A/N: Hi. I know it's been a while. I was on final exams/papers. I'm sorry.

As of this chapter I have a beta (in Spanish). She has been very nice to me, she knows a lot of things and her name is Katherine, her profile is kvillalvag on Wattpad.

In other chapters I have forgotten to say that I have never been to Paris and that the places that appear here and do not appear in the series are invented.


"Get away, asshole!" Alix yells.

"I can't, idiot!" Kim replies.

I try to concentrate on the solution I am stirring in the beaker, since we haven't had a chance to get another container, but their rude, incessant yelling distracts me.

I am glad I am not the one having to listen to Chloe about what the solutes are.

"Shut up for once." Orders Max, who is the one who has to do it. "I can't hear Chloe. Repeat. What's next?"

The girl jumps on the trampoline again and rereads the word from that list written backwards in a twisted font. The only mirror in the room is too high up.

"Blue." She says.

Max pours the blue liquid into the solvent. It was a clear liquid in a bottle, almost certainly containing no water.

"Nath! Tell me you found the key."

I feel a little sorry for Nathanael right now. The poor boy does not stop looking for it while Alix annoys him.

"I can't believe they're locked in a closet and all they do is argue." Max mumbles.

That is our problem as a group inside an Escape Room: two of us have been locked in a built-in cabinet of chemistry canisters.

Although I do not understand exactly what Max is referring to. Kim has a girlfriend.

And the wardrobe is transparent.

"What are you insinuating?" I ask.

Max stops pouring the solute for a moment and looks at me.

"That if you don't see it, you're blind."

"My mother is blind." I tell him. I am not. He must be imagining it.

Max quickly stops looking at me and returns to the dissolution. I have not stopped stirring at any time.

"I am sorry."

"I do not know why you apologize. It is not your fault that my mother is blind."

I do not really know whose it is. I know she was not born that way. And nothing more.

"I only said it because it is what people expect when they tell something tragic about their lives."

That makes no sense. As if anyone who just found out is at fault.

People are weird. It is something I have realized from my app to make friends. If it was not for that, I would not know what to say.

Tonight's situation only gets worse by the minute: I will be on a set, with a journalist interviewing me, and I will have to guess what people want to hear to improve our image.

"Purple."

This friendly meeting was turning out to be a success: cooperation, rapprochement and fun from almost the entire group, except Chloe with Kim, which was expected and understandable.

Upon entering, the first test was about world mythologies. It was about assigning the appropriate decorations to the different creatures represented in small statuettes.

Alix had to do this part, since the rest of us did not know almost any of the beings, but his father has his home full of those little figures.

Solving the puzzle opened a panel containing a cable, which we used with an old television in the corner of the room. This one had no signal, but the settings card flashing in a specific color sequence.

At first, we thought they were for dissolution, since we had all seen the chemistry table. However, Nathanael found a box with a colored lock. That was when we saw that the succession had a reason.

Inside the box was a piece of paper with numbers and a television remote.

As he dialed the numbers with the remote, the word "dissolution" appeared on the television screen, followed by an arrow pointing to the right.

Looking in that direction, Chloe found a list written backwards in a complicated handwriting that was not easy to decipher without a mirror, while Alix went to the built-in cupboard to find a container for the solution.

She chose the one that seemed best to her and put it in the hollow of the table. Max told her that was not the right one, so she and Kim went back inside and he grabbed another one from the top shelf. At that moment the closet doors closed.

That has brought us so far.

"Latest." Chloe warns. "Green."

Max adds the last one and the solution turns dark gray.

"And now?"

"On TV didn't say anything else."

Chloe puts her hands on her hips and I cross my arms. Max pushes up his glasses that had slipped off.

"What are solutions used for?"

"Well," Max begins. "for many things, actually. And being this an unknown mixture, we can say that we are blind."

"I found something." Nathanael warns from the other side of the room.

The three of us go towards him.

He points to a hardened viscous mass on the ground.

"What is that?" I wonder.

"Dirt." Chloe replies. She then turns to Nathanael. "Why do you show us dirt? Aren't you used to seeing it in your house?"

That is not nice at all.

Max stares at it for a few seconds.

"I know what it is!" He exclaims and runs back to the chemistry table.

What is what? The dissolution or the goop? They have to be related. If the solution to the second is the first...

"It is a solvent." I deduce the loud voice.

Chloe looks at me considering.

"Makes sense." She says. I look at the goop again. Is it glue or something else? It is not white. "Do you know what a solvent is?"

What question is that? Of course I know, I have suggested it. I look at her and see that he is not addressing me.

"I use it in art." Nathanael answers. "To make the paint more liquid."

The blonde falls silent at that. Her new kindness has not extended to this boy.

Max walks back, careful not to spill the solvent. He puts it on the ground, picks up the glob and puts it into the beaker.

"We will have to wait." He announces.

The four of us stand watching the dough soften.

"Hey, while you're at it, you could trynna get us out of here! I say, if you have nothing else to do." Alix yells.

I do not think this has anything to do with freeing them.

"Have you found a key?" I ask Nathanael.

He shakes his head.

"I have searched everywhere and only found this."

But the cabinet has a lock. There must be a key.

To one side, I see a wooden board. It is thin, but strong in appearance, and measures approximately one meter.

It does not have to be a key, it could just as well be a lever.

I grab the board and head to the closet.

"Wait. It is a key."

"The logical thing is that it is for the door through which we entered."

However, when we check it, it turns out not to be. Instead, it opens the closet. And once the two leave, we see another key, only this one in one of the lower containers.

And we go out.

Then we come to a junk food place. Chloe was reluctant to come here, although we all managed to convince her. Of course, she has ordered a salad, like me. Alix and Kim have ordered the biggest burgers on the menu, Nathanael nuggets and Max a sandwich.

"I think it was fun." I affirm, hoping that everyone agrees with me.

Although Chloe does not seem to be.

"How come you didn't see the key?" She comments, addressing the hamburger eaters. "It was right there. In a transparent bottle."

The girl removes the food from her face, which is stained with mustard, and she talks while chewing. Pretty gross.

"Sorry. I was too distracted trying not to let Kim the mass crush me in that closet." She swallows and talks to him. "You deserve a punishment, young man. Because of you I haven't been able to enjoy anything."

Max looks at her with wide eyes. I did not expect him to think that way about his friends.

"Why not? And that thing of the gods? And the television?" Kim lists.

"I wanted to jump on the trampoline!"

That is a childish reason, and wrong.

"You could not have even if you were free. Your height is not adequate enough to reach your reflection in the mirror." I point.

"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side!" That amuses me, I have only confirmed one fact. I think about smiling, but I do not. Looks like I am going to be friends with Alix's and I cannot mess it up. "And you'll receive a punishment. I'm not sure what, but there will be."

"You can't punish me. You are not my girlfriend."

Since when do girlfriends do punishments? Is it normal for relationships here? I am still very far from the social functioning of France.

"That's what you wanted. Unfortunately for you, I'm not Ondine."

The two fall silent, looking at each other with frowns.

Max clears his throat loudly.

"Well... Kagami, why did you decide to start putting on makeup?"

That question caught me completely off guard. I hope they do not notice me, I am trained to control my expression. I have to come up with a credible excuse as to why I am wearing this loathsome mess on my face.

I must choose between imitating my mother's coldness or pleasing these boys. However, Ryuko is more important than my personal life.

"Because I want."

Max raises his eyebrows. He did not expect it, neither did I.

"Now I understand that Alya hates you." Kim tells me.

They all fall silent. Does Alya hate me? Why? I did not do anything to her. Nothing besides contributing to her akumatization. Still, I do not think that is enough reason to hate me.

"Do you hate me too?" If he understands it, he means that he accompanies her in it, right?

"Nope."

And I know he means it.


I come home with the excuse of having been in fencing class, which I do not have today. It is not like I have to think too much about an excuse, my mother does not pay me special attention in this country. I just need to be here at the right time and not make mistakes so I can keep leaving home and nothing else.

I have to take a shower. Today I will be on television, in prime time. I have to make a good impression. People have to know what we do for them, get to know us.

"Kagami-san, I know you are nervous, but remember not to give away your true person."

"I know. I have to make up a person to be Ryuko."

The team meeting after the shower is in the usual place, at sunset.

I am uneasy, although I know how to hide it, while Bunnyx is especially nervous. We both hope to leave this to Queen Bee.

"Okay. Don't say anything unless they ask you directly, be as nice as possible. Bunnyx, smile at least once, Ryuko, you don't. And whatever you do, don't say your opinion about what the media is doing to us. That will only generate more hate. All clear?"

The interview will be with the journalist who has insisted on it the most: Nadja Chamack, a woman who has repeatedly shown that she is not on our side in this conflict.

At nine o'clock we enter the set of Aurore's network, with which we agreed to meet because it was somewhat less hostile than the others.

The spotlights receive us with a powerful and warm light, not especially pleasant in May. Ominous music plays as we enter, in a vain attempt to appear friendly by giving us a grand introduction.

I feel my pulse speed up uncontrollably.

Nadja is waiting for us in an armchair, from which she has risen, in front of a modern sofa and in front of a big screen.

I sit in one corner of the sofa, Bunnyx in another, and Queen Bee in the middle. She will take care of all this.

I take a deep breath and try to appear friendly without smiling. It is not one of my talents.

"I am delighted to have you here." Nadja greets.

A camera is placed next to us. Out of the corner of my eye I see three more, scattered around the room.

"And we of being here, Nadja." answers Queen Bee. A big lie.

The woman crosses her legs and laces her fingers in her lap. What did my app say those gestures meant?

"Lately there have been many akumas in a short period of time. Tell me, aren't you tired?"

"A little." Bunnyx replies.

Queen Bee gives her a look I cannot see and then she turns to the reporter.

"Not at all, we could never get tired of helping the people of Paris. It is our duty and will, since we are the only ones with power to face the akumas."

The reporter smiles and nods, as if she does not believe her.

"Speaking of which. Where do your powers come from? We know that Hawk Moth uses butterflies to create akumas, but what about you?"

It was expected, although that does not mean that we have an answer. We must be very careful, because this can become controversial.

Once again, the answer is Queen Bee.

"We're not sure, actually. We only know that our powers serve to do the right thing."

That answer is too ambiguous. I keep feeling nervous.

"The right thing, of course. Like that time Ryuko carried teenage supermodel Adrien Agreste halfway across town to a hospital." mentions the journalist. "I seem to remember that you armed the same boy to fight against Darkblade's armor army. Correct?"

Nadja looks at me this time. I have to answer.

In situations like this, it is preferable to imitate my mother, since it is the best way to hide nervousness. And I have been practicing for a long time.

"Assessing the situation, it was the most appropriate action, for the reason that Queen Bee was fighting against the akuma on her own and if I had not arrived, she would be dead." I explain. It is the truth. "But I did it because I knew that Agreste has experience handling a sword."

The woman raises her eyebrows. I look at my partners and they do not seem happy. I may have said too much.

"You seem to know a lot about that boy… Are you his fan?"

I do not know what to answer. If I say yes, they will not take us seriously. If I say no, she will look for the real reason.

People might think I am shallow, but Adrien is my friend.

Luckily Queen Bee saves me.

"I don't think it's relevant to the interview, Nadja."

The woman shakes her head.

"We want to know about you. What guys, music, food, hobbies, ... do you like. For example, Bunnyx, what do you like to do besides stand still during fights?"

Stay still? She does a lot during akumatizations. Without her I would be dead. How can she insult her like that?

"I like to do logic problems, in order to have the best action plans against Hawk Moth, which is what I usually do in fights."

Nadja wrinkles her nose and stops smiling, then smiles again.

"It's true! You make action plans!" she repeats. She frowns, as if she remembered something. "Although it's not that it goes very well for you, right? I mean, Lady Wifi managed to trap two of you in a room full of people you're not trying to protect, you actually took them there."

"We were trying to protect them, Nadja. Move them away from the place where the akuma was." Queen Bee apologizes.

"Just like you were trying to protect the people that Darkblade had transformed, and they ended up being electrocuted. What happened that time?"

She is right. I almost killed a lot of innocents that day and I did not even realize it. Images of the innocents I attacked flash before my eyes.

"Darkblade was the only adult akuma we fought against, as well as an expert in different types of fighting. That day we were very unprepared, since he was stronger than any of the previous ones."

The journalist nods. She does not seem to be believing us. What has she brought us here for? It is supposed to be an interview, that we can clear our name, but she is ignoring our reasons.

"It wasn't your only fault either." She continues with the attack. "The Dark Cupid akuma caused people to hit each other, resulting in thirty-five women with major injuries who had to be taken to the hospital, several of them on the verge of death. Why didn't you try to help them when they were being beaten, making sure they didn't go to such lengths?"

This time I answer. She was not there and she was not the one who had to make such a difficult decision. I am as cold as I can be.

"We had to fight against the akuma."

"There are three of you, at least one could have stayed with the people. Unless you're saying you need three to fight an akuma who doesn't even know the basics of fighting. Are you so clumsy?"

That is a direct attack. I am about to speak, but Queen Bee speaks before me.

"We had to focus on the akuma so that it didn't shoot more people and more citizens weren't affected by his power."

The woman smiles. I do not like that smile. It makes me feel bad, that feeling some people have. I do not like her.

"Then it's true. You are three against one."

"Yes, it's true, we are three against one. If you see us as useless, I invite you to be the one to fight in the streets." Bunnyx intervenes.

Queen Bee looks at her sharply.

"I don't have powers, you said it before. It is your fight. But let's not talk about your failures, but about your successes. Like Stoneheart. First akuma, without human damage, although in great quantity to private and public property. That day you were so kind to me." She says the last thing looking at Bunnyx.

The journalist falls silent, as the akumas do when Hawk Moth speaks to them. She smiles a lot and looks at the camera.

"Now we will have a commercial break."

The cameras are left alone while the cameramen leave.

This interview is going worse than I imagined. There has not been a single question about us and the journalist does not bother to hide that she is after us.

The three of us get up and go to a far corner to talk.

"This is being bullshit." describes Bunnyx. "And it's not that you're wonderful handling cameras." She tells Queen Bee.

"I do. Reacting however we wanted would make them hate us. You can't go around saying you're tired of saving people! You realize?"

Bunnyx rolls her eyes.

"I realize. I'll keep my mouth shut."

"That's it" Queen Bee nods. "And Ryuko, you're doing well."

I can contain myself. I know how to control myself.

During the rest of the break we go to the toilet, after asking where it is. When we return, the councilor informs us that this second part of the interview with defamatory overtones will be about letting the public ask us questions, hence the screen.

We sit on the sofa, I less nervous and more upset than before.

The closest cameraman counts down from five.

"We are back with our beloved Triple Super! It is a very curious name."

Mrs. Chamack laughs, it cannot possibly be a genuine laugh.

"Before the break we talked about the many successes as superheroines that these girls have had. And we have made a compilation video. After the number, we will leave our lines open for you to make video calls and you can ask them about these attacks. Aren't you excited?"

I am not.

Said video begins with Stoneheart. It appears how I missed my attack and Bunnyx was caught, followed by Queen Bee killing the butterfly. They go to Climatika, and it shows how we hid from her attacks and I almost got killed for the first time. Next is Princess Fragrance and they focus on how Queen Bee was controlled by her. Images of Reflekta and how she managed to transform Queen Bee into her clone are then seen. From Vanisher they only show us taking hits out of the air. And the rest do not have quality images.

Our successes? They have made it look like failures. Not a single person was injured by those akumas.

Why do not they broadcast the footage they recorded of our fight with Reflekta? Why do not they put the images of my duel with Princess Fragrance? Or the trap to Climatika?

After the manipulation ends, the journalist goes to the public's question time.

The first call is from an acquaintance, both in my civilian form and as the superhero.

"You have stolen images from my blog!" Alya accuses. "You have not asked for them nor paid for them: you have stolen them. Triple Super, you should have done the interview with me. I have more public than that."

The call is cut.

"Anyone who intends to defame us will be expelled from the call." Naja warns.

Subsequently, we received about twenty calls from fans. Their questions are innocent and innocuous.

And then he arrives.

A middle-aged man with a stricken expression, calls, in stark contrast to the rest of the young people.

"I don't want to ask anything. I want, if you allow me, to tell an experience about an akuma."

That is not what we have been promised. They are supposed to be questions.

"You can." Says the journalist after looking at the councillor.

The man begins to tell how he was a victim of Princess Fragrance, who put a spell on him on his way to work and was one of the people on the bridge. People I blew into the river and Bunnyx rescued before they fell into the water.

Only he does not say that.

He narrates that he did fall and that he woke up in the middle of the river, in almost frozen waters. He says that he had to swim on his own to shore, since none of us rescued him and that because of that he spent a week in the hospital with hypothermia. That caused him to be fired from his job.

That story is unbelievable. I mixed with the river and I did not feel anyone else in the area. Bunnyx rescued them all.

I can think of nothing more than he has invented it.

Why would anyone want to call a show on us to blame us for something that did not happen?

He is a bad person.

"That can't be." Bunnyx defends herself. "I moved everyone on that bridge."

"Not me" repeats the man.

Bunnyx denies, however she does not seem sure.

"Well," Nadja interjects. "it is possible that you missed someone."

It is a lie!

I look at Queen Bee. She is supposed to be the one in charge of this, so let her do it.

She seems to understand what I think and speaks.

"I was perfumed by the akuma and I do not remember his face. And I remember very well what happened." She discusses.

"But you were away for some time, right?" the journalist argues.

That is not a point. This is all a pack of scurrilous lies. That is why we have been invited.

Bunnyx goes to speak, but Queen Bee stops her. She tries to defend us in a nice way and both the man and the reporter speak at the same time as her.

She does not notice me.

"That is a lie."

Everyone on the set falls silent and looks at me. If they did not expect that, neither did this.

"You are a manipulative and miserable propagandist. Your story does not hold up and that is because it is a far-fetched pantomime. It is as easy as reviewing the images on Super Triple Blog."

They all look at me with wide eyes, surprised by my outburst. It is not over yet.

I look at the councillor, then at Mrs. Chamack.

"And you, the whole network, are insulting and heartless scoundrels. You have invited us to come, with such insistence, to discredit us. To us, who risked our lives to save you from demons who would have no qualms about killing you if Hawk Moth wanted it to. You are one of the greatest waste of humanity: the corrupt capable of selling the security of an entire nation in order to fill your filthy pockets."

I look to my right, where I see Queen Bee and Bunnyx staring at me with their mouths open.

"I never intend to have an interview with anyone again."

I get up, ready to leave, and look around me. One of the cameramen has gotten too close.

"Get away." I warn. I can feel my face and hands warm. My heart beats faster and faster.

The cameraman swallows hard, but he does not obey.

I draw my sword and slice the camera in half, not even grazing him.

I am leaving this hellish place.

After going out, in the darkness of the night, I have no place to go but my house. But I do not want to go back.

My mother cannot hear the anger that eats me at this moment, she would be able to guess who I am.

Instead, I head to the industrial area nine, where I met the unknown woman and which I know for a fact, is abandoned.

In the building, I take out my fury on abandoned and rusted metal scraps.

I do not know how long it takes before my partners arrive.

Their footsteps are loud.

Knowing the mistake I have made, I prepare for the argument.

"Do you realize what you've done?!" And this one comes from Queen Bee. "You have done the exact opposite of what I told you to do! And now they're going to hate us!"

I cut one last metal beam. The ceiling does not fall in, though it would not make much difference if it did, and I turn to her.

"They already hated us before. Precisely thanks to issues like the ones that were happening. And we did not defend ourselves, which was what you were supposed to do and you did not."

"Is it my fault now? You've cut a camera in half! And you insulted everyone who was there!"

I look at Bunnyx. She is off to the side watching us both.

"You will not say anything?" I ask.

"What am I supposed to say? You guys are being complete idiots. You," she points to Queen Bee. "are right that this is gonna make them hate us even more. And you," Now she turns to me. "are right that we couldn't keep quiet while they made a fool of us. There was no good way out of this."

A point of no return. I keep my sword.

"How do we solve it?" asks the bee.

"First of all, I'd like to talk to Nadja."

With that person without morals? What motive could she have?

"For what?" Says my partner in my place.

"Cause she didn't agree with this trap. I could see it in her eyes."

Was she being coerced? Or was she deceiving herself that it was the right thing to do? It is hardly credible that after all those taunts there was no conviction.

Queen Bee crosses her arms. In this context, I would say it means rejection.

"And do you know where the poor innocent lives?"

Bunnyx rolls her eyes.

"No need, just catch her in the network's parking lot."

It seems logical.

We use Bunnyx's burrow to get to the location in time and found her getting into a rather old and small car.

We stand in front of the vehicle, preventing her from leaving the parking lot. She keeps looking at us with an expression that my application classifies as surprise.

The woman rolls down the car window and says nothing. We get closer.

"We wanna to talk to you." announces Bunnyx.

She does not answer, but her expression changes to a more suspicious one.

"We know you had no intention of making us look bad." intervenes Queen Bee.

Nadja tilts her head.

"We would like to know why you would sell your moral values in this way." I accuse veiledly.

She is silent for a moment before speaking.

"I'm not going to tell you about my life. I will only tell you that if you are not able to find out on your own, you are far removed from the reality of the citizens you claim to protect."

And having said that, she starts the car and drives off.

It is a very bold statement. And I do not know what she means.

Although we do not have much time to think, because the sky is filled with colors, which means that there is an akuma.


A/N:

Hi Linettye!

Some of the events you think don't make sense are based on my own experience.

You really don't understand my writing?

If so, you can contact me privately and help me correct the writing before I publish it. Thank you.