Warning: English is not my first language so sorry if it's confusing.
Warning 2: This one-shot content salt don't like don't read!
Part 2 of the ML / Magic Kaito crossover one-shot!!! ^^ for lupsss1412
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"-I can't believe he got away! And with the gem no less!"
If a word could describe Marinette's mood right now, "frustrated" would be the best choice.
Chat Noir and her had been so close, SO CLOSE! To stop Kaito Kid and arrest him but of course of all the night Hawkmoth had to choose to akumatize someone it has to be this night.
Yes! Fighting akumas was Chat's and her main priority, she even told Chat herself...
But thinking about all what happen last night:
-The thief stealing the gem despite the security organized by the police.
-Chat Noir having been unbearable, again, during the whole thing despite her telling him more than once to take this seriously and not lower his guard.
-Climatica attacked when they were about to capture Kaito Kid giving the thief the opportunity to get away.
-And most of all Chat Noir thinking that attempting to capture a thief for his ego was more important than fighting an akuma who would have more than certainly hurt a lot of innocents, leaving her to face the akuma all alone before he finally decided at one point to let Kaito Kid go and help her.
All those accumulations of misadventures in one night just added frustration to Marinette, she was angry, at Kaito Kid for having stole the gem, at Chat Noir for having complicated things, at Hawkmoth for having akumatized Aurore that night and more importantly at herself for not having been able to handle the situation better.
If she actually handled the situation then maybe she would have captured Kaito Kid before he even left the museum, maybe she'd have been able to be a better partner with Chat Noir they would have been able to work as a team...
And maybe this whole night wouldn't have been a mess...
"-Oh Marinette!" Her kwami told softly, looking at her with sad eyes." Please don't be so hard on yourself! Sure this thief got away but you had to do what's important as Ladybug: to fight the akumas and protect the innocents! And it wasn't a failure, you did defeat Climatica and saved Aurore before things turned worse and this is what matters so please don't say such things about yourself!"
Ah... She didn't notice her speaking her thoughts...
She knows Tikki was right, defeating akumas and protecting civilians from them were her top priority, if an akuma is on a rampage she must go take them down, even if it means letting a petty thief escape into the night.
But still, she wishes she could have caught Kaito Kid and taken back the gem in addition to desakumatizing Aurore.
Speaking of her, apparently, the reason for her akumatization was because she was under a lot of stress lately at KIDZ+ and Alec unintentionally made her stress worse to the point she had a breakdown last night.
"-I know Tikki, stopping akumas is my priority as Ladybug, as a miraculous holder, heck that what I was telling Chat over and over again, but... with everything which happened last night, not to mention Chat's behavior during the whole fiasco... The fact is that I let everything get out of hand and I wasn't able to manage the situation... It's just so frustrating..."
"-I understand, but sulking about it and beating yourself over it will not do anything! And maybe you'll have another occasion to catch Kaito Kid? Who knows, maybe he will still be in Paris for a time and you'll get a new opportunity to catch him and this time without an akuma attacking with a bit of luck!"
Honestly Marinette wasn't really sure about the last part, for all the "lucky moments" she could have, having a day without akumas or not having an attack at the worst times weren't a part of them, there wasn't a day nor a moment without Hawkmoth creating an akuma.
Really, one wonders what kind of creepy shut in Hawkmoth must be to have so much free time to be able to send akumas everyday whenever he wants. Maybe he was one of those strange rich guys that are secluded in their mansions and his real wish was to cause chaos just because he could.
But on the other hand Tikki does have a point, sulking will not change anything all she can do right now is making sure Kaito Kid wouldn't steal in Paris again, keep on fighting the akumas, and try to had a word with Chat Noir if there's an opportunity, and like she said, maybe she will be able to catch the thief before he leaves the town! Who knows? Anything could happen!
"-You're right Tikki, thanks!" Marinette told her kwami with a little smile.
The tiny goddess happily nobbed at her but quickly realized something and turned her gaze toward Marinette's alarm clock before turning back to Marinette nervously.
"-Hum... Marinette, aren't you supposed to join Kaito and Aoko at the park this afternoon?"
Her eyes wide, the young girl quickly looked at her alarm clock before panicking and quickly grabbing her purse, in which Tikki fled.
"-OhmygoshIcompletelyforgotthankyouTikki!" Marinette quickly said before sprinting out of her room.
(Time skip)
After a hasty departure Marinette gets, thankfully, at the park on time to meet up with Kaito and Aoko.
The day was sunny and no akuma was rampaging the city, a perfect day for hanging out at the park in Marinette's opinion.
"And hopefully, this outing will go smoothly and peacefully!" The bluenette thought, hoping no one and nothing will come and ruin this day, whatever it would be an akuma, her classmates or even Lila, she lives very close to the park after all.
She found the two Japanese students on a bench near the fountain and without wasting any time joined them.
They spent a long time talking about everything and nothing.
Until the subject of Kaito Kid's last heist was put on the table, which Aoko profited from to rant about the thief.
Turns out Kaito Kid and Aoko's father had a sort of "history", and the latter dedicated his life into trying to arrest Kaito Kid.
"-People back in Japan may see him as a japanese Arsène Lupin and look up at him but honestly he is nothing more than an obnoxious petty thief, he even makes my dad's life hard with his crimes!"
Marinette couldn't help but agree with Aoko's rant, from what she saw during her "encounter" with Kaito Kid, the infamous thief was indeed very obnoxious and his flirting which remind her way too much of Chat Noir's flirting didn't help to make her think otherwise.
Kaito, Marinette noticed, was silent and looking at them with a strange smirk on his face...
As if he was laughing at them in his mind or something.
"-Eeeh... I agree, he is not bad at magic and all but we know who is way cooler than him right Aoko?" Kaito asked his childhood friend, his smirk still on his face.
This only makes Aoko roll her eyes in annoyance.
"-Oh please, don't flatter yourself you're both equally annoying Bakaito!"
"-Oh?"
Kaito stood suddenly in front of Aoko, looking at her with a smiling face and suddenly his head began to shake before twisting around in a way which is impossible for any human.
"-What.. Is... The... Color... Today?" Kaito asked in a weird automatic voice.
Then suddenly, Kaito's head popped up out of his body and landed in Aoko's hand before throwing serpentines out of "his" mouth to an exasperated Aoko.
Marinette looked at the scene dumbfounded, a robot? What? How?
Her confusion was interrupted by Kaito's voice, which strangely seemed to come from the robot's legs.
"-Ah-ha! It's pink!"
"-KYYAAAAH!"
Here upside down was Kaito's head between his legs and looking right under Aoko's skirt.
Laughing at Aoko's reaction, Kaito standed up revealing that his body was in fact upside down this whole time and hid it with a very good disguise.
Marinette was torn up between being dumbfounded and amazed, just how in the Kwamis's names Kaito managed to stay upside down on his hands this long?
"-A feminine color uh? You know that putting on you feminine things will not make you look more sweet or cute right "Ahoko"? Kaito teased his embarrassed friend.
"-I should have known... THAT YOU WOULDN'T BEHAVE FOR VERY LONG!!!" Aoko screamed angrily before beginning running after Kaito, the latter running away and avoiding any punch and kick from Aoko, keeping on teasing her at the same time.
"-See? Just like I said: no matter how many cute things you use you're violent as always!~"
"-SHUT UP BAKAITO!!!"
Meanwhile, Marinette could do nothing but staring at the two japanese students with a deadpan expression, any other person would be surprised and puzzled by the exchange student's behavior but in Marinette's case, let's just say that after having spend times with them ever since they get to know each other, she end up to be used to their particular "lover quarrels".
... This and the akumas attacks may have made her immune to the oddities she witnessed in her daily life.
Kaito suddenly stopped moving, making Aoko stop in her tracks and looking at her childhood friend in confusion.
"-Now now Aoko, you know I'm just teasing you! No need to act like an enraged ape!"
"-Why you-"
"-Ooh! Look at that! Looks like there's something behind your ear!" Kaito interrupted her.
The young man moved his hand to the confused girl's ear and with a snap of his fingers, a little lighted candle appeared.
Still smiling, Kaito took the candle in front of Aoko.
"-One... Two... Three!"
Realizing what was going on, Aoko quickly blew out the candle as soon as Kaito finished counting and to her and Marinette's surprise, the candle exploded into a little gift box.
"-Ta-da here you go!" Kaito told Aoko while giving her the gift.
Curious, Aoko opened the gift and was amazed to find a beautiful pair of earrings inside.
"-Kaito they're amazing!"
"-He he I know! See this as a little apology gift!" Kaito responded to her while winking at her.
Marinette looked at the duo with a tender smile, despite all their fights, arguments and shenanigans it was easy to see that Kaito and Aoko genuinely cared for each other and had each other's back despite their flaws.
A series of beeps were heard, bringing Kaito's intention and making him take out his cell and looking at what seemed to be a notification, his eyes widened a little before he quickly put away the cell in his pocket.
"-Welp! Sorry you two but I'm expected somewhere, see you later!"
And just like that, Kaito quickly left the park, leaving a puzzled Marinette and an exasperated Aoko at Kaito's shenanigans.
"-Hum Aoko, if it's okay to ask, where is Kaito going like that?" Asked a still confused Marinette.
"-Ah! That's right, you're not aware! Remember when we told you about Kaito's mother traveling around the world? Well currently she's in Paris and when she learned that Kaito and I were going to be in Paris at the same time as her, she arranged with Kaito a moment to meet up and spend time together!" Aoko explained.
Ah, yes she remembers the two japanese students talking about Kaito's mother's travels to her in a conversation during which they were getting to know each other better.
The notification in Kaito's cell was most probably to remind him of his meet up with his mother then.
Meanwhile, Kaito walked through Paris's streets, after a while he got to his destination which was a little café.
Looking at the occupied tables, he spotted a brown short haired woman, who happily waved her hand at him when she noticed Kaito.
Smiling, the young man got to the table and took a seat.
"-Heya mom!"
"-Kaito! It's so good to see you!" Chikage tells her son with a smile. "How are you and Aoko doing? How is your stay in Paris going so far?"
"-We're both good as usual! Paris is not bad so far, of course if you don't count those akumas."
"-Ah yes! I heard about them, luckily I wasn't in the area whenever an attack happened! Oh by the way, when I got to Paris a few weeks ago I met an old friend I haven't seen in ages!"
This sparks Kaito's curiosity.
"-An old friend?"
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marinette carelessly threw herself on her bed while sighing happily, today has been a good one, no akuma, no Lila, no nosy classmates, just a nice peaceful day she spent with Aoko and Kaito.
It felt so good to spend a simple and calm day, when was the last time she had a day like this?
She doesn't really remember, most of the time her days were filled with akuma attacks or when Alya and the other girls roped her in another scheme to get her to confess to Adrien.
Others would have argued that she didn't seem to mind during those times and while she would agree that this was the case at the start, her pink stained glass mind even justified it by seeing those moments as her friends genuinely trying to help her.
But recently, ever since she began to hang out with Kaito and Aoko she couldn't help but compare her relationship with them with her friendship with the class.
" If you could really call it a friendship " A little voice in her mind said, which she tried to ignore.
"-Something is on your mind Marinette?" Her thoughts got interrupted by Tikki.
"-Ah! Nothing, don't worry about it Tikki!" The young girl reassured her kwami."I was just thinking back about how today has been a peaceful one for a start!"
"-True! You looked like you had a lot of fun and were very relaxed!" Tikki agreed."It was even a relief to see you so at ease around some friends to be honest!"
This statement confused Marinette who stared at the tiny goddess.
"-What do you mean?"
"-Well..." Tikki hesitated."As you know us kwamis don't have a total understanding of human feelings so take what I say with a grain of salt but... I couldn't help but notice that you seem more comfortable around Kaito and Aoko than when you're with your friends from your class! And before you begin, I know Alya and the others aren't bad people and, normally, mean well, but... What I mean Marinette is... Even before Lila came you seemed tense and stressed around your class, always anxious to do something which could offend them or disappoint them while with Kaito and Aoko you're just being... you, relaxed and spending time with friends without being worried about anything..."
Marinette stared at her kwami thoughtful.
She knew Tikki wasn't wrong, she herself noticed it for some time now...
Before this seemed normal for her, the classmates were her friends after all, so it was normal to do favors for them...
It seemed normal for her to be constantly anxious about doing something which could disappoint them and losing them as friends, she was the class's representative and their "everyday ladybug" she couldn't let them down...
With Kaito and Aoko however, it was... Different... She wasn't the "everyday ladybug" always ready to do favors without asking anything in return, she wasn't the class representative who must be a model to the rest... Or even the center of a "Adrinette ship scheme"...
With the Japanese students she was just... Marinette...
A clumsy girl who loves fashion...
A simple middle school girl doing simple things like hanging out with friends...
A girl who lives her daily life without worrying about what her next step will be...
And she was... Feeling good about it...
When was the last time she actually felt that way with her class? When was the last time she actually spent time with her friends without involving favors or her crush on Adrien?
When was the last time she was around people who made her feel like she was just herself?
Just be Marinette?
"-I think I get what you mean Tikki... When I'm hanging out with Aoko and Kaito I feel great and don't feel gnawed by my problems like Lila, the class, the akumas or the gem-..."
Marinette stopped on track, her eyes widening in horror.
"-Oh kwamis the gem!" She whispered in horror.
How could she have forgotten about it?
"-How can I be there like that all relaxed when Kaito Kid still had the gem?!" She exclaimed in panic.
"-Marinette..." Tikki tried to call her without success.
"-What if he tried to leave the city with it? What if he tried to leave France with it? What if he decides to sell the gem to some shady people or something?"
"-Marinette!" The kwami tried again but the young girl was way too deep in her panic.
"-And... And with the powers the gem hides, who knows what he could do... Ooooh this is a disaster! I-I must transform and find Kaito Kid and take back the gem before-..."
"-MARINETTE!!!" The tiny god screamed startlingly at the dark haired girl who looked at her kwami with shocked wide eyes.
Sighing at her holder's antics, Tikki looked at Marinette and spoked in a reassuring voice.
"-Marinette, we already talked about it: Don't worry! You will catch Kaito Kid and take back the gem! It's not very easy to leave a city or a country with something precious which was stolen, it takes time and a lot of organization so I'm sure this will give you enough time to find him! As for the risk of him using the gem's "powers" you don't have to worry about it either! He will not be able to do anything even if he wanted to!"
Okay, now Marinette was confused!
"-What do you mean?" Marinette asked her.
"-Well..." Tikki begin.
(Elsewhere)
"-So this confirms it then!" Kaito Kid said as he put away the still purple-ish gem from the moonlight.
"-This is not the pandora!" The magician thief concluded.
"-It unfortunately seems like it, master Kaito!" Jii confirmed with a sad sigh.
Kaito stared at the gem, a beautiful but ordinary gem, unlike what the media claimed.
While it was a bummer that, once again, he got the wrong gem, it was also a relief.
The gem not being Pandora, just a common precious gemstone, means that Kaito will not have to worry for the Black Organization to try to steal it, the obvious lack of magic in the gem even mean that the ones like Hawkmoth will not be interested in it.
Yes, while it was a shame he didn't get Pandora, the fact the gem is not magic will not get the intention of any potential threat.
"-Well, it's a shame!" Kaito said with a Fake sad sigh."But at least we will not have to worry about the organization coming to Paris!"
"-So what do we do now, Master Kaito?" Jii asked him.
"-Now?" The thief said as he turned toward the old Man with a smirk."Kaito Kid will find a perfect moment to give back the gem and After that Kaito Kuroba will profit from the rest of his stay in Paris!"
"-I understand Master Kaito!" Jii nodded in understanding."I will look out after the gem until you give it back!"
"-Good idea Jii-chan ! Welp, I should go now! If I don't come back soon Aoko will be wondering where I could be! Good night!" Kaito declared as he left.
"-Good night Master Kaito!"
—--------------------------
"-THE GEM IS NOT MAGIC?!"
Tikki stared at her holder in amusement.
"-Nope! No magic at all!" The kwami of creation confirmed."So rest assured when I'm telling you that the thief using the gem's so-called "powers" is the last of our worries!"
"-B-But the legends about it..." Marinette stuttered in confusion.
-"Marinette !" Tikki laughed."While many legends are true, that doesn't necessarily mean that ALL of them are real! You know how humans love to tell stories to create magic out of common things and to want to believe in those stories, this makes the Magic of those myths! You'd be surprised by how much of those stories exist compared to the number of actual magic beings and artifacts!"
"-So..." Marinette hesitated."The gem is truly not magic and we don't have to worry about Kaito Kid trying to do... kwamis know what, with it?"
"-Exactly!"
Marinette reflected on what she just learned, all this was... a relief to be honest.
With the gem being a normal gemstone, all Kaito Kid could get out of it would be money and the safest way to do that would be to get the gem out of the country to sell it on a black market in another country, which is not an easy task.
That means she still had time to have the occasion to stop Kaito Kid and take the gem back before he could even leave the city!
"-You know what Tikki?You're right! Worrying about the gem being used for magic is the last of our worries since it is not magic! And if Kaito Kid stole it because of the myths around it then he will more than certainly have a bad surprise which will give us time to bust him!" Marinette said with determination.
"-That the spirit Marinette !" Tikki cheered.
Smiling, the young girl looked at her kwami before turning a determined look at the starry Sky through her window.
Kaito Kid will be stopped and the gem will be retrieved, she as Ladybug will make sure of it.
—---------------------
The next day things were very agitated at Françoise-Dupont, only one thing was in the students's and some teachers's lips: the latest heist of Kaito Kid.
Miss Bustier's class wasn't excluded and were actively talking about the heist's events.
While most of them were very excited, some were reacting differently.
Aoko's face was wearing a scorn expression being, like usual, very annoyed at the mention of the magician thief.
Kaito was just sitting at his seat ignoring the whole ruckus and being completely indifferent to the whole thing.
One girl among Bustier's students was trying her best to not make herself noticed in the form of Sabrina.
The young girl was keeping her head down and was as silent as a mouse feeling very uncomfortable at the mention of the heist, a feeling which is very understandable with the media having relayed how her father was played and ridiculed by Kaito Kid during the whole night.
Two students, however, were irritated and were trying to not show it.
Those two students were Marinette and Adrien.
Even with her newfound determination to catch Kaito Kid next time, the weight of the failure from the heist was still there in her and being reminded about the night during which she and Chat Noir failed to catch the thief wasn't pleasant.
As for Adrien, he was fuming inside at the mention of Kaito Kid, he was still upset about the thief having flirted with Ladybug and pass him for a fool so let's just say that Kaito Kid isn't on his favorite persons list currently.
"-I'm still shocked that Ladybug and Chat Noir weren't able to capture him!" Alya said to the classmates, her voice showing her obvious excitement.
"-Yeah! But on the other hand Kaito Kid had been stealing for years so he must had gained skills into escaping anyone who would try to catch him!" Max explained.
"-You know an uncle of mine had been a victim of Kaito Kid!" Lila exclaimed, not supporting that anything or anyone beside her get the class's intention.
"-WAIT REALLY?!"
"-What happened?"
"-Nobody was hurt I hope!"
"-What did he stole?"
"-Oh my god! Girl you MUST tell us!"
Lila smirked, satisfied, the effect she wanted was immediate.
"-Well, it's happened some times before I moved to Paris!" Lila begin to explain taking a fake soft uncertain voice."I have an uncle in Italy who is the CEO of a successful company, the biggest in the country. In fact, he earned millions with his work! My uncle was also very sceptical about banks so he always kept his money in the most secured safecase in the world inside his mansion! But one night, Kaito Kid had broke in and begun to stole my uncle's money after managing to open the safecase!"
Seeing that most of the class was captivated by her story, Lila kept going, adding a bit of sadness to keep her audience on her.
Marinette just ignored them and was focusing on her sketchbook and Adrien just shook his head.
"-He... My uncle tried to stop him and got into a fight... He fought as much as he could but things have gone really wrong and he... He... He was severely injured and Kaito Kid just left with the money and... Since then, my uncle has never been the same!" The liar sobbed while opening the waterworks.
"-Lila this is awful!" Alya said while comforting her.
"-I'm really sorry for your uncle!" Rose said with tears in her eyes.
"-What Kaito Kid has done is horrible! I hope someone will end up caught him so he could finally pay for what he had done!" Alix exclaimed in anger.
"-Yeah! He deserves to be in jail!" Kim agreed.
The class was now surrounding Lila, altering between comforting her and cursing Kaito Kid.
The liar couldn't help it but smirk secretly in satisfaction, it's just so easy!
"-Oi! Did you finish your little act already?" Kaito's annoyed voice interrupted the moment.
The class, Marinette and Adrien included, turned their intention toward him, he and Aoko looked extremely annoyed.
"-Hum... What do you mean?" Lila nervously asked, trying to feign confusion.
"-I mean your little drama queen acts as fake as your face!" Kaito said while staring at her clearly annoyed, and this time he wasn't even going to bother and hide it under some poker face
"-Because there's no way everything you just said is true as 1) It's a worldwide known fact that Kaito Kid only stole gems, not money!"
"-2) In his whole career, he never intentionally injured anyone! In fact if something like that ever happened my father would have been one of the first informed since he is fixated on arresting him!" Aoko added annoyed as well, she might hate the thief but she could at least acknowledge he has morals.
"-3)Kaito Kid NEVER had done heists in Italy! Outside of Singapore and Paris, he exclusively steal in Japan!" Katio finished, the last hit on the nail knowing that it would be something he could prove without exposing himself "since every single one of his heists have been announced before happening"
"-And finally 4) It's impossible that something like that happened and wasn't relayed at all by any kind of media, reporters, paparazzi or bloggers! A story like this would have been spread all around the world if it actually happened!" Both japanese students concluded, aoko nodding along with Kaito.
The whole class was silent, Marinette winced knowing about the storm which was about to burst out.
She know it will happen, she had been in this type of situation before after all.
"-And what do YOU know about it uh?" Alya asked Kaito and Aoko with an accusatory tone."How would you know this story is fake, which ISN'T the case, just because "no any type of media talked about it"? For all we know, Lila's uncle's story could have passed unnoticed. This kind of things Can happen!"
The other classmates nodded in agreement and stared angrily at the two japanese students while Lila was hiding a smirk.
Alya crossed her arms and frowned at Aoko and Kaito with defiance, thinking she had won the argument. Completely ignoring the predator's gaze both teens were giving him.
"-One can't just spew any affirmations without proofs to back it up! So I'm waiting! Where's your proof, huh?" she pointed at them.
From her seat, Marinette was making the best she could to not groan in frustration. She couldn't believe it was HER talking about getting proof.
Here we go again!
"-Whoa! The kettle calling the pot black aren't we? And didn't Rossi say her supposed uncle was the CEO of the most prestigious company in Italy? How the media couldn't had relayed that a very important CEO had been severely injured by Kaito Kid during a heist?" Kaito commented, unimpressed, irritating Alya even more.
Aoko then suddenly got up from her seat and walked toward Alya and the rest of the class and put in Alya's hands her phone, which was showing a bunch of tabs.
"-You wanted proof? Here's the proof!" The japanese girl announced coldly."Those are all the info websites, blogs and tabloids which had archived Kaito Kid's heists! ALL his heists are archived on those websites from his very first one many years ago in Paris to his latest one, again, in Paris! Even his most obscure and less known heists are archived, fans follow him just like a celebrity, so, if Lila's uncle's story actually happened it will be in one of those websites's archives!"
Shooting an angry stare at Aoko, Alya looked at the phone she was actively searching through the websites, but as the minutes passed, Alya's face slowed and deflated in shock.
"-Nothing..." She said in a whisper, her eyes looked haunted the more she read
"-What?" Nino asked, worried.
"-There's nothing about Lila's uncle..." Alya said in shock "nothing about a sinlge heist in Italy either..."
The class stared at her in shock, the young "reporter" then passed the phone to Max who looked and searched in silence.
No one said anything, staring in apprehension and after five good minutes, Max slowly left up his head and said in a whisper.
"-I can confirm... There's no article about Kaito Kid stealing money nor about an italian CEO having been injured during one of Kaito Kid heist!"
The whole class was now silent, all of them turned their heads toward Lila, starring at her in shock and confusion waiting for a logical explanation.
The liar looked at them, her eyes wide in panic, trying to find an excuse, until she decided to play her last but most efficient card:
Opening the water broke.
"-I-I'm not lying! Why did you two persist on passing me for a liar? What did I ever done to you? Especially you Nadoko, I know you don't like me but do you had to go After me like this?" Lila asked as fake years were rolling down her cheeks.
The results were immediate as the other classmates began to glare at the two Japanese students.
"-She's right! You can't just talk to her like that!" Alya snapped as she was comforting Lila.
"-Yeah! What give you the right to act like this?"
"-Honestly Aoko that's not cool at all!"
Marinette just wanted to bang her head on her desk in frustration, it was like this everytime! Lila just had to cry and everyone turned into a Guard dog!
Aoko and Kaito, as for them, seemed completely unfazed.
"-Honestly, do you even hear yourself?" Kaito asked, annoyed."We were just stating facts to correct what was obviously misinformations! No insults, no nasty remarks, just facts! We even showed you proofs to back up our statements, but you just choose to ignore all this and simply view this as a personal attack against your "precious Lila"! You want to do that? To paint us as the "bad guys" despite we just proved facts? Fine, be that way! But don't expect to go far in life with this immature snowflake attitude!"
"-EXCUSE M-"
* Bang *
The sudden loud sound interrupted everyone in the classroom and made all of them, Marinette included, turning their intention toward the source of the noise which turned out to be Adrien who had clapped both his hands on his desk to get everyone's attention.
The blond boy was looking at Kaito and Aoko with his usual "sunshine smile" despite the sudden and unusual action he had done a few seconds earlier.
"-Aoko, Kaito can I talk to you in private for a moment please?" Adrien asked them.
Both japanese students stared at him confused before nodding and following him.
From her desk, Marinette could only stare and sigh as she look Adrien, Kaito and Aoko get out of the class.
She knew exactly where this was going...
—---------------------
"-So, what did you want to talk to us about?" Aoko asked Adrien once she, Adrien and Kaito were in the corridor in front of the class's door.
"-I wanted to ask you if you could just stop?" Adrien asked frowning.
"-Stop what?" Kaito asked, folding his arms.
"-Debunking Lila's stories! You're not helping anyone by doing that you just make things worse so stop it!" he said, exasperation on his tone and almost wanting nothing more than to scream.
"-Right! Because things weren't already bad with all the lies she was already spewing!" Kaito told sarcastically.
"-Listen! Lila's stories are just little tales! They're not harming anyone so it's better to just let it go, it's better to avoid getting Lila akumatized because you would had upset her!"
"-Oh? So it's very important to be aware of Rossi's feelings but if others are getting akumatized it's less important?" Aoko asked, narrowing her eyes at Adrien and frowning
"-I never said that!" Adrien said frustrated, relaizing he might have misjudged the situation thanks to his mind being clouded by last night's events.
"-But you still implied it unintentionally or not! And you said those "tales" don't harm anyone, but they are already causing harm! Not immediately, but the longer those idiots believe those lies, the bigger they will become and may end up becoming outright dangerous!" Kaito sais, anger in his tone as he rolled his eyes wanthign bothing more than to tell the blond just how stupid he was.
"-But Marinette and I know her stories aren't true!" Adrien countered."As long the both of us know it's gonna be alright! Just like I told her times ago!"
"-Oh yeah, great advice! Too bad this doesn't seem to work since Rossi keep on passing Marinette for a bully despite the fact she didn't try to debunk her lies! Oh but silly me, since protecting Rossi's feelings is so much important, Marinette's well being and the risks of her getting akumatized probably matter even less right?" Aoko commented sarcastically, her eyes moist about to get overthown by frustrated tears.
"-Oh come on, Marinette is our everyday Ladybug she-"
"-Is a human just like you, me, Kaito and everyone else in this city!" Aoko cut him, now completely mad."A human with feelings, fears and struggles! You can't just expect her to just take everything this pest is throwing at her like she was her emotional punching ball while staying all happy and smiling! This kind of treatment had bad impact on anyone's mental state, even the most happy, optimistic and kind one! Seriously, are you this egotistically blind that you would rather throw Marinette under the bus like a scapegoat and put your other friends safety at risk just to keep your so called "peaceful ambiance"?"
"-It's not true! I care for my classmates and I care for Marinette's well being!" Adrien encountered but even to his ears, that sounded fake and weak
"-Really? Because with how you seem to let Marinette face Rossi's antics alone and how you stay silent everytime this liar spew a lie it doesn't look like you do, you insensitive jerk!" Aoko screamed from the top of her lungs, Kaito immediately got on guard it had been very few times since he had seen Aoko lose it like that.
Aoko was about to keep going when she felt a hand on her shoulder and noticed Kaito looked at her.
They stared at each other for a few seconds before Aoko calm down and nodded at Kaito who then turned his intention toward Adrien.
"-Agreste, while your "high road" logic is not a bad one in other circumstances, in this situation it doesn't work!" Kaito explained with a serious tone.
"-What do you mean?" Adrien asked, confused.
"-What I mean is that your logic would have worked if EVERYONE in the class was aware that Rossi's lies weren't true! If this was the case, they would just listen but not give to those stories too much attention and by so those "tales" would stay tales! But here, outside of you, Marinette, Aoko and me, none of our "classmates" are aware that those tales are just tales and this is why it's could be dangerous! With how most of the class believe her, this gave Rossi a feeling of power and confidence to tell more bigger lies and one day she will tell lies this serious and big that it will seriously harm them! Hell, it could also harm you! How would you feel if she tell a lie, for example, about someone very close to you?"
Adrien just stared at them in silence, not knowing what to answer.
"-Just think about what we told you, Agreste!" Kaito sighed as he pulled Aoko to his side making them go back in the classroom, leaving an extremely confused Adrien lost in his thoughts.
—-------------------------------
Aoko looked in the mirror in front of her with satisfaction at the dress she was wearing.
It was Saturday in the morning and Aoko wanted to profit from it by trying a clothes store nearby she and Kaito's studio and that Marinette recommended to her.
She was wearing the earrings that Kaito gifted her and wanted to find a few dress which would go well with the earrings. She couldn0t help but smile whenever they glinted in the light.
So far she wasn't disappointed and found some dresses which fit perfectly, the one she was wearing included.
But as she was about to go back to the dressing room, she got interrupted by an awfully annoying voice calling for her.
"-Akako! What a surprise, I didn't expect to see you there!" an unfortunate known voice said with a sacharine tone making Aoko want to gag.
Here was Lila, coming right to her with a clearly fake friendly smile on her face.
"-I'm sorry but my name is Aoko Rossi-san..." Aoko gritted her teeths in annoyance but do as much as she could to remain polite, wanting nothing more than to get out of there.
"-Oops silly me! Sorry for not getting your name right!" The liar apologies still in a fake way, anyone would be able to see it "I mean, let's be honest, you're not very noticeable and just... plain! No offence!"
"-Not at all!" Aoko said, a fake smile on her face trying to get away from the auburn girl
"-But of course you must be aware of it! Why then would you try so hard to make yourself pretty by buying from a store which is obviously way out of your league!"
Aoko felt her anger becoming bigger the more the liar was speaking, she needed to remain calm or else things will end very badly!
Must stay calm... Must stay calm...
"-And I must say, I really pity your friend Kaito! A boy as handsome as him should have by his side a true woman instead of a kid without any kind of femininity!"
Stay calm! Stay calm! Stay calm! Stay calm!
"-On the other hand I understand why Kaito even bothers to be your friend, you seem to be the loner type and he must pity you! That's quite sad really!"
Calm!Calm!Calm!Calm!Calm!Calm!Calm!Calm!
"-Oh well, not that I don't like our little conversation but I must go! Have a good day Nadoko!" Lila said still with a fake kindness.
"-Good day to you too Rossi-san..." Aoko answered calmly, doing her best to hide her distress.
As the italian girl left the store, Aoko stayed in front of the changing room shaking.
She knew everything Rossi said was not true, she knew she shouldn't listen to her lies.
So why? Why does she seem so affected by her words?
—---------------------------
Marinette, as Ladybug, was on the roof of a building, waiting.
It was late in Paris and Ladybug was waiting for Chat Noir to come for their night patrol, she was also hoping they could profit from tonight patrol to find clues about where Kaito Kid could be hiding and , hopefully, take back the gem as quickly as possible.
"And with a bit of luck, no hiccup will happen and it will not end in a mess!" Ladybug thought.
Now if Chat could hold back on his antics just for tonight...
"-Good evening my Lady!~"
Welp, speaking of the devil!
Ladybug turned around to find Chat Noir a few steps behind her, his iconic smirk on his face.
She frowned in annoyance, she was still upset about Chat's attitude back at the heist's night.
They're going to need to had a serious talk once all this was over.
"-Chat Noir." Ladybug greeted him with a neutral tone.
"-So, what's the program for tonight's patrol?"
"-Like usual: we patrol for any akuma activity! But we're also on the look out for Kaito Kid! We must find and arrest him before he could leave Paris with the gem!"
"-Got it my Lady! Don't worry about it, we'll got him in no time!"
"-... Yeah... Hope so..."
Chat Noir frowned at the spotted hero's tone.
"-Ladybug, what's going on? Don't tell me you're still upset about Climatica's attack when we were chasing the thief? It's going to be okay, we're going to catch him next time!" Chat tried to reason, optimism spewing from his words as he tried to lighten up the mood.
"-That's not it Chat!" Ladybug answered irritated."While I'm upset we didn't managed to catch Kaito Kid I'm more upset about your attitude from that night!"
"-My attitude?! I was trying to catch Kaito Kid that what we were supposed to do right?"
"-Not when an akuma is attacking the city! I told you this that night and telling you it again: Akumas are our top priority! If there's an attack we must intervene before the akuma do too much damages, which mean that even if we're chasing a criminal we must fight the akuma when there's an attack! And most of all, we must fight the akumas TOGETHER!" Ladybug raised her voice, annoyed about how little Chat seemed to care about what had been happening lately.
"-But everything ended well in the end! And beside, even if anything bad happened the cure would have brought everything back to normal again!" Chat said, trying to appease his lady, unfortunately it wasn't really effective
"-Not in this situation! I was in a very dangerous position! A dangerous position which could have incapacitated me and could have made me unable to use the cure and all this because you decided to play solo for a matter of ego!" Ladybug screamed, now fed up with Chat's antics
"-I was doing my hero job! And it's rich to call me out on "playing solo" with all the secrets you hide from me!" Chat exploded, his anger taking the best of him.
"-... Okay, I give you that, we both need to work better on our team dynamic! But still, there's a big difference between not telling everything and leaving your partner to face an Akuma alone because of your ego!" Ladybug conceded, even if she knew that all of those secrets were to protect her partner.
"-Whoa! Aren't you two a great team?"
The heroic duo got startled and turned their attention toward the sudden sarcastic voice.
Right before them was standing Kaito Kid looking at them with his iconic smirk.
At the sight of the thief, both Ladybug and Chat Noir get into position, ready to fight at any moment.
"-Now, now! No need to be like that! I Come in peace!" Kaito Kid said in a playful tone.
"-What do you want?" Chat Noir demanded angrily, his baton pointed at the magician wanting nothing more than strike.
"-Oh, just coming for a friendly visit! I wanted to thanks you two for the show back at Le Louvre, despite the poor finale of "some people"!" He added while throwing a mocking stare at Chat Noir, who growled in anger."It's not everyone who manages to pursue me this long during a heist, very impressive! Especially you Ladybug! Brave, strong, intelligent and, in my opinion, very cute! Yes, you're truly up to your reputation!~"
Ladybug clenched her teeth in exasperation.
Nope! No way! Not now! Not tonight! Just. No!
As she was about to say something only to be beaten to it by Chat Noir who snapped angrily at Kaito Kid.
"-CUT IT OUT! JUST TELL US WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!" Chat growled, his eyes wseemed to glow a toxic green as he stared at the magician.
"-Chat is right!" Ladybug added, trying to hide her annoyance."Your little flattery will get you nowhere so how about just get straight up to the point? And can you PLEASE stop with the flirting? It's very annoying and I'm getting sick of it!"
The thief looked at the duo in silence for a few seconds before nodding in acknowledgement.
"-Very well, I'll stop then! It wasn't my intention to make you uncomfortable!"
This surprised Ladybug a bit, it was rare when someone actually listen to her and respected her requests for boundaries.
"-As for why I'm here..." Kaito Kid added as he walked toward Ladybug."It was to give you this!"
He handed his hand toward Ladybug, in the palm was a little purple gift box.
Looking simultaneously at the gift and Kaito with a lot of warryness, Ladybug ended up going ahead and opening the gift.
She barely removed the ribbon that the gift exploded in a little cloud of smoke and, to the heroic duo's surprise, revealed a beautiful purple rose.
"-A little gift as a token of respect for your wonderful performance!" Kaito Kid playfully said as he offered the rose to Ladybug, who took the rose after moments of hesitation and looked at it uncertain.
If Ladybug was confused, Chat Noir, as for him, was getting more and more frustrated with the thief's antics.
"-Okay! Cut it out! You better stop your little act, turn yourself in without any fuss and tell us where you hide the gem right now!" the cat hero screamed
To Chat Noir's frustration, Kaito Kid smirked and had a little laugh at his outburst.
"-It would have been with pleasure but, unfortunately, I'm needed elsewhere! As for where the gem is, well, its location is closer than you think!"
On those cryptic words, Kaito Kid began to walk away toward the edge of the building, the heroic duo was about to go after him when the thief suddenly stopped.
"-You know Ladybug, I really meant what I said back at the museum!" Kaito Kid said with a serious tone much to Ladybug's surprise."And I think you deserve better for everything you are going through! Maybe you should begin to realize that too!"
He then jumped from the building, startling both Ladybug and Chat Noir who ran toward the edge but when they looked they saw no one, as if the thief disappeared in thin air.
"-Shoot! He got away!"Chat Noir cursed, frustrated."Ladybug, you think we can find him?"
"-He may be out of our sight, but since he doesn't have actual magic powers he must not be far away!" Ladybug nodded as Chat Noir ranted in his breath against Kaito Kid." So if we go after him immediately and if we're lucky enough we could manage to catch him!"
"-Uh Ladybug?" Chat suddenly interrupted her."Look, the rose..."
Confused Ladybug looked at the rose in her hands and much to her shock the flower was suddenly losing all its petals.
But the most shocking was the presence of a shiny purple object inside of the flower once all the petals had fallen.
A shiny purple object which turned out to be the gem that Kaito Kid had stolen nights ago.
...
"-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"
—---------------------------
̎ -Don't be bemused, it's just the news ! New update on the stolen gem's case! We just received the news that the gem stolen by the infamous thief Kaito Kid nights ago, had just been found by Ladybug and Chat Noir! According to the two heroes, the gem was given to them by none other than Kaito Kid himself!
This isn't the first time Kaito Kid gave back a gem he had stolen as it's part of his modus operandi! Why he does this, however, is still a mystery to this day!
Currently, the gem has been brought back safely to Le Louvre, much to the researchers' delight who hope to be able to study it soon!
This was Najda Chamack reporting and now, back to the studios ! ̎
—----------------------------
Plagg stared at Adrien in annoyance as his holder walking back and from in his bedroom like a lion in a cage, which when you think about it and taking into account where the boy lives this doesn't make the comparison too far-fetched.
Ever since they have gone back from last night's patrol, Adrien have been ranting non-stop against the thief, Kaito Kid.
This have gone for hours and all Plagg could do was to go take a camembert and half-listening his holder's ramblings.
Which bring to the current situation with the kwami of destruction still half-listening his holder's rants as he was slowly eating his last piece of camembert with a bored expression.
"-And seriously who does he think he is to criticize my dynamic with Ladybug! Ha! As if some thief would know something about relationships or team work!"
"-Not to try to start an argument, kid." Plagg interrupted Adrien, his mouth full of camembert."But this Kaito Kid is not wrong you know?"
"-WHAT?" Adrien screamed, appalled Plagg had just agreed with a criminal
"-None offense, but it's true your behavior with Ladybug is not the best!" he exclaimed, it was too much from what he had seen whenever they would interact.
"-I don't behave badly toward Ladybug! I even show how much I care for her!" Adrien exclaimed, his arms moving around widely trying to understand just when everyone had turned on him
"-Uh, it's one thing to show affection toward your "lady" but there's times and places and that's the problem: it's the fact you flirt with Ladybug at the worst moments! And didn't Ladybug told you COUNTLESS OF TIMES to stop flirting with her anyway?" PLagg deadpanned, amused when he saw the shocked expression of his holder
"-I'm just showing my affection to and trying to make her see that we are perfect for each other, is this bad ?" Adrien asked, his voice low and barely more than a whisper.
"-This is how YOU feel and what YOU want, kid!" Plagg continued, flying around Adrien until he ended up infrot of him "But did you ever once think about how Ladybug actually wants and truly feels about it? Listen, I know being Chat Noir is the only way for you to be your true self and feeling free but that doesn't mean you can just put aside everyone else's feelings and safety to do so! You hate when your dad makes decisions for you without taking your opinion into consideration and acts as if he owns you, so why do the same thing to other's?"
At the silence of Adrien, Plagg just keeps going.
"-And it's not just in your hero life! That's also apply for your civilian life with how poorly you handle the "liar situation"!" Plagg continued to press, the kwami knew it wasn't the best but he needed to make a point.
"-How many times do I have to explain? Lila's stories are harmless!" Adrien said annoyed.
"-Oh sure, totally harmless!" The Kwami of destruction answered sarcastically."So harmless that Pigtails and those two Japanese kids aren't victims of them!"
This only exasperated Adrien who let out a frustrated scream.
"-Oh come on! This is an exaggeration! You know it's important to avoid Lila to be akumatized again! Punishing her will not help her to be a better person and will only contribute to her akumatization! Things would be better for everyone if Marinette, Aoko and Kaito stopped taking this situation this seriously!" Adrien huffed, trying his best to make Plagg understand
"-Oh? So when those two Japanese kids explained to you how Lila's lies could become harmful to everyone, you included, they were exaggerating too?" Plagg asked with sarcasm.
Once again, Adrien became silent, looking at his Kwami in a very awkward silence at the reminder of his conversation with Kaito and Aoko.
Plagg just sighed and shaked his head.
"-Look kid! I know you mean well and you just want everyone to be happy! However, you must realize that not everything can be solved easily and be all sunshine and rainbows! And bending to everyone's will and being a doormat will even less help! It's only making things worse and will truly hurt others! Heck, I wouldn't be even surprised if Pigtails or one of the two japanese students end up akumatized because of that liar!" Plagg said, not wanting for it to happen but knowing it was a high possibility.
Adrien stayed silent as Plagg was speaking, his expression becoming incertain and thoughtful from what Plagg was telling him.
"-Just think about what I told you, okay?" the kwami sighed, knowing they were young but knowing that it was a time for everythig to change.
In those words, Plagg flew away to his sleeping spot, leaving Adrien alone in his thoughts.
To be continued