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Chloe doesn’t like Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
That is a fact. Just as the sun rises from the east, and the tides ebb and flow with the moon’s gravitational pull, no one can make Chloe like Dupain-Cheng.
But. If someone were to ask Chloe why…
The truth is, Chloe doesn’t know. There’s something different about Dupain-Cheng, something that simply rubs her the wrong way. While Chloe doesn’t get along with any of her classmates—except Sabrina, who is mildly more tolerable—she despises Dupain-Cheng.
And Chloe has never been shy about making her opinion known.
Chloe first meets Dupain-Cheng on her first day in primaire.
She enters primaire two years later than other children—at eight. When she goes into the classroom—so many people—no one pays attention to her, not like they should.
The classroom is loud—too loud. Chloe’s classmates—the peasants—are talking to each other enthusiastically, while she sits at the back of the classroom, alone.
They already know each other—all of them—and none of them make the effort to greet her.
Chloe scoffs. It isn’t like they’re worth making friends with, despite Daddy’s insistence that she “be good and make lots of friends, okay?”
She already has Adrikins, even though he isn’t going to school with her. She doesn’t need any other friends. She doesn’t even want to be here! Why can’t she be homeschooled with Adrikins like before? They were fine not going to maternelle and the first two years of primaire together!
And then, one of the…the peasants approaches her. It’s a pretty girl with bright blue eyes—glittering like the sapphire necklace Daddy gave her on her last birthday. Her hair is black, so black that it almost shines blue. It looks really soft. Chloe wants to touch it.
The girl beams, and the smile lights up the room. Something in Chloe thaws.
Not even Adrikins smiles at her like that.
“Kacchan! You’re here!”
Chloe freezes.
Kacchan?
That…she…
That smile isn’t for her.
Chloe’s lips curl. She wants…she wanted…
“I’m not Kacchan.” She sneers. “That’s a stupid name.”
Chloe revels in the way the girl’s smile falls. No she doesn’t.
“Oh.” The girl looks at her shoes, her lips drawn into a pout. She looks pathetic. “I thought…”
She shakes her head, then looks up at Chloe again. Her smile is much more subdued this time. Chloe wants that other smile back. “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Do you want to be my friend?”
Yes.
Chloe looks away. “No.”
Dupain-Cheng’s smile falls. She hesitates, looking between Chloe and her other classmates.
“Go away back to your friends.” Chloe sneers.
Don’t go. Stay. I don’t know anyone here.
Dupain-Cheng goes away.
Chloe doesn’t like Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
Dupain-Cheng is so ridiculously, infuriatingly nice.
It’s stupid. No one is that nice unless they have an ulterior motive, like the people who kiss up to her to gain Daddy’s favor.
No one in the class has a bad word to say about her.
Their classmates all flock to her, hanging onto her every word. Dupain-Cheng has the entire grade wrapped around her fingers, but she seems oblivious to the power she holds.
Chloe hates it.
Chloe trips during PE. She hates PE. They always have to pair up to do team exercises, and no one ever willingly pairs up with her. She didn’t have to do this back when she was homeschooled—
She twists her ankle while running, and crumbles onto the ground. It hurts—
Chloe cries out.
In an instant, Dupain-Cheng is by her side.
The pretty annoying girl holds out her hand, “Are you okay?”
Chloe looks at the outstretched hand. She looks at Dupain-Cheng’s face, twisted into a concerned frown.
She should take her hand.
She doesn’t.
Chloe sneers. She bats away the hand. “I don’t need your help, Dupain-Cheng.”
Chloe pushes herself up. Her ankle sends a jolt of fire up her leg. Chloe bites her lips, and does not scream.
She isn’t weak.
She hobbles to the nurse’s office, alone.
Dupain-Cheng likes art.
It’s one of the most well-known facts about her. Dupain-Cheng’s pencil case is stitched with colorful threads and fancy buttons, as vibrant as the girl herself. Her pencils are wrapped in washi tape, as are her hair clips and folders. The covers of her notebooks are covered in sloppy doodles of people in strange ugly clothes.
It’s a beautiful and passionate expression of herself to the world garish and unsightly. The well-made stationary Daddy buys Chloe is much better.
What are the doodles even supposed to represent? The most common one is an illustration of an old man in a yellow, red and blue onesie. It’s surprisingly detailed, for a ten-year-old’s art disturbing, why would Dupain-Cheng draw a decrepit old man in a onesie? Everyone knows onesies are an affront to fashion, and only little children are allowed wear them. Mother has never allowed Chloe to wear one, not even when she was a baby.
Chloe can draw much better. No she can’t.
Mother visits when Chloe is ten and a half.
Chloe hasn’t seen her since she was seven and three quarters, before she stopped being homeschooled.
Back then, she went to Adrien’s house every day to be tutored with him, even on weekends. When lessons were over, they would get to play together. Adrien’s favorite game was always tag, and even though Chloe didn’t particularly like being active, doing it with Adrien made it tolerable. They’d take turns hiding and finding each other in the infinite halls of the mansion, until Adrien’s parents caught them running indoors. Then, they’d either be scolded or be given an exasperated smile—depending on if it was Adrien’s father or mother who found them—and sent out to the gardens, where they would continue their games until it was time for Chloe to go home.
The last time Chloe sees her mother, she is playing basketball in the garden—as much as two children can play basketball. Mother comes to visit Adrien’s parents—for some business thing, Chloe assumes. She passes by the two of them as she leaves, and absent-mindedly pats Chloe and Adrien on their heads.
That night, Chloe returned home to find her mother has already left for Paris, never saying goodbye.
When Chloe learns Mother is returning, she is preparing her bed.
Jean, her butler, tries to stop her, but Chloe slips between his arms and rushes out of the bedroom, barefoot and in her nightgown. She clutches her sketchbook to her chest, filled with her best sketches that she hopes Mother will appreciate.
Chloe approaches her mother, and—
“What are you wearing?” The woman scowls in lieu of a greeting. Chloe freezes. “A nightgown? Really? Andre, this is ridiculous! How can you let your daughter run around in something as unsightly as that?”
“Audrey—” Daddy smiles feebly.
“Mother,” Chloe interrupts, and swallows as her mother looks at her with a piercing gaze. She plows on before she loses her nerve. “I brought something for you.”
Mother accepts the offered notebook and flips through it. “Did you draw this?”
Chloe’s heart lifts. She nods eagerly.
“This is—this is disgusting! How can my daughter draw something as ugly as this? Look at the proportions, they are all so wrong—and is this supposed to be a head or a mashed potato? Andre, what have you been teaching Clara? Even a dog can draw better than this—”
“Audrey, please, she’s only ten—” Daddy protests, but his words fall on deaf ears.
Chloe can’t hear anything past the ringing in her ears.
A seed of ice in her chest grows, building and building until hail clogs her throat and icicles pierce her chest.
She can’t—
She can’t—
She feels very, very cold.
It’s never enough.
She’s
never enough.
Chloe doesn’t see Mother once during her stay in Paris, after that night.
Some days, Chloe sees Adrien in Dupain-Cheng.
It’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!
Sure, they have the same kindness, the same smile, and their presence always lights up the room—
No.
She loves Adrien, but Dupain-Cheng grates at her nerves. They aren’t the same.
Chloe meets Sabrina Raincomprix the first year at collège.
The new student follows her around like a lost puppy. She insists on carrying Chloe’s schoolbag around, and being her pack mule when Chloe goes shopping. She does Chloe’s homework and takes notes for her without asking, and more than pulls her weight during group projects.
Chloe doesn’t trust her.
No one does what Sabrina is doing out of the goodness of their heart. They always, always want something—favors, fame, money, power…
But.
Mother would definitely approve if Chloe had a person servant, like she does. Sabrina is offering that for free—and if she wants fame or money or power—
It isn’t like Chloe doesn’t have some to spare.
In all her years at school, Chloe makes a single not-quite friend.
Mrs Agreste goes missing when Adrien is eleven.
Chloe’s best friend is distraught. He shuts himself in his room and refuses to come out even for meals, forcing Mlle Nathalie to deliver meals directly to Adrien’s room.
Mr Agreste also shuts himself in his office, leaving Chloe to be the only person to comfort Adrien in the giant, empty mansion. But at least he had the decency to suspend Adrien’s lessons for the moment, so Chloe can give him some leeway.
She wraps her arms around Adrien and tries not to think of her own mother.
Mrs Agreste isn’t like that.
…right?
It isn’t the first time Chloe brought up the possibility of Adrien joining her at school.
It isn’t the first time Adrien’s parents rejected her as well.
“—but Collège Françoise Dupont is a very prestigious school! All the students are either from wealthy families or earned scholarships to be there. And I’ll be with Adriki—Adrien at school, so I’ll ensure Adrien adjusts well—”
Before, Mrs Agreste would pat her head patronizingly and tell her he can go to school with you soon, but let’s wait until Adrien is a little older, okay? He isn’t ready yet.
Gabriel Agreste doesn’t even offer her that courtesy.
“I already told you, Chloe, and my answer remains unchanged. No. It’s bad enough I lost Emilie, I will not let Adrien go.”
“But—”
“Nathalie, escort Chloe from my office.”
Chloe quietly seethes.
One time Chloe comes over to Adrien’s house, she insists on going to the garden with him.
As much as she dislikes physical activities, being cooped up indoors all day isn’t healthy. She has no idea why Mr Agreste insists that Adrien can’t go to school with her, but at the very least, that old man can ensure Adrien isn’t cooped up in his room every single day, damnit.
There’s a giant statue of Adrien’s mum in the garden. A giant statue over one-storey tall, towering over the space where two children used to play games.
Mrs Agreste looks larger than life, and suffocating. A benevolent but stern gaze watching their every movement with unyielding eyes.
Nothing at all like the Mrs Agreste Chloe used to know.
No wonder Adrien doesn’t like to go to the garden anymore.
“C’mon, Adrikins.” Chloe mutters. “It’s hot out here. Let’s go back to your room.”
“But you—yeah. Let’s go.” Adrien smiles at her gratefully, and something warm blossoms in Chloe’s chest.
That night, Chloe finally does something she should’ve done a long time ago.
She forges Gabriel Agreste’s signature and enrolls Adrien into Collège Françoise Dupont for the upcoming school year.
It takes dozens of times of practice to get Mr Agreste’s signature just right, with all the grandiose loops and dashes in the correct place. Chloe stays up until three in the morning, eager to get this over with, and is rewarded by dark circles around her eyes the next day.
But when she presents the forged consent form to Adrien, her hand aching and her eye bags hidden meticulously with make-up, the smile Adrien gives her—happy and hopeful and very, very bright—
It feels like dawn arriving over the horizon, lighting the entire world with warmth and hope. Chloe’s aches all melt away, and the same warmth that she barely feels anymore, blossoms to life once again.
She feels warm for the rest of the week.
Adrien arrives at school, and assimilates himself into the class with an ease Chloe never managed.
The one thing which comes naturally to Adrien but Chloe never managed, is charisma. He is effortlessly bright and kind and warm, even after spending an entire childhood in that cold, empty mansion. People simply flock to him, and even if Adrien doesn’t know the power he holds, he could summon people to his beck and call with just a sunny smile and a word.
Even with all her misgivings, Chloe has to admit Mr Agreste is a smart businessman. There is a reason he chose Adrien to be the poster boy of the Gabriel brand.
But Chloe herself—she simply can’t do that. Even though Daddy bends to her every wish, and the staff at Le Grand Paris bow to her every command—it’s just because Daddy loves her and the staff fear her. Everyone at collège despises her.
And whose fault is that?
Adrien starts spending more time with their classmates than with her. That’s fine; that’s good, even. She helped him get into school just for this—so that Adrien won’t be sad or lonely anymore.
This is great.
It’s not.
Adrien has always been a stable in her life, the only person who sticks by her side because he wants to, not because of blood relations or fear or trying to kiss up to her daddy. He is the light of her life, the dawn that beats back the darkness, the only person who can beat back the freezing weight in her chest and make her feel warm and alive. But now—
Adrien just needs to be reminded of their friendship; of everything they share between them. Then, everything will return to as it should be.
So, Chloe begins to find every excuse to stick with Adrien. She pulls him into the limo to have lunch at the Hotel during lunch hour, ignoring the glares Adrien’s ‘friends’ send her. She sits next to him every time they have class in the special activity rooms, and cling to his arm as they walk down the hallways. She insists on partnering with Adrien every time they do a group project, and Mlle Bustier—a woman without a backbone, but it serves Chloe well right now—always caves to her demands. Dupain-Cheng and Cesaire and Lahiffe glare at her almost constantly, but it isn’t anything Chloe isn’t used.
Chloe simply sends a smug smile in their direction, and strolls away with Adrien in toll.
Adrien is hers and hers alone.
Until—
Until—
The class is about to elect a class representative.
Chloe has been the class representative ever since the first year of collège —it’s only natural; she’s the child of a politician, so she knows best how to lead the class. But this year, Dupain-Cheng stands up, a defiant glint in her eyes, and declares that no, she will fight for the position of class representative.
And their classmates—
They look up, some surprised, others pleased. They all look expectant.
Chloe isn’t stupid. She knows their classmates prefer Dupain-Cheng over her. As loathe as she is to admit it, Dupain-Cheng possesses the same charisma as Adrien, but where Chloe admires the trait in Adrien, she hates it in Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
The girl with the perfect family, perfect grades, extraordinary talent and friends and kindness and—and—
Chloe will not let Dupain-Cheng win.
So she offers anyone who votes for her highly-coveted concert tickets, and pulls some strings to organize a meet-and-greet with Jagged Stone. Goodwill and incentive, the two weapons every politician should have.
But then—then—
Everyone still votes for Dupain-Cheng, because she is kind-hearted and ridiculously gifted and everything Chloe is not.
And despite everything, when their classmates declare Dupain-Cheng the winner at the Hotel—Chloe’s home turf—the blue-eyed girl still turns to Chloe with her damningly bright smile, and says, “Well played, Chloe.”
It probably isn’t an insult—the girl doesn’t have it in her, and this is probably some feeble attempt at sportsmanship—but it sounds like a mockery, a reminder that no matter how wealthy she is or how much influence she wields, Chloe still isn’t as good as the exceptionally gifted girl.
And Chloe—
She seethes.
“Shut up, anime girl.” Chloe snarls.
She knows it is wrong, okay? To mock someone based on their ethnicity, especially when Dupain-Cheng isn’t even Japanese. But Chloe wants Dupain-Cheng to hurt, and—
She can’t find it in herself to care.
Dupain-Cheng flinches back. She looks at Chloe, eyes wide, something akin to betrayal on her face.
Why does she feel betrayed? Chloe has never pretended to like her. They have never been friends.
Cruel cruel cruel—why does she always have to be so harsh?
Their classmates shout in anger and protest, but Chloe they have never been relevant, and Chloe ignores them until they become background noise.
Until—
Until a voice cuts in above the chatter of the damned peasants.
Adrien.
“Chloe!” Her best friend in the entire world growls, moving to stand between Dupain-Cheng and Chloe as if the perfect girl needs protecting. “How could you!?”
Chloe scoffs, “Oh, as if Dupain-Cheng doesn’t deserve it. Always the perfect girl with all the talent and friends and the personality of a protagonist—I guess I’m the villain of your story, aren’t I? The only one stopping you from achieving your perfect life, with the entire school wrapped around your fingers, all the while pretending you aren’t a manipulative little bitch—”
“Chloe, stop it!”
Chloe—
Stops.
She has never seen Adrien so angry before.
“I don’t know what your problem with Marinette is, but I know that she doesn’t deserve it. Marinette is the kindest person I’ve ever known! You’ve done nothing but treat her terribly but still she never excludes you! Marinette—”
“You see—that’s exactly my point—she’s manipulating you, Adrikins!”
“Stop calling me that!” Adrien snaps. “The—the Chloe I know wouldn’t have done this. I don’t know what happened after I came to school, but you’ve been acting so clingy and stopping me from hanging out with my friends—and I—maybe this is how you always are when not at my house, and I—I thought I knew you, Chloe. I thought you weren’t an entitled brat. I can’t be friends with someone that cruel.”
In the stunned silence that follows, Adrien’s chest heaves heavily. His eyes widen as he realizes exactly what he said, but—
The damage is done.
Chloe can’t hear anything but the Adrien’s words ringing in her ears. She thought—she thought—
“Maybe I don’t know you either.” She whispers.
“Chloe, wait—” Adrien begins, but Chloe is already spinning around, walking away before her mask breaks and she shatters in front of her classmates’ unforgiving eyes.
No one notices the sad, knowing bluebell eyes that follow Chloe until she leaves the room.
Chloe gets akumatized. No surprise there; after the shitshow that went down that afternoon, it’d be more of a surprise if Hawkmoth didn’t target her.
Friendship Breaker, the akuma that forces people to confess their most secret, hateful thoughts about their friends. She’s dressed in a garish yellow dress, with ink-black skin and equally garish yellow eyeliner, and—
Chloe wonders how many friendships ended today, because of her.
She never cared about things like this, before this afternoon.
But—
But—
Adrien—
How many lost their Adrien today, because of her?
Chloe scowls at the city’s skyline on her balcony. The night air feels freezing with only her thin nightgown on, but Chloe doesn’t care.
Is Adrien still awake, thinking about what happened today? Mr Agreste has a strict lights-out policy at 10:30 pm, which is utterly ridiculous. What is he, five?
But Adrien has a flashlight that he uses after ‘bedtime’; Chloe would know, she smuggled it to him when they were nine. It’s 11 o’clock now; is Adrien using that flashlight now?
A soft thud echoes behind Chloe, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Chloe turns around on her lawn chair, to see a figure in a form-fitting jumpsuit standing on the balcony.
She can’t see it in the dim light, but Chloe has seen enough pictures of the figure to know there are defined muscles beneath the red-and-black jumpsuit, highlighting the figure’s small but well-built form. Two black capes flutter in the wind, somewhat reminiscent of a ladybug’s elytra. The suit isn’t particularly fashionable, but the figure carries the style well.
In person, Ladybug is shorter than Chloe expected.
“Hi, Chloe,” The superheroine smiles, her eyes crinkling beneath her mask. She walks up to the lawn chair next to Chloe’s. “Can I sit here?”
Chloe shrugs. Why is the savior of Paris here?
She isn’t surprised Ladybug knows her name. She is pretty famous, but not in a good way like Adrien or Ladybug or Chat Noir.
Is Ladybug here to yell at Chloe? Chloe saw the video of her akuma form hitting Chat Noir with some sort of energy blast, forcing him to spew something about how inferior and useless he felt compared to Ladybug, as well as the subsequent one where Ladybug hugged Chat Noir after they defeated Chloe. Several videos, actually. It is honestly ridiculous how little self-preservation people have.
Ladybug doesn’t seem like the type to come here just for that, but Chloe knows very well someone’s public persona can be nothing like their real self.
Chloe doesn’t trust Ladybug. She smiles no matter the situation, when staring down akumas and comforting children alike. There’s no way that smile is real; it is simply a mask, like the ones all politicians wear. It is beautiful and perfect and so, so ingenuine.
Chat Noir is much better. That man cannot hide his emotions to save his life.
“What do you want?” Chloe grumbles when Ladybug makes no move to strike a conversation.
“Bad day?” the superheroine asks sympathetically.
“Duh.” Chloe rolls her eyes.
Ladybug smiles serenely, turning to face the night view instead of Chloe, and—
Chloe isn’t sure why she does it. Maybe because it has been a very long day, and bad is a ridiculous understatement. Maybe because Chloe is at the end of her rope, and she desperately needs to spill this out before she gets akumatized two times in a row. Maybe—
Does it matter? The end result is the same.
“I broke up with my best friend today.” Chloe says before she can stop herself. And the words just keep coming. She talks about Adrien, her only friend discounting Sabrina. Her not-quite friendship with Sabrina, who she can never find in herself to quite trust even after all these years. Her absent mother, and her daddy who sees gifts and affection as the same thing. How everyone in her life except Adrien either fears her or wants to kiss up to her.
How Mr Agreste kept Adrien hidden in that giant, empty mansion, only allowing him to leave when Chloe forced his hand. How Adrien started drifting from her the moment he started going to school, and how desperately she tried to hold onto her friendship, until their friendship still snapped because Chloe is a terrible, cruel person.
And—about Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
There is something different about that girl. Something that simply rubs Chloe the wrong way, until Chloe has to beat her down so that they’re on the same level.
Or maybe there isn’t.
Maybe the different one is Chloe.
“I think—I think I’m jealous of her.” Chloe admits quietly. If she doesn’t look to her right, she can almost imagine she is only confessing to the night air. “She—she’s so effortlessly charming, and gifted, and everyone loves her. No one ever has a bad word to say about her. I bet if my mother showed up right now, she’d take Dupain-Cheng on as her apprentice without a second thought. And her family is so close and tight-knit, even though they’re just bakers. I look at her and it’s like—Dupain-Cheng has everything—”
Everything I want.
Chloe swallows. She looks to her side.
Ladybug is still lying on the lawn chair, her eyes closed without a care in the world.
Chloe scowls; is she asleep?
But then, Ladybug says, “You’re very brave.”
“What?”
“I’ve known grown men and women who would rather die than admit what they’re feeling. So—I think you’re very brave.”
“…oh.” No one’s ever called her that before.
“And—you don’t have to answer if you don’t feel like it—but why do you insist on being so cold?” So cruel, she doesn’t say.
Chloe scoffs. “There are two ways to become influential in life. One is to be charming and get people to fall at your feet awaiting your command, and the other is to bully your way to the top until no one dares defy your orders. I can’t do the first one, so I only have one choice. Not like Adrien. Not like Dupain-Cheng.” She wrinkles her nose. “Ugh. Why do I even have to explain this to someone like you?”
“Oh.” Ladybug admits. “I didn’t know that.”
Something in Chloe feels pleased at the admission. The superhero feels so untouchable, but now—
“But…” For the first time since Chloe began speaking, Ladybug turns to face her. The superhero tilts her head. “Just out of curiosity, have you tried the first one?”
Chloe rolled her eyes. Of course—
…has she?
Mother never approved when Chloe was being nice, but…
Adrien did.
“I—” Chloe begins.
She remembers, a half-forgotten memory, of a bright smile and kind bluebell eyes.
Marinette tried to befriend her before.
Chloe always hates that she never managed to quite assimilate into the class, but—
Is that really true?
“I—I’m not a nice person.” Chloe says. “I can’t be like Adrien, or Dupain-Cheng, or you—I can’t be kind or gentle or sweet like that. I can’t.”
Ladybug smiles at her. For the first time, it feels genuine. It’s as if she’s seeing Chloe as a friend, instead of a notorious girl with a reputation of being a terrible person.
Chloe suddenly understands why her fanbase is so big.
“You don’t have to be kind or gentle or sweet for people to like you.” The superheroine says. “I once—I knew a friend. He was brash and angry and curses like a soldier.” She snorts at that. “But he was also very determined, and brave. Once he set his eyes on a goal, he’d keep working until he achieved it. And he had many friends. People who’d stick with him through thick and thin; and he’d do the same for them too.” She hesitates. “You remind me of him, actually. You both have blond hair.”
“Oh.” Chloe whispers. She…is that possible?
Ladybug smiles as she stands up, “I’ll see you around, Chloe. And—try to talk to Adrien tomorrow, will you? He seemed distraught when I visited him.”
Sure enough, Adrien pulls Chloe aside once she arrives at school. The bell is about to ring in a few minutes, but Adrien either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.
“Look,” her former best friend sighs, “I—I’m sorry about what I said yesterday. I should’ve spoken with you in private, not—not like that. And I swear—”
“No.” Chloe interrupts. She thought long and hard about this last night. “I—you’re right. I was being clingy, because you started hanging out with me less and less ever since you started school, and I—I was scared I’d lose the closest friend I have. And Dupain-Cheng, I…I was jealous how gifted and happy and popular she is…and yesterday…I guess those feelings just boiled over.
“…oh.” Adrien whispers softly. There is something soft and sad in his eyes. Chloe has never seen it on his face before.
“And—” Chloe swallows. She’s never been good at apologizing, even when it was just over accidentally denting one of Adrien’s many toys. “I—I’m sorry—”
Warm arms wrap around her shoulders. Instinctively, Chloe relaxes into the hug, but—
Gently, she pushes Adrien’s arms from her shoulder.
“No,” she takes a deep breath as Adrien gives her a hurt expression, “I—I have to finish before I lose my nerve. Ladybug visited me last night, and I—I promise I’ll try to be less of a jerk, okay? I’m…not quite sure how, but I’ll try.”
Adrien smiles, soft and happy. “That’s okay. We’ll figure it out together. And I’m sorry I yelled at you in front of everyone. I should’ve talked to you in private, and we could’ve reached some compromise—”
This time, it is Chloe who wraps her arms around Adrien. “We…it’s okay. I—I kind of deserve it.”
They say like this for a long time, long enough that they are definitely missing the first lesson, but Chloe can’t find it in herself to care.
“I don’t want to lose our friendship too,” Adrien mutters, “but—ah—you still have to apologize to Marinette.”
Chloe groans, more for show than anything else. She already planned on doing that.
Chloe approaches Dupain-Cheng during recess.
The entire class watches cautiously, ready to spring into action if Chloe tries anything. Their gazes prickle at her skin. Cesaire scowls at her.
Chloe swallows the instinctive bitterness that rises at how loyal Cesaire is, despite having known Dupain-Cheng for only a few months.
Adrien gives her an encouraging smile.
Chloe takes a deep breath. She’s Chloe Bourgeoise, and she isn’t scared of this.
“I—I’m sorry. About what I said yesterday. I was angry and—I shouldn’t have done that. And. Yeah.”
Dupain-Cheng smiles, soft and warm and so very like Adrien’s smile. “Thank you, Chloe. And I forgive you.”
Chloe releases a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
But then—
“Wow.” Cesaire says dryly. “How painful was it for you to say that?”
“Don’t test me, Cesaire.” Chloe snaps, but Adrien laughs and Cesaire smiles, so she supposes maybe—just maybe—there’s some truth to what Ladybug said.
When Sabrina finds Chloe’s Ladybug shrine a week later, she smiles and doesn’t say a word.
Cesaire accuses Chloe of being Ladybug.
Coming from anyone else, it would be flattering, but Cesaire complains about how Ladybug is an asshole in real life the entire time she demands Chloe to admit her superhero alter ego.
And then she gets akumatized when Chloe—rightfully—makes the principal give Cesaire detention for rummaging in her locker.
“Really?” Chloe demands, after Cesaire is deakumatized. “I got akumatized before, and Ladybug showed up. Why would you think I’m her? I didn’t know you wanted to be a tabloid reporter!”
Cesaire flushes red, though in anger or embarrassment Chloe doesn’t know. “That could be your clone, or—or something! Superheroes always have ways to pretend they’re in two places at the same time to throw off suspicion in comics.”
“Um, hello? In comics, dumbass. This is real life, Cesaire. And have you really never heard of cosplay?”
Cesaire glares at her, but her scowl slowly shifts into a sly smile. “So, you admit you cosplay as Ladybug?”
Chloe rolls her eyes, but her heart skips a beat at the sly smirk. Cesaire wouldn’t—wouldn’t dare mention this, would she? Mother would—would absolutely disapprove of this hobby—and she—
Mother hasn’t been present for years. How would she find out?
“Whatever. That’s none of your business.” Chloe huffs, then stalks away to the classroom.
But days pass—then weeks—and no whisper of Chloe cosplaying as Ladybug shows up.
Cesaire smiles at her between classes, and Chloe despises the knowledge that the girl has leverage over Chloe if she so chooses, but—
Cesaire is friends with Dupain-Cheng and Adrien. She wouldn’t think of using blackmail even as a last resort.
Besides, Chloe did promise Adrien she’d make more of an effort not to be a jerk.
…she’d reserve her judgement, just for now.
One of Daddy’s business partners from Japan comes to stay in the Hotel.
She has a daughter, whom Daddy encourages Chloe to befriend. He always tells her this—business relations can be improved with personal relations—but Chloe never puts much of an effort into it. It isn’t like she’s someone people like.
But. She promised Adrien she’d try to be less of a jerk.
So, Chloe steels her nerves and pastes an unnatural smile on her face, before marching down to knock on the girl’s door.
“Hello!” She beams, and tries to imagine she is cosplaying as Adrien. The girl who opens the door has a splay of freckles across her cheeks, and cropped hair that suits her surprisingly well. “You are Kagami Tsurugi, right? I am Chloe Bourgeoise! Call me Chloe. Let’s be friends! Can I call you Kagami?”
The girl blinks at her, perplexed. Chloe’s eyes does not twitch. A few seconds in, and her cheeks are already beginning to ache. How can Adrien keep this up?
“…if you insist, Mlle Chloe.” Kagami finally says. She pauses, and adds, “I believe you will ask if you are allowed to come in. I suppose you can; it would be rude if I do not allow a guest to be comfortable.”
“Thank you!” Chloe breathes. Seriously, how can Adrien do this every day?
She enters the room, tidy and barely lived in, just like every other standard hotel room here. Chloe turns around to compliment the room, but—
Kagami is staring at her. “Are you…alright? You look as if you are in pain.”
Chloe’s smile freezes.
“Of course I am!” She says as her smile stretches painfully wide. “Why won’t I be happy with making a new friend?”
“…you are grimacing, Mlle Chloe.”
Chloe’s façade last one more moment before it shatters.
She groans, pressing her hands to her face, and massages her aching cheek muscles. “Ugh. I can’t do this! This is—how can Adrikins live like this? I—” She lifts her head to find her ‘friend’ staring at her, bemused. “I promised A—someone I’ll be less of a jerk. Should’ve known it wouldn’t work.”
“Are you—is your definition of that whatever you tried to do?”
“I don’t know!” Chloe complains. She never would’ve admitted this normally, but she promised Adrien and—ugh. She should’ve known she’d regret that promise.
“I was trying to act like someone I know isn’t a jerk.” She explained. “Can’t get it wrong that way.”
“To me, it just seemed like you were having a constipation.”
Chloe wrinkled her nose. “That’s fair.”
“Additionally—apologies if I am overstepping—are you acting like a jerk right now? Because I do not feel so.”
“You—what?” But…but… “But this is how I usually talk.” Minus all the sneering, of course.
“Correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe your definition of ‘less of a jerk’ is to be cheerful and upbeat.” Kagami waits until Chloe gives a hesitant nod to continue. “I do not—cannot—act like that, but I do not consider myself a ‘jerk’.”
Chloe scoffs. What does she know—
Wait.
Chloe suddenly remembers Ladybug’s friend.
What was it the superhero said?
“You don’t have to be kind or gentle or sweet for people to like you.”
“And…people like you?”
“I am too blunt for some people, but most people do not mind, if that is what you are asking.” The brown-haired girl tilts her head imperiously, but it somehow seems less mocking than when Chloe does it. “I suppose I do not mind your attitude as it currently is. I do not know you, and cannot comment on what you did in the past to be labeled a ‘jerk’, but I believe if you continue on with your attitude right now, you are on the right path.” Kagami pauses. “And—if you were indeed genuine in your desire to be my friend, I would accept that offer. My mother is proposing we move to Paris for the next few years, and I would prefer to have a guide around this place.”
…huh.
So—is this what Ladybug meant?
Chloe…she doesn’t have to be chipper and bright all the time. Maybe she won’t have to break her promise to Adrien after all.
She can work with this.
She looks at Kagami, pleased, and her smile feels much more natural this time. “You better not regret this, Kagami. I’ve heard I can be quite a handful.”