[Drake's POV]
I could only stare at the octoling's beautiful green eyes as she remained on top of me, for some reason she looked upset, but her flushed face made her look very cute.
And the fact that she started leaning into me, made the situation even more tense than it already was. I thought about trying to stop her for a moment, but knowing that Levin and Nayls were next to us, I could only think of what would happen if I woke them up.
Otome just kept getting closer to me, to the point where I could feel her breath on me, and vice versa, so I just closed my eyes and got ready for whatever was going to happen. As I've always said, if something had to happen, then it better happen as soon as possible.
But just then, I heard her just whisper into my left ear.
"I need to talk to you..." and upon hearing those words, I reopened my eyes, and saw how Otome got off of me and headed for the balcony, opening the glass door leading to it and going outside.
I just remained still, trying to process what just happened, then I sat up, and careful of not waking anyone up, I headed to the balcony as well, feeling relieved that what I expected to happen, didn't happen. But I also felt a little... Disappointed... For the same reason.
Taking the gun I had hidden on me, I went outside barefoot, watching Otome with her back against me, leaning on the railing, to which I stood next to her and copied her stance.
And being honest, the view was very pretty, with all the lights making the city feel Alive, even at these early morning hours, and the cool breeze on us just made it feel even better, I remember Bruce told me that this means that we're in the early summer.
But going back to the main topic. I turned to the octoling next to me, who gazed in amazement at the city, to which I smiled at her and cleared my throat before talking to her.
"So... What's with the unexpected visit?" I asked, placing my eyes back on the city.
Otome seemed to refuse to answer for a moment, glancing at me before looking down once again.
"I'm sorry if it's late, but I couldn't find a better moment to talk to you" she said, letting out a sigh and lifting her head to look at me.
"And what did you want to tell me?" I asked her, looking at her curiously.
"I know it sounds a bit selfish... But I want you to come to Octomburg tomorrow so you can help my people like you promised" she said, leaving me a little confused at her petition.
"But I've already promised the others to hang out with them" I told her, to which she frowned a little.
"Yes, I know that, but... Our problem is more urgent than a tour around this city, and... I still don't trust them a whole lot" Otome continued, leaning back onto the railing.
I couldn't help but chuckle a bit while I also did the same thing as her, gazing back at Inkopolis, feeling the breeze and enjoying the relaxing scenery.
But Otome's voice broke the silence, and she sounded a little upset, maybe because I chuckled at what she said.
"Are you making fun of me?" she asked, glaring at me and slightly raising her tone.
"You know...? I used to be like you" I replied without looking at her, but knowing that her expression would change to one of surprise.
"Like me?" she asked, returning to her calm tone.
"Yeah. I couldn't trust people, always worried about something, very cautious, only trusting those I knew... And even then, I wouldn't open up to them... I've been to war before, you know?" I told her, looking down slightly, but still keeping a smile on my face.
After not getting a response from the octoling, I reminded myself that I was about to tell her a part of my life that I didn't want to remember, so I decided to change the topic.
"What I want to say is, you can't just live always being worried about getting backstabbed, you gotta learn to open up and give them a chance... Even if you were enemies or rivals before, you just need to get along with them, just like you did with Nary..." I continued, lifting my head back up and then looking at Otome.
Once again, she didn't say anything back, so I looked back to see if anyone had noticed we were out here.
"Do you trust me?" I asked her, finally making her turn to look at me.
"W-what?" she said with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Do you trust me?" I repeated myself, now making eye contact with her while waiting for her response with a warm smile.
"I-I don't know... I guess I do..." she replied, looking away.
"Then you should know that I will keep my promise to help you and your people... Of course, not without mentioning that you should at least try to get along with Nary's friends, as well as Callie and Marie, who knows, maybe you could get to be friends with them" I suggested, remembering that after getting to know the duo, they weren't as bad as I first thought.
Otome seemed to think about it for a moment, lifting her gaze to the starry sky, as if her answer was somewhere up there.
"You think... We can get along?" she finally asked.
"I think you can do it. And if not, at least you tried... Tomorrow's the right time to try, and don't you lie to me, I know you also want to go on that tour around Inkopolis" I teased her, giving her a smirk.
"T-that's not true! If I go with you, it's to gather information, or deny anything those inklings think about us octarians!" Otome quickly replied, now blushing with embarrassment and clenching her fists, which I found really cute.
"Haha, yeah right, miss 'Elite soldier'" I commented, smiling at her and caressing her head.
I heard Otome make a little grumble, but she didn't remove my hand from her head and just stood in place.
"Anyways, I better go back to bed!" she said after a while, removing my hand from her head and heading back inside almost stomping, only to stop at the balcony door and glancing at me.
"And... Thanks for the chat..." Otome continued, to which I replied with a nod and a smile.
"Don't mention it, let's do it again sometime later, okay?" I proposed, and I just now noticed that Otome wasn't wearing her uniform, instead, she was wearing an orange oversized shirt and some shorts that Nary had given her. And being honest, it looked really good on her.
"Heh, you look cute in those clothes" I commented, looking away and scratching the back of my head.
The octoling didn't reply, she just stopped for a moment and then headed back inside, now stomping so loud I was surprised it didn't wake anyone, though I saw her ears turn red, which I thought was cute. Letting out a light chuckle, I returned to look at the city, with a single word in my head.
"Trust..." I whispered to myself while looking down, staying like that for like five minutes, but then, a new voice pulled me out of my thoughts, making me turn to see who it was.
"There you are" I heard Callie say as she went out to the balcony.
"I thought you fled or something like that" she continued, standing in the same place where Otome was a few moments ago.
"You still don't trust me?" I asked without looking at her, to which the idol just giggled and gave me some pats on the back.
"I'm just messing with you" Callie replied in a playful manner.
"Give me a break" I said, following up with a long sigh, but putting on a little smile on my face.
"So, what were you doing out here this late?" she asked me, resting her cheeks on her hands.
Clearly, telling her about Otome wasn't a good idea, so I made up something I thought was good enough for her to believe.
"Nothing... I just couldn't sleep" I lied, making an attempt to not show her how tired I actually was.
"Hmm... Nice view, isn't it?" she followed up, gazing at Inkopolis with me.
And I really couldn't stop thinking about it, the city looked amazing from here. Maybe I felt this way because it's been so long since I've seen something like this, or had a moment like this.
"I can't deny it... And you, why are you awake?" I returned the question while turning to look at her.
"I guess I couldn't sleep either, so I wanted to see if everyone was sleeping" she answered, moving her eyes to look somewhere else.
"You spy on people while they sleep? What a weirdo" I joked and let out a chuckle, but she didn't find my teasing funny in the slightest.
"That's not what I meant! I said if I wanted to see if everyone was sleeping!" Callie was almost shouting, completely flustered. But then, we heard Levin let out a soft whimper due to Callie's shouting, to which she immediately covered her mouth, not without mentioning that I also gave her a gesture to stay quiet.
Once we made sure he hadn't woken up, I turned to look at Callie while trying not to laugh.
"Relax, I'm just messing with you" I told her, returning the same little joke she made earlier.
"Haha, touché. Anyways, now that we're both out here, maybe it's time to tell you something" Callie said, taking her arms behind her back and turning to me.
"And what is it?" I asked, a bit interested about what she had to say.
"Well... I wanted to apologize about the first impression that me and Marie gave you of our race. If we had known about you, and that you're actually an ancient one, we wouldn't have chased you around the whole city, and... We're really sorry!" Callie apologized, leaning forwards and performing a saikeirei bow, used to express apology in Japanese culture.
Upon seeing said gesture, I couldn't help but chuckle a little, followed by placing my hand on the inkling's head, which made her flinch, but she slowly raised her head once again to look at me with confusion and curiosity.
"You don't have to apologize, in fact... It was me who gave you guys a bad first impression" I told her, still keeping my hand on her head.
"No! We attacked you and chased you through the whole city and Octo Valley, it was us who were in the wrong!" Callie continued, straightening up and putting her hands together.
"And I was just as aggressive towards you, when I could've just tried to talk it out and avoid fighting" I argued back, removing my hand from her head.
"You were only defending yourself; you had every right to do so!" Callie kept arguing, but just then, I remembered something that I did to her and her cousin that I still haven't apologized for.
"And I bit you, and Marie... You already know..." I said while looking away from her.
I only got a gasp from her in response, not without mentioning that her whole face was now flushed red.
And we stayed like that for a few minutes, with me looking away from Callie in shame while she stared at the floor with a flustered face.
Until I finally decided to break the silence.
"I... I already found out that your tentacles are very... 'Delicate', so I'm really sorry about biting you... It was the only thing that came to my head at the moment" I explained, putting my eyes back on the inkling, who lifted her head a little. I really tried to not look away from her once again, I felt so ashamed that I could feel my cheeks burning.
"N-no, it's okay... You just didn't know..." She softly said.
And although it wasn't the best moment to do some observations, I had to admit that the inkling's sorry face was really cute, her pink pajamas and the moonlight shining on her made her look even more beautiful. I know these aren't humans, but... Does that even matter now? They were just as smart and their civilization was almost the same as what humans once had, so... Could I still consider these 'inklings', 'octolings' and the many other sea creatures as animals...? They've evolved from the ancient sea animals, but they couldn't be any more different from them now.
And now, I had another one of them in front of me, whose personality, expressions and cuteness was making me forget about that interspecies barrier, and it wasn't the first time I felt this... Attraction... To them, since Nary and Otome also made me feel this way before. And I couldn't forget about that 'dream' I've had a day before leaving the vault as well, the memories of it so vivid that I still wondered if it really was a dream.
But while still lost in thought, my mouth seemed to speak for itself, asking a single question.
"Can I see it?" I said without thinking twice, earning a confused look from Callie.
"See what?" she asked, leaning her head to the side a little.
"Your tentacle, can I see it?" I repeated my question, and I instantly wanted to take it back, since I realized what that implied, but it was too late, since Callie reacted just as I expected.
"Whaaat!?" she exclaimed, hugging her tentacles in a protective manner, her face turning even redder as well.
And now that I realize, her tentacles were really long, longer than any inkling I've seen so far, to the point where its ends touched the floor, maybe because she wasn't wearing the same hairstyle she's had ever since I met her.
"D-don't get me wrong! It's nothing weird, I just wanted to see if I didn't hurt you" I tried to explain, raising my hands in front of me to calm her down.
But Callie just stood still, so I just turned around and let out an exasperated sigh.
"I'm sorry... I screwed up again..." I apologized, looking up at the sky and waiting for her to go away thinking I'm some sort of creep, but instead, I felt Callie place a hand on my shoulder, making me turn to her.
"D-don't worry, it's just... You caught me off guard" she said sincerely.
I notice how the inkling wanted to say something else, but she was apparently too embarrassed to say it.
"J-just be careful, alright?" she finally said as she moved her tentacle towards me.
"Are you sure?" I asked her, placing a hand below said appendage.
"J-just do it before I change my mind!" Callie replied, frowning a little.
I didn't argue back, and I slowly brought the 'wounded' tentacle close to me, feeling a little twitch when I touched it.
I carefully lifted the appendage, showing the scars that my teeth had left on her, making me feel guilty of having hurt her like that. I ran one of my fingers across the scar, but then, I heard a little squeak coming out of Callie, followed by another twitch from her tentacle.
Looking down to see her, I noticed how she covered her mouth with her hands, looking away from me and flushed up to her pointy ears.
I instantly remembered what happened with Nary and Otome when I made these... Studies... On them, so I quickly returned the tentacle to Callie before this got any more awkward.
"It doesn't look that bad... But still, sorry about biting you" I told her, returning the saikeirei bow to her.
I stayed like that for a moment, before feeling a hand placing itself on my head, and hearing a giggle in front of me, now her being 'Drake', and me being 'Callie', since it felt like we swapped places.
"You don't have to apologize, I told you that it was alright" she said, giving me a radiant smile.
I was about to argue back, but as I opened my mouth, Callie placed a finger on my lips to stop me.
"Just let it be, okay? I'm sure you don't want to keep arguing either" she continued, making a slight frown but still keeping her smile.
I could only nod in response, followed by her removing her finger from my lips.
"Well, I suppose we're all good now, aren't we?" Callie asked, taking her hands behind her head.
"Heh, I guess we are" I replied, going back to leaning on the balcony's railing while hearing a yawn coming out of her.
"In that case, I think I'm going back to bed, and you should do that as well" Callie commented, followed by turning around and heading back inside.
"Oh, Callie, before I forget..." I called her, making her turn back around.
"Hmm?" she muttered in response.
"Tell Marie that I'm sorry about... You know" I said, taking a hand behind my neck in shame.
Callie didn't say anything, she just gave me a smirk and returned to the apartment, but she stopped right on the door before giving me some final words.
"You know? I've always been used to giving back, no matter what it is. So, be assured that I will return that bite to you one day" she said, turning her head and revealing one of her sharp fangs.
Her 'warning' sent shivers down my spine, imagining those three fangs digging into my body, not knowing when or where she would strike.
But then I let out a chuckle, seeing the idol go back inside and losing track of her.
And with that, I let out a sigh upon being alone once again, turning around and looking back at the city, but my thoughts quickly flooded my head, remembering the life I once had, and the horrible things I did in that war, the things I had to endure, and now knowing that I'm possibly the last one of my kind, making everything even harder to wrap around my head.
I slowly take my hand to my hip, taking out the gun I had brought with me, taking a close look at it, and remembering every life I had to end with it. Wrapping my hand around the grip, I took the barrel below my chin, my face remaining completely emotionless.
With my finger on the trigger, I slowly start pulling it, closing my eyes at what I was about to do... Until finally...
*CLINK*
The gun was empty. I let out a chuckle while taking the barrel off from my chin.
"Hah... It'd be too easy... And there's still a lot to do..." I commented while raising my other hand, which was gripping the magazine of the gun. Loading the gun once again, I headed back inside and lie back down on the futon.
As I was about to close my eyes, I realized something really important. And that was that I understood everything Otome and Callie said, as well as speaking their language, even though I removed the patch before sleeping.
I take a hand to my forehead and feel the patch in its place, so I carefully take it out and store it in a little transparent case.
Perhaps Otome put it on me while I was sleeping. Luckily I noticed before going back to bed, since it was still a prototype, and Bruce advised me to not wear it for too long just in case.
With one final sigh, I turn to look at the two boys, who had slept through everything, including Otome's stomps and Callie's shouting, making me laugh a little.
"And I thought I was a heavy sleeper" I said before getting comfortable, closing my eyes, and returning to dreamland.
Just like I said, waking up early was a lost battle, and even more so for Otome and me. Though I didn't know how Callie didn't seem affected after having stayed up all night, since it was her and Nary who woke everyone up, which was kind of annoying, but I guess I'm not the only one who gets all grumpy when forcefully woken up.
After everyone had woken up, we all headed to Nary's bathroom and took turns to wash ourselves. I could only curse my luck in that moment, remembering that I didn't bring a toothbrush or a bar of soap with me.
But as usual, Bruce was there to save my ass, giving me the toothbrush I was supposed to bring, as well as some toothpaste. Not to mention that it also thought beyond me, bringing another toothbrush and paste for Otome, who thanked it after receiving the items.
Once it was my turn to use the sink, I noticed that the water coming out of the faucet felt and tasted a bit weird, its texture was... 'thicker', and it tasted a bit bitter, though it wasn't too different from regular water.
Afterwards, we all headed to the kitchen for breakfast. And to everyone's surprise, but more so to Nary and her friends, Callie offered to cook for everyone. Obviously, Nary refused to accept her offer, she said that it was because she was the host.
But the black tentacled inkling kept insisting that she didn't have any issue in making breakfast for us, which made Nary finally give in, even Marie had pitched in to convince her, saying that Callie was really good at cooking.
"So... Where do you guys think we should start?" Nayls asked while we all waited for Callie to be done cooking.
"How about Inkopolis plaza?" asked Callie, finally getting down to work.
"Hmm... I was thinking about going to Fred's café, that way we'll show him some good 'ol Inkopolis food" Nayls commented.
"We haven't even eaten breakfast and you're already thinking about eating again?" Shara asked, already eating from a cup of... Ramen? It looked like ramen.
"At least I have some variety in my life, unlike you who just eats that Ramen all the dang time. I don't even know how you haven't gotten sick of them!" Nayls argued back.
"They're my favorite, you idiot! And I'd bet they'd be your favorite as well if you gave them a try!" Shara continued, pointing her chopsticks to her brother.
"No thank you, I can already feel my appetite going away from just watching you" Nayls kept arguing, making Levin finally step in to stop the siblings' little fight.
"Alright, enough you two! Nayls, we can't go eat right after having finished breakfast, and Shara, if you keep eating instant ramen all the time you'll end up getting sick" Levin said, glaring at the two inklings.
"How about we go to the mall?" Marie suggested, standing next to her cousin with her arms crossed.
"I say we go to the amusement park" Levin suggested.
"The Arcade center!" Nary joined in.
"Beach..." Shara said while still eating her ramen.
"Karaoke!" Callie also joined in.
And so, the whole group kept discussing where we should start our tour, except for Otome and me, who just watches nervously while they all argued.
Until Marie suddenly stopped everyone, saying something that instantly caught my attention.
"What if we just ask Drake? We're supposed to give him a tour around Inkopolis, I think it should be fine if we ask him where to start" she proposed, placing her eyes on me, and followed by everyone else doing the same.
I only stared at them in silence while everyone else stared back at me.
"Yeah, Marie's right. Why don't we just ask Drake?" Callie exclaimed, cooking what appeared to be pancake dough.
"Yeah, tell us, where would you like to go?" asked Nayls, to which I didn't have an answer.
"Well, I know next to nothing about this city, so I'd like someone to guide me around" I said, but then, I remembered my deal with Nary, and thought that it'd be the perfect moment to remind her.
"In fact, I already promised Nary that she would be the one to show me around Inkopolis" I continued, giving the orange inkling a smile.
"Oh, right... Hey, I got an idea, what if we show you our favorite places after Nary? That way it'd be as if we all gave you a tour around Inkopolis" Levin proposed, and after thinking about it for a moment, everyone exclaimed one big "YEAH!" while raising their fists.
I tried not to laugh at such a... 'childish'? attitude that these beings sometimes had, despite being fully grown adults, but my thoughts were interrupted as the delicious smell of pancakes reached my nose.
"Bon appétit!" Callie said while placing a dish with a stack of pancakes in front of us, covered in syrup.
And I wasn't the only one drooling at the sight of them. They looked so good you could almost taste them by just looking at them.
"Ugh, pancakes? Again?" Marie complained, she then sat with us and rested her cheek on one of her hands, looking at the stack of pancakes with a bored expression.
"This is a dream come true. The famous idol Callie, making breakfast for me" Nayls muttered while looking at Callie with a dreamy smile.
"She's making it for everyone, Nayls..." Levin said to him while raising an eyebrow.
"A man can dream..." Nayls continued, still keeping the same expression.
"They're so goood~" Nary commented while munching on a piece of pancake.
I served myself a few pancakes and went on to try them. And great was my surprise when I tasted them and felt an explosion of flavor in my mouth, and I wasn't the only one absolutely amazed at Callie's cooking, since everyone else seemed to think the same.
I looked next to me to see what Otome's reaction was, and I couldn't help but laugh a little upon seeing her staring at her pancakes wide-eyed, completely shocked at how good they were.
"Wow, Callie. I didn't know you could cook like this!" Levin commented, serving himself another pancake.
"Hehe, it's just a hobby of mine, among other things" she replied, waving her hand as if trying to downplay her skills.
"You're so good you might as well get married already" I added as a joke.
"Oh... Y-you think?" Callie asked shyly, placing her hands in front of her and rocking back and forth, not to mention that she also tried to avoid eye contact with everyone.
After finishing our breakfast, we all got ready to head out of the apartment, making sure there wasn't anyone nearby before we went outside. But I thought that maybe it wouldn't be that bad if the citizens of Inkopolis saw me, since I already told them that I wouldn't cause any trouble. But as we were about to exit the apartment, Callie ran up to us with a newspaper in hand, which she brought really close to Marie's face.
"See, Marie!? This is why I told you that you take your pranks way too far!" She exclaimed, holding the newspaper in place.
Marie stepped back to read what her cousin was showing her, followed by trying to contain her laugh, only to fail and cackle like a hyena while holding her stomach.
"You! You better see this" Callie said, handing the newspaper to me.
"What? What is it?" I asked her, taking a look at it. The first thing I saw were a few photos of Marie and me, but I couldn't understand a thing of what was written on it.
"I... Don't understand what's written here..." I said before the newspaper was snatched from my hands.
"Let me look at it... 'During yesterday's unexpected interview in Inkopolis plaza. The famous member of the Squid Sisters, Marie, affirmed being in a possible relationship with the mysterious ancient one known as 'Drake', which provoked a scandal among her fans, as well as sparking rumors about the unusual couple. More information at pages 5 to 7'" Shara related, just as shocked as everyone else... Well, except for Marie, who was too busy trying not to puke her breakfast out as she kept laughing.
And that's where the possibility of going out without being seen went completely down the drain, taking a hand to my face and sighing in frustration while I heard Callie scolding her cousin.
"Let's put that aside for now and get on with the tour!" Levin said, calling for everyone's attention.
Not wanting to keep arguing, I agreed with the blue tentacled inkling, followed by everyone else, though Callie was still glaring at Marie, who just now came out of her laughing fit.
Just like we did when we entered the building, we made sure no one saw us while we went outside, luckily for us, there was next to no one roaming the hallways, probably because it was still early morning hours. We silently exited the building through the main door, and I was surprised to see that the receptionist was still sleeping on his chair, making me mutter 'slacker' while I looked at him.
"Well, where's our first stop?" Nary asked with excitement.
"You're in charge, you tell us" Levin replied, to which Nary put her hand on her chin and adopted a thinking pose.
"Oh, I know! The arcade center!" she proposed, looking at each one of us.
"Should've expected that" Nayls commented with a smile.
"Alright then, I'm following you" I said, now finally starting our tour.
Getting there took longer than we expected, since we had to constantly hide and sometimes wait for the right moment to come out.
But despite this, we finally made our way to the arcade center. It was a quite big building with lots of lights, the sound of the machines could be heard even from outside. We all entered upon noticing that the building was practically empty, so we didn't have to worry about other unwanted attention.
Levin and Shara went to ask for tokens while we all searched for something to play.
And when they came back, they gave us ten tokens to each one of us, then we all got separated as everyone went on to have some fun. Meanwhile, Otome and I just stood in place and looked around, trying to find something to play, but we had no idea where to start.
Noticing the octoling's lost expression, it didn't take long for me to ask her what she wanted to play.
"So, where do you want to start?" I asked her with a smile, making her look up to me.
"I-I don't know, I'm not the videogame type so I don't know what to tell you" she said with a bit of insecurity in her voice.
But in that moment, Nayls showed up behind us, catching our attention.
"Aren't you guys gonna play?" the dark-skinned inkling asked.
"Yeah, about that... We don't know where to start" I replied, still looking around the whole place.
"Hmm... Oh, I know, come with me!" Nayls said before taking us both by the arms and forcing us to go with him, almost making us trip in the process.
By the moment he stopped, we stared at one of the machines, and my eyes widened in surprise upon recognizing the game on it, 'Metal Slug', a game that had made many childhoods, including mine.
I couldn't help but smile, remembering all the quarters I've spent on this game at a local arcade.
"This is our newest game yet. We found it like a year ago and brought it here last month after we restored it" Nayls exclaimed with a prideful smile.
Getting closer to the machine, I saw that the game on it was 'Metal Slug 3', a fan favorite of the franchise.
"One of the best parts is that two players can play at the same time, so Otome can also play with you" Nayls continued, pointing at the octoling.
"Oh, right! Otome, would you like to play?" I asked, turning to her.
"Yeah, but... I don't know how to play it" Otome replied, standing in front of the player two controls.
"Don't worry, it's not that hard. And besides, I've already seen you play that one fighting game with Nary, and that's even harder than this" I argued back.
"You do have a point..." said Otome, giving me a slight smile.
"Haha, you're welcome" Nayls commented, giving me a nudge and a cheeky smile before heading off to play on another machine.
And after Nayls was gone, I inserted a token into the machine, followed by Otome doing the same thing, finally starting the game.
[POV: Third person]
While everyone had their own fun at the machines and other games, a lone Nary walked around the place, looking everywhere as if searching for something, or someone. But upon reaching certain area, the inkling saw a tall being from behind another machine, leaning a bit to the side to see who it was, she smiled upon recognizing Drake.
Without thinking twice, the girl ran up to the human.
"Finally found you! Would you like to come with me-..." Nary tried to make a proposal, but her sentence was cut short upon noticing that the human was already playing a game with Otome and didn't even seem to hear her talking to him.
"Focus on the red helicopter, if we destroy it, the other five will go down with it as well" Drake said, completely focused on the game.
"Got it" Otome replied, her eyes glued to the screen as well.
Nary frowned and pouted in a cute way, letting out an angry grumble and clenching her fists, knowing that Otome had beaten her to spending time with the human.
"You've won this battle, but not the war..." Nary commented, giving Otome a defiant glare before turning around and stomping her way out of there.
And once Nary was out of sight, the lieutenant shuddered, feeling someone's venomous stare on her, but when she turned around, no one was there.
"Something wrong?" Drake asked, turning to check on her.
"N-no, nothing... I felt like someone was staring holes into me" Otome said, giving one last glance to where Nary was previously standing before returning to the game.
"Hmm... Okay...? Fuck, I lost the tank" Drake commented, whispering that last part to himself.
After a while, Drake and Otome were interrupted by Nayls running up to them and almost crashing against the two.
"Nayls, what's the problem?" Drake asked as he stared at the squid boy.
"We gotta go! There's a lot of people coming here!" Nayls whispered to them, making Drake and Otome follow the squid boy, reuniting with the group and heading out of the building.
The tour then kept going without much issues, visiting a few shops that the inklings frequented, the streets they usually walked past, and even some of their houses.
But it wasn't too calm either, since Drake was almost spotted while walking down some crowded avenues, luckily, everyone managed to avoid that, whether it be distracting the passersby, or making up a lie to get out of the public's eye.
And as they continued their tour, Marie had the sudden idea to visit the museum of Inkopolis, according to her, it was to show the human something that would surprise him.
"Marie, wait! What is it that you want to see!?" Callie asked while trying to catch up with her cousin.
"You'll know when you see it, now follow me!" Marie replied while everyone kept walking down the halls of the museum.
Going out during the early morning hours seemed to be a good idea after all, since there wasn't too many people roaming around the places they visited, and that included the museum. Drake even recognized some of the things he saw in it.
"Wait a minute, I know this exhibition... Marie, you're not thinking about showing THAT to Drake, are you?" Callie asked with a worried tone, standing next to her cousin.
"Show me what?" asked the human, now feeling a bit curious about what the duo was talking about.
Marie then stopped right in front of one of the display cases, followed by the rest of the group.
She turned around with a smirk, seeing how Drake approached the glass and recognized the fossils on display, consisting of a human skeleton in a sitting position along with a videogame console, a disc, and a controller, implying that the fossilized human was playing videogames before passing away.
"I suppose you recognize the ritual they were doing" Marie commented, to which Drake didn't say anything, making her feel a bit puzzled.
"I don't know about you guys, but no matter how many times I see it, it still looks a bit dumb to me" Shara followed up, only to receive a nudge from Levin, who discretely pointed at Drake's 'friend'.
"D-don't get me wrong! I wasn't talking about them, or you, I was just-...!" Shara tried to take her words back, but she was suddenly interrupted by Drake, saying something that made everyone uncomfortable, but mostly Shara, thinking she had offended the human, and Marie, who thought that maybe bringing Drake here was a bad idea after all.
"What a dumbass..." He said to himself while keeping his eyes on the skeleton.
"W-what!?" Shara was taken aback, thinking the human was mad at her.
"Come on, man. She wasn't being serious" Levin intervened in an attempt to defend his friend.
"Huh...? Oh, sorry, I wasn't talking about her. I was talking about this guy" Drake said, pointing to the fossil on display.
"Excuse me?" asked Marie, just as confused as everyone else.
"Yeah, like... The whole world is going to hell and this guy just chose to play videogames instead of saving themselves" Drake replied, pointing at the text written below the fossils.
"Bruce even translated what's written here, and it's kinda funny. 'Its small skull indicates the creature was likely primitive with little intelligence. This specimen appears to have been fossilized in the middle of some kind of ritual'. Heh... I don't know who's dumber, this idiot right here, or whoever discovered them" He continued.
"It says here... 'Dr. Samuel Binz'" Nayls said, reading off the bottom of the plaque.
"Ohh... Checks out" Drake said with a deadpan expression, while Nary and Callie had to cover their mouths to avoid laughing.
[Meanwhile, at a certain research center]
"ACHOO!" Binz let out a loud sneeze, followed by taking out a handkerchief from his coat's pocket and wiping his nose.
"Doctor, are you alright?" Jenny asked her uncle.
"Yes... I think someone just spoke ill of me" the old inkling replied, while everyone else present in the room looked at each other in confusion.
[Back to our protagonists]
The tour didn't stop there, and they kept going from place to place, showing Drake the most interesting parts of Inkopolis. And without realizing it, lunchtime had arrived, but their issue was that Drake couldn't show up at a café or any crowded place for obvious reasons, upsetting Nayls, since they were near his favorite café.
So they had to go somewhere far from the public's eye to eat, but the group didn't take issue with that, since the weather was just right, and to cheer Nayls up, they all ordered from that same café he wanted to go to.
After a while, they all came back with their food, though Drake and Otome just decided to wait for them, telling the inklings to choose for them. Shara commented that Nayls was about to throw a tantrum if they didn't go to the café he wanted, but her brother just ignored her words.
"Come on, try it and tell us what you think about the food of Inkopolis" Levin said while offering a piece of fried prawn to Drake and Otome.
Drake took the fried snack and looked at it in surprise as he noticed how big it was, easily fitting into both of his hands. Otome, on the other hand, looked at it with curiosity while inspecting it.
And then, the human took the first bite.
Upon tasting it, his eyes widened at how good the dish was, the crunchy texture and added condiments complimenting the prawn's flavor.
"Wow... This thing is good!" He commented as he kept taking bites out of it, to which Otome also decided to give it a try, and getting amazed at how good it tasted.
"Haha, yeah. Though they're not as good as the ones Crusty Sean makes" Nary said, slurping down a smoothie.
"Crusty Sean?" Drake asked as he kept eating.
"Just your friendly neighborhood prawn with a food truck at Inkopolis square. You should go there sometime, I'm sure you'll love his stuff!" Callie commented, eating a bucket of fries.
"Sure... Wait, this is a prawn, right?" Drake asked while pointing to what he was eating.
"Yup!" Callie replied enthusiastically.
"And he's... A prawn that cooks... Prawns?" Drake asked again, feeling a bit doubtful.
"Well, yeah. Any problem with that?" Shara asked, eating yet another cup of noodles.
"Uhh... No... None at all" Drake lied with a nervous smile, taking another look at what the prawn he was about to finish, before discretely throwing it into a trash can behind him.
As the group kept eating and chatting, another four inklings was spying on them not too far away, especially one of them, who stared at the human with venom in his eyes.
And this second group was none other than the Ink Spitters.
"Whater, can we go now? They're just doing nothing over there and we're getting bored" said the inkling that had previously sniped Nayls.
"Just a bit longer, Camille. I want to see what that bastard is gonna do" said Whater, keeping his eyes glued onto the human.
"Look, we've been following them ever since they left the museum, and the only thing they're doing is just walking around and chatting. It's not even fun to spy on them... I don't know about you, but we'll just go eat something, go to the plaza and maybe play some turf war matches" Camille said, before walking away along the rest of her team.
"Guys, wait! Just-...!" Whater tried to convince his team to stay, but upon seeing that they just ignored him, he grumbled in frustration, before going to catch up with his teammates.
After finishing their lunch and chatting for another while, the tour was back on, going across a few other places before stopping at one of the places the group anticipated the most.
"Wait, I remember this place" Drake commented, looking around the area. And it being the same place where he first met everyone, and with it came the memories of the two giant ink missiles falling on him.
"This is one of the best spots for watching turf war matches" Levin said, catching the human's attention.
"Alright, can anyone tell me what this 'turf war' is? I've been hearing it for quite some time now and I still have no idea what it is" said Drake, feeling curious about the topic.
"I'd also like to know. I've heard some rumors from my people, but I'm not sure about what's true and what isn't" Otome chimed in, also interested in what turf wars were.
"Oh! Oh! Me! Me! Me!" Callie exclaimed, jumping in place and raising her hand, asking Marie to let her explain, and letting out a sigh, the white tentacled inkling gave in to Callie's demands.
"'turf wars' are our most iconic sport. In which inklings of at least fourteen years of age can participate and put their skills to the test against others!" Callie started to explain, putting on some glasses she took out of nowhere and raising her index finger.
"Two teams of four go up against each other to claim victory" She continued.
"And I suppose the least inked team wins, right?" Drake guessed, only to make everyone present giggle at his ingenuity.
"Of course not, you dummy! In a Turf War, teams have three minutes to cover the ground with ink. The team that claims the most turf with their ink wins the battle!" Callie corrected Drake's mistake, putting her hands behind her and leaning forwards a little.
"But I saw you shooting ink at each other, surely that has something to do with that, right?" Drake asked.
"And that's what I'm getting to. Like I said before, you've got just three minutes to cover the most territory. You can take out enemies, too, but winning is all about the ink" Callie kept explaining the rules of the game, not realizing that a match was about to start behind her.
"Guys, look! There's a match going on right now!" Nary announced, making everyone turn to the stage.
The group then saw how the two teams started covering the stage with ink, not without mentioning that they were also shooting at each other.
"Perfect! Now you'll see what I was talking about" Callie exclaimed, looking at the human and the octoling.
As they saw the battle unfold, they watched as a male inkling was caught off guard by a female inkling, who had hidden in her ink until the rival inkling got close enough, only to raise her roller and letting it fall on the unsuspecting squid boy, splatting him instantly.
Drake couldn't help but flinch at what he just saw, with a shocked expression on his face. And he wasn't the only one, since Otome also had the same reaction, though she looked more horrified than shocked.
"So you... Kill each other to win...?" Drake asked, giving Callie a doubtful look.
"Huh...? I mean... You 'can' put it that way..." Callie replied, looking away while scratching the back of her head.
"I can't believe it..." Otome commented, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Said something?" asked Callie, now noticing the reaction that Drake and Otome had, and giving her, and everyone else, a bad feeling about it.
"I can't believe that you could do something so barbaric like killing each other for fun! They were right..." Otome shouted, whispering that last part to herself.
On the other hand, Drake just looked away with a cold expression, showing a bit of mistrust towards the inklings.
"W-wait! You don't understand...!" Callie exclaimed in panic, turning around and searching for something on the stage to clear the misunderstanding.
"Let's see, where-...? There! Look over there!" Callie said, pointing somewhere with her finger.
Doing what she asked them to do, Drake and Otome looked to where Callie was pointing, and seeing a circular platform at one end of the stage, which was of the same color as the team which just lost one of their members. They watched as the ghost of the inkling who had supposedly just 'died' went into the platform. And to their surprise, a figure rised out of it, reveling that it was the same boy who got splatted a few moments ago.
"Impossible..." that word escaped the human's mouth, in complete disbelief at what he just saw.
"But we saw him-..." Otome was just as shocked as Drake, trying to say something before being interrupted by Callie.
"See? There's nothing to worry about. Those respawning platforms will make sure no one in the stage actually dies, whether it be due to enemy ink or water" Callie explained, making the two outsiders calm down. Though Drake was still feeling a bit of doubt.
"But... What if they malfunctioned?" He asked.
"Well, they haven't done that ever since they were installed, and they also get maintenance every day so I wouldn't really worry about that" Callie replied, waving her hand in an unconcerned way.
"Ohh, I get it now" Drake said, going back to a relaxed state, now finally knowing what really happened to the inklings he had 'killed' when he first met the Squid Sisters.
Otome had also calmed down, knowing that no one really died in turf wars.
"Hey, sorry if this is a bit uncomfortable to ask, but... Doesn't it hurt when you... um... 'explode'?" Drake kept asking, feeling a bit curious.
"Of course not. It doesn't hurt... That much" Callie answered his question, whispering that last part, but still being heard by the human.
"Suuure..." Drake said, somewhat unconvinced.
"In any case, when you respawn, any bruise and pain that you had during battle just vanishes away instantly!" Callie kept explaining in an attempt to clear the human's doubts.
"She's right, and we're witnesses of that" Marie joined in with a smirk.
The four friends also affirmed it, nodding and smiling at Drake.
"Wait, so you were also-...?" He tried to ask, but his question was answered before he could even finish.
"Everyone who's played turf wars has been splatted before. Especially the rookies" said Levin.
"Even the best of the best get splatted at least once during a match" Nayls added.
"You two should try it sometime, that way you'll know what we're talking about" Callie proposed, giving Drake and Otome a friendly smile.
"Yeah, about that... I think I'll pass" Drake refused with a nervous smile.
On the other hand, Otome took a moment to think about Callie's proposal.
"Huh? And Why's that?" Nary asked, confused about her friend's refusal.
"First, I don't really like the idea of... 'Splatting'. Second, ink and water doesn't have any effect on me. And third... Us humans don't really go like you people do" Drake explained.
"Ancient ones don't get splatted?" asked Shara, raising an eyebrow.
"No... Well, kinda... But not in the way you think" Drake replied, begging inside for them to just drop the topic there.
"So how do you do it?" Callie asked something the human didn't want to answer, but now he had no way out.
"Well... Imagine one of your friends lying on the floor, writhing and screaming in agony while holding a stub where a leg or arm used to be... That's all I'll say about it..." Drake said while looking away, clearly uncomfortable.
And just like he expected, everyone shuddered while picturing that scene. Even Otome felt a shiver going down her spine, well knowing that he couldn't have been lying, and remembering the moment the human told her he's been to war.
"Ha Ha... O-okay, I-I think we understood. How about we j-just keep going?" Callie stuttered in an attempt to change the topic.
The rest of the tour went around the outskirts of Inkopolis, and everyone was chatting and telling stories about the places they visited, though right now the group was only composed by Nary and her friends, Drake and Otome, since the Squid Sisters were called by their producer to host the afternoon news.
"See ya later! Don't let Drake get in trouble!" Callie exclaimed while waving goodbye with a bright smile on her face.
"Take care, alright?" said Marie in her usual calm tone, but also smiling at the group.
"Well, now we'll have to hold up on our own" Levin joked.
"So, where now?" Nayls asked.
Noticing that it was getting late, Nary felt like she was forgetting something, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.
But that only lasted for but a moment, since she realized where they currently were, and remembered what her plans were. But before carrying it out, she had to separate Drake from the group, and take him away before they noticed his absence.
"Guys, I have an idea. What if we show him around the plaza? It's quite late so I'm sure there's not too many people there" Nary proposed, begging inside for the others to agree with her.
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea, but we'd be getting there almost at night" Levin replied, thinking about Nary's proposal.
"And it'd be quite risky with a splatfest coming ahead... There'd be even more people than during the day" Shara added, crossing her arms and chewing on some gum.
"We could get there before that if we hurry up! And besides, it'd be a great opportunity to show Drake how amazing splatfests are!" Nary insisted, but trying not to sound desperate.
"Hmm... I don't know. What do you say, Drake? Would you like to end our tour at the plaza or just keep going over here?" Levin asked the human.
"Well, you've been mentioning that plaza for some time now, so I'm getting curious to see what it's like" Drake said with a smile.
"It's decided then! Let's go!" Nayls shouted before running off, his friends following shortly after.
"Drake! Wait a minute!" Nary whispered while tugging on the human's arm to stop him, leaving them alone while everyone else followed Nayls.
"Okay, let's go!" she continued, also starting to run while being followed by Drake, carrying out the first phase of her plan.
"Uhh, why did you do that?" Drake asked upon catching up with his friend.
"Haha, don't worry about it. Tell me, are you having fun?" The inkling returned a question, giving the human a wink.
"Well, I can't deny that, it's been pretty fun" Drake replied, giving Nary a smile.
"And there's one more place I gotta show you!" she added with a playful tone, getting a chuckle out of Drake.
"I'm not sure if we'll have time for that after going to the plaza, so maybe you could show me another day" he said, thinking that the girl would probably feel disappointed.
"Or I could do it right now!" Nary said with a mischievous grin. And before Drake could see it coming, he felt Nary grabbing one of his arms and taking him down an alley.
"N-Nary! What are you doing!?" Drake asked in confusion at the girl's unexpected action.
"Quick! Follow me!" Nary ignored his words, still dragging the poor human by his arm, surprising him of how strong she was.
"But what about the others!?" Drake asked, still trying to free his arm from the inkling's grip.
"Don't worry about them, we'll catch up to them soon enough!" Nary replied, making her way through the alley.
Not wanting to keep arguing, Drake just decided to follow the inkling, but that didn't mean that he wasn't feeling doubtful about what she was doing.
After a few minutes of running, avoiding crowded places and going across alleys that led to the place Nary mentioned, they finally reached one last alley that they had to go through.
Nary slowly peeked out of it, looking to both sides to see if there were any people nearby. She saw that it was quite crowded, but not enough for it to be a problem.
"Nary, do you still think this is a good idea?" Drake asked, peeking out of the alley as well, though his head was above Nary's.
"You stay here, I'll go out and tell you when it's safe for you to come along" Nary said, taking one last glance at the streets before turning to Drake.
A moment later, the inkling walked out of the alley acting as natural as possible while nonchalantly whistling City of Color, from the Squid Sisters, not to mention that she also looked everywhere discretely. Nary kept going, crossing the road until reaching the other side and leaning against a nearby wall.
"This isn't gonna end well..." Drake commented, letting out a sigh while placing a hand on his face.
After a few seconds, Nary gave Drake a thumbs up to signal him that it was safe to come out. Without wasting any time, Drake caught up with Nary as fast as he could.
"Come on, it's over here" She whispered to him before moving some foliage on a chain-link fence to reveal an opening beneath it, but she didn't say anything about the warning signs and caution tape on it, which Drake could clearly see.
"Nary, I may not understand your language, but that's clearly a warning sign" Drake commented.
"It's the tape and the signs, isn't it? Don't worry, I come here all the time" Nary reassured him, crawling into the fence's opening.
"If you say so..." Drake said before following Nary into the opening, almost getting caught up on the fence due to the size difference.
And as they kept crawling through plants and bushes, Drake lifted his head to look in front of him, only to see the inkling's round buttocks, which left almost nothing up to the imagination in those tight shorts, he even swore to have seen a cameltoe on her, making him doubt if she was wearing underwear at all.
Completely flustered and flushed red, Drake quickly looked away, keeping his sight low until Nary finally crawled out of the foliage.
And the moment he also came out, he was met by the afternoon sun going directly into his eyes, instinctively covering his eyes in response.
"So, what do you think?" Drake heard Nary say as his eyes were getting used to the light, and once they did, he saw that they were at a seemingly abandoned balcony, with a bench in the middle of it. But what caught his attention the most, was the view of the distant ocean beyond the balcony, which paired with the sunset, made for a really relaxing scene.
Drake stepped forward to take a better look at his surroundings, now understanding why Nary wanted to bring him here.
"Wow... What is this place?" Drake said as he still admired the landscape.
"This is my secret spot. I come here when I got nothing better to do, or just when I feel like it" Nary replied, walking over to the bench and sitting down on it.
"And how long have you been coming here?" Drake asked again, approaching the guardrail in front of Nary.
"Like three years ago, that's why I told you to not worry about those signs from before" she said, putting on a smile.
"Well, it does look like I worried over nothing, haha. By the way, you said this was your secret spot, right? So do the others not know about it?" Drake asked, walking up to the inkling.
"I mean, they know, but they don't come here as often as I do" Nary replied, making some space on the bench for Drake, who immediately sat next to her.
"Ha, and I wonder why...? I mean, just look at this!" He commented, extending his arms in front of him to emphasize the landscape.
"Hehe, I know, it's nice" Nary added.
"And what do you do here?" asked Drake, noticing how there were some wrappers and empty snack bags scattered on the floor.
"Not too much really; read some comics, eat some snacks, checking on my weapons or... Just sleep" Nary said, scratching her cheek with a bit of embarrassment after admitting that last part.
"What? You stay the night over here?" Drake joked, feigning bewilderment, getting a giggle out of the squid girl.
"Of course not, you dummy! I mean naps and stuff like that" Nary said between giggles, giving Drake a friendly nudge.
"Though... There's something else I do here... When I'm alone" she continued in whispers, a blush showing up on her face.
"Hm? Said anything?" Drake asked, not having heard clearly what the inkling said.
"Nothing!" Nary shouted almost immediately, her face turning a deeper shade of red.
"Okay?" Drake said with a bit of a confused tone, but decided to just ignore it and return to gaze at the sea, enjoying the sound of the waves and the gentle sea breeze. On the other hand, Nary was fiddling with her fingers while thinking about what she should do now, glancing over at the human next to her.
"Alright, Nary, it's now or never!" She thought to herself, choosing the right words for the moment in her head.
"D-Drake?" Nary called to the human with a nervous tone.
"Hmm?" he muttered in response, placing his eyes on the girl.
"We're... We're friends, right?" Nary asked, now also looking at him.
"Of course we are!" Drake replied, giving her a bright smile.
"S-so... You know, friends... Ask for favors, right?" Nary asked again, moving closer to him.
"Well, yeah, that's something they usually do" Drake answered her question once again.
"And if I asked you for a favor... Would you accept?" Nary kept questioning the human, fiddling with her fingers and getting closer to him, a shy smile showing up on her face.
"I guess so... It depends, really" Drake said, now noticing how close Nary was to him.
"In that case... Can I ask you a favor?" she asked, lifting her head to look at Drake once more, blushing up to her ears.
Drake looked over to the inkling, noticing how flustered she looked, and paired with her shy expression, made her look so adorable that he couldn't help but feel something tugging at his heartstrings.
"S-sure... What do you need?" Drake asked before gulping, staring deep into Nary's eyes.
"C-close your eyes..." she asked shyly, making her best effort to speak clearly.
"Why?" asked Drake, feeling curious about the girl's petition.
"Just do it... It'll only take a second" she insisted, feeling her hearts all racing at once.
"Alright then..." Drake finally gave in, closing his eyes while facing the inkling.
Now it was the moment of truth, the opportunity Nary had been waiting for. Feeling brave, she leaned in closer to Drake, her face coming closer and closer to his.
"D-don't move" she ordered, stopping for a moment.
"Okay" Drake replied.
"And don't open your eyes" Nary ordered once again with a gulp.
"I won't" Drake complied, making Nary lean in closer once again as she stared at the human's lips.
Drake didn't know why his heart was racing, but he felt like something was about to happen.
Nary kept getting closer and closer, and upon feeling Drake's breath on her, she closed her eyes, ready to finally seal the deal.
Although he now felt nervous, Drake kept his eyes closed. And with their lips practically brushing against each other, he prepared himself for what would be a quick, but intimate kiss.
"I knew you were here!" which would've happened, if it wasn't for a nosy Levin ruining the moment.
"Eh?" Drake and Nary said at the same time, before opening their eyes and seeing just how close they were to each other.
"Oh... Are we interrupting something?" Levin asked, a bit surprised at what the two were about to do.
Nary's face was burning red, she was so embarrassed that even her tentacles had taken on a crimson color. Not only because she was discovered, but also because of how close she still was to Drake, their lips almost touching each other.
"N-nary?" Drake asked as he blushed due to how close Nary was to him.
The poor inkling couldn't take it anymore, and quickly threw her head away, letting out a scream of pure embarrassment. But her little act didn't end there, since she abruptly brough her head back forward, catching Drake off guard and headbutting him right on his face.
With a pained yell, Drake was knocked out of the bench, falling unconscious onto the floor. And Nary, she let herself fall onto the bench, her face still flushed red, and now with a bruise on her forehead.
The rest of the group had wildly different reactions, with levin scratching the back of his face while Nayls and Shara were laughing as hard as they could. And Otome, she looked upset, staring at Nary with a bit of jealousy.
After Drake and Nary recovered, Nary took a good berating from Levin and Shara for having taken the human away without even telling them, though only Levin looked upset, since Shara was still trying not to laugh.
Drake could only watch as the inkling just looked down in shame, but she didn't seem to pay any attention to what Levin and Shara were telling her, since she would sometimes glance at him before looking down once again when she noticed Drake looking back at her.
"So... Did you kiss her?" Nayls asked with a cheeky smile, giving Drake a gentle nudge, which made him crouch down to his level with a calm yet menacing face.
"I wonder how far you'd fly if I throw you over the edge right now" Drake said calmly.
Immediately getting the threat, Nayls just stepped away from the human with his hands raised, giving him a nervous smile.
Standing up straight, Drake let out a grumble while an upset expression occupied his face, but it didn't last long, since Otome placed herself in front of him, pointing at her forehead.
"Hmm? What's up?" Drake asked, not getting what Otome meant.
"Your forehead... It's bruised" she said, lowering her hand while the human raised his to check said zone, and feeling a painful sting upon touching it.
"It's alright. This shrimp-for-brains here just promised to not do it again... So, where do we go now?" Levin said, approaching the rest of the group.
"I don't think we can go anywhere, look" Shara intervened, pointing at the sun setting on the horizon.
"And we haven't even gone to the plaza..." Levin said, a bit disappointed.
"It's okay guys, I had fun with you and got to know the city. The least you could do for us is just take us outside Inkopolis" Drake commented in an attempt to cheer them up.
"Do you really have to go? We wouldn't mind if you two stayed over for another night" Shara proposed, which made Nary lift her head to see what the human's answer would be.
"Sorry, but I think it's time for me to go back to my vault, and Otome probably has to go back to her people too" Drake refused, turning to look at the octoling.
"I've been outside for way too long, I should go back to Octomburg as well" Otome added with a faint smile, but in reality, she didn't really want to return to her city.
"I guess we could do that, and Octo Valley forest isn't too far from here" Nayls said.
"Let's go then, before it gets any darker" Levin finished while everyone crawled back from where they came from.
During the whole trip, Nary hadn't spoken a single word, or made eye contact with Drake, and if she did, she instantly looked away, which would sometimes make her trip or bump into things.
But fortunately for her, they arrived before it could get any worse. Bidding farewell, Levin was the first to speak out.
"Come back some day, there's still lots of places we haven't showed you" he said while outstretching his hand.
"We will. We had lots of fun here, didn't we?" Drake said while shaking Levin's hand, and glancing at Otome.
"Yeah... It wasn't that bad" she said with a faint but genuine smile, shaking Levin's hand after Drake.
"You sure your mask ain't on sale?" Nayls joked, giving the human a fist bump.
"It will... when pigs fly, that is" he replied, playing along with the dark-skinned inklings.
"Don't listen to him, you know he's a dumbass" Shara said, her being the next to say goodbye.
"We know" Drake said.
"But he's still your brother" Otome added, giving Shara a smirk.
"Oh, right... That's quite unfortunate" she joked, getting a laugh out of everyone.
And knowing who was the only one left, Drake placed his eyes on Nary while approaching her, but she didn't even bother in looking up.
But just then, the inkling felt Drake placing his hand on her head, gently caressing her while Nary tried her best to stay stoic.
But the human's warm touch ended up softening her after a moment.
"Don't cause your friends too much trouble, okay?" he said, earning a cute gurgle sound from the inkling in response, before taking off his hand and letting Otome say goodbye as well.
"Hey, um... Thanks for inviting me over, and... See you later?" the octoling said, scratching the back of her head with a bit of embarrassment.
Nary just nodded and gave her a smile in response.
Now ready to go, Drake and Otome turned around to make their way to their destinations, while the four friends waved at them as they walked away. But then, the human stopped to take one last glance at the orange tentacled inkling.
Noticing that he was looking at her, Nary thought about looking away once again, but realized that doing that would make her look bad. Swallowing her nerves, she gave him a bright smile and a peace sign to say goodbye.
Upon seeing that, Drake returned a smile at her, going back to walking towards the forest, raising his hand and waving goodbye at the group.