Caged

Decision

Marinette and Chat Noir were staring at the phone pointed at them. While Chat simply blinked, the girl's eyes went wide. She quickly scrambled to her feet, but the young reporter did not waste any minute.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you just saved Chat Noir for the second time, do you have anything to say?" Alya shoved the phone in front of the pig-tailed girl.

"Uh-you...bluh... instinct?" Marinette raised her arms in a questioning manner, face contorted in a grimace. "Uuuhhh, I'm gonna..." she started backing away towards the school, "I'm gonna take cover. Akuma. Dangerous. You know..." and like that, she awkwardly ran off into the school. The reporter turned her phone to the leather-clad hero standing before her now, who was dusting off his suit.

"Chat Noir, how does it feel to be rescued by the same girl twice in two weeks?" the cat-boy placed a hand on his chin, in thought.

"I have a feline I may have found a second bug to look after my nine lives," he puffed his chest proudly and gave a crooked smile to the camera, like he had given the greatest statement in history. Alya gave him a deadpan look over her phone.

"That was... Amazing!" the girl gave a wide grin, giddy for the response of her interviewee. "And tell me, what do you think of Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Any particular aspects of her you wanna point out?"

But this time, Chat was not so eager to answer. He straightened his posture and cleared his throat. But Alya barely noticed with her excitement. She figured it was a harder question.

"Well," he started, cautiously, "I think Marinette is a very—"

"CHAT NOIR!" the two teens jumped at the sudden outburst, just in time to see another large chunk of shaving cream flying their way. Immediately, the boy scooped Alya up and jumped out of the way. He ran for two blocks before placing her back on the ground.

"Sorry to cut short our interview. Gotta hairy situation to deal with," and with a two finger salute, he leaped back into the fight. Despite knowing she had been dragged two blocks away for her safety, Alya ran back to the scene and hid behind the corner of a building, phone extended to get a better look at the battle.

---

The boy in leather maneuvered from side to side, avoiding the shiny silver lines coming from Monsieur Barbier's straight razor.

"No self-respecting gentleman would wear such a horrendous style," the akuma made a sound of polite disgust, his instrument pointing towards Chat.

"Sir, you really gotta get with the times," the hero retorted. "I'm purrfectly well groomed."

The man huffed in irritation and made a swift, elegant movement, and a ball of shaving cream formed out of thin air. Chat Noir jumped just in time, using his baton to lift him to one of the buildings. Luckily, the akuma didn't see properly to where the hero had gone. Just as he was staring down towards the barber, he heard the familiar yo-yo as it wrapped itself around the building's chimney. Three seconds later, his partner lightly landed right next to him.

"Heard you needed some help," she smirked, standing firm as always.

"Nice to see you again, My Lady," Chat automatically grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, as usual. He smiled and started loosening his grip, used to her always pulling away.

A couple of seconds passed, and her hand was still in his. Chat frowned and looked up. Ladybug was staring at him, lips slightly parted, face... Wait a minute, was she blushing?! No, it couldn't be. His moves never worked. She had always brushed him off.