Author's Note: Hey everyone! SnivyLord here and welcome to Hugo's chapter. These three chapters are basically chapters where each sibling gets a one on one chance to bond with Adrien. I hope you enjoy Hugo's chapter and prepare yourself for Louis' as it is a doozy. Also, keep in mind that I have every chapter pre-written until Chapter 24, meaning that I am still writing. So enjoy them because I don't want to keep you waiting, as I am releasing 2-3 chapters a day to give myself time. So, without further ado, enjoy!
"AHHH! There is seriously no way I'm gonna finish this in time!" Hugo groaned in frustration as he stared aimlessly at his computer. He was in a predicament; he had to somehow write a speech about Napoleon and the French Revolution and come to a conclusion about whether Napoleon's intentions were good. All in one insightful speech, isn't that a little too much to ask from an 8-year old?! "Useless. Brain. Think! What can you write about a guy who got exiled twice and died in exile?!" Hugo growled at the screen as he stared at what he had so far, which was only the heading. Louis had noticed he had been having some trouble and he stared from Hugo's bedroom doorframe as Hugo ghosted his fingers over the keyboard but never typed.
"Yo, Hugo, it's only Saturday, don't you have to present that on Tuesday?" Louis asked as Hugo laid back in his chair and groaned again.
"Yes, but Louis, you seem to have forgotten it's not just writing the speech I have to worry about, but actually saying it out loud," Hugo shivered at the thought of public speaking. Louis chuckled as he came in and slugged an arm over his brother's shoulder.
"Ahh, I forgot you have a slight case of stage fright, I mean, you just have to practice speaking in front of people," Louis ruffled Hugo's hair, who giggled slightly at the gesture.
"Yeah, I can speak in front of you, Mom, Emma, Auntie Alya, Uncle Nino, Gavin, and pretty much anyone I know personally. This is gonna be a class full of Emma and I's fellow students," Hugo explained as he continued to panic, "it's totally gonna be a disaster!
"You're starting to sound like Mom, you've got this, trust me, all you need to do is practice," Louis laughed as his eyes flickered back to the blank document that is Hugo's speech, "first things first, you need to actually write the speech before you can say it." Hugo looked gratefully at Louis, who bit his lip as he looked at the info Hugo had gathered on Napoleon.
"So you're gonna help me?" Hugo asked hopefully as Louis let out a small laugh and continued to look over the research.
"Well, I have a lot of experience doing this stuff, but more importantly, I'm gonna be listening to this speech too so I gotta make sure it's not a total snooze fest or you're gonna drive me insane trying," Louis smirked as Hugo laughed and lightly punched Louis in the shoulder to which he scoffed, "I'm helping you and this is how you repay your big brother?"
"Oh put a sock in it," Hugo said while laughing as him and Louis started typing in what he wanted to say. Here and there, Hugo was typing in bits of his speech is which Louis made comments.
"The phrasing's kinda awkward Hugo."
"Don't use colloquial diction, you need to sound intelligent."
"What does colloquial even mean?"
"Don't use simple, boring, basic vocabulary, you're the smartest kid in your class, how are you stuck on vocab?"
"Hey! Give me a little credit! By smartest, I mean in math! But-."
"No buts, come on, you gotta think of more formal diction than "mean," what can you think of?"
"Ummmm... maybe? Condescending?"
"Atta boy Hugo! Just keep replacing your words with complicated words that you actually know the definition to."
"Alright!"
"Semicolon here, and there's a double negative."
"What where?!"
"Here."
"Oh ok, thanks Louis."
This sort of conversation went well into the afternoon. Finally, the brothers were finished and they had a speech that could pass for a professional debate. Hugo sighed as Louis sat back in the chair he was sitting on and sighed.
"How long was your speech supposed to be again?"
"About 2-3 minutes? Why?" Hugo asked as Louis looked at the speech they wrote and sighed contently.
"Yep, you have enough ammo to last that long," Louis grinned at Hugo, who smiled but then frowned.
"Wait, what am I going to do about my public speaking skills, can you help me?" Hugo asked as Louis sighed and put his interlaced fingers to his lips as if he was thinking about it.
"No can do little bro, I'm kinda sucky at public speaking myself, I never really figured out how to not talk fast because I have a habit of rushing my presentations," Louis scratched his neck in nervousness as Hugo groaned loudly and put his face into his hands.
"Great! Who's gonna help me now?"
"Beats me... maybe Mom?" Louis suggested as Hugo snapped his head up to look at Louis for a moment before they both broke into laughing hysterics.
"AHAHAHAHA Maman?! Stop joking with me Louis!" Hugo hunched over, quickly losing breath from the amount of laughing he was doing. Louis clutched his stomach in pain as he continued to laugh.
"HAHAHAHA! I don't even know why I said that! Mom is so bad at this sort of thing!" Louis laughed as Hugo snickered through shuddering breaths.
"Then why did you suggest her?!" Hugo asked as his hand reached for his bedside drawer and fished out his inhaler. Hugo brought the inhaler to his lips and puffed two times so his asthma would go down.
"To lighten the mood," Louis laughed as he rubbed Hugo's back comfortingly as if he helping his lungs calm down.
"Well, jokes aside, there's really no one who can help me with this," Hugo sighed as he put away his inhaler and stared at the computer screen. Maybe there was someone who could help him, he just wasn't here yet.
"ACHOO!" Marinette wiped her nose with a tissue as she edited some designs that she needed to finish for the collaboration between Gabriel Fashion and Style Queen Magazine. Emma, who was eating a sandwich at the kitchen table, giggled.
"You know Maman, when you sneeze, it means that someone's talking about you!" Emma happily munched on another bite as they heard the doorbell ring. Marinette smiled and stood up, scoffing at that superstition.
"You know sweetie, that really is a superstition, but I guess you could say that's partly true," Marinette reminded Emma as she opened the door to find a smiling Adrien, "oh Adrien! What a surprise! Did you just come from a modeling shoot?" Marinette asked as she gave him a quick hug before stepping back inside to let him in.
"I was actually, and I thought to visit you guys after the shoot was over," Adrien winked at Marinette, who giggled lightly before heading into the kitchen. Emma waved extremely enthusiastically through a mouth full of sandwich so she couldn't say anything.
"Hold on, I'll get you a cup of coffee."
"Coffee would be great."
"Hey... do you hear that?" Louis asked as Hugo quieted down to hear a pair of voices outside the door. Hugo listened closer and recognized the voice immediately with Louis, breaking out into a large grin, "it's Dad!"
"Daddy's here!" Hugo cheered as he was about to bolt out the door but Louis stopped him.
"Remember Hugo, we can't call him that in front of him ok? No matter how much we want to." Louis warned as Hugo nodded.
"Of course, I'm not stupid... Daddy's here!" Hugo couldn't help but smile since he found the person who could help him. Who else could he ask but his own dad if all else fails right? Hugo raced down the hall with Louis right behind him to find their mom and Adrien chatting in the kitchen. Marinette, who was sipping a cup of orange juice, noticed them and smiled at them.
"Hey guys, how's the speech been going? Louis, I hope you didn't write the whole thing for him," Marinette warned as Hugo put his hand over his heart in mock defense as Louis smirked.
"Maman, I thought you knew me better than that. Of course I do my own work. He only watched my grammar and sentence phrasing, I am frankly insulted that you would think I would let Louis write it for me. Plus I do a better job than him anyway," Hugo joked with a sly smile, earning a firm ruffle to his hair.
"Hey! Says the one who needed me to check the way he writes his sentences! Who was the one who was practically begging their older brother to help him write a speech that he had no idea how to start? You would have been stuck with the heading hadn't it been for me," Louis snickered back as Hugo sent an appalled glare at him as he laughed and leaned his elbows on the counter.
"Hmph, I will make no comment."
"Only cause you know I'm right," Louis wiggled his eyebrows amusingly at Hugo, who lightly assaulted his brother with a small whine.
"So what's this speech you guys are writing?" Adrien asked with an amused smile as they stopped bickering and explained to him.
"So, I have to write a speech about the true nature of Napoleon's actions toward France and the French Revolutions and whether those of his actions are actually good," Hugo explained as Adrien nodded in understanding and Louis continued for him.
"So we wrote the speech, but the only problem is that Hugo doesn't do huge crowds and he tends to screw up a lot when he has to speak in front of large crowds so now he doesn't know what to do to fix that," Louis said as a matter of factly as Hugo couldn't even get mad that Louis explained it like that, cause it's true. Adrien nodded before pressing a curled finger to his lips, deep in thought.
"Hmmmmmm... so a case of stage fright huh, I see," Adrien murmured as the two, including Emma, who looked at him worriedly. He then looked up with a smile and laced his fingers, "well your mom can't help you there since that's where you inherited the lack of communication skills-"
"Hey!" Marinette interjected indignantly as Hugo and Adrien laughed at Marinette, who swiped her coffee mug off the table and huffed at the both of them before casting a side glance at them, leaving the room, "I'll have you know I'm doing a whole lot better with the whole lack of communication, hmph."
"Hehehe, alright Hugo, we'll work on some techniques to help you while you're speaking. I've spoken for a lot of A-List events and charity galas, I know exactly how to do this sort of thing," Adrien reassured Hugo, who gave Adrien a bright smile. Later, Adrien and Hugo were sitting on the couch with Adrien starting off on his lecture for better public speaking, "Alright Hugo, when you speak, the most important thing you can do when you're speaking is to take a deep breath between spaces in your speech."
"How can you not breathe when you're talking?" Hugo wondered aloud as Adrien continued to explain.
"Sometimes, when you speak and go on for a very long time, you forget to breathe so you end up choking on your words and you forget to pace yourself-"
"Yeah! That happens to me all the time! I don't know what's wrong with me!" Hugo exclaimed as he waved his arms dramatically and Adrien laughed.
"No No, Hugo," Adrien said through laughing, "it's just an innate feeling of panic that we feel when we need to talk, we forget that we need to breathe and we end up choking, it's perfectly normal." Adrien explained as Hugo's initial panic died down. His reassurance somehow meant everything to Hugo, hearing advice like that from his dad's mouth.
"So I just have to remember to breathe, ok, sounds a little easier said than done but..." Hugo trailed off as Adrien reassured him.
"When you notice that you're definitely rambling, you do that. Also, if you feel a little too nervous with all their eyes on you, another thing you can do is to look at one's forehead," Adrien recommended as Hugo looked at him in confusion, shifting his bottom on the couch.
"Look... at their forehead?" Hugo asked as Adrien nodded.
"It'll look like you're looking at us in the eyes, but you're gonna look a little bit upward so you're just looking at their forehead, that way, you won't have to deal with cowering before the audience's piercing eyes," Adrien explained as Hugo nodded in understanding.
"Oh yeah, I remember reading something about the maximum amount of seconds you can stare at somebody before laughing is 5-8 seconds for most people, I'll try really hard not to laugh." Hugo pulled a determined look as he looked at the speech he printed out.
"Well, I don't think you would laugh, but you will get extremely unnerved by their stares so keep that in mind ok?" Adrien asked as Hugo nodded in understanding and the two of them got to work. Adrien taught Hugo how to be confident yet calm while speaking, to look around the audience from time to time to look like you're actually speaking to all of them, change the tones of your voice so you don't sound like a robot, and hand gestures. A few hours later, Hugo grinned excitedly at the progress he was making in becoming a great public speaker. He practiced in front of Adrien and his family a couple of times and he panicked a couple of times but he continued to improve. Soon, Adrien had to leave because he had some business to attend to, Hugo accompanied him to the door and Adrien turned around right before he was about to turn the doorknob and set both his hands on Hugo's shoulders, "I have the utmost confidence you can do this. You're a fast learner, I know you'll do great."
"Thanks Mister Agreste, I promise, but you know... it would mean a lot to me if you could be there when I deliver my speech," Hugo suggested as he looked at anywhere but Adrien's eyes and he heard a small chuckle come from the man.
"Of course, wouldn't miss it kiddo, I'll see you on Tuesday, remember to practice those exercises," Adrien winked as he turned to leave. Hugo grinned and nodded his head vigorously. His will, his confidence, felt like they were revived and it was all thanks to him: his dad. Hugo took those lessons to heart, he practiced for the two remaining days he had until he would have to present the dastardly piece of paper. Hugo could just feel the chill running down his spine as he and his family approached the assembly hall and his legs turn into jelly.
"You know... on second thought, maybe I can't do this after all," Hugo said nervously as he felt a pair of hands shove from behind and into the hallway that led into the assembly hall.
"Oh no Hugo, you're doing this, no backing out," Hugo heard Louis say as Hugo tried to dig his heels in so Louis couldn't push him but Louis was too strong.
"You can't make me!" Hugo yelped as he felt a huff from behind him.
"Oh yes I can, and you're saying this speech, not after what Dad did for you!" Louis argued as Hugo sighed and looked uncomfortably at the stage where the podium was. It was an unusually large audience, more than what he would like, but beggars can't be choosers. Marinette walked up next to them and squatted down so she could caress Hugo's cheek.
"Your brother's right Hugo, you've made it this far, why not take it all way? I know it's a lot for an 8 year old but I have absolute faith in you, after all, you're my son, and Dupain-Cheng's don't quit," Marinette looked at Hugo straight in the eye and smiled as she brought Hugo in for a hug.
"Ok... I can do this... I can definitely do this... by the way Maman, is Mister Agreste here yet?" Hugo asked as he ceased pushing back against his brother's hands and walked forward into the assembly hall. Marinette checked her phone as they walked in, a frown creasing her face, she shot a concerned look at Hugo.
"Well... he said he was coming, but I think he's running a little late, I'm sure he'll get here in time. Hugo, you have to get ready, meet Madame Demarquis in the back. We'll sit in the audience ok Hugo?" Marinette kissed Hugo on the cheek before he got a hug from Emma.
"Good luck Hugo! I have faith!" Emma smiled warmly at Hugo before Marinette gently nudged him in the direction of the teacher in question. Madame Demarquis was a rather thin woman with a nonexistent temperament. She had dark blond hair rolling off her in voluminous waves that barely reached her shoulders. She had a white cardigan with a peach blouse underneath with a white pencil skirt and beige heels to match. Hugo followed her behind the curtain and whipped out his speech paper.
"Hugo! Are you ready for your big speech?" Madame Demarquis asked as Hugo chuckled nervously and scratched his neck.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Hugo looked outside the curtain and paled at the amount of people that were filling into the chairs. Madame Demarquis came up form behind him to look at the audience and rested her hands on his shoulders.
"Your family is out there cheering you on, I chose you to deliver this speech for a reason, I know you can do it," Madame Demarquis softly said as Hugo nodded and she nodded to him.
"Alright, I'm gonna announce you now, good luck," Madame Demarquis smiled at Hugo, who gave a nervous thumbs up before she went outside the curtain and he could faintly hear her announce him. God help him now, "Ladies and gentlemen, and fellow students, thank you for coming here today for our History Day, here to speak to us about one of the proudest yet controversial moments in French history is one of our fellow students, Hugo Dupain-Cheng!" He heard her say as he took a deep breath and shakily held his paper. He slowly walked onto the stage and he heard the applause for him. He just didn't feel it as he felt fear seep into his legs and hands. As he looked out where his family was, he saw someone politely push past the people sitting in the row to sit down next to his mom and family. When Hugo realized who the person was, he couldn't help but break out into a huge smile.
"Did I miss it?" Adrien asked as he sat down next to Marinette, who shook her head.
"Quite the contrary, you're just in time," Marinette smiled as Louis and Emma looked over her shoulder to smile at Adrien, who smiled back and looked up at the stage.
"You got this Hugo! Go for it!" Adrien said as Hugo felt the feeling in his legs be purged from his body. He couldn't hear what Adrien said, but he knew somehow that Adrien was telling him to show the audience just how good he can deliver this speech.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, today I am here to speak to you on the behalf on our National History Day," Hugo started, sucking a huge breath, "I wanted to talk to you all about one of the greatest war heroes in our history: Napoleon Bonaparte, he took part in the French Revolution when our country decided that the monarchy wasn't exactly doing a good job. When we thought we gained our independence, Napoleon decided to rule over France as if he was meant to be the king next in line. Now one has to wonder, is what Napoleon did really for the benefit of France? Or was it just for his own personal agenda? He was taught the art of war from a very young age and as a ruler, he was often kind to his family and let his family rule over France with him. However, the evidence lies in what happened afterwards," Hugo continued, suddenly making the mistake to look into people eyes and he suddenly felt panicked. Adrien could tell he accidentally broke his focus and Hugo broke off mid-sentence, suddenly paralyzed by everyone's stares. Hugo then caught Adrien's eye as the latter motioned for Hugo to breathe, refocus and continue. Hugo mentally nodded, refocused on a forehead and continued to talk.
"Thank god, he looked like he was gonna pass out..." Louis sighed a breath of relief as Adrien knowingly smiled and continued to listen.
"Napoleon got exiled. Twice. To the same place. And that place was an island off of Italy and its name was Sicily. The first time he got exiled, he managed to come back and regain power for an instance, but he was exiled again and died in exile. It really does make us question whether his efforts were actually noble. The royalty and Napoleon were condescending towards people like us and yet he was regarded as a fabled war hero. And that's exactly the point; he was great as a general, as a war hero, but then he had to go and attempt to gain more power in the human quest of greed. He should of just stayed a celebrated war genius, instead of marring his name with a failed attempt to gain the power vacuum in France. That is why the debate still remains unclear but I give you, the audience, this moment of clarity: Napoleon should be celebrated as a war hero and he's famous for it, but he isn't worthy of the title Emperor if his intentions were quite the opposite. Thank you for listening, I hope you enjoyed it." Hugo finished as the audience clapped loudly and expressed their acknowledgement towards Hugo. He felt proud. However, the applause that really mattered was the one that came from his family and he could distinctly make out their shouts compared to everyone else.
"WAY TO GO HUGO! YOU DID IT!!!" Emma shouted as she jumped up and down in place.
"YOU DID IT HUGO! THAT'S MY LITTLE BROTHER! YOU COULDN'T EVEN TELL HE HAS STAGE FRIGHT!" Louis laughed, cheered, and clapped with a warm vigor that made Hugo smile.
"That's my darling son, I knew you could do it!" Marinette smiled wide as Adrien couldn't but feel a wave of pride wash over him because Hugo's wonderful speech was thanks to his help. He felt proud, like a father, but he just couldn't tell what the pride was like, and so he thought it was just immense pride.
"ATTA BOY HUGO! YOU'RE A NATURAL! HAHA!" Adrien whooped as people continued to stare at the family. Madame Demarquis looked at Hugo's family with confusion and interest. She's known his family for years but she's never seen Adrien before and he looks exactly like Hugo but with blond hair. Could he be? Hugo came down from the stage and went over to where his family was. There were other presentations and speeches coming but he wanted to sit next to his family. Before he could reach them though, he was approached by Madame Demarquis.
"Very well done Hugo, your family must be proud," She said as Hugo smiled brightly and looked at his family, "although, I've never seen that man next to your mother, who is he?"
"Ahh... him? Well... that's my dad," Hugo said quietly as Madame Demarquis looked at Adrien in shock. That man was Hugo's father? Hugo definitely looked like him but how?
"How come I've never seen him before? He doesn't seem like much like a interactive father if he doesn't come to his kids' displays of their intelligence," Madame Demarquis said but was cut off by Hugo.
"Don't say that about him!" Hugo interjected as he looked softly at Adrien, "Up until a couple of months ago, he didn't even know I existed, it's hard to be mad at a person who never knew. It's complicated because he doesn't even know I'm his son."
Madame Demarquis looked at Hugo in shock as she didn't know what to say, "W-what?"
"Yeah, he doesn't know... but you know what? He'll find out someday, and he'll be there for us for the right reasons. But for now, I'm happy that he even came to support me," Hugo smiled as Madame Demarquis smiled back. Hugo couldn't help but feel tears prick at the edges of his eyes as he continued to talk, "for the longest time, I didn't how to act happy or sad around him or my family in a regular way because of our weird circumstances... and I really wanted to be happy." Hugo tried to wipe his tears away but they just kept coming. Madame Demarquis smiled softly at Hugo before bringing him in for a hug.
"I know it must be difficult Hugo, I can't even imagine what you're feeling right now, but I know that you'll have hardships and miracles. I can't say your path to happiness will be all that easy, but I can say that it'll be worth it," She smiles warmly at him, Hugo finally wiping away his tears of joy and flashing his trademark smile.
"Thanks Madame Demarquis, I gotta get back to my family, I did so good on that speech!" Hugo sported a smug look on his face as Madame Demarquis pushed him along.
"Alright then, go along now."
Hugo ran up to the row of seats that his family was in and he was congratulated and praised to high heaven. He felt proud, certain, like this was the way it was supposed to be. Hugo was happy Adrien got a chance to come to one of his events, it truly made his day. However, he truly hopes that this could be a father-son thing that they could look back on one day and smile and laugh. It's those memories that make their struggle worth fighting for, or at least, that's the will of his mom. However, wills can be broken, it's just a matter of how far they can be stretched thin.
