Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for your patience and your reviews! This chapter is a bit longer than the others, I think. I hope you enjoy it!

This chapter was betaread by thecrazydragonlady. tumblr

~anipwrites

Nathanael's head shot up from his desk when the alarm on his phone went off. He hadn't even realized he'd been asleep. A quick glance around revealed that, luckily, he hadn't been drooling on his drawing all through the night. Now he could just get some food, get ready for school, and -

"Ow!"

Who the fuck -

"Well, I guess that was my fault for sleeping on your head…" the redhead looked on the ground behind him to see a small, palm-sized fox rubbing its head with its… Paws? Flippers? He wasn't quite sure how to describe them. The sight alone brought back all of the memories from yesterday, from running into the clowns to meeting the old guy and getting his kwami. He had freaking super powers now?! Him?! And - oh god -

"Where the hell am I going to hide you?" he muttered to himself, standing to his feet.

"Yesterday, you mentioned your jacket?" the kwami suggested. He snapped his fingers.

"Right! Thanks, Trixx!" he went to the kitchen and fixed himself some oatmeal and a glass of milk, glancing at his phone again. Did he even have time to eat this? Eh. He could afford to be late for once.

Trixx sat on the table and joined him, having grabbed the bag of bacon bits and munching on a few pieces. Nathanael couldn't help but smile. Trixx was nice. Having a magical pet that was nice to him made the whole 'adjusting to the fact that you have superpowers' thing a lot easier. He still wasn't sure how he was going to learn how to play the flute yet, though. But if Trixx genuinely believed that some sort of good fortune would come his way, he wouldn't argue.

After he finished, the two of them headed to the bathroom to fix up his hair a bit. He'd taken to flat-ironing it recently. Maybe if he looked nicer, Marinette would notice him for more than his akumatization. He couldn't possibly compare to world-famous model Adrien Agreste, but maybe he could try. He freshened up and packed his things, pouring the bacon bits into a smaller plastic bag that would be easier to carry in his jacket. After a few final checks to make sure he was presentable, he was finally ready to leave for school.

As he walked through the streets, he couldn't help but glance at every alley, peek around every corner on his way. He was hoping not to run into anymore clowns today, but knowing his streak of luck, he'd do just that. He wasn't expecting to run into Lila though.

"O-oh! Sorry!" he jumped back, hoping he hadn't done anything exceptionally embarrassing like spilling coffee all over her or something. Lila seemed just as shocked to see him as he was to see her.

"Oh! No worries, I'm fine." she smiled at him, stopping a runaway pencil with her foot.

"Well, that's good. It's nice to see you," He bent down to pick up the pencil. Lila was quiet for a moment before she spoke again.

"Hey… Everything okay?"

"I'm fine! I didn't drop anything, I don't think -" Nathanael stole a quick glance at the ground to make sure nothing had fallen out of his bag.

"I mean, about school. And what happened yesterday." Nathanael winced at the memory. Schoolyard teasing, he could usually handle. But what had happened yesterday? He should've never opened his mouth to talk back. "I-I mean, it's just - everyone was kind of worried. You seemed pretty upset, and I didn't see you for the rest of the day. Where were you?"

"Yeah, I, uh, skipped the rest of the day." he sighed, clutching the strap to his bag so tight his knuckles were white. He'd been humiliated by Chloe, he was never going to live that down. Maybe it'd be best if he just skipped today too...

"Oh. I'm sorry, I should've done more to help."

"You were awesome, actually. Most people don't try to get in Chloe's way when she's messing with people. Thanks for doing that."

"Oh. Um, no problem." Lila offered a small smile before crossing the street. He tagged along behind her. They walked in silence the rest of the way to school. He felt Trixx shift around a bit in his jacket pocket, but ignored it. He'd have to get used to it sooner or later.

As they neared the school, Marinette ran out of her bakery and caught up with them. Lila grinned and waved. "Hey, Marinette!"

"Hi, Lila! Oh, hi, Nathanael! Are you okay after yesterday? I'm so so sorry she tormented you like that!"

"O-Oh! Yeah, no worries, I-I'm fine!" He felt a blush creep up his cheeks as he fumbled over his words. Honestly? Had it been anyone else, Nathanael would have probably told them that he didn't feel like talking about yesterday's events anymore, and leave it at that. But this wasn't just anyone, this was Marinette! "Although, I must admit, I am kind of nervous about school today. Do you think she's still going to go after me today?"

"I dunno, honestly. They got in pretty big trouble for what they did, especially with so many witnesses. They'll probably avoid messing with anyone for at least a week or two. But trust me, if they so much as look at you the wrong way, I'll step up."

"Yeah, me too. I hate Bitch Bourgeois as much as anyone, and I've been here less than a month already." Lila added. Nathanael grinned.

"I might have to use that one next time she tries to mess with me." he said.

"By all means, go ahead, she deserves it."

"Just not in front of Miss Bustier. She'd probably get mad." Marinette added. A sleek silver car pulled up beside them, and Adrien Agreste stepped out onto the sidewalk. Marinette immediately tripped over thin air with a startled squawk, while Lila threw a few flirtatious winks his way with a sultry, 'Hey, Adrien.'

"Hi, Mari! Hi, Lila! What's up-are you okay?" Adrien stepped over to help Marinette up, but Nathanael was already there. "Oh! Hi, Nathanael! Everything alright after yesterday?"

"Yeah, just peachy, don't wanna talk about it." Nathanael grit his teeth.

"Oh, um, okay? Nice hair! What'd you do to it?"

"I knew I'd noticed something different about you!" Marinette added, snapping her fingers. "It looks nice! You can see your face better!" It was true, he assumed. He'd brushed it back a bit, so now his bangs wouldn't hang in his eyes as much. He was just happy she'd noticed.

"Thanks! I just flat ironed it a little."

"No gel? You could've shaped it better."

"Nah, I don't like hair gel. It makes your hair and fingers too greasy for my tastes."

"Well, um, okay. Oh, hey Nino!" Adrien jogged up the stairs to talk to Nino, who was standing at the side of the stairs where he always waited for his best bud. Marinette let out a lovestruck sigh, her hands going to her cheeks.

"He talked to me...!" she said.

"Well, yeah, he talks to everyone." Lila shrugged, watching him chat to Nino as well.

"Eh, not really. He's always either with Nino, Alya, Marinette, or Chloe. He doesn't really seem to bother with anyone else." Nathanael knew he shouldn't be so bitter. Marinette liked someone else, someone twenty thousand leagues above him who he could never compete with, he should just get over his dumb crush and stop hating on the poor guy. He was actually pretty nice. Sure, he didn't talk to anyone outside of his friend group much, but he'd been homeschooled. He probably wasn't used to having so many options of people to talk to.

That's when it hit him. Adrien didn't have any superpowers. Sure, he was a model, but he didn't have bonafide superpowers like he did! Maybe he could transform a few times, prove himself as a hero, and woo Marinette in his hero form! Then, when she's utterly in love with him, he could reveal his identity to her and they could start dating!

'As glad as I am that you finally want to use your powers, I don't think using them to woo a girl is the best use of them.' a voice said in his head.

"Wha - gah!" Nathanael's foot slipped off the steps and he fell backwards, landing in a pathetic red-haired heap. A few of the upperclassmen laughed as they passed by, but that was the least of his concerns.

"Nathanael! Are you alright?!" Marinette ran back down the steps and helped him to his feet, brushing some dust and grit off of his clothes.

"Oh, I'm f-fine, Mari! I need to go real quick, I just remembered something, I'll see you in class!" Before she could reply, he ran up the stairs and into the school, beelining straight to a restroom he knew barely anyone ever used. As soon as the door was shut, Trixx zipped out of his jacket to face him. "Wait, that was you?!"

"Who else did you think it could be?"

"Um, well, I - good question, actually. But you never told me you could talk to me telekinetically!"

"Dooooooo you mean telepathically?"

"Yeah, that!"

"I'm sorry. I must've forgotten. But, you can't tell anyone your true identity, not even Marinette, not even Ladynoir and Chat Bug or whatever you called them."

"Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"Yeah! No one else can know!" He guessed that made sense. Ladybug and Chat Noir always seemed to run off in separate directions as soon as fights ended. They probably didn't know each other's identities, for that matter. And, in all of the comics he'd read, all the heroes either did their best to keep their powers a secret, or bad things would happen to those who they'd told. He definitely didn't want Marinette getting hurt by any akumas. He'd do his best to keep her, and the rest of the city, safe.

"Alright. I understand. Is everything okay in the jacket? We can switch you to the backpack now if you want."

"I'm okay!" Nathanael nodded and headed back out to class.

No one seemed to notice when he came in. The classroom was basically empty, save for Ivan, Mylene, and Alix. Everyone else must be at their lockers. Fair enough. He took out a few sketchbooks and continued working on his drawing of Ladybug and Chat Noir until class started. He hadn't even noticed the classroom filling up.

He raised his hand when his name was called and more or less let himself zone out from there. He was nearly done with this drawing, and if he was lucky there wouldn't be any interruptions, so he might finish it by the end of school! He'd already read the section in the textbook they were working on anyways, so he wasn't concerned about falling behind in Literature at the least.

No interruptions from the teachers or Chloe? He was having an awfully lucky day today! Before he knew it, he was pulling out his lunch to eat! Rose and Juleka joined him at his desk, and they chat a bit while everyone left school for lunch. All of their homes were too inconvenient of a walk to eat there, so they just hung out with each other instead!

"So, what are your plans for today?" Juleka asked them.

"I was gonna try and finish this thing I'm working on," Nathanael pushed his sketchbook over to his two friends. Rose squealed in excitement.

"Oh my gosh, that looks so awesome, Nathan! This must be way more fun than playing the flute every day,"

"Oh, well I'm sure if you enjoy playing the flute then they can be equally fun, so -" wait. Rose has flute lessons. Rose is in the school band. Rose knows how to play the flute. "In fact, I was actually wondering if I could learn how to play the flute. It seems like a pretty cool instrument, personally."

"Ooh! Maybe I could help! Do you have one?"

"N-no…"

"Oh! I have an old one you can borrow! Maybe you can come to my house tomorrow and we can start?"

"That sounds great, thanks!"

"Wow. At this rate, I might have to start playing the flute too." Juleka said.

"What if we all learned instruments and made a little band!"

"That could be fun!" Nathanael smiled to himself as his two friends bounced band names off of each other. Trixx was right. He had come across a stroke of luck.

As soon as he came home, he let himself flop onto his bed with a sigh. Math and Science had been utterly exhausting today, and he needed a break.

Trixx flew out of his jacket and floated above him. "Don't you have a test to study for, Nathanael?"

Nathanael let out a groan as he forced himself to his work desk. He was aware of the test. He didn't want to think about it, but he knew he'd get a worse grade if he didn't study. He hoped to maybe make at least a fifty on this test, a sixty if he was lucky, but he honestly doubted it would happen. And then his parents would have to see him. They only ever took time off work for parent-teacher conferences, always playing the part of the concerned parent who didn't understand why their poor baby wasn't doing well in class, and then immediately after go back to work and abandon him for the next few weeks. He wasn't sure if their disappointment hurt more because he only ever saw them when they were disappointed in him, or because it felt like an act from them.

"Hey," Trixx sat on his head, teasing with strands of his hair. "You need to focus. Here, I'll help you. Just relax and read, you've got this."

He sighed but nodded, bringing his thoughts into order and beginning to read.

Surprisingly, everything was coming nice and clear to him outside of class. It was… weird. Must have been Trixx's doing. Whatever was happening, he sure hoped it lasted long enough for him to remember everything and pass the test. With this strange sudden understanding, he quickly tore through the reading with surprising clarity, and was done with all of the homework he'd been assigned before eight o'clock rolled by.

"Finally, that's over and done with!" he sighed, letting himself sit back in his chair and stretch. Trixx floated in front of him before zipping into his jacket to find the bacon bits.

"So, are we going to transform?" the kwami asked curiously. Nathanael shook his head.

"Not tonight. I don't even know how to hold a flute properly, or play it at all. Maybe after my first lesson with Rose tomorrow."

"...I might be able to change the weapon to something easier to learn to play…"

"Well, please, dear god, don't make it the recorder. I've seen videos of people playing that and only one of them was any cool. "

"...any instruments you do know how to play?"

"No, not really. I know how to use instruments of the arts."

"Instruments of the arts?"

"Y'know; paintbrushes, pencils, pens, rulers -"

"I'm not sending you into combat with a giant ruler, Nathanael." Trixx deadpanned. Nathanael laughed a little. He had to admit it, fighting akumas with a giant ruler did seem a bit silly.

"Alright, alright, no rulers. Hey, I heard piano's pretty easy, maybe I can learn -"

"Piano's not easy. Try again." Trixx sent him a glare that forced Nathanael to look away.

"Um… I guess I'll just do the flute then…"

"That's wonderful! We can transform tomorrow after your first lesson, then?"

"Yeah, sure!" he grinned, pulling out his sketchbook. Trixx rested on his shoulder and watched him draw.

The next morning, Trixx was the first up. Nathanael's phone vibrated on the desk besides him, but he didn't seem to acknowledge it. The kwami sighed and began tugging at his holder's hair.

"Nathanael… Nathanael, get up, it's time for school…" she said, tugging as hard as she could. He shifted slightly.

"Five more minutes, maman…" the boy muttered, lazily waving her off. She pouted a moment before considering… five more minutes really couldn't hurt… With her mind settled, she rested herself back on his head. Just five more minutes. That was all.

"Holy fuck, I'm late!" Nathanael exclaimed, jumping to his feet as he scrambled to get his things together. His alarm had been ringing for twenty minutes already, school was going to start in thirty, and it took fifteen to get over there! How had he missed the alarm?!

A quick glance at his phone revealed that the ringer had been switched off.

Nathanael hated his phone.

He rushed to get his things together, barely touching up his hair and deciding today was definitely a hat day. He tossed on a beanie and went with it. He grabbed his bookbag, grabbed his wallet, grabbed his kwami, and ran out of his apartment in a mad dash to get to school on time.

He arrived out of breath and with maybe two minutes to spare. By this point, Trixx had slipped into his hat, and was out of sight by the time he entered the classroom. The class stared at him as he walked to his desk.

"What happened?" Lila asked as he sat down.

"Woke up late… ran the whole way here…" he managed to say before exhaustion hit him completely and he laid his head on the desk. The cool wood felt like pure bliss against his heated face. Lila giggled and pulled out the items for her notes, resting an arm on the table as she looked him over.

"Nice hat," she said.

"Thanks. My mom knit it for me." Nathanael smiled at the thought. It was one of the last gifts she'd gotten him, one of the few she'd made herself. She gave it to him the year before his sister left for university, back when they were a normal, happy family.

God, he missed his sister.

"Your mom knits?"

"Yeah. Well, she used to. I don't know if she does anymore."

"That's so cool! My mom just… She's too busy to do 'mom stuff,' I guess." she turned her head before Nathanael could say anything, her arms crossed. Class started soon after. Looked like he wouldn't get a chance to ask.

Class, as it were, went by surprisingly fast. It passed as a blur to Nathanael, a whirlwind of note taking and teachers talking, but he couldn't pin down anything specific he'd learned. Which mildly concerned him. Did they have any assignments? Any homework, any new projects, any tests next class? He couldn't remember. Shit. He was so screwed.

Whatever. He'd figure it out later. Their lunch break had started. He'd barely pulled out his lunch when all of a sudden Chloe and Sabrina appeared by his desk.

"Wow. I'm surprised you had the courage to even come to school." Chloe taunted, leaning forwards. "What with that embarrassing little stunt you pulled the other day?"

"Yeah, I decided you weren't worth missing a test for."

"No one wants to see your ugly little villain face here," she scoffed. "You should have just stayed home or something."

"Especially if you're going to wear a hat as ugly as that!" Sabrina laughed. "Who made that for you, your mom?!"

"Yes?" Apparently that was hilarious, because they both started laughing like it was the funniest thing they'd heard all day.

"How pathetic! You don't even know how pathetic that is!"

Nathanael swallowed. He wasn't going to let them get to him this time. Biting remarks tended to cause things to take bad turns when it came to Chloe. He'd have to find another way to defuse the -

"Well, at least he has a mom!" Everyone's jaw dropped to the floor at Lila's comment. then Chloe's eyes narrowed viciously.

Goddammit, Lila.

"Oh yeah?!" Her teeth ground together, she was clearly fighting back tears, but of course she wasn't done with him yet. He wasn't that lucky. "Well, since he's got it so good with his goddamn absentee mother," she reached and grabbed onto his hat.

"Wait, don't -" he began to plead, but it was no use.

"She can make him a new ugly-ass hat!" she yelled, yanking the hat off his head and across the room. Trixx was exposed for the whole class to see.

And not one damn person commented on her. In fact, the whole class was silent for a full five seconds.

The silence was interrupted by Chloe and Sabrina's laughter. "Oh my god, your hair looks hideous!" Sabrina giggled.

"Doesn't it always?" Chloe scoffed, recovering from her laughter rather quickly.

"Yeah, but it looks like a carrot blew its chunks!"

Oh, right. His bedhead. He couldn't help but laugh a little bit.

"I tried to warn you guys. You brought this onto yourselves," he sighed dramatically, getting up to get his hat and hoping Trixx - wherever she was - had managed to hide herself.

"It must suck not having a mom to make sure you look decent enough to leave the house, doesn't it?" Nathanael stiffened just slightly. Though he'd tried not to let it on, all of these comments about his parents never being around cut through him. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Alix casting him a sympathetic look. The pity was almost worse than the teasing itself.

That's when Nathanael realized that maybe, just maybe, Chloe'd lashed out like that because it was close to home for her too.

"You would know better than me," he said, bending to pick up his hat. He turned and looked her in the eye and held the stare. "You've worn black and white stripes every day for the past two years at the least. And you've worn that damn yellow sweater every day this year. I've seen your closet - where something else for a damn change. You look like a bumblebee."

The class oohed dramatically. Sabrina's jaw dropped in shock. Chloe, frankly, was still as a statue in the face of such a call-out. Nathanael grinned, gradually making his way to the door.

"And another thing - you can get your nasty hair washed three times a day all you want, you can wear twenty designer sunglasses at once, you can change your outfit for each class if need be - but whoever's looking you over in the morning is doing a damn horrible job of keeping your hideous-ass attitude in check."

The class was rioting. He even thought he saw Kim toss Max up in the air. Nino was pumping his fist in the air, and Alya was recording. Marinette was laughing her head off. Alix gave him a thumbs up, and Rose and Juleka were hugging. Chloe let out an unholy screech that sounded slightly like a 'Nathanael get your ass over here and take that back!'

For the second time in three days, he left the classroom and darted out of the school.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I'm not sure when the next one will be up, depends on how long it takes me to get ahead again, but I have other fics to enjoy until the next chapter!

Favorites and reviews are always more than welcome! Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a nice day!