Chapter Thirty-Six
"But– but I didn't do anything this time!" Marinette protested, staring down at her phone with wide eyes.
Plagg groaned as he was awoken, an eye cracking open. It was the weekend– and one thing his kid got right was the value of sleep. Why she wasn't sleeping in, he didn't know. He pushed himself up, looking at her as she stared at her cellular telephone, and she looked panicked. So he drifted up off of her bed, floating over to look at her phone, seeing that it was ten thirty in the morning– they could have easily gotten another few hours of sleep!
"Oh," he said, realizing what got her so worried. Human technology was always confusing, but he had gotten more familiar with the most recent advances being with a young holder, and the fact that she had given him one of his own in his purse, so he knew what he was looking at, and why she was so worried.
[Trending Now: #AdrienAgreste, #LadyNoire, #akuma.]
"I didn't do anything in the battle yesterday!" She protested.
He landed on her shoulder, letting out a small purr to try and calm her. "Kid, relax, you know how stupid the human media is. Remember with Reverser how they were all like 'oh where was Lady Noire, poor Crimson Beetle fighting on his own' when you got the Blogger-girl not to post something about Lady Noire? You can never win. Just move on and– no, kid, don't read through– and there she goes."
Marinette started scrolling through the Lady Noire hashtag, apprehensively peering at the words that would appear. Plagg was tempted to grab her phone and fly across the room, but she would just get it back and look anyway. So instead he just tensed on her shoulder, watching that horrible screen for the horrible words that would appear. He hated technology sometimes, it exposed his holder to much more of the negative impressions humans had of them than those in previous decades– and it was hard enough for those holders.
The top post was by some user with the name Wayhem_Agreste, with a video of Lady Noire diving off of the tower to rescue the model kid. Plagg wouldn't say anything out loud, but he had been glad of his kid's quick thinking to save her partner, even if she didn't know it was him. Not that he liked the kid– but he was just a kid. And he hadn't done anything. Yet.
Besides, he didn't want Tikki to have to lose a holder so young. She never did well when they died before their old years, and unfortunately they had had a few holders like that. Tikki still cried about Joan whenever she thought about that young bug and... Plagg shuddered– those were times he tried his best to push out in his mind, and he quickly refocused his attention on the video as Marinette watched it.
"Oh wow," she said softly. "That was much quicker than I remembered."
"Yeah, you humans don't have the best memory," he replied.
Marinette rolled her eyes, and kept scrolling. Plagg's eyes scanned over each username, trying to ingrain them in his mind so he could remember who had been horrible to his kid– but the posts that were appearing were not the normal ones they were used to seeing. Marinette slowed down from her speed scrolling, swiping back up to look over them again more slowly.
[Why aren't more people talking about how Lady Noire didn't even hesitate to jump off that tower? That was pretty epic
[Adrien Nation, we gotta stan our new queen for saving Adrien Agreste!
[New favorite hero, anyone that saves Adrien is the best in my book
[I can't believe Lady Noire got to hold Adrien Agreste, what I would do to be her right now.
[Ladrien for life!
[ngl wish I was Adrien Agreste right then, what I'd do to have a pretty girl scoop me up like that.
"...That's new," Marinette said quietly, looking stunned.
"Are all of these fans of the model boy?" Plagg said, wrinkling his nose. "How many does he even have?"
[still can't believe adrien fell like he's just so amazing and doesn't deserve this thank goodness for lady noire]
[reading through my feed this morning and everyone is praising someone for saving someone when they wouldn't have to if they had even done their job right? people can be so backwards these days.]
[–Pretty sure Lady Noire was the only one doing her job, she was the first one there.]
[– –didn't stop adrien from being taken in the first place]
[– – –of course everyone is worried about the rich kid, you all wouldn't blink if the gorilla had taken someone else]
[– – – –how dare you insult adrien he is the best person on earth I love him so much!]
[– – – – –too bad they didn't take the cat, that would be funny]
[– – – – – –Too bad they didn't take you, would have saved us this conversation]
Plagg reached forward, tapping out of the reply thread as it went on. "Come on kid, you know these arguments never make sense anyways."
"They..." Marinette said slowly, still staring at the screen. "They... they like me?"
Plagg watched her closely, surprised that her focus wasn't on the mixed conversation– but he was just fine with that. Excitement coursed through him at the fact she wasn't grasping at the negative words, but he just simply rolled his eyes as he settled down onto her shoulder.
"People have always liked you, the decent people, anyways. There's the band people, fencing girl… model boy, too, I guess… they're just all cowards for not shouting it loud and clear until now."
He eyed more posts as she scrolled– and not everything was warm and positive. Critiques about how she had slipped up at the end, Adrien must have been hurt, why had she used her baton like that, why couldn't she have been quicker– but they were the minority among Adrien's fans that praised Lady for saving the model, all echoing Adrien's own post for how he wouldn't be here without her.
Why did he have to be involved when it came to this city finally treating his kitten as something worthwhile? Why couldn't they see it on their own?
"Y-yeah but– but this–" She looked down at the app, then at Plagg, her eyes shining bright. "Lady Noire is trending, and it's because they're happy with me, not because I messed up again. They... they were defending me, I..." She shook her head, smile fading somewhat. "S-sorry– I guess I shouldn't be feeding my ego like that, I just..."
"Hey, kid," Plagg said, zipping up close to her face, paw on her forehead. "Don't say that– you can celebrate all you want, and anyone that says otherwise can taste my Cataclysm– it's 'bout time this stupid city actually opened up their eyes."
Marinette looked at him for a moment, before pulling the kwami into a huge hug, causing him to let out a slight squawk in surprise. "This is the best day ever!"
He phased through her arms as she fell back into bed with a squeal. "Ow, why you humans gotta squeeze things when you're happy?"
"Sorry, Plagg, I just... gah– I don't even know! I just... I just feel great!" Marinette beamed, a smile on her face. Plagg watched her as she rolled over and scrolled through her phone a bit more, and he realized it had been quite a while since her gaze had been that bright. He hovered there, the thoughts of going back to sleep now gone, just observing his holder.
That perfect smile was interrupted by the alert of a text, however, which Marinette quickly read. Her eyes then widened, and she sprang to her feet, rushing down from the loft and into the main section of her room, phone forgotten. Plagg drifted after her, watching as she took her cover off of her sewing machine, pulling her latest project forward.
"I completely forgot Lila was coming over today!" Marinette cried, turning on the sewing machine as she lined up the shirt with the foot of the machine, before working on a seam. "We were going to be doing another fitting today, and I don't even have the basics fully sewn, I can't have her try it on when it's still being held together by pins!"
Plagg's ears fell back. "Oh. That girl."
Marinette sighed, but didn't look up as she hurried on with her project. "Can there just be one friend of mine that you don't hate? What has Lila ever done to you?"
"To me? Well, she's made you cancel several of our cheese shopping trips–!"
"That was only one time, Plagg."
"–And as criminal as that is, it isn't about what she's done to me, it's about what she's done to you," Plagg continued, and Marinette just looked up at him like he was being ridiculous. "First of all, she acts like she has claws with the way she hangs onto you–"
"Physical affection isn't the end of the world."
"She doesn't know how to shut up and always just keeps talking and talking, like, really, she never lets you be a part of the conversation she's having with you!"
"Is good for her to practice her French in more casual situations," Marinette replied, and Plagg tugged at his whiskers in exasperation.
"She guilted you into making that shirt!"
"She did not 'guilt' me–"
"'Oh, the clothes you make are so pretty, Marinette'," Plagg said in a high pitched voice. "'Oh, I wish I could have something like this, but I couldn't afford to pay you for this quality, it's just such neat work. Oh! You'll make me a shirt for free, you shouldn't have, Marinette, even though you didn't say free, you said we could work something out, but you're such a great friend'."
"Sure you aren't the kwami of dramatics?" Marinette asked, shaking her head as she worked.
"She's the dramatic one!" Plagg protested. "'Oh no, I have a hangnail, someone carry all my stuff for me!' 'Oh dear, I stumbled, I think I'll have to sit out of gym today, and of all the days it's the boring hard day!' 'Oh Marinette's mom, I just love your baking, I think it's the best, Marinette talks all about it at school and it's legendary. Just smelling it all takes me back to my childhood, how many more compliments do I have to spit out until you give me a free sample already?'"
"My mom always gives my friends free food," Marinette said, holding up the shirt to look over the seams. "Then again, you don't like any of them, so I guess that's just a standard complaint, then?"
"Eh... I guess the DJ boy isn't too annoying?" Plagg offered. "But he's best friends with model boy and dating blogger-girl, so no accounting for taste."
But of course Marinette brushed off his very valid concerns with just a laugh, and continued working on the shirt. She didn't stop, not even to go get breakfast, and only finally pulled away from the sewing when Lila came into the room, along with Sabine, who thankfully had a tray of food for her daughter. Much to Plagg's delight, there were several cheesy options on her plate– but he had to hide away as the two girls hung out.
Most of it was Lila talking as Marinette took some measurements and worked on the promised shirt, Marinette splitting her meal with Lila as the girl remarked how small her own breakfast had been. Not only did Lila end up eating a majority of what was on the plate– she also ended up eating the cheddar danishes that were supposed to end up in his stomach!
This girl was a monster and Marinette did not even see it.
"I don't know, Lila..." Marinette said uncertainly. "Lace is kind of hard to work with and I don't have much experience with it... I don't usually have any hanging about because of that, and if you want anything halfway decent, it will be a bit more on the expensive side."
"I can pay for the lace," Lila said slowly after a moment.
"No no," Marinette said quickly. "This is supposed to be a gift, you're not paying for anything."
Lila beamed. "So we can add some lace?"
"Y-yeah, of course. Um, I'll just have to go shopping, so the shirt might take a bit more time, if that's okay..."
"Marinette, you are the absolute best!" Lila said, throwing her arms around his holder– and Plagg let out a low hiss as he watched from the loft above. "Do you think I could go with you? We could make it another hang out, you know, I'm sure it would be so much fun."
"Of course."
"Awesome!" Lila said excitedly, leaping to her feet. "Well, I have to go soon, my parents were invited to dinner tonight and I get to go with them. I don't usually get to go to any events like that, so I'm really excited!"
"You have to tell me how it goes," Marinette said, pushing herself to her feet, following Lila through the trapdoor as she headed downstairs, leaving Plagg alone in Marinette's room.
He zipped out of his hiding place, ears back unhappily. The more Marinette was around this girl, the more he hated her. She took every opportunity she could to make sure they spend time together– and all that time just resulted in the exact same things. Marinette would be back up here to continue working on the shirt, and they were probably going to run off to the store together, and then he was sure Lila was going to wedge herself into the next empty timeslot of Marinette's time.
"Humans are so stupid," he muttered. He drifted to her phone, unlocking it with ease and scrolling through her contacts. He hesitated for a moment– before deleting Lila, Alya, and Adrien from off of it. It would probably only remain like that for a few hours, Marinette usually caught on fairly quickly when he deleted things.
He closed out of her contacts, and saw that the LadyNoire hashtag was still open. He refreshed the page, eyes scanning the most recent posts. His nose crinkled as he saw Adrien had posted something new, but didn't unfollow him like he had done before. His posts were actually doing some good, more useful than his time as Crimson Beetle– so he'd let it be for now. He continued scanning the text on screen, a majority of it talking about model kid taking a tumble, and praising Lady Noire for her swift actions.
[Flood the hashtag with positive things there's too many that aren't we need positive words for the queen!]
It was annoying that it had taken so long for these stupid humans to do something right. Things would be so much easier if he could just walk out there and say everything that's on his mind– but no, a kwami can't just walk into the middle of town and give a speech.
Unless...
He abandoned Marinette's phone on her bed, and dove down towards his purse on the vanity. He phased in, finding the iPod touch Marinette had included within. He usually just used it to google images of cheese, but it could access the internet just like the phone his holder possessed.
It took some time to navigate to the website he wanted, which in turn directed him to the app. But soon it was downloaded, and he could click on the 'create account' button that sat there before him.
"Whaddya mean I need the email?" Plagg growled, ears falling back. "How am I supposed to get one of those?"
He soon found out why humans used the Google all the time– it had more information than the Library of Alexandria! Soon, he had all the information he needed to get his paws on the email, but soon he encountered his next hurdle– a last name. Kwamis didn't have one of those, yet the small little box insisted it was required. He supposed he could choose one for himself, because that was what he would do if he had a second name.
So he typed in 'Camembert', and continued on.
After that he ran into an even bigger problem, that being a birthday. He scrolled as far back through years as it would let him– but disturbingly it didn't go past the 1900's! That was several billion human years off, and quite inconsiderate for beings that could live longer than a century or so. He considered just counting each cycle as just one human year, but unfortunately he had lived well over a million cycles, and the human years wouldn't even let him go back that far.
In the end, he had no choice but to select the earliest year possible, but then at last it allowed him to create the email, and step into the world of the internet.
Marinette said her goodbyes to Lila down in the bakery, who was happily accepting a small box of pastries from Sabine as her parents gave their own goodbyes. Marinette knew she needed to grab a few cheddar danishes for Plagg, as she had given the ones she usually got for him to Lila, and he didn't need another 'reason' to complain about one of her friends.
"Thank you so much, M. Dupain, Mme. Cheng, my moms will absolutely love these," Lila said.
"Well in that case, take a few more for yourself if you're going to share," Sabine said warmly, and Lila opened up the box so more pastries could be put within.
"Thank you!"
"You have fun tonight!" Marinette called.
"Bye, Mari!"
Soon the bell rang above the bakery as she left, and Marinette felt her shoulders relaxing slightly. She was too used to spending the weekends as lazy days, and honestly just wanted to go back to sleep. She smiled and made smalltalk with her parents as she got herself and Plagg a few pastries. Yes, Lila was a great friend. Yeah, it had been a while since Alya had been over. No, there was nothing going on, they were just busy. Yes, they did need to get together sometime soon.
The bell rang again as someone entered the bakery, and her parents turned their attention towards the customer. Marinette was going to use the moment to slip away back upstairs– only for a soft and gentle voice to greet her warmly. She turned, and was surprised to see a certain older woman standing at the counter, a soft smile on her face and an envelope under one arm.
"Marianne?" Marinette asked, looking at the Guardian in surprise.
"You know her?" Sabine asked.
"I've run into your daughter a few times," Marianne said warmly, smiling sweetly at her parents. "You've raised a sweet young woman, she has helped both me and my husband, and I just wanted to come say thank you."
Marianne pulled out an envelope that was tucked under her arm, handing it to Marinette.
"That's very kind of you," Tom said with a smile.
"A little thank you card," Marianne said, patting Marinette's hand. "And a certificate to this lovely little cafe here in the city you can enjoy."
"Thank you, Marianne," Marinette said warmly– though she had a feeling there wasn't a thank you card in the envelope.
"You take care," Marianne said, before turning and hobbling out of the bakery. Marinette couldn't help but think the slow walk was a bit exaggerated. Marianne was old, yes, but she had sworn she had seen the woman get around with far more ease in their previous encounters. Marinette turned the envelope over in her hands, mind elsewhere as she said goodbye to her parents, heading back upstairs to her room.
"Got you some danishes, Plagg," Marinette called as she opened the trap door, and immediately there was a black blur in front of her, small hands snatching the food from her hands before flying off towards the window– where he sat in the sun to eat.
She opened up the 'thank you' card, and found that there was indeed a gift card for fifty euros inside for her. The card, however, was not a thank you card, just like she had guessed– but instead she found instructions written on it. The address to the massage parlor, instructions on how to get there and not cross paths with Crimson Beetle, and the date that her Guardian training would begin.
"Oh wow," Marinette said softly. "They don't waste time, do they?"
"Did you bring any more?" Plagg asked, having finished the danish, and was now licking up crumbs from his paws.
"Adrien," Gabriel said as he pushed the door open to Adrien's room– causing Adrien to jump slightly. He had seen a lot of his father since yesterday– the man appearing at meal times to watch him and before he had gone to bed, but hadn't said much to him in regards to actual conversation. Adrien hadn't pushed anything, the tension around his father clear.
"Yes, Father?" Adrien said as he turned. His Chinese tutor was supposed to be coming soon, and he had been expecting either his teacher or Nathalie to walk in, not his father. Had his lessons been canceled? Did his father not want anyone else to come into the house? Was this just going to be the beginning of the protection his father was ready to suffocate him with?
"I want you to meet, M. Chan," Gabriel said, nodding towards the door as a very familiar man entered the room. "He's going to be your substitute tutor for today. I expect you to give him the same respect you do with your usual tutor and not treat today as time to relax."
"Of– of course, Father," Adrien stammered– staring at M. 'Chan' in surprise– who was rather the Guardian Fu. The man smiled warmly at him, greeting him as if they had never met, though there was a sparkle in his eye– and Gabriel left the room after that.
Maybe... maybe things wouldn't be as bad as he thought if his father was letting a stranger into the house.
"What are you doing here?" Adrien blurted out as soon as the door shut.
Fu smiled. "To teach you Chinese, of course. Your tutor is a friend of mine, and I was most happy to volunteer to substitute for him. Marianne might have convinced him that his cough was a bit more serious than it truly was... but unfortunately, you're not the easiest to contact, especially with that akuma yesterday."
"Don't remind me," Adrien muttered. "Father spiraled after the Gamer got me, I'm pretty sure he isn't going to let me leave the house again."
"If you need some help, just let me know," a voice said from Fu's pocket, and Trixx popped out, the Fox grinning. "I can be very convincing."
"Hello, Master Fu, hi, Trixx," Tikki said, flying out of Adrien's own pocket.
"Why don't you two kwamis run along," Fu said, waving Trixx off into Tikki's direction. "Just stay in the room and keep quiet, Adrien and I have work to do."
"What's going on?" Adrien asked. "Did something happen? Is everything okay?"
"As I said, I'm here to tutor you in Chinese," Fu replied. "Just because I need to talk to you does not mean we are skipping your lesson." The man slowly made his way over to Adrien's couch, slowly sitting down with a smile. "Of course, I also have some information on when you and Lady Noire will meet me for Guardian training– but that can wait until after."
"Are– are you serious?" Adrien said, staring at his father in shock.
"I see no reason why you cannot go and... mingle with this little band your friends have put together," Gabriel replied, working on his tablet. "Just make sure your bodyguard takes you, and take the time to truly work on your keyboard skills, and then that can count as your piano lessons for today."
"You're... you're letting me go out?" Adrien whispered in disbelief.
"Is that a problem?" Gabriel asked, looking up at Adrien, who jumped.
"N-no, not at all–! I just– I just thought, um, with the akuma and all that you would... want me to stay home?" Adrien said in a small voice, trailing off.
Gabriel looked away. "...Yes, I do... but that isn't what you would want to do, so... so I see no problem with you, er, 'hanging out' as long as you're careful and have supervision. Keep your phone on so I can check your location as needed."
"I get to go hang out with Kitty Section?" Adrien said again, a smile slowly spreading over his face. He had come in here ready to reason with his father, to do everything in his power not to be kept at home– and most importantly fight for not being taken out of school.
Instead, his father was letting him go hang out with friends, even after the akuma that had taken him just days before.
"Be back before dinner," Gabriel added after a moment of thought.
"I will, Father, thank you so much, Father," Adrien said, tempted to run around the desk and embrace the man, but instead he just gave his father a huge smile. Gabriel did not return it, just giving a half nod, before his eyes returned to his work.
Adrien hurried out of the atelier before Gabriel could change his mind, rushing out to his bodyguard, who gave a small smile when he saw the joy on Adrien's face. Adrien ran up to his room to grab his keyboard and some snacks for Tikki, before hurrying down to the limo where Ezra was now waiting. He texted Ivan that he was on his way before sitting back in his seat, taking in the fact that he was going out.
"I thought for sure Father was going to try having me be homeschooled again," Adrien blurted out– to both Tikki and Ezra, though neither could reply to him. "I didn't think he was going to say yes to me going!"
Tikki nuzzled up against him, while Ezra gave him a smile in the rearview mirror. The rest of the trip was silent, as car rides usually were for him. It wasn't a long drive to the nearest pier on the Seine, however, where the Couffaine's houseboat was docked, waiting for him. Adrien waved goodbye to Ezra, before hurrying out of the limo and on board; where Ivan, Mylene, Rose, Juleka, and Luka were all up on the main deck, the messy boat having been somewhat cleared off so they had room for their instruments.
"Hi, Adrien!" Rose beamed, waving as he climbed onto the boat. "I'm glad to see you in one piece!"
"Quite a fall you took," Ivan said in a low voice. "Could barely watch the video."
"Heh," Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was all so quick, you know? I didn't really process everything until after it was all over."
Adrien jumped slightly as a hand was laid on his shoulder, and he turned to see Luka standing there, a small smile on his face. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Me too," Adrien said, and he face palmed in his mind, because that sounded stupid.
"Think we could write a song about it?" Rose asked with a smile, and Juleka muttered something in reply. "Well, maybe not completely about it– but something inspired by it!"
"I can't imagine falling from that high," Mylene muttered, shuddering slightly, and Ivan put an arm around her. "I just... heights."
They all made their way over to their instruments as they spoke, Juleka pulling up next to Adrien as he set up his keyboard. He glanced at her, and she didn't say anything right away, so he continued working, waiting until she was ready. Eventually, she let out a small mumble, Adrien pausing to make sure he didn't miss any of her words.
"Pretty cool what your post did with your fans," Juleka said quietly.
Adrien grinned. "You don't know how happy I am to see Lady Noire finally getting some proper support."
"Maybe you should have posted something online sooner," Rose chirped.
"You think I haven't tried?" Adrien said. "Always ended up with Nathalie or the PR team deleting the post– then lecturing me about how I shouldn't be posting anything controversial and if I want to post something about the heroes, then just say 'the heroes' and not name them."
"Some of your fans got screenshots of them before those were deleted," Luka replied. "I saw one post saying that you were only saying good things about Lady Noire because she saved you, and that dude that posted the video of you falling replied with all these pictures of old posts you have made."
"Ah, moments when I'm grateful for obsessive fans," Adrien replied.
Their conversation drifted from Lady Noire to music from there, their music filling the air as the boat drifted away from the dock. Anarka was at the front of the houseboat as she steered them along. Not interrupting the practice, but still giving them all huge smiles as she walked by. The woman was the complete opposite of his own father, and he found it strange in his mind that the adult supervision wasn't watching them like a hawk.
Adrien didn't get to practice with the band often, but with his frequent piano practices, he didn't feel too off as they played, though he did have to change his playing speed several times to match the pace Rose was setting as she sang. Mylene sat off to the side, reading, not really paying attention to them, but not looking bothered by the rock music being blasted about her. They at first cycled through the three songs that had been written by Rose and the band, which Adrien had gotten the sheet music for from Juleka in class for the times he couldn't come, but from there they began playing other songs– classics from the radio, like Clara Nightingale and Jagged Stone.
It was around this time that Anarka came over, a tray full of treats in her hands. "Why don't you children take a break, ye all deserve a good rest."
With that, the music came to a stop, all of them gathering around to grab the donuts she was offering. Ivan made his way over to Mylene, the two sitting next to each other, while the twins and Rose went down below deck. Adrien followed after them, not wanting to interrupt Ivan and Mylene, and soon found himself in the twins' room. Adrien made sure to slip some bits of the donuts into his pocket for Tikki, who seemed to hum with excitement as she was given each piece.
"Don't have to squirrel away some for later, you know," Luka said as he sat down on his bed, and Adrien stiffened up as he realized he had been caught sneaking food to his kwami. "You're more than welcome to take some with you when you go."
"I, um, kind of have a diet?" Adrien offered, pulling his hand swiftly away from his pocket. "Father likes to make sure I'm eating well and doesn't always approve of a lot of snacks."
Luka smiled. "Need me to smuggle you some junk food?"
Adren laughed. "That would probably be truly criminal in my house."
"My mom would say that's all the more reason to," a playful smirk curled onto his face, before softening back into that gentle expression. "But really, if you are on some crazy model diet or something, I would be glad to help you out."
"It's nothing like that," Adrien replied. "Just more like Father making sure everything in the house is healthy and balanced and all that." He shrugged. "My nutritionist is always adjusting things every few weeks."
Adrien took a bite of donut, letting out a content hum.
"Well, if you're ever craving a pizza, give me a call," Luka said, reaching out and grabbing Adrien's arm, pulling him down so he was sitting down next to him. From there he scribbled a phone number down on his wrist. "I deliver, so I'll be able to score you a good deal."
Adrien stared down at the phone number for a moment, before pulling out his phone to add it to his contacts. He unfortunately would need to wash this off as soon as possible, because neither Nathalie nor Gabriel would react well to permanent marker on his skin. As he tucked his phone away, he found Luka whittling away at a small block of wood, carefully adding shape with each cut of his knife.
"What are you making?" Adrien asked after a moment, the form being that of an animal of some kind.
"It was going to be a unicorn for Rose," Luka said, holding it up so Adrien could get a better look. "But I accidentally carved the horn too thin and it snapped– so now it's just a horse."
"It still looks amazing," Adrien said softly. "I mean, you carved it yourself."
"I'm still a bit new to it all, but I've been wanting to get into woodworking." His eyes flickered up towards Adrien for a moment. "What I'd like to do one day is actually make some instruments, but I still have a long way to go before I reach that point."
He carved away several larger chunks of wood, working with what Adrien thought was surprising ease. "How do you know what to cut away?"
"Practice, I suppose," Luka replied. He turned the block over in his hands, giving Adrien a better look at it. The legs of the horse were mostly two rough points of wood, but the head and mane had been given detail. "It's like whatever you're making is already inside, and you need to bring it to the surface. Kind of like music, in a way– we all have songs in our hearts, but the world can only hear it once you bring it out."
He worked for a few more moments in silence, before slipping the wood and the knife away on a shelf near his bed. There stood several other carvings he had clearly made– a fox, owl, crocodile, and cat.
Adrien picked up the crocodile: while it had a gaping mouth, it lacked sharp teeth; he couldn't imagine carving something so tiny on something that was already so small. "Fang with no fangs?"
Luka glanced up, slightly surprised. "...Yeah, it is supposed to be Fang. I thought it didn't look that clear."
Across the room Juleka snorted, waving a hand towards Luka's half of the room, sarcasm in her quiet voice. "Oh, I can't possibly imagine how he could have guessed."
All eyes fell to the posters Luka had, all of them of music figures, and a majority of them being of Jagged Stone and his crocodile. Adrien spotted the one Jagged had modeled after his and Fang's akumatized forms, complete with a black cat and ladybug hanging onto the dragon's tail. There was also a large collection of guitar picks, all hanging up.
Luka scratched the back of his head. "Yeah... fair point."
Adrien grinned. "Jagged Stone is pretty awesome. Also a fellow supporter of Lady Noire, so all the better."
"Surprised Mom hasn't thrown away all your Jagged stuff yet," Juleka muttered.
"She wouldn't do that!" Rose protested.
"Your mom doesn't like Jagged?" Adrien said in surprise. With how much this family loved rock music, he thought all of them would be fans.
Luka shrugged. "Says his music is unoriginal and boring."
"'Loves the spotlight and not the music itself'," Juleka quoted.
"'Overrated'," Rose chimed in.
"Huh," Adrien said, but he knew a thing or two about being in the spotlight– there would be fans, and there would be haters. Just a part of having a well known name.
Unfortunately, his time with the band ended much more quickly than he would have liked. They all eventually made their way to the main deck, where Ivan and Mylene were saying their goodbyes as they were dropped off on shore. Luka had to get to work, bike in hand as Anarka pulled up close to the bank– her son jumping off with his bike hooked over his shoulder like he had done it a hundred times before.
That left Adrien with just Rose and Juleka as Anarka took them back towards the dock where the Gorilla would be parked, Adrien packing up his keyboard. It was compact, though a bit heavy, but his time running across rooftops had made it not as much of a burden as it might have once been.
"I hope your dad lets you come to more practices," Rose said happily. "It's a lot more fun when you're able to be here with everyone."
"I'm surprised he let me out at all, to be honest," Adrien replied. "But if he's letting me go after what happened on Friday... well, hopefully that's a sign of better things to come. When's the next practice, anyways?"
"Next weekend," Juleka said softly.
"I'll try my best to be here," Adrien said with a grin. "Thank you so much for having me even if I'm not able to be the most consistent member! Your brother is pretty awesome, Juleka."
"He's okay," Juleka replied, but the smile on her face showed she agreed.
"He's so sweet!" Adrien insisted. "And talented, too, an artist with both music and his crafts– probably never a dull day in your house with your family. I'll be honest, I don't know where to begin with anything besides a piano, but Luka seems to know everything, judging by your room– guitar, violin, keyboard, the bass..."
Juleka watched him for a moment, and Adrien trailed off uncertainly as she stared at him. Finally Jukela pushed herself to her feet, shaking her head. "Talk to Rose if you're going to ramble on about your crush on my brother, bit less awkward for her than me."
"Wh-what–?" Adrien croaked, eyes wide, but Juleka was already walking off, her bass guitar slung over her shoulder. Rose let out a laugh as she saw his expression as he gawked at Juleka. "She– she thinks that I–?"
"Well, you two weren't exactly subtle," Rose said. "It was really cute, actually!"
"I'm in love with Marinette!" Adrien protested.
"Who isn't?" Rose agreed, nodding her head. "Not a crime to have a crush on two people– Jules isn't exactly sneaky with her celebrity crush on Lady Noire, and I'll admit that before we got together, I was pretty head over heels about the idea of Prince Ali."
Rose let out a small giggle.
"But I–"
"Oh, looks like we're at your stop!" Rose said happily, pushing herself to her feet, pointing out at the limo. "Does your bodyguard wait there the whole time? Doesn't he get bored?"
"Um– he has books and stuff," Adrien said, mind still focused on the last topic. "Er, also he's paid to wait, so... I guess he doesn't mind?"
"I wouldn't mind getting paid to read," Rose said. "Though I probably wouldn't be too great at the bodyguard part!"
Adrien slung the bag with his keyboard over his shoulder, saying his goodbye to Rose as he headed to get back on land Anarka stopped him at the edge of the boat, handing him a small bag. "Hear ye go, boy, Luka mentioned that you wanted to take some of these home with ya."
"O-oh!" Adrien said, accepting the donuts. "Thank you, Anarka."
"Hope we see ye around soon!" She called as he hurried off to the limo.
Alya stared down at the comments that were being spammed through the BeetleBlog, teeth slightly clenched as she tried to delete the troll's countless comments. They seemed abnormally fast at posting, however, there being many more comments as soon as she deleted only one.
"Everything okay?" A voice asked next to her, and she jumped– looking up to see Kagami standing there, watching her.
"You startled me," Alya said, scooting over so Kagami could sit next to her.
"You were the one that wanted to talk," Kagami replied. "I have about fifteen minutes to talk before Tatsu is here to pick me up."
"Tatsu?"
"My mother's car," Kagami said without missing a beat. "Robotic and self-driving. Anyways, why are you so worked up?"
"Just have somebody called 'CamembertKing' spamming a bunch of comments on my blog," she muttered, refreshing her comment page– and found over a dozen more waiting for her. "Gah! Doesn't he have something better to do?"
"You haven't just blocked them?" Kagami asked.
"I usually only try to block harassers and people posting inappropriate things," Alya said, thumb tapping against her screen. "I don't want to block someone that, er, sees things differently? The BeetleBlog is meant to encourage conversation and perspective."
She held out her phone so Kagami could see some of the comments left by CamembertKing: 'this article is stupid, it should crumble to Lady Noire's Cataclysm!' 'never have such disgusting words crossed my eyes!' 'you are a horrible human for writing this and should be ashamed of yourself' 'Lady Noire is the superior hero of paris this horrible city doesn't deserve her but still she protects you pathetic humans!' 'why on earth do you think this theory is worthy of being called that you blind bug loving spawn of evilness!'
"Um..." Kagami said slowly. "That looks a bit like harassment to me..."
"Well..." Alya said uncertainly. "I, um, mean he is commenting on some older articles and theories of mine, and those were a bit, um... biased?"
"That doesn't mean this user can't have a civil conversation with you," Kagami replied. "And seeing how close together these messages are, it is definitely spam. You should block him, while I do agree that this city's hatred of one of their heroes is pathetic, that doesn't justify this kind of behavior."
"Maybe..." Alya said, shifting. "But, er, I didn't write the most flattering things about her at first, so I guess he's kind of right? I mean, I don't hate Lady Noire or anything... but..."
Alya trailed off, and Kagami raised an eyebrow. "But what?"
Her shoulders hunched slightly. "...When everything began, it felt unreal, okay? I saw everything like a comic book and I got carried away– but it's nothing like that. These aren't characters. The heroes aren't just distant figures. Those being akumatized were real people who were traumatized, but I just was more interested in the story than anything else, at first."
"From what I understand, Paris has come a long way," Kagami said, shrugging. "When I first saw reports of akumas, well... it looked like monsters attacking. And the title of 'demon' didn't help, either. Sometimes it takes time to create understanding– you shouldn't be hard on yourself."
"I should probably get rid of some of these older theories," Alya muttered, looking at the pages that CamembertKing was posting on. "Or at least edit it..."
"First, you're going to block this person," Kagami replied. "Then you can worry about all of that."
She glanced at Kagami, who just gave her an even look, and Alya went and tapped on CamembertKing's name. A few taps later, he was blocked– and the rush of comments at last came to a halt, allowing her to actually go through and make progress as she deleted the spam of comments they had left.
"I feel a bit better now," Alya said, shoulders relaxing. "I mean, I have been getting an increase of Lady Noire support comments since Adrien took that fall– and can I just say it's nice to see people saying things about her that aren't about her costume or something. You don't know how many people I've banned."
"The increase of support for her has been nice to see," Kagami agreed. "I never got the fear of her; she just has powers like Crimson Beetle and Monarch– and only one of them has mind controlling powers."
Alya ran her finger down the side of her phone. "W-well, her powers are... intense."
"So?"
Alya closed her eyes. "Look, I don't hate Lady Noire. I know I've been unfair in the past, but... but she scares me, alright?"
"Sounds rash to me," Kagami replied.
Alya let out a laugh– none of it sounding happy. "Kagami, I'm sorry, but what other reaction am I supposed to have when someone with Destruction powers hates me?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Hates you?"
"...She does not like me, I can promise you that," Alya said quietly. "I don't blame her, but..."
"Sounds like a strong assumption to me," she replied. "Have you ever even talked to her?"
Alya closed her eyes. "After I was deakumatized, you know, when Foxglove showed up? The heroes and I were in this alleyway. The others left quickly, but Lady Noire... she stayed behind. With me."
"Did she say something to you?"
"Didn't need to," Alya whispered. "Lady Noire just stood there, glaring at me. Didn't even blink or even move! It was clear what she thought of me, and I... I probably should have said something, apologized maybe, but I– I just ran. It was so unsettling and I didn't know what to do and– I don't know!"
"Well, if you feel making changes to your older articles is what's best, then maybe you should start there," Kagami said.
"Doesn't change what I said."
"Alya, trust me, I've grown up in a house that expects nothing but perfection. My mother doesn't believe in the idea of second chances– and I won't lie, it is a miserable way to live." Kagami offered Alya the smallest of smiles– something she did not see on the girl often. "We're humans. We make mistakes, and we change. You aren't the same person as you once were, and that's just fine– be who you are now, and let that count."
Alya said nothing, taking this in.
"Is this what you wanted to talk about?" Kagami asked after a moment.
"No," Alya whispered. "Though I'm glad we did... thank you for listening, Kagami. I... I feel a bit better now."
"What did you want to talk about then?"
"Reverser," Alya said, sitting up slightly straight. "I wanted to ask you if you– when you were hit by the paper airplane, could you tell that you had been hit?"
"I turned into a coward. Of course I knew I was hit."
"No, like... like the airplane itself," Alya tried to explain, waving one hand through the air. "Like, when it touched you, could you feel anything? The touch or, like, an energy from the powers or anything?"
"Yeah, you could feel it," Kagami said, shrugging. "Kind of like a poke where it touched you, then a wave of chills– and then my entire perspective on everything just changed."
"So if someone was touched, there is no way they wouldn't know?" Alya pressed.
"I doubt it. Why? Haven't you already posted your article about that akuma?"
Alya looked down at her phone. "It's, um... about Lila. I... I could have sworn she was hit by an airplane, but when I talked to her about it, she said that you had taken the hit for her. But then I looked back at the footage. You were only hit by one plane and Lila was just out of frame and I– I don't know. I've just been overthinking it. I just don't know how she could have dodged, but she didn't change at all–"
Kagami scowled. "Oh trust me, she was definitely hit– and she definitely changed."
"She– she did?"
"Lila went from looking at me in absolute disgust to fawning over me like a worried mother," Kagami replied. "Seems like the jealous type– she did not like the fact that I was talking to Marinette at all, kept interrupting our conversation and gave me dirty looks when she thought no one was looking."
"But... but that doesn't sound like Lila at all–"
"Just telling you how I see it," Kagami replied. "If I had gotten hit by two planes, I would have felt it, and there's no way she wouldn't have known that she was hit. Personally, I saw a change in how she was treating me, and I'll be honest about the fact that I don't like her."
Alya bit her lip. "But... but if that's true, that means she was lying to me and... and I don't know why she'd do that. That isn't like her."
"Why did you ask me about her?" Kagami asked.
"Because I wanted to know– know if–"
"If her story matched up with mine?" Kagami finished. "If you ask me, it seems like you weren't trusting of Lila already."
"It– it just didn't line up," Alya said swiftly. "And I– I don't want to accuse her of anything, but there was just no way she wasn't hit. I watched that video over and over, she would have had to be an acrobat to dodge it, and she's clumsy, if anything!"
"You have a sharp eye, Alya," Kagami replied. "You saw something and sought out answers– but you don't like the answers you've gotten."
"Lila– Lila is my friend!" Alya cried. "Maybe she– maybe she just didn't want to be part of my article at all and so she didn't say anything. I probably shouldn't have put her on the spot, or maybe–" Alya closed her eyes. "I just haven't been a good friend as of late. I'm worrying over every little thing Lila's doing, Marinette's been distant, and I couldn't even find out who ruined her desk! I got akumatized over that, and I–"
"You got akumatized wanting to find out who hurt your friend," Kagami replied. "I fail to see how that makes you a bad friend."
Alya said nothing.
"If you are still looking into who ruined Marinette's desk, I would be happy to help you," Kagami offered. "From what I understand, there wasn't much to go on, except for the fact that they didn't seem to like that Marinette was getting flowers."
Alya scowled. "Or they were the ones who had left those other flowers just to humiliate her in the end."
"Considering the fact that I left those flowers in her locker– no, it wasn't them."
Alya's head whipped up. "You left those flowers? You're the secret admirer?"
"I didn't intend it to be a secret," Kagami replied. "But after what happened with her desk, I decided to take a step back so she wasn't being bombarded. I would like to tell her, but she has seemed stressed as of late."
"Yeah, she has been," Alya whispered. "And I have no idea why. I tried talking to her about it, but she said it wasn't anything, and I don't want to press her."
"Then all you can do is give her the space she has asked for."
"I know..."
"But like I said, if you are still looking for the one who graffitied her desk, I would be more than happy to help," Kagami said, a spark in her eyes. "If we know who tried to hurt her, then we can make sure it won't happen again."
"There's not much to go on, but I do want answers," Alya agreed, sitting up slightly. "And I'd be more than happy to have some help– the school barely did anything about it. The only person I can think of would be Chloe, but that's not really her style and she said she didn't do it... and I mean, usually she's pretty upfront about her actions."
"No, it definitely wasn't Chloe," Kagami agreed. "Her jealousy and admiration of Marinette is quite clear, and she would want Marinette's attention. If it was her, she would have said something."
"...Admiration?" Alya said, holding back a snort.
"Chloe does not do well at hiding it," Kagami replied. "If I knew her better then perhaps I could say more, but unfortunately, Chloe has not been the most open to making friends. She seems quite happy with just Sabrina and Adrien."
Alya snickered. "Good luck trying to make friends with Chloe."
"I don't need luck, I just need time," Kagami replied.
"Speaking of Adrien, you know he's trying to win Marinette over too, right?"
"We are both aware of each other's feelings for Marinette, but I don't intend to let that hold me back."
Alya smiled. "I hope it will go well."
Kagami raised an eyebrow. "Supporting me over Adrien?"
She snorted. "The only one I'm supporting is Marinette– all I care about is that she finds someone who makes her happy."
Kagami smiled softly. "Me too, Marinette is quite extraordinary."
"She's amazing," Alya agreed, and the two of them fell silent as they sat there next to each other. After a moment Alya's eyes flickered down to her phone, which widened. "Oh, come on!"
"Hm?"
Alya turned her phone towards Kagami, allowing her to see the most recent comment on her blog, from CamembertKing2: 'I CANNOT BE SILENCED!'
Kagami smiled, and placed a hand on Alya's shoulder. "Block him again before it gets out of hand."
"Already on it."
