Forgotten

Chapter 3

Adrien didn't hear about the building collapse until he had arrived back at home, already exhausted from fighting an akuma that just didn't want to make anything easy for them. Of course, he knew about the magnitude of the damage from their fight but had watched with his own eyes as the magic ladybugs fixed everything. Or so he thought.

The magic ladybugs hadn't woken Chloe up, and they hadn't brought her parents or butler back to life. Adrien had been so tired from his day that hearing about Chloe was the final straw and he collapsed into his bed, sleeping from the middle of the afternoon to his alarm the next morning.

Said news continued to feel abstract even into the next day. Nothing sunk in until he was at school and listening to people say Chloe deserved what she got and how they wished it happened sooner. He finally snapped when he heard someone say this had been coming to Chloe for years, and that karma was finally coming back around to those who were owed their dues.

"Chloe didn't deserve to be caught in a building collapse! No one deserves to lose their parents! What is wrong with you?!" Adrien could feel everyone turning to watch as he shouted at the group in front of him. "Chloe may have been mean but at least she wasn't malicious like all of you!"

People were beginning to whisper more about Adrien's outburst than Chloe herself. It was so unlike the kind Adrien they knew, yet here he was, yelling at people in front of their very eyes. No one really knew what to do, or even say.

Adrien was so mad that he didn't notice Marinette coming up next to him until she rested her hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Instantly, Adrien's shoulders sagged, and he felt tears well in his eyes. He refused to cry, however, reasoning he had already embarrassed himself once this morning. Without another word Marinette gently pulled on Adrien's shoulder to indicate he should follow her. He did, and they walked into a back corner of the library where Alya and Sabrina were waiting.

Just like Adrien, Sabrina didn't look like she was coping with the news well. Her eyes were red and swollen and her breathing was still all over the place. She must have been crying just before Adrien and Marinette got there.

The group was silent for a few minutes, not quite knowing where to begin. Just as Adrien was about to speak, Sabrina beat him to it. "I should have forgiven her yesterday morning."

"No, this could have happened whether you forgave Chloe or not." Marinette pulled a chair out and sat in it, her face serious as she reassured Sabrina. "We just have to hope Chloe will be alright."

Sabrina turned to Adrien expectantly, but Adrien could only shake his head. "I only know that she was hurt in an akuma attack. No one has told me anything else, except that only Chloe survived. She's in hospital now."

Chloe's future hanging in the balance made it hard to be hopeful, let alone optimistic. That pattern continued throughout the day. Even the usually cheery Rose seemed duller.

Why hadn't the magic ladybugs fixed this? They should have been able to undo all of the damage caused by the akuma, so what went wrong?

Adrien was nearly a complete wreck. While he had insisted he didn't need to go home like Sabrina had, everyone could tell he wasn't having a good time. After the incident that morning, he was withdrawn and quiet, not really seeming to be present. At lunch he had watched a new report over Alya's shoulder, even though everyone had told him it was a bad idea. He didn't listen to any of them.

It confirmed everything he had thought. A single akuma that was just a little stronger than the rest had caused a building to collapse, and it was only when the magic ladybugs returned the building to its normal state did anyone find the people inside, untouched by the powers of the miraculous. The Bourgeois family was the only physical proof left of the akuma, but according to the news reports it had been quite a gory sight.