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Nino kept staring at the picture in his phone. He still didn’t understand what happened; the very same day the photo was sent, the girl appearing in it had assured him she felt no romantic feelings for his best friend, also in the image, and yet, there she was, taking a selfie of her kissing his cheek.
As for Adrien, he was smiling. But it was a hesitant smile, forced, as if he’d just found himself in a trap. No matter the circumstances, it felt wrong. And the worst part? Nino was pretty sure it’d been his fault. Like he shouldn’t have trusted Lila in the first place.
As he let his mind question everything that might’ve led to that, Kim, Ivan and Max were getting closer to him, chatting amicably until they noticed the DJ’s sullen expression.
“Dude”, Kim broke the silence, “what’s got you so down? You’re practically making a hole to your cell phone by looking so hard.” When Nino showed them the picture their eyes widened. “Wait, Adrien and Lila are a thing? Why doesn’t anybody ever tell us anything?!”
“No, Kim, they’re not. But I can’t help but feel this whole deal is my fault, dudes...” Nino lamented, shielding his face with his hands and sighing tiredly.
“What do you mean “your fault”?” asked Ivan.
And so, Nino told them everything. From the part when he found Lila walking to school looking sad about not being able to go with her mother abroad because she had to catch up on schoolwork, to the part he’d received a photo of her kissing Adrien after he’d set them up to help her with homework because she had sworn she wasn’t in love with the model.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think she lied to me!” Nino said.
“Now, now, let’s not accuse people of things we don’t know about.” Max defended, as he adjusted his glasses “It is highly unlikely of Lila to lie about something, especially when it comes to her feelings and grades. Besides, there’s always a logical explanation.”
“I don’t know, dude. Adrien does act like he prefers to be away from Lila for some reason.” The model’s best friend remembered, still not sure of what to think or do. “Just the other day, when Lila came, he eagerly took me aside to study for the exam we were taking that day.”
“I think we need a third-no wait, we’re already four-, a fifth person’s opinion. But who could know about what’s going on with Lila and Adrien, though?” The athlete of the group wondered.
“We could always go to the Liberty and ask Marinette.” suggested Ivan. “She said she’d meet Luka and I there today to prepare for Kitty Section’s next show, since Juleka and Rose had to run some errands.”
The boys exchanged a look. It was undeniable that Marinette was one of Adrien’s closest friends too, and she obviously cared a lot for him, in love with him or not, but she also didn’t think highly of Lila, so, perhaps, her opinion wouldn’t be the most objective one.
As the guys pondered their options, Nino furrowed his brow. Marinette had exclusively told him and Alya she’d followed the both of them on Lila’s first day of school, claiming that that event verified her suspicions of the girl being dishonest about her accomplishments. However, as crazy or wrong as it looked like when she first told them, now her words didn’t sound half as absurd as they did then.
While the others were arguing about which course of action to take, the DJ spoke up, “Guys, let’s go talk to Marinette.”
The young designer had, ironically, found herself an oasis of peace and calm in the chaotic boat belonging to the Couffaine family. Whilst she didn’t spend nearly as much of her time there as the members of the band did, she certainly enjoyed herself whenever she visited. Those visits allowed her to see the most passionate and creative side of her quietest classmates, and, if that wasn’t wonderfully touching enough, she could be a part of it by creating their outfits or recording their sessions.
It was, in general, a nice, soothing environment she cherished dearly.
At that moment, she was spending some alone time with the blue-haired guitarist of the band, which made her heart beat a little faster and her cheeks feel a little hotter than usual. Marinette was sketching some of her latest ideas for the band’s next costumes, while she listened to Juleka’s brother playing a sweet tune with his guitar.
It was an odd experience, being alone with Luka. But in the good way. While the guitarist had a knack for making her lose her head, she wasn’t nearly as nervous nor stuttered half as much as she did around Adrien, making every single moment they spent together much more precious for her. Still, it was too soon to tell if she could move on from Adrien with him; on the one hand, the model seemed to be getting closer to Kagami every passing day, but on the other, he still found his way to her heart; be it a gentle smile, or a reassuring, well-meaning gesture. It didn’t matter, one of those and she was a goner.
As the pair of teenagers minded their own business, they were suddenly surrounded by the guys, startling them. Curiously enough, they all looked rather bashful, and even hesitant to even be there.
Leaving the weirdness of the scenery aside, Marinette greeted them nonetheless. “Um… Hi, guys! Did Ivan invite you all to come see the rehearsal?”
“Uh, no, actually.” Nino began, feeling nervous about the whole situation. Never mind that, though, they needed to know if his bro needed help or not. “We wanted to ask you which is your opinion of Lila and Adrien, Marinette.”
The baker’s daughter was taken aback. Did anything happen that she didn’t know of?
Oh, no! Did Lila lie about me? Wait, even worse! Did she lie about her relationship with Adrien again!? Ugh, that brat!
The group of boys waited, anxious, except for Luka, who was just merely curious about the unexpected turn of events. Depending on Marinette’s answer they may have to come up with methods of protecting Adrien without being rude to the new girl, she likely didn’t deserve to be excluded. Right?
Finally, the designer spoke, mirth completely gone. “Whatever Lila’s told you about me, or her “relationship” with Adrien, is a lie. Don’t listen to her.”
That answer surprised everyone present; there surely had to be something going on for Marinette to reply like that before anything else!
“Marinette,” Kim tried to calm her down, “she hasn’t said anything about you or Adrien, but...”
“But?” Marinette arched an eyebrow.
“But, apparently, despite telling Nino she didn’t have a crush on Adrien, she sent a selfie where she was kissing him on the cheek. And Adrien… he doesn’t look particularly comfortable about it. What can you tell us about that?” Max completed for his friend.
If Marinette was suspicious before, now she was fuming. Kissing Adrien! On the cheek! And sending the picture!? Without his permission! After telling Nino she didn’t see him as a potential boyfriend!? That… That was low, that was underhanded, that was vile, that-that was… Something Lila would do without batting an eyelash.
Despite all the scorn and rage she was feeling towards the brunette, Marinette managed to remain relatively calm. “The answer’s easy: Lila lied about not liking Adrien.” She said as she watched her friends’ eyes widen and their jaws slightly drop.
The boys exchanged nervous glances, the noirette had been a lot more blunt than they’d expected, even the blue-haired musician was slightly taken aback. Max, however, despite being the most rational person present, insisted on giving the Italian girl the benefit of the doubt. Probably because she’d promised him she’d take him with her to see the particle accelerator.
“Marinette, we understand if, for whatever reason, you dislike Lila. But you shouldn’t accuse her of deceiving Nino so easily. Perhaps, she kissed Adrien as a way of saying “thank you”, we don’t know if that’s just an Italian custom we do not share.
“Not to mention, if you’re saying she lied about something like that, you are lowkey implying she has been dishonest about everything else. Which is highly unlikely because we’ve seen Chloé doing far more impressive things thanks to her father’s connections, so maybe- Marinette, did you just throw a napkin at my face?”
“Yup.” she replied as nonchalantly as possible. “Why? Did it hurt you?”
“Of course not!” The young genius replied, obviously offended. “I am aware I’m not the most physically adept specimen there is, but do you really take me for such a weakling?”
“I don’t know, ask Lila. She’s the one who “saved” you from the napkin I’d thrown at her.”
Then, everyone present but Marinette and Luka froze. They’d all seen that interaction between the two girls, except for Ivan, but Mylène had told him. It was true, Lila said she only caught the ball with her sprained wrist because she’d learned it could’ve hurt him.
But the evidence was clear as daylight now; Marinette hadn’t even directed the ball at Max, her objective always being the new girl; the napkin the designer did throw at him a few seconds back had only bounced off the moment it hit his glasses, he wore glasses, and, if that wasn’t already prove enough, Lila only complained about her wrist after Marinette had called her out on her acting.
Meaning…
“She lied about her sprained wrist just so she could get her food without even doing the minimal effort!” The group’s athlete snapped.
“How devious of her!” Max continued. “To use someone’s good will to her advantage like that! And to think I let her play us like a fiddle… All the facts were there!”
“But this means she’s also been lying to the girls too!” Ivan commented, clearly concerned about his girlfriend being lied to. Mylène was such a sweet, wonderful girl, she didn’t deserve such treatment, no one did.
As his friends kept trying to process the new information, Nino went back to the conversation Marinette had had with his girlfriend and him mere moments before the aforementioned incident took place, Marinette’s story replaying in his mind.
“So...” The DJ started “You’ve actually known about this since you followed her?”
“Wait, you actually followed her?” This time, it was Luka who’d asked, having remained quiet for the entire conversation.
Somehow, it wasn’t a question, more like a statement. But, deep down, the girl knew she’d have to fess up about everything if the boys were going to try and protect the boy she loved from that brat’s claws. Well, not everything. She still couldn’t tell them about her secret identity. Especially since everyone but Ivan were superheroes too.
So, mustering as much courage as possible, she nodded
“Yeah, listen guys, I’m not proud of what I did, but I don’t regret it either.” She began to explain, as best yet vaguely as possible. “I have to admit I followed them twice on Lila’s first day. My reasons definitely changed from one time to the other, but you must know, at the end of the day, it was worth it; thanks to that, I figured out what kind of person Lila Rossi truly is.
“The first time, I… I was actually jealous of how close she’d gotten with Adrien and I- I just panicked! But, guys, please believe me; deep down, I knew there was something off about her. So, I got inside the library with them. At first, it was just small talk, until Lila spotted a drawing of what looked like an ancient Ladybug in a book Adrien took out from his bag. The moment he showed the slightest interest in the superheroine her entire demeanor changed: she got closer to him, said something about girls not needing costumes to be amazing or whatever and, only then did she mention her “friendship” with Ladybug.
“And listen carefully, because this was the first sign of Lila being far from angelic as she lets on, after they’d agreed on meeting at the park, Adrien’s bag with all its contents fell to the floor. From where I was, I could see how Lila used her foot to hide Adrien’s book-the one with the superheroes-behind her. The girl was a liar and a thief! That’s when my reason to follow her changed, I just had to know why she needed his book for.
“So, that’s what I did. On her way to the park she stopped by a jewelry store and bought a necklace. Once in the park, she took the book out and put on the necklace, but the moment she saw Adrien approaching, that brat threw the book into the trash can!” Marinette could definitely feel Max’s horror at that particular scene, what kind of idiot doesn’t know books should be treated with respect?!
“What happened next?” Nino asked, concerned and appalled by the dudette’s story.
“Then, instead of talking about her friendship with Ladybug...” Marinette could feel her veins boil at the memory. “She started bad-mouthing her, saying she wasn’t that great of a hero, only to make herself look better in front of Adrien.”
“But that is nonsense!” Max exclaimed, comprehending Lila’s train of thought was proving itself to be a far bigger challenge than he’d previously predicted. “Being Ladybug’s friend was the source of her popularity, why putting her down? That’s just too contradictory to not appear suspicious.”
“Because she claimed to be the descendant of a superhero herself; Volpina.” As time went by, the baker’s daughter was growing visibly more tired of the Italian girl’s falsehoods.
“But… doesn’t she need a miraculous to, at least, make that believable?” Kim arched an eyebrow, missing the point to the girl’s lie completely.
“Oh, she had something similar.” The noirette explained. “She used the necklace to convince Adrien she was the current...” She was going to both dread and enjoy saying this to Nino’s face, knowing he’d be the most irritated one by the Volpina issue. “Fox miraculous holder.”
Soon enough, as the only girl present predicted, Nino’s expression changed from concerned to infuriated. So Lila had tried to fool his best friend by impersonating his girlfriend’s secret identity!? Oh, she was going down…
“Anyways, I got confirmation about her friendship with Ladybug being nothing but another fraud the moment the heroine herself appeared and called her out on her bullshit.” She finished. It felt so right to finally tell somebody about it!
“But blatantly lying to people like that for a person’s own gain is just despicable!” Max remarked.
“Yeah, dude! She’s been faking injuries and diseases to get things from us, injuries and diseases, man! What kind of person does that?!” The young swimmer roared, outraged.
“Also… didn’t Adrien almost got homeschooled again because he’d taken and lost something that belonged to his father the next day to that?” The gentle giant of the class pointed out. “She almost got the boy she supposedly likes life ruined!”
While the boys were, once again, trying to process Lila’s true colours, Marinette felt both inspired enough and so sick of the brunette’s selfish actions that she felt it was finally time to talk about one of the darkest moments of her life. If her experience gave Nino, Ivan, Max and Kim another reason to keep Adrien away from Lila’s manipulative ways, all the more reason to share.
“What do you expect from someone who threatens to isolate those who know she’s nothing but a liar when no one’s looking?”
Once again, everybody present froze, only this time, the temperature of the ship seemed to drop. Confessing about that horrible experience had been a huge leap of faith for the noirette, the only person besides her or Little Miss Show-Off who knew of that being Tikki, the little kwami being capable of doing only so much since she herself couldn’t reveal what took place in the washrooms without jeopardising her chosen’s secret identity.
The mere memory of it all made the girl sick, how someone other than Hawk Moth could have so little respect for others or feel absolutely no remorse for their misdeeds was beyond her. Even Chloé had people she cared about, in her own way… No matter what, the feeling of incompetence she felt when she couldn’t find a way to expose Lila or, simply, wipe that smug look from her face, clung desperately to the young superheroine whenever she was feeling at her lowest. She just hoped none of the guys noticed her shaking.
But one of them did.
“She threatened you?!”
The bloodcurdling hiss had come from no other than Luka, who, instead of his usual calm and relaxed expression, now wore a mask of pure rage and contempt, which made him look even angrier than the time Bob Roth and XY stole their music and costumes from Kitty Section. The young designer actually feared he might attract akumas.
“Yeah...” She sighed, not really feeling like sharing that particular anecdote but knowing she should anyways. “When she came back to school, after I threw the napkin at her in an attempt to prove she was lying about her wrist, which only resulted in me turning into the bad guy, she followed me to the bathroom and tried to lie her way into winning me over.” She could already feel the tears forming in her eyes, but she went on. “However, I made it very clear then that I didn’t buy a single thing that came from her mouth, which she took as a declaration of war and swore she’d make me lose all my friends if I didn’t shut up and play her game. I’d never felt so helpless in my entire life...”
At that point, tears were running freely down her face, making her even more miserable than by retelling that conversation and making the boys uncomfortable but feeling terribly sorry for what their dudette had gone through unbeknownst to anyone.
Despite that, Luka was the one aching the most.
He looked at Marinette. If she was involved in the new student’s scheme, he would be there for her. Because, just like Adrien deserved someone who’d help him make his feelings known, so did she. There were many reasons why Marinette was special; during the time Luka had spent with her, he’d found out she was the perfect blend between endearing and badass. While being shy, clumsy and even awkward; she was also quick-witted, brave and determined. Her very own superheroine.
When it came to Adrien, the guitarist knew he was the object of her affections. Nevertheless, his own emotions wouldn’t get in the way of giving someone in need a helping hand.
Never.
Moreover, although it was true his crush was infatuated with the model, if their “double date” at the ice rink was anything to go by, she’d demonstrated she was the blond’s friend first and she wanted nothing but for him to be happy.
Yes, that was Marinette. Clear and sincere like the most beautiful melody. And he, as a boy who cared deeply for her, wouldn’t be less.
As the blue-eyed teenager tried to calm down her cries, she felt comforting arms wrapping around her. Wait a minute, she recognised those arms, strong and firm, yet gentle and caring. Sure enough, she turned her head and found Luka’s aqua eyes staring back at hers.
“Marinette,” The blue haired boy started. “I think I speak for all of us when I say you shouldn’t have had to endure all that on your own, and that… we’re deeply sorry you did.” He took a deep breath that caused the pigtailed girl to wonder about the importance of what was about to be said. “I promise, just like we’re going to prevent Adrien from getting hurt or manipulated by her, we’re going to do the same for you. Am I right, boys?”
There was a chorus of agreements and Marinette couldn’t feel any more relieved. They listened to her! And they wanted to be there for her in her times of need, too! She was so happy she could begin to cry all over again. But instead, she wiped away her tears and beamed at them.
“Thank you, guys. Really, it means a lot.” She smiled at her friends. “But I myself don’t need a protection squad, I know better than to be around Lila. What I want, though, is that you stand by me every time she does manage to hurt me or make me look like the bad guy. Even if it’s in the shadows, I want to feel supported.”
“You got it!” Promised Nino.
“Yeah, it’s so unfair that you’ve got to go through this alone, man. You can count on us!” Kim gave her a thumbs up.
“Now that we are all aware of what Lila is truly capable of, she will have to step up her game if she wants to play us like a fiddle ever again.” Concluded Max.
“Even if we have to find a way to make the girls more wary of her, there’s no way we’ll let her hurt you or Adrien, Mari.” Ivan assured her.
“And… you’ll have to be crazy to think I’d let someone like her toy with my friends like that, Ma-ma-ma-Marimanette.” Luka teased, making her blush.
For the first time in months, everything felt right again. As if there’d been a dark cloud darkening her day that finally disappeared and allowed her to enjoy the sun once more. Still, there was one other issue they had to face. The group’s drummer beat her to it, though.
“So… How do we protect Adrien from Lila?”
It was a good question. The brunette had a dozen tricks up her sleeve to get whatever she desired from people, be it her usual lies or more elaborate schemes, she always found a solution to get her way with things.
“Well, I think we obviously should-”
“Don’t even think about it, Marinette.” Max interrupted her. “Even if your intentions at exposing Lila are well-meaning, she’s managed to make you look like a jealous, insecure girl who has no right nor reason to dislike her at every attempt you’ve made.” The boy genius explained, adjusting his glasses again. “And given she still has the girls to back her up, being publicly cold or aggressive to her would do us more harm than good.”
They all looked at each other. The video game enthusiast had a point: straightforwardly confronting the Italian was a bad idea.
“Then, what about if we just call Adrien over for help or something like that whenever she starts to invade his personal space instead?” The eldest of the Couffaine siblings suggested. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t seen the way the brunette clung to the blond at whatever chance she’d get. It felt so wrong and it was so sickening to watch, more so given the boy’s look of discomfort. He failed to comprehend how on Earth anyone but Marinette had never noticed the girl’s wicked actions before.
“That… could actually work!” The DJ said. “But what could we possibly ask the dude about without putting ourselves at her level and lying?”
“We could always ask him about his schedule. Whether his free time to hang out with him, something we don’t get to do very often, or what he’s supposed to do at his daily appointments. I’m sure, with time, we could get some real time with him he’d reserved himself where he could explain to us some doubts from previous times! That’d make it less weird.” The baker girl knew that schedule she had with all her friends’ appointments and activities would come in handy someday!
“That’s a great idea! But… what are we going to do with the girls if they start asking questions? We can’t just lie to them...” Ivan asked. Of the whole squad, he and Nino were the ones who’d have the hardest time hiding anything from their girlfriends; Ivan because he was a terrible liar, and Nino because… Well, nobody could really hide a secret from the school’s most stubborn journalist.
“We’ll just tell them the truth, from their point of view; we’re trying to be more involved in Adrien’s life. Since that’s what we’ll ask him, technically, it is not a lie.” Luka answered. Marinette was pleasantly surprised, for someone who barely spent time with Adrien, he was proving himself to be a very important part of the plan.
“Ok, now that we have a plan, we need to make some points clear. Marinette,” The DJ addressed the designer, who wasn’t sure why she was the first point that had to be dealt with. “I think it’s best if you stay out of the plan at the beginning. Lila could use that against us, saying you’re taking advantage of the situation to spend time with Adrien while she can’t.”
As much as it saddened her to admit it, Nino had a point. If people thought she had jealousy issues, that was because they’d never seen Lila’s. It wouldn’t be wise to give the girl more reasons to isolate her.
“Very well.” She agreed.
“And… I think, just like Luka said before, that I speak for all of us when I say I’m sorry.” Her best friend’s boyfriend apologised, looking rather ashamed. “Had we listened to you sooner none of this would’ve happened, dude. You even went as far as to warn Alya and me and we still wouldn’t believe you. And it was that what led you to being targeted by Lila, for which I truly am sorry. Do you think you could ever forgive us, dudette?”
Marinette was touched, that was an understatement. Nino had finally seen the truth and apologised for not listening to her sooner, just like all the boys’ faces showed just by looking at them. And now... Now they were willing to be there for her, to stand by her, to help her keep Adrien away from harm; that was everything she’d ever wanted, really.
“I forgive you guys. Now, come on! We have a liar to stop!”
The “Adrien Protection Squad” was a go.