Here it is, the thirty-seventh full chapter of Miraculous Quirks released at the right time for the one guaranteed per week and the last to be released at GMT not EST. This is the final chapter in a mini three chapter arc between the final exam and the Summer Camp arcs and this a pure fanfic exclusive chapter for y'all to enjoy. Also, I am fully caught up with the manga so I know about what just happened there and will incorporate it as it develops in canon but for now I am not going to address it until more info is revealed. However, that is all the administrative stuff I have for now though and as there are no questions or guest reviews to address here, though do keep the reviews coming as I enjoy hearing from y'all, I will leave this pre chapter note off here. That means that it is time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the 37th full chapter of Miraculous Quirks.

Disclaimer: I do not own either of these great works of fiction.

Chapter 37: New Girls, Old Tradition

"Alright this is the place." Momo said as she led the other girls, all in their casual clothes, into the building that was the Guardian agency in Tokyo only the residential side nearer the station they'd just come out of. "It's the right address and I looked up the agency before we left so I know it's right."

The other girls just nodded as they walked in and other than Momo marveled at the large, marble clad, western style entrance area. A reception desk was off to the side, and they knew that they had to check in as they needed permission from the desk to use the correct elevator according to Marinette.

It was a few days after the swimming day that had been fun even if Mineta and Kaminari had caused a change of plans and now all the girls were going to hang out just them like they had originally planned. This time however they were in Tokyo visiting Marinette at her place here as it was away from the school and Musutafu so they could be away from everything, especially Mineta, for a bit. They had the training camp coming up soon that they were excited for, but this was a moment where they could actually just be high school girls.

Marinette had texted them after the swimming day with the address and the best day to come and all the girls had agreed that it worked for them. As such, they'd gathered at the station today, taken the train with Momo insisting on paying for all of them as it wasn't much, and were now here. It was something all were looking forward to as it was the first time that the girls got to hang out alone without the guys present.

It also helped that it was Marinette calling it as a way for them to all hang out and deepen their bonds. None of the other girls could explain it but since the USJ attack it had become clear that Marinette was a natural leader. It was a mix of her charm, training, skills, experience and something else the others couldn't quite quantify and of the girls she'd quickly become the figure head for them. It also didn't hurt that Marinette was the only one of them to face Shigaraki in the USJ or reach the semifinals of the Sports Festival.

She wasn't the only one in the class who had a beacon that others followed and some of the girls acknowledged the other two that had emerged over the course of the semester. The big one was Midoriya and mainly that was Uraraka though she refused to think on what Aoyama had said on that front, but even if none would admit it Bakugo had his own charisma that led some. Sure, Ida and Agreste both had their own ways, the latter more so after the internships as he'd been through something big on his, but it was really Marinette, Midoriya, and Bakugo who drove the class in their own ways.

"We're here to see Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Momo said as she approached the front desk and soke to the attendant there. "She's in the penthouse I believe."

"Yes you would be her school friends I take it." The man said looking up at her and then down at a list. "Let's see, it should be Momo Yaoyorozu, Ochaco Uraraka, Kyoka Jiro, Toru Hagakure, Mina Ashido and Tsuyu Asui, right?"

"Correct." Momo said as each girl nodded at their name being called out.

"I just need to see your student IDs to confirm that you are who you say you are." The man said and Momo produced hers at once.

The others followed suit and the man quickly checked them before nodding. He was clearly satisfied so they could go forward.

"Those can't be faked so you all check out." The man said gesturing to the corridor of elevators deeper in the room and pressing a button. "Last one, it's the only one that services the penthouse. Let Miss Dupain-Cheng know you are going up, she's expecting you."

"Of course." Momo said with a nod as Ochaco pulled out her phone and texted Marinette. "Come on ladies, let's go."

They all nodded as they followed Momo to the elevators and to the last one. It opened as they arrived, and they entered. The moment the last one, Hagakure, was in, the doors closed, and they saw one button on it for the penthouse. Momo pressed it and the elevator rose taking them to the last of their group and the place she was staying while she was studying in Japan.


"They're here." Marinette called out after receiving Ochaco's text and getting off one of the sofas in the sunken living room area. "I'm going to meet them in the entrance. Tikki, Longg, you two should hide."

"On it Marinette." Tikki said as she and Longg, who'd been hanging and helping with everything, flew at the wall that led to Marinette's room and phased through it.

"Everything's ready Marinette but Mage instructed me to meet them and make it clear that I'm around to supervise just in case." The woman at the island bar said as she finished preparing the selection of food for the girls. "Not that I won't leave y'all to your own devices."

"I know Gem, thank you." Marinette said to the Guardian who'd been temporarily assigned to them while mage was 'away'.

Gemstone, or Gem as she preferred to be called, was one of the most recent Guardians having ascended to their ranks sometime in the 1500s after a long time a major in the ranks of the Guardians' followers, the rank from which one could ascend. Marinette didn't understand the whole structure yet, but Mage had said he'd explain it more when the Work Studies came around as they'd have to understand it then.

As for Gem herself, she was an interesting character Marinette had learned though a fun one at the same time. She was the Guardian of Minerals with a preference for precious gems mainly diamonds not just for their look but their strength and toughness.

She'd come right after the semester ended so that Mage could introduce her before he took his leave to go back to Europe, a cover while he spent the time upgrading their Miraculouses which required a trip to their point of creation in Tibet and a lot of energy and concentration to do so. His cover for his absence was that he was using the break and summer camp to head to London with Marinette and Adrien's costumes to get them serviced by Technus there. However, they needed a legal guardian while Mage was away so in came Gem.

It was decided that they needed one with ties to Francois Dupont that were recent and who was female as it had just been Mage so having a woman would balance it out a bit and make it seem like they were thinking of someone who could help Marinette on her level. The best person for that was Gem as she was officially listed as a Swedish hero, not a lie as she actually was born in what would become modern day Sweden, and had been the female Guardian at Francois Dupont for the last 5 years as part of a teaching exchange with the top school in Stockholm.

As with all Guardians, Gem had a cover for her powers as a Quirk that was officially listed as Mineral Mastery. Under her cover, Gem could create, manipulate, and control anything that would be classified as a mineral in a solid state though it had to be pure for her to control it. In addition, her creation part had to come from her skills to add to it as a limiter.

Gem herself was a fun a lively woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties with blonde hair that fell down just past her shoulders in a loose fashion, muted green eyes, and pale skin. One look at her and it was easy to assume that she was of Nordic origin, which she was being the illegitimate daughter of the Norse goddess Freya and the roman god Pluto.

She was very clear on her father that it was Pluto, his roman version, and not Hades the Greek one as there were key differences and her affinity with minerals that led to her becoming their Guardian stemmed from her father, which could only come from his roman interpretation apparently. How that pairing happened was beyond Marinette and she'd long stopped questioning the nature of the Guardians she met given Mage's parents.

As with all Guardians, Gem wore the standard outfit of jeans and a single-color t-shirt with shoes of her choosing, in her case a pair of white, heeled boots that added a bit to her height. She was a little different in her style though as her jeans were studded with actual diamonds, though she'd call them rhinestones if asked, in strange patterns that honored her parents. Her shirt as well was the color on an uncut diamond and seemed to sparkle in the light as she moved.

Then there were her weapons which were some of the oddest in the Guardians and that was saying something seeing as Marinette had seen Mage's. Like Mage, Gem wore her weapons on her forearms that hid her tattoo, but they weren't gauntlets but rather a set of leather bracers of a strange design. At least her Guardian knife was normal enough and kept in a sheath on the back of her belt under her untucked shirt though Marinette knew that the handle was a single, specially cut, diamond. The girl really liked her diamonds.

As for her main weapons, they started with leather finger slots for her middle and ring fingers before going over her palms and the backs of her hands and into to main bracer that went from just below her wrist to just before her elbows. In the bracers were a rings of long, sparkling, sharp, spikes of pure diamond she made and placed in the magazine like holders around her bracers and were about as long as them. Then, using a contraption on the inside of the bracer she could either fire the spikes from the top over the backs of her hands or lock them in position from the under part so that she had forearm length needles of diamonds for close quarters fighting.

Marinette had no idea why she'd gone with such a complicated and convoluted weapon system, but Mage had told her that all Guardians chose their own weapons to fit what was best for them and this was what Gem liked. Apparently, back before she became a Guardian, she had a penchant for hidden, stiletto style, blades and adapted that to her element when she ascended to the ranks of the Guardians.

Yup, that was the woman looking after Marinette and Adrien at least through the end of the summer camp unless there was an emergency and Mage had to come back as he was the main one responsible for them. Marinette was still glad to have her around as she was fun and had helped prepare the spread of French food for her friends that Marinette was now going to greet as she heard the elevator arrive and walked over to the door to the penthouse's atrium.

Marinette opened the door and smiled as her friends got off the elevator and looked around in surprise and wonder. Even Momo was shocked at how the elevator worked as she'd never seen one like that and couldn't help but stare as it disappeared into the floor.

"Welcome to my humble abode." Marinette said getting their attention. "Please leave your shoes out here."

This was more done to get Marinette and Adrien used to the Japanese cultural aspect of taking shoes off in the entrance way and wearing indoor shoes at home, school, or other places. All her friends were naturally used to this and quickly did so with Momo the first to finish and stand up.

"Glad you could make it alright." Marinette said approaching Momo, it was time for all the girls to learn some French culture. "The trip wasn't too bad, was it?"

"Uneventful and we've all made it before as we've all visited the capital in the past." Momo said embracing Marinette and kissing her on each cheek as Marinette did the same to the shock of the other girls as it was not something normally done in Japan. "We've been looking forward to this since you invited us here the other day."

"Same, been too long since I hosted my girlfriends." Marinette said turning the next one who happened to be Ochaco. "And as you're now at my place I hope you will allow me to engage in some culture from my homeland with you. You saw it with Momo and it's something I'd like to do with all the girls when we're apart for an extended period of time but if you're uncomfortable I won't."

"No, you've learned so much about our culture this is the least we could do." Ochaco said nervously. "But only with us girls, right?"

"Of course." Marinette said kissing Ochaco on each cheek and whispering so that only she could hear. "I'd never think of subjecting Midoriya to this, especially not in front of you."

Marinette pulled away with a grin as Ochaco went bright red and lost her voice as the thoughts of what Aoyama had said filled her head and wouldn't leave. The others noticed but just thought it was Ochaco being surprised with the whole French greeting.

"I don't mind at all." Tsu said coming up to Marinette and kissing her cheeks as Marinette did the same. "Thank you for sharing this with us Marinette."

"Of course." Marinette said with a smile. "Thank you for letting me, it's been too long since I've been able to properly greet my friends."

"Me next, this is fun." Mina said, trust the bubble pink skinned girl to be excited by this. "And do you do it with guys as well?"

"Yup." Marinette said as she and Mina kissed each other's cheeks. "And the guys do it with each other as well, we're a very touchy-feely culture, in a non-sexual way. Course I won't do it with the guys in class just yet and Adrien certainly won't with anyone."

"Yeah that is very different to us." Kyoka said as Marinette reached her and kissed her cheeks as well. "But we're all friends here so why not. Plus, it might really drive Mineta insane if we start doing it in front of him as he wouldn't understand it."

"That it would." Marinette said as she turned to Toru. "Um, Toru, can you lead it if you're comfortable that is? It's just, I can't really see your cheeks and I'm sure you don't want me to, er, miss."

"Huh, oh yes that would be embarrassing." Toru said understanding what Marinette was saying. "I can try."

Toru approached and Marinette let her lead and responded accordingly though it was odd to her and to the other girls watching to be effectively kissing mid air above a floating t-shirt. Still, it worked, and Marinette was really happy she got to share this with her friends, they wouldn't know it, but it helped her a lot after all she'd been through.

"Alright come on through." Marinette said leading them to the living room and kitchen area of the apartment. "I've prepared a bit of a French lunch for us if you're hungry."

"I can always eat as I need it for my Quirk." Momo said.

"And I won't turn down free food." Ochaco said with a smile.

"We haven't had lunch ribbit so this will be good." Tsu said. "What's on the menu Marinette?"

"Typical French delicacies though, um, one I've left off." Marinette said as she'd realized the problem with it when preparing this. "It's not something I can serve you guys."

"Why?" Kyoka asked as they entered. "And what are the other doors for?"

"They're the bedrooms for me, Adrien and our guardian who is temporarily a different teacher as Mage had to return to Europe to sort some stuff out so she's here doing his duties." Marinette said as the girls, except Momo, gasped at the modern living room and kitchen missing Gem who was standing there waiting for them. "And as for the one dish I left of, well, um, the French are known for, er, eating frog's legs."

"Ribbit!" Tsu croaked out surprised at that. "Come again?"

"One of the traditional French dishes is frog's legs." Marinette said. "But since knowing you Tsu I don't think I can ever eat them again given your Quirk."

"Well, it isn't like they're human but thank you." Tsu said a nod. "That does sound odd."

"All cultures have strange food, we swedes like our herring in various ways that most frown at." Gem said getting their attention, her Japanese heavy with her native Swedish accent. "Hello ladies and future heroes, I'm Gemstone, Marinette and Adrien's temporary guardian while Mage is off doing gods know what and a fellow teacher of theirs from Francois Dupont. Also, yes, as you can probably guess I am one of the Guardians and a pro hero originally from Sweden."

Momo and the girls turned to see the smiling blonde woman in the typical Guardian get up in front of the island bar that was laden with delicious smelling food. Marinette had mentioned that she had a temporary guardian, so this was her, and Momo at least recognized the shiny shirt from her study of the Guardians after meeting one at the final and learning that he'd be a teacher for them in the third semester.

"Hello, I have actually read about you." Momo said as she bowed slightly in greeting, the other girls doing the same as they saw the woman. "Gemstone, the Guardian of Minerals I believe. You have a notable restriction on your Quirk, right? I saw that when I read about you and it's similar to restrictions I have with my own creation Quirk. Well, restrictions I put on myself for the flow of commerce that is."

"So, you're Momo Yaoyorozu." Gem said coming up to the girls. "And please, call me Gem ladies, it's easier and nicer. I know of all your Quirks thanks to Marinette and Adrien telling me all about their new classmates when I arrived, and I know yours is Creation, Yaoyorozu. I am not surprised that you have put a restriction on it. Those of us with creation Quirks always have the commerce restriction either directly or self-imposed upon us if we are virtuous people and not all of us are like Marinette here who's creations vanish after a few minutes."

"You can create something?" Ochaco asked surprised, she really needed to do more research on these Guardians as they seemed tied to Marinette and Agreste. "What can you create?"

"My Quirk allows me to create anything that is a pure mineral in its purest form." Gem said holding out her right hand to the girls and creating a flawless diamond on her thumb, an emerald on her index finger, a ruby on her pinky, and a sapphire and opal on either side of the leather on her palm as she couldn't create anything were her leather bracer was attached. "All these are real and considered of the highest quality, well above and beyond what can be found in nature. Thankfully they are so pure that they can't be faked so my work is known to all, and it is illegal to buy, sell, or traffic in them. In fact, I have to pay a hefty fine and destroy them if any are recovered."

With that Gem closed her hand causing the stones to fall into her palm and she clenched her fist to crush them to dust that she let tickle out of her hand and onto the floor now useless. The girls were all staring wide eyed at that.

"So, you're restrictions are even more severe as you could affect the global economy." Momo said looking at the Guardian. "That makes sense that they are strict with you."

"Pretty much though thankfully I can only create pure gems, my Quirk won't let me create otherwise." Gem said before she began to walk to the door. "Anyway, I've met you as asked and now I have to deal with Mage's paperwork as I'm temporarily taking over all his duties here and that includes running the agency but I'm a call away and Marinette has my number. Have fun ladies."

With that Gem left the room and left them to their own devices. Marinette just turned to her surprised friends and grinned sheepishly at them.

"Dealing with people like her and Mage is something Adrien and I have learned to live with." Marinette said. "Now come on, let's eat, chat and enjoy the day."

The girls all nodded as they recovered and followed Marinette to the kitchen where 7 stools were set up around the island bar. The bar itself was covered in various French dishes and bottles of what looked like soda and sparkling water. All, even Momo, were a bit confused by the spread laid out before them. Marinette just chuckled as she got ready to explain it all to them.

"Alright let me explain what everything is." Marinette said as they took their seats around the bar with Marinette at the head and the others gathered around three to a side. "I've stuck with a more traditional Parisian style for the food as I am from Paris but there much more my country has to offer."

"Of course, here in Japan regional delicacies vary widely." Momo said as the other girls nodded.

"Did you cook all this yourself?" Ochaco asked sniffing the air. "It smells good."

"Gem was the main cook; she knows how and after several years in Paris she's good at our dishes." Marinette said shaking her head. "I helped by my talents in a kitchen lie elsewhere."

"Well, I'm game for any of this." Mina said though something caught her eye in the middle that was a bit. "But, um, are those snails?"

"Oh yes, they're a true Parisian delicacy." Marinette said with a smile at the plate of 12 snail shells. "Escargot is the French for them and what even nonnative French speakers refer to the dish as. These are done using the traditional Burgundy recipe, one of the few things to survive the Quirk Wars from the pre-Quirk era because if anything was going to survive it would be our culinary skills. This style of escargot serves them in their shells stuffed with garlic, herbs, and butter."

"Garlic?" Toru asked. "Agreste might not like that later, you're going to need to brush your teeth."

"Oh, I will." Marinette said with a grin. "Garlic breath is not sexy at all."

"Speaking of him, where is your man?" Mina asked.

"Working out at school where he can let loose with his Quirk." Marinette said. "Adrien understands that this is for us and arrange to do some workouts with Tokoyami and Ojiro today as well as his own personal workout. He'll be back tonight and don't worry, I'll have brushed my teeth a few times by then."

"He'll appreciate that." Tsu said looking around at 7 small soup dishes prepared. "And the soup?"

"Onion soup." Marinette said. "It's another old classic of ours. It's caramelized onion and beef broth served with croutons and a slice of Gruyere cheese on top."

"Sounds fancy." Kyoka said looking at it.

"It's actually pretty simple and as a soup we will start with it." Marinette said before pointing to the last dish. "The main course is steak tartare. Apparently it actually doesn't come from France but Mongolia, at least according to Mage who knows pre-Quirk history, but the French perfected it after they brought it back to France. It's raw ground beef season with capers, onions and black pepper and I've even added the traditional raw egg yolk on top."

"I would say that raw meat sounds like a bad idea, but we do eat a lot of raw fish here." Momo said. "So, this isn't much different."

"There are some vegetarian dishes as well." Marinette said gesturing to two final dishes that were larger, self-serve style, with one that looked like mixed vegetable the other like a baked good but made out of cheese, eggs, and vegetables instead of bread. "Quiche and ratatouille with the latter being vegan."

"None of us are either of those things." Momo said looking around the table and the girls all nodded. "But of course, we'll try them. As uncouth as it is, I will eat the most due to my Quirk, but I will not scarf it down as I don't need to right now."

"Perfectly reasonable." Marinette said understanding. "We all don't judge you for that Momo."

There was a chorus of agreements as the other girls nodded or said something. Then Ochaco brought up the last thing, the drinks.

"Marinette, what are the drinks?" Ochaco asked.

"Various sodas, sparkling and still water to choose from." Marinette said before pointing the sodas out. "The orange one is called oringina and is an orange soda though there is a hint of lemon and grapefruit added to it and there is actual pulp in it, though I never figured out why that is. As for the cloudy one, that's called Gini Lemon and is a bitter lemon soda. As for the colorful ones they are called diabolo and are lemonade mixed with a little syrup to add to it. The classic two are green for mint or menthe as I'd say, and the bright red which is grenadine which is made from pomegranates. There are also strawberry, peach, raspberry, and passion fruit flavors."

"Cool then I say we start." Momo said before clapping her hands together and bowing her head slightly, the other girls but Marinette who hadn't picked up the traditional blessing doing the same. "Thanks for the food."

"Bon appétit." Marinette said giving the traditional French equivalent, or as close to it, in her native tongue and the girls began to eat.

"The snails aren't too bad actually." Mina said having gone straight for it to try, as did Toru and Kyoka, and using the clearly special utensil that Marinette had set out for them. "Slimy but I've had eel before so it's not bad."

"The seasonings aren't what I'm used to but good." Toru said.

"We're usually looked oddly at for our strange tastes." Marinette said. "Mainly by the bland British but they can't cook so it's more envy I feel. I can see how the more exotic flavors I'm used to would translate over to Japan."

"It's certainly tasty." Ochaco said eating the soup with the provided spoon and as it was a western style meal Marinette had provided knives and forks though chopsticks were available if the other girls needed them. "I'm still more a traditional Japanese person though but that is also due to not really experiencing western dishes."

"I've never been to France, but I've had European foods while there." Momo said her own side plate high with the vegetarian dishes as she ate the soup first before going to them and the steak tartare though she had taken a snail to try when she had a moment. "It is a lot more varied then we give them credit for. I've had French pastries and baked goods before though and those are good."

"If there is one thing we do best it is our pastries, France is world famous for them." Marinette said. "What did you have?"

"Oh, the usual croissants, both normal and chocolate ones, and of course the macaroons." Momo said. "Those are a must from any French place when I visited one, so I tried them."

"Well one slight correction there, the chocolate ones are actually called pain au chocolate." Marinette corrected out of habit. "Chocolate croissant is an American bastardization of it for some reason. Macaroons though, those are our pride and joy, and any French place would recommend them. You can't beat ones made in Paris itself though."

"Yes I do wish to one day go there and have them from the original store on Rue Gotlib." Momo said and it took all of Marinette's strength not to react at that because she knew exactly what store Momo would be talking about. "It's the most famous in all of Paris and the best bakery there with macaroons that are a family recipe passed down from the pre-Quirk era, all their recipes are. They're the top bakers in all of Paris if not Europe and cater the biggest functions but they're still affordable which is a surprise. They've branched out and have stores in London, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome, Madrid, and New York at least but have never cracked the Asian market other than a recent one in Shanghai. I had it in London and the workers there all said that Paris was the best."

"I know of the place on Rue Gotlib, it's the best in Paris and mine and my friends favorite bakery." Marinette said neutrally though it took a lot of control to remain neutral as she spoke. "It's all that and more. If you ever get the chance to try a macaroon made by the expert there I suggest you take it, you'll never have another better."

"That good?" Tsu asked as she moved onto the steak tartar.

"Better." Marinette said with a grin of confidence as she knew how good they were seeing as she was the baker who made them. "Alas I can't get back to France anytime soon due to riggers of U.A.'s Hero Course."

"A shame we have to stay but it is for our education." Momo said. And the training camp will be worth it."

"Yeah and hopefully my extra lessons won't ruin it." Mina said. "Because I'm going to have the most fun I can have there."

"We all will." Toru said with a smile that naturally no one saw.

"It will be good to get out of the city and have some time to really focus on training." Marinette said. "Been a while since we got to do that without school work around it."

"Is it like that in France?" Momo asked using this time to get to know more of Marinette's past as she began to eat the really good ratatouille. "Training and school work I mean."

"Pretty much the same." Marinette admitted. "Normal classes in the mornings, hero stuff after lunch and we have Saturday school as well just like here so there was no real adjustment on terms of how the school/training balanced worked. The only big one was knowing who everyone was in their hero costumes."

"But you were friends with them both in and out of costume." Ochaco said. "Right?"

"Yeah we all knew each other by hero and civilian names though not the connections of who was who." Marinette said. "Until the exchange was approved for Adrien and me and we were allowed to reveal it to each other that is, and then the Sports Festival revealed us to the rest of the class. After that we could know, and I've learned a few of my friends' identities. Those who I'm close with at least."

"Who?" Tsu asked curiously.

"Alas I won't say as it is their secret to give, not mine." Marinette said in part for her cover and in part because it would be true if it wasn't all covered up. "I hope you understand."

"Of course, ribbit." Tsu said. "It is a different system for sure."

"More in line with the old school western hero mystic." Marinette said. "All the secrecy adds to it. Of course, once they go pro more people will learn and now that I'm here I don't mind them knowing back home. It has helped a lot, especially with Adrien though my own success in the Sports Festival didn't go unnoticed."

"How so?" Mina asked taking a sip of the surprisingly good mint lemonade thing.

"Back in France Adrien used to do some modeling for his father, family business and all that." Marinette said and that much was true, the Guardians had kept using Adrien and various 'descendants' of him to be the face of the Agreste line as part of the family's control of it. "Of course, he stopped when he came here but now that the world saw him in the Sports Festival and he did well, losing to the champ was seen as respectable, the Agreste line has reached new heights and his dad is exploiting it even more. They're already making preparations with Technus, who's been in a partnership with Adrien's dad for years, to branch out here using Adrien and U.A. as the conduit to break into the Japanese market."

"Makes sense." Momo said understanding it all though the others were still trying to understand what Marinette had just said beyond the fact that her boyfriend was apparently a former model. "It was a big exposure and the Agreste brand will do well here thanks to Agreste's classic western look which is really appealing. The other costume designers and support companies won't like a Technus/Agreste partnership coming here but that is the nature of competition."

"That it is." Marinette said as they all finished their food. "But let's move to the living room. Bring your drinks and take a seat, I'll bring the cheese plate that we can enjoy at our leisure over the course of the afternoon."

"Ah yes no French based meal would be the same without that." Momo agreed as she got up. "What about the plates?"

"Take them to the sink, I'll wash up later." Marinette said though she knew they'd just disappear once the girls left thanks to Mage's magic.

"We can help." Ochaco said taking her empty plates to the sink, she was going to eat as much as possible when the food was free as it meant that she wouldn't need to get dinner thus saving more money.

"No, you're guests Ochaco." Marinette said shaking her head. "Don't worry about it."

The other girls all offered but in the end just put the dishes next to the sink before grabbing their drinks and heading to the living room. Marinette then went to the fridge and breathed a sigh of relief to see that the cheese plate was still full of a selection of all kinds of French cheeses including camembert. She'd had to bribe, threaten, and have the other kwamis physically restrain Plagg for the afternoon or else he would have stolen all the cheese for himself. Thankfully he hadn't and Marinette took it out, added the bread and fruit to go with it, and brought it to her friends.

"Usually, we have wine with this, but we are all too young for that here." Marinette said setting down the tray, the small plates had already been laid out for it. "But help yourself, all are traditional French ones, and we make over 200 kinds of cheese."

"Looks good." Mina said as the girls began taking cheeses while Marinette explained what was what and how best to eat them.

The rest of the afternoon was spent there chatting about various things from their pasts, the others' not Marinette's thankfully, the first semester and what they were looking forward to at the training camp. It was nice and just what Marinette needed to really get back to a normal routine that included these sessions with her female friends.

Things were finally feeling normal for her and as her friends left, this time more accustomed to Marinette's French habits on hellos and goodbyes and engaging in them again, Marinette knew she was almost there. Nothing could set her back as she and Adrien looked forward to what the future held for them. Little did they know that their next challenge was just around the corner waiting in the shadows for them.

Ah a nice, cute, bonding chapter for the girls of Class 1-A, the first of a few such chapters, and a way for Marinette to return to something she did in the past in Paris only with her new friends. Course no chapter would be complete without a little foreshadowing at the end and some teases and toying in the chapter but that's all I'll say on that front. As such that is all I have for y'all so I'm going to leave this chapter off here as we get ready for the training camp arc that is about to begin. If you like it or have any questions please let me know in reviews or PMs, I will try to answer them as best I could and post any questions asked between uploads at the start of the next chapter and do follow and favorite this, so you are alerted to future uploads. Do keep the reviews coming as I like hearing from y'all as you enjoy my work, it motivates me to keep producing the best work I can for y'all to enjoy. Until next time.

Stringdog