I do not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir, they rightfully belong to their owner.
Chapter Three
JJ dropped her bag containing Yunan and her lunch box and kneeled, throwing up. It wasn't like full on, just bile. It burned her throat and she coughed and heaved horribly.
Yunan managed to wiggle out from the bag and hovered by her face.
"Are you okay?" She asked softly. "I heard the conversation."
"I-I'm fine… It's been awhile since I stood up for myself…" She coughed, wiping her mouth with a piece of toilet paper. "Sorry, Yunan…"
"It's okay. But it seems like you made some new friends at least!" Yunan gently patted her cheek. "Come on, let's go eat."
JJ waited a couple of more minutes before getting up and washing her mouth out, and opened her jacket for Yunan to fly into. She put her bag on her shoulder again and headed back out to the courtyard. She found Marinette, Alya, Adrien and a boy that she guessed was Nino. She let out a sigh.
"It'll be okay." Yunan said. JJ nodded and walked up, waving.
"Hey, sorry about that." She apologized.
"Oh, no problem." Alya said. "Have a seat." She slid a bit over over to let her sit, and JJ took the seat thankfully. She pulled out her bento and sighed.
"I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't mean to make a scene."
"Nah, you're cool." Nino said. "Bout time someone stood up to her. I mean, Marinette stood up but that was awhile back."
"I dealt with a lot of bullies back home in Japan…" JJ said. "She would make fun of me and I had to hide my identity from her a ton."
"Your identity?" JJ nodded and pulled out a magazine and slid it over. They all peered at it. It was one of the covers that JJ hated the most. She sat on a box, tilting her hat down a bit. She wore a black blazer with sleeves rolled to her elbows, a white button up that showed a tantalizing bit of cleavage (not her choice), black jeans and black boots with a short block heel on them. Her hair was styled like it had always been, the soft curve and short, always looking freshly cut. Her glasses were missing and the hat was similar to a fedora, with a cute black and white feather pinned onto the right side.
JJ ate while they looked through.
"Wow, so you're a model, too?" Adrien asked.
"No, not a model. I just do whatever my parents need me to do."
"Adrien here is a teen model for perfume ads." Alya said and slid over a magazine as well.
"Cool." JJ replied, chewing on a piece of sushi. They stared at her, their eyes wide. "What?"
"You… You're not freaking out because he's a famous model?"
"I dealt with a lot of stuff in Japan. This isn't new to me." JJ said, finishing her bento and putting it away.
"He's son of one of the famous fashion designers in history: Gabriel-"
"Agreste. Yeah, my mom made me read his articles. She owns a lot of his fashion lines." She held up her hands. "I don't mean to be disrespectful or anything."
"It's alright." Adrien said, looking at the front cover again. "You're a really good model though."
"Thanks. Been told that before." JJ said softly. Yunan fidgeted in her pocket and she gently laid her hand on it but no one noticed because they were reading the magazine.
"There's two powerful forces nearby, JJ."
"How can you tell- Never mind, that's a stupid question." She replied in her mind.
"I can't pinpoint their exact location though."
"It's fine, just rest and we'll figure it out once we're home."
Over the next few days, she did some catching up on the recent news of Paris and the first article that had popped up was: Ladybug and Chat Noir Save Paris Once Again! And had resulted in Yunan squealing and hugging the computer screen happily. So she caught up on all of the people the two had saved and had been akumitized because of frustration or anger.
She put down her fork to take a break from eating, dinner quiet as usual.
"You have an appointment with the photographer tomorrow, dear." Her mom said.
Now, she loved her parents greatly, but they could really get on her nerves sometime. The first time she did a photoshoot she had locked herself in her room for a day before her friend finally coaxed her out.
"Yes, Mother…"
After school the next day, the limo drove her to the studio.
"I sense that presence again!" Yunan said excitedly.
"Calm down, Yunan…"
"Sorry." She walked into the main room, and groaned at who sat there.
Adrien perked up at the sight of her. "JJ!" He stepped off from his stool from being measured and ran over.
"Hey, Adrien…"
Why him of all people? Seriously, why? She didn't hate Adrien or anything, but…
"How are you?" He asked.
"Fine, and you?"
"Great!"
"Mr. Agreste." His tailor said. "Please come back."
"O-Oh, sorry." He apologized and went back.
"Miss Nakamura, please step over here." Another tailor said. She nodded and stepped over, a curtain shutting between them.
"Please strip and step on the stool."
After getting measured and dressed again, JJ and Adrien sat down on a couch to wait for the next part: getting the costumes on. While the tailors found the right sizes, a man sat down with them. He had a brown toupee, a blue shirt, black bowtie and black slacks with black dress shoes, his eyes brown and his hair light brown.
"Hello, Mr. Agreste, Ms. Nakamura." They nodded in reply. "I am the outline designer for today. And the theme coincides with the welcoming ball for your family: Masquerade."
"Oh, joy…" JJ muttered quietly.
"We'll be doing it here in the studio. I hope you two are ready."
"Sure." Adrien said and she froze at his thought that wafted into her head. Although I'd prefer Marinette…
She smirked knowingly, which made him look like a kitten in confusion.
JJ had to say that the masquerade dress was just her type. The color, the style and the way it fit. It was floor length, with a high slit up the side, almost all the way to her hip, and was a slim style so it fit her a bit tightly, bringing out her curves. It was teal, and even though it didn't scream masquerade, it was pretty close. It was sleeveless and had two straps on her shoulders before a slit went down. Not very appropriate for a high school student but oh well. When they reached for her choker, she waved their hands away.
"It's okay, right?"
"Um…" The stylist said and looked at the director.
"It's okay." He said, nodding.
They left her hair alone after giving it a slight comb and did a little bit of makeup until the director said just eyeliner and some shadow, since 'she has that natural beauty', as he said. Her shoes were simple heels.
She made sure Yunan was okay and headed to the photo taking part. Adrien was there and he looked like a prince out of a movie. He wore black colored pants, a black long sleeve with a band going down like a Miss Universe or prom thing with gold embroidery. His hair was styled the same and he wore a black mask that reminded her of Chat Noir's mask.
"Here, miss." She looked to her left to see the tailor extending a mask to her. Teal with gold around the eye holes.
"Thank you." She pulled off her glasses and folded them before letting the tailor put them on. Adrien spotted her and gently pushed away from the woman doing a bit of touch up and went over.
"Hey, sorry about all this."
"Nah, it's fine." He rubbed his neck.
"You look really beautiful, by the way."
"Why so shy?" She punched his chest, making him gasp and cover the spot. "It's only for the photoshoot. Besides, I don't think Marinette would like you calling another girl pretty." His eyes widened and he turned as red as scarlet.
"H-How-"
"I see the way you look at her." She tapped her forehead. "I analyze things." He scratched his neck.
"Okay, we're on time! Let's go, models!"
Together they walked up to the screen.
JJ yawned, her stylist pen falling out of her hand.
"You didn't sleep, did you?" Yunan asked telepathically.
"Not really…" She replied back. She'd stayed up nearly all night doing research on Ladybug and Chat Noir, so she lost a lot of it, but didn't realize it until the middle of class. Her head started to droop before she was startled awake by a screech by Chloe.
"No way! Are you serious right now?!" Chloe screamed.
"Miss Bourgeois, whatever you have to say do it at lunch, not in the middle of class." JJ saw her slip a magazine back down into her bag, and raised a questioning eyebrow.
She sat down with Marinette and Alya, who smiled at her.
"You look like a train wreck." Alya said.
"Thanks." She replied, pulling out her lunch box. JJ was about to place it on the table when a magazine slammed down in front of her, startling all three of them.
"What is this?" Chloe asked, pulling her hand away from it. All three peered to it and Marinette looked like she was about to have a heart attack.
The pose that the director had Adrien and JJ do was not her idea. Even Adrien felt it was unnecessary. The pose was him cupping her chin and staring into her eyes while she stared dreamily into his, and the front caption was 'Prince Charming found his Princess' even though it was just for a photoshoot.
JJ calmly slid it back. "It was just for a photoshoot, Chloe. Please go now."
"No. You touched my Adrikins." JJ blinked, looking at it again before back at the blonde.
"Okay, one, that lipstick is hideous. Two, I don't think Adrien is yours in the first place. You may have grown up with him, but he's not your property." Chloe covered her mouth, her body trembling with rage. Without further argument, she and Sabrina took their leave. Marinette and Alya were flipping through the magazine, their eyes focused on both the paper and her.
"So, it was just for the photoshoot…?" Marinette asked quietly.
"I promise there's nothing between us, Mari." She said soothingly. "It was to promote the welcoming ball for my family."
"Oh, hey! I didn't realize it came out today!" She looked up to see Adrien and Nino standing behind her, before they took seats on both of her sides.
"Uh, yeah." Alya said, closing it, making Marinette pout before sliding it over to the boys.
"Oh, man. I'm so sorry, JJ." Adrien said, face palming. "They chose that one of all of the ones we did." JJ opened her mouth to reply when the TV came on with the newscaster.
"Another supervillain has struck Paris. Where is Ladybug and Chat Noir?"
To Be Continued...
