Miraculous Ladybug: The New Holders

Volpina: Part Thirty-Three

The next day, school passed by quickly. Alya felt a little disheartened, seeing Nino's vacant seat, but she tried not to focus on that too much.

Once school let out, Marinette and Alya went out to the front of the school and sat down on the steps.

"Alya! Are you even listening to me?" Marinette's voice broke through Alya's thinking.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Mari." Alya shook her head a bit. "Lost in thought."

"Did you hear that our class is getting an exchange student?" Marinette repeated.

Alya turned her head to face her, interested. "Really? Where from?"

"Miss Bustier said that she wasn't sure yet, I guess our school has three students that have the opportunity to get the slot in our grade. I think there's a boy from America, a boy from China, and a girl from Italy."

Italy... Alya remembered Master Fu telling her that Eliza had been from Italy.

And then, Alya found herself thinking about Eliza. It still felt like yesterday since she'd died and given the miraculous to her. But of course, that was far from the truth. It'd been just over two weeks since Alya buried her near the hospital.

"Hey, cheer up, Alya." Marinette said to her. "These students have been competing for the slot since before Nino left. They aren't replacing him."

"I wasn't thinking about Nino." Alya said dryly.

"Oh." Marinette looked like she regretted bringing it up.

"Hi, guys." Chloè walked up to them, interrupted an awkward silence between the two. "Uh... Is this a bad time?" She grimaced at the awkward tension between Marinette and Alya.

"Absolutely not, Chloè." Marinette turned and smiled at her. "What do you need?"

"Well..." Chloè rubbed the back of her neck. "I wanted to ask you two if you wanted to go to the mall with me or something? I mean, you don't have to, but I think it'd be fun."

"That does sound fun!" Marinette exclaimed, and then turned to Alya. "What do you say, Alya? It'd help get your mind off- well, whatever you're thinking about."

Alya chuckled, then shrugged. "Heh, why not?" She stood up in unison with Mari, and Chloè grinned brightly.

"Awesome!" The blonde exclaimed.