For the record: I've adopted this class. They're all my children. (in other words be prepared for a class-themed chapter!)
Also... forgive me if I'm a bit of a Rome geek... hehe XD
As Adrien walked down to the cafeteria with Kim, he ran into Nathanael and Sabrina, who were walking close and laughing with one another - it was a very poorly kept secret these days that, a. Sabrina was distancing herself from Chloe, and b. that she had a massive crush on the little art tomato boy. The only person who didn't seem to catch on was Nathanael himself.
"Hey guys!" Adrien said.
"Morning, Adrien," Nathanael smiled, brushing his hair out of his face. "Did you get a good sleep last night?"
"Yep!" Adrien smiled. "Kim, on the other hand..."
"I was doing push-ups at 4 AM, and I woke up Rose and Juleka," Kim muttered.
Nathanael and Sabrina didn't stop laughing until the elevator hit the bottom floor. Kim, meanwhile, was now able to smile about the event - he imagined Juleka was probably gonna kill him in his sleep, but at least he'd die with a very well kept secret... kept secret. They then moved toward the cafeteria, where quite a few of their classmates were either eating or getting their breakfast.
Adrien, of course, wanted to go for something hot - but something about the way those Froot Loops looked was enticing him. He ended up getting two bowls of them for the heck of it. Of course, when he took a seat next to Nino, the DJ eyed him.
"Dude, two bowls of Froot Loops? You're gonna be on a sugar rush!" he said, eating an egg.
"But they're colorful!" said Adrien defensively.
Nino just rolled his eyes at his best friend - truth be told, the two boys still were wrapping their head around the fact that they were in Rome. The city was enriched with history and amazing places; the only other places they could currently think of that had as much history as Rome was the Holy Land of Israel and Washington D.C., neither of which they had been to, but they wouldn't mind visiting them at all.
Suddenly, Nathalie appeared next to Adrien, somewhat scaring him. "Mr. Lahiffe," Nathalie said coolly.
"Mme. Sancouer," Nino nodded, remembering very well what their first encounter was like.
Nathalie's gaze softened as she sat next to Adrien. "Did you rest well last night?"
"Yep," Adrien nodded, smiling. "Mari's such a good roommate!"
"I'm glad," Nathalie said. "Your father wants to know how you're doing."
Wow, that's new, Adrien thought to himself. "Tell him I'm doing great! I'm having so much fun already."
Nathalie smiled. "Will do. I'll keep you posted on anything I feel you should know."
"Thank you, Nathalie," said Adrien, smiling.
Nathalie nodded, and went back to join Caline at their table. The two seemed to get along well enough, with Nathalie smiling and even making Mme. Bustier laugh some - now that was new... then again, it didn't take much to make the English teacher happy.
Eventually, Marinette walked downstairs, with Alya and Max following close behind. Max looked extremely pissed off, for some reason.
"Dude," Kim said, "what happened to you?"
"I fell asleep in the chair last night," muttered Max, "and now my back feels like it will never recover."
"Poor Max!" Rose said sadly.
"You gonna be able to walk around today?" asked Juleka.
"Oh yes, of course," Max said, "the pain just won't be nice to bear. However, if I wish to see the Colosseum, bear it I shall!"
"I got lucky to room with Mylene since I didn't get you," said Alya to Marinette, giggling. "I heard about Kim's little... incident."
"I do push-ups at 4 AM one time, people! ONE! TIME!" Kim exclaimed.
Mme. Bustier gave him a concerned look. "Kim... i-if you need someone to talk to-"
"I'll see you all in the lobby," Kim said, suddenly stepping out to head for the gym.
"He'll be fine," Max said, shaking it off. "This usually happens every Tuesday. We just got unlucky because it happened on today, a Sunday."
"How much time do you spend with him?" Ivan asked from his table.
"Far too much for my own health," Max muttered.
As the classmates began to discuss Kim's health after last night, Marinette sneaked off and sat down next to Adrien since Alya had called the seat next to Nino (cheeky little fox...).
"Morning, Mari!" Adrien said brightly. "Ready to explore Rome?"
"R-Ready as I'll ever be!" Marinette said happily - it hadn't yet clicked that he had called her 'Mari' just yet; it would soon, don't worry.
It had, however, clicked with everyone who heard them talking. Nathalie hid her smile behind her coffee cup, but Mme. Bustier let out a little giggle. The Gorilla, who had just walked in, was able to catch that little portion of the conversation - and he was smiling. The Gorilla rarely smiled, so this was a big deal!
He took an open seat next to Rose, who was swiping through cat and dog pics on Instagram. The Gorilla caught a glimpse of the cute animals, and smiled again - what a day it already was!
Anyway, about another thirty minutes passed; all the students, by now, had shown up in the cafeteria. Mme. Bustier then stood up to give an announcement.
"Okay class!" Mme. Bustier said. "We will be heading out in ten minutes! Why don't you all head down to the lobby to get your stuff together?"
Everyone agreed, and began to throw away their trash and head back to the lobby. Mylene went to go grab Kim from the gym, and the rest of the class headed over to the front lobby.
"Where are we going first, Mme. Bustier?" asked Rose sweetly.
"Great question, Rose! We're starting off strong - the Sistine Chapel!" the teacher smiled.
Everyone was very excited - the Sistine Chapel was such an important historical structure; not to mention how beautiful it was! Examples included paintings such as The Creation of Adam and The Last Judgment, and the statue of David - all by Michelangelo - that were so impressive; and the ceiling, oh what a trip this already was!
Marinette stood close by Adrien, trying to feel assured around his presence. She couldn't lie; this was a very nerve-racking time for her. She was still getting the post-arrival jitters.
However, for some reason, instead of just making her more and more jittery, it actually helped to calm her down a small bit.
"Mari... you okay?" asked Adrien.
"J-Just nervous," Marinette admitted.
"Its gonna be okay!" Adrien said, smiling his traditional bright golden smile - even putting his hand on her shoulder! "We're gonna have a lot of fun here!"
Marinette giggled nervously. "Hehe, y-yep!"
"Alright class, is everyone ready?" asked Mme. Bustier.
She did a head count as the students raised their hands in approval - all the chaperones were standing next to her. "Great! Let's head out!" she smiled.
And with that, the gang headed back onto the bus - but Alya, being the sneaky little girl she was, stole Adrien's seat next to Nino. Adrien chuckled, waving it off as he flipped the dice and stole her seat next to Marinette.
"Now remember, it will be a while before we reach the Chapel," said Mme. Bustier. "So feel free to pull out your phones, talk, do whatever! Just... don't do anything stupid. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am!" they all nodded.
"Oh, you all are such good children," she said to herself, sitting back down.
Suddenly, Kim yelled something shocking right as they were about to pull out.
"WE FORGOT MAX!"
"How could we have forgotten him?!" exclaimed Sabrina.
"Hey, give me a break, he's like two inches tall," said Kim.
Max was stepping out of the hotel bathroom to head to the lobby, when he suddenly realized - everyone was in the bus, and it was about to pull out.
Right before he began to frantically sprint towards the bus, he sighed and adjusted his glasses.
"How did I know this would happen?" he muttered.
He then bolted for the bus.
Gabriel Agreste adjusted his usual candy-cane patterned ascot over the Moth Miraculous it always concealed. He had a determined look in his eyes; he was ready to cause some havoc in Rome.
At the rate of his current departure, he would make it to the city of Caesar by lunchtime - and yes, Adrien would be there to try and defeat him as Chat Noir - but he was missing one crucial component for defeating Hawk Moth.
Ladybug.
However, it was actually Gabriel who was being mislead; Marinette, the shy, young, and innocent fashion designer whom he had deemed harmless long ago, was actually the heroine his son worked with to bring about his downfall on a near weekly basis. He had never once considered this to be a possibility.
And he wouldn't anytime soon.
For now, he just grabbed his suitcase, which only contained the essential items he would need for the suite he had already booked (Hawk Moth must always have an extravagant lair.), and headed out to his car. Right before pulling out, he spoke to two guards he had at the gates of the mansion for while he was gone.
"You all know your shifts," he said. "Please do not fail me."
"No sir, Mr. Agreste," one nodded.
"We'll do our very best!" the other said.
Gabriel nodded, and pulled out to head off for the airport.
He was ready for some fresh negative emotions... he could already taste the glory of no Ladybug to worry about!
How wrong he was...
So, what do you think will happen next chapter as the class visits the Sistine Chapel? I will say this: we will be introduced to the very first akuma of this story! And yes - it is a Roman-themed akuma XD
But for now, please let me know what you thought of the chapter! I hope ye enjoyed! If you did, please let me know! I love you all! See you next time, on "When In Rome"! :D
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