"Whew! That that run was awesome! Those Salmonid are tough! Right Amy?"

"Aww that was nothin', Jimmy. So you doin' anything Cora?"

"I was going to get myself a giant Galactic Seanwich. You two wanna come to the Crust Bucket with me?"

"Sure! Your buying!"

"Get it yourself you bum!"

I walk pass those kids. All three look at me like I'm dangerous. Funny. I saved their cornered butts from three Steelheads and two Steel Eels with a handful of Cohocks. And I did it with a Splatterscope. Whatever. I'm not doing this job to get respect.

"Hey." the girl named Cora asks. "Cayden, right?"

I shot a glare at her. I was able to startle the girl. That Jimmy guy gets defensive.

"Wanna come to the Crust Bucket with us?" she asks.

I stared at her for a bit and I just kept on walking to pick up my rewards.

"Hey you jerk!" shouts the girl named Amy. "At least have the decency to answer her!"

"Leave him alone Tam. He's not worth it. That's CayZshootr."

"Who?"

I ignore them and went straight to the kiosk. I bang on the window and out pops my rewards.

"I looked him up online. He's that crazy squid who keeps doing Salmon Runs, even after his first twelve rewards are done. Doesn't participate none of the games and never goes to Splatfests. Always wears the Grizzco uniform wherever he goes. He's super famous in the Salmon Run forums." said Jimmy.

"You gotta be kiddin' me. It's just a job y'know!" said that Amy girl.

After I get done trading gear in for cash I stomp towards her. More furious than the angriest Salmonid. I grabbed her by the hoodie.

"IT IS NOT A DAMN JOB! IT'S A NECESSITY! IF NOT FOR ME THE SALMONIDS WOULD KILL US ALL!" That Amy girl shoves me. I throw off the gloves and we get ready to fight, until that Cora girl pulled her away.

"Amy no! Just forget it and let's go." Amy straightens her shirt. The three kids walked away.

"Geez, he's not just crazy. He's a complete psycho!"

Yeah. Yeah that's right. I'm crazy. If they actually saw what I saw and have night terrors about it, they'd be crazy too. I walked to Grizzo for the next job.

"Hey there kid. How's it hangin'" said Grizzo. The wooden bear statue he speaks out of always annoyed me. Squids always debate whether Grizzo is actually speaking to us 24/7 or just a recording since he repeats a lot of things word for word.

"Shut up and give me a job Grizzo."

"Comon kid. Ya gotta relax a bit. Gettin' a job ready takes time."

"Then hurry up! I ain't got all day!"

"Kid. You alright? Yer acting a bit tense. Sit down and relax. Get a candy bar from the vending machine."

"Get me a job! You always had a job for me on the fly! Why the heck is it taking so long this time!?"

"Kid. I'm bein' serious here. Calm yerself down."

"JUST GET ME JOB!" I couldn't control myself as I punch the wooden bear. The statue breaks in three. I see the squids standing outside staring at me. The ones that were about to come in for a job turned and walked away.

"Sorry kid. I'm gonna have ta ask you ta leave." the broken speaker in the wooden bear still worked. I almost smirked at that.

"You think you can have these "profreshionals" do this job Grizzo? They don't have what I got. They're scrubs compared to me."

"One more word outta you and your banned."

"Maybe I should talk about what happened at Rusty Rig. Maybe even throw in that little secret about what actually happened to Sarah?"

Got a good long pause from Grizzo. He knows if that any secret gets out, every part timer is gonna bail. And we can't have that.

"Cayden. Gonna ask you one last time. Go. Home. Else I'm gonna have ta call the police. Yer future here is bright. Don't throw out and let it sink into the locker."

I spat on the floor and walked the heck out of there. Looks like he called out my bluff. I know the actual importance of keeping the horrible truth a secret. If the Inklings ever find out, we're screwed. There would be more Salmonids than we can splat. I walk to Crusty Seans and order myself a drink. His cheery demeanor doesn't make my day. I saw those kids again. They gave me that look of dislike and quickly started talking about whatever. I got my shake from Sean and lay on the wall near the Shoal.

Before I knew it, it was sundown and I have a big stack of empty cups. I spent literally all my drink tickets at the Bucket. Geez. I drank way too much. My gut's full of shake and I really need to pee. While going to the bathroom, I found out that I had two more ticket for a shake crumpled in my pocket full of receipts. Screw it. I haven't used these for an entire year and I probably won't be using them again anytime soon. I should probably use my meal tickets too. I'm really hungry. I just remembered that all I ate today was a slice of toast.

I went back to the Bucket only to notice that everyone went home and Sean's starts looking around to see if he should close. I walked up to him.

"Wut up squiddo!" he shouts with the same old vigor. I just slap my tickets on the counter and ordered the orange and melon shake, two regular Shwaffles, and three Galactic Seanwiches to go. He gave me what I wanted in a plastic bag and was about to walk off. That is until I run into that Cora girl.

"Umm. Hi." she awkwardly blurts out. I just stared at her. She was all flustered and embarrassed. Maybe even a little scared. "Uh….Umm."

I just kept on walking. Didn't really care what she had to say.

"Whydoyouonlydosalmonsuns?!" she blurts.

"What?" I ask as I stop walking. She takes a deep breath.

"Why do you only do Salmon Runs?" she asks. I sighed and told her to follow me to the train station. We stayed silent throughout walk to the train station.

"Umm. Where we going?" she asks. I just stayed silent and continue to wait for the 8 o'clock train. When the train finally came and open its doors, I walked in. Cora seemed hesitant to walk in. The doors close and she made her decision too late to follow me. I caught both doors in time to let her in. She quickly dives under my arms, but bumps her head on a seat. I just sat down as she rubbed her head. We rode in awkward silence as I played Squid Jump on my phone. We arrived at my stop at 8:20 as usual. Eventually, we make it to Inkblot Academy. Here, everyone is allowed to use the seats and tables at the cafeteria until 10pm.

I wolfed down a Seanwich in front of the girl. She stared at it hungrily. I took a carryout box holding my extra Seanwich.

"Want one?" I ask her.

"N-no! I really shou-" and then her stomach growls. Really loudly. Her face is red as a lobster. What is this an anime? I opened the takeout box and tossed it to her. I then give her my melon shake and a Shwaffle.

"Just eat it you idiot." I said. She nods and we eat our meal.

We sit there in awkward silence again. Most of the squids in the area left. In all honesty, I needed them to leave. All of them stared at me and my getup. I heard their jeers and snickering on how not fresh my clothes are. Even going as far as to say its rotten. Can't blame them. I've been wearing this uniform for nearly an entire year.

It's quiet. To the point where we only heard the boatman bugs. I get up to take a walk and the girl follows me. We silently keep on walking until we reach the pond. Luckily, no matches were happening here at this time. I sit on the pond's edge and stare at its clear, reflective waters. Remembering good times. Cora sits next to me. It took me a while to finally answer that question she asked me.

"I do Salmon Runs to protect the world." she looks at me with a perplexed look.

"That can't be the only reason." she says.

"It is the only reason, but it's a whole lot deeper than you think."

"What do you mean?"

"You're a profreshional right?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm way more than that. You know how Grizzco is closed on certain days?"

"Yeah?"

"I work full time on those days."

"But I thought the Salmonids don't come on those days."

"That's a big fat lie Grizzco likes to tell everyone." I pause for a moment. I felt like I already told her too much. I'm not only risking the sanctity of my job, but the world's safety. But it's just too much. I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"The Salmonids are spawning more and more everyday. Not just the Lesser Salmonids, Bosses too. They're popping up as fast as the Lessers. It's my job to at least keep it down."

"But why the secrecy?"

"To keep the public from panicking. That the Salmonids are more than a problem; that they are an actual danger. If that fact doesn't prevent the kids from coming, it sure as heck would make the parents stop them. Besides, I don't just stop Boss Salmonids. I stop something WAY worse than Bosses."

"Octarions? Octoweapons?" she asks.

"No. Way worse. Saijus."

"Saijus?" she says "What are they?"

I...I don't why, but I stood up. Just by hearing that word reminds me of the horror I faced multiple times. So many times. I hear Grizzo screaming that word and I see that thing slowly rise from the depths. I remember how Sarah was shrieking in pain as it step on her. How my sense of logic on how the life rings prevents Salmonids from hurting us fail completely. I actually wanted to tell Cora about the Saijus, but I start panicking. This is the first time I've ever talked about them

Suddenly, a Saiju rose from the pond. It's webbed claws scraping against the concrete. I tried to calm my breathing, but I couldn't control it. I was suffocating like a fish out of water. My lungs shake, my guts, my hands shake in fear as I find my weapons. The Saiju's glowing red eyes looked straight at me. I hear Sarah's blood curdling shriek again. Out of fear I crawled backwards to the steel wall. I see the thing stepping on the steel floors as I heard it bend under the monsters weight. My chest beats like a jackhammer as it begins to hurt. I shut my eyes. Telling myself it's only a dream. It's not happening. It's not real. Over and over again telling myself it's not real. But all I could think is this is how I die.

Finally I snapped back awake. Everything is normal. The pond was fine. Reflecting only the moon and stars. Cora's hugging me. She noticed that I'm back in reality. She then hugged my head onto her chest.

"Shhh. It's okay. It's okay. It's alright now." I actually cried a bit. I forgot how much comfort a friend can bring. Geez, I miss my friends. I should've quit. I should've listen to Leo and quit. Or quit when Nadine. Why didn't I quit with them? Doesn't matter now. Right now, I just want to feel safe and at peace.