Inconsistency. Chapter 1
~}I{~
Gale-Dragon: Time for a Lila's lies are exposed fic where things aren't dependant on either Marinette, Adrien, or both! The Dupont staff are getting the spotlight for this fic! Plus some special guests working as PIs!
~}I{~
Miss Bustier sighed as she filed away yet another doctor's note from Lila.
Under normal circumstances, the redheaded teacher would've been more than fine with getting one of these. However, it was from one Lila Rossi...
A student that seemed to bring in a doctor's note every other week or so for some new ailment or reoccurring ailment.
Don't get Miss Bustier wrong, she'd do anything within the school system to ensure that her students are safe and comfortable, but Lila seemed to need a lot of accommodations... And it honestly worried Calin that one student needed that much help due to one health issue or temporary disability...
Miss Bustier picked up the file as she walked out of her classroom and made a beeline to Damocles' office. The redheaded teacher didn't want to bother the guy, but the student's file needed to be officially updated. It didn't take longer than a minute and a half to reach her destination. Normally Miss Bustier would've knocked before entering, but the day had been long and this needed to be done.
Miss Bustier opened the Headmaster's office just in time for her to hear Damocles say, "...Is open, so that won't be an issue. I hope to hear from you soon. Have a nice day." The redheaded teacher watched as Damocles hung up the phone with an annoyed sigh. He looked up just in time to see Miss Bustier walking in. The owl-like man blinked a few times before he asked the red-headed teacher why she was there.
Miss Bustier walked over to the Headmaster's desk and placed the folder on his desk. Damocles raised a brow before he opened the folder and read what was inside. The headmaster's bushy brows rose to his hairline before he looked at the redheaded teacher and asked, "Again?"
Miss Bustier nodded before she stated, "Again..." She sighed when she stated, "I'm honestly getting worried about Lila. She seems to always have one health issue or another, and they're hampering her overall productivity in school." Caline glanced to the side when she said, "I am glad that she's surrounded by people who care about her."
Damocles' eyes flicked to the papers before he stated, "Here at least... But Mrs Rossi is overdue for the mandatory parent/teacher meeting for the term..."
Miss Bustier folded her arms in an unsure manner with a slightly conflicted look on her face when she said, "Well... Mr Agreste is also late on his..."
Damocles' sighed when he said in an exhausted tone, "Technically, he didn't come in for a Parent/teacher meeting, but he completed it." Miss Bustier raised a confused brow at this. Damocles sighed before he stated, "Mr Agreste gave Adrien a tablet and used it to video chat the parent/teacher meeting with me last week."
Miss Bustier blinked a few times, processing the information, before she said, "Oh... So that's why Adrien went into your office..."
Damocles nodded before he tapped Lila's file when he stated, "So as of now, Mrs Rossi is the only parent who hasn't had their parent/teacher meeting." He signed, rubbed his temples, and stated, "I understand that she's a busy parent, but these meetings are needed to ensure our students are learning and thriving... Surely she can take time out of her busy schedule to do this for her daughter." The headmaster glanced up at Miss Bustier when he stated, "I'll update Ms Rossi's file, but maybe keep a close eye on her."
Miss Bustier gave a nod before she left the office.
Damocles sighed as he opened the upper right drawer of his desk to put the doctor's notes in and pulled a sheet of paper out. The headmaster scanned the paper before he placed it on the desk and picked up a pen. He drew a line through a neat row of four ones before he counted the groups that were already on the paper. Damocles let out another sigh before he thought, 'It's been 65 days since I started calling Mrs Rossi to set up a date for her parent/teacher meeting and not once had she called back...' He turned his chair before standing up and moving towards his book self. When the headmaster was standing in front of the structure, his eyes scanned the titles of the books before finding the one he was looking for. Damocles carefully took the book off the shelf, opened it and flipped through the pages until he came to the section he was looking for.
After reading that section, Damocles narrowed his eyes when he thought, 'So Mrs Rossi has ten more days to set a date for the parent/teacher meeting before I am allowed to hire someone to investigate her and why she's not communicating with the school... Outside the doctor's notes and emails…'
As he closed the book, Damocles glanced to the side as he thought about those facts... Conflicting facts. His eyes narrowed when he thought, 'Something's off about that inconsistency.'
~}I{ Is the Next Day }I{~
Armond took pride in what he did. Teaching students excursions to keep them energised and healthy, you bet he made it as fun as possible. Keeping the students active so they can focus better in the other classes, you can bet Armond ensured that the activities were challenging but not too challenging. Made sure the students didn't hurt themselves during his class, hell yeah he made sure all of them stretched before the activities and made damn sure that the areas were clear of anything that could cause injuries.
So when Ms Lila Rossi kept spraining her anklet via tripping during the warm-laps, you bet Armond inspected the area where she tripped after class and made sure the other Students avoided that spot.
Armond thoroughly looked over every spot Lili had tripped, yet he didn't find anything that would cause anyone to trip... The fencing teacher scratched his head as he looked over the recent spot where Lila 'tripped'. Nothing but the grass was there...
Armond narrowed his eyes at the spot before he let out a huff and made a beeline towards the nurse's office, where he sent Lili for her ankle. the teacher huffed again when he thought, 'No wonder she insisted on going there by herself! She wanted to make sure no one saw her ditching my class!' He was sure the medic on site will confirm what he was speculating.
Armond opened the door to the nurse's office, making the on-site medic look up from their clipboard. The medic raised a brow at the PE Teacher when they asked, "Armond? What brings you here?"
Armond folded his arms as he walked into the office when he said, "I need to ask you something important, and depending on your answer one of my students might be in trouble."
The medic shrugged, nodded, and said, "That's fine, ask away as long as you don't mind if I'm taking inventory while you do." Then went back to what they were doing. Looking at the visible supplies and writing the number down on the clipboard.
Armond was fine with that as he kept his eyes on the medic when he asked, "Have you had a chance to look over Ms Rossi every time she has been sent here?"
After writing down something on the clipboard, the medic thought about that question for a good minute before finally saying, "Hm, can't say I have in all honesty... Why do you ask Armond?"
Armond narrowed his eyes as he folded his arms when he stated, "Apparently, every time Ms Rossi had Physical Education, she would suffer from some kind of injury that required her to either sit out during class or had to have been sent to your office."
The medic raised a brow at this before looking at the fencer when they asked, "Really?" Armond nodded. The medic couldn't help but ask, "Every time she had PE, she got hurt?"
Armond unfolded his arms when he stated, "Supposedly." He twirled his moustache when he said, "You know I inspected the scene when an injury occurred, and every spot where Ms Rossi "slipped or tripped" had nothing that would cause her to do so."
The medic narrowed their eyes when they asked, "I understand the students faking an injury to get out of one or two PE Classes, but all of them?"
Armond huffed before he said, "Only the classes that she attends and doesn't have some sort of doctor's note excusing her from the day's, sometimes a week's, lesson."
The medic pressed their lips into a line when they stated, "Ah, I've heard about Ms Rossi's... Absents and medical needs..." that's when the medic had a thought before they said, "Now that I think about it... Caline has asked me to keep a few extra supplies just for Ms Rossi."
Armond raised a brow at this when he asked, "She... Has?" He took a step towards the medic when he asked, "And did you?"
The medic nodded when they said, "A few items, and just the ones that pertain to the ailments on the doctor's notes in Ms Rossi's file."
Armond twirled his moustache before he asked, "Has she used any of these?" The medic thought about that for a bit before finally saying, "She says she has, but I haven't checked that in a while. You know, Akumas and other students. One of the reasons why I'm taking inventory." They tucked the pen into the little makeshift pen holder attached to the clipboard before they moved towards the lower cupboard in the corner and opened it with their free hand. The moment the medic could see everything inside, they got out a confused, "Hm?"
Armond raised a brow when he asked, "What's wrong?"
The medic quickly counted what was in the cupboard before saying, "That's odd, all the items for all of Ms Rossi's ailments are still here... Odd considering Caline has given me and the headmaster all the doctor's notes. And I've heard Ms Mendeleiev complaining that Ms Rossi hasn't been trying to work around her ailments..."
That threw the fencer for a loop when he asked, "Wait, So Ms Rossi ISN'T using any of the available medical supplies for any of her health issues? But don't some of these have to have some form of support from the on-site medic?"
The medic tapped their chin when they suggested, "Maybe she brought her own?" They looked at Armond when they stated, "Don't forget, the school has these on-site just in case they're needed. Even if we are aware that one student requested them."
Armond had to admit, the medic was right. But this did raise the original issue...
"So, Ms Rossi is faking her injuries to ditch my class," Armond stated as the medic went back to doing inventory.
As they opened one of the higher cupboards when they said, "Seems like it. I don't understand why though, you're not working the students to exhaustion and you ensure that no one gets hurt enough to see me."
"Quite true..." Armond said out loud, now just wondering what was going on with Lila Rossi.
}I{
Ms Mendeleiev was a lot of things. Strict, no-nonsense, not nice, and their least favourite teacher to name a few. But the one thing that all the students can agree on regarding Dupont's science teacher was that she was NOT stupid.
Well, at least 99% of the students thought that.
Ms Mendeleiev's eyes flicked from one paper to another, critically looking over every detail on both. She frowned with a sniff before she picked up a red pen and wrote a capital "F" on one of the papers. Ms Mendeleiev tapped the end of the pen on her chin a few times before settling on writing a note on the other paper.
The note read, "I do not mind you sharing your notes with others, but make sure that whoever you share them with uses their own words for the assignment."
Ms Mendeleiev then wrote a grade on that paper before clicking the pen and leaning back in her chair. She folded her arms, eyes staring up at the ceiling at the thought of the situation before her. She quickly went over the current facts she had.
This is the 4th time this month she's gotten a homework assignment from Lila Rossi that was nearly identical to one of her classmates.
Ms Mendeleiev narrowed her eyes.
Under normal circumstances, she would have a nice, thorough talk with the note-takers and the cheater in question. However... 'There are four different note-takers and one cheater...' Ms Mendeleiev thought critically. She took a deep breath before exhaling when she thought, 'It is clear that Ms Rossi planned to pass off the copies of her classmates' notes as her own and figured that I wouldn't notice this little ploy.'
Ms Mendeleiev's eyes fell back on the papers before she pulled her cell phone out and wrote a text to Damocles, explaining that she needed to talk to Mrs Rossi about her daughter's lack of effort to do her own work.
}{
Damocles narrowed his eyes at the text he got from Ms Mendeleiev. He tapped his fingers on his desk before he reached for the school's telephone and dialled the cell phone number on file for Mrs Rossi.
Yet again, the call went to voice mail, and yet again he left a voicemail asking Mrs Rossi to set a date for their parent/teacher meeting. As he hung up, he pulled Lila Rossi's file out and looked for the work number for her mother. When Damocles found what he was looking for, he immediately dialled the number. The only thing he got from that number was a busy tone... Again.
Damocles huffed as he hung up. He then checked his emails to see if there are any new messages, specifically, any from Mrs Rossi. There was nothing from her...
He made another tally on his little list of unanswered calls to Mrs Rossi. Damocles tapped the tip of his pen on the paper as he stared at the marks. 'Nine more days...' the Headmaster thought, not liking the situation that this was becoming.
~}I{ The Next Day }I{~
Fred Haprele was a busy man. He was a popular part-time actor for a theatre troop, he was a part-time teacher for Dupont, and he was a loving father to his daughter, Mylene. He was somehow able to juggle these to ensure he wasn't overwhelmed. Mind you his daughter was his main priority by the end of the day. But just because he had a lot to do didn't mean that he doesn't notice the little things that happen around him. Fred had a knack for seeing the things that others might not notice at first glance.
This is how he discovered that Adrien Agreste did NOT like the "attention" that Lila seemed to "Shower" him with...
Fred shook his head when he decided to correct that sentence to, "Adrien Agreste DISLIKED it whenever Lila clinging to him." The part-time teacher tapped the pencils on the paper, debating on whether or not he should use the word "Feeling up" in place of the word "Clinging"... Fred frowned when he thought, 'Granted she does both but...' He sighed before he settled on adding to the sentence that he has noticed Ms Rossi touching Adrien's chest despite him not liking it but that brought up another issue that Fred had reported to the Headmaster. Fred hoped that
Damocles told Mr Agreste about that and possibly assured Adrien that it is okay to not like 'certain' displays of attention and that it was okay to tell them to stop, preferably in front of people who would vouch that he said that so it can be proven that he didn't want that attention.
Fred thought about that for a bit before he wrote down on a separate paper that he should add an Assertiveness Lesson to his acting classes.
Now back to the issue with Lila's "handiness"...
He thought about what he's seen and what he's heard from Miss Bustier's class... And something wasn't adding up between the two...
Fred knew he needed to talk to Mylene to get the answers he wanted or at least part of it.
Later that day... The Harpreles had their little talk... It did not end how Fred or Mylene would've liked...
The questions the father asked were reasonable, starting with, "Why does Lila cling to Adrien all the time?"
The answer the daughter gave to the first was also reasonable, "Oh, Lila is just physically affectionate with her friends."
When Fred heard that he couldn't help but say, "Really? I've only seen her actively touching Adrien. But I don't see her all the time. Have you seen her being "Physically Affectionate" with any of her other friends? And by that, I mean her initiating the contact."
After a great deal of thought, Mylene finally said, "Umm... Actually, I don't think I have... She has returned hugs but she doesn't start them..." A little odd for someone who claims to be physically affectionate.
Not liking what he was hearing Fred then asked, "So she's only "physically affectionate" with one boy in your class, correct?" After Mylene gave an uneasy nod, the adult unwillingly asked, "Does Adrien like it when Lila it being that way with him?"
Mylene was somewhat quick to say, "Well, Adrien never said anything."
Fred folded his arms when he then asked, "But did he look or acted like he enjoyed Lila's attention?"
Now that her father asked that... Mylene can't remember a time when Lila was 'giving Adrien attention' when the model didn't seem like he wanted the Italian girl there... She felt very guilty when she asked her father if she was a bad friend for not noticing that someone she considered a friend was uncomfortable with something. Especially multiple times. Fred tilted his head to the side as he noticed how his daughter fidgetted with one of the buttons on her jacket. That meant that she was uneasy about something that she was not discussing. Fred placed a gentle hand on his daughter's shoulder when he said, "You are only if you did notice and actively ignored those signs." This helped Mylene feel better, but not by much. Reading these signs, Fred asked, "But, there's another reason why you didn't notice how uncomfortable Adrien was with Lila's attention, isn't there?"
Mylene avoided eye contact when she got out, "Well..." and then proceeded to tell her dad all about how Lila always called out Chloe and Marinette on their jealousy every time either girl tried to tell Lila that she was being clingy with Adrien. It was like a crack in a damn that just got bigger and bigger with every "Jealousy Scenario" that Mylene saw between Lila and the two other girls, now realising that it was happening too often with two different girls to be considered normal. Even with the jealousy claim.
Fred quickly calmed his daughter down when he asked, "So, Lila pulled that 'jealousy' card every time either Chloe or Marinette pointed out that she was being 'clingy' with Adrien, correct?" Mylene nods. Fred slowly nods back when he asked, "Has anyone else pointed out that Lila has been 'clingy' with Adrien? Maybe not that word specifically, but has pointed out that maybe Lila is a little too often in Adrien's personal space?"
Mylene thought about that for a bit before saying, "Uh... I think Nino has pointed it out a few times and I know Kim voiced his thoughts about it too once or twice, but..." She paused, now realising another fact that she overlooked but now thought was a little odd.
"But what?" Fred asked, gently trying to get his daughter to continue.
Looking off to the side with a look that read 'unsure', Mylene said, "But Lila reiterated that she was physically affectionate with her friend, and... And claimed that Adrien didn't seem to mind..."
Fred could hear the confusion in his daughter's tore when he asked. "And did Adrien confirm or deny that?"
Mylene slowly shook her head when she said, "Actually, he didn't do either..." She looked at her dad when she stated in a tone of realisation, "I'm pretty sure Lila was... Putting words in Adrien's mouth..."
Fred could tell that this... Was not something Mylene was taking in well. So he sat her down on their couch, sat next to her, and asked, "So Adrien never had a chance to vocalise that he was uncomfortable every time Lila was on him?" Mylene slowly nodded her head. Fred let out a soft sigh, now understanding how his daughter overlooked all these facts until now before he said, "And since he never voiced that he didn't like that attention on top of Lila deflecting your classmates on that, you didn't notice until I started asking questions about it..."
Mylene fidgeted with the buttons again before she got out, "Dad... Adrien could've told us that he didn't like it when Lila invaded his personal space when she wasn't around... And we would've helped him with his boundaries..."
Fred caught onto what she was implying when he finished, "And you want to know why he didn't try to tell you or explain that he didn't like it."
Mylene nodded before she said, "I... I know we would've understood..."
Fred wrapped an arm around his daughter and gently pulled her into a one-armed hug when he said, "I'm not sure why... But I can ask him about it." He rested his chin on Mylene's head when he added, "He's noticed that I have been purposefully keeping Lila away from him during my classes, so he might be willing to tell me."
Mylene smiled a little bit as she returned the hug when she told her dad, "I'll try to tell some of the others about this and maybe run some interference."
Fred smiled a little before he told her to keep it on the down low and just tell them that she has noticed that Adrien looks a little uncomfortable when Lila is 'giving him Physical attention'. Mylene agreed to that.
}{
The school's phone was hung up a little harder than needed.
With a huff, Damocles made another tally on the paper with the rest of the marks when he thought, 'Eight days left... as he tapped his pen on the paper. The headmaster narrowed his eyes at the 68 tally marks as he wondered, 'Even after leaving all the messages via Phone and email, I still have not heard from Mrs Rossi!
Honestly, how can the Woman NOT realise that her daughter's school is trying to contact her?
}I{ At the Rossi's Residence }I{
Lila scoffed as she pulled her mother's (stolen) cell phone away from her ear before the deleted yet another voice message from that idiotic headmaster. She then hid the phone before she checked the email she gave the school in place of her mother's email. Lila frowned when she saw yet another email from the school asking to set up a date for a useless parent/teacher meeting. She rolled her eyes as she deleted the email.
Lila scoffed as she thought, 'Honestly, Why does the school even need those useless meetings? can't a phone call be enough for them?'
It annoyed Lila that Dupont insisted on meeting with her mother, but she wasn't worried. The school only had the fake contact information for her mother, so no one on either side will know of her 'little' ploy.
Lila lounged a bit when she thought, 'Besides, it is not like the school can do anything about a parent missing some dumb meeting."
~}I{ The Next Day }I{~
Things were pretty normal at school. Nothing major happened, but Ms Mendeleiev made a rather odd observation.
During lunch, Lila Rossi claimed to have sprained her wrist last night and couldn't carry her food tray. The science teacher thought it was weird that the Italian student wasn't wearing some kind of wrapping to keep the sprain straight, but she knew that some people preferred not to wear them because of comfort reasons, even if it was on the counterproductive side. The observation would've ended there if Ms Mendeleiev hadn't seen Lila slinging her pack over her shoulder while scrolling on her phone with her other hand.
The science teacher had to pause when she saw this, making sure that she wasn't seeing things. Thank goodness Lila was too engrossed with what was on her phone to notice the strict teacher as she passed by. This gave Ms Mendeleiev the chance to get a clear look at the brunette's wrists. The way Lila was holding her bag and phone were positions that should've caused her pain if either wrist were sprained.
As Ms Mendeleiev watched the teen leave, she placed a hand to her chin at the thought, 'So, she lied about an injury? Why?' the science teacher glanced to the side before she turned and made her way to the Teacher's Lounge.
Ms Mendeleiev needed to talk to the other teachers.
}{
Damocles made another tally on the 'No response for parent/teacher meeting' paper as he thought, 'Seven days left...' He wanted to get some sort of response from Mrs Rossi by this point.
~}I{ The Next Day }I{~
Miss Bustier was the next teacher to notice an... An oddity with Lila...
According to one of her doctor's notes, the poor girl had arthritis and had a hard time taking notes. Thank goodness Marinette had such clear and neat handwriting and was more than happy to allow Miss Bustier to make copies of her literary class notes. But that was why this oddity was... Well, Odd...
Miss Bustier was more than happy to tell Lila that Marinette wouldn't mind sharing her notes with her. So it was confusing to the redheaded teacher when Lila told her that she already asked the bluette about the notes and she gave her terribly written papers.
'That doesn't sound like Marinette,' Caline thought before she pulled out the freshly printed photocopies of Marinette's notes. As she handed Lila the small stack of today's notes, Miss Bustier couldn't help but think, 'Plus there is no way Marinette could've written two different notes for today's lesson in such a short timeframe.'
Lila skimmed over the notes before happily thanking the teacher while claiming that Adrien's handwriting is much better than Marinette's.
As Miss Bustier bid Lila goodbye, she couldn't help but think, 'Huh? Why would she think that Adrien wrote those notes?' she then looked at the copies. To the red-headed teacher, the writings were clearly Marinette's. She then opened one of her desk drawers and looked for Adrien's file. When she found it, she pulled one of his writing assignments and compared the handwriting to the copied notes Marinette took.
They were different...
Miss Bustier glanced at the ceiling to think over what she knew.
Marinette was the note taker of her class because she wrote the cleanest and neatest notes among them, and she knew that Miss Bustier made copies of her notes to give to her classmates that needed them. However, Lila told her that Marinette had purposefully terrible handwriting.
'But even if Marinette didn't get along with Lila, she still would've told her that I make copies of the notes on the day's lesson.' Miss Bustier thought as she filed away the papers. Then there was the weirdness that Lila thought that Adrien wrote the notes... As far as Caline knew, Adrien wouldn't have the time to share his notes with any of his classmates since the poor boy was usually busy with modelling for his father's company to even think about loaning his notes to anyone...
Miss Bustier was certainly confused...
}{
Damocles hung up the phone, again, as he shook his head before making another tally mark. 'Six days left,' the headmaster thought with narrow eyes.
~}I{ The Next Day }I{~
Armand was looking over all the doctor's notes in Ms Rossi's file in the Teacher's Lounge. He wanted to see if he could come up with a lesson plan that would be fine for Ms Rossi to do while keeping her and the others in that class engaged, However...
"Please tell me you got Sam's permission to go through that?"
Armond jumped at the sudden voice. He looked up from where he sat to see Ms Mendeleiev looming over him. He twirled his moustache before he stated as his attention back to the files, "Don't worry, I did, but..." He sighed when he added, "Ms Rossi seems to have quite a lot of... Health Issues?"
Ms Mendeleiev raised a brow before she folded her arm when she asked, "You don't seem sure of that. Why?"
As he kept twirling his moustache, Armond stated, "The more I read those doctor's notes, the more confused I become about Ms Rossi."
Ms Mendeleiev slid into the seat next to the fencer when she stated, "Elaborate."
Armond moved the hand that was twirling his moustache and pointed at one of the doctor's notes when he said, "According to this one, Ms Rossi has arthritis."
Ms Mendeleiev nodded when she stated, "Celine told me about that. Apparently, it is the reason why Ms Rossi can't take notes for school."
Armond raised a brow at what he heard before he asked, "Apparently? You don't think she has arthritis?"
Ms Mendeleiev tapped her nails on the table when she stated, "I am aware that some people under 20 can get arthritis and that the potency of the pain from it can fluctuate from nonexistence to crippling as well as a limited range of motion and stiffness. However..." She glances at her co-worker when she added, "I don't recall ever seeing Ms Rossi's wrist swollen to any degree during her stay here." Armond had a rather confused look on his face at this. Ms Mendeleiev sighed when she stated, "It's one of the most obvious symptoms of arthritis."
Armond nods when he said, "Ah, right. But what caught my attention is that other than when Ms Rossi brings up that she has arthritis and claims that she can't do things, I don't think I've ever seen any signs of her having arthritis or her doing anything recommended to quail the pain from arthritis."
Ms Mendeleiev nodded when she stated, "Same, but how can she have a doctor's note saying that she has arthritis when it seems like she doesn't have it?"
Something smelt fishy about this...
"Armond, did you cook tuna in the microwave?" Ms Mendeleiev asked as she sniffed the air.
"Shoot!" the fencer got out before he scurried away to get his lunch.
}{
Damocles drew a line between four tallies with a frown. 'Five days left...' He thought in a displeased manner.
He sighed before he figured that he find that PI Agency card a friend gave him. Damocles remembered that that agency had a rather weird name, but he heard it was an efficient PI. He might as well use them.
~}I{~
Over the weekend the Dupont staff Went over what they've learned and even Miss Bustier had to admit that something was going on with Lila Rossi. Though the redheaded teacher refused to believe that Lila would lie about being hurt or try to cast her classmate in a bad light. Ms Mendeleiev did have to point out that MS Rossi did lie about having a sprain and the 'notes Marinette gave her'. Miss Bustier had no rebuttal to that.
Guess there were a Lot of things to talk to Mrs Rossi about if they could get her in for that parent/teacher meeting.
Once the weekend was over, only three days left until Damocles is allowed to contact an outside Agency. He knows he had that PI card in his office somewhere.
~}I{~
Over the two days, it took for Damocles to finally find that PI Agency's business card, the Dupont staff noticed some more inconsistencies with Lila.
When she wasn't telling those self-insert stories, she always seemed to bring up one issue or another on why she couldn't do something that she could've easily done herself. However, as soon as she thought she was away from prying eyes, the staff saw that she didn't seem to have any problem doing something she claimed she couldn't do earlier... That was certainly suspicious.
}{
"Found it!" Damocles exclaimed happily as he held up the business card. On the table, the list had more tallies on it.
Damocles quickly read the business card. He raised a brow at the name of the PI Agency. "Drac-U-Allies? That is an odd name," The headmaster commented. He sighed before he said, "But as long as they do the job, it doesn't matter."
A glance at the clock told Damocles that he still needed to wait until the specified time has lapsed. He narrowed his eyes at the device when he thought, 'Ten more hours... That's the time Mrs Rossi has left...'
After everything that's been happening here at Dupont involving Lila Rossi, it made the Headmaster wonder if Mrs Rossi even gave a damn about her daughter.
}I{ Meanwhile }I{
"What are you doing, Cecilia?" One of Mrs Rossi's co-workers asked When she saw the mother doing paperwork while she ate lunch.
Cecilia Rossi swallowed what she had in her mouth before she said, "I'm outlining the stuff I plan to do with my little angel during the vacation I put in. I want to maximize the enjoyment for the both of us while spending as much time with each other." She looked over the neat little timeline she had created.
The co-worker gave the woman a wiry smile when they said, "Or you can adjust your hours so can at least have either breakfast or dinner with Lila. No one here will think less of you if you did that and I'm sure Lila would love that."
Cecilia hunched a bit before she said, "I would love that too... But I have to make sure that I have the income needed to keep the necessities for a comfortable life for my little angel."
The co-worker sighed as they sat down at Cecila's table before finally saying, "Are you still overcompensating for the divorce?" Cecilia stiffened at this. The co-worker sighed again before saying, "Listen, I don't know what happened between you and Antonio, but you need to stop and think about why you are putting in all these hours." They placed a hand on Cecilia's shoulder when they said, "Yes, working an extra shift once a week is fine if you want the extra cash in your paycheck for Lila, but I think you're trying to bury yourself in work so you can ignore the pain from the divorce." The co-worker then said in a soft, understanding tone, "And don't forget, Lila needs a Mother, not just a provider."
Cecilia smiled before she said, "I... I guess you're right. I need to be there for Lila, not just to make sure she had what she needs."
The co-worker smiled before asking, "You want me to be there when you put in that schedule change?"
Cecilia nodded when she said, "Yes, I... Might need you to remind me why I'm doing it."
The co-worker let out a laugh before saying, "Not a problem."
~}I{ Dupont, 23:59 }I{~
Damocles was sitting behind his desk as he watched the seconds tick by. Honestly, he was being a little overboard with this, but he did not want to wait a second longer... Even if he knew that he probably wouldn't get a call back from Drac-U-Allies until morning. Damocles just needed to get this done as soon as possible.
The clock switched to 00:00.
Damocles immediately dialled the number for that Drac-U-Allies.
~}I{ That Morning }I{~
A door opened and a person skipped in with a chipper smile when she greeted the others inside, "Good morning!" This person was a young woman, possibly an older teen, with pale pink skin, pale purple eyes, and long black hair with pink streaks. Her hair was in a pair of neatly tied twin tails. Her ears were slightly pointed, had a pair of semi-sharp canines, and pale skin with a pink tint that looked like it would be sensitive to the sun. She also has a small pink heart right under her left eye. Her makeup consists of deep pink lipstick and a line of pink eyeshadow on the crease, and she also wears white safety pin earrings. She wears a victorian-inspired outfit that begins with a pink vest decorated with a white lace jabot adorned with a pink flower necklace, black mesh sleeves, and lace cuffs. The white skirt is accentuated by pink stitching, a white tulle hem, and black mesh leggings. On her feet are pink knee-high boots adorned with black straps, black laces, and heart accents. She also has a black parasol in hand that had a skullette tip and bat handle.
A young woman, possibly also in her late teens, with pale skin with a slight lavender hue, long two-tone purple hair, red lips, aqua eyelids and green eyes, wearing an outfit consisting of a dark purple dress with a knee-high slit, red flats, and a red belt yawned when she got out, "You have too much energy so early, Laura..." She yawned again. She hated mornings. She somewhat slumped at her desk.
A young woman with short, somewhat messy blond hair and blue eyes, with a well-developed figure, especially her large breasts, wearing a tight yellow semi-military uniform with a short skirt, long white stockings, tall brown boots and a silver-metallic prostatic left arm waved at the new arrival with a pleasant smile.
A handsome man that appears to be in his mid-twenties with waist-long platinum blonde hair that looked well-kept, thin eyebrows of the same colour, pale silver eyes that almost looked white, wore black dress trousers paired with a white shirt with a low v-neck under a black calf-long, lightweight coat, and knee-high black boots looked up from his computer to give the peppy girl a nod before going back to whatever he was doing.
A beautiful and slender woman who appears to be in her middle age with pale white skin wore an ankle-length pale pink gown that appears faded and old, had on a bat-shaped necklace medallion around her neck, had dark eyes, and wore blood-red lipstick came out from a back room when she said, "Why hello, Laura dear. Energetic as always I see."
The girl in black and pink Gothic loli happily nodded at the skipped in. She then looked at the purplette when she said, "While Bella, on the other hand, looks like she needs an extra few hours of sleep."
The purplette, Bella apparently, yawned again before she said, "I hate mornings..."
The blonde woman snickered when she said, "Goes to show how Laura and Bella are still fledglings."
"We are NOT! Seras!" Both Bella and Laura snapped angrily at the blonde woman, who just kept snickering at the two.
The woman with black and white hair sighed as she walked over to the blonde man when she told him, "Ah, to be that age and have someone to relate to." She leaned against his desk when she gave him a playful smirk as the three younger girls started fighting in the background when she asked, "Makes you wish we had that when we were their age, huh, Al?"
As the blonde man, Al kept typing, he stated, "Pretty sure I don't need to remind you that you're married, Lily."
The woman with the black hair with white streaks, Lily, smiled before she playfully poked Al's cheek with her index finger when she said, "But I apparently, I need to remind you that everyone in this room are siblings."
Al's brow twitched in annoyance at this. At least until a pillow hit him right in the face.
Lily placed a hand to her lips in shock at this as the sounds of fighting suddenly stopped.
All the women stared at the blonde man as the pillow slid down his face. As Seras, Bella, and Laura seemed to freeze in their mid-fight, they stared at Al, or rather, his lack of reaction.
Not even a second later a golden, furious aura emitted from Al before he hissed, "That! Will earn you a painful bad hair day!" He then practically leapt over the desk and tackled the three smaller females to the ground and started messing up their hair. Of course, the girls fought back, trying to save their dignity and mess up the older blonde's clothing and especially his hair.
Lily could only watch the chaos happen with mixed emotions before turning her attention to the corner of the office and calling out to the man sitting there, "D! Can you stop them before they wreck the place again!?"
Off at the corner desk was a gorgeous youth between 17-18 years with a milky white complexion, a powerful frame, thick masculine eyebrows, a smooth bridge of a nose, with long thin cold eyes that are quite clear, lips that appeared to be tightly drawn, wore a traveller's hat, a faded black long coat, wearing a blue pendant and a combat utility belt, and waist-long midnight black hair that was loosely tied back in a pony-tail was reading a book, ignoring what was going on.
Lily huffed at the almost stomped over to the long-haired ravenette, the 'fight' in the background continued.
The raven-haired man, D apparently, turned to the next page as Lilly slammed her hand on his desk. Seeing that the other didn't seem interested, the woman snapped angrily, "D! Don't you care about our siblings hurting each other or the state of this office?!"
D kept reading the book when he finally stated, "They'll sort it out themselves and fix everything once they realise what they did."
Lily glared at him before she sighed, just giving to their normal morning antics.
The next thing everyone knew, the intercom came alive when the person on the other end said, "Hey! Allies! You got some jobs that need doing!" The voice sounded like an old, rusty man.
Without his eyes leaving his book, D clicked the talk button on the intercom on his desk when he responded, "Send the jobs to us in the usual way. Once the 'morning fight' runs its course, we'll get started on them." He removed his finger from the button once he finished speaking.
An annoyed sigh could be heard through the intercom before the person on the other line said, "Fine! But get on those jobs as soon as that annoying routine is over!"
Lily pressed the talk button before she said, "Don't worry, Lefty, we will." And with that, the intercom call ended. Lily sighed as she turned her attention back to the 'fight'.
It was another morning at the Drac-U-Allies office.
}{ About 15 minutes Later }{
Now that everything has been settled and fixed (especially everyone's clothing and hair), it was time to hand the jobs out.
"Okay," Lily said as she filed through the papers with the information for the different jobs that came in. She handed AI four sheets when she said, "Al, these jobs require your skill sets to complete." As Al took the papers and read them, Lily added, "But do keep the flirting to a minimum."
As he scanned through the papers, Al stated smoothly, "I don't 'flirt' with just anyone, and some people don't understand when I tell them I'm not interested."
"So you say," Seras chimed snarkily. Al shot a glare at her through the corner of his eyes before going back to reading the jobs given.
Lily then handed Seras three sheets of paper when she stated, "This is a bodyguarding job that requires someone who can work and pose as another member of the staff."
Seras took the papers, then placed them on the desk to read what the job could need so she can pack the right type of prosthetic for the task.
Lily sighed before dropping ten sheets of paper on D's desk when she said, "Today's date requests for you." As she walked away, she added, "We are Private Investigators, not a dating service." D didn't even look up from his book as he used a ruler that he kept on his desk to push those papers into the rubbish bin that sat next to the desk.
The others simply glanced at each other when they saw this. All too used to the aloofness of the raven-haired man, but still couldn't understand why people wanted to date him.
Lily held up the last paper in her hand when she stated, "Bella, Laura, you two are going to have to work together on this job." She handed the paper to the two youngest when she added, "But it shouldn't take you too long to complete it."
As Bella and Laura read the job, the purplette couldn't help but get out as she looked up at the older woman while the other pouted, "Really? You're giving us a house call job?"
Lily folded her arms when she stated, "I know it's a little underwhelming, but both of you need to prove that you can handle the small jobs before you can handle the bigger jobs." Laura glanced at Bella and vice versa when Lily stated, "Do this job well and maybe the next job will have you with more responsibility."
Bella and Laura sighed before they said together with a pout, "Understood..." The two then looked at the job description again as Al told them that it was expected. Both were hoping that this Rossi family that the Dupont school wanted them to investigate was worth the pocket money.
}I{ During Lunch at Dupont }I{
Damocles waited patiently in front of the school for the two PIs from the Drac-U-Allies so he can give them what he had on the Rossis so they can investigate them. True, he had some guilt over what he was doing, but the well-being of one of his students was at stake and he was well within the legal means to hire the necessary help for that.
Uh, well, the school has the legal means to hire the help for that. And the budget for something like this.
"Excuse us," Damocles snapped out of his thoughts and saw Laura and Bella standing in front of him. "Are you M Damocles?" The one in the Gothic loli asked him before saying, "I'm Draculaura, but please call me Laura," she points to the purplette when she added, "And this is Sibella, but please call her Bella." She smiled when she said, "We're from the Drac-u-Allies and we're here regarding that meeting."
'That's the code phrase that I was supposed to listen for,' the Headmaster thought before looking the two over. He honestly didn't think that the two that he would meet were going to be that young. 'But then again the Heroes of Paris are pretty young too,' Damocles thought before inviting them in.
After carefully making sure that none of the students were around, Damocles lead the two into his office. Once they were in, the Headmaster made a beeline to his desk as Laura and Bella sat in the chairs in front of the desk. Damocles asked the two if he knew why the school had hired them, just to make sure they knew what he needed them to do. Both Bella and Laura told him that their job was to find Mrs Rossi and find the reason why she refuses to attend the school's parent/teacher meeting. Damocles nodded, glad he didn't have to go over that.
Damocles sat in his chair before he unlocked one of his desk drawers, looked through the files before finding the one he was looking for, and pulled it out. He went through that folder before taking a sheet of paper out and sliding it towards the two PIs when he said, "This is the contact information for Mrs Rossi, including her home and work address." Bella picked up the paper and read what was on it as Damocles stated, "While I want you to figure out what's going on with Mrs Rossi, I also want you to note the interactions between her and her daughter."
Laura raised a brow when she asked, "Do you suspect abuse?"
Damocles tapped his desk with his index finger when he stated, "I'm going to be honest, I am not completely sure. I know something's going on with Mrs Rossi's daughter here, but we're looking into that on our end. However, one's home life is a root that needs to be looked at."
Bella couldn't help but say, "I'm hearing that you want us to find Mrs Rossi and observe her for a while, correct?" Damocles thought about that for a bit before nodding. The purplette then asked, "Do you have a time range for this observation? A few days, a week, or a month?"
Damocles stroked his beard at the question before thinking about it for a bit and finally saying, "Perhaps observe Mrs Rossi for two weeks, maybe three. I want you to have the necessary and accurate data needed to make a good case for the School Board. Sound fair?"
Bella and Laura looked at each other, silently debating on that. They agreed to that but added that the headmaster is going to have to contact their agency to rework the pay range for the task. Damocles figured that would happen and was already willing to do it, after checking the school's budget to ensure it might be possible.
Before the bell could ring to end lunch, the two PIs from the Drac-U-Allies were outside the school heading towards the nearby park and Damocles was on the phone again. The headmaster needed to get this sorted to the task could be done.
Max Kante happened to look out the window to see the two females walking away from the school. He didn't dwell on what he saw for long, since Kim called for his attention.
}{
Bella and Laura sat at one of the park benches together when the purplette asked, "So, where do you want to start?"
Laura looked at the paper before pointing at one of the addresses when she said, "At this time of day, it might be a good idea to check out where the Rossis live." She looked at the other when she added, "Plus, it'll give us a chance to figure out how to set up surveillance on the mother before she can return from work."
Bella nodded when she said, "Sounds like a plan." She looked at the lift before she felt something odd about the list. "Hmm," The purplette looked the list over again before she vocalised, "Says here she works for the Italian Embassy as an Ambassador."
Laura glanced at the list before she commented in a calm tone, "Seem like it. I guess we made the right choice to start with their home rather than Mrs Rossi's work, we're going to need to think of a way to get in without-, huh?" she glanced at the other to see that she had a puzzled look on her face. Laura had to ask, "Bella, is something wrong?"
The purplette tapped her chin when she said, "I don't know, something just feels off about this contact information, but I can't put my wing on it."
Laura looked at the list again.
Everything looked fine. There was a cell phone, work phone, home address, work contact, and email.
Bella stood up when she said, "I guess it shouldn't matter since we're going to use the information to find out what's up." Laura agreed before she stood up and followed her sister out of the park to their first target, the Rossi's home address.
}I{ Dupont, Fred Harprele's Class }I{
Fred was getting more than a little annoyed. It didn't help that Mylene caught on and wasn't sure who she should be worried about more. "Ms Rossi! For the last time! Your character is supposed to be the sister of Mr Agreste's character, not the lover!" Fred snapped at the brunette teen yet again.
Lila, to her credit, did try to spin the whole thing as her character just adored her brother a lot, but the part-time teacher wasn't having any of that. He thoroughly explained to the entire class how her behaviour as that character was inappropriate for siblings to display towards one another and would defiantly cause the audience to think that there could be some not-so-sibling-like things these characters could be doing when the rest of the cast wasn't around.
That was when Fred gave Lila an ultimatum, pull back on the "Affection" or lose her part, end of the story. And Lila just couldn't keep her hands off of Adrien, even when Fred pointed out that he looked completely uncomfortable.
Rose ended up taking Lila's Place at Lila's character.
}{
A little after the class ended and most of the girls gathered in Miss Bustier's classroom, and Mylene couldn't help but comment, "Um, Lila, no offence, but you were a little too close to Adrien a little too much... And you were kind of ignoring the teacher..."
Lila didn't seem bothered by the comment when she said rather innocently, "I wasn't, I think he was just overreacting to a little bit of friendly affection and was a little too focused on getting the characters right."
Normally, this would've made sense to the girls, however...
Rose couldn't help but say, "I'm not disagreeing with you, but... You were overdoing the friendliness towards Adrien."
Mylene caught a quick look of annoyance on Lila's face before a look of innocence when she said, "Perhaps I was a little, but certainly not enough to warrant being shouted at by the teacher."
Mylene couldn't believe what she was hearing, even more so when she heard Alya say, "Agreed, and besides, Adrien would've said something if Lila was overdoing it."
The other girls had to agree with that logic. Well, everyone but Mylene, who definitely saw a smirk on Lila's face when the brunette thought all eyes were off her.
Mylene couldn't help but narrow her eyes at this before she had to continue with the conversation.
}{ Meanwhile }{
"Dude, how come you let Lila hang off you like that?" Nino had asked the blonde model as he and some of the other guys lounged a bit in the canteen, just waiting for the next class to start.
But then again, who wouldn't ask that after what happened in the last class?
Adrien looked uncomfortable at the question, but he wasn't giving much of a verbal answer.
Ivan tapped the table before he said, "Now that I think about it... Adrien, you've never looked happy to have Lila near you." He narrowed his eyes at the blonde boy when he asked, "Have you told Lila that you don't like it when she's that close to you?"
Again, Adrien didn't answer. Which... Was a rather concerning answer in itself.
Max pushed his glasses when he asked, "Adrien, please give us an answer this time. Do you even like it when Lila is inside your personal space?"
Adrien glanced to the side before he shook his head.
The guys' next question was unanimous, "Dude! If you don't like it when she does it, then why do you let her do it?"
Adrien didn't do anything but lower his gaze.
That was something that defiantly raised a red flag.
}I{ With Bella and Laura }I{
The two females looked between the address on the paper to the address on the street, and then the building in front of them as both stated in a somewhat flabbergasted and confused tone, "This can't be right..."
The building in front of the two young PIs appeared to be some type of nightclub, or someplace that would be a lot more active during the PM hours... But since it was the middle of the day, the neon sign over the entranceway was off and just spelt out the name of the establishment. There were some speakers propped near the entrance, to play music for the people waiting to get in, but were off because the place was not open. There were lights over a few visible posters but were also off though it was because they were probably on a timer or something. A few people were switching the posters out and watching the front, probably employees of the place.
Laura took out a pocket-sized camera and took a picture of the address and the building as Bella took the paper when she suggested, "Maybe there's a residential section nearby that we're not seeing?"
Laura lowered her camera as she looked at her sister when she commented, "Maybe, but kind of an odd location for a foreign diplomate to reside don't you think?"
Bella glanced at her sister when she said, "True, but we don't know if they just didn't know about the location, they might have a tight budget and this location was within that price range, or if something else is at play here."
Laura nodded when she said, "Something strange is going on and the Rossis are in the middle of it." The two looked at each other before they walked over to the establishment. They had a job to do, and they were defiantly going to figure this out.
}I{ with Mrs Rossi }I{
Cecilia filed away some paperwork a little easier than she usually did. Maybe it was because she felt a bit lighter.
She submitted the schedule change, and her bosses were a lot more willing to accept it than she thought. And the thing she didn't expect was that the pay loss for the cut hours wasn't as much as she thought it would be. Cecilia's bosses did admit that she was overdoing her hours which could've easily been divided fairly among some of the interns or staff that wanted an extra few hours.
Cecilia couldn't wait to start having breakfast with Lila again! Maybe they can even cook breakfast together!
}I{ With Bella and Laura }I{
After flashing their IDs to prove that they were over 21, and then the IDs getting looked over thoroughly by the disbelieving staff, Laura and Bella got to talk to the owner and manager of the establishment. The women's questions were simple, "Is there a residential area nearby or do you rent living space around the area?", "Do you have anyone who might work here that has the surname of Rossi? Or a known associate by that Surname?", and lastly "Do you have any proof that no one by the name Rossi has ever been here in any way?"
The owner answered the first question easily enough, "No, this area is for nighttime fun and activities. most being pretty loud. There's no way anyone would want to live here."
The manager answered the second question after looking through their employee roster, "Hm, no one working here has that surname, and none of the emergency contacts on their lists has that surname either."
The last question couldn't be answered to the best of either's ability. Unless the person booked a party or event in advance, there wasn't much of a guest list. However, the manager did comment, "Come to think of it... I think the name on those letters we've been getting over the past couple of months had the name Rossi on them."
The Drac-U-Allies agents asked if they can see those letters, to which the manager nodded and left to go get the items in question. This allowed the owner to ask what this was really about. Both agents gave as much information as they were contractually allowed to give.
That they were hired by a school to track down a parent that has failed to set up a parent/teacher meeting and seemed to be enabling her child to some extent.
The owner raised a brow at this and asked, "And the home address for this parent is the location for my establishment?" When the two PIs nodded the owner folded their arms when they stated, "Well, either this Rossi put down the wrong address by accident without double-checking it or they did it on purpose. Either way, it's not looking good for them."
Well, that was a good point.
The manager came back with a nice stack of envelopes bound together with a few rubber bands. They handed the items to Bella when they stated, "You ladies were lucky, I was going to toss them next week. The only reason I kept them was in case a friend of an employee wanted to use us as a way to get around people who they don't want looking through their mail. We allow it so long as they get their mail within three weeks."
Bella took the rubber bands off and flipped through the envelopes, looking at the recipient, sender, and address. All were the same. Mrs Rossi was the person the letters were supposed to go to, Dupont was the sender of the letter, and the address was this location. All 30 of the envelopes were identical, even the stamps.
Laura looked over her sister's shoulder as she look through the mail before she asked the manager, "This seems like a lot of letters to have gotten in three weeks. Did you keep more than that?"
The manager scratched their head before they stated, "Well, I guess I did break that rule for this... But it was the fact that it was from a good high school. I didn't want to be the reason why someone's kid didn't get in or something else important. So I kept them despite them being here past the three-week mark." As Bella rewrapped the envelopes back in the rubber bands when the manager said, "But no one came to claim them and I figure I hold them another week before tossing them."
Both the owner and the manager wished the two luck on their case as the ladies left.
As they left, Bella tucked the stack into her bag as she told the other, "Something is definitely strange about this... Using a different address to essentially receive the mail from the school? What if Dupont wanted to make a house call?"
Laura folded her arms when she said, "Agreed, it's like Mrs Rossi didn't want anyone from the school to come to her home."
The two glanced at each other before they agreed to check out Mrs Rossi's work address next.
}I{ Meanwhile }I{
Cecilia Rossi checked her email to see a message from Dupont. After reading through the email, she couldn't help but think, 'They're going to be closed for a week again?' She re-read the email before feeling a little more relieved that it was for some structural updates. 'Make sense, with all those awful Akuma attacks happening,' Cecilia thought before she closed the email.
Too bad it didn't happen when her new schedule would kick in. Cecilia would have definitely brought Lila to work with her to show her what she did.
}{ At Dupont }{
Damocles narrowed his eyes at the email he had just relieved from Mrs Rossi.
'A work-related trip next week! Can't bare to leave her precious daughter alone! What kind of mixed signals are these?!' the Headmaster thought in frustration.
Not only was this going to delay the investigation he had on the woman but also lost some valuable time for the teachers to observe Lila!
In a not-so-good mood, Damocles looked over the temporary school leave form attached to the email to see if it was filled out correctly, which it frustratingly was. With an exhausted sigh, Damocles printed out the form to add to Lila Rossi's rather thick folder. Honestly! The Rossis were giving the school so much paperwork!
As the Headmaster pulled out the student's folder, which by now was already twice as thick as the other students, to put this new document with the others and then alert Miss Bustier about the absence.
Maybe it was because Damocles was feeling a little exhausted with Mrs Rossi not giving any reply for the parent/teacher meeting and was avoiding the topic in general or the fact that the emotions from trying to keep them levelled so as not to attract Hawkmoth, but the folder slipped out his grip and hit the floor with a smack. Papers scattered about all over the floor behind the headmaster's desk.
Damocles did some deep breathing exercises to help keep himself calm before he knelt to collect the fallen papers. As the Headmaster picked up the papers, he noticed a rather strange consistency...
'That's... Odd...' Damocles thought as he collected all the papers before he sat back at his desk and looked over all the papers from Lila's file. Of course, he separated the doctor's notes from the leave requests, but it only made that consistency stand out even more. Damocles' mouth parted slightly, his brow furrowed, and his eyes narrowed. He's never noticed this before, but then again, he only looked at the papers one at a time before filing them away. Now that he was looking at all the papers at the same time...
Damocles flopped back into his chair as he placed a hand over his mouth. 'What could this possibly mean?' Was all the Headmaster could think.
}I{ With Bella and Laura }I{
The two PIs looked at the address on the paper before looking at the street address and then the building in front of them.
Laura pulled her camera when she got out, "Uh... Bella... This does not look like it can be an embassy of any kind..." She then took a picture of the street address and then the building.
Bella couldn't help but say, "You know, I'm starting to think that these addresses were purposefully inputted wrong." She looked at the building when she added, "But let's confirm that this isn't where Mrs Rossi works and then report it to Mr Damocles."
Laura pocketed her camera when she nodded in agreement before the two made their way towards Larry Talbot's Furry Friends Pet Shop.
~}I{ Elsewhere }I{~
Lila smirked as she tucked her mother's stolen phone into her purse before she exited the girls' restroom. Those emails she made beforehand were perfect, as usual. 'None of those idiots will suspect a thing,' the liar thought in joy.
After all, no one has noticed her ploy so it was unlikely that they'll notice anytime soon.
}I{ Later, Just as School Let Out for the Day }I{
"Hey, Marinette!" Kim called as he waved at the blue tie. The girl in question turned when she heard her name to see the tall teen hustling towards her. Kim smiled when he asked, "Is it still cool if I come along?"
Marinette nodded when she said, "Of course, he already said it was fine. Plus, he is paying you to bodyguard."
Kim shrugged before he said, "Just making sure. It's technically your job in the first place."
Marinette could only giggle before the two headed off. The other students started filing out. Lila happily chatted away with the gaggle of girls following her, unaware that the gaggle was one girl short. Max noticed those two girls from earlier hustling in the distance, heading towards the back entrance. The techie tilted his head to the side as he watched the two girls vanish from view. Max just stared at the area before he shrugged and headed off. He figured that he'd figure out who these possible new students are eventually.
Damocles was writing something down in deep thought when a knocking made him jump. He told the person on the other side of the door to come in, after he settled himself down.
To Damocles' surprise, it was Bella and Laura who came in.
Damocles blinked in confusion before he asked in a voice that mimicked his mood, "Oh, back so soon? Did something happen?"
The two PIs walked over to the Headmaster's desk before Laura slid her camera across the desk with one of the pictures taken earlier on clear display on the screen on the back when Bella stated, "I'll say something happened. Both addresses you have for Mrs Rossi are 100% fake."
Damocles closed his open mouth before he stuttered out, "W-w-what?!" Both PIs pointed at the camera. The Headmaster quickly picked up the device and scrolled through the recent pictures, the proof that showed that the home and work address for Mrs Rossi was indeed fake.
This... Was bad... Very bad...
Damocles looked at the two when he asked, "And you confirmed with the people in these buildings? No one knew the Ross is?"
Bella took the still-sealed envelopes out of her bag and slid them towards the headmaster when She stated, "The 'home' address was receiving the letters you've been sending. I'm not sure if the intent was to avoid getting them or in case someone wanted to do a surprise house call, but this is defiantly something the School Board needs to know about."
Dumbly, Damocles nodded before he snapped out of his moment when he got out, "There's another issue that I believe you should know about..." He quickly showed the two the recent request for a temporary leave due to a work trip.
Bella's lips pressed in a line when she stated, "Well, we can always follow Mrs Rossi's daughter home tomorrow to get her real address..."
Laura shuttered before she got out, "Yeah, not looking forward to following a teenager home, but we do need to so we can complete this job..."
Damocles tapped his fingers on his desk when he said, "As much as I don't want you two doing that either... I'm starting to believe we don't have much of a choice..." He sighed before he told them, "Given the situation... I'm going to have to ask you to follow Lila Rossi home tomorrow and report what you find to me before the Rossis leave for this work trip."
"Understood," Both Bella and Laura stated as the loli-wearing one took her camera back.
~}I{ An Hour Later, At a Cafe }I{~
"What do you think of this design?" Marinette asked her client as she showed him the sketchbook opened to the image in question.
D looked over the design before he pointed at one section when he said, "This is a little too long but other than that, it is perfect." As he pulled his hand back, he thought he saw some quick movement in his peripheral vision. D quickly glanced up to see what it was, but whatever moved was no longer there. The man narrowed his eyes at the spot.
"Got the orders in," Kim got out happily as he came back to the table. As the teen sat down, he told the two, "Our drinks will be here in a few."
Marinette smiled when she thanked the tall teen. D gave a nod of approval. Kim smiled as the bluette moved on to the next design.
Meanwhile...
Lila had an almost maniac grin on her face as she looked at the picture she took on her phone as the made her way home.
'That goody-goody with an older man! Oh-ho-ho! she's making it too easy!' Lila thought as she started compiling a mass text to the girls of her class so she could send that picture saying that she saw Marinette in the company of a much older man. But she stopped herself from sending the whole thing when she had a better and more malicious idea. Best of all, no one would know that she was the one behind the whole thing!
Before Lila could log out of the text she looked at the man in the picture. 'Hm, at least the bitch picked someone that looked good,' she thought before closing the app and tucking her phone away. Lila did wonder who the guy was, but in the end, it didn't matter to her since she wasn't going to see the man again other than in the picture she took, so there was no need to think about that anymore.
All Lila needed to do was get home and set up that plan and then use her week off to relax before putting it in motion.
~}I{ Later that Night. At the Drac-U-Allies Agency }I{~
"Thank you, Lefty, have a safe trip home," Lily said through the intercom.
The old, rusty voice came through the little speaker when he said, "You're welcome. See you tomorrow." With that, the line went quiet.
D opened the door to let the youngest of his siblings in first. As Bella and Laura made their way towards their respective desks, Lily notice the unusual quietness of the two.
But before the oldest of the females could ask anything, I beat her to it by asking, "Did something happen during your job?"
Bella and Laura glanced at each other before they told their oldest siblings about what they'd discovered and that their job is probably going to get into that uncomfortable part of what they do. The purplette slumped in her chair when she added, "If it were a suspected cheating spouse or an employee that might be trying to abuse a company's sick leave system, I wouldn't have minded trailing them. But following a teenage girl just to find out where she and her mother lives just so we can learn why she gave false information and avoided the parent/teacher meetings! That's a whole different issue! And I don't know on whose part..." Laura slumped over her desk when she agreed with the other.
Lily tapped her chin when she stated, "I'll admit, that is going to go into some things that are going to make you two uncomfortable, but this is an opportunity to hone your surveillance skills."
Bella and Laura glanced at each other at this. What their oldest sister told them was true.
~}I{ The Next Morning. Outside the Agreste Manor }I{~
Adrien sighed as he walked out of the mansion. He wasn't liking the fact that his Father insisted on having as many photoshoots with Lila as possible before her trip. 'What part of 'I don't like her' does Father not understand...' Adrien thought as he got into the car, the door shut smoothly behind him. His thoughts then went back to how his friends kept asking him why he didn't tell them that Lila made him uncomfortable, and their reactions when he told them that his Father didn't listen to him when he voiced his thoughts on things he didn't like.
"Hey, Kiddo, You feeling okay?"
Adrien nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard the still unfamiliar voice from the driver's seat.
Seras glanced in the rearview mirror when she chuckled before saying, "Ah, sorry for startling yah, but you have that look when someone kicked your pet or something." Her attention was back on the road as she drove the car.
Adrien wasn't sure what he should think of his new driver and apparent secretary... All the teen knew was that the Gorilla had some emergency regarding his family and couldn't drive him until it clears, so his Father assigned him this woman to drive him everywhere and basically keep him on track with all his modelling gigs so Nathalie could focus on helping his Father with something important. Adrien wouldn't have minded this if his Father had told him before he met Ms Seras...
Yeah, not how Adrien wanted to learn that the Gorilla had a family emergency or that he had a brand new driver...
Adrien looked out the window of the car when he answered, "Nothing important apparently..."
Seras glanced at the rearview mirror to see her ward's expression before she said, "Hm, from what I'm seeing, it looks like it was important to you." She came to a stop at a red light when she asked, "Did Mr Agereste do something that you're not exactly thrilled about?"
While Seras' main job is to protect this teen, she could not ignore the not-so-pleasant sight that the recognised all too well and was not liking it. That and her first meeting with him where he learned what happened to his previous bodyguard was most certainly a not-so-good flag.
Adrien didn't realise he said, "Why? It's not like you'd listen or do anything about it," until the car jerked suddenly and saw us Seras was giving him a look through the rearview mirror.
Steadying the car, Seras more stated than asked, "I take it the old man doesn't listen to your concerns. But given how you found out about me, I'm thinking that's true, right, kiddo."
Adrien was a bit taken aback by how much the new driver/secretary figured out about him in just two days. He sighed before he admitted, "Father wants me to model with someone who doesn't respect my personal space whether I tell her or a coworker tells her."
Seras glanced at the rearview mirror when she asked in a suspicious tone, "Does he know that this other model invades your personal space often and without your consent? I mean, have you told him that? Right?"
Adrien slumped in his seat when he stated in a bitter tone, "He told me to stop exaggerating all of her casual touches..." He looked at the rearview mirror when he asked in that same bitter tune, "How is clinging to my arm considered a "casual touch"?"
Thank goodness they were already in front of Dupont, or else Seras probably would've slammed on the breaks at what she heard. The blonde woman contorted herself so she was looking directly at Adrien when she asked, "She outright clings to you and the dick doesn't think that is concerning? Actually, how the hell does he think that another model feeling you up is a casual touch?!"
Adrien was taken aback by the language the woman was using but recovered quickly to say, "Lila doesn't feel me up! She's always pushes into my space and is constantly clinging to me!"
Seras frowned when she asked in a tone that sounded like she didn't believe that, "Kiddo, be honest, has her hands ever left your arms to rub any other part of your body when she's clinging to you?"
Adrien pouted when he huffed out, "I can count on one hand how many times she hasn't done that."
With a look that was a mix of disgust, bewilderment, and uneasiness, Seras told Adrien, "Uh, Kiddo... When someone rubs their hands all over someone else's body, that's feeling up..." The blonde boy's face slowly contorted from pouting to 'wait?' and then to 'Urg! Gross!' in a minute. Now with a more serious look on her face, Seras asked, "Before you leave the car, be honest, has this Lila model ever touched you in places you don't like?"
Adrien cringed when he replied, "She's always touching my chest and trying to kiss me,"'
Seras' brow twitched when she said, "Okay, that's also concerning, but what I meant was... Has this Lila ever touched you any place that's covered by a swimming costume?"
It took Adrien a solid minute to understand what his new driver was asking. But when he did he was quick to say, "Urg! Thankfully no! But I wouldn't put it past her to try if she's ever completely alone with me!"
With a potent frown, Seras got out, "Good to know... And now I'm going to make sure that she's never going to be alone with you." She then turned back to face the front before getting out of the car.
Adrien was a little stunned at what he heard and didn't realise that the driver/secretary left the car until she opened his door and ushered him out while reminding him to be out by 15:05. the model nodded as he waved goodbye to her. Seras had to close the door with her right before she could return the wave.
Nino met up with Adrien. The red-capped teen noticed the new driver before asking, "Uh, Adrien, where's the Gorilla? And who's the new dudette?"
Adrien glanced to the sile when he told his buddy that Ms Seras is his temp driver and secretary while the Gorilla is taking care of a family emergency.
Nino caught the tone the other was using and asked, "I take it you weren't told about it until you met Ms Seras?"
Adrien nodded before saying, "Yeah, but Ms Seras is nice. Obviously, she's more talkative than Gorilla but nice and seems to care about me." Nino patted his boi on the shoulder as they entered the School.
Seras waited until she saw her ward go into the school before she went back to the driver's seat. She took a deep breath at the sat behind the wheel. Then another deep breath. Seras wanted so badly to take the kid away from the situation and household he was in... But...
Seras closed her eyes when she thought, 'I'm going to need proof to do so..." She opened her eyes before she drove off to the Drac-U-Allies office. While the teen attended school, Seras was going to do a little research on the Agrastes and maybe that Lila model that Adrien seemed to rightfully loathe.
}{
While Lila compiled her perfect plan for the complete and utter downfall of that goody-goody, she might as well set up an incident or two that will make that plan not seem so out of nowhere.
}{
As Fred and Mylene made their way towards Dupont, the father reminded the daughter that while it wasn't her job she should try to tell him or one of the other teachers if she sees any inappropriate behaviour from anyone, not just Lila. Mylene nodded in understanding.
Soon they entered the school and soon split. Fred headed towards the teacher's lounge and Mylene her classroom.
}{
Damocles' narrowed eyes as he compared the two documents, more specifically the doctor's signatures at the bottom. 'Identical...' He thought before he placed the papers on top of his desk as he placed a hand on his chin. 'All of them are identical...' the headmaster thought as he glanced at the small pile of papers from Mrs Rossi, or supposedly from her...
Something was off about all this...
Damocles went over the facts he had on these documents.
The doctors' notes had a few different signatures from different doctors, but the signatures from each of the doctors were identical. Completely identical. It was near impossible to create identical copies of one's own signature, the Headmaster knew from experience.
Damocles stroked his beard when he came to the logical conclusion that the signatures were probably copied from a real doctor's note and pasted on these fake documents.
But the main issue was the signatures on the documents from Mrs Rossi. The signatures on all of these were also identical...
Damocles narrowed his eyes at these documents. 'There is no reason for someone to put copies of their own signature... Unless...' the headmaster thought suspiciously. He couldn't help but think, 'Either Mrs Rossi can't sign her own name for whatever reason or...' His eyes flicked to that particular stack when he thought, 'Someone is forging these documents.'
Damocles stroked his beard when he concluded that he needed more information on the Rossis...
~}I{~
To be continued...
~}I{~
Gale-Dragon: I wasn't planning on working on this until I got a chapter from another story finished, edited, and posted but… Hyperfocus took hold and I ended up working on the first chapter of this story until it was finished… Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one.
~}I{~