Yami subdues the clone to his right and creates a distraction while his partner advances on the Puppeteer. Ladybug gets close enough to grab Puppeteer's shoulder and punch him square in the jaw. The Puppeteer falls (quite dramatically, Yami might add) and the two glass dice in his hand land a few feet away. Ladybug runs to them and breaks them with a small hammer given to him by his miraculous earlier. The Puppeteer screams (also quite dramatically, Yami thinks) while Ladybug captures the gray Akuma that is released from the now broken dice with his yo-yo. Yami sees Ladybug split his yo-yo open with his fingertip and, in a flash of light, the Akuma emerges white. Ladybug throws the hammer into the sky and in an explosion of black and red dots, the damage done by The Puppeteer disappears.
The clones Yami was previously fighting vanish and all around him, Yami can see that the damage done to the local shops is fixed. The Puppeteer loses his super-villain costume and leaves only a very disoriented high-schooler. Yami walks over to where Ladybug is standing, waiting for him, with a smile. He holds up his hand for a fist bump and Ladybug complies with a satisfied grin.
"Pound it!"
There's a groan from the floor beside them. Ryou Bakura holds his chin, looking up at them with tired, confused eyes.
"Ladybug? Chat Noir? What- what happened?"
They both kneel down to assess him. Yami speaks first.
"Are you alright?" In hindsight, it's a silly question. Usually, the victims of the villain Hawkmoth's akumatizing come back with little recollection of their forced evil state and hardly any physical pain. But Yami -aka superhero Cat Noir- still asks.
"I..." Ryou glances from one to the other. "My chin hurts."
Ladybug looks sheepish. "Sorry," He says and puts a hand behind his head. "The fight got a bit intense. The pain should only last a few minutes, no bruising or anything. I promise."
Soon, Ryou's friends come out from wherever they were hiding to embrace him. A few Cat Noir and Ladybug fans begin to appear and thank them both. When Yami sees people with cameras in his peripheral vision, he decides it's time to leave. Ladybug apparently has the same idea because he hears him say "It was no trouble, really. Cat-" and then gestures with his head in a 'let's go' motion.
They can't risk too many up-close photos of themselves because of the fear that their identities might be exposed. With a final goodbye, Ladybug swings away with his yo-yo while Cat Noir scales the nearest building.
...
"What the heck, Cat?"
Yami turns. He's sitting up high on the Eiffel Tower late at night, looking over the bright city. Ladybug is hanging upside down from one of the metal bars above him and looking at him with a raised eyebrow. His glowing light blue eyes are staring straight into Yami's brown ones.
(It's because of the disguises, Yami knows. His Cat Noir disguise alters his original eye color from a vibrant red to a dull brown. It helps a little in keeping Yami's identity a secret, Yami supposes. But he wonders not for the first time what Ladybug's real eyes look like.)
Ladybug maneuvers his body to sit next to him. "You weren't yourself today in the battle. Hardly any puns or jokes. What's up?"
Yami swallows thickly and looks away. God, Ladybug acts so much like- "It's just..." Yami sighs. "My boyfriend. He was supposed to come back from his trip to America today. He's been gone for a couple of weeks. But then he called and said his flight had been delayed until tomorrow morning and... I just really miss him, I guess."
Ladybug's voice is soft. "I'm sorry. I'm sure he misses you too."
Yami smiles. He knows Yugi misses him. They called each other every night and every morning. The smile Yugi would give him when they said goodbye was unlike any other's. It was always genuine and full of love and-
