Perry's PoV

In the morning, Perry began crumpling up some of his blank notebook paper, aiming to score them in the trash can next to the door to the classroom. Sticking a tongue out, he closed an eye for better aim, and he tossed one. It missed. Again, he threw a paper ball. It also missed.

"Try opening both eyes," someone behind him suggested. He turned around to see a one-eyed urchin, his hair pulled back into a spikey bun. "Trust me, I know. I don't have depth perception."

Perry turned back to face the trash can. "Whatever you say, Un." Opening both of his purple eyes, he tossed a third ball into the bin, this one scoring. He stood straight up from his seat, throwing two fists up into the air. "Booyah! Ya see that, class? I made it!"

"No one cares, Sculpin!" a goby yelled from the other side of the room. "Sit your fancy-pants butt back down!"

"I agree," added the teacher. "Settle down, Perry." Her white eyes narrowed, bringing a fin-like hand up to her face. "You don't want to get sent to the principal's office again, do you?"

"Sorry, Miss Rosetail," he apologized to the betta fish.

"Apology taken. Now, don't stir up any trouble again," she instructed.

He sat down, and the day passed on without further incident. He sat down and listened to the lectures, his eyes droopy as the words spoken from his teachers' mouths became nothing more than gargles. It took his willpower to stay awake. It seemed like forever before lunch arrived, giving him a break. He stood up from his seat in language class, stretching. He walked to the cafeteria, where he sat down with the rest of his friends.

"Is it just me, or were classes really long today?" Octavia asked. "They just talked the entire time!"

"It's National Lecture Day, remember?" Bonnie replied. "All the teachers have to give a lecture, whenever they like it or not."

"That's a stupid holiday," Roy grumbled, crossing his arms. "I'd rather eat a salmonid alive than listen to lectures all day."

"On the bright side," Yuri started, "only a few more hours of this, and we'll be right back outside, and then we can do a bunch of turf wars!"

Roy groaned, digging his face into his hand. Perry stood up and walked over to him, snickering. He placed his hands on his shoulders, causing the red-haired inkling to turn around and strike his arm with a fist. The purple-haired inkling cried out in surprise, rubbing where he had been hit.

"Perry!" he snapped. "You dogfish!"

"What? Thought you'd enjoy it," he shrugged off. "You like haunted houses."

"Yeah, but I know it's coming then."

"Guess that's your payback for eating salmonids alive," Octavia snickered.

"I never said I did that!" Roy fired back.

"Yeah, he wouldn't even be here if he ate them," the dark-skinned boy agreed.

"I wonder what live salmonid tastes like..." Inigo pondered.

"Inigo?!" the tan-skinned boy gasped. "Why is every squid against me today..."

"Like really bad sushi," Perry followed up on the fair-skinned inkling's remark.

Roy groaned, and the other Rainbow Squids started to laugh. Eventually, he gave a half-hearted laugh himself, a smile tugging at his lips. They were so caught up in the moment that they didn't notice a certain red-haired inkling walking up to him. It took until he punched Perry lightly on the shoulder that the purple-haired boy turned around to see...

"Wyatt!" he exclaimed. "How ya doing?"

"Wyatt I am," the boy confirmed. "I'm doing splat-tacular, thank you."

"You're not in a bad mood?" Bonnie marveled. She was right—ever since he and Naomi stopped dating, Roy's cousin had been unusually grumpy.

"Well, guess what?" he started, donning the cocky demeanor Perry knew him for. "The Vigilante and Naomi broke up! I can try to date her again!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Inigo immediately tried to quell him. "We know Naomi doesn't want to date you again."

"Besides, you already settled it with her," Yuri pointed out.

"Where was that again?" Perry wondered out loud.

"Coral Rings," Roy deadpanned. "It was at Coral Rings."

"Doesn't mean her feelings have changed since then!" Wyatt boldly declared. "I'm gonna ask her again, right now!"

"Wait!" Inigo called. "Think this through!" His words fell on deaf ears, as the other tan-skinned inkling was marching up towards the entrance of the cafeteria. A few minutes later, Wyatt returned, pouting. His ink color was shifting from Roy's red to a color that matched his eyes—sea green.

"Lemme guess," Octavia started, "she rejected you."

Wyatt nodded. "Maybe you should ask her Roy," he suggested. "Might respond to a squid that looks like me, but isn't me."

"No," Roy replied, eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not gonna get involved in your love schtick."

He frowned. "If you insist," he sighed. He clenched a fist. "...the Vigilante," he muttered, though Perry didn't catch the first part. He walked away, leaving the Rainbow Squids be.

However, they were not alone for long, as shortly after he left, Fable bounded up to them, her hands behind her back as she leaned forward. Huge, navy eyes looked down on them, and her short hair was tied lamely into a ponytail today. Her attention seemed to be directed towards Inigo today. The indigo-haired boy's mouth had fallen slightly, showing his teeth.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Fable!" Yuri exclaimed. "You're back from your vacation!"

"Yeah, now I'm all cooked!" she exclaimed. She rolled up the sleeve of her sweater, revealing a tan that wasn't obvious at first glance. "All thanks to the power of tanning lotion!"

"Wonder how tan Geneva will be when she gets back," Perry brought up. "Hopefully she wasn't burnt to a crisp. Or ran dry of ink."

"I feel like it's more likely each passing day," Inigo sighed.

"Oh, yeah, I came to talk to Inigo," Fable blurted after he finished. "About..."

"About what?" Roy snapped. "Spit it out already."

"My theory!" she exclaimed. Pointing a finger at him, she declared, "I think you're the Vigilante!"

Inigo nearly fell out of his chair, surprised. "Wha-? Huh? Why?"

"Well, I did some research." She pulled out her phone and displayed a clip of the Vigilante talking on the screen. She pressed play, and the Vigilante started to talk about his interests. "He said he likes Salmon Run, and you like Salmon Run. He also said he's on a team, and you're on a team. Plus, you wear a ponytail like him, your voice is deep like his, and you have the same skin color as him. There! That's the proof."

"That's just a coincidence, the physical part," he defended. "By the way, it's not rare to be on a team. And most squids like Salmon Run."

"Yeah, I think you're digging a little too into this," Bonnie agreed.

"There's no way Inigo can be the Vigilante!" Perry added. "He's too nice to be that jerk."

"Hm?" Inigo lifted his head. "You squids think I'm...nice?"

"Yeah-ah," the purple-haired boy affirmed, adjusting his hat. "What's the doubt for?"

The indigo-haired boy fell silent, eyelids drooping. His phone then started to ring. He took it out and looked at it. He gestured for them to wait and ran out of the cafeteria, accepting the call. Everyone watched him leave. Perry sneaked a chip from his lunch and put it in his mouth, biting down on it.

"Tastes like the ocean," he commented. "Roy's food is better."

"You're just gonna trash on him while he's in the bathroom or something?" Octavia criticized. "Wow, Perry, wow."

"Food and kindness are two completely different things," he countered.

"Fine, you got me. What, you gonna steal my food now?"

"I've been in your house, Via. So much wasabi there, I felt like I was gonna pass out."

"So...that's a no."

"Exactly."

"Enough food talk," Fable interrupted the two. "Ya know what this means? Inigo's defensiveness proves he's the Vigilante!"

"Yeah, and my house having a lot of wasabi proves I'm an Octarian," the wavy-haired inkling said with biting sarcasm. "Point is, that doesn't prove anything."

"Yeah, you can't just assume things," Bonnie finished.

Fable sighed and put her phone away. "No beating you, is there?" she admitted.

"That's Via and Bon-Bon for ya," Yuri said, snapping his fingers.

"Well, I'm off." Fable waved. "Bye bye!" She skipped off, and not long after she left, Inigo returned, sitting back down in his seat next to Roy. He started eating his chips, not noticing that it had been tampered with. As Perry was about to sit back down, he noticed something green, poking out from the chair Inigo was sitting in. He grabbed the green thing and tried pulling it off of him.

"Ngh!" Inigo was pulled back as well. He looked over his shoulder. "Perry, what the-"

"Sit still!" he complained. "Almost got it!"

The green thing slipped off relatively easily after that, and Perry examined it. He soon found eyes, rattled from the incident. The blob then grew in size, turning into a dazed Giovanni. He had fallen out of Perry's hands and gripped his arms with gloved hands before he could fall completely to the floor.

The purple-haired inkling chuckled. "Woo, that takes me back."

Gio nodded, flustered. "Y-Yes. ...November, was it? It feels like years ago now."

Inigo tensed. "Were you...eavesdropping on me?"

The octoling took a deep breath and stood up. "Yes," he admitted, "though it was unintentional. I heard you, and I took advantage of it."

"Old habits splat hard," Octavia giggled.

"Worry not," he assured. "I will keep it a secret." The indigo-haired inkling let out a sigh of relief.

"So, Gio," Yuri spoke up. "Any other reason you came here?"

"Not particularly," the octoling replied, putting a hand on his head. "I just wanted to see you."

"Ya sure there's no ulterior motive?" Roy questioned, narrowing his eyes.

"I am sure," he replied, putting his hands up. "I just want to have friendly chat." The Rainbow Squids simply stared at him. They looked between each other, then at Giovanni. He tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. "Come on," he muttered. "My lunch is getting cold."

"Uh..." Perry started. "...Cold food gives you shivers?"

"We don't know what to talk to you about," Octavia pointed out. "Like, you usually have a reason, so it's weird. And really awkward."

"Then..." Giovanni smiled. Not smirked, smiled. "I suppose I should thank you."

"For what?" Inigo asked.

"For showing me how strong inklings can really be." The green-haired octoling bowed. "Without you, then I would still be stuck in Octo Valley, unwilling to leave."

"Ya mean I was the thing that brought you out of Octo Valley?" Perry inquired, excited. "Even though ya tried to splat me and Alexis and you hated us back then?"

Giovanni sighed. "I do not like you, but I do not hate you, either. I am just expressing gratitude." He lifted his head, staring at Perry with green eyes. "I have beaten you before. I will beat you again." He stood up straight, now looking at all the inklings. "What I did learn, however, is that strength in battle is not the only thing that makes inklings strong. It is the heart that makes them strong. When I first formed Octa Prisma, it was only to improve strength that could beat inklings. Now, I see how strong your friendship is.

"We were friends, but it was weak. I realized how upset you were over Geneva leaving you. Then I saw your determination to find out the identity of the Vigilante. Octa Prisma does not have that. We were disconnected. It seems that my friends have not realized this yet."

"Wow..." Bonnie gasped. "That was deeper than I thought."

Now, Giovanni was smirking like he usually did. "Next time you battle Octa Prisma, we will be stronger than ever before. Prepare." He walked away before any of the Rainbow Squids could say another word.

"Has Gio really become a better octoling?" Octavia wondered out loud. "Yeah, he's pretty impulsive, but he does seem a little different than he was back when we first met him."

"I'm still skeptical," Inigo admitted. "Words don't speak volumes here."

"Yeah, he has to actually do good before we can believe him," agreed the blue-haired girl.

"Hey, the fact that he actually said that to us is fresh!" Yuri tried to lighten the mood. "Surely that shows something."

"Well, how 'bout we celebrate with a toast." Perry sat back down and picked up his water bottle. "Three cheers for Gio becomin' a good person!"

"Yeah!" They bumped their drinks together and continued eating their lunches at last.

A/N: So, I didn't go with the downer ending with this chapter. Just a happy one. And it's not a very long chapter today, I know. I mainly wanted to give you guys an update on some of the school characters. Especially Fable, since we haven't seen her since Season 2, I believe. And Octa Prisma, since they haven't had a major role in a chapter in a while. Don't worry, I'll give you plenty of Octa Prisma content in the next few chapters. Next chapter has Oscar and Yvonne, the chapter after that has Peyton, and the chapter after that one has Brayden and Iris. That's the plan, anyways. Anyways, we are officially halfway through Season 3! A lot of things are going to happen in the second half, so get ready. Branchwing, out!