Chapter Text
A loud clank could be heard from the vending machine. For a split second, Hoshi wondered if his drink burst open, but soon after his curiosity was answered by a perfectly intact can of Squiddymelon juice in the palm of his abnormally sweaty hand.
"Look, I'll be honest... You'd make a terrible teammate."
"What?!" She choked, now coughing loudly from the rice stuck in her throat.
"Yeah, I mean, you're terrible at turf war. Half the time you're more focused on just splatting people... There's got to be balance somewhere, you know?"
"But if you don't splat people, you run the risk of getting splatted yourself, and thus, you and your team would ink less. You'd basically be giving your opponents a free win."
He sighed and took a seat next to his friend, and she took the juice out of his hand and began drinking, though she put it down before finishing it.
"Do you have a brain in that head of yours, or what? I said 'balance', man. Yin and Yang, Day and night, you know... That kind of stuff. If earth only had a Day cycle, well... It's not really much of a cycle. We'd be on fire right now, I'm pretty sure. Splatting people is the sun, and the moon is our ink. We've got to work with all our stuff, or else we'd be all dried up... Or something like that. Hey, are you even listening?"
Kaori burped and put her Tupperware in her schoolbag.
"Not really." She smiled. "...So, what's your answer for that essay? You gonna be an artist or something?"
Silence ensues. He stared at her for a moment before wiping off the lip of his can and taking a sip.
"Wait, you are, aren't you?!"
"Yeah... I know, it's kind of lame. But I'm already making money with commis-"
"No, it's great! Honestly, dude, I'm jealous. I'd rather be doodling all day instead of busting my ass losing 10 matches in a row, know what I mean?"
"Uh, yeah..."
"Hey, is that all you gonna 'eat'? Get yourself some real food, painty."
He shook the can, disappointed in the unexpectedness that his sip turned out to be the last of his juice.
"Uh, I kind of spent all my money on this. Thanks for drinking it, butt-head." He gave her a friendly punch in the shoulder.
"Well how was I supposed to know?!"
She takes his hand and drags him by the other vending machines, and while he was reluctant at first, he felt it was better to just play along instead of failing to fight the strength her grip had on him. But even if he was physically willing, his mouth had another plan.
"Come on, I'm buying you some food!"
"Wait, are you even sure you want to?! Kaori...!"
"What kind of a dumb question is that? Okay, pick something." She didn't expect him to point so quickly, and although neither of them said anything, she gave a smug look while she was paying. She didn't really look at what he chose until it shoot out the bottom, and what she saw was truly unexpected to her.
"Seriously? Clam Mochi? Blegh!"
"Hey, you're not the one eating it!"
"I don't know, I just find it weird knowing that Shell city even provides that kind of stuff."
He wanted to roll his eyes, but he found the crunch of the shell intertwining with the softness of mochi to be distractedly delectable, and was savoring at the thought of biting into the salty meat, while finishing his meal with a chewy, muscly crunch that apparently packs quite the punch, so he shook his shoulders instead.
"I mean, the city founder IS a clam. Woah, I just had a thought-"
"You tend not to think those," he said, chuckling.
"Shut up. I mean, do you think Shelly Dual... Eats clams?"
He throws the wrapper in a nearby garbage can, but misses. "I mean, why wouldn't she?"
"I don't know, but apparently it's really controversial amongst other clams. I don't really get it, I mean whatever, right? But what I REALLY don't get is why she would allow them in the first place if it would make everyone hate her! That just seems so stupid."
"Politics are weird, man. There's no sense in- oh woah, Hey!! Look!!"
Kaori turns around as soon as she saw Hoshi's eyes dart behind her, only to find her bag is being drifted away by a mysterious force. Kaori heads down an alleyway, her friend not too far behind. Hoshi, catching his breath in the process, quickly stepped up some stacked milk crates, busting some glass as the crates fall. He leaps for a body slam, only to hit a clothesline which flings him a few feet back. Kaori hears a loud thud and looks behind her, but only for a split second before catching up to her bag.
"C'mere!" She, too, jumps, only for her bag to dodge her. As soon as she hit the ground, she felt the force of her ink sac slam against her other internal organs, but the overwhelming pain didn't stop her from clenching the bag's strap in time.
"Kaori, move!" He says in a hoarse voice.
She hears something coming quickly from her left. After realizing it was a car, she quickly transformed and shot out of the air. Hoshi looks to the sky, squinting at her silhouette. Once he realized what was about to happen, a loud but short shriek came from his beak.
His eyes scramble, but the bag was nowhere to be found. He thought there was no possibility she could have had it, since squid forms had no fingers, but at this point with all that happened, he wasn't too foreign to the idea. If ghosts might exist, who's to say the bag didn't come with her? He ran back to SilverLeaf Middle school, although he ran much slower than the first time.