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Lila Rossi has almost accomplished her promise of turning the whole class against one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and she could see that it is eating up to the half Chinese these past few days after the Miracle Queen akuma. But she can't be truly satisfied because of one more thing to the promise that she have yet achieve, she have yet to make Adrien Agreste hers. That led her to think of that Japanese girl Kagami Tsurugi, which is a nuisance with her being so close to her Adrien. She needed think of a way to peel Kagami away from Adrien.
As Lila started to think of formulating a plan about Kagami, said target walked into the courtyard with a guy and a girl their age she have never seen in the school before. Lila would've remembered if she had seen the pair anywhere, with their very distinct Asian features not unlike Kagami. Though their Asian features looked less like Kagami and more like Marinette, who is now walking towards the trio with Kagami waving to the girl with Adrien in tow. Lila decided to get into earshot of the five, she could get information she needed to take the so called Ice Queen down.
Upon closer inspection, the girl look like a typical intelligent Asian. She has a pair of glasses over grey eyes, black hair in low loose twin braids reaching the elbow level with split bangs reaching her chin. She wore a black sleeveless Chinese blouse like a vest over what seem like a white dress shirt with buttoned puff sleeve that covers half her upper arm, and a black flared skirt with some white flower patterns stopping just above her knees. She also wore a pair of white socks starting a few inches under her knees with two horizontal black stripes on the top, and a pair of black leather Velcro shoe.
The boy too have black hair with side swipe bangs like Marinette has, just a bit more messy and spiky with the back of his hair in layers. He dressed similar with the girl, a black sleeveless Chinese shirt like a vest unbuttoned over white dress shirt with sleeve stopping a few inches below his elbow. He wore black slacks with a pair of navy casual shoes.
"Hey, Kagami. Uhm, these two are?" Marinette greeted Kagami, and gestured to the two strangers. Adrien nodded and glanced towards the two, then looking at Kagami.
"These two are new students who had transferred into my class today from China, I'm appointed to show them around the school during lunch and we just finished." Kagami answered, then turned towards the other two. "These two are my friend from another class, Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Michelle Bai." The new girl answered, showing a small smile towards Marinette and Adrien.
"My name is Zayne Wang, it's a pleasure to meet you." The guy smiled and nodded towards the two, then blinked at Adrien. "Hey, you are that guy with the perfume AD all over Paris right? The AD for the perfume is Adrien too, same like your name as Miss Tsurugi introduced."
"Uhh, yeah. That's me. It's a pleasure to meet you too." Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand and offering the other hand to Zayne which the guy shook.
"Nice to meet you too, and welcome to Paris." Marinette gave Michelle a smile, mirroring Adrien's action to offer a hand which Michelle shook.
"Thank you, Paris is one of the dream country to come to and I hope I can visit all of the famous spot soon." Michelle said with a smile.
Lila's plan started to formulate when the five are doing small talks after the introduction, this could be a chance. All she needed to do is to get the two new students on her side, like how she got her classmates to her side and use them to cast Kagami away from Adrien. A lot of people including her classmates are gathering in the courtyard right now since lunch is coming to an end soon, hanging out before they needed to head to their class. She smirked knowing Marinette can't do anything about her lies with so many people here, then walked towards the five with an innocent expression.
"Hey guys, who would these two be? I've never seen them around." Lila greeted, getting wary looks from the three.
"They are new students transferred into my class today from China." Kagami replied, keeping her tone neutral.
"Oh, from China? I've been to China before and have been to The Great Wall of China, those steps are quite steep and the view is magnificent!" Lila made sure she is loud enough to catch the attention of the people in the courtyard, then blinked innocently. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Lila Rossi and I've just transferred here from Italy a few months ago. I understand how being a new student must be, I hope we can be friends."
Michelle and Zayne blinked at the Italian girl, then looked at each other as if communicating with their eyes before Michelle turned towards Lila. "Lila Rossi, the one with interviews posted on the Ladyblog? I thought that girl is familiar, now I remember she's the one who run the Ladyblog." Michelle pointed at Alya, who smiled brightly and walked towards them upon being mentioned. Lila smirked, so they know about her interviews in the Ladyblog. They already know her, so this would be easier than she thought.
"Yes! I'm Alya Césaire, owner of the Ladyblog. Wow, I can't believe that new transfer students already know about my blog when it's their first day at school. And yes, Lila here did interviews for my blog. She's amazing, and a great friend! Also, welcome to Paris and nice to meet you. And I think you already know to follow my blog for all things Ladybug, and superheroes." Alya said, really excited that there are viewers who must've reached Paris just not long ago.
"Well, we did our research before coming to Paris. And the Ladyblog is the one with most information about the superheroes and akumas which the Parisian media took as a source, so we already know what magical things to expect during our stay. It's just that we checked every single post to not miss anything we might need to know, and came across Lila Rossi's interviews." Zayne said with a shrug, his left landing on Michelle's left shoulder wrapping his arm around her.
"Oh, then it must mean you've already known me from the interviews. I can tell you more about Ladybug and her adventures if you want to, I'm glad we could be friends!" Lila said, with a welcoming smile on her face. In her mind, she had already half succeeded in her plan. With the two new students knowing her through the interviews and their curiosity about Ladybug, it will not be long until she can feed bad rumors about Kagami and with Marinette as a bonus to them.
Michelle and Zayne looked at each other again, with Zayne squeezing Michelle's shoulder a little. This action is not missed by Marinette, Adrien and Kagami. They wonder about the hesitation on their side about Lila and Alya which they did not show to the three of them, which they deduced that it is not hesitation to interact with famous people from the way they greeted Adrien with ease. With the way they greeted Adrien, Lila and Alya just now, they are also not people who treat someone differently just because someone is famous.
"Actually, Lila Rossi. We do know about you through the Ladyblog, but knowing you and being friends are two different matter. Please do not assume that we are already your friends, before we even confirm it." Michelle said in a tone that is not friendly, but not hostile either. It is a tone as if she is reading out a shopping list, or stating a fact. Lila and Alya blanched at the unfriendly statement, looking at Michelle as if she had grew a head. Others, including the trio of love triangle blinked in surprise at Michelle's words. "In fact, we would rather not be acquainted with you at all."
The whole courtyard exploded with murmurs.
"What? Why?! Lila is a great friend and if you know her, you would know how many great things she had done! How could someone just decide to not accept a friendship upon meeting like that? That's biased! Or is it because she is an Italian? You're being really mean!" Alya shouted, angry at someone treating her friend like that.
Lila looked at the pair with pure shock clear on her face, her brain not processing what had happened. Why? They had seen her interview in the Ladyblog, they should be accepting her friendship and she can go on with her plan! She has what they wanted, information about Ladybug! So why would they just reject her like that without much of an interaction, like there is something about her that they should be avoiding? Olive eye landed on midnight blue hair and golden eyes, the Japanese girl who first brought the pair to the courtyard.
Of course, Kagami! She already had the chance to talk to the pair, she must've told the pair to avoid her at all cost. She needs a change of plan, and she knows what she can do. "It's Kagami, right? She is the one who told you to not be friend with me, because like Marinette she hates me! I've tried to be nice to them, but for some reason they just doesn't like me and told people bad things about me!" Lila started with her act to be a victim once again, sobbing and trying to gain pity from everyone.
With her act, Alya and the other classmates sent glares towards the two girls with midnight blue hair. Which, one reacted with a frown and the other reacted with a flinch. Realizing Marinette's reaction and the hurt clear in her eyes, Kagami's frown deepen as she put a hand on Marinette's shoulder to reassure the girl. Adrien stepped in front of both girls, protecting them from the glares.
"I don't know what girl drama happened between you," Zayne started, receiving an elbow from Michelle on his torso. "but our conversation with Miss Tsurugi did not include you. The only time that we had talked about you, was when you put yourself into our conversation. But I don't think it's nice to assume that we are being biased or racist, and it's not nice to assume someone else talking behind your back as well. From what I can see, some of you people only listens to one side of the story without listening to the other side."
"What do you mean we only listen to one side of the story, new guy? We don't listen to someone without proof, we can think for ourselves! And it is true that only Kagami have the time to talk to you about Lila, and it's public knowledge that Kagami and Marinette doesn't like her." Alya stood up, defending Lila and her classmates. Her classmates nodded their head, agreeing what Alya had said. "There is no possible way so many people didn't think of listening to the other side of the story, the whole class know it!"
"That is what Zayne meant by only listening to only one side of the story, Alya Césaire. Miss Tsurugi having time to talk to us is not a definite proof, it is just an assumption made of Rossi's part. So what if Miss Tsurugi have time to tell us about Rossi? Do you have a voice recording of us talking about that? Is the public knowledge really public knowledge? Did you guys even ask Dupain-Cheng and Tsurugi if they doesn't like Rossi? Did they declare so?" Michelle started her interrogation, then sighed. "Anyways, we had gone off topic. With all the drama happening, you all are forgetting that you have yet to hear our reason for not accepting Rossi's friendship."
"So you are telling me that I'm lying, that I'm a liar? That I lied about Kagami and Marinette not liking me? I've tried so hard to be friends with them but they just wouldn't accept me." Lila started sobbing again, if these two can't follow her plan then she need to throw them under the bus. This is what they deserved for trying to mess with Lila Rossi, like Marinette and Kagami. "Everyone can see how they treated me, we don't need proof or their declaration for others to see. We all know that Kagami can be cold to people, but she is especially hostile against me the last time she was akumatized."
"Yeah, stop being mean to Lila. She didn't do anything wrong, and she is not a liar. Marinette and Kagami are just jealous of her, with Lila being famous and doing great things!" Alya glanced at Marinette and Kagami behind Adrien, then took out her phone. "If you want proof, we have proof! Look, this is Kagami when she was akumatized and she was being hostile to Lila! This is proof enough for us to know that Kagami doesn't like her." Alya played the video of Onii-chan shouting and finding Lila, her face smug.
"Michelle is right, are you guys done changing the subject yet? We did not say that Rossi is lying, we just said she assumed that Tsurugi told us about Rossi. Maybe actions speak louder than words, but did you try to stop and listen to what others have to say? You know what, Césaire? You said you listen to both sides of the story, but while we are on the topic of Dupain-Cheng and Tsurugi, did you guys once let the subject of the topic to say anything? Because we didn't hear them say anything about themselves this whole conversation, and both of you Rossi and Césaire wouldn't even let them say anything. You can't say that you did listen to both sides of the story if the subject themselves didn't even get a say! We are talking about why we are not accepting Rossi's friendship, not about how according to all of you why Dupain-Cheng and Tsurugi does not like Rossi. Yes, there is proof that Tsurugi is angry at Rossi as an Akuma. But Ladyblogger, I thought you know better that Akuma victims are not subjected to their actions during their time as Akuma." Zayne said, starting to get tired of all this drama. "Now, let us steer back to what we were talking about shall we?"
"Silence is acknowledgement, when they say nothing, it means they acknowledged that what we said are true. Why won't you accept that Marinette and Kagami doesn't like Lila? It's the whole school against you, and you are the new students so don't just think you know everything!" Alya demanded, crossing her arms. "This must be addressed, we don't want two cocky new students to just deny everything that is the truth for everyone in this school. We've been in this school longer than you, so just shut up and listen!"
"No, YOU shut up, and listen!" Michelle pointed at Alya, her voice authoritative. The crowd had silenced themselves with the weight on those words, it sounded as if murderous. Marinette was reminded of her mother when she was furious, Adrien is reminded of his father, Kagami was reminded of her mother and Chloé was reminded of her mother. Zayne squeezed his hand on Michelle's shoulder harder, as a gesture of calming her down. "And you, Rossi. Stop trying to make another scene."
Michelle let out another huff, slowly glancing at everyone in the room before her eyes landed on Alya and Lila. "Now, let's talk about the reason why this mess even started and what everyone missed that you were supposed to listen. The topic right now, the reason behind why me and Zayne rather not be associated with Rossi. Césaire, you said you could think for yourselves. But from what I can see, none you guys even tried to stop and think at all."
"How could you talk about my friends like that! They-" Lila started to cause another uproar again, only to be cut off.
"I SAID, shut up, and LISTEN!" Michelle glared at Lila, before continuing on. "Rossi said during the internew in the Ladyblog, that she is the best friend of the superhero Ladybug. But I'm appalled that she decided to interview about that, and let someone publish this information to the net. Even more so, I'm astonished that people are still swarming around her being her friends when she disclosed this piece of information."
"The Ladyblog is a public blog that can be viewed by everyone with or without an account, all over France, even all over the world as long as they have internet and understand French or if they can translate the blog. Am I right, Césaire?" Zayne looked at Alya, who nodded. "So, even Hawk Moth, the supervillain himself could be using the Ladyblog as a source of information. The blog has the information on the akuma attacks, and the powers of the superheroes. And this piece of information Rossi had agreed to release, is quite an alarming one when Hawk Moth is one of the viewers. Not only that, from what we can see you are putting yourself in danger and making the job of the superheroes harder as they need to save you from impending doom. It is like you are sided with Hawk Moth, Césaire. As you feed information to Hawk Moth and making saving the world harder."
"Rossi, had you no idea that you had put a big target on your back when you did the interview? When you said you are best friends with Ladybug, you are basically saying you have information about Ladybug. And with Ladybug having something that Hawk Moth wants, he would target you for the information you have of Ladybug. Even if he could not get any information out of you, you will still be his target since Ladybug for sure would not be happy to have her best friend akumatized." Michelle continued, glancing at everyone in the courtyard again. Most of the people especially Lila's classmates had paled, thinking about the consequences. "And Césaire, you putting this up on the Ladyblog had also not only put targets on you but targets on your classmates too. Actually, even when you started the blog you are already feeding information to Hawk Moth and putting a target on your classmates before Rossi's interviews. But now with someone who is best friends with a superhero in the class, the targets on your back had become bigger with the main target being Rossi."
"From what we can see in the Ladyblog, most of your classmates had been akumatized with some more than once. By publishing the fact that there is a best friend of a superhero in the class, it is the same as Queen Bee as known as Chloé Bourgeois revealing her real identity as a superhero which is also in the same class. Since Chloé Bourgeois knows how a superhero work, she is also a target of Hawk Moth as per seen from just a few days ago." Zayne said, continuing after Michelle. "Therefore, your class has given three reasons for Hawk Moth to target you. It is safe to assume that your class is always monitored by Hawk Moth, with these three reasons. But the fact that you couldn't think of this, and have no sense of danger at all tells us that you guys did not think far for yourselves. This is why we rather not be acquainted with Lila Rossi, and by extension Alya Césaire and Chloé Bourgeois. Since being associated with any of you will put a target on our backs, by a magical supervillain."
"You can say that we are cowards, or that we are selfish. But we need to defend ourselves in any way we can, we are new to Paris after all and not know what to expect. But we do know that our safety is our number one priority, nothing else matters more. We cherish our own lives, so we do anything we can to survive." Michelle concluded, facing the crowd of people who slowly backed away from Lila and Alya. "Do you understand the situation you guys are in, now? You guys are in danger, and yet you guys are blissfully unaware about it."
The dreadfulness of their situation had finally sank in, after listening to Michelle's and Zayne's reasons. They did not think of it that way at all, that they are literally walking targets. Alya stared at her phone, had she really been feeding Hawk Moth with information? She knows that she is always walking into danger, because she knows Ladybug will always save her. But as Rena Rogue, she should have known that she is making Ladybug and Chat Noir's job harder. Chloé looked down in shame, she now know this is the reason Ladybug never give her the Bee Miraculous anymore. She had put everyone she knows in danger. Ladybug had gave her chances to be Queen Bee a few times knowing the danger of it, yet she kept blaming Ladybug and even sided with Hawk Moth a few days ago.
Lila looked around, her classmates had started to back away from her. And it's because of a lie she had come up to be the popular girl, now that lie is also the reason they are backing away from her. She couldn't really well take back her lies about her and Ladybug being best friend, that would prove Marinette right and that she is a liar. She couldn't think of a way to get out of this situation, since she can't say that she works with Hawk Moth or that she knows him. There is no escape for this situation, there is no turning back.
Marinette, Adrien and Kagami have to say that they are impressed by how Michelle and Zayne think, they does not need to know that Lila is a liar to have Lila to be trapped between admitting the truth or continuing her lies. Lila's lies finally trapped her in a situation she could not escape from, and the reason behind it all ironically is one of her lies. Even though Marinette will not be able to get the apologies she had deserved, and that the relationship of the class might be broken, Lila could not do anything now. More than that, they had pointed out one thing Marinette had always been worried about Alya, which is her going into the line of fire for the blog. Even when she is Rena Rouge. Marinette and Adrien too, after listening to the speech, felt like they need to take their superhero job more seriously.
A small flapping sound broke the silence in the courtyard, snapping everyone's attention to it. A single black and purple, clearly magic infused butterfly flew nearer towards Lila.
"See, this is what we mean by you having a big target on your back." Michelle said, with Zayne holding her hand. "We should evacuate the area now, before she turns into an Akuma." Michelle and Zayne moved, getting away from Lila.
The crowd reacted and people started to evacuate, and at the moment the courtyard boomed with noises again.
During this Akuma attack, Ladybug and Chat Noir are said to be very motivated and focused, and there is no flirting from Chat Noir at inappropriate time anymore. Though, they did not see the two figures in what would be the same as superhero outfit watching them fight the Akuma from the top of the roof.