The Missing Purrincess

Chapter 31: A Hard Truth To Swallow

She turned, and for a second she could have sworn that Marinette was looking back at her, her blue eyes so similar to those that she had been next to on a daily basis. But that was impossible.

---Marinette's POV---

"Cat Noir, I'm fine. Go find Karma!"

"Nope. CATACLISM!"

Cat Noir brushed his hand across the chunk of roof that was pinning me in place. I could see him visibly wince at the sight of whatever that had done to my leg, but I was too scared to look myself.

"Okay, can you move it?"

I tried, but a hot flash of pain shot up my leg. I didn't think it was possible to feel this much pain. Still, I had to convince the stupid cat to go after the villain so I kept pushing the muscles.

Cat Noir held his hands up in the air.

"Okay okay, don't push it."

Dang it. I could see his ring flashing, indicating that the timer had started for him to detransform. He noticed it too, looking for a place nearby where he could go to transform back if needed.

He gently picked me up and I got a look at my leg. It was already beginning to swell under my suit, and my ankle was bent at an awkward angle. Even with the miraculous ladybugs, there was a pretty good chance that there would be a lot of bruising.

Looking around, Cat Noir jumped off the building and leaned me up against a building close to the back entrance of the school. His ring beeped again, the time left before his identity was reveled becoming shorter and shorter.

"I'll be right back Milady."

With another beep of his ring, he vaulted away. Leaving me to writhe in agony now that I didn't have to put up a strong front to get him to leave.

I considered detransforming, but that might displace the injury enough to do some serious damage. Plus, the suit was probably helping with the pain somewhat. I didn't even want to imagine how bad it would feel without Tikki's magic.

The back door to the school opened, showing Chloe leading Ivan out of the building. Ivan was carrying Alya, who seemed to be the only one who noticed me right away.

"Ladybug?!"

Well great.

"Heeeeeeeey."

Chloe took notice of me as well. 

"ridiculous. Utterly Ridiculous. Now we have to deal with TWO impossibly injured people."

That explained why Ivan was carrying Alya. 

"Ivan, put me down. Go get help."

Ivan did as he was told, leaving Alya right next to me and running off. His face contorted with worry. 

"I'll go get help too. Heaven knows I'm not carrying either of you, let alone both."

Chloe ran off as well, leaving me with by ex friend in hopes of getting someone else to... I don't even know what.

---Alya's POV---

Well this is great. I'm hurt, Ladybug is hurt, Lila's who knows where, and Karma's on the loose.

"You okay Alya?"

I turn to face the superheroine who I adored for so long. Her shining features reminding me of Marinette in a way. Honestly, if she wasn't so clumsy, I wouldn't have put it past Marinette to be Ladybug herself.

Ladybug wouldn't look at me. Her eyes fixed at the door that Ivan had carried me out of.

"Yeah. Just twisted my ankle."

"That's good. Not that you're hurt of course! Just that it's not bad. Not that it's not bad you're hurt..."

Now she was really reminding me of Marinette. Stumbling over her words to try and clarify herself was a total Mari move.

"I get it. It's okay Ladybug."

It was awkward. Being stuck, unable to move next to a person who could barely talk to her without screaming. And I couldn't blame her. From her perspective, I must seem horrible. Snooping through someone's room and then blaming a superhero for my friend going missing? I would be mad at me too.

"I'm sorry."

I turned to look at the hero. She still wouldn't look at me. Not in the eyes, not even in my direction.

"No, you're not. And I don't blame you. You have no reason to apologize in the first place. It's okay if you're mad at me Ladybug. You have every right to be."

She turned, and for a second I could have sworn that Marinette was looking back at me, her blue eyes so similar to those that I had been next to on a daily basis. But that was impossible.

"I was a jerk Ladybug. I was never even really mad at you. I was mad at myself. What kind of journalist forgets to fact check? I turned the blog I had created for you into a tabloid for Lila's gain."

"People put all their faith in you. Everything rests on your shoulders. Sometimes, it's easy to blame things on you so we don't have to feel guilty about it, even when they have nothing to do with you."

Ladybug straightened, put on edge by the amount of pressure I had just reminded her she had.

"But you're just human. One thing I learned as Rena Rouge, is that you, me, Cat Noir, every hero that people look up to are just that. People. With real feelings and responsibilities. Real emotions."

I turned so I couldn't see her anymore. Choosing instead to stare at a can on the ground. Waiting for someone to come save me from this awkward encounter with my idol.

"I remember a few times where you needed me, and I didn't want to go. I did, but I was mad at you for needed me. Mad that I had to blow off my own fun so I could go run around on a roof. Then it hit me. You do that every time."

I could feel the hot tears begin to fall off my face. My eyes stinging with pure emotion. 

"Every tome you would have to choose to fight. There was no other option, because you had no emergency backup. Nobody else could do what you could do. And every frustration from that you just had to bottle up or risk getting akumatized and there being no hope for Paris.

I readjusted so my foot was more comfortable, getting a look at Ladybug's own face. She was crying softly. 

"And there's nobody you can talk about it with is there? Because where I had Nino to complain to and understand my problems, nobody can know who you are. "

She still said nothing. Not looking at me and trying to wipe her tears away.

"The point is Ladybug, I never should have blamed you for what happened to Marinette, whatever happened to her."

"What about Lila? Aren't you still her friend?"

Ouch.

"I thought you watched my livestream since you came to the school?"

"The one with the akuma? It was on the news."

"No, the first one. The one with Lila."