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Marinette woke up the next morning, after a solid night of rest. She got back from last night's ventures before her curfew, and her mother didn't say a word about it in the morning. 'She didn't know I left? Score!' She grabbed a jacket and a bag, dashing out the door to meet her mother in the car on time. She spent the entire car ride thinking about Lady Luck, her new friend.

[ outfit coming soon ]

'She seemed very tired, I wonder what her sleep schedule is like. And her hair! That tiny ponytail is everything, it really complements the costume. She didn't speak very formally, and although she wasn't short like me, she definitely wasn't tall. Maybe she's a teenager, like me!' The idea of her hero partner being her age made Mari feel slightly more relaxed with the idea of having powers.

Once at school, she saw Kagami trotting up the steps.

"Kagami! Wait up!"

The new girl looked back at the car, only to witness Mari faceplant in her efforts to escape the car. The girl on the ground giggled while she picked herself up off the floor. By the time she'd recovered, Kagami was standing in front of her.

"Y'know, you really should be more careful. I wouldn't want you hurting yourself." She said, with a lopsided smile.

"Thank you, kind madame, but I am quite alright!" Mari responded, in a very bad posh English accent. They both laughed a bit, and left for the locker bay.

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Kagami was nervous. It was the first class of the day she'd had that Marinette or Adrien weren't in. It was art, too, the subject she'd been most anxious about taking. She steeled herself, preparing to be either flooded with questions, or completely ignored. The latter didn't usually sound bad to her, but being alone was starting to seem like a chore.

She pushed open the door, finding the room to be nearly empty of people. A few younger students were huddled at the back, whispering to eachother over their sketchbooks and tablets. A girl who was possibly even shorter than Marinette was up at the front, a mask on her face and a can in her hand. She recognised the girl from homeroom – Alix Kubdel. Another of her classmates, Nathaniel, was off to the side at a table, pen in hand, focusing extremely hard.

An older man, who Kagami assumed was the teacher, appeared from a room at the back. "Ah, you must be Kagami! Welcome to art, sit wherever you like. It's the start of the year, so we're beginning with a task based around self-expression. The goal is to have a finished piece that represents your style, like a little piece of you that shows people who you are as an artist and a person. Make sense?"

"Yes sir." She gave a small smile, before scouting out a spot in the back corner, under a nice, wide window. She got set up, and went to find where the watercolours were.

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Alya was taking art for real this time. No more assuring people she'd attend, only to pull out at the last minute.

She was a musician, not really the visual art type, but Alix had assured her that it would be a fun way to boost her inspirational flow. She was currently in the back room, picking up bright paints and glitters as she walked through. Although her sense of style was calm and contained, everyone who knew her knew that Alya Cesaire was a human firecracker.

She heard the door open, and turned to see Kagami enter the store room.

"Welcome to the kingdom of art supplies, newbie. Whaddya need?"

"Just looking for the watercolour paints."

"I think I saw them over there." She said, rifling through a tub and gesturing vaguely off to the side. Kagami shrugged and got to looking. She recovered the paints, and went to leave, but stopped at the door.

"You're Alya, right? I think I saw you in homeroom."

"I sure am, and you sure did. Funny how classes work like that, isn't it?"

"..."

"I'm just messing with you, girl. I'm saving my real sass for that bougie Bourgeois girl, don't worry."

"What a mood! I haven't even been here for a full two days yet, and I've seen her insult every one of our classmates at least once."

"The devil works hard, but Chloe works harder!"

They both laughed at that, exiting the room together.

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Marinette was in PE.

The most tiresome subject.

Not because she was unfit or didn't like to exercise, she just had to hold back and watch how much effort she put in. Work too hard, and you risk everyone condemning you as a show-off, like Kim.

She was jogging laps around the court in the centre of the school, when Adrien pulled up beside her. He was just about the only person in the school who understood what life was like, living under an obscenely strict and cold-hearted parent.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked, giving a nod of acknowledgement towards the boy.

"I wanna hear your opinion on the new girl. What's the scoop?"

Mari thought for a second, remembering the little stunt that occurred just yesterday.

"I asked Mr Damacles about the wrap her old school gave her. She's got really good grades in stuff like maths or science, but her literature and humanities need some work."

"C'mon Marinette, you know that's not what I'm asking."

"Do I?" she retorted, already exasperated by the topic of conversation. She was very much not in the mood to discuss that at the time.

"Don't get difficult and defensive. The longer you ignore it, the longer you deny it, the harder it'll be to accept it when the time comes."

"I'm not denying anything, Adrien. There's nothing to suppress, it was just a one-time, stupid little crush, and I wish you would let it rest."

"Little? It was far from little. You literally wouldn't shut up about her."

"Say it a little louder, why don't you?"

He gave her a deadpan look, the glare he's dropped at the end of every conversation like this.

"I'm only trying to help you. If you don't get your head around the idea that you're probably into girls, you're gonna hurt yourself. It's better to just accept it for what it is."

Yes, you heard correctly. There was a high chance that Marinette was, at the very least, bisexual.

She wasn't homophobic or anything, it's just something she never thought she'd have to open up about herself. It was scary, and it felt wrong, keeping all these secret feelings from everyone. But there was no way she could tell other people, let alone herself.

"I'm sorry, Adri. This is hard for me too, ok? I just don't want to talk about it right now."

He smiled sympathetically, and the teacher told everyone to go change out of their sportswear. They walked side by side to the change-rooms.

"You never did answer my question, y'know."

Mari turned her head away, pretending she didn't hear him. He shrugged and walked off.

"I guess she's kinda cute..." she mumbled.

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This upload's a little late, sorry about that folks! I was a little tied up with schoolwork. Hope you're all doing well, ciao ~