Marinette was never very lucky, but things quickly went downhill the morning right after her second encounter with Master Fu.

She slumped into the seat next to her best friend, muddy and wet and miserable.

"Today is officially the worst day of my life," Marinette moaned, thunking her forehead against the desk. She closed her eyes and desperately tried to scrub the last ten minutes from her memory. Alya just gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry," Alya said. "It's not like Adrien hasn't seen you royally embarrass yourself in front of him before." She snickered. Marinette cracked open one eye and glowered at her deskmate.

"Some great friend you are," Marinette grumbled.

"You're welcome," Alya said cheerfully. Marinette buried her face in her arms. "What did I doooooo?" she wailed, voice slightly muffled by her sleeves. "What if Adrien hates me?"

"He'll be fine. Besides, it's not really your fault. Right, Nino?"

"Hmm?" Nino said, turning around to face the two behind him. He took out an earbud and looked at them with a confused expression. "What?" Alya rolled her eyes and kicked him under the desk. "OW, Alya!" Nino yelped in surprise. "What the hell was that for, woman?" Alya waggled her eyebrows and mouthed a few words. "…Oh, I get you. Don't worry about it, Marinette. Adrien'll be fine." Nino shot one last glare at Alya, who just gave him a cheeky grin, before turning around to face the chalkboard. He plugged the earbud back in and continued to bob his head up and down.

"Alya," Marinette said glumly. "I just put Adrien in the nurse's office."

"Well," Alya said. "At least it was your purse and not your schoolbag. It's just a scratch on his arm. Besides, shouldn't you feel more sorry towards Chloe, since she's the one who actually got hit on the head by six kilograms of textbooks and muddy fabric?"

"Nope," Marinette muttered. "She's the one who tried to trip me in the first place. It's karma." Alya just gave her an exasperated look.

"…I'll apologize after they both come back from the nurse's office," Marinette grumbled. "But I still think she deserves it."

"Well, I tried," Alya muttered, obviously giving up on Marinette ever becoming friends with Chloe Bourgeois. "Anyway, look on the bright side! It's not like things can get any worse than this."

There was a distant tinkle of shattering glass. A few moments later, a guttural roar resounded through the hallways.

"AKUMA!" Someone shrieked from the hallway. It sounded like Chloe.

"…Did someone say something?" Nino asked, pulling both earbuds out of his ears. Marinette just looked at Alya with dead eyes.

"You were saying?" she asked. Alya sighed. Chloe screamed again, and Madame Mendeleiev rushed out to open the door. Chloe Bourgeois stumbled into the room, sunglasses askew and yellow cardigan dusty with crumbled brick, pulling Adrien Agreste along with her. Marinette immediately stood up from her seat when she saw Adrien.

"Adrien! I'm so so so sorry for this morning and oh god did you get a scar," Marinette stuttered. "I-I hope you're okay and oh gosh I am so sorry—" Adrien smiled and opened his perfect mouth to say something before a gargantuan purple arm snaked around his waist and pulled him back from the safety of the classroom.

"MY STAR PUPIL!" Madame Mendeleiev cried out.

"GODDAMNIT!" Alya yelled in frustration.