Here it is, the forty-seventh full chapter of Miraculous Quirks released a day early because I can do so and yes another one is coming tomorrow at the set weekly time for a chapter so plenty to look forward to. This is a bit of a filler, and OC lore, chapter as we bridge between arcs and see what is going on for our heroes in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the training camp. Anyway, 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 47th full chapter of Miraculous Quirks.
Disclaimer: I do not own either of these great works of fiction.
Chapter 47: Recovering
Moments after the villains fled with Bakugo, Vlad King was able to get through to emergency services so that ambulances and fire services were able to get to the camp in short order. It wasn't a pretty sight when they arrived and set to work quenching the flames and seeing to the students and pros that were in need of assistance.
Of the 42 students, 16 were unconscious and in critical condition due to the gas while 12 others were injured with some like Midoriya and Yaoyorozu serious enough to be taken straight to hospital with the gassed students to be looked at by professional healers. Marinette had also gone to the hospital with Adrien though her injuries weren't too bad and addressed easily on the way but no was going to stop her from doing it, so they had to work around it. The rest of the students, 13 in total, were unharmed physically while one, Bakugo, had been kidnapped.
As for the pros, Pixie-Bob was in critical condition and on her way to the hospital as well due to a blow to the head. Ragdoll however was also missing and there had been a lot of blood where she'd been taken from though it wasn't believed to be enough to kill her. The other 4 pros were unharmed and already Tiger was being called in for the rescue operation that was currently being planned thanks to a mix of intensive detective work and a tracker that Yaoyorozu had made and had Awase place on the Nomu that had attacked them which she'd revealed when she'd regained consciousness.
Only 3 of the 10 identified villains that had attacked the camp had been caught and arrested. One, a brutal sociopath wanted for countless murders and known by the villain name Muscular, had been defeated by Midoriya at the cost of the injuries to his arms. A second, the gas villain who said his name was Mustard, had been knocked out by Tetsutetsu with the aid of Kendo who'd then been the one to secure him. The third to be captured was an escaped death row inmate called Moonfish who'd been the blade toothed villain defeated by Dark Shadow before he was calmed down.
Overall, the training camp had been a complete disaster because of this and already questions were being asked and damage control being done. The teachers of U.A. were meeting to work on it as plans were being made to deal with the aftermath, rescue Bakugo, and capture the villains that had attacked the camp.
The only teachers who weren't present were Recovery Girl who was at the hospital doing the rounds and Mage who's hero license meant he actually couldn't get involved unless there was an international element which there wasn't. As such he too was at the hospital making sure things were ok and to effectively guard the students should there be an attack as he could act in self-defense.
Well, that and there was a second reason why he was there. By using Adrien's backstory that the Guardians had been working on for centuries as an excuse to cover everything, Mage had been able to call in an expert to help with the healing of the gassed students, an expert he was currently walking to the reception area to meet as he should have arrived by now based on how long it would take to fly from the UK to Japan.
As Mage had expected, the man was there signing in and showing his credentials as an international hero and licensed healer for certain situations such as the current one going on with 16 of the U.A. students. The man himself looked like the archetype of a westerner standing at 6 and a half feet tall with a lean but muscular frame and close-cropped blond hair, pale skin and strikingly blue eyes. That was the appearance he preferred but this was an expert that Mage had called in, so he was just like Mage, he was a Guardian and just the one they needed.
As with all Guardians, the man was dressed mostly in the usual attire that they all wore. He wore a simple pair of blue jeans, sneakers not boots, and a single-colored shirt, in his case a smokey, dark orangey brown color that seems to swirl like a dense fog if you looked at it for too long. On his left thigh was his Guardian knife, the only weapon of his visible as the others he carried, an over/under shotgun and a machete that was a spoil of war from millennia ago, had to be hidden. The only different thing about the man was that he was wearing a doctor's lab coat though it was the same color as his shirt.
"Bromine, glad you made it ok." Mage said in English as Bromine finished signing in and turned to face his fellow Guardian. "Was the trip ok?"
"Uneventful and comfortable but when you fly like that it has to be." Bromine said in English that had a distinctively northern British but not north enough to be Scottish accent to it with a nod alluding to the cover story of a high speed, private, plane that had flown him out from his usual base in the United Kingdom. "Shame that I am here for work though, I do love Japan and the far east in general."
"Yes well when you look like a movie version of a westerner with a strange accent when you speak the native languages, as well as when you speak English, so you do stand out." Mage said as they fell into step and began walking. "Still the same as always I see though."
"What can I say, I am a man of certain tastes." Bromine said with a grin and Mage sighed. "Some of which I intend to indulge in once I'm done here and all this stuff has been sorted out. I do get about a week or two off here for this, so I intend to maximize it."
Bromine was an interesting character, and one Mage knew well seeing as when it came to Guardian ranks, the number they bore in the order of ascension, Bromine was the one right above him at 17. It didn't really mean that much outside of the Original 5 but it was still a rank of seniority for when that was needed and Mage couldn't deny that Bromine was technically his senior, which was why this favor was actually more expensive than the one he'd used to call in Sanguina back in Hosu.
The man himself was one of the few ordinary mortals who'd been recruited by the Guardians way back when and had been one of the key figures in the codification of the support system for the Guardians that also codified the path to Guardianship. As a result, he, along with Mage and two others who'd ascend after them in pretty short order, became the first 4 to hold the rank of Major in that organization and thus be at the point for consideration for Guardianship as that became the rank needed for that consideration.
While Mage had attained his ascension through an act to humanity thanks to his parentage that had impressed Dominus enough to push for it, Bromine had gotten it for his service to the Guardians up to and through the civil war that had almost divided them when one of their own betrayed the Order. With a completely mortal background and no innovations done, Dominus had randomly assigned an element to Bromine on his ascension.
Naturally that was why Bromine here for as his name sort of suggested he was the Guardian of Gas and thus had power over anything in its gaseous state. That said, why he chose something that was a liquid at room temp as his name when the Guardians moved to America was beyond Mage's understanding.
"Yes you always had a more hedonistic side." Mage said referencing Bromine's earlier statement about his tastes, the man really enjoyed a good time but only after his duties were done. "I was surprised you were pure mortal when we met given that."
"Nah those gods got nothing on me when I want it and besides, Sodium is worse if you recall, still is in fact." Bromine said with a chuckle about the third of the four original Majors and the last of the three ascensions that had taken place in the span of a decade before getting serious. "Can we talk frankly here."
"Of course." Mage said. "You know my powers; the humans here are just hearing a buzzing even though we are speaking English which not all will understand."
"Good then inform me on what is going on and why I was suddenly summoned here." Bromine said. "I don't like dealing with Demos and don't listen to him that much but when Dominus himself came to me for this on your behave, we that I couldn't refuse."
"There was an incident at the training camp for U.A. first years." Mage said glad that Dominus had gotten involved as there was always a chance that Bromine wouldn't have come otherwise though that did increase the price of the favor he now owed. "You know, the year with my wards."
"Yes I have been informed of them and read all the updates on that little situation." Bromine said. "We all were after your cock up 230 years ago but as I don't really touch your world and my hero work is more specialized I am not really in this world."
"True but you are going to need to know about Adrien just in case someone tries to question you deeper." Mage said. "We are going to his room first and using his family as the ruse to get you here. The Agrestes are one of the richest families in Europe and as such it is perfectly reasonable for Adrien's father to want to send the best gas Quirk user in the world to heal his son after he was exposed to an unknown but poisonous gas. To show his magnanimity and deepen his ties with Japan in preparation for a fashion launch as part of a partnership he has with Technus and his own support launch, he's paying for all the health care costs here and for you to heal all the students who were poisoned by the gas."
"This sounds like it had Demos's fingers all over it." Bromine said. "Not that I'm surprised, this is the kinda shit Dominus recruited him for. Just so long as I'm paid handsomely for it then it's fine."
"You have been, and everything is sorted so any look will come back as we've planned it using your hero identity and the bank accounts tied to it and the Agreste family." Mage said. "Not that you need the cash."
"No but it's fun to have and seeing I will be staying here for a bit to enjoy it once whatever the hell is going on dies down it will come in handy." Bromine said grinning at his coming plans. "So, this gas, what do we know of it and the villain who made it?"
"It's his Quirk and it rendered 16 students unconscious but doesn't appear to be fatal as far as we can tell though of course you'd know more." Mage said. "Two of the students from Class B, both wearing gas masks a third who is in Class A created, were able to stop him and he's been apprehended. He hasn't used his Quirk since being caught though but he's being held in a special cell just in case."
"If he's not using it then he's one of those gas users which usually, but not always, indicates that he's weaker." Bromine said thinking on it. "He's not immune to it."
"Nope, the report from Itsuka Kendo, one of the two students who apprehended him, indicates that he wore a gas mask and that he seemed to be constantly producing the gas which dissipated quickly after he was defeated." Mage said. "It was broken by a student called Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, the other one who went after him, before he passed out as his mask had been broken as well by a bullet from the villain, but Tetsutetsu's Steel Quirk makes him bulletproof though he did receive minor injuries from being shot a few times. According to the description the mask was a lot like a German WWI mask of all things."
"Was his name Mustard or something." Bromine joked. "Been a while since we saw those things. Man was that gas nasty back then, good thing I helped the humans ban its used in war."
"That actually is what he calls himself." Mage said. "Guy seems to really know that specific niche area of history, at least enough for his inspiration though he wore a school uniform as his clothes."
"Seriously?" Bromine asked and Mage nodded. "Well, it is older than expected I guess so props to that but a little on the nose. Humans can be so unoriginal at times."
"I'm more amazed that it was relatively accurate given how little survives from the pre-Quirk era though the history of the Great War was such that it is hard to forget during the Quirk Wars." Mage said not pointing out that Bromine was born human himself as they reached Adrien's room. "Anyway, we're here. You should know that…"
Before Mage could finish Bromine just opened the door and walked in to the decent sized private room as if he was meant to be there, another thing the Guardians had done to make it look like Adrien's father was paying for the best for his son. The room itself was a standard hospital room with a single bed, machines and a table by it, an armchair in a corner, en suite bathroom, and a folding chair by the bed. In the chair, holding the hand of the blond boy lying in the bed, was Marinette.
As soon as the men entered Marinette looked up at them. She'd been treated in the ambulance and had a large bandage on her right jawline, her breasts were wrapped under her still bloodstained top that she hadn't changed out of as the second cut had been along her left breast and side, and there were bandages around her ankles where she'd been burned by the fire villain's blue flames but otherwise she was fine. All her wounds had been superficial and wouldn't scar so they were easily healed, and she was free to go whenever but she wasn't leaving Adrien's side until he too was good to go.
However, the moment Mage and the unknown man walked in Marinette rose to great them. Even with the strange colored doctor's coat on, she could tell that the other man was a Guardian by his outfit and the among of power he exuded that was on the same level as that which she usually felt coming from Mage.
"Mage, and, um…" Marinette said defaulting to French given her emotional state and it would be easier to use her own language if they started talking about sensitive things.
"Bromine, Guardian of Gas and called here to help." Bromine said in English pulling up his right sleeve to show the tattoo, BROMINE 17, inked there in what looked like a swirling gas cloud the same color as his shirt. "I am aware of your, er, situation and background though don't expect me to speak French with you, I prefer English. Needless to say, I frankly don't care as I have no part in it. I am here as a favor to Mage, which he knows the price of, and to help out."
"Ah I see well thank you for your help." Marinette said switching to her heavily accented English as the man seemed to be an even more aggressive anglophile than Mage which was in fact true and offering him a bow in part to practice them and in part because she didn't know what else to do. "Please, do what you can for Adrien, I am very grateful for your help Guardian of Gas."
"Of course." Bromine said as he walked over to stand on the other side of Adrien and held out his hand over Adrien's chest, his eyes closed, as he called upon his element and immediately found what he was looking for. "Yes, there it is, there is a foreign gas that has been dissolved in his blood stream. Seems like this Quirk vanishes if not being consistently controlled or unless it has already been inhaled."
"You can detect it?" Marinette asked surprised though give what little she knew of the Guardians she really shouldn't be.
"Yes, even though gas is dissolved into the blood I can still find the particles that make it up as gas is its natural state." Bromine said as he began to move his hands. "I can extract it without a problem and control it, so it doesn't vanish. This gas is clearly foreign and not natural to the atmosphere."
"It was produced by a Quirk." Marinette said. "So, I guess that makes sense."
"As I was told, and I will have to examine it more as I do find the gas-based Quirks fascinating, so many new gasses for me to experience." Bromine said as he pulled his hand back. "Time to see what I'm working with."
The gas came out of Adrien through his pores and began to coalesce into a ball of pink gas that was more condensed and distinct than the gas that Marinette had seen. She presumed that it was because it was more concentrated in a small area at the moment.
"Hmm yes this isn't a natural gas, one that can only be created by a Quirk and quite fascinating." Bromine said as a wisp of it shot out and up his nose so that he could fully analyze it. "Not strong enough to kill though if that villain had trained it perhaps though it will render a breather unconscious in what is effectively a deep sleep. No adverse effects other than that. My guess, this guy was brought in for crowd control similar to how that smoking hot hero here is used though of course this one hates heroes enough to become a villain."
"Remind me not to introduce you to Midnight, she'll test your resistance to her gas and given your personality I really don't want to deal with that." Mage said. "But good to hear about this stuff."
"Yes nothing to worry about though I will take plenty of samples, especially with the students with Mutant Quirks or abnormal physiologies, to study it's effects.." Bromine said as he pulled out a glass jar from a pocket and moved the remaining gas into it before stoppering it to seal it in, his own powers ensuring that it wouldn't fade. "A new gas is always fun to learn about and in time I can probably recreate it, This stuff has the potential to be a great crowd control agent that I can sell for a tidy profit."
"Consider it part of your payment for this then." Mage said before looking to Marinette. "Adrien will be fine now."
"Oh yes he'll be up in time with no ill effects though he'll probably be thirsty and have a headache just because of the unnatural way he was knocked out, though when he will wake I can't say as everyone is different." Bromine said. "Well Mage, take me to the others so I can blow this joint, there's an underground nitrous bar that doesn't shut for anything nearby that I want to try out to see how good their stuff is."
"Of course, you do." Mage said as he led Bromine to the door. "This way. Marinette, I'll leave you alone with Adrien, you need it."
"Thank you." Marinette said with a small bow to Mage and a deeper one to Bromine. "And thank you Bromine for your assistance."
"Don't mention it." Bromine said as the pair of Guardians left the room.
As soon as they were gone Marinette rose and turned back to Adrien and took his hand in hers while brushing his hair back with her other hand. He was going to be ok which was all that she cared about right now and finally after all she'd been through she could begin to relax. As soon as she did the tears she'd been holding back finally broke through and she began to let it all out.
"Adrien my love, please don't do this to me again." Marinette said in French as she cried there looking down on his handsome face as he lay there peacefully even after her tears began to drop on it. "You know you're all I have left in the world just as I am all you have. Sure, we have new friends and a new purpose, but we can never truly be free of what happened to us. We will always miss the others, our families, and all those who are long dead thanks to what Hawk Moth did to us so please don't do this again."
Marinette paused as the tears fell down her cheeks and stained her bandage as well as continuing to drop onto Adrien. She knew he couldn't hear her, but she had to continue for her own sake if nothing else.
"You are my world, and I am yours, we can't lose each other." Marinette continued through her tears. "Together we are unbreakable so let's keep that. We are heroes and I know that we may die in the line of duty but don't make needless sacrifices like that again. I was so worried about you, and I knew that I was seething with a rage I've never felt before after you went down because there was nothing I could do about it this time. It scared me how angry I was at the villains and when I fought a different one I went harder than ever. I don't want to be like that again so don't put me through that again Adrien."
With that Marinette lent down and kissed Adrien to show that she loved him glad that soon he'd be able to properly reciprocate it again. They would get through this and be stronger again for it, but it was still hard.
"I love you kitty, with you by my side we can live this new life in this new society we are now in." Marinette said. "Together we will show them that Ladybug and Cat Noir are back. I promise to use this to get stronger and you will as well. I'll be by your side until you wake my love, forever and always."
With that Marinette knew that she was at the end of her strength. She'd been through too much in the last few hours, but she'd kept going until she knew that Adrien was ok and not that she did she had to rest. She knew that she should check on the others but right now Adrien was more important than anything else to her. She needed him more than anything and he needed her too so the others could wait.
That was why Marinette climbed into the bed with Adrien and gingerly laid on her still sore side, her left shoulder under Adrien's right armpit as she rested her head on his chest just the way she liked it. As she did this she draped her right arm across his abdomen and her right leg over his.
It wasn't the most comfortable position in the world, but she was on Adrien and that was what mattered. This was where she drew her comfort from and in this safe and secure position all that Marinette had been through caught up with her and she fell asleep, her tears still falling onto Adrien's chest.
Ochaco walked through the hospital trying to find the right room. She'd arrived along with the rest of her class who could that morning as she'd finally gotten word that Deku would be able to receive visitors soon. His arms had been badly injured and required a lot of healing, so she'd been turned away when she first arrived when she'd come for an update on him and the others and gotten the news.
It wasn't good. Kyoka, Toru, and Agreste were all still out though their prognosis, along with 13 students from Class B who'd been gassed, was that they'd be fine. They were still unconscious apparently and would require tests when they woke up, but the gas was out of their system thanks to an expert in the field that had been flown in by Agreste's family and they were expected to pull through with no ill effects.
That was good as the worst of them were the gassed students. Other than them only 2 remained in the hospital due to other injuries sustained in the attack. Yaoyorozu was still recovering and under observation due to a nasty head wound. She'd apparently been visited by All Might and a detective, but Ochaco didn't know the details on that front, all she knew was that right now Yaoyorozu couldn't have visitors that weren't the authorities or family until she passed some more tests. That left the other still here, Deku, but he could see people now.
Ochaco had gotten the news from Kirishima that he was able to see people soon, so she'd come here, as had the rest of the class, to see Deku. He needed them more than anything seeing as his childhood friend had been kidnapped and Deku had failed to protect him from that. She knew that Deku still saw him as a friend, but that Bakugo was insecure and jealous of Deku which was why he acted out. She'd even once tried to talk to him about it and to get Bakugo to stop being mean to Deku and be friends again, but he'd yelled at her for it thus causing her to drop it.
Still, Deku needed her, needed all of them, right now. He would be upset at his failure, and she would be there to help him and if the class wasn't there give him a shoulder to cry on, platonically of course, as she comforted him.
However, the whole class was coming because they all understood how important Deku was to them. He was one of the biggest sources of inspiration for the class. Ochaco knew it as he was her role model and hero, and it was because of that that she knew that there were 3 in their class who had a big impact on the rest of them. They raised the bar for the others with their spirit and drive whether they knew it or not and that was why they were all going to Deku to see how he was doing because he was one of the three and another was Bakugo who was missing.
The third was a bit more of a special case and was who Ochaco was actually going to find right now. Marinette was a force of nature when she let loose and Ochaco knew it, she'd had a lot of thoughts on her French friend the other night, and the girl was the beacon that the other girls looked up to and drew from. She was just as much a force as Deku and Bakugo and right now, with Deku in need, they could use Marinette's experience and understanding more than anything else.
However, no one had been able to get in contact with her since the incident and Ochaco knew why, Agreste. He'd been gassed in the attack and was still out so there was no doubt in her mind that Marinette was with him until he got better just as she'd expect given the love the couple shared for each other. That was why Ochaco was wandering the hospital looking for the private room that Agreste was in as that was where she'd find Marinette.
She also had a few questions for her friend. She'd seen Marinette towards the end when she'd been with Shoji, Deku, and Todoroki when the stumbled on her and Tsu and she'd never seen Marinette look like that. It was something more than even her Sports Festival intensity against Todoroki, it was closer to All Might at the USJ. The girl was determined and driven to take down the villains and exuded a confidence and experience that belied her years and schooling, almost as if she'd been in the thick of it before and that was what Ochaco wanted to ask her about so she could learn a bit from it.
Add in that apparently Marinette had just gone off on that blonde villain Toga when they met in the clearing, and she really wanted to know what happened. She saw Marinette afterwards, saw the blood on her from the cuts she'd taken when facing Toga, but she was ignoring everything as she got in the ambulance with Agreste and left.
Afterwards Shoji, who'd seen what she'd done, explained it, how Marinette had changed her item mid use, how she'd used her new item, an extendable metal baton, to deflect the knives Toga threw at her and then defeated her with some rather graphic results. It was chilling to think of Marinette like that, but Ochaco could also see her doing it as she had the skills to do so.
Ochaco wanted answers to all that and if she had the opening what she'd seen in the room the girls shared that night she woke up because of that dream about Deku that Ochaco still remembered. First though she had to find her and after asking a tall blond man in a brownish orange lab coat where to find Adrien Agreste's room and getting a response in what she thought was British accented Japanese, which really confused her, she went to the room. When she got there she just stopped and stared at what she found when she entered after no response from her knock.
Marinette was indeed there but she wasn't up or in the chair by Agreste's bedside or in the one in the corner sleeping. No, she was sleeping in the bed with Agreste, curled up to his side still in her blood-stained shirt from the attack and the bandages on her face and ankles clear. She was asleep and it looked a little fitful, just like she'd been in the room the other night though she wasn't mumbling this time around. Ochaco confirmed that as she approached and saw that Marinette had been crying on Adrien's chest.
"Let her rest little one." A voice said in definitely British accented but clear Japanese from behind her causing Ochaco to jump and turn around. "She's been through a lot lately and I don't think anything will move her until Adrien wakes up. Well, you can try but you might be one the receiving end of an attack and I know that you know how strong Marinette is."
Standing in the doorway to the room having clearly returned was a man who looked like he was in his thirties though the look in his eyes and he aura he had made him seem much older. He was clearly a westerner by his accent, use of Marinette's first name, and look with light skin and sandy brown hair accompanied by what looked like a week-old, scruffy, beard. He was carrying a styrofoam cup in his hand though the smell was odd to Ochaco, and she could tell that it wasn't coffee but tea and British tea at that if she had to guess as it didn't smell like the Japanese teas.
However, what she noticed was his outfit. He wore a simple lilac t-shirt, worn blue jeans and black boots. On his waist was a wood handled knife of all things, but the look was something Ochaco had seen before. The only difference was that back then he'd had a matching lilac cape with a hood over his head and black gauntlets on his forearms that weren't there so she could just make out a lilac tattoo on his right forearm though she couldn't make out what it was.
"You're the hero who's in charge of Marinette and Agreste." Ochaco said recalling what she'd been told about the man when he'd appeared with other teachers before their class's practical finals. "Mage, right? Mr. Aizawa said you're part of the Guardians of the Elements, that international hero agency, and that you taught in France before coming here in some deal that was part of how Marinette and Agreste transferred to U.A."
"Correct, that is me." Mage said with a nod impressed that she'd remembered and giving her a little of his pretty fake backstory. "I am a hero originally from Denmark though my tastes are British these days and I taught for many years in Paris. That was where I saw the potential of Ladybug and Cat Noir and recommended them for the transfer program as I am good friends with Nezu, which as part of it I came to teach at U.A. and run our Tokyo agency. As they aren't Japanese they need a legal guardian and my international credentials allow for it, plus I was their teacher back in France, so it made sense that I take charge of them as well."
"If you're a U.A. teacher then shouldn't you be at the school?" Ochaco asked a little confused while most of the rest went over her head at the moment. "I heard they're all at the school trying to sort this out and that there is a press conference coming soon."
"I am not allowed to partake in what is going on as there is no international element nor does it touch the area around our agency so I can't help plan." Mage said with a sigh at the restriction that was more there due to his actual nature than anything else. "However, what I can do is come here and look after you lot here as I can always act in self-defense of my students. I know Adrien's father well and it was I who suggested the expert come help out as he is a colleague of mine."
"Oh, then thank you." Ochaco said with a small bow. "I heard that he's been a great help in removing the gas. It might even let them wake sooner; well, I hope that's the case at least."
"He has so do not worry about them, they will be fine once they wake up and get some fluids in them." Mage said. "Marinette as well. She's fine physically, she's a tough one, and she will be mentally when Adrien awakens but until then just let her rest."
"I know how strong Marinette is, we've all seen it." Ochaco said. "She's really something else."
"She is, really a star from the moment she entered Francois Dupont and her pairing with Adrien only made both of them better though there are still some flaws in that system." Mage said. "It's why I recommended them for this because they are so good and to perfect their partnership, but we all have our limits. She's on the other side of the world from her home with only Adrien here and, well, you've seen how much they love each other so this is a lot for her to deal with."
"I can't imagine that." Ochaco admitted realizing just how hard it might be for Marinette at times being so far away and in what would be an alien culture to her with only her boyfriend and now he was injured and unconscious. "I never really thought of it from her perspective."
"The situation for them is so different to what you know that it's unfathomable unless you've been in it and there isn't any at U.A. who can truly understand that." Mage said. "But they have each other and they have their friends in your class. Don't think I don't know about you Uraraka, I know that Marinette sees all the girls as good friends just as she does those back in France and Adrien is making good friends as well, he's gotten especially close with Midoriya, Ida, and Todoroki after Hosu. They will both need you lot when they're awake but for now let them have this moment. Adrien isn't waking for several more hours and Marinette won't move, she's finally having some peace so best not to disturb her."
"You really care for them." Ochaco said surprised but she'd heard the tone in Mage's voice as he spoke. "That's really good for them to have an adult like you around to look after them. We are still just teenagers after all."
"I am their legal guardian and have spent a lot of time with them so naturally they've grown on me, they're special in ways that can't be quantified." Mage said with a smile. "So, I take my duty to look after them seriously. As you noted, I'm their adult figure here in Japan though not parental as I'm not old enough for kids, let alone teenagers. Personally, I prefer trying to be the cool uncle."
"I am sure they appreciate it." Ochaco said with a smile at the thought that her friends at least had one adult here for them in Japan. "I hadn't thought about how hard it might be for them until recently but now, well everything makes sense. Marinette at least is homesick and with Agreste like this she must be struggling harder than I realized. I heard how she was against that villain, and I know that I've never seen her like that though I only saw her briefly before the end and not in that fight."
"I read the report and she made the right call with a lot of things." Mage said before something the brunette had said struck him that he had to ask about. "Though I would be remiss in my duties as their legal guardian if I didn't ask about what you just said. Did something happen in the camp that made you concerned for Marinette?"
"Um, well, it was just something I noticed but now that you've explained it all and I'm looking at it from her perspective I understand more." Ochaco said a little nervously as it felt like she was telling Marinette's secret but Mage was her guardian so he should probably know. "You see, the other day I woke up in the middle of the night and Marinette had the futon kinda next to me, she was at the top of the row because we see her as our leader, so we made sure that she had that spot, and she was crying in her sleep and talking in French which makes sense as it's her native tongue. I don't know French but she mentioned what I guess was mother and father and some names of friends so she must be missing them."
"I expect that that is the case." Mage said though the missing part was a lot deeper than Uraraka would ever know, and he could use this to ensure she didn't question it. "I know that this is her first time away from home and she comes from a loving family and has many friends back in Paris so this is a big adjustment to her, both socially and culturally, so it's natural that her subconscious will be homesick and act when she's sleeping. Dreams have a way of showing us more than we'd like to see, and they tend to be pretty true."
"Don't I know it." Ochaco muttered as the dream of Deku that had awoken her that night flared in her head again, and Mage had to repress a smirk at that as it seemed that old Morpheus or his Japanese equivalent was still up to their old tricks.
"We all have them, and I am sure it was just something that Marinette was having at the time, and I doubt she remembers it so best not to bring it up with her." Mage said moving the conversation along and ensuring that Uraraka wouldn't try to mention it to Marinette. "It could be embarrassing, let her talk about it herself if she wants."
"I will, that does seem like the best course of action." Ochaco said with a nod. "Though have her parents been informed of all this? I figured that Agreste's had given the work they did to get an expert here but what about Marinette's?"
"Yes they have and just before the news broke as it is international now." Mage said surprising Uraraka and chuckling before giving her an answer. "Japan has always been the beacon of the hero world thanks to All Might's success, so this is big news everywhere. They'd contacted her and she's assured them she's good and of course Agreste's family is doing what they can to help as well. With the way the course is she can't go home and they're too busy to come here, but she's talked to them and it's all good. They know she loves Adrien, and he loves her, so they know that she's in good hands. This moment will help her though."
"Right, I was coming here to see Marinette as we are all going to see Deku." Ochaco said. "But seeing her like this it is best to leave here as she doesn't look like she wants to be disturbed."
"You are a good friend Uraraka, Marinette knows that, and she'll need you in the future, I'm sure of it." Mage said stepping in and away from the door. "But go see Midoriya, he's up and will get visitors soon. I am sure that you all want to be there at the same time and that you especially want to see him. Plus, you don't want to keep that Ida boy waiting now do you."
"Right Ida he'll get worried if I'm not there as he really wants it to be a mass thing to show that we're all there for Deku." Ochaco said realizing that she would be courting his ire by being late and completely missing Mage's comment about her really wanting to see Deku despite how accurate it was. "Sorry, I have to go but it was nice to meet you and give Marinette and Agreste my regards, we'll see them, Toru and Kyoka when they wake up."
"I will." Mage said with a small smile as Ochaco left to go find her classmates before they went to Midoriya's room and Mage closed the door behind her with is power and locked it. "Ok you two, you can come out now."
"You can always sense us." Plagg said as he and Tikki flew out from under the bed where they'd been hiding the moment the brunette girl walked in and Mage turned to face the kwamis.
"I did create the Miraculouses that allowed you to manifest in this world." Mage reminded them. "And I knew you'd come here the moment the news broke; you care for them just as you should. The bond between a permanent Miraculous Holder and his or her kwami is a strong one, well so long as it is symbiotic like yours were."
"It's just so hard to see Marinette like this." Tikki said glancing over at her human where she still slept. "She's so upset, and I can sense how she acted when Adrien went down. She's lost everything but me and Adrien, it's a lot for a human to deal with. Few ever end up in a new era like they did."
"It will serve her well as a warning but also as a way to be better if she can control it." Mage said. "And it will allow them to grow, maybe even see what Aizawa is trying to do for them, but that man is usually too subtle for most to realize."
"Well, I for one am grateful you called in Bromine to help out." Plagg said. "He's the best with gas and he's a lot of fun to party with. If I wasn't so concerned I'd be with him now preparing an assault on the city."
"That is something I am worried about when this is all said and done." Mage said. "But I won't stop you, just don't cause another disaster like the time you and Bromine went out in Scotland back when the Romans were building Hadrian's Wall."
"Hey, those mountains were in need of a little trimming." Plagg said defensively before getting serious. "But still, thank you Mage, Adrien does mean a lot to me, and it is good to know that he is safe."
"Yes I shudder to think what Marinette would do if she lost him as well." Tikki said. "After losing everything else already."
"I know but something like this was going to happen on this path that they are on, good that they are facing it now so they can prepare better for the future." Mage said as he looked at them. "Because there is a change coming and soon. This attack is the forebearer to something bigger, I can feel it. Something bigger and more impactful is coming that will change Japan's, and possibly the world's hero society forever. When it does I know that Ladybug and Cat Noir will be needed to aid the chosen one."
The kwamis just nodded at that as they flew back to care for their humans. They may not be true Miraculous Holders anymore, but they were still their friends and needed the kwamis right now. Mage was right, something big was coming and several members of the class would be there in the center of the action when it happened.
Whether or not Marinette was with for it or not depending on when Adrien recovered from the gas as right now he was her priority, and no one was better suited to be with Adrien than Marinette. With that, Mage left the room to continue his work and prepare for what was to come next.
A little foreshadowing as always because you know what is to come, this is just the emotions before that in the wake of the attack on the camp. There is more to this though than meets the eye as there is something that I am trying to incorporate thanks to a suggestion and it's something I can, but I need the right circumstances for it and this is actually, while not part of it, important to what I want to do in the long run should it happen. Sorry for being vague but gotta protect spoilers. Otherwise, this is the first time an MHA character had a proper interaction with a Guardian so hopefully it went well. Originally I planned on having Momo present as well but when I watched the episode that this is tied to I realized that she was in her hospital room the entire time and never with the others when they went to see Izuku so I reworked it to be solely Ochaco and play on what she has observed in the past, it will come up at least once going forward. Lastly, I know some don't like my Guardians or their use so sorry for the early part being heavy with that but when a new one appears I like to take my time to really establish the character so that he or she isn't just some rando, but this won't be often, and Bromine is the last new one for a while I believe. Anyway, that is all I have for this long note so I will leave it off here. 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
