Cinnamon and Vanilla

Chapter 9

Both Adrien and Marinette spent most of Tuesday morning trying to get in contact with Kagami. It became evident that her phone had been confiscated and her access to the internet blocked, effectively cutting her off from the outside world. Since Kagami had finished Lycée last year, she was effectively house bound as he mother had made her take a gap year to study the family business. At lunchtime Marinette organised the Operation Carrier Pigeon group together in the park on a picnic rug to try and work out what they were going to do next. Alya, Nino, Rose and Juleka all came and sat down. Since Adrien was still not back at school yet, Marinette dialed him in on FaceTime.

"Hey Marinette, hi everyone, hold on a sec I'll just shut the door." Adrien took the phone with him as he closed his office door, letting the group get a small glimpse of the interior.

"Whoa dude, is that your office?" Nino gaped as Adrien sat back down at the desk.

"Yeah, I know. Pretty crazy huh." Adrien laughed, holding the phone up and panning around the room for everyone to see. "My father isn't exactly a guy that does things by halves."

"Who's the other desk for?" Rose asked, seeing there was a vacant desk on the other side of the room. Juleka leaned over her shoulder for a better look.

"Oh, that." Adrien giggled nervously, turning the phone back to himself. "That's if I want to have my own personal assistant in here." Alya elbowed Marinette frantically in the ribs, making her wince. "Although I might keep it for my future head designer to use." He added with a playful wink. Marinette swore she might stop breathing if this boy keeps flirting with her like this.

"I hate to break this up, but can we get on with it, time is wasting." All eyes turned to see Chloé tapping her foot behind them with her arms folded.

"What the hell do you want?" Alya began when Marinette cut in.

"It's fine Alya, Adrien suggested we should bring Chloé in on this." She said, placing a placitating hand on Alya's arm.

"You can't be serious?" Alya questioned, looking Marinette in the eyes. The bluenette took a calming breath.

"Alya, Chloé runs in the same circles as Adrien and Kagami, plus her father is the mayor. I think her help could be invaluable in this situation." Chloé gave Alya a 'so there' smirk, the reporter rolling her eyes at the socialite. "Chloé, have you found out anything?"

"Let me just preface this with the fact I'm only doing this because Adrien asked for my input." Marinette could see Chloé was getting agitated. Ever since she had her miraculous taken off her, Chloé had never been quite the same. Her fall to Hawk Moth when she became Miracle Queen was held against her by most people at the school, except for Adrien. Marinette thought that perhaps it was because he had known her for so long he was hopeful she might change. To her credit, Marientte felt she had been trying more over the last year or so, and was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, if only for Adrien's sake.

"Your help is  appreciated Chloé." Marinette said, giving her a kind smile. Chloé seemed unsure, but continued.

"I asked daddy about Kagami being held against her will. Even though she's 18 and an adult, she does still live in her mother's house so unless she makes a formal complaint, there isn't much legally that can be done." The group looked a little deflated at that. As much as Kagami would hate the situation she is in, she would never bring legal proceedings towards her mother.

"Alright." Marinette breathed out. "We need a new plan then, but first things first, we need to get in contact with Kagami and make sure she is alright."

"I should be seeing her this afternoon." Adrien chipped in. "Our fencing lesson got moved due to a junior competition so she should be here today."