A teacher's pride is in her students.
Caline Bustier knew this.
She stops at the window of her classroom to watch the children inside.
Nathanaël sits in the back, doodling. Juleka and Rose are reading a book together, sitting just a bit closer to each other than they needed. Max is standing between Kim and Alix, serving as a mediator in yet another one of their arguments. Ivan and Mylène sit on opposite sides of the aisle, stealing bashful glances at each other. Chloé is bragging to Sabrina about a new dress. Nino, Alya, and Adrien all sit facing Marinette's empty seat. And in a blur of motion, as well as a rush of wind, that seat is filled.
Marinette is breathless from having to run to make it in time. She turns red as she notices Adrien's gaze, babbling about one thing or another. Caline can see the moment she says something with less grace than she wished, and a second later she hides her face in her hands and looks at Caline from the corner of her eye, sending out a silent plea for help.
With a girlish giggle, Caline dons her title of Miss Bustier, but not before her smile widens to the point of hurting.
She would not trade her class for the world.
Many of the akuma attacks happened near or around her school. More importantly, they were centered around her students. From timid Mylène to headstrong Alix, her students had been targeted. And although she hadn't been present for many of the attacks, she did follow Alya's Ladyblog.
Ladybug and Chat Noir made sure the public knew it wasn't the person's fault - they were possessed, some evil person made them do horrible things. Caline understood. Teenagers - kids, really - were vulnerable. She would never blame her children, never. But that didn't stop her from being furious when her students were targeted.
She just wishes the fury had an outlet, whether it be channeled into her teaching or a fist in the face of the one responsible. Anything other than the feeling that she's failed her students that washes over her every time it happens.
But she does what she can to help.
She gives her phone number to all of her students. She wants them to talk to her if they need it. She remembers what it's like to be a teenager, to feel like the world is against you.
Sometimes they call her. Sometimes they text. But no matter what, it makes her happy whenever they come to her, to let her know how they're feeling and listen to what little advice she has to offer.
The next attack is not from someone in her class, thankfully.
But the target is.
Yes, Miss Bustier knows Chloé is harsh. Yes, she uses her father's power and influence for her own gain. But Caline is observant, and knows that her prickly attitude hides a lonely girl. It doesn't excuse the way she treats people, but one of the goals Caline set at the beginning of the year is to get her to open up, to be more sincere and change for the better.
She doesn't know if it will ever happen, but she can't let any of her kids be hurt.
So when an akuma breaks in through the ceiling, demanding Chloé to pay for her crimes, Miss Bustier takes initiative. She runs between the two and holds up one hand in a wave. The other hides behind her back, gesturing for Chloé to keep quiet.
"Hello," she says to the akuma, "how may I help you?" She likes to be gentle with them; most of them are children served some grave injustice, and she can tell that this akuma was no older than her class despite the near towering height he has over her.
His eyes flicker to Chloé, then back to Miss Bustier with a glare. "I want her to pay," he says. "She's a horrible person! She ruined everything!" He lashes out, cracking a whip right beside her face. Miss Bustier blinks, but she doesn't flinch. She ignores the gasps of her students and places a hand around the akuma's shoulders.
"Oh, come on, now. What could be so bad that it can't be fixed?" She steers the person to her desk and leans against it. She makes the akuma face her by tapping his forehead gently. "Tell me about it," she says.
He casts one look over his shoulder and starts to turn, his attempt to get at Chloé interrupted. But Miss Bustier taps his forehead again, and with a growl he focuses on her, surprised when she shoves a book into his face.
"Read this! It always manages to make me feel better." It's a book of jokes, and he skims the pages for a few moments. Miss Bustier keeps talking, telling him where a few of her favorite ones are, then glances behind them, to her terrified students. She slides her eyes to the door, sending a secret signal to escape while the akuma is distracted.
Her students follow her signal, Chloé rushing out before everyone else. The others shoot her looks, eyes full of concern and faces full of worry, before doing the same. She smiles reassuringly, then looks up at the akuma.
"Feeling better?" she asks when she notices that he's stopped flipping through it. With a jolt, he looks up and notices the empty room. Roaring, he pounds the desk behind Miss Bustier.
"Where did she go?" he yells, and without her students watching her, she allows herself to flinch in the face of his rage. She doesn't move, though. She wants to calm him down.
"What did she do?" Her voice is quiet, her eyes beseeching. It almost makes the akuma stop his tirade, but the memory ignites his anger once more.
"She ruined my birthday," he growls. "I was in the park, having a party, and she came through and everything changed. She laughed at me for being childish. She drove everyone away! And now..." he hissed through clenched teeth, "You let her get away!" He yells at her as he jumps backwards. His hand reaches for his whip, and before she can react there's a stinging pain in her shoulder and numbness travels down her arm.
She grips the numb arm with the other and grits her teeth. The akuma raises his whip again, and she squeezes her eyes shut to steel herself.
The blow doesn't come. Instead she finds herself in the black-spotted arms of Ladybug, whisking her out of the room through the hole in the roof. Chat Noir stands where she just was, the whip wrapped around his baton. There is a tension in both of them, some unresolved anger that darkens both their faces.
"Are you alright?" Ladybug asks as she sets Miss Bustier on the roof. She removes the white jacket to reveal the wound.
Her shoulder is red and swollen where the whip hit her, but she shakes her head as she hears the battle below.
"I'm fine, Ladybug," she says. "Go help Chat Noir." Ladybug nods and drops down to join him.
Caline Bustier is nothing if not observant.
She knows that Ladybug and Chat Noir are only children themselves. But now, as she watches them from above, she notices the way they move, the way they interact, the way Ladybug takes charge and Chat Noir cracks a gentle smile when the akuma is revealed to be a crying seven-year-old. She notices the shy smile and the way Chat Noir runs his hand against the back of his head after their post-mission fist bump. She notices how Ladybug looks away and rolls her eyes as he tries out another pick up line. Familiar smiles and familiar mannerisms emanating from the two line up with two of the children that she sees almost every day.
She can't dwell on the comparisons long, though, because Ladybug helps her back into the room before casting her cleansing light and disappearing.
A teacher's pride is in her students..
And Caline Bustier has immense pride in Marinette and Adrien for protecting all of Paris.
A/N: Hi I love Caline Bustier