Miraculous Flash Forward: Adrien Graham De Vanily
A Miraculous Fan-fic
Written By
AJ Dunn
The Agreste brand was gone as Felix stepped in to take over his uncle’s company at the behest of Adrien. Having shed off the name of that villainous man Adrien took his mother’s maiden name. Graham de Vanily. It only felt right to have his cousin who was a Graham de Vanily take over the company. He had more, business sense than Adrien. Not to mention Adrien had some things to attend to that meant staying out of the public eye. He and Felix had been identical their entire lives. It was weird although their mothers were identical twins. Felix and Adrien had different fathers as well. Felix’s father had died and Adrien’s mother remained in a coma. They had found her after his father had been captured. The miraculous’ had been returned to Ladybug who now held the miracle box as its guardian.
Adrien looked down at his own miraculous. He often wondered if he should return it to her. The thought of returning to Paris hurt, but the thought of seeing her and the hurt he must have caused her. He couldn’t bear for her to hate him. So he stayed away. He had completed high school in London with his cousin then set off for horizons unknown after singing his cousin in as CEO of the former Agreste fashion brand. He could even stand in for Adrien as the new face. However, he didn’t have as much flair for modeling as Adrien did.
“So you’re just going to leave me with YOUR company?” Felix asked with a wry smile.
“Makes sense to me,” Adrien replied without looking at his cousin. It was hard enough to look in a mirror, worse to look at his identical cousin. Felix sighed.
“You can’t even look at me anymore Adrien,” Felix complained. “I know I have been… insufferable but this…” he held his hand up.
“I’m sorry Felix you’re right.” Adrien felt ashamed. “It’s just hard.” He darted his eyes up to meet his cousins. His green eyes shown brightly, his silky blond hair slicked back in the same formal style his father always wore. Even his black suit and white shirt were straight and proper. A black-tie adorning his neck... He looked like a mannequin without even so much as a wrinkle or hair out of place. Sure he wore far less color than his father, who was a fashion designer. Felix was more… of the businessman than interested in fashion. While he still had a keen eye for it, he preferred to stick with the basics for himself. It was his way of separating himself from Gabriel Agreste.
“So, you’re leaving then?” Felix asked coldly. He had gotten so used to having a “brother” living with him. It made for fun pranks right after Adrien moved in with him. They’d switch close. Adrien needed to laugh, he needed to make friends but it was hard for him having been sheltered for most of his life then yanked away from the only friends he ever knew.
“In the morning.” Adrien zipped up his suitcase and set it by his bedroom door. Felix stood by the bed holding his hands behind his back spinning the silver band on his finger. Adrien wore the twin ring on his opposite hand. Felix noticed Adrien never took off the other silver ring he had. “My flight leaves at 7.” He looked at his watch. It was nearly time for dinner. “We should go, Aunt Amelie will be waiting.”
“Indeed, we won’t want to make mother wait.” Felix left the room first closing the door behind him. Adrien flipped the lock on the door then went to his mini-fridge. Only a couple of pieces left. He thought.
“Plagg?” He asked the air. “You’re going to have to slack off on the stinky cheese for a while.” he could hear the groan coming from the mini closet to the side of his bed. He swung the door open looking in to see Plagg cuddled up on the Ladybug squishy pillow. “Hey that one is mine.” he snatched the squishy pillow and tossed it on the bed. Replacing it with a simple black round squishy pillow with a neon green pawprint in the middle. He had found them on Marinette’s website. She had designed them and Adrien couldn’t resist. Plagg pouted.
“This one isn’t as comfy as that one,” Plagg complained.
“I know you miss her, I miss Ladybug.” Adrien sat on the edge of the bed. “Maybe I should take you back.” he slouched forward placing his elbows on his knees.
“NO,” Plagg yelled. “I’m not leaving your side.”
“You might not have a choice Plagg.” he looked up at his little friend hovering only feet from his face. “Where I’m going, they don’t have stinky cheese,” Adrien smirked. Plagg looked shocked then crossed his arms and turned his head away.
“If you can walk away from Ladybug…” Plagg sighed, his arms dangling at his sides. “Then I can walk away from Camembert.” Plagg gulped his words. “As long as it’s not forever, you have to promise to go back.” Adrien chuckled.
“I will Plagg, I promise.” he stood up and headed for the door. “Let’s go eat.” Plag zipped into his shirt pocket as Adrien opened the door.
The airport was nearly empty. Adrien had chosen this time so he could escape London without cameras following him everywhere. He had done well to avoid being in the public eye for the past few years. It wouldn’t be good if everyone in Paris found out that Adrien Agreste was leaving for China. Heaven forbid Marinette to follow him. She did have a great uncle there and he had planned to visit Cheng Sifu’s restaurant as often as possible. He found his boarding gate and took a seat in the corner where he was less likely to be spotted or recognized. He pulled his hoodie down over his eyes as whisps of his blond hair dared to expose him. He brushed them back the picked up a magazine. Marinette’s face struck him as he read the excerpt about her new company. Her designs were becoming a global sensation as his friends from his former band Kitty Section took the top spots on the chart and even knocked Jagged Stone down a peg or two. Adrien smile thinking about how proud he must be that his kids Juleka and Luka are succeeding him. There was a picture of the band. Juleka and Luka look very much the same, Rose too. Adrien’s eyes narrowed on a silver wedding band on Luka’s hand and his heart sank. Did he and Marinette get married? He closed the magazine and tossed it to the side.
Boarding, call London to Shanghai now boarding.
Adrien stood by the window watching the sunset. He could feel Marinette standing next to him as he smiled. He looked over to her, but she wasn’t there. It was only a memory. One of his favorites.
Adrien stepped out of the taxi at the address on his booking slip. He had leased a condo. It was paid up for the three years he planned to be here. Thanks to his trust fund which, luckily had been protected from the scandal caused by Hawk Moths’ deeds. It had been created by his mother instead of his father. Not to mention the funds from his days as a model. He didn’t have to worry about money. The now Graham De Vanily fashion industry was co-owned now, secretly of course. He wanted to maintain the guise that Adrien had disappeared in case Ladybug did in fact figure out he was Cat Noir. He couldn’t face her, not yet.
Adrien marveled at the design of the building. It was very modern with the appearance of two bullet trains back to back. The walls were glass with a metal framework. The entrance was directly in the middle of the building. Adrien walked up to the door as bell boys scurried to his cab to grab his bags. He had taken off his hoodie so as to not look the part of a vagabond.
“I am Adrien Graham De Vanily, I am supposed to pick up my keys from you.” He spoke Mandarin very well thanks to his father’s insistence. It helped that Master Fu and Cheng Sifu applauded him for it. Otherwise, he might have forced himself to forget it all. The guard nodded handing him a packet of papers and the keys.
“Top floor, suite 1A.,” he told the busboys who hurried to the service elevator with his bags. “I just need you to sign a few papers here.” he slid the papers to Adrien over the counter then a pen. He signed them quickly. The guard pointed him to the resident elevators and he headed upstairs. The top floor was nearly empty as he walked down the hall to his condo. It would be his home for a while and while he had never lived on his own, he was used to being alone. He always had someone else to prepare his meals, and tend to the cleaning and daily maintenance of his home but now, he was on his own. It felt refreshing to not have to worry about close calls and coming up with excuses for the ripe smell of cheese all over everything.
He couldn’t really complain, he was a cat kwami after all at least it wasn’t fish he was obsessed with, he’d never get the smell of rotten fish out of anything. He put the key in the door and opened it. He opened a sliding door to the right exposing a coat closet with a hanger for bags. He hung the bag closing the front door flipping the lock and deadbolt.
“Hello,” he called there wasn’t a sound as he made his way into the living area. The room was lit with natural light exposing a room larger than the one he grew up in. The white marble carpeting was cushioned his steps as he inspected the seating. A black leather love seat with silver metal framing and two matching armchairs sat in a square around a glass table with the same silver metal for legs. There was a swirling black, tan, and gray rug under the table. The seating faced the wall opposite the window that covered the entire external wall. The daylight beamed in as he saw the entirety of Shanghai spread out for him to view. He walked to the break in the wall where sat two swinging glass doors leading to the balcony. He searched the area seeing rooftops laid out before him. He could easily leap between them and return to his room undetected.
Returning to the sitting room he could see the large TV mounted on the wall. The art decor matched the black & silver theme. He saw the steppes leading up to the loft above the television and made his way up. The walls weren’t lined with bookshelves as his old bedroom had a bed but there was a walk-in closet and a king-sized platform bed against the wall with a railing over looking the seating area. The black slick bedside tables matched the black slick headboard with a silver bar slicing them in half. The bed was made up with a black with silver and white ivy weave bedspread.
There was a bathroom to the far side of the unit next to a closed-off kitchen. The decal in the kitchen was white marble flooring with black marble countertops. Silver appliances finalized the theme. The bathroom might just have been bigger than the actual area of the bedroom as it comprised of a large standing shower and a jet stream tub. There counter held two sinks and medicine cabinets with another cabinet housing linens. Amelie had made all of the arrangements for the purchase and set up of the furnishing and linens, as well as the kitchen accessories. He opened the fridge.
“Ah,” he said. “Looks like I will be doing my own grocery shopping Plagg,” he said aloud. No response. “It’s safe to come out Plagg.” the Kwam flew slowly over to him. A grumble came from the tiny stomach as he stared in horror at the empty fridge.
“Are you trying to kill me?” Plagg groaned turning his back to Adrien crossing his arms.
“Guess we’ll have to go out to eat.” Adrien closed the fridge and turned around. “Cheng Sifu’s?”
“Fine.” he gruffed. “But we have to get some food before we come home.” he pointed demandingly at his owner. He was grateful to have one like Adrien, he couldn’t have imagined if Gabriel had found him and Tikki instead of Nuuroo and Duusuu. It would have been catastrophic.
They walked to the Metro and took to downtown. Adrien remembered the way to the restaurant from the last time he perused the city. He got off a few blocks from the restaurant and dipped into a mini-store. He couldn’t show up at Cheng Sifu’s empty-handed. He may have spoken Mandarin well, but he had no idea about cooking or ingredients. He looked over various ingredients then settled on a bushed of leafy greens and grabbed a small block of Manchego for Plagg to try. He paid then headed down the sidewalk with his bag. Stepping into the restaurant which was bustling with patrons, Adrien made his way to the kitchen.
“Cheng Sifu?” Adrien called to him in Mandarin. “I don’t know if you remember me…”
“Adrien. My Marinette’s boyfriend.” Cheng came around the preparation counter and greeted him. Adrien’s face froze as his cheeks tinted with red. Cheng wrapped him up in a tight hug though now he was slightly taller than Cheng. Cheng, who was taller than his niece Sabine, was still a rather short and plump man. He was one of the world’s greatest chefs, but despite having been told many times that Adrien and Marinette weren’t dating, he never believed that. “How is my Marinette?”
“I … I actually haven’t…” He scratched the back of his neck as Cheng lead him into the back of the kitchen where a table was set with two chairs. Ingredients were laid out. “I haven’t seen her in two years,” Adrien announced finally. Cheng looked up saddened and confused. “I had to move away, because of… my father.” he sat down setting the bag on the table. He pulled out the leafy greens offering them to Cheng hoping this would change the subject. “Would you please teach me how to cook?” Cheng’s eyes widened as he accepted the fateful food items.
They spend an hour preparing a meal with the ingredients Cheng had set out and the fateful ingredients Adrien had brought him. It had gotten late by the time the food was done so Cheng boxed some of it up so Adrien could take it home to eat.
“You come back tomorrow and we make something else.” Cheng waved to Adrien as he left the restaurant.
“Keep your promise.” Adrien reminded. He had asked Cheng to not tell anyone he was here until he was ready to go back. He promised to bring fateful food every day to learn how to cook. He wanted to impress Marinette when he went back. Adrien walked with his hands in his pockets, the bag with his food hung around his wrist. His hoodie pulled over his head as he snuck into an alleyway. He set the bag down.
“Plagg claws out.” He scooped up the bag and bound for the rooftop and slipped quietly through the shadows from one rood to another. He was on his way home when a sound caught his attention. He landed silently on the brick wall of a manor where a man was fighting off three assailants. The hand-to-hand combat of this martial art style was intriguing. He watched for a minute wondering if this man could handle himself or not. The three men seemed to be struggling as his efforts fought to subdue them. Cat Noir turned and was about to leave when he saw several more coming, this time with blades. Two of them with a saber or dao and one with a set of sai. He set his bag down without thinking another thought and dropped onto the backs of the three incoming assailants. Two of them hit the ground hard as the other tried to pull Cat off their backs. He side kicked the man in the chin sending him flying backward as he drove a single punch to the two now incapacitated assailants. The man fought off the others as they turned tail to run seeing can hovering over the unconscious bodies of their comrades. The man closed his palms together and gave a curt bow to Cat Noir in thanks. Cat returned making sure to bow lower in respect for the master.
“Your arrival here tonight must be fate,” he said. “May I know the name of my rescuer?”
“I am called Cat Noir.”
“Hei Mao.” You are welcome here anytime. I am Chao.”
“Can you teach me Chao Sifu?” Cat bowed again. The man nodded curtly. “You come at night, under the cover of darkness, and I shall teach you, Hei Mao.” He turned and headed into the building. It was a small temple-looking house with an ancient appearance. Bamboo stalks and sand with stones decored the yard. A few koi ponds in the corners. He led Hei Mao to the back training ground. It was larger than the front and completely hidden from anyone outside the walls. Large trees cast their shadows over it as large stones and other terrain provided adequate advantage points for sparring and battling.
“You meet me here after the sun goes down,” Chao said waving his hand around. “I can not start tonight. I must sit with the ancestors first.” He left Hei Mao. Mao returned to his bag and finished his trek back home. Ducking into an alley to transform back in the darkness so no one would see.
