Miraculous Ladybug: Season Six | Part One

Chapter Nine: Help

The next day, Adrien wakes up later than he's used to, with no one telling him to wake up for some modeling gig or class he's taking outside of school. No one presses him to take extracurriculars he isn't interested in for a change. Adrien is in complete control of his life for the first time. He reaches for his phone to check the time: 10 AM. He reads, shocked at how late it is in the day. "Wow, someone slept in late today," Plagg says, inspecting a slice of brie on Adrien's bedside table. Adrien places his hand on his forehead while recalling all that happened the night prior. The new villain, Ladybug, unable to tell him the truth, Marinette.... all of these thoughts make his head spin. "Plagg, I need to talk to someone," Adrien mumbles, unable to control his thoughts. Plagg looks at him, confused, "Adrien, you can talk to me," he answers, floating over to face him directly. Adrien blinked at him before shaking his head, "No, I need to talk to someone unbiased about these events. Too much is happening simultaneously, and I still lack answers." Adrien states, looking at his phone again and scrolling through his contacts. Plagg watches in fear of him telling someone his secret identity, "Don't tell me you're going to tell someone," Plagg pleaded, looking over his shoulder now. "Why would I tell someone when they already know?" Adrien replies, landing on Luka's contact, his thumb hovering over the call button. Plagg sighs out of relief to himself, worried he would go out telling Marinette or Nino.
Adrien hesitates before hitting the call button, waiting for a response from someone he finds to be a good friend. "Adrien? What's up?" Luka answers without hesitation. Adrien feels his heart racing, "Hey Luka, I was wondering if I could stop by to chat about..." He says, stumbling to find his voice. Before he had the chance to finish his sentence,  "You know where to find me," Luka replies immediately, already having a loose idea of what he needed to talk about. Adrien sighs out of relief from not needing to overexplain himself, "Thanks, Luka, I'll be right over." He promised before swiftly hanging up, staring at his contact list again, specifically Marinette. "I feel terrible not being able to tell her, Plagg." He hangs his head low, placing his phone beside him, allowing Plagg to glance at Marinette's contact. Plagg winces, unable to respond with what he wants to hear, "Maybe that's something you should talk to Luka about when you go over," He recommends floating back over to his brie triangle. Adrien looks up from his lap, not saying another word, before getting out of his bed to get ready.
Adrien makes his way to Luka's, nervous; they never had a direct conversation about his issues as Chat Noir; it mostly pertained to his love life with his ex, who is currently Adrien's girlfriend. Adrien inhales sharply, regretting wanting to ask him about telling Marinette his secret; he vows to only ask him about it if she comes up in conversation. Luka stands on the deck where they usually had band practice, waiting. Adrien sees him and waves slowly while walking onto the dock. Luka, without a word, leads him downstairs to his room, sitting on his bed, legs crossed, waiting for Adrien to join him, to which he obliges. Adrien thinks of how to begin the conversation while sitting in awkward silence. Luka notices this, "I assume you aren't aware of how I found out," he starts smiling awkwardly from recalling the battle between them and Wishmaker. Adrien grimaces, imagining where he could've slipped up, let alone Ladybug. "Well, it wasn't either of your faults; it happened when Wishmaker attacked Paris, changing everyone into their childhood dreams," Luka adds, recalling what happened as if it were burned into his brain permanently. Adrien's eyes widened, "So, what you're telling me, Wishmaker hit Ladybug and me both, and you remembered who we were because of the power of second chance." He proclaimed in genuine shock, touching his face with his palm.
Luka chuckles while nodding, "It was a genuine surprise to see who you were; I couldn't unsee you two as your superhero selves. It was quite odd." He adds as Sass slyly appears behind him. Adrien thinks about his wording momentarily, "Are you implying that you know Ladybug's civilian persona personally?" Adrien questions, trying to put the puzzle together that Luka planted in front of him. Luka realizes his mistake of wording immediately, knowing Adrien should not find out through him who Ladybug truly is, "No, not at all, well, not really."He responds nervously, "There was something else you wanted to discuss, right?" He adds, trying to change the topic, hoping Adrien wouldn't continue to piece together the puzzle. Adrien sits up straight, frowning at Luka, "Yeah, actually, Ladybug doesn't trust me with the identity of Monarch." He sighs, wanting to get this conversation over with. Luka looks at him wide-eyed, not expecting that to come out of his mouth. He starts to think of why Marinette wouldn't tell the person who has fought by her side for over a year now. "I can only assume it wasn't a good time for her to sit down and explain in detail what happened that night. I can only assume how traumatizing it was for her to witness not only his defeat but also your father's death." Luka theorized, hoping he was somewhere close to the truth. Adrien chuckles sadly, "I can tell you're surprised; so am I. I thought she fully trusted me at this point." He muttered lowly, beginning to lower his posture in disbelief that after all this time, she still didn't trust him. Luka watches Adrien wallow in self-pity, paralyzed, unable to think how to comfort him at this point. "Am I the problem? I must've broken her trust when I couldn't help her with the battle because of the ridiculous prison I was in. Encaged by my father." He adds sternly, looking directly into Luka's eyes, who has never openly seen Adrien this emotional. Luka touches Adrien's shoulder gently, "The timing must've been wrong; she would never keep something this important from one of her best friends." He reassures, trying to get Adrien out of his head. He gently nods, "Yeah, she'll come around. We just discovered a new threat to Paris after all within the same night." Adrien smiles softly at his ridiculous assumptions about why his partner would have kept this from him. "Monarch was probably some lone wolf hungry for power like all villains are; he probably doesn't hold any significance to Parisians anyway." He sighs, feeling much better he could talk this out with someone who's in the dark with him.