La Red

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D/C: I own nothing.

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Nino knew going back to school that he needed to keep a calm mind, he does not want to cause a scene. Marinette begged him to not cause one as the last thing they all needed is Lila using it to her own advantage. Against his chagrin, Nino attempted his best to strain himself from acting out. This is for Marinette… This is for Marinette…

Nino ignored the whispers that followed him as he walked through the hall of the school. Many of which revolved around the breakup between him and Alya. He expected this. Everyone in the school knew that he and she were together for some time now and always close to the hip. You couldn't see one without another… right up until Lila walked into the picture.

Ignoring everyone, Nino made his way to his class and his grasp on his backpack's strap tightening with every step. Standing in front of the door that leads into his class, he took in a deep breath to calm him himself down. The last thing he needed is to get Akumatized once more in this state of mind. 'One step at a time…. One step at a time…'

Opening the door, the chatter in the room quickly went silent. Nino wasn't bothered by it, if anything he welcomed it. Walking into the classroom, he ignored the stares that were pointed at him. One could easily cut the tension in the room with a butter knife by how thick it is in there. A soft sob nearly caused him to stop, but Nino knew where it came from. He still could and will not face Alya at this moment in time.

"Nino?"

Nino sucked in a quick breath through his clenched teeth, oh… Adrien is the last person he wanted to talk, let alone see that day… or ever.

"Is everything okay, Nino?"

"Everything is just dandy." Nino managed to say before he headed towards the back of the class and take a seat in the back of the class. In the empty seat that's right next to Marinette's new seat. Plopping himself down in his new seat, Nino kept his face forward and avoiding eye contact with everyone. "Just dandy. Been dealing with something as of late."

"Do you want to talk about?" Adrien attempted to get his friend to talk to him. He had heard the whispers, but he did not want to believe it. Even when Alya had walked into the room looking like she has been crying for days on end. It did not make any sense, why would they break up? They were doing so well. "Maybe there was an misund-"

"No misunderstanding. Just a better understanding of something." Nino managed to say before clearing up his head. He needed to get rid of the dark emotions that are swirling up within him. Luckily for him, Sabrina made her entrance into the classroom and scurried over to her seat. He saw her sending him a look before she turned everyone attention.

"Chloe won't be back until next month!"

This was caused by many to groan out in annoyance but this did cause almost everyone to talk about Chloe's return and not the massive elephant in the room.

Adrien attempted to talk to Nino once more when the door opened once more to reveal a very out of breath Marinette. Marinette for her own part ran up the steps up to her seat in the back of the class without missing a beat. She didn't even notice when Alya sent her a glare that was followed by a sly smirk by Lila, which Nino could see from his new spot in the class. This only made the disgust grow within him.

However, he swallowed it all down when he saw the look of shock on Marinette's face when she finally saw who is now sitting next to her in class. The look of shock turned sour when she saw Adrien giving her a disapproving stare, the same one he would use to guilt her out of trying to out Lila.

"This is your doing!" Alya yelled out, causing everyone in the vicinity to flinch back. She turned around to point an accusing finger at Marinette. "You are the reason; Nino broke up with me! You just want to make everyone around you miserable just like you!"

Audible gasps could be heard all throughout the classroom. Marinette, for her own part, looked just as shock before her entire expression darkened expectably. The bluenette bit down on her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything. She wasn't going to give anyone any more ammunition as it is. Sabrina had told her that the class is split over the breakup and that there were people there that do not blame her for the breakup, even though there are some that wanted to say otherwise due to Lila's lies.

"Oh for… Alya, he broke up with you because you kept blaming all your problems on Marinette!" Alix exploded, causing everyone to look at her. She had stood up so fast that her chair flew back with an audible bang. "You kept complaining and complaining about Marinette. Marinette did this! Marinette did that! Marinette won't babysit my sisters! Marinette doesn't understand! I'm sick of it! Sick of it!"

At the end of her outburst, Alix grabbed her chair and set it back in place with another loud bang before sitting back down. She crossed her arms over her chest and let out a huff before looking away from everyone. There was so much she could stand before losing it, and she lost it.

Sabrina had to look forward from the class and clasps her hands over her mouth to hide her smirk. 'That went better than I thought…'

Sabrina had done her best to manipulate the class to change their views on Alya and on the breakup. It wasn't all that hard, even with Lila trying to manipulate everyone into believing that Marinette is the reason behind the breakup. Even using photos that supposedly show Nino and Marinette on a 'date.' Mylene, fortunately, debunked those photos as just Nino saving Marinette from a motorist that decided to use the sidewalk instead of the road. Yeah… that devious witch.

"Oh… is that what you think about me?" Marinette asked with an eyebrow raised at Alya's direction. At the corner of her eye, she could see Adrien trying to motion for her to stop whatever she had planned. Of course, he wanted her to stop and Lila appears to be enjoying the show. "That I'm miserable? That you complain about me not wanting to babysit your sisters? Mind you, you just dump them on me when you know perfectly well, I am very busy doing commissions. Which I get paid for, unlike this supposed babysitting gig that's forced upon me."

-.-

[I take it you are now seeing your 'friends' in a…. darker light? From what you have told me, Alya already had issues admitting when she is wrong and could easily be blamed for her necessity of getting the news out, no matter how false or stupid it is. Liar-Liar knows how to play her along, it was just a matter of time before Alya get tangled in her lies. This will prove to be her downfall.

Her ex-boyfriend is now on our side? Good. At least there is someone that has some sort of common sense. He's a childhood friend of yours? It's good for you to have someone on your side that knows you more than many. Have him create an account on the blog, perhaps it will do him good to get a wider perspective on what is going to happen in the future.

To take down the Liar, you must take down her close lackies. Sabrina is doing her best to divide and conquer, but Liar-Liar has her grips on the former best friend. This will be her biggest fall from grace if she does not see sense anytime soon. Remember what I said about your classmates if they cannot see reason, let them fall.]

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LetsRest6FeetUnder: Hello?

ImmaBakuBatch: Who the fuck are you?

Camopak: (・_・ヾ

ImmaBakuBatch: SHUT IT!

Camopak: ┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ)

ImmaBakuBatch: Don't you fucking dare…

Camopak: (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Jhn832: Ignore them. Camopak enjoys mocking ImmaBakuBatch with those emoticons.

LetsRest6FeetUnder: I see…. Uh… Bugaboo2 and Little-Miss-Understood told me about this place?

Jhn832: I know. They told us beforehand. Welcome to the world of common sense.

LetsRest6FeetUnder: … Thanks.

ImmaBakuBatch: Dumbass.

"Nino?"

Nino turned off his phone and stuffed it in his front pant's pocket. The last thing he wanted is for the wrong person to see the site. He looked up from his spot in the library which he took refuge in during the lunch hour, to see Adrien who is shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. "What?"

"Could… we talk?" Adrien asked, he placed a hand on one of the chairs that sat across of Nino's own seat.

"Depends on what you want to talk about." Nino answered, he only nodded at the chair for Adrien to take a seat. He might as well hear what Adrien wanted to say to him, even if the mere presence of the blonde made him question everything he ever knew about him.

"What happened between you and Alya?"

Of course…

"We're over. Alya and I are no longer together." Nino answered plainly with a slight shrug. He could see the sudden confusion run through Adrien's face. Oh, this is going to be harder than he originally thought. "What?"

"What happened? Everything was going so well between both of you." Adrien asked, moving his hands in front of him to emphasize his point. "Everyone keeps saying that Mari-"

Nino, for his own part, took off his glass to rub his forehead in annoyance. This caused the blonde to quickly go silent, never seeing this side of him. Nino forgot how horrible Adrien is in reading social cues. After what felt like forever, he put his glasses back on and stared the blonde down. "Marinette isn't the blame for the breakup. If anything, she cleared up some things for me."

The way Adrien paled instantly only confirmed everything for Nino. Even more so by Adrien's next set of words.

"What did she say? Maybe she had misinterpreted some things?"

"I know, Adrien. I know about Lila's lies." Nino deadpanned, causing Adrien to freeze up in his seat. He could see the gears in the blonde's mind going into overdrive, perhaps trying to figure out how to fix the situation. "On Saturday, I found out that Lila threatened Marinette due to our friend wanted to protect her friends from the Liar's lies. Yesterday, I learned the extent how much those lies hurt Marinette, more so when it had everyone turned against her and you know what disgusts me the most? The fact you knew."

"What do you mean, Nino?" Adrien asked, he could feel himself sweating bullets under Nino's hardened gaze. This is not good. Not good at all.

"About how Lila is lying. You knew all about it and just keep sweeping it under the rug." Nino bit back the growl that started to grow from the back of his throat. He looked around the area they were currently in to make sure they were not being spied upon. So far, so good. He had picked this spot specifically for the reason it's easier to see if someone is trying to eavesdrop on them. "Marinette told me how Lila's lies are not hurting anyo-"

"Her lies aren't hurting anyone." Adrien interrupted, far too quickly much to Nino's annoyance. "Her lies are harmless, they are not hurting anyone."

"Not hurting… anyone? I'm hurt!" Nino whispered furiously to ensure to not evoke the wrath of the librarian. "Marinette's hurt. We'll be hurt once Lila gets a massive dosage of karma once her lies come to light."

Adrien shifted uncomfortably in his seat; he took in a deep breath in an attempt to regain his composure. He then the skills, he had acquired during his modeling career to recompose himself fully on the outside. Too bad the insides were anything but calm. "Look, Nino, can we just forget about this conversation… Lila isn't hurting anyone with her lies. No one. She'll see that she could gain friends and become more honest later on."

Nino really failed his Adrien in trying to show him how the actual world works. He could literal feel his brain cells beginning to die off. As much he wanted to create a scene, he knew that he needed to keep his cool to help Marinette. For Marinette. "How could you after everything she'd ever done for you? Even when I still believed Lila's lies, I could tell what was said and done to Marinette clearly hurt her."

Adrien attempted to speak once more, but Nino just pressed on. "Marinette did so much for you, for us, for everyone. This is how we repay her? Stabbing her in the back when something new catches our eyes. Here I thought after everything we've been through; you would at least consider us friends."

Nino started to get up from his spot from the table, he reached over to brag his backpack and swung it over his back. "Lila's lies are hurting people, Adrien but like you said…. She's not hurting anyone. Friends care about what their friends have to say. Marinette is our friend and we all refused to care what she has to say. She's hurt, I'm hurt, and more people will get hurt once Lila's lies are exposed to the world."

"You don't understand Nino, Lila isn't hurting anyone." Adrien pleaded, he stood up quickly in an attempt to follow Nino out of the building.

"Didn't you hear a single thing I just said?" Nino didn't bother to hold back a snarl. "Lila threatened Marinette. She threatened her and you still want to pretend it didn't happen. I've done a lot of crap against Marinette but no more. Oh… that promised you made Marinette promise, that was a dick move. Even for you."

Before either teen could say anything, the entrance of the library exploded open that was quickly followed by screams of terror. Nino blinked several times as he and Adrien had managed to be standing behind a sturdy bookshelf that didn't get blown away. Shifted several books away to see who had busted into the library to see an Akumatized… Alya.

Nino looked over at Adrien to see he had also moved the books away to see what was happening and the blonde's jaw had dropped in what he assumed to be shock.

"Oh right... No one is getting hurt..."

TBC.

R/R.