Ed notes: This is just a short little scene that came to me. Alya's actions in the New York special have an impact on more than just Marinette and Adrien.
Turn About is Fair Play
A Miraculous Ladybug fic
By Mintaka14
It was really hard to relax and enjoy a party, Alya decided, when she felt like she was under constant ice-cold surveillance. Kagami had been painstakingly polite every time they had had occasion to speak, but Alya could still feel Kagami's eyes on the back of her neck when she'd moved away to chat with someone else, and every time she'd glanced at the Ice Queen she'd found that measuring gaze on her.
Alya was never one to shy away from a confrontation, and she wasn't one to be intimidated no matter how wealthy or powerful or stuck-up they were. And she wasn't going to stand for that kind of treatment from someone who was only there because her mother did business with Adrien's father and Marinette was too soft-hearted for her own good. Alya whirled around, meeting Kagami's cold, disapproving stare with a flat glare of her own.
"What is your problem?"
Kagami pursed her mouth.
"Would you object if I were to arrange a date between your boyfriend and a friend of mine?" she asked coolly, and Alya's jaw dropped.
"What?"
"Your boyfriend. Nino, I believe his name is. Would you appreciate it if I set him up with good friend of mine? If I arranged for them to spend time together? I believe Nino and my friend would be an excellent match."
What the hell? Alya could feel her blood boiling.
"Why would you even ask me something like that?!" Alya almost snarled. "Nino is my boyfriend, and what kind of person would even think about setting up their friend with someone who's already in a relationship?"
Kagami was regarding her with unruffled, cold composure.
"I am asking myself that same question," she said. "Adrien has told me about what happened in New York, although I don't believe he truly grasped the significance of your actions. He remains unaware of social nuance sometimes. I have heard more from Marinette, who confessed and was deeply sorry for her part in what happened. I understand her feelings, and I have forgiven her."
Alya spluttered.
"But I am asking myself, what kind of person would go to such lengths to throw Adrien together with Marinette, knowing that he was committed to another girl? Reading between the lines of Adrien and Marinette's accounts, I have come to the conclusion that you put their lives at risk simply to further your romantic machinations."
"They weren't at risk!" Alya tried to defend herself, but Kagami's expression made it clear what the other girl thought of that. "And we didn't know you and Adrien were dating."
"Adrien's best friend was unaware that Adrien was involved with me? If that were true, then what does that say about how close you and Nino truly are to Adrien? Or to Marinette, for that matter, given that you overruled her wish to move on from her feeling for Adrien." Kagami's lips thinned. "Would it have made any difference to your actions if you had known that Adrien was dating me?"
There was a long, uncomfortable silence while Alya shifted and tried to martial an argument, feeling cut by the accusation that she didn't know her best friend. Of course she knew Marinette! She knew what her bestie needed better than Marinette did herself sometimes. She'd done it all for Marinette, and if that meant that Kagami got a bit hurt, well, she'd get over it. Marinette and Adrien were meant to be together.
Finally, Kagami said coldly, "I thought not."
The Ice Queen turned on her heel, and dismissed Alya from her notice, leaving her to fume in Kagami's wake.
