Oracle: So… status on DJ boy?
Chance: We had a talk while Luka kept watch. It was a lot, but I think he understands what happened and that he screwed up.
Viper: Yeah. Caught four akumas during that time.
Skull: Good. Kid was already on thin ice anyway.
Queen: I'll admit, I'm not sure how I feel about Nino joining us. I mean, wasn't he technically one of the ringleaders in the campaign against you, Marinette?
Chance: Not necessarily… Nino is Alya's boyfriend, so he was likely going along with her to keep her happy. As much as I hate to admit it, unless it involves a movie he's trying to make, Nino was never really much of a leader. He's similar to Adrien when it comes to conflict, though he can be a bit more rebellious for things he wants.
Fox: ...So what now then? We can't keep him completely out of the loop, especially when he has a Persona and likely the Nav as well.
Viper: I honestly don't see a huge problem in letting Nino join. He's a good kid, he just… got caught in the wrong crowd for a while.
Joker: ...If you're willing to give him a chance, Mari, we'll trust you. If he wants to join, we'll let him. But we're keeping an eye on him until he proves he's trustworthy.
Chance: Thanks, Akira, that means a lot.
Panther: Just warn him that if we hear that he's hurt you again, we'll be coming after him. Understood?
Marinette giggled at the last message on the group chat and sent a quick thumbs-up as a reply. She, unfortunately, couldn't go to the Palace today as it was Friday, and she was meeting with Jagged Stone to discuss another commission with him. Marinette did express that the PTs didn't need to wait for her, and could go on without her for the day, but they immediately declined. They were a team, so they were all in this together! So, they planned to teach Nino the ropes the next day, Saturday.
"...I wonder if I can sneak some macaroons or croissants with me into the Metaverse next time…" she wondered aloud.
"Oh, Ann would love that!" Tikki squeaked in delight from her purse.
"What do you mean you 'want a break'?!"
Whatever response Marinette had for her kwami was cut off by the loud shout from the middle of the courtyard. She wasn't the only one that stopped and stared as well.
Standing just at the foot of the stairs was Nino and Alya. The Ladyblogger was staring at the DJ with a look of shocked betrayal. A couple of other classmates were glancing awkwardly between the couple and something, or someone, else.
"It's exactly what I said Alya, I just want a small break from… 'us'," Nino tried to explain calmly.
"What, so you're breaking up with me?" Alya demanded, hands landing on her hips, "Is that what you're saying?!"
"Alya-" Nino began sharply before stopping. He inhaled slowly through his nose, hands pressed together in front of his face, "I didn't say that Al. I just… We're always doing things together-"
"Yeah, that's how couples work, Nino!" Alya interrupted.
"Will you please let me finish?!" Nino shouted. Alya stepped back a little. Obviously this was the first time that Nino had raised his voice at his girlfriend. "I'm not breaking up with you, Alya, I just want some me time, okay? Is that too much to ask? I just want… uh…"
"Autonomy?" Marinette suggested softly. Nino jumped a little, finally noticing that she was there.
He cringed, "...Not exactly the word I was going for…"
"Stay out of this, Marinette!" Alya snapped, "This does not concern you!"
Before Marinette could say anything, Nino stepped in front of her, "Don't talk to Marinette like that Alya! As our class rep, this likely makes it her business anyway!"
"Marinette…" Lila suddenly whispered, looking timid, "...you didn't have anything to do with this... did you?"
Now all eyes were on Marinette. She barely noticed Tikki shuffling frantically in her purse.
"What?! No! Of course not!" she protested.
"Seriously, Mari?!" Alya shrieked, advancing on her, "What, so Juleka's bro ain't enough for you anymore?! I would have expected this when it came to Adrien, but Nino too?!"
Adrien in the background blinked in confusion. What did this have to do with him?
"Alya! Stop!" Nino shouted, "Mari has nothing to do with this! Besides, how does Lila know if Marinette did anything?"
The Italian gasped, "Y-You think I'm lying?!"
"Nino, whatever you heard about Lila, it's likely just one of Marinette's attempts to hurt her! You know that she's been on Lila since she got here! She just doesn't know when to cut it out and let Lila be!"
Nino remained planted in front of Marinette, but all the eyes were now solely focused on him. He was looking down, a shadow over his eyes.
"...This is why I want a break," he finally said, eerily calm.
Alya took a step back, caught off guard by his tone, "...'Scuse me?"
"I can't believe it took me this long to notice Al," Nino looked up with a scowl, "but this is why I want a break! It's 'cause whenever you hear something that you don't want to hear, this is what you do! You just stop listening and start yelling! You've been doing it a lot lately. Not just with Marinette either."
Alya squawked, "I'm not yell-" she cut herself off at the raised eyebrow Nino shot her, "Well, when was I yelling-"
"Hawaii, Alya," Nino pointed out, "Those Japanese high-schoolers. They weren't even accusing you of anything, they were just stating facts. But because it was contrary to what you 'knew', you yelled at them. Did you even stop to think that maybe Jagged wanted that video down for a reason?!"
"It was just a video!" Alya argued, "And people exaggerate all the time-"
"You're not listening and that's why I'm done!" Nino finally bellowed.
Anyone who wasn't previously paying attention stopped what they were doing and stared. There was complete silence in the courtyard.
"...What do you mean you're done?" Alya asked somewhat fearfully.
"Exactly that, Alya," Nino scowled, "Until you're ready to listen, I'm done."
With that final declaration, the DJ stomped up the stairs to Ms. Bustier's class and slammed the door on his way in.
While everyone still stood there in stunned shock, Marinette took that opportunity to make herself scarce before Alya or Lila started throwing accusations at her again. She rushed to the girl's bathroom and hid in an empty stall. Fortunately, no one else was inside, so Tikki took the opportunity to fly out.
Carrying Marinette's cellphone.
"...Did you record all of that?!" Marinette gasped, taking the phone from the Kwami.
"Not recorded…" Futaba's voice informed her on the other line, "I did though, on my end."
"You guys all heard that, didn't you?" Marinette moaned.
"Well, we'd be lying if we said 'no,' so…" Ann said awkwardly.
"Damn… I gotta say, though - wasn't expecting that." Ryuji said.
"I didn't intend for Nino to break up with Alya!" Marinette defended quickly.
"It seems that wasn't his original intention…" Yusuke mused, "But it took that turn when the argument escalated."
"We didn't understand the female voices, but from what Nino said, can we guess someone was trying to blame you for this too?" Morgana asked.
"Yeah… that's how good Lila is. Somehow she's always able to drag me into a situation and shove the blame on me. It's so frustrating!"
"Don't worry. That's going to change soon, Marinette," Makoto reassured her.
"For real! That brat won't know what hit her!" Ryuji cheered.
"You said you can't do it today, right?" Akira double-checked.
"No, not today. On Saturday I'm free, though."
"Perfect. We'll see you then…"
o~o
'Oh fudge, what did I just do ?!' Nino moaned as he trudged towards the locker room after school. That discussion had not gone the way he wanted. He had hoped, as her boyfriend, that he might have a bit more sway on Alya's views and convince her to actually research some of Lila's claims.
He certainly didn't want her to get in trouble legally again. He had been at Alya's house for breakfast when the lawyers came knocking at the door on Monday. They were lucky that Jagged Stone wasn't going to press charges if the video was simply taken down. If Alya refused, however, her family - since she was a minor - would have been faced with a lawsuit and the entire Ladyblog would have been taken down.
He would have to go through the remaining videos of Lila tonight when he got home to see who else she lied about. He remembered the one about Basielburg, the one that had originally drawn him in hook, line, and sinker. He also vaguely remembered claims about Prince Ali, Clara Nightingale, Austin Moon, and… he couldn't remember if it was Daniel Radcliffe or Elijah Wood she claimed to have 'professionally trained with'.
With a tired sigh, he snatched his backpack from his locker and slammed the door shut…
...only to almost immediately drop it again.
"L-Lila!" he squeaked.
"Hi Nino," she greeted, her voice saccharine-sweet.
Something about the tone made Nino tense, something that apparently didn't go unnoticed by Lila either, "Oh, I'm sorry… it must be painful to talk to me, what with me being Alya's BFF and all - oops!" her hands shot to her mouth with feigned horror, "Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned that-"
"What do you want, Lila?" Nino interrupted, putting up a brave scowl, "Unless it's something that absolutely can't be talked about online, I really need to get going."
"Oh, where to?" Lila's face morphed into one of concern.
"None of your business!" he stressed impatiently, "Now, if you'll excuse me-"
He never realized how fast Lila was until her hand slammed onto the locker right in front of him. He barely had time to react before her other hand barricaded his other side and Lila leaned in, almost headbutting him against the locker behind him.
"Lila… what are you doing…?" he asks, his voice cracking slightly.
"So you're siding with Marinette now?" Lila asked, all of the sweetness in her tone gone, "And here I thought you were smarter than this, Nino."
"Wh-"
"Just so you know, Nino, the second you tried to publicly out me like that was the second you threw your social life & reputation away," she snarled. Like a spider crawling up its web, Lila traced her fingers up Nino's arm. He shuddered.
"However, seeing how no one believed you, and it's a fairly abrupt change of sides, I'll give you one more chance to make the right decision."
"Th-the right decision?!" he exclaimed incredulously.
"Yes. I mean, it's certainly not Alya's fault that her boyfriend- oh silly me, ex -boyfriend's mind has been poisoned by a wolf in sheep's clothing like Marinette."
Instinctively, Nino pushed forward, swiftly releasing himself from his prison, making Lila stumble back a bit.
"No! You're the wolf here, Lila! And I've never been a friend to you either, have I? To you, I'm nothing more than a ticket to popularity!"
"You'd better shut your mouth," Lila growled, "or things will get drastically worse for you."
"And what do you mean by that?" Nino challenged.
Lila smiled brightly, pulling out her phone, "I supposed that since you're officially over with Alya, you wouldn't mind if I… oh, I don't know… showed her these ?"
Nino's blood ran cold as he stared at the picture she was showing him. It must have been taken yesterday when he and Marinette were just finishing up their conversation. They were locked in a very tight embrace.
"...Now, what was it you said earlier today?" Lila simpered, "That sweet, little Mari had nothing to do with your little break-up?"
"...you spied on us," Nino bitterly bit out.
Lila hummed, "Wouldn't call it 'spying,' per se. I got lucky, I suppose; maybe Ladybug's power is rubbing off on me."
"Like Ladybug would want anything to do with you - she hates liars, remember?" Nino shot back.
Lila sniffed, pocketing her phone, "Well, either way, as your betrayal is new, I'm giving you a full week to make your decision. Make the right one, and I'll delete these. I'll even do it in front of you if you're as interested in proof as Marinette is. If not… well, I'm sure the school newspaper would love a scoop of two cheaters snogging each other behind the backs of their loved ones."
She started walking out, but as she opened the door to leave, she turned to Nino one last time.
"Do the world a favor and be smart for once!" she advised cheerfully, practically skipping out of the locker room.
Fuck .
o~o
"SHE WHAT NOW?" Ryuji bellowed from his side of the screen. Nino had immediately gone to Marinette, who had been initially bewildered to see him in such a state of distress but was now looking quite angry at the story Nino had just told her and the Phantom Thieves.
"That's a low move," Ann scowled.
Luka looked a little guilty too. He didn't notice that Lila had been eavesdropping from the rooftops. If he had spotted her-
"Then she likely would have known something was up even more, Lu," Marinette told him. The guitarist blinked, realizing he had said that last part of his thoughts out loud.
"A week, huh?" Akira thought out loud, "It's a small deadline, but we're well into the Palace by now. It shouldn't be too hard if we work at it."
"Wait, a deadline?" Ryuji asked, "But… Futaba, can't you just hack Lila's phone and delete those pictures remotely?"
"I could, but who's to say that she'll simply tell Alya and the others anyway?" Futaba countered, "Even without photographic evidence, the chances of them still believing her are pretty high, from what I gathered."
"I agree," Marinette nodded, "I already tried disproving her by pointing the lack of evidence out, but who's to stop her from simply photo-shopping new pictures? She has stooped to planting evidence before."
Nino cringed, obviously thinking of the day Marinette was expelled.
"Also… and I'm not doubting you, Nino," Makoto said, "but who's to say that she'll keep her word about the deadline? She may leak it early or just show it to a select few people before making it officially 'public.'"
"So we may as well have less then a week, then," Yusuke frowned.
"I'm sorry," Nino said, head bowed, "I should have talked to Alya more privately. Then maybe Lila wouldn't have cornered me so soon."
"No, Nino, the fact that she had the pictures meant she would have confronted you whether you talked to Alya or not," Marinette said.
"Honestly, I'm just glad that she only took pictures of the two of you hugging," Akira spoke up, "if she had come by even ten minutes earlier…"
Marinette gasped in horror, exchanging a glance with Luka, "She could have found out I was Ladybug! Argh! We were careless!"
"Do you think she really would have revealed your identity?" Nino asked though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.
"I wouldn't be surprised if she reached for the next akuma she could find and told Hawkmoth immediately!" Marinette exclaimed, "That's how much she hates Ladybug. She'd rather see Paris burn to the ground than watch me not suffer…"
"Well, if there was any doubt in my mind about helping you guys," Nino quietly piped up from where he'd been sitting, "it's gone now. Let me help in whatever way I can, please!"
"...Alright," Akira shrugged, "we'll let you help."
"But!" Ryuji exclaimed, pointing a finger at the screen, "Just know, kid, we're still keeping an eye on you."
"Right. If we hear from Chance, Viper, or anyone else that you're up to shit," Morgana warned, his cat eyes narrowing in a way that Nino would have found adorable in a better situation, "let's just say that a couple of candid pictures getting leaked will be the least of your worries. Are we clear?"
"Yeah, yeah, we're clear," Nino nodded rapidly, feeling a couple of beads of sweat drip down his face, "we're so clear!"
"Good…" Akira smiled deviously, "Can't wait to work with you… uh…"
"Oh! We do need a codename for you, don't we?" Ann's eyes widened.
"Huh? What, like a superhero name?" Nino asked.
"Sure, but exclusively for the Metaverse," Marinette smiled, "Remember when I said to call me and Luka Chance and Viper? It's sort of like that."
"Try to keep it simple," Luka added, "easy to remember too."
"How about 'Shield'?" Ryuji suggested, "I mean, his Persona had a huge one."
"Said Persona also had a huge spear ," Makoto pointed out.
"...'Headphones'?" Futaba threw out, "He had some with his mask didn't he?"
"I thought the goal was to keep the name simple," Yusuke reminded them.
"...Hey, Marinette mentioned that you DJ in your spare time? That true?" Ann asked.
"Uh… I've only been hired to do a few events, but I do make my own music for my movies, yeah," Nino said with a shrug.
"How about that then?" Ann asked, "'DJ' sound good?"
"Or how about 'Beat'?" Luka asked, "Like a music beat?"
Nino thought about it for a second before grinning, "Has a good… beat to it."
Ryuji & Yusuke almost fell out of their chairs laughing, most of the other Phantom Thieves joining in.
"Maybe working with you won't be too bad after all, kid," Ryuji wheezed, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
"Just try not to make punning your thing, 'kay?" Futaba warned semi-seriously.
"I'll do my best," the DJ promised.
"Well, welcome to the team, Beat," Morgana said.
"Speaking of beating things, Marinette, you should head out now to avoid rush hour traffic," Luka said, noticing the clock.
Marinette perked up, looking at the time. She shot up with a shriek, "Crap! I'm gonna be late!" She scrambled to grab her sketch and purse, flipped open her trapdoor, and practically slid down the ladder. "Talk to you all tomorrow!"
"Bye Marinette!" Ann called from the screen and waved.
Nino chuckled, "That's Marinette for you. But I wouldn't want to change a bit about her."
"You better not!" Ryuji warned, though there wasn't any heat to his accusation.
Nino smiled. Sure, he still had a ways to go to reach forgiveness, but he had a feeling the trek would be worth it.
Days until pictures are leaked: 7
o~o
AN: Yep... Lila went there. But then again, is that really a huge surprise? So, the Phantom Thieves are now on a time limit of one week (maybe even less) to steal Lila's heart, before she leaks those pictures all over the school and possibly beyond. Yikes.
R&R and see you next time!