2955/Director Dad

Director Dad
Date of Scene:	28 February 2026
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	An invite to an outing turns into a revelation when Mamoru and Sugata make Adrien realize there's only one kind of Director at Obsidian.
Cast of Characters:	Sugata Shindo, Adrien Agreste, Mamoru Chiba

---

Sugata Shindo has posed:
It starts with a simple series of text messages:

    Sugata TXT Adrien & Mamoru: Would either of you like to walk around the mall this afternoon?
    Sugata TXT Adrien & Mamoru: I doubt either of you are falling behind in classes, and drama club and kendo club have both met their quotas for the week.

Sugata's thought process is simple: friendships require maintenance, hanging out aimlessly is useless, and while Mamoru is definitively his friend and Adrien is probably his friend, in either case Takuto and Wako tend to think he should socialize more and with less violence.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Friendships did of course require work! Though it was a pleasant work, typically, and Adrien was almost always up for such things if he could get the free time to do it! It was so rare he had free time.

It's amazing how much free time you have when you're angry at your father and tell him you're taking a hiatus from modeling until you decide if you want to model at all anymore.

    Adrien TXT Sugata and Mamoru: Sure, that sounds like fun! I'll see you there!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Honestly Mamoru's not sure about this 'being social at the mall' thing, but he was informed that he should, in fact, go be social at the mall with some friends. Plus, it's Sugata and Adrien, so there's a certain level of anthropology going on too.

All he texted back was 'kk, i';; bring my mall goth stuff'.

Now he's wearing slightly more eyeliner than usual, and ripped-at-the-knees black jeans, and a black denim jacket with artfully ragged edges over a vintage Fat Wreck Chords t-shirt. His hair is very fluffy, and he's not wearing his glasses-- they're hanging over the collar of his shirt.

"This is really what people do? Are we supposed to hang out in the food court and drink large drinks?" he asks. "By the way, Adrien-san, how's the situation with Director Dad?"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"I have no idea what people do at a mall," Sugata says with a very Sugata level of dry humor. He's dressed in some nice jeans, unripped and dark blue, with a more saturated shade of green for his button up shirt, a white under layer of shirt for additional insulation. He's wearing a jacket too, though his is a charcoal colored wool jacket, perfect for fighting off the outside chill and interior air conditioning, left undone.

A pause, as he processes the other words once his instinctual need to be a brat is out.

"'Director Dad'? Agreste-san, you didn't mention that your father was a director when we discussed punching him. That changes the parameters for planning."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste was dressed casually, as he usually was, but the clothes were still in immaculate condition. No 'off the rack' but certainly that fresh look to them. No stains, no wrinkles, no tears, and though the button-down he wore over his t-shirt was left 'messily' open, it still had a crisply starched collar. If he were older he'd look like a cop trying to fit in with the teens.

Mamoru's attire is regarded with a thoughtful side glance as they start to walk. "I don't know, honestly. I think we're supposed to grab a drink at some point and do the..." His hand slips from his pocket to gesture toward the series of stores that lay ahead of them. "'Window shop'? Which I think just means wander around until we see something we want to buy."

The question from Mamoru about his dad has his nose wrinkle a bit. "I haven't spoken to him since New Years. Not directly." There was always the interim of Natale of course. "I still can't believe he would do that to me. To my mother."

Sugata's remark earns a look of mild confusion as he looks between the pair. "... I didn't think it mattered? There's no way Father would accept a merger of businesses unless he had a direct role."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"He's a Director in Obsidian, Adrien-san," Mamoru says gently, putting his hands in his pockets. He glances at Sugata, then nods and looks back at the blond boy. "It's easy to believe what he did to you and your mother, when a Director who loves you can break every bone in your body while out of henshin."

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"You... didn't believe it mattered," Sugata echoes, and does share that glance with Mamoru, his eyes glinting with equal parts disbelief and exasperation. "You do remember what Obsidian is?"

He glances around the mall - there's a table, open, but they're surrounded by people, and Adrien is skittish about discussions of magic for some reason. (He knows the reason, but he cannot relate to it. He would never wear those shoes.)

"Seeing as none of us are capable of opening Zero Space or a barrier, we should find a spot to talk about this. I can probably bribe someone into closing their store for a time..."

Or they could just pick a table. That's an option too.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
There's a little derisive giggle-snort from Adrien's bag as the two continue to point out how terrible his father is. There may be a fourth to this 'boys day out', apparently.

Adrien looks between the two still a bit confused, but with a slow frown beginning to creep over him as he starts to think on it. "Of course I know what Obsidian *is* and what they do... But Father ran the 'Gabriel' brand before we ever came to Japan. I thought..."

It's a small shift of his features as it turns from confusion to doubt. He really had always given his father the benefit of the doubt until now, but that had backfired rather spectacularily lately.

"... I thought he was running one of the profitable sides for Obsidian. Not the... The magic part. What does my father know about magic? He loves technology!"

And he roomed with a Device Mage, so even that statement suddenly has him feeling a surge of doubt. Without a further word he just nods stiffly and moves to an empty table to drop down into one of the seats there. He suddenly had a need to sit.

"He's. He's not a good person, is he."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Is Riventon?" Mamoru asks, following Adrien. Then he's taking his hands out of his pockets to lift and turn a chair around, then sit straddling it and cross his arms over the back of it. "I knew him before Obsidian, but I never knew him without dark energy. I've watched him get worse."

He shakes his head, red tips in his hair settling slightly differently when he stops. His voice is sober. "If your father is directing a division of Obsidian, he has magic, full stop. I don't know what other name he may use, but he's okay with Father Obsidian's voice. And needless to say, you're in pretty dire trouble if he ever finds out."

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"There's plenty of technology that we both know has to do with magic," Sugata says, and follows Adrien to where he sits, settling down as his face falls and his voice breaks on sentences. R
If he loves you, it doesn't matter, Sugata carefully does not say, because the if is load-bearing and one doesn't participate in Drama Club as long as he has to not know the power of words. Sugata might be particularly ruthless, cold-hearted, and generally callous, but he has honor, and there's none in kicking a downed cat.

And Adrien is most certainly that.

Instead of saying that, he says, "The better question is 'does understanding this make you understand your situation better?' Your father has magic. He's a Director in Obsidian, which means he has enough Dark Energy to drive any one of us off. You have seen Dark Energy in action. Does anything make more or less sense?"

Adrien Agreste has posed:
His father wasn't just a workaholic. He wasn't just someone who was so invested in his business that he often forgot his son. And he wasn't someone who shared important information with his son either. Now, Adrien was realizing that his father was magic, too, and like all great dissapointments in his life it wasn't in a way that would possibly bring them closer together by bonding over it.

"Well." There's not much he can really say to that. For just a moment he allows his head to fall into his hands while taking several deep breaths. He'd dwell on it more when talking with Plagg later.

Hands fall away as he tries to smile toward his friends. "This certainly makes me glad I followed Ladybug in keeping quiet about our identities so often."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru raises his eyebrows at Sugata's directness, and then his face clears; Adrien can't answer. "I see," he says softly, then hazards a guess: "You do understand. I'm sorry, Adrien-san. You'd better keep me and Inai-sensei on speed dial for a teleport evac."

There's a pause, and he braces himself. "I uh, I know you're French, do you want... a hug."

Sugata Shindo has posed:
There it was. Parents, universally, continue to be a disappointment in all matters, as Adrien sinks in on himself. Sugata is considering a hot chocolate, or osmething, as an offering of consolation, when Mamoru proves himself the prince and throws himself on that grenade.

Very wisely, the Ginga Kingu says absolutely nothing at all.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste draws a deep breath at the offer of a hug. For a moment his green eyes dart to the prince, then to Sugata, before he manages a more genuine if subdued smile. "I could use one, yes, but I know you have the 'touch thing.'" Plus he was most certainly from a different culture. "I can manage."

A little clearing of his throat, and he looks up at the red tips to Mamoru's hair again. "... Although, I might get a haircut. I think I need to do something that isn't approved by my father for once."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
No no, Mamoru says without saying it with one lifted hand and then the action of getting out of his seat. "I'm offering. My shields are up," he says, crouching to give the seated other boy a hug. "Sugata-san, if you send a picture to my wife I will end you. Adrien-kun, my advice is just refuse to get your hair cut. Let it get shaggier and shaggier until you look like a blond Darien Shields."

It's a nice hug, rare as hens' teeth if you're not on the short list. Warm and real and strong, and of course there's the scent of roses. It's not a backpatting hug, it's just a squish.

When it's over, Mamoru's thumping back onto his chair and saying, "Don't, like... poke the bear, man."

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"If I texted a picture to your wife, even without you ending me, I'd open myself to a world of retaliatory images," Sugata points out, "Not of interest to me. Go on and hug him, I'm not going to be the one doing it."

Let's get the physical affection out of here. Sugata politely does not watch, because it's definitely odd, a few people taking sideways glances at the incredible display of closeness in the middle of a mall.

"You can still punch him, but you're going to have to get creative about what the word punch means. And remember that you're the one who has to live with a hair cut, not him."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste really did need that hug. He had Naru of course, and would likely get quite a few hugs from her later, but right now this was rather needed and nice. Even though Mamoru assures him his guard is up, he takes care not to let bare skin touch as he gives him a quick hug in return. Just a moment, a much needed moment, and then he lets poor Mamoru go again.

"I won't. I don't know what I'd be up against and I can't risk... I mean he's still... I don't know that I would want to hurt him with the power I have." Maybe he would have to outsource that punch after all.

Sugata's remark of living with the haircut earns a grin. "Given I've been the face of the 'Gabriel' brand since I was 11, he'd certainly be affected by a haircut, too. ... It's something I've been considering at least."

"For now, I think we should get something to drink. I could go for a coffee. ... Thank you both for helping me see the truth. I can't believe I've been ignoring the obvious." A pause and he adds, "Thank you for not taking photos, too. I don't need any more rumors about who I'm dating going around."