Into the Light- New Connections

by SirGalactica

This story is a continuation of my previous story, Into the Light- Echoes of the Past. All characters and game mechanics that aren't my own and belong to the Splatoon game(s) and or other iterations, will belong to Nintendo and other properties. This has been given a high rating of M, due to the mentions of sensitive topics and occasional use of bad language. You have been warned.

13. Chapter 4, Part 1

Into the Light- New Connections

'W-Wait, there's something I-'

As our main character goes through his first day of school, he finds it be fairly relaxed with nothing much happening- but with a certain group of girls looming in their corner and some of his friends dealing with issues at home that seem to be getting worse and worse, is this just the calm before the storm? Or is it the build-up to something much worse?

(Author's Note: I don't believe there are any trigger warnings I need to include in this chapter, however as always- viewer discretion is advised. Please remember to take care of your mental/physical health and wellbeing everyone!)

Chapter 4, Part 1:

As you began to dream, you found yourself back at a familiar location where many months ago- you saw the sun for the first time; where you were surrounded by the beautiful smell of the sea and introduced to refreshing winds that moved your hair and filled your lungs with genuine fresh air.

It was also where you saw her standing there again, looking out over the sea and the waves- the city in the distance and the sun in its permanent state of rising. She acknowledged your presence by beckoning you to come stand beside her, by saying to you in her ghostly voice. 'Hello Hibiki, it's nice to see you again.'

You walked towards her willingly and stood near her- a metre or two apart, and although you never saw her face, you knew it was her.

You knew that it was your Mother.

A few moments of palpable silence later, you plucked up the courage to ask her, 'Why have you brought me here?' She didn't say much at first, but when she answered it was in her usual smooth tone- and you didn't need to look at her to know that she was smiling in her usual way. 'I wanted to see you my dear, would you rather have horrible nightmares or come back here?'

You attempted to respond to her question a few times, but you gave up in the end and looked off in the distance to your left- then going on to look down at the ocean below you before letting out a quiet, 'Hmm- I see your point.'

She seemed to be mildly amused by your response, but moved on to ask you about your sister. 'Aka seems to be well, your Father tells me that you read to her at night and that you take care of her as much as you can- is that true?'

You explained to her why you cared for her as much as you did, even though most people your age wouldn't bat an eye towards their younger siblings. 'Of course it is- why wouldn't it be? I made a promise to you to protect and look after her, and you know how I like to keep my promises as much as possible.'

She seemed to be happy with your answer, and moved onto something else. 'Tell me, the two men. Agent 3 and 4. Have they been treating you well?' You went on a long spiel about how they treated you well and if they didn't then you wouldn't have stuck around for this long, and that you would leave with your sister as soon as you could to love somewhere else.

In fact, it got to a point where she had to interrupt you to let you know that she got your point and was more than happy with your judgements. 'You've made your point enough my dear, but there's something else I want to ask you. Agent 3. How are you getting along with him?'

You went silent when she asked this question, and as much as you tried to ignore or avoid it- she remained firm and continued on, remarking with an obvious tone. 'You don't seem to like him very much.'

You groaned and rubbed at your eyes in annoyance, answering her in a low, almost-tired voice. 'No- I don't... But- I need to be civil with him, to keep order in the house and for Aka's sake. I do wish he wouldn't see me like the other people my age or how he may have been when he was my age...'

She tried to reassure you as best as she could, speaking to you in a soft and gentle voice that felt almost like she was talking to you as if you were a much younger child at first, but you ignored it to focus on what she was saying. 'He just wants the best for you my dear, although it is a bit mis-guided to say the least- you have more sense than he wants to admit. You're more mature than that, I mean- look at you!'

She began to list all of the things you do, things that were small on their own- but powerful when combined to reassure you. 'You care for your sister and help with looking after her; you're focusing on the future; you're thinking about what career path you want to take; you're focusing on your studies; your focusing on improving yourself- all of those things are properties of a mature boy like you.'

Whilst she went off on a tangent slightly, she remained on point and continued with her lesson. 'Of course your friends are or can be mature, but they aren't as mature as you. And whilst that may partially be my fault for many reasons... Perhaps it is for the best that you're like this. You won't do foolish things that will affect your future like that girl your friends have told you about, you're far from that type of person- I don't have any worries about you and neither should he.'

You were always glad to receive reassurance from her, and it left a soft feeling in your heart that caused your chest to feel light and airy- and after you had thanked her for everything, you smiled and told her that you had achieved a breakthrough with Rei.

'I have improved my relationship with him a bit- he finally got that I'm not interested in doing things that other people my age do, so hopefully that'll work out. But- I don't think I'm ready to start spending time with him properly, I'm just- not interested in it?'

She asked you why that was, and although you couldn't properly explain it- you tried your best and came up with this explanation. 'I'm not sure what it is, but I just don't find the idea of spending time with him one on one enjoyable- I just feel like he'd make it awkward or he'd misunderstand something and it'd end up like how our disagreements normally go...'

She asked how the disagreements between the two of you normally went down, and you told her in a mildly saddened tone. 'Me having to wait until he's finished, to explain how and why whatever happened is the exact opposite of what he has just said to me. As in that whatever he has accused me off is the exact opposite if what I would actually do, and often other people would have to stick up- particularly Maru or the Hybrid as you may know him as.'

She just sighed and said to you rather indifferently, 'He's an Inkling dear, he doesn't see things the way you or the Hybrid- Agent 4 would.'

You were still a bit sour over all the incidents that had occurred between you and Rei, and out of growing annoyance- you lost your composure slightly and began to raise your voice. 'But still- that doesn't excuse the fact that he doesn't let me have a say in the argument until the end! He-'

She shushed you soothingly, and held you out of nowhere- her hands rubbing your upper back and stirring the messy pot of your emotions further and further, threatening to cause it to bubble up and overflow. With her voice beginning to change and her appearance starting to get more faint, indicating to you that the visit was going to end soon.

'Now now dear, you shouldn't dwell on it for any longer than you need to. It'll only eat you up inside, and it won't do you any good. I'm sorry I can't stay with you any longer, but I must go now unfortunately. I may not see you again for quite a while, but I shall look forward to seeing you visit me and your father at the end of the month. I wish you all the luck in the world my son, farewell- Hibiki...'

You could feel her fading away and the very ground you were standing on, you shouted out to her in a quick and panicked fashion, 'W-Wait, there's something I-'

Before you could finish what you were saying however, she had faded away completely and you started to fall into a black void- the peaceful and serene surroundings you were just in, disappearing further and further away from your eyes as you continued your descent back into the real world.

The blaring of your alarm had woken you up- cutting your dreamscape encounter short and ending it rather abruptly, bleary-eyed you looked at the time on your clock in a mix of tiredness and annoyance and saw that it was 5:30 in the morning.

As much as you didn't want to get up, you forced yourself to get up immediately and turn your alarm off- hurrying to the bathroom to get washed and dressed, before you moved on to your makeup.

The cold water helped to wake you up a bit, and as you moved on through your routine- you found yourself waking up more and more, that by the time you were finished in the bathroom you were ready to move on and have breakfast.

Before you could have breakfast however, you went to take your medication first- taking them all in less than a few minutes before moving on to eat the breakfast you had prepared last night.

As you were preparing breakfast for everyone, Sunny had come to the kitchen table to apply her makeup- with Maru coming in behind her to prepare Rei's lunch for the day with anything else he may have needed.

You had given Sunny her coffee as well as her breakfast, to which she thanked you, took a good sip of her coffee and carried on with her makeup with a content look on her face.

You had the breakfast all laid out on the table, ready and waiting for the other occupants in the house to come and enjoy it.

You sat down to eat after giving Maru his medication at his request, to which he had taken his medication with his coffee and had given Rei a quick kiss when he passed by to collect his lunch for himself and Aka to place near the door be he went to sit down and eat with everyone else.

When you had finished eating, you steeped your dishes in the sink and went to gather all your things for school- checking over them all before you said goodbye to Aka as she left to go with Rei to work.

Not long after, you and Sunny said goodbye to Maru- who gave you a small container filled with food to give to Tsuyo when you saw her before you left, then bidding the two of you farewell as you left the apartment to head to the train station.

A few minutes after you had arrived at the train station- around 3 or so, Tsuyo came running down the stairs at such a quick pace that you swore she had definitely done this many times before.

She apologised sincerely for being late, and went about fixing herself up slightly before inquiring about her makeup. It was clear that she hadn't had time to fully finish her makeup yet, but she had spent what time she had to put on her makeup focusing on covering up her acne and acne scars with a smooth layer of foundation and powder.

You reassured her that she looked fine and that she would have plenty of time to finish her makeup at school before classes started, to which you handed the small plastic container of food to her upon the reminder of Sunny.

Tsuyo looked at the plastic container in her hands and muttered under her breath, 'He knows me all too well...'

She thanked you for it and began to eat the food from it, finishing it in time for the train to arrive- handing the container over to Sunny who decided to take it out of her own insistence, saying that you already had enough to carry with you as it was.

You learned from Tsuyo why she took this route to and from school as opposed to the train station near her. 'Whilst I live closer to the school compared to everyone else, and can run there when I need to- the train station near me doesn't run as many trains and when it does- they're delayed; cancelled or late.'

She was interrupted in her explanation when you all stumbled about a bit when the train stopped to let passengers off at a stop before, but when the train got moving again- she continued on with her explanation.

'So- since it's only a five minute bus ride or a ten minute walk from my house to here, quicker if I'm sprinting like the hammers of hell like I did this morning. I'm more likely to get to school on time if I use this train station- due to the fact that the trains are more reliable here and they run more often.'

You found that explanation to be pretty interesting, and let a quiet- 'Hmm, the more you know.', in response. The conversation ended between you and Tsuyo, and whilst she continued chatting to Sunny, you gazed out of the window absentmindedly and observed the ever-changing scenery that passed by it.

You were snapped out of your haze by Tsuyo touching your shoulder and telling you, 'Here, this is our stop. C'mon.'

One by one, you left with Tsuyo and Sunny and got off of the train- moving in and amongst the throngs of people to attempt to make your way out of the train station, unaware of the fact that Ruby; Chrys; and Maki were way ahead of you and already on their way to school.

Once you had exited the train station and escaped the crowds of people coming to and from it, you were led by Tsuyo through an entirely different part of Inkopolis.

You noticed a large green tower in the distance meaning that you were either close to Inkopolis Plaza or on the outskirts of it.

Although it was still in the city, it had a more quiet aspect to it- even though that it was likely to do with the fact that it was the early morning, this part of Inkopolis seemed to be as quiet as or even quieter than the area you lived in.

You also noticed that you were more inland and in an area with more foliage, in comparison to the area where you currently resided in- which had more bodies of water and was closer to the sea than other parts of the city.

Overall, you found the scenic walk to school rather nice- peaceful almost. With Tsuyo's casual and comfortable ramblings mixing in with the background noise in a nice way as she pointed out certain things to you along the way, you found yourself with a tranquil heart and a calm peace of mind.

When you finally stopped before the school, you took a moment or two to take it all in. The building was a mix of old and modern, classic and chic- it was large and expansive, with large grounds for sports and other activities.

Whilst it was still rather early, there were a few people around that gave life to the building- and made it seem a bit more welcoming than intimidating.

Sunny offered to take some photos of you two before she left to head to her own school, to which you both agreed and stood close to the school's sign to take some formal, private photos that would most likely be printed out and stored away to show others at a later date.

When you were both satisfied with the photos, you thanked her for them and bid her farewell- to which she did the same and bid the two of you luck and her goodbyes before the three of you parted ways.

You walked into the main lobby with Tsuyo and changed into your indoor shoes for the first time- leaving your outdoor shoes in the locker you were assigned a few days before school started.

You were then shown around a bit by Tsuyo as part of an unofficial tour, being shown the main classrooms you'd be heading to and certain parts of the building such as the Technology and Weapons Block; the Arts, Drama, and Literature Wing; the Maths Corridor; and more.

She also showed you where important rooms were such as the Learning Support Room- where you talked to Maki, Ruby and Chrys for a few minutes; the Nurses Office/Infirmary; the Principals Office; etcetera...

You then headed up to your Form Room, where you put away your lunch and gear bag in another locker you were assigned by the school. With Tsuyo doing the same before she sat down and began to finish off what she had started with her make-up.

Even though you seen her put makeup on before, you still couldn't believe how quickly she could do her makeup- especially after she finished her main layer.

In fact, Tsuyo herself had timed herself doing her makeup before and it only took her fifteen minutes to completely do her everyday makeup- with the previous five minutes being used to prime her face and put the main layer on, with the extra ten being used for everything else.

When she was satisfied with her makeup, she set it all with setting spray and put her makeup bag back in her locker with her other belongings.

A loud, thunderous roar from an engine outside startled you both- causing you to look out the open window and see a bright red sports-car directly out the school's front gates.

Tsuyo explained to you that the car directly outside the school belonged to Chandler's father, and you couldn't quite explain why- but the very sight of the car made you feel uncomfortable, and the sinister inklings of unease or evil emanating from the car didn't help either.

A figure left the car very slowly, but made their way to the school in a hurry when the car sped off into the distance, and it wasn't until they drew nearer to the main lobby that you realised that the figure was Chandler- a rather dishevelled looking one whenever you saw him in person.

You helped fix him up a bit slightly- handing him a lint roller and laundry-pen to clean his shirt up, with Tsuyo doing the rest and main bulk of the work- fixing his tie and his mildly messy hair, making him look more presentable than he did when he first came in.

Soon enough, the others arrived- and with them the other pupils of the school, bringing the school to life with the loud chatter of voices and laughter and hurried footsteps of people rushing to class to get ready and settled before the teacher came.

At exactly 8:45AM, the bell rang and indicated to everyone in the building that the teacher was coming soon, or for late comers that they needed to hurry up and get school before they'd be marked as absent or late.

In less than a minute or so, your Form Teacher arrived and introduced himself. He looked to be a young man in his mid-20's or so, he was an inkling like the vast majority of everyone else in the room aside from you; another boy; and four girls that would include Maki once she was deemed to be ready to integrate into a normal class setting.

He called all the new students to the front to introduce themselves, including you- so as everyone in the room watched with staring eyes and bated breath you introduced yourself as calmly as you could, despite the fact that your heart felt like it was going to burst out of your chest with how fast it was beating.

'Hello, I'm Hibiki Suzuki. It's very nice to meet you all.'

You then bowed and went back to your seat, with Tsuyo whispering to you that you did a good job. Your teacher was slightly confused when you introduced yourself with a different surname than the one down in the system, but he didn't think much about it and moved on.

Your Form Teacher who you now knew as Mr Kard, handed everyone out their timetables and homework diary, as well as an agreement form for you all to sign that meant you agreed to follow all of the school's rules.

Mr Kard also reminded everyone that if there were any errors in their timetable- that you were to go up and see him to get it fixed.

You saw some minor errors in your time-table and got them amended just before you heard the bell ring to signify that you now needed to go to class.

With everyone else, you got your belongings and headed out your Form Room, getting caught up with how cramped and close together everyone was in the hallways- unlike everything you were used to in your old school back home.

Eventually, you had made your way to your first class without issue and went about it as normal. You did the same for the next class before break, where you chatted to your friends for a bit and headed back to class when it was over.

Something that you noticed though was that a certain girl kept on looking at you whilst you were talking to your friends, and even during the morning when you were in your Form Room with her.

She had dyed blonde hair and tanned skin, akin to Chandler's current look and the previous appearance of the rest of your friends who were previously friends with or associated with a certain girl. She also wore a rather small skirt, well above her knees and almost completely hidden by her too-small shirt.

She was dressed rather flashily for school, and whilst you had no problem with people making themselves look nice or presentable, or in a way that gave them more confidence. There were certain occasions in which it was required to dress more decently or look a certain way that was considered to be appropriate for the setting.

And the girl that continuously stared at you was practically a walking dress-code violation.

Her nails were far too long to be practical, and whilst your school had very few issues with nail polish or fake nails- they still required their students to have their nails at a suitable length that was practical for general usage, to which her sharp and pointy fake red claws proved to go against.

Another rule that she broke was the school's rule on piercings, and again- whilst the school had no issue with their students having pierced ears or having many ear piercings. They asked their students to not wear jewellery that would get caught easily on clothing or on other materials, with most of the girls wearing large earrings- some of them wearing large dangling earrings that could easily get caught in something.

Furthermore, the small group of girls she hung around with- five including her, were dressed in a similar fashion to one another. Dyed hair- usually blonde, with highlights or extensions in; fake tan that gave them an appearance similar to a bag of burnt spicy crisps, instead of a natural glow that you'd achieve from being outside for a long period of time; skirts that may as well have been non-existent; and manners that would switch back and forth from an overtly sugary sweet personality that was steeped in anything but genuine kindness, and a ruthless brutality and utter disregard for anyone and everything in their way- going so far as to treat anyone that wasn't in their favour with a strong lack of respect and remorse in their hushed whispers and loud giggles when certain people passed by.

The only reason you knew this was when you observed them being pleasant and kind to another student- asking them how their summer was and how they've been, and when the student had left- they began to laugh about the student, calling them 'pathetic' and criticising their activities as 'lame' or 'boring'

They didn't even try to hide to their behaviour, they would laugh as loudly as they possibly could- obnoxiously talking to one another about their dislike for other students or other topics, in shouts or hushed tones that switched so frequently that they may as well have just announced their conversations from the rooftops.

You could tell that they were going to be a bothersome group to deal with as time went on, but you knew that it was unlikely that they would start anything on the first day- so you were thankful that you and your friends were off the hook and off their radar for now at least.

When your classes were over and lunch started, you went to check on Maki for a few minutes- in order to ask her how she got on with her classes and how she had been.

She told you that she was fine and she had gotten along well with her teachers and her work, but the one thing she had struggled with a bit was her maths work. You knew that she had struggled with maths before, and so you offered to help her after-school in the library with her homework.

She really liked the idea of seeing the others again and being able to get help with her schoolwork, and so she agreed and you promised to pick her up after-school when classes were over to go to the library.

You then bid her farewell and went to your Form Room for lunch, where you were met with some of your friends waiting on you, with the likes of Ruby and Brianna having eaten already and doing something else elsewhere but would be back soon before lunch ended.

You were all discussing your days so far, what you all planned to do after-school and other topics of conversation that came to mind.

Tsuyo was looking forward to a new manga that was being released on Friday, a manga that she was going to read with Maki when she could.

Connor and Josh were planning on going to the skate-park at some point, either during the week or the weekend depending on the weather and how much homework they had, amongst other factors.

Leah was planning on spending some time with her mum at an observatory on Thursday, whilst Brianna was planning on watching a football game with her brother's on Saturday afternoon after the Turf War Class.

Ruby and Chrys had work at the weekend and during the week for the most part, and probably wouldn't do much after that. Chandler didn't have many plans but he mentioned that he might do some shopping if he was able to.

When they asked you what you were planning on doing, you mentioned that after-school you were going to help Maki with her maths work and if she was really good- you were going to take her to an ice-cream shop to treat her.

You also explained that you were going to have your family game nights and your trip to Church as usual, as well as attending the Turf War Class as you normally did too.

You didn't expect there to be any changes in your plans, but you said to the others that you would inform them of any changes as soon as you could.

Eventually, lunch was over- and you all packed your belongings away into your lockers, heading back to your classes until half two in the afternoon- where the school day officially ended.

However, since most pupils needed to stay behind to help set up the after-school clubs, to study or even wait on being picked up amongst other reasons- you and your friends didn't look out of place as you all stayed behind to do some homework, as well as going over some things the others had trouble with in class.

When it got to half three in the afternoon, you all left the school to head home- taking a few photos outside the school gates before going ahead down the road to leave school, talking and laughing with one another all the way home, even when your friends went their separate ways one by one.

Chandler was the last of your friends to separate from you, you noticed that he seemed really reluctant to go home- almost fearful of it. When you asked him what was the matter- he tried to brush it off and insist that it was nothing.

You could tell that it was bothering him, but you knew that he wasn't ready to talk about it yet. And so you told him that if he needed you for anything- he could call you to talk to you or that you would be there for him in general.

That seemed to cheer him up a bit, and so he thanked you for that before he parted ways with you, giving you a wide smile and separating from you to walk towards an alley that you remembered led to the business district of Inkopolis as you continued walking to the train station- musing to yourself as you got the train home alone.

When you got home, you cleared your lunchbox and water bottle out of its contents- rinsing them and putting to the side to be washed later.

You then headed into your room just so you could put your bags down and jump onto your bed, lying there for a minute or two to de-stress before you went to change into your pyjamas and finish the rest of your homework, going onto have dinner afterwards.

When dinner was over, you and Sunny did the dishes and helped each other prepare your lunches and breakfast for the next day, heading back to your room afterwards to set up the rest of your online classes- going through your schedule and organising/packing your school bag for the next day.

When you were organising your bag however, you got a video-call notification from the others- and since you wanted company, you put your headphones in and answered- chatting to your friends absent-mindedly whilst you organised your bag.

You enjoyed talking to your friends and looking up occasionally to see what they were doing, whether it was Leah feeding and playing with her birds Kiwi and Peepy; Josh playing his guitar; or Maki practicing her Martial Arts moves- you enjoyed their company and you felt a bit more relaxed now that you had something to distract yourself with.

Although, something that worried you was how quiet Tsuyo and Chandler would be during these calls- if they were active then they would talk quietly and in low voices, but if they heard something on their end- they would quickly go silent and mute themselves for varying periods of time, only to come back and do the same thing for the rest of the call.

Another thing that they did was that they never turned their camera's on, and if they did- it was very rare and infrequent. Often for very short periods of time, no more than 5-10 minutes.

The others were concerned about it as well, even though they didn't verbally distress it- it was clear from the way they acted and sometimes how they looked that they were concerned about them and their well-being.

Over time, your friends all left the call and said their goodbyes and good lights, with you leaving yourself after you said goodnight to both Tsuyo and Chandler.

When you had hanged up, the familiar feeling of worry and concern bubbled away in the bottom of your stomach like a large pot slowly boiling and bubbling up- threatening to boil over and spill at any time.

As much as they tried to brush off their home lives to you, you were always going to worry about them for as long as they were going to stay there.

But you tried to take your mind off of it by thinking about things you were looking forward to that week.

"Let's see- we're playing Squid Street on family game night on Wednesday, that'll be fun. I'm taking Maki for ice-cream on Friday after-school, if she's been good but chances are she will be good. There's the Class on Saturday- Maki's going to start going to that to observe it, she can't play right away unfortunately but hopefully she will soon enough."

"Church will be nice on Sunday, I like going with Sunny. Hmm- I might work at Grizzco during the week or the weekend if I have time, same with Turf War or Ranked. Maybe I could take a walk with Aka sometime if the weather is nice enough. Speaking of which."

You got up from your bed and went into your sisters room to check on her, to which you saw Maru finishing up getting her ready for bed, to which playfully asked you when he saw you come in. 'Are you here for the night-shift?'

You laughed and said that you were, taking a smiley Aka from him and giving her a good hug- kissing the top of her head and forehead, causing her giggle and kick her tiny little legs in excitement.

Maru then left you alone with her to start reading to her, only coming in once to give you her last bottle of the night and left again, letting you spend time with her in peace.

You gave her the bottle to drink, to which she drank it by herself as she sat in your lap against you- as you read aloud and signed a children's book to her. Encouraging her to get sleepy and relaxed before you would put her to bed.

You spoke in a gentle and soft voice to her, particularly as you got to the last few pages of the short book.

'And so- the little astronaut looked up to the sky, and said goodnight to all the stars. Wishing them all sweet dreams, just like the people back home on Earth- currently dreaming the night away, all tucked up safe and sound in their beds. The End.'

You then closed the book and set it on the table along with the now empty bottle, next to the rocking chair, picking Aka up as gently as you could- rubbing her back for a few minutes, before you set her down in her cot and got her all settled down.

You hummed the version of Tide Goes Out Tsuyo had sung to you before, to her- as you petted her cheek and watched her eyes slowly flickering shut, and her breathing slowing down.

When her eyes were completely closed and her little chest rose up and down in a slow, deep pattern, you whispered to her quietly. 'Goodnight sweetheart, I hope you have sweet dreams...'

You then kissed her gently on the centre of her forehead, and taking the empty bottle- you crept out of her room and closed the door, going past Maru and Rei watching TV in blissful silence, rinsing out the bottle and going over everything one last time before you got ready for bed and headed back to your room.

You noticed that it was starting to get late in the evening, around 8:30PM or so- and you decided that before you turned in for the night, you were going to write a letter to your parents in your diary to unwind and tell them about the day you had as well as how you were doing, so that you could go to bed with a clearer head for the next day ahead of you.

'Dear Mother...'

Chapter 4, Part 1, End.