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Part 3 of Stronger Than Magic (A MonoShinKami Miraculous AU)
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2022-10-23
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Self Control Is Stronger Than Magic

Summary:

Shinsou Hitoshi is ready to murder his best friend and Paris' beloved superhero Ladybug. As the only one to have realized the secret identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir, watching them pine for each other has been... Difficult to say the least. Especially when he's in love with both of them. But even more difficult than that, is dealing with becoming a superhero himself, and trying to keep that a secret from everyone as well.
OR, Eri gets akumatized, Kaminari gives away the fox miraculous, Monoma gets flirty and Shinsou has even more secrets to keep.

Part Three of My MonoShinKami Miraculous AU. This... Might be able to be read as a standalone? If you're familiar with Miraculous, but is probably better read after reading the first two parts

Notes:

I'M BAAAAAAACK!! As always this one goes out to Kailani_Marie, for writing my favorite comments in the world.
We're ignoring all my unfinished WIPs right now because I have MonoShinKami brainrot and writing this AU is far easier than working on my super secret 60k word project or finishing the numerous other fics I have already started.
Please enjoy, and also if you have other miraculous events you'd like to see me write for this AU please let me know! I'm going to throw Luka and Kagami parallels in here at some point, and also have some various other plot points that I'd like to write about, but for the most part, I'm just making this stuff up as I go along and hoping you all enjoy it!

Also as far as akumatized victims go, I kinda combined the Sapotis and Sandboy for this one since I know Sapotis is when Alya gets the fox miraculous, but I felt like Sandboy fit Eri a little bit better, mostly because I feel like Shinsou has a huge soft spot for Eri and wouldn't be able to get upset enough for Hawkmoth to prey on her emotions.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

The night was supposed to be one of rest and relaxation. But when your best friend is a superhero, well... It's a bit hard to find downtime where nothing goes wrong.

They had been in school for a few months now, and for the most part, Shinsou had gotten used to Kaminari's superhero antics, with him constantly disappearing and having to come up with various cover stories as to why his best friend had disappeared. But tonight was supposed to be a simple and easy night, with no superhero business whatsoever. Just Shinsou and his best friend who he was totally not in love with, having a sleepover and watching movies. 

"Alright Eri," Shinsou said, scooping his little sister up in his arms as she ran around the house in an attempt to stay up later, a small smile on his face. "It's time for you to go to bed."

Eri squirmed in his arms, trying to wriggle her way down to the floor. "Noooo, I don't want to go to bed! I wanna stay up and watch movies with you and Denki!"

Kaminari came around the corner, setting the bowl of popcorn he had in his hands down on the counter before gently patting Eri on the head. "Aw, maybe another time Eri, okay?" he reassured her. "The movies me and Toshi are going to be watching are too scary for you, and you don't want to get nightmares, do you?"

The girl in question simply folded her arms over her chest in defiance. "I'm not going to get nightmares! I'm already eight! Nothing scares me anymore, I'm not a little baby."

"Of course not Eri," Shinsou told her as he carried her to her room, Kaminari trailing behind him. "But you still need your beauty rest don't you? After all, if you don't go to bed on time, you'll fall asleep tomorrow when Papa and Dad take us to the amusement park tomorrow, and you don't want that."

Hizashi and Aizawa had left an hour or two before to go out on their date night for the month, promising not to bother Shinsou and Kaminari unless there was an emergency as long as Shinsou could handle getting Eri to bed on time so the four of them could go out to the amusement park Eri had been begging to attend for the past few months.

"I won't fall asleep though!" Eri protested. "I told you, I'm a big kid! I don't need to go to bed early, I can stay up with you and Denki!"

Shinsou set her gently down in bed. "I know, but hey, Papa and Dad are the ones that make the rules okay? So even though know you're a big kid that's super tough and brave and you know that you're a big kid that's super tough and brave, Papa and Dad still think you should go to bed early, and if they find out that you didn't go to bed when you were supposed to, then we can't go to the amusement park tomorrow."

Eri pouted and Shinsou placed a gentle kiss to his sister's forehead. "I know it sucks, but I promise I will tell you all about the movie on our car ride to the amusement park tomorrow, okay Eri?"

She nodded, content with this arrangement somehow and laid back down on her pillow, pulling the blankets over herself. "Okay... Goodnight Toshi!"

Shinsou smiled. "Goodnight Eri, sweet dreams."

Quietly, he retreated out of her room, shutting the door gently behind him to go find Kaminari waiting on the couch, movie set up and ready to go.

"Sorry about that," Shinsou said, taking his place on Kaminari's right and pulling the blanket up over himself. "She's always so excited whenever you come over, I didn't mean to make you wait to start watching."

Kaminari waved a hand. "It's no big deal at all," he told Shinsou, offering him the bowl of popcorn after he'd gotten situated. "I think it's cute that you care for her so much, I mean not a lot of people would do that."

Shinsou felt his cheeks heat up ever so slightly and hoped that the dimmed lighting and his hair covering his cheeks would be enough to hide his blush from his best friend. "Well... Still, thanks."

Kaminari grabbed the remote sitting beside him and pressed play on the movie, and Shinsou tore his gaze away from his best friend, forcing himself to pay attention to the movie playing in front of them instead. The two of them only made it a few minutes in though, before a loud squeak sounded from down the hall, followed by the loudest possible footsteps Shinsou had ever heard.

Letting out a sigh, Shinsou pulled the blanket off of himself, clicking on the light to reveal Eri, halfway down the hall to the living room.

"I'm going to bed! I'm going to bed!" She told him, hurriedly disappearing back into her room, an embarrassed look on her face as she shut the door behind her.

Shinsou shook his head, chuckling to himself as he turned off the light again and sat back down.

Kaminari grinned up at him, an emotion Shinsou couldn't quite place on his face.

"... What?" Shinsou asked.

"Nothing," Kaminari said, that stupid grin still on his face that threatened to make Shinsou's cheeks heat up.

Shinsou grabbed the remote, turning the movie back on, trying to focus on something other than how pretty his best friend was, though it was hard to do with how loud his heart was pounding in his chest at that moment.

Can you stop obsessing over him for like two seconds? Shinsou tried to tell his traitorous heart. He's a superhero, he's already got it hard enough as it is trying to balance school and saving the city, he doesn't have time for a relationship and even if he did, him and Monoma have that stupid love square thing going on where they're both too stupid to see the other is in love with them.

That thought was enough to sober him, feeling the idea painfully tug at his heartstrings. Shinsou knew he never stood a chance with his best friend, knew that if Kaminari and Monoma ever found out each other's secret identities it would not only put the whole city in danger but also ruin his chances with both Kaminari and Monama. Yet another reason it was his responsibility to take this whole superhero thing to his grave.

A loud shriek snapped him from his thoughts, one not coming from the TV screen this time, and Shinsou whipped his head around to see where it was coming from.

Eri kneeled near the TV screen, hugging her arms around her chest, unable to tear her eyes away from the horror movie on the screen.

Shit, Dad and Papa are going to kill me, Shinsou thought to himself. How did I not hear her come out of her room?

Shinsou flicked on the lights again as a concerned looking Kaminari stopped the movie.

"Eri-" Shinsou began.

All of a sudden the girl in question had her arms wrapped tightly around her older brother, face buried into his side.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Eri said, her voice bordering on hysterical. "I know I shouldn't have snuck out of bed but I just wanted to watch the movie with you and Denki, and I thought because I was a big girl it wouldn't be that scary, but it's really really scary and I don't want to go to bed by myself now, please don't make me go to bed now Toshi!" she pleaded.

Shinsou let out a breath, picking up his little sister and gently rubbing her back. "Okay... Okay..."

He glanced over to Kaminari, who looked sympathetic for her and so Shinsou carried her back over to the couch, sitting down with Eri in his lap, her face buried tightly in Shinsou's neck.

"How about me and Denks watch your pony movie with you until you fall asleep okay? And then I'll take you to bed and I won't tell Dad or Papa about you sneaking out of your room and you won't have to be scared okay?"

Eri sniffled, nodding slightly as she hesitantly let go of Shinsou. "O-Okay."

Kaminari smiled a bit, reaching over to ruffle Eri's hair. "You know, to be totally honest, I was in the mood to watch My Little Pony anyways."

Eri giggled, wiping away the tears from her eyes as Shinsou switched the movie over.

Surprisingly it wasn't as much of a mess as Shinsou had thought it was going to be, and before long Eri had drifted off, slumped against Kaminari.

"Sorry about that," Shinsou said after he'd managed to carefully pick Eri up and get her back to her room without waking her up. "I know this isn't exactly what either of us had in mind for movie night."

Kaminari just chuckled. "Don't even worry about it man, I had fun anyways, and I mean... If we keep the volume down on the movie, I think I can stay up for a few more hours to finish the other one we started?"

"Sounds like a plan," Shinsou smiled. 

With Eri asleep, the pair was able to make it the majority of the way through the movie without interruption, at least until a loud clatter came from down the hall.

Shinsou frowned, pressing pause. "Eri?" He called out, looking down the hallway. "Did you hear that?" he asked Kaminari.

Kaminari nodded, growing more concerned as they began to hear screams from outside.

"Shit-" Shinsou breathed, looking out the window to see a glowing purple figure floating outside. He took off in a sprint to get to Eri's room, only to find her window open and her bed empty. "No- NO!" Shinsou yelled, his eyes going wide and a note of panic entering his voice. "They took her! Someone got akumatized and they took Eri!"

Kaminari was at his side in a moment's notice, surveying the scene, his tone gentle as he tried to break the news to Shinsou. "Toshi... I... I think the akumatized villain is Eri."

Shinsou's eyes went wide. This was not happening. This was definitely not happening. "No, no, how could she be- She was asleep! She was fine! How did she get akumatized?!"

"Maybe she-" Kaminari started.

"No, you know what it doesn't matter, I have to go out there and find her and bring her back, Dad and Papa are going to kill me and Eri, she's in trouble, I need to-"

Without even thinking about what he was doing, Shinsou was running out the door of their apartment, ignoring the fact that he was only in his pajamas and socks, running out to the street to try and find his sister. He didn't have time to wait for Kaminari to transform or for Monoma to wake up and turn into Chat Noir, his sister was in danger and he had to save her now.

***

Kaminari let out a breath as he saw Shinsou run out the apartment without another word. If nothing else it made finding an excuse to transform a bit easier, but there was no doubt about it. He had to save Eri and do it fast, otherwise Shinsou was going to lose it.

"Spots on!" he called, transforming in a flash of light in Shinsou's living room before heading to the window to swing out onto the streets of Paris and find his best friend's little sister.

"Chat Noir!" Kaminari said into his yoyo, sliding half of it up to turn it into a phone. "I need you here now, there's been an akuma attack, the little sister of Shinsou Hitoshi, the guy that runs the Ladyblog, I'm not sure what-" 

A giant t-rex ran past him on the street and Kaminari's eyes went wide. "-Just get here soon okay? We're going to need all the help we can get."

He hung up to let the message to voice mail on Chat Noir's staff, hurrying in the direction he'd seen the t-rex come from. He couldn't tell if Eri's akumatized ability was creating these things that were running all over place or if she was turning into them, but the chaos that had already spread to the streets was more than enough cause for concern.

By the time he'd tracked her down, Chat Noir had landed on the rooftop next to him, nearly giving him a heart attack.

"Chat Noir!" Kaminari exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief as he realized that it was just his partner and not one of the newly formed nightmares trying to attack him. "You nearly scared me half to death!"

Chat Noir just grinned. "Sorry about that milady, I didn't mean to take so long, but... The traffic in the city has gotten a bit... Out of hand if you couldn't tell," he said, gesturing to the number of various creatures and inanimate objects chasing people around the streets. "Have you figured out what the akuma is?" 

Kaminari shook his head. "Not yet, but look," he said, gesturing to a clown towering over a poor terrified looking civilian. There was a faint glow surrounding the clown before it seemed to split in two, causing the civilian to let out a scream and turn away running. One of the clowns gave chase, following after the civilian while that same faint glow surrounded the other and the clown shrunk down to a small glowing purple girl. "Nightmare is shapeshifting into each person's biggest fear and then... Duplicating it somehow."

Chat Noir's brows furrowed. "Interesting... But there's nothing staying constant when she shapeshifts, so where's the akuma?"

"That's what I can't seem to figure out," Kaminari responded, looking around for something that the villain could be holding onto where the akuma might be stored. "Maybe she doesn't have it on her? But then where would she have hidden it?"

Chat Noir grinned, the kind of grin that almost always signified that he'd had a terrible idea that he was about to execute. "Well then, I suppose we'll just have to ask her and find out."

And before Kaminari could stop him, Chat Noir had used his staff to launch himself off the roof, touching down onto the street below.

"Chat Noir!" Kaminari called out, but he was too far gone to call him back by the time he landed in front of Nightmare.

Needless to say, attacking the supervillain with no plan of attack didn't end well, and after facing a nightmary copy of himself the two had to retreat. 

"Well-" Chat Noir let out a sheepish chuckle, unable to meet Kaminari's eyes. "At least we know how her powers work now?"

"Chaton, how did getting her to create another nightmare with her powers tell us how they work?"

"Well now we know all she has to do is see someone to create that person's biggest nightmare, and that however she's using her powers, it doesn't seem to be connected to whatever object the akuma is hidden in like other akumatized villains have had in the past," Chat Noir replied matter-of-factly, brushing past the fact that his biggest nightmare was Ladybug rejecting him. "You said that the akumatized victim, she's the little sister of Shinsou Hitoshi, right? Do you think he would know where the akuma might be held?"

Kaminari hesitated, thinking about how much of a mess Shinsou had been the last time he'd seen him. "I mean... I'd imagine he'd know her better than anyone else."

Chat Noir grinned. "Great! Then let's go find him and maybe he can tell us how this all happened and where the akuma might be."

***

Shinsou was freaking out. Obviously, anyone would be if they were in his position, but there was something about feeling so utterly helpless when someone you cared about so much was in trouble that intensified the feeling tenfold. It was one thing to watch Kaminari and Monoma go out there and risk their lives to save Paris but they were superheroes, they had powers to help them save the day and, when it came down to it, Shinsou wasn't responsible for their well being.

Eri though? Eri was just a kid, that had nightmares because Shinsou was too caught up in his own thoughts to noticed she'd snuck out of bed. And now she was out in the city on her own, without anyone there to protect her because Shinsou had failed to keep her safe. And now, to rub salt in the wound, here were Ladybug and Chat Noir themselves, here to ask Shinsou how to save her.

"I- I mean I don't know where the akuma might be if she doesn't have it on her, I mean I didn't even know she had gotten akumatized until it was too late," Shinsou confessed, guilt blossoming in his chest.

"Hey," Chat Noir - it was weird to know he was Monoma underneath, when the Monoma he knew was harsh but caring, and full of sharp edges, when Chat Noir was so gentle. "It's okay, we're going to get your sister back, don't beat yourself up about it, I mean this stuff happens all the time."

Chat Noir wrapped a comforting arm around Shinsou's shoulder and Shinsou was surprised at the warmth that radiated off of him. He wouldn't have thought that the suit allowed for so much warmth to get through. 

"You said she had gone to sleep when she was akumatized? Does your sister sleep with a blanket or a stuffed animal or something that she might have been holding onto when the akuma came?"

Shinsou's eyes went wide. "She has a My Little Pony stuffed animal that she always holds onto when she's scared," he told them, thankful that he was able to be helpful at least a little bit. "If she'd gotten freaked out enough for the akuma to come near her, she would have been holding it then for sure."

Chat Noir gave Shinsou a reassuring smile. "Do you mind taking us back to your house so we can see if the akuma is hidden somewhere in her room? It's possible she took it somewhere else to hide, or maybe she just left it behind when she first-" he paused, trying out how to phrase it in the most delicate way. "... Left."

Shinsou nodded, already hurrying down the street back down to their apartment. Ladybug followed after, his eyes flickering from Chat Noir to Shinsou, analyzing their interaction for what, Shinsou couldn't tell. Maybe if he hadn't been so preoccupied by the current situation, he would have read more into it, but for now his biggest and only concern was doing whatever he could to help Eri.

The two superheroes combed through Eri's room but found neither the toy nor anything else that might have contained the akuma. 

"Thank you so much for your help," Ladybug told Shinsou as he and Chat Noir turned to leave. "Now that we know what we're looking for it'll be much easier to stop Nightmare and get your sister back."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Shinsou asked, wishing that there was anything he could do to be more useful.

Ladybug shook his head, gently patting him on the shoulder as if to reassure him that he'd done the best he could. "Don't worry about that right now, me and Chat Noir have got this, we'll have her back in no time at all."

Shinsou nodded, wishing he could believe Ladybug's words as much as she seemed to believe in them.

"And besides," Ladybug continued. "I still have my lucky charm!"

The apartment lit up in a flash of red and pink and whatever object had been created fell too fast for Shinsou to register what it was, but something about it must have been unexpected as Ladybug's eyes went wide in shock and she hurriedly put the lucky charm into the pocket on her suit.

"Ready milady?" Chat Noir asked. And then the two of them were off into the Paris night to go save Shinsou's sister.

***

Kaminari did not expect for his Lucky Charm to take him back to Shinsou of all people. It was already partially his fault that Eri had gotten akumatized. After all, if he hadn't been there to distract Shinsou, Eri wouldn't have been able to sneak out of her room and get nightmares from the movie, or at the very least, Shinsou probably would have heard her wake up from her nightmare and be able to comfort her before she got akumatized. 

But the Lucky Charm had led him back to Yagi and the Lucky Charm was never wrong.

So there Kaminari had headed, leaving Chat Noir behind momentarily to swing by and Yagi for advice on what to do. And when Yagi had presented him with the choice of bestowing a miraculous onto someone else to help them defeat Nightmare, Kaminari knew that there was really only one choice he could make.

"You, Shinsou Hitoshi have been chosen to wield the miraculous of the fox," Kaminari told him, holding out the small box in front of him. It was a miracle he managed to keep from trembling with how inscrutable the look on Shinsou's face was. "If you choose to accept this gift you will use its power to help defeat Nightmare and then return the miraculous to me."

Kaminari couldn't tell what Shinsou was thinking. Was it too much to ask him to help in this case? He knew Shinsou loved superheroes, he knew that Shinsou possessed a kind heart and that of all the people he knew, Shinsou would utilize the miraculous to the best of his ability and would never turn to evil. It was a safe choice to be sure, but maybe it was too safe of a choice. Maybe Kaminari had messed up and was only considering his own feelings. After all, Shinsou was distraught, the last thing he needed was the extra stress of trying to save the city even temporarily. He never should have put Shinsou in that situation, he should have-

"Okay," Shinsou said simply, gingerly taking the box from Kaminari's hand. "Anything I can do to help you get my sister back faster Ladybug, just... Tell me what I have to do."

Kaminari's heart warmed at Shinsou's words. Of course Shinsou would rise to the challenge. It was Shinsou they were talking about.

Shinsou cracked open the box, revealing the fox tail pendant inside, shielding his eyes at the bright flash of light that arose from inside.

A grin spread across Kaminari's face. "All you have to do is say 'Trixx, let's pounce'."

Shinsou nodded and a few moments later he stood before him, the orange of his costume contrasting with the purple of his hair, giving him a Halloween-ish look that somehow managed to look good on him. 

Kaminari forced his thoughts towards a different subject before they could go too far down that path. The last thing he needed was to get distracted by how attractive his best friend was when they had a city to save. 

***

Monoma didn't know where the new superhero had come from, or where Ladybug had found him, nor did he know what came over him when he first laid eyes on the hero with the fox miraculous. What Monoma was painfully aware of, and would likely spend the next few nights of his life sleeplessly regretting, was that his first reaction upon seeing the superhero was a low whistle followed by a "Hot damn-" that was not nearly as quiet as he had thought it was.

Despite his embarrassment at his comment, it was almost worth enduring if only for the look of... Jealousy? That flashed across Ladybug's face at his comment.

The guy in the fox get up just laughed, rolling his eyes, although Monoma didn't miss the way his cheeks were tinged red. "It's nice to meet you Chat Noir, I'm a huge fan," the fox hero said, offering Monoma his hand. "You can call me Reno Rouge."

Monoma took the offered hand gently before swooping into a bow, his eyes flickering over towards Ladybug to see his reaction as he gently kissed the back of Reno's hand grinning up at him. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Rouge, always nice to meet another superhero."

Reno rolled his eyes yet again and something about the gesture felt... Familiar to Monoma almost, as if it were such a natural expression on the other superhero's face that he'd swear he'd seen the expression before. 

A loud crash came from somewhere down the street that startled all of them out of their pleasantries, Reno Rouge's expression shifting to one of concern and seriousness as he looked in the direction the noise had come from before looking to Ladybug.

"So," Reno said. "What's the plan?"

Ladybug glanced around the city, a thoughtful expression on his face as he examined what they had to work with. It was a look Monoma had seen often and the one that always painfully reminded him of just why he'd fallen so hard for the man in front of him.

"Well, thanks to y-the civilian that runs the Ladyblog, we learned that Nightmare's akuma is most likely contained in a doll she'd be carrying with her. If we can find out a way to distract her and stop her from using her power, Chat Noir can grab the doll and use his cataclysm to destroy it," Ladybug said.

"But what if she tries to use her powers on us again?" Monoma asked. "Then we'll have even more things to fend off instead of just Nightmare herself."

Ladybug thought for a moment before calling out for her Lucky Charm once more.

He must have stopped to recharge before coming back here with the newfound superhero. Monoma thought to himself. 

A red and black spotted mirror landed in Ladybug's outstretched arms.

"A mirror?" Reno Rouge asked.

Ladybug's face lit up as a plan began to form in his mind and Monoma couldn't suppress the lovesick grin that spread across his face. "I've got it, I know how we're going to defeat Nightmare."

The plan was... Relatively simple, at least for a Ladybug plan. First, Reno Rouge used his power of illusion to create a mirage for Monoma to hide behind while Monoma snuck up on Nightmare to steal the doll the akuma was hiding in without her noticing his approach. After they were able to successfully lure her to where the illusion was set Reno Rouge and Ladybug worked together to goad Nightmare into using her power on them. Since she needed to be looking at the person she was using her powers on, the two of them utilized Ladybug's Lucky Charm to reflect Nightmare's own image back at her, causing her to shapeshift into her own biggest fear, which was the monster Monoma had seen on a poster for an old horror movie that had come out a while ago. With Nightmare distracted and scared, she reached for the doll Shinsou had said the akuma would most likely be in and that was when Monoma leapt into action.

"CATACLYSM!" he yelled, activating his power and grabbing the doll, freeing the akuma inside.

"Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug yelled, swinging her yoyo at the akuma that had escaped, purifying it and setting it go before throwing the mirror back up in the air and watching as the miraculous ladybugs set everything back to the way it should be, leaving a small girl with blue hair on the ground, anxiously clutching her doll to her chest and looking around in confusion.

"Wh-What happened?" she asked, looking up at the three superheroes. "Was there an akuma attack?"

Monoma's heart softened and he crouched down before her. "There was, but it's all over now okay? Ladybug saved the day like always!" he smiled reassuringly at her before gently helping her to her feet, hearing Ladybug's earrings and Reno's necklace beep. "You two head home okay? I'll get this little lady back to where she needs to be."

Reno glanced at Ladybug, who nodded in confirmation. "Thanks so much for your help Chat Noir, this plan wouldn't have worked without you!" Ladybug exclaimed, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder before he and Reno Rouge headed off into the night.

Monoma sighed wistfully, watching them disappear into the distance before turning to the small girl beside him. "Have you ever wondered what it feels like to fly?"

Granted, leaping across the city using his staff wasn't exactly flying, but it was a good enough comparison and the grin of excitement he got as he carried her across the city back home reassured him that the experience was close enough.

***

"Eri!" Shinsou cried in relief as he burst back into his living room, seeing his little sister safe and sound sitting on the couch and watching her favorite show. "Oh my god, I'm so glad you're okay."

He pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly for a long while before pulling back and gently placing a kiss on her forehead. "Don't you ever get akumatized again okay? You had me scared half to death!"

Eri just giggled, seemingly amused by her brother's worried response, but the way she still held on tight to her brother gave away her feelings on how much the situation had freaked her out too. "It's okay Toshi! Ladybug and Chat Noir saved me! And a new superhero too! He had a fox miraculous and it was soooo cool!!"

Shinsou heard the door quietly creak open behind the two of them and knew that Kaminari had slipped back inside and was most likely formulating some sort of excuse as to why he'd been gone.

"A fox superhero?" Shinsou asked, hoping that Eri couldn't sense the amusement he was sure had crept into his tone. "That's so cool that Paris has another new miraculous holder, I wonder if anyone got any pictures of him I could post on the Ladyblog."

Eri gasped. "You should write about me on the Ladyblog! And how the fox superhero showed up to help save me!"

Shinsou chuckled. "We'll see."

Kaminari finally made his presence known, sitting on the other side of Eri, smiling softly at him. "I'm glad to see she made it back safe... I was out looking for her when I got trapped in a storefront people had barricaded to keep Nightmare out and couldn't get back out til the miraculous ladybugs set everything right again."

Suuuuuuure, that's what happened, Shinsou thought to himself, resisting the urge to laugh at the blatant lie. "Thank you for going out to find her... It means a lot."

Kaminari nodded. "Yeah, of course, that's what friends are for."

Friend, the pang in his chest shouldn't have hurt so bad, but yet it did at the reminder that that was all he'd ever be to Kaminari. Of course he was glad to have him as a friend, but there were sometimes that he wished more than anything else that Kaminari would see him as something more. Maybe then he wouldn't feel like he had to hide the fact that he's Ladybug from me.

"So... A new fox superhero huh? That's exciting," Kaminari said, snapping him out of his thoughts. 

It was a test obviously. Because Kaminari knew Shinsou was Reno Rouge, but Shinsou wasn't supposed to know Kaminari knew- Oh god he was going to get a headache if he tried to follow that line of thought. 

"I wonder who it could be," Shinsou said with a grin. "Whoever he is, I hope he makes an appearance again that way I have a chance to interview him for the Ladyblog, it'd be interesting to hear about how a new superhero comes about. Ladybug and Chat Noir have always been really vague about how they got their miraculouses."

Kaminari nodded as if in deep thought. "That would be a cool interview, I hope you get to meet him sometime then."

It would be an added struggle, having to add one more secret to the list that seemed to be getting increasingly long about who knew what and how much he was supposed to know around each person. But it was worth it for moments like these, with his best friend at his side and his little sister safe and sound, there was nothing else in the world Shinsou could have possibly asked for.

Notes:

AHhhhh okay so I had like 3k words of this written and then picked it up today after realizing I had access to the first few episodes of Miraculous S5 and have not moved until I completed the whole thing, I hope it left off on a satisfactory ending!
Also this fic means that the Stronger than Magic AU in total has reached 20k words which is... Crazy to me, I hope you've all enjoyed it so far!!
The next fic in the series will feature less bad guy fighting and more love... Square? Triangle? Hexagon? drama because that's my favorite part about this AU. I also think I'll use the next fic to introduce the Luka and Kagami parallel characters... We'll see.
Anyways thank you so much for reading if you've made it this far, as always your comments and kudos mean the world to me and hopefully I'll be back soon with the next update!