"Vai, look, I know you don't want to admit it at a time like this, but something really is wrong here," Mano whispered, kneeling in front of Vai whilst she sat on a bench on the train, seemingly unbothered, or just distant. She didn't respond, her gaze fixated on something behind Mano, but not any object in particular. The tips of her fingers were stained deep violet, and the area underneath her nostrils was also darkened by the ink that dripped from them. To her relief, she was still wearing that black mask that Krahn had found a couple weeks ago, and never really took it off at all. She even wore it while she slept, which freaked out the other three octolings, and understandably so.
Iso's voice was distant and incomprehensible in the back of her head, and it seemed as if he was trying to communicate with her about something, but she subconsciously blocked it out, her minimal concern for his words being the reason as to why she refused to pay attention to him, or anyone else in particular.
Mano grunted, his annoyance becoming more apparent as moments of prodding went by. "What the hell is happening to you?" Mano hissed, his crimson gaze boring into Vai's bright yellow one. Her eyes flicked over to Mano, unfazed by his sudden desperation. She said nothing, only stared at him with a vacant expression, still frozen in place.
In actuality, Vai was just as confused as Mano, but she didn't know how to voice her concerns without revealing Iso's presence in her mind. She wasn't sure why Iso wanted to keep it a secret, but she decided it would be for her own good to stay silent of the matter if she was told to do so by someone like himself. She internally shuddered at the thought of what he could do to her if she disobeyed him, especially when she was in a considerably vulnerable place at the moment. "You're really that terrified? Thanks, darling," Iso spoke into her mind, making her grimace. "Don't flatter yourself.." Vai muttered, her eyes shifting back to the wall behind Mano and glaring at it.
"..What?" Mano pierced through her thoughts, her gaze clearing and returning to meet Mano's "..Did I say something?" Vai asked quietly, praying that her nervousness wasn't obvious. "I'm not sure, I couldn't make it out," Mano answered, his gaze softening slightly once she finally responded to him. It was silent for a moment before Vai replied again. "Okay," she said bluntly, slowly rising from where she sat and stretching. "..You're not going to tell me what you said?" Mano asked carefully, his curiosity breaking through his monotone voice. Vai hesitated before she responded, not exactly aware of the right way to answer that question without revealing her secret. "N-no," Vai said quickly, walking out of the cart she was in and rejoining with the others, and leaving Mano alone in the cart behind them.
"Hey Vai! Are you feeling better now?" Krahn immediately inquired, flashing her a huge grin as she walked in with him and Nora, who was sitting on a bench close to C.Q. "Yeah, I'm alright. Don't worry about me," Vai assured, smiling softly at them under her mask. "What happened back there? You had Mano worried sick," Nora asked, her voice quivering for a moment as her violet gaze locked with Vai's. "I- Um-" Vai fumbled for an answer, her gaze dropping to her boots. "I guess I just wore myself out," she finally chuckled, nervousness edging her tone. "But bleeding an ink color other than your own is pretty weird, Vai. It could be something a lot more serious," Nora sounded apprehensive as she walked over to Vai and placed a hand on her left cheek. Vai smiled slightly at the gesture, but gently swatted her hand away from her face.
"I'm alright. I know what I'm talking about, after all, I'm the next-in-line for the headmaster of the technology district," Vai said, confidence showing in her voice now, which wasn't like her. After a moment, Nora and Krahn's gazes fell to the floor, a look of gloom casting over their faces. Vai's smile disappeared as she practically read their minds.
They were all stuck out here. Cast out. Their ranks don't matter anymore.
After a few more moments of grief stricken silence, footsteps sounded behind the three, causing all of their heads to snap toward the source of the sound. "..Are you all really that scared of me?" Mano asked, his voice sounding distant and hollow, like usual, but something was different now. The other three octolings were silent. "Whatever. That isn't new to me," Mano remarked coldly, glaring at all of his friends, almost accusingly. Guilt showered the three of them, causing their gazes to drift away from the fourth. "Vai," Vai flinched when she heard her name, confused as to why he would sound so aggressive. "Come with me," he commanded, glowering at her as she gulped nervously. Vai didn't respond, she only followed him out with a nod to her friends as he began to exit the train.
They walked in silence as Mano led the way to the opposite side of the clearing, coming to a stop next to what appeared to be rows of lockers, and a drink machine of some sort. Mano locked his intense gaze on Vai's, while hers was fixated on pebbles scattered on the dirty concrete floor. After what felt like forever, Mano finally sighed quietly, his gaze softening slightly, and his eyebrows relaxing.
"Listen," Mano began, leaning against the lockers with his arms folded over his stomach. Vai didn't move, still staring at the ground beneath her. She didn't really know what to say. She wasn't just scared of Mano, she was also scared of Iso, but she tried as hard as she could to stop thinking about it, just so Iso wouldn't interject as an intimidation tactic. "Vai," Mano said in a harsher tone, his voice starting to raise in volume. Vai's gaze shot up to meet Mano's, almost with defiance. "What is going on? You do know that I'm asking because I care, right?" Mano prodded, tilting his head slightly and barely leaning forward to match Vai's height. Vai didn't respond, but she still held his gaze, although shakily.
"You can't keep this up! We're all depending on you here, you're the brains! We can't afford to have you being all secretive and shit!" Mano snarled, his irritation starting to boil over. "So we all of a sudden don't rely on Krahn's knowledge of the culture we're forcing ourselves to integrate into? We don't rely on Nora's emotional support and care? Oh, don't tell me, we don't rely on your incredible strength either?" Vai hissed back, her annoyance also reaching its peak. "That doesn't matter right now, don't dodge the question! What the hell is going on with you?! We need you!" Mano yelled, clenching his fists as he leaned closer, causing Vai to recoil slightly. "This isn't all about me! You don't need only me!" Vai cried, desperation and guilt crushing her anger now. Mano paused, taken aback by her response. "S-stop putting t-this pressure on m-me!" Vai sputtered, starting to tremble and back away from Mano, inching toward the door of the train. "Vai, wait-" Mano called, regret and despair making his throat swell.
Vai stared at him for a few more moments, then fled back to the train, running inside and slamming the door shut behind her.
Mano stood there, struck dumb by what had just occurred. His head then tilted toward the floor, his eyes clamped shut as he gritted his teeth, his fists clenched, and a nervous sweat beading on his forehead. "D-dammit.." Mano cursed softly, guilt tearing at his heart for what he had said to Vai. Mano then spun around, let out an ear piercing roar of frustration, and slammed one of his fists into a locker, leaving a noticeable softball sized dent in the thin metal. He huffed quietly, staring at it, and then looking down to his now bleeding knuckles, watching bright pink ink drip from the wounds. He didn't even feel it. He was overcome with anger and despair, so much so he couldn't even feel anything physically.
After a few more moments of silence, Mano straightened himself, gathering his thoughts and steadying his breathing. He just stood there where he was for a few more moments, letting himself calm down a little more before going back to the train. He tried to brainstorm something to announce once he returned to his friends, but he just couldn't think of any good excuses. He stifled a heavy sigh, and slumped his shoulders, feeling downtrodden and hollow.
Hushed murmurs softly brushed against Mano's ears, causing him to flinch upward. "..The hell?" Mano muttered quietly, slowly turning around to where he assumed the source of the sound was. He looked toward the gaping void leading toward the deserted area the group escaped from only weeks before, confirming that the whispers were being carried from that tunnel, and that at least two other creatures were conversing and approaching him on the tracks.
Mano quickly slunk to a dark corner next to the lockers, taking advantage of the shadows and staring into the dark tunnel intently as the voices gradually became louder and more audible. Two silhouettes finally emerged from the tunnel, their features ambiguous to Mano at first, due to the poor lighting.
Once they were completely exposed under the LED lights of the central station, their identities unknown, but their forms distinguishable. One of them was a male humanoid figure with tan skin and blue gray eyes, along with long blue gray tentacles brushed to the side of his face. He was wearing a dark gray cropped turtleneck tank top, and dark gray pants with the waistband being the same color as his ink. His pants even extended to his feet, leaving open space for his toes. He also wore a sleeve on his right forearm, and a wristband on his left hand, both of which being the same color as his shirt and pants. The only thing unusual about his thing was that he appeared to be an octoling, since he has suction cups on the colorful part of his tentacles, but he had weird brush-like things protruding from both sides of his face where his ears should've been. Those were the same blue gray shade as his ink color, but Mano had no idea what they were, and they looked so unusual.
The other one, also a male, had unusually pale skin and was tall and lanky. He had piercing icy blue eyes, and looked more like an inkling. He was wearing something rather simple, a black v-neck tee and black shorts, with peachy stripes on each side of his shorts that matched his ink color. He also wore wooden sandals that appeared to be worn with kimonos or yukatas, or just "summer" themed apparel, as dubbed by Krahn, and seen in the magazines he's obsessed with. His tentacles looked like a lighter shade of blue gray, and had a peachy gradient to them. His tentacles didn't have any suction cups at all, which was weird, and they draped over the right side of his face at shoulder length. He also had a notch in the only eyebrow that was visible. Underneath his eyes were two triangles, both of them black, and presumably being part of the mask that either inklings or octolings have, but these two things were clearly different. This creature also had pointy ears, the one on the right side of his face looking torn up and scarred, which made Mano grimace. The only astonishing feature that stood out the most about the two of them was the shark tail that the more pale and icy eyed one had. Mano couldn't take his eyes off of it, since he's never seen something like that before.
Suddenly, the shark creature stopped, his icy gaze locking on to Mano's hiding spot and making him freeze where he stood. "Who the hell are you?"