Miraculous Decendent

Sore Loser

The next day after school, the students of Miss Bustier's class, among others, are standing in the courtyard with their derby hats on display atop different pedestals. Everyone is on edge as they prepare for the arrival of Gabriel Agreste to judge their friends' and classmates' designs. However, the most nervous were obviously the ones who entered the contest.

Marinette is pacing near her hat while Nate, Nino, Adrien, Alix, and Sabrina watch.

"Marinette, you need to calm down. You're going to do fine." Nate tells her, trying to get her to calm down.

"He's right, dudette. All you'll do is leave a hole in the ground if you keep pacing like that. " Nino tells her.

Marinette looks toward them before remembering Tom's words.

"An important thing to remember when it comes to being judged is to remain confident."

Taking a deep breath, Marinette looks toward her friend and the people she's uncertain if they're friends.

"You're right, you're right. I need to calm down. I need to be confident. The worst he can do is say no or that he doesn't like it. It's not like he can ruin my whole career before it even starts just because he didn't like this specific design." Marinette tells herself before the words fully register with her.

When her words register with her brain, the pacing restarts at an entirely new speed.

"Wait, what if he does do that? He's the biggest name in the Paris fashion industry. He could totally do that to me. Oh no, what do I do if he does that?" Marinette begins to panic again as her breathing starts to get heavier.

Nate and Alix cringe slightly when they see her redoubled pacing while Adrien and Sabrina walk towards Marinette to try and help calm her down.

"You don't have to worry, Marinette. My father isn't that petty. If he doesn't like your design, all he'll do is give you harsh criticism meant to make you improve. He's known to be tough but fair to new designers in the fashion world." Adrien assures his sort-of friend, who is more of a friend of a friend in his fencing class.

"Adrien is right, Marinette. You shouldn't worry so much about this. As you said earlier, the worst he can do is say no or give you criticism." Sabrina agrees while putting her hands on Marinette's shoulders to try and get her to stop pacing.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette tries calming down by figuring out something else to think about. She then remembers the confrontation between Roger and Mr. Xavier and decides to talk to Sabrina about it to get her mind off things.

"By the way, I saw your dad chasing off someone feeding the pigeons yesterday while I was working on my design," Marinette tells Sabrina.

When Sabrina hears this, she lets out a small groan.

"Mr. Xavier again?" Sabrina asks Marinette in a tired and knowing tone.

"Yeah, I take it this is a regular thing?" Marinette asks Sabrina.

"Yeah, he's a bit eccentric. He keeps feeding the pigeons despite the rules saying you shouldn't and has been banned from places because of it. Whenever my dad has to stop him, he keeps arguing that he needs to feed 'his' pigeons or no one else will. Dad always comes back annoyed after having to deal with him. So, that explains why he seemed a bit more annoyed coming home yesterday." Sabrina explains.

"Your dad gets annoyed when someone feeds the pigeons when they're not supposed to?" Alix questions Sabrina, not seeing why someone would get annoyed with someone else for feeding some animals.

"Yes, because the pigeons have pooped on him a few times after they were fed. After that kept happening, he started to double down on no one being allowed to feed the pigeons." Sabrina explains.