Chapter 16

After School: The Next Day (School Courtyard)

Marinette only had a few days left to cover her entry fee into the Caen Gala otherwise she would be excluded.

"Marinette, are you going to be okay? You look exhausted!" -Alya asked, putting her hand on Marinette's shoulder.

"I've been baking a lot more and taking custom hemming jobs to try and get extra money so I can pay for the entry fee, but I am still not even halfway there and I only have 2 days left." -Marinette explained.

"Girl, I want to help, but you can't work yourself sick! I feel like you managed to do that already." -Alya criticized.

"I know, but I want to be able to show off my designs. It could really open a lot more doors for me!" -Marinette tried to justify her exhaustion.

Nino and Adrien walked over to the girls.

"And I would love to wear your designs." -Adrien said smiling.

"I love you...I MEAN I WOULD LOVE…..WEAR….YOU….CLOTHES!" -Marinette began to scramble for her words with a bright red face as Adrien just laughed, putting his head behind his head.

"Hey Marinette, I could try to hold like a downtown jam and see if we could get some extra money for you that way." -Nino proposed.

"Yeah and I could try to do a fundraiser on the ladyblog!" -Alya added in.

"Thanks guys but I think at this point I will have to wait for a different chance, I don't want you guys to overwork yourself just for me." -Marinette tried to reassure her friends and hide her disappointment over the entry fee.

The friends sat around and talked a little bit more. A few more brainstorming ideas came up, but with the deadline only a few days away, it was not going to happen.

Suddenly a woman came walking into the front of the school.

"Do you know where I may find Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" -The woman asked Ivan & Mylene who were sitting together. They pointed her over to the group.

She came walking over to the group, when Adrien turned around to see who was coming over.

"Miss Foch?! What are you doing here?" -Adrien asked Mr. Croix's assistant.

"Miss Foch! When do I get my super-secret interview for my blog?" -Alya said with a sly look on her face.

"Not going to happen Ms. Cesaire. I am actually here to pick up Ms. Dupain-Cheng." -Miss Foch explained.

Alya, Nino, and Adrien looked over at Marinette who looked just as confused as they did in the situation. Normally Violet Foch came when Marinette and Alya or Adrien went out to the estate to go riding.

"Are you sure? I mean I am sure he is busy. And just me? But I need to go home and bake more for…" -Marinette began to panic a little. She wasn't sure what to say to not give away what she had seen happen to him the previou day.

"I insist that you come today." -Miss Foch restated.

Adrien walked over and placed his hand on Marinette's shoulder.

"You should go Marinette, I am sure it is something important."

Marinette looked up at Adrien and smiled, then looked back at Miss Foch.

"Okay, I will go."

Alya, Nino, and Adrien waved at Marinette as she walked away with Miss Foch.

They both got in Violet Foch's car and began to drive off. After about 15 minutes they arrived at the oldest hospital in Paris, Hotel-Dieu de Paris.

After parking, both walked into the main entrance where they were greeted by a receptionist.

"This girl is here to visit Mr. Croix." -Violet explained.

The receptionist nodded her head and pulled out a sign-in clipboard. Marinette went to sign her name, but saw she was number 3 on the list for today, and the other 2 before her had not signed out yet. After signing, she tried to hand over the board to Violet.

"Sorry but this visit is for you, I have a few more jobs I need to complete this afternoon." -Violet smiled before turning and walking away.

Marinette stood there confused as the receptionist motioned her to follow. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at one of the hospital rooms. Marinette thanked the receptionist as she walked away, and left Marinette standing alone in the hall in front of the closed door to the room.

"Uh Hello?" -she asked as she knocked on the door. The door slowly opened, and Marinette felt a breeze come out of the doorway, which was accompanied by several rose petals riding the breeze, with some landing in front of her feet.

Marinette took a second to collect herself and looked into the room. There standing in the middle of the room was a young man with blonde hair. He was dressed very preppy and looked way too wealthy for his own good. He looked over at Marinette with wooing eyes and a soft flirty smile. He opened his mouth to talk but before he could talk…

"Knock it off, you will traumatize the girl!" -a familiar voice called out as a metal pan flew across the room and smacked the man in the back of his head.

He slouched down to the floor as a young woman with short brown hair grabbed the man by his ear and pulled him over to the chair she had been sitting next to.

"Marinette, don't worry about him, come on in, I'm not dead yet." -she heard Mr. Croix's voice.

Marinette walked into the hospital room and saw Mr. Croix laying in the hospital bed. Compared to how he had looked after getting stabbed by Hawk Moth, he looked significantly better, though he was still covered in bandages, was burned, and had several IV's and monitors hooked up to his body. Across from him was the man and woman, the man still rubbing his head, while the woman was telling him he would survive.

"Ah Marinette, it is good to see you again. Let me introduce you to my friends here. Guys this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, an aspiring fashion designer who already has quite an accomplished resume so far for still being in secondary school." -Mr. Croix explained.

"Uhhhhh Hi" -Marinette tried to introduce herself to the other two in a shy and confused voice at what was going on.

"Hi Marinette! My name is Haruhi. And this lovable dork is-"

"My, my, such a young lady to have already done so much! There must be a special talent about you. It is so rare to find a flower that is already spreading her petals, flowing on the breeze…" -the man began to woo on before he was smacked in the head by Haruhi.

"-And this failure of a casanova is my husband, Tamaki." -Haruhi finished.

"I met these two when I was on a state trip to Japan almost 10 years ago. I got to know Tamaki's father really well from the school he is chairman at and was introduced to these two from there." -Mr. Croix explained to Marinette.

"We were visiting Paris since this is where Tamaki spent a lot of time growing up when younger and were going to visit Mr. Croix, but we heard he was in an accident." -Haruhi said.

"That was so sweet of you to come. I heard he was in an accident but I had no information until today on anything." -Marinette replied, knowing about what the accident was but couldn't let on.

"Ah yes that sounds like him. He can be quite secretive and only lets you know details when he is ready." -Tamaki stated. "So Marinette, what designs do you work on?"

"Oh I work on just about everything. Dresses, hats, various other fashion accessories. They are still not very good."

"She says that, but her designs have been worn by Jagged Stone, and has been worn several times by the model Adrien Agreste. He actually reminds me of you a little, Tamaki, though I think Adrien knows more of the real world than you do." -Mr. Croix joked.

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?" -Tamaki responded as Haruhi chuckled. "I bet I looked ten times as good as him, especially when I was a charming host."

"Yeah, a charming host that forced me into it." -Haruhi smirked, causing Tamaki to puff imaginary steam in anger.

Marinette chuckled, then gave a small blush as she thought about Adrien modeling.

"Oh, what is that little blush on your cheek? Thinking of someone special? Oh, must be that model boy." -Tamaki smirked.

Marinette tried to think of something to say but nothing came to her, she just blushed more.

"Speaking of modeling. Marinette, what was it you are getting an opportunity to do?" -Mr. Croix tried to get the subject changed for her sake.

"Oh that's right, the Caen Gala!" -Marinette suddenly remembered.

"Oh you are going to be a model in it! Oh I bet that will be so..." -Tamaki started to talk before getting smacked in the head by Haruhi.

"That would be so awesome for you. That would be an opportunity not many your age would get" -Haruhi exclaimed.

"Yes, that's right! It is a huge thing for me...but…" -Marinette's mood shifted from excitement to a depressing tone. "The cost to enter the gala is so much, I probably will have to miss out."

"Good thing you won't have to miss out on it." -Tamaki said laughing.

"What?!" -Marinette and Haruhi responded at the same time.

As the room seemed to be in confusion, the door opened and a nurse walked in and over to Mr. Croix.

"Sir, here is your transfer paperwork, just sign in these few places and we wish you a speedy and full recovery."

After the paperwork was signed and the nurse walked out, Marinette and Haruhi looked over at Mr. Croix, then over at Tamaki.

"Okay, will someone please explain what is going on here!?" -Marinette yelled out.

The two men looked at each other before Mr. Croix spoke first.

"After everything that has happened over the last week I feel like I need a change of scenery, and it is going to take a while for all of this damage to heal."

"Which is why I talked him into going to Japan for some R & R at an Ootori recovery center. While he is there, he's going to fulfill a favor he has owed me for a while now." -Tamaki explained.

"What favor is that?" -Marinette asked.

"Oh nothing much, he will just be doing some guest lectures." -Tamaki continued.

"You don't mean…" -Haruhi started to catch on.

"Yep! I will be doing some guest teaching at Ouran Academy" -Mr. Croix jumped into the conversation.

"What is that place? And how does that have anything to do with the gala?" -Marinette inquired.

"Oh, there is way too much to tell for that school Marinette, I wouldn't ask." -Haruhi sighed.

"But in regard to the Gala, I have decided to sponsor your entry fee!" -Tamaki joyfully exclaimed.

"But you don't even know me or my designs!? I can't possibly ask you to do that!" -Marinette was ecstatic and confused at the same time at Tamaki's announcement.

"Well that is why I am doing it without you asking," -Tamaki began to laugh "The moment Mr. Croix explained your situation to me, it was a done deal."

Marinette began to get tears in her eyes.

"I...I don't know what to say."

"Just let your designs blow us all away!" -Mr. Croix smiled, giving Marinette a confidence boost she desperately needed.

Marinette stayed at the hospital for another hour before Violet came back to take her back home. On the car trip back, she explained to Marinette that she would be staying behind to take care of the estate while Mr. Croix was away in Japan, but Marinette and her friends would still be welcome to come visit and ride the horses to keep them in shape.