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Things looked different from the back of the classroom.
Marinette often people-watched – it was good for inspiration. Of course, usually she did that by going out to popular public places, tourist attractions, and the like. Not her own classroom. But it was difficult to concentrate on learning when she felt like she had just tried to step on a step that wasn’t there, and about to tumble.
The way everyone had looked at her…for something she hadn’t even said…
She couldn’t think about that. She’d only get angry again, and then she’d do something stupid that’d only make things worse.
But it was so unfair!
But what could she complain about, really? Everyone else was happier in this arrangement. Everyone else got to sit by who they wanted to. If only one person had to be alone, then that was better, strictly speaking.
Though no one had been unhappy with the previous seating arrangement. Though it was so obvious that Lila had manipulated the situation to sit by Adrien.
But everyone else had gotten what they’d wanted out of it. And really, if she’d been there when they’d discussed the seat changes, wouldn’t she have ended up offering to sit in the back herself to make the others happy?
But they didn’t discuss it with her. They’d just sprung it on her without warning. Not even Alya, Alya who’d helped her fight for that seat in the first place…
She was getting upset again. She had to calm down. And if she stayed here, that wasn’t going to happen. Marinette excused herself to the bathroom.
She only made it as far as the locker room, before she became overwhelmed. She sank down against the lockers, hunched up on her knees as she let out a wordless noise of frustration and clenched her fists.
Why, why, why?
Weren’t they her friends? Hadn’t they always been there for her before? Hadn’t she always been there for them? Why, then, were a few fake tears from Lila all it took for them all to turn on her?
Something whizzed past the side of her head, and Marinette jumped, coiling into a fighting position. She didn’t know who or why or what, but she knew immediately that someone had thrown something at her. A foil, she registered half a second later, the object quivering as it stuck out between the lockers; someone had thrown a freaking fencing foil at her.
No…not at her, Marinette realized with growing terror as she saw the akuma pinned under its point. At the akuma. It had been so close, and she hadn’t even noticed…she could’ve been…
She tried to force herself to be calm, to breathe, but the voice that spoke did nothing to help with that.
“So what’s going on?” Kagami said bluntly. Marinette turned to her, still keeping her eyes on the struggling akuma.
“Nothing! It’s nothing, really.” Of all the people to find her here, why did it have to be the Ice Queen herself? Of course this just had to be one of the times she was here for an early solo fencing lesson. This was the last thing Marinette needed when she could be akumatized any second now.
Kagami gestured at the pinned akuma. “Clearly not.”
“I just need to calm down,” Marinette said, more to herself than Kagami. “And you should go! In case I, in case it…”
“It’s not going anywhere,” Kagami said, again gesturing towards the akuma.
“I…” Marinette said, switching her gaze between the akuma and Kagami. She frowned. “How come it didn’t get absorbed into the blade?”
“Perhaps because, unlike you, I’m not upset at the moment,” Kagami said.
M arinette was…safe. Papillon couldn’t get her. She could…be angry, without risking the safety of the city. She was allowed to be angry, now, just this once. A weight that she hadn’t even realized she was carrying was eased, and perhaps it was that sense of relief and freedom that caused her to spill out her frustrations, when normally Kagami would’ve been one of the last people Marinette would’ve wanted to tell her troubles to.
“It’s…it’s this girl! No, my whole class. She waltzes in, telling these stupid, obvious lies – saved Jagged Stone’s kitten, what a laugh – and everyone believes her! No one questions her but me, and then I’m the bad guy because she makes a sad face! And all because of her, everyone switches the seats around and send me to the back without even asking. And maybe it’s stupid to be so worked up about a stupid seat, but this girl drives me crazy when she just…gets everything she wants with lies and tears, and everyone hates me because I don’t play along. And there’s nothing I can do about it, because the second I call her out, she’ll cry about how mean I am!”
Marinette exhaled, for a moment enjoying the catharsis of letting out her frustrations. But anxiety flooded back in an instant later as she remembered that she was not alone, venting to Tikki, but that Kagami was there with her. She looked up at the other girl, worried that she was going to be laughed at. But Kagami simply stood there as neutrally as ever, and offered her hand to help Marinette up.
“Better now? Because I do need that back,” she said, indicating the foil still pinning down the akuma.
M arinette blinked, as her world was turned on its head with the realization that she had entirely misjudged Kagami before.
U nable to find her words, Marinette accepted Kagami’s hand, her eyes never leaving hers as she was pulled to her feet. Marinette wondered how she had ever thought of Kagami as an ice queen. Because while her voice may have been cool, and her manner aloof, her eyes…
…Her eyes were so warm.
Kagami had shown her kindness in her own way. She had saved Marinette from becoming akumatized, even at risk to herself – had her bid to trap the akuma failed, she would’ve been the first victim to whatever Marinette would’ve become. She’d let Marinette rant and listened to her troubles without any reason to.
“Y…yeah. I’m nine fow…fine now!” Marinette managed.
Kagami withdrew her hand, and Marinette immediately missed its warmth.
“Good,” she said, and retrieved her blade. Weakly, the akuma flew away, and Kagami turned back to Marinette.
“When your usual technique isn’t working against an unfamiliar opponent, you step back, and analyze their technique. Find their weak points, and then strike back when they least expect it. Stay focused, and don’t concern yourself with the spectator’s jeers; it will only distract you.”
Marinette considered the advice. It made sense, of course – it was not unlike how she fought supervillains as Ladybug. But was it right to treat this like a battle?
Perhaps it was worth a shot. After all, she was good at turning battle to her advantage, and it made sense to work with her strengths.
“Thank you,” Marinette said.
Kagami nodded, and turned to leave.
Marinette wasn’t sure what possessed her to do it, but she called out before Kagami vanished.
“Kagami! Uh…um…” she hesitated as Kagami turned back to her, waiting. “Would you, maybe, like to have lunch with me later?”
Kagami looked surprised, and internally, Marinette panicked. Why had she asked that? They weren’t friends or anything, just because Kagami had been nice to her this once, didn’t mean that she wanted to hang out. Now she was just going to think Marinette was weird, and…
But to Marinette’s surprise, Kagami smiled softly, and Marinette felt a sudden warmth spread up from her chest to her cheeks as Kagami.
“I’d like that.”
“Oh…then…s…see you, then,” Marinette said, her composure slipping as Kagami walked away, and she shut her mouth before her words stopped working completely. Her cheeks felt like they were burning, but the rest of her felt comfortably warm.
“Are you going to be alright, Marinette?” Tikki said, poking out. “That was a really close call.”
“Yeah…yeah, I’m alright,” Marinette said, a little breathlessly. She continued to stand there, staring after where Kagami had disappeared.
“Marinette,” Tikki admonished, though there was a knowing smile on her face. “You should go catch up to that akuma before it ruins anyone else’s day.”
“Right!” Marinette said, snapping out of it. “Akuma. Let’s go, Tikki!” With a few words, she was soon sailing through the sky, chasing after the injured butterfly.
And for a moment, her troubles were forgotten, left behind on the ground.