A Snap in Time

Chapter 18 (Marinette)

Scent is a most powerful memory trigger

She couldn't believe what was happening. She sat and watched the display as it unfolded in front of her.

Who was this boy?

Marinette shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, she couldn't help but feel the gaze of his vibrant green eyes gazing over at her as he introduced himself, and to make matters worse she found herself liking it. Actually, not so much just liking as craving. Each small glimmer of a look in her direction felt like a glimmer of hope. One she hadn't experienced in a long time. She tried to pinpoint where she'd felt like this before, only to come up empty.

Lost her own thoughts, she'd neglected to realise 'Lee' had made his way back to his seat. He gave her a quick smile as he turned to face the front, causing her heart to hammer in her chest and something tighten. Her stomach was coiling, and suddenly she felt sick. Actually no, feeling sick wasn't this ...

Her hand shot up in the air, as her other covered her mouth.

"Ms. Bustier, please may I use the restroom?"

"Marinette, we've just started class."

She heaved a little, causing Alya to move to her friend's aid, slowly rubbing circles on Marinette's back. "Ms, I think she might be sick if she doesn't go?"

Marinette was going to be sick, there was no doubt about it. The churning in her stomach was intense and she began to feel the bile rise in her throat. This had gone from zero to one thousand pretty damn quickly and she wasn't entirely sure what to do.

"Class has only just started Ms. Cesaire, Marinette should have used the restroom before we began."

The room began to swim and Marinette knew she was seconds away from exploding. With her hand remaining on her mouth she closed her eyes and began to take steady breaths. In and out, in and out, in and ...

Before she could comprehend what was happening, she was hoisted out of her seat and onto her feet before being, in what she guessed, was the direction of the door. The hands on her were definitely not Alya's, they were not femaine in the slightest. They were strong and masculine and for some reason familiar.

"What is with this college?" The voice was one she wasn't overly familiar with, it was as though it had been masked, slightly muffled to her ears. Perhaps she was about to faint? It would make sense with this awful feeling running through her body.

"M. Fu, I suggest you sit down."

"Ms, she's going to be sick, and to be honest I don't want her to throw up on my back on my first day here. I'm taking her to the restroom, you know, what any normal person would do."

Before Marinette could hear her teacher reply, she was moved out the room and towards the locker room. Her eyes slowly opened and peered out in front of her. They were moving at quite a speed which wasn't doing much for the nausea in her stomach. Now the hallway was fading in and out of her consciousness. Her eyes closed felt so much better.

"Can we -" she tried to take a breath and closed her eyes again, "can we just stop for a second please?"

'Lee' pushed open the doors to the locker room, guiding Marinette down to the bench seat in the centre. She settled down and lent forward, placing her elbows on her thighs and a couple more heaves came up from her stomach. How had she not been sick yet?

"I am so sorry," she whispered between heaves, "I have no idea what or why this has suddenly started," a couple more coughs and heaves wracked her body and she was surprised this new guy wasn't bolting for the door to get away from her. "You should go back to class, I don't want you to get into trouble?"

"I think that ship has sailed," 'Lee' laughed, coming to sit next to Marinette and rubbing her back. He circled his hand around, from her shoulder blades to her lower back, and she suddenly felt a relief run through her body. He continued in such a caring way she could have cried from the feeling.

Marinette took deeper breaths, her eyes remaining tightly closed. There was something surrounding the area, a scent which suddenly engulfed her, a scent so familiar it settled her stomach, halting the churning and travelled through her veins like highly energised endorphins. She closed her eyes and got lost in the aura around her.

"Radiant, carefree, dreamy."

The hand on her back stopped and moved away, leaving a coolness in its place.

"W-what did you say?"

Marinette lifted her head to look at the guy sitting next to her, and again she couldn't help but wonder who he was. There was something about his face he couldn't understand, that didn't make sense.

"I didn't say anything," Marinette's eyebrows creased. Did she say something? She couldn't remember speaking.

A sudden chiming echoed around the empty locker room followed by screaming. The door slammed open and Marinette grabbed 'Lee's hand, dragging him towards the janitor's closet she knew was at the back of the room. An overwhelming need to protect this boy soared through her body.

"Stay in here," she opened the door and pushed him in before slamming it and moving to the girls restroom.

It wasn't until she was in a stall, seated on the closed toilet lid that she realised she felt fine again. It was as if the smell, whatever that smell was, had calmed her in ways she didn't know possible. She pulled at her blazer sleeve from the side he was sitting on and placed her nose against it. The smell lingered there and she realised that the odor that came from him. He was the reason she immediately felt calm and level headed. She couldn't explain this feeling. It was as though everything that had happened in the past ten minutes made her feel different, it made her feel more her.

What was going on?

Before she could obsess over 'Lee Fu' her phone began to ring.

Luka

Accepting the call, she placed the phone to her ear. This is what she should be thinking about now, this is what was important. "Hey," she breathed out.

"Where are you?"

"What do you mean? Where am I? I'm in collège, where else would I be?"

"The akuma has been rampaging now for five minutes and I need back up, I can't keep resetting time."

Marinette rubbed her temples as Tikki flew up beside her chosen, stroking Marinette's hair and letting her know she was there.

"I'm on my way. We've got a new student and I needed to get him to safety."

"That's good. Is he safe?"

"I think so, I doubt he understands what's going on. He's from Shanghai." She heard Luka curse on the other side of the phone. "I'll be right with you." She said, afraid of what was happening with her boyfriend.

Calling Tikki into her earrings, Ladybug exited out the restroom's window and made her way across the rooftops to where noise was exploding. A few twists and turns later, she was aboard 'The Liberty' looking at what seemed to be a 'Day of the Dead' akuma having a face off with Jagged Stone.

"Who did your father annoy this time?" Ladybug asked.

"A guitar player, and I'm not going to lie, after seven resets I am none the wiser of what to do." Viperion turned to his partner, as he hid behind a speaker aboard his boat home.

"To the rooftops?" Marinette knew they needed to go and plan, if they travelled up to the rooftop on the road opposite, they would be able to look down and get a good view of this new akuma and their powers.

"Let's go."