Sitting off to the side with her tablet open in front of her, Kagami tried to stay as much out of the conversation as she could, only paying passing attention to the others. They had gathered around the simple dining room table of her aunt's and cousins' apartment in Tokyo – Kagami and Nath and Marc, along with her cousin, Kimiko. The other three were talking intently about artwork and colors and… all the elements of the comic book that Kagami didn't fully understand. She had a passing knowledge of the arts – that had been something her mother insisted that she learn – but Nath and Kimiko had left her behind long ago. She shook her head ruefully. This particular consultation could have taken place online or by phone as easily as in person, of course, but both Nath and Marc had wanted an opportunity to see Japan for themselves, particularly for inspiration since one of their comic books was supposed to take place in Japan and they wanted another to fuse Japanese and Parisian styles. Kagami had been happy to bring along with her on this trip, even if their company was nothing like Luka's. But, then, the last time she had been in Japan, she had fought the Turtle. And the time before that with Luka, her uncle had been murdered. After all the stress and fighting and tragedy, taking a trip and seeing the country in peace would make for a nice change of pace.

Her aunt Miki moved gracefully around the table, placing teacups in front of all four of them alongside small plates of refreshments. Kagami had assured her that it wasn't necessary – Nath and Marc didn't expect to be waited on – but she had insisted. "It does not happen every day that my daughter has such an opportunity!" she had told Kagami eagerly.

"Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita," Marc told Aunt Miki in halting Japanese. ["Thank you very much"]

"You are welcome," Aunt Miki replied in English with a small smile. "Your Japanese is… very good."

Marc grinned sheepishly. "Kagami tried to teach us more on the plane, but that is as much as I remember," he admitted, also in English.

Kagami quirked an eyebrow at Aunt Miki. "He's not quite as quick a study as Luka," she told her in Japanese.

"Ah, but not many are," she agreed, stifling a laugh. Her face fell the slightest bit, but quickly she schooled her features and moved back toward the small kitchenette without looking at the table again.

Kagami's stomach flipped. This trip was her first time seeing her aunt and Kimiko since the week after her uncle's funeral; the only time Aunt Miki had met Luka had been the week of Uncle Eiji's death. Aunt Miki hadn't said so… but could that association have colored her aunt's opinion of Luka. It wasn't something she could ask her, and certainly not when she had been such a gracious host since their arrival on this trip. Yet even still the grief persisted. Kagami could see hints of it in the way that she continued to look at Uncle Eiji's photo, in the tense set of her shoulders, in the lines around her mouth.

But she was dealing with her grief in her own way.

Nath and Marc had already turned their attention back to Kimiko and the two plot outlines on the table between them. Nath had his sketchpad out, one hand moving rapidly as he shaded in a picture of Ladybug and Cat Noir standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, which shifted in the middle to the coloration of the Tokyo Tower.

"So… what do you think?" asked Marc, eyeing Kimiko nervously. "Can you do it?"

Kimiko pursed her lips in concentration, skimming one of the outlines quickly, her brows furrowed. "A reimagining of your Ladybug/Cat Noir origin story comic in manga style?" she asked, nodding. "That shouldn't be too much of a problem. Your originals already have a bit of that style to them, so I won't need to adjust too much – a little bit in the proportions for the characters, a few changes to the backgrounds… What do you think of adjusting the setting a bit so there's more of a Tokyo flair?"

"Use the Tokyo Tower's coloration instead of the Eiffel Tower?" asked Nath, looking off into the distance in contemplation. "I like that idea. Use Disneyland–Tokyo instead of Disneyland–Paris, Tokyo Harbor instead of the Seine…"

"The Imperial Palace instead of Paris City Hall or the Trocadéro," finished Marc. "Do you think that change of setting will help it connect better in Japan, or in Tokyo?"

Kimiko shrugged. "A blending of the two styles would be a fun challenge. I think people would enjoy it. It would certainly fit the change in style from Western to Eastern."

Nath hummed. "There may be a few settings that don't have a good analog," he pointed out. "Could you send us a few samples to see how it looks?"

"I can do that," she agreed, making a couple of notes on the page and nodding. With a frown, she set that page aside and picked up the other one. "That book should not pose any problems. But for this one… Are you sure this is such a good idea? I mean, I know that Ladybug and Cat Noir are real people, but everyone you include in this book is a real person who lives and operates in Tokyo. Including Nihon Hiro Chimu could lead to problems all on its own. But depicting the Yakuza could be dangerous…"

Nath and Marc shared a look, and Nath nodded. "The intent with this book is not to show the Yakuza in a negative light," he reminded her. "By all accounts, against the Turtle, the Yakuza helped the Nihon Hiro Chimu and were instrumental in helping to turn it away and save Joetsu."

Kimiko gave them a troubled look. "That is true…" she allowed. "But this is depicting real events – is it okay?"

Stifling a laugh, Marc leaned forward. "Several of our comic books have depicted real events, albeit altered in some way. This fight against the Turtle really did happen, but we have changed many of the details – some for stylistic or literary reasons and others for… other reasons."

Kagami hid an amused smile – one of those changes had been to her role in the battle. At first, they had wanted to include Ryoku as a more major character – she had become an overnight sensation in Japan last year as the only obviously-Japanese member of the Heroes of Paris. But she had insisted that they keep the focus on Ronin and Nihon Hiro Chimu: this comic book might be Nihon Hiro Chimu's best chance of reassuring the public and getting them onto their side. The outline still included both Ryoku and Hato Gozen, but only as observers who had been in Japan for an entirely different reason and who arrived at Joetsu in time to assist the Nihon Hiro Chimu and Yakuza.

"Still," Kimiko pressed, "I would be concerned about revealing the identities of any of the heroes. How do I know that we will not be endangering anyone?"

Marc's smile faltered, and he looked over at Nath hesitantly, swallowing nervously. "Um, I–"

"I've already gotten approval for both comic books," Kagami interjected smoothly, opening a document and sliding her tablet across the table toward Kimiko. "The Heroes of Paris always sign off on each iteration of the Super Akuma Battle game, and I recently took on the game as a client. I mentioned it to the Heroes of Paris, and they agreed to let us run with this as it is. You have a little creative license with it, but you do still need to be cautious. And the Heroes of Paris will need to see a first draft just to make sure there isn't anything compromising in it."

Skimming through the note on Kagami's tablet, Kimiko's eyes widened but her shoulders slumped in relief. "That's good to hear," she finally answered, smiling. "There are some photos from Joetsu I can use for reference; I'll send you some samples of that at the same time I do the other." She furrowed her brows in thought. "Have you considered writing a sequel to follow the Nihon Hiro Chimu in the fight against the Tarasque itself?"

Kagami shuddered involuntarily, as Nath and Marc both did the same.

Kimiko blinked. "Er… what?"


It was a little after dinner that Kagami checked her watch and slipped away to the bedroom she and Kimiko were sharing for the duration of their stay. Nath and Marc had left after dinner to take a walk around Tokyo; out the window she had seen two shadows jump from their apartment building to the next only a couple minutes later. Glancing around the room carefully, she shut the door, moments before Longg emerged from his hiding place in her suitcase. Kagami flopped down on her blankets, pulled out her phone, and hit the button. The phone had only rung once when Luka's face appeared on the screen, with their bedroom on the Liberty visible in the background.

"Hey, babe," he whispered quietly, smiling broadly. "I've missed seeing you every day."

She smiled back warmly, her stomach settling slightly, and leaned in closer. "Hey." She sighed. "I've missed you, too. Sharing a room with Kimiko is nice, but it's not the same as you."

He hummed. "It's so much quieter around here with you gone."

"Even when you're recording?" she teased, arching an eyebrow. He raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment. "How is everything going, by the way?"

He shrugged. "Nino thinks we'll be able to wrap it up tomorrow, though it could stretch until Friday – or at least that's for the recording part. The editing will take a while longer still, though I think we'll still make the end of July launch date." He frowned. "That's been the easy part…"

"Oh?"

He sighed heavily, clenching his jaw. "Turns out–"

Kagami held up one finger in caution and glanced back at the closed door before she nodded. "We're okay."

He grimaced. "The Lancer was a plant."

Kagami's jaw dropped in shock, her eyes bulged out. "What the hell?"

His mouth twisted around in an expression of distaste. "After Marinette's bachelorette party it all came out–"

Kagami muttered a curse. "I knew I should've been there for it…"

"She's been on the run since then," he continued. "We still don't know how much damage she might have done. But everyone is freaking out about the possibilities."

Her eyes narrowed. "When I get my hands on her–"

"They don't think she did any of it intentionally; they think she was duped."

"That won't matter if she tells them something that gets my family hurt," Kagami growled, giving him a fierce look.

He hummed in acknowledgment.

"Are you okay?"

"We've been taking precautions. So far we're fine."

Kagami shook her head, sighing heavily. "I wish I was there with you."

He chuckled. "I wish you were here, too," he agreed, nodding. "But I have to admit, a part of me is a little glad you're in Japan where you're safe from the madness!"

"Should I come home early?" she asked. "Even just for a few hours?"

He shook his head. "You have work to do there; you can't just disappear on it. Besides, everyone here is on top of the Lancer situation."

She smirked. "You know that's not the only benefit of coming home…"

He smiled back. "I know. And believe me, I would love nothing more than to spend a few hours with you in my arms, playing your song." He sighed heavily and glanced back behind him toward the bedroom door. "But not right now: I need to get a bite to eat before we start recording again. And by the time we're finished, you should be asleep."

She hummed. "Maybe, maybe not. But the offer's still on the table – as long as Max is available to make it happen."