"Is that..."

"Oh shit!" Chat Noir screamed, wavering his hands over Ladybug's shoulders, unsure of what to do with himself. The fabric area around her collar bone had been ripped open and her flesh beneath was raw and bubbling. Ladybug's face looked utterly horrified, her mouth hanging open in terror. Chat Noir's hands trembled. He wanted to help but was afraid of hurting her with his touch.

"What happened?" the girl that was once Stormy Weather said, sitting up with a dazed look on her face. She hadn't taken notice of Ladybug and Chat Noir yet.

"W-we need to take you to a hospital!" Chat Noir said to Ladybug.

"No!" Ladybug exclaimed, "no one can know our identities!" Tears clung to her eyes, threatening to fall. Her lips trembled, though the rest of her body was stiff.

"Th-this can't be happening!" Chat Noir stammered. "Shit, shit, shit, what do we do?!"

"The... the miraculous..." Ladybug's knees buckled beneath her and she lost her ground. Chat Noir managed to catch her, allowing her to use him as a crutch. "The lucky charm..." she pointed weakly to the towel which was now laying uselessly on the ground.

"Hold on," Chat Noir said, still not letting go of her. He gently sat her on the ground, grabbing the towel and pressing it against her collar firmly. Ladybug grit her teeth in pain. There wasn't much blood coming from the wound, as most of it had been burnt to her skin. But still, it looked incredibly painful.

"Wh-who- you- you're the superheroes from yesterday!" the girl said from the ground.

"Are you ok?" Chat asked, as Ladybug took the towel in her own hand.

"What's going on?!"

"You were akumatized," Chat said, looking back to Ladybug. He helped prop her back against the cashier counter so that she wouldn't have to hold herself upright. "Are you ok now?"

"Akumatized?! I was like- that monster yesterday!?"

"Um... yeah. I guess."

"Oh my gosh, did I do that to her?" The girl clasped a hand over her mouth, looking at Ladybug in an upset.

"Sort of... yeah..." Chat looked around for anything to help with the wound. But alas, they were in a thrift shop. "Can you run and get help?"

"Y-yeah- is she gonna be alright?!"

"She'll be fine, but please, hurry!"

The girl got up and ran out through the rubble of what used to be the front of the shop. Chat Noir looked back to Ladybug who was squeezing her eyes shut in pain. He didn't know what to do. He'd never been in a situation like this before. It had never occurred to him until now just how dangerous this role was. Even superheroes could die, and now he was aware of the great risk he'd be taking from then on.

"Maybe the miraculous ladybugs can help?" Chat suggested.

"Maybe..." Ladybug grit her teeth, "but if they don't, then I have nothing to put pressure on the wound."

"If that happens, we can use one of the shirts from the shop. It'll be fine, we just have to try," Chat Noir assured.

"I-I don't know... I'm scared, what if it doesn't work? A-and we'll both transform back to our civilian selves soon. What if it becomes more painful?"

"I promise I will help you," Chat said, "just try. Please."

"O-ok," Ladybug grunt, fixing her sitting. She removed the towel, revealing the harsh burns from the lightning. "L-luck- lucky charm!" she exclaimed, tossing the towel into the air. Immediately, the magical ladybugs dispersed from the towel, leaving it nonexistent. The shop began fixing itself, the billboard rising off the ground and disappearing over the roof above. The flood water vanished, and all seemed to be mended as it had been before.

"Did it work?" Chat asked, looking over the wound. The hanfu was still torn open, but the boils and charred flesh were now healed. All that remained was an electric looking scar.

"I-it doesn't hurt as bad,"

"But it still hurts?"

"It stings a little," she winced, "but it's much better now."

"Good, good. Ah Jesus, that was scary," Chat said, running his hands through his hair in disbelief that his idea had actually worked. "But why is there a scar? If someone sees that in your civilian form..."

"I'll keep it hidden, don't worry," Ladybug said with a weak smile, "I normally don't wear anything too low-cut anyways."

"Will you be alright?" Chat asked, hearing a beeping sound coming from his ring telling him his time was nearly up.

"I'll be fine," Ladybug said. I'm just... gonna sit here for a while."

"Alright," Chat said and stood up. "I'm gonna go find the akuma victim real quick and let her know you're ok now. You need to hide before you transform back."

"I know, I know," Ladybug deadpanned, "now go, cat."

"Right," Chat Noir replied, backing out of the thrift shop door. He didn't want to accidentally stay too long and risk both of them losing their identities to each other. He hurried off, looking for the girl who was previously Stormy Weather. He hoped to see Ladybug again, just to know that she'd be ok. How bad was that injury really?

***

It was now the middle of the week, Adrien's second day of school. He was still very overwhelmed by it all. He hadn't expected it to be so much, so overbearing. Yet he'd only just begun. Really, he'd never been around so many people of his same age in his life. It felt strange to him, it simply wasn't a normality. He tried to keep it cool and act normal. He wanted to fit in, and feared he stuck out painfully like a sore thumb. He mimicked what he'd seen of teenagers in the media... which apparently was either outdated or just off. No matter what he did, he just wasn't used to being a kid.

He tried to befriend the boy sitting next to him, Nino Lahiffe. But Nino made it overbearingly clear that he had no interest in socializing with a pretty rich kid. Though Adrien had done nothing to offend Nino, the boy already seemed on edge with him. Like there was a barrier that separated the two. Adrien didn't know where or how to overcome it, and thought it would just be best to leave Nino be. It was painfully obvious he didn't want Adrien around him.

Unfortunately, they were assigned to sit next to each other in every single class of the day. The school liked to keep things orderly, and every room had the same desk setup and seating. This meant that Nino would always be sitting to his left, and in the desk next to him on the right, Chloe.

"You know he's probably just a male version of Chloe," he heard the girl behind him whisper. He shrunk in his seat. He knew they were talking about him. "I mean, I love Gabriel Agreste, but still."

"That's just what happens when you're a privileged rich white kid. He and Chloe are really meant for each other," another girl whispered back. Nino turned around in his chair to talk to them, though of course, he didn't understand a word they said as it was all in spanish. Someone tapped his shoulder, so Adrien looked back. It was Marinette, the girl sitting behind him and also talking about him, thinking he wouldn't notice.

"Hey, I'm Marinette," the girl said kindly.

"Um... hey?"

"So your dad really is Gabriel Agreste, huh?" she asked curiously.

"Y-yeah..."

"You know, I aspire to be a fashion designer. Do you think there'd ever be a chance I could meet him?" she asked.

"Probably not, no." Adrien turned back around. He didn't understand her, or anyone for that matter. Why was she acting nice to him but then talking about him behind his back? Was she doing it on purpose? Perhaps it was just a misunderstanding. After all, he was new to this whole concept of being in public, interacting with the people he was never allowed to grow up with.

"¿Ese niño sabe lo que estamos diciendo?" Alya asked Nino.

"De nada," Nino said, eyeing Adrien cautiously.

"El sabe tres idiomas," Alya said.

"I have no idea what you two are saying," Marinette deadpanned.

"Top secret," Alya winked.

"This is cool actually, it's like we have a secret code... that is an entire already existing language." Nino grinned.

"Watch out. I might just teach myself Spanish just to mess with you two," Marinette teased.

"Have fun with that," Alya giggled.

"Quiet down already," their teacher snapped. They were in their anatomy class with Ms. Mendeleev, a stern, middle-aged woman who'd never been married nor had kids of her own. It was obvious by the way she handled teenagers that she'd make out to be a terrible mother, so it was a good thing she wasn't. She was the only teacher in the school who got the ball rolling on their education immediately, leaving not a second to waste.

"I feel like we must have gotten off on the wrong foot," Adrien whispered to Nino as Ms. Mandeleev got their lesson started.

"I never asked to sit up front with you," Nino grumbled. Adrien felt his gut churn. He certainly was not welcome here. It was plainly clear that coming here was a mistake. He didn't even know how to behave.

"Did I... say something to offend you? Because I'm sorry if I did," Adrien stated, "I just... have no idea what I'm doing here."

"Uh huh. Why don't you have Chloe be your fantastic guide to highschool life or something?" Nino said distastefully.

"You all say her name like she's a bad person," Adrien noticed.

"Well no duh. The whole school knows it. This is the second year I've had to be in a class with her, and she makes everyone here miserable." Nino scoffed.

"I don't get it, she's so nice!"

"Maybe to you!" Nino said, "Look around pretty boy, everyone in this room has fallen victim to her. I mean, you saw her making fun of Alix yesterday because of her pants, just assuming Alix was poor. Alix is actually pretty well off, perhaps even rich, but Chloe doesn't know that. She'll pick on anyone she believes to be lesser than her."

"She told me everyone liked her though," Adrien frowned.

"Sabrina and you are her only friends. She just believes everyone practically worships her. We all hate her. Maybe you'll come to your senses too."

"Well, have you ever tried getting to know her?" Adrien asked.

"Hell no dude! The first day I met her she called me Spanish scum! Acted like I was nothing, racist shit."

"I-I'm sorry about that-"

"Yeah, well it's not like you're any different from her," Nino snarked. His words stung like a deep wound.

"But I-"

"Mr. Agreste, Mr. Lahiffe, quiet down. Now," Ms. Mendeleev barked.

"We're listening," Nino grumbled, pulling out a digital journal.  Adrien did the same. It was a school assigned tablet, all his school work would be down with it. Including note taking.

"Doesn't sound like it," Ms. Mendeleev sneered. She had a blank example of the human digestive system projected on the white board which she used to write labels in order for the students to take notes. Adrien was still trying to figure out how one even takes notes at the fast pace they were going. Being a homeschooled only child, Adrien's education happened at his own pace for the best understanding. This was absolute insanity to him.

"Pssst, Adrien," Chloe whispered. Adrien glanced across the aisle to her. She offered him a folded note. He took it and opened it up, reading what was inside of it.

Don't listen to Marinette. She isn't worth your time. -Chloe <3

Adrien wrote a response under her message.

It's ok. I don't really understand her anyways.

He passed the note back to Chloe who quickly wrote something down and passed it back to him. Adrien could practically feel Nino rolling his eyes.

She's just a brat. And she's really rude. Just ignore her.

Adrien wrote down a message and passed it back.

I'll try.

After that, they stopped passing the paper back and forth, for fear Ms. Mendeleev would notice. But someone had seen it, Marinette. And Marinette soon made it clear that they'd irritated her. As the class went on, Nino continued to ignore Adrien, dismissing him whenever he tried making conversation. Marinette and Alya continued whispering behind him quietly enough to not let him hear what they said. Chloe and Sabrina seemed pretty content with themselves, but Adrien felt terribly isolated. He was a stranger in this room, a stranger no one wanted anything to do with.

After the bell had rung, Adrien began packing away his tablet. He noticed Marinette had quickly gotten from her desk and swiped the note he and Chloe had been passing back and forth off of Chloe's desk before either of them could do anything about it. Marinette opened it up and read it as she hurried off.

"Hey! Get back here! That's private!" Chloe snapped, stumbling after Marinette on her platform heels.

"You two are so-" Marinette turned around, her face hot with anger, "What is wrong with you?!" she ripped the paper in half.

"Marinette-"

"Oh save your breath," Marinette cut Adrien off, "I was willing to give you a chance you know. I thought we could maybe be friends!"

"You don't understand-"

"You're just like Chloe," Marinette snarled, spinning on her heels and storming off with Alya chasing after her.

"That snooping little-" Chloe let out a frustrated shriek.

"It's alright Chloe, I'll try talking to her,"

"Oh don't even try," Chloe rolled her eyes, "She NEVER listens to anyone. Especially me. She's so annoying, agh!"

"Couldn't hurt," Adrien replied sheepishly.

"Hah. Goodluck," Chloe said, picking up her things and strutting out of the classroom. Her platform heels clacked upon the ground with each footfall, he could hear her even as she made it to the other end of the upper hall.

Adrien went and put his things in his locker. The end of the day was nearing, meaning he had just enough time to try smoothing things out with Marinette. He couldn't have screwed up already on his second day. He certainly didn't want people to hate him.

Their pre-calculus class was next, but Adrien found that class kept him so busy he didn't even have a chance to talk to her. And after that, his class split up in three ways: band, choir, and drama. Adrien was in drama, as he felt he had enough acting skill to fit in there. But unfortunately, Marinette was in the band. He missed his chance. The school day was over.

It was raining pretty steadily by now. He could hear the pitter patter of the rain upon the roof, and in the open sectional in the center of the building which now was puddled with water. He felt ashamed of himself. Though Marinette wasn't necessarily nice to him, he still felt guilt over that note. Chloe and Marinette must have had some long lasting beef brewing between one another, and he'd just gotten himself lumped in the middle of it. He had to talk to his drama teacher late after class, and by the time he got out, most kids had already left.

As he made his way to the front doors, he noticed someone. Of course, with his bad luck, it was Marinette. She looked upset by the rain, and didn't have an umbrella with her.

"H-hey?" Adrien said kindly, stopping next to her. Now they both stood out in the open, the rain soaking their hair. Marinette turned away from him, her eyebrows narrowed and angry.

Adrien let out a sigh, opening up his own black umbrella that he'd remembered to bring with him that day. Marinette still refused to look at him.

"I just want you to know... I'm uh... I'm still so new to this," Adrien said, taking a few steps forward so that his back was to her. He didn't want to see her expression of hate directed at him, "I've never been to school before. I've never even had friends. It's all sort of... new to me." He glanced back nervously and found she was now looking back at him. "I- uh- well I'm sorry about Chloe and I's note. That wasn't very nice, but for the record, I'm just trying to figure things out here. I thought Chloe... well... nevermind."

"I..."

"I guess I'm just trying to say I'm sorry? But I guess I'm bad at that too, huh?" Adrien chuckled nervously, "I really, really am sorry though. And I want you to know... I dunno... I don't even know why I'm saying any of this." He looked at his feet in dismay, before glancing back at her. Her hair was absolutely soaked, her bun now dripping wet and her bangs glued flat to her forehead. Adrien hesitantly turned around, outstretching the umbrella to her so as to shield her from the rain.

She looked taken aback by this, as if startled by his kindness. Thunder clapped, and she snapped out of whatever trance she'd been in. She cautiously placed her hand on the handle of the umbrella, skeptical that this was some cruel trick. He gave her the umbrella, leaving him standing in the rain.

"Th-thanks?" was all she said. Then, the umbrella snapped, closing itself on her.

"Oh-" Adrien held back a laugh, as this wasn't exactly an appropriate time for such a thing. But he couldn't control it, and a smile spread across his lips which very soon turned into a laugh.

Marinette lifted the umbrella off of her with a disappointed look on her face. Adrien's laughter was contagious, however, and she couldn't help but join in. She fumbled with the umbrella, trying to get it to open once again. Adrien helped her with it, and for a moment, it was quiet. Only the rumbling of thunder broke that silence.

"See you tomorrow," Adrien said with a friendly smile. He could tell his car was waiting for him, he was already late for his continued overload lessons.

"Uh-uh huh, see you to-tomo... ahah-" Marinette chuckled nervously. Adrien had gotten to the bottom of the stairs, and headed for his car. He was relieved that at least that conflict had been cleared up. And maybe, he'd possibly made a friend.

By the time his overload lessons were over, Adrien was completely exhausted. He'd been writing hanzi all afternoon, and tomorrow he'd have fencing lessons. It was simply overwhelming, but at least there was no akuma today.

"Well, now that I've had two full days of experience, I can officially say school is boring and you should quit," Plagg said, taking his full form.

"Hey wait- what if Natalie comes in and sees you?!" Adrien exclaimed, frantically looking for his ring, not knowing that Plagg hid it in his hand.

"I'll pretend to be your forbidden lover!"

"What?! No! No one can even know you exist!"

"Emphasis on the forbidden." Plagg winked.

"No, we're not doing that. If you stay little, it'll be easier to hide you!" Adrien said, still searching for the ring.

"Ugh! But that's so boring! And it makes everything seem so daunting and cramped," Plagg complained, "But fine," he handed Adrien the ring. Adrien slipped it on his finger and Plagg immediately shrunk down to his smaller size.

"You know, it's not like I signed up for this or anything," Adrien remarked.

"Yeah, well neither did I but I've found some fun in it after these thousands of years." Plagg approached Adrien's gaming console.

"How old are you?" Adrien asked curiously.

"I've lost track." Plagg shrugged, trying to turn on the game controller. "I was created and gifted to the Xia dynasty, so however long ago that was..."

"You mean, you were alive during BC times?" Adrien rose a brow.

"Yupperdoodle," Plagg said, pressing buttons at random until the controller lit up.

"And the other kwamis too?"

"Yeah, we all were created at the same time. Well- in the Chinese miracle box that is," Plagg said, "Do you have any cheese?"

"Cheese?"

"Yeah, cheese. It's my most favorite thing in this whole world," Plagg enthused. "It may even surpass Tikki."

"Tikki is Ladybug's kwami, right?"

"Yup, and she's..." Plagg stopped himself from saying whatever was going on in his mind. "Nevermind. Cheese is better."

"Is she like you?" Adrien asked.

"Where's the cheese? You have a massive house filled with servants, surely you can get me some cheese," Plagg complained.

"Th-they're not servants, just so you know," Adrien said with a sigh. "I'll get you some cheese, if that's what you really want."

"Camembert would be preferable, but any cheese will do." Plagg continued walking over the controller, pressing buttons with his feet. He had yet to actually turn on Adrien's TV.

"... Alright, if you say so," Adrien said, sending the request through a text to Natalie.

"I mean, Tikki is great and all, but cheese is so... zesty. I dunno, I love cheese. Tikki's got nothing on cheese," Plagg rambled.

"And Tikki is... special to you?" Adrien smiled knowingly.

"What?! No! Never, ugh- No!" Plagg said, focusing his attention on his controller. "She's nothing."

"Uh huh?"

"She's kinda mean, actually. Or maybe just mean to me. She thinks I'm annoying." Plagg huffed.

"Well, you kind of are," Adrien said.

"Oh you know nothing!" Plagg outburst.

"I get the feeling you like Tikki."

"You really don't know anything!" Plagg said snappishly, "Tikki is just the kwami of creation, automatically my other half- As in- well- uh... like, we balance each other out. We're the only two kwami's in our box that are polar opposites."

"Can kwamis fall in love?"

"Look kid, this doesn't concern you." Plagg stopped messing with the controller, "I suppose I should warn you that I'm cursed."

"You're... cursed?"

"I'm cursed, and that curse has always affected all the wielders of my miraculous in the past, and it's going to affect you too." Plagg hovered in front of Adrien.

"What is the curse?"

"Little bits of each kwami spread into the character of those who wield their miraculous. Your interests may change, maybe your personality just slightly will change too. Just little things, and it's how it works for all the other kwamis... except me," Plagg explained, "Instead, I've cursed all my people. Every time. I curse them with bad luck and misfortune. Things will just... start happening around you that you can't control, and it'll become stressful, I must warn you."

"But... I'm supposed to be a superhero," Adrien said.

"I know, I know. A short while after the creation of the Chinese miracle box, Tikki blessed herself with good fortune. She gave herself luck, and prosperity. She's the reason ladybugs are associated with good things," Plagg began, "It's not like she knew it would affect me. With her blessing, there had to be an equivalence granted upon me. We sorta are forced to act like yin and yang, you know? So I was cursed, and I'm the reason why black cats are associated with bad luck, and death."

"Thats..."

"I'm really sorry kid. My curse shouldn't have to affect you, but it will. The curse has made... complications between me and Tikki."

"How so?"

"I..." Plagg's cheeks flushed red, "well, I fell in love with her... a very long time ago. It was around the time she had blessed herself. But then my curse affected it and..."

"And what?"

"She'll never love me back. And I'm trapped, forced to deal with an unrequited love. I've tried... I've tried changing it, forcing myself to stop liking her, but I can't. I'm cursed to forever live in the misery of being in love with her." Plagg looked to Adrien sadly, "And sooner or later, that will happen to you."

"Huh?"

"I... I don't really know if now's the time to explain it," Plagg said, "But I will, eventually."

"Why not now?"

"Now's not the time. It's not even close." Plagg shook his head.

"So you're saying..."

"Don't even try to guess," Plagg said sharply, "look, you asked if kwamis can fall in love, and the answer is yes. That's all you need to know."

"... alright." Adrien sighed, "So... you're trying to figure out the gaming console?"

"Yes, please help me."