Kagami Tsurugi was not one would call a patient girl. She hated hesitation and thought those that do were cowards. Yet she was here, sat at a café, waiting for a particular girl to arrive. She picked up her phone, rereading the message to ensure she hadn't made a mistake. "See you at 2pm at the usual spot!" it read, and now it was 2:15pm. The Japanese girl sighed. Maybe Marinette didn't want to be her friend after all. Maybe it was all just an elaborate prank.

She was quickly brought out of these thoughts by said girl slumping on the chair opposite to her own. Her eyes were red and puffy and lacking their usual spark. Actually, she was entirely lacking her spark. All the pink in her outfit had been replaced by a dull grey colour and her raven hair had lost its shine.

"Hey Kagami. Sorry I'm late. I should've texted you, but I was busy and-"

"You've been crying, haven't you?" Marinette's eyes went wide before looking at the floor.

"You noticed, huh?" A small chuckle escaped her lips. But instead of the usual melodic sound, it was flat and devoid of emotion.

"I may not be the best at showing emotions, but I can most certainly read them. Here, I bought you your favourite before you arrived." She passed the cup of hot cocoa to the sad girl, who took it in her hands and just stared at it. Kagami sighed. She'd never seen her like this before. Something awful must've happened. "Mari, what happened today? I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

Marinette looked into Kagami's eyes. They seemed to be sincere. "I-I had a bad day at collège. This girl in my class lied about me cheating on a test and now I must redo it. That's not the worst bit though. The test was easy which I guess is why she accused me of cheating. But, my – my friends believed her. They all turned on me. Even the ones I thought I could trust." Her breathing was becoming more and more ragged and tears started falling from her eyes. Kagami leapt up from her seat and kneeled in front of Marinette, placing her hands over the shaking ones.

"Breathe with me Mari. In and out." After a few attempts, Marinette's breaths were back to a normal speed, though the crying hadn't completely stopped. "You're not alone, okay? You have me and Luka. Oh! And Adrien's in your class, isn't he? He backed you up surely."

Marinette shook her head, making Kagami let go of her hands. "As long as no one's getting hurt by her lies, it's okay! We don't want her getting akumatised again. It'll all just blow over eventually."

Kagami saw red. Those words had sounded rehearsed, as if she was retelling them to make herself feel better. Had Adrien told her this? Is that why he didn't come to her aid? "And what if you get akumatised?" A puzzled expression appeared on Marinette's face before her eyes flicked about, eyebrows furred. She was looking for an answer. This pause was all Kagami needed to know that this situation wasn't healthy for the girl.

"I'm moving into your class."

"You're what?" Marinette questioned, completely focused on the new revelation. Her mind taken off today's troubles.

"You said how alone you are in there, so I decided that I will be moving in. And before you say anything, my mother first suggested going to François Dupont before my current school. They have an excellent fencing program and are renowned for the level of teaching. I should be entering your class by the end of the week."

The brightness in Marinette's eyes returned, making Kagami's heart flutter slightly. "Thank you, Kagami!"

/~~*~~/

For once, Marinette wasn't scared to go to school. Nor would she be late. Kagami had been gracious enough to offer her a ride in her car. The looks on her classmates' faces when they saw her step out of the red sports car were priceless. A certain spectacled girl stomped her way to the front of the crowd with a brunette, who Kagami recognised as the one that caused her akumatisation into Oni-Chan. She also noticed how Marinette seemed to shrink when they came close.

"Kagami, right? Lila and I would like to welcome you to the class. As the representatives, we feel as though it's our duty to show you around and to make sure you don't end with the wrong people." That part was most certainly aimed at Marinette, who had stepped down as representative recently when she realised how much stress it caused her.

Marinette wanted to just quietly slink away to class, but that had become nearly impossible with the crowd surrounding them, getting pictures of the car. She looked pleadingly at Kagami, wanting to get out of the situation as fast as she could. She nodded back at her understandingly.

"I'm good thanks. Marinette has already offered to show me around. Now, please get out of our way so we can get to class on time and please tell people to stop crowding us. It's making her uncomfortable." Most of the crowd dispersed under her gaze, feigning disinterest.

"You probably don't know this but Marinette's a bully." Lila whined. Alya held the girl who was pretending to be scared. "She tries to make my life hell. She even stole my pendant!"

"Okay." Marinette stood forward "I was proven innocent. I did not steal your pendant. Or did the day I got wrongfully expelled slip your mind? I mean, you admitted to lying because of your 'disease'." Alya kept her angry expression as Marinette ranted. "Alya please… You believe me, don't you?"

"I believe you threatened Lila and made her come up with something to let you back into the school. She came to me crying, you know. Saying how she couldn't bare to be with you alone, that you'd threaten her again."

"You're my friend! Please Alya! You know I wouldn't do that!"

"You're a bully just like Chloé, not my friend. If you're smart Kagami, you'll keep away from her." A faint "keep me out of this Césaire" could be heard in the distance, presumably from the aforementioned blonde.

Kagami's blood boiled. She knew the situation at the school would be bad, but this? This was much worse than she thought. Her friend was nearly having a panic attack next to her and the two real bullies in front of her were happily chatting to themselves. She grabbed Marinette's hand and dragged her to the classroom, with some directions, and into their seats. The only other person in the class was Nino, who was looking witch curiosity at the girls. Kagami saw this as a threat.

"Are you going to laugh at her too?" She sneered at him, making him flinch.

"N-No I'm not. Is she okay? She's having another panic attack isn't she. I can help if you want. I've helped her in the past with them." He came towards the girls. Kagami instinctively stood between them, acting as a protector, but soon stood down when Marinette tugged her sleeve.

"Oh, Mari I'm so sorry." He sat next to her, tracing circles on her back which soothed her a bit. "I should've stuck up for you, but I was scared that Alya might…" He stopped with that thought when he noticed Marinette's scared expression. Would her old best friend really do something like that? "Anyway, I'm on your side from now on. Just ask and I'll do it. That goes for you too Kagami."

Kagami smiled. Despite the awful start to the day, Marinette had won back one of her friends and was now feeling much better. "Well that makes 4 of us."

"Four? Who's the other one?"

"Adrien."

"He knew?!"