A/N: I just started the last yesr of my career and I up to my ears. I'm sorry, but it looks like it's going to take longer.

I've changed the powers of some miracles, but I'm still missing two. If anyone can think of one that would be great.

I can't see the cover. Do you see it?

This one is a little shorter than usual in the previous part. The first of the previous ones were more than 5000 words and the rest between 4000 and 5000. This one is approximately 4000, but some could be longer. The size I measure in Spanish.

Thanks to Katherine.

"How are we going to find the guardian?" I ask. Someone must have an idea.

Chloe's eyes widen and she looks between Alix and me. I think she does not have what I am looking for.

"Don't know. My father and brother have been looking for him for quite some time." says Alix. "Even I can't see it with my miracle. He uses the protection miracle or something."

I did not know that, although it was to be expected. Hawk Moth must have looked for the guardian before us and clearly he has not been able to find him.

"We have to find it as soon as possible if we want to have time to train the other holders for when that army acts. It is he who chooses them."

"Who has said that?" It can be heard from Alix's direction, only it is not her voice, but Fluff's. "Well, actually I do know who did it. You have to tell them."

Tell us what? Who?

There is a silence.

"Go to my house." says Alix. "Someone can come here at any time."

She collects all the things she had brought to make graffiti.

Her father and her brother are in her house. They greet us as we enter and go to her room.

How much exactly do they know? Do you know who we are?

"What do you have to tell us?" Chloe asks.

Both Longg and Pollen have a reaction. I do not know exactly what it is supposed to mean, but they must be the ones who have not told us something.

"Do you know where the guardian is?" Fluff intervenes again.

My kwami shakes his head.

"No. We were in little boxes. From the guardian's box to the holders' houses it was as if we were sleeping."

If he had known where the guardian was, I would not have forgiven him.

"If not that, what have not you told us?"

My question makes them look at each other.

"It is not the guardian who chooses the holders." declares Pollen.

That is what Longg told me. He lied to me.

"If not him, who does it?" asks Alix.

"Us." says Longg. "We kwamis depend on humans. Human action has weakened us, so we need to bond with a human to continue living. And we have to, since we represent all aspects of nature."

"To choose a human we need their magic to be compatible with us." Pollen explains. "The guardian cannot know how we feel about a person. We have to choose ourselves."

"Longg just said that being in that little box is like being asleep. How do you select us then?"

Chloe's doubt makes a lot of sense. If the guardian is able to know what the kwamis think inside the boxes, then it is as if he chose us himself.

"Because we do it when you are babies. You are much more vulnerable, it is easier to make a connection. One night, we all go out by ourselves to look for babies." says Longg.

That sounds like they are harmful or dangerous.

"In addition, choosing babies means that we all have holders of close ages, so you can get along better." Pollen continues.

"We have to choose on the same day. That's why I chose you. You're the only one of the right age in the Kubdel family."

I do bot think it is right that Fluff said that. It sounds like he had no choice while Chloe and I were chosen from all the magical children there were.

"Then the guardian only had to know which people you had chosen."

That has to be difficult.

"Yes. We leave magical marks on you that only he knows how to read."

"Still, it is too complicated. The guardian has to go all over the world looking for children. Maybe that is why he selected us, despite our different characters." I theorize.

Pollen wrinkles her face.

"Why do you think we choose children from all over the world? That is very complicated to do in one day."

"Because Longg chose me and I had never left Japan until last year."

The kwami gets in front of my face.

"That is not true, Kagami-san. You lived here when you were a baby, in a house as full of swords as the current one. That is why I chose you instead of another magical baby. I knew you would learn to fight."

But my mother has never told me that I have been to France.

Longg has no reason to lie about this, he must be telling the truth.

"Why did you want me to be your holder?" Chloe asks her kwami.

"Because you are as close to a princess as possible in this country. I always have to serve a queen."

I am surprised she says something like that. The French really like the Republic. But they take it well.

"Why did not you tell me you chose me?"

I look at Longg, accusing him. Yes, it bothers me when people lie to me. My mother hides things from me, Longg hides things from me. Even D'Argencourt hid from me why Martin could not be trusted. He could have attacked me.

They hide things from me as if I were a child incapable of thinking for myself or accepting the truth. I am not that immature.

"I know you are hurt, but previous holders have felt great pressure knowing that I had chosen them personally. I am old and powerful. They tried to impress me and what I want is closeness and familiarity, which we have. It is much better that they think it was some random old man and want to impress him."

It is logical and based on experience. It is a good argument. I cannot not forgive him, even if my feelings say no.

"Still, why did you have to rat us out, Fluff? It is treacherous."

"We are in an unprecedented and dangerous situation. Someone is using a miracle for evil and to attack the guardian and me. He takes a lot of risks by searching for other holders. I don't give a shit if you're upset, Longg."

He does not answer. He must have thought what I did before: logical and well-argued.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Chloe asks.

"Ego." Pollen answers. "Queens usually have a lot. I didn't know you back then and I wasn't going to risk it."

My friend nods.

"Well, now that we have cleared up the lies, we have to find the guardian. Let's start with the description: What is he like physically? Do you know what he does?"

"He is an old, Chinese man. He works on something, but I don't remember what." says Pollen.

Not very detailed.

"He works in traditional Chinese medicine, doing acupuncture and selling remedies, from his house."

That may be better.

"So we look for all the men who do traditional Chinese medicine in Paris and make a list to visit them." Chloe suggests.

Alix and I agree and Alix brings a sheet of paper and three pens. The three of us search on our phones and write down all the places. They are a few.

"There are quite a few. No problem, we share them. You just have to pretend that you have hurt each other in front of your parents and..."

"If I have an injury, my mother is usually the one who treats me." I interrupt her. "I could go secretly."

Alix shakes her head.

"No. The two of us will go."

"I can't do it either." says Chloe. "I'm sure my mother would forbid it. Traditional Chinese medicine is Chinese. You already know how she is with foreign things."

True. Her mother is a racist. And she hits her too. I was very surprised to see it on Alya's blog. I have wanted to ask her, but I do not know how. She is... special with that kind of thing. I am worried about her. I wish I could bring her home and get her away from that witch.

"Well, I'll do it. I will ask my father and brother for help. They already know I'm Bunnyx and they've already been looking for the guardian..."

It is lunchtime when they arrive.

The weather is wonderful, light rain and pleasantly cool. I love the smell of wet earth.

When it rains I feel much more energetic, so I have been taking notes all morning without missing anything.

During the lunch break, they have let us go out and also stay in the classroom if that is what we prefer.

We have decided to go out, they know that I love the rain, and we have sat on a bench under an arcade. Although in part it has been because of the suffocating atmosphere of the class, for them, of course. I have not noticed this environment.

Our class is dividing: some people have left Marinette and approached Lila. I have noticed that. There is tension between the two groups, according to Alix.

Adrien has not come with us. He is still gaining Lila's favor, and according to the new situation, we need him. Despite being aware of it, I would have preferred him to come with us.

We are halfway through our lunch (mine is no longer a bento) when we see two people enter. At first glance they seem like normal people, for example, coming to pick up a sick student.

It is not until they approach us, since we are the only ones outside, that we see the badges on the belt loops of their pants. They are cops.

I have no doubt that it is because of Mr. Martin. What else could it be? The police have never entered the premises because of the akumas, at most, they stayed outside to protect us from the adults who came with the first ones. But they are no longer there. They left, as did half the city.

Seeing them startles me, however, I am able to hide my feelings and put on a pristine mask of coldness. They cannot notice for a second that I know why they are here.

"Good morning. We would like to know where the director's office is located." says the woman in a tone authoritative enough for us to answer and soft enough so that we do not feel threatened.

Alix points to a staircase.

"Over there, up, straight ahead. Big doors. No loss." She explains quite naturally. I am sure she knows why they have come and I do not know how she manages to seem so disinterested. It almost seems like she has nothing to do with it.

"Thank you." says the man. And they leave.

The moment we have lost sight of them, we look at each other.

"Do they know that I was the one who found the body?"

Alix shakes her head.

"It doesn't look like they recognized you."

It is strange. I feel a pain in my chest. I am sure it is guilt. The curious thing is not that, but that I have not felt it in all this time. I was just surprised at what I managed to do myself.

I have been thinking about it and they are right. Logic says I did the right thing. Morality says I did the right thing. Men like him do not have to exist. The hand of fate decided that I should do it.

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? If you think about it, nothing really happened to me. I'm not a victim here. It was just a momentary scare. Nothing else."

Her tone is strange. I think she is trying to convince herself.

"If it were not for me you would be a victim, Alix. Do not try to minimize it. For my part, I'm fine. And every time I see you I feel better."

Every time I see her I reaffirm myself. I did the right thing.

"If they are here it is because they have already identified it. Very slow to be because he had his identification with him, but too fast to be due to coincidences with missing people. Do you think he was registered?"

Yes. From what D'Argencourt said, I am sure this is not the first time he has done something like this. I do not know why he was not in jail. How many more people knew he was a rapist? Why have they let him be around minors? Actually, yes I know. D'Argencourt said they were very desperate for a teacher after kicking him out. Now they will have to hire him again, like he wanted.

"We have to think about what I'm gonna tell them." says Alix. "I was his student. If they're gonna ask anyone, I might be one of those people."

Chloe turns in her direction, her back to me.

"You have to act surprised, confused and even a little curious, as if you had nothing to do with the topic. You don't have to say anything bad about him or you will be a suspect. And if they ask you, you were at home. Nothing has occurred here." she orders her.

She talks as if she already knows how to do this kind of thing. I remember her telling me that she knew what she had to do, that she had done it before. Where does all that knowledge come from?

Lunchtime is over and we have to go back to class.

From my seat I watch as Adrien returns from the back row. That is where Lila officially sits.

"Well?" Chloe asks.

"It is going well. I think she likes me."

"Of course she likes you. Who doesn't like handsome and rich boys?"

Adrien looks at Alix, who is not paying any attention to us and, instead, has her head turned to the right, where Nathanael, Max and Kim sit.

Has not he gotten over it yet? I thought I had helped him with that.

"What difference does that make? I'm already over it. But she's showing you that you're not right, Chloe."

"She doesn't matter. Lila is much more normal."

Adrien nods and looks at me.

"Are you coming to my house this afternoon?"

He is asking me. Does Chloe get left out of it?

"For study?"

He shrinks his shoulders.

"Sure. Why not?"

Why else?

In the middle of the fifth class of the day there is a knock at the classroom door. The teacher opens without really knowing what is happening. We already imagined it.

The two police officers enter, accompanied by Mr. Damocles.

"Guys, these police officers need to ask you some things. I would like you to help them as much as you can."

Everyone starts talking to each other at the same time, asking questions and making comments, so that you cannot hear anyone in particular, just a lot of noise. To hide it, I think, Alix comes closer to me and says something I cannot hear. Adrien turns and looks at us with furrowed zeal. He is confused.

"Silence!" exclaims the director.

Everyone shuts up and sits up straight, looking straight ahead.

Alya raises her hand.

"Yes, Miss Cesaire?"

"The police cannot interrogate us without our parents' permission, we are minors."

Then the man intervenes.

"It is not an interrogation. None of you are suspects. We just want to ask you some questions."

Alya does not respond at all to that.

"Do you know anything about Mr. Martin, the physical education teacher?"

Why does he ask that question? They have to know that he is dead.

They may want to gauge our reactions. I left my expression blank. I am trained, I can do it.

"Professor Martin missed class on Friday." says Kim.

I notice the woman staring at Chloe. She must know that she was the one who found the body.

"Have any of you had conflicts with Mr. Martin?"

Some classmates look around, looking for whoever says yes. I do it too, but to see what Alix does.

She is not doing anything special. She is hiding it. That is good.

After a moment of silence, he asks yet another question.

"Do any of you know of anyone who has had conflicts with Mr. Martin?"

Once again, no one says anything.

They say something to the director in a low tone and the three say goodbye and leave.

Those questions are strange, as if they knew what that man was. Taking into account what D'Argencourt told me, it is very possible that they knew this and that they were looking for a student who could guide the investigation.

They knew it and yet they let him come here.

They are inhuman.

I arrive at the Agreste house after finishing my fencing class and take a shower. Luckily, my class is early and I still have the rest of the afternoon. Besides, my mother was not there to forbid me from going out. Anyway, I think she would have let me do it if I had told her it was for studying, although not if she knew it was with Adrien.

Even though our parents hate each other, Mr. Agreste does not seem to be against him spending time with his son. However, I have not seen him either when I came, as if he reject me. The truth is I do not understand. I do not understand the behaviors or the hints. I do not know if he is trying to tell me something by not showing up when I am here.

I should not worry so much about codes of conduct or I would never stop doing it.

The woman opens the door.

"Ah, you are Adrien's friend who has already been here. Then I guess you can take yourself to his room."

All of Adrien's friends and even non-friends have been here. Akumatized Nino brought us by force. But I do not think anyone ever entered the house.

I go to his huge room. He is sitting on his couch, playing one of those shooting video games. I do not know which one it is, they all look the same to me. He does not greet me or give any sign of knowing that I have arrived.

I walk over to the couch and put my backpack next to him. He gets startled and pauses the game so he can look at me.

"Hello." He says with a smile. "Hey, closes the door. You don't want me to get caught skipping piano practice?"

He gets up to close it, leaving the controller on the couch. Now that he mentions it, I realize that a piano melody accompanies us. I notice that his phone is playing a YouTube video through the speakers, but with the correct volume so that it seems like he is playing it.

"You also disobey your father."

"Sometimes. It's hard to follow that schedule. Do you remember that day I was so... depressed because of the amount of things I had to do? I've thought of a way to avoid getting to that point.†

Oh. He definitely has not called me to study.

"Why I am here?" I ask. I cannot think of what he could want from me.

He grimaces. Did I say something wrong?

"I used to spend a lot of time with Nino. Whenever I had some time, I would call him. Now I'm no longer hanging out with him and I've started making plans with Chloe. I realized that I was leaving you aside and I don't want to."

"Am I a substitute?"

"Of course not. I just wanted to spend time with you."

That is ok. Very good. I like it.

If he just wants to relax and not study, what should we do? Video games are not my thing.

"Do you want us to exercise?"

"You are wearing a skirt."

Yes, it is true. It is not a good idea.

"Shall we play table football?"

He smiles.

"If you want to study, we can study."

No. I like to have fun too.

I go to the piano, sit down and turn off the music. With my arrival he is supposed to stop practicing.

I touch a key. It is an impulse, I do not really want to do anything with the piano. I get up to go to the table football. We are not going to study.

"Do you want me to play?"

I notice that in his gaze he points to the piano.

"You just said that you skipped practice."

"Practicing is not the same as playing for someone."

He walks over to the piano and sits on the stool. He gestures for me to sit next to him.

"Which one do you want me to play?"

"I do not know. I know how to play the cello and I am not very good at it, so I was not interested in compositions for other instruments."

He shrinks his shoulders.

"Don't worry, I choose."

He begins to play a slow, calming and very beautiful melody. It calms me so much that I begin to relax. I closed my eyes and lean to the side, resting my head.

The music continues, making me lose myself in it and almost fall asleep.

The melody ends and I feel a touch on my face, as they brush my hair aside and put it behind my ear. They also graze my neck, but I am not afraid. I am not scared like I was a few days ago. I am accompanied, I am with Adrien.

Oh, wow.

I get away from him quickly, I had leaned on his shoulder. How did it occur to me?

I look at him, embarrassed, and his eyes are wide and his hand is raised.

He puts it down and faces the piano again.

It is true what Alix said. This is uncomfortable.

It is uncomfortable because I do not know what to do. It is uncomfortable because I realize that with him I let my guard down. What is different about him? With the girls happen too, but much less. It is uncomfortable because this behavior that we have among ourselves is not among those that the application explains. That means that we are something different from friends.

I do not fully understand how these things work. I should ask him.

"Adrien."

"Do you want to play the video game?" he interrupts me. He points at the television, with the video game paused.

He has not let me speak. It might be a good idea, sometimes I do things without thinking. Maybe asking him directly makes him feel uncomfortable.

I open my mouth. I do not know what I am going to say.

"You know? I'm going for an appetizer, a fruit salad. And we start studying. You're right that we need it."

He gets up and leaves, very quickly. I am right, he is uncomfortable. But I would really like to understand what happened.

"Kagami-san, please do not do that when I am with you."

That makes no sense. He is my kwami, who goes with me everywhere.

"You are always."

"Exact. You should focus on Hawk Moth and his new army, not on boys."

He is right. This is stupid. What we have discovered is much more important, crucial for the future of Paris. What we have to do is find the guardian to help us find the rest of the holders.

Adrien returns with a bowl of cut fruit and a smile so forced I notice it.

This is going to be even more awkward.

We began to study, in silence and eating some fruit from time to time.

Until Adrien speaks. Luckily, it is not what just happened. Unfortunately, it is another topic that I do not want to talk about either.

"How strange today, right?"

You do not have to be very smart to realize that he is referring to the police. I make sure to put on my mask of indifference.

"It was curious, and very unusual." I answer. It is a neutral response, like I am supposed to be. "I do not have class with him, so I do not know what those questions are about."

Adrien slowly chews a piece of apple. He looks at his homework, at the piano, at the climbing wall. I think he has a hard time saying something.

"Mr. Martin is... strange. Well, no. He is not. It is creepy. He is always very close to the girls. He has even changed the way he warms up, so that he almost always does it near a girl. They may be looking for him for something related to harassment."

Oh. So there were signs. The students knew it.

I should act surprised. Alix has not told me any of this and it is assumed that D'Argencourt has not either. Plus, I have been psyching myself up about how to lie.

"Is the teacher a molester?"

He shrugs.

"I think so. The best thing would be to ask the girls, but none of them have said anything to the police."

I nod. He seems less uncomfortable with me.

I feel much more tense. Never to be liked by all.