The ink-like night gently enveloped the whole of Paris. Inside the magnificent, palace-like Agreste Mansion, the lights were bright in Adrien's room.
Outside the bathroom door, this world's Plagg was stretching, her face filled with the satisfaction of undeserved gain.
It had originally prepared to engage in a battle of wits with its other self, defending its cheese sovereignty and Adrien's secrets, but unexpectedly, besides the sound of water, the bathroom was excessively quiet.
That fellow named Alternate plagg seemed to be making no special moves.
"Hehe, I got a month's worth of cheese money without doing anything."
Plagg calculated in her heart, happily narrowing her eyes, "This is simply the most cost-effective deal in Kwami history."
A few more minutes passed. Hearing the sound of the doorknob turning, Alternate Adrien almost managed to—just a second before Alternate Adrien pushed the door open—
He had completely hidden the encrypted folder full of Jaden's data, and switched the screen interface back to Alya's "Miraculous Ladybug" blog, pretending to browse casually.
Alternate Adrien walked out wrapped in a bath towel. His wet blonde hair was still dripping water. Having washed away the day's fatigue and dust, his face, which was identical to Adrien's, appeared even fresher and more handsome.
Immediately following, another small black figure—Alternate plagg—quietly flew out of the bathroom.
Alternate plagg curiously surveyed the room, which was both familiar and strange. When its gaze landed on the unfinished, strongly scented camembert cheese on the table, its eyes instantly lit up.
It cheered happily and flew toward the cheese.
"Hey! Stop right there!"
A black flash of lightning blocked its path. It was Plagg. She spread her short arms to shield her cheese,
and looked warily at this uninvited "kin": "This is mine!"
"Don't be so stingy."
Alternate plagg flew a circle around her, trying to find an opening. "We're the same Kwami, aren't we? What's yours is mine?"
"Nonsense! My cheese is mine! My Adrien is mine too!"
Plagg righteously declared her sovereignty.
"Can you share a little cheese with me? Just a tiny bit."
"No!"
The two little black Kwami thus staged a high-speed chase in the room.
Like two leaping musical notes, they darted and played between the massive climbing wall, the bookshelf, and the sofa. Crisp laughter and arguing filled the entire space.
Alternate Adrien watched this scene, a helpless yet doting smile appearing on his face.
He then walked up to the computer screen, looked at the Ladybug battle highlights playing on it, and smiled as he said to Adrien, "It looks like your counterpart in this world likes Ladybug just as much as I do."
Adrien's heart skipped a beat, but he maintained his smile: "That's right, she's the hero of Paris."
His answer was flawless, but inwardly he was relieved that his hands had been fast enough just now.
The two stood side by side, looking at the blog content, chatting about everything from heroic deeds to classmate gossip, and from the latest fashion news to school courses.
They were surprised to find that, apart from today's bizarre encounter, their life trajectories, interests, and even their views on their classmates were astonishingly similar across both worlds.
"Speaking of which,"
Alternate Adrien suddenly turned his head and looked at Adrien with a hint of envy. "I feel like... the Father in this world treats you better than mine treats me."
Adrien's heart stirred, and he asked, "Your Father over there... is he very strict with you?"
"Yes."
Alternate Adrien nodded, a hint of loneliness showing in his emerald eyes. "Extremely strict. Unless it's a necessary brand event, he almost never lets me go out on weekends.
My time is fully scheduled; if I'm not modeling, I'm on my way to tutoring. The time I get to spend with friends is minimal, so... most of the time, I sneak out of the house."
Adrien fell silent.
He understood this feeling perfectly; it was a replica of his own past life.
He patted Alternate Adrien's shoulder and comforted him, "Actually... I was similar. But things have gotten a little better recently."
"I really don't know how long I'll be staying here..." Alternate Adrien sighed, looking at the screen.
"It's alright." Adrien's voice was gentle and firm. "Here, you are me. My friends are your friends too."
The two continued browsing the blog. Alternate Adrien wanted to see how the "news" in this world differed from his own.
And Alternate Adrien, in order to keep the atmosphere lively and prevent the other party from asking to see "other files" on his computer, could only watch with him while actively finding topics for casual conversation.
At Alya's house, in Alya's room, two girls were sitting cross-legged on the carpet, with two laptops and several phones placed between them. The air was filled with the tense yet excited atmosphere unique to journalists.
"Your news footage... is so little."
An Alya from the parallel world quickly scrolled through the folders on Alya's computer and said with some dissatisfaction.
"Because someone didn't want me to get hurt, I didn't film many dangerous shots."
Alya replied while organizing her camera. She recalled Jaden's past warnings and her own experiences during several Akumatization incidents, still feeling a chill of fear.
Hearing this, An Alya merely curled her lip in disdain. She shared a folder from her phone with Alya: "Look at mine. This is what a real reporter should be like!"
Alya opened the folder and gasped. Inside were battle photos and videos taken from daring angles, all truly breathtaking.
Several times, the camera lens was dangerously close to the Akumatized Person's attack, as if it would be affected in the next second.
"Are you crazy? That's too dangerous!" Alya couldn't help but exclaim.
"What's there to be afraid of?"
An Alya shrugged carelessly, quickly transferring several high-definition close-ups of the hero from Alya's media library that she didn't have onto her own phone,
"Ladybug will take care of everything. When I go back and upload this exclusive material to my blog, it will definitely double my follower count!"
She was already imagining how she would use this exclusive "cross-world interview" news to blow up the internet once she returned to her own world.
She completely disregarded Alya's worried gaze.
Alya sighed inwardly, looking at her other self's fearless demeanor.
She understood that this An Alya was like her own younger, calf-like self who hadn't yet experienced the harsh realities of society.
Perhaps only after truly suffering a loss would she understand that some lines must not be crossed.
After exchanging all the footage, the two girls started talking about their respective best friends—Marinette.
"Sigh, I really don't know what to do about her."
"Exactly! She's so excellent, yet she's always so lacking in confidence."
The two Alyas expressed the same sentiment almost simultaneously, then smiled at each other, finding a resonance that transcended time and space.
However, when they discussed Marinette's crush in their respective worlds, a strange misunderstanding arose.
Alya's side, naturally, was "anxious" about Marinette's slow-moving romance with Jaden;
While An Alya was strategizing for her world's An Marinette's unrequited love for Alternate Adrien.
Neither of them mentioned the boy's name, only using "that person" or "that guy" as a placeholder.
Consequently, both girls naturally assumed that their Marinettes liked the same person.
On the other side, the warm lights were on in Jaden's apartment.
He hummed a tune off-key, skillfully busy in the kitchen.
Today he was making several delicate Chinese home-style dishes—shrimp, tofu, and a steaming bowl of tomato and egg soup.
The aroma filled the small space, brimming with the scent of life.
He brought the dishes to the table one by one, and specially prepared a set of small, cute bowls and chopsticks printed with a peacock pattern for Duusu.
"Dinner is served," he said softly.
"Coming, coming!" Duusu cheered, flying over from the sofa. Familiar with the routine, it landed on its exclusive little stool, picked up the chopsticks, skillfully picked up a piece of tofu, and ate it with great relish, then happily narrowed its eyes. "Jaden, your cooking is still the best!"
Jaden looked at its satisfied expression, a gentle smile appearing on his face.
The two ate quietly. While eating, Duusu stared intently at the melodramatic romance drama playing on the television, occasionally offering comments of surprise or regret.
After dinner, Jaden cleared the dishes and chopsticks as usual and went to the sink to wash them.
The warm water flowed, and amidst the rushing sound of the water, the smile on his face gradually faded, his eyes becoming deep and calm.
"I thought a few interesting strangers might have arrived,"
he thought to himself. "I didn't expect it to just be a bunch of parallel worlds. Truly... disappointing."
He then dried the washed dishes and put them back in the cabinet. Afterward, he walked over to Duusu and watched the heartbreaking loves and hates on TV with it for a while.
Only when Duusu yawned did he turn off the TV and urge it to get ready for bed.
After washing up, Jaden lay down on the soft bed. Duusu lightly landed on the pillow beside him, curling up into a small indigo blue fluff ball.
"Good night, Jaden."
"Good night, Duusu."
The person and the Kwami exchanged good nights and fell asleep facing each other under the soft moonlight... His consciousness gradually blurred, and Jaden plunged into a deep dream.
He was back on the familiar street belonging to his "previous life."
Skyscrapers stood tall, Glowing lights flickered, yet there was no one. The entire city was enveloped in a dead silence; there was no wind, no sound, and time seemed to stand still here.
He wandered aimlessly through this empty dead city. There was no joy or sorrow in His heart, only a void of tranquility.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, he saw a small, entirely black cat in the center of a crossroads.
The kitten was idly using its soft paw pads to tease a small, black, smooth spherical object.
It gently nudged the sphere with its paw; a shallow wrinkle would temporarily appear on the sphere's surface, but it would immediately spring back to its original state, restoring itself perfectly.
Jaden stood watching for a while, feeling that although the scene was bizarre, there seemed to be nothing particularly special about it.
So, he turned around, preparing to continue his endless wandering.
What he didn't see was that the moment he turned to leave, a red and black spotted Ladybug silently flew over and lightly landed on the black sphere.
The black cat's movement stopped.
It was silent for a moment, then tilted its head and let out a soft, harmless chirp directed at the Ladybug, even carrying a hint of cuteness.
"Meow."
However, the Ladybug ignored it.
Using its six tiny legs, it embraced the black sphere, flapped its wings, and flew away with it.
The black cat hesitated for a moment behind them, but finally started walking, chasing after them unhurriedly.
The entire dream was silent, yet it seemed to foretell something.