Hero-Miraculous Short Story

Chapter 2

"So, how are you tonight, m'lady?"

"Tired," she yawned in response. "It's been a busy day for me." Her eyelids drooped and she leaned back against a pole that supported her weight.

"You could've just stayed home. You didn't have to come." He turned to her with genuine concern.

"Nah, I'm fine," she smiled with a wave of her hand. "Plus, you need me. One cat can't look over all of Paris."

"Are you sure that's the real reason?" He leaned in slyly. "I know it's because you wanted to see my handsome face, m'lady."

She pushed him away with her finger on his nose. "In your dreams, kitty," she laughed. The cat pouted, but a playful glint sparkled in his eyes.

"So, what should we do to pass time?" he asked, twiddling with his stick. Ladybug shrugged.

"I don't know. A game?" she suggested. Chat Noir eyed her curiously.

"Ooo, I like games. Name it," he said.

"Doing nothing for the next ten minutes. If you say something or make a noise during that time phrase, you lose. The only exception will be when an akuma attack breaks out."

"Are you just saying that so I can stop talking?"

"Maybe."

Chat Noir laughed. "All right, challenge accepted. You better watch out, Ladybug, 'cause I'm gonna win." He wiggled his fingers mischievously.

"No cheating," she warned. "That includes tickling." His hands dropped.

"Aw, man."

Ladybug chuckled and folded her arms. "Okay, ready?" She closed her eyes. "On your mark, get set, go!"

Silence.

Neither Ladybug or Chat Noir made a single movement that would startle their vocal chords. The feline stared up at the painted night canvas while the feminine hero kept her eyes loosely shut.

Ladybug enjoyed the peace of the night. She used her ears to drag in interesting sounds that attracted her attention without using her sight. Her pigtails flailed in the wind current and she let the breeze weave through every strand of her midnight hair.

A minute passed.

Ladybug soon found herself drifting away, her fatigue overpowering her awareness. She pressed her lips together, too tired to open her eyes to try and stay awake, but she also didn't want to embarrass herself by falling asleep. Determined not to sink into dreamland, she used her thin fingers to pinch the ends of her thighs to let the pain jolt her to consciousness.

However, after a while, the plan began to fail. Her hands weakly poked at her legs, and the strength wasn't enough to create enough pain. Soon, her hands dropped to her sides. Chat Noir flinched when he heard a soft plop beside him and turned around to see Ladybug's dead arms had collided with the floor of the Eiffel Tower.

He narrowed his eyes and saw his companion's head droop on her shoulder, giving in to her sleepiness. Smiling, the cat gently wrapped his arms around the bug heroine and laid her head quietly on the patterned ground of the metallic Paris structure. He straightened her body out to avoid any cramps when she woke and leaned back against a pole to continue staring up in the twinkling night sky.