I am really impressed with myself with how quickly I am cranking this thing out! Of course, that also means I'm procrastinating packing.


Adrien couldn't stop thinking about what Bridgette had told him the night before. She was different. She was always pretty flirtatious; he remembered accounts around that mysterious time of puberty, a few months before she left where they would be out in public and she was constantly pointing out guys she thought were attractive – some even fifteen years older than her. She was loud about the guys she liked and that was fine. That was Bridgette. But the fact that she completely abandoned school to chase after men. Was that really her? It was hard to say as he hadn't seen her proper in three years. He had no idea how her mentality was now, after three years, after everything. Maybe this was who she was. Or maybe she was coping.

"Nathalie," Adrien asked carefully, and she turned her head to indicate she was listening. "Did my father say anything later last night about Bridgette and school?"

"He set her schedule. He wants me to start all the way back towards the beginning with German, convinced she would probably have forgotten everything," she explained.

"Everything? He thinks she forgot the alphabet, numbers, and colors?"

"He wants to make she's applying herself."

"I know Bridgette and I'm pretty sure if she had a friend to support her, she would do okay in school."

"You know Bridgette from three years ago." Adrien scoffed and leaned back in his seat in the limo. Nathalie looked sidelong at him and pursed her lip.

"I know you care about her. Your father does too. That's why he's doing this," she gently told him, although her voice didn't sound terribly convincing.

"Doesn't seem like it." The limo slowed as it approached the front of the school and Adrien pushed the door open. Nathalie nodded to him and then the limo took off, slowing to its designated parking spot. His father had eventually agreed to let his bodyguard stay some distance so he could still keep his independence a little, but he had to remain in sight. Adrien adjusted his messenger bag and then greeted his friend Nino on the steps leading to the entrance. He was leaning over a small handheld gaming device, his ball cap tipped over his glasses so you couldn't even see his eyes.

"Hey man! You never responded to any of my texts last night," he said, and Adrian sighed, remembering. He removed his phone from his pocket and scrolling through the several messages asking about going to the game store later after school.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I… I had a situation last night," he put simply. He reached up to rub his tired eyes and then gave him an apologetic grin.

"Your father again?" Nino moaned, having known all about the disputes Adrian constantly had. Adrian shrugged, agreeing a little with the comment. He was ready to go into detail but then-

"Hey, Nino!" yelled a girl from a few yards away. She smiled brightly at him, her cinnamon toned skin glowing at the sight of him. Her hair was brown but there seemed to be some fading red hair dye from it. She could be a little nosy sometimes, always trying to get to the bottom of things and was constantly asking questions. She was a little obsessed with Ladybug too (Although he couldn't blame her). Alya and Nino had been dating for not too long now so they were still pretty dazed around each other. He chuckled and felt a slight tinge of jealous. He kinda wished he could have that with Ladybug too. He looked up towards the girl who was behind Alya. She was pretty cute, he thought, as she had many features similar to ladybug. She had bright aquamarine eyes like her and hair so black, it looked blue when the sun hit it right, that was often pulled into two small ponytails. Unlike Ladybug, she seemed pretty shy, always seemed to be tripping over herself and… maybe had difficulty with speech sometimes? It was hard to say.

Marinette stood beside Alya, as she always did and her stomach pushed up into her chest when she honed in at the captivating smirk of his. He gave her a small wave and she only raised her hand.

"It's dertiful bay… I mean! A featibul day! Uh… a dayful beauty!" She heard a gentle giggle come from the clutch that hung from her shoulder. She shot a look at pouch, hoping her eyes would shot lasers right through the fabric to the kwami that was hidden away.

"It is a beautiful day!" Alya told her loudly. "So beautiful that it makes you feel confident and like you'll be able to say exactly what you want to say to Adrien!" Marinette nodded, and then her cheeks tinted with pink as she walked up closer to him. She was ready to open her mouth when-

Bzzzz! Adrien looked down at his phone. There was a text from Bridgette. Several texts, of random stuff and pictures of her setting up a bunch of stuffed animals and reenacting scenes from, what appeared to be, Shakespeare plays. He chuckled as he flipped through them, knowing she must be incredibly bored.

"Adrikins!" pierced the high pitched and obnoxious voice of one Chloe Bourgeois. She walked with a saunter down the steps and was always dressed fashionably with the hottest and expensive clothes available. Her blonde ponytail nearly hit several students in the face as she hopped down the steps, and she stuck her dopey big blue eyes right into his face. Her fingers curled around his arm. "I am so happy to see you here today!"

"I am here every morning, Chlo…" he chuckled nervously, and she leaned over his phone.

"Who is texting you?"

"Oh no one just Bri…." He stopped midsentence, remembered that Chloe and Bridgette absolutely knew each other and also absolutely despised each other. When they were 6, Bridgette actually accidentally-on-purpose flipped a candle onto Chloe's complete set of dolls from some Japanese TV show when she was young. They were all special edition too, so it had taken time to collect them. Chloe was ready to through her out the window that day.

"Bri?" Chloe asked.

"Briiii… anne! Yeah, Brianne. Just, you know, an old friend."

"Friend? What other female friends do you have besides me, huh?" Adrian looked over at Alya and Marinette.

"You know I do consider Alya and Marinette my friends too, right? And Rose, and Juleka, and Mylene, and Alix…"

"The difference is I do not knoooowwww Brianne," Chloe enunciated, taking the phone from Adrian. "I need to know her to know if she's trying to steal you away or not."

"Trust me. She isn't. Can I have my phone back?" Chloe pouted and reluctantly held out the phone for him to take. Alya rolled her eyes and then lowered her voice so only Marinette could hear her.

"How much you want to bet if she wasn't obsessed with Adrian she wouldn't have even done that?" Marinette giggled softly. The students who had been gathering outside the school began to file in, chattering and gossiping amongst themselves as they did.

"Who is this Brianne?" Chloe interrogated, grabbing Adrian's arm and glancing up at him with the most pathetic eyes and lips so pouty they might have been swollen.

"She's just a friend from… another country."

"Another country? Oh well…" She adjusted a few strands of hair. "I probably don't have anything to worry about then." Behind Chloe walked Sabrina, a redheaded girl who was basically Chloe's only friend and something of her slave and was a little bit of outcast. She was also quite possibly one of the smartest girls in class. In comparison to Chloe, her fashion sense was completely behind, with a pleated skirt and a vest, with huge glasses to even further indicate her status next to Chloe.

Into the classroom they entered, Adrian sitting beside Nino, Marinette and Alya behind them, and Chloe and Sabrina seated across the walkway from them. The desks were more like tables, and tiered so it would be easier for everyone to see the front of the room. Ms. Bustier walked into the classroom after everyone had sat down, greeting them with a smile and began to write the lesson plan for the day on the board.

"Who do you think this girl is?" Marinette whispered to Alya next to her.

"Exactly as he said. A friend from another country."

"But did you see how nervous he got around Chloe? What if he has a girlfriend? What if he met her at some gala he went to with his dad?" Marinette grabbed Alya's shoulder apprehensively.

"Girl, until you have proof, I really don't think you should be jumping to conclusions," Alya told her and then smirked. "Fortunately for you, your best friend happens to be an ace investigator and an even better reporter!"

"Maybe not, I mean… if this girl is important to him. I don't want to seem like I'm intruding or snooping around." Alya glowered at her in annoyance.

"You have a detailed schedule of each day of the week for him! You're telling me you didn't get that from snooping around?"

"Well, I… uh… you see I only…"

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, do you have something you would like to discuss?" Ms. Bustier sternly called out in the middle of the class.

"No, Ms. Bustier, I was simply talking to Alya. Won't happen again. I'm sorry!" Marinette quickly hid behind her pink book bag as Alya snickered at her.

"Well then. If you would allow me, I would like to continue with La Comédie Humaine, which I assume you read the first two chapters of!" Marinette nodded, but then put her head in her hands, muttering about how she was doomed and didn't read the book. Adrian turned in his seat and lowered his voice hoping Ms. Bustier wouldn't hear him.

"If you didn't read the chapters, Marinette, I took some notes. I would be happy to let you look them over if you want," he offered. Marinette's eyes popped and doubled in size. She let out a squeak quickly and then simply nodded. Adrien reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a few sheets of paper and set them in front of her. "Just give them back to me tomorrow, okay?" He flashed her his most dazzling smile so all she could respond with was her mouth agape. She nodded again and stroked the pieces of paper as if they were made of pure gold.

Somewhere, across several streets of Paris, a woman in her early thirties stepped out of her townhome and turned to lock the door behind her. Ivy crept up the house, and there was a very well kept flower garden on either side of the front door. She leaned over the section of tulips in various color and breathed in their scent deeply.

"Good morning!" she greeted in a bright, bubbly voice. Her copper hair was tied up in two buns, but then had long sections of hair coming out of the center of the buns. She wore grey leggings under a full knee length black skirt and wore a pink tank top with green bolero jacket resting over her shoulders. Her eyes widened at the sight of a teenage boy walking by, holding several white flowers that looked suspiciously familiar. She turned to the other garden where many white peonies were missing and then furrowed her brow in rage, before being stopped by a small giggling sound. The young neighbor girl was plucking a daffodil. When the woman saw her, she gasped and immediately dropped the flower before running back in the house. The woman picked up the daffodil and growled lowly to herself.

"I am so tired of kids not respecting other people's properties! Especially my flowers! Do I look like a Flower Shop to you?" She clutched the daffodil angrily and scared away the passersby who even glanced at her beautiful flowers.

On some other unknown side of Paris, a large round window opened up. It's covering drew back, much the same way as a lens cap on a camera does. The window was large and had a linear design that looked to form thin, minimalistic wings. Other than the window, the room was devoid of any source of light, and a man dressed in shades of grey and purple, and a mask pulled over his head to allow only room for his bright blue eyes and mouth, stood in the sun's rays. In his hand, he held a cane and there was a butterfly brooch just below his neck. Hundreds of white butterflies flew around him.

"A woman upset over the vandalism of her flowers? Yes, those who would wish to hurt beauty must be punished!" he called out enthusiastically. A small butterfly flew towards his hand and he covered it with his other hand. It had become black and seemed to glow, like there was a magic that was affecting it. "Fly, my little akuma, and evilize her!" The butterfly flew towards the center of the window, where there was a small opening. The dark butterfly made its way over the streets of Paris and disappeared into the stem of the daffodil. The stem and leaves turned black, with the petals changing to purple. The woman felt a dark and heavy urgency in her and a desire to listen to what she was being told. A thin pink line appeared in her sight and she soon saw images of the man dressed in purple. "Fleur du Mal, my name is Hawkmoth. I know you only want children to leave your flowers alone and I can give you that power. But in return, you must find Ladybug and Cat Noir and bring me their Miraculous!"

"Yes, Hawkmoth!" The woman changed quickly. Her mouse brown hair turned green and the buns she was wearing became red roses, and the strands of hair became green stems. Her leggings turned into vines and leaves creeping up her legs and her skirt billowed and became a pink tulip, turned upside down. Her tank turned back, but the straps were soon stems and held rows of flowers along the edge. The jacket disappeared, and in its place were blue bell sleeves that looked like stems. Her shoes became leaves formed around her feet. Tattoos of vines and flowers formed around her eyes. She pointed the flower she was still holding and it shot a burst of water towards a pedestrian. The child, about thirteen, had only bent down to pet a stray cat when the water hit her… and soon shrunk to become a tiger lily.

"Hahaha!" Fleur du Mal laughed. "Soon there will be no more disrespectful children and there will only be flowers to beautify the world!"


I will have the scene with Fleur du Mal next chapter. This one was getting long so I decided to cut it right there. Fleur du Mal took a long time to come up with but I am very proud of what I did come up with! Remember, your ideas for Akuma Scenes and villains for my story are welcome and encouraged! I love writing stories that are helped written by you!