Author's Note: Here is the next chapter, consider it a New Year's Eve present to you all. Enjoy and have a happy New Year everyone!
Marinette and Sabrina awoke with a start by the sudden thump of the plane landing. They had arrived in Tokyo, traversing through the airport and stared at their surroundings. Miss Bustier and Dr. Kurtzberg were trained in the foreign language, thank goodness, when they contacted a bus service to take them to a hotel nearby. Boarding the bus, Marinette, along with her classmates, admired their surroundings as the vehicle rode through a little part of the city.
Too bad they didn't come here for the school trip, to Marinette's chagrin, as she would've liked to stay a little longer to explore the city. Sabrina sat next to her as usual, still forced to 'think about' her stupid mistake judging by Chloe's silent treatment. Honestly, Marinette felt sorry for her. Even while Lila seemed to be growing closer to Paris's biggest bully, she did seem intent on pushing Sabrina out of the way.
So, Marinette decided to cheer up the poor girl by starting a lively chat on where they are. "You know, this is my first time in Japan. It would've been great to stay longer and see more. Wouldn't you agree?"
Sabrina nodded. "Y-Yeah, it would've been cool to visit a shrine or try wearing a kimono. Those outfits are so beautiful! I've also read online how good the cuisine is in Osaka, it's known as Japan's kitchen."
"Well, we're going to have dinner at the hotel once we arrive. Perhaps you'll get a chance at tasting... Huh?" Something caught Marinette's attention. Staring out the window, she noticed the unusual pattern and color of dress the multiple civilians wore as the bus rode passed them. Red and black seemed to be a strange new common thread around here, more than once accompanied by the words "Take Your Heart" and a weird logo of a domino mask with a top hat. There was more accompanying the logo - "Phantom Thieves" were sprawled across many of the logos too.
"What is it?" Sabrina noticed her seat partner's distracted gaze, followed the direction of what she was looking at and her reaction matched Marinette's. Very baffling, indeed. "Phantom Thieves? Take your heart? What does this mean?"
"Don't know." Marinette shrugged. "I wish I could those folks when it means, but I only know a little of Japanese since Kagami taught me. Maybe I'll look it up on my phone when we get settled in."
The hotel wasn't fancy or expensive, so the Paris group had no trouble getting in. The two teachers explained to the students on how boys must room with boys and girls must room with girls only, just so no 'funny business' will happen, as Dr. Kurtzberg explained. Of course, Lila tried to persuade her to make an exception because she wanted to share a room with Adrien (much to his discomfort), but Dr. Kurtzberg firmly put her foot down and didn't let Miss Bustier have a say in it when the ignorant woman almost gave in to the liar's request.
"At least one adult in this group is competent," as Marinette noted, secretly glad to have Nathaniel's mother joining them. She was also relieved to share a room with Sabrina, as she didn't feel like sharing a room with anyone in the girl squad, much less Alya, Chloe or Lila.
The food at dinner was so good, everyone enjoyed it. Kim and Alix practically devoured the sushi like ravenous predators, causing Dr. Kurtzberg to remind them to mind their table manners. Miss Bustier explained not to be so hard on them because they're just children, but the doctor didn't seem to agree.
That night, Marinette and Sabrina wore lovely yukatas while they laid out their futons on tatami floors. Each mattress was surprisingly comfortable to their liking. Marinette sent a quick text to her mother and Zoe, letting them know she'd arrive safely and was staying at a hotel for the night. Next, she switched to the website to search for these Phantom Thieves, finding a place called the Phan-Site, including multiple news reports and topic info regarding these strange people, some which included videos taken from the confessions of two of the criminals the Phantom Thieves had targeted in the past.
She showed her discovery to Sabrina, and from what the two girls learned, the Phantom Thieves are a group of vigilantes, caring about stopping injustice and helping victims. They make the bad guys confess their crimes by changing their hearts. No one knows how this is done, but Marinette silently had a suspicion they could be using some sort of magic with their kwamis to do this. That's the only solution she came up with. Why else would these villains suddenly confess their sins? It has to be kwami magic.
In April, the first target was an Olympic volleyball athlete, Suguru Kamoshida, who was teaching as a PE instructor at a place called Shujin Academy. Turns out he was physically abusing the students involved in volleyball and sexually harassing the female ones. It had gotten so bad that one female student tried to commit suicide in broad daylight by jumping off the rooftop but thank heavens she survived. Apparently, the school administration was very well aware of the abuse, but willingly turned a blind eye in favor of Kamoshida because he made the school famous. Especially when they had covered up the suicide incident in order to protect the school's public image. What's worse, even the parents of the victims knew about the abuse, but they allowed Kamoshida to do whatever he wanted.
"Oh, my goodness..." Marinette's eyes widened in horror. Her heart tore in a new way as she sympathized with those poor students, especially for the girl who tried to end her life. Sabrina peered over her shoulders, reading what had made her react like this... and the bespectacled girl's response was exactly the same.
"Oh God!" Sabrina's mouth was agape, trying to process this info. "That is just sick!"
"Well, I could certainly believe a principal is corrupt enough to let a pedophile get away with his crimes, especially those sad excuses for teachers!" Marinette's rage wasn't hard to hide. "But the parents, too!? This is just like Francois Dupont all over again! Teachers and parents who let the bad guys get away with horrible actions with no consequences!"
Inside her purse, Tikki and Kaalki felt a nauseating feeling in their tiny stomachs. How horrendous! Those poor Shujin students. And how could the parents allow such atrocity to their children? What about their child's safety? What kind of parents would willingly allow their kids to be subjected to this kind of abuse?
"They have no right to be called adults! They're all criminals!" Marinette continued in her righteous fury.
"I agree, they should have been charged as accessories for allowing a pedophile in that school!" Sabrina agreed. Her dad, being a police officer, had told her about some cases similar to this one he dealt with in the past, and it made her stomach churn badly to know there are monsters like Kamoshida and selfish adults who willingly turn a blind eye out there.
"Wait, there's more!" Marinette continued on reading. A few days later, Kamoshida confessed all of his crimes in front of the entire student body at an assembly. According to witnesses, he seemed like a different person, one whose personality has completely changed. Currently, he's behind bars after the judge sentenced him to life in prison. "Good riddance," she sighed, glad to know this pedophile will never hurt anyone else again.
The next target happened in May; a former artist and elderly man named Ichiryusai Madarame.
"I remember him!" Marinette gasped. "Alix mentioned him once when his art was on display at the Louvre for a limited exhibit." She also recalled how furious Mr. Kubdel was when the paintings had to be shipped back to Japan after Madarame confessed to plagiarism.
Madarame had made his own fame and fortune by sacrificing the livelihoods of his pupils. He lured promising young artists with talent into his home, a worthless shack, and then stole their work, labeling it as his own. If any of the pupils rebelled, he would discipline them as if they were disobedient dogs. Sometimes he'd go so far to have them blacklisted from the art world when his pupils left him. One of them even committed suicide because he couldn't stand to see his work published under Madarame's name. What's worse is Madarame made his own foster son a victim, whose late mother not only created the famous Sayuri but used to be a student of Madarame, who gleefully abandoned her for dead when she suffered an illness and stole her work to pass off as his own. Just like with Kamoshida, the old man confessed his crimes after one of his exhibits closed, snot running out of his nose and bawling his eyes out as he publicly lamented for what he had done.
"What a pathetic wretch..." Sabrina showed no sign of pity for the old man, and neither did anybody else.
"I just hope his foster son will be okay." Marinette felt sorry for the boy who lived under Madarame's thumb after having lost his mother to that monster.
"But wait, if the foster kid was living with that guy and was abused like the other pupils, why didn't he speak up about it sooner?" Sabrina questioned.
"Perhaps he thought nobody would believe him? Madarame was famous, so he could try to paint his foster son in a bad light?" Marinette stayed quiet by recalling how nobody believed her whenever she tried to warn them about Lila, not even sure if Sabrina would believe her.
"Well, you got a point."
The third target happened in June; a man named Junya Kaneshiro. His crimes were kept well hidden from the police, even though the police were fully aware of his existence but had trouble arresting him, especially when his crimes were well-known in Shibuya. The reason why is because Kaneshiro had threatened his victims not to testify. Many of his victims were high school students, offered a part time job for a lot of money. Smuggling drugs was the job. Then, Kaneshiro would blackmail the students with incriminating pictures of the minors doing these illegal jobs, threatening their families and their lives. After Kaneshiro turned himself in to the police and confessed his crimes, it made the Phantom Thieves popularity skyrocket.
"I'm just glad I don't have to work for a creep like him, if he ever lived in Paris," Sabrina said, and Marinette agreed with her.
Medjed was the fourth target which had occurred in July. Japan was targeted by a group of international hackers, Medjed is what they called themselves. These terrorists waged a cyberwar against the Phantom Thieves and Japan itself, threatening to ruin Japan's economy unless the Phantom Thieves revealed their identities to the public. They demonstrated this threat by causing a blackout in Shibuya. The day before the deadline, July 21st, Medjed's website was hacked, leaving a logo belonging to the Phantom Thieves all over the site. Whether this was done by the Phantom Thieves themselves, or a fan, no one knows for sure, but what mattered was that Medjed was stopped, and Japan's economy remains stable. Moreso, the personal information of a man, revealed to be a Medjed member, was illegally publicized. The police tracked down this man and arrested him. Power has been officially restored to Shibuya afterword. There were no other damages due to the hackers' actions, thank goodness.
The two girls, including the kwamis, were glad to know Japan's economy remained safe. Who knows what would've happened Japan's economy had collapsed. Each incident had one thing in common - calling cards, directly calling out these villains for their crimes before their confessions.
High school detective, Goro Akechi, made it strictly clear that the Phantom Thieves are nothing more than criminals who deserve to be tried in a court of law because it's a crime to change someone's heart. The police were more interested in witch hunting these heroes rather than doing their job of protecting the city, claiming they're a threat to their law-abiding country.
"Law-abiding my butt!" Marinette scoffed. "If the law had cared enough, they could've done something to stop Kamoshida and those other jerks sooner! The police here most likely despise the Phantom Thieves out of jealousy." Marinette suggested, then frowned in annoyance. "Ugh! I'm starting to sound like Alya." Always using jealousy as an excuse to dismiss a person's dislike of someone. The difference is the Phantom Thieves' actions are just and fair, whilst Lila's actions are deceitful and cruel.
"Well, my father does work for the police and I'm pretty sure he would rather arrest the Phantom Thieves instead of thanking them for their services..." Sabrina cut in, quickly intercepting her roommate before Marinette tried to apologize for supposedly offending her father, "but while I do think these Phantom Thieves are doing some good to Japan, take this from the perspective of a policeman's daughter, forcefully changing someone's heart does sound like a crime. Perhaps they use hypnosis or drugs on Kamoshida and the others? And nobody knows what they look like either."
Marinette considered what she had been told carefully. Her roommate's opinion does make sense. "That's true, yeah. Although I did have a basic theory that miraculous magic could be involved." Her words left Sabrina stunned. "We do live in Paris, a city terrorized by a butterfly supervillain feeding on negative emotions and the heroes use magic to purify his dark power."
"You have a point." Sabrina had to admit that theory isn't too farfetched to assume there are other places on Earth where magic and other types of heroes are involved. "They must have used some sort of magic to make their targets confess. Except there's no proof to confirm this, but you are correct in what you said. Or you can text your friend, Kagami, and ask if she knows anything about them?" she suggested. "She did live in Japan before moving to Paris, right?"
Deciding to take her advice, Marinette sent a text to the fencer, asking if she heard of the Phantom Thieves or not, explaining where she is and where she's going. She got a reply a few minutes later. Kagami did hear of them, but she doesn't know much about them either. Living in Paris for a few years, word of the Phantom Thieves reached them either through contact of her grandparents or Japanese news articles online. Her mother, Tomoe, believed them to be the criminals the police claim they are, but Kagami disagreed because they reminded her of Ladybug; champions of justice. A fact which her mother disapproved of and strictly lectured her daughter over such nonsense.
"Not even Kagami knows much about them," Marinette sighed. "Other than believing they're champions of justice." As though fate was telling her now is not the time to stay up longer, Marinette yawned softly. "Well, we should turn in early. We gotta go back to the airport tomorrow."
"Sure thing." Sabrina got all cozy as she snuggled in her futon, taking off her glasses and laying them on the side next to her. "Goodnight, Marinette."
"Goodnight, Sabrina." She waited until her roommate feel asleep. As Marinette lay in her futon, she couldn't help but stare at the Phan-Site a little longer. Despite them being deemed vigilantes or outlaws, Marinette could truly see the Phantom Thieves are helping the people of Japan by exposing criminals like this. These criminals were either shielded by corrupt authority figures or too powerful to be caught, so they're doing Japan a favor by saving innocent lives and fighting injustice. What's better is their targets aren't killed, meaning they most likely have some sort of moral code. Maybe that's why the public supports them. The intriguing part is how the Phantom Thieves convince their target to confess their crimes and whatever they meant by 'stealing your heart.' Obviously, it's not literally, so it has to be something involved with kwamis and magic. Considering her everyday life consisting of fighting supervillain and wielding the power of a superhero, the idea isn't too farfetched to assume there are other places on Earth where magic is involved.
Unfortunately, there is no proof to confirm this, but Marinette has her suspicions. Nobody knows what the Phantom Thieves look like, but perhaps one of them has a top hat with a mask that resembles those on the logo. Their leader, perhaps? The only solid lead is their calling cards and the only way to communicate with them is through this Phantom Aficionado website, posting a request to ask whose heart you'd want to change if you have a very serious problem.
What if these Phantom Thieves could help Marinette with her problem? What if they could change Lila's heart and make her confess all the horrible things she did? Then Marinette's name would be cleared, and everyone would finally see the truth about Lila and apologize to Marinette for wrongly accusing her. Then, they could change Chloe's heart and make her admit all of her crimes? Chloe would be kicked out of Paris for good and...
"Are you still looking up these Phantom Thieves?" The quiet whisper of her red kwami almost startled Marinette out of her daydream, but Sabrina is a heavy sleeper, so she didn't hear the bluenette give a little squeak. "Kaalki and I overheard what the two of you said. I've never heard of anyone wielding the power to change people's hearts with a miraculous."
"Well perhaps Ziggy knows something. She's the kwami of imagination after all, so she's the one most connected to the mind." Marinette contemplated asking the goat kwami when she gets home. She must have a possible answer to how these thieves can change the hearts of criminals. "I never knew people like them existed till now."
"Why are you interested in them anyway?" The red kwami studied her Chosen's expression, instantly realizing what the girl has been thinking. "Wait, you're thinking about asking the Phantom Thieves to change Lila's heart?"
The pigtailed girl wasn't expecting her kwami to figure out her thoughts so abruptly that she practically groaned in defeat. "How did you know I-"
"I can read you like a book. It's written all over your face."
Marinette blushed a bit, nodded guiltily. "Yyyeah... kind of."
"While the idea of asking for help is nice, but we can't so much as risk revealing your secret identity to these Phantom Thieves. That's the number one rule, never tell anyone else you wield a miraculous."
"Then what about Zoe? She knows who I am, and no harm has been done. She has proved herself worthy of earning my trust and has helped me out a lot."
Tikki knew this was true. Zoe has become a reliable ally and most trusted companion for her Chosen. Due to all the stress of being a guardian and trying to live a normal civilian life has become too much a burden to bear for her Chosen. The ladybug kwami and her friends did their best to help her, but it wasn't enough. With Zoe in the know, she has more than once proved herself of earning the trust of the kwamis. These Phantom Thieves, on the other hand, nobody knows who they are and what sort of power they wield, so it does sound suspicious. "And suppose you ask the Phantom Thieves for help; how will you find them? How will you explain it?"
Neither of them breathed a word after that. Tikki has a solid point. If Marinette did locate the Phantom Thieves, what will she say to persuade them to help her? It would be awkward to receive a request from a Paris-Chinese teenager wielding a miraculous to suddenly drop in and ask them to change the heart of a narcissist brat.
"Suppose they turn me down even if I tell them?" Marinette worried. "What if they don't believe me?"
"Don't be silly! You read their webpage; they care about stopping injustice." Kaalki reminded her. "I doubt they'd turn a blind eye to what you're going through. Anyway, you should go to sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow."
The horse kwami was correct. Tomorrow, the class will depart early for the hotel to catch their flight to Hawaii. Marinette kept her phone on, just in case the Akuma alert goes off (just keeping the noise at a low minimum so not to awake Sabrina) and was immediately asleep in a peaceful slumber. Kaalki joined her soon after, making herself comfortable in her guardian's purse.
A few seconds later, a strange ping is heard from Marinette's phone. Curious to see who could be trying to text her Chosen, Tikki went to investigate. She picked up the phone and, to her surprise, didn't find a text. Instead, she found a very strange app on Marinette's phone - a red little icon with a black symbol in the shape of an eyeball and in the center of the eyeball is a black star.
"That's queer..." Tikki didn't know why such an odd app is on Marinette's phone, but decided not to question it right now because her Chosen is sleeping.
Next morning, the Parisian class checked out of the hotel early and arrived at the airport, visiting one of the cheap shops to buy themselves pastries or rice balls for a light breakfast. Who knew rice balls and Japanese pastries tasted so good? Marinette really liked them. She also bought a box of sweets to save for later, discreetly giving some of the treats to Tikki and Kaalki.
One of the gift shops were selling souvenirs as Marinette decided to buy three - a cute little Maneki-Neko cat figurine for Zoe, a small Kokeshi doll dressed in a red kimono for herself, and a cherry blossom sensu fan for Kagami.
What about Sabrina? She did want to sit with Marinette at the lounge, but Chloe decided to take her back. Not because she was apologetic for her behavior... "Sabrina, the only reason I want you back is because I need someone to carry my baggage for me!" the spoiled brat explained, ignoring the disappointed sigh leave Sabrina's lips.
"She's not your slave, Chloe!" Marinette tried to step in and defend the poor girl. "You should carry the baggage yourself!"
"Shut your trap, baker girl!" Chloe scowled at her furiously. "Don't you even think of trying to take Sabrina away from me!" When she finished, Marinette just stared at her confused. Her silence only made Chloe throw another one of her tantrums. "Don't play dumb with me! You must have convinced Sabrina to spend the night with you and schemed to turn her against me! You need to stay away from Sabrina! She's useless without me because she can't do anything right!" Those scathing words made Sabrina cringe.
Rolling her eyes, Marinette sighed in agitation. Their class stopped to stare at their confrontation. "First of all, I didn't convince Sabrina to spend the night with me. It was decided by our teachers. And need I remind you that you 'banished' Sabrina to socialize with the 'peasants' over a minor incident."
"Exactly so!" Dr. Kurtzberg intervened to break up the fight, glaring at the mayor's daughter. "You're the one who pushed your friend away after you threw a temper tantrum over orange juice. Furthermore, you need to learn to carry your own luggage because it's your job, not Sabrina's! She's not your servant!"
Chloe just smirked maliciously, a cruel giggle to match afterward. "You really think you can tell me what to do? If you don't keep Sabrina away from this bad influence..." she pointed scathingly at Marinette, "I'll tell my daddy to revoke your doctor's license when we get back to Paris. And you know he has the power to do whatever I want him to."
Dr. Kurtzberg gasped, then readied to protest angrily. Only to stop when Miss Bustier put a tentative hand on her shoulder and shook her head, silently telling her not to make things worse.
"Sabrina, perhaps you and Marinette should avoid each other from now on," the teacher decided, and fixated a disappointed look at her star pupil. "And Marinette, please don't try to stir up trouble between Chloe and Sabrina. Remember what I told you about setting an example? The last thing we need on this trip is conflict."
Marinette gasped, horrified. She didn't do anything wrong, and yet whenever Chloe does something bad, Miss Bustier instantly takes the side of the disgraced queen bee. All eyes of her classmates stared at her, as if telling her 'Don't start drama, Marinette'. As usual, Adrien never spoke a word in her defense, the coward. Lila secretly smirked at her rival's suffering.
The only ones concerned for the blue-haired designer were Sabrina and Dr. Kurtzberg, though neither one of them knew what to say. Too bad for them that the poor girl didn't understand what they were thinking, coming to a false conclusion they were turning against her as well.
Marinette wanted to get out there, needed to. Excusing herself, she rushed for the nearest restroom. There, she plops against the wall and slides to the floor. Why can't Chloe do something not stupid just this once? Tears burned the brim of her bluebell eyes. It won't be long before Chloe starts concocting schemes to get her banned her from certain events as 'punishment'. Or what if Lila gets involved just to make her miserable?
Tikki called her name softly, attempting to try and console her. Choked sobs came out of her Chosen's mouth, ignoring her. Kaalki tried to talk to her as well, only to receive the same response. Suddenly they heard someone come in and dove back into her purse.
The weeping girl didn't hear someone enter the restroom. She was only pulled from her thoughts when she felt a gentle hand touch her arm. Marinette whipped her head up to see a Japanese girl of high school age staring at her with confusion and concern on her pretty face.
She was taller than Marinette of the average female height, chocolate brown hair in a short bob cut with blunt bangs and a French-braid styled headband that matched her hair. Her eyes depicted a red shade, although anyone can see they're reddish-brown. The outfit she wore was strange, a white dress shirt with a High Priestess emblem embroidered on the collar, a regulated black and red pleated plaid skirt, capri-length black legging and black tassel loafers with no socks.
"Are you alright, Miss?" The girl got down on one knee to level eye contact with her.
Marinette opened her mouth to speak, but a choked sob came out of her instead. However, she only knew little of Japanese and didn't pick up what the girl said, at least she suspected this girl is concerned about her. She fished out her phone and typed in the translator section before showing it to her. It said, 'Can you say that again? I'm from France, so I don't understand you.'
The girl nodded and took the phone, typing her question onto the screen. When Marinette looked, she responded, 'Not, not really.' The two of them took turns using Marinette's phone to translate.
'Can I ask why? First, let dry those tears.' The girl helped Marinette stand on her feet, guided her to the sink so she can wash the tears off her face. Marinette did so, then followed the girl out of the restroom where she took her back to the lounge, her own class not far from where Miss Bustier's class remains.
Marinette didn't want to go back after what happened, tugging at the girl's arm and gave a look that said 'Please, no.' Thankfully, the brunette understood this and let her sit next to her, just behind several Japanese students wearing the same uniform as the brunette, blocking Marinette's view from her class.
'I have to be here with my class because I'm one of the chaperones of our trip. But I'm more of a student council president.'
Marinette's eyes widened, amazed. 'Really? That's impressive.'
'Thanks, but it can be stressful at times. Anyway, I saw you getting harassed by that girl with blonde hair. What's going on?' She pointed to Chloe, who rudely ordered Sabrina to file her nails as they waited.
Marinette didn't know why she would tell this Japanese girl of her problems, but she needed someone to talk to about her problems. 'Chloe believes I'm trying to steal Sabrina away from her, even though she has mistreated Sabrina so many times. My teacher, Miss Bustier, thinks I shouldn't stir up trouble because I need to set an example.'
The girl stares at Marinette in stunned silence. Somehow, her lack of reply worried the young designer, thinking this girl is going to agree with her teacher's methods and tell her to suck it up and be the example everyone expects her to be.
'You mean to tell me you're to set an example by allowing that girl to accuse you without proof? Unbelievable! Did your teacher even bother to ask your side of the story?'
What she had written left Marinette speechless. If anything, the girl looked quite furious by what she had been told. When the baker girl shook her head in answer to the question, the brunette scowled in disgust.
'And you said Chloe has always mistreated Sabrina, but Miss Bustier has never thought of keeping those two apart?'
'Nope. Because those two have been friends for a long time, although she continues to treat Sabrina like a slave and verbally abuses her, and I feel sorry for her. Most of the time, Chloe finds entertainment in bullying me. But nobody can do a thing to stop Chloe because her father is the mayor, and he lets her get away with every terrible misdeed she's done.'
The brunette girl's eyes widened in horror, gradually narrowing slightly as the rage simmered beneath them. 'Let me say this: your teacher is the most unprofessional and incompetent woman to ever be a teacher. SHE should be the one setting an example by punishing Chloe for her behavior, kept Sabrina separated from her, and listen to you explain your side of things. But if this is how she handles things in your school, she should never have been a teacher in the first place! As for Chloe, her father allowing such horrendous behavior to go unpunished is called abuse of power, and it will only encourage Chloe to grow up and become a criminal in the future!'
Marinette looked surprised by the girl's comment. No one has ever criticized Miss Bustier's methods before. Or condemn Chloe's behavior as criminal. Well, she did assist Hawk Moth and Mayura in the past, so THAT is definitely criminal.
'What about your parents? Are they even aware of your situation with Chloe and her father's abuse of authority? Did you ever tell them?'
Marinette cringed uncomfortably. 'Yes, but they always just stood by and watch Chloe pick on me without doing anything to help me. Most of the time, they just brush it off as harmless teenage drama.'
The girl's jaw drops, very offended. Her expression shifts back to that familiar righteous rage. Even the look in those deadly red eyes frightened Marinette until she read what the girl responded next. 'Are you serious!? They actually allowed that girl to bully you without intervening to protect you!? Bullying is NOT harmless teenage drama! I've seen a familiar case when bullying can severely damage one's self-confidence or destroy a reputation out of malicious intent. I turned a blind eye to all of that because my teachers dismissed it as nothing important, something I've come to regret.' Her face fell to pure sadness, probably thinking of this case she recently mentioned.
'I'm really sorry to hear that.' Marinette frowned sympathetically. 'But my parents aren't bad people. They're really nice, just well-meaning is all.'
'Even so, it doesn't excuse or justify their actions in letting Chloe bully you. What they're doing is negligence. They have failed to exercise reasonable defense or care for you.'
Marinette would've liked to argue, but deep down she knew this girl spoke the truth. Looking back, her parents ignorantly disregarded her safety when a publicly known, obvious harassment or torture she suffered at school is happening. They're not doing this out of cruelty, just obliviousness or due to their own misguided theories.
The girl seemed to think she had gone too far and regretted what she wrote. 'My apologizes. I never meant to get upset. It's just that I've seen incidents far worse than what you've gone through.'
Marinette assured her that no harm has been done. 'Oh no. It's okay. You have every right to be angry, but please don't try confronting Chloe or my teacher on my behalf. It'll just make things worse.'
"Hey, Makoto!" A girl's voice called out to the brunette, causing her to look up at where the voice came from.
An extremely beautiful girl around the brunette's age came rushing over to her; bright blue eyes, wavy platinum blonde hair styled in bushy pigtails with parted side bangs on the right side of her face and a gold necklace in the shape of a clover. Her outfit seemed to match the brunette's attire, albeit a blue jacket wrapped around her waist, black socks with white lining and dark brown shoes. She didn't look Japanese to Marinette, probably American judging by her looks.
The blonde girl wasn't alone as she was accompanied by a teenage boy of slim, athletic build. Pale complexion with unkempt, frizzled black hair. His eyes are gray, hidden behind a set of large black glasses. Same uniform as the girls, white polo shirt untucked, red and black regulated pants and black, laced dress shoes.
"Glad we made it in time! Did we keep you waiting long?" The blonde girl exclaimed, though she looked half sleepy to be here.
"No, not at all," the brunette, now known as Makoto, assured her.
It was then that the blonde girl and her companion noticed Marinette, who smiled nervously and waved at them. "Oh? Who is this?" the blonde girl questioned curiously.
"This is, uh..." Makoto paused, realizing she had forgotten to ask for a name. She typed in the question on the bluenette's phone. 'I forgot to ask, what is your name? I'm Makoto Niijima, by the way.'
'My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.'
"Do you speak English, Marinette?" The blonde girl asked in the aforementioned language. She realized that this girl clearly didn't speak Japanese, but English is reasonably universal. And thank goodness her friends knew the language well.
"Oh yes, a friend of mine used to live in New York," Marinette nodded.
"Oh, cool! I'm Ann Takamaki, it's nice to meet you." Said blonde introduced herself, offering a handshake, which Marinette happily accepted.
Next came the frizzle-haired boy's turn, offering his hand for a friendly shake and she warmly accepted it. "My name is Ren Amamiya. Where are you from? Are you here on a visit?" he spoke the English language impressively.
"I'm from Paris, France," Marinette replied. "I'm here on a school trip with my class. We're going to Hawaii."
"Are you? So are we." Ren smiled. "Looks like we'll be going on the same plane together. Have you ever been to Hawaii before?'
"Nope. But I'm very excited about it!"
Upon hearing where Makoto's new friend lives, Ann's blue eyes lit up, intrigued. "Paris? Oh, wow! I've always wanted to visit Paris. I've never been there before but what's it like living there? Is it really the City of Love everyone says it is? How are macaroons and pastries there? Are they totally delicious?" She bombarded the bluenette with one question after another, ecstatic to know.
"Uh, well..." Marinette trailed off, conflicted on how hard it will be to word her next sentence. Long before preparing for the trip, Miss Bustier had made it strictly clear that everyone is discouraged from speaking of Akuma attacks as much as possible. This was the mayor's idea, after all. He was mostly concerned about the danger of the tourist economy going down the drain as a result of Akuma attacks happening almost daily. The hesitation puzzled Ann and her friends, but just as Marinette was about to give an answer...
"There you are, Marinette!" Alya came rushing in, relieved to have located her absent friend. In one hand she carried her own luggage, and in the other is Marinette's luggage. "I've been looking everywhere for you! I checked the restroom because I saw you..." the Creole girl paused when she noticed the company of Japanese students socializing with Marinette. "Oh, um... am I interrupting something?"
Everyone looked at Alya in different layers of unexpected surprise, cut off by Marinette standing up and saying, "No, it's okay. I just made some new friends, that's all. What's up, Alya?"
"I just wanted to know that our class is ready to board." Alya handed her friend's luggage over to her, something that Marinette was grateful for. "By the way, about what happened with Chloe..."
"Can you please just DROP IT!" Marinette snarled. The rest of the group was taken aback by her outburst. So was Alya. Guilty for lashing out at her, Marinette apologized. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to talk about it right now. I'll catch up in a minute." When Alya left, she turned to face her new acquittances. "I have to go. Thanks for hearing me out on my problems, Makoto."
"It's fine," Makoto smiles warmly. "I'm really sorry you had to go through all that but if you ever want to talk again, I'll be there."
Nodding, Marinette turned and rejoined her classmates as they stood patiently at the boarding gate.
When she had gone, Ann silently wondered just what had happened between Marinette and this Chloe person that she refused to mention it, and why Marinette refused to talk about Paris. Was something happening that they didn't know about? At first, she worried if she offended her new friend when she asked about the City of Love. A sudden yawn left her mouth, ridding her of these concerned thoughts. "I'm so tired..." she yawned.
"It'll take over six hours to get there, so why not sleep on the plane?" Makoto suggested. She checked the time on her phone. "It's almost time to check in."
"Phew, looks like we'll be taking off on time," Ann let out a sigh of relief. "I feel like a lot of flights headed to America tend to run late or get canceled…" she trailed off when she noticed they were one member short. "Is it just me or is Ryuji not here yet?"
Speak of the devil. Said boy hurriedly sprints toward the group, hands on his knees and panting like a dog due to his race to catch up to his friends. "I wasn't expecting to make a mad dash like this..." A single blue backpack flung on his back, close to overflowing with many stuff.
Ann sighed, a little annoyed. "Coming late even on a day like this?"
Makoto studied the single backpack, concerned at how much he brought. "That's all you're bringing?"
"It's only four nights, right?" Ryuji brushed off her concerns, seeing nothing wrong with it. "Ain't it enough?"
"I think you're a little overpacked..." Ren commented, worried.
Just then, Mishima approached the group. "Hey, guys. They want us to gather near the boarding gate soon." After passing the message, he walked off to inform the rest of the class.
Suddenly Ann had a great idea. "Oh, why don't we take a group shot before we take off?"
"Sounds good!" Ryuji agreed, quickly walking over to stand next to Ren. "You be our cameraman, okay?"
The girls hurriedly took their places next to Ren's side, as he held up his phone a little awkwardly to try and get everyone in the shot. It was a little difficult to get all four of them to squeeze together for a group shot, but he managed to snap a good photo and it came out great.
"Let me see! Let me see!" Ryuji exclaimed excitedly, eager to peer over Ren's shoulder to see it. Suddenly an unexpected text message appeared.
FUTABA: Ryuji, you got crap in your eyes.
"What?" Confused, Ryuji wondered how Futaba saw that when the picture just came out. He rubbed his eyes and found bits of hard crust. "Holy shit, she's right..."
Ann was baffled as well. "How could you tell, Futaba?"
FUTABA: You surprised? I snuck an app on Ren's phone. I can see all I want through his camera. You're looking now, right, Ren? Mwehehe. Never underestimate the original Medjed.
"Talk about a nasty trick..." Ryuji was stunned.
"I am so glad she's not an enemy of ours," Makoto sighed in relief, and the rest of the group agreed.