Chapter 19: Happy Birthday, Chloé

"Daddy, did you really need to invite her?" Chloé asked in disgust. "We only see each other at the Diamonds' Dances her mother and Mr. Agreste organize every year."

"The Tsurugis are a very rich and influential family, Chloé." The Mayor explained.

"Speaking of rich mothers, will mine show up?" Chloé asked albeit she didn't dare to have much hope.

"Well, she's in New York at this moment but, who knows?" The Mayor asked, afraid Audrey's absence would make Chloé vulnerable to akumatization.

"She probably won't come." Chloé sadly said.

Fearing the worst, the Bourgeois family's butler showed her teddy bear to calm her down. "Thank you, Jean-… thank you."

"You're welcome, Ms. Chloé." The butler replied.

At the day of the party, most guests were apprehensive. "Was it really a good idea to come here?" Nino asked. "What if Chloé is up to her old tricks?"

"I already bought her a gift and came here." Kim said. "I won't say no to the food. And hopefully I'll get a chance to dive at the hotel's pool again."

"After what you did last time?" Chloé asked. "Forget it."

"What happened last time, Nino?" Alya asked her boyfriend.

"Believe me, Alya." Nino replied. "You don't want to know." Hating Chloé or not, every student who knew nodded in agreement.

"Chloé told me the same thing when I asked her." Adrien told Marinette.

"I don't blame her." Marinette replied.

"Congratulations, Chloé. Nice to see you again, Adrien." A new voice said and everyone looked at a girl the other students never saw before.

"Kagami, these are my classmates at Françoise Dupont." Chloé said. "Classmates, this is Kagami Tsurugi."

"Wait a minute, Chloé." Max said. "Do you mean the Tsurugi company that makes self-driving cars?"

"Yes, Max." Chloé answered. "Kagami's mother owns that company."

"Ms. Tsurugi, it's an honor to meet you." Max said.

"Thank you." Kagami uneasily replied.

Unbeknownst to them, a black butterfly was flying nearby, having been instructed by Hawkmoth to wait until someone was upset enough to be akumatized. "Keep waiting, my little akuma." Hawkmoth said. "Even if Chloé Bourgeois does avoid making someone upset enough for an akumatization, something's bound to happen in a party full of teenagers."

Later on, the students started dancing, Adrien Agreste couldn't help but notice his dancing partner was a bit nervous. "What's wrong, Marinette?" Adrien asked her. "Afraid I'm not a good dancer?"

"No, you're great." Marinette quickly replied. "I'm worried Chloé might trip me while I'm not watching and then everyone will laugh at me and then I'll have to leave France, move to China and learn Chinese!"

"Overly complicated, Marinette." Adrien commented. "And Chloé seems to be improving herself."

"For now." Marinette replied.

"Excellent!" Hawkmoth said. "A bullied victim, living in fear of her tormentor. I knew Chloé wouldn't let me down."

"Marinette, Chloé would never do it in front of me." Adrien reassured her. "I'd hate her."

"Phew." Marinette said and the akuma flew away from her without anyone even suspecting it was there."

"Adrien, how could you?" Hawkmoth asked with a frown.

"What about your friends?" Adrien asked. "Didn't you have anyone at school to stand up to Chloé?"

"I had a friend named Socqueline whose last semester ended before you entered, Adrien." Marinette said. "And she was expelled before the end for protecting me from Chloé at the pool."

"I don't recall seeing a pool at school." Adrien commented.

"It wasn't at school." Marinette replied and explained the details.

"No wonder Kim expected Chloé to reciprocate his feelings." Adrien said while trying to figure out if his challenge-obsessed friend really thought Marinette would have liked what he did back then. "I'm just surprised is that Principal Damocles could expel students for things not related to school."

"Chloé threatened the Principal with her father's influence." Marinette sadly replied.

Having overheard that, Chloé felt remorse. "I cannot believe I forgot Soc... whatever Dupain-Cheng's friend's name is." She told Sabrina.

"It's Socqueline, Chloé." Sabrina reminded Chloé.

"Remorse?" Hawkmoth asked. "A great source of misery even coming from such an unlikely source. If at least I could figure out how to weaponize forced forgiveness."

Kim then approached Chloé. "Would you like to dance with me, Chloé?" He asked.

"My pleasure." Chloé replied, fearing a refusal would cause him to be akumatized again. 'I can't believe I'm dancing with him right after being reminded on how I once used him to bully Marinette. Does he even regret it?'

"Another missed opportunity." Hawkmoth was even angrier. "What's wrong with that girl? Why can't she remain the bully she was through her whole life?"

After the dance ended, the Mayor asked the guests to pay attention to him. "Chloé, it's time for you to open your gifts." He told his daughter.

Chloé eagerly opened the gifts and did her best to avoid expressing disappointment over those she didn't like. Unfortunately, the gift chosen by Gabriel Agreste pushed her to her limits. "Adrien, is this your father's idea?" Chloé asked with a frown as the other guests started laughing at her over the teddy bear.

"Yes, Chloé." Adrien uneasily replied.

'Did Mr. Agreste want me to become an akuma?' She wondered. "Adrien, please kindly tell your father he's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous."

"Chloé, I'm sure my father didn't intend for this reaction." Adrien said.

"Adrien, I'm sure I don't believe you." Chloé replied.

"Chloé, you know how my father is." Adrien pleaded. "He probably did the first thing that came to his mind."

"That I can believe, Adrien." Chloé said.

"Can we stop the laughter now?" The Mayor asked. "There's a birthday cake waiting to be eaten."

It worked and the guests started eating the cake. "Good cake, Chloé." Adrien said.

"Alya's mother baked it, Adrien." Chloé said.

"I thought you'd ask Marinette's parents." Adrien commented.

"The Dupain-Chengs might be good for the occasional macaroon whenever I want some variety but I usually prefer stuff from the hotel's chefs." Chloé explained.

After the party ended, Hawkmoth recalled his akuma, upset he couldn't akumatize anyone.

"Chloé, you should apologize." Tikki advised her wielder.

"I don't even know where Socqueline lives nowadays, Tikki." Chloé replied.

"While you should apologize to her as well, I meant you should apologize to Marinette." Tikki stated.

"You're right, Tikki." Chloé sadly agreed. "Tomorrow I'll go talk to her."

"While you're at it, try to talk her parents into selling cheese." Plagg said.

"Plagg." Sabrina said.

"No harm in trying." Plagg shrugged. "Unless they only deal with processed cheese."

"Anyway, Chloé, here's my birthday gift for you." Tikki said and then spat what looked to be half of a yin-yang wheel except it's red instead of black or white. "It's a kwagatama and connects you to previous wielders of the Ladybug Miraculous."

"I'll wear it like a pendant, Tikki." Chloé replied.

"Will I get one as well to meet your previous kittens, Plagg?" Sabrina asked.

"Give me enough camembert and we'll talk about it, Sabrina." Plagg replied.

The next day, Chloé and Sabrina went to Tom and Sabine's bakery. "You want to apologize to Marinette?" Sabine Cheng asked in surprise. "It's not a trick, is it?"

"Mrs. Cheng, you may keep an eye at us if you want." Chloé replied.

Feeling reassured, Sabine led the two girls to Marinette's room, where Chloé apologized for the spider-related prank at the pool. "Uh, okay." Marinette uneasily replied. "Apology accepted."

"Thank you, Dupain-Cheng." Chloé replied in relief. "Now, where can I find Socqueline? I'd like to apologize for getting her in trouble over it."

Marinette frowned. "Nice try, Chloé. I don't trust you but I will forward her a message."

"Thank you for the offer, Dupain-Cheng, but I would rather apologize in person." Chloé replied.

"I'll talk to her and see if she agrees to meet you, Chloé." Marinette firmly replied.

"Nice dolls, Marinette." Sabrina commented upon seeing hand-made dolls of Superbug, Catgirl, Lady Wi-fi, Bubbler, and Evillustrator.

"Marinette made them to help entertain the little kids she babysits, Sabrina." Sabine commented.

End chapter

Author's Note: At this point, this should be Vanisher and Antibug's chapter but neither of them would be akumatized here and, since Chloé's birthday isn't established in canon as far as I know...

Answer to Miraculous Lady (Chapter 1 Guest): I respect your opinion. People have different interpretations for Chloé.