The Missing Purrincess

Chapter 24: Trust The Electronics

She went all the way to her apartment bedroom before rushing to the window and opened it.

---Alya's POV---

I was genuinely speechless. There was one good thing, I didn't have to fake my anger. Just had to redirect it a bit.

"Nino and Marinette. A couple?"

"I'm so soooo sorry Alya."

"Nino like my boyfriend Nino? Nino DJ Nino?"

"Yes," The sausage sniffed as the crocodile tears flowed down her ugly face, " Nino. He kissed her right in fount of me."

I was so mad. Not at Nino, I knew by now not to trust a word out of Lila's mouth, but that she thought she could bait me like that.

"What were you doing? Where did they..." I couldn't even finish the sentence. I felt bile build up in my throat and had to push it down.  My hands had balled into fists at some point.

"I was hanging out with Ladybug. You know, in civilian form. I'd call her, but it takes a lot to transform and I promised her identity would be safe with me."

"You and... Ladybug saw them..."

"Cat Noir too. We're not as close, but he and I are still friends. I've been trying to help set them up but clearly it didn't go as planned."

"Cat Noir and Ladybug both saw my boyfriend kissing my best friend?"

"I'm so sorry Alya. He made me promise not to tell you. He said he would tell you this past week, but with everything that happened with Marinette...."

Lila turned, her face no longer visible. It took every ounce of my strength not to pummel her into the ground right now.

"Did did anybody else know?"

Lila moved her hand in a wiping motion, as if to rub her nose or clear her face of tears. It was hard to tell at this angle. 

"I don't know. Chloe, Sabrina and Rose were also in the park at the time but I didn't know if they saw."

I rubbed my hand through my hair. Wincing as I thought through who she had called out. My boyfriend, the girl who was so upset over Marinette's disappearance she was akumatized, the girl who was most against her publicly as well as her best friend who went with everything she said, and the girl she despised. Throw in some threatening and ignorance and you have a perfect case to isolate me from people she didn't like.

Not to mention that everyone on that list was very strongly with Marinette in all this. I don't think she quite thought this one through. 

"I think I need to be alone for a bit Lila. To process."

"Of course Alya. Anything for my best friend. I'm so sorry I didn't say anything earlier."

"I trust you had your reasons Li."

The girl turned and smiled at the nickname. A smile that I had only seen on akumas before. I smile that was purely dark and untrustworthy. One that should be avoided at all cost. Was that always her smile or had it changed recently?

"Bye Li."

"By Als!"

She turned and skipped along. I started heading back as well. I went all the way to my apartment bedroom before rushing to the window and opened it.

"Did you get it Markov?"

---Adrien's POV---

I sat and stared at my phone. I had been writing Marinette messages, knowing full well that she couldn't see them, I didn't send them, but just putting them out there was helping me cope. Besides, even if I didn't send it I was recording everything I waned to tell her when I found her. 

I sighed and moved my attention from my message to one bluebell eyed maiden to another. One that was in fact very capable of reading my messages, but instead refused to. 

Ladybug had laid out very clearly that she would not be helping to look for Marinette. It made me mad, even if her reasoning was sound. Though I knew it would be hard, I just had to convince her to help. I couldn't let Marinette down again.

The "high road" advice was for when she wasn't hurting anything. There was no point in exposing her then because she was just claiming that she knew some celebrities. It was supposed to be helpful. Hurting others never made them better. That was my core belief as Cat Noir, right behind the punnier the better and Milady is always right.

The moment Marinette was expelled from school, that advice should have gone out the window. I just with I had actually told her that. I wanted to, don't get me wrong, but Lila clearly had some sort of influence over my Father. Suddenly my kind advice had gone from helping to hurting and at that point I couldn't do anything about it. 

I read back over my message,

[ You: Milady Look. I know you're mad about the thing with Marinette, and your reasoning does make sense. It is risky to look for her as super heroes. That does not mean however, that I will give up on my search. You are welcome to join me if you want, but you can't stop me. You see, your excuse only works if nobody specifically asks you to look for her. Akumas related to her disappearance combined with a personal request from a few high standing citizens should be enough to bring any suspicion over our interest at rest don't you agree Bugaboo? Marinette was one of the few people that I could talk to in costume or without. She accepted both sides of me and considered both as friends. Marinette was the first person to do that. I can't risk losing her over something like possibly risking something that is always at risk anyway like who we really are. If nothing else, we can blame our interest on Lila? You never really liked her and weren't too good at hiding it.]

I took a deep breath, rereading it again and again, taking out anything that I could see as offensive that wasn't necessary to say. 

[sent]