Chapter 3

Daiyo, Marko's inkling friend and colleague from their old job. His green eyes and smooth low fade black tentacle hair give him a handsome face. He is returning from the striky alarm caused by an entangled drone.

"Tweenkling quids." He murmured. While removing the damaged drone from the mountain's tree where the alarm is hidden.

The strikey alarm is the national security border system that is activated when someone enters Zougualia without authorization. It identifies the intruder using sophisticated sensors and central cloud data before sending images and data to the nearest national security police stations.

He arrives at his national security police station in Fengling, the west capital city, after a few hours of driving. Surrounded by mountains and known for its distinctive seasonal ingredient 'Mala,' which is used in the majority of their spicy cuisines, the city is the only one in the world with a conservation research and care centre. The facility for 'Pandas', of which there are only a few left in the world. Fengling zouglings are in charge of caring for these black and white-coloured mammals.

He brings the damaged drone to his inkling chief inspector, who is dressed in a light blue security police uniform with black striped rankings on his shoulders, and places it on his steel desk, displaying what triggered the alarm.

"Another one of those Tweenkling drones?" He asks Daiyo.

"Yep, and this time they flew it higher than last time we caught them." He said.

The chief inspector sighs in annoyance because this isn't the first time the young zouglings have been up to mischief. He examines the drone for the serial number to determine who owns it, as well as speaking with the owner's parents. The usual procedure has always been.

"I'll handle the rest, Daiyo, you go back to do your desk duties." He said while typing the numbers on the computer.

"Yes, sir, will do." He said cheerfully. Being glad that he is back on the desk job after driving hours and hours from the west mountains to here. As he walks back to his desk, he sees his coworker Mar Lee, the woman he has a crush on. Wearing a dark blue sway jacket with furs around the neck. She has bun-like dark brown tentacle hair and orange eyes that look through her spectacles as she types documents on the computer. He walks towards and rests his right arm on the computer monitor.

"Hey, wanna do a night out at the Chunxi road?" He asks her.

"PA! I'm busy, gotta finish these reports and then maybe I might well, handsome." She said while looking at the screen and kept typing.

"Your direct attitude, that's what keeps me wanting to get ya, tentisugar." He said.

"Please, PA KUAI would ya, you can keep flirting with me after I am done with this." She said to him.

Daiyo occasionally receives handsome compliments from the girls, but Mar Lee is different, and her attitude is direct and confrontational that he fell in love while working in the same department. He enjoys teasing and flirting whenever he gets the chance, and she enjoys it as well.

"As you wish, your highness."

He returned to his desk and began working on the paperwork for the citizen complaints that had been filed. After completing a couple of them, he takes a break and pulls out his sea-cucumber phone to check his colleague's personal chat app. Seeing that they are all separated ever since five years ago. Jin Li in Pengling, Soganyi in Nanling and Marko in Inkadia. He remembers when they were working together back then, but also understands that it is a painful memory and that it is best to forget about it.

"Don't wanna go back there again." He quietly murmurs and starts to refocus on his work.

A week has passed since Marko enrolled in the college. He is getting used to the campus and Splatsville.

He arrives in his dorm, exhausted but adjusting to college life. A notification from the chat appeared on his phone. In the private chat room, it was Sasha.

Sashafuka: Hey, Marko

Marko: What is it?

Sashafuka: Never forget to pay your tuition on time. Never, ever forget about it. That is an absolute must. GOT IT?

Sashafuka: Also, the process of sending it to the college takes about 2-3 days. So you'd better pay it as soon as possible.

Marko: Thanks, but I've already paid for everything in advance.

Sashafuka: Oh, Great.

Sashafuka: Anyway, tomorrow we do the assignments after class.

Marko: Where?

Sashafuka: The Learning Commons.

Marko: All right, then.

As if she wants him to continue showing up to class and bantering with her. Or maybe it's more complicated than that. Marko is grateful for her concern for him.

He opens his laptop and begins preparing essays and presentations on cultural topics. He is aware that she will not be prepared and has seen that she occasionally carries accessories and clothes in her bag. One thing he noticed was a white twisted cloth tied in a knot, as if it were a headband. He's curious why she's carrying that stuff around, and Muri did a similar thing when he saw her drop the yellowish, shiny, translucent cloth the other day. 'Must be doing something else after the class.'

Marko and Sasha were seated together in the afternoon class the following day. They are in the middle of a practice exam on the long readings. Sasha is stuck on the first page of difficult questions. She has to read long articles and solve problems in combinations of history, social science, and cephalopology before the one-hour time limit expires. She is getting frustrated. If she makes too many mistakes, she will be assigned an additional task, in addition to the one she already has with Marko. And also, the activity she has to do with Muri outside of college later this week. Her current situation makes her emotionally anxious and stressed. She looked over at Marko to see how he was doing with the exam. Her red-crimson eyes widen as she realises Marko is already finished and just chilling. She looks at the clock on the wall; there are still 30 minutes left, and he has finished the exam.

Sasha motions for Marko to quietly show her the answers. He figures out that she is stuck on the first page and she is in urgent need of help with it.

"Marko, could you sh-" Before she finished asking him in a quiet tone.

"Let's switch our exams; it'll be more convenient for you." He said quietly, pointing at his and her exams with his index finger. Making a motion for exchange. On his paper, he changes his name to Sasha.

"No,no,no, just show me some of the answers." His suggestion puzzled her.

But Marko quietly takes her exam and hands her the completed paper. He changes her name on her exam to his. Sasha was perplexed and moved by his actions toward her. He essentially saved her from getting overburdened with assignments. She expected only a few of the answers to relieve some of it.

"Umm, thanks, Marko." She said quietly to him, licking her lips with her red tongue and then biting the lower right side of her mouth with her pointy tooth as if she were a cat.

The exam is over, and so is the class. Sasha, fortunately, only has to deal with the pair assignment with Marko. Unfortunately for Muri, she was seated in the last row, four desks away from Sasha. She was given a slew of assignments to complete in order to correct each error and discuss why the correct answer is the correct one and not the incorrect one.

"How am I supposed to finish this? This is too much for me to handle." Muri said, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Don't worry, I know you can do it. I believe you can get through this." Sasha says, trying to at least encourage her.

"Yeaaaaah... from someone who was LUCKY and aced her exam." Muri said, implying that she had helped with Marko.

"I'm sorry, but Mantaro might be able to help you." Sasha said.

"You won't help me?" Muri asks.

"I'm busy, I have another assignment with Marko. So I'll help you any way I can when I come back home, okay?" Sasha said.

Muri had a feeling that something was going to happen between them after hearing that. They've been sticking together almost every day. She begins to suspect that Sasha has feelings for him or both of them, but is unaware of it. Muri trying not to giggle smile, turned her face towards Sasha, saying

"You know what, take your time; Mantaro's help would be enough for me." Muri said.

"Really? Umm, alright, I'll see you at home, Muri." She waves her friend goodbye and heads to the Learning Commons. On the other hand, Muri wishes she could secretly observe their interactions, but she doesn't have the time for that. So she hastily went home.

In the Learning Commons, there are public computers arranged in circles and meeting rooms on both sides of the wall for students to use for college work. It is large and wide, like an auditorium, with high ceilings that shine with orange evening light from the tops of the windows, giving the space an open feeling.

Marko has already taken a seat and is waiting for Sasha. He had already prepared the essays he had written for himself and for her, as well as the presentation he had finished at midnight. Watching short news videos from Veetuli, a popular video streaming webink.

Zougualia has announced that it will continue to invest in Silk Road infrastructure, and has reached an agreement with Europolina in the west to relax trade regulations between them.

The Europolina is built on the ruins of its once-great human civilization, 'Europe' All kinds of scientific, technological, and historical discoveries have been made, and they are hesitant to share their secrets with others. Unless fortune is on their side, they mostly keep it to themselves. Regardless, Europolina is one of the world's major economic powers due to its unique artistry and technological products, which have grown at such a rapid pace. Europolina was instrumental in transforming Inkopolis into a modern city, as well as actively trading electronics and other technological products with them. 'Europolina, beautiful but with so many secrets hiding behind their backs.'

Sasha is still not here yet, he clicks another news video about the Barguru nation recently experiencing minor flood damage in coastal cities. This event had no impact on their fishing or fruit plantation productions.

Barguru is a South American country centred on the east coasts of what were once called 'Brazil', 'Uruguay', and 'Argentina'. The culture is similar to that of Inkadia, but it is hot and humid, with densely forested areas. Most of the population is hesitant to venture into the jungles due to the unknown dangers that have not been explored for centuries. They are the major producers of fish and fruits. Providing a variety of fish and fruits not found on the eastern continent. Their most well-known product is the sweet and salty 'Aqua-nana,' an entirely new banana variant that evolved during the great flood, with a distinct orange-yellow colour. And also being the second producer of 'Boluomi' the jackfruit, after the Zougaulia.

A brown paper bag was placed next to him. He looks up and notices Sasha.

"Okay, I'm here now, so let's get this done right away." As she sits, she quickly types her student ID into the computer to log in.

She tucks her left tentacle hair behind her ear to focus. This is his first time seeing her face with both of her slender red-crimson eyes exposed. He finds her entrancing and endearing. She notices him staring at her and says

"Are you going to say what I look like?" She said grumpily, glaring at him.

"Nothing, just liking your new look. Oh, and here are the essays, as well as yours." He said this while handing her the essay papers he had written for her.

"What!? You did the extra work?" She asked in a surprised tone in front of Marko, "Why did you do that?"

"Because I know you didn't do it and are going to do it right now in a hurry. So I did extra work, including the presentation, yesterday. I've already prepared the notes as well as the sections where you'll be presenting." He explained it to her.

She is overcome with emotion, perplexity, and relief. Marko did everything by himself, and she doesn't have to practice with her friends today for the upcoming Splatfest, which they need to get approved by the Splatsville culture committee.

She skims through the essays because they are too long for her to read. She then goes over the presentation. The title of the presentation, 'Diverse Cultural Cuisines', demonstrates.

"The presentation you made needs more variety." While looking through the slides, she says this. "It's overly focused on your country's cuisine." She points it out to him.

'Of course, because I expect you to add something, cold princess.' He thought to himself.

"Well, I'm only familiar with the Splatsville one, which is quite limited. And I'm not sure if there are other types of dishes besides those found in this region." He said.

"There are other foods; even in the under-dome city, there are so many different dishes that you can't imagine." She said it confidently.

Marko became interested in hearing her perspective on the cuisine found in the under-domes, which are not widely known to the general public.

"You've got my interest; the Octarian's cuisine isn't well known even outside of here." He said.

"There is one you have to try that is from my cl-. I mean, what I was about to say is that there's a dish called 'Wani.' It is a New Year's Eve specialty. It is raw fish meat that is so tender and light that it never fills you up, no matter how much you eat it. The 'Nezumizame' is the most delicious, but it is expensive and difficult to obtain when I was in the under-dome city." She said excitedly, explaining to him.

Marko wanted to ask more detailed questions about how and where they catch sharks in the under-domes, which are completely devoid of aquatic life. 'What she said is not the type of food that the militaristic Octarians would normally eat.' But he plays along with her to hear what other things she would say.

She opens the Veetuli and types in the search to show him the 'Kitsune'.

"This is the noodle I used to eat when I was a kid. It includes fried tofu and fish cakes topped with scallions. And the soup is 'Dashi', made from fish broth." She said this while showing a video of an Octoling cooking the 'Kitsune' noodle.

"Come to think of it, there is one restaurant in Splatsville that is quite popular and distinctive. I believe it's called 'Tofu Village.' They serve hot spicy tofu soup with eggs and hot steamed rice." she stated.

"That sounds familiar; I think the restaurant owner must be from Shinhan province."

Shinhan, literally means 'New Korea', the land wedged between the mainland Zougualia and the East Sea Islands of Inkadia. Only the northern part of the land remains after the great flood drowned the southern parts. The locals speak a dialect that combines the ancient 'Korean' language with their zougyu and inklish languages.

"Shinhan?" She said.

"It's the province where I was born. We eat spicy red soup or white broth with rice regularly. Have you tried it?" He said.

"No, I haven't tried it yet. It's just that I don't have time to go there because it's a little far from the main plaza." She replies. Because she was too preoccupied with preparing her band for the upcoming Splatfest to be approved by Splatsville's culture committee.

Marko shows her his Zougualia cuisine, the most common and easiest to prepare, fried egg tomato. 'Hong Shao Ji' was originally made with braised pork belly, but because pigs are designated as critically endangered mammals, the Zouglings substituted abundant chicken meat. Sasha points out that the majority of Zougualia's cooking is blazingly fried. She had never seen such dynamic and active cooking movements before.

During their conversation, Marko and Sasha became hungry. She takes out her white potato salad sandwich from the brown paper bag.

"You only bought yours?" He asks as he watches her eat her sandwich.

"You didn't eat?" She asked. She only bought hers because she thought Marko had already eaten it.

"I came here as soon as class was over and was waiting for you." He explained.

"Oh, then, if you don't mind, would you like to try half of my sandwich because I only bought one?" She said to him.

"Well, don't mind if I do." He replies.

She cuts the sandwich in half and hands him one half. She would have purchased another if she had known about it at the time. They kept talking until they realised it was getting dark and that they had been talking for hours.

"Oh, my, I think we've been chatting too long. It's already dark." She checks the computer's digital clock, which shows it's past nine o'clock at night.

"Yep; do you want to wrap up?" He asks her.

"Yeah, let's wrap it up for today." She gets up, untucks her left hair, which is now covering her left face, and organises her belongings before leaving. "Beginning to feel tired, with all that talking." She says.

"Hey, um, would you like me to walk you home? I mean, it's late." As he packed his belongings.

"Thanks, but you don't have to do that. I can go home by myself." She gives him a small smile, assuring him that she will be fine.

"You sure abo-" Before he even finishes. Sasha interrupts him.

"I said I'm fine going home by myself. And thanks for doing the essays for me. Just don't do it again. Bye." She waves her hand and hastily walks out of the Learning Commons by herself.

She never got asked by someone to walk her home safely. Because she is typically the independent type with a snobbish and calculative cold attitude. Even her close friends know that. For Marko, she felt different from him; they became a bantering couple in a week as if they were childhood friends; he complains but actively helps her in any way he can, particularly with the pair assignment he did for her; and now he asks her to walk home with him because it is late at night.

She is experiencing a complex emotion within herself, one that will intensify if she continues to interact with him. She chose to ignore it and think of it as a friend who had been extremely helpful to her. But she knows in her heart that this is more than just a friendship.

She arrives at the apartment complex in Splatsville's main square. It has the typical qualities of other Splatsville apartments. Some people hang their clothing outside on balconies to dry. Some of the clothes fall to the ground because they were not properly hung. She opens the door and walks in, noticing Muri still doing her assignment and Mantaro helping her.

"Hey, I'm home." She waves her weak right hand, feeling tired.

The apartment she and her friends share has simple yellow-white walls and fake light-colored wooden floors. The living room is in front, with a simple designed sofa, a low glass table, and a television mounted on the left wall. Immediately to the right of the entry is a simple open kitchen with a window above the sink. And they each have three rooms across the living room. There are two restrooms: one outside of Sasha and Muri's room and one inside Matnaro's room due to his large size.

"Ay! (Heya, Shiver)" Mantaro waves his flaps at her. Always have a happy expression for everyone.

Mantaro Ray, also known as Big Man, is a large dark-gray manta ray belonging to the 'Manta' clan. He has a perpetual sheen and white dotted markings along his belly and on both sides of his pectoral fins. He always have positive attitude and supportive to his band.

"Hey Shiver, you came home really late." Muri says to her.

"Got so busy working with the presentation. Oh, and Frye? When was the day we are going to practice, again?" She asks, taking her black shoes off.

Frye, is Muri's idol name but she prefers to be called her idol name because it sounds more sizzling then her real name. She sometimes plays the pungi flute that was handed down from generation to generation in her family.

"Today's Wednesday, so it's on Friday. The day after tomorrow." She says.

"The day after tomorrow..Do you need any help with that?" Shiver asks, even though she is tired.

"Nah nah, half done already. By the way Shiver~~" Frye says to her in a curious tone.

"Yeah?" As she was about to go to her room and change her clothes.

"Were you REALLY busy with the assignments with Marko?~~" She said.

"What do you mean REALLY busy? Like you expect something to happen? " Shiver asks.

"NOTHING happened?" Frye asks.

"YES, NOTHING HAPPENED. So please do your thing and don't bother me because I'm going to bed." She says.

"Okay, umm nighty night then.

She went into her room and closed the door. Frye and Big Man are looking at each other thinking that something did happen between Shiver and Marko.

"Hey, Big Man, my Onaga instinct tells me that Shiver is actually into Marko, the new guy from the other country, I told ya." Frye says quietly.

"Ay ay (If what you say and saw is true that Shiver is unshiverly when she is with zougling guy that means..)" Big Man replies also in a quiet tone.

"If you saw what I saw, you'd think like me. I mean, she always sits next to me because we have to keep our idol identity hidden. But ever since the new foreign guy arrived, she's become extremely chatty and actively sits next to him." She says.

"Ay~ (You know we are not that popular yet until we got picked to be the host for the Splatfest and also the splatcast.)"

"I know, but she's the one who is going over the boundaries and the whole class is kind of noticing that they are both into each other."

"Ay Ei (Oh my mantra, they already started then if the whole class knows.)

"My inkling sense tells me that I think Marko kinda knows and Shiver also knows but going to deny her feels or may-" She got interrupted by a loud voice from the room.

"COULD YOU BE QUIET!" It was Shiver shouting sharply at them.

Both Big Man and Frye were stunned that they did not realise that they were talking in their normal tones.

"ALL OF YOU GO TO BED NOW!" Shiver shouts pointing at their rooms.

"Ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay."

"Kay kay kay."

They both quickly went to their rooms and turned off the lights in the living room. Fully aware that Shiver is sensitive to sound when she is trying to sleep. And they do not want to get her mad when she is going to sleep.

She returns to her room and lies down on her bed. She overheard them conversing. Not everything, but she understands what they were saying.

'I should keep my distance from him. I should. No more sitting next to him.' She made the decision to act differently towards Marko. However, she still has this feeling when she is with him. It's as if they've known each other since childhood. She can say whatever she wants, and Marko will respond in kind.

The next day, she avoided him by not sitting next to him in class. She sits next to Muri and acts like the usual shivering person Muri sees. She did it, however, only during class and not outside of it. Sending a chat message to him saying,

Sashafuka: Meet me after the whole classes are over. At the Learning Commons. I need your help with something.