Second part, after a timeskip where Lila has been friends with Marinette in her own unique way. And we get my comments about how the show handled a certain love story, and my solution to Volpina's anomaly.

06/21: Sick

The previous day had been quite a trip, what with Luka getting Akumatized with truth-forcing powers and demanding to know Marinette's secret. That the girls thought was her crush on Adrien. Lila, on the other hand, had some fun by flat-out telling him it wasn't his business, the experience in lying and the anti-truth serum conditioning she had been given due her mother's job combining to have her tell something that was truthful yet nothing Truth, Luka, or the Bowtie Terrorist (that pun never failed to get a laugh out of Marinette) wanted to know. The discovery Jagged Stone had a child from her former guitarist, on the other hand, had caught her by surprise – she had thought he'd be more careful. Then again Lila was a diplomat's daughter, closer in carefulness to that Count of Fersen that had seduced half the noblewomen of Europe and even the Queen of France and managed to die childless, not a rockstar.

Then Marinette entered the class just in time, and after looking at her once Lila knew exactly what she had to do: "Ms. Bustier, Marinette's overworking finally got her sick, I'm bringing her back home for the day."

"I'm well!" Marinette protested.

"Oh, look, Rose Bride."

Marinette turned where Lila had been pointing to, her stress making her forget that Chevalot was still at the hospital and Papillon had not Akumatized her since (though one of Mr Pigeon's appearances had resulted in his birds discharging on her right as she came out of the tribunal), thus proving the Italian's point. She didn't make resistance as the Italian brought her back home and to her room – with most of the Adrien pictures long replaced by ones of her friends, Lila having helped taking them down… And relocating them into Tsurugi Kagami's room as a prank, her ability to speak Japanese with the pattern traditionally attributed to kitsune and a precise description of the prank helping her getting the collaboration of her mother.

"So, should I call your boyfriend and have him take care of you?" Lila teased Marinette after tucking her in. And getting caught by surprise when Marinette flinched.

"We broke up." Marinette explained. "I-I told him I couldn't tell- Nevermind, we broke up."

Lila pinched her nose. If nothing else, that explained how Marinette had been pushed over the edge. As she thought about that, though, she couldn't help but utter: "Seriously, just because you couldn't tell him you're one of Ladybug's interns?"

"Wait, what?"

"Mapporca…You disappear at any Akuma attack, lie, lie, about why, and you're too creative to wear Ladybug's plain suit, the conclusion was obvious: you're one of the temporary heroes and dodged Miracle Queen, at every attack you go to whatever place Ladybug told you to wait so if she needs help she'll lend you a Miraculous. There's nothing wrong with keeping this a secret, just the fact you told him you had it was an incredible sign of trust…"

"You mean it?"

"You weren't cheating on him or planning other betrayals, and those would have been the only secret he was entitled to find out without your approval. It's even in the word, its a secret because it's called a secret, why would anyone try and find out?"

"For the last time, it's you who are weird!" Trixx said as he came out of the weird Ladybug-themed box.

"For the last time, Trixx-" Lila started to reply as she turned, then she registered that TRIXX THE KWAMI WAS IN MARINETTE'S ROOM AND HAD COME OUT OF THE WEIRD LADYBUG-SHAPED BOX. And two other Kwamis, a red one and a green one, were trying to drag him back into hiding. And that was enough for Lila to break through the Quantum Masking – and put her right hand on her face.

"I went full Countess of Montecristo on someone for months and it turns out she was just neurotic when she offended me…" she stated. "What's happening here? And most importantly, why do you have such an unimaginative costume?"

They exchanged explanations. On how Marinette had been bullied into near-depression by Chloè until she was given the Ladybug Miraculous and got the confidence to stand up to her and the other issues – including how the Miracle Queen debacle had resulted in the last Guardian (incompletely trained at that) sacrificing his memories to keep the Miraculous out of Papillon's hands. In turn Lila admitted she had been telling the truth when claiming to Adrien her grandmother had been the holder of the Fox Miraculous and had trained her to succeed her as a heroine – that being how she could get around the limitations when Akumatized, she knew a spell that mimicked Mirage and was using that in place of the real thing – something she had done for a while her uncle found what kind of entertainment she used her illusions for, took away her Miraculous and sent it to the Guardian, and admitted that, in her quest for vengeance, she had been working with Papillon – though with plans to take him down at the end.

"This little trick will take him out on the spot." she concluded, showing the Alsetex 410 she always carried for defense among things for less tough opponents.

"Marinette, I'm going with this idiot to make sure she keeps a conscience until she redevelops one." Trixx said.

"You do that." Marinette said as she took the aspirin Lila had offered her.

"Can I take Alya then?" the Pig Kwami asked.

Before Lila could ask what Marinette had been thinking when she gave the one Miraculous that, once mastered, allows to see through Quantum Masking to someone who wanted to know and expose her secret identity the Ladyblog announced a new Akuma attack.

"Why did you throw her an engine block?" Marinette asked as Lila was tucking her in after dealing with Lies – AKA Tsurugi Kagami (whose personal name was still ridiculous to Lila, as "Kagami" in Italian and Spanish sounds like "shit me", thank you very much) upset at her relationship troubles with Adrien.

"Because whole cars are designed with crumple zones to increase the safety of the occupants that make poor projectiles, while engine blocks are solid and dense and make excellent projectiles." came the reply.

"I mean, why so violent?"

"Because I still hold a grudge for her becoming Onichan over less than what Bourgeois did to the fanclub without getting any of them Akumatized, because today I don't want to keep you out there more than necessary, and because I spotted Alya and this way I'm establishing a narrative that won't get her hurt over being replaced, one that features the heroine Volpina retiring after the mess with the Evrees out of PTSD and returning because there's just no time for Rena Rouge to become as competent as needed."

"And what did you show her?"

"Bourgeois' little movie, the one that decimated Adrien's fan club." the one where she had her minion film her reading at Adrien those desert puns from Asterix and Cleopatra and getting him on his knees from the laughter. "Tsurugi is still convinced that Adrien's facade is the real thing, if she find out early she was wrong there's a chance the inevitable break-up won't be too bad."

"But-"

"Inevitable. Now rest, I want you back in shape."

Unseen and unheard by the two humans, Tikki and Trixx were talking about something the former had noticed about her Chosen – namely a suddenly increased willingness to put up with Lila's (admittedly now more subdued) antics.

"People tend to believe what they want to hear, Tikki." Trixx explained. "And Lila just said what Marinette wanted and needed to hear."

"It can't be that simple, Marinette is too smart, too mature."

"Poyais."

That single word left Tikki looking at Trixx in horror, reminding her how just how gullible people can be in the right situation.

"Hey, don't worry, Lila always had limits on what she's willing to do, especially when she doesn't feel threatened, and I know her buttons. She's no danger to Marinette. If anything, Marinette could become a danger to Lila's virtue."