Love Me Equally ⁀➷ Chat Noir

(📷) ch o11 | useful for once

"Hold on! I am not against you!" The man pleaded, dropping his cane: the weapon of the miraculous of butterfly.

"How do we believe you?" Chat asked thorough grit teeth. I took a step back. There was no way I could transform with this man here. Not to mention, Tikki was probably still asleep.

"I do not have any arms on me, and I will not attack you—" There was a rumble, and Alya screamed.

"ALYA! You—!" Stepping out of Chat's shadows, I glared at the man. I will not let him harm the only friend I have here. "What have you done to her?! Revert her back!"

"That is the very problem, young lady. I need you both to come with me. There are two more people trying to come through the portal. Unless they stop trying, which I am sure they will not, or get here, I cannot revert your friend back.

"Trust me, I do not wish to harm her either. Please, follow me. This is the matter of the miraculouses!"

Chat and I exchanged glances, and I nodded. I was unable to transform either way. It was better to get away from two people rather than one person.

He tensed, clenching and unclenching his jaw several times, before nodding. When I took a step forward, though, I tripped by his feet. He took me in his arms, before nodding at the man to show the way. I could not beat down the heat rising to my cheeks.

"What are you doing?!" I whisper-shouted, struggling to get down to my feet.

"Ssh! How will you jump rooftops without your suit?" he whispered back, walking to the window where the man had left from. "Where is Tikki?"

"She's probably asleep—"

"I'm here!" Tikki's tiny voice squeaked from behind Chat's shoulders. There was a weird tone, and I heard voices. Perhaps the anticipated two were entering. . 

My attention shifted to Chat when he spoke. "Hold tight, Lady-ette. It's time for a midnight rendezvous!"

:•

The study dripping of water filled the space. "Betterfly? No offense, but what sort of a superhero names himself that?" Chat's voice echoed, multiplying by a hundred, but I did not mind that. What was bothersome was that he sounded much different detransformed.

Right after leaving the bakery, we were chased by the anticipated two. They turned out to be Ladybug, the real one, and Chat Noir from some other universe. Encountering them in a battle for the miraculous of the butterfly proved to drain our strength.

Not to mention, I spilled my beans once again to Betterfly. All I could do was hope that he was really on the good side.

"Forgive me, Holder of the Black Cat Miraculous, but I can never be as cool as the 'generation z' kids."

"At least, you sound modest."

"I'll take it as a compliment, Holder of the Black Cat Miraculous."

"Can we go by Ladybug and Chat Noir rather than Holder of the whatchamacallit, sir?" I pleaded. This exchange was getting rather annoying, even if Chat seemed to be enjoying it.

"Only if you call me by Betterfly."

"Great!"

:•

When I agreed to help Betterfly, I certainly did expect to become a therapist, yeah.

Currently trapped between a solid, college wall and a knife, I broke into a sweat. "Oi, you're really relatable, but that does not mean I hold knives up to everyone's throats."

"In what way could I possibly be relatable?!" Her voice was very unlike Marinette's as she screeched. "I don't have a perfect family, a lovey-dovey boyfriend and, oh so amazing, best friend!"

I sighed. "Neither do I—"

"You expect me to believe that, do you? You think I am a brainless wonder too, do you?! I read it all! I read your diary entries!"

That was the hitch. "Oh, but there's the problem. Those aren't written by yours truly. It was by the real Marinette." I could say that her parallel opposite was getting impatient. "I assume, just the way you popped into this universe, my soul popped into this verse." 

The clogs in her brain were turning for sure, judging by how she was biting her tainted lips. "How should I—nevermind–"

"You doubt how I know what you're feeling?" Somehow, reading similar minds proved to be as easy as a cup of tea to me. She nodded hesitantly. "Have you ever wanted to go to bed just so that you can cry yourself to sleep? Were there times when doing your favorite thing just didn't seem right?"

Her eyes widened, as huge as saucers. Taking it as a sign to continue, I resumed. "I just want to let this story die. The story of Colette. Maybe that's why I was sent here. To begin afresh." I gave her the best smile I could muster, considering how something in me was breaking, giving a strange chest pain.

The knife dropped to the ground with a clank. A sob broke out. "Isn't it the right time to start new?"

She, the new Shadybug, nodded. After a long time, I felt useful, enough to have convinced her to drop the pursuit for the evil. "No time better than now."

Hey guys!
I'm sorry for disappearing off the face of earth! I'm back, and will post at least once a week!

Thank you for your patience!

Miyoko x