Nine Lives~A Marichat Story

Chapter 1

"Marinette?.....Marinette!" Marinette's eyes flicked up from the back of Adrien's head to Miss Bustier. "Sorry Madame!" she says, embarrassment clear in her voice.
"It's fine Marinette but It would be greatly appreciated if you could please refrain from daydreaming and save that for when you're out of class."
"Yes Miss..." she replied, pink dusting her porcelain cheeks. Alya whispered in Marinette's ear.
"Girl, what was that about! You totally zoned out!"
"I know! I just couldn't stop thinking about....about all the homework I'm going to have to do when I get home?" Her reply came out as more of a question that an answer. Alya gave her a quizzical look but shrugged off Marinette's odd behaviour. "You need to seriously get on top of your work Mari! If you keep going on like this you're going to eventually fall behind!"
"I know..." Marinette trailed off. She already was falling behind. And it was seriously stressing her out. The bell rang and the class began to pack up. "Marinette could you please stay behind for a minute? I need to talk to you about something."
"Okay.."
"Don't worry Mari, I'm sure it's nothing big. I'll wait for you outside." Alya reassured her.
"Thanks Alya. I'm so lucky to have you," said Marinette.
"I know!" replied Alya, winking. Marinette gathered her books and made her way over to Miss Bustier. "Now, Marinette. I understand you have been struggling with keeping up with your schoolwork recently. I just wanted you to know that if you don't catch up soon, you may be facing a fail for this year level."
"What?! I didn't think I was that far behind! I promise I will catch up Madame! I will work so hard!"
"I know Marinette. That's why I recommend getting a tutor."
"Miss I don't think that's-"
"It is just a suggestion. I do believe you should find one though. It will really help you." There was a moment of silence. "Okay Miss Bustier. I'll find one as soon as I can."
"Good. I hope this helps you Marinette. I really do."
"Thank you, Madame," Marinette said as she left the classroom to meet Alya outside.
"What happened? You look upset," Alya asked her friend, concern in her voice. Marinette explained what Miss Bustier told her. "Oh gosh, Marinette! I would so tutor you but my parents are going on holiday tomorrow and I will have to look after my little sisters!"
"It's okay, Alya. I'm sure I can find someone to tutor me soon. When I get home I'll do some research."
"Okay then. As long as you find someone who can help you Marinette. I have to go now, my parents need someone to help them pack! I'll see you tomorrow though!"
"Bye Alya!" Marinette said, hugging her best friend. Alya walked off in the other direction and made her way home.

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When Marinette arrived home, she was greeted by her parents, who, did not look pleased. "Mama? Papa? Is there something wrong?" she asked. Her father was the first to speak.
"Marinette, we have just received and email from your teacher."
"I can explain-" she began.
"There is no need to explain," said Sabine. "We understand, dear. But why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"I-I thought you would be disappointed in me.." she said meekly.
"Marinette! We could never be disappointed in you!" exclaimed Tom.
"We love you no matter what!" said Sabine. The couple embraced their daughter in a bone-crushing hug. ".....Can't.........br........breathe!" Gasped Marinette. Her parents released her and she caught her breath. "Thank you Maman, thanks Papa. I'll start researching and looking for a tutor right now!'' Sabine giggled.
"Okay honey, just make sure you check with us before you make any decisions. You have be careful about hiring people,'' she warned.
"Don't worry Mama. I'll be careful and check with you before I pick anyone. And then I'll do my homework,'' she assured them.
"Oh, how lucky we are to have such a wonderful daughter!" Said Tom. Marinette chuckled in response and went up the stairs to her bedroom. As soon as she walked into her room Tikki flew out of her purse. "Oh my goodness, Marinette! You should get hurrying on that research of yours, it's getting late and you still have to do your homework!" the worried kwami exclaimed. Marinette gave her a smile. "Don't worry, Tikki. I have it all under control!" she declared confidently.
"Oh brother..." muttered Tikki.
"What did you say Tikki?"
"I said let's begin!"
"Yes let's." Marinette walked over to her computer and began typing. She spent four hours looking for a suitable tutor but came up with nothing. She just couldn't decide! When she glanced at her clock it told her it was already eight o'clock. Marinette groaned and made the decision to begin her homework, she opened her textbook and began to read.
She quickly became bored and her eyelids started to droop, but she pushed on until she eventually fell asleep on top of her work.
Tap...tap...tap...
Marinette awoke to hear a soft tapping on her skylight above her bed. She already knew who it was. She looked at the clock, it flashed 10:30pm at her. What on earth could that cat want? She slowly but surely made her way up onto her bed and opened the skylight for him. "Hello, Princess," he greeted the sleepy girl. She yawned.
"Hello, Chat. What brings you here at this ungodly hour of the night?" she asked the cat themed hero.
"Well, I thought I would just check up on my Purrincess and see how she's going. Looks like it was a good thing I did. If it wasn't for me you probably wouldn't have finished your homework. That would be a catastrophe."
"OH MY GOSH I HAVEN'T FINISHED MY HOMEWORK!!!!" she yelled. And then she heard her mother's voice coming from downstairs. "Marinette? Are you alright? Do you need-"
"NO MAMAN! I'M FINE!" she screamed in reply.
"Well okay then...." they were dead silent until they were one-hundred and ten percent sure she was no longer able to her them. Chat Noir looked at Marinette, who was a dark shade of red. "Is someone embarrassed?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"W-whaaaaat? Pffffft.....NO," she cleared her throat. "What on earth would give you that idea?" he just chuckled in response, he then mentioned the fact that she still hasn't finished her homework. She said nothing, she just stood wide-eyed and frozen. He laughed. "Hey! What's so funny?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, nothing. You're just so cute when you're shocked," he said, leaning in. Marinette blushed madly and pushed him away so she could walk over to her desk and return to her homework. He followed her shortly afterwards and rested his head on her shoulder, his breath tickling her neck. She burst into laughter and had to shove his head away. "Is my princess ticklish?" Chat asked with a wry smile. Marinette seemed to catch his drift and she got out of her chair and ran to the other side of the bedroom. "Nooooooo..." she said with denial.
"Oh, I think you are!" he said. And with that, he chased her all around the room, it became a full-on war, with Chat tickling Marinette and her squealing with laughter. Once again, they heard Sabine's voice echo through the house. "Marinette! What on earth are you doing up there? Why are you screaming?" Marinette could hear the irritation in her mother's voice. "I'm so sorry Mama!" she yelled back. "I-I saw...a...big spider!" Marinette sighed a breath of relief at her on the fly excuse. "Oh dear! Honey do you want me to get your father to come up and help?"
"NO!....I mean, no thank you Maman! I'm fine really! I just took it outside!"
"Oh, okay. Are you sure-"
"Yes! I think..." she fake yawned. "I think I'm going to go to bed now,"
"Okay then, sweetie. Sleep well. I love you!"
"Love you too Maman!'' Both of the teens relaxed and decided they would be more careful and try to keep the noise level down. Chat released a breath he didn't realise he was holding. "Well,'' he said. "That was eventful. Marinette hummed in response and went back to doing her homework. Chat walked over to her and could see that she was clearly frustrated. "What's wrong princess?" he asked her, worry lacing his voice. She sighed.
"It's nothing, really. I' have just been falling behind in my classes at the moment. My teacher told me today and recommended I get a tutor, but I spent hours online trying to find one and came up with nothing!" she huffed. "And the worst part of it all is that if I don't catch up soon, I may fail the year level!" It was at this point when she dissolved into tears. Chat Noir hugged her, she went stiff from his act of sincereness, but quickly melted into his embrace. They stood there like that for what felt like an eternity. His body filling Marinette with warmth. As he pulled away, the teenage girl felt the warmth slowly leech out of her. Both of them blushed, Chat being grateful for his mask as it covered half his face. Although, Marinette was not sure why she was blushing, maybe it was because she had never seen this side of him before, this serious and empathetic person who he was at this moment. He cleared his throat. "Princess, I think I know someone who might be able to help," he told her. Her face lit up.
"Really! Who?" she asked, excitement making her restless.
"You'll just have to wait and see, Purrincess!" And with that, Marinette picked up a pillow from her pink chaise and threw it at him. "Hey!" He said with surprise. "What was that for?" She gave him a mischievous smile. "You'll just have to wait and see." She said, imitating his voice as best she could, causing Chat to chuckle. "Oh, ma chérie. You have completely captured the silky smoothness of my voice," he said with a smirk. Marinette laughed at his sarcastic remark and playfully punched him in the arm. "So tell me," she said, still laughing a little, "who is this mysterious person? What are they like?" she turned to face him.
"Well," he said, "he is very handsome, if I do say so myself. He has green eyes, and blonde hair. And is ridiculously smart and funny." Marinette gave him a look.
"Please tell me you're not talking about yourself!" she exclaimed. Little did she know that he actually was talking about himself, just not his true self. Chat wanted Marinette to see Adrien as he was when he was being himself, rather than being the reserved person he was when he was around others. "Nope. I'm talking about someone else with green eyes and beautiful blonde hair who is astonishingly handsome,'' he teased and Marinette groaned.
"Well then who is it?" She asked, he could hear the growing frustration in her voice. So he leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "Adrien Agreste."
Marinette said nothing.
A deep blush started to creep across her cheeks. "WHAT?!" she said, a little too loud. Her mother couldn't take it anymore. The sound of the stairs creaking alerted the two teens to the fact that Sabine was making her way up the stairs. Marinette launched into action and hissed at Chat to hide. He dashed up the steps to where her bed was and hid under the covers. "Not there you stupid cat! I'm meant to be asleep you idiot!" The girl whisper yelled at the boy in the cat suit. She groaned and said, "Never mind there's no time!" She could hear Chat's cheeky laughter from underneath her blanket as she climbed into the bed. She had scarcely had enough time to get under the covers of her bed before her mother burst into the room.  "Marinette! What is going on with you today? What could possibly be making you act this way?" Her mother said, he could hear the frustration in her voice and decided to tell her the truth. Well, some of it anyway. "I'm so sorry I have been like this all day, I have just been stressed out from all the homework I have to do and I just remembered I forgot to do some of it!" Her mother did not speak at first.
"Okay, Marinette. As long as you don't stay up too late. Just please, keep it down. Your father and I are going to go to bed now so go to bed soon okay?"
"Okay, Mama. I will. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Marinette," and with that, Sabine left. The two teens were silent. It was minutes before Chat broke the silence. "So," he said, "this is interesting." Marinette blushed madly and jumped out of her bed and glared at him from below as the superhero sat on her bed laughing quietly. "Yeah, yeah. Very funny,'' she said, rolling her eyes. She was clearly not amused, but the same could not be said for Chat. "I'm sorry, princess," he managed to say between giggles, "but you're just so cute!" His statement made her feel a little better and she felt the anger fade.
"Come down here you silly kitty," she said with a giggle. He climbed off her bed and suggested that she finish her homework before it hits midnight because she still had to go to school tomorrow. "Good point, kitty," she told him with a smile. He helped her finish her assignment and they were finished by midnight. Marinette looked up at Chat and asked him, "Kitty, why can't you be my tutor?"
He looked at her and replied, "I'll make you a deal, ma chére. I shall tutor you during the night time when Adrien has probably got better things to do. He can tutor you after school as often as possible, that way we can both share you!" He said happily. The girl thought for a moment.
"Okay. But I just have one question."
"Shoot." By this point Chat was lounging on Marinette's chaise while she was sitting on her desk chair across from him. "How do we know Adrien will be willing to tutor me anyway? What if he doesn't want to?" Chat took the girl's hand and said to her in a reassuring voice,
"Don't you worry my princess, he will." He got up and made his way over to the balcony window, Marinette right behind him. "I should go," he told her. "I'll let you get some rest." He turned away and opened the window, and then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He twisted his head to see Marinette's sparkling bluebell orbs staring into his green ones. "Promise you'll come visit tomorrow?'' She did not move her eyes.
"I promise, cat's honour!" He said, his hand over his heart. And on that note, he took her hand into his and lightly pressed his lips to the back of it, causing a light pink blush to spread across her cheeks. He dropped her hand and climbed out the window. She stared after him as he bounded across the rooftops of Paris through the night, the only light coming from the slice of moon that was visible against the ink black sky, with tiny pinpricks of silver stars scattered across the solid darkness.

Woo! First chapter done! This is my first book so please don't judge if this is cringy! I will try and write chapters as often as possible but I do have a pretty busy life so I do apologise in advance if I do not update regularly. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this so far!
Seya! ~Eboni
Word count: 2671 words