AN: Hello, Peepers! How are you? Sweet Jasmine here to publish another Miraculous fanfiction!
Yes, I am a fan of Adrinette/Madrien (or whatever you want to call it) ship, but I was interested in doing an Adrien Agrest –Chat Noir –/OC.
Hope you'll enjoy it!
Glossary:
[1]Collège: In France, Middle school is called Collège (pronounce it like you would say College in English) and high school is called Lycée. Unlike in the USA, where there are 3 years of middle school and four of high school, in France, middle schools have four years and high schools three. That's why ninth grade is, in the USA, the first year of high school and the last year of middle school, in France. It was hard for me to decide whether Marinette and Adrien were still middle schoolers or high schoolers. Because if you listen carefully to the 25th episode (Stoneheart part 1), than you hear Sabrina tell Marinette that "new school, new year, new seats". This let us to believe that the crew has just begun high school. However, Marinette and Adrien both turn 14 when season 1 and 2 take place. They are therefore ninth grader (high schoolers in the USA but still middle schoolers in France). Another thing: their school is called "Collège Françoise Dupont". This confirms that they are still middle schoolers. And so, I decided to keep them as middle schoolers and to change the name of the school to "Collège –Lycée Françoise Dupont" as to avoid any more confusions.
[2]Washitsu (和室): Also known as "Japanese-Style room" or "Tatami room". It is a Japanese term for a room in a house or apartment that has traditional tatami flooring. The size of a washitsu is measured by the number of tatami mats, using counter word jō (畳). Typical sizes are six or eight tatami mats in a private home. There are also half-sized mats, as in a 4.5-tatami room.
[3]Fusuma (襖): vertical rectangular panels which can slide from side to side to redefine spaces within a room, or act as doors. They typically measure about 90 centimetres (3.0 ft) wide by 180 centimetres (5.9 ft) tall, the same size as a tatami mat, and are two or three centimeters thick. The heights of fusuma have increased in recent years due to an increase in average height of the Japanese population, and a 190 centimetres (6.2 ft) height is now common. In older constructions, they are as small as 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) high. They consist of a lattice-like wooden understructure covered in cardboard and a layer of paper or cloth on both sides. They typically have a black lacquer border and a round finger catch.
Historically, fusuma were painted, often with scenes from nature such as mountains, forests or animals. Today, many feature plain rice paper, or have industrially printed graphics of fans, autumn leaves, cherry blossom, trees, or geometric graphics. Patterns for children featuring popular characters can also be purchased.
Both fusuma and shōji (sheer, translucent paper room dividers) run on wooden rails at the top and bottom. The upper rail is called a kamoi (鴨居, lit. "duck's place"), and the lower is called a shikii (敷居). Traditionally these were waxed, but nowadays they usually have a vinyl lubricating strip to ease movement of the fusuma and shōji.
Along with the fusuma, shōji and tatami straw mats (as the floor) make up a typical Japanese room.
[4]Zabuton: a Japanese cushion for sitting. The zabuton is generally used when sitting on the floor and may also be used when sitting on a chair. In a more casual setting, the zabuton can be used in conjunction with a zaisu, a type of Japanese legless chair, with or without an accompanying kyousoku (脇息), a Japanese-style armrest. Ordinarily, any place in Japan where seating is on the floor will be provided with zabuton for sitting comfort. A typical zabuton measures 50–70 cm (20–30 inches) square and is several centimetres thick when new.
Zabuton are found throughout Japan and enter many aspects of the culture.
In Zen meditation, practitioners sit on zafu, which is typically placed on top of a zabuton. The zabuton cushions the knees and ankles.
In sumo, members of the audience throw zabuton toward the ring after the upset of a yokozuna by a lower-ranked wrestler, despite the dangers.
In rakugo, performers are not allowed to rise from their zabuton for the duration of their skit.
In yose, notably on the long-running television show Shōten, comedians receive zabuton as a form of scoring.
In jidaigeki, according to a stereotype, the boss prisoner in a jail cell receives all the zabuton from his or her cell mates.
Prologue: A new Beginning
"Here, that was the last one!" I exclaimed into my earpiece as I threw the empty box I held outside the wide and square trapdoor. It landed directly on top of the pile of empty boxes that were silently waiting there for me to put them away. "There, guys, I'm officially moved in!"
"I still can't believe that you won't be here with us, this year! School will be really boring, now that all your craziness will be staying away, across the sea!" I heard Barbie complain, into my left ear.
"I know what you mean Babs, I still can't believe it myself! I mean, so much has changed already since last June, and now, here I am so far away from my friends and my hometown. Hell, I'm not even sure I remember how to make friends anymore! I mean how do I talk to others without creeping them to bits or frustrating them enough that they have a sudden urge to kill and maim?" I wondered out loud. "Yup, school hasn't even started and already I am doomed to spend the rest of my student life alone!"
"Oh, God! There she goes again, spewing shit out of her mouth! Someone help Paris!" I heard Henry's gruff voice whine.
"Now, now, Henry, you ken that God –or any other supernatural being, for that matter – cannae help our wee lass." This silky voice belonged to Chris, the thick Scottish accent left no doubt in my mind.
"Anyway, I'm sure you'll do just fine! I mean, you managed alright with us, didn't you?"
"Henry, you guys don't count! You are just as weird and crazy as I am and don't try denying it! Just the fact that you guys spent your nights sneaking around Harlem and Brooklyn with me just further proves my point!"
"Personally, A prefer believing that this proves that we are cannier than those bullies that kept attacking you."
"Pot calling the kettle black, Chris!" Barbie commented.
"Why would the Pot call anyone anything? It can't even talk!" I wondered. For some reason, expressions never really made sense to me.
"It's an expression, girl!"
"I know Babs, but it still doesn't make any sense!"
"Okay, can we get back to the subject at hand: you giving us the grand tour!" Ah, that was the Barbara I knew and loved, more interested in the look of my new place instead of my whining and worries.
"I thought that the subject at hand was me not having any friends for my first year of high school… scratch that, last year of Collège [1]."
"Well, we've already argued that you'll be fine. Now, you have to show us your new place! I want to know if coming to visit you will be worth the fatigue that will come with the Jetlag."
"Spoiled rich kids." I jokingly mumbled.
"Did you hear something, Chris?" Henry mocked.
"Nae. What 'bout yee, Babs?"
"Just that she was making us visit her new room!"
"Okay, okay, you guys win… This time. But don't think that the subject is going to be dropped." I warned them. I made my way on the other side of my room, towards the long, dark wooden low table, where my phone was left to charge.
When I unlocked the screen, there were three sets of eyes staring back to my green ones. The first ones that I saw were Barbara's unnatural pale ones that were right on the middle of the dark screen. On her right, there were Henry's chocolate colored ones and on her left, Christopher's stormy grey ones.
I showed them around my new room. It wasn't big, really. In fact, it was the smallest room in the whole apartment, but that could be explained because it was originally an attic that we changed into a fourth bedroom due to the lack of space. Quite honestly, I didn't mind having the makeshift room, simply because it was the one that granted me the most privacy, here.
My room, just like the other bedrooms in the apartment, was a typical Washitsu [2]: the floor was covered in tatamis and behind a set of Fusuma [3]. I had some clothes hanging –though the most of them were nicely tucked inside my long and high dark wooden dresser chest – as well as my own personal notions and let's not forget my two nicely folded futons –one for myself and the other one for any eventual guests.
On the floor, I had five Zabuton [4] that were laying around. I had one large mirror, not far from the dresser chest and a sink, which I hid behind a Screen. I also had a red couch that could turn into a double bed.
One of my three windows –the largest one –allowed me to access the smallest and cutest balcony I had ever seen. On this balcony I had barely the space to put a small table and two chairs as well as a couple of flower pots.
The other two windows were quite small, just big enough for me to slip through them, if I had the sudden urge to sneak out from there.
"Nicely done, Pan!" I saw Barbie nod her approval. "I just think that you could turn your balcony into a veranda. It'd not only be nicer but also much more practical –less cleaning and all."
"Unlike you rich kids, I have a budget to respect, and a Veranda is way above my means."
"We'll send you something." She stated simply.
"No. No you won't." That was typical of them. They would randomly decide that I needed something or that that would be better for me than this and just buy it. I hated it. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful for all their help, but I don't like depending on others. On the contrary, I like to be as independent as any other fourteen years old could be. To put it simply, I was not a team player.
"Too late. It's already been decided, and I know exactly what I'll send over to your place." I sighed. Fighting against Babs on this kind of stuff was a lost cause. I knew it and the world knew it.
"Whatever. I still have to pick my empty boxes up before my sister trips on them and breaks her neck. And I need to see if my help is needed somewhere else." I mumbled before giving my best friends my good byes. "Tell Michael and our little Thumbelina that I said hi." I added before hanging up.
My new life was just starting and already I missed the adventures I lived with my friends. A normal life was what I had spent the last couple of years dreaming of and yet, I was already bored of it.
What a drag.
AN: Okay, guys, here's the prologue for you! You got to have a little introduction to my OC –Nope, still not giving you her name. You'll have to wait and see it for yourself in Chapter 1: Stoneheart, the boy who fell!
Hope that you liked it and enjoyed it! And don't hesitate to share with me your theories about who my OC is!
Love you guys and see you next time for more The World is still beautiful!