Yuri's PoV

Yuri walked through the city streets, passing Starfish Drinks and entering the eastern side of Inkopolis. Everything seemed so familiar to him, but at the same time, they were foreign. He hadn't been here much ever since his dad died, but it still held some sentimental value to him. It was the place where he spent his early years. He couldn't just forget everything about this place.

Eventually, he reached the gates of East Inkopolis High School. Grey clouds hung over him, and whatever sunlight peeking through cast a strange shadow on the school. Being a Sunday, it was closed. No one could go inside. It was kind of sad, seeing it as unpopulated as it currently was.

However, there were other ways he could visit the school.

Towards the back was a baseball field that the entire school district shared. He remembered playing there when he was a kid, though it has been so long that his memories have become hazy. Though he could sneak in elsewhere, the field was the most nostalgic for him.

He walked there, and to his surprise, he saw someone else there. Among the green grass and brown earth was a small group of inklings, playing baseball. An inkling boy with almond skin launched a ball at a boy with dark skin. He swung his bat, sending the ball flying. He started running around the field, stopping at second base. Another boy, this one with honey-colored skin, leaped up and caught the ball. He threw it back at the first boy, and the game continued.

Yuri climbed up the fence and sat at the top of it, watching it with curiosity. They didn't even notice his presence, continuing to play baseball like normal. Frowning, the yellow-haired inkling took out his phone and opened Bubblify, where he selected a song. Music started to play through his headphones, and he hummed to himself. Eventually, the teams switched, with the almond-skinned boy now batting. He tapped the wooden bat on the ground and brought it up to his shoulder. The dark-skinned stranger spit in his hand and tossed the ball. He swung the bat, and once again, a ball flew through the air. He dropped the bat and ran around the field, getting a home run.

Yuri let out a cheer in response and pumped a fist. No one heard it, though, taking it as an exclamation from the bench. Disheartened, he lowered his fist and looked down at his shoes. He currently wore yellow-mesh sneakers, as per Octavia's suggestion. He liked them, so he didn't mind wearing a different pair of shoes today. His yellow eyes returned to the baseball field. The honey-skinned boy was now batting. He bent his knees, and when the ball flew towards him, he swung the bat. However, it hit a bad spot on the bat, and now it was flying...directly towards Yuri.

"Shoot!" He turned into a squid to avoid the projectile, though he ended up falling flat on his face as a result of losing his balance. The dew on the grass lapping his face, he transformed back into a kid and looked up. The three inklings he had primarily took notice to were now surrounding him.

"Who're you?" the first boy asked, blowing up a bubble of pink gum, which then popped. His hair was tied back in a ponytail, though it was longer than most other boys'.

"Dunno," the second boy noted. Turning into a pink squid, he slipped through the fence, transforming back into a kid outside it to grab the ball. He tossed it back in the field, where the honey-skinned inkling caught it. "Never seen him 'round here." His lips turned upwards in a sharp grin. "And I know everyone 'round here."

Yuri gulped. What did I get into? "W-Well, I'm from the other side of the city."

"Ah, a west city boy," the third boy deduced. "Knew you had to be in Inkopolis with that fresh get-up, just didn't know where exactly."

"Well, since ya seem so reluctant to give us your name..." The dark-skinned stranger tapped a finger on his chin, pondering on something. "...I'll just call ya Studio."

Yuri blinked. "Why Studio?"

"Well, you're wearing studio headphones, aren't ya?" the almond-skinned inkling pointed out. "Us lot go by our gear." He pointed to himself. "I'm Zip. After the green zip hoodie." He then pointed to the jacket tied around his waist.

"I'm Tackle," introduced the honey-skinned inkling, adjusting the Octo Tackle Helmet Deco he wore. His hair was obscured as a result.

"And you can call me Patch," the dark-skinned inkling announced, pointing to the patched hat on his head. The bangs from a bowl cut brushed his forehead. "Don't worry, I won't fall apart on ya."

"Hope ya like puns," Zip grumbled. "Patch loves 'em."

"Puns?" Yuri's yellow eyes widened. "Hey, I love 'em too!"

"Ya want a pun battle, Studio?" Patch challenged. "Bring it!"

"Here we go..." the almond-skinned boy muttered.

"Get ready, 'cause you'll never know what hit ya," he teased. He tossed the ball up into the air and caught.

"Oh, we're doing baseball puns? Then..." The spiky-haired boy paused, thinking about what to say next. "Well, this is a ball, am I right?"

"Field yourself tremble and fall!"

"I'm not making a run for it!"

"That's enough." Tackle stepped between them, and cast Yuri a warning glance with blue eyes. "We gotta get back to the game."

"OK, but first, Tackle..." Patch's lips turned up in a mischievous grin. "Who won?"

"You, duh," he stated. "Isn't it obvious?"

"You're just saying that because I'm new," Yuri argued.

"Dunno 'bout that," Zip commented, popping the bubble gum once more. "Tackle's right, let's go."

The four walked back to the field, those present before returning to their positions. Yuri merely stood behind Tackle, who was now batting. Patch tossed the baseball at him, and he swung the bat, hitting it and making it fly towards the bleachers. He dropped the bat and made a run for it, leaving dust in his wake. Yuri coughed and swung his hand to dispel the cloud.

Patch looked over at the spiky-haired inkling with red eyes, slouching. "You're just gonna stand there, Studio?"

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?" he countered.

"Be the catcher." He ran off the field, towards the bench. He returned with a helmet, a cushioned chest plate, and a baseball glove. "Here. You'll have to take off your headphones, though."

"No problem." He took off his headphones and put on the gear. He slung the studio headphones around his neck and crouched down behind another member of the blue team, who wore a birded corduroy jacket. The boy with the patched hat threw another ball, and the batter missed, with Yuri catching it.

"Nice, Studio," Zip complimented from the sidelines. "You play baseball on the other side?"

He shook his head. "Not anymore. I stopped playing when I moved there."

He raised an eyebrow. "Where're you from?"

"Here, in East Inkopolis," Yuri informed the almond-skinned boy.

Surprised flashed in his green eyes. "Really?"

"What?" Tackle looked over at the yellow-haired inkling. "Studio used to live here?"

Patch ran over to the group. "Can't believe my ears."

The honey-skinned boy scoffed. "We're getting distracted from the game again."

"Eh, it's almost time to switch, anyways," he deflected. "If Corduroy gets two more strikes, that is."

"Anyways, continue," Zip requested Yuri, putting his hands on his hips.

"Well, yeah." He stood up and shrugged. Upon remembering the circumstances that brought him to West Inkopolis, he frowned and looked down at his feet. "...My dad died when I was 9. Without the extra money, we had to move."

"Oh..." The almond-skinned inkling's face fell. "I'm so sorry."

He smiled. "I'm over it. Mostly."

"It's a shame you couldn't stay," Patch stated, dipping his hat.

"Doesn't that situation remind you of Yuri?" Tackle asked his dark-skinned friend. "Gahhm?"

Yuri looked up at them at the mention of his name. "...Yeah," the red-eyed inkling admitted, rubbing his shoulder. "Dude left. I was so upset."

"What happened?" He suspected he knew the answer, but he wanted to see what they had to say.

"You see, Yuri Gahhm used to be on the baseball team with me and Tackle," Patch started. "But one day...he had to move. And we never saw him since."

"Yuri Gahhm?" Zip spoke up. "He went to my old school in West Inkopolis. He's friends with some rich squid named Perry and formed a team with him."

The yellow-haired boy blinked. "You went to West Inkopolis?"

"Yeah. Moved here after middle school, though," he confirmed. "Never really talked to Yuri, though."

"He probably still goes there, then," Tackle deduced. "Wonder how he's doin'."

"Well..." Yuri trailed off, looking to the side. As he took a closer look at Patch and Tackle, he realized he knew both of them.

"Yuriii!"

On the playground, a pink inkling ran up to the yellow inkling, tears flowing from his red eyes. "Please don't go!"

"We'll miss you!" added a deep blue inkling with matching eyes, who now joined the pink inkling. His hands were clasped, shaking them as if he were begging for money.

"Guys..." Yuri turned to face the two. "I can't stay. My mom won't let me."

"Why can't your dad respawn?" the first inkling whined, stomping into the mulch. "Then you could stay!"

"Face it, Isaiah," the second inkling muttered, lowering his head and wiping a tear from his eye. "He's not respawning."

"Noooo!" Isaiah cried. "There's nothing you can do?"

Yuri shook his head, now getting tears in eyes himself. "No..." he croaked. "Isaiah, Eli..."

"We should follow you!" Eli suggested.

"Yeah! And then we don't have to leave!" Isaiah agreed.

"What?! Don't do that for me!" the yellow inkling exclaimed, surprised.

"But we would," the pink inkling countered. "'Cause we're friends to the end. We made a tentacle promise, don't you remember?"

"I do, but I have to break it because of mom!" Yuri ran up to Isaiah and hugged him. "I'm sorry!" he blubbered. "I'm sorry!"

Yuri gave a nervous laugh. "It's kind of a funny story."

Tackle raised an eyebrow. "Whaddabout it?"

"You see... Uh..." He gulped, some of his stage fright setting in. I'm front of all these people... "I'm Yuri Gahhm."

"What?!" Patch gasped. He tackled Yuri with a hug, knocking them both to the ground. "Yuri!"

"Isaiah!" he exclaimed, eyes widening. "Is that really you?!"

The red-eyed inkling nodded and got off of him. "Don't ya dare leave 'gain." He rubbed his eyes, something wet now shining on his fingers.

"Guess it was a matter of time 'fore you showed up 'gain," Tackle added. "Though it's been like, what, eight years?"

"I just wanted a nostalgia trip," Yuri said. "That's all."

"You should take them more often," the honey-skinned inkling suggested. "Keep being the catcher."

"Or even better..." Patch picked up his hat—it had fallen off when he tackled Yuri—and put it on again. "...We should battle in turf wars together. Ya do that, right?"

The spiky-haired boy nodded. "Yeah, of course! Who doesn't?"

"Absolutely no one," Zip declared, punching a fist into his hand. "Even if I go blind, that won't stop me."

"And if you don't, then you're just a loser," the boy with the bowl cut jested. "Not fresh at all."

"Then it's settled." Yuri raised a hand and posed. "We're forming a team! And it's going to be splat-tastic!"

Patch pulled out a Splash-o-Matic Neo and copied Yuri's pose. "Splat-tastic indeed."

Tackle pulled out a Foil Squeezer and joined in. "Guess we're doing this now."

Zip shrugged. "I don't think I can do this pose well with my Dynamo Roller."

"C'mon! At least try, Zip!" Yuri encouraged.

He smiled and pulled out a standard Dynamo Roller, trying his best to mimic the other boys. "There, I'm doing it."

"That's the spirit!" The spiky-haired boy pumped a fist. "Now, we got to do a group thing. You know, where you put your hand in the middle and say something when you raise it?"

"Ah, I get what ya mean," Patch realized. Everyone huddled together and extended their hands, placing them on top of each other. "On the count of three, we say 'booyah,'" he instructed. "One, two, three..."

"Booyah!" Everyone lifted their hand and cheered. Everyone put away their weapons and started heading back to where they were before the interruption. Yuri crouched down as the catcher again, but instead of going back to the mound in the center of the baseball field, Patch simply hovered over him.

"Glad to see you again, Yuri," he said, beaming. "Man, never thought I'd ever be sayin' that."

"Me too, Isaiah," he agreed. "Me too."

A/N: Hey guys! Hope you all are liking the Splatfest. Man, it's amazing. I think it's my favorite Splatfest that I've participated in. Speaking of Halloween, were you all able to read the Halloween special yesterday? It wasn't really showing up on the Splatoon page and my profile page, last time I checked, but at least you can access it with a link. You can read it on AO3, too, since it is showing up on there. Back to the story - how do you like Yuri's new friends? Though, I guess it's technically his old friends, since he knew Patch/Isaiah and Tackle/Eli before moving. But he didn't know Zip at all, so I guess he's a new friend in that department. This one was pretty short, but I already know the next chapter is going to be a long one. It's at 1,600 words already, and I still haven't gotten to the action part of it. Well, get ready to see what Alexis is going to do next week, and Branchwing, out!