Fate Merveille

Chapter 22

A festival to honor the heroes of Paris, it was a colorful parade with balloons and paintings of each hero, and it was only one day away. But it wasn't what a certain group was focusing on. Leticia paced in the sewers as she and the other masters pondered on what to do. The festival made it impossible for them to attack Shirou and Hawk Moth most likely heard Merlin was gone, so he didn't have to keep his promise to not create supervillains. Tsubasa suggested that they play the role of a superhero for the day. 

There was nothing wrong with using their powers to fight, it was their servants who made a mess. Leticia, as the chosen leader, agreed on the condition that it was for one day. She didn't want to waste any more time playing in Paris. Yakumo commented on how much more serious she was than before, she used to be fine with letting the masters play citizen of Paris. She said it all changed when Shirou killed Arthur. He painted a target on his back, and he needed to be disposed of. 

The church wasn't happy with how he manipulated the war and delayed the battles, or how he acted once he got what he wanted. If anyone was to blame for the war failing, it was him. All he had to do was follow the guidelines, and he chose not to.

Adrien and the rest of Marinette's friends stopped by the bakery after school, as they guessed, only her grandmother was there. They dropped off gifts for her and offered to help since her grandmother was lonely. But Adrien got a call from his father, a fashion designer in Japan who wanted to see him and test his modeling abilities. He left and headed home. He didn't know why his father wanted him to leave the day before the hero's festival.

Gabriel didn't give him much of an answer, only that he was to leave for Japan immediately. He went to his room to pack and wondered how he was going to pull off being Chat Noir in Paris and Adrien in Japan. Luckily, Tamamo had an idea, she was a Caster servant, and she could shape-shift into him. While it was true that she promised to never do it again, she made an exception for Adrien. She knew how much protecting Paris meant to him, and she knew everything about him.

She transformed into him and pretended to speak, and act like him. She was on point with most of his behaviors, except for the times she acted too much like Chat Noir. He told her to not do that; his father would know for sure it wasn't him. She agreed and he turned into Chat Noir to leave the room as she packed. Natalie entered and wondered if anyone else was there, as she heard some commotion, and Tamamo turned on her phone to show it was a video about Japan.

"Hey guys," Chat Noir said when he tracked down the masters. They were having lunch in the park, and he needed to talk to them.

"Who are you here as?" Leticia asked.

"I need to ask a favor," he sat down and explained his situation.

"You can stay with me," Yakumo suggested. "I don't have anyone other than Berserker and she keeps the place clean."

"It's just until they come back from Japan."

"No problem, I'm guessing you want to stay here in case Hawk Moth sends supervillains after Paris?"

"Ladybug needs my help, we're a team."

Minami looked at her phone, she had an assignment due soon so headed off. The others also left with Yakumo waiting for Fran to pick him up. She was with the other servants as they pretended to be normal citizens in Paris and to break a fight between Karna and Arjuna before they caused too much of a scene. Fran showed up, wearing her black and white dress, and pulled on Yakumo's sleeve to indicate she was there. She guided them to a small apartment complex where she and Yakumo were staying. There were two rooms with a living room, bathroom, and kitchen right next to one another. Fran set up the couch as Yakumo sat by the dining table. He asked Chat Noir to join him, he had something to discuss. He told the hero about the last war, unlike the one in Paris, which lived up to its name as a war.