Disclaimer: I don't own ML.
Technically today's chapter, just being posted in conjunction with the last because we had no power yesterday
"Yes! Yes! Look this way!" the photographer cries, snapping photo after photo of Adrien down in the Trocadéro Square. Adrien. Handsome, rich, perfect Adrien, who's going to be Lila's whether he knows it or not.
Ugh. Lila deserves an award for sucking up to his friends for this long, especially since they still seem quietly suspicious of her. Not suspicious enough to exclude her or call her out, which is a good sign, but…after so many years of honing her craft, Lila can sniff out bullshit and falseness like she's got a sixth sense for it. And Adrien's friends are most definitely at least a little fake around her.
Especially Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Ugh, that perfect brat. When will Adrien get the hint that she's not into him and stop chasing after her like a lovesick puppy? And to add insult to injury, he doesn't even do anything to try and win her over. It's like he's content to be in the friendzone forever. Honestly, if he wasn't rich and influential and good-looking, Lila wouldn't even bother.
Finally, the photoshoot is done, and Adrien's heading for the stairs up to where Lila's sitting on the low stone railing, watching from above. She lets her lips curve into a small smile. Perfect. Now she'll get Adrien all to herself, with no friends around to run interference and foil her plans –
"Lollipop!" a deep voice howls. Lila almost falls off the railing when a purple-black mass on the stairs below her starts to grow, shooting up, forming a gigantic baby in a purple onesie, with poisonous green eyes.
"A baby? Really?" Lila scoffs. "No wonder Hawkmoth hasn't won yet."
In the chaos caused by the baby akuma, Lila almost loses sight of Adrien as he ducks and weaves through the crowd. But Lila's not letting her prey get away that easily. She follows him, heading down the stairs but melting into the panicking mess so that he doesn't see her, and her brow furrows when he ducks behind one of the sides of the Trocadéro, out of sight of his bodyguard and the panicking crowd. What the hell is he doing?
"…just about to take a cheese break!" a scratchy voice is whining when Lila flattens herself against the perpendicular side of the Trocadéro.
"Aww, don't be such a baby, Plagg!" Adrien says. Lila chances a peek around the corner. What. The. Heck. "Besides, the quicker this is wrapped up, the quicker we can go and see Marinette and you can get your cheese buns!"
"Ugh, don't pretend you care about me," says the little floating black cat. "You just wanna go make out with your girlfriend."
What?
"Plagg, claws out!" a red-faced Adrien says. He's enveloped in a flash of bright green light, which fades to reveal…Chat Noir. The leather-clad superhero unslings his baton and takes off running after the akuma, leaving a wide-eyed Lila to sort through everything she's just learned.
So. Adrien is Chat Noir. And Marinette is his girlfriend. Well, Chat Noir's girlfriend technically, which explains why Adrien hasn't been fussed about pursuing Marinette as himself. Although it's rather satisfying to be right about what a snake Marinette truly is, snatching Adrien from Lila even without knowing, it's a bitter pill to swallow. Chasing Adrien won't work, and Lila isn't silly enough to think that she can get away with slipping little rumours about cheating here and there. Not when Marinette's always been suspicious of her.
She can't blackmail Adrien into dating her under threat of exposing him, either. That kind of thing never works out, and the last thing she wants to do is establish herself as an enemy of not only Adrien but the superheroes of Paris. If she messes with Chat Noir, there's no doubt in her mind that she'll also have to deal with Ladybug, Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Honeybee. No, to get Adrien, he has to willingly fall into her arms, or at least have no idea that she's pulling the strings. And to do that?
Well, she'll have to destroy his girlfriend, won't she?
"Excellent job on the test yesterday, class!" Ms Bustier says when the bell rings for the end of class. "But before you all go…Marinette, could you bring your schoolbag to me, please?"
The confusion on Marinette's face as she takes her bag to the front is a delight for Lila to behold. Sure, this plan might be a little extreme, but even if it doesn't work, it'll still give her extremely valuable information as to how far she can push to ruin Marinette. If she goes too hard, after all, people will grow suspicious, especially because Marinette is sickeningly beloved by all of them and Lila's previous efforts to ever so subtly undermine Marinette have gone less than stellar.
"Today, someone placed an anonymous note in my mailbox, claiming that you'd stolen the test answers," Ms Bustier says. She reaches into Marinette's bag and pulls out the sheet of paper, and everyone else gasps. Lila hopes that hers isn't too exaggerated. "And it looks like the anonymous person was right about the answers being in your bag!"
"But that's not true!" Marinette bursts out. "Someone must have planted that paper!"
"And why would Marinette keep the answers?" Alya says loudly. "If it was me, I'd have thrown them away as soon as the test was done."
"Besides, Marinette doesn't need to cheat to get good marks," Adrien adds. "She always does really well on tests."
"This is so terribly unlike you, Marinette!" Lila says. "What could be going on?"
"Lila's right," Max says. "The chances of Marinette cheating are less than –"
Ms Bustier holds up a hand, and the class falls silent. The teacher's eyes scan the whole classroom, lingering on each face, and Lila makes sure to school her features into complete innocence and bewilderment when Ms Bustier looks at her.
"What's beyond me," Ms Bustier says, "is why this anonymous person didn't come forward until today. Why didn't this person out Marinette before the test was taken? Plus, the answers were on my desk yesterday after the test, and I clearly saw Marinette walk past with Alya. So, however this paper ended up in her bag, it's highly unlikely that it was her. Marinette, you can sit down."
Marinette's shoulders slump in relief as she takes her bag back to her seat. Ms Bustier's eyes are hard as they once again sweep around the room, as though hoping to make the culprit squirm and give themselves away. But Lila's been playing this game for far too long, and there's no way she'll be outed by some softie teacher.
"I strongly urge the culprit to come forward," Ms Bustier says. "Whether it was a prank gone wrong or a deliberate, malicious attempt to get your class representative in trouble, your punishment will be far less severe if you own up now. However, if I have to take it further…"
Pfft. Let her. Lila knows what she's doing. No fingerprints on the paper and no witnesses who definitively saw her swipe it. The only way Lila would be caught is if she came out and said it. At least now she knows that she can't tarnish Marinette's goodie two shoes reputation…but maybe she can sow the seeds against someone else and have a little fun.
"I'm so sorry, I don't mean to be accusing," Lila says. "But isn't there already a person in this class with a motive? Someone with a grudge against Marinette?"
"If you're talking about me –" Chloé starts, just as predicted.
"Chloé," Marinette says with a significant look. Chloé huffs and falls silent. Interesting. Is Chloé now cosying up to perfect princess Marinette? "I know it wasn't Chloé. For one, she was out of the room before Alya and I left. And for another, she's been putting in a real good effort to change. I know she wouldn't mess up like this."
"Your faith in me is touching," Chloé drawls, though her pink cheeks and the way her eyes soften ever so slightly takes any sting out of her words.
"Oh." Lila looks down at her desk, making sure to look as small and pathetic as possible. "I'm sorry, Marinette. I guess I just wanted to get to the bottom of who was framing you…"
"It's okay," Marinette says. Ha. Sucker. "But throwing around accusations won't help. I learned after Rogercop that you can't just accuse people without proof."
"Thank you," Chloé huffs.
"This matter will be taken further," Ms Bustier says. "And when we find the guilty party, their punishment will be more severe for not coming forward in the first place. Class dismissed."
Okay, so it looks like it'll be harder than Lila thought to take down Marinette. But no matter. If destroying her reputation won't work, then destroying Marinette herself will have to suffice, and it will be oh so satisfying for Lila to watch Marinette crumble before her. Even if she'll have to prune some of his more…undesirable parts, like his fursona and knack for puns, Adrien Agreste will be hers. One way or another.