The Week Long Trial Of The Fox

2 - School

"Excuse me! Coming through!" Alya shouts as she runs through the streets of Paris back towards her school.

She quickly checks the time on her phone. Seeing that she only had two minutes until the late bell would ring, Alya began to sprint faster than before and almost managed to knock over a flower stand and a few people during her mad dash. Every time she almost slammed someone to the ground she would make an exclamation of "Sorry!" and continue on her way to make it to Science class on time.

Reaching the front of the school she slowed down to a jog in order to catch her breath from the ten minute sprint she had just performed.

"All that air was very refreshing." Trixx whispers from her shirt pocket and Alya glanced down to see that some tiny tufts of his fur have become windswept. The kwami must have poked his head out of Alya's pocket at some point.

"Shhhh." Alya shushes Trixx and gently nudges him back into the pocket. Alya doesn't know what she would have done if anyone were to discover the fox kwami in her pocket. Maybe she could pretend he was a toy? Although that would probably just lead to tormenting from Chloe so she'd have to come up with some other sort of back-up plan in case of discovery.

As Alya finally made it into class and sat down, her once ragged breathing now completely normal, the late bell rang signalling that she had made it just in time for class. She dreads to think about what punishment Madame Mendeleiev would have given her if she had arrived soon after the bell.

Marinette, however, was nowhere to be seen.

The girl must have fallen asleep or lost track of time when working on one of her many designs again.

A short while into the lesson, Marinette finally decided to make an appearance (in true Marinette style) by slamming the door open in a mad rush and falling to the floor as she trips over her own feet.

"Sorry Marinette!" A voice says from behind her and Alya looks up to see Adrien standing in the doorway Marinette had just burst in from.

Alya could have sworn that he was here at the start of the lesson. Although Nino did mention that Adrien was just as bad as Marinette for disappearing at random points during the day but Alya thought that he'd been talking about the boy's busy schedule.

"And what do you two have to say for yourselves?" Madame Mendeleiev inquires, hands on her hips and an annoyed glare on her face. She really did hate it when the class was interrupted.

"I, er, well you see the thing is we kinda, sorta, maybe-" Marinette begins to stutter but is cut off by their teacher.

"No excuses Miss Dupain-Cheng!"

"We got caught in an akuma attack and had to wait until we were allowed to leave the area." Adrien hurriedly explained but Alya could tell from the way that he rubbed his neck and gritted his teeth that he has lying.

However, Madame Mendeleiev seemed to believe them and let them off with a warning. What had they been up to? Areas where akumas attacked were usually instant safe zones once the magic ladybugs could be seen zooming around the city.

She would get to the bottom of it someday. But, for now, she had science to focus on.

The "Are you okay? You've looked overwhelmingly excited all day." Alya hears a voice say as they head out of their final class for the day. She recognises the voice and turns around to see Nino stood with Adrien, Marinette being stood by Alya's side.

'Don't tell them. Don't tell them. Don't tell them.' She repeats as a mantra in her head, trying not to let her inner reporter explain the latest scoop. She can already feel her hands becoming clammy.

"I, er, I saw Ladybug and Chat Noir earlier!" Alya says and nervously giggles. That was a complete lie, she hadn't even been anywhere near the attack at all. Besides, she saw the superhero duo almost every day at this point. "Gotta go bye!"

The other three glance worriedly at each other as Alya runs away from them, sprinting out of the classroom as fast as she could and out into the corridoor.

"Did I say something wrong?"

After checking to make sure that the bathroom was completely empty, Alya runs into one of the stalls and nudges her pocket, prompting Trixx to wake up from his nap and fly out of his hiding spot.

"This is going to so much harder than I thought. What if I mess up? What if I lose the miraculous? What if I accidentally tell everyone? This is going to be a disaster!" Alya rambles, placing her hands on either side of her head in frustration. She never normally freaks out like this!

Seeing her holder's panicked expression, Trixx nuzzles Alya's cheek in an attempt to comfort her.

"It'll be okay Alya. You've got all the makings of a true superhero, I believe in you." The fox kwami comforts and a small smile makes its way onto Alya's face.

"You're kind. You're loyal. You're trustworthy." Trixx continues on as he carries on brushing his tail onto Alya's face, causing the girl to giggle as the fluffy fur tickles her face.

"Okay, you're right. I can do this! I'm Rena Rouge, a heroine of Paris!" She exclaims with newfound motivation as she pumps her fist into the air. She can do this! She can prove to Ladybug and Chat Noir what a worthy teammate she is!

"We should get going home now. Do you know if you have any fruit at home, preferably berries?" Trixx asks as the two of them walk out of the bathroom, conversing in hushed whispers so that they won't be caught by anyone who is still at the school.

Soon after they leave, another figure emerges from a few stalls over with a smile on her face.

"I knew she would be able to do it." Marinette says to Tikki as the two exchange a smile.

"Weren't you supposed to join the boys, Marinette? You said you were going to check and then come right back." Tikki reminds her and Marinette gasps in realisation.

Marinette sprints out of the bathroom in an attempt to beat Alya back to Adrien and Nino, Tikki flying back into her purse.

She arrives at the bottom of the steps outside the school to see Nino waving to Adrien as he is driven away by his chauffeur, panting when she stops to catch her breath next to him.

"Sorry, I couldn't find her." She says between breathes as Nino chuckles, shaking his head at his friend's antics.

"Hey!"

They turn around to see Alya, a large grin on her face as she runs down to meet them at the bottom of the steps.

"Race you to Marinette's house!" She shouts and the three of them sprint off, laughter echoing around them and smiles on their faces.