#dying author

Ladybug’s feet found the back row of the seats easily.

Her face found the next one.

As she laid there for a moment, groaning and blinking the stars out of her vision, a sudden hand on her ankle pulled her into rapt attention. A second of reaction time was all she needed to leap to her feet and throw her yo-yo blindly in front of her. A hard thunk! not two feet in front of her had Ladybug stumbling back in surprise.

“Uh, ow!?”

“Chat?” Ladybug didn’t shoot her yo-yo out again, but she did shuffle back a few paces more, just in case. A softer, familiar grip on her wrist made her tense.

“It’s me, M’Lady,” Chat’s voice answered quietly in front of her. Ladybug let out the breath she had been holding in, eyes trying and failing to see her minou who was, apparently, right in front of her. “Sorry I couldn’t answer earlier. Akuma problems, you know.”

A slight pressure cupped her shoulder, five little pinpricks squeezed gently, furthering her ease. Ladybug smiled at the smirk she couldn’t see but knew was plastered on his face.

Chat removed his hand – paw? claws? – from her frame but continued to tug on her wrist. They started to move through the aisle and then down the walkway of what Ladybug supposed to be toward the stage, judging by the downward slope. Chat was walking ahead of her, Ladybug gripping his hand like a lifeline in the all-consuming darkness. To fight the uneasiness threatening to plague her again, Ladybug tried to return to the banter they normally fell into.

“Akuma problems?” She snorted in dramatic derision. “Non, Chaton. I don’t believe I have any idea what you’re talking about.” He hummed a laugh in reply, squeezing her hand at the same time.

Speaking of…

There was one thing she needed answered before she forgot.

Ladybug pulled on Chat’s hand and they stopped, the tug loosening enough that Ladybug knew Chat had turned to look at her.

“You…uh…” Ladybug shifted her weight uncomfortably. “You didn’t see me before, well, just now, did you?”

“What? I – no?” His answer sounded like a question. “Should I have? I was a little busy...?”

A sigh left her body, and Ladybug almost smiled in relief.

“Nope, you’re good! Now, what are we dealing with, Chat?”

              “I don’t really…know? He’s like a phantom – moves through walls and stuff – we won’t be able to latch onto him.”

“Yeah...I kinda got the gist of that like, ten minutes ago.” Ladybug bit her lip, thinking about previous Akumas and if they had fought anything like this before. To her memory, they hadn’t. “Did you see the Akumatized item by chance?”

Chat had her by the hand again. He started to lead her up the small staircase – she only stumbled once and only banged her shin minorly, so she was going to tally that as a victory – to the stage while she asked her questions. Before he could answer the last one, however, Ladybug spit out another.

“Where are we going? Is he up here?”

“Yes, he is.”

Maybe it was the tone of these words. Maybe it was the way Chat’s grip on her wrist tightened to a degree it never had before. 

But, most likely, it was how Chat yelled out “Cataclysm!” right in front of her face.

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THANKS FOR READING!! The full chapter should be out (I’m hesitating saying this word) tomorrow. It’s written, just needs editing.

...And then the next one should be out before the weekend. ;)