Nino was sitting in class, taking notes for the quiz Monday when a shrill squeal came from his bag. All eyes were suddenly on him as he franticly tried to come up with an excuse. "Sorry Mme. Bustier, I, um, thought I saw a spider?" The inflection of Nino's sentence rose at the end, turning it into a question without meaning to. Mme. Bustier quirked a brow as the rest of the class began to chuckle. Nino snatched up his bag. "Um, I need to use the restroom." Mme. Bustier sighed as she waved him out the door, used to his bathroom breaks by now. Nino didn't want to think about what the class thought he was doing in the bathroom for so long, so many times a week. Only Alya knew he was hanging out with some ancient gods.
Rushing into the bathroom, Nino checked all the stalls and locked the door before he opened his bag to see what was going on. Apparently kwami multiplied, at least it seemed like it. Not only were Plagg, Tikki, and Trixx in Nino's bag, but Pollen was sitting there too. Or rather, Pollen was clinging to Tikki with tears streaming down her face as Tikki's paws covered the little bee's mouth. "What in the world is going on in there?"
Tikki removed her paws from Pollen's mouth, freely letting the kwami sob uncontrollably, and flew up to Nino with Pollen still clinging on. "Sorry Nino, Pollen saw me fly into your bag. We kind of have this bug kwami bond, we're best bug friends, and she got a bit emotional when seeing me again after so long."
Pollen gasped, pulling away from Tikki slightly to look at the ladybug kwami. "Are you telling me you're not just as excited to see me right now? Pollen's eyes went watery again.
Tikki patted Pollen on the head and pulled her in for a tight hug. "Of course that's not what I'm saying. I might even be more excited than you are right now." A joking tone entered Tikki's voice. "I'm not trying to out Nino as our food supplier by screaming at the top of my tiny lungs though." Tikki chuckled when Pollen pouted at her.
Nino smiled, gently patting Pollen on the head. "Tikki's kidding, but in all seriousness, you guys do have to be relatively quiet when you hang out in my bag. You're welcome to chill in there any time as long as you don't draw any attention to yourself."
Pollen sniffled as she looked up at Nino. "Really?" Nino nodded. "Do you want to know who my holder is in return for being so kind." The other three kwami groaned.
"What? No, of course not. I'm trying to not think about the fact they all go to my school. Please don't say anything, I don't need to know. No one else should know either. You're a kwami, you have to protect your chosen's identity!" Nino gaped at Pollen, horror evident on his face.
Plagg rolled his eyes. "She's just testing you." Nino's look of horror transformed into one of confusion. Plagg nodded to confirm that Nino had heard him right. "Yup. You would think the literal fox would be the trickster in the group, but surprisingly, that label falls to our little bee here."
Nino looked at Pollen who had a sweet smile plastered to her face. "Sorry, I had to make sure you were reliable."
Snorting out a laugh, Nino shook his head. "I get what you were doing, just don't give me a heart attack next time please." Pollen gave Nino a little salute. He should probably be a little more miffed about the whole situation than he was, but honestly, he was starting to expect shenanigans from the little gods by now. Actually, he probably would have been surprised if he'd met Pollen under more normal circumstances.
"I do have to say, I commend your resilience and how defensive you were of my holder without even knowing who she is." Before Nino could offer a reply, Pollen's smile turned sly. "Now, were those honey sticks I saw in your bag?" Nino reached into his bag, taking out the honey sticks he'd been carrying around for the little bee.
Seeing Pollen suck down an entire honey stick in a matter of seconds while still clinging to Tikki, was equal parts horrifying and outstanding. "Nino, this is quality stuff. Is there any way that you can be my chosen? I'm kidding, her and I are good for each other, but you are going to be seeing a lot of me if you keep up a honey supply like this. Plus, you seem cool and I get to see my friends, so yeah, I'm going to be joining this little kwami club you have going on, whether you like it or not."
"Don't worry, you will always have a place in the kwami club, as you call it." Nino chuckled. "Why am I not surprised that you're the sassiest of all the kwami?" Pollen placed a paw on her chest in mock offense while a bit of honey dribbled down her chin. The others snorted at the exchange.
After chatting with Pollen and the other kwami for a few more minutes, Nino gave the unfortunate news that he had to get back to class to finish with his notes. A course of groans rose up, but the kwami floated back into Nino's bag. Before he could close it, Pollen flew back out, quickly kissing Nino on the cheek. "Thank you Nino, it was great meeting you. Sorry for squealing earlier."
Nino smiled at the little kwami. "It's not problem Pollen. I'm glad I finally got to meet you." With that, Pollen gave a little wave and zipped back into the bag.
Nino shouldered his bag, carrying around four kwami was actually surprisingly heavy. It was worth it though. The little dudes were fun to hang out with, and learning about their history was extremely fascinating, way better than learning about the revolution. A giggle then a "shhh" erupted from his bag as he walked in the empty hall way, and a smile tugged its way onto Nino's face.