(Continued from part 1)

(Mood Music: "Melting Waltz" - Abel Korzeniowski)

A few days passed in this manner, with Adrien joining Marinette for breakfast (with an enthusiastic Tom and Sabine never far behind as they hovered excitedly about the pair) and then walking to school together.

On this particular day, Adrien was settled in his classroom waiting for class to start, looking through the latest photos that Nathalie had sent him of her cat Clochette at their current location. Despite her foreign surroundings, Clochette looked right at home resting atop a luxurious velvet pillow while staring out a window. Adrien couldn't help but smile as he fondly recalled how she'd always seemed to have a soft spot for him despite ignoring every other human that wasn't Nathalie.

From his peripheral vision, he noticed a downcast Kim shuffling into the room. He sat in his usual spot behind Adrien, trying to conceal a sniffle. Adrien thought it odd, since Kim always carried himself with infectious exuberance and energy. Once he was situated, Adrien turned around on his chair. Kim stared through cloudy eyes at the contents of a small box; a jewelry box, perhaps? It was certainly ornate enough to be one.

Concerned, Adrien asked quietly, "Kim, what's wrong?"

"I..." Kim began, "N-nothing. Nothing's wrong," he said as he hid the box, lower lip quivering. However, once asked, he could no longer hold back his grief, and a couple of tears began to trickle down his face.

"Oh my God, is he crying??" Chloe asked loudly from the other side of the classroom, prompting everyone to look over at them.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Kim shot out of his seat and ran out of the classroom, still clutching the velvety box. Adrien winced (faintly hearing a sheepish Chloe mutter, "Oops"), then got up to go after Kim.

However, as he passed the door's threshold, he bumped into Lila, who tripped and fell backwards. He managed to catch her before she hit the ground, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close.

She let out a dainty yelp. "Ah! I'm so sorry, Adrien! How clumsy of me!" she whimpered as he helped her up.

"It's okay, it was my fault," Adrien replied hurriedly. He tried to look around Lila to see where Kim had gone, but he couldn't see him anymore.

"Will you help me get to my seat? I think I twisted my ankle when I tripped..." she asked, her voice thick and sweet as honey.

Adrien grimaced. "Umm... Well, I'm actually trying to catch up to Kim. He was really upset and—"

"Oh, it's alright, Adrien. I understand," the girl interrupted, dejectedly looking away. "You're such a caring person, of course you'd want to check on your other friend; don't let me keep you. I'll find my way to class on my own," she added, looking away glumly. She made like she was putting weight on her injured leg, then let out a small whine. "Oww!"

"N-no, I guess I should... I mean- I can help you get to class first," Adrien replied, trying to ignore the nosy stares that several faculty members were giving them, then helped a limping Lila into the classroom.

The girl had barely reached her seat when Adrien was already dashing back out of the classroom, inadvertently dodging the "thank you" kiss she tried to give him in return for his service. Lila frowned as she watched him exit.

Since class would be starting soon, Adrien figured Kim might be hiding out in a restroom for privacy, so he entered the closest one to search. It was empty, so he tried checking the next one. Also empty. Just how far had Kim run? It shouldn't be surprising, for someone as athletic as he was, but still!

Adrien had scarcely touched the knob for the next restroom when the door swung open with so much force, it knocked it clean off its hinges. The young man lacked the feline reflexes of his superhero form and was knocked a few meters away, but managed to quickly scramble to his feet.

He looked up and saw Kim– or, rather, not-quite-Kim. He was akumatized.

"Kim!?" Adrien called out. "What happened??"

"I'm not Kim. I'm Dark Cupid. And I really, really hate you." With that, he readied his bow.

-----

Ladybug leaped and swung across the beams and railings of the school's common area, dodging the numerous arrows that Dark Cupid shot at her. She had already figured out that the akuma was most likely in the heart-shaped pin on his chest, but hadn't been able to get close enough to grab it. She'd already summoned her lucky charm, but it had merely conjured a small black cat plushie, which she took as a hint that she needed to go find her partner in order to be able to defeat this new foe.

She managed to retreat and run away from Dark Cupid, finding shelter inside a small broom closet. She unwrapped a cookie and gave it to Tikki, who zipped into her purse to eat her snack.

Marinette peeked out of the closet, then slipped out upon finding it safe enough. Where could Adrien be?? Thankfully, she hadn't gotten that awful ominous feeling this time, so at least she was fairly certain that nothing truly bad had happened to him. So then, what was he up to? Maybe he'd gotten caught up with helping someone and hadn't been able to tear himself away to transform. Or maybe he wasn't even aware there was an akuma yet. Or... maybe Dark Cupid had already...

She shook her head resolutely, trying to dispel those thoughts. No, Marinette, stay positive! Just find Adrien, help him slip away to transform, and everything will be fine!

Marinette slinked from hallway to hallway peeking into each classroom, sticking close to the walls so she wouldn't be spotted from above. As she poked her head into another room, she could see a familiar red cap poking out from under a desk. She scurried inside, then crawled up to Nino, who was breathing fairly hard, but hadn't noticed her yet.

Despite her best efforts to not alarm him, her quiet "Psst," caused poor Nino to let out a frightened, high pitched squeal. He exhaled sharply, stuttered out a small apology, then scooted over so she could hide next to him under the table.

"I need to find Adrien. Have you seen him?" she asked.

Nino nodded, still spooked.

Marinette perked up at the news. "Do you know where he is right now?"

He shook his head, swallowing thickly before trying to explain. "W-we heard a commotion right as class was starting, so of course Alya wanted to check it out. She was so excited to try out her new mini camera— y'know, the kind you wear on your head. She's got it mounted onto her glasses," he said, pointing at his own glasses to demonstrate. "A-anyway, Adrien was outside and he was saying something to Kim– umm, Kim's th-the akuma– but then he ran off before we could talk to him."

Marinette swore under her breath. "You said you were with Alya. Where is she now?"

Nino gripped the fabric on his pants legs nervously. "Well... after that, Kim noticed us and he shot Alya with some kind of black arrow. I freaked out 'cause, I mean, it's a freakin' arrow!? But as I checked on her, the arrow disappeared, and there was no wound. But then suddenly, it was like she woke up or something! She started saying stuff about how she hates me and she was gonna kill me, so I ran away as fast as I could to get help. I tried to hide, but as I was about to call the police, she found me and smashed my phone! I ran away again, but she's been like, hunting me, and like-" he put his head between his hands, "-it is really freaking me out! That person is not my girlfriend! I feel like a caged animal with a tiger who's playing with its food. What's happened to her?!"

Marinette gently touched Nino on the shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. "Hey, everything's gonna be alright. Alya's gonna be fine. Ladybug and Chat Noir will show up and get everything back to normal. Just stay hidden and don't make a sound."

She made to leave, but Nino grabbed her arm. "Whoa, hold up! What are you doing?? You can't go out there, it's too dangerous!"

Marinette bit her lip, thinking fast for an excuse. "I... my cell phone's back in a different classroom, so I need to go call for help. Otherwise, Ladybug and Chat Noir won't know that there's trouble."

Nino squeezed his eyes tightly and took a shaky breath. "Okay. I'm coming with you."

The girl's eyes popped wide open. "What?! B-but—"

"I won't let anything happen to you, too," he interrupted. "Otherwise, Alya would really kill me," he joked, offering a small smile.

Marinette's heart warmed at his concern and she smiled back, then nodded. It wasn't ideal, but she could tell how important this was to him.

The two friends silently exited the classroom and crept down the hall, Marinette peeking into the window of every room they walked past. Just a little further down and they'd reach the classroom that she was fairly certain was Adrien's current scheduled class. Down the hall they lurked, quiet as mice.

But then she found them.

Nino let out a terrified yelp as Alya tackled him to the ground, his glasses flying off his face from the impact. He tried to scramble out from under her, but Alya let out a seething growl that almost didn't sound human. Her blackened lips curled menacingly, and with a heavy punch, she knocked him back down.

Marinette gasped in horror and rushed over to them, trying to pry her off of him. Alya delivered a sharp elbow to the stomach in return. Her unnatural strength knocked the wind out of Marinette and she staggered back a few steps, gasping for air.

Alya continued her onslaught, slapping and scratching at the terrified Nino, who put up his arms to try to defend himself. He managed to grab one of her wrists, which merely enraged her further, and she doubled her efforts with her free hand.

"Babe, stop!!" Nino cried. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Why?! What do you mean, why?? Because I freaking hate you, that's why!! You are literally the worst boyfriend ever and I hate your stupid guts!! I can't believe I ever agreed to go out with you!"

"B-but you're the one who asked me out on a date first! OW!" he cried as he received another slap in return. "Stop that!!"

"All the years I spent with you were a total waste! I regret every single day we ever spent together!" she yelled.

Hurt and shocked, Nino couldn't help the moisture that began to prick at his eyes. "Y-you don't mean that!!" he protested.

Alya narrowed her eyes at him. "Everything about our relationship means nothing to me. All your nauseating love notes, all your lame gifts, all your dumb playlists, all your disgusting kisses, all the nights we stayed up late talking on the phone. They never meant anything to me!"

Nino sniffled once more before gaining a determined glint in his eyes. Furrowing his eyebrows, he reached up to grab the sides of Alya's face. Stupefied, she stared at him in confusion.

"Then prove it."

He pulled her down and their lips crashed together into a passionate kiss. Alya froze at first, but melted into it as she let out a small noise of approval. A few moments later, Nino pulled back cautiously, then gasped when he saw her lips were no longer black.

Marinette couldn't help but stare, slack-jawed at this development. A lover's kiss? Like in the fairy tales? That's what broke the magic spell?!

"Huh? What's going on?" Alya asked. "Is there an attack?"

Nino surged up, throwing his arms around her neck to embrace her. "Alya! Thank goodness!"

Eyes darting around to try to figure out what was going on, Alya noted that she was essentially straddling Nino in the middle of the hallway with a dumbfounded Marinette staring at them. With a sheepish smile, she quipped, "OH. Umm... babe, maybe we should move this somewhere that isn't the middle of the school hallway. And... maybe not during an akuma attack again."

"Again??! What do you mean, 'again'?!" Marinette cried, her voice several octaves higher than normal.

Nino interjected, "It's good to have you back to normal, Alya."

Alya's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Back to normal? What do you mean?"

She backed away and helped him up, then looked him up and down in puzzlement. "Whoa, you don't look so good, hon. What happened to you? You look..." she trailed off, gently running her fingers over the cuts on his face and neck and eyeing his torn up shirt.

Nino's eyes darted away, not sure how to explain.

Alya frowned. "Wait. I remember now. The arrow. I don't remember much, just... the only emotion I could feel was hatred, and nothing else." She gasped in horror and her face paled. "Oh, no... I did this to you, didn't I?" She pulled her hand back like it had been burned and stepped away from him, looking like she'd rather disappear than acknowledge her actions.

"Babe, no! It wasn't you!" Nino insisted, taking her hands and turning her to face him again. "It was the akuma! You would never hurt anyone!"

"Are you sure though?? How do you know that the magic doesn't just unlock someone's true evil side? An ugly, unloving side of themselves that lies deep inside?"

"I promise, it turned you into someone else, not some hidden 'you' that doesn't love anyone. It made you say and do the opposite of what you feel."

"But how do you know??"

"Because... you just proved it to me," he answered with a smile, cheeks darkening with a shy blush.

Alya's eyes became glossy with emotion and she let out a small awed breath.

"He's right," Marinette added, handing Nino his wayward glasses. "Otherwise, the kiss wouldn't have worked. It had to be a kiss of true love."

Nino and Alya looked at each other, then glanced away as they blushed, still holding hands.

"Come on," she gently urged. "We should get out of this open area, it isn't safe."

With that, the three of them walked on, unaware of another person who witnessed what had just transpired.

(Continued in part 3)