AN: I'm back! Again! Anyways! I usually put dashes where the points of view switch or the time skips, but they don't seem to be showing up. So, I'm trying something else. Let me know if it works. I hope you enjoy this one!
Chapter 4:
Marinette and Alya went to their classroom a little early after getting their materials out of their lockers. Marinette then had an idea, and pointed to where she used to sit. Alya then put on a grin reminiscent of a gremlin and settled down next to her. They giggled and waited. The Queen Bee came in a moment later as everyone else started to settle in, still attached to that blonde boy from earlier.
"Alright Adrikins. I saved you a seat right in front of me, right here!" she paused and looked up. "That's my seat Dupain-Cheng! Get lost!"
"Technically Chloe, I was here first, since the first grade."
"But-"
"No buts. This seat doesn't have your name on it, so it's not yours. So please, take your attitude and sit in your old seat." Marinette said in a stubborn tone. All their classmates said their 'oooh's and Alix shouted 'Burn!' as Chloe pouted, then switched back to her sickly sweet gold digging voice.
"Don't you worry though Adrikins. I'll be right across the aisle. Sabrina!" she snapped her fingers as her tone returned to her normal annoying brat one. Poor Sabrina came in a second later lugging both of their bags and getting out the appropriate materials for Chloe before settling down herself.
Adrien let out a breath of relief before settling in the empty seat in front of him. Thank you so much, whoever you are behind me. You have saved me from the thing that made me want new friends in the first place. He then looked to the left and thought he might as well introduce himself to the guy next to him.
"Hello, I'm-" he was cut off.
"You're friends with Chloe, right?" The guy suspiciously asked. "I don't need that kind of drama in my life."
Adrien thought about how to explain this. He was then just happy the guy listened. "Well, she's been my only friend since I was little. I wanted to come to public school to make more friends, and maybe make a little more of my life. I've been homeschooled my whole life, and I wanted a change of scenery."
The guy kept his suspicious expression for a moment before seemingly coming to a decision as his expression softened.
"Alright, I'm Nino. I think it's time you make some proper friends dude!" he said as he held out his hand.
"Adrien. It's nice to meet you." Adrien said as a feeling of giddy excitement washed over him. Then throughout class they whispered about their interests when the teacher's back was turned.
A few hours later, Adrien decided he liked Nino. He was a DJ and he didn't seem to care about what others thought of him, plus he was relaxed and Adrien decided he could use that in his life. Well, most of the time.
"So dude, you said you were good at physics right? Cuz if I don't get a good grade on this next test my parents are going to ground me and then I won't get to go to my DJ gig on saturday. Help me dude!" Nino dramatically said.
"Sure. I don't know if I'll be let back here though. I might be able to help you over a video chat later though."
He immediately grabbed a notepad and started jotting his number down. "Dude! The way you told me you sneaked out of your house sounded so legit! Like, Batman level ninja skills!" he paused. "You're not training to be an assassin are you?" he looked up at Adrien with a goofy suspicious stare. It made Adrien laugh.
"Ha ha, Nope." he said. They said their farewells and Nino tore his number off of the piece of paper before giving it to him. A second later, a redheaded girl tore past him with her phone in hand seconds before a loud buzzing sound came over the intercom.
"Students, until we have a better protocall for this, just go somewhere and hide. Everything seems to fix itself after anyways." the Principal said. Everyone once again either ran around like headless chickens and/or buried themselves under desks.
Marinette had just finished introducing Alya to the girls when her phone pinged. Alya then shouted that she needed to get a scoop on this one and ran out faster than anyone can blink. Marinette looked at her own phone and looked at the news. Sure enough, the girl from the weather channel had turned into an angry purple Elsa. Finding a place to transform was easy enough, since everybody scattered as if everybody else smelled like rotten fish. But, just in case, he went into the girls bathroom and checked every stall before calling Tikki into her earrings.
"Tikki, spots on!" she said, slightly giddy.
Ladybug quickly ran out of the bathroom and swung over the school walls. She decided last night that she was going to practice swinging around, so that was exactly what she did. It was kind of scary having to think during that one second she paused mid air, but Tikki was right when she said that it gets easier. Besides, the ride down then back up again felt exhilarating, so it was worth it. Then something caught her eye and she looked to investigate.
She stumbled at the landing a little bit. The momentum she built up flung her forward and she frantically moved her feet to keep from landing on her face.
"Holy crap, I did that." she said to herself, proud. Then she turned her interest back to what had caught her eye in the first place. An ad board, of that new face she saw at school.
Adrien Agreste! Adrien Agreste sits in front of me now. His father's main fashion line is a bit more on the weird side but the clothes he models are amazing! Maybe I could get him to model some of my clothes one day. That would be amazing. I better tell Alya about this when I see her again, as Marinette of course.-
Her train of thought was interrupted by a gust of wind from in the sky.
"Ladybug. I found you! Gimme your miraculous!" the purple girl shouted in a slightly nasally voice as she pointed her umbrella at her.
"Nope. Didn't your parents ever tell you not to steal, lightning girl?" Ladybug said, as she pieced together a plan.
"It's Stormy Weather to you, pesky insect!" Stormy Weather shouted in a rage as she shot a lightning bolt at the heroine from the sky.
It's official. She's most powerful when she's outside. Maybe I'll be able to get her if I lead her indoors. And she did. With a lucky charm that involved a Hygrometer, she slammed the umbrella against her knee and purified the black butterfly. She then turned her attention to the girl on the floor.
"Are you okay?" Ladybug asked.
"Well, I got outvoted by Mirelle today. She's going to be the next weather girl. Being a forecaster is my dream job, and I just lost it." the girl said solemnly.
"Do you think you can work out a compromise? I remember watching you and you were right a lot of the time. You did a good job, and I think the weather people would love to keep you."
"Really?"
"Yes, I'll be rooting for you." Ladybug said as she led her outside. She didn't expect all the people that waited outside for her though.
"Can you tell us what went on?"
"Tell us about yourself! Do you have special training?"
"Do you have experience in the sciences? That one was quicker than the last one!"
Ladybug awkwardly told them that she needed to go after telling the public that she's happy to help. She zipped off as fast as she could to an alleyway next to the school. She was just lucky that this one was at the end of the school day and that she could head straight home after.
"Spots off." and there was Marinette in Ladybug's place. Tikki landed in her palms.
"What do you think of that one? What did you learn?" Tikki asked as she sat up in Marinette's hands.
"Adrien Agreste, son of Gabriel Agreste, now sits in front of me in class." Marinette quickly responded. Tikki just sighed.
"I meant for this to be meaningful but I guess that won't happen."
"I'm sorry, this is breaking news though! Maybe I can become friends with this guy and he can model my clothes for me. He hangs out with Chloe though so I'm kind of afraid that he'll be like her."
"Now Marinette, if you didn't pay attention to the akuma listen now. It's not a good idea to judge someone by their friends. He could be her complete opposite for all you know!" Tikki spoke sternly, as if from experience.
Marinette was taken back for a minute. But then she agreed with her and nodded before deciding to call Alya.
"Alya?"
"Guuuurl! I caught a lot of the fight! I lost them when they went into a building but it was so legit! It looked like an action movie! I'm going to make a blog now!" Marinette paused. She hadn't even noticed she was there. Then she spoke again.
"That's great Alya. I'd say to be more careful than that but I don't think that'll get me anywhere. Hey! I found out who the blonde boy was."
"Really? Is he famous? He must be if Chloe was kissing up to him like that. Tell me! Who is he?"
"Adrien Agreste. His father is the owner of Gabriel."
"You mean the fashion company?"
"Yup! I'm curious though. I'm wondering if he's like Chloe or not, him being rich and all."
Alya paused for a moment."Hmmm. Well based on his body language from this morning, Chloe makes him uncomfortable. He might be nice." Marinette hadn't even noticed that. But, she knew Alya paid attention to that kind of thing, being a reporter and all. I should be careful if she ever catches up to Ladybug. She might put the pieces together and figure me out. But…
"True. I think I'll introduce myself to him tomorrow. That should be fun."
"Totally girl. It might be fun to write an article about what it feels like to be rich and famous with a lot of fans like him. He might have an interesting view on life."
"Yeah."
"See you tomorrow girl. My parents want me to watch my sisters for a little while."
"Oh ok. Have fun and good luck."
"Yeah, I'm going to need that." Alya said as some mischievous giggles were heard in the background.
"Bye!" Marinette ended the call.
Tikki decided to speak.
"So. You're going to talk to him?"
"Yeah. You heard Alya. He seemed uncomfortable around Chloe, so I think he might be aware of her greater-than-thou attitude. I'll give him a chance and he'll hopefully be a nice guy. I saw he's now Nino's friend so he can't be that bad." Marinette said. Nino tends to stick with good people, so Adrien is probably a good one.
"Good! Now, don't you have that summer essay due tomorrow?"
"Oh you're right Tikki! I better work on that before I forget!" Marinette said as she dashed to her bag, pulled out a notebook and slid on her chair to her desk. Tikki just giggled.
Adrien hid with Nino during the attack. He found the Ladyblog the night before and luckily, the blog's creator recorded everything as a livestream. It was like watching a superhero movie, except the camera quality wasn't great and you could hardly hear anything through the lightning. Nino watched with him.
"Wait. The blogger, her name's Alya right?" Nino asked.
"I think so. It said so on the blog's website. Why?"
"She sat behind us in class."
"Really?" Adrien hadn't noticed.
"Yeah dude."
Sure enough, Alya showed her face and pointed to the scene where a bunch of news anchors and cameras were in ladybug's face, then Alya turned the phone around as Ladybug took off down the street and over some buildings.
"Nino, how could you tell it was her?" Adrien asked.
"She didn't really stop talking during class. I recognised her voice."
"Oh yeah. I think the science teacher was pretty close to sending her to detention for that."
"Seriously. I think she's new to Paris though, I haven't seen her before yesterday."
"Oh I see. She sounds like a fun person to be around. Maybe you should introduce yourself? "
Adrien didn't get an answer from him, because his phone binged and he went to check it. It was from his father. He was probably upset. It told Adrien to just go to his fencing lessons, and then come home and do his piano and chinese, then they will talk. That made Adrien nervous but he knew it would happen. They then checked the time and saw that school was pretty much over.
"Alright Nino. I've got to go to fencing practice. I think school's just about over anyways."
"I'm just glad it was science we missed." Nino laughed and they waved each other goodbye.
Adrien didn't let his father's message bring him down. He got out of the house and made it to school. It was his lucky day, so he decided to make the most of it and be happy. Fencing made him feel tired but fulfilled as always. But, chinese and piano and chinese made his mind hurt. He was still processing the stuff from school, afterall. That kept him going in his empty, cold house. He got what he wanted, so he was happy.
But, the dreaded time he had to talk to his father arrived during dinner. Except he didn't show up at all, Natalie acted as messenger as always.
"Your father is upset with you. You know that right?"
"Yeah. I figured he would be."
"So do you feel no shame? You snuck out of the house and went behind your father's back." Natalie wasn't scolding. No, it was like there was a hint of curiosity in her monotonous voice.
"I have no regrets. I have met new people and experienced what it's like to be in school. I got everything I've ever wanted. He can pull me out if he wants, but I have no regrets."
She thought for a moment. She then said:
"How would you feel if he's allowing you to go back to school?"
Adrien's face lit up. "Really?"
"Yes. He figured it would be good for your reputation if you got involved with the community. Although, no more sneaking out okay?"
"Yes! Thank you!" he said in udder glee as he jumped up and hugged her. She looked surprised for a second before pushing him off.
"You will come down ready for school at 7:30, eat breakfast, and then your bodyguard will take you to school."
Adrien nodded his head excitedly as he was sent up to his room to do homework and go to bed. He sat at his desk and just smiled. Wow, this is the most luck I've had in my life. I better do the homework for tomorrow, and today…
He leaned down to his bag and pulled out a book before setting it on his desk. As he did so, he noticed a box shaped like a hexagon. Curious, he opened it. But, threw it to the other side of the room in surprise.
It yawned and looked at him.
"Woah. What are you? It's like the genie in the lamp." Adrien got a close look at the creature.
"I'm a kwami. I grant powers. Now, have you got anything to eat? I'm starving." It said as it started flying around the room trying to eat whatever it sees, complaining that it wasn't… Cheese?
Moments later after Adrien snuck down to the massive kitchen and let the kwami pick out its favorite cheese, they sat down.
"Wait, so I can become a superhero like Ladybug?"
"Yes. You've asked that question five times already." Plagg said. Adrien learned that a few minutes ago.
Pause.
"No no no. This is too good to be true. I've never had this much luck in my life. I probably used all the luck I will ever be given today alone. This can't be happening."
Plagg seemed to think for a moment."I don't think it'll sink in until you try it. Say 'claws on' to transform, say 'claws off' to go back to normal. Cataclysm is your biggest power. It destroys whatever you touch so be careful. Go and take a spin. I want Camembert when we come back." he said, growing impatient.
"But-"
"Just do it before I change my mind."
Adrien took a breath before agreeing. He called the claws out and felt energy engulf him. Power and strength seeped into him, and the room lit up. He was confused for a moment before he saw his reflection in the bathroom mirror.
"I'm a cat." he stated, to confirm it in his mind. His eyes glowed green, and he remembered how a cat's eyes work. Adrien just decided to go with it as he opened his window and jumped out and it amazed him how high he went.
The wind in his hair felt new and wonderful and free. Adrien loved it already, and it actually felt real.
AN: This one's now done! I like this one. I hope it was worth the bit longer wait. I have my final exam in a few days so wish me luck! Thanks for reading, y'all make me so happy.