary?

I can't see where the Akuma is.

My eyes search frantically but there's nothing in sight. Just a lot of people running frantically and disappearing into thin air, but no actual Akuma. Slinging myself up onto a roof, I look around but I can't find where it is now, or what exactly it's power is.

"Gah!" I hear Chat Noir's voice, and a sudden loud crashing noise. I follow the sound a few streets over to see Chat Noir trapped between a car and a wall as he struggles to free himself.

"Chat!" I call out, jumping down in front of the car to ward off the Akuma.

But I don't see it still.

"Look out, M'lady! She's invisible!" Chat cries out and just as quickly someone sucker punches me in the gut. I drop to my knees, the wind knocked right out of me. I feel the fingers on my ears as I gasp, jerking my arms up to smack the invisible hands away from my earrings. She was so close to removing them, and having access to my Miraculous!