Chapter 27: At LeBlanc

(Marinette's pov)

After school, my friends and I met up outside the subway station. For some reason, Yusuke had some luggage with him.

"Comments are coming in at an alarming rate. However, negative ones seem to be more prominent..." Yusuke said. I sighed at that. It was true... haters seem to be everywhere on the site.

"'A criminal group with unknown goals that does whatever it wants in the name of justice,' huh..." Yusuke read.

"Don't let it get to you... they are just parroting what Akechi said on T.V..." I said.

"Yeah, figured... T.V has crazy sway over people..." Ryuji said.

"He's free to deny our actions, but being cursed by his influence is something else entirely..." Yusuke continued.

"Just when we were getting people to believe in us too..." Ann said. Another sigh left me.

"If you ask me, we are going to have to ignore the people who spew the negative criticism. We know we're doing the right thing. Let's not focus on the hate, okay?" I told my friends.

"Mari-san is right. We just gotta take down another hot-shot!" Ryuji said.

"... Well, do you have any ideas who this hot-shot might be?" Yusuke asked. Ryuji responded in the negative.

"I'm sure we can find something. There are tons of corrupt politicians and businessmen who need a change of heart." I said. I looked at Akira, remembering the story of his probation he told me.

"Anyway, Yusuke-kun, why do you have luggage with you?" I asked my tall friend.

"Oh, I decided to leave the school dorms. They were not only filthy but too noisy as well... no true art could come from such a place." Yusuke explained.

"Really? Where are you gonna go?" I asked, concerned for my friend.

"Yeah, you can't go back to that shack, can you?" Ryuji asked.

"I was hoping to stay at Takamaki-san's- I mean, Ann's house," Yusuke said. An angry buzzing was heard from Ann's bag as soon as he said that.

"Erm... I don't think that is a good idea... considering Pollen's 'Opinion' on you, Yusuke-kun..." I said. Yes... Pollen never let go of her small grudge against Yusuke. She is always wary of him ever since the Madarame incident. Trixx then popped their head out of Yusuke's luggage.

"I told you it was a bad idea, Yusuke." Trixx sighed.

"Impossible..." Yusuke said dramatically. I sighed at my friends' antics.

"Yusuke-kun, you can stay at my place. I have room for-" I started, but Akira cut me off.

"Yusuke will stay with me. I think it would be better if he stays with another boy." He said. What was that expression on his face? Was that... jealousy?

"Don't you live in a cafe? Will you have enough room?" I asked.

"It's dirty, but he'll have somewhere to sleep," Morgana said.

"Are we gonna have another roommate?" Plagg said, poking his head out of Akira's jacket.

"It appears so..." Akira answered, pushing Plagg back into his jacket.

"It's in Yogen, right? It's not that far..." Ann said.

"It's only a minute away from the train station, as a matter of fact!" Morgana said proudly.

"Okay, let's go right now!" I said.

(Time skip! Brought to you by Author-chan not knowing what she's doing!)

"Ah! So bitter! Blech! This has gotta be cruel and unusual punishment!" Ryuji spluttered after taking a sip of black coffee. I giggled at that. We were at the café called; LeBlanc. The same café Akira was staying at.

I looked down at my coffee... it was black and bitter (according to Ryuji). I reached over and grabbed some cream and sugar... I poured some in and took a sip... it was tasty.

"How can you drink that?!" Ryuji asked me.

"I put in some cream and sugar!" I said, sliding some over to him. We continued to talk and chat with each other. Eventually, we went to see Akira's room. Somehow, the conversation went back to the Fansite.

"Even those who previously believed in us have been influenced by the comments made on T.V..." Yusuke said, looking at his phone.

"It's all that effin' Akechi's fault!" Ryuji raged.

"Ryuji-kun, calm down. Like I said earlier, we have to ignore the hate and focus on our job..." I told him from my seat next to Ann.

"Agreed, but we need to make our rightfulness to society. Akira, do you have any idea?" Morgana asked him.

"News surfing?" He suggested.

"There are options..." I muttered.

"But those from the news are already being pursued... if we make them confess their crimes... the police would take the credit. That won't do..." Yusuke said.

"Oh, dear..." I sighed. We continued to talk, then Yusuke's stomach started to growl. Apparently, he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday.

"Mon Dieu! Yusuke-kun, why didn't you say anything!?" I asked, jumping to my feet, exasperated. This guy does not know how to conserve money for food!

"You know what? Drop everything! We are making food for the entire group right now!" I declared.

"What? Right now?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes! I won't have my friends go hungry because they can't make decent money!" I said.

"How about a hot-pot?" Ann suggested.

"Hmm... What do you think, Akira?" Morgana asked.

"We'll finish it with udon!" Akira said.

"What?" Yusuke said.

"No back-talk, mister! You have no money for food, and we want to eat!" I told him.

"Yeah! We'll go buy some ingredients." Ryuji said.

"Great! Here, let me get some-" I started, reaching into my purse to grab some money.

"There won't be any need for that, Mari-chan. We'll split the cost later, okay?" Ann said, putting a hand over my purse. I sighed but agreed. She, Ryuji, and Yusuke went out to get ingredients while Akira and I searched for a pot and some utensils.

As Akira was searching the back, I started a conversation with Sojiro, the guy who owned LeBlanc.

"So, you took Akira-kun in?" I asked.

"That's right. I'm an old friend of his parents." Sojiro responded.

"Hmm... did you have apprehensions when taking him in?" I asked.

"The kid has a criminal record, but he isn't that bad..." Sojiro said.

"If only you knew the truth..." I thought.

"What about you? What drew you to the kid?" Sojiro asked.

"I kept hearing rumors about him. After some bad experiences, I decided to see if those rumors were true. So, I started to talk to him. I like to think that there is good in everyone, deep down..." I answered.

"I see... you're a kind girl..." Sojiro commented. I smiled at that. Akira then came out of the back, holding a large ceramic pot.

"Awesome! That'll work, right?" I said. I hope he didn't hear what I said. I felt so happy, but... why do I feel like there is something I'm missing?

(A/N: Chapter: completed! I hope you enjoyed this (especially wholesome Marinette)!)