Alya knew there was something going on and nobody was telling her and she was not fine with that. Her urge to trash Lila after she learned how she got cheated into publishing lies on her blog was smashed by the appearance of that teaching assistant.
She would have told that little liar just where she could go telling all her stories, and she knew that much of the class would have supported her, she was angry, she was mad and she was grounded for a week. It would have been longer, but her parents let he have one day.
Since she had plenty of time and photos and other material to edit online, especially to fix so she persuaded her parents to be allowed to work on her blog an hour a day, and that hour was easily stretched to two with a few tricks that she practised long ago.
In school she felt estranged, Adrien and Marinette were like two fingers, all the time together and constantly preoccupied with something that was apparently a secret from the rest of the world and their best friends. She only caught glimpses of what they were reading.
It was irritating really, she was so invested in getting those two together (and she had fun orchestrating all those different schemes and pushing those two together and removing any obstacle that she saw between them) and now she was annoyed how close they were.
Yeah, she had her fun in the beginning, her parents allowed her to meet her friends when they arrived from China and she even joined in for the interview, but then her parents put their hand down on her punishment and it was straight home from school.
So, there was no trashing Lila, no hanging out with the girls, no going out on dates with Nino and rather limited computer time where she basically did the necessary maintenance of her blog and dropped another small piece that described the China adventure.
Sleepover was out of the question, her parents made that clear, so there was plenty of time to sleep actually, or lay in bed and toss around and think about everything that went on. And to write that town with a pen on paper because her computer time was gone.
Nino told her to be cool about it. It was easy for him to say that. There were no akuma to chase around, but she actually got used to that already, then there were no akuma to report on from China, but there was plenty of stuff to write on Hawk Moth reveal on daily basis.
Alya was restless, she needed action, and writing about the good old days and akuma fights as well as fixing up already published information was only going so far. And the action provided by Ella and Etta was not what Alya had in mind, oh no, quite the contrary.
Nino told her it was okay for Adrien and Marinette to have their little cocoon, they needed that to protect themselves from the world, from everything that happened and from the implications of the situation Adrien found himself in. Her boyfriend was so cool about that.
Of course the model boy was distressed, his father was a villain, and although it illustrated rather vividly how much everything in Adrien's life was wrong, Alya wanted to be a part of it, to know what was going on, to know the details, first hand.
But it looked like the main actors were rather not interested in what was going on, because while Felix and Chloe arguer about the future of Gabriel Agreste, his mansion and his fashion industry, the other two teenagers were busy with problems of their own distant world.
Amelie was there to take over Gabriel's assets and she understood from the banter between Chloe and Felix that Andre and Audrey Bourgeois had their fingers in that too. Alya wanted to know what was going on. Nino told her that Adrien preferred not to be involved.
Well, Nino used rather different vocabulary, those were actually Adrien's words when she confronted him. And he chose his words even less when he explained the absence of interest in the destiny of his father, the boy simply enjoyed his new freedom.
Finally, and most frustratingly of all, she wasn't able to follow Ladybug any more, there were no more akuma fights and the two heroes were seldom seen over the city. And Alya slowly began to understand that her days as Rena Rouge were probably numbered.
Again, Nino told her that was cool, that Hawk Moth was defeated, that Ladybug and Chat Noir deserved a break from everything they've done, that Rena Rouge and Carapace deserved a break, that the only thing he wanted to do was to throw a party.
He also wanted to throw a party for Adrien, in his old room in the Agreste mansion, if possible, although, chances were that was becoming Graham de Vanily mansion any of these days. Well, Felix was their classmate, it wasn't impossible to still have a party there.
She regularly used her computer time (and the time meant to do research for homework, but who checked) to follow any news on Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur as well as on the police investigation that was going on.
She wasn't the only journalist with nothing to report on since the akuma attacks have stopped, and apparently her older colleagues were not grounded by their parents and had plenty of time to invent theories that could have been supported by any evidence, real or imagined.
"I can't imagine that people get paid to write this rubbish." She sighed and bottled her anger so that nobody in her home noticed she was reading news instead of looking for a poem for her homework. Besides, she was not supposed to find anything and have an excuse to go to the boat tomorrow.
Several theories were able to stand up to the test of an inexperienced and slightly naive young journalist who also happened to wield a miraculous, at least temporarily. It was clear that the man wanted to bring back his wife using the ladybug and black cat miraculous, but not exactly how.
And then there were theories on how Emilie, Adrien's mother, actually died, or fell into a coma, because there were theories on her status too, several journalists entertained the idea that the woman simply left to live somewhere in peace.
But those that spooked Alya the most were all those that implied that Emilie used to wield a miraculous too, just like Gabriel. They speculated which one it was, if she wielded peacock, or butterfly miraculous, or perhaps even both of them.
And then there were interviews with former house servants, secretaries and anyone who was able to claim that they ever stepped into the Agreste mansion. Plenty of them had a story to tell about Gabriel and Emilie, because that was what sold the news.
Nino was far more chill about the whole thing, he spent his afternoons and evenings with Adrien, at least a few hours per day, they did homework together, Adrien apparently wanted to learn and do regular house chores (to Nino's dismay and Chris' disappointment).
They were used to the media attention, but Adrien was not haunted by fans like after that perfume add, or any other commercial campaign, or for Valentine's day, this time the fans chose to show some respect, it was the professionals who wanted a story that were after him, but he was a minor.
There was a phenomenon, Gabriel ads in principle involved Adrien, and the billboards were destroyed in a way that anyone spray painted a message over the add part just to praise the boy who defeated the villain. It was fun in a way and Alya was sure that Alix had her fingers in that.
It was fun to watch the fencing tournament, finally allowed to go to something besides classes, and it was fantastic to go to Liberty even if the excuse was to help out with the poetry homework, but she had a precise hour when she had to return home and that sort of hang above her head all day.
"Do you think we will see Ladybug and Chat Noir around Paris any more?" Rose piped in after they were finished with the homework. That made everyone stop and think. "Because Hawk Moth and Mayura are defeated do they … are they going to continue?"
Well that sort of hang above her head all day too, but not just today, for days really, weeks perhaps, maybe ever since Miracle Queen revealed her identity to Hawk Moth, emphasised by the fact that the battles moved to Tibet temporarily and then the villain was gone.
"They did many good deeds and solved problems that were not caused by magic." Mylenne reminded everyone of several occasions when the help of Ladybug and Chat Noir prevented a disaster or saved lives even though the trouble was rather plain.
"Well, they will not need temporary wielders any more, that's for sure." Juleka muttered.
"Don't be so certain." Alya cut in. But her protest arrived on the deaf ears. "I will try to get their interview, if only my parents have not grounded me I would have done that already." She stated proudly. "In fact, that is one of the questions I intend to ask them."
Marinette smirked to that, of course that was one of the questions. She pretended to be focused on her homework that was finished (or as finished as she had the energy to do it), she glanced towards Alix who was also quiet, she was about to reach for her watch when another voice interrupted them.
"Hey girls, come on up, we're finished." Nino peeked inside and called them back onto the deck. Of course the boys were finished long ago, but somehow nobody notified the girls about that, and they chatted about this and that, games or sport or favourite TV shows.
"We were just discussing how we seldom see Ladybug and Chat Noir and they might retire and there is not need for the temporary heroes any more." Mylenne summarized to Ivan as the girls went back to the deck and joined the boys.
Max exchanged a look with Markov and smirked, then he adjusted his glasses and remained quiet, he was not giving out any percentages or chances, he knew the information with certainty and there was no way he was going to give himself up again, not willingly.
"And I plan to do and interview with Ladybug and Chat Noir, at least after my parents decide to allow me to do that." It was a relief for Alya that the heroes did not agree to a single interview, save that impromptu, unplanned and unannounced appearance alongside Adrien and Marinette.
"I was kind of hoping they were going to have a big public reveal, I'd really like to know who those two guys are." Kim noted and rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, I like to celebrate with our civilian heroes over here, you guys are really cool, but … you know."
Everyone nodded so Adrien and Marinette nodded too, but they looked at each other with strange expressions on their faces.
"I'm just glad those two dudes got to rest a bit. Imagine being out for each akuma battle, day and night, along your normal life. That must have been hard." Nino cut in.
"Are you talking about Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Luka asked when he joined with Kagami and Felix. "I think those two are really busy and that is why we did not see much of them in public in the last few weeks."
"Well, they teleported to China for each battle, dude that's time difference and all. My friend over here still goes to sleep early each night, got used to that as a model I guess." Nino grinned. "Can't take the model out from the boy." He teased.
"Can't argue with that one." Adrien laughed with the rest of the teens. But he wasn't the same model boy that left for China. His hair was as styled as he cared, it grown a little it was more messy, especially while he was on a boat on the Seine in light wind.
Marinette's eyes went wide, he behaved and looked more and more as Chat Noir, she had to warn him about that, but later, not now while everyone was watching. The boy strolled over by her side and suddenly they were both the centre of attention, it did not last long.
"I don't know what the fuss is about." Felix shrugged. "Those heroes were fighting he akuma, and it turned out that even my cousin and his girlfriend were able to defeat him. Really, Adrien, why did you let them snoop around the house freely for that investigation?"
"What?" Alya shrieked and launched a full on lecture on the heroes and their accomplishments. Felix listened with a smug expression. He definitely enjoyed pushing peoples buttons, especially when it drove them mad, and this Ladyblogger was an easy victim.
It was time for Alya to go home, the clouds threatened to rain again and the rest of the group dispersed quickly. This time, Felix offered for his driver to take Alya, Marinette, Adrien and Nino while he took a ride with Kagami again.
"So, your place or mine?" Kagami teased. It was related to the last time he took a ride with her to her place and then chose to walk to Le Grand Paris where he was staying and the girl decided to say it as a joke and tease him.
Felix blushed all the way to his ears. That was not what he expected to hear from seemingly cold fencer girl who was quiet and spoke in measured words always careful about appearances, She raised her eyebrows expectantly, she asked a question, she was expecting an answer.
"Um .. I … er?" The boy muttered as he looked at her. And he was supposed to give it to her, but the meaning and implications punched him straight into the gut and sucked all the oxygen from his brain and his lungs. He gasped.
She laughed, that strange and unrestrained laugh. She made him blush. He was acutely aware of the fact that his cheeks were warm and he was probably as red as a tomato. She laughed so hard that at least he did not feel obliged to produce an audible answer any more.
Kagami directed the car to go to Le Grand Paris this time and settled in her seat with an occasional snicker and a chuckle but she looked through the window, not at him. It did not help, it took him a long time to resume his normal pale colour.
"This is inappropriate." Felix began to speak. He chose his first words carefully and watched how was Kagami going to react to that. She did not disappoint, she stopped smiling at the world as she watched through the window and looked at him as serious as usual.
Those words stroke a chord with Kagami, and it was a dissonant chord, one she felt whenever she made a mistake. It did not happen very often. Did she go too far with that joke? She thought it was funny. Perhaps she got too relaxed while on Liberty and it was too much for Felix?
"You shouldn't be giving me a ride and escorting me home." He continued to talk only after he saw concern in her eyes and a wish to apologize for her words, but he did not let her go that far. "As a gentleman, it is my duty to take you home and make sure you got there safely."
Kagami raised an eyebrow in 'are you kidding?' kind of way. She wasn't a damsel in distress that needed to be escorted home safely, besides, it was her car (okay her mother's car but let's not be petty) and her decision. But the boy continued his lecture on chivalry and being a gentleman.
The car stopped in front of Le Grand Paris, but he refused to go out and insisted on making sure, that she, a lady, got home safely first. He knew how referring to her as a lady would have been a compliment if it did not imply a need for protection irritated Kagami.
Well he was only returning the favour, she made him blush, it was his turn to do the same.