Pearlie-hime & Marinda

She hurried through the back alleys of Inkopolis, past Crusty Sean's food truck and Sheldon's armory. They were going to go live in 10 minutes, and she'd never hear the end of it if she was late!

Should I just ink my way up….? N-No, I don't have any gear on me…

Marina was one half of the new pop duo Off the Hook, which only recently had taken Inkling culture by storm! Out with the (missing?) Squid Sister(s), in with the new! And yet, despite her success, every day was a crippling nightmare for the Octoling. She would always wake up incredibly anxious.

"Marina! Where the heck were you?"

But when it came time to the show, her fears would dissolve, if only for a moment. Her partner and closest friend, the short prissy Inkling, Pearl, zoomed over her to get an explanation.

"I'm sorry, Pearlie, I lost track of time…"

"Hmph." Pearl's scowl morphed into a playful smile. "You're making me look like the responsible one for once!"

"We go live in 10! Take your positions, girls!" yelled the producer. Pearl and Marina moved to the set, where the former would always lounge in a beanbag chair and the latter would spin a record at a table. On screen, the logo and jingle for Off the Hook came on.

"Y'all know what time it is!" Pearl began, leaning back.

"It's Off the Hook LIVE, coming to you in Inkopolis Square!" Marina exclaimed.

Pearl's feet were dangling up and down. "Check it! Here are the Regular Battle stages!"

This was always the toughest part for Marina; her friend always pointed to her and surely, the average Inkling would look to the right of the TV to see her motions. She spun the record twice, showing the first stage, then again for the second.

Port Mackerel

Musselforge Fortress

Seeing a screenshot of the fortress got the pink Inkling all giddy. "Rock-climbing jellyfish are TOO cute! I wanna splat their faces off!"

Marina laughed nervously. "Pearlie, I'm confiscating your Splattershot until you chill!"

Then Pearl introduced the Ranked Battle stages.

Moray Towers

The Reef

And now it was time for Pearl to get back at Marina, through their usual playful way. "Look at me, I'm Marina! Blah blah blah!"

"Hahaha, I d-do sound like that…." Marina at least didn't screw up the record spinning. Pearl lingered for a second, but she smirked and moved to the next announcement.

"Grizzo Industries is looking for employees, so apply now!"

"Your c-corporate shill game is on point today!"

"…right. Well that's all the time we go! Until next time…" Pearl and Marina got up and their signature pose. "Don't get cooked, stay off the hook!"

"CUT! Nice work today, girls! We'll see you in two hours!"

Marina breathed a sigh of relief. Another show done…

"You tongue-tied today, Marina?" Pearl asked, tapping her foot. "You kept stammering the lines! If you don't barb back, people will think I'm just bullying you…"

"Sorry Pearl. Uh, what's on the menu for today?"

"Oh my squid, oh my squid, OH MY SQUID!"

"Like, OMG!"

It was "Sign Autographs" Time. Just outside the studio, dozens of eager young Inklings were lined up to get an autograph from the pop stars. If there was one thing they loved, it was being fresh and seeing fresh-er.

"I'm sooo gonna post this on Squidverse!" squealed one Inkling.

"Who's next?" Pearl called out. "One at a time, no cutting!"

It was a sweating, smitten Inkling boy of about 15. He shook as he held out what appeared to be a Valentine's Day card for-

"Me? Gosh, Pearl….I love Valentine's Day!"

"But it's July," grumbled the shorter host. It was no secret that Marina was slightly more popular, although the two would have different definitions of "slightly". Casanova nearly fainted when Marina hugged him to say her thanks.

"Next?" Pearl twirled her sharpie, grinning when a female Inkling had a Judd plushie. "Where on the little guy?"

"Um, the t-tail, Miss Pearl!"

"Okay!"

"Can I….can I smell your tentacles?"

"Security!"

But the star-struck girl of 14 only blushed when their lobster muscle, Larry, pushed her off to the sides. "Wow, senpai called security on me…"

Pearl grunted in obvious displeasure, but she summoned her smile once again for the next Inkling. "Hmm? Is that a note?"

"Can you give this to Marina?" he whispered. "I don't wanna make a scene, but I told my brother in the back there that she's my waifu."

"Oh for the love of kelp, all waifugoers move to the BACK of the line!"

When the two took a break for drinks at Crusty Sean's [Larry threatened to whip out the taser if anyone got too close], Pearl could only stare at the amount of things her co-host got from their fans.

"Hmm? Not thirsty, Pearlie?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a sal….I mean, how do you do it, Marina? I feel like everyone inks themselves over you way more than they do to me."

"I dunno," the Octoling mumbled, playing with the edge of her tentacle. She had considered getting it changed, for a new look, but no one had really noticed. Hell, everyone loved it.

"I'm serious! There's something about you…."

"A-A-About me? No, honest, I'm just a regular girl!"

"No you're not!"

Marina shook and sipped her drink quickly.

"You're the best DJ I know in the biz, Mari! We're making our way to the top. Already the kids are posting memes and making Inktube videos on us!"

"D-Dank memes?"

"The spiciest!" Pearl's expression dimmed somewhat. "And yet, there's something up with you today. I didn't do anything too mean, right?"

"No way! We're friends, Pearlie!"

"…..yeah. We are!"

Forehead Girl. Gremlin. These were only a handful of the mean nicknames Pearl faced as a child, and she didn't have too many friends. Luckily now she had Marina on her side!

But Marina didn't count herself as being "lucky". She was staring at her tentacle in the bathroom mirror.

Oh….one day they'll notice, Marina, and then bam! No one will like you anymore, not even Pearlie. Just a filthy Octarian!

She was not an Inkling like the rest of the city, but unlike Flow or Crusty Sean, her kind had a rocky history with Inklings, namely the Great War of years past. Marina was inspired by the "concert" DJ Octavio and the Squid Sisters had, and that led her to meeting Pearlie, who shared her ambition.

"Knock knock, you busy?"

"Uhhhhh….don't come in! I'm uh….inking?"

Pearl laughed from the other side of the door. "That joke wasn't funny the first time you said it! Seriously hurry up, I need to powder my nose!"

Marina gulped and stepped outside.

"What were you doing, anyways? Practicing your lines?"

"Y-Yeah…."

Could she ever tell Pearl?

Pearl, I'm a….no, I AM a…..no! How about, 'how do you do, fellow Squids?' Marina was running all sorts of lines through her head when the two were setting up for their performance.

"Check this out. I was thinking I'd switch to the left hand when it comes for my rap solo. Leftie, yes or no?"

"Why left, Pearlie?"

"Because it's not right! Dumb jokes aside, I'm trying to settle on the best look for us! Gotta sell those records, you know?"

"Um….yeah…."

"Okay that's enough!" Pearl got in her face, jabbing her white finger into Marina's cocoa-colored face. "Tell me what's on your mind, Marina. You're being weird!"

"No, I'm n-not…"

"Don't make me call up your fanclub and tell them your address!"

"Okay, OKAY!" Marina bit her lip. "Have you ever worried about telling someone because you fear how they would react?"

"Ugh, don't remind me. So I said I hated the final reason of Boku no Squid! Can you really blame me? So much salt in the comment section…"

"No, Pearlie, it's about me…..and you."

Pearl's crown almost felt off. "WHOA! That was a promise for if we turned 40 without any boyfriends…"

"Just l-listen. Haven't you noticed anything…..off about me?"

"…?"

"Look carefully, Pearlie." Marina touched her tentacle. "I'm not like you….I'm…..an O-Octoling…."

Silence, save for the sound of the stagehand raising the curtains. Luckily the crowd hadn't assembled yet. Pearl took a good second before giving her answer.

"Okay, and the sky is blue….?"

"Huh? How did you-"

"Marina, I knew since the day we met! I thought it wasn't a problem for our act! It was just some dumb war Grandpa would always prattle on about…."

"But…..I…."

Pearl snorted. "You think our fans would hate you? They're too smitten by your sexy tentacle to think otherwise! Kids will be kids, right?"

"Pearlie!" Marina blushed at the scandalous sentence. "Every day, I….I always worried someone would find out and there….would go our act…."

"Huh? You're dumb. Even if people complained, we could always do an act somewhere else! I want a Splatty award, darn it!"

"You'd relocate just for me?"

"Not for you. For us." Pearl grinned. "We're Off the Hook, not Inkling plus Octoling!"

"Oh Pearlie!" Marina hugged her best friend. "I'm so glad I have you! You're the best!"

"Yeah….besides, you're not one of those filthy Salmonids!"

Marina gasped.

"What?! I lost out on Mr. Grizz's pay because they kept stealing the eggs! Don't ever play Salmon Run, Mari, you'll rage quit in five seconds!"

FIN

Ending notes: Splatoon 2 is awesome! Pearl and Marina are growing on me, and this was inspired by two things: Pearl getting the short end of the stick when it comes to the fanbase, and the question of Marina's species in an Inkling world. I believe the Splatoon director said the Inklings don't notice, they only care that she's fresh. XD

The title comes from their Japanese names: Hime for Pearl and Ida for Marina.