Chapter 13: How Artful~

(A/N: Who wants to see Marinette protecting her friends?!)

(Marinette's pov)

The day after I gave Ann and Ryuji their Miraculous was the last day of midterms! I joined my friends in the subway on the way to school, when something odd happened. We were waiting for our train, Ryuji and Morgana were arguing like always (why do they do that?). Ann told them to be quiet when she suddenly stopped midsentence and looked around nervously.

"Is something wrong, Ann-chan?" I asked her.

"No, it's nothing..." Ann responded. I was concerned, so I kept an eye out as well. On the train, Ann looked jumpy. She kept touching the bee Miraculous in her hair and looking around.

When we got off the train, Ann looked around, a hand over the Miraculous in her hair. We got on the escalator, and Ann looked over her shoulder.

"Oh, my God! That guy got off!" She gasped. I whipped my head around at her words.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Isn't this bad?!" Ann asked Akira. Ryuji yawned, and Ann looked annoyed with him.

"Hey! At least act like you care!" Ann scolded.

"Fine... come on..." Ryuji said, walking up the escalator. We followed him, and he got us in position to ambush this possible weirdo! Ann and I stood outside the subway entrance, while Akira and Ryuji stood out of sight to come in if necessary. Sure enough, I heard footsteps behind Ann and me. It took a lot in me to not whip around and yell and the guy behind us. When the footsteps got too close, Ann and I turned around. Akira and Ryuji stood between us and... a tall highschool guy?

After a few moments, Ryuji looked at Ann and said:

"Hey, uh... are you sure that's him? Or are you that self-conscious?" Ann gave him a dirty look.

"Is there something you want?" The guy said.

"That's my line! You were the one stalking me!" Ann demanded, pointing her finger at him. I sighed and stepped in.

"Stalking is a strong word, I think 'following' is a better term. But, I have to agree, why are you following my friend?" I ask him.

"Well..." He started, but a car horn cut him off. A black car pulled up to where we were standing. The back window was lowered to reveal a smiling old man.

"My goodness... I had wondered why you left the car." the old man said.

"So, this is where your passion led. All is well that is ends well." The old man laughed. I was so confused...

"I saw you from the car... and I couldn't help myself from chasing after you." The guy in front of us said. That isn't creepy at all! I thought to myself. After some more talking, he told us that he wanted to paint Ann. He stepped closer to Ann, saying something about passion. I was about to step in, but Ryuji beat me to it. He told the guy to hold his horses and asked who he was. The guy then introduced himself as Yusuke Kitagawa. After more talking, he informed us that the old man in the car was his sensei, Ichiryusai Madarame. Before getting in the car with Madarame, he gave us tickets to the art exhibition Madarame was in. The art exhibition was the next day. After he drove off, Ryuji asked Ann if he was really going. Ann said she was, and then she ran off because oh yeah, we still have school! I ran after her, and the boys followed.

At the end of the day, the exams were finally over!

"It's over!" Ann yawned.

"It's over..." Ryuji repeated sleepily.

"We're free! Yay!" I said weakly.

"I'm feeling confidant that I did well," Akira said.

"Glad to hear that," I said with a smile. We talked a bit more, and Ann said she had some spare tickets, so we decided to go with her to the art exhibit!

(Time skip! Brought to you by the Phan-site!)

When we arrived at the art exhibit, Yusuke was waiting for us. He offered to show Ann around while leaving Akira, Ryuji, and me behind. Rude, but, whatever! I wandered around, looking at the art that was all around me. To be frank, I was amazed at all of the art around me. They were all so unique and different, it was hard to believe that they were all created by one man. That thought set of warning bells in my head. I was an artist myself, in my own way. These works must have taken a long time to paint, and Madarame looked way too old to have that much time or energy. Then I noticed Ryuji leaning against a wall. He looked troubled, and Akira wasn't with him. I walked over to him.

"Hey, Ryuji-kun! Is something wrong?" I asked him.

"Oh, hey, Mari-san," Ryuji responded.

"It's nothing... just... thinking about a few things,"

"Care to share?" I asked.

"If you want to, that is..." I added nervously.

"Well... It's just that I've known Ann for years, but she's always with other guys. And it just... bothers me so much! Like this, Yusuke guy! I don't know what's going on in his head, but Ann shouldn't have anything to do with it!" He told me. I thought about what he said, trying to figure it out. Then, it came to me.

"So... What you're saying is... that you have a crush on her?" I ask.

"W-w-what!? How- huh?!" My blonde male friend spluttered.

"Where did that come from?!" He asked.

"It's just a theory based on what you told me," I said.

"And I can't blame you for it. Ann is quite attractive." I added.

Ryuji tried to make coherent sentences but failed miserably.

"Ryuji-kun, take my advice. You might want to confess before she's taken by someone else." I said, walking away. It was some tough love, but he needs it. I probably need to take my own advice with Akira, but I'll cross that bridge when it comes. Besides, Akira deserves someone better than me. He deserves someone honest and pretty, not a girl who faked her own suicide to get away from a few bullies who were ruining her life. I then spotted Akira and walked up to him. I looked in the same direction he was looking and noticed Madarame talking to a reporter. Ryuji then joined us. We overheard that Madarame lives in a shack, which was strange. I wondered if Yusuke lived with him before being trampled by Madarame's fans. We left after that, but we left Ann behind.

We met at our new hideout to talk.

"That old lady totally elbowed me..." Ryuji groaned, sitting on the floor.

"did it leave a bruise?" I asked.

"I think I'm good. But, thanks to that, I remember now." Ryuji answered.

"About what?" Akira asked.

"It was a post online, hold on," Ryuji said, scrolling through his phone.

"Here, look at this." He said, showing his phone to Akira and me. Just then, Ann walked up to us.

"Why did you guys leave me behind!?" She said, upset.

"We're sorry, Ann-chan! We were getting trampled by the crowd, and we needed to get out!" I apologized.

"Just look at this!" Ryuji said, holding up his phone to us.

"This post might be about Madarame." He continued. That statement caught our attention.

"Well, let's hear it!" I said.

"'A master of the Japanese arts is plagiarizing his pupil's work. Only his public face is shown on tv.'" Ryuji read aloud.

"Plagiarizing?!" Ann exclaimed.

"I didn't think much on it at the time, but hearing 'Madarame' and 'Shack' triggered it," Ryuji said. He finished reading the post to us. When he finished, I was in shock.

"Abuse on top of plagiarism, hm," Morgana said.

"Well, that's messed up," I said. We continued to talk it over some more Ann told us that Yusuke gave her his contact info.

"That's good, let's go over there tomorrow," I suggested.

"What!? You want me to model tomorrow?! This is too sudden!" Ann said.

"Relax, Ann-chan. We are only gonna talk to him." I reassured her. Ann calmed down at that statement.

(The next day...)

After school, my friends and I went to Yusuke's residence to investigate Madarame. When we got there, I thought we must have gone the wrong way. From the looks on my friends' faces, they thought so too.

"Is... that it?" Ryuji asked.

"We went the right way... right?" I asked.

"This is the right address," Ann said, looking unsure herself. I looked at the door plate.

"The door plate says Madarame, this must be the right place," I said.

"Uh... you ring the bell," Ryuji said to Ann.

"Me?! The walls won't collapse when I do, will they?" Ann asked nervously.

"Nobody sneeze, or we'll blow the house down, okay?" Morgana said.

"I think we'll be fine," I said, walking up to the door.

Ann walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. I noticed that it was a speaker doorbell, similar to Kagami's doorbell back in Paris.

"Who is it?" Yusuke's voice said through the speaker.

"Sensei is currently-" He started, but Ann cut him off.

"Um... it's Takamaki."

"I'll be right out!" Yusuke said.

"People really do live here..." Ryuji muttered. The door opened to reveal Yusuke with an excited expression on his face.

"Takamaki-sa-..." He started, but then he saw the rest of us.

"You came too?" He said in an annoyed voice. Rude, I thought.

"Hello to you too, Yusuke-kun," I said in a semi-sweet voice.

"We're not here for that modeling thing, we want to ask something we've been curious about." I continued. I nodded to Ryuji to take the lead. He then asked about the plagiarism and abuse we read about.

"Are you serious?" Yusuke asked with an annoyed expression.

"We've read about it online," Ryuji said, pulling up the post on his phone and showing Yusuke.

"This...?" Yusuke asked. He then started to laugh like a maniac, which caused me to hide behind Akira in surprise.

"Are you okay, Yusuke-kun?" I asked with concern from my hiding place behind my black-haired friend.

"I am perfectly fine. This is preposterous! Not only is the plagiarism impossible, but abuse? He welcomes pupils into his home! This is no act of violence; it is charity!" Yusuke responded, anger in his voice.

"Yes, but what he's doing to his pupils is a different story," I said, stepping out from behind Akira. Yusuke then turned to me.

"I'm his pupil! I can say for certain that these statements are untrue!" He said.

I just looked at him with a pitiful expression. Was he in denial about it? He looks and sounds a bit like Adrian/cat noir when he found out that his father was Hawkmoth and Natalie was Mayura.

"You might be lying!" Ryuji said, stepping in.

"That's... That's utter rubbish!" Yusuke snapped back. Your demeanor, tone, and hesitance say otherwise. I thought, still looking at the tall boy in front of me with a sad expression. He explained that Madarame took him in when he had no family. So, he thinks he owes a life debt to Madarame... That explains why he's so defensive! I thought. Yusuke then said that if we continued to talk badly about Madarame, we would regret it.

At least that is what I got from his old fashioned way of talking.

"... You really think that?!" Ann asked him. Just then, Madarame appeared at the doorway.

"Yusuke?" He called.

"What's the matter? I heard yelling." Madarame asked.

"These people are slandering you with baseless rumors," Yusuke said.

"We were just curious about one or to things. No need to exaggerate anything." I put in.

"They must have heard some unfavorable rumors and came in worried for their friend's safety," Madarame said.

"... Understood sensei," Yusuke said. Madarame stayed for a bit, talking about how a cranky old man like him couldn't be liked by everyone. He then told us to keep it down because he doesn't want to disturb the neighbors. He then left, and Yusuke apologized to us for getting angry.

He then showed us a painting that Madarame had painted himself. The picture he showed us was incredible.

"It's his maiden work as well as his most represented piece- It's titled: Sayuri!" Yusuke explained.

"It reminds me of the Mona Lisa back in Paris." I thought aloud.

"You've seen the Mona Lisa?" Yusuke asked.

"I used to live in Paris before moving to Japan. I had a friend who was the daughter of the curator of the Louvre. We would sometimes spend time together there, I got to see so much." I said, getting a little lost in my memories.

"In any case, the Sayuri is what inspired me to become an artist," Yusuke explained. So that's his motive! I've got to say, I can't blame him. That is a beautiful painting. But why do I have a feeling of foreboding?

(A/N: Haha! Cliffhanger! I'm so evil! But don't worry, my dear readers! The next chapter will be out as soon as possible!)