Chapter Text
“Where are we?” was heard through the lifeless park.
A couple of groans later, everyone in the ground sat up and looked around.
“I don’t know,” the only human there said, brushing their hair back as they stood up. They looked at each other as they started to wake up. The human laughed in surprise.
“What?” A sandy-colored, big-headed creature asked.
Shukaku looked at his master in confusion, so he looked down at his body and almost fainted. He was tiny, really tiny.
He also had fur.
That's certainly not normal.
The tanuki looked like a mouse, not unlike everyone else.
They looked at themselves. Everyone was tiny with a big head. The new form felt pathetic compared to their previous forms.
“I’m so sorry, but you all look so adorable,” Nory smiled softly and giggled. So they didn’t argue with it. They had much bigger problems at hand.
“Where are we?” A blue and black feral-looking, but still adorable Matatabi, asked. His fur looked like it was dancing around like fire.
“Probably got sent to a new world unceremoniously, like always,” Nory sighed in exasperation. She would've appreciated a heads up. They were somewhere in another universe. The world feels and looks different. Their nose was taking in the new scents around them. They looked down at their new attire and didn't see any weapons in sight. Not that they were needed anyway.
As Nory got up, she looked down at her hands. All her markings that had been previously invisible were now sitting on her skin. She caught herself staring at the delicate writing. The ink looked fresh against her skin, and the symbols looked so intricate and beautiful. The small creatures surrounding her decided to also look her over and see the new changes on their master.
“Nothing has really changed,” commented Kurama.
“Other than her weapons arsenal,” snickered Shukaku. Their master rolled their eyes at this.
“Laugh all you want. I can probably still use you as bait Kaku.”
The small rodent squeaked in indignation, but didn't talk back.
She was still feeling and looking through her skin. All the symbols painted on her were there for specific things. They always seem to move whenever she is sent to another dimension or universe. This time she's trying to find a ‘storage’ seal. They probably don't have any of the weapons that were previously stored there–they definitely didn’t–she was looking for a communication device.
After five minutes they gave up and just concentrated chakra around her whole body. A rectangular, thin, and black box materialized on her hand when she did. After they found it, they noticed that their energy field was erratic. It seemed to like doing that whenever she used it for the first time in a new place, so they went ahead and suppressed it.
“What's that?” Matatabi asked their master.
“It's a communication device. It's called a phone.”
All the tailed beasts surrounded her head as she turned it on. Nory looked for her contacts and pressed the call on the only number on the list.
“I can always count on you to start your job immediately,” someone said from the other side of the line.
“I'm so done with your shit. Why do you insist on placing me wherever you please without warning?”
“We've been at this for at least 5 billion years? You haven't died at the start of any of these ventures so this is irrelevant and quite frankly unnecessary. We always start these discussions with the same line.”
“You're always doing the same thing, plus this is the only time I get to torment you.”
“Hey! That's my job!”
“Clearly you're not doing it correctly.”
They heard a chuckle from the other end. “Whatever, Ekka. Let's give you a run down. You're in MLB732. This dimension is going to crash onto the main one. You're there to make sure it doesn't, so have fun! Think of it as a short vacation.”
“There's never rest when I'm given assignments. Tell me, where do I have to intervene?”
“I'll send you those details with your living arrangements. You're going to live in an apartment. As you know, anything legal should be on the counter for you as you go in blah blah”
The call ended a couple minutes later. Nory looked up at the stars and mumbled to themselves, petting one of her companions "This is going to be an easy sixty years of life, I'll say.”
The small creatures all hid once their master made the signal to. She had heard two pairs of feet running on the rooftops a couple hundred feet away from them. They were also talking about something.
“My Kwami woke me up and told me that she felt something coming near College Dupon,” Ladybug said as the duo jumped through rooftops. They had been woken up from their Kwamis frantic yelling about something that might be dangerous and that they needed to check it.
“But what could it be? It's one in the morning, who could have been Akumatized so early,” Chat yawned.
They came to a stop once they landed in the middle of the park.
Chat Noir noticed someone on a bench, so in his tired mind, he thought that it might be an Akuma.
“There M’lady,” he whispered and nudged his head towards the person sitting on the bench.
Ladybug nodded and approached slowly since the figure was already looking at them–or it looked like that since they couldn't really tell with the hair covering the person's eyes.
“Hey there,” they waved at the heroes.
Both heroes were now wide awake and tense.
“What are you doing out here so late?” Chat questioned them.
“mm...I might have gotten lost…” they said awkwardly.
“You haven’t seen anything weird around here, have you?” Ladybug asked.
“No. The park was empty when I walked in,” They say and get up from the bench. At this, Ladybug and Chat Noir both made a surprised sound at the height of this person.
“Damn,” both heroes breathed out as they looked up to the giant.
Ladybug thought that this might be an Akuma, but she didn’t feel threatened, and they looked normal enough.
The stranger let out an amused huff and looked down at the teens.
“I got lost like four hours ago, and my phone is dead. I forgot to bring a charger.”
Ladybug looked a little lost. Tikki wouldn’t wake her up for anything, so this person was either an Akuma or Tikki was just startled and confused or something.
Chat was examining the stranger. They were standing at 6’5 feet which were intimidating considering Ladybug was 5’5, and Chat Noir was 5’8. Their stance relaxed as they leaned back a bit to look less intimidating. Their hands were inside their hoodie pocket and for being in Paris, France, what they were wearing looked lazy. An oversized yellow hoodie, black jeans, and yellow running shoes.
“Oh! I’m sorry about that. We can help you, though!” Ladybug chirped amicably.
“Really?” They asked, and Chat nodded with a big smile on his face.
“We have to make sure every civilian in Paris is safe!” Chat says, and Ladybug nods. The stranger sighs in relief.
“That’s nice of you both. What are your names?” The stranger asks them.
The heroes glanced at each other, surprised. Everyone knew about Ladybug and Chat Noir by now–maybe it's their ego talking. Either way neither questioned it outright.
"My name is Chat Noir, and this right here is Ladybug. We are the heroes of Paris!" Chat Noir introduced.
Lady nodded, "Yes! Very nice to meet you. I guess you're new here? right?"
"Yes, I actually got here today. I felt claustrophobic in my new apartment, so I decided to take a walk and got lost," they explained.
Ladybug feels sympathy for them. Today might’ve been a long day for them, "So, do you remember your address by any chance?"
They nod and pull out a little sticky note with the address on it.
“I don’t think I can carry you there,” Ladybug looked conflicted. She wanted to get there fast, but it will take them a whole forty minutes to walk there. The small girl looked at the tall person up and down. They were wearing baggy clothing, but she could still see they had a nice build underneath. “Think you can keep up?” she teased lightly.
The person teased back, “Probably.”
Chat Noir took it as a challenge, not catching their playful tone, “Really?”
"I don't know about jumping around but I can probably keep up with running.”
"You know M'lady. It's late and it's not a school day tomorrow. How about we make sure that their first night here is unforgettable?" The cat grinned. Ladybug was a bit unsure, but maybe they could make their day a bit better.
"I can use my lucky charm,” to also help aid in their confusion. Something must have happened to warrant her little friend to wake her up with such a hurried and worried tone.
Nory looked at the magical show in interest. Though it didn't show on their face. They felt the soft energy coming from the surge of power that the lucky charm emitted. Ladybug shouted her ability which is still as annoying as ever in Nory's opinion. It seems that the act was universal.
A copy of the yo-yo Ladybug had landed on her open hand.
"My yo-yo?" She looked around and the only thing highlighted was the person standing next to Chat. She let out a small laugh. "I guess you'll have to try and keep up."
Chat's grin got wider. "Well newbie, hope you have strong arms."
Ladybug threw the yo-yo and Nory caught it. Her earrings beeped so she said, "I'll recharge and then we will take you back home. It will only take a minute."
"Be careful with that." Chat says as the stranger threw the yo-yo around. They had walked a few feet away from him to not hit him. Surprisingly they were really good with it too. "What's your name, by the way?"
"Nory (L/N)."
"That's a bizarre name," Chat commented as Nory studied the yo-yo.
"Thank you?"
"You're welcome!"
Ladybug dropped in front of them and smiled.
"Let's go!" She looked at Nory. "We won't be too fast, so take your time."
"No worries," they smiled and Ladybug found herself flushing. Now that they are all closer she can see just how pretty Nory is.
"Also, my name is Nory. Forgot to tell you, bug."
"Cute name," Ladybug said. Then she started explaining how she usually uses her yo-yo and to be careful because the heroes are protected by their outfit while Nory only had normal clothes.
But unknown to either hero, Nory was not listening. She was filtering the magic in the yo-yo given to her. She wanted to feel what kind of magic it was.
After a bit Nory got bored and just threw the yo-yo to a high building. After a couple seconds they pulled on the string and was surprised by the fact that it pulled them off the ground.
The heroes let out a startled yelp when this happened, but watched in awe as Nory flew up to the building and landed on their feet gracefully.
"Well, nevermind," Ladybug sighed.
The trip was twenty minutes shorter. The heroes were staring in awe as this civilian gracefully flew through the air and landed on their feet just to go back up and land on another building. At one point Ladybug paled as Nory jumped a narrow alleyway without using the yo-yo. She then proceeded to plead with them not to do that.
"Sorry, got too into it," Nory says and keeps going.
Ladybug kept on watching them. She can admit that they were better than her at swinging around. She can probably use some pointers from them.
Once they arrived Nory gave back the item and Ladybug threw it upwards shouting again.
"That was fun," Nory says, smiling.
"I'm surprised you're not winded." Chat said. Ladybug's and his breathing were quicker than normal.
"I told you, I could keep up," they chuckled. "Anyway, thank you very much for your help. Have a goodnight."
They waved and went into their apartment building. Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at each other.
"That was weird."
"Yes."
"They didn't know about us, so it wasn't an akuma," Ladybug says, getting ready to leave. Both heroes leave the premises and go back to the park.
"I think it was a false alarm," Chat says.
"Probably…”
“Master, what do we know about what’s happening?” Matatabi, asked as he floated out of his master’s hoodie.
“We are in a world where the only magic that exists is pieces of jewelry. Two are lost and being used to destroy things. The guardian of the strongest box of jewelry is an old man."
“Who do we have to fight?” Chomei, the seven tailed beetle, asked quietly.
“Right now, no one.”
“Huh?” The nine little creatures all looked at their master in question.
“We are going to take it slow here. This has been happening for a while now. I want to make sure that I know everything before the worst part starts.”
They all looked at each other and then at their Master. She looked worse for wear. Well, for her. Other people might think she is just lacking a couple of hours of sleep, but they knew better.
They all signed in relief once they got to their floor and the door was opened. Nory took off their shoes at the door and fell face first on the couch.
It felt like home already.
“I have to go to school?”
“Sorry, but yeah,” the person on the other side of the phone said.
“Why does almost every world I go to revolve around children?”
“I know it might be annoying, but I need you to keep an eye on those kids. I would have asked you to be a teacher, but that means more work. Of course, you can be a teacher if you want.”
“Nope.”
“Thought so,” There was a giggle after that. “ If you don’t have any more questions then I will be off. Call if you want to know something else. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Nory looked at the expectant eyes of the Kwamis.
"So?"
"School, again," Nory groaned. The others join them.
"Thankfully it starts the next day after tomorrow!" Chomei says excitedly, trying to brighten the mood.
"True," Their master says. Nory looks around the place to familiarize themselves with everything in their new home. They made breakfast and after that took a shower.
"I have to dress up, something to do with blending in, Guardian says," they mumble, looking around their closet. They took out a yellow and black, mostly black, outfit. It consisted of a black baggy pants with a lot of pockets, an orange-yellow skin tight long-sleeved turtleneck, and an army waist pack/bag. Lastly, some heavy iron toed boots and too many chains. They looked like they were ready for war.
They also put on a set of ear piercings since they woke up with none.
Guardian also told them that for them to use any the Kwami abilities, they needed the jewelry that Guardian left in their room.
Three ear piercings for Shukaku(1Tails), Matatabi(2), and Isobu(3). Two tongue piercings for Son Goku(4) and Kokuo(5). One nose for Saiken(6), two rings for Chomei(7) and another two for Gyuki(8). Lastly, two others that she doesn't remember the name of but she is sure they go on her cheek for Kurama(9). She finished putting on the rest of her jewelry.
They put their hair up in a ponytail and let their bangs hang like they always do, in front of their eyes. The heroes yesterday didn't comment on them, but probably because they couldn't see them.
"Why do you always cover your eyes, Master?"
"Nory," they correct softly, "and because of questions. It gets tiring to answer the same thing over and over, you know. Also, you guys can drop the honorifics. We’re going to be together for a long while."
They got a black, white, and yellow backpack so that everyone can enter inside it. She also had a matching smaller purse with her ID and a black card. Guardian said she could do and buy absolutely anything she wanted, but to make sure it wasn't hurting anyone.
"Get in the bag kids, we are going out," They say, voice raised so everyone could hear. They bring their charger with them and slip their phone, a few snacks, and a sketchbook with one pencil in their bag. "There is a seal at the bottom of the bag, you can just go through them if you guys feel cramped in there, k?"
"Yes, Mas-"
"Nory."
"Yes, Nory-sama!"
"That will do for now I guess. If you need anything just go back though the seal portal and get me, just make sure no one catches you."
"Yes, Nory-sama!"
They all go inside the bag in order, she made sure to count all nine of them.
After checking everything over they took a mask and their keys then left.
People liked to look. They stared a bit too long, but if Nory turned in their general direction they would look away in embarrassment or fear.
Nory was intimidating in every aspect, so they really couldn't blame people for it.
They decided to walk around stores that might be near their place. Though none were of much interest other than the small cafés.
After an hour of walking they noticed the familiar place. They were near the park they woke up in. The park was nice last night, so they might be able to rest there for a bit. They looked back at the map on their phone, they also noticed their school was right next to the park.
There was also a cute and very busy Café in one of the corners.
In the corner of their eye, near the school, they could see teens going in or standing outside.
'So it's open on Saturdays as well, neat.'
They looked back down at their phone and closed it, deciding to go to the small Cafe and get something before going to the park where they will inevitably get lost in their own little world and then zone in again after a few hours.
The small cafe, or bakery, was called 'The Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie.'
The smell it was emitting was godly.
Nory entered the busy place and looked around. Everything looked delightful. Their eyes scanned over the names of things and their nose focused on the smells.
It was relaxing.
But there were a lot of people there. They might be hiring.
The tall human looked around the building to see if they were looking for help, but didn't see anything posted. Well, they can always ask, and if they don't have an opening then it's fine. She doesn't really need to work.
"Welcome to The Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, how may I help you today?" A lovely woman asked as the person in front of Nory left.
"I…" the voice kind of startled the woman a bit, but she quickly straightened herself and actually looked at her next customer. This didn't help her at all. Thankfully the stranger was looking at the pastries and not at her very unprofessional reactions.
You're better than this Sabine.
Unbeknown to Sabine, they were highly aware of her reaction to them.
"I'm not sure. This is my first time here," they said a little softer this time.
Sabine beamed at them and looked behind them. There was no one else waiting in line and no one will be in a little it seems.
"That's completely fine, let me get my daughter or husband so they can help you a little bit," she says and leaves quickly.
The tall teen nodded and stood there awkwardly, but then decided to look at the pastries more.
"I'm back! Also, my name is Sabine, very nice to meet you!" The woman points at a frazzled ravenette and smiles proudly, "This is my daughter, Marinette. She will help you with your order."
"H-hi," the small girl squeaked, cheeks red.
"Hello, My name is Nory."
Marinette's mouth dries up as she now sees the person she met last night. She was intimidated, but her kindness wins over so she doesn't curl around herself, instead, she gives a big beaming smile and gets to work.
"Sorry about me staring," Marinette giggles awkwardly.
"That's fine, I'm used to it by now." They said monotonically.
"Well, you're new here, right? Let's get to trying!"
Marinette gave them a couple of small bite-sized pastries. All tasted amazing and it was enjoyable. In the end, they ended up buying a couple of chocolate croissants. A batch of different flavored cupcakes, a batch of cookies, and another batch of random macaroons with a large cup of coffee.
"Thank you for the help Marinette. You were extremely helpful." The smaller girl could hear the smile on their face and she felt just as happy that a new customer was so content. "If you don't mind me asking, do you go to College Françoise Dupont?"
"Um, yes, why?"
"I'm going to attend class there on Monday."
This surprised Marinette to the point where she couldn't hide it. Why were they going to school?
"You are? Are you a senior?" She asks, hoping she wasn't accidentally offending them.
"No, I'm in grade 10."
"WAIT!" She squealed loudly but lowered her voice. "You're 17?"
"I'm 16."
"Eh?"
It was their turn to giggle at her deadpanned confused face. It was a surprise, yes. Even Nory was confused about how she could be 16 and look like she was in her early twenties.
But she didn't have a say in what her birth certificate said anyway.
Marinette felt her face flush again. She looked up and her face heated up again when she saw the other’s face. They had taken off their mask to eat a couple of minutes beforehand. The smaller girl quickly looked down and started overthinking. She felt the warmth you would feel when your favorite celebrity talks to you.
"I wanted to ask, Marinette. Are your parents hiring? I'm looking for a job."
"Um you will have to ask me on a da-I mean you will have to ask them about that," Marinette stutters. She takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I think they would love to have more help. Usually they have a lot of orders at the end of the week, and it gets very overwhelming.”
"Ah, that’s great then," they looked down at their phone. “I should ask them before I head out,” They say under their breath.
“I can ask them right now!” Marinette says. She got up and stumbled to the back of the shop.
A minute later, Marinette walks over with a big smile on her face and papers in hand.
“This is a job application. Do you have any experience working in Bakeries?” Marinette asks.
“Yes.” The ravenette perks up and beams.
“Then you can fill this out now and start on Monday after noon!”
After they finished filling the paper, they looked at their phone and said, "Anyway, I think I should head out. I want to go to the park before going back home, nice meeting you Mari, and thank you. See you on Monday."
"Nice meeting you too! See you on Monday." She waved back, cheeks still rosy.
Nory took their bags and coffee, then left. The journey to the park was short. They picked a bench and sat on one side, placing everything else next to their seat. They took out their sketchbook and pen, getting comfortable, then started drawing.
They got buried into the tranquility of it all, but of course, someone had to break it. Nory didn't look up or anything to see if they wanted to talk to them or something. She just kept her eyes on her paper.
Someone sat next to them on the bench, but they didn't acknowledge them. After a while, she saw from the corner of her eye that the person had made themselves comfortable. The bench was wide enough for at least five people and Nory was only taking two spaces. So they had enough space for themselves. She kept on drawing.
Nathaniel had entered the park and was disappointed to see that it was pretty full. He didn't want to go home yet, so he fought through his anxiety and went to find an open seat. He found a bench with someone already seated on it, but there was more space for about three more people to seat comfortably.
He "discreetly" looked them over. They were-they were very nice looking.
He liked their style, it was dark, but the yellow was a nice soft touch. The markings on their hands were also interesting-and now he realized he had been standing here and staring at a stranger for two minutes.
He quickly shuffled to take a seat as quietly as possible. As he did this, he couldn't help but peek at the book on their lap as they seemed to absent-mindedly sketch something.
He stayed in that position for a good minute until once again, he realized he was staring.
But in his defense, the drawing was amazingly realistic and so beautiful.
He sat down and got comfortable. Then he pretty much got lost in his own little world.
Nory finished their drawing and smiled at it lovingly. They ended up drawing a smiling portrait of Hinata. They had become very close when Nory was fixing their timeline. Then she quietly put her things away in order to leave, before finishing though, she heard a loud scream and a crash.
The person sitting next to her flinched and quickly picked up their things, their back facing an incoming attack.
Nory grabbed them by the waist, letting out a soft apology, and jumping outside of the attack zone. They held the redhead in a bridal carry and crouched behind a tree as a ridiculously dressed superhuman appeared.
Then Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared as well. Not that they aren’t ridiculously dressed as well.
"Hello again Ice princess," Chat teased.
Nory let out a sigh and rolled their eyes. They looked down at a red-faced Nathaniel, who was looking at everything but them. They put him down with another apology.
"Sorry about that, I didn't want you getting hurt," They say softly to not bring any attention to them.
"Y-yes. Thank you," he stuttered quietly. Then Nory pushed him as a spike of ice pierced the tree he was almost leaning on. Their cover was destroyed.
"Run," Nory said and Nathaniel didn't think twice to question them at all.
Ladybug and Chat both tense up at seeing someone almost get hurt.
Nory walked out from the back of the tree nonchalantly, making the "villain" stop whatever they were doing.
"Ello," they say monotonically. This made the "ice princess" very angry, so she sent a gush of wind to them. The only thing it did was shift their hair hazardly.
"Ice queen-"
"It's Stormy Weather!" The Akuma yelled. Now that she was distracted, Nory took a small rock from the ground and threw it at the opened umbrella.
The umbrella cracked. It wasn't too big, but it was a crack. Nory did it because, science. Also, it was an enhanced rock. They were pretty sure that the only reason why it worked is because the chakra stunned the dark energy out of the object.
A butterfly fluttered out and the girl fell down to the ground, but thankfully Chat was fast enough to catch her.
Ladybug gaped at Nory as they just stood there, but she focused on the fluttering butterfly once it got too close to Nory.
"What are those?" Nory asks, pointing at the now cleansed butterfly.
"Those are Akumas. That's what we fight against every day," Ladybug explains. "Nory,"
"Hm? You remember me from yesterday?"
Chat now looks at Nory. Yep, that was the person who flew with them last night, and now they were fighting Akumas.
"Don't jump into fights like that, please. We try our best to keep anyone from getting hurt," Ladybug scolds them.
"Unfortunately, Ladybug, ten people got hurt when you guys were fighting a few meters away. I only interfered because I knew that I could've easily run away to a tree and use it as a shield. I made an opening for you but you didn't take it," They weren’t a timekeeper for nothing. This type of fights are childsplay compared to some of their previous deadly encounters.
It was completely true. Chat and Ladybug were too busy gaping at them as they waltz in like they were having a picnic or something. Instead of taking that clear window of distraction and taking the Umbrella out of Stormy weather's hand.
Ladybug glared at them but flushed in embarrassment. Chat's ears and tail fell. It wasn’t entirely their fault that they didn’t know how to fight properly, yet.
"Nice seeing you guys again. Have a nice day, thank you for saving the day," and both teens just didn't know what to say.
Nory took their bags and left.