"Is that smoke?!" I yelled as I threw on a t-shirt and skidded into the kitchen. However, as the hallway floors were that slippery kind of wood when you had socks on, I slid and fell into the kitchen instead.

"Oh my goodness, are you OK? I'm sorry that I woke you!" Vanessa apologized as a pancake flew and landed on my face. She must have been making breakfast!

But for the both of us?

Vanessa took a little nibble from the pancake that fell on my head.

"Hmm... I think that one's pretty good," she giggled. "You can have that one."

-~-

I walked out of my room with my Yellow Layered shirt on, yawning softly into the air. I sat on one of stools at the bar of the kitchen, with Vanessa sitting next to me as well. She placed down two plates––one for me and one for her.

"Dig in! I make pancakes and bacon. I... hope you like it!" She grinned as I took a bite out of the bacon on her plate.

"You look nice! I mean... for working at a factory. You get to wear what you want!" Vanessa said, kicking her legs under her chair. She ate some of her pancake nervously, looking down at the ground. I was about to correct her and say that I worked at a warehouse, but she wasn't acting like her cheery herself. I decided to complement her instead.

"It's perfect. I didn't know you could cook, Vanessa. This is really, really good. Thank you so much!" I congratulated her. She smiled, continuing to eat her breakfast.

"Well, yea. There's only cereal here, and I wasn't just gonna eat that. Especially for my first time being here. Y'know." Vanessa giggled and punched my arm playfully. I clicked on my Inkphone, checking the time.

"Hey, I have to go soon. Wanna do something after work?" I questioned her, scarfing down the rest of my breakfast. Vanessa thought for a bit, then replied that she wanted to go to the Battle Dojo.

"The Dojo! I've never been there! Let's do it!" I shouted happily. I hopped off of the stool and slipped into my Red Work Boots. I tossed Vanessa the keys to the house, warranting a strange face from her.

"I think I can trust you to lock up. Just put the blankets and pillows back in the closet and make sure everything's off." I quickly ran into my room to grab my bag.

"OK then! Meet me at the Dojo at 3!" Vanessa yelled after me. I nodded at her, opening and closing the door faster than I could exhale my slightly worried breath. Vanessa did the same inside, picking up my breakfast plate.

"Well, if he trusts me..."

-~-

The train could barely stop before I dove off of it, dashing up the stairs and through the doors of the Battle Dojo. Vanessa was leaning against one of the walls, her eyes closed. It looked like she had been waiting for me for a while. I walked over to her and poked her in the stomach playfully. She giggled and grabbed my arm, pulling me in for a loose hug.

"Hey. I didn't think you were going to make it. Especially on time," Vanessa said, letting me go. I smiled and walked up to the counter of the Dojo, as there was no one behind it.

"Uh... where is...?"

"No one works here. It's run by us kids. All you have to do is punch in an 'in and out' time and boom, it's yours. How long do you want to be in here?" The girl asked.

"It's whatever; really however long you want to be in there, I guess," I answered shyly. Vanessa grinned and tapped in some numbers on a keypad. A pad lit up behind the counter, making me smirk in delight.

"C'mon!" I yelled, grabbing Vanessa's hand and hopping over the counter to stand on the platform.

"Where did you pick for us to––" I began to say as we both sank into the ink that covered the pad.

Geez!

-~-

Opening my eyes, we suddenly appeared at an open field filled with low sunshine and grass. My eyes widened at the sight of it all.

But yet the sight of nothing at all. Except for grass. And some trees.

I looked over to Vanessa, who was grinning at me as usual.

"Vanessa! This isn't an official place to play Turf War! How did you even––"

"It's official. You just have to put in a special code, that's all! Don't worry, we're safe. Let's have some fun!" The girl assured me as she whacked me with her Inkbrush. I was tossed away, but I recovered my balance and slid against the soft grass. I looked above me, seeing my Splattershot falling down from above in a bubble. I jumped up and grabbed it, scowling tauntingly. I sprayed a path of ink towards her and dived into it, swimming, popping out and showering her with ink. I blinked, as she suddenly wasn't in my line of sight anymore.

"AH!" I yelled as she stepped out of a blotch of her own ink to stab me with her Inkbrush. Dodging out of the way, I continued my original path and sprayed it away from her, swimming as fast as I could. Vanessa forced her brush to the ground and pushed it against the grass, running next to my path as I made it. I shrieked and kept going, making a circle around a nearby tree to try and throw her off. Vanessa started to laugh as she chased me, swerving into my path and erasing it as I made it.

"Haha!" I yelled as I turned around and jumped out of my ink, covering her in my shade of goop. Her eyes widened as she quickly poofed away, her hairclip and clothes sinking into my color ink.

"BOOYAH! Devonne, one, Vanessa, zip!" I squealed. I twirled my Splattershot in my hands, making it stop and blowing the top of it as if it had just fired at someone like a gun.

I didn't notice at first, but I quickly felt the wind change as someone landed behind me. Leaves blew throughout the air as a streak of ink was left in it, dissipating shortly after the being landed behind me.

"Woah, what was that? I heard about Inklings doing that, what it called... a 'squid ju––'" I turned around to a girl, but it wasn't Vanessa.

Her hair was tentacles, sure, but wasn't like any other Inkling I've seen. And her skin... it wasn't white or black... it was dark-pinkish... and she was wearing some weird goggles and clothes. Gulping, I frowned at the creature.

"Wha?! You're not Vanessa! Who are you?" I said, taking a step back. I looked down at her hands––she had a weapon in them.

That meant trouble.

The mysterious girl took a step towards me. I watched as her nose twitch, the Octoling weirdly sniffing at my shirt. I cringed, feeling a bit freaked out.

"You're an Inkling. Get out of our turf," the girl said in an awkward tone. She was speaking our language, but it wasn't coming out as fluidly as I knew it to be.

"Woah, miss. I'm sorry, but I was told that this piece of land was fine to play with anyone on. Do you want to play with us?" I asked nicely, taking another step backwards. The girl rose her hand up before––

SPLAT!

"HEY! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Vanessa said, retracting her Inkbrush to her chest with her hands. She turned around towards me, giving me another hug.

"Are you OK? Why were you just standing there? You could have been... SPLATTED!" Vanessa shouted at me, putting her hands on her hips with a bit of sass in her voice.

"W-who was that?! Explain that to me first!" I yelled, crossing my arms. Vanessa blinked, leaning up.

"You don't know what an Octoling is? Vanessa asked me curiously. Suddenly, I felt something inside my brain snap. I didn't feel right. My left eye started to twitch before I ran off, carrying my Splattershot tightly in my hands.

"I'LL KILL THEM! I'LL KILL THEM ALL!" I felt something grab onto the bottom of my leg, dragging me to the ground. It was another Octoling! I shot it with my gun, but it didn't have any effect. With its grip too strong, it pulled me into some sort of hole with an evil grin on its face.

Then I opened my eyes.

"NOOOOOOO!!!" I yelled, putting my hands on my eyes. I started to cry, tears dripping through the crevices of my fingers.

"Devonne, get it together! It'll be OK... are... you OK?" Vanessa said, pulling me in for another hug. I sighed, making the embrace a little tighter.

"My... dad... died... because of these... putrid things..." I paused to take a deep breath.

"And I was about to die to one without knowing what it was!" I growled, clenching my fists. Gathering my thoughts and composure, I pulled back from the hug to look at Vanessa's scared face.

"Oh... I-I'm sorry. Got a little too emotional there," I admitted, wiping the tears away with my arm. Vanessa smiled, giving me a noogie on the head.

"It's alright. We can talk about it later. There's going to be more. I swear they are no Octolings when I come here. They must have been in the area or something..." Vanessa said, clenching her fists as well. "Urrrrg, this is stupid!"

I reached for Vanessa's hand, grabbing it and holding it tight.

"Let's go. I know we can do it. If we work as a team." Vanessa glanced up at me and blushed, then quickly nodded.

"To the pad!" I yelled before making a mad dash to it. Before we knew it, herds of Octolings started to rain down on top of us, forcing us to run even faster. I shot the ones on our left, while Vanessa swiped the ones on our right. I grabbed Vanessa off of the ground and ran faster, the platform coming into view. It started to glow, overflowing with ink like a fountain.

"TURN INTO A SQUID!" I took a few strong leaps before slipping into the pad, feeling it close behind us. We both swam through the goop before I felt us being transported to the pad located in the Dojo. Upon entering, I took a lot of deep breathes, trying to regain myself.

"Devonne! That was so fun!" Vanessa squealed, hugging me tightly. I blushed, pulling her off of me.

"First, I would like to mention that you like to hug a lot. Second, I mean, sure, we almost died, but I do have to admit that was fun." We both laughed knowing that we weren't in danger anymore. I sighed, standing up in the empty Dojo.

"So... what now?" I asked Vanessa.

-~-

Rain.

Rain was what happened. Rain did start to hurt Inklings after a long exposure to it, but if you had a big umbrella, you were fine.

But you were advised to stay indoors, though.

The rain thrashed against the living room windows, leaving slanted streaks against the glass. It was actually quite pretty.

"Tell me about your dad," Vanessa said, sitting down on the couch. She curled up her legs, wrapping her arms around them. I stretched mine out, putting my head against the armrest of the couch, with Vanessa sitting at the other end of the couch.

"My dad. Um, he was really nice and all. Heart-warming and kind. Yea, he would be a little hard on me, but I could tell that now that those little situations were for my own good." I glanced at Vanessa, who stared at me with a bored, expressionless face.

"Well, duh. Every father is supposed to be like that. Our father was... strict. Sometimes unloving. He would be especially hard on me, probably because I was older. But Tuesday always comforted me through those times, because she was the best sister I could ask for." I smiled at the apparent relationship between Tuesday and Vanessa. It was strong. Unbreakable even.

I liked that.

Vanessa unwrapped herself and suddenly laid on top of me. My cheeks were covered in pink as she was trying to get comfortable. She sighed, closing her eyes and going to sleep. I looked down at her, making a smile form on my lips. I wrapped my arm around her quietly.

Does she still want to be friends? I'm getting mixed signals here...

A familiar sound played in my ears, but I couldn't figure out what it was. My phone? The rain? The dishwasher?

Click!

The door to the house swiveled open, slowly closing behind itself. I turned my head towards the door, then turned it back around, the roseness from my cheeks becoming even more apparent.

"Devonne?"

"M-Mom?"

"..."

"And who do we have here? A house guest? Out of all of the places to sleep, she chooses to sleep on you. Great. Is she one of your friends, at least?" I nodded, not letting my mom see my blushing face.

"Alright. I'll allow it. Start the coffee machine, please? I'm only staying the night..." My mother warned me, treading into her room.

Mom's home!