Kagami's head hurt from the amount of thoughts that whirred around in her mind.

'She's so short! And the pigtails are adorable, I've got to ask how she gets her part so straight. Her hand is really warm, too. What if my hands are too cold? Will she let go? Why am I so worried about what she thinks of my hands?? She must think I'm rude, I've barely said a word to her, and we haven't even made eye contact! Please don't think I'm a horrible person, Marinette!'

She struggled with her internal monologue, staring at the ground as she was pulled to her classroom by hand. She looked up, at her, confused as to why this all mattered so much. She was Kagami Dupain-Cheng, nothing ever got to her! Least of all a girl she barely knew.

She tripped over someone's foot, and before she realised what was going on, it was too late to regain her balance. She clamped her eyes shut and prepared for impact with the ground, but it never came. When she opened her eyes, she was face-to-face with the girl who'd distracted her. Mari had caught her at lightning speed, and gripped a nearby pole to help support their weights.

^----------------------------------^

Marinette was shocked by how slick that save was. 'I mean, I know I'm an international fencing champion with the reflexes of a ninja, but that was surprisingly quick!'

She pulled the both of them up slowly, setting Kagami on her feet before she patted her down. "Are you ok? I can't see any scratches, does anything hurt?"

Kagami was once again left to buffer for a few seconds, while she processed what just happened. She managed to spurt out "Y-yeah, I'm okay. Thanks to you, that is. Are you alright?"

Mari smiled, dusting herself off. "I'm fine as long as you're fine. Class is just there, through the door on the end. Let's get going! I'll sit next to you for the day." She thought about grabbing Kagami's hand again, but knew that Chloe would somehow find a way to blackmail her using that tidbit of information. So, she simply gestured to the door, saying "After you!"

When the two entered the classroom, Miss Bustier smiled, pulling Kagami aside to introduce her. Marinette made her way to the empty back seat, which earned a few funny looks from her classmates. Chloe spoke up, because she just couldn't contain herself, and said "Finally! Going to the back where you belong, Tsurugi?"

Mari was used to this by now, so she just blocked it out. But Kagami wasn't having it. She grinned and bore it until Miss was done introducing her, and before she walked to the back, she leaned down over Chloe and whispered a couple harsh words.

"I don't know who you are, and I don't care. If you speak to any student, especially Marinette like that again, I will personally see to it that your life becomes living hell. Ok, Chloe?"

The blonde shrunk further into her seat with every word. Sabrina shot her a pointed glare, and everyone else just sat there, kinda impressed. Kagami strolled up to the back seat, and plopped down next to Marinette with a tired sigh. Mari was already slumped over her side of the desk, and she gave a small smile when Kagami appeared next to her. "You didn't need to do that for me, y'know."

Kagami sighed again. "I would have done it for anyone. Chloe has no right to treat people like ants for her to step on."

"Well, I'm glad we have a new knight in shining armour to protect us."

^----------------------------------^

It was 6th period, the last hour of the day. Kagami was relieved, 'After this class, there'll be no more introductions, no more forced conversations, no more obligatory get-to-know-me games! I can just go home and do my homework!'

However, 6th period happened to be Literature.

This subject was her least favourite – all you do is read books, and write about why books were written. And when you're not bearing the consequences of the actions of authors, you're writing stories and poetry of your own. Blegh. That day they started a unit on emotive writing, and the first task was to write a song or rap that conveys at least 3 related emotions. Kagami worked away at her desk, trying to identify a group of similar feelings that she could actually connect with. She brainstormed and mapped out as many ideas as she could, but nothing settled well with her. 'Well, I guess I'll just have to leave it for later...'

The bell sounded, signalling the end of the school day. She gathered her books, and slowly trekked back to the locker bay. Everyone was rushing around her, already eager to leave the place on the first day. She made it to her destination in one piece, packed the materials she needed into her bag, and turned to leave. She noticed a blonde student enter the room, and groaned internally as they made their way towards her.

[ this is Adrien's outfit rn ]

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Adrien was preparing to waste awhile hanging out alone at the school. He had fencing later that afternoon, so his father saw no point to dragging him home, only to immediately go out again. He had no reason to hurry, so he took it slow on his way back to the lockers. When he entered, he was surprised to find the new student still in there, fiddling with her bag. She looked up at him, and flashed an obviously fake smile, before turning back to her locker. Adrien approached anyway, because he's a kind bean, and just slightly too oblivious to have picked up on Kagami's strong 'go away' body language.

"Hey! It's Kagami, right? I didn't get to introduce myself earlier. I'm Adrien Agreste."

Kagami's eyes widened a little when she realised that's why he was so familiar. She supposed she might as well be cordial, since they'd be seeing a lot of eachother in the coming months.

"Nice to meet you, Adrien. What are you doing here so late?"

He put his books down on the bench next to him, sitting down while responding. "I could ask you the same thing."

Kagami let off a small smile, quirking an eyebrow. Adrien grinned back at her.

"My parents don't need me home until later. Plus, I like this place when it's quiet." She sat down next to him.

"I guess it's kinda nice... I have fencing classes later, so I just stick around until they start."

"When do they start?"

"Five o'clock."

"Five? You sit in here, alone, until five?? I mean, I know I'm one to talk when it comes to spending time alone, but damn!"

"Yeah..."

They sat in silence, Adrien trying to ignore how lonely he was outside of school, and Kagami thinking of a solution. Then it hit her; She literally lives within walking distance of the school.

"Hey, my place isn't that far from here. Do you... want to spend the afternoon at mine?"

"For real?!" He was so excited for a second, but his face fell when he remembered how little the chances of his father saying yes were. 'What he doesn't know can't hurt him, right? It's not like I'm disappearing off the face of the Earth', he convinced himself.

"You know what, Kagami? I'm in. Let's go, don't wanna waste any more time!"

And so to Kagami's house they went.

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Hey hey everybody! How's quarantine treating y'all? Tell me about the mischief you're getting up to!