Cereza stood in front of the full body mirror in Em's room. She had a mirror in her room, but it wasn't big enough to see her entire being at once. She rarely dressed to impress, thus didn't really need one. Unlike her Octoling roommate. So for now, she would borrow her friend's. She looked over the outfit she wore and smiled to herself, a slight blush to her face.

She was wearing a light pink spaghetti strap dress with a small, mid-length blue camisole over it. The dress came down to around mid-thigh and with frills around the inside edges, while the camisole reached down to her elbows and had a thin light purple ribbon holding it together where her collarbone would be. If she had bones that is. She had her four tentacles tied into two twirls framing her face with a bit of glitter, making the edges sparkle.

"You sure the glitter isn't too much? I mean…I like it but I don't wanna blind the guy…" Em sat on her bed with her legs crossed, her chin resting on her fist as she eyed the hybrid girl from behind. A devious smirk ran across the Octoling's face as Cereza turned towards her with a look of nervousness in her eyes.

"You look great! It's bright and colorful, just like your personality. Yet it's cool and relaxed, like you didn't try too hard,"

"And the glitter?"

"Well you gotta dazzle em don't ya?" Cereza chuckled as she looked at her reflection once again. She moved around and looked at herself from different angles. The outfit did make her look cute, and the glitter seemed to bring attention to her eyes. In her opinion. She smiled and turned towards Em.

"Ok. I think I'm ready," Em stood up and grasped her friend's hands in hers, returning Cereza's smile with her own.

"I'm so excited for you girl! I'm sure it's going to go great! I only have one concern," Cereza's smile faltered for a moment as she tilted her head to the side. "What am I gonna do while you're gone!?" The Octoling playfully pouted and childishly bounced in place. Cereza laughed and tried to calm her friend down.

"Well what do you usually do when I'm gone?"

"Wait for you to get back,"

"Oh stop that. Why don't you facetime Elliot while I'm gone?" Em let go of Cereza's hands and crossed her arms, an actual disappointed look on her face.

"Because he never talks to me long. He's practically always working and has to go almost immediately after picking up. It leaves me missing him more and more and makes me feel more lonely," Cereza brought her friend into a side hug and gave her a smile.

"Don't worry about it. He'll be back later this week right? Then you can talk, and cuddle, and whatever else you nasty people do," Em smirked at Cereza as the hybrid gave a toothy smile.

"Well…alright. I guess I can last one more week," There was a light buzzing sound as Cereza quickly released her friend and pulled out her phone. Her smile widened again as she turned towards her friend.

"He just made it outside,"

Inkay was sitting in the middle of the hospital bed with his legs crossed. Cerata sat behind him, her legs resting on either side of him while her fingers delicately traced over his back. Inkay's eyes were closed as Cerata's were a bit focused. She eyed the many scars and burn marks on her lover's hide. She could never get over just how many there were. She constantly wished there was a way she could've prevented the torture that caused them, but Inkay had told her time and time again that she didn't have to feel bad about them.

She of course still did, but she had learned to not get as emotional enough to cry over them. She continued to run fingers along Inkay's back, the Inkling letting out a pleased hum at her touch. Cerata often found herself simply massaging Inkay's body when things got quiet. It was probably the guilt still eating away at her after all these years.

Or she just enjoyed his skin under her hands and the sound of his voice from her touch. Yeah that may be it. Cerata scooted closer, practically cradling Inkay as she gently placed her lips on his shoulder, peppering it slowly and softly with butterfly kisses.

"I love you," She whispered as Inkay leaned back into her touch.

"I love you too," The tender moment was ruined as the door was slowly pushed open. The couple looked over to see Agents 1 and 2 walking in. Cerata gave the two a smile and a wave as they returned it. "Do I have the alright to leave now?" Agent 2 stepped into the room while Agent 1 stayed in the door.

"You do, but first, there's someone here to talk with you," Cerata and Inkay shared a confused look as the agents stepped out of the way. Inkay's eyes widened slightly while Cerata quickly moved from behind Inkay. Through the door stepped a male Octoling, him slowly opening his red eyes as he paused after entering.

"M-Mr. Apalo, sir!" Cerata colored at being caught in such a position by her long time superior. Apalo grew a large smirk as his lidded eyes stared at the two. He chuckled lowly as his eyes scanned the couple.

"Please Cerata. You're a happily married woman with two kids. I'm sure there are more embarrassing things I could have walked in on," Both Inkay and Cerata colored a bit more as the two agents in the room giggled. Unless they were in a large meeting, Apalo always poked fun at the two like a father figure. Though Inkay and Cerata, mostly Inkay, tried to keep a completely professional relationship, Apalo seemed to try to be friendly with them. As much as a constantly working public figure can.

"I heard about your mission. I thought since I don't know Agent 4 as well, I'll get some extra information from you," Inkay nodded and uncrossed his legs, letting them dangle over the edge of the bed.

"Um, ok? What do you want to know?" Apalo stepped closer, stopping in front of Inkay.

"Agents 1 and 2 updated me on the outcome of the battle. I wish to know how the battle played out. Weapons, battle strategies, anything that could be helpful," Inkay tilted his head in thought before answering.

"He held two weapons I've never seen before. One was a shooter, and the other was a charger. And he fought very aggressively. He moved so fast, it was like I would blink and he would be in my face. Speaking of, he dodged most of the rapid fire of a shooter, while running towards me. And if that's not bad enough, he was really resilient. He took a blaster and a fully charged E-Liter blast point blank and barely stumbled,"

"Are you saying the assailant has a resistance to ink?" Inkay nodded as Apalo furrowed his brow. "Hmm…If the attacker has a resistance to ink, this may pose a huge threat. That would mean the vast majority of our weapons will be useless…" Apalo stood in silence as all eyes in the room turned to him.

"Do you, have an idea, sir?" Agent 1 asked after a small pause. Apalo closed his eyes and gave a small nod.

"If our ink weapons aren't working, then maybe we should use a different type of weapon. One that I know Inkay is all too familiar with," Inkay tilted his head in confusion, but grew a bit nervous as he thought about it awhile.

"Are…you talking about the Gauntlets sir?" Cerata asked. If you looked closely, you could see Inkay visibly flinch at the name of the items. Apalo opened his eyes and nodded towards Cerata. "But I thought the production of them were discontinued after the truce,"

"It is. But I'm sure I can get a few sets for Agents 3 and 4. This is a very serious situation after all," Cerata nodded while Inkay took a deep breath. The only time he really had any interaction with the mentioned brand of weapon, they were causing him extreme bodily harm. Some of which he still had the occasional nightmare from.

"What about me? I'm going to join in the cause as well," Apalo looked over to Cerata silently for a moment before speaking up.

"Well…if you wish, I may still have Octameri's pair back at HQ. You can use those," Both Inkay and Cerata went wide eyed in surprised before looking at each other. Apalo had managed to retrieve Octameri's gauntlets? The two's emotions were on entirely different levels. Cerata was excited to have a memento of her sister, while Inkay personally didn't want to be anywhere near the items. Both immediately picked up on the others emotions, Cerata breaking eye contact first to look at Apalo.

"As tempting as that sounds, I think I'll take a new set," Apalo nodded as he crossed his arms.

"Alright. I'll send in the calls to have some made. I'll be sure to inform you when they're ready. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some, unfortunate, news to prepare and give the public," The group watched as Apalo began his trek out of the room. He closed the door behind him and Agents 1 and 2 looked at Inkay and Cerata.

"So? What are you two gonna do now?" Inkay opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off as Cerata placed her arm around his neck.

"We're gonna do some extra training," She said with a large smile.

"Making everything so hype, when the fight, rises to another level, characters are amplified, by the smash ball! And if you collect it before I might, I'll turn off every item and light up the salt that I supply!"

"Haha! Dude, though awesome, your singing is distracting,"

"Who you gonna pick? Tell me who it is. Is it Pit, Pacman, Palutena, or the SquiFit Trainer?"

GAME!

"God dangit dude!" Luca laughed as Sebastian raised his hands in victory. "You know that's considered cheating in some places right?" Sebastian chuckled and gave Luca a cocky smirk.

"It's not my fault you can't multitask and game while listening to my sweet lyrics," Sebastian stuck his tongue out as Luca laughed again.

"Whatever man. This time I'm totally gonna kick your butt," Sebastian chuckled as the two prepared to start another game. The two selected their characters and began discussing which stage to fight on when they were interrupted by a small beeping noise coming from the kitchen.

"What's that?" Luca questioned as Sebastian stood up.

"Oh, it's just an alarm. Sis and I have to take some meds," The Inkling boy began walking towards the kitchen, pausing at the door. "How rude of me. You're my guest and I haven't even offered you anything. Would you like something to drink? Snack on, anything?"

"Well, I could go for a drink," Luca said standing and walking towards Sebastian. Sebastian smiled and went further into the kitchen.

"Hey sis! It's time for-"

"Yes, I know, I know. I heard the alarm," Senia said as she stepped through the opposite door.

"Of course you did," Sebastian chuckled. He walked over to the cabinet and opened it up before searching around inside. "You can check the fridge for anything you want Luca. Help yourself," Luca nodded and turned towards the fridge. Pulling the door open, he tilted his head at the sight.

"Um…Sebastian? Why is there ink on everything?" Everything in the fridge had a line or circle of a different color and shade of ink. Just a small stripe wrapping over or around it or a circle on the top.

"Oh. That's just uh, little decorating quirk I have. For my big bro," He said quickly, taking what he needed from the cabinet and shutting it. "Anyway, here's yours sis," Senia held her hand out and Sebastian placed a bottle into it. The two clicked bottles and paused. "Well. Over the fangs and past the gums,"

"Look out stomach, here it comes," They both took a quick swig of the medicine, both taking a face of disgust immediately afterwards. "It never gets better does it brother?" Senia asked, her face still contorted in disgust.

"No it does not sister. No it does not," her brother answered shaking his head. Senia held her medicine back out for him to take and he put them back in the cabinet.

"Luke darling, would you mind passing me a grape soda from the fridge?" Luca had pulled out a can of root beer for himself and scanned around for the mentioned beverage.

"Ah. Here it is," Luca grabbed the can and closed the refrigerator, noticing a small circle of purple ink around the top of the can. Senia held out her hand and waited patiently for the drink to be placed there. Luca approached the Inkling girl, giving cautious glances to Sebastian as if he had did some great wrong to him. He placed the can in Senia's hand and gave a big smile.

"Thank you darling," She purred. She opened the can and took a long swig, a happy hum escaping her throat. "A much better taste than before," Sebastian chuckled and got a drink of his own out of the frig.

"If you guys don't mind, what's the medicine for?" The siblings stood silently. Sebastian stole a glance towards Senia, and her response was to simply continue staring forward. It was more than obvious to Luca that he hit a touchy subject. He was about to retract the question when Sebastian spoke up.

"It deals with a….birth defect sis and I have. It's really embarrassing. So…we'd rather not talk about it…" Luca gave a nervous nod.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to hit a sensitive area…" Sebastian and Senia grew different levels of smiles. Senia slowly wrapped her tentacles around her head while Sebastian chuckled.

"Thanks for understanding," Luca nodded and gave the siblings a smile of his own.

"Nah, it's cool. I sorta know how it feels to be born with a defect,"

"Surely you don't mean your tentacles," Senia said, slowly bringing her drink from her lips. Sebastian let out a soft 'hmph' as his smile turned into a smirk. Senia slowly ran a hand from her head down the back of her head and rested them on the smaller tentacles there. "I wish my tentacles came out like that. I'm pretty sure I could be a one woman band if that were the case,"

"Yeah buddy. In terms of defects, you got off easy," Luca chuckled softly, his hand running down his main tentacles much like his father. "Anyway, you wanna get back to our game Luca?" Luca smiled and gave the Inkling boy a smile.

"Of course," Sebastian stepped forward and Senia chuckled.

"Boys and their video games," Sebastian and Luca stopped, a playful smirk on both of their faces.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Luca questioned.

"Oh nothing. I just never saw the appeal of them is all," Luca gave a small laugh as Sebastian rolled his eyes, smirk never leaving his face.

"I see what you did there,"

"And I heard what you did there," Luca's face colored slightly as Sebastian simply watched the exchange. Senia walked towards the two boys. They stepped out of her way as she didn't even pause as she stepped towards the living room. "It's not everyday we have such a playful guest. I'm sure Luke, wouldn't mind if I stick around for a moment. Right Luke?" Senia paused and tilted her head like she was looking over her shoulder.

Luca felt a familiar warmth coming to his cheeks as he chuckled nervously, glancing over to Sebastian as if for permission, who simply shrugged.

"Of course I don't mind,"

"Excellent," Senia smiled as she turned forward. "I'll let you finish your games now, but perhaps in a bit we'll play something we can all enjoy,"

Cereza was walking besides Matzuo, trying to contain her excitement for how the day would play out. The two originally planned to just pick up something to eat at a cafe and chat there. Matzuo however decided to add something a little extra. Instead of eating at the cafe, they picked up some food and went out to the local park for a picnic.

They were currently walking there, Matzuo carrying their bag of goodies while Cereza silently walked besides him. Though quiet, it wasn't that awkward. Cereza, somehow, gave off enough energy for it not to be.

Once they reached their destination, they had a playful back and forth on where they should set up. They finally decided to set up under a tree with a view of the lake, but nowhere close to it. Matzuo handed Cereza the bag as he set up the blanket. Once finished, the two took a seat, Cereza handing Matzuo his order.

The two sat in silence for a moment and nibbled at there food. The silence slowly turned awkward the longer it went on. Both parties knew they had to say something, but couldn't quite figure out what. After a while and half a sandwich later, Matzuo gave the first word.

"So, those friends of yours. How long have you known them?" Cereza's eyes practically lit up as she thought back to it, a smile creeping onto her face.

"Well, I've known Wakame since I was a stage one. My mom and dad are close friends to his mom and dad, and my parents had a lot of things to take care of when I was little. So often, his mom would babysit us, or my aunt would do the job," Cereza let out a fond chuckle. "My mom said I knew how to say Wakame's name before I knew how to say my own," Matzuo laughed at the fun fact as Cereza looked at him with a smile. "Though that was just because we spent a lot of time close to each other. We weren't really close personally until awhile after we had both taken our forms,"

"Well where does that Em girl fit in all this?" Cereza's face took a more somber smile as she gave her explanation.

"Em and I became friends not too long ago. She, uh…helped me out with something," Matzuo tilted his head, curiosity peaking in his mind.

"Is it too personal to talk about?" Cereza was silent for a moment, her hand easing up to rub her arm as she looked away.

"Y-yeah. Brings back really bad memories. Maybe some other time," Matzuo gently placed his hand on Cereza's. Cereza's cheeks flushed a light shade of fuchsia as her eyes traveled to the hand resting on hers, up the arm and resting on the bright gold of his eyes. He gave her a comforting smile that made her blush darken and returned one of her own. "Do you have any close friends?"

Matzuo leaned back, keeping his hand resting on hers and let out a sigh.

"Nah. I just moved to Inkopolis recently," Cereza's eyes sparkled having never ventured far from the city she was born in. A tsunami of questions popped into her head but she controlled herself and sent them out one at a time.

"That's pretty cool! Where are you from?"

"Oh, I, uh, used to live on the islands,"

"The islands?!" Cereza squealed, her other hand now resting on his as she leaned forward. "I've always wanted to go visit the islands! What's it like?" Matzuo chuckle nervously, scratching his head under the hybrid's gaze.

"Well, I had a great ocean view," Cereza laughed as she calmed down, smiling brightly at the Octoling boy.

"Did you have any siblings?" Matzuo gazed into the distance while Cereza waited patiently for an answer.

"I have a pretty big family, so I have quite a few siblings,"

"Well, what are they like?" Matzuo paused for a moment.

"Honestly, I'm not that close to many of them. The one I'm closest to is my older brother, and he's kind of a prick. He's so full of himself and seems to have this superiority complex over everything. Like he's always trying to prove he's perfect at everything," Cereza tilted her head, her face turning to something more sympathetic.

"If he's such a jerk, why do you know him better than your other siblings?"

"Well, we were all home schooled. Father gave us different lessons at different times and most of my lessons were alongside my older brother. I, rarely really saw my younger siblings,"

"...It must be hard. I'm really close to my little brother,"

"Really now?" Cereza grew a warm smile as she looked out over the lake.

"Yeah. He tries to act all indifferent, but I know he's really loyal, and caring, and he'll always have my back. I know I can depend on him," Matzuo smiled at the girl gazing into the distance in front of him. A warm feeling spread through his chest and he grew a bright smile.

"It must be nice,"

"Hmm?"

"We should hurry and finish. The movie will be starting soon. You don't want to miss it do you?" Cereza quickly shook her head and took a large bite of her croissant, earning a bright laugh from Matzuo.

Inkay stood straight, flexing his fingers as his eyes scanned over the digits. He was no longer in the hospital room, but instead in a special training room. Unlike the training spots behind Sheldon's store, this place had a bunch of obstacles designed to test one's physical abilities over their aim. Walls covered in changeable ink to practice swimming up, large punching bags in both corners, and an actual obstacle course that stretched from the first punching bag, around the back wall to the other.

And in the middle of the room was a large sparring circle. In the middle of which was where Inkay stood. He threw a few practice jabs, bringing his shoulders in and his body defended. Every since the whole ordeal with Octameri turning his body into an Inkling punching bag, Inkay practiced his hand to hand combat a lot more, having never practiced anything other than his shooting skills before.

He stood in a black muscle shirt and shorts with a turquoise line running down the side. He honestly wasn't surprised he stepped out of the hospital and came straight to the training room. Even if Cerata encouraged it, he figured he had to get stronger in order to properly use the gauntlets.

Another shiver ran down his nonexistent spine at the thought of the weapon. He shook it off and continued throwing quick jabs towards his imaginary opponent, ducking and swaying to avoid attacks thrown at him. Making swift movements with both his hands and feet. His eyes were narrowed in a determined glare as he dashed around and fought with his invisible adversary. He pictured the assailant. How quick he moved and pushed himself to match him step for step.

"Working up a sweat?" Inkay's head snapped towards the voice. Cerata stood there with a smile, one arm hanging loosely while the other rested on her hip. She wore the standard Octoling tights and black tank top as Inkay stood up straight with a smirk.

"Oh yeah. Care to join me?" Cerata practically strutted towards Inkay, walking past him and standing on the opposite end of the circle.

"I mean, I don't know if you can handle it. I wouldn't want to hurt you," Inkay let out a scoff as he lowered himself into a battle position. Cerata smirking and getting into one of her own.

"You couldn't if you tried," Cerata scoffed this time. Right before she rushed forward. She threw her knee towards Inkay's head, the Inkling raising his hands to block the attack. Not holding off the assault, Cerata threw her elbow down over Inkay's makeshift shield. Inkay responded by stepping to the side, dodging the attack before sending a right hook towards Cerata's arm.

The Octoling easily blocked the attack with her hand, throwing a straight jab towards Inkay. Inkay barely dodged the punch, a smirk crossing his face as he wrapped a tentacle around Cerata's limb. Cerata's eyes widened as Inkay wrapped a leg around hers and gave a hard shove to Cerata's chest with his shoulder. The Octoling crashed to the ground with Inkay following close behind, pinning her with a victorious smirk.

"Pinned ya,"

"Mhmm," Cerata smiled back. "But the fight's not over yet," Cerata threw a quick knee to Inkay's stomach, pushing the ball of her hand into his chest and effectively pushing him off. She twirled on the ground before jumping to her feet. Inkay chuckled as he charged back into the fight.

The couple charged back into the fray, exchanging what, in this room, they considered love taps. The two enjoyed training together. For Cerata, she got to utterly dominate her husband. Not so much as when they started this type of training, but enough to have something to brag about. For Inkay, he would admit that it helped toughen him up. Octolings' training regiments were a bit more…harsh, for lack of a better word. And Cerata held nothing back when they stepped into their training gear.

The two sparred and wrestled for awhile. They broke apart and went back to the neutral space, eyeing down their opponent. They both breathed heavily as the workout was taking its toll. Inkay eyed Cerata, noticing a shimmering trail of sweat rolling down her cheek and down her neck. His eyes wandered down to see the way her chest slowly rose and sank with every breath.

"Hey, my eyes are up here," Cerata snapped Inkay out of his trance, him letting out a soft chuckle.

"Sorry about that," Inkay grew a devious smile as he slowly stood up straight. In a swift motion he discarded his muscle shirt, returning to his battle position. Cerata took a big inhale as she let her eyes wander. She subconsciously bit her lip as she eyed her husband almost exactly as he eyed her. "Hey, my eyes are up here,"

Cerata's eyes shot up to a smirking Inkay as she gave a playful pout.

"That's cheating and you know it!"

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?"

Cerata licked her lips.

Matzuo and Cereza stood outside the movie theater looking at the movies that were currently available. Matzuo stood with his head tilted slightly to the side while Cereza had a finger to her lip in thought.

"So what do you think we should watch?" Matzuo asked turning his head towards his date.

"Hmm… I heard that Wiener Party is pretty good," The Octoling boy let out a quick laugh before catching himself. Cereza looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "What?"

"Nothing. I just didn't think you'd pick that movie,"

"Well what did you think I'd pick?" Matzuo looked over the movies while making a low hum.

"I don't know…something…like that," Cereza followed Matzuo's finger and let out a loud laugh.

"The Sketchbook?" Matzuo grew a smile and shrugged.

"Well yeah. Don't girls like things like that?"

"Well, some girls. What? Do you want to go see it?"

"Only if you want to see a grown man cry," The two laughed for a bit before Cereza spoke.

"As tempting as that sounds, I'll stick with Wiener Party,"

"Well, shall we be off?" Matzuo held out his elbow and Cereza gingerly took it in hers.

"Yes let's,"

"So sis, now that I've effectively kicked Luca's butt at Squid bros., what game are you thinking of playing?" The trio sat in the middle of the living room, proof of Sebastian previous win still gracing the TV screen.

"Well, since we are relatively new friends. I was just hoping to get to know Luke better. Don't you boys ever just sit down and talk?"

"Sorry sis, Luca and I have already gone through that phase of our relationship,"

"Then you can just sit and observe while we do it," Senia responded in her sweetest voice. Luca chuckled while Sebastian simply stared at his sister. "So Luke, I'm sure being one of two hybrids and the son of two celebrities, you're quite popular," Sebastian titled his head curiously as he saw Luca's shoulders slump slightly. The hybrid's gaze lowered towards the floor just a bit as the light in his eyes dimmed.

"Nah. I only really have one friend and he had to move out to Squidville awhile back. Well, there's also Echino, but he likes to stick to himself so, usually I can only hang with my parents and sister. So yeah, I don't have many friends,"

"How hurtful," Luca's head looked up towards Senia in confusion. He was greeted with her sitting in the perfect 'hurt damsel' position, head turned slightly away leaning on an arm while the other hand covered her mouth. Growing increasingly confused, Luca turned towards Sebastian for answers.

"You got us, don'tcha?" The edges of Sebastian's smile grew slightly as Luca noticeably lit up, but only for a moment before he contained himself. He smiled brightly at the two before nodding.

"Yeah, I guess I do,"

"No need to guess. We're friends now. We'll have to introduce you to our big brother at some point. It may be awhile. He tends to be away with work a lot,"

"What about your parents?" The question was aimed more at Senia, alright knowing a bit of how Sebastian felt about his parents. Though it was rude to pry, he was really curious on their family situation. He wasn't expecting Senia to answer so quickly.

"Our father is filthy scum and I'm devastated to share blood with him," The comment was quick and determined, yet Senia calmly sipped her drink immediately afterwards. Shocked by the outburst, Luca turned towards Sebastian, he seemed to be nervous at his sister's reaction and broke his gaze from Luca to instead stare at the wall to his right. Still curious, Luca turned back towards Senia and muttered out his next question.

"A-and your mom?"

"We don't have one," The answer was quick just like the previous. Sebastian shot his head towards Senia before hissing out a strained, "Sis!"

"Well we don't. I have no reason to lie to Luke," Luca turned back towards Sebastian to see one bead of sweat roll down his forehead, his smile, though strained, still on his face.

"W-well I would prefer changing the subject. Do you mind Luke?" Luke shuddered at the look of pure desperation in Sebastian's eyes. He swallowed before quickly nodding.

"Y-yeah. Sure,"

"Heheh...thanks buddy..."

"Well that movie was definitely something," Matzuo laughed as he and Cereza stepped out of the theater.

"Yes it was. So vulgar," Cereza added on. "But it was entertaining at least," The two shared a laugh as they walked away from the theater. They exchanged thoughts about and quotes from the movie as they walked, making more fun out of the experience.

"So, should I walk you home?" Matzuo asked looking down at Cereza with a small smile. Cereza fidgeted a bit before giving an answer. "Well, the night's still young. We can just…walk and talk if you want," Matzuo smiled wider.

"I'd like that,"

"Great! So, what shall be the topic of discussion?" Matzuo raised his head in thought as Cereza slowly intertwined her fingers with his. He looked down on the girl, who looked up at him with bright, brownish purple eyes.

"When you were little, what did you dream of being?" Cereza let out a long 'oooh' before bringing a finger to her lip in thought.

"Hmm…I remember before I took my form, I really wanted to be a famous singer like my Aunts Callie and Marie,"

"Whoa whoa whoa, now wait, wait, wait," Matzuo cut off, taking his hands to shake in disbelief. "You're related to THE Callie and Marie?" Cereza gave a wide smile before sticking her tongue out at the boy.

"Not really. They're just close family friends, so I get to call them my aunts,"

"huh," Matzuo muttered as Cereza re-linked their hands and continued walking. "So, do you still want to be a great singer?" Cereza slowly shook her head, still staring forward. Matzuo leaned forward to get a better look at the somber look on her face.

"Nah. I sort of let the dream die a long time ago…"

"Why? I'm sure you're a great singer," Cereza turned towards Matzuo with a large, closed mouth smile and shut eyes.

"Stage fright," Matzuo could look at the smile and sense all the repressed emotions in it, but Cereza spoke up before he could question it. "Then for awhile I wanted to be great at Turf Wars. Oh! We should go to one some time!" Her eyes bright and sparkling reeled back a bit at how Matzuo flinched.

"I'd love to, but my dad would kill me,"

"What? Why?" Matzuo scratched the back of his neck nervously and turned away.

"Well, he's not a big fan of Turf Wars. He thinks they're barbaric and just a way to subliminally promote bloodshed,"

"Well then…" Cereza said raising a concerned eyebrow.

"Yeah, he's a bit crazy at times,"

"Sorry,"

"it's cool. So is that something you still want to do? Become a great Turf War player?" Cereza began absentmindedly swinging her arms as she spoke.

"Nah. It kind of died too,"

"What happened to that one?" Cereza was quiet for a moment before responding.

"I just…lost interest," The tone Cereza's voice took left a small ache in Matzuo's chest, as if she was hurting and sending him her pain.

"There has to be more to it than that…," Matzuo whispered, his words laced in worry. Cereza muttered something almost indecipherable, Matzuo leaning in closer. "What?"

"I said 'a story for another time'," Matzuo simply looked at the girl who had gone silent and had ceased swinging her arms.

"So do you have any current dreams?"

"Not really," Cereza said, pep seeming to come back as she began swinging her arms again, though with a bit less vigor. "I guess…all I want to do is…accomplish the one, true goal," Intrigued, yet confused, Matzuo asked the question.

"And what's that?" Cereza turned towards Matzuo, a bright, warm smile plastered on her face as her eyes glistened.

"I want to be happy," The genuine tone of her voice brought a warmth to Matzuo's body and forced him to smile as well.

"That's a pretty broad goal, Cereza," Cereza chuckled and turned forward, her arms now back into full swing.

"Welp. Shoot for the moon. If you miss, at least you'll land among the stars," Matzuo looked at the girl who was now simply glowing. He gave a small smile as he simply stared at her figure. A small breeze blew over the two and Cereza took a deep breath of it. "I love these calm cool nights," She said twirling a bit. Matzuo chuckled a bit before looking around at how the lights reflected off the dark blue skies. His eyes quickly returned Cereza.

"Sure is beautiful," Cereza turned towards Matzuo once again, but turned towards the ground noticing his stare, her cheeks heating up drastically at the compliment given while looking at her.

"So do you have dreams?"

"Heh. When your life is as planned out as mine, you don't get to have dreams…" Cereza looked up to Matzuo with saddened eyes as it was his turn to stare forward with a somber expression. She tightened the grip she had on his hand, turning forward like him.

"Well…you wanna be happy don'tcha?" Matzuo let out a loud laugh. One that Cereza slowly joined in on.

"Yeah, I guess I do," The two smiled at each other and continued their walk. They made a few more blocks before arriving in front of Cereza's apartment.

"Well, this is it," Cereza released Matzuo's hand to turn towards him. "I had a lot of fun tonight," She said with a bright smile.

"Yeah, me too," Matzuo returned the smile. "So Em's in there waiting for ya?"

"Knowing her she's probably looking at us right now," The two shared another laugh.

"So…would a goodnight kiss make you happy?" Cereza's face instantly flushed, but she managed her best 'in control' smirk.

"Matzuo! You don't think I'm the type of girl to kiss on the first date do you?" Matzuo shrugged nervously, the smirk telling him there was a chance at least. Keeping the smirk, Cereza slowly reached up and grabbed Matzuo's shirt collar. Pulling him down tauntingly slow, she closed the distance. "But…you did save me from that jerk at the party," She whispered. "I guess you deserve something," Slowly she began to bring her mouth closer to his. Matzuo closed his eyes and slowly leaned in for the kiss.

Cereza made a sudden detour and instead kissed him on the nose. Matzuo opened his eyes to see a grinning Cereza, who put a bit of distance between the two.

"Goodnight, Matzuo," Matzuo grew a grin as well as the girl turned and opened the door.

"Goodnight, Cereza," Matzuo watched as her figure disappeared behind the door. He turned and began to walk away, goofy grin still on his face. He made it to the ground floor, the events of the day playing over in his head, as a happy feeling began spreading throughout his being. The smile on his face slowly died down as a thought was brought back to the forefront of his mind:

What did Cereza mean when she muttered, 'horrible kids'?

Luca was laying down in his bed, thinking over the information about his new found friends. The thought of suddenly having two more friends practically made him giddy as a smile creeped across his face. But it quickly was replaced by a contemplating look. Just how bad were their parents for Senia to snap like that?

Luca found himself wishing he could put a face or even a name to the apparent absent parent figures. Right now he could picture them as nothing but the bad guys. Probably with those eyes that glare down at you no matter what you do.

Luca gave himself a shiver as he imagined the dark figure. His curiosity still continued to grow however. If he wanted answers, it seemed that Senia would be more open to giving them. It must have been pretty bad since Sebastian acted so…terrified.

A light jingle stole him from his thoughts. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He checked the screen, seeing it was a text from Senia, his smile widened a bit.

Hi. Sebastian and I are just making sure you made it home safely. Looking forward to hanging out with you again.

The end of the text was punctuated with a winking squid face. Luca typed out his reply telling that he had made it home safe and was currently in bed waiting for his mom to call him for dinner.

Yum yum. Well have a good night. Be sure to dream about me.

A warm blush crossed over Luca's face as he thought of something.

"Hey mom," He called out.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Can we have friends over for dinner tomorrow?"

"Of course honey! I'll be happy to meet your friends,"

Luca's fingers rapidly tapped on the screen, sending the invitation.

Sebastian and I would love to come over for dinner! I can't wait to meet your parents. See you then.

Luca said his goodnights and placed his phone on charger, laying back in his bed as a warm smile crossed his face. Hopefully everything turned out well.

Another chapter down! Did ya miss me? Sorry for wait. School's started back so, I've moved into an apartment on campus and have been trying not to get consumed with homework. But enough about me, let's talk the story. First things first, the lemon I thought about. Well, based on the ones that reviewed, you guys weren't really feeling it. And some of my friends irl(that's right I actual have those! Can you imagine?) thought that time would be well for more character development. The lemon at this point was just a craving for my sinful hand.

But don't worry. It shall be sated. A friend of mine had the wonderful idea of having the lemon be a oneshot since this one didn't really affect the story. So keep your eyes out for that. I'll leave a name of it in a chapter before I post it. There will be a few lemons that help the story play out so expect those in the distant future.

Speaking of oneshots, I've had ideas one after another for this story. Some drastic, some minor. Others requiring flashbacks. Though at one point I considered the flashbacks to be optional oneshots elsewhere, I decided to just go ahead and have them as chapters in this story. I'll of course mention at the beginning if it's one of those chapters.

Not much to reply to review wise, so I'll just say,

Ticctaccer, I enjoy your ship names and your theories so keep 'em coming. Also the lemon was gonna be Inkata, :p

So a lot of things were revealed this chapter, but when something is brought to the light, it will cast a shadow. Sebastian seems scared to talk about his parents while Senia seems to hate them with a passion. As for Cereza and Luca, they both seem to have some sensitive subjects about their past as well. And how did Apalo get a hold of Octameri's gauntlets?

Find out next time, on Dragonball!...

Wait a minute...

Next Time:

Apalo announces the situation to the public.

Cereza tells her friends about her date.

Luca's dinner with friends gets some surprise guests.

The Assailant makes another appearance.

Another character gets introduced. But what's their motive?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you all for reading and a special thank you for those who reviewed the last chapter. Until next time,

Astalabyebye,

Bang