Sorui smiled. Today was going to be a great day. He could feel it. A Slosher, could you believe it? A real turf war weapon, and it was his.
He had spent the first part of his day celebrating his birthday with his mother. Tonight, whether he won or lost in his battles, he would be eating his favorite dish, and he was going to enjoy it. The train rattled to a stop, and Sorui began the elegant dance of trying to get off without his new weapon being smushed. Once clear of the crowd of people, he darted off to have a look at everything. The plaza was chock-full of Inklings, each with their own fashion sense and battle style. Over here, an Inkling who preferred sniping was arguing with one who preferred the front-lines over something that sounded like where they ought to eat lunch. Over there, a group of fighters were talking stage-rotation over milkshakes. Another group was inscescently giggling about something Sorui didn't know about.
He was so caught up in his senses that he failed to notice the large rock directly in his path, and, with a small squeak, he fell flat on his face, still clutching his Slosher. The giggling intensified, and Sorui quickly snapped back up, face red with embarrasment. He glanced around to get his bearings, then hurried towards the green tower with a gigantic, electrified Zapfish wrapped around it. This was the lobby. This was it. He was ready for this.
Yutaka was ready. She had been patiently waiting at the dump of a map for quite some time now. Bluefin Depot; usually she avoided battling on this map, but the only other one available was Camp Triggerfish. Weighing her options, she decided an old railroad was better than getting stung by wasps, or bitten by spiders, or whatever else there was at the camp.
She tapped her foot and leaned on her Splatling. She glanced around her; 6 other Inklings, ready to do battle. A roller, two chargers, an Inkbrush, an N-Zap, and a Dual Squelcher.
"Could be worse." She thought.
There was a bubbling sound of someone entering through the spawn pipe. Two large eyes peaked out of the ink.
"Finally, we're getting somewhere." She announced loudly. "Come on, let's hurry up and..."
She stopped.
The other six stared.
She stared.
He clenched his weapon's handle, and smiled.
"Hi! I'm Sorui. Nice to me..."
"A bucket."
"What?"
"A bucket." Yutaka repeated, and then grinned.
"A bucket! It's a bucket!" Laughter began to fill the air.
"Huh?" Sorui said, confused. "N-no, it's a Slosh-"
"It's a bucket!"
Yutaka heaved over laughing. The others did the same. Sorui felt a bit hurt. Sure, the Slosher might look like a bucket, but it's a perfectly legal...
"Look at his clothes!"
"H-Huh?" This caught Sorui off guard.
"His clothes! They're so bad!"
Sorui tugged at his shirt. "M-my mom gave-"
"Torn clothes, and a bucket for a weapon! That's hilarious!"
Sorui was visibly upset now. He didn't have any fancy clothes like those pilot goggles, although he thought they looked cool, but that didn't-
"You have got to be kidding me, how much of a scrub are you?"
Sorui stared at the source of the voice. She was a very pretty girl, about his age. Cyan tentacles, violet eyes, and standing on a very heavy-looking Splatling gun. He couldn't stop staring at her teeth, not so much because they were beautiful, but more because she was keeled over in laughter, and it was hard not to look at them. They looked very sharp.
"I bet those things only have one sub stat! No, no, not even that, just the main stat even! Do they even have that?"
"Those clothes look like you pulled them from a dumpster! ...you didn't, did you?"
"A bucket! HA!"
Sorui felt a tear drip down his face as the others laughed. The sound was hurtful, like waves of black ink battering him from every side. He wiped it and hoped no one noticed.
"A bucket!" The cyan-colored beauty sputtered out between giggles. "He brought a bucket!" She laughed some more and leaned on the Splatling she was carrying. It had only cost her parents 12,000 coins. Only.
Sorui tried to keep his spirits up by gazing down. His reflection stared back at him; a torn anchor-tee, a pair of plain white shoes, one of which was too big while the other was too small. He had no hat to his name.
"A bucket!" She exclaimed.
Sorui took a step back. Then another. Then he ran. Their laughter echoed off the depot near his home. Tears fell and dripped through the grate, into the empty sea below.
Yutaka slowly drew out of her laughing fit and turned to the 6 others. "We're down one!" She announced. "My team will go three, you guys go four. I could do with the extra challenge. We'll be cyan, you guys be orange."
She hefted her beloved weapon and hugged it in her arms lovingly as she walked to her team's area.
"What a scrub," she thought. "I can't believe he brought a bucket!"
She giggled once more at the thought. "How'd he even get into the tower lobby? That kid should take the hint and get a real weapon next time. Like Mr. Splatty here."
"I just don't understand how he thought he could get away with such a scrub weapon. I just don't understand it."