the next holders//mlb fanfiction

34//reveal, sort of

"He lives here?" Ladybug asks, arriving at Louis' house.
"Yes, I'm certain." El answers, she walks up to the door and rings the doorbell, but doesn't get a response. After a while, she rings it again, but no one opens the door. She tries knocking on the window, but no response. She figured Louis' siblings would be at school, he couldn't come due to his injuries.
That makes her remember: he had to go to the hospital today for a checkup, it's the worst timing, his parents must've come with him.
Ladybug's earrings beep again, she has one minute left. El turns around, her hood still over her face. "I think I should tell you who I am." She states, in the last two seconds she thought this idea over a thousand times, it seems like the only possible way. They're running out of time.
"What? No! Are you crazy? We're not allowed to-"
"The people who told us we're not allowed to reveal our identities aren't here for us when we need them. Besides, I already told you that I'm crazy." Before Ladybug can complain again, El pulls of her hood, showing Ladybug her face.

Upon seeing El's face, Ladybug isn't sure what to do anymore. Too much thoughts are going through her head right now. She isn't thinking about the fact that her crush turns out to have a crush on her, too. She's thinking about how it will go from here. She isn't thinking about how much of a coincidence it is that they both received a miraculous. She's thinking about who could've stolen El's miraculous, could someone know she's Lady Noire?

Being too lost in thought, she doesn't realise her miraculous beep, she doesn't realise she detransforms until the moment it happens. Looking in front of her, expecting to see a similar look on El's face, she notices El has her eyes shut tight. "I didn't have a choice, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to reveal your identity too. So I'll stay here with my eyes shut for one minute. When I open them, you're either gone or revealing your identity to me." El says, starting to count to 60 in her head.

Autumn looks at Tikki, then back at El, then back at Tikki. She notices Tikki is tired, so she gives her a cookie while trying to think which choice she should make. Tikki shrugs, indicating that it really is Autumn's choice. Of course, she wants to tell El it's been her all along, but she isn't sure whether that's the right choice, is there even a right choice?

'...57, 58, 59, 60' El finishes counting. She keeps her eyes shut for just a few more moments, as if that would make the difference, then opens them.

There isn't a single person standing in front of her, and the feeling of loneliness sinks in almost immediately. She starts walking by herself, back to the place she left her bag and skateboard, which is at least fifteen minutes on foot. She knows it isn't smart to walk outside on her own due to the attacks, but she doesn't care at this point. For some reason, it doesn't matter to her whether she gets attacked or not, she might be able to help people if she does, she could see the attacker's face and give the police a description. She has to find something else to do to help Paris now, she knows Ladybug won't allow her to participate in akuma attacks anymore.

After fifteen minutes, she arrives at the alley in which she dropped her stuff. Luckily, it's still there. She puts her clothes back into her backpack and skates towards school, drowning in thoughts. She's glad Ladybug didn't reveal her identity, but at the same time she's feeling kind of disappointed.

She arrives at school almost an hour late, but she doesn't really care. She doesn't have any school books or even a pen or pencil with her, but she doesn't care about that either. She just walks in and sits down at her desk, not paying attention. For some reason, the teacher doesn't mind, or maybe they don't want to ask what's going on. El can feel all eyes staring at her, she knows she looks wrecked. She wishes Autumn was here right now, she's the only person she'd talk to right now, but Autumn doesn't seem to be in class today.

When their lunch break starts, El still hasn't moved, still staring and thinking, trying to process everything that has happened. Roux and Catherine look at each other, a bit concerned. They're planning on either confronting or comforting El, even they weren't sure which one, but Rune does that before they get the chance.
"Something wrong?" They ask, making El move for the first time since entering her seat.
"No, I'm fine, just had a bad night sleep." She lies, which no one believes. She might look wrecked, but she doesn't look tired. Rune doesn't ask more questions though, it's obvious El doesn't want to talk about it.
"Just let me know if there's anything I can do." El nods, then continues to stare into nothingness.

When the last school bell rings, El stands up and walks outside.
"Wait!" Catherine shouts, she and Roux walk up to El.
"What?" She asks, turning around.
"I don't know what's going on with you today and it's none of my business, but let us at least walk you home." Roux offers, but El shrugs it off.
"I just won't go into alleyways." She says expressionless, ready to skate away.
"That won't do! There's something wrong with you and as much as I don't like you, I don't want you going off on your own right now." They say, grabbing El's arm.
"Fine, then follow me." She says annoyed, picking up her skateboard and walking away, not giving them any time to catch a breath.

After about ten minutes of awkward walking in which El walks up front and Roux and Catherine keep exchanging looks with each other, walking a few feet behind her, they hear a muffles scream coming from an alley. Before Roux and Catherine can process the sound, El has started running towards it. They try keeping up, but El is much quicker.
The moment they turn the corner, too, they can see the silhouette of a person running around the corner at the other side of the alleyway and El kneeling next to another person, who's laying unconscious on the ground.