Vile: Howdy, people. Vile here. The others aren't here today, but it's no big deal. This here is a little batch of fluff for our favorite WATER Duelist, Shark, and the girl I gave him, Ariel. Not only is it fluffy, it gives Ariel a slight bit of backstory. ...I'm running out of ideas to extended this, so let's get into this. You people already know what I own and don't own. If you don't, you have less common sense than me. XD I kid, I kid. Enjoy!

Octopus Grip

The anticipation festered in Shark's mind. He knew that any minute now, Ariel would show up out of nowhere and trap him in one of her powerful glomps, then hang on to him for most of the day; her "octopus grip", as he put it. He didn't exactly mind it - in fact, he enjoyed it aside from his occasional aching shoulders - but a nagging question floated around: Why did she do it? Why was she always so forward with this type of thing? They were already together for at least a couple of months, though it was passive, so he thought she would've settled down, but she was still as clingy as ever.

"Shark-kun!" He heard someone cry. Female.

Out of nowhere, he felt two arms grip him in an all-too-familiar death hug. 'Bingo.' Shark thought. He enjoyed the embrace, but his desire to know why she was like this burned, or rather, boiled the WATER Duelist's head. Shark glanced around, noticing no one else was around. 'This looks like as good as any time to figure this out.'

Ariel apparently noticed Shark's lack of a reaction and looked at him. "What's wrong, Shark-kun?"

"Nothing, really." Shark said, looking at her with a smirk. "I was just mulling a question around in my head, but I think you might be able to answer it."

Ariel smiled. "What is it?" She asked, letting go of him.

Shark took a deep breath. "I gotta know. Why do you do this?"

Ariel tilted her head. "Eh?"

"Your octopus grip." Shark clarified. "Ever since I met you, I've been on the receiving end of a whole season of anime's worth of death hugs. It's not that I don't like it, but I'm curious: Why do you do it?" Even though Shark made it clear he wasn't telling Ariel off for it, he still didn't like how she gasped. She sounded scared. Her face then twisted into one of fear, like something terrible had gone through her head. "Ariel?" The girl lowered her head, and he saw her shake. This worried Shark, and he walked toward her. "Hey, you all right?"

"…No…" Ariel replied. She quickly hugged him around his waist, burying her face into his chest. Shark heard quiet sobs come from her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Shark asked her.

"…I don't want to lose you…" Ariel moaned. "I don't want to lose anyone…"

"Huh?" Shark wondered.

"It happened… years ago…"

*Flashback* *Bold Text is Ariel Narrating*

A ten-year-old Ariel was playing a group of other kids. "I used to have a lot of friends… Including a boy I really liked, almost as much as I do you." The younger Ariel blushed while talking with a certain blonde-haired boy. "Then… they came. An odd group of people came to my home…" Ariel observed a virtual colony of mobile homes with uncertainty. "Soon after, my friends slowly began to leave… Almost as if they were brainwashed. I just desperately to get them not to leave, but I couldn't do anything…" Young Ariel watched as the blonde-haired boy walked away from her. "Then, the boy I liked left… I hung on to keep him with me… but I couldn't." The boy pushed Ariel off of him before leaving. "I then learned the truth… The group of people was a cult… And they recruited all of my friends' families. My family didn't join, but when the cult left… I was all alone." Ariel sat alone in the field where her and her friends once played, crying.

*End Flashback*

"I didn't make any friends until I met Kyorei… He took me into the Terminal Gang, and I finally had friends again." Ariel told Shark. "I was determined not to lose my friends again… Then I met you." Ariel averted her eyes. "I knew I liked you the moment I meant you, despite how cliché it sounds. But soon after, I knew I didn't just like you… I loved you." Shark's eyes widened. "The reason I cling to you is to make sure I don't lose you. I don't want to lose everyone I know, like, or love… ever again."

Shark's mind was still reeling. She LOVED him? After such a short time? 'Man, my life becomes more cliché every day.' He thought. But he felt very sorry for Ariel. Losing all your friends AND someone you like all at once will bang anyone up, and Shark was surprised that she didn't become anti-social like he used to be. He understood why she clung to him now: She's hanging on tightly to what she's got now. He already knew he liked her, but now he felt like it was more. He wanted to make sure she was happy... It was official to him. He loved her back. "Ariel." The girl looked at him, her tears subsiding. "While it is good to hang on to what you once had, think about this. If you hadn't ended up alone, you probably wouldn't have come to Heartland. You wouldn't have met the Terminal Gang. And most of all, I wouldn't have met you."

"R-Really…?" Ariel said, sniffling once.

Shark nodded with a smile. "And I can say this for certain: You can still hang on, but you don't need to hang as tightly, because what you've got now won't be going away." His arms went around her waist. "Especially not me."

Ariel's wide smile graced her face once more. "Shark-kun…" With that, Ariel shot forward and kissed him, putting her energy into the kiss and tightening her grip. Shark returned the kiss with the same passion, also tightening his grip. Her clingy nature wasn't just a habit of hers: It was just a way to show him how much she loved him, as well as a reminder of her decision to never lose him.

And Shark had no problem with it, "trapping" her in his own octopus grip.

Vile: I hope I did a good job between the two of them. Shark's not exactly my specialty when it comes to making fluff moments, but I tried. ^_^' If you guys liked this story, leave a review for me! A Numbershot is next, so I'll see you guys later!

Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.