The cupcakes are all here. I wanted to practice baking once and Chat Noir had decided to do a 'taste test' as a 'favour'. He burnt his tongue but claimed it was really good. Now he gets excited every time I bake.

I set the cupcakes on the table. Each hero has two cupcakes, one for themself and one for their kwami. The hero ones have their symbol on it while the kwami ones have a special topping for them.

"Wow! These look awesome!" Nino smiles, admiring the cupcakes. "Thanks," I chuckle. "I'll give the others their ones the next time I see them."

"Hold them up, I wanna get a picture!" Alya grins. "This can be part of that charitable act thing Miss Bustier wanted us to do, right?" "Sounds good to me!" Nino agrees. I chuckle and hold up the cupcakes. Alya takes a picture, then shows me it.

"God, I look awful in photos," I chuckle, setting the tray back down. "What are you talking about? You're beautiful!" Alya argues instantly, then pauses, realising what she just said. "I mean, uh, you don't look bad."

"Uh... thanks?" I don't really know how to reply to that. Nino watches us both for a second, giving Alya a look that makes her blush. I thought they were on break? What's going on with them both?

"Oh for the love of Camembert, give me the cupcakes!" Plagg flies over and grabs his and Adrien's cupcakes, then hurries them into a room so they can both share them. "Plagg!" I laugh, though I'm not exactly surprised. I put a small piece of cheese on Plagg's cupcake, no wonder he was so impatient.

I hand out the cupcakes of the other Miraculous holders that are here. It seems Ryuko slipped out before, but Ladybug and Viperion are happy to accept the treats. "Thank you, Esme," Viperion smiles. "They look amazing!" Ladybug grins, looking down at the two cupcakes in her hands. Hers has her yo-yo pattern on it, Tikki's has tiny chocolate chip cookies on top. I know she has a sweet tooth.

"Glad you like them," I chuckle, then turn to Alya and Nino. "How about we leave these guys be for a bit?" I suggest. "So they can share with their kwamis?" "Like we need to worry about that, Ladybug is super serious about not sharing identities so she wouldn't detransform in front of Viperion," Nino commented carelessly.

Viperion looked at Nino for a moment. "And how would you know that?" He asked, a small smirk on his masked face. "Everyone knows that," I shrug, quickly coming to Nino's rescue when he, Alya and Ladybug panic. "Besides, I told them both. It's not like that of all things is gonna be something I can't tell them."

"Exactly," Ladybug sighs in relief. "Glad to know you're keeping that in mind, Esme. Now you guys go have fun, we'll feed the kwamis."

I nod and lead Alya and Nino out, winking discretely at Arya. She smiles and flies out of my bag, heading back up to Ladybug and Viperion. She can hang out with them, if she likes. Maybe chat with Tikki and Sass. Or whatever else kwamis do, I don't know.

Hold on. Alya and Arya? That's cool. Weird, but cool.

"Esme?"

"Huh?"

I blink and glance over to Nino. "Can I speak with you for a minute?" He asks me. "Alone?"

I notice Alya's left and slowly nod. "Uh, sure. What's up?" "First, promise you won't tell Alya," he says quietly. "Of course I won't tell her," I assure him, lowering my voice as well. "What is it?"

"Well... all of us have been hanging out with you a lot more lately and we're all seriously enjoying you being around..."

Oh boy, where's this gonna go? My heart sinks. Did I do something wrong? They don't wanna hang around with me anymore, do they?

"I know, I know, there's always a but with this kinda thing," I sigh. "I'll get out of your hair, I can handle the rest of the project if you want. You don't have to bother coming over."

"Wait, what? Esme, I'm not saying anything like that!" He defends himself quickly. "We all still wanna be friends with you, for real! What I'm trying to say is... well.. I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that for someone..."

I gape at him. More to it than that? What does he mean? "I... how so?" I ask, confused. I have to admit, I'm also relieved that nothing's wrong like that. I wouldn't wanna annoy everyone.

"I mean... Alya'll kill me if she finds out I'm saying this to you..." Nino mumbles. "Or anyone, really. She'd never want me to even think of this."

What could he be talking about? Something Alya wouldn't want him to even think about?

But then it starts to all click into place. Whenever I get close to Rena Rogue or Alya, Nino or Carapace always stare and comment. I've caught him staring at me a few times, actually. Even when I'm not around her. I know Alya's straight, so it's not like she'd love me even if there was a reason she would.

But Carapace... he saw me transformed for the first time and almost immediately went on break with his girlfriend, leaving her so heartbroken she was almost akumatised. And Nino is always making room for me at the table at school now, come to think of it. He always has me sit beside him, but with a physical barrier between him and Alya.

Does Nino...? Surely not, right? But... what else could this be?

Nino looks me in the eye, trying to work out the best way to say this. "Esme... I can't believe I'm telling you this, but... I-"

Nino suddenly freezes, a pause sign hovering by his side. My eyes widen in shock and I look over to see a young girl in black clothes, stripes of white accenting the look, a phone in her hand with a Ladybug charm attached to it.

Lady WiFi.