#[ every now and again mireille's shocked face makes me laugh ]

[galahadwilder]

I donated $12 to Buggachat! Updates to a fic where Lila gets her comeuppance, like Thief or the one where Adrien exposes her through an interview, would be welcome if that offer’s still open!

All’s Fair in Love and War (And Turnabout’s Fair Play)

Chapter 3: There’s a Hole in my Soul, Can You Fill It?

This chapter of “Turnabout” is part of the “Fix @buggachat‘s Laptop Fic Drive.”

Turnabout Archive

*

There’s nothing quite like the heady feeling of power that comes with being Akumatized. Her whole body feels like it’s been plugged into a live wire, and she wants to laugh, to rejoice, to exult as she looks at herself in the mirror. She has power again.

Empathy looks almost exactly like Lila Rossi. She’s a masterpiece of subtlety, she thinks, pressing her fingers around her chin—her hair is maybe half a shade lighter, her eyes a little more flat, but if she hadn’t been looking for it she’d never have noticed.

The susurrus of sensations in the back of her mind grows, then dims, as Mireille passes by the bathroom door. Empathy grins. Hawkmoth has given her his own power, the power to read emotions. She was a master manipulator before. She can only imagine how much better she’ll be now.

And nobody will be able to blindside her again.

She straightens, brushing her hair out of her face with her fingers. Akumatization refreshed her makeup, purged the bags under her eyes, so she looks perfect. She’s ready to go. She can’t go subtle—if she wants to salvage her reputation, she needs to ruin Adrien and Marinette, and she needs to do it quickly. If she can take out Adrien’s reputation, if she can destroy people’s trust in him…

You’re not the only one who can play the victim, Agreste. And I’ve been doing it since I got here.

As she prepares to leave the bathroom, she notices a growing sensation in the back of her mind—concern. It feels odd. She’s… worried? About herself? It feels kind of removed, like—

The bathroom door opens, and in steps Rose—gentle, sweet, naïve Rose, and Empathy realizes exactly what’s happening. She’s feeling Rose’s emotions as if they were her own.

It’s… strange. Unfamiliar. Rose’s worry about something other than herself is something Empathy has never experienced before, but… well, she’s always known Rose was a bit dim. She just… revises her estimation of the girl’s intelligence slightly downward.

“Lila?” Rose says, her voice as soft as her footfalls. “Are you okay?” Her concern pulses in the back of Empathy’s mind, mixed in with fear and confusion and a stubborn determination to push those things aside. Lila can’t get a good enough read on her to know what, exactly, she’s worried about, but she can make a good guess.

She’s afraid that Lila is as bad as Adrien said. She’s afraid that she misread her. But she's also afraid that maybe Lila is perfectly normal, and kind, and Adrien may not be the golden boy they all believed him to be. She’s afraid that one of her friends is lying to her.

And now Empathy knows exactly which buttons to push.

She forces out a sob. “I don’t know,” she chokes out. “I thought—Adrien always said he was my friend.”

Empathy’s gut squeezes in an unfamiliar manner as anguish spikes in her mind, but it mixes with triumph that her words worked, and she fights down a grin. Check.

“What happened?” Rose says, and Empathy’s heart pounds in her chest. (It’s rather unpleasant.)

“I don’t even know,” Empathy mumbles, doing her best to appear like she’s trying not to cry. “All of that stuff was his idea, I don’t know why he’d…” She sobs, letting Rose fill in the rest.

Rose is confused, but Empathy can feel the doubt plant in her mind, and that’s a start. If she pushes too far, tries to suggest conclusions herself, Rose will suspect her. Better to let her come to her own conclusions.

Then Rose’s confusion hardens into resolve. “We should talk to Adrien!” she says brightly. “I’m sure the two of you can clear this up.”

Empathy’s eyes widen. No, she thinks. That cannot be allowed to happen. If Rose talks to them both at the same time, the whole thing will fall apart. “Um,” she says. “I—I’m… I don’t think I can face him right now.”

Rose’s sympathy burns in her mind, forcing her to feel the very fear she’s faking. “Oh,” Rose squeaks.

Empathy smiles, trying to make it look forced instead of victorious. “I’m… I’ll be okay,” she says.

*

The hallways are much worse than the bathroom was. There are too many people—everyone’s nervous, everyone’s panicking. Empathy can feel her nerves buzz, her hands shake, and—God, how do people like Rose live like this?

The pressure on her mind is astounding—she can’t tell anyone’s minds apart from each other, can’t pick out which sensations belong to whom. She feels like she’s drowning under the waves of anxiety that her schoolmates are throwing off like head from a busted lightbulb—everyone’s worried about something, and she can’t separate her own feelings from anyone else’s. She wants to—she wants to hide. To run back to the bathroom and not come back out, ever, not until everyone has left.

The tsunami of hatred that slams into her every time anyone looks in her direction is stunning, too. And completely unexpected. She hasn’t done anything to most of these people—or at least nothing most of them can prove; why do they all care about Adrien? Some of these people have never even interacted with him!

Her throat squeezes in on itself as she feels the hatred in her mind grow into something dark and violent. She wants to—she needs to be punished. She wants to hurt.

Keep it together, she thinks. That’s not your thought.

Tracking down Sabrina is difficult, to say the least. She can’t look anyone in the eye without feeling a rise of loathing for herself, and she keeps having to steer clear of people’s faces, but luckily Sabrina is always wearing those ugly sweater vests.

”Sabrina!” Empathy gasps, yanking on the sleeve of the redhead’s blouse. “I need to talk to you!”

Sabrina turns to her in rage, with what Empathy is sure is invective on her lips, but that rage quickly dies away when she locks eyes with Empathy, replaced with—what is that? Is that—is that pity?

”Oh, Lila,” Sabrina murmurs, and Empathy suddenly realizes how she looks to the other girl right now—she’s trembling and sweaty, and she must look as much like a cornered animal as the crash of everyone’s emotions is making her feel.

“He’s going after Chloé next,” Empathy gasps, and is rewarded with a sudden rush of mind-wrenching panic from Sabrina that makes her want to drop to her knees and scream. 

“What do you mean?” Sabrina says, her panic bleeding from her like blood in the water, and Empathy knows she’s guessed right—she found Sabrina’s weak point. This is where to keep pushing. 

Empathy grits her teeth, forcing through Sabrina’s overwhelming fear. “Listen—Brina,” she says, risking Chloé’s nickname for the other girl. Spike of annoyance. “Sorry, sorry, that’s—sorry,” Empathy mutters. Apparently that nickname is reserved for Chloé only. “Sabrina.” 

Sabrina’s annoyance subsides, much to Empathy’s relief—it’s replaced with gratefulness, that “Lila” noticed how she was feeling, and that “Lila” was accommodating. Which makes this a perfect moment to strike.

”Adrien—he did this on purpose,” Empathy says. “He tricked me into—he told me he loved me, he tricked me into—and then he…” She grips Sabrina’s shoulders. “He’s been doing the same to Chloé,” she says. “I just found out. He’s going to ruin her.”

Sabrina’s emotions are mixed, confusing, much to Empathy’s delight. There’s jealousy in there, and relief, and anger, and shock, and possessiveness. And… wow. Sabrina doesn’t want to be just Chloé’s friend.

Which means she wants to believe Empathy. Wants to believe anything that will push Chloé away from Adrien.

“Chloé won’t listen to me,” Empathy says. “You need to get her away from him.” She squeezes Sabrina’s shoulder. “You have to warn her.”

Sabrina’s shock grows, almost overwhelms Empathy’s mind, until it hardens into something else. Something shaky and quiet. “Okay,” Sabrina says. “I’ll—I’ll make sure she knows.”

*

Empathy flexes her fingers. Two practice runs down, two rumors planted, though she has no idea if Rose will bear fruit. Enough practice, though—it’s time for the big run.

Alya Césaire.

Empathy skips the next class period: showing her face in front of the people who hate her is only going to make them angrier. She needs to make them think she’s hurting worse than she is.

And besides, in her current state, she’s not sure she’d be able to hold herself together for an entire class period with all of her classmates’ insipid emotions cavorting about her skull. What was Hawkmoth thinking? This ability—it’s useful, yeah, but there’s too many drawbacks. It hurts. It hurts too much to use it the way she should be able to.

It must’ve been an accident. She wants to yell at him for his incompetence, but the lack of the pressure indicating his voice in her head means that he must’ve detransformed, so no matter what she says, he can’t hear her.

Instead, she shuts herself away from the school and all their chaotic and useless emotions and goes over what she knows about Alya.

She’ll admit, Alya taking Adrien’s side—and taking down Lila’s interview—was a bit of a shock. Unexpected. But now that she’s had time to think about it, it makes sense: Alya Césaire is a journalist, and as a diplomat’s daughter, Lila knows journalists. They’ll do anything for a good story, and Adrien’s story is juicy beyond belief. Better than Lila’s was. Alya siding with Adrien makes sense now; she’s chasing the story, and she needed to get rid of the interview in order to keep consistency, keep her reputation.

Which means all Empathy needs to do to sway the reporter back to her side is give her a juicier story. One that implicates Adrien, and clears Lila. Alya won’t be able to resist, and she’ll drop Adrien like a hot potato as soon as Empathy gives her what she really wants.

And with her new powers, Empathy can figure out exactly what that is.

*

Empathy skirts the side of the cafeteria, trying to hide out on the edges of the waves of overwhelming emotion. There are simply too many people in the cafeteria, and any one of them seeing her could trigger a debilitating spike of hatred that would pin her to the floor. She’d prefer to get Alya alone, but the girl is a social butterfly—she never goes anywhere by herself. The cafeteria is the only place loud enough to give them any privacy.

“Guys, guys!” she hears Alya shout. “Give Adrien some space!”

There’s a crowd gathered off to the side of the cafeteria, and in the middle of it, a waterfall of red-brown hair. Alya is standing on a chair, pushing people away with a—well, Empathy can’t tell what that expression is, she’s too far away to get a good read. She’s with Adrien, and Nino, and Dupain-Cheng, and the rest of the class seems to be crowded around them, but at Alya’s words they begrudgingly back away.

Adrien says something that Empathy can’t hear, only to be interrupted by Nino, who says something in that annoyingly kind tone he makes when he’s trying to get into someone’s good graces. Dupain-Cheng looks away from them both with downcast eyes, and Ivan adds something, turns around, and begins to clear the rest of the class away.

Then he locks eyes with Empathy, and she doesn’t even need powers to feel the force of his anger. She shrinks, trying to appear nonthreatening.

He leans over toward his pig of a girlfriend and murmurs something in her ear. Immediately, the rest of the class turns to look at Empathy, and the surge of their collective hatred (where is this coming from? She did nothing to most of them! Or at least nothing they can prove) pushes her bodily against the wall.

She wants to hurt. Instead, she bolts from the room.

*

Lila has spent enough lunches with Alya that Empathy knows which bathroom she prefers. Without any ability to actually go into the cafeteria, she’s forced to wait for Alya to come to her. She’s already spent the whole day in the bathroom, hiding from all the goddamn emotions that are pressing on her mind.

Remember, Empathy, this is what you asked for.

“Hawkmoth,” she growls. “You want me to win? Help me out here.”

There’s no answer. Of course there’s no answer. She wants to—she wants to—

Actually, she feels… pretty good. A bit vindictively satisfied, maybe, but…

Wait that’s—

The door to the bathroom swings open and Alya steps through.

“Alya!” Empathy cries, grabbing at the other girl’s arm. “We need to talk—!”

Her sentence is cut off in a shiver as Alya’s eyes turn toward her, and everything Empathy has felt over the course of the morning jerks into perspective as Alya’s blood-curdling rage slams into her like a truck dropped from orbit.

“Rossi,” Alya snaps, her voice cold enough that Empathy actually feels the chill strike into the marrow of her bones. “I told you to stay away.”

Empathy gasps. “I know, I know,” she says. God, she must’ve risked more damage to Alya’s reputation than she thought if the girl is this angry. “I’m sorry. But—you need to hear this!”

Alya’s expression doesn’t change, and Empathy feels her veins catch fire as the other girl’s rage and hatred presses down on her. Come on, Rossi, she thinks. Just tough it out a few more seconds. Then she’ll be on your side again.

“Alya, Adrien is stalking Ladybug!” Empathy hisses.

She’s expecting Alya’s anger to instantly turn to interest. Empathy knows how Alya is about Ladybug, and this is a truly juicy scoop. It’s everything Alya could possibly want—

Why is she getting angrier?

“Why should I believe a single word you say?” Alya says.

Empathy is shaking with Alya’s rage at her words; she wants to smack something, to punch something, to pound her fist into the sink until the porcelain snaps. Not mine not mine not mine—

“Adrien was trying to discredit me,” she says. “I found out he was using me to get to Ladybug and—”

Bile surges up her throat, cutting her off mid-word.

“He was using you?” Alya hisses. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Empathy shivers. “He—I found out he was—”

Alya snorts. “He was what, Lila?”

This—this isn’t working. Why isn’t it—this is the biggest story that’s come across Alya’s nose in months, why isn’t she biting? Why isn’t she at least entertaining the idea? Alya’s emotions aren’t making any sense. There’s no interest at all!

“What—what are you—” Empathy gasps, her heart pushing up on her sternum. “Why don’t you believe me?”

It takes a moment for Empathy to realize the confusion she’s feeling isn’t just her own.

Alya steps back, horrified. “Believe you?” she says. “You’ve been attacking my friend and lying to me about it for months.”

Empathy’s stomach swoops. “Marinette—she’s lying to you, she’s—”

A piledriver blend of indignation, disbelief, amusement, disgust, and condescension crashes through Empathy’s forehead. Alya shakes her head. “Should’ve known,” she murmurs. “Mari knew. Of course she did.” Alya narrows her eyes, and suddenly Empathy wants to—drop to her knees and beg forgiveness from that stupid hussy? Protect that ridiculous blond asshole? She wants to—she wants to—

Alya—Alya is actually their friend. Alya actually cares about them. No. Impossible. She can’t—she can’t be wrong, can she?

“Eat shit, Rossi,” Alya snarls, turning on her heel. “I’m gonna find another bathroom. Don’t follow me.”

As her rage retreats, Empathy is left with only her own emotions in her head. And they’re unfamiliar ones. She’s—she’s lost, she’s confused, she’s… she’s relieved that she’s not feeling the self-destructive force of Alya’s rage, and yet it’s like there’s a hole in her chest, right where her heart goes. Something is wrong. Something is—something is missing. Something that Alya had, something that—

No, she thinks. I can’t be wrong. The—the powers are useless. She collapses back against the wall, pressing her palms against her skull. Hawkmoth, she thinks, what have you done to me?

Turnabout Archive

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[miracul0us-multishipper]

Welcome to the Back (Part 11)

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Lila knew the situation was getting out of hand, even before she heard Ladybug reveal that they weren’t friends. At this point, she had already escaped the school and hidden outside, where she was in no danger to be seen by Sentiquill. 

“Stupid Ladybug!”, she muttered as she walked home, not bothering to check up on the others or return to school. Even after she saw the Miraculous Cure flash through the sky, her pace didn’t slow. She needed time to think of a fitting lie, and the fallout of today’s akuma would be enough to deal with tomorrow. Ugh, she hated Paris! You could never know what happened next, never plan ahead!

She groaned.

To be fair, the akuma attack was actually kind of convenient this time. It gave her a chance to check up on her looks at home, prepare for the meeting this afternoon. There was no second chance for the first impression, after all!

So when she entered the TV1 tower and flashed the employee ID she’d stolen from Mireille, she looked as professional as she could get.

René Bordeaux’s office was easy to find. His name was written on the door in bright, red letters and the voice that yelled into a phone on the other side was iconic. With a confident smile, she knocked on the door. The voice fell silent, then yelled into the phone once more before hanging up. Angry footsteps advanced and the door was flung open. 

“What is it?!”, a middle-aged man shouted. Lila scanned him quickly. Carefully styled, blond-dyed hair. There was a hint of grey in his roots, something he obviously meant to hide. Scared of aging probably.

His suit looked brand new, but was a little too short on the ankles, she noticed and drew her conclusions: He valued luxury and tried to intimidate with pricy clothes, but didn’t actually know a lot about fashion and likely bought whatever looked the most expensive. He had sideburns, for God’s sake. 60’s nostalgia? Probably wanted to go back to “the good old days” his dad had talked about wistfully when he was young. She wondered if he was right-wing. A Control freak, judging by the meticulously organized room behind him, and he was single given the lacking photos of a girlfriend on his desk. Or photos of anything other than himself in general. There was a wedding ring on his finger, even though Lila’s research had brought up his disastrous divorce of Evelyn Leanne, and that he hadn’t married since. His lack of reminders of Leanne in the office - reference to the photos - made her doubt he harbored any romantic sentiment for her. He was only bitter about being shunned, and about losing a perfect trophy family. Likely hadn’t accepted the divorce. 

All these deductions only took her seconds to complete, René Bordeaux was an open book.

Her smile widened. So much potential!

“Oh, my apologies.”, she said sweetly. “I was looking for René Bordeaux, but if he’s not here yet-“

“I’m René Bordeaux! Why do you think would I be in this office, otherwise?!”

She gasped in false shock.

“You? But you look so young!”

The man blinked, thrown off his rhythm. His anger deflated and his raised hand dropped to his side.

“I... I guess!”

He caught himself and crossed his arms.

“Well, you have a point. But I hear that a lot, young Lady, so what do you want?”

Perfect.

“I am Lila Rossi.”, she introduced herself. “I called you yesterday, about the Journalism Junior contest you produce. A great idea, by the way.”

“Ah, yes, of course. What was that about again?”

Time to get bolder.

“May I come inside?”, she crooned. “This shouldn’t be discussed so out in the open. Wouldn’t want the public to hear of it.”

Now she had his attention. Bordeaux had made his money as a populist and paparazzi, a reporter known for his scandalous articles. He’d lost his job after the lawsuits last year, but his new position as chief editor of TV1 didn’t mean he had lost his lurid hunger for sensations - especially if he was the first one to know.

He huffed, but stepped back to let her in. The view out of the window front was fantastic, but she wasn’t here to marvel at the city. So she came straight to the point.

“I am a great fan of you work!”, she lied. “Especially your article after the Leanne-Agreste Show Disaster. Your concern about your son’s well being was very inspiring for me. I wish I had a father like that.”

She was glad she didn’t have a father like that, but Bordeaux didn’t need to know that. His brows furrowed in confusion.

“Am I supposed to be flattered?”, he grumbled, but his chest visibly swoll with pride. “What does this have to do with the contest?”

Her shoulders dropped in concern. 

“Monsieur Bordeaux, I don’t know how to tell you this, but... See, Felix is in my class, and I am very concerned about him. I wanted to do my report on him, but what I found during my research worries me.”

He’s a control freak, she remembered, and he has no real sentiment towards his family. He only cares about reputations.

“He’s surrounding himself with all the wrong people, and when I - as the class representative - wanted to warn his mother, she brushed me off as if she didn’t care at all.”

Bordeaux tried to hide his interest, but there was a spark of hunger in his eyes. He was sensing a chance.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. See, our class is very... diverse.” 

If he leaned to right side of politics, the word would repulse him.

“There’s people like Felix, Adrien Agreste, the mayor’s daughter or me in our class, who are well educated and come from the right families. But there are also... less fortunate people. Like Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng for example, who has great influence over your son.”

He flinched at the foreign last name, just as expected. His face had turned sour.

“What are you saying?”

“I say, Felix needs you.”, she catered to his ego. “He has no father figure, no role model. His mother lets him do whatever he wants, not caring about his future or who might take advantage of him. He has an unhealthy amount of freedoms, and just this morning, he fell victim to Hawkmoth!”

Bordeaux’s hands twitched and his eyes widened.

“An akuma was after my heir?! Who was it? I need names!”

“Oh no, he was akumatized himself.”, she informed him smugly. He muttered something about bad publicity, then looked up again.

“What was the reason? His mother? He’s ridiculously devoted to her.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know.”, she lied. “He was alone with Dupain-Cheng when it happened.”

She sighed, then put enough urgency in her voice to make even herself cringe.

“He really needs someone who knows what’s best for him, who can look out for him and will set him limits. He needs you!”

Bordeaux scoffed and paced through his office.

“Do you think I didn’t try to save this family?! Evelyn won’t let me near them anymore, and Felix would rather live like a pauper before going against her.”

Lila smiled.

“I know.”

Her schemes were finally going somewhere.

“But I might have a solution for you.”

-

When Adrien came to school the next day, he felt numb. There was no Plagg at his side, no ring on his finger, no sense of freedom in his chest as he walked up to the entrance. Everything felt hollow. How could everyone be this carefree when his entire world had been uprooted yesterday? Didn’t they feel the shift in the air, the tension in the room? Chat Noir had vanished, yet nobody seemed to mind.

“Dude, there you are!”, Nino greeted him from a bench at side, surrounded by his classmates. “We were worried sick about you, yesterday! Did you see the Akuma Attack? We were all working with Ladybug, it was so cool!”

Adrien flinched, before stomping over to them.

“Really?”, he asked, trying to suppress his fury. “That sounds awesome! I was busy looking for Chat Noir, in case you wanted to know! So he could get back to protecting Ladybug.”

If Nino noticed how passive-aggressive he sounded, he only shrugged.

“Man, didn’t you hear? It was all over the news last night.”

Adrien frowned in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Yeah!”, Alix chimed in. “Chat Noir is cancelled!”

His blood ran cold. Did they... did they know he had lost his ring?!

“Look at this.”, Alya demanded and showed him her phone, playing a video on the Ladyblog. “Nino filmed this, since I was taken out.”

His eyes widened when he recognized the scenery. It was filmed from under the stairs, but Sentiquill and Ladybug were perfectly clear to see. His Lady held the Akuma in place with her yo-yo, ordering Chat to help. Alya was snorting with anger when the hero refused, leaving Rose at Sentiquill’s mercy.

“Can you believe it?!”, she seethed when the camera panned to Ladybug’s pained face, who apologized for rejecting him before asking for his help again. “He made her beg! He let Rose be drained for ink, just so he could force her into his stupid power play! And her apology?”

She scoffed.

“I can’t believe he would ask that of her! As if she owed him anything for rejecting him!”

“Don’t forget the part where he almost killed Ladybug!”, Chloé spoke up. “If I ever see his ugly ass face again, I won’t need a Miraculous to rip him apart.”

“But,” Adrien stammered, “We don’t know the whole story! Maybe he had a valid reason to-“

Chloé laughed and pinched his cheek.

“Oh, silly Adrikins. I always forget how little experience you have with people.”

Kim nodded.

“Yeah, if you get rejected, no matter how, you gotta accept it. Doesn’t mean you gotta take any shit” - he glared at Chloé, who had the decency to look ashamed - “But you sure have no right to pressure her into anything. And demanding an apology for saying no?”

He clicked his tongue.

“That guy definitely wasn’t present for Mendeleiev‘s lesson on consent.”

“He abandoned Rose.”, Juleka murmured from the background, holding her unusually quiet girlfriend’s hand. “I’ll never forgive him for that.”

Adrien gulped.

“Well, Miraculous Ladybug always undoes every harm, right?”

“Cut it, Adrien!”, Alya snarled at him all of a sudden. Everyone fell silent. The reporter blinked, then leaned back a little to regain control of herself.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”, she mumbled, staring at nothing. “What it felt like. Just because Ladybug can cure everyone doesn’t mean she can undo what happened to us.”

Nino put his arm around her and she relaxed a little. When she looked at Adrien again, she was as composed as always.

“I’ve never been more terrified than yesterday.”, she stated firmly. “And it was even worse for Rose, judging by how much ink Sentiquill got out of her. Chat could have spared her that, but he chose not to. To him, each of us was less important than getting back at Ladybug. Just for not catering to his whims.”

She shook her head.

“If Ladybug doesn’t kick his ass, Rena Rouge will.”

“Uh, I literally said it first.”, Chloé complained. “Tell Fox girl to stand in line, Queen Bee is the one that’s going to kick that mangy cat into orbit!”

As the others broke out in a fight of who would have the best chance to beat up Chat Noir - Sabrina stood eerily still in the corner, saying something about a knife and Chat’s eyes - Adrien slipped out of the yard. It felt like the entire universe was against him! Everything came crashing down around him, no one took his side anymore-

“Adrien?”, a voice behind him asked and he turned around to see Lila. “Are you alright?”

He swallowed down his feelings.

“Yeah”, he croaked. “Just worried. Ladybug told everyone about you, classes are going to be... tense.”

He sighed. He might not be Chat Noir right now, but he was still Adrien Agreste, Bustier’s sunshine boy. He had to keep the peace as far as possible.

“You need to come clean.”, he suggested. “Apologize and tell them the truth about everything, then maybe, this will blow over soon.”

And maybe Marinette would be his friend again. This whole Lila-mess had only harmed them all, it was time to set things right.

Lila nodded.

“Of course, you are so right.”

She smiled weakly.

“I know I never told you this, but you are a great friend. Thank you for protecting me as long as you could. I really wish people would listen to you more, you’re so thoughtful!”

He looked up.

“You think so?”

She nodded, patting his shoulders.

“They can’t see it, but I do.”, she assured him. “You do so much for your friends. You prevent them from harming themselves, from destroying the harmonic atmosphere. They can be grateful to call you their friend.”

He blushed a bit, flattered. And relieved. Finally someone that appreciated all his hard work!

Lila sighed and walked towards the yard.

“I’m really sorry you’ll be dragged into this mess, Adrien.”

He stiffened. Wait, what?

“What do you mean?”

She stopped to look at him, surprised.

“Well, if I tell them the truth about everything, I’ll have to tell them you knew everything from the start. You and I know it was only for their own good that you didn’t expose me, but they... You’ll be pulled into this inevitably. Things will likely be horrible for you for a while, maybe you’ll even lose some friends. Nino, Alya, Chloé... I don’t think they’ll understand you were doing the right thing.”

His mind was running wild. No! He already had them badmouthing Chat Noir in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to bear it if they hated him as Adrien too!

“Lila, wait!”, he called when she moved to walk on. “Maybe... Maybe there’s another way. To keep everyone calm. We can think of something, I’ll help you!”

She smiled.

“You would do that for me? You’re so sweet.”

Her eyes glistened eagerly.

“I think I already have an idea.”

-

“How are you feeling?”, Felix asked her. They stood in front of the classroom, hesitating to go inside. But Marinette had enough of fearing confrontation. Chat, Adrien, Lila, all of them were people she didn’t want to run from anymore. It was time to walk her way and hope that her friends would have her back. But she was through with waiting for problems to resolve on their own. 

“Well enough.”, she replied. “And you?”

He shrugged.

“I don’t remember much of what happened, and I generally don’t care what others think of me. But...”

He sighed.

“I did hurt people. Not consciously, but it still happened because of me.”

Marinette couldn’t say anything against that, so she simply took his hand. Whether for his comfort or her own, she didn’t know.

“Come on.”, she said. “I’m sure they’ll understand, and... It’s not like Lila will be a problem anymore, at least! So let’s get this over with.”

With that, she opened the door and walked inside. Only to see Lila surrounded by their classmates.

“Marinette!”, she called. “Just in time. I was just telling everyone how Ladybug saved me again, yesterday.”

Marinette felt her eyes twitch.

“Ladybug- You- I-“, she pressed out, wanting to throttle her. How was it possible that she just sat here as if nothing happened?! Things were supposed to be different now!

Felix nudged her hand and she looked up to him. He nodded at the rest of the class with his chin, and her eyes followed his gesture. They weren’t hanging on her every word as she had feared. No, Chloé wasn’t even listening, filing her nails with an occasional roll of her eyes. Alya sat next to an angry Nino, arms crossed. Juleka’s eyes were shooting daggers at Lila.

All in all, the class looked suspicious. Not enthralled and excited, but almost annoyed. An improvement!

“Ya better hurry to give us a damn good explanation, girl!”, Alya growled. “Because I have Lb’s statement on video, and I won’t hesitate to post it online!”

Lila gave her a surprised glance.

“What are you talking about? Did I do something wrong?”

Nino glowered at her.

“That’s a damn bold question, Lie-la! Ladybug told us everything.”

His girlfriend raised her phone, playing Ladybug’s fight against Sentiquill. 

“But fine!”, Marinette heard her alter ego shout. “If it makes you happy!” Then she started to rant about Lila, who looked suspiciously calm.

“Well”, she shrugged when the sequence was over, “she really went all out, didn’t she?”

“What do you mean?”

Lila chuckled.

“I mean, just look at her face! So disdainful, so authentic! A great actress, really!”

Alya faltered a bit.

“Actress?”

“Of course!”, she laughed. “Ladybug was obviously trying to placate Sentiquill, as we all know Felix doesn’t like me since our little misunderstanding. A bummer it didn’t work, but I guess she isn’t perfect either.”

She sighed and straightened herself.

“Ladybug told me to flee, since the Akuma was after me specifically. I would have stayed with you otherwise, and helped to defend you against Sentiquill. But she knew if I was nearby, he’d go after me and then Ladybug would be distracted. She cares so much about me, her worry for my wellbeing would have interfered with her ability to think straight.”

Alya frowned. 

“How do we know this isn’t another lie? It’s your word against Ladybug’s, and you haven’t proven anything!”

Pondering, Lila tapped her finger against her chin.

“Hm, let’s see... Adrien! You saw us; you can be my witness, right?”

Everybody turned around and Marinette’s eyes widened. Adrien stood at the window, looking weary but determined. Surely he wouldn’t... He had covered for Lila before, true, but to lie on her behalf...

Her hopes sunk when he avoided eye contact with her.

“It’s true.”, he stated flatly. “I saw them talk after the battle. Ladybug...” He gulped. “Ladybug apologized for saying all these things, but it was only to protect her.”

“That’s not true!”, Marinette howled furiously. “What are you even saying, Adrien?!”

He looked away, pouting.

“Stop shouting at me. It’s the truth! I saw them when I was on my way... on my way-“

“-to accompany me to Jagged Stone!”, Lila finished for him, a smug look on her face. “I invited him along because he was so rattled after the akuma attack. To cheer him up! Jagged is the best when it comes to lighten the mood, right, Adrien?”

“Uh... yeah!”, the blond agreed hesitantly, obviously confused. “Totally! I, er, can confirm.”

Marinette’s eyes burned into his spineless figure, seething with rage. This had been his chance. For someone that preferred inactivity when it came to his friends, he was all too quick to stand up for a liar. 

“So... it was all true?”, Alya dared to hope. “You really are Ladybug’s friend, and you know Jagged Stone?”

“Don’t forget Prince Ali, but yes. I’d never lie to you, Alya!”, Lila reassured. “Everything I said is true.”

Felix took a step forward, opening his mouth to protest, but Marinette put her hand on his chest to stop him. 

“Don’t.”, she whispered, forcibly cooling down her anger to a simmering hatred. “They win this round.”

Everything Felix could say now would only further Lila’s victim role, and they had no proof right now. It would be a waste of time.

Felix clenched his teeth, but nodded. To their surprise, the others weren’t done yet.

“I don’t believe you.”, Juleka mumbled and Lila’s face fell. 

“What did you just say?”

“I said, I don’t believe you!”, the goth shouted, startling everyone. Rose was clutching her hand like a lifeline as her girlfriend looked up, tears in her eyes. “When Sentiquill went after Rose, Ladybug didn’t hesitate to do the logical thing and save me first, even if that meant making herself vulnerable. I know she cares about Rose, but when push came to shove, she was still able to think tactical. God knows I didn’t like her decision, but it was what saved both of us.”

Lila narrowed her eyes.

“Juleka, you sound like you wanted her to sacrifice Rose! Do you really care so little about-“

“Shut up!”, Rose cried out. Marinette wasn’t sure she had ever seen her this upset. “That’s not what she meant, and you know it!”

“Are you two calling me a liar?”

Juleka shot her a glare.

“I’m saying that I trust Ladybug. She’s able to do her job, no matter the circumstances and who might be at stake. She cares about all of us and doesn’t play favorites. If your word’s against hers, we know where we’ll stand.”

She nudged Rose, who nodded. Together they walked towards the door, but stopped when they passed Marinette and Felix.

“I don’t blame you for anything.”, Rose murmured to him so that only they could hear it. “I know what it feels like to be controlled like that. To be forced to hurt people you care about. We’re all used to it by now, you’re not alone.”

Then they walked out.

The class only recovered slowly. Many regarded Lila with distrust, most were unsure. Even Alya, who was only too desperate to believe Lila, had her doubts.

Felix gave her an encouraging smile.

“Looks like things are in motion.”

Marinette nodded, tearing her gaze from Adrien.

“I think it’s time to move on as well.”, she confessed. “To leave old burdens behind.”

She thought of Chat Noir.

“To make a clear cut.”

-

Marinette was busy this afternoon. 

Doing homework. 

Changing her computer’s background. 

Putting the finishing touch on the cravat she designed for Felix. 

Feeding Tikki a macaron she’d made for Adrien. 

Preparing an outline for her report. 

Ripping Adrien’s pictures off her wall. 

Playing video games with her parents. 

Taking the chest with her gifts for Adrien to Prince Ali’s charity for sick children. 

Calling Felix. 

Clearing her calendar of Adrien’s appointments. 

Crying a bit. 

Calling Felix again. 

Feeling better.

When it was evening, she finally ran out of things to do. And that meant, she had nothing to distract her from her own thoughts. That wouldn’t do.

“I’m going out for a walk!”, she told her parents as she bounced down the stairs, nearly tripping over her own feet.

“Be careful!”, her mother replied and waved. “And be back before dinner!”

“Don’t you want to take something to eat with you? Or a jacket? Or-“

“Tom.”

“Oh, right. Uh, have fun!”

Marinette chuckled at her parents difference. She’d always wanted to be in a relationship like theirs: one of mutual respect, but with room for silliness and fun. To have someone that was so different from her, but shared enough of her passions and values to match. A partnership of equals, that wouldn’t waver or fade when things got difficult. Someone who inspired her to grow. Someone who wasn’t afraid to learn from her as well.

She had thought that was Adrien. Part of her might even have considered Chat Noir - the yin yang symbolic hadn’t gone unnoticed by her. But her mother had explained her for what the Taijitu truly stood: not an eternal battle of opposites, but the harmonic completion of two contrasts, the ever changing nature of the world. Chat Noir wasn’t someone who completed her, and neither was Adrien. They had only brought her misery when they should have supported her.

She sighed as she walked through the park, the half moon rising above her. Black and white.

Her mother had often used the Taiji symbol to comfort her when she’d had one of her streaks of bad luck. It’s natural to have a hard time once in a while, she’d said. But see? The darkness recedes eventually and makes room for the light. It’s a circuit, and soon things will get better for you as well. Until then? Just search for the tiny white dot. The beacon in the darkness, it’s there!

Marinette leaned her head back, watching the darkening sky.

The light in her darkness? That was Felix. The only constant support she had these days. The one whose mere presence cheered her up, gave her the strength to keep going. It was so weird, now that she thought about it. He was so... harsh. Like a bright fire that could blind and burn mercilessly, but somehow drew her in like a moth to his flame. Like the sun, that could bring people’s worst flaws to daylight, or illuminate strengths she hadn’t even known she had. He had been both demanding and eager to give, from the very beginning. Forcing her to put her self-imposed limits aside and stand up for herself, but supporting her when he knew she needed it. In return, he had opened himself to her, learned to trust and bond with others. She’d never been more proud than when he had befriended Aurore, despite their rocky start. Or when he tried to dial his bluntness down around Marc, because he knew the boy was sensitive.

He had impressed her. Everything about him was challenging and inspiring and soothing at once. She’d never liked herself more than when she was around him. And when she wasn’t, she found herself thinking about him constantly. 

Even now, musing over their influence on each other brought a smile to her lips and lightened her steps until she all but floated through the park. Now that she thought about it, she liked the feeling a lot. More than a lot. If she didn’t know any better, she’d almost say she lo-

“Marinette”, Tikki called her from her purse. “I sense someone. Wayzz is nearby!”

She looked up, searching the park for the familiar hawaiian shirt. Indeed, it was the guardian himself that stood in front of the fountain, hands clasped in front of him. Curious, she walked up beside him.

“Good evening, Master Fu!”, she greeted. “Haven’t seen you in a while. How’s the stomach?”

The elder man gave her a sullen side glance. 

“I thought we had agreed to never talk of that again.”

She chuckled and followed his gaze to the fountain.

“Did we? I don’t recall!”

He didn’t smile, but his wrinkled forehead relaxed a bit. Weird. Usually, he was a lot more eager to joke around, given he had so little company to do that with.

“Is something the matter? You look upset.”

Fu sighed.

“Sharp as always. I am concerned for you, for Ladybug’s safety.”

Her face grew serious.

“That’s a concern I can understand.”, she muttered. “I nearly died yesterday. It was that close!”

Fu nodded.

“I saw.”

“Then why didn’t you do anything?”, she snapped, forgetting herself. “I needed help, and you could have given that to me!”

Her master lowered his head, eyes fixed on the water.

“Because I am weak.”, he admitted. “And a coward. And not the guardian you deserve.”

He looked so old when he rubbed his forehead, almost ancient.

“In my defense, if I had known the situation was this terrible, I would have taken the miracle box with me. Or at least the Turtle, Fox or Bee. Alas, I was only aware of Chat Noir’s miraculous turning dark, and thought that we would be enough to handle him. I didn’t expect the akuma.”

“Wait...”, she slowed him down. “Chat’s Miraculous was abused? Like... Like the butterfly is?”

Fu didn’t answer. Instead, he raised his hand to reveal what he held inside. A black ring, complete with a familiar green paw print.

“His miraculous!”, she whispered in awe, then turned towards the guardian. “What did you do?! When did you do that?”

“Immediately after you purified Sentiquill’s akuma.”, he stated wearily. “And that was already far too late. I should have taken it after Syren, Frozer maybe. I hope you can forgive me for that.”

She felt a pang in her chest that she had lost her partner of almost a year, but it was overshadowed by an euphoric sense of relieve. She hadn’t noticed how much Chat had troubled her until she didn’t have to worry about him anymore. No more fear to hurt his feelings, no more dancing around the truth to avoid upsetting him. No more tantrums and reckless sacrifices. No more pressure to feel something she just... didn’t.

“I want you to have it.”, Fu continued and raised his hands when she wanted to protest. “Not for yourself, of course! Marinette, I have chosen solitude as the safest way to protect the miraculous, and for a while, it worked. But times changed.”

He breathed out, his posture slouching in shame.

“Times changed, and I didn’t. Chat Noir is the proof that I am no longer fit to distribute powers like his. But you? You have proven time and again that your trust in others is well deserved, that your choices are wise.”

His voice was full of warmth and trust.

“You have to be the one to choose a new partner, Ladybug.”, he announced firmly. “Someone you can trust not to disappoint you. It’s about time you get a say in this, don’t you think?”

She stared at the ring, so caught up in an electrifying kind of awe that she couldn’t really process his words. This was the Miraculous of destruction, the other half to her powers. If she took it, she would hold more power in her hands than should be humanly possible. What if something happened to her? What if she lost it, what if Hawkmoth got his hands on it? As long as it had no wielder, it would remain in this state and show its true colors. Everyone would be able to recognize it!

“A-are you sure you want me to have this?”, she asked with a trembling voice. Master Fu smiled.

“I have made a lot of reckless decisions. This is not one of them.”

He held the ring out to her.

“I trust you, Marinette. And I know Ladybug will chose better than I did.”

Hesitantly, carefully as if it might burn her, she took the Miraculous from his hands. It was warm in her hands, as if it were alive.

“I won’t disappoint you.”, she promised Fu, her eyes blazing with determination. She wouldn’t take this lightly, wouldn’t fail him. This time, her Chat Noir would be a hero.

- - - 

Phew, done. I don't know much about Daoism, and only just started to research the philosophy behind yin and yang (or the Taijitu), but I really wanted Marinette to be more in touch with her heritage. Mama Cheng spilled her wisdom, and little Marinette sucked it up like a sponge.

[ecofinisher]

Kagami Appreciation Week Day 4

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16309199/chapters/39160849

Day 4: Girl’s Night

At the night all the girls of Miss Bustier’s class and a few from other teachers were doing a pajama party at Juleka’s houseboat.

Kagami Tsurugi sat on a bar stool between Lila Rossi and Rose Lavillant watching Juleka’s older brother Luka helping the goth girl mixing smoothies for the party guests.

Alix was dancing with Alya, Myléne and Aurore in the middle of the living room, Mireille sat with Ondine, Marinette, Sabrina and Chloé on the couch seeing the girls dance, besides Chloé that was showing her friend Sabrina something on her smartphone.

“Marinette get up and dance with us” Asked Alya dancing to the song, that aired from a Bluetooth connected music box.

“No I’m fine” Marinette rejected, then Alya rolled her eyes playfully and grabbed the blue-haired girl on the hand for her to get up.

“Come we dance together” Alya offered, then Marinette shrugged her shoulders and joined her friend.

At the bar Luka served the drinks, followed by Juleka adding to all drinks a lemon slice on the edge of the drink glasses.

“Thank you” Said the three on the bar stool in chorus.

“I love strawberry so much” Rose said starting to sip from the drinking straw.

“Aww” Lila and Kagami said at the same time.

“The little kitty seems to love her milk” Luka said observing his sister-in-law enjoying the mix.

“Luka can I tell you something?” The Japanese asked afterward the raven-haired turned his attention to the short blue-hair. “Thank you for letting me make the birthday party here”

“No problem” Juleka’s older brother responded. “My mom takes it easy. Also it would probably be very boring spending the birthday all alone home”

“Yeah”

“I dislike being alone. I nearly spend all my birthday or public holidays all alone, just once in a while, I had the luck to spend three years ago until Befana day with my nonna, then I had to go back to my parents and we went to Turkey for a week or so”

“Same if not it’s just a normal day, where I have to work on my fencing skills, studying for school, guitar lessons, Russian...”

“You’re like the female version of Adrien, except you can go out and he kind of can’t”

“He can, but sometimes his father is like my mother at some instinct. My guitar its string had got broken during the play and she didn’t let me out to go to the cinema with you”

“Oh yeah, I remember” Lila said drinking a bit from her smoothie. “Rose and Juleka were there together with Nathaniel.”

“I found it strange, that the movie was unrestricted and it contained….uhm sex” Juleka pointed out a little abashed.

“Yeah I know, but it wasn’t explicit and…...if there were any kids I think they didn’t get it” Lila said trying to remember that evening.

“You didn’t see seem really naked. You saw they had underwear, that girl there even wore a bra” Kagami mentioned.

“Nathaniel was funny, he looked at me with a disgusted face and asked me Why did you bring me to see this” Rose told Luka making him laugh.

“Poor guy,” Luka said amused by the blonde’s story.

“I couldn’t know that either, I just told him the movie was about a Jewish man, that feel in love with a non-Jewish girl”

“I still found the movie pretty funny. His mother mostly” Lila said making Kagami chuckle.

“Right, she really was hilarious” Agreed the Japan decedent girl.

“She’s open up girls. she’s opening up!” Announced Aurore running at the girls grabbing them by the shoulder.

“Who’s opening up?” Asked Kagami looking at Lila and Rose, that shrugged their shoulders in response to the birthday girl. The four girls at the bar turned around to see Mireille sitting on the coffee table and Aurore sat down next to her.

“Okay now you can tell it”

“No, I think no one cares about it” Mireille said a little embarrassed.

“Come, they sure would love to hear, what you’re saying right?” Asked Marinette looking at the other girls, that nodded including Luka.

“Uhm if you want I can leave you all alone” Luka said leaving the bar and picking his guitar while he was on the way to his room.

“Jean finally asked me out” Mireille said and half of the girls jumped up in the air.

“That’s great!” Shouted Lila.

“Congratulation” Kagami wished along with Rose and Juleka.

“Does it mean, that you’re now dating?” Questioned Alya.

“Yeah” Responded the half-Chinese girl making the girls go aww.

“That’s amazing” Ondine said picking a cookie up from a plate, that lied on the coffee table.

“Jean is a good guy” Aurore said to the blue-haired girl. “He’s definitely a keeper”

“Aurore do you have anyone, you would like to get asked out?” Asked Myléne looking up at the former participant of the weather girl competition.

“There’s Adrien, but I don’t think he’s interested in me” The blonde with the pigtails responded.

“What about you Ondine, you and Kim are very good friends. Is there something more about it?” Asked Alya making the girl turn red.

“Oh there is!” Lila said clapping with her hands.

“There is, but I think he still hasn’t figured out, that I’m in love with him. He thinks it’s someone else”

“He’s probably still trying to get any closer to me, but I’m waiting for Adrikins to ask me out”

“Has anyone else realized that every second girl has or had a crush on Adrien?” Asked the pink-haired girl looking at Rose and Juleka.

“Well he’s the XY of modeling and also a teen like all us” Responded Myléne. “Nearly all girls at school love him”

“Yeah” Agreed Ondine.

“I already seen around the internet people writing fanfictions about themselves and Adrien, isn’t this kind of creepy?” Asked Aurore making Marinette and Chloé smile embarrassed.

“That’s...totally ridiculous….”

“Utterly ridiculous….” Chloé said taking her smartphone out and deleting three documents of her word saying The Live as an Agreste.

“There are worse parts on the internet don’t worry” Alya assured the girls.

“Lila, what about you and Nathaniel?” Asked Marinette.

“What do I and Nathaniel have?” Asked Lila making Kagami and Rose laugh.

“You don’t need to lie to us. We know, that you’re in love with him” Marinette pointed out. “Rose said so” The blue-eyed girl said making Rose grin in embarrassment at Marinette’s revelation.

“Rose! That was our secret”

“Don’t be such a drama queen” Rose said with a giggle.

“All of us know you’re in love with him. Juleka and Rose even know he’s in love with you” Kagami assured making Lila cross her arms.

“You’re just making me feel better”

“Ask Juleka” Added the Japanese girl. “She’s the one, who told us that”

“Is this real?” Asked Lila gazing at Juleka, who nodded back.

“My brother said so.” Responded Juleka. “Remember last Christmas we had to pick from a vase a secret Santa?”

“Yes he had me and gave me this armband” Lila explained lifting her arm up showing the silver colored bracelet.

“He was supposed to tell you with a card, that he loves you but he somehow lost the card and then you only got the bracelet from him”

“Oh no I didn’t know that” Lila said sad holding her other hand at her bracelet thinking about the little failure Nathaniel had done with the job.

“Don’t worry, he will have more chances to tell you that, don’t worry” Kagami assured her friend while petting her on the shoulder.

“I could ask him out too, but I don’t know if he would feel bad about me doing this step instead of him”

“Nathaniel wants to impress you in many ways and always tries the hardest to success.”

“He really is a sweetheart”

“When I came to the pajama party here I thought we would be pillow fighting, watching a movie or something and not talk about boys.” Alix said picking a pillow hitting it on Myléne’s head. “And don’t worry Lila, the Nathaniel I know won’t give up easily on you”

“Yeah I believe you that” Lila said getting up taking a pillow and hitting Kagami on her head.

“Hey!” Kagami shouted making Lila laugh, then the brown-eyed girl took another pillow and hit Lila with it.

“Pillow fight!” Rose yelled loud rising up from behind the couch with a pillow, then got hit by Juleka with another pillow and all the girls started to pillow fight each other.

“Be careful with your nails” Hissed Chloé as Sabrina hit her with a smaller pillow on the head, making the redhead stop.

“Excuse me” Apologized Sabrina, then Chloé smirked and hit Sabrina on the face making her lose her glasses and fell down the floor.

“Oh my gosh, are you alright?” Asked the blonde looking shocked at her friend, that quickly sat up half dizzy from the hit.

“I’m great”

“Don’t scare me like that ever again, I thought I had killed you” Chloé exclaimed making Sabrina laugh, then Chloé rolled her eyes at Sabrina after more seconds as Sabrina kept laughing Chloé couldn’t help herself and start to laugh too.

“Hey girls, shouldn’t we be a little quiet because of Luka?” Asked Marinette. “He went before into his room”

“He must be listening to music, he’s always listening to music, when he’s all by himself at school” Ondine explained the blue-haired Chinese girl.

“He could also be asleep” Myléne walking at Luka’s room then saw him sleeping on his bed with his headphones plugged into his ears. “I think he’s sleeping while listening to music”

Alix wide her eyes and looked at Lila and Kagami.

“Hey girls I have an amazing idea in mind, wanna hear?” Asked Alix and Lila nodded, while Kagami shook her head.

“Yes” The brunette resplied.

“No” Responded Kagami after Lila’s answer.

“Juleka can you bring us your makeup box?” Asked the pink-haired girl earning a nod from the tall raven-haired girl.

Later Lila stood at the side of Luka’s bed, while Alix was on the other side on his bed putting makeup on Luka’s face. All the girls were watching and grinning amazed at the sight of how Luka was turning after the girl’s improving his looks.

“Luka’s face looks similar to Marc’s” Marinette said earning a nod from Rose.

“Who’s Marc?” Asked Sabrina looking at the other girls.

“That guy, that’s always sitting under the stairs writing Ladybug stories” Explained Alya. “His usually wearing a red hoodie”

“That’s Marc?” Asked Chloé surprised. “He looks like a girl”

“He’s a genderfluid if I’m correct” Explained the Martinic girl.

“What does this mean?” Asked Chloé not understanding, that what the brown-skinned girl said.

“I don’t know how to explain that, I personally don’t get it either”

“Maybe you could ask him that?”

“Nah it’s okay. It’s a waste of time”

“Who knows, maybe you and Marc have anything in common?” Marinette suggested.

“Forget it, I’m still waiting for the right person to come and maybe that’s in a few years, who knows”

“Have you got hair tint for his hair?” Asked Alix looking at Juleka, who shook her head.

“No”

“Did you really want him to look like Marc?” Asked Aurore.

“It was worth a try” The short girl responded, then shrieked as Luka got up and all girls shrieked and Alix jumped off over the boy on the ground and Lila got pulled by Kagami away from him.

“We’re screwed Lila” Kagami said, then all started to laugh at the sight of Luka.

“Why are you all in my room?” Asked Luka, then Rose held her smartphone with the front camera turned on for Luka to see himself. “Whoa”

“You look amazing” Alix said making the others laugh.

“I don’t really look that bad” Luka said, then he sat up taking a picture.

“Wait, the makeup artists need to be present too” Alix said sitting next to Luka on the bed followed by Lila.

Kagami chuckled at seeing the three taking a selfie with the rouged teen boy.

“I think I’m gonna snap this” Luka said posting it online.

“You really look like the older version of Marc, you just needed to change your clothes and color your hair fully black.” Marinette said making Juleka’s brother nod.

“Now whose turn is it to get a new look?” Asked Luka then Kagami pointed at Lila and Alix held Lila on her arms along with Rose.

“What no!” Lila said and Kagami took with a brush an dark color and painted Lila’s eyelid while she had closed it for her, still struggling a bit.

“If I turn out awful, I’m making you look like the walking dead!”

“Don’t worry, you’ll turn out great” Kagami promised with a giggle, then Ondine picked up an orange lipstick and waited until Kagami was done with her part.

Hours later the girls were all dressed in their pajamas and spread around the houseboat all wrapped up in their sleeping bags. Kagami was in the same room as Rose, Juleka and Lila inside their own bags talking with each other.

“I wanted to thank you all again for making this the birthday of my life” Kagami said looking at Rose, Juleka and Lila.

“Yet” Corrected Lila making her friend chuckle.

“If you allow me to paint you as Ladybug next year, yeah”

“Not gonna happen” Lila said crossing her arms jokingly.

“Great, then I’ll paint you as the Evillustrator, that’s probably better right?”

“I see, that I need to organize another makeup artist for the wedding hein?”

“We’re still sixteen and you’re already planning your future?” Asked Alix sneaking inside her green sleeping back into the room like a snake.

“I want to get married in the future, I don’t know about you girls”

“Me too” Rose said holding her arm up in the air.

“My mother wants me to get married. Until I’m 20, she wants me to already have found somebody, if not she’s looking for someone from other families”

“That’s bullshit with these arranged weddings. Don’t they know their kids have their own rights?” Alix said taking a spot between Kagami and Rose.

“Some parents just don’t matter their children’s choices. They rather want to see your kids with someone together, than someone that….you know….could make your parents feel embarrassed or something” Kagami said. “Example, they would feel ashamed if I was interested into a woman instead or someone from lower classes”

“Like Nathaniel?” Asked Rose earning a nod from the Japanese girl.

“Nathaniel isn’t very low down. He’s just a lone child and only his mother is raising him….Also he’s Jewish and if my dad knew I loved someone from another religion, he’d kill me”

“But now you do love one” Alix pointed out. “What are you going to do later about that?”

“There’s my mother. She already met him and likes him”

“Does she also know, he’s Jewish?” Asked Kagami.

“No, but she would not turn like my dad, if she discovered it”

“I think religions doesn’t matter my mother, unless I had to convert into their religion instead”

“I don’t know” Lila said lying down in her bag, then wide her eyes and got up. “What about Adrien Agreste?” Asked the Italian looking at her friend.

“Lila get some sleep” Kagami asked turning her head away from her at Alix, which glared at her serious.

“Talk”

“What?” Asked the blue-haired girl. “I don’t have a crush on Adrien….oh c….”

“Got ya!” Lila said along with Rose and Juleka.

“Alright, alright I admit it. I also have a crush on him like everyone else”

“I knew it!” Lila shouted jumping with her sleeping bag. “I knew soon or later you would end up falling in love with him”

“It’s nearly one in the morning and Lila is still this hyper” Alix said plugging her earplugs into her ears putting the music on shuffle. “Wake me up, when it’s all over”

“Okay” Rose said twitching inside her bag together before she closed her eyes to sleep. “Good night Juleka”

“Night Rose” Wished Juleka doing the same as Rose did.

“Good night girls” Wished Kagami, then looked back at Lila that kept looking at the Japanese friend. “I like Adrien, if you want to hear that” Whispered Kagami to the brunette. “I just didn’t go any further, cause he still hasn’t forgotten about his crush”

“Right I’m so sorry about this”

“It’s okay, maybe soon or later I’ll meet someone over the way who’s meant for me”

“Who knows, maybe you already met him” Lila said making Kagami chuckle.

“Who Luka?”

“Maybe?”

“You’re crazy”

“You don’t need to tell me something, I already know”

“Of course not” Kagami said shaking her head. “Good night”

“Good night Kagami” Lila said closing her eyes along with her friend, then later they managed to fall asleep.