A Few Notes

Hindsight

Adrien was nervous.

Gorilla was eyeing him in the rear mirror every once in a while as he fiddled with the strap of his schoolbag, their trip to Francois-Dupont drawing closer and closer to the end. The bodyguard was ever silent, but his mute presence made it all the more easy to tell when something was wrong with his charge, as he was always able to listen and watch. And there was something wrong with Adrien.

The boy's entire personality was off that morning. Normally, he would be overjoyed to be going to school, to be able to spend time with friends and learn publicly like every other child. But Adrien hadn't been acting as if he wanted to go to school at all. He was drawing into himself, closed off, trapped inside his own head.

Marinette likes me.

Adrien took a deep breath and turned to stare out the window, dropping his hands to his lap. Poking out cautiously from Adrien's jacket, Plagg turned up to look at him. The kwami saw his holder purse his lips, indecision shining in his eyes.

Then, Adrien shook his head and smiled. The car stopped in front of Dupont's wide, concrete steps, and he slipped out the door. Nino was waiting for him, and Alya was standing right behind him.

And next to her was Marinette.

She looked okay, despite how upset she had been the night before. Her blue eyes were shining again, she was laughing, smacking Alya on the arm over one joke or another. Chat must have really made an impression on her.

Of course, when Adrien got closer, all of that disappeared.

He hid his grin, blushing a bit himself as Marinette visibly gulped and waved hello.

"Hi, Marinette," Adrien choked out. He said hi every morning, seeing as he and Marinette were finally at the stage of 'good friends.' But it was hard to ignore Alya and Nino as they bit back a collective gasp. "What?"

The duo shook their heads, but as they all began heading up the steps, Nino whispered in his ear. "Dude, are you feeling okay?"

Adrien was confused. "Yeah, actually. Why?"

"Cause you're, like, beaming." His friend grinned. "I've never seen you smile so much, and at Marinette, of all people."

"Why shouldn't I smile at Mari?" Adrien blinked, all innocence. Nino merely raised a brow and laughed.

"Whatever, man."

He was still smiling in history, in physics, in mathematics. Adrien could feel Marinette's gaze on his back, her expression likely confused and maybe even worried. It couldn't be helped. He knew she liked him and, if her confession to Chat had been any indication, any attempts at her getting over him were currently failing. Adrien felt giddy inside.

Still, what about Ladybug?

Whatever ruled the universe must have been reading his thoughts, or maybe Hawkmoth was, because the city akuma alert began blaring through Paris. The City of Lights flashed to a garish red, surreal in the light of the afternoon sun. A new monster was roaming the streets, the neighborhoods, and one couldn't be sure if they were safe anywhere.

It was time to go to work.

Deftly escaping the crowd of students as they headed for cover in the school basement, Adrien transformed in the nearest janitor's closet. Chat Noir was ready to fight by his lady's side.

Mystarot was dressed in black, her mask equally dark and crystal jewelry hanging from every limb. She floated through the sky, holding close an illustrated pack of tarot cards. With a twitch of her hand, the cards flew out of the box to dance in midair, their order changing according to her whim.

The villain smiled through pitch-colored lips. "Ladybug and Chat Noir will be here very, very soon."

Marinette had just called on her spots when she felt herself being pulled out of the school and into the city. A shout came from beside her, and she turned to find her partner flying close behind. The heroes were halted just in front of their new enemy.

Ladybug struggled against her invisible bonds, shouting, "Let us go!"

Mystarot cracked another grin. "Okay."

Chat and Ladybug screamed in unison as they were suddenly released and began to plummet toward the ground. Thinking quickly, Ladybug unleashed her yo-yo, grabbing Chat's hand and latching on to a nearby building just before they became Parisian pancakes. Crepes? It didn't matter.

"Are you okay?" Ladybug asked as she panted.

"Purr-fect!" Chat replied, patting himself down. "Quick as usual, M'lady."

Hawkmoth was shouting as his charge, who answered curtly. "Lighten up, old man," Mystarot snarled, "I'll have my way with them, and then you'll have your precious Miraculous. As soon as I cast the future of Paris, we'll see if anyone ever calls me a fake again!"

Ladybug gulped, staring at the villain. "She can not only see the future, but makes it happen. The akuma has to be in those cards, but how are we supposed to even get close? If she wanted, she could force us to hand over our Miraculous!"

Chat placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure it won't come to that. She wants to draw this out, which gives us time to think of a plan. You'll come up with something! I believe in you, Bugaboo."

Instead of rolling her eyes like usual, Ladybug caught his gaze and smiled, reaching up to squeeze his hand. "Thanks, Chat."

"Um," he floundered, "No-no problem."