Tournaments, The Day That Changed Our Lives

Chapter 3

    This is sooooo boring, Nozomu whined inwardly, her eyes finally getting bored from staring up at the ceiling for so long. Not my teammates, of course. They're really nice. I hope they think I'm nice. What if they think I'm annoying? I've never really had any close friends. I have to make sure that I'm extra nice to them! Oh, I know! "You guys wanna get something to eat? I know a good food place around here." She sat up on the bed to look at Hakai and Naomi, who were still sitting in silence, seeming perfectly content with the peace, and slightly perturbed that the she had interrupted it. Hakai shrugged and looked over at Naomi.

"Sure," She mumbled from where she lay on her bed, her still back facing Nozomu as she peered thoughtfully out the window, her reflection looking both bored and slightly annoyed. Does she not like me? I hope not. I really want them to like me...as if she could sense how tense Nozomu was, Hakai turned to her, rubbing her thumbs together uneasily as she avoided the octoling's gaze,

"Sure, why not?" She mumbled, and Naomi turned her head away from the window to look at the quiet inkling with a confused and almost surprised expression. Nozomu looked back and forth between them in uncertainty, a bit of almost silent sadness clenching her stomach. Why does Naomi look so surprised? Is it...is it because she thinks Hakai doesn't like me, and she is wondering why she's interacting with me? Is that why she won't hardly talk to me? Am I doing something wrong? Am I annoying? Is there something I should do differentl- "I don't want to be a problem, so I'll pay for it," Hakai's words brought Nozomu back to the present, and she looked over at the inkling, who had an uncomfortable, awkward expression on her face as Naomi still held her under her eyesight, looking puzzled.

Nozomu shook her previous thoughts away, guessing it was just her paranoia, and leaped off of the bed, a new wave of excitement coming over her as she remembered that they were going to get one of her most favorite things-food! Despite the uneasy, creeping feeling that Hakai didn't like her, she reached over and grabbed one of her and Naomi's arms, squealing with hope and happiness.

"Come on, girls! This food is so good you're going to DIE for it!" Immediately, they both recoiled in surprise and shock, looking both stunned and confused at the sudden jolt of excitement,

"Ahhh! Okay, calm down!" Naomi exclaimed as she rolled her eyes, and Nozomu flinched, suddenly feeling very downhearted and embarrassed, with a familiar yet unwelcome feeling beginning to creep down her neck. No...don't cry. Its not that bad. She doesn't dislike you, you just invaded her personal space. That's all. Extremely flustered and desperate to re-do things, she scrambled to put together words,

"Oh..um...I'm sorry, I'm just really excited..." She was surprised, and even almost jumped, whenever Naomi chuckled, and her uncertainty and unwelcome feeling fizzled away.

"No, you're fine," she said, yet Hakai stayed silent, back on her bed after she had jumped away from Nozomu's hands. As if she couldn't help it, another smile returned to Nozomu's face, and she made a desperate attempt to cheer the inkling up, yet she was unsure of what was keeping her down, and she clapped her hands, squealing again.

"While we're on the way there, do you guys want me to tell you about my plans for tomorrow? Because I heard this hotel has a ton of fun things to do." Suddenly, a bright, hopeful idea jumped into her head, and she couldn't contain herself. "Oh, oh, oh," she exclaimed, waving her hands at them both, "you guys should try them with me!" She looked hopefully at the two inklings, who were still very quiet, looking uncomfortable under Nozomu's intense, impatient gaze, silently but desperately willing them to say yes. Please, please, pleasseee say yes! This is my first chance at making some real friends! Her heart practically soared out of her chest when Naomi cocked her head curiously, and her eyebrows creased in such a way that you could tell she was smiling through her mask.