The Lone Vixen - EDITING

Chapter Nine: The Fox and the Musician

Alya stared at the boy in her room. He had seen it. He had seen it all. He clearly had, there was no doubt about it. Trixx was in more shock than Alya was. The room was quiet. Too quiet. Alya knew she couldn't just stare at him. After what he'd seen, he would want an explanation. She 100% would have transformed and ran away, but Trixx was drained of her energy, and Luka would just come to her with questions anyway. Against her better judgement, she softened her face, and went to sit on the bed. "Hey."

"Hey? Is that really what you're going with?! Rena Rouge was in this room, and then suddenly, she's you! Wh- ho- I-" Luka was at a loss for words, and confused to the point of panic. He was being really loud, so Alya slapped her hand over his mouth.

"You need to be quiet. My secret Identity isn't exactly something I hand out on a slip of paper." She smirked. It was fun flirting with someone. It had been forever since she had the chance to, and she decided she would make the whole situation less serious. "I... Luka, I didn't mean for you to find out. I didn't mean for anyone to find out."

"Well yeah, clearly." He said, calming down. "I think it was just the shock. You... but how? I mean, like, if you are a hero, then how come you could get footage for your blog? Wouldn't you be too busy to film it? And what about school? I mean, you were always there. I never saw you leave." He continued rambling, and Alya contemplated what to tell him. It's not like she really needed to tell him anything more than "yeah, I'm Rena Rouge", but she felt obligated to tell him everything. He had a certain quality to him that she couldn't resist, and thought that she might have a slight crush on the boy. But she didn't want to betray her feelings for Nino, no. It wouldn't be fair to him, and their possible relationship.

"I will answer everything in the best way I know how, but, maybe start with a couple now, and then ask more as the month goes on or something?" Alya suggested. Luka's face showed a strange emotion that Alya couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I... I guess that works. Question number one... when did you become Rena Rouge?" Alya thought about it for a while. How long ago was it now? Maybe three, four years?

"Do you remember when Paris was flooded with copies of the "Sapotis"?" Luka nodded with a grimace. "That night, Ella and Etta were akumatized. I... I guess Ladybug needed help, and came to me for it. That was the night I first met Trixx," she said, gesturing to her kwami, "and transformed into Rena Rouge. I think everyone knows I was just back-up at the beginning. It wasn't until hawkmoth became more powerful that I became full-time, which I still wasn't necessary at all events though. I bet I was in school way more that Chat and Lady were, that's for sure." Luka looked at her weird when she called Ladybug and Chat Noir by nicknames, but then he remembered that they were probably really good friends.

"Alright." He said, slightly raising his head and smiling. "Hmmm. Uh, how good friends are you with other heroes?" Alya was glad someone had finally used the present tense when talking about the missing, instead of assuming they were dead. He would be a keeper, that's for sure. After seeing how long it was taking for her to answer, Luka blushed from embarrassment and started fidgeting. "I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want. I didn't mean to strike a nerve, I just, I me-"

"No, it's fine, really. I was just lost in thought. I... well, we are a family. There's nothing I wouldn't tell the team... except for my identity that is. Pace, Lady, Chat, and I were glued together by fate. Really, our friendship is the best thing in my life. It made everything so much easier; all my stress was shared with others, and I felt like I could take on an army." She sighed and looked away from Luka's bright blue eyes. "I guess now... that's not the case."

"You really are amazing, you know that, right?" He said, a blush slowly creeping across his facial features. "You deserve so much more than what you have right now."

"I do, do I?" She gave him a slight smirk, but she really did want to know.

"Yeah." He said, leaning close to her face. "You're a hero, you're funny, kind, talented, dedicated, hard-working, decisive, persistent, and not to mention beautiful." Alya blushed at their sudden closeness, and all of the flattery. She leaned in closer, liking where this was going. "You're this great person... and the world doesn't treat you fairly. You're bullied, ignored, and you lost the people closest to you. You don't deserve any of that... and no one sees that."

"You do." Alya whispered the last word, her breath landing on Luka's cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned in, making contact with Luka's lips. The kiss was sweet and full, and a feeling of euphoria spread through her body. Luka's lips were slightly chapped, but otherwise softer than velvet. She felt like she could do this her whole life, and wondered why she had never noticed the blue-haired boy before. She knew deep down it was because Nino was around. The kiss deepened dramatically, but abruptly slid to a halt.

"Did you hear that?" Luka whispered hoarsely.

"I, no... there's nothing. No sound whats-"

"Shh. Listen." They remained quiet for a long time, until a muffled scream could be heard from the streets. Luka looked at Alya with wide eyes. "Is it... an akuma?" a lower pitched scream than the previous one came from outside.

"I would assume so." Alya replied wistfully. "I... we can resume this later."

"What do you mean by 'this' exactly?" a flustered Luka asked.

"Um, the Q&A. Unless you wanna continue making out. I can do that too." Alya knew exactly what she was doing. Luka's face burned a bright red at her remark. "Well," she said after a sigh. "duty calls. Trixx, let's pounce!" The dark room was illuminated in a bright orange light; all Luka could do was watch, thunderstruck. Rena Rouge walked up to Luka and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "Keep everyone in the house here. I don't want anyone getting hurt." She said as she pulled a mason jar from her closet. "If they ask where I am, say I'm... uh... getting footage for my blog. They'll be worried, but they'll keep their distance." Luka nodded. He had been given a quest by a super hero, one he found quite invigorating too. "Alya, out."

One Rena Rouge was outside, she flew around the city searching for the mayhem. 'Alya, I made some adjustments to your flute. Instead of having to play the notes to call someone, you can detach the parts of the instrument, and a key-pad will pop out' "So, you magically made a flute version of Chat's staff?" 'Yeah... thought it'd be more conventional.' "Thanks Trixx... I think I'll use it right now. Paris needs to meet a certain buzzing insect."