Two Straws

Seven|| Makeup / Breakdown

"Do ya think we're ready to be doin' gigs?" Shi asked one day after practice. "Not just yet. We're still struggling with a few songs," Sango said, having a sip of her milkshake. "We've been really good at Inkoming! though. That's my favorite Wet Floor song we've done," I said with a smile. Hachi turned to me with a confused smile. "That's the one song where you don't have a solo while literally everyone else does," he pointed out. I shrugged, "It's a fun song." He put a snarky smile on his face, "I'm likin' Blitz It! if ya ask me." Shi rolled her eyes. "You just love hearing the sound of your own voice, huh?"

Sango wiped some sweat off of her forehead before turning to Shi. She had to hit the yellow inkling a few times just so she could get her attention. I noticed all of this but I pretended to be much more interested in Hachi's bragging and boasting. Suddenly, Sango ran off to the bathroom, almost like she was sick and ready to puke her guts out. "What's wrong with San? Is she okay?" I asked, standing up with a concerned look. "Oh, don't worry about her. Mighta just held her piss in for too long or somethin'," Shi said, taking a bite of her cookie. I looked at her suspiciously before heading towards the bathroom. "No, seriously Nana. There's no need for that. She's prolly fine," Shi insisted, grabbing my hand.

"Prolly? That's not good enough," I said before pulling my hand away from her and running towards the bathroom. "Sango? Are you alright-" I bumped into the door and it swung open, revealing the short green inkling applying makeup over a green scar adorning her right eye. I stared at her and I could see her.

How could I be so blind?

"Y-You- You're?" She nodded, looking askance. Shi and Hachi stood behind me. To my surprise, my twin brother didn't seem all that shocked. "Hachi, did you... Did you know?" He nodded slowly. I looked down at the small inkling before me, tilting her chin up so I could get a better look at her. "Holy shit. It's really you." She nodded again. "Wait, Shi's an agent, isn't she? That's how you two met," I theorized aloud. "Well, technically we did meet at a young age. I just coincidentally became Agent 4 after Marie's last agent 'mysteriously disappeared'," the yellow inkling explained.

"What the fuck?"

Everyone took a step back away from me after my little outburst. "You all lied to me? Hachi, you know how much this would mean to me," I looked at him and for once, that certain shine in his golden eyes weren't there. "I told him not to tell you, Nana," Sango said. I stared at them all for a few seconds before leaving the bathroom, making my way towards the door and leaving without even bothering to grab my backpack.

I kept walking until I approached the Salmon Run building. I usually came here with Hachi and we'd ignore the two other people we'd get teamed up with but now, I was doing this out of anger. We were running out of food anyway, this is was just killing two birds with one stone.

I subconsciously walked in, not even regarding the other inklings and octolings inside. I quickly changed into the work gear (which I looked rather cute in) and walked out onto the dock, waiting for the boat to come. Outside were three blue inklings that looked vaguely familiar but I just couldn't remember where I had seen them. I guess one of them recognized me because the one with the pilot goggles on his head smiled.

"You're Nana!" he shrieked excitedly. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" I asked. The girl standing next to him with rather long tentacles shook her head. "Sorry about him, he really likes octolings. And he's heard about how you and your brother are great at Salmon Run," she explained. "He's heard? People talk about us?" I asked. "Well, it's a small town. Everyone seems to know each other," the inkling girl said. "Wait a sec. Blue ink? You're the idiot team, right?" I've heard a bunch about these guys on the streets and Hachi tended to watch their battles on TV. "We prefer the blue team," the girl said as the boat approached. "You guys are strong," I noted. "And so are you."

We got on board of the boat, grabbing our ink tanks and putting them on our backs. I changed my ink color blue to match with the others. "Blue's a nice color on you," the same girl said. I nodded. "Thanks, you too," I complimented. "The name's Headphones, by the way. The chaotic gay boy is Goggles and the other one is my girlfriend, Bobble," she introduced. I nodded, "Well, you already know my name," I said with a small chuckle.

This small interaction made me feel a little better but when I saw the island we were heading to, I remembered the whole reason why I was there in the first place.

We simultaneously super jumped to the spawns. Goggles and Bobble accidentally super jumped to the same spawn though and ended up falling into the water. "You morons," Headphones muttered. She looked at the weapon in her hands and groaned. "I hate Splat Rollers," she growled before flicking it towards the two inklings' floaties. "Thanks Headphones!"

I looked at the Custom Splattershot in my hands and sighed. At least it was somewhat similar to my usual Octo Shot Replica. "Start inking," I said, pulling the trigger several times.

I wasn't really paying attention through all three rounds, but the slightest things got me angered. The stupid Small Fry attacking my feet, the Chum smacking the back of my head, the Goldie's constant moving, Goggles goofing off and riding the Boss Salmonid, and a lot more.

On the second round, I got to use the Splat Roller, and although I didn't really like the weapon all that much, it was perfect for releasing my anger. Every Salmonid got wacked with a satisfying splat and every swing I swung made me feel even more relieved than the last. I was still pretty pissed, especially when Goggles handed me a Squiffer for the last round.

I barely collected eggs, I left that to Bobble and Goggles while Headphones and I defended the two, mainly because I wanted to splat everything on sight. I never liked violence or anything like that but I also don't really like having mental breakdowns so taking out my anger on a few pesky fish would have to do.

Once we were done with all three rounds (we somehow managed to survive all three), we got aboard the ship. I couldn't help but notice how awfully silent Headphones' girlfriend was. She kept smiling but she hadn't said a single word. "Something wrong with her? Is she seasick?" I asked with concern. "Uhm, no. I just... Let's just say it's complicated," the blue inkling girl looked into the murky water. "I have time. We can discuss it over a milkshake," I offered.

She stared at me in contemplation before replying a simple, "Sure."