Miraculously Heroic (Chat Noir X Reader)

Fashion Contest

(Y/n's POV)

"You only have one day to complete your fashion piece, and it must be your own design," Mr. Damocles announces to the class. "In ten hours, your presentation will be judged by none other than the great fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, the father of our very own student, Adrien Agreste. In fact, Adrien will model the winning design in his next photo shoot."

"Wow, that's amazing! Are you going to enter the competition, Marinette? I know how you love designing things," I acknowledge her skills.

"Yeah, I think I will. Are you going to enter it as well?"

"No, I don't think so," I reply. "I don't have your natural creative talent."

"Oh, sure you do. If you don't want to enter, though, I would love your input on my ideas," Marinette tells me.

How can I say no? Besides, I feel as if I owe her after that stunt I pulled on Nino's birthday. "Of course I'll help you, Marinette."

"Yay!"

"And now, this year's theme: derby hats," Mr. Damocles reveals, causing Marinette's face to take on a fearful expression.

"Derby hats?" Marinette repeats.

My face reddens in anger when I catch Chloe giving Marinette a thumbs down. "Don't worry, you've got this," I encourage the frightened girl.

~~~

"Derby hat? Derby hat? Derby hat? Derby hat?" Marinette repeats as she paces the school grounds. "I don't have any derby hat designs. I've got top hats, caps, even two-horned hats. Need a beret? I'm your girl. A sombrero? No problemo! But a derby? You know what? It won't even matter 'cause I'll probably make a total fool of myself at the event. Most likely trip over my stupid derby, collapse on Mr. Agreste, give him a full-blown concussion, and Adrien will hate me! I can't have him hate me just as we're becoming friends! I'll never be a world renowned fashion designer! My life is over!" Marinette frets.

"Look, Marinette, you know I love you and all, but you need to calm down," I tell her. This girl worries way too much.

"Yeah, Gina's got the right idea. You've got this. There's no need to worry. Here, let me see your sketchpad," Alya gently commands her friend.

Marinette acquiesces to her request and hands over her sketchpad. "Wow, Alya! Those are some awesome designs. I didn't know you had such mad skills," a voice suddenly says. I glance up to see Adrien standing over Alya.

"Uh, thank you, Adrien," she begins, "but I can't take the credit. These sick designs belong to Marinette. Off the chain, right?"

"You're super talented, Marinette. You seriously have a good chance of winning," he compliments her.

"Thank you, Adrien. I hope you're right. I really want to be a fashion designer when I'm older, so your opinion really matters to me," Marinette replies without a single stutter. Wow, this universe really is different when Marinette's not in love with Adrien.

"Well, I'll be very lucky if I get to wear your derby hat at my next photo shoot. Good luck!" Adrien says before walking away, leaving Marinette super happy.

"Did you hear that? He thinks I can win!" she gushes.

"That's because you can. Only if you get started, though, because you have around nine hours left to complete your derby hat," I remind her, showing her my timer. Her eyes widen in surprise, and a high pitched shriek forces its way out of her mouth.

"You're right! I better get started!" I watch with raised eyebrows as she takes off running down the hallway, only to come to a complete stop a second later. "Wait, you said you'd help me!"

~~~

"You do realize that you're not supposed to leave paper on the park ground, right?" I tease Marinette as she once again rips up her design. That's got to be the fifth one.

"I know, Gina, but I have no inspiration! It's hard to be creative under pressure!" Marinette dramatically declares as she fling her head backwards in exasperation.

"Marinette, you save the world under pressure," Tikki points out from her place in Marinette's purse. "I think designing a hat should be a piece of cake!"

"Hmm, a cake derby hat. Stylish and tasty."

"Marinette, I love cake," I speak up. "I mean, who doesn't? In the nicest sense possible, though, I will disown you as my friend if you create a cake derby hat."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she sighs. "I'll keep thinking."

Apparently, when she said she'd keep thinking, she meant she would draw seventeen more designs, only to end up hating them and throwing them all out. Thankfully, the tense silence is broken by Mr. Ramier coming to feed the pigeons.

I watch in complete fascination as he blows his whistle, and all of the pigeons fly over to him. "Well, happy day, happy day. Splendid is the afternoon day," he exclaims, tossing seeds into the air. Most of the pigeons land next to him on the ground, but one brave pigeon lands directly on his arm. "Ah, Edgar, you fancy one. Fantastic. Dazzling performance," he praises the bird, making sure to hand feed him a seed.

My mouth is drawn into a wide smile until Sabrina's dad, who I've always found to be a jerk, waltzes over to the bench where Mr. Ramier is sitting. "Scram, winged rats," he rudely shouts, scaring all of the pigeons away. "How many times do you need to be told, Mr. Ramier? No... feeding... the... pigeons! It's strictly forbidden. If everyone feeds them, they'll leave their waste everywhere!"

I don't remember doing it, but when I glance down in anger, I notice that my hands are clenched. So much so, in fact, that I have nail shaped indents on my palms. I never understood why this guy has to be so mean to people. I get that he's a policeman and needs to reinforce the laws, but there's got to be a nicer way of doing it. His horrible attitude is going to get poor Mr. Ramier turned into Mr. Pigeon, and there's nothing I can do.

"But who's going to feed my poor pigeons?" Mr. Ramier asks. It's clear that this encounter is causing him to become distressed.

"All the park keepers know about you, Mr. Ramier. You're banned from every park in Paris!" the policeman shouts at the top of his voice. "Leave now or I'll call the authorities. Oh, wait, I'm the authority. Get out!"

I watch with anger, regret, and disappointment as Mr. Ramier slowly stands up from the bench. His head is bowed in disappointment, and his feet drag along the pavement. It's clear that he's in utter turmoil.

"Sheesh, I almost feel sorry for that man," Marinette comments from beside me. To be completely honest, I forgot she was even there.

"I do feel sorry for him," I tell Marinette. "He didn't deserve to get yelled at like that."

"What a unique character," Tikki points out, and I glance at her in confusion. "He was like a human bird. All he needed was a feather jacket to complete the look."

"A feather jacket?" Marinette whispers, deep in thought. "Hmm, nice thinking, Tikki."

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New chapter update! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be significantly longer.