Part 3 for your viewing pleasure. It's not over quite yet.=^-^=

Ch. 3 - Karmic Pencil

The entire class stampeded out of the room the moment the odd creature popped out. "Was that a skunk!?"

"As if I'm sticking around to find out!?" Shouts and voices were drowned out even as the students massed around the windows.

"What's going on?" Marinette asked as she reached the top of the steps. She'd been running late, but not late enough for class to be over.

"Huh? Hey, Marinette." Nino greeted as he turned to see her. "This? We think a skunk popped out of Lila's bag."

"A skunk!?" The designer parroted as she jumped up to get a view over the students in front of her.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure. Kim saw it first and then all I saw was a black and white furry creature. I don't know who said skunk, but I wasn't sticking around, you know?" Marinette looked bewildered to say the least. Sure, Lila had had a real run of odd luck the past week, but a skunk?

"Excuse me!" A shout went over the excited mutterings of the class. All eyes turned to an older student holding a cat crate. "Anyone here seen a ferret? I've been looking all morning, and with all the shouting I thought maybe he'd popped up in the class here."

"Does it look like a skunk?" Kim asked while Max shook his head.

"Just because they are in the same family does not make them that similar, Kim."

The older student gave a shrug. "I don't know about a skunk. My ferret is black. He really likes strong smells, but usually things like perfume, not garbage."

"Hey, so is this yours?" Adrien appeared in the doorway holding a black furry creature with a spiky white stripe down its back. "I took another look, and I really don't think it's a skunk."

"Maverick!" The student called in surprise. "What happened to you?"

Adrien handed over the ferret with a smile before showing his white stained hand. "Seems to be paint."

"Maybe he ran through the cafeteria bathrooms? Didn't they just repaint those?" Marinette suddenly remembered from one of her student council meetings.

"Maybe?" The student looked over his painted pet with a grimace. "I just hope it's easy to clean off." He then placed his pet inside the crate so it wouldn't cause any more craziness. "Thanks for the help, and sorry about Maverick. He's had all his shots so if anyone was worried, he's clean."

"I'm just glad it wasn't a skunk." Alix mused as she jabbed Kim in the side. "Right?"

"This whole thing is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Chloe chided as she checked her nails. "What kind of school lets a rodent like that inside?"

"Mrs. Medeleve is having senior students do a domesticated animal survey." Max informed as he looked through his phone. "Ferrets are common pets." Chloe just rolled her eyes and walked back into the room.

Inside, Lila was already picking up her things which had flown everywhere when Maverick made his appearance. White paint was all over her bag and many of its contents. "Oh, Lila... your bag is ruined." Rose lamented as she kneeled next to the poor Italian.

"I can't believe all that even happened." Alya added in as she gathered up her tablet to hand to Lila.

"Well, at least that poor animal was okay. I can always get another bag since I know the designer." Lila bragged while looking torn up.

"Wow really!?" Rose fell for the bait and was quickly followed by a few of the other girls. Marinette rolled her eyes as she walked past. She didn't want to get involved. Even if she did feel bad about what happened to her, Lila was already eating up the attention. She didn't intend to give her more.

"Stuff like this has been happening a lot recently hasn't it?" Julika muttered as she handed Lila a notebook.

"You're right!" Rose agreed. "This week has been really weird."

Alya rubbed her chin in thought. "You know... it has been, but more so for Lila than anyone. All the weird stuff has happened around Lila after all."

"Yeah, I'll say. Didn't she get splashed by a puddle yesterday and it hadn't even rained?" Nino asked thinking back on how odd it was. "Not to mention all the other stuff, way back until last Monday when the desk broke."

Alya nodded before looking back at Marinette. She hadn't really talked to her friend since that incident with Lila's design. She'd really hoped Marinette would have apologized by now, but from what she could tell, the designer was actively avoiding Lila. Then she noticed Adrien sitting next to her. Even after the desk was replaced, the blond remained in back beside Marinette. The two of them had been spending a lot of time together for the past week. It's something she'd be ready to cheer for if this whole thing with Lila wasn't in the way. Now that she thought about it, however, these incidents... they seem to get in the way of Lila and Marinette interacting. If she thought about what Lila had been doing right before the ferret came out... She was trying to get Adrien to move back to the front! So could Marinette be actually causing these things? No... Most of them are way too weird to actually be planned. The pigeon incident or the paper plane in the cafeteria were so coincidental they were practically natural disasters.

Adrien waited patiently for Marinette to return after lunch. He'd over heard a particularly nasty plot from Lila as she cried out to the girls in class. Marinette had looked at her latest work and torn it to shreds so bad you couldn't even tell what it was. She was now crying in the front row with Rose, and Alya at her sides and several other students looking at her with sympathetic eyes. Why was she still out to get Marinette? Heaven knows since Marinette has been avoiding her. Adrien had been doing everything in his power to keep Marinette away. It was like Lila just couldn't leave her alone since she didn't believe her lies and faun all over her or something. Was her recent string of bad luck just not phasing her? Didn't she realize that every time she'd hurt or tried to hurt Marinette that something weird happened? You'd think having a trained parrot drop a banana peel on your head would be some kind of sign. A funny but obvious sign. Nope, not for Lila. It just made the young model's blood boil. How could anyone be that vindictive? When he finally noticed Marinette coming up the steps he quickly made his way to the front of the room hoping to intercept her and the girls. What he didn't expect was to see Marinette's arm wrapped up and in a sling. "Marinette? What happened?"

The young designer blushed at his attention and gave a sheepish smile. "It's nothing all that bad, really."

"Marinette, your arm is in a sling. You refused to wear one before when you twisted it." Adrien pointed out as he gently took her injured hand. It was the same one she'd injured before. "So what happened?" He asked as he took her bag for her.

"Right when I got home for lunch I caught a pan Papa knocked off the counter. It was a cast iron one so it was heavier than I expected. Anyway, my parents wouldn't let me come back today unless I promised to wear the sling, and I didn't want to miss the test." She explained while trying to play it down as much as possible. Of the two, only Adrien noticed the slight scowl on Lila as they passed her. No doubt she was angry at being thwarted in her plan. Several of the students who looked angry now had eyes of sympathy for Marinette who bore the obvious injury.

"Lila, please stay and finish the paper exam. The rest of you are dismissed." Ms. Bustier announced with the bell. Adrien moved to grab Marinette's bag before she could herself.

"H-Hold on, Adrien. You don't have to. I know you have fencing today."

He held the bag out of her immediate reach and shook his head. "I really don't mind, Marinette. Just let me help you." He gestured for her to go first. "I have enough time before fencing to walk you home. Didn't I prove that last week?"

Marinette blushed as she adjusted her purse which she grabbed before Adrien could. "I... I suppose." She gave him a sheepish smile while trying to keep herself calm. She'd been doing much better when talking to him, but the way he was fawning over her wrist since lunch was frying her nerves. Marinette began down the steps of the aisle as Lila scowled at her paper. It was an outrage they didn't have a spare tablet! Who does paper tests in this day and age!? She glanced at the annoying designer as she walked by and had a stroke of genius. Maybe paper wasn't so bad? She began erasing something on her test and knocked her extra pencil to the floor right as Marinette walked by. Just as she predicted, the injured girl stepped on it and instantly fell back.

What she didn't predict was how Adrien would be so quick to catch her. He slid himself between her and the steps now held her by her waist protectively. "Whoa! Are you okay Marinette?" He asked as he sat up with her in his lap. Marinette blushed a whole new shade of crimson as she nodded wordlessly.

Lila felt her eye twitch as she snapped the pencil in her hand. That would've been perfect! If Adrien hadn't been there it would have been perfect! Why was he so attached to her!? She cursed the luck of that annoying Marinette as she was left as the only student in class. She looked at the pencil and growled. Now she didn't even have a proper pencil to finish the test with!

Ladybug bumped fists with her partner as the Miraculous Cure swept the streets of Paris. Mr. Pigeon struck again, and so aside from Chat's horrible allergy, it wasn't a hard fight. "Is your wrist alright, Milady? I thought you hurt it when you swung off that tree." Chat asked as he looked at his ring.

Ladybug rubbed her left wrist carefully. "Yes, I was just worried I'd miss. I'm fine." Though it did hurt. It was lucky her transformation strengthened her body so she could still use it, but it didn't heal it.

Chat looked at her wrist a moment before grinning. "Well, if you're sure, Bugaboo." He said with a flirty tone before pulling his staff out.

"Not going to ask to spend time with me? We both still have a few minutes."

Chat's ears went down. "Uh... Well, today I need to go check on someone. Don't worry, Milady I'd still love to spend time with you. I will always be your knight in black leather." He leaned in close and Ladybug leaned away.

"Don't keep them waiting on my account. I was just curious anyway." She then pulled out her yo-yo and swung away. When she reached her home she went in through her window and transformed back. Instantly her wrist pain flared up again and Tikki rushed to grab the sling she was supposed to be wearing.

"Here, Marinette. You need to keep it relaxed so it'll heal."

Marinette didn't put up a fuss as the kwami helped her put it on, and then pulled a cookie from a jar on her desk. "Thanks, Tikki."

"And thank you, Marinette." The kwami happily dug in as Marinette sat back in her desk chair.

A rapping at her window startled her away from her homework. Tikki was out of sight before Marinette even realized it was Chat Noir. "Chat?" She asked as she lifted the latch with her good hand.

"Hey, Princess. Just thought I'd drop in to check on you."

"Check on me?" She asked as she let him come down into her room.

"Yeah." He looked around a bit before looking at her. "I heard there was a weird run of bad luck with this Lila girl. I remembered she goes to your school, so I dropped by to make sure you were okay. Did that happen at school?" He pointed to her sling.

"Oh... no this happened in the kitchen. I tried to catch something and didn't realize how heavy it was." Marinette explained looking embarrassed about the injury.

Chat noted she never mentioned it being hurt before. Marinette really was the type to stop others from worrying about her. "Really? You really should take more pur-cautions, Princess." He scolded teasingly at her.

She rolled her eyes with a smile at his pun. "Yes, Chat Noir, believe me I know. My parents already gave me an earful. I promise to wear the sling until otherwise instructed." The designer proclaimed with a serious tone before breaking into a giggle. She was happy there were so many people worried about her, but now Chat Noir was joining in? Maybe Adrien wasn't over reacting before after all. When Chat didn't say anything she waved a hand in front of his face. "Chat Noir?"

"Huh?" He snapped to with a start. "Oh... Sorry, Marinette." He rubbed the back of his head and turned back to the window. "Anyway, now that I've confirmed you are fine, I should get a move on. Don't want any misunderstandings if your dad pops in." He climbed out and gave a two finger salute before jumping away.

Marinette watched curiously before locking the window and stepping back down. "So I was the one he needed to check on?" She mused aloud with a chuckle at the irony. Chat left Ladybug to see Marinette aka Ladybug.

"Chat must have been really worried if he blew off Ladybug to see you." Tikki stated as she wiped the crumbs from her face.

"Yeah, but did he seem a little distracted to you?"

Tikki gave a knowing side glance and nodded. "Yeah, but he could've just been worried about your dad. He was Akumatized because of Chat Noir, even if Chat didn't mean to do it."

"True." Marinette agreed looking bothered. "It was also weird he knew about those incidents in school too though. Alya never posted that pigeon video to the blog after all, and all of the other things happened inside school." Or close enough most people wouldn't know aside from students and staff.

"True, so..." Tikki trailed off as she thought of something.

"Tikki?"

The kwami turned to her with a wave of her paw. "No, it's probably nothing. Chat Noir's kwami is the scion of destruction. He can probably feel the bad luck." The kwami then wore a teasing grin. "Just like you felt that good luck when Adrien caught you today."

"Tikki!" Marinette whisper scolded as her face flushed with the memory.

I obviously watch too many old cartoons. Also, Lila epic fails at tripping Marinette this time! I imagine the only way I could have made it better is if I somehow made her trip and hit face first in the process, but then she might garner pity so I'll just leave her sulking. (Also, yes her tablet fried during the test. It messed up because she was splashed with water before, but I just couldn't bring it up normal in the story.) Thanks for taking the time to read. All comments are welcome, please and thank you.=^-^=