♥︎ Sorry. I've been feeling unmotivated lately,, :(
♥︎ I rewrote this like, 3 times and it's still garbage!!!
♥︎ Your main will be the N-Zap '85. You and Army main the same weapon.
♥︎ Next chapter is Prince.
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He sighed in relief and set his opened manual down on his desk, skimming over what he had written down. There were no misspellings, no inaccurate data, and no errors in general. Aside from a few things he couldn't get a proper grasp on, he had completed his research.
He picked up his pencil and wrote at the very top of the page, writing down the title.
[Name].
An average B rank player. A rather introverted, shy inkling that hardly played turf war unless she is invited to one. Most of her time is spent at her house or hanging out with the members of the S4.
Speaking of that....
He flipped to the next page.
Friends.
She didn't have many. Only 4.
Mask. They had a cute friendship, leaning more towards a sibling way. They went to arcades and he bought games for her if she couldn't afford it. Nothing too serious.
Skull. The boy would give her private lessons on how to snipe with the e-liter since she loved the weapon, but didn't know how to use it properly. When they weren't training, they would be eating ice cream together. [Name] always offered to buy him a sweet treat, which is the reason why she can't buy other things sometimes. Skull also saw her as a little sister.
Aloha. He never passed up the chance to touch her. He's the reason why she goes out to play turf war. Whenever they win, he hugged her and kissed her cheek. They can play all day together and still not be tired.
Army couldn't figure them out. This is one of the things that needs an update later on.
He wrote under the paragraph about Aloha: "Something is going on between Aloha and [Name]."
....
And last....
Army.
.....
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's like she hates him. They never hung out. They barely talked. She didn't even look at him unless he got her attention.
Army's heart ached. Why must she be so distant? He's trying so hard to be patient with her. If she doesn't cooperate, he'll have to do something he would later regret. A sad [Name] isn't something he wants.... however....
Stay.. calm. Stay calm. Let's not resort to that. He already has something in mind to get some sort of friendship going on. Soon, there'll be something to write in his friendship paragraph. He hoped to write "[Name]'s boyfriend" on there. Preferably soon.
The rest of his data were the basics. Her favorite food. Her hobbies. Her favorite songs. What type of clothes she wears and prefers. All that stuff.
Army turned to another page and blushed. There's a picture of the 5 of them, the S4 and [Name], taking a group photo together. In it, he was lucky enough for [Name] to be close to him.
He closed the book.
The plan he made has to work. There's no flaws in it. None at all. As long as his key for it to work doesn't fail on him, then everything will be set.
Army grabbed his phone that was right next to his manual and dialed the number that belonged to a certain inkling. The ringing stopped, and Army spoke, "Aloha?"
☀︎☀︎☀︎
Aloha tugged on the hem of his shirt, impatiently waiting for Army to arrive. It was oddly sudden for the orange inkling to ask if they could hang out to discuss something, but Aloha didn't mind. He kinda wanted to get out of the house anyway.
He leaned his back against the wall of the clothing shop and thought about [Name]. He wanted to invite her to play Turf War later with him today.
"Thank you for coming today, Aloha." Army appeared out of nowhere next to the energetic, pink inkling, nearly scaring the boy to death.
Aloha regained his composure and smiled. "Oh. Do you want to play Turf War? I forgot my weapon. Hopefully Sheldon can lend me a spare~♪!"
"Well, yes. I need your help."
Aloha hummed, signaling Army to continue.
"I want to do a private battle with [Name] today."
So much for hanging out with [Name]... Aloha gloomily thought. "What does that have to do with me?"
"She..." Army hated to say it. "She avoids me. I suspect she doesn't like me."
Aloha laughed. "Where did you get that information from? Your manual?"
Army stayed silent.
Aloha stifled another laugh. He knew he's right. "She's just scared of you~♪! You two DO main the same weapon, so she thinks you look down on her~!"
Army widened his eyes. She's afraid of him because they both use the N-Zap? That's... a strange reason. Is she not confident in her abilities? Despite being a B rank, he thought she performed well in battles.
He slipped his weapon into the pocket inside his jacket, which somehow fit there just fine, and opened his manual, flipping to the pages where it is filled with paragraphs about [Name].
Nothing hinted at her fearing him.
Aloha giggled and grabbed his manual out of his hands, turning it so he could read it as well.
Army gasped. "Don't re–"
"Let's see, let's see~♪!" Aloha already began to do what Army feared.
Army lunged forward to take it back, but Aloha dodged easily.
"Aw~! You have a crush on [Name]~♪!"
Army froze where he stood. He waited for Aloha to laugh at him, to make fun of him.
"This is kinda fresh! There's even things I didn't know about her in here!"
Is that a compliment? Shouldn't he be creeped out?
"Something is going on between Aloha and [Name]..." Aloha read out loud.
...
"Hahaha!" The inkling erupted in laughter, using one of his hands to hold his stomach. "S-Something... going on~♪?! Y-You're funny!"
Army looked away, embarrassed. "The way you act around her makes me think that way...."
Aloha's laughter died down. "Ah, well, I guess I do like her!"
Army gave him a harsh glare.
"But, I'm willing to put my feelings aside if you really like her this much~♪!" Aloha closed the manual and handed it back to the orange squid. "Want me to set you up on a date~? There's no need for a private battle~♪!"
"Actually, I would still like to do the private battle. I am serious about that."
Aloha took out his phone and began to type away, Army eagerly waiting for him to send the message.
So far so good.
"Hm, she'll probably say no if I mention you..." The party-animal murmured.
Army still caught what he said and frowned. "Then.. don't mention me."
"That's mean! She'll be scared to death if she suddenly had to be with you for the whole evening."
"Watch what you say." Army scowled.
"Hehe~♪! Sorry~!"
☀︎☀︎☀︎
Army sat besides the entrance of the lobby in pure happiness. She would be here any minute now.
Army's really going to talk to the girl he loved, and there would be no interruptions from the S4 members either. It'd be just the two of them.
He fantasized about all the things that could happen when they were alone together. Maybe she would trip and fall on him. Maybe she would ask him how to hold the weapon and he would get close to her to demonstrate. Maybe she would... develop feelings for him.
He shook his head. He can't get ahead of himself here. He needed to make it past square one.
....
Or force himself out of it, whether she liked it or not.
"Um, h-hey..." He looked up.
There she is, holding her N-Zap and wearing some different gear. He recognized it immediately. It had a ton of swim speed up and ink saver main. It is one of her favorite gears.
"Have, uh, h-h-have...." She stuttered, clenching her weapon tightly. "Have you seen Aloha? H-He... said he would be waiting here...."
Army got up and dusted the dirt off of his jacket. "He couldn't make it."
"Eh?"
"Something came up."
"I-I see..." She frowned. "I'll... be on my way then.."
Army grabbed her arm. "Since you went through the trouble of coming here, why not do a private battle with me?"
She gave him a nervous smile, slightly fearful of how strong his grip is on her. "Um... no thank you. I don't feel like losing to an S+ player right now."
Or ever. If word got out that she lost to Army, she'll be bullied for sure.
"We won't be going against each other." He said. "I want to train you."
"I don't need that. I'm fine."
"Please?"
"No, I don't want to." She looked askance.
"Why not? You always do private battles with Skull. It'll be no different from that." The grip on her arm tightened. "It's really not that hard to accept invitations. In fact, it is quite rude to decline them."
"A-Army...."
He realized how harsh he sounded and toned it down. "There's no need to be so stubborn. I promise it'll be fine. I know you're scared, but I won't hurt you."
She felt multiple eyes staring at her. They must've attracted attention from nearby inklings. Pressured by this, she gave in.
She swallowed her fear and said, "O-Okay... let's get this over with...."
Army pulled her into the lobby, letting go to set up the private room. He appeared to be as calm as ever on the outside, but on the inside he could barely contain his excitement.
[Name], on the other hand, wanted out. Her eyes landed on the N-Zap in her hands.
Today hadn't been spectacular or life changing, it's been normal. There wasn't anything to do today.
When she received a text from Aloha, who invited her to play some turf war, she was ecstatic to finally get out of the house.
Then.... her happiness disappeared when she found Army instead. He's a nice guy and all, pretty smart too when it came down to it. There's just.... something off about him.
Most of the time when she hung out with the S4, she'd catch him staring at her and one of the members with a look she couldn't describe. Jealousy? Hate? Anger? She didn't know. Whatever it was, it made her feel uneasy.
Said boy snapped her back into reality the second he took ahold of her hand, the lobby now being Mako Mart.
Before the settings could fully disappear, she managed to get a quick peak. This battle is password protected. Better that than making it available for everyone to watch.
"Let's begin, shall we?"
"Um, yeah..." She straightened her posture, and stepped off the spawn point. If this is the way it's going to be, she might as well make a good first impression.
.....
She tripped and bashed her face into the ground.
"[Name]!" Army bent down and picked her upper body up. She sat on her knees in defeat.
"Nothing's going my way..." She muttered under her breath. Soon enough, a loud growl erupted from her stomach.
Her face, already red from face planting, somehow reddened even further.
"Are you... hungry?"
Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. "M-Maybe I am..."
He ruffled her tentacles gently. "I'll be honored to take you out to eat. It'll be my treat."
Her ears perked up at this. "Really?"
"Of course." He smiled.
She's so conflicted. How should she feel about him? He's scary... but caring at the same time. Her emotions are all over the place.
☀︎☀︎☀︎
Army already knew what restaurant she had in mind. There was no need to ask her at all. It served [favorite food].
They were seated at a table at the very corner, a window right next to them as well. They were waiting for their food to be served to them, so of course, with all this extra time to chat, you would think she would at least initiate conversation, right?
She didn't.
He had given himself false hope that she finally warmed up to him during the private battle. She listened to him and asked questions sometimes. That should've been enough to get him out of this hole she threw him in.
His patience is running thin.
"Army," Her soft voice helped his troubled thoughts vanish into thin air. "thanks for paying for dinner."
"I'd happily pay for you again if we train more." He said.
"Oh." She played with the fork on the table, avoiding his gaze. "I was... um.. hoping this would be a one time thing."
"Hah?" He gawked at her.
"I mean, I don't see the point..." She sighed. "I'd rather... have fun. Playing competitively isn't my thing."
"We can still train. Whether you use it my techniques or not doesn't–"
"Then it's a waste of time."
"I.. it's not to me..."
She didn't respond.
...
Anything else he could talk about? What about... no. He cursed himself mentally for knowing everything there is to know about her. Everything except....
"How are you and Aloha doing?" He opened the manual on his lap and went to a new page, just in case anything new came up.
"We're doing.. okay. I feel like I don't do much when we play together, but it's still fun. It's satisfying to watch how he dodges the opposing team's ink..."
Army wrote this down.
"The way he fights IS pretty unique." He said, forcing down the jealousy within his heart. "I can see why you like it."
"I guess so.."
Army tightened the grip on his pencil. Aloha had confessed earlier that he harbored feelings for [Name]. If they had mutual feelings, he would need to take drastic measures, regardless if Aloha said he would put aside his feelings to help Army.
"Do you like him?" Army asked.
"Yeah. He's a good friend."
"No. In a romantic way."
She finally made eye contact with him. "Why do you want to know...?"
"I..."
He got caught up in the moment. Now, he might pay the price for it.
"Are you looking out for him?" She snickered. "You really are the mom of the group."
"W-What?!" Where did she hear this from? "So what if I am looking out for him?! What's wrong with that?!"
"Nothing, nothing." She laughed.
Army blushed. He was the one to make her laugh this time, not Aloha. He cleared his throat. "So is that a yes or a no?"
"I..." She chose her next words carefully. "I don't know if I can trust you with that kind of information yet."
So close!
Army pretended to understand and he let the subject go, secretly analyzing her figure to note any sort of action that could possibly hint at her liking Aloha back.
Nothing out of the ordinary stood out.
Army noticed how dark it is outside and got an idea.
"It's quite late." Army said. "I should walk you home."
She glanced at the window. "Oh... you're right."
Something told her to walk home alone. She dismissed the feeling.
Their food came and they ate in silence.
☀︎☀︎☀︎
[Name] unlocked the front door, expecting for Army to leave as soon as she went inside, but he stuck his foot in the doorway to prevent it from closing fully.
"What is it?" She opened the door.
"May I come in? It's about to rain and I won't make it home in time."
Despite how dark the sky is, he's right. Any second now it would be pouring.
"Okay... come in."
She let him inside and lead him to her living room.
"Your house is very nice, [Name]." He stated, scanning all the pictures that were hung up on the wall. He wanted to take them all.
"Um, thanks." She said.
She sat on the couch, Army following and sitting beside her, opening his manual to write something in it.
Where does she go from here? Offer some tea maybe? Or coffee? She's ashamed to admit she had no clue on how to make them.
"Would you like some tea, [Name]?" It was if he read her mind.
"You're the guest... I should be making the tea..." Though she secretly hoped his stubbornness will help her out here.
"No, no. I insist."
She quietly took up on his offer and he went to the kitchen. [Name] relaxed on the couch once he was out of her sight.
The thought of how he knew where her kitchen is never crossed her mind.
She spotted Army's manual on the couch and gasped. She would never say it out loud, but she's always wanted to see what kind of strategies he wrote in there. She especially wanted to find the curry page one. She heard of it from Aloha and her curiosity for it grew overtime.
She picked up the manual and flipped it open. The first couple of pages were the basics of what teams usually did. The curry page is a short read, unfortunately. Pages after that were more complicated and too complex for her to understand. And then, she reached a parting section.
Her skin paled as she read the title.
[Name].
Why is there a section dedicated to her?
She gulped and continued to read what he wrote.
Each line she read terrified her more and more. He had so much information about her. Even the littlest details were in here. In this short amount of time... there's no way he..
She let go of one side of the book and grabbed the pages about her, slightly crumpling the paper. If she could just rip all of this out–
"How careless of me."
The manual was snatched away from her hands by the one and only Army, his other hand holding a hot cup of tea.
Somehow, none of the papers didn't rip.
"Judging by how you're looking at me, I'm assuming you saw it."
Words caught up in her throat.
"You don't need to fear me. T-This isn't for me... it's..." He trailed off. Not like his lie is convincing anyway.
She needed him out of here, out of her house. "I-I... remembered that I have a spare umbrella you can use! You'll be able to go home safely!"
He narrowed his eyes. "Hm? Why should I go home?"
He poured the tea onto her lap, the liquid soaking into her leggings and burning her thighs.
She clamped her hands over her mouth to hold back a scream.
"I can't leave you when you're hurt. That would be rude of me." He let the cup go and it shattered all over the floor. "Allow me to take care of you."
She pushed him away. "D-Don't! Get away!"
The girl rose from the seat and gave him a glare. "I-I knew there was something fishy about you! Why do you know so much about me?! Who told you all of that?!"
He's never heard her raise her voice before. That's a memory he would forever treasure. "No one."
"N-No one..?" Her anger dwindled at his answer.
He supposed this would be the perfect time to confess his feelings. "I like you, [Name]. No, I love you." Army hugged the stunned inkling, feeling her body shake in his arms. She was too petrified to fight back.
"Whether you return my feelings or not doesn't concern me. Because..."
He whispered into her ear, "You were made to be with me, [Name]."
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I'm sorry for this bad chapter,,
I haven't updated in like, over a month and this was all I could whip out!!
I'm willing to do a part 2 if you guys want! Just tell me and I'll squeeze it in somewhere. Maybe in chapter 6 or 7?? I would move it to next chapter, but I already started on Prince (only 526 words as of now).
Like my fellow Two Chances readers, you'll have to wait a long time again.
My Octoling boy x Reader people are still waiting on their update, so I'll be focusing on that. I kinda left them on a cliffhanger?? I think??
Don't know if it's really a cliffhanger lol
Okay!! Anyways!!! I'll be on my way!! Thanks for reading! I promise I'll do better on the next chapter!!!
Word Count: 3404