I feel like its been a really long time, and knowing me and my issues with keeping a decent publish rate, it probably has been. My deepest apologies! I got stuck and then I started focusing a lot on my OC story for NaNoWriMo! I hope to start publishing chapters more often now that break is coming.

All that aside, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Edit: Sorry, I had to reupload this chapter because none of my italics transferred over during my copy-paste somehow? Hope you enjoy the new exaggerated content.

There was an elephant in the room, and that elephant was going by the name Nathaniel Kurtzberg.

Absolutely positively no one knew how to handle this. Hell, even Mme. Bustier didn't know how to handle it. Sure, she continued teaching class anyways, but she refused to look at the right side of the room at all, or the top few rows. It was almost as if she was afraid of accidentally locking eyes with… the akuma.

No one was paying attention to the lesson either. Everyone knew no one was paying attention to the lesson. Sure, they were all looking straight ahead, but no one was truly listening to the words coming out of Mme. Bustier's mouth. They were all fidgeting where they sat, shifting under the perceived glare of the Evillustrator boring into the back of their heads.

If anyone had it the worst, it would be Lila Rossi. She was his deskmate, and had to sit right next to him. He couldn't avoid looking at the akuma and still be subtle about it. So eventually she just stopped trying.

Nathaniel hated this.

Class was torture. He knew everyone was thinking about him, he knew that everyone would be talking about him the instant they got the chance. He missed being invisible. He wanted to go back to just being 'that kid who sits in the back of the class that no one cares about,' but no. Hawkmoth had cursed him with an unhealthy dose of 'talk of the town.'

Class ended before it was time for them to switch classes, leaving them time to talk. For a good two minutes, everyone was dead silent, as if every word they uttered would be heard by Hawkmoth, and he'd do something. For all they knew, Nathaniel had become a new pair of ears to the evil mastermind behind the magical transformations they'd all gone through months before.

Lila was the first to dare turn his way.

"Are you ready for the test?" she asked, eyes directed to his hands rather than his face. But it was a welcome start, compared to what he'd had all day.

"N-no, not really. But it's really the only reason I came today, so I kinda gotta be."

"Hey, next time you consider coming to school? Stay home," Chloe said, sending him a look filled with a strange mix of her usual cockiness and… fear.

"Chloe," Mme. Bustier protested, but didn't really tried to stop her. For a good minute, no one did.

"Leave him alone, Chloe," Marinette said.

"What, when he's like this?"

"Yes. Leave him alone."

Slowly, the class began to start whispering amongst themselves. Lila had turned away at this point, choosing to reapply makeup in her compact. But Alix came over.

"Yo, Nathan. What happened to you?" she asked. Nathaniel would have groaned, but Alix wasn't exactly known for her tactfulness.

"Chloe and Hawkmoth work all too well together." he sighed.

"Ah," she didn't even ask what Chloe had done, just understood that Chloe Bourgeois's entire existence was a breeding ground for akumas. "So, now you're purple and all? You actually look pretty cool."

"I dunno. Haven't taken time to consider how it might be cool, kinda sucks on my end."

"I… can understand that. People been freaking out?"

"Everyone, I think you mean. Except Iv- - well, no, he freaked out too, but Ivan's letting me stay at his place."

"What about your parents?" Rose asked from across the aisle. "And your brother? Do they know you're with Ivan?"

"No."

"Don't you think they're worried?"

"I mean, maybe? I just can't find it in me to care. They didn't chase me out, exactly, but my brother started calling me a monster, and I took that as a sign to leave."

"Oh, dude, that sucks!" Kim mumbled.

"Do you have any way of fixing it?" Lila asked.

"Not that I know of. Kind of looks like I'm stuck like this until Hawkmoth gets bored with me," Nathan mumbled.

"We were actually hoping to find one though! Uh, I was actually thinking, after school, Max, Alya, do you guys wanna come over to my place so we can maybe figure this out?" Ivan blurted out suddenly, looking at each student as he addressed them.

"I should have time, I suppose," Max said, adjusting his glasses.

"I suppose I can help…" Alya muttered, sending Nathaniel a glare. Apparently, she still hadn't forgiven him for what he said? But he couldn't much find it in him to care.

Eventually, the bell rang, drawing everyone out of the room and to their next class. They only had their core classes together, so they'd be going their separate ways. And Nathaniel quickly realized he'd be without Ivan, or anyone else who seemed to have even the slightest chance of understanding his plight.

But at least he was going to art.

At the sound of the door opening, everyone's heads turned, as usual. But the gasps and whispers weren't part of the routine, or everyone flinching back as he walked past. A few people shuddered, slipping on jackets or zipping up the ones they already had on. The teacher avoided eye contact. Nathaniel sighed and took his position in the desk to the back.

His tablemates, who usually didn't much acknowledge his existence any, quickly grabbed their things and moved away. Nathaniel was alone, isolated- - he used to want this. But he didn't want it this way. But there was also nothing that could be done about it, so he just sighed and prepared his materials.

The bell rang again, and he tried to lose himself in the painting. Instead of no one looking at him, as it were in Mme. Bustier's class, everyone was looking at him. He got the feeling he'd be the subject of everyone's sketches today. Nothing to be done about it- - he surrendered to the attention.

With all eyes on him, it was rather difficult to delve into his art. But he managed, and eventually time began to fly as he finished his baseline sketch from last class, then snagged his pencils to color it in. He looked up, and saw himself done. He… hadn't expected to finish this class? But he supposed it gave him the time to churn out another drawing later- - he just had to turn it in.

The teacher looked up from grading pieces when he approached and put his in the stack. Mme. Moreau took one look at his piece and shook her head.

"I can't accept this, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel blinked, taking another look at his piece. He hadn't stained it, he hadn't left out a background, everything seemed fine to him. "Wh-what? Why?"

"This doesn't reflect your skills."

"I-I-I don't understand, what do you mean?" the quiet conversations of the class quieted as more people started straining to hear their conversation.

"This is not your abilities. Your, uhm, situation- -"

"Wait. so you're saying-you're saying this isn't my art just because I'm cursed?!"

"There's no need to say it like that, Nathaniel. Hawkmoth, like it or not, it's possible he gave you enhanced artistic abilities, incomparable to those you would have otherwise. This isn't necessarily your talent."

"What, you're-y-you're crazy! You watched me draw it right here, it's not like that masked coward was telling me where to put the lines and what colors to use!"

"But we can't be sure- -"

"I- - you- - urgh! Fine! Then what's the point of me even being here?! Not like I can do any of your dumb assignments if you won't grade them!" he turned on his heel and stalked out of the classroom, his peers drawing away as he neared. He sent the teacher a final glare before closing the door.

Nathaniel felt his chest tightening, his hands shaking. How- - how dare she?! How dare she suggest his art wasn't his art just because of some dumbass curse he didn't even deserve?! But… what if she was right? Hawkmoth had taken his body, his solitude, his peace of mind- - now he was taking his art, too?! The only thing he had left, the thing that got him into this mess in the first place?!

M. Haprele was supposed to make sure the students were in their classes instead of up to no good. Yet… he didn't even bother trying to stop Nathaniel as he burst through the front doors of the school. Anyone passing in front of the school at the moment gasped, dropping their things, and ran away screaming. God. He'd always wanted to be alone, but… not like this.

Yet, here he was.

He yanked at the drawstring to his hoodie, tightening it around his head before heading off. He had nowhere to go, he knew that. Those he trusted were all busy- - everyone else was too afraid to even look him in the eye.

And he still needed to take that damn test next class. With a sigh, he resigned himself to hiding in the darkest alleyway he could find until it was time to head back to the school.

Mourning his loss of… everything.

Aaaaah I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Or at least as much as one can enjoy (what is hopefully a good) angst fic. Idk about y'all but I suffer just writing and coming up with this stuff I can't imagine reading it for the first time.

This chapter was beta'ed by the lovely Flautist4ever and Wishfulina, both of who can be found on Tumblr!

If I don't get the chance to update this fic before then, Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Years!