Picture Retake Day goes off without a hitch... or does it?
Juleka stared at her own reflection for what seemed like the nine-hundredth time that morning, studying the pores on her face.
It had been hard to get to sleep the night before, and after tossing and turning in her bed for hours she finally got up just before dawn. Her mother had been surprised, to say the least - but a cup of hot coffee and a kiss to her forehead was her encouragement to start the day off right before she headed up to the deck.
Luka had gotten up just a little while ago, she thought. She could hear her older brother shuffling around.
Squinting her eyes, she pressed a thumb against a suspiciously-pink spot on her face. Was that the beginning of another pimple?
"Morning, Jules," Luka yawned as he passed by her, patting her on the back as he grabbed his favorite jacket.
"Morning," she greeted quietly, glancing up at him in the mirror before going back to her face.
"You're up early. Something on your mind?" He commented, leaning against the doorway.
She didn't answer right away, smoothing down her bangs and baring her teeth at the mirror to inspect her gums. Good, nothing in her teeth.
Finally, she straightened up and turned with a shrug. "Couldn't sleep."
Luka inspected her, eyes soft with concern, as he took in her outfit. "You look nice. Are you nervous for retakes?"
She shrugged again, less convincingly this time.
"I'm sure everything's gonna go smoothly this time. Plus, you have Rose and Marinette to support you, right?" With a gentle hum, he grabbed his guitar from his bed and winked. "So don't worry. I have a feeling you'll have a good day today."
As her brother headed upstairs, she huffed, and her bangs fluttered with the force of her breath. "Easy for you to say. Your only problem is noise."
"How do I look?"
Felix looked up from his button-up to see his cousin in... oh wow, what a surprise.
"The same tee and jeans you wear every other day?" He questioned incredulously.
"It's not the same," the younger insisted, pointing to the stripes. "The top stripe is an inch thinner than on my other shirts."
"Oh, yes, my mistake." With a sigh, he turned back to the mirror, smoothing down the front of his own shirt before grabbing his bag. "Well? Do I look... Adrien enough?"
"I mean, I guess." Adrien shrugged, an odd expression on his face. "Your hair is different."
"Of course it is. Yours is messy."
"It is not! It's..." he trailed off, staring at the wall as he tried to think. "Oh, what does Nathalie always say about it...?"
"She'll say anything if it comes from your father," his cousin snidely remarked, walking for the door. "C'mon, we don't want to be late. It's already a pain that we have Vincent taking the photos again. The last thing I want is for him to tattle to Uncle - or worse, Nathalie."
"She's not that bad! I don't know what your deal is with her, but she's always been nice to me!" Adrien exclaimed, racing after him with coat in hand.
Unbeknownst to the two of them, a little black cat followed closely behind...
"Okay," Marinette began firmly, pacing back and forth in front of the sentibeing. "I know we've already gone over what to do while I'm at school, but today I'm expecting at least one akuma. In that event, I want you to hide until I come home, okay? No lounging around my room in case it gets destroyed, no standing on the balcony so people won't mistake you for an akuma... just wait for me to get home."
Citron nodded their head, and Tikki gave them an amused smile.
"I know the secret's already out, but..." she hesitated. "I'll try to appear as Ladybug, just so you know a hundred percent that it's actually me and not some... freaky akuma clone thing. That happens, right?"
"I've seen it often enough for it to be a concern," Tikki offered with an affirming nod. "Marinette, you don't have to worry about a thing. Citron isn't a true sentibeing - you might as well treat them like a normal person."
"Except for the fact they can't speak? Or communicate?"
The ladybug heaved a tiny sigh, shaking her head. "Yes, even though they can't communicate."
"Marinette!" Sabine called from below, catching their collective attentions. "You've got some friends here to walk you to school!"
Citron stared at the trapdoor, before turning their gaze to the pigtailed girl. Silently, they gestured with their gelatinous limbs.
The noirette blinked, then a giggle bubbled up in her throat. "Okay, okay," she answered in amusement, grabbing her purse as Tikki zipped inside, "I'm going!"
The sentibeing nodded firmly, pacified, and patted the top of her head before going back to sit on the chaise.
"Alright class, line up, please!" Miss Bustier called, beckoning her students to a corner of the courtyard.
Alya held a hard stare on the back of Chloe's head as the blonde practically popped out of her seat and scurried to the front, Sabrina on her heels. Marinette and Rose exchanged glances and Rose wrapped a hand around Juleka's arm to tug her closer. Alix stood in front of the group of girls, arms folded as she fell in line behind Kim.
"It's here," Juleka thought desperately as she glanced up to the walkways above. Her brother had just came out of his classroom and sent her a wave before walking off. "Please, please let me just get a good picture this time..."
"Alright, same formation as last time." Principal Damocles instructed, gesturing to the bench. "And let's try to hurry today. Luckily Adrien's father was kind enough to lend us his best photographer this year instead of the school having to pay for one ourselves, and the last thing we want is to waste his valuable time."
Marinette could've sworn his gaze lingered on her and Juleka longer than the others, and she clenched her fists but remained silent.
"Okay, look here, children," Vincent instructed, readying his camera.
A certain Ladybug and Cat watched from above.
"As much as I love catching up with you, Sugarcube, I'd much rather be in my Chosen's comfy pocket," the lazy old kwami drawled as he leaned against his companion.
"Oh hush, you stinky liar. You'd rather hang out with me than be in a stuffy little pocket. Besides, I made a promise," she primly answered, her eyes never straying on the group of teenagers.
"To yourself?" He balked. "Tikki, I thought you were selfless!"
"You know what I mean." Rolling her eyes with a huff, her wings began to flutter and her eyes caught a subtle glow.
"And...!"
Just as the photo was taken, a foot caught the toe of Juleka's converse and she let out a loud yelp of pain, stooping below the ones sat in front of her.
Miss Bustier and Principal Damocles both turned to the injured girl, worried, while Vincent squinted at his camera screen, seemingly baffled at what was there.
"Juleka, what happened?" Bustier asked.
"Someone stepped on her foot," Rose offered, casting a nasty look to a stoic Chloe.
"Chloe," Bustier chided gently, a disappointed frown settling on her face.
"I didn't do anything," the heiress insisted, finally looking over with an incredulous expression.
A heavy sigh made several heads turn back to the photographer.
"No good," he finally lamented bitterly. "It's too blurry. I'll have to take another."
Marinette gave the blonde the stink-eye as Rose helped Juleka stand back up. She brushed the water welling up in her eye from the stinging pain with a whispered, "Your eyeliner's fine."
The blonde simply ignored her, looking down her nose at the photographer.
"Okay, here we go again, make sure to smile this time!" Vincent instructed, raising the camera. "Smile like your mama just made your favorite dessert!"
The camera clicked, and Juleka held her breath. Next to her, Rose squeezed her hand and Marinette took a moment to glance up at her.
Then a beaming smile spread across the man's face. "Beautiful! Magnifique! See for yourself, Monsieur!"
Damocles walked over to peek at the screen, and nodded in approval. "Wonderful photo! Children, would you like a look?"
Rose had a sharp intake of breath and began bouncing in her spot, shaking her best friend's arm.
"I suppose they can, but only for a minute," Vincent warned. "I still have another class to photograph."
Chatter filled the courtyard as the students came over to look at the picture.
Juleka resisted the urge, staying behind even as Rose skipped over to look.
"Are you alright?" Miss Bustier's grounding hand on her shoulder made her look up into the redhead's worried face.
"I'm... I'm okay, Miss." She shook her head. "Just tired."
"Juleka!" Rose hollered, startling Mylene and nearly bowling over Nathanael as she ran back to her. "Your curse! It's broken! You're in the picture!"
"What?" She squeaked, letting the blonde grab her wrist and pull her over.
"You're too soft," Plagg commented as they watched the happy teenage girls jump around in a hug.
"You're too crass," Tikki retorted, nudging him in the side. "I rarely ever use my power anymore. I wanted to be able to do this much for them."
The Cat sent her a knowing look. "For them, or for her?"
She didn't answer, closing her eyes and taking a breath.
"I know, I know, sorry," he muttered as he rested his chin atop his paw. "Sore spot, I get it."
"I won't lose her this time." The Ladybug's voice was quiet, quiet and determined. "Too many of my ladybugs perished because they drowned in their own despair. I don't want the same to happen to such a bright little girl like her."
Plagg heaved a sigh, stretching out his legs and resting against her side. "You worry too much about humans, Tikki. It's humans who have misused our power for countless millennia."
"What, like the one who chose you?"
It was Plagg's turn to be silent. He cast her a halfhearted glare and huffed. "Low blow."
"And yet we still feel the pull from that particular wish as if it were yesterday." Her antennae reared back, akin to his own ears. "I don't blame you for what happened, but we need to make sure that doesn't happen again."
"I know, I'm working on it. Geez. You nag me more than you nag Barkk."
"Barkk is too youthful and exciteable. You, on the other hand, are as old as I." She booped him on the nose. "You should know better."
"You're asking too much. Is it too much for an old cat to be able to sit back and relax with a wheel of cheese?" Plagg harrumphed dramatically.
"Chloe, what the heck was that?" Alya demanded as soon as they were back in the classroom.
"I told you, I didn't do anything this time." She retorted with a scoff. "Do you honestly think I'd ruin the photo like that on purpose?"
"You definitely didn't seem to care about excluding Juleka or me from the picture last week!" Marinette added.
"But I didn't ruin the photo," the heiress repeated slowly. "Geez, Dupain-Cheng, aren't you supposed to speak French?"
"That's enough, girls," Miss Bustier spoke up from the doorway sternly. "Marinette, can I speak with you for a second?"
Marinette closed her mouth and looked quizzically to Alya, who shrugged in response. In her seat, Chloe triumphantly smiled and made a show of getting out her book and pencil from her bag.
As soon as Marinette was outside with the teacher and the door was closed, she folded her arms.
"Marinette, I know you and Chloe have a history together, but now that you're the class representative you need to set an example."
"But- Miss Bustier, I've been trying to!" She exclaimed. "Chloe is always horrible to everyone, and I try not to say anything but the last thing I want is for her to hurt someone the way she hurt Rose last year!"
Miss Bustier's shoulders stiffened, and she coughed awkwardly into her fist. "Y- yes. Well. I assure you that she won't be pulling any stunts like that this year. After the near-expulsion she faced, she's been doing a lot better so far, hasn't she?"
"Barely," the girl retorted.
"Marinette, I know you don't like her, and I know she doesn't like you. But is it too much to ask that you try to be civil?"
The noirette stared defiantly at the redheaded teacher. "If she would stop bullying my friends, I'd certainly try."
"As the class representative, it's your responsibility to show your classmates the correct way to approach difficult situations. Instead of antagonize Chloe over a perceived incident-"
"Based off of what she's done before, is it really a stretch to think she stomped on Juleka's foot?"
Miss Bustier took a breath. "Ivan already apologized to her for accidentally stepping on her toes during the picture."
Beat.
"Wait, huh? That was... Ivan?" The girl stared dumbfoundedly at the window, and then back to her teacher. "... Oh."
"See?" She gently responded. "If you had kept your temper and listened to me, I could have explained what happened. Next time, instead of jumping to conclusions, I want you to listen to both sides before making judgement. I really do want a harmonious class this year - and I know I can count on you to help me."
That did make sense.
With a sigh, Marinette nodded and forced a smile. "You're right, Miss. I'm sorry for not listening to you."
"Apology accepted. I know how hard it is to keep your cool when it's a friend who was hurt." Miss Bustier opened the door and gently pressed against her back. "I'd like for you to apologize to Chloe next."
The pigtailed girl grit her teeth together. "... Sure."
As she walked back in, she stopped by Chloe's desk and heaved a sigh. "Chloe, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions and accusing you of hurting Juleka."
Chloe paused, looking at their teacher incredulously before turning to Marinette with a smug smile. "I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear your mumbling."
"I said," Marinette emphasized in a louder tone, "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. I now know you didn't hurt Juleka during the retake."
"Maybe a little louder," she goaded.
Marinette could feel her face growing hot with anger.
"Chloe," Miss Bustier started.
"Okay, fine, apology accepted." The blonde huffed, going back to her work. "Stop stinking up my desk with that awful cheap perfume already."
Rolling her eyes, the pigtailed girl did just that, going back to her desk and sliding into her seat.
The edge of a card peeked out of Chloe's book for just a second as she put it back in her bag, and she tucked it back in between the pages with a forceful thumb as the bell rang.
All of a sudden, a screech rang out from the courtyard, startling the room out of their seats.
"Akuma!" Sabrina exclaimed, catching everyone's attention.
"Get under your desks, quickly," Miss Bustier ordered. "Don't come out until-"
"If I can't have a good hair day, nobody can!" A voice hollered from the courtyard.
All of a sudden a flash went off from outside the classroom, blinding the windows for a moment before all was quiet from below.
"... uh, Miss...?" Rose piped up nervously.
"What on earth was that?" She balked, making her way to the door. "Stay here. I'm going to see what just happened."
"Uh, Miss...!" Adrien started, looking panicked for all of half a second - but Felix gripped his hand and held him firmly in his spot with a shake of his head.
The door shut.
The clock ticked on.
The ladybug and cat squirmed in their spots.
A/N: I was originally gonna keep this a one-parter, but then I realized I had an akuma to fit in (since Juleka never got akumatized and someone else did in her place, for reasons that will be revealed a little later), so here you go: another two-parter!
Anyway, please tell me what you thought!