[Inkopolis]
[Nary's apartment]
[3:15 in the morning]
[Drake's POV]
I don't know how to tell you this, one moment I was sleeping peacefully and the next I feel something on top of me.
And what do I see when I open my eyes? A flushed, and for some reason, 'angry' Otome staring deep into my eyes, but taking a better look at her, she seemed to be forcing that angry expression.
I just stood still below her, keeping my eyes on her, and getting even more nervous when I saw her slowly leaning into me.
And I wonder, how did I end up in this situation? Well, nothing a trip down memory lane can't fix.
[Flashback]
[New Squidbeak Splatoon's hideout]
[An hour after Drake's arrival]
Cuttlefish asked me to talk in private, so he took me somewhere a bit far from the group. I guess Nary still had a lot to discuss with her friend, but I'm not sure what Otome's going to do in the meantime.
Focusing back on the old man, he just stood there with his back against me, gazing at the distant beach, and the sound of the waves made for a really relaxing view.
"Nice view, isn't it?" He asked while getting closer to the guard rail.
"Yeah, I guess..." I said as I leaned onto the guard rail as well.
"So... What exactly are your plans?" Cuttlefish asked.
"Right now...? I just want to find my people, what happened to them or where they went..." I replied to him, gazing at the sea.
"And then?" he asked.
"Start again, I suppose... Trying to not repeat the same mistakes we made in the past" I continued, remining myself of the many things I had to do after all this.
"And then...?" Cuttlefish repeated himself, now turning to look at me.
"I don't know..." I replied almost immediately, as if my mouth had moved by itself.
"Hmm..." Cuttlefish murmured, scratching his beard and returning to gaze at the sea.
"We both know that everyone has different views than yours... What I do want to know is... If you do find your people, how do you think they're going to react upon knowing that they're not the only conscious species on the planet anymore?" the veteran finally dropped the bomb on me, to which I couldn't say anything and just lowered my head in response.
But then, I heard the old man just let out a chuckle.
"And by the way... Nice weapon you got there" Cuttlefish changed the topic, taking me by surprise.
"What did you say?" I said, trying to make sure I heard him right.
"On your waist... That's a nice weapon, it's been a long time since I last saw a weapon of you ancient ones" the captain said, confirming what I heard and making my eyes widen in surprise.
"I... Don't know what you're talking about" I tried to feign ignorance while turning to him.
"Oh, come on now, I may be old, but not stupid" Cuttlefish said with a friendly smile, followed by using his cane to lift my shirt, revealing the gun I was carrying on me.
"Since when did you know...?" I asked him with a serious tone, readjusting my shirt to hide the gun once again.
"Son, I'm a Great Turf War veteran. I may not be able to move as much as I could when I was young, but I can tell when someone's hiding a weapon on them" the old man said, still keeping that friendly smile.
"I don't mean to hurt anyone..." I told him, giving a look to the group of agents.
"I know you won't, but... If you don't mean to, then why bring a weapon? Knowing that you promised to come unarmed" said Cuttlefish, not placing both hands on his cane.
"Please don't tell anyone... Not when they're finally starting to trust me" I pleaded, knowing that he would probably tell his granddaughters.
"The question is not whether you can be trusted, the real question is: 'can we trust you?'" the old man asked me, leaving me in thought.
"Yes..." I answered him after a few seconds.
"Heh, alright then, that's good enough for me" he said before moving to the other group, leaving me surprised at his simplicity.
"I won't tell anyone, only if you keep your word and don't cause any trouble... Well, more than you've already caused, since your arrival has shaken things up a bit, and not just in Inkopolis" Cuttlefish continued, letting out another chuckle while returning to the group, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
"Okay, we've cleared things up, this young man gave me his word to not cause any trouble in Inkopolis" the old man said, gaining everyone's attention.
"Well, if gramps says it, then I suppose it's alright" Callie said.
"But we mustn't cause any trouble to him as well" the veteran continued.
"How could we?" Levin joked, giving me a glance.
"So, that's it?" Marie asked with her hands on her hips.
"Of course! Everything's been cleared up" the captain replied.
"Drake! Look!" Nary exclaimed as she ran up to me, now wearing her uniform.
"How do I look? I'm finally an agent! Isn't that fresh!?" she asked me with enthusiasm.
"Yeah, it's... Cool" I replied, placing a fist on my mouth to contain my laugh, since to me, said uniform looked more like a transit agent's outfit.
"Technically you're still not officially an agent, young lady, you still have to make an oath before that" Cuttlefish intervened.
"Aww, are you serious?" Nary whined.
"Come with me, girls, and you too" he continued, referring to his granddaughters and Nary.
"Heh, we've got to see this" Levin commented, before he and his friends followed the others.
Meanwhile I just turned to look at the octoling, who was sitting on the kettle from where we came from. So I approached her and sat next to her.
"Something wrong?" I asked her, noticing that she was looking a bit down.
"No, it's nothing..." she replied, but it was very obvious that she was lying.
"Yeah, something's wrong..." I told her, returning to look in front of me.
"No, seriously, it's nothing... I'm just... Thinking" Otome said while looking at the floor.
"Thinking about...?" I insisted, putting my eyes back on her.
"Nothing to important... I just wonder what happened while I was gone, if they're searching for me... Or if they just left me for dead" the octoling replied, glancing at me for a moment before looking down once again.
"Don't say that, I'm sure they're worried for you, and also..." I interrupted my sentence and got closer to her, placing a hand on her head, which startled her a little, probably because she didn't expect it.
"I'm sure that once you go back, everyone will be happy that you're alright" I finished my sentence while gently caressing her head.
Otome just kept silent while still looking down.
"Oh, sorry... Am I invading your space?" I asked her, removing my hand from her head, and slightly moved away from her.
And when I did that, the girl lifted her head back up, looking at me with confusion and a slight blush on her face.
""N-no, it's okay... I don't really dislike it..." Otome said before looking away.
"You can k-keep going... If you'd like..." she continued, so I gave her a warm smile and returned to caressing her head.
Something I found amusing was that, just like Nary, Otome was making some cute gurgling sounds, if I could describe it better, I'd say it was like the purr of a cat, and it was adorable.
"Drake...? Can I ask you something?" Otome asked while I was still caressing her.
"Sure" I replied.
"Maybe it's a bit selfish from my part, but... I wanted to ask you if-..." But before the octoling could finish, she was interrupted by Nary, who speeded towards us like a bullet.
"Huff... If I knew I had to make an oath like that, I would've just refused" the inkling commented with a weary face.
"You didn't even finish it!" Callie scolded her as she and the rest caught up with Nary.
"You disappeared the moment we took an eye off from you" Marie added, crossing her arms.
"Oh come on! How long do I have to sand there!? Can't we just leave it there just this once?" Nary argued back while trying to hide behind me.
"I guess it can't be helped... Did you get everything we said?" said Cuttlefish, pointing his cane as the girl behind me.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it! Please, just make it stop" Nary pleaded, to which I tried to not laugh.
"Well then, that should be everything. Congratulations and welcome to the New Squidbeak Splatoon" Cuttlefish finished.
Upon hearing that, Nary let out a relieved sigh and looked up to me.
"Drake! Now that we're gone here, I can finally show you around Inkopolis!" she exclaimed excitedly, but she was abruptly silenced by one of her friends.
"Nary, I don't mean to ruin the moment, but it's late at night, and I don't think that's the best time to walk around the city" said her dark-skinned friend with purple tentacles. I really need to memorize their names...
Nary let out an annoyed whine before looking at the horizon, noticing how it was completely dark, with the only source of light being the moon.
"Come on Shara, how about a night walk?" Nary insisted, but Marie interrupted her.
"We could do that... But we've gone through way too much to go for a walk right now" She said, making Nary pout in frustration.
"It's okay. We'll do it some other time" I tried to cheer her up, giving her some pats on her head.
"Well, I suppose it's time for me to go back to my vault... If you need me, you know where to find me" I continued, ready to head back home.
But just then, I felt someone tug on my shirt, so I turned around and saw that it was Nary, who was looking at me with puppy eyes.
"Y-you don't have to go back to your vault right now, why not spend the night in Inkopolis?" She suggested.
"Don't worry, Nary, I know my way back. And besides, where else am I going to sleep? I don't know anyone aside from you guys, and I have nowhere to go as well... Except for maybe a bench at the park..." I said, noticing that Marie was giggling at said idea.
"Why don't you come over to my apartment?" Nary proposed, earning an awkward smile from her three friends, which didn't go unnoticed by her.
"Actually, why don't all of you come? it'd be like a sleepover" Nary continued, though she sounded a little nervous now.
"Hmmm... I don't know" I doubted if I should accept her offer or not.
"Please, Drake, just tonight" she now pleaded me, looking at me with sad puppy eyes.
"Oh, come on, not the puppy eyes" I told her before looking away. But still, the girl kept 'attacking', now with some tears showing up in the corner of her eyes.
"Hmm... Hrrmm...! Argh... Fine, but just tonight, okay?" I finally gave in, but gave her my own condition as well.
Upon hearing my answer, Nary instantly changed her expression to a happy one while nodding her head.
"And since you're staying over, we could show you around the city tomorrow morning!" she suggested.
"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" said one of Nary's friends while raising his fist.
But then, Nary's expression went from happy to completely shocked, before starting to step back towards the kettle behind us.
"Uhh, Nary...? Are you okay?" asked another one of her friends, if I remember correctly, his name was Levin.
"Haha... Nah, I'm fine, I'm just... I'll just go up ahead while you... um... I forgot I had to do something. But you guys know where I live so you can guide everyone there easily!" Nary said with a nervous smile, now standing on the grate.
"Wait, take this, you don't want to get lost in the tunnels, do you?" Callie said, taking out a flashlight from who knows where. Seriously, where does she keep those things...?
"And what are you gonna do?" Levin asked.
"Oh, nothing too important... Okay, I'll see you there, bye!" Nary said quickly before turning into a little squid and going into the kettle.
I found it quite odd how the moment she went in, the kettle made a whistle while some orange vapor came out of its nozzle, ending with a little jump before going back to being motionless.
"I bet she forgot to clean her apartment" commented the dark-skinned inkling girl.
"I mean, I don't blame her. You don't have two celebrities and a living fossil coming over to your house every day, do you?" Levin said with a smirk.
The fact this guy called me a 'living fossil' made me slightly upset, but I decided to let it go. I then put my attention back on Otome while everyone else talked with each other.
"So, what were you saying?" I asked her, but she didn't even look at me.
"N-nothing, don't worry about it" she said as she crossed her arms.
"Are you sure?" I insisted, to which she turned to look at me with a forced smile.
"Yes, I am. It wasn't anything important anyways... So, are we leaving or what?" she replied, trying to change the topic.
Trying to not keep bothering her, I decided to drop it and just let out a sigh.
After about an hour, we finally arrived to the orange inkling's apartment.
But the journey wasn't really the best for me, since the moment we left those tunnels to all the way here, I had to stay hidden and move as quick as I could to every hiding place I could find.
The worst part was the train. While everyone else was comfortably sitting inside, I was hanging on for dear life to its roof, almost losing my grip on it a few times since it wasn't a slow ride.
Otome wasn't having it much better either, since she was constantly getting looks of fear, curiosity, suspicion, intrigue, and even absolute disdain from some civilians. But even then, that didn't stop Otome from looking around the city with great interest.
Meanwhile, Callie and Marie put on their 'incognito' outfits, and to be honest, I expected something that would make them look like totally different people.
But instead, they just wore casual clothes, with Callie wearing sunglasses and a beanie, and Marie wearing a facemask and a mesh cap.
And no one could tell it was them... I mean, just one look at their tentacles was enough.
But I suppose I'm derailing from the topic.
Anyways, getting off the train and walking around for a bit, we finally arrived at Nary's apartment complex.
"Alright, now we just have to go straight for the elevator and then, Nary's apartment" Levin proposed, forgetting that there was a human a lot taller than the rest following them.
"Easier said than done, I stick out like a sore thumb" I said while checking my surroundings.
"Don't worry about that, I know the receptionist and he's probably sleeping like a log right now" said the other inkling boy, I think his name was Nayls.
"Just don't let the other tenants see you" the dark-skinned girl added.
We all went inside, and just like Nayls said, there was a clam man sleeping on a chair with its appendages on the desk, opening and closing its shell as he snored.
Upon seeing that, I really tried not to laugh, and I wasn't the only one, since Callie had placed both hands on her mouth to hide her laughter.
But our little moment of fun was cut short when we heard some footsteps approaching us.
We all instantly started searching for a place I could hide in, but we couldn't find anything, since the potted plants were too small and the pillars were too thin to stand behind them.
And then, a sudden idea came to my mind.
The moment the two tenants walked past the group; I was no longer in sight. And that was because I had climbed up one of the pillars, holding tight onto it to avoid sliding down.
Everyone else feigned innocence, making some small talk or looking away.
And Otome... She wasn't even with them, she was with me, yeah, me. She decided it would be a good idea to climb onto my back like a koala. Though I got slightly flustered when I felt her breasts press against me.
"W-why are you here...? You don't need to hide" I whispered to her, only for her to hold on tighter to my back.
"O-of course I have to! Didn't you see how everyone looked at me? they'd freak out of they saw me!" she replied with a shaky voice.
"But not as much as they would if they see me" I thought to myself, but I couldn't argue back since I saw how the two tenants stopped to talk with each other.
And what a better place to do that than right below us...
Our group noticed this as well. And the chat between those two tenants looked like it would go on for a long time, since one of them leaned against the pillar while the other sat on the floor.
Trying to call for someone's attention with one arm, I got Levin to look at me, only to see how I almost slipped, forcing me to place my arm back on the pillar.
To avoid slipping again, I made some gestures with my head and eyes towards the two tenants below us, pleading in my head for him to understand what I was trying to say.
Fortunately, he seemed to get it, nodding and then turning to our group to make a plan, or so I hoped.
A moment later, Levin and Nayls approached the two tenants, while Callie, Marie, and Nary's other friend headed for the elevator doors.
Focusing back on the group below me, I noticed that Levin and Nayls had joined into their conversation, before making a gesture to follow them, and to our relief, they left their place.
Once they took the others somewhere far from us, Levin glanced and nodded at me. I returned the gesture before sliding down the pillar.
Once we finally touched the floor, Otome quickly climbed off of me and pointed to the other group of inklings, who were waiting for us at the elevator.
And without wasting any more time, we both went as quickly and silently as we could towards them, while also making sure that no one else saw us.
Luckily, we made it to the elevator without being seen, but then I turned to the two guys that were still distracting the tenants, only to see Nayls making a gesture to say 'you go up ahead'.
Not wanting to keep the girls waiting any longer, I just entered the elevator while the doors closed behind us.
Then, the purple tentacled inkling pressed one of the many buttons inside, starting our ride upwards.
As I expected, the elevator also started playing the typical elevator song, somewhat relaxing but mostly boring.
To avoid making this awkward, I decided to break the silence with a question.
"Hey... What about the other two?" I asked, referring to Levin and Nayls.
"They'll catch up to us later after they're done talking with the tenants, I'll guide you in the meantime" said the dark-skinned inkling.
"Hey, Shara. Do you come here often?" Callie asked, finally revealing the girl's name to me.
"Sometimes, we're more used to going out" she replied.
"I just hope she gets used to her new 'second life'" said Marie, who was leaning against one of the elevator's walls.
"She may be a little whiny and childish sometimes, but she'll get used to it" Shara said, and before we noticed, we finally reached Nary's floor.
After the doors opened, we peeked outside to see if anyone was nearby, and the floor appeared to be empty so we stepped out of the elevator.
"Follow me, it's over here" Shara whispered to us, and we followed her as quietly as we could.
We walked for a bit until Shara stopped us in front of a door and knocked on it.
But after getting nothing but silence in response, she knocked once again, this time mumbling something to herself.
"Come on, Nary, open the coddamn door" and as if waiting for her to say that, the door opened slightly and Nary peeked out of it. For some reason, she was wearing a maid outfit and held a broom in her hands.
To be honest, she looked very cute in that outfit.
"Hello?" she asked, not realizing it was us until a moment later.
"'Sup, Nary, we're here" Shara said as she waved at her friend.
"Can we come in?" Callie asked politely.
Noticing our presence, the orange tentacled girl let out a surprised gasp and shut the door in our faces.
"I'll take that as a no" Marie commented while looking at Shara banging on the door.
"Nary! Open this door at once! You have no idea what we went through to get here!" she exclaimed.
"J-just a minute!" Nary said on the other side, while we all heard how she was moving some stuff inside.
"I swear, if you don't open in the next five seconds, I will tear this door down!" Shara warned, taking a few steps back.
"I'm almost done!" Nary said as we heard her move some furniture, followed by Shara starting a countdown.
"Five... Four... Stand aside" Shara ordered while backing away, we just made some space for her, she was being serious about ramming that door.
"Three... Two... One... Cero!" and as she finished saying that, she ran like a bull straight towards the door, with her shoulder ready to strike against it. But a mere second before she made contact, Nary opened the door, making her run past it, trip and fall face first onto the floor.
"I told you to give me a minute!" Nary exclaimed, a bit annoyed that her friend really had the intention of ramming her door, she also didn't have the maid outfit anymore.
"It's your fault for not letting us in! you know what would happen if anyone sees your friend her-..." Shara didn't finish her sentence, since she was dumbfounded at how clean the apartment was.
"Heh... I knew you left to clean up" she ended up saying, giving Nary a smirk.
"S-shut up! you're lying, I only came here to... Ugh, whatever, are you coming in or what?" Nary tried to argue but just gave up, looking a bit embarrassed.
Entering her apartment, it was a lot bigger than I thought, with several rooms that made it look more like a house than an apartment, it was also really tidied up, though I suspect that happened recently.
"Wow, I knew your home would be cozy, but this is even better" Callie commented as she looked around the place.
"Haha, thank you, it really means a lot coming from one of the Squid Sisters" Nary said, scratching the back of her head and smiling from ear to ear.
But her expression changed to a puzzled one upon noticing that there were some people missing.
"Wait, where's Levin, Nayls, and the captain?" she asked.
"They'll be here in a minute, and gramps... He said he was too old for these things" Callie replied, taking on a thinking pose afterwards.
"And to be honest, it'd be a little weird to have him here, I don't think having someone's grandfather at a sleepover is a common thing, haha" she continued with a nervous laugh.
A moment later, someone knocked on the door and we all her a familiar voice.
"Guys, it's us, open the door" Levin said at the other side, to which Nary opened the door and let them inside.
"ALRIGHT, WHO'S READY TO PARTY!?" Nayls yelled, striking a pose after entering.
"It's not a party, you idiot! It's a sleepover" Shara scolded him, turning Nayls' excited expression into an annoyed one.
"Jeez, why do you hate fun?" Nayls argued.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, we can finally begin our sleepover" Marie announced, stopping Shara and Nayls from arguing with each other.
"And I have lots of things in mind for us! Snacks, videogames, scary movies, telling secrets, truth or dare, pillow fights, staying up as late as we can and a hundred other things!" Callie exclaimed with starry eyes.
"Uhh... Most of those things are for girls, you're forgetting that there's three boys with you" Levin asked, having his hands in his pockets.
"And that's why I brought this!" Callie said, followed by taking out an empty glass bottle out of nowhere.
"Callie! you've gotta be kidding me!" Marie exclaimed with some annoyance at what her cousin was about to propose.
"Yup! A sleepover with the boys wouldn't be complete without spinning the bottle" Callie explained, making Nary and Otome blush a little, not to mention that Marie and her were also blushing as well.
"And what are we waiting for!? Let the sleepover begin!" exclaimed Nayls, rising his fist and looking at Callie with hearts in his eyes.
As time went on and our sleepover continued, I was surprised to see that it was really... Fun?
Like Callie said before, we spent some time eating snacks, which weren't that bad, though it was my first time eating something made by them, even if it was just some snacks.
Then, we played some videogames, I kind of didn't expect them to all have a retro aesthetic, but they were fun so it didn't matter. And something I have the feeling they'll ask me to do again, was telling Bruce to connect to the TV and stream some games it had stored. This time I asked it to stream King of Fighters.
And just like it happened with Nary and Otome, everyone was impressed by how the game looked, the colors, soundtrack and animations had them flued to the screen.
After that, we decided to watch some horror movies, but to be honest, I really couldn't take them seriously, the characters died in almost nonsensical ways, maybe it was because I didn't understand their biology that well, maybe they were horrific deaths for them. Seriously, I had to contain my laugh sometimes, though I have to admit that they knew their stuff, they didn't shy away from violence and blood... Ink? Whatever.
Just like I did with the videogames, I proposed telling Bruce to play a movie as well, and everyone accepted enthusiastically. I decided to show them one of the classics and one of my favorites of the genre: "Alien".
And as the movie progressed, all of them shivered with fear, as if they were watching their very first horror movie, they didn't even seem to care about not understanding what the characters were saying.
And right now I had the two idols, as well as Nary and Otome, holding onto my arms while we were watching the chestburster scene.
Meanwhile, Shara was holding onto Levin instead, to which I gave him a wink and a thumbs up.
Unfortunately, Nayls didn't have anyone holding onto him, but he didn't seem to care, he was too focused on admiring the alien's design while filling his mouth with nachos.
At the end of the movie, after Ripley's last stand against the xenomorph, Callie cheered and started shaking her cousin in excitement, Marie didn't seem to like this and quickly stopped Callie, glaring at her.
But I also saw how Nary looked a bit sad to see that Ripley was the only survivor at the end, sniffing and holding back some tears.
Meanwhile, Otome looked at Ripley with admiration, seeing how she fended off the xenomorph by herself against all odds.
After the movie, we all headed to Nary's room for something that I really didn't expect would happen, a karaoke session.
We all sat on the floor to choose who'd go first, and of course, the two idols were immediately chosen.
The song they were about to sing was something I haven't heard from them before, but it had a catchy tune. I decided to remove the patch from my forehead, thinking that it wouldn't be the same if I could understand what they were saying
(T/N: It's City of Color)
Safe to say, their singing was nothing short of amazing, they even had a choreography for it, but I should've expected it coming from two famous pop idols.
After them, it was Nary's turn, who was really excited but also nervous. She sang another song that was unknown to me, but that didn't mean that it wasn't cool, earning a round of applause after she finished.
(T/N: Nary sang Split & Splat)
And then came Shara's turn, who sang a short but catchy song, Levin told me that it was one of the songs that played during 'Turf War'.
(T/N: She sang Hooked)
I really had no idea what that 'Turf War' was, maybe it was some kind of sport.
And now that everyone was done, save for me and Otome, the group was discussing who should go next, until Callie suddenly chose Otome, taking her by surprise.
And seemingly everyone agreed with Callie.
"Honestly, I've never heard an octoling sing before, this could be interesting" Marie commented.
"I also want to know what she's gonna sing!" Nayls added to the discussion.
"So, it's decided, Otome's next" Levin finished.
Of course, the octoling refused vehemently.
"Hey, wait! I'm not gonna sing, I'm... Not the singing type" she said with her arms crossed and looking away.
"Oh come on, it's not that hard. And besides, you got the voice for it!" Callie insisted, getting close to her and grabbing her arm.
"H-hey! Wait!" she exclaimed while getting dragged to the 'stage' by Callie.
"I-I told you I don't sing! And also... I don't know any songs" Otome continued while holding her arm.
"Really? Nothing?" asked Callie, looking at the octopus girl in surprise.
"No..." Otome replied.
"Any idol song?" Marie asked.
"No" the octoling repeated herself.
"Street music?"
"No"
"Radio?"
"No"
"TV?"
"No"
"Videogame?"
"No"
"A lullaby?"
Otome was about to answer 'no' once again, but she stopped herself upon remembering something.
"I think... I know one of those..." She finally replied, earning a smile from the whole group.
"So, what are you waiting for? Show us what you have!" Callie encouraged her, leaving the octoling in front of everyone and sitting beside Marie.
Otome started getting a bit nervous, blushing and fiddling with her hands. But then, she cleared her throat, and started singing said lullaby, and being honest, everyone was left speechless at how good her voice was.
(A/N: The lullaby Otome's singing is: "BB's Theme" by Ludvig Forssell, but sung in 'inklish')
(T/N: I'm going to cry)
As she sang, Otome closed her eyes, getting lost in the melody and letting out a single tear.
I couldn't help but also close mine, smiling and enjoying Otome's singing. Even if there wasn't any backing music, her voice was so beautiful that it wasn't needed.
After she finished, we all gave her a round of applause. She couldn't help but blush a little in response, and I think I saw her trying to hide a smile.
"That was amazing! Who taught you that song!?" Callie exclaimed, getting close to the octoling.
"It was something that... My father used to sing to me when I was little" Otome replied, still blushing.
"Well, looks like Callie was right. You do have the voice to sing" Marie commented with her usual smirk.
"And now it's our turn!" Nayls exclaimed as he got up, being followed by Levin.
The boys got on stage and took turns to sing, Nayls even played an air guitar while he was on 'stage' while Levin just looked at him a bit embarrassed.
(T/N: They sang Ink or Sink)
And while they sang, I focused more on looking around Nary's room, which wasn't anything out of the ordinary, looking a lot like the room of your average teenager, with some posters on the walls, some pillows and plushies here and there, and a shelf with some books and comics.
But what caught my attention was what appeared to be a guitar inside her closet, making me move a little to make sure of what I was seeing.
"Something wrong, Drake?" Nary asked me, who seemed a bit curious of what I was doing.
"Huh...? Oh, it's nothing. Hey Nary, is that thing over there a guitar?" I returned the question, pointing to her closet.
"Hmm?" she murmured, looking to where my finger was pointing before standing up and heading towards the closet, crouching down with her butt in the air, wiggling it from one side to the other as she searched for the thing I mentioned.
Upon seeing that, I quickly looked away a bit flustered and scratching the back of my head.
But then I heard Nary murmur something before she brought the guitar to me.
"You didn't tell me you played guitar" I told her with a smile.
"Hehe... That's because I don't" she said, scratching the back of her head nervously and sitting beside me.
"So why do you have it?" I asked, taking a better look at the guitar.
"Well... I saw it at a garage sale and it looked cool so I bought it, But after spending some time practicing and trying to get better at it, I realized that it just wasn't my thing... So I got bored of it and left it to collect dust. I don't know what I'll do with it to be honest... Maybe I'll just give it away or sell it online" She replied, resting her cheek on her hand while she was thinking.
"Let me look at it" I said, outstretching my hand towards the guitar, to which she just handed it to me.
She wasn't lying about the 'collecting dust' thing, and the strings were all out of tune as well, but thankfully, there wasn't any other problem with it. By that moment, I didn't realize that Levin and Nayls were already done with their song, and their focus was now on me while I tuned the strings.
After about five minutes, I finally tuned all the strings, giving them a strum once I finished.
"Hey Drake, what if you play something for us?" Callie proposed.
"Oh...? Heh... Sorry, but I don't sing" I replied, handing back the guitar to Nary, but she refused to take it.
"Oh no, don't you tell us that you 'can't sing' or you 'can't play any instrument', if you know how to tune a guitar, you must at least know one song. Come on dude, you can't just do this to us after your octoling friend sang for you!" Levin said, leaving me with no options to back away from this.
So I just let out a sigh and gave the group a smile.
"Alright fine. Lucky for you, I know two songs that I can sing well enough, but I will only sing one of them, since I need another instrument for the other one, and I don't think nary has it in her closet" I finally gave in, placing the guitar on my lap.
Everyone just smiled happily and gathered in a circle around me.
"But before that..." I left my sentence half finished, before removing the patch from my forehead, taking everyone by surprise.
And before I could start, Nary seemed to stop me, saying something in her language that I couldn't really understand right now, before standing up and running to her closet, probably to search for something.
Not even twenty seconds later, she returned and sat next to me once again, she then extended her hand to give me something.
Of course, I put my hand below her to receive what she was handing to me, and opening her hand, she dropped a pick on my hand, I had no problem playing just using my fingers, but I appreciated the gesture.
"Thank you, Nary" I thanked her with a smile, getting another smile from her in response, as if she understood what I told her.
"Alright, let's begin" I said before I started playing.
(A/N: The song Drake played was: "Heavy Little Heart" by Red Vox)
I closed my eyes and tried to focus on hitting every chord, while also trying to not get out of tune, but of course, I was a bit rusty, so my voice cracked a few times.
Opening my eyes once again, I noticed how everyone rocked from one side to the other while smiling, letting me know that they were enjoying the song.
And as I continued playing, the memories of how to play the guitar started coming to me, making it increasingly easier to hit the right chords.
I then found myself smiling, remembering what was of my life before joining the army.
So many memories, so many good moments to remember, so many friends that I couldn't get to see again. I even remembered the time I used to DJ as a hobby, turning my smile into one of pure nostalgia.
And while all the memories were coming to me, I couldn't realize that Nary was looking at me with dreamy eyes, resting her cheeks on her hands while staring at me. Otome also looked fondly at me, with a slight blush on her cheeks.
On the other hand, the Squid Sisters had a cute smile on their faces, especially Marie, that genuine smile she had made her look really cute, while Callie had a radiant smile that was infecting me with her good vibes.
After finishing the song, I just let out a deep sigh, followed by looking at everyone else, who clapped at my performance.
I only smiled at them in response, I then heard Callie talk to me with an amazed tone, to which I raised my hand to stop her, and put the translator patch back on my forehead.
"Sorry, can you repeat what you just said?" I asked, to which she repeated herself.
"That was amazing! I didn't know you ancient ones could sing like that!" Callie exclaimed, leaning forward and putting her weight on her arms.
"Haha, we don't all sing, and besides... I got really out of tune a few times, other humans could sing way better than I did" I said, scratching the back of my head.
"That doesn't matter. You didn't do half bad, even if you were 'out of tune'" Marie added.
"Haha, thanks, I guess" I replied, the fact that I was being complimented by two idols must mean a lot.
"Alright, guys, the night's still young, so let's keep it going!" Nary exclaimed, letting everyone know that we would stay up until very late.
I'll definitely have a hard time waking up tomorrow...
After a while, almost all of us ended up passing out from being too tired to keep going.
Callie and Shara were the first to go down, crashed out on the couch and snoring. My eyes were staring to grow heavy as well.
We accorded on us boys sleeping at the living room while the girls slept at Nary's room.
Levin and Nayls had a little discussion about who would get to sleep on the couch, but they ended up solving it through a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, Levin being the winner.
I didn't join in since I didn't really care about where I would sleep. I ended up sleeping on a Futon that Nary gave to me and Nayls so we could sleep comfortably on the floor.
But aside from that, I didn't have much trouble catching some sleep.
That was until a certain octoling decided to make me a night visit.
[End of flashback]
And well, that was my day.
With a weird series of events, and now an octopus girl on top of me, getting dangerously close to my face.
I would say 'Can this get any worse?', but right now that's the last thing I wanted to do, since we all know that it always can get worse.