When Himawari stands in front of the school's gate, she realizes that all of her confidence suddenly vanishes in thin air. The pressure of being the new student at Françoise Dupont High School is more annoying than she originally had thought. Then again, who doesn't feel the pressure when they first step foot into a new environment, let alone, a whole new society?
Himawari Ono, a full-blooded Japanese, immigrated to France a couple of months ago. She lands in this country due to her parent's pressure as they, or to be more specific, her mother wants her to study in France. Her mother, a beautiful woman with both Japanese and French background, has wished her daughter to come to France and study till she graduates from university, then she can decide on whether she wants to return back to her motherland.
Under her parents' pressure, Himawari accepted the 'offer' and moved to France to live with her aunt. She left everything behind, her family, her friends and all the best memories she has in Japan to start a new life in Paris, the city of love…
Touching her long black hair, Himawari tries to look the best as she believes that the first impression is always the most important aspect when starting on a new journey. Today, she wears her old school uniform as a representation of her own culture, the uniform has been a part of her life and it will always be. She wears her long black hair in a side braid with a blue ribbon, and bright amethyst eyes staring at the door of her new classroom. Yes, just in the next few seconds, she will be introduced to this new class and she can feel the stress just keep pushing on her shoulders as her head runs through a few bad scenarios that can happen to her.
"Oh, hello there, you must be the new student in our class, Himawari Ono?"
The tall woman with fair skin and reddish-orange hair smiles at her and Himawary just nods her head.
"How lovely, I'm Caline Bustier, your homeroom teacher. You may address me as Ms. Bustier." she looks at her new student "Come now, my dear. I'll introduce you to our class."
Himawari bits her lower lips as she follows Ms. Bustier into the classroom, tries to ignore the obvious stares of her soon-to-be fellow classmates, and stands right next to the young woman. Besides the curious eyes, she can also sense a weird negative look from one or two students in the class, most prominently the blonde hair girl who sits right at the front desk. Ms. Bustier puts down her teaching material before smiling at her students.
"Class, I'd like to introduce you to our new member, Himawari Ono."
"Oh wow, a Japanese!"
"Are you Japanese?"
Many of her classmates begin to bring up the questions, to which she just softly replies with a yes or no. Don't get her wrong, she enjoys the attention but at the same time, the pressure does not allow her to answer her classmates' questions in full sentences.
"Class, she's new in the city so please, welcome her with all your heart. Himawari, you can sit next to Marinette and Alya. Please raise your hand so she can see you, Marinette."
The young girl awkwardly nods her head and strolls down to her seat, realizing the intense glare that she's been receiving from the blonde as well as the brunette at the back of the classroom. Settle down onto her seat, the girl named Marinette smiles kindly at her and holds out her hand.
"Hi, my name is Marinette, this is Alya. Please to meet you."
"Oh, hi. It's my pleasure. I'll be in your care from now on."
She smiles and shakes the bluenette's hand, as well as Alya's hand while trying to ignore the negative feeling from some fellow classmates. Marinette, realizing the situation, just pats her shoulder and reassures her that everything will be fine, telling her to ignore them.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the class representative, is a cheerful girl with a passion for fashion. The bluenette is very creative, not only in her designs but also in her plans and other activities, according to Alya. And she's the daughter of the best bakers in town, the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, which gives her another plus when it comes to making macarons. It's also stated by Alya that she's hopelessly in love with the guy who sits right in front of them, Adrien Agreste, which makes the bluenette blushes madly while Himawari just giggles in response.
Alya Césaire, Marinette's best friend and the head of the Françoise Dupont High School's daily blog. A self-proclaimed journalist with a passion for her job who loves investigating and writing news about the school. The brunette is currently in a relationship with Adrien's best friend, Nino, which gives Marinette another perk as they always set up these two together.
"Oh…how adorable…"
"Alya! You don't have to say that!"
"Come on, Marinette! Himawari doesn't seem to mind about your little crush, right?"
"Not at all! You guys remind me of my friends back in Japan. They kinda go through a similar situation…" she smiles.
Himawari looks at them, her eyes shining brightly which causes both of the girls to stare at her in awe expression. Marinette also notices her outfit and lets out a squeal of excitement, it's the first time she sees a real Japanese school uniform and she has to draw so inspiration from this outfit for her new designs. However, putting everything aside, the bluenette continues to keep her focus on the board, or maybe Adrien because she begins to drift away into her own La la land with all the weird imagination of how she and the blonde boy will end up together as a couple.
"Is she…always like this…?" Himawari laughs awkwardly at her new friend's expression.
"Girl, she's hopeless."
After 4 classes come to the lunch break and sweet Marinette has invited her to join them for lunch. Lucky for them, Nino asks to tag along which causes the bluenette to blush madly again as Adrien will also come with them. They go to the cafeteria and choose a spot before getting their lunch while Himawari takes out her own bento box.
"Himawari! That lunch box is so cute!"
"Thank you, I made it myself." she smiles "Would you like to try some?"
"Can I?" Alya looks at her with sparkles in her eyes, and open her mouth widely when the raven head feeds her her food "Oh my god, that's the tastiest piece of fry chicken I've ever tried!"
"Thank you."
She eats her bento box in silence, observing the scene in front of her. Marinette is absolutely trying her best to not be a klutz while Adrien, the pretty face boy, just keeps on going with the flow without even realizing how head over heels the bluenette is for him. Alya talks about her daily blog and some of the news that's been spreading around the school lately while Nino is focusing on his phone, checking out the new album of Jagged Stone.
"Hey, we haven't been able to properly introduce ourselves to you. My name is Adrien and this is Nino, my best friend." the blonde boy with emerald eyes smiles charmingly.
Himawari responds with a giggle because before she can even open her mouth, Marinette is having a hard time trying to process the handsome smile of her prince charming, which causes her to fall on the floor. Adrien does not fully understand what's going on, guessing that Marinette is just being the clumsy little girl with great talent, and holds out a hand to help his friend. The bluenette shutters out a thank you, trying her best to stay calm and grabbing onto his helping hand.
"Are they…"
"Yeah, you can say that." Nino responds "But it's kinda hard because Adrien is like a baby bird that needs a lot of training while Marinette…"
"Marinette is a hopeless girl who doesn't know how to act in front of her crush, so yeah…"
The raven smiles, amazed at their responses as well as Marinette's awkward actions towards Adrien just to say thank you. Her lunchtime may seem happy and all sunshine but as soon as a hand slams right in front of her face, Himawari startles. The hand belongs to Chloé Bourgeois, the 'best girl and ultimate bully' of the school. The blond sneers at her, not taking Adrien's words of 'don't be mean to Himawari' and begins to mock her in front of the whole cafeteria.
"Has anyone told you how ugly your eyes are? Ughhh, Japanese people are so ugly with their tiny eyes…"
"Uhm, you're talking to me?"
"Well, duh…who else I'm talking to? Obviously, you're not normal because you can't even hear my sentence properly, right?"
"Chloe, stop! She's our friend, you can't be mean to her." said Adrien as he looks at his so-called childhood friend.
"Adrien, darling! You shouldn't sit near her, she might bring some weird tiny eye disease to infect all of us!" Chloe keeps on rambling "Also, this hair color is sooooo last decades. And your outfit is so boring that I can't even look at you properly."
Himawari is in shock at what this girl has to say to her, unable to respond or even process all of her words. Alya is in rage mode, ready to fight back immediately while Marinette is not ready to step down from this fight for her new friend. Amethyst eyes stare at her, this blond girl dares to insult her in public like that? No way she's gonna sit here and say nothing because she's not having any of her words.
But before she can stand up for herself, a hand touches her shoulder, and Himawari's body freezes. Behind her is a tall, lean-built boy with black hair that dyes in an aqua color at the end.
"What's going on here?"
"Luka!" Marinette squeals in excitement and immediately, Himawari notices the annoyed expression that Adrien puts on his face before masking it with a pleasing smile.
"You seem to have a lot of things to say, Ms. Bourgeois. But you do realize that it's lunchtime and people are minding their own business, except for you, right?"
"I… I…" she shutters, completely unaware of the annoying expressions that other students have while she's throwing a fit at Himawari "Ugh…just eat your stupid lunch box, new girl!"
With that, she leaves the scene with Sabrina, her only friend and follower. Himawari's eyes are still following the blond, still trying to process all of her words because she needs to, in order to respond to her silly actions. But Marinette has rested her hand on the raven's shoulder, reassuring her that the bully won't come to her anytime soon with Adrien and everyone here.
"That silly girl, ugh! I swear if I even hear her voice again, I will shove this piece of chicken nugget into her mouth to shut her up!" said Alya "Can you believe her?"
"It's okay, Alya. I don't really care about what she said." Himawari turns to her savior "And thank you, for helping me…"
Luka Couffaine, an upper-class student, smiles at the petite girl in front of him which makes Himawari blushes as she finally sees his full appearance.
Oh… Why is my heart beating so fast?
Luka turns to Marinette and asks for his little sister, Juleka Couffaine. Himawari, for some reason, can't take her eyes off him. Luka seems to realize that because he immediately turns to her and holds out his hand, smiling charmingly at the raven head.
"You're new here, right? My name is Luka Couffiane. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Ah..I.. Uhm…" she startles a little bit, reaches out and grabs his hand "Y-yes, my name is Himawari Ono. Thank you, again, for helping me."
Oh…His hand is so big and warm…
She looks at him with a beaming expression, beautiful amethyst eyes shining brightly as she takes an interest in the new guy and smiles gently at him. Alya watches the scene with an amused face, she knows that look, that's the look that Marinette wears whenever Adrien is near. This is interesting…
The brunette nudges her best friend and casts her a look as Marinette focuses on the scene right in front of her eyes. She giggles, unable to hold back her excitement, it seems like someone is growing a small crush on the Kitty Section's guitarist, Luka Couffaine. The older boy smiles and waves at the band before leaving to find his sister, Juleka. Alya comes up to Himawari, giving her the 'I-know-that-face' look, and smirks like someone has let the cat out of the bag.
"You girls better hurry. We're having Ms. Mendeleiev's class after lunch." Nino calls out "Better get to class soon before she comes."
"Got it, see you guys in class!" the brunette responds "Right, Marinette? Say goodbye to your 'good friend' Adrien!"
"O-oh, gooddye, I mean, goo-goodbye, Adrien…" she waves heavily and the blond boy returns it with a smile, completely oblivious of her affection.
Himawari giggles at the scene while Alya describes it as 'the adorable but dorky' scene and turns her attention to the raven head.
"Say, Himawari…"
"Yes?" she raises her brows at her friend's weird accent "Is something wrong?"
"I saw how you stare at Juleka's brother, Luka. Care to explain what's going on?"
"I…wha…?" Himawari intensively stares at Alya, a blush appears across her face "I…I mean…I…"
Marinette and Alya high-five as if they just found a bag full of gold. Well, they can't deny that many girls feel the same way about Luka, he is quite popular at school after all. Juleka in their class might be a shy, quiet girl but Luka, well, he's outgoing, kind and always wear a calm expression, the typical 'cool guy' that leads the story in almost every comic book and manga series. He and his sister are both very talented musicians, with Luka as the guitarist and Juleka playing the bass in their own band, the Kitty Section. The older boy has looks and skills, he's a smart guy and very mature, always giving good advice and always there for his friends.
"Well, I can see why he's popular…" Himawari looks at Marinette while listening to her rambling about how amazing Luka is "He's very attractive if you ask me."
"Right?" the bluenette smiles "I think that you will be his perfect match."
"Huh? W-what?" the raven startles again "Marinette, I don't even know him. We just met, remember?"
"Then you should get to know him more, I think you both are very cute with each other."
Alya face-palms, finding whatever her best friend was saying is complete nonsense. Don't get her wrong, she loves Marinette but the girl who can't even talk to her crush properly is now doing love therapy for Himawari? The new girl better not take her advice seriously or else…
"Well, maybe after you can talk to Adrien properly…"
"W-what? I…I talk to him…wha…?"
And Himawari laughs along with Alya at the shuttered Marinette, unable to hold back their amusement at how adorable the bluenette acts when they mention her crush. Himawari notices the black and blue locks standing at the corner with Juleka and Rose, realizing the similarity between him and his sister. She also notices the starings and gigglings of some girls near her, talking about how amazing the older boy looks. Oh, he's indeed very popular…