10: Appreciated

"What...? What's going on...?" You gulped, glancing up at the heroes beside you. You were sitting on the floor, your legs sprawled out in a W shape beneath you. They smiled at each other, doing their usual fistbump, before looking at you.

"Y/N, are you okay?" Ladybug smiled. "Do you... Remember anything??"

"Remember what? What's going on?" You spoke with a pointed look. Ladybug seemed to be relieved. Chat Noir didn't see her sigh of relief.

"Well, we're glad you're okay... You should go back to school. People are worried about you!" Chat Noir laughed, slinging his baton over his shoulder. His ring suddenly beeped.

"Chat Noir, we should leave. Bye, Y/N. We hope to see you soon! Be happy!" Ladybug smiled brightly. She then swung off, Chat Noir going in the opposite direction. You glanced between the two, stunned. What was going on...? You were akumatized. You remembered that much. But how...?

You stayed on the ground, concentrating. You felt as if you were so close to remembering, but then, at the same time, so distant... So, you were akumatized. How? When did the Akuma come to you? Right; it came into your bedroom! What was the object it akumatized...? You glanced at the paper beside you and quickly snatched it from the floor, then unfolded it. Oh, right! You drew this! You remembered how you decided against the smiley face and instead went with the sad one! But what else... Did Hawkmoth talk to you? You concentrated further.

Did he talk to you? Did you have any important conversations? Did he tell you to get the miraculous? Or maybe... Did he comment on how you helped him akumatize you? Yes... That was it! You understood! You remembered it all! The hiding, the whisps, the conversations, forms, terror... You remembered. Though, there was one thing you didn't remember... Who was Ladybug? Had you forgotten? You tried to concentrate to no avail. Nothing! You couldn't even remember what you did to find her!

"Dammit, no!" You growled, clutching your hair in frustration. How could you forget something so important?! Then, you remembered... You told Hawkmoth! He'd be able to akumatize you again, and you could finish them off! But... What if he didn't need you? Your body untensed as you let out a sigh, closing your eyes. You continued to sit in the dark alleyway alone, your limbs limp. Of course, you weren't going to be akumatized again. Why would he? You already proved you weren't good enough. You sat alone, dark thoughts traveling through your mind and pulling at your heart.

You laughed.

Why did you even want to be akumatized again?

A new day of school. You were back to your normal schedule. Everyone forgot all about what happened. People had returned to normal and nothing was wrong. A few people were concerned about you.

"Are you sure you're okay, Y/N..?" Nathaniel gulped as you sat beside him. When you had entered the classroom, people had crowded you, asking for your wellbeing. You had already assured them you were okay. They eventually let you go to your seat.

"I told you, I'm great. I honestly don't remember anything about it..." You chuckled sheepishly. You did remember, you just didn't want anyone else to know that you did.

"You... You seemed perfectly fine, you know that? It kind of worries me..." Nathaniel mumbled. You stared at him with genuine curiousity. What was he talking about..?

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I-I'm not talking about if you're okay after the akumatization. I'm talking about in general. You're surprisingly good at hiding things, so, u-uhm... Are you really okay..?" Nathaniel gulped, starting to get unsure with his words at the end. You let out a laugh.

"I assure you, I am fine. Thank you for asking, though." You spoke, sending him a bright smile. He stared at you with wide eyes, before quickly turning away with a slight blush.

"Y-Your welcome..."

"Alright, class! Your teacher's still not around, she's gotta have a few checkups to check for any damage, so I'll substitute for one more day, and then I'm outta here!" Your substitute teacher spoke, entering the class. Everyone got to their seats.

It was lunchtime, and once again, someone had decided to talk to you. Having so many people talk to you in one day for extended amounts of time was weird... Usually, they'd talk to you a little and then talk to everyone else...

"So, Y/N, how are you doing?" Adrien smiled as he sat down on the bench beside you. You shifted ever so slightly... He was being too nice...

"Good, I guess. People keep asking if I'm okay, which is getting annoying." You huffed. You hoped that'd give the hint that you were okay and you didn't want him to ask.

"Yeah, I could see that. So, did you see Chat Noir and Ladybug? That must have been cool." Adrien smiled. You shrugged.

"I only saw them for a couple of seconds." You spoke nonchalantly. He nodded.

"Hm... Who did you like better?" He smirked.

"Well, everyone's always hyped about Ladybug, and I feel like Chat Noir's kind of underrated, so him, I guess." You replied. He seemed to brighten.

"Really?? That's cool." He smiled, almost seeming proud. "So, what are you going to do later today?"

"I dunno, stay in bed all day and watch anime?" You shrugged. His eyes suddenly widened.

"Oh, you watch anime?? Me too!" He smiled. You stared at him dumbfounded, before laughing hysterically.

"Wait, wait, wait, is why you stood up during the register that one time?! You... You were copying them?! AHAHAHAHA!!" You continued to laugh boisterously. His cheeks heated in embarrassment. Some people glanced your way, curious as to why you were laughing.

"I-I hadn't been to school before that! My only knowledge of school was through anime, and they do that in Japan!!" He cried in distress. This only powered your laughter. You clutched your stomach as you continued to laugh, whilst Adrien continued to whine.

"Wow, that's just hilarious..." You giggled, your laughter dying down. Adrien huffed.

"I didn't know you weren't meant to do that around here..." He mumbled with a pout. You let out a small laugh at his expression.

"Yeah, I get it. You were homeschool before, right?" You asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, but I got to go to school after some convincing. What about you?" Adrien asked, to which you gave a confused expression. "Have you been to school with our classmates for a while? How long? What about friendships?"

"Uhm, well, the majority have known each other for a while. Alya's sort of new, Chloe and Marinette have been enemies forever, and some others joined in later on. I was always around, but as a kid, I kept to myself. As a result, people just leave me alone now." You shrugged, seemingly not bothered by the neglection.

"Do you want them to leave you alone?" Adrien asked. You were slightly surprised by his question and serious tone.

"Well... Sometimes? There are times where I want to socialize and stuff, but then I realize I'm trash at socializing, and then I get ignored a bunch of times and decide to just stay alone. That there is basically the story of my life." You laughed.

"But that's sort of sad, don't you think?" Adrien spoke in a slightly sad tone. You let out a sigh, though you made an effort to keep a smile on your face, even if it was bittersweet.

"Yeah, but it's okay. I shouldn't really care at this point." You shrugged. You noticed Marinette was staring from a distance. More at Adrien than you, but you still managed to catch her gaze and send her a small smile, to which she reacted to by quickly glancing away. "It's happened so long that I should know not to bother."

"You shouldn't think like that... Hey, what do you say about doing something today?" Adrien smiled. You let out an amused huff, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't you have a super busy life? With all the fencing, modelling, anime, and all the other stuff I don't know that you probably do..." You listed. He let out a laugh.

"My schedule's pretty cleared today. Other than fencing, which shouldn't take too long, I have got nothing else to do." Adrien smiled.

"Then shouldn't you hang out with more people?" You asked. He shook his head.

"It's nice hanging out with groups, but sometimes it feels a bit scattered and disconnected."

"Yeah, I get what you mean. I guess you can just come over to my place. You can bring people, if you want. I don't mind. And your fencing lesson is straight after school, right?" You asked. He nodded. "That's good, I'll have some time to clean..." You spoke, mentally scanning your house for anything that would be embarrassing for another person to see.

"Alright, it's decided, then! We'll hang out today, and there's a chance I might bring someone." Adrien said, with a small laugh. "Might be a little awkward with the two of us, so I might do that..."

"Alright, yeah. Anyway, most people are heading to classes. Should we go?"

"Yeah; let's go." Adrien nodded. You went up to the stairs to your class, when Adrien said, "Hey, Y/N."

"Hm?" You asked, glancing back.

"Just want to let you know... I appreciate you. We all do." He smiled. Your eyes widened before you glanced away. Appreciated...? But... Why did that make you feel as if your heart was sinking?

"...Thanks." You mumbled back.

"No problem."