A/N: Sorry for taking so long chat I had to walk my fish
A/N 2: (Checks watch) uh. Damn sorry ya'll. Don't expect too much out of me but I think my life should be a lil less hectic perchance. We'll see ww
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One by one, over the course of a few hours, you each put the blindfold on and attempted to hit your teammates. The difficulty increased as you went on, from standing still to slowly moving, to running. By the end of the training session, you had multiple teammates whizzing past each other in different directions getting splatted.
As the four of you sat near or against the wall to catch your breath, you congratulated them on their improvement.
"I can't really put into words how impressed I am, nor will I admit I'm a poet at all. But I will say this; what you guys showed me today was something I never thought was possible when I got here," You spot Leo's smile grow wider, glad to be getting praised for his efforts, then you lazily point at him, "Hey, that doesn't mean that you can slack off now, you dork. Don't forget that there's going to be loud music, bombs, people cheering, ink being thrown around, not to mention communication between teammates that'll make this 100x harder."
You take another glance at each of your teammates. - No. - Your family members.
"...But I can promise that this will be worth it. Every time we train, great progress is shown."
...You sure are good with compliment sandwiches, huh?
You can't promise that you'll win against team Emperor, but you're sure that every minute you spend training will prove helpful on the battlefield.
You're all exhausted from training and just on time. The next big match is going to begin in roughly a half hour. The battle between Team Monarch and Team Yellow-Green. The manga had skipped how much time was spent between important matches on the smaller, less important matches. You allow your family to relax however they so desire while you wait for the match to begin. Leo playing games on his phone, Milo stretching, and Tasha cleaning her weapon.
Soon, it's time to make your way over to Sturgeon Shipyard, biting your inner cheek as you realize how packed the seats are. What you weren't expecting, though, was for a path to seemingly be made as you walked through. You tried to avoid the many pairs of eyes on you. It almost felt like back when you first got here and rose the ranks, but the gazes were much more uncomfortable back then. The whispers paired with them used to be much more curious and sometimes rude. You almost cringed remembering those salty players you had to drown out with your headphones what feels like forever ago. But now; you take a quick look around you, - they almost seem to be staring in awe.
You glance back at your team. You wouldn't say you're standing tall, maybe a more introverted kind of confidence if that makes sense. You're still not a fan of being the center of attention. But looking back at your team- your family- a lot sure has changed.
Once you begin to settle down in your seats, doing your best to take up the least amount of room possible, you catch the way the sea of cehalopods appear to disperse yet again. This time much more obviously. From your position, it isn't too difficult to see who it was, easily spotting purple tentacles above the crowd as the tallest of the group makes his way closer.
Aloha's quick to tug you into a hug before you can sit down, dabbing Leo up before taking a seat behind you. You don't remember them being here to watch this match last time, which is odd to you. Skull's got a lollipop in hand, sitting behind Milo after being instructed by Army to do so. He does so without questioning, as airheaded as ever- but Army has a reason, given the heights of the two inklings. Army takes a seat behind Leo, and Mask - you.
You would have jumped if you hadn't noticed Aloha slowly get closer to you ear, attempting to surprise you.
"Sooo~, how's the training goin'?"
You're about to answer, but the immediate terrified look Leo shoots his way almost makes you snicker.
"Hey, it's not that bad. C'mon now."
Leo once again turns towards Aloha and dramatically grabs his hand with both of his,
"Save us, dude!"
You let out a chuckle at the scene.
"Leo, chill."
His hands shoot up in the air, and his voice cracks as he tries to make his point. "You blindfolded us!"
"Which isn't that bad!"
He faces Aloha again, "You have no idea how much pain I'm in."
You gently nudge his side as another chuckle escapes you, shaking your head.
Leo dramatically points to where you gently nudged him,
"See?! Abuse!!!"
Aloha's forced into a fit of giggles as he watched the scene play out before him.
"Oh, can it, dork."
"I think I deserve some sort of reciprocation!"
You sigh and roll your eyes. You rest your chin in your palm. This was most definitely his plan all along.
Aloha leans down once again, this time whispering to Leo. Obviously, you could still hear him;
"Don't worry bro, I'll set something up for you."
You've got no idea what that means, but they dab eachother up again. Whatever makes Leo happy, you suppose.
The match is about to begin, and you hear Goggles blabbing away to his team a few feet in front of you. You ignore it as you pull out a pencil, along with your old manual. You're nearing the end of the pages, and it has clearly done its time by now. But this match is crucial to be taking notes of since you'll get to see a new emotion in Emperor- frustration. As long as it goes as planned, of course. You analyze the stage, zeroing in on the exact spot that Emperor will step foot in yellow-green ink.
Once it begins, a smile filled with pride makes its way across your face. Rider obviously had many, many plans for this battle. It was almost comforting seeing the wide grin he wore all along the match, even when he did lose. He was having fun. It seems you're not the only one who's changed lots since the beginning of the manga. He was so organized right out of the gate, and only once did he falter, and only a little at that. Which lead you to assume his only goal the whole time wasn't to win, because he knew he couldn't- his end goal was to only force Emperor to feel the frustration of stepping in his ink.
Maybe, just maybe, you think: Rider truly did stand a chance at winning against Emperor if he so chose to have that as his end goal. How does that saying go? Shoot for the moon, land among the stars?
