Ladybug's fake identity

Chapter 12: Pigeons

"Where's Lyssa?" Nino asked. "She said she'd be right back, but she's been out for too long."

The question made Adrien perk up. It was true, the girl had been in the « toilets » during a suspiciously long amount of time. Or maybe something had happened and he had been too focused on his friends to notice it. He stood up, ready to hide in the toilets of the café to transform and see if he could find her hero self. Or maybe fight some discreet villain. A really discreet one.

"I need to go, too. I can check up on her while I'm at it. » he offered. « I might take some time, though, so don't wait for me."

Lila frowned. "No, don't worry, I'll do it. You can't go to the girls' washroom, it'll make her uncomfortable."

"Oh." It was true, he hadn't thought of that. "Okay. I'll go to the boy's then."

They stood up at the same time and walked together towards the toilets in an awkward silence. Since Lyssa had joined the school, she had been the centre of the group. Now, being alone with her friend without her was only awkward. He found it strange. They had been friends before Lyssa's arrival, why did he now need the latter to feel comfortable around the brunette? Well... now that he thought about it, they weren't exactly friends before. But they weren't exactly strangers, either, so it was difficult to name their previous relationship.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of these thoughts. It didn't matter. What only mattered was that Lyssa had disappeared and that the city may be in need of saving. They parted ways in front of the doors of the washing rooms. He quickly locked himself in the small stall and let Plagg fly out of his shirt.

"What is it, kid? » the cat wanted to know.

"Lyssa's been out for suspiciously long. She might need help. »

"What? But nothing's-"

The kwami's sentence turned into a scream of frustration when his holder yelled out the two words.

"Claws out!"

*

"Lyssa! There you are!" Alya exclaimed as she saw the girl arrive after Lila.

"Sorry I took so long. But... where's Adrien?" she asked.

As if it had waited for her to ask, Nino's phone rang. He took the call, signaling his friends that it was the model.

"Hey dude, are you stuck in the toilets, too?"

"Sorry, something came up. I had to leave in a hurry. Could you pay for me? I'll pay you back as soon as I can." Chat promised on the other side of the phone.

He was running on the roofs of Paris, scanning the streets to search for any clue of where Ladybug was.

"Again? Your pops needs to chill out!" his friend's voice came over the stick he used as a phone.

"Sorry."

"You're not the one who should apologize. But don't worry, man, I'll take care of that."

The hero sighed in relief. Now he could focus on finding her. But the city was calm and he couldn't find any clue of where she could have gone. Dark thoughts clouded his mind. What if something had happened to her? He shook his head. If that was the case, she would have called him. And he'd have to pray for the unlucky person who managed to capture her.

He continued searching.

*