The fabled day everyone had been dreading had finally arrived–the first day of school.

Tori kind of liked school, but she also didn't like it at the same time. However, she wasn't dreading it like everyone else. In fact, it meant she got to see Elle again! She wondered if she had gotten a symbiont since they last met.

As they were herded onto the bus, Tori thought back to her first day of kindergarten. She had been so scared of going inside the school, terrified by the thought of leaving Miss Swallow and going in all by herself. Except, she didn't go in all by herself. She had Principal Mobula with her. And as the year went on, she could soon go into the school just like anyone else. It didn't seem so scary anymore.

Now, however, she was going to school for the first time in months. She had gotten so used to not going to school that she had forgotten what going to school was like. And at the thought, apprehension seized her at once.

The bus arrived at school, and Tori stepped off, staring up at the grand building. Children, some of which she knew, some of which she didn't, walked past her, all going to school like nothing was wrong.

"Tori?" Miss Swallow hovered behind her. "Come on, you have to go to school. You should know this."

She gulped. She has to enter the school. Or else Lady Squall would be mad, and she would be punished.

She took a few steps forward and looked back at the butterflyfish. Yet she stood there all the same, her arms crossed. Tori returned her attention to the school. If she didn't start walking now, she would be late.

She forced herself forward, one step at a time, until she was at the school gates. And once she stepped inside the school, relief washed over her. That was a lot easier than she thought. Maybe on the first day of second grade, she wouldn't have any trouble at all.

Next, though, she would have to find her new class and meet her new teacher. Miss Swallow handed everyone a paper with their classroom number and teacher last night, so Tori took it out of her bag and unfolded it, rereading the words written on it. Mrs. Watasenia, in Class 1-A.

From her trips around the school, she had an idea where it was. The classrooms were separated by grade, and each grade had its own section in the school. Tori always thought the kids older than her at school were scary, but after meeting Elle, maybe they weren't so bad.

She had to focus on finding her class, though. She wandered through the halls, searching for the class on her paper. She must be going the wrong way, since the classroom numbers hanging in the hallway seemed to be for the second grade.

Tori stopped. The second grade hallway? Then Elle would be here! Excited by the prospect of seeing her again, she pressed her back against the wall, watching the people walk by. Sooner or later, Elle would walk by. And then she could finally talk to her again!

She still had to find her class, but there was still a little time before then, right? She could afford to wait. Besides, it would be quick!

A few people looked at her, but they simply moved on. They weren't like the kids of the orphanage. But she never really saw them here, anyways. If she did see them, they were either eating lunch or walking behind a teacher. She always saw the kids of the orphanage, and a helper wasn't always there.

Then, she saw her. The yellow-and-pink pigtails of the sea anemone bounced as she turned the corner, holding the straps of her backpack tightly. She didn't seem to notice her–now's her chance!

Tori burst off the wall, stumbling in front of Elle. She froze in her tracks as the inkling enthusiastically swung her arms around.

"Elle!" Tori exclaimed. Seeing her shocked expression, she added, "It's me! Tori!"

Elle studied her for a few moments before running off without a single word.

Tori's arms fell, leaving a sinking feeling in her stomach. Didn't Elle want to see her? Weren't they friends?

Someone shoved her, and she shrank away. Soon, she found herself looking at a young shark she didn't recognize.

"Move it," she growled. "Can't you see she doesn't like you?"

Tori tilted her head. "Who?"

"That girl you just talked to, dummy," she snapped, her teeth glinting in the dim light.

Whatever she said next, Tori didn't hear it, repeating the words over and over in her head. Elle didn't like her. She didn't think the shark was lying. So Elle didn't like her.

Tori stomped her foot on the ground, emotion stuck in her throat. Why? Elle liked her when she met her at the park, didn't she? Or was that wrong, too? She didn't understand. She wished she could understand. Why did everyone understand what she didn't?

She was even more sure something was wrong with her now. If there wasn't, then maybe she would understand.

"Ay, Tori?"

Tori yelped, scrambling back into the wall. The shark was gone now, and in her place was someone much bigger.

Her eyes focused on the figure, revealing Principal Mobula. She let out her breath, relieved.

"Ay, what's wrong?" he asked, squatting. "Are you lost?"

Tori opened her mouth to speak, but she found herself unable to once again, a croak escaping her lips instead. So, she thinned her lips and shook her head.

"If you don't want to speak right now, that's fine, ay." He extended a fin. "Ay, I can take you to your class."

Tori nodded and took his fin. She would like that.

One of the inkling kids in the hallway paused at the sight, his face crinkling into a scowl. "Why do you get to take her to class? You never do that with anyone else!"

"Ay now!" The principal's jovial expression turned serious. "I'm willing to help ay-nyone to class if they need it. That's my job as the principal, ay."

The kid rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say." He didn't seem to argue further, continuing onward.

Principal Mobula looked down at Tori, his smile returning. "Now, let's go, ay!"

Tori squeezed Principal Mobula's fin and followed him down the hall in silence. All the halls pretty much looked the same, save for the occasional decoration. Those decorations helped Tori know where she was going, but the principal must know every inch of this school.

The decorations were different from the end of last year, though. Instead of colorful pictures showing off projects the students did, they displayed pictures of the various staff members, all donning smiles on their faces when possible. It seemed so bleak in comparison.

They eventually reached a hallway with a bright banner reading, "1ST GRADE," hanging from the ceiling. Tori pulled on her braid, shaking it back and forth. She was going to meet her new teacher soon, and it was all thanks to Principal Mobula!

The principal came to a stop in front of a classroom labeled "1-A." Then, he let go of her hand and swung around to face her again.

"Ay, Tori, we're here. Ay you need to calm down."

Tori dropped her hand. "Sorry."

He shuffled away from the door, clearing a path for her. "Ay, it's fine. But you need to be on your best behavior when you go to meet Mrs. Watasenia. Do you understand, ay?"

"I understand." She curled her hands into fists, thinning her lips. She could do this.

"Great! Now, I should be going, ay. It's busy being the principal, you know!" He waved a fin and started to walk away. "Have fun, ay!"

Tori watched as he disappeared into another hall before returning her attention to the classroom. In a few moments, she would meet her new classmates and her new teacher. She figured her classmates wouldn't be too different from last year, but her teacher? She didn't know what to expect. Would she be like Mrs. Bock? Or would she be nicer? Or meaner?

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and stepped through the doorway. Her eyes peered open to reveal...something similar to her kindergarten classroom. There were still a bunch of posters hung up all over the place, the desks were arranged into tables, and one of the lights didn't work. However, what stood out to her was a dingy bookshelf sitting in the corner of the room, a lifelike squid figure sitting on top of it. The spots on its tentacles glowed a steady cyan color, directing a few inkfish's curiosities towards it.

Tori hung up her backpack, took out her folder, and walked up to the squid. It donned a serene expression, eyes closed like it was sleeping. She couldn't help but admire the figure's handiwork. The way light bounced off its skin and the fine specks of color dotting its body...it almost seemed like the real thing. Tori touched the squid's tentacle and grimaced. And it felt like the real thing, too.

Then, the bell rang, and the squid shuddered.

Tori startled, nearly losing her balance. Was this an actual squid? Did an inkling manage to get into the school? But how?!

The squid's body began to grow, a cyan glob of ink forming into the shape of an adult. Then, the ink started to recede into the adult's dark skin, six long tentacles draping across her body. She uncrossed her arms and stood up, opening her luminescent eyes at last.

"It's time already?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes. Compared to Mrs. Bock, she dressed more casually, wearing only an orange, form-fitting shirt and leggings. A lanyard hung around her neck.

"Were you sleeping?" one of the kids next to Tori asked. She recognized her voice from the orphanage.

"Not particularly." At this point, all eyes were on the mysterious inkling. "I was meditating, which may look like sleeping to those unfamiliar with the concept."

"What's meditating?" another kid asked.

"A way to relax," she replied. "It's good for lowering stress."

Tori grabbed her braids, holding them close to her chest. "W-who are you?"

"Oh, yeah, class started." The adult inkling moved to the open space in the front of the classroom, creaking her neck. "My name is Mrs. Watasenia. I'll be your teacher for this year."

Tori blinked, flabbergasted. This was Mrs. Watasenia? She seemed nothing like the other teachers she's met. Or maybe Mrs. Bock was the exception.

"Now, sit down, and you all can introduce yourselves to me." A small smile touched her lips. "It'll be a fun year, won't it?"

Calling the year "fun" might be an exaggeration. As they went through introductions, Tori discovered she already knew most of the people in her class from last year. She prepared a script for her own introduction, and for the most part, it went smoothly. Except one of the new people called her a robot. And that led Tori to wonder: maybe she was a robot inkling? But if she was a robot, then she would be made out of metal.

Tori got hurt like anyone else, so she was sure she wasn't made out of metal. But maybe she was a super-advanced robot, and Lady Squall was just hiding her from the government on behalf of her parents, who could also be her creators. Maybe that's why she liked her so much, according to the kids of the orphanage. She was a robot, and no one else was.

…But she didn't like that idea. Why couldn't she be like everyone else? Why did she have to be something other than an inkling?

She really wished she could understand. But without anyone to explain it to her, she couldn't. No one wanted to explain it to her, anyways.

After lunch came something new. Something called "physical education," or "P.E.," for short. Everyone followed Mrs. Watasenia through the halls, walking until they reached the gym. Tori didn't know what the gym had to do with P.E., but it always had a weird smell to it. She wanted to find out where it came from, but she never got the chance to.

Another class poured out of the gymnasium, allowing Tori's class to take their place. They gathered in the center of the grand room, where Tori could stare down at the shiny floor, just barely being able to see her own reflection. They were always so mesmerizing.

"Hey y'all," a new voice sounded. Tori lifted her head to see the speaker–an adult inkling wearing a t-shirt and shorts, the white stripes lining his tentacles almost blinding. She's seen him before, but never up close like this. Compared to Mrs. Watasenia, he looked young.

"G'afternoon," her teacher greeted. "You're doing well?"

"I'm always doing well," the other adult remarked. Yellow eyes fell to the crowd of kids surrounding Mrs. Watasenia. "But what about you squids? Y'all ready to have some fun?"

"Yeah!" they cheered.

He chuckled to himself and put his hands on his hips. "Don't worry, Sylvie. They're in good hands."

Mrs. Watasenia sighed. "Sure. Whatever you say."

Tori watched as she started to head out of the gymnasium. Where was she going? Wasn't she going to stay? She didn't even know the name of this new person!

In a panic, Tori ran out of the crowd and towards her teacher. "Mrs. Wasatenia!" she called. "Come back!"

She stopped and whipped around to face Tori, her tentacles barely missing her. "Huh?!"

Tori stuck her arms out. "Why are you leaving?"

She rubbed the back of her head. "So that's what this is about… Well, I'm not the P.E. teacher. Mr. Lata is."

She looked back at the adult inkling standing in the middle of the gym. If Mrs. Watasenia was to be believed, then he was probably Mr. Lata.

"Come on back here," he proclaimed. "We can't start without you!"

Tori nodded and ran back to the crowd, squeezing her way to the front. "Mr. Lata?"

He smirked. "Yes, that's me. I'm the P.E. teacher here. So every time you have P.E. here, from now until fifth grade, you'll see me!"

Tori's jaw went slack, eyes filled with wonder. He would get to be her P.E. teacher for that long? That was four or five years! She imagined he would know her as well as the helpers and Lady Squall did after all that time!

But unlike Lady Squall and the helpers, he would have to leave someday. It seemed that was the reality of school. Year after year, she would get new teachers. It was inevitable. And when she was an adult, she wouldn't have to deal with teachers anymore. She could become a teacher herself.

Though being a teacher sounded like a boring job. She would rather help build things, just like how she built things with whatever she had. A job where she built things would just be on a much larger scale.

Mr. Lata jogged over to the bleachers and grabbed a clipboard before returning. "Now, it's time for attendance!" He kneeled down to face Tori's eyes. Tori looked away as he asked, "So, what's your name?"

"Tori," she replied, clasping her hands together.

He skimmed the clipboard before returning his attention to her. "Pholido?"

"Yes." She swayed her body back and forth, hoping he would move on already. She wanted to chew on her braids, but like every other teacher, he would probably just yell at her.

Mr. Lata stood up and checked something off on his paper. "Nice to meet you, Tori. Now, let's go through everyone else. Raise your hand when I call your name, alright?"

He went through the list of names, marking each name depending on if the person was here or not. The entire time, Tori tried to stay as still as a tree, not letting herself move a muscle, no matter how badly she wanted to. She didn't want to be yelled at again. If Mr. Lata didn't, then someone else would.

Tori had grabbed her braid by the time Mr. Lata was done, setting the clipboard down on the ground. "Now, everyone, get into a line. In alphabetical order. I have something special planned for today!"

After some hesitation, the crowd dispersed, and soon, the line ran from one end of the gym to another. Some jellyfish poured in from another door, placing equipment all around the gym. Tori winced as one squeezed past her, carrying a box above their head. They set it down behind her before scampering back to the exit.

One jellyfish carted a box full of vests and tiny guns over to Mr. Lata, and he picked up one of the guns, its translucent body filling up with red-orange ink. Tori couldn't help but marvel at the contraption—how did that work?!

"Ta da! We're having a turf war!" He grinned. "It's really popular in Inkadia right now. Principal Mobula suggested that we try it out with the squiddos, and here we are."

"What's a turf war?" one of the kids asked.

"It's an ink battle where two teams of four see who can ink the most turf," he explained. "You can't use respawn points yet, though, so I bought some tools specially made for children." Mr. Lata laughed. "Seriously, this cost a fortune."

Another kid raised his hand. "There's more than eight of us here."

He shrugged. "Well, a traditional turf war is three minutes long. There's plenty of time to do multiple turf wars!" He clapped. "Now, does anyone want to volunteer?"

Tori put a hand on her chin. Turf wars do sound interesting, but it sounded like she could get hurt, too. She didn't like getting hurt. She didn't think anyone did. But since turf wars were so popular in Inkadia…maybe she should give it a try?

On second thought, maybe she shouldn't.

Only three people raised their hand, and Mr. Lata called them over, directing them to take a weapon and put on a vest. Whenever they picked up a weapon, it filled up with ink, and whenever they put on a vest, the center of it began to glow the same color as their ink. The novelty of it all made Tori more and more curious to learn how it worked.

Mr. Lata put his hands on his hips again. "Alright! Any other volunteers?"

Tori thought about raising her hand again, but she ultimately grabbed her wrist, forcing it down.

"No one?" He sighed. "Then I guess I'll have to pick." He threw his hand out, pointing to random people in the line and calling them forward. "You, with the ponytail and green shirt. You, with the yellow dress. You, with the long hair and white tank top. You, with the black Fresh Fish shirt."

Then, he pointed to Tori.

"And finally, you, with the braids."

Tori gasped, clutching her hands close to her chest. Did she really have to step up? Could she refuse?

The kid next to her shoved her forward, and Tori squeaked, cowering as she walked over to the cart. With only one vest and weapon left in the cart, she reached in and pulled them out. The vest was heavier than expected as she put it on. Like a big blanket.

When she looked at her new weapon, it was already filled with yellow ink. The case felt like plastic, with purple bits decorating the weapon. It almost looked like a toy, but upon closer inspection, it was clearly a gun. She pointed it down to the ground. Weapons were like scissors: they could hurt someone if she wasn't careful. Though a weapon was meant to hurt someone. Tori didn't want that.

Someone patted her head, and Tori shied away, nearly dropping the gun. Mr. Lata stood next to her again, an ever-present smile on his face.

"Your name is Tori, right?"

She nodded.

"I need you to change your ink color to blue." He held up a picture with two colors on it and pointed to the color on the right. "Once you do that, we can start the turf war."

Tori closed her eyes, reaching towards the deepest parts of herself. Warmth flooded through her body, synonymous with a change of color. She had practiced it so much in kindergarten it was almost second nature now. When she opened her eyes back up, her arms were blue instead of yellow.

"Great!" Mr. Lata clapped again. He took a few steps back and bowed. "Now, orange team, blue team, take your places! Everyone else, stand by the bleachers!"

Tori followed the blue inkfish to one end of the gym, standing behind the sidelines. A group of orange inkfish stood at the other end, while Mr. Lata had taken his position near the bleachers with the other students.

He blew a whistle, loud enough for Tori's hands to go to her ears. "GO!"

One of the inkfish, an inkling named Penny, started to walk ahead, pointing her weapon straight ahead. Ink shot out of the front, spraying it onto the floor. She stopped a few feet ahead, turning back to look at her teammates.

"Haven't you seen a turf war before?" she asked.

Another inkfish, an octoling named Michael, shook his head. "Lady Squall doesn't let us watch them." The other member of the blue team nodded in agreement.

She huffed. "The orphanage doesn't sound very fun." She lifted her gun. "Well, you're supposed to press the trigger to shoot ink. My mom taught me that."

"Does your mom know what weapon that is?" the other octoling, Barry, asked.

"I don't know what this is," Penny admitted, "but I think I've seen it before."

"Hey, blue team, get moving!" Mr. Lata called. "You're gonna lose at this rate!"

Penny pumped a fist. "Yeah, he's right! We gotta get moving!"

Before any of them could react, she ran straight ahead, creating a trail of blue ink behind her. The boys decided to follow her, while Tori decided to hang out in the back, scanning her surroundings. Touching the orange ink would probably hurt, and Tori didn't want to get hurt. She may have been forced into playing turf war, but she could at least try to prevent that.

All she had to do was ink the floor, right? Her hand went to the button Penny pressed to shoot ink, and she pointed it at the spot in front of her. Pressing it down, a little blue ink splattered onto the ground. It felt weird, but now, she had a new objective—cover the rest of the floor with ink.

Tori walked back and forth, spraying every last spot with ink. She couldn't leave a single spot uncovered. If there was, then they would probably lose.

A beeping sound went off, and Tori snapped her head towards the source. Orange ink dripped off of the vest Michael wore, the blue light in the middle blinking as his face writhed with pain.

"You got splatted!" one of the inkfish on the orange team proclaimed. "Now you have to sit out for a few seconds!"

Michael walked over to the sidelines and sat down, crossing his arms. "That's not fair."

"But it's the rules!" Mr. Lata enthused. "Having someone instantly respawn wouldn't be fair, now would it?"

"I guess..." he muttered.

"Well, keep fighting!" the teacher demanded. "Time's ticking!"

Just as he said, Michael got to rejoin the fight a few seconds later, shooting his gun with a renewed fervor. Tori, however, returned her attention to the floor. A few specks of orange ink had flown over to the blue team's side, so Tori was vigilant in cleaning it up. Eventually, she had to stop, though, as the weapon she was holding was almost all out of ink.

Then, pain hit her.

The beeping noise sounded yet again as Tori stumbled backwards, her body screaming for her to flee. But the turf war wasn't over yet, so she could only stand there, her vision tunneling in on the splotch of orange ink dripping off her vest.

Mr. Lata's voice brought her back to reality. "Go sit down! You can't respawn if you're just standing there!"

Tori obliged and scurried over to the sidelines, wrapping her braid around the arm not holding a weapon. Though the pain had started to fade away now, she still needed something to soothe herself. It was the only way to distract her from everything else going on, whether the teacher would yell at her or not. At that moment, she didn't care. She only needed to calm down.

She must've stood there for too long, though, as Mr. Lata's voice once again rang in her ear. "Get back in there, Braids! Your team needs you!"

Tori dropped her braid and took a deep breath. Right. Her team needed her.

Ignoring whatever pain was left now, she went right back to inking the floor, covering the orange spots of turf that had been inked in her absence right back up. How much time was left? A turf war was only three minutes, and she was certain it had least been a minute now. Maybe even two. There wasn't much of the floor left to ink, not without stepping into the orange team's half of the gym.

And then she would have to fight.

She spotted an orange inkling running towards her, and Tori scrambled behind a box, clutching the gun in her arms. If she was lucky, maybe he didn't notice her. And then, she could sneak past him and try to ink over more of the orange turf.

Unfortunately for her, the inkling did. He swung around the box, pointing the gun straight at her with a grin. He was one of the new students this year; Tori didn't know his name yet.

Nonetheless, her heart was beating so fast she thought it would burst through her chest. She had to act fast, or she would get hit, be in pain, and have to sit out for a few seconds. Fighting was inevitable now.

Tori pointed the gun straight ahead and fired. Only for the ink to squirt straight into her face. She yelped and dropped the gun, providing the inkling an opportunity to fire. Her chest stung with pain, the vest started to beep again, and Mr. Lata started to yell again.

She blinked some tears from her eyes and stood up, wiping the ink off of her face. All she could do now was pick up the gun and walk back to the sidelines, waiting for the ability to play again. If anything, only sheer determination kept her on her feet. No matter how much it hurt, she wouldn't start crying. Not in school, in the middle of a turf war.

A few seconds later, Tori stepped back in the field, her legs shaking. She could barely stand. Another beeping sound went off, this one louder than the rest. A member of the orange team had to sit out this time, blue ink dripping from her body. With everything else going on, Tori could barely focus on inking the floor. She wasn't sure which spots she needed to be inked over now. She couldn't ink the floor, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She stumbled to her knees behind a box, giving her a chance to catch her breath. Now that she thought about it, she did like inking the floor. And inking the floor was the main goal of a turf war. Did that mean she liked turf wars? But she didn't like how loud everything was and how much it hurt whenever she was hit with different-colored ink.

She didn't get much chance to relax when some orange ink splattered onto the ground in the corner of eye. She peeked over the box to see the boy that had "splatted" her before, giggling as he marched onward.

Tori ducked back down, her breaths uneven. If he came this way, then she would have to fight. Maybe she could ambush him if he didn't notice her first. Either way, when he was "splatted," then she could cover the turf he had inked back up. It seemed like the perfect plan.

As long as she pointed the weapon the right way. It was the reason she "splatted" before.

Tori shook her hand again, accidentally hitting the box. At the impact, she drew her hand back to her chest and peeked back at the boy. He had stopped, looking around in confusion. Then, slowly, he crept forward, his hand resting on the trigger.

Tori gulped, putting her braid in her mouth. This was her chance. Even if he noticed her, then she could get the first hit in. It was the perfect opportunity.

When he neared, Tori sprung out and fired her weapon, sliding against the floor. A burning sensation hit her skin as she hit orange ink, perhaps even more painful than when she had been fired at earlier. But in the heat of the moment, she could ignore it, watching as blue ink flew towards the boy, splattering all over his vest.

The light on the boy's vest flashed as it sounded a beep, and he looked down at Tori in horror. He opened his mouth to say something, but he shook his head and ran to the sidelines, his eyes squeezed shut.

Tori stood up and watched him as he ran away. She did it. She splatted him. She splatted him!

She let out a whoop, holding her weapon up in the air. Her entire body ached, but she managed to survive. It felt so good to know that she finally splatted someone, too!

That settled it, then: despite everything, she liked turf wars! She didn't like all the noise, and all the chaos going on in the background, but she liked painting the floor and splatting people. Would that mean she liked winning?

"One minute left!" Mr. Lata announced. "It's now or never!"

At the sound of his voice, Tori brought her weapon back down. The pain was starting to go away now, the spots of orange ink on her skin growing smaller and smaller with each breath. Tori waved her hand, hoping it would make the pain go away faster. She wasn't sure if it did, but she was starting to feel better.

There was still ink at her feet, though, so she quickly covered it back up. Taking a deep breath, she scanned her surroundings once more. The inkling she "splatted" previously had since returned, chasing a member of her team down. Ink flew across the gym as two of her classmates were engaged in a battle, clumsily dancing around each bullet. The final member of the blue team was stepping into the orange team's half of the gym, inking some more turf, while the final member of the orange team...

...was coming straight at her!

Tori was prepared this time, though. She wouldn't fall again! She held the gun out in front of her and slowly marched forward, pressing down on the trigger. The octoling—Julia—simply ran a different direction, so Tori stopped and turned her body around. She couldn't lose sight of her if she wanted to splat her, no matter what.

Soon, though, nothing came out of her gun. She brought it back towards her to look at it, first noticing a little bit of blue ink dripping from the front of the weapon. The second, and more obvious, detail, was the fact that it was empty.

Tori's heart dropped. In her efforts to deter Julia, she ran out of ink. And those few moments she spent looking at her weapon was enough for Julia to close the gap between them.

She snapped her head up just in time to see Julia fire her weapon straight at her chest, crying as she stumbled backwards and fell on her butt. That terrible beeping noise went off again, and amongst the pain, all she wished was for the noise to stop. Even after closing her eyes and covering her ears, she could still hear it.

The worst thing about turf wars was the vest for sure. She hoped the turf wars in Inkadia didn't have them.

"Braids!" Mr. Lata's voice seemed to pierce through everything else. It was the one thing that seemed to bring Order amongst Chaos. "You have to go sit out! It's the rules!"

Tori nodded, bobbing her head up and down as she made her way over to the sidelines, her hands still over her ears. Though she was certain she liked turf wars, she wanted it to end. It was only three minutes, but two of those three minutes proved to be very difficult. She wanted to see it through to the end, but she didn't know how much longer she could take it.

Tori sat down, and once the beeping noise stopped, she played with her braids again. She knew it wouldn't be long before she had to go back in, but she wanted to play with her braids anyways. It always made things easier, whether people liked it or not. She wished people could understand that.

Of course, she must've been playing with her braids for too long, since Mr. Lata's voice cut through the air once again. With a frown, Tori dropped her braids and picked her weapon back up before returning to the arena. If she just focused on inking the ground again, then she wouldn't be splatted, and she could see the end of the turf war before she broke down completely.

And so, she did that. She let the rest of the blue team charge ahead, while she scrambled back to her team's half of the gym and inked up any orange spots she saw. Before long, Mr. Lata was counting down the numbers to zero.

"Three...two...one...GAME!" Mr. Lata blew his whistle, and Tori dropped her weapon, falling to the ground with a splash. It was over, and Tori had never been happier.

But at the same time, she felt...sad. Sad that it was over. She didn't know why. But if she was sad over the turf war coming to an end, then that meant that she truly liked turf wars. She wanted to do one again, but she knew that day wouldn't be today.

Mr. Lata scored the perimeter of the gym, scrutinizing every single inch of turf inked before waddling to the center of the gym, wearing new, bulky shoes. With the quick blow of a whistle, everyone's heads turned towards him.

"Alright! The winner of the match is..." He paused for a few seconds before taking out a small flag and holding it up in the air. "Blue team!"

"Yay!" Barry cheered, throwing his weapon aside as his arms shot out. "We won!"

"Yeah, we won," Penny declared, putting her hands on her hips. "And it was all thanks to me."

"No, me," Barry argued, firing a glare.

"Me!"

"Me!"

As they continued to argue, Tori's hair went to her braids. In reality, she was the reason they won. All because she decided to ink the floor as much as possible. She wanted to point it out, but she didn't know how.

Even if her efforts go unnoticed, at least she had fun!

As usual, the first thing Tori did when she returned to the orphanage was find Lady Squall. She just had to tell her about turf wars!

"Lady Squall! Lady Squall!" Tori dashed down the hallway, twirling her arms around.

Lady Squall turned around, hardly having any time to react before the little inkling hugged her legs. "Tori?" Hearing her name, she lifted her head. "What is it?"

"We did something fun at school today!" She backed off and stuck out her arms. "It was a turf war!"

Immediately, Lady Squall's body froze up. "A turf war?" Ice seeped through her words.

Seeing her reaction, Tori froze up, too. "...Is that not good?"

She relaxed her shoulders, rubbing her face again. "I suppose I can't stop the school from making you do it…" Lady Squall's golden eyes fell on Tori. "But you must never do them outside of school. Do you understand?"

Tori grabbed her braids. "Why?" Sure, it hurt, but what was so bad about a turf war? It was popular enough in Inkadia to make the school want to do it, so it must be a good thing, right?

Lady Squall scanned the area, and then she turned the other way. "Pacifica."

Tori looked past her to see the octoling stop in her tracks, with a dumbfounded look on her face. "...Yes, Lady Squall?"

"Could you come with me and Tori to my office? This would be better to talk about in private."

She dipped her head, admonished. "O-of course."

Lady Squall started to walk ahead, and Miss Pacifica joined her, matching her pace, all while Tori trailed behind them. She couldn't help but feel nervous. What were they going to talk about? Was she in trouble? Why did she need Miss Pacifica?

Miss Pacifica looked over at the older inkling. "Is this about-"

"No," she interrupted. "You'll see."

Miss Pacifica wore her hair in a ponytail today, so she could see all four tentacles flex. "If that's what you say."

As soon as they reached Lady Squall's office, she opened the door, allowing Miss Pacifica and Tori to enter before slipping inside and closing it herself. She gracefully made her way to her desk, holding her arms behind her back as she set her gaze on the octoling.

"Pacifica, are you aware that schools these days will let their children do turf wars on their premises?" Like a statue, she didn't move at all as she spoke.

"I am," the octoling replied, "but as far as I know, they only do it with high schoolers."

She shook her head, disappointed. "It appears now they let young children do it, too. Tori said as much."

"Really?" Her tentacles went still.

"Yes." She looked towards Tori, who proceeded to nod.

With her suspicions confirmed, Miss Pacifica plopped down into a spare chair, her tentacles starting to droop. "...I see why you called me here now."

Tori waddled up to her, brimming with curiosity. "Why?"

She closed her eyes and smiled. "Why, to tell a story, of course." She straightened in her chair, though her tentacles still remained unusually stiff. "You see, I was a rather troubled teenager. That led to me falling in with the wrong crowd, and what did we do? Turf wars. Very dangerous ones, at that.

"I thought they were so fun, but with each passing day, I fell more and more to the influences of Chaos. If I hadn't been saved, I would've been lost completely. Something very bad would've happened to me."

Tori tilted her head. "Saved? Who saved you?"

She looked past Tori. "Why, Lady Squall, of course. I remember it just like it was yesterday."

"Wow…"

She returned her gaze to her. "Yes, wow! It was my eighteenth birthday, and I was doing another turf war with my friends. I thought it was just like any other ordinary day." She sighed, the color of her tentacles beginning to shift from silver to green as she looked on with a downcast expression. "Then…something terrible happened. I hated myself for not doing anything to stop it, for thinking nothing bad was ever going to happen. It's been so long since then, but I never like remembering it.

"I decided to run away, but I had no place to go. That was, until Lady Squall approached me and offered me a second chance at life. I discovered how much I liked being around kids, to the point where I decided to become a helper here at the orphanage. I am forever in her debt."

Tori looked back at Lady Squall. "You really did that?"

She dipped her head. "Indeed. Much of Splatsville may have fallen to Chaos, but there are still some that can be saved. Like Pacifica was."

Miss Pacifica rubbed her arm. "And then there's some people who don't want to be saved."

Silence settled in the air, and the adults exchanged glances. As it continued on, Tori tilted her head. What were they doing? She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say.

Finally, Lady Squall let out a sigh. "I need to get back to work." She sat down at her desk, resting a hand on her forehead. "Pacifica, take Tori back to the living quarters."

The octoling nodded, her tentacles becoming fully silver again. "Yes, Lady Squall." She held out her hand. "Let's go, Tori."

Tori grabbed her hand. "Okay."

Together, they walked out of the office, down the hallway Tori had gone down so many times before. She believed she could go back to her living quarters by herself by now, but she still wanted to stick by Miss Pacifica anyways. But she would rather be with Lady Squall.

"Say, Tori…"

Tori looked up at Miss Pacifica, an all-too-familiar smile on the adult's face.

"Your parents loved turf wars," she remarked. "It's part of why they turned out the way they did."

Tori tilted her head again, her interest piqued once more. "Did you know my parents?"

"Hm, not really." She met her eyes, and reflexively, Tori looked away. "I knew of them."

"What were they like?"

"I said, I didn't really know them. And listen, this time."

Her shoulders tensed up. "But I was." Did she have to look at someone when they were speaking to her? She didn't like that hidden rule.

"Never mind," Miss Pacifica eventually murmured. "You should be getting back to your living quarters anyways. Then you can prepare for dinner."

Tori didn't argue. But if Miss Pacifica knew about her parents…maybe they were famous? But then why didn't anyone tell her?

Though, if they loved turf wars, as Miss Pacifica said…then maybe they were actually bad people. She really, really hoped that wasn't true.

But if they had fallen to Chaos, like Miss Pacifica almost did, then maybe it was.

A/N: And it's here! While it's certainly long, this one was a fun one to write. Well, I don't really have much else to say about this chapter. But what I do have to say is the fact that Side Order is coming out this month! I'm really excited, and I hope you all are excited too. I'll put this preemptively in case I don't put out another chapter before then: please do not discuss spoilers for Side Order in the reviews! A lot of people are waiting for it, too, and it would be a shame if anyone got spoiled because they decided to read them. This will be the case for another few months. It's better safe than sorry, after all. With that out of the way, Branchwing, out!