Nathanaël sighed deeply. He picked up the sketch he made and looked at it, only to crumble it up and throw it away into the nearby bin with a slight groan. He was sitting on a bench in the school yard, waiting for Rose and Juleka to return. He had promised to keep an eye on things going on, but it seemed it was relatively quiet today. Yet, there was an uneasiness in the pit of his stomach he could not describe. So he started sketching to distract himself, but also to not draw any unwanted attention. Sometimes, he could not help but to steal a glance at Marinette, who, as usual, was making a fool out of herself in front of Adrien, stuttering and spluttering random words at him while Alya, her best friend, face palmed. If it wasn't for certain events and circumstances, he would almost feel sorry for her. Although he did feel guilty about what happened when he let himself become corrupted by the Akuma, he had to admit that he felt somewhat relieved after he was finally able to admit to himself that Marinette could never return the feelings he has had for her and that he was a fool for believing he could tamper with things far beyond his control. It was too good to be true.

He turned his gaze back down to his sketch, sighing.

"Nath!"

Nathanaël jumped, sending the sketchbook and his pencils flying. Somewhere in the distance he heard Chloé cackle.

"Jesus! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Nath exclaimed, as he shot a glare at Juleka.

Rose raised an eyebrow.

"We weren't exactly subtle you know. Weren't you supposed to keep a lookout for us?"

"I-I-I did, but I was supposed to not draw any attention…?!"

Rose eyed Nathanaël skeptically.

"I'm sorry!" he finally said, hanging his head in shame.

"Anyway, mission's over, we're heading home. Juleka has the coordinates." she said as she started to walk, followed by Juleka who shot a glare at him. Nath quickly picked up the sketchbook and pencils and followed them.

And with that, they retreated. They walked in silence for most of the time, Juleka leading their way.

"You were looking at her again, weren't you?" Rose finally asked.

Nathanaël's face flushed a scarlet red.

Rose just glared. "You know you were supposed to keep out of trouble!"

Juleka lead them into a side street on the left.

Nath held his hands up defensively, "I-I wasn't doing anything, I was just-"
"Rose is right, you know." Juleka agreed. "Your infatuation with that Cheng girl is what led you to getting infected in the first place. I know it's hard for you, but we need you for those missions. You are the only one who can sense them."

Sense them. That's right. He could sense the Akumas. Unfortunately, it didn't help him when he got infected himself in a moment of weakness.

"You were lucky back then, Ladybug was able to clean your infection before it could spread any further."

Nathanaël did not say anything.

Juleka sighed.

"Look Nath, I know this is all new for you, and I know how you must feel, I felt the same way you did when I was, well, 'unplugged', but you need to accept-"
"I know, I know!" Nath said, more exasperated than he intended it to be, "She is not what I think she is, and we should not interfere with the system."

They headed into another side-street, and after a few more minutes of walking, arrived at a telephone booth, which was ringing.

"You are one of us now, Nath!" Rose said, "This is your new reality!"

And with this, Rose picked up the phone and vanished.

—-

A/N: So yeah, another AU FF.

Yeah…