Chapter Text
Marinette was not anxious.
Her hands definitely weren’t shaking, her throat definitely wasn’t dry and her heart definitely wasn’t beating out of her chest.
Okay, so maybe that was a lie… but who could blame her? It was her first day back at school after what had been a very eventful summer break, and she had no idea how her classmates were going to react to her new look.
New look was probably an understatement, actually…
In the six weeks since her class broke away for summer vacation, Marinette had grown out her hair, thrown out half her wardrobe, made herself plenty of new clothes and even chosen a new name for herself.
She was une fière femme transgenre, and she thought it safe to be out, too.
Maman and Papa had taken it surprisingly well. When she told them, Tom immediately declared that he was going to do something to celebrate the occasion, much to Marinette’s amusement. Later that evening, Marinette sat down for dinner and was presented with a white icing cake for dessert, with the words ‘It’s a Girl!’ written in pink icing. Anyone but her Papa (or Maman, for that matter) and they would have complained about the strength of her hugs.
“We made one of these a little bit before you were born,” Tom explained, exchanging a warm look with Sabine. “Pity we didn’t get it right back then, huh?”
“I’m so proud of you for telling us,” added Sabine. “I know it can’t have been easy…”
“It wasn’t too hard,” Marinette replied, “because it was you. I knew I could trust you both.”
She definitely wouldn’t have been able to manage half of what she did that summer without their help. Tom helped cut out the pattern pieces for her new clothes, pinning them together with his steady hands while Marinette ran them through her sewing machine, while Sabine helped Marinette get used to some of the things that came with being a woman, like learning how to style her new hair.
By the time September rolled around and their first year of collège was slated to begin, Marinette was an entirely different person, and while she was excited for her classmates to meet the new her, it was easy to tell she was incredibly nervous, too.
At least Hayat would hopefully be on her side. They hadn’t spoken much over the summer, but she was one of Marinette’s closest friends, so she was sure that she’d be accepting, no matter what.
Kissing Maman and Papa on the cheek and collecting the macarons Papa left on the table for her, Marinette headed to school, texting Hayat to let her know she was on her way. Seeing her name as ‘Robert’ in the chat made her wince. She really had to change that soon…
Her concern over that was shoved aside when she moved to save an old man from being run over, but thankfully she, him and the macarons survived, so she turned that premonition into a sign of hope.
Robert: I’m almost there. Don’t forget to save me a seat!
Hayat: I won’t, don’t worry.
Robert: I’ve brought macaroons for everyone! Who’s in our class this year?
Hayat: Ivan, Mylene, Nathaniel, Rose, Juleka, Max, Alix and Kim. There are two new students, apparently.
Robert: That’s pretty good!
Hayat: Don’t get your hopes up. The Brat and Sabrina are gonna be in our class too.
Robert: Again? Urgh, that’s annoying. They’re definitely not getting any macaroons!
Hayat: Quite right.
Hayat: Miss Bustier is going to start taking attendance in about ten minutes, you should probably hurry.
Robert: FUDGE! I’m almost there!
Hayat: I can’t believe you’re going to be late on your first day.
Robert: NOT TODAY!
Thankfully, Marinette made it to class with about three minutes to spare, gasping for breath as she slammed the box of macaroons down on Miss Bustier’s desk. “I’m here!” she panted. “I’m not late!”
Mme. Bustier, who had been informed about everything ahead of time (and thankfully had been completely understanding), chuckled to herself. “You’re just in time, Marinette. Now, go sit down.”
“Is Hayat here yet?” Marinette asked.
Mme. Bustier adjusted the collar of her shirt awkwardly. “… why don’t you go sit down next to Nino’s spot?” she suggested. “I think you too will get along.”
“But I always sit next to Hayat,” Marinette insisted. “Ever since we were kids!”
“Trust me on this, Marinette,” Mme. Bustier pleaded, her smile soft, “If Hayat shows up, we’ll talk about letting you two sit together then, but for now, could you give Nino a chance? I think he may surprise you.”
“… okay…”
As if on cue, the door flew open behind Marinette, making her jump. “Sorry, Mme. B!” a semi-familiar voice yelped. “One of my backpack pins fell under the vending machine, and-” An unfamiliar boy in front of her, head adorned with an all-too-familiar red cap, stared at Marinette as if she’d grown a second head in front of him.
Heh, as if! You’d have to be magic to pull that off…
The boy - Nino, Marinette guessed - was the one to break the silence. “Bien joue, getting here on time. Can I still have one of those macaroons?”
He flashed a sunny smile that even further reminded Marinette of-
Oh.
It looked like they had a lot of catching up to do. Luckily, Marinette knew just where to start.
She hugged him. “I missed you, Nino!”
“Missed you too… uh…”
Marinette introduced herself to her best friend all over again, grinning from ear to ear.
Their classmates, old and new, had taken the news well. Kim, bless his heart, had found it hilarious that his two oldest friends swapped genders and found out about it on the same day. Alix and Nathaniel had asked a few questions more than anyone else, notably, but Marinette hadn’t questioned them back.
Heck, even Chloe had been chill with this… as it went for Chloe, anyways.
“So what’s your name now?”
“… Marinette.”
“And your pronouns?”
“Chloe, I-”
“I don't have all day, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”
“She/her, p-please.”
“There we go. Sabrina, tell Marinette that she has to get out of Adrien’s seat before I make her.”
The first few periods went by just fine, and Marinette felt like she’d have a decent first day for once.
So of course the day had to be ruined by Ivan being transmogrified into a giant golem.
Marinette was absolutely not ready to be a superhero, but it wasn’t like she had a choice. Stoneheart was destroying Paris, and according to the bug-fairy-rat-thingy Tikki, she was the only one who could stop him. There was only so much choice…
After listening carefully to Tikki’s instructions, Marinette took a deep breath and declared, “Tikki, Spots On!”
And Tikki flew into Marinette’s earrings. She could feel her clothes transforming, which made her heart flutter with excitement. Tikki had mentioned that the clothes would take a form that Marinette would prefer, and she couldn’t wait to see what it would look like.
Taking a look at herself in the mirror, Marinette grinned from ear to ear. Her new costume was so pretty! Her shirt was long-sleeved, with a matching skirt and a belt around the waist, where a yo-yo was attached. The skirt made her a little nervous, but there were shorts underneath to preserve her modesty while she was swinging around and fighting villains.
Feeling on the top of the world, Marinette took the yo-yo from her waist and swung out of the window, ready to track down Stoneheart. She met her partner Chat Noir that day, and became Ladybug, the heroine of Paris, the next one.
She would be lying if she said that the name didn’t give her gender euphoria.
Over the next few days, Marinette got to know the two new students, Adrien and Alya.
Marinette had thought the former a bully at first on account of his association with Chloe, and that had nearly soured her impression of M. Agreste, too, but he’d explained himself after school on that rainy afternoon. Marinette was thoroughly taken aback by his sheer kindness and earnest apology, and when she learned his only childhood friend had been Chloe, she decided he could have a second chance.
But no more than that! Chloe had used up most of Marinette’s patience at that point.
Alya, who she’d been walking home with that afternoon, had remarked that Marinette was much nicer to Adrien than she would have been. Alya admitted to being a little too impulsive (and after the debacle with Stoneheart, Marinette believed it) and told Marinette that she was sometimes meaner than she meant to be.
Marinette’s nerves were calmed when Alya added, “But I want to change that.”
From there, they’d spent the rest of their walk home talking about all of Alya’s new classmates so Alya could know what they were all like, and Alya awkwardly mentioned that their older sibling, Anansi, was trans too - or une personne non-binaire, rather.
“They’re okay with me telling people!” she hastily added. “I think you two would get along. Maybe you could come around for dinner some time?”
“It’s a date!” cheered Marinette, making Alya blush a little.
All in all, she considered her first week back at school to be a resounding success.