"Future Rewoven" Book 3 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 5: Playtime! And Adrien Realizes He Made a Bad Deal.

"I think we're going to need to find out Lila's cousin's full name," said Adrien from his position on the chaise in Marinette's room the day after they made their Lila deal. "I assumed they had the same last name, but I don't see any information online about a 'Maya Rossi' or even a scientist named Maya that is doing the right kind of research.  Or what we assume would be the right research.  And, we don't know what type of research she and Max will be doing exactly." He scanned back over the list of search results on the screen, checking to make sure he didn't miss anything.

Marinette looked over at him from her desk where she had stopped working on the red and black polka-dotted hair scrunchies that Manon, the girl she babysat, had asked for. "I'm sure Max would know. Why don't you think of a way to ask him without sounding suspicious?" She resumed sewing the ends of the scrunchie together before continuing with "Maybe this is another fact to put in my column indicating that Maya is our villain- no online presence is suspicious!" She cut off the extra thread on the scrunchie and stretched it, checking that the stitches would hold. Marinette then launched it across the room, hitting Adrien in the head with it.

"Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed, before picking the scrunchie up off the floor and launching it back towards her. Since she was prepared, it flew right by her head rather than hitting it's mark. "I'm never going to live this down if Maya is actually the villain, am I?" He was already wishing he'd never made this into such a challenge as she had become very competitive about it. He would probably hear her complain about his lack of faith in her for as long as he lived!

"Nope," she said as she reached to retrieve the scrunchie from behind her computer monitor where it had fallen.

Plagg suddenly zoomed up from behind the computer, wearing the scrunchie around his neck. "Looking for this?" he asked playfully, as he flew right by Marinette. She made a grab for him, but missed.

Tikki flew up from behind the Jagged Stone album cover on Marinette's desk. "What are we playing?" she asked, watching the scene with wide eyes.

"Catch the Plagg!" said Marinette as she leaped up to try to get Plagg, who was hovering a few feet above her head.

Tikki giggled and zoomed after Plagg, who started to fly up toward the ceiling.

"No fair, Plagg!" cried Marinette, who had no hopes of ever reaching that high.

"Ah, but if Tikki is on your team it is!" he called back. "Tikki, are you on Marinette's team?"

"Of, course!" she said enthusiastically as she darted around trying to take Plagg by surprise.

Adrien looked on with amusement, but made no move to join them. He was determined to find something about Maya. He'd just sent off a message to Max trying to gently inquire under the guise of being interested in reading up more about what Max was going to be doing this summer. He hoped to hear something back soon.

But, Plagg had other ideas. He raced toward Adrien, diving behind his back to hide.

"Whoa, Plagg! Don't drag me into this!" Adrien said right as Tikki and Marinette headed straight for him. He quickly closed his laptop and lightly threw it to the side just in time to be pounced on by both Marinette and Tikki.

"Oof!" said Adrien, not quite prepared for what just happened, but not above taking advantage of the situation. He wrapped his arms around Marinette's waist, as she squirmed trying to reach behind his back to get Plagg.

"Tikki, can you get him?" Marinette called to her as Adrien pulled Marinette down to sit on his lap.

Tikki gave Marinette a determined nod and dove behind Adrien's back. A moment later she pulled Plagg up by the scrunchie. "We win!" said Tikki with a smile.

"No fair!" Plagg complained. "My teammate defected!" he said, giving Adrien a scowl.

Adrien chuckled. "Sorry, Plagg, but you didn't check to make sure I was on your team!  I did run some interference with Marinette, though, for you."

"Pretty sure that was for you!" Plagg retorted, noticing Adrien's grin. Plagg then proceeded to grumble while Tikki removed the scrunchie from his neck and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Marinette noticed that Plagg turned the slightest bit pink. She accepted the scrunchie from Tikki and held it high above her head exclaiming "We are victorious!" Tikki giggled.

Adrien's phone vibrated. He slid Marinette off his lap to sit next to him and he dug his phone out of his pocket. Marinette gave him a curious look.

"It's Max. He says her name is Maya Rossi. Huh. Well, maybe it is another fact for your column, Marinette," he said, giving her an apologetic smile.

Marinette returned his smile, trying not to be too smug about it. "So, what next then?" she asked, wanting to make him work for the answers. She had some ideas, but wasn't willing to give them out too easily at the moment.  While her annoyance had lessened, she still felt like Adrien should have supported her more without making her promise.

"Maybe do what all great detectives do in mysteries and cop shows- follow the money? She'll need money for her research. Maybe there will be some clue there?" he asked, turning his head to see if she agreed with him.

"I think that's a good idea," she said with a nod.

"I guess that will mean talking to Max again to see if he knows anything. This all makes me feel guilty, though. Like I am using him," Adrien said sadly.

"I know," said Marinette as she put her arm around his shoulders to comfort him. "But, it's important. And, you're not actually doing anything to him, just asking him about things he would probably tell anyone who asked, right?"

"Then, why can't you do it?" Adrien complained, but he already knew the answer. Marinette raised her eyebrows at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, yeah, because I'm the one doubting your conclusions and it was part of our deal," he said glumly. She kissed him on the cheek. He really regretted making this deal and making her promise. Nothing good had come out of it for him. He wondered whether he was only going to be kissed on the cheek until this was all figured out. He frowned at that. How would he ever survive? He couldn't solve this mystery fast enough!