A/N: Story is set right after the episode 'Volpina'.

It's probably going to be 100% focused on the OC Main Character.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Nick sat at the dining room table, grasping a golden pocket watch in his hands. It marked 5 PM, with the company logo "GABRIEL" flashing back at him on the clock's face.

"I don't even need a watch…" he mumbled under his breath.

SLAM!

Perking up at that sound, the male hastily shoved the watch into the bamboo plant in front of him. It fell inside the pot. Just in time too, for Lila had just entered the room.

"-how dare she! Thinking that everything will be alright just because she apologized?! Who does she think she is?! I HATE HER!" She paced back and forth in front of the dining table, fists clenched so hard they're turning white.

Nick quirked an eyebrow, leaning back on his chair. Seeing as she won't stop stomping through the dining area, the male sighed. He's going to regret this.

"...Hate who?"

Lila snapped her head towards his direction, stilling her entire body. Her voice turned low, back tones of a growl filtering through.

"Ladybug," she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Ladybug..?" Nick spent longer than he should trying to remember who that was. "Isn't she that superhero-?"

"She's no hero!" Lila cried, crossing her arms. "The nerve of her! Humiliating me twice today…! Saying all those mean things about me!" She was breathing heavily now, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Doesn't she know how much that hurts..?!" she asked, voice reducing to a hoarse whisper.

Nick scrunched up his eyebrows, a frown set upon his lips. He sat up properly, elbows on the table, hand propping up his chin.

"What did she do."

Lila gulped, steadying her voice. She turned to the side.

"She humiliated me, twice now, in front of Adrien!"

Hearing that, Nick relaxed his shoulders.

"Oh. If that's it, you can probably redeem yourself-"

"No I can't! It's over!" Lila wailed, her fists back to her sides, "He's going to think that everything I say is a lie, which is not! Adrien Agreste IS mine!"

"That guy you're obsessed with?" He clicked his tongue, "Just because we transferred here for him, doesn't mean that he's your-"

"YES HE IS." Lila leaned over the table, glaring at Nick. "Speaking of transferring, where were you? I didn't see you at school today."

Nick shrugged. "A bunch of squirrels were blocking the way and I couldn't go around them, so I just decided not to come."

"Ugh, liar!" Lila scowled at her stepbrother. "Stop skipping things! I need you there as backup in case someone doesn't believe how amazing my life is!"

Nick slouched, one hand cupping his cheek. "Blah."

"I'm serious, Niccolo." There was a pause. Lila examined the person in front of her in further detail. "Actually, now that I think about it…"

Nick felt shivers go down his spine. "Whatever it is, I'm saying no."

She continued on anyway. "...how about we strike a little deal."

"No."

"Come on, hear me out."

"No."

"It'll really benefit you!"

"No."

Before Nick could move an inch, Lila swiped the bamboo plant from the table. Nick made a wild attempt to snatch it back, but all he got was thin air as the girl backed away.

She pulled out the pocket watch from the plant, a wide smile on her face.

"Now what do we have here..?"

Nick groaned, slumping against the dining table.

"Come on, sis…"

Putting the plant back on the table, Lila made a show of examining the watch in her hand, handling it as if it was the most precious thing in the world.

"What a lovely watch! Such lovely golden luster! And look at those clock hands!" she proclaimed, face nearly pressing up against it. "Wait a minute! Isn't this my father's?! What is it doing inside that convenient bamboo plant right next to you?!"

The male sighed, running a hand through his light brown hair.

"You and I both know I picked it from his room," he admitted, deadpanning at her.

"Stole it, you mean." Lila had the smuggest smirk on her face. "Mom and dad are going to freak if they figure out you've been stealing again. Especially when you insisted you've broken from that habit."

Nick grumbled under his breath. A couple of seconds later, he sighed loudly. "Okay, okay, what's your deal?"

Lila smiled brightly, eyes squinting. "Aww Nick, I'm so glad that you're listening to me of your own free will! So listen up-"

"Listening," mumbled Nick, rolling his eyes.

"-I checked the class list. Adrien Agreste is in your class."

Nick tilted his head to the side. "So what? You want me to cause some trouble, try to get the teacher to switch me with you?"

"No, cause then he'd think I somehow manipulated you, which I did not!" She pocketed the watch in her jacket, "I need you to get close to him."

"I thought you want him to be your boyfriend."

"I meant as a friend!" Lila snapped.

"...Wha?"

The girl groaned, shaking her head. "Do you need me to spell it out for you?!"

"Proper sentences would be nice."

Lila slammed her hands against the table. "You need to befriend Adrien Agreste and clear my name!" she cried, her nails digging into the wood.

Nick blinked once.

Then twice.

"I think the Parisian air is getting to you," he said in a clear, level voice.

Lila growled at him.

"Niccolo," she warned, "In return, I'll cover for you whenever you do something that makes our parents upset."

"Like..?"

"Like?" The girl scoffed, a faint smile occupying her lips. "The fact that you steal all the time, the fact that you constantly skip school or meetings or dinner, the fact that you have virtually no friends or social life to speak of-"

"I can't control any of those things!" whined Niccolo, scrunching up his face into a pout.

"And that's why I'll cover for you!" Lila spread her arms out. "This is a win-win situation for both of us!"

"You want me, your antisocial stepbrother, to befriend Adrien Agreste. Popular teen model. With crazy hordes of fangirls constantly chasing after him. One of those fangirls being the mayor's daughter." Nick spoke in short, clipped sentences. "I don't know much about him, but he probably has a whole army of friends at his side. What makes you think I can infiltrate that, plus gain so much of his trust that he'll forgive you by extension?"

"You're my last hope, Niccolo." The girl clasped her hands together. "Adrien Agreste is mine, and the only way he can see that is if some third party convinces him!"

Nick rolled his eyes at the 'third party' part. "What makes you think I'll even try?"

Lila smiled. "Because we're family!"

Silence.

Finally, Nick sighed, slumping in his seat.

"Cheap shot. You know that I'm a sucker for family."

"So you'll do it?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

Thus on that day, Niccolo "Nick" Conti made a grave mistake.

"Everyone, today we have a new student! His name is Niccolo Conti, and he's from Italy, so it..."

Niccolo kept his face neutral, blankly staring at the back of the room, eyeing the large bookshelves that are way taller than himself. The teen tried to ignore everyone around him.

"...you like to say a little bit about yourself?"

The attention towards him caused Nick to stop zoning out. He turned towards his new teacher.

"No, not really," he answered, shifting a bit.

Miss Bustier blinked, seemingly at a lost of words, before smiling. "That's fine. Moving to a new school can be a very scary experience. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or any of your classmates. Now, go and pick a seat."

Nick's eyes immediately wandered to the back of the classroom. Spotting an empty seat, he rushed towards the bench without making eye-contact with anybody else. Then the male sat down, staring rather focused-like at his desk.

"Today," spoke up the teacher, causing most of the heads to finally stop staring at him, "We are going to be looking at the works of…"

Nick once again zoned out, preferring to stare off into the windows.

An hour later, with the sounds of paper flipping and the teacher's voice speaking in the background, he closed his eyes.

Nick woke up to someone shaking his shoulder.

The male blinked blearily, before turning over to his left. There, he spotted a male with tomato red hair, his blue eyes staring at him wide-eyed.

"Um…" the redhead started, fidgeting with a pencil he held in his hands.

Nick sat up straighter, scanning the room. Everyone seems to be in the middle of packing up, many chatting about what they're going to do during lunchtime.

"Ah." Nick brushed his nose with the back of his hand. "I fell asleep."

The redhead nodded. "Yeah. Miss Bustier is letting it slide for now, since you're new, but the school is pretty strict on sleepers."

"My bad." He ruffled his hair. "Thanks for waking me up..?"

His classmate nodded. Then, seeing as no one was going to say anything else, the redhead packed up his bags.

With another curt nod, he left the room.

Nick rubbed his cheeks, trying to get the last hints of sleepiness right out of his system. So it's lunchtime, and he had no idea what was going on for the past hour or two.

"I might as well just skip school for the rest of the day," he muttered to himself, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Hello!"

Nick jumped, whirling his head to the sound of that voice. Next to him was a girl dressed in all pink, with a blonde pixie cut and the biggest blue eyes he has ever seen.

"Uh…" said Nick, blankly staring at the person in front of him. "Hello..?"

"I'm Rose!" she chimed, almost twirling around her pink mini skirt. "And this is Juleka!" The girl gestured to her taller friend. Nick totally missed her, it's almost like she's invisible.

"Are we doing introductions? I'm Nick," said Niccolo, scratching his cheek.

Rose grinned at him. "Since you're new, Juleka and I want to show you around!"

Nick continued to stare blankly at her. "Me?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Rose, clapping her hands, "This year, we have many new students in our grade! There's Alya, and Adrian, and Lila… But they usually made friends by the first period, so they get a tour by them. Since you didn't make any friends, we figured we can be your first! Cause friendship is always great!"

Nick tilted his head to the side, wondering if he should be offended at the comment about his lack of friends, before Juleka cut in.

"Only if you, you know, want to…" she mumbled, so low that Nick had to strain his ears to hear her.

Even though it may have been perceived as creepy, Nick continued to stare at them. Rose appeared to be the very definition of cheerful whilst Juleka fiddled with her fingerless gloves.

Still, the two looked like they held no ulterior motive.

"Okay," replied Nick before he could stop himself. While Juleka had her eyes wide and eyebrows up in surprise, Rose squealed.

"Great!" The blonde girl grabbed onto his wrist. "Let's go! We need to show you everything before lunch break is over!"

Next thing he knew, Nick was being dragged all over school by an energetic blonde and her quiet companion.

A couple of hours later, at home, Niccolo embraced the silence. He sat at the dining table, chewing on some food, watching the sky through the windows. It seems that it has started to rain.

SLAM!

The door opened.

"So?!" exclaimed Lila, rushing to take a seat next to him.

Nick gave her an annoyed look, hugging his large bowl of macaroni and cheese closer to himself.

"So what." He took a big spoonful of his food.

Lila huffed, rolling her eyes. "So Adrien! Did you talk to him?! Did you talk to him about me?!"

Nick purposely took his time chewing, watching Lila glare at him as she waited for him to finish. Finally, he swallowed his food, clicking his tongue to savour the taste. Seeing his sister at wits end with him, he decided to talk.

"Nope."

"What do you mean nope?!" cried Lila. Nick was about to take another spoonful of mac and cheese, but Lila immediately slapped his spoon out of his hand. "Eat later! Did you even talk to him at all?!"

Nick watched mournfully as his spoon flew to the other side of the table. He then sighed, turning towards his sister.

"No. I didn't see him at all today," said Nick.

Lila placed her hands to her hips. "He was at school today. I saw him. I wanted to speak to him, but everyone kept bugging me about the Volpina thing, those non-believers. Didn't even get a chance."

"Eh, I wasn't paying attention."

"Niccolo!" scolded Lila, "Are you even trying?! Do you want to honour this deal?! I still have the pocket watch with your fingerprints on it, you know!"

"Aww come on, Lila, I actually went to school for once." Nick made grasping motions at the direction of his lost spoon. "I missed lunch though."

Lila picked up the spoon. "What do you mean missed lunch?"

"Some people showed me around. They were really excited so we all accidentally missed lunch," explained Niccolo. He took the utensil from Lila's hand.

Lila perked up. "Were one of those people Adrien?!"

"Nope." Nick took a bite of his food once more.

Lila groaned, placing a hand on her forehead.

Before she can speak anymore, a new person entered the room.

"Ooh! Are you two bonding?" chimed the voice, bouncing over to where the duo was sitting.

"Nope," answered Lila, hand still on her forehead.

"Not at all." Nick waved. "Hi mom."

"Shame!" proclaimed Francesca Conti, taking a seat at the dining table. "Oh, Nick, can I ask you a favour?"

Niccolo sniffed. "Doesn't matter what I answer, you'll make me do it anyway."

"Good!" exclaimed Francesca, clapping her hands. Her green eyes twinkled in delight. "I ordered some soothing creams from this massage place not too far from here. I was supposed to pick it up today, but I forgot and I'm already at home now. Plus it has started to rain outside, so..."

"Let me guess- You want me to pick it up." Nick forced a smile on his face.

"I'm so glad my son knows me so well!" cheered Francesca, running over to give him a big hug and ruffle his hair.

"Ack, mom, I'm eating!" choked Niccolo, gripping onto his spoon as if his life depended on it.

Francesca merely laughed in reply, before planting a kiss on his forehead. "You should get going right now, the massage place is closing soon."

"Thanks mom," mumbled Nick, patting his hair. He placed his spoon on the table. "Don't eat my food while I'm gone."

"Of course not!" cried the woman, placing a hand on her chest, as if wounded.

Rolling his eyes, Nick excused himself from the table, walking over to the front door.

"See you later, Nick!" exclaimed Lila. She had a light tone in her voice.

Nick raised an eyebrow at her, knowing that she only sounds like that when she's plotting something. Still, he simply rolled his eyes again and stepped out of the house.

"Master Fu's Massage Shop, huh?" mumbled Niccolo under his breath.

His hands, wet from the rain, slid a bit against the cold doorknob. Nevertheless, he turned it open and entered the shop. Lines of bottles greeted him, with a door on the far end. The door was covered in fancy reading that Nick could never read for the life of him.

There's a counter to the right. An old man seemed to be fiddling with something inside a shelf. Eventually, the man turned around.

"Ah, a customer so late. We were just about to close, so I wasn't expecting anyone else." The man hastily shut some type of box behind him, before straightening out his red Hawaiian shirt. "I'm Master Fu. What can I do for you?"

Nick nodded, frowning a bit. "Uhh… Here to pick up a package for Francesca Conti?"

Fu seemed to perk up. "Ahh, I thought she wouldn't come. There are some special sensitive creams in that package, so I put it out back. Do you mind waiting out here for a couple of minutes?"

Niccolo shrugged in response, which the man took as a yes. He strolled off into the back of the shop, where he opened the door and went through it.

Immediately, Nick eyed the box Fu was fiddling with. He walked over behind the counter and poked the thing with his index finger. The box was of a plain brown colour, and locked to boot. Digging into the pocket of his grey jeans, the teen pulled out his various lock picks and gave it a try.

Surprisingly, it wasn't too long for the familiar clicking sound to be heard. Then again, this box was the least fanciest looking thing of them all. Perhaps it was some sort of temporary holding place.

Inside the box was… Another box.

Instead of shutting this box out of frustration, because Nick certainly doesn't have time to lock pick yet another box, the teen took a closer look at it. This box was hexagon-shaped. Black in colour, with some sort of red detail on the cover. It wasn't even locked itself.

Well, the man is going to come soon. Nick swiped the hexagon box into his hand and shut the bigger box. Then, with his lock picks, he locked the bigger box, wiped his fingerprints with his sweater, and tossed the hexagon box into his hood. That way, there wouldn't have that noticeable bulge in his pockets.

Just as Nick stepped away from the counter, Master Fu came back holding a fancy looking box. Nick grimaced at it. Frankly, he's tired of seeing boxes in this place.

"Here you go. This is for Francesca Conti, yes?" Fu passed the box to Nick.

Nick nodded, grasping the box in his arms.

"Have a nice day," he mumbled under his breath, before casually walking out of the shop.

It was only after walking two streets away from the shop that he stopped moving. Nick stared straight up at the sky, allowing a few raindrops to sting his eyes. He sagged his shoulders in defeat.

"I stole again."

The teen glanced at the tree to his side, and figured it was the perfect place to slam his head on in frustration. Which he did once, then stopped after realizing that it hurts and bashing your head against trees is not a good idea.

"I should return that box, but I really don't want to get questioned on how I lock picked that…" mumbled Nick, digging through his hood. He pulled out that familiar hexagon box. "Then again, I wonder what's so important about this thing…"

Well, there's no time like the present.

Casually, Niccolo opened the hexagon-shaped box.

A burst of light filtered through the air. Nick winced, pulling the box away from his face as the light transformed into an orange sphere. It condensed smaller, turned brighter, before the light flickered away to reveal…

"A floating fox," whispered Nick, taking a step backwards. He stumbled against the tree behind him.

The fox creature was originally asleep, but when a few raindrops hit him, he snapped awake.

"Gak! Rain, public place, what in the world?!" squeaked the creature.

Golden fox eyes scanned the figure in front of him, before nodding to himself. He then shot forward into Nick's hood, who appeared to be too frozen to do anything.

"So, human, what's your name? We're usually given a warning before meeting our wielders, but I guess things are rushed in desperate times."

Nick gulped, gripping onto the tree bark.

"Why is a floating mini fox taking refuge in my sweater?" he asked out loud, "Is this some sort of lesson for me to not steal anymore? Cause as persuasive as that is, this is tipping more on the 'weirdness' scale than the 'punishment' scale."

"You steal?" The fox poked his head from the sweater hood to lay on Nick's shoulder. "You probably shouldn't do that. I hear it's not nice."

"I-I know it's not nice!" Nick twisted his head to see the creature. "So what? Are you some sort of security measure for the box? You'll bite anyone who dares touch whatever is inside?"

"Sheesh, you're a weird one." The fox laid on his back, exposing his belly lazily. "It's the opposite, I want you to wear that necklace. You're the chosen one, destined to wield the fox miraculous and help use it for good!"

"Necklace?" Nick glanced over to his hand. Inside the box laid a golden-chain necklace, with a fox tail motif at the tip. "What's so great about this?"

"That's the fox miraculous! Now, you can help fight against Hawk Moth and his evil akuma!" The fox performed a little happy back flip. "Man, I miss being back in action! And the wielder is a guy this time- that's not as common!"

Nick backed away. "What, who's Hawk Moth? Why am I fighting him? Actually, scratch that, I don't care. This is just one huge misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? There are no misunderstandings!" The fox nodded to himself. "If I'm here, that means you're the chosen one! Master Fu left me to you because he saw your potential as a wielder!"

Nick ruffled his damp hair. "I don't think you're getting it…"

"Boy, you sure are uncooperative." The creature puffed up his cheeks. "What are you going on about? What do you mean by I'm not getting it?"

"I…" Nick took in a deep breath. "...I may or may not have stolen that necklace."

The fox froze. "...Eh?"

Nick scrunched up his nose. "I'm pretty sure you heard me correctly."

"...Ah." The fox sat down on his shoulder. "So… This really is a misunderstanding."

"I figured."

Before silence could set the scene, an 8-bit ringtone rung through the air. Nick dug into his pockets to pull out his cellphone. Staring at the caller ID, the male winced. He cancelled the call, gripping tighter on the bigger box.

Nick turned towards the creature. "I gotta go, my mom is getting impatient." He started to break off into a run, but the fox darted in front of him.

"Hey! What about my miraculous?!" he whined.

"Take it!" yelled Nick, shoving the box into the fox's face. "I didn't mean to steal it anyway!"

"How can you accidentally steal- Wait, hold on-!" protested the orange creature, stumbling over the box in his tiny hands. "I can't bring it back! I don't know where Master Fu is, and I can't spend time looking for him! It's raining and no one is allowed to see me!"

Nick kept on running. "Well, that's your problem, isn't it?!" he called back.

"No, it's your problem!" The creature ducked into Nick's hood, bringing the box with him. "You stole it, you bring it back right now!"

Nick wiped some of the water off his face with his hand. "My mom is getting antsy, and if there is one thing I can't do, it's letting my family down. You're on your own, you figment of my imagination!"

"Rude! I'm very real!" The fox gripped onto Nick's shirt. "And seriously? You can't be just a little late? I'm pretty sure your family will understand getting sidetracked for once."

"If there is one thing I can't do, it's letting my family down," Nick repeated. He skidded a bit, taking a sharp turn to the next street.

"You've got some issues, man."

Nick snorted. "Yeah. For starters, some weird magical fox is talking to me. Plus the creature is hitching a ride on my sweater. I said I'm sorry for stealing, can't you go away?!"

"One, you never said sorry. Two, not until you bring me back from where you took me! Or at the very least until it stops raining…" The fox twitched his nose.

The teenager sighed, slowing his run into a walk.

"Look, I didn't mean to steal you from your magical box. I just see something locked and... I have to open it and take what's inside, you know?" Nick twirled some of his lock picks in his fingers.

"No, I don't know. Cause I don't make it a habit to steal other people's possessions," bit back the fox, turning his nose away in distaste. "So are you bringing me back or not?"

Lightning clapped in the distance. Suddenly, the rain grew harsher, forcing Nick to drape his body over the box, attempting to shield it from the storm.

"Can't, it's raining and I'm already at my house."

He walked over to his front door and pushed the handle, knowing that it's unlocked. As he stepped through, he could feel the odd fox creature dig deeper into his hood, as if trying to be unseen. Nick paid him no mind.

"Niccolo! What took you so long?!" cried his mother, handing him a towel.

Nick passed the box to her. "I got… Distracted." He took the towel and wrapped it around himself, shivering a bit.

Francesca smiled, ruffling Nick's hair. "Paris sure is a beautiful city, isn't it? I'm so glad Lila really insisted on coming here! Everything is so pretty, even when it's raining!"

Nick offered a pinched smile. "Right… Lila came here for the scenery…"

"Ahh, speaking of your sister, she told me the greatest thing while you were gone!" Francesca placed the box on the dining table, offering her son a grin.

Said son froze. He raised an eyebrow.

"Did she now..?"

Francesca nodded. She rushed up to Nick and gripped onto his shoulders, shaking him a bit, but grinning all the while.

"She said you made friends with your classmates! You, Nick, made FRIENDS!"

Nick went stiff in her arms, gaping at his mom slightly.

"What."

His mother squealed, hugging her son. Nick felt the fox shift in discomfort in his hood, but it doesn't seem like he's going to leave any time soon.

"Lila wouldn't stop talking about how proud she is of her bro! She said you made friends with everyone, including the famous model Adrien Agreste! I'm so happy for you, Nick! You finally made friends!" she cried.

"I… Uh…"

Francesca stopped shaking her son. She frowned, staring straight into her son's brown eyes.

"You… Did make friends, right?"

Nick gulped.

(He's sooo going to make Lila pay for this.)

"Yes. I did. I made friends," he said, faking a smile to the best of his ability.

His mother cheered, patting Nick on the back. "That's my son! You need to have them come over sometime!" She gasped. "How about invite them all to your birthday party!"

"M-My birthday party? I don't want to have a party!" Nick mentally recalled what day it is. "Plus, my birthday is in two weeks!"

She winked. "More time to get to know all your new besties, right?"

Nick groaned, messing up his hair in his hands.

"I'll think about it after I eat. Where's my mac and cheese?"

Her mom shrugged. "Oh, I think Lila ate it all."

…He's soooo going to kill Lila for this.

On his back, hiding inside his hood, Nick could feel the fox snickering at his misfortune.

A/N: While I do have a vague idea of events I want to happen, I'm not too sure where I'm going with this. I don't even know if the next chapters are going to be longer or shorter. Ah well. I just wanted to make sure I get Nick's personality down pat in this. Which hopefully I did.