Some stared at the strange pair walking across the plaza. A girl with cyan tentacles, carrying a Splatling gun and a boy with green tentacles carrying a Slosher. Some giggled.
Sorui sighed. He had wondered if the clothes really mattered when people considered him a scrub. It might have been the Slosher entirely.
In reality, the giggling ones were more focused on the fact that even though the cyan girl kept facing down, her face was a bright shade of red, to the point where it almost illuminated her features.
The two walked into the lobby to register as a squad.
"W-we'll be cyan...ok?" Yutaka said as she filled the application.
"Sure." Sorui smiled.
Once the paperwork was completed, the two headed towards their first match, held at Walleye Warehouse.
"I wonder who we'll be paired up with..." Sorui mused.
"Hopefully someone who doesn't run out on us..." Yutaka muttered.
The two arrived at the warehouse to find a group of 6 others. 2 chargers, an Octobrush, a Carbon Roller, a Luna Blaster, and a Ranged Blaster. Two of them, one with a Kelp Splatterscope and one with a Luna Blaster, waved excessively.
"Hiiiii~" The girl with the Luna Blaster chirped.
"Yoooo~" The boy with the Kelp Splatterscope echoed in an equally annoying, albeit slightly deeper tone.
Sorui got out a slight wave and a "hello" before he was squished in a hug by the girl.
Yutaka was livid.
"Yooou..." Was all she got out before the girl let go of Sorui and squished her in an equally organ-squeezing grip. "Hugger..." She managed to squeak out.
The girl let go.
"We're your teammates~!" She chimed. "I'm Danwa~!"
"I'm Urusai~!" The boy cheeped.
"Welcome~!" They sang together.
The other 4 players had managed to escape to their side of the arena while they were talking.
"Y-Yutaka." Yutaka managed. "Sorui." She pointed.
Danwa clapped.
"It's so great to meet another two like us~!"
"Like...you?"
"Yeah~." Urusai grinned.
"A couple~!" Danwa sang.
Yutaka lost her grip on her Splatling for a minute. The base hit the ground with a large thump.
"Wha-wha-wha..." Her face turned as red as the tank on her weapon. "Wha-wha-wha-what d-di-di-did you saaaaay...?"
"It's such a fad~." Urusai spread his hands in a half-shrug. "Couples get together in a squad, that way they never have to fight on the battlefield~."
"I could never fight against my liddle-Uru-pie~!"
"And I couldn't fight my widdle dawn-dawn~!"
The two nuzzled. Yutaka wasn't sure whether to gag, blush, or shoot the two between the eyes. She favored the third option, but thought it might be bad for the battle afterwards.
"W-w-w-w-we're not a c-couple!" She stammered.
"You're not~?" Danwa put a finger in front of her mouth and pouted.
"Friends can be on a squad too~." Urusai patted her back.
"Oh well~!" Danwa sighed and glanced to the other side of the arena. "Looks like they're ready to start~! Let's hurry~!" The two skipped towards the team spawn. Yutaka briefly contemplated shooting herself with her Splatling.
"L-let's..." She paused, thinking about what the two annoying ones had said. She shook her head and tried to focus on the battle. "L-let's g-get to the spawn."
Sorui nodded and wandered aimlessly towards the spawn. He hadn't really been paying attention after the two mentioned couples, he had gotten himself lost, deep in his own thoughts.
"We're not a couple!" The words bounced around inside his head. He knew that it was true, but he hadn't really given it much thought before now. The clothes had just been a birthday present, she probably had a lot of friends she bought things for.
Sorui was so deep in his thoughts he walked right over the spawn and into the boxes behind it. His face hit the sudden barrier with a small "squish".
"Dummy~! Come on, there's a battle starting~!"
"R-right..."