Color

Chapter One

Two years later...

An inkling girl was laying in her bed, wearing light blue pajamas with white stars on them, and staring at the ceiling. Her name was Yui. She had pale purple tentacles, fading into gold. Three long tentacles emerged from the other tentacle on her head, like three branches emerging from a freshly cut stump. Two tentacles were in front of her ears, one going a little below her waist and the other barely passing her ear, both flat at the ends, and a short wide one on her forehead covering her eyebrows. A black mask wrapped around her eyes, like all inklings.

There were also two little fins on top of her head. Yui's mother told her it was a genetic mutation, and how it was just like hers. She was six at the time, and as a child, she thought it was the coolest thing in the world, but quickly found out it was the worst. When her classmates found out, they called her "a weirdo" and "gross."

She got bullied a lot for that, and one day came home crying to her mother and older sister about it. Yui's mom said that it was okay, and that they were just jealous of her; But her older sister had a different opinion.

Yui was trained by her older sibling on how to punch and kick correctly on a punching bag. Since she didn't want Yui to trade her learning skills for fighting skills, so every time she answered a question right, she got to hit the punching bag. She also taught Yui how to dodge in case they decided to fight back.

It got to the point that when she was about the age of fourteen, she had answered enough questions that the punching bag got blown off of the rope that had it tied up, and it landed on the floor with a big thud. She also became so used to her older sister throwing punches and kicks that she dodged all of her attacks. Yui's older sister congratulated her on how strong she's become, but Yui thought that it didn't count because she wasn't faced against a real opponent.

Then, she was being picked on again, this time by three boys in an alley way that were obviously older than her. She decided that this time, she would fight. Fortunately, all of her training payed off. Two of the guys opted to fight her as well, and the battle begun. The guys approached Yui and attempted to punch her, but her reflexes helped her get out of the way.

During the fight, the boy who wasn't in the brawl was holding scissors, and had the great idea to try and cut her. The boy lunged at her from behind, scissors open ready to hurt her. Luckily, she heard him and spun around quickly, ready to kick him.

But, a small chopping noise could be heard, and one piece of her tentacle fell to the ground, leaking ink from the cut. After it dropped to the ground, Yui became furious, and began tossing the boys around like they were plastic bags. She banged their heads onto dumpster lids, and threw them against a wall, rendering them unconscious.

After that, she came back to her senses. Realizing what she had done, she piled them up behind a dumpster out of view and fled the scene out of fear.

When she had returned home, Yui's mom noticed what happened to her tentacle and took her to the doctor. They told her that when her fins were cut, she contracted a disease called the Dry-Ink disease. It made her lush purple ink pale like lavender. The doctors said if she was to lose any more ink, she might die. She could still go into turf wars, but outside of them, she couldn't lose a single drop.

Yui's 17 now, but that event still made her shiver. She still instinctively cut the short tentacle whenever it got long, but properly so that it doesn't leak ink. She thought of it as a way to show her battle scars.

"Yui!!!" An annoying high pitch voice called. "It's eating time!!" "Coming!!" Yui yelled back.

Oh yeah. She thought to herself. It's the first day of school.

Yui got up and grabbed her towel and took a shower. When she got back to her room, she decided on what to wear for the day. She looked at a few options. Grey tank top, red flannel, skort, and sneakers...? Nah, too much. Purple oversized sweater...? No way, it's too hot for that. She dug through her closet to see if she could find anything that was her style. ...Huh. Maybe this could work... She thought, staring at a few pieces of clothing. Yui tried them on and looked in the mirror in her room.

She was wearing a light teal crop top with white stripes and black shoulder straps, a purple skirt with black shorts underneath, white socks and purple shoes with attachable wheels. Her yellow and purple eyes stared herself up and down. Perfect. She said to herself, now heading downstairs.

"Jeez, what took you so long??" The inkling girl who called her asked. "I almost burnt Mom and Carter's food." She had light blue tentacles that faded into a yellow color. "C'mon Liana, give me a break. The only reason I take so long is because you have school later than me." Liana had a doubtful look on her freckled face.

Yui grabbed cereal, milk, a bowl, and a spoon and sat down. "I woke up earlier than you to cook mom and Carter's food." Liana snapped back. "I have to greet the new students into school today with the seniors." Yui said plainly. "That isn't- you know what, nevermind. I can't talk to you when I'm cooking."

While Liana was cooking food for the rest of their family, Yui noticed something different with Liana's hair. Liana had two of her tentacles tied into a ponytail behind her head, two tentacles drooping downward, and two the size of peas at the bottom of her scalp, with a blue headband around her head. Unlike Yui, she didn't have find on her head. "I don't get it." Yui said while making her cereal. "What's the use of putting your tentacles in a ponytail when you have your two other tentacles like that?" "I'm trying a different style today. Is there something wrong with that?" Liana asked, looking back at her, raising one eyebrow up. "No, not at all." Yui said.

After she finished her cereal, she grabbed her messenger bag that acted as her backpack, and attached the wheels to her shoes. "Yui, wait!" Liana called. She ran up to Yui and handed her a red band with a yellow stripe in the middle taking up most of the band, with the word "Guide" printed on. "You forgot this." Yui took the band from Liana's hand and put it in her skirt pocket. "Thanks, Liana! You're the best." Complemented Yui. Liana scoffed and mumbled something under her breath. "What was that?" Yui asked. "Nothing!" Liana announced, startling Yui.

"Go and greet the new people or whatever! You're going to be late if you stay here!" Yui was about to say something, but was forcefully pushed out of the house by her younger sister. Yui turned to face Liana, but the door had already shut, and she heard a faint click, meaning it was locked.

"...Not entirely the best way to start off the first day of school." She said to herself. "But at least it's a start." Yui turned away from the door that lead to the interior of their house, and rolled off.