Shape of a Miracle EP 2 - FreezeFrame

delivery boy

Jumping in from his window, Ishida lands on his bed and transforms back into his soggy school uniform. Tikki zooms up to him.

"Ishida, you did it!" She beams.

"I did it..." he mumbles.

"You did so well! I'm impressed! You got used to the yo-yo very quickly! And you immediately knew what to do with your umbrella lucky charm!"

"I did... " he gasps, getting up from his bed "yeah... I did it! I actually... fought that guy... and won!"

"Exactly!" Tikki sings

He paces around the room, he can't keep still. His heart is beating out of his chest and his brain is racing so fast he can't keep track of his thoughts.

"I like... tackled them to the ground... and-and" He squeaks, gesturing the motions "and I swung that thing around and got those things!"

Tikki giggles "You were VERY cool!"

"And I passed them to Luna Mew. So while I fought him she could-SHOOT!" Ishida smacks his hands on his head "Uugh. That's right I totally failed! I got hit with that stupid flash!"

"That's ok Ishida!" Tikki says "It was your first time and everyone makes mistakes."

"Still, I'd be toast if it weren't for her!" He huffs "Bet she thinks I'm a weirdo. Do you think she recognised me as Pied Player?"

"No one knows who you are under the mask." Tikki reassures "And I'm sure Luna Mew was glad to meet you!"

"I-I dunno. I guess maybe?" He awkwardly chuckles "it's the second time she's saved my butt -not that she knows that- But I guess she wouldn't have been able to get all those people out if I wasn't distracting the monster! So she can't get too mad at me..."

"You're partners!" Tikki sings "You can't do it without..." Tikki's face drops "wait, Ishida your ear!"

"Hm?"

Tikki points to his right ear, where both the ladybug earrings are. He brings his hands up to it: it's wet. He looks at his fingers. They're red.

That... That makes sense. His ears weren't pierced so when he put the earrings on he sort of stabbed them both into his right ear. Funny, he can't even feel the pain. His brain's shot full of adrenaline.

He dizzily turns to a small mirror in his room. The right side of his neck and shoulder are covered in blood, bleeding out from his ear. He's bleeding.

Bleeding the way he made her bleed.

His smile subseeds.

"Oh..." He mumbles " Oh." He puts his hands on his face, like a child realising the obvious answer after struggling on a single question for an hour "I'm so stupid..."

"Ishida, what's wrong?" Tikki asks.

"Sorry Tikki..." he sighs "im not the hero... I'm the delivery boy."

Tikki looks up at him, confused.

"I should have known." He sighs "I was even thinking of her when I was watching the fight. How much of a hero she would make..."

"Who?" Tikki asks "Luna Mew?"

He shakes his head "You see..." he says walking over to a shelf "I've been looking for someone. Someone so unbelievably kind it's kind of obnoxious. Someone who's willing to help someone who's done nothing but hurt them. Someone who actually does have the makings of a real hero. Someone who deserves it way more than me."

He picks up an old notebook from the shelf.

"The ladybug miraculous isn't for me." He says sombrely while showing the notebook to Tikki "But it was given to me for a reason. It's for her. The person I've been looking for. The person who I need to return this notebook to."

And there, on the front of the notebook, written in ink, it reads:

COMMUNICATION NOTEBOOK

SHOKO NISHIMIYA