Running from the Night (A Ladybug and Chat Noir Fanfic)

Chapter 22

A slow drip was the first sound Adrien heard as he woke up. He had grown accustomed to the repetitive sound of leaking water from the ceiling that filled his few hours as Adrien. He sat up and stretched his aching muscles, his bed, if you could call it that was hard and cold. He had brought blankets to sleep on but a few blankets didn't do much against the concrete below them. His surroundings were grim. Exposed steel beams kept the building together, just barely. The layer of dust and dirt that had caked the bare concrete floor was only disturbed in the places he had walked.

"I'm starvingggg," Plagg whined above him. The mention of hunger made his own stomach growl in response. The black cat kwami was squinting at his holder with an accusatory glare.

"Sorry Plagg," Adrien muttered, "Claws out."

Green light filled the otherwise grey space. Adrien was replaced with Chat Noir. His dirty clothing and greasy hair vanished, replaced by the put together black suit. The hunger pains remained however, if anything they worsened from the kwami's own hunger.

Chat Noir creeped to the nearby broken window, glancing outside, the sun was setting over the horizon. Once he was sure no one was nearby he leaped from the window to the closest building and scaled it. Standing on the rooftop the brilliant reds that overtook the sky would have been breathtaking if Chat hadn't already felt faint and breathless.

He made his way across the city. His hideout wasn't in the heart of Paris, which was both a blessing and a curse. He could stay out of sight easier in the less populated neighbourhood that was waiting to be demolished and rebuilt but it took considerably longer to get back to the dense area he considered home.

Chat scanned the streets. It was getting darker by the minute which meant less people and it was easier to spot his reason for the outing. Movement caught his eye. A bag sliding across the sidewalk trying to fight from being thrown onto its side like an urban tumbleweed. He leaped down and caught the bag like a mouse under his claws. His nose told him it was exactly what he was looking for. Inside sat a cardboard box half filled with fries.

A gourmet dinner, Chat thought grimly to himself. He used the baton to leap up to a rooftop and seclude himself on an empty balcony. He checked the abandoned food for any sign that it was past due and once it cleared his limited knowledge of food safety he quickly began shoving it into his mouth. The cold fries were heavenly compared to his latest diet of air.

The last time he had found a good amount of food left on the street a civilian had mistaken him for picking up litter. Of course he couldn't admit that he wasn't going to throw it away so he had to put on a brave face and dump the perfectly good bag into a nearby trash can as he was questioned. Chat reached into the box again and found nothing but empty space.

Shit. He dreaded to think what Plagg would do to him if he didn't bring something back to eat.

He stood up again feeling a bit less weak after the meager meal and racked his brain as to where he could get anything remotely close to the expensive cheese Plagg always demanded.

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Chat Noir stood in front of a small cafe as a gaggle of teen girls crowded around him. They were practically hanging off him as they snapped photos and laughed at their own jokes. Their hands wandered over his back and arms making his body tense in fear. He smiled and posed so they would let go of him faster.

The girls finally departed and he was left to continue the job he had started. He walked back inside the store and waved at the older woman who ran it.

"Oh dear you didn't have to stop and help me, I'm sure you're busy with all those akumas these days," the woman said as she shook her head.

"It's no purr-oblem ma'am, just fur-filling my duty to the city," he said with his usual charming ease. In reality the world had spun as he shifted the heavy boxes that had been delivered outside her shop with no way for her to lift them inside.