Earlier in U.A. Academy...

During lunch, Adrien noticed how distant Skylar was with Midoriya and everyone else. Mostly Midoriya for some reason. He wondered if something happened between them. As they ate lunch, he noticed her staring at her bracelet a lot. She even played with it in a way that reminded him of himself. Something about it reminded him of how him and her are similar, but not to that extent. He knew that she wasn't a sentimonster, but she clearly went through things that he too went through with his own father.

Adrien ate his lunch, but wondered if there was something that he could do for her. Even if he was suspicious of her, he couldn't help but feel bad. Whatever bothered her, it clearly had something to do with her father.

"Skylar, are you okay? You've been surprisingly quiet for a while now," Uraraka asked her.

Skylar snapped out of it, and Adrien noticed her looking a little nervous. She never acted like this around them before, so something was clearly bothering her.

"N-No. E-Everything's fine," Skylar said to them, "I-I just don't feel good is all."

"Maybe you should go see Recovery Girl," Iida told her, "She's a great healer and nurse if you need someone to check on you. You don't want to miss hero training."

Adrien noticed Midoriya sitting next to her, looking a little worried about her. He looked at her bracelet, and Adrien could tell that they talked about something important to her. Whatever it was, she clearly opened up a bit about her father and maybe even that bracelet. He could tell that her bracelet meant a lot to her. He realized that he was playing with his own ring as he wondered what was going on with Skylar. He couldn't help but chuckle a little, which caught their attention.

"What's so funny Adrien? Can't you see that Skylar isn't feeling so good," Iida asked him.

"S-Sorry Skylar. I didn't mean to laugh," Adrien said to her with a slight blemish across his face, "I just realized that we have more in common than I thought."

Before he could explain things, he hesitated to even mention his ring to her. Something about it felt a little personal, but then again they were clearly going through something similar. Something about this though made him stop in his tracks and back tracked a bit. He barely knew her and yet something about this felt so good. He didn't understand why, but he still felt the need to tell her. He soon shook off this feeling and noticed everyone staring at him. His face felt a little red across his face and soon hid his ring away from Skylar.

He looked away, confusing everyone as he played with his ring.

"I-It's nothing important..." Adrien said back.

Adrien tried to ignore them as he went back to his lunch. He didn't dare look at anyone else as he stuffed his face with food. He could tell that Skylar was staring at him, but he didn't dare look up at her. Something about her though drew him in a little, and he didn't know why. Something about her playing with her bracelet felt so relieving to him. He tried to shake it off for now and ate the rest of his food.

Adrien soon got up with his empty tray and dumped his trash into the trashcan. He walked away, and he knew that most of them at the table were looking at him. He felt a little embarrassed, but left the cafeteria as he took out his phone. He stood outside of the cafeteria, looking out the window. He wondered how Marinette was doing and almost called her. Then he remembered that his mother called him earlier. There was no way that he could call her now, not when he knew that he would end up talking to her for hours on end.

He then decided to listen to the voicemail. He scrolled through it and soon found it. Once he clicked on it, he already got emotional just getting ready to listen.

"Hi Adrien," Emilie said through the voicemail, "I just thought that I'd call you. I miss talking to you, and I know that you're busy with hero work and training. I just wanted to hear your voice."

Adrien felt tears form under his eyes as she kept talking. Something about hearing her voice felt so good. He hadn't even seen her awake or anything like that. All he knows is that his mother was still in the hospital and finally woke up while he stayed behind. He wished that he could go see her, but he couldn't just up and leave U.A. like this. Just hearing her voice however almost made him run off towards the portal.

"I miss you so much. I'm so proud of you and everything you're doing is so inspiring. Keep up the good work, sweetie. Please call me when you get the chance. Bye."

The phone called ended. Adrien felt tears rolled down his face and didn't even realize it. Before he could wipe them away, someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around to see Skylar looking a little worried about him. His eyes widened in shock and quickly wiped his tears away before she could notice them. Something told him though that she saw him crying.

"Adrien? Are you okay?" Skylar asked him.

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine," Adrien said back, "I just... I needed some time by myself is all. It's a little weird being separated from my friends and family like this. This isn't something that I'm used to."

Something about Skylar's face looked a little upset once he said that to her. He noticed right away and wondered what went down between her and her father. Whatever happened, she clearly didn't get along with him very much.

"I know what you mean..." Skylar said to him without looking at him, "I'm not exactly close with my dad. He's always telling me what to do. It can be a bit... stressful."

Adrien noticed her eyes and how different she looked in that moment. She looked hurt about something, and he didn't understand why that was the case. Clearly things between her and her father were still estranged and strict even if they were apart from each other. He felt bad for her and wished that things were different between them two like they were for him and his father. He talked to his father, but not as much as his mother. He was still a little nervous talking to him. In some ways, it felt awkward after everything that happened to them.

Still, he appreciated him for at least trying.

"I know what you mean," Adrien said to her, "It was like that with me and my father. I didn't get along very well with him for a long time. Things were... complicated and were all over the place, we soon listened to each other and talked things out. That's how I ended up staying here in U.A. This place... he finally listened to me and even made me realize that I needed to do this. He finally supports me after everything that's happened between us."

Skylar's eyes widened, and he knew that things were still weird and complicated between her and her father. He wished that he could help her somehow, but he didn't know her father. Whoever he was, he didn't sound like a good father towards her. If anything, he was probably just as strict as his father was with him.

"Sounds like you and your father get along really well now," Skylar said to him, "I wish I had that with my dad. All he ever does is tell me what to do..."

Skylar trailed off as if it was hard to talk about this to anyone. He could tell that her father was still strict with her, even when she was staying in U.A. He looked down at her bracelet and noticed her playing with it again. It looked like she did that when she was antsy. He looked down at his ring and wondered if he should say something.

He didn't know if he could trust her fully. Something about her bracelet however made him feel drawn to her for some reason. The way she played with it felt like he could understand where she was coming from. He at least knew to not tell her about him being a sentimonster, that wouldn't help anyone. If anything, she would just be even more confused.

Adrien hesitated to take off the ring, but soon showed it to her. He didn't take it off, but he showed her the other ring that he wore. Her eyes glistened like she had been woken up.

"This ring... it belonged to my mother," Adrien said to her, "It's kind of a complicated story, but this is something that is very special to me."

Adrien got closer to her and guided his hand over to her bracelet. She flinched a little as if he might take her bracelet. She didn't back off as he put his hands up. Soon enough, she realized that he was only trying to comfort her. Somehow he was able to get closer to her as he hovered his hand over her bracelet.

"Just like this bracelet is special to you. Maybe it means something different to you, but we still understand what we've been through," Adrien told her, "It's okay if things are tough between you and your dad right now. You've got us now. You don't have to rely on him so much. He's not even here."

Skylar looked up at him and something about her eyes made him flinch. They were so blue and glossy as if she were about to cry. For a moment however, he could've sworn that there was something else bothering him. He had seen that face before or felt that feeling back then. She was feeling guilty about something. Whatever it was, he knew that it had something to do with her father.

"Ad-Adrien... I-I..." Skylar trailed off, not able to find the right words to tell him, "Y-You don't need to be so friendly to me... W-We barely know each other..."

Adrien didn't back off as she stood there looking guilty of something. He couldn't just leave her standing there feeling this way. She was their classmate, even if things felt a little weird at times. She still got recommended and came here to hero train and become a great hero. He couldn't deny that she was strong and has potential here in U.A.

"We're still classmates, aren't we?" Adrien asked her back, "Even if we barely know each other, we still want you to do well here in U.A. If you ever want to talk, you can talk to me about you father. I'm sure that I could help you out in some way."

Adrien smiled at her, which made her feel worse for some reason. She backed away a bit, which confused him. He didn't understand why she was acting this way. She never backed away from anyone like this. Something about it threw him off, and he could tell that something was bothering her. Her eyes looked like she had done something that she shouldn't have.

"Ad-Adrien... I-I don't think that I can be friends with you... I-It's just... too much to handle..." Skylar said to him, "I-I'm... I'm sorry."

Before he could say anything, Skylar ran off down the hallway. Adrien called out to her, but she kept running. He wanted to go after her, but Midoriya and some of his friends saw what had happened between them. Midoriya's eyes looked like he shouldn't have even been there in the first place. It was Adrien's turn to play with his ring as he stood there a little awkwardly.

"H-How... How much did you see of that exchange?" Adrien asked them.

Midoriya was hesitant to answer him, which made him blush a little from embarrassment. They stood there for a moment, and Adrien looked back at where Skylar ran off towards. He hoped that she was okay, but didn't understand why she was acting this way. Something about her felt off for a moment as she looked at him. She looked like she had done something, which bothered him. Whatever happened, clearly it had something to do with her father. He wondered if they had a phone call recently or something like that.

Still, something about it felt off. He felt like something wasn't quite right here as he stood there looking down the hallway. He wanted to run after her, but hesitated to do so. Midoriya looked concerned, and Adrien couldn't stand what was going on with her and her father. For some reason, even though he had no idea who he was, everything about it bothered him. She was away from him and was finally free from his strict rules, and yet he still kept her close.

He fists clenched, feeling like this was personal for some reason.

"Adrien?" Midoriya said to him.

"Skylar... S-She... She needs help. I don't know what's going on, but something is definitely wrong," Adrien said to him, "Skylar's father... whoever he is... he won't leave her alone... It's like he's keeping her under his thumb no matter where she is. It's not just... not fair."

Adrien realized that he was taking this out on his own father and what he's been through. He snapped out of it and looked at Midoriya and his friends. They looked a little worried for him, but also Skylar as well. Midoriya walked over to Adrien for comfort, and he soon felt a little relaxed just seeing his friend. Something about having him here helped him let it go for now.

"Adrien. What exactly did she say to you?" Midoriya asked him with genuine eyes.

"She didn't exactly say anything really. She just kind of seemed distant and guilty about something," Adrien explained to them, "I didn't understand why though. She's been pretty loud and upfront about almost everything, but now... Something's bothering her. I'm wondering if she talked to her father recently. Maybe something happened between them."

Midoriya looked down the hallway, and everyone else wondered the same thing. Adrien shook things off as Midoriya tried to help him through this. Adrien wanted to go after her, besides, she didn't know much about this school. She could easily get lost and not know her way back to Class 2-A. Then he heard Bakugo sigh in the background as a few others came up to see what was going on.

"Come on. Let's go find Red Streaks," Bakugo said to them as he headed towards the hallway.

Chloe followed him along with Kirishima who tagged along. Adrien and some others were surprised that he even wanted to go after her. They all soon followed him while others split up to look for her in the classroom. Adrien stayed with Bakugo, Chloe, Kirishima, Uraraka and Midoriya as they headed down the hallway. They looked around, not knowing where she could've run off to. So they headed towards the restroom on the other side of the school.

Adrien looked at Bakugo who was surprisingly quiet. He just kept going as Adrien joined them. He couldn't find her anywhere, but wondered what to do once they found her. She wasn't exactly excited to be friends with him for some reason. He didn't know if it was him specifically or if it was something that happened between her and her father. Whatever it was, it clearly bothered her.

"Where would she go? She doesn't really know her way around this school very well," Kirishima asked them.

"She might not have even been looking for any place specifically. She could just be looking for a place to hide," Uraraka said to them.

Adrien felt bad for her and hoped that things were okay. Before he could say anything, Adrien and the others soon got close to the restroom. He thought he heard someone talking in the Girls' restroom. He knew right away that it was Skylar. They all stopped and Uraraka almost opened the restroom door. Before she could however, Bakugo stopped her.

"What're you--"

Bakugo put his finger to his lips to keep her quiet. Adrien heard it too. She was talking to someone on her phone. Adrien couldn't quite tell what she was saying, but knew that it was her father. Just by the way she was talking, she seemed adamant about something. Before Bakugo could listen in on the conversation, Adrien got in closer.

"I can't do this right now father... Things are too complicated right now... Yes, I know that this is important..."

Adrien could tell that something wasn't quite right here. Her voice sounded a little cracked like she was crying. He felt bad for her, but something about it still felt weird. Listening in on the conversation felt off,and he didn't want to get involved without knowing what was going on. Even Midoriya was trying to get a good listen in on the conversation. For a moment, Skylar stayed quiet, clearly listening to what her father had to say to her. She let out a sigh, and he could tell that she felt defeated at this point.

Something about it reminded him of his relationship with his father. It gave him such a knot in his stomach that wouldn't go away anytime soon.

"Yes father... I'll do what I can..."

Skylar hung up, making everyone slowly back off before she could exit the restroom. Uraraka hesitated to enter, but then they realized that Skylar still didn't exit. She stayed in there for a while, and Adrien worried about her. He wanted to go in there and help her out, but he didn't want to be weird about this since it was the Girls' restroom after all. Before anyone could say anything, Uraraka entered to comfort her. Soon Chloe even got up the courage to walk in there alongside her.

Adrien and everyone else waited for her to come out of there with her. They knew that it might take a minute, but they didn't mind waiting. Adrien felt bad for her and hoped that things were okay between her and her father. Something about her tone seemed off at one point. Once she was done explained things to him, something about her voice seemed more robotic. It gave him chills, reminding him of how he felt when he was around his father at times.

Then again, he was a sentimonster and had control over him. Clearly things were different between them compared him and his father.

"What the hell do you think that was about?" Bakugo asked them away from the restroom, "Red Streaks is clearly keeping something from us."

"No she's not. She's just scared of her dad," Midoriya said back, "Clearly they don't have a very good relationship. Even though she's away from him, he's trying to keep her close to him."

Adrien felt that, but in a way he left lucky that his father wasn't doing the same thing to him here. Midoriya looked at his hurt face and pulled back a bit.

"Sorry Adrien. I didn't mean to bring up anything like that," Midoriya said back, "I mean, you two did go through similar situations."

"It's okay," Adrien said back, "It just makes me realize how lucky I am that my father actually let me do all of this. He could've easily done this to me and had me wrapped around his finger this entire time. But he didn't. He's actually allowing me to do all these amazing things here at U.A. But Skylar, she's stuck with her father wherever she goes."

"What did you think she was talking about though? Her dad sounded like he wanted something," Kirishima asked them.

Before they could say anything, Skylar came out of the Girls' restroom with Uraraka and Chloe. She looked at Adrien and instinctively looked away. Then for a moment, he noticed her shake something off. She looked like she was putting on a face and soon she smiled at him. It wasn't anything over the top, but it still bothered him.

"I'm sorry for that back there," Skylar said to Adrien, "I just needed to take care of things with my father. I guess I was just worried about talking to him that I took it out on you. I didn't mean it back there. We can still be friends."

Adrien felt so uncomfortable with the way she said it. Something about her eyes and tone in her voice sounded robotic like. It really bothered him, and he couldn't shake off that weird feeling that he was getting from her. He knew that he needed to be there for her, whatever was going on he needed to help her through it. Midoriya and his friends did the same thing for him, so he knew that he had to do the same for her.

"Of course."

He smiled, but knew that something was going on with Skylar.

Another amazing chapter!

I really like where this is going. I'm really enjoying writing the interactions between Adrien and Skylar. I'm really excited since I know where it's heading. I like the connection that they have already even if they don't know each other that well. Adrien's mom even calling him was a nice touch to this part of the chapter! Even Midoriya seems to have some sort of connection with her as well. We'll see where it goes, but right now I'm glad with how things are turning out.

What's going to happen next??

More to come soon!