genderbender Version OfJourney to You

Chapter 4

It had been a number of years since Marin had been late to school. Now, instead of being late, he was always early.

It was the half hour of peace before homeroom started and today Marin used it to work on his business degree. he had an essay due that he wanted completed and submitted as soon as possible. Leaving it to do later would only cause problems down the track, especially with everything he had to juggle.

Marin had learnt that lesson the hard way.

Where Marin sat in the classroom was a far cry from where he used to sit; in the front and surrounded by his peers. But the back corner had its advantages; he could see everything, which allowed him to thwart any attacks that his classmates might send him way. 

Once upon a time they loved having her amongst them. Now Marin was kept at a distance when they weren’t throwing nasty words and accusations at her. Or the occasional physical attack when Lila's lies were particularly vicious.

Despite the norm of lycée students changing homerooms each year, after theirs had gained the title of 'Akuma Class', no one wanted to change into their homeroom, and no one was allowed out.

Marin had tried to transfer classes many times, but each request was denied. he had even tried transferring schools. One had offered him a place - Dupont's sister school - despite the fact that he was in the Akuma Class, but Dupont hadn’t let him go.

Collège Françoise Dupont received a lot funding because he, a gifted student with an IQ in the 200s, attended their school. Principal Damoclés and the school board did not want to lose the money. Where it ended up, Marin didn't know. But he knew it wasn't being used around the school.

Taking a break from typing as she heard the chatter of some of her classmates entering Dupont, Marin took a sip of his coffee and closed his eyes. Breathing in through his nose, he let it out slowly through her mouth.

Only a few more months of the school year, then one more until he was free. he would never have to see any of his former friends, or Lila, ever again.

Lila had kept her promise; Marin was alone.

In some ways, it was for the best.

Watching how easily his 'friends' had believed Lila when a Google search or common sense could debunk her stories showed Marin just how stupid and disloyal they were. Especially when they believed the Italian's lies about her.

But it didn't stop it from hurting.

Kim and Nino's betrayal had hurt the most. The three of them had been close since écoles maternelles due to a racist carer on staff who threw the only multilingual, mixed heritage kids together to fend for themselves. Marin hadn’t understood it as racism when he was that age, he instead saw it as the carer in question pushing the three of them to be best friends. As they grew up, they learnt about each others cultures and shared their languages; Marin became fluent in Vietnamese and Arabic while Kim and Nino learnt Italian and Mandarin from him.

It wasn’t until Marin was talking with an enemy-turned-friend about Kim and Nino that he realised it had likely been racism.

After the Miracle Queen battle and losing Sabrina to Lila, Chloé changed. It was not overnight, but slowly, he did, and Marin was ashamed to say he didn’t notice until the blonde had apologised to him.

Marin had been sceptical despite the in-depth and shockingly self-aware apology at first. But the sincerity in Chloé’s eyes and aura couldn't be faked, and so he forgave her.

As Chloé opened up they became closer until eventually Marin felt comfortable calling her a friend. Chloé still had issues; she was a bit of a spoilt brat with both a superiority and inferiority complex thanks to the different ways her parents treated her, but she was working on it, and Marin was proud of her.