Chapter Text
Adrien was fixing his hair in front of a mirror. He had let it grow and it always ended up looking messy and a bit spiky, he loved to wear his hair like that, but today it wasn’t the smartest option.
He had to look polish and serious, he had to look like others professors did. At least he had to look like that on his first day as a teacher, to make a good impression, to impose respect between their students, then he could loosen up, but the first impression had to be a memorable one.
He went to open the cabinet placed at his right side and reached for the hair gel on the second shelf. He rolled the tap open and looked right into the cold blue gel. He placed his fingers on it and took a tiny bit of it before putting it on his hair.
He brushed through his roots, from the sunburns to the ends, trying to tame his long blonde hair. The result, as he expected, was disastrous.
He was a mess and he looked like a nerd; which Plagg made sure to remind him.
“You look like an absolute nerd” The kwami flown by his side, holding a salad cookie. Along the years, Adrien had finally convinced him to try new foods.
“I have never tried to style my hair, I always get out of the shower and let it dry”
“Didn’t you learn anything on your model days?!”
“In those days my hair was touched more for hairdressers than myself” He sighed “I look ridiculous, no one is going to take me seriously”
“C’mon, Adrien, it’s their first day too, those students will be more worried about not passing out than your hair” Plagg sighed “Wash your hair once again and take that disgusting thing of you, Golden Locks
Adrien laughed and did as Plagg said.
He walked to his room and admired it with a smile.
It was a room five times smaller than his childhood room but bigger than his university room, which made it perfect.
The room had enough space to fit a king sized bed, a little nightstand at is side, a desk, and a drawer, with a good amount of space in between every piece of furniture. The bed counted with black sheets and green pillows, something he had done on purpose, while the desk and drawers were white as the rest of the lights and things in the room.
Hanging above the nightstand was a collage of pictures. Pictures from his high school years, pictures from university, pics with friends and modeling partners, and one with his father.
At the other side of the room, beside the black clock, framed on silver there was one of him as Chat Noir, beside his loved Ladybug. It was a picture of them where they weren’t wearing their typical suites but clothes the magazine that ordered the pictures had given to them. They still were wearing their masks, and as both of them were transformed the magic of the masks still worked, not letting them know who they were.
It was Adrien’s favorite picture.
Ladybug was wearing a pair of red office trousers and a red blazer with a sheer black blouse underneath; while he was wearing a black tuxedo with a green bow tie. While Ladybug was the image of polish and perfection, he was a mess in a really expensive suit, which had come as a surprise to him since he was so used to model.
Also one of the reasons why he loved it so much, was because of the pose. Ladybug was with her hands on her hips in a very Wonder Woman stand, while he was holding her from her waist and leaving a kiss on her cheek. Ladybug was rolling her eyes at this.
It was a picture out of the planned photoshoot, it was improvised by him, the photographer was lucky to capture it in the perfect moment, and it ended up in the magazine.
That picture had been taken 6 years ago. Almost as long as the last time, he had seen Ladybug.
The last time someone saw Ladybug was 5 years and 11 months ago. One month after Adrien left town.
Adrien had fought so hard for his father to accept his plans for the future. Quitting the modeling world, study physics to become a professor one day. He had fought like he never had before and when his father accepted, Adrien knew it was too good to be true.
There was a catch; Adrien could only study Physics if he studied abroad. His father didn’t believe he would be the best if he stayed here in Paris, so he found a good university for him in the States.
Adrien tried to fight just as hard to stay in Paris but it was useless, and for his greater good he had accepted his father’s deal. Not without talking to Ladybug first.
When he told her about it (the parts he could without revealing his identity) he had shown concern about leaving her alone.
“There’s no more Papillon, we only look over Paris lately” That was true, after three years of fighting Papillon they had finally destroyed him. No more akumas, no more magic villains. Still, they kept the miraculous and the superheroes jobs “I think you should do what makes you happy”
“You make me happy, my Lady”
“Dear God” She rolled her eyes and laughed “You have to do the best for your future, if I had to move abroad to go to the best place for my education, then I would, it may seem scary at first but I know it would be worth it”
And with that phrase had begun a big speech from his Lady, a speech that had convinced him to go to the USA.
He had said goodbye to her, begging for an identity reveal, but it was useless, she denied it.
“You will be back on vacations and we will patrol again together, no reveal, it’s safer”
“No Papillon, remember?”
“It’s been only a few months, we still have to be careful”
“Alright, my Lady” He sighed “I’m going to miss you so badly”
“Me too” She answered and before Chat could react, she was in his arms.
They promised to text and talk once in a while, they already had their phones. A few years ago they decided it was good to buy a special phone for their civilian selves, so that wasn’t a problem (Adrien was relieved)
And the promise lived on for a month. Ladybug stopped texting which worried Adrien, he called but there was no answer from her. But the answers came from the Ladyblog.
“Ladybug hasn’t been spotted in weeks”
“Where’s Ladybug?” “What happened to Ladybug?”
“Big fire at district 9: Why wasn’t Ladybug there?”
“No more Ladybug”
And then the Ladyblog died.
No Chat Noir and no Ladybug around to write about.
He felt bad for Alya, he considered calling a few times, but he hadn’t really talked to her since high school; calling for a blog didn’t seem really like a smart thing.
He wanted to come back to France, but his father had visited him a few times in Boston (which was rare) and he had let him visit Nino on the other side of the country, to LA, where Nino was living since his DJ debut.
No France till seven years later, till he had finally made a good amount of money and had been able to take money from his fund.
He was back.
New apartment, new job, and apparently new city. Everything had changed so much, he had changed so much that it was hard to adapt. But it was his city after all. And most than anything it was Ladybug’s city too.
Adrien would be lying if he didn’t say that the real reason why he was back was to find Ladybug.
They had promised to see each other again, and he was going to stay true to his word.