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Felix was fine.
Felix was completely fine.
A little stressed, maybe, but fine.
Moving to a new city, a new country, was stressful for anyone. Going to a new school, interacting with new people, was stressful for anyone . Being attacked by one of his classmates who turned into a giant magical monster would be stressful for anyone. Finding out the secret identity of one of the literal superheroes who fought those monsters -akumas- every day was stressful for anyone-
Well, to be fair, Felix couldn’t really speak for anyone else on that last one, given the fact that he was likely the only person in all of France, if not the entire world, to have experienced it.
So, yeah, Felix was fine.
A little stressed, but fine.
That’s what he kept telling himself as he walked back to his homeroom. He was reluctant to go back, scared of being late, scared of seeing the girl who had attacked him, and scared of seeing the girl who saved him.
Logically, his fears were completely nonsensical, since his new teacher, Madame Bustier, hardly seemed the type to punish students for being late due to unforeseen circumstances, such as an akuma. The akuma-girl herself couldn’t attack him again, since she was no longer in her monstrous form. And finally… the hero. He knew her secret identity, the unassuming girl who sat next to him in his home room. However, as far as Felix was aware, she didn’t know that he knew. He just had to keep that little fact a secret from her, and he would be golden.
Actually, he would need to keep that little fact a secret from everyone else as well. From what he understood of akumas, they shared a telepathic connection to the mastermind behind every attack, Hawkmoth. If someone who knew the hero’s identity were to become an akuma, Hawkmoth would probably find out her identity!
If the supervillain found out her identity, his goal, whatever that may be, would be significantly easier to accomplish. Felix, and the rest of the city, for that matter, weren’t exactly sure what Hawkmoth planned to do, but since he was a supervillain, it couldn’t be good. Felix knew that he had to protect the hero’s secret identity with everything he had, for the good of Paris, and maybe even the world.
This meant that Felix himself could not succumb to an akuma either, because the telepathic link might cause him to reveal her identity. He knew that the akumas preyed on negative emotions, which meant that he couldn’t let himself feel sad, or angry, or stressed, oh god, he was getting stressed-
“Hey! It’s okay!” A voice called out to him, snapping him back to reality. Directly in front of him stood the hero herself.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
She had found him. She had probably specifically sought him out. She probably knew that he knew her secret identity, and was here to set the record straight, or fight him, or make him disappear-
“I know that akumas are pretty stressful, especially on your first day of school. Been there,” she chuckled, casting him a reassuring smile. Felix was not reassured.
“Why… why are you here? How did you-“ He trailed off. Her eyes widened, and she shifted around, as though searching for an excuse.
“I- uh, well, the akuma was after you, and you were hiding over here- I MEAN I thought you might be hiding this way, so I came over to make sure you weren’t lost!” She finished strong, looking almost proud of the nonsense she had just spoken.
Nonetheless, Felix breathed a sigh of relief. She still didn’t know that he knew her identity.
”Here, the classroom is this way, follow me.”
She tapped on his arm and he followed her through the hallways. Finally, she stopped outside of their classroom.
“Right, we can go in whenever you’re ready. Madame Bustier doesn’t mark us late for akuma related delays. Just try not to get caught up in one during Mendeleive’s class.” She shuddered, and Felix laughed a little bit.
“By the way, how are you doing? I know that being targeted by akumas can be exhausting.”
“Well, I was a little stressed, but… fine, I guess.”