You're Bad Luck to Him
Luka entered the lively nightclub with Marinette at his side. It had been two years since he'd been in Paris, and returning now felt almost surreal. Marinette clutched his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. They had a very important and risky meeting tonight, and Luka would be lying if he said he wasn't a little nervous.
As soon as they were in the foyer, he caught sight of Alya Césaire, who was hurriedly putting information into a tablet at the hostess stand.
"Bonsoir," Luka greeted.
Alya did not look up from her work as she replied flatly.
"Bonsoir m'sieur, we have open seating at the bar. Our dining tables are for reservations only."
"I have a reservation," Luka smiled. "Luka Couffaine."
The mention of his name caught her attention and Alya finally looked up.
"Luka? Marinette?"
"In the flesh," Marinette replied, grinning.
Alya let out an excited squeal and greeted Marinette with kisses.
"OMG girl it's really you!" Alya exclaimed. "Zoé and I saw your names on the res-list and thought it was some nobody trying to use Luka's name to get in the club!"
"Well, I am some nobody using Luka to get into the club," Marinette laughed.
"Marinette!" Luka complained, giving her a loving look. She was always so self-deprecating, which others found endearing but always made him want to drop everything and tell her how amazing she is.
Alya quickly tapped something into her tablet again, then gestured eagerly for the couple to follow her to their table. Luka instinctively scanned the club floor, recognizing a few familiar faces. Zoé Lee was working at the bar, and sitting near the end was a very not-sober looking Bob Roth. He also noticed a woman who looked like Clara Nightingale mingling near the dancefloor, although he couldn't be sure it was her in this light. Marinette tugged on his hand.
"Luka, relax," she whispered as they followed Alya to their table. "Or at least try to look more relaxed."
She was right, of course. They needed to look like a young couple having a fun night out.
"Voila," Alya said as they reached the table near the currently unoccupied DJ booth. "The menu is there," and she gestured to the QR codes on the drink coasters in the center of the table.
"I'll actually just take an Americano," Luka told her.
"Café noisette, for me Alya," Marinette added.
"Well you two are fun, having just a coffee at the hottest club in Paris!" Alya teased.
"Shhh, don't tell the Press," Marinette joked. "You'll ruin his bad-boy reputation!"
Alya rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Watch it," she scolded her. "I'll be the Press in a few months, as soon as I finish school!"
"Lesson learned, Reporter Césaire," Luka replied playfully. "Let's hope you have a little more journalistic integrity than the folks over at TVi."
"Oh if that's the goal, the bar is on the floor," Alya agreed. She did not seem to have a high opinion of the news channel either.
She rushed off to get their coffees, and once she returned apologized for having to rush off again to see other customers. Once she was well out of earshot, Luka spoke.
"I don't see Kanté anywhere," Luka addressed Marinette under his breath.
"Luka, I have a bad feeling about this," Marinette admitted. "Maybe we should go."
"If we leave so quickly, it will only draw more attention to us," Luka warned. "Perhaps Max is just in a different part of the club."
Before Marinette could protest again, they were interrupted by a tall Vietnamese gentleman in a deep navy suit jacket and slacks.
"Excuse-moi, m'sieur," he greeted. "You look like a man of excellent taste and style. Do you happen to be in the market for a high-quality diving watch?"
The man rolled up his sleeve to reveal a large steel diving watch on his forearm. Luka was taken aback at the sudden and somewhat uncouth proposition, but before he could respond, Marinette spoke.
"Kim?" She asked. "Lê Chiến Kim?"
Startled by his own name, Kim turned to look at Marinette again, and recognition dawned on his face.
"Marinette!" he exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since, collège! What's it been, seven years?"
"It must have been, at least," Marinette confirmed. "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing well, and yourself?" Kim asked.
"Oh, I'm doing quite fine," she smiled kindly.
"Well I can tell you," Kim said, "that you'd be doing much better if you had one of these shiny bad-boys on your wrist."
He rotated his wrist to make the watch glimmer in the dim lighting. Marinette looked a bit uncomfortable, unsure of how to turn him down.
"I'm sorry," Luka interrupted, "but I think this evening we're not in the market to buy watches."
"Are you sure?" Kim asked. "Take a closer look. You'll find that it's quite unique!"
He reached down and twisted the dial on the side of one of his watches. But instead of the hands on the watch moving, the watch face itself rotated and changed, revealing a familiar symbol that Luka knew well.
"Ahhh," Luka backtracked. "You're right, I'm very interested. What did you say your name was again?"
"Lê Chiến Kim, at your service, sir." Kim winked.
"Luka!" Marinette whispered forcefully, giving a subtle hand signal to indicate that there was someone approaching behind him.
"Meet me in a few minutes at the bar," Luka murmured to Kim in a low voice.
Then, at full volume, he spoke to Kim again.
"I'm sorry, I don't think we want to buy the watch today, but thank you for showing it to us." Luka spoke loudly enough that anyone nearby would hear.
Luckily, Kim caught on to what he was doing, and took the cue. Kim sighed dramatically and rolled up his sleeve.
"Such a bargain," Kim spoke a little too loudly and shook his head in an overly telegraphed motion. "But if that's your decision–"
"I'm sorry, it is," Luka confirmed.
Kim nodded his head and dismissed himself. He was only a dozen steps away when another unfamiliar voice greeted him.
"Mr. Luka Couffaine?"
Luka recognized the woman once he saw her.
"Yes," he replied, standing to greet her. "You must be Ms. Kagami Tsurugi."
"Indeed," Kagami replied evenly, offering her hand to shake Luka's.
"I must say, I was not expecting to see you here tonight," Luka admitted while he shook her hand. "We're looking forward to our meeting with you and Madame Tsurugi tomorrow to discuss the visa sponsorship process."
"Yes, well you picked quite the popular club to spend your evening," Kagami explained. "It's no surprise to see many influential people here." Luka wasn't so sure that this meeting was a coincidence.
"And you must be Ms. Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Kagami asserted, turning to greet Marinette.
"I was informed that you were the most beautiful woman to visit Paris– that is a gross understatement," she complemented Marinette.
"You're too kind," Marinette replied. "Join us!" she insisted.
Luka was not overly pleased by this, but he knew Marinette was trying to keep up appearances.
"Of course," Kagami agreed, taking a seat. She immediately raised her arm to catch Alya's attention.
"Alya, a bottle of Armand de Brignac for the table, put it on my bill," Kagami ordered smoothly.
Alya had a brief shocked reaction to such a high price-point champagne, but she quickly recovered and rushed off to retrieve the bottle.
"No, Kagami, there is no need–" Luka started, but was cut off by Kagami.
"It's no trouble," she disputed. "It's a little game we play, Adrien puts it on my bill– I tear up the bill. It's very convenient." She gave a forced smile.
"Adrien?" Marinette asked.
"Ms. Dupain-Cheng, you're in Chez Adrien," Kagami explained. "And Adrien, he's the type of man–"
She did not get to finish her thought, however, as she suddenly stood up from the table.
"Mother," she greeted an older Japanese woman, who wore dark glasses over her eyes, and carried a white cane. Kagami turned back to the couple to address them.
"Monsieur Couffaine, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, may I present Madame Tomoe Tsurugi," Kagami introduced them.
"A pleasure," Tomoe greeted them with a shallow bow.
"For us as well," Luka replied. He tried to keep a neutral expression on his face even though his heart was racing. "Although, we were not expecting to meet you here tonight, Madame Tsurugi."
"Yes, a nice coincidence, I think." Tomoe said. "I understand you are looking to expand your musical audience to the east?"
"Luka already has quite a global audience," Marinette interrupted, a bit defensively. "But we need visas so he can perform for his fans in China."
"You both need visas?" Tomoe questioned.
"Yes, of course," Luka replied immediately.
"Just as well," Tomoe replied cryptically. "But here is hardly the proper location to discuss business. You still plan on meeting us at our offices tomorrow?"
"10 o'clock," Kagami reminded him.
"Yes of course, we'll be there," Luka assured them with a forced smile.
"Very well then. In that case, I must retire for the evening. I believe my car is waiting outside," Tomoe dismissed herself.
As Alya brought the champagne and glasses, Kagami thanked her and briefly excused herself to walk her mother to the car. She assured them she would be back to join them, but for now Luka and Marinette were alone at their table again.
"I didn't see the dragon necklace on her, did you?" Marinette asked him.
"Not that I could tell," Luka answered, "but it would make sense for her to keep it hidden. I'm positive Tomoe is the one acting as Uwibami. The timelines match up too perfectly."
"She could be Ryuma, I mean she did have on glasses…" Marinette suggested.
"No, Tomoe was blind and wore those glasses long before the horse miraculous fell into the hands of the villains, and she's much too careful to use a broken miraculous," Luka insisted.
"You don't think.. Kagami is Ryuma?" Marinette asked, a bit skeptical. "Surely she's just as careful."
"It would make sense if she were." Luka asserted. "Kagami is young, healthy, and obviously desperate to prove herself," Luka said, gesturing to the bottle of 200-euro champagne on their table. "And Hawkmoth wouldn't want to trust a miraculous with just anyone. It would make sense to distribute within families he already has influence in."
"I suppose you're right," Marinette conceded.
Luka took her hand and squeezed it lovingly.
"Before Kagami comes back, I need to find out what Kim knows," Luka told her.
Marinette nodded and Luka got up from the table to head to the bar. As he made his way across the room, he noticed that the DJ booth now had an operator, none other than Nino Lahiffe. Luka saw that he was arguing over the possession of the microphone with the woman Luka had seen earlier on the dance floor, who he could now confirm was in fact Clara Nightingale.
Luka felt a tinge of guilt as he passed unnoticed by Clara, who was convincing Nino to play the piano to accompany her in an impromptu performance. She had once been a very popular singer in Paris, but her career had taken a nosedive in the past two years. It turns out, building her whole brand around supporting Ladybug and Viperion did not help her much when the names of both heroes became taboo and Ladybug was now considered a social pariah. By the looks of it, she was successful in wearing Nino down as he had begun to play the piano with an annoyed look on his face as Clara serenaded the club with one of her old hits.
Kim was standing at the bar, sipping a club soda. Luka approached and stood casually next to him.
"Could I see the watch again?" Luka asked.
Kim put down his drink and nodded, hitching up his sleeve so that the watch was clearly visible. He did not, however, activate the secret symbol again. Instead he turned his body and held his wrist with his other hand, so that to any onlookers it would look like he was in fact trying to sell a watch to Luka.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you, but I recognized you," Kim told him. "I was at the safe house in Strasbourg about four years back when you… had to detransform." He whispered the last word so only Luka could hear.
"Ahh, I see," Luka replied. "I apologize for not remembering you. There was a lot going on, and I was having… a rough time that day in Strasbourg, to say the least." He grimaced at the memory of it.
"But I haven't told anyone— not a soul!" Kim assured him.
"I appreciate that, and I appreciate your help to the cause," Luka told him.
"I haven't helped that much," Kim said, looking disappointed.
"Everyone who helps us risks their livelihoods and their lives every day," Luka acknowledged. "That's no small sacrifice. And we couldn't keep doing this without people like you."
"Aww, well when you put it that way…" Kim trailed off. "It was hard, you know, when all the reports were saying that Viperion was dead."
"As you can see, they were all true," Luka said with a sarcastic tone and a sly grin.
"During that time, you—Luka—were in rehab, the tabloids were saying."
Kim's words weren't asking a question, but his expression was.
"My first big break with TMZ," Luka joked. "A necessary precaution, unfortunately."
Luka and Marinette had agreed, shortly after his music had started to become popular, that if something were to happen to him, the best explanation for the disappearance of Luka Couffaine would be to say that he had gone off to rehab, as musicians have a reputation for doing. After an appropriate amount of time had passed to not raise suspicion, his manager could announce that he had died… and people could make whatever assumption they liked about how it happened.
"Did Lady— your lucky partner— know where you were?" Kim asked, stopping himself from saying too much.
"She and my parents knew the same thing as the media."
As it had turned out, they had not needed to use the second half of their plan, but the unfortunate reality was that for a long time Marinette only knew what everyone else did— that Viperion was dead.
"That's… man that's pretty fucked up, you know?" Kim finally replied after a long silence.
"The truth was pretty fucked up," Luka admitted darkly. "But I'm lucky you found me, tonight. I'm hoping you can help me find someone I'm supposed to meet with, a man named Max Kanté.
Kim's face fell.
"Max won't be meeting anyone tonight," Kim answered ominously. "He is under arrest for murder. He was arrested, in this club, earlier tonight."
Luka quietly absorbed the shock of this statement, looking away from Kim.
"I see," he finally said, disappointed.
"But there are still people free in Paris who support you two," Kim asserted. "We're still fighting. We'll never give up. There's a meeting tomorrow night, if you'd like to come… as Luka of course."
Luka looked unsure, but Kim gave Luka an impressed look.
"Even as a civilian, Luka, you've managed to make a name for yourself in the resistance."
"Making a name for oneself in our line of work is not always a good thing," Luka reminded Kim. "But I'll consider it."
The pair was interrupted by the appearance of Kagami at the bar
"How's the jewelry business, Lê Chiến?" Kagami asked smugly.
"Errr-" Kim hesitated, clearly surprised by the woman's appearance. "Not so good, I suppose."
He rolled up his sleeve and waved to Zoé to get his bill.
"It's too bad you weren't here earlier, Mr. Couffaine, we had quite a bit of excitement, didn't we Lê Chiến?" Kagami's icy glare seemed to have a physical effect on Kim.
"Uhhh, yes, yes we did," Kim replied nervously. He grabbed his bill from Zoe and quickly dismissed himself to head to the register.
"I believe we have some champagne to enjoy," Kagami addressed Luka. "We wouldn't want to keep your date waiting."
While Luka was at the bar with Kim, Marinette listened to Nino play piano accompaniment for Clara Nightingale. Listening to the song, Marinette closed her eyes, losing herself in a memory that she rarely revisited.
When the song finished, Clara wandered off. Marinette looked over at the bar and saw Luka still in deep conversation with Kim. She took a deep breath and got up, crossing the short distance from her table to Nino's piano.
"Don't put it away yet," Marinette told him.
"Hello, Marinette," Nino greeted her without meeting her gaze, instead looking down to use his foot to fiddle with the wheels on the upright piano. "I never expected to see you again."
"It's been a long time," Marinette replied.
"A lot of water under the bridge," Nino said, raising his eyebrows. He finally looked up at Marinette. He had not closed the key cover on the piano.
"I don't suppose I could convince you to play some of the old songs?" Marinette asked him with a kind look.
"I suppose it is my job to take requests from customers," Nino replied flatly, and began to play an upbeat jazz piano song. It was a song he knew well and did not require much concentration, so Marinette kept talking.
"Where's Adrien?" she asked.
"I don't know," Nino answered evasively. "I ain't seen him all night."
Marinette smiles at Nino, but it doesn't help with how uncomfortable he looks.
"When will he be back?" she asked.
"Not tonight. He went home," Nino told her.
"Does he always leave so early?" Marinette pressed him.
"No never— I mean—" Nino tried to cover his mistake. "You know, he's seeing Chloe Bourgeois now, he goes over to her place all the time."
Marinette couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"Nino, you've always been a terrible liar," she told him.
Nino gave Marinette a pleading look.
"Leave him alone, Marinette. You're bad luck to him."
This gave Marinette pause, but she continued anyway, giving Nino a sad look.
"Nino, play it once for old time's sake," she almost whispered.
"I don't know what you mean, Marinette," Nino insisted, continuing his jazz tune.
"Play it, Nino. Play As Time Goes By."
"I can't remember it, Marinette"
"I'll hum it for you."
Marinette began to softly hum the tune, and Nino gave her an almost pitying look before finally caving and transitioning to the requested song.
"Don't make me call Clara back over here to sing it," Marinette teased.
Nino rolled his eyes and halfheartedly began to sing.
"You must remember this,
A kiss is just a kiss,
A sigh is just a sigh,
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by…"
Before Nino had even reached the second verse, the door to the back lounge flew open and Adrien Agreste was storming over to the piano.
"Nino, I thought I told you never to play it!" he said, his voice filled with anger.
Nino stopped playing just as Adrien realized who was with him at the piano. Adrien stopped speaking. He stopped moving all together. He stood, frozen, as Marinette met his gaze. Adrien didn't even look like he was breathing. He just stood there, in shock, unable to process what was happening. Nino, taking the opportunity, quickly closed up the piano and rolled it back to its storage place against the wall before ducking into the staff door and disappearing.
To Marinette, it felt like time was frozen. But just as quickly as the spell had started, it was broken by the arrival of Luka and Kagami at their table.
"Well, you were asking about Adrien, and here he is," Kagami addressed Marinette. "Adrien, have you met—"
"Hello Marinette," Adrien interrupted.
"Hello Adrien," Marinette replied.
"Oh, you've already met Adrien, Marinette?" Kagami asked, looking surprised. She turned to Adrien. "Do you also know—"
"This is Luka Couffaine," Marinette introduced her partner to Adrien.
"It's nice to meet you," Luka said to Adrien, offering his hand to shake.
Adrien took the hand shake and replied, "How do you do."
"One hears a lot about Adrien Agreste in Paris," Luka said conversationally.
"And about Luka Couffaine everywhere," Adrien countered.
"Won't you join us for a drink?" Luka asked.
At this offer, Kagami laughed out loud.
"Oh no," she said, "Adrien never—"
"Thanks, I will," Adrien interrupted her, taking his seat at the table along with Luka and Marinette.
"A precedent is being broken," Kagami remarked, the surprise evident on her face as she joined the other three at the table.
"This is a most interesting club," Luka commented to Adrien. "I congratulate you."
"And I congratulate you," Adrien told him.
"What for?" Luka asked.
"Oh— your work," Adrien answered vaguely. He was replying to Luka but he never took his eyes off Marinette. Marinette saw that Luka had noticed this, but he chose not to comment.
"Thank you, I try," Luka accepted the compliment, trying to keep the conversation going.
"We all try, you succeed." Adrien replied, still looking at Marinette.
"I can't get over you two," Kagami interrupted their exchange, still clearly flustered at the strange development.
"She was asking about you earlier, Adrien, in a way that made me extremely jealous," Kagami teased him in an uncharacteristically lighthearted tone.
"I wasn't sure you were the same," Marinette clarified. "The last time we met…"
"It was the day Ladybug left Paris," Adrien finished for her.
"Not an easy day to forget, I suppose," Marinette bit back her lip in hesitation.
"No, I remember every detail," Adrien continued. "The Akuma wore gray, Ladybug, of course, wore red. But you were wearing blue."
"Yes, well, I put that dress away," Marinette informed him. "Perhaps when Ladybug returns to Paris I'll wear it again."
Kagami shifted uncomfortably and seemed to want to turn the conversation away from superheroes.
"Adrien, you're becoming quite human," she said, almost sounding disappointed. "I suppose we have you to thank for that, mademoiselle."
"Marinette, I hate to be the one to say it—" Luka cut in, "but it's getting late."
He was right. Last call had come and gone, and there were only a handful of patrons still in the club. Luka waved to Alya to get their bill.
"I hope we haven't overstayed our welcome, Adrien." Luka told their host.
"Not at all," Adrien asserted flatly.
When Alya came to the table with the bill, she tried to hand it to Luka but Adrien took it from her hands first.
"It's on the house," Adrien told them.
Kagami again looked surprised by this gesture, and she gave Adrien a quizzical look that Marinette could not discern the meaning behind.
"Another precedent broken," Kagami noted quietly. "This has been a most interesting evening."
A notification pinged on Luka's phone.
"That's our taxi," he told Marinette. "Thank you Adrien, you have a wonderful club, we'll come again."
"Any time," Adrien smiled politely at him.
As they headed out, Marinette paused to speak to Adrien one last time.
"You'll say goodnight to Alya and Nino for me?" she asked him.
"I will," Adrien said, his expression unreadable.
"There's still nobody in the world who can play 'As Time Goes By' like Nino," said Marinette.
"He hasn't played it for a long time." Adrien reminded her.
Marinette paused. There was so much she wanted to say to Adrien. So much she wished she could explain, but now was not the right time.
"Goodnight," Marinette finally said, giving Adrien a warm smile.
No matter how hard Adrien tried to maintain his cool and collected Nightclub Owner persona, he couldn't help but melt a little at Marinette's smile.
"Goodnight," he told her, finally showing a sad smile on his face.
Marinette and Luka departed out the front door and quickly found their taxi. As they got in, Luka looked back at the club.
"Strange man, this Adrien guy. What sort is he?" Luka casually asked Marinette.
Marinette swallowed a lump in her throat and looked away. With some effort, she managed to keep her voice even in her reply.
"Oh, I really can't say, though I did see him quite often back in collége."
Luka did not press the matter further.