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I
A few cords played around the Kitty-Section practice area.
Marinette looked over Liv’s shoulder and looked in the notebook she was writing in.
She whistled slightly “Has anyone ever told you, you should be a poet?”
Liv chuckled and smiled “A few people have. My bro mostly. The key is to write from the heart.”
“But that’s so hard,” Mari pouted “And you write so well.”
“I guess it’s a pro from my chronic honesty,” Liv shrugged.
Mari shrugged back “I guess so. Unrelated point, do you still not want to join Kitty-Section?”
Liv nodded with no hesitation “I have nothing against Kitty-Section but I’m already in a band and I’d like to remain loyal to them. Also, I am 2 years younger than everyone.”
“Hey, guuuuuuys!”
Liv cringed slightly at the sudden high-pitched screeching “What the-?”
Marinette sighed “Lila.”
“Lier?”
“No. Lila.”
Luka plucked at his guitar and nodded in Lila’s direction. Rose waved from behind Julika (who was sitting on the floor having her hair braided). Alya also waved but didn’t take her eyes off her phone (probably writing another story about Mari and Adrian). Everyone waved apart from Liv and Marinette which didn’t go unnoticed.
Mari earned an elbow from Alya “Girl, do you wanna make things worse?”
Marinette mentally groaned and waved causing Liv to look in between the ‘BFFs’ on her left side gradually gaining a more confused face as time went on. I say time but it was like 6 seconds.
“You must be Liv,” Lila slyly smiled “Marinette’s American PenPal. We’ve heard all about you.”
Liv turned her head like a curious puppy “You have?”
But Lila completely ignored her question and grabbed her shoulders (a huge no go for Liv) “I used to have a PenPal in Japan and now I used to visit him every chance I could and now we’re even dating,” Lila started shedding a few tears “I’m so glad Marinette has a good Pen Pal!”
“Ummmm ok,” Liv started crunching the pencil in her hand “Let go of me please.”
Lila started crying full-on crocodile tears “I’M SO SORRY! My impulsive actions must’ve taken over!”
Liv turned her head again “Impulsive actions? What are you-?”
“OF COURSE MARINETTE NEVER TOLD YOU, SHE’S TWISTED YOUR MIND!”
“Lila,” Liv spoke with a completely calm voice with little to no tone “Why would the person who took me in, and before that gave me free food, try to twist my mind? Some people may see Netty not telling me as a good thing too. Many people with invisible disabilities try to hide them. I am honestly sorry if I’m assuming here though.”
Lila went blank. Like completely blank. That was before she slyly smirked and whispered “I see what you’re doing Olivia. You may be new here but you won’t be getting any slack from me.”
After a few awkward seconds, Lila took a step back and silently walked over to Rose and Julika.
SNAP!
“Netty?”
Marinette looked to her right “Yeah Liv?”
“Do you have a pencil I can borrow? I think I just snapped mine.”
II
Marinette had just left the park to grab something from her bedroom leaving Liv, OctoCat and Tiki beside the bakery with the rest of the group. Liv had almost completely zoned out of Lila’s BS spitting until she mentioned Fury.
“Fury visited me last night,” Lila could only be described as drunk on fake romance “He is so romantic.”
Liv used her jumper to muffle her quiet laughter. Fury and the word romantic together in a sentence? She had to be in a parole universe for someone other than Carla to say that. WAIT WHY WAS THIS VENOM-SPITTING LIAR TALKING ABOUT ANDY?! Liv was now hanging on to every word.
Alya seemed to be too “Your boyfriend is awesome.”
Liv almost stood up before OctoCat and Tiki secretly pulled her back down on the bench before OctoCat jumped back into Liv’s bag. “Boyfriend?! I thought she was dating her Pen Pal!”
“She doesn’t even have a Pen Pal,” Tiki spoke from under Liv’s jacket “Each class at school only has one Pen Pal and that’s you! That’s how the program works.”
“Then why did everyone else believe it? You know what, I’m tired of this,” Liv stood up.
Tiki shook her head “No!”
Liv grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder most likely scaring OctoCat to death if he wasn’t a ghost “That girl is using my brother’s name as her boyfriend’s name. He’s literally only dated 2 people. Carla and some girl before we moved.”
OctoCat wrapped 4 of its limbs around Liv’s arms either trying to pull her back or stop her from decking Lila halfway across Paris. Why? Only a few things in life set Liv on a mental murderous rampage and the top things just happened to be injustice and injustice to her family or team… oh and littering definitely littering. This girl just committed two of those things… Great, Lila just dropped a packet of crisps. No one could stop Liv now not even the Great Ghost King himself. As Liv approached the rest of the gang everyone had one question in their heads. ‘WHY DO I HEAR BOSS MUSIC?!’. Liv was standing on the edge of the group as Lila hawked about some environmental cleaning movement she was forming (wow how ironic).
Liv stood behind Lila “Hey Lila…”
Lila almost jumped out of her skin as she turned around “Oh hey Olivia. I didn’t see you. How are you?”
“Perfectly fine, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Lila nodded “Well of course, I always wanna make friends!” you could practically see the venom in her voice.
Liv walked them both outside but in view of the Bakery.
She sharply inhaled as OctoCat pressed a paw/tentacle agent her back and Tiki tried to hug her “Oh Lila, do you know why I wanna talk to you?”
“You finally want to admit I was right about Marinette,” Lila crossed her arms “Obviously.”
“Look,” Liv rubbed the bridge of her nose slowly exhaling “I wanna give you an opportunity to admit and apologise for your actions so here it is. You can go to Alya and the others to admit and apologise about your lies right now; don’t even try to forget about LB, Mari and the GhostForce. OR I can tell them. Your choice Liar.”
“It’s Lila,” Lila placed a hand on her hip “And I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Liv clenched both of her fists and mumbled “Having Andy or Mike here would really be helpful,” she sighed and looked up.
Lila almost had to take a double take from the look in Liv’s sea-blue eyes. Sheer anger and…disappointment? Was that a hint of butyral too? She didn’t even know this girl and yet she was almost scared maybe terrified. ‘Why was she scared of a twelve-year-old?’ you may ask. Sure, Lila had a couple of inches and years above Liv but she was built like a twig while Liv had body strength to spare. If push came to shove history in 50 years would be laughing at her. Although, it would be easier to pin something ticking time bomb of anger. Liv shoved one of her fists into her shorts’ pocket and wrapped her fingers around OctoCat’s BooCap.
“I really don’t want to tell them Lilar,” Liv could hear Lila mutter ‘It’s Lila’ “But I will if you don’t. I’m not scared of you like Netty.”
Liv didn’t stop “As someone who can’t help but be honest about what they’re thinking I’m disgusted that you would use that as an excuse. Did you forget that Marinette has access to school records? And that those records include medical records? And as a step-in deputy representative, I also have partial access. Or do you also have non-existent memory loss?”
Lila scoffed “Well I don’t see your medical records.”
“Mine are in NYC but I also have a copy at Mari’s house to explain certain stuff.”
Lila scoffed again but shortly gained her iconic smirk. She slowly sat down and raised her arms to protect her face. She then screamed. Alya and the rest of the class came running to the sidewalk.
Alya knelt down and placed a hand on Lila’s shoulder “What happened?! Are you ok?!”
Lila was already crying crocodile tears “LiV pUsHeD mE!”
“What? I didn’t-,” Alya cut Liv off.
Alya stood up “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!”
Liv raised her hands in defence but was noticeably twitching “I didn’t do anything.”
“You did essentially drag her out here,” Kim spoke up from behind Liv.
Max pushed his glasses up his nose “Why else would you do that?”
More was said but it all merged into one loud cluster of voices so load Liv just wanted to run.
Liv felt someone tap her hand as a familiar calm voice spoke beside her “What’s going on?” She smiled at seeing Marinette (better known as Liv’s sanity keeper).
“OLIVIA PUSHED LILA!” Alya yelled.
Mari lightly held Liv’s hand and scowled “Liv didn’t even touch her!”
“How would you know?”
Mari stepped forward pushing herself between Liv and Alya “I was in the bakery the whole time and it's just over the road! I saw the whole thing!”
“WHY WOULD WE BELIEVE YOU,” Lila yelled making Liv cover her ears “YOU LIE ABOUT ME ALL THE TIME!”
“You know what we’re just gonna leave,” Mari turned “We have better things to do.”
Mari saw Liv still covering her ears while shaking slightly. They had to get out of there.
“Don’t turn your back on me!” Lila yelled again standing up.
“You already turned your back on me.”
III
Myst rested her head on Fury’s shoulder as Ladybug explained everything. The new team of five sat on the Eifel Tower as the newly found night covered them. Fury struggled to contain his rage as he wrapped an arm gently yet protectively around his sister. He knew Liv had her moments with ‘enemies’ but even Drake would stop when she started to get overwhelmed (he even helped with an overload when Andy and Mike weren’t there). Lila had a death wish blaming his sister (he wasn’t even that bothered about Lila calling him her boyfriend) and now she had another problem coming her way. An angry Andy out for blood.
“Maybe Lila didn’t realise what she was doing?” Cat Noir scratched at his collarbone.
Fury would’ve yelled if Myst wasn’t almost asleep “She must’ve been blind not to realise.”
Ladybug face palmed “Don’t you two start arguing again. You don’t have time for that.”
Krush nodded “She has a point. We have to get back soon.”
Fury groaned “Fine…But we need to do something about that girl.”
“Hurting a villain won’t do anything,” Cat Noir almost yelled “It just makes you a villain.”
“With all due respect Cat Noir,” Krush held up a hand as he spoke “If that was how the world worked, then why would prison exist? It’s made to punish criminals.”
Something seemed to click in the black cat’s head and he started biting his lip. He looked up for a second “So, is Myst Ok? She seems tired.”
Ladybug shared a second of eye contact with Fury and Krush trying to figure out what to say.
Fury grabbed onto Myst again “She’s a bit overwhelmed by everything right now but she didn’t want to miss our last patrol.”
Krush nodded “Even if she’s hurt or sick she wouldn’t miss a mission no matter what.”
“That’s admirable,” Cat Noir replied with a small smile “and slightly concerning.”
“You can say that again,” Ladybug agreed.
“That’s who she is, admirable and concerning,” Fury echoed “So, what’s the patrol plan tonight?”
Fury, Myst and Krush landed in an alley sighing as they detransformed. (Now) Andy let (now) Liv down off his back. The girl hadn’t spoken the whole time and instead used gestures very sparingly. Andy even ended up carrying her for a while.
Mike scanned the area “I think we’re good to wait here while the medallions charge.”
“How are we going to charge them? We have the converters but no electricity,” Andy replied as he yawned.
“I’m glad you asked Andy,” Mike smirked as he pushed his glasses up his nose and pointed over his shoulder “There’s a library just over the road where we can charge up. Plus, it’s bound to be quiet.”
Liv sadly smiled and nodded with Andy giving a thumbs up.
Liv had almost fallen asleep again on Andy’s shoulder at the table they grabbed as Mike read a game prequel book. Despite reading it in French, Mike could completely understand the twists and turns. Andy was also reading a book but it was a comic book recommendation from Liv and a surprisingly good one at that (‘InvestiGators’ if you were curious and it is really good).
“Andy, can you please pass me my headphones?” Liv asked as she tried to sit up.
Andy nodded “Sure Liv.”
Andy reached into the bag beside his chair and pulled out the black and dark purple cat headphones Liv always brought everywhere. They didn’t have the actual stereo jack attached though.
Andy passed them to Liv “They’re charged right?”
Liv nodded as she pulled the headphones around her head leaving one side off.
Andy picked up his book again “I still don’t know why you still use those ones. They’re like 3 years old now.”
“You bought them for me so, of course, I’m gonna use them.”
Lila thought she had gotten rid of that Liv but seeing her sitting calmly in a night library lit her ticking time bomb. She and the others (minus Adrian and Marinette) were sitting doing some late-night studying at a semi-circle table unlike their smaller rectangle one. Lila stood up.
“I’m gonna go and make up with Liv, I’m sure it was just an accident earlier.”
Alya shot up and yelled “NO! She straight up pushed up, there’s nothing to make up.”
Andy looked up at the sudden yelling with a frown on his face. He was just about to find out (SPOILERS BTW) what happened to Brash’s old partner. Couldn’t someone yell at another time? His frown soon turned into a scowl when he saw who it was. The Liar and the worst friend.
“Hey,” Mike calmly spoke without looking up “This is a library, no need to yell.”
Andy side-eyed them with what he hoped was a look of pure anger.
“Oh sorry,” Lila faked apologetically raising her eyebrows “I was just coming over to speak with my friend.”
Andy and Mike both shared eye contact before glancing at Liv who was completely zoned into whatever was on her phone (thank Hades those headphones were soundproof). They both looked back up to see Lila standing beside their table.
Andy grabbed Liv’s hand (for what felt like the eleventh time that night) who lent into his shoulder still not seeing the threat beside them “Liv isn’t your friend. She wanted to be but not after what you pulled.”
Lila took a quick glance behind her to see Alya… recording? Looks like she played them well.
She slyly smiled at the boys “No we’re friends we just had a falling out due to her…tendencies.”
The anger at the table was clear. Liv’s ‘tendencies’ weren’t her fault. Andy gripped Liv’s hand harder.
“Bro…you’re breaking my hand,” Andy instantly let go of his sister’s hand.
“Sorry sis,” he said despite knowing she wouldn’t hear it.
Lila started oohing and awing (she even added a fake awwww for goodness sake) “You’re siblings? It’s so cute how much you care for your sister Adrien.”
“It’s Andy…”
“Whatever.”
Mike sighed snap closing the book in his hands catching everyone off guard “Just. Leave. Us. Alone. Please.”
Liv started taking one side of her earphones off “Hey, do you think the-?” she cut herself off when she looked up.
Lila’s smile flickered “Nice of you to join the conversation Liv!”
Liv groaned taking the other side of her headphones off. She already knew this wasn’t going to end well. Liv looked behind Lila and smiled slightly.
The boys gave her a confused look while Lila scowled “What are you smiling about?!”
Liv pointed behind Lila “The librarian.”
Lila turned around to meet a completely neutral face. The man had dark skin and long blond hair that most likely reached his hips when it wasn’t tied up in a loose bun held together by a pencil.
He crossed his arms “So you were the one yelling. And now you’re harassing these people.”
“What no?! They were harassing me!” Lila practically screeched.
“Yeah well that’s not how I saw it,” the librarian pushed his fringe behind one of his ears “These young lads were reading away while the young girl was quietly keeping to herself,” he turned to the hidden heroes “Sorry if I’m assuming your genders here.”
Andy and Mike nodded “No problem.”
Liv gave him a thumbs up “No worries.”
The librarian turned back to Lila “You came over here after I heard some yelling. I could always ask you to check your friend’s camera if you stick with these harassment claims. Harassment is not tolerated here.”
“To be honest you were kinda harassing us Liar,” Liv remarked while putting her headphones around her neck.
“What?” Everyone said in unison.
Liv scratched at her jacket “I forgot to turn on the soundproof setting on these,” Liv pointed to her headphones “And I also heard Mike ask you to leave us alone. AND I also know it’s clear when Andy gets so angry he could explode.”
“So now we’re asking again. Please leave us alone,” Liv finished.
Andy smiled slightly as he grabbed her hand again and mumbled “That’s my sister.”
Mike also smiled and looked towards the librarian “If it’s no problem, we’d like to leave.”
The librarian nodded towards them before trying to turn to Lila…who wasn’t there.
He sighed and mumbled, “Teens will be the death of me.”