#when chloe got out of the car i gasped. this is so iconic

[anjuschiffer]

Amira Wayne - Chapter 12

An update?! Hell yeah! here’s Day 13 of @biodad-bruce-month event!

Chapter 12: Gifts and Flowers

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P.Tag: @theatreandcomicfreak @damianette-is-life @toodaloo-kangaroo @elijahcrevan

Tag: @vixen-uchiha @we-want-mini-mini @ramos123 @bluesimani @redscarlet95 @greatcatblaze @promiswords @fantasiame @corabeth11 @anonymously-odd @alexandriamw @officiallydarkgeek

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MASTERLIST | FIRST | PREV | AO3

November was finally here and Amira hated it. 

“Is it really that cold?” Selina asked, watching Amira put on a jacket before boarding off the jet, wondering how she was able to change so quickly out of her costume from last night. 

Her father insisted for the two of them to use the jet, much to Amira’s annoyance. She didn’t want to be seen using Wayne tech and even less be seen with his...lady. Throughout the entire flight, Amira had to sit in uncomfortable silence. 

She felt as Selina judged her every movement.

“Sadly, something causes me to become weak towards the cold.” Amira muttered, pulling her suitcase behind her. “So where will you be staying?” 

“With you.” Selina jokes, earning a glare. “Unless you have a better idea.” 

Amira looked out into the distance as they awaited their cab, thinking of a decent place for Selina to stay but also a place where she can keep an eye on the Gotham thief. 

“I might just know a place.”

-

“Dupain-Cheng. What are you doing here?” Chloé remarked, one hand on her hip while the other just hung by her side. 

Out of all the people to entire her father’s hotel, Marinette was the last person she’d thought would ever step foot into it. After all, she was just a commoner. “And who's this?”

Chloe watched as the woman standing next to Marinette simply looked at her, her head tilting a bit to the side.

“Why hello to you as well Chloé.” Marinette spoke, Selina watching the two girls converse. “As for why I’m here, my father’s…friend needs a place to stay while in Paris.”

Chloé checked Selina from head to toe, scoffing at the slightly sheer black top with white leather jacket and white pants combo. 

“Sure she can afford this hotel? After all, this is the best hotel-“

“I know Chloé. Don’t doubt it and hence why I referred Selina to this hotel.” Marinette said, wanting to roll her eyes. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have brought her here.” Chloé huffed as she watched Marinette lead the woman to the front desk. 

She watched as Marinette helped the lady fill out a few papers when the lady pulled out a black card from her wallet. 

A black card…

Rushing to the desk, Chloé slammed her hands next to Marinette. 

“Dupain-Cheng. Who is she?” Chloe asked, watching as the woman signed a paper.

“Oh? You don’t recognize her?” Marinette let a grin grace her face as she watched Chloe turn pink. “She’s Bruce Wayne’s fiancé, Miss Selina Kyle.”

“What?!”

-

“Amira, what did you do downstairs?” Selina asked, wondering what exactly happened between Amira and the other girl downstairs. She didn’t understand a word, but she knew something juicy happened. After all, the blonde girl quickly tried to converse with her, even when her English was heavily accented with French.

“That girl is in my class; she’s also the mayor's daughter. She just asked me how I know Gotham’s wealthiest man’s fiancé. I simply told her you were a family friend. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“How did you know I was engaged to your father?”

“Happened two nights ago while I was gathering a few more intel around a case of mine.” Amira confessed. “Amazed me to see how much trivial info my father had on you.”

“You’re a detective here then?”

“No comment.” Amira said, taking out a phone and handing it to Selina. “Take this.” 

“What’s it for?” Selina asked, turning up the phone and seeing an odd app on it. The app icon was a ladybug, Selina not recognising it. Perhaps a Parisian thing?

“Your other phone doesn’t work here and this phone is especially programmed to help you go to safety whenever-“

Screams in the streets interrupted the two, Selina watching Amira drag her hands down her face. 

Amira quickly went to the television and turned on the news, sighing when she saw Jagged Stone on the news. Selina watched as she huffed and cursed under her breath.

“How the hell did he, of all people, get akumatized?”

“Akumatized? Amira-“

“Selina. Whatever you do, don’t leave this room. And before you ask, yes my father knows about this and no, I don’t need help. Tikki, Spots On!” 

Selina watched as Amira was engulfed in red and was now in the same outfit she had when they first met, the only difference being that her jumpsuit was covered in black polka dots. 

Selina watched as Amira sprinted for the window, noticing how Amira’s hair was longer. 

“Stay safe out there.” She decided to say, not missing the way Amira stiffened when she was on top of the railing, ready to jump off. 

Amira turned around to look at Selina before fleeing, using her yo-yo to get away.

-

“LB! Welcome back!” Chat grinned, Ladybird giving him a nod in acknowledgement once she arrived at the scene of the attack.

The two parted from each other when Guitar Villain sent a sound wave towards them, Ladybird thanking Tikki for allowing her to see the magic. If it weren’t for the miraculous, who knows if she was going to be able to dodge the attacks. 

“What caused him to get akumatized?” Ladybird rolled away from the next attack, cursing as another one followed shortly after the first. 

“Dunno! Something relating to his guitar I’m guessing!” Chat shouted from across the street, using his staff to propel himself away from another wave. 

Ladybird sighed as she pulled herself up a building, gasping when she saw- “A dragon! You’ve got to be kidding me!” Chat pouted. 

“Chat! We don’t have- fire straight ahead!” Ladybird shouted, quickly hiding behind a car, feeling the heat fly past her.

“LB! Please tell me you have a plan here! I don’t exactly want to become that dragon’s dinner! I’m too young to die!” Chat shouted, dramatically placing his hand over his forehead. 

Ladybird groaned, looking at the akumatized Fang and rock star on the Eiffel Tower. She watched as Guitar Villain landed, Ladybird noticing a set up there.

“I might just have one.”

-

Throwing her lucky charm into the air, Ladybird watched as the ladybugs returned everything to before the akuma attack, Chat trying to catch one of them. Despite knowing he could never grab one, he just adored challenging the idea.

“Missed you LB! Glad to have you back!” Chat said with a grin, Ladybird huffing when she saw his fist directed towards her. She fist bumped it back, knowing that if she didn’t, he’d complain about it.

“Not glad to be back, but I’ll be lying if I said I didn’t miss being here.” Ladybird looked at the darken skyline, not believing that it took hours to take down Guitar Villain. One of their longest fights yet.

“Think you’re up for some training? And how was your trip?” Chat asked shyly, wondering if she would ignore his question and would want to train. To his surprise, he found LB yawning. 

“Let’s call it a night. I started to feel the jetlag and then had to fight a Victim as soon as I arrived? Not exactly the best state to spar. However, we will spar tomorrow if there isn’t an akuma.” 

Ladybird looked over at Chat. “However, I hope that just because I wasn’t here to see you, you still kept up with our regular training sessions.” She noticed the way he jumped at that. “We’re going to be doing double the work if it turns out you skipped.”

“But LB!”

“No buts!” Ladybird stifled another yawn, a growl from her stomach following up. “Seems like that's my cue. See you tomorrow at the usual.”

“Fine.” Chat huffed. “Rest well!” Chat yelled out as he watched Ladybird disappear into the skyline, hoping she got home safe. 

Little did he know that he wasn’t going to see her until a few days later. 

-

Adrien couldn’t help but notice something was off with Marinette that morning, catching her dozing off during class various times. 

He watched as Alya tried to wake her up but then stopped when her efforts were in vain. She had tried to wake up the girl all throughout the morning, but only successfully got her to open her eyes during chemistry. But shortly after that class was done, Marinette went straight back to sleep.

Soon, lunch came, Alya quickly leaving the room to go somewhere with some of the other girls in the classroom. Seeing an opportunity, Adrien quickly went to her, wondering how he should wake her up.

“Marinette. Psst! Marinette.”

When she didn't budge, Adrien decided to sit next to her, feeling eyes on him.

Despite it already being three months into the school year, Adrien and Marinette have yet to make any other friends besides themselves. Everyone in the class was too cautious about them; Adrien was friends with Chloe while Marinette shut herself from everyone else.

“Adrikins, what are you doing?” Chloe asked, then noticing Marinette dozing off next to him. “Is she alright?” Chloe asked, whipping-

“Did you...did you cut your hair?” Adrien pointed out, surprised to see Chloe’s hair not only out of the ponytail she usually wore it in, but also a few inches shorter. Not only that, she wasn’t in her usual outfit, now wearing a yellow wool sweater and black trousers. 

“What? Don’t like it? Pay for my next hair appointment!” Chloe pouted a bit, looking over at Marinette. “She never sleeps during class. Is she sick?” Seeing Chloe concerned was new to Adrien, but he didn’t let that bother him. Something was wrong with Marinette and they needed to know what it was.

The girl was always punctual and seemed immune to getting sick, even when everyone was getting sick due to the change in temperatures.

“Dunno. Just saw her dozing off during class, so I came to check her.”

“Let me see.” Chloe said, going over to Marinette and feeling her head, quickly retracting her hand and looking at Adrien with worried eyes.

“We have to take her to the nurse. She’s burning up.”

-

Her chest...it hurt. But the coldness enveloping her body felt even worse.

Amira woke up to find herself in her room, feeling colder than usual. She curled into herself, pulling the covers closer to her.

Why was it so damn cold?

“Amira. Amira, can you hear me?” She heard Selina call out to her.

“It’s... cold.” Amira barely managed to say. “It’s...too cold.”

“Amira, it’s 21 Celsius today.”

“So why does it feel so damn cold?” Amira let out a whine as she turned over to face Selina, noticing the red corners of Selina’s eyes. 

“Amira, we already took you to a doctor, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with you. I called your father-” Amira sat up.

“Why did you-” Amira felt off-balanced, quickly tumbling back to her side, feeling her chest compress before letting out a raspy cough. That cough then launched her into a coughing fit.

“Amira! Amira!” Selina began to panic, wondering what to do. What can she even do? She continued to watch Amira cough, desperately gasping at her chest.

Just last night, Selina saw Amira just fine, healthy. The next thing she knew, she was getting a phone call that afternoon from a panicking Sabine, rambling how she was about to take Amira to the ER.

Two of her classmates found it odd that she had fallen asleep during her morning classes and didn’t suspect much until they had to wake her up. That’s when they felt the fever, her body hot to the touch, causing the two teens to take her to the nurse’s office. The nurse found nothing off, not even feeling the warmness on Amira’s skin, although she did say it felt a bit cold to the touch.

Everything was alright, they told Sabine. 

But Sabine knew better than that and took Amira straight to another doctor, who also found nothing wrong.

Sabine then reached out to Selina if she knew anything about Amira’s health, in which Selina said no. That ended up in Selina calling Bruce as the two women took Amira to a private doctor, where they too found nothing wrong with Amira.

Lucky for Amira, Bruce wouldn’t pick up, Selina suspecting he was either at WE or doing something else.

But she wished he did because as soon as she hung up, Amira started to burn up. Selina panicked, not knowing what to do. 

She’s taken care of a few sick children before, but that’s because the doctor knew what to do, so it was a matter of following directions. But this? No one knew what was going on with her…no one knew what was causing her to burn and violently cough...

Or at least she didn’t think anyone knew.

A knock came from the bedroom door, Selina quickly going over to open up the hatch.

There, emerging from the hatch was an elder man.

“Hello there Miss. My name is Fu, Wang Fu. A friend of mine told me about your daughter’s illness and asked me to see what I can do about it.”

While Selina didn’t exactly like the idea of this man barging into the situation, something told her to trust him.

“Please. Please, help her.

-

Tikki circled around Master Fu’s room, wondering if she did the right thing. Of course she did. After all, no one else would have been able to cure Amira’s sickness. After all, it’s all Tikki’s fault.

She should’ve known better to have kept letting Amira use the miraculous aside from akuma fights. 

She knew the dangers of using a miraculous and yet…

Tikki let out a sob, wondering why she didn’t warn Amira, why she couldn’t muster the courage to tell Amira how a Miraculous corrupts a person who wasn’t a true wielder. Especially if the user was the complete opposite of the miraculous given to them.

Just as Tikki had enough of waiting and wanting to go and apologize to her, she felt the room shake, Tikki quickly flying towards the nearest window, only to hear screams coming from the streets. She watched as people were blasted with pixelated beams, disappearing before her eyes.

An akuma?!

“No, no, no!” Why now? Why now when Amira wasn’t here! When she was suffering and on the brim of the worst.

Tikki began to fly around, circling the room, each lap getting quicker when she came to halt and eyed the gramophone across from her.

The gramophone was right there...in her reach...

Master Fu would forgive her, wouldn’t he?

After all, someone needed to defend Paris alongside Chat.

-

“I just had to get blasted after pushing Chloe away, didn’t I?” Adrien huffed. “Come on LB. Where are you?” Adrien muttered, walking in the white abyss he was casted off to. 

“About that.” Plagg decides to speak, seeing Adrien look at him worriedly. “Spots might not be coming to the fight.” Plagg gulped when Adrien grabbed him. 

“What do you mean by that? What do you mean she won’t be coming? There’s-”

“Before the akuma, Tikki -that’s LB’s Kwami- came to warn me about LB.” Plagg started. “How she might have to sit out for a few akumas.”

“Sit out?” Adrien whispered. “What happened to her? What’s wrong with Ladybird?!”

“That’s the thing kid. We don’t know what’s wrong with her. Only Master Fu would know, which is probably what he’s doing now.”

“Master Fu?”

“Right, you don’t know him. Didn’t think you’d have to know about him/” Plagg confessed. “He’s the one who guards the Miraculous, the one who chose you for the Cat Miraculous. He’s the one who’s trying to figure out what’s wrong with LB.”

“But if LB is out, who-“

“Don’t know kid. I honestly don’t know.” Plagg provided, knowing it wasn’t the thing to tell Adrien.

They needed to get away from here to help take down the Victim, but to do that, they needed someone from the outside.

But just as the two wondered what was to become of them, they were released from their photo prison, seeing another Miraculous Holder.

They watched as a yellow and black uniformed holder stood proudly against the latest Victim.

“My name is Queen Bee and I’m going to make sure you’re going down, Pixelator!”

-

“I told you, I was fine. I didn’t need you to save me.” Queen Bee told Chat as she looked at the akuma she held delicately in her hands. The thing was paralyzed and as long as she didn’t let it land in her, she should be fine. Or at least, that’s what Pollen told her.

As soon as she was pushed away from harm’s way, Chloe dashed back to the hotel and ran to her room, sliding against the door, wondering what she could. She had to help Adrien, to keep the akuma distracted until Ladybird or Chat to arrive. She needs help in some way.

As Chloe wandered around her room, her eyes landed on her bed, where a tiny hexagon chapped box laid alone. Taking it and cautiously opening it, Chloe dropped it when a yellow orb came out of it.

The orb turned into a creature that resembled a large bee, something Chloe wanted to squish but didn’t when it introduced itself and told her about having to help Ladybird and Chat.

Pollen explained to Chloe how to transform and how to use her weapon, giving her the run down before Chloe yelled “Pollen! Buzz on!” Chloe watched as she was soon in a skintight suit, a yellow jacket with black fur on it. Can she say that she fell in love with the high heel boots Pollen blessed her with?

Once transformed, she headed towards Pixelator, attempting to take him down, only resulting in her losing the sensation in her leg and her left arm.

She eventually had to make a deal with Pixelator, telling him that she’ll give him her miraculous if he freed half of the people then and there, which he did.

Seems like Chat was among those people, seeing as he gave Queen Bee a chance to scoot away when he started to attack him. 

The fight lasted a few minutes before Chat destroyed the visor around Pixelator’s head, the akuma flying out before Queen Bee immobilized it. Despite having it frozen, Queen Been couldn’t exactly purify it, having to keep it with her until Ladybird made an appearance. 

Only she can purify an akuma.

“A ‘thank you’ would’ve been nice.” Chat mumbled, watching as Queen Bee placed the akuma into a special container that was alongside the box that held the miraculous given to her.

“By the way, where’s Ladybird? I can’t exactly-”

“She’s sick.” Chat admitted. 

“Sick? Is that even-“

“Something happened to her and her miraculous that caused her to become sick.” Chat filled in, watching Queen Bee gape.  

“Her miraculous?” Queen Bee looked at the akuma in her hand.

“I don’t know what’s going on nor how to search for her. All we can do now is keep fighting these akumas until she returns. Until she gets better, we can’t allow Paris to keep getting destroyed as it did today.”

“But!”

“Bee. I wish I knew what was going on. Really, I do. But all we can do is wait. Now, come on. I’ll drop you off somewhere close to where you live. After all, I can’t know your identity as you can’t learn mine.”

-

“She should stay in bed for the next two days. Don’t you dare let her get out of it.” Selina listened as Fu warned her. 

After two hours, Fu was able to diagnose Amira’s illness, creating a concoction of some sorts to help reduce her fever and raging cough. “If she exerts herself too much, she will get worse. Continue to give her the medicine every six hours. It will help with her fever and coughing. With that said, I wish for a speedy recovery.”

“Thank you very much.” Selina said, giving Amira’s hand a squeeze. The entire time Fu analyzed Amira’s condition, Selina couldn’t let go of her hand. Something made her believe that if she did, something bad might happen to the girl.

“No need to thank me. I’m only doing my duty.”

Selina watched as Fu left, looking over to Amira, watching as sweat slid down her face. Her breaths were a bit longer than earlier, but definitely an improvement. 

Just who was he? How did he know what was wrong with her despite no one else knowing? Not like it mattered.

“You’re going to be okay.” Selina said, pressing her head against Amira’s. “You’re going to be fine.”

-

Marinette didn’t come to school the next day, Adrien worried. 

“You’re ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!” Chloé exclaimed, Adrien snapping away from his thoughts as he turned to look at his friend. He frowned upon seeing her arm wrapped in bandages. 

During yesterday’s attack, it seems like Chloe still ended up injured, her arm and leg bruised. While Chloe said it didn’t hurt, Adrien knew better than to ignore the redness in Chloe’s eyes. 

She was in pain.

“Chloé, what exactly are you talking about?”

“She’s talking about how you can’t stop worrying over Marinette.” Sabrina elaborated, glad to see Chloé was pleased with her timing. All day yesterday, Sabrina hated the screams that came from Chloe’s room when she was getting her injuries checked over. Sabrina hated that her friend was in pain and she couldn’t do anything about it. “You kept staring at her seat throughout the entire morning.”

At that, Adrien found himself trying to come up with an answer, but none came out. Was he really staring?

“If you’re that worried about her, just come with me to her home later.” Chloe stated, looking at her nails, hating that her hand was shaking. Yesterday’s attack really did a number on her.

“I thought you weren’t her friend?” Adriend asked, Chloé letting out a scoff. 

“As class president, I have to go over and drop off any assignments she missed. Of course, I usually like to-“

“I’ll go with you then!” Adrien chirped, giving Chloé his signature smile. “You will let me go with you, right?”

Chloé tried to avert her gaze, but she knew better than to ignore Adrien’s puppy eyes. 

“Ugh, fine! But you better find a way for-“

“Thank you Chloé!”

-

“How are you doing Amira?” Selina asked her, Amira looking at her with clouded eyes. Following her line of sight, Selina watched as Amira looked at her monitors from her makeshift bed. 

Yes, Amira has an actual bed, but Selina wasn’t on board with having Amira climb stairs every time she needed to go back to bed. So after doing a bit of hunting, Selina got Amira a new bed to have on the main level of her bedroom.

“Not as cold as yesterday if you’re wondering.” Amira started. “But I can feel my body tremble and I hate it. I also hate that you’re acting as if I can’t look after myself.”

“Well, you are sick.” Selina pointed out, turning off the news about yesterday’s incident.

“I used to get sick before too. At first, Grandpere and Bruce used to look after me. Then just Grandpere because Bruce would be too busy to check on me...and then myself. I didn’t want to continue to be a burden to Grandpere. He already did so much for us and I didn’t want him to get sick, so I told him to stop looking after me.”

Selina watched as Amira stared at the ceiling. “To be honest with you, I don’t like you Selina. Or maybe that’s just my uneasiness speaking. Or perhaps...jealousy. ”

“Uneasiness? Jealousy? Amira, there’s nothing-“

“There is.” Amira looked at Selina, her finger pointing at her. “You know more of my father than I will ever know. You know him both in and out of that damned cowl. I only know of Father, not Bruce Wayne nor Batman. 

The media and cameras could only inform me so much.” Amira looked back at her ceiling, feeling her chest tighten. “You’re always there with him while I’m just kept behind locked do-“

“Dupain-Cheng! You should know better than to not inform the school- Mlle Kyle!” Chloé squeaked when she noticed Selina, quickly changing from French to English. Chloe quickly entered the room, Adrien following her shortly after. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“It’s alright. I was going to leave aways“ Selina said, seeing Amira scowl upon seeing the other teens in her room. “I’ll be right downstairs if anything happens.” She told Amira.

Selina fought against the tug that demanded her to stay. But Selina knew better than that. She knew better than to stay and listen to whatever it was the teens had to say to themselves. But then again, she had no right to stay in the room.

She wasn’t her mother after all, nor a parental figure for that matter.

So, she left.

Marinette watched as Selina left her side, now looking at the two rich kids in front of her. 

Who was she kidding? She was one herself too. 

“What are two doing here?” Marinette asked, sitting up, feeling her body protest to lay back down. She noticed the tiny bruises covering Adrien’s arms and the bandages around Chloe’s arm.

Guilt began to gnaw at her mind.

“As class president, I came to drop by school work you missed. It’s ridiculous how you managed to-“

“Chloé.” Adrien growled.

“We came by to see how you’re doing.” Chloe admitted.

“You came to see me?” Marinette asked, surprised to see Chloe starting to change after their conversation from days ago...or has it been a few weeks?

“Of course!” Adrien chirped. “Isn’t that what friends do?”

“Friends?” 

“See? She doesn’t even-“ Chloe started.

“When did we ever become friends?” Marinette asked. “As far as I know, I simply find the two of you tolerable. Better than those other kids in the class.”

She guessed those were the wrong choice of words since Adrien grinned and Chloé huffed, turning her head to the side while her cheeks were tinted pink. 

“Well, I think the same applies to you, Dupain Cheng. You’re very tolerable and easy to work with. Although I have to ask, where’s my thanks?” 

“Excuse-“

“Me and Adrien were the ones to take you to the school nurse despite Cesaire first knowing about you not being in your right mind. The idiot didn’t realize you were burning up.” Chloe decided to say, looking at Marinette with worry.

“I guess I do owe you my gratitude.” Marinette said, giving Chloe a small smile. “Thank you.”

“As you should. You’re lucky I helped to grace you with my kindness even though your closet could use a few colors.” Chloe said, internally smiling.

“As if that blue eyeshadow did you any favors.” Chloé gasped at Marinette’s statement.

“I’ll have you know-“

Adrien watched as the two girls bickered, as if they were two old friends catching up. 

He looked out towards the Parisian skyline wondering the whereabouts of Ladybird and if she was alright. 

-

After an hour or two, Amira bid Chloe and Adrien goodbye, Amira now staring at her phone, Adrien and Chloe’s names looking right back at her. 

Two more names to her small list of names. 

“Amira! You’re alright!” Tikki cried, Amira feeling her crash into her cheek. 

“And where were you?” She felt Tikki tense, watching as the tiny god moved away from her. “I get not wanting to be seen, but not watching me from afar-“

“I’m sorry. This is all my fault.” Tikki sat in front of Amira, looking at her with her watery eyes. “I should have warned you about the Miraculous and it’s dangers-“

“I already knew.” Amira confessed, Tikki looking up at her in horror. “I already knew I wasn’t fit for the Ladybug Miraculous. During my first transformation, it felt like it was rejecting me.” Tikki looked away in shame. “Even when I knew I wasn’t meant for it, I kept pushing myself and trained with the miraculous on. I wanted it to accept me. For you to accept me.”

“But I do accept you Amira. I trust-“

“Yet you’re afraid of me.” Amira cut off. “That’s why you hesitated to tell me. You trusted me enough to talk about the miraculous, of bringing the Guardian to me to heal me, but you were afraid of what I might do if you told me I wasn’t your best option, weren’t you?” 

That’s right. 

Master Fu had told Tikki that Amira wasn’t her true holder. She was just the better one between his last two options. 

“Did you really figure that out on your own?” Tikki asked. “So why? Why do you still-“

“Because I made a promise to you. To everyone in Paris. I vowed to protect them, no matter what. If it costs me my life, so be it.” Amira looked at her hands, watching as her hands morphed to her smaller ones. Small hands that held a blank name tag that laughed at her. “I rather die as the vigilante who protected Paris than the hidden Wayne child.”

Tikki’s frown warbled, quickly throwing herself to Amira, not bothering to tell her about the person who stood right below the hatch that led to the room. 

“I’m sorry Amira. I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright Tikki. It’s alright.”

-

Another akuma showed up that night, taking Amira by surprise when she awoke from the trembling outside her room. 

She watched as hundreds of tiny gremlin-looking...gremlins took over the streets of Pari. Sapoti -if Amira remembered correctly- they were called. 

There was never an akuma during the night. So why now, of all-

“He knows I can’t fight right now, Tikki. He knows I’m down and he’s taking advantage of that. I have to go help.” Amira firmly announced, getting out her bed and started to change into something more comfortable than her sweaty pajamas before calling on the transformation.

“Amira, you can’t. Master Fu-“

“He’s trying to make us play all of our cards. If Chat and Bee can’t take this akuma down -although hopefully they do- then we’ll be forced to-wait! Bee’s still injured! I have to-” 

“Amira. Trust them. Just like you trust me.” Tikki softly said, putting her paw on Amira’s cheek. “They can do this. You can’t, even if you wanted to. If you ran to try and defeat this akuma, then you’ll be falling right into his plan. You’re going to give him an opportunity to get the Ladybug in this condition you’re in if you go now. So listen to me and believe in them. They’ll defeat this Victim. Just watch.”

-

And they did… 

“But why did they have to bring another miraculous out! That’s exactly what Hawkmoth wanted!”

“Amira, they-”

“They gave him the information he wanted about the miraculouses and-”

“Rena Rouge’s siblings were the victims this time around.” Tikki cut off, watching as Amira turned quiet. “She begged Chat Noir and Queen Bee to let her help in any way possible, especially when she saw Bee still heavily injured from the last attack... but she wanted to save her family.”

Tikki watched as Amira dazed out, the girl looking out the window next to the stair that led to her bed and skylight. Tikki noticed Amira staring at the daisies that she had found growing in the cracks of the outwalls of the apartment. 

Daisies that Amira always tended to despite not having any plants of her own, daisies that Amira decided to plant into a pot and care for.

Tikki watched as Amira cradled a flower between her fingers, Amira carefully caressing the petals. 

She watched as Amira grabbed an old looking device, dialing a number.

“Chat, I want you to meet me at the rendezvous. Bring Queen Bee with you.”

-

Chat watched as Queen Bee twirled one of her hair strands, Bee biting her cheek as she did so.

“Relax Bee. Ladybird-”

“I can’t relax! I’m meeting Ladybird! My idol!” Queen Bee said, grabbing Chat by his bell. “Don’t you understand?! She might-”

“Ladybird! Aren’t I glad you’re doing well!” Chat exclaimed, Ladybird noticing how his ears perked upon seeing her. 

“Thank you for your concern, but I’d prefer if you’d lower your voice. I have yet to completely recover.”

“Right. Sorry.” Chat sheepishly said, before remembering why they were there. “Oh! This is Queen Bee! She’s-”

“I know who she is, Chat. I watched the fight.”

Chat watched as Ladybird eyed Queen Bee, circling around her as she did. Chat noticed how Queen Bee was silent, stiff as Ladybird judged her.

“Chat. What are your opinions on her?”

“She’s a bit on the stubborn side and a bit on the unfocused side, but she’s an excellent partner. Barely have to tell her what to do when we’re apart.”

“So she just needs a bit of guidance?” Ladybird asked, now standing in front of Queen Bee.

“Essentially.”

“Have you brought her to the training grounds yet?” 

They had a training area?

“No.” Chat quickly responded. 

“Good.” Ladybird stated, watching Queen Bee pale.

Were they going to take her miraculous back? Was this the end of- “Do you have the akuma I told you to bring?”

“Y-Yes!” Queen Bee stuttered, reaching for the bag next to her foot and handing Ladybird the jar with the two akumas. “Here they are.”

Ladybird released the akumas, quickly capturing them. Carefully, she released the purified butterflies, Queen Bee watching them glow brightly against the night sky.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” Ladybird yelled, Queen Bee stunned as she watched millions of ladybugs flying across the starless night, the tiny bugs becoming stars themselves. She watched as the tiny red bugs surrounded her and restored her arm and leg back, Queen Bee feeling tears well up to her eyes.

She held the urge to tackle Ladybird and thank her when she watched her stare at her with soft eyes.

Opening up her yo-yo, Chat and Queen Bee watched as LB took out a box, carefully wrapped in yellow paper with a black bow carefully placed on top. A daisy was tucked carefully under the bow.

Queen Bee watched as Ladybird handed it to her, watching as she found herself accepting it.

Looking up, Queen Bee found Chat smiling at her, Ladybird approaching her. Stretching out a hand, Ladybird smiled.

“Welcome to the team, Queen Bee. I look forward to working with you.”

NEXT

[cxhnow]

Chloe and Halle Bailey, Jeremy Scott’s Newest Front Row Stars, on Beyoncé, Their New Album, and the Black-ish Spinoff

When they first entered Jeremy Scott’s New York showroom Friday, Chloe and Halle Bailey were a bit overwhelmed. They were confronted by a kaleidoscope of colors, a daunting array of garments, and a wide mandate in the designer’s archives. That is, the sisters—who are musicians, actors, and protégées of Beyoncé signed to her Parkwood Entertainment label—had arrived with a deceptively simple assignment: to select looks for the designer’s Spring 2018 show, which they planned to attend that night. But that left them with a lot of choice.They eventually emerged, as they often do, with coordinating looks. “We’re the same, but we’re different as well,” Chloe said. “We like to incorporate that through our fashion.” She opted for a black sleeveless minidress printed with trompe l’oeil butterflies formed out of two pistols in blues, pinks, yellows, and greens, with blue and black calf-hair platform shoes, while her younger sister selected the same print in a silk motorcycle jacket, paired with distressed Levi’s and platform heels in black with yellow flowers—“our favorite pieces, and the ones that were cohesive with one another,” Chloe described.These were the looks that hung in the wardrobe of their Midtown hotel room Friday evening, just more than an hour before the show was scheduled to begin. It was a crisp, early fall night, and as they explained their selection, the doorbell rung a couple times—at one point, to let their dad Doug, who is also their manager and frequent fashion show companion, in, and then to welcome in a room-service delivery of spaghetti. (“I love carbs,” Chloe later said enthusiastically—especially as vegans, which she and Hall have been for more than two years now.)

Though Friday marked their first time at a Jeremy Scott show—and their first show of the Spring 2018 season—the sisters are now nearly fashion week veterans. They attended their first fashion show, Tory Burch’s Spring 2017 runway, almost exactly a year ago, proceeding to sit in the front row at the Louis Vuitton show later that season (along with Sasha Lane, their “dear friend,” as Chloe described her). Then, earlier this year, the sisters got a glimpse of the other side, making their runway debut at Dolce & Gabbana’s Fall 2017 show. They sauntered down the runway in minidresses, tiaras, and red boots—holding hands all the while.“It’s like a different stage,” Halle said, comparing walking a runway to performing music. Still, “it was very different for us because we’re used to, we go on stage, we sing, and we feel this, like…” She exhaled with a sigh, a release of tension. “We worked so hard.” When they finished their brief lap of the runway, by contrast, “We were like, ‘Oh, that’s it? Cool.’” (She added, as a disclaimer, “but it was really fun.”)The sisters had just arrived in New York the previous day, fresh off a week of filming the first few episodes of Grown-ish, the new Black-ish spinoff in which Yara Shahidi’s character Zoey Johnson departs for college. Chloe and Halle already get mistaken for twins “all the time,” they told me in unison (perhaps an understandable misconception, considering they speak in unison, often finish each other’s sentences, and dress in coordinating looks), so it probably won’t help that, in the series, they play twin track stars Skylar and Jazz.The Bailey sisters were already close friends of their co-star Shahidi—last year, she described Chloe and Halle as her “BFFs”; they also share a fan in Michelle Obama—so being cast alongside her, as well as fellow Dolce & Gabbana model Luka Sabbat, was “a great feeling.” And though Chloe and Halle are now best known as musicians, they acted on screen as children growing up in Atlanta, making Grown-ish something of a return to form for both. (Indeed, as we drove to the show later that night, the sisters’ mom Courtney pulled out her phone to show me an image of Chloe, at age three, with Beyoncé, then 21, from the 2003 movie-musical Fighting Temptations, in which Chloe played a younger version of her eventual mentor’s character.)Chloe and Halle were making the most of their New York Fashion Week sojourn. In addition to the Jeremy Scott show, they stopped by a party hosted by Refinery29, where they finally met Issa Rae, the creator and star of Insecure, for the first time. They both avidly watch the series, which featured their song “Red Lights” in its first season, and it appears the admiration is mutual: On Thursday, Rae told them she was “so excited to see you guys’ acting debut,” Chloe recalled with a small gasp. “I was like, You know?”

But for all the activity in New York, by Sunday, they would return to Los Angeles to continue filming Grown-ish. The Freeform series, which is slated for premiere early next year, was just one of several projects Chloe and Halle were juggling. For example, back in Los Angeles, the sisters had the opportunity to pay homage to their mentor (and rumored fellow vegan) for her recent 36th birthday. Her mother, Tina Knowles, “wanted to do something spectacular for her daughter,” Halle said, so she recruited some of Beyoncé’s closest friends and collaborators to recreate a now-iconic image from the Lemonade visual album—Beyoncé in a wide-brimmed hat, a black dress, a bib necklace, and two thick braids. Knowles provided each of the participants—including Serena Williams, Michelle Obama, Ingrid, and even Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy as well as Chloe and Halle—with a hat, braids included. She photographed the whole thing on an iPhone.Plus, earlier in the summer, they released a new project entitled The Two of Us that they described, upon its debut, as neither album nor mixtape, and that presages a full-length album they hope to complete soon.“All of the songs were rejects we knew weren’t going to make the album, but we still kind of liked,” Chloe explained as a makeup artist blotted electric blue shadow onto her lids. “We warped them together into one long song. It was really fun to create, because it’s, like, 25 minutes long.” But their album is coming, too: “It’s like, 85, 90 percent done,” Halle explained, adding that they were hoping to begin releasing new music early next year.They write, record, and produce their own music at their home studio in Los Angeles; once in a while, Beyoncé will drop in like a fairy godmother with feedback.“She allows us to have our own mind and our own thoughts and creativity,” Chloe said. “Her main thing, she wants us to do what we want to do,” Halle added. “She’s like, ‘Let the world catch up to you. You girls’ talent is so immense, don’t dumb it down for the world.’” It’s a message they also communicate on “Simple,” one of The Two of Us’s standout songs: 

“No, I’m not calling anybody out, it’s just people telling us, ‘Oh you know your stuff’s too complex for the average ear to get it. Maybe you should just be simple,’” Chloe murmurs, singsong.“We hope that one day we’ll be legends, because legends break barriers and don’t follow the rules, you know?” Halle said.Though Chloe and Halle had just met designer Jeremy Scott earlier in the day, he has long cultivated relationships with musicians: Björk was reportedly his first celebrity client, and his inner circle currently comprises Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, and Madonna. The sisters slipped into their Scott-designed looks—“Oh, come on,” their mom, Courtney, cried approvingly when she saw her daughters transformed—and Chloe daubed her favorite oil, which she dubbed “the smell-good” and smells of cotton candy, onto her wrists. A last-minute change of hoop earrings for studs, and they were ready to go: The four Baileys hurried out to the car that would shepherd them downtown to Spring Studios. (Back in Los Angeles, Chloe had just passed her driving test and obtained a bright blue Mini Cooper she christened Cleo, making her her own chauffeur.)When they arrived at the show, Chloe and Halle took their seats just down the front row from Lionel Richie and Jimmy Iovine, who their mother introduced as a “legend.” They sidled up to Erika Jayne of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, of which, apparently, they are big fans, and began chatting animatedly with the reality star. The lights dimmed, and Scott’s retrospective of a show got underway, with models like Karlie Kloss, Sofia Richie, Gigi Hadid, Devon Aoki, Coco Rocha, and even Liberty Ross, the ’90s supermodel married to Iovine, making their way down the runway in Scott’s silver-sequined club kid attire.After the lights came back up and before Chloe and Hall dissolved into the crowd, they offered their final review: “It was fantastic,” Chloe said. “I loved how it shined under the lights.”“I liked all the sparkles,” her sister echoed. “Beautiful.” [s]

[more photos from this event]

[teannamon]

The Black Cat and the Princess (ML Fic) 5

Cover art by deryuj :>

[ Family Switch AU ]  Marinette’s the only child of fashion icon Gabriel Agreste, and Adrien is the adopted child of Sabine and Tom Dupain-Cheng, two of the best bakers in Paris. What happens when their paths meet?

↫ Chapter 4

Chapter 5: Marinette got into an "accident". Kagami and Adrien come to the rescue.

“Good thing this container is plastic” the buff person, who Marinette knew as Kim from the earlier introductions, picked up the big plastic bowl from the floor with a third of its contents still inside.

She has been drenched in, she assumes, orange punch based on the smell. Kim stands up and notices Marinette, dripping with orange punch. The spill was directly aimed at her so she was wet from her shoulders down.

“Oh damn, I’m so sorry Marinette. I think I tripped on something on the way here”

“It’s fine, Kim” she said rather coldly. She wasn’t mad at Kim; she knows exactly what tripped him and damn her for not paying attention. Her stockings and jacket are starting to itch on her skin now so she took off her jacket first while walking to somewhere more isolated. “I’ll just…go”

“What did you do to the punch, freshman?!” a loud female voice boomed through the loud music. Marinette figured she didn’t need to be there so she didn’t bother to turn around to see and kept going to the bathroom.

“It was an accident ok, chill… I’ll have it covered with rags later so no one else can get into an accident like her” he pointed to Marinette making her way awkwardly to the bathroom.

“I want it done now, freshman, you’re lucky most of the people are dancing”

“Alright, alright… Also, I have a name you know it’s Ki-hey where are you going?!”

“To check on the damage” she replied coolly as she left Kim to take care of the spillage by the table.

Marinette entered the bathroom just as two other girls left. They didn’t seem to notice the state of Marinette’s outfit or they didn’t care, either way she was grateful for it.

She dropped her jacket by the counter and entered one of the stalls to take off her stockings. Apparently even her shoes weren’t safe from the punch incident so she took those off too.

‘What am I going to do with the rest now?’ she looked at her dress, because of its color it’s unnoticeable that it’s wet but the front part is soaked with and smells of orange punch, not to mention her body is uncomfortably itchy now.

‘I’ll just go home, no use enjoying the party in wet and itchy clothes no matter how branded it is’ she left the stall barefoot with her shoes in one hand to grab her phone from her jacket she left on the counter. Just then, someone opened the bathroom door to which Marinette jumped in surprise.

“You” the person approached her. It was Kagami from the booth, Marinette recognized. She pointed to herself, not really getting what Kagami is implying, “Me?”

“Are you the girl who got drenched in punch or are you just doing laundry in the bathroom?”

“Uhm I-”

“That was a rhetorical question” Kagami cuts off before Marinette could answer. She eyes her up and down, which makes Marinette really uncomfortable. The need to leave the vicinity was stronger than ever.

“Is your undershirt soaked?”

The blunette fidgeted, “The thing is, I’m not wearing any. Look, I can just call my driver and I can go back home without causing too much trouble” she gestured to her phone, still in her jacket’s pocket.

“Look, freshman… I may not be the kindest person here but I would know how uncomfortable walking barefoot in juice soaked clothes is. So just follow my lead and let me help you before you go waltzing out of here, understand?” her tone is one that sounds like a command you don’t want to say no to, so naturally the poor girl nodded in agreement.

“Good, now get into one of these stalls and take off your dress.” She said while wetting her handkerchief in the faucet then squeezing out the excess water out of it. Meanwhile, Marinette did as she was told.

She actually felt relieved once the sticky clothes left her skin even though she’s been reduced to her underwear, and still has some lingering stickiness in her skin.

“Here, you can wipe off your body with this” Marinette looked up the stall to see Kagami’s hand holding out her damp handkerchief.

“T-thanks” she stammered as she reached out for the item.

“Stay here, freshman, I’ll be right back”

“I have a name you know, It’s Mar-aand she’s gone” she said as she heard the main bathroom door closed. She looked at the damp handkerchief before finally wiping the sticky substance off her body.

It only took a few minutes and she finally felt like her body can breathe. Kagami still hasn’t returned though and she’s feeling awfully lonely in the bathroom. Her phone is still at her jacket that’s still at the counter.

‘Should I get go out and get it? I really need to text Chloe, right now. It’s not like anyone’s gonna enter, it’s been quiet for five minutes in here’ she thought as she left the stall in her underwear.

----------------------

“Alya, no” Adrien protested.

“Alya, yes” the brunette mocked as she gulped the unknown substance. The small crowd gasped as her face grimaced, “Ew it was vinegar!”

“I told you so, and did you listen? No” it was Adrien’s turn to tease his friend as Nino gave her a cup of water to wash down the awful taste. He gave the couple two thumbs up as Nino took Alya by her arm and led her to the bar stool.

Seeing them together made him remember about Marinette and how she’s sort of his responsibility. ‘If Chloe asks me where she is and I don’t know, I’m dead’

“Hey Dupain-Cheng, where’s Marinette?”

‘Speak of the devil’ he cursed himself for speaking too soon. He turned around to see Chloe with a red stain on her grey blouse, and he can only guess why she’s looking for her so early.

“I’m gonna go see her now, actually. Lila just wanted to talk to her in private”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Just tell her that I’ll wait for her in the car cause some idiot spilled my cherry wine while dancing” she flared as she walked towards the exit.

“O-kay?” he waved at her confused. After all these years, he still couldn’t understand Chloe’s personality. Sometimes she’s reasonable and logical, most of the times she complains about the smallest things.

‘Back to Marinette then’ he turned around but was met with Lila’s smiling face. The music turned into a slow dance and she stepped forward, “Do you wanna dance?” she asked but before he can say ‘no’ or ‘yes’ for that matter she already draped her arms around his neck and pulled him close to sway to the music.

He didn’t mind dancing with Lila but right now, his priority is Marinette. ‘Wait, if Lila is here’

“I thought you and Marinette were talking?” he asked as Lila rested her head on his chest lovingly.

“She just had more important things to do, I don’t know where she went. She didn’t even let me finish what I was telling her, I didn’t know she was so rude” she lied.

“Maybe it was something important” he suggested.

Just then someone bumped into them causing Lila to let go of her grip on Adrien and fell on the floor.

“Hey what gives!”

“Watch it with the moves, freshman!” the person who bumped into them yelled.

“Kagami?” Adrien called out, he noticed her holding a set of gym clothes. “What’s that for?”

She turned around “Oh Adrien, yeah your new designer friend just got a whole bowl of punch spilled on her. Pretty bad situation if you ask me”

His face turned into deep worry, “Where is she now? Is she ok?”

In the middle of this, Lila gritted her teeth. Adrien didn’t even help her get up and now he’s worrying over a girl he just met for a week! She’s been classmates with him for 2 years now, and she even pulled some strings to make sure she would have at least the same classes as him but he still only saw her as a close acquaintance (friends if you squint hard enough).

“She’s fine, I just need to bring her these gym clothes I asked from Luka’s sister and it’s all good from there”

“Kagami, I need you backstage right now”

She turned around looking annoyed, “Can’t it wait, Luka?”

“Nope” the guy answered casually. She rolled her eyes and sighed, “Fine just give me a minute”

Luka winked as she patted her shoulder, “Thanks”

Kagami shoved the clothes into Adrien’s hands, “She’s at the bathroom, give these to her and tell her to give them back to me” and with that she left.

Adrien nodded and took off to the direction of the bathroom, completely forgetting about Lila, not even saying goodbye. Lila groaned in frustration and walked somewhere to cool off, she’ll deal with the Marinette situation sooner or later she thought.

Without skipping a beat Adrien opened the bathroom door, only to see Marinette standing wearing nothing but her underwear her phone in her hand.

It took both of them a silent minute to realize the situation at hand, then they simultaneously reacted. Marinette shrieking while covering herself with her hands and Adrien closing the door behind him, still clutching the gym clothes. Both of them blushing.

Adrien was the first one to calm down so he opened the door just a crack to talk to her, “I’m sorry, I just came here to bring you the clothes you can change into” he extended his hands inside to hand her the clothing.

Marinette was still too embarrassed to respond but moved closer to the door. “T-thanks, Adrien” she grabbed the clothes and she has never changed so quickly in her life up until now.

She sucked in a deep breath and breathed out, “I’m ok now you can come in if you want so it wouldn’t be weird talking through a door”

He opened the door and went inside the bathroom to see her now clothed in Juleka’s gym clothes. She walked around the bathroom to grab all her stuff, once she had them all she placed them in a neat pile on the counter.

The outfit was a bit tight on Marinette and Adrien couldn’t help but admire her form. It seems that she takes care of her body extensively. She looked at him to say something and he averted his eyes quickly to hide the fact he was checking her out.

“I’m sorry you had to bring my clothes instead of enjoying the party, I may not know what a teenage party is but I do know its not ‘hanging out in the bathroom with a messy Marinette’” she joked, the previous embarrassment dwindling down.

“It was nothing, I am supposed to be your adorkable guide for tonight” he said with a curt bow to which Marinette chuckled.

“Well, thanks again. I feel bad for asking Chloe to leave early”

“About that, she kinda had the same problem as you so she told me she’s waiting for you at the car. And now that I think about it, that’s an understatement considering you had to take off your whole outfit”

“Let me guess, a stain on her blouse?”

“Exactly” he answered and both of them laughed. Marinette decided it was a good time to go so she grabbed her damp clothes and wet shoes from the floor.

“I guess, I’ll go then.”

“No wait” Adrien took off his cardigan and draped it over Marinette “It’s going to be cold out”

The cardigan went past the shorts she was wearing so it actually warmed her as soon as she was wrapped in it. The two of them walked out and luckily most of the people are either drinking, dancing or leaving at this point. He saw Alya and Nino dancing and he noted it when he comes back.

The blunette was about to walk into the crowd to get to the exit when Adrien pulled her back by the shoulders. “There’s a side door here you can walk out to instead” he pointed at a small hallway behind him.

“Oh, thank god, I was worried I’m gonna trip somewhere in the crowd and drop everything” she gestured to her stuff and that was the only time Adrien noticed she was actually barefoot.

He thought of giving her his shoes to walk out but he realized that it was unsanitary, so he applied the second-best method of not letting her walk out barefoot. Carrying her.

“Let me” he said as he bent down to pick her up.

“What are you-ah! Put me down, I can walk you know” she protested as she held her things tighter with her hand and the other clutching on his shoulder lest she fall.

“I know that but as a damsel in distress with no shoes to walk in, its my noble duty to guide you” he said with a cheeky grin as he walked her out in his arms and Marinette’s cheeks heat up at the sweet gesture.

“Dork” she mumbled under her breath.

Adrien spotted Chloe’s limo and walked towards it. Chloe must’ve spotted them from far away cause she opened the door urging him to hurry up with her friend.

He set her down the car seat and she thanked him. Ignoring Adrien, Chloe bombarded Marinette with questions so she just smiled and waved goodbye at Adrien as the car doors automatically closed and started moving.

She wrapped the cardigan tighter around her and thought about how she would explain her appearance to her father when she gets home.

↬ Chapter 6 ↬ AO3 Link

I will dedicate this chapter to this beautiful fanart by Luminous_Lilypad on reddit (link here to see their other amazing artworks too). Its their rendition of Mari's party outfit and its adorable :>

I will publish spinoffs after this fic is done. Already plan on The Black Cat and the Princess as told by Chloe and through Lukagami (titles subject to change, feel free to suggest)

Also, I’m adding a taglist for tumblr readers who dont want to follow me but want to follow the story :>

✦ Tag List : @conquering-median

[allbornscreaming]

CHARLI XCX — 360 (dir. Aidan Zamiri, 2024)

[teannamon]

The Black Cat and the Princess (ML Fic) 2

[ Family Switch AU ]  Marinette’s the only child of fashion icon Gabriel Agreste, and Adrien is the adopted child of Sabine and Tom Dupain-Cheng, two of the best bakers in Paris. What happens when their paths meet? 

  ↫ Chapter 1

Marinette trips. Chloe shows off her very talented and famous friend. Misunderstandings ensue. Adrien gets an unexpected gift after class.

Marinette nervously fidgeted with her skirt as her father took a look at her outfit. He asked her to see him before leaving to make sure that she’s dressed appropriately, aka make sure she’s representing his brand properly.

“I believe you’re well-dressed enough to leave. Is that skirt another one of your creations?” he asked while gesturing to the skirt patterned with butterflies made from lace at its hem. She nodded in response.

“Good work, is that for personal or do you plan on adding it to another collection?”

She shook her head, “I don’t plan on making any collections anytime soon since I want to focus on school first, Father”.

Gabriel sighed and muttered “What a shame, at least when you were homeschooled you had a laidback schedule”.

As soon as she heard it, she huffed in annoyance, ‘I can’t believe he’s still at it, it’s already a week since I enrolled’.

Her father stood up, “I’ll see you out”.

With that she followed suit while putting her bag back on. He only saw her out til the front door and quickly said their goodbyes. Her driver/bodyguard is already waiting inside the car and Nathalie opened the car door for her.

She thanked the woman as both of them entered the car. Marinette is nervous to say the least, sure she’s always wanted to attend a public school but she has no idea what studying with other people would be or how she should act, and adding the fact that she’s actually a ditzy klutz in her everyday life only adds more to her anxiety.

“Marinette,” Nathalie started which shook Marinette from her thoughts and looked at the woman beside her.

“Y-yes?”

“For your lunch breaks, please inform me where you’ll be and who your companions are. It’s for precaution your father insisted”

Once again, she huffed in annoyance before muttering a ‘fine’ as a more than sufficient reply. The rest of the drive to the school is eerily quiet.

■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■

“Well you’re up very early, Adrien” Sabine noted with a chuckle as she got up to their kitchen to see her son, already stuffing his face with croissants looking ready to go. He swallows the last one and gets up from the counter.

“Morning mom,” he kissed her cheek “I’ll be walking with Alya and Nino so I needed to be early”

Sabine smiled at his enthusiasm as he left for downstairs, “Don’t forget the box on your way down”

“I won’t, thanks!”

Adrien skipped down the stairs as he opened the door into the bakery to see Tom already fixing the pastries on display. “Morning dad,” he greeted

“Oh, good morning, son. I have two boxes prepared for you just in case” he placed an arm around his son and handed him a paper bag with, indeed two boxes of their special macaroons. Adrien smiled and hugged the huge man, “Thanks dad, you’re the best”

He turned to leave with a goodbye and headed for the park a few blocks away.

Nino was already waiting with his phone out, ‘Probably playing Super Penguino again’ Adrien thought as he crossed the road.

His DJ friend didn’t seem to notice him so he tapped furiously on his phone and Nino looked up, “Hey! I was about to beat my hi-score!” he yelled at the blonde culprit who just laughed.

“If anything, I actually helped” he teased. Nino was about to retort back but was quickly trapped in a tight hug by his girlfriend who came sprinting around the corner.

“Ready to go, boys?” Alya asked as Nino pried himself off her breathtaking (literally) hug. He wheezed and gave a thumbs up.

The trio walked towards their school while chatting when suddenly Alya shrieked. The two guys looked at her in confusion and surprise when Alya practically shoved her phone in their faces.

“Care to explain what we should be looking at?” Adrien questioned while straining his eyes to look at Alya’s screen just a few inches off his face.

She pulled back her phone and composed her initial freak-out mode that happens when something amazing or major comes up. Breathe in. Breathe out.

“Ok,” she started “remember the mysteriously mysterious super famous new person attending Lycée with us that Chloe tweeted like last week?”

The boys nodded.

“And?”

“Well, it turns out that this the mysteriously mysterious super famous new person attending Lycée with us is Marinette! Aaaahh!” Alya shrieked again.

“Woah! Seriously!” Nino looked at the tweet Chloe just posted. A selfie of Chloe with her arms around a nervously smiling blunette near the entrance of their school.

“Who?” their blonde companion looked at the picture and the couple audibly gasped at him in disbelief like he just popped a second head.

“I can’t believe you don’t know her, she’s like the cutest fashion idol. Made her own collection at the age of 12, not to mention she’s the only daughter of Gabriel Agreste and- Oh my God! I should have worn her Ladybug Collection blouse for today if I had known, Ughhh!”

“Alya chiiill~” her boyfriend assured, “you look good already if I must say so myself”

Alya laughed and composed herself one more time, “You’re just biased cause I’m your girlfriend” and Nino shrugged.

‘She seems like an interesting person; I hope we have some classes together’ Adrien happily thought as the trio continued their walk with Alya practicing how to say hi to the blunette should she see her at school.

■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■

Before Marinette could even reach the entrance, she heard the familiar voice of her only friend outside of the industry. Although, they did meet because of connections she didn’t see their relationship as something due to connections and obligations she has to fulfil.

“Mariiiiii~” Chloe approached her with Jean behind her, umbrella in hand. Marinette returned her affections by kissing her on both cheeks.

“Hi Chloe, thanks again for the scholarship idea I probably wouldn’t have been able to convince my dad otherwise”

“Oh puh-lease, it was nothing if it meant getting out of that jail you call mansion. No offense” she remarked to which Marinette laughed, “None taken”

Chloe fished out her phone from her purse and excitedly draped an arm around the blunette. Marinette nervously smiled at the camera, knowing all too well what Chloe is doing.

Click!

“We look so cute together” Chloe gushed at the picture and her eyes trailed down to her skirt, “that skirt is fabulous, do I smell an upcoming collection?” she asked as she took a full body picture of Marinette in all her fashion glory.

“Oh this? It’s nothing I don’t plan on starting a new project soon”

Chloe pouted, still occupied with posting the photos on all her socials “What a shame, we could’ve been wearing matching designs for the whole school year to show off”

“Go on, Marinette, your first class starts at 8. You don’t want to be late” Nathalie informed her as she placed a shoulder on the girl and handed out her bag. Marinette reached for her bag and thanked Nathalie as Chloe practically dragged her towards the school.

“So, Mari, let me see your sched” Chloe asked as they walked in the middle of the courtyard and Mari stood there for a minute before realizing what she meant.

“O-oh yeah, sched, the schedule. Hold on, I think Nathalie added it to my tablet” she opened her bag to pull out said device and opened up her schedule for her friend to look at. Chloe scrunched her nose up obviously displeased at her schedule.

“How is it that we don’t have any classes together but PE? It’s like the universe is asking me to stay away from you. Ugh, this is utterly ridiculous,” she grumbled before turning back to Marinette “but no worries, your BFF, Chloe Bourgeois is here to make sure you don’t fail at anything”

“Uh, thanks, I guess?”

Just then, they heard shrieking from behind them. Both girls turned around to see a brunette girl looking their way being shushed by two guys.

“Alya! Shush, everyone’s looking at us now” the dark-haired one said in a harsh whisper.

“I can’t believe it; it really is her. Nino, please tell me I’m not dreaming” the girl grabbed the boy by the collar and shook him while still keeping their eyes on Marinette’s direction. The boy can’t formulate proper sentences as he’s shaken back and forth mercilessly.

“Time to go Mari,” Chloe grabbed her wrist as they walked up the stairs towards the classrooms. Chloe stops by the door next to the stairs.

“My class is here; your room is 3 doors over. See you later for lunch Mari” the blonde girl waved as she entered the door.

The young fashion designer finally reached her room and was about to open the door when someone opened to which she instinctively stepped back.

To her misfortune she tripped on someone’s foot behind her and stumbled down with them bags and some miscellaneous items sent toppled over her. Her butt expected to land on the cold hard floor but instead found herself on top of someone’s lap.

“A-are you ok, miss?” the person she’s currently on top of asked. Marinette turned her head towards the person to see one of the guys from earlier.

“Y-yeah, I guess…” she managed to say as she got off his lap momentarily and reached for her fallen bag.

“Oh no! The macaroons!” the blonde panicked as he started picking up the pastries around them and placing them in the open box now on the floor. In a blind panic he’s not aware of where he’s picking them off from.

Between her skirt and her legs is where most of them landed and she can feel the guy’s touch in the most inappropriate of places. He’s about to reach for one that somehow landed on top of the opening of her blouse when she swatted his hand, stood up and let the macaroon fall.

Marinette was reduced to a blushing mess while covering her chest with her hand and the other one holding her bag in front of her legs as she looked down the guy with anger. She couldn’t find the words to say at the moment, so she just huffed and entered the room in a dash.

Adrien was left there dumbfounded wondering what just happened when suddenly something in his brain clicked. He was mortified by his actions and he feels so ashamed.

‘Oh no, she’s a famous person right. Holy shit, she’s going to report me for sexual harassment’ he screamed internally pulling at his hairs.

“Yo Adrien, what happened?” Nino ran towards his friend and helped him get up with his things too. The DJ took this opportunity to pop some macaroons into his mouth while picking them up from the floor, its not like people would like from-the-floor macaroons he thought to himself.

The blonde stayed quiet, still internally screaming and having an existential crisis with himself. ‘Ok, as long as I don’t see her for the rest of the day. She won’t remember my face or what happened right?’

He let that thought calm him down, but it did not last long when he met eyes with her once again inside the classroom. ‘I spoke too soon, dammit’

■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!”

“Alya, keep it down. Please” Adrien pleaded at his journalist friend who just stood up and pointed an accusatory finger at him. People at the café were throwing confused and annoyed glances at their table.

Nino arrived with their drinks a moment later before sitting back down. “Hey, if you don’t keep it down we’ll be kicked out before you know it”

Adrien sighed, “That’s what I’ve been telling her y’know”

“I don’t want to be associated with someone named Adrien Dupain-Cheng anymore” Alya huffed as she avoided looking at her blonde friend while reaching for her drink.

The guy in question pinched the bridge of his nose with an exasperated sigh, “It was an accident and I panicked ok. It’s not like I wanted to ghost my hand over her body” he tiredly explained.

“Also, is it good or bad luck that she’s your classmate in every one of your subjects?” Nino pointed out.

“Ugh don’t remind me. I think I would’ve died if looks could kill” Adrien shuddered at how she always sat at the back and he can feel her eyes stabbing him from behind. Physics was even harder because he was forced to look back at her when passing the worksheet and it felt like her eyes bore through his soul.

Alya stayed quiet. Adrien knows that she really wanted to talk to the fashion designer but if she’s see with him she might not be able to- quote unquote -for the rest of her life.

“Look, I’ll apologize and give in a good word to her for you will that be ok?” he looked at the brunette expectantly.

“That goes without saying pretty boy, you should apologize with or without me pouting here” she said as a matter-of-factly and Nino nodded while sipping his drink.

Meanwhile, in another table.

“So, there was this this blue-haired girl in my Physics class named Kagami and she’s like so pompous and shit. I mean she is smart, but you don’t need to rub it in EVERY SINGLE TIME” Chloe vented to the blunette on the other side of the table with exaggerated hand gestures.

Marinette listened to Chloe’s ‘first day vents’ as the blonde called it, she never knew that listening to someone vent was fun and like a breath of fresh air. She never was someone who openly let out all her rage through words and always kept it in because it’s what she’s taught; that whenever in a corporate situation where something infuriates you, you breathe in and don’t lose your composure or else everyone will.

“-nette? Marinette?”

“Huh? Did you say something, Chloe?” she snapped back to their conversation.

“I was asking how your classes was so far” her companion repeated.

“Well…” her mind went back to the tripping incident this morning and how she basically glared at the guy whenever she had the chance waiting for an apology. How lucky is it though that he was in every one of her classes so far?

“…it was a somewhat exciting, it was mostly getting to know and a lot of people were surprised to see I was there to say the least” she answered, leaving out the embarrassing highlight of her day so far.

“That’s to be expected, you are a famous designer among teenagers and we’re, well, surrounded by teenagers at school” Chloe chuckled as she gestured around her, then her phone chimed right after.

“Should we go?” she asked as she slung her bag on her shoulder. Marinette looked at the time, “Isn’t it a bit early?”

“Yeah, but I have an early elective subject and it looks like its gonna rain later. I’d much prefer if the ground wasn’t wet when I’m out and about”

She looked up and the sky does look like its about to rain.

■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■

“It was a bit exhausting but it’s nothing I could handle” Marinette told her father through the phone. As soon as her last class ended, he called like he knew precisely what time she’s free.

“The Gorilla is on his way, there was a slight traffic cause of the sudden rain so just wait for a couple of minutes”

“Alright, alright. Bye”

She decided to wait by the door when she was approached by a familiar face. From the class introductions she learned his name was Adrien Dupain-Cheng. As usual she glared at him, waiting for an apology.

“I’m really sorry for what happened,” he started to say as he looked down “Those pastries were prepared by my parents to share to my classmates, so I panicked and acted without thinking. They took some time of their busy day to cater my request so I just prioritized salvaging what I can of their hard work”

Now Marinette felt guilty for glaring at him throughout the day. She was about to say something when he presented a box in front of her, “I know its not much but please accept it as an added apology for making you uncomfortable on your first day”

She eyed the box curiously, ‘Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie’ the box label read.

“No need to worry, these were the ones left that never left the box. My friends and I already ate the ones I dropped” he nervously chuckled trying to lighten the mood.

The young designer was awestruck, never has she seen such genuine kindness emanating from someone before. She nervously reached for the box and his hands lingered next to hers before letting go of the box, making sure that she had a tight grip on it.

Adrien smiled at her and she gave out a shy smile in return.

A car honk startled them both. Her ride just arrived so she turned to say goodbye to Adrien, “That would be my ride… Goodbye, t-thanks for the uh-this” she gestured to the box she’s holding between her hip as she opened her umbrella.

She got in the car placing the box in the seat next to her, when she saw him still standing where he was when she saw why she got out again. “I forgot something, be right back”

Adrien was about to wait the rain out before sprinting back to the patisserie when a blushing Marinette Agreste faced him again.

She held out her umbrella not looking at him directly, “Please use this, the rain will take a few more hours before it completely stops. I also want to apologize for glaring at you for basically the whole day”

He hesitated before eventually receiving the umbrella, his fingers touching hers for a split second. “Thanks Marinette, I hope we can still be friends”

She smiled.

“Yeah, I’d like that”

Next Chapter: Marinette gets picked on. Alya finally talks to her fashion icon. New friendships. New relationships.

↬ Chapter 3

↬ AO3

[teannamon]

The Black Cat and the Princess (ML Fic) 3

[ Family Switch AU ]  Marinette’s the only child of fashion icon Gabriel Agreste, and Adrien is the adopted child of Sabine and Tom Dupain-Cheng, two of the best bakers in Paris. What happens when their paths meet?

↫ Chapter 2

Chapter 3 : Marinette gets picked on. Alya finally talks to her fashion icon. New friendships. New relationships.

“It’s fine Chloe, it can’t be helped since the rain was so hard yesterday” Marinette assured her friend thru the phone.

“Of course it's not my fault, its this stupid rain and its stupid sickness. Just make sure to have fun without me” the blonde on the other side said between sniffs. "Jean! Is my sushi here yet?"

Beep!

The car came to a stop as soon as the call ended. Nathalie got out first, handed her her bag as soon as she's out, and reminded her to call her whereabouts for lunch. Especially now that Chloe is not around.

Marinette nodded and left for her classes. She felt vulnerable without someone talking her ear off (i.e. Chloe), despite it just being her 2nd day of Lyceé so its supposed to be normal to feel this way.

What's not normal though are the hushed whispers and not so subtle remarks about her.

"Hey Marinette!" a familiar voice called out behind her. She turned around to see Adrien, the baker boy.

"Hi Adrien" she greeted with a warm smile. The events from yesterday were quickly replaced with good memories between them.

He walked towards her and handed her something. She looked down to see the umbrella she gave him yesterday. Chuckling, she pushed it back to him.

"It's ok, I'm giving it to you. It's just an umbrella"

He stammered for a bit, "B-but it's not just an umbrella. It has your signature on it, its probably expensive to have it customized like that"

Alya was the first to notice when she came over for the details after her club activities. Her signature was subtle but still noticeable when the light hits it at an angle.

At first, the brunette wanted to keep it but Adrien insisted he return it. They opted for a secret photoshoot with the umbrella to share to her blog instead.

"Its no biggie," she waved a hand dismissively "besides, now you can think of me whenever it rains"

Adrien didn't know how to respond to that so he muttered a "Yeah"

When Marinette realized how it sounded she blurted out, "W-what I mean is you'll remember the umbrella when it rains, because the umbrella, me. It belongs to me-I mean its now yours but you get the point"

There was a pause. Then both teens laughed, "Ok, I'll keep it. Thanks, Marinette" he placed the umbrella back to his bag.

"You're welcome. Feel free to call me Mari if you want, I feel like Marinette is a mouthful"

"I'll keep that in mind, but I prefer Marinette. I think it's cute" he gave her a small smile and she felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment.

They arrived at the same room for their Physics class, "Guess you're stuck with me as a classmate again huh, Ms. Fashion Designer" he teased.

"Oh hush, you make it sound like a bad thing"

Adrien sat on the first table in front and looked at her expectantly, she pondered for a bit looking at the back seat then back at the blonde before she sat down on the middle seat next to him.

Just mere seconds later, Alya showed up and gasped. She didn't waste any time sitting on the vacant seat next to Marinette and fished out her phone for an interview.

"So Marinette Agreste, young and cute fashion designer, what's your favorite collection so far? Who are your inspirations besides your father? Can we get a teaser for your next one?"

"Alya!" Adrien scolded her but Marinette looked his way and assured him it's fine.

"Well, the Ladybug collection is definitely my favorite since it's the first one I did without my father's supervision and its one I can say that's 100% me. Audrey Bourgeois. And I don't plan on making a new one this time around because I want to focus on school first" she answered with as much enthusiasm as the brunette.

Alya was about to say something when a voice from behind interrupted her, "Pfft what a load of bull. All your designs are obviously ripped off"

A long-haired brunette with a smug look looked at both females smugly. It even seems like she said it out loud on purpose judging how some students tried to listen in to the conversation.

"Adrien," she turned to look at said blonde "please tell me you don't believe this wannabe fashion disaster?"

Adrien grumbled but stayed quiet. Alya on the other hand stood up, slamming her hands on the table. "Now, you listen here Lila. You can't accuse someone without proof, otherwise you're just lying for attention"

"Am I though? Look at this costume concept art posted 4 years ago" she showed her phone and some students gathered to see, she swiped left "and look at this cardigan from her most recent collection"

Alya and the crowd that formed around them collectively gasped and looked at Marinette. She was surprisingly calm about the situation and took a deep breath, "If you checked my site I stated that the artist is the inspiration for this piece and that I did ask her for her permission which she gladly accepted"

The doubtful murmurs shifted to approving glances and a cough made everyone go back to their seats. Marinette smirked at the girl called Lila, and the latter glared at her as Alya looked more amazed at the designer than ever.

Class ended earlier than expected since it was their first meeting for this class. Adrien and Alya left for their Foreign Languages elective so Marinette stayed behind for a while. She was waiting for Lila to leave first but it looks like she's doing the same thing because the only people left in the room are both of them.

Seeing that none of them are planning to leave, Marinette sighed and prepared to take her leave when Lila stood up to face her.

Marinette was the first to speak, "Ok first of all, I don't take kindly to liars especially those who manipulate people. Secondly, I barely even know you so why are you doing this?"

Lila took a step closer, faces now mere inches apart. "And you listen here bitch, I don't care how famous you are or how many people 'admire' you so much, but stay away from Adrien and I'll stay out of your hair. You don't want to see your reputation go down the drain now do you?"

The young designer scoffed as she walked past the glaring brunette, "I can befriend whoever I like, and whatever lies you conjure up won't be convincing enough to fool everyone when fake information is easy to clear up"

"We'll see about that" she snickered as Marinette walked out the door.

Next Chapter: The weekend is here and Marinette has been invited to a gathering.

↬ Chapter 4

↬ AO3 Link