A/N: This is a two shot story written for the upcoming Valentines day, as such the second half will be released on February 14th. It features the OCs from my other Splatoon stories and a somewhat odd idea I've had for a Valentines day story.
Chapter 1: Fake smiles
Inkopolis
Valentines day…
An international festival of romance, affection, friendship…
Obviously such a day must be spent with those closest to-
"Sorry Kal, but I'm busy today."
A red Inkling by the name of Kalus stood frozen at these words.
The day had only begun and already it was going downhill.
"B-but why…"
"I know it's Valentine's Day, but that doesn't mean I can just take the day off, it's busy here in Octo Valley, so I can't see you today. Sorry."
The voice on the other end of the phone belonged to an Octoling named Victoria.
She was one of many Octarians who didn't want to move to Inkopolis and instead wanted to rebuild Octo Valley.
She also happened to be Kal's girlfriend.
"I… I understand... " Kal replied
"Thank you, I know it's tough on you, it's tough on me too, I'd love to leave everything and go to Inkopolis, but I just can't. Thank you for understanding."
Victoria hung up, leaving Kal frozen in his home, listening to nothing but silence.
That was probably the only time he'd hear Victoria's voice today.
He could travel to Octo Valley, it would only take a few hours, but if she was busy he'd probably be unable to see her regardless.
After all, Victoria was part of what was known as the 'New Octopolis army' a group of former Octarian army soldiers, who now stood free of Octavio's control.
Ever since Octavio had been defeated, Octarians who wanted to remain free either moved to Inkopolis, or occupied Octo Valley.
Victoria just happened to be the type who didn't want to leave her hometown behind, so she stayed underground.
Kal really wanted to spend the day with her.
He hadn't seen her in person for months now.
He really wanted to see her again, to take her hand, to hold her close, so close that they could feel each other's heartbeat.
Oh well, it's not like that was going to happen.
Kal composed himself, got dressed for the day and left for Inkopolis Square.
He could have gone towards Inkopolis Plaza and went to Octo Valley from there, but there wasn't a point.
Victoria wasn't the kind to do irrational things.
If she said she was busy, she definitely was…
Besides… It's not like they have to spend the day together, right?
All he could do was put on a smile, maybe send some chocolates or flowers her way and spend the day as best as he could.
Inkopolis Square
As lively as ever, Inkopolis Square was filled with all kinds of sea creatures.
On this day it seemed as if everyone present was a couple, at least to Kal.
Even the hive minded jellyfish who do not feel affection for one another, seemed to be trying to replicate the appearance of couples today.
Everywhere he looked, everyone he saw made him wish that Victoria had been here with him.
Kal wanted to grab his head and shout.
'This is so frustrating!'
He was hoping that maybe by battling in the Deca Tower he could get his mind off Victoria, but that was impossible, because to him, it felt like everyone else in Inkopolis had someone for today.
'Oh well, complaining isn't going to help…'
Kal could only sigh and only accept recent events as the difficulties of a long distance relationship and move on with his day.
Then he saw some familiar faces.
A bright green Inkling girl who was skipping all over the place, pulling along a more calm and composed glasses wearing cyan Inkling boy.
They were called Neon and Sky, two good friends of his, who happened to be a couple as well.
With nothing else to do, Kal decided to head over and say hi, but as he got within earshot…
"Would you stop hopping all over the place squealing like some twelve year old?" Sky complained
"How can I? It's the most romantic day of the year! Look at everyone around us! That Inkling over there holding a bouquet of flower and blushing, or that other Inkling calling that Octoling an interesting squid as if he was totally oblivious!? Isn't that adorable?!"
"Don't say that stuff out loud! You're going to give us a bad rep! Calm down first!"
"How can I? The weather is great, the holiday is great and I'm here with you!" Neon threw herself around Sky.
Sky however didn't seem pleased.
"Don't think everything can be solved with a hug! Do you not have any bit of self control?!"
"I left all that behind when I moved here! After all this is Inkopolis! A wonderful place where you can let loose, shout out loud and not worry about a thing!"
"You troublesome girl… Just how do you manage to reach such a twisted conclusion?!"
"Experience!"
"Don't just answer instantly!"
Sky appeared annoyed while trying his best not to make that much noise, Neon seemed not to care at all and continued to speak as loud as possible with a wide smile on her face.
Those two looked like polar opposites, yet apparently they were in a relationship…
'Is this what they mean by opposites attract?' Kal wondered as he approached the two.
'...Wait a second… If I showed up now, wouldn't I just be a third wheel?'
Upon realizing that Kal decided now wasn't the best time to greet the two.
He could see them hanging out in Inkopolis Square often so there was no need to run into them now.
As he turned to leave though, something caught his attention.
"Mr Belhaim!"
Belhaim was Sky's last name.
Who was suddenly calling his friend in such a formal manner.
Kal turned back to watch Neon and Sky who were now faced with a friendly group of Octarians.
"There's no need for that, just call me Sky."
'Oh I think I get it…'
Kal recalled how recently some Octarians were moving to Inkopolis.
However, since the two species spent over a hundred years apart with no contact, nearly none of the Octarians could speak Inkling.
Only the Octolings could speak a universal language, but that didn't help them get around Inkopolis. Then you had the other races like Octostrikers, Octoballs and so on, those could not communicate with Inklings at all and only spoke Octarian.
Sky, despite being only 16 at the moment, had a job as a translator and language teacher.
Because he was a somewhat brainy type who had learned the Octarian language out of curiosity.
Now that some Octarians have heard the Calamari Inkantation and wish to move to Inkopolis, there was suddenly a huge demand for anyone who could speak both languages to help teach and guide these Octarians as they settle in to Inkopolis.
Thanks to that, Sky was making more cash than he ever could playing Turf despite his young age and in the meantime he was getting pretty popular among the Octarians.
These Octarians speaking to him now were probably some he had taught, considering they called him 'Mr Belhaim'.
From what Kal could hear, they spoke Inkling quite fluently too.
Sky, taking this opportunity to practice speaking Octarian, began a conversation in that language and the Octarians followed suit.
And Neon was left alone, just watching Sky and wondering what they were saying.
She watched their mouths move, uttering words she could not understand.
She watched Sky smile and laugh, but she could not know why.
All she did was stand silently, giving a slight smile of her own.
Kal began to feel sorry for Neon.
'Maybe it's fine if I show up after all…'
"Hey Neon, how's it going?" Kal asked
"Oh, things are great! I have so much planned for today and I can't wait to get going!" Neon, perky as ever didn't seem to mind her alienation.
However then Sky stopped speaking Octarian, and said something which hit Neon like a truck.
"These Octarians just invited us to lunch so I'm going with them… Oh hey Kal! When did you get here? Nevermind, Neon, want to come?"
Neon looked shocked.
She looked at the group of Octarians, specifically at the two Octoling girls who appeared only one or two years older than her.
They were speaking in Octarian with an Octoball and an Octostriker.
Then Neon smiled again. "Oh no thanks, I'll just be getting in the way. You have fun!"
"Oh? Well okay then. Hey Kal do me a favor and take Neon off my hands, make sure she doesn't do anything stupid while I'm gone." Sky said.
"Hey! Why does it sound like I'm some problem child?!" Neon complained
"Well you are a troublesome girl." Sky then took another glance at the Octarians waiting for him. "I'll be back later, love you, bye!"
Like that Sky left.
Neon hopped up and down waving goodbye to him, as energetic as ever.
Finally, as Sky disappeared from view, Neon came to a stop.
She found herself holding her own hand, bringing it close to her chest, then…
'Huh?' Kal thought, as he noticed a sparkle on Neon's cheek. 'Is she crying?'
Neon made no noise, but there were some tears streaming down her face.
"Uhh Neon, are you alright?" Kal asked.
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"What are ya talking about? I'm gorgeous!"
"Not that! Neon are you really okay with letting Sky off like that?"
"Yeah it's fine…"
"Then why are you crying?"
Neon's eyes widened as if Kal had pointed out something she hadn't noticed. Neon wiped the tears from her face then stared at the remaining bit of moisture on her hand.
It was almost as if she didn't realize she was crying.
"Oh, uhh, something was probably just in my eyes... I mean, just because it's valentines doesn't mean Sky and I have to spend the day together, right?"
This sounds oddly familiar…
If Kal were to guess, Neon was probably looking forward to spending the day with Sky.
But then something comes up and Sky decides to leave, while Neon did nothing to stop him.
It was just like what happened to him and Victoria this morning…
For now, Kal felt as if he could relate to Neon in a way.
But unlike the situation with him and Victoria, Sky did not go anywhere far, he was just having lunch with a few Octarians in Inkopolis.
"You wanted to go with Sky didn't you? Why didn't you say anything?" Kal asked
Neon's shoulders slumped as she let out a large sigh.
"Yeah I had a reservation for two at the Harbour Ten steakhouse… But what's the point? I'd just be getting in the way."
"Isn't that the whole point?"
"It wouldn't matter, I can't understand half the things they say."
It did look like Neon was completely ignored as soon as Sky and those Octarians began speaking a foreign language.
Kal did feel bad for Neon, did Sky not realize Neon was feeling left out?
Actually Neon was still trying to smile when he was present, maybe Sky really didn't know…
'Wait a second, wasn't I doing the same thing earlier?' Kal wondered
"Well, it's fine, I'm used to it by now." Neon added
"This happens often?"
Kal couldn't believe it.
It was just like how Victoria could never find the time to come see him because she was always busy in Octo Valley.
"Well what can I say, the two of us are very different." Neon forced a smile, trying to reassure Kal that nothing was wrong.
But something definitely was.
Looking at Neon's forced smile, Kal suddenly realized Neon's situation was really relatable at the moment.
After all, he had to put on an equally forced smile this morning and every other time Victoria said she couldn't leave Octo Valley.
"But enough about us. What about you?" Neon continued
"What about me?" Kal asked
"You know." Neon nudged Kal "Where's Victoria? If you're here she must be close too right?"
"Oh, she's uhh…"
'She's busy, too much stuff going on in Octo Valley.' Kal would have said, but he didn't feel that way. Not anymore.
Kal couldn't see it before, but he was not too happy with recent events.
Specifically between him and Victoria.
He didn't notice it before, but he too felt ignored. True he didn't know what Victoria had to do in Octo Valley's New Octopolis army, but he wished that Victoria would at least pay more attention to him.
Their feelings were supposed to be mutual, so why is it that Kal was always the one cheering Victoria on while she kept doing whatever she did in Octo Valley?
It wasn't until seeing a similar event from a third person's perspective, that Kal could realize he was losing hope in his supposed relationship with Victoria.
Instead of explaining that Victoria was too busy, Kal abandoned his original phrase and said:
"... We're hopeless together."
That smile he wore on his face was now gone as Kal looked to the floor in sorrow.
"Whaaa?! Hey don't just stop it there! What happened between you two!?" Neon exclaimed
From Neon's point of view, Kal and Victoria were inseparable.
The two of them had been through alot for each other and Neon was present to see it all unfold.
Kal and Victoria's relationship went from initially disliking and not trusting each other, to the point where the two would go to almost any length to make sure the other was safe and happy.
In other words, it was a slow but sturdily built relationship that was not supposed to sink so easily.
Therefore Neon couldn't believe what Kal just said.
She grabbed his shoulders and tried to shake more information out of him.
"Come on! Don't just stop there! Keep talking!"
"Alright! I get it! Let go of me already!" Kal exclaimed, trying to push Neon away from him.
'Well, since Neon seems to be in the same boat, maybe it's fine to complain to her?' Kal decided
He had a lot he wanted to complain about, he just didn't say anything to Victoria because he didn't want to bother her.
Well if it's Neon, someone who he was just friends with, maybe it would be okay.
"It's just that… Well she always says she's busy and doesn't have time for me, she probably is but… Everytime I try to invite her out she turns it down, saying she's too preoccupied. I don't know, I just kinda feel like I don't matter at all anymore."
Neon nodded rapidly in understanding.
"Yeah yeah, I get what you mean. I get the same feeling a lot with Sky, I mean everywhere we go, he's telling me don't do this, or don't do that. Then when some Octarians show up he just completely forgets about me!"
"I wish Victoria would find more time for me."
"I wish Sky would say something positive about me again."
"I mean I do like Victoria, but..."
"I like Sky, I really do, but..."
"...I feel like it doesn't even matter anymore." Both Kalus and Neon said at the exact same time.
They found themselves staring at each other.
"Hold on, instead of saying all this to me, shouldn't you be telling Sky?" Kal began.
"I could say the same to you! If you want to see Victoria so bad, why don't you just tell her that?"
The two found themselves easily relating to the other.
"It's not that easy! Besides, Victoria takes her job as an Octarian soldier really seriously, so if she says she's busy then it must be important."
"I can't just pull Sky away from those Octarians. And while I don't like him complaining all the time, I know I'm a little hyper… sooo, yeah."
"..."
"..."
"Soo… I guess Sky isn't coming back soon?"
"No… And you won't be seeing Victoria anytime soon?"
"No... So much for Valentines day, this is more like Ditch Your Date day."
Neon nodded silently in agreement.
"Say, if you're free, wanna come get lunch with me?" Neon asked
Kal replied with a look of blatant confusion.
"Ahh don't misunderstand, I said I had a table reserved at the Harbour Ten Inkopolis. I was planning on taking Sky but well… you saw how that went."
"Really? Why didn't you mention it to Sky earlier?"
"It was meant to be a surprise! But then he got invited by those Octarians. How awkward would it be if I brought it up only then?!"
"Fair point. But then why me?"
"Well… I don't want to let the reservation go to waste.. Besides, could you maybe just play along a little? Maybe Sky will come to his senses when he hears I took you out to a five star restaurant for valentines! Hehe!"
"Well I guess that's fine, I could play along, that's what friends are for…. Wait a second? Did you say five star?"
"Yeah! Oh don't worry, I've got it all covered.."
"... Won't it be an expensive meal then? Are you sure you don't want to just try calling Sky back?"
"Don't worry, money is no problem for me, ahhh but we can't go like this, I'll be right back!"
"Wait!"
As if completely ignoring him, Neon bolted off to her apartment.
Kal stood there alone.
'What was that!? Why did Neon suddenly bounce from crying to dragging me to lunch in place of Sky? And what's that about playing along and bringing Sky back to his senses?! No wonder Sky calls her a troublesome girl!'
It was incredibly strange, though that was to be expected from Neon.
'Well it's not like I'm looking to replace Victoria with Neon… if by some chance a big misunderstanding happens I could always just explain myself… yeah this should be fine.' Kal assured himself.
It's not like Victoria was showing up soon anyways.
Though he had never been to a five star restaurant.
Was he supposed to dress formally or something?
Kal figured that if he didn't know, Neon would have even less of an idea.
After all, Neon was someone who spent almost all her time playing ranked ink battles and showed little interest in anything else.
Returning home, Kal searched online for any kind of dress code before going through his turf war gear for anything that might be suitable for such an occasion.
In the end he decided that a simple white shirt and no headgear would do just fine.
Deciding this was good enough, Kal headed over to meet Neon at her apartment.
He expected Neon to be wearing something that could be used in Turf Wars since she liked it so much and probably didn't have any clothing that wasn't turf gear, but he was wrong.
When Neon arrived it was almost as if she became a completely different Inkling.
Unlike her usual self, who would have just ran around at full speed without regard for her appearance, Neon moved calmly and elegantly.
She wore a pure white sundress which left her shoulders bare, something that was definitely not turf war clothing.
She wasn't moving her hair tentacles around like extra arms anymore, they just flowed all the way down, sometimes being lifted by the breeze.
Frankly Neon looked like a proper beauty, the complete opposite of her normal appearance of a wild child.
She left her apartment and walked towards Kal at a steady pace and observed his choice of clothing.
"A casual white shirt? A fine choice for when there isn't a specific dress code." Neon commented.
Neon was even controlling her voice and not just shouting out everything on her mind as soon as it came to her.
"Who are you?" Kal couldn't help it.
"What is that supposed to mean!?"
"S-sorry, well with that reaction you are definitely Neon."
"Who else would I be?"
"No one, I just never saw you dress like that before."
"Oh yeah, I normally don't, I really don't like how hard it is to run in these kinds of dresses. Does it look weird on me or something?"
"No, rather I just never expected you to own any kind of clothing that was not suited for turf wars."
"Just cause I love turf wars so much doesn't mean I can't dress like this."
"Yeah I get that, but wow, what a surprise."
"Surprise? I normally dress like this whenever I take Sky to some fancy place. Isn't that normal?"
"Wait… You normally dress like that for your dates?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"... Nothing."
Kal had a defeated look on his face.
'Victoria never dresses like that… in fact most of the time she doesn't even change out of her Octoling armor.'
"If this surprises you, just wait till you see what Sky wears to formal events." Neon added "Ahh, he looks so suave and debonair in a three piece suit.."
As Neon started to daydream about Sky, Kal felt a strange bit of jealousy.
'Three piece suit? Have they gone to some formal event together?'
He and Victoria never dressed fancily or anything, nor did they go to expensive places, they would either go around Inkopolis or Octo Valley.
He looked at Neon, who held her cheeks and had a slight blush as she remembered some previous date with Sky.
'I know it's not a competition…. But why does Neon and Sky seem way more couple like than me and Victoria?'
"Hmm? Why are you glaring at me?" Neon asked
"I am? Well… nevermind that, we should get going right?"
There was no way Kal was going to tell her that he was jealous of the things she and Sky did together.
Sky walked through the Square, having had a warm welcome and an enjoyable meal with the Octarians.
For him, it was a shame Neon didn't come along, but she had chosen not to, so Sky wasn't going to force her or anything.
'She probably wanted to join a few battles while she could.' Sky assumed.
He didn't know anyone else who played turf wars as much as Neon did.
She was good at it too, to the point where she had remained in the top 500s of ranked battles for several months in a row.
Sponsors from all over made offers to her.
It was no surprise that she would rather play turf than have lunch with some random Octarians.
Sky went over to the Deca tower and waited patiently in the lobby, expecting Neon to appear soon.
But he didn't see her anywhere.
'Strange, she should have shown up by now…'
He considered calling her on the phone, but knowing Neon, she was probably too distracted to pick up.
'Where else could she be? Maybe she had a bad loss and is off sulking somewhere?'
If that was the case, Sky knew where to look.
Neon had a go to place whenever she wanted to be alone.
An unnamed grassy hill overlooking the ocean near Inkopolis Plaza.
Sky decided to go check there.
While Sky was right about Neon's location, he was wrong about her being there alone.
Both she and Kal had gone to that spot after their lunch.
She had something on her mind, a plan.
"What do you mean by 'put Sky to the test'?" Kal asked
"I mean I want to see how he reacts if he finds out that I'm spending valentines with you instead of him! Then maybe he'll realize how I feel."
"W-what? Hey don't just rope me in on such a prank."
"It's not a prank, it's a test!"
"I have a bad feeling about this…." Kal muttered "If you are really so bothered by Sky not spending the day with you, why don't you just tell him?"
"Gee I don't know? Why don't you tell Victoria that you're bothered by how little time she has for you?" Neon replied
"... Fair point."
"Alright! Now lie on my lap!" Neon said, sitting on her knees and patting her lap.
"Wait! I didn't agree yet! And why would you say such a thing so casually?" Kal exclaimed
"Obviously it's because you and I are good friends! Yeah! I could never be this up front with Sky! But it's fine with you cause you and I are just friends!"
Kal grit his teeth.
"Yeah that's right, I have zero interest in you but we are still friends. So as friends we should help each other out." He replied with a smile.
Neon frowned
"I don't you why, but hearing so much emphasis on 'friends' ticks me off somehow."
"Hey, you started it…"
Kal looked at Neon sitting in the grass, he could somewhat understand her motive and reasoning, but what if this led to a big misunderstanding?
Well Victoria was busy all the time, and she and Sky weren't exactly in touch with each other, so there shouldn't be any trouble there…
"Alright, but what is your plan here anyways?" Kal asked
"Well… I didn't really think about that… Wait, don't get up yet! Let Sky see us like this first!"
Kal lay in Neon's lap and the two continued to plan on some way to get Sky to realize how much Neon was sulking.
"So this is like a test of Sky's resolve? Or are you just fed up with wearing fake smiles?" Kal wondered
"Hmm, I'm not sure. Hey you're getting pretty into this aren't you?"
"I'm already here, might as well play along…"
"... Oh! I know!" Neon exclaimed
"What? What is it?"
"Why don't you just tell him everyone I told you? About how he's always acting like I need to change and how easily he seems to let me go?"
"I'm not some couple counselor…"
"Come on… pleeeease!?"
"No way, do you want me to just watch the two of you fight?"
"Oh that could work!"
"It was a joke…"
"No it might actually work! Sky sucks so bad at ink battles there is no way he could beat us!"
"...wait us?"
"And if he is still determined enough to try then that should mean something! Yeah let's do that!" Neon said with a determined look on her face.
"What are you saying?" Kal didn't quite get how Neon jumped to such a conclusion.
"Hey stop shooting down all my ideas! Just play along and I'll help you smooth things out with Victoria someday!"
"There's nothing to smoothen out! We just live a bit too far apart, that's all!"
"Yeah yeah sure, just make yourself comfortable until Sky finds us."
"Why don't you just call him and tell him where we are?"
"Nah, that would be too suspicious."
Expecting Sky to come looking for her soon, Neon waited with Kal lying in her lap.
"Can I at least sit up now?" He asked
"Nah! Sky needs to see this."
"This isn't all that comfortable you know…" Kal said, adjusting his head on Neon's lap.
"Really?... Well I wouldn't know."
The two distracted themselves with other topics, things like turf wars, music, Off the Hook.
Until finally Kal heard a voice.
"What's going on here!?"
Sky finally made it.
He was expecting Neon to be gazing off into the distance alone or something.
But instead he found Kal lying in Neon's lap.
It didn't really sit well with him, but he was not too kind to get angry easily.
There had to be a rational explanation for this.
And there was, however he wasn't going to get it yet.
"Oh you're back! Hope you had fun! I sure did." Neon said.
"Huh?" Sky went.
'Now let's not jump to conclusions, there's no way Kal did something behind my back.'
Neon gently nudged Kal with her leg, as Sky wouldn't notice it.
She was telling Kal to play along.
Kal suppressed a sigh and did just that.
"You did tell me to take her off your hands." Kal said, faking a smile while still lying in Neon's lap.
Neon did the same, or maybe she was just happy to see Sky slowly lose his cool for possibly the first time ever.
To Sky, these two seemed to have suddenly gotten very close.
"What sort of joke is this?" Sky asked
"What do you mean?" Neon tilted her head, faking a sense of confusion.
"Alright Kal! What did you do?"
"What? Me?" Kal didn't expect Sky to push all the blame on him.
"Yeah you! Are you blackmailing Neon or something? Or did you just have a fight with Victoria?"
"Hey! Why do you immediately assume I'm the culprit?!"
"How could I not?! There's no way Neon would just up and leave so suddenly!"
"Oh don't be so certain." Kal said, trying his best to keep a relaxed tone.
"I AM certain! Neon was always so happy! You did something to her didn't you!?" Sky suddenly grabbed Kal by the collar and pulled him off Neon.
Kal wasn't sure if he could keep this up.
It's not that he wanted to just tell Sky what was really going on, but rather it was because Kal was genuinely getting angry.
It made sense that Sky would immediately assume Neon was innocent, however…
From what Sky had just said, it seemed like he was totally oblivious to how unhappy Neon really was.
'Why does this infuriate me so much?!'
"Happy? HA! If that was the case we wouldn't be having this conversation now!"
"Neon what happened?" Sky asked Neon, but it was Kal who replied
"She wanted to surprise you with lunch at a fancy steakhouse, but you left before she could take you there, so I went in your stead."
"You what?!"
"I comforted her, made her feel better, but you wouldn't know, considering you ditched her for a bunch of random Octari-"
Kal was instantly cut off.
Because Sky, as quick as lightning, swung a fist at Kal, connecting it with his face.
Neon gasped.
Sky had never acted in such a way before.
In fact, this was the first time anyone had seen Sky resort to violence.
Kal rubbed his face with one hand, while the other slowly curled into a fist.
It looked like a fight was about to start.
As much as she enjoyed fighting, Neon leapt in between Kal and Sky before they could exchange blows.
"Stop it!" Neon shouted
"What are you doing?" Sky said, surprised
"Protecting Kal! What else!?"
"You… He wasn't lying?!"
"Of course not!" Kal retorted from behind Neon. "You just straight up ditched her in the middle of Inkopolis to go eat with a bunch of Octarians!"
"I didn't ditch her! She let me go!"
"Just because she let you go doesn't mean she's happy with it!"
"Huh?!"
Sky had no idea what Kal was talking about.
"She was crying! The moment you left she started crying! Are you aware of that!?"
"R-really?" Sky looked at Neon for confirmation
Neon silently nodded
"B-but why?" Sky stammered.
"Do you really have to ask that!?" Kal shouted
"Oh come on! How was I supposed to know!? She didn't say anything! Neon! Why didn't you say anything?!" Sky asked
"I just… didn't want to get in the way…" Neon replied
"I wouldn't have left if you had just said something."
"If you treated her better she would have." Kal added
At this point he wasn't just playing along with Neon's silly test.
Something about the whole situation irked him.
"You two are supposed to be a couple? Everytime I see you you're telling Neon, 'don't do this' or 'don't do that'."
"It doesn't bother her!"
"It does!"
"How would you know!?"
"Neon told me herself!"
"What!?"
Once again Sky looked to Neon for confirmation and once again she nodded.
"I… I'm sorry, I didn't know." Sky had calmed down rapidly, he switched to a much more apologetic tone. "Can you maybe forgive me?"
Neon didn't move.
"A bit too late for that don't you think?" Kal said.
"You stay out of this!"
"No way, from what i've seen I don't think you and Neon belong together anymore."
"That's not up to you!"
"Your right, how about this then. Go find a partner and meet us at the Deca Tower, we'll fight two on two. Or you could just run home and change your freshbook status to single."
Neon looked to Kal with a face of surprise.
She didn't expect him to actually go through with her plan.
Sky grit his teeth.
He knew he wasn't nearly as good as Kal or Neon in turf wars.
"You… You're just picking something you think I'd lose, aren't you!?"
Kal let out a wry laugh. "Exactly, if you stay the way you are, you'll lose. Go find a teammate, Neon and I will give you all the time you need. If you win, well then, I guess I'll back off."
Sky clenched his fists again, then took a deep breath.
If he was going to beat Neon and Kal, he needed someone who was just as good at Turf Wars.
Sky knew just the candidate for that role.
He jabbed a finger at Kal.
"I accept that challenge! I'll be back by five! Count on it! And I won't lose!" Sky shouted before hurrying off to find a teammate.
Kal and Neon watched Sky disappear into the city.
Neon was already feeling regretful.
She didn't want to think of herself as easy, but seeing how clueless yet apologetic Sky was made, her want to just drop this whole test thing and accept him back into her arms.
"Ahh… I went a bit far there, didn't I?" Kal asked.
"No you did good…. Though Sky really did look sorry didn't he." Neon observed
"He did… Should we just call it all off?"
Neon thought about it one more time.
'No, if I wanted to do that, I would have said so earlier.' Neon thought
It wasn't as simple as just making Sky realize she was unhappy.
There was more, but she wasn't able to say it.
Neon thought back to when she first worked up the courage to confess her feelings to Sky.
Unlike a normal Inkling, she loved fighting, so she was only able to confess to Sky in the middle of a battle.
'Haha! I'm a weird one, I guess I need another fight to give me courage!'
This upcoming battle with Sky and whoever he could bring was the chance of a lifetime for Neon.
"Nah, let's wait for him to come back…"
Kal shrugged "it's your call."
"How's your face?" Neon asked
"It's fine, it actually doesn't hurt that much, it was just surprising."
"Yeah I never expected Sky to get so worked up so quickly. Sorry about that." Neon apologized in Sky's stead.
"Don't worry about it, let's just get ready for the match."
Sky said he would be back by five.
That meant there was a little more than four hours to wait out.
"Four hours… Who could he be looking for?" Kal wondered.
"Oh oh oh! I know! He's looking for Inker!"
Inker was another one of their friends.
The reason he wasn't around at the moment, was because he was also Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.
"Yeah that makes sense, Inker is probably helping Cap'n Cuttlefish with something in Octo Valley, that explains why Sky will take four hours to prepare…"
It was the most rational choice, considering that Sky was going to have to fight two Inklings whom he knew were better than him at turf wars.
Bringing Agent 3 could even the odds a bit, though the last time he beat Neon was over a year ago…
"I don't think we have to worry, no matter who he brings along Sky's gonna hold them back. We got this!" Neon cheered
"You seem excited."
"Of course! How can I not? This is gonna be a great battle!"
Even if there were things she wanted to get off her mind, even if this was supposed to be Valentines day, Neon wasn't going to stop enjoying a good ink battle.
"Agent 3 versus us. I think we got this." Kal added.
The duo were feeling confident.
New Octopolis, Octo Valley
Thanks to the Calamari Inkantation, the Octarians had a civil war and all those still loyal to Octavio and hostile to Inklings, were chased out to Octo Canyon.
Those that no longer wanted to fight, yet didn't want to leave their homes, rebuilt Octo Valley's kettles into one prosperous city named 'New Octopolis'
That was Sky's destination.
Like Neon and Kal had predicted, Sky went to Octo Valley to search for Inker, a.k.a Agent 3.
'If I try hard enough, maybe I can deal with Kal, I just need someone who can hold off Neon. Otherwise I don't stand a chance against those two.'
If he couldn't get Inker's help, would he still fight?
'I have to try, no matter what!'
He never expected his friend Kalus to be such a snake, swooping in and taking Neon from him like that.
From his point of view, he didn't do much wrong, aside from maybe misjudging Neon a bit.
Neon simply had a moment of vunerability and Kal must have taken advantage for some reason.
He was the one who challenged him in the first place.
'All of this is Kal's fault.' Sky concluded.
Not wanting to waste time, he checked his phone to see if Inker had replied to his texts.
Nothing yet, maybe he was out of cell range?
There were dozens of possiblities.
But Sky didn't have time to waste.
Assuming the New Octopolis army would know where Agent 3 and Cuttlefish have been. Sky made his way over to a military installation.
Since he could speak Octarian, he had many acquaintances here, he could easily ask around for information.
Whoever looked free enough to speak, Sky asked them about the whereabouts of Agent 3.
"I didn't hear anything about him." an Octostriker said.
"He's still in the valley?" An Octotrooper wondered
"You should probably ask an officer." an Octoling suggested.
So Sky did.
He searched for a certain pony tailed Octoling he was familiar with in the past.
"Agent 3? Well he left in pursuit of an Octoling working for Octavio's army. Last thing I heard he chased her into the Deepsea Metro."
"Can you tell him to come back?"
"Sorry, we can't contact them in the Deepsea Metro."
"Can you send someone to find them?" Sky asked
"No way! No matter what I say no one in their right mind would go to that cursed place!"
"Cursed?"
"In the past, over ten thousand Octarians disappeared in the Deepsea Metro, none ever returned. What's worse, there were confirmed reports of zombie like Octarians, their skin a deathly green and tentacles cold and blue, emerging from the deep."
"Ohh… Wait hold up! Doesn't that mean Inker is in big trouble?!"
"Yes, but what can we do? Nobody would go to that place even if I ordered them."
"Okay… Well thanks for your time Lynn."
"No worries, I'll let you know as soon as Agent 3 returns… if he returns that is…"
"Huh? What was that last bit?"
"N-nothing! I'll see you around!"
Sky was left without a teammate.
He sighed, there was no way he could beat Neon and Kalus alone.
Looking at the time, he had taken nearly two hours getting here.
If he was to be back in time, he had to leave now.
'Guess I have no choice.'
Sky prepared himself to lose badly.
Out of all his friends, he was the lowest level and the least skilled.
He had no chance.
"Hmm? Sky? What are you doing here?"
A familiar voice called out.
It belonged to another Octoling.
One who's red hair and green eyes prevented her from standing out much.
Yet Sky knew her name.
"Oh, Victoria. I was just leaving."
"You look troubled. What's wrong?"
"Oh nothing… Well… It's Valentine's day right? But I think I just blew my relationship with Neon."
"What happened?"
"Nothing… Well I kinda messed up and Kal took advantage of that-"
"WHAT?!" Victoria exclaimed, but she quickly composed herself and said "Tell me more."
She looked serious yet cold, it sent chills down Sky's back.
Maybe it wasn't good to blame it all on Kal in front of Victoria.
He tried to explain to the best of his ability.
How he left Neon with Kal because he didn't know anything was wrong.
How Neon was apparently crying behind his back.
How he found Kal lying on Neon's lap, with bright smiles on both their faces when he returned.
Finally, Kal's challenge to him.
"Neon seems to have taken a liking to Kal while I was… I was being stupid…" Sky concluded.
"I can't believe this.." Victoria mumbled
"I know right."
"Just cause I'm too busy down here, Neon parades herself in front of Kal and stabs me in the back!?" Victoria complained
"Hey! It's not Neon's fault!"
"Are you saying it's Kal's?"
"N-no I uhh… It's mine." Sky admitted "I was so absent minded that I didn't notice Neon was sad."
"Then why are you here in Octo Valley?"
"They told me to find a teammate and meet them back in Inkopolis if I want Kal to back off so."
"I'll go then!" Victoria immediately jumped to the open position. "I need to see this for myself! Plus I've got some words for that girlfriend of yours! I can understand a little lovers quarrel! But dragging Kal into it is too much!"
Sky wondered if he could possibly turn her down.
"Lynn!? Lynn! Where are you!" Victoria started shouting names until the pony tailed Octoling from before ran up to her.
"Lynn I'm about to owe you a favor, I have some paperwork I need to get done on my squad's recent skirmish, but something else came up. So please fill everything out for me. If you need any details just ask my squad."
'Oh that's right, Victoria is an Octarian soldier.' Sky was so busy thinking about the whole affair with Neon and Kal that he almost forgot.
He wasn't sure how Victoria stacked up against Neon and Kal in a turf war match, but Victoria had fought real battles against the Octarian army down here.
It was better than nothing, yet…
"Stop saying all that stuff about Neon! She's not to blame here!"
"I'll be the judge of that! Come on! Full ahead to Inkopolis!"
Victoria was determined to get to the bottom of this.
Sky was determined not to lose Neon.
As for the duo back on the surface, they were not expecting Sky to bring Victoria as his teammate.
But they were just as determined, not to just win, but they had their side objectives.
Neon was determined to make Sky understand what problems they had.
And Kal? Well, Kal was determined to see things through, after all he could relate to Neon.
Both of them had been suppressing themselves for so long, burying every complaint under a smile and a cheerful supportive voice.
Finally today, on the holiday of love and affection, all these troubles which corroded them for months finally ruptured through those fake smiles.