A Single Mistake Can Topple All the Dominoes

by Gale-Dragon

What-If Lila accidentally sent that picture of her kissing Adrien to the one person that wasn't supposed to get it?

A Single Mistake Can Topple All the Dominoes.

~}i{~

Gale-Dragon: A little what-if fic about what if Lila sent that picture of her kissing Adrien on the cheek to the classmate that wasn't supposed to get it, and it leads to a series of truths coming to the surface. And the second story to my Lila Rossi's Lies are Exposed fics that don't have an oversaturation of Salt for the Miracuclass.

Enjoy~

~}i{~

Nino was just enjoying his walk home after school when he heard his cellphone ding a notification. He pulled his cell out of his pocket to see who it was from. He smiled when he read that it was from his boi, Adrien. 'Hope his hard-ass father isn't giving him too much trouble with him helping a classmate,' Nino thought as he opened the text. The smile quickly faded and was replaced with a look of pure confusion as he looked at the pic that Adrien sent him as he stopped walking.

"Huh?" Nino got out as he looked over the text that was sent alongside the pic. Looked like it was one of those texts that were sent to multiple people at the same time. The subject of the picture, which was obviously taken with the phone's camera, was Lila kissing Adrien on the cheek with the text that reads "Spending some quality time with this amazing girl! Lila's such a sweet, kind, talented, and caring person 3 She'll certainly make a great girlfriend 333"

Nino read the text three times before it finally registered when the questions barraged his mind, 'Quality time? Wasn't Adrien supposed to be helping Lila catch up on her homework? ... Make a great girlfriend? But Lila told me this morning that she doesn't have those kinds of feelings for Adrien, and I know he doesn't feel anything for her... And heart emojis? Adrien just learned how to make smiley and frowny emojis, he wouldn't know how to make heart emojis... What's going on here?' Nino quickly scrolled up to the picture and tapped on it to fill the screen with the image. He took a good look at the picture.

Yup, Lila was clearly kissing Adrien on the cheek, but... Something didn't feel right about that pic... Nino scratched his head as he looked closely at the photo. He knew that in some cultures kissing friends on the cheek as a greeting and a farewell are completely normal and non-romantic, but... 'No one takes a picture of themselves doing that unless it IS romantic... Wait? Why is Lila in the centre of this if Adrien supposedly took this?' Nino thought as he zoomed in on Adrien's arms. Seeing that they were not in the right position to take the pic, Nino quickly scrolled over to Lila's arms. Her left arm was at the right angle to take the pic.

Nino's brow furrowed in suspicion at this. 'Lila took this? With Adrien's phone?! Did she even have permission to do either of those things?' His face contorted in disgust. That was some serious breach of Adrien's privacy and person if she didn't have his permission! 'Why the hell would she do this? Wait a second...' Nino's eyes squinted as he looked at the background of the pic. He blew the image up a little more to see what was in the background. Nino could tell that they weren't in the library of the school. 'But if they aren't there, then where are they?' Nino thought before he saw something in the corner of the screen that was cut off because it was out of the camera's range. He carefully blew up that section to hopefully get a better look without blurring it. When he was able to see it, he could swear that his heart stopped.

'That's Adrien's room!' Nino thought in shock. He recognized the computer in the background that had a home screen of the blonde's mother because he's seen them before when Adrien video-chatted with him when he was stuck at home. 'What the heck?! They're supposed to be studying in the school's library?! How the heck did they get into-!' Nino thought in shock. He caught himself getting riled up and quickly took a few calming deep breaths, trying to concentrate on his breathing.

Nino then calmly thought over the facts that he currently had.

Lila told him directly that she didn't have a crush on Adrien, but this photo proved that she was obviously interested in him.

Nino frowned when he realized that he had been tricked! She USED him to get some one-on-one time with his boi! He never would've let her near her if he'd thought she'd do something like this! 'Adrien never forgot that she asked him to help her! She never told him! She wanted him to be with her, alone! Wait... If she lied to me about that to my face then... Shit! No wonder Mari disliked her! Mari hates liars! Especially liars that hurt her friends! But... Why would Lila send me this after telling me that she's not interested in Adrien romantically?' Nino thought as he returned the photo back to its original size to get a good look at the main subject, now he could see how uncomfortable Adrien was. That was when he remembered that it was a mass text. 'Who else did she send this to?' Nino thought before he quickly tapped out of the photo to check the receivers of this text. His stomach nearly dropped when he saw the other names of the individuals who received this.

"Shit! I need to find Mari!" Nino cursed before he raced off in the opposite direction as he quickly dialled Marinette's number.

The next thing Nino knew there was an Akuma alert. The Akuma this time was called Oni-Chan.

~}i{ An Hour Later }i{~

After the All Clear was announced. Nino managed to gather all the guys from his class, Marc, Markov, and Alix into Ms Mendeleiev's classroom to talk about what he's discovered. Since classes were over, they were allowed to use it so long as they didn't make a mess, touch the teacher's desk, or mess with any of the chemicals that were locked away. Nino invited Marinette, so she can tell them her side of the story but she said that she wanted to meet up with Kagami to make sure she was alright after the Akumazation. Nino couldn't blame her and told her to try to come by with Kagami when she was done. Nino did not contact the other girls from his class because he did not want that drama to ensue unless he knew that the current group can get them to listen with facts.

"So, what's the sitch?" Alix asked as she sat in one of the seats.

Nino folded his arms with his cellphone in hand when said, "Something strange happened today that I think you all should know about." He took a deep breath before he sent the group a screenshot of the mass text with the photo. All their phones dinged simultaneously. Nino then said in a serious tone, "Before you look at what I sent, listen to me first." They all did when he said, "This morning, I ran into Lila on the way to school. She told me that she was behind in her homework."

That was when Ivan said, "Makes sense since she missed the last school term because of her trip to the Kingdom of Achu and her helping her mum with her diplomatic work."

Nino nodded with that serious look on his face when he said, "Yeah, you'd think, except that she told me that she was behind Before the trip and that she asked Adrien to help her Before she had to go on that trip."

"Aw, that's nice of him," Kim said with a small smile, but when he saw that Nino still had that serious look on his face, the smile quickly faded.

That was when Nino said, "She also told me this morning that she was "worried" that Adrien "forgot" that he "promised" to help her and was "worried" that he would think that she "liked him in that way" and asked me to put in a good word in for her and ask him if he'll help her "catch up" on her homework. I made the mistake in vouching for her."

Markov noticed the air quotes and the fact that Nino's tone didn't change, and asked, "Nino, your use of air quotes and you saying that it was a mistake indicates that you no longer believe that that was the case... Can you elaborate?"

Nino frowned, which worried the group when he said, "Yeah, to put it simply."

Nath bushed his bangs out of his face when he asked, "What changed?" That was when Marc added, "Yeah, and judging by your words, you thought that she was telling you the truth but something came up and now you no longer believe that is the case."

That was when Nino told the group to look at what he sent, so they all did. Markov looked over Max's shoulder to see. The moment they all saw the screenshot, everyone's face contorted in confusion. Alix was the first one to say, "Uhh, Nino, what the heck is this?"

Nino kept that serious look on his face when he asked, "What does it look like to you?"

Kim was the one to answer with, "Looks like Lila kissing Adrien and he sent a text saying how great she is and is thinking about making her his girlfriend, but..." He looks up at Nino when asked, "Didn't you just say that she told you that she didn't like Adrien in that way? And we know that Adrien isn't the type of person to move that quickly into a relationship, especially with that father of his... Plus Adrien looks a little uncomfortable in this..."

Nino nods when he said, "Which is one of the reasons why I vouched for her. But this photo clearly shows that she's defiantly interested in Adrien. And the photo shows that Adrien wasn't the one who took it, his arms aren't in the right angle to do so but Lila's left arm is. And she told me that they were going to be working in the library but that computer in the background is the one from Adrien's room."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ivan said as he waved his free hand before adding, "But according to the sender information, the photo and text are from Adrien's phone! In his room?! Even if they did couple up THAT quickly, there is absolutely NO WAY Mr Agreste would ever let them into his house, let alone his son's room, without either Nathalie standing by, an appointment with his approval, or a thorough background check!" The bulky teen then added in shock, "And you saying that Lila took this pic, typed the text, and sent it to you. After she told you that she wasn't interested in him?! That's just... Weird."

That was when Nino said in an even more serious tone, "She didn't just send it to me." He then sent the group another screenshot, this time it was the list of names that the picture and text were sent to. Everyone looked at the new screenshot.

After Kim looked through the list of names, he almost shouted, "She sent that picture and text to almost all the girls in our class!"

That was when Max pushed his glasses up when he added, "Not just our class, save for Nino, Lila sent the picture and text to all the girls that Adrien has the contact numbers of. This is probably why Alix didn't get this, he doesn't have her number. Wow, she even sent it to Ms Nathalie... I don't think she'll be amused by this." Max looked over the list of names again when he said, "Kagami? Wait! Wasn't she Akumatized earlier?"

Alix put the facts together when she said, "If Lila used Adrien's phone to send that picture with that text to all the female contacts on his phone... Wait a minute! Oh shit! Guys think about it! How would you react if you were suddenly sent a picture from someone you have a crush on being kissed by someone that you have little to no clue about with a text that seems to imply that your crush might want this person as a boyfriend/girlfriend?"

"Exactly!" Nino said with a frown. He then said, "I don't think it was a coincidence that Kagami was Akumatize a couple of minutes after I, and I assume, she got that picture and text. She must've felt angry, hurt, and betrayed when she saw those. *He glances off to the side* I know that's how I felt when I realized Lila used me to get to Adrien..."

That was when Nath realized something and quickly looked at the picture again. "Hey guys," the artist said, calling attention to himself. He then said, "Does the picture look... Weird to you? Not just the whole kissing thing..."

Everyone looked at the picture yet again.

That was when Marc realized, "Yeah it does, and I think I know why. Only Lila is looking at the camera. Adrien doesn't look like he was aware that she was taking a picture, though Kim's right about him looking a little uncomfortable."

Which was true, Adrien's eyes weren't even pointing at the phone's camera. And now that they were looking at Adrien's face in the picture... "Adrien also looks... Surprised and annoyed that he's being kissed..." Ivan noted before he said, "Whenever I spring a surprise kiss Mylène's on the cheek, she usually reacts with shock and then happiness."

That was when Kim said, "Makes sense since she's your girlfriend."

Max glanced up at Kim when he asked, "True, but how would Mylène react if Ivan wasn't her boyfriend or it was some stranger or even someone she barely knows?" The taller teen thought about that for a bit before realizing what was being implied.

Alix grimaced when she said, "Yeah, I'm with Max on this. I know I'd punch whoever kissed, or try to kiss, me without my permission, but clueless Adrien? The guy's only education about romance is from Disney movies and he's a model for his so-called father's company, so I doubt he understands a bad touch if it happened to him." She then realized what she said and shuttered when she added, "Yeah, we totally need to explain to him about setting up his boundaries and that he needs to enforce them. Because what Lila is doing in that picture is considered sexual harassment, especially if Adrien DID NOT approve of the kiss."

That was when Max said, "Guys, I've been thinking..." Everyone looked at the techie as he pushed his glasses up. He then said, "Lila lied to Nino about her "interest" in Adrien so he would go out of his way to get him to spend time with her." Nino grimaced at that. Max continued by saying, "But instead of "catching up on homework" she somehow gets Adrien to take her to his house, where I assume that Ms Nathalie wouldn't allow anyone in that doesn't have Mr Agreste's permission and I highly doubt that she'd leave him alone with some random girl."

That was a good point... So how did she end up with Adrien in his room, with just him?

Max continued on by saying, "Then she must have snatched his phone when he wasn't looking, springs a kiss on him without his blessing, writes a text that implies that "Adrien" is thinking about making her his girlfriend, and then sends it to every girl in his contact list... That does not sound like someone who is *looks at the text in the screenshot* "a sweet, kind, talented, and caring person" that she has been presenting to us. That sounds more like a person who is manipulative, cruel, and willing to hurt others to get what she wants... *Realization* Which is why Marinette hates her!" He then said, "She must have realized Lila was lying and must have somehow witnessed her doing something similar or worse than the picture and text! All the times Marinette claimed that Lila was lying, the ones where Lila tried to convince us that he was "jealous" of her! She was trying to manipulate us so we wouldn't find out the truth!"

That was when Kim said, "Jealousy my ass! Mari would never outright hate someone if they seem to have "an amazing life"! *Realization* Oh Shit! Lila has been telling us that Mari was "jealous" of her because "Jagged Stone wrote a song about her for saving his cat"! Mari know him well enough to design for him personally!"

Marc raised a brow when he said, "Jagged Stone has had his pet alligator, Fang, for 18 years, so he wouldn't get a cat."

Alix then said, "That's how Mari knew Lila was lying! She knows Jagged Stone personally and knows about Fang and that he's never had a cat! Gah! I feel stupid for actually believing that Marinette was "jealous" over a non-existent song and heroics!"

Nath then realized something before he called attention to himself again. When he had their attention when he said, "Guys if Lila lied about these things... How much of what she's told us since she's been here were also lies? Because the ones we're talking about right now aren't exactly little white lies. There's also the fact that she's been making a LOT of promises to us about giving us a good word to people in the industries of our interest, so that's making me wonder how much of those are false just to make us do things for her."

The group looked at each other at this. Nath was right, these aren't small lies and she HAS been making A LOT of life-changing promises. And if Lila lied about all these things then...

"To the library for a little research before we call in our female classmates?" Markov asked.

"Oh yeah," Alix said as she and the others stood up. The pinkette then said, "Shall we divide the research up so none of us gets overwhelmed?"

Everyone agreed before Nino said, "I'm going to talk with Adrien because I don't think he's even aware of what Lila did with his phone."

With that, they all trooped out of the classroom as they discussed who was doing which story Lila told them. Ivan volunteered to look into the charity stuff that Lila claimed that she did. Nath suggested that he'd look into the medical issues that Lila claimed to have since his parents are doctors but he did say that some of these medical issues can vary from person to person and severity. Marc and Alix offered to look into the "events" Lila claimed to participate in. Kim called dibs on checking the sports heroes that Lila claimed to know. Nino said that he'll look into the celebs that Lila claimed to know after he talked with Adrien. Max and Markov said that they'll talk to M. Damocles about Lila's "disabilities and absences", they said that they'll tell him that they were just concerned over her well being, and maybe hint about looking through Lila's school record for any problems that they might be able to take care of.

~}i{ A Good Hour and a Half Later }i{~

They found zero proof that Lila was as well-connected as she claimed... No mention in any celebs' or influential person's social media accounts or in any single interview. No one in the movie, music, sports, business, or even fashion industries has ever mentioned Lila. Not by name nor by hinting.

Ivan could not find even one charity that could verify that Lila did work with them and when he looked it up, he realized that Prince Ali only did children's charities, he hasn't done any Go-Green campaigns.

Well, there's the Ladyblog that popped up in all their searches but... That was it, and to be honest, those were coming from Lila herself so that wasn't considered solid proof. Which was rather odd for someone "so well-connected", even if she claims that "she asked them to not make a big deal of their connection to her or mention that they know her". These people are human and at least one of these "many connections" would have let it slip that they knew Lila, but since none of them did it was safe to assume that all the connections were lies. And by this point, everyone completely doubted that Lila is Ladybug's bestie (to which Nino grumbled that Alya is going to be furious when she finds out).

Nino did call Adrien and asked him about the photo of Lila kissing him. The DJ wasn't surprised when the model's response was, "What are you talking about? Wait! How did you know that Lila kissed me?" When Nino told Adrien about the mass text he got and that it was from him, Adrien quickly checked his texts while still on the call. Nino pulled his phone away from his ear when Adrien shouted, "WHAT THE HECK!? I DIDN'T!? I'D NEVER!? OH, GOD! NO WONDER KAGAMI GOT AKUMATIZED AND WENT AFTER HER!"

Nino carefully placed the phone back to his ear when he asked, "I guess that means that Lila DID snatch your phone, took that picture of her forcing a kiss on you, and sent it to every girl in your contact list and me for some weird reason without you knowing. Dude, if I had known what she was really like, I would have never asked you to "help" her. I certainly wouldn't have let some lying brat within an arm's length from you."

Adrien was quiet for a bit before he finally said, "Nino... I... I knew she was a liar. Ladybug called her out in front of me for lying about being her best friend the first day she was here." Okay, that was more information for the list of lies they gathered so far and confirmed that Lila wasn't Ladybug's Bestie. Before Nino could ask why Adrien didn't tell them about Lila back then, the model said, "I didn't say anything because I thought she was just lying for attention and figured that she'll stop when she realizes that we're good people. Plus, she wasn't hurting anyone. But... She got Nathalie and Gorilla in trouble! She lied to their faces so they'd let her into our house without telling father! He was angry with them when he found out! And that text! She went through my phone and sent that! That! LIE! To my friends! My co-workers! Nathalie! I don't understand if Lila thought she was being cute or something, but I don't! I'm going to send a text explaining that I didn't take that picture nor did I write that text and I'm going to be very clear that after this, I am NOT letting Lila near me... Um, actually, can you help me with that last part? She doesn't seem to listen to me when I tell her to stop clinging to me."

Nino was quiet for a bit, a little more concerned about that last comment, before he said, "Yeah dude, I'll help keep Lila away from you, I'll ask the other guys to help too if that's cool with you. And I kinda understand your thinking about lies 'cause of your upbringing, but lies can hurt. Some might not happen right away, but it will eventually cause some kind of damage." Nino took a deep breath before saying, "Adrien, think about it for a bit. Alya posted Lila's lies on the Ladyblog, her professional blog, and what do think will happen when Alya uses that as a reference when she tries to get a reporting job? They wouldn't give her a chance because she didn't "check her sources" and was willing to post lies for views. Those lies are going to hurt Alya's chances to get her dream job." Now Adrien understood how bad lies can get. Nino told him that when he comes to school, he should talk to Miss Bustier and tell her directly that Lila makes him extremely uncomfortable (Nino mentioned that if Adrien has to tell Miss Bustier about what Lila did to him to get her to understand why he didn't want to be near her, then do it) and she will move him away from Lila. A few minutes after this talk, Nino got the mass text from Adrien explaining that it wasn't him who sent the pic or wrote the prior text and that he was NOT AMUSED by the whole thing and claimed that he only knew Lila from school (barely, since she missed most of the year) and that he would NEVER think about dating ANYONE he doesn't know well enough. Nino was hoping that the other girls from the class will understand what's happening.

Marc and Alix did their research on all the events that Lila claimed to participate in and discovered that some events overlapped, required dedicated training, or did not happen when Lila claimed they did. It was safe to say that Lila lied about being in those...

Kim didn't find any mentions about Lila in sports. All the sports heroes she claimed to have inspired were telling completely different stories in interviews and/or social media.

Nath did some quick searches on all the medical conditions that Lila claimed to have or at least the ones that he could remember. Tinnitus, arthritis, dislocated knees, sprained ankles, pneumonia, gluten sensitivity, nut allergy, sensitivity to the sun, having her menstrual cycle once a week, and whatever else he could remember... Long story short, Nath ended up having to call his parents and asked them two questions; Is it possible for one person to have all these ailments? And if said person would be able to function in school normally? Nath's parents did say that one person with all these ailments is statistically possible but it would be close to 2% or 1%. Though the functioning part was another story. They said that if one person did have all these ailments, they'd either be in the hospital more often than not or confined to their house and they would need a lot of aids to at least function in everyday life. Though Nath's mother commented that if any of his female classmates are having their menstrual cycle more than once every 28 days, then they need to see their doctor right away!

Max and Markov returned to help with their research after 15 minutes, both looking a little shaken. When asked what happened, they just replied that they should send M. Damocles copies of everything they found once they're done. Kim was the one to ask if M. Damocles looked into the "disabilities and absences", to which Max responded with, "He... He didn't get that far into Lila's school file before he sent us out with the message to send him copies of everything you find while he does a little research of his own..." And ended with that.

No one was sure if they wanted to know what happened...

But now was time for the trickiest part of the research... Telling the girls.

~}i{ Another Hour Later }i{~

Mylène was the easiest to convince Lila was lying the whole time (The follow-up text from Adrien definitely helped). Since she is in a loving, healthy relationship with Ivan she noticed that the picture that she got from "Adrien" did not match the mood of the text. And she admitted that she compared that picture to the pictures that she and Ivan took when they were together and it became clear that Adrien didn't seem like he was aware of the "mood". She was all in with helping them find out the truth and making sure Lila stayed away from Marinette.

It took a couple of minutes longer than Mylène, but they convinced Rose and Juleka that Lila was a liar by telling them to look up all the charities that Prince Ali did. Then it took another couple of minutes of calming poor Rose down once they realized the truth. That was when Juleka and Rose took a good look at the picture that "Adrien" sent, now they realized that Adrien didn't seem so thrilled to be "spending time with an amazing girl". Both girls swore that they were going to make it up to Marinette for not believing her before.

Chloe and Sabrina were the group's first call, but... Chloe was still shouting about a leach latching onto her Adri-kins... They're going to wait a little longer before checking on them again.

Marinette brought Kagami to the group and they told them their side of the story 15 minutes ago. Marinette did admit that she could've handled the whole liar thing a little better than just calling her out at every lie, but when she saw how Lila was just leading her friends on and manipulating them, it just... Irritated Marinette. When Nino asked about how they felt about when they got the picture from "Adrien", Kagami admitted that she was angry because someone was intruding on her friend's personal space, but Marinette's response was, "I wasn't surprised Lila would do something like that. I mean, yes I'm mad that she pushed Adrien into that position, but I'm even madder at her for trying to pose as Adrien when she sent that photo of her sexually harassing him and sending it to all his contacts like it was some kind of accomplishment! Even Chloe never stooped that low."

Speaking of Chloe, she finally stopped screaming and told them that she was in on this "research project". Max told her to make sure she sends copies of everything she finds to the principal. Chloe let out a "Yeah fine, Sabrina will do it. Just make sure that little leach stays away from Adrien." Nino commented that he was already on it before Chloe hung up.

With Alya... When Nino called her she talked non-stop about how happy she was for Lila and how worried about how Marinette will react to the news of Adrien being off the market. Alya didn't even let Nino put in a word. So he hung up, whether she realized this or not wasn't a concern right now and texted her to take a good critical look at the picture before calling him back.

The group quickly made copies of their findings before they headed for M. Damocles' office to drop them off. The principal looked like he's been marathoning a study session when the group got there. He asked if there was anything else they found about Lila Rossi that he needed to know, Nino showed him the picture of Lila kissing Adrien on the cheek and explained the story leading up to it, especially the part where Adrien had no clue that this picture was taken and sent to all the girls in his contact list and that little comment Adrien made about Lila not listening to him when he tells her to stop clinging to him. M. Damocles' eyes narrowed dangerously at this before he told Nino to send the picture to his email. With that, the group left the school.

Nino texted Adrien about his talk with the principal. The model texted back that he still wanted to tell Miss Bustier himself, to make sure that she knew that it wasn't any kind of misunderstanding or any situation that Lila could spin to make it more "innocent" than it actually was. Adrien even said that he was planning on coming to school early so he can make sure that Lila doesn't get to Miss Bustier first, to which Nino said that he'll be there with him.

That was when Marinette asked, "Come to think of it. Nino, how did you get that photo?"

Nino responded with, "Lila must've added my name to that mass text by accident. Because I doubt she'd send me something that would contradict the biggest reason why I asked Adrien to "help her with her homework". But I gotta admit she's a good actress if she made me think she was worried about Adrien "Thinking" that she "liked" him." He folded his arms in front of his chest when he added, "I can tell you that from here on out, I'm making sure Adrien has at least one person by his side when Lila's around, even if it's not me."

The other guys and girls agreed on that, especially when Kagami said, "Make sure that your teacher knows that Lila doesn't stop clinging to him when he asks her to, so she doesn't pair them up for school assignments."

That was when Rose brought up, "But... I'm sure Lila's going to pull the "But Chloe does it too and Adrien doesn't mind" card with Miss Bustier when she tells her to stop."

Marinette shakes her head when she said, "I'm sure she will, but the difference between her and Chloe is that Chloe, as much as I hate to admit it, has been friends with Adrien for years and they do already have some established boundaries in place that both of them are comfortable with. Plus Chloe does stop touching and kissing Adrien when he tells her to. This is something I think we should bring up when Lila tries that. And by we, I mean one of you guys because she is going to try to twist my words around to make it seem like I'm "jealous" of her "having" Adrien's attention if I say anything." The others from Miss Bustier's class looked a bit ashamed when they apologized to Marinette for brushing off her concerns as jealousy like they did. The bluenette did accept their apologizes and added, "I get it, we all have accomplished some amazing things on our own and it's not so hard to think Lila could do the same, but she was manipulating you guys and I couldn't just sit by as she took advantage of your good natures. I'll admit I was a little miffed about her spending time with Adrien at first, but..."

"It was the lie about her "saving Jagged Stone's pet cat" that tipped you off to her being a liar, you wanted to know why she was lying, and you found out how bad she is," Kim said as he rubbed the back of his neck when he added, "I don't know how we didn't think that story was weird, since the guy has a pet gator."

Marinette gave her friends a small smile when she said, "Yeah, that's what tipped me off, and it's because Lila's good at manipulating people enough to make it so they don't check the information to see if it's true, so don't feel too bad about it..."

That was when Juleka said, "Alya's going to be pissed when she finds out the truth though." That was something everyone could agree on.

Well, they knew what they would be doing tomorrow. Max glanced to the side as he bit his lips slightly.

~}i{ The Next Morning }i{~

Save for two, all of Miss Bustier's class came in pretty much when the teachers did (even Marinette), much to the confusion of the teachers. They gave Miss Bustier copies of their research and told her that Lila might not have been as honest as she leads them to believe. Adrien then told Miss Bustier that he didn't want to be seated anywhere near Lila, he made sure to say that Lila liked to cling to him even when he told her to stop and let go. Miss Bustier was surprised by this but she understood and told her that she'll move his seat and won't pair him with her for any assignment. Nath offered to switch seats with Adrien, to make it easier on everyone. Nino made sure to tell Miss Bustier that Lila is likely to spin something along the lines of "Adrien promised her" or "Adrien offered to help her with" to get her to think that Adrien is being helpful, that was when Adrien added, "Miss Bustier, I'm telling you now that I have not and never will offer or promise Lila ANYTHING. So if she says I did, then she's lying. Also, please check with me first when she says anything that involves me because she can and will try to convince you that I already gave her permission when I did not, and I do not want to allow her to latch onto me or try to cast Marinette in a bad light."

That last bit caught Miss Bustier's attention rather quickly, and she asked what Adrien was implying. The class quickly explained how Lila was manipulating them to think that Marinette was "jealous" of her when in actually Marinette simply found out that Lila was a liar and was trying to discredit her. Marinette admitted again that she could've handled the situation better, but she could not stand by and let her friends be taken advantage of. Miss Bustier was shocked at this revelation and was upset that one of her students was bullying another one of her students in such a way.

Chloe couldn't help but snip that she's practically an angel compared to Lila. The other students couldn't help but agree with that.

As they went to their assigned seats, they quickly agreed to "play along with Lila" and see if she tries to bring up the photo of her kissing Adrien or try to steer the conversation to one of her many "accomplishments".

Alya came in a minute later. She did seem surprised that Nath was in Adrien's spot and Adrien in Nath's, but she brushed it off and made a beeline towards Nino. She sat next to him and said, "So, I took a second look at that picture you mentioned..."

"And?" Nino asked, hoping that his girlfriend caught onto what he and the others did.

Alya took a deep breath before saying, "I... I notice that one of the subjects didn't... Seem aware of the camera... And it made me question if they really did write that text... Especially with that annoyed look... And then the later text explaining that he didn't send those prior texts..." She seemed to be trying her best not to just say it plainly like she was worried that the wrong person could overhear or that she couldn't believe what she was saying. Alya then asked, "Is that... What you meant?"

Nino nodded when he said, "Yeah, it is... And... Let's just say I got the guys together and kinda talk out how much it didn't make sense for that to happen when we picked that photo apart... It made us wonder how much of the other things that person told us was also not what it seemed. We found out about that one using others like puppets." He figured he should make sure that Lila wouldn't catch onto what they found out, in case she was lurking nearby.

Alya closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she said, "If that's true, then I'm guilty of giving them the stage to play us like fools. I should've double-checked the information before I posted them."

Nino placed a hand on Alya's shoulder when he said, "At least there's still time to clean up your blog." The blogger gave the DJ a small smile and he smiled back. Alya mentioned that it was going to take a while but it was going to be worth it if it meant keeping her integrity and a chance to make things up to Marinette.

Miss Bustier took attendance, and then finally began the class.

}i{

Lila didn't show up that day.

The class was a bit confused by that. They figured that the liar would want to come in and almost brag about hooking up with Paris' Sunshine Child to them as soon as possible. Max visibly fidgeted with his watch during this. Miss Bustier decided to call Lila's mother to ask why she wasn't in class (more because of their school system policy on absence). She stepped out of the class to do this.

"Okay, I understand," Miss Bustier said in her usual cheerful and understanding tone, before saying, "But Mrs Rossi, in the future, please call or email the school if Lila is going to miss any school for any reason. It's more so we know where she is and can make sure to have a plan for her so can be up-to-date on her school-work." Miss Bustier nodded as she continued talking to the parent of one of her students... Or so she thinks.

}{

Lila smirked when she said in a more formal tone that was supposed to mimic her mother, "Again I apologize for not alerting you about this, but I just had to put My precious Angel's well-being first! As busy as I am I try to make sure that she's safe and sound. Yesterday's Akuma attack really scared her and I just wanted to make sure she felt safe enough."

Lila's smirk grew when she heard Miss Bustier respond with, "I completely understand. However, a mental health day is only for a day, so Lila is going to have to be back in school tomorrow."

'Hm, not a problem, all the girls in class should be speculating that Adrien is "dating" me by tomorrow~,' Lila thought happily before saying, "Okay, I'll make sure My Little Angel is in school tomorrow. She should be completely calm by then."

It didn't take long before the conversation ended.

}{

Miss Bustier smiled as she hung up on the call, happy that everything was fine and solved. But then a thought came to her. Remembering what her students told her about Lila, about all the lies she told so far and what she's been doing to two of her best students... That sort of consistent behaviour doesn't just stop as soon as you leave school...

Caline quickly went back to her class and told them to do a self-study lesson for a bit while she talks to the Principle about something before heading off. Max fidgeted with his watch again, and it earned some looks from his classmates.

~}i{~

Isabella Rossi was having a perfectly normal day at the Italian Embassy. Her secretarial job kept her very busy, but it paid very well and it helped raise her daughter in a comfortable life. The mother allowed herself to sigh before thinking, 'I should talk to my boss about all the Akuma attacks that keep shutting down the schools and maybe talk with the French on handling that problem. Mi Bella has missed a lot of school because of them.' She debated transferring Lila to a safer school, but Lila told her that she's made a lot of friends in the brief amount of time she was actually in school and wanted to stay despite all the Akumas.

Isabella was glad Lila made friends easily enough, but the mother was still worried about the tenuousness of those friendships because of all the Akuma attacks plaguing Paris. 'I wish there was something that can be done about all these Akuma attacks,' Isabella sighed as she filed the latest meeting plan for the Italian Ambassador next week.

Suddenly, the intercom beeped in a steady pattern.

Isabella quickly hit the button when she answered with, "Yes?"

"Hey, Bella, I have someone on the phone line looking for a specific person who's supposed to work with us," the person on the other end told the secretary.

Isabella raised a confused brow at this thinking it rather odd that someone would call and not know who they were looking for. She kept her tone professional when she asked, "I would like to help, but do they have a description of this person?"

The person over the intercom spoke very clearly when they said, "They actually have the name of the person they're looking for."

Okay, now Isabella was confused and couldn't hide it when she asked, "If you know who they're looking for, why are you coming me to help you look for them?"

"They asked if "Ambassador Rossi" was willing to take some time out of her busy schedule to talk to them," the person on the other end of the intercom stated in a completely serious tone. Then added, "They said that they're from Dupont. That's the school your daughter attends right?"

Isabella had to ask the sentence be repeated to her as if she missed the whole thing. Wait a second... "Dupont? Aren't they closed today because of an ongoing Akuma attack? And why do they think that I'm an Ambassador?" Isabella asked in confusion.

There was a beat of silence before the person over the intercom finally said, "Bella... I think you need to take this call. I'll let our bosses know that you're going to be on an important call and that you might need to take the rest of the day off, possibly longer, after you're done."

THAT definitely confused Isabella even more. Ambassador Rossi? Dupont was open during an Akuma attack? Calling her? What was going on?

"Um, uh, sure, um, put them through!" Isabella said after finding her voice.

Hopefully, this call would clear some confusion up, right?

~}i{~

The bell for school to change classes rang through the halls.

Ms Mendeleiev passed by Miss Bustier's class and happened to glance into the classroom and saw the students inside looking pretty confused, just the students. The science teacher raised a brow at this before she entered the classroom and asked the teens as calmly as possible, "Where is Miss Bustier?"

The students looked at each other before Nino finally said, "Not sure. She told us to self-study while she talk to M. Damocles a while ago and hasn't returned..."

Ms Mendeleiev folded her arms when she asked sternly, "How long was A While Ago?"

Adrien was the one to say, "Um, maybe 30 minutes or so. She called Mrs Rossi to see why Lila wasn't in school today. After that, she went to talk to M. Damocles. We figured she would be back in a couple of minutes, 15 max."

Ms Mendeleiev raised a brow at this before asking, "And what about this particular absence warranted a call over all the other times she's been absent?"

Ivan was the one to say, "Not sure. Miss Bustier didn't say and we didn't have a chance to ask before she left."

Ms Mendeleiev noticed Max shrinking a bit in his seat before placing a hand to her chin and saying, "That's very unlike her... I'll go see what's up, you children head on to your next class." With that, everyone headed off to their respective destinations. The science teacher trekked right to the principal's office.

Ms Mendeleiev walked right into the office the moment M. Damocles ask, "So, neither you nor Lila has ever left Paris since you moved here for your job? Not even if it was for your job?"

That was when Ms Mendeleiev heard someone on speaker say in a rather frantic tone, "NO! I mean, even if I WAS an Ambassador, the ONLY travel that would be done is between the home and host countries! Not some globetrotting adventure! That's! That's against Embassy Policy and grounds for termination if it's proven!" The science teacher raised a brow at this as she quietly closed the door as she watched the principal and literary teacher kept their focus on the phone when the woman on the other end then added, "Has... Has Lila been telling you that she's been travelling this whole time? When she was telling me that the school was closed? How come no one called me to confirm all this?"

Ms Mendeleiev just stood in the background when Miss Bustier stated, "Mrs Rossi, we HAVE called you and we HAVE received emails from you stating the reason why Lila wasn't in school or to confirm the need for accommodations to help Lila in class. In fact, I had called and spoke to you on your cellphone 30 minutes ago to ask you why Lila wasn't in school today. You said that Lila was a little spooked by yesterday's Akuma and allowed her to stay home to calm down."

There was a tense beat of silence before the voice on the speaker, who Ms Mendeleiev could guess was Mrs Rossi, said in a rather odd tone that was a combination of bewilderment, confusion, and seriousness, "I haven't talked to anyone from Dupont until you called the Embassy. Not once since I enrolled Lila."

THAT was certainly very telling to the educators of Dupont.

That was when Mrs Rossi stated, "Lila told me it was because the staff kept getting Akumatized and that the school kept getting hit!"

That was when Ms Mendeleiev made herself known by stating, "Madame, do you not watch or listen to the news? At all? Ladybug and Chat Noir rarely take more than a few hours to defeat an Akuma and any damage that is done is fixed immediately with the Miraculous."

Mrs Rossi was confused when she said, "Ladybug? Chat Noir? Are you talking about the two reckless teens that are always getting in the way of the police and making the damage from Akuma's rampage even worse?"

Miss Bustier couldn't help but exclaim, "Excuse me?! Did you just call the Heroes of Paris reckless teens?! They put their lives on the line every time an Akuma appears and FIXES all the damage done! While some fights may cause more damage than others, Ladybug's Miraculous Cure always fixes the damage! ALL THE TIME! Who the heck told you that our Heroes are reckless teens?!"

Things were quiet for a good 30 seconds before Mrs Rossi finally said, "Lila... My daughter told me that... But if that's not true and everything Akuma related gets taken care of and fixed so quickly then... Was Dupont ever closed for... Any extended period time?"

That was when M. Damocles said in a serious tone, "Mrs Rossi, how soon are you able to come to Dupont for a proper meeting? Because it seems like we have a lot to discuss."

"Is the next 30 minutes soon enough for you? Because I would really love to know just how much Lila has been hiding from me," Mrs Rossi replied in a stern and serious tone.

One of M. Damocles' eyebrows twitched at this, not looking forward to breaking the mother's heart on what has been found on her daughter.

~}i{~

"Hey Adrien, what are you looking for?" Nino asked his bud when he noticed the blonde looking at his phone.

Not looking up, Adrien replied, "Trying to figure out why Lila added your name to that mass text... The rest of the contacts attached to that were all of my female acquaintances. From Nathalie to co-workers, and the girls in our class..." Adrien finally looked up when he said, "I mean... From what you've told me, her entire, uh, kingdom of lies started to crumble the moment she sent you that picture of her *shutters* kissing me. But the reason you vouched for her was that you thought that she didn't like me in that way, so adding you to the mass text is..."

"Weird?" Nino finished before adding, "Yeah, I know, I talked about it with the others, but we kind of agreed on that she added my number to that mass text by accident because she wanted to send it out to all your female contacts to make them all think that you wanted to "date" her or that you were officially taken."

That was when Adrien said, "But everything to do with that whole *shutters* picture was calculated and certainly purposeful... It just seems... Kinda odd that she would make that kind of mistake, especially after all her other lies didn't raise any red flags with you or our other classmates."

Nino frowned when he stated, "Adrien, my dude, can you not rub in the fact that we were that gullible. Some of us are still kinda kicking ourselves for not noticing. Not to mention you never really done anything about those lies either. Sometimes a lack of action can cause a situation to fester you know,"

Adrien paused for a bit before sheepishly apologizing. The blonde then looked up to see that Max was fidgeting with his watch again. That was when Adrien whispered to Nino, "What's got Max so antsy? He's been fidgeting with his watch every time Lila has been brought up today."

Nino glanced at the techie before saying, "Yeah, he has... Come to think of it... He and Markov were pretty shaken up after meeting with M. Damocles to verify Lila's "Absences and Disabilities" in her files. They came back to our group not even 15 minutes later." He then looked at Adrien when he added, "We asked them if they confirmed the "Absences and Disabilities" with M. Damocles, but they told that he "didn't even get that far in Lila's file before they were sent out and told us to send M. Damoles copies of what we find". When we asked what happened neither of them would say."

Alya leaned closer to the two when she asked, "You don't think that... There was something in Lila's school file that would actually unnerve him and Markov?"

That was when Nino said in a hushed tone, "Maybe... I mean, M. Damoles DID look like he ran a marathon or did a major study session when we gave him copies of our data. Uh, I also gave him a copy of THAT pic and told him the story, since it IS part of the evidence against Lila."

Adrien understood but he couldn't help but feel a little relieved that this slip up happened before things got worse in Lila's kingdom of lies.

Max could feel the anxiety in his gut build as he fidgeted with his watch. He just couldn't help it! When he and Markov talked to M. Damocles about Lila's "Disabilities and Absences", the principal quickly saw that he only had the little note from Miss Bustier about the disabilities and how long she had them, but nothing official was listed IN Lila's file. So M. Damacoles decided to call one of Lila's previous schools to see why this was the case, starting with the last one she was at in Germany. So Markov called the school... And what they found out was... Not what they expected... Nor was it pleasant...

"MAX!"

That snapped Max out of his thoughts. The techie turned to Kim, just in time for the taller teen to ask, "Max, you sure you're alright? You're... Kinda looking a bit pale."

Max forced himself to smile when he said, "Yeah, um, it's just my stomach is just a bit upset. I... I guess I ate something that's not agreeing with me." The anxiety just kept building.

}{ Hawkmoth's Lair }{

The circular window opened, causing the white butterflies to scatter at the sudden flow of light.

Hawkmoth cackled before saying, "Ah~, the feeling of knowing something huge that you can't tell anyone must be so painful that it's crushing." He held out a hand for a white butterfly to land on. Once it did, the villain covered it with his other hand and focused the negative energy on it. The butterfly turned black with a purple highlight. The corrupted butterfly then took off when Hawkmoth said with evil glee, "Fly away my horrible little Akuma and blacken their hearts!" (1)

With that, the Akuma flew out the small opening of the round window made for the butterflies towards its target.

}{ Dupont }{

Isabella Rossi walked right into the school and was greeted by her daughter's homeroom teacher, Miss Bustier. It didn't take long before they were in the principal's office, without any of the students seeing thankfully. Isabella just wanted to know what exactly has been going on at her daughter's school and why the hell Lila would lie about something that could get her mother fired from her busy but very well-paying job if it got to either her co-workers or bosses while bunking off school at the same time!

}{

The Akuma's pace quickened, wanting to get to the target as soon as possible.

}{

The class knew Max was keeping something big from them, but... It seems like he either can't tell anyone about it or couldn't... And whatever it was, was causing him a lot of stress...

}{

"Hello Mrs Rossi," M. Damocales stated when he held out a hand to the Italian secretary. Then added, "I honestly wish we would be meeting under normal circumstances."

}{

The Akuma squeezed its way into the classroom, still on its one-tracked mission towards its target.

"Akuma!" someone shouted as soon as they spotted the black butterfly.

That was when the panic started. Students ran in no direction to get away from the tiny little creature that held a deadly intent. But the Akuma paid no mind to them, all it was after was its target.

The moment the Miracuclass spotted the Akuma, they all tried their best to catch it in something that it couldn't use to possess someone. A glass jar would be preferable, but they had to get creative and just threw objects at it so it would go into the object and not get to someone.

The problem was, the Akuma was very agile and dodged all the objects thrown at it. The next problem to arise was that it closed in on its target...

Max officially started panicking when he saw that the Akuma was heading right towards him! }{

Just as Mrs Rossi got comfortable in the chair to talk to the principal, they heard a commotion outside the office. It didn't take long before both burst out of the office, just in time for the Akuma to corner Max.

}{

"Max!" Kim shouted in terror as the Akuma had Max right where it wanted him!

The little black butterfly dodged Max's thrashing hands before it came in contact with Max's glasses.

That was when Chloe decided to finally act like the hero she was meant to be and lunged towards the smaller teen, just in time for Hawkmoth to possess the unwilling victim with, "Hello again, Gamer."

"No! Just! Just go away!" Max got out as he clenched his head, trying to fight off the terrorist's control.

That was when Hawkmoth cackled when he said, "Aw, what's wrong, Gamer? Don't you want to tell your friends about what you know?" Chloe managed to get a hand to the glasses just in time for Hawkmoth to say, "That you should let everyone know that- Wait! Lila did WHAT?!"

Chloe couldn't help but think that was a little strange. 'Since when does Hawkdick refer to his Akumas by their given names rather than the Akuma names?' the mayor's daughter thought before she was suddenly hit with a wave of pain.

"Show me what you've found out, NOW!" Hawkmoth demanded as he force the memories of the previous day to the surface. For the terrorist to see what he wanted to know, Chloe to witness, and Max to relive.

To the onlookers, it looked like Max was trying to fight off whatever Hawkmoth was doing while Chloe... Looked like she was watching the worst part of a nightmare-inducing horror movie.

That was when Chloe finally managed to yank off the Akuma possessed item off Max and flung them off to the side. Both were breathing heavily in relief when this happened. Adrien quickly stomped on the glasses, forcing the Akuma out of the object, and Marinette used a now empty resealable container that was used for holding lunches to capture the Akuma.

Okay! The Akuma was safely contained! There wasn't any more danger!

"Hey! Are you alright now?" Now everyone was focused on Chloe's voice. They all saw that the mayor's daughter had a hand on Max's shoulder and... Actually showing concern towards her classmate... Which was quite strange to the rest of the school.

Max was still pretty unnerved, he was still shaking. Chloe just kept a hand on Max's shoulder but was unsure about how or what to add to help calm the other down. She looks up at Adrien, hoping that he would know how, but Adrien was just as unsure as her. Marinette (and the rest of the class) saw this silent interaction and wasn't too sure how to interpret it, but her priority was currently on her classmate.

"It's okay, Max, it's okay," Marinette said softly, the trapped Akuma in the lunch container was forgotten on the floor, as the bluette added softly, "The Akuma is captured, all that needs to be done is for Ladybug purifying it."

Max shakily looked at Marinette, his vision blurred because he wasn't wearing his glasses, but he was able to recognize that the new person next to him was Marinette. The next thing the bluette knew was that she was suddenly in a tight hug with Max whimpering out, "You could've been her next victim!" before just crying.

That was... Strange...

The Akuma seemed laser-focused on Max and as far as everyone knew, Hawkmoth was a man...

Marinette gently rubbed Max's back when she said, "It's okay, the Akuma is in a container, it can't get to anyone now."

"He... Wasn't talking about Hawkmoth..." Chloe suddenly said. Marinette looked up at the blonde and saw that Chloe's eyes were focused on the wall, and avoiding her gaze. That... Was definitely odd...

Isabella Rossi quickly made her way towards the crowd, worried about the boy who seemed to be having a breakdown. "Is he alright?" the secretary asked in a bit of a frantic and concerned tone, not sure what was happening.

The entire Miracuclass noticed the similar appearance this woman had to their lying classmate, so logically, they assumed that she was related to Lila in some way. Except for Max, who had limited vision without his glasses, who could only see Lila at that moment.

That was when Marinette felt the hug she was in becoming tighter, more protective as Max snapped out at Mrs Rossi, "Stop pretending you care, Lila!"

"Excuse me?" Isabella Rossi got out in confusion. While her daughter looked similar to her, it was obvious that she wasn't Lila.

Max growled out as he kept a protective grip on the bluette, "We know that you've been lying about everything the whole time! And we're not going to let you do as you please!"

"I'm sorry! What?!" Isabella was just floored with such a response, not to mention the revelation that had been revealed. 'Lila... Has been lying to her classmates since day one?! Why?' the secretary thought in shock.

That was when Max snapped, "Lila, just stop with all the emotional manipulation! It's not going to work on us anymore! You're not going to use us to get to Adrien and you are sure as hell NOT going to use us against Marinette!"

The bluette now had a rather conflicted look on her face when she heard this. Yeah, Lila was probably one of the worst people Marinette had the unfortunate joy of meeting, but it seems like Mrs Rossi was a decent person who was also being manipulated by Lila too.

Isabella was floored by this! As far as she knew, Adrien was Lila's boyfriend and this Marinette person was the school bully. But... From what she was seeing and hearing, that wasn't the case. So, if that isn't the case then... What's been happening at this school that Lila she didn't want her mother to know?

That was when Chloe. Chloe! Of all people, finally said, "Uh, Max, that's not Rossi. That's, I guess, her mother judging by the resemblance."

Okay, that really shook up everyone. Chloe... Used Max's given name rather than his surname... She only called Sabrina and Adrien by their given names, but all the other classmates by their surnames...

Max was currently confused. With the panic of the Akuma, Hawkmoth practically brain diving into his memories, and the overall stress of whatever he was keeping from the class as well as not having his glasses... It was understandable why he was... Not thinking as logically as he usually does and was jumping to conclusions.

"Max, you can let me go now," Marinette said softly and calmly, trying to keep the other from just jumping to another conclusion. Purifying the Akuma can wait for just a little longer, the bluette needed to make sure her classmate was mentally okay. "Lila isn't here. She isn't going to hurt anyone, not anymore," Marinette said calmly as she slowly removed Max's arms off her person while assuring him that everything was okay.

As the Miracuclass went to comfort their friend, Mrs Rossi just stood there in a bit of a dumbstruck manner. M. Damacoles placed a hand to the secretary's shoulder when he said, "That boy was in my office when I the call to your daughter's previous school."

"Back in Germany?" Isabella asked in confusion, before saying, "Lila wasn't involved in what happened. She only knew that girl in the hallways, they weren't even in the same class. But that whole event terrified her." That was when she noticed the serious look on the principal's face, it prompted her to say, "At least, that's what Lila told me..."

"I think we should continue our meeting back in my office," M. Damacoles stated before adding, "Mr Kante originally came into my office to basically confirm that Lila's "absences and disabilities" were verified and ended up having to listen to me talking to the headmaster of Lila's prior school about that... Uh, "event" that happened there." When Mrs Rossi asked why Max was asking about things that were ultimately none of his business. The principal replied, "Apparently, Lila's classmates started questioning her "honesty" when she accidentally sent one of her male classmates a picture of her kissing another male classmate, whom she specifically stated that she had no romantic interest in. One thing lead to another and they did some digging on the tales Lila told them, which in turn, involved one of them coming to me to confirm that Lila was indeed travelling or had a specific disability that prompted her to have the accommodations needed to participate in class. I only had the little notes from Lila's homeroom teacher, nothing officially in her files. So I called the school Lila was at last, and..." The principal then realized that some of the other students were still around, lingering and eavesdropping on the conversation. "I think we should get back to my office for the rest of the conversation," He stated, ushering the secretary towards his office.

Mrs Rossi went without a fuss. She had to know the truth, even if it would be something that will hurt her.

}i{

The rest of the day was... Uneventful compared to a near Akumatization.

Though there was a little bizarre interaction that happened when Ladybug showed up to purify the black butterfly. Chat Noir popped in to talk to the teens, trying to figure out what happened alongside his partner, and just in case another Akuma came by.

Chloe told them what happened. The odd thing was that Chloe didn't exaggerate or try to emphasise how amazing she was during it, she just told them how it happened.

"So Hawkmoth just... Abruptly stopped in his attempt to Akamatize Max to... Basically forced him to remember what happened when he was in the Principal's office yesterday?" Ladybug summarized as she tried to wrap her head around this information.

Chloe shifted uncomfortably when she said, "Yeah, pretty much... *In a more upset tone* Can I just also add that having to watch and listen to that whole thing was absolutely wrong!"

Chat Noir raised a brow when he asked, "You... Saw?"

Chloe explained that when she touched the Possessed Akuma Item, she heard and saw everything Hawkmoth did, including the part where he forced Max to remember what happened yesterday. "It... It... It felt... Super wrong! Wrong that Hawkdick did that shit to Max and wrong that I! That I!" Chloe got out a frustrated tone, before finally saying in a bit of a defeated tone, "That I just watched and didn't act sooner..."

Ladybug placed a gentle hand on Chloe's shoulder when she said, "But you DID act, you were able to help Max break free. You did the right thing." That made Chloe feel a little better.

That was when Chat Noir asked, "But what caused Hawkmoth to change his tune so suddenly?"

That was when Chloe remembered a strange fact before saying, "Come to think of it... Hawkdick was starting his whole "I give you power if you give me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous" speech when he stopped to shout, and I quote, "Wait! Lila did WHAT?!" Then he literally pulls a memory-dive, practically forgetting why he was originally there." She placed a hand to her chin before saying, "I kind of thought it was weird since Hawkdick usually doesn't know or refer to his victims by their names or at least their first names. I mean, he still refers to that Ramier guy as Mr Pigeon and the guy has been Akumatized how many times? I also thought it was weird that he would even care what shit Lie-la pulled." That last bit seemed to make Chloe a bit uncomfortable. Made some sense since she knows what happened.

Ladybug caught on quickly when she said, "So for Hawkmoth to actually use the given name of someone, he would either interact with this person a lot or..."

"He's got some kind of arrangement or a deal going on with this person," Chat Noir said with a growl, not liking where this speculation was going. He then paused when he asked in confusion, "But, why would a terrorist care about what kind of crap some random teen did in the past?"

Ladybug gave Chat Noir a worried look when she commented, "I'm kind of speculating here, but I don't think that this Lila is a "random teen" to Hawkmoth." She then told Chloe, "Keep an eye on things here for us while we investigate this, okay?"

Chloe happily nodded as the heroes started to leave. Alya stopped them to ask some quick questions, mostly to confirm that they didn't know Lila personally. Which they did confirm and Ladybug stated that the reason she didn't go to Alya sooner was the fact that Lila did get Akumatized over being outed and that she forgot about Lila due to her inactivity. Ladybug also stated that she assumed that Alya would've asked her any questions sooner regarding that Ladybug BFF thing but by the time she realized how much Lila was being featured on the Ladyblog with all those lies, the red-clad heroes thought that by that point Alya wouldn't believe Ladybug when she told her that she wasn't friends with Lila.

Alya felt crestfallen about that, but Ladybug assured her that now she knew the truth and can fix her blog.

Soon, the heroes had to leave.

~}i{~

It took a few days, but when Max was calm enough and the principal gave them the okay, he told the rest of the Miracuclass what Lila did at her last school.

Apparently, in that school, a female classmate of Lila had suspicions about Lila's honesty as well and did some thorough research on everything that Lila claimed. Like what happened here, Lila tried to spin that student as "jealous" of her "many accomplishments" and was "dating" a boy that the student "liked". But this student had some good relations with the staff at the school and wasn't taking Lila's threats lying down.

Max fidgeted a bit before saying, "The staff was starting to question the legitimacy of the "notes" that they got from Lila's mother, to which this student brought up how "convenient and inconsistent" they were. You know, how Lila can't participate in something athletic because of a wonky ankle yet doesn't need the particular aid regarding it or how the sprained wrist kept switching."

Okay, the class was starting to see where this was going.

Max then continued, "The other classmates were starting to come around as this student pointed out that Lila wasn't keeping any promises she was making to them." Max fidgeted with his watch when he said, "Which Lila didn't like so she threatened the student, who basically told off Lila. Don't know what was said and the Headmaster wouldn't say what except for the fact that the student came to them first to report the treat." Max bit his lip before saying, "I guess Lila decided that she needed to both get rid of and discredit this student, so..."

The class looked at each other, none were liking what was being implied.

After taking a few calming breaths, Max finally said, "Lila basically forged a "journal" to plant in this student's desk and then..." Max gulped before saying, "Snagged a phone that belonged to one of this student's friends and lured her to the roof of the school..."

"Oh my God!" Sabrina gasped out as she covered her mouth before asking, "Lila didn't!"

Max didn't respond to this, which was answer enough.

That was when Alix waved her hands in the air when she said, "Hang on! Obviously, that plan was found out! I mean, the Headmaster told you! So how the heck is Lila NOT in juvie for that!"

Max glanced to the side when he said, "From what I was told... Lila told the officers on the scene that she wasn't a part of the class and gave them a fake name to distance herself from the investigation and suspect pool... By the time the police found out that she lied to them about her connection to the student, she and her mother were here in Paris, though they didn't know where she was until recently." Max took a deep breath before saying, "Apparently, Lila altered all her emergency contact information as well as the work number for her mother, so the school and later the police couldn't even talk to her at all. The police did talk to the Italian Embassy about the child of one of their employees being involved in an attempted murder but without solid proof, the Embassy wouldn't cooperate."

"Attempted murder?" Juleka vocalized before asking, "I thought she tried to make the student's death a suicide, so wouldn't it be 1st Degree Murder or something along that line?"

Max sifted nervously before saying, "She survived the fall... So Attempted..." The small teen didn't need to add more to that for the other to understand that the teen sustain a lot of damage, both physical and mental. Max then continued, "The German Police have been trying to get the Embassy to let them talk to the Rossis, but as I stated before unless there was solid proof that they can present to the Embassy... Though from what the Headmaster said, there's a lot of circumstantial evidence, the fake journal with all those fake entries that wasn't even close to the student's handwriting, and the outright lies about her status as that student's classmates..."

That was when Nino said, "And that still wasn't enough to convince the Italian Embassy that Lila was some kind of sociopath! I mean, that should've at least prompted them to contact Mrs Rossi about the whole thing."

Max could only shrug when he said, "I don't know what the parameters necessary that the German Police needed for that kind of situation, but the Headmaster advised M. Damacoles that he should try to get in touch with Mrs Rossi ASAP and talk to her about what she actually knows about what's been happening at the schools Lila was attending... I guess she didn't know what really happened during their stay in Germany... Or what has been happening at any of Lila's school..."

Ivan couldn't help but say, "I honestly feel sorry for Mrs Rossi. I mean, it's one thing to learn that her daughter has been lying to her the whole time she was here, but also having to learn about all the crap that Lila has been doing while she was working hard so she and her daughter have a comfortable life..."

Mylene then added, "I don't think anyone will be okay after learning that their own child was doing more than lying to them, especially like that and on that magnitude..."

Chloe huffed when she said, "Urg when I said that I was an angel compared to Lie-la, I didn't think it would be completely literal!" She then started pacing and going off on a bit of a rant when she snapped, "Yeah, I was a bitch! But I never went THAT far to get back at someone! The worst I've ever done was go out of my way to make someone's day absolutely miserable! Maybe even their week! But I would never, EVER do anything that would actually harm them! Especially, especially not THAT far!"

Sabrina did her best to calm Chloe down, which didn't work as well as the orangette hoped. But Rosed stepped in and basically stated, "Chloe as much as a bully as you were, you have standards and lines that you have never crossed. That made you the better person!"

"But!" Chloe started before Rose interrupted by saying, "No but! Yes, there's no denying that you were not our favourite person, but you had at least some sense of what was so not acceptable! You knew how far you could go and knew when it got too far before you stopped!"

That was when Alix stated, "Gunna have to agree. I mean, yeah, you're personally is practically screaming "High Bitch in Charge", but you were at least an honest High Bitch who said what you thought even if we don't agree with it and you actually care for the people who are close to you."

Chloe was floored by this when she got out in a tone that was a mixture of shock/confusion, "Uh, um, thanks? I think?"

Adrien was the one to say, "Yeah, Chlo, you can be a good person, but in your own way."

"Uh, let's not go overbord with the whole "Good Person" thing just yet," Nino stated before adding, "That kinda thing takes time to really do, and keep on doing."

Chloe gave a small smile as she shrugged and said, "Guess, that's fair." She then struck a more heroic pose when she added, "After all, if I'm going to be a true Hero again, I'm going to have to work my way to it."

The rest of the class smiled at that and allowed themselves to laugh. This actually made Chloe smile more.

~}i{~

Over the next month, things slowly returned back to how things were before Lila joined the class. The Miracuclass were informed that Lila was no longer a student of Dupont and that they didn't have to worry about her, which was a relief to them, especially Adrien and Marinette. Though, for some bizare reason, Hawkmoth has been... Inactive the entire time... Also...

"Mr Gorrila, do you want a macaroon?" Marinette asked the big towering man as she walked up to the door to Miss Bustier's class with the box of sweets in hand. Gorilla allowed himself to smile as took one of the confections. The macaroon was cartoonishly small in his massive hands. Marinette walked into the class as if, this was a normal thing. (Which by now it was).

Long story short; two days after Max's near Akumazation, Gabriel "insisted" that The Gorilla stick close to Adrien during the school day. No one was sure what to think, even Adrien, who asked both Gabriel and Gorilla about it. The bodyguard could only shrug and wrote that it was the boss' orders while Gabriel stated that it was to keep Adrien safe at school. It quickly became an everyday thing over the past month.

The class didn't, nor did they want to, keep up with the case in Germany regarding their former classmate. After everything they had happened and what was relieved, no one from Miss Bustier's class wanted anything to do with Lila, even if it was just a mention.

School continued as usual. The usual classes with the usual teachers and the students doing their usual thing.

}{ After School, at a Gabriel Modeling Shoot }{

Nino decided to tag along with Adrien and Chloe for the modeling shoot this time around. There wasn't much happening, just the usual hustle and bustle of the business. The only thing out of the ordinary was...

"Adrien, Chloe, who's your friend?" One of the make-up artists asked when she saw Nino handing the two blondes smoothies.

"My name's Nino Lahiffe," the red capped teen said with a smile before asking, "Your's?"

The make-up artist blinked a few times before allowing herself to giggle. After a few seconds for the make-up artist to calm down and explaining to the confused teens, "I'm Nina Lehitte."

Oh! That explains the response.

Nino chuckled before saying, "Wow, dudette, I didn't think I'd meet anyone with a name similar to mine."

"Same here, kiddo," Ms Lehitte said with a giggle.

That was when everyone heard Adrien gasped out, "AH! That explains why!"

"Uh, what explains why?" Chloe asked in a confused tone.

Adrien quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket before saying, "That's explains why Lila added Nino to that group text!" Before scrolling through his phone.

That was when a nearby model said with a scowl, "You talking about that little brat who snaked your phone and sent that pic of her kissing you to pretty much any person in your phone that was female and tried to make it seem like you were thinking about making her your girlfriend?"

"Wait? This girl what now?" Ms Lehitte asked in confusion, not sure what she had just heard. The other models explained to the make-up artist that mass text that the liar sent every female contact that Adrien had in his phone, and the photo she took with Adrien's phone. Nino and Chloe reluctantly joined the conversation to throw in their thoughts and what happened afterwards.

Adrien interrupt the whole thing by saying, "I was wondering why Lila would add Nino to the group after lying to him about her interest in me, my classmates figured it was an accident that finally undid her kingdom of lies, but I didn't think that was the case." Adrien then showed Nino his contact list when he said, "Check this out."

Nino took the phone and looked at the list. His name was right over Ms Lehitte's name in Adrien's contact list.

Oh... Oh. Oh! Now it made sense! Why Nino was the odd man out in that mass text, literally.

"Wow, Lila must've added my name thinking that she was adding Ms Lehitte's name to that whole thing," Nino said as Chloe read the list over his shoulder.

Chloe couldn't help but say, "Well, your names are similar enough that she didn't notice her mistake, or that she even made a mistake."

That was when Ms Lehitte said, "I guess a single mistake can topple all the dominoes if the right person finds out, huh."

Adrien couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, and I'm glad it did."

~}i{~

End.

~}i{~

1) I know that in English Hawkmoth says, "Fly away my little Akuma and evilize him/her!" However, the rough translation from French actually means "blacken their heart". While I know a lot of people reading this are used to and like the term "evilize", I however actually prefer the "blacken their heart" term better.