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Mme Mendeleev was followed to the principal's office by the whole class, although she insisted to take only one student with her to the office of principal Damocles. Ms Bustier was already there.
"I believe this concerns you too, Celine." Mme Mendeleev motioned for her colleague to join. Alya and Nino insisted they should both come in. The rest of the class stayed close to the door.
"Apparently there is a video going around among the students of this school to which the school should react." Mme Mendeleev said to the school principal after a brief greeting.
"Actually, it was only me and Alya who got the video, and I think it was not ours to show it around, babe." Nino cut in. Alya glared back at him.
"He is telling the truth, only the two of us got it. It is not circulating around as far as we know." The girl bowed her head.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, Jean opened it and entered followed by Adrien, Marinette and her parents.
"Hello monsieur Damocles." Jean greeted swiftly. "We have met on the project meetings. Sorry to burst in your office, but I believe we are all here for the same issue. These two students would like to report a threat. Mademoiselle is accompanied by her parents and I will be the adult representing Adrien since the actions of his father are implied in the threat."
"I see." The school principal was bewildered. "But the school usually contacts the parent of the student." Marinette wanted to roll her eyes, principal Damocles never contacted mayor Bourgeois about his daughter neither he called in Lila's mother.
"This office is too crowded." Jean noticed as he observed Alya and Nino and the two teachers.
"There is a video of the same threat going around." Ms Mendeleev spoke and motioned towards Alya and Nino.
Adrien stared at his two friends and then frowned.
"I'm sorry dude, I knew it was not ours to spread it." Nino apologized instantly.
"It was me, and I did not spread it, I just showed it to a few people." Alya protested.
Ms Bustier was confused and looked at her students with worried eyes. Ms Mendeleev saw the video and understood what it was all about.
Adrien sighed. Principal Damocles and the teachers were looking at him expectantly. Jean nodded, perhaps he should try to reach his father just for the sake of appearance. His trust in his father plummeted, the boy was well aware that if his father ever learned that the boy was mistreated in school, even if not by the school staff but by two girls that his father approved, he might be homeschooled again. Adrien made the call, but he put it on a loudspeaker.
"Hi Nathalie, could father come over to the school right away?" Adrien asked quickly.
"Your father is very busy." Nathalie's voice spoke from the speakers. He just spent hours transformed as Hawk Moth as he wanted to akumatize Marinette, but might settle for Lila in the end. "Is this about that school project of yours? Why did you have to say that you found photo shoots unpleasant? That looked bad for the brand." She demanded. The adults exchanged a few puzzled looks. Then there was a pause in her speech before she continued. "I guess I could be there in a few minutes." And then she cut the call. She instantly informed Gabriel, and the man finally agreed to watch the video of the presentation while Nathalie went to school. But he sensed a lot of distress there and Lila of course. He specifically instructed Nathalie to send the girl away and keep her in distressed state so he could akumatize her. So he sent out an akuma to search for its prey before he searched the video for timestamps Nathalie marked for him.
"Very well, she is not your parent and concerning the nature of your predicament I should still stay." Jean concluded with a serious expression on his face. Then he turned to Alya and Nino. "You should write a short statement on how you got the video and what you did, not now, you can do it later, your parents should sign it with you." Jean explained the procedure as obviously nobody else knew what to do. "But that is only if the school decides to investigate on it." He looked at the school principal.
"I would like to see that video." Ms Bustier demanded. Principal Damocles looked at her first and then turned back to the rest of the group.
"Yes, me too." The man concluded.
"Very well." Jean concluded. "Adrien and Marinette please sit down and write the complaint, be brief, just a few sentences will do for now, only the main points, you will have to elaborate in more details later when the school starts the formal investigation." He looked at the school principal, he knew he should have used 'if' instead of 'when'. The man knew asking to write detail would put the kids into additional stress and it was not absolutely necessary at that point. The kids who survived that could easily get akumatized if they just remembered and relived the ordeal.
Both kids sat on the two chairs, they both remembered to write the main points about both of them having to leave school. Jean bothered to read both statements and was satisfied, the kids signed their own papers first and then the adults.
"Very well. Thank you very much Marinette and Adrien, you are very brave." The man smiled. "Now, principal Damocles, the school has received these two complaints. You should also hear the alleged culprit that should also be accompanied by an adult." The man knew procedures.
"But Mme Rossi is so busy, she is practically unreachable I could not possibly ..." Principal Damocles protested.
"Very well, the city office can assign her a representative just like Adrien got me." Jean took out his phone and recited the number and the name of Camille. Adrien and Marinette exchanged a glance between them when they heard whom Jean recommended. Ms Bustier and the school principal tried to reach Mme Rossi, but there was no answer.
At that moment Nathalie entered the office, she had her tablet in her hands. She was quickly explained by Jean that Adrien filed a complaint and why he was there. She looked at the text and sent a message to Gabriel. Within moments, the tablet lit up with Gabriel's (detransformed) face on it.
"Monsieur Agreste, I am really sorry to bother you like this." Principal Damocles was speaking to the tablet. "Your son already has an adult to represent him."
"I am his father!" Gabriel protested.
"Regarding the nature of the threat, the student is to be represented by the city of Paris office of education." Jean retorted with a practised ease. "My office has been contacted and help had been requested for the actions depicted in the video evidence."
Gabriel remembered the video of the school presentation where he recognized that Marinette was acting the part of Lila because she did the same at the photo shoot.
"Adrien, I have had Nathalie explain the workings of your teenage hormones to you repeatedly, even I explained it once before. Just because you find a girl attractive, it does not mean she is sexually harassing you." Gabriel stated matter of factly. Adrien rolled his eyes, he remembered those awkward conversations quite clearly.
"I am not attracted to Lila, father." Adrien retorted as calmly as he could.
"Are you talking about the presentation, sir?" Nathalie inquired, she realized they all just jumped into a misunderstanding with Gabriel. "Because this meeting is about another video.."
"What video?" Gabriel demanded.
"Can we see that video now?" Principal Damocles asked impatiently.
"Of course." Jean smiled.
Alya had the video playing the same second. Ms Bustier and the school principal watched closely while the others just stood there as everybody else saw the video before.
Marinette flinched at the first words and Adrien took her hand. Jean noticed and whispered. "You do not have to be here if you do not want to. You were very brave to report this. You, young man, are exceptionally brave to film it and report it and ask for help." The man continued to whisper the encouraging words to the two teens during the whole video so they concentrated on him instead of reliving their ordeal once more. "You can rely on me and Marinette's parents to represent you in the future, you do not have to go through the whole process over and over again."
The video stopped playing.
"The lunch break is about to end, may I be excused to the science lab?" Ms Mendeleev asked sternly. She was allowed to go and she actually smiled to Adrien and Marinette while passing by them. Alya and Nino were shooed to go out too as principal Damocles decided not to inquire further on how they got the video.
Gabriel's face on the tablet was motionless. He was cornered.
"Nathalie, please see that Adrien's complaint is processed adequately." She knew what he meant, that video was to disappear. It was a bad image for the company. Soon after she confirmed she understood, Gabriel cut the connection. He had a butterfly to control. Lila was the most likely candidate, but he expected that the girl would now go after Adrien because of the video, and that was not what he planned, he planned for Lila akuma to go after Marinette.
At that moment Lila was pushed into the office of principal Damocles. She sniffled and whined from the moment she passed through the door. But this time those were angry tears she was shedding.
"I want to file a complaint, principal Damocles. Marinette blackmailed me, she threatened me to change schools." Lila cried between fake sobs. Her classmates hunted her and dragged her to the principal's office. Marinette clenched her fists but Adrien reached for her to calm her down.
During the ordeal, Lila could not distinguish any reliable information from the shouts of her classmates. She was sorry for wasting her time by searching for Gabriel.
"Poor girl, her condition is getting worse." Sabine whispered while Tom frowned. Marinette rolled her eyes at that. Adrien sighed.
Only then Lila took in the whole group of people that was present in the principal's office.
Ms Bustier smiled gently at her problematic student, she always saw Lila as a fragile girl who had to be given more care and attention.
Jean pointed his hand towards the signed statements given by Marinette and Adrien. Principal Damocles stared at the two papers until it hit him.
"You have to write your statement." Principal Damocles smiled proud of himself that he actually remembered the procedure.
Lila smiled slyly towards Marinette as she grabbed her pen and paper, she started to write instantly.
His eyes turned to Jean as he waited for an approval. But Jean then pressed his index finger on the parent's signature. Principal Damocles nodded and pressed the call button again, but it was in vain.
"We can't reach your mother, Mlle Rossi." Ms Bustier said gently.
"Oh, I am so sorry, she is so busy at the embassy wit hall those diplomatic missions and all." Lila sang her usual excuse.
"That is okay, Lila." Ms Bustier smiled gently. "We know how your mother is busy. But an adult should confirm your statement." That information made Lila flinch. But then she smirked, she might be able to take the statement home and persuade her mother to sign it over the weekend. Or she could forge her signature.
"Since Mme Rossi is not answering I propose calling Camille." Jean proposed as he checked the time. He had little time before he would have to leave for the next meeting.
"Ms Bustier, you are so nice." Lila sniffed at her teacher. "Could you sign it for me, please?" She pushed her paper towards the teacher. Ms Bustier glanced at the paper and sighed.
"Are you sure this is how it happened?" The teacher asked kindly as she held the statement with disbelief. Principal Damocles took the paper from Ms Bustier to read.
"Oh yes, I am sure, I wish it hadn't but it did. I am so sorry. Marinette is so awful. I can't hide it any more she ..." Lila was rambling as she pretended to cry. Jean looked amused.
"Lila" principal Damocles interrupted her. "Would you like to see the school nurse? I think you are not well, you are having another one of your seizures again."
"What seizures?" Several people asked at once.
"She had it before, when she got Marinette expelled." Tom cut in.
"Lila sometimes has those episodes when she tells lies, you see." Principal Damocles smiled gently at the girl.
"No, no, no this is not like that." Lila protested.
Jean's face lit up as he checked his phone. "One of my colleagues can represent Lila's mother if Mme Rossi is unreachable, she is in school already." Camille entered the office.
Adrien and Marinette were both visibly emotionally drained of repeating the same explanations over and over again. (This is how it goes in the real life, it would have been just perfect if they could do it just once and then start to recover.) Without even thinking about it, they both retreated towards a wall and held hands to make each other feel better. Marinette's parents were obviously not doing much better, but Tom at least stood between them and Lila. It was Jean who talked, it was him who explained the statements given by Marinette and Adrien. Lila insisted she was the one who was threatened until Adrien had enough.
"I have you on video, Lila." The boy actually smirked.
"What?" She turned around. "You didn't." She whined. "You couldn't do that to me."
The boy then wrapped his arm around Marinette's shoulders. "I could and I did."
At that moment Lila changed tactics and whined about her illnesses and conditions and Camille proposed a solution, she took over Lila case and saw what was the appropriate form of education and what kind of learning assistance this girl needs. Her and Lila stayed with the school principal and Ms Bustier while the rest were free to go. Adrien and Marinette found their whole class waiting on the other side of the door. They cheered and congratulated each other, they were all slightly late for their class, but Mme Mendeleev knew why, they also knew she will keep them in the lab until they all completed their worksheets anyway.
Adrien offered his fist and Marinette bumped it. It was still too fresh for a bigger celebration, but they could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Lila dealt with her problem just like she did after Volpina, she did not go to school until she was made to return by her own mother and Camille. It was Chloe who suggested to her to change classes or even school.
Bonus (I was finished and then this idea just dropped onto my mind):
"Please Mr Agreste you have to remove Marinette or Adrien from that school." Lila pleaded.
"Why would I do that now? Haven't you removed her once and then got her reinstated?" Gabriel demanded.
"She is sexually harassing Adrien." the girl cried out.
"What?" The man shouted and observed Nathalie who shook her head in response to signal him she did not believe that was the truth. The man remained silent after his question.
"Mr Agreste, are you going to help me with this or not?" Lila demanded.
"Why would I help you? Why would I do anything? Adrien is happy in school. He wanted to go there. He wanted to go to Marinette's for this project." Gabriel decided he would at least get one nice akuma out of this. "You should focus on her, not me."
"You are forgetting I know your secret, Mr Agreste?" Lila smiled slyly.
"I can easily dispute everything you say, Ms Rossi. Haven't you claimed you have a certain condition that makes you lie?" Gabriel retorted and cut the call.
"Are you willing to risk that Gabriel?" Lila countered before she heard that the phone call was cut.
In her final act of revenge, Lila sent an email to the Parisian police. She had secretly recorded her conversations with Gabriel and she attached the one where he instructed her what to do so he could akumatize Chloe (in Miraculer). She accused Gabriel of being Hawk Moth's accomplice or Hawk Moth himself. She explained that she did it because Chloe was a bully and she wanted to work for Gabriel. And she signed the email as Marinette.
Office Roger Raincomprix read the email and listened to the note. "But that is not Marinette, he called her Lila, and she spoke against Marinette." The policeman concluded.
Mayor Bourgeois ordered, personally, that each information about Hawk Moth had to be investigated. He was particularly interested in this one because Chloe was targeted. He could finally clear the name of his beloved daughter.
Ladybug and Chat Noir were called in to help. Both of them promised to help instantly once they faced the evidence received by the police, although they both also struggled to accept the identity of the suspect.
Gabriel protested that he had meetings with Lila only regarding her modelling career. The police could not find any proof in the Agreste mansion that the man was in fact Hawk Moth. With the help of a lucky charm, Ladybug identified the entrance to the lair below the office. Gabriel and Nathalie transformed that same instant, but Chat Noir was so close and quick that he snatched the pin before the transformation was finished. Mayura was defeated quickly, which was good because Ladybug was about to detransform. Chat took them both to Adrien's room where they both revealed their identities...