Chapter 34: 33: Relatives
"Y/N!" Your aunt's voice called. You rushed downstairs, coming face to face with your aunt and uncle.
"A/N!" You grinned. They let you call them by their names. They were young when they took you in, after all. Around 21/22. You were surprised when you looked into it. Having proper, well-paying jobs in their early twenties? Awesome.
"What about me?" U/n smirked. You waved at him, too.
"Yes, hello, U/n." You smiled. He sighed.
"Not as excited as you sounded with A/n... Ah, whatever." He mumbled, taking his suitcase up the stairs with some effort. You helped him eventually, lifting up the back as he walked up.
You and Ladybug had made a plan. You suggested bugging your entire house, and though reluctant, she agreed. She was scared of invading your privacy, but you didn't really care.
You helped the two settle in before you all headed to the living room.
"So how long are you two staying?" You asked. Your aunt shrugged.
"Hmm... A few days? Maybe a week, but that's the most. Ah, we might leave if something urgent comes up..." She thought out loud. You nodded.
"Noice."
"Sorry that we can't stay more." She laughed awkwardly. Your uncle was tapping away on his phone, paying no attention, "Work's been really busy these days."
"Ah, no worries." You shrugged. "I'm not so bothered. What's so urgent anyway?"
"Nothing much. Our jobs are science-y, so there's not much you'd understand." She laughed, and you clutched your heart, faking pain.
"Agh, I am wounded." You sighed dramatically, laughing afterward. Your uncle rolled his eyes.
"That's not even the side where your heart is."
"Yeah, yeah." You shrugged. You continued on with the plan, "Akuma's have been a pain, you know? I get that there's basically no danger, since for one I'm basically an Akuma repellant, and secondly there's always Ladybug and Chat Noir who help and fix it all, but still. Oh, right, and I got akumatized!"
"That's not something you should be happy about, Y/N." Your uncle rolled his eyes. You laughed.
"Come on, I was pretty cool, if I say so myself. I went into hiding!" You exclaimed. Your aunt huffed.
"That's not good. You shouldn't get caught up in that, Y/N. You could get hurt." She sighed. She looked at you seriously, "We've considered moving, but..."
"But I like it here." You finished her sentence, though she probably wouldn't have said that. "Anyway, Chat and Ladybug fix it all in the end. We all get scared, sure, but nothing bad really happens."
"What if they fail, though?" Your uncle asked. You were surprised by his serious statement. He was usually an aloof sort of guy.
"Then we all die!" You cheered. Both of them sweatdropped, paling.
"Right..." They chorused.
"Since you two are so science-y, what's your opinion on all the weird magic?" You asked. They sighed.
"It's been a wreck. People were confused, but I guess by now, they've accepted it. But now that everyone believes in magic, a lot of more questions have come along. We still try things the scientific way, but people question it now." She sighed. Your eyes widened.
Well, the discovering of magic mean big things... It'd obviously affect everything, but you hadn't really seen any of that. Whether if it was because of your worldly ignorance, or the fact it was so well hidden, you did not know.
"Hawkmoth's powers are really interesting. Can he control what he gives people? If so, can he create a power that'll solve global warming and climate change? Create more fossil fuels? Save extinct animals? Solve world hunger?" Your uncle ranted, still tapping away on his phone. You let out a sigh.
That sort of made them suspects, to be honest.
"Ah, but we don't specialize in that, so what's the point." Your aunt shrugged, walking off to the kitchen. Your eyes widened.
"So there's someone who specialize in that...?" You gulped. She nodded.
"Of course! They're trying to find out how magic works and how to create it, but I personally believe it's hopeless. The organization's pretty small, I think. Not so public either." She shrugged.
"What's it called?"
"The Unknown Forces Examination, I think." She shrugged.
"Unknown Forces Exploration!" Your uncle called from the couch.
"Right, that. Unknown Forces is basically a fancy way of saying magic, I think they just didn't want to sound like total lunatics. I liked examination better, actually." Your aunt laughed. You nodded.
"Yeah, I guess." You mumbled. "So do you know anything else about them?"
"Hm? Not really. We don't do that sort of work. Are you interested or something?" She asked, and you shook your head.
"Ah, well... Not really, but I do want to know about what they found out. If they really do find out how to give people magic or whatever, I want some!" You exclaimed with a grin. Your aunt laughed.
"You'll end up as a science experiment." Your uncle remarked from behind you. You scoffed. "But their findings are all super-secret. You can't find out a thing, neither can we."
"Ahh, I guess." You sighed.
"They're suspects." Chat spoke. You nodded.
"Yeah, not gonna lie, the things they said were sorta suspicious." You sighed. Ladybug thought for a moment.
You were sitting on a random rooftop. You flew up in your normal form, since it felt awesome to do it. Pretty weird, but awesome. Ladybug was leaning against the wall while Chat let his legs dangle off the edge of the building. They had been listening into your conversation, though you didn't really know how.
"...But, as you said before, if they saw us try to get the plant back, then they really do know we're working with you. But if that were the case, why would your aunt and uncle tell us so much? If they really were working with the people who gave you your powers, they'd try to keep it secret, right?" She thought aloud. You grinned.
"Oooh, maybe they're trying to trap us." You laughed. The two stared at you, surprised by your theory. You decided to continue, "They're not telling us much so we get curious, search on our own, and then bam! We're locked and experimented on!"
"...I thought Hawkmoth was our only enemy..." Chat Noir sighed.
"Come on, you have . Of course, people are gonna want it. I'm surprised regular people haven't tried to take your miraculous themselves... Though they probably wouldn't want to do that, 'cuz Hawkmoth would screw us all over without you." You sighed. The two nodded.
"But back to the subject, I think what Y/N's saying could be true..." She trailed off.
"But if that were the case, can't I just go through the small gaps and let you out? They can't trap me, I'm gas." You said, turning into your gasified form. "Oh, and Chat can just bust us out with Cataclysm, too."
"That's true." Ladybug nodded. "My lucky charm might be able to help us as well."
"But what are we gonna do? Destroy the place?" You asked. Ladybug's eyes widened.
"N-No way!" She exclaimed. You laughed. "I guess we should try get rid of all their research... I'll try find their location, then make a plan. You two just wait, alright?"
"Got it." You both nodded. Ladybug was clearly the brains.
"Okay, how about we meet here in... Four days? I believe I'm free then." She spoke. You nodded.
"Yeah, me too." Chat added. Chat was always available at the same time as you two, actually... Either he was lying, and he actually had no life, or he was somehow connected to the both of you... He seemed to be around the same age... Now that you knew Ladybug's identity, and broke the magic that prevented you from doing so before, you could probably find out who Chat was, too.
"Well, I'll go home before my aunt and uncle notice I'm gone." You sighed, starting to turn into smoke. "See ya!"
"Bye!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone