Fight me.

I don't know why, but I've started playing Splatoon again lately, and it's gotten to the point where I've gotten a weird story idea. So just... go with it, I guess.

(Storm's P.O.V.)

I glanced at the inflatable dummy in front of me, adjusting my grip on the roller. The ink tank attached to my back was heavy, but I ignored the weight and simple griped the handle harder. Moving quickly, I coated the ground with cyan ink before ducking under it. I was glad that I was wearing the sweatshirt that my parents had gotten me for school, because it hid my movements within the ink. I popped out of the ink for a split second, throwing a splat bomb before ducking under again. I waited a second before jumping up again, this time slamming my roller down in front of the dummy and coating it with a wave of ink, making it pop.

"I really don't know why you're so worried."

I jumped, holding the roller out in front of me. I heard a chuckle, and felt someone gently lower the roller, letting me see who was in front of me.

"Careful, twinkle toes," Kyler said to me, being careful to not touch the ink on my roller. "It's just me."

"Then why am I hesitating?" I said with a cocky grin. Kyler faked looking hurt, and I chuckled at the orange Inkling. "And you know full well why I'm worried. My parents'll kill me if I'm not on the winning team." He rolled his eyes, flinging his arm around my shoulders.

"Only four Inklings from our graduating class are gonna be on the winning team," Kyler said, poking my chest. I glanced at him, resting the end of the roller on the ground. He was carefully avoiding the puddles of bright blue ink on the ground, and he slipped my ink tank off of my shoulders. I knew that I shouldn't be this comfortable around him since my parents didn't like him, but I had known Kyler since grade school.

So when Kyler took the roller from my hands and hung it up on the wall, I didn't try to stop him. After a minute he walked back, picking his was across the cement floor, resting his hands on my shoulders, and walking me over to the stairwell. The school was mostly empty at this point, seeing that it was after hours. Most of the students were out at the stores, buying new gear and weapons. But the principal had opened up the training room for any seniors who were preparing for this weekends Splatfest, which would be their first slew of turf wars. The students would each be grouped up with their own teams, and would have to face off against the different groups. And the winning group would get first pick for any future turf wars, and were extremely desirable as teammates.

I let out a sigh as the two of us sat down on the stairs, and I instantly leaned into Kyler's side. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, but I felt him flinch. I looked over at him as he removed his arm. from my shoulders, and I saw a patch of cyan ink attaching my shoulder to him arm.

"Ohmygosh, I'm so sorry!" I cried, turning to face him, my voice echoing off the cement stairway. I pulled a pack of tissues out of my pocket, and went to grab his arm before I noticed the ink on my hands. I quickly wiped it off with a wad of tissues before wiping at his arm. "Kyler, I'm so sorry! I didn't know the ink would stick to my back!" I saw at the slight burn left behind on his arm, and I looked down.

"Storm, I'm fine," Kyler said, gently hooking his finger under my chin and making me look at him. "I've been hit with different colored ink before, so I'm fine. It'll go away in a few days." I looked away from him, before hearing him sigh. "What am I gonna do with you?"

"What- what do you mean?" I asked, looking back over at him. Kyler was looking straight ahead, his eyes soft. "Kyler?"

"I..." Kyler sighed, before running his hand over his hair. He turned towards me and smiled, holding out his elbow. "We should probably get going. Wanna go get some ice cream?" I smiled and nodded, locking elbows with Kyler.

"Is- is there something you want to tell me?" Kyler's grin faltered, but he replaced it with a forced one and shook his head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Storm," he said, purposefully leaning against me. "I am absolutely, positively sure that I have nothing that I want to tell you. Well, other than you need to calm the heck down." I rolled my eyes, shoving him off me.

"You're a dork."

"Would you object to a dork buying you ice cream?" I looked over at him and smiled.

"Only if that dork is named Kyler," his face lit up, and I felt my cheeks heat up. I unlinked our arms, hurrying a few feet in front of him. Stop it, Storm. Kyler is just your friend, nothing else. Besides, what about Gr- no, not now. This has nothing to do with him. I was pulled from my thoughts when Kyler tapped on my shoulder.

"Is something wrong?" Kyler looked worried, and I looked down, before bringing my hand up to my mouth and chewing on the side of my finger. "Storm?"

"I'm- I'm okay," I said, quickly wiping off my finger, hiding the teeth marks that I had left in my skin.

(Kyler's P.O.V.)

Something was bothering her.

I had known Storm since we were five, and even then she had the tendency to chew on things when she was upset, and I had clearly seen the teeth marks in the side of her pointer finger. But I knew better than to pressure her, so I left it alone. I held out my elbow to her again, and she smiled slightly and linked arms with me again.

"Which one do you wanna go to?" I asked, trying to break the silence that had settled around us. Storm tilted her head to the side, biting the inside of her lip.

"Squidling's?"

Squidling's was a popular food stand on the outskirts on Inkopolis that had been around for as long as I could remember. It was run by two brothers, and it had pretty much anything you could think of. There was usually a long line, and most of the tables were usually taken up.

"Two ice creams at Squidling's, coming right up," I said with a smile. The two of us had long since left the school by now, and we were almost at the bullet train platform, which was a lot faster than walking all the way there. Storm pulled her arm away from me, and I looked away for a second. She would usually do this in public, but I had never questioned it. Once we were sitting on the train, Storm sat close next to me, before turning her head towards me.

"There's so many students on the train today," she said quietly, before glancing at the nearly full train car. "Look, there's Leah! Leah!" Storm was waving happily at her friend, a purple Inkling who was a year younger than us. Her hair was tied up in a bun, and her large-rimmed glasses were slipping down her nose. Leah looked up, slipped her glasses up her nose, and made her way over to us and sat down next to Storm.

"Hi Storm!" Leah said happily, hugging her friend. Then she leaned forward, waving at me. "Hello, Kyler. Where are you two heading?"

"Kyler offered to buy me ice cream at Squidling's," Storm said happily. "Even though I got ink on his arm earlier."

"I already told you that I'll be fine," I said with a sigh. "To change the subject, did you and Alder join a team yet?" Alder was Leah's twin brother, and I was pretty friendly with him. Leah let out a sigh, shaking her head.

"No... it doesn't seem like anyone wants either of us on their team, so we're kinda... stuck right now," she said with a shrug, making me smile. "Uh oh. Storm, I think your friend has an idea."

You bet I have an idea.

"We should form a team!" I said, grinning. "Storm and I don't have teams yet, either, so the four of us can form a team!" Leah looked excited and confused, but Storm... for the first time, I couldn't read her emotions.

"But we're a bunch of nobodys," Leah pointed out.

"Kyler, I don't know if this is such a good idea..."

"But just think! The four of us, powering our way up the ranks, shocking everyone when a group of underdogs come out on top!"

"I guess it could work..." Leah said slowly. "Do you mind if I join you two at Squidling's? We can talk it over more there." She looked at Storm, who nodded slowly. I noticed that she was chewing her finger again, but I didn't bring it up.

"I hope I have enough money to pay for the three of us..." I muttered, not bothering to hide my smile.

The train had arrived at the station near Squidling's about ten minutes after I shared my idea with Leah and Storm. Leah was going to call Alder and have him meet us there, while Storm and I waited in line for ice cream. Storm started playing with her ponytail, looking over at me.

"Kyler, there's something I need to tell you-"

"Well if it isn't my little Stormcloud!"

I rolled my eyes at the approaching Inkling, while Storm flinched at the nickname. His hair was dark blue, and he was wearing a pair of pilot goggles, which were perched on his forehead. His eyes were a dull gray, and he was wearing a dark jacket. He sauntered up to us, trying to fling his arm around Storm's shoulders and frowning when she ducked towards me.

"What'd you want, Grayson?" I growled, glaring at the Inkling.

"Down boy," he said, tugging at my hair. "I'm just saying hello, so calm yourself, Tyson."

"It's Kyler, inkwad."

"Whatever," Grayson said with a shrug. "So, how's my fourth teammate doing?" He was looking right at Storm, and I looked at her in shock. Her green eyes began to water as she looked down.

"Storm..." I said quietly, reaching to her slightly.

"Yup," he said with a laugh. "Stormcloud's parents asked if I would take her on my team, which is obviously going to be the winning team, and when we win, I get to date her. Isn't that right, Stormy?"

"I'm sor-"

"Save your breath, sweetheart," Grayson slung his arm around her shoulders, and instead of dodging it, she just flinched. "Scum like this isn't worth your time."

"Why are you such a jerk?" I demanded, shoving him away from Storm. She quickly moved closer to me, and I glared at Grayson.

"Y'know, I never liked you," he said, grabbing the back of my shirt and pulling me out of line. "It's about time I did something about that."

"Kyler!" Storm yelled, grabbing my arm. But somebody pulled her back, and I noticed one of Grayson's "friends" holding her back. Grayson was pulling me behind the building, and I let out a cry as he threw me to the ground and kicked me in the stomach. All the air was knocked out of me, and I lay on my side, trying to regain my breath. Then he kicked me again, this time in the back of the head, and my vision began to swim.

"Have fun back here, Tyson," Grayson said. I saw him pull what looked like a small suction bomb out of his pocket, and he stuck it to the wall behind me. My vision was going now as I was likely blacking out.

Then I felt a wave of pain hit my back, and I lost consciousness.

I finally finished the first chapter of this thing. I can usually crank out the first few chapters on rapid succession, but when I tried to save last night, I didn't know that my internet was out until I lost about 500 words of Kyler's P.O.V... anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of Friend or Foe! CameronNinjaDragons, signing off.