Just my Luck -Book 1

Chapter 18: Project Nalya

"We need to talk," Kagami said as she stood in front of Luka's hotel door. His emotions were a little fuzzy and hard to read, even for an experienced empath like herself. But she didn't need that special ability to tell that he looked like something the cat dragged in.

"What do you want? Are you another groupie, or are you just here for an autograph?" Luka said while someone in the room giggled.

"I'm going to have to say a hard no, to both..." Kagami said.

"A... what?" Luka said as he rubbed his eyes. "It's too early for this."

"Early? It's past 3 o'clock and I skipped school waiting for you to wake up..." That's when she realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. She lost her train of thought, but then quickly recovered. "I need to talk to you, preferably when you are alone and aren't inebriated."

"Wait. You're friends with that blondie... your Kagami, right? We hung out a time or two on a semi-awkward double date with you and Adrien plus me and..." He trailed off intentionally.

"That's right. I remember now. I usually don't pay attention to non-essential persons," Kagami said without batting an eye.

Luka leaned against the door and laughed. " 'Non-essential', that's a new one, but strangely it sums up the story of my life."

"Why don't you invite your friend in," a woman from inside the room called out.

He let out a sigh then opened the door and motioned for Kagami to enter. There was a brunette sitting on the couch, dressed in a 'Luka Rocks' t-shirt, motioning for her to come in and sit on the couch. But Kagami remained at the door. "Oh, I'm not a friend. I'm here because of that stunt you pulled... you know, the one with the fire?"

"Sorry, I don't know what you are talking about," Luka said, getting irritated now.

Kagami rolled her eyes now, "Seriously, do I have to spell it out for you, chauvinist?"

"What?" He said, his eyes wide open now. "Hey, I love and respect women. I don't think you're... Wait... It's you. You're fire and ice."

"Oh, she's the woman in white," the woman said with a pout. "You've got a new muse."

Kagami ignored her then stepped in closer so that she could whisper into Luka's ear. "If you get Akumatized again, or if someone is stupid enough to give you a miraculous, your powers as an empath will be dangerous enough to kill someone."

That seemed to sober Luka up. "Violet will you excuse us?"

She got up and left, but not before the brunette eyed Kagami intensely as if to size her up as competition. He's all yours, Kagami thought. She stepped inside the hotel suite as he closed the door behind them.

"Do you want to explain any of that?" Luka asked.

Kagami looked at the messy room. It was a deluxe suite with a kitchenette, but it looked like there had been a party there last night. Tons of empty cups and empty bottles were everywhere. "Looks like you had some fun last night..."

"Again with the judging? Give me a break. So I had a little party. I just had my heart ripped out of my chest, then served to me on a silver platter." He went into the other room and put on a shirt.

"Careful there with those emotions," she said, completely serious. Kagami paused for a moment as she concentrated on sensing the turmoil and anguish that Luka was feeling. Because he wasn't sober his normal feelings were hard to read, but she could sense his intensity. "You are a pretty strong empath."

He rubbed his neck and went to sit on the couch. He kicked his legs up onto the coffee table and had to push a few empty cups out of the way to make room for his feet. "You mentioned that. Care to elaborate?"