Title: Shifting Oceans
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug, Bleach
Characters: Lila, Alya, Nino, Marinette, Ichigo
Chapter: 13
Word Count: 1686
Warnings: nothing
Beta: ToxicAngel13 on AO3
AN: I am still very tired and dealing with things with my mother but I hope you enjoy and that you had a good Thanksgiving.
Watching as Lila moved through the hotel, looking like a ghost herself, having stayed quiet and out of the way for some time, Ichigo turned and watched as Alya stalked up to him, staring him down and being stared down in return. "Why did you do that at the museum?" she asked, planting her hands on her hips.
Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her. "Do what I did? What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked.
"I mean when you hurt Lila! And..."
Ichigo snorted, cutting her off. "I told her nothing but the truth. I hate to say it but the truth is not always sunshine and rainbows. It's about the facts. She has a spirit. Who is following to her. She is connected to Lila because of how she died and the way that she was pushed to that point. It was Lila's own fault that she did things that drove the girl to run away and end up in front of a vehicle. I am not one to pull punches when it comes to a girl who should have long ago grown up and stopped spewing lies like she's getting paid for it," he stated.
Chloe snorted as she walked up behind Alya, brushing past her with a sneer on her face. "Do try to keep up, Cesaire. Rossi has lied to you from the very start. She lied to frame Marinette as some kind of bully when we all know that Marinette would have bent over backwards to help you do things that needed to be done while she thought of you as a loyal friend. She definitely lied about that gaudy necklace being stolen when we all know that the darn thing could have just been placed in the locker easily enough since we still don't have any school provided locks. As it is, it was made by the Gabriel Brand for the Miraculous Jewelry line. Even Marinette stopped keeping her important things in her locker when there were no locks," she stated, ticking things off with her fingers. "She claims that Marinette stole her designs. Remember that? Bullshit. Marinette designs and forgets more styles of clothing in a single day then what Lila can do in a year. You were just blinded by her bullshit and everything that came with it."
Alya flinched as Chloe laid all the facts out before her, Ichigo staring at her with honey brown eyes. He shook his head with a snort. "But..."
"But nothing, Ceasire. She lied. And would have continued to lie to this day if she hadn't been called out by someone that wasn't Marinette, Chloe-san or even Juleka-san," Ichigo said. "I am an impartial person in this and she was spewing false information about the tapestry that we were studying at the time. Not only that, but those who are dead like that girl? They're unable to lie. Not to themselves. Not to those who can see her. Not to the one that they are tied to. She had told us what happened and we found the articles easily enough once we started looking. It wasn't that hard. You really should do your own due diligence."
"Which does include making sure that you have all of the damn facts before spewing false hoods," Chloe drawled. She smirked as she pulled out a phone and opened a video of her running up to Ladybug and Chat Noir, their jewelry beeping. "Sorry! I won't keep you long but I wanted to ask a couple of things. Do you two know a girl named Lila Rossi?" came from the video.
Ladybug and Chat shared a look in thought before Ladybug shrugged with a frown. "Wasn't she that one girl I told off about claiming to be the great-whatever daughter of one of the Fox holders? And then the one that took you away from the fight with Oni?" she asked Chat.
"Yeah, I think so. Brown hair like sausage rings? Really annoying voice?" Chat asked. Ichigo pressed a hand to his mouth to muffle his laughter.
"Yeah, her. Well it seems as if she went on the Ladyblog a while ago to brag about how close you and her are, Ladybug. I take it that there isn't any truth to it?" Chloe asked. Ladybug's brows furrowed before she shook her head.
"No. I do not make friends with civilians because of the fact that it would be far to dangerous for them. As it is, my only best friend right now is Chat Noir. Not anyone else," Ladybug said. She shook her head as her earrings beeped again. "Gotta go! Bug out!" With a well practiced throw of her yoyo, both her and Chat were gone while the phone switched around to Chloe giving it a dry look.
"Huh. Would you look at just how easy it was to ask a simple question and get a proper answer?" she asked before the logo for the Miraculous News appeared in a swirl on the screen. "Amazing what doing your due diligence can do for you," Chloe drawled as she closed the video. Alya had lost several shades to her natural skin tone and was starting to look shaky. Ichigo made her sit quickly, fanning her with a book as he frowned.
"It was all a lie?" she breathed. She was whimpering at the fact that she had turned not only on her best friend, but had almost turned on her boyfriend when Nino had started to ask questions about what Lila had said. She had been pulling things down, but she hadn't really thought that it had all been lies. "Oh God. I'm...a horrible friend. And girlfriend."
Chloe sighed as she rolled her eyes, frowning. "You're not a horrible friend. Not really. Yes, you are a very misguided friend and apparently were grabbed under the left over hypnotic abilities that she had after turning into Vulpina, but not a horrible one," she stated. "You'll be fine."
"I'm going to suggest that you go to a witch and have them do a full cleansing when we return to Paris," Ichigo said. He dug around in his hip bag and pulled out a car. He had grabbed a few one day while getting ready for the trip, just in case they were needed. "Here. They're good and so is their partner. They're on the normal side of abilities but he is very strong and might end up being the better of the two. But that'll be up to them on who does it. When you go, take Nino-san with you."
Alya nodded in response as she took the card, staring at it for a long moment before blowing out a breath. "Do you think that Marinette will talk to me?" she asked.
Juleka sighed, joining the group and lacing her fingers with Chloe. "Not...likely. She's still really hurt by what you guys did," she said softly as she pushed her hair back. "Me and Luka are barely on speaking terms right now after the way that Kitty Section all turned on him based on Lila's word. It'll probably take the two of you longer since you don't have a mother who can sit you down and make you hash things out."
"Is that why you started to question things?" Chloe asked, squeezing Juleka's hand, getting a small, shy smile from the other teen.
"Somewhat. The thing with Rose kind of knocked a lot loose. Mom did get pissed that we had done him so dirty though, but he's doing good with Jagged," Juleka said, shaking her head. "I've been getting to know our father to, so that's, well it's interesting."
"Wait? Father?" Alya choked out, Juleka smiling at her.
"Yes, father. Me and Luka are his kids. He and mum had a fling when she was a part of the bang but she left before she knew that she was pregnant and never told him. As she told him after everything that happened with him, she didn't want to make either of them miserable by tying him down. They weren't made for each other and he was still pretty new into his career at the time," Juleka said. She smiled softly. "He and Luka started to spend more time with together after Luka was forced out of Kitty Section. Started to intern under him and everything. Oh and he's never had a cat. He's allergic to the fluffy little beasts, like me and Luka are."
Alya groaned, burying her face into her hands. She couldn't believe that she had well and truly messed up the way that she had. Everything that she had thought was real wasn't, and it was all becoming very clear just how much she had messed up. "My head hurts now," she whined. Ichigo caught Nino's eye as the male was walking through the lobby, and he waved him over. Nino looked as if he had just hit up the local bookstore if the bags full of books was any indication.
"Nino-san, can you escort Ceasire to her room for me please? Her mind is trying to reset from Lila's influence and it's giving her a bit of a headache currently. I'll have some tea and a few easy snacks sent up if you can sit and watch over her," Ichigo requested.
Nino smiled, nodding. "Yeah, not a problem, dude. Can you warn Rose that I'll be there since she's in the same room?" he asked. Ichigo agreed.
"Of course. Just watch over her," he said. Nino lead the sick looking Alya over to the elevators, sharing a look with Chloe and Juleka. "Let me go talk to someone and then I will join you on the ride up to the penthouse. I have some research to do before we go to dinner."
"Yep, not a problem," Chloe said. She watched him head for the front desk before she sighed. "All the cute ones are gay or taken, I swear," she grumped. Juleka just laughed softly and used their intertwined hands to tug her friend to the elevators, smiling the entire time.
