Chapter Text
Himawari is standing in front of the school’s gate, realizing that all of her confidence suddenly vanishes in thin air. The pressure of being the new student at Françoise Dupont High School is more nerve-wracking than she thinks. Then again, who does not feel the pressure when they first step foot into a new school, let alone, a whole new country?
Himawari Ono, a full-blooded Japanese, moved to France a couple of months ago. She landed in this country under her parents’ pressure as they, or to be more specific, her mother wanted her to study in France. Her mother, a beautiful woman with both Japanese and French backgrounds, wished her daughter to come to France and study till she graduated from university, then she could decide on whether she wanted to return to her homeland. Under her parents’ pressure, Himawari accepted the ‘offer’ and moved to France to live with her aunt. She left everything behind, her family, her friends, and all the best memories she has in Japan to start a new life in Paris, the city of love…
Touching her long black hair, Himawari tries to calm the racking nerves and presents herself in the best way possible, she believes that the first impression is always the most important aspect when starting on a new journey. Today, she wears her old school uniform as a representation of her own culture, the uniform has been a part of her life and it will always be. She wears her long black hair in a side braid with a blue ribbon, and bright amethyst eyes staring at the door of her new classroom. Yes, just in the next few seconds, she will be introduced to this new class and she can feel her shoulders tighten with stress as her head swims its way to any bad scenarios that can happen.
“Oh, hello there, you must be the new student in our class, Himawari Ono?”
The tall woman with fair skin and reddish-orange hair smiles at her and Himawary just nods, chewing her bottom lips nervously.
“How lovely, I’m Caline Bustier, your homeroom teacher. You may address me as Ms. Bustier.” she looks at her new student “Come now, my dear. I’ll introduce you to our class.”
Himawari follows Ms. Bustier into the classroom, each step feels heavy as she tries to ignore the obvious stares of her soon-to-be classmates and stands right next to her new teacher. There are interested eyes, curious stares, and some negative looks, but the raven head keeps a calm face, not letting any of those things affect her. Ms. Bustier puts down her teaching material before smiling at her students.
“Class, I’d like to introduce you to our new member, Himawari Ono.”
“Oh wow, a Japanese!”
“Are you Japanese?”
Many of her classmates begin to bring up the questions, to which she just softly replies with a yes or no. The attention is nice, but the visible pressure in the classroom does not allow her to answer everyone’s questions in full sentences.
“She is new in the city so please, welcome her with all your heart. Himawari, you can sit next to Marinette and Alya.” Ms. Bustier turns to her, the warm smile never leaves her lips “Please raise your hand so she can see you, Marinette.”
The young girl awkwardly nods her head and strolls down to her seat, realizing the intense glare from the blonde in the front seat as well as the brunette at the back of the classroom. Settle down onto her seat, the girl named Marinette smiles kindly at her and holds out her hand.
“Hi, my name is Marinette, this is Alya. Please to meet you.”
“Oh, hi. It’s my pleasure. I’ll be in your care from now on.”
She smiles and shakes the bluenette’s hand, as well as Alya’s hand while trying to ignore the negative feeling from her fellow classmates. Marinette, noticing her discomfort, just pats her shoulder and reassures her that everything will be fine.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the class representative, is a cheerful girl with a passion for fashion. The bluenette is very creative, not only in her designs but also in her plans and other activities, according to Alya. And she’s the daughter of the best bakers in town, the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, which gives her another plus when it comes to making macarons. But the most important thing when it comes to Marinette is her huge crush on the blond friend sitting in front of them, Adrien Agreste, and the revelation makes Himawari giggle in response.
Alya Césaire, Marinette’s best friend and the head of the Françoise Dupont High School’s daily blog. A self-proclaimed journalist with a passion for her job who loves investigating and writing news about the school. The brunette is currently in a relationship with Adrien’s best friend, Nino, which gives Marinette another perk as they always set up these two together.
“Oh, how adorable…” the raven head smiles, her cheeks are painted with a faint blush.
“Alya! You don’t have to say that!” Marinette retorts, finding herself stuck in an embarrassed situation.
“Come on, Marinette! Himawari doesn’t seem to mind about your little crush, right?”
“Not at all! You guys remind me of my friends back in Japan. They kinda go through a similar situation…”
The way her amethyst orbs shine brightly catches both girls off guard as they stare at her in awe. Marinette also notices her outfit and lets out a squeal of excitement, it is the first time she sees a real Japanese school uniform and she has to draw inspiration from this outfit for her new designs.
However, her new design can wait a bit longer as the bluenette turns her attention to the board, or maybe Adrien because she begins to drift away into her own La la land with all the weird imagination of how she and the blond boy will end up together as a couple.
“Is she…always like this…?” Himawari laughs awkwardly at her new friend’s dreamy state.
“Girl, she is hopeless.” Alya fixes her glasses, sighing exaggeratedly at Marinette’s lovestruck expression.
After the fourth period comes the lunch break and sweet Marinette has invited her to join them for lunch. Lucky for them, Nino asks to tag along which causes the bluenette to blush madly as Adrien will also come with them. They go to the cafeteria and choose a spot before getting their lunch while Himawari takes out her bento box.
“Himawari! That lunch box is so cute!”
“Thank you, I made it myself.” she smiles “Would you like to try some?”
“Can I?” Alya looks at her with sparkles in her eyes, and opens her mouth widely when the raven head feeds her her food “Oh my god, that is the tastiest piece of fried chicken I have ever tried!”
“Thank you.”
She eats her bento box in silence, observing the scene in front of her. Marinette is absolutely trying her best to not be a klutz while Adrien, the pretty boy, just keeps on going with the flow without even realizing how head over heels the bluenette is for him. Alya talks about her daily blog and some of the news that’s been spreading around the school lately while Nino is focusing on his phone, checking out the new album of Jagged Stone.
“Hey, we haven’t been able to properly introduce ourselves to you.” the blond boy with emerald eyes smiles charmingly “My name is Adrien and this is Nino, my best friend.”
Himawari responds with a giggle because before she can even open her mouth, Marinette is having a hard time trying to process the handsome smile of her prince charming, which causes her to fall on the floor. Adrien, fully understands what is going on, guessing that Marinette is just being the clumsy little girl with great talent and holding his hand to help her. The bluenette stammers out a thank you, trying her best to stay calm and grabbing onto his helping hand.
“Are they…”
“Yeah, you can say that.” Nino nods, setting down his phone, and chuckles a the young love birds “But it’s kinda hard because Adrien is like a baby bird that needs a lot of training while Marinette…”
“Marinette is a hopeless girl who doesn’t know how to act in front of her crush, so yeah…” Alya shakes her head, feeling tired at her friend’s over-the-top reaction.
The raven smiles, amazed at their responses as well as Marinette’s awkward reactions towards Adrien just to say thank you. Maybe having lunch with all of them is not bad at all, that is until a hand slams in front of her, making Himawari startle. The hand belongs to Chloé Bourgeois, the ultimate bully of the school. The blond sneers at her, not taking Adrien’s words of ‘don’t be mean to Himawari’ and begins to mock her in front of the whole cafeteria.
“Has anyone told you how ugly your eyes are? Ughhh, Japanese people are so ugly with their tiny eyes…”
“Uhm, you’re talking to me?” the raven head blinks, confused as she points a finger at herself for clarification.
“Well, duh…who else I’m talking to?” Chloe scoffs at her answer, flipping her golden locks sassily “Obviously, you’re not normal because you can’t even hear my sentence properly, right?”
“Chloe, stop! She’s our friend, you can’t be mean to her.” Adrien knits his brows as he looks at his so-called childhood friend.
“Adrien, darling! You shouldn’t sit near her, she might bring some weird tiny eye disease to infect all of us!” the blonde keeps on rambling “Also, this hair color is sooooo last decades. And your outfit is so boring that I can’t even look at you properly.”
Himawari is baffled at her words, unable to respond or even process what is going on. Alya is in rage mode, ready to fight back immediately while Marinette is not ready to step down from this fight for her new friend. Amethyst eyes stare at her, this blond girl dares to badmouth her in public. No way she is sitting here and saying nothing, she refuses to be insulted like this.
But before she can stand up for herself, a hand touches her shoulder, and Himawari’s body freezes.
“What’s going on here?”
Himawari hitches at his warm, low voice. Her fingers lace together and rest neatly on the lunch table as she nervously chews on her bottom lip.
“Luka!” Marinette squeals in excitement, her blue eyes twinkling in joy.
In a split second, the raven head spots it. A glimpse of irritation spreads across Adrien’s face before he masks it with a charming smile.
“You seem to have a lot of things to say, Ms. Bourgeois.” Luka wears a nonchalant expression, turning to the spoiled blonde with his question “But you do realize that it is lunchtime and people are minding their own business, except for you?”
“I… I…” she shutters, completely unaware of the annoying expressions that other students have while she is throwing a fit at Himawari “Ugh, ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! Just eat your stupid lunch box, new girl!”
With that, she leaves the scene with Sabrina, her only friend and follower. Himawari’s eyes are still following the blonde, she is baffled at the turn of events and struggling to find a way to respond. But Marinette has rested her hand on the raven’s shoulder, reassuring her that the bully will not come to her anytime soon with Adrien and everyone here.
“That silly girl! I swear if I even hear her voice again, I will shove this piece of chicken nugget into her mouth to shut her up!” said Alya “Can you believe her?”
“It’s okay, Alya. I don’t really care about what she said.” Himawari turns to Luka “And thank you, for helping me…”
Luka Couffaine, an upper-class student, smiles at the petite girl in front of him which makes Himawari blush as she finally sees his full appearance. Standing in front of her is a tall young man with pale skin, his hair is dyed in teal, adding a touch of coolness to his overall appearance. His eyes are bright and clear, a striking aqua color that captivates her heart upon seeing them.
Oh… Why is my heart beating so fast?
Himawari rests a hand on her chest, trying to calm her pounding heart as her cheeks turn bright red.
Luka turns to Marinette and asks for his little sister, Juleka Couffaine, before bringing his attention back to the raven head and holding out his hand.
“You’re new here, right? My name is Luka Couffiane. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Ah… I, uhm…” she stares at the hand in front of her before bashfully grabbing onto it “Y-yes, my name is Himawari Ono. Thank you, again, for helping me.”
Oh…His hand is so big and warm…
She looks at him with a beaming expression, beautiful amethyst eyes shining brightly as she smiles gently at him. Alya watches the scene with an amused face, she knows that look, that’s the look that Marinette wears whenever Adrien is near. This is interesting…
The brunette nudges her best friend and casts her a look as Marinette focuses on the scene right in front of her eyes. She giggles, unable to hold back her excitement, it seems like someone is growing a small crush on the Kitty Section’s guitarist, Luka Couffaine. The older boy smiles and waves at the band before leaving to find his sister, Juleka. Alya comes up to Himawari, giving her the ‘I-know-that-face’ look, and smirks like someone has let the cat out of the bag.
“You girls better hurry. We’re having Ms. Mendeleiev’s class after lunch.” Nino calls out “Better get to class soon before she comes.”
“Got it, see you guys in class!” the brunette responds “Right, Marinette? Say goodbye to your ‘good friend’ Adrien!”
“O-oh, gooddye, I mean, goo-goodbye, Adrien…” she waves heavily and the blond boy returns it with a smile, completely oblivious of her affection.
Himawari giggles at the scene while Alya describes it as ‘the adorable but dorky’ scene and turns her attention to the raven head.
“Say, Himawari…”
“Yes?” she raises her brows at her friend’s weird tone “Is something wrong?”
“I saw how you stare at Juleka’s brother, Luka. Care to explain what’s going on?”
“I…wha…?” Himawari stares at Alya as she fumbles on her words, turning crimson “I…I mean…I…”
Marinette and Alya high-five as if they just found a bag full of gold. They can not deny that many girls feel the same way about Luka, he is quite popular at school after all. Juleka in their class might be a shy, quiet girl but Luka, well, he’s outgoing, kind, and always wears a calm expression, the typical ‘cool guy’ that leads the story in almost every comic book and manga series. He and his sister are both very talented musicians, with Luka as the guitarist and Juleka playing the bass in their own band, the Kitty Section.
“He has looks, smart, and is a talented musician. Who would not want a guy like him?”
“Well, I can see why he’s popular…” Himawari rubs her arm, acknowledging what her friends are saying “He’s very attractive if you ask me.”
“Right?” the bluenette smiles “I think that you will be his perfect match.”
“Huh? W-what?” the raven startles again “Marinette, I don’t even know him. We just met, remember?”
“Then you should get to know him more, I think you both are very cute with each other.”
Alya face-palms, finding whatever her best friend was saying is complete nonsense. Don’t get her wrong, she loves Marinette but the girl who can’t even talk to her crush properly is now doing love therapy for Himawari? The new girl better not take her advice seriously or else…
“Well, maybe after you can talk to Adrien properly…”
“W-what? I…I talk to him…wha…?”
Himawari laughs along with Alya at the shuttered Marinette, unable to hold back their amusement at how adorable the bluenette acts when they mention her crush. Himawari notices the black and blue locks standing at the corner with Juleka and Rose, realizing the similarity between him and his sister. She also notices the starings and gigglings of some girls near her, talking about how amazing the older boy looks. Oh, he’s indeed very popular…