Exactly one week had passed since the battle at Osuma that ended in the cancellation of the Tokugawa Selection. Thanks to everything having been aired on national television, everyone witnessed the bloody event and once again, Azule's name and Squidcom got tossed around and about with rumors swirling that they were involved with the event since Cobalt Tokugawa was confirmed to be in the selection and competed throughout the entire event. In the aftermath of the Tokugawa Selection, Tangie and Cobalt stayed behind in Ikayumu with Simone to help rebuild the fractured empire; Tangie also lost her arm and would recuperate with Simone, the woman who helped in healing and giving her treatment. The structure of the Tokugawa family altered with the Kotari and Zukuri alliance leaders becoming executives to the family in a huge change from the traditional standard of blood relatives, and to top it off, Cobalt was appointed the new leader of the Tokugawa family. In the two days spent traveling to get back to Inkopolis in time for the new week of school, everyone felt the fatigue of the past couple of weeks come down on them, but none like Azule, who was so tired he even missed class today. Amidst all the talk on campus about the selection thanks to social media, it wasn't the only thing that dominated the web. The Inkopolis government confirmed the rumors of the elected prime minister's assassination that occurred a month ago, creating uproar and animosity as conspiracies began to roam the internet about it all being a ploy by the government, and that the government was due to fall at any moment. It didn't help that the stock market was reaching record lows as many nations began to close their trades with Inkopolis, with many instead redirecting to the rival nations like Squirabia and Mollusca. In the pop culture scene, news of the revitalization of splatfests were confirmed with regular fests being held each month by two new hosts. These two new hosts would also be hosts of the Inkopolis news, having already landed a gig on Good Morning Inkopolis to handle the show from the Squid Sisters, who announced their retirement from television to focus on their biggest album ever in a huge collaboration and revitalization featuring the two huge solo acts coming together under their old stage name.
At Squid Academy, the lunch bell rings to dismiss the students from their classes on a sunny Tuesday at noontime. A sea of students dressed in the school uniform with their corresponding colored ties made their way to the massive lunchroom with many of the inklings sharing their views on the recent events going on lately. Some of the chatter in the hallways were about the politics, others were about the events in Osuma and the involvement of Squidcom, while most of the conversations were about sports and the news of splatfests returning permanently with new people taking over. The cafeteria felt like a symphony of the students with most of the indistinct chatter blending so well together that it resembled white noise. The scene of the cafeteria was a cluster of students moving around and chatting while rays of sunlight peeked through the windows and warmed up the room in addition. Reice comes over with his lunch and takes a seat in between Sally and Fuchsia-sitting across from Kosami, Jory and Violet. They were all still feeling some fatigue from what happened in Osuma, but they recovered for the most part, except Azule-who was still asleep at this very moment.
"Man, sometimes homeroom can bite…" Reice sighed as he took a bite into his yakisoba sandwich.
"I wish I could be with you guys in homeroom." Jory said with a hint of envy, having to be stuck in another class after receiving a pardon from Telfin to attend the school
Fuchsia waved her hand, "Nah, you aren't missing anything."
"This feels weird, sitting here like this with most of the group gone." Kosami said, speaking her mind aloud and catching the group's attention.
Sally stopped her chopsticks from smacking her bento box to look at Kosami, "It's a way of life. We meet people, and we say goodbye to them. I'm confident we'll see those two again."
Kosami nodded-then shook her head, "But it's crazy, really, our team's dynamic and all. Like, how did Azule go through all that and not die? He has a unreliable heart and yet he pushed his body past its limits."
"It goes back to his training as a child. Azule shared the story that when he was way younger-a time before the war-he received the most unbearable of training and conditioning that forced his body to adapt to a drastic set of standards. What was seen that day is an example that Azule's been through worse." Violet said plainly.
"Hmmm, this team seemed to finally reach an amazing level of trust and chemistry with all the members together. It sucks that Jory is arriving as the funniest person and the coolest person in the group leave. I think he'd love to have spent time with them."
Jory scratched his cheek, "To be quite honest, Cobalt kind of scares me…"
Everyone goes silent before Fuchsia starts to laugh, followed by Sally. It couldn't be further from what Jory thought. Jory laughed along, and soon, everyone laughed together before letting the heavy air disappear. Aside from Jory, everyone in Squidcom had a deep friendship with the departing members with Kosami having known them from her childhood while the others grew their friendship as time went on. A few minutes pass by with small talk on trivial matters going on around social media before Sally slams her fist in her palm with an aloof expression.
"Rank Wars is coming up soon. We need to prepare!" Sally said with a nod.
Violet rests her chin in her hand, "It's in a few weeks too. Regular turf wars won't do much…"
"Yeah, since it'll be themes we can't waste our time on the generic battles. Hey, maybe we can shoot for ranked at Inkopolis square?" Reice suggested as he wolfed down his food to join the conversation.
Kosami nodded in support, "Good idea, you guys are all pretty close in levels. Maybe you might get matched up?"
Fuchsia shook her head, "Nah, they'll probably have better odds of facing each other than matching up together. One of the gripes I have is that teaming up for rank battles seem next to impossible. Not to mention having terrible teammates that don't follow the objective, or screw around at the most inopportune of moments."
"I guess we can do league battles together after we get our ranks up? That'll simulate what we'll be doing in competition anyways, and we could shoot for a high score on the leaderboards as well." Violet suggested.
Sally nodded, "Yeah, let's aim to bolster our ranks and then work in league battles!"
"Eh?" Jory sounded.
"The plan is simple, we'll try to get to S rank for this week and then work in league battles next week. For the final week we'll do schemes and setups for the season. Of course, we'll have to be careful not to lose another member like last time." Reice said while playing with his chin.
"EH!?" Jory went even louder. "You guys play comp matches!?"
Squidcom went silent as they watched him; even Fuchsia was confused. "I thought I already told you that we did this stuff." she said with confusion in her tone.
"Not that I remember! Can I participate? I'm quite well versed in what to do."
Reice lifted an eyebrow with a growing smile, "You play, Jory?"
Jory nods his head furiously, "Yeah! I can use all the different weapons in each class and what. I think I'd make a wonderful addition to the team!"
"W-well then...I guess you can be our reserve player?" Sally responded, not expecting to have another member to the main team.
"It's decided. You're in." Violet said calmly with a smile.
"AWESOME!"
"But we'll need to assess what type of style you play and build strategies off of that."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, Reice usually is our defensive specialist and always keeps us grounded well by taking care of things for us on the defensive end, Violet's support is top notch and is excellent at covering ground and getting accurate splats-she's vital in advantageous matchups, Azule is the best man for rallying-and is the pulse of the team, and I'm the main attacker and fastest member on the team."
"I think it'd be debatable on who is the fastest member after seeing Azule's game against those S rankers in turf war the other day." Violet said nonchalantly staring at Sally, her purple eyes as unreadable as ever.
"W-well...I guess." Sally answered with a bit of disagreement present.
Reice chuckled, "I think the comparison is situational. I mean, Azule is the captain. Him possessing most of the favorable traits would make sense. But in Sally's case, she's among the fastest swimmers and runners in the country-doing it all while using the Heavy Splatling as her main."
Violet's eyes widened for a moment as if forgetting that important fact, "Oh yeah, that's true. You have the significant disadvantage of using a heavy weapon and still hold your own as the fastest on the team and in the country. Good thing you're on our team. I'd hate to play against you." she said with a gentle smile, though her tone was as low and composed as usual.
Sally blushed while receiving the praise, "Aw shucks!" she said with a chuckle. And I'd hate having to play against you and your deadeye accuracy of a snipe! What are you? A hacker? Do you got some illegal mods on your weapons, eh? She thought in her head with fury as she looked at Violet.
"But...about earlier today, we can't pretend like we'll ignore it. Right?" Fuchsia asked, putting her elbows on the table and joining her hands together while taking a look at everyone.
Reice's face dropped, "O-oh…"
Violet casts her gaze downwards with melancholy, "Principal Telfin…"
"I never saw his face turn so pale."
"It seemed like he really put his trust in us...shame we didn't deliver. The way his face dropped after we confirmed our failures really told us that we screwed up big time."
"I heard from some people that he hadn't watched the selection because Cobalt was in it. So, he didn't know anything about what happened?"
Sally clapped her hands together to grab the team's attention, "We'll make it up to him by winning the Rank Wars, agree?"
Everyone looks at her with each of them having a growing smile on their face as they watch her confidence grow. Sally was looking forward to this upcoming Rank Wars-more so than the first. She believed that this was the chance to improve on the failures of the previous appearance in the Rank Wars, having gained experience in both the sport and in life to know how to approach situations. Her first Rank Wars served as a huge lesson that no matter how good a team or an individual can be, no matter how strong the chemistry of the team, it doesn't matter if a crack is formed in the wall that leads to its demise. Losing Azule costed Squidcom a ticket to the finals, and although they had gotten as far as the semifinals with an undermanned team, it was all a matter of "What if" in the case of Azule's presence. The animosity of being the most hated team in the school died down quite a lot from how it was in the beginning of the first, but there were still plenty of people who disliked Azule enough to hate Squidcom. The favorites of this season were Kidvel, the team led by second year Pastelle. Though not a favorite like Kidvel or the Rebels, Squidcom had plenty of attention for their involvement in things outside of the usual school kids. In addition to what seemed like the trifecta of the school, many new teams were forming in the blink of an eye in preparation. By the start of the competition, there would be 20 teams ready to compete! Siked for competition, Squidcom turned their eyes to that fateful day that sat weeks away with everyone setting up their schemes and schedules for the week; lucky thing that the school schedule was much shorter since Inkopolis didn't value education as much as other nations due to the native inklings possessing incredible intelligence and aptitude-the partial reason why the nation of Inkopolis stood as the leading powerhouse. With everyone off doing their own preparations, one responsible inkling had to juggle two things: her role in Squidcom, but also her musical career.
Later that evening at Sally's job, she's greeted by a familiar face…
"Sally!" Hatsunika shouted jubilantly as she raced through the doors and leaped into her arms, rubbing her cheek lovingly against an irritated and surprised Sally. "I've come to visit you!"
"Hatsunika...can you stop? People are staring…" Sally blushed as people began taking their phones out to record the famous pop idol getting lovey dovey with some random girl at a music store.
"Awww, are you shy? I thought you wouldn't get fazed by me doing this."
"I'm not fazed, but I don't want tabloids spreading rumors about us."
"B-beh!? You don't want to be rumored in a relationship with me?"
Sally's face turned red as she looked away for a moment to go and attend to some products, "It's not...A-anyway, what's up? Why did you come here so suddenly?"
Hatsunika beamed with a smile, "I just finished recording my latest album and I have some songs I'd like to show you. My singles will drop in a few weeks and the album is slated to be released in the summertime."
Sally's face brightened, "Oh! A summer album release? We're in February and you're already talking about summer?"
"Well, I do have other projects I'm working on, so I need as much time on my hands as possible."
"But wow...you finished! Man, I remember those sleepless nights when you'd video message me until the crack of dawn."
Hatsunika blushed and shook her head, "It was more than just seeing you about that, Sally." she said under her breath with a slight chuckle. "You're a musical genius. I confide with you about all my decisions. Will you give them a listen?" she said while handing Sally her phone.
Sally denies the offer of the phone, "O-oh uh...sure! I've got work for another hour, so I won't be out till then, but I'm down to list-"
"C-can we also go out for dinner!?" She asked with heart shaped eyes and a shine, having worked up the courage on the way here to ask that question. Hatsunika had a deep interest in Sally that rooted from their initial encounter with something about Sally always attracted her to come and see when any opportunity came. The time she spent away from Sally while recording was some of the hardest for her since every waking moment she spent wondering what Sally was up to and making references and connections to Sally. To keep it simple, she was madly in love with the girl.
Sally rubbed the back of her neck, aware of Hatsunika's feelings. "I guess? Maybe tomorrow, since I thought it was just a listening thing we were doing?" she asked, uncomfortable with the idea of them doing something remotely romantic. For Sally, her main priorities were her musical career and her campaign in competing in competitions as a member of Squidcom. Anything distracting such as romance-especially with a fellow peer in her field- was something she'd like to keep distant for the time being; it was that type of restraint on her emotions that made her one of the most respected members on the team of Squidcom, sitting with Azule and ex-Squidcom mate Cobalt as the three most influential members on the team.
"It is. However, I haven't seen you in a long time. I would like to catch up and share some important news with you. Also, I was looking forward to hanging out with you and your friends, but I guess dinner can wait until tomorrow..."-She twiddles her thumbs while giving Sally sad puppy eyes- "If you're busy, I won't intrude."
Sally didn't react and kept aloof, sensing Hatsunika's attempt to get a reaction, "Sure, they'll be thrilled to hang out with an international pop idol. I'll contact you when they're free to spend a day with you..."-letting a few moments pass by, Sally thinks about what happened prior to Hatsunnika's arrival-"I see you probably got scolded by the higher ups for breaching contract and sharing everything with me." Sally laughed, with a beaming expression at Hatsunika; Hatsunika's cheeks brightened as she shook her head.
Hatsunika waved her hand, "Oh please-without me, my label would be screwed. I've helped build them into who they are. Even if they've acquired more artists since my signing, I'm still their premiere girl."
Sally crossed her arms with a laugh, "Gained some arrogance since we last met, have you?"
Hatsunika put her arms behind her back and leaned forward into Sally's personal space with an enthusiastic smile, "Do you like it?"
"Y-yeah…"
"Anyways, I'll hang out around here for a bit if you don't mind." she said cheerfully while waving hello to some customers that entered the shop; Sally's face turned pale with knowledge of how the rest of the day would go if an international music idol hanged out at her shop.
At the same time in the evening over in Sky's garage, she was busy at work on some of her projects. Now she had a total of five cars and one sport bike, the current car being tinkered with was a project she was looking to restore. Dressed in white tank top, baggy sweats, and covered in grease stains, Sky was in her element. The car she was restoring was a rusty old hot rod that had been left in the junkyard for years. She went there looking for some new parts on one of the cars she was looking to restore before finding this new beauty to become a project. All that remained on the car initially was a rusted body missing a window, roof, hood, engine, and even tires finding the car on cinder blocks. Although she had the car for just a little under a month after buying it from the junkyard, already she made huge upgrades to it in the little span of time; over on the wall, she had a picture of the hot rod before beginning her restoration. Sky's hobby of car mods and restoration was something she had picked up from Aaron when she first moved there, making it her favorite thing to do in her free time, then taking it out for a test runs on the streets, even beating some racers with her restorations. Thanks to her incredible skill tree and availability of resources as a top agent for the government, Sky was able to use her special privileges to fund her hobbies and even made a recent investment on another garage, looking to start a business of car customization, repairing, and restoration. Right now, Sky had on four regular tires with a set of premium race tires she ordered sitting off to a corner by her favorite Sky blue sporty muscle car adding a carbon fiber spoiler for the extra aerodynamics when she'd cut corners on downhill runs. Sky had also added a hood to the car and went for the convertible style, looking to add a retractable roof once she completed work on the engine and other priorities.
Sky makes a hefty sigh as she bends over the car and takes a gander at the heavy engine she just installed over at a friend's shop, "Huh, looks like some of these spark plugs will be going bad...damn Fern, I didn't know you were still salty about that last lost." she laughed to herself as she shook her head, knowing her friend sent her a bad engine that needed plenty changes in parts.
Entering the garage came Pastelle, her first sight of Sky being that she was bending over in front of her with a round sight that caught her off guard. Pastelle's face initially went cold from the sight, making her have to pull out a handkerchief from her pocket and wipe the sweat off her forehead. "I can't say I dislike this kind of greeting." she laughed as she entered the garage; ever since Sky's retirement, the two had warmed up to one another, becoming friendly rivals instead of fierce ones.
Sky poked her head from under the hood, her short sky blue hair swishing a bit; already it was starting to grow back. "Thanks...I think? Anyways, what are you doing here?" she asked while removing the cap for the radiator to check if she'd need to flush it out when the time came, taking her finger and taking off a ton of nasty brown goo.
"I know I'm a bit out of the loop but, I heard that you met the octo agent."
Sky didn't look in Pastelle's direction since she was still focused on doing maintenance on her ride, "You mean Agent 8?"
"Y-yeah...I heard stories about her from Cap'n. Apparently, she's in the same tier as Maya-er, your mother." she said while twiddling her thumbs uncomfortably, unsure how to approach to Sky about her mother.
Sky's awareness of Pastelle's discomfort led her to stop what she was doing, "It's complicated between us, so you don't have to force it by addressing her as my mother. Call her Maya if it feels comfortable. Agent 3 works as fine."
"Right, I wasn't sure how deep the territory would be if I tried too hard to be friendly…"
"Well, continue. What about Agent 8 made you come all this way?"
"I was wondering what she's like. Is she scary like Maya? Or friendly like Callie? I know there isn't much you can share since the meeting was highly confidential along with what was to be said, hence why I haven't learned about the existence until now. But I'm also curious about her. I mean, she is the Octo Agent of legend."
Sky rests her hip on the car and crosses her arms with a condescending smile, "She's a person of a few words like my mom. She isn't scary or anything of the nature, and actually has one of the nicest smiles I've ever seen from anyone."
"O-oh…" Pastelle sounded as she looked off into space for a moment, wondering what the octoling agent looked like.
"She is definitely the real deal. She's got that same powerful presence as my mom but...where my mom has this nostalgic badassery about her since she was the agent that started it all by saving Inkopolis when she rescued the Great Zapfish, Agent 8 has this different air about her. Like, she's seen some stuff, y'know?"
Pastelle slowly nodded-slightly lost at where Sky was coming from, "Ah…"
Sky gave an endearing smile, "She told me quite the amount about her life. Her memories when she first became Agent 8, to her absence in the war, and to what she's been up to."
"Wow, to think you actually met her... Do you think the plan will work? I know Cap'n is gambling quite the load on this one."
"Shhh. Let's not discuss that here."
"Would you prefer to go somewhere else and discuss this?"
"I need to freshen up so I'll get a shower, and afterwards I'll take you out for a drive up in the mountains and we can discuss this more, 'kay?"
"Mkay, sounds like a plan."
Inside the dorm that housed Azule, Reice, and Todd was a quiet abode with Reice and Todd absent at this time in the evening; Reice was visiting his sisters while Todd was getting groceries for them now that the most responsible member of the house left. In the room where they all slept laid a slumbering Azule who had the window curtains opened to let in the moonlight and high-rise lights of the city rain on him from the opening. His nose twitches and the ends of his lips wrinkle downwards in a frown, his eyebrows tensing up as he tightened his grip on his pillow. Though he wasn't aware yet, he was crying in his sleep-waking himself up to the stains on his pillow.
"Huh…? Tears?" he said to himself, wiping them away and giving a yawn. Reaching for his LARS cap, he looks over to the shining skyscrapers dazzling the night sky off in the distance, cracking a smile as he burns the image in his head from the bed he laid. Getting up, he does his usual stretches, "We've gotta get to prepping for the Rank Wars..." he said aloud in his mind without any other thought. His slumber had cleared his thoughts of anything regarding the present and future. Rejuvenated and revamped, he was ready for the next chapter in his journey.
