"Sora? Breakfast's ready, come on down!" Sora jolted awake, trying to shake off his sleepy daze. Downstairs, his mom's voice called again, "Sora?"

Sora looked at his alarm clock and gasped. "Oh no!" First day of the school year, and he was already late.

He rushed down the stairs, grabbing a piece of toast from the plate his mom had prepared for him along the way.

"Sora! You could sit down for breakf—"

"Sorry Mom, can't stay, I'm late!" Sora called as he ran out the door and shoved the toast in his mouth. If he ran fast enough, he could still make it in time.

"But Father! I can't spend my whole life locked up in here!"

In spite of Riku's protests, Elrena stood still, blocking the front door and looking up at Riku's father. "You heard Mr Ansem, Riku."

"But you promised—"

"The decision is final." Elrena took Riku by his shoulders, gently but firmly leading him to his bedroom.

The moment Riku heard the lock click, he slumped against the door, feeling despair flooding through him. He'd spent so long hoping for this day—his first day at a real school—he couldn't believe it was all dashed on one of his father's whims.

Disappointment turning to anger, Riku forced himself to stand. "Not today," he told himself, staring at the city of Radiant Garden out the window.

He opened it, secured his messenger bag's strap on his shoulder, and leapt out.

As Sora ran to school, he was suddenly crushed by a boy who fell from the sky and landed right on him. Grunting in pain, he sprawled on the pavement, the other boy on top of him.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sor—" The boy paused. "Sora?"

Sora looked up at the other boy. "Riku? Is that you?" They hadn't seen each other in years, and Riku had obviously grown up a lot since then, but even with the shorter hair, Sora was pretty sure he could recognize his childhood best friend.

Now that he thought about it, the walled estate he had been running by was Riku's home.

"Uh, yeah." Riku smiled. "Hey."

"Hi yourself, but you're kind of killing me here."

"Oh! Sorry." Riku pushed himself up off the ground, and helped Sora up. "I tripped and fell."

"Tripped and fell?"

Riku looked up. "From the wall. I'm sneaking out to go to school."

"To—" Sora gaped. "Riku, you're going to school? As in, my school?"

"Is there another one in Radiant Garden?" Riku asked, shrugging. It took Sora a moment to realize he probably didn't know.

"Come on! I'll show you the way. And we should hurry, because if I was late, then so are you."

Without missing a beat, Sora took off down the street, Riku letting out a dismayed gasp before running after him. They weren't very far now, but still, they'd have to go fast if they didn't want to—

"Sora!" Riku called out as he crossed the street. "Watch out"

Sora glanced back, too slow to react to the car barreling his way. But just before it was about to make contact, Riku tackled him, and the two of them fell on the sidewalk.

Wild-eyed and panicked, Sora looked up at Riku; then, finally, he smiled. "We've got to stop doing that. But thanks for saving me."

The car pulled up further ahead, and the driver came out to check on them, a diminutive man with round ears. "Gosh, fellas, are you all right? I didn't see you there, I promise!"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Sora said as Riku helped him up—again. "It's fine, sir—I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I'm glad you're okay," the man said, before turning to Riku. "This really woulda been a mess if not for you, wouldn't it? You're a true hero."

Riku shuffled awkwardly. "Oh, it was nothing."

"Please, I insist. Can I at least shake your hands? It's the least I can do."

"Uh—sure." Riku shook the man's hand, weirded out.

"Are you okay, sir?" Sora couldn't help but ask.

The man let out a short, high-pitched laugh. "Ha ha, I'm fine, really. It was a big scare for me, that's all."

"Oh my gosh, Sora!" a girl's voice called. Sora turned towards it: it was Kairi, further down the street, rushing towards them. "I saw everything! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm—" The school bell rang, startling Sora. "We're late! We gotta go!"

But already, and even though he could clearly see them right in front of the school's front door, Dilan, the school monitor, was closing up.

"Hey!" Kairi protested. "Let us in! The bell just rang, we're not really late!"

"Come on!" Sora added, and pointed to Riku. "This is his first day going to a real school, you're not gonna get him in trouble, right?" Dilan stared at them, impassive, but Sora insisted. "Look, it's all my fault these two are late, okay? I was dumb crossing the street, almost got run over, and they wanted to make sure I was okay. So if you're gonna punish someone, punish me." He paused, and cranked his best smile. "Please?"

"I can confirm that story," the short man's voice came from behind Sora. He must have followed them, for some reason. "I was the unfortunate driver of that car."

Dilan rolled his eyes. "Fine. Guess you're getting triple the detention, Sora. Now scram."

Kairi shot him a smile as she dashed inside, while Riku looked more uncertain. Before Sora could follow them inside, the short man caught his arm. "If I may—that was quite noble of you. Sora, is it?"

"Yeah. Um, thanks, I guess, but I don't wanna be any more late."

"Oh! Of course, ha ha. Go on, I won't bother you any more." The man let go of his arm, and Sora ran to his classroom.

It wasn't a surprise that Kairi was in the same class as him, but Sora was shocked when he saw Riku come to the same classroom as well. Seeing him hesitate at the entrance, Sora waved him over to the seat next to his. "Oh man, I can't believe we get to be classmates again, Riku!"

Riku's apprehensive look melted into a smile. "Yeah. I was afraid I wouldn't make any friends at school, but now I've got at least one."

"Oh, come on, Riku! I'm sure you'll make more friends! Who wouldn't like a cool guy like you?"

"…Yeah." Riku didn't sound convinced, but Sora didn't have to argue before the lesson started.

Riku felt strangely energized by the end of the school day. Sure, he would have to face his father's anger in a moment, but he'd gotten to go to a real school. And Sora was there, too. Riku couldn't believe it—or that Sora would still want to be friends, after all this time.

He braced himself for disaster when he entered his father's estate, but to his surprise, no one was there to greet him—not his father, not Elrena, nor his bodyguard Aeleus. Where were they? And more importantly, had they noticed his absence at all? Riku found that hard to believe, but if there was a chance to avoid punishment for sneaking out, he would take it.

Hurrying back to his room, he threw himself on the bed with a cry of joy. Just then, he heard something fall from his messenger bag onto the mattress. Frowning, he sat up, and saw that the bag's front pocket was open—even though he hadn't put anything in it that morning. And from it, an ornate box had dropped on the sheets. A jewelry box, by the looks of it.

Curious, Riku picked it up—

Sora groaned from boredom by the time he was allowed to return home. He truly felt good about taking the fall for Riku and Kairi this morning, but triple detention, on the other hand, did not feel good. At all.

He struggled up the stairs to his bedroom, and collapsed on his computer chair with a sigh. Just then, he got a call from Kairi. "Check the news!" she yelled in his ear, overexcited. "Supervillain alert!"

"A supervillain? In Radiant Garden?" That didn't seem right—and yet, when he opened a browser tab on his computer, he saw a video of downtown Radiant Garden, showing not just a villain, but a monstrous one. It was vaguely humanoid, four stories tall and made of inky blackness, its legs and hair made of tendril-like appendages, and with a heart-shaped hole at the center of its chest.

"Do you think we're getting a superhero in town? I'm gonna check it out!"

"Kairi! Wait, don't—"

She hung up before Sora could try to dissuade her.

"Oh dear," he said to himself. "Now what?"

He rolled backwards on his computer chair, and felt it bump against something. Curious, he looked down, and saw that a small box had slipped from his backpack.

"Huh? What's—"

When he opened it, he found a pair of earrings inside—but just as he wondered about them, a bright red light appeared, and from it, a tiny creature emerged, floating in front of Sora's face. It was humanoid, with a disproportionately large head, its body a bright red safe for a few black spots.

"Whoa! What're you?" Sora asked. "Are you the new line of Meow Wow toys I've been hearing about?"

Just then, the creature opened its eyes. "Relax! I'm Tikki, I'm your friend, and—" She paused and gave Sora a weirded-out look. "You're not even a little afraid, are you?"

"Afraid?"

"Or surprised that I can talk and fly?"

Sora blinked. "Well, I guess that's kinda weird. So, Tikki, right? What are you, then?"

"I'm a Kwami! With my help, you can become a superhero with the power of creation!"

"A superhero?" Sora tilted his head. "And—you think I'm the right guy for the job?"

"If you were given my Miraculous, I'm sure the Guardian chose you for a reason!"

Before Sora could fire off another question, he looked back to his computer screen and the chaos downtown. Kairi was headed that way, and she was looking for a superhero. Well, she was about to get one.

"How does this work?"

How it worked, it turned out, wasn't as easy as Sora hoped. Tikki had granted him a magical costume, powers and a yo-yo that seemed to act both as a tool and a weapon, but that didn't mean using them was instinctive.

She'd told him to expect a partner to show up, at least, so he wouldn't have to deal with the supervillain by himself. That was good, at least.

Less good was when Sora spotted the figure in black zooming across the roofs of Radiant Garden. Sora threw his yo-yo in his direction, hoping he could catch up to the other hero and they could make a plan together. Instead, the hero in black used his staff as a makeshift bridge, and Sora's yo-yo caught his feet.

"Uh oh—" Sora started, but his own tool was already pulling him forward. One moment he had his feet firmly on the ground; the next, the wire had tied itself into knots around the two superheroes, dangling them in the air from the other hero's staff. "Um, hi!" Sora said, his face inches away from his new partner. Talk about a good first impression.

The other hero was a boy, dressed all in black, with cat ears lodged in his silver hair. "Hey," he said, sounding more amused than anything, thankfully. "I'm Chat Noir. Guess you're my partner?"

"I'm So—" Sora started, then stopped himself. Tikki had said something about secret identities—even from other heroes. "Clumsy. I'm so clumsy."

"Hey, it's okay. It's my first day."

"It is? Me too!"

"Can you get us out? My Kwami said our tools obeyed our will."

"I—um—" Did they? If Tikki had said that, Sora had forgotten. "I don't know?"

"Gotcha. Just give me a sec, I'm sure I can—" Sora heard a sharp noise, and the wire suddenly went slack, dropping the two of them on the ground. Sora barely had the time to watch Chat Noir landing gracefully on his feet before his face hit the ground. At least it didn't hurt—the upside of magic powers.

Sora scrambled to his feet, embarrassed. "How'd you—"

Chat Noir showed off his gloves, which ended in sharp claws. "Easy enough."

"Hey! You cut my—" Sora gasped, hoping he hadn't already gotten his magical weapon broken on his first outing. But when he looked for it, the yo-yo was back in its holster, intact. "Huh. Magic's neat."

"Sure is," Chat Noir said, leaping up to get his staff back. "So, we taking on this villain or what?"

When Plagg had come out of the ring, it had been no question whether Riku would take up his offer and become a superhero. If there was anything Riku wanted, it was going out and seeing the world beyond his small estate. If he could do some good while he was at it, all the better.

If he could manage to actually do good, that is. Racing through Radiant Garden with the ladybug-themed hero at his side, Riku hoped he could pull off something half as cool as he did just now during the battle. That would be just his style, doing great before the fight then messing it up when it was the real deal. Then his partner's admirative look would vanish from his face, no doubt.

They caught up with the supervillain—who called himself Darkside, according to the news report Riku had caught—in the city's outer square. It was busy ravaging through the buildings on one side of the square, so they landed on the roofs across from it.

"Okay," Riku's partner said. "How do we do this?"

Riku took a moment to assess their foe. "His head looks vulnerable," he replied. "Lot of tendrils around it, like a protection. So I think that should be our target."

"Fair enough. But—wait! there are people on that roof! We have to—"

"Wait!" Riku called out as his partner was already aiming his yo-yo. "Before we go…what do I call you?"

"What?"

"You know, I have to get your attention mid-battle? You need an alias, so I can use it as a call sign."

"Oh! Like you're Chat Noir!"

Riku nodded. "So?"

"Haven't really thought about it…guess you can just call me Ladybug?"

"That's—straightforward." Riku smirked. "I like it. Shall we, Ladybug? I'll distract him while you get the people out of the way."

"Yeah!"

Ladybug leapt forward immediately, flinging himself along the rooftops along the side of the square. Riku decided to extend his staff and vault across the square instead, directly towards their foe.

The Darkside had its back turned against him, but it must have sensed Riku's approach, because it swatted one of his giant hands back, hitting Riku directly and sending him flying. He recovered, extending his staff like a pole and landing nimbly on its tip before he hit the ground, then leapt back towards the Darkside.

By then, Ladybug had evacuated the roof, and turned towards the Darkside; he leapt in the air, throwing his yo-yo directly at its head and pulling himself onto its shoulder. Already the Darkside was trying to struggle, and Riku saw a ball of energy forming in its hand.

"Oh no you don't!" Riku cried out, launching himself at the Darkside's hand. The orb of energy fired just before he reached it, but he threw his staff in its way, deflecting the shot before landing on the Darkside's hand.

"Way to go, Chat!" Ladybug shouted, excited. He struck at the Darkside's face, but his yo-yo was blocked by the bread-like tendrils that surrounded it. "Aw, no fair! I thought it never missed!"

"I think the Heartless's own magic is interfering with ours!" Riku shouted. Still, he had a clear opening—too good to pass up. He leapt up, ready to strike with his staff; but again, the tendrils blocked the hit.

Carried by his moment, Riku felt himself drop in freefall, and braced for impact. Moments later, however, a wire wrapped around him, and Ladybug pulled him up to a nearby roof where he'd retreated.

"Okay, so direct attacks, not an option," Ladybug said. "What was that about its magic?"

"Yeah, Heartless are created by the magic of the goat Miraculous, so they have magic to counter our own. Didn't your Kwami tell you that?"

"Um—no, I'm pretty sure I would have remembered something about a goat. Watch out!" The Darkside struck at them, forcing them to jump back and evade the blow. They landed in the alley below, hidden behind the building. "What about our unique powers? I was told I have the power of creation. You?"

"Destruction," Riku said. "But I'm pretty sure that also won't work directly on the Heartless."

"Of course. So what, you can just help it wreck the city, then?"

"You're hilarious," Riku retorted, tense. "We just need to figure out a plan of attack. I'm sure we can do this."

"All right, well. Here goes. Lucky charm!" Ladybug tossed his yo-yo in midair, and it exploded into a burst of light, creating something out of thin air, which Ladybug caught. "It's a—bag of coals?"

"What, you've been a naughty boy this Christmas?" Riku couldn't help but say, teasing.

"Hold on. If the tendrils move to catch everything we throw at it—I got it! You can destroy stuff, right? I want you to destroy that bag!"

"Uh—you do know our powers are single-use, right? You have five minutes before your transformation runs out. Not a great time to waste mine too."

"No, I mean break it on my signal! Trust me, okay?"

Riku frowned, but it wasn't like he had a better plan. "All right. I'll follow your lead."

Ladybug jumped back up on the roof, and Riku followed him. The Darkside had already turned to cause damage elsewhere, but as soon as they came into view, it came back their way.

"I'm gonna throw it," Ladybug said, and Riku nodded. He could guess where this was going. "Get ready—now!"

As he threw, Riku jumped, calling out, "Cataclysm!" Instantly, his hand surrounded with black energy. Just before hitting the Darkside's face, he grazed his hand against the bag, and it disintegrated, the coals it contained raining on the Darkside's face. Its tendrils moved to intercept them, which left them too busy to block when Riku brought its staff down on it.

He felt a triumphant rush when the Darkside staggered backwards; however, the hole in its chest began to glow with a bright light.

"Is that normal?" Ladybug shouted.

Riku frowned, but he recognized it; it was the same kind of light from the projectile he'd blocked earlier. And it was aimed straight for—

He jumped desperately, using all of his superpowered strength to throw himself at Ladybug just as the Darkside, in its death throes, fired a beam of destructive energy. He tackled Ladybug out of the way just in time, but the beam hit him with the force of a speeding car.

As he fell down into the alley, he thought, Twice today, huh?

The Darkside vanished into sparkles of light after that last attack, but Sora's eyes were fixed on the alley below. "Chat?" he called out. "You—you okay?"

His partner had saved him. Not just that, but he had taken the hit for him. He still couldn't believe it.

A glint of pink light to the side caught his attention, and he looked up to see a glittering, reddish pink heart floating in the air where the Darkside had been. Suddenly remembering what Tikki had said, he tossed his yo-yo at it; it opened up mid-flight and captured the heart within it, purifying it from the darkness. "At least we didn't completely fail," he muttered to himself.

He jumped down into the alley, and found Chat Noir's body on the pavement. "Chat?" he repeated, kneeling beside him.

When the other hero stirred with a pained moan, he was so relieved he felt a few tears escape him. "Ladybug?" he said weakly. "Did we—is it—"

"We won," Sora said, taking Chat in his arms and crying against his shoulder. "You saved me!"

"Yeah, I—it was the heroic thing to do, right?"

Sora forced himself to back away, and it instantly felt like a mistake. Seeing this superhero, who had willingly jumped in front of dangerous magic for a stranger—oh no, he thought. He's cute, too. Sure, his mask hid part of his face, but it was still plain to see. And those green eyes—

The beeping on his earrings brought him back to reality, and he looked away, clearing his throat. "Well, I—"

"You have to go. I got it."

"Yeah. But really, thank you."

"Wait!" A voice called from the end of the alley. Sora whirled around, and saw Kairi standing there, phone in hand. He'd almost forgotten that she was here, even though he had gone to save the civilians on the roof specifically because he had spotted her. "Are you the new superheroes of Radiant Garden?"

Sora glanced at Chat, who shrugged. "We sure are," Sora told Kairi. "You can call us Ladybug and Chat Noir." He winked, then threw his yo-yo and flew off in a blur of motion.

As if the day hadn't been full enough of surprises, the unexpected happened that evening at Riku's home: his father changed his mind. "It's true that I promised you to let you go to school," he said. "If I want you to learn to be a man, I have to be an example. So I'll keep my promise: you can go to school, starting tomorrow."

Overjoyed, Riku had attempted to hug his father in thanks, though Ansem stepped back, uncomfortable. Riku composed himself quickly, and nodded. "Right. Thank you, Father."

"But I want to make it clear that your permission to leave is only valid for school. Just because I'm giving you some freedom doesn't mean you can do anything you please."

Riku was silent for a moment. He didn't want to lie to his father, but—well, Riku wouldn't be leaving outside of school hours. Only Chat Noir would be. "Of course, Father."

That was how, the next day, he was back at school, earning himself a triumphant smile from Sora when he greeted him that morning. "Did you sneak out again?"

Riku shook his head. "My father changed his mind. I'm free to go to school now."

"Hi, Sora!" Sora's friend from the day before—Kairi—greeted him. "And…Riku, right? Glad to hear you're sticking around."

"Good morning," Riku said, though he couldn't help but feel tense. She'd been here, the day before, in the alley. Could she recognize him? When Riku had looked at the footage she posted of that short interview, the mask didn't really hide any of his face. Yet she said nothing now; could it be the costume's magic also protected his identity somehow?

"So you met real superheroes last night, right?" Sora asked. "That's so cool!"

"It was dangerous, though, wasn't it?" Riku said. "I mean, you were in harm's way."

Kairi shrugged with a mischievous grin. "Worth it. I had to establish myself as the top reporter on our new superheroes, right? I set up my website last night, and it's already skyrocketing in popularity!" She held out her phone to show them.

"The Ladyblog?" Riku read, indcredulous.

"Yeah! Isn't Ladybug so cool? He dealt the last blow to that villain even after his partner was knocked out!"

"I mean—" Sora interjected, "he's cool, but he wouldn't have been able to finish him off if Chat Noir hadn't taken the blow for him."

"I guess," Kairi said. "But he still feels like the main attraction, you know?" She tilted her head as she looked at Sora. "You know, he kind of looks like you. Except, you know, he's definitely more mature and adult."

Sora let out a chuckle, and a blush spread across his cheeks. "Aw, you think so? I bet you're just saying that!"

Their banter continued, but Riku's gaze was fixed on the color on Sora's cheeks. It had been so long, yet his feelings for Sora had definitely not weakened—if anything, he was even more in love with him now that they were older.

And, glancing between him and Kairi, it was pretty clear that Sora was interested in someone else.

"Right, Riku?"

Sora's question called him to attention, though he had no idea what he'd been saying. "Um—yeah, sure."

"You okay, Riku?" Kairi asked. "You looked like you were elsewhere for a moment."

"Yeah, don't mind me, I'm good." He smirked in self-deprecation. "Guess I'm just not used to being around other people so much, right?"

"Aw, take it easy, Riku!" Sora said, playfully patting his back. "Come on, let's get to class!"

If Riku could keep a double life as a superhero, hiding this pain would be a piece of cake.

"So I was thinking—I know your father said you couldn't leave aside from going to school, but what about guests? Is that allowed?"

Sora had hoped his question would cheer Riku up, but even though he smiled, Sora could tell something was still bugging him. And to be fair, Sora had plenty on his mind too, what with suddenly being a superhero and having developed an extremely inconvenient crush on another superhero, but that didn't mean he would give up on his friend now that he was back in his life.

"I—didn't really ask," Riku said. "But that's a good idea. Maybe it'd be fine, as long as it's you. He'll probably remember you from when we were little."

"That'd be awesome!" Sora threw his arms around Riku, hugging him tightly in front of the gate of his father's estate. "See you tomorrow, Riku!"

Riku's smile grew just a little brighter then, almost lifting the veil of sadness from his eyes. "Yeah…see you tomorrow."

From his car, Mickey watched the two teens part ways in front of Riku's home. Next to him, Mullo, the mouse Kwami, floated in the air, looking on as well.

"Looks like you chose well, Master," Mullo said.

"I think so too, pal," Mickey said simply.

"But still—isn't it dangerous to choose two heroes who know each other in their civilian identities? If one is compromised, they will both be at risk."

"I don't know," Mickey said. "Maybe the other Guardians would have thought so, but—somehow, I think their bond will come in handy in the end. I think—no, I'm sure that Radiant Garden is going to be in good hands."

He turned on his car's engine, and drove off.