11. Day 1 Part 4

It was as Chloe was about to attend her first class, that she heard that annoying voice she loved-to-hate murmuring nearby. "Just a little reminder. No funny business today. Or, you'll pay for it later..."

Chloe's next emotion even surprised herself. Ever since her fall outside the school that morning, she'd been a little worried Zzubo was injured in that flimsy bag she was carried in, and was going to pay a visit to the bathroom at recess to check on the kwami's health.

Now that she knew the bee creature was at least conscious, a wave of relief encompassed her thoughts. "Zzubo, you're alright!" She murmured back. "I'm sorry I dropped you earlier on, it was that idiot Marinette's fault. She's always stumbling over like that. Maybe she's got dough in her eyes..."

"Showing concern for others, and apologising, eh?" Zzubo couldn't hide the smile in her voice. "You appear to be making steady progress already. Now, we just have to cut out the random insults, and perhaps others could stand to be around you. And you don't have to worry about my condition. We kwami have endured for hundreds of years, after all. But, thank you for thinking of me. It means a lot."

"Wha... What...?!" Realising what she'd just said made Chloe feel nauseous all of a sudden, and she tried backtracking furiously. "D-don't be silly. I only asked because if you got hurt, you'd leave an awful mess all inside my designer bag, and you know how much these things cost. Oh, sorry of course you wouldn't, because you're just a dumb kwami..."

Unfortunately, judging by the jaunty tone of Zzubo's reply, the heiress's frantic denial wasn't very effective. "Whatever you say, Chloe. Anyway, it's time for you to get to class. Remember, I'm always here if you need my help... Or even, if you don't. Speak to you later. "

Chloe couldn't help but grimace at the smugness of this weird creature who'd gatecrashed her life so spectacularly. Who does she think she is? Forcing me to become this new superhero full-time. I bet my powers will be nowhere near as good as Ladybug's, either. I'll probably won't even be able to fly, only spray pollen and jump from flower to flower, or something. My weakness won't be something cool like Kryptonite, but anyone with a rolled-up newspaper. Sheesh, what a life...

And yet, was it just my imagination, or did I actually feel... Concerned for that little pest? N-no, of course not. How could I possibly? All it's done so far is nag me, criticise me, disrupt my party plans, fly in on me naked, dry my tears, listen to my problems, give me good advice..."

Chloe stopped her flow of thoughts with astonishment. Those last three things on her mental checklist reminded her of someone in her distant past who she'd thought more about in the last twenty-four hours than in recent living memory. No, it can't be. How could I possibly compare that insectoid nuisance to...

Unwilling to even dwell on such a patently ridiculous correlation, she turned her brain off again (she was very good at that) before hurrying to her first lesson.

The morning classes passed relatively smoothly, aside from a few surprised glances and whispered remarks about Chloe's new appearance that she somehow took in her stride without reply. Of course, it helped that she was on her own, so her antagonistic behaviour wasn't encouraged by a reciprocal Sabrina.

Instead, the blonde was forced to actually attempt to get some proper work done without any outside assistance, something which due to her priorities being in other areas (mostly concerning vanity, wealth and picking on others) she found a bit of a struggle.

So there was no time to scheme on what to do about the Marinette problem, or even think about what colour gown she'd wear for the big ball, and how many diamonds she'd have sown into the sleeves. These commoners don't appreciate just what a hard life I lead...

Chloe's disconcerted state gave Zzubo ample opportunity in the last lesson before lunch to pay a visit to an old friend. Her ability to flit around unseen was proving most useful, and she went undetected in that quiet classroom, while heading towards the rucksack she was sure housed her favourite of the two kwamis she'd detected earlier, Tikki.

What had started out as an uneventful day for Tikki soon livened up when one of her proteges came in for a landing. The pair embaced each other lovingly, having not been in contact since her and Plagg were separated from the Master on the same day to start their new assignment.

Despite her joy at seeing the Bee Miraculous, Tikki was quick to remind Zzubo that the spirits were only supposed to communicate in the outside world if it was an absolute emergency. "Even though it's lovely to share your company again, I hope you have a good reason to fly in without warning like this..."

"Well, actually I do. It's about my new mistress... Let's just say, she's the toughest case I've ever had, displaying most unherolike qualities. I'm making some headway, but until I find out a little bit more about her past and what makes her act the way she does, I'm afraid it may take longer to reform her than I thought. And in that time , the threat against the world grows ever stronger, while I'm stuck disciplining a naughty child..." Zzubo hummed in frustration.

"Wait a minute... You don't mean, Chloe Burgeois, do you?!" Tikki covered her mouth in shock. "How could she possibly get a Miraculous?! She's been nothing but a thorn in the side of my mistress from the day I arrived! She even tried to steal me away once, and I had to disguise myself as a toy to escape! Oh, dear. This is terrible. I can see why you wanted to see me..."

"Gosh... She gets worse the more I hear about her." Zzubo bemoaned. "But tell me, Tikki. How did you know who I was talking about straightaway?"

"Because..." Tikki peeked out of her bag slightly and gestured all around the room. "You described your owner as 'mistress', and the only other girl in this class who'd behave in the manner you describe apart from Chloe is her friend Sabrina, and that's under extreme pressure from Miss Burgeois. I get the feeling Sabrina would be a nice girl, if anyone could separate the pair. I believe Marinette almost succeeded once, but somehow they reconnected. Fortunately, it looks like she's away today, and the classroom is all the more settled because of it..."

"And, I know where she is, too..." Zzubo then regaled Tikki with the story about how she managed to browbeat Chloe into not only apologising to Sabrina the day before her Nana's funeral, but also do her own homework for the day.

"That's amazing!" Tikki was clearly in admiration of Zzubo's efforts. "I'd never have had the courage to stand up to her like that! Maybe that's why you were picked for the task with Miss Burgeois... Sometimes asking someone nicely to stop and being patient doesn't work. Perhaps the right approach here is to be a little underhanded and forthright. You were always better at being confrontational than me..."

"Well, er... Thanks." Zzubo wasn't sure she liked Tikki's choice of words, but buzzed her appreciation anyway. "I must say though, I am somewhat jealous of you. I mean, by the sound of it, the most difficult thing you've encountered with Marinette is her panicking about whether she was worthy of the gift bestowed on her, which is only natural. With Chloe, it's a struggle to even get her to listen. She's too busy thinking of herself, and using her power as the mayor's daughter to push others around..."

"Especially Marinette." Tikki sighed. "I don't know what my mistress did to upset yours so much, but I've noticed a pattern of behaviour where Chloe targets her almost exclusively, even when there's others around. I know both are in love with the same boy, but I get the feeling there's more to it than that..."

"You're absolutely right..." Zzubo confirmed, recalling the conversation she and Chloe had the previous day about the blonde's history with Marinette. "But it's very complicated. I'll tell you about it later. Right now, I'm just looking for a way to get through to Chloe, something to show her what she is doing is wrong, to demonstrate that life would be so much better for her if she just opened up to the world..."

"Well, I'd be willing to help anyway I can..." Tikki carefully thought. "If only so Ladybug and Cat Noir would have someone else to fight alongside them, and also to make things easier for Marinette when she's out of costume. Just the other day, I saw Chloe put a tack on the teacher's chair, before leaving a trail of evidence to my mistress's desk. Sabrina backed up Chloe's story of course, and Marinette was left with a week's worth of detention and lots of extra homework. Sadly, there's nothing I can do to get her out of trouble, short of getting your mistress to confess. Which is rather unlikely, knowing her..."

"Wait..." Zzubo's lips suddenly curled up into a sneaky grin. "I've just had an idea. We'll need Plagg's help unfortunately, but I think we can pull it off. I have a feeling things could work out nicely for all of us..."

"Oh, goodie!" Tikki flipped over in celebration, as if she was sure of the efficency of the so-far unheard of plan already.

Zzubo rolled her eyes playfully upon seeing this. Tikki really was too nice for her own good, which is why she needed someone a bit naughtier to help her out with this particular scheme.

Tikki might object later, but by then the deed would probably already have been done. It was all a means to an end, after all.