ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 7

ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 7

(Parts 1- 4)

(Part 5) (Part 6)

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Alya was waiting  patiently for her best friend at the front of the school.

Marinette had texted her this morning about what happened yesterday and Alya wants… no NEEDS details.

“Of course she is late.” Alya sighed. The ladyblogger knew how her friend can be sometimes.

But as if on cue, Marinette came running full speed. She stopped short of the steps, avoiding crashing into them.

Alya made her way to her friend. A knowing smile on her face.

“Overslept?” Alya inquired.

“I actually got up early today.” Marinette responded. “I wanted to answer those questions as soon as possible.”

“And?”

“Still triple digits.” Marinette smiled. “I got so happy that I started daydreaming… which then turned into actual dreaming.”

Alya laughed. 

“Speaking of dreams, sounds like you are living one of yours.” Alya commented. “Which I would really like to hear details of now that you are out of your head.”

Marinette regaled Alya about yesterday as they started walking into the school. Marinette explained how Adrien asked her about her thoughts on the app, how they both believed there was something more to it, and how if the profile doesn’t change in 2 weeks that they should try it out. 

Alya nudging her best friend as Marinette turned bright red.

“And then he asks you out that night. Are you sure that you are both waiting until the profile finishes?” Alya teased. “Because I think the model found his soulmate.”

“It isn’t a date! He just asked if I wanted to go to the interview with him. If I didn’t go, he would have asked Nino.” Marinette flusteredly explained. “Though I was happy that I was his first choice. Just us going to the interview right after school, thats it.”

“Sounds like he is falling for you. But he is wrong if he thinks you are going there as you are normally.” Alya answered.

Marinette looked at her in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“You are going tomorrow looking your best. We are going to make that boy smack his head on the floor falling head over heels for you.” Alya elaborated with a confident smile.

Marinette stopped.

“W-W-Wait! That might be too much. He never said it was a date! If I show up looking out of the ordinary, it might make him think I am going into this too quickly.” Marinette stammered.

“Trust me girl. If he finds it weird, just say that you didn’t want to look bad in case they did put you on camera. Adrien understands how important appearances are.” Alya responded. “Its a fair reason.”

Marinette had to admit it was a sneaky yet clever reason.

“Wait you said we? You didn’t tell the girls about the…”

“They don’t know about the compatibility score, but they know about your ‘Not Date’ “ Alya said with finger quotes around the words ‘Not Date’. “They are on board and we will make you look amazing.”

Marinette smiled at her friend.

“You are a really the bestest friend ever. Thanks Alya.” Marinette praised.

“Hey, I am just looking out for my girl. Now lets hurry to class before..”

The late bell rang loudly alerting the two that they were late.

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Adrien was worried. Nino had told him it wasn’t that big of a deal. But Nino didn’t understand how Lila actually was. The model remembered how she used every little bit of information to get into the Agreste Mansion, how easily she twisted the truth, how she got Nathalie and his bodyguard in trouble. Then there was the way she took that photo. Nino didn’t know what Chat noir knew about Lila.

If it was not for the late bell he would have explained situation to the Dj, he had a feeling if he does explain Nino might believe him. He was both relieved and annoyed that Lila was not in school that day. Adrien didn’t bother paying attention to what the reason was, he knew it was likely a lie while most of the class felt bad and was wishing her she felt better. He will have to ‘Talk’ with Lila later, at least this absence will give him time to approach her composed and calm. 

Thankfully something sweet and kind did help bring him back to earth. Marinette walking through the door. She and Alya apologized to Ms.Bustier about their tardiness before taking seats. He found himself smiling at her when she looked his way. He noticed her smile back, it elevated stress from him. Until he the shattering realization of Lila having that list could entail.

Marinette was on the top of that list, that compatibility list could become a hit list if Lila shows the right people. That made Lila’s absence all the more mortifying. He needed to warn her.

Adrien made a mental task list of who he needed to talk to. 1st was Marinette, she needed to be told about Lila seeing and possibly having the list. He wasn’t sure how she would react to it, but better then having her find out later. 2nd. Nino, and possibly Alya to make sure they know what Lila is capable of, a mistake he needs to rectify. Lastly there is Lila, she needs to delete that list, and then Adrien would have a talk to her about Lying.

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Class finished fast as Adrien was lost in thought. He noticed his best friend had moved to talk with his girlfriend. Leaving a surprised and nervous Marinette and Adrien in their seats. The class had cleared out leaving the two by themselves.

Adrien began to get up from his seat, gathering his things, as Marinette touched him on his shoulder.

“Hey Marinette. How is it going?” Adrien greeted.

“Are you okay?” Marinette questioned.

Adrien looked at her with surprise.

Marinette realized she had kept her hair on his shoulder still. She quickly removed it looking flustered.

“What do you mean? I am fine.” Adrien replied with a rehearsed smile.

“You seemed really out of it this morning, you looked kind of upset. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” Marinette answered. Her concern was overshadowing her nervousness.

Adrien’s rehearsed smile faded. Marinette was worried about him, she could tell he was upset and she was checking up on him. She always had a neck for noticing when people were hurting. I wouldn’t expect less of my everyday ladybug

Adrien blinked as that thought crossed his mind. He was getting ahead of himself, he needed to focus on what he was going to say to Marinette.

“Thank you Marinette. I just found out some rather disturbing news.” Adrien answered.

Marinette’s heart sank. Adrien was clearly worried and it hurt her to see him like this.

“Lila saw my list.” Adrien stated. “She saw my compatibility list.”

Marinette blinked unsure of how to take it. Lila was sneaky and devious, so any information that she has or holds over someone is dangerous. But part of her couldn’t help but find funny, Lila knows that She and Adrien are 100% compatible, Marinette wondered if that made Lila mad. It was kind of amusing, but also the realistic issues started coming to light which put that thought to bed.

“How did she find out?” Marinette questioned.

“She used Nino’s phone, texting me pretending to be him. Then she tried to cover her tracks. I would hate to think what would happen if I didn’t ask Nino about it this morning.” Adrien explained.

“That manipulative witch!” Marinette explained. “How could she use Nino like that? It was bad enough the invasion of privacy, but getting Nino involves is even worse.”

Marinette realized she had just insulted Lila right in front of Adrien. Adrien wasn’t one for badmouthing people, she would need to apologize.

“Sorry, I got carried away…”

“No, you don’t need to apologize.” Adrien assured. 

“Lying about herself to look good is one thing, those lies will catch up to her sooner or later. “ Adrien continued. “But manipulating my friends and using them just to find out… it is gross.”

Marinette watched in surprise as she saw Adrien get visibly mad.

“After that time she lied to get into my house, she got Nathalie and my bodyguard in trouble, and her actions resulted in Kagami getting akumatized. I told Lila that I would try and be a friend so long as she didn’t try hurting the people I loved but she just proved that she wasn’t willing to listen.” Adrien spoke with frustration. Marinette could see how hurt he felt.

Adrien took a calming breath before he continued speaking. “I know I said that we shouldn’t confront her because it won’t change her and only make it so she would be akumatized, but I was wrong. I need to be firm with Lila, and I am sorry I have been enabling her for this long.”

Marinette felt her emotional distress about Lila lighten as she heard his words. She had been quiet about Lila because he requested it. Aside from what happened with Kagami, Lila wasn’t really doing any harm that she was aware of, but she did think that Adrien was being naive in not confronting her.

“Its okay Adrien. It just that it was not the right way to go about it. You try and see the good in everyone and you wanted to give Lila a chance.  Your heart was in the right place and It is one of the reasons I lo-LIKE, one of the reasons why I like talking with you.” Marinette stumbled before recovering. She almost confessed that she was in love with him.

Adrien smiled at her sweetly.

“I appreciate that Marinette. Thank you.” 

“As for the list, I don’t think she can really do anything with it, unless she was on the list in some way… Was she?” Marinette asked nervously, using her concern to snap her out of the blushing state she was in.

“I didn’t see her on the list. And honestly I hope she never is on it. I also don’t know what she will do with it, but I do think she will use it to hurt someone.” Adrien answered. “ And I don’t want that someone to be you.”

Marinette felt like this boy might just keep her in a state of blushing as he said that. His last sentence smacking her heart.

“Okay. But what should we do?” Marinette inquired.

“Well first I want to make sure Nino and Alya know what is going on with Lila. They have been trusting her way and thats what caused this situation. That is something I wanted to talk with Nino about.” Adrien answered. “Then, I am going to confront Lila about all of this. She needs to know I won’t be enabling her any longer. She needs to come clean about everything.”

Marinette looked at Adrien with warmth in her eyes. His green eyes showing a fierce sense of justice and loyalty that made her heartbeat quicken. He was going to confront Lila, he had her back. 

His eyes are just like chat noir’s 

Marinette felt that thought sneak up on her out of nowhere, her mind flashing to chat noir for a moment and a blush creeping on her face.

Why am I thinking of that cat now of all times?

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“Nino if this is about playing super penguino during Lunch I can’t, Marinette has a date with Adrien and I gotta help her.” Alya mentioned.

“No this isn’t about that.” Nino responded “It’s about… wait Marinette has a date with Adrien? When did that happen?”

“Last night. He asked Marinette to go with him to a tv interview.” Alya answered.

“Oh wow, good for him. I guess seeing that compatibility test gave him that kick of confidence he needed. I gotta congratulate him later.” Nino spoke as he smiled.

“Yea, which is why I have to make sure to work with Mari to ensure many more dates after. Oh, so you saw Adrien’s List? Who is number two? Is it close to Marinette? I doubt it but it will be good to know for later.” 

Nino remembered why he wanted to talk with Alya out here.

“Crap, I almost forgot. Look, Adrien’s list got peeked on by someone that shouldn’t have seen it.” Nino explains, now his face more serious then before.

Alya’s mood shifted to a mix of curious and angry.

“What? Thats such an invasion of privacy. How did it happen? Who is the culprit?” Alya interrogated, her ‘Investigator mode’ had been flipped on.

“It was Lila.” Nino answered.

Alya’s expression softened.

“Oh, then things shouldn’t be so bad. At least it wasn’t someone like Chloé.  Lila was asking me yesterday if I knew who was on Marinette’s list, she wanted to help set her up with someone on the list. Lila probably was going to try and do the same for Adrien.” 

Nino rubbed his neck nervously.

“About that… If it was like a peek over his shoulder or something I wouldn’t call it a big deal. But the way she found out was kind of twisted.” Nino confessed.

The ladybloger tilted her head inquisitively.

“What did she do to find out?”

Nino explained how he had her watching Chris while he went out to buy his new headphones. 

“Which look very nice by the way. Its a sweet upgrade.” Alya complimented.

“Glad you like them. I almost went for the previous model but these ones… Anyway point being she asked to use my phone while hers was charging.”

“Makes sense, I have used your phone to message my mom before.” Alya responded, not understanding what the Dj is throwing down.

“While I wasn’t looking, Lila pretended to be me and tricked Adrien into sending a photo of the list to my phone. Then she deleted the conversation.”

Alya blinked.

“Wait she did what now?”

“She deceived Adrien to get his list, she used my friendship with Adrien to get that list. Lila maybe doing this so she could set Adrien up with someone on the list, but the way she got that information is giving me some real bad vibes. I wouldn’t have even known if Adrien didn’t show me proof of the text exchange.” Nino summarized.

Alya processed what Nino had told her. She started thinking about everything Marinette had been saying about the Lila, the that photo of her kissing Adrien’s cheek. It felt like there was a connection.

“You don’t think…”

“Adrien wasn’t exactly thrilled when I told him Lila knew. He was actually uncharacteristically mad about it. It was weird.” Nino answered.

Alya crossed her arms, there was a lot of evidence pointing at Lila, but she needed to confirm this for sure. The expression is ‘innocent until proven guilty’. This could all be one massive misunderstanding with Lila just having different concepts of privacy and personal space that just need a quick correction. The blogger has been burned enough times to know not to jump the gun as quickly as she had in the past, like the incident when she thought Chloé was Ladybug. A good reporter confirms her sources, she needed to confirm this about Lila. If the evidence was right, then Alya owed Marinette several apologies for doubting her, and she owed Lila a tongue lashing.

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“Yea Mom I will be sure to drink plenty of fluids. Yes, I have the doctor’s number in case something should happen. Okay. Love you too.” Lila concluded her call with her mother.

She had decided to stay home after her exchange with Mr.Agreste. Her mother was out on business so acting sick was an easy way to get out of class. She was panicking. She had thought she was playing this right, but this only made things worse.

All because she was rattled by that stupid list. 100%, 100 fucking percent!! She needed to calm down. She was making rash actions. She just needed to calm down.

She told Mr. Agreste about the list, but he did not seem as bothered by it as she wanted him to be, he looked more interested then furious. She was so uncertain of if the fashion mogul would even do anything with that information.

Marinette was never a threat to her before. Marinette had tried calling her out before and Lila was able to easily sidestep her attempts. Lila made sure the brat knew her place, but she would occasionally find Marinette snooping on her, not that it ever matter. But now with this, Marinette had the advantage and Lila could not accept that

She needed to be more cunning, find a way to cast doubt in Marinette and Adrien’s minds about this app. She should turn the whole school against the app. She should force Marinette to fill out her quiz and make it so she is on the list.

Lila paused. That last one was an good idea. She would have Marinette fill out her quiz. If Marinette did it, then She was on equal playing ground with her and then she could easily mop the floor with her. If Marinette refused, she had the perfect means of blackmail, she had Adrien’s List. One word and she can spread it across the internet. She could have Adrien’s fans knocking at Marinette’s doorstep and tearing her apart. Everything seemed so much clearer now.

Lila smiled sinisterly as she thought of that. Yes, this is what she was going to do. Tomorrow is a new day and she was going to be back on track.

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Part 7 is finished I am loving all of this awesome feedback and you guys keep me inspired to keep writing this. Things are gonna go down I have plans for the next few parts and I am kind of excited so long as everyone is interested.

Please Keep up that amazing feedback. I love seeing those notes and comments, It really feeds my impulsive need to write. 

Oh also, People are asking to get tagged. So if you want me to tag you. Just Reblog this part and I will ensure you are tagged in the next part