Heartstring ✅

Chapter 6

The only thing he could hear was the blood rushing to his ears and breaths coming out in pants. He vaguely realised that the direction they were heading was towards Marinette's balcony, and so Chat Noir sprinted directly onto it before they could.

Heartstring abruptly stopped on the nearest rooftop, glancing around to find a safe placed to hide his Melody.

The hero vaulted over to the two, noticing how Marinette's irises flickered from emerald to bluebell when she caught sight of him. He grinned, seeing the akuma's eyes narrow dangerously when he appeared.

"Princess!" Chat Noir called, to which she perked up. "You need to fight whatever spell he has on you!"

Heartstring gripped her tighter, eyeing her for any reaction. "Spell?" Marinette murmured quietly, but with his enhanced hearing Chat heard it.

"Yes, your eyes are green, and you're with an akuma! I need you to come here so I can save him!"

"Don't listen to him, my Melody. He only want to harm you, just like that liar," Heartstring hissed, anger aimed at the other male.

"H-He's lying?" Her eyes widened, the green overtaking them again. So that was the key, Chat thought. She becomes more vulnerable on the topic of Lila!

Chat Noir was still processing what Lila had admitted back in Francoise DuPont, especially for how she'd threatened Marinette.

He remembered how he was poised outside, ready to grab his Princess and yet he stayed hidden and listened to the confession. The fact that he had ever believed that liar could have ever changed made him sick to his stomach, and so did the knowledge that he'd indirectly caused the akuma.

If he had just exposed Lila, or stood by Marinette...

The voice of Heartstring broke him out of his thoughts. "Go down, Marinette, and hide!"

Said girl was placed gently onto the ground, and Chat Noir watched as she sprinted to the edge of the rooftop and began to climb down the fire escape. The akuma gave him a smug grin, before holding his right hand out in the air.

Before the hero's eyes, a sword materialised from thin air, in the grip of Heartstring. The blade was a dull grey - the hilt of it sporting a shattered heart. A ray of sunlight hit the tip of it, making Chat gulp.

Dang. That looked sharp.

Instead of lunging at him, Heartstring simply brought the sword down to the ground in a swift movement, making cracks slither their way across the rooftop.

Chat Noir extended his baton upwards, allowing him to leap into the air and over Luka. Both males made eye contact as Chat plummeted downwards, and Heartstring realised too late where the hero was headed.

"No!" he yelled, but he wasn't fast enough. When he reached the fire escape where Marinette had previously climbed down, there was no one in sight.

~*~*~

The wind blew against his blond hair and faux cat ears, as Adrien fell closer and closer to the ground. His slit eyes scanned the fire escape, noticing a short girl with flowing hair clambering down it.

His fingers nimbly extended the staff, making it even longer so that it hit the ground. Then, he used the momentum to jump onto the steps in front of Marinette, forcing her to stop unless she wanted to run straight into him.

"Let's go!" Chat Noir exclaimed, scooping Marinette up bridal-style before leaping towards the entrance of her bakery. He entered without a second thought, blatantly ignoring the confused stares of customers as he sprinted past.

He felt Marinette squirm in his hold, making him reflexively grip her tighter as he made his way to her bedroom. By the time he was stationed outside of the trapdoor leading to it, she was already out of his hold and at the opposite side of the room.

Chat took a tentative step forward as he asked, "Princess?"

To his surprise, she jumped at the nickname and pushed herself into the wall behind her. He raised an eyebrow, and before he could question what was wrong she exclaimed, "I won't believe any of your lies!"

It took a moment for him to register why she'd think that. Since her eyes were still an unnatural emerald, he guessed that she believed what Heartstring had told her before.

"Listen, Marinette. I'm not a liar, I swear," he persuaded, taking note of her flickering irises. "I know that Lila is a liar, so you don't have to worry about me believing her."

It dawned on him that bringing up the Vixen was not a good idea, as the green immediately came back with no blue in sight.

"Just hear me out, okay?" Chat Noir tried again, hoping that his explanation would set her free. "I know that you want to be with Lu-"

"Heartstring," the girl snapped.

"-but you need to remember that he's not the only one on your side! I believe you, and sure Lila got what she deserved, but at the cost of Luka being akumatized!"

Marinette tilted her head as he spoke, and so he took it as an invitation to continue. "You can stay with Luka and listen to his music just like before. However, you have to come around and realise that we need to get him out of Hawk Moth's clutches!"

At the mention of the villain, bluebell overtook her irises, but before he could celebrate the temporary success his ring beeped, signalling that he was running out of time to stay transformed.

"Y-You can detransform in my bedroom if you want," Marinette suggested in an unsure voice, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Chat Noir flashed her a genuine smile. "Thanks, I'll be back after I feed my kwami."

He made his way into her bedroom, not noticing the way her breath hitched in her throat at the reminder of Tikki.

A green light shone inside Marinette's room as Chat muttered, "Claws in."

Adrien caught Plagg in his hand, pulling out a wedge of Camembert from his jacket pocket with the other. Immediately, the black cat swallowed the cheese whole, ignoring the way Adrien's lip curled in disgust.

"Good to know you managed to get your girlfriend back," Adrien guessed Plagg said, though it was hard to tell when he was practically inhaling the food in his mouth.

"Shut up, Plagg!" Adrien said, with said kwami snickering in amusement.