When the Phoenix Falls (Adrien Agreste)

Chapter 14: Darkblade

Colette gave a sigh as she glanced at her watch and realised that they were going to be late. She was already standing by the bakery door with her satchel tucked over her shoulder and a bag of croissants in hand - as she knew there was no way Marinette would remember to leave herself time to eat before they left.

"Is Marinette not down yet?" Sabine's soft tones floated through the bakery and Colette turned to face the woman, shrugging gently as she shot another nervous glance at her watch. It wouldn't be good for them to arrive late on this particular day, especially not if either of them were hoping to run for the role of class president.

"I've not seen her this morning, mum," Colette told her mother, but Sabine didn't get a chance to answer before the door suddenly swung open. It would have crashed into the wall if Colette hadn't stuck out a foot to stop it, struggling not to smile at the familiar harried face of her sister.

"Nice to see you awake, Mar," she picked a croissant from the bag and handed it to the girl as they turned to leave the bakery, waving goodbye to their mother as they made their way out of the door.

"Sorry I'm late, Colette, I completely forgot about school," Colette was not overly surprised about this and simply wrapped an arm around her sister as they made their way across the road.

It was on days like this that she was particularly appreciative of how close they lived to the school as it made it very difficult for even Marinette to be completely late, even if they did often end up cutting it closer than Colette would like.

"So, are you going to run for class president?" Marinette asked her sister through a mouthful of pastry. Colette had been their president the year before...and the one before that...and the one before that come to think of it. But Marinette had normally seen her sister's plans for election before the day, Colette never left anything to chance when it came to these things and Marinette knew that if she was going to run, she would have everything down to a t.

"I'm not sure," Colette didn't meet Marinette's eyes, even when the girl turned to her with a look of astonishment.

"But you always run! Why not?"

"I've just been busier this year, I don't know if I have time anymore," Colette offered a weak smile, but Marinette was still frowning.

She hadn't noticed that Colette had been any busier than normal, but she realised with a sinking feeling in her stomach that she had been so busy being Ladybug that she had barely seen her sister that year. It hadn't been deliberate, but they weren't in many of the same classes and they didn't really share any hobbies so it was all too easy for them to go days at a time without really talking, but they had spent even less time together since they had each become superheroes - though of course Marinette didn't know that Colette was also tied down by her responsibilities to the city.

Marinette was about to say something more when the school bell rang out above their heads and Colette grabbed hold of her hand, dragging her up the staircase and up to the door of Miss Bustier's classroom, where the last of their classmates were filing into the room. Colette sank into her seat, passing another croissant to Marinette before removing a smaller bag from her satchel and tapping Adrien on the shoulder, offering it to him. Adrien grinned, taking the small paper bag and slipping it into his own satchel before Miss Bustier could tell them off for eating in class.

"Chloé is running for the class representative position and Sabrina will be her deputy, do we have any other candidates?" Miss Bustier had not wasted any time in getting to the point, standing at the front of the class with the two girls standing beside her.

Colette looked studiously down at her notebook as she felt Marinette's eyes flick towards her, she didn't intend to run for class representative that year and had, in a way, been incredibly grateful when she had heard that Chloé was planning to run for the position. At least the girl would be swayed by Colette's opinions on how she was going to run their class, and hopefully the role would teach her to be responsible for her own actions, as well as those of the people around her.