It has been brought to the attention of the Silver Shoal board of justice for the deceased that a crucial section of Mrs. Asami Sakurai's last will and testament had not been properly carried through. It is with firm suggestion that Mrs. Sakurai's last living relative, her daughter excluded, right these wrongs and deliver to the child items stated very clearly in the will of the deceased to be rightfully hers. It is with obligation to the dearly departed that these mistakes in conduct be corrected if possible. The following will outline the terms for transfer of property and any other such requirements.

The rest is as follows…


Three held the paper tight. The remainder of the tediously written note became obscured as her mind became far, far more focused on the information just revealed to her.

Four and Eight both stood wordlessly to her right, watching anxiously while her eyes scanned the note delivered by the octoling.

"That complete and utter bitch." Three mumbled hushly, fingers beginning to crease the edges of the paper. What was she feeling right now? Anger? Sadness? Longing? She wasn't sure. Emotions were always hard as hell anyway, and labels weren't her specialty. Whatever she was feeling, it was enough to have her ears twitching and her nose wrinkling.

Her mother had meant to give her something. Something so important, she made sure Three would receive it even after her dying breath. It had been over a fucking decade since her mother had died, why the shit was this only coming up now?

"H-hey Three…?" Eight cleared her throat uneasily to get her girlfriend's attention. Her attention was granted but good cod, let's hope her aunt was military trained just as she was, because she had an upgraded hero shot lying around just waiting to be used.

"What?" The inkling breathed. Her frustration was clear and frankly she had to give herself a pat on the back for not punching a hole through the wall. All things considered it was a miracle she hadn't gone on a manhunt the second she'd finished skimming the note.

"Are you… okay?" She tapped her fingers together and nervously glanced around the room. "You're doing that thing again. Where you look a tiny bit murderous."

Four was rubbing her arm with a fidgety hand. "Yeah man. I mean, you can be a scary chick. But you actually look like you might stab someone."

Zapfish help auntie, because it would be challenging to not do precisely that.

"I'm…" Three chewed her bottom lip between pointed teeth. "I don't know. I'm fucking pissed to hell, that's for damn sure."

"Well…" Eight placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a small, shy smile. "What else is new, right?" She was clearly trying for a mood lifting joke. Luckily, it kind of worked. Three's scowl softened and her death grip on the note loosened. "But really. Are you okay?"

Three wanted to smile back at the sweetheart of an octoling but the turmoil and conflicting emotions racing through her mind weighed down on her. She sighed. Suddenly she felt awfully tired. "Eight, I really don't know. I want to punch something but I don't think I have the energy."

"I see…" Eight looked worried, though understanding.

"Uh," Four spoke up. "I know it's literally like, none of my business at all. But what's going on? What's the note say?" She pulled at the hem of her shirt, looking uncharacteristically sheepish.

Three eyed the note, then Four, then the note again. "Well you're right in that this doesn't concern you at all. But…" It's not as though Four hadn't already gotten involved. Seeing as how she was with Eight, surely she knew at least to some vague extent that her aunt was here and that she had some issues with her. She was going to omit some details but… fine. "So uh, my mom. She's not around anymore. Apparently she meant for me to get some stuff. But my aunt never gave me anything. I don't know if she didn't know or just didn't care but…" She grunted to herself. She didn't want to assume auntie couldn't be bothered to respect the dying wish of her dead sister, but she really wouldn't put it past the woman.

"Ouch." Four winced. She was being surprisingly delicate. Though Three guessed she never took her as someone who legitimately got off on being a terrible person. She was a jokester, sure. But not a bad person. "Yeah, that sucks. Sorry Three. This whole situation seems kind of shitty."

Yes it most certainly was.

"So what are you going to do?" Eight prompted. "Are you going to see her?"

What choice did she have? As much as she didn't want to, the desire to reclaim something her mother had to give her was far too strong to ignore. "I guess I kind of have to." She answered warily.

"I can tell you don't want to." Eight observed.

"No shit. But y'know." Eight knew more about the situation than anyone. If anyone was going to understand, it'd be her.

"I get it." She replied gently, confirming that she did in fact understand the conflict Three was being plagued with. It wasn't fair, damn it. Of course she wanted whatever her mother had left behind, but at the same time, she was finally happy. Kind of at least. More than she'd been in years. Her life had become relatively peaceful and aside from the occasional incident at work, she finally felt like her existence had mellowed out. Not to mention Eight and all the wonderful good she was. Then to simply invite her aunt into her life, into her coddamned house… ugh. It's not as though she expected her aunt to hang around and make herself a staple in their lives. But it was the principle of the thing. Here she was, a grown squid, living on her own, away from her trashy aunt. She's finally some semblance of happy, and just like that, auntie shows up with news that she's been withholding one or more possessions her mom had wanted her to have.

That was messed up, right?

"Hey though," Eight interrupted Three's troubled thoughts. "You have all the time you need. Her contact info is at the bottom of the paper, you can call her whenever you're ready. There's no rush, y'know?"

"And," Four jumped in, "you have friends who'd be happy to kick her ass for you if she pulls anything." She offered a cheeky grin. Friendship was the darnedest thing, wasn't it?

Three looked between the younger two cephalopods. "Yeah, I… Okay I guess."

"Okay you'll let me whoop the butt of a grumpy old lady?"

Three sighed. "No you nutjob. If anyone is going to give her a swift foot up the ass, it's going to be me. But I think I'm gonna have to restrain the urge to do that."

"Aw," Four pouted. "Lame. She seems like she deserves it."

Eight made an annoyed tsk-ing sound. She squarely crossed her arms and gave a steely grimace towards nothing in particular. "She definitely does." She agreed darkly. Her eyes narrowed and her claws suddenly became much more noticeable.

There was something oddly addicting about sweet, gentle, agent 8 agreeing with no hesitation that someone should have a foot shoved up their ass. Neat as it was though - and flattering, knowing most of the reason she felt that way was because of her attachment to Three - the inkling didn't like seeing her cheerful, kind hearted octopus feeling bitter. "Hey, I hear you." She started, reaching out to take Eight's hand in her own. "Thanks for like, caring and all that junk."

Eight's facial expression and body language relaxed just as quickly as they had tensed. She made no effort to remove her hand from Three's hold and gave the shorter girl that ever lovely smile of hers. And like, holy shit did Eight have a cute smile. As much as she'd seen it over the past many months, one would think Three might be used to it by now. But nope. Goodness gracious, her hearts felt as though they'd give out basically every time. "So?" She began to ask, "when are you going to meet up with her?"

Ugh. Right. They should probably figure that out. "Well…" She definitely didn't feel like doing it today. No thank you. That would be too short notice for her liking, and seeing her aunt twice in one day wasn't something she was emotionally prepared for. Maybe not tomorrow either. She needed to do some agent stuff, run some errands as well as play a couple turf matches. Hmmm… it occurred to Three that fairly soon, she wouldn't have to do that last one anymore. It was a fun pass time, sure. But got tiresome as a means of income. But with Eight's new job and all.

Anyways. The day after tomorrow then. It wasn't an off day per say, but it would be less busy. She'd go grocery shopping, do a quick check in with Cuttlefish, then be on her way.

"Day after tomorrow I guess." Three said. She was still weighing her options, but as tempting as procrastination was, better sooner than later, right?

"Hey guys?" Four reminded the other two of her presence. She had her eyes on her phone and a grin on her face. "I'm about to get going, but I just got a text from Stephen. Eight, you've all but got the job. He said his boss wants to talk to you, but they'll work it out from there."

"Really?" Eight beamed, her entire being lighting up with excited energy. It was a complete tonal 180° but as far as Three was concerned that was for the best. Let's focus on this now, no more complicated, frustrating bullshit.

"Fucking sweet." Three replied with a much cheerier disposition than she'd had just moments ago. "I know I already said so, but seriously, congrats Eight. I'm glad you're… er… excited to help me pay dumbass bills."

"Three, I would pay every dumbass bill on the planet for you."

Oh no, she's too good. Three couldn't take it. Her hearts! Be still her beating hearts!

Four was less taken by the abundant romantic cheese than her lovesick elder though. "Uuuggghhh I think I just threw up a little."

Three shot her a fiery glare and stepped closer to her beloved. "You shut your whore mouth." Nobody smack talks how cheesy and romantic Eight is but her!

The octoling giggled, shoulders bouncing and tentacles swaying joyously. "Three, play nice."

Hmmm… Someday, Four. Someday Eight wasn't going to be around to reel her in, and that's when Three would deliver a friendly reckoning unto that smug-ass face.

Said smug-ass then gave them both a cordial wave and turned towards the door. "Oki doki, well you love birds have fun sucking each other off. I'm going to head out. Eight I'll let you know when you should head back down to the diner. I can show you the way again if need be. See y'all later!"

"U-um… yep… See, uh, s-see you later." Eight's peachy orange eyes had widened and her face had reddened immensely at Four's innocent little tease. Were she not in the same boat, Three would've found it adorable. Damn you Four.

A couple moments later and the door was closing, leaving Three and Eight alone once again. Oof, today had been a long one. To think she was meant to have the day off. Ha! That was rich. She just wanted to crash and sleep for thirty years.

"You look sleepy." Eight pointed out with an amused smirk.

She swore, Eight had to be a mind reader. "Er… yeah I guess. A lot of crap happened today."

"I feel that." Eight paused for a beat, then glanced toward her bedroom. Her blush hadn't gone away, but rather, intensified. "You uh… you… wanna take a nap together? O-or something? I could use some sleep too. We could cuddle…?"

Well how could you say no to an offer like that?

"O-oh uh… sure. Yeah that sounds good."

"Awesome." Eight breathed happily. She twirled one of her tentacles between her fingers as she turned to skip merrily toward her bedroom.

Three watched after her for a brief moment, then quickly hurried to follow suit. As she did so, she contently noticed the warm fluttering in her chest and grinned.