Chapter 32: Chapter 31: What is done, is done...
(Marinette's pov)
"What can we do?" I muttered. My fellow Phantom Thieves and I were at the hideout discussing it through.
"Can you whip up something that can get us up to the Palace, Mari-san?" Ann asked.
"I know there is a power-up type thing that can give a Miraculous holder the ability to fly..." I started, my friends looked hopeful.
"But, the ingredients will be a pain to get a hold of, and by the time I make it, we'll be out of time..." I sighed. Everyone deflated at that.
"If only we could contact the real Kaneshiro..." Yusuke sighed. Makoto then walked up to us out of nowhere.
"What do you want?" Ann asked bluntly.
"Nothing in particular. I just saw you all together here." Makoto said.
"Is that so?" Ryuji said. I was not a fan of my friends' attitude, but they had a right to act like that...
"You seem to be having a bit of trouble," Makoto said.
"So you're here to check up on us?" Ann began. Oh, no... she was about to go off...
"M-Makoto-senpai, we just ran into an unexpected road bump, don't worry!" I said, trying to calm the situation.
"True enough, Mari-san..." Ann said to me. But, she then turned back to Makoto. Oh, no...
"Look, you may be the student council president, but when it comes to what we do, you're useless!" Ann said.
"Useless?" Makoto said, looking hurt. Oh my, god!
"Ann!" I scolded.
"What?! It's true!" Ann shot back.
"I agree with Ann. She is rather useless..." Yusuke said.
"You-! Arg!! It may be true, but you can't just say that to someone!" I scolded them. I then turned to Makoto, hoping to recover from what my friends just said.
"Makoto-senpai, you may be useless when it comes to our job, but you aren't a useless person!" I told her.
"Don't bother, Mari-san. Let Makoto stay on her high horse. Maybe she can eavesdrop on us since she is so good at that!" Ann said. I swear to everything good on this earth! I love Ann as a friend, but I want to strangle her right now! Makoto let out a shaky sigh.
"So you wish to get contact with Kaneshiro," Ske said, looking serious. I don't like the look on her face.
"That is what you were discussing, weren't you? It seemed you needed to find out where he is." She continued.
"Something like that..." Akira said.
"Hey, you don't gotta answer her honestly!" Ryuji said.
"Fine. I'll help you meet Kaneshiro." Makoto said, walking off.
"Oh, no! Makoto-senpai!" I said, trying to go after her. Akira put his hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
"What is she planning on doing?" Yusuke said.
"Ack! You guys shouldn't have told her all those things!" I scolded my fellow Phantom Thieves.
"It was true!" Ann said.
"It may be correct, but you have no right to say that to someone! You never know what could be going on in their lives! I hope that she doesn't do anything stupid because of what you guys said!" I told them.
"What's done is done, Mari-san," Akira said, squeezing my shoulder gently.
"Makoto is smart. She won't do anything risky... I hope..." He said.
"You're right, Akira-kun... She won't do anything bad... Probably..." I said.
"Also, you can let go of my shoulder now..." I muttered. Akira let go and mumbled an apology with pink cheeks.
"You two are so obvious..." Morgana sighed from Akira's bag.
"About what, cat?" I asked him.
"I'm not a- Oh! Nevermind!" Morgana sighed, retreating back into Akira's bag.
"In any case, we need to follow her!" I said. My friends nodded, and we began to chase.
(Time skip! Brought to you by Genshin Impact! Help, I'm addicted!)
I wanted to start a brawl... my friends and I were in an underground lounge-like place. A man was holding Makoto down. Another man, who I assumed was Kaneshiro, was sitting on a stuffed couch with a pretty-looking woman.
"Let her go!" I yell.
"Oh~ I get it..." Kaneshiro mused. He then opened the case on the table in front of him. He asked the lady next to him about the cost of a bag. The woman answered three million yen. Kaneshiro then pulled out three hundred ten thousand yen banknotes. He gave the banknotes to the excited woman who happily took the money. I wondered what was up with that, but then he basically said:
"You kids are gonna give me three million yen!"
I glanced at Akira. I gave him a look that said:
"Can I please go ape-sh*t on this man?"
Akira shook his head, and I let out a frustrated sigh. He was right... getting into a fight will only make things worse. Kaneshiro then snapped a picture of my friends and me with the alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs on the table in the shot. I shot Akira another glance, letting him know that my offer still stood. Akira shook his head again.
Kaneshiro then told my friends and me that we had three weeks to give him three million yen, or he would show everyone the photos. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Akira was fingering the black cat Miraculous. It was clear he wanted to release Plagg's furry on Kaneshiro.
When we finally got out of there with Makoto, she apologized.
"I am so sorry..." Makoto said with a broken voice.
"Makoto, what on earth possessed you to do that?!" I scolded.
"I know... it was stupid... I just wanted to help..." She said.
"My sister has a commendable job, and she's a much more remarkable person than me... A lot happened after we lost our father three years ago, so it's just us living together. But I'm still a child, so all I am is a burden to her..." Makoto said. I just looked at her, feeling sorry...
"Makoto..." I said. I walked up to her, opening my arms.
"Cheng-san, what are you-" Makoto started, but I cut her off with a hug. She froze for a moment before melting into the hug, sobbing a little.
"Makoto, you are not useless. What happened in your past was not your fault. You just want to help, and I can understand that!" I told her, rubbing her back soothingly.
"T-thank you, Cheng-san..." Makoto muttered.
"Call me Mari-san, okay?" I said, releasing Makoto from my hug.
"Okay, Mari-san..." Makoto said.
"Good, let's get back to business!" I said, turning to my friends. We have three weeks to do this... let's begin!
Weekly Power Status
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