Yay! I managed to write the chapter today, so here you go! I´m kind of getting used to writing again, so this chapter is longer and I´m personally satisfied with it.

Enjoy ^^


Chapter 20 – That was you?!

,,So he did die while he had saved his friend´s life?", it was Shiro who asked me this question.

My voice trembled:,, I think so. My mother doesn´t really like to talk about this whole incident. Understandable, I guess. But it has been so sudden for me as well. I was only four years old and didn´t understand where my dad has gone. I still remember a few things of him. Only good things of course. But the fact that we had it very difficult after this is the one thing, that I can remember the clearest of all things."

,,So, you were four when your father died?", Shota asked, behaving very strange all of a sudden.

,,Yes.", I gave him a clear answer.

,,So it must have happened shortly after we had moved away..", Shota mumbled more to himself.

A moment of silence prevailed among us for a while, given the current topic we had discussed.

It was Shota who tried to lighten up the mood a bit by saying:,, Now, now children. Why don´t we use the opportunity to talk about the good old days? I have tons of stories I would like to share with you!"

,,I can imagine..", my light blue coloured friend commented.

,,Maybe another time. Believe it or not but there is actually another reason why I visited you today, umm, Shota."

,,Another reason than just to meet me?"

I gave Shiro a commanding look and luckily he seemed to understand what I wanted him to do.

,,Actually Suzu and me have to organize a welcome party for our new history teacher. And.. there is missing something particular what would make the party more special, you know?", Shiro started to lead the conversation in the right direction.

Shota raised an eyebrow at that:,, And...?"

,,Well, Shiro told me about your new invention. The inkworks would be perfect for such an occassion as this.", I directly asked the question of all questions.

,,You did what?!", the adult Inkling immediately glared at Shiro.

,,Why not? As you see, Suzu approves of your invention so why would other Inklings not? Also, they are not dangerous to use as they are just made of ink.", my friend defended himself.

Shota seemed to think about it for a second as he uncertainly said:,, I don´t know about this. Callie and Marie still didn´t gave me the okay to use them for the upcoming splatfest. Heck, I think they didn´t even test them yet. So why should I illegaly give them to you guys?"

,,Illegaly? Callie and Marie aren´t the law, brother. Besides you know for a fact that Marie didn´t give you the okay yet because she loves to tease you. I´m sure that at the end they will approve of your contribution to the next splatfest.", Shiro reasoned and rolled his eyes everytime he spoke Marie´s name out loud.

Shota sniffed at that:,, Oh Marie. Why won´t you finally return my feelings for you? Didn´t I suffer already enough?"

It was me who raised an eyebrow at this. I quickly glanced at Shiro for an explanation but he only shrugged with his shoulders, so I decided that it was better to not dig in this topic any further and to beg for his assistance instead.

,,I have to agree with Shiro on this one. I have never ever seen something beautiful like this. All the colours were practically shining in the night sky when they were exploding and slowly vanishing with the wind. So it would be perfect for a special celebration like ours. And I´m also sure that the Squid Sisters will see this in a similiar way. I mean inkworks plus splatfest? The perfect combination?"

,,Wait.. You´re saying this like you´ve seen them with your very own eyes..", Shota´s tone became a little deeper and at the same time he quickly glanced at Shiro.

Immediately the flashbacks of Shiro and me ´breaking´ into the Squid Sister´s studio and the kiss we had shared there came back into my memory, so of course a heavy blush was tinted across my cheeks. But the urgency of Shota not finding out about this very incident was more of prime importance than my hormonal feelings right now, so I instantly had to come up with a white lie.

,,What?! No! But Shiro told me extensively about them!"

,,Hmmpf..", was his only response which made me believe that he didn´t buy my sad excuse of a lie.

,,Come on, bro. Don´t be like that..", Shiro tried to beg.

Shota sighed while he massaged his temples at the same time:,, Okay, fine. How can I say no after you´ve praised me so much?"

My worried expression changed into a cheery smile as I heard him saying this. As if we had rehearsed it, Shiro and me screamed the word ´yes´ out loud at the same time and high fived each other.

,,Whoa, hold your tentacles. So how much time do I have to prepare them?"

,,The party takes place on this saturday.", Shiro answered his brother.

,,Today is Tuesday. So that makes three days if you start tomorrow. Is that enough?", I asked back.

,,Hmm, I think it´s makeable."

And with that our preparations for the welcome party were done. Shiro and me had listed every single detail about our plan on a sheet of paper for our teacher Mrs. Anderson to check. Since Shota seemed to have a close relationship with at least one of the Squid Sisters, he even offered to ask Callie to give a little private concert for our little occassion. So after everything was done, my light blue Inklingfriend finally offered to escort me home. I gladly accepted his offer since I didn´t really want to hear another awkward story about our childhood.

,,So.. You were always so kind and nice to me because we were childhood friends. Is that correct?", I started a conversation.

,,Partly."

,,Partly?", I repeated.

,,I told you. Unlike you, I do remember some bits of our shared past."

After some seconds of silence, I asked:,, Like what?"

,,Hmm..", he hummed while he looked at the sky with a small smile. ,,Like the fact that you were and still are my first love.", he now grinned at me.

I lightly hit his shoulder, saying:,, Oh! Now everything makes perfect sense! Really? Are you squidding me? How old were you back then? Like five? How can you talk about love like that?"

,,It´s true, you know. I always was around you back then. You were my very first friend I made besides my brother, of course. I also remember me being sincerely happy, spending time with you. And we shared our first kiss as well!"

,,What? That´s a lie! I know that my first kiss was with someone else.", I insisted.

Sceptically raising an eyebrow at my answer, Shiro asked:,, Oh yes? Who was it?"

My cheeks turned into a light pink tinted colour:,, I don´t remember his name. But it started with the letter G and not S. That´s for sure."

,,Ha, so you do remember!"

,,Remember what?"

,,In the past! You couldn´t pronounce my actual name, so you always used to call me Grey!... Well, you couldn´t pronounce the letter R as well, so that makes it Gey, I think..", my friend exclaimed, being happy that I seemed to remember at least something.

,,Wait.. So that was you? And really? I called you Gay?", I couldn´t help but burst out into laughter. ,,Why would I even call you that?"

,,It was Gey and not Gay! Because of my eye colour, of course!", with that Shiro stopped in his tracks, put his hands on my shoulder and held me closer, to look at his face. ,,Remember?"

I immediately stopped laughing and almost whispered:,, That was really you?"

He flashed a genuine smile at me and nodded.

,,So you were nice to me because of that kiss?"

The Inklingboy chuckled:,, Partly."

,,Again!?"

,,There is actually something else I want to find out as well.. But you already figured out the main reason. It´s because I love you."

I blushed at that cheesy but still sweet comment and stepped some steps back:,, You are still a mistery to me, Shiro Masato, you know that?"

,,As your feelings towards me are a mistery to me.. But don´t worry. I don´t need an answer. Yet.", he said while pointing with his fingers to my back.

I turned around to actually see that we had made it back to my house. So Shiro finally waved to me goodbye and confused as ever I entered my house.

,,I´m home!", I announced my arrival.

,,You´re quite late, honey. Did you hang out with your friends after school?", my mom answered, while she exited the kitchen, holding a cup and a towel in her hands, which made me assume that she was cleaning the dishes.

,,I did."

,,Was it that boy, whom I saw you with from the window?"

,,Yeah, his name is Shiro. Shiro Masato."

As soon as I had mentioned his name, the cup which my mother was holding moments ago, landed flat on the floor.

Quickly I ran over to her, to make sure that she was okay.

,,Mom! Did you hurt yourself?", I asked worried.

,,Did.. Did you say Masato?", my mother quietly whispered.

,,Yes, that´s his name. Oh yeah, you must know him since we´re childhood friends, right?", I bend on my knees to gather all the pieces of the broken cup so nobody would get hurt.

After a short pause my mother spoke again:,, I don´t want you to talk to him anymore."

Assured that I must have misunderstood my mom´s words, I asked:,, Huh?"

,,I don´t want you to ever speak to him again, do you hear me?! It´s his father´s fault, that your father is gone now!", my mother replied by screaming the words out loud with a trembling voice.